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yandere-daydreams · 1 year

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Title: Upkeep.

Commissioned by the very lovely, very indulgent @furudolove.

Pairing: Yandere!OC x F!Reader.

Word Count: 3.6k.

TW: Non/Con, Oral Sex, Overstimulation, Implied Drug Use, Implied Stalking, Unhealthy Relationships, and Slight Infantilization.

“So, these were your big plans?”

You nestled farther into the couch, nodding as to the affirmative. Luna let out a bark of a laugh, watching from the closest loveseat as you freed a single arm from your self-inflicted tangle of blankets and adjusted the volume of the god-awful, absolutely perfect reality show you were watching – something about a dozen or so insanely attractive b-rated influencers fraternizing on an island; fucking, fighting, and doing very little else. In other words, peak television.

“I’ve heard that some people go shopping on their days off, or hiking— can you believe that? There are actually people out there who’d voluntarily leave their apartments?”

You shrug, gesturing towards the T.V. “And there are other people in here that have half a dozen seasons of Love Peninsula to catch up on.”

“I know I said I was up for anything, but…” She trailed off, eyeing the screen (and, by association, the montage of shirtless men and bikini-clad women flashing across it) warily. “Are you absolutely sure there’s nothing you’d rather be doing? Nothing you’d rather do with me?”

“I mean, I might make popcorn in a couple hours. When Cindy realizes Brent still isn't over Sierra.”

“C’mon, it’s obvious she’s delusional. You’d be lucky if she notices before the finale.”

“You have been watching, you liar. Do you think Monica and Kyle are actually going to make it past the next elimination, or—"

“(Y/n).”

“Right. Their first kiss was pretty cute, so they’ll probably make it another—” She narrowed her eyes, and you cut yourself off. Sitting up, you gave her your most pleading smile. Between your job and your classes, the former full of last-minute call-ins and never-available coworkers while the latter seemed to consist entirely of textbooks you didn’t have the energy or the time to read and tests you could never seem to pass, it felt like this was the first day you'd had to yourself in weeks. You were exhausted, and as pathetic as it sounded, there was nothing you wanted to do more than lay on your (or, technically, your roommate’s) couch, shovel junk food into your mouth, and watch the romantic lives of strangers disintegrate until you couldn’t remember a single second from the past two months. “I know, I know, but I feel like I’ll fall apart if I push myself further. I promise, we can do something fun and exciting and outdoorsy next time, but today,” You shook the remote. “It’s just me and the peninsula, babe.”

She rolled her eyes, but gave in quickly. Pushing herself to her feet, Luna stretched before turning towards you, both hands coming to rest on her hips. “I’ll leave you alone with the new love of your life, then. And, since I’m going to assume you won’t be getting up for the next twelve hours, I’m bringing you something to drink, too.” She paused, grinned. “Any requests?”

You hesitated. Luna didn’t have a reason to take care of you. She was your roommate, not your girlfriend, even if she had always been the overly-affectionate type. She liked to go behind your back, sometimes, wake up an hour before you to make breakfast despite her hours being nearly as hellish as yours, overpay on her half of the rent and attempt to write it off as your landlord’s mistake, and usually, you tried not to let her get away with it, to repay her kindness when you could and not accept it at all, when you knew you wouldn’t be able to. Usually, you’d brush her off, tell her to go out and enjoy herself. Usually, you wouldn’t let her baby you, but today…

“Can you make that tea again?” You asked, too tired to feel as ashamed as you should’ve. “The one with the mint leaves? And that weird not-quite-herbal taste?”

She sighed, shook her head, but a few minutes later, there was a warm mug in your hands, the beverage inside more bitter than you expected it to be but no less satisfying. You drained half the mug in the first sip, finished it in the second, and in an instant, any remaining scrap of tension in your body had evaporated. You melted back into your place on the couch, and Luna chuckled, leaning forward. You felt her hands on your shoulders, her thumbs digging into the flesh above your shoulder blades. You winced out of reflex, at first, but what little pain there was subsided into a subtle, but not completely unpleasant pressure as she pushed slow, steady circles into the muscles of your back.

Luna let out a low whistle as you leaned into her forceful touch. “You weren’t kidding. You’re as stiff as a plank, poor thing.”

“I mean, yeah. That’s kind of what I’m trying to fix.” You tried to sound sardonic, self-aware, but you had to bite your tongue not to groan as she found a particularly tense patch of muscle near the top of your spine. “Thanks for the reminder?”

She stopped, abruptly, letting you go with a low hum of disapproval. “I’m going to need you to lay down. If you don’t get a proper massage, your body might just give out on you.”

Her tone didn’t leave room for protest, but you tried to shake your head, to smile as you brushed her off. “You don’t have to do everything for me, y’know.”

“It’ll take five minutes.” She was rounding the couch. “Come on. I’ll have to do even more for you if you manage to give yourself early-onset paralysis.”

“Do you even have a license?”

“Lie down.”

Again, on any other day, you might’ve argued, but…

But, it just wasn’t worth it, today. You didn’t have the energy.

So, you laid down, folding your arms underneath your head and trying not to shift as Luna straddled your lower thighs. Her hands slipped under the hem of your tank-top, and you forced yourself not to flinch as she slipped the thin piece of fabric over your head. It was fine. Luna probably didn’t think anything of it. She was usually topless at home, and if she wasn’t, it meant she hadn’t put on enough clothes to just be topless, yet. You’d never met anyone so determined not to sleep in their own bed, which wouldn’t be an issue if she wasn’t equally as determined to sleep in the nude. You tried not to complain, though. It was her name on the lease, and you didn't want to be down a friend and a place to live just because you've seen more of your roommate than you'd honestly like to.

You jolted when she reached for the clasp of your bra, but Luna only chuckled, resting a hand on your shoulder and easing you back onto your chest. “Easy there,” She laughed. “You don’t expect me to work with this in the way, do you?”

“I… I guess not?” It was more of a question than explicit permission, but she rewarded you with a soft squeeze to your side. Your bra was removed as carelessly as your tank top, and after you made a feeble attempt to protect what was left of your modesty with a stray blanket, Luna continued.

She was kind enough to start gently. She favored the areas she had before – your upper back, your shoulders, the curve of your spine. You felt her blunt nails scrape over your skin, and occasionally, she seemed to press a little too hard, to aim for a spot that was a little too sensitive, but her slip-ups were few and far between, and slowly, you let yourself relax underneath her. As you let your guard down, she was able to move lower, to knead her fingertips into the muscle of your lower back and work out the knots of tension you hadn’t realized existed, not until Luna hit a nerve you couldn’t name and a wave of something warm and loose washed over you. This time, you were too slow to bite back the low whine that slipped past your lips, but Luna only laughed. She must’ve done this before. She didn’t seem fazed by anything, but then again, she never really did.

“This might be the most time we’ve spent together all month, y’know.” It was phrased light-heartedly, but guilt ate away at the back of your throat, nonetheless. She wasn’t wrong. You’d been busy – either away at work or locked in your room, studying. You didn’t have a lot of time to spend with anyone, let alone the roommate you’d known for a grand total of six months. Despite loving dearly, of course. “It’s hard not to feel a little neglected.”

You swallowed, dryly. “I’m sorry. I guess I’ve been busy, lately.”

You must’ve been more tired than you realized. Your eyes felt too heavy to keep open, and your body felt… strange, too, so numb and so hot and so cold, simultaneously. This time, you couldn’t bring yourself to believe it was part of the massage. “And I tried to take such good care of you, too,” Luna went on, as if you hadn’t said anything at all. “Do you know how hard it was to catch your attention? To get an ad out where I knew you would have to see it? I thought you might be easier to keep a hold on once we were living together, but even now, you’re too distracted to do so much as look at me.”

Her voice was still quiet, her tone still teasing, but dampened hostility laced her words. Her anger barely shined through, and yet, you weren’t sure you’d ever seen her so mad.

You tried to arch your back, to push yourself up, but it was all you could to do curl your fingertips into your palms, to force your eyes open. She was still on top of you, but her touch has changed – more lingering, less precise, any pretense of delicacy or purpose growing more and more distant with each passing second. You felt her hands fall to your waist, then your hips, her blunt nails digging into your ass as you let out a choked, panicked sound. It wasn’t a scream - it was still Luna, you’d never scream because of Luna – but you weren’t sure it would’ve made a difference, if it had been.

“I mean, a little attention is the least you could give me. I’ve been paying your bills for… what? Half a year? And your ‘rent’—” She cut herself off with an airy laugh. “A place like this for a rate like that? You have to know how much I've been doing for you, even if you always did like to play had to get.”

You didn’t know what she was talking about. You didn’t know what she was trying to say. You didn’t know what she was doing – or, rather, what she seemed to be getting ready to do. With a soft hum, she pressed a light kiss into the dip of your shoulder before straightening her back, shifting slightly. With deliberate, light movements, she drew you upward, chuckling as your limp body came to rest against her chest, your legs still trapped underneath you. “See? It’s not that hard to rely on someone else,” She said, despite your feeble efforts to put any amount of distance between you and her. “It’s easier, right? And I promise, it'll feel a lot better than being so stubborn.”

It was hard to speak. You vision was blurring, now, your mind starting to lag behind with the rest of your body. “I don’t…” You tried, then trailed off, shaking your head before you forced yourself to string together something more coherent. “I don’t know if this is—”

“You’re supposed to be relaxing. Isn’t that what you said you wanted to do, princess? Straining yourself is a little against the point.” You managed to raise a hand, to shove at the arm wrapped around your midriff, but Luna only kissed your cheek, only dug her nails into your side with enough force to break the skin. “All you have to worry about is sitting pretty and letting me take care of you. That doesn’t sound too hard, does it?”

The question was rhetorical. She clearly didn’t need an answer, and judging by the way her touch drifted to your chest, how her gentleness seemed to falter as her thumbs swiped over your nipples, she didn’t seem to want one, either. You jerked forward, stifling a whimper, and Luna’s grin seemed to widen, her teeth ghosting over vulnerable skin while she groped you, occasionally pinching your chest or nipping at your neck when her sedative threatened to overtake you completely.

Eventually, she moved on, moved lower, pull your shorts off and tracing two fingers over your slit, nearing purring when she felt the damp spot that stained your panties. She hadn’t done anything to earn it, but you were already panting, already struggling to feel anything but hot. A knot of tension had formed at the pit of your stomach, and it was all you could do to press your thighs together, to try to alleviate the rolling ache in your core. “Poor baby,” Luna drawled, her voice more giddy than sympathetic. “You just need all the help you can get, don’t you?”

Your panties were torn through easily, the ruined fabric quickly discarded. Somewhere, in the back of your mind, you wished she would just touch you, do whatever she was going to do so you wouldn’t have to suffer through… whatever this was on your own, but the traitorous thought never reached the surface. Instead, Luna’s palm ground into your exposed clit, applying just enough pressure to leave you clenching your eyes shut and gritting your teeth, curling your toes and thrashing weakly against her. If she noticed your pathetic attempts at resistance, though, she didn’t seem to think it was worth her attention. She was already distracted, busy gathering your slick on her fingertips, bringing her hand up and somewhere behind you. For a few seconds, all you could hear were wet, terrible sounds before Luna giggled, squeezing you that much closer to her. You couldn’t remember seeing her this happy since…

Since the day you moved in.

You felt sick.

And yet, Luna remained unaffected. She took a moment to trace aimless, winding patters into the inside of your thigh, then seemed to lose her patience, cupping your cunt and listening to the strangled whine you let out, in response. “You know, for as long as we’ve been together, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you…” She trailed off, laughed, like that was what managed to embarrass her. “Well, touch yourself. I’ve never heard anything through the walls. I know you don’t have any toys, either. I would’ve found them by now. It's no wonder you're so pent-up. You never take the time to do anything nice for yourself.”

She was kind enough to start slowly, to keep the pad of her thumb pressed into your clit as she eased two fingers into your tight, dripping entrance. Painstakingly, she curled her digits before spreading them apart, stretching you open. “You never lock your door, either. At first, I thought you were just being cute in that ‘eager, but too shy to ask’ way, but it’s starting to seem like you’re just oblivious.” She sighed, pressed a kiss into the dip of your shoulder. “I still think it’s sweet, though. Honestly, you should count yourself lucky you ended up with someone willing to take the lead.”

She was merciless, not so much purposefully brutal as it experimental, rough in a way you had to attribute more to Luna’s impatience than any cruelty she might have. She refused to restrain herself to a certain pace, a specific rhythm – speeding up and slowing down at random, curling and straightening and scissoring her fingers apart just to see what made you tense up and shrink into yourself. You tried to bite your tongue, not to give her what you couldn’t deny she wanted, anymore, but there was only so much you could do to keep the air from hitching in your throat, to stop little whines and half-choked moans from stumbling past your lips as forced a third digit into your pussy. You twisted your head to the side, arching away from Luna as far as you could. She only held you tighter, only twisted her wrist more violently as your hips bucked into her hand, your body craving any friction it could inflict onto itself, regardless of the source. “This is going to be the first time I get to watch you cum,” She whispered, her excitement nearly tangible. “You really ought to take better care of yourself. Then, the person who loves you wouldn’t have to work so hard to do it for you.”

You didn’t argue. You couldn’t – you were already clenching down around her fingers, your vision burning white as your climax washed over you. Controlling your reaction would’ve been impossible, so you didn’t try to, spasming and twitching in her arms as she bullied you through your orgasm, only starting to slow down when pangs of overstimulation started to set in and your reactions turned more pained than pleasured. Even then, it took her a few more seconds to pull away, to lower you down until your back was flat against the couch and she was free to stand, to stretch, to position herself in between your open legs. Your thoughts were more coherent, now, less difficult to put together, but you were exhausted, too scared and too drained to move. You couldn’t do anything to get away from her, no matter how badly you might’ve wanted to.

“You’re so beautiful.” You didn’t know why she was still talking. You didn’t know why she bothered to. Trying to hold your attention, pretending it would make a difference if you closed your eyes and kept them closed until you were done. At least, then, the feeling of her lips ghosting over the inside of your thighs wouldn’t have been so vivid, the hands wrapping around your ankles just a little farther away. At least, this time, she didn’t try to draw it out, her lips brushing over your stomach, then your hip, eventually falling low enough for the flat of her tongue to lave over your slit. There was a soft moan, a row of nails burrowed into your skin, then her lips latched onto your clit, sucking gently and sapping out what little life you had left. She waited for you to cry out, then drew back, laughing. “And now, we’ll never have to ignore each other again.”

She sounded happy. You wanted to be happy for her, but you couldn’t seem to summon that much strength.

You let your head lull to the side as she nipped at your thigh, applying just enough force to leave the vulnerable flesh bruised and discolored. Again, she failed to settle on a certain goal, failed to set a pace you could latch onto – opting to keep you on the edge, to alternate between tracing patterns into your slit and fucking your shallowly with her tongue, humming and groaning in a way that seemed to shoot straight to your core. You tried to focus on something else, to keep your eyes on the blankest wall in your peripheral or give in to the cooling numbness slowly taking the place of the heat she’d inflicted onto you, but it was an effort made in vain. She knew you too well, even if you were starting to think you didn’t know her at all.

Her hands drifted to your hips, pinning you to the couch as she spread your legs that much farther, as she moaned shamelessly into your cunt. Everything she did was messy, and selfish, and too fast and too drawn out and too reckless all at the same time and it was working. You’d been helpless when she split you open with her fingers, too desperate to cum to feel anything except that lurking, clawing need, but she was able to edge you towards the cliffside, now, to force you to feel the tension building up in the pit of your stomach, slowly coiling tighter and tighter and tighter until you couldn’t help but clench your thighs together around her head, but ball at the blankets laid out underneath you and squirm, your hips involuntarily rocking against her mouth. This time, when you reached your climax, you were forced to let it wash over you, a frozen wave no less overpowering for how long it took to build up. There was nothing you could do to stave it off, but you weren’t sure you’d be willing to try, anymore.

When it ended, you could only close your eyes, making a weak effort to roll onto your side and curl into yourself. You felt Luna stand, heard her click her tongue before taking you into her arms. Vaguely, you were aware that she was carrying you back to her room, laying you across a plush bed, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care, even as something very cold and very stiff wrapped around your ankle. Luna leaned over you, pressing a lingering kiss into your temple. “It’s alright, love. You can sleep for a while.” Her tone was soft, soothing. You couldn’t help but lean into the palm that pressed into your cheek, to listen as she went on, no matter how difficult it was to listen to her voice, now.

“I’ll be hear to take care of you when you wake up.”

#woman loving wednesday #except actually on wednesday this time #yandere x you #yandere imagines #yandere oneshot #yandere oc #yanderecore #yancore #yandere #yandere x reader

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ikykwkleeknoww · 7 months

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Iced Caramel Latte -l.f

Felix x female oc

Warnings: (slight) cursing, yongbook being delusional

WC: 1.1k

An: I rarely see any skz x thick/oversized etc. fics so I decided to make one myself. And I’ve never crossed path with an x middle-eastern/poc fic either.

The bell rang, signaling that the door opened and a costumer either walked in or out. Felix looked up to see a woman, who is probably his age, enter. He was absolutely mesmerized by her plush body, the way her thighs slightly jiggled and her hips swayed as she walked towards him. "Hi," her sweet voice greeted.

"W-welcome to Heathers Cafe, what can I get you today?" His ears turned red and he parted his lips to stick his tongue to the left corner of his mouth. "I'll have an Iced Caramel Latte please”, she let out a light chuckle at his shy behavior. "Of course, uh the name?" His voice spoke with a bit more confidence now.

"Jasmine, but call it Jas," she smiled, slight dimples showing. "That's a lovely name, Jas. Is there a reason why you don't want to be called by your full name?" The employee remarked as he wrote down the name and started doing her order. "Not really, I just think Jasmine is a bit overemphasized" she stated honestly.

"How come? I also want to note that you don't have to tell me something you're not comfortable about. I don't wanna push you," he respectfully affirmed her "Ah no you good. Well my parents are from the middle-eastern, Jasmine is an accident name of the Persian origin and means 'gift of god' if I remember it correctly." She set quotation marks in the air with her fingers.

"Damn it Jas," he replied

"What?" She questioned chuckling

"It's just,,, I dunno. I think a pretty woman should wear a pretty name. I do not have anything against the way you want to be called, but it's kind of upsetting to throw away such a meaningful name." He told her genuinely and placed her order in front of her.

"You think so? I've never thought about it that way”, she pulled out her wallet to pay. The employee added "do you want anything else? You could try some Home-made goodies we have, like cookies or brownies."

Jasmine grinned at his vocabulary "I don't see why I shouldn't. I'll take the brownies," the other one already turned on his heels "but after you told me your name." The young man turned back and playfully bowed like a servant "how rude of me, I am Felix, your majesty."

Jasmine laughed out loud, but instantly threw her hands to her mouth to muffle the noise she caused. Her eyes quickly scanned the other costumers, only to see a few of them glancing at the two by the counter. Felix was already preparing a brownie on a plate, placing it on the counter next to them. "Sit down and enjoy, if you don't have anywhere to be right now”, he smiled at her mischievously.

The latter released a chuckle and sat down on one of the tall barstools by the counter. Felix passed her a fork and carefully watched her take the first bite of the cake. She hummed satisfied, closing her eyes for a second "damn this is so good! I've never tasted heaven like this before".

The elders ears turned red, "glad you like it"

"Who's recipe is this?" Jasmine cheerfully asked

"It's my grandmother's, she had taught me how to do it before she moved back to Australia".

"That's so~ adorable", Felix coed at her little squeak. "Please marry me and bake them every day", the joke left her lips and the male opposite her could only mutter under his breath. "Gladly".

°°°

The next day came by and Jasmine got back to the cafe around the corner.

She was greeted by a smiley Felix who just finished serving another costumer, wishing them a nice day. "Hey Jasmine, same as yesterday?" He received a nod from her side, beginning to make the Iced Caramel Latte. The female took the same seat she took the previous day.

He was about to grasp a brownie with the tongs, but was stopped by her calming voice "actually, I'd like to try the cookies today". "Oh yeah, no problem", he placed one on the plate in his hand. As soon as she tasted the dish on her tongue, she groaned in approval. "Sign the damn papers, we're getting married. Right fucking now!" Both of them burst into a fit of laugher.

°°°

Jas continued visiting 'Heathers Cafe' everyday and soon two weeks have passed. The two young adults got to know each other better and soon they became close friends. Jasmine walked through the entrance, beaming with happiness. Felix gasped and rushed over to her "oh my goddess, look at your hair and don't let me get started with that pretty smile of yours!"

She had spontaneously gotten a new haircut, "I got bored of my old hair, is it okay?" Felix couldn't even think straight, how can someone look so gorgeous? If he's honest with himself, Jasmine made him feel bubbly from the inside. He hasn't figured out why, but he knows at least something: as long as she is happy, he is happy too.

"Is it okay? Are you serious? You look so beautiful!" He spoke his mind without thinking, his fingers stopped twirling her hair the second he realized. He was scared that he did something wrong but when he looked in her eyes, he swore he had seen the universe in them.

"Oi Felix what are you doing, why are you not behind the counter-". A male's voice called, unconscious about the two friends activity. But as soon as he saw them his mouth closed, regret creeping up on him. Luckily they didn't hear the man, "what happened Changbin?" Another one came, standing next to the slightly buffer one. "Shhh, look at him and who is she?"

"They look adorable together. Lixie is growing up so fast, I remember him being all bold with his accessories and jewelry. And now look at him, almost married" he wiped off a fake tear of his and shortly after received a slap on his neck by Changbin. "What are you talking about Ji? You're literally one day older", the older male walked off, leaving a taken aback friend behind.

He followed straight away, not knowing about the playful discussion that was bond to happen, over a single sentence: By the way, do you call it a spork or a foon?

#stray kids fluff #stray kids #lee felix #skz fluff

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deepdarkdelights · 3 years

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10 Years (Jungkook x Reader) (10 Seconds Part 3)

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Word Count: 14.4k

Warnings: 18+, Yandere, Stalking, Obsession, Manipulation, Murder, scenes of Domestic Abuse, Mentions of Past Trauma, Mentions of Past Domestic Abuse, Mentions of Torture (not depicted), Cult Like Activity, Forced Relationships, Smut, Blood (lots of it), Fear, Contraception

I do not condone the acts displayed in this story nor do I believe any members of BTS would actually engage in this type of behavior. This is simply written for entertainment purposes and should not be taken as a reflection of my own values, opinions, or morals.

Preview: He was made for sunset, his skin was practically glowing in the golden filter of light. You had never wished more in your life that he hadn’t met you the way he did. The more time you spent with him the more you wondered what it would have been like if he had talked to you that first day of classes. Would he have still gone this far? Those were dangerous thoughts to be thinking, but when he was this gentle with you it was hard to stop the prick of tears at the corners of your eyes. He confused you so much, and you knew what this was. Acting can sometimes feel more real than it truly is.

A/N: SURPRISE! HAPPY HALLOWEEN BABIES! Just for you, here is part three! I spent a whole week dedicating hours to write it so I could have a treat ready for you this Halloween! To date, this is my favorite chapter and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did!

Read Part Here (1) // Read Part Here (2) // Read Part Here (4)

You had pissed him off, that much was obvious. His fingers were still curled into the fabric of your underwear, one flex away from ripping them off. His jaw was tense and his cheeks hallowed in irritation as he fixed you with his intense glare. Jungkook was many things to you, the number one being your source of immeasurable fear. In that moment though, your glare was just as harsh; you were just as angry as he was but for far different reasons.

You were angry, but you also weren’t stupid. You knew that this could go one of two ways. You could fight back and piss him off further resulting in another punishment or him taking you anyways. Or you could play his game.

For once, you thanked God that you were such a fucking crybaby because letting all your pent up feelings out was going to be good for what you were going to do next. Your lips trembled as your eyes watered, brimming with tears that threatened to wet your flushed cheeks. You clenched your eyes shut as a choked cry left your lips, your hand coming up to harshly smack his chest.

“You don’t really love me!” You cried, trying to roll onto your side and away from him while curling your hands into your near naked chest.

There was a pause of silence between the two of you, his confusion palpable. You pulled your legs free from him and curled up into a ball, loud sobs leaving your chest that sounded more animal than human. As your cries grew louder he finally snapped out of shock, his hands desperately reaching for you as you shrunk away from his touch.

“Baby, baby!” He called, his voice sounding more hurt each time you rejected him; shrinking into yourself further. “Of course I love you, how couldn’t I?”

“No!” You yelled, sounding more like a petulant child than a scorned lover. “All you want is to use me, you don’t care about me!” You cried dramatically, turning onto your stomach so you could bury your face in your forearms.

It was like all of the events you had endured were becoming fuel for you, each horrible thing he had done to you spurring tears upon tears to help your performance. You would make him believe you, you had to if it would buy you some time.

“That’s not true! I love you more than anything, I just wanted to show you how much I love you, baby.” He said, his hands sliding over your waist and under your stomach to turn you over to face him. Your eyes remained clenched shut as he rolled you over, your face wet and hot from the tantrum you had thrown. You almost had him, you could feel him walking straight into your trap. You had him right where you wanted him.

“You don’t care,” You sobbed, shaking your head. “You only want to have sex with me. You don’t even care about what I want.” You sniffled, bringing your shaking hands up to cover your tear streaked face.

“Fuck, that’s far from the truth. Please tell me what you want, baby. Please, I’ll do anything for you.” He whispered, his much lager hands gently curling around your smaller wrists and prying them from your face so he could catch a glimpse of you.

Your heart pounded harder at his words, your first thoughts heading towards your freedom. But you quickly stunted that thought, you knew when he said “anything” he meant “anything but that.” You would have to make do with what you had, and your first mission was to keep yourself untouched by him.

He brought your hand up to his face, pressing light kisses to each finger as soft pleas fell from his lips. He really was at your mercy, intoxicated by your scent, touch, and doe eyes. All it took was a few tears to have him like this for you. But you still knew better, you knew there was a beast lurking beneath the surface of those innocent round eyes and bunny-like smiles. You wouldn’t be fooled by him.

“I-” You began, a hiccup breaking your voice. “I want to save myself for marriage, I always have.” You said, forcing yourself to remain still as he ceased pressing kisses to your knuckles only stopping to raise your hand to cup the smooth flesh of his cheek. His eyes fluttered shut as leaned into your palm, breathing in your scent just by your pulse.

“So, you’re my good girl then? No one else has touched you?” He asked, long lashes still grazing the dips beneath his eyes.

You nodded in affirmation only to realize he still couldn’t see you. “Yes, no one has.” You agreed.

A sigh of relief had him falling limp against you, removing your hand from his cheek so he could press a kiss to the center of your palm. His demeanor had shifted so quickly even you were surprised. He gently looped his arms beneath your waist and dragged the two of you up into a sitting position, sliding you onto his lap with ease and pressing your chest to his own. It was horrifyingly intimate, the feeling of his bare chest flush against your barely clothed one. He was warm and strong and would have been comforting had the circumstances been different.

That was something you thought often: had the circumstances been different. But they weren’t. Jungkook was as selfish as he was lonely, and because of that he was delusional and overbearing. Sometimes his presence closed in so tightly on your own you felt as if you couldn’t get a single breath in. And because of that, you longed to be miles away from him. He was suffocating you so slowly and ever so painfully.

His fingers wove themselves into your hair, guiding you to rest your head on his shoulder as he held you close. “I'll wait for you, and only for you.”

Hook, line, and sinker.

He held you to his chest for a while and nothing was said between the two of you. There was only the steady rise and fall of your chests against one another while his fingers carded through your hair. Your eyes had fluttered shut yet your body was still tense, you couldn’t deny how good it felt to be touched in this way. But you knew you could never fully let your guard down around him, he was far too unpredictable. But all that time spent with him had been in your favor, now you knew what made him tick. And you were going to exploit that.

Jungkook pulled you away from his body, his eyes tracing your face. He gently cupped your face in his hands and pressed a delicate kiss, so light it was barely there, to your lips. You could feel him sigh against your lower lip before he reluctantly pulled away. He had to prove to you now that he wasn’t solely after your body, although that was an added benefit for him. He could wait, just for a little while longer.

He leaned over the side of the bed and scooped up his previously abandoned shirt, guiding your arms through the sleeves and pulling the collar down over your head. He couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of your head popping up and out of the shirt, your figure drowning in his clothes. His eyes strayed, following where the hem of his shirt laid at the tops of your thighs. You were so tempting, it was no wonder you thought he was only after your body.

Before he could get too distracted he leaned over you and yanked the chain of the lamp, effectively drowning the two of you in a deep pool of darkness. You froze for a moment, your heart thudding as you lost sight of him and what he was doing. You couldn’t see him, but you could still definitely feel him. His strong arms had already curled around your waist, yanking you down on top of him. You yelped in fear as you once more collided with his chest. The man was like a fucking brick wall. You could feel the ginger brush of his fingers around your wrist, guiding your hand to rest on his bare chest as he tucked your head into the crook of his neck. You were sure if anyone were to walk in you would look like lovers. How far from the truth they would be.

You were shaking now, the reality of what has almost happened finding you in the seclusion of the dark. But you had to remind yourself, you had outsmarted him this time. You were finally beginning to understand the game: fake it til you make it. If you could play along for long enough then you could find your way out of here. And you were more determined than ever.

“You cold, baby?” Jungkook asked, breaking the silence first. He must have felt you shaking.

You nodded in response, trying to play off what you were actually feeling. Fear. Jungkook grasped the edge of the blanket and pulled it up higher, pressing the two of you together beneath the warmth of the covers. You closed your eyes once more, and this time you tried to pretend he was someone else. Anyone else. It was much harder than anticipated, you knew his scent, his touch, and his form. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t get rid of him.

But you would try.

You could feel sleep coming for you, the crash of emotions you had survived finally taking their toll on you once more.

You had made it 10 days, how much longer would you have to last?

“Baby,” Jungkook hummed, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “I love you.”

Long enough to escape, that was for sure.

~~~~~~~

The next day, things already seemed to be so different. To say you were surprised was an understatement. The ten days of hell you had endured with Jungkook could have been a dream for all you knew. He still was the same way you remembered him to be, clingy, whiny, and overbearingly affectionate. But for the duration of that day, nothing he did had the same sexual undertone you had dealt with for the past ten days.

You were relieved, it seemed like you were finally getting a hold of your horrible situation. Well, for now at least. Jungkook was going to be far easier to fool than his father. And you couldn’t lie, his father terrified you to no end. He had trained Jungkook’s mother into absolute obedience with his unrelenting and ruthless nature. You were sure that if anyone was going to be able to spot your fakery from a mile away, it was going to be him without a doubt. So you had one choice, you were going to have to sell it good.

And that meant having to do things you really didn’t want to do.

Very quickly, you found yourself taking on the role of a traditional housewife. Jungkook had made it clear before that that was something he didn’t expect from you. All he wanted was you, or so he claimed. He said that he liked doing things together, he didn’t want you being forced into the traditional role you never truly wanted. But you knew what his father expected, and if you were going to win this game you were going to have to sacrifice a few of your pieces.

And you also knew that if you could keep this charade up for long enough, you could fool them all. It was only a matter of time, and you were willing to give up a few days, weeks, or months to find your freedom again. And if that meant making meals with Jungkook’s mother, cleaning the house, and folding fucking laundry you would do it all with a smile.

Days were passing faster and melting into weeks, and at this point you couldn’t really tell how long you had been missing. You wondered if your family was looking for you, if your friends missed you, or if everyone assumed you were dead in a ditch at this point, your flesh melting away and returning to the earth from which it came from. Sometimes, you even wondered if that would have been better. To have been discarded and left to disappear if it meant you didn’t have to pretend to be something you weren’t and if it meant that you wouldn’t have to live in fear of being punished for a misstep or cower under the sharp glare of Jungkook’s father. But you were determined, fucking terrified but so determined to make it out of this alive.

The call of your name pulled you from the lull of your thoughts. You shook your head to clear you from your daze. Your hands were plunged under warm soapy water, a plate held in your motionless hands.

“There you are, I thought I lost you for a moment.” Jungkook’s mother giggled, her small hands delicately drying the plate in her grasp.

You gave her a gentle smile in response, lifting the plate from the water and giving it one more rinse before handing it over to her. There was one upside to this endeavor, you had someone you could call a friend. You liked her, it was hard not to with all of the time you spent together. Her warm, motherly nature was comforting in a place like this. And it made you miss your own mom even more.

“Jungkook seems happier lately.” She mused, gazing out of the window above the sink. You followed her line of sight, seeing Jungkook and his father outside on the back deck with the red flare of a cigarette tucked between his father’s lips.

She wasn’t wrong, ever since you had started playing along he seemed more relaxed, happier even. Even now a smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he listened to whatever his father was saying. But you could tell he wasn’t really listening, his eyes had that far off look to them like he was somewhere else entirely.

“I guess I have you to thank for that,” She said softly, setting down the freshly dried plate to turn and look at you. “I’ve never seen him so happy before. Jungkook was always a quiet child, he kept to himself for the most part. But you bring out parts of him I rarely got to see.” She smiled.

Yeah, the depraved parts are what you brought out. You let out a gentle sigh, welcoming the faux smile you had grown accustomed to to settle on your lips. “I wish we could have met on different terms.”

That wasn’t a total lie.

“I know, sweetie. The first couple years are always the hardest.” She replied, lightly resting her hands on the tops of your shoulders with a tender smile. “It just takes some time for people like us, outsiders, to get used to their way of life.”

This wasn’t the first time she had told you this and it most definitely wouldn’t be the last. Sometimes you forgot she wasn’t just a mother, she was a person who has been brainwashed so meticulously you had no doubt all of the work that had been done on her had no way of coming unraveled. And you would be damned if you were going to let that happen to you too. You liked her a lot, and she liked you too. But you had no doubt in your mind that if it came down to it, she would never help you escape. Most likely, she would turn you over to her husband and son. You couldn’t trust anyone, not even the person who had once been like you.

“I hope so.” You lied through your smile, gently squeezing her wrist in affirmation. Ever since you had stopped crying, it had become easier to lie.

The sliding glass door off of the kitchen slid open with a click, the scent of cigarette smoke wafting into the kitchen. Jungkook’s father stood in the doorframe, peering into the kitchen and settling his gaze on you and his wife. He fixed you with a stern look, the look in his eyes practically freezing you to your spot like a deer in headlights.

The only ones you were fooling were Jungkook and his mother. That much was obvious.

“Baby!” Jungkook called, his bunny smile and doe eyes catching your attention from behind his father's shoulder where he was standing on the porch.

He looked so relaxed compared to the first few weeks you had spent with him. Had you already lulled him into the belief that you were finally becoming compliant to his demands? You couldn’t be too sure. He was leaned back against the deck fencing, his elbows propped up behind him on the top of the fence. His one leg was a little stretched out in front of the other one as he looked at you, the golden cast of the setting sun bathing his lithe form. He looked like any other normal guy on vacation at the lake: a pair of ripped jeans tucked into thick boots and an open flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Your eyes lingered over the tattoos that decorated his arm, he really would have been any girl’s dream guy. It was a shame that he had to warp that into a nightmare.

Jungkook’s smile widened eagerly as he motioned for you to join him. Outside.

Your heart began to flutter in your chest, it felt like the wings of a hummingbird thrumming in anticipation as the latch of its cage was lifted. You tried your best to calm yourself, you remembered what happened the last time you had fled into the woods, it had only taken mere moments for him to find you once again. You had not a doubt in your mind that Jungkook knew these forests better than anyone. You couldn’t run, not just yet. You hadn’t fooled everyone. You were sure that a better opportunity would arise.

You took a calming breath and quickly dried your hands off before approaching the door. Jungkook’s father remained in the doorframe, his presence casting a shadow over you. He scared you far more than Jungkook did, and for the first time in your life you were willing to run into the arms of your captor if it meant he would keep you out of the way of his father’s wrath. That was the one thing you were sure of when it came down to it - Jungkook would protect you if he was in love with you like he claimed to be.

Your head was bowed low, your eyes fixed to your bare feet and the tile beneath them. You looked like a rabbit - you remained still like it would stop the curious predator from approaching.

“Don’t try anything if you know what’s good for you.” He whispered lowly, his voice was gravelly and deep in his chest. The smell of smoke wafted under your nose as he stepped to the side, allowing you access to the deck. You flinched from his sudden movement before hurriedly rushing past him and outside.

The fleeting sun felt so good against your skin, your chest heaved as you took in a deep inhale of the fresh air. It felt like layers of clothes and weights had been removed from your body and the oppressive weight of Jungkook’s father’s stare was confined to the inside of the lake house. This was the freest you had felt in weeks, or what had most likely turned into months. Time was escaping you faster and faster every day.

You jolted in surprise, your eyes fluttering open as Jungkook’s fingers grazed the smooth skin of your hand. You hadn’t heard him approach in your moment of euphoria. He looked down at you with a gentle smile and a gleam to his chocolate brown eyes. He was made for sunset, his skin was practically glowing in the golden filter of light. You had never wished more in your life that he hadn’t met you the way he did. The more time you spent with him the more you wondered what it would have been like if he had talked to you that first day of classes. Would he have still gone this far? Those were dangerous thoughts to be thinking, but when he was this gentle with you it was hard to stop the prick of tears at the corners of your eyes. He confused you so much, and you knew what this was. Acting can sometimes feel more real than it truly is. The last thing you wanted was to fall victim to Stockholm syndrome. And you knew you weren’t, he still made you uncomfortable and he had done awful things to you. Thoughts like those could override any one of his sweet, innocent looks. For now. If you didn’t act faster, time would grasp you in it’s clutches.

Jungkook raised his hand to cup your face, his thumb gently stroking the flesh of your cheek as his other hand came to rest on your waist. He looked at you like you were the center of the universe, like nothing else mattered to him anymore. His touch was warm but his gaze was uncomfortable. You didn’t want him to look at you like that, like he was in love with you. Not after everything he had done.

But you also couldn’t deny that there was a part of you that understood him. His father was fucking horrible and he had you, his wife, and his son all under his thumb. Jungkook and his mother were captives just as much as you were. That was the only sympathy you had ever felt for him.

Jungkook’s eyes had slid shut, his large hand encircling your wrist and raising your open palm to his lips to press a light kiss to the center of your hand. That was something he had started doing, but you never dared to ask him about it. You had assumed it was his way of keeping himself together, like he was taking a small hit instead of drowning himself in ecstacy. It was like he was pacing himself with you.

“Walk with me?” He whispered, his eyes slid closed as he breathed in your scent, the two of you encompassed by the light of the setting sun.

“Okay.” You answered softly, trying to keep your legs cemented to where they were before they took flight and had you fleeing the lake house once again.

Jungkook smiled at you again, his fingers hastily lacing yours with his own. His tight grip would be enough to keep you grounded for now.

He led you down the steps until your feet met the soft grass once more. The cuts to your feet had healed and the feeling of the grass between your toes was soothing and comforting. Jungkook’s grip was loosening and allowing him to gently tug you in the direction of the lake. You had only seen it from the windows of the house and just barely when it was illuminated by the moon that night you had tried to flee for the first time. You pushed down the thoughts of escape as your pace began to match his, your hands hanging between the two of you and swaying gently as you approached the little beach at the edge of the large, blue lake.

Your eyebrows began to knit together in confusion as you caught sight of the full stretch of the beach. There looked to be a little porch that began on the grass and stretched over the sandy beach. It had a wooden terrace stretching overtop decorated with fairy lights and was exposed to the sky above. You could see there was a thin air mattress set on top of the deck area covered in various pillows and blankets with a cooler set aside. It was insanely intimate and bordered on romantic. Had he set this up for the two of you?

You shivered in discomfort, unsure of what to do. Maybe you should suggest walking down by the water, you really didn’t want to go over to that “love nest.”

“Arms out.” Jungkook suddenly said, sliding in front of you. You looked at him in confusion until he set his hands on your arms and raised them up by your sides. He wordlessly slid the flannel off his shoulders and began to help you slip the sleeves onto your bare arms. He thought you were cold again. At least you could use that as an excuse during your ploy.

The shirt was big on you which was no surprise at this point. All of his clothes were baggy on you, most of them were baggy on him too. You looked like a child who had gotten into their parents closet. But the look in Jungkook’s eyes spoke volumes. It was a possessive thing, he liked seeing you in his clothes, he liked it when his scent lingered on you. He liked that he had you where he wanted you. Little did he know, you had him where you wanted him as well.

Once he was done fixing his shirt around you he smoothed the collar down and sent a smile your way. “Come on.”

Jungkook tried to walk forward, your grip on his hand stopping him short. He pivoted on his heel, the sand kicking up slightly. “Baby? What’s wrong?”

Your teeth sunk into the flesh of your lower lip as your eyes focused on the sight of a little crab crawling quickly across the surface of the sand. “Can we go over there?” You asked, jerking your head in the direction of the lake.

Jungkook turned, his dark eyes settling on the waves rushing over the shallow drop off of sand. “Hm, not today. It’s pretty cold, I don’t want you to get sick sweetheart.”

“I won't,” You tried once more, your eyes wide and pleading. “Jungkook-”

“We’ll go tomorrow.” He cut you off, his eyes boring into your own. He didn’t have to say anything for you to know that this wasn’t up for debate. If he wanted to do something that badly, he was going to do it. He gave your hand a firm tug and pulled you into him, his arm coming up to wrap around your shoulders and tuck you into his side.

You didn’t look at him as you walked, your eyes fixed to the sight of your toes turning over the sand as you walked. But you could feel his stare burning into the side of your head like it always was. Every time you thought just maybe he couldn’t be that bad, he reminded you quickly of what your situation was like. He has the final say in everything, whether he agreed or disagreed with you.

The two of you stepped up onto the little wooden terrace, Jungkook taking a seat on the mattress and pulling you down in between his legs allowing your back to lean up against his chest. He wrapped his arms around your shoulders and set his chin on the top of your head. The sun was just beginning to sink below the horizon of the lake casting an ethereal glow over the water.

You were glad you didn’t miss this sight, you supposed. It was probably the most uplifting thing you had seen in a long while. It wouldn’t be long now before the sun disappeared and it would be dark across the lake. Already the lights strung up above you seemed to be growing stronger as the sun faded away.

You could feel Jungkook’s hand coming up to play with your hair, his touch the most delicate it had ever been. It was so gentle that if you closed your eyes you could pretend it was just the wind ruffling your hair. He spoke your name softly, the hand that had occupied your tresses caressed the length of your arm and settled on the top of your hand. Your brows knitted together in confusion as you felt his other hand flip yours over and settle something in the center of your palm. It was smooth, cold, and metallic to the touch with hard edges.

You dropped your chin and searched for whatever it was he had just given you. He laughed softly, cupping your palm shut so that you couldn’t see.

“Ask me.” He simply said, his eyes aglow with mischief.

“Let me see.” You said, trying to pry your fingers open beneath his hold. It was no use.

“Try again, maybe a little nicer this time.” He teased.

You huffed in frustration, already over whatever he was up too. “Jungkook, give me back my hand, please.” You said, adding more emphasis than needed on the “please.”

He chuckled low in his chest and released his grip on your hand. Without thinking you uncurled your fingers and looked at what he had given you. On sight you felt a wave of nausea roll through your stomach, your heart dropping in your chest.

Sitting delicately on the smooth skin of your palm was an engagement ring.

You couldn’t move, you were frozen in absolute fear. The only thing you could feel was the violent thudding of your heart in your chest and the beginnings of a cold sweat on your neck. You had either played your part too well, or Jungkook was more than aware of what you had been doing. You couldn’t rule out his father either, he was just as likely as having a hand in this.

“I’ve waited for ten years to ask you to marry me, and I can’t imagine a better time than now to finally ask you.”

You were spiralling, you could feel the beginnings of a panic attack coming. Your vision was focusing and unfocusing, the sound of your rapid heartbeats pounding in your eardrums. Were you having a heart attack? It felt like you were having a heart attack. You felt like you couldn’t breathe, like your lungs were swelling and cutting off any oxygen that tried to slip into your mouth.

But there was one thing you could focus on, he said ten years. That math didn’t make sense, when the two of you had first met in highschool and that was only four years ago.

“Ten years?” You echoed, the panic clear in your voice. How many more secrets was he harboring?

He hummed in response, his slender fingers picking up the diamond embedded ring from your grasp. You hadn’t realized how tightly you had been holding it until he took it from you, the diamond had made little incisions in your palm that were running with specks of blood.

“I first met you when we were freshmen, but I first saw you when we were little.” He reminisced, a far off look in his eyes as he toyed with the ring. “I just caught a glimpse of you, but that was enough. You were wearing a white sundress and the cutest little butterfly sandals. I remember I asked my mom if you were an angel. She told me no, but I told her that I was going to marry you anyways because you were so pretty. And I kept my promise, didn’t I?

You could feel yourself fading faster than the sun, you were so confused and panicked your body was on the brink of shutting down. You could feel the burn of bile rising up your throat as he lifted your left hand and gently slid the ring down your ring finger.

“You don’t have to say yes, but you can’t say no.” He whispered against the shell of your ear. “That’s how it works in my family.”

~~~~~~~

You don’t remember much of what happened before you passed out, but you did wake up wrapped in Jungkook’s arms in his bed under the blankets. And that goddamn ring was still on your finger. And if things weren’t already bad enough, then they were bound to get worse. You were getting “married” in only a few days.

To say that was jarring didn’t even cover half of what you were feeling. Not only was Jungkook trying to keep you bound to him in every way possible, but it was going to happen and fast. You tried to calm yourself by remembering whatever ceremony you were going to go through would not be legally binding. You wouldn’t actually be married in the eyes of the law. The two of you would have to get a marriage license and have it approved with witnesses, and there was no way you wouldn’t get help if you were dragged to a courthouse. Jungkook was persistant but he wasn’t stupid. This would be purely symbolic, and nothing more. But that thought did not drive away your stress or the butterflies in your stomach.

And of course your short days full of trying on various dresses and hairstyles did not help one bit. Jungkook’s mom was excited, her face aglow with pure happiness as she chose dresses on your behalf and made even more decisions regarding the ceremony on your behalf. Apparently, that was tradition. The “outsider” was rarely involved in situations like these, the mother in law and the prospective spouse took care of everything. You were too sick to your stomach to do anything, no matter what you said you knew that Jungkook wouldn’t listen to you. He had waited ten years to propose he said, there was nothing that would stop him from finally getting what he wanted. And once the two of you were “married” you were out of excuses to deny his advances. You were so fucked.

Maybe you should have ran into the woods again when he had taken you out of the house. You should have just thrown caution to the wind and tried again. No, Jungkook would have caught you. You knew that. Maybe it would have been better to lay yourself in the lake and float away into nothingness. But you knew, no matter what you did or where you went Jungkook would follow you to the ends of the earth. He was inescapable, and the thought of that left you with an intense feeling of claustrophobia. Much like the prey you were, he would hunt you down and corner you with no possibilities of escape before going in for the kill.

It still wasn’t time to run yet, you had convinced yourself of that. Now really would be the worst time to flee with the influx of members of Jungkook’s family arriving for the “wedding” that was to take place. Just the thought of that word had your stomach churning in unease.

His family was much larger than you expected and, to your horror, they all were just like him. Every single one of them knew about your predicament, and in fact amongst them were people like you who had been dragged into this life. Amongst the supposed wedding party were kidnappers and victims who were all coming to celebrate another successful hunt and capture of a prize.

It only took five days to gather everyone and everything for the ceremony. It had all been rushed in order to get you to this point where you were once again in the room you had first woken in when Jungkook had taken you. Or, as his mother liked to call it, the bridal suite. The room itself hadn’t changed though, the walls were still that off white color, the barred windows still surrounded my lacy, gauze curtains, and the bedspread was still baby pink, white, and frilly. The only difference was the wedding gown hanging from a hook on the bedroom door.

You ran your fingers through your freshly washed hair, knotting the tresses in your hold and tugging in anxiety. Your leg was bouncing rapidly, how had it gotten to this point? How were you supposed to go out there and do this? You couldn’t. Not when you were about to be surrounded by kidnappers and their pets kept closely to their side.

A knock to the door had you rocking back in surprise, your head jerking up to see who was there. The door remained shut and silence followed suit. You looked on in curiosity until a voice called your name through the door.

“Are you decent, sweetheart?” It was Mrs. Jeon.

“Yes.” You replied, your voice cracking. The shower you had just taken wasn’t enough to hide all of the crying you had been doing all morning. But at least you didn’t have to see Jungkook, that was one upside. He refused to come near you until the ceremony, he was a firm believer that it was bad luck to see you beforehand.

You were grateful.

You heard the click of the lock being undone before you saw the door swing open and Mrs. Jeon pocket the key she held in her hand. She looked happy, far more excited than you had anticipated. She was already done up for the ceremony, a formal dress laid over her figure and her hair twisted into an updo. She was naturally pretty and you could see what resemblance she had to her son. It sent a chill down your spine.

Not much was said between the two of you as she ushered you over to the vanity, gently gripping the tops of your shoulders and guiding you down onto the stool. Her work was done quietly and delicately. And you were so out of it, you didn’t pay much attention. Your eyes were dull and unfocused, staring into the mirror but not processing what you were seeing in the slightest.

“Sweetheart, what I’m going to tell you will be very important so I need you to listen closely.” She hummed, her hands fluttering around your face as she began to lightly apply makeup. “Have you ever been to a wedding?”

Your eyes fluttered closed as she gently applied eyeshadow to your lids. “Yes.”

“Good, then you already know what to expect. But, there are going to be some changes.” She said, tilting your head back with a feather light touch. “During the ceremony, don’t say anything.”

“What?” You asked, your face tensing in confusion. You felt her hands gently tap your cheeks, a silent way of signaling you needed to relax the muscles of your face.

“Jungkook will take care of everything, vows and all. You just need to be there as he does so.” She explained. That made sense in some twisted way. If no part of the ceremony involved you talking, then you couldn’t exactly say no. “The objections will be left out as well.”

How ironic.

“Other than that, things will go exactly how you expect them too. As long as you do your part, everything will be just fine.” She smiled as you opened your eyes once more.

You felt her hands lightly smoothe your freshly styled hair, a fond look gracing her kind features. You felt a strange connection to her, you supposed it had to do with your shared experiences. She was taking on the role of a twisted mentor, imparting some of her “wisdom” onto you to help you as best she could.

The part you were most scared of came next, the dress. You tried your best not to look at yourself as the chiffon and lace slid smoothly over your bare skin. It was cool to the touch, light and airy unlike most dresses you had seen brides wear. By all rights it was stunning, you only wished you didn’t have to wear it if it meant that you would be walking down the aisle towards a man you never dreamt of being yours.

You wore no veil, and for that you were thankful. You couldn’t stand the thought of Jungkook having to lift it from your face like you had seen done before time and time again. Instead, a halo of white carnations and fabric butterflies graced the crown of your head. They were real, their scent fresh and welcoming. A part of you ached at the thought of them withering away, their stems having been sliced apart. They were beautiful, but would only be that way for a fraction of time.

You seated yourself on the edge of the bed, your bare feet gently grazing the silk of the comforter. Your heart was pounding wildly, this was a different type of fear you had never felt before. It was the anxiety of having to provide a performance for all of Jungkook’s family and the knowledge that you couldn’t run.

Mrs. Jeon knelt down to the floor, a soft groan falling from her painted lips as she felt the ache in her knees. She reached a slender arm out underneath the bed, retrieving a white box tied closed with a satin ribbon. You looked on in curiosity as she carefully untied the bow and set the ribbon on the mattress.

“I wore these, Jungkook’s grandmother wore them, and the women before her.” She explained as she tugged the lid of the box free.

Upon seeing what laid inside the box, tears immediately began to prick at the corners of your eyes, your heart pounding wildly against your ribcage. Your shaky hand came up to cup your mouth to stifle any cries that attempted to escape. Held between the soft hands of your captor’s mother was a set of leg cuffs, each cuff meant to be sealed around your ankles that were held together by a length of chain that would prevent you from taking the strides you would need to run. They were treating you like a prisoner.

“I-I can’t put those on,” You choked, “Please, please don’t make me do it.” You sobbed, shuffling away from her as best you could.

“Oh, sweetie.” She cooed, setting them back down into the box and bringing you into her motherly embrace. “It’s only for a short while, I promise they’ll be off by your first dance. And they’re not as heavy as they look and no one will see them under your dress.”

“I don’t want to.” You sniffled as her fingers gently tapped away the tears in an attempt to stop your makeup from running.

“I know, neither did I.” She sighed, pressing a kiss to your hair. “Jungkook thought you didn’t need them but my husband thought it would be for the best.”

You froze at what she said. His father wanted this.

“He’s a man of tradition for sure.” She giggled, rubbing your shoulders in an attempt to relax you. “It’ll be quicker than you think, trust me.”

There was no room for debate, you had learned that quickly with the Jeon family. They always got their way and never took no for an answer. You experienced that first hand. So, all you could do was close your eyes, clench your fists, and tense your jaw as she snapped the cold metal cuffs around each of your ankles.

“See? Not so bad.” She hummed before taking your hand and helping you to stand. “Everyone is waiting on us, it’s best we don’t keep them waiting any longer.”

She guided you out of the room, the sound of the chain connecting your anklets dragging over the wood of the floor sent a cringe to your face. They were loud. From what you knew, the ceremony was to take place outside right in the fringe of the forest. At least there would be grass and maybe then they wouldn’t be as distracting or cacophonous as they were now. At least that was what you hoped, it was like if you pretended they weren’t there maybe they would actually disappear.

You didn’t make it far before you felt that familiar, sharp glare digging into you. His father was already here.

“Now, since your father won’t be able to give you away we’re going to. Isn’t that nice?” Mrs. Jeon smiled, a sharp contrast to the stoic face of her husband.

The thought of having to wrap your arm around his own nauseated you more than anything. Being with Jungkook was like heaven compared to his father. You feared his hold and gaze to the point that you craved Jungkook’s touch. Anything was better than having to be that close to a man so evil.

You didn’t respond, fear having paralyzed your throat. It didn’t matter what you said, it was going to happen anyways. That much you knew to be true.

The three of you linked arms, you in the middle of the parents of your kidnapper. Mrs. Jeon held your left arm gently, rubbing soothing circles into the flesh of your forearm. Mr. Jeon gripped you tightly, his hold unrelenting and harboring a warning. You wouldn’t be surprised if once he released you his fingerprints would be left behind as purple marks to your skin.

As the three of you began to walk and exit the lake house, your inescapability became far more apparent. You could see the large crowd of people waiting for you, their eyes burning into you. From the large group, everyone was lining the aisle with their arms linked like they were creating a chain of people in preparation for you. With a horrifying realization you came to understand what they were doing. They were forming a wall on either side of you, creating a tunnel to walk through that would prevent you from escaping.

They had planned everything out perfectly, years of trial and error and countless “weddings” allowing them to perfect their formula. They knew what they were doing and had no intention of letting you go. They were all sick every single one of them.

And what was most likely the most upsetting sight was the children in the group, even they

joined in on the human paper chain. They were little blank slates, perfect models that were trained from day one on what their way of life would be. You couldn’t help but see Jungkook reflected in their gaze. In your mind you could picture him as a small boy, large brown doe eyes watching a bound bride floating down the aisle in her white dress. It was no wonder he was so fucked up, and evidently those children would grow up just like he did.

This was the first time you thought about fixing Jungkook, as you were walking through the tunnel of people, white petals crushing beneath your feet, and the drag of the chain between your legs like a snake slithering through grass. This was the first time you had even considered that to be a possibility.

Your head lifted as the thought entered your mind, your gaze flicking around until it settled on him at the end of the aisle under an arch of moss and carnations. He was dressed nicely, but not in a tux like many grooms had been. He wore dress pants, held up by a set of suspenders over his shoulders. The top few buttons of his shirt had been left undone and exposed some of the smooth, tan flesh hiding beneath the fabric. He had also rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, his arm of tattoos proudly on display. He looked relaxed despite the excited smile that lit up his face and the gleam of adoration in those dark eyes. Even you couldn’t deny how attractive he looked like that.

A firm squeeze to your arm had your teeth sinking into your lip as the three of you ceased walking, Jungkook mere steps away from you. This was the first time you wanted to run towards him instead of away from him because it meant you would be able to escape his father.

“Behave.” His father whispered just beside your ear, his voice deep in his chest and laced with warning.

Without another word, his hand slipped down your wrist and guided your hand into his sons. And just like that, he and his wife turned and took their seat. And you could finally breathe again. For now.

Jungkook was smiling at you, that familiar bunny like grin gracing his lips. His hands cradled your own, holding them between the two of you. You were sure he thought all of his dreams were coming true. He tense his fingers, giving your hands a firm squeeze of excitement. You had never seen him happier.

You could see an older gentleman beneath the makeshift altar, you assumed he was there to “officiate” the proceedings. You couldn’t help but zone out, the sight before you was distracting. The makeshift wedding his family had created would have been something out of a dream had this all been voluntary on your part. Forest weddings had always appeared to be so beautiful, and now that you were here you couldn’t help but agree. Strands of green moss formed a canopy above the wedding party, delicate vines of white flowers hanging from above and all around you. The aisle you had walked down had been made of moss, grass, ferns, and flat stones littered with white flowers and petals.

It was absolutely breathtaking, and you knew once the sun went down and the fairy lights flickered to life it would be even more stunning.

You were suddenly snapped out of your daze as you felt Jungkook's hand cup the side of your face before leaning down to you and pressing his lips tightly to your own.

You had missed the entire thing.

You could vaguely hear the cheers of his family behind you as he held you close, kissing you surprisingly hard in front of his entire family. You could feel your stomach tightening in anxiety and your face flushing with heat in embarrassment. You felt him pull back for a moment, hot air brushing over your lips before he reconnected with you again, and again, and again until you grasped the fabric of his shirt and pulled him away.

He smiled at you in satisfaction as his tongue darted out to wet his lower lip. He was showing off, letting everyone know that you were his and that there was nothing you could do about.

Your heart was in your stomach, the dread piling up as you felt him tugging you back down the aisle. He giggled as you almost tripped, his strides too long for you to keep up with when your gate was impaired by the length of chain connecting your ankles. Without a word he turned and scooped you up in his arms, ironically carrying you bridal style back towards the lake house where the “reception” was to be held.

You turned your head to look over his shoulder, your eyes widening as you watched his family rushing after the two of you in what could have very well been a stampede. Your eyes lingered on a few of the people coming after you, it wasn’t hard to see who was an “outsider” like you. They had that same hopeless hollowness to their eyes, their will having dried up a long time ago. You could feel your heartbeat quickening as you caught sight of one woman. She walked quickly, trying to keep up with the man beside her as she adjusted the infant in her arms. She looked tired and depressed beneath her layer of makeup. You could see the strain of her smile smooth away when her eyes connected with yours. You could see the message she was sending you clear as day without saying a word.

“I’m sorry.”

~~~~~~~

The reception was the most normal part of the wedding and something you were more familiar with. The only change was instead of the garter removal, your leg cuffs were removed. There was a part of you that was glad you were spared the mortifying experience of watching Jungkook’s head disappear under the chiffon of your skirt and feeling his lips drag across the length of your leg as his teeth pulled the garter free from you.

Although, the leg cuffs were just as horrible and embarrassing. You were certain if you didn’t calm yourself down you would be throwing up all over the pristine white dress you wore. You could visualize the pure horror that would spread across Mrs. Jeon’s face.

You were sure that that wouldn’t be the first time something like that had happened though. But tonight you had been doing your very best to hide your disdain for everyone there, you still had a part to play regardless of the situation you had been put in. You didn’t have to look happy, you just had to hide your fear to the best of your ability.

That was easier said than done.

It was when Jungkook left you alone with his sister that your facade began to crumble away.

“Jimin, Taehyung!” He yelled, his eyes lighting up as he darted away from the table you were seated at in excitement. You watched him race across the room to the two men he had called for, locking them into a tight embrace.

Your legs twitched, the thought of fleeing always at the back of your mind. Now would be the worst time of all times, who wouldn’t be able to see the only one dressed all in white sprinting into the woods. The last thing you wanted to do was start a hunting trip.

The soft delicate call of your name reminded you that you were still in company. The empty seat that Jungkook once occupied has been filled by the slender form of his sister. She looked just like him, but softer and feminine. She had a gentle smile fixed to her lips that reminded you exactly of her mother. There was not a single bit of her father in her, genetic wise.

“It’s nice to meet you,” She grinned. “All of these years Jungkook wouldn’t shut up about you and he only lets me meet you once you’re getting married, that little punk.”

You bit your lip before you could spit anything back. You could feel the blood leave your face as she spoke. It always disturbed you when you remembered for just how long Jungkook had been waiting for you, watching you, longing for you.

“Hell, he was the first person I introduced to my boyfriend.” She said with a roll of her eyes, “I mean of course I couldn’t take him on my own, he was much too heavy for just me alone.”

Your heart stilled as you slowly turned your head to face her. “Too heavy?” You echoed, hoping she didn’t mean what you thought she did.

“Mhmm, the first time I saw him was at the gym. He was just so much bigger than me I knew I couldn’t take him home on my own. So, I called Jungkook. He made things so much easier, he really is such a good brother to me.” She said with a fond smile, her eyes seeming to glaze as she reminisced.

All this time, you had assumed it was only the men of the family that partook in the kidnappings. But no, it was anyone who was an “insider.” Anyone who was born into the family. That explained how Jungkook had made no mistakes when he took you, he had practice with someone much bigger than you were. You quickly reached for your glass of wine, chugging back as much of it as you could to calm yourself before you slipped into another attack.

“He’s right over there,” She sighed, nodding in his direction. “Jackson and I have been together for about six months now, he’s a tough one to train that's for sure.”

You followed her gaze, your eyes settling on the man that stood mere inches away from her father. He was undeniably handsome, but you could still see the fear etched deep into his face as he stood next to Mr. Jeon. You were confused why he was still there, he was strong so he had to be capable of escape. In fact, you were sure he could take down Jungkook’s father quite easily. That was of course until you realized what his handicap was. You were confused for a moment, it looked like he was wearing a choker perhaps. But, upon further inspection you realized what it was. A collar.

Jungkook’s sister hummed to herself, setting her clutch down on the table next to you before she undid it and pulled out a small remote. “It’s harder for women like us in this family. Subduing guys like Jackson isn’t easy. But one controlled shock works wonders.” She laughed, a sadistic smile curling into her mouth as she stroked the remote.

So, that was the part of her father she inherited.

You could see the horror on Jackson’s face as his dark eyes connected with the remote she held between her dainty fingers. Without her even saying a word he was rushing to her side in fear of her even thinking about pressing a single button on that remote.

You were light headed, the sudden realization of just how horrible this family was allowed the glass of wine to slip from your fingers, the dark red liquid spilling over some of the white carnations that rested in front of you decorating them in jagged, red stripes.

“Baby?” Jungkook’s voice called to you, and for the first time that word was comforting to your ears. In comparison to his sister, you had lucked out when it came to the Jeon siblings.

You sent him a strained smile as you lifted the stem of the wine glass and set it back up right. Your gaze lingered on the stained carnations, a sour thought entering your mind as you realized their purity had been stained, and no amount of cleansing would ever get it back.

“Don’t worry, Jungkook. Your wife and I are going to be best friends.” His sister smiled as her hand curled around Jackson’s.

The two of you looked at one another momentarily, and in his eyes you saw a mutual message.

“Please, help me.”

~~~~~~~

You didn’t know how much more you could take, that was for sure. Everyone there was beyond messed up and sent your heart racing just at the sight of them. You were relieved when the crowd began to drain, leaving only a few people loitering around as the night dragged on.

You had tackled so much in one day, but you knew there was still more to come.

As the last people headed to their cars, Jungkook’s mother grabbed you by your hand and led you into the house, leaving Jungkook and his father and his two friends outside.

You stumbled after her in confusion, shaken up by the pace she had set. She led you back into what had originally been your room and shut the door tightly behind the two of you. She leaned against it with a gentle smile to her face, but you could see something else in her eyes. She was concerned.

“I wanted to give you your wedding present here.” She said softly, crossing the room to the dresser pushed up against the wall.

“I don’t need any presents.” You replied, your teeth gnawing at your lower lip in stress as you thought of what was to come. You knew you couldn’t hold Jungkook back any longer now that you had run out of excuses.

“I think you’ll need this one.” She said, her voice cracking as she slid her hand behind the dresser and pulled something free. She hid the gift behind her back in both hands as she made her way back to you in complete silence.

Without a word, she raised your hand palm facing the ceiling and set a container in your hand. On sight you immediately recognized what it was.

It was birth control.

“What?” You whispered in pure shock, popping it open to make sure it actually was what it appeared to be.

You raised your head and your eyes connected with hers. She wore no smile like you had seen her with so many times. Her face looked tired and her eyes were clearer than you had ever seen them before. For a moment, she seemed normal. She seemed to be just like you. No words passed between the two of you, all you needed was to see the expression you had witnessed twice earlier that day.

“I’m sorry.”

“Please, help me.”

And now, “I understand.”

The four of you were all the same, people who were suffering and couldn’t escape. She understood better than anyone what you were going through, and she wasn’t as broken as she had originally let on. Some of the original her was still there, a soft ember of a fire that had been snuffed out years ago.

No words passed between the two of you, none needed to be.

~~~~~~~

You heard Jungkook enter before you saw him, your back facing him as you were settled on the edge of the bed. You could feel the bed dip as he climbed on, crawling over to you until his arms could wrap around your waist and his chin could rest on your shoulder. You could smell the wine on his breath as he chuckled.

“Hello, Mrs. Jeon.” He mumbled, pressing his face into the juncture of your neck and shoulder with a hum.

A chill ran down your spine at his words, they were foreign to you, they just didn’t seem right because you knew them to be false. He raised his head, his hand coming up to cradle your jaw and turn your head to face him. His fingers lightly stroked the skin of your cheek as he leaned in uncomfortably close. You could tell he was buzzed, a lazy smile stretching across his face as his eyes traced every curve and detail of your face. He looked positively enamored.

Without any warning he leaned forward and pressed his lips to your own for a moment before pulling back for a breath and leaning in again, and again, and again.

“I love you.” He whispered against the shape of your lips, his fingers gingerly stroking your cheek as his chest shook with each inhale. It seemed like he could never get used to the feeling of your lips, so warm, soft and wet. How could he not be intoxicated by you?

His tongue gently stroked your lower lip, a whine breaking free from his throat as you kept your lips together, refusing to let him in. Instead of growing frustrated, he let out a soft sigh and pressed another brief kiss to the corner of your mouth, laying a trail of kisses down your cheek and jaw before settling on your neck.

You clenched your jaw, your fingers twisting into his shirt as he began to leave hot, open mouthed kiss to the sensitive skin of your neck, low groans bubbling in his chest from the mere taste of your skin. You could tell how needy he was from the way he harshly sucked purple bruises into your neck, his tongue swiping over each fresh mark with a sweet moan at the end.

“Love you so, so, so much.” He whispered, his fingers trailing behind your back to pluck at the tiny pearl buttons holding your dress together. You tensed up, but you didn’t push him away. He didn’t stop his assault on your neck as you felt each button springing free, the front of your dress becoming looser and looser with each motion.

A soft gasp escaped your lips at one particularly harder suck to your throat causing Jungkook to shudder against you as he heard your light cry. He pressed his forehead against your own for a moment, collecting himself while his hands still tried to unloop the back of your dress.

“I wanted you the moment I saw you walking towards me, you looked so perfect, so beautiful. Just like an angel.” He said, his voice shaking as his lips trembled. “I’ve been waiting all day to have you like this, and it was worth the wait.”

His fingers trailed up the exposed skin of your back, goosebumps raising in their wake. He gently traced the lace of your straps before pulling them down, shimming the delicate fabric free from your torso. His breath caught in chest at the first sight of your bare breasts, the cut of the dress in the back being too low to allow you to wear a bra.

“Oh, fuck.” He groaned, the tips of his fingers ever so lightly tracing the tops of your breasts. He was pacing himself for your sake, but it was becoming harder and harder for him to keep a hold of himself, especially with the ever present tightening of his pants at the back of his mind.

He suddenly pressed his lips back to yours once again, this time more frantically and harder than before. His hands came up to your shoulders, pushing you back down into the mattress beneath you. He was breathing much heavier now, unwilling to part from your lips as he tried to roll the fabric of your dress down your hips without leaving you.

He groaned in frustration against your mouth, pulling back to roughly pull the dress down your body and toss it over his shoulder into the recesses of the room. He sat on his knees, towering above you and staring down at you with a carnal look in his eyes. He hastily began removing his own shirt, his irritation growing as he struggled with each button in his haste.

With a final grunt, he pulled his shirt free and tossed it to join your discarded dress. You froze as your eyes trailed over his naked torso, your heart thundering as your eyes settled on his chest. A fresh clear wrap was sealed against his chest over his heart. You could feel your body tense up as you took in the new ink that had been etched into his skin. He had tattooed your name on his chest.

Jungkook looked back at you in confusion, unsure as to what caused the look of pure fear to seep into the once passive and smooth features of your face. He followed your line of sight ending on the new piece he had.

“Do you like it?” He suddenly smiled.

“I got it as my gift to you. You’ll always be right here,” He said, interlacing your fingers once more and resting your joined hands on top of his heart. “I’ll always love you, my good girl.”

All you could do was clench your eyes shut, it was your only way of taking yourself out of this situation. You could feel his bare chest press against yours, his long fingers tracing over every curve of your body as he shook in excitement. How long he had waited for this moment. To have you in every way possible.

“It’s alright, I know what to do.” He whispered as you jolted from the feeling of his hand grazing the hem of your underwear, “Let me take care of you, sweet girl.”

You shuddered as he slid them down your legs, another article of clothing that was meant to join the floor. You were tensed up tight, your legs clenched shut in anxiety as you felt his gaze burn into every feature of your naked body.

“So perfect,” He hummed, “So beautiful.” He cooed, resting his head on your chest as he rubbed slow circles in your thigh, each stroke sending him closer and closer to the juncture of your thighs.

“Jungkook!” You cried as you felt him force your legs open in one strong pull.

“Relax, sweetheart. I don’t want to hurt you.” He replied before quickly reaching down and stroking the length of your untouched cored. You shrieked at the unfamiliar feeling, clamping your legs closed around his intruding hand.

��Come on, baby.” He said, coaxing your legs open. “I need to get you ready.”

All you could do was lean your head back into the pillows, squeezing your eyes shut and clenching your jaw as he continued, his fingers ever so lightly coming up to rub firm circles into your clit. You choked a moan back, thighs trembling as you tried your best not to snap them shut once more.

“So good for me,” He cooed, sucking hickies into the hollow of your collar bone as he pressed his fingers down harder, your hips jerking instinctively up towards the pressure. “So pretty, my wife. Mine.”

He was unrelenting, his tight grip on you sure to reappear as bruises tomorrow morning. He didn’t allow you to hide your desperate whines or shocked gasps from him as he continued to pleasure you, the feeling sending tingles straight from your core all throughout your body. As much as you didn’t want to be with Junhkook, you could admit you were happy he at least knew what a clit was and made this a lot less horrible for you.

You winced at the feeling of his finger gently prodding at your entrance, a thin layer of wetness coating his finger as he pushed in. You jerked and tensed your muscles at the foreign feeling, trying to pull back and away.

“Relax. I need to stretch you out.” He said firmly before leaning down and wrapping his lips around one of your sensitive nipples, your tight walls relaxing at the new feeling. And, without warning, he slipped his finger in and began to stroke deep inside you, parts that your own fingers would not be capable of reaching.

“Fuck!” You cried, tossing your head back as he quickly found that part that made you feel incredibly hot.

“That’s my good girl, fuck.” He groaned into your blushing skin as he thrusted his finger in, grazing that spot that made a new wave of wetness come gushing out.

“Jungkook!” You groaned, your hand coming between the two of you to lay limply at his chest as you twitched in pleasure.

He groaned in response, sucking the hardened peak of your chest harder as he continued pumping his fingers, slowly pressing in a second. You whine at the stretch, shaking as you felt his hips begin rutting against your leg, his mouth popping free from you as a needy whimper leaves his throat.

“I need you so bad, baby.” He whined into your skin, choked groans shaking his chest as he quickened the pace of his hips against your leg and the pace of his fingers strumming against your walls.

He easily, and embarrassingly, slid his fingers free from your heat, a string of your desire following his retreating digits. Without saying anything he quickly brought his fingers to his mouth and began to suck them clean with enthusiasm, his body shaking like he was in ecstasy just from the mere taste.

“So fucking sweet.” He moaned, his hands frantically grasping the hem of his pants, shuffling them and his underwear down in one motion.

You could feel the heat rising to your face at the sight of him, your eyes falling shut once more as your thighs fell closed. He was fucking huge and you didn’t think you could take him. That didn’t really matter now though, did it?

His hands slid down your hips, rubbing small circles in the hallows before he gripped each leg and forced them open and around his slender waist. You kept your eyes clenched shut as you felt him reach in between the two of you, the head of his length brushing against your slick entrance. You were tensing again, anxious for what was to come. You were sure it was going to hurt. You felt his hips push forward and the head of dick just barely slip in as you bared down in fear.

A soft groan escaped him, his head dropping to your throat. “Baby, you gotta relax for me.”

You whined in response, your body still wound up tight. You could feel him sigh into your throat before his hand lightly caressed your leg and made its way back to your core, his fingers returning to rubbing those firm circles into your throbbing clit. Almost immediately, your walls began to flutter around nothing at the sensual touch, your lips parting as you trembled in pleasure. And, before you knew it, he forced himself all the way in in one motion. A sharp cry left your mouth as you flung your arms around his neck, tears pricking in your eyes at the sudden flash of pain that invaded your senses.

Jungkook was shaking above you, his eyes screwed shut in pure ecstasy as he forced his hips to remain still.

Your teeth sunk into your bottom lip so hard you could taste your own blood on your tongue. You groaned in discomfort, your cheeks feeling wet as a few tears escaped. You felt incredibly full, so full that it hurt.

Jungkook’s eyes fluttered open, and upon seeing the tears streaked down your face he quickly tried to calm you. “It’s okay sweetheart, it’s okay.” He whispered, pressing kisses to each streak of tears.

“Doing so well for me,” He cooed, his fingers quickly circling around your clit once more to work you through your discomfort with pleasure. “Such a good girl.”

As soon as he felt you begin to relax around him, your hips jerking up into his touch, he began to pull his hips back and slowly slide back in at a frustratingly slow pace. His jaw clenched as he kept himself under control, restraining himself from abandoning all restraint and just railing you like he wanted to.

But, once he felt your hips rolling up into his with that sweet whine of your voice he couldn’t help himself. Before you knew it, his hands were laced with your own and pinned down to the mattress, his pace quickening as higher, breathy moans left his chest, his lips leaving hot, wet, kisses to your neck before he rose his head and connected your lips again.

You moaned into his mouth, surprising yourself at the sounds you were making. His tongue rolled over your lips and without restraint you parted your lips for him. A deep groan left his mouth as he curled his tongue against your own and pumped his length deep into you with a smooth pace. The only sounds filling the room were choked moans and the slap of skin against skin.

You were already getting closer, the prepping he had done earlier bringing you to this point, the knot in your stomach tightening with each brush of the head of his dick against that spot deep inside you. Your legs tightened around his waist, your fingers gripping his own tightly as he filled you so good. Your walls were clamping down tightly around him, the feeling just far better than you had expected it to be.

You could do this, you could use this to your advantage.

One particularly hard thrust had you crying out against the wet, puffy flesh of his lips. You were sure tomorrow both of you would look like a wreck. Jungkook freed his hand from yours, returning to the soft bundle of nerves that begged for his touch. You cried out at the feeling of his length thrusting in and out of your wet core and his dexterous fingers rubbing firmly into you.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He rambled, snapping into you harder and harder as he felt your warm walls begin to tremble around him. You were going to cum, he could tell.

“Come on, sweetheart. Show me how good I was, cum all over my cock for me like the good girl I know you are.” He panted into the shell of ear, pressing down harder and fucking into your pliant body faster than before, drawing sharp cries of pleasure from you that you couldn’t keep in any longer.

“Cum for me, please cum for me.” He was practically begging you, you could feel his length twitch inside of you. He was on the edge just like you were, but he wanted you to let go before he did.

And you did. With a loud cry your back arched, pressing your chest up into his own as you wrapped your legs tightly around his waist. Pleasure shot straight from your core and all throughout every nerve of your body, your walls fluttering helplessly around him. You could feel his thrusts become less paced and more frantic, his eyes clenched shut as he chased his release. And the feeling of you tightening so painfully around him was enough to do him in. With a loud moan he sunk his teeth into your shoulder, his hips working himself into you as he came in spurts, your body flinching at the unfamiliar feeling as you tried to catch your breath.

He whined as he continued to come, filling you up with each pump of his cock. His hips were shuddering with each thrust until he finally fell limp against you.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” He mumbled, pressing lazy, wet kisses to your already marked up skin. He still hadn’t removed himself from you and you twitched still from the aftershocks of your orgasm. You feel his cum and his cock still inside you, like he was trying to stop any of it from dripping out.

“I love you, baby.”

~~~~~~~

When you woke up the next day you were incredibly sore and wrapped up in Jungkook’s embrace. You were sweating, you noticed. Even in his sleep his grip was unrelenting, strong, and inescapable.

You had hoped after the wedding his parent’s would have finally left, but that was far from the truth. They were still there, and each week you waited for them to come and tell you and Jungkook that they were ready to go home. You wanted them to leave, but another part of you was still deeply worried for his mother. Her behavior had returned to what you knew, she smiled often, she gushed over her husband, and she coddled her son. There was no sight of the woman you had seen the night of your wedding.

The only reminder you had of your encounter, was the birth control stashed safely behind the dresser in the room that was never used. You snuck in there every day at the same time to take them in secret.

When your period came a few short weeks after your wedding, Jungkook was visibly upset. He didn’t say anything but you knew what he was thinking. He was hoping the various times you had sex between the wedding and your period would have you fall pregnant. He pouted about it, but simply remarked that the two of you would have to try more. He took care of you, bringing you chocolate snacks, heating pads, and plenty of cuddling. Although you never asked for that last part.

You thought you were going to be safe, that this was the one thing you could get away with this time. It only took a few weeks for everything to fall apart.

You were in the shower when the shouting started. You paused for a moment, tilting your head in the direction of the bathroom door. It was a male who was shouting, but over the sound of the water you couldn’t tell who it was. It was the loud shattering that spurred you into action. In seconds you turned the water off and frantically dried your body, throwing on a hoodie and some sweatpants.

You swung the door open and walked and quietly as you could down the hallway. The yelling was coming from the kitchen. You pressed yourself against the wall and peered into the room.

It was Jungkook’s father screaming at his mother. It looked like she had been making dinner, various pots settled on the stove as well as a kettle. There were ceramic shards littering the floor, you could only assume a plate had been thrown.

“Don’t you fucking lie to me, you are the only person in this house who could have done this!” He screamed, slamming down a container onto the counter causing his wife to flinch back in fear.

It was your birth control.

“You really thought I wouldn’t figure it out? It was a little strange that she was going in there every day at the same time wasn’t it?” He asked, his voice deathly calm. His wife didn’t respond, her gaze pinned to the floor.

“Fucking answer me!” He screamed, whipping another plate at the wall right beside her head and shattering it into pieces.

“It was strange.” She echoed, her eyes glazing over.

“Don’t play games with me, I know damn well she didn’t get them, Jungkook didn’t, and neither did I. If you want your punishment to be easier than tell me the goddamn truth right now.” He snapped.

She was already gone, her mind somewhere else as he screamed at her. You couldn’t stop the torrent of tears from rushing down your face as you witnessed her shutting herself off. Years of toture had made her good at dissociating.

The first hit is what broke you. Without thinking you ran right in between the two of them, wrapping your arms around her as the two of you fell to the ground, cries of pain bursting from your mouth at each hit you endured. He was ruthless, his anger quickly being directed at you. Each punch and kick to your body bringing new blossoms of pain. You stayed firm, your body wrapping around hers to stop the torrent of attacks from reaching her. You could do it for her.

You felt fingers weave into your hair, pulling you sharply to the ground and causing you to cry out. You struggled as he began to drag you away from Jungkook’s mother by your wet tresses, he was heading to the deck. You had no doubt in your mind he was going to take you outside, torture you, murder you, and dipose of you.

“Jungkook!” You screamed, thrashing around desperately. “Jungkook! Help!”

You never called out to him for help, never. And that was why he came so quickly. The minute he entered the kitchen his demeanor completely flipped. His eyes settled on his mother, her body laid limp to the floor as she gazed off into nothing. And then he found you, your body being dragged and his father's hand knotted in your hair with marks littering your face. He suddenly reminded you of the Jungkook that took you the first night. His eyes were pitch black and the anger was bubbling just under the surface.

Your head fell as his father released your hair and you quickly began to scoot back and away from him. You settled yourself in the corner, lifted Jungkook’s mother into your embrace and held her tight.

As soon as the two of you were safe, he snapped. He grabbed his father by the neck and threw him to the ground, the two of them devolving into a writhing mass of punches and kicks. You could see instantly that Jungkook was going to win, there were no doubts in your mind about that. He had his father pinned quickly and was beating the ever loving shit out of him.

“How fucking dare you!” He was yelling, his face red as he repeatedly laid into him, each hit becoming more brutal than the one before. “How dare you hit my wife! My mother! Fuck you!” He screamed, letting out every ounce of rage he had been holding in.

You could hear the kettle begin to whistle in the background, the pitch slowly rising as your pulse thrummed strongly. You couldn’t take your eyes away from the sight before you, you didn’t know if Jungkook was going to be able to calm down. He was enraged.

His father was laying still underneath him, his face bloodied and the only sign of him being alive the rise and fall of his chest. Jungkook finally stopped, sniffing as he rolled off of his father, his knuckles split and covered in blood. But he had stopped far too soon. His father suddenly lurched, dragging him to the ground and wrapping his hands tightly around his son’s throat.

You watched in shock, Jungkook’s body squirming as he tried to escape, his eyes darting around to try and find you. And, for some reason you don’t exactly know, you reached onto the counter, wrapped your fingers around a knife and slid it across the floor into his waiting hand.

You snapped your eyes shut as you began to hear the loud grunts of pain from his father each time the knife struck his body. You held Jungkook’s mother close, your hands covering her eyes so there would be no chance of her seeing. The kettle was whistling painfully loud, your heart beating violently as you listened to what was happening.

And soon, silence fell over the room. You opened your eyes and watched as Jungkook pushed the lifeless corpse of his father to the floor. He rolled over and looked at you, his face, neck, and hands coated in thick, wet, blood. He was shaking as he came down from his adrenaline high. He dropped the knife from his grip, tears suddenly pouring from his doe eyes as he crawled across the floor to you and his mother.

Loud, pained sobs wracked his chest as he threw himself at you, crying into your neck as he held you tightly.The scent of blood was thick in the air, the sticky, crimson fluid staining your skin as he gripped you tightly to him. He was inconsolable, sobbing like a child as he refused to let you move.

There was a corpse in the room, copious amounts of blood, Jungkook, you, and his mother.

You raised your hand and gently began to stroke his hair, curling your arms around his shaking, blood soaked body. You lightly pressed a kiss to the top of his head in an attempt to soothe him, rocking him back and forth.

“It’s okay, Jungkook. It’s okay.”

#bts #bts jungkook #bts x reader #jungkook #jeon jungkook #jungkook x reader #jeon jungkook x reader #yandere #yandere bts #yandere jungkook #bts fanfic #yandere jungkook x reader #yandere kpop #yandere bts x reader

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cuddles-and-kisses · 3 years

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My Taste In Yanderes and Why

Content warning for general yandere things below. Side note: I don't set standards or boundaries that I couldn't keep myself. I don't know how this is relevant but my gut tells me I should state it.

Obsessive: I have a lot of things about me that I'm itching for someone to find. I would love to talk to someone about my special interests and have them listen with the slightest interest. I'm not used to others understanding me as a person or showing genuine interest in me so an obsessive yandere is appealing. It's almost common knowledge at this point that it's easy to make me feel rejected/ unwanted.

Curious: I was planning on saying stalking and then my brain started using logic again. It feeds off of the obsessive point above. Just someone who wants to find out how my brain works and how it came to be. Someone who shows initiative in getting to know me. If they don't ask, it's assumed they don't want to know.

Possessive: I want someone to show off; I want hickey's soaked into my skin. I want someone who wants to show me off. I want someone who's loyal to me and wants to make sure others know we're together. It's worth noting that I have abandonment issues.

Protective: I have Complex PTSD, so there's that reason. I'm also non-confrontational and it'd be nice for someone to stand up for me,, or at least want to. Emotionally and physically protective are equally appreciated. The trust issues really appreciate this one.

Affectionate: I'm both touch and loved starved. Having a consistent source of gentle touches would be lovely. I have daydreams of receiving casual affections and arrange my pillows to feel like I'm cuddling someone.

Lucid: I want them to be aware of how their actions would be perceived by others to minimize the toxicity. I've had bad relationships in the past and won't let myself repeat them. (I've had plenty of good relationships too, don't worry)

Idealizing: My second love language is Words of Affirmation. Enough said? Either way,, moving on!

Casual: The brightest stars burn out the fastest, ya know? Also, I prefer to take things slow; ie, a 3-month friendship buffer. In my mind, casual yanderes are more reputable at respecting their darling's boundaries, compared to direct or controlling yanderes. The trust issues appreciate this one too!

Agreeable: Being seen as a full person with thoughts, preferences, and needs is definitely a priority for me. I get upset at myself for relating real people to fictional characters or celebrities because I think it's dehumanizing. I'd prefer if they put my emotional/physical well-being right below theirs on their priority list. This one is for my hyperindepent tendencies.

Resilient: Confidence is attractive to me. As stated before, I prefer to take things slow and my boundaries are important to me. Attachment issues have entered the chat.

~Yandere types I won't tolerate~

Sadistic: My mental health is bad enough and I already have PTSD (I feel like I'm being obnoxious with this fact). Just the thought of it makes me nauseous and I don't think I could mentally handle a relationship of that nature.

Delusional: I doubt I'd have the energy for someone else having severe delusions. Please note the word severe. Intrusive thoughts? Not a problem as long as they know it's a thought and can be grounded.

Controlling: Bold of you to assume I'd let someone else be toxic to me without distancing myself at least a little.

Insecure/Broken: I've worked way too fluffing hard to get to a level 3 on the Enneagram mental health scale. If they are in therapy and/or actively working to improve their overall mental state, then I have no reservations.

Toxic or abusive: This one has a loophole; If I can't tell it's happening then it's fine. If you're going to rip every apart at least make it entertaining. Otherwise, don't bother.

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alexaplaysgames · 3 years

Text

Nodus Tollens

Pairing: June x F!Traveller (Celeste)

Fandom: Andromeda Six (I know the fan base isn’t huge so I encourage those who haven’t played to read these and see if you’d like to try it out!)

Warnings: Angst, minor mentions of gore and death.

Words: ~ 1800

Description: When Traveller tries to save June instead.

Notes: I chose my traveller for this little fic but will totally take requests if you’d like me to use yours. Just pop into me DMs and make a request! Also, this is one of several fics for A6 that I have so let me know if you’d like to be tagged.

This is self indulgent nonsense and I am sorry. I will do better next time. Actually I probably won’t.

Tags: @amlovelies @writersgonefishing @oatssss @kimberrrrr @femmeshep @serana-spring

There’s a sort of weightlessness to death.

An instant where you rest suspended in the between. Passed from warm hands into a cold, steel grip, there’s a split second where everything stops. Life no longer holds meeting and death has yet to make known its cruel face, so you are left...

Waiting.

It takes a moment for Celeste to realize that this isn’t the weightlessness she’s feeling. The sensation of suspense is not one due to hovering between life and death. The strength which holds her is not of some otherworldly being.

She looks up and sees kindly grey eyes. June cradles her head with gentle, reserved strength. Tawny strands of his hair fall against his forehead as he looks down at her with an expression of fear and unbridled concern, one that is utterly unfamiliar on the usually calm gunman’s features.

His fingers press against her side and withdraw, sticky and crimson with blood.

“Celeste,” June whispers, though it’s faint with the ringing in her ears.

Her name on his lips sounds sad, agonized even. The feeling that knowledge invokes within her is foreign. Once, existing only as the youngest child in a line of royals, fated for a life in the shadows, she held the belief that no one would mourn her death. Now, the look of anguish on his face makes guilt flare in her gut; she doesn’t want to hurt him like this.

He pulls her close against his chest, draws her into his arms as easily as if she were, truly, weightless. She knows of the strength that lies hidden under the layers of his sweet, gentle exterior, buried under his warm smiles and soft, thoughtful gestures.

Her fingers’ weak grasp finds his wrist, delving into the crisscrossed scars written in his skin. In them, she finds the affirmation she seeks.

Even if it drains her of blood, life, and spirit, it was worth it. For in this, just once, he will remain untouched.

She wakes to metal tables and blinding white light.

“Hey, easy now,” comes Ryona’s soothing tone. Her pale blue skin and soft, pretty features follow as she stands from her desk before rushing to Celeste’s side.

Ryona immediately starts fluttering around, reading numbers on screens and pressing buttons as Celeste puts her hand over the bandage on her newly-sewn side with a wince.

“You’re in the med bay. Came in pretty banged up, if I do say so myself. June had to carry you back.”

The incessant ringing has cleared to the steady beeping of the surrounding machines. For the second time, it occurs to Celeste in her clarity, that man has pulled her back from the brink of death and carried her toward safety in his arms.

“I’ve never seen our cowboy quite so upset,” Ryona adds, her tone full of meaning. “He really cares about you. Remember that if he-“

Celeste shifts on the table. “If he what?”

“I had to give you eight stitches, and you lost a lot of blood. You should-”

“Ryona.”

Golden eyes, filled with conflict, meet green.

“June doesn’t handle strong emotion well. He’s afraid it makes him volatile, destructive. Dangerous.”

“Oh.” The plastic sheet crinkles as Celeste settles back against it. The non-answer makes her nervous. “Okay.”

“He’ll be fine,” Ryona comforts, squeezing her ankle softly as she sits down by her feet. “Luckily, so will you. I was worried.”

Celeste stumbles in her attempt to formulate a reply. “I- thank you.”

The words stir some strange sentiment within her, an immense wave of affection threatening to drown her in their wake. Never in her life did she imagine she would be lucky enough to be cared for so deeply by people so utterly kind.

Suddenly, a knock sounds at the door, startling both women where they sit.

“That’s probably June. He sat by your side for hours until he went to get a blanket. Said you looked cold,” then, louder, “come in!”

June almost has to duck under the door, given his immense height, and he enters carrying a stack of blankets high enough to clothe a small army.

“I didn’t know which ones-“ he begins, setting the stack of fabric on the countertop, then trails off as he registers the sight before him.

“You’re awake.”

Silence ensues. Ryona’s eye flit between the two of them before she stands, says, “I’ll be outside if you need me,” and excuses herself with a warm, supportive smile over her shoulder.

“June-“

“I am so, so sorry,” he breathes, air rushing forward from his lungs, coming to kneel by her side. His eyes search her face, looking for what, she doesn’t know.

“What do you have to be sorry for?”

“I should’ve protected you. I shouldn’t have let you get hurt.” He looks disgusted with himself. This, this self-loathing, is something she recognizes. “There are a lot of things I should have done,” he adds softly.

Celeste moves to sit up and hisses as the skin around her bandages stretches.

Realization dawns in June’s eyes before they shift to her side. “Can I?”

She nods, lifting the edge of her shirt to reveal the expanse of fabric that hides her wound. Looking briefly into her eyes for confirmation, June lets his fingers brush against her skin, tracing the edges of the bandage and sending a tingling feeling up Celeste’s spine. At every point where their skin meets, warmth trickles outwards from his fingertips, seeping through her skin and settling in her veins. She can feel his breath, the unmistakable warmth of it, against her bare skin.

“You’ll have a scar,” June murmurs.

“So? You already have so many.”

He frowns. “I don’t want you to be like me, Celeste. I don’t want to make you like me. How could you- that’s the last thing I want.”

“You told me to run and I chose not to. You didn’t make me do anything. I’m responsible for my own actions. Did you really think I would leave and risk you getting hurt?”

That seems to throw him for a loop. His jaw drops slightly, eyes wide. “You- you wanted to protect me?”

She traces a featherlight touch along his cheek with a shaking hand. June’s eyelashes flutter, briefly, at her touch. “Of course.”

“You’re delusional,” June says, though it lacks any bite. He simply sounds lost, a little confused. “I’ve survived much worse than a back-alley gunfight. I can handle a few more scars.”

“But you shouldn’t- you shouldn’t have to.”

She swallows, jaw working as she looks toward the ceiling, yet she can see how he shakes his head, features pulled between frustration and overwhelming torment. “You shouldn’t have to put yourself in danger for me. I’m not worth that.”

“But you are-“

“I am not.” And the finality of his words draws her gaze towards his once more. She sees something there that she’s only seen once before, the day she stood outside his cabin and he shut the door in her face .

Anger. Fire, bright flames quickly smothered with a brush of his large palm over his face.

He breathes deep, chest rising with the motion under his vest. His grey eyes look more like steel than rainclouds as he speaks. “If you can’t follow orders, I won’t be able to take you on supply runs any longer.”

“June, please. You don’t mean that.”

She doesn’t know what she’s asking for. Acceptance? His friendship? His love? Would she dare?

Could he even give her such a thing?

“I’ll see you in the morning, Celeste.” June stands again, sleeves shifting further up his forearms to show his scars. “Get some sleep.”

He doesn’t once look back once as the door closes behind him.

The metal table beneath her feels so much colder without him there. How cruel he is, to let her taste what it’s like to have him by her side, then rip it away. Left with nothing but the hum of machinery and her thoughts, she begins to wonder if she’s broken, or he is.

Or maybe they’re both broken, she thinks. Maybe they both have jagged edges, and no matter how hard she tries to fit them together, there will always be a little space in between.

It’s an uncomfortable thought, one that lulls her to sleep under fluorescent lights and the weight of her own fractured heart.

Outside, June slumps against the wall, running his hand through his hair with a sigh.

How his heart ached when he turned her affection aside, how he wanted nothing more than to relish in the feeling of her caring for him, for him, to bask in it and soak in it and let it fill all of his cracks and crevices and make him whole.

And how he knew, just as deeply and with equal certitude, that that was the last thing he could ever let himself do.

He is no stranger to pain. But the hurt he feels now is different, gnawing at a part of himself he didn’t know existed. Not since he closed it off, so long ago. Not since-

No. Not going there. No amount of time will strength long enough for him to open those doors again.

Just look at what you’ve done to her already. All you’ll ever do is hurt her.

June presses his fists into the wall by his sides, hands trembling with the effort not to leave dents in the metal. It’s so easy for him to break and ruin, so difficult to build. And that is why he cannot have her. He won’t let her become another beautiful thing shattered by the strength in his hands.

How difficult she makes it, when she looks at him as if he’s fragile, when her lips form words like care and protect and things he never thought a monster like him could ever hope to receive. He wants to lay himself down at her feet and thank the gods for giving him something so sweet.

But he is dangerous and he is deadly and he has no idea how to love someone the way she deserves.

“You could stand to let someone in, every once in a while.”

Ryona crosses her arms as she leans against the wall beside him, one eyebrow raised.

“I won’t kill you to let yourself feel, June.”

“It’s not myself I’m worried about killing.”

June tries not to flinch as she lays a hand on his shoulder. “You’re not the monster you think you are,” she says.

A part of him wants to scream, to say that she doesn’t understand, that’s she’s wrong, but that part is smothered by the warmth that bubbles in his chest at her words.

He lets his head hit the wall and closes his eyes. “I don’t know if you’re right.”

“Am I ever wrong?” Ryona grins, eyes twinkling.

He has to admit, she does have a point.

“I hope you’re able to work this out,” she says, pushing herself off the wall. She walks back into the med bay and June keeps his eyes scrunched closed until he hears the door slam shut.

More than anything, he hopes for that too.

#Juniper Nyux #Andromeda Six #Andromeda Six Fanfiction #Fanfiction #Visual Novel #A6 #Andromeda 6 #Andromeda Six June #June x Traveler #Ryona Mi'Haden #A6 fanfiction #Andromeda Six Traveler #A6 June #A6 Ryona

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v-hope · 5 years

Text

His fans love you

Pairings: OT7 x Reader

Genre: Fluff, is it even surprising anymore. Mayyyyybe a lil bit of crack?

Request: “Alright alright hear me out. Everyone knows the typical "angst / breaking up because of hate" fics. But what about a reaction where you and your relationship is actually really supported and well-liked by fans? Like you get your own memes and fan accounts and stuff? Just pure crack material right here 💥”

A/N: This was such a nice change tbh, so thank you so much for requesting it! It also reminded me I still haven’t made a second part for the break up reaction regarding this same topic lmao. I hope you guys like it 💞

Kim Seokjin

“What’s so funny?” you peeked your head inside the living room when you could no longer ignore your boyfriend’s signature windshield laugh.

Snapping his head in your direction, he smiled wholeheartedly, motioning with three pats to the spot next to him on the couch for you to go sit next to him.

“My fans are the best” he voiced out as you obeyed, taking a seat by his side.

“What’d they do?” you asked with a smile — his own being way too contagious to fight it.

“There’s this contest for the most attractive idol couple going on and they made sure we made it to the list”.

“But I’m not an idol?” your previous smile was replaced with a confused frown.

One that only grew more prominent when he amusedly threw his arms up and exclaimed:

“Yet we still won!”

With that said, Jin threw his head back to let a throaty laugh that sounded just like victory escape his mouth.

On your end, still being too stunned and not really believing his words, you snatched his phone away from him — seeing right then with your own two eyes that the both of you had indeed won such title.

“Is that even allowed?” you worried.

“Who cares” he shrugged, taking his phone back in his hands to excitedly check it one more time — eyes glowing at the sight of the number one right next to your ship’s name. “Ah, our power” a pleased sigh came out of his mouth, resting his head on your shoulder, “I love it”.

And well, not to be smug or anything but, in all honesty, so did you.

Min Yoongi

“How’d the fansign go?” you wondered after having opened the door to your place for your boyfriend, allowing him to press a chaste kiss to your lips before he made his way to your kitchen.

“It was good” he kept it simple, going to grab a glass of water. “A lot of people asked me about you”.

Well, that sure did catch your attention. “They did?”

Yoongi nodded his head. “Some of them even asked me to do a Vlive with you, but I’m pretty sure they only said that so they could see you”.

You couldn’t help but let out a little laugh at both his statement and the bitter tone he had said it with; later taking a few steps towards him. “Maybe I should do a live by myself”.

“Pft, please” he laughed tauntingly, putting the glass down on the table, “you wouldn’t even know what to talk about”.

“Oh, I already know what I’d name it”.

“Please enlighten me” Yoongi said with the same previous tone and a teasing smirk.

A smirk that was instantly mirrored by you before you said: “Spilling Yoongi’s most embarrassing moments”.

That was all it took for his smug smile to be erased.

“You wouldn’t”.

“Oh, I would” you affirmed, “starting with the time we went to that music shop you—”

“Yah” he cut you off in a scolding tone, yet the pink colour covering his cheeks let you know how embarrassed he was at the mere memory. “Now I get why my fans like your evil ass so much”.

And although he knew you would never actually do such thing to him, maybe he could comply to those people’s wishes and do a cheesy couple Vlive with you… you know, just to be safe you wouldn’t drag him too much.

Jung Hoseok

Being an idol’s girlfriend, you knew you wouldn’t really get full privacy whenever you decided to go out, and you had already managed to deal with that.

That’s why, when Hobi and you were walking around the streets during a date night and a couple of fans approached the two of you asking for pictures, you squeezed his hand to let him know it was alright for him to accept.

Getting an apologetic glance from your boyfriend, you smiled sweetly, moving aside so that they could all have their pictures — that being the exact moment one particular girl called your name.

“Wait, no” she put her phone down when you stared at her, “I um, actually wanted a picture with the two of you…” at that, your heart jumped and Hobi smiled the brightest, “is that possible?”

“Of course it is!” Hoseok confirmed with no hesitation.

Letting out a blissful giggle, he wasted no time in grabbing your hand to pull you towards his body like it was all too familiar by now.

And after taking more than one picture, since the rest of the people present also wanted a picture with the two of you, and, even more, after getting complimented on your beautiful relationship, Hoseok wrapped his arm securely over your shoulders as you resumed on your walking.

“You have now become my designated picture buddy whenever someone wants to take one with me” he giddily spoke after a while.

You shook your head in amusement, staring fondly at him. “Don’t expect everyone to like me, Hoseok”.

“I don’t” he confessed, pulling you even closer and pressing a tender kiss to your temple, “but I will take every single chance I get to have more pictures of your beautiful face”.

And as the time went on and more people started asking for pictures of the two of you and you would find your boyfriend gushing over them whenever he found them on Twitter, you knew he had truly meant it.

Kim Namjoon

“Oh my God”.

After hearing what was a mixture in between a groan and a whine come out of your boyfriend’s lips, you put your phone down, placing your eyes on his tall figure lying down on the other end of the bed.

“Something wrong?” you wondered.

Namjoon shook his head, putting his phone down as well before his eyes fixed on yours — not even a second later crawling to go lay down next to you.

“My fans are saying we are, and I quote: the clumsiest, most adorable couple there is”.

Now, the clumsy bit was no news at all, yet you still found yourself defensively saying: “I am not clumsy”.

“You sure?” he taunted you; a smirk beginning to take over his face. “Because they started this thing to keep track on every single dumb thing we’ve done and see who’s the clumsiest—”

Oh.

“—and it’s almost a tie”.

You rested your weight on your elbows, lifting your body slightly up from the mattress so you could take a better look at him.

“And who’s winning?” your voice came out uncertain.

All it took for you to know the answer was watching the way his head hung low.

Nevertheless, a triumphant smile curved up your lips when Joon confirmed through gritted teeth: “Me”.

With that, you let your head fall back down on the pillow, feeling your body relax as you sighed in content.

“I love your fans”.

And they loved you. Totally a win-win situation.

Park Jimin

Your eyes remained focused on the multiple papers scattered around Jimin’s bed, studying in absolute silence as you kept him company while he chatted with his fans on Vlive — smiling from time to time at certain things he would say or just the sound of his laugh.

He had answered a couple of questions regarding either you or your relationship, for he absolutely loved gushing about you, and you were actually pretty alright with that; even with him informing his wide audience about you being right behind him studying for one of your tests.

What you were most certainly not expecting, however, was for your boyfriend to turn around in the middle of his live and call for you to come over.

You shook your head no immediately, silently motioning to your books as an excuse not to go.

“Please, baby” he pouted, being too focused on you to notice the madness his pet name for you had just unleashed in the comments. “They want the two of us”.

And, you see, saying no to that cute little pout taking over his pretty plump was not really an option to you.

So, falling for it, you stood up from his bed and made your way over to him, feeling the heat reach your face when he gently grabbed your wrist and pulled you down on his lap, later wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his chin on your shoulder as you awkwardly waved into the camera.

Yes, maybe you had yet to get used to being so constantly put under the public eye, but, in all honesty, if you were getting all this attention nevertheless, you were grateful it was the good kind of it.

And Jimin? God, he was thriving to show you off to the entire world.

Kim Taehyung

“Can you believe people think I’m breaking up with you?”

Your heart jumped at your boyfriend’s sudden comment, feeling it drop for a second there before your eyes caught his — that being the only confirmation you needed to know he was indeed not breaking up with you.

“W-what?”

“Yeah” Taehyung snorted, moving closer to you on your bed and showing you his phone, “this delusional magazine made an article about me apparently wanting to break up with you” he explained, focusing back on his mobile and not being able to contain a giggle when he later added: “And we’re trending topic now on Twitter and my fans have started this petition for us not to split up”.

“They what now?” you asked again, this time feeling a smile of your own take over your factions.

“Yeah, see?” he practically shoved his phone in your face after having searched for the page. “So many people have signed it, it’s insane”.

A chuckle left your mouth as you shook your head in amusement; as if that would save your relationship if that was the case.

“I’m signing it” he stated before you could even speak up your mind, already starting to type on his phone.

You couldn’t stop a throaty laugh to escape your mouth as you threw your head back, biting down on your lower lip to help you stop it.

“Or you could just, you know…” you drew his attention, “not break up with me”.

Tae smiled sweetly — his eyes softening right before he leaned in to press a tender kiss to your lips. “I would never even dream of it”.

Jeon Jeongguk

“Jeongguk, are you… are you crying?” you worried as soon as you found him lying down on his bed with his eyes fixed to his phone as a couple of tears made their way down his cheeks.

Rushing to his side, you slumped down next to him, making him take his attention away from his mobile by gently yet securely cupping his face.

“What happened?” you softly wiped his tears.

“Nothing bad” he reassured you, allowing your heart to feel more at ease. “I just… there was this video linked to me…”

You waited a few seconds for him to go on, yet the only thing you got from him were his cheeks turning slightly red — biting down on his lower lip as he was clearly ashamed of the reason he had been crying for.

“Okay… so…” you tried to get something else out of him.

Jeongguk sighed, knowing well enough you would not let this go.

“It was a fanmade video about us” he finally explained, causing your heart to jump, “it was like, a compilation of cute moments of us and this stupid love song was playing in the background and the editing was just so beautiful and I—”

He shrugged, staring down as he did not really know how to end his small ramble.

You laughed under your breath out of pure affection, pressing a kiss to the tip of his red nose.

“Will you let me watch it so we can cry together now?”

Funny how you had said that to mock him, yet ten seconds into the video and with Guk’s body comfortably resting on top of yours as you watched it together, you were already crying, too.

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c-atm · 4 years

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Drive/Home:The path to you (Astral connection part 3)

Connie looked outside of her window with a groan. She was feeling lonely and touch-starved. She hasn't seen Steven in the last two months, the last they met being their time in the dream...When he told of his visions of his mother. The last time they talked was a week after, a small sweet text with a little information about his next destination, though it had a typo..

‘Can’t wait to meet up again. I'll contact you when I reach my next destination; it's a beach tourist town. I'll pick you up there for your birthday. I love you, Dream Berry’

Connie sighed, a mixture of sadness and pining in the same breath.

“What a way to bring in my twentieth birthday.” She looked at the clock near her bed reading 12:30 am.She officially turned twenty, thirty minutes ago...More importantly to her, it was officially one year since Steven and her became ‘Dream buds’.

“Is he having second thoughts, regrets?”

Connie has been wondering about this since for a couple of weeks...Within the dream they crafted, they acted like newlyweds. They talked intimately, sharing secrets no one else knew, like him no longer being a vegetarian and her getting a tattoo on her right inner thigh...A black and red star.

They kissed each tenderly, passionately, and hungrily, in ways and places only they could. They touched each other in ways that only they could. They loved each other in ways special to them. He loved her in ways no other man or woman would ever be allowed to; an exchange of each other's last bit of mental and spiritual chastity.

She was grateful it was through astral connection and not yet a physical one, or they might've been in trouble after the first few times.. She did start to take precautions in the physical plane, for when...If they did.

“What a way to wake from a dream though. Even more tired, but so much more...Everything else.”

His little carnal text of thank you’s and praise for her amorous nature, they were always the highlight of waking up after those types of nights. It was revitalizing to have him not just enjoy her more... Erotic side...but appreciate it; welcomed it.

"Though Dreamscuit is more libidinous, than I expected." She let out a silent chuckle as she thought of one particular time they were carnivorous with each other.

The scene was a hidden spring he found on his travels, surrounded by tropical foliage and a waterfall spilling into it. He was in it, bare as birth, looking towards her who sat on the edge in her nightwear. The story of how he came across it was simple.

He fell in after chasing down and poofing a falcon like gem mutant. The mutant was causing problems for a nearby cape town with its destructive behavior, running through shops and breaking merchandise, ravaging the forest nearby, rampaging through the streets. He put an end to it after a chase through the forest, and a well placed shield bash after hitching a ride in its back.

He plummeted, as the falcon was already diving in attempt to throw him off, leaving him flying down the path set for him. Which happened to be in the spring, he was slightly knocked out due to the force of entry. He stated he dreamed about her during that time...Always dreamed about her when he came here.

Her asking him to tell her his dreams sealed the deal as he swam over to her, innocently; placed his hands on her knees, innocently ; and suggested he showed her his dream; INNOCENTLY . She agreed of course, it was her Innocent Dreamberry.

Which is why she was surprised when he examined her new tattoo thoroughly, through kneading, suckling and nipping. When he touched her in ways and places she herself dreamed about., stealing her breath, making lay back as he revealed his fantasies through action..and unknowingly, allow Connie to live out her own, in a manner of speaking.

At the end, she sat upon him in the spring, peppering his neck and chin with kisses and nips as he held and instinctively caressed her in away only her can. A way only she would allow him too. They were bare, bitten, bathed in sweat and spring water, and felt a bit bestial in their actions; but there were love with the lust, care with the carnality, romance with ravishing, solicitude with the sex. Their appetitive actions were fueled by their unyielding adoration for each other. It was wonderful..as was the three rounds after; they turned out to be quite the carnivorous couple.

"Couple..are we a couple?"

Small thoughts like that plagued her over the last two weeks, like an annoying bug that won't die and she couldn't stand herself for having them. Six weeks of complete Steven silence led her to uncertainty, over-worry, doubt. It brought thoughts of him being hurt, lost, in danger..even..

"No..He's ok..He's fine..much better than before he left on all fronts."

A calming thought that was compounded by even worse ones...Her thoughts went from his well being to their new status and the possibility of him no longer seeing her like that. Maybe he found someone else he can be physically intimate with instead of just in a dreamscape? Maybe he found someone better to be with? Maybe he found a better life in the town he was going to..and didn't want to break her heart.

Is this what it was to miss your partner...your lover? Could they even say they were together.. Everything happened in their dreams. Besides fatigue nothing physical passed on.

" Maybe, I'm delusional and even sent those texts to myself." Connie laughed a harsh wet laugh as she laid on her bed. She was so pathetic right now. She knew better. She knows better.. She was just missing him..Badly.

"Get it together, Maheswaran...Just because he's not around doesn't mean your world stops and everything you shared is moot. You went ten months without him and kept it together. Besides, you know your Biscuit, your Steven...Your man...Whatever reason he's been silent, it's important."

Rationality and logic sucks sometimes...She did know Steven and because she knew him, she could reason that he going silent was probably important...Yet stupid. He has a track record of ghosting people because he believes it's the right thing to do at the moment or he didn't want to burden someone..That thought just stroked her ire. She looked towards her phone and all the messages she sent him without a response..

"I'm gonna smother him next time we meet.. I swear to the stars."

Just as she was about to send another text..A roar was heard outside her window. She turned to see Lion, by himself looking up expectantly, ready for his mistress to mount him.

"Well, at least there is one dependable guy in my life."

Connie smirked as she got her jacket, her sword and went to meet her current favorite boy in the whole universe. She kissed the beast skull as she nuzzled close to him. Who in turned nuzzled against the crook of her neck before licking her cheek, making her giggle. She really could count on Lion to make her feel better.

"Why couldn't you be human, you'd be the best partner. Adorable, dependable, loyal, near ageless, able to teleport where you want..NOT LARS, but of course you have to be a lion, so I can only love you like a son."

She mounted the pink beast, ready for wherever they were going. With a roar, Lion created a portal and the two were off.

"So where are you taking me this time, Lion. A meadow, a battlefield, a forest." She chuckled as she held onto the beast. This wasn't the first time Lion took her out on a stroll alone. Far from it, this has been a common occurrence ever since Steven's surrender all them years ago.

She was surprised to see them on the beach behind the temple..The place where she officially met Steven. He bent down allowing her to mount off him. She turned to the sea rested her sword down and watched the serene waves as Lion gave her one last lick and nuzzle, before walking off...As he does on their 'dates', until the time he's needed. She sat pulling her knees to her chest as she took in the scent of the beach with her eyes closed.

The sand, surf and saltwater; his old smell, comforting as always...His smell now was a lot more woody, musty, musky. earthly..It was consuming, arousing and energizing…

Thinking about it made her imagine him. His broad chest, large limbs,long locks, whiskered face, rugged face and strong let pleasant breath. She was so lost in her thoughts that they could literally feel his touch upon her.

The fell of his arms holding her in that special way, around her middle and just above her chest. His inner thighs brushing against her hips as he sat her on his crossed legs, the feel of his whiskered chin on her collarbone. She could feel him, smell him.

"So this is what it means to be in love.. To long for someone so much that you can feel their presence even when they are not around. You're not even here..I don't know where you are, but I feel your touch, smell your scent... Isn't that stupid.,,"

"I wouldn't say that, Birthday Berry."

Connie's eyes opened up a husky, wine-like voice, as she looked up to Steven's smirking face. She looked past him for a moment before stretching out her hand to the left as flexing her fist.

"I..I'm not dreaming."

"Oh."

"I was going to summon a wiffle bat and bash your head in."

"Ouch.."

" I can't...I can't see the edge of our scene...Cause it's not a scene… It's real..,"

Steven kissed her crown tenderly as her breath became short, her eyes moistened and her hands trembled as she reached up and touched his face. It was warm..much warmer than the last twelve months. They chuckled, giggled and laughed as the tears began to fall from both of them. Connie kissed his temple as they held each other closed. Silently whispering to each other affirmation after affirmation, that this moment was reality, he was there with her, she was there with him, they were holding, kissing basking in each other in reality.

Connie turned towards him to hold her best friend and be held by him, before looking up. " Was it real?..Last year.. Those times..Was that really.."

She never got to finish as he kissed her tenderly.. The same way he's done it for the last year..Except more chapped, more full, had more heat, softer, gentler..yet rugged. It was his kiss..just not as a dream and she melted for it all the same.

He broke it and looked at her before whispering in her ear about the spring. About what they did in the spring. About the bites, the sounds, the words..Her mark's on his back. About him paying so much attention to her star.

Connie gulped as she covered her face in embarrassment.

"It was all real, Dream Berry. So to speak." He stroked her hair, as he reaffirmed last year.

Connie laid her head on his chest before taking his hand in hers. "You're so big now."

"You've said that, almost every time we've met"

"Can't I admire your growth."

"Sure, as long as I can admire your own."

Connie smirked impishly as she covered herself playfully. "These curves are for my partner and me only.."

"Isn't that me though."

Connie looked to the sea. "I thought so..I hoped so..then you went ghost...AgaIn." She looked towards him with a sadden glint in her eye. "Two months, No contact.. What happened?"

Steven sighed, shame coming from the breath. "I did what I said I was going to. I came to a beach tourist town..I returned here, was here for a bit, maybe a night ..Before heading to Homeworld."

Connie listened intently as he told her of the last two months. How he paid a visit to Homeworld, where he experienced a galactic jamboree. From the consensus it was surprisingly a lot of fun compared to the last ones; now that era 3 was in full effect. He also found out that the diamonds were thinking about sending gems to other planets as diplomatic representatives in hope to find other ways to expand their race and ranks without harming another.

He told the Diamonds, Spinel, and Volleyball the truth about his mother's feelings for them. How she regretted everything she did to them and loved them all until her last second, despite everything that transpired. Told them everything she did to herself in their name as well. It was a bittersweet conversation but it did put some things in perspective.

He was on Homeworld a month before heading back to the beach city, to the temple, to his family. He was surprised to see all six gems and his father waiting, expecting him to come out of the warp stream. They all stood silently for what seemed like an eternity.

"I cried. I took a deep breath...I was going to say hi...Joke...Something...but I cried...We all cried."

Connie let use a chortle, wiping a tear herself. " Of course, you guys did. Not seeing each other for so long, seeing how everyone changed, must've been shocking. Wish I was there to see the reunion."

"If they hadn't ambushed me like that, you would've, I digress though.."

Steven continued his tale, speaking of his journeys across the earth, The same tales he told Connie. He was surprised at the changes of the gems.

Pearl was giving relationships a chance with Sabina. Amethyst really took over as Little homeschool headmaster and even got Jasper in her staff, as a teacher in motivation.That made Steven pause for a moment, but he accepted it. Garnet was the vice headmaster of little Homeworld. Peridot, along with Bismuth, Pearl and Connie made little homeworld R&D, with Bismuth and Pearl acting as directors, as Peri still had her gardening classes to attend to and Connie had college. Lapis took her art online and got exposure for some of their meep-morps. Lapis was on her way to becoming famous and Greg is managing her. Bismuth took her forging online and now has a following of 10 mill on tubetube. As for Greg,he was still his dear old dad...Just a little grayer.

After catching up, Steven sat them down in the living room before telling them about Rose quartz, and unlike with the diamonds and Spinel, he told them everything. Her travels, her self-hatred, Sheva, the self-poofing...Everything.

"We've put a smaller version of her picture back on the living room desk. It's progress."

"I take it, they were reeling from the revelation."

Steven nodded. "Garnet split to hold each other, Lapis and Peri consoled Bismuth, Dad and Pearl had each other."

"And Amethyst?"

"Amethyst...Actually took it well, better than anyone else."

Connie features softened at the prideful look on his face.

"She took me to the side and asked me how I'm handling it. I told her that I was fine..Which I was and am..I came to terms with what she was and dealt with…How she dealt with them.."

His eyes glistened a bit as he held his head down thinking about Rose and how similar he was to her.

"We had a nice one-on-one...Talked about how I was going down a similar path as mom. Starting to hate myself for not being needed, or able to help people...You know, things I told you."

Connie nodded as she recalled one of their first dreams together. She remembered holding him as tearfully told her how he started to feel unfulfilled and useless again. After everything he went through to get better even seeing a therapist. He still felt the need to get away from everyone and everything related to the Crystal gems. He felt like he still needed to find himself..These were the reasons he left.

“After that..Amethyst asked when did I talk to you about this."

Connie eyes widened at the statement, trying to hide her shock through a smirk. " What?"

"She just figured it out. Said that I had a certain calmness and maturity, about everything. Said the only time I am like that is when I talk to you and mulled it over."

He took her hands in his and gave them a kiss. Connie squeezed them back.

"What did you tell her?"

"The truth...No need to keep it hidden…"

" Oh..And what truth is that?"

Connie smirked as he felt his lips upon hers, his thumbs massaging the back of her hands. His smell invigorating her senses… He broke the kiss but didn't pull away, nuzzling behind her ear giving her small nips.

" Said I've been visiting my girl twice a month, for the last year."

"Hmm.. Except for the last two."

As Steven pulled away ready to apologize to Connie, when she placed her index on his lips, shaking her head as she did.

"Don't...You did nothing wrong. If anything, I should apologize...I wanted you to feel a bit bad for not contacting me, that's not how you treat your partner."

"Your partner, huh?"

"I mean.."

Her bashful side glance made him snort, which in turn made her cheeks flamed. "If you'd have me."

With amusement, Steven caressed her left cheek before drawing close. Nose tips touched as he looked into her deep black eyes.

"Obviously. I am still under the assumption that today is our anniversary, as well as your birthday. Am I…"

"No!" Connie let a little stifled laugh at Steven's surprised face. Her heart was pounding against her chest, she found it hard to look at his eyes..she felt anxious, excited, and scared. "No. You're not wrong…I..I also thought of us as a couple since then...Though we never defined it, exactly."

"Dream-buds"

She smiled as she nuzzled into the stroking palm, kissing it. The moonlit ocean giving her eyes an fantastical glow. "We're not in a dream now, Dreamscuit."

His face turned pink and not from his gem. "And yet you're still calling me that.”

“Of course...You’re my Biscuit and a big piece of my dream for the future. Besides, you called me Dream Berry. Why is that?”

Steven licked his lips before letting his his hands rest on her hips and pulling her close...Trying to ignore how thin her nightwear was. She tilted her head slightly to the right as she saw a passionate light in his cool, almond eyes.

“You know why..It’s the same reason as you to me.”

Connnie gave a teasing grin, before tracing his cheek and jaw. She kissed him lovingly, passionately, heartfully. Her loneliness and heartache over the two months, her regret and penance over doubting him for even a moment. Her swelling pride and carnal hunger for him, Her thankfulness and graciousness over his safe return. Her happiness and undaunting love for him. It was all displayed, all revealed to him in that kiss.

Her kiss tenderness left him awe-struck, the depth; weak, the emotion; speechless.The touch left him trembling. His heart swelled and burst as he held her close by her back returning the kiss...The emotions He felt rejuvenated, reborned, truly reformed .He felt as he truly returned home.

They broke the kiss, laughing with tears in their eyes. Words lost them as they wiped each other's eyes and gave each other chatse kisses.. It was a few moments before they relaxed, opting to hold each close.

“I love you.”

Both their eyes widened at the dual confession,neither expecting it from the other first. Connie broke out of the stupor first, tackling him down to lay upon him. Her head on his chest ear to heart.

“You are home with us, with me. After so long. It’s real…In the present.”

Steven held her close, left hand stroking her head, right arm around her waist. “Yeah..I’m finally home..Finally where I want to be.”

As he gaze down at her receiving a small yet illuminating grin. He couldn’t help but think that both their present and future never looked so brighter.

#Connie Maheswaran #Steven universe #jambudweek2020 #drive #home #Connverse #Rose quartz #StevenXConnie #Self-hate #Journey #Tales #Astral connection #Reunion #Steven's finally home

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wazzupmrstark · 5 years

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Under the Weather

Harrison Osterfield x Reader

A/N: Wrote this because I’m sick as heck and really in the mood to cuddle with a certain cute British actor so here ya go.

Summary: You wake up sick one day, but avoid telling your boyfriend, Harrison because you know he’d leave work to take care of you.

Warnings: little bit of swearing, lot a bit of fluff

Word Count: 1.5k

The thermometer beeped loudly, the noise adding to the already insufferable headache you had. It wasn’t a good sign. You took it out of your mouth to look at it. 101.2 degrees. You sighed. You were supposed to have a big meeting at work today, but that wasn’t going to happen anymore.

You flopped back onto the bed dramatically. You’d already woken up kind of late, and now you couldn’t go into work at all. If your office didn’t have a policy about not coming in when you’re sick, you’d be at that meeting, half dead, presenting your pitch for a new exhibit in January. You’d spent weeks researching artists and carefully hand-selecting pieces that you thought would compliment all the other art in the west wing nicely, but your portfolio might as well go in the trash now. The exhibit was probably going to go to some perky new hire who thought modern abstract was the height of art itself. You huffed in frustration and buried yourself further into the covers.

Other people might have enjoyed a sick day off from work, but you loved your job behind the scenes at the Met, designing and setting up new exhibits to showcase. And of course today had to be the day you came down with something, the day everyone in your department was competing to head the design for their chosen exhibit.

You forced yourself to stop wallowing and actually make the call into work to tell them you weren’t coming. You thought about texting Harrison, who’d left earlier this morning to go shoot for his new movie, but refrained. If he knew you were sick, he’d make an excuse to come home and take care of you. You were already missing out on being at a job you loved, you didn’t want him to feel obligated to do the same.

Besides, you could take care of yourself. You’d been doing it for years before you met Haz. You weren’t even feeling that bad, at least that’s what you told yourself. You managed to get yourself out of bed and onto your feet so that you could grab some aspirin from the medicine cabinet and Gatorade from the fridge.

The pills were difficult to swallow with your sore throat but you managed to get them down without breaking too much of a sweat. Everything ached and you felt yourself shivering. You knew it was probably best to just go back to sleep and let the meds kick in, so you turned up the heat in the apartment and curled up in bed.

A few hours later when you woke up, you weren’t feeling any better. Another go with the thermometer told you your temperature was now 101.3. You popped some more pills and microwaved some chicken noodle soup since you hadn’t had anything to eat all day. While you had been asleep you’d missed a lot of messages from your boyfriend who was understandably getting concerned.

9:38 am Haz: You’ll never believe what I just got to do :)

9:45 am Haz: ....

9: 45 am Haz: I got to do a stunt with flips

11:23 am Haz: Y/N??

11:56 am Haz: lol are u mad at me?

11:57 am Haz: we weren’t fighting when I left this morning

12:14 pm Haz: seriously Y/N is something wrong?

12:18 pm Haz: ok if you don’t reply in the next 5 min I’m calling you

You didn’t want him to call and hear how sick you were so you quickly texted back sorry babe busy day and went back to fixing your soup. You felt a twinge of guilt for lying to him, but busy could mean anything. Like right now, you were busy with your lunch.

You set everything on a tray and brought it back to bed, having exerted all of your strength on preparing the food. You couldn’t be bothered to sit at a table to eat it. Once you were in bed you turned on the Disney Channel to Kim Possible reruns. Watching cartoons when you were sick always comforted you. You chuckled to yourself as you looked at the spread in front of you. Gatorade, soup, and, rainbow goldfish crackers. It looked like something you would eat for lunch in elementary school. You snapped arranged the goldfish into the shape of a heart and snapped a picture of your lunch for your instagram story, including Kim Possible playing in the background. You added the caption “just another day in the third grade” before posting it and actually eating your soup.

The warm broth felt good on your throat and you abandoned both the chicken and the noodles in favor of the broth. The crackers went untouched too. You knew you should be eating real food, but you had no appetite. At least you were getting fluids.

As soon as you set your tray on the floor in preparation for taking another nap, you phone started to ring. You frowned at it. It was Harrison. You coughed a few times to get it out of your system before answering.

“Hello?” you asked in your best healthy-person voice.

“You’re sick aren’t you,” he accused. No greeting or anything. Still, just the sound of his voice almost made you tear up. You wanted nothing more to be in his arms at this very second, but you wouldn’t let yourself be selfish.

You stifled a cough and lied “....no.”

Harrison laughed bitterly over the phone. “I saw your instagram story, Y/N. You’re not at work, you’re having soup and Gatorade, and you’re watching cartoons. You hate soup.”

You bit back a curse. Your boyfriend knew you too well. “I’m just not feeling the best, that’s all.”

“You lied to me. You said you were busy.”

From over the phone you couldn’t tell if he was truly angry or not. “I...was.” Another lie.

“You sound awful. I’m coming home,” he declared. You heard rustling in the background and you assumed he was packing his things up into his backpack.

“No!” you protested, coughing impulsively from straining your voice. Harrison was quiet on the other end. You cleared your throat. “I’m fine, just a little under the weather.”

“You wouldn’t have stayed home from work if that was the case. You had your pitch meeting today.”

You laid back on the bed in defeat. Damn your synced calendars, damn your body for betraying you, damn you caring boyfriend, damn it all. You felt tears pricking in the corners of your eyes.

“You don’t have to come home, Haz, I can take care of myself.”

When he spoke again, his voice had softened. “I know, baby, but I want to. We were almost done today anyway.” He half chuckled. “I know I’ve only been gone for a few hours, but I miss you.” You could feel your heart clench in your chest. “Unless you really don’t want me to come home...” He waited. You were silent. “Hello?”

“I do,” you felt your entire body relax as you said the words, your voice coming out even hoarser than before.

“Hm?”

“I do want you to come home, Haz,” you admitted finally. “I just didn’t want to be selfish and pull you away from work.”

“They don’t need me here anyway,” he scoffed

Even in your feverish state you rolled your eyes. “You’re the lead of the film”

“Co-lead,” he corrected you. “I’m on my way now.” You felt yourself smiling weakly. “Get some rest, and I’ll be home when you wake up.”

You woke up to warm arms wrapping themselves around your shivering body. A lazy smile made its way to your face and you craned your head around to look at your boyfriend. Harrison kissed your forehead gingerly and smiled back at you.

“You’re burning up.”

“Thank you captain obvious.”

“Not even the plague could stop you from being sarcastic, could it?” he shook his head, reaching over you to grab the thermometer off the nightstand. You giggled and snuggled further into him. “I should have known this morning. The bed was warmer than usual, I just thought I was hot.”

“Yeah you are,” you said weakly and Harrison smirked in amusement.

“Here open up,” he said and stuck the thermometer in your mouth.

“That’s what she said,” you joked and winked with effort.

“My god, she’s gone delusional,” Harrison laughed and nestled his head onto your shoulder to watch the numbers on the thermometer.

It started to beep and he took it from your mouth with wide eyes. “101.2, that’s not good.”

“Hm, it went down.”

“Y/N Y/L/N you’re unbelievable,” Haz gaped.

“What?”

“Next time you tell me you’re just ‘feeling a little under the weather’ I’m coming home immediately. You should have told me how sick you are.”

“I know, but I knew you’d come home and I didn’t want you to miss work,” you sighed.

He rubbed your arm comfortingly. “One day isn’t going to kill anyone, and I’m home because I want to take care of you.” You smiled, blinking up into his blue eyes sleepily. “When you get hungry again I’ll make you some grilled cheese.”

You felt yourself falling asleep, but grasped his hand in affirmation. Grilled cheese was his specialty. “Get some sleep,” he encouraged when he saw you fighting to stay awake. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

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greennightspider · 6 years

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Fated Instinct Chapter 2: Tensions and Answers

Summary: Sequel to Cabin in the Snow. Akari finds herself in a predicament after an accidental overnight stay in a cabin grants her the title of fiance to the chieftain-to-be M’Baku himself.

Chapter 1 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 19(2) Chapter 20, Chapter 20(2), Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24

Bonus Chapter 21.5

M’Baku x Akari (OC)

Moments earlier…

M'Baku’s nerves were starting to get to him as he tread through the snow to Akari’s home. The night sky dawned on the Jabari mountains as lights began to flicker into existence, although he’d hoped the darkness would be enough to hide his shaking. He knew how it looked. M’Baku ‘accidentally’ losing the map, hauling himself up in a cabin for days with a girl who was delusional half the time, only to find out days later that they were now betrothed with no way out? He had to admit it didn’t look good.

However, despite the fears of what her family might say or do, despite this turn of events, one thing M'Baku did not want to happen above all… was for Akari to hate him. He had seen the seeds of it in her eyes that day, and grimaced at the memory of it. Ritual or not, bond or not, instinct or not, the last thing he wanted Akari to think was that he lied to her. Something in his heart ached at the thought of her pulling away from him. He didn’t want to lose her.

Which brought him here, to her door. While M’Baku knew he needed to talk to Akari, he also needed to face her family and her father as a man.

And as a son-in law.

“We need to talk.”

Akari watched the back of her father tense up, his hand gripping the door even tighter as he laid eyes on their late night visitor. Zahkele and Kaia had both jumped to attention, Kaia knocking her seat back while Zahkele griped his favourite dagger in his hand, ready for anything. The pressure change in the room was palpable. But for two in particular, the tension was something far different.

The very second Akari and M’Baku laid eyes on each other they both felt it. A pulse. A beat that grasped Akari’s heart and throat at the same time, and Nocawe’s words flashed in her mind. She tried not to let it show but she knew M’Baku saw it in her.

Zahkele broke their gaze when he stalked past locking eyes with M’Baku to join his father’s side. “Well, well, since he brought his ass here it’ll make things much easier.”

M’Baku swallowed slowly. From the look on Akari’s father’s face as well as Zahkele’s, his title meant nothing here. Right now he was just a boy in foreign territory, and his leadership training was telling him he needed to act as such.

“I have come to formerly greet the family of my fiancé, and to explain myself to you, Eshile, father of Akari.” M’Baku’s voice was shaky but his gaze was unwavering as he held the older man’s eyes. The silence was palpable, before Eshile’s gaze shifted to Akari who slowly nodded. Eshile moved away from the door and gestured for M’Baku to come inside, closing the door on the frigid night behind him.

“Akari, I swear on my life and on Hanuman, that I never brought you to that cabin to deceive you.” M’Baku professed. “I swear to you and to your family that I never knew about the ritual bestowed on that place, believe me. My only thought was to try and survive. To keep us safe. However,” M’Baku paused, slightly afraid of how his next words may be taken, “What is done cannot be undone. And, if this is going to happen, I wanted to do make sure it is done right.”

Eshile raised his head as he looked down his nose at this young chieftain-in training. Considering he was well known in certain circles as one of the most ruthless Jabari warriors in his time, he had to admit M’Baku either had a deathwish or… was actually being sincere.

Taking a step forward in the room, now focusing on Akari, M’Baku stated. “I have come to explain myself.”

Akari took a deep breath with her arms crossed, turning on her heels in a slow circle before facing M’Baku again. M’Baku was not the only one here who knew how to mediate. Although she had to give him his props for his gallantry, that did not mean he was out of the woods yet. That depended on his answer to one question she had been mulling over since her time in the throne room. “Fine then. Explain me this.”

Akari slowly paced around the kitchen towards where Kaia was sitting as she spoke. “You claimed to have no knowledge of this cabin’s properties.” M’Baku nodded in affirmation. “Yet, when I talked to your mother, she said that it was a place where chieftains brought their intended lovers. Which of course, leads me to think that our leaders both past, present and future must know of it too.”

Akari stopped to place her hands on the table in front of her, taking a deep breath before glaring at M’Baku. “So here is my question, future chieftain. If you claim to know nothing about the cabin, how, pray tell, did you know it was there in the first place?”

All eyes were on M’Baku, who’s mouth had tightened slightly, sensing the bloodlust in the room skyrocket, for which only the truth would satisfy.

“The only time I had ever seen that cabin was when I was young. My father brought my younger brother and I on a journey that was meant to show Uuka this cabin, and my father had convinced our mother it was good for us to be exposed to our customs when we were young. While father concentrated on making sure Uuka understood the cabin’s importance, I was so young that all I understood was that it was sacred and hidden. It was not until we came back after the snowstorm, that my father revealed the ritual meaning once more, and by the time he told me my mother was already halfway to you. I had tried find you to explain, but as you know, I was too late.”

“Well isn’t that quite the story.” Zahkele scoffed. “You know just because I know Uuka doesn’t mean I would’n-

“Enough Zahkele.” Akari gestured to her brother before turning to M’Baku.

Akari studied M’Baku’s face. Underneath the fear, she saw the same steadfastness that he had in the cabin when he had taken care of her. Underneath his tough exterior, Akari saw the truth. Remembering their time in the cabin, she furrowed her brow and took a moment before answering M’Baku’s explanation.

“M’Baku the fact that you saved my life and took care of me is not forgotten.” Kaia’s eyes met the floor beside her sister, and sat down as the whole family took in what Akari had said. “You could have been irresponsible. You could have taken advantage of me. Or left me to die in the snow while you stayed in the cabin and protected the sacredness and secrecy of that place. But you didn’t.”

M’Baku lowered his head before uttering quietly. “It is what anyone would have done.”

“But not just anyone did it. M’Baku.” Akari said. “You did. And I doubt anyone who would go that far to take care of a person to such great lengths just to manipulate them. And because of that,” Akari paused, looking at each of her family members as she continued. “I think we can all agree at the very least, not to kill you.”

“Thank you.” M’Baku bowed his head, mostly due to the fact that he fearfully didn’t know if she was kidding or not.

“Our… engagement,” Akari started, “Is something we can discuss later on. It has been a long day for all of us.”

“Of course if I should find out someone’s been acting untoward…” Eshile remarked as he stepped forward to place an iron grip on M’Baku’s shoulder before leaning into his ear. “I will show you why your father never dared to fight me in training.”

M’Baku tried to steady his breathing before uttering his reply. “I understand.”

“Gooooooooood.” Zahkele drawled, before returning to his spot at the table.

“We’ll I guess I will be taking my leave then. I can see myself out.” said M’Baku, lowering his head before turning to the door.

“M’Baku.”

M’Baku stopped, and noted how the way Akari called his name was like a command he could not refuse. “Yes?”

She inhaled deeply before she spoke once more, nodding her head at M’Baku. “Thank you. For seeing me and my family.”

M’Baku turned around smiled back, grateful to see that the mistrust in her eyes was gone. She half smiled at him until he closed the door, leaving Akari’s family with their thoughts until their father grinned and broke the silence.

“I like him.”

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“Wow, the ONE day I’m not at your house and all the good drama happens." Runi whined as she flopped on Akari’s bed. She had just been filled in on everything, and this time Akari spared no detail except for the whole instinct thing. Even though they were thick as thieves, she didn’t want to have to explain her sexual heat for her newfound fiance, at least not yet. “So what are you gonna do?” Runi queried.

“For now? Avoid him.”

“Pity.” Runi pouted.

“Rumours are already spreading Runi.” Akari suddenly turned serious, as she looked in the mirror while undoing the first of her two braids. “And even though I don’t give a gorillas ass about what people say, I don’t want my family fending off remarks left right and center. I need time for this to cool down.”

Runi sat up and crossed her legs. "Fair enough. So… what’s he like in bed?”

“RUNI!”

“HEY it’s a valid question if you’re gonna marry him isn’t it?” Runi chuckled.

Akari snorted before throwing herself on the bed beside Runi. While she didn’t hate M'Baku or think he did this on purpose, staying away from him was key for now.

That is, if this damned instinct would let her.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

BONUS:

Kaia: So..... we’re not gonna kill him?

Zahkele and Eshile: We’ll see.

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Tag List: @skysynclair19 @junesbride @great-neckpectations @muse-of-mbaku @hippiesandpeacesigns @jackburtonsays @coonflix @hi-looo12 @bonyg @someareblindtoitsbeauty @wheredidallthedreamersgo @romanceoftheeveryday @msblkshot710 @peaches-bbygrl Lemme know if I missed you or you wanna be added

#fated instinct #m'baku fanfiction #m'baku fanfic #black panther fanfiction #mbaku fanfiction #mbaku fanfic #greennightspider #im FINALLY happy with this chapter #went through it like 50 times #comments and such are appreciated #i want feedback on how this be goiiin

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yandere-daydreams · 4 years

Text

A Yandere!Hawks/OC piece for a very lovely anonymous commissioner, featuring her character, Miya, and the foul-feather man himself. This might be my first time writing for Keigo, but I feel like it went well enough. I may have taken a few creative liberties with his dialogue, though...

Word Count: 2.1k

TW: Non-Con, Semi-Public Sex, Groping, Entitlement and Delusional Mindsets.

It wasn’t that Miya didn’t like Keigo.

She didn’t like him, but she couldn’t say she disliked him, either. She respected his work as a hero, and appreciated the levity his reputation held, even if she wasn’t particularly fond of the young Pro when he was out of costume. Like everyone else, she’d had her run-ins with him, but as time went on and her life progressed, she seemed to see more of him, hear more of him, whether it was that laugh or that smirk or that lazy, smug tone that permeated his voice like rainwater overflowing from a gutter after a heavy storm. She couldn’t bring herself to hate him, but one day, she might.

One day soon, preferably.

That’d make rejecting him much easier than it was now.

Even now, it was difficult not to grit her teeth as her eyes darted towards his shoes, moving in pace with her own as she walked, her stride much faster than it had to be despite Keigo offering to take the lead. The incident had been over an hour ago, and Miya would like to think that she hadn’t seemed shaken. It was just a petty criminal, a thief looking for someone who’d cower at the first sight of claws and scales, but she’d always found it difficult to be intimidated by a quirk, however villainous it appeared. She’d been ready to defend herself, but Keigo was on the attack before she could make a move, and he was more than happy to take the credit when all the newscasters and amateur journalists arrived to document his feat, leaving Miya swept up in the chaos. He’d insisted on walking her home, afterward, and she hadn’t been able to think of a good excuse to tell him to fuck off.

How many times had he saved her, now? It could’ve been that they followed similar routes, or the recent influx in crime, but this had to be the fifth time he’d come to her rescue, if not the sixth. Vigilant crime-fighters weren’t an issue, but it was hard not to feel… unnerved by the frequency. Up until a few months ago, she’d never even seen a hero on patrol, and now one was trailing her, ready to lunge at the slightest hint of a treat. It was just her ego talking, she knew that, but her ego could be loud. Unignorable at the worst of times, unfortunately.

Keigo huffed, drawing her out of her thoughts, raising his arms and cupping his hands behind his head, forming a make-shift support as he glanced idly towards the sky. “Awfully thoughtful tonight,” He commented, filling the uncomfortable silence. He was smiling, but it was one of his reflexive grins, reassuring to most but off-putting to anyone who spent more than a moment in his company. Miya wasn’t proud to belong to the latter group. “You’re not gettin’ sick of me, are you? I’d hate to turn you off your favorite hero.”

“I prefer Endeavor,” She mumbled, more for herself than for him. Her eyes darted to the sidewalk, then the buildings on either side of the road. It was late, by now, so most of the shops were closed, but she could still see the signs and brands posted outside, each name more unrecognizable than the last. “Hawks--”

Keigo clicked his tongue, his smile faltering, a frown beginning to pull at the corners of his lips. “I thought I told you to call me--”

“Hawks,” She affirmed, her tone more authoritative than it had to be. “Are you sure this is a shortcut? None of this seems familiar, and it feels like we’ve gone too far… I think I’d know the best way to get to my own apartment, by now.”

Her skepticism earned her a glance out of the corner of his eye, half-obscured by his sleeve as he shifted to get a better look at her. With an inaudible sigh, he dropped his arms back to his sides, his smile softening as he took her wrist. She opened her mouth, but Keigo didn’t give her a chance to get anything out, holding a finger to his lips as he spoke. “Have I ever been wrong?” He asked, ignoring her hasty nod. “Just trust me, I’ll have you home in no time.”

Before she could protest, he was pulling her into a narrow alleyway between a convenience store and a larger, unnamed building, the space so narrow, they struggled to walk side-by-side. Away from the streetlights, it took her eyes a moment to adjust, but sight did little to alleviate her confusion. Rather, she only grew more unnerved as a fence came into view, chainlink but tall, too tall to easily be scaled. Again, she moved to voice her thoughts and again, Keigo had other plans. Plans that seemed to have less and less to do with keeping her safe.

She wasn’t sure how it happened. One second, she was just turning towards him, and the next, she was facing a brick wall, her hands coming up reflexively to support herself, Hawks’ arm wrapped around her waist and his chest pressed against her back, the bulk of his attire doing little to stifle how suffocated she suddenly felt, dread welling up and boiling over before she had a chance to stifle it. She tried to scream, but a downy glove was quick to stop her, shooting to her mouth and muffling the sound. Keigo only kissed the nape of her neck, cooing something unintelligible, like he had the right to try and calm her down.

“C’mon, baby, don’t make this harder than it had to be,” He muttered, a finger slipping below the waistband of her shorts. Instantly, panic set in, and she threw her weight against him, grappling and fighting for any opening she could get. Keigo’s hold tightened, and he let out a soft growl as he shoved her against the wall, two feathers shooting out from his wings and finding her sweater, long sleeves soon pinned to the solid stone, trapping Miya with them. Still, Keigo was gentle, slow, taking his time to work her shorts down to her thighs as if he didn’t have any place better to be. “We could’ve done this your way, but you just had to huff and groan until you lost your chance. We’re gonna do this how I want to, now.”

“Fucking pervert,” She spat, but her voice died in her throat as he pawed at her ass, pressing another kiss into the dip of her shoulder. Fabric rustled, something soft falling to the ground, his now free hand brushing past her thigh to rub against the seat of her panties, tracing her slit for a moment before pushing distinct, measured circles into her clit. Even with a layer of cloth and disgust separating them, his expertise was undeniable, each tic of his fingers and buck of his hips against her sending a shock through her system, uninvited but not unpleasant. Miya grit her teeth, her jaw locking into place and her eyes clenching shut in an effort to block him out, but there was nothing she could do to ignore the long, low whistle he let out as her hips twitched, dampness just beginning to accumulate on his fingertips. Keigo only nuzzled into her back, nearly purring in satisfaction.

“This might’ve been more romantic, if you weren’t so stubborn,” He mumbled, absentmindedly pulling her panties to the side as he spoke. Abruptly, two fingers were pushed inside of her, leaving her to clench and adjust as he scissored her open, alternating between curling and pumping, whichever made her knees buckle and needy, pathetic whimpers work their way past her lips. “Been planning it out for a while, since the first time I saved my little damsel in distress. Woulda bought you roses, taken you back to my place, all that shit. Guess we’ll save that for that later, though.” His palm came up, grinding against her clit, and Miya gasped, involuntarily pushing herself into his chest. Keigo chuckled, his ministrations becoming more aggressive. “Shoulda waited this time, too. You were just bein’ so cold, I didn’t think I could help myself.”

Miya tried to speak, but all that came out was a pitiful, incoherent stutter as he pulled away, his grip moving to her waist as he dragged her back, forcing her to brace herself against the unforgiving wall and pray for mercy. She felt the tip of his cock press against her cunt, but that was all the warning she got before he was pushing inside her, refusing to stop until he’d bottomed out with a blatant, shameless groan. The stretch was painful, too snug to mean anything good, but that didn’t stop Keigo from grinding against her, starting to thrust just as her legs gave out, leaving Keigo to hold her up. If he cared, though, she couldn’t tell, his hold on her hips growing bruising as he moved inside her, spikes of pleasure and pain striking at her core in unforgiving, unyielding waves. Tears blurred her vision, welling in the corners of her eyes, but moans mixed with the sobs, forming something hellish in the middle ground. Keigo cooed, his tone turning delicate, infantilizing. Adoring, if she was being optimistic, but Miya couldn’t find it in herself to be so positive.

“You’re so tight, baby. Are you still scared of me?” He snapped his hips against hers, making a point of relishing in the high-pitched whine that crawled out of her throat. She stopped making an effort to be quiet, suddenly finding herself thankful for the passing cars, the footsteps of distant pedestrians, her own breathy, heated pants. Anything to distract her from the wet, sloppy sounds of Keigo fucking into her cunt. “Don’t worry, we’ll change that,” He assured, before the air hitched in his lungs, his pace losing rhythm for the blink of an eye. “Or, maybe we won’t. I’m gonna take such good care of you… I get to be selfish about this, yeah?”

It might’ve been the adrenaline, or the fear or Keigo’s intensity or anything, but when one of his hands fell past her waist, reaching around to tease her clit… That was all she needed to clench around him, her chest seizing up and her knees knocking together as she came, the break from that constant, thudding pressure coming as a relief. And yet, it didn’t do anything to block out the feeling of Keigo pulling out, barely getting a fist around his cock before something thick and hot coated the back of her thigh.

There was silence, for a moment, only broken by the labored breaths both of them struggled to take. Miya didn’t have to worry about it for very long, though.

He kissed her jaw, the two red fathers keeping her pinned falling to the ground, lifeless. She could hear him fishing something out of his coat’s pocket, but she couldn’t bring herself to look at what it was. “Close your eyes, alright? We’re going home.”

A rag pressed against her lower face, and the world around her went black.

Miya was sore when she woke up, her head pounding and her legs aching despite the plush surface she’d been laid on. She was almost tempted to lean into it, to go back to sleep and worry about the pain another time, but a dip in the mattress was enough to inject a cold, sobering dose of reality into her veins, the severity of her situation slowly beginning to dawn on her. Hesitantly, she sat up, keeping her gaze focused on satin sheets and more pillows than any one person could ever need, her survey ending when her eyes landed on the sleek, polished metal shackle wrapped around her ankle, connected to a seamless tether that fell off the side of the bed. Miya felt herself deflate, her hope spiraling as quickly as her pride had.

She almost didn’t feel the lithe fingertips soon rubbing at her shoulders, a familiar face leaning into her side. “Don’t be too mad at me, princess,” Keigo mumbled, his voice quiet, comforting. As soothing as it was repulsive. “The chain’ll come off as soon as you come around. Be good for me, and I won’t have to make things any worse.”

“You kidnapped me,” She retorted, but her voice was weak, barely audible. She just glared, biting the inside of her cheek. “Hawks--”

“Keigo. You’re supposed to call me Keigo.” His hold around her shoulder tightened, and Miya cringed, crying out breathlessly, but Keigo only laughed, the sound forced, volatile.

Cruel.

“But, we’ll have plenty of time to work on that, won’t we?”

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mama-m1na · 4 years

Text

Apocalypse: Chapter 18

~~~XVIII~~~

The others took a few moments to absorb what the ravenette had just said as she avoided eye contact with them, opting to look down at the floor as she bit her lip.

"What did you remember, Mina?" Kerstin asked as the taller female's ears flicked up upon hearing the darkette's voice.

"I... It... It's- it honestly would be best if I explained this after we got back to the house," Rhamina replied as she removed Cloud's hands from herself.

"There could be other creatures that they're keeping in here and it would be best to avoid them," she continued as she walked past everyone and towards the door.

"Fine, but are you okay?" Tijarah asked, moving to follow the older female, "Like physically okay?"

"Yes," she replied as she opened the door again, "And that will be explained when we get back, so let's... just go..."

The ravenette was quiet as she led the group back through the halls and stairways of the lab, saying nothing which concerned everyone else.

As they traveled through the brightly lit hallways, the twenty-one-year-old couldn't help but think back to the woman in his dreams every time he saw the ravenette.

They looked identical and even sounded similar now that he thought about it, but this also brought up many questions.

What was the relationship between Mandallyth and Rhamina?

Why do they look so similar?

Did it have something to do with the bell that no longer existed?

As soon as the group made it back to their vehicles Rhamina let out a sigh, a soft purple light enveloping her form.

When it died down, the Filipino was back in her normal clothes, but her eyes kept the golden flecks and she was still standing without any visible pain, much to the surprise of her siblings and the blond.

"Well that's one less thing to worry about, I guess," Kerstin sighed, already in her normal clothes as she started up the truck.

Right before the ravenette hopped up to get in the bed of the truck, Cloud reached out and caught her wrist to successfully gain her attention.

Looking right into his glowing blue eyes, Rhamina could tell right away that the male was worried about her, but she was honestly too exhausted to feel anything in the moment.

"I'll be fine, Cloud," she said softly, shooting the male a tired smile, "I'll explain everything to the best of my ability but I just need to think a bit."

Before the male could say anything, the pair's attention was caught by Sam who called out to the man from her own bike.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" the male asked, looking over the female once more time as she gave him an affirmative nod.

"Yes," she replied with a slight chuckle, "Now I suggest getting over there before they decide to just gut you for being so slow."

He was hesitant, but Cloud let go and let her board her vehicle before returning to his bike where Tifa was waiting for him.

"Ready to go?" she asked with a small smile as the male placed his sword in it's designated spot with a simple nod.

"Hey, Cloud," Sam said as she fixed her hair into a short ponytail, "I know we're all confused about this whole thing, but look at it this way, she's alive and that's more than what we could have asked for today."

"Yeah," the male agreed as they started their bikes and followed the truck back to the house.

It took less than half an hour to reach the old, two-story, house and when they did, Rhamina was looking more lively, but she still stayed relatively quiet.

The first thins she did was collect the hard drives from Tifa and Tijarah to put in her bag before they all sat down in the living room.

"Alright, so this explanation will be split up into two parts," the older Filipino sighed as she sat on a couch with her siblings as Cloud and Tifa took the other one, though the blond would have preferred at least standing next to the girl, "First part will be how that psycho bitch knows me and the second will be what you just saw happen to me earlier."

She let out a deep breath before saying, "That woman, Doctor Elfen Frieda, was one of the scientists that worked in the Whidbey Island Generator Lab. She was in charge of researching magical beings."

"One day she showed up at my school to give a small presentation and during recess, she saw me using my magic to just entertain myself," the female explained, "she saw something about it that interested her and she started pestering me about it, even went to my parents to ask if I could take part in some of her tests."

Upon seeing the forms on Sam's and Kerstin's faces she said, "They said no, but the bitch just kept going... Eventually, there were about two months where both of my parents would be out of state for work, so they left me with who they thought was a trusted friend."

"Let me guess, they worked for the mad scientist," Tijarah scoffed in distaste, earning a nod from the older female.

"Right on the nose, they took me straight to the lab where the bitch told me that I was 'special' and going to help them 'change the world'," she replied, rolling her eyes at the quotes she remembered.

"So the bitch was delusional from the start," Sam commented with an obvious frown on her face as she messed with her nails.

"Yeah," Rhamina sighed as she gripped at her skirt, "I spent two fucking months in that lab; doing whatever they told me to, because what else could a five-year-old Mina do in a place full of scary people."

"I can't even begin to describe what they made me do," she continued with a scowl and shaky breath, "Just know that's where I learned to be desensitized to killing other people and humans."

"They made you kill people?" Kerstin asked with wide eyes that reflected the shock of all the others as the female nodded in confirmation, "That's fucked up."

"Why didn't you tell us about this before?" Sam asked after she got over her initial shock, fading into a deep disgust for these people.

"Because I didn't remember it until I heard that damned buzzer," the ravenette snapped, feeling her hands begin to shake, "It would always sound before the second door opened to let in the next thing I was supposed to do away with."

"My brain repressed these memories for a reason, but if I hadn't recovered them, then let's be honest," she sighed as she leaned her head back onto the couch, "I wouldn't be talking to you right now."

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked as he pushed down his anger and disgust for the doctor that for some reason reminded him of something.

"Moving onto the second part of the explanation," the ravenette started, "Basically, I am no longer the Emissary of Death, but I am Death herself."

It was silent as the other three teenagers started at her in shock while she remained completely serious, feeling in shock while she remained completely serious, feeling the stares of Cloud and Tifa, but not addressing them.

"Run that by me again," Tijarah spoke as she leaned forward with widened eyes.

"The holders of the Bells of Apocalypse are the human incarnations of War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death," the female explained, golden flecks in her eyes glittering in the light as she crossed her right leg over her left, "When a certain set of criteria is met, then the bell breaks and we regain our status as Gods of Apocalypse."

"What the fuck?!" Kerstin exclaimed as she stood up from her spot with wide eyes, grasping at the red bell that hung over her own chest.

"Yep," Rhamina nodded with a small chuckled at the shocked expression of her siblings, "but I wouldn't worry about that so much, your criteria isn't that hard to achieve, just going to certain places."

"What was the criteria that you had to meet," Tifa asked, surprisingly calm about the situation as Cloud remained speechless beside her.

"Uh, in order for me to regain my powers and memories of everything in my past, my human mind had to uh, fucking... break," the ravenette replied, getting quieter towards the end of her sentence.

As a tense silence began to settle over the group again, Kerstin said, "Well, you're still alive so I think we should all get wasted in celebration."

"Yeah, I agree with that," Sam said as she stood up and pulled ou the keys to the truck, "Kerstin and I will go get some drinks."

"I think I'll go with you," Tifa spoke as she stood, sending a worried glance to LCoud who still remained silent.

"Get some food while you're out," Tijarah spoke as she began walking towards the stairs, "I'm going to take a shower."

Once everyone had left the room, Rhamina stood up and walked over to the ex-SOLDIER who was still making sense of everything.

"Are you okay, Cloud?" she asked with a nervous smile as she looked down at him, his blue eyes slowly panning up to meet her own.

"So you're the one who-" the male cut himself off, but the ravenette knew what he meant, it was inevitable that he would bring it up.

"Mandallyth was once of my first human names," she said, "And I'm sorry to say that I can't send you back yet, not with what power I have on my own."

The female's chest tightened as the blond didn't say anything, stepping back with a frown before she said, "I'm sorry things ended up like this, Cloud."

"Mandallyth kept talking down on you each time I saw her," the twenty-one-year-old said as he stood up, "Why is that?"

"Because I deserve it, she may have been a forgotten part of myself, but she knew all the sins I carried," the female shrugged as Cloud stepped closer, "but the question is, can you accept that we are one and the same?"

"I know you didn't like her," she continued, struggling to keep eye contact as the male stood less than a foot away from her.

The blond said nothing but the girl got her answer as she was pulled into his form, quick to reciprocate as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck.

They stayed like that for a few moments with loud purrs erupting from the girl's chest, one of her fears sated, before she pulled back with a large smile on her face.

"I love you, Cloud," she spoke, bringing a hand up to his cheek, resisting the very strong urge to nuzzle back into him.

"I-" "Fucking ew," Tijarah spoke, cutting off the male as she walked past them to get to the kitchen, "Y'all need to be a couple somewhere else."

"You could've just stayed upstairs," the ravenette huffed with a pout as she lowered her hand and turned to the other female.

"Also, Cloud, I hope you're ready for pure fucking chaos," the dark-skinned female as she took out a bag of chips," if we're all drinking, then it's gonna get loud."

"Oh, yeah," Rhamina sighed, "but if they don't bring back any whiskey, then I ain't drinking shit."

"What about that one wine you like?" the younger female asked with a raised brow as she munched on her chips.

"Tijarah, I want to play a drinking game, I need something I can use to take shots," the eighteen-year-old huffed as she sat back down on one of the couches to take out her phone.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" the blond asked, sitting next to her as she scrolled through a blog site.

"Nope, but after what happened today, I just want to let loose, you know?" the female asked as she looked over at him.

The others returned about forty-five minutes later with some pizza and various bottles of different kinds of alcohol.

"Jesus Christ, are you planning to drink all of this?" Tijarah asked as she looked through the bags, "This is the amount someone would bring to a fucking party."

"We'll be fine," Sam chuckled as she pulled out some plates, "This is like the normal amount we drink in a single night."

"How the fuck are your livers still functional?"

"Plus, you guys are going to be drinking with us tonight," Kerstin spoke, picking out her preferred pieces of pizza, "no backing out and no excuses."

"Tifa, I suggest running while you can," Rhamina chuckled as she got her food and sat down next to the blond who was just waiting for her.

"I think I can handle whatever happens," the older brunette sighed with a small smile, "I did own a bar back in the slums."

"That sounds like a terrible idea, to be honest," the ravenette commented bluntly, "How many fights do you have to break up?"

"Actually, I haven't really had any incidents like that in a long time," the woman shrugged, earning looks of shock from the four teenagers.

"Lucky," Kerstin huffed with a frown as she fixed her hair, "the people here are just fucking scum."

"It may have been relatively peaceful in the Sector 7 slums, but trust me, we have those kinds of people too," Tifa replied, shaking her head.

"Yeah," the twenty-one-year-old agreed with a nod, a few people popping up in his memory, "it wasn't that great in Midgar."

Before the mood could be brought down again, Kerstin was able to change the subject by telling them about a goose she saw in the parking lot of the store they went to.

"Let me guess, you pissed it off and it started chasing you," the ravenette predicted before taking a bite of her food.

"Yeah, how did you know?" the darkette asked with wide eyes.

"It just seems like something that you would do," Rhamina said as she shook her head with a small smile, "Keep fucking with the birds and they'll fuck you up. Tjiarah knows that."

"Those birds were fucking demons," the dark-skinned female scoffed as she ate her food with a scowl on her face.

"Bitch, you were the one harassing them in the first place," the older teen retorted, "You deserved that shit and you still harass them."

"Crows are literal hellspawn!" Tijarah said, earning a chuckled from Tifa as she kept arguing with the ravenette over the existence of the birds.

When everyone was finished with their food the bottles of alcohol were brought over as Sam and Kerstin wore large smirks.

"So how are we doing this?" the darkette asked as she started opening the bottle of vodka while Sam worked on a bottle of rum.

"Drinking game?" Rhamina suggested with a mischievous glint in her eyes as she reached for the bottle of whiskey.

"Which one though?" Sam asked, pulling out a package of plastic shot glasses from one of the shopping bags, "there are a lot of them."

"If we're looking to get fucked, then 'Never have I ever' is a good one," Tijarah said with a shrug, "and it's been a long time since we played."

The other girls were quick to agree and explained the rules to Cloud and Tifa as they handed out the plastic cups.

"It's basically normal 'Never have I ever' but instead of losing lives you take a shot," the younger brunette explained, "So if someone were to say, 'Never have I ever, eaten a snake' then if you've eaten a snake they would take a shot."

"Just letting y'all know that I'm only drinking if it's something I've done in this lifetime," the ravenette said as she poured out some whiskey in advance, "if I counted anything from other lives, then I would be massively fucked."

"That's fair," Tijarah shrugged as she poured herself some vodka, "but it does make me concerned about what you've done in your past lives."

"That's a set of stories for another time," the older Filipino chuckled, letting Cloud pour out some whiskery for himself, "I have a lot of them."

"I fucking bet," Kerstin said as she looked around the table at her companions, "Who's going first?"

"I'll go. Never have I ever brought home a guy from the club," Tijarah spoke, causing the two club owners to take a shot each.

"Damn, Tijarah, starting off strong," the ravenette as the green-eyed female shot a glare to the slightly younger female who just shrugged.

Still glaring at the dark-skinned female, Sam said, "Never have I ever worked at a job that required me to wake up before nine in the morning."

"Now you're just salty," the target scoffed before taking a shot along with Cloud and Tifa while Rhamina let out a snort.

"Oh, it's my turn! Uh... Never have I ever, been inside of a brothel," Kerstin spoke, looking up at the ceiling as she thought.

"This is targeting," the older Filipino hissed as she downed the small amount of alcohol, enjoying the slightly sweet flavor before the burn followed down her throat.

"No, it ain't," Tijarah commented, pointing at the blond who had also taken a shot, earning a questioning look from the older brunette.

"Cloud?" she questioned as the male's eyes widened in slight embarrassment, unable to form any words.

"That's probably my fault," Rhamina chuckled, placing a hand on the male's shoulder, "I work as security for a brothel back in the Abyss and he was sent to my workplace by one of the kids so we could talk about his situation."

"Okay, that makes more sense," Tifa chuckled, "I never really thought he would go to those kinds of places in the first place."

The male only let out a sig as the girls laughed around him, keeping his gaze on the table while the eighteen-year-old lowered her hand back onto the table.

"Seriously though, if you want a fun time, Arcaeus is the best fucking brothel in the Abyss," the younger female spoke, earning a sigh from the older teen.

"Sam, you don't need to advertise my brothel to her," the ravenette groaned in embarrassment, "You don't need to advertise my brothel at all. I would rather you didn't."

The game continued on with everyone taking a few more shots and spilling some embarrassing stories until it came back to Rhamina's turn.

Still completely sober despite the amount of alcohol she had consumed, she said, "Never have I ever, had sex."

"Fuck you, Mina," the green-eyed female chuckled as she and Kerstin were the only ones to drink, both of them in a very giggly state.

Another hour passed until all but two individuals had passed out at the table with many empty alcohol bottles around them.

With a sigh, Cloud brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, earning a chuckle from the ravenette who stood up to throw away what needed to be.

"Is it finally hitting you?" she asked, bringing the glass bottles over to the sink as the male looked up to watch her.

"Yeah," he sighed, looking up at the female gratefully as she brought him a glass of water, "What about you?"

"Actually, I'm completely fine, not even buzzed," she replied before taking a sip from her own glass of water, "Guess divine powers increase your alcohol tolerance by a lot."

Shaking her head, the ravenette walked behind the seated male and lazily draped her arms over his shoulders as she leaned forward to rest her chin on top of his head.

"Did you have fun?" the ravenette asked, earning a shrug from the male underneath her as he kept his gaze on the glass before him.

"What are we going to do about them?" the blond asked, gesturing at the other girls passed out in front of the pair.

"You can go ahead and take Tifa upstairs if you're not feeling shitfaced," Rhamina said as she stood back up to her full height, "I'll just put my dumbass on the couches."

"I'm way too lazy to haul them upstairs," she continued before moving to pick up an unconscious Tijarah with relative ease.

"Alright," the blond sighed, standing from his own seat and moved to pick up the older brunette before starting up the stairs once more.

Once the woman had been situated he returned downstairs to see the ravenette placing Kerstin on the larger couch on the opposite end of Sam.

She let out a huff as the darkette shifted a bit, burying her face into the couch the cushions with one of her legs hanging off of the piece of furniture.

"Fuck it," the older female sighed, shaking her head as the male approached her, "If she falls onto the cold hardwood floor, then so be it."

"Did she give you any trouble?" the male asked, causing the eighteen-year-old to shake her head in disappointment as she grabbed her sleeping clothes from her bag.

"Second time I've had to reposition her because she does shit like this," she replied before looking back to the older male.

"You could have just stayed upstairs," the ravenette said, "I still need to get changed, brush my teeth, and all that jazz."

"I can wait down here," he shrugged as he leaned back on one of the walls, earning a small chuckle from the female.

"I can take care of myself if that's what you're worried about," she spoke, walking towards the bathroom, "I may be in a human form right now, but it's much more durable than before."

This caused the male to raise a brow as she opened the white door before he asked, "What other forms can you take?" Rhamina looked over her shoulder with a mischievous smirk on her face as her eyes glinted in the way the light hit them.

"I'll show you tomorrow since we're using it as a break before we hit the generator," she shrugged, reaching for the door handle to close it, "Maybe."

It took about ten minutes for the female to finish, walking out to see Cloud just leaning on the same wall as before she entered the bathroom.

Upon seeing her, the male pushed off the wall and they both walked up the stairs in comfortable silence before they entered the male's room.

The ravenette went to just lay on the bed, scrolling on her phone as the blond got his own sleeping clothes and toothbrush.

"I'll be back," he said, earning a nod from the female before he went to the upstairs bathroom which was right next to his room.

When the blond returned, he wore a simple black tank top with grey sweat pants, earning a small snort from the female as he laid down next to her.

"What?" he huffed as the ravenette plugged her phone in before scooting in a bit closer to the male.

"It's just that you worry about me getting cold in a camisole when you're over here in a tank top," she chuckled, turning to face him, "We're basically wearing the same thing, but my pants are fluffy."

Cloud only rolled his eyes before reaching out to pull the female closer as she nuzzled into him in response with a small hum.

"Hey, Cloud," she spoke after a few minutes of silence as her eyes slowly drooped closed.

"Yeah," he replied quietly, reaching up to run his fingers through her long, black locks that were always silky smooth.

"I was thinking of visiting Knov again tomorrow," Rhamina said, moving her head so that it rested against his chest as she curled up slightly, "You should come with me."

"Is there a specific reason you want me to come with you?" he asked, a small smirk crept onto his face as loud purrs erupted from the female once more.

"I want to show you a few things," she murmured against him, "and I'm pretty sure my sisters will be seriously hungover from how much they drank."

With the steady rumbles of the ravenette's purring, the ex-SOLDIER gradually let his eyes drift closed as he heard one last thing before sleep overtook him.

"I love you, Cloud."

Soon enough, the male's eyes twitched as sunlight was cast over his face, turning to grasp the female tighter, but she wasn't there.

His eyes immediately snapped open to see that he was laying by himself on the dirt ground of what looked to be an old road.

Going one way would lead to what looked to be a Dutch-style village while the other way led into a wooded area.

Just as the male stood up familiar figure appeared at the treeline, panting a bit as she just sprinted over there.

"Shit," he heard the female hissed as he looked into wide, brown eyes.

"You-" "Rhamina!" the female was cut off by a male voice calling her name, another figure appearing just behind her.

"What are you doing running around like that?!" the taller male with golden eyes asked with a glare, "you're still injured!" "Oh, hush, Felix," the ravenette retorted as she rolled her eyes, "that happened two days ago. I'm perfectly fine now!"

As the two argued the blond noticed that the female's legs were wrapped in bandages that led up under the skirt of her black, off-shoulder dress that showed the white wrappings on her arms and hands.

With a frustrated sigh, she turned away from her companion and focus on the twenty-one-year-old that stood a couple of meters away from them.

"You're Cloud, right?" the female asked, black hair blowing hind her in the breeze as the male next to her directed his glare to the stranger.

"Yeah," the blond replied, ignoring the taller swordsman as he stepped a bit closer to the pain, "I'm guessing you're Rhamina."

"Yes, I'm Rhamina Aphrotada: The Solitary Witch of Graycott," the ravenette introduced with a small bow, "It's nice to meet you."

"Why don't we talk in my cabin?" she suggested after a few moments of tense silence, caused by her dark-haired friend.

"Rhamina, you can't seriously be letting a stranger into your home," Felix scoffed as the teen turned to follow the path back into the woods.

"I let strangers into my home all the time, Felix," the female mused in response as she kept walking, prompting both males to follow her, "It's a part of my job, hun."

"The villagers aren't strangers to you, Rhamina," the dark-haired male retorted as he crossed his arms, sending another glare towards the blond.

"They were at some point," she sighed as a small cabin became visible in the distance, "Everyone is a stranger until you get to know them."

"You're starting to sound like that cursed sibling of yours," Felix said as he shook his head, earning a chuckle from the female.

"Which one?" she mused with a smirk on her face, "You'll have to be specific because I have more than one sister, dear."

"I'm talking about that cursed, Trigger-happy, lizard," he hissed in response, hands twitching at his sides.

"Are you talking about Kerstin?" the girl laughed, placing a hand on the door handle before turning it and pushing it open.

To the left of the door was a living area with two couches facing each other as a small coffee table sat in between them.

To the right of the door was what looked to be a small apothecary space with shelves of dried herbs as some live plants sat by the window.

If they kept walking straight, then they would enter a hall that would lead into a bedroom, the bathroom, or a kitchen.

The home smelled faintly of white magnolias and overall, it was quite a cozy place for the female to live.

"Well, Cloud," the ravenette spoke, turning to the blond as she placed a hand on her companion's shoulder with a bright smile, "You've already met Felix, he's a very skilled swordsman and dear friend of mine."

The taller male only scoffed and walked over to sit at one of the couches as three familiar females sat at the other.

"I'm sure you've met Sam, Kerstin, and Tijarah from where you come from," she muttered as to not gain anyone's attention, earning a nod.

Turning to a male with tanned skin, brown hair, and verdant colored irises in her apothecary, Rhamina said, "That is Claude, another friend of mine."

She looked like she wanted to say more, but instead turned back to those in the living room to ask, "Hey guys, have you seen Lin?"

"Where else does Linhardt go whenever we visit?" the brunette replied, earning a frustrated sigh from the older female.

"That lazy fucking cat," she muttered before looking over her shoulder at the new guest of hers.

"Come on," the ravenette spoke, leading the male further into her small home, "We can talk in the kitchen since Lin is occupying my room, I guess."

The kitchen was quite small but functional the blond noticed as the eighteen-year-old gestured for him to sit at a small table by the window.

"Would you like some tea?" the female asked with a kind smile as she walked over to a kettle at her stovetop pouring some steaming water into a mug with a teabag.

"No," the blond responded as the ravenette took the only seat across from him and placed her mug on the table.

"Alright then, why are you here?" she asked casting her gaze down into her mug, "I know for sure that you aren't supposed to be."

"I don't know," the older male sighed with a shrug, earning a disappointing hum from the female.

"You don't know?" she questioned with a raised brow as her tea steeped, "Think back to your previous expression and the reasons behind them, this has happened to you before, has it not?"

"A being named Mandallyth wanted me to learn something," Cloud replied, "She wanted me to help her with something, but never told me what it was."

"So you're here to be taught something," the ravenette commented, before taking a sip of her tea, "Care to give me some context on what recently happened to you? I might be able to provide the lesson you seek."

With a sigh, the male retold the entirety of what happened in their trip to Washington, the female nodding along even though she did not understand some of the modern technology she described.

She only stopped him when he began to say that his Rhamina revealed herself to be the god of Death.

"I am aware of that," the female spoke with a shrug, "all of the Rhamina's are connected after all."

"It doesn't really affect us through," she sighed while stretching out her back over the back over her chair.

With a raised brow, the male watched as the teen cracked her neck before he asked, "What do you mean?"

"We may technically be the same person as your Rhamina, but we're still separate beings," the ravenette explained, "The only one who gained anything was her, the rest of her concurrent lives don't change at all."

"We are connected, but that's how far it foes," she continued with a shrug, "That's how fate entailed it, so that's how it will be."

They talked for a few more minutes with the ravenette mostly explaining the other worlds and how much they could really differ until the male's vision started to get blurry.

"Well it looks like you are being called back," she mused with a chuckle as she placed her mug back down, I do hope I was able to help you somewhat."

As the male started waking up, he became aware of the female in his arms that was muttering curses under her breath as she shifted slightly.

"What's wrong?" he whispered, startling the girl slightly, but she eventually looked up at him from under the blanket.

"My back kind of hurts," she groaned, both of them remembering how she was thrown around the previous afternoon,

"Did you bring your pain killers?" the male asked softly, watching as the girl tried to move, only to recoil.

"Yeah, they're in the side pocket of my duffle," she sighed as the male slowly sat up and left the bed, placing the blanket back over her.

"I'll be back," he promised, ruffling the female's hair a bit before he left the room and started down the stairs.

The first thing he saw when he reached the bottom, was the still unconscious forms of the three teenagers still on the couches; although, the only part of Kerstin that was still on the piece of furniture was her lower half.

Shaking his head, he moved to the side of the larger couch to see the ravenette's green and black duffle bag.

It didn't take long to find the white pill bottle so he made the short walk over to get a glass of water from the kitchen before making his way back up the stairs.

When the male returned to his room, Rhamina was sitting up and scrolling on her phone with an irritated from on her face.

"Here," he said, handing her the bottle and glass once she put her phone down, moving to sit next to her.

"Thanks, Cloud!" she chirped, holding the half-full glass in between her thighs as she took the top of the bottle off to shake two pills out into her hand.

Once she finished, the ravenette set the glass down before returning to her phone, angling it more towards herself when the male got closer.

"Are you still planning on going out into the forest?" Cloud questioned, just watching the female's expression as it focused on her phone screen.

"Yeah, need to talk to Knov about some things and show you another so it would need to happen," she mused with a small smile, "we can go after lunch though."

Soon enough a comfortable silence fell over them as blue eyes scanned the female's relaxed form.

Her golden-brown skin wasn't pale anymore like it was two nights prior and her raven-colored locks cascaded effortlessly down her back, a little bit longer than it had been when they first met.

From what her camisole allowed him to see, the girl had multiple small scars on her arms that looked to be years old, but as it shifted a bit he could see the beginning of a deeper scar in the middle of her chest.

He knew what that one was from so he didn't even bother trying to ask; instead, he let his eyes trailed up to her face which now wore a calm expression.

He watched the way her lips twitched upwards each time she found something entertaining or how she scoffed when she saw something distasteful.

Eventually, he focused on her eyes that flicked up and down as she browsed whatever it was she was looking at on her phone.

The base color of her irises was a pure chocolate brown and they had flecks of gold that made them look like pure pieces of art.

He always found himself looking into her eyes before, finding them easy to read and usually using them to predict or gauge the female's behavior back in the Abyss.

They underwent a minor physical change, but they were just as expressive as they were before she regained her powers.

The eighteen-year-old let out a snort, putting her phone down before turning to the male who just kept looking at her.

"Cloud?" she called softly, tilting her head slightly in confusion, "Is... there something on my face?"

The male blinked in surprise, sitting up a bit straighter before saying, "No, it's just your eyes are different."

"My eyes?" the ravenette questioned, using her phone's camera to look at her changed irises with a sigh.

"Oh, yeah, they're kind of strange, aren't they?" she chuckled as she reached up to slowly stretch out her back despite the slight pain she felt, "I'm pretty sure they reflect light like a cat's so I'm definitely using this to scare the shit out of my siblings."

The teen let out a light laugh before she looked down at her lap with an uneasy smile as she asked, "They're kind of freaky, aren't' they?"

She honestly just expected him to stay silent, but when Rhamina turned her head she was looking straight into mako-contaminated eyes, his face inches from her own.

The female's heart started to race, eyes widening as the male raised a hand to her right cheek, immediately flushing upon seeing the earnest look in his eyes.

His hands were surprisingly soft, the female noticed tensing up slightly as the male opened his mouth to speak.

"They're beautiful."

That's all it took to make the ravenette's mind shut down completely.

Everything she tried to say ended up being incomplete utterances of her overheating head and she tried to move back only to be met with the pair of air and gravity.

Thud! "Ah, fuck!"

The female let out a groan as she sat up on the ground, the male immediately at her side to make sure she didn't hurt herself.

"Cloud, hun, I'm fine," she whined, hiding her face that she was sure was bright red at this point, "It's just that was so smooth and I wasn't really expecting it."

Before he could say anything, the eighteen-year-old stood up and made her way to the door, saying, "I'm going to go and change now! See you in a bit! Love you!"

Cloud only stared at the door for a few minutes before he shook his head, a smile appearing on his face as he crossed his arms.

"I love you too."

~~~Fin. Chapter 18~~~

Masterlist

#Apocalypse #Chapter 18 #fanfiction #Fanfic #Final Fantasy #Final Fantasy 7 #Final Fantasy VII #Final Fantasy 7 Remake #Final Fantasy VII Remake #Final Fantasy Remake #FFVII #FFVII Remake #FF7 #FF7 Remake #Cloud Strife #Cloud Strife x OC

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kazosa · 7 years

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Second Chances - Jeff x Reader: Chapter 23

Summary: Reader and Jeff work a project and become fast friends. The project ends and they go their separate ways, neither forgetting the other. With Hollywood being a small community, you two bump into one another either at events or projects, but there is always something keeping you apart. Will the obstacles ever end? Chapter 23 Summary: On the set of Supernatural Warnings: language (as usual) A/N: Please leave comments or let me know if you want to be tagged, etc. Veered off real-life course, inserted the reader into Supernatural. Word count: 1600 Catch up here: Masterlist Tags: @jml509 @jasoncrouse @yellatthetopofyourlungs @bookchic20 @prettyepiic @rizflo-blog @curious-sub7 @backseat-negan @warriorqueen1991 @fairytale07 @sup--ernova

Jeff was back to shoot episode 16 and you could not have been happier, except for the early morning call. Yeah, you were used to crazy schedules and working and sleeping at weird times, but you’d missed your love and neither one of you slept much the night before. You looked at the clock from the back seat of the suburban, 0430. The driver pulled into the lot and parked. Jeff was asleep with his arm around you. You nuzzled your face into his neck and snaked your hand inside his jacket. His arm curled around you tighter and he kissed your temple. You moved to kiss him proper, “Babe…(kiss)…we’re at work…(kiss)…get up…(kiss).” His eyes opened and looked at you sleepily. “Sweetheart, either I’m awake, or I’m up. You can’t have both and one is inappropriate in the workplace.” He gave you his mischievous grin that showed off his dimples. It had been a few weeks since you’d seen him and you’d gotten less than twelve hours with him before being picked up that morning. Like always, you’d missed him terribly. You took his hand and tried to get out of the suburban, but he didn’t move. “We’ll finish this conversation later,” he told you. “I need a minute.” It only took you a second to realize what he meant, “I’m not sorry. Meet you for lunch?” “I think you better,” he said. You opened the door and the cold air hit you immediately. Briefly, you thought you should leave the door open for Jeff. You just chuckled to yourself and closed the door with a grin. “Good, you’re here,” you turned to see Bob Singer. He had Kim Manners, that week’s director, with him. “We need to talk. Let’s go to my office.”

“You are out of your goddamned minds,” there was no question. They had finally gone off the deep end. Kripke walked into Bob’s office and closed the door. “Told her, huh?” Bob and Kim both gave him an affirmative nod. Eric pulled a chair over to sit by you. He leaned over, his elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped. “(Y|N), we know you know the script. We’ve all seen you going over lines with the boys. I’ve seen you work, we all have. You already know the part. You’re 100% all the time, and you’re GOOD,” Eric emphasized. “Believe me, none of us has a problem telling an actor if they did shit work.” “And if I fuck it up?” you asked, your face feeling hot. “You won’t, kid,” Bob said. “I’ve yet to see a bad day of work out of you.” You looked at Kim, the person you’d worked with the longest. He said more with his eyes than his mouth and his eyes were damn-near begging you to agree. “What do you want me to do first? What about the PAs?!” you asked wondering how in the hell you’d been talked into being in front of the camera again. “I’ll take you over to wardrobe. Then you can go to makeup from there,” Kim said. “Don’t worry about the PAs, you trained them well. I’m sure you’ll whip them into shape if they need it,” Bob said. Kripke smacked the front of your knee, “You need a copy of the script?” “No, I have one,” you held up your trusty binder. In fact, you didn’t even need that. Your memory was good enough, and you had read through it a few times, you could recall almost anything in it. You weren’t panicking, but your mind was reeling just the same. There was a lot of dialog with Sam and Dean, even John. You’d watched Jared work for a long time and you hoped that he wouldn’t do too much to make you screw up. Jensen’s character, Dean, didn’t like yours much, so that would be interesting. Getting yelled at was always a fun time. Your character had minimal interaction with John, but it was going to be weird as all hell acting with Jeff…

Kim took you to wardrobe and let you get out of the golf cart. You turned to look back at him. “This wasn’t in my contract,” you said. He smirked, “It says, ‘and other duties as needed’.” You were not amused. “I don’t want to let you down.” He smiled a little, “You won’t kiddo. Wardrobe, makeup, set.” You waved him away, “Yeah, I know the routine.” You put your hand on the railing to the wardrobe trailer. For one fleeting moment, you had the urge to bolt. It’ll be okay, you encouraged yourself and climbed the stairs into the trailer.

Once you were on set and doing the work, you were just fine. Yeah, it scared the hell out of you, but it was more because you didn’t want to look like the novice you were. Jared and Jensen were so good at what they did, it was easy for you to play along. Jeff was fantastic too. He gave you so much so that you could react well to him, too. Kripke had given you the background of your character and you dove into it. You found your inner badass and became an avenging angel. If you’d had more time, you would have worked out harder. Jensen was only a year older than you and you were having a hard time keeping up with him, but you did it. Your lines came out breathy, but understandable. You only asked him to slow down once. “You surprise me,” Jensen said after one take and you walked back to the start. You were winded and had your hands above your head. It was a running scene and it was on the third take. It hadn’t been the first scene with a running sequence, either. “How?” came out in a huff. “This is what, the third time in front for you?” You nodded your answer and took another deep breath. “You know your stuff. You go balls to the wall the whole time. It’s…nice to get that in return, especially from someone who is really new.” “Thanks,” you said. You didn’t know how to express your gratitude properly. “That means a lot to me. Really. I’ve watched a lot of people act and I’ve tried really hard to not make the mistakes I thought they made.” “Why haven’t you done more?” he asked you. You were both tired. Jensen was finally showing signs of fatigue. “It scares the hell out of me,” you confessed. “I had paralyzing stage-fright in school and I had a really hard time making myself do it again. The only reason it’s going so well now is because of you, Jeff and Jared being so great.” “Okay! Almost ready!” the AD called out. “It’d be cool if your character could come back,” Jensen said. Thank God you were covered in make-up, you were blushing hotly at the compliment. “Yeah, that’d be cool,” you heard yourself say. You must have been deprived of oxygen too long, because you were clearly delusional. “Oh my God, don’t tell anyone I said that!” Jensen laughed, “Why not?” “’Cause they might do it!” you were serious. “Places! Settle!” the AD called. Jensen grinned at you and bounced to get warm and ready to run again. You followed his lead and bounced from foot to foot. This take had to be the last one, the light was almost up and the shot was supposed to be dusky. “Get out of your head. I can see you thinking. You’re the avenger now,” he told you. “I’m a badass,” you said more for yourself than for Jensen. Just like that, you and Jensen switched over to your characters and were ready to shoot as Kim called “Action!” and you both took off like a shot.

WRAP PARTY Jeff handed you your double Cap ‘n’ Coke. He always seemed to know what you needed. You took the tumbler from him and he put his arm around you, pulling you in close so you could tuck into his side. You slipped your arm around his waist as you took a long drag from the straw. Every wrong move you made over the last week was running on constant play-back in your head. The moments started to slow down and fade out as you took comfort in the feel of Jeff’s strong shoulder under your cheek. Whether he knew it or not, he always did the things you needed most. You didn’t know if it was the alcohol or the heat from Jeff’s body that did it, but you felt yourself melt into him. You felt a rumble come from his chest. “Sweetheart, you were amazing. You totally killed it, stop worrying,” he held you tight. He tipped your chin up to meet his smiling gaze. God, when he looked at you like that…you’d move mountains for that man. The masculine smell of his cologne, soap and smoke was so tantalizing, you didn’t feel much like partying. You and Jeff had always been able to know what the other is thinking at any given time just by looking. His grin broadened even further. “Two drinks. Then we go,” he said, his mouth so close but not touching yours, the big tease. “Fine, I’ll be sociable,” you told him and he finally kissed you, giving you a hint of what was to come later.

#second chances #jeff x reader #jeffrey dean morgan #reader insert #kazosa #chapter 23

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theletterunread · 7 years

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Reflexes

This story follows Spooky and Execute.

All the way down Park Avenue, the sidewalks were empty and the shops were locked up. I assumed (correctly, I later learned) that there had been a police directive to get everyone off any streets above a subway line, in case of another attack. In the absence of any people or cars to look at or listen to, my sense of smell heightened, and I was hit by the disgusting aroma of Manhattan that greets all newcomers before they acclimate. Crossing the street to avoid a pile of garbage, I walked right through a waft of sour milk and dishwater.

Staggering back and forth, and eventually walking straight down the middle of the street, I suppose I cut a suspicious character, and a few faces peered out at me from within the buildings I passed. Nobody would let me in. I tried making the universal “phone gesture” with my thumb and pinky, but it didn’t get me anywhere. At 23rd street, a very tall woman on the other side of the street stuck her head out her door and yelled to me.

“What are you doing here?”

From the tone of her voice, I could tell that she was one of those people who lived in fear and liked it. A day like this was right up her alley. I tried to be as non-threatening as possible, but had little illusions about my chances. “I’m just looking for a phone I can use.”

She gave me the crook-eye. “This is a strange place to be looking for a phone.”

I took no satisfaction from being right, just moved on. “Have a nice day.”

This alarmed her as much as anything. She slammed the door, and I had a feeling she was going to call the police or Homeland Security or whomever and ID me as a suspect. I made a sudden left on 23rd and a right on Third Avenue to put some distance between us.

The sidewalks were just as empty here, but south one block I saw a pet shop with an open door. Inside I could hear voices, and when I rang the bell at the front desk, two women came out from some narrow aisle. They looked flushed and rattled, like I’d interrupted an intimate moment, and the conversation they were having was clearly improvised to suggest nonchalance.

“Take this compressed air,” said the store’s proprietress, handing a can to her customer, “and when your cat jumps up where he’s not supposed to be, blast him with this.”

“Yes,” said the customer, woodenly. “I will.”

“But you also need to give him positive affirmation when he does something right. If he brings you a dead mouse, you might think ‘gross’, but think about what he’s saying to you. He’s saying, ‘Stephanie, recognize me! I am cat!’ And he wants to share that with you. And if you react with ‘gross’, how will he feel?”

“Hmmm. Yeah, wow.”

“I am CAT!” The proprietress threw her arms up when she yelled this time, and I was starting to wish I’d found another shop. She turned to me. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, may I use your phone?”

“I know you,” interrupted Stephanie. “Where do I know you from?”

I looked at her closer and realized she was the army girl with the big eyes and bloodlust whom I’d talked to during my F train delay at the start of the day. I explained this to her, expecting a little delight at the coincidence, but she just said, “Oh,” and turned away.

“Who are you calling?” the proprietress asked me.

“My own cell. It’s lost. I want to see who picks it up.” I didn’t add that I was hoping it would be picked up by a little girl who I feared had been kidnapped along with a pop star. I didn’t feel like inviting questions.

She took a phone out from under the counter and pushed it over to me. As I dialed, they resumed their fake conversation.

“So, Anastasia…how do you know so much about cats?” asked Stephanie.

“I’ve always had a connection to animals. My family has a story…before I moved to the city, I lived, like, out in rural North Carolina, and I went deep into the woods one day, and my mom couldn’t find me. She got the whole family together to search and they found me playing with wolf cubs.”

I put my finger in my free ear, and pressed the receiver tighter to my other. I could still barely hear over this story, but it didn’t matter since nobody was picking up on the other end.

“And everyone was all scared, because it looked like they were attacking me, but they were just playing, like they would with any other cub. And I looked at my family like, ‘What’s everyone worried about?’”

I hung up the phone. Stephanie was shaking her head in awe. “That’s an amazing story.”

“I know. Everyone’s always all astounded by Timothy Treadwell, but I’m like, ‘I was doing that when I was six.’”

“Who’s Timothy Treadwell?” asked Stephanie.

“You don’t know who Timothy Treadwell is?” gasped Anastasia. “Oh my god, are you serious? I can’t believe that!”

I hate that conversational convention – the fake astonishment at a gap in somebody’s knowledge, the condescension disguised as uncontrollable surprise – and make a point to interrupt it whenever I see it in action. “Timothy Treadwell,” I explained to Stephanie, “was a guy who spent several summers living with grizzly bears in Alaska. He felt that he had a relationship with them, a bond. Until one day when a grizzly just up and ate him and his girlfriend.”

“Oh, that’s sick!” exclaimed Stephanie.

“No, it isn’t!” said Anastasia, and flashed me an angry look. “They must have done something to make the bear feel in danger. Humans are always doing that. They probably hit the bear with a rake.”

“I don’t know if that happened,” I said, “but I agree it’s not ‘sick’. It’s just what happens. These are wild animals, he didn’t really have a relationship with them. Eventually nature asserted itself.”

“You don’t think humans and animals can be partners?”

If it seems improbable to you that I kept finding myself, everywhere I went, in philosophical debates, I can only wave my hand apologetically and assure you that I’m reporting my day exactly as it went. “I think we can have relationships with animals. But there’s always going to be some level of division. And I think it was delusional of Treadwell to think he could have a safe relationship with grizzly bears.”

“Well, people are always getting into and staying in human relationships that are bad for them. How is that any different?��

I was about to say that I thought that she’d made a good point, though not one that contradicted my position, when Stephanie’s phone chimed. “Oh! That must be…my boyfriend,” she said, again clearly improvising. “He probably wants to know what…cat stuff I’m getting.”

“Yes, well, let’s finish your shopping,” said Anastasia, leading her away again.

They were going to some lengths to keep me in the dark, which seemed pointless, as I didn’t care what they were up to, but if they wanted to play secret agent, I wasn’t going to bother them. I picked up the phone and dialed my cell again. The phone rang and rang and nobody picked up. But this time, without a loud conversation in my other ear, I was able to hear a buzzing coming from somewhere in the store in time with the ringing phone. I hung up, dialed again, and left the receiver on the counter as I followed the buzzing.

The store was bigger than it look on the outside, and one aisle looked more like a zoo than a pet store: a panther paced in one cage, and about 30 jellyfish blurbled around in a huge tank. The only empty cage was the one whose sign read, “Homer Chimpson.” I followed the buzzing to an alcove stacked high with dog food. Behind a layer of cans was an animal carrier covered with a blanket and bearing a sign reading “Beware of Dog!”

I yanked off the blanket and saw behind the carrier’s door my buzzing cell phone and a human being with her hands tied behind her back. She had a canvas bag over her head, but I recognized the miniskirt. It was Emma Fay.

“Step back from there,” came Anastasia’s voice behind me, and without giving me any time to accept the order, she pressed something cold and weighty into my back. I understood immediately, from a lifetime immersed in American culture, that it was a gun. And while I would like to tell you that my dominant emotion was impatience with the implausibility of somebody actually pulling a gun on me, I was mostly just scared. I already knew how little this woman valued human life.

Once, 15 years before, I came as close to death. I was part of a group of girls making lip-sync videos in and around our high school. We called ourselves The Agitated Muffins, after an Oscar Wilde line we’d all read and convinced ourselves was hilarious in that way that affected nerds do. We weren’t very terrific or anything, but we managed to keep up the output, and by our fifth video, I had developed a reputation as the stunt woman. (It started when I was the only one willing to drop from the courtyard balcony and be caught by the four girls who were going to take over the next verse of “Don’t Cha” from me.) For this video, I was to jump onto the back of a car and sing my stanza as the driver sped down the avenue. I secured myself by holding onto the car’s antennae. In my other hand, I was carrying the camcorder.

We rehearsed once or twice in the early morning when there were no cars on the road, but by the time we got to filming, traffic had picked up. What the other drivers thought when they saw a car pull in front of them carrying a 17-year-old on the back, I don’t know, but they weren’t alarmed enough to give us much space. So when the antennae snapped and I slid off the trunk and onto the asphalt, I only had about eight seconds before the oncoming Volvo would squish me under its front wheels.

There was no time to stand up – and it wouldn’t have done any good, since I would have still been in the path of the car – so I raised up on my butt in a half Navasana pose (if that helps you visualize) and kicked off against the camcorder which had handily landed near my feet. The slight recoil spun me around 90 degrees, leaving me parallel to the car’s direction. I flattened myself and the Volvo passed over me, the wheels not more than six inches to one side.

The other singers and I took a break to calm down and conceive of a less fraught alternate scene to put where my stunt would have been. The day’s mood was shot, but we resumed filming that afternoon, at my behest. I think now that I was afraid that if we stopped working, I would have to face what happened, and that would make me too scared to every try…not just performing, but too scared to try anything again.

(In the end, I didn’t do much more performing in my life. While filming the video after next, I overheard the rest of The Agitated Muffins making fun of me behind my back: “She never stops talking,” “Why does she do that hair thing every time she finishes a line? She has to stop.” Just usual teenage stuff, I suppose, and reading it, maybe you can’t see why it upset me. But feelings are the one thing in this world you must respect absolutely. I left the troupe and never participated in another video. But maybe I’ll wind up in another movie after all: I’ve had meetings with three separate studios interested in optioning my story – yes, before this book is even done. However little artistic integrity you imagine there is in Hollywood, you’re being too generous.)

The memory stayed buried for a long time, for just that reason: I didn’t want to seize up with fear from the past and miss the present. But when I felt the gun in my back, my brain, rapidly scanning for any pertinent experience, dredged up the whole story. And sure enough, I did seize up and miss the present. There’s a blank spot in my memory until Anastasia frogmarched me into the basement, Stephanie hoisting and struggling the animal carrier down behind us.

Half of the cellar was full of pet shop supplies, half full of firearms and explosives. There were small, cartoonish bombs that I recognized from Maxine’s destruction of Van’s studio. Anastasia led me into a corner, took my bag, and began riffling through it. “How do you know her?” she asked Stephanie once she’d made her way down.

“She was on the train this morning.”

“And she lived?”

“I guess.”

“What is she doing here? Were you followed?” She stopped short on pulling the Anne Wysie book from my bag, and went totally silent when she found the model of Bran’s Castle. She gawked. Stephanie came over and gawked too. “Why does she have this?”

“I got it from the artist’s studio,” I explained, thinking I could contribute something to the process. But Anastasia just shushed me with a wave of her gun.

“I don’t like this,” said Anastasia. “I don’t think she should be here. She was on the train, she’s got the model, Fay was carrying her phone…she’s working for someone, and she shouldn’t be here.”

“But maybe she’s on our side,” suggested Stephanie. “And if we kill her…”

Anastasia nodded and lowered her weapon. “We’ll keep her here while we take Hutton to The Gardener.” She grabbed a length of rope from one shelf and bound my hands behind my back.

“Who are you? What’s going to happen?” I pleaded. “Don’t do this! Why are you doing this to me?”

“From now on, no questions.” Stephanie put a canvas bag over my head, and turned to Stephanie. “You bring the car around. I’ll call The Gardener and tell her to expect us.”

As soon as they were up the stairs and I heard the door’s lock click, I slipped my hands out of the ropes. When I was kid, I read a chapter book whose title eludes me where a scientist-adventurer’s daughter escapes from being tied to a stake, and I still remembered her technique. Since my experience shows that it is actually worth it for the average, non-adventuring person to know how to escape from bondage, I’m happy to pass along the technique: while you’re being tied up, subtly flex your muscles and strain against the rope. (Asking your captor inane, terrified questions while they tie you up, to distract them from what you’re doing, was my personal addition to the strategy.) That way, when you relax, the rope will not be tight against you, and you will have room to wiggle out.

I pulled the bag off my head and released Emma from her cage. She gagged at the sight of me.

“You again?” she asked, unappreciatively.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, no thanks to you. They put me in a box!”

“You think I got you kidnapped? Forget it, forget it,” I interrupted myself. Accuracy wasn’t important. “Where’s Fia?”

“Who?”

“The…the other person who was there! The little girl!”

“She was with me in van, and then they brought me in here and drove off with her…”

“To where?”

“I don’t know…to…the garden, they said.” There was no way that continuing to talk to Emma would be more informative than ignoring her and devising a new plan. I picked up one of the bombs from a shelf and tossed it between my hands while I paced. If Emma backed me up, I stood a chance of physically overpowering them. But the possibility of failure, or even of the gun going off accidentally was too catastrophic. Crawling back into my ropes and playing docile and cooperative might save me, but it wouldn’t save Emma. Without my intervention, Anastasia and Stephanie and whoever The Gardener was would kill her, and there was no way I could abdicate that responsibility. This was the opportunity that had been forced upon me, and I couldn’t morally refuse it.

It only made sense to crawl deeper into the lion’s mouth.

“Are they going to kill us?” Emma asked.

“Us? No.” I put the bomb in my bag and pulled out a sweater. “But here’s how you can get out. Let’s switch clothes. I’ll take your place.”

She looked me up and down. “Will they fit?”

“Yeah, we can…if you’re worried, you can stuff this sweater under your shirt.” I looked around the basement. “And this bag of catnip. In the dark that’ll be enough to look like you’re pregnant.”

She nodded and we quickly exchanged outfits. I think that this moment is what pushed my celebrity over the edge. My actions later that night were such that I’d have been hailed a hero no matter what I was wearing, but to uncover a conspiracy and stop a murder while wearing a Roy Lichtenstein mini was an irresistible visual image for the news and social media.

I tied Emma up, put sacks over both of our heads, and climbed into the dog carrier with my bag. A few minutes passed before Stephanie and Anastasia returned, which Emma filled by mumble-singing one of her hits. My thoughts, meanwhile, went to trying, for the first time, to be ahead of what would happen next. All day, I had been given a glance at a second New York operating below the surface of my city. I wasn’t so egotistical to think that it was anything but chance that put me in this position, but then, that’s a false metric. It’s never anything but chance that guides any of life. Where meaning comes in is in our ability to seize the momentum of chance when it passes our way. The train accident, the celebrity encounters, the secret passages, the unexpectedly dead, the unexpectedly alive, the wild animals…there was a pattern somewhere, but there was a lot of noise as well, a lot of flourishes that belonged to another story.

There was something important humming underneath the surface of this line of thinking, so I kept my focus upon it, even when our captors came back down, warned “me” to stay in the basement and not even think of escaping, and hauled my carrier up the stairs and into the back of a van. We drove for not more than five minutes before they stopped and hauled me out again. In fact, the elevator ride to the top of the new building was nearly as long as the car ride. It was an old, slow machine (through the pores of the bag on my head, I could see that we were on a freight elevator – the kind with those huge horizontal doors that you have to use a rope to slam shut) so I figured we didn’t go more than four or five stories.

At the top floor, Anastasia hauled me out of the carrier, while Stephanie breathlessly announced me. “Gardener, we’ve got Hutton.”

“You don’t have to use a code name,” was the reply. “I know who she is. She knows who she is. Why does she have a bag on her head?”

“So she wouldn’t know where she was.”

“Who cares if she knows? She’s about to die. Something like this just draws attention.”

This person whipped the sack off my head, and as my eyes adjusted, I saw that we were in an attic full of moving boxes. The scene set, my eyes began to focus on the person who’d unveiled me. I was face to face with Molly Petalmeadows. “You?” I asked reflexively.

“Me? How about you?” she shot back. “Who is this? Where’s Emma Fay?” Molly asked her lackeys.

“She was in the cage at the pet store,” gaped Anastasia. “This stupid bitch must have switched places.”

“What do you mean, stupid?” I asked. “I legitimately fooled you.”

Molly reached below her hem and pulled a small pistol out of an ankle holster. She pointed it at me, but kind of lazily. Her attention was more on the other two. “Why is she here?”

“She came into the store…” mumbled Stephanie. “We were hoping you might know…”

“I’m not here for any reason,” I explained. “I went in to use the phone, and found Emma in a cage. I don’t care about your…” I caught the word “murder” in my mouth. “Your conspiracy. I’m just looking for a little girl.”

There were tons of holes in this explanation, and I shouldn’t have been surprised that Molly picked it apart quickly. “Why would we know where your daughter is?” I didn’t answer. “She was the one… you two were there when we kidnapped Emma, weren’t you?”

“Uh…yes.” I conceded.

“You think I don’t see what’s going on? Everywhere you go, Emma Fay appears. Every time Emma Fay’s in danger, you turn up. And we’re supposed to believe you’re not involved?”

“You don’t have to believe anything,” I said, an old line that helps you get the upper hand in any argument. “I’m telling you how it is. I came to the pet store to use the phone to reach Fia.”

“And the doctor’s office? Why were you there?”

“I didn’t even want to be there! I was there because Dr. Shimin wasn’t in his office.”

“Right. Of everyone in the city, you just happened to go to that doctor. And as soon as we disappear him, you just happened to turn up.”

“You disappeared him?” I couldn’t believe I was using that sense of “disappear”. “Why?”

Now, of course, life isn’t like a movie, where you can get the villains speechifying and explaining everything. Nobody answered the question, since they thought I knew all this already and was just playing with them. I found out later that it was because Dr. Shimin knew that their leader was pregnant, and had suggested he might sell the news. And this gang believed that you couldn’t take over the world and be a mother. Well. I wonder what they think when they see where I wound up.

Anyway, as I say, they didn’t answer at the time. All that happened was Molly stepping a little closer with her gun.

“Okay, I guess I don’t care. But I’m telling you, these are coincidences, all,” I protested, with dripping impatience, but I was starting to get a little scared. Obviously, you know I’m going to survive, but in the moment, I genuinely wasn’t sure I would. A gang that wouldn’t hesitate to commit assassination or terrorist attacks wasn’t going to have compunction about killing me.

“Why don’t you stop jerking me around?” asked Molly. “What does Emma know?”

As proclaiming my innocence had only got me closer to a bullet in the brain, I decided to push back with a bluff, one rooted in a theory that had been brewing from the moment I recognized Stephanie. “She knows you blew up the F train.”

The women fell back a step, validating my guess. “How does she know?”

“I told her.”

Stephanie stomped the ground. “Fuck! You were on the train right before it got to the tunnel!”

“That’s right,” I said, stalling for time. “That’s right. I was there and…” At last, two pieces fit together. “You let the chimp loose on the tracks, diverting the train up to Penn Station. Where you’d planted the bomb.”

“Shit…” said Molly, lowering her gun fractionally. “Does she know about The Strand?”

“We all know about The Strand,” I said, bluffing with more confidence this time.

“It’s not what Root Beer wants,” said Anastasia, with a hand on Molly shoulder, “but we could just go back to the shop and kill Hutton now. It would still get it done.”

“Again,” said Molly, “you don’t have to use the code names. We all know who we’re talking about.” Of course, at that point, I didn’t know who Root Beer was. Even once I knew who it was, I didn’t understand the name’s meaning until it was explained in one of the New York Times articles detailing the conspiracy. I could tell you I figured it out myself, but I don’t need to exaggerate my accomplishments.

“Fine then,” sighed Anastasia, “let’s go back to the shop and kill Emma now.”

“And this one?” Molly inclined her head towards me. “Should we…”

“I don’t see why not,” said Stephanie. “Whoever she is, she knows too much.”

Molly cocked the hammer and pointed the gun at my head. I could tell you that in the moment that I faced death point-blank, I conceived of a great plan, but the truth is, I had thought of this minutes earlier.

I cringed away from the barrel of the gun. “Can’t I have one last request?”

“This isn’t death row,” said Molly.

“It’s nothing complicated,” I said. “I just want one last cigarette.”

“Aren’t you pregnant?” asked Anastasia.

“That hardly seems relevant now, does it?” I kneeled down and reached into the animal carrier for my bag. “Do any of you have a lighter?”

Anastasia handed me one and, still kneeling down, I used it to light the fuse on the bomb I’d swiped from the pet store basement and stashed in my bag. I stood up, chucked it at the women and took a flying leap towards the nearest window. The force of the explosion pushed me through the glass and I started falling.

Just as I had estimated, we were four stories up. It was a grander stunt than I’d ever done, but the techniques are the same whether you’re dropping ten feet or 40. I knew I’d land safely. “I am cat!” I thought to myself and laughed for, I think, the first time all day.

#short story #pregnancy #new york city #crime #cat #conspiracy #lip sync video #mean girls

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