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goldenlikedayl1ght · 6 months

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the lakes - m. murdock

a/n: hey guys so i've been struggling a lot with the fact that i might have hearing loss (i'm going to the doctor next week) and as always i am projecting, but i am not 100% sure everything in this fic is accurate and for that i apologize. but it's my little passion project and i hope you enjoy <3 as always, comments and reblogs are always loved and appreciated! warnings: hearing loss, hearing aids, tinnitus, reader struggling with being disabled, some parts are more vulnurable and don't have the reader being like overly confident in their disability, matt being soft, some suggestive behavior at the end, kissing, nicknames, pretty pg-13 honestly word count: 3.0k summary: your hearing aids run out of battery, and you're forced to struggle through a day of ringing ears and being deaf. matt helps, as he always does. pairing: matt murdock x hard of hearing!reader now playing: the lakes - taylor swift "take me to the lakes/where all the poets went to die/i don't belong/but my beloved, neither do you."

“Are you deaf?”

“What?”

You’re eighteen, home from college for the first time since fall break. Your family sits around for Thanksgiving, and there are so many people talking. There’s about thirteen people at this long dining room table, and they are all talking at once. You’re sitting next to your sister, but you can’t hear her well.

You know she’s speaking, and you’re sure you’re yelling, but you’re frustrated.

“I said, are you deaf? I repeated myself like, four times!”

You feel your face flush.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you. You’re mumbling, and it’s loud in here.”

Your sister looks at you like you’re crazy.

“I’m right next to you, and I’m not mumbling. In fact, no one is yelling, either.”

You poke your fork at your sweet potatoes and feel hot, angry tears in your eyes as you avoid everyone’s gaze.

Your mom sits across from you, and frowns, planning to tell you to make an appointment at the student health center when you get back to campus.

She doesn’t even have to. You’ve booked one by the time she says it to you.

At the student health center, they administer a hearing test, and then refer you to a specialist for further testing. You call your mom, crying and she gently comforts you, before driving to the nearest bookstore and picking up a book on hearing impairments and a copy of ASL for Dummies.

At the specialist, they do another round of tests. Your doctor tells you that you do in fact have hearing issues and that you should come back in a year for more testing, to see if your hearing gets worse. For now, you get a doctor’s note that requires all your professors to take your hearing impairment into consideration. The process for getting that applied at your university is painful, and only gets worse through your years there.

Before you get to law school, your doctor tests you again, and tells you how your hearing has been decreasing in quality in the past few years. He says that you’ll need hearing aids to regulate it. You cry because you cannot afford that.

You get captioning accommodations throughout law school, as well as a note taker for certain classes that are entirely lecture based. You still try to take your own notes, but it frustrates you that suddenly you need all this help. Your own notes are incomprehensible and often miss key parts of the lecture as you sit for a few minutes trying to decipher what your professor had said a few minutes prior.

You go into corporate law after law school, choosing to stay out of court initially because you find yourself frustrated that you wouldn’t be able to process all of what’s going on due to the many voices.

You stay at this company long enough to get your hearing aids, long enough to pay your loans, and long enough to save up a good fund for your hearing aid needs.

You quit your job and get hired at Nelson, Murdock & Page as an interim while you decide what you want to do.

With your hearing aids, life isn’t so frustrating anymore. You find yourself enjoying casual chatter and not worrying about processing what your friends are saying. At family dinners, you take your hearing aids out when you’re mad at your family, to which your stepdad, another hearing aid user, always laughs.

And, despite the pay not being stellar at your job, you love it. You love working with people who need help, love fighting injustice, and you love your coworkers.

...

If only Matt Murdock would reciprocate your feelings towards him.

You’ve been dancing this dance for months. You come into work with coffee and stutter when you get to his doorway.

You wonder if he’ll ever know how desperately you want him.

You go about your days quietly, going to the bar with them at the end of a long week. You love your friends and find yourself hoping they know how much you love them.

Karen and Foggy, as well as Foggy’s fiancé, know about your hearing aids since they sit sort of clunkily on your ears.

You don’t tell Matt, though, not at first.

You know how bad it is, to not even tell your blind crush that you have hearing aids. But you’re embarrassed. It makes you sound like an old person even though you’re in your twenties.

But when Matt crawls into your window late at night, bleeding, you don’t even flinch as he crashes onto your floor behind you. You’re reading, your hearing aids out, and he’s unsure why you can’t hear him. Your heartbeat had no reaction, it’s like you don’t even realize he’s there.

He taps you on your shoulder and you turn quickly, and gasp, before starting to sign at him. Even in his disoriented state, he knows you’re doing something with your hands and moving your mouth. At first, he thinks that he might have stuff clogging his ears, but then he realizes you’re signing, probably because you think Daredevil isn’t blind.

He takes off his helmet.

“Matt?” You say, and it comes out a little louder than it should, because you can’t hear yourself to gage how loud you’re being.

He says something, and your gaze focuses on his mouth, where you can barely make out what he’s saying.

“I can’t hear you.” You say, softer now. You reach over to your bedside table and put your hearing aids on. By the time you look back, Matt has passed out on the ground. Oh fuck.

You get your first aid kit and begin to work on his wounds. When you’re done, you pull him onto your couch, now stained with his blood, and watch as he sleeps. Blood covers your hands, and you listen to him breathing.

When he wakes up that morning, you’re asleep on the couch, and when you feel him start to stir. You grab your hearing aids, and turn them on, before watching him wake.

He says your name softly, and you take his hand in yours.

“Hey.. You.. You’re Daredevil...”

“You’re deaf.”

“Hard of hearing. Not fully deaf, just… My right ear is a lot better than my left, but without my hearing aids I’m close to deaf, yeah…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were Daredevil?”

“I was scared. Scared that… That you would view me differently, scared that you wouldn’t like me as much.”

“I was scared too..”

“When did you start losing your hearing?”

“In college. I realized it when I went home for Thanksgiving, and then it got worse from there..” You tell him. A hand reaches out to your face, and you lean into it, letting your cheek rest in his palm. His fingers trail up towards your ear and gently run his fingers over your hearing aid.

“Thanks for stitching me up.” He says softly.

“No problem.”

“The hearing aid does explain the buzzing I always hear when you’re around.”

“You can hear my hearing aids?”

“Apparently. I can hear a lot of things. I have heightened senses. You use pomegranate shampoo and had red velvet cake for dessert tonight. Your heart is racing.”

Your face flushes.

“I can turn them off if it’s bothering you.”

“How would you hear me, then?” He has a point.

“I just don’t want them to bother you.”

“Don’t offer to hide your disability just to make other people more comfortable.”

You kiss him when he says this, in a careful way. You’re gentle, making sure not to hurt him as you do. He lays there and lets you kiss him, his hands on your face. You realize you had no reason to be scared that Matt might reject you for your disability, because he is the only person in your everyday life who really gets how it is to have a disability that affects all aspects of your life.

You trace the healed scars on his skin as you kiss him gently, careful not to hurt him. You promise that you’ll kiss him more passionately when he isn’t freshly stitched up.

• • •

A few weeks passed after that night. You and Matt start seeing each other more and more as you fall deeper in love. You find it silly that you wasted so many days, afraid of talking to each other and maybe disappointing each other over the fact that you both lack a vital sense.

But Matt never views it that way. You wear hearing aids and it’s perfectly fine because most of the time, you aren’t struggling to hear him and cannot communicate with him, and he can’t see when you can’t hear him.

Instead, Matt loves that he can hear your hearing aids buzzing softly because it always alerts him that you’re there. He can hear your heartbeat and smell you, too, but it’s not quite the same as this soft little buzzing that reminds him often of a bee.

Except for this one day.

You slept over at Matt’s on a Thursday and really, you should have known better. You knew your hearing aids were going to need a battery change soon, but you’ve been so busy with work and with Matt, and worrying about him at night, that you’re tired. So tired that you forget to pick up batteries before your hearing aids die.

You sneak out of Matt’s apartment early, sending him a text that you needed to go get changed before work. Really, you want to avoid the fact that you wouldn’t be able to hear him. But he didn’t respond to your message. You decide that you don’t care at this moment and head out to work, debating the right way to tell your coworkers about your predicament.

When you get to work, Foggy is immediately talking to you, and you are tense.

“Foggy—” He’s not stopping. It sounds like he’s mumbling, and there’s this ringing in your ears. “Foggy, I can’t hear you.” He finally looks to you, and says something, you make it out to be a phrase of confusion. “My hearing aids died.” You tell him. You’re frustrated, and Matt isn’t in the office yet.

You deem this as a blessing and a curse. Foggy goes to tell Karen what’s going on and as you’re settling down for the day, you get a text. You hope it’s from Matt, but when you see Karen’s name, you falter slightly.

‘Hey! Foggy told me what was going on. We’ll have your calls redirected to one of us and you can spend the day doing housekeeping and paperwork.’

‘Thanks’, You respond, “Sorry about all this. I’m usually on top of my battery life.”

“Don’t worry about it. These things happen.”

“Still, thanks. Did you hear from Matt at all?”

“No, he probably just slept in late. He should be in soon.”

You try to ignore your anxieties over his absence even though you know that when he does come into the office, you’ll have to struggle to communicate with him all day.

So, for the first hour or so of your day, you try to get some work done but there’s a light ringing in your ears that’s getting worse and worse as you attempt to try and focus on other things. Everything sounds so muffled. You’re so focused that your teeth grind against each other, your muscles tense, as you attempt to try and block out the ringing in your ears.

You have a feeling that by the time you leave today, those hot frustrated tears will be threatening to pour once more.

You don’t hear Matt as he steps into your office and stands by your left side, where you’re almost completely deaf. He stands there for about ten minutes, trying to get your attention before he realizes the light buzzing of your hearing aids are not there.

You must not have them in.

So his hands find your shoulders gently, and instead of tensing, you actually relax under his touch, because you realize that it has to be Matt. A slight turning of your head confirms it and you lean into his touch.

Neither of you say much for a while, deciding to let your frustration slowly dissipate as you lean into his warm hands. They stay on your shoulders and upper arms, rubbing gentle patterns into your skin.

After a good ten minutes of this, his body shifts to your right side and he leans down, before speaking at full volume, maybe even a little louder, just to make sure you can hear him. It still sounds like he’s mumbling, but you can hear him.

“Forgot your hearing aids?”

“Batteries died.” You tell him. “You never answered me.”

“My phone died. I forgot my charger, too.. Are you gonna be okay to work all day?”

“Mhm..” You smile softly, “You’re gonna have to help answer calls, though.”

He kisses your cheek, and you lean into the warmth.

“Anything for you, sweetheart.” He says, a soft smile on his face.

The day goes by pretty much as you expect it. You spend it doing paperwork and dodging phone calls, your tinnitus gets worse as the day goes on. By the time the day is finally winding down, Karen sends you one final text.

“Matt’s staying a little late to catch up on some work. Want me to walk you home?”

“No, I’ll be fine. Thank you.”

You realize that because she and Foggy are heading home, you’ll be able to sit with Matt, maybe get a little bit of peace. You’re thankful, too, because you’re about to lose your mind over all of this. The ringing is just getting to be too much.

You wait a few minutes after Foggy and Karen head home before you go into Matt’s office. He smiles at you and gestures for you to come in, and you do. You lean against his desk, as he speaks loud enough now that you can hear him.

“I’ll just be a few more minutes, Bee.” Even the soft-spoken nickname doesn't get you out of your funk, too busy wanting to get on your hands and knees and beg God for your hearing back.

That doesn’t usually happen, but every once in a while you ask him for a normal life.

God sends you a blind man as your soulmate, because he must think that the whole thing is quite funny.

“Okay…”

You feel hot tears pooling in your eyes as you bite your tongue and dig your fingernails into your skin. You almost draw blood.

“What’s wrong?” He can tell that something is wrong. He can always tell, and you’re foolish to think anything less of him, and even more foolish to forget his super senses. A part of you bites back a bitter feeling, since you wish you could’ve had super smell, super sight, super taste, anything in exchange for your hearing. You were not given an exchange, only forced to give, with nothing in there for you.

You forget that your boyfriend has super senses and can taste and smell your salty tears and blood in the air. Damn him.

“Loud… Ringing in my ears, my tinnitus is always really bad when I don’t use my hearing aids for a while..” You say softly. “It’s just.. it really hurts...” You confess, tears slipping down your face.

“Sweetheart..” He takes off his glasses and rests them on the desk in front of him. “C’mere..” You can’t hear that last part, but the way he opens his arms gives you the hint.

You sit on his lap, burying your face in the crook of his neck with a shaky sigh. You feel the thumps of his heartbeat and hold onto it, the ringing in your ears slightly muffled by his skin. It doesn’t fix the problem, but it helps.

His hands linger on your body, gentle caresses of your knee or thigh happening here and there. He just wants you to know he’s there, in the same way he desires when everything becomes too much for him.

“”m sorry..” you say gently, and he just hushes you softly, kissing your head. He traces patterns into your skin. He traces words into it as well.

L-O-V-E.

S-W-E-E-T-H-E-A-R-T

He traces your name, his, and your last names.

You kiss him softly, realizing that you might never be 100% okay with your hearing, but Matt will help. He’ll understand. He loves you, and it’s enough to be confident in your future again.

You spend only a few minutes more in the office before you decide to head home, his hand never leaving yours.

You make it back to his apartment and Matt plugs his phone in in case you need to text him and get his attention. You wind up stealing a pair of sweatpants, a tee shirt, and a pair of fuzzy socks. The two of you wind up tangled together on his couch.

Your ear is pressed against his chest as he gently caresses your skin, occasionally moving your hair from your face. He mumbles sweet nothings, and while you can’t hear them, you feel the rumbling vibrations in his chest, and you relish in them. You bathe in the feeling of his heartbeat thumping against his skin.

You fall asleep like this, with Matt touching you and talking in this low tone to make sure you can feel the vibrations of his voice in his chest and in his throat. It’s enough just knowing he’s there. That this thing you thought would deem you unlovable is no match for Matt Murdock, who on your wedding day will throw up the sign for ‘I love you’ in ASL.

For Matt Murdock, who, when you’re taken for loving the devil, will find you and take you into his arms and kiss you so that you know he’s real.

For Matt Murdock, who touches you in all the right ways so you can hear the sounds of your own pleasure.

For Matt Murdock, who will gently trace patterns into your skin when you need to be grounded. For Matt Murdock, who feels himself slipping further and further in love with you and finds himself searching for the soft buzz of your hearing aids when you walk into the room.

#matt murdock #matt murdock fic #matt murdock fluff #matt murdock x reader #matt murdock x you #matt murdock x y/n #matt murodock hurt/comfort #matt murdock angst #matt murdock imagine #daredevil fic #daredevil x reader #daredevil fanfiction #hoh!reader #hard of hearing!reader #deaf!reader #self indulgent

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izzy2210 · 10 months

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Batteries

“Ah fuck..” Eddie gets woken up by his husband’s swearing, which he hasn’t done in quite a while. He sits up in bed, and realizes that Steve’s in the bathroom with the door open. “You alright, sweetheart?” he asks, frowning. He doesn’t get a response. “Stevie?” He asks again, louder this time, but he still doesn’t get a reaction. “Do you have your hearing aids in?” No answer. “Alright, so no.” He smiles, getting up from the bed and walking to the bathroom, where he sees Steve with a towel around his waist, hair still damp, with one of his hearing aids in his hand, the other’s laying on the edge of the sink.

“Hi, Eds. Sorry if you yelled, didn’t hear you.” He grimaces, rubbing his fist in circles on his chest, the sign for ‘sorry’. He’s been learning for over a month now, and Eddie’s so proud of him. He’s been combining speaking and signing, it’s hard on his brain, but he does it either way. Eddie pinches both his index fingers against his thumbs, shaking them a little in front of his chest. ‘No big deal’, that means. “Thanks. I can’t find my batteries, d’you know where they are?” Steve turns to him, ready to read his lips, but Eddie just shakes his head. “Alright, fuck, I guess. Can you run to the store and get me some? I think I’m all out, and I’d like to hear you.” That makes Eddie smile. “Of course ya do, sweetheart,” He presses a kiss on his forehead, and then his lips, “I’ll get dressed, and then I’ll run to the store for you, no worries. How did you find out they were dead?” Steve huffs. “I went out for a run and I almost got flattened by a truck because I couldn’t hear it.” Eddie raises his brows, “Are you okay?” “Yeah yeah, I’m fine, just get dressed and get me my batteries.” Eddie smirks. "What’s the magic word?” Steve smirks as well, pressing a kiss on the side of his mouth, and then he starts whispering. “I’ll let you fuck me.” Eddie speeds towards their bedroom, stumbling to get himself in some pants, for fuck’s sake. He’s grinning the whole time, and when he comes back in the bathroom, he kisses Steve loudly.

“Close enough.”

---

@steddieas-shegoes totally not inspired by that one request you got

#steve harrington #steddie #eddie munson #hard of hearing steve harrington

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cozzzynook · 1 year

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A headcanon of mine that i want to share here is Dabi being deaf because of the fire on Sekoto Peak. His hearing is gone and now he needs hearing aides. Life on the streets without hearing was hard but he made do and could read lips.

But now he’s with the league and has hearing aides but the nerves in his hands are so damaged they constantly shake when he tries to move them. So adjusting his hearing aides is almost impossible.

He runs into this problem when in a meeting with Hawks who thinks Dabi is purposely ignoring him until his eyes pick up on the devices and he has a look of recognition on his face.

He simply taps Dabi and begins to sign once he turns around to look at him. Dabi is surprised of course but nods but he makes no move to sign back which to Hawks made no sense.

Hawks always kept a careful eye on Dabi after that. He knew the man wasn’t faking about being deaf. He just wanted to know if Dabi could sign or not. Hawks didn’t mind teaching Dabi to sign, mission or not everyone should be able to communicate the way they needed.

It wasn’t until he saw Dabi signing to Tomura and Jin one night with shaky and unstable hands that he finally understood.

Dabi could sign but his nerves were so damaged on his stapled hands that most wouldn’t understand him anyway. By the look of frustration and the way he started smoking Hawks guessed it was something new.

Jin and Tomura were comforting, surprising coming from Tomura, and they told him they’d find a longer lasting battery for his hearing aides and a better pair too. Dabi nodded but walked off with steam under his eyes and blood dripping down as he clenched his fists.

Something strange did happen the next time Hawks came by.

A pair of brand new cochlear implants sat on his pillow with a smooth wooden stick.

It didn’t take Dabi long to figure out it was Hawks and he doesn’t know how long he spent crying when he could clearly hear Hawks wings fluttering outside his window.

If Hawks let out a squawk when Dabi smiled at him and ruffled his hair before turning red, no he didn’t.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘋𝘢𝘣𝘪.

As Dabi laid in Hawks arms feeling the vibrations of the 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘱𝘴 and 𝘤𝘰𝘰’𝘴 Hawks felt comfortable singing while his cochlear implant was charging.

Hawks pressed a soft kiss on the top of Dabi’s head as he curled his wings to cover them.

“𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶,” Hawks mouthed into Dabi’s temple as he kissed him again.

Glancing at shaking fingers, Hawks smiled at what Dabi signed back.

“𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘦.”

Hawks is so glad he walked in on Dabi that day.

#dabihawks #soft dabihawks #dabihawks headcanon #dabi x hawks #bnha #mha #dabi #hawks #hotwings #pro hero hawks #keigo tamaki #mha hawks #dabi headcanons #deaf dabi #hawks headcanons #boku no hero academia hawks

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dwobbitfromtheshire · 2 months

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From Hell to Home to Back Again

Summary: At the talent show, Chrissy Cunningham is so hungry that she nearly collapses. When she's found by Hopper, her parents ended up losing custody of her. She ends up being placed in the care of the Hendersons, and she finally finds the family she so desperately needed. She also ends up falling in love. What other changes are made in this alternate universe?

@emen-98

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chrissy gasped for breath as the creature dragged her into the opening and into the other side. It was still Steve’s pool, but it was void of water, and there were slimy vines covering it. She clutched her side. Only the tips of its claws scraped against her stomach, but it was enough to make it bleed. She grabbed Barb's hand and ran to the ladder. Barb quickly pushed her up before following her. She was almost out of the pool when the creature grabbed a hold of Barb. Chrissy grabbed Barb's hand.

"Chrissy!" Barb screamed.

"Hold on, just hold on!" Chrissy screamed.

"Don't let go! Don't let go!" Barb cried. "CHRISSY!"

The creature ripped Barb from her grasp, causing Chrissy to fall back against the ground. Her side caused her to scream in pain, and as quickly as she could, she got up. Chrissy peered into the pool and cried out. Vines wrapped around Barb, one of them entering her mouth. Her lifeless eyes stared blankly ahead.

"No! NO! BARB!" Chrissy sobbed.

The creature screamed at her, its face blooming open like a flower. Chrissy didn't hesitate to take off, heading towards Steve’s vine covered house. She made it through the front door and turned to slam it when the creature managed to wedge a clawed hand inside. It struck out, it's hand striking out hard against her face. Her head swam, and her vision blurred as blood dripped into her eye. Chrissy took off as the creature made it through the house. She ran off out the back door and towards the woods. The Byers's house was nearby. All she had to do was get there and patch herself up. She had to stop the bleeding. She locked herself into the house, pulling the couch in front of the door.

Chrissy moved quickly and quietly through the house, moving to the bathroom. She locked the door and grabbed some towels before pressing them to her wounds. She held them there with a sigh, hoping that the creature lost sign of her. She shoved a towel into her mouth as her body began to shake with sobs. This isn't happening. This couldn't be happening. Once the bleeding was stopped, she searched under the sink and was happy to find a first aid kit. She used alcohol to clean the wounds before putting medicine and bandages on them. She didn't hear the sound of the creature anymore, and that's when she realized where she was. She wondered if this place was where Will was dragged to. She wondered if he was still alive. She had to look for him. Where would he go to hide?

"Castle Byers," she muttered. "Don't worry, Will, I'm coming for you."

She grabbed a backpack from Will's room and dumped out the contents. Chrissy put the first aid kit inside before heading to the kitchen, where she discovered bottles of water. She stuck as many as she could in the bag before grabbing a couple of cans of food and sticking them in there as well. She found a flashlight and some batteries. Okay, she couldn't fit anymore in there. Chrissy changed out of her bloody shirt and pants before pulling on some of Joyce's. She slipped on one of her jackets and found some bandanas to wear on her face. She wasn't sure how safe it was to breathe in these particles.

"What the fuck is this place?" she muttered.

She grabbed the axe from the shed and started walking towards Castle Byers, keeping a look out for the creature that killed Barb. It hit her heart so hard that she was never going to see her again or talk to her. Oh, God, how was Nancy going to take it? What if Chrissy never saw her again to tell her how hard she tried to save Barb? What if she never saw her mother or her brother again? She wasn't sure why she thought this next one. What if she never got a chance to learn more about Eddie Munson? Chrissy shook her head and tried to focus on her task ahead, hoping that she found Will. The castle wasn't that far from his house. Gripping the axe, she moved the curtain back and sighed in relief when she found Will, curled up on the bed. He was shutting his eyes tightly. Chrissy set the axe down and pulled the bandana away from her face.

"Will?" she called out softly and his eyes snapped open.

"Chrissy?" he asked. "How did you get here?"

"A weird looking creature dragged me here," she said. "What about you?"

"Yeah," Will said. "Is that what happened to your face?"

"Yeah, it got me pretty good and Barb. . .," Chrissy stopped and tried to come up with a lie but apparently her face said it all.

"Barb didn't make it," he whispered.

"No," she said thickly. "I'm not sure we're safe here. Although, I'm not sure we're safe anywhere in this place."

"I know, it's just the first place that I thought of," Will whispered.

"We need to go back to your house," she said. "At least for now. I could have sworn that I heard your mother's voice at one point so maybe going back to the place where you were taken is going to help get us out of here."

"I'm scared," he whispered.

"So am I," she replied. "I'm going to protect you as much as possible though and I have my trusty axe with me so if anything attacks, I'll swing with all my might."

"Are you sure about this?" Will whispered.

"Honestly? No, but the house is more stable than these sticks, plus there's more places to hide," she replied.

"That's true," he replied, and she handed him a bandana.

"I'm not sure how safe it is to breath in these particles or whatever they are, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to wear these," she told him.

Chrissy took his hand and then the axe before walking out of the fort. They were on alert the entire trip back to the house, and she should have known her plan would fail. They were almost there, and Chrissy quickly pushed Will out of the way when the creature pounced on them. She swung the axe at it, slicing into its chest. She was pleased when it roared in pain. Its claws swiped towards Will again, but she slammed the axe on its hand, cutting off two of its fingers. It howled again, and it tilted its head to the side before running off again. Chrissy frowned. She knew that it didn't run off because of her. Was the thing following orders? Lightning flashed in the dark clouds above them, and for a moment, she thought she saw a large dark shadow figure in the sky. Was it moving toward them? Chrissy grabbed Will's hand again and hurried towards the house.

When they made it safely inside, Chrissy moved the couch in front of the front door again and with the help of Will, she moved the fridge in front of the back door before the moved to sit in his room. Chrissy pulled Will close to her, putting her arm around him.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Will asked.

"I don't know," she whispered. "I'm sorry."

"That was awesome, by the way, when you faced the monster," Will said. "Like you were a knight facing a dragon."

"Or a paladin," she said teasingly.

"You could totally play with us if you wanted," Will muttered.

"I thought you guys had a no girls rule," she said.

"That was Mike, and he was mad at Nancy then," he replied.

"I would feel like I'm intruding beside I like that me and my brother each have our own thing," she shrugged. "I like being a cheerleader and playing softball. I do like watching you guys play though. You guys are great."

"Maybe we should all go watch you play softball sometime," Will said. "I'll twist their arm if I have to."

"Gonna have to put a lot of sunscreen on Mike," Chrissy quipped and Will laughed.

After a while, they fell into silence to listen to the sounds outside. Occasionally, they heard the sounds of growling outside like the creature knew they were in there but were unable to get to them. Maybe whoever was controlling it told the thing not to attack. Maybe whoever was talking to it had plans for them. Chrissy shuddered at the thought. Suddenly, Chrissy heard another little growl, but it wasn't the creature. It was Will's stomach.

"Are you hungry?" Chrissy asked.

"Yeah," Will said.

Chrissy took off the backpack and pulled a couple of cans out of the bag. She opened it with the can opener she packed and handed it off to Will with a fork.

"Is this safe?" He asked.

"I don't know, but I figure it's better than starving to death," Chrissy said.

"That's true," Will said.

They ate their ravioli and took sips out of a water bottle before securing it back in Chrissy's bag. They settled back down into silence, waiting for the inevitable. Will was struggling to keep his eyes open, his head bobbing every so often.

"Hey, you can go to sleep if you want to," Chrissy said softly. "I'll keep watch."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yeah."

Chrissy wrapped her arm around him and pulled him to her side. Will rested his head on her shoulder and sighed before shutting his eyes.

"Thank you."

Neither one of them was sure of how much time had passed, but they both figured out how to communicate with Joyce. It was a long waiting game, and their doubts of being saved kept growing. They managed to pass some of the time with the books and paper that Will had in the room. They both were growing more tired the longer they stayed there, and she figured that they couldn't stay here for long before. . .she shook her head and focused on drawing.

"I didn't know you could draw," Will said as he scribbled alongside her.

"Well, my birth mom really didn't approve, so I get shy about it sometimes," Chrissy said.

"You're really good," Will said.

"Thanks, so are you," Chrissy muttered.

"Is that me?" Will asked.

"Yep," she said. "Is that me?"

"Yep."

Chrissy looked at Will and couldn't help but think of her own brother. She sighed, and Will looked at her questioningly.

"I just - I'm missing my brother," she said.

"Yeah, me too," Will said softly and yawned. "I'm getting tired again. I just slept, and I'm cold."

Chrissy pulled him into her arms again and held him tightly, rubbing his arms. She could feel herself getting sleepy and the cold settling into her bones.

"You need to rest as much as possible, I'll be here," Chrissy said and kissed the top of his head before falling asleep with him.

"Thanks for being my friend."

"Don't let go! Don't let go!"

"CHRISSY!"

"BARB!"

Chrissy woke up with a start, and her eyes widened when she heard the sound of the creature at the back door. It was trying to get in. Chrissy shook Will, but he wouldn't wake up. She cursed. She would have to carry him, which meant leaving her axe and bag behind. She picked up Will, struggling as she did so. Chrissy had made it out the front door when she heard the creature burst through the back door. She didn't hesitate, she started running. She was much slower with Will in her arms, but she managed to keep ahead of the creature. It was still pretty close with its nails grazing her pants, cutting open her jeans and her skin slightly. Why did she feel like this creature was holding back? Shouldn't it have killed them by now? Maybe it was toying with them. Limping, she lost track of it and hurried to lay Will back in Castle Byers. She collapsed next to him, and everything turned black. The last thing she heard was a young girl's voice telling them to hold on. When she woke up, she was in the hospital, and her mother's worried face was looking at her.

"Mommy?!" Chrissy croaked. "I'm alive?"

"Yes, baby, you're alive," Claudia wept.

Chrissy raised her arms, and Claudia went to her immediately, letting Chrissy hug her as tightly as she could. She sobbed into her mother's neck.

"Will?" Chrissy asked after a moment.

"I'm here," Will said and she looked to her left.

Will was laying in the bed next to her with Joyce and Jonathan beside him. Joyce walked around the bed and took Chrissy's hand in hers.

"Will told me what you did for him. You saved my boy. Thank you so much. I'm so glad you're okay," Joyce sniffled.

"It's no problem. I'm glad we're both okay," Chrissy said.

Her eyes landed on the bedside table where the drawing Chrissy and Will did.

"Oh, we found that in the woods where the bear attacked you," Joyce said and gave her a pleading look.

Chrissy guessed that was the cover story because who would believe the real story?

"Right," Chrissy said.

"I'm going to tell Dusty you're awake, and then I'm going to talk to the doctor," Claudia said and burst into tears again before placing a kiss on Chrissy's head.

She squeezed Joyce's shoulder on the way out. A moment later, Dustin came running into the room. He wept at the sight of her and went to throw himself into her arms but was stopped by Joyce.

"Carefully," she said.

Chrissy smiled and pulled Dustin gently into her arms. He sobbed into her neck.

"I'm okay, Dusty," Chrissy said. "I didn't even lose an eye."

"I happen to like having a sister," Dustin said as he pulled back and wiped his eyes. "I don't want to ever go back to not having one."

"Aww, Dusty, I love you too," Chrissy said softly.

"You're probably wondering what happened," Dustin said. "How you made it out of the Upside Down."

"The Upside Down?" She asked.

"That's what we've been calling the place the Demogorgon took you," Dustin replied. "That's what we've been calling the monster."

"Yeah, you're going to have to tell me everything," Chrissy said.

Dustin launched into the story with gusto. Apparently, the night Dustin snuck out him and his friends found a girl named El with powers who escaped from Hawkins Lab where she had been kept and experimented on by a man who forced her to call him Papa. She accidentally opened a gate to the Upside Down, and then she escaped. A monster ended up escaping, too, which was when it took Will and Chrissy. Hopper's investigation led to the finding of Hawkins Lab and the gate. Nancy got involved when she insisted on looking for Barb and Chrissy when Argyle witnessed their abduction. He had been in the woods looking for Will when he ran into Jonathan. Steve ended up joining them as well when he went with Nancy to his house to look for Barb. Later, Jonathan, Argyle, Steve, and Nancy went to draw the Demogorgon away while Hopper and Joyce went to rescue them. That's when Robin showed up at the Byers's looking for her sister. So, now in place of Tommy and Carol, Steve had made a new friend in Robin as well as Argyle and Jonathan. El ended up sacrificing herself to destroy the Demogorgon when it came back for them.

"Holy shit," Chrissy said.

"Yeah. It's a lot," Dustin said and paused. "They're saying the bear killed Barb but dragged her body away."

"I tried to - I tried to save her," Chrissy said, her bottom lip trembling. "I couldn't."

"Oh, honey, you were facing something, well, out of this world. You did everything you could possibly do," Joyce said and paused. "You can't save everyone, sweetheart."

"I know," Chrissy sobbed. "She was my friend."

Suddenly, Nancy was pushing past Joyce. When did she get here? Did she hear all of that? She must have because suddenly, Nancy was crawling into bed with her and holding her tightly. She was crying, too. She wondered for a moment if she would be able to get through this, but as Nancy held her and Dustin took her hand, she had family to help her with all of it.

Chapter Four

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starandcloud · 7 months

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Not Worth My Batteries

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick x Hard of hearing!reader

TW:

COD Masterlist

Masterlist

Y/N "Sharp" L/N was a special forces operator. Someone not to be messed with, someone who seemed super human. Who would've thought that they had a diability?

Loud crashes, bangs, and explosions weren't something that bothered you often. Only when you "had your ears on" did they bother you. Your ears were something you deemed and accessory if anything else. Something pretty to decorate, especially since they were as useful as a paperweight most days. Low humming, buzzing, and voices that sounded like they were underwater were something that you heard often. Along with the occasional accordion, but that was rare. You heard that obnoxious "Peppa Pig" theme song more often than accordions. Though you typically tied that back to, and blamed it on, having a plethora of younger siblings. You see, your brain often made-up noise so you wouldn't go insane. Which was normal for most people, but it was more common for you since you were hard of hearing. It came with it's ups and downs, such as with most disabilities. But you didn't really see yours as a disability, most of the time anyways. More of a mild inconvenience than anything else really, sure it annoyed you when your hearing aids died and everyone sounded muffled as hell; but other than that it wasn't that bad. One of the few things you enjoyed about this disability of yours is that you had the choice to be in certain conversations. If you decided you didn't want to listen? You'd shut your hearing aids off, honestly a good thing when you were in loud environments too. Afterall you could simply just, turn your ears off. Why damage your hearing more? Just turn them off, and it was one less thing you had to worry about.

Sitting on the couch you groaned as your back popped in the most uncomfortable way possible. You tilted your head and felt your neck pop.

"Mother fucker..."

You, thought, you mumbled.

"Heard that Sharp."

The voice was so distant you turned your hearing aids up. It was distant, not unrecognizable.

"Shut up Gaz..."

You mumbled as you relaxed against the couch and eventually slumped over and winced at the feedback of your hearing aids as the fabric of the couch rubbed against them.

"You should keep those turned on Sharp, we're not safe just yet..."

Gaz warned, his voice gentle and concerned but held some sort of superiority as you rolled your eyes.

"You won't let me get shot Garrick, plus you already know my view. If I/you die then I/you die." "Yes, I know Sharp. But damn, at least pretend you care about yourself."

He said, dropping onto the couch next to you and laughed when your socked feet hit his ribs lightly.

"Don't kick me, I'll tickle you again."

He heard you shift then the gently clicking of your hearing aids hitting the side table before a few quiet giggles. You quietly got up, shuffling your feet along the floor and watched as Kyle frantically signed at you to "sit now right now" and that you "wouldn't dare to shut the lights off". You smirked and flicked the lights off as you watched him drop his head back against the couch and you could practically hear the sigh he gave as he got up. Fun fact about losing a sense. Your other's become heightened. So while your had lost most of your hearing, your sight had enhanced. You moved quietly away from Gaz as he tried to grab you, knowing damn well that his sight in the dark was much worse than yours.

"Come on Y/N don't fucking do this..."

You could hear Kyle beg distantly as he fumbled over his own boots, you couldn't help but laugh as you watched him fall. This game of yours went on for a while until you lost sight of Kyle, you had gotten worried for a moment before you felt his arms wrap around you.

"Found you"

Kyle's voice bounced between distant and close as you squirmed against him.

"Fuck you Garrick..."

You said as you relaxed against him, the darkness around you was peaceful and comforting as you smiled gently. Your eyes slowly closed as you smiled and hummed gently in content. You could feel Kyle gently pepper kisses on your neck making your smile grow as you melted into him more. He always had a way of making you feel safe and loved with him, you were so glad you had taken him up on his offer for coffee a few years ago. You never would've thought he'd learn sign or buy you sensory things, he was a good friend and an even better boyfriend.

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jaeclerc · 10 months

Text

Baby Come Home // Charles/Daniel // 2.6K

tw: ableism towards a deaf character

Charles isn’t too sure when he first met Daniel, he has just always been there, like the shine in his maman’s eyes or the slight dip on the third step of the staircase leading upstairs. He can’t remember when he first noticed him, but he can remember the first time Daniel actually looked back at him and noticed him.

He was 6, staring up the stairs of their house as he watched Jules, Enzo, and Daniel bounce up to the top level, a frown on his lips. They thought they were so grown up, at their ripe age of 8. Maybe they were, Charles didn’t know. He was only 6. But, he desperately wanted to play with them and he signaled that with incessantly flashing the lights so Lorenzo would look at him so he could sign. Their mother was hunting down the new pack of batteries for Charles’ cochlear's and had been for the last hour.

“I want to play!” He signed to Enzo when he finally looked at him, rolling his eyes at Charles. “Please Enzo.”

Charles wasn’t that good at lip reading so when Daniel said something to him, he couldn’t quite understand, his face scrunching as he signed to Enzo.

“What?” He demanded, looking between both his brother and his cousin.

“Nothing, Charlie.” Jules signed back to him, before he turned to Daniel and gestured, presumably explaining that Charles was Deaf and couldn’t hear anything without his processors on. He also gestured to Enzo, pointing to his hearing aid on his left ear, probably explaining that all of them were on the deafness spectrum as best as an 8 year old could.

Daniel nodded, his head quirked to the side as he waved at Charles before turning to talk to Jules and Lorenzo.

“Daniel said he wants to play with you.” Jules automatically translated for him. Charles grinned and went to see if his Maman had found the batteries so he could actually talk to Daniel without missing every other word from his lips. He was trying hard to learn how to lip read in school but it was very hard and most of his family was at least to an intermediate level of ASL or LSF, so he didn’t have to use it at home.

Charles flickered the lights when he walked in the room, causing his Maman to look up as he signed “Did you find them?”

His maman gestured to the counter where his processors were laying on the counter, signing back that she had. He waited for her to help him put them back on him, smiling as they turned on and he could hear the world around him again.

He ran off to find Daniel to show him that his ears worked again. Kinda. Jules told him that his hearing ear and his Cochlear sounded a little different but Charles knew no difference, having always only heard through his devices.

The first time Charles really realized just how much Daniel meant to him, he was 14.

He was sitting at the lunch table with Enzo, Jules, and Daniel, fiddling with his processors. The noise in high school was a lot, even two weeks into the transition from his Deaf focused middle school into mainstream high school. His English skills were advanced, he could speak well, and he had no problems with focusing in a normal classroom, but the cafeteria was a different story. Thousands of voices and sounds came crashing over him all at the same time and he wasn’t used to it.

“Charles.” Enzo scolded when he saw him playing with the device. “Don’t break it again. Just take them off for the moment if you’re really that bothered.” Charles rolled his eyes at him but detached the magnets, making everything go silent around them as he looked at all of them. Charles started eating his lunch, chatting with Enzo and Jules as Daniel vocally spoke to them. They both took turns interpreting for him, but Daniel had spent years with them all. His own hands reflexively clumsily signing the main points of what he was saying, just fragments of what he was talking about, half formed but still clear enough for Charles to understand whatever he was wishing to express to all of them. Charles could lip read well, but he appreciated not having to focus on mouths.

Charles was struck by how fond he was of Daniel. He was hearing, raised in a hearing household, but he still tried for all of them in their native language, picking up their language and using it to communicate with them, especially Charles who relied a little more heavily on sign as he was born with profound Deafness, while Jules and Enzo were both only fully effected in one ear.

It struck him with a sudden quickness, how much he liked Daniel.

“Daniel.” He signed “You need to learn how to sign with both hands, you look like you’re speaking only halfway.” He giggled at the look on his face, smiling at the older boy as he picked at his school issued tater tots.

Daniel waved to get Charles’ attention once again and used both hands to sign to him.

“Enrolled. Class. Learn.” He said, and Charles nodded.

“Good. Because you can understand well but your signing is…not so good. Sorry.” Jules and Lorenzo both nodded their agreement, Jules turning slightly to speak to him.

“Charles is just picky. He grew up spoiled with everyone knowing sign so he never had to suffer through the well wishers who thought they were fluent. At least you try, but he is right. You really do suck at ASL.” Daniel gasped in mock offense, causing Charles to laugh again, flushing when people looked at him. He assumed he was being loud, but nobody at his table turned to shush him, so he just continued.

He nudged Jules, signing “You’re just jealous that Maman and Uncle said that I sign LSF better than you.”

Jules shook his head before saying “Bell.” and gesturing up to indicate to Charles that lunch time was over. He made sure to connect his transmitters again, cringing slightly at the cascade of sound as he gathered his things to dump them.

He felt a nudge and looked up to see Daniel, replying vocally when he asked “Ear?”

“Yes, I always put them back in after lunch, Though, I wish I could get away with not. Mr. Pross always breathes so loud into my microphone and has it pressed way too close to his mouth.” He shutters, and Daniel cackles. They had the same math class, so they walked together, pushing through the crowded halls.

Charles felt so cool walking with Daniel who was extraordinarily more popular than him. He smiled at Daniel as he cracked jokes, trying to only focus on his voice when someone bumped into him, slightly hard, jostling the hand Charles had reached up to push his magnet under his hair, causing his device to fall on the ground.

The culprit didn’t even stop to apologize as Charles bent down to pick his transmitter, trying to see if it was broken from the person stepping on it. He prayed it wasn’t, his parents had just bought him new racing red ones that he knew were not cheap. But, when he picked it up, he saw that the magnet was now detached and he frowned even harder.

“Hey!” Daniel called down the hallway, walking after the person who had jostled Charles. “Hey, you!” He caught up to them. It was that guy who had been taunting Charles, the guy from his Advanced French class that had asked why he was there if he was “SPED”.

“I’m just Deaf?” Charles replied in confusion.

“Wow! I didn’t know you knew how to speak.” was all he said, causing Charles to wrinkle his nose and look away.

“Why didn’t you apologize to him for bumping into him?” He demanded, glaring the boy down.

“Daniel.” He signed “It’s fine!”

“No, it isn’t, Charlie.” Daniel replied. He turned back to the boy, who had introduced himself as Zach on their first day if Charles could recall correctly.

“Danny, c’mon.” Zach chidded “He obviously said it’s okay.” He mocked Charles signing, and Charles flushed, embarrassed that this was happening in front of Daniel.

“Don’t mock him. Just because you barely know more than English doesn’t mean you get to mock him. You broke his fucking device. Imagine someone just walking over your precious phone. Say sorry.” Daniel snarled. Charles grabbed his wrist, shaking his head.

“Who cares? I’m sure he can make some sob story and get it covered.” Daniel shook off Charles’ hand and snatched Zach’s phone, chucking it over the railing of the level they were standing on, watching it clatter and shatter on the laminate floor below them.

“Let’s go.” Was all Daniel had to say, letting go of Zach and steering Charles away to their math class, leaving everyone there to gawk at them.

Charles’ parents were furious when they heard what happened, Daniel got suspended for 2 days, and Charles was pretty sure he was in love with Daniel when it was all said and done.

Charles took off his transmitters at 19. He was sick of the world demanding him to conform to their expectations of him. Demanding him to mold himself into a hearing person when he was not. He was Deaf.

“I understand.” His maman signed to him when he told her he was doing it. “It’s hard in this world. Your papa and I just wanted to give you the best accessibility that we could, but it has always been your choice. When you were about 3, you refused to wear them out for months and all our hearing friends would ask why we would let you do that. As if denying you the ability to be comfortable is the better choice. You can put them back whenever you want. If you want.” She kissed his forehead as he leaned against her, closing his eyes.

When he told Daniel, signing to him over FaceTime so the other man could practice his interpretation skills with him, he nodded.

“Good. You always seemed so uncomfortable with them on.” Charles beamed at him. Daniel always got him, above anyone else. He understood Charles more than anyone else in his life. He got all of Charles’ weird idiosyncrasies and appreciated them with so much reverence, it made Charles’ heart nearly beat out of his chest.

Charles was so in love with him, it made him almost feel sick with how struck he was by the other man.

“How are your classes?” He signed to Charles, capturing his attention again.

“So exhausting! You do not understand how tired I am of having to explain why I have my interpreter there and that she’s allowed everywhere I am. Soooo many people demanding to know why I don’t have hearing aids! Do they not understand the concept of being Deaf?” Charles rolled his eyes as he dramatically signed, exasperated.

He loved being Deaf, he was extremely proud to have grown up in a Deaf family, surrounded by not only his Monegasque culture, but also his Deaf culture, but it was not easy being Deaf in a world that was built for hearing people. Especially when people saw being Deaf as some sort of shortcoming, expecting him to do whatever to make them more comfortable with his Deafness, even if it meant sacrificing his own comfort and happiness. Charles was so tired of it, he spent years wearing his transmitters and dealing with how much he hated it just to fit in. He was sick of it.

He wanted to be comfortable and happy, he was born without his hearing and he liked it that way.

“I’m sorry, cherry.” Daniel shook his head, before turning his head to look at someone off cam. Charles couldn’t read his lips to even get an idea of what he was saying, annoyed that someone else was trying to take Daniel’s attention.

Daniel signaled the other person away and turned back to Charles, saying “Sorry, my roommate was wondering who I was talking to. He wants to go out to a party tonight.”

Charles pointed to his lips, raising his eyebrows as Daniel laughed and translated himself to Charles, causing the other to giggle.

“Are you going to go?” He asked, a bit sad but trying to keep it under wraps. The downside to being Deaf was that he was so used to keeping open and candid body language that it was hard to hide, even when he schooled his face.

“If you don’t want me to, I won’t. I wanna talk to you and we haven’t really spoken much since you started class.” Daniel expressed to him,

Charles frowned, shaking his head, trying to emphasize as he said “No, you should! I don’t want to keep you from having fun.” Even though all he wanted to do was talk to Daniel. More than anything.

Daniel signed “Love you.” which caused Charles to smile, his eyes wrinkling and his dimples popping out as he signed it back and hung up, sighing softly as he looked at himself in his phone’s reflection. He felt pathetic with how much he adored Daniel.

Charles was 20 when he got scouted by AR Models. He was 20 when his whole world changed. He was also 20 when he completely went publicly non-verbal, refusing to use his voice when he had his sign and anyone who was actually worth his time allowed him to use his interpreter.

When he told Daniel, FaceTiming him in excitement, too excited to even use the minimal words he usually did use with the other man, instead rapidly signing to him in LFS, which Daniel was hardly intermediate in.

“Charles!” Daniel signed back. “I do not know what you are saying, I don’t know LSF that well, darling.” Charles blushed, laughing a little as he simply spoke out loud to him.

Charles rarely ever spoke in public, but he would happily use his voice with Daniel, even if his volume control was hard to gauge.

“I got signed. I got signed to a modeling agency. I-” he went back to sign, English was too hard for him to express himself when he was this excited. “I got signed to be a model, Daniel. With a real fucking agency.”

The way Daniel’s face dropped made Charles’ heart ache in a way he never knew it could, the feeling nearly choking him out.

“That’s really good, cherry.” Was all he signed back and Charles was confused. Not only by how sad Daniel’s body language seemed, but by the way he wasn’t even smiling at Charles, his dark eyes looking conflicted as Charles watched him.

“I-are you not happy about it?” Charles asked, and Daniel only bit his lip, looking like he was about to sigh, but Charles couldn’t tell, he could never really tell through the phone. He cocked his head as he stared at Daniel on screen and he sighed as well, feeling the slight vibration in his throat.

Charles propped his phone on a window seal, too excited to tell Daniel about his new contract that he hadn’t even left the agency building before calling him. He stared at Daniel before going to talk, the other man obviously not going to respond to him.

“I don’t know what is wrong, but I wish you would tell me. I don’t even know-This is a dream come true for me, you know this. So I am confused why you look like a kicked dog.” Daniel frowned, his eyebrows furrowing but Charles was on a roll, already ranting, his signing getting more and more mixed up between ASL and LSF. He could not understand why Daniel wouldn’t be happy for him.

“Charles.” Daniel signed. “I am so happy for you. That’s all. I’m happy for you.” and then he hung up and Charles was left in the lobby of his new agency, phone disconnected and tears in his eyes.

Charles was 24 and drunk when he saw Daniel for the first time in 3 years. In some gay bar in New York City of all places, kissing another guy. Charles didn’t know his heart could break all over again, but here it was, shards in his hands in the middle of a neon lit dance bar.

Daniel looked up and spotted him, and then looked away. Charles wanted to fucking throw up all the espresso martinis he had just drank, and he turned away, smiling at the guy he was with. Who cared what Daniel thought anyway?

Charles wished he didn’t.

#charles leclerc #daniel ricciardo #jules bianchi #charles/daniel #there’s no ship name idk…#model charles au #author is HoH #there IS a part 2 just like lmk if u wanna see her!#f1 fic rec #f1 fic

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another-whump-sideblog · 2 years

Text

Jane’s Chapter Pt. 1: Things in Jane’s Basement

TWs in the tags

Masterlist

1. Chains. There are piles of them in the corners and they hang from various hooks on the ceiling and walls. You start to realize something is very, very wrong.

2. Blood. What else could it be? It stains everything. There’s even some splattered on the ceiling. Oh god. Oh god.

3. Knives. Lots and lots of knives, of every possible variety. Why the fuck are there so many knives? What could she possibly need so many knives for?

4. Tools. Normally that wouldn’t be very suspicious, but seeing pliers and hammers and drills laid out next to chains and knives, it feels wrong. Things are starting to fall into place. Odd things about Jane that you decided to ignore suddenly make sickening sense. You should be running, but you’re frozen, unable to look away. This can’t be real.

5. A car battery. That’s what that is, right? You haven’t seen one outside of a car before. It has wires hooked up to it, arranged neatly beside the other weapons. She used these on people. She used these on Kit and Dollie. Oh god, Oh fuck-

6. Syringes. So many syringes, some with stuff in them and some empty. There are bottles too, some with poison warnings on them. Kit was never delusional. Jane was torturing them and they warned you over and over again and instead you listened when Jane said they were still trying to find a medication that would curb the paranoia.

7. Muzzles and collars and leashes. What did she do to them? What the fuck?

8. Whips and ropes. Some are stained with blood. You need to leave, you need to leave right now. But can you leave the others behind?

You feel a presence behind you. Shit.

9. Jane. “I told you not to go into the basement, Bunny.” She giggles and tugs on your arm so you face her. “Aww, you’re shaking. Are you ready to see what happens to disobedient pets?”

10. Zip ties. She ties your legs together, tight tight tight, and chains your wrists to the wall. “There’s a good Bunny, already know better than to fight me. If you’d tried to run, I would’ve sliced your Achilles tendons! I’ll go easy on you, since you’re being so good.” You're frozen in fear, so terrified you can barely comprehend what she’s saying.

11. A box of nails. It goes with the hammer. She presses a nail against your left elbow, smiling. You can’t move no matter how hard you try. Why are you freezing up like this???

She brings down the hammer and drives the nail into your elbow, and you can move again. You writhe and scream and thrash and all you can feel is pain pain pain, you can’t even label it as sharp or cold or aching, it’s just pain running all through your arm and it won’t stop, it won’t stop it won’t stop! You hear giggling.

12. A hose. She waits for you to stop screaming before getting up to pull it out. You’ve traded the screaming out for begging, thinking back to what she said earlier. “Please, please, I’ll be good, I won’t disobey, please stop, I’ll be a good bunny, a good pet, whatever you want, please don’t hurt me, I won’t fight you, I’ll be good, I learned my lesson-“ you are cut off by a powerful blast of cold water that slams you against the wall. Water fills your lungs and it keeps coming, keeps coming, and your throat burns and you’re feeling lightheaded (heavy-headed? You feel light and heavy and the same time) when the water stops.

You cough up water and it hurts so bad in your chest and your throat and your nose and your arm, fuck, everything hurts please make it stop please please please-

You are blasted with water again.

13. Kit and Dollie. You don’t know when they got here. They sit and watch from a distance as Jane falls into a rhythm, blasting you with water and letting you breathe for only a couple seconds before doing it again. You thought everything hurt before, but now the cold is doing its job, and your ears and fingers and toes hurt as well. It’s never going to end. Kit and Dollie just watch. You hate them.

14. A first aid kit. Jane asks if you’ll go against her orders again and you say no, no, never, you’ll be so so good, and she smiles and tells you that she meant it when she said she was going easy on you, that if this ever happens again it won’t be just one nail in your arm and you nod and nod and apologize until she tells the others to come fix you up. She unlocks your chains and vanishes.

Dollie quickly grabs the first aid kit. She pulls the nail out without warning and you scream and try to scramble away, but your legs are still tied. She holds onto your arm and dries it with her shirt, then cleans the wound with some kind of cloth from the kit. You can’t stop crying. She bandages your elbow and you cry and cry and cry.

Kit brings several towels, a blanket, a shirt, pants, underwear, and a knife. You instantly recoil, and you can’t even beg because you don’t know what the hell they want.

15. A drain. You just noticed it. You watch the water that was drowning you just minutes ago make lazy circles around it. You feel a bit dizzy.

Kit speaks softly. “I’m going to cut off these zip ties, okay? I don’t think you’re stupid enough to try to run after that, so we’ll get these zip ties off and then we’ll get you in some dry clothes and warm you up.”

They approach slowly, and you let them. You watch the last of the water circle the drain as feeling returns painfully to your legs. You keep thinking it can’t hurt any worse and you keep being proven wrong.

16. Your pride. Kit strips you of your clothes and you don’t fight or resist. They hand you a towel, and you start to dry the water soaked deep into your skin. Every small movement hurts, and eventually Kit takes the towel back and starts drying you themself. You must’ve been going too slow. Whenever the towel gets too wet (by their standards, at least), they trade it out for a dry one. Once you’re over the humiliation, it’s kind of nice.

After you’re mostly dry, they help you into the dry clothes and wrap you in the blanket. You lie against them, too tired and too scared to resist or question. They comb their fingers through your damp hair and tell you things, answering questions you hadn’t thought of yet. “Dollie is quiet because she gets punished for speaking without permission. She lied when she said me and Dollie got our scars before coming here. If you try to run away, she will find you.” The blanket slips a bit, and they gently pull it back into place.

“She thought it was so funny, to have you trust her and make us watch. We had to wait in suspense, not knowing when she’d get bored and make you one of us, one of her pets... I’m so sorry.” You think Kit is crying. You close your eyes. Maybe you’ll wake up and this will all be a dream. Dollie hums a pretty song, and you feel numb in a nice comfortable way.

This is not the last time you’ll be in the basement. Not even close.

A/N: Let me know if I should tag anything else!

#whump #whump writing #whumpblr #intimate whumper #creepy whumper #pet whump #i think #nonhuman whumper #multiple whumpees #whumpee #whumper #caretaker #2nd person pov #if any of this is medically inaccurate it’s fine because this is not our universe lol #let me know what else to tag I’m new at this #torture tw #drowning tw #someone gets a nail hammered into their arm #jane’s pets

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hearfit · 2 months

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deaconwords · 6 months

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What’s Your Focus?

Last week we heard the parable of the ten bridesmaids, five carried extra oil for their lamps, five did not. This week we hear the parable of the talents. Both speak of our responsibility to act in accord with God’s will amid God’s absence. Both anticipate God’s return and the implications of that return. And both prompt us to wonder: Can we be faithful? Can we be who God expects us to be? What will we reveal about ourselves upon God’s return?

Not knowing how we will perform can fill us with fear, or it can enliven us with excitement for the task. It all depends on our focus, whether it be on ourselves or on others.

Our Bishop’s Convention sermon likened the oil that the bridesmaids maintained to hope. Our oil is our hope. And we must find and replenish ourselves with it in order to function courageously, fearlessly, for the Lord. And the good bishop offered the following words for where our hope, our oil, can be found.

“The oil we need is found in seeking and serving Christ in all people, in loving our neighbors as ourselves, in respecting the freedom and dignity of every human being. We burn brightest with the light of hope when we ease someone’s burden.

Feed the hungry. Speak out against bigotry. Live justly. Give generously. Heal the environment. Wage peace. Pray, work, and give for building up the reign of God. These are the ways we fill our lamps and prepare for the party that is coming.”

This is an unusual way to replenish ourselves. Isn’t it? I usually think replenishment comes when I get away, take a vacation, relax and recharge my personal batteries. It seems odd to me that I can add to my oil supply by helping other people. And yet, this is precisely what our bishop is suggesting. And many of us know it is true, even if it runs contrary to worldly thinking.

Mary Carter, in being awarded the Bell Award spoke of the oil she receives even as she works to lessen the suffering of others. In the video of her made for the awards evening she said as follows: “ It makes me feel good to help people……..it feels really good knowing you’re giving someone something they need and not asking for anything in return, you’re just trying to do something nice for them.”

I was glad that Mary was honored early in the ceremony because many of those awarded after her said the very same thing. They benefited, they received energy and hope for themselves in the process of helping others. Odd, strange, illogical, but still true.

Throughout my life I have found myself coming back again and again to a single page written in a book by Soren Kierkegaard. It speaks about action and inaction. It reads as follows:

“It is said that one rues ten times having spoken, for the one time one rues one’s silence. And why? Because the external fact of having spoken can involve one in disagreeable consequences, since it is something actual. But to have kept silent! Yet this is the most dangerous of all. For in staying silent a person is thrown wholly upon his own devices: here actuality does not come to his aid by punishing him, by heaping on him the consequences of his words. No, in this respect it is easy enough to keep silent. But for that very reason the person who knows the true object of dread fears more than anything, any fault, any sin, that takes an inward turn and leaves no trace in the outside world. The world thinks it dangerous to venture in this way, and why? Because one might lose; the prudent thing is not to venture. And yet by not venturing it is so dreadfully easy to lose what would be hard to lose by venturing and which, whatever you lost, you will in any case never lose in this way, so easily, so completely, as though it were nothing—oneself.”

Fearful inaction leads to non-being and death. Courageous action leads to learning, life, and the infusion of God’s hope into our lives. And moment by moment throughout our days we choose between these possibilities.

So many times I have experienced this choice in my own life. Often called upon to sit bedside with a patient who has decided to remove her life support and die naturally, I have entered the room in trepidation. What will I say? What can I possibly offer to this dying woman? Who am I to be the one to sit beside her as she leaves this world?

Do you hear the common denominator in these questions? Can you hear who is the object of concern? Of course, the questions are all about me, my fears, my insecurities.

Not knowing how we will perform can fill us with fear, or it can enliven us with excitement for the task. It all depends on our focus, whether it be on ourselves or on others.

And thankfully, I have experienced those times when I’ve dropped my self-centered fears and have simply been with and for others. When others have been allowed to be the focus of the moment, allowed to express what was theirs to express. And it’s made all the difference.

Surprisingly, unintentionally, in such moments I was personally nurtured, I was given new oil, new hope, new life for the journey, simply by being graced to see the world through the eyes of another.

Not knowing how we will perform can fill us with fear, or it can enliven us with excitement for the task. It all depends on our focus, whether it be on ourselves or on others.

Choose others more and more and be startled by the oil of hope that God will give to rejuvenate your being. Amen.

—Offered at St. George’s Episcopal Church 11-19-2023

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rediscoverhearing · 6 months

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Hearing Aid Perth - What You Need to Know

If you have lost your ability to hear properly, it can be a difficult adjustment. But there is hope and help is at hand.

A hearing aid Perth can make a huge difference to your life and can improve your sense of well-being and confidence. The Australian Government Hearing Services Program helps to pay for a hearing aid if you are eligible. There are also private options that can help with the cost of a hearing aid. However, it is important to get a professional assessment first before investing in any device. This will help to ensure that the hearing aid is correct for your needs and lifestyle.

There are many different brands of hearing aids available in Australia and some come with additional features that can enhance your quality of life. These include wireless connectivity with your smartphone so you can control your hearing aids without having to use a small, fiddly remote. This can be particularly helpful for those who suffer from arthritis and other conditions that make it hard to use the small buttons of conventional hearing aids. Other benefits can include rechargeable batteries that are easier to change than traditional battery models. Some models allow you to stream music and other audio directly into your hearing aids from your phone.

In addition to the standard model that sits in your ear canal, there are invisible hearing aids which can be custom fitted and sit within your ear. Invisible hearing aids are becoming increasingly popular as they offer a cosmetically pleasing and discreet option. Invisible hearing aids are also typically made from titanium which makes them more durable.

If your audiologist determines that you may benefit from a hearing aid, they will fit you with a trial pair of devices suitable for your hearing loss and lifestyle. This process allows you to evaluate how the hearing aids work for you before making a decision about whether to keep them or not.

During the assessment, you can expect your Audiologist to discuss your current health and lifestyle, and what you are hoping to achieve with your new hearing aids. They will also talk about the technology behind your hearing aids and give you an understanding of what features are available.

Some hearing aids are available in a range of colours, so you can find a device that suits your personal style. There are also a number of different styles of hearing aids, so you can choose one that is best for your ear shape and the type of hearing loss you have.

The audiologist at Value Hearing in Ardross, Perth can advise you on what your options are and recommend the right device for you. They have a wealth of experience fitting tens of thousands of patients with various types of hearing problems and are committed to helping you hear clearly again. They believe in a holistic approach to healthcare and will take into consideration your health, your budget and your lifestyle when recommending a solution for you.

Rediscover Hearing the Joy of Hearing with Your local & WA owned Independent Audiologists. Your local Hearing Aid and Tinnitus Specialists. Combined experience of 38 years.

#ear cleaning perth #custom ear plugs perth #hearing aid perth #custom earplugs perth

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kaerimichirami · 7 months

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bye-bye moratorium

“Is the phone working?”

“Yes, hm… there are many gigabytes worth of media, but actual footage from the night the girls went missing is hard to find… there’s this video, though, but it seems to be corrupted. Can you try opening the file?”

“Sure, lemme just...”

Hey, if there’s anyone listening to this, hmm… my phone battery is at, like, 57%? There’s no signal, I can’t call the police… I don’t think that’s something they would solve, though… If I get out of this alive, just a reminder, don’t fucking listen to Miwa again. Like, that girl is crazy… I don’t know where she is. I’m just saying, she is, she is a little insane, you know? I don’t know where the hell Krys is either… we were… we were together until a few minutes ago… or hours, I don’t know. We came here at… I think it was about midnight… the exits were blocked, I-I can’t get out. I’m trying to make my battery last, but I have such a weird feeling, that I needed to record something. Right now, I’m in the janitor’s closet, and… ugh, oh no, they’re trying to get in again. I don’t fucking know what these things are. I don’t know, I’m just really scared. I’ve always been skeptical about everything, but I swear to God I didn’t do any drugs, and I’m seeing them… hearing them… they try to force their way in every couple of minutes, then they back up… I-it’s crazy, they’re not human… they look human, but if you look closely, even in the dark… there’s something fucked up about them. It’s weird, it’s eerie, it’s creepy… I just want to make it until the sun comes up, then maybe daylight will save me? I swear, Miwa will pay for this… W-wait, Miwa, is that you? Is that really you? N-no way you’re outside. This is the third floor, Miwa, how the hell can I see you through the window? Can you see it? I don’t know if I can show it on the camera… that’s not her… look, right into the eye… the smile, that’s not my friend… this is something else, hell, they got her… S-she’s trying to break in… damn, I need to leave, but I don’t know where I could be safe… Wait, I hear something… that’s Krys, right? I don’t know if you can hear it in the video. ‘I found a way out, Lyni.’, o-okay, I’m opening the door…

“That’s definetely Eve…! And that thing she showed in the window was supposedly Miwa, right?”

“So you recognize this is your sister, Evelyn, right?”

“Y-yes. And the girl, it’s her best friend… but she doesn’t look that creepy.”

“See… by any chance, miss, could this be a prank? You know, we don’t have time for this.” I didn’t care about what the police said. It pissed the hell off. They always thought these things were just teenagers being stupid, but I knew my sister was in danger. Mom was too sick to actually do anything, and they… they wouldn’t help either. So I took matters in my own hands. I decided to think about what had happened, and gather all I knew.

Evelyn, Miwa and Krystal… three best friends. For some reason, Miwa was always interesed in the occult, and all sorts of supernatural stuff. They were high school seniors, and I’m a freshman. They were graduating soon, and decided to visit their abandoned middle school building, at night. The last message from Eve was ‘there are things here, and I don’t know what they are’, followed by an ‘I love you, Celine'. They always called Evelyn ‘Lyni’, and Krystal was ‘Krys’. Miwa was always just Miwa. She would always be this self-entitled leader, and would often put my dilligent and serious sister in a bad position. I never really did like Miwa, but it seemed like no matter how rational my sister was, she looked bewitched. As for Krystal… she always seemed to be left out in a way, but she tried so hard to belong to that friendship. In a way, they were pieces of the same puzzle. And I needed to figure it out.

They had left last Friday, and today I skipped school to do research on my own. I got some food, water, toilet paper, a first-aid kit, my phone with at least 50 gigabytes of memory available, a power bank, a lighter, a flashlight and some weapons for self-defense and started my journey. The police really didn’t care about their job. They were missing, but you could still enter the building. They had searched every room, or at least, that’s what they had said. It was really easy to get in, and I tried to pinpoint where my sister was when she recorded the video.

The whole atmosphere was eerie. A middle school, you’d think, is one of the loudest places on Earth, right? But it was so silent… not, it was silenced. It was cold, it was weird at best. There were still chairs and tables in the cafeteria, and desks inside the classrooms. An expensive espresso machine in the teacher’s room. I soon made my way to the third floor. The staircases were damp, maybe because it had rained the day before. I slipped, but managed to get up.

I found it. I knew what it was like from what I saw, since it was open. I recognized the shelves and products on them. So, my sister wasn’t there anymore… well, that’s what you’d presume from the video, right? The glass window had some spills of red… was that blood? Well, probably.

I walked around farther, and I couldn’t find much. It was a huge building, though, so I had a long night awaiting me. It’s not like I had anyone to go back home to. So I held tight to my own shirt, and moved on. I passed the library, and my sister was not only a member of the student council, but she also helped file books and other boring library stuff. I mean, she was kind of a nerd. She was really into literature, and the library always brought her peace. So… could she be there?

Upon entering the room, my nostrils met a terrible smell… things that smelled centuries old, and the school hadn’t been shut down for even a decade, thus how could it smell like that? The books were all there… all there. Untouched. I moved my body through the narrow space between the bookshelves. I could hear the sound of my own footsteps, but, also, a very low noise… it seemed like someone was crying. I stopped for a moment, somewhat scared. I felt it building up badly, and my heart started to sink, like in some kind of bad, certainly, omen.

Badump-badump, my heart soon felt so huge inside my chest. Badump-badump, the cries grew closer to me, as I moved my body forward almost unconciously. Badump-badump, something was… coming… when I felt hands covering my mouth from the back, and I wasn’t alone anymore.

“Don’t. Get. Closer.” It was Eve’s voice, for sure. I was about to cry, I looked at her… she looked completely fucked up. Like she hasn’t eaten or slept for days… well, maybe that was true. “Eve!” I cried.

“You shouldn’t be here, Celine.”

“B-but I was looking for you. You’ve been missing for days!”

“Days, Celine? I’ve been here for 10 years.” I looked at her, staring deep into her soul. She was joking, right? “You’ve grown so much… I missed you.”

“Do you want to eat something?” I didn’t know what to say, thus I tried looking after her instead. My sister often seemed bored by all sorts of things, but she also was in high spirits when it came to me or her friends. I wanted that back.

“Why did you come here?”

“Because they’re looking for you. I mean… the police found your video, and…”

“What video?” She thought for a moment. “Oh… I had forgotten about this. Anyway, this is strange, Celine… it all happened when you were five years old. The police stopped coming here ages ago.”

“B-but it was… three days ago…” I finally came to my senses, as I was held in my sister’s embrace. “I just have been so overwhelmed… taking care of mom… she’s sick.”

“I’m sorry. That is my fault, Celine. I shouldn’t have come here that day.”

“But what happened? I don’t… I don’t get it, Eve… are you… dead?” I could feel her touch, so how could Eve be dead, right?

“It’s hard to explain, but this place isn’t part of the normal world you live in. It’s something else. I stopped aging and needing basic human stuff like food or water when I came here. But it’s not like I’m immortal, I think. I also can’t get out. Once you come here at night, it never becomes day. Even if other people come here to search for you, they can’t find you. It’s like you’re in another place. And now you’re trapped, with me.”

“What about Miwa and Krys…?” I was already sobbing at that point.

“Miwa isn’t… Miwa… she’s some sort of entity, who lured me into this world. Krys died that day. This is why I know I’m not immortal. During the first night, Miwa came after the both of us, and I killed her, but not before she could have killed Krys and used her body to try to deceive me once again. I ended both of them, but I never got out of here myself. It’s impossible.” My sister was the smartest person I knew, so, how could she remain defeated? “There’s some kind of block, I think. It separates this place from the real world, or afterlife, or anything else.”

“Then why… why did I think it was recent? Why did I come here, Eve?”

“I don’t know… you got a call, perhaps. Maybe you just missed me, and taking care of mom fucked up your head.”

“Do you know… how much time has passed?”

“Yes. I counted the days. There’s a working computer, despite there being no actual power. I don’t know what keeps it alive, it just, well, is… there’s no internet access, but I have been writing a lot. If we’re gonna try to escape, which I think you’ll suggest, let me back up the stuff I wrote first, please.” It was indeed confusing. This place seemed to operate differently than the usual world, thus I didn’t try to make it make sense. I just went along with it.

After the back-up was done, we started exploring, passing from each hall until we got to the gymnasium. It was still night, surely… the moonlight was hitting the pool, and the water looked so pure, crystal clear. There was a certain spot that was even brighter, and it looked like some kind of entrance… or exit. I looked at my sister, she looked at me.

“It would be crazy if this was our way out, right?”

“Does anything here make any sense?” I answered. We held tightly into each other, and we jumped through the moonlit spot. As we made our way through it, I was back home. I woke up in my bed, my head being patted sweetly. Eve was sitting beside my bed, taking care of me. She smiled sweetly at me.

“So you finally woke up. Don’t worry, you don’t have a fever anymore.” That’s right… mom wasn’t just sick… she had passed, and then I started panicking. We never had a father, then my sister went missing, and then my mom got really sick… when I realized I had lost everyone, I was so terrified. I wasn’t even in high school anymore… I was already in my twenties… reality just wasn’t making sense until then. “Well, if you’re feeling better, I’m going now, okay?” My voice wouldn’t come out. I wanted to say “thank you” and “I love you”, but my throat was so dry. “I love you so much, Celine, I’m proud of the woman you’ve become.” Soon, she left and I had only myself again. I thought about it for a couple seconds, and then I burst out crying.

I got up, to my recollections… I had newspaper cuts… my sister and her friend Krystal, that day, were murdered by her so-called friend, Miwa. When interviewed, she said she “wanted to know how it felt to kill someone”. She went to jail, but shortly after she ended her own life.

I decided to see my sister’s grave, where my mother’s body was later placed, too. I was on my own, until the day I died, I was on my own. I didn’t know grief was that hard to deal with. That I could have such weird fever dreams. I prayed for her, and I wished her so much love. For mom, too, of course.

I treated myself to some sickly sweet ice cream, and watched something that was easy on my heart. ‘Maybe I should try getting some help.’, I thought. I looked to my side. There was no one there, Celine, and I couldn’t fool myself anymore. Despite the eeriness, I’d like to go back to that dream, and be wrapped in my big sister’s arms once again. If she could hold me tightly, and kiss my little forehead… but, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t fall asleep.

Daylight entered my small apartment… my eyes felt sore, my lips were dry, cracking. I got up, made myself a meal and swore I would get through it, just another day. Still, as I ate it, I felt like everything was so unfair, and burst into tears again. I just wanted her slender fingers over my little baby hands, and to ask her to play with me once more. But there I was, awake and alive. There were no monsters but Ms. Death itself. Miwa was already dead, there was no revenge to be done…

I had to be satisfied with the fact that unlike mom and sister, I was there, and still had a long path ahead of me. But I was still so young, so fragile, scared, hurt… deep down, I was that kid who never understood things well. This cruel world, that took everything from me, and that gave me false hope from that dream… I couldn’t forgive it.

There was no need to, right? I didn’t need to forgive anyone or anything. I didn’t need to forgive my father for leaving. I didn’t need to forgive Miwa. I didn’t need to forgive my own little crazy mind. I could just eat another pint of ice cream, and get through it. Once again. I felt like my fever was coming back, and I wished to see my sister’s smile once again.

I was in a state I felt small, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t function properly. I had been so strong for many years, but I couldn’t move on from that. I was stuck to that grief, to that loss, to that feeling of being human. I searched in my belongings again, something that gave me any kind of strenght, something… then, I received a couple of texts, one after the other.

Unknown sender: miwa made krys and i come along to st. catherine academy, but i don’t get what’s happening. it’s weird, cel. something’s wrong.

i don’t know where miwa is.

wait, i lost krys too. I thought she was with me.

there are things here and I don’t know what they are

I love you, Celine

(End of story)

Author's comment: Hello. Thank you for reading my story. This is my first attempt at something scarier, very angsty. I recently read 'Kitchen', by Yoshimoto Banana, and I wanted to work on grief. Actually, the story process was quite like this:

I want to write about three girls getting lost and messing with the occult -> I want to use it as an analogy for grief and loss -> I want to make it about a time loop.

The end is very open, right? You could think whatever you want. You can think Celine fell asleep again and had another dream. Or that the school is actually a haunted place, and the time-space in this story works differently than in the real world. Personally, I don't have an opinion.

This is part of my 'glazing a look at my way back home' series, introspective, queer-ish stories. Well... there's nothing that queer about bye-bye moratorium, although the characters were pictured based on my existing OCs that are queer. If you want to read something just as angsty, but more queer, please check out my other work published here, called 'Sleeping with Scorpions', that is about a transman accepting himself after, well, having scorpions on his bed.

I also have a lighter story, called @apronapril

I don't expect people who enjoy bye-bye moratorium to enjoy apron april too, but it's the same author, right?

#literature #young adult #supernatural #sasoris #glancing my way back home

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hardynwa · 11 months

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INSIGHT BEYOND SIGHT: THE INSPIRING JOURNEY OF A VISUALLY IMPAIRED DOCTORAL STUDENT OF UNN

Ugochinyere Angelic Okereke is a visually impaired Doctoral student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and also the coordinator of Post-graduate Students with Disabilities at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). It is pertinent to state that the scholar's visual impairment did not start from birth. With sight, she had her primary and secondary education, and with the aid of reading glasses obtained the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) in English Language and Christian Religious Studies at the College of Education, Ebonyi State where she hails from. Without sight, she continued her first Degree in the Department of Arts Education, UNN. She is an academic enthusiast with lots of research publications to her credit. Deborah Uzoma engages her on her educational challenges and advocacy in this interview. Please, tell us about yourself? My name is Ugochinyere Angelic Okereke. I am currently running a Ph.D. program in the Department of Arts Education, at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. My Area of specialization is English Education and my research interest is Inclusive Language Teaching and Learning. I am also the Coordinator of Post-graduate Students with Disabilities at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. Thank you. What barriers do you face as a visually impaired scholar? As a visually impaired student, I face lots of barriers. First, the nature of visual impairment demands that we read with either our sense of hearing or our sense of touch. With the help of technology, various software applications and hardware devices, persons like me who are visually impaired are able study. However, when these technologies are not easily accessed, it becomes disheartening. For instance, to carry out my research, I need to use my laptop, and make use of the screen reading software. When the Laptop battery is low and there is no electricity supply, it becomes a problem. The reading stops until the power supply is restored. With the way the power supply fluctuates in this part of the world, it becomes frustrating. Furthermore, I find it challenging accessing reading materials, this is because some lecturers do not fully understand what inclusive education means, especially as regards including persons with visual impairment. Some lecturers do not make provision for soft copies for visually impaired students. They give illustrations on the board without minding the need to describe the illustrations. Again, most of them do not know that persons with visual impairments require extra time to perform class activities- submission of assignments and writing examinations. As someone with visual impairment, a lot of diligence is required to stand out in one’s field of study; I barely sleep up to four hours in a day, as I study almost all through the night just to meet up. All of these are to ensure I meet with the academic demands and any available scholarship. Another big challenge is the financial demand that comes with the education of persons with visual impairment. Training a visually impaired student is capital intensive. Our gadgets are expensive, and you must have all of them to enable you meet up with the academic demands. Undoubtedly, you must have a laptop with a screen reading software, meaning that the Laptop's specifications must be relatively high. You can imagine how much that would cost. You also need scanners to convert hard copies to soft copies. It takes time, energy, and money. Personally, I don't have the resources to get all the gadgets needed. To scan a hard copy, I sometimes take my work to an NGO that scans works free for persons with disabilities and this may take a whole lot of time. I also face environmental barriers: Most times, there are lots of noise coming from students and noisy generator sets from nearby business centers, offices and houses. That is why I chose to read more at night than in the day to overcome the distractions. As the coordinator of Post-graduate Students with disabilities, what other scholarly activities and advocacy do you carry out for your group? I devote my time to ensure that the educational needs of persons with disabilities are met, such as the smooth processing of their admissions and accommodation on campus.At the University level, the Dean of Students’ Affairs in UNN has accepted our proposal to include students with disabilities in Odili Post Graduate Hall Government. Also, we were assured that every 25th November will be marked as Disability Day in UNN. We hope that all these will be implemented. What would you like to tell the general public concerning education, job procurement, scholarships, political participation, and grants to persons with Disabilities? First, there is a need for training and sensitization of the general public on the rights of persons with disability. Respects to these rights ensures equal access to education, employment, job procurement, scholarships, political participation amongst other things. Scholarships, and Research/business grants, job offers, leadership positions should be made available by both Government and Non-Government bodies in such a way that it is easily accessible for persons with disabilities. School environment, teaching methods and materials should be modified to suit learning needs of persons with disabilities without compromising qualities. Read the full article

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awn-moo · 1 year

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<[VIDEO ID - PART FOUR OF ???]>

Vic and Ingo are sitting on old station benches, facing each other.

“So, how often do you get to go down in these tunnels? Or get reports of trespassers?” Vic asks, crossing his right leg over the left.

“It’s a rare sight for me to be down here. At the beginning of working for the station, Emmet and I would sneak away down here during lunch breaks. Now, this occasion is the first time I’ve been since then. As for the reports? Quite often. Security catches a lot of people trying to get in. Emmet and I also catch them on security footage. Despite the safety warnings, people still decide to chug along.” Vic nods as Ingo speaks.

“Well, I am thankful for this opportunity we have to be down here. I almost always ask to enter places like this with security. Mostly because I don’t want to get fined for trespassing, but also because I know that safety risk. When Curt told me you and Emmet okayed this adventure, I was so excited. Truthfully, I had expected a no, so hearing a yes drove me into a planning spiral. I uh, I didn’t sleep because I was planning so hard.” Vic sheepishly laughs at that last part, raising a hand to lightly rub the back of his neck.

“Really? I didn’t think exploring took a lot of planning.”

“Oh! Yeah, it takes quite a lot of it. You have to be aware of any pokemon that will potentially be there, safety risks and precautions, what attire is most suitable, what to bring, how many people do you have to watch for, and just, a lot of technical stuff. I know security checked my bag upon arrival, as it’s packed pretty tight. But I’ve got first aid, simple antidotes and potions, backup camera batteries, extra mics, respirators in case of black mold, gloves, and even shoe protectors.” Ingo nods as Vic speaks. In the background, Flit and Luxa can be seen resting next to each other on a bench.

"You are well equipped. How long have you been running along these tracks?" Ingo asks, crossing his legs. Vic hums and leans back.

"Ah, I think it started when I explored Sea Mauville during my Hoenn challenge. So I think around 12 years? So I've got plenty of mistakes under my belt," Vic laughs, "But yeah, after doing it for so long, you start to take planning very seriously. My first actual video of doing this a couple weeks back was rough. I didn't plan and it was my first time recording one of these. I also kind of freaked myself out beforehand." Vic then looks towards the camera.

"Don't smoke a dangerous amount of weed before going exploring. Be sober, but then again, don't go exploring without taking a buddy along. The most dangerous thing you can do is explore alone." He then turns back towards Ingo, who's laughing softly.

"Good advice. Safety checks are verrrrrry important." Vic smiles and nods.

"Shall we keep going?" Vic asks as he slowly gets up. He stretches a few times as Ingo hums in agreement.

A voiceover plays as the scene changes. The camera pans slowly across the empty station. Benches with moss are scattered throughout, all in rows facing each other, while a few are missing. Most of the lights are out, with only the few working ones barely illuminating the space. The soft purple glow from Flit illuminates the darker areas as she hovers just out of frame.

“After the small sit-down conversation in the old station, we explored the area for a while. Now, to keep things short, I can’t show off everything we encountered. But after this exploration, we headed back. I couldn’t sense any pokemon within these walls, it just felt so still and silent in there. Being with Ingo and our pokemon helped lift the heaviness. Maybe I’ll try to come back and explore more, but for now, may I see you all again at a later date.”

The voiceover fades away as soft music slowly takes its place. The camera pans to an old ticket booth that sits tucked away in the dark. The next shot shows the inside, as papers sit across the desk alongside an older looking keyboard. There are some low-light vines draping across the ceiling. There are a few more shots of the benches, the flickering lights, and the vast emptiness of the area. At the end as the screen fades to black, a polaroid photo appears. It’s of Vic, Ingo, and their Chandelure. At the bottom is written, “RIP In Peace Curtis Caughner. You didn’t have a Chandelure so you died. So sad ;<”

<[END VIDEO ID]>

#pokeblogging #pokemon irl #pkmn irl #vics urbex adventure #Urbex Adventures #long post

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httpjeon · 3 years

Text

heajix ― jungkook (m.)

jungkook/reader | alien!au | angst, fluff, smut

wordcount: 13.1k

contents: violence, blood, stabbing, minor character death, murder, mentions of mass genocide, knotting, breeding kink/impreg kink, light size kink, dirty talk, blowjob, fingering, cunnilingus, begging, multiple orgasms, light cumflation, cum eating, cum sharing

― synopsis: you find yourself on palacios, home to the sehebon. unfortunately, it’s not by choice and you quickly realize how deadly the planet is.

note: heajix is pronounced hay-jicks

blog masterlist ― made of stardust masterlist

You'd been traveling, backpacking to be precise, through Fanet IV System — the newest system to be open for interplanetary travel. While you were traveling and exploring the newly available system and planets you began experiencing extreme technical difficulties. You wound up having to make an emergency landing on the planet of perpetual night called Palacios, home of the Heajix — an obscure, secretive race small in population.

Unfortunately, the least developed planet hadn't taken too kindly to their status of open-for-visits and had seemingly gone into a global lockdown of some sort since it began.

The second you stepped off your craft, you began to cough. The pollution in the air and smog that you could see had you scrambling for the mask you'd been given ahead of your visit.

You were in the heart of the capital city, Yathe, and it was nothing like you'd expected. Instead of a bustling metropolis like on all the other planets — it was nothing but abandoned buildings and graffiti covered walls. There seemed to be limited electricity supplied as street lamps flickered on and off, though most didn't work. The ones that were flickering helped you navigate your way around regardless.

The place was basically lawless, from what you knew, and the citizens did what they wanted to for the most part.

Pulling your backpack over your shoulders, you began to make your way through a nearby residential area. The houses, if you could call them that, were dilapidated and run-down; some had broken windows and others were completely destroyed. The Heajix's native tongue was plastered all over the ruined buildings and, while you weren't fluent, were talking shit about the other planets.

Using the flashlight on your phone, and aided by the illumination of the moon, you managed to find yourself in front of a house. It was small and wooden, no doubt old. When you walked inside, you realized it was just a simple one-room house with an attached bathroom as the only other room.

It was a gamble to assume it was unoccupied but, you really didn't have any other choices since you really couldn't spend the night out on the street. Your communications were down and there was no cell service.

You sighed and stepped inside, wincing at the visible dust floating around the room — thankful for your mask. When you turned to lock the door, you were dismayed to find there was only a broken locking mechanism. Groaning, you banged your head against the door.

"Why does my life suck? This planet might actually kill me!" You grumbled to yourself.

You dropped your backpack on the floor, unraveling the sleeping bag that was attached at the bottom and dropping it in a suitable sleeping place. There was a window right beside the front door, large enough for you to clearly see outside and allowing the moonlight to drift in.

You placed your bag in the corner near your sleeping bag and sat down. It was soft and cushioned, helping you to not feel the hard, rough floor beneath. There was a pillow sewn into the sleeping bag which you laid your head on.

The trip had been long and grueling, taking a week to complete so sleep quickly caught up to you. As your eyes fluttered closed, just before darkness completely overtook you, you swear you saw someone moving in the window.

Waking up to no sunlight was definitely jarring and you quickly realized that your circadian rhythm was going to flip out. Regardless, you looked at the time and it was just past 9 in the morning so you stood up and stretched, intending to take a shower. Grabbing your backpack, you dragged it over to the bathroom. Toting the thing made you realize how heavy it was — you'd packed so much into it for the trip. It hit the floor with a clunk and you were briefly concerned it would break the wood floor beneath.

There was a shower — a rusted spigot and a broken hot water nozzle. You groaned, realizing how shitty your morning was about to be. You reached in, turning the nozzle. The pipes clanged loudly and made a high pitched wailing noise before spurting out water. Your jaw dropped open and you let out a cry of despair at the yellowed water.

After finishing your horrifying shower, 20 minutes of holding in shrieks from the cold polluted water, you sat on the floor in the main area by the window. You did notice that the moon was a lot brighter than it had been and provided more visibility. Pulling out your file from your backpack, you hunched over the floor to take note of the crummy conditions the planet lived in along with their lack of fresh, clean water.

It was a hobby of sorts, traveling through newly opened solar systems and journaling your stay on the planets.

Checking your phone, you noticed it was nearing noon and your stomach began to growl. You slipped your shoes on and put the mask back on your face before stepping out; hiding your belongings in the bathroom to make it seem like the house was empty should anyone come by.

When you stepped outside, you felt a shiver travel up your spine at the ominous atmosphere. It was completely silent, not a single soul in sight and it set you on edge. Pulling the hood of your hoodie up, you kept your head down as you began to walk towards the area where your ship had been parked.

Truth be told, it was quite common on planets of weaker economies for the Capital Planet to provide the citizen with rations.

There were other planets you'd seen them on, and as you walked through the smoggy city you were pleased to find a run-down building marked with a giant red symbol of Vulia — capital of Fanet IV.

The glass doors were smashed open and you easily stepped inside. It was dark and dusty with minimal light helping to guide you. Finally giving in, you turned your cell phone's flashlight on and began to look around.

The place was massive and you were shocked to see that the shelves were still lined with food. It wasn't abundant but it was clear not many people had been picking from the rations.

You grabbed some things from the shelf, realizing you should have brought your backpack. Most of the food was marked in foreign text but you didn’t care. You just needed food or else you wouldn’t survive long enough, on the planet, to even figure out how to get home.

You put some in your pockets and carried others in your hands as you swiftly left the building. Looking around, you felt like someone was watching you but the streets were pedestrian-free. In fact it was eerily empty — it was reminiscent of a ghost town. Strange considering it was the capital city of the planet.

Not wanting to risk getting into trouble, you hurried on your way the your ‘home’. Regretfully, as you shut the door, you remembered the door didn’t properly lock. You weren’t particularly handy enough to really fix it by yourself, unfortunately.

You saved as much food as you could in order to avoid having to go back out and quickly found yourself bored. Looking at the clock, you realized it was only about 2pm. There was no way you could go outside to find something to do. Aside from the fact you knew close to nothing about the planet, you also didn't feel safe out and about.

So you sat there, watching the hours tick by. Your phone battery was depleting and there was no way to charge it — the planet wasn’t quite equipped with outlets and electricity. Once it was dead you were going to be so fucked — no flashlight and no way to tell the time.

It was still early when you decided to roll out your sleeping bag and lay down. You spent a while simply staring at the walls and ceiling daydreaming.

As you lay there in your own world, out of the corner of your eye, something shifted in the darkness of your window.

You sat up quickly, turning your head to look but found nothing to see.

"Now I'm starting to hallucinate," You grumbled, laying back down and turning your back to the window.

You sighed when you woke back up, glancing at your phone indicated it'd only been a couple hours. Blinking the sleep out of your eyes, your gaze shifted to the window once again.

Your breath caught in your chest when you could make out the shape of a person standing there — silhouetted against the moon's light.

You couldn't see their face but you knew they could see you, you could feel their gaze burning into you, as they brought their hand to the glass and tapped three times. You didn't breathe, eyes wide with fear you watched as their head tilted to the side. They lifted their hand up again, no doubt intending to knock again when they froze.

You swear you could hear muffled voices but it was so faint it was nearly impossible to be sure that's what you heard. The person's head snapped to the side, body going stiff.

Much to your horror, a second figure made an appearance from a few feet behind them.

All was still for a second before the first figure bolted and took off running. The second person stood there for a second and you were scared they were going to harass you as well. However, the person turned and walked in the opposite direction the other one ran.

With your sleeping bag pulled up to your eyes, you knew you weren't going to be falling asleep again.

When the morning came, you began trying to fix the lock — the night before having made you terrified for your safety. It was a simple type of latch and it took you hours to figure out a way to get it to work — with the help of a bobby pin and a spare pen you had in your bag.

It wasn't the best but it gave you a sense of peace of mind.

You hoped you'd be able to sleep.

Staring at the window, you sighed — maybe you could find something to cover it up when you grew the courage to go out again. You really needed to, having run out of rations and on your last bottle of water that you had collected.

Your phone was almost completely dead after you had been using it to light your work on the lock. The bar was red indicating a sad 18% power left.

The time was a bit past 5PM and you decided to go while it was still technically daytime. Once outside, you wanted to cry with how much you hated it.

Curse you and you terrible luck.

You could only hope that the signals for help you'd sent out would miraculously find their way to someone who could help you. There was also the possibility of you finding someone in Yathe who could help you — whenever you gained the courage to venture around and find help for yourself.

Until then, you'd just suffer by yourself.

You did the rounds again, this time you stuffed much more into your backpack — which you’d remembered to take. Every little creak and gust of wind caused you to jump, the image of that person standing at your window was still haunting you.

You were going to be severely out of luck soon; with no phone, no way to contact Earth or a nearby planet to get to for safety, along with the apparent stalkers hiding in the dark. With worries weighing heavily on your mind, you found yourself drifting into your thoughts. Anxiety riddled your being and you cursed yourself for not having been prepared for an event like the one you were in.

The only thing that pulled you from your thoughts were the heavy footsteps not far behind you. The hair on the back of your neck stood on end and your hands began to tremble. Taking a glance over your shoulder, you saw a broad-shouldered individual meandering around behind you. With their hood pulled over their head, you couldn't see their face but you were sure it was a man.

When he noticed you looking, he picked up his pace intending to catch up to you. You held a whimper of fear in, speeding up your own pace.

His footsteps sped up again and you felt tears of fear pricking at your eyes — your house was right up ahead. You could get inside and lock him out.

Just before you reached your house, the footsteps stopped altogether. When you glanced over your shoulder, you saw the man talking to another person.

He had a friend.

You were in such deep shit.

Practically bolting to your house, you locked the door shut and placed your backpack in front of it — it was heavy and it wouldn't do much. Nonetheless, it helped you feel safe. You slid to the floor underneath the window, out of view.

Despite your fear, your stomach began to grumble with hunger. You chanced a peek out of the window and found there was not another soul in sight.

Your hands were shaking so bad it made it difficult to bring your drink safely to your lips. It took you an hour, according to your phone, to eat some of your food as you had kept drifting off into space.

A loud bang made your eyes shoot open, having fallen asleep against the wall with your knees to your chest. Drowsy, you looked around for the source of what woke you up.

Another bang and you saw your poorly locked door move with the weight of someone slamming against it. You scrambled backwards away from the door, eyes wide as tears pricked at them in fear.

There was nothing you could do as the lock gave and the door flew open. A man stood there, shoulders heaving as he glared at you. You could see only his eyes as his face was masked with scarf.

"Please..." You whispered, backing yourself into a corner.

"I knew you were a human," He growled, voice gruff and raw. "You know you're not welcome here."

"I-I..." Your mind blanked with any defense you could have made.

Just as he took another step forward, a second larger figured barreled through the open doorway. He was covered by an oversized black hoodie and black face mask. The heavy black boots on his feet added more to his height. You saw your life flash before your eyes and you just knew you were doomed.

"You—" The new man moved forward in the blink of an eye and had the other man jacked up against the wall by the front of his shirt.

"What did I tell you?" The second man asked, voice muffled by the full-face white mask he wore.

"Look—" The first man began but stopped when the second tightened his grip. "Fuck fine, I'll go."

The second man said nothing, simply letting the other go for him to run out the door. He sighed, shoulders relaxing as he turned to you.

You were frozen where you sat, his dark eyes, through the dark shadow his long bangs casted, doing nothing to quell your fear.

"What's your name?" He suddenly asked.

"_-_____," You muttered, not taking your eyes off him as he began to walk around your house. His boots thunked against the wood floors as he investigated whatever he saw.

"Well ______," He turned to you and sighed. "My name's Jungkook."

He crouched in front of you, the chain hanging on his jeans jingling when it met the floor, pulling the bands around his ears off and removed his mask.

It felt like the air was promptly knocked out of you. Even in the dark you could make out beautiful features on his face; wide, sparkling doe eyes with long curly bangs that hung in them. He had pretty, delicate lips with a small freckle beneath and a sharp jawline.

He was young and really good looking.

"N-Nice to meet you, Jungkook..." You stuttered.

He cocked his head to the side, fully sitting on the floor in front of you with his legs spread and arms resting on his knees. His dark eyes analyzed you, scanning over your features and body.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, his voice portraying no identifiable emotion.

"I-I just found this e-empty house and—"

"No, I mean why are you here...on Palacios," He nibbled on his bottom lip as he stared at you.

"I um...I was traveling and had to make an emergency landing on the nearest planet," You explained.

"Why are you still here?" Jungkook's eyebrows were furrowed.

"My...my communications are down and Palacios doesn't have cell reception," You explained. "I attempted to send out an emergency beacon when I landed but there's no telling if it went through. And I've been too scared to try and make the trek back to see."

"It's probably been looted and dismantled by now for spare parts," He said, making you groan in despair.

"Are there any like...Embassy officials I can talk to? Government officials that can help me?" With every question, you felt your heart beginning to race with anxiety once more.

Jungkook's shoulders shrugged as he shook his head. "Do you not know anything about this place?"

"Only what's been released through the media," You replied honestly. "That you guys went into a lockdown or something."

"We don't...like outsiders here," He whispered before looking away. "There's no one who can help you. We're governless and we have no officials."

"Well how do you have laws a-and—"

"Does it look like we have laws, _____?" He snapped, making you flinch. "Look around. This isn't Earth. We don't have the luxury of being law-abiding citizens. We do what we have to to survive."

"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean—"

"Let's go," He cut you off again, standing up.

"Where?" You whispered, staring up at him.

"I said let's go," He growled, reaching down and grabbing your elbow. You whined when he aggressively jerked you to your feet, ignoring the painful grip he had on you.

"Wait! My things!" You complained, trying to break out of his harsh grip.

Jungkook growled, snatching up your backpack and tossing it over his shoulder.

"My sleeping bag..."

"You don't need it," He grumbled, yanking you out of the broken doorway.

As you walked, you noticed he tugged his mask back on — hiding his face. To your surprise, he pulled you only a few houses down from the one you had been in. He pulled out a key ring from the belt loops on his jeans and slid a key in the lock.

The house was still fairy dilapidated but it had clearly been renovated and fixed up to suit his needs. He hastily slammed the door behind him and locked the three locks that were there — a knob lock, deadbolt, and a simple latch lock like the one in the place you’d been hiding in.

The house was a bit bigger than the one you'd been in — it had an actual bedroom. All except a single window towards the back of the house and a window you could see in the bedroom were boarded up. Jungkook dropped your belongings on the floor with a thud and dropped to sit on the tattered couch in the living area.

"Um..." You stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, watching as he removed his mask again and tossed it away. His eyes cut to you and he raised a brow in question. "Why am I here?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, closing his eyes as he laid his head on the back of the couch.

"I mean...at your house, why...am I in your house?"

He chuckled at your question and you bit your lip at the sight of his crooked smirk. "Well, you were nearly killed over there. Did you want to spend your night there?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Look," He sat up and sighed. "There was no way you could survive on your own in this place. Actual Heajix can barely survive. So, I'm doing you a favor and helping you out, okay? The least you could say is thank you."

"I...thank you." It came out more as a question and Jungkook scoffed.

"You can sleep here," He mumbled, getting to his feet and stalking past you to his room. As he passed you, a sweet smell, delicate scent wafted off of him and you couldn’t help but inhale. It was nice.

You felt around your pockets and realized you had left your phone behind. You whined as you sat down on the couch, not willing to ask Jungkook to go and retrieve it for you. Jungkook's door clicked shut and you were left alone and in silence. It was dark, the moonlight from the back window barely reaching where you were sitting.

You curled up, shivering at the cool draft and your lack of a blanket. Closing your eyes, you hoped for sleep to overtake you.

Soft footsteps moved around you and your eyes fluttered open. Jungkook stood in the kitchenette, shuffling with something on a plate. Sitting up, you winced at how sore your muscles were from curled up on the small space all night. Your neck felt stiff and hurt when you moved it a certain way.

"Um what time is it?" You asked, voice groggy from sleep.

"I don't know," He replied, not looking at you.

"What do you mean you don't know?" You asked.

He turned around, carrying a plate over to the coffee table and placing it down. He was wearing a loose white sweater and sweatpants, long curly hair messy and hanging in his eyes. "I mean...we don't exactly have a concept of time anymore. There aren't really functioning clocks so we all just...run on our own schedules."

"I see..." You watched him pick at some food on the plate and pop it in his mouth. It looked like some kind of diced meat. "What is this?"

"Food," He replied shortly, not offering any other information even as you glared at him. "Eat before you die of starvation."

You sighed but couldn't deny the hunger pains in your stomach. Albeit suspiciously, you took a piece of meat and popped it in your mouth. You hummed, finding nothing strange tasting about it — it tasted similar to ham.

The two of you finished it together and he leaned back on the couch with a groan, patting his stomach. You sat in silence, listening to the wind blowing outside.

"It's probably going to storm soon," He muttered suddenly, eyes drifting towards the window.

You hummed in response, picking at a thread around a hole in your jeans. You weren’t sure how to reply to him, truthfully his tough attitude and mannerisms intimidated you. The last thing you wanted to do was make him mad enough to kick you out and it seemed like he had a bit of a short fuse.

"Do you want a shower?" He suddenly asked, making you jump.

"Um...yeah I guess," You dreaded taking another shower in the filthy water but it’d give you a chance to be away from him and relax a bit.

Jungkook led you to the bathroom and you were surprised by how well maintained it was. He grabbed a towel from a shelf on the wall and tossed it to you. Then without uttering another word, he shut the door and left you alone.

You were pleased to see a hot water handle and eagerly turned it. Then, much to your surprise, the water came out perfectly clean and clear. Without wasting a second, you eagerly stripped and stepped under the warm shower.

It felt like you were in there for ages, having to use some soap Jungkook had to clean yourself. You hoped he didn't mind, though it smelled very good.

When you stepped out, you felt fresher and you were surprised to see new clothes on the countertop.

He had come in while you were shower.

Your face burned hot, hoping he hadn't looked. Throwing on the clothes, you hummed at how clean and nice you felt for the first time since being on the planet. When you walked out of the bathroom, Jungkook was sitting on the couch with his eyes closed and arms over his chest like he was napping.

"H-How did you have clean water?" You asked, taking a seat beside him.

You heard him inhale and felt his body tense. For a second you thought he was going to yell at you, but instead he opened his eyes to look at you. "I hooked all my piping to a private water reservoir that continuously purifies the water."

"That's...impressive," You whispered. "How'd you learn to do that?"

He shrugged. "Took a lot of testing, trial and error with the purification. But my parents were mechanical engineers in Zlathe."

"Zlathe?" You asked.

"It was another city a long time ago," He replied, running a hand through his hair revealing his forehead.

"...Was? What do you mean?" You sat up straighter and he sighed.

"Before everything fell, Zlathe was a neighboring city even bigger than Yathe," He explained.

"I don't understand," You muttered. "What do you mean everything fell?"

"You really are ignorant," He chuckled, though it held no mirth. You couldn’t find it in you to be offended because it was true; but no one outside knew anything about the planet.

"Well it's not my fault your planet is a secret," You mumbled, crossing your arms over your chest.

"We were less developed than everyone...the other planets," His voice held nothing but spite as he spat out the words. "Palacios is the smallest and collectively they all decided, even as we rejected the idea, to create landfills here to dispose of their waste so their own planets didn't become a mess."

"So...that's what caused the pollution?" You asked.

He nodded. "The more toxic the air became, the more sick people became. Those who were able to leave did and those who couldn't were trapped. All of our government leaders left us without a word. Everything went to complete chaos."

"That's horrible! They just abandoned their citizens?" You gasped, eyes wide with shock.

"One by one the cities became desolate. Yathe is, from what we know, the only standing safe city. When the population became crammed into this last safezone those fucking Vorderans swept in and raided every nook and cranny they could. We went from 500,000 people to a mere maybe...20,000?"

"Vorderans?" You hummed. "The people of Vulia? Capital Planet for Fanet IV? Why did they do that?"

Jungkook scoffed. "Why would I tell you? So you can report it back to the Humans and they can take what's left of an already dying people? We're a doomed species — pushed to the brink of extinction over greed and classicism. Why do you think we kill any outside official that comes here, huh?"

"W-We just...everyone just said Heajix were very...private," You muttered, a little startled by his aggressive attitude.

"Yeah they would," He spat. "They don't want to have to explain the complete genocide and decimation of a planet they spearheaded."

"Did you say kill?" You suddenly whispered, brain catching up to what he’d previous confessed.

"Of course, any foreign person who comes to us...after we warned the Embassy to leave us alone...they sign their own death warrant," He said, absolutely no remorse in his voice.

"Is that why that guy broke in?" You asked, which he nodded at.

"Yeah, you were targeted by him even though it wasn't even discussed," When he heard you hum in confusion. "We may not have people in high positions telling us what to do but we do maintain some order. Any foreign person who comes here is watched and if they're deemed a threat we take them out. So far...every person has proved themselves to be so. But you...we hadn't caught you doing anything other than trying to survive and hide so we voted to leave you alone."

"So why did that guy—"

"He went off the deep end I guess, didn't trust you and wanted to take you out on his own terms to be safe. He'll be punished and dealt with appropriately," He said, pulling his sleeves of his sweatshirt up to show a wide expanse of tattoos written in a foreign text. "All criminals after punishment are made to have a tattoo on their skin detailing the nature and severity of the crime. It's kind of like a way to shame us for behaving that way. It’s a little piece of our culture we’ve maintained even after the fall."

You leaned closer, looking over the intricate text that was displayed. He had a handful from what you could tell.

"I take it you're not going to tell me what your crimes are?" You asked, unsurprised when he yanked his sleeve down harshly.

"What the hell happened to your arm?" He suddenly asked, changing the subject, eyes pinned to your arm.

When you looked down to follow his gaze, you were shocked to see a nasty purpling bruise around your elbow.

"I have no idea," You muttered. However, he grabbed your wrist and you gasped, attempting to yank yourself away. "That hurts, you know! Jeez, why are you so rough?"

"Rough?" He scoffed. "I'm barely even touching you!"

"Well, you've got a twisted concept of gentle," You muttered, rubbing your now sore wrist. "Oh."

"What?" He grumbled, pouting at having been chewed out by you.

"It's where you grabbed me yesterday," You muttered. "Jeez I knew you were rough but..."

"I wasn't that rough..." At the tone of his voice, you looked up and saw him frowning. He lightly ran his fingers over the bruise. "I didn't meant to hurt you."

"I..." You were shocked by how upset he seemed over it, showing actual concern. "It's okay...it'll heal. J-Just be more careful next time, okay?"

"I didn't realize how easy you are to hurt," He muttered, still staring at your bruise. "You're a delicate race, huh? I'll be more careful, I promise."

You smiled at him and nodded. His lips twitched upward in his own smile and the two of you fell into a comfortable silence.

The following day, Jungkook stood before you with a backpack on his shoulders. His mask was in place and he looked at you where you sat on his couch.

"When I leave, lock the door behind me," He ordered you, watching as you quickly nodded your head. "And don't open up until you're sure it's me, got it?"

"Got it," You replied, feeling anxious over the situation.

His boots stomped against the floor as he walked to the door, casting one strong glance at you over his shoulder before walking out and slamming it shut. You quickly raced over and slid the latch lock in place and twisted the deadbolt while he locked the knob. Left alone in the silence, you felt extremely uncomfortable.

You looked around, eyes falling on the door to Jungkook's bedroom. Debating for a moment, you decided he'd probably be gone long enough for you to have a peek.

Pushing the door open, you were pleased at how nice it smelled — Jungkook's clean scent permeating from every inch.

As you stepped inside, you noticed a pile of old, worn books in one corner. He had a table beside his bed with a picture frame on it. Taking a seat on his mattress, you grabbed the frame and examined it. There was a picture of Jungkook, albeit a bit younger, standing with a man and woman on either side of him and behind him a taller man who looked similar to Jungkook.

You opened the drawer of his table, having to pull hard as it seemed to be off the track. It was empty inside aside from a paper you couldn't read and a bottle of lotion. Humming, you simply pushed the drawer back closed and looked around the room some more.

Deciding there was nothing else worth looking at, you stepped out of his room and shut the door. Boredom struck immediately and you dropped down onto the couch and curled up.

The least you could do is take a nap.

Your rest didn't last long because you were startled awake by violent knocks on the door. From outside, you could hear Jungkook calling your name. Jumping to your feet, you scrambled to unlock the door and let him in. He sounded so panicked that your hands were shaking by the time you slid the latch lock open.

Jungkook burst in the second the door was open and promptly fell to the ground with a groan. You shut the door and shakily locked it again before turning to him.

"J-Jungkook? What happened?" You crouched down and helped him pull his backpack off.

He winced, making a hissing noise the second he was made to move. You gasped, noticing the way that he was holding his side — red seeping through his fingers.

"Oh my god, what happened?!" You cried, hands hovering above him not knowing what to do.

"J-Just a stupid accident," He groaned, the back of his head hitting the floor harshly when he tossed it back. The impact didn’t seem to bother him. "Was chasin' some animal and I fell. Caught myself on some scrap metal on the way down."

"Holy crap, how bad is it?" You urged him to move his hand so you could see his wound.

The metal had torn a hole in his shirt and you could see a deep gash across his ribs. There was blood gushing from it and you were worried about the possibility of infection.

"It needs to be cleaned and probably stitched, Jungkook," You muttered, watching him put his hand back over it to slow the bleeding.

"I don't have t-to clean it or stitch it," His eyebrows were drawn together and his jaw was clenched in pain.

"I have a first aid kit in my backpack," You stood up quickly, ignoring his protests, dashing over to where your backpack was leaning against the wall.

Zipping it open, you began to fish through your belongings searching for the little white box. You pulled out a towel, deciding it might be good to help clean him up some. You made a soft sound when you finally spotted the kit, pulling it out and holding it up in triumph.

Sitting beside Jungkook again, you helped him remove his shirt. There were a few tattoos and scars scattered along his chest and abdomen but you didn't have time to ogle at his naked body. You pressed the spare towel against his wound and apologized as he hissed in pain. His hand was covered red in blood — some of it having dripped down his wrist to his elbow. You noticed that his mask was gone as well.

"Okay, I'm going to put some antiseptic on it alright?" You asked, pulling the towel off slightly. "It's going to burn like...really bad but—"

"Just do it," He groaned. "Nothing can top this pain right now."

You sighed and ripped open an alcohol wipe. The second it touched the wound, Jungkook's entire body jerked and he let out a sharp word in his mother tongue that you assumed was a cuss. In another situation, you would have laughed at the reaction. Next, you cleaned it with some hydrogen peroxide, making sure to flush the wound as best you could.

"Wh-Where did you learn to do this?" He asked, voice tight with pain.

"Well...I have just basic knowledge from things I've seen on like TV and..stuff like that. So I don't actually know if I'm doing it right or not," You whispered. "But the point is it's getting cleaned, right?"

"Shit, I guess you're right," He mumbled, eyes focused on the ceiling above him.

"I-It's still bleeding, it really will need stitches...it's so deep," You whispered, watching as blood continued to seep through.

"Can you do it?" He asked.

"I don't know...the only thing we can do is try, right?" You were lucky you had a full first aid kit, complete with a sterile needle and thread.

It was quite dark and you had to lean close to see the edges of the wound. You took it slow, apologizing to Jungkook whenever the needle pierced the torn skin. Little by little, the wound was closed until you managed to tie a tight knot to ensure the stitches wouldn't open back up.

Sitting back, you let out a sigh of relief. "I have some pain medicine," You said, taking out a few tablets of Ibuprofen from the first aid kit.

"Thanks," He popped them in his mouth, wincing as he had to swallow them dry.

Then was a big sigh, his body finally relaxed against the floor. He blinked slowly, as if he was struggling to stay awake. You assumed his adrenaline rush crashed and he was growing tired — no doubt exhausted from the adrenaline crash.

"This is insane," He mumbled suddenly, voice sounding slurred.

"What is?" You questioned.

"Before I would just think of getting myself home safe and that'd be the end of it," His lashes fluttered as he fought the sleep that threatened to overtake him. "But this time...all I could think was that I had to get back to you so you would be safe. Unbelievable."

You couldn't help but smile, though he missed it as his eyes finally closed. In a matter of moments, his breathing evened out and you knew he fell asleep.

Right on the floor.

Chuckling, you shook your head and wandered to his bedroom to pull the blanket off his bed — just a thin throw blanket and one of his pillows. You returned to him and carefully, doing your best not to wake him, placed the pillow beneath his head and the blanket over his body.

Your own exhaustion seemed to catch up to you and you curled up on the couch, your own eyes shutting as you stared at Jungkook's sleeping form.

When you woke up, it was on your own. You saw Jungkook was still asleep and sighed. Quickly pulling yourself up, you wandered over to him. Sitting down, you peeled the blanket off of him. You moved his arm off his chest so you could look at his wound but you let out a harsh gasp at what you saw. Jungkook's eyes immediately popped open and sharply turned to look at you.

"What is it?" He asked, body relaxing when he realized it was just you.

"Y-Your wound..." You leaned down to get a closer look, looking at your uneven stitching over the red skin.

"What about it?" He hummed, looking down to take a look at himself.

"It's healed up..." Beneath the stitches, the skin was still reddened but there was no sign of the open wound that was once there. Just a puffy looking scar was left in its wake.

"Oh good," He sat up and stretched his arms — his joints popping at the action, making him groan. "Hand me my backpack, yeah?"

"What do you mean good?! Yesterday you were bleeding out on the floor a-and now you're acting like it's just okay?!" You cried, throwing your hands up in frustration.

He stared at you for a moment, looking confused before sighing. He rolled over and grabbed his backpack, pulling it into his lap and digging through.

"Eat something and then we'll talk, okay?" He pulled out a bar of something and when you opened it, it resembled a granola bar but was much softer.

When you took a bite, you were surprised that it tasted like meat. But it wasn't bad. Jungkook pulled out his own and quietly began eating. It was silent between the two of you, as you simply ate. Before long, you were finished and Jungkook simply threw the wrappers into his backpack.

"Now will you tell me?" You muttered, raising a brow when he sighed.

He stood up and moved over to the couch, leaving you kneeling beside his makeshift bed. He sat down and looked at you expectantly, making you rise to your feet and stumble over to sit beside him.

"I guess there's no reason to hide it," You scanned over him as he spoke, taking the opportunity to look over his body again. He was fit, no doubt, with faint abs and lovely, veiny forearms.

"So you have super healing abilities?" You asked quietly.

"We...our species produces a chemical naturally that can heal virtually anything," He explained. "It's in any fluid we excrete; even sweat. And it's in our blood, obviously."

"That's amazing..." You whispered, eyes drifting back to his wound. "Why did you let me take care of it if you knew it was going to heal up?"

"I...Because the other planets use us for it," He muttered, fists clenching. "Do you remember what I told you? About the Vorderans?" You nodded and he continued, "They...collected us for the chemical. They produce the highest quality super medicine in the solar system. And it's because they slaughtered thousands of us to get it."

"So...you didn't trust me to tell me?" You asked, though there was no tone to indicate you were trying to guilt him.

"No," He sighed. "But since you did take care of me...I figured I could at least give it a try, right?"

"Thank you, Jungkook," You smiled. "I'm really happy you're okay, you know. I was really worried. Without you, I'd be doomed here."

"That's very true," He smirked, relaxing into the couch. "You're absolutely helpless!"

"Hey!" You pouted. "You could teach me, you know?"

"Teach you how to survive out there?" He asked, nodding his head towards the door. You nodded and he shook his head. "You're too much of a target. I wouldn't be able to handle looking after you and trying to scavenge."

"I guess that's true," You muttered. "I just don't want to be a burden. You went out of your way to help me and I've done nothing in return for the fact you keep helping me."

He wore a frown as he looked at you. "You're not a burden. In fact, I actually appreciate having you around."

"You do?" You asked, your heart stuttering in your chest as he looked at you with sparkling eyes.

"Yeah," He smiled. "I hadn't realized how lonely I was. But with you here now, I feel a lot...happier. Lighter. It feels nice to not be alone."

"I...I'm happy I can make you feel that way, Jungkook," You whispered, meeting his eyes.

The two of you sat like that in silence. You felt a soft brush of Jungkook's fingers on your hand and he easily laced his fingers through yours.

You felt content; happy even.

You were curled up on the couch, unable to sleep through the howling sound of the wind outside. Rain was pouring down and the thunder was so loud your ears were ringing. Clouds blocked out the moon, blanketing you in complete and total darkness.

It was cold, Jungkook still hadn't given you a blanket and you were beginning to think he forgot. The storm had brought the temperature down drastically, leaving your teeth chattering in effect.

The storm was unlike anything you'd experienced on Earth. It was actually a bit scary.

You sat up, finally unable to take it anymore. There was no reason for you to suffer like you were.

You tiptoed over to Jungkook's bedroom and suddenly hesitated. You didn't want to wake him up for a silly blanket, you'd feel bad. Your shoulders sagged and you turned back to sit back down on the couch.

Somehow, you managed to doze off, curled up in a ball in an attempt to keep warm.

You were awoken very soon after by the weight of something warm being laid upon you. Eyes fluttering open, you met Jungkook's eyes. His brows were furrowed and when he saw you were awake, knelt down beside the couch.

"You're freezing, why didn't you ask me for a blanket?" He whispered, mindlessly tucking the blanket around you.

"I-I didn't want to wake you," You mumbled, voice wobbly from shivering.

"Don't worry about that," He grumbled. "I'd rather you wake me up than fucking freeze to death during a storm."

"I'm sorry," You whispered, eyes fluttering again as you finally warmed up. It felt so cozy beneath the blanket and it smelled just like Jungkook. "Thank you, Jungkook."

"Don't worry about it," He whispered, brushing some stray hair off your face as your eyes closed once again.

"It's my duty to take care of you now," He uttered once he was sure you were asleep.

The first time you noticed something was wrong was when you began to get dizzy randomly — usually accompanying a roaring headache. You ignored it, however, choosing to nap off the headache and continue your days on like usual.

Jungkook began going out for scavenging more and more — bringing home killed rodents and other animals. Sometimes he would come home with some rations or a snack from when the world was a functioning metropolis.

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked one morning while the two of you ate some breakfast you prepared.

"Huh?" You looked up from your plate at him.

He was gazing at you, brows furrowed as usual but his head was cocked to the side. "You just look really dazed. And you're barely touching your food."

"Ah, I just..." You cleared your throat. "I lost my appetite, I guess."

"Well, I'm going to go out again today," He said, eating the last of what was on his plate. "I'll be back tonight as usual, alright?"

"Yeah, be careful okay?" You whispered, watching as he hesitated staring at you.

He lifted his hand and placed it softly on your head, smiling.

"I'll see you soon."

Left alone, you ate as much of the food as you could before you had to toss it. You found yourself laying on the couch once again, feeling sluggish and lazy. Deciding a nice nap was in order, you let your eyes flutter shut.

When you woke back up, it felt like you were hit by a bus. You groaned, your head pounding making you whine. Sitting up proved to be a bad move as you felt your stomach turn. Immediately you let yourself flop back down.

Of course you'd get sick on a dystopian planet with no access to medicine.

The hours ticked by and there was no sign of Jungkook. You'd gotten accustomed to his schedule and the general time frame you both ran in so you knew he was well overdue for his return.

You became antsy, pacing around and taking naps when you could. The cold you'd acquired seemed to only get worse as you were plagued with an unfortunate fever. Hiding under your blanket didn't help and being out from the blanket didn't help either. You whined, knowing you didn't have any medicine to help break your fever.

Feeling crappy and concerned about Jungkook made tears sting your eyes; you were always a cry baby when sick.

The door opening finally is what woke you up. Jungkook grumbled, slamming the door.

"Why the hell wasn't the door properly locked?" He snapped, dropping his bag on the floor with a bang.

"Hey...that's loud," You whined, flinching at the way your head began to pound.

"Answer me—hey...what's the matter?" He asked, losing his anger for concern.

"I'm sick," You complained, watching as he kneeled down.

"Sick?" He mumbled, looking over your face — noticing your glassy eyes.

"I have a fever," You explained with a sigh.

He hummed, bringing his hand up to press his palm against your forehead. He hissed, pulling back and sighing.

"I was so scared you weren't coming back, you were gone so long," You whispered, shakily sitting up.

Jungkook's hands hovered in the air, ready to help or catch you if you fell. "I'm sorry, I went a little further than I usually do. But I was only gone overnight. It wasn't that long."

"It felt like days," You whined, tears stinging your eyes.

"I'm sorry," He whispered, cupping your cheek and brushing some hair away from your eye. "I didn't mean to upset you so much."

"It's okay, I'm just...a crybaby," You muttered, cheeks flushing at the fond smile that crossed Jungkook's face — a cute bunny-like smile.

"I...can help you feel better, if you'd let me," He asked, moving to sit beside you on the couch. "My species can cure illnesses, remember?"

"How will you do that?" You asked, voice a little slurred.

"Well..." In the moon's illumination, you could see his ears burning red. "I...I can kiss you?"

Your mind blanked at those words, blinking several times to take in what he said. You recalled what he said about his saliva, or any fluid, possessing the chemical to cure illnesses. Still, despite the fact it was for medicinal purposes, your stomach fluttered with butterflies and your heart stuttered in your chest the idea of kissing him.

"I-I don't mind..." You uttered, subconsciously licking your lips.

He cupped your cheek, leaning down and ever so softly brushed his lips against yours. When you sighed happily at the contact, he surged forward and pulled you into a much deeper kiss. Your lips moved in unison and you couldn't help but reach up to wrap your arms around his neck.

Shuddering, you held in a whimper when his tongue met your lips. You eagerly opened your mouth, shuddering as the taste of him lingered upon your tongue. Your fingers clutched at his hair as you continued to deepen the kiss.

After several long, lovely seconds of the kiss — he finally pulled away. There was a small strand of saliva still connecting the two of you. He brushed his thumb across your lips, breaking the strand.

The two of you sighed, falling silent but he kept his hand on your cheek.

"You should rest now, you'll feel better soon," He whispered, standing up and stepping away.

You missed his touch immediately, and watched him until he disappeared behind his bedroom door.

You curled up under the blanket, fingers pressed to your lips as the feeling of him kissing you lingered. The way your heart began to race made you sigh heavily; what an effect he had on you.

The next day, you were feeling much better and were back to eating properly. You could tell Jungkook was happy; he was positively beaming and smiling at you every chance he got.

It was cute.

The two of you were playing a card game; using some cards you'd had in your bag for when you were bored on the trip through Fanet IV. You were teaching him Earth games and how to play.

You were just about to beat him for the 5th time at Go Fish when there was a heavy knock on the door. Both of you jumped and Jungkook was on his feet in a second.

His whole body was tense and his fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white. He carefully moved in front of you, shielding your body from the door subconsciously.

"Wh-What is it?" You asked, keeping your voice low.

"No one should come here," He whispered back. "Go hide in the bedroom, alright?"

"But Jungkook—"

"Just do it!" He snapped, giving a gentle push to your back to urge you into the open doorway.

You spared him a longing glance before he pulled the door shut with a soft click.

You took a seat on his bed, listening through the thin walls as Jungkook's heavy footsteps moved towards the door. There was a loud click as he unlocked the deadbolt.

There was a quick beat of silence before a slam so loud that you had to cover your mouth to keep from shrieking.

"Fuck! What the fuck are you doing here?!" You heard Jungkook shout.

"Followed you home," Came a gruff, almost bored-sounding reply. "You weren't very smart. Didn't even notice you were being tailed."

"Fuck," You heard Jungkook swear.

"Now, I hope you make this easy for me and just come along nicely," The stranger asked. “Maybe if you tell me where more are hiding, I'll go easy on you.”

Jungkook didn't offer a reply but you could hear heavy boots approaching the bedroom door. You kept your hands over your mouth to keep from making a peep as you slid off the bed and huddled yourself into a dark corner.

The stranger suddenly shrieked and there was a heavy thud of someone falling to the floor. Jungkook let out a string of curses before there was a crash, grunting and scuffling filling your ears.

What was going on?

From where you hid, you could see a little box beneath Jungkook's bed. As quietly as you could, you pulled it out and opened it up.

It was an array of several different knives. Eyes flicking over to the door, you hatched an idea to hopefully help.

If Jungkook didn't win, the man was going to take him away. The mere thought of that happening sent a spark of terror through you.

Picking up the biggest knife that was in the box, you tiptoed over to the door. You could still hear the two of them fighting, the sound covering up the soft click of the door opening. Peeking through the crack, you were shocked to see the table smashed completely. The man was pinning Jungkook down by his throat. Jungkook was struggling, obviously unable to get air. The stranger laughed mockingly down at him.

Your hands and knees were trembling as you quickly crept out.

"You barely even put up a fight," The stranger spat at Jungkook. "You Heajix never were able to take us on though, isn't that right? That's why we were able to kill so many of you! Such incredible strength yet still unable to protect yourselves. Pathetic.”

You couldn't even register his words as you finally stood behind him. Jungkook's eyes were fluttering and he was dangerously close to passing out.

Steeling yourself, you raised the knife overhead and brought it down as hard as you could. The man shrieked so loud that your ears were ringing. The knife was stuck in his back, buried more than halfway through. Part of you felt proud for putting the power behind the attack.

Jungkook let out a desperate gasp, finally getting the oxygen he desperately needed. While you were distracted looking at Jungkook, the strange man spun around and grabbed you by your throat.

"I knew there was someone else here," The man snarled, squeezing your neck as hard as he could.

You couldn't even make a sound of pain as your feet were lifted off the ground. Your vision was swimming but you could make you Jungkook getting to his feet. The man, you noticed, had strange glowing eyes — as if a light were coming from behind them and illuminating the whites.

In the blink of an eye, Jungkook ripped the knife from your assailants back — making him drop you in shock. You hit the ground hard, knocking what little air you had left in you right out.

Jungkook was on the man before he could even blink, stabbing him several times until he was on his knees. Jungkook paused, chest and shoulders heaving as he glared down at the man.

Then, you watched with wide eyes as Jungkook lifted his leg and kicked the man so hard his body physically flew back. The man was limp, blood dripping from his mouth and nose — eyes open and unseeing.

"Holy shit..." You whispered from where you were still laying on the floor.

"Are you alright?" Jungkook asked, helping you sit up with a gentleness that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. His hands were coated in the intruders blood but you didn't mind.

Throwing your arms around his shoulders, you knocked him down on his butt. You hugged him tight, sighing when you felt him wrap his own arms around you.

"I-I didn't know what to do," You whispered. "He was saying he was going to take you away. I saw you were about to pass out and I knew he would take you. I'm sorry I got involved."

"Hey, it's okay," Jungkook pulled back and smiled. "You saved me! Maybe you aren't as helpless as I thought."

You smiled, shaking your head. Then, without thinking, you leaned forward and pressed your lips against his. He froze for a fraction of a second but quickly cupped the back of your head and returned the kiss.

When you parted, you asked, "So what do we do with him?"

"The Vorderans are going to come looking for him when they notice he's not reported back to them," Jungkook mumbled, looking over his shoulder at the body. "I'll take him out somewhere and dump him off where they won't be able to link it to me."

"You're going to leave right after that?" You asked, your shoulders slumping.

"I shouldn't be gone long, _____," He smiled, brushing his thumb over your pouted lips.

"But what if there are more of them? What if they take you away and I don't even know!"

As if sensing the panic in your voice, he cupped your cheeks and brought your gaze to him.

"That won't happen," He whispered, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead — sending your heart into painful palpitations. "It'll be easier to hide out there and easier to lose them if they do find me. I promise, I'll come back and everything will be okay."

"I'm just...scared, Jungkook," You admitted, feeling your eyes burn.

"I know," He sighed, pressing another kiss to your forehead. Your cheeks immediately felt like they were on fire. "But I would never leave you like that."

You clung onto him as long as he allowed you before he decided it was best to get going. He told you to hide in his room until he got back and to just rest.

"Don't open the door," He warned, though he already knew he didn't have to worry about that.

Left alone, you didn't know what to do with yourself. You'd watched Jungkook lift the body like it was nothing — which only reminded you of what the Vorderan has said; Heajix just had incredible physical strength.

You had a much better concept of time since you weren't sick and you were sure 2 days had passed since you'd last seen Jungkook. You could barely sleep, anxiety plaguing every second that he was gone.

You'd taken to sleeping in his bed, taking comfort in his scent surrounding you. Thankfully, Jungkook had managed to stock up on food so you were able to properly eat in his absence. Though it was more a mechanical task to pass the time than it was for actually sustaining you.

It hadn't occurred to you how much he had changed until you were laying in his bed one night. You thought back to the rough, cold exterior he had when you first met him. And now you were blessed with his smile and comforting caresses.

He made your heart ache in the best way and you wanted to hold him and have him kiss you over and over again. He was so sweet and did his best to take care of you.

You'd really been lucky that he was around when he was that night.

The fact he hadn't returned didn't help quell the fears of more Vorderans being around just waiting for someone to come around. For a Heajix to take away.

You didn't think you would hate an alien planet over the sake of another alien race but you knew the Heajix had been treated unfairly. It was cruel and the fact it was just allowed to happen and no one cared really made you angry.

If you ever got back to Earth you were going to do something to help.

You were lost thinking about the things you could do to help when the front door clicked open.

A spark of fear went down your spine as you sat straight up in the bed. Through the door and walls, you could hear heavy footsteps moving around.

They moved to the door and paused. You held your breath, pulling the covers up to your chin as you watched the door creak open.

A black head of fluffy hair popped in and smiled when he saw you sitting there.

"I was wondering where you—!" He was cut off by you flying off the bed and throwing yourself into his arms.

"You're home!" You gasped, burying your face in his neck. You didn't bother fighting the tears that tumbled down your cheeks.

"Yeah..." You could hear the smile in his voice as he wrapped his arms around you, fisting the back of your shirt tightly as if you would slip away. "I'm home."

"I was so worried and..." Your cheeks burned before you muttered, "I missed you."

Reaching up, he cupped both your cheeks in his hands, making you look up at him. You leaned into the feeling of his touch on your skin as he wiped your tears away ever so carefully. He leaned down, pressing his lips against yours.

"I missed you too," He smiled, pecking your lips again. "But I'm back just like I promised I would be. I told you I'd never leave you, right?"

"You're right," You whispered, moving forward to kiss him again. He eagerly reciprocated and you whined into his lips.

He gripped your hips, rough and harsh. You winced, pulling your lips away slightly only for him to chase them — muttering a soft apology before relaxing his grip.

Neither of you wasted time moving to the bed. With your back pressed against the mattress and his wide shoulders above you, you couldn’t help the shiver running down your spine.

Wrapping your arms around his neck, you pulled him down for another kiss.

“I’ve wanted you for so long,” He breathed against your lips.

“Please,” You whispered, reaching down to tug at the hem of his dirty shirt.

“So pretty when you beg,” He growled, sitting up on his knees to pull the shirt off.

Immediately, your hands were roaming across his chest — grazing over scars and tattoos.

He groaned when your fingers brushed over his pebbled nipples. Leaning down, he nipped against the sensitive skin of your neck. As you sighed in pleasure, he began to push your own shirt up until he was able to toss it away.

Sitting up, he let out a curse at the sight of your bare breasts. One large hand cupped one, thumb rolling the nipple harshly until you whimpered. His lips moved down your neck to take the other nipple into his hot mouth, tongue flicking the bud. Your hands wound into his hand, back arching to get more of the delicious feeling.

“Jungkook, please…” You whined, arching your hips upwards. “I-I want you so much.”

“Yeah?” He groaned against your breast, moving to take your other perked nipple into his mouth. “Who would have figured I’d already have you begging?”

“I missed you so much, Jungkook,” You whined, sniffling softly as the emotions came rushing back. “I need you to touch me, please.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” He whispered, leaning back up to peck your lips.

In one swift move, your pants were tugged down your legs until you were left in just your panties. He hummed cupping your heat through the fabric, easily finding your clit and pressing against it. You sighed, head rolling back as you ground your hips down into his touch. Unable to take it, you reached down and tugged your panties off. He allowed you, watching as you kicked them away and spread your legs for him.

“Fuck,” He groaned, dropping onto his stomach between your legs. “So pretty and wet.”

Your legs trembled as he slid two fingers between your folds, spreading them to expose your leaking entrance. He groaned, low in his chest before quickly diving in to catch some of your arousal on his tongue. You sighed, eyes fluttering close as he swirled his tongue over your clit.

“Ah, Jungkook!” You cried, gripping his hair.

“Fuck,” He growled, pulling back slightly. “Does that feel good, baby?”

“G-Gentle,” You whined, gripping his hair tighter. “It’s sensitive.”

He didn’t respond, simply chuckled before diving back in. He took your clit into his mouth and sucked until your back arched. Soon, he introduced his fingers — easily sliding two in. There was a slight burn but it lasted only a second.

“You can take 3, right?” He chuckled, rolling his tongue over your clit. “You’re gonna need that many to even think of trying to take my knot.”

“Kn-Knot?” You gasped, unable to wrap your head fully around his words as he pumped the two digits in and out.

Your hips bucked when he hit your g-spot. Your eyes rolled as he continued to abuse the spot while playing with your clit in any way he could.

“I’m gonna cum soon, Kook,” You whined, unaware the pet name had slipped through your lips.

He growled, viciously pounding his fingers upwards and suckling your clit into his mouth. Your mouth opened in a silent scream, a tight coil of pleasure winding in your stomach. Opening your eyes, you looked down to see his bangs matted to his forehead with sweat. His eyes were closed and his brows were furrowed in concentration. He looked like he was in utopia himself.

What broke the cord, however, was when he eased the third finger into you. You gasped, back arching as you cried out his name — cumming around the digits. He didn’t stop, fucking your spasming hole and sucking on your twitching clit throughout your entire high until you were whining and pushing him away.

He separated his mouth from you with a lewd pop and slid his fingers out. You felt empty, clenching around nothing as he popped his cum soaked fingers in his mouth. His eyes rolled back at your taste and he chased what was left on his lips until there was nothing left of your cum.

He stood at the foot of the bed, unbuttoning his jeans and letting them slide to the floor until he could step out of them. He wasn’t wearing any underwear and you nearly drooled at the sight of his hard cock— weeping at the flushed, red tip with a soft swell at the base of his cock.

You scooted forward on your knees, wrapping your hand around his shaft and leaning forward to slide your tongue of the slit. He sighed, head falling back on his shoulders as you took the thick head on your mouth and sucked. The taste of his precum was delectable — salty-sweet with a bitter tang.

“You’ll make me cum too fast with your pretty lips on me like that, baby,” He whispered, gripping your hair to pull you away.

You whined at the loss but let him urge you onto your back. Your feet hanging off the end of the bed and Jungkook standing at the end with a fist wrapped around his cock made you lick your lips. He looked so powerful standing over you like he was.

“Scoot back,” He ordered, crawling onto the bed after you.

With your head in the pillows, you spread your legs for him. Knees on either side of his waist, you both looked down to watch as he slid the head of his cock between your wet folds — coating himself in your juices. A split second of hesitation as he positioned his tip at your entrance felt like an eternity.

“Are you sure you want to…?” He asked softly, mindlessly slapped your clit with the head of himself.

“Please,” You gasped, wrapping your hand in his hair to tug him down.

Your mouths simultaneously fell open as he pressed inside, the fat head spreading your walls open. The sound was wet as he sunk inside, dirty and obscene. Your eyes rolled back as he finally bottomed out — the base of him almost as thick as his head.

He dropped down onto his elbows beside your head, pulling you in for another kiss as he began to thrust in and out of your clenching walls.

Every time he sunk inside, he grazed your g-spot making you moan.

“So fucking tight,” He growled. “I don’t know if you’ll be able to take my knot, babygirl.”

“K-Kook—”

“Fuck!” He snarled, cock twitching at the sound of the nickname, slamming his cock into you harshly, making you whined. “Keep calling me that.”

“Kook!” You cried, scrambling to claw at his muscled back.

“I’m gonna knock you up, beautiful,” He breathed, chuckling when he felt you clench around him. “Oh? You like the sound of that? Tell me.”

“Pl-Please kn-knock me up, Kook,” You begged, voice breathy as you fought back sobs of pleasure.

“Yeah, sound so pretty begging for my cum,” He chuckled, reached down to find your swollen clit. “How about you cum for me first?”

Your mouth fell open as everything became even more intense. He didn’t stop the rapid circles on your clit until you were crying out his name and arching. You gushed around him, walls spasming uncontrollably as he fucked you through the high.

As you came down, everything became more intense and sensitive. Every time he sunk inside, the base of his cock would catch at your entrance and stretch you just a tad more. You clung to him, eyes closed as he fucked his knot into your sensitive walls.

“I’m gonna cum,” He warned, suddenly pausing balls deep — his knot popped into your walls, swollen big enough that he couldn't pull back out.

You could feel his cock as it pulsed inside of you — a hot rush of cum immediately following. His head fell into the crook of your neck as he moaned and trembled above you. The knot at the base of his cock throbbed — urging more and more cum out of his cock.

He chuckled darkly, looking down at your swelling tummy — having been stuffed full of his cum that couldn’t escape around his knot.

Your cunt clenched around him and you whined. You felt so full but it felt so good.

Jungkook's nimble fingers found your clit and began to circle the hardened bud in brutal circles. With a dark smirk on his lips, he met your gaze where your eyes were wide and your mouth was open in a silent moan.

"That's it...give it to me, baby," He ordered, grinding his hips against you — his knot and cock stirring your sensitive walls up. “Cum on my knot for me, like a good girl.”

Your head fell back against the pillow as your back arched. The both of you moaned in unison at your orgasm, the tight squeeze and gush from your orgasm set him off again. Tightening his grip on your hips made you whine but the pain blended into the pleasure as Jungkook's knot throbbed as more cum poured into your already well-filled cunt. Slowly, his body relaxed and he heaved a sigh before beginning to change your positions.

His knot tugged at your walls, making you both hiss. You laid side by side, your head resting on his arm.

As you both caught your breath, you felt his knot slowly shrink until he was able to pull out completely. You whimpered at the gush of cum that followed — oozing out of your stretched entrance and staining the bed beneath you.

He groaned, dropping back onto his stomach between your legs. Feeling embarrassed, you moved to close your legs but his strong hands caught you and forced them back open. You covered your face with your hands and whined as he suddenly slid his tongue across your cum-soaked folds.

Absolutely obscene sounds of him moaning and licking you clean filled the space. Your hips jerked in oversensitivity whenever he brushed over your clit.

Sliding his tongue into your entrance, he caught and swallowed down everything he could reach. Him eating his own cum out of you had your walls clenching again and he chuckled before pulling away.

Pulling your hands away from your heated cheeks, he leaned down and pressed his lips against yours. You whined, circling your arms around his neck as he fed his cum into your mouth for you to swallow.

You moaned at the taste of him, swallowing everything he gave you — continuing to kiss long after you swallowed it. The remnants of his cum lingered on your tongue and on his lips.

Pulling back, he leaned his forehead against yours and moved to lay on his side beside you once again. Wrapping his arms around your waist, he pulled your body close to his.

The two of you dissolved into a comfortable silence; his fingers tracing random shapes along your skin and you taking in his sweet scent and enjoying the warmth of his arms around you.

You were sitting with Jungkook on the floor in front of the couch. Since the table was broken, the two of you were using the couch as a makeshift table. He had an array of papers and old book across the surface and had been spending the last two days teaching you to read the Heajix written alphabet. It was difficult and you frequently confused letters but Jungkook was patient — and gave you kisses whenever you got something right which was great incentive.

Unfortunately, the relaxing atmosphere was broken by a series of knocks on the front door. Jungkook was on his feet immediately, knife drawn and at the ready.

You stayed back, watching as he approached the door and slowly unlocked it. You watched as he took a deep breath and threw the door open.

"What—" Jungkook was at a loss. There was a man standing at the door with his hands up to show he was unarmed.

"My name is Hakyeon," He said, motioning to his badge. "I work for the Interplanetary Embassy on Earth. We received an Emergency beacon and we've been told the human was here."

"Holy shit! It actually got through?!" You cried, jumping to your feet and running over to the open door. "Why did it take you so damn long?"

Hakyeon looked confused, shaking his head. "We received it only 2 days ago...I was the nearest representative and was tasked with finding you."

"Weird..." You mumbled, shrugging your shoulders. "I guess I can go home now, right?"

"If that's what you wish still, yes," He replied, eyeing Jungkook by your side.

"Um," You cleared your throat. "Your ship will be nearby right?"

"Yes, I'll...wait for you there," Hakyeon said, taking the hint.

The door shut and Jungkook was silent.

"Jungkook—"

"I guess you're leaving, right?" He asked, keeping his eyes down. "There's no logical reason for me to ask you to stay here...it's dangerous and you should be somewhere safe."

"But Jungkook..." You reached forward to touch him but he backed away.

"If I'm honest, ______," He wandered away, leaving you to watch him. His voice was shaky, wobbling with the onslaught of tears. "I really don't want you to go and I know that's selfish! But I really don't think I can be alone again. Especially after finding someone I can actually love."

"Jungkook!" You snapped, making him look at you. You sighed speedily walking up to him and pressing your lips to his before he could back away. "I love you too."

"But—"

"Come with me," You whispered, clutching the front of his shirt in your hands. "Come back to Earth with me. We'll find someone there who will help. The Embassy would be more than willing to assist in the cleanup and protection of Palacios and Heajix. You can speak for everyone here who is struggling to survive and those you haven't."

"You want me to come with you?" He breathed, covering your hands with his. Tears still fell from his eyes but in a matter of seconds, he was smiling and pulling you against him in a hug so tight it knocked the air out of you.

"Of course I do, stupid!" You laughed, hugging him back as tight as you could. "Why would I leave you when you refused to leave me, huh?"

"...I love you," He whispered, giving you another kiss.

"Let's get our things together," You said before the two of you separated.

Jungkook packed his bag with anything important, sentimental or not. You noticed he packed his picture away with a sad smile.

Once the two of you were ready, you took his hand and walked out the door. He paused and looked behind him, at the house he'd been living in for the longest time. The boarded up windows and the water reservoir he'd spent ages perfecting.

You squeezed his hand, drawing his attention back to you. He smiled, taking the first step away.

You felt yourself relax against the seat once the two of you were on the craft. Jungkook was gripping your hand tight — it was hurting a bit but you didn't say anything. His gaze was locked on the window, watching as his home planet disappeared from view.

The surface was covered in a green, gaseous layer of pollution and smog that he seemed almost surprised to see. The pollution of the planet was most evident one outside of the planet's atmosphere.

"I'm happy you're here, Jungkook," You whispered, leaning your head on his shoulder.

"I am too," He replied, resting his head against yours as he watched the stars and planets pass by until Palacios was out of view.

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