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greatestexpectationss · 2 months

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Poison Ivy

Luke Castellan x Fem!Daughter of Persephone Reader

Description: You've been best friends with Luke Castellan since you were 14 years old. Now you teeter on the edge of something more, but your jealousy causes you to question everything.

You’re a child of Persephone, one of the far and few in between. Your mother had claimed you an entire year after you’d arrived at camp. Chiron had claimed it was to protect you from Hades' wrath, but you’d had a sickly feeling it was more than that. Children of Persephone are all springtime and warmth, and perhaps you are in the light of day but in the cover of the night, there is something else that claws at you. You are more winter than spring.

Your dad says its normal to feel disconnected from your mother at this age, but you don’t just feel disconnected you feel abandonded.

You’d never met your mother but you're so so angry with her.

Being the daughter of the goddess of spring came with expectations. You are loyal and kind, with a bit of a wild side. Your powers had manifested as chlorokinesis, you're particularly fond of plants, much like the children of Demeter, but you've got a hardness they don't have, a certain darkness only a child of the underworld could understand. You’d learned that on your quest, where you’d even able to speak and command hellhounds.

There was more to you than meets the eye.

For instance, your infamous knack for growing poison ivy around those who piss you of. It had earned you a loving nickname from Luke…

“Poison” he’d called you after a particularly nasty sprouting during a game of capture the flag when you were just 14 years old. It had been Luke’s first game at camp, some Ares boys were terrorizing him up in the trees, when you’d seen it you felt bad for him. Everyone knew the story of how Luke and Annabeth had arrived at camp with Grover and what had been sacraficed to get there or rather who. You’d come to his rescue, sprouting poison Ivy from nothing wrapping it around their legs and taking them out of the game in one fail swoop with your daggers.

They glared at you for weeks.

It had started a long-lasting friendship between you and Luke. You two were close, and you helped him out in the Hermes cabin a lot. You trained together, ate together, really you did everything together. Luke understands the burning anger that sits beneath the surface of your skin. He knows the warmth and brightness you radiate during the days, but he also knows the bitter darkness that hides within you.

Luke sees you under your mask and still he stays.

Maybe that's why you’d fallen so hard for him.

It was hard not to fall for Luke. He’s all tall, dark and handsome. He’s the best swordsman this camp has seen in 300 years, he radiates confidence and commands respect. But even without all of that everyone loves Luke. It's hard not to, really. He’s kind and brave. It’s no wonder the Aphrodite girls are so enamored with him, really most girls are.

Sometimes you’d catch him looking at you with this funny soft look in his eyes. His touch would linger longer than necessary when helping you during archery practice, and he’d laugh a little too loudly at your jokes, and give you that rare goofy grin when he finds you in a room full of people.

It’s in those moment you’d wonder if he feels the same way. When his words are just for you, when he drags you by your hand to the dock and lays down beside you to look at the starts. When he kisses you cheek before the both of you return to the cabin, when he peeks over the side of your bunk and whispers the sweetest goodnight.

But then there are times you think you're delusional.

Like tonight for instance.

You're sitting at the post capture the flag bonfire with a few of your friends. Selina from Aphrodite, Clarisse from Ares, Katie, from the Demeter cabin, and Juliette from Athena. The Apollo kids are singing and you're in a particularly good mood from winning. But then you look across the fire and Luke has a pretty Aphrodite girl dotting on him, Haley, you think her name is. She’s whispering in his ear, perfectly painted nails wrapped around his forearm.

She's the type of girl Luke deserves.

Juliette's finger snaps in front of your face drawing you away from your pity party. You sit on the bottom step of the bleachers with a leg on either side. Facing you is Juliette, up a step to your right sits Selina, Katie, and Clarisse.

“Hello earth to Y/N, anyone in there??” Clarisse asks, your eyes snap to her and bounce between the others, they all look ammused.

“Sorry,” you mumble cheeks heating in embarsement.

They all look over your head where you’d been staring, There's a knowing look that is shared between them before they looking back at you with a mix of exasperation, ammusment, and pity.

You don't know which one is worse.

“C’mon you don't think Luke’s really into that chick do you?” Katie asks you.

“That chicks name is Haley,” Silena reminds, before reaching out and squeezing you hand, “and Katie’s right everyone knows Luke’s crazy for you, I don't know why she's even bothering.”

Clarisse scoffs and cracks her knuckles, “I can kick both their asses if you want.”

This draws a laugh from you.

“Hey, there she is!” Juliette exclaims, pinching your cheek, you swat her hands away and roll your eyes, the pity is leaving your body but you're still left with the bitter taste of jealousy.

“We’re just friends,” is what you settle with, earning an eye roll from all four of your friends.

“We are!” you insist, running a hand through your hair, “He can flirt with whoever he wants.”

“Y/N, do you think we’re dumb?” Clarisse asks.

“What? No of course I don’t—”

“Well then you know you can’t lie to us,” Katie says, she's much kinder than Clarisse who stares at you expectantly. A classic daughter of Demeter, she reaches for your hand and squeezes. You close your eyes for a second and sigh before looking back over at Luke. The Aphrodite girl is sitting closer to him now, he's nodding along to something she's said. You look away quickly.

“Katie’s right, and as a daughter of Aphrodite I can tell you without a doubt Castellan is just as crazy for you as you are him,” Silena’s so sure of herself, you wish you could feel that confident, you wish you knew how he felt.

“Yeah well it sure doesn't seem that way,” you gesture towards where they’re sitting. Across from you Juliette hums.

“Maybe he’s confused,” she says

“Or maybe Haley just doesn't know how to take a hint” Clarisse grumbles. You sigh and swing your leg over the bleachers before standing up.

“Where are you going?” Katie asks, brow furrowed.

“I just need some air,” you say.

“Y/N we’re literally outside,” Clarisse quips, you glare at her.

“Figurative air,” you say, gesturing wildly around you, away from all of this.”

You're much too aware of how pathetic this all is, you pining in a corner with your friends and Luke across the way with a pretty girl who deserves him. You're not some scorned lover, you're just a sad teenage girl.

“Do you want me to come?” Juliette asks you. She's such a good friend, fiercely loyal, they all are really, and you're incredibly thankful for them.

You wave her off anyway, “I’ll be fine, I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

Your friends say their goodbyes, not before reminding you for the thousandth time about the small party in the Aphrodite cabin later that evening.

If you'd been paying attention you'd have noticed Luke’s boredom, you’d have noticed his eye that always seemed to follow you.

It’s darker as you get further away from the bonfire, you don't mind, the few lanterns lighting the path to the lake give you enough light that you can at least see where you're going. When you arrive at the lake, you're thankful no one else has had the same idea. You can't even count the number of times you've snuck away with Luke only to find numerous couples making out.

Tonight there's no one, maybe because it had been a particularly rough game of capture the flag, or maybe because the usual suspects (aka Chris and Clarisse) are still at the bonfire.

You make your way toward the end of the dock before sitting down, feet dangling off the edge you lean back on your hands and lift your head back to look at the stars. Around you the only sound is nature, and very far off in the distance, you can hear the faintest sound of the Apollo kids singing. Their voices echo and combine with the sounds of the trees.

It would be peaceful if you weren't so miserable.

“There you are.”

You open your eyes and turn your head over the shoulder. Luke’s approaching you with that goofy grin on his face and a sweatshirt in his hands. He pops down next to you on the dock and hands you the sweater.

“I figured you’d get cold, you didn't have a jacket at the bonfire,” he explains when you give him a confused smile.

“Oh,” you say meekly, pulling it over your head, it's much too big for you and it smells like Luke and kind of makes you want to cry. Still, you tell him thank you. His smile drops a little when you don't say anything else.

“You wanna tell me what's wrong Poison?” he asked gently, nudging your shoulder with his. You pick at the sleeves of his sweater, eyebrows furrowed, but hearing the concern in his voice you manage a small smile.

“Nothing’s wrong, I'm just tired,” you excuse. You meet his eyes and you can tell he doesn't believe you.

“Y/N—”

“Seriously, I'm good, thank you for checking on me, and thank you for your jacket but you should go back I'm sure Haley is wondering where you are and I'm really okay,” you promise. He’s got the goofy grin on his face again and he lets out a breathy laugh.

“Are you laughing at me?” you asked annoyed. He’s still smiling like he knows something you don't, he's enjoying this.

“What?”

“You're jealous,” you go wide-eyed eyes at his declaration, but you recover quickly with a scoff.

"I am not jealous," you deny, your voice gives you away when it quivers on the last syllable of your sentence. Luke’s grin only grows.

"Yeah okay Poison," he throws an arm over your shoulder, "whatever you say."

I’m going to push him into the lake, you think to yourself.

You don’t, instead, you settle for pushing his arm off of your shoulder.

"Whatever, I’m outta here," you say before promptly standing up and storming up the dock. You've got tears in your eyes you're thankful he didn't see. You can hear him laughing and calling for you but you don't turn around. You know he's not doing it to be mean, Luke's got a thing for teasing you, and you know he thinks that's what this is.

It doesn't make the sting of it any less.

Luke's got long legs, and you can hear him scrambling after you calling your name. You ignore him up the dock and the sand before he stops you stepping in your path.

"C'mon Poison I know I'm hard to resi–" he stops when he sees the tears in your eyes and you turn your face away from him. His brows furrow in concern when he realizes you don’t think it's funny. He reaches for you again but you take a step back and cross your arms over your chest.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong"

"You're crying"

"So?"

He looks at you like you've sprouted 8 heads.

"What do you mean so??" You pinch the bridge of your nose, you've seriously had enough of him playing dumb. "Can you just drop it please?" you beg, shifting on your feet and wiping furiously at your eyes before any tears can actually fall from your waterline.

But he's Luke and your Y/N and you should know by now he's not gonna drop it.

"Wait," he hums taking a step closer to you and prying your crossed arms away from the safety of your body, he holds both of your hands with his own and presses them to his chest, you've got nowhere to hide. Finally, he asks, "Were you actually jealous?"

His tone is softer this time, it holds no teasing just a gentleness you can't quite describe. You don't know if it’s pity or fondness, you're not sure which answer scares you more. You still can’t look him in the eyes.

"No–"

"Y/N, c'mon don't lie to me."

You huff in response. He steps even closer to you.

"Last week Lee Fletcher was helping you at archery practice," he says finally, you look at him now, his grin is gone but the soft smile he’s giving you, makes you feel like he’s going to let you down easy. He’s going to use Lee as a buffer, say it's clear there's something there when it's nothing. You feel for Lee the kind of platonic love you wish you felt for Luke.

What you feel for Luke is world-changing and gut-wrenching.

"Okay,” is all you can say, you try to step away again but Luke just grips your hands a little tighter.

“Just let me finish,” he pleads, you nod your head and avoid direct eye contact with him, instead you focus on his dark hair, the dark curls that shine under the moonlight. If he notices you aren’t looking him in the eye, he’s at least nice enough not to say anything about it.

"He said something to you, I wasn't close enough to hear what it was but it had you cracking up and laughing in the best way," Luke takes his thumb and stokes the corner of your mouth, "you get a little dimple right here when you laugh did you know that?"

You didn't, you also didn't even know he had been there that day. You don't even remember what Lee said that had made you laugh, something about your aim.

"What's your point?" you mumble, his touch on your face is searing and his other hand has moved to your waist, you can feel the burn of his skin through your (his) jacket. You finally cave and meet his eyes, he’s looking at you with such softness you think you might melt on the spit. You're not stupid either, you know what this is. But you need to hear him say it, or you might actually die.

"I was jealous," he shrugs, like it's no big deal, thumb tracing up your check to tuck a stray hair behind your ear before dragging it down to cup your face. "I didn't have any reason to be but I was.”

Then with that goofy grin he says, “Kinda sounds like someone else I know."

You’re smiling at him now, you both know this is teetering far too close to the edge to come back from now. In fact, even without him saying it, without kissing him, you don’t think you could ever come back from this.

"Why?" you ask him, hands coming to rest at the nape of his neck, you play with the strings of his camp necklace to distract yourself from the lessening distance between the two of you. He’s dipping his head closer to you, so close that if he speaks your lips will touch. You want him to kiss you in a way you’ve never wanted anything before.

"You know why." And then he's kissing you. His arm around your waist tightens instinctively, and he presses his lips to yours hungrily, like a starved man who's just arrived at a feast. Your hands drop his necklace and weave through the shorter hair at the nape of his neck, something akin to a sigh of relief floods through both of you. His hand is in your hair now, and he tasted of marshmallows and spearmint, something so distinctly Luke. It’s incredibly intoxicating you don’t want to pull away. And you don’t until you absolutely have to in order to catch your breath, Luke chases after your lips with his own. Kissing them softly once, and then twice, before pulling back and looking at you with a smile on his face. This time you return it, a little laugh escapes your lips before it grows louder.

“Alright now who’s laughing at who?” he grumbles, still smiling despite his tone, his thumb strokes your dimple, and it allows you to compose youself.

“I’m sorry,” you say reaching up to kiss him softly again. He’s smiling still, so you know you haven’t really offended him. “I just kinda feel like an idiot now,” you admit.

“Well you are one,” he tells you cheekily, squezzing your sides with both hands in the way he knows you both adore and detest, you squeal and stumble into him, gripping onto his biceps in attempts to get him to stop. “You’re absolutely the dumbest person alive if you think there’s any world that I would wanna do this with anyone else.”

“Really?” you ask.

“Really,” he confirms. You reach up and kiss him again, a little more searing than sweet. Both of Luke’s hands are back in your hair and he’s kissing you back just as fervently, you feel his tongue slip in your mouth, and you swear you’ve died and gone to heaven. It’s Luke who pulls away this time, gasping for air.

“I think I might be in love with you,” he admits.

“Yeah, I think I might be in love with you too.”

Suddenly you both hear footsteps approaching quick and heavy, Clarisse stops in front of you both and takes in your dishelved appearance, before rolling her eyes and yelling.

“Guys I found them! You all owe me $20!” she calls out to what you assume to be your group of friends.

“Clarisse what the hell?” you mutter stepping away from Luke reluctantly. Chris comes barelling out of the forest, tripping over shrubbery. Luke pouts at the loss of contact

“They were making out?” he pouts to Clarisse who gestures towards you both as if to say well just look at them! then Chris turns to you and Luke, “You guys couldn’t have waited like one more day?”

You laugh as Luke whacks him upside the head. The four of you begin making your way towards the rest of your friends and the Aphrodite cabin where the party (which is so not a party) is. Your girlfriends squeal and Luke’s friends cringe. Luke throws his arm around your shoulder, "All good Poison?" he ask.

"I'm good, how are you?" he laughs and kisses your head.

"Never better."

You look up at him fondly and kiss the bottom of his scar as the two of you enter the cabin with the rest of your friends.

Across the room, Haley pouts with her siblings, but you don’t notice. You’re too enamored with Luke, the boy you’ve loved for as long as you can remember. The boy who loves you back.

#luke castellan #luke castellan x reader #luke castellan x you #luke castellan imagine #pjo series #luke castellan oneshot #pjo tv show #pjo fanfic #luke castellan pjo #x reader #fem reader #reader insert

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7waystreet · 1 year

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legacies | ch.2

synopsis — a fiery (y/n) newly enters a university campus dominated by the three trust fund brats. she’s not going to take their shit and they’re not going to let her off so easily either. will this rivalry evolve into friendship, lust or love?

genre — college drama, angst, slow burn

disclaimer — 18+ ; strong language and sexual content

chapter index:

01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | coming soon

ch. 2

It's as if nothing around you could put a damper on your bright mood, or so you think when you step out of your girls dormitory and skip down the stairs towards the class you've been looking forward to the most, the weather perfectly sunny with a fair breeze on your second day at university. A look of content easing your face, your heart's certainly feeling lighter, although you felt like that couldn't be possible so quickly after the brazen encounter with the three boys just yesterday. But thanks to your short meeting with Kim Taehyung after the scene, you'd at least been blessed with some peace of mind.

"Awww Koo!!! Are you okay my baby??? I swear I'll rip that witch's hair out for this!!!"

The taste of your vomit gurgles up your throat when your sight focuses on his athletic figure leisurely reclining on a bench in the campus courtyard, heavily surrounded by a herd of the skimpiest girls thirsting for his attention by practically throwing themselves at him. Jungkook appears visibly uninterested though as he mindlessly keeps staring at the ground while man spreading his toned thighs out, all while the annoying girl whining next to him presses a cold ice pack on his puffed out cheek with overflowing care. You hate these types of girls, the ones willingly chasing after boys to claim their undeserving piece of popularity, a look of irritation now dawning your face as you begin walking in Jungkook's direction.

Your feet pause in their steps when Jungkook's attention redirects to you, his gaze quickly picking up off the grass and his shadowy eyes meeting yours in a flare. The total lack of expressions on his face twists into a fresh new look of deepening interest, clearly having been surprised by seeing you bravely approach him instead of cowering away from him in fear. Why would you run from him though and show weakness when he's anyways in most of your classes? That'd only feed into his delusion of having some sort of a power over you, which you'd never just hand in to him, if even at all. The girls around Jungkook instantly throw you the nastiest of looks by the way he's observing you of all people, their immense jealously seeping out as they stare dumbfounded at how absorbed he is by your presence, despite their wild attempts to charm him.

"I just wanna say I'm sorry. It wasn't right of me to hit you like that" you admit to Jungkook after swallowing your pride, your chest tightening up with residual anger from the fresh memory of him ruthlessly destroying your grandma's watch. Regardless of his unforgivable behavior, it's not in your authority to physically assault someone as their punishment, your upright conscience forcing you to apologize since raising your hand on any person isn't an acceptable thing you could be proud of.

"Well, guess what? It's not okay" Jungkook seethes with a cocky glow now dazzling on his pretty face, his long legs instantly bouncing up and taking a few strides forward to meet you up close. He only stops when you're a nose's distance away from each other, the furiously contorting expressions of the flock of desperate girls he leaves behind secretly boosting up your ego to the heavens.

"It wasn't okay for you to ruin my watch either. But am I hearing you say sorry?" you spit back in response, the lack of compassion he so proudly carries in his voice triggering you to lose your cool. Jungkook just makes it so easy to fall in hate with him, his mouth wickedly twitching with gall before he chooses to answer.

"I'm not apologizing to you. I did you a favor by getting rid of that shit ass watch of yours."

Forget even showing empathy, it's his incompetency that truly astonishes you, the way his high opinion of himself clouds his basic judgement and understanding of the world deserving of real pity. It's as if he's created a fool proof bubble that he loves basking inside, his authority at the maximal degree within this fake universe that only he's the master of. Anger shoots up your heart at his rude comment, your eyes first flickering towards his swollen cheek which your palm had already done the honor to greet, then settling over onto his untouched, soft and milky one. "Your other cheek's looking lonely. Don't tempt me, Jeon."

"Your wrist's looking rather lonely too" Jungkook fires back in a flash, although with a chuckle this time as he grabs your bare wrist in a painful grip. Your jawline clenches when you brush him off with a heedless arm shaking, his entire demeanor soon bubbling with excitement from his victory of successfully pissing you off. You genuinely question whether he enjoys this kind of back and forth with you, his giggles as indication of how he seemingly likes the few seconds he gets to spend with you to his heart's content, even if that means the time spent together is merely over fights and quarrels.

Letting out a shallow sigh, you decide not to indulge any further in this mess of an unplanned encounter, turning around away from Jungkook with a swift move. Trying to soothe your heated mind by flashing your thoughts back to your sweet hangout with Taehyung from the previous day, you now continue to make your way over to your class, trying your best to block out Jungkook's continued laughter with the dimwitted girls who've joined in with him in the distance.

"Order anything you want. I'm paying" Taehyung had advised you after bringing you to the college cafeteria, crouching down with your backpack still strapped on his shoulder so you could stuff the remains of your watch in a zipper while you'd both waited in line.

"You don't have to pay for me... I can afford to pay for myself" you'd informed him in a reserved tone, frankly unsure of his true motives behind treating you so well after you'd humiliated Jungkook with the slap. The first lesson you'd so roughly learned just a few minutes ago was to not trust anyone here, the way Jimin had fooled you with his flip of a switch attitude scarring you into keeping tabs on Taehyung, despite his much friendlier approach. You weren't going to make that mistake twice.

Taehyung had now appeared somewhat hurt by your words, the tall boy's brows furrowing and lips pouting in a tender manner, but he'd still spoken his mind regardless, his honesty surprisingly refreshing amongst the chaos. "I know... but it's the least I can do in return for how my best friends disrespected you."

"Why are hell are you even friends with them?" your anguish had slipped out, the desire to know why this sensible seeming boy uncharacteristically chills out with assholes like Jimin and Jungkook fully taking over you. You'd internally scolded yourself right after for letting your emotions overpower you into losing the control you usually hold over your tongue, your face becoming more tense as Taehyung took a long pause before answering your blunt question.

"I grew up with them. Jiminie and Jungkookie are my family... They're all I've got now" Taehyung had lowered his gaze, the tone of his voice immersed with a deepening sadness.

A formidable awkward silence had followed, you placing in your iced coffee order while Taehyung had opted for an iced tea instead, your mind lost in thought wondering what he exactly must've meant by his friends are all he's got now. His sullen disposition had started making you uneasy and a bit concerned, the way he continued to stay quiet even when you'd settled down at a table near a window worthy of some worry.

"It used to be my dad's..." Taehyung's deep voice had promptly stolen your attention, your eyes curiously trailing from your coffee cup on the table over to his pretty dainty digits fidgeting with the flashy silver ring sitting on his left index finger. "... it got passed down to me after he died last year."

You'd sneaked a peak up at his face after his unforeseen confession, your features now mimicking his gloomy ones as your own fingers had unknowingly wrapped around your empty wrist. Taehyung's actions suddenly made more sense, the way he'd shown empathy after seeing Jungkook break your family's memento a reflection of his faithful attachment towards his own.

"Is that why you helped defend me back there?" you'd sprung up in question for confirmation, Taehyung's glassy eyes slowly locking in on your palm that was still clutching the wrist missing your late grandma's watch. His nod of approval which'd followed affirmed your theory of why he'd decided to care for you and check up on you in the first place, despite you publicly smacking his best buddy.

"I used to be just as cruel as them you know... worse, if anything. I lost count of how many people I'd hurt. It all seemed pointless after losing my father. My idol. I've now got a big responsibility to look after my mother and our family business... I can't afford to slip up."

You'd just met him today, and it felt crazy even thinking this, but it was difficult for you to imagine Taehyung being a vile bully based on his humble character you'd observed so far. But you were going to take his word for it, since after all, you didn't know his history at this university, nor did you know Jimin's or Jungkook's. Your classmates words still echoed in your head about how you should probably stay away from all three of them as they reeked of trouble, but your lips had still formed a faint smile while you slid your palm across the table to hold onto Taehyung's hand for a brief few seconds of support. You weren't a heartless bitch, and Taehyung was the one who'd gone out of his way to reach out to you, so the least you could've done was attempt to provide him with the same comfort he'd given you, while also reminding yourself to strictly keep your guard up.

"I've been through a terrible loss with my grandma's passing too. It changes you in lots of ways. But I'm sure you will do well... you seem like a good person. Thank you for this."

The natural curvature of his lovely lips leans downwards, but the way it'd quickly flipped up into a noticeable boxy smile at your words of encouragement had made you openly grin too. Taehyung's hand had quickly entered the slit of his pant pocket before pulling out his phone, his body language easing up by tenfolds as he'd passed along his expensive iPhone of the latest model to you.

"You seem cool too. The way you violated Jungkookie... my GOD I wanted to burst out laughing! For the future though, just stay out of his way, alright? Jimin too. I don't know if I'll always be there to stop them if you happen to run into them and something happens. But here, let's exchange numbers. Ring me up if you ever need any help with anything. I'll tell them to leave you alone too. I'm sure they'll listen to me" Taehyung had happily babbled in an innocent round of excitement, a cute smile relaxing his cheeks when you'd accepted his phone and begun typing.

"I appreciate it a lot, Taehyung. Can't believe I'm saying this, but you're my first friend here" you'd chuckled as you warmly returned Taehyung's phone in his outstretched hand, him then shooting you a text message so you could save his number with ease too.

"Well, let your first friend walk you to your next class! But please hold your backpack this time though... what are you carrying in this heavy ass thing? Bricks?!" he'd replied back in sudden annoyance, your face instantly dropping at his bitter glance in your direction, but he'd quickly snorted into laughter and waved his hands at you to let you know he was only joking. With a friendly punch to his arm, you'd gripped your coffee cup while getting up as Taehyung continued to carry your backpack despite your constant attempts to pull it off of him, his giggles filling the hallway when he'd helped you navigate your way to class.

With thoughts of your bothersome confrontation with Jungkook in the campus courtyard long gone, an honest smile curls up on your lips when you realize you're walking down the same hallway in present time, Taehyung's laughter still echoing in your ears as you make a mental note of the classroom number on the door to your right. Distracted by your memories with Taehyung, you've clearly strolled past the place you're shortly meant to enter, both of your feet now reversing back up towards the adjacent door with the correct number you're searching for engraved on it. The name 𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐎𝐊 sits printed in gold plating on the alluring entrance to the dance studio which holds the contemporary dance class you're so beyond excited to start soon.

"Fucking hell, Dad! PLEASE! You can't be doing this!"

Your body turns frigid as you gently twist the doorknob to the studio open and sneakily peak your head inside, your eyes sealing in on the figures of three people standing towards the back, in the middle of what appears to be a heated discussion. Your stealth goes totally unnoticed by all three of them, although your nosiness and curiosity gets the best of you when you identify the blonde boy as none other than Park Jimin, his rebellious yells and protests against the spitting older image of him quite alarmingly disrespectful.

"You see how this ungrateful rascal talks to me, Jung?!"

The middle aged man in a crisp black Italian suit and exquisite Valentino shoes runs his fingers through his gelled back hair as he speaks, an exceeding threat lingering in his angry comment truly aimed at his son. His cruel eyes first glare at Jimin, then jump towards the lean man dressed in a set of baggy light blue wash pants and an oversized white t-shirt, the colorful jewelry he's decked out in upping his uber cool style. Professor Jung looks uncomfortably shaken up by the situation, although he tries to hide it by flashing his soft dimples in an attempt to soothe the rich man's fury, his nimble fingers nervously fidgeting with the beanie on his head.

"Ah, Mr. Park... Sir, I do understand your frustration... but Jiminie is our best dancer, and he always guarantees us a win at the annual intercollegiate dance competition, which in turn raises our university's reputation. You withdrawing his name this year means we're certainly coming home with a loss... I hope you reconsider your decisi—"

Professor Jung turns pale as a ghost when Mr. Park lets out a blaringly arrogant laugh. The father bores his dire eyes into Jimin's hurt ones to really screw in the insult while he replies back to the dance teacher. "Star dancer, huh? My son is nothing but a failure in the making. Bringing shame to my name by choosing dance as a career when he's got my empire to look after... how pathetic! He wouldn't even be able to wipe his own ass if it weren't for the luxuries I've provided him with all his life. My decision is final. Jimin will be focusing on his studies during his final year to make sure he passes all of his courses, this moron. None of this dance competition bullshit to distract him. You got that, Jung? If you hear even one more complaint against Jimin from anyone, you call me up. You understand?"

Jimin shudders with a rage unlike you've ever seen before, both of his eyes bloodshot red as they narrow up with utmost hate for his father, his chest visibly heaving while he dryly swallows back his spiteful words, which would only get him in more trouble that he's smart enough to avoid for now. Professor Jung appears severely anxious standing in his own damn studio too, clearly having lost his battle against the more important man holding a higher authority over matters than him himself.

"Sure, Mr. Park... will that be all, Sir? We can pick this up later if you'd like... I'm actually expecting a class soo—" the dance teacher's head suddenly snaps in your direction mid-sentence, the sound alert from the text message dinging on your phone capturing his attention.

"Oh, hi! Uh, I'm (y/n). I'm here for class! I didn't mean to interrupt. Uh, sorry."

Jimin now looks like he's actually going to pass out from the overpowering humiliation, as if how his father had poorly treated him wasn't enough already, his mind absolutely livid at the possibility of having you stand there listening in on this conversation too. But it's obvious you've done so by the way you're acting quite awkward, unable to whip up a convincing fake act when unexceptionally put on the spot like this. Jimin's eyes penetrate into your soul with utmost malice while professor Jung kindly welcomes you inside, Mr. Park simultaneously strutting out of the studio without another word or even a glance in your direction, which you're truthfully grateful for.

Your thoughts are still zooming all over the place when you enter the girls locker room post-class to wash up after a sweaty routine, now finding yourself caught in a debate whether you're happy to get the chance to explore your interest in contemporary dance, or pissed off to your core by the fact that you're partnered with Jimin out of everyone, professor Jung's reasoning being the best dancer could help out the new girl quickly catch up to speed. It'd probably been the stiffest hour of your life having Jimin teach you some moves while not even looking you in the eye the entire time, his words barely audible with how he kept mumbling in an attempt to hide the hatred for you in his voice.

"Shhhh..."

Jimin's hushed whisper grazes your ear all of a sudden, before you feel his palm press against your mouth to block you from screaming despite your vigorous wish to do so, your completely naked body turning around in full shock to face an equally naked Jimin. He glides the white shower curtain shut with his other hand, hiding the fact that you're both dripping in warm water together in the same showering stall in the girls locker room. He widens his eyes to threaten you into not making a sound before gradually lifting his palm off your lips, his gaze then slowly traveling down from your face to your exposed breasts, not stopping until he's observed every inch of your skin down to your toes, all while you keep gawking at him in dumbstruck awe with a susceptibility to his insanely bold actions.

"Now that I've gotten your attention... don't you dare tell anyone what you heard earlier. I don't want people knowing the real reason behind why I won't be participating in the dance comp this year is because my fucking dad withdrew my fucking name."

Without even taking a look down at his package, you extend your hand forward and grip his balls with a squeeze, Jimin's plump lips parting in a sharp gasp while he tensely holds his breath in from your sudden touch.

"You'd think after the terrible lack of respect you seem to get from your own dad, you wouldn't want to put others through the same. But lucky for you, I'm not like you. Your secret is safe with me."

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taisho-era-secrets · 2 years

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Chased

Just a very short werewolf Kyojuro Rengoku drabble in spirit of the season.

CW: Blood/Animal death mentioned, nothing else. This drabble is SFW (which is very rare for me) but... we'll see if I wanna continue with werewolf smut eventually.

(If you are a minor in the tags please do not visit or interact with my blog. Thank you!)

You've been lost in the woods for days by now.

You're cold, hungry, and terrified.

There's been something chasing after you this whole time, you can't always see it but you know it's there. You can feel it watching. Whatever it is, it's massive- the sound of splitting of trees as it bounds after you haunts you in your sleep. Those snarls too, those damn snarls.

Thick clumps of golden fur clung to the broken branches you passed by, condensing further and further the deeper you got into the forest. Whatever left those clumps wasn't an animal you knew. Pawprints that scarred the earth were larger than your head, blood droplets sprinkled your path and painted the vines. Your gut clenched, a tornado of nerves making your limbs shake- but you had to keep going.

You couldn't turn back now, there was promise up ahead- the sound of birds and the fresh breeze told you so despite the thicket scraping against your sore skin and the scent of pennies overwhelming your nose.

But then-

It was like you had woken up from a bad dream as you stepped into the clearing. The sun was overwhelmingly bright, the autumn leaves decorating the meadow with warmth. The most welcomed sight was the smoke that danced from the chimney of the cabin in the middle of the glade. A thwack of an axe alerted you to its resident; a sturdy, broad man who looked up at you with such compassion as he stopped chopping firewood. Like a moth drawn to the flame, you couldn't help but cling to him in blind desperation.

His eyes burned into you like a sunset, robust arms caught you as you fell forward onto his flannel in exhaustion, and that hair...

You dismissed the thought as he bundled you up. You couldn't possibly decline the man's civility, not when he warmed you up next to the fire, not when he undressed you and cleaned you from head to toe, not when he bandaged all of your cuts and told you how brave you were for surviving for so long.

And you especially couldn't decline him when he offered fresh venison from the buck he claimed to have just caught.

No, you couldn't be bothered to think about the days you spent in the woods. A full belly, a healing body, a warm heart. The tranquility of the cabin was inebriating, enough to give you the confidence to ask your host not to leave your side that night. So grateful for this savior, your muscles became like jelly in his arms. Your face nestled into his broad chest as you drifted away to the sound of him humming and the crackle of the fire. You were sure you were safe now, you reassured yourself as your fingers laced around tufts of fur. There was nothing to worry about anymore.

You convinced yourself it was nothing more than a nightmare.

Until his delicate hum shapeshifted into snarls.

#kyojuro rengoku #ghost whispers a secret #rengoku x reader #kyojuro x reader #rengoku kyojuro

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m1ckeyb3rry · 6 months

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Endure XVII: Armin

Series Synopsis: You and Eren Jaeger have been best friends since the age of two, but the two of you are destined for an inevitable tragedy. The world you have been born into is cruel; it is one where friends are traitors and enemies are allies, one where you find yourself doubting everything you've ever known. In this life, mistakes are fatal, and you must be careful, lest you make one too many.

Chapter Synopsis: A look into Armin Arlert’s thoughts and feelings, as well as the aftermath of the Scouts’ return to Shiganshina.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Eren Jaeger x Female Reader, Armin Arlert x Female Reader

Chapter Word Count: 4.2k

Content Warnings: swearing, canon-typical violence, sexual abuse (non-explicit), major character death, angst, original characters included

Armin Arlert was a boy surrounded by miracles. He had been saved, time and time again, and he did not know why he deserved it. Was it because he was smart? Was it because he was friends with Eren? He didn’t know.

What he did know was that he was here, and he was alive, and there were so many other people that weren’t. The veterans of the walls. Mr. Orion and Mr. Hannes. Y/N. All of them had died, but he hadn’t yet. There was only one thing he could do with this knowledge: he had to reach the sea.

This burning desire to reach the sea consumed him. It fuelled him, it was the only reason he was able to keep pushing forwards. He would not die until he saw the sea, of that much he was certain. He had to, and not just for himself but for the girl that had believed in him, too.

She was gone now, leaving him behind, so he vowed that he would see the sea for the both of them.

If only he knew the price he would pay to keep that promise.

After battling the Colossal Titan and burning to death, Armin resigned himself to not being able to fulfill his oath. Eren would do it, though. He had faith in Eren, more than he had ever had faith in anybody before. The world went bright and then dark as he was charred to a crisp, but the only thing on his mind was wondering if there was a sea in heaven. Maybe he and Y/N could go to it together.

Yet such a thing was not to be, it seemed. An eternity passed, though it had not felt like more than thirty seconds. Time was a bubble, he had no clue how it passed in that strange grey limbo. He was floating, with no way to tell what was up or down or right or left. Some heaven, if this was truly the afterlife.

He blinked his eyes open, the sun assaulting his vision. It was bright, too bright, his eyes needed time to adjust.

This couldn’t be the afterlife, either, because he was just sitting on Wall Maria, and Eren was running towards him, and Mikasa was crying, so clearly he had somehow survived, though he couldn’t be sure how.

Or could he? There was a new electricity, a kind of power, thrumming through his veins now. It had not been there before. He flexed his fingers thoughtfully, wondering what the source of the energy could possibly be.

“Armin!” Eren shouted, dropping to his knees and hugging him tightly.

“Eren, how did I survive?” he said, slowly hugging his friends back. Eren let out a choked sob.

“You...you weren’t going to. You stupid, brave idiot! We used the serum on you and fed you Bertholdt,” he said.

“Yeah, used it on you instead of Commander Erwin,” Floch scoffed.

“The Captain chose me instead of the Commander? Why?” Armin said.

“He got soft and emotional. He shouldn’t have used it on you,” Floch said.

“He just woke up, Floch. Give it a rest,” Tullia said. Armin could tell she had noticed the tensing of Eren’s muscles and the way Mikasa’s eyes had narrowed. Floch must have as well, for he did not argue, instead looking away, though he muttered something that was most likely snide.

“I couldn’t lose anyone else. Not again,” Eren whispered, hugging Armin tighter. Armin frowned. It had been an emotional choice. Commander Erwin was undoubtedly the better option, wasn’t he? But it remained that he was here and the Commander wasn’t. He should be dead, but he wasn’t, because for the millionth time, Eren had saved him.

“It feels wrong to be going home without you and Y/N,” Eren said, exchanging looks with Mikasa, who was frowning as well. Armin shrugged.

“I still need to rest. I’m in no shape to go anywhere. As for Y/N, well...maybe we can visit her afterwards and tell her what was in the cellar,” he said.

“I think she’d like that,” Eren said quietly.

“I think she would, too,” Mikasa said.

“Then it’s a deal. Go on, now, we can’t exactly tell her if we don’t know ourselves,” Armin said, motioning for his friends to join Captain Levi and Commander Hange in uncovering the secrets of the Jaeger family home.

He would have never expected to hear what they returned with, and he knew that Y/N wouldn’t believe it if she were here. Still, the day after Commander Erwin’s funeral, the three friends made their way to her grave to tell her about the news. In their hands, they held flowers: a campanula from Mikasa, a sunflower from Armin, and a pink camellia from Eren. All three so different, representative of how all three of them had loved her in their own separate, strange little ways.

“After all of this time, we finally found out what’s out there,” Mikasa began, laying her flower down, “Other civilizations. Cities and countries of people that have never even heard of titans.”

“It turns out that all of the titans were once people that belonged to a race of people called Eldians. We Subjects of Ymir, when injected with titan serum made of spinal fluid, turn into mindless titans like the type that terrorized those of us within the walls. Because of this, the Subjects of Ymir are hated and mistreated in the entire world,” Armin said, placing his own flower next to Mikasa’s.

“The titan shifters are weapons of Marley. My father, he was the one that brought the Attack Titan here before feeding himself to me. He got it from a man named Eren Kruger, who gave it to him and told him to save you. Looks like he failed at that, or more like I failed in his place. Regardless, Eren Kruger also told my father that titan shifters only live for thirteen years once they get their titans. It’s the Curse of Ymir; it means I’m only going to live for a few more years no matter what,” Eren said.

“That’s a depressing subject to bring up at her grave! This is supposed to be a happy visit!” Mikasa hissed. Armin knew it was distressing her. After all, in thirteen years, nobody from her childhood would be left. She’d be all alone. Sure, she’d have Sasha and Tullia and Jean and Connie and Marco, but they weren’t the same. They hadn’t been there through the fall of Shiganshina, they hadn’t known her before she was a soldier. Mikasa would be alone indeed, and he wished that there was something he could do to comfort her about the inevitable truth.

“I doubt she cares. After all, she’s dead already. Death should hardly bother her,” Eren said, rolling his eyes.

“Mikasa, it’s not worth it. Besides, she deserves the full truth,” Armin said when the girl opened her mouth to argue.

“Fine. I’m just worried for you guys, that’s all. I don’t want to lose you, either,” she said.

“It doesn’t look like you’ll have much of a choice,” Eren said bitterly.

“Yeah,” she said sadly, “Doesn’t look like it.”

The trio rode back to the castle in record time, not wanting to be late for the awards ceremony but barely making it in time anyways. Captain Levi raised an eyebrow at them as they came rushing into the throne room, skidding into place as Queen Historia entered in her royal finery, the golden crown on her head matching her blonde hair, elegantly twisted into a chignon.

“Almost didn’t make it,” Eren whispered.

“I know!” Armin said, still panting from running through the halls of the castle, his face pink from the exertion.

As Historia went down the line, Armin watched his comrades. Floch glared at him. Jean seemed defeated, his normal smug aura dimmed. Tullia was grim, her brow furrowed as she accepted the medallion. Connie and Sasha’s joking demeanors were gone, and even Marco was not smiling. Mikasa’s face was blank, and Eren looked tired.

Armin gave Historia a friendly nod after kissing her hand, and she gave him an exhausted smile back. Being the queen was weighing down on the girl, he could tell, but what could she do besides grin and bear it?

Next after him was Eren, and later, Armin would point to this moment as being when things went so horribly wrong. As his best friend kissed the girl’s hand, his eyes went wide, and he inhaled sharply, beginning to tremble all over.

“Eren, are you okay?” he hissed. Eren stayed frozen for a second before letting go of Historia and weakly nodding, though it was not convincing anybody.

“It’s nothing,” he said, even though it so obviously wasn’t nothing. Historia moved on to Mikasa, but Armin continued to gaze at Eren in worry. Eren noticed and smiled, though it was more of a grimace, really.

“Seriously, Min-Min. Don’t concern yourself with it.”

And so Armin didn’t, but maybe he should have. If he had tried a little harder, been a little more attentive, would things have gone the way they had? He couldn’t be sure. It was a moot point now, anyways.

Because now, after so many years of dreaming and planning and talking and pining, the Scouts were finally galloping towards the sea. This was it; this was the moment he had been waiting for nearly his entire life. He had been born to see it, been born to reach it.

Do you see me, Y/N? I’m at the sea. The sea that you said was ours and ours alone. I’m here. I did it. Are you happy? Are you proud of me?

The sea was nothing like what he had expected yet everything like he had expected. It was vast and wondrous, the large, shimmering blue expanse stretching as far as the eye could see, just as his book had described. The breeze was salty and cool, blowing his hair back as he stared off the edge of the cliff into the water.

Tying the horses up, the Scouts raced down to the beach, discarding their boots and socks, rolling their pant legs up and feeling the warm sand between their toes as their feet sank into it.

A laugh of sheer delight left Armin as he waded into the water behind Eren, reaching down to pick up a shell and staring at it in wonder. The outside world. So this was what it was like. This was what the titans had been denying them for so long. He laughed again.

“See, Eren? You never believed me, but it’s just as I said it. On the other side of the wall is —”

“On the other side of the wall is the sea,” Eren said, cutting him off. Armin furrowed his brow as the boy continued to speak, “And on the other side of the sea is freedom. We believed that for so long...but it’s not true. What’s waiting for us on the other side of the ocean is the enemy. Everything is as I saw it in my father’s memories, right?”

Everyone was silent, watching as he raised his hand to point at the horizon, giving them all a desperate, pained look. “So if I kill the enemy, the one waiting for me on the other side, will I...finally get to see Y/N again?”

See...Y/N again? Eren, what the hell are you talking about?

Barely any time at all passed from the moment they found the sea to when the first Marleyan ship arrived on their shores. They took the crew members hostage, but it wasn’t enough to deter the rest of them from continuing to come ever closer to the beach.

“Eren, you shift into a titan and carry one of the ships over here. I think we should try to talk this out. We could gain valuable information,” Commander Hange said. Eren nodded dully before walking a safe distance from everyone and biting his hand. The hulking form of the Attack Titan appeared, giving all of them a sharp look with his glowing jade eyes before nodding once and then disappearing to follow Hange’s orders.

The world began to shake as the large titan stomped back towards the rocky outcropping that they were waiting on. Armin covered his ears, wincing at the noise. His friends did the same, and he knew they all didn’t like this any more than he did.

“Hellooooo, Marleyans! It’s a pleasure to meet you all! Your friends from earlier have been quite pleasant, too! Ah, wait, I’m being silly. Let me introduce myself! I’m Hange Zoe, Commander of the Survey Corps. Would you like to come join us for tea? Niccolo thinks our tea is delicious, don’t you?” Commander Hange trilled. Captain Levi poked the blond Marleyan in the back with his blades, and the man whimpered.

“Don’t do it! They’re devils, let me die! Please, Commander, don’t give in!” Niccolo gasped out. Commander Hange gave him a perplexed look.

“Eh? Now what is this?” she said.

“You disgusting devils! No Marleyan would ever associate with the likes of you! Keep your filth to yourself and drink pig-piss with your foul friends, but stay away from us!” the Commander of the ship shouted. Commander Hange gasped in outrage, and Captain Levi seemed similarly irritated, most likely because of the insult to his tea. Armin frowned, watching the display. This wasn’t looking good. If they had any hopes of attempting diplomacy with the countries of the world, they needed to get people on their side, but it seemed the people didn’t even want to try and hear them out.

“Are you sure you should be being rude to us?” Commander Hange said, eye wide in surprise, “Don’t you see the titan behind you?”

The Marleyans whipped around to see Eren’s monstrous titan grinning down at them, his pointed ears pinned back in a gesture that was undoubtedly hostile. His teeth were on full display, and the steam made the glow of his eyes all the more unearthly looking. Eren looked like a creature straight from hell, and if Armin hadn’t known that it was his friend in the titan, he would’ve been terrified. Even with the knowledge that it was just Eren, he could not help but feel a little bit of instinctual fear creep down his spine at the sight.

“I will not be ordered around by some Eldian dog!” the Commander shouted, aiming his gun at Commander Hange, who yelped and ducked behind a rock. Captain Levi did the same, yanking Niccolo down with him as well. Armin and the rest of the 104th were far enough away that they were not in danger, and so they were able to see what happened next without any obstruction.

A blonde soldier cocked their own gun and then pointed it at the Commander before shooting in one swift, fluid, graceful movement. The man keeled over, dead as soon as the bullet entered him. Armin and Mikasa exchanged confused looks. What had just happened?

“Hands up, Yelena! You’re a traitor!” a different soldier said. Yelena, the blonde, nodded at the man. All of a sudden, half of the soldiers broke off from their ranks, restraining the others as if they were enemies, not comrades. A man with dark skin took off his helmet and gave Yelena a meaningful stare.

“That’s all of them,” he said. She gave him a pleased smile before bowing at Commander Hange, who had cautiously peeped her head up to survey the situation.

“Commander Hange! My name is Yelena! I apologize for that man’s rudeness. If you’ll still have me, I’d be delighted to accept your offer! Let’s have tea!” she said.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Tullia muttered.

“So do I, but what choice do we have?” Jean said with a sigh, pulling the girl closer. She groaned, leaning against his chest in defeat.

“I know, but I just don’t trust her. Something about that woman...it’s suspicious. I don’t know what, but I can’t shake off this awful feeling that she’s going to lead to our ruin,” she said.

“I agree with you, Tullia, but like Jean said, we really don’t have many other options. We need to find some way to join the world at large. Yelena and her crew just fell in our lap and seem fairly willing to help us. We’d be foolish to deny them,” Marco said.

“Marco’s right. Still, I wonder...what will their help cost?” Armin said.

The answer, it turned out, was everything. The Anti-Marleyan Volunteers, or so they called themselves, came with news from none other than Zeke Jaeger, the Beast Titan, the reason why Commander Erwin and so many other Scouts were dead. Zeke claimed that he was on their side now, that he wanted to help them rejoin the world.

Yelena spoke of fantastical technology, of aerial warfare and rifles accurate beyond their wildest dreams. She told them about the Rumbling, and though she admitted that she did not know all of Zeke’s plan, she informed them that there were ambassadors that would soon come to explain everything to them in greater detail.

Armin could tell Commander Hange and Captain Levi were reluctant to go along with her, but as the 104th had already established, they had absolutely no choice. The only way to ensure Paradis’s survival was to do this, unwilling though they might be.

And unwilling was the only word to describe Armin as he waded into the vast sea, his beloved sea, this place of peace and freedom and wonder and dreams. The rest of the Marleyan ships were unaware of their demise in the form of a teenage boy, sailing towards the shores placidly. A lone tear slipped down his face.

He was no Eren. He was not a fighter, no force of nature. No, Armin Arlert was a gentle, kind boy, repeatedly chosen by the world to be the recipient of miracles. It was this very gentleness in him that wept, wept for the loss of his humanity and the loss of his goodness.

Because he was no longer a good person, if he had ever been considered such a thing in the first place. He was a monster; a terrible, cruel monster. As he bit his hand and transformed into the Colossal Titan for the first time since the burden had been placed upon him, he cried. As he stepped on the Marleyan ships full of innocent soldiers (was that an oxymoron? Soldiers were not innocent, but Armin wasn’t so sure that he should be allowed to play judge, jury, and executioner), he cried. And as he exited the nape of his enormous titan, the very same titan that had kicked a hole in Wall Maria, destroying his life and home forever, he wondered.

Do you see me, Y/N? I’ve destroyed the sea. The sea that you said was ours and ours alone. I’ve destroyed it. Was it wrong? Are you still...proud of me?

“The ambassadors are finally arriving!” Sasha said excitedly.

“I know, I can’t wait to finally get some answers as to what Zeke’s truly planning. Yelena’s been mostly unhelpful,” Jean said.

“Onyankapon’s a real stand up guy, though,” Connie said with a smirk, “and you’ll not believe what he said.”

“What?” Marco said curiously as they watched the ships reach the newly-constructed Paradis Port.

“One of the ambassadors, the princess of Triura, is hot. Like, smoking-hot. I think if I turn my charm up, I’ll be able to bag myself a royal wife!” Connie said.

“Didn’t he also say she’s engaged?” Tullia said dryly. Connie wilted at this.

“Well, yeah...but that’s because she hasn’t met me yet! I’m sure she’ll leave her fiance once she gets a good look at how absolutely and utterly handsome I am,” he said.

“Try not to creep her out, Connie. We need Triura and Hizuru’s cooperation if we want Zeke’s plan to work,” Eren said. His face was serious as he watched the ships in fascination. Armin had noticed that his friend adored watching ships, even if he had had to destroy many of them.

“I’m not going to creep her out! She’s going to fall for me naturally, just you wait and watch. It’s going to be simple,” Connie said, affronted at the fact that Eren had even considered him being creepy. Armin snickered at this. Connie, for all of his bravado, had never had much luck with girls. Jean had Tullia, Mikasa and Sasha had each other, Historia had had Ymir, Eren had had Y/N, but Connie had never had anyone. Well, to be fair, neither had Armin, but that was a choice Armin made. He was too busy for things like that, though he had been trying to make time to visit Annie recently. He felt bad for the girl, after all, abandoned by her comrades and hated by the people containing her, stuck frozen in a crystal for possibly the rest of her life.

“Connie, she’s engaged to some dude from Marley,” Tullia said.

“Marley? Wonder why she’s helping us, then,” Mikasa said with a frown. Tullia shrugged.

“Who knows? There’s been rumors, though, that they don’t exactly have the happiest relationship. From what Onyankapon told me, she was kind of forced into it,” she said. They all made noises of sympathy.

“Poor princess,” Sasha said, her voice small and sad.

“Yeah, nobody deserves to be forced into a relationship. Hopefully the guy at least treats her well, but...I don’t know. Anybody that’s willing to force a girl to marry them can’t be good news,” Tullia said.

“At least she’s helping us. Maybe we can help her, too,” Marco suggested.

“We should do our best,” Jean said. Armin knew that there was nothing Jean despised more than those that hurt people weaker than them, and he also knew that the lanky boy was already feeling protective and furious for the princess, who he had not yet even met.

“This is it. Time to see if she lives up to the hype,” Connie said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

“Connie, you heard about her situation and you’re still going to try and seduce her?” Mikasa scoffed.

“Hey! It’s just more of a reason for her to come to the dark side! The Connie side!” Connie said.

“He’s not wrong there,” Sasha said.

“Now presenting, Lady Kiyomi Azumabito of Hizuru!” a herald shouted. The ambassador from Hizuru was an older woman who smiled at the gathered Scouts before nodding and heading into her carriage, her guards flanking her and ducking in beside her.

“And now, her royal highness, the Princess Y/N L/N of Triura!”

They all froze, their faces going very, very white. It was a coincidence, but far too large of one. Y/N L/N? What were the odds that the princess of Triura had the same name as their long-dead friend?

The princess stepped out of the ship, a different woman beside her, and their doubts were erased. Eren sucked in a breath.

“Long hair that curls at the ends,” he whispered, “Pretty eyes, like the stars.”

It was her. It was Y/N, their Y/N, and she was alive somehow, not dead. Armin gaped at the girl, whose lovely face was serious as she stared at her former comrades, her eyes unreadable.

“I’m hallucinating, right? She’s not really there,” Tullia said, her hands shaking.

“No, she’s there alright,” Jean said.

“Guys, what is going on? Y/N’s the princess?” Connie said.

“Y/N’s the princess,” Eren agreed, a slow smile spreading on his face, “Oh, Sina, Y/N’s the princess. She’s alive. She’s alive!”

He ran towards the girl before anyone could stop him, not that they would have. They leaned forwards in anticipation, wondering how the reunion between the two childhood friends would go. After so long, they were finally together again, as they should be. Armin smiled as he watched. He was a boy often graced by miracles, and it seemed the universe had just granted him one more, bringing his best friend back from the dead for the second time.

“Y/N!” Eren said. Before he could reach her, he was tackled by her guards, who had been glaring at him the entire time, daring him to get close. He struggled against them, but their grip was too strong.

“Let go of me, bastards! Let go, I’ve waited two years for this! Y/N, tell them to let go! Come on, tell them we’re friends!” he said. She frowned at him.

“I’m sorry?” she said. Armin’s heart sank. Was she upset with them for not protecting her from whatever she had had to face at the hands of Reiner and Bertholdt?

“It’s me! Eren! You know me!” he said. The girl looked bewildered.

“No,” Armin breathed, horror filling his entire being. His friends looked confused, but soon they, too, came to understand what he was feeling when Y/N opened her mouth next.

“I’m very sorry, but I’m afraid I don’t.”

taglist (send an ask or dm to be added): @futuristicxie

#eren x reader #armin x reader #eren x y/n #armin x y/n #eren x you #armin x you #reader insert #canon au #endure #m1ckeyb3rry writes

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loife1m · 9 months

Text

Letters of love that touches one’s soul

Junior year of Highschool-

Krithika was walking home from a bad day.

How dare Delilah accuse her for 'stealing her boyfriend'? Like, Krithika didn't even know who her boyfriend was!

"Girly!" Called someone who could only be one person. "Hey, Krithika!"

She turned, annoyed.

"What, Shah?" She spoke, using his last name to intimidate him. He took a step back in fear, regained his composure and waved a folded piece of paper.

"I'll just keep this here" Suyodhana Shah hurried off.

Krithika could hear the elderly on the street talking about how energetic and bright he was for a 19 year old. And the younger about how handsome he was, with his heterochromia. Which was all true of course. Even if she was in a bad mood, she couldn't deny that.

She opened the letter in curiosity.

And the saga of love letters starts here.

Dear Krithika,

When you open this, I've probably run off already. Just the coward I am.

Isn't it crazy how much you changed me? I went from a tech nerd to nerd on the subject of you.

I'm really bad at constructing angles, and even though you look beautiful from every angle, I think the angle I see you from is the best.

I don't play with fire, but when we're together, I feel the sparks flying.

I don't like science but when I'm with you, I can see the chemistry.

I'm learning important dates in history. Wanna be one of them?

Ps. Don't kill me at school tomorrow.

Love,

Suyodhana

Senior year of high school-

He glanced down at the note Krithika had given him, his heart pounding.

Dear Suyodhana,

Remember your letter last year? I realized I never actually replied. And, honestly,

It was incredibly cringey. You are super cheesy. But I would not mind having you on my pizza.

I was having a super bad day when you gave me that. It felt like you wiped off the rain cloud above my head and replaced it with sunshine.

I'm not a fortune teller, but I can see my future with you.

Love,

Krithika.

A couple years later-

He had a stupid grin on his face as he handed Krithika a letter.

Dear Krithika,

Before I had felt the sparks.

Now I feel a fire burning in my heart.

My life without you,

Is the sky without blue,

Roses are red,

You like the white ones instead,

Violets are blue,

And my love for you is always true,

But still,

It grew.

Krithika Shah,

Will you marry me?

Krithika looked up in tears.

"Yes. I would love to"

Dear Suyodhana,

It's been awhile since we wrote these letters.

I don't know if you'll ever see this.

I want you to know that I still love you. Sleeper or not.

Arundhati. You named our child Arundhati, after the morning star. And I must say, it was the most fitting. You really don't get anything wrong, do you?

She asked where you were today. When are you coming back?

I love you always. Aru loves you always. And I know you love us too.

From,

Krithika.

But the reply didn't come. And finally, 12 years later, Krithika understood it would never come.

Dear Suyodhana,

What were you thinking in those last moments?

Were you okay?

Were you happy?

Were you sad? Or distressed?

Were you about to take my hand?

It has been 6 months from the final battle. I know you must be so proud of your pretty little girls. They found peace.

Kara had to bear a punishment. I'm sure you would be absolutely devastated to hear that, but it was for the better. She is with the family you took her from, able to relive everything. She is carefree and has no memory of anything that happened.

Aru. She's just so brave, you know? I'm sure you would be mad to hear she has someone to love now. They look like when we were younger, living in the bliss of young love. She's taken most of your genes, which is why she looks absolutely pretty. She's grown into an independent, beautiful young woman.

Thank you for everything. I hope you've found peace.

And one day, I'll join you and we can make up for lost time.

I love you.

Love,

Krithika.

A tear dropped onto the letter. It dampened the small spot that it had fell on, smudging the cursive handwriting a little. She put her hands together and closed her wet eyes.

"I hope you're in a better place" Krithika prayed. She looked up to the sky, wondering if he was looking down at her endearingly. She crouched down to the chilling grave as the wind blew autumn leaves to the burial.

"You always liked autumn, didn't you? Now you can always see it"

And with that, on the cold ground that had now captivated her lover's body, Krithika Shah placed the last letter of love and ended their love story.

[prompt by @the-princess-fangirl. Tysm!]

#krithana #sleeping jasmine #aru shah #the pandava quintet #krithika shah #tpq #suyodhana shah

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dreamersinthedaylightinspo · 11 months

Text

LAMENT AFTER THE END, PART I

Once they had recovered their treasures - those few precious tomes that Amarantha had looted from their sacred libraries - Helion winnowed his entire Court away from the mountain.

He did not have a destination in mind, apart from "away." So they landed on the northern base, crowded in rocks and barren grasslands, breathing in the fresh air of Dawn.

Several people collapsed around him. Others wailed, or burst into tears.

Relief.

Helion tilted his head back to the thin mountain sun and felt the magic coursing through his veins. His own magic, his family's ancient magic, the Light of Day, which had now officially passed to him.

It felt strange - uncomfortable, too large and awkward, and yet like something was still missing inside of him.

Perhaps he just was imagining things, though.

Or perhaps -

He turned to regard the crowd. His Court, the Day Court. The weight of what he was about to do - to endure - fell over him, choking him. His throat began to burn; his very eyes began to ache.

And yet there was one thing - the worst thing - that he needed to do first.

Helion’s feet moved him to where Daphne sat, still clutching her dead fiance and stroking the side of his face, as if she were soothing him to sleep. Her face was wet with tears but her eyes were slightly fogged over; she appeared not to have noticed the winnowing at all.

"Daphne." He crouched down in front of her, and spoke in a low, soft voice. "Daphne, can you look at me?"

She didn't respond, but her eyes cleared slightly and her mouth pressed tight together.

"Its alright. I just need you to listen to me for a little bit. We're safe now. We're free. Do you understand?"

Daphne’s continued movements took on a more deliberate cadence. She clutched Thales tightly, knuckles pressing bright against the skin of her thin, small hands.

She looked like her mother, before the changeling sickness had taken Theano into eternity. Helion closed his eyes.

"You have to let him go now," said Helion. "I'm sorry, my love. It's time. We have to take him home."

"We aren't going home," Daphne replied, flat and quiet. "We'll go to Rhodes."

"That's right."

"So, I will never go home again."

Helion sighed. "Not for a long time, I expect. But someday, very soon, we'll go back to visit."

Daphne said nothing for a long time. Helion waited for her to wrap her mond around this. What was to come would be hard on all of their Court, but on her most of all. Daphne had not asked to have this kind of responsibility; she'd never expressed any desire to have power, to rule. She would have been terribly happy as the bride of a penniless poet, thought Helion, and this world was unbearably cruel in denying her that future. But they couldn't live on dreams. They had to exist in this reality, and she would have to accept that now, no matter how painful it was.

"What are you going to do?" said Daphne, at last, gazing down at Thales. "His parents are gone. But his sister - can you find her?"

Helion would have promised her anything - the whole world - in that moment. There were rumors of surviving Keepers in Rhodes but at this moment, Helion had no way of verifying them. Thales had believed in his sister's survival, and had carried that faith to his grave. Now, Helion clung to that belief in turn. "I'll find her. She'll be the first to know. I promise."

Daphne nodded, and sniffed loudly, a fresh wave of tears beginning to well in her eyes.

Desperately, Helion went on: "Darling, I know that this isn't easy. I know, I know. You've already been so brave but I need you to be brave a little longer. We'll honor him. I promise. This whole Court - all of us - we will grieve with you. Let us share your burden. Please, my love. Please, just let him go."

Daphne went very still, and her eyes went wide. Slowly, she looked up at him - and that look on her face. Helion realized his error at once. She'd had that same look, when he arrived late to her mother's funeral all those decades ago.

It was rage. It was pure, unfathomable rage.

"This whole Court?" Daphne whispered. "You mean that - no. Why would you do that? Its not fair. You can't do that."

Helion bit his tongue, cursed himself straight into Hell. "Daphne -"

"No. No, you can't do that."

Her voice rose with each word. Now people were staring at them openly - the High Lord, pleading with the girl who'd lost her beloved, not understanding what was really happening. Not realizing what a horrible mistake that Helion had made.

"Daphne," said Helion. "Please."

"No. No. No. No!" Daphne shook her head. "I won't let you!"

"Daphne -"

"Please."

That was what she said but her voice sounded like she was being ripped in two. She began to sob, such a horrible, heartbroken sobbing, that Helion physically recoiled, getting to his feet and stepping away. Even those who had pretended not to be observing them before now stared openly, in horror.

"You can't," Daphne wailed. "He's mine, you can't take him, you can't do this to me, please, please don't take him away, you can't make me, I won't do it, I won't, I won't, I can't -"

She let out an agonized scream, and rocked back and forth, clutching Thales to her and burying her face in his hair, and it was as if all the pain and the fear she'd held in check for fifty years came pouring out of her at once.

Helion felt bile rise to his throat. He bit his cheek until he tasted blood, squeezed his eyes shut like a child hiding from a broken vase. Knowing that it was his fault, wishing that he could take it back, that his mistake would disappear.

She would have run into the center of the throne room and thrown herself between Thales and the Cursebreaker, if he had let her.

So, Helion had held her down with his own hands, and she had watched.

////

It was Phoebe, the young wife of a minister, who finally calmed Daphne. Once she finally fell silent, more owing to the fact that she was too exhausted to sob anymore, Daphne calmly requested to take a sedative. She still did not let go of Thales's body. In the horrid, empty, sorrowful silence that followed, a few members of the Dawn Court arrived near their makeshift campgrounds, and invited them to the High Lord's residence.

Thesan was good-looking and composed, and managed to be gracious as a host. He took the Day Court in with few questions, and even fetched a healer for Daphne, and showed her to a private room overlooking the water gardens. Daphne was reluctant to relinquish Thales even then, but with the healer and Lady Phoebe's gentle coaxing, she finally did. Helion arranged for the initial funeral preparations right then and there, instructing the Dawn Court healers on the proper methods to prepare for a Day Court funeral. They nodded, and disappeared on gusts of floral-scented wind, taking the boy's body into a quiet space to prepare him.

Thesan posted two guards outside of Daphne's room, and instructed the healer to remain on standby. Lady Phoebe volunteered to stay as well, so that she might have a friendly face when she woke up.

Good, thought Helion, because Daphne would likely never speak to him again for as long as she lived.

When it was done, Thesan politely invited Helion to a meal, which they ate in silence. Helion found he could barely stomach anything other than a bowl of warm white rice, and Thesan, similarly, pushed food around his plate without any enthusiasm whatsoever. Afterwards, he declared that he would walk in the water gardens. Helion, feeling a bit like a ghost on the world's surface, agreed to join him.

The gardens were lively under the deepening purple twilight. The iridescent sheen on the palace walls - Helion had not even asked where they were, hadn't even thought of where Dawn might spirit them off to in their moment of vulnerability - cast pearlescent illusions over the green surface of pools full of lilies and lotus and brightly colored fish. Frogs croaked, and birds twittered from within low hanging trees.

"Its lovely," Helion remarked. The silence was starting to bother him, even if conversation felt exhausting. "You know, I've never been here before."

"Neither have I," said Thesan.

Ah, right. Thesan was also a new High Lord. Helion wondered if he'd ever been in this palace before, or any palace. As a lieutenant, he would have had some access, but Dawn closely guarded its secrets.

The two High Lords lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, eyes cast out at the lush water gardens of Dawn as the first stars began to appear.

"Thank you," said Helion. "Your generosity won't be forgotten." Then, he added, "Please, don't judge her. It's my fault that she..." It felt wrong to call Daphne’s grief an outburst, but it was something that Helion had never seen her do before. Even as a child, she never had tantrums. He hadn't realized the depths of her suffering these last fifty years, and he wished he'd been more perceptive, less foolhardy, in that moment when she was so raw and vulnerable.

He had tried to be the High Lord, when what Daphne needed was her father.

"I wouldn't dream of it. For what its worth, I wish someone would let me take a sedative," said Thesan, with a sigh. "Gods only know I haven't gotten a decent sleep in over fifty years."

Helion choked on his own surprised laugh. Thesan had made a point to avoid speaking with anyone outside of the Dawn Court while they were trapped Under the Mountain. It was good to know that he had a sense of humor under all of that prudent standoffishness.

But the humor didn't last. Helion thought of Daphne, asleep in a proper bed for the first time in fifty years. He thought of how she'd looked at him when they'd stepped into the sun and of how she might look at him when she woke from her induced sleep, the grief as fresh as ever.

"She'll never forgive me," he murmured. "I've done it this time."

Thesan was quiet a moment, and then, tentatively ventured. "If I may - what is she to you?"

"Oh," said Helion. "Only second or third most severe of my many personal failings."

It was horrible, thinking of it that way. Helion truly felt like the worst man alive. This now made three women whom he had utterly failed.

"I swore to her mother," said Helion, "that I would care for Daphne."

"She died?" Thesan murmured.

"A changeling," Helion explained, sighing. Of course, someone as brilliant and sharp as Theano had to be taken from this world before her time. "She lived three hundred years, when every healer swore she'd be dead in a fraction of the time. And if she were here now, she'd throttle me with her bare hands."

Thesan folded his arms, tilted his head back. "I've never really thought of it, you know. Raising children of my own - it seems an enormously daunting prospect."

Helion shrugged.

"Does anyone else know?" asked Thesan. "You two don't resemble one another very much, so I suppose that was how you managed to hide her all this time."

He was perceptive. Even Rhysand had never guessed that Helion might have legitimate children of his own, but then again, he had never seen Helion interact with Daphne, and Helion had put most of his remaining magic into carefully compartmentalizing his mind over the last fifty years. It might've taken Rhysand hours to break through his shields, and by then Amarantha would have been bored of him anyway. There was no torture he would not have endured, no horror he would not commit, if it meant keeping Daphne, his daughter, his greatest treasure, safe from Amarantha.

Here, Helion didn't bother to deny it; there was no point to keeping plausible deniability with Thesan, and it would have seemed wrong to lie, given all that he had done without nary so much as a thank you from any member of Day.

"Hardly anyone. My - my former partner," he amended, wincing with the sudden, unexpected ache of sadness. "Mirche was aware. As were most of the staff at my winery. But outside of Thira, I doubt there's anyone who knows the full truth."

Thesan nodded, all of accepting this. "I see. Well, if nothing else, I must congratulate you. Hiding palaces or cities is one thing, but to hide a child for so long, right under our noses - you are truly something else."

Helion shook his head. "I had decided to host a public mourning for the boy. That was why she..."

"She's young," said Thesan. "And she is grieving, perhaps more than any of us right now. All of us lost pieces of ourselves in that Mountain, but not all of us were forced to play a part in Amarantha’s last cruel joke. I know you did not ask for my opinion, but I believe that she will understand, one day."

He had a point. Or at least, Helion hoped that he did.

"What will you do now?" Helion asked him. "For your Court."

Thesan was quiet a moment. "Her name was Sacha. She did not finish her training, so she has no temple sisters, and she had no family living that we could find. But I will keep looking. I've told Hadrian - it doesn't feel right, for her to be unmourned."

This was the first time he'd learned the name of the Peregryn captain who had scarcely left Thesan's side in fifty years, despite the risk to himself if their relationship were to be exposed. Helion put a hand on his shoulder.

"You'll do well, as High Lord."

"As, I think, will you," said Thesan, gravely now. "Shall we go back inside?"

Neither of them would sleep, but that went unspoken. There was something comforting, in knowing that they were united in this. Helion had no recollection of any opinion on Dawn's former High Lord, but as he watched Thesan retreat into privacy and the doors slide closed behind him, he was, if not relieved from his burdens - at least he was not alone.

#my fic writing #my ocs #the day court #helion spell cleaver #thesan acotar #dawn court #snippet

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rphelperblog · 2 years

Text

Kiersten White Book Quotes Rp Meme

“And I’d choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I’d find you and I’d choose you.”

“There was good, and there was evil, but there was so much space between the two.”

“Women are strongest when bearing one another’s pain. We each take a little on ourselves. No one dies, and we all heal together.”

“...sometimes I get tired. Sometimes I get bored. And sometimes all I want, more than anything else in the world, is to go on a freaking date.”

“I get that you're scared and that you've been hurt. But doing what is easy and safe is no way to live, and a life without passion and love is so far beneath what you deserve.”

“I can't seem to keep my heart from leaking out of the cracks, like sand clutched in a fist.”

“Planning is not my friend. Impulse is.”

“Sometimes we were strangers even to ourselves.”

“Sometimes we have to hide from what others see in order to be what we know we are.”

“He is like the sun. When he is focused on you, everything is bright and warm. Everything is possible. But the problem with knowing the warmth of the sun is how keenly you feel it's absence when it shines elsewhere. And a king must always shine elsewhere.

“I cannot imagine a god who hates anything that is love, any way we find to take tender care of each other. I want you to find that same love, and I never want you to hate yourself for any love that is in you.”

“There are other ways to beat someone than with fists.”

“A heart did not have to be stone to be strong.”

“But the past holds her secrets dear, and try as I may, I cannot coax them out of her.”

“He did what men always do. He wanted it, and so he claimed it.”

“It was not easy, revolving around someone who did not revolve around her.”

“She wanted to give him her name. She wanted to give him everything.”

“An old, battered dragon was still a dragon, and the darkness had always loved them.”

“Knowing where I came from didn't change who I was.”

"You cannot lose something you do not own. Take me with you”

“Hold hands with the devil until you are both over the bridge. Or kill the devil and burn the bridge so no one can get to you.”

“Souls and thrones are irreconcilable.”

"Keeping secrets is like a thorn beneath the skin. You can get used to it, but it is always there, festering.”

“You are the only real thing in my life.”

That is the thing with giving your heart. You never wait for someone to ask. You hold it out and hope they want it.”

“The only life I want is one with you.”

“Women truly were the stronger gender. All the subtle games they had to play, the way they teased power from those around them! She had much to learn there.”

“Even mountains do not want to be unmade.”

was there not enough peril in the world already without the dangers of simply being a woman?”

“Not seeing, however, is just as telling as seeing.”

"If he wanted to kill me, he already would have. I brought him all these sharp pencils, ideal for stabbing, and he's been a perfect gentleman.”

“But you always have a choice. You can choose to find comfort and solace in God. You can choose to be brave and compassionate. And you can choose to find beauty and happiness wherever they present themselves.”

“You love him like a flower loves the sun.”

“So the question becomes, Daughter of the Dragon, what will you sacrifice? What will you let be taken away so that you, too, can have power?”

“We do not need a dark queen when we have so much darkness within ourselves.”

“A well-wielded pen is a woman's best weapon.”

“Ah, stupid, you know I love you, too.”

"You were ready to give in! I saved my own life. You are simply keeping me company on this leg of my escape.”

“Not being blameless is not the same as being guilty.”

“You are a different person when you are outside,"

“If I fail, then it is over. My dream is dead. I have nothing to build a future around. And if I succeed... I step past everything I have known into everything I have wanted.”

'Can I tango back in there, instead? So much sexier than the waltz.”

“No. I came here to see you. I didn’t believe the rumors,but after hearing it on so many continents I had to come and see for myself.”

“I will fill myself with the desert and the sky. I will be stone and stars, unchanging and strong and safe. The desert is complete; it is spare and alone, but perfect in its soltitude. I will be the desert.”

“Tell you what. Let me go and I promise not to tell anyone that you aren’t suave.”

If anything, I should be partners with the devil, not his servant.”

“Boys suck. Even when they have perfect blue eyes and ridiculously cool trucks. Maybe especially then.”

“ I wonder if anyone gets through childhood without being broken. I certainly did not.”

“Soap operas got nothing on my family history.”

“Shadows go in front of you, leading into your future, and trail behind you, leaving a part of you in the past. They are clearest when we are in the light, and disappear when we lose ourselves in darkness.”

“I do believe in fate and destiny, but I also believe we are only fated to do the things that we'd choose anyway.”

“My life is a black hole of boredom and despair."

“But people don't need to remember how it felt to be happy and safe in the past. They need to have hope that they can get there again in the future.”

“In the interest of not pissing you off anymore tonight, let's not select that particular playlist.”

“Sometimes I wanted to take a memory - one perfect memory - curl up in it, and go to sleep.”

“If you are too weak to stand being hit and too stupid to avoid it, then you deserve more pain.”

“Wait, so am I allowed to put my shirt back on? Or did you want me to remove my pants, too?”

“Some victories are merely defeat wearing the wrong clothing”

“They are less than the mud. You do not get angry at the mud for clinging to your shoe. You wipe it off and never look at it again.”

“Tasers are a one-size-fits-all paranormal butt-kicking option. Mine’s pink with rhinestones.”

"Oh, wonderful, take the other psychotic guy in your life to go find the first one.”

“No one will be more brutal than me. No one will be more ruthless. And I will never stop fighting.”

“The world will destroy her in the end. Too much spark leads to explosions. But your sister will destroy as much as she can before she goes out. She will go down in flames and blood.”

"And that is why you become a dealer of death. You feed death as many people as you can to keep it full and content so its eye stays off you.”

“The last time she was up here, she had been... staring up at the sky and dreaming of stars. Now, she was dreaming of flames.”

“I didn't fall in love with you. I walked into love with you, with my eyes wide open, choosing to take every step along the way. I do believe in fate and destiny, but I also believe we are only fated to do the things that we'd choose anyway. And I'd choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I'd find you and I'd choose you”

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tiaetherealness · 2 years

Text

Heaven Can Wait

Pairing: Rengoku Kyoujuro x fem!reader

Warnings: SFW, angel reader, mentions of God, since it sounded more natural than everything else I thought of lol, Mugen Train Arc, he lives don't worry, mentions of Blood and injury, Kamado and the gang is there, slow burn

WC: 4,106

Author's Note: I haven't posted something in a long ass time so hey! I've actually already posted this on ao3, then remembered I have this account 😭 here you go! I hope you enjoy this sfw piece <3

Part 1 of Gods Amongst Men

Your thoughts always come back to why you wander about the countryside. Perhaps you’re searching for a means to an end, or to find a piece of yourself that has departed once you spent decades amongst humans. You often find yourself staring at the large expanse of the sky, watching the clouds drift by, waiting and watching for a sign that points you back home. The ground hasn’t always been your home, but you were forced to make roots once God ordered you to roam amongst humans. You miss the sky, deeply. But you can’t go back until told to.

So, you wonder. Watch as the locals live their lives and live amongst the rules they created. Watch the sky turn from a bright azure, to a blossoming orange, then to a dark navy speckled with stars. The sky may be your home, but the ground has endless beauty as well.

Sometimes, the beauty you've admired gets tainted by evil beings. Demons.

You’ve encountered plenty throughout your journey. They were mostly confused by your presence, knowing that you’re not human but definitely not demon either. Some either left you alone completely, or they attacked to figure out what you are. The latter decides their fate, facing the end of their lives once they’re subjected to your powers. They may be beings of darkness, but you’re a being of light. And light is how they will perish.

Eventually, you learn more about the demons and the people slaying them. They’re brave humans, protecting the rest of humanity from things seen in their wildest dreams. You’ve also encountered many slayers in your journey, but you silently watched from the sidelines. You’re not meant to get close, for them to catch a glimpse of your presence, or else.

But when you see the three young demon slayers you’ve always encountered on your journey, you follow them aboard Mugen Train.

You’ve become fond of Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke. Watching their journey has been a heartfelt one compared to your monotone life of people watching. They’re brave and powerful young men who want to destroy the demons once and for all, and to protect the unprotected. Their souls are pure, not a drop of evil to corrupt them despite seeing evil their whole lives.

Though you realize they sense out evil easily like you do, and the train is oozing out dark intent.

The machine is filled with people, and you’re immediately uncomfortable with the noise and the motion. The humans barely spare you a glance, your concealment power working at an all time high to make it seem as if they saw nothing at all. Just a speck in their peripheral vision. You took an empty seat near the trio who was talking to someone, though you couldn’t see them. Once Zenitsu and Inosuke moved away, your heart skipped.

He is the embodiment of fire, the intensity of a sunset. He's beautiful and so is his soul.

His red-orange eyes match his hair that brushes his chest. A genuine smile graces his face as he speaks to Tanjiro with a boisterous voice. Beside him in a smoky sheen is his mother who watches over him. She gives you a little bow once she notices you, and then continues to watch over her son. You learn that his name is Rengoku Kyoujuro, and he’s a demon slayer as well. A hashira, as Tanjiro told his friends. You don’t know exactly what a hashira is, but you have an idea that it's someone powerful enough to protect people.

You observe Kyoujuro and his mannerism, seeing that he’s just as warm as he looks. He cares deeply about the young slayers and takes care of them like an older brother. He feeds them with the bentos he has and offers to take them under his wing to get stronger. Somehow in the conversation he has with Tanjiro, he turns directly to you. He made direct eye contact and he gave you a small smile.

The action is harmless but you felt a sense of dread overcome your senses. Either he’s powerful enough to sense you or he's going to…

As soon as that thought pops up, everything goes wrong.

Demons start appearing on the train, causing the passengers to panic. Immediately, the slayers unsheathe their swords and made their move. Rengoku directed his attention to the passengers on the cart and whisked them away with speed, before coming back to face the demons. You stand at the back of the cart and watch as he kills the demons with his flame style, a burst of red and orange lighting up the cart. You watch in awe. He reminds you of the sky, your home that's so close yet so far.

You took a step forward to get a closer glimpse, but a limb from the demon that encases the train darts towards you. You only had a moment to put your hand up to defend yourself, but Tanjiro cut the limb off. You both met eyes at that moment, and he gave you a nod before darting off. He sees you too…?

You stood back for a moment, thinking. Tanjiro must’ve noticed you the whole time but chose not to approach you because you clearly kept your distance. Somehow in this situation, your heart warms at the gesture. He would be a good angel. Maybe even better than you.

Hearing a shout, you look in front of you to see everyone splitting up. Tanjiro and Inosuke went towards the front, Zenitsu stayed with the box that Tanjiro carries around, and Rengoku is heading towards you. You realized that you were standing in front of the door that leads to the train cars in the back. Your hands trembled slightly. Should you help them? Would you be punished if you do?

“Please stand back. I’ll keep you safe!” Rengoku tells you.

You move aside so that he can enter the next car that will inevitably be filled with demons. You watch as he pulls the door open and steps through with a confident gait. He seems so sure of himself, that he’ll exterminate the demons for good to protect the passengers left on the train. You felt a buzzing in your chest watching him go. It's a feeling that you haven’t felt for so long while wondering amongst the humans. Maybe you can break the rules and involve yourself in human affairs. Maybe…maybe you can protect people too.

The air around you changed as you felt determination. You move from your spot and quickly follow after Rengoku, grabbing the ends of his haori that flowed as he walked. He stills when he feels the pull and glances back with a questioning glint in his eye.

“I— I want to help!” You shouted unintentionally.

He turns around, causing his haori to slip through your fingers. Your hands lay limp on your sides as you glance up at him. His expression is serious, a far cry from the one you observed earlier.

“I refuse to let a civilian help me. You shouldn’t be in harm's way.”

Your hands curl into fist. “I will help, no matter what you say! I can defend myself and protect the civilians also!”

He moves closer, his face inches from yours. You stood still, watching and waiting for a signal. He stares straight into your eyes, searching for why. Why would a simple civilian sacrifice themselves for others? Are you not scared? What do you gain from this? As if sensing the seriousness of your commitment, he straightens up and crosses his arms. His expression is less severe, but there is still hesitation in his bright gaze.

“I’ll let you help because I see the passion in your gaze. But, I still wonder how you'll defend yourself and the citizens on the train. You are quite empty handed!”

Your shoulders lose their tension as you sigh in relief. You gave Rengoku one of your rare smiles. It feels odd on your face, but it's genuine. “Don’t worry about me.”

It's a simple statement, but it held a lot of weight. Rengoku gives you a nod and you both venture deeper into the car. You stayed behind him when he fought the demons he encountered and helped the passengers that were heavily bleeding. You took down the concealment magic so that the humans can face you fully and take you in. Many of them were scared, but the sight of you calmed them down. Their faces changed from awe to gratefulness once you used your healing powers on them. It was slightly draining to use your powers, gaining more strength in the day rather than the night where the demons roam. You hope you have enough in you to save who you can before the sun rises again. The night feels exceptionally endless at this time.

The only reprieve you have is when Kyoujuro uses his flame breathing. The heat of it reminds you of the sun beating down on your back as you explore the countryside. It's so closely related to the sun that you gain back some powers little by little. You couldn’t help but think about how amazing he is. He is blessed by God.

You both move through the cars quickly by saving passengers and eliminating demons as much as possible. When the last demon is slayed, there is a rumble in the cars that indicates something is wrong. Rengoku quickly sheaths his sword and meets your gaze.

“I’m going to assume Young Tanjiro and the boar kid defeated the demon controlling the train—”

The train gave a dangerous lurch and you grabbed on to Rengoku to keep upright. He feels warm and sturdy under your palms, the strength he shows reflected on his physique. You made a move to let go of him, but he clasps his hand to yours.

“We must go!” He says, tugging you to the back of the train where it opens up to the outside.

Fresh air greets you both. It's such a starch reminder to the smell of death and evil in the cars. You both were face to face with the twinkling stars, the balls of light too far to feel the desperation that’s steadily coming off the train. The wind whips both of your hair around and Rengoku-san lets go of your hand. Instead, he wraps an arm around your waist and pulls you close. Your heart sped up at the closeness, your hand still tingling from holding his hand moments before.

“Hold on tight!” He yells out, before jumping off the train.

You grip his uniform tightly, feeling the weightlessness of being in the air. You felt the ache in your back as if you were flying with your wings again. You haven’t done that for a long time, restricting yourself to walk everywhere like humans do. You came to that aching realization that you are not happy in the position you put yourself in. A fraction of yourself truly left when you made yourself a home on the ground.

Feeling gravity pull both of you down, the ground became your base again. He removes his arm from around your waist and you slowly release your grip from his uniform. You move back and glance at him.

“Are you alright? I hope I didn’t scare you.” He asks, referring to the jump.

You shook your head no and he gave a closed-eye smile.

The dirt cloud that erupted from the crashed train dispersed slowly. When it was gone, you took a look around. The train cars were stacked near each other hazardously, passengers slowly trickling out injured. You see Inosuke helping, pulling them out from the wreckage. Zenitsu is nowhere to be found, but you sense that he’s alive somewhere. You look left and right, wondering where Tanjiro is. You eventually see him lying on the ground, breathing a bit harshly since he’s injured. You tug on Kyoujuro’s haori, signaling to follow you.

You both reach him and Tanjiro looks up. “Rengoku-san…!”

Rengoku tells him to breathe and focus on his wound to close it up. You knew being a demon slayer makes humans a bit more powerful, but you weren’t aware of their capabilities. You observe for a moment, then decide to look for Zenitsu since they don't need you. You told Rengoku your plan and he nodded.

“Please be careful. There can still be demons roaming around.” He warns you.

You keep the warning in mind, but you’re aware of your own abilities. Humans love to worry, from what you’ve observed. They can’t help but to fret over others, and it’s lovely seeing it, but you don't know how to take it when someone else worries over you. Kyoujuro made you ponder over so much in so little time. It’s exhilarating and scary at the same time.

You walk around, following the feeling in your gut. It pulls you to the other side of the train where Zenitsu is. He’s on the ground holding a couple of women who he protected from the crash. They were all passed out but alive and well. You kneel down and separate them all to get a clearer sense of their injuries. You healed the two girls and Zenitsu. The last girl on the other hand, is a demon. She gave off the same energy as Tanjiro. Maybe she’s the one he carries in the box…? Tanjiro is proving to be more interesting than you thought.

You got up to help the other passengers, but you froze once you felt the hairs on your arm standup. Something is very wrong. It’s worse than the demon that controlled the train.

You immediately ran back to the spot where you left Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Rengoku. You slowed down when you caught sight of Kyoujuro fighting a demon. They were head to head, not backing down from each other with mounting speed. This demon feels powerful enough to completely overpower the blonde. The thought you had when you first met him is making sense with each blow of his sword and the demon's fist.

He’s going to die in this battle. The one person that made you feel very human for the first time will perish once the sun is up.

You want to intervene. You should intervene, since he’s a high ranking member of the demon slayer corps, but it's against the cycle of life to do so. Regardless of his place and value in the human hierarchy, you cannot stop the angel of death from taking him, lest you lose your place as an angel for the rest of the millennium. For the first time in forever, you pray. You prayed to God hoping they would hear the pleas from one of their angels, hoping they would spare Rengoku and let him walk from this battle alive.

You quickly move to where Tanjiro and Inosuke are, who is watching the battle with their breaths held. They barely spare you a glance, and you understand their sentiment. You couldn’t take your eyes away either. Tanjiro makes a move to help the hashira, but Rengoku yells at him to stay put and heal. The demon, which you learn is called Akaza, is desperate to turn Kyoujuro into a demon and he refuses. Sensing the blonde's unwavering resolve, the demon promises to kill him in this battle.

They continue to clash, Rengoku cutting down what he can of Akaza and the demon regenerating quickly. Akaza got him at certain times, causing him to bleed out. You flinch seeing the blood splatter, feeling quite helpless. You can sense the same emotions erupting from Tanjiro and Inosuke. Eventually there is a standstill between Akaza and Rengoku.

“I can see you becoming tired Rengoku-san. Become a demon and you won’t ever have to feel tired again.” Akaza says out loud in a demanding tone.

“I refuse!” Rengoku yells out.

You see him change his footing and grip his blade tighter, preparing for another attack. He mutters out a breath style, one that you haven’t seen yet. Suddenly, a large wave of heat hits you as Rengoku runs towards Akaza without stopping. He’s faster than before, a much stronger attack meant to kill off Akaza for good. The flames around him form into something akin to a dragon, large and imposing, meant to intimidate the opponent. For a moment, you feel hope thinking God heard your prayers.

You watch as the arch of his sword comes down on Akaza’s neck. It sank into his neck and slowly cut through. You saw the panic in the demon’s eyes, before he did a move you couldn’t see. The flames died out abruptly as Rengoku became very still. You heard a gasp right next to you, from Zenitsu who woke up moments before, forcing you to look closer. What you saw caused a numbness to take over. Akaza punched right through his abdomen.

You turned your face upwards, closed your eyes, and took a deep breath. You let it out and opened your eyes, staring into the sky. It’s not as dark as it once was, turning a lighter blue indicating the sun is coming up soon. You look towards the horizon, skipping over the scene of Akaza and Rengoku entirely, to see the angel of death slowly making their appearance. They’re making their slow ascent to the scene, barely a blip in the distance. Only you can see them, but even Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke can sense death approaching with how still they’ve gotten.

Akaza glances behind him, seeing the sun steadily coming up. He moves away from Rengoku quickly. Tanjiro, who has been down the whole time, gets up and jogs after Akaza. The demon slowly backs into the forest, seeing the first rays of the sun painting the ground a muted yellow and Tanjiro, who plans to stop him where he stands. He makes a run into the forest without looking back. Tanjiro chases after him, stands right at the edge, and uses his breath style to pierce the sword right in Akaza’s retreating back.

“Come back here you bastard!”

“Why do we always have to face you in the dark?! Face us in the sun you bastard!”

“You coward!”

You, Inosuke, and Zenitsu watch Tanjiro yell his heart out. You turn towards the horizon to see how close the angel of death is, noticing that they’re way closer than before. The spirit of Rengoku’s mom is hovering over her son with a sad smile on her face, yet waiting to meet him on the other side. You feel hot and cold, wondering what you should do in this situation.

Tanjiro collapses on his knees in front of Rengoku, tears steadily falling down. You see them talking, but you were only focusing on the blonde's life force that’s draining. You took a step, then another, and another, forcing yourself to kneel next to Tanjiro as well. The pair looks at you, but you didn’t meet their gaze, looking behind you to see how much time you have left. You can see the black cloak the angel of death wears looming closer. You turn back to look at the spirit of Rengoku-san’s mother who’s standing behind him, to Tanjiro, to Zenitsu, and then Inosuke. Lastly, you look at Kyoujuro.

Everyone is staring at you, waiting to see what you’ll do in this dire situation. It seems as if there's nothing left to do, but you have one thing left. One thing that can save him.

“You will continue to set your heart ablaze, Rengoku-san.” You say simply.

You grab one of his limp hands with both of yours and place it gently over your heart. The sun is higher in the sky, the rays highlighting your ethereal features that were hidden in the dark. Your wings that are usually hidden with your concealment powers blossom open for the first time in decades, causing the slayers to gasp in shock. They were pure white, almost shining iridescent in the bright rays. You slowly transform into your true form, causing your kimono to fall away for a white silk robe with golden embellishments.

“She looks like…!” Inosuke starts.

“An angel…” Zenitsu finishes slowly.

Tanjiro and Rengoku sat in silent awe, not knowing what to say. The power that was draining out of you in the darkness grew with the sunrise, causing you to be final in your decision. You close your eyes and focus on giving away some of your life force to Kyoujuro to keep him alive. He gasps and falls forward, feeling the effects of your power. Tanjiro hurriedly held him upwards to avoid breaking the connection you both have.

You felt yourself sweating, the task being arduous and rushed since the angel of death is right behind you. Once you deem it enough, you let go of him and shook your head, feeling quite dizzy and weak. The glow around you dims and you feel multiple pairs of hands on you to prevent you from falling back. You look back to see Zenitsu and Inosuke holding you up, being careful not to ruffle your wings. You look forward, seeing Rengoku passed out, but alive. His gaping wound is closed, leaving over a pink bruise. His eye on the other hand, didn’t heal.

You feel a wave of tiredness taking over, but you force your eyes open. You didn’t think this decision through, but you don’t regret it. Feeling a cold prickling sensation take over you suddenly, you look up to see the angel of death looming over you. They silently observe you and Rengoku, before scoffing.

“You of all beings should know that you’re not supposed to mess with the natural order. Rengoku Kyoujuro may live, but it will come with a price. You will both be punished in the near future.”

When you blinked, they were gone. The message they left reverberates in your mind, but you didn’t care at the moment. It’s too late to take back what you did, you’ll face the consequences. You glance one more time to Kyoujuro’s mom, who sends you a grateful smile for keeping her son alive. She vanishes, leaving the five of you behind.

“Thank you.” Tanjiro whispers.

The tears that were once sad on his face are now grateful. You gave him a small smile. “Please continue to look over Rengoku-san, Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu.”

The young slayers bursted into more tears. You couldn’t help but laugh. You laugh at seeing them cry. You laugh at everything that has happened. You laugh at saving a human which is breaking a sacred rule. They look at you in surprise, but let you go through your emotions.

After a certain point, you stopped laughing and sat up. You sensed multiple footsteps approaching from the distance, a sign telling you to go. You stood up on shaky legs and fluttered your wings. The young slayers all spoke at the same time.

“Are you leaving?”

“She’s leaving??? Please don’t go!”

“Oi! How can you leave after all this?!”

You frown. You didn’t want to go but you’re not supposed to be seen in the first place. Rengoku will probably go through changes that regular humans wouldn’t understand since you gave him a piece of you to fully heal, but you were sent on a mission. You were sent to observe the humans, not get into their affairs. You can’t abandon that.

“I’m sorry,” you say sadly. “But I cannot stay and compromise myself in the process. I’m not supposed to be seen by humans.” You finish.

“But—” Tanjiro starts. You cut him off.

“You will see me again,” you said with a bittersweet smile. “Tell Kyoujuro that I will always be near.”

You gave each of them a head pat as a last goodbye. When they blinked, you were gone. Before they could speak, they were surrounded by the kakushi who were checking their injuries and asking questions. With all this commotion, they never had a chance to talk about you or what you had done to save the flame hashira. It’s a secret they kept for late night conversation in the butterfly mansion when everyone is asleep.

When the sky goes from an azure, to a blossoming orange, and a dark navy speckled with stars, they think of you. They think of the sacrifice you’ve made and wonder where you are now. If you’re looking at the sky like they are. One thing they agree on is waiting, like they promised.

They will patiently wait, until they see you again.

#tia thoughts 🧚‍♀️#rengoku kyōjurō #rengoku kyoujurou x reader #rengoku x y/n #kyojuro x you #kimetsu no yaiba rengoku #kyojuro x reader #kyojuro my beloved #I absolutely love that tag lmao #kny imagines #kyoujurou x reader #kny kyojuro

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ilexdiapason · 7 months

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watching Martyn's current stream... oh boy, now I just want to make it that the gods don't like him bc "he made a deal with another entity" aka he was forced/tricked into the life game just like everyone else

this is the thing. martyn did not choose this life. martyn was thrown into those games same as anyone else. if you paid attention in there you'd figure out that the closest thing you had to a scapegoat was grian, but not many people did.

martyn did.

(but martyn had been thinking of grian as a scapegoat since the day that he turned yellow in the desert and he didn't end his devil's deal.)

the night comes. the people don't have to be told to start partying; they're pirates, it's what they do. the sea air is cold and the spirits are high, and scott crowds martyn forward into the throng to sit close to the fire. the people nearest them shuffle ever so slightly away. neither misses it.

but once people get brave or drunk or both enough to crowd in again, martyn begins to weave the tale of the lost red spirit.

he's always said that reds aren't monsters, hasn't he? he's never laid them to fault, and he still won't, because he knows the opposite is true. there are gods in this world, cruel watching forces that think they know best, that want to see a spectacle and drive apart a group of friends one betrayal at a time. they'll make you see things that aren't there, give you intrusive paranoid thoughts you can't shake until you're convinced that you need to kill one of your own to be free of them. martyn's seen it all before, seen good friends - good men - fall to ruin at the hands of these gods' whims. they call them watchers.

martyn was cursed by one such god to never feel sated again.

he had a lover, once, he says. bright blue hair streaked with green, tangled with many coral colours, brilliant and beautiful and smart. the watchers saw that love and they fed the flame of his hunger. martyn grew more distrustful, more afraid, more duplicitous - and when his final opponent thought they'd be fighting fairly to the death, instead martyn struck on impulse, and burned him out.

left only to face his lover, martyn tried to do the same - but the gods favoured the blue-haired man far more than they'd ever favoured martyn. he remembered that now.

whatever that favour entailed, it meant that martyn's lover managed to run, and to leave.

and boy, is it lonely, when you've killed everybody else you know, and watched your only solace flee your sword as well.

you're supposed to be able to go home at the end of these games, you see. wherever his opponent's spirit had gone, freed from the body that lay on the grass, it was happy and safe and had forgotten all of this.

martyn's lover did not die. he'd remember what he'd seen, what martyn had done.

martyn did not die. instead he walked, and then he swam, and then he sailed.

(pirates gasp and mutter, as if having forgotten that this was meant to be the truth.)

he travelled for a long time after that, never staying in one place, going where the wind decreed it. he never made friends, but he did bond with people - there are some good people out there he'll never see again, who helped him despite his odd looks. and, with enough time out of the water, the strangest parts of him could be cracked and bled away, hidden under hair and headband, so that's exactly what martyn did.

the crowd is quiet as he finishes his tale. scott fidgets in the corner of his vision.

some kite or nightingale declares that it's a bold tale, to be sure, but that's all it can possibly be. there's no magic here or anywhere, no gods that reach down and play with men like dolls. martyn's fancy is a good one, and nothing but fancy in turn.

that lets the chatter leap right back up into uproar. the man who killed three, vanished, slept a week, and rolled back into society bolder than ever - he's just another fearsome pirate, now. this talk of gods and monsters has reminded them all how silly it was to fear yokai in their midst - they're pirates, bad and bold of their own accord, and they'd kill three people too if the bounty was great enough.

in the fray, forgotten, scott reaches out and starts to rub circles into martyn's hand with the pad of his thumb. the lover was the missing piece. he thinks he knows, now, why he has these strange recollections; why his red hair has been feeling wrong compared to his brother's ever since the touch of martyn's lips brushed his own.

and although he can't remember everything, and likely (hopefully) never will... he won't leave martyn in his hour of need a second time. he can choose differently, now.

they kiss against the backdrop of the firelight. not to give scott more air when he needs it, not out of heated passion and intensity. they just kiss because they've found each other, and as long as scott lives he will give martyn the happy ending, the victory they both deserved.

#seawater au #smile

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