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ray-gt · 2 years

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Fermi Paradox (Pt. 7)

There are no benefits to being a microbiologist.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 /

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Part 7: Close Encounters of a First Kind.

Day: Cycle 44 Location: Drun Spaceship (Long-term Holding) Mission: Be Nice to the New Roommate / Work on the Plan / Project Wayfinder (Enceladus)

Daksh clutched his spacesuit helmet close to his chest as his new cellmate made her way over to the table on which he stood. Whether it was a poor attempt at shielding himself, or simply a lifeline of normalcy to cling to as his reality broke, shifted, reformed, and shattered for the thousandth time that day, he really couldn't say. As she waltzed over to him, grinning in a way he very much didn’t like, he backed up until the small of his back pressed against the railing of the platform and he could move no further.

When she was standing right in front of it, the table came to her hips and she stole a moment longer to tower over him, raising her eyebrows and smiling just enough to flash her pointed canines at him. Her dark blue hair shone under the white light of the cell in a way that, from Daksh's viewpoint, looked like a halo.

Daksh watched as she crouched down so that her face was level with his and she rested her crossed arms on the table, leaning in to study him closer. Again, he pushed back against the railing of the platform, somehow hoping that he could faze through it.

Then again, would that land me any better? I'd still be stuck on a table far above the ground, inside a locked cell. With… her.

Her dark eyes, glossy like black jade, scanned him. Again, she grinned, though this time like she were about to laugh.

"A human?" She said, her voice husky yet melodic as it washed over him and surrounded him with sound. "I didn't realise they'd left their burrow yet. And who knew they were so small!"

Daksh stared at the face filling his entire view as she waited for a reply that wouldn't come. Somehow, this was worse than the Drun. Though they were bigger than his cellmate, there was something impersonal and clinical about the militarists. But here, with her, it all felt like a game he was destined to lose. He swallowed thickly and clutched the spacesuit helmet closer to himself, breathing heavily.

After a sustained silence, the giant frowned, and Daksh didn’t know if that was worse than the grin. She straightened a little and placed one hand on her chest.

"I'm Shami." She said before looking at him expectantly.

Daksh felt like all the connections between his brain and his mouth were fried because, despite his brain telling him to 'Hey, man, oh my god, just say something. Literally anything.', no words came. Rather, his mouth hung open pretty uselessly. Though he'd never admit it aloud, he bemoaned the fact that McBride wasn't there. It was so much easier to look a giant alien in the eye and tell them to fuck off when there were two of them.

Shami rested her head on her crossed arms, tilting it to one side as she studied him.

Christ, does she even blink?

Daksh yelped as she lifted a hand and brought it towards him, clawed index finger extended out. He stared, dread rippling through his body and making his knees wobble, as it landed on his chest and poked him. Thankfully, the railing was already flush against his back, or he would have stumbled back from the force of it.

"Fuck!" The cursed slipped out of him and it seemed to delight the giant.

"There we go. Come on, don't be shy!" She purred. "Say hello. What's your name?"

Her clawed finger moved to lift his chin and force him to look at her. Daksh's breath hitched in his throat as his own dark eyes met hers. He made a note, when and if he ever retold the story, to omit how panicked he sounded when he finally found it in him to speak. Rather, in the retelling, he'd be quick-tongued and suave, with a charming smirk to top the whole thing off. Unfortunately, this wasn't the retelling as Daksh would have it, this was the retelling as it was.

"Daksh." He forced out with a wavering intonation. He cleared his throat. "My name is Daksh."

She hummed, contented with his response. She repeated his name, inhaling it like sweet smoke and letting it roll over her tongue, filling the air with it.

"Daksh." She mused. "I like it."

"Umm, thanks." He said, daring to glance down at the long, pointed nail that was holding his chin hostage. "Could you - uhh - move that?"

Shami considered the request and, though she didn’t say anything, Daksh felt her pull the nail away. However, her massive hand still lingered at a proximity that couldn't be considered anything other than a violation of personal space. Shami's head rested on one arm while the other was stretched out towards him. The finger that had already pushed him and threatened him now tapped against the glass of his spacesuit helmet.

"What's this, Daksh?" She asked. "They don't usually let us bring personal items into Long Term Holding."

Daksh's heart plummeted as the giant hand pinched the helmet and started to pry it from his grasp.

"Wait!" He said, doing his best to maintain his hold on it, using all his strength, bracing with his legs, as she used very little, if any, of her own.

Daksh could feel the helmet slipping from his fingers as she pulled it from him. Eventually, she tugged it from his grasp and the inertia sent him back into the platform railing.

"Shit!" He said, rubbing the impact point.

He looked up and felt the blood drain from his body as he watched her hold it up to her eye and examine it. She turned it over in her large, powerful fingers and every move sent his heart into overdrive.

It she breaks that, I'm fucked. Well, more fucked that I already am.

"Please," He pleaded and instantly it reminded him of a scrawnier, primary school version of himself, being bullied by the bigger kids during break. He set his feet. "Give it back."

Shami's glance darted from the helmet to him and his stomach curled under her attention. "Is it important to you?"

"Yeah, I'd say so." He said, trying and failing to mask the urgency building behind his voice. "Kinda."

Shami pressed her lips together and hummed again and Daksh couldn't help but feel like she were teasing him. Her eyes squinted and she grinned, flashing her pointed canines.

"Come get it then."

Daksh swallowed his thundering heart. "What?"

Her grin widened and she shrugged with a smug nonchalance. "If it's so important to you, come get it."

She held the helmet so that it was level with him, but so that he'd have to come off the platform and within a couple of meters of her face in order to do so, neither of these he liked. He stared at the helmet.

"I mean," He shrugged, wrapping his fists around the railing behind him. "You could just give it back."

"I could." She replied but made no move to follow through with that.

They sat there in the tension - neither moving, neither conceding. When it became apparent that the only way he'd get the helmet back would be by playing along with whatever Shami had in mind, he groaned.

"Ok," He said shakily, his hands loosening on the railing. "But no funny business.”

Funny business?

Shami just smiled and it did nothing to reassure him.

He inched his way off the platform, closer and closer to her face, within proximity of her claws.

Don't think about it. Just get the helmet.

The closer he got, the more he could hear and feel her breathing and the further her shadow engulfed him. Once he got to the hand that held his lifeline, he frowned. She'd moved it higher so it was now just out of his reach.

"Really?"

"What?"

"Could you - uh - lower it?"

"Too high for you?" She said but she lowered the helmet so that, if he fully extended his arms and got up on his tip toes, he could just wrap his fingers around the base of it. With a definitive tug, he pulled it from her grasp and clutched it close to his chest once more, breathing deeply.

Shami let out a like chuckle, or what Daksh assumed was a chuckle. What if on her planet, that was actually a sign of extreme aggression, or hunger? He watched with apprehension as she rose to full height once more.

His gaze followed her as she wandered to the corner of the cell, grabbed the back of a metal chair and dragged it over to the table where he remained standing, trapped and frozen. The chair seemed to be the only piece of free standing furniture in the cell - the table and bunk were both bolted to the wall. She sat down in it and leant back. She then raised her legs and crossed one on top of the other on top of the corner of the table. Standing only a few meters away, Daksh couldn't help but stare in horror.

Then something happened that Daksh did not expect.

Suddenly, from behind him, Shami's other hand swooped in and wrapped its long fingers around his waist.

"What - FUCK!” He cried out instinctively as his feet were hitched up from the surface of the table. His stomach lurched with the motion, and he squirmed in Shami's grip, clutching at the fingers wrapped around his middle with one hand and doing his best to maintain his hold on the helmet with the other. The sensation was so foreign - so wrong - that his brain couldn't help but register it as a threat.

Shami brought him down to sit on her perched knee so that they could look each other in the eye without him having to crane his neck or her having to crouch down.

This wasn’t an ideal position for Daksh, noting how he could feel every tiny micro-movement of her body beneath his - so small she'd never know she was making them. But he did, and he did his best to put them out of mind. That and the fact that any wrong move by her would lead to his early funeral. Seeing as he'd already told McBride that he'd outlast her, that would be beyond embarrassing.

Once he was as oriented as he could be in that situation, he looked up her.

"Can you please not do that?" He said through a tight jaw.

She crossed her arms and shrugged, feigning ignorance. "Do what?"

He gestured back down to the table where he'd been standing moments before.

"That! Don't just grab me without warning!" He said, running his hands through his hair. "Not ok."

She laughed and he felt it ripple through her whole body which did nothing for his sense of security. "Ok, I'll let you know before I do it next time."

Daksh frowned. "Not what I meant at all.”

She dismissed him with a wave of her huge hand. Her eyes closed almost totally in a playful squint as she smiled at him. Up on her knee, totally at her mercy, Daksh couldn't help but feel exposed and vulnerable.

“Now.” She said. “Let's talk.”

Daksh swallowed.

I’m definitely going to die.

***

Communications Technician Dr Julian Halliday Age: 26 Log No.: 198 Cycle No.: 192 Year: 2199 Location: Garbage Disposal Deck, Extra-Terrestrial Vessel.

This is Dr Julian Halliday, logging and reporting on the status of the ITV Europa Vessel and its crew.

Despite my misgivings, we have successfully tracked and boarded the extra-terrestrial vessel with all crew members suffering relatively minimal injury -

(- see, halliday? nothing to worry about! -)

- nari, i'm making a log! -

We have yet to sight any of the ship's inhabitants. Captain Barnes is currently out of action as a result of the perilous free flight and is recovering in an ITV pressure cell. According to their own assessment, the Captain should be operational in a few hours, but we don’t have any qualified medical personnel with us to confirm that prognosis. That can happen when you barrel head-first into danger without a second's thought.

(- calm down, halliday, we made it here in one piece, didn’t we? -)

- calm down? how am I meant to calm down, nari? we just free flew onto an alien spaceship with no idea of what we're doing or what we're up against. we don't know if the ITV's taken damage - but I can almost guarantee that it has. at any given moment, the ship that we're currently on could jump to light speed, and if that happens, we'll never be able to get back. we know for a fact that the species that have malik and mcbride are at least 60ft tall and are heavily armed. oh, and barnes is out, leaving one lieutenant and a comms tech to carry out a fraught rescue operation. did I forget anything? -

(- yeah, you did. i think i have something stuck in my teeth - maybe from lunch? could you make a log of that too?-)

- this is serious, nari. we're probably gonna die here, you realise that right? -

(- look, jules. i know, things are pretty intense, but freaking out about how fucked we are isn't helping anyone - not me, not you, not the two techs we're here to help. things are shit, but we'll just have to take it one step at a time until it's a little less shit. if we do that, i think we'll be ok. -)

- you're not worried? at all? seriously? -

(- seriously. -)

- i don't understand you... How do you- whatever. what should we do first? -

(- good question. we need to check for any damage on the ITV. once we know, we can figure out what to do next. ok? -)

- ok. -

(- so stop the log and come give me a hand. -)

- ok. -

This is Dr Julian Halliday. Log 198. Signing off.

***

They'd spent about an hour doing checks and repairs. Jules couldn't believe they were wasting that much time but, in a rare display of patience, Nari insisted they make sure no critical damage had been done and that any necessary repairs were noted and made before they had to escape with the Enceladus crew.

She now stood beside him and dusted off her hands on her uniform, staring back up at the ship.

"No major damage." She said. "Not bad, if I do say so myself."

"I don’t think I'll ever recover from free flight." Jules said, looking at the ITV, parked in the alien garbage disposal bay. "I don't know if the ITV will either."

"Hey!" Nari snapped. "You try navigating your ship up the waste disposal shoot of a bigger ship. It's rough." She paused, biting her bottom lip and shaking her head. "That sounds really bad, said out loud."

Jules frowned at her and reluctantly laughed when he met her eye.

"Hopeless."

Nari shrugged, "Won't argue with you there."

She scanned up and down the ship and nodded.

"It'll need a few repairs, but nothing critical." She nudged Jules with her elbow. "Not as bad as you thought, aye, Halliday?"

"Touch wood." He replied. "What about Barnes?"

"Captain's still out of commission. Free flight can really take it out on older folks. Barnes has done better than most, but won't be on their feet for a bit. Hopefully sooner than later." She exhaled deeply through her nose. "I've left them with the list of repairs, so they can start on them when they wake up. Meanwhile," She clapped Jules on his shoulder. "Looks like you're with me, Halliday."

Halliday was about to protest, she could tell immediately from his panicked eyes and high-pitched voice, but she cut him off with a raised hand before he could spiral too much. She put both hands on his shoulders and turned him to face her. Gripping him steadily, she did her best to centre and ground him.

"Look, Jules, I know this is a lot to process." She said. "But I need someone to watch my six. Barnes is out and I'm not exactly spoiled for choice here. You just need to follow my lead and, I promise, you'll be fine."

She ignored the tickling of doubt at the back of her mind and released Halliday. Chewing the inside of her cheek, she frowned.

"Ok," She said after a moment's silence, more to herself than him. "We're going to go arm up, and then we'll set out. I want to scope out where we are on the ship, get a look at these aliens, and see if we can get a read on where the techs are being kept. After the scout, we can come up with a rescue plan."

Jules was pale.

"I'm not trained for any of this." He said softly, blank-faced and dazed.

"If it makes you feel any better, Jules." Nari said, looking around at the giant room they were in, hands firmly on her hips. "I wasn't exactly trained for this either."

With a short nod and a set jaw, she began walking back towards the ITV entrance. From behind her, she heard Jules balk which made her smile through the uncertainty.

"Why would that make me feel better?"

***

Rationally, Daksh knew that if Shami really wanted to hurt him, she would have done it already. At least, that's what she'd told him, and Daksh had believed her - truly a sucker for a pretty face (even if that face was almost as tall as he was, was purple, had horns, and belonged to a criminal.)

Then again, technically I'm a criminal. My parents would be so proud.

"No one's ever met a human before, and now there's one in my cell, sitting on my knee." She said, shaking her head in disbelief before fixing him with an impish stare. "Do you know what the Drun call your planet, Daksh?"

Daksh frowned. It was an odd question. Immediately, the thought that 'Earth' wasn't the universal name for their little blue planet was strange. Of course, logically that made sense, 'Earth' wasn't even the name used by all its inhabitants, but it was the privilege of the residents to call their home whatever they liked. The idea that strangers looking in had their own name for it felt wrong to him - like they didn’t have the right. Then again, he couldn’t imagine the inhabitants of any of the exoplanets humans had 'discovered' would be too fond of the names they'd been christened with. 47 Ursae Majoris b, wasn't exactly catchy.

"What?" He said, drawing it out.

"Tukni." She answered.

Daksh glanced around and shrugged. "You say that like it means something." He paused and frowned before looking at her. "Does it mean something?"

"Yes," She grinned. "But you won't like it."

"Wouldn't be the first thing today."

She laughed again, a long rich sound that bounced around the cell. "Bad day?"

"Not a favourite."

She hummed and nodded. "A Tuk is a small rodent on the Drun's home planet. It’s very loud for its size and quite ugly."

"Oh." Daksh's voice was flat. "Charming."

The look Shami gave him made his cheeks flush.

"Earth is very loud." She explained. "It is always broadcasting, sending out messages - shouting into the void and waiting for the echo. The Drun find it very annoying. 'Tukni' means 'of Tuks'. They don't like you very much."

"Well, I can't say I'm a fan of them either." Daksh grumbled. "But it's not like we've done anything to them. Why do they hate us so much?"

For the first time since the Drun had entered the cell, Shami's face darkened and grew sombre. And while it was a terrifying sight in and of itself, Daksh knew it wasn't directed at him and so, strangely, he felt vindicated. Finally, there was someone else who hated the Drun as much as he and McBride.

"The Drun are tyrants." She said. "They control everything in the sector - they monitor all communication, all interaction between systems, transport and trade, everything. The systems that are advanced enough to be a threat are kept under constant surveillance. You humans have walked that line for a while. You're not advanced enough to leave your own system, you don't know anything, and you're definitely not a threat to the power of the Drun. But you just keep broadcasting and that's dangerous. Most of the time, we don't understand what you are trying to say, but it's like a beacon of hope for the rest of us under Drun control."

"Really?"

Shami nodded, almost nostalgically.

"Yes. Really. Unaware of the danger, not knowing what was out there or who was listening, there was this little planet, surrounded by tyranny and oppression, out on a wayward spur. It kept sending out messages, and pictures, and music, reminding us of love and freedom and curiosity. Somewhere there was life uninhibited." Her face fell again, and her eyes glazed, drawing back in on herself. "You will never know what lengths some went to just to send something back… or what it cost."

"We never got anything back." Daksh said, his brain feeling numb. "If our broadcasting was such an issue for the Drun, why didn't they just shut us up? Gag order, that kind of thing?"

Shami shrugged. "I don't know. I'm sure the Drun have their reasoning for keeping their distance from your kind. Though," She said before shaking herself out of the mood she'd created. Once again, the sly, playful grin returned, leaving Daksh to recover from the jarring mood shift. She brought a large finger to rest on his head and ruffled his long hair. "That seems to have changed with you, Tuk."

"Ok, that name better not stick." Daksh said, fixing his hair with mixed results. Shami hummed. "Really? I think it suits you."

They sat in silence for a bit before Daksh worked up the courage to ask something that had been plaguing him since they first encountered the Drun.

"How are you speaking English, Shami?"

Shami tapped the side of her neck.

"It's the chip. There are far too many systems in Drun territory - thousands and thousands of native tongues. They realised fairly quickly that that makes it difficult to maintain control. So, they developed a database of all known languages in the sector and, using the chips, the Drun can upload any language they want into your brain. Everyone with the chip can speak Drunan, or, more importantly, everyone with the chip can understand Drunan."

"So, it is a babel fish!"

"What?"

"Nothing! So, you got English? Why?"

"I 'got English' because I was getting a new cellmate. Lucky me.” Shami paused for a moment, as if caught by a sudden idea. “It is a bit odd. Usually they limit access to Drunan only so that, if you want to speak to other prisoners, you have to speak a language the guards can also understand. It prevents any kind of organising. The prison population here is so diverse, that almost no one speaks the same native tongue anyway.”

Daksh frowned. His hand went to the chip on his neck or, more accurately, the swollen bump where his skin had forcibly grown over it - red, and painful, and irritated. He winced, and the memories of Dr Mei pressing a gigantic pair of tweezers to his neck flashed through his mind.

He tried searching his brain for any traces of a language he didn’t know, but it proved a challenge. Apparently, it's hard to look for knowledge in your head that shouldn't be there.

"I don’t think anything's changed with me." He said when the search came up empty. "I don't think I can speak… What was it? Drunish?"

“Drunan.” Shami corrected. “Well, that would explain why they gave me our language. Yours is a pretty small brain, Tuk. It might not be able to take the upload."

Daksh crossed his arms. ”I have two PhDs, Shami."

"That doesn't mean anything to me."

"It means… I'm smart, ok?" Daksh said, feeling a bit like a dork. "I'm pretty sure my brain could take the Drun DLC download. I'm an expert."

Shami cocked an eyebrow. ”What are you an expert in?"

Daksh began listing on his fingers, feeling just a bit smug. ”Microbiology, Astrobio-."

“-Microbiology?” Shami interrupted. “What’s that?”

“Oh right, it’s the study of tiny organisms."

Shami’s eyes glinted. ”You would be an expert on that."

"Moving on!” Daksh grumbled.

"Is that what you were doing on your moon?” She asked. “Researching?"

Daksh was quiet. Suddenly embarrassed, he nodded.

“What were you researching?”

Daksh stared the alien in the face as they shared a cell on a ship full of aliens.

"Well, it's going to sound stupid now."

"Come on, tell me!”

Daksh signed and ran a hand through his long hair. He rested his elbow on the helmet is his lap and his chin in his hand. ”I was looking for signs of life beyond Earth."

Shami made a face he didn’t enjoy and pressed a hand to her chest.

”Oh, that is so sweet."

"Ignoring that.” He groaned, eager to redirect conversation towards something where he wasn’t the punchline. “Anyway, why did they chip me if they weren't going to give me the Duo Lingo cheat code?"

"I don’t know what that means, but I wouldn’t be so eager for it if I were you.” Shami warned, her tone growing an edge that hadn’t been there before. “Using the chip, the Drun can give you access to any language, yes, but they can also take it away. They have a direct line to your brain now. Think about that."

Daksh swallowed. He felt a twirling, writhing sensation grow in his gut, and bile build in his throat. He stared up at Shami, her expression downcast.

“Did that happen to you?”

She took a long breath. "I don't remember my own tongue anymore. I wouldn’t recognise it if I heard it. I couldn’t speak it if I tried. My name had meaning once but the Drun took that from me a long time ago. I feel like I’m wearing someone else's skin."

Daksh felt a sudden cold clamminess wash over him. His mouth hung open in a way he was aware of but couldn’t seem to correct. What would it be like to no longer be able to remember your own language? How would it feel to not only have to speak but think in the language of your oppressors? He couldn’t fathom it. As he thought, the bump on his neck throbbed angrily. He did his best (and failed) to ignore it.

Suddenly, he felt like humans were better off being left in the dark.

”Why'd they take it away?"

Shami ignored the question and his gaze.

"They can track you with the chip, you know. That's probably why you have it.” She said, then she forced a smile that almost convinced him. “You’d be fairly easy to miss - so small they need a computer watching your every movement.”

Daksh groaned, deciding that if the giant alien criminal didn’t want to discuss the details of her punishment, it would be unwise to attempt to push it. He still remembered what the Drun had said about the last person to share her cell. Best not push his luck.

”Ok, Shami.” He said. “You've had your fun. You know, back on Earth, I'm actually above average height."

Shami hummed. “That’s funny, Tuk."

_______________________________________________________________________

(My space idiots are back! Daksh made a new friend that makes him uncomfortable, Jules and Nari are way out of their depth, and McBride is nowhere to be seen. As always, let me know what you think! - ray xx)

Part 8 coming soon!

#gt #g/t #gt writing #g/t writing #g/t community #g/t fearplay #g/t scifi #scifi #scifi writing #oc: daksh #oc: shami #oc: halliday #oc: nari #oc: mcbride

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svt-nari · 3 months

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Hiii! Can you do a post about the NANA TOUR PLEASEEE🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

a/n: i finished watching nana tour a few days ago and finally decided to write about nari’s experience there! hope you like it bae <3 (not proofread yet, sorry for any mistakes!)

nana tour highlighted moments:

nari’s mission:

“oh~ i’m excited to get my mission!”, she squirmed in her seat, a large smile present on her face.

“okay, okay.” na pd laughed, messing with the cards. “pick it up!”

nari eagerly picked up the card, laughing out loud when she read her mission. she looked at the crew in disbelief, loving how easy her challenge was.

“it’s so easy! it’ll be over in minutes!”, she laughed.

“what is it, tell us,”

she turned the card around, giggling while the camera focused on the words written on it. ‘get at least five members to join you in a dance performance.’ was written in korean on the paper, nari giggling once again as she thought of them dancing.

“i hope it’s as easy as you say. i think they’ll be doubting every step you take.” na pd laughed.

“oh~ get a few drinks in their system and we are ready!”

dinari moment:

nari was peacefully laying down on the ground while reading a random book coups put in her bag so she could distract herself, a small smile present on her face from reading the little notes he left on the pages he thought that needed to be highlighted. she heard humming behind her but could care less about it as she was immersed by the book.

dino sighed as he entered the living room, plopping down on the floor next to nari and scooting over to read the book with her.

“was it coups hyung who wrote this?”, he questioned, smiling slightly at how cute the couple was.

nari nodded, sighing right after. she missed him a lot, she wished he could be with them. sadly it was impossible due to his condition, he needed to rest as much as possible to come back soon.

chan sighed too, a bit sad at seeing her upset about the whole ordeal. he scooted closer to her and gave nari a side hug, snuggling closer to her side. nari smiled and returned the hug, sneakily putting her hand in his head to pet it, just like she did back in their trainee days. the both of them sighed contentedly, opting to stay in this moment for a little longer.

little did they know that some of the other members were watching them adoringly from afar, taking pictures to capture the adorable moment forever.

mission time!

nari was feeling a little bored after eating dinner and decided to lay a bit on the couch, doing nothing but scrolling through tiktok. as she ended up scrolling through a challenge, nari suddenly got an idea to start her own mission. sneakily she sent it on the group chat, asking if anyone wanted to do it with her.

enthusiastically, hoshi, seungkwan, mingyu and vernon agreed to it. nari got confused when the american boy agreed but accepted it nonetheless, though, she still needed one more member to agree so she could be done with the mission.

me anyone else wanna join? we need one more person to be in sync like the video…

junie ⁉️ if there’s still room i’m in!

nari laughed mischievously to herself and got up, sending a quick message so the guys would come towards her. she quickly set up her phone and waited for them to come, doing a few touch ups on her clothes.

“noona~”, seungkwan sang playfully, hugging her arm.

“kwanie~”, she imitated him, squeezing his cheek softly. “where are the others?”, she questioned him as only seungkwan and vernon came to the living room.

“ah, mingyu is changing, hoshi needed to use the bathroom and i don’t know about jun.” vernon quickly explained and nari thanked him, asking them if they wanted to practice the quick choreography.

just as they started rewatching the video, jun sneakily appeared behind them, softly putting his hand on nari’s shoulder. that ended up startling her, in which she ended up screaming from the jumpscare.

“jun-ah!”, she yelled out, wide eyed. “you almost killed me!”

he sheepishly smiled and apologized, giving nari a quick pat on the head as they went back to watching the video. the four started to learn the choreography little by little, laughing here and there whenever they messed up.

“i can’t believe this!”, hoshi fake-cried. “you started without me!?”

they only mocked him, mingyu laughed at that and joined them in a newly dressed shirt that he bought in italy and some sweatpants. they quickly got the choreography after that and started to take different videos of the dance to decided which one got better.

as they finished, nari smirked naughtily towards a camera and giggled, sending the video to cheol with ‘i just made these dorks do my mission without them knowing 😋’ written underneath the sent video.

revealing herself:

“so, nari, did you complete your mission?”, na pd asked, pushing his glasses higher. “you said it was easy so i expect you did.”

nari giggled and gave him a thumbs up, the other members’ eyes widening while they all started to speculate what her mission could possibly be.

“noona, you were so quiet the whole day! there’s no way you did it!”, chan wondered.

“right, nari-ah.”, wonwoo interrupted. “even i thought you were a bit too quiet, that’s a lot…”

well, they weren’t exaclty wrong. nari had in fact been quiet the whole day, the reason being her missing cheol more than expected. she was having fun, sure, but being away from him made her feel a bit sad at times. nari even called him a few times that day – something that she does on a daily basis, but not more than two times per day. seungcheol found it weird too, but since he also missed her he didn’t ask about it.

“i told you why i was quiet when kwanie interrogated me at the kitchen.”, she laughed slightly. “but i did complete my mission!”

“can you show us?”

immediately she got her phone and turned it towards the entire table, bursting in a laughing fit when she saw their reactions. the members in the video were feeling even more betrayed, with seungkwan and jun having agape mouths and shocked looks on their faces. vernon had his iconic ‘o’ expression while mingyu and hoshi were pointing at her in disbelief of the situation.

“so, can you tell us your mission again?”, na pd laughed, loving the chaos.

“well…”, she hid her phone, smiling sweetly. “i had to get at least five members to perform a dance with me!”

then chaos broke once again as everyone felt betrayed by their older sister.

whisper game:

as they were in a uneven number, the members decided to let nari pick whoever she wanted to pair up with. she ended up being the last member to go, so she decided on seungkwan. they all – but seungkwan – complained about her choice and the only answer she gave them was:

“he’s funnier than all of you combined, so shut up.”, which made them burst out laughing at her nonchalant expression.

nari’s head bopped to the beat, she was so distracted by it that she didn’t even see seungkwan trying to get her attention. ‘drunk-dazed’ by enhypen was blasting her ears, the woman being unable to contain herself was dancing to her heart’s content. the boys laughed at her carefree attitude, dancing as if there was no one else there.

“HWANG NARI!”, seungkwan yelled in her face. “let’s start?”

startled she nodded, facing forward as mingyu stands behind her with the written word towards seungkwan only. everyone laughed as soon as they saw it, going crazy as they knew fans would love this specific part of the episode. the word ‘wedding’ was written in korea hadnwriting, seungkwan being open mouthed while trying to think of what to say.

“okay!”, he started. “ring!”, he shouted.

“RING!”, nari yelled out, receiving a nod from seungkwan and laughs from the other people present.

“woah, noona’s voice can get loud!”, vernon said impressed.

“special ring!”, the boy tried once again.

“oh!”, she thought. “OH! ENGAGEMENT!”

“OTHER WORD FOR THAT!”, seungkwan said enthusiastically.

“proposal?”, she wondered, receiving a head shake in response. “wedding?”, she said, getting an excited nod from her dongsaeng. “WEDDING! oh-“, she pouted. “i miss cheollie now.”

the staff cooed at her, the boys either rolling their eyes or booing her words. nari just shrugged, claiming ‘you are just jealous that you won’t get married like me’ which made them boo her even louder.

“HWANG NARI!”, seungkwan stressed. “PAY ATTENTION TO MY MOUTH!”

“i don’t think our leader is gonna like seungkwan’s words…”, jun wondered, which made everyone roar in laughter.

“YOU DON’T MAKE SENSE!”, nari yelled back. “i can’t hear you anyways…”

seungkwan sighed stressed, trying to keep himself sane while playing the game with her. mingyu laughed while holding the big card while silently asking if seungkwan wanted to pass the ‘yogurt’ word in which the youngest nodded in defeat. though, the next word made him smile big as he knew she would guess it right away.

“FAVORITE ICE CREAM!”, he yelled.

“MINE OR YOURS?”, nari yelled back.

the members were all slightly cringing from how loud the two were speaking, though they were being the funniest duo in the game. nari seemed unbothered at all times while seungkwan stressed over trying to make her understand what he wanted to say.

“YOURS!”

“oh.”, she thought. “i don’t have one tho…”

everyone bursted out laughing at that.

“THE ONE YOU EAT THE MOST!”, seungkwan tried once again.

“oh!”, she smiled happily. “cookies and cream.”

“right!”, seungkwan smiled. “now a cookie brand.”

“a what?”

“cookie,” he said slowly. “brand.”

nari scratched her head slightly as she thought of something to say. a sudden look of realization crossed her features as she stopped in her tracks, smiling big as she shouted out her answer. quick images of her cat flashing through her mind

“OREO!”, she jumped in her seat. “OREO! OREO!”

seungkwan nodded to her and was ready to say she succeeded, though, right on cue the timer set off, indicating their time to invert positions had come. they quickly complied and seungkwan sighed out once at his new seat.

“god…”, he took his headphones off for a breather. “i feel like i just lost ten years of life…”

“well,” nari smiled sweetly at him, getting up to stand in front of him. “sorry not sorry an mianhaeseo mianhae~”, she started to sing and dance to itzy’s song, making everyone laugh once again.

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