#it's even more impressive that this is happening in adam's territory
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Charlie's reactions to Adam in You Didn't Know vs Hell Is Forever actually show so much about how she's changed, growing into herself as someone who's rightfully confident in her own power and authority. It's been five long, stressful, often painful months; not only that, she's finally learning how corrupt and senseless Heaven is. There's something that's been getting fiercer about her over time, and You Didn't Know gives us a mirror to Hell Is Forever that really shows it off.
The first time I saw Adam, I thought his movements looked like some sort of freakish vulture/eagle hybrid, and Charlie was reacting like it too. Like he was some deformed predator who wanted to eat her alive. When he got close to her in Hell Is Forever, she'd flinch away from him immediately. But five months later, things are very different.
Instead of jumping back when Adam and Lute get aggressively in her face, she doesn't flinch at all. Unlike the first time, there's no fear on her face. She's not letting him dominate the situation anymore. In both Hell Is Forever and You Didn't Know, she doesn't really take her eyes off him, but the way she's looking at him is like night and day. In Hell Is Forever, she's nervous and scared; she's watching him like he's a big, mean, hungry predator who might go for her throat. In You Didn't Know, he no longer has that same fear-based control of the situation, because she's not afraid anymore. She's still not taking her eyes off him, but instead of it being because she's scared of him, it's because she's not. She's glaring right back at him because if he tries to hurt her, she's ready to hurt him right back.
In each song, there's also a point where she loses her temper and slips into demon form, but even that's different. The first time, she only shows her anger when he's halfway across the room, and the second he's in front of her again, she's back to flinching away. The second time is so very, very different, because she doesn't flinch at all. That step back isn't to move away; it's more bracing than that, and it keeps him directly in front of her instead of letting him have the chance to come at her from even a slight angle. Then he gets right in her face and she doesn't even blink.
The first time they met reminded me of a large predator and a smaller one who was afraid of becoming his prey; the second time is when she's realized she doesn't need to be scared of him, because she's every bit as powerful as he is. It's finally hitting her that even if she'd rather not choose violence, she happens to be an apex predator who's more than capable of handling herself if it comes to that.
#hazbin hotel#charlie morningstar#she's my favorite and i love her#it's even more impressive that this is happening in adam's territory#she could not be farther from home but here she is refusing to let the situation be dominated by that asshole
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Sception Reads Cass Cain #31
Superboy (1994) #85
Writer: Joe Kelly
Pencils: Pascual Ferry
Another Guest appearance. I vaguely recall DC trying to push a Cass/Conner relationship, or at least a crush or something? I don't remember there ever being much to it, more of a kind of arbitrary 'might as well try pairing batgirl and superboy, because compulsory heterosexuality or something'. Not bad exactly, but nothing I remember anybody wanting or caring about.
But I only would have seen it from a single side, since I didn't really follow Superboy. Like, I read scattered issues of Young Justice here and there and liked that, but not enough to follow any of those characters outside of the team up book. So lets see if Joe Kelly writing of the two can win me over. Also, I think Ferry's another new artist to tackle Cass, and that's always neat.
Ok, right off the bat, the writing isn't really my thing. Conner is supposed to be that annoying-but-funny-and-endearing chatterbox type characters that is so often just ends up being obnoxious, with the annoyance of the other characters around them only enhancing that obnoxiousness instead of undercutting it. And, yeah, that's kind of what happens here, at least imo.
Not to get all 'cinema sins ding' or anything, but why is Kelly having Conner do a parody of Adam West batman? Like, where is he pulling those mannerisms from in universe? Minor nitpick, but kind of adds to the obnoxiousness.
We're here for Cass, not Conner, though, and Conner makes a strong enough first impression rescuing her from a bunch of random exploding zombies no it's not worth getting into.
To which Cass flips over to Tim and is like "who is this?"
I do like Cass in that last panel there. I like how expressive the eyes are, how the chunky belt pouches are used, the casual conversation between Cass and Tim, who knows her well enough to know what she's saying without saying anything. Honestly, Cass's interactions with the rest of the Bat Family could have used more of that sort of easy camaraderie within her own book.
Her waiste is weirdly pinched in that panel, but surely that's just from Ferry squeezing her into the panel and not because we're dipping into outright escher girls territory, right?
Oh, oh yeesh, uh oh.
On a more positive note, this was a cute moment from Kelly, and well executed by Ferry.
But then this, and, yeah, ouch. Ooof, Ferry.
Kind of a shame, because he does a pretty good job with her face, and it's honestly rare to see her unmasked in a guest appearance.
Conner and Cass escape of course, but the villain's long gone by that point, and Batman's medium pissed, plus doing his overprotective strict dad 'I don't like you hanging out with that boy/metahuman' schtick.
But then Conner stands up for both himself and Cass in this bit here that's, uh, honestly kind of endearing? Like, if more of his appearances with Cass were like this, in particular if they were about standing up to Bruce, about giving her a human connection outside of Bruce's sphere of influence that could call him out or help Cass see the problems with how Bruce treats her, then I think it would have made more of an impression on me. It could even have been an important part of Cass's own character development and story arc instead of the plot cul-de-sac it ended up as, iirc.
For now, though, this is honestly pretty cute. Which is way more than I expected, especially after not gelling with Conner's dialog throughout most of the issue.
#cassandra cain#batgirl#conner kent#superboy#sception reads cassandra cain#guest appearance time#with shorter commentary than usual#all the better to ease back into the update habit#after a couple weeks break
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I promised that I’d talk about Shogun, so let’s talk about Shogun. I thought I’d already started writing this review, but I apparently didn’t, as I can’t locate the document, and I can’t even find my original handwritten notes….
For starters, it’s really good.
Based on James Clavell’s novel of the same name, the miniseries (at least, it was planned as a miniseries, but supposedly it’s gotten renewed) Shogun is about Japanese politics in the feudal period. In the year 1600, after the death of the Taiko, a council of five regents was put into power while the Taiko’s son grows up. One of those regents, Lord Toranaga, is accused by the others of wanting to make himself shogun, the de facto leader of Japan, and finds himself in a sticky situation where all of his opponents are trying to corner him.
Rather fortuitous, though, that a Dutch ship arrives on the coast of Japan, in one of Toranaga’s territories. On it is English government agent John Blackthorne, who arrives with the intent of disrupting Catholic Portuguese interest and trade in the country, and establishing Protestant influence. And that ship has a butt-ton of cannons that more than one faction would be happy to grab a hold of.
Feudal Japanese political intrigue: the miniseries!
One thing that’s fascinating about both the original novel and the miniseries is how this is essentially a fictionalization of real events. Yes, the cast is made up of fictional characters–but only barely. Just about every major character maps onto a real-life historical figure, which will help some viewers work out some things before they happen on-screen. Toranaga is a clear analogue to Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Blackthorne to William Adams (yes, the guy from Nioh), and Mariko to Hosokawa Gracia. Mind you, they’re very heavily fictionalized versions of those characters for the sake of drama. There’s no reason to think there was anything between Mariko and Blackthorne’s real-life counterparts.
If you’re curious, the TV Tropes character sheets for the show mention who each character was based off of.
I am concerned that many people are going to take this as a true representation of history, which, uh, it’s not. I keep thinking of people I know or on the Internet saying, “I know about Norse mythology, I’ve played God of War!” and, um, no. In Shogun, for instance, I think the writers (of both the show and the book, if I remember the novel correctly) lean too hard into the “Scheming Jesuit” stereotype than is probably accurate, because the idea of conniving Catholic missionaries, or Jesuits up to no good, is appealing to audiences today–although Father Alvito is a delightfully complex character.
This is not me saying that the show is bad because of these things! I’m just saying don’t take it as history.
[Although! If we look at this with a critical lens, part of why the Catholics in Japan are so seemingly hostile is because our main European viewpoint character is Blackthorne–who they rightly suspect to be an enemy agent. Blackthorne even makes a comment at the end of the series that throws into question everything he’s said about the Catholic Plots.]
A thing that newcomers should be aware of: this is not an action series. If you come into this story because you wanted to watch a bunch of samurai battles, welp, this is not for you. There is violence, certainly, and occasionally it is done with swords, and it is generally brutal when it occurs; however, there aren’t epic battles and duels every episode. Most of the show is about political maneuvering, with bits of violence, sometimes perpetrated against the self, in order to get different people in places where they’ll be advantageous or disadvantageous to our protagonists.
To make that work, there is so much impressive character work in the story. These actors are giving it their all to make these characters come to life, and act in ways that move the story forward while also remaining consistent. Because this is set in a society that has such restrictive social rules, a lot of what characters say isn’t as relevant as how they say it, and so I think careful viewers will be rewarded.
I should probably make a note about language: most of this show is in Japanese. There are parts that are in English (which in-universe is meant to signify Portuguese, the European language in Japan, which Blackthorne also speaks). You’re going to read a lot of subtitles while watching the series, unless you happen to speak Japanese. Apparently there were concerns that viewers wouldn’t like this, though considering the show’s success, those fears seem unwarranted. Supposedly, the dialogue is written in old-fashioned Japanese, though having no knowledge of the language I couldn’t really say.
Shogun has been compared to Game of Thrones, because that’s where we are as a culture, I guess–large fantasy/historical dramas that feature political maneuvering, violence, and sex are measured against the HBO show. I have seen a grand total of maybe four episodes of Game of Thrones, so I’m not qualified to judge the comparison entirely; still, I think given that it isn’t a fantasy setting, the story is based entirely on Japanese history, and there isn’t a war going on, that Shogun is a different show entirely, and also that we need to stop comparing everything remotely similar to Game of Thrones.
It is not a casual show to watch–it’s intense, there is violence, there is sex (though the show lingers on it less than some of its rival programs), and there is so much suspense in how things will play out. If you can accept that, though, Shogun is a rewarding experience with memorable, interesting characters, and an entire story contained within a season with near perfect pacing.
It’s a really good show.
Mind you, I’m not sure they can keep up the momentum for another two seasons…
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(Modern Tails anon) I'm not well-versed in the comic industry either, so anything is possible to happen. (I wager if we did get a webtoon, I kinda doubt IDW being in charge of it. But who knows.)
I don't really care for the concept either, and I'm sure if he did have magical powers , people will fixate more on that than his tech skills. (As fun as it is imagining him with a kitsune-looking super form, the idea of building a super form for himself one day sounds cooler.)
Yeah, I've noticed UK's humor and media tends be more crass than America's. So I understand a bit better why Sonic is potrayed the way he is, at first. (Though I don't blame folks for side-eyeing any Sonic that badmouths a Tails.)
Understandable, I don't tend to jump on hype waves right away either, and just prefers to indulge when I ready to adsorb the media properly. (If you just wanna skip to the Tails episode, just search up "Drood Henge". I'd think you'll enjoy that at least.)
I guess we'll see soon if these shatterspace counterparts are essentially broken pieces of each of their Prime selves. (It's amusing that despite all these animated adaptions, we still don't really have one that heavily focuses on using the game-verse and its locations for its stories. It's either alternate continuity or universe shenanigans. Maybe one of these days, there's some hidden potential here.)
Here's to them having more causal scenes together, alongside action ones. It was also a nice touch that the Sonic Symphony somewhat merged their Adventure themes together. Makes you wonder how a song describing their dynamic and bond would go if Sega ever made one. (Nah, I get you. Tails often expresses wanting to be cool, heroic, helpful, very empathic and has big ambitions. [Game] Sonic generally doesn't care about status, values independence, and will be the "bad guy" if stuff came down to it. His politeness, courtesy, courage and strong sense of justice keeps him from falling completely into neutral/anti-hero territory. But he's definitely not a straight-laced one.)
I agree, even if we do get a webtoon, it probably wouldn't be affiliated with idw. Personally I would prefer it being either short slice of life stories about the main cast when they aren't adventuring or a story with a definitive beginning and end that would run for 2 or 3 webtoon "seasons", opposed to "epic adventures trying to be a continuous narrative until we get canceled" of fleetway/archie/idw. (This is just all wishful thinking of course)
Ack! Anon, I'm embarrassed. I do love imagining him with a kitsune-looking super form. 😅 I suppose when it comes to super forms my first instinct is to get defensive, like "what makes him worse than anyone else, why shouldn't he have one?" But you're also right in that compensating for mythical abilities with his own skills also sounds incredibly cool and impressive.
Yep, the UK also really leaned into Sonic having an attitude, some advertisements are very... interesting. If you (or really anyone reading this post) are interested in the UK-style humor, but want to experience a much nicer Sonic (especially when it comes to Tails), I recommend the Martin Adams novels. (I suppose I personally have a soft spot for them since they really make Tails feel like a co-protagonist) They also try to incorporate game elements, like Zones, rings, little animals being trapped in badniks (except instead of little animals they're anthropomorphic animals), capsules at the end of levels, etc. I would recommend either the second or the first novel, the second one has a better plot, but the first one is funnier (?) probably. (Though warning for fatphobia, it being directed at Eggman doesn't make it better. Also ugh. Really "weird" treatment of the female characters. They try to make them cool, but I'm afraid some things didn't age well) And thanks for the satam episode recommendation!
I guess I'll either be validated or will have to eat my words but at least I'll know that I'm in the same boat as Shadow the Hedgehog. At least we have animated shorts for the recent games. I'm hoping Superstars would get them too, not just the opening cutscene. Maybe on how different Emerald powers work?
I think the next show we get might be set in a more canon-adjacent universe. Sonic Boom technically was that, for Boom as the sub-franchise, I think the show and the games were even canon to each other. And they're not gonna pull another "multiverse" adventure after Prime just did that. Though I understand why they might be hesitant with making a game-adjacent cartoon, if anything goes wrong with an explicitly alternative timeline, or multiverse stuff, you can just shrug it off, but it might confuse and upset the audience if you screw up characterization in a game-adjacent show. Cartoons could have a big affect on how people perceive the characters, so Sega might not want to risk it, I mean that's how we ended up with Game Sonic loving Chili Dogs, and that were the alternative timeline shows.
That Sonic Symphony mashup might have gotten me a bit emotional. And yeah! I think you explained it better than I could.
#tails#blue blur#project.txt#project.ask#miles tails prower#tails the fox#sonic#This is more of a headcanon that anything else but the way I usually think about it:#sonic does what he wants it's just what he wants usually is to make sure people are safe and happy#while tails would prioritize doing what he thinks is 'the right thing' (though sometimes his emotions do get the better of him)#in the end they both help people but there's a difference in mindsets#I mentioned before that I'm not very good at explaining this which is why I'm not putting this in the body of the post =_='
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WEEK 6
I think I speak for everyone when I say that this week was one big OOF ☠ Scores this week ranged from mediocre to COMICAL 🤡 Y'all need to shape up or I'm going to have to execute commissioner order 420 and keep all that cash 💵💶💷 for MYSELF. We're going bottom to top this week, so lets see who's at the BOTTOM ↘↘↘
PEYTON - 4 POINTS
BRUH 😶 Hang his jersey from the rafters because Peyton has broken the all-time lowest scoring record for the pick-em-pool 👏👏👏 with a score of FOUR POINTS 🥴 that has dropped him out of first place. Just to put this in perspective, here are some things that are more than four:
The number of fingers on your left hand
The amount of times Tom Brady has retired / unretired
The number of scorpions Janie kills before 9 AM
My golf average over par (...per hole)
RUSTY - 6 POINTS
OK we're not getting much better here people 🧐 as rusty strings together a measly 6 wins 🤷♀️ The shock of getting TWELVE points last week must have been too much for him. On an unrelated note, I'm putting out a PSA on Rusty's cocktails - last weekend we were supposed to come help him get his boat out of the water. Instead, he made me 3 cocktails and I almost drowned in a 2 foot hot tub 😐 The boat is still in the water
VAL - 7 POINTS
Alright, we're finally getting back to respectable score territory here! Val is inching along this season, not quite out of last place but still close enough to be IN the game 🏈🏈 You know what they say: the lawyer with a C is still called esquire 👩🎓 and the player with 7 points is still in the game. Val certainly can tough it out this season. I know she's tough because I watched her drain a shot made from Vodka, Zing Zang, Hot Sauce, and an OYSTER. I'm pretty sure they used that exact recipe to get prisoners to admit secret information in World War II 🤮
JULIETTE - 7 POINTS
The Sedona Swimmer sneaks back into second place as a surprise contender this season 🙏🙏🙏 She had a good run, but it's time to say goodbye 💼✈ as she begins her residency at the Ocean Deck karaoke bar. I'm always EXTRA impressed by the Daigneault family singing PIPES, because when my family tries to sing it sounds like a Walrus choking on a rubber chicken 🎶🎵🎼🎹
JJ - 7 POINTS
JJ is holding on to 3rd place as this week's craziness has really narrowed the gap between everyone! No last place for JJ this time. How he finds time to make these picks while doubling as a movie star is beyond me 🎥🎬 That's right people, I'm UNMASKING JJ for who he really is 😱
Now please tell me, have ANY of you seen JJ and George Clooney in the same room together? That's right, I though not 🤨
GABBY - 7 POINTS
The hottest accountant this side of the balance sheet saves par with a solid 7 ✊ keeping her in the mix at 2nd place 🥈 Gabby has been SOLID so far into season 3 and is shaping up to again contend for that TOP PRIZE 💸💰🤑 Even Adam Levine wants to know how's she's been so consistent this year
JANIE - 7 POINTS
It's gonna happen again isn't it? 🤬 Janie moves from third to SECOND place now 😡 Could we have an absolutely wild THREEPEAT ON OUR HANDS??? 🥇🥇🥇 Janie is going to remodel her pool with all the money she's winning every year 🤑 We need to ask JJ to drive back to Low Key Piano Bar before she makes her picks this week. I'm thinking we're only safe after tequila shot #3 🍹
ABBY - 8 POINTS
Alright, NOW we have people scoring some points 🎱 Gordon Ramsay approves of Abby's score:
Abby has the picks, and now she just needs one of two things. Either A) Someone that knows how to contact the Chinese company that made my fake I.D.
B) A time machine that can age Brady another year so my boy can get into the BARS 🥂🍾
Either way, our cradle robber needs to keep this energy up for the rest of the season, as she's still tied for last place. GO GET THAT MONEY 💰💸🤑💲
LISA - 9 POINTS
WOAH BIG MAMMA 😲 Lisa is running away with it and cruising into a THREE point lead after week 6🤯 She somehow nailed the Atlanta pick, the New England pick, the NEW YORK JETS PICK ✈👩✈️👨✈️ She's looking UNSTOPPABLE right now so if someone could take her crystal ball away for next week that would be great, we're trying to keep this one competitive 🏆
That's all this week folks. It was a ROUGH one let me tell you 😵 hopefully we can all get our ducks in a row just in in time for the SPOOKIEST week of the year 🎃🎃🎃 and, most importantly, WIN SOME MONEYYYYYYYYYYY 💰💰💰💰 See you all next time!
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Prelude (Ethan x f!MC)
Book: Open Heart, Book 1
Pairing: Dr. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Lilac Allende)
Word count: 1.5 K
Premise: Three moments leading up to their fateful meeting.
Author’s Note: In which I try to explain why MC didn’t know what Ethan, her medical hero, looked like. Also, my (late) fic for the book 1 replay. Thank you @aestheticartsx for pre-reading!
Three.
Harper frowns down at the file in her hand, her sharp gaze burning into the collated papers as though coercing them to solve their dilemma once and for all. From the end of the table, Cyrus lets out an inpatient sigh.
“It's very simple, Harper,” he drones. Ethan's fists clench reflexively at his sides, urging to remind Cyrus that Harper is the chief now and warrants more respect than his insufferable tone is offering. “The last spot should go to the candidate from Harvard. We are the best hospital on the east coast, after all. It only makes sense.”
Harper looks unconvinced and still, her pensive expression remains fixed in the file.
“An ivy league degree does not a good doctor make,” Naveen adds sagely into the ensuing silence. His smile is placid enough but Ethan knows the older doctor well enough to hear the warning edge in his voice. Evidently, even Naveen disapproves of Cyrus's lack of respect for their new chief.
Cyrus scoffs.
“And if you need further proof of that, Doctor Cyrus,” Ethan begins dryly, eyes boring into him. “Then look no further than your side of the conference table.”
A few attendings—at least the ones who have become increasingly tired of Cyrus's boastful proclamations about his alma mater—laugh quietly at the jab. Cyrus splutters, his face an unpleasant shade of red as he glares daggers at Ethan.
“This candidate,” Harper says at last, unaware or uncaring of what she had just interrupted. Her two lone words are enough to command the room's attention at once, but her hazel eyes are on Ethan. “You're convinced she's the best fit for Edenbrook?”
Ethan meets her eye and pauses.
It's the first time they look at each other directly since he ended their relationship two weeks prior. Despite the brief time apart and an unshakeable resolve to be professional, his stomach sinks heavy, like a stone.
Harper looks as graceful and dignified as ever, keeping every emotion in check. Yet, as she holds his gaze, Ethan can see a small flicker or sadness and his stomach twists with guilt.
“I'm positive, Chief Emery,” Ethan responds. “This candidate exhibits the type of potential we look for at Edenbrook.”
The use of her new title seems to snap Harper out of a reverie.
“She graduated top of her class and ranked in the top percent among our chosen cohort of interns,” Ethan continues. “I've also looked into her research and it's among the most promising I've seen. I recommend her without reservations.”
With a single nod and a sense of finality, Harper closes the file.
“Then it's settled. We have our last intern.”
“You're joking, Harper,” Cyrus blurts out, incensed. “We're giving a coveted spot to the candidate from UCLA?”
He says the name of the school with so much derision, Ethan feels his ears flare up.
“That Doctor Ayala?” Cyrus continues.
“Doctor Allende,” Ethan corrects, jaw clenched.
“Don't we have enough charity cases in the cohort already? This is token—”
But the vitriol is quickly interrupted by several things happening at once: Ethan darting forward, fists ready; a startled, collective gasp from the other attendings; Naveen, quietly intercepting Ethan and halting his steps with a steady hand, a feat that is impressive for a man much older and shorter; and Harper, also on her feet, directing a disgusted look at Cyrus she doesn’t bother to disguise behind professionalism.
“I would think very carefully about finishing that sentence if I were you, Doctor Cyrus,” she says, her voice low but with the impact of a clashing gavel. “And I ask that you address me as Chief Emery moving forward.”
Two.
“If you end up marrying someone with a Boston accent,” Laurel is saying with a devilish grin. “I will never be able to keep a straight face when they talk. Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd.”
Her older sister peers at Lilac over the flaps of an open cardboard box, the glint in her eye growing wickeder still. “Imagine what they’d sound like in bed. You're so fucking gawgeous, dawctaw—”
Before her sister can escalate that impression into disturbing territory, Lilac silences her with a well-aimed pillow. It succeeds in hitting Laurel straight in the face but also in turning her laughter into a cackle.
“Are you going to help me pack or not?” Lilac says sternly, though the effect is entirely ruined by the smile that manages to break through.
Laurel raises her hands in defeat and returns to packing Lilac's books neatly. They work in companionable silence for a few minutes with nothing but their favorite music blaring from the speakers of Lilac's phone.
“Is this the book?” her sister asks suddenly, turning a worn textbook in her hands and studying it closely. “The one written by your medical crush?”
For some inexplicable reason, Lilac feels her face flare with heat. “He's not my crush.”
“You just worship the ground he walks on,” her sister returns, flipping through Diagnostic Principles. “Though, you're right. In order to have a crush you'd need to know what he looks like.”
Laurel reaches the back cover, frowning. “Why wouldn't he add an author picture?”
Lilac says nothing, biting the inside of her cheek. She can't blame her sister for being curious and a bit disappointed at the lack of visual representation. After all, Lilac had felt crestfallen when all she found in the author's information section was the green and blue Edenbrook logo.
“Maybe he's a private man and doesn't like his picture out in the world? Maybe he wants aspiring doctors to focus on his research and not his looks?”
“So he's either really hot or really ugly,” Laurel returns, unmoved by Lilac's impassioned speech. “Have you ever tried looking him up online?”
Lilac had been tempted many times, but she was fiercely adamant about keeping her medical hero a mystery outside of his work. It already felt invasive enough to track down his undergrad research and every other minor paper he'd ever written. When it came to Ethan Ramsey, Lilac had searched every corner of scholarly journals and databases, absorbing every piece of his work with an adoration that was already embarrassing enough.
Plus, she would never admit it out loud, but she was also afraid that knowing what the brilliant doctor looked like would somehow ruin him for her. Or at least, alter the image of him she had constructed in her head for so many years. It felt right to continue seeing Dr. Ramsey as the brilliant force that pushed her into her dream career and not as a definitive set of features.
“It doesn't matter what he looks like. He's the best and I'm going there to learn from him, not to judge his appearance.”
“I'm Googling him,” Laurel announces, already typing furiously into her phone. After a few seconds, her phone returns results and her eyebrows shoot up, staying suspended for longer than normal.
“What?” Lilac asks despite herself.
“Wow.”
“Wow what?”
“Just… wow.” Laurel stares down at the screen with such awestruck amazement that Lilac feels a powerful wave of curiosity. “He’s shirtless in some of these.”
“What?” Lilac yelps, feeling her face flare up at once.
“Yeah, apparently you’re not his only fan. Tons of people have taken his picture.” Her sister seems to blink out of a trance, turning the screen toward Lilac. “Here, see for your—”
But Lilac turns her gaze away almost out of reflex.
“No!”
The word comes out far more impassioned than Lilac intended. Still, she resolutely turns her head. “That feels...invasive, somehow?”
“Come on—”
“I'm serious, Lau. I don't want to see. I'm already nervous enough about this whole thing without having to worry about this wow-worthy revelation. And besides, taking someone’s shirtless picture without their consent and posting it online is already bad enough. It feels wrong supporting that.”
Laurel rolls her eyes.
“I'm going to see him in less than a week anyway. With clothes. In a professional setting. As I should. If I waited all these years, I can wait that long.”
A knowing, devious sort of smile pulls at her sister's face. She mumbles something over the music and Lilac can swear it sounds oddly like: “...worth the wait.”
One.
Ethan should have taken the broken and sputtering coffee machine in his apartment as an omen. His morning definitely declined from then on, starting with gridlock traffic and ending with an infuriatingly long line at his favorite coffee place.
The ultimate lack of coffee is probably his fault because Ethan had spent too much time deliberating whether or not he wanted to go with store bought coffee on what promised to be a grueling day. When he had finally made up his mind, however, the line was already out the door.
Irritated and caffeine deprived, he drives back to Edenbrook.
“You're earlier than we agreed,” Naveen says as soon as Ethan accepts his incoming call. “What was the point of rearranging the whole schedule if you were going to come in when you pleased anyway?”
“I'm not even through the gates yet. What are you spying on me?”
“No need. You forget how predictable you are.”
Naveen chuckles as he says this which eases some of Ethan's irritation. The older doctor had purposely scheduled him later in the day to give him some peace on the first day of the new intern cohort.
Naturally, Ethan arrived several hours early, as per his custom.
“Or maybe you know me too well by now.”
Naveen's benevolent laughter turns into a dry but lingering cough on the other end of the line. Instantly, Ethan's insides freeze over, his stomach sinking unpleasantly.
He opens his mouth to question his mentor about this persisting symptom, when sheer reflex prompts him to stomp on the breaks so suddenly, his body jerks forward then slams against his seat.
“Shit.”
Something—or rather someone— had crossed the parking lot road right in front of his car, standing mere inches away from his front bumper.
“Ethan?” Naveen asks through the speaker.
When Ethan recovers and regains movement of his arms and legs, he feels the spike of adrenaline give way to pure annoyance.
The offending pedestrian is a young brunette clad in blue scrubs, a medical intern by the looks of it. She stands there in the middle of the road, her mouth hanging open in a way that would have been comical to Ethan if he wasn't so irritated.
They stare at one another, though Ethan is convinced she can't see much through the tinted glass.
Then, right before his eyes, she seems to recover from the shock. Drawing herself to her full height, she glares at Ethan. At least, he thinks she's glaring through the dark lenses of her sunglasses.
Ethan almost scoffs.
She has the audacity to be angry when she was the one who made the rookie mistake of aimlessly crossing in front of him?
Who the hell does she think she is?
“Asshole,” she mutters, the word quite audible through his windows.
Before a stunned Ethan can respond, she turns on her heel and rushes toward the hospital, a curtain of dark hair dancing behind her.
“What was that?” Naveen asks, still on the call.
“I hate interns,” Ethan responds much to the older doctor's amusement.
Bonus:
Author’s Note: In other words, my MC was late to her orientation because of Ethan and that’s how she met him in the waiting room lol. Thank you so much for reading!
*Tagging Separately
#open heart#ethan ramsey#ethan x mc#Ethan ramsey x mc#ethan ramsey fanfiction#choices fanfiction#open heart fanfiction#Oph book club#playchoices#My writing
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New Chapter, what dis?
Sorry for the breaks in posting, this is a lot to write and a lot to research and work out. Doing my best, and we're getting there.
And hey, Selene's home! Here's a snippet.
“Watch where you’re going!”
“I am! Al, can you get the door?”
Alan scuttled ahead of the parade of people that were currently engaged in the extensive task that was bringing Selene home from the hospital. How one woman, who could barely get out of bed, had managed to acquire so much stuff in so short a time was beyond comprehension. They knew she had a habit of overpacking and could easily fall into hoarder territory if left alone for long enough, but this was ridiculous.
Alan held the door open and Scott pushed her wheelchair into the elevator that would take them from the hangars to the main part of the house. Virgil and John, who were acting as packhorses, weighed down by a million bags, would have to wait for it to return, there was no way they would all fit in. Gordon, who's idea of helping had been to nose in said bags, snatched out the new head massager that Adam had given his sister, and darted into the elevator after Scott. In short the whole thing was a confusing mess of too many people trying to do too many things and Selene just wanted to sleep. Not that that would be happening any time soon, she was sick of lying in bed and was determined to get back to some semblance of normality as soon as possible.
“This thing is really cool, I have to get one,” Gordon said, dragging her attention back to him by arranging the thin, spindly finger-like prongs around his head and bouncing it up and down with far too much enthusiasm.
“Are you getting gel on that?” Selene asked, already knowing the answer. He nodded happily. “You had better wash it then, I’m not having that super hold stuff transferring to my hair when I can barely wash it as it is. Last time I used that stuff I looked like one of those old troll dolls.”
Alan snickered as he pressed the button for the lounge floor, remembering the incident well. Selene had not been impressed but they had found it hilariously funny.
The elevator doors opened to the hallway at the back of the lounge where they could enter the lounge area or continue up to the sleeping quarters. Scott pushed her out, guided the chair around the side of the panelled wall where his launch chute and their portraits were located and stopped beside the sunken seating area.
“Come here,” he said, bending down to allow her to loop her arms around his neck, then lifting her out of the chair. Steps and a wheelchair didn’t mix and she still wasn’t allowed to stand unaided. If she had just broken her ankle she could have used crutches, but her broken wrist ruled that out. If she had just fractured her pelvis she could have used a walker, but her ankle made that impossible. She didn’t trust herself with a motorised chair and couldn’t push herself with her broken wrist, so, for now, she was relying on the goodwill and patience of family to, as she put it, ‘cart her arse around’. None of them minded in the slightest, they were just grateful she was in one piece and home with them.
“Which chair?”
She reluctantly pointed to one of the bucket seats, knowing it would give her more support and keep her more upright than the couches could. Scott lowered her carefully and gently into the chair, on alert for any kind of wince or pained sound that might indicate it had hurt her.
“Thanks, babe.” She settled in the chair as best she could, knowing that even if she didn’t like it she would have to put up with it. Ordinarily, she would never choose to sit in one of them, she was a snuggler by nature and liked to be close to people. If she had her way she would be squished up against someone's side, leaning against them or laying on them in some fashion. On the rare times she found herself alone, she would take advantage of it and stretch out full length, taking up as much room as possible. The bucket seats that acted as a launch chute for Thunderbird Three and Shadow were comfortable to the extreme, they had to be to act as pilot seats too, but she found them too lonely and too confining for her tastes. Unfortunately, she had very little choice at the moment.
John emerged from the hall, empty-handed of all but her handbag -liberated by Virgil from the car after she and Alan had been extracted- and a tote bag full of the books and magazines she had been reading in hospital. Everything else had evidently been deposited in their bedroom for unpacking later.
“Hi, everything alright?” he asked her.
She nodded. “Yep, managed to make it without trouble, but Gordon has somehow stolen my head massager.” She gave him a pointed look, like he had let her down in the relocation of her possessions.
“Not guilty." He held his hands up in mock surrender. "He took that from Virgil’s load, not mine.”
“He was so quick,” Virgil protested lamely, bringing up the rear with Grandma and Jeff in tow. Gordon grinned, totally unashamed of his thievery. “His hand was in and out before I even saw him.”
“Have you got that list?” John asked him, ignoring the rest of the information to focus on the important things.
Virgil nodded, scrabbled around in the pockets of his flannel until he located it, and handed it to him. “Here they are, doctor’s orders. Grandma has the rest.”
“I don’t need a list to tell me how to heal,” Selene protested, but Grandma cut her off.
“Yes, you do, I know you, young lady, you'll be trying to get up the moment our backs are turned.”
“I would not!”
“Yes, you would,” Scott laughed, looking up from the wheelchair he was trying unsuccessfully to fold down.
“Unfair. I can be sensible.”
“When you’re asleep. Ah ha!" He located the hidden button that released the lock and the chair folded in on itself. "Got it!"
“Why are you all being so mean to me?” Selene pouted, ignoring his triumph. “Dad, they’re picking on me again.”
“I know you think they’re mean, honey, but in this instance, I have to agree with them,” Jeff answered firmly, trying to ignore the way her bottom lip wobbled in his direction. Maybe he was lucky he’d had all boys because no one ever told him daughters could wrap you so easily around their little fingers. If he’d seen Selene as a little girl he’d have been done for. As it was, it was a close call. He didn't know how John managed, because it was taking all he had to stay firm and not give in to her. “How about we make a deal?”
“What kind of deal?” she asked suspiciously. Selene was nothing if not practical, but also easily placated if the right thing was offered. John snorted in amusement, but declined to step in and help.
“You keep your backside in that chair and stay put like a good girl and I’ll make Scott go out for food. How’s that?”
On paper that sounded like a good deal, but her daddy had taught her never to accept an offer without getting all the details first.“What kind of food?”
“What food do you want?”
Selene thought about it for a while. “I don’t know, surprise me.”
“Do I get a say in this, since I’ll be the one going out to get it?”
“Doesn't seem like it,” Virgil laughed. “Better get moving, bro.”
“Fine, I’m going,” Scott mock sighed, levering himself out of the chair he’d only just sunk down into. “Text me your orders.”
Once Scott had left and the others had either wandered off to parts unknown -as was the case with Virgil and Grandma or settled on the couches, as Alan and Gordon had- John folded himself into the chair beside her and took her hand in his, lacing their fingers.
“Can I get you anything?”
She shook her head. “Nah, I’m good. Thinking I might just read quietly for a bit. I've got to behave, apparently.”
“What about for Yule? Do you want me to fetch anything from the apartment?”
Selene sighed, a short, unhappy little noise. “Ordinarily I’d say yes, or I’d be out somewhere joining in with a ritual, but I had it drummed into me by Vera that we shouldn’t practice when we aren’t in tip-top physical form unless it’s an emergency. She always says ‘the Gods will wait’. So I should probably continue to sit here and let my arse weld itself to yet another surface.”
“Yes, stay put, Scott will be back soon enough,” Jeff called from his desk. She lifted her good arm in acknowledgement, ignoring Gordon’s sniggering from behind his National Geographic.
“See, Dad’s orders,” she grumped lightly, not really meaning it. “Talking of Yule though, what about Christmas? It’s not like I can do much to help but I have a few days to order some shopping if one of you can pick it up?”
“Stop right there,” Jeff ordered, apparently still listening in and taking his self appointed role of Selene wrangler seriously. “There’s no need for you to worry your head about any of that stuff, we’ve got it covered.”
The look on Selene’s face said she very much doubted that.
“You think we can’t fend for ourselves now and then?” He actually moved his glasses further up his nose to peer at her. She was not intimated in the slightest.
“Yes!”
“We’re perfectly capable of putting together a meal and decorating a tree. We can invite your mom and brother and have ourselves a nice, relaxing,” that last was said with a pointed look in her direction, “and above all, quiet, christmas.”
“But-”
Jeff lifted his hand. “No, don’t even think about arguing. You’re going to do as you’re told and leave it to us. You do enough around this place, now it’s time to let us look after you for once.”
“Better do as he says,” Virgil commented, catching the tail end of the conversation as he came back into the room. “That’s his dad voice, you can’t argue with that.”
“I can argue with anything,” Selene answered back, just to be petulant, but there was no real threat behind it. Honestly, it was nice. She’d lived away from her parents for some of the hardest times of her life and then, just as things were starting to go right for her, she’d lost her father. She’d never expected to get as close to Jeff as she had, but she’d realised while she’d been in hospital just how much he cared about her in return. After the first night he’d visited her, the nurses had continued to refer to him as her dad and she’d just gone along with it, to the point that she hadn’t realised she’d taken to saying it to him too. Now it actually felt awkward to call him Jeff. He’d fully adopted her as one of his kids and even if there had been anything she could do about it, she wouldn’t want to. Though it appeared that being adopted meant that he could pull the dad card and boss her about just like her own had. She hadn’t realised just how much she missed it.
As if sensing the direction of her thoughts, John squeezed her hand, offering his silent reassurance and support.
“Fine,” Jeff replied casually, adopting the same tone that he used to use on the boys when they were small and refused to go to bed even when they were tired. “But I bet you wouldn’t argue with Grandma or your mother, maybe I should let them tell you.”
“Fine! You do Christmas and I’ll just sit here. Damn, you play dirty,” she accused, craning her neck to fix him with a squinty-eyed look.
“Never claimed otherwise.”
“Now I know where John gets it from.”
“Hey, unfair," John protested. "I never play dirty. I always follow the rules, I just use them to my advantage.”
“That’s still playing dirty, babe. Now, if you’ve all finished picking on me, can one of you pass me my book, please?”
“Which one?” John asked, letting go of her hand to drag over and start digging through the tote bag. “There’s five in here.”
“That dragon romance one. If I’m not going to get any action for weeks I might as well live vicariously through sassy women in New Orleans.”
It was Alan’s turn to giggle at the look of martyrdom on John’s face as he searched for the right book.
“Don’t get any ideas, you’re sassy enough as it is,” John warned her as he handed the book over, pointedly ignoring the comment on lack of action. She had been told, very firmly, that she wasn't allowed to do any strenuous form of activity until she got the all clear from the doctor.
“A woman can never be too sassy,” she argued, awkwardly opening the book with one good hand and the fingers of her broken one. “Besides, I need to keep my sass up otherwise I’ll be so bored I’ll waste away to nothing.”
You can read the rest here on Ao3.
#john tracy#selene tempest#chapter update#thunderbirds are go#thunderbirds#thunderbirds 2015#thunderbirds fanfiction#witch#paranormalromance#thunderbirdsarego#scott tracy#gordon tracy#alan tracy#virgil tracy#jeff tracy
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Tales of The Ghost Writer
“You met Xingqiu at Wanwen Bookhouse when delivering a batch of your newly-published book. But as a ghost writer, no one knew it was you that authored such books. Safe to say it was cute watching the noble bookworm fanboy about you in front of you.”
Pairings -> Xingqiu x Author!Reader
Word Count -> 3518
Theme -> Long Fic, Fluff
Series -> #Bonafide specials (100 followers event)
Warnings -> Xingqiu's name might be mispelled at times, also he rambles a lot
Entry Log # 645:
I’ve once again delivered the new batch of books to Wanwen Bookhouse today at 4PM, 30 new books in collection to be sold. That would add up to a total of 420 published books for Legend of the Lone Sword. Despite its old circulation, collectors and avid bookworms still seek out the volumes. In a spur of the moment thought, the 4th volume was finally rereleased for more readers to get a chance to read them. While on my rounds, I’ve met a particularly peculiar fan.
“4th volume?” You nod as you set down the stack of books on the counter where Jifang stood behind with a welcoming smile. “Thank you, everyone has been asking about it for a while now. I don’t understand how people keep missing out on the last volume like so.” There was an exchange of giggles between you continued your idle chatter, busying yourself with recounting the stack to make sure the order placed was exact. Yep, 30.
You picked one up from the top pile as Jifang enters the bookhouse to gather the payment. It wasn't that much of a feat to carry a pile of 30 books when it's only this thick, you thought as you opened the book in the middle and... buried your nose in it, literally. Archons, the scent of freshly printed books had always been such a stress reliever of a kind. The imprints were still fresh as you run your thumb over the pristine white page of page 75, the gravings of the letter bumping it in such an intricate and endearing manner. You suppose it should be prime time you get a copy of your own-
"Ah, the glorious scent fresh books offer are quite irresistible to everyone," your head whipped to the side in a hurry at the embarrassing display. Yet your new company only offered a light-hearted laugh, floaty and flowing swiftly past his lips. You find it enjoyable to listen to. "Fret not, I don't judge such honest guilty pleasure."
His smile was soft and respectful as you return it, watching his hand (wrists largely ruffled) pick up the next book on the pile, his interest shining the more he recognizes the the piece of literature. Such expensive clothing and poise, you thought as you continued to inspect. "I knew Wanwen had a schedule of new releases today, but I was not informed it would be the 4th volume of the Legend of the Lone Sword!"
"A fan?" You mused as you placed back the copy you took, leaning against the counter as you watched him quickly scan the lines of the book. He was intensely staring at every word with such a calculating gaze, that sometimes break when he reads how the character would sometimes reach an impasse, or when a new discovery reaches its peak. His ardent gaze was enough of an answer. When he took a break from reading to pass you his attention, you hadn't realize how red your cheeks had been out of embarrassment. "I've always wanted to get my hands on my own copy of the 4th, yet everytime all bookhouses in Liyue keep running out of stock. Is delivery normally this scarce?" He'd gestured at the not so looming pile.
You nod in response with a forgoing giggle. "Publishing could be running into some... shortness of funds?" Subtle, yet he hums in disappointment at the thought. His little pout, adorable, as he buries his face in the book again. I would gladly fund such glorious writing, you thought you heard past the leather back before the ornate doors past the counter finally opened again.
"Ah sorry it took so long, I couldn't find the exact pouch for the- hey! You again, you've read and been scolded dozens of times already," the woman angrily gestures to the notice board by the table, "Pay first, read later!"
You snorted, thankfully masked by the sudden cry of the caught culprit as he was smacked (hopefully gently) on the head by the owner, forcing him to put back the book to the pile. "Hnghh, but Lady Jifang! You didn't scold her, she was indulging herself with the book just the same," you breathed a fake gasp of astounded betrayal, before you three had laughed in chorus.
The oldest of your trio scoffed in amusement as she placed the bag of Mora unto your waiting hand. "What, her? Why would I scold her, she probably knows every word like the back of her ha-" her rambling was then cut off by a loud smack on her bottom, a book expertly finding its way back to your hand with a perfectly cut smile. Her yelp was not unnoticed by the male as he laughs at the display.
"Let him be, he's really been patiently waiting for the release!" Jifang scoffs at the word patiently as you came to the defense of blunette. You were never really aware of the norm in Wanwen, as you usually come by at a time where you would have been alone. This was a first.
"Quite so! Just the start of the volume had me hooked, setting for the peak of the story climax! The synopsis itself already hinted of another inclusion of a new element into the story I had not expected from this style of a book, surely such a writer would not tread such parallel territory without being an expert teller-" Jifang watched in amusement as her gaze lands on you at the start of the bookworm's rambling, watching the redness touch the tip of your ear with an abashed smile shyly gracing your lips. Behind it she can see the mirth and amusement, something she outwardly shows with her own expression.
"Wow," was the Liyuean woman's only response once the speaker has finished his lengthy speech. His dorkiness stands with pride at his examination.
You cleared your throat before you could mutter your initial words, finally realizing the time. "That was... quite marvelous of an analysis. A-Anywaysss, thank you for your partnership, I hope the books are all sold by tomorrow!"
And with that you swiftly made your exit, wanting to find a place to scream the embarrassment out. Or maybe squeal, just to be subtle.
Entry Log # 15:
As a distant relative to the Guhua clan, the (L/N) clan was not exactly known to be tied closely to the prestigious clan known for their expert martial. However, despite the impure connection, they carry with them still the honor of learning the arts to a meticulous detail.
Your family was one of the living practitioners of the Guhua Arts, twice removed, yet your spotlight was not that obvious as the name would carry. Your father wish to carry a new kind of prestige without relying on the powerful namesake and he had been adamant since birth to grind every teaching and form of the art into his immediate family.
"Misogyny nor feminism will not save you from battle, only your own strength." Something along those lines, was what he said.
Your eldest brother was his main point of reference when scolding you on not taking your lessons properly. A slacker he is, now he lacks not only a means of security but also financial stability, that's what you end up to if you don't treasure the arts of our family. You have no idea how martial arts brings you monetary security, but you can't really state to your own father that his logic was a bit skewed.
Daily during morning and the first touch of evening, you had resigned yourself into training under your father's supervision. As the eldest daughter of the house, you carry with you still a responsibility to be strong. No fraility was accepted, and your mother always argues about your father's ever so masculine lifestyle being imposed on you, a lady that should be taught other customs for means of living.
Yet after every session, at the end of the day under the caress of the lamp by your study table, your hands move with precision and calmness he would have scoffed at in the dojo. The beauty of words and their power to create new worlds effortlessly had drawn you in too easily, ever since you were young you had a knack for the books your mother reads to herself or to you.
Entry Log # 651:
The next time you'd met the Wanwen Bookworm (nickname you gave) was a rare moment when he'd finally looked at you more than the book in his hand. It seemed your little interaction from the bookhouse was attention-grabbing enough to make him seek out your person with a bunch of questions and wonder.
You gulped, patting down your blue skirt before accompanying him. The way he rambles was too dangerous, it was drawing something within you to also do the same, and you feared you may let out something you shouldn't. But a fellow 'reader' is good company, and with the little interactions you had with the same age group with the same interest makes this moment something you can't pass.
"Carrier to the Yae Publishing House?" You nodded calculatedly, after confirming you've said just the right information. "Quite intriguing, especially with such young age to be working in line with the greatest press house in Teyvat." Ohhh, he's surely smart despite the first impression of goofiness.
You giggled as politely as you can remember you should upon the scarce teachings of your mother. "I've always liked literature so I couldn't uhm let the opportunity pass, even if it's insignificant like that." Good, good, piling up the lies. You're grateful you haven't made some contract of friendship and happen upon the wrath of your nation's God. Or Qixing.
"Surely, you must have been in the presence of some of the wordsmiths during your rendezvous! So tell me," there was a dangerous glint in his eyes and you knew exactly what he's gonna ask, "Have you met the legendary Bob Ong?"
Oh goodness, you felt him caress and pat your back as you tried your best to breathe after the sudden choking on nothing, he was so spot on that you were horrified even if you had an inkling of what he was gonna inquire. "I uhm I don't really know what I'm allowed to say." In the inside you were goddamn screaming.
"You don't have to tell me anything about him, really! It's his mystery that makes his character just the most intriguing." You gulped down hard, this time without choking out of nothing. "I don't really know much about who he is since he's, you know, unknown? No clues whatsoever, he could be anywhere right now, maybe you've talked to him already or no. Yeah?"
He held a convincing hum before taking in the cryptic answer, content, for now you assume. "Not many avid readers of the book can place a name to the unnamed author, but how blind they were to see the cryptic signature at the back of the cover. Truly a wonderous act." Xingqiu, you finally learned his name, had took you out to lunch for the trouble and enjoyment. It wasn't really necessary, but you figured it was probably to keep you with him longer to converse about the books more.
A lot of his... analysis actually coincide with the messages that you lodged between the lines. He understands your way of narration more than you do at times, and you were left wondering just how much he had read of the fourth volume despite only having it for a few days then. When evening once again struck, you had bid each other farewell in the promise of another time to hang.
"It's a literature of love and freedom- disguised as a martial arts novel." Was his parting analysis, and you were left to wonder, was that really what you had projected into your works?
Entry Log # 32:
In your young and hopeful mind, you'd sent your first ever manuscript to Yae Publishing House. It wasn't your first work but it was the one you worked hard on the most, with weeks of furbishing and reworks. Your mother, although not directly informed of your whole plan, had provided you with great feedback and generous suggestions. And soon you created the first manuscript of 'String of Pearls'.
With a generous note and what you hoped is enough mora to at least publish a book, your package was sent to Inazuma.
You waited for days, of which turned to weeks, and then to months. You thought by the end of it all, you had been swindled but as young as you still hoped for the best of its outcome.
And then one day, as you were sweeping the outside of your gates in preparation for your father's return from some business in the harbor, a lone man of Inazuman style found its way to your humble abode. He calls himself Mr. Nine, and in his arms cradled two similar looking books, with a familiar envelope.
That was when you had been given the opportunity to write for the greatest Publishing House under the guise of a pseudonym. The great Nine was astounded by your ripeness paired with your prowess in writing. You hid behind Bob Ong, a protection from being belittled as a young child and a woman, to prevent being traced by your father if ever.
Yet you remained as subtle still. Even if your name was not written on the covers themselves, within your heart you were still the writers of those books. You've placed anagrams and mysterious puzzles revealing your name but it was part of the intrigue of the story that they had not thought much about it.
One day, you lost your book when you had gone out to eat. It was the second copy, as you carried the first one in your room, yet it still held a special place in your heart.
Xingqiu was a master novelist too, as you'd expect from someone so enthusiastic on the art of literature too. You'd long since become friends and found out soon enough his true identity. The heir to the Feiyun Commerce Guild, master practitioner of the Guhua Clan Arts, soon to be novelist. He was in every aspect the better half between you two.
One day in his daily reading breaks where he would happen upon you, he had found his eyes wafting over your notebook that you always carry. It was designed to look like a hard bound book specially tailored to your tastes, but it was nothing but mere keepers of your notes and musings.
Your newest page had in it a brand new draft for a brand new story you wanted to flesh out before the success of Legend of the Lone Sword diminishes. Mr. Nine still praised you for the success of your first major publishing and had assured you that there's no need to immediately compensate with another work so early, but your mind was already so eager to work. Your friend had never seen you so- flamed and passionate as the paper caves to the intense pressure your pencil places on it.
So he leans on your shoulder slightly (glad you were still distracted) as he quietly reads the words that articulates on the paper. The more Xingqiu reads, the more he craves, just the same vigor he felt everytime he had read his favorite works when each chapter invigorates him to continue to the end.
"Such a great outline," the blunette breathes out as he leans his cheek at the crown of your head. You let out a cute squeak when you'd finally come to, and turned your head to face him- "I didn't know you were into romance, my liege. Tell me, just where do you get such inspirations?" Your nose softly collided against the smoothness of his cheek, your lips ghosting over the line that is his jaw.
You scrambled backwards to direction opposite of his, yet with his body weight leaning on you, his center of balance quickly shifted on your weight like a net being pulled against the sides of a boat. You both toppled over.
"My, my, I didn't expect such abrupt resistance from you," Xingqiu's arms caged you as it holds him up against the grassland on either side of you. There was a certain mischievous glint in the ocean that is his eyes, which only meant one thing. "No need to be shy," you closed your eyes shut as his face leans in closer to yours, fanning over the frame of your face as he lets out a warm yet teasing exhale, "I'm sure we've gone past our personal bubbles in this relationship." You felt his chest against yours and braced for the inevitable-
as he finally licked your nose(?).
What.
"X-XINGQIUUUUU!" And then a cry of pain after a particularly harmful blow.
Entry Log # 659:
Xingqiu had always been a man of great words despite his chicken scratch of a penmanship. Vivid tales of his manuscript that I'm sure the Publishing House would take great value for, his years of memorizing numerous works in his arsenal. He told me that if I were to one day publish the manuscript, he wants to get the first copy and the first to get it signed. However Xingqiu has one glaring weakness when it comes to the art of words. When I asked him what would be a good title for the manuscript I made, he simply said, "Tales of the Writer!" And he sent a goofy smile. I thought he was joking, and I asked again, this time of what his work would be named. He replied:
"Why, Legend of Sword, of course!" He really sucks at titles.
Entry Log # 660:
Upon returning home with my new work ready to be shipped off for mass publishing, I've finally confronted my father. I had with me the final volume of my first work and offered it to him as first a gift of reconciliation, and my father took it with a mirthful glint in his eyes. He said he has been looking for the last volume of the series he'd been wanting to complete. I... I didn't know father was a fan.
The climax of my entire double-life ended so peacefully and tragically meh. I was expecting a martial arts fight of honor that will go down in history, but instead I ended up signing my own book as my father gushed about how nicely I illustrated the martial arts teaching we had during our sessions. I did not sleep well that night.
October 9th was a day celebrated by others more than the young master Xingqiu. The pavilion was mixed in with people from different walks of life and of faces he doesn't necessarily recognize. He lingers by the open window that shows the grandeur balcony, beckoning him outside. Today was a scheduled new release for Wanwen Bookhouse, and he had heard several chatters from the citizens that a new series would be published hailing from Yae Publishing House once again.
And the virtuoso of literature cannot attend such important matter himself because of his own birthday. How irking, you weren't even there to help appease his grumbling, you should have been here by now upon his invitation.
Suddenly the master of invitations bellowed out a familiar name, as his job to announce the entrance of the invited guests to the banquet. When he looks up, you were already walking down the grand staircase in your creme and blue Hanfu garb, accompanied by a tall man of a different wear—
"(Y/N), M-Mr. Nine-!" He bowed politely to the man as you curtsied at his presence. You looked absolutely dashing yet the man towered your form easily. "It's my honor to finally meet you, sire."
"Happy birthday, Xingqiu, I've heard many great things about you," the blunette opened his hands to receive the book gifted by the man. It had a familiar cover and title to it, Legend of Sword, "Great things, in fact, that there would too be great things to discuss later on." The Inazuman graced him a smile and he almost teared up at the implications, if not for when the author suddenly nudged you forward from your demure state.
Tales of the Ghost Writer
"X-Xingqiu, happy birthday! This is uhm, I've always wanted to- I wanted to give you this myself, I know you'd miss the first batch of releases," an unfamiliar book sits on his palm now. A plume and sword adorning its cover but no title, he shifts his hand to open it to the first page, "You said you wanted its first copy be signed, and I thought it appropriate to be given now at such a special occasion."
There in fresh print and ink he'd finally been revealed the mysteries he had long been searching for.
Against the translucent paper it was written and signed,
Tales of The Ghost Writer
Bob Ong, (Y/N)
@creation-magician @your-local-venti-simp @boxofteenageideas @indigodreamtime47
#genshin impact#genshin impact x reader#genshin impact xingqiu#xingqui x reader#xingqiu x reader#Bonafide specials#exile.flower#accidentally posted again but okay#female reader
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There’s a midam AU idea that’s been living in the back of my mind for months now, but it’s been slow going. Mainly because I suspect that doing the idea justice is going to mean doing more research than I’m used to, and maybe even rewatching the series proper to help me fill in some of the weak spots, and I have so many other story ideas that are frankly just easier to work on, two of which are already slated to be multi-chapter works. . . But I’m in the mood to type up something longwinded, so here we go. Keep reading if you’d like to see a rough outline of the first few chapters of this story I really hope to write out properly sometime.
(Warning, this is a long one.)
So, this story is loosely based on the Hundred Years War that took place between England and France from 1337-1453. But it’s only very loosely inspired. Very, very loosely. As in, I was reading a book, I read about one thing that happened, it germinated in my head, and then suddenly I had a plot developing that featured my current favorite ship. Additional sources of inspiration include one of my favorite fantasy series, and a personally beloved trashy romance novel. Because it’s fanfiction, folks. There are no rules here.
Of course, in this AU, the entire world is going to be made up, with neither side of the war distinctly being assigned the role of England or France—or Flanders or Burgundy, for that matter. I barrowed an inciting incident, and few smaller details from history to help things along here and there, but with no regard for keeping all the French things assigned to one group and the English ones to another.
That said, the inciting incident took its inspiration from the Battle of Poiters, a conflict during which England not only won against the French, but also took their king hostage. King Jean II was later ransomed back to his people, but at a sum that was so high, France could not afford to pay it all at once. England still returned France’s king, but new hostages were provided to serve as collateral during the interim, including the King’s son.
So. . .crown Prince Michael Shurley completely decimates King John Winchester on the battlefield, and sends his demands to John’s queen, Mary Winchester. The two kingdoms have been locked in a territory dispute for several decades, and this is one of the more humiliating events to befall the smaller kingdom yet, especially since they are unable to meet all of Michael’s demands. When the Winchesters begrudgingly admit this to the Shurley representatives, they’re caught off guard when they’re offered a trade: John Winchester will be returned, so long Dean Winchester takes his place as collateral.
Things are less than stable in the Winchester kingdom however, with more than a few factions quietly scheming for power. John and Mary were an arranged marriage that was originally held up like a fairytale when the two seemingly fell madly in love during their mandated courtship, but the years afterward had changed them. Civil unrest sparked by the war had brought out a lot of disagreements between the Winchesters and the Campbells and their approaches to governing.
John’s supporters are the ones to step forward with a plan, and convince Mary that it’s vitally important the people are not alarmed by their king’s capture. Mary initially finds it distasteful, but it’s talked around and adjusted and reframed, as John’s people ferret out more and more information about the vital party involved, until she finally agrees.
Because John Winchester just happened to have a bastard son. The resemblance to Dean might not be particularly remarkable, but no one at the Shurley court has ever seen the Winchester heir before. Plus, Adam Milligan has spent the entirety of his teen years studying to become a physician, of all things. He’s perfect for their purposes.
Ten years prior, the Shurley court had had to deal with its own bout of civil unrest, when King Chuck Shurley’s second eldest son had attempted to overthrow him with the support of several nobles from one the kingdom’s richest providences. Lucifer had allegedly been driven into exile following his defeat, and Chuck had been said to have contracted some sort of mysterious illness. According to rumors, the king had shut himself up in his private chambers and refused to admit anyone apart from his remaining children. Even servants were barred from tending him directly.
They snatch Adam away from his studies and force him into compliance by dusting off an archaic law left over from before the start of the war, when the kingdom relied on a conscription military force rather than a standing army full of career military professionals—this law empowering the crown to call on any of its citizens for a minimum forty days of military service per year. They tell Adam that his mission seems more dangerous than it is—really, all he has to do is pretend to be Dean, and use his medical knowledge to figure out exactly what mysterious illness has bedridden the enemy monarch.
Sam and Dean—the proverbial heir and spare of the kingdom—are not at court to meet their younger brother, when he’s hastily fitted for a royal wardrobe and put through a crash course on court etiquette. Sam is very publicly put on display at a holiday festival in another part of the kingdom, while Dean is sent orders to quietly stay behind at a country estate while his valet, Kevin Tran, is sent on to court. Neither of the princes is told about the plan until after Adam has already been shipped out, with Kevin in toe to help Adam along with the impersonation.
No one involved is in anyway comfortable with the mission. But it was only supposed to be for forty days. Adam was assured that the necessary funds to pay off the ransom would either be raised by the end of the minimum mandated service, or they would make contact to extract him. The Campbells and the Winchesters both allegedly had spies in the Shurley court, and they would make themselves known when the time was right.
Adam is given the impression that the latter had been told to him with the intention of making him feel safer. It did not work.
He’s terrified when he arrives—almost would have preferred being promptly thrown into a dungeon upon arrival, instead of a room full of foreign nobility who one and all give off the impression that if cut they’d bleed straight silver, and look at “Dean,” the hostage prince and purported military genius from the tiny, vicious country across the channel, as a curiosity to be studied. He’s assigned two guards (who I decided will be Anael and Samandriel, based entirely on the tags I threw together at then end of this post, during which I decided that I love these three together), who follow him around relentlessly, but beyond that, he’s. . .pretty much treated like a guest. If a stiflingly monitored one. There are limitations on where he can go and what he can do, but for the most part he’s just sort of. . .there.
Most unnerving of all, however, is the small package that Adam finds in his room when he first settles in. Kevin swears he has no idea who left it. It has the Campbell’s insignia clearly worked into the pattern of the paper it’s wrapped in, and inside he finds a knife small enough to conceal on his person, and a number of different herbs and powders that he recognizes from his studies—though of course, he’s more familiar with remedies to counteract their effects.
In other words, he finds an assassin’s-first-kill-job kit, and instructions on how and when to use it, if opportunity arises. This had not been part of the deal when Adam reluctantly signed on.
Unbeknownst to Adam however—though suspected by some parties in the Winchester court—Adam cannot assassinate Chuck Shurley, because Chuck is not there. Shortly after Lucifer’s insurrection, Chuck had quietly disappeared. Michael had only been a teenager at the time. He invented the story about Chuck being ill on impulse, certain that Chuck would be back sooner than later, and Raphael had gone along with it because, being twelve years old, Raphael was not yet old enough to question Michael’s judgement. It is now an awkward point between them.
Adam soon becomes another.
Michael regularly checks in to see how Adam’s getting on, in a way that Kevin assures Adam is entirely appropriate, since Michael is under the impression that Adam is going to be a fellow monarch someday, and is likely trying to be courteous. Adam inherently feels somewhat flustered around Michael though, which is not helped by the fact that Michael is somehow always present whenever Adam puts his foot in his mouth socially. On more than one occasion, he’s thankful that almost no one has actually been to his homeland, allowing Adam to blame an astonishing number of fuck ups on cultural differences.
Michael and Adam’s early one on one interaction are intensely awkward. Adam will forget to wear gloves, and then Michael will comment that Adam’s hands are oddly devoid of callouses for someone who’d practically been raised with a sword in his hand, leaving Adam to scramble for some flimsy excuse about hand cream. Adam will inquisitively ask questions about what sort of illness would be severe enough to leave someone bedridden for a decade but not kill them in that time (Kevin frantically motioning over Michael’s shoulder to convey that that is NOT the right way to fish for details on such a sensitive subject), and Michael will struggle to find an excuse around the quietly bubbling panic, because he hasn’t had to try to explain anything about his father since that first year, and he is not a particularly gifted liar.
And then there’s Raphael.
Unlike Michael, Raphael is suspicious of “Dean” right from the start, pulling Michael aside to point out things that don’t seem quite right according to what their informants have told them about Dean Winchester.
“Doesn’t he look a bit young?”
“Some people look younger than they are, Raphael.”
“I was told Dean Winchester had dark hair.”
“Dark blond is dark.”
“Aren’t his eyes supposed to be green?”
“They’re obviously blue.”
“That’s exactly my point.”
The forty days come and go with Adam and Kevin nervously waiting for some sort of sign from home. Roughly two weeks later, a messenger arrives with unexpected news for Michael’s court: the Campbells have officially broken ties with the Winchesters in a violent bid for power that has left the kingdom at war with itself.
According to Kevin, the civil war has probably slowed things down a bit, if it’s as bad as the rumors say. . .
Adam and Kevin are stranded.
“Don’t worry though—I know Dean, and he knows our necks are on the line. He’ll keep out of sight until they manage to get us out of here.”
Adam finds it difficult to put faith in the virtues of a brother he’s never met, but doesn’t have it in him to question Kevin’s faith. He worries about his mother, who might have been safe in the countryside, but also might have made the trek to the capitol when it came out that Adam had been abducted for the sake of persevering the royal family's throne. He can’t be sure.
And to top it off, Michael takes to stopping by Adam’s room every couple of days to privately talk about the movements of the various factions—who has been sighted where and in what condition, where they’re rumored to be headed. Adam interprets it as an attempt to shake out inside information. One day, Adam finally tries to set him straight by saying it doesn’t matter how many ugly details Michael throws at him, Adam can’t help him because he doesn’t know anything—and is promptly put to shame when Michael looks at him in surprise and says, “You misunderstand. I assumed that you would want to know these things, because they are your family.”
Michael leaves, and Adam’s guards exchange a look. When asked, Samandriel awkwardly tells Adam that the royal family used to have a fourth child. Gabriel. He was lost during Lucifer’s insurrection. Pirates overtook his ship. They’d never received a ransom. Michael had purportedly offered a standing reward for any news of Gabriel, and put an unwise amount of resources into searching for him until it threatened the war effort.
Adam and Michael start talking more frequently from there, starting with an apology on Adam’s part. It’s tricky at first, because Michael starts out asking questions about Dean Winchester's military exploits—it is the most likely common ground between them, after all—and Adam has to hastily change the subject every time. By the two month mark, they’re talking affably, and rumors start to circulate through the courts as Michael's routine check ins on Adam start getting less formal and more frequent.
On the four month mark, rumors get even worse. Raphael finally sits Michael down and really gets into all of the things about “Dean” that don’t add up, item by item. If he’s trying to pretend he doesn’t know anything about his country’s military exploits, he’s far too convincing given his reported record, and Raphael has it on good authority that more than half of those “cultural differences” in etiquette that keep cropping up are completely unfounded—and look here, three different informants have sent lists of Dean Winchester’s physical characteristics, and the foreign prince DOES NOT MATCH.
“Michael, something is not right here.”
“Fine, I’ll talk to him about it now.”
And Michael storms off to address “Dean,” while Raphael calls after him that he should wait until morning. Because it is the middle of the night.
Adam just happens to be up reading. Michael’s familiar with the book. Michael gets distracted, and they talk all night. The sun’s coming up when Michael finally leaves, and a servant happens to see him slipping out of Adam’s room. Suggestive conjectures promptly follow, and Raphael exasperatedly admits they only have themself to blame.
And this only gets worse, because now Adam and Michael have transitioned into being friends. No more guarded conversations where one is convinced the other is about to catch them in some sort of lie. When Raphael mentions that some of the lesser nobles are starting to think Michael and Adam are courting, Michael’s fidgeting is not at all lost on them, as Michael assures them that of course that isn't the case. He and Dean are merely establishing friendly relations that will serve them well down the road politically—
“After the war is over?”
“Of course, after the war is over.”
Adam’s been stranded in the Shurley court for almost a year by the time that he finally slips into his room and sees a sealed message set out on his bed. Adam doesn’t recognize the insignia as belonging to either the Winchesters or the Campbells, but it’s signed with the initials “SW” at the bottom. It mostly contains a lot of vague phrases that make Adam wonder if he was supposed to be versed in some sort of code. As far as he’s concerned, the only important information comes at the end: Kate Milligan has been safely relocated for the duration of the civil war.
Relieved, Adam goes down to dinner, where some sort of seasonal holiday is being celebrated, and has a bit more wine than he normally would. The Shurley court is one of those stuffy courts where seating is stiffly dictated by tradition. As a foreign prince, Adam’s assigned seat is at the same table as Michael, although, according to Kevin, his placement's much further down due to his being a hostage. After a few drinks, and after most of the nobles have cleared off from the table to talk and celebrate elsewhere in the hall, Adam sees no reason not to get up and relocate down the line of chairs to sit closer to Michael. It was against the rules, but Adam was aware enough not to sit in Raphael’s empty seat, and he’d been seen with Michael so often that Anael and Samandriel barely even blinked, because Adam obviously wasn’t about to attack their prince or anything.
However, it is worth noting that while talking to Adam, Michael consumes a decent amount more wine than he would normally have as well.
Later that night, Michael’s walking Adam back to his room, and he starts to comment that Adam seems happier than usual. But even when sober, Michael would struggle to say something like that—if he’d even attempt it while sober—and Adam winds up biting his lip as he watches Michael’s mounting embarrassment, as a simple compliment inexplicably morphs—words seemingly forcing their way out as Michael tries and utterly fails to stop them—into a compliment about how Adam is beautiful—that is, he’s always beautiful—that is, Michael can’t help noticing Adam most days—that is. . .
. . .Michael is adorable. And in a moment of pure, thoughtless impulse, Adam leans in and kisses Michael right there in the corridor.
Michael is profoundly shocked, and his reaction delayed. Adam had only gone in intending to briefly press his lips against Michael’s, but as he’s pulling away Michael abruptly leans in and reseals the kiss, and Adam in turn takes that as an invitation to pull Michael closer. And a few minutes later, Raphael happens to walk down the hallway and find the two of them enthusiastically kissing against the wall.
And Raphael promptly turns around and goes back the way they came, only stopping at one point to flag down a servant and order them not to let anyone else walk down that particular corridor for at least an hour, hoping that Michael and Adam’s “friendly relations” wouldn’t result in anything too inappropriate.
As it happens, nothing particularly inappropriate happens. Nonetheless, Michael still wakes up the next morning, fully clothed in his own bed, in panic because the first thought to distinctly make its way through the ungodly pain in his head is that he’d taken liberties with a guest the night before. The heir to a foreign power at that, a peer, a hostage! Michael never thought he was capable of something so dishonorable--he’d had Dean pressed up against the wall as if they were a couple of ill-bred urchins, and how does one even go about apologizing for something like that?
(Of course, if Michael were thinking clearly, he might have remembered that Adam had actually been the one to back himself up against the wall, with Michael obligingly following along, quite malleable to whatever positioning Adam wanted so long as Adam kept kissing him.)
Michael’s behavior was beyond unacceptable. If his father hadn’t already abandoned them, he’d likely disown Michael out of pure shame. There was no telling what kind of damage he’d done to the relationship between their kingdoms. At best, Michael’s uncouth actions would be a dirty secret between them in the years to come, after Dean married, and Michael was left barely able to look Dean’s spouse in the eye. If Michael were a lesser noble, his parents might demand he married Dean outright.
And suddenly Michael sat up in bed, realizing he could marry Dean. His mind begins racing, because of course he could marry Dean! It made perfect sense. They enjoyed each other’s company, and with both of them being heir to their respective kingdoms, their union would effectively end the war. It might be complicated—especially given some of the odd customs Dean had introduced to Michael’s court—but marriages had been used to cemented alliances often enough, and the thought of marrying Dean elicited a curiously hot feeling in Michael’s stomach, remembering the way Adam had pulled him close the night before.
(Fun fact, England and France actually did try to do this with the Treaty of Troyes in 1420; it did not go as planned.)
Michael goes through the rest of his day in an uncharacteristically upbeat mindset, because now it all seems to just be a matter of organizing things, and he is good at organizing. He would have to write to either John or Mary Winchester as soon as the situation in their kingdom settled, and formally ask for Dean’s hand, and he and Dean should have a chaperone present at all times moving forward to avoid scandal--though there would be no way to sidestep scandal altogether, of course. Adam was still technically Michael’s prisoner.
More than likely, the Winchesters or Campbells would demand Michael relinquish his claim to at least half of the territories that they’d spent the last few decades fighting over, but that would be fine. It’s traditional in Michael’s country to give gifts to one’s in-laws, and Dean is a future monarch. Anything too little would be insulting, and all would be consolidated eventually when Dean and Michael assumed their respective thrones. . .
Michael is still walking around delightfully living in his own head when Raphael pulls him into an empty room to discuss what they witnessed the night before. While not the most shocking scenario they could have imagined, they were not expecting to hear their brother announce that he and Dean Winchester would be getting married.
“And how are we to explain away our father’s absence during the proceedings, Michael?”
Michael’s good mood promptly withers. Because of course Chuck would be expected to play some part in arranging his son’s wedding. Ill or not, at the very least, he would be expected to make an appearance at the wedding. To have no part in it at all would be suspicious, not to mention rude.
While Raphael intended to snap Michael back to his senses, they had not meant to shake Michael into an immediate depression. They try for a gentler tone.
“You know, Michael. Our father has been gone for over a decade. He left no formal plans, he's sent no word. By any standard, he's abdicated. Perhaps this isn’t the right time to introduce a political marriage. Perhaps we should consider your assuming the kingship, and then come back around to formalizing your relationship with Dean—”
Michael, of course, is against this. Because their father is alive, and he will come back, and it will not be to find that another one of his sons had greedily tried to usurp the throne.
Seeing Michael about to fall back onto a familiar tangent, Raphael chooses the lesser of two evils and takes the conversation back to “Dean.” They ask which out of the two of them proposed to the other.
Michael abruptly realizes that he's forgotten something.
Meanwhile, Adam starts his morning on a much happier note. His headache is less punishing than Michael’s, and while feeling the normal amount of embarrassment that comes with drinking a little too much, the feeling does not extend to kissing Michael. His mother’s safe, he’s nailing his Dean impression, and Michael apparently likes him. Things could not be better. Until Adam remembers how the latter two items on that list are linked.
Michael is not like a classmate back home, who he could chat up, get a drink with, and maybe start seeing regularly if all things went well. Michael is, in fact, the acting ruler of one of the most powerful countries in the world, which just so happens to be at war with Adam’s, and under the explicit impression that Adam is similarly situated in the world.
Adam promptly begins freaking out.
And then Michael finds him.
Adam’s in the library at the time. Michael walks in and quietly dismisses Adam’s guards, and Kevin, leaving the two of them completely alone. Adam doesn’t realize what Michael’s doing right away, though he’s spent enough time with Michael to recognize how nervous he is as he starts talking about a proposal to end the war—selling the idea, as if Michael wouldn’t be enough on his own—and then sheepishly tapering into the idea that both he and Adam seem to have feelings for one another. And if Adam were able to go back in time and strangle his tipsy past self, he would, because then he wouldn’t have to see the look on Michael’s face when he says no.
And no, Michael does not understand.
Adam can hear years of living in the public eye at work in Michael voice, as he just manages to keep his voice level in asking, “Even if it would mean peace?”
"I'm sorry, I just—I can't."
". . .I see."
Michael excuses himself, and Adam collapses onto a couch, assuring himself that no was the only right answer, and he shouldn’t feel terrible—which, of course, since Adam’s spent the last couple of months flirting with Michael while posing as someone else, is not an easy idea to buy into.
Michael and Adam avoid eye contact at dinner, even as Raphael—who has zero doubts as to who initiated what the night before—practically burns holes into Adam’s skin with the looks they shoot down the table.
And then a messenger comes in. One of the wealthiest duchies in the kingdom (the same one that had once supported Lucifer, and of course would be populated with demon characters in the narrative) has declared its independence, having formed an alliance with the Campbells, and has launched an attack not far from the castle. Several villages have already been attacked along the way. Michael accompanies the armed forces he sends out to quash the uprising.
Raphael is left behind to fortify the castle and take in the refugees, who the messenger assured them are not far behind. Unlike Michael, Raphael rarely saw combat. Officially, it was because Raphael had adamantly insisted on training as a healer rather than a warrior, which was true enough. Unofficially though, Michael and Raphael are both fully aware that if anything happened to Michael, Raphael is the only one left to inherent the crown.
Samandirel and Anael escort Adam back to his room. Samandriel assures Adam that no one thinks he had anything to do with the duchy double crossing them, but it would probably just be safer for Adam to stay out of sight until things calm down. Anael is more closed-lipped about the situation.
From his window, Adam watches the first of the villagers come trickling in, and even from his vantage point he can make out burn wounds, makeshift bandages and hastily thrown together tourniquets, and he’s in hell, because it seems the only two options in front of him are to worry about Michael, or feel absolutely sick with guilt because he’s a trained physician and he should be down there helping.
Finally he pokes his head out into the corridor and asks if someone can find Kevin for him. Anael raises an eyebrow that “Dean,” who’s usually inordinately self-suffice for a prince, is suddenly insisting that he needs to see his manservant, but Samandriel is already helpfully heading down the hall. A few minutes later, Kevin is in Adam’s room, confused, as Adam asks him to take off his clothes.
“You can have mine, just switch with me, okay?”
“Uuh. . . Don’t you think mine will be a little tight on you—”
“Less talk! Strip!”
Michael had probably errored in assigning the same two guards to watch over Adam. After a year, the three of them had gotten to be on fairly familiar terms. Adam waited until Samandriel started to get chatty, and slipped quietly out of his room when Anael was distracted—neither of them having had any reason to think Adam would try to escape, because he had been nothing but compliant since the day he arrived.
From there, he goes straight to the infirmary.
Raphael had set up tents in the courtyard to accommodate the high number of people in need of care. Adam was a year out of practice, but the atmosphere was still familiar to him, and he slipped into the chaos unnoticed. Raphael doesn’t notice him until they are well into the thick of things, and Adam’s as covered in grime and gore as anyone else present. Adam had just gone for more bandages and the two of them nearly ran into each other, and for a split second Adam thinks Raphael just might not recognize him until hand closes around his arm like a vice.
“What exactly are YOU doing here?”
Then Raphael notices the stitches Adam had just finished putting in for his latest patient—and Adam’s stitchwork is immaculate, not the clumsy, half-hazard work of a solider who picked up the mechanics of it over the course of their career.
"YOU did that?"
Adam starts to fumble out an answer, but they are interrupted because then Michael is being brought in. The fighting is over. Raphael and Adam promptly drop everything.
Michael has a concussion. He’s also been lightly stabbed. You know, just lightly. Needs stitches though. Raphael is adamant that Adam leave immediately, but Michael, who is delirious, sees Adam and absolutely refuses to let Raphael send him away. Raphael winds up patching Michael together while Adam—annoyingly, to Raphael—is sat next to him, holding Michael’s hand. Adam winds up sitting next to Michael all night, because it’s the only way to keep Michael from getting up and tearing his stitches like a feverish moron.
Initially, Raphael refuses to leave too, not trusting their brother’s suspiciously competent love interest, whose family was purportedly allied with the traitors who’d just attacked their people. There are still more wounded to tend to, however, and Raphael begrudgingly has to step away—making sure to leave orders that a guard be present in the room the entire time that Raphael is gone.
Little does Raphael know, Adam would have lowkey given a limb to have Raphael stay. Michael’s demeanor is a lot less closed off when he’s feverish and concussed. Shortly after Raphael leaves, Michael starts apologizing for proposing earlier, and Adam feels like he’s been stabbed in the gut. And as he’s lying there, looking at Adam’s hand in his, Michael starts saying things he would not normally blurt out—like that ending the war was not the main reason he wanted to marry Adam, because the last year has been the best he can remember, and it is entirely due to spending time with Adam—even if Adam was only there by obligation—and he would do anything to make Adam happy, even if they weren’t together—and Adam is just stuck there, highkey dying on the inside.
Then Michael sees his face.
"I apologize, you’ve already said you do not want to marry me, I should not have brought this up—”
Michael starts to get out of bed completely unconcerned about his stab wounds, and as Adam’s pushing him back down, the words “That’s not true!” just sort of. . .fly out.
Then Michael’s suddenly looking at Adam, and his face is suddenly very sober, and Adam can feel his own face turning red.
"That is, I. . ." Adam realizes, suddenly, that he’s fucked. Telling Michael the truth is somehow both the right and wrong thing to do at the same time, and Michael is definitely in no condition to hear it either way. “How about, if you still want to marry me when all this is over, then I’ll say yes?”
The next morning is a string of stressful events for Adam. Raphael shooed him out of Michael room at dawn, and Adam went straight back to his own. Kevin, Samandriel, and Anael had all been reprimanded for Adam’s escape, with the latter two being replaced as Adam’s guard under Raphael’s orders. His first interaction with Ishim and Maribel does not bode well for them becoming friends.
When Adam tells Kevin that he’s thinking about coming clean to Michael, Kevin panics. News from the Winchesters had dried up weeks ago, even for Michael and Raphael’s sources. Kevin argues that they’d be better off attempting to escape on their own if the charade was getting to be too much for Adam, especially after last night—but even then, they should wait awhile longer. Why take any chances right now? And Adam doesn’t know how to go about explaining the why. . .
And it gets taken out of his hands anyway, when they step out of the room and find that it’s somehow leaked that Adam and Michael—who had completely misunderstood what Adam meant by “when all this is over”—are engaged.
Kevin doesn’t get another moment alone with Adam to discuss how stupidly dangerous this whole situation is, and Adam, no matter how hard he tries—can’t seem to get a moment alone with his fiancé to try to explain that the situation is not what he thinks it is. Everyone had vastly underestimated how far the rumors about Michael and Adam secretly courting had gone, and Adam can barely take three steps without a noble or courtier or someone pulling him aside to offer their congratulations, and as Adam gets closer to Michael’s chambers, there’s Raphael, circling like a shark and Adam does not want to make his confession to Raphael before he sees Michael.
Come dinner time, Adam finds that his seat had been reassigned. He now sits directly to Michael’s left. He keeps trying to convince Michael to step out into the hall with him for a second, while Raphael, seated in their normal place to Michael’s right, continuously circumvents him, firmly believing that Adam has done more than enough in private.
Then there’s a scream. A servant comes running out into the dining hall, carrying a bloody knife. They run up to Michael—up until the guards step forward to stop her, but she’s not attacking. Instead she hands over the knife and says that she found in the corridor outside the king’s chambers. She had been worried, so she broke protocol and went in. The king’s bed was drenched in blood.
Adam looks over and feels a chill when he recognizes the same knife that had been included in the murder kit he found in his room on day one.
If Raphael had looked up, Adam had no doubt that Raphael would have read something in his face, but they didn’t get the chance to. Michael and Raphael are busy staring at each, the only ones in the room who know beyond any doubt that the implication could not be true, because there had not been anyone in that bed to assassinate in over ten years. Neither of them is given the chance to try to spin the knife’s implications in any direction, however. While the court is still reeling in shocked silence, a guard walks in—completely oblivious—and announces that a messenger has arrived with urgent news.
Adam looks up, and finds he has room to panic more, when he sees Anna Milton walk in, a serving maid in the Winchester court, and as she drops a curtsey to Michael, she identifies herself as one of Raphael’s spies. She had held her place in the Winchester court for as long as she could, but when her real identity had been uncovered she’d had no choice but to flee, and she’s come with monumental news. The civil war across the channel has ended, the Campbells having been forced to seek asylum with their allies outside the kingdom, John Winchester deposed, and Dean Winchester installed on the throne in his place. She had witnessed his coronation herself the very day they identified her.
And Adam feels very cold, as if his blood had actually managed to turn into ice, which would have explained why he couldn’t seem to move, as every eye in the room immediately turns to him.
And that would be the end of part one.
#midam#adam milligan#supernatural michael#samandriel#supernatural raphael#anael#kevin tran#my thougths#i'm very tempted to throw jack in a joan-of-arc-inspired role
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Club Daemon (m)
PAIRING. merman!baekhyun x vampire!reader
↳ PLOT. You join a club of half-demons all hailing from different supernatural species — and find an unexpected love.
↳ WORDS. 27k
TAGS / WARNINGS ⚠️ eventual smut, jealousy, explicit bloodsucking sex (mutual oral, vaginal), fangs kink, pining, groping, femdom!reader, angst/action, neck fixation, rough sex, fantasy au
The room is filled with smoke, but not from any cigarettes. Somewhere around here, or so you’ve been told, must be the entrance to actual hell.
A gloomy spiral staircase headed for the core of the earth, kind of rusty and gleaming in red, fog everywhere, you get the idea. But so far… that’s none of your business. And either way.
The architecture in the part of the mansion you were invited to elegantly pools into a massive door of brass and copper. An embossed piece, amazingly sculpted — a hundred years old or more.
The center depicts a translucent emblem that appears to be strangely double-headed. Two facial profiles. One gazing east, the other, west. What exactly that’s supposed to mean: You have no idea, but you get the gist. Some kind of Greek mythology visual going on there.
Doesn’t look like hell, does it.
You approach the door with slowed steps, tug your blazer into a comfortable fit at the lower hem. Had a mint? Check. Documents? Check. Posture? Semi-check. Adjusting necessary. Back straight, firmer walk. Done. Hopefully. As long as you don’t have to take those reckless stairs down south, you’re surprisingly ready for this. And what kind of preparations can you take for this kind of encounter in the first place anyway.
Beside the door, a concierge behind a luxurious, bulky table lifts his golden-framed glasses. They’re exceptionally thin and round, making their wearer appear like a wise, yet prying owl. Mister Mark Lee, apparently, going by how Taemin described him to you.
Oh God, Taemin’s pointers saved your life finding this place. He’s been so forthcoming and took the time to explain as much as he could. The moment makes you reminisce a little. Your eyes lose focus.
Meanwhile, fully in the moment, the conscierge seems to cloud himself in the mystery of his dark green suit without any words. A man as groomed as this very Victorian penthouse. And this very borough, and this very carpet you’re standing on. Greeting you with a nod as understated as can be.
It’s not like he’s treating you like air — he simply keeps the certain reserve you’d expect from a nocturnal bird. Or so it seems. That you’d be scrutinized you already expected, but this way feels a bit uneasy in the chest. If you’re the mouse to the owl, you want to move on past that door as fast as you fucking can.
You try to continue standing straight and hand him your letter as inconspicuously as possible. Oh, that damn piece of paper that turned your life around. A little ‚good evening‘ barely leaves your throat and Mister Lee presses a button underneath the table top after gazing over the document nearly thrice. Following his insistent eyes, you leave your phone on the table altogether, and now have virtually nothing to hold onto. You opt for putting your hands in your navy blue pants pockets. If that’s any good around here, staying a little hellishly casual.
‘A very good evening indeed,‘ is what Mister Lee’s eyes seem to reply.
The door shifts open with a dull, booming sound. Very well then. You stagger inside toward what’s hopefully behind it — suddenly feeling so terribly exhausted. Hazy. You don’t know how it hit you. So many scents. Impressions. Movement. Space. Eyes. Heartbeats.
You try hard to focus on the first candle you can see around, and you do find one, and it does ground you. After their split-second delirium, your feet anchor on the carpet now, and the scenery pulls you back to breathing. Now, the bigger picture becomes a lot clearer.
There are several men settled everywhere across the room that opens before you so luxuriously. All dressed in the finest of garments and polished shoes, donning the most annoyingly impeccable haircuts on top of that. Everything about this room screams dignity, and haughtiness, and a hefty bank account.
But you can’t deny another, stronger hunch. The presence of one gentleman in particular sends a chilly feeling down your spine. You can’t tell who it is now. You just know that somebody here is very different. Dangerously so.
Between armchairs, chandeliers, blood-filled cups and side tables, you spot arrangements of night-blooming jasmine and daffodils. Large and opulent, really catching your eye with their elegant trumpet shapes.
Perhaps, and you really have no clue whether that’s a good theory, to suggest that however solid teak and mahogany this entire interior might be, there is still life and scent in it. But it’s all… so carefully curated. Too deliberate to be authentic in the very least, and that’s what is making you tense up so much. You know very well that nobody in this room, if it weren’t for this meeting, would be preoccupied with flowers. Except maybe Taemin. But he’s half-elven, so that doesn’t count. Elves love jasmine.
Meanwhile, you suspect that the cups with blood were purposely brought in to catch you off guard pretty much right away. To test your self-control, get you startled, or lord knows what. Power games in this club, you’d not be surprised. But the scent really is so overbearing. You become all light-headed. Whatever they set up for you here, it’s already working. You feel like falling asleep in the middle of the damn night.
The fumes, and the candles, and the daffodils—
„Wong Yukhei,“ a voice finally pierces through the mist inside your brain.
You perk up. It belongs to a figure seated in the deeper middle of the room. A dark-haired man, noticeably tall and baritoned, with full lips, immense shoulders. In fact, a frame to behold all tailored in matte black. Down to the pointed oxford shoes, laced up in a very brisk way as if someone pulled a corset very tight.
„Yes—?“
„Half-lycan. Club president. Have a seat.“
Now you know why he speaks first.
It’s like you’re frozen on the spot. Judging by how muscular he is underneath that very suit, especially around the upper body, you don’t want to catch a glimpse of what happens when the moon says hi. Half werewolf it is. No wonder his hands are huge like paws. You don’t have to count one and one together to know that this guy could go casual beastmode and rip the room’s door in half.
„A... alright.“
Stammering like a fool isn’t something you planned but comes out as a sheer reflex. To distract from the awkward tone, you resort to looking around. You wonder if the club is in full attendance. Because who knows, they could await some more people like you later on. There are actually quite a few empty seats to choose from. A dozen, perhaps a bit more. Each with a filled cup on a table, right to the brim, one more flavorful than the other.
Since the president didn’t gesture towards any seat in particular, you find yourself having to make an intuitive choice. Whether that’s some werewolfey ‚where does she put up her territory?‘ personality quiz or whatever… is unimportant because your nose is already telling you precisely where to sit anyway. In fact, obnoxiously so. It’s itching like crazy at most of the scents except one. You realize — at least that you can rely on. There’s that one cup you want to be close to. Ignoring it would probably torture you for the entire night so you give into it.
Taking the empty chair at the chimney fire on the right side of the room comes naturally. And: With several eye pairs resting very firmly on you. But your attention is elsewhere already. The blood in the goblet of this particular table really does smell like the most delicious thing. There’s something magically attractive about the consistency. You can feel with your whole body just how amazingly juicy and welcoming the drink is. For a strange reason, it seems like it’s almost iridescent. You’ve never seen that before. Everyone in the room has the current pleasure of watching you being smitten by a fucking drink.
There’s no way they didn’t see you lick your lips like a first class pervert either.
Whatever first impression you’re giving them, it’s one that makes a part of you mentally run out the door again. Poor Taemin thought you were a promising invitee. You feel bad for disappointing him already. Slave to your instincts, how on earth are you even supposed to sit here in the finest and highest of company. Creating sexual tension over a glass of blood in a millionaire’s club or whatever.
Still, against all odds, the other part of you glady reclines in your seat, sleazy like a retired Russian oligarch on his yacht. Because that means: Smelling that heavenly scent up close. Hell, just fuck everything else. It’s the most gratifying thing you’ve come across. Did they brew you a damn magic potion or something?
You have a hard time snapping back to the conversation and realize everyone is still intently looking at you admiring your cup as if it’s a prime time television event with Zac Efron in it. Which you now force yourself to break from. Not so gladly this time. You really want to have a sip, but Yukhei’s pressing gaze demands you to make your move. You wonder why his eyes are so livid, but again realize that he probably doesn’t need the moon to be wolf-like, does he.
„So you were the one who came up with inviting me, then?“ you say, and the words come out much more bluntly. It surprises you. Since you skipped the introduction and small talk altogether, maybe your mouth thought, why not strike a direct tone. Just being in the vicinity of something so mouthwatering makes you feel on top of the world out of literal nowhere. You’re about to lose your train of thought again that Yukhei fervently shakes his head.
„It was Baekhyun’s suggestion. A terribly daring one I thought,“ he says. „Thank him that we agreed to meeting you in person. In fact, he was very adamant we’d do so.“
You look around the assembly, hoping to find clarity about whoever prompted the invitation letter. Since nobody seems to put anything forth, you quiz yourself on who of these gentlemen looks like a Baekhyun, and why nobody is reacting. Everyone’s literally sitting there like marble statues.
According to Taemin, getting an invitation to Club Daemon is not only something that excludes the general public, but also merely a fleeting ‚rumor‘. Not even a neighborhood legend if it came down to it. Because on more official papers, this guild does not exist. Whoever wanted to invite you was indeed taking a notable risk — to the president’s nuisance, on top of that.
Oh yeah. Now you’re at the edge of your seat.
„Eh. I’m afraid Baekhyun cannot meet you in this particular setting,“ Yukhei breaks into a lop-sided smirk. You’re shocked he’d pull a dismissive face like that. So openly, like he simply doesn’t give one damn all of a sudden. Strangely enough, it still doesn’t take away from just how nobly he’s dressed. It’s seriously messing with your head. Or is it the goblet?
„So, this setting, um—“
You look like Yukhei just spoke in a different language now. Stifled laughter among the guild members. At least they’re reacting now. That’s progress. But you’re even more confused and stuff your hands back into your pockets.
„See. Carpets are typically not Baekhyun’s favored grounds. He’s half-merman,“ Yukhei continues, very much composed in his seat now just as before. And it finally registers.
Oh man.
You can’t spot some giant water tank in this room or anything of that kind. There’s no way he could just casually hang out here. Of course he can’t greet you in the club. Sweet Jesus. You have too much blood and flower scent around you.
„But not to worry. You’ll get to meet your sweet benefactor,“ Yukhei leans back, the smirk growing even wider. „Baekhyun can speak to you in the club bathroom from time to time. If he’s not out there playing around in the bays like the kid he is.“
„I see? Uh...“
You shift back and forth in your seat. Even if your brain somehow tries to piece that information together, keeping your eyes off the chalice is so hard all over again.
You can’t lie, it’s even starting to get you hot and bothered from the toes up. Gritting your teeth is all you can do not to gasp out loud. Literally, you’re one moan away from semi-public indecency. That is, if human law applies to this room. Going by how everyone is so keen to see you react, it probably doesn’t. Your ears are telling you that pretty much everyone is holding their breath right now. Untouched orgasm at 7:30 PM? Wasn’t on your plan either. But looks like you’re headed for it. You wonder if Yukhei has been planning to set you up for this and—
„We didn’t put this up to confuse you, Y/N. Please feel free to drink. We want you to feel welcome here,“ a second, innately friendly voice addresses you now, parting the silence like a vintage knife through warm butter. It’s much softer than Yukhei’s, as if laced with honey.
Immediately, you recognize the sound. It is Taemin.
Seated to Yukhei’s far left in a flawlessly upright posture. Blond and lavish, dressed in a type of brocade tux. It seems to be a mix of burgundy and golden pipings in the fire light, but you could be wrong. With good reason and regard to most members present, the room is kept very dark. In fact, the atmosphere couldn’t be any more controlled. Nevertheless — finally reuniting with him is such a relief. You already want to thank him for averting a full-on catastrophe.
„Taemin! It’s good to see you again,“ you finally break the tension. Your tone loses all discomfort, your face brightens. Taemin gently bows in response. His poise lights up the room, and you even manage to detach from the chalice.
„The pleasure is ours. It’s great to see you again as well.“
You recall. The memory is still so vivid. He was the one who brought you the letter in the late evening. You were sitting on your balcony scrolling through your phone feed and boom. There he was, sitting — even seemingly glowing or whatever it was — in a cherry tree. With his pointy ears and an envelope for you, the exact invitation Baekhyun had suggested. As far as you can remember, he’s been elected as the Club’s vice president very recently.
Taemin explained a lot of the club’s incentives to you on the balcony. Even if you did manage to drop your phone in shock at his appearance, his open approach had you packing up your bags for the mansion in a matter of two days. Seems like the club knows who to send when they don’t want to intimidate possible recruits. If Yukhei showed up in that dark suit and the low brow, you probably would’ve turned into a bat and headed for the forest. Well, or something like that. Meanwhile, Taemin feels like you’ve been familiar for decades.
„Do drink. It is handpicked for you!“
„Thank you, Taemin,“ is all you can say, and turn back to your drink with shaky hands. Finally. And well. If Taemin offers it, it can’t be wrong. It’s far too late to ignore it anyway. You already grab the base of the chalice like you’re holding on to dear life.
The first sip is so hasty, Yukhei almost has to laugh out loud. Or is it a laugh? Taemin frowns right at him, but you’re too busy chugging to notice. Hawthorn, lotus, apples, water lily, chestnuts and vanilla. So many nuances, too little tastebuds and too little words to describe it. You’ve never tasted blood of such a quality. For free. Not one pause to breathe, it just goes down like fine liquor.
Everything in your body starts to feel completely alert. Whoever this blood belongs to, whatever is going on, this is the most thrilling feeling you’ve experienced in a while. It’s like floating inches above your seat. Your face is feeling all heated as if the chimney fire burns your cheeks. Your skin is normally pretty cold and stays that way if you think about it.
At the same time, you’re surprisingly refreshed on the inside. The blood left a minty trace on the back of your tongue. You know the men are watching you, but you can’t help but ride the high of the taste for a few seconds with your eyes closed. Once the rush is fully over, you slack in your seat. Open your eyes. And sigh out. Goddamn.
If that means to feel welcome here, then you’re more than convinced. Taemin knows how to serve an aperitif. Everything about your body feels relaxed. You bet your pupils are more blown than Yukhei’s dick in his freetime going by how he sits and watches your reaction. Manspreading is an understatement. Wolfspreading is the new thing. Literally, what on earth happened. He’s glowering at you like you just stole the keys to the glitzy silver sportscar that’s parked in front of the mansion and without a doubt must be his. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you even if the light is so dim: He’s straight-up gotten all angry to the point of gritting his teeth.
But there’s also something that tells you he’s afraid.
„Now, you probably want to know why we’re interested in you, right,“ Taemin gently continues once you put the empty chalice down and make very needed use of the napkin already placed next to the cup. Heartbeat: Speed of a bullet train arriving at a station.
„I’m starting to see why.“
Most of your exhaustion is actually… gone. Out of the blue. You’re feeling much more perceptive, much faster in every move. Maybe Edward was right with his personal brand of heroin. You just never knew because you had 5 Pounds 50 blood from TESCO’s every day until now. So that’s that.
„We didn’t find a novice in twenty years,“ Taemin says. „Nor a half-vampire for that matter.“
In passing, he ushers a slender-looking butler towards your table. Casually, as if he did it a million times already. So far, using the shade of the lighting, the butler had been blending in with a velvet curtain until now. You ask yourself if you’ve actually noticed him or not. You can’t clearly tell which is strange. But then again, going by the course of events until now, not really.
„Right,“ you reply, trying to focus on Taemin — without much success. The butler simply looks too striking. He uses a large carafe to refill what probably measures up to another quarter liter into your chalice. He looks at you with sheer intent, it’s Yukhei’s gaze times ten, almost like it’s bundled into a lazer. Instead of being excited about the refill, you find yourself trying to desperately decipher the butler’s look. It’s not wolfy this time, that’s for sure. It’s something far, far different. It’s something deeply scary.
The butler lingers. It takes five seconds too long for him to return to the curtain. There’s that feeling again. That hunch from before when you came in, so much stronger now. You’re shivering. The man looks so serious in his crisp red suit, with the pin stripes and a golden pocket watch at his lapel. His aura is so freezing cold.
„Meaning, our guild could urgently use a new addition,“ Taemin keeps on speaking, with Yukhei closely listening to how he puts his words. In the meantime, the butler stands completely still in the dark, merging with the curtain almost completely again. But you can tell his eyes are on you. His frame looks so skinny at a distance, but you can tell he’s much stronger than that. Lord knows Yukhei might not be the only one who could break the door in half.
You hold on tight to the napkin in your lap. Where you thought you’d feel elated, you’re all sober now.
„Twenty years is a long time,“ you comment, a lot more dryly this time.
Even in a club where nobody ages by human standards, this could be quite a frustration. Looking around, you begin to understand why the invitation was such an urgent matter and there are many more empty seats. All the members look very established and at home to say the very least. Nobody here appears to be a novice.
„It is,“ Taemin replies. „You can see why we wanted to talk to you.“
„Yes. I can. Thank you for considering me. It was a bit out of nowhere but, I guess there’s no way to do it differently.“
Taemin nods. Meanwhile, Yukhei remains visibly displeased in his center seat, with his expression growing much darker by the minute. You can’t tell whether he didn’t like you downing the blood so fast like a post-diet Dracula or how Taemin explained all of this to you now. You don’t have to wonder for a long time, though.
„That we expand our assembly with a half-vampire out of all possibilities— was not my idea,“ Yukhei taps his fingers onto the lion-shaped armrests of his chair. The poor fellas probably have a hard time carrying his frame, fragile as they look. Taemin, on the other hand, is as nonchalant and petite as you got to know him. Like a feather on his seat, he sways his torso ever so slightly while he listens. Then, he reaches over to pat Yukhei on the shoulder with a wide, reassuring smile.
„But you were still delighted that Baekhyun found someone, didn’t you.“
„You make it sound like a public holiday. Eh, we’re recruiting, Taemin.“
„You didn’t take too long to agree to sending the invitation at all. Back when Kai joined, you needed five months to say yes. And he’s half-lycan himself.“
„Because Jongin was a grade A stupid bastard… and still is,“ Yukhei darts an even lower gaze to a particularly shaded corner of the room. Whoever this guy Kai is, he’s sitting right there and grins his life away. Now that you set your eyes on him, you’re about to piss your fucking pants.
Even behind a particularly large array of jasmine bouquets, his silhouette looks the most powerful out of all the club members despite him not being as tall as Yukhei. Where you would’ve called the Yukhei ‚strong‘, Kai was first and foremost athletic — head to toe, with a looming frame. He’s kept silent for the entire time, but he sure listened well.
„It’s a competition, Yukhei,“ the silhouette crosses his legs, laughing. „Whoever is bastardly enough is qualified for being the club president. Sounds like I’m headed right for it. But you’re also knee-deep. Knee-deep, I’m telling you.“
Kai’s voice is much lighter than you thought it would be, but the way he speaks commands instant respect. Yukhei’s answer is a mixture of a growl and a huff, but it’s so blended together that it’s becoming hard to distinguish to your reeling ears. All you know is that the atmosphere in the room feels like a string ready to snap.
So that’s what half-lycans are all about, then.
In case they’re about to fully out-bastard each other, you take another sip to distract yourself. You hear your ears pulse even more. The blood really is delicious and takes your mind off. To your surprise and relief, Yukhei squarely turns to the assembly with a much more point-blank attitude in his movement now. Kai remains entirely ignored.
„That she’s not part of a vampire clan and we couldn’t find possible members for so long is the only reason she’s here, that’s all.“
„Enough a reason,“ Taemin smiles even wider, and puts more soothing into his phrasings. Kai’s unsettling presence doesn’t seem to faze him the very least.
„We’d be happy to have you join us if you’re inclined,“ he now addresses you again. „I’m sure our talk about the training and formal things will bore you, though. I reckon you want to be introduced to your kind first.“
„Oh…“
Your kind.
That explains a lot. A whole damn lot, to be exact. You can’t help but suck in air, but it’s less awkward than you thought. In fact, your reaction brings some life into the room. Looks like everyone has anticipated this. Yukhei’s eyes narrow. Kai seems even more alert. You feel like a lab rat new to the cage.
„You felt his presence when you stepped in, didn’t you,“ Taemin asks, his head tilting a bit to the side.
You did. The half-elf looks confirmed in his statement.
„It’s him, right,“ you direct your eyes toward the curtain, but don’t dare to lift your gaze any further.
The butler.
He’s been sticking out like a sore thumb.
You felt him since the very first moment.
„Yes,“ Taemin says.
Your suspicion, or rather, what your body told you from the beginning with every shiver and every fiber, was entirely right: With an interpretation you couldn’t grasp just then. But now you do. Your intuition didn’t lie.
„Ma’am. Pleased to meet you. Lee Taeyong,“ the butler strikes a surprisingly fluid introduction. You freeze up again. It’s very unlike his stiff positioning, stepping forth from his usual waiting place so his face is visible to you in candle light entirely at a bit of a distance. Lee Taeyong. His face… really is sharp.
„I was expelled from my clan 80 years ago,“ he disposes of his tray to speak freely now. His voice is so deep, it almost resonates in your ribcage. But then, you see something vulnerable in him. You don’t know what it is.
„Expelled?“
„You can imagine. They found out I wasn’t full vampire,“ he continues. Now you do see them. His fangs. You should’ve noticed. Damn. „That’s how I got here.“
And now you actually get what happened. Taeyong is an outcast. Looking past his teens, 150, 170 years, a tenth of Taemin’s age at the very least. And he’s half-vampire who’s been on his own pretty much: Just like you. That’s something that still didn’t sink in yet. Your kind. The butler of Club Daemon.
No wonder he took his time pouring the blood into your chalice and looked at you like you’re some kind of revelation. If the cups in the room smell only half as delicious to him as they do to you? He has admirable self-control just standing there at the carpet without losing his mind.
You shift forward on your seat — as does Yukhei, unseen to you. Almost automatically, your tone becomes more tense.
„So what happened?“
„I didn’t know my entire family history until that point. I was orphaned,“ Taeyong expands, his mimic controlled. „The clan was all I knew. I never thought I could have any demon heritage. Literally any. For decades. Until my father showed up. It was…I didn’t know he was that far up the hierarchy.“
Your jaw drops. He has to be kidding you. That can only mean one thing, there’s only one person he could refer to.
„You met Satan personally?!“
Dead silence in the room. You could hear a pin drop. In fact, an elven hair strand.
„I wish I didn’t,“ the butler finally says. With a more silent voice. You can tell he has to cave in, force himself. „He gave me this.“
Taeyong begins to slowly loosen his tie. Taemin already averts his eyes. The butler goes on to reveal a left collarbone so scarred, you can’t bear to look at it for very long yourself. The tissue has been deeply torn. The bone, presumably broken twice, healed in an odd way on top of that. You feel the pain in the very same spot within your own body.
Taeyong doesn’t have to tell you that the altercation left his arm fully paralyzed. You just know, like you could sense his presence from far away already. Meeting his father changed his life forever in the worst way possible. Now you understand why Taeyong does the butlering in the club — he can keep his left hand behind his back at all times.
„His father rejected him,“ Yukhei says, sterner than ever. His anger has faded, and an extreme seriousness begins to sink his brows.
„It’s that — Neither my clan nor demon folk really want me present,“ Taeyong’s face is even more barren of an expression now. He’s bottled it all up, it’s hard to watch. It sounds like he hasn’t spoken about this for years. „This was the only place I could go at that point. Yukhei was very helpful. I hope you can feel the comfort of being accepted here like I do.“
„I… don’t understand why Satan would disapprove of you so much, Taeyong.“
„Some demons willingly get together with vampires,“ Taemin steps in now, careful in his intonation. „But Lucifer rarely does. And, only when he’s drunk. If you ask him on a normal day, and I know this sounds harsh… he despises most of pure vampires, and half-breeds even more so. He is also Yukhei’s father.“
„He is?!“
Now you’re almost falling off your chair. That Yukhei’s father must be one of the higher-ups in the demon ranks was already a no-brainer, but this —
„Idiot cast me from hell the second he found out I can grow these longer than his silly horns,“ Yukhei points at his mouth, baring all teeth now. Even in their natural shape, they’re already razor sharp, sporting clearly prominent fangs. Even your canines, and those are hardly used and worn down, aren’t as slicing as his. When he says he can grow them that long, you fucking believe him.
„He’s… not been the most accepting dad to say the least,“ Taemin folds his hands in his lap. “And doesn’t stick up for any mistakes.”
„’Cause he’s an insecure ass,“ Yukhei makes a disgusted grimace. „Fucks around and then gets mad at what he’s done. Vampire girls he sure likes when he’s doing one of his stupid orgies. But not the consequences. He’s so easily threatened. That’s almost funny.“
You’re stiffer than ever now, glued to your seat. Not in a million years did you think there was some serious family drama going on behind those fancy suits.
„So that’s why this club exists. Satan can’t handle us,“ Kai adds, kneading his thighs. Looking much more detached, almost demure. You can tell that Taeyong’s speech hit the underbelly of everyone in the room. That even Kai looks so sunken catches you off guard. „We’re half this, half that. I mean look at us. Yukhei and I could never be part of a pure wolves pack. Never. We can’t mingle with demons either. They doubt us in any place. Shitty situation.“
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Now, the double head emblem on the embossed door makes a lot more sense. It’s not just for the aesthetics. Two faces going into opposite directions. Always torn. Always the onlooker, yearning from a distance. Unable to go in either direction. Seems like you’re in the right place. Or the wrong one: Because you bet this assembly is the very eye of the storm.
„Why did Satan not try to attack the Club yet? Isn’t there even a stairway to hell in this house?“ you ask. If Satan got pissed off by Yukhei’s or Taeyong’s abilities, several people of that kind in one place sounds pretty much the ultimate provocation. Installing a designated hell door with smoke all around even more so.
„He sure wants to,“ Kai shrugs, again, smirking in this very distinct way. He builds himself up again, and the teasing undertone in his voice strengthens back to normal. „But he’s afraid and doesn’t know about half of us. You see… Hellboy has no way of gauging what expects him. Even if he fucking hates us and wants us dead in a ditch, whatever. We know him inside out, too. Even more than he knows us. I’m sure he doesn’t want to face Taeyong now that he’s not young and weak anymore. He only exploits way down the hierarchy. He knows he can win there.“
„Makes… sense. Sort of— preying on vulnerable people.“
That an insecure hell boss is the reason this very club has formed? Seems to be a better explanation than you thought. No way so many species could stick together otherwise. How you’re in a room with two high functioning, protein-powered lycans both standing over six feet is already a miracle. Just sitting there sipping your bloody drink. There’s even an elf guy. That’s some surreal shit, even Salvador Dalí wouldn’t believe it.
„And, um. Saying that there’s a hell door is a joke Taemin pulls on every recruit,“ Taeyong scratches his head now.
„Everybody thought that Mark was vaping but he actually put up a room difuser down the hall,“ Kai adds. „He’s using essential oils in there since a couple weeks. So sometimes we do have some fog round that area. But there’s no actual stairway or anything. It’s a club tradition... a hoax.“
Your what-the-fuck expression must be hard to beat right now.
„Er. All right then. So much about hell smoke.“
A whole damn prank. Taemin is not as angelic as he looks, is he. Still part demon, after all. It really felt like there was an entrance to hell around when you arrived here. Taemin’s little giggle right now doesn’t worry you as much as Yukhei’s grunting.
„So much about a hoax,“ he growls back. „I wish we actually had that door so I could go beat his ass.“
High functioning, protein-powered lycans with daddy issues. You never thought this club had major drama. Your lips think its time for another comfort sip from your chalice. Blessed thing you have that one. Because all this… got you into something bigger than expected. Eating shrimps on a terrace with some fellow half-breeds on a cozy Sunday evening? Nothing of that kind. Rating Christopher Lee movies and signing up on vampire tinder together just for fun? Nothing of that in sight.
„So, naturally. That we can recruit you is a good feat,“ Kai continues. „You might grow very strong in training.”
“Strong in training?”
“Vampire half-breeds are always up for a surprise. You see how Taeyong is like. He can open jars even I can’t crack. With just one hand. Long as we have a balance of power with hell, the Club is quite safe. Even from my father.“
Looks like what you got yourself into is a Cold War that coincidentally involves people from Down Under — but it’s not Australians.
„Are you Satan’s son as well, Kai?“
Kai shakes his head quite firmly. Just how stark his face structure is becomes visible when Taeyong puts a candle into his vicinity, helping you gauge Kai’s outline much better, which is a bit more reassuring. The butler seems to almost read your thoughts. Your initial shiver gladly has been in decline ever since Taeyong spoke up. And you do believe he can open those jars.
„My old man? Mammon.“
„Mammon? Ugh.“
You can already guess what this is all about. You don’t need to wait a second for Kai to go on a rant.
„He’s a fucker, fucked up, a fucking twat, and fucks around even more so than Satan,“ Jongin kicks his left foot, looking mighty grumpy in the candle light. „I’m sure you know what he’s in charge of. He likes fear and chaos. To say the very least.“
You sure can imagine. Mammon governs the most powerful resource on the planet. Or rather, what people do with it, so… you already don’t have to know anything more than that.
„Talking about him is of no use,“ Yukhei intervenes. „Lost cause, wasted time. What I wanna say is. The vampire clans also don’t know much about us either,“ he now points at you. „That’s our advantage. And the reason why you will have to quit most of your regular life if you agree to be a member. Or take a serum that will make you forget about meeting us. At least, up to the point where you received the letter. I know this is quite a severe change. You can imagine how discrete we have to be. Given everything you heard.“
Yukhei looks dead serious.
Well, alright then. The case is clear. This is legitimate big business.
Club „Most Hated Half-breeds“ Daemon. Outsiders, all of them. The first rule is: You do not talk about Club Daemon. A guild for the All-Transylvanian Rejects, the crossovers from hell gone hiding, the MIB of supernatural creatures. And all just because big daddy Lucifer loves to host an infernal orgy every now and then and never heard of a condom. It’s crazy. So much information intake, it’s time to sort your thoughts.
You take a deep breath, let the blood chalice dance in your cupped palm. Sweeping the remaining liquid at its very bottom, rhythmically. Sweet lifeline. You observe how the drops run as if nothing else in the world existed. And still, you have crystal clear hearing, and your voice is again becoming firmer. It’s the effect of the drink, you can feel it. Such good stuff, really.
„It’s not that I didn’t anticipate it. Taemin said something along those lines when we met. I get why you have to be discrete,“ you hum. Even telling you about the serum before any other information would give away too much. „I’d be back to square one anyway.“
Taemin nods at you.
„We’ll always be between elves and demons, mermen and demons, vampires and demons, werewolves and demons… This club wants to protect anybody who’s caught between chairs. We go to great lengths with secrecy. I hope you will join us in our cause. It’s a new life. Lucas has great plans for us.“
‚Lucas‘ seems to be Yukhei’s club nickname. Taemin appears to confide in him a lot even if he will smooth out his blunders. Meanwhile, you remember how Taemin talked to you about his own parents on the balcony.
Apparently, none other than Beelzebub is Taemin’s father since over ten centuries. His latest habit seems to be blowing up his son’s phone with strange texts about recent hell politics. If that’s not enough, he asks about what he’s doing all day. It really is a new level of hell-icopter parenting. No wonder Taemin learned to be so appeasing in all situations.
„There are also ways of us finding out who your parents are,“ Taeyong comes to rest his right hand on your shoulder. Carefully, as if asking if it’s okay to touch you. You let him, without much care. Simply by— well, what is it, instinct?
Particularly Yukhei seems to observe this moment with much intent. Monitoring with piercing eyes, wild and deep. Trying to see through you at all cost. Surveying whether you’re a suitable club member, fair enough. But you seriously begin to wonder why he’s trying so damn hard to get into your head. He wants you on his side, sure, why’d he stare like that all the time?
Meanwhile, you don’t even know much about yourself except that you find veiny necks extremely appealing. Duh. So what’s there to analyze. You’re still kinda new to this. Blunt how Lucas is, wouldn’t he tell it to your face if he knew something you didn’t by now?
„At least, your demonic heritage,” Kai finishes the butler’s thought. “It’s not an easy discovery, however.“
Taeyong’s hand really does comfort you. But the thought of involving yourself in family affairs feels more than daunting and spoils the moment more than you want to. It’s something you could avoid until now thanks to simply not knowing much about your background. But apparently there’s no way to run from it.
„You might wanna anticipate that shit,“ Kai cracks his neck from side to side, then adjusts the sleeves of his white camisole. You’re suddenly so very well aware that he can probably see and smell your hesitation from a mile away. „Because when pa from hell shows up to see what’s going on? Preparation is better than being sorry. You gotta know who you’re dealing with. Art of war 101.“
Kai pointing at Taeyong’s battered left side reminds you all the more that lifting the veil is probably better than hoping for the best. If Satan happens to be your dad as well, you’re in huge trouble should he ever find you. Kai is right. Without allies and any knowledge of what you’re dealing with, you’d be lost.
Not to mention that Taeyong and Lucas would be your half brothers. Among probably a thousand other people. You didn’t walk through this door to get instant patchwork family. It would be a whole town of siblings now that you think about it.
If Satan has been even busier than that, which you’re sure of, that could mean an entire nation of people related to you somewhere overseas. Most of them being far from half-breeds. Why? Because Satan still preferred his own kind if he wasn’t completely hammered.
„Sounds like a nice prospect,“ you mumble, arms tightly crossed. Thousands of demons all out for your neck. Joining a notorious club network would certainly hide your identity much better than you hanging out in your small apartment in the middle of nowhere behaving like an average citizen. Glorious. You hate everything.
Which one person, as always, disagrees with.
„He makes it sound more dramatic than it is. Especially in this club you are more secure,“ Taemin softly adds, swiping a blonde strand from his right eye. „You must understand. Kai is in charge of defense. We all have our tasks.“
„Figured as much.“
„We all specialize in something we’re really suited for. Depending on our species, usually,“ Taeyong picks up Taemin’s point, and you begin to understand.
On the balcony, Taemin had even mentioned a gryffin member who worked as the designated club driver. Mister Ten as they called him, who was always out and about for a gazillion tasks. From hell mail to picking up tailored suits to doing the shopping to frequenting hospitals and various butchers for… leftovers.
Taeyong being an older vampire would require very specific blood (type A respectably, whreas you preferred O), and both Lucas and Jongin are in their wolf prime. Kai being slightly older but all the more active by the looks of it. So, just like Baekhyun, Ten seemed to be busy tending to that all the time, nowhere to be seen nor even mentioned. Which was a little… suspicious.
But the ‚everyone has a task‘ seems to be a big deal. And: Everybody is set up to take their spot very seriously, in their supposed element. Being the VP suits Taemin just like being the butler really suits Taeyong. Even Yukhei, you admit, has the exact leading, head-on personality, although mixed with a lot of tempers, that his position would require. And Kai — his body doesn’t lie. Of course he is in charge of defense.
„We would strive to find out your ideal role in the club, too,“ Taemin says. „Kai thinks about this scenario from a combat perspective, but know that cases like Taeyong’s are extreme ones. We’re used to this but you don’t have that struggle. It’s probably like different worlds at the start but don’t let it phase you.“
You exchange looks, and Taemin gives an empathetic nod. His face is really gentle. It seems trustworthy. Again, you notice how his diplomacy helps you the most right now. It’s a bit cryptic, but it’s the type of classy conduct you were expecting to find in the club. You’re damn glad he’s here. Half-elves simply have a different kind of wisdom.
„I guess,“ you look at Taeyong. „It’s an extreme case because he was part of a clan, right, and I wasn’t.“
„Smart,“ Taemin takes up a porcelain cup from his own table and guides it to his lips. It appears to be some sort of elven elixir inside of it, light blue and sparkling. Maybe that’s the source of his maturity or something. „This is exactly the reason how so much conflict was possible in the first place.“
„Right.“
„You grew up with adoptive parents after your mother’s passing. It was unfortunate but also a hidden feat of luck later on,“ Taemin balances the cup between his elegant fingers. „Nobody from hell could find you. You didn’t show many abnormal traits. Nor were you close to any clans that fostered your abilities or spread the word. But especially the former. You grew up in human ways. Your abilities weren’t worked with.“
„Which we can do for you now if you want to,“ Taeyong clears your table off the empty goblet. Instead, he puts a booklet with a red ribbon around its hard cover just there. „In a more covert way that doesn’t arouse any attention.“
„Can we really do it so secretly?“
He really did read the concern out of your face all over again.
„Yes,“ Taeyong emphasizes, then directs his gaze toward the fireplace. „For any half-demon, half-vampire, this is the place to develop herself. We want to honor both sides and work with it. As good as we can.“
„All other approaches usually fail because they’re one-sided,“ Taemin raises his tea cup indicating towards a thoroughly disgruntled Yukhei. You get what the elf wants to say by that.
Yukhei — another extreme case, perhaps the most severe. From a certain perspective, you can imagine how being antagonized by his father and wolf packs at the same time would motivate Lucas to run a club like this. And what would motivate him to act like this, anyway.
Leading Club Daemon with a velvet gloves approach? It’d be more dangerous than an iron fist mentality. Although it feels so clear to you, past the nebula of the blood cocktail, that Yukhei completely turned this aggressive style into a hyperbole. But you never know what or whom he’s doing it for.
Even at such a young age. You are convinced he really can’t be anywhere near 30 years of equivalent human age even if his height and way of dressing makes him look so settled. His overall presence on top of that: Whatever training they have to offer, it must be compelling.
At this point, you can only say to yourself — fuck everything. And lords knows the whole club is green of envy. No wonder they’re staring at you like that. You grew up so unbothered, your life is a joke compared to theirs. You were ignorant about way too many things about yourself. Looking at how everyone here embraces their origin, not developing your abilities was a full-on heresy.
„I’m actually considering it,“ you browse through the booklet, directing all attention in the room at you so keenly. Taemin sits at the edge of his seat himself. The paper feels luxurious between your fingers. As a first page, the name of who assembled the booklet’s contents is printed in bold. Mark Lee, conscierge, Club Daemon. 1999 edition.
The text details several time lines, diagrams, and fact lists about vampire-demon halfbreed history, on top of outlining a program featuring traits that a club novice could develop.
Sprouting and care of demon wings. Usage of blood banks. Defense against crosses and garlic. Cities with high vampire populations. Types of claws. The culture of hell. Demonic Spells. Battle Gowns. Impact of ‚Twilight‘ on public perception of Vampires. Symbolism. Vampiric Reflexes. Christopher Lee Movie Analysis. Avoiding Exorcism. Communication with hell hounds. On Hunting and Forests. Fist-fighting Lucifer. Evolution of Ancient Vampire Dress Codes. Fang safety. Hierarchy of hell. Nutrition. Choosing a castle. Strength development. The list is nearly 200 bullet points long.
And the majority of training, it states, is supervised by Kai. Even the lessons on Vampires and Sexual Relations. Other lessons are conducted by Taeyong and Mark, mapping the more theoretical contents.
Most of the listed training units feature things you never knew you could possibly try let alone perform. Some lessons are even more vital than you thought they would be. Things your apartment life wouldn’t have to offer in the very least. At this point, walking out the door would be a grave mistake for an entire variety of reasons and you trust your instinct. The only thing that makes you bargain is not the elephant — but the big and bulky alpha wolf in the room.
What to do about Yukhei.
Given the hardliner choice between serum or a complete new existence, it’s a question you’ll have to postpone. Interestingly enough, even though he was lycan through and through, Kai doesn’t bother you nearly as much anymore after the initial shock effect faded.
So what is it about Lucas. Even more things you’ll have to find out, then.
You’re nervous with the booklet in your hands, but you can’t complain. The two cups of blood in your system have given you more courage to look the four of them in the eyes.
„Considering what: Joining for the cause or the heritage?“ Yukhei crosses his arms at the solar plexus. His eyes are so probing on you, but you keep your head straight. You very well know that he’s testing you with this one.
„Both. And I want to know my role, too.“
The president seems to ponder for a bit. Then, he hums. More placid than before, you note. He actually seems satisfied with that answer.
„Then let’s start out,“ Kai rises from his seat alongside Yukhei, and both walk towards the red curtain in big strides. Taeyong sweeps it to the side, revealing a heavy door to another room.
Unlike the rest of the house, or at least the parts you’ve seen so far, this area has no embellished walls or ceilings. Not a spark of luxurious colors, either. No dark materials, no curtains, no dutch paintings, just concrete everywhere. It looks heavily worn, but strangely, doesn’t seem to be a relic like the fireplace room’s wooden tiles. All lighting is purely artificial. It seems part gym, part studio, and all furniture is solid metal, minimal, angular. You’d never expect such a modern, plain grey room to be anywere around the house. It smells like a damn hospital in here.
„Our training grounds,“ Kai paces around the area, clearing it and turning a knob that seems to activate floor heating. „The second safest place in the manor.“
„What’s the safest one, then?“
„We have a bunker downstairs. Flood-proof, radiation-proof.“
And Satan-proof, you don’t have to guess.
„Oh wow.“
„It’s unused so far when it comes to catastropes,“ Yukhei roughly pulls off his tux jacket and hangs it over a steel chair. Given how he stretches his arms, you figure it’s to gain some mobility. Or… to show off his huge build to impose his authority and intimidate you which surely is working. „But we do run it as a makeshift jail.“
„You’re keeping criminals in here?!“
„If you’d call Kai a criminal,“ Yukhei raises a brow.
Now you understand. The bunker is actually not meant for somebody else unless the situation calls for it.
„You’re isolating yourself during full moons.“
„You got it,“ Kai nods. „Nothing gets in, nothing gets out. Two days. I got used to the cold down there. And Yukhei locks himself in here with a pile of meat.“
„I…see.“
So that’s why the concrete walls look so damaged despite not seeming that old. If you look close enough, it’s actually not hard to imagine how there’s massive strength and claws at work here. And there must be plenty of things to desinfect afterwards. Hence the hospital smell.
But then again, Lucas is not the one who gets put in the bunker downstairs. If that one is the safest room, Kai is in all regards the strongest. Which makes sense given his task here. But something about it makes you shift from one foot to the other. If Kai has to jail himself in an atomic prison, what a fucking beast are you even dealing with?
So this is with who you’ll train with, then.
„Nothing you’ll see anything of,“ Taemin clasps his hands, bringing your mind back to the image of meat piled up all over this room. „The member’s private rooms are way up on the 3rd floor. You’ll be situated there as well, in whatever free room you choose. They are very pleasant suites. The interiors are selected Victorian antiques. It’s not like around here.”
“Thank you, Taemin. That sounds great actually.“
“And— we can always predict their transformations without failure.“
„The suites have steel doors as well,“ Kai adds on. „Easy to lock from the inside. We’ve had centuries to think all of this through.“
„Reassuring…“
„Mind you. In case you feel you get a bad craving, you’re doing the same thing Kai and I do,“ Yukhei re-ties his left shoelace, foot placed on the metal chair like a 6’0 Napoleon. „It’s not like we aren’t the only people who have to protect others from ourselves.“
You don’t like the tone he’s striking and try not to look into his direction. As if you’re some crazed vampire lord with a body count and not a bloody amateur. Whatever cravings he’s talking about, it’s hard to imagine how you’d go absolutely buckwild on a concrete wall whining for blood.
„With half-vampires, well… It can happen,“ Taeyong helps Kai pull off his jacket as well. „But lycans still have to take more prevention if I may add. Simply because their whole being transforms and they’re gaining unexpected strengths from it. Vampires hardly do. Our strength is present always. We naturally learn how to deal with it each day. Lycans have exponentional and way more erratic powers in a shorter period of time.“
Now that puts it into perspective. You exchange a thankful glance with Taeyong. The butler gives a composed smile. Yukhei sees that and huffs. Looks like someone’s been projecting.
„We’re dealing with threats from the outside, better check the ones from the inside,“ Kai says, shrugging. „We can’t change that we’re aggressive species but we can lock a door ten minutes before shit goes down. Early risk detection. That’s gonna be a lot of what you’ll learn in the programme anyways.“
„Pragmatic, I guess,“ you scratch your chin.
And he’s right. There’s nothing else the members could possibly do. Unleashing someone outside of the manor into the surrounding woods sounds like an overall bad idea. There’s a town somewhat nearby, fifteen minutes down the road. And as a matter of fact, you’ve never heard of suppression pills for half-demons on the market. Each species would need a different concoction: Tailored exactly to them in a long chemical process. Given the variety of Satan’s harem, that equals pure scientific madness.
Yukhei cracks his neck, puts the steel chair back in its spot. „We hope so. What reasons you’ll have to lock your suite for we’re about to find out.“
Three minutes later, you’re face down on the center table of the room, Yukhei pulling off your blazer. Even if you thought it would be much more unceremonious, he seems to do it rather slowly. In the meantime, Taemin rings a little silver bell. The sound is shrill and obnoxiously piercing. Seconds later, the concierge enters the room with a clipboard, introducing himself fully now.
Oh shit, you almost forgot about the owl guy.
„Mark Lee. Bookkeeper, treasure master. Half-goblin. I also do our finances.“
Joining the club officially unlocks a whole new level of information, does it.
„Bookkeeper, I see?“
„Yes, we do keep a secret chronic.“
„Oh, alright? Spanning for how long?“
„Older than this house. I’ll introduce you to the archive next week, in fact. Welcome to Club Daemon, Miss. I’ll be documenting the findings of this test.“
Then, he turns to put down your phone on another table. First you missed it, now you don’t even care. Mark’s sudden appearance has you all wondering. He’s different now. Maybe his initial silence was very much connected to the exact level of secrecy Taemin has been talking about.
Mark comes across much more high-spirited when he talks, and his face appears youthful once it comes into motion. You give a little ‚mh’ as a rather distracted reply, and he begins a lightning fast scribble on his board, using a golden pen that looks like it’s worth your apartment.
Meanwhile, Kai’s interest seems to gravitate entirely to your shoulder blades. He goes about tapping the skin and muscles surrounding the bone, even pulling down the backside of your tanktop by an inch, causing you to hold your breath. He circles the spine, presses too fingers in at either side. He’s surprisingly subdued, but still quite hands-on. It’s not hard to feel that he has experience with examinations like that. In fact, Kai has the touch of a modern day chiropractor. Whatever you should think about that you don’t know yet.
It makes sense he’s in charge of all things physical. And — that the first thing he’ll do is get your wings to grow and work, wherever they may be inside your back right now. Lord knows what kind of reflex or trigger is needed to make them sprout. Mark, in full haste, keeps on checking off boxes on his board and hums, cocks his head every now and then.
Yukhei only seems to care for another area altogether. He holds up your ponytail to take a closer look at the back of your neck. You glare at him for pulling at your hair more than you thought was needed. Taemin volunteers to take up that task instead, with Yukhei going on scanning the nape. His hands are so large and grip at your shoulders, it feels like you’re some kind of prey being handled. Taeyong has no problems reading the discomfort on your face and clears his throat, prompting Yukhei to slack off at least a little.
„It won’t be anything painful,“ Taemin says. „We’re looking for any birth marks to appear.“
„Birth marks?“
„It shows up when other demons or half-breeds are around. It usually gives away who you’re related to. The color and shape show which rank your demon parent had. Not to worry.“
You chant a little thank you, Taemin inside of yourself as a way to keep yourself together and nod.
„Yukhei and Taeyong have large black markings that resemble a lighting shape if you will,“ Mark now speaks up. „Taeyong’s is so noticeable, he always wears his hair past his shoulders. And Yukhei mostly uses a high white collar.“
How fitting. You didn’t expect anything else if you’re honest.
„So I should cover it as well, right?“
„You shouldn’t tie your hair up this way so it can be seen,“ Kai says. „You can be glad it hasn’t alerted anyone yet.“
So… that’s why Yukhei did not seem to be very happy with your ponytail. You’ve been utterly reckless without even knowing. If there was someone who didn’t think it was a tattoo, you could have caused some major issues. But before you can apologize, the president already shakes his head.
„Well. You can keep that silly hairstyle. Because there’s nothing on that neck where there should be something.“
„What?“
„Not one mark. I’ve pressed every spot, there’s nothing. The birth mark should be visible already anyways since we’re here. Our presence activates it.“
Commotion. Yukhei lets go of your neck, Taeyong begins inspecting the area very hectically instead, joined by Kai. Mark seems to be in the most confusion right now and gnaws on his lips.
„But Baekhyun clearly said she has demon descent!“ Taemin interjects. „He sees such things the best!“
„Baekhyun… Little fish only wants her here because he has an eye on her,“ Yukhei grits his teeth, looking like he’s ready to kick the steel chair into a corner. „Swims around and invites anybody he fancies long as they have some decent fangs.“
„Yukhei!“ Taeyong cuts right back.
„I knew something wasn’t right,” Lucas keeps shaking his head, now seeming even more convinced. “Not a drop of demon blood in her.“
„What are you saying!“
Taeyong’s stoic face is turning livid now. You never thought he could turn this angry.
„Stop kidding yourselves. Get the serum, Taeyong. All that jazz we’ve been doing… I’m fucking tired. I told you it wasn’t my idea to invite her.“
Yukhei curses an entire string of very canine-sounding things under his breath and Taemin tries to hold him by the shoulders. The whole room feels like it’s about to explode. Taeyong doesn’t look like he’s ready to comply in the very least. Instead, the butler starts baring his fangs with a defiant snarl. Mark shouts out loud.
„Don’t—!“
„Are you deaf? Get the serum, bloodsucker! We’re not playing around anymore!“
Yukhei begins grabbing Taeyong by the collar. His eyebrows start to become fuller, and his teeth begin to crack, growing rapidly. Taeyong, eyes turning blood-shot, fastens his left hand behind his back. He positions himself to bring forth a powerful fist about to shatter right through Yukhei’s face. Alongside Taemin, you struggle to get up and reach them in an attempt to hold them apart. But before either of them can strike out—
„Wings! Her wings!“
Exclamations from all sides. Everybody turns to Kai. Panicked, he rests his hands just inches over your kidneys. Mark screams, loud enough to make Lucas shift his attention. Meanwhile, Kai gestures everyone back to the table.
„Here! Look here, now!“
Incredulous, Yukhei lets go of Taeyong’s suit and jumps right beside Kai. He pulls up your tank top to expose the lower back completely. Mark drops his board and pen. Yukhei’s hands roam all over the area that Kai mapped out through the fabric. And yes. Now you’re feeling bumps there, too. A painful tear pools at the bottom of your spine. The adrenaline of the situation didn’t make you realize.
„They… they’re unusually low,“ Mark chops his words, eyes wide and crouching behind Yukhei as if petrified.
„That means they’re large,“ Kai puffs out. „Look at the color, too. White, grey. They’re spotted in red. I’ve never seen anything similar. As if they’re bloodied.“
You can’t believe your ears, wind on the table. „Spotted wings?! What’s that about?“
„It’ll be even more visible when they’re spread. They’ve been hiding really fucking well down there,“ Kai says. „It’s very unlike any wings of ours. And I can’t get them out, all we did was locate them now.“
Great. You have special snowflake wings.
„Really?“ you’re pretty much staring like Mark yourself now. Kai affirms.
„It’ll take a trigger event that sprouts them. I don’t know what yet. Too early to say.“
„But what does the color mean, then?“
„Our wings are all some kind of… well, auburn. Neither Satan’s nor Mammon’s children have colorings like this. Only Taemin’s are blue.“
„But that’s regular for elves,“ Taemin adds.
A churning knot of panic seems to grow inside your gut. The fact that Yukhei keeps on groping about your back is starting to tug at your nerves as the cherry on top.
„Why, why are they like that? What is this?“
„Y/N,“ Mark inhales sharply. „Please calm down, we only—“
„And why are you touching me like I’m some kind of science object? Who am I?“ you shout at Kai and Lucas, prompting Taemin to slowly pull away both their wrists from the table. In this moment, you could jump either of them.
„I’ve, I’ve only heard of one case with such wings,“ Mark begins, but ends up choking up a cry. He’s shaking all over, takes his glasses off. „If you… turn her around…“
Yukhei doesn’t have to be told twice.
„So her mark is elsewhere? Isn’t it? She’s from a different family altogether?“
Mark nods.
Lucas swiftly flips you on your back. You can’t even blink and you’re already watching the ceiling with five faces right up close above you.
„Let Taeyong do this,“ Taemin begins to urge Yukhei. „Lucas, you shouldn’t touch her now.“
That you need Taemin’s words for Lucas to hold himself back is starting to bother you. Him just grabbing you by the hips and turning you around felt more than strange. You imagine how in his mind, you’re probably a sizzling steak in a pan that he wants crispy on both sides and you don’t like it. One thing’s for sure: You’re not here for being werewolf dinner. What the hell.
What’s been on your mind even more is that Kai is not even half as annoying despite being so full of protein himself. With his chiropractor hands all over you on top of that. Is it that they’re from different families? Wouldn’t you dislike Taeyong as well then? He’s from the exact same corner of hell, after all. What exactly makes Lucas so pushy to you keeps on preoccupying everything you thought of until now as a bottom line. It’s not like you can ask him directly why he behaves like an asshole.
Three minutes pass. Lucas has stepped back from the table, watching like a hawk. A bit more composed, Mark picks up his pen and clipboard. He still can’t concentrate on writing. Taeyong gently probes each of your legs and ankles, even pulls your shoes and socks off to look at the underside of your feet. Finding nothing, he moves on to survey your wrists by smoothing over them, sending Yukhei an evil eye for grinding his teeth. Looks like someone doesn’t like others touching your soft spots.
Kai watches reactionless, seemingly deliberating. He’s in a different headspace, you can tell. Taemin helps Mark with ticking off boxes on the paper. Taeyong turns your jaw to either direction and slightly upwards to inspect the underside. He glides two fingers over your temples, and also asks you to open your mouth. He counts through your teeth with his digit and moves your upper lip to look at your fangs. Taemin emits a large ‚wow‘ when he does, and Yukhei growls out loud. Kai looks visibly interested, although he still seems to piece something together in his head.
„Extremely durable and angular,“ Taeyong says. „I’ve never seen this shape.”
„Me neither,“ Kai props up his palms on the edge of the table.
„Nobody in any clan I knew had fangs like that. Not even the elders. They’re so sharp… it must be inconvenient often,“ Taeyong requests a measuring tape from Mark who pulls it out of his left suit pocket.
„It is. Shreds every toothbrush,“ you mumble.
Taeyong glides his finger all across your gums above both canines, pressing on the root of each tooth. It seems to get a nerve inside your jaw going, and again your breath becomes shallow. He measures, dictates the unintelligble results to Mark. For some reason, you find whatever he’s doing strangely pleasant. Meanwhile, Lucas has been prowling around the table with a heavy gait. You adapt Taeyong’s method of sending him eye daggers.
„Can you put your story-telling on halt? This isn’t some vampire underground bar at Friday 12 PM,“ Yukhei grunts back at you and Taeyong. „Just say whatever the fuck this means. Shouldn’t you search for the birth mark?“
„Can’t quite tell now,“ Taeyong, sounding rather absent-minded, goes on counting through your teeth each. He’s feeling about like it’s a box of jewelry.
Beside being an obvious difference to what your mostly human high school mates sported — if you could call them that, high school makes everyone inhumane — you never thought your fangs were anything out of the norm. There weren’t many people you could compare them to in your small home town in the first place. You only saw vampires on late night TV at best.
There’s a strange tingle that spreads across your body now. It’s unusual having someone so comfortable with your teeth.
Your first and last boyfriend headed right for the door when it came to kissing. As if stung by a hornet almost, a complete change of mind. Meeting you at a festival he thought the idea of dating a vampire was „pretty sexy!“. He paraded you around at his birthday party two weeks later, you thinking he was actually proud of you rather than only himself.
You later realized that he just wanted to appear like the bravest guy in the world. To gather his guy friends complimenting him on the ‚spicy catch you got there!“. And maybe, you suspected, also making the female guests compete for him with some one-upmanship towards you. If he needed you to attach any value to himself, what value did he have himself to begin with? It still feels like a bad decision because you said yes to someone like him.
He liked the exterior, but doing the actual dating with all that it entails he had seemingly underestimated. It’s not like you expected him to use any tongue or try a blowjob. Why would you? Doing that would always be a stupid idea for both. Did he think you would purposely hurt him? Or did he just leech off everything he could get until he had to be responsible and deal with limits? Crazy vamp is what he last called you, and you never heard from him again. No texts, nothing. Does your pussy have monster teeth, too? Just go back to your cave or wherever you came from.
„If you forgive me saying so. They really are pretty,“ Taemin chimes in, then urging Mark to note something down. You take a moment to realize he means your teeth. Mark seems to have a lot of trouble snapping out of his daze at first himself, but begins to immerse himself in sketching and documenting after a while, ruffling his hair like a mad scientist. Lucas regularly gazes over his shoulder and you can tell he’s one grumpy wolf.
„We can show you how to keep them in shape and do a proper bite on someone who agrees on it. But you probably even tried something along the lines, right,“ Taeyong says, and Kai nods, probably wanting to say the same. It seems to be nothing out of the ordinary going by their expressions. But the question makes you more nervous than you actually want to.
„Honestly, I… didn’t bite anyone so far,“ you shake your head, unable to meet the eyes of anyone at the table. You hate the feeling of shame that kicks in almost by itself.
„Come on folks, that’s the first thing you smell about her,“ Yukhei boldly announces from his wandering spot around the dumbbells.
Way to go. You realize how comments like that are exactly why you’re so nervous. He’s already acting holier-than-thou again.
„I only ordered cheap blood online,“ you try to muster a shrug. Acting indifferent is at least helping you to say literally anything. „All legal but artificial.“
And disgusting, but that’s another story.
„Not hard to tell either,“ Yukhei laughs out. „Takes a blood virgin to down a whole liter of the real deal in five minutes. You were staring at that cup like you’ve gone mad. The difference to cheap blood is quite intense, isn’t it? Wanna see your face if you get a willing neck for the first time. Priceless.“
Something coils up inside of you. Eye daggers aren’t enough at this point, are they.
„Don’t get rude, you dog… Do you like spying on others or what?“
„Come on, come,“ Taemin steps in, ushers Yukhei towards the steel chair. He leans in, speaking in a low tone to the president. „Little more tact and privacy with a novice. Your dad would thoroughly enjoy this.“
„Would enjoy what?“
„Us creating discord in the club without him having to do crook a single hoof.“
You’re starting to think that ‚Vice President‘ means nothing but ‚group counsellor‘. Fine by you, but Yukhei has been rubbing you the wrong way from the very start. That he tried to attack Taeyong and called him names isn’t something you’ll just ignore. You’re growing increasingly more tense. That there doesn’t appear to be a way to take matters into your own hands is even more frustrating.
„I think… there’s a reason you’ve been living a more isolated life than most vampires,“ Kai interrupts your thought as well as the ongoing banter, trying to strike a more rational tone. He returned from his thought process, ruffling the long hair at the nape of his neck.
„Okay—?“
„See. Most half-breeds with the same father will find each other. Almost automatically. Look at Taeyong and Lucas. And all vampires will get picked up by clans, their scouts. But in your case… I think you have been purposely avoided. By both clans and demons.“
„What does that mean now?“
„My theory is, I… I suspect. Your father,“ Mark looks up from his clipboard, „is someone who hasn’t exactly been Satan’s ally.“
„My dad is — some kind of, Lucifer’s enemy?“
„Maybe. It’s likely. So, the clans would use to trust your father lot.“
„Does that make any sense?“ you frown at Mark, who hastily continues. You still don’t get why that has something to do with how you grew up completely uninvolved in clan affairs.
„His affinity for vampires was much higher on top of that, unlike Satan.“
„Get to the point!“ Lucas taps his feet on the concrete.
„I, I think that’s why you were born,” Mark carries on, pushing up his glasses. “He got together with a vampire. But he has been mingling with a lot of arch angels as of recently as well. Your father, I mean.“
„Okay? But how would you know?“
„The reasoning is this,“ Mark reads from the clipboard. It seems like he has been working on some kind of theory. „The clans don’t like the archangel’s power nor their politics. And the angels don’t really like us as a club either. Simply because we’re half-demons and have offsprings of Satan among us. I know that’s, that’s really complicated, so—“
Whoever Mark means in all of this word spill, your father is evidently a huge trainwreck already. Who’s against who now? It’s all so hard to understand.
„That all doesn’t sound very good,“ you grumble. „Are you sure your theory holds true, Mark?“
„It all sounds like he’s pulling that out of thin air,“ Lucas says. „Angels and whatnot. That’s some random bullshit.“
The conscierge looks rather overwhelmed with your question and can’t quite get a word out at first. Taemin encourages him with with a little supportive eyebrow raise.
„What I know is. By the signs your… body has. We have to keep you safe here and build your strengths at all cost. Because something’s going on,“ Mark eventually continues, earning strong approval from Kai.
Then, Mark addresses the president, much more fragile in his voice, but still secure in his judgement. „Lucas. If we give her the serum, Satan could someday get her if he musters up the courage and the helpers. Which I think he will. That won’t end well in any scenario. The club is in danger. Do you understand? Putting her out there is a bad idea and she doesn’t want it either. She wants to be a member and that’s instinctively the right thing at this point. Baekhyun happened to spot her now out of all times with good reason, I think.“
Lucas seems to ponder back and forth now. He props down on the steel chair with crossed legs, palms in the back of his neck. He looks genuinely concerned for the first time. You find yourself starting to nod along to Mark in the meantime. You like when he speaks like this.
„Thank God you’re here then, Y/N,“ Taeyong says. „It’s important you get to know more about yourself. It creates a lot of chaos otherwise. For you the very most, unfortunately. We have to admit that joining the club probably makes it worse. But we can’t know what would have happened if you never found your way here.“
„Yeah, I guess.“
„Your heritage is probably much more… controversial I would say. I hope you don’t take this to heart too much,” he continues. “We’ll still have to find out more. But it’s something else we’re not accustomed to so excuse any crudities.“
You can imagine. If your dad is yet another person having beef with Satan, and there’s even people from heaven involved, things are bound to get icky.
„So, where is my birth mark, then?“, you exhale, voice growing with an acute panic. „Do you know my father’s name or not now?
“Um...“ Mark stares at his own feet.
“Is all of this a fraud? And what can be more controversial than having Lucifer as your dad?“
Taeyong and Mark are looking at each other far too awkwardly not for you to notice. Kai crosses his arms and sighs out.
„Come on, you two are suspecting something. Tell us.“
All attention is now on Taeyong and Mark who are a puddle of sweating embarrassment.
„We have to… Well…“
You feel like a patient about to receive the most embarrassing surgery. Yukhei roams around the table murmuring and fuming.
„What is it now? What are you avoiding?“
„…pull up the shirt to see the birth symbol,“ Mark spouts in one go. „It’s located in the middle of the chest.“
So here’s the reason for all that tiptoeing and stuttering.
„And I thought you’d need my period blood to paint an ancestry sigil or something,“ you roll your eyes right at Mark who looks like he’s sinking into the ground right before you.
„That’s actually what we wanted to do next,“ Yukhei licks his fangs.
Taeyong, as if lightning struck him, immediately kicks him in the back of the knees. Everyone turns their heads. Judging by Yukhei’s awkward, reaching step forward and no signs of retaliation, Taeyong has some serious leg strength going despite being so lithe. You never thought you’d see his butlery composure begin to crumble either.
„Stop making weird jokes. You’re a dog just like she said.“
Taeyong’s tone is so cutting, Mark breathes out as if he was the one getting kicked.
„Technically not wrong.“
„You got what I wanted to say, Lucas.“
„Can’t hear you mumbling through your stupid old fangs, brother. I’m fucking proud of being a dog.“
Yukhei does an even more obnoxious werewolf-brand wink that makes even Kai cringe a little. Taemin looks like he’s slowly dying on the inside.
While they’re all continuing to throw out retorts, you cut the debate short by pulling up your tank top. Must be the courage from getting your teeth praised.
Today’s braless day, but anyways.
Mark immediately starts crouching again, and Kai’s mouth drops wide open. Taeyong collapses right on the floor. Taemin buries his face in his hands.
„It… It is as dramatic as Kai said!“
„What is it now? Can’t you guys handle some breasts or what.“
You look down on yourself. And— soon freeze as you see the large round marking right on your solar plexus. Red as blood and crudely outlined.
„What the fuck is that!“
You get goosebumps. The mark has never been visible before. Whatever work Kai did on your back pressing all sorts of points, it must have activated not only your wings, but also this particular spotting. It appears to be shaped like a medal emblem, depicting a snake and a centaur or whatever creature in bold zigzag shapes.
„The sign of King!“ Mark shudders through his tears. The temperature in the room seems to drop, and the scent of jasmine smells like rotten coal. The sign glows red and large on your chest, and not even Yukhei is looking at your breasts now.
„We’re so fucked, man!“ Kai pulls at his hair. „What are we gonna do!“
„Wait! Wait, what is this!“ you pull at Mark’s suit, urging him to speak on. He can’t properly gather himself the very least.
“I can’t say—”
“Tell me, Mark! What is this sign!“
„Be, Before Lucifer… became the prince of the underworld. It was like this.“
„Like what?“
„There was a King who ruled the 9th circle of hell. For over a million years.“
„Who is that guy? He’s my dad?“
„Yes. He never left. That was, until Satan overthrew him after being cast from heaven. The King purposely decided not to come back and expand his influence elsewhere. He’s now a free-walking spawn of hell. The guy who’s technically… actually the boss. Satan is just tolerated but The King has the actual powers. You can guess… look at how large the mark is.“
„I am the King’s daughter?“
„You are,“ Mark contines. „The daughter of King Belial.“
He can hardly pronounce the name without everybody flinching.
„He’s the original guy in charge,“ Taemin bends to help pick up Taeyong, who’s breaking out in a cold sweat. Whatever is glowing on your chest, it’s something out of the Club’s league and that thought alone drives an equal sweat on your face. Belial, you’ve only heard that name sparsely, somewhere, and you knew hell had kings, but you didn’t know it was a very real tale.
„Satan was expelled from heaven for his pride,“ Kai picks up Mark’s point, but his voice is just as shaky. „So he took on hell and drove out your father after a decade-long war. And, plenty of tricks, dark magic. The King first settled in a radical vampire clan who thought he’d be the ultimate weapon to get back at Satan. And Belial thought he’d had an army now, too. But the arch angels also took interest in the King for that same reason. They wanted to fight Satan, too.“
„Didn’t Mark mention the angels earlier? What’s going on with them?“
„They don’t like vampires, so they lured the King away from the clan to only collaborate only with them.“
„So there’s a triangle going on!“
„Belial hasn’t really retaliated or done anything since then, but we’re thinking that he’s plotting something big together with God,“ Kai continues. „Against anything demonic that they set their eyes on. Not just Satan.“
Your head is spinning. Now God’s involved in this shitshow, too. It just gets worse with every new thing you find out.
„The foe of my enemy is my friend. That type of idiot logic,“ Yukhei says. „And Belial was stupid enough to fuck a trash vampire in the process. And you… are the result that we have to deal with now.“
„As if I can help it! You shut your mouth!“ you jerk up to lash out at Yukhei, but Kai steps in between you. He’s as fast as he is strong, and an impenetrable wall you can run up against all you want. And Kai isn’t foolish, either. He grabs you by the shoulders with extended arms to keep your fangs as far away from him as possible. All Yukhei has to do is step back.
„Stupid— because that got your mom killed,“ Kai says, teeth gritted, but sounding much more sensible than his stance suggests. „You gotta understand. Satan wants to eradicate or silence anyone associated with Belial. To avoid a revenge and losing his position!“
„Then you’re right that he’s a prick…“
„My damn words,“ Yukhei shrugs behind Kai, adjusts his tie. „Now put your tits back and sign Mark’s form, you’re part of Club Daemon without further notice anyways.“
„Wha—“
„Now listen closely madam,“ Yukhei burges past Kai to build himself up above you.
„I’m not gonna say this a second time,“ he throws the blazer at you, and you awkwardly catch it. Kai steps out of the way to let Yukhei step even closer to you. The grit in his eyes is too commanding, untouchable. Mark backs off against a wall, and even Taemin gives up on stopping Lucas. Only Taeyong lingers close behind the president, surveying his every move.
„Since Satan is an illegal worm on the throne and the King prefers to sip ambrosia with God, you happen to be the only legitimate heir. The literal, official ruler of hell. And as we saw, giving you the serum would cause even more trouble. You might even get used against us or yourself. You get me? We have enough trouble and craziness with all this! Do you understand that? From now on: You’re doing exactly as I say.“
„Why are you the one to declare all that now? Yu—“
„No objections. Training starts today.“
————————
„Your wings are so nice,“ Baekhyun smiles, turning twice in his bath tub. The water gently rises, bringing some foam to the corners. If you squint a bit, it actually sparkles. You’re feeling laid-back with the scent of fragrance sticks and candles lingering in the bathroom now. Tangerine, a bit of lemon. A pocket-sized music box strums away on the sink. The melody is foreign to you, but it feels nostalgic and welcoming. There are almost a dozen shell-shaped metal soap holders all around and pointy quartz clusters frame the two mirrors on either side of the room, creating an endless loop of reflections. Yours excluded, which always seems to amuse Ten even if he’s already used to it from Taeyong by now.
A snugly dim lightbulb screwed into a large pink lamp shade right above you spreads some warmth, as does a fluffy carpet underneath you. The vapors of the room become visible as little ascending particles in the light and you wonder how hot the bath water must be. Unlike the chairs in the main hall, the one you currently sit down on cross-legged is meant for comfort solely. A pink and poufy 50s relic, put there specifically for you since it’s Friday.
„Ah…Baekhyun. I forgot you see them for the first time,“ you settle, while he turns again. You find yourself laughing at how cutely Baekhyun spins. That this is the way mermen express their excitement and adoration you learned only last week.
„And, your fangs have grown so big!“ His cheeks are bright and giddy, and his tail glistens from all the soap he tossed around in the water for almost half an hour now.
„I’m on my 50th day of training now.“
„Ooh, that’s so impressive! You’re doing great for sure!“
„I don’t know if I do. But there are some results at least. Kai made me fight Yukhei with bare hands and they came out,“ you wriggle your either wing, and make their tops touch the ceiling. Ever so slightly, you don’t want to break anything around here. Baekhyun’s little bathroom paradise is too carefully assembled to pull any stunts in here, and it’s your Friday night safe haven for long talks and even watching movies on Mark’s tablet. Now, it doesn’t take a lot of stretching to do so in the first place. At this point, wearing your wings out this way is starting to feel natural, even if the way that they shift your balance is still new. They are red-white and stringy, feathery, and spotted just like Kai had predicted.
„He was in his full form, right? You’re really brave you did this.“
„It’s a strange thing sometimes. It’s like I followed an impulse.“ you say, shrugging a little. „I guess — Blame it on instincts.“
You really hoped he would buy that dodge, but it’s a futile try.
„Hey, I mean it. I’m proud of you. Really.“
You push a few hair strands out of your eyes. He’s not going to let you off the hook until you admit it, or maybe it’s only you so fearing to say that, and making it so awkward that he notices.
You don’t want to bare yourself but also don’t want to leave him in the dark about how much his words have been building you up over the last few weeks. It’s almost been two months since you first saw Baekhyun on Mark’s video call, discussing where to relocate the club chronicles after a shelf randomly collapsed. Even a fraction of him on screen made you hold your breath.
Maybe it’s because a whole lot of your ancestors were — although surely snobby and even aristocratic — so bite-first-talk-later and rather reserved folk staying in the shadows that accepting or never doubting flattery is hard for a vampire of your generation. And maybe it’s time you muster up something else than either extreme end of that aristocracy or that terrible shyness.
„Thanks for your compliment,“ you stare at the tips of your fingers that clamp around your knees. „Matters a lot, okay.“
Baekhyun props up his head on the edge of the tub in response and looks at you all blushed. He’s playing with the blue crystal penchant around his neck, and his light purple hair falls into his face in wet little waves until he shakes it. The strands are so thin and plush, they prop up all dry again so fast, as if by magic (which it likely is). His cheeks are so glowing when they’re rosy, you notice every time you see him, but today even more so. To the point where, and you feel it in your gut, your confidence becomes so shaky all over again.
„But don’t praise me too much,“ you say. „It’s only doing what I’m supposed to do and what I’m made up of, I think. It wasn’t that hard.“
„Not as hard as defense against crosses and garlic, isn’t it?“
„Damn right, that was something ese,“ you nod. „But there are much bigger problems.“
„Is there something that preoccupies you as of lately?“
Baekhyun blinks a few times with a falling smile, and you contract in your chair.
„I feel like… It’s so hard to say.“
„I won’t hold anything against you, okay. I just hate seeing you preoccupied night til dawn. That’s not right.“
„It’s…Yukhei is treating me like some kind of tool. Just fostering me because that means a hybrid demon sits on the throne of hell. It feels too much sometimes. Like I have to dance to the beat of his track all the time, you know.“
„I’m sorry. Lucas can be really zealous. I hope he’s not demanding too much from you.“
„Or… training me like a machine. I’m really not a dog’s toy. I don’t think that’s what made my join all this. I don’t have as many problems with my heritage as with the way he takes so much control. It’s… one-sided. And I feel like I should be above that already and just do my thing anyway.“
Baekhyun’s expression sinks even more now, but there’s also something single-minded in it.
„As long as you truly wish to take that position in the 9th circle, you can do as you please,“ he says. „Look at how strong you are. I don’t even have to tell you that. As I know him, Yukhei wants to protect his kind. Including you, that’s why he trains you so hard and wants you to have influence. I know it’s an ironic thing. That you have to be his subordinate now to be his superior in the future. He sees himself as a founding father, so he coaches us. His strict ways are not for everybody.“
„I guess,“ you shrug. It doesn’t sound illogical to you. Having a half-breed in charge of hell would raise the status and safety of Club Daemon immensely, and Yukhei does behave like the club is his child. „I just don’t like it when he uses his position too much without caring about how I want to go about it. I know I’m new to this, but I still have preferences. And the training is for my sake, he’s the one who emphasizes that the most but it feels like it only serves him. Telling him that is like, like— talking against a fucking wall, I don’t know.“
„That doesn’t sound good. I think that you inspired a lot of respect in him. Lucas is afraid of many things.“
„I feel that.“
All too often. When he trains you. At dinner. During any hand-to-hand practice. And especially: On Fridays, where he is tense all day.
„That the pack order is so wired into him doesn’t help. There’s always only superior or subordinate to him, he doesn’t know anything else. The social order of vampires is less defined than that.“
The roles, the hierarchies. You often find Mark talking about it.
„I try to understand it but our ways are so different. I don’t know what it is. Yukhei should know that vampires aren’t responsive to this alpha thing the very best. And I don’t think anyone in Belial’s family for that matter.“
You’ve seriously been wondering how Lucas was donning his big bad wolf attitude. That he was intimidated behind all that jazz would come as no surprise to you. But this type of explanation would be too… simple. Too easy, for all those intricacies, the weirdness of his behavior.
„If you look at it from what he does rather than what he says. He spends a lot of time developing your skills and puts all of his energy into the project,“ Baekhyun’s gaze drops from yours now. „To be honest… I’m jealous of him.“
Now that makes you swallow hard. It implies way too much for you to process right now.
„I don’t, I don’t think he likes me,“ you vehemently shake your head. „Or at least not in a way that feels good to me. And that’s what counts. He’s making me grapple with hell hound holograms and box with Kai until dawn under his supervision. I’d rather be here and discuss with you. It’s really valuable.“
„Ah… thank you.“
Now that you’re on a roll, saying it is easier.
„I’m really glad you were the one who scouted me. I really wish I could be here more often. And, you put a lot of effort into this. You think it’s just talking but it’s important for me.“
The last part you say with a much more subdued tone, but it doesn’t lose its meaning to Baekhyun. That he looks flustered is an understatement. He wriggles his shiny tail and it actually changes its color to light pink, matching his flush.
„You know, it was more of a coincidence. I was counting shells at the beach, I saw you coming out of a pharmacy at the quay. I haven’t told you that, have I?“
Back in May. A very breezy, sunny late afternoon.
„Taemin said something along those lines, but not in detail, no.“
„You had these huge sunglasses on. And so much sun screen. And a big hat. You came out with six packs of iron supplements and cranberry juice in a transparent plastic bag. I couldn’t quite believe it.“
„You really saw it that clearly?“
„Merman eyes can see even in murky water. Kai has trained me to read people at any distance on land.“
„And how did you see that I’m part demon?“
„You had a crop top on.“
What?
„I mean. Come on. That half-vampires like crop tops is clear to me. Taeyong is wearing them all the time. But don’t other people do that as well? Isnt’t that a little—“
Baekhyun starts giggling.
„The sun was hitting your back while you were opening the lock of your bicycle. I could see the wings folded underneath your skin.“
„Oh man,“ you puff out, reclining in your seat. And you thought he was going for a reach. „Okay, I get it. I hope nobody else saw that.“
„It can easily look like some kind of tattoo,“ Baekhyun shrugs. „At least someone who has no idea about demons wouldn’t have realized anything. And it was only visible for a split second since you weren’t standing upright.“
„Okay… that’s good I guess? Just me walking around in a crop top at the bay. Nothing suspicious going on.“
You’re ready to chastize yourself for being so careless, but then again. Arguably, you don’t have eyes on the back of your head. And on top of that, it took someone as trained as Baekhyun to discover your sleeping wings showing in a matter of one blink or two.
„It’s likely that your wings only started growing this very year. I really need you to realize. This didn’t happen in twenty years. I was never as fascinated in my entire life, I—“
And by saying that, Baekhyun’s pupils become heart-shaped, and pretty much everything else about him turns bright red. The hair, the tail, the lips.
Oh.
Looks like you’re starting to understand why Baekhyun didn’t just casually mention you to Yukhei to send out an invitation, bar half-breeds being a rare occurance and highly sought for by the club.
„I called Taemin with my shell phone right away so he could inform the club,“ Baekhyun stutters on. „I’m sorry we’ve been observing you that way. Many half-breeds don’t know that they are.“
„You didn’t do it to hurt me,“ you shake your head, gather yourself, and take Baekhyun’s hands in yours. They’re so pretty and slippery. „You don’t have to apologize. It’s been a lucky coincidence.“
He saw you in the right moment and it decided everything.
„I’d not be here without you, that was very needed,“ you add. „Lost and found, you know. I gotta be the one to say thank you.“
Baekhyun firmly squeezes your hands and looks you deeply in the eyes, even more so than before.
„We’re the ones who have to say that,“ he says. „We didn’t have many good prospects before you. Maybe we can have a better chance being half-breeds in the future. Don’t think of yourself as Yukhei’s chess piece. That takes away all your importance. I think he’s trying to tell you that, too.“
„Maybe. But just know that if he’s so invested in me the way you say, I couldn’t reciprocate it.“
You look down, retreat your hands. Baekhyun reaches out of the tub to cup your chin upward very gently.
„This whole werewolf-vampire feud thing,“ he starts in a low tone. „You don’t have to buy into it. It’s not good for our club’s unity.“
You cast down your eyes. „I know.“
„If we fall apart, that makes us very vulnerable to the outside. It’s important that you stick together, and… he really likes you.“
„Baekhyun—“
„You have an easier time with Kai, right. If you approach Yukhei the same way, that… could be beneficial to your bonding.“
„Bonding?“
You don’t like where this is going. All of your alarm bells are going off right now. There’s cold sweat starting to stick to your shirt at the back of your spine.
„It’s kind of an unspoken codex,“ Baekhyun sounds much more understated now, his eyes become droopy. „If there is a female half-demon with claims to the 9th circle, a mate from the guild may accompany her. But it has to be someone from the upper rank.“
„What!“
„Yukhei is the highest in our hierarchy... He might become your consort. He said to me he’d be ready to do it.“
„Yukhei as my mate? How do I know nothing about that!“
The shock in your voice makes Baekhyun rolls up in the bathtub and his tail turns into a lifeless green. You’ve never seen him so small.
„Because… because he can’t say he likes you.“
„I beg your pardon?“
„It’s all bound to happen because of his status, and yours, and— As I said, it’s an unspoken law. It doesn’t really matter if he confesses or not.“
„Are you kidding me now?“ you jump off your chair. Your wings knock over a ceramic vase in the bathroom cupboard right above the sink. It comes down splintering. „Why on earth does Yukhei push me around like some political… genetics… preservation tool!“
„It, it is not the intention—“
„I don’t want to mate with Yukhei! Not because he’s the president, not because I need some fitting husband apparently, not because he spends a lot of time with me, not because of his money or because he cares a lot about preserving half-breeds, and especially not just because he likes me.“
„You— You don’t?“
Baekhyun’s eyes are wider than when Mark first saw your spotted wings, well-knowing he was dealing with a more delicate subject of the chronicles. But this was something that would turn the annals of the club upside down entirely.
„We’re not compatible. Not in the least,“ you frown. „Did you assume I did?“
„Of, of course! I mean in your position, who else would come to your mind? It’s such a given from both of your sides, I didn’t… even think about it. Please, I didn’t want to offend you!“
You settle on your chair again, fold in your wings. Cross your legs, lean back. An overbearing feeling of depletion makes your whole body ache.
„You know. That’s the thing with tradition. Nobody thinks about what they actually want. They just follow a program to satisfy some stupid custom. To soothe their ego, their morals, I don’t know what. But that leads them in the opposite of being satisfied. Because it’s against their real wishes. Doing away with quite a few traditions without causing much damage would be entirely possible, wouldn’t it.“
„I think traditions do serve someone,“ Baekhyun shrugs. „Many people.“
„In this case, only one person. Hint: tall lycan man who wants to fuck me. And take me as a wife which I didn’t even know until now. And how would I if he’s yelling at me about putting away my tits as if I’m some chunk of trash.“
Baekhyun stutters, decoiling not one inch from his position.
„Didn’t he do that in front of others?“
„Yeah, but why are you asking?“
You can’t help but put some sharpness into that reply. All that mating monkey business is reeking of bullshit.
„Lycans are, well you know it. Really possessive. He wants you for himself, he… he’s affected by your body. Everyone can see that. So, everyone automatically thought he’d just, sooner or later make a move on you, you know. You’ll be exclusive to him.“
„You really think that Yukhei is territorial over my fucking tits.“
„On the outside he was acting grumpy that it was a half-vampire coming to us out of all races. But he sent out Taemin with the club invitation letter in a matter of a day. The fastest he ever wanted to get someone to join was when I scouted Ten as our chauffeur. Ten had all the qualifications and he’s half-harpy, they get on with lycans very well, but Yukhei was deliberating for two weeks.“
You shake your head.
„He sent it out because the club direly needs extra manpower, a new element, whatever, that’s why. He literally said so.“
„Yukhei ordered to send out the invitation only when I told him that you’re a good-looking… woman.“
You’re gasping for air. Can this get any worse? This has got to be a bad joke. It sounds like Yukhei literally wants to own you.
„Is he— that desperate?“
„He’d not mate with any full-lycan or half-human half-lycan, or humans altogether,“ Baekhyun shakes his head. „And how could he, he’s the president and protector of the only demon half-breeds club there is. Anything else would be out of character.“
„So me being in need of a mate because of all this heir thing… serves him well and he’s already planned all of it and treats it as a given in the club. All behind my back.“
You could rip out all your hair at this point. You curse him. This dirty, sneaky, cunning wolf guy.
„From his perspective, it makes sense. Nobody else in his shoes would do it differently. He didn’t mate at all yet. We respect that he will take that only chance because he has the last say, you saw that. If a lycan runs a club, we go by lycan ways.“
All you can do is plant your face on the edge of the bath tub and puff out a deflated noise.
„So I’m the only fuckmeat in sight. To get rid off his virginity.“
Oh God, no. This has got to be a terrible dream, even the club’s chronicles pre-1689 aren’t as tragic.
„Yukhei’s instincts are going crazy since he reached maturity. Kai already mated earlier in his life and takes Beta status. I guess that’s why you get along a little better. But with Yukhei… he’s so depraved, he’s even ready to mate with a half-vampire.“
„I saw how hostile he can get with Taeyong…“
It still pains you. That Yukhei would go at him with full fangs and claws even if Taeyong is so severely marred was a punch in the gut. You don’t doubt Taeyong’s strength, and you saw he was ready to defend himself properly and resolutely. But it showed a lot of true colors and you thought about it for many nights.
„Exactly. That he said he’d be your consort tells you how much he needs somebody. He’s even ready to bury the rivalry and also contests anybody of your race. Taeyong is competition to him.“
„Jealous possessive alpha looking for a trophy,“ you bury your face deeper in the enamel of the tub edge. „Baekhyun. I fucking swear. You’re giving me even more reasons not to get with him. He’s even dragging Taeyong into all of this.“ Taeyong, who made you feel so at home and comfortable with being half-vampire. Who was very open with you and had exactly the integrity and dedication and utter class a club member needed to have. A confident, quiet strength and rolemodelship that you could always look up to.
„So talk about unity,“ you grit on. „And I’m only tolerated to Yukhei. If I’d be a guy, he would’ve sent me an invitation after like 5 years, wouldn’t he? Yukhei cares a lot less about halfbreeds than he pretends. How would I get with this guy if he’s such a mess. Never ever.“
„You actually wouldn’t?“
„Come on! If that’s not clear at this point. No degree of Yukhei wanting me means I want him. Man, what the—! He’s planning my life as if it’s his factory. He’s making chaos out of everything.“
Hell, Yukhei must be more than insecure if he reached that level of entitlement. And you only get to hear it from Baekhyun? He’s not just insecure, but also a coward. Just how much he’s living in his own bubble is hard to fathom.
„But, it’d be an honor for you to be with the president. Is there a reason you don’t like him back?“
„Baekhyun. I don’t give a fuck about his arranged marriage thing. He has no respect. I want someone else.“
„I mean, I… You’re free to choose from the assembly. You’re the Queen of Hell. You can do whatever you want.“
„Apparently not.“
You cock not one, but two brows right at him. Baekhyun seems entirely confused. It’s so strange to you how he doesn’t seem to catch on in the very least. Yukhei really must have threatened the other club members. Nor does he seem to take your role seriously in the very least.
„Is there someone you want to mate with, then?“
„First time someone ever asked.“
You straighten your posture and tap your fingers on your knees. Admittedly, you’ve probably picked that one up from Kai.
„The guild accepts any of your wishes. It’s just a recommendation or a tradition that—“
„Yeah yeah. A dumbass expectation. Disguised as some… guideline. And everyone’s parroting it just because Yukhei is the boss. I don’t like that, okay. I’m not on board with his personal agenda. Because it’s shitty. Full stop. I’ll shove his bonding schtick up his ass until it comes out of his ears.“
„Ah, I, I see. I get it now.“
„Understand, Baekhyun. Rules have to be adapted to the benefit of those they concern. Are we agreeing on that?“
„That’s only logical!“
„So you get that I have someone in mind that I want to have a consort. That person is not Lucas. You see that the benefit would apply here, that, you know, I mate with that other person instead.“
„Sure! Do you need any help with selecting somebody? Wouldn’t Kai be a perfect match? You’re both so strong! Or Taeyong. You have great chemistry! Mark is very impressed by you, too! Haven’t you seen how shy he is?“
You want to sink into the ground on the spot. It just goes on and on. Man, you need a 500-year coffin nap with extra dust and spider webs and no garlic in the radius of ten kilometers.
„Baekhyun, you, you are… God damn…“
You can’t say it. You can’t.
„Always glad to help,“ a bright smile lights up his face once again. His tail turns back to a very familiar turquoise.
And just when he decoils himself to his full size—
It happens.
„Ah! What was that!“
Baekhyun begins to jerk up and winds. You panic. The surface of the bath water colors with red almost right away. He grabs his tail in pain. You dive either hand into the tub to pull up his tail.
„It’s a splinter! It fell inside the tub!“
„From the vase?!“
„Yes, it’s, it’s…“
„Are you okay Y/N? You look different!“
He seems more shocked about that than the fact that he just got pierced.
„It’s…stuck here. I’ll pull this— out and… and. Very carefully, and…“
Your hands work on their own. There’s nothing in your mind that has to direct them. The piece of ceramic is easy to remove from his scales, nor is the cut too severe at all. It’s not even two fingers long. But he’s bleeding. He’s bleeding. It’s unbearable. You mindlessly cast the splinter into the sink and look at your hands, and the water, and his tail.
„Are you really okay? It really doesn’t hurt a lot!“
„Baekhyun,“ you slide forward from your seat and linger at the edge of the tub, facing him. „I can’t take this shit anymore. Please.“
„Oh my god. Your eyes are going red! Should I call for Taeyong? You’re looking really sick!“
„Don’t you understand. How, how are you not seeing it,“ you clutch at the bath curtain, dizzied, and it’s like you’re seeing double. Baekhyun tries to keep you upright in his arms that wrap tightly around you. But your head has lost all its stability, tipping way forward. You’re face-to-face, forehead-to-forehead with him now, a frantic, salivating mess. Your lips feel so swollen and pulsing, it’s hard to keep them pressed together at all.
„I’m… I’m not sick. I’m not. Hush— Listen to me now, Baekhyun. I don’t want anyone else’s blood. You’re the one I wanna mate with. I want yours. And not just a little bit of it.“
Open mouths. You gape at him, he stares right back. You’re already expecting him to call for Kai to drag you into the serum room. So much about Club Daemon.
To your surprise, he doesn’t. Instead, he begins to blink like he just heard the most incredulous news, pulling away from the embrace. He looks at you in earnesty.
„Why didn’t you just say that right away?“
Baekhyun turns the brightest shade of pink all over yet. „I never thought you’d like me back this way.“
„Really?“
„Of course…“
„God,“ you laugh, „oh God.“
„And who said you can’t drink all you want from me? That’s literally what I was gonna offer—“
You are already shoulder deep leaning into the water with your arms grabbing hold of his tail. Some of the water even gets into your nose and it’s terribly soapy from Baekyun’s shampoo, but saturated with enough blood to knock a tidal wave of adrenaline right through your system.
This is the freshest and warmest you’ve ever had it. It’s feeling like a shark in the water. The lithe red clouds wavering through the tub loosely clinging to your face and lips makes you go weak in the legs. It tastes sweet like actual candy. And it’s so, so… familiar. Being surrounded by all that cherry pink water is better than a coffin nap and no garlic pizza combined. This is way too good. You can be glad your air is running out and the wound begins to close behind scales getting back into order.
„Wow! You can hold your breath for a long time,“ Baekhyun gasps when you surface.
„I didn’t,“ you cough, and take two minutes to gather yourself. But not exactly because of that much water getting inside of you. Rather, the blood is showing its very effect already. „The wound should be fine, um,“ is all you can say, but Baekhyun only smiles in reply.
„Oh? You don’t look full in the very least.“ he swipes his hands over his wet neck and pats it. „Try it here!“
Oh please no, not the patting and the slapping. It brings all the best veins out, oh fucking no. But he continues to do just that. At this rate—
„Can’t guarantee I’m not getting really horny.“
„Huh? If you’re not I’d be worried. Didn’t you say you want to mate with me?“
„Well… yes.“
„I’m just really honored, I need a little moment.“
„You don’t have a problem with me just… vandalizing your neck?“
„Isn’t that what it’s for? It doesn’t suck itself.“
Baekhyun, with the most innocent little expression, continues just as before kneading into the sides of his neck. His long… tan, glistening piece of art neck. You probably look like a starving wet poodle preying for a bone, and then there’s him in the tub, sparkling like a water god with his beautiful cherry hair and droopy brown eyes.
With every smack on the side of his neck, your pants squarely decide to get a little more soaked. Maybe because it sounds like you’re already fucking. Maybe because his neck is bursting with everything a girl needs. It doesn’t suck itself, huh. And your canines are in best shape because you floss them twice a day just like Taeyong said. Uh oh.
„I’m so sorry I… I think I’ll tear you up.“ Why does it have to be so long and throbbing. His smell is turning your brain inside out and back again. „God Baekhyun, you’re tormenting me.“
„Hey, not fair! That’s your job,“ he’s pouting again, and probably begins to realize he’s been doing more prep than most porn stars nowadays because the kneading stops. Without much further ado, Baekhyun squarely beckons you to climb into the tub.
„Are you really ready—“
„Don’t worry, Taemin is great at cleaning the tiles. He actually loves doing that.“
„I want to make this enjoyable to you, Baekhyun, so…“
„I don’t know, you don’t have to please me or anything,“ he shakes his head. „That you like me is already overwhelming enough.“
„A bite is serious business. I still want you to enjoy it like I do.“
„If you want that. Just, just do it harder,“ Baekhyun wriggles himself up, pinker than ever. „If we’re doing it unprotected… I want this properly.“
Finished off with a shy smile. This guy is making you go times more nuts than the first raw blood you had in that chalice. You start to understand what Mark really meant by recently mentioning how Baekhyun’s parents gave him „A certain inclination“. A well nymph and Asmodeus, demon of lust, combining? That could not possibly create anything less than somebody so enticing.
„Baekhyun, always tell me if I should stop, I, I try to rein myself in, okay. You’re too delicious…“
„My veins stop swelling, just bite already,“ he sways his tail, keeps on rubbing into in throat again with his flat palm. „Just don’t worry. You’d have a hard time draining me. You saw my body just heals itself fast.“
„Yeah. Merman thing. Mark said that.“
„You can also fuck me if you want to.“
„Baekhyun, you really don’t have to offer yourself just because my body is going crazy.“
„But I’d really enjoy it. How aroused are you?“
„In all honesty… Bram Stoker novels level horny.“
„I’m not gonna leave you like that.“
And something in his tone tells you that Baekhyun has it all figured out.
As much as your wobbly legs permit it, you get into the tub more or less elegantly. You already want to apologize for mounting him that way, but Baekhyun squarely sits you down on his crotch with his hands on your waist. That his wrist and knuckle veins have gotten the word does not go unmissed by your tunnel vision. All those pulsing underarm serpentines… leading your gaze upwards, and more, and more. Up, up, until you cannot rip your gaze from his puffy little throat. Baekhyun lets out a content little hum and lifts his chin. You really get the full damn view.
„Sorry teeth, I’ll devirginize you. No more blood oranges,“ you babble to yourself, and you can tell your brain just switched off all inhibition. You never thought you’d be slurring your words about what types of emergency fleshlights you use, all in a bath tub with a merman. „About time I pop my cherry boy.“
„Exactly right,“ Baekhyun proudly huffs, and leans back. With his Adam’s apple bulging out his throat even more, you lose all trains of thought and just grab him by either side of his head. You sink your teeth in as far as the power in your jaw can drive them, and going by how his pulse is beating inside your ears, you drilled them in pretty damn hard. Oh fuck. Beginner’s mistake. A huge gush comes out to spritz against the back of your own throat, and you almost pass out from the incredibleness of the taste.
It’s too much at once. You’re hanging by a mere thread. All your body does is follow whatever its instinct dictates. Grabbing Baekhyun by his hair is all you can keep track of, shoving your teeth right up his throat again all dissipates in a blur because your entire mouth is dripping full with him. He’s moaning so loud right now, his neck vibrates along.
„Yes…!“
You don’t want to be a weakling. And, get yourself to swallow for the first time — but then. regret it right away. His blood melting down your esophagus is like a liquid marriage proposal on the Eiffel tower. You don’t know where the noise comes from, but the birds are singing. Once it’s down your stomach and pooling there, you’re already high as fuck. Grinding erraticly all over Baekhyun’s more than steel hard boner that parts upward through the scales of his crotch. He’s really giving you all the best things.
You bury your whole face in his neck. No more neatness. All you do is let your tongue loose and drag your mouth all over his face, and his chin, and his lips, and his jaw, and all of his neck. Every angle, every side, every nook and cranny until your mouth is bursting full with all of his sweet-tasting sweat and pinkish blood that has thinned out with the water dripping from his gills. If it wasn’t diluted, you’d probably forget your own name.
You melt your teeth into his pulsing skin. A vibrant image opens before your inner eye. You’re getting visions of the beach and you as seen through Baekhyun’s eyes. And then— Baekhyun from an outside perspective, swirling through the water the moment after he saw you walk at the quay for the first time. Singing so beautifully, your ears are ringing and you never want to hear anything else.
His blood is all over your lips and chest, your training print shirt. You admit you’re tempted not to ever wash that thing even if Taemin politely asks you to or Yukhei calls it crazy. You want it to be as sullied as a white shirt can possibly get. What must be your eleventh bite in a row gives you a particularly big shot right to the tongue. It’s so much, Baekhyun’s blood starts running out of your nose, only to get back onto your lips that suck up all that candy right away all over again.
Being all drenched in Baekhyun’s nicely bloodied wonder shampoo water and your own horny leaking shit at the same time, your pussy is double wet and way, way too ready to get stuffed up with all that merman dick. You never thought that he would be any larger than your thumb, but you’re mistaken.
„No wonder Yukhei has been keeping you outside the club so often.“
„You can have it as often as you want, eight times a day, I’ll manage to be there, don’t worry.“
It’s so stiff and glides into you so easily, you groan out loud and loose a whole portion of blood from all that open mouth. It sprinkles over Baekhyun’s little nose and lips, and makes his way down to his belly. The scent is turning your brain upside down. You find yourself hooked on his nose, sucking and licking it with your pussy reaching the meaty base of what’s all the way inside you now. All the precum he’s leaking into you is taking its time, but comes down to cream you up when he starts moving. Really smudgy thrusts from below, several big fat fillings from above that you can have your fun gargling on the back of your tongue. Baekhyun knows what makes you happy. You squeeze every bit your can get out of his throat and plunge your teeth inside of him far enough to feel his vocal chords vibrating during his moans. You don’t wanna damage those. So you decide to switch things around a little and slip off his cock. It’s grown a lot inside of you and peaks out the water still brimming. The whole tub gets a taste of soapy foam mixed with Baekhyuns semen and lord knows how much delicious red cherry juice that you’ve been milking out of him. Oh god, you feel like cumming. You turn Baekhyun underneath you so the back of his head comes to face you, and you bow down to violently bury and seesaw your teeth in his nape like a lion shaking a little prey animal. His little helpless moans are so melodic and out of this world, you do notice you forgot your own name. Well, he can tell you afterwards so, no problem. For now, you made him completely yours. You don’t miss how Baekhyun didn’t reach down to get himself a hand but has grown even harder.
Going by how much he’s been begging you to do your carnage on him, and you’re tempted to ask him, you know for a fact Baekhyun would probably fanboy like mad and ooze his cum all over the place if you broke his neck altogether, but you decide that’s probably way too edgy for now. And too much, hello. His body can heal anything in a matter of five minutes, doesn’t mean you have to challenge it with a clean snap during the first time. That’s a schtick for the later fucks, maybe a birthday. Just when you find that what you’re doing with his little nape all between your jaws is way too sick for a novice, a string of tiny „please, please, please!“ noises spurs you to sink in deeper and even work your tongue just like it’s a french kiss.
„Oh woah, ah! Do it, do it more!“ His pleasure screames and demands for roughing him up leave no second for a pause. At this point, you’re just digging in and he’s all the way close to going off like a bomb. Taemin doesn’t just have to clean the tiles alone, there’s gonna be sperm everywhere. Probably even as far as the door, and that one’s all opposite to the bath tub and four meters away.
Now that you’re so snugly penetrating with your fangs pierced in around his spine from either side, you notice how Baekhyun has successfully corrupted you into a sadistic freak. The more blood seeps into your mouth, the lewder your slurping gets, and the tub water has long gone from pink to very crimson like it’s the type of apples Taeyong loves to test his fangs on pretty much daily just for practice. You swallow again, and this time, a wave of Baekhyun’s sexual fantasies crashes down on you.
Looks like since you’re closer to his central nervous system, you’re tapping his entire stream of thoughts. However this works, it’s giving your pussy severe missing-cock-disease. Drinking and swallowing repeatedly makes the visions even more vivid. The images are so vast and animated, you can hardly keep up. His face, buried between your thighs. His tongue, dragged all over your legs. You riding his tail like it’s thighs. A big gush of semen between your breasts. You slobbering blood all over his cock and making good use of its protruding veins. Images of you cumming and screaming his name. Baekhyun screaming even louder because he can. Baekhyun sucking his fingers and you licking his wrists clean. Baekhyun cumming inside you and everything bursting right out because holy shit, that’s a lot.
You want his dick and properly connect to his lips for the first time now, so you ease your teeth out of his nape, much to his protesting. You cave in and give him another bite, and make it brutal so he begins squeaking and gasping that he’ll cum. Now that you have him there, you can venture a second try and turn him around. Because you’re afraid of blowing up the second you sit on his cock again, so you start with his lips.
Kissing Baekhyun is all you expected and even more than that. Even if you’re so saturated with his blood that your taste buds are on fire, you can still clearly taste how sweet he is. Everything about him is so delicious and he’s so cute. All that pleasant taste and the gentleness of his tongue has you riding up and down his cock in less than a minute. Busy like a New York high rise elevator. Gentleman he is, Baekhyun retorting with his own thrusts feels nothing short of whipped cream consistency fucked into you with a headspin-inducing mega girth. Where he mustered that one from, only Neptune knows.
Since the entire water is ripe with his blood, that can’t go without pumping some of it into you. You’ve never found yourself horny all over your period even if the scent does make you tingle, but now, somebody else’s blood squeezed into you? Your legs feel like doing somersaults. You’re probably asking for too much, but you hope your walls soak it all up, his pre-cum included. Hell, if all that mixture shoots up in your womb, you’d probably be on a permanent high for one week. Who would have thought. This giggly little merman has turned you mad and lawless.
It doesn’t take for very long that Baekhyun’s tongue has been wrecking a havoc of pleasure between your fangs and has started bleeding after deliberately giving himself a small little prick with them, you want to get bursting full with his cum now, you can’t wait any longer. You lost your breath so it takes a few seconds until you can verbalize it, but when you do, Baekhyun doesn’t take even half a minute to have you pussy bubbling with a particularly scented load of deliciously fertile semen.
It’s such a huge amount, you have to hold onto his upper arms. Baekhyun breathes like he’s curently swimming a marathon, and has his eyes closed to concentrate on giving you the best to the best. What makes you moan is just how wildly his cock is throbbing and pumping against your cervix, that girl has never seen an avalanche of white stuff like this, she’s so lucky she gets to see this up close. Baekhyun has sunken so deep into his orgasm, he’s starting to mumble some kinds of magic words. Which seem to be directed at keeping his dick hard and keeping the cum flowing just like that.
„Shit, I want that in my mouth,“ you promptly decide, and pull your all-loaded pussy off, causing leakage all over the water. You turn to prop his cock between your lips, and Baekhyun makes it no secret that he won’t hesitate sucking his creampie right out of you. So while you’re busy sliding your tongue up and down all that veiny shaft, Baekhyun glides his nose and chin between your slippery pussy lips. The stimulation of his tongue has you twitching and stuffing his cock even deeper until your mouth is nothing but filled except a few remaining spots.
His cum is all fizzy in your mouth, it’s the most addictive thing. You decide that all that vanilla ice cream needs a juicy strawberry sauce to top it off. You do exactly what Baekhyun’s steamy fantasies displayed to you. That you lock your horny fangs deep inside of Baekhyun’s cock and squeeze him out by the liter for sperm and cherry milk is already having your eye lids flutter because you’re that stoned. Not to mention that you will smell like candy to the lycans and certainly also Taeyong for at least a whole month.
You’re the farmer, he’s the maple tree, and Baekhyun’s blood the runny, sugary syrup. The mix with his semen tastes like you bite right into a large fresh lemon and melon popsicle. and swallowing comes easy once you got into the rhythm of his continuous little bursts. Your stomach is telling you oh babe, I adore you for this. It’s stuffing full a) with the one thing is needs and b) the other thing it loves. All while Baekhyun’s bloody tongue is having a party on your clit and you can’t help but heavily rock your pussy all slapping up against his face.
The friction is unbearable, it makes you sopping wet on top of already being shot up with a ton of cream. Which now faithfully drops right into Baekhyun’s awaiting mouth and his nostrils along the way. He just snorts it up, gathers it on his tongue, then swallows it down like it’s a mild cold. The noise is so disgusting, it’s so sexy. You didn’t know mermen were this hardcore. You bet your fangs Yukhei can’t do that.
Baekhyun keeps on slurping on your creampie like it’s a desert pudding, and puckers his brazen lips to suck your clit between giving it little kisses and licks. The point where you forgot not just your name but your hometown and birth day is already passed, with Baekhyun indulging your pussy like that, you even forgot about planet earth being a thing. His petite „Aw pretty“ and „So tasty“ noises have you clenching up and wildy deepthroating whatever impossible length of his dick is still left.
It’s oozing out too much to deal with at this point, so you just let it flow into the bath water. Your mouth being so slobbery, Baekhyun’s cock pulsing in and out of it causes a wet, hollow noise. It’s strangely satisfying and dirty to hear, you just love it. The blood seeping into your mouth makes you spiral even deeper and resorting to drift off into a wonderworld again, blowing big pink cum bubbles while you’re dreaming of Baekhyun in a groom suit out of nowhere.
Swimming at the edge of a pool, he’s stroking your hair and admiring your skin that seems so completely without any veins. Cut to Baekhyun standing in the kitchen with an apron making pancakes, drizzled with what can’t possibly just normal strawberry sauce. He perfectly balances himself on his tail to stand upright, and you’re wearing a Christmas sweater signed by Christopher Lee and Bela Lugosi.
Image three, Baekhyun massaging your feet with his pretty hands while you watch Nosferatu Reloaded on television. He whispers sweet nothings but they mean everything to you. Image four, a big house with a nice water system inside, and on top of that, a really shapely coffin that smells so dusty and snugly by just looking at it, you’re enamored with no return. Oh my god, there’s a moth plague in that house, too, and the garden grows nightshade!
Swallowing the remaining semen, thick and marshmallow-y as it so savoringly is, you shift back to your senses. Shit, that was a ride. You have a hard time letting go of his cock, but he’s not sustaining it with a spell at this point. Rather, it closes back behind his scales. Probably regenerating, you sucked and performated the shit out of it. Preoccupied, Baekhyun is still busier than ever making your pussy his personal oozing face grave, he’s particularly enjoying the digging part with the tongue. You promise to unearth him once he’s zombiefied, can’t let the poor tiny merguy just drown in there.
To think that he could do all the things you saw makes you furiously thrust back and hear his face smack into you. All of the cum he pumped into you is slathered all over his mouth and makes it all the easier to get all the clit stimulation you want from his bottom lip in particular. That he catches a hang of it and moves right along doesn’t help with your arousal. Your entire lower body is so heated and bustling, any south-Texan bat cave is a joke compared to that.
You hardly catch a direct glimpse of what’s going on, but from the reflection in the tiles you can see that Baekhyun’s hair has changed its color to how it naturally grew according to Mark’s seemingly random chronicle recital on Monday. Baekhyun only ever does it when he’s really serious about something and vulnerable enough. You can tell be picked up the pace and makes sure not one lick will miss.
With that level of determination, Baekhyun is sure to earn your moans and shaky thighs after a mere minute or two. You think that because he’s part demon, his tongue is… a bit longer and pointier and stronger than the average merman’s. It’s simply how the genes tend to mix and your clit very well feels that. The way he’s driving in the tip of the tongue in rapid sequences that resemble Ten’s piano suites, you’re tipped over the edge hard enough to grab at his tail not to slip from the massive tremble that rocks you.
Your orgasm rolls your eyes back to places even ghouls could dream of, and the amount of pleasure is so strong that your hearing and vision sets out for a solid ten seconds. You just scream and moan and scream again, and Baekhyun’s face gets one massive cum shower all over again. He’s not shy to move his mouth and head around like a madman, so your cum ends up being stuck in his hair altogether. Through even more frantic sucking and kissing, he seeks to prolong your high for another fifteen seconds of blissed out grinding against his face. You drank so much blood, you
By now, your face must look so blown up with all that cum and Baekhyun marked up so relentlessly, even if his bite marks have closed by now, Kai must think you switched roles going by your scents.
„Really sorry for my big cock.“
„Your blood… does it cause random hallucinations or something of that sort, can you direct it in any way?“
„It causes prophetic visions in some cases, if you experience it clearly as an image it will come true. Did you see something?“
„Um. Lots of things. Let’s say I… liked what I saw.“
„Actually, don’t tell me. I like being surprised.“
„Doesn’t it take 50 years until the egg fertilizes?“
„47, 48 is usual. Mermen cum is really slow but it’ll get there.“
„Nice. Isn’t the firstborn always a girl?“
„Yep.“
„We’ll name her after the song that’s always on the human radio, what is it again. Janine?“
„Jolene I’m thinking. I think it was that kind of song.“
„Yeah, I like that. And in the meanwhile we have some time, do we.“
„We can just go on like that. What are you thinking?“
„Shit, shit. I’ll suck you dry, Baekhyun, you don’t even know.“
„My blood regenerates the fastest among all half-species. Shouldn’t be a problem.“
„And what will we do about Yukhei’s mating drive?“
„Don’t worry. He’ll smell it.“
You pull the bathtub plug with a heavy heart and begin washing Baekhyun down. The blood doesn’t seem to stick to him very easily, which is as unsurprising as you not getting it off your own body. Even with his whatever pricey merguy body scrub thingy thing that’s normally used to keep gills and scales in shape. Resorting to staying bloodied for the day is nothing you’ll particularly hate, though.
Ten minutes later, you find a very unsettled Yukhei standing at the window of your designated club office, not able to meet your eyes for more than a second. In that expensive black tux, and you… in your bathing robe with blood all over your hair, and just a pair of Baekhyun’s sparkling light blue and silver ‚i ♡ dolphins‘ socks he borrowed you. He can’t wear them anyway, but they were so cute that he ordered them online.
Very much naked underneath all that, and water running down your legs in drops, alongside— something that does not feel like water. You already plan to hop right back into the shower and do the rest of the cleaning. The sex is great, but vampire hygiene is a pain in the ass sometimes. The scent must be killing him. You don’t even have to sit down for the word spill to start.
„Y/N.“
„I told you I don’t like you sneaking in here.“
„After working out. And, you know my senses are always heightened after this…“
„What is it now, hellboy. Just cut to the chase.“
„Please let me talk for a minute. I came walking by in the northern corridor,“ he starts out low once again. „You talked about your wings sprouting and you were being open with him. So—“
„You listened to us!“
He keeps his lips tight, not granting any reply.
„Piece of shit, you! You’re an all-round asshole.“
The water contained in a silver jug on the office table goes right over Yukhei’s head. He doesn’t react, lets you poor it all over him stoically. You hope it’s particularly cold. Since the water is silver-infused, it stings him, but he takes it.
„I can’t switch my nose and ears off, even at such a distance. It… it just reeks, alright. I just heard what was going on without intending. The talk, the— I didn’t know what it would develop into.“
„From start to finish. Am I right?,“ you dig your nails into your palms. „And you didn’t just walk off like you fucking should. So stop blaming your ears or what topics we started out with or whatever! You talk about mating behind my back, you eavesdrop, you invade my office just like this. Do you think that’s gonna make me marry you on the spot?“
All the magical afterglow — ruined. You cast the jug into a random corner and prop down at your desk. Yukhei wipes the wet bangs out of his face and turns from the window to face you now.
„I’ll stop with all this. Okay. I don’t want to treat you like a crusade machine against my dad or just to satisfy me. I’m sorry if I’m like you said. I’m just a stupid voyeur. I really didn’t want to.“
Yeah. Of course.
„If I spied on you? You’d be kicking me out in a hearbeat,“ you cross your arms and leave them in deadlock. „And what, you’ll stop what?“
„Training you for your position and fighting dad’s army.“
„Eh.“
„I know very well that’s Kai’s job and mine.“
„No shit, Yukhei.“
„And that we should defend more and not just plan the attack. You don’t enjoy the training as much as the normal recruit. You said you’d rather be talking with Baekhyun and that you chose him as a mate.“
„You’ll change your program?“
„A lycan will respect a no. We’re determined but not a creep. And my nose works perfectly fine.“
„What?“
„I’ll be realistic, I don’t think I could satisfy you like him.“
Now that sounds very different from all he’s ever said. You turn your chair toward him and stare Yukhei down.
„I’m listening.“
„I’m not stupid, okay.“
„Inaccurate, but go on.“
„You’d… bite me once and either I bleed out if I control myself or go wolf when I don’t. That’s lose-lose.“
„So you got that all of a sudden,“ you murmur. Yukhei just keeps on talking. It’s almost a prepared monologue.
„I’m a wolf, okay. I only get it when I smell it.“
„That’s some weird shit but fair enough, Mark says that too.“
„You smell like you had almost nine liters in one go. The whole fucking mansion feels like a butchery just opened. How many times did you bite him, fifty, sixty?“
„As if I’m counting. Do you count down when you drink water? You have it easy, you’re normal when you’re not in the moonlight. I’m vampire all the time.“
„What I try to say is. I don’t boast that much regenerating ability even if I wish I had.“
„And you realize that only now.“
„I came here to be honest. I gravely underestimated Baekhyun. You bit his nape and he really enjoyed it.“
„Well thanks for the information. About my private business…“
Yukhei’s senses must be really sharp to discern all of this. He might have stood in the bathroom in person. And if he knows it, Kai does tenfold if he was anywhere near the house. His senses are time-tested and four times as trained.
„I know that doing a bite like that is a big deal in half-breed… couples.“
„You’d find that inacceptable for me to do on you, wouldn’t you.“
Silence again. You tap your feet. Yukhei ends up nodding.
„To the extrent of how you reacted when I grabbed you by the hair. We’re not much different. Trying to make someone ours. Call me possessive but you’re also territorial. You didn’t just bite his neck tonight.“
„You understand why I said we’re not compatible. then.“
Yukhei remains silent for a while after that.
„The tension between our kinds has a reason.“
„No way. Never thought of that. Totally groundbreaking news.“
„We’d probably kill each other when we fuck. Simply because of what we naturally do. We’re suited for other species. Baekhyun matches you very well with his abilities. I admit that even if it hurts my pride.“
„One man’s trash another man’s pleasure.“
„You’re not trash. You know you’re my MVP here. And Baekhyun is going to please you well himself. He’s not as selfish as I am. He’s 290 years old, he’s very experienced.“
„Your instincts are really dying for a mate, don’t they.“
„Just like you deflate to a literal zombie when you’re not drinking, I can’t go without my pack hierarchy being complete. You go stupid when you sense blood, I go stupid when my senses aren’t challenged and I have to suppress my form. It’s that easy.“
„Now tell me something I don’t know.“
You comb your fingers through your hair. It’s kind of comforting right now. Yukhei comes to sit at your desk now himself, opposite to you.
„I should have left you to your own devices when you picked your spot at the fire place already.“
„What do you mean?“
„We left you seven empty places, right.“
„So that was not a coincidence.“
„We spiked each cup with a blood probe of each member. Enough to emenate a scent, but small enough not to have you figure out which cup belongs to whom. Especially not in a room with so many people was it possible to tell that apart so it worked.“
And of course they put up flowers to further confuse you. It was all planned.
„Did you… you…“
„It was a test. I made it so that if was covert enough and fair to everyone.“
„Fair? What the hell did you do with me!“
„Find out whose blood you like the very most. It was my idea. I wanted to see if I have a chance with you or not.“
„That’s insidious.“
„You picked Baekhyun’s probe right away. And you even drank a second cup. That should’ve answered my question by that point.“
That’s why the blood in the cup was so strangely shimmery. You knew that was familiar when you slept with Baekhyun, but couldn’t connect the dots entirely because there was so much soap in the water.
„And you still kept on talking about mating with me?“
„I didn’t know about your heritage before you came to us.“
„So?“
„That gave me a second chance that I hoped you would reconsider. Because it’s tradition tha—“
You smack Yukhei right across the face with your right backhand.
„Never say that word again.“
„And you said you’re here to tell the truth anyway. It’s a shallow excuse to get with me.“
„I’m not denying that, Y/N.“
„It’s been clear to you who I like since our first words. You’re acting like you can bend me to your wishes. You tested me and knew I wasn’t into you. Why?“
„It’s like when you couldn’t take your eyes off your cup. We’re not far apart with our instincts.
„I never said that’s a lie, Yukhei.“
„You can’t expect me not to get the hots if you’re lying there on the table without your top on. And I already controlled myself. I did my best, alright.“
This man is infuriating. You wish you had more silver water to splash him with.
„Taemin was right, Taeyong should’ve done the examination. Touching me fucked with your virgin head. You’re just hunting some one-sided dream looking for some omega girl that fits into your ideology thing.“
„Well you’re right.“
„Unfortunate.“
„But at the same time at least acknowledge that I realized we wouldn’t fit together. I changed my mind about that prospect okay, I’m trying.“
„That you’d make the worst blood bank ever is already clear.“
„I really wouldn’t.“
„Just know that the next time you’re trying to own me or do your wolf stalking shit. Or try to mess with Baekhyun. I’ll be skinning your hairy back with Taeyong’s 17th-century silver dagger and use you as a mud boots doormat.“
„I’ll control my senses as good as I can.“
„Leave away the last part of the sentence.“
„I’ll control my senses.“
„Ma’am.“
„I’ll control my senses, Ma’am.“
„You’re one desperate little shit. Club president and you need to be trained like a rowdy dog. How old are you again?“
„Last time I checked, 21.“
„Not surprised Kai still calls you a puppy and Ten thinks you’re a giant baby.“
„I say, found your own club if you can’t handle it.“
„That would put it back to square one. The only problem is you being horny for the wrong person, the rest are only consequences.“
„As if I can control what my nose tells me. And you know that the very best.“
„You’re still mad your own test backfired,“ you remember the cups put up in the fireplace room.
„Is it wrong wishing you would’ve chosen my blood?“
„Yes, after I clearly made my pick.“
„Then that’s that.“
„That’s that.“
„So what are we gonna do?“
„You cut your wolfy shit, that’s all. It’s creepy. And don’t annoy Taeyong either. You got me? Just stay in your own lane.“
„If I can.“
„Are you the president or are you not?“
„Fair enough.“
Taeyong rings a bell, and you gather for some tea under the backyard Wisteria. Shrimps are served, and Taeyong even bothered to prepare a minestrone that’s wonderfully dark red. Lucas savagely chews on raw chicken wings, Ten relaxes in a hammock, Mark writes, Taemin knits, and Baekhyun plays in the nearby pool, watching and listening and chatting, upbeat as always.
Kai arrives the very last in his post-jog showering robe, but greets you the very loudest in front of everyone.
„Hey, hey! I heard you waterboarded yourself to get some soapy red juice!“
Some confusion at his word choice, some giggles.
„So that’s been making the roun—“
„Amazing! That’s my girl,“ Kai burst out and pats you on the back so passionately, it feels like a freight train hits you.
„O—okay?“
„That greed is all I ever wanted to bring out in training! Where was that determination when we peeled garlic? I tried every method in the book to get you to that point!“
Awkward silence among the members. Then, some shrugs. Mark seems to be the only one who doesn’t get it. Figures, half-goblins don’t have hyper-developed senses. Thank God, his innocent soul. The club chronicles would be filled with details of you doing all sorts of things in a bath tub because Mark never leaves out anything unless he’s currently dropping a pen out of nervousness. Which doesn’t happen anymore.
„Kai, um… I still don’t think you understand what really motivates a vampire,“ Taeyong scratches his head, with you well-aware that he can smell merman blood across the entire house without even trying himself.
„So, what is it, then?“ Kai puffs himself up, arms crossed. „I’m the fucking trainer of how many species again? I should know best!“
It doesn’t take two seconds for a heated discussion to break out. The Venerable Pyramid of Essential Vampire Needs — which author defined it the most accurately? Which peer-reviewed vampire journals are trustworthy? Which interviewed populace is the most reflective of all vampirekind? Serbia, Romania, Turkey, Russia, Greece, overseas?
Everybody wants to weigh in: Taeyong and Mark at the forefront, with Kai and Lucas saying the exact opposite of what they expertly claim just because. Ten starts trolling them with made-up facts („a vampire’s #1 need is premium cellar dust!“), Taemin unsuccessfully tries to calm everybody down with a theory that considers all perspectives, and the tea gets colder and colder.
In the meantime, you squat down at the pool and muse over Baekhyun’s hair in the wind. You twirl it and tell him he’s gorgeous. He whispers just how good you smell. Why debate about essential vampire needs when it’s all right before your eyes.
Thinking about it. It was all about which relationship was mutual. That’s what the decision had been all about, and yes, it had been crystal clear from the very start. Lucas desperately wanted you, but it was one-sided. Mark was flustered by you, but didn’t make a move, nor did you have feelings for him. Taeyong you loved, but his age and mentor status were incompatible with turning it into a relationship. You understood him, but it was motivated by an admiration — there was a pedestal, which again made it one-sided. Ten was a mystery, it wasn’t clear on either part, and leaving each other guessing was no good sign instead of going about your ways. Kai was a compelling man, but had his piece of cake and aspired to different things. Baekhyun — he loves you and you love him.
A powerful engine revvs in the nearby garage, then, the motor stops. Onto the Wisteria jogs Ten with a huge bag of groceries.
„Hello, hello!“
Everybody greets him and picks their favorite snack from his bag. He really thought of everything. Yukhei and Jongin get a huge pile of meat from the car trunk’s cooling box. As a crowning finale, Ten presents you with the latest newpaper. The front page splayed out on the Wisteria’s main table causes everyone to steer and gasp.
SHOCKING!
SATAN’S HEAVENLY RETURN
Ruling hell too stressful after all?
„Rumor has it the King finally got bored of chatting with God and kicked out Satan from the 9th circle without much further ado.“
„No way!“ you toss and turn the newspaper. Five whopping pages are filled with cover story details.
„So dear horned guy went back to where he came from,“ Ten shrugs, then points at the snapshots all over the newspaper. „I mean look at it. This is all just a big ole jealousy drama.“
Who knows God talked some sense into Lucifer.
„I know that dad was getting envious about the King associating with the arch angels,“ Yukhei says. You start to get why. Satan had the privileges of being an archangel for who knows how long until he reached puberty and rebelled or whatever.
„Doesn’t that mean dad has the throne back now?“ you ask.
„Yup,“ Ten turns to page three, where @king_beli’s instagram feed is filled with selfies of the 9th circle, posing with Sisyphus, and throwing peace signs in a sulphurous-looking throne hall. 666,000 likes after just 6 hours. If that’s not a good sign.
You keep on debating how exactly Satan got kicked out so effortlessly until Taeyong rolls in a little swirly metal wagon after the tea is finished. On top of it: An almost ancient relic that Alexander Graham Bell probably built himself.
„Sir, the Hell Telephone might be a good idea right now.“
„Your turn Y/N,“ Yukhei declines, ushering Taeyong to bring the wagon to your side of the table. You dial and wait roughly half a minute.
„Sorry, I was partying,“ a voice creaks through the old speaker. „How can I help? Isn’t this Club Daemon speaking? Is it who I think it is?“
„Hey dad.“
„It is!“
„Hello. You’ve heard about me, then.“
„Yup yup! That you’re Yukhei’s personal dog trainer is what Kai wrote me on Whatsapp! Did you really pour silver water on him? That’s funny as hell!“
„Oh God.“
„I say that a lot these days as well, man. Sorry, we have some music blasting here by the way!“
„Hey dad, what actually happened with God and Satan?“
„Ah, long ass story. Satan chickened out recently, hell is one hell of a job you know. New job opportunity for me. But you gotta take it easy and have fun.“
„I can tell.“
A spitfire verse of what sounds like Megan Thee Stallion is currently pumping through the telephone. Ten grooves right along in his hammock, smiling way too ominously. You can tell he knows every bar by heart. He’s been listening to the human radio way too much during his errants.
„I’m only stressed because the furniture is terrible.“
„The what?“
„In the years of my absence, horned geezer got a little too creative with the design, you know. I’m more of a romantic.“
„So… you just moved in there just because.“
„You could say that, yeah!“
Confused shrugging among the club members. Belial keeps on babbling and blasting something else at the other end of the line. It must be K-Pop or something like that.
„Talk about romance, I hear you have a mate?“
„Yeah dad, it’s Baekhyun.“
„Oh him? I’ve heard of that guy! The merman!“
„He’s really sweet.“
„Make many cute demon babies alright. That would be so adorable. I’m all ready to cuddle wuddle them. I actually came up with baby name suggestions.“
„Dad!“
„You know, 80 years ago. I met your mom…“
„Dad, I don’t wanna hear your love stories. Rather tell me what happened to mom. What did Satan do?“
„Listen here. That was a stupid rumor Azazel was spreading because he’s a gossip man!“ Belial rages at the other end of the line. „Your mom was 8906, alright. She died of diabetes. You got adopted by humans she found trustworthy and planned to be your caretakers.“
„That was all planned?!“
„You were… a bit too young for hell back then. She wanted to leave you the choice later on in life whether you want to be in a clan or come here, or neither of that. I know being a half-breed isn’t easy. And you should get into all these worlds by your own devices. I learned about all of this only much later you see. I’ve been hanging out in the clouds for some time. It’s pretty chill there. But now I’m happy to hear from you.“
„Yeah.“
„If you got anything you need paid? Rent, marriage, car, diapers? Just ask me when needed.“
„I dunno…“
Looks like your dad is a rather forward thinker indeed. Well, least he thought it through.
„If you need it spontaneously and I’m not available, just force Yukhei to give you some pocket money.“
„I don’t have to force him. He already does that without me even asking.“
„That’s what I call a great president!“
„He literally thinks my bank account is free real estate where he can dump anything. I can’t even manage all that,“ you roll your eyes, with Yukhei grinning his most satisfied smile at the end of the table.
On the more unsatisfied end, Kai is about to jump up and sock him in the chest. You know damn well his salary hasn’t been increasing since Yukhei discovered his unsolicited Sugar Daddy hobby. You can buy Baekhyun some extra cotton candy now, but you’ll have to figure out a way to transfer some pocket money to Kai yourself. Now really, he’s been training the shit out of you.
„Even better! Cheers to him. He’s too straight for his own good sometimes though. Anyways. You can drop by as soon as we cleaned up here. We’ll open the circles of hell completely next month.“
„Okay, that’s good news!“
„Once you get pregnant, make sure you two find a flaming cave apartment on the east side! You really wanna raise your kids here. Hellraiser, get it?“
„The east side is too hot for Baekhyun. His tub water would just evaporate, man.“
„Oh! Then the west side. A nice penthouse with panoramic views on a volcano. You’ll get a baking Pompeii face mask every time you’re stepping out! There’s so much ash raining down, your kid can do snow angels on every pavement. Don’t worry, I’ll pay for everything.“
In the meantime, the party guests are blasting Caramelldansen in the background and louds clapping numbs your ears.
„Dad…. you realize you have a lot of clown energy, right? Do you even hear me?“
„Talk about clowns, actually,“ the king carries on completely unbothered. „Mammon really wants to see Kai too, I think he’s missing him. He’s calmed down a little after the Corona crisis messed with his bank account.“
Commotion at the table. Kai almost chokes on his cold tea.
„That’s unexpected… I thought he’d never do that.“
„Yeah aw, I know,“ your father says. „Satan has spread a lot of fake news while he was here, you see.“
„We’re glad to be welcome then? That sounds like a good idea to meet up some time. Maybe for a day or two.“
„Strike! I convinced you!“
„Yeah, you did…“
„Few of you saw hell back in the day, right?“
„Yukhei, Kai, I dunno who else, Ten I’m guessing.“
Nods from the hammock. Wouldn’t be strange if Ten was a regular hell driver.
„Oh Ten! Greet Ten from me. His instagram is what I aspire to. Ten is the coolest. Even the ghouls I know don’t have that kind of fashion sense.“
„Will do.“
„And— about aspirations. We’ll be talking about your heir thing when the time is right you see, I know you want to know about all of this.“
You perk up, as do the club members.
„It’s a thing for the future. I’m not hellbent or anything,“ you say, tongue in cheek.
„Hah! You’re funny. I see we’re agreeing on this. You’re very busy with Baekhyun, right. Love is priority. Hell later. This place is a lot to handle anyway.“
„…exactly.“
„I know my daughter and I didn’t even meet her yet!“
Taeyong does a little aw noise in the background and even Yukhei has to smile.
„I’ll probably tell the same stories you do and blast the same music in a couple years, I can see it coming.“
„And that’s when you’re ready for the throne. Remember—“
„Gotta keep it easy and make it fun.“
„You got it. Until then, live a tense life man, that’s also needed.“
„Dad, what the hell!“
„I actually mean it. Leave it to your old man to get this 9th circle popping in the meantime.“
You get the image of your father watching youtube music videos all day and trying to keep up with the latest slang words on twitter.
„Okay, crazy old man.“
„At your service!“
It almost makes you laugh how the old generation of full-breed demons is completely gone wild and the youngsters are the opposite. Well, except the half-lycans, but they’re always living on the edge anyway.
„Can I speak to Mister Lee as well? Is he around?“
„Mark or Taeyong or Taemin? We have a lot of Lees.“
„Um, the butler guy.“
„Taeyong, here it goes. See you dad!“
You pass the hellephone, Taeyong poises himself.
„Hey there, young man!“
„Not that young. 552, Sire.“
„Hilarious, you can’t even get a Styx boat license around here at that age. Anyway. Got some news for you.“
„Yes, Mister?“
„Mammon recently splurged on the latest robo fancy schmancy tech stuff from Japan for no reason. I guessed you would want to try one on.“
„Pardon— Try on what?“
„Oh, a prosthetic exo-skeleton I mean. I heard you had beef with the loopy guy. Just drop by whenever.“
„A prosthetic arm aid?“
„Well yes!“
„That’s… that’s very kind of you.“
„No problem! Is the your Professor X available to speak to as well?“
„Of course, Sire, one moment,“ Taeyong composes himself, but you can tell he’s still processing it.
Everybody is on the edge of their seat.
„Hi down there,“ Lucas takes the speaker and leans back in his seat very laxly. Compared to how defeated he looked in your office, his posture is much more unwound now.
„Hi up there, Lucas what’s good?“
„Doing mighty fine these days. You gave us a good headline.“
„Oh, you’re very welcome Mister President. There’s headlines about me?“
The King sounds genuinely surprised.
„Yeah. You’ll have to add me in Kai’s Whatsapp group or give me your number. I’ll update you on these types of things.“
„Note down 1666 2666 3666, and I have some updates for you as well.“
Mark and Taeyong instantly start scribbling the number into their vest notebooks, meanwhile Lucas swirls the tea in his cup around.
„Shoot.“
He begins drinking it.
„Mister Cerberus’ daughter graduated today. Canine sciences. Lovely girl, calls herself Circe, you know, like the evil witch. Very intelligent person. She’s looking for a job and a mate in the upper world. I told her about the Club’s situation and you know, gossipped a little. She says she’s interested in you.“
Lucas spits out the tea.
„Sorry, what?“
„Hey, do you really think you’re not a man in demand? Anybody who studies werewolves knows about you. And you have free membership spots, or is that information outdated?“
„I-Is she a half-breed?“
„Of course, do you think Mister Cerberus would date another demon? That would make no sense! Hell, wouldn’t that be beastitality or something? Is it that what you call it?“
„Uh… Bestiality I thought, Sir.“
„Anyways. I haven’t seen Cerberus with anyone else but werewolves.“
„Werewolves are the closest genetically to hell hounds, Mister President,“ Mark leans in confidentially to brief Yukhei. „It’s good conduct for them to date.“
„Oh, uh, I get it.“
„So, do you want to meet her or not?“
„We, we have free spots all the way!“
„Great then, I’ll send her up the staircase now. She’ll be there in a minute or so.“
„The stai—!”
© 2017-2021 submissive-bangtan. all rights reserved. no reposts allowed.
#baekhyun smut#baekhyun#superm#super m smut#sub!baekhyun#super m#super m x reader#superm fanfic#club daemon#female reader x super m#super m fanfics#long post#baekhyun x reader#exo#exo smut#sub!exo#sub!superm
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Had Me By Halftime
*Not my gif*
Pairing: Kevin Atwater x Reader
Requested: Yes
Prompt: Based off the song Had Me By Halftime by Morgan Wallen
Warnings: Swearing
A/N: I know this game was on a Monday but we’re gonna pretend it wasn’t. Also I know there’s different rules to cornhole, but I did the 21 or bust version for sake of the story.
You were talkin' trash, we were tossin' bags
When I caught your name at a corn hole game
You and your friends had decided to tailgate at the Chicago Bears game. You were in your last semester of college and your group had collectively decided to forego buying tickets. Not wanting nosebleed seats, but knowing your broke college student bank account would not offer many other options. The parking lot was crowded with Bears fans; scattered Minnesota Vikings fans sticking out in the crowd. It was surprisingly warm for a Chicago October. You had just finished a game of flip cup and informed your friends you were going to get food from a nearby food truck, your best friend, Madison tagging along. You hadn’t made it far from your group when you made eye contact with a handsome man. Slowly walking you heard him talking to a man about the same age as him,
“Adam come on!” He exclaimed.
“I am not playing against him, he might as well be a pro.” The brown haired man shook his head.
“Don’t take it out on me cause I’m better than you.” Another good-looking brown-haired man from the group laughed shrugging and throwing an arm around a pretty blonde girl who wasn’t even paying attention to the men, already conversing with a group of girls. The handsome dark skinned man groaned seemingly pouting. Grabbing Madison’s arm you stopped her to pull her over to the group.
“You need a couple players?” You smiled gesturing to the corn hole boards.
“Actually yeah we do.” He nodded.
“Let’s roll.” You challenged taking your place by the board and picking up the orange bean bags. Madison sighed already reading your dirty thoughts about the man as she walked to the board opposite of you and the broad muscled man took his place next to you, gathering the navy blue bags. “Let me just get you a menu cause you’re about to get served.” You joked and luckily he let out an adorable laugh.
“That’s the best you got?” He sported a wide smile causing you to instantly blush.
“Yeah...sorry I’m not the best at trash talking. My game usually speaks for itself.” You shrugged, turning to throw the bean bag on the board Madison stood by. Watching it slide right through the center. Humming he looked at you impressed, gearing up when you threw him a seductive smirk.
“Let the games begin.” He grinned.
The game was close, full of playful banter, and maybe a little flirting from you and the man you now knew was named, Kevin. Luckily you and Madison came out on top thanks to Kevin’s partner’s accidental bust over 21 taking their score back down to 13.
“Ruz, you might want to take up a math class in your spare time.” Kevin teased, knowing he only aimed for the board because of his poor math skills.
“Shut up.” He attempted to throw a bag at him, but it fell short. “I’m never playing this game again.” Adam huffed, walking away.
“Don’t hate the player, hate the game.” You shrugged, winking at him.
Said "Girl, where you sitti'g? I got an extra ticket
It's right on the 50"
“Sorry. He gets a little competitive.” Kevin smiled, “Thanks for playing though.” He leaned against the side of a truck crossing his arms. Madison stood awkwardly a couple feet away as you two flirted with each other.
“Thanks for letting us. It was nice to do something other than a drinking game for once.” You chuckled gesturing to where your group was now playing beer pong.
“Where are you guys sitting?” He asked gesturing to the stadium behind him.
“Oh we actually don’t have tickets. Just here to tailgate.” You explained and his smile got slightly bigger.
“Well I actually have an extra ticket. It’s right on the 50 if you want to join me?” He offered.
“Thanks, but I don’t want to just leave my group hanging..” You contemplated looking back at Madison who was nodding quickly mouthing the word “Go!” Sighing you turned back towards him with a smile, “you know what. What the hell why not?” You pushed the tingling of your body deeper down at his happy grin.
You had a 16 home team jersey on
Singin' every word to the fight song
Had your airplane bottles from your purse out
“Okay. I have to ask. Why are you wearing that jersey?” Kevin asked, sitting down beside you.
“Because we’re at...a Bears game?” You looked at him skeptically, causing him to laugh.
“Obviously.. I mean why O’Donnell? I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen someone actually wearing his jersey.” He explained.
“Well I do like to be an outlier,” you joked, “punters never get the credit they should. Same with kickers. They deserve more love.” You answered.
“Good to know you’re not a bandwagon fan.” He said.
“We won one super bowl 35 years ago and we just benched our newly signed QB for a rookie. I don’t think there’s any wagon for someone to hop on.” You retorted.
“You got me there.” He agreed watching you pull a few tiny bottles of alcohol out of your small bag you had strategically hidden to make it past security.
“You a fan of fireball? I hate it but it came with the pack.” You asked, turning to see an amused grin covering his face. “What?”
“How in the hell did you sneak those in here?” He inquired.
“Can’t give away all my secrets on the first date.” You shrugged, wiggling your eyebrows. He took it from your hand nudging Adam who sat on his other side. Adam took it graciously.
“Hell yeah. We’re keeping her!” He exclaimed, twisting the cap off to take the shot.
The first half of the game was rough. Only lucking out with a safety in the first quarter.
“I hope to god Trubisky starts to prove he has more than just a pretty face.” You shook your head preparing yourself for the second half. You and Kevin had talked throughout all of halftime, and you caught him staring with a wide smile more than once as you might’ve got a little too competitive throughout the first and second quarter.
“I could play better defense than his line is. Kev, get down there you know how to tackle people.”
“He does realize he’s supposed to be throwing it to his own team right?”
“Fucking 2 yards isn’t gonna get you anywhere!” Were just a few things you remember spouting off.
“This is ridiculous.” You threw up your hands when Rudolph took it into the Vikings endzone.
With 5:33 left in the 3rd quarter O’Donnell took the field for the punt, but instead to everyone’s surprise the punt is faked and #16 puts up a pass to Cunningham who runs it in for the touchdown. “Oh my god!” You jumped up and down, “No fucking way! That’s my man!” You yelled pulling Kevin in for a hug who was in utter disbelief.
“I cannot believe that just happened.” He laughed, cheering with the crowd. The fans were hyped watching Barth kick it between the posts.
“Believe it baby!
Bear down, Chicago Bears, make every play clear the way to victory;
Bear down, Chicago Bears, put up a fight with a might so fearlessly.
We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation with your T-formation.
Bear down, Chicago Bears, and let them know why you're wearing the crown.
You're the pride and joy of Illinois, Chicago Bears, bear down.” You sang along loudly to the Bears’ fight song roaring throughout Soldier Field. The second half was much more heated than the first, but unfortunately thanks to a successful kick from Forbath in the last few seconds the Vikings took home the win.
You would've thought that post-game
Kiss would've made me wanna make you mine
But you had me by halftime
Everyone was starting to file out of the stadium, Kevin’s group included.
“You comin?” Adam turned to you both.
“You wanna wait till the crowds disperse a little?” Kevin asked and you smiled nodding.
“We’ll be waiting for you.” Adam winked, a knowing smirk covering his face as he grabbed tightly ahold of Kim’s hand to lead her through the crowd.
“You would’ve had to keep a tight hold on me. I’m small and can get lost easily.” You joked, body frame tiny compared to his broad muscular one.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure I do regardless.” Kevin flirted, looping an arm around your shoulders to pull you closer to him.
“I told you. Punters and kickers, they don’t get enough credit.” You reiterated, “I mean how often does the game come down to a field goal? Too often in my opinion.”
“I can give you kicker I’m not sure about punters though.” He looked at you amused.
“Did you miss that play?” You scoffed.
“And how often does that happen? I’m sure you didn’t buy his jersey banking on that.” He replied.
“Yeah, alright. I just thought O’Donnell was better looking than Barth.” You admitted.
“You really know your football though.” He observed.
“I grew up with three brothers. It just came with the territory.” You explained.
“Three brothers?” He looked over at you, a faint look of fear appearing on his face.
“Yeah, I’m sure you could take any of them though.” You bit your lip squeezing his bicep to get your point across.
“Is that so?” He grinned face inches away from yours.
“Mhmm.” You hummed searching his eyes, begging him to make the move and he did. Closing the distant for a gentle, smooth kiss. His hand caressing your cheek to pull you closer. This is nowhere near what you expected your day to turn into when you got up this morning. You were just supposed to be tailgating with your friends too drunk for your own good. Instead you were seated inside the stadium making out with a guy you had just met this morning. Not that you were complaining, but what were the chances?
“Was that okay?” He asked lips still slightly brushing against yours and as an answer you gripped his face pulling him in for a deep bruising kiss that had him groaning low in his throat. Pulling away to get a breath you looked around to see very few people still seated, a warmth buzzing throughout your body despite the chilly fall air becoming more prominent.
“We better get out of here before we get in trouble.” You whispered. And he nodded tightly clasping your hand in his as you made your way out of the stadium back out into the parking lot.
Now every time the leaves start fallin' down
I get to thinkin' 'bout
5 years later
“Kev, can you check on the pizza while I get Carsyn dressed?” You asked after seeing your daughter stir from her nap on the monitor. Walking in her room you retrieved her from the crib. She was all smiles and giggles. “Well I take it you had a good nap.” You kissed her chubby cheek, attempting to flatten her bed head before laying her on the floor to get her dressed. “Daddy is just gonna be head over heels when he sees you. Not that he isn’t already.” You smiled trying to slide her tights on despite her wiggling legs. Succeedingly picking her up 10 minutes later. “Look who’s awake daddy.” You caught Kevin’s attention as he turned away from the stove to take her from your arms.
“You didn’t.” Kevin laughed, a smile wide on his face when he took his daughter into his arms admiring the outfit she was sporting. A blue tutu accompanied by an orange jersey that repped the #16, outfit topped off with a Chicago Bears bow. “Well don’t you just look adorable. Yes, you take after your mama.” Kevin laid kisses all over her face erupting numerous giggles from her. “Where’d you even find this at?” He asked and you knew what he was talking about without even turning around as you took the pizza out of the oven.
“I had to specially order it as one of those custom name jerseys. Seems they don’t make O’Donnell’s jersey for babies.” You laughed checking on the wings in the air fryer when a knock at the door interrupted. Adam and Kim strolling their way into the kitchen minutes later.
“Where’s my girl?” Adam asked, spotting her in Kevin’s arms. Carsyn immediately reached out for Adam. “There she is and aren’t you just the cutest Bears fan in the whole world?” He tickled her stomach taking in her outfit, “Gotta say [Y/L/N] it looks better on her.” He joked gesturing to your identical jersey.
“Joke all you want this jersey got me a husband.” You leaned up on your tippy toes to lay a kiss on Kevin’s cheek.
The rest of your crew arrived not too much later. Hailey and Jay bringing along their son who was a few months younger than Carsyn. This was now a football season tradition and you loved every minute of it.
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#kevin atwater x reader#kevin atwater imagine#kevin atwater#chicago pd imagine#chicago pd x reader#Chicago pd#one chicago imagine#one chicago
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It started with an ask on konako’s blog, that led to a small scene with Red kneeling before the Evil Queen. (x) That was almost Red Queen fun. But it spun into something very dark, because the Evil Queen did capture Red and torture as punishment followed (this goes into dead-dove territory, you are warned, it’s messed up). Here are 4k words of what happened in the palace dungeon afterwards (spoiler alert, excessive use of silver):
summary: Red made the Evil Queen look foolish and gets utterly destroyed for it (graphic depictions of violence included)
Finally a little triumph. The Evil Queen went down the stairs into the dungeon. Every step of her well-shined heeled boots echoed loudly from the stone steps. Sometimes she wished she had more patience to make good use of the cells down here. But she was bored too easily not getting answers and the prisoners died quickly. Her torturer barely had anything to do. Why did she even pay him anymore? (Did she pay anyone in the palace? They were allowed to live and had nice enough accommodations and food, for sure that was enough.)
But now Regina wanted to take all the time in the world. Her knights had captured that wolf woman! After the bloodbath she had caused weeks ago that made Regina look foolish, she would enjoy their time together now. And it would send Snow White a message in the end.
Two guards were posted outside the cell and two inside. Of course knowing they dealt with a werewolf made handling the prisoner easier. For one the full moon was a couple of nights away. And silver was easy to come by to keep her in line. Regina had also instructed her blacksmith to forge some chains in preparation for when she would be captured. It had been a priority task.
When Regina entered the cell she smiled and took in the sight. Red was chained up in the middle of the room. She was stripped down to her undergarments, her clothes on the floor, except for her cloak that was draped over one of the tables. Her arms were raised above her head, wrists bound by the heavy cuffs each connected to a chain going through a loop in the ceiling and then stretching all the way to a bolt in the wall. Her ankles were cuffed as well, a short heavy chain in between so she couldn’t take any significant steps. Not that she could run away, since her toes barely reached the ground. Red had to carry her weight in her arms, shoulders.
“Well, well, well, so we meet again.” Regina took her time to enter and circled Red, who tried to follow her with her eyes. “You made quite a spectacle the last time.”
“Do you want an apology?” Red’s voice was firm. Too firm for Regina’s taste.
“I don’t think you could muster up an honest one. You’re a deceiver.” Regina stopped in front of her. “Begging for those peasants’ lives and then killing my men.” She grabbed Red’s chin with her thumb and index finger. “You said there was no need for bloodshed and you happily slaid them anyway.”
“I wouldn’t have done that if you hadn’t tried to take me.”
“As if you thought I would let you walk away from there.” Regina looked closely into those green eyes. Was the bravado real or just posturing? “Don’t get me wrong, the way you killed those men without a second thought was impressive. I can admire that. But the humiliation it would have been to return to the village and enact punishment, admitting to being defeated that day - I can’t let that slide.” She slapped Red across the cheek.
Red closed her eyes and didn’t turn her face back up. She was glad the villagers had been spared. Regina didn’t know how long she had stuck around to make sure there was no retaliation. And whatever was about to follow, would have been worth it. Snow had her plans to strike and they were close to luring the Queen into a trap. But every day more innocent people could die and Red could not sit by. She owed it to the victims of the wolf to use her strength for good now.
She heard Regina take a few steps back and looked again. The cloak was in her hands now. “Do you have any other name or should I just call you Red. Not very original, is it? Naming yourself after a bit of fabric.” Her fingers traced the patterns. “I sense magic in this. But I guess asking about it will not bring me answers, right? Just like any of Snow White’s plans won’t leave your lips.”
Statements. The Evil Queen had made up her mind already, questions weren’t part of whatever this encounter was. Red turned her hands around and tried to get a grip on the chain, change her position the slightest bit to take some strain off of her already burning shoulders.
“Do you know there isn’t much to find in books about your kind?” Regina exchanged the cloak for something else from the table. It reflected a bit of the amber light emitted from the fireplace and Red could see it was a simple dagger. “The one thing that is said over and over though is your weakness towards silver. I’m curious. Is it just the metal or wounds inflicted by it?”
Red already clenched her jaw before Regina put the blade against the skin on her upper arm, preparing to get cut. But instead Regina pressed the flat side on her skin first. Definitely silver. Pure. Red felt the effect in a matter of seconds and bit down, grinding her teeth.
Regina stood close again, caught her eyes with her gaze and kept pressing the blade against the tender side of her arm. “Don’t worry, I will write down everything I’m about to do here, so the books can add a chapter about how to break a wolf when in their human form.” And with that she turned the dagger and cut the skin. Red flinched, more from the shock than the actual pain. It was a relief actually to have the silver leave her.
“Are there noteworthy differences between a cut with this,” Regina lifted the dagger, “and a normal blade?” She gestured towards one of the guards and he immediately unsheathed a dagger from his boot. Without hesitation Regina reproduced the cut on the other arm. The blood almost tickled as it ran down. “Oh no, I’m making a mess. Getting blood out of clothes is such a hassle.”
Regina let one of the daggers fall down and with the other cut along the seams of Red’s top half of what she was left wearing. Red closed her eyes again as she felt air hit her exposed body. She knew which weapon Regina held and she could feel the silver being drawn over her skin, over her collarbone, between her breasts, down to her navel. The point barely left a scratch, but the offending metal felt like being brushed with a nettle. Red took in deep, sharp breaths through her nose.
That reaction was exactly what made Regina go slower with her movements. It wasn’t the sharpness that left the light red mark, no, it appeared the longer she held the blade in place. What an interesting sight to watch. Regina brought her free hand up to Red’s chin again, this time squeezing her jaw with her palm, digging her fingers into her cheek. Red looked at her again.
“You know, the longer you resist, the more adamant I will be to make you scream. That is how these things work.” She brought the dagger up to Red’s forehead, this time with the edge to cut into her skin again. It took a few seconds, but then the blood running over her eyebrows made Red blink.
“Can you hold this for me?” With that she wedged the silver dagger between the torn clothes and Red’s hips. Red squirmed trying to get away, but the blade touched her thigh ever so slightly. “I learned a valuable lesson the other day. A blacksmith works with iron. Like those chains holding you. Not used to working with silver. You would have to ask a silversmith about it. I even found one and he is working on special silver cuffs for me. Or rather, for you.”
Regina stood at the table again, her back to Red. When she turned around she held up a necklace. “So for now, I have to settle for delicate jewelry instead of the collar you deserve.” Under any other circumstance Red would have admired the piece. Obviously the star-shaped ornament was meant to hold a gemstone in place, a diamond or a sapphire, but this was stripped down to the silver components for one purpose only. “So you will get used to a leash later,” was all Regina added as she put it around Red’s neck.
Red held on. Her skin was crawling all over, the itch on her thigh burning already, but she tried to stay as still as possible. She couldn’t do anything against the tears forming in her eyes, betraying her brave face though.
Regina stood before her, brows furrowed. “Your healing isn’t as fast. I will need to wait hours to compare those cuts on your arms. There is something I am forgetting.” She rubbed her temples, feigning to think. “Oh, of course, I need a point of reference!” A clap of her hands alerted the guard. “You, get the girl from next door.” Red’s eyes went wide.
“No. Wait. You don’t need to drag anybody else into this.”
Regina stepped closer and slapped her across the cheek again, harder this time. “I don’t remember asking for your opinion and you will stop being so informal around me!”
“Yes, Your Majesty”, Red quickly gathered herself. “But please, there is no need-” But she already saw a frightened young girl being pushed into the cell. About her height and weight, seemingly healthy. For now. The girl fell to the floor and cowered there.
“I caught her stealing, so normally she would already be dead. But she can be of use for me.” Regina put a hand into her hair and yanked her head up, to make her look at Red. “Or do you want her dead right now?”
The terror Red felt was mirrored on the girl’s face. Was there a chance of survival for her? She was ready to beg for her life; to lie on that table where Regina obviously had more silver tools; to take any punishment herself. “No,” Red whispered. Another yank at the girl’s hair. “No, Your Majesty.”
“A fast learner.” She pushed the girl into a chair with cuffs on the armrests. Seating her in front of Red. The girl trembled and looked to the floor. Red tried to pull at her chains, but it only sent a jolt of pain through her shoulders.
Regina paced the room. After a while she came up behind Red. “Your shoulders must really hurt by now. Let me help you with that.” Her fingers played with the necklace and Red hissed. Shifting it around made the pain more noticeable. “The plate.” She said towards the guards. Behind Red a wooden plate leaned against the wall. A thin metal sheet on one side, coated in silver. She knew that before the guards shoved it under her feet. The wood added a few inches so in theory this took some of the weight off her shoulders, but the soles of her feet would soon itch, turn red, swell, hurt and most likely blister. She tried to balance on the outside of her feet only, to not hurt everywhere all at once.
“Do you know what the second thing is that some texts suggest to use against a werewolf?” Silence. “Oh, that was a genuine question directed at you. Do you know?”
“Fire.” Red answered between breaths. Her mouth was open now, it was dry. She didn’t dare to fully fill her lungs, because that made the necklace move. The attack on multiple parts of her body with the silver was starting to overwhelm her.
“That is correct. You know your weaknesses it seems.” Regina conjured a fireball in her hand. “Fire is pure. It doesn’t discriminate. It can be very elegant.” She stepped closer to Red, hand outstretched so she could feel the heat of the flame. “How fast can you heal a burn wound?”
“I don’t k-” Red couldn’t finish that sentence, because Regina held her hand to her side now. A scream was all that escaped her lips. The fireball wasn’t cast, but the flame burned her flesh. Red clenched her fists and tried to step away, the chains around her ankles making a screeching sound dragging over the silver plate. There was no escape, because Regina just followed with her hand. She closed her hand and the fireball vanished. Red went slack, her breathing sped up. The only good thing was that in this commotion, the dagger had gotten loose and fallen to the floor.
Red sorted out her senses, trying to gather her bearings, when she heard the girl scream. Louder, more fearful, indicating the horrible pain she never felt before. Regina had torn her clothes and burned her at the exact same place on her body. For reference. Red couldn’t put the horror of it into words. Would it indeed be better for the girl if she was dead already? She didn’t even know her name.
And Red didn’t learn her name over the next few days, because whatever happened, she would not talk to her. Regina had strictly forbidden it and the rotating guards would hit her at a single word. It was almost comical. Red’s body went numb. Cuts, rashes, bruises, welts, burns, scratches. It came and went. The pain was a constant throbbing, she got repositioned a few times, but it felt like she would never use her arms on her own accord again. But whatever happened to her, the girl looked worse. Red did heal faster from any wound not dealt with silver. But it did take a lot from her regardless. She lost track of time. What was sleep? Any kind of shame about being naked had vanished. Instead of clothes her body was covered in forming scars, marks and blemishes.
Red tried to count the rotations of the guards, to get any kind of feeling for the passing days. It was only days, right? It felt like forever. Silver on her skin somewhere at all times, lashes from a whip, getting burned with a torch, red hot iron, and so many cuts to make her bleed. The worst still a long deep wound on her right cheek, starting at her ear right to the corner of her mouth. When they allowed her some water, it even hurt to swallow.
Later Red found out it had been five days in total. It seemed like a small window of time. But the Evil Queen lived up to her name. Especially on day four, when she left permanent damage. While Red was mostly kept standing up, the girl was strapped to the chair. Not that she had any energy left to walk out of here, even if they’d opened the door for her. Regina stood behind her and pulled her head back.
“Just look at me, I’m sure this won’t hurt you.”
Red looked on as Regina dripped liquid into one of her eyes. The girl flinched, but that was a reflex. None of her sounds of discomfort or pain left her throat. That made Red more nervous than she would admit. And she was right to be.
“Just as I thought. Look at that, barely irritated.” She pushed the girl’s head forward, her eye teared up, maybe a bit reddened.
Regina walked around her and caught Red’s gaze. “Such beautiful green eyes. Quiet unusual. Of course not as remarkable as the wolfish gold, is it?” The way she kept staring was unnerving and Red’s breathing already picked up. Fear. In a short amount of time she had learned what fear truly was.
“Hold her steady.” A guard came and grabbed Red’s head from behind. Panic sunk in and she started to squirm, tried to turn her face away, to wiggle out of his grip. She wasn’t sure what was about to happen, but she knew she wanted out. Right now. No more pain, she couldn’t take anymore. But she had to.
Regina got a few drops out of the vile, into Red’s right eye. “Don’t worry, it’s mostly water. Just a tiny bit of silver dust mixed into it.”
Red pushed her body back as hard as she could, but her mangled feet had no grip, it was more like leaning into the guy. No force to get him off. And then the pain started. It felt like a needle prick. And all of a sudden the colors exploded in Red’s sight. Everything was sharper, the light from the fireplace brighter. She knew her eyes turned golden like before she would transform. It had happened a few times, when highly agitated. Now it was a physical response.
Regina laughed. “I did not expect that.” She met Red’s terror with fascination. More needle pricks in her eye, the urge to rub it away. Red pulled at her chains, she wanted to press the palm of her hand against her eye and get the irritating feeling out. But there was no chance. All Regina saw was the golden color and Red gasping for air, holding back a scream. The hitched breathing was a good enough tell that this hurt.
Worse than the pain that kept sinking in was the way Red started to see white dots, blind specks in her vision. Three, four, five, more and more. She blinked, her tearducts fighting off the intrusion, but the silver too strong an opponent. Red clenched her jaw and groaned. She let out a growl from deep within, filled with frustration and pain. It was more of a bellow than a scream. Regina smiled at that.
While Red’s left eye got back to its human green, the right eye stayed golden, a misty layer clouding the bright hue. It drew Regina’s full attention, while it would be weeks for Red to discover the permanent change. Blinded, only noting a change between light and darkness. Her eyeball feeling like it was rubbed with sandpaper made the rest of the day seem like nothing. Time moved on
And then unthinkable happened. The chains were loosened completely, the cuffs came off. Red tried to curl up on the floor, but she could barely move her joints. Everything hurt too much. But Regina laughed. “Remember that I said I will make you beg for more than mercy? How about you ask me to end her suffering?”
Red looked up. Trying to adjust to the impaired vision. As bad as she felt, the girl looked worse. “Please…”, the girl said and the guard standing behind her, hit her against the head immediately.
It took everything Red had to turn herself upright, to bend her knees and sit on them. To kneel before Regina again. No side eye, no hint of a smirk, no failsafe. The burn marks hurt worst next to the chafed skin around her neck from the necklace that was also gone now. “Your…” Red was shaking, she had to cough trying to speak. “Please, Your Majesty. End her suffering. I beg you. Please. It’s enough… enough…” And with that she fell down again.
“Pathetic.” Regina’s verdict was cold as ice. “And to think I had a gift for you just now. Guards.” They stood next to Red and pulled her to her knees again, held her up. Regina leaned towards her. “My silversmith has arrived.” She produced a silver object and only when the lock clicked around her neck did Red realize this was the collar she had talked about. She felt the burn on her throat and winced. It was a sound she was used to producing by now.
“So?”
“Please… Your Majesty…” Red was panting, she could not finish the plea.
Regina rolled her eyes. “If this is the best you can do, so be it. Ending the suffering now.” And with that her hand shot straight into Red’s chest and pulled out her heart. “Kill her. Rip her throat out like you always do.”
Red wanted to scream. She wanted to jump the Evil Queen. To tear up the men holding her. But what she wanted was irrelevant all of a sudden. The will to do it was overwritten. She looked at the girl, defeated, not even surprised. While Red’s mind fully woke up for the first time in days, all her muscles reacted to something else. The pain all over her body was terrible, but every second she didn’t comply was even more agony.
Red crawled more than she walked to get to the chair. She hovered over her nameless victim, tried to hold back, but those terror-stricken eyes met hers. “Make it quick, please.” Oh, if only she could turn into a wolf, those sharp teeth would take less than a second. Regina had specified how this girl was supposed to die and Red could not opt to cut her throat with a knife, she sunk her still very human teeth into it. The larynx, so easy to wrap fangs around, was hard, the skin and flesh thick. The scream the girl let out was only short, because the pressure suffocated her. It was impossible to make this quick-
Finally Red tasted blood. Tears ran down her face, but she could not stop herself from this horrible act. This slow, agonizing, inhumane death of a nameless chamber maid, who probably hadn’t even stolen a thing. Someone at the wrong place, at the wrong time, who had suffered for days for cruel experiments with no merit. One more victim added to Red’s tally. Not for good. Not in battle. Not in defense. Needless cruelty.
When the girl’s heart stopped, Red finally could let go. She sank on all fours, spat out what she could of the blood and wailed. Her own heart wasn’t even in her chest, but it had never felt heavier.
“Get the smith down here now, he knows what to do.” Regina sent one guard away. Red looked up, warm blood dripping from her chin, she could feel it. Disgusting. If she had any strength left, this would be the time to strike. But all Regina needed to do was a little squeeze. Her heart hurt. No, Red was helpless. Any thought of fighting back an illusion.
“I think it’s best that you lie down on the table for this next part.”
Red wanted to put her head under a guillotine right now. To kill like that was worse than any of the torture methods the Evil Queen had come up with. Regina had won. But Red couldn’t do anything but comply and lied down, waiting for her fate.
It came in the form of a small white haired man, holding a sort of chalice with a long tongue. His hands were shaking and Red couldn’t tell if it was because of what he was doing or just being in Regina’s presence. She couldn’t make sense of what was happening. A guard came and put her wrists into the handcuffs again, strapping her to the table. A chain going over her thighs and under the table fixated her.
Regina squatted down next to her, stroking her hair. “Feel free to scream for me now.”
“The mold.” Wood was pressed against her back. “Careful with your fingers there, wouldn’t want to burn you.”
And then everything was fire. The scream from Red’s throat surprised Regina enough that she stood up. Loud, agonizing, on the brink of collapse. What looked like a chalice was a melting pot, containing a few grams of molten silver. It was poured on Red’s skin and burned her instantly, severely. Water followed mere seconds later to turn the liquid back to solid, but the damage was done. A silver ring fused into her flesh. The pain and the sensory overload from heat to cold send her into shock. She was still screaming with the taste of warm blood in her mouth when the faint claimed her.
#OUaT#Ruby Lucas#konako#DRK AU#(this stands for Dark Red Kansas because feel free to ask me about the aftermath#we have this 'verse figured out and there are already so many tidbits from the aftermath#funnily enough this isn't even that AU because it is extremely canon compliant except for those five days Regina had fun with torture#and oh is there regret later that Red doesn't want to hear about - she leaves Storybrooke earlier but most of what happens is untouched#ah but meeting Mulan and Merida and Dorothy... and just the way that being cursed-waitress-Ruby saved Red mentally in so many ways#THERE ARE LAYERS!!! AND EMOTIONS!!!!)#guess what there's art to go with this!!!!!!#$!
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how to be a heartbreaker: rule two - rafe cameron
Rafe Cameron’s privileged upbringing has let him get away with far too much, for far too long. Between his tormenting of the pogues, running his mouth without consequence, and arrogant attitude, it’s time someone knocked him down a peg. Breaking his bones didn’t work, but maybe you can break his heart.
co-authored with my love, freya @rekrappeter
pairing: Rafe Cameron x reader, unrequited!JJ x reader
warnings: angst, starting a relationship under false pretences, drinking and drug use
word count: 5.2k (sorry not sorry there’s a lot of plot here my dudes)
a/n: here’s rule two, let us now what you think!! low key we finished writing this badboy this morning (freya’s evening lol)
“Okay, that seems relatively easy…” you hummed, your elbows rested on your knees as you held onto every word JJ spoke. An underlying unsureness hung over your voice, and judging the expressions on Kiara and Pope’s face, you knew you weren’t alone in thinking that this wouldn’t work. John B backed everything that JJ said up with an example, somethings made sense but the majority of what they brought up was lightyears away from real life. They were living in their own fantasy world.
“And that’s just rule one,” JJ announced, causing you to cover a groan with a fake cough, “It’s almost the most important rule, you have to make a good impression. You need to be seductive, sexy-”
Kie interrupted JJ, “What’s the most important rule?”
“Rule number five,” he smirked.
If you weren’t confused beforehand, you definitely were now. “Which is?”
“We’ll get to that one later, be patient.” You huffed at JJ’s dismissal.
Pope stood up from the couch, stretching his arms above his head. “Are you actually going to take part in this?” His eyes were focused on you, ignoring JJ’s arguments.
You shrugged your shoulders, feeling the heavy stare of your friends on you. “What do I have to lose?” JJ praised you for your answer, earning a glare from Pope but that didn’t shut him up. “Pope, it’ll be exciting. It’ll be something for us all to do together and focus on.”
“We’re not the ones that are going to have to be alone with Rafe Cameron,” your friend muttered, you gave him a soft smile, appreciating how caring he was towards you. Despite always being associated with JJ and being his best friend, you and Pope had a relationship like none of the other pogues. He wasn’t just one of your closest friends, you would classify him as a ‘brother from another mother’. He cared immensely about you, and you cared for him just as much. You both pushed each other to thrive and be the best possible version of you, he had your back through thick and thin.
He was also the only one that knew about your hidden feelings towards JJ. He picked up on them one night, when you were giggling at a stupid joke the blonde had said and how the carefree and outgoing version of you disappeared when you noticed JJ getting intimate with some random girl later on that night. But he promised to keep it a secret, and so he did, he constantly supported you and let you rant and rave about it whenever you needed to. He was a breath of fresh air.
“Rafe Cameron never did anything to me personally, he leaves me alone when y’all aren’t with me,” you said, leaning back on the couch.
“Can we stop calling him Rafe Cameron? We only know one Rafe,” Kie chuckled, running her fingers through her tangled dark hair.
“Can we move on please? It’s getting late,” JJ informed the group, everyone’s attention leaving you and turning to the tall boy.
“You’d make a great teacher, JJ,” you hummed, your heart jumping at the smirk he sent you.
“Rule number two: have fun, but be the first to run.”
Three days pass by since you spoke to Rafe at the boneyard and if it weren’t for JJ pestering you every chance he got about it, you wouldn’t have noticed how many days went by. But your best friend was adamant on putting this plan into motion quickly, you tried to argue with him that you didn’t want to come across as desperate but he wouldn’t listen. The ending events of that night were history; you woke up the next morning and JJ acted like nothing happened, treating you how he usually would.
There was no point in arguing with him or holding a grudge, it was something you were used to at this stage in your friendship. JJ Maybank never did know how to express his feelings properly, unless it was with his fist. When you fought, he would mutter a quick apology and move on from it, never dwelling on the aftermath his words or actions made you feel. You pushed those feelings to the back of your mind, putting a smile on your face and moving on. It’s what you were best at.
A quick knock on the changing room door interrupted your thoughts, rolling your eyes as JJ opened the door anyways, not even waiting for you to answer. “Please tell me what’s the point in knocking?” you snapped playfully, buttoning up your white blouse, ignoring the flushed feeling you felt when his eyes lingered on your exposed breast.
JJ shrugged, throwing his bowtie at you and leaning against the wall, he waited patiently for you to finish getting ready. He was dressed similarly to you; your work outfits clashing except instead of the black, tight skirt you were wearing, his legs were covered with crinkled slacks. You were the one that managed to get JJ a job at the island club, your boss was reluctant to hire a known thief but you pleaded and begged, promising to keep him in line. So far, JJ has behaved himself, only missing one or two shifts.
When you finished getting ready, ensuring that your makeup was touched up and your hair was neat, you picked JJ’s bowtie off the floor and gestured to him to come over to you. You lifted it over his head, ignoring the butterflies that swarmed your stomach when he stepped into your personal space and placed his hands on your hips. “Tell me why I took this extra shift,” you cried, trying to separate your mind from your body.
JJ’s blue eyes scanned your face and you avoided looking into them, your focus solely on your fingers trying the material around his neck. “Because we need the money, plus you love working shifts with me.” JJ grinned exposing his slightly crooked teeth.
You pucker your lips, pretending to be deep in thought, “You’re right, I do need the money.”
JJ swatted your hands away from him, turning to look in the floor length mirror in the female changing room. You couldn’t help but look at your figures next to one another, you suited each other. JJ’s eyes connected with yours through the mirror, “I also peeked at the guest list, we’ll be able to work on the plan tonight.”
“Rafe will be here?” you asked.
“Rafe and his goons, so if I’m missing for more than ten minutes, come look for me.” He winked, running his fingers through his blonde locks to try tame it to some extent.
“JJ,” you sighed, reaching for his arm but he took a step back, out of your reach.
“I’m kidding,” he chuckled, but the smile on his face didn’t reach his eyes, “I’ll be fine, I can handle myself.”
“But it’s always three on one, and it never works in your benefit.”
This time JJ did smile, his blue eyes twinkling and he stepped closer to you, placing his hands on either of your shoulders. “But we have a secret weapon this time around, they’re not going to see this coming, y/n.” JJ referring to you as his secret weapon sent an unwanted chill through your skin, making you look away from his intense eyes. “Come on, let’s get the party started.”
Precariously balancing four whiskey neat on a flimsy tray while also balancing on your unsteady feet strapped into four inch heels was not an easy feat. It was even more difficult when coupled with the harassment you received as a pogue in kook territory. The only thing that kept the polite smile on your face as you suffered through backhanded compliment after backhanded compliment was the knowledge that a sweet payday was waiting for you at the end of the shift. You hated the Island Club and every stupid, perfect, spoiled person in it, but you made more in one shift than you did your other two jobs combined.
The spoiled Island Club member you hated the most though, hands down, was Rafe Cameron. Despite never targeting you personally, you couldn’t forgive the numerous times your boys had suffered at the hands of Rafe and his cronies. Unfortunately, you also found him attractive, discreetly staring at the way his golf shirt accentuated the muscles in his arms, and the way his tight pants accentuated his ass, every time you passed by. Some baser instinct within you had you considering what it would be like to squeeze his ass, and the distracting, intrusive thought made you miss the step leading to the greens. Your heart fell into your throat as you felt yourself lose your balance, your other hand rising to attempt to steady the tray but it was hopeless as you started to tumble to the ground. As you braced for impact, the tray was lifted from your arms and a steadying hand on your waist kept you from eating dirt.
Your heart pounding in your chest, you looked up to thank your rescuer, the words dying on your lips before you could utter them as Rafe Cameron himself stood there staring back at you. For a moment you were lost in his blue orbs, every intrusive thought you had washing over you until his mouth opened and he spoke, “You alright there?”
Staring at him for a moment longer, you blinked twice and shook your head in confirmation, “Yeah, thanks for that.” You smoothed down the front of your shirt, Rafe’s eyes following the movement of your hands, before you reached for your tray again, “Sorry, duty calls.”
As you went to move past him, heart pounding in your throat, he called out, “Wait,”. You spun around to stare at him, confusion in your eyes. He scanned the crowd for a split second, his eyes landing on your figure again. “Do you maybe want to get out of here?”
Scoffing, you roll your eyes, “I’m working Rafe, I can’t just ‘get out of here’. I really need this job.”
Rafe closed the gap between your bodies, leaving just inches keeping you apart. He reached for the tray in your grasp, taking it and turning his back to you. “Hey, you,” he called to someone dressed in the exact same clothes as you, “Take this to table number…” He glanced over his shoulder at you, waiting for you to finish his sentence.
“Five,” you mumbled, shrugging your shoulders and shooting an apologetic smile to your colleague.
“Perfect, now you’re free,” Rafe smirked, dismissing the girl.
“No, Rafe, now I’m not free. I have other tables to serve.”
Rafe exhaled loudly, his chest heaving, “Look, y/n, I know people, I can keep you out of trouble.”
“Yeah, and how do you propose to do that?”
Rafe sent you a cheeky grin, spreading his arms out wide as if he was going to hug you but his thumbs turned inwards, pointing to themselves, “I’m a Cameron.”
Chewing on the inside of your cheek, you thought over his words. The Camerons did practically own the club, and the stupid outfit you were wearing was beginning to feel tight and uncomfortable. Not to mention, it was exactly the kind of opportunity that JJ had been hounding you to take in order to further the plan. Plus, the little voice in your head whispered, maybe taking off with Rafe would stir up some reaction from JJ, maybe the one you’ve been searching for.
Looking up at him, you shrugged with one shoulder and replied, “alright.”
“Alright?” He asked, a little shocked as he clearly expected to have to fight you a little harder. Truthfully, he wouldn’t have been able to convince you at all if it wasn’t for the plan. Despite your intrusive thoughts, and boy were they intrusive, you didn’t have a particular want or need to spend any time alone with the privileged kook.
“Alright,” you repeated, “What’s the plan?”
“Get out of that stupid waiter get up, and I’ll tell you,” he laughed, causing you to glare at him. He wasn’t wrong though, the outfit was stupid and you hated wearing it, but dresscode was dresscode. You quickly snuck back inside and changed back into your short little jean shorts and top, quickly running past JJ’s confused facial expression. You returned to Rafe, satisfied when you saw the way his eyes trailed your body taking in the change of clothes.
“Have you ever been to a driving range?” He smirked when you looked at him like he had suddenly grown a second head.
“Do I look like the type of person who goes to a driving range?” You asked drily, causing his smirk to widen. He grabbed your hand and all but dragged you to another part of the club, where an out of use driving range sat.
“Are we going to get in trouble for using this?” You asked nervously, all thoughts of Camerons and bets aside you did actually need this job.
“Don’t you trust me?” He asked, rolling his eyes when you gave him a look that screamed ‘hell no’, “Okay well, trust me this once, we’re fine.”
Your eyes land on the golf bag with his initials embroidered on the front and you look at him confusedly, “Did you plan this?”
“Did I plan on sneaking away to use the driving range? Yes. Did I plan on you joining me? No, never in my wildest dreams would I think that you would be here right now with me.” He admits.
Remembering the bet, you smile flirtatiously at him and remark, “So you have wild dreams about me?”
His split second hesitation before rolling his eyes and telling you off has you wondering what role you played when you starred in his dreams. Gulping, you turn back toward him and clear your throat, “So we’re here to what exactly? Hit balls around all day, real fun.” you state sarcastically.
“You can go back to your shitty bowtie and silver tray if you want,” he offered back sassily, causing you to bite your lip. JJ would be pissed if you let this opportunity go to waste. But little did you know, JJ was going to be pissed either way
“Alright, let’s hit some balls I guess,” you replied back half-heartedly and motioning to the golf bag, “I don’t even know what each of these clubs are for,”
“Watch and learn,” Rafe smirked, running his hands through his perfectly slicked back hair, allowing for some hairs to become loose. He reached for the largest club in the bag, ripping the glove off and stepping up to the box. He placed a ball on the standing tee, doing his rituals before swinging and belting the ball nearly two hundred yards.
“Am I supposed to be impressed?” You asked, a single eyebrow raised.
“Here, you give it a go then,” Rafe replied, handing you the driver. You gladly accepted, an aura of confidence washing over you as you recited exactly what he did, he placed the ball on the tee for you and stepped back, allowing you to prep.
You felt his stare on your ass as you lined up the club to take a swing, causing you to pause your motions and glare at him over your shoulder. “Stop staring at my ass, Cameron.”
“Caught you staring at mine first, babe.” He smirked, and you felt the colour drain from your face at the knowledge that you got caught.
Swallowing nervously, you quipped back, “Yeah well I was just wondering why you bought your pants a size too small, thought they were going to split at the seams.”
He threw his head back and laughed, genuinely laughed, the sound booming around you. You couldn’t help but join in, soft giggles mixing with the timbre of his voice. As his laughter faded, he stared at you intensely, calling your bluff, “that’s not why you were staring, and we both know it.”
Coughing slightly to hide your reaction, you turned back toward the little ball on the tee and took a swing, missing by a long shot. “Shit, that’s harder than it looks,” you admit, having wrongly assumed golf to be a simple game of hitting balls with sticks.
Rafe chuckles shaking his head at your poor stature, and you suddenly feel a presence behind you, jumping slightly as his hands rest on your forearms. “Trick is to keep your eyes on the ball, okay?” he hums into your ear, the sensation running down your spine. You nod, swallowing back the lump in your throat, eyes focusing on the ball. He places his arms on your wrist, bringing your arms up, “now keep your front arm straight, tilt your wrist, like this,” he gestures the club up, “and then just swing, keep that arm straight,” he reminds you.
You glance over your shoulder, your orbs connecting with his blue ones that were glistening under the afternoon sun, you offer a small smile and feel yourself getting lost in them, “eyes on the ball,” he reminded you, smirking.
“Is this just a way to get close to my ass?” you retaliate, sucking in your bottom lip to hide the smirk that wanted to erupt on your face.
“This is just me helping a shit golfer,” he replied, stepping back and out of your swinging range. “Try again,” he urged you. He watched you take another shot, cringing when you miss it again. “Keep your eyes on the ball, front arm straight,” he repeated.
“Okay, okay, I got this,” you mumbled mostly to yourself but Rafe nodded at you, hyping you up silently. You focused on the little white ball, following the steps that Rafe told you before swinging the club and successfully hitting the ball, you watched it bounce along the grass about fifty yards in front of you. “Yes!” You cheered, grinning at Rafe.
Rafe placed another ball on the tee, urging you to go again and you did, each swing getting better and each time the ball went further. “But how come it isn’t coming off the ground like yours?” You pouted, leaning on the club and looking at him.
“Come back to me when you’ve been playing golf for ten years,” he smirked, taking the driver off you and replaced it with a five iron. You watched him hit ball after ball, and you wouldn’t admit it but you were impressed, especially at his back muscles that flexed with every shot he took. You made small talk in between the shots, filling the silences which surprisingly weren’t awkward, you expected them to be uncomfortable and that you’d be pulling blood out of a stone to find something in common but the conversation flowed easily.
It was your turn to take a swing again, and you decided you weren’t going to walk away from the driving range without hitting it at least one hundred yards. You reached for the driver again, stepping up to the tee with a face of determination. “See you, you are going through the air this time,” you muttered to the ball, Rafe had to bite on his bottom lip to stop from tumbling over with laughter. You grasped the handle tight, swinging the club with all the strength you had in you and the sound of the ball hitting the face of the club echoed around the empty driving range.
You watched open-mouthed as the ball soared across the air, pass the fifty marker, pass the one hundred marker and landed midway, bouncing until it halted just by the two hundred yard marker. You gasped, dropping the club, and tossing yourself into Rafe’s arms in your excitement. He grunted softly, clearly not expecting it, stumbling back slightly as his hands gripped your hips. “I did it!” you cheered, “I fuckin’ did it!”
Rafe doesn’t protest with having you in his arms, he matches your excitement but he notices the thrill vanish from your eyes as you scramble out of his grasp, “sorry about that,” you mumble, hiding the embarrassment.
“Nah, don’t worry about it,” he mumbles back, and you think you see a flash of disappointment behind his blue eyes but it’s gone as quick as it arrived.
“Uhm, anyway,” you wrack your brain for something to say to ease the awkwardness that had come between you for the first time that afternoon, an image of the chalkboard that JJ brought into the chateau living room crosses your mind, making you remember rule number two, “I better actually head back,” you mumbled.
“So soon?” Rafe can’t stop the words from slipping past his lips, and he cringes inwardly at sounding so desperate wanting you to stay. He doesn’t even know where this sudden interest for you came from, of course he knew who you were and he had spoken to you during some events, but he never paid little mind to you until last week. When he and Kelce were joking about drunk one night, you came up in conversation.
Kelce spoke vulgarly about you, painting pictures in Rafe’s mind and it was like after that night, he saw you everywhere he went. He paid more attention to you, he resisted the urge to go and talk to you in the street, and when he caught you staring at him at the boneyard, he made the decision to approach you. It wasn’t like him to turn to a pogue of all people, but there was something about you that drew him in.
“I had fun today, but like I’m sure you should be getting back to the event, your dad’s probably looking for you,” you said, leaning against the railing that separates the tee boxes.
“Nah, as long as Sarah’s around, he doesn’t have a lot to do with me,” He pauses seeing your face fall the slightest bit, “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“I dunno, like that,” he shrugs, running a hand through his hair again.
“Okay, sorry” you reply defensively, not sure what his problem is, “I won’t look at you at all then.”
He laughs at that, a smirk gracing his face once again, “Sure, I’d like to see you try. You can’t help but look.”
You scoff, “Oh yeah, I just can’t help myself. Oh my god, Rafe Cameron you’re sooo hot,”
“Relax, babe, you don’t have to throw yourself at me,” He laughed.
“Shut up!” You gasp, pushing yourself off the railing, stalking over to him and smacking his hard chest.
“Wait,” he muttered, grasping at your wrist, stopping you from stepping away from him. His tongue runs across his bottom lip and you hated yourself for allowing your eyes to follow the pink tip. You looked up to his eyes, watching the smirk flicker across his face. The rule flashes through your mind again, and you know you should be running, but... something about the look in his eye as he leans in has you locked in place waiting for his mouth to meet yours. His hand comes up to cup your face, and you suck in a breath, holding it as his thumb gently brushes under your eye before he pulls away from you entirely. “Eyelash,” he mutters quietly and you feel your heart reactivate again.
“R-right,” you stutter, moving to step back from him. Maybe this was a bad idea agreeing with this stupid plan that JJ and John B claimed they put so much thought into it, maybe they underestimated the effect that Rafe would have on you. You most definitely did.
Something else was still bothering you, though. “I have to ask,” you took in a deep breath, suddenly nervous of what you were asking, especially considering the fact that you were just about to let Rafe Cameron kiss you, “Why take an interest in me now?”
“Why have you suddenly taken an interest in me?” Rafe countered, causing you to gulp. “Two weeks ago you wouldn’t take a second glance at me.”
Glancing up at Rafe, you plastered a cunning smile on your lips and shrugged your shoulder, “I asked you first.”
“We’re not in kindergarten, y/n, those rules don’t apply here.”
“Who said I wasn’t taking a second glance when you weren’t looking.”
“I knew you liked my ass,”
You roll your eyes, “Well it’s not your humble personality. Now answer my question.”
“Thought it would piss Maybank off,” he shrugs nonchalantly, but you can tell he’s trying to appear that way. Besides, JJ isn’t even here right now and you tell him so. He just shrugs again.
“What don’t you want to tell me?” You asked, hoping you weren’t projecting your own nerves.
Rafe sucked in a deep breath, running his hand over his face as if he was trying to make you forget about everything, but when your eyes gave him a pointed look, he let all walls crash around him. “Honestly, y/n, I don’t know why. I-I just see you on the beach, you’re always laughing, always smiling, nothing ever seems to bother you and it’s what I need. I need someone to make me feel happy again, make me feel alive.”
You listened intently to his words, holding onto every gasp of breath he realised, the aching in your heart making your palms sweat. “A-and that person is me?” your voice was merely a whisper, your mouth gaping open at the honesty in Rafe Cameron’s voice.
“I don’t know if it is, but what I do know is that I had a good time today, and wouldn’t be opposed to doing it again,”
Your heart aches in your chest for someone you once considered an enemy. He wasn’t a friend now, but something had changed in the dynamic somewhere between him saving you from an embarrassing fall and showing you the right way to swing a golf club. You couldn’t help but think to yourself that Rafe Cameron might not actually be that bad, and you might have actually enjoyed yourself this afternoon. Against all odds, spending the afternoon ditching not only your shift and JJ in order to ‘hit balls around’ as you so eloquently put it earlier had been a lot more fun than you gave Rafe credit for.
Your nose scrunches up as you consider your thoughts, what is wrong with you? He is the enemy. One afternoon where he’s not being a complete dick and you forget the bruised and battered state of your best friends only a few days ago? The vulgar words that dripped so easily from his mouth like venom, where he had treated you like some possession to be won, all for the sake of getting a rise out of JJ?
Biting your lip and swallowing, you tell him briefly, “I have to go,” before fleeing back to the club. You hear him calling out to you from behind, but you keep your head down and make the trip back, trying to slip into the Club undetected.
“And where have you been?” JJ is standing on the other side of the door you’ve just successfully snuck through. You gasp, hand flying up to cover your now fast beating heart.
“Jesus, J. You scared the shit out of me,” you harshly whisper, “I was with Rafe working on your big plan.”
“You could have warned me, I had to cover for you!” JJ snapped.
“Rafe said he would handle it,” you tell him.
Rolling his eyes and throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation, he turns on you, “Oh Rafe said?”
“Yes, Rafe said,” you repeat, “What’s crawled up your ass, I’m working on your stupid plan.”
You couldn’t help but feel angry towards your best friend, and you weren’t sure if it was because he was getting annoyed with you or if it was what Rafe had disclosed to you previously, but there was definitely an underlying feeling of frustration.
“What’s crawled up my ass is you left me hanging, we’re meant to be in this together.”
“No, JJ, I’m the one doing it all. You came up with some rules, I’m the one that’s putting my feelings on the line,” you snapped, watching his face contort to confusion.
“Your feelings? What feelings?” He’s taken aback by your words, head jutting as if you had just slapped him across the face.
“You know what, it doesn’t even matter. I’ll keep playing this stupid game for you, but don’t come and attack me just because you had to wash a few extra dishes.” Frustration seeps from your voice, unsure of why exactly he’s coming at you sideways. This was his plan, and you’re just doing your part to make it happen. At least, that’s what you told yourself this afternoon with Rafe had been for.
“I-I wasn’t attacking you, y/n, I was worried about you,” his voice softened, you couldn’t help but roll your eyes at the way his bottom lip jutted out, he knew you had a weakness for his puppy dog face. But with the simmering of frustration and anger growing within you, you wouldn’t back down right now.
“Well it didn’t feel like that.” You tell him harshly, hoping you’re properly conveying the swirling mix of negative emotions you’re currently experiencing.
Truthfully, JJ isn’t mad about washing a few extra dishes. He batted his eyelashes at your coworker who was more than happy to take on his dishwashing duties. He was mad that you weren’t keeping him in the loop, the two of you told each other everything. Well, everything except your feelings for him. He knew you found him attractive, and he honestly did love you with his whole heart. It just probably wasn’t the way you really wanted him to. JJ was mad because the girl he thought he had on lock, the one that would always be there waiting for him, just told him that her feelings were on the line for a plan to take down his most hated adversary.
JJ sighed, pushing away all his bravado and looking intently at you, “I’m sorry I made you feel that way, I’m sorry I make you feel a lot of things, but please just keep me in the loop, I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“JJ, I feel like we’re going around in circles at this point, and if I’m being honest, the only person hurting me right now is you,” you ignored the painful look on JJ’s face and continue, “Every evening you have to apologise for something, whether it’s something you say or something you do, we argue, we make up and then it happens again-”
“It’s not every evening,” you groan at his interruption, throwing your hands in the air.
“If you’re not ready to have a serious conversation, I’m not ready to continue speaking with you.” You tell him harshly and push past him, ignoring his weak attempts to get you to stop.
“Wait, you’re still coming over to John B’s tonight, right?” he asks, and you turn and glare at him over your shoulder.
Maybe Pope was right, this was a bad, bad idea and you had no idea what you were getting yourself into.
Tag list:
htbah taglist (link to add yourself to the google form on the series masterlist!):
@solllaris @drewswannabegirl @starrystarkey93 @httpstarkey @sweetlysilent @drewstarkey @dontjinx-it @ultranikilove @spencereidbasis @meaganjm @starlightstarkey @thortheestallion @jiaraendgame @idocarealot-not @tempestuousjj @pink-meringues @dpaccione @arianabrashierstuff @softstarkey @loveylangdon @xenagzb @teenwaywardasgardian @prejudic3 @nxsmss @canibeoneofthepogues @nqbmf @outerbanksbro @obx-direction-sos @digniteas @annedub @colorful-queen-of-the-roses @yesp0ny @loveniallandharryonedirection @fantasticpsychicfanfish @girls-breaking-hearts @beautyandthebleh @casper17 @parkershoco @unfortunatekiwitrash @loverofmineluke @slutforjjmaybank @skiesofthesketchy @sugarcoatedcalum @amorisxx
(the rest of the taglist will be in a reblog to hopefully not piss tumblr off this time!!)
#rafe obx#rafe x you#rafe x reader#rafe x y/n#rafe imagine#rafe fanfiction#rafe cameron x you#rafe cameron x reader#rafe cameron x y/n#rafe cameron imagine#rafe cameron series#rafe cameron fanfiction#rafe cameron#rafe cameron angst#freyby writes#diverdcwn writes#htbah
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Reverse Au! Dump
Don’t mind my idea dumping here. Brain decided to have fun while I was at work and I have too many wips as it is, so… Thought I’d ask before I dumped, experience. Used morningmark’s comics as a base, so if you want reference. Now this isn’t all that well compiled, but here it goes.
~
Magic in the Other World is varied as it is crazy. So many styles over the generations and not a lot of organization. There are some that try to categorize it all, but that works as well as you’d expect. Some were lost, some erased, some weren’t passed down/recorded because “the power is all mine! Ahahaha!” It took a lot of time and collaboration, but eventually a sort of system was installed to help out. Still a lot of work to do, but its a step forward. Nowadays the term Wild Magic is generally reserved for those that aren’t all that well documented and understood.
Some Magics are very powerful and desirable, but also tend to be very high risk/high reward, kinda pass/fail, pretty literally Do or Die most times. So not a lot of people can use those or are even willing to. Story says this one guy named Odin hung himself on a massive tree by his own spear for nine days, no food water or rest in constant pain before he could unlock the secret of Runes. But it’s also said he gouged out his own eye to drink from the Well of Wisdom so…
There are lots of different ways to channel magic too: wands, staves, jewelry, certain gems, familiars, potions, enchanted armaments, chants, scripts, etc. Each tool has its own advantages and disadvantages and play into a Witches’ style. Every Witch has at least two methods of spellcasting. Only children have one. Haven’t thought of how Luz gets her Palisman though. Maybe its one of those magic Artifacts like Dr. Strange’s cloak, Elder Wand, Thor’s hammer, or a Green Lantern’s Ring. Something that can’t be recreated because the secret is lost, materials no longer exist, too hard/dangerous to make, accident that can’t be recreated, etc. Happens more often than people like.
Camilla is sometimes called the Blue Witch. She’s a healer by heart and trade, but push her and she will become a one Witch Battleship. Bismark who? Aaaaand she just deleted a whole battalion. And the fortress behind them. Hide me. There are the very rare occasions, like count on one hand rare, when someone near and dear to her heart is in trouble that she takes up her other job. She’s especially terrifying when she decides to torture, those who know how to heal the body know best how to break it. Many shades of Blue, some are very close to Black. She doesn’t necessarily hate Humans exactly, but doesn’t have the highest of regard from past experiences.
Luz has training and is a proficient Witch for her age. Camilla and her father were adamant about having a general knowledge/skillset alongside her specialized skill. Jack of all trades and a master of none, still better than a master of one. She has gone through the system for her magic with varying success. Oracle magic? Zero talent. Bard classes? She can play an instrument, but can’t sing at the same time. When she does sing she tires too hard and messes up. It’s only when she doesn’t try, like absently singing along with a song or playing by her heart, that she’s good at it. Beasts? Can use them, but would rather play with them. Bleeding heart and all that. She does have a good handle on healing magic partly due to Camilla drilling necessary skills into her and partly osmosis. Her father arranged for some CQC lessons from an old friend of his which the girl loved. You get the idea. It wasn’t until she discovered Glyphs that she found her niche and her skills took off. Glyphs are one of those ‘eccentric’ or 'archaic’ styles since they haven’t been used in so long after being lost and are barely understood. She still has a long way to go, but she is on her way.
Luz never really had much in the way of friends, partly cuz of high profile parents which leads to certain pressures and a target on her head, partly because of her magic style and personality, and partly because of the trouble been going on. Luz grew up her whole life with this tension of a group of anarchists trying to burn society that’s just trying to do the right thing. The anarchists started small, but have been a growing problem the past few decades with talk how to 'reshape the world’ in not a good way. Anyone with critical thinking skills can tell this is a bad idea, but they are too brainwashed to notice. They harass anyone who doesn’t follow their rhetoric and attack anyone who even questions them. Luz’s parents put a real kink in a lot of their plans for years, which makes Luz guilty by association.
Luz got caught in one of those sudden larger scuffles and was accidentally chucked/blown through a portal created by an attempted tactical retreat that went off course. Hence why she can’t go home because she hasn’t learned how to do portals yet. Those are high level anyway so how did these guys pull it off so easily? Luz has a hard time blending in obviously. Learning how to use a phone was a fun endeavor. Internet was a trip. Luz is amazed how these people can do all this cool stuff without magic. Keep a low profile sure, she can pass off as a weird out of town kid. Keep the beanie on, underperform in gym and stuff because some things don’t change, like genetics. Someone sharp eyed will see discrepancies. The Beanie has a small Glamor spell built in that covers her witchy traits but she forgot the ears which is why it sits like it does. Luz can erase memories in case she has an accident, but it’s less of a 'remove my face from this picture with a scalpel’, and more of a 'lemme just hack off the past hour or three from your brain with an axe.’ If she tries to take any more then she starts burning into some more dangerous territory and those Wiped are groggy and disoriented for a while after already. Then the magic attacks start happening and her heroic instinct/anti-bystander complex kicks in and there goes that. It runs in the family so Camilla isn’t surprised in the slightest when she finds out.
“Oh titan, why did you curse me with another me?” “I’m right here Mami!”
Eda has a shack very akin to Grunkle Stan. Lots of junk that Lilith can’t believe that people are dumb enough to buy. She’s also involved in some not so legal dealings on the side. Well, Eda isn’t actually hurting anybody and the tax dollars she should be paying would only go towards some politicians’ next yacht or another pointless overseas 'investment’ instead of where it’s supposed to go so. Eda does give some good intel on occasion and a place to vent so Lillith overlooks her. Lil’s more of the secret police for witches and a petty crook isn’t part of her job anyway. Eda understands Luz’s predicament and is willing to help. The cover story is that Camilla work in hospitals and has to work crazy hours while her dad passed away so is living with Eda for a while. King is that kind of critter that grew up weird and acts like ten different animals all the time.
Gus is the nerdy kid who infodumps on everybody, even if they’re not listening. Loves anything fantasy/sci-fi related and plays Minecraft too. A good kid at heart, but needs some social skills. Keep him away from anything more sugary than tea. Luz learned a lot listening to him. Not all of it is entirely useful, but still. Some of his ramblings give her some good ideas for magic and stuff, like putting Glyphs on cards.
The Blights are the cool rich kids obviously, and have some discipline and social issues. Big family name makes them intimidating for normies and a meal ticket for the unsavory. These kids need real friends. They decided to act out to get some attention from the parents who then decided to ignore them. “If you’re going to act like a child tantrum, get treated like one.” Ed is perfect for Drama classes, if he were allowed to partake. Can’t decide what Em is great at, hacking perhaps? Amity’s car is an inheritance from the only family to treat her as such Twins aside, even if she’s too young to remember it. She only remembers that she has feelings surrounding the car. All three of them were pretty impressed with Luz for standing up to them, calling them out on their shit, and not giving a crap about their family name. Being treated like a normal person is pretty weird. Can we get her to do that again?
Amity tried dating Boscha once, didn’t work out very well. Boscha is still hurting over Amity’s comment of “I’d rather go date the new weird kid (Luz) than go back to you.” It’s one of the reasons she goes after Luz. She has that kind of Bud personality from Spider Man, feels lesser and so acts out so much.
“Wow, this new Witch is amazing. Not as cool as the original Witch.”
“What is it with the Witch with you?”
“Oh, she’s a hero. Looks out for the city and the little guy. She inspires me. Makes me want to be a bigger person. *sees Luz* What’s up Luz-er?”
~
And that’s what I got right now. I know there was more, but it’s lost to the void right now. Might come back later, maybe not. Lemme know what you think.
............
DAMN you weren’t lying when you said you had an info-dump this is *chefs kiss* you got me intrigued now
#asks#reverse au#info dump#the owl house#toh#ideas#long post#also sorry about adding the break i hope thats cool#magic#human realm#boiling isles#luz noceda#willow park#gus porter#boscha#amity blight#luz#willow#gus#amity#camila noceda#camila#eda clawthorne#eda#the blights#submission
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Take a break
Mutual masturbation
Read on AO3
“Could you please stop that music, I’m trying to concentrate here”
It was 4 pm and Adam was trying to do his homework while Ronan listened to his godawful music. He had gone there under the impression that Ronan would help him with his Latin at some point, but it didn’t seem like it was going to happen. Blue and Gansey had gone on a date, or so they called it, around the lay lines to see if they could find anything and left both boys alone at the warehouse.
“Sorry” Ronan got up from the sofa he was laying on to turn off the cd player. He stood there, looking at Adam for a moment. The sun was hitting him in a way that made him look almost angelic, he was facing the windows and when he looked up, his brown eyes turned to honey. Ronan kept looking even after they made eye contact.
“I can’t get any of this in my head,” Adam said in a frustrated tone. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Maybe you should take a break, people need those you know,” Ronan was tired of seeing him so miserable. He needed some distraction and maybe he could help with that.
working at Monmouth livingroom Ronan napping on sofa with headphones on.
“if your brain is fried you won’t be able to study for shit, Parrish”
“Maybe you’re right” he let out a tired sigh and got up to look through the window. Maybe he just needed some fresh air before going back to what he was doing.
He didn’t notice Ronan getting closer to where he was but he felt his presence when he stopped by his side. They then looked at each other without exchanging a word and Ronan turned to face him directly. Adam didn’t know where this was going, sometimes he just needed the silent company, but when Ronan broke the eye contact to grab the bottom seam of his shirt, he got a pretty clear idea of what his intentions were.
He stepped closer as if he were to analyze the fabric of the infamous Coca-Cola shirt Adam wore so often. His hand moved closer to his skin but not enough to touch him, it felt close to a whisper. Pulling the shirt to him slightly Ronan asked “is this ok?”
His voice was soft, almost as his hand had been at that first almost-touch. They were both looking down, the tension in the air was practically palpable and neither of them was brave enough to face it.
“Yes”
This didn’t feel like a surprise to them, though. They knew they were attracted to each other, that was no secret. They knew the looks and the subtle touches that would occur from time to time. It was just a matter of time until something like this happened.
Slowly, Adam’s shirt lifted up to go through his head. He couldn’t help but try to cover his chest almost as a reflex from the weird feeling of someone looking at him.
He looked at Ronan who was admiring what he had uncovered. Adam reached out to grab his shirt just like he had done but asking for permission with a look instead of words.
Ronan was too deep in thought or, more accurately, on the lack of thereof, to say anything so he just nodded his head.
Since Ronan was taller, Adam had to get closer to take his shirt off comfortably. When he finally got it off, their chests were pressed together and both boys looked at each other expectantly.
Adam was very unsure of what to do next, he had hooked up with Blue but this was a whole new territory. A shy hand touched his hip, right at the waist of his jeans. Ronan could feel his hipbone through the fabric and tentatively moved his thumb closer to the button to insinuate what his next move would be. Adam copied him.
“Are you hard?”
“Maybe” Ronan answered “are you?”
“Yeah” Adam grabbed his hand and placed it right on his bulge. Ronan seemed surprised with that move but he decided to do the same with the other boy’s hand.
Slowly, Adam opened his jeans and put both hands on Ronan’s hips to pull them down. His eyes shifted to look at Adam and when their eyes met again they couldn’t help but lean forward. Lips brushing together but not kissing, Ronan’s hand went to his cheek to direct where he wanted them to go. He walked backward until he found a table no one seemed to be using.
Then Adam pressed forward, hands on the other boy’s ass to pull the jeans down as far as he could while standing up. He kissed hard but made sure to savor every second of it.
Ronan’s hands came down to pull his jeans down just like Adam had done. He then put his arms around his body to hold him in place as if he was scared he would pull away from him.
“Let me touch you,” Adam said shily. His eyes were closed and Ronan could observe his face freely. He grabbed one of his hands that were still on his ass and drove it back to where his dick was.
“Here,” He said as if it weren’t completely obvious where he had put Adam’s hand. He smiled and looked at Ronan who put both his arms on his shoulders.
Adam grabbed his dick and started doing circles at the tip with his thumb.
“Is that good?” He said softly.
“Fuck yes it is” Ronan started breathing more rapidly. He wasn’t dreaming or at least he thought so “Can I touch you too?”
Adam’s hand stop for a second, probably surprised by the question. “Yeah, I guess”
“Yes or no, Parrish” Ronan’s forehead was pressed on Adam’s and they were looking directly into each other’s eyes.
“Yes,” he said with a surer tone. Not a second later, Ronan’s hand was on his dick twisting his hand around it which earned him a gasp from the other boy.
Hands continued to move, trying to find a pace. Adam switched from what he was doing to moving his hand up and down alternating the pressure. Ronan couldn’t think straight so his movements were sloppy and all over the place but he somehow was making it work by stimulating the tip of Adam’s dick.
Ronan pushed him closer to him and their dicks collided in between their bodies making them moan loudly in unison. Adam used their current position to press his hard dick against Ronan’s one more time and placed his hand around both of them at once.
“Adam what-” Ronan got cut off by his own involuntary moan. Adam was moving his hand around both dicks even if he couldn’t close his hand around them.
“Shut the fuck up”
Ronan then decided to join Adam in what he was doing. Both boys were gasping for air, holding onto each other for support.
They continued with the sloppy up and down movements, one dick next to each other, and after a couple of seconds, Adam could already feel the rush of the release starting to build up.
A soft please scaped Adam’s lips and that’s when Ronan lost all the self-control that he had left. He came with a moan right on Adam’s chest and hand which made him come right after.
They were both gasping, looking intensely at each other almost as if they were trying to communicate through their eyes.
“That was” Adam started “holy shit”
“Yeah”
“You’re so eloquent” he grinned
“Shut up, I’ll go get a paper towel” Ronan tried to pull his pants up but didn’t want to make a mess.
He ended up grabbing some paper towels from the kitchen and made his way back to where they had been just a moment ago.
Adam did his best to clean himself while Ronan just admired him. Would this be a regular thing from now on or were they meant to never mention it again?
Ronan wasn’t sure how to act.
“Are you going back to study?”
“I don’t know, I think I want to chill for a bit,” he said unsure of his words.
“Oh, okay. Do you wanna share the sofa?”
Adam laughed at that. That seemed so innocent after what they had done, he suddenly felt like a teenager hanging out with their crush for the first time.
#kinktober 2021#kinktober#adam parrish#ronan lynch#ronan x adam#pynch#pynch fic#fanfiction#ao3fic#kink prompts#the raven cycle#smut#my writing
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prepared - adam du mortain x f!detective (twc)
day 25 – regret
author’s note: this outline was 2 pages long from weeks ago and i’m so glad i was able to figure out a non-angsty response to this one. thanks so much for the request, @agentnolastname. this ended up being a full fic pretty much, i hope you all enjoy!
copyright: all characters, except my oc detective, are owned by mishka jenkins @seraphinitegames.
series/pairing: the wayhaven chronicles – adam du mortain x f!detective (regina bishop)
rating/warnings: 16+; suggestive imagery
word count: ~2k
based on/prompt: day 25 – regret from #28dateswithunitbravo challenge by @wayhavenmonthly
summary: after a heated night where adam panicked, regina is left confused and hurt.
prepared
regina walked into the living room, smiling at the sight of adam reading quietly on the couch, on one of their rare days off. they had implicitly agreed to explore things between them, and she was both excited and terrified. more often the former than the latter these days, especially when he was like this, relaxed and willing to stay in her company.
“you’re staring,” he murmured, without looking up and turning the page of his book.
she tried to suppress her giddy smile as she bounced over to him, standing in front of him and casting a shadow over his book until he was forced to look up at her. she reached down and removed the book from his hands, carefully placing it on the seat next to him. he looked at her quizzically, the raised eyebrow dropping to meet the other as she placed her hands on his shoulders before settling her knees on either side of his thighs.
she sat down, comfortably seated on his thighs and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“how can i not stare at you?” she said with a soft smile. “you’re gorgeous.”
the corner of his lips quirked up into a smile against his will. “how could i possibly compare to you?” he said, delicately placing his hands on her hips.
regina hummed. “i guess you can’t,” she grinned cheekily, sliding slightly closer and watching a faint blush creep up his neck and color his cheeks.
she ran her thumbs along his jaw and tilted his head back, her attention squarely on his lips. her eyes flicked upward hesitantly before she tilted her head down, feeling his pulse quicken and his throat still under her hands as though he was holding his breath. she moved slowly, to give him the space to stop her, but his grip on her hips only tightened slightly. his mouth parted and regina closed the gap between them, closing her eyes at the feel of his soft lips moving against hers and soft moans vibrating between them.
his thumbs slipped under the hem of her shirt, whether consciously or not, she wasn’t sure, but it spurred a desire to be bolder than she usually was with adam in moments like this. her tongue danced with his when his mouth parted again, her hips mirroring the movements. she ground against him, hands moving toward his back and under his shirt, trying to close the nonexistent gap between them.
a low growl escaped adam’s throat and sent a thrill down regina’s spine. she could feel that he was hard even through their clothing and the sensation spurred her on, the room around them fading away as she ground harder and faster against him.
“adam,” she sighed, in-between kisses, moving her hands to slip under his shirt.
he froze at the sound of her voice and pulled away, stilling her hips and shifting her back. regina opened her eyes, stunned and confused, shifting her weight back on his lap.
“hey, it’s okay. it’s just me,” she said softly at the sight of his panicked expression. she moved closer to him again, settling herself against his hips.
he refused to meet her eye, standing abruptly instead, the sudden movement threatening to send her flying off him and onto the floor. his arms wrapped around her back and he set her on her feet before turning and walking toward the hallway.
“i’m—i’m sorry,” he said quickly, turning his face toward her without making eye contact before disappearing from the room.
what just happened? regina wondered, collapsing against the couch and wrapping her arms around her knees. maybe she had pushed him too quickly? the nature and state of their relationship was still a question mark, but she had thought they were making progress. maybe their relationship wasn’t meant to get physical.
or maybe it was just her. tears started prickling behind her eyes as she desperately tried to push away her deep-rooted insecurity trying to claw its way to the surface and drown her from the inside.
a few days later, at the police station
adam looked at the station doors from behind a nearby tree, internally warring with himself as to whether it was really the best time to talk about what happened a few nights ago. he certainly never pictured himself wanting to have a personal conversation about their relationship while regina was on duty, but the thought that she may have been left with the wrong impression about his intentions toward her didn’t sit well with him.
his shoulders tensed at the sudden sound of someone whistling near the station. he peeked around the tree, only to clench his jaw at the sight of the nosy reporter making his way into the station. no doubt to bother the detective.
regina sighed as she nudged the stack of paperwork to the edge of her desk with her forearm, pushing her keyboard as far back as it could go so she could rest her forehead on her arms. the last few days hadn’t been easy, between the impromptu agency meetings regarding new supernatural species moving to the area and mediating a territory dispute in the forest. it barely left time for sleep, let alone a chance for her and adam to talk.
if she was being honest, she knew she was avoiding the conversation and welcomed the additional work. but she also knew she couldn’t let this drag on much longer. there was still an awkward tension around them, even though she did her best to remain professional.
“your bodyguard isn’t around today,” bobby’s voice cut through her small office, his face partially obscured by the narrow glass vase in his hands encasing a few red roses.
“he’s not my bodyguard,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“is he your boyfriend?” bobby asked, jealousy clearly marking his features.
regina faltered and looked away. “not exactly, no.”
she could almost hear the smirk that appeared on bobby’s face and looked back at him to find that he had stepped closer to her. “so you’re single, and i’m single, so why don’t i take you out for a nice valentine’s day dinner, like old times? i even got you your favorite flowers.”
she shuddered at the memories of their past valentine’s celebrations together, none of which had been particularly pleasant for her. she eyed the vase as he set it down on the desk in front of her, placing his palms carefully on the wood surface and leaning toward her.
“first of all, those aren’t my favorite flowers. you would know that if you paid attention. and given our history, it’s incredibly bold of you to bring me roses and ask me out on a date,” she said, pursing her lips together to prevent her train of thought (presumptive asshole) from being spoken out loud.
bobby took a step back with a hand over his chest in mock hurt. “you wound me, angel.”
“just get out of here bobby,” she said, gritting her teeth.
“that’s not a no, so i’ll pick you up at seven, angel,” he called out as he headed out of her office.
she came to her senses at the nickname, standing up and rounding her desk quickly. “it’s always going to be a no to you!” she snapped at his retreating back, but he merely waved his hand at her without looking back.
regina let out a frustrated yell, grabbing the vase he had set on her desk and threw it as hard as she could at the far wall, the sound of it shattering and falling to the floor in pieces doing little to release the tension in her shoulders.
adam had waited patiently outside the door to regina’s office, not wanting to interrupt her conversation with the reporter, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t listening to every exchange between them, his grip on the doorknob tightening and warping the metal before he realized and tucked his hand into his pocket instead. he moved swiftly to the side as bobby walked out and glared at him, and it was all adam could to do suppress the urge to knock him unconscious.
he knocked twice and walked in, surveying the room briefly, lingering on the broken vase and scattered flowers before meeting her gaze. “i will not be paying for that,” he said, his mouth curving upward into a gentle smile.
regina couldn’t help but smile and appreciate that he was actually joking with her. “not that i’m complaining, but what are you doing here? i figured you’d be busy today,” she said, moving back to sit on the edge of her desk.
adam’s smile faded and regina noticed his eyes had turned a conflicted green, shifting from an icy green to its usual warm emerald. she wasn’t sure if she had seen him this nervous before; one of the things she appreciated about him was that he didn’t beat around the bush.
he finally looked at her and clasped his hands behind his back. “i wanted to talk about what happened the other night,” he said finally.
a weight settled in her stomach. “oh, right,” she said, swallowing nervously.
“i regret the way i reacted. and you deserve an explanation,” he said softly, stepping closer to her as if that would ease the awkwardness between them.
regina shook her head, trying not to let her disappointment show. “it’s okay, adam. i know we never talked about it, but it’s alright if you’re not interested in anything more physical. i can respect that. and it doesn’t change how i feel about you.”
his eyebrows shot up so quickly that regina thought they might fly off his face. “you are mistaken.”
at the frown on her face, he cleared his throat and followed up quickly, “i am very interested. i was just… unprepared that evening and you deserve… more.”
unprepared? she thought the word choice was odd since it wasn’t like they had planned to do anything physical; she had just gone with her instincts after all. although she vaguely remembered adam telling her once that he hadn’t been with anyone in that way since before he was turned.
understanding dawned on regina’s face. “oh adam, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about, i promise. it happens.”
“still, i want to make sure you are aware of how… receptive i am to progressing our physical relationship as well. in fact, i have thought about it often,” he said warmly, but the underlying tone was suggestive.
the way he said it, as his gaze slowly trailed down the length of her body and back up, sent a shiver up her spine. her mouth parted open in surprise at his boldness as she met his gaze, icy and full of fire at the same time, the intensity of them stealing her breath and rooting her to the spot, raising her body temperature even though he was still a few feet away.
he stepped slowly, but surely, closer to her until he was hovering over her and regina had to tilt her head up to look at him from where she was perched on her desk. he leaned down and captured her lips with his, her body reacting instantly, hands moving to his waist as his tangled themselves in her hair. his lips were fire and water, each movement against hers sending sparks down her throat and drowning her at the same time.
when he finally pulled away, she felt flushed from head to toe and cleared her throat, “well, i’m probably not going to get any work done today.”
adam looked a little proud that he had flustered her so visibly. “perhaps i can help you later this evening then. we can do… paperwork at your apartment together,” he said slowly.
the deliberate way he paused before the word “paperwork” made her breath hitch and she could only nod.
he walked out of the office backwards with deliberate steps, putting his sunglasses on slowly before turning away, but not before regina noticed the smirk on his lips. she looked at the pile of paperwork on her desk and knew that the end of the day couldn’t come fast enough.
* * * * *
permatag: @kelseaaa; @kat-tia801; @anotherbeingsworld; @crackerdumortain; @pearlsandsteel; @gloynporslen; @sosolenoo; @alyssalauren; @wayhavenots; @gingerbreton; @takemyopenheart; @writer-ish; @fhauvilles;
#28DWUB#the wayhaven chronicles#adam du mortain#adam x detective#twc#twc adam#detective regina bishop#adam x regina#adam du mortain x regina bishop#my prompt fill#my writing#twc prompt fills#28dateswithunitbravo#day 25#regret#agentnolastname#ask#twc fic#twc fanfic#twc fanfiction#not choices#adam du mortain x detective#my detective
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