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peanutpinet · 6 months

Note

hihi!! really love the mini nct-mafia universe that you’ve created 🥹 i was hoping if you could write jaemin next..i was thinking of jaemin being a little cold to others but only soft towards y/n (and of course jeno)..i’ll leave the plot up to you but i thought it’ll be cute if there’s a scene where y/n helps to undress jaemin to take care of him..so like angst/fluff/suggestive all blended in one! thank you and i’m sorry if it’s so specific 🥲🥲

Trauma - Mafia! Na Jaemin x Innocent! Fem Reader

A/N: Hi anon!! Thank you for requesting the fic! I actually was already planning to write for mafia Jaemin and since you requested him as well, it motivated me even more to write!

Also, apologies if I took way too long and if the story isn't how you actually want it to go but I do hope that you enjoy it as much as I wrote it. There are lots of heavy trigger warnings that you have to pay attention to!

Trigger Warning: trauma experience, character death (not MC), grief, revenge, murder, blood loss, torture (excessive), explosion. -> I'm sorry if this isn't all but I will try to update it in case I missed anything

Synopsis: Being the son of the famous Nam Goongmin came with a heavy price to pay for Jaemin. Though Taeyong managed to get Jaemin out of his father’s mafia business and helped him to heal, there was still some trauma that Jaemin had yet to face. Until he came across a girl that he would soon learn that he can't always run from his problems

Water to Fire. Winter to Spring. Sunshine to Rain. They were all opposites of each other yet people kept on saying that opposites then to attract one another. Jaemin had never believed such things until he saw his parents. His father was the ruthless mafia whereas his mother was a kindhearted school teacher. Despite their contradicting characteristics, they were like magnets and attracted each other in a good way just like sunshine and rain coming together to create a rainbow.

Though Jaemin knew that his father didn’t have the best job, being one of the most feared mafia in South Korea before NCT became a thing was a reputation that Jaemin had to live for years until his mother passed away; and not in a peaceful way.

Jaemin knew that with the amount of power and wealth his father had, came all the enemies as well. Enemies who either wanted his father dead for hundreds of different reasons. Murder. Fraud. Stealing. Jaemin didn’t know how far his father was in crime because his mother made sure that he wouldn’t have to see his father at one of the most gruesome scenes that might as well come from the action/thriller drama that he watched.

Sadly, those moments were all but just memories to Jaemin. Everything happened as quickly as his memories could remember. One sunny morning, the day before Jaemin’s 18th birthday, he was going off to school and the same evening he went back home, it started raining but he still went home smiling knowing that he got a perfect score on his biology test, a recommendation letter from all of his science teacher and that his mom promised that they would bake today.

But when he arrived at the front door, Jaemin knew that something was wrong. Quietly, Jaemin took off his shoes and took the nearest thing that he could use as a weapon and went in. Though Jaemin was sheltered from the gruesome life of his father, the old man actually taught him every self-defence technique he knew. From hand-to-hand combat to even using a gun, Jaemin knew it all. But what his father had not taught him was how to cope with his feelings or a life that he took with his own hands.

That day will forever haunt Jaemin’s memory as the day of his first kill, the day of his mother’s death, and the day that he knew that he was his father’s son. When Jaemin’s father came home that night, he was just as distraught as his son. Both instantly mourn the loss of their beloved wife and mother. It was the first time that Jaemin’s dad actually let Jaemin into the horrifying world that he lived in.

Out for revenge, Jaemin had no mercy for anyone who would prevent him or his father from getting back at the one who took the light out of their dark thoughts. But even when Jaemin finally got a taste of revenge. It didn’t satisfy him and instead, he quickly realised his actions before it was too late.

His mother taught him better. His mother always taught him to never hate anyone as most people who do evil things were also once good. So Jaemin did what he could do. Run. Jaemin ran away from all his dark side; his father.

Jaemin knew that no matter how far or fast he ran, his father would always find him. But it seemed that his mother must’ve sent some guardian angels because right as Jaemin was cornered by some of his father’s most trusted men, some other men came and saved Jaemin, killing his father’s men in the process.

It was that day did Jaemin joined Taeyong into NCT and became one of the core members of NCT. But unlike the other members who also have daytime jobs, Jaemin prefers to just stay at the base and stand by whilst studying medicine with Kun. Though Taeyong still forces Jaemin to go follow Jeno along because Jeno was one of the only members that Jaemin talks to and eventually Jeno manages to convince Jaemin to at least intern and later work in NCT’s hospital under Kun on the early morning of weekdays.

For the most part of Jaemin’s life in NCT, not once did he ever complain. Not once did Jaemin want something more like his friend Jeno who is a famous racer. Not once did Jaemin ever go against NCT’s leader, Taeyong, like sometimes Haechan did. Though Jaemin has become more social than his first year in NCT, Taeyong has yet to completely understand Jaemin.

In reality, Jaemin stayed with NCT because he hoped that one day if he were to have to face his father again, he would face him without being scared. After years of being with NCT and even becoming a surgeon in Neo Hospital under Kun, Jaemin slowly finds a new routine and he slowly finds that by helping other people, it relieves a part of him that remembers all the bad things his father had done towards multiple innocent people.

As days passed, Jaemin has slowly forgotten about meeting his father again. Instead, Jaemin wants to avoid having to meet his father ever again if it were possible. Jaemin was content with the life he has now and wants to continue to just live his life without the constant worry of having to deal with his father or the mess he made; at least, until a recent patient that he had to deal with.

It was in the middle of a weekend night, right when Taeyong suddenly dismissed him and told Jaemin to just go back home despite Taeyong just finished torturing a guy who kidnapped the intern for Neo-Tech and helped build the Satellite tracker.

But right as Jaemin was about to go back to his place, Jeno suddenly called him and said that there was a sudden accident right when he and his girlfriend were on their way home and some weird men were chasing an injured girl.

“I got no idea why they were chasing them but I figured to call you not only to help the girl but I also feel that you should know. Those weird men mentioned that they were under your father’s name” Jeno mentioned, making Jaemin stop in his tracks

“I’m on my way. I’ll call the nurse to handle it before I get there. Just drive to the emergency entrance” Jaemin replied, turning off his call with Jeno, going into his car and rushing to the hospital

Along the way, Jaemin called the nurse in his hospital and told them to go to the emergency room and help a girl that Jeno was bringing. Jaemin also told the nurse to ask for Kun to help before he arrived there.

Within minutes, Jaemin arrived at the hospital and immediately went to get changed and head to the surgery room. Before going in, Jaemin saw Jeno who was bloody with his girlfriend sitting by the entrance. “Jaem…” Jeno called out to his friend who was just about to head into the surgery room.

“You should take her home. I can handle it here” Jaemin replied but Jeno seemed hesitant. “Your girlfriend is practically asleep, Jen. You’re also covered with blood. Plus I’m not alone. Kun-hyung is here. Go” Jaemin reassured Jeno who stood up, carrying his sleeping girlfriend

“Call me if anything happens. I’m not just a member. I’m your friend, too” Jeno mentioned before Jaemin went into the surgery room

In the surgery room, Jaemin apologised to Kun for being late but Kun didn’t question him. “I’ll question you after the surgery. Jeno came in here bloody and said that you wouldn’t want anyone outside of NCT to know about this” Kun mentioned

“Probably for the best” Jaemin replied and immediately got to work with Kun

Because Jeno managed to stop the bleeding by using a cloth and putting pressure on it, Jaemin and Kun managed to stitch up the girl with no problem. But aside from the deep wound, Jaemin noticed that the girl also had several bruises all over her body, a cut lip, and even a few fractured bones.

After moving the girl into a secluded patient room, Kun and Jaemin went into Kun’s office where Kun made a cup of warm tea before getting into the talk. “I won’t tell Taeyong if you don’t want me to” Kun reassured Jaemin who has been quiet since the surgery

“She’s related to my father” Jaemin mentioned, making Kun stop drinking his drink and look at the younger one. “Not in a way that you would think. Jeno said that she was being chased by some men. When Jeno got to her, she was already bruised and everything. Jeno thought that he was just helping someone but didn’t realise until too late that the men were working for my father” Jaemin explained

“You know. You’re not really obligated to actually find out about her or her relationship with your father if you don’t want to. You can always just ignore her and think that you never met her” Kun mentioned. “I’m not saying that you should run away from your problems but…” Kun added but Jaemin stopped him

“I know that someday I’m going to have to face him again after all these years. If so, I might as well get it over with. Thanks hyung, but I’m going to try and find out and maybe face my father. All I ask is to not tell Taeyong-hyung about it until I’m sure that she truly has something to do with my father” Jaemin mentioned, leaving Kun to see the girl

Jaemin’s POV

Reaching the girl’s room, I went in and received an overview of her profile from Haechan. “You owe me big. Taeyong-hyung almost caught me for this”. Going over her profile, I noticed that the girl, (y/n) has gone through a rough childhood.

“3 different foster homes in the span of 20 years?! Geez. Either she was trouble or those foster homes are actually as shitty as I know” I thought to myself, glancing over (y/n) who was sweating and whimpering.

Turning off the screen to my tab, I walked closer. Grabbing a soft cloth, I started to wipe the sweat that was building up on her forehead until I was close enough to hear her whimpers.

“p-please…” (y/n) whimpered. “leave my mom alone. Let me go” (y/n) suddenly screamed, jolting from the bed

“Hey, hey, no one is going to hurt you” I mentioned, looking at (y/n) who was now sitting, her chest was going up and down faster than normal

“You’re alright but I would suggest you to rest again. Let’s put you to sleep again” I mentioned, coming closer but she flinched when my hand was just reaching her shoulders

Sighing, I pulled my hands away and tucked them into my pockets. “Look. I’m a doctor here. I’m not going to hurt you or anything. If I was going to hurt you, I’d done it already” I bluntly mentioned as (y/n) just eyed me from top to bottom

“Jaemin…” she read my nametag. “You look like him. I, I thought…” (y/n) finally said a sentence

“Who? Who do I look like? What were you thinking if I look like someone?” I asked but (y/n) didn’t utter another word. “Do I look like Nam Goongmin?” I asked, the name felt foreign that my voice cracked a bit but luckily, I got some kind of answer as (y/n) nodded

“You’ve met him before” I mentioned. It wasn’t a question

Another nod which made my next sigh rougher than the previous one. “Look, if you have anything to say to me regarding him, just tell me. Or if you know about him. Or if you’re involved with him. I’m not a mind reader” I rambled

“He mentioned your name before” (y/n) finally said something again but I didn’t cut her off. I wanted her to keep talking. “He mentioned that I reminded him of his son. How I wasn’t considerate and thankful that he helped me find a foster home b-but…” (y/n) started to cry

“He helped you look for a foster home? But why? Sorry for being blunt but I doubt that he would let himself get involved with someone like you unless you or someone you know is involved with him” I mentioned

“H-he, he killed my dad and then my mom. He killed them because they worked for him but eventually cut ties with him” (y/n) cried, probably remembering the dark times she had to face

“What do you remember?” I asked, handing a clean cloth for her to wipe her tears

“My dad was his colleague. He helped supply the things that Nam Goongmin couldn’t easily get his hands on. But when I reached a certain age, my dad just cut ties with him” (y/n) added

“Were you home when your parents were killed?” I asked and (y/n) nodded

“My parents hid me, along with files of Nam Goongmin. Files that if they were to be released to the public, would ruin everything that he had built” (y/n) replied, perking up my interest

“When was the last time you saw him?” I asked, wanting to know more

“Months ago. He found me while I was working at a convenience store late at night. I didn’t know who he was at first until he brought up my parents’ name” (y/n) replied. “At first, he didn’t ask the files. He just told me about his history with my dad which honestly shocked me. I was so scared that he would do something to me but instead, he just left”

“But you mentioned that you were in foster homes? Did you run away?” I asked

“Ever since my parents passed away, which was when I was 14, I was put in an adoption center but turns out I was put into foster homes. At first, I didn’t notice anything strange until one night in my first foster home, I heard him again. I ran away after finding out. I was then put into another foster home at 15 but it was the same thing. I found out they were associated with him and ran away. The last one was the most brutal one. They didn’t sugarcoat anything and I was treated like a slave until I told them where I hid the file. When I saw a chance, I ran away once again. I managed to hide from them for the past 2 years because I ran away by the time I reached 18 years old and started working part-time in a few places. Up until now at least” (y/n) ended her story

“So, where did you actually hide the files then?” I asked as (y/n) just looked at me

“Don’t you think it’s only fair that I ask you after explaining to you, not knowing if I can trust you or not” (y/n) mentioned

“Nam Goongmin…he’s my father” I mentioned, shocking (y/n)

The next morning rolled around quicker than I wanted. I ended up not going back home and stayed in (y/n)’s room since I was the one who booked her the VIP room. While (y/n) was sleeping, I checked on all the files that Haechan sent me just to double-check her background because she could be lying and actually working with my father.

Jeno came along with Renjun and Haechan, bringing something for me to eat which I realised that I hadn’t eaten anything since the surgery the other night. The four of us sat in my office as I told them about what happened the other night.

“So her story and what Haechan sent you checked out? She’s not lying?” Renjun asked, munching on the burger that he bought upon coming to the hospital

“As far as I read the background. Yeah. Unless you have something else up your sleeve, Haechan?” I asked, looking over to him who was stuffing his face with french fries

“That’s all I found. And I’ve used the big bois. Perks of having parents that used to be in the mafia I supposed. Can manipulate what information would be put out there well until they were dead at least” Haechan shrugged

“What are you planning to do then, Jaem? I mean, you used to say that you don’t want to get involved with your dad ever again. What changed?” Jeno asked but I too didn’t quite have the answer yet

“Part of me doesn’t like the idea of what dad has become. Regardless, he was still my father and he honestly raised me well. He was there for my childhood. It was truly like he wanted me in his life. But when my mom was killed, guess that’s when he went haywire and made a killing spree. I want him to atone for what he did. Killing innocent people is wrong and he had never done it until my mom passed away” I mentioned

“So, you want to put him behind bars?” Haechan asked

“It’s more complicated…” I mumbled when a knock was heard. “Who is it?” I asked, standing from my seat, eyeing my members who suddenly went serious mode

“Dr Na, your patient is here to see you” the nurse exclaimed, making my members sigh of relief

“Yes, of course. Just bring her in” I mentioned and the nurse brought (y/n) on a wheelchair into my office. “I’ll handle it from here, you can leave” I told the nurse

“So this is the famous (y/n)” Haechan smirked while I instantly eyed him, helping (y/n) into my office

“Ignore him, he’s always that playful. I’m Renjun, that’s Jeno over there” Renjun mentioned, giving a smile at (y/n). The same goes for Jeno

“You’re the one that helped me!” (y/n) exclaimed as Jeno nodded. “That would be me. I’m glad that you’re alright now. Also, I know Jaemin might seem cold and unapproachable but he’s pretty nice” Jeno mentioned, making me groan

“I never got to thank you. Thank you, for saving me. If you hadn’t, I would’ve…” (y/n) rambled but Jeno shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Thank Jaemin as well for saving you. I just helped a bit. He’s the saviour here. I mean, he’s dubbed the miracle doctor here because the amount of times Jaemin has been able to save people who are in critical condition is crazy” Jeno mentioned, which honestly made me flustered

“I think I’m just lucky this time, to be able to meet kind people to help me” (y/n) shyly stated

“It’s not luck. No one deserves to die honestly. Anyways, you can trust my friends here. They, they know about my history with my father” I stated. “You can tell us where you hid the files and we’ll help retrieve them. I promise that there’s nothing to worry about. You’re completely safe here” I added on, making (y/n) smiled

“Thank you” (y/n) uttered. “But I’m sorry that this might seem like I’m asking a lot but actually, I hid it at my old house. The one where I used to live with my parents. I figure that it would be the best place to hide it since Nam Goongmin wouldn’t think to look at an old abandoned house where he killed people that he probably don’t remember” (y/n) explained and I looked over at Haechan who was still stuffing his face with food but his face was serious as he was typing away on his computer

“Is this the house?” Haechan asked, showing us all his laptop that showed a house. “Y-yeah, how did you?” (y/n) asked but Haechan shrugged. “It’s one of my many talents”

“Alright then, we should leave tonight. It’ll be easier so we won’t be seen” Jeno pointed out and the others started to pack their things. “I’ll also fill in Yangyang and Shotaro on our plan so that they could help with the file. Haechan, you, Renjun and Shotaro should prepare on the equipment we need. I’ll ask Yangyang for a vehicle and…” Jeno added but (y/n) cut him off

“Is, is it alright if I come along? I mean. I’m the one that knows where it’s hidden. Plus. I, I want to get something from the house” (y/n) asked

“Honestly, I don’t think it would be the best idea for you to come. You’re still injured and…” Jeno replied

“I just want to get my old family photobook. I promise that’s it” (y/n) argued

“I think it’s alright if she goes. We’ll all be there and I’ll keep a watch on her and then get her out as soon as she gets her photobook” I added on, making Jeno sigh

“Fine. But we have to move quickly. Taeyong-hyung doesn’t know about this and even if he does, we have to be fast, alright?” Jeno stated and everyone nodded

After the short meeting, I brought (y/n) back to her room, making her rest up a bit more while I went back to my office and changed into my nightwear mission gear and taking the female clothes I asked someone to buy for me to (y/n)’s room; telling her to change while we wait for Jeno to come.

“Just asking. How long have you been doing this?” I heard (y/n) asked

“For a few years. I was found by my now leader at 18 and ever since I was taken in, was taught everything I know and was given the opportunity to be something that I’ve always wanted as a kid” I told her, remembering the early days when Taeyong-hyung and Jeno first found me

“Do, do you guys like, I don’t know, kill people? Sell drugs or human trafficking?” (y/n) asked, making me chuckle at her thought. “Wh-why are you laughing? Is this all just a trick and you’re actually working with…” (y/n) rambled but I stopped her before she could say that man’s name

“No. We’re not like him. Not every mafia is bad. At least not us. I used to think the same until my leader brought me in. We’re considered a mafia group because we deal with other dirty crime organizations through some illegal methods which to the public, it might seem wrong but basically, we help the government do more of the dirty work. But we never went as far as killing. Torture? Yes. I’ll tell you that upfront. Especially to those who betray us” I explained, looking at (y/n) who looked nervous

“Don’t worry. As long as you’re not involved with the people in our wanted list, there’s nothing to worry about. Are you ready to go?” I asked as (y/n) slowly nodded

“Alright, come with me then” I mentioned, nudging (y/n) to walk right beside me. “Whatever happens there, I’ll be by your side and I expect you to do the same. Don’t walk ahead, don’t walk behind. I have to make sure that nothing happens to you, got it?” I stated as we walked into the private elevator and (y/n) nodded

Arriving at (y/n)’s house, Jeno told Haechan, Renjun and Shotaro to stay hidden as he, Yangyang, (y/n) and I go into the house and find the files along with the photobook that (y/n) wanted. Because (y/n) was the only one who knew where both the items were, we stuck close to her, practically forming a human wall around her to make sure that there weren’t any threats.

“Haechan, any sign of anyone nearby?” Jeno asked. “Nope. It’s all clear. Unless you count some stray cats nearby which they’re very big and chubby” Haechan joked

“Jaem, you accompany (y/n). Yangyang and I will stay downstairs, just in case. Once you’ve gotten the files, toss it to me and I’ll have Yangyang hand it to Haechan and the others, kay?” Jeno instructed and I nodded in acknowledgement

(y/n) and I went upstairs, and I noticed from some of the ripped, broken images that (y/n) seemed to be an only child and that there weren’t really any other family members except for her parents. “D-do you not have any like uncles or aunts to take you in at the time?” I asked as (y/n) rummage around a room that seems to be a master bedroom based on the size and linked bathroom

“Unfortunately, no. As far as I know, my parents are both only childs and even if there were, I doubt they want to take a burden in” (y/n) chuckled dryly, making me feel bad for asking

“I’m sorry to hear that but you should know that no one is a burden. Especially those under 18. You didn’t ask to be born. None of us asked for it and you shouldn’t push yourself because of what happened. This universe might’ve fucked up some things in everyone’s life but the moment you’re given just one chance to change your fate, take it. Exploit it if you can as long as you hurt no one. You deserve to enjoy your life” I stated, trying to cheer (y/n) up

“You know, I lived my life in uncertainty and everything changed with my mom was killed and I thought that this universe hated me until my now leader and Jeno found me. They gave me a new life and I’m doing much better now. Why don’t you come with us when all of this is over?” I offered, catching (y/n)’s attention

“I doubt that you guys would want me. I don’t even know what I’m good at” (y/n) replied, her voice became much softer than before

“Don’t worry about that. Everyone doesn’t know what they’re good at because they just simply were never given the chance to. But I promise you that as stone-cold as some of my members are, they are all caring for each other and would always help one another. Just consider it. And if you decided you want to, I’ll talk with my leader about it” I replied, offering (y/n) a smile, making her smile back

“T-thank you, Jaemin. Really. No one has ever offered me this far” (y/n) mentioned, making me frown

“That’s probably because they don’t understand the pain you go through; especially after losing your parents. Let’s hurry and find the file and your photobook then we can continue this conversation” I stated as (y/n) nodded

(y/n) quickly scrambled to the bed of the room and went underneath the covers, ripping it and taking something out of the mattress which turns out to be the USB. “Is that the files?” I asked as (y/n) nodded. “Yeah, I kept it here because this room and bed reminded me about my parents. How I would crawl into their room in the middle of the night because of nightmares when I was younger. And eventually sleep between them” (y/n) replied, making me smile

“Can I take the USB from you? I promise that my members and I will bring justice to your parents and all the innocent people whose life were ruined by Nam Goongmin” I stated, extending my hand as (y/n) handed the USB over

“Jen, I got it. We’re upstairs in the master bedroom. (y/n) is looking for the photobook” I stated in my earcom. “I’m going up” Jeno replied

Jeno then came within seconds and took the USB. Jeno told me to take care of (y/n) while he went to Haechan and handed the USB over to check the files before going back to the base. I told Jeno that he and Yangyang could just go with the others because (y/n) and I were only finding the photobook.

Despite being unsure of my request, Jeno eventually compiled and told me that if anything were to happen, I should just call him or the base; regardless of whether Taeyong-hyung knows or not. Because in the end, whether I like it or not, I will have to tell Taeyong-hyung about this.

After Jeno left, I continued to help (y/n) find the photobook she was looking for. We eventually turned the already messed up house into basically a destroyed ship. But luckily, we managed to find the photobook that (y/n) was looking and I instantly told the others that we were done and were going to head back to my place.

As we went downstairs, I suddenly heard a clock ticking. I looked around and saw an old grandfather clock that was ticking. Which was strange because I swore that when we all went into the house, the only noise that could be heard were our voices, the sounds of our shoes on the old hardwood floor, and even our breathing. But not once did I hear any ticking noise.

Not wanting to find out, I quickly wrapped an arm around (y/n) and dragged her out of the house. But before we could get out, the clock struck 3 am and instantly, everything became a blur. One moment I was reaching the door handle to open the door and the next, I was having a hard time breathing and was lying on my back.

Blinking several times, I tried to regain my vision after almost blacking out but everything was still a blur. My nose smelled some smoke and as I used my hands to try to get me up, I noticed that the house behind me was in flames.

Regardless of my weak state, I called out to (y/n) and tried to scan my surroundings with whatever vision I had but I felt everything spinning around and was suddenly met with a fist on my cheek; making me fall to the ground and cough up blood.

Suddenly, I felt two people holding each of my arms respectively as I was now kneeling on the ground. I tried to fight them off but knowing my weak state from the sudden explosion, I couldn’t do anything. But what caught me off-guard was the person who walked and stood right in front of me. The man who made me have my first kill, the man who I thought was good because of how he loved my mother, the man who shared the same DNA as I did. My father, Nam Goongmin.

“I thought I told you manners on how to greet your elderly, Na Jaemin” my father chuckled, grabbing a chunk of my hair, roughly pulling my head back, making me look at him

Even though my vision was still blurry, I could recognize that tone and sinister smirk from anywhere. “You don’t deserve any manners or respect from me” I coughed up, spitting some blood that landed on my father’s suit and face

“You still haven’t changed, have you? A doctor now are you?” my father stated, not really asking me

“W-was the least I could do, after what you’ve done. You can try to kill as many innocent people but I’ll be the one that’ll save them” I argued back, my father roughly letting my hair go

“Oh, you might want to save that breath of yours because you’re going to need it” my father uttered, I could feel his breath by my ear. “You and your little gang have something that I’ve been looking for years” my father whispered as I turned to eye him

“Let’s test how eager you are to save a life, shall we? That troublesome girl will be your time limit. Right now, she’s practically as injured as you are. The difference is. You’re going to be rescued by your little team while she gets to hang out with me” my father stated, making me try to release the grip of his men

“With every second you don’t come back, I’m going to draw her blood out of her. Slowly. With each day passing and you do not give me back those files, I’ll have to find out which organ I want to sell to the black market first. And if those files ever get released to the public? I’ll give you a little present. For all the years that I’ve been gone from your life” my father stated when suddenly I was injected with a sleeping drug and the grip on each of my arms were gone as I drifted off to sleep, and my body unconsciously fell to the ground with the thought of (y/n) in my mind

NCT Base - 8:25 pm (still Jaemin’s POV)

The sound of a beeping monitor slowly matched with the beat of my heart as I slowly woke up from my slumber for who knows how long. When I opened my eyes and slowly scanned the room, I noticed that I was in the patient room back in the base.

When I closed my eyes again, I remembered my father’s threat and immediately jerked on the bed. “Shit Jaemin, are you okay?! Let me get Kun-hyung” I heard Jeno stated but I managed to grip his wrist. “How long was I out?” I asked

“About more than 12 hours. Not long after we left, I felt something was off. I tried to contact you through our earcom but it was muffled. I told Haechan to just go while I drove one of our emergency borrowed cars and went back to the house. By the time I arrived, the house was in flames and you passed out on the ground, bruises and blood everywhere. But I didn’t see (y/n) at all” Jeno explained

“Shit. My dad. H-he caused the explosion. He knew that we would go to the house. He knew that (y/n) must’ve hid the files there and would have to retrieve it. Where’s the files right now?” I asked, trying to get out of bed but Jeno stopped me

“Woah. I know that your dad is insane and we should save (y/n) but you’re injured pretty badly right now. You gotta rest. Especially since you have to face…” Jeno ranted but we heard several footsteps coming into the room

“Is he awake?!” both Jeno and I heard Taeyong-hyung’s voice and suddenly the door was slammed open and Taeyong-hyung along with Kun, Mark, and Doyoung came in

“Tell me why the hell is there a 150ml of blood bag with your fucking name on it arrived at the hospital when the blood is clearly not yours?!” Taeyong-hyung demanded, showing me the blood bag

“Shit. He’s actually serious. Fuck. Hyung, where’s the files?” I asked back but Taeyong-hyung didn’t budge. “Who is he, Jaemin?! You’re my member. My core member. And Kun received this right as he finished handling another patient. So no, Jaemin, I won’t let you know anything about the files until you explain yourself” Taeyong-hyung growled and I was trying to put together some words to not make the situation worse

“He’s back isn’t he?” Taeyong-hyung stated, sending chills as I remembered the incident

“He’s after the files, isn’t he, Jaemin?” Taeyong-hyung asked as I slowly nodded. “Everyone but Jeno, out” Taeyong-hyung stated as the others left the room but Jeno. “You know something as well, Jeno. I’ll deal with the other 00 boys later” Taeyong-hyung added

“Tell me everything, Jaemin. What happened, how did you get those files, whose blood is this and what did Nam Goongmin threaten you” Taeyong demanded and I told him everything that had happened. From when Jeno brought (y/n) to the hospital to going to her house and even facing my father on my own

“I know meeting him would not end well but this?! This is out of my prediction” Taeyong-hyung grunted, messing up his hair before slicking it back again

“We can’t release the files. (y/n) would be instantly killed” I argued

“I know that. But we need to find where your father is first which Jungwoo is already in the process of finding through the satellite tracker. In the meantime, Haechan already duplicated the files and we’ll hand the original file back” Taeyong-hyung mentioned

“You figured it out when I was passed out, didn’t you, hyung?” I asked back when Taeyong-hyung explained on the current situation he’s handling which always amazed me

“I keep tabs on my members. I know about your father coming to find you because that was the reason why he sent someone to kidnap the intern under Jungwoo. But I wouldn’t expect another person outside of NCT to be involved. Guess I should’ve expected it since it already happened with Jeno and Haechan” Taeyong-hyung chuckled

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to worry you. I also didn’t expect my father to have everything figured out and was basically a step ahead of me” I grunted

“Jaemin. Whether you like it or not, your dad was in the mafia way before me and the other oldest members in the group. He might be out of touch with the current generation unlike us, but he always has that sinister, manipulative mind that somehow always manages to turn the situation around. No matter what, your dad is not someone we can take on lightly like Jeno or Haechan’s situation” Taeyong-hyung stated when suddenly we heard a knock on the door, revealing to be Jungwoo

“Hyung. I found him” Jungwoo-hyung stated and Taeyong-hyung told him to come and show us

Jungwoo-hyung came in and showed the exact location of where my father was and it turns out, he was back at my old house. The house that I abandoned since my mother was killed. “Of course he would be there” I growled

“That’s not all, Jaemin. As I found him, there was a sudden file that was delivered to me. I didn’t want to open it until I see Taeyong-hyung” Jungwoo-hyung mentioned, showing us the mystery file that he received

“Open it, Jungwoo” Taeyong-hyung mentioned and upon opening the file, I could feel my stomach twist and nearly puke upon seeing the file because it was a video of (y/n) who was unconscious and tied to a bed, getting her blood slowly drawn out and a figure coming behind her and slowly picking up a scalpel before the video went black, showing several numbers.

“Hyung…” I grunted, Jeno taking a bucket and shoving it towards me. “Go ahead, no one is going to judge you” Jeno tried to joke

“It’s a countdown” Taeyong-hyung stated. “Looks like your dad still isn’t a patient man. Are you okay to go?” Taeyong-hyung asked

“I have to. I’m not letting him kill another innocent person. Not when I can actually do something about it. I failed to protect my mom and spent the past few years to try and atone for what my father has done. I’m not going to sit this one out just because I have a few bruises and injuries” I stated, getting up from my bed

“It’ll most likely be a trap. Your dad would instantly kill her upon seeing the rest of us but if you go alone, there’s no telling what will happen. Your dad could have mercy on you but not on the girl or he might be very merciful and spare both of you. Either way, I won’t sit tight and let you handle everything alone, alright?” Taeyong-hyung stated, patting my shoulder

Jaemin’s Old House - 1:38 am

Right as my car came to a stop, I took a deep breath before walking out and facing the very problem that I’ve been running away from for the past 6 years of my life. As I slowly opened the door, memories of what used to be a happy childhood slowly flooded back but this time with the smell of dirt, trash, and even blood mixed in.

Standing by the door, I was met with multiple other men with their guns all loaded, pointing at me as I looked up at my father who was standing on the 2nd floor, looking as sharp as I remembered him from the day when I last saw him. The last day that I ever agreed to do anything with him. To get revenge on my dead mother.

“I’m assuming you come here with what I requested?” my father asked and I pulled the USB from the inner corner of my jacket, raising it up to show him

“All the files about you. About what you’ve done. About every corrupted person you have helped. Every innocent person you have killed. Every track of your dirty money in and out. Every weapon and drug you own and sell. They’re all in here” I stated, none of my father’s men lowered their weapons

“Hand over the USB and put down every weapon you have” my father instructed me. “Search him just in case” my father added

I handed the USB to one of his men as I took out my guns, knife, pepper spray, and every other weapon I had in hand. Two of his men held me by the arm and another searched me completely before taking away all of my weapons, telling my father that I was already clean.

His men who took the USB went upstairs and handed it to my father. My father then took it and plugged it into the laptop to check every single file personally. “You really have turned soft, haven’t you, Jaemin? All this information for just a girl?” my father questioned

“Just a girl? You killed her parents. She didn’t deserve to continue her life like that. She had no one. No one deserves to live like that. Just because you were like that, doesn’t mean someone else should” I argued back and without warning, my father fired a bullet that grazed my cheek

“Know your place, boy. Remember it was me that helped bring you to this world. Without me, you wouldn’t be alive or breathing right now. Her father wasn’t as innocent if she ever told you the truth, that is. His father was associated with me as in they were the ones that sourced all the weapons and drugs that I sell. So, regardless, they weren’t all that good” my father argued back as well

“Doesn’t mean you should kill them. No one deserves to be killed” I stated but what my father said next hit me more than a bullet would. “Yet your mother was killed”

“If you recall, your mother was murdered, Na Jaemin. She didn’t die due to some illness or of old age. She was murdered cold-blooded. She did nothing wrong yet she was still murdered. You’re only partially right. Not everyone deserves to be killed. Some do” my father stated.

“As shitty as some people are, including you, no one still deserves to be killed” I stood my argument

“You sure about that? Don’t you remember the time when you practically forced yourself to come with me to find your mother’s killer? That you wanted to pull the trigger yourself. Yet, it didn’t satisfy you enough, did it? If anything, you’ve always been a coward. I taught you everything. Yet, you never dared to go above and beyond” my father complained

“My mother never taught me to do anything bad. Plus, she was the reason why you were also soft at some point in your life. She would be disappointed with how you’ve changed. At least I’m trying to atone for what you and I did” I taunted, making my father’s demeanour change. His gaze got darker and scarier.

“Don’t talk about her as if you know about our history. As if you understand what it feels like to have someone part of you being ripped away after all that you’ve been through to change for them” my father admitted; a side of him that I didn’t really know of

“Who says?! My mother is a part of me. Heck, 50% of my DNA is from her. She was my number one supporter and she was my everything. The first woman I love. You and I are the same in terms of looks, some of our traits, and our love for the same woman. The big difference is how we cope with that loss” I mentioned. “As much as I hate the man you’ve become, it saddens me more because no matter what, you’re still my father. So stop this nonsense and just turn yourself in” I tried to reason but instead, my father let out a rather maniac laugh

“There’s another difference between you and I. Your mother might be your first love. But she’s my first and last. Like you said, my parents weren’t really there for me and when I met your mother, that’s when I actually knew what love actually is. Until she was murdered that is. So, Na Jaemin. You want to understand what it feels like to go through what I went through? Let me show you then” my father stated, confusing me

My father went into one of the rooms and not long after, he came back, dragging a way smaller yet weak figure than him to his side which made my whole body shudder as I saw (y/n)’s paled and injured face was being held between one of my father’s hand.

“You said that you wouldn’t hurt her if I gave you the files” I growled, punching and kicking both men who were holding me down, finally breaking free of their grip and immediately there was smoke covering the entirety of the house

Within seconds, each of my father’s men was knocked out by my group and Taeyong-hyung’s additional reinforcements. Once the smoke cleared up, everyone pointed their weapon towards my father as Taeyong stepped into the scene.

“Nam Goongmin. I didn’t expect for us to ever meet again ever since you nearly killed your own son” Taeyong-hyung mentioned. “Let the girl go and turn yourself in. You promised you wouldn’t kill her”

“I only said I would kill her if those files were released. Nothing more. But since you’re all here, you broke the agreement first, Jaemin” my father stated, making my jaw clench. “You want to understand my pain? Then let me show you” my father then stabbed (y/n) in the back and immediately pulled the scalpel out, making her bleed even more blood

Immediately, I rushed upstairs and shoved my father away, catching (y/n) in my arms when suddenly my father shoved me again and started a fight with me

Thankfully, Jeno, Shotaro, and Jaehyun-hyung came and helped bring (y/n) away from the fight between my father and I. Though I was already trained in combat and my father had already age, he still managed to get me out of breath.

My father’s aims were sharp and strong which made me have to go into defence mode until I saw an opening and kicked him on the side of his ribs, which made him stumble backwards. Immediately, I took my chances and threw several more punches which hit and eventually, I managed to pin him on the ground, using my knee to pin his chest down, making it hard for him to breathe while my left arm was right on his neck, barely allowing my father to even speak.

“I think you should be by her side, doctor. Unless of course, you want to feel the exact pain that I felt” my father managed to choke out, tears somehow forming in my eyes

“Jaemin!! You have to operate on (y/n) right now. She already lost so much blood and while we’ve stopped it, it won’t last long” Taeyong-hyung stated as some of his reinforcements came and handled my father

“You should listen to your leader, doctor. Unless you want to relive the time when you couldn’t save someone” my father taunted and Taeyong-hyung covered him from my sight. “Go. I managed to bring a decent amount of tools for you to operate. The guys also managed to find the same blood type as her. I’ll deal with your dad” Taeyong-hyung mentioned, ushering me to quickly go

“Hyung. Thank you. And don’t kill my father. As shitty as what he did, I still stand my ground. I’m not going to kill him and no one is allowed to kill him. He’s still my father after all” I mentioned, looking back at Taeyong-hyung then seeing the other men take my father away

Rushing to the room that my members brought (y/n) in, I immediately put on a mask and gloves before getting to work. Though not all of my members know how the surgery procedure works, I’ve done operations on other people alone before.

I saw the monitor that checked all of (y/n)’s blood condition and they were all very low. First things first, I had to do the blood transfusion quickly before operating on the wound. After setting up the blood bag and putting the IV into (y/n)’s blood vessel, I told Shotaro to eye the blood bag and tell me when it was running low so I could give another blood bag.

As the blood transfusion was happening, I immediately got to work with the wound. I made sure that none of her vital organs were hit before actually stitching her up. I didn’t know how long I was stitching (y/n) while also giving her blood transfusion but at some point, the monitor suddenly beeping like crazy which made me worry.

“Jaem…her blood pressure is decreasing and so is her heart rate. Are there any other scars or wounds she has?” Jeno asked and I instantly scanned her entire body once again and the tab about her past conditions but nothing checked up; it was as if her body was giving up on its own

“Nothing, Jen. She has no wounds, no allergies, no sudden reaction. Her body, its slowly giving up. I’ve only heard several cases of patients whose consciousness just shut down their whole body. I, I didn’t think I would see it happen in front of me” I stuttered, my hands were now shaking

“Jaemin, I know this might sound crazy but you have to talk to her. She might be unconscious but her consciousness is alive and she could most probably hear you. You have to convince her to fight through it” Jaehyun-hyung mentioned and I was a shaking mess

Putting my tools down, I stood right beside (y/n). I grabbed one of her hands and leaned down by her ear. “Hey. I’m not sure if you can hear me but I just wanted to tell you that you shouldn’t give up. I know that we barely met but when you told me what happened to you, I felt that no one was ever able to understand you unlike I do. When you told me what my father did to your family, it made me feel obligated to take care of you. It might seem that I’m doing this to repay what my father did but honestly, I want to help you. You weren’t ever given the chance to enjoy your life” I held (y/n)’s hand with both of mine, squeezing it

“I know that I’ve told you this before but I want to say it again, I want to remind you if you feel that you want to give up. I was at that point as well. I was truly lucky to be able to have a leader and friends that helped me find a new purpose and that alone drove me to help others. You want to know what I want to be a surgeon? It’s not to only save people but I want to give them hope, to give them a second chance in their life when no one else would. I want to help them heal from their trauma just as I want to help you. So please, don’t give up just yet. Let me take care of you and give you the life you deserve. Let me be the one to heal your trauma just as my members healed mine” I rambled, hoping that whatever I said actually got to (y/n)’s consciousness

Somehow, as crazy as Jaehyun-hyung idea was, my voice somehow got through (y/n) and the monitor was suddenly stable once again. Letting out a sigh of relief, I looked at (y/n)’s calmer face and looked at Jaehyun-hyung and Jeno who both told me that I was good to continue.

Thankfully, throughout the rest of the operation, (y/n) was stable and I finished operating on her quicker than usual. Not long, we had some backup to help bring (y/n) and my father’s men back to our base.

Back at the base, everyone cleaned up but I immediately made sure that (y/n) was taken care of. I didn’t even care that I was still in my uniform and covered in dirt, scars, and blood. What matters most is that (y/n) was in a comfortable room, being treated and stable.

I even waited for Kun-hyung to confirm that (y/n) was indeed stable and that all she needed was some rest before actually being dragged out of the room and shoved into our shower room to shower by Jeno.

“You finally done?” Jeno asked as I got changed and dried my hair

“Yeah. You wouldn’t even let me leave until I actually freshen up” I grumbled, annoyed that Jeno and the others wouldn’t let me stay until (y/n) was awake

“Because you reek. You really think (y/n) would want to be next to you when you look and smell like blood, sweat, and tears?” Jeno sarcased

“How is she? Stable right?” I asked, putting my uniform to the dirty basket for laundry later

“Yeah. Kun-hyung actually mentioned that her fingers were moving a bit which means she’s going to wake up soon” Jeno mentioned as I hummed. “What are you going to do with your dad though? Taeyong-hyung practically chained him up and well, the usual. Taeyong-hyung didn’t hurt him too badly, if that’s what you’re worried” Jeno rambled

“Honestly, I’m not sure yet. I don’t want to kill him that’s for sure, I…” I replied when the door was flung open and Renjun came in panting. “She’s awake and Taeyong-hyung is with her”

Within seconds of Renjun coming to tell us that (y/n) was awake, I wasted no time in rushing to her room and seeing Taeyong-hyung beside her. “Relax. I’m not tormenting her, Jaemin. Excuse him, he sometimes look into things a bit too deeply” Taeyong-hyung mentioned and I heard a soft chuckle

When I walked to the side, I saw (y/n) sitting on the bed, her face looked brighter and fresher than hours ago. “Hey” I called out to her, offering a soft smile which she replied back

“I’ll leave you both alone now. Jaemin, when you’re done, my office, alright?” Taeyong-hyung mentioned before leaving me with (y/n) in the room

I pulled a chair and sat next to (y/n). “How are you? How are you feeling? Any parts of your body that hurt?” I asked and (y/n) softly shook her head

“I’m okay. Thank you” (y/n) stated, making me smile. “T-thank you, for saving me” (y/n) uttered out and I immediately took her hands in mine

“No, thank you, for staying strong. I’m not sure if you heard what I said to you when you were unconscious but I promise you that I’ll help you get back up. I’ll help you get the life you’ve wanted. Not because I feel obligated for what my father has done but because you deserve it and maybe because I can relate to you. Only if you allow me to help you, that is?” I rambled on and (y/n) held my hand tighter

“I’d like that. But I also want you to share your burden too” (y/n) uttered, making me smile wider, pressing my forehead onto hers. “As long as you let me take care of you and your trauma” I replied. For the first time, I felt calmer and more at peace since a long time.

NCT Prison - 12:18 am

Though I’ve been through these empty halls, I typically walk through them with my members to torment one of our prisoners. But this time, walking alone felt foreign. It reminded me of the day I left my home on my own. When there was no one to help me at all. But this time it was different. I wasn’t the same boy who ran away from his problems.

No. I decided I was finally going to put an end to it. By going in and facing the man who was both someone I used to look up to and someone that I despised.

“I’m amazed that you actually came. I thought you’d let your leader and other members do as they please with me” my father stated, locked within one of the cages of the prison

“I wouldn’t let them do that. Unlike you, father, who almost killed their own son, I would never let you get killed by my own members. As much as I despised you, you’re still my father. You said it yourself. I’m your son” I started out

“So then what? Are you going to torture me now? Your leader already has my files and most probably he’s going to release it tomorrow along with a statement that I’ve fallen and been captured. Then are you going to kill me by yourself? Is that why you’re not letting your members kill me?” my father questioned me

“I’m not going to kill you. Sure, my leader is going to open up and give a statement regarding his recent findings about you. But I told him that whatever he tells to the public will just be for the public because…I’ve already lost one parent. I don’t intend to lose another” I uttered, my father finally looking at me

“You might not be the best father but at some point, you raised me well. I know you love mom so much and you miss her just as I do but I know that mom would have never wanted us to be like this. She would have wanted both of us to be able to move on and live our lives. Not hating each other. Not chasing each other. We don’t even have to like each other or what we do but I know that mom would have wanted us to just try and get along. And that’s what I plan on doing” I ranted

“You can think that I’m weak or anything you want. But I hope that someday, you’ll be able to see me as your son who only wanted his dad. Not his father. I hope that you will be able to go back to the time when you were happy with mom but this time with me. And I hope that one day, you’ll admit your mistakes and apologise for what you’ve done. Not to me. I’ve gotten over that a long time ago. But to those who you’ve hurt and traumatised” I rambled on before slightly bowing to my father, about to leave but stopped upon hearing my father spoke

“You’re wrong, Jaemin. You’re not my son. You’re mine and your mother’s son. And whether you think that I was going to kill you that day. I wasn’t. Just like you, I was angry at what happened. And was pissed that you cowardly left me. But never did I ever think to kill you. Even now. I would have never killed the one person who reminded me of what your mother and I were like when we first fell for each other” my father finally spoke in a softer tone, making me turn to face him

“But you’re right. I was a shitty father when I should’ve been more of a dad to you. For that, I’m sorry. But I’m glad that you got more of your mother’s side. I’m glad that you grew up well. Your mom might hate me but I know for sure that she’s proud of the man you’ve become” my dad stated, actually smiling a bit which made me smile

“Thanks. I’ll um, talk to you again soon. I hope you do reflect on your mistakes. See you soon, dad” I uttered, leaving my dad, finally getting over the trauma that I’ve been holding onto for years

A/N: hopefully you guys enjoy this other long mafia fic of mine. I swear I will make a whole mini mafia series masterlist. After my 100th post which will be coming in December. I'm sorry that I've been slow on my stories and have only been posting like once a month but somehow, I ended up writing this mini mafia series which while fun, takes quite a while to write as I want them to somewhat interconnect with one another. Alright, before I go, I'm gonna give a mini sneak peek at my 100th post which will be another mafia series. Thank you all, have a great day and stay safe xoxo vinet

Sneak Peek for 100th Post

“Yo, John, doesn’t she look a bit too young to be working a a club?” Jaehyuna asked, looking over to a young girl wearing the waitress uniform, serving some drinks to old sweaty men

Johnny who was just trying to drink and enjoy his night eventually followed Jaehyun’s gaze and landed on the girl that Jaehyun was describing.

Sure, Johnny might’ve opened his own bar with Taeyong’s permission but that doesn’t mean that he allows just about anyone to work in his bar. And while he doesn’t deal with all the miscellaneous work in the bar, he surely memorises his staff and the girl Jaehyun pointed out was never in any parts of Johnny’s memory.

Instead of confronting the girl, Johnny immediately called another waiter to get the current manager and question the girl whom he learned was technically legal to work in a bar as she was 21+ and the manager mentioned that she was only a part-timer on the weekends since they needed more help.

Right when the manager was explaining to Johnny, he saw one of the old men put their hands on the girl’s bare thigh which scared the girl. Angered at the behaviour, Johnny stood up and stomped his way to the scene before the man could go any further.

“This is an exclusive bar and I make sure that all of my staff are always on their best service. But that doesn’t mean that you could just harass them like this” Johnny growled, gripping the older man’s arm tightly that the people nearby could hear a bone crack

“Especially when it’s an old man harassing a young girl” Johnny grunted, pushing the man that he fell off his chair; the other men around the table started to get up, about to put up a fight when Jaehyun came beside Johnny, shielding the girl

“I suggest you all sit your old sweaty asses down unless you want your old bones to be broken” Jaehyun taunted. “Or shall we call Taeyong? Because he’s the co-owner of this bar and I don’t think he would be pleased that his supposed business partners were in his bar, harassing a girl”

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americas1suiteheart · 6 months

Text

Heres something I've been thinking about working on for a while now and I'm finally getting to it. Heres the pilot of it, let me know if you guys want me to make it into a full series (which I might do anyways🧍‍♂️)

Here's the link on Ao3 for the series if you prefer to read on there :)

Weird Science | Pilot Chapter

[Egon Spengler x Fem Reader]

[Summary; honestly I don't know what I'm gonna do with this, I'll leave the summary to finish later.💀

[Notes; This is a fem reader and it is mentioned quite a bit, this is to make things a little easier to write but I may consider making it a gender neutral reader if enough people want it and ask. [This is also kind of a long one for a pilot chapter.]

[Warnings; Some swearing and mentions of smoking. [Also very very minor mentions of drinking.]

Part 1/? | Next Chapter>

꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶︶꒷︶︶︶︶꒦꒷꒦︶︶꒷꒦︶︶꒦︶︶︶꒦꒷

"Hey, can you hand me that soldering iron please?" I say, holding my hand out.

"Oh course Dr. L/n," Theodore says, handing me the iron carefully.

Theodore Thalmann was a freshman student majoring in Computer Engineering at Columbia University, the very University I've worked at for 7 years now.

Theodore came for an internship to work with me, wanting to learn a little more visually than just reading a book, writing down notes, and listening to some old guy talk, and frankly you couldn't really blame him for not wanting to deal with that.

Theodore was a sharp kid, not lazy like most of these kids now, and willing to learn rather than just be here for some extra credit, that's what you liked about him so much.

"Do you need anything else Dr. L/n?" Theodore asks, writing a bit more into his notebook.

Just then, a knock at the door interrupted your thoughts.

"Yes actually, can you go get that for me?" You reply, taking the protective glasses off of your face.

You get up out of your chair, taking off your black rubber gloves and placing them in their respective area. You liked things organised in your lab, it was much easier to find exactly what you needed, and it was also that you never liked a mess where there was work.

"Is Dr. L/n in here? I need to have a word with her." A voice you were far too familiar with comes from the door where Theodore was standing.

Oh god this can't be good.

"Yes she is, come on in Mr. Yeager," Theodore says, letting the man inside the lab.

"Ms. L/n, pleasure to see you again as always," The man says snarkily.

You turn around and walk towards him.

"Hello Mr. Yeager, come to complain about the music volume again? I promise I hadn't played anything today, whatever you might've heard must've been someone else,"

"No, actually, I wanted to talk to you about something more serious, do you think you can get this student to be somewhere else so its a more private conversation?" The Dean says, smiling sarcastically.

Dean Yeager wasn't exactly fond of you, hense the use of your last name rather than Dr. L/n, regardless of how hard I had worked for that title, but to be quite fair, you weren't very fond of him either, so it was more of a mutual hate. There were probably a lot of reasons why he wasn't very big on you but one of the most obvious had to be the fact that you played your music too loud whilst you worked.

"Of course sir. Um, Mr. Thalmann, would you mind stepping outside for a few moments? Me and Dean Yeager need to speak to eachother in private," You say, turning towards Theodore.

Theodore gives a nod and takes off his pair of gloves, placing them haphazardly on a nearby worktable then stepping outside of the lab, shutting the door.

"So, Ms. L/n, I wanted to inform you that you will no longer be working here at the university, I'm giving you a one month notice so that way you may pack all that you have and get out of here by then, is that understood?" Dean Yeager says, a shit eating grin on his face.

"Excuse me?" You say, after a few moments of silence.

"I said you are out of here in a month, fired, let go of, from the university, Ms. L/n," He repeats, venom laced in his voice.

"But wh-what am I supposed to do about Mr. Thalmann? I can't just tell him-" You stutter, still letting the fact you're being fired sink in.

"We will move him with Professor Dietz, someone that actually has a degree to teach, Ms. L/n". He says, cutting you off.

"But I've worked here for more than five years now, you can't just let me go. I graduated from this very University Mr. Yeager, for what reason do I deserve to be let go?" You say, anger becoming more prominent in your voice as you continue to speak.

"We are letting you go because of the constant loud music, because of the constant loss of electricity on the campus due to your failed experiments, because of your lack of actual necessity and funding of being here, Ms. L/n. We cannot continue to fund and pay you just for you to cause disruptions and only be useful to students if they are working under you as an intern. Even when you do have them, they only complain about how you do absolutely nothing in ways of teaching them, you are the issue Ms. L/n,"

The students don't think I teach them? But they've never complained.

The thought of the past interns you've had having bad thoughts about you and your ways of teaching them hurt more then being fired. Sure, you got good pay from the university and your projects were funded, but the students wanting to come in and learn more about what you just so happen to love was the reason why you were still working there in the first place. And sure you would sometimes blast music whilst showing and teaching them but they never complained.

"The students never complain though, I do my absolute best to teach them Mr. Yeager, I don't underst-"

"That is the last of this conversation, Ms. L/n! You will be out of here in one month, and you will get no more students doing internships with you from right now to the day that you are completely gone from this place! Goodbye, Doctor." Dean Yeager says, walking out of the lab, shutting the door.

After a few moments Theodore comes back into the lab, slowly and gently closing the door.

"Ah Mr. Thalmann, um there's going to be a change in plans for you with this internship unfortunately, I hope you don't mind but you'll be moved to go and work with Professor Dietz starting tomorrow, I do apologise," You say, straightening your back.

Theodore stays quiet for a minute, the air thick with awkwardness.

"What Dean Yeager said about all the other students disliking you and your teaching, I don't agree with him. I like your teaching and don't think its right of Dean Yeager to just fire you like that, Dr. L/n." Theodore says awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood of the room.

"Thank you, Mr. Thalmann, but unfortunately that still doesn't change my situation about my work here. I truly do appreciate all of your help and willingness to learn more, especially from me for these past couple of weeks. You're a great student and I'll be honest, I envy Professor Dietz for getting to teach you," You say, a slight smile on your face.

"Thank you, Dr. L/n, do you need any help cleaning up?" Theodore asks, taking the rubber gloves from the table and placing them next to yours.

"No there's no need for that at all, you're free to go early today, thank you for the help Mr. Thalmann."

"Alright, thank you again for teaching me Doctor, I hope everything else goes well for you," Theodore puts the lab coat you let him borrow folded up onto a clear table, then leaves the lab.

You sit down in your rolly chair, clearly worn out as it was bought almost 8 years ago in the late 70s. Even with its rips and threads sticking out from it, as well as the black soot stains and worn cushions, it was still comfortable and somewhat soothing. It reminded you of when you first started working here, about a year after you graduated from the university. And now that you think about it it makes you a little upset that for the past 12 years now this university is all you knew.

Sure you had your own apartment and went out for groceries sometimes, but you never had friends that you still kept in touch with, so you never really went to bars or parties. And at this point having an apartment proved useless as most of the time you would fall asleep in your lab, you would eat in the university's cafeteria, and after that you would just get back to work and drown every other sound out with music from the radio or your cassette tapes.

You get up and grab your coat, leaving the lab to go outside.

You pat your pockets and pull out the cigarette tin, hoping you hadn't run out of any, and to your relief you had just two more left. Grabbing one out of the tin and placing it lightly hanging from your mouth, then lighting it and inhaling the smoke.

You make a mental note that you'll have to go to the drugstore and buy some more.

"What the hell am I gonna do now?" You mutter to yourself, taking another drag of your cigarette.

"Y/n? Is that you?"

You turn your head to see an old friend you hadn't been in touch with since you've graduated at this university.

"Ray?"

"It is you! Oh am I glad to see you. Its been, gosh, how many years now? How have you been? What are you doing here?" Ray says excitedly, asking a million questions all at once.

"Its so great to see you too, Ray. I've been okay these past years, and I work here actually." You say, giving a light chuckle.

Well, more so like you worked here.

"You work here?"

"Yeah, I've been working here since after we graduated actually, what are you doing in terms of a job?"

"I work here too actually, I'm surprised I never seen you around here. You remember Venkman and Spengler though?" He says, taking a half used cigarette out of his pocket.

"Yeah, how can I not remember Venkman, the guy constantly harassed and flirted with me until I graduated, kinda annoying. But I dont recall ever speaking to or interacting with Spengler though."

"Well I've actually been working with them two for a couple of years now, we're working on some equipment and studies to see if ghosts and entities are actually real, parapsychology you know. It would kinda make sense for you to not remember Spengler though, he was a quiet isolated sorta guy. Mind lending me your light?" Ray rambles on, gesturing for your lighter.

You hand him the lighter, taking another drag from your cigarette yourself as he lights his.

"Oh that's neat, I honestly can't believe that I hadn't known you were here though, I would've loved to talk to you and hang out more after graduation," You say, grabbing your lighter back from Ray.

"We should go out for drinks sometime! It'd be a great way to catch up with eachother, I could bring the other guys too! Maybe all of us could ask you questions about our equipment. Given that I don't really know how to do it and all but you're the one that got a Doctoral in Computer Engineering and'll know a bit more than me, but mostly just to hang out with eachother again, like old times!" Ray says excitedly, a smile on his face.

"I'd love to go for drinks with you guys, not sure I'll be of any much use now though because I've just gotten fired by Yeager and have to move all my stuff out by a month from now, so studying and doing experiments are not something I'll get to work on for a while now," You chuckle, putting your cigarette out on the palm of your hand.

"Oh thats such a shame y/n I'm sorry that happened. It seems like Yeager has got a grudge on you too huh?" Ray says sympathetically, putting a comforting hand on your shoulder.

"Yeah but honestly I totally deserved it. Do you remember those series of blackouts throughout the campus that would happen twice a week? Those were all me and it took him 5 years to get sick of it and finally fire my ass,"

You laugh, now feeling a bit better about the loss, mostly because you get to speak with Ray again.

"I heard from some of the other professors that the cause was coming from the engineering and computer science halls, it reminded me of you in a way and it seems I was right about it!" Ray laughs, letting out a dry cough afterwards.

God, Ray has always had such bad smoking problems. I can't say all that much though because that'd be too hypocritical but that cough is starting to get worse.

You two continue talking a while longer, forgetting how long you've been out there until hearing all the ruckus from the students getting released from their classes.

"I should get going now, Peter and Egon are probably wondering where I went by now. Oh! How can I get in touch with you by the way?" Ray says, turning back around toward you.

"I'm usually over here in my lab but it seems it won't be like that much longer, but here's the number for my home telephone, call me if you need or want to plan anything and if I don't answer leave me a message for my answer box," You say, pulling out a notecard and pen from your pocket, scribbling the number down and handing it to Ray.

"Thanks Y/n, I'll remember to call you later on! Sorry about the whole getting fired thing by the way but I hope we see more of eachother. I'll talk to you later!" Ray says, taking the paper and waving goodbye as he runs off to a different area of the university.

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

Once you were back into the lab, you looked around to see what you should start packing. You didn't have much space at your apartment so you would either probably have to rent out a storage unit or call your parents to see if they could store some of it in their attic at home.

First I need to get boxes, and then a bunch of bubble wrap and foam so none of my equipment or computers break. I'll have to go and buy some from the post office.

You go and grab your keys and head back outside of your lab, locking the door before you leave. Walking to your car, you take your keys and unlock the door of it.

As you sit down and turn the key it stalls, taking a few more tries before it finally starts. I really gotta get a new car or at least get it checked out.

You start to drive to the nearest post office, and due to the horrible New York traffic it took you about 20 minutes to get to it even if it was only half a mile away. But thats what you got yourself into deciding to move to one of the most populated states in the US.

You park, grab your wallet, lock your car, and proceed into the post office.

You see the large amount of people in there, checking their post boxes, mailing out letters, and waiting to get their packages accepted to be sent out.

You walk to the area they have the boxes set up, grabbing a few medium sized ones and proceeding to the shortest line so you can purchase them. Once finally at the front, you place the flattened out boxes onto the table.

"Hello, just these and also, do you guys have the big rolls of bubble wrap?" You say to the man at the desk, who already looked far too tired.

The man nodded and pulled out a large roll of bubble wrap, placing it on top of the boxes.

"Is that all ma'am?"

You nod, taking your wallet out of your coat pocket so that way you have your money ready.

The man punches numbers into his machine, looking at each thing on the desk as he does so.

"That'll be $21.47, ma'am."

You take 22 dollars out of your wallet, handing them to the man as he takes it gingerly, placing the bills into the register and grabbing a few coins for your change and handing them and the receipt to you.

You thank the man and take the boxes and bubble wrap with you, struggling slightly at how awkward it was to hold the 10 flat boxes and bubble wrap in your arms.

You open the trunk of your car, putting the boxes and bubble wrap in, just barely fitting to where you can close the trunk door.

God this is gonna suck.

꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶︶꒷︶︶︶︶꒦꒷꒦︶︶꒷꒦︶︶꒦︶︶︶꒦꒷

I literally wrote all of this in about 7 maybe 9 hours total because I just thought up something and was like, "oh yeah, this'll be great," and thats at least what I'm hoping now. I want this to kinda be slow burn and I know that's what I always say when I do series, and I never finish them, but I am really hoping ill be able to do more with this then my other failed attempts at series [if I take longer than a month to get another chapter of this out I want you all to yell at me and tell me to finish it]

[Word count; 2,769

#egon spengler #egon spengler x reader #spengler x reader #harold ramis #ghostbusters #ghostbusters 1984 #ray stantz #peter venkman #winston zeddemore #dana barrett #janine melnitz

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ashtxeman · 2 months

Text

WHY I LIKE GLASS JOE A LOT

I promised a lot of information about why I like Glass Joe so I wrote this in an hour with no plan, no proof reading, completely improvised. If I planned this it would probably be WAY longer lol but I'll spare you all the pain of that. SO. ENJOY MY REASONING.

Glass Joe. Glass Joseph. Fragile Joey. It’s a name that’s been uttered for centuries in many different forms, given many different explanations. Critics, theorists, philosophers alike have carved away at their lives trying to solve the answer to the universe's greatest question. And that is:

Glass Joe, good why?

I can answer that, absolutely.

HEY I LOVE GLASS JOE A LOT IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW THAT ALREADY JUST GOTTA ESTABLISH THAT HAHAHA OKAY LETS GO. SHOUTOUT TO THE FUCKING RTGAME PUNCHOUT VIDEO YOU DID THIS TO ME.

POINT 1: HE IS HANDSOME.

I swear to God this man was hand-crafted by the hands of an incomprehensible deity because HOW is he this flawless. He’s 5’10, great height honestly I’m 5’3 I don’t want to be dating a skyscraper you know. He’s a skinny bastard but that’s okay, more on that later. His hair, oh my goodness gracious, lord above, help me Jesus. HIS HAIR. IS SO GOOD. If you put that skateboard ramp ass hairstyle on literally any other character they would look like a dumbass, but here, on this man alone, it’s the most delicately poised series of ginger strands I ever did see.

His hair looks SO soft. It’s unbelievable. It’s such a lovely shade of auburn with hints of burgundy. It must smell like cinnamon. He must take great care of it. A real Head and Shoulders, coconut oil, double wash kinda guy. A real bougie kinda guy. Yeah he’s not great physically in SPORT terms but in PUBLIC terms he’s absolutely stunning and stronger than anybody else. I wanna run my fingers through his silky locks so bad it’s insane and to understand this desire I’ll have to be strapped down and operated on. DONATE MY BRAIN TO SCIENCE GO AHEAD. THEY NEED IT.

Not to mention it is SO fun to draw. SO SO SO FUN. Maybe I’m just lucky it’s such a wacky and dynamic hairstyle it transfers quite well into my artstyle, but it’s so fun. It’s easy, it’s fast, it creates an absolutely iconic silhouette, I love colouring it because it’s so damn pretty and ginger/red is such a broad colour scheme that can be put into a gradient so well (i love doing gradients with hair cause i hate when its just a block of colour). Nobody could understand the sheer joy i get putting that dumbass ahoge between the bridge of his fringe and the rest of his hair. That little ‘ right at the top ITS SO FUN. i love him his hair is great.

His face. Carved like the works of the finest artest. He’s a canvas of quality that can rival Van Gogh, for god sake. He’s got the jawline of a man on a lifelong mewing streak, STOP IT HE’S SO GORGEOUS I CANT EVENNNN. He is seriously so good looking. His eyes, the little pink-tinted eyebags that show he doesn’t need sleep because he’s so hardcore on caffeine, his gorgeous big ol nose i wanna kiss so bad, his super dynamic chin i wanna kiss so bad, his face i wanna kiss so bad. I wanna kiss him so bad. He is genuinely such a beautiful man its stunning, im literally a lesbian but if they somehow brought glass joe into the real world looking exactly how he does in those GOD DAMN CUTSCENES OOOOO i’d be bisexual so fast it’s crazy. He’s just that great. He’s got that power. I love his nervous little grin and the little creases on his face, cause he’s OLD AND SENILE. He’s 38 for god sake he shouldn’t look this good and sure, you can see his age slipping in a little with the eyebags and the wrinkles but that only ADDS to how stupidly divine he is in appearance. Stop that handsome man officer!! He’s breaking the laws of BEAUTY. GIVE IT TO MEEEEE. MEEEE.

His fashion sense although odd (ive never actually seen anyone wearing red trousers) just works. It wouldnt work on anyone else but it works on HIM. this is a theme. THINGS DONT WORK ON OTHER PEOPLE BUT THEY WORK ON JOE HE’S SO COOL LIKE THAT. his turtleneck kills me its so good it highlights what little figure he has and it contrasts his red hair so well cause its a really deep blue. SIGH. i wish. I have a turtleneck thats exactly the same but let me tell you i dont even breath the same air of fashion that he breathes. He’s so far ahead of the game he’s on an entirely different runway. He is not gonna sashay away anytime soon. On a constant shante. Unstoppable.

POINT 2: HE EMBODIES HIS CULTURE WELL.

Cats out of the bag, joe is a french stereotype. But. and dont quote me here. I find it very admirable HOW he is a french stereotype. Because he kind of.. Isn’t? He uses the characteristics of that stereotype sure, but he doesn’t engage with them the same way an actual french stereotype would. He likes coffee, he likes bread, he loves France like its his child, sure. But he doesnt have a twirly moustache, he doesnt wear a beret, he doesnt galavant around in black and white mime clothing. Even if that would be funny yknow it just wouldnt be as good.

His admiration of coffee and bread is so relatable cause hell, I LIKE BREAD AND CAFES AND STUFF! He needs that coffee to keep him going you dont understand. If he misses a dose of caffeine he’ll deflate like the pyramids did in despicable me 1. He’ll be a puddle on the floor, he’ll quite literally cease to exist. Coffee is his golden idol, his hand of midas, his treasure. He has great willpower (more on that later) but coffee is that secret weapon he uses to push him just a little bit further. Plus he just thinks it tastes good and is happy to express that, you cant blame the guy for that. A good drink is a good drink. Even though i dont like coffee he’s so happy with it i respect it. He makes things i dont like respectable. Thats whats so real to me. What a goat. As for bread, bread is just great. Baguettes are yum. All the french bread i know about is usually close to white bread and autism behold thats like the only bread i can bear to eat so its alright with me man. You can go to joes house and he will have one of those fancy bread cupboards. He’ll pull out baguettes like he’s at a renaissance fair and they have a sword shortage. He’s on the case. You will NOT leave his house on an empty stomach. Like a very caring grandma, he will get you fed with the most immaculate 5 star meal you ever did eat. French food is great and theres no doubt about that, thats why he loves FOOD. I TRUST HIM. HE KNOWS WHATS GOOD. if mr glass joe turned around to me and said ‘broken glass is good food’ you bet your ass id be smashing windows and munch munch crunching all day long.

Maybe his admiration of his country is a little over the top to some. You know the french landmarks in the back of his cutscenes, the ‘vive le france’ and singing the national anthem. But no. i dont think its excessive, i think its passionate. This is undeniably a man that is SO passionate about his culture and the lifestyle he’s grown up around, he’s not afraid to express it to other people until they cant stand it anymore. He’ll take as many hits as he needs to in the name of france. He is an embodiment of everything endearing about being foreign, honestly. An extreme love for the things his country has: food, landmarks, fashion, language, culture. EVERYTHING IS ON HIS LIST. NOTHING IS LEFT OUT. HE LOVES FRANCE AND I LOVE HIM. YES SIR!! VIVE LE FRANCE!! YES!!!

Also he single-handedly convinced me to start learning french. I seriously didnt care about it before but after i started to like him more and really get into punchout i downloaded duolingo and i still have a streak going AND im actually convinced to try hard in my french lessons and exams because yknow.. I want this fictional french guy to be proud of me. :]

POINT 3: HE IS DETERMINED.

OHHHHHH BOY. okay right im gonna get inspirational here. Play some dramatic orchestral music or something.

The thing about Glass Joe is that he never. Gives up. Never. There is nothing in the world you could do to this man that could possibly stop him from boxing. They call Kaiser a fighting machine but boy have they not seen Joe. once that man stepped into the ring for the first time, he’d found a second home, and i think thats evident. 100 times this man has fallen down, brushed it off and gotten right back up. He’s had hardships, ups, downs, tumbles, falls. But everytime, no matter what, he’s back on his feet and ready to try again. And there is something so admirable and inspirational about that kind of approach being written into a CHARACTER THAT IS MEANT TO BE A FRENCH STEREOTYPE. ‘GHHHH FRENCH PEOPLE ALWAYS SURRENDER ACSHUALLY’ SHUT UP!! NOT THIS ONE!! I like to think Joe’s motto is ‘never surrender’. Yes he’s a little self aware how ironic it is thats hes french and doing all this but shhh. He knows whats hes doing and he’s happy to do it. Because like ive said again and again, theres nothing that can stop him. 100 kos, 200 kos, 300, 400… you keep cranking that number up and he’ll keep cranking the punches. Keep those lights up, keep those gloves on, you knock Joe down and eventually, no matter how long it takes, he’s back for more.

Now dont misinterpret that, he’s not a masochist like aran ryan, no sir-ee. He doesnt enjoy losing, nobody does. But the thing is he pushes past that disappointment and those hardships because he knows that eventually, if he keeps on going, things are going to change. He knows that if he lays down the gloves and walks away, there’s no possibility of succeeding. You could drop Joe off on the other side of the world and just like that immortal snail, he’s gonna find a way back. Even if it takes forever. Cause he is weak but determined, he isn’t threatening but relentless, he is stoppable but unstoppable. Glass joe has the strongest will out of any character i know. Cause if any of my other favourites went through 100 whopping losses like he did, they’d retire on a tropical island and never interact with the world again. But not joe. Never joe. My king.

POINT 4: HE IS ENDEARING.

THIS GUY IS SO DAMN CHARMING IT MAKES ME WANT TO EXPLODE INTO CONFETTI AND GLITTER AGHHHHH.

Come on. How can you look at his smile, his lovely little, subtle smile with those shy old eyes, and not immediately fall in love with him. He’s got some many little subtle things. Like the way his pupils dart around or his little sway back and forth when he’s knocked out or the way he bounds back and forth on his legs like an old-timey guy about to have a squabble. The way his mouth goes :0 so very subtly when he’s breathing. The way he always looks either shocked beyond repair, completely zooted or very confused. It’s all so perfect. IT’S ALL THESE THINGS THEY MAKE HIM BRILLIANT.

Im seriously looking for scraps here but i love finding meaning in otherwise meaningless things. I love analysing every detail until there is literally nothing else i could possibly say about it. He is perfect for this.

His fucking VOICE. OHHH MY GOD. it was so damn funny the very first time i heard his voice, because honestly it feels deliberate how they put his humble cutscenes before his first bit of dialogue so you expect this soft-spoken kinda light-voiced french guy only to be greeted with CHRISTIAN BERNARD’S DEEP ASS VOICE. OHHH KILL ME HE SOUNDS SO HANDSOME I WANNA SINK INTO THE FLOOR AND CRY WITH JOY. i wouldnt even mind if he was a soft-spoken light-voiced french guy but they really had to amp it up a little and give this lowly frenchman the most eloquent unnecessarily deep and silky voice ever. HE DIDNT NEED THAT. BUT THANK YOU FOR GIVING HIM THAT NINTENDO CAUSE ITS ONE OF HIS GREATEST QUALITIES. Plus french is just a really fun language to listen to. I could honestly sit listening to joe’s voicelines on repeat for hours on end and be fine with it. They’re so good. He’s so beautiful sounding. Its absolutely hilarious considering his voice in comparison to appearance. COME ON!!! AAHAHHGGHGHGHGHGHGHGHAGHGHS I LOVE CHRISTIAN BERNARDS VOICE I WISH I COULD HEAR HIM SPEAK IN ENGLISH. I NEED MORE OF HIS VOICE. AGGGGGHHHHH.

POINT 5: WHATEVER ELSE

I erm i erm i just wanna say i love joe so much. The way he’s constructed, appearance, personality, physicality, dialogue, culture inspiration, story. EVERYTHING about him is just so cool and fun to think about and in my head it all weaves perfectly together to create the best character in all of fiction. It has now been over 2 unapologetic years of me yapping on about this guy. Whether it be his canon self and the things he does or the fanon version of him thats ive sourced from other peoples awesome HC’s or forged from my own lore. Any excuse i get, i talk about joe. Because it is so utterly fun. Yeah, he’s not the only boxer i love!!! Not at all!! I have several other favourites persay, but on the punch-out tier list joe is so good he has his own category thats about 4 ranks higher than what S rank is. And that is deserved.

He loves his culture, he never gives up, he’s arguably a weakling and an absolute screwup but he never lets that get in his way because of her persistent he is, he’s gorgeous, he’s cool, he’d be a great friend, dad, boyfriend, husband, EVERYTHING. He’s got a weird hairstyle and weird fashion sense but somehow he looks great with it. He beat NICK BRUISER CANONICALLY?!?! He’s french, he’s ginger, which in a joking sense makes him the worst but against all odds he is the best. The french are lucky to be represented by him because he’s so utterly and unapologetically awesome and cool and fun and nice and inspiring and all that jazz. There is not a single thing that could stray me away from the path of Joe. my lore for him is SO deep. My admiration for him is INFINITE. Ive read through his wiki a pagillion times. Ive beaten him over 80 times in-game simple because i like seeing him so much and.

Well. i have entire shrine dedicated to him. let me know if you wanna see that....

#punch out wii #punch out #glass joe

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illarian-rambling · 2 months

Text

Thanks for the tag @dyrewrites!

Oc in 15

For my final Outcast of Honor, we've got Twenari Undetasib (or Crowborn or Devaris)! She's a capital G Gifted Kid who spent most of her childhood doing magic for her brutal smuggler mother. In the first book, she's twelve. After the time skip for two and three, she's sixteen. But she's always had the soul of a forty-five year old tenured professor. She also serves as the straightman of this series' four man comedy routine, so her dialog isn't quite as funny on its own as it is with the other's. This'll all be dialog from the 3rd book

"Azhur, I'm sorry it ended up like this. You... you've known me for three days. That's hardly enough time to know somebody, let alone a daughter. Yet, you risked everything for me. I... I wish I knew why. You're a powerful sorcerer, with enough money to buy the moon out of the sky. You don't need me. Getting involved in my struggles was a terrible investment---you gain nothing, but have the chance to lose everything. I suppose the only explanation is that... that you really do...."

"She also says that if you die, she'll find a way to haunt your ghost. But it shouldn't come to that. Once you're up, you can go to her and she can haunt you all she likes in the living world."

"We mortals might preserve if we work together. After all, enough ants can kill a lion."

"Something to do with gravitational runes and the density of air. It's brilliant; they combine the magical with the mechanical and get a miracle. Gods, if I could just get a peek inside one of those fans...."

"I can scan for key terms. Two can read faster than one, even if one doesn't know the science. Please, I promise I can be of use."

"Rich people love souvenirs. I'll bet one of my kinsmen has something that can get us nearby, at least."

"According to my second cousin Omari, who, keep in mind, is nine years old, we're a few miles out from Kityra Village."

"I have water, I have organic material; I can make soup."

"I'd never realized the full breadth of an infallible memory. There must be something about the mortal mind that allows it to block out such a horrific process. I'd make sense, as adaptation against madness. If robots don't have that, then, Bi'em, your contributions to teleportation magic as a whole could be incredible!"

"Delays are dangerous. We keep going."

"I tortured people for my mother. Does that count as experience?"

"I don't want to speak with her. I don't even want to see her if I can avoid it. Is that cowardly of me? She stole my childhood away, shouldn't I have something to say to her?"

"...no. I'll catch you up on Janazi literature motifs later. No, when the heros are against the wall and the dragon is closing in, they go to find another dragon. And I've got one in mind."

"Spirit of the desert! I gave you the luxury of a discussion last time, but you have worn my patience thin. You have no choice in the matter; you will apportion a piece of your power to me and I will leave with it. Give it willingly and I will not have to resort to force!"

"Leave her to her estate. Leave her to her schemes and her gold. Leave her to all those empty things and she'll hollow herself out in time. She doesn't have enough of a heart for vengeance."

I'll tag @moonandris @mitzymossy33 @revenantlore and @goldxdarkness!

Have a bitchin day <3

#writing #writerscommunity #writblr #my ocs

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professor-amaryllis · 1 month

Note

Pelipper mail! A sweet looking pelipper shows up, wearing a lei and carefully holding a drink.

You've received a Rawst Berry Slicker! This feline-safe drink combines Valerian root, blended rawst berries, and just a touch of fish oil. A note is attached;

"Howdy there, professor! Big fan of your old show, you capture a lot of the joy in it. Real happy to see you're still out here, plugging away at it. Try and make it down to Margaritaville if ever you need a break 😉 And hey, if you want to relax this drink is a great way to do it (I promise ya can't taste the fish oil). Careful though, I had some over in Galar and the local Perrserker population went nuts for it! Turns out Valerian root may be calming for humans, but it's a real fun time sorta ingredient for feline pokemon. Thought you might enjoy a drink with a little fun science fact!"

There is also a drawing of a smiling sun, and the initials "J.B."

-@poke-jimmy-butchett

:{ A Video file is embedded. Goldenrod Ecological Society, Johto. 3/31/24 2:37 pm. This transcription translated from Johtonian to Unovan using Poryphone™ translation technology!! }:

The spring air outside the Starubucks where we find ourselves is warm and the sun shines bright down on the professor as we see them seated at a small green-metal table, a laptop out in front of them and about five large near empty coffee cups scattered around. It's easy to see they're a staple here as we watch other regulars that walk by greeting the professor as they work, and even an employee poking their head out and asking if the professor needs another coffee yet- to which the professor picks up their most recent cup (still about a third full) before politely declining and thanking them.

We see the reaction before we see what causes it. There's a sound like the moving of a great quantity of air and a shadow cast over the table as a fear shows in the professor's eyes. They try to scramble backwards, but unfortunately the large arbok that had been wrapped around them sunning happily causes them to simply fall back off of the bench as a large white feathered pokemon lands on the table in front of them.

The pelipper doesn't stay for more than a few moments, maybe sensing the... discomfort coming from the man(?) in front if it and the sleepy confused gaze of the waking arbok. When it alights again there is a fancy looking blue drink sitting on the table, and a note pinned underneath. It takes just a few moments for Amy to sit back up (checking to make sure the bird was gone, perhaps?), shaking their head and mumbling something under their breath.

It takes them just a moment to read through the note, irritation turning to surprise, a few light laughs under their breath. They sniff the drink, maybe testing that 'cant taste it' theory, before drinking a bit. They seem pleased with it!! The video continues for a few minutes, Amy working quietly and enjoying their drink before something happens..

To no one's surprise but Amy's, a perrserker actually does show up! The unusual feline hops up on the bench across from Amy, swiping their drink right off the table and downing a good portion of what was left.

"What? You shouldn't be here, should you? Who do you belong to?"

There's hardly time to respond, really, before a distressed looking ten year old comes running around the corner, wheezing slightly and trying not to loose his glasses as he then runs directly into the pokemon, bouncing back and falling backwards. He's already scolding the cat pokemon before he even gets completely back up to his feet, voice shaky with exertion.

"I told you you can't just run off like that! If mom knew that you would doing this she would never let me keep you! It was already hard enough to convince her to let me trade with-" It's at this moment that the kid see's Amy at the other side of the table, his voice catching and immediately hiding behind the completely unbothered perrserker. "Why is professor wild days here?" he almost hisses at the pokemon which just looks confused between them.

"Working, mostly." The professor can't help but laugh a little at the extreme reaction, for the first time in awhile looking half alive rather than half dead. "I don't bite you know, I promise." It takes a moment but the kid does finally come out from behind his pokemon, managing a stammered greeting that the professor returns. "Having some trouble with your partner?"

"Oh, uh, yeah- its fine i mean its not that bad I'm sure it will be fine i mean what could-"

"Take a breath," Amy laughs lightly, "Maybe I could give you a few tips on training traded pokemon, while I'm here. I have quite a few myself, it's a lot different than one you raised or caught yourself."

Despite the nerves the kid seems to light up, scrambling onto the bench next to his pokemon. "You would do that? Please please I really want to be able to keep him my friend went all the way to Galar and caught him for me and i-"

"Deep breath, kid. start again, slower this time maybe..."

:{ Transcription Ends. }:

#:{this post brought to you by poryphone™}:#ask #lore #pokemon irl #pokeblogging #pkmn irl

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tunastime · 2 years

Text

Night Swims (You're my Favorite Ghost)

Summary:

Etho is haunted by ghosts. Etho writes a letter to an old friend. Etho suffers from narcolepsy. Etho rebuilds a life that isn't lived.

His house is an empty cardboard box with glass windows.

To celebrate 50 (edit: 60 time of writing!) followers, I have come to offer you this ethubs, on tumblr first, before it ever hits ao3. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for enjoying my work <3

(4746 words)

The world isn't flat, but it's empty. It's cold in the dark, with a pinprick sky of stars above, like a sheet full of holes. It's one he thinks he's seen, before, a long time ago, somewhere were the world would gladly chew at his ankles and taste the blood his hands spill. That's not really him.

This is a place he’s built. Not like Hermitcraft, with an ever evolving landscape that he can’t see to keep up with no matter how fast he works. A place that waits for him. He thinks some people would tack on the word ‘home world’, Etho doesn’t really have a home. Or if he does, this isn't it. It’s planets away, without any frills, without any fancy additions, without things to explore. It’s just a place he’s let grow. Built and let grow and let become hollow in the places he no longer visits.

This world is newer than that, much so, warm and bright and just a touch dangerous, all for him to explore. It’s a chance to start feeling like a person again, before he gets back to old life, old traditions.

Etho swallows, breathing out a shallow sigh as he leans against the banister. There's a pull in his low back and a low thrum in his knees as he shifts, squinting out into the dark.

It's empty and quiet, the only person in many many chunks is his living, breathing, heart beating self. Him and the pillagers. The dark swirls in front of him like a tangible curtain, as if he could reach out and pull it back to reveal something blinking back at him. The world feels too empty. He thinks he sees eyes in the dark.

Etho pulls his coat around him, frowning, sighing again into the night.

Big plans for tomorrow.

He pulls away from the banister, hands skating over the cold wood and into the warm orange frame of his home. Shrugging off his coat and shoes, Etho leaves them in the doorway, brushing the back of his neck like it could rid him of the feeling of being seen. There's no mask here. No point. He chews the inside of his cheek, leaving the foyer for the kitchen. He stares into the cold shell of the fireplace for a minute longer than he should before he lights it.

Those eyes felt familiar.

He watches Bdubs die.

That isn't how the dream usually goes, but sometimes he's blessed enough to relive his last moments. Bdubs told him one time that those servers have a few different curses. They were walking a long stretch of path, Etho too busy watching the back of Bdubs' head to focus on where they're going or why it matters. He holds to the words like a lifeline. He's holding Bdubs' hand, too, running his thumb over the back of his calloused hand, feeling out the bones right under his skin, hanging himself up on the ridges of his knuckles.

"It's a...remember how Jimmy died last time and the whole group descended into chaos?" he asks, grinning back at him like he isn't speaking curses aloud. Etho nods. "It's his curse. He's like a harbinger. If he dies, so does everyone else."

"Hm," Etho muses. Bdubs snorts, the lopsided smile still on his face. Etho drinks in the sight of him for as long as he can, a fraction of a second.

"You don't believe me," Bdubs says, plain like he knows it. "Science man. Man of science." (Which he says like it leaves a sour taste in his mouth. It might).

"No, I do," Etho pedals, startling. "Promise."

"Let's hope nothing like that happens this time, eh?"

Bdubs guides him up and out of the tunnel. He doesn't shake his hand free. Oh, right, Etho remembers. Mining. A mineshaft. The heavy weight of iron in his pockets. He looks up into the sky like the trees aren't blocking the stars and points to the ones he can see.

Bdubs tugs him a bit closer, and he leans in, letting Bdubs curl his arm around his. He thinks he can feel Bdubs' heart thudding in his palm. Quick, fluttering, and deeply off putting.

He remembers Bdubs killing Grian.

He remembers Grian killing Bdubs.

He dies on impact. That's what an arrow through the chest'll do. Quick and easy. He hopes it was quick and easy. He came back for the cloak later, his body looted of few other precious items.

In the dream (he doesn't remember if he does this), Etho sinks to his knees before the shape that was him. He drops down, knees in the muck, hands in his lap, and gathers his belongings. His body is gone. The impression of him sits in the grass, a shape Etho traces with his fingers. His hands tremble, just enough to make him stop, just enough for them to lift his coat in his hands and bundle it between them. He lets it sit in his lap. The rest here is redstone dust, rocks, a shattered iron sword. Half crushed in the earth is a broken redstone clock. He lifts it slow, watching for shards of glass from the shattered clock face. He wipes the grime out with his fingers, snapping the hands back in place. It clicks weakly, counting out the ticks that pass. The chain is still in one piece. It clips to his belt loop with a little gold clasp.

Finally, Etho pulls the cloak to his chest. He swallows like he’s eaten something rotten, forcing down a rising bile in his throat. He keels over, holding the fabric fast to him. He folds in on himself. His hands curl in the coat. In his chest is a sound as empty as the promises he made, foreign and unknown to him. His shoulders shake. His chest hurts impossibly, aching and seizing.

In the dream, Etho cries.

He wakes up with a weight to his limbs, like he’s been tucked into the sheets too tight. He blinks to clear his vision, blurred with sleep, turning his head to look groggily into the rest of the room. A blue-grey light filters in through the curtains, cool and quiet. He sighs, shutting his eyes again, feeling them burn.

Something brushes his cheek. He opens his eyes, a breath caught in his throat.

Oh.

He meets a pair of eyes he knows, a soft gaze, glazed over. He smiles absently, shutting his eyes again.

“Bdubs.”

“Etho.”

Etho swallows like it’s a choking hazard. Bdubs rubs his cheek.

“What happened out there?”

“What do you mean, Bdubs?”

“You let me die, Etho.”

Etho winces. “I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“Will you come to bed?” Etho asks. The question feels too soft for his mouth. He misses the shape of him next to him, even just to know he’s there.

“Maybe,” Bdubs says gently. “Go back to sleep, will you?”

Etho wakes up.

He sits straight up in bed.

The shape of Bdubs is nowhere to be found, and moonlight curls in through the window.

Etho likes routine. It was something he realized when he first started working with Bdubs, something he had the privilege of keeping with Iskall. A pattern to give him something to look forward to. That pattern all but broke not even two months prior—messily, devolved into sleeplessness and hunger, further still into bloodlust and insomnia. He’d always been someone who struggled to sleep on schedule, someone to remember to eat, someone who actually took a break. Routine provided structure that deathgames took away. The first one he handled—it was over and done relatively painlessly. The second was different. It changed too much. It broke routine. It broke the pattern. It broke him, if he was being frank and honest with himself. Routine couldn’t be established in chaos.

So instead of letting himself be dragged back into HC8, he packed a bag, and he left.

He had to establish a routine. Sleep, eat, plan, build, nap, eat, build, eat, sleep. Right. With no left over time for thinking too hard. With no left over time to mourn. Right.

Etho pulls his sunhat low over his eyes. He wipes his face on the back of his hand, streaking dirt over his forehead. He stands for a moment, leaning on the shovel in his hand. The shell of a house sits in front of him. He scans along the tanned exterior, eyes searching the paper frames for windows. The shingles for the roof are finished, at least, but a dark interior winks at him from the open windows. The sun on him strikes a prickly heat up his arms as he stands lopsided, admiring his work with blistered fingers.

Etho makes a list in his head. The roof was done now, so it was on to windows, exterior decorating, then making his plan of what the house was actually for. He trails around the side of the house, leaving his shovel by the front step. It needs flowers—lily of the valley, quaker lady, daisy—something to bring life back in it.

Back in it? he frowns. To it. Back to it.

He kneels by one of the crates he’s brought out, digging for any seeds.

“Isn’t it lonely? Building for no one?”

Etho startles, turning to face Bdubs’ voice behind him. Bdubs’ coat blows in the wind, sending a few white flowers scattering behind him. Etho swallows as he watches the shape of Bdubs’ face. He looks bad, the bruise over his eye still dark purple, fading green. His eyebrows are pulled together in a concerned curiosity as he watches Etho.

“I’m building for me,” Etho says with a hint of amusement, smiling to himself. He catches Bdubs smiling back at him as he turns back to the shulker, rooting around inside. Bdubs snorts, moving to the window to look inside.

“Are you?” he asks, looking down at him. “Your interiors so far look mighty curated.”

Etho squints.

“Do you even know what curated means?”

“Sure I do!” Bdubs huffs. Etho resists a laugh and shakes his head.

“Sure, Bdubs...”

Bdubs crosses his arms, huffing again. He looks a bit like a frightened cat, all bristled up like that.

“You’re arguing with me? King of interiors?” he says, all bark and no bite. Etho laughs then, sitting back on his haunches, gazing up at him. He grins, wide and toothy.

“Sure am.”

Bdubs rolls his eyes. They look at each other for a long moment, until Etho feels his internal organs start to constrict in on themselves. Bdubs sinks down beside him, slow and calculated, like he thinks Etho might run off the second he moves too fast. Etho tracks him as he moves, wide eyed. Bdubs reaches out to him. Etho realizes he’s holding his breath when Bdubs takes his face in one hand, slotting his jaw into his palm. He thumbs a hesitant line over the jagged scar that splits Etho’s lip, the one that cuts through his eye. Bdubs smiles, an expression that lingers somewhere between hopeful and sad. His hand is soft. His hand is warm.

Etho comes to, leaning on the shulker box beside him. He blinks groggily. The sun catching inside the house makes an eerie shadow figure as he squints through it, rising to a stand. He’d fallen asleep with the seeds still in his hand, the bulbs of the lilies clutched between his fingers.

It’s still daylight. He must’ve passed out. The back of his throat feels dry.

Aside from a now surmountable wave of nausea (he holds fast to the outside wall, waiting for it to pass lest he waste his lunch), he feels fine. Dehydrated, maybe, but otherwise okay. He sinks down on the steps of the house in the shade, and takes a long drink of water. He pushes his hat over his shoulder. The tie catches around his neck.

Etho tips his head back resting it against the cool wood of the doorframe, staring off into the woods. The wind buffers the grass and the trees, shuffling in a white noise that harmonizes with the cicadas in the midday sun. It won’t be like this for much longer, he thinks. It’ll be cool and the oak’ll turn orange and red and yellow. And maybe by then he’ll feel well enough to go back. Etho sighs. He takes another drink.

In his mind, he tries to picture the shape of the house, and what could be in it. Maybe a spare room, full of flowering plants and a place to nap. Something warm, with a kotatsu, with too many pillows. It would be a good place to work in the winter, when he came back here, if he stayed. It shouldn’t be a total greenhouse—he’d have to knock out a wall for that, replace it with panels of glass for the sun to come in. But something like that—green and warm and soft.

He smiles absently at the thought as he rises to a stand, head no longer spinning. Maybe it was dehydration, then.

“I’ll take it slow, just for the rest of today,” he says to the air, to his horse, Maple, in the stable thirty feet away. His voice feels thick and far away. Maple snorts, and Etho picks up his shovel.

He spends a long while tilling up the earth near the stairs, pushing it around until it’s all dark earth in the little square that he’s mapped out on the ground with bits of string. Drink more water, he tells himself. He doesn’t want to pass out again (not that he wanted to the first time—he’ll never let it down if he tells anyone he passed out from overworking himself). A stone still sits heavy in Etho’s stomach, something the water can’t dissolve as he leans over to take a drink and stick the shovel into the ground beside him.

Bdubs was here, in that dream. Bdubs hadn’t touched him like that in a long time.

Etho sinks to his knees. He wants him here. He wants to be able to drag his hands up the column of his spine and to bury his face in his hair. He wants to take in the smell of soil and sun and cut grass, sink into him, crawl into his arms and make a homestead in his ribs. But he can't. He keeps planting the bulbs until the dirt cakes his fingers. He's alone, and he's building a house for no one.

The next day is a familiar rhythm. Etho gets up when the sun is in the middle of the eastern sky, high above the treeline. He packs a bag, brings an extra canteen of water, an extra serving of rice cakes and packaged vegetables to keep him going. Pickaxe, bow, shovel. It’s traveling day again. Etho wraps the waxed map he’s set on the table and slots it against the rest of his belongings, snug in the backpack he slings over one shoulder.

The goal is another village. More books, more trading, the satchel full of emerald tied to his bag is a heavy weight. Maybe he’ll hop through his nether portal if he’s feeling up to it. Tightening the backpack straps over the notches in his chestplate, Etho pulls on his boots and steps into the sunlight.

Maple is already sniffing at him as he approaches, nosing against his outstretched hands. He snorts as he pets his head, moving around to throw the blanket over his back and hook the saddle around with a surprising amount of difficulty. Saddling him is easy enough, spurring him through the fence gate and into a meandering pace.

He blinks out the sleep from his eyes, and in between the time his eyes close and his eyes open, he must teleport. He’s in the woods, with his house far behind him, and his horse is still wandering along, snuffing at the ground. He’s let go of the reins (which he takes up again), but otherwise, a chunk of time has passed without his knowledge. His vision is clear, unlike last time, and he doesn’t hurt—nothing sways or twists, his stomach is in perfect order. He feels alert.

Etho digs his heels into Maple’s side and they pick up the pace through the woods.

It happens again after he dismounts.

There’s a village—thank god, because his back is starting to ache from sitting upright for so long. He spurs his horse forward, feeling a tug on his stomach as the wind and the movement catches him. He grins, and the elation spreads, and it grows.

His vision blurs suddenly. He drops the reins, leaning hard against Maple’s neck before he’s able to prop himself up on the high of the saddle. The change in weight slows him, thankfully, because Etho’s head starts to spin a bit as he sits upright. He lowers himself back down. Maple pauses in the field right outside the village. He can hear the voices of the villagers ahead, a language he doesn’t yet speak. After another moment, his vision clears and he regains his strength.

He trades his emeralds for two books, and smiles with his eyes at the bookkeep who hands them over.

He’s quiet the rest of the journey, and tense, but he doesn’t fall asleep again.

He remembers a conversation he had with Doc, months ago (how many months had it been since he’d seen Doc? A letter. He should send him a letter). The man was no doctor of medicine, and likely not a doctor in anything, and if he had a degree on his wall, it was surely fake. But, Etho remembers a conversation about Pearl, of all people.

“Etho,” he said, looking up at him, wiping redstone dust from his hands. “You still with me, huh?”

Etho had let his eyes close, only to blink them open at Doc’s request. Had he been napping?

“Mm? Yeah, what do you need?”

Doc shakes his head.

“Nothing, you were just standing there with your eyes closed. I was worried you might fall into the machine.”

Etho steps back a bit, removing his hands from inside, where he’d been rewiring a portion. He wipes his hands on his pants, looking over at Doc.

“Oh, no, I’m okay,” he shakes his head, “I get a little sleepy sometimes. A lot of the time, actually.”

“Hmm...during the day?”

Etho shrugs.

“Yeah. Guess that’s what I get for sleeping from midnight to midday, eh?”

Doc hums, looking away for a second. He unfolds the corner of the blueprint they’re working on, fussing with the edge. His brow furrows, just enough for Etho to notice.

“Do you know Pearl?” he asks absently. Etho folds his arms.

“Um, yeah, I know of Pearl. Sort of know her.”

“You should talk to her about that.”

“Oh?” Etho hums. “Why’s that?”

“She falls asleep, too. It’s excessive sleepiness.”

“Hm?”

Doc looks up, as if he’s expecting Etho to be snoozing again. Etho looks back at him, a frown still between his own eyebrows.

“Excessive sleepiness. Sleepy for no reason.”

“Oh...” Etho’s face softens a fraction. “Not just being lazy?”

Doc shakes his head, hands on his hips.

“No! Not at all, dude.”

“Hm,” Etho nods. He feels a trickle of relief bubble up in his chest. Maybe. “Maybe I will.”

Etho kicks himself mentally. Things fall into place a little better.

Unsaddling his horse, Etho collects his books, hefting his bag over his shoulder. He sets everything inside the front door before tracking back out to feed the horse and knock the mud from his boots. He looks over as Maple chews on strands of hay, almost thoughtful. He hums, worrying the inside of his cheek.

“Maybe some tea’ll help, what do you think?”

His horse snorts. He takes that as a yes.

“If you really loved me, you would’ve given me a life.”

It’s been about a week since he saw Bdubs—the shape of him, really. He isn’t sure what to call it. Calling it a hallucination feels a bit misguided, though. Visions wasn’t right. Ghosts...no.

In any case, he feels his head spin a bit, and tries to ground himself on the banister to keep from falling over. He hopes it works.

Etho sniffs. He isn’t looking at Bdubs face right now. It looks a little blurry and makes his head rush to look at.

“That’s not a very nice thing to say.”

Bdubs hums. Etho sees him from the corner of his eye, leaning against the banister.

“It’s true, isn’t it?”

“I don’t think so,” Etho shakes his head. He looks into his hands, picking at a chip in his nail. “I still loved you. Still love you.”

“Sure.” Bdubs doesn’t sound truly convinced, but he says it in a gentle voice that Etho’s only heard when Bdubs is making sure he’s okay when he hurts himself, a voice he heard a lot in the death game. But it doesn’t bite any less. Etho sighs.

“Why are you here, Bdubs?” he says, finally turning to him. “When there’s a perfectly good version of you asleep somewhere, alive.”

“Because you’re dreaming about apologizing to me, your brain’s stuck on hallucinating me,” Bdubs says, furrowing his brow. “Because you feel bad.”

“I don’t...I don’t think I feel bad.”

The shape of Bdubs’ face finally comes into view, the one he knows from outside the games, unbruised and awake.

“You sure?”

Etho feels his body fall, like something’s been pulled from under him.

When Etho wakes up, he's lying on his back on the porch. The tatami mat is scratchy underneath his hands. His mouth feels dry, like it's full of crackers. He stares into the rafters, picking at the fibers of the rush grass with his nail, peeling it apart from itself.

Huh. Whoops.

He sits up, real slow, the inside of his head spinning like water in a snowglobe. He shuts his eyes. His teeth ache, a growing throbbing pain spreading from the palette of his mouth up his cheeks, like his sinuses are stuffed up. He must’ve fallen hard. He breathes in.

When he looks around, his vision clearing and head settling, he’s completely alone again. No ghosts. No shadows. The horizon in front of him, partially mottled by the treeline, is silent and dark, shot through by long rays of sun.

It’s just him, and a horizon unafraid to swallow him whole.

He scrambles up at that point, unwilling to stare into the darkened trees any longer. His heart beats away in his chest, stifling any noise besides the thumping in his ears. He still feels woozy, shuffling over to the door and pulling himself inside. The warmth of the house welcomes him in. He presses his back to the door. His knees buckle, and he lets himself sink to the ground, sitting in a heap on the floor. His head begins to settle after a moment of holding it still, the door cool behind him.

Maybe Doc was right. It had been a while since he’d felt anything like this, but his time in the death game meant short nights and memories that didn’t quite fit together and oh...shit. Maybe it had been happening. Maybe he should’ve taken it into account. Maybe he shouldn’t have gone. Maybe—anyway.

The thing was, there was no point to mourning. Which is what he knew to be the ache in his chest, the spinning in his head. There was no point to the grief left in his ribcage. He knows that. He said it himself, Bdubs never died. He wasn’t dead. The warm shape of his hands could easily be found. The bright look of his eyes wasn’t so far as to never be seen again. Bdubs was tangible. He wasn’t a memory.

Was he mourning Bdubs, a frame he could most certainly hold if he overcame cowardice, or was he mourning his failure? That he failed to save him when it mattered? That he let him down. No. No. He didn’t.

He can’t keep doing this.

It takes him a second to get his bearings. If he puts it down, he’ll at least have an account. If he puts it down, at least he can take it off his mind. He searches the cabinet for a long moment, staring into the drawers until he shuffles out a stack of pages and an inkwell and a pen. He gathers them up, pacing over to the table. There, he lays out his materials.

He sits down at the table with an ink pen and a page of paper. It’s curling at the edge, a side effect of coming right from the dryer. The words don’t come at first. A letter to no one. A house for no one. Etho taps the pen against his fingers, willing any words to come from it. The words he writes aren’t a real apology, but they come close.

Bdubs,

I think I have narcolepsy.

I keep having these intervals where I can’t remember anything I’ve done. Everything’s a bit too fuzzy to understand or the time doesn’t make any sense. I have these midday dreams where I see people I don’t think should be here, and I wake up somewhere I wasn’t before. Or I wake up just where I was, fallen over. I woke up next to a crate the other day, and the seeds I was planting were still in my hand.

Another time, I was riding my horse and I completely blacked out for half the trip. I woke up, and I was somewhere I’d never seen. I was lucky the horse stopped, otherwise I might’ve gone on forever.

I’m worried I keep seeing things. You’re not visiting, are you?

No, forget that. It can’t be anything other than my imagination. I don’t think you could. I don’t think I’ve ever told you where this place is.

Anyway. I keep seeing you. I’m just writing to tell you I keep seeing you, and that I’m sorry for the things that happened. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. I kept it. I kept your clock. I kept the cloak you wore even after it got all icky and stained. I tried to win it for you. It was for you.

I don’t know how to tell you that everything I did was for you, but it was.

I’m sorry it ended up that way.

If I send this letter can you not tell me about it? Don’t write me back. I just wanted to say I was sorry, so that maybe I won’t be so sad about it that I fall asleep and I see your ghost. I think next time I see you I might pinch myself.

I guess out of all the ghost’s I’ve seen (not many, ghosts aren’t real) you’re my favorite.

I’ll be home soon.

I promise.

Etho.

He finishes the house a day later. As he’s pulling the mattress in, stuffing the corner full of pillows, lining the shelves with little plants and green things, he sticks a hook in the wall, near the sitting mats and pillows. There, he hangs a clock, on a little gold chain, and smiles as it ticks in rhythm akin to his own heartbeat.

Maybe he wasn’t building a house for no one.

(And back on a planet with a moon too big, a moon threatening to crush the surface, Bdubs gets a letter. He folds it up, real small, and tucks it into a clock on a little gold chain, careful not to crush the mechanisms. The page is stained with redstone, and the ink is all smudged. The signature drags. There’s a little heart next to it. He won’t mention it to Etho, though. He won’t mention it at all.

Maybe he won’t be back on HC8 before the whole thing comes crashing down, but he’ll see him again. There’ll always be a spot next to him that fits Etho like a key in a lock. Etho never quite knew how to say I love you, but I promise was close enough.)

159 notes · View notes

dominimoonbeam · 11 months

Note

DOMINI PROMPTS >:3 OKAY. SO. [STRADDLE ] I'm thinking Asher plus... SOMEONE. David? Huxley? Damien? WHO TICKLES YOUR FANCY?? >:3 <33

EJ, my starshine, my science lord, my werewolf queen!!!!! You gave me so many options! Okay, I went DASH because I love all of these characters but David is particularly fun to throw in the mix. I hope you like how it turned out. Thank you so much for the ask!

David/Asher aka DASH

tags: getting together, post inversion, light angst because of feelings, friends to lovers

On the Mat

His back hit the mat hard enough to make him question if it was padding at all. His breath came out hard, so fast that for a long second he struggled to get another in.

David leaned over him, one hand to his collar below his neck to keep him pinned and his knees in the mat on either side of his chest. “You okay?” he asked, serious.

Asher snorted, bucked, rolled, and elbowed to toss David off and twist around, until he had the bigger man face down with his arm behind his back. David growled into the mat, shoulders rolling under that thin shirt and fists clenching.

Asher pulled his arm tighter, a knee in his lower back keeping him from standing up with Asher on his back. “No shifting,” he reminded. It had been David’s idea and so much fun to throw back in his face.

“That was when I thought you needed the edge,” he snarled against the mat, looking back at Asher from the corner of his eye.

Asher grinned, breath fast and skin tacky from sweat. “You think you have the edge when we’re shifted, buddy?” David had shown up at his apartment that morning suggesting they go for a run and then they’d done some weightlifting at the den before he brought up sparring. They hadn’t done this in years. They used to spar all the time. They used to train together all the time. But they’d been kids and that felt like a long time ago now. Years ago, before David was alpha. They always had other stuff to do now. It wasn’t like they didn’t see each other. It wasn’t like they weren’t still best friends. It was just… different.

And this wasn’t David rekindling their old routines. Asher knew that. This was him being alpha, checking to make sure Asher was still fit to fight. He tried not to let that burn. He told himself it was fair, it was right, and it was okay. But he pulled David’s arm tighter and dug his knee down to keep him pinned a little longer, just to make sure he drove home that he hadn’t dropped the ball after that shit with the shade. He’d been laid up for a month after that, barely remembered most of it.

It was snippets of everything before and everything after, and sometimes, at night, he remembered David screaming his name in the worst way ever.

Asher let him go and jumped to his feet, breath puffing as he clawed sweaty hair out of his face. “Any other tests, boss?”

David rolled onto his back and sat up, looking back at him. “Tests?”

Asher rolled his eyes, reminding himself again not to take offense. David was just doing his job. Still, he fisted a hand in the front of his own tank top and jerked it up and to the side, flashing the length of his chest and those long, deep scars. “You wanna get a look too? Make sure they’re not still splitting open or anything?” He grinned when he said it, like he could hide the jab of pain in his heart—like he’d ever been able to hide anything from David. Well, anything but the one biggest thing. Somehow David had never seen that.

His eyes dropped down to Asher’s exposed chest, his expression unreadable but his eyes so focused that they made something in Asher’s chest flutter and his skin feel raw again.

“I promise not to faint or bleed on any of the clients, boss,” Asher said and almost made it sound funny too.

“Stop fucking calling me boss,” David growled.

Asher saluted and started to turn, to walk away. He’d made this awkward. He’d cool off and then apologize—

David swept his legs out from under him.

Asher hit the mat hard, this time chest down. “Fuck,” he growled, rolling over, but David grabbed his leg under the knee and pulled him back across the mat to him. And then David was on top of him. He was fast for a big guy.

“Are you serious?” David grumbled.

Asher rolled his eyes and tried to sit up.

David put a hand to his chest and flattened him out under him, those eyes boring into him still. “You think… You think I’m testing your health by roughing you up?”

Asher snorted. “You think this is rough?” he joked.

David was not taking the humor bait. “Ash…”

Asher sighed and turned his head to look away. “I’m sorry if I—”

“Don’t fucking apologize!” David yelled.

Asher’s head snapped forward again. He wasn’t afraid of David. He had never been afraid of David. “What the fuck else would this be? You haven’t asked me to go running or training with you since—” He stopped but didn’t look away, they both knew what he’d almost said. “Since you became alpha,” he finished, softer.

David actually looked like he was going to argue, face pinching before he crunched the numbers and seemed to realize for the first time that that was true.

“I get it,” Asher said, not angry anymore. He’d never been good at staying angry, let alone at the people he loved. “You have to make sure I’m fit enough to do my job as beta and for jobs—”

David winced and shook his head. “I wasn’t… It wasn’t that.”

Asher blinked up at him. He was telling the truth. “Then why…”

David looked down at him, something unfathomable in his eyes. And then his big hand moved down Asher’s chest, from his collar, over his heart, and down. He lifted Asher’s tank top up again. He sat back on Asher’s hips and looked at the scars. He swallowed hard, jaw tight when he dragged his thumb across one of them, the deepest one.

Asher’s breath caught but he didn’t move or say anything, just watching David’s face. What was that? He hadn’t ever seen him look like that before. Not ever. It was some sort of hurt but…

“I thought I was going to lose you,” he said so lowly that Asher almost missed it over the pounding of his own heart. “You… There was so much blood, Ash. You followed me in without even a second thought and you almost died.”

Asher jerked on the floor, lifting up onto his elbows and staring up at David. “That’s not your fault. None of that is your fault, David. Of course, I followed you.”

David winced, eyes closing. His jaw tensed and his nodded once.

Asher realized what he was thinking. He grabbed the back of David’s hand, the other man’s fingers still splayed against his bare chest. “I didn’t follow you because you were my alpha. I followed because you’re you. …Wouldn’t you have followed me?”

David’s eyes opened, staring down at him. “Of course.”

Asher nodded. “Wherever we’re going, we go together.”

David’s hand flexed against Asher’s abdomen, like he was suddenly aware he was still touching him and that Asher’s hand was holding his.

Asher let go, huffing an easy laugh to let him off the hook for whatever this wave of intimacy had been. “So, you’re clear. No more guilt or whatever. I’m alive and still able to kick your ass. All is right in the world.”

David didn’t get up and he didn’t take his hand off of him. “Do you remember the last time we sparred?”

Asher froze, heat rushing up to his face. He was suddenly very aware that David was sitting on his hips. He swallowed, remembering that day very clearly. Years ago, right before Gabe’s accident. Asher had made a move. The only and last move. He hadn’t planned to, he’d been crushing on his best friend for a while, maybe forever, and he’d pinned him to the mat that day and kissed him. David had sputtered and stared and Asher had run off. They’d never talked about it again. It hadn’t seemed important after the accident.

David watched Asher’s face. “I took a lot of shit for granted… Like everything would still be the same later, when I was ready.”

Asher’s heart pounded high in his chest. No fucking way. Was…Was David making a move? Asking if Asher was still interested? “It’s all still the same,” he said, no hesitation. He wasn’t going to lie about how he felt. He’d accepted that it wasn’t reciprocated and let it go. David’s friendship was worth everything to him.

David exhaled like he’d just dodged a comet, shoulders easing and hand sliding up Asher’s chest, to his heart, like it wasn’t even intentional.

Asher marveled. “If this is because you feel guilty or like you owe me…” he started gently.

David shook his head. “It’s not. I just… After my dad I really couldn’t think about anything else and then, when I could, I was alpha and you’re my beta. I-I couldn’t have done this without you and I can’t imagine not having you.”

Asher smiled. “Did you think I’d bail on you if you made a move?”

David swallowed hard, shaking his head and not quite meeting his gaze.

Asher’s smile faltered. “Oh, buddy…” He reached up, curling a hand behind David’s neck to drag him down to him, their foreheads together. David had always feared the pack doing what he wanted out of fear or out of sheer respect for his position. Sometimes it had to be like that, but Asher knew that wasn’t how he’d wanted things between them even as friends let alone… “I would never do that.”

David sighed, his breath curling against Asher’s lips.

Asher smiled, fingers squeezing and rubbing the back of David’s neck. “Did you… David, are we sparring because you wanted to remind me that I can throw you, before you ask me out?”

David shrugged, his hand sliding up Asher’s chest, over his collar, to cup the side of his neck.

Asher laughed. “I’m not scared of you.” He gasped. “Wait! Does this mean you were taking it easy on me?”

A smile tugged at the corner of David’s mouth and a glint flickered in his eyes.

“Oh, son of a b—”

David kissed him, stopping not just his words but his thoughts. The kiss started blunt and then slowly grew deeper and deeper, until they both forgot how it had started.

#redactedverse #david/asher #DASH #get together #light angst #fanfic prompt #kissing #<3 #dominimoonbeam tries script writing and loves it so much

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miloouch · 1 year

Text

BLUE GENESIS - CHAPTER 1

TW: mention of death, mention of injury, mention of blood.

A/N: Hi people! As promised, here is the first chapter of BLUE GENESIS which means the story has officially started. I'm super excited to share it with you guys and I really hope you feel the same.

As always, any feedback and constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated.

With that said, please enjoy!

PS: I want to thank all of you for the warm welcome you gave the Prologue and thank the ones who interacted with it. It really does mean the world to me!

WORD COUNT : 3,038

2170, Orbit of Pandora.

''...can you hear us?" The voice ranged and bounced on the walls of Sini's skull, making her head ache worse than it already was. She opened her eyes carefully, her vision blurry as she tried to adjust to the harsh white light of the neons that buzzed above her head. After a few seconds, her surroundings got clearer and she finally saw Dr. Katz and Garcia's faces above her own.

She let out a small grunt as she slowly moved her head to look around the room she was laying in. The room was covered in white from its floor to ceiling, the only visible colors were the ones displayed on the monitor to her left. Sini hated the familiarity of this environment. It was like she was back in the hospital again. Like she was still dying.

The thought of her death pulled her back to reality as she finally realized where she truly was. Her eyes widened as she looked at the faces of the scientists who towered over her. Realization hitting the girl like a truck that was going a thousand miles an hour.

She watched the two individuals as they checked her reactions and reflexes of various parts of her body. She lifted her head slowly, wanting to have a better look at what was really happening and what they were doing to her.

"If you're willing to seat up, take it slow." Sage said, her voice slightly muffled by the oxygen she wore.

Listening to the advice, Sini slowly and carefully rose to a sitting position, her long, blue legs extended to their full length in front her.

"So blue..." She whispered to herself, mesmerized by the view of her new body. Her new self.

She had dreamed of this moment the day of her death. It wasn't a painful experience like she thought it would have been. She went through medical suicide so the scientists of the Avatar Program could collect what had always made her what she was.

The memories from that day were quite messy, but one thing that really stuck to her mind was that she died on the day of her birthday. April 11th. So technically speaking she was born on the same day again. In a different body.

She was amazed by how much more aware of her environment she felt in her new body. Sini saw everything brighter and and more precisely, heard sounds she could have never perceived in her human form. She felt so strong and empowered by her new appearance it made her smile from ear to ear.

"Would you like to see yourself?" Armand asked, pulling the girl out of her dreaming state. She gave the man a slight nod and was handed a mirror.

"...wow." She sighed out as her eyes wandered over the face of her Avatar. It was her and there was no denying it. Some of her old features back when she was still human stuck with her and transfered to her new form. Her heterochromia was still here.

That distinctive feature that had caused her to be bullied as a kid had stuck around, giving her an amberish right eye while the left one was of a bright green color.

A small, content smile formed on her face as she finally spoke for the first time.

"Thank you." Sini said, happiness and gratitude laced to her words.

[TIME SKIP TO THE ARRIVAL ON PANDORA]

After having landed on the new planet, each teams and units got to the location where they would probably spend most of their time.

The science unit went on a quick tour of the lab where most of them would live for the following years. Before entering the place the four Avatars of the team – which included Sini – were given masks so they could breathe during the tour.

Even though they had been taught that they could breathe 'human air' without any problem, they had learned that they could feel dizzy if they were exposed to it for too long.

The place was of a reasonable size compared to the whole environment of the base the lab was in. There was a lab of course, where the scientists would probably spend time studying wonders of Pandora's environment. Connected by a small and narrow corridor was the cafeteria that had obviously been designed for the human scientists, the chairs and tables too small for an Avatar to seat and have a meal there.

The visit continued and humans were the ones who had to put on oxygen masks before they all headed outside to lead the Avatars their own headquarters.

The architecture was more fitted to the natural environment of Pandora. The small building was made of wood for the most part with a few human touches here an there. Inside, there was another lab as well as a cafeteria and a dorm. Another room was added to the building, one that wasn't inside the human unit. It was a gym with different machines on which they were told to train everyday to reinforce their new bodies.

"This is were you'll be spending most of your time guys." Dr. Garcia said as the Avatars looked down at her small frame.

"See you all this afternoon for the first expedition. We will be collecting samples to study them back in the lab." Those were her last words before she headed back to the human unit.

Sini went back outside, heading to the yard of the science team where she laid on the soft grass before closing her eyes and enjoying warmth of the sun on her blue skin. She breathed in the the pure air that was all around her, relaxing while she could, knowing that her first scientific expedition was in the afternoon.

[TIME SKIP TO THE EXPEDITION]

The Samson flew above the beautiful forest of Pandora, the science team composed of Dr. Garcia and the Avatars on its board. Sini had learned their names before the mission. There was Silas Lopez, a biologist who was there to learn about the flora and fauna of the planet. The other one was a girl named Alice Van Bergen, who was also a biologist. The last one, Adam Coorey, was a former soldier who was there to keep the team safe during missions.

When it came to Sini, she didn't really know why she was there but Armand had told her that she would learn on the field.

The girl looked around at the beautiful scenery. The view was captivating. They had all heard and read about this place before but they could have never had imagined it to be so heaven like. This place felt surreal, like something out of a fever dream.

The Samson landed in the middle of the dense forest and the expedition finally began. They all went around the forest, the scientists walking in front while she and Adam were in the back, silently following the others.

"This place is truly beautiful..." She said, more to herself but the soldier who was walking next to her heard the statement and responded.

"Right? I never thought I'd see something so amazing coming here." He declared, admiring the nature that surrounded the group.

They all came to a stop when the biologists finally found a spot where they could collect samples. Sini, not knowing what to do with herself decided to look around at the different plants she could see.

"Don't wander too far Sini. We wouldn't want you to get lost." Sage said earning a simple smile of approval from the young Avatar.

Pandora's environment was so magnificent. It was like every step she took, she discovered something new. She was truly captivated by the nature that engulfed her in a deep yet comfortable silence, the only sound being the wind softly blowing the branches of the huge trees and the different animals that were probably observing her as she walked further away from the group without realizing it.

But when she did, the eclipse had happened and she knew she would never find her way back to them. She was lost in a place she knew too little about to feel safe.

She wanted to scream but soon realized that it would be useless and dangerous. She didn't want to attract any animal by making herself known and vulnerable. She kept on walking, going deeper in the forest hoping to find a safe place to spend the night.

Suddenly, she heard a growl coming from behind her, her ears flattening on the side of her head and tail swinging from left to right in an fast rythm as she felt danger too close for the girl not to worry. She carefully turned around and it only took her a second to understand that if she didn't start running at this exact moment she would get killed. And that's exactly what she did.

She ran as fast as she possibly could, the beast –which she believed to be a Thanator– roared as it chased her. Her heart was beating so fast she thought it would probably pop out of her ribcage. But despite the fear she felt from being chased, there was this adrenaline that kept her going endlessly. She felt alive.

For the first time in what had seemed like a hundred years, she was truly there, living and fighting for herself. To her surprise a laugh of pure happiness came out of her mouth. It was so loud and sincere that it only made her run faster.

"Did you hear that?" Lo'ak asked his brother who was riding his ikran as he looked around, hoping to find the source of the noise.

"No I didn't, but it doesn't matter. We have to go back home or father will skin us." Neteyam said in a strict tone before giving him a warning look.

"Come ooon! What are you afraid of big bro?" The younger teased, a small smirk pulling at the right corner of his lips.

"Nothing, I just don't want to take the fall for your skxawng ass again." He explained, his voice laced with authority.

Lo'ak rolled his eyes as a sigh left him.

The two of them flew quietly before he heard the same sound as he did a few minutes ago coming from forest under them. The area below them wasn't as dense as the others so when he looked down to find the source of the noise he was quick to see a Palulukan chasing a prey, except, the prey was a Na'vi. He let out a small shriek before diving with his ikran towards the predator.

"Lo'ak!" Neteyam yelled after him, before diving to follow his brother.

Sini was growing tired the further she ran in the forest, but she was still laughing loudly, but not because she was happy. She was stressed that her legs would give up on her any second as she felt all the muscles of her body slowly reaching their breaking point. She knew she had to find a place to hide before the Thanator jumped on her.

She looked around and suddenly saw a cabin. It was the exact copy of the ones they had back at the base but this one was in ruins. One of the windows was broken and she knew it was her only chance to escape the beast that was chasing her. She sprinted towards the cabin and in a quick motion, jumped through the said window before stepping away from the open area. The Thanator tried to get in but it could only fit two of its legs through the opening. Roaring out of frustration, the beast had been defeated and soon ran away.

"That was so fucking close!" She exclaimed, absolutely exhausted from the effort she had just came out of. A loud fit of laughter emanated from her, relief washing over her as she was finally safe. She just couldn't stop laughing. Until she heard a sound coming from somewhere near the cabin.

She got silent, her breathing being the only noise that filled the cabin as she tried to listen to her surroundings. She heard steps getting closer to where she was and before she knew it there was a loud thud, signaling that someone or something had entered the cabin.

She held her breath, wanting to be as silent as she possibly could, waiting to see what had made the noise.

"Lo'ak! Za'u ne'ìm fìtsenge!" Sini heard someone say, but she couldn't understand a single word. She got into a squatting position as she meticulously tried find a way out of the cabin without getting caught.

"Where do you think you're going?" Another voice said, but this time she understood and before she could realize it, someone had grabbed her upper arm and dragged her out of the cabin.

Once outside, she tried to free herself from the strong grip but it was useless. Her muscles were exhausted from all the running she had done. Her movement came to an abrupt stop as she felt a sharp object pressed on the soft skin of her neck.

She didn't really took the time to look at the person that was now threatening her before so she decided to do it now. Her gaze shifted from the floor to the Na'vi facing her.

He looked angry, ready to slit her throat open at any moment. Yet, she knew better than to fear her opponent and so she kept her gaze fixed on the ones of the boy standing in front of her. Her two colored eyes never leaving his green ones.

"What are you doing here?" The Na'vi asked, his ears pointing backwards, anger tied to every of his words.

She was surprised he spoke English but assumed he could have learned it at some point. She didn't have a clue what to answer. What was she really doing here? She had no idea where she was.

"Answer!" The guy yelled at her face, his knife lightly pressing at her throat.

"I'm lost! Please don't kill me!" She pleaded.

She wasn't afraid of death itself but she just didn't want to ruin the opportunity she had to restart a new life.

"Drop your knife Lo'ak." Another voice reached her ears, the same that had yelled in another language a few minutes ago.

The boy who held the knife hissed right in her face before putting it away. Sini let out a sigh of relief she didn't know she had been holding before looking around to find who had given the order.

It was another Na'vi, he seemed just a bit older than the one that was still holding her arm. He walked closer to the two of them, a stoic look on his face. Once he had reached them, the girl didn't know where to look. She felt intimidated by the boy's presence.

"What is your name?" He asked, emotionless.

"Sini." The girl answered, finally gathering the courage to look at him in the eyes.

"How did you get here?" Another question escaped his lips, a small accent noticeable as he spoke.

"I was chased by a Thanator and ended up hiding in the cabin." She mumbled but it was still understandable.

"It should have killed you!" The one holding her said in anger.

"Lo'ak!" The other said, smacking the back of the younger's head and earning a small grunt from him.

"It's true though, she should be dead." He explained, his grip tightening on the girls arm.

Sini looked at the two boys standing in front of her. They looked close. Brothers maybe?

"Don't kill me, I was just trying to find a safe place to spend the night." She blurted out.

Then, out of nowhere a sharp pain shot right through her left leg. She let out a small scream before falling to the ground. She looked at her left thigh and realized there was a huge cut on the front. It was bleeding and it was deep. Small pieces of broken glass were stuck to her skin and she understood how she had gotten the wound. It was when she had jumped through the window to enter the cabin, the adrenaline –at the time– too high for her to feel the pain.

But now that she had calmed down it was hurting.

"She's bleeding." Lo'ak –if she had understood correctly– said in the most uncaring way possible as he looked at the other boy.

"She needs to be healed." He answered, earning a shocked and confused stare from the other.

"We can't bring her home!" The younger yelled looking at Sini who was trying her best to remain immobile to not feel any more pain.

"I know, but I can't let her die here." He declared before leaning down and grabbing her, picking her up and walking to his ikran.

He made the bond and placed the girl in front of of him before he took off. She rested her back against the boy's torso. She felt weak, like she could die at any moment. She hated it because she felt like her old self again. Before she knew it she had passed out, exhaustion winning over her will to stay awake.

"You know that as soon as dad and mom see you, you're a dead man?" Lo'ak told his brother, anger still clear on his face. Neteyam let out a small 'I know' before focusing on where he was going as he watched the horizon carefully.

He knew he was going to be in great trouble the moment he would set a foot on the ground of his clan's territory. But something had drowned him to this mysterious girl. She seemed fearless as her bicolor eyes had plunged into his when he was questioning her. As Lo'ak had said back there, the Palulukan should have killed her but she had escaped. It was something not a lot of Omatikaya could do. So he just couldn't understand that some Avatar could do it.

With a sigh, Neteyam sped up toward the location of his clan, Lo'ak following close behind.

#avatar #avatar the way of water #jake sully #neytiri #neteyam #lo'ak #kiri #tuk #avatar x reader #avatar x oc #neteyam x oc #neteyam x reader #avatar fic #avatar film

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