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gemma-lemma · 3 years

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Flaming Hearts - A Nalu Fanfiction

Chapter two

When Lucy left her room the next morning, Natsu was leaning on the opposite wall already.

“Mornin’ princess.” He greeted and pushed himself off, casting a quick glance down her body while she did the same. While Lucy was wearing a navy-blue skirt and a white turtleneck, combined with white boots and a dark blue backpack, Natsu wore black jeans and a black sweater beneath his black leather jacket. Did he not know any other colours than those depressing tones?

“Good morning, Natsu.” She purred and started walking down the hall. “Were you standing there all night?”

Natsu chuckled and admitted. “No, I slept in a very comfortable bed in another wing of the estate.”

Lucy gave him a surprised look. Did that mean..? “But before you make any false assumptions, my partner was guarding your room at night, so don’t try anything in the future.” He crushed her hopes and gave her a wicked grin. He knew exactly what Lucy was thinking, and it irked her.

“Will you have breakfast with me, then?” She asked, trying to conceal her hopes by sounding as if she were up to something. She hated eating alone.

“Sadly, no. I’ve already eaten.” He said and glanced towards her as she stared strictly forward, lips pressed to a thin line. He wasn’t entirely sure how to interpret that reaction, but she gave him no further room to speculate.

“Then I will see you when I depart from the estate.” She pressed with a smile and turned around to face him one last time before entering the dining room and slamming the door behind her. Natsu looked at it baffled. Had he offended her?

During breakfast Lucy took out her phone and decided to check the Fairy Tail group chat.

Levy: What??! New bodyguards? Again?

Erza: How many more of those is your dad going to hire until he realizes that you’re able to get rid of them all?

Juvia: Lucy, be nice! Those poor guys don’t know yet what they’re dealing with.

Lucy: Then it’s time they found out, don’t you think?

The answer was almost immediate.

Juvia: But be a little nicer than you were with that Hibiscus guy from the Unicorn agency!

Levy: You mean Hibiki from Blue Pegasus?

Juvia: Yes, that one. How am I supposed to remember all their names? There were so many.

Erza: And there will be many more, so you better start remembering.

Lucy: Uhm, maybe not…

Levy: What do you mean?

Lucy: The new agency? They’re Strauss and Co. I met their boss, Mirajane Strauss, yesterday.

Erza: Strauss and Co.? Those are said to be the best! Mirajane is my absolute idol!

Juvia: What’s so interesting about her?

Erza: She was in the military before she started the agency, and from what I’ve heard the woman’s a beast! There was no mission she didn’t complete excellently, and she received loads of medals.

Levy: When she was such a great soldier, why’d she stop just to become a babysitter?

Erza: I’m not sure, they never really dropped the details. All I know is that her sister Lisanna was somehow involved, and that since Mirajane left the military, nobody has ever seen Lisanna again.

Lucy: You think she died?

Erza: I’m don’t know, but at this point I think it’s probable. But that was years ago.

Juvia: But Lucy, why did you say that maybe there wouldn’t come any more agencies?

Lucy: I’m hoping that if I just get Strauss and Co. to fail as spectacularly as possible, my father will realize that it’s useless and stop hiring bodyguards. They’re said to be the best, after all.

Levy: That sounds wicked.

Levy: You got a plan already or need some help?

Lucy: As a starter, I’m gonna start sneaking out and running away from them, beginning with Sting’s party. Oh, and I’ve got to introduce someone to you once we’re at the University.

Erza: That sounds interesting.

With a smile, Lucy put her phone away and stood up from the table. Just like before, Natsu was waiting right outside the room she was in, this time leaning next to the door.

“You ready?” He asked, and Lucy nodded. Together they walked out to the car and got in the backseat.

“We’re ready, Gajeel.” Natsu called and the driver, a man with long black hair, started the car.

“What happened to my usual driver?” Lucy asked curiously and watched Natsu lean back in his seat.

“We decided that it would be better if someone of our team would drive.” He said and watched out the window.

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Lucy smiled sweetly and scooted closer to the pink haired man.

“What can you tell me about your friends?” He asked instead of answering her question and pretended not to notice how she got closer still. Of course, he knew all about her friends, but maybe this would distract her from asking further questions he didn’t want her to know the answer to. Her previous driver had turned out to be in close contact with several very intrusive paparazzi.

“Well, there’s Levy, for one. Levy McGarden.” Lucy began listing them up and he was surprised about how willing to help she seemed. “She’s a total bookworm, we often exchange books that we liked reading. She’s really sweet, but also a bit of a shark. Once she finds something interesting, she will go beyond herself to find out everything about it.”

Levy McGarden was the daughter of a very famous publisher and a slightly less famous Instagram celebrity. She was in all probability as harmless as her babyface made her look. Her and Lucy had known each other since kindergarten.

“Then there’s Erza Scarlet. She’s been one of my best friends since middle school, and she loves strawberry cake. Probably would kill for a slice. She’s the mom friend of the group, and really nice.”

Natsu frowned. Erza Scarlet was the heir to Scarlet Inc., a company that sold cars. It seemed that her parents were, just like Lucy’s father, more interested in building an empire than raising their daughter, who early on started to rebel against their plans for her. She was versed in all kinds of fighting sports and taught self-defence via videos on social media. Natsu wasn’t all too sure if she was actually as sweet as Lucy said.

“And last but not least we have Juvia Lockser. Her Mother has this great fashion label, Loxar, and she herself wants nothing more than to become a designer like her one day. She’s really cool, like the friend you can go on rollercoasters with.” Lucy concluded, and Natsu raised his brows at the odd comparison.

Juvia Lockser had transferred to Lucy’s high school in eleventh grade, and they had spent the year as sworn enemies. Apparently because of some boy they had both had a thing for, but nothing had ever been confirmed. All he knew was that they ended eleventh grade with catfight and started twelfth grade as best friends.

“Are you telling me something about your team too or will I have to figure out everything by myself?” Lucy asked, now so close that their bodies were touching, and Natsu made the mistake of turning his head to look at her. Their faces were only centimetres apart anymore and she glanced seducingly down towards his lips, before her big brown eyes met his again. For the first time Lucy realized that his eyes were not just really dark but seemed to be actually black.

Natsu cleared his throat and tried to move closer to the door, but he was already pressed against it. There was no escape from Lucy’s attempts to…yeah, what was she even doing? Trying to seduce him? Yeah, that had to be it. He wasn’t entirely sure why she was trying to in the first place, though. Was she hoping for him to make a mistake because he was distracted or to give in to her advances and get fired for it?

“Well, uh,” He stammered and cleared his throat again. “Mirajane you already met. Then there’s Gajeel, our driver.”

“What’s Gajeel’s last name?” Lucy interrupted, and he gave her a startled look.

“His last name’s Redfox. My partner, who’s guarding your room at night, is called Gray Fullbuster, then there’s Cana Alberona, who takes care that extern locations are secure. You happy ‘bout that answer, princess?”

Lucy hummed while thinking it through. Little did Natsu know that those names would wander directly to Levy, who would crack her knuckles twice and then find out everything about the team there was to know.

“What’s your last name, Natsu?”

“Dragneel.”

“Natsu…Dragneel.” She repeated slowly, and a shiver ran down Natsu’s spine. He had to give it to her: She knew the game she was playing very well.

Suddenly, Lucy retreated back to her seat, and just as Natsu gave her a puzzled look, he saw that they were right in front of the University.

“You ready, love?” She asked and looked at him through her lashes. Natsu swallowed and nodded, shaking off all the insecurity she brought up in him. Two could play the game she was playing, and it was time for him to step onto the field.

“Ready when you are, princess.” He retorted and watched, as Gajeel opened her door for her before getting out himself and walking around the car. Lucy hadn’t bothered waiting up for him, but Gajeel still stood there smirking.

“Good luck with that one, Salamander. Seems like she’s got you by the balls.”

“Fuck you, Metalhead. At least I don’t have to play the driver.” He muttered and followed after his fake girlfriend, who just at that moment reached her friends in front of the stairs.

“The pink haired one?” Levy asked curiously, and Lucy nodded.

“He’s actually my bodyguard, but he’s acting like he’s my boyfriend in public, so it doesn’t seem that obvious that I’m protected.” She whispered and watched him approach. He even had a backpack slung over his shoulder that she hadn’t noticed before.

When he reached them, he laid an arm over Lucy’s shoulder and she smiled up at him sweetly.

“Guys, that’s Natsu, my boyfriend.” She introduced him and he raised his hand in a small wave.

“Nice to meet you, girls. Lucy’s told me already so much about you.”

“And those are Erza,” the red haired one who gave him the evil eye, “Juvia,” the one with the dark blue hair who just eyed him curiously, “And Levy.” The one with the light blue hair and the glasses, who gifted him an honest smile.

“So, Natsu,” Erza spoke and Lucy tried to push down her grin. “Where did you two meet?”

“At the bookstore. We were reaching for the same book and that’s when we first noticed each other.” He chuckled and scratched his neck, and the girls almost melted into his smile. That was actually a very sweet idea, Lucy thought, but they didn’t give up so soon. After all, her friends enjoyed playing Lucy’s games at least as much as she did.

“Oh, you like to read? What genres?” Levy questioned with shining eyes. If there was anyone in the world who loved reading more than Lucy, then it was Levy. Natsu feigned thinking for a second, when he was probably actually wondering what game the girls were playing. He was pretty sure that Lucy had told them the truth already.

“I think my favourite’s probably action, though I really like YA and Romance too. The book we reached for was romance, if I remember it right. Wasn’t it, Lucy?” He thought aloud and glanced down towards the blonde who gave a slight nod.

“Yeah, it was.”

“You know, I’ve gotta say, you’re kinda pretty. I’m sure I would’ve noticed you by now.” Juvia stated and smiled wickedly. “You don’t go to this University, do you?”

They were trying to corner him, Natsu realised. They were trying to make him make a mistake, and suddenly he was very thankful for Mirajane, who always insisted that he learned every last detail of his faux background story by heart and even practiced answering questions about it.

“Well, I’ve been going to this Uni for quite a while now, but I chose to attend via online lessons. I’ve always found those more practical anyways. But since I met Lucy I want to spend as much time with her as I can, and thus am going to come to Uni in person.” He smiled just as sweetly back and could see the exact moment Juvia decided to test his limits.

Lucy snuck her arm around his waist and said: “It’s pretty late already, I think we should go inside.”

The girls agreed, and so everyone went to their lessons.

Lucy took a seat at the back of the classroom and neatly laid out her laptop, a notebook and a biro pen in front of her. Natsu simply put his backpack to his feet and slouched back in his chair.

“Are you even going to pay attention?” Lucy asked curiously and propped her chin on her hand. Natsu nodded.

“Of course I am. Just not to your chemistry lesson.”

“It’s physics, actually.” Lucy gave him a sly smile.

“Ain’t gonna pay attention to that either.” He retorted and tried not to let his embarrassment show. He should have known that.

“Of course not.” Lucy teased and directed her attention to her professor.

During the lesson Natsu kept watching the students surrounding them like an eagle. He was aware of every movement, every glance in their direction.

When Lucy turned her attention back to him, at first, he didn’t even notice, too busy glaring down a fellow student who seemed to have a little crush on the blonde beauty. Determined to focus his attention back on her, Lucy inconspicuously pushed a pen towards the edge of the table. Natsu noticed it the moment it rolled off the edge of the table but was too slow to catch it.

“Whoopsie.” Lucy feigned surprise before leaning down to get the pen that had rolled under Natsu’s seat, knowingly invading his space. Startled, he tried to scoot a little away, but there was only so far he could go before falling off his chair.

“Found it.” Lucy looked up to him with a smile, still bowed over his lap, providing a great view of her cleavage. In that moment Natsu understood perfectly how Lucy had gotten rid of all her previous bodyguards. Either they quit because the teasing was too much, or they were fired because they had given in and walked right into her trap. And if they were actually professional enough to not be affected by how she acted, she would have found a way to prove them incompetent.

“Great.” Natsu pressed and let out a breath when she sat back up again. He needed to find a way to make her give up.

When they finally left the classroom, Lucy snuck her hand into Natsu’s and leaned into his side.

“Did you find the lesson interesting, love?” She purred and batted her lashes.

“Yes, it was quite the entertainment, princess. What did you like best?” He answered, smile dripping poison. Lucy sported a smug expression.

“The part where I dropped my pen.” She bit her lip, and Natsu finally had enough. He started walking faster, trailing Lucy after him by her hand. She almost stumbled, but as quickly as he had started, he pushed her into a janitor’s room and closed the door behind them.

“What-?” Lucy stuttered, but he immediately shut her up by pressing her against a wall. There was only a little red lamp that barely lighted the room, but she could see his glowing dark eyes clear as day.

“Listen up now, princess.” He growled, one arm propped to the wall above her head, leaning down right beside her ear. “I know exactly what you’re trying to do, and I don’t like it.”

“Oh, is that was dislike looks like, love?” She interrupted, having quickly recovered from the surprise. Natsu got closer, pressing a leg between hers, hoping to wipe some of that smugness off her face. He knew it failed tremendously the moment she put a hand on his chest.

“Yes, that’s what dislike looks like. I won’t fall for your games. I’ve read your files. I know exactly how you got rid of all those before me and let me tell you that I won’t follow them. The only way you’re getting rid of me is if someone puts a bullet in my head.” With the tiniest bit of self-satisfaction, he felt Lucy’s body react to his. She wasn’t as immune as she would have liked him to think, after all. Little goosebumps appeared on her neck and went down her spine, and instead of drawing circles with her fingers like before she grabbed his sweater as her breathing got heavier. Natsu leaned back a little, just enough to look her in the widened eyes. She looked at him like a deer in headlights.

But then she grabbed his sweater tighter, and though still breathing heavily, she bit her lip and smirked. “I know where daddy keeps the guns, love.”

Natsu narrowed his eyes, trying not to let his exasperation show. How the fuck could he intimidate her if not like that?

Letting out an irritated breath, he retreated from her, and watched how she almost slipped down the wall. Looked like someone had gotten weak knees, huh?

Natsu rolled his eyes and grabbed her by the hand as soon as her knees seemed steady enough to carry her again and pulled her out of the room and to her next class.

SATURDAY

Lucy was humming while putting on her make up. She hadn’t managed to get another reaction out of Natsu for the entire week and was now determined to not let this evening flop. She had eaten about two hours before and had officially already gone to bed. It worried her a little that Natsu had known about her sneaking out in the past but she calmed her nerves by reminding herself that, in fact, everyone knew about it. That had been the whole point – to be seen and get rid of another useless team of bodyguards.

When her lipstick finally seemed to have the perfect angle, she thoughtfully eyed the cylindrical box that sat on the counter next to the sink. It was opened, and in it there was a bright pink wig Lucy usually used to sneak out and be unseen. She was still debating with herself whether or not to wear it. Did she want to be unseen or did she want to let people know she was there right away?

Carefully taking the wig out she chose the first option, thinking about remaining incognito until later at night so that her bodyguards couldn’t have a chance to crash the party earlier than she wanted them to.

When everything was finally at the right place, she picked up her phone and threw a last checking look in the mirror. The black dress she was wearing barely reached to her mid-thighs, and the v-neckline was quite revealing too. Her high heels would already have killed her feet by the time they reached the club, but she didn’t care. All Lucy cared about was that she looked smoking hot and hardly recognizable with the hot pink wig that reached straight to her shoulders. It even had bangs.

Levy: We’ll be there in ten, Lu. Same spot as always?

Lucy: Of course. See you.

To climb out the window, Lucy took her shoes off again, not wanting to fall and break her neck, and as she snuck her way through a small passage in the garden and then through that part of the bushes, knowing no one from the estate would be able to see her, she kept them dangling from her fingers. Last but not least she finally reached the gate for the delivery men and snuck through it with a security card she had stolen some time ago while seducing one.

Finally taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the fresh night air.

“Man, how I love being right.” A raspy voice broke her out of her peace, and she jolted around to see Natsu leaning on the wall, grinning cockily.

“How- how did you know?” Lucy stuttered, trying to register what was happening just now. Damn it! Natsu pushed himself off the wall and slowly started walking towards her.

“As I said before, I know about how you got rid of all the others. Doing the necessary research about what way you could get off the property so easily made me genuinely worried about the laziness of your previous bodyguards.” He explained and stood still right in front of her. Lucy swallowed hard and watch as he raised a hand to twirl a pink lock around his finger. “Nice wig, by the way. I was already wondering if you went out to just get some fun, too.”

Trying to recollect her thoughts, Lucy pushed his hand off and bowed down to put her shoes back on. She didn’t see how Natsu averted his eyes from her very revealing pose, but she sure hoped he did. When she stood back upright, she was almost as tall as him.

“So, what’s the plan now, love?” She asked and narrowed her eyes at him.

He sent her a knowing smirk. “I’m gonna bring ya back to your room and save mine and Mira’s asses. You are gonna come with me without a fight and nicely go to sleep as you announced almost three hours ago you would.”

Lucy scoffed. “And what if I won’t come with you?”

“I have no problem picking you up and carrying you, princess.”

Debating her chances of getting away from him in that kind of situation, Lucy frowned. Eventually, she raised her hands in defeat. “I don’t wanna go back. I still want to have a night out with my friends.”

“Hah, no. You’re going home.” Natsu said coldly.

“Please, I can never have some fun! And they’re already on their way here.” She pleaded and watched as his cold façade slowly started to melt.

“No, no fucking way. You’re not going to some party just because you don’t like your life, princess. Out of the question, your friends are gonna have to turn around.”

“Please, Natsu! Let me go and I swear that I’ll be nice. Don’t take this away from me too.” Lucy boldly laid her hands on top of his crossed arms and he glanced down for only a moment before sending her a warning glare.

“You’re gonna stay by my side, you hear me? The first time I can’t see you for more than three seconds will be the moment we go home.” He instructed gruffly and opened up his arms so her hands would fall off. Instead, she darted forward and threw her arms around his neck to embrace him in a tight hug.

“Thanks, Natsu! You’re the greatest!” She cheered, genuinely grateful but none the less already thinking of some kind of plan B.

#lucy heartfilia #Juvia Lockser #natsu dragneel #Mirajane Strauss #Levy McGarden #gajeel redfox #cana alberona #fairy tail #fairy tail fanfiction #bodyguardau #erza scarlett

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jilytho · 4 years

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Nah, She Didn’t

The seven times Sirius Black said “nah, she didn’t” about James and Lily. Read below or here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26399692

Third year

“James!” Sirius shouted as he walked in his dorm and saw his best mate sitting on his bed, head in hands. “Where were you? We’ve been waiting for you in the library for an hour to work on the map.” Sirius shoved him over so he could sit alongside him.

“Sorry, I forgot,” James said, refusing to look up from his hands. Sirius scoffed at him, “no way you forgot, what the ruddy hell were you doing?”

“I erm I ran into Evans,” James fidgeted, slowly meeting Sirius’ eyes. “I was just trying to be friendly but she was with Snivellus and he said some shite and I hexed him without thinking and er, she yelled pretty loud.” James was running his hands through his hair, dejected.

“Nothing new there mate, Evans has a permanent stick in her arse and Snivellus is a git. Still not seeing the issue.”

James looked down again, pulling at his fingernails. “She said she hated me, Sirius. She hates me. I tried to apologize but she wouldn’t listen,” James mourned, looking like a kicked puppy, “she meant it, she really hates me.”

Sirius looked at his pathetically upset friend, all spun out over a dumb girl. He deserved better than that. Still, he spoke with a gentle tone, “Nah, she didn’t mate. She didn’t mean it.” He stood up and reached out a hand to help James up, “let's get to the kitchens, slice of pie might cheer you up”

Fourth Year - September

“Potter, Evans”

“Black, McGregor”

McGonagall had it with James and Sirius being partners in class. Apparently it wasn’t “appropriate” to practice their transfiguration studies by changing all the clocks in the school into toads that would ‘ribbit’ on the hour. The two were separated and while Sirius was genuinely upset to be separated from his best mate and paired with a brown nosing Hufflepuff, James seemed delighted with his new partner. He tried to look all dejected along with Sirius when he said “oh bad luck mate” but Sirius wasn’t stupid. He saw the joy and hope shining in his eyes as he slid his stuff onto the desk next to Evans. Saw the beaming smile he gave her, and was surprised by the small one she returned him with.

Throughout class he watched as Evans took notes, hand bumping James’ every once in a while. He watched her head lean towards his and whisper something to him, saw her giggle lightly at whatever James responded with. Saw the blush light up the back of her neck and her ears when McGonagall shot them a look that clearly said, ‘shut it’.

As he packed up his stuff at the end of class, he watched Evans say goodbye to James and actually, really smile at him, as she walked away.

“Sirius! Mate, did you see that? Did you see her smile at me? She was being so nice to me! She actually smiled!” James looked dumbfounded as he jogged to Sirius’s desk, eyes stuck on the door Lily had just disappeared through.

“Nah, she didn’t. You’re seeing things.” Sirius threw his bag over his shoulder and ignored the disappointed look on James’ face.

Fourth Year - December

“Sirius, Sirius!” James panted, sprinting up to the Gryffindor table.

Sirius just stared at him as James leaned over, pressing his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

“Can I help you, James?” he drew out slowly.

“I just found a note in my rucksack inviting me to meet a secret admirer in the broom cupboard next to the Trophy Room!” James thrust the scrap of parchment towards Sirius. “Look at it! Look at the writing! Doesn’t it look like how Lily writes?? Do you think she sent it? She must have slipped it in during Transfiguration!”

Sirius looked back and forth between the parchment and James red, elated face, before his attention got pulled over to the Hufflepuff table, where Veronica Lepore and Elizabeth Green kept giggling and looking over at James and Sirius. When Sirius caught them staring, Veronica flushed scarlet and almost fell out of her chair.

“Nah, James, she didn’t. I reckon it may have been one of those two,” he pointed over at the Hufflepuffs. Veronica smiled brilliantly and twiddled her fingers at James in a meant to be flirty wave.

“Bad luck mate,” he watched the excitement dry out of James’ eyes. “Hey! Still exciting! She’s pretty fit.”

Fifth Year

After the incident James looked more miserable than Sirius had ever seen him. He was pacing back and forth across the dormitory, trying to pull his hair out. Sirius laid across his bed, watching him pace, playing with a quaffle. “Did you hear her, Sirius? Rather go out with the giant squid. I know I’m not perfect but at least I’m not slimy! I thought her and I were getting somewhere. We’ve barely fought all term, I don’t understand. She didn’t mean that, right? Just something she said mad?” James looked at him desperately.

“Nah, James, she didn't,” Sirius said in a monotone, throwing the quaffle up in the air. James kept pacing and muttering about Evans and giant squids and Sirius rolled his eyes and began to tune him out. Evans was fit enough but she was bloody annoying, definitely not worth the daily headache he got listening to James drone on about her. Time for him to move on.

Sixth year

After Sirius spent the first two weeks of term prodding, James finally asked out Camila Evington, a fit seventh year Ravenclaw. She seemed to like James and was fit, smart, and a decent enough chaser. She should’ve been a perfect fit for James but he took so much convincing to ask her out. He wouldn’t say why but Sirius knew it was Evans. It was always Evans.

Still after Camila had blatantly flirted with him, James asked her to Hogsmeade and they’d been together for a few weeks leaving Sirius with a so far Evans free term. That is until Slughorn decided that Sirius could “benefit from working with a more knowledgeable peer” as his potions partner and separated him and Peter to put him with Evans. He had zero interest in working with her. He had never really had an issue with her before, never really spoke to her, but the way James had gone on about her hair and her brain made him want to never look at her again.

He nodded at her when she moved her stuff to join him at his table, “Evans.”

“Black” she nodded back, looking almost as pleased as him with their new seating arrangement.

They worked in almost total silence, brewing their Pepperup Potion and working fairly well as a team. Evans was just starting to carefully add the correct number of salamander blood drops when Sirius came back from the supply shelf with their mandrake root, tripped over the stool next to her, and slammed into Evans’ back, causing her to pour over half the vial into the cauldron. The potion immediately began to bubble, reacting to the overdose of salamander blood and turning a nasty, incorrect shade of blue instead of the light pink shade it was meant to be at this stage. Sirius braced himself for the inevitable scolding he was going to get from Evans, and subsequent detentions he expected Slughhorn to give him for messing up the Perfect Prefects’ potion. Apologies were on the tip of his tongue as he walked around the table, carefully avoiding the stool this time, to face her head on. “Ah buggering hell, I’m sorry Evans. Is it totally ruined?”

She looked up at him and surprised him completely by actually smirking at him. Smirking. Lily Evans, smirking. “Yeah I reckon it's pretty done for. Wanna pour some eye of newt in there as well and see if it explodes?”

His jaw dropped, eyes widened to see if she was messing with him and just waiting to call Slug over when he saw her actually start reaching for the Eye of Newt.

“Hell yeah, Evans. Lets do it” he smirked right back at her.

Later, walking out of the class, Remus caught up to him. “I saw your Pepperup was completely the wrong color, did Lily chew you out for it?”

“Why would it be my fault that the potion was wrong? Couldn’t it have been Evans fault?” Sirius said in mock offense.

“Um no,” Remus rolled his eyes. “Lily is brilliant at potions. You, on the other hand, never have the patience to actually follow the instructions. Stop avoiding the question, did she really give it to you?” he looked gleeful at the idea of him being reamed out by Evans.

“Nah, she didn’t,” Sirius said softly. It seems he may have misjudged Evans slightly. Remus looked disappointed for a second before moving on, but Sirius continued to think about Lily for the rest of the afternoon. Seems she actually might be worth the headache.

Seventh Year

Things had been different this year. Ever since being potions partners, Lily and Sirius were friendly. More than friendly, they were actual friends. Even weirder still, James and Lily had become friends. Camila and James had broken up after only 2 and a half weeks of dating for seemingly no reason, but Sirius didn’t rib James nearly as much as James had expected. He actually supported it.

James had become Head Boy, ridiculous and absurd, but it meant more time around Lily which Sirius honestly didn’t mind. If anything, he encouraged it. He was glad they were friends, truly, and even gladder that being friends stopped James from inanely blathering on and on about her.

Things had all been good until a seemingly normal Thursday night. Sirius was lying in bed, reading Quidditch Weekly while pretending to be writing his Muggle Studies essay that he would just copy from Moony later. Peter and Remus were getting snacks from the kitchen and James had been out on patrols with Lily. The door opened quietly and James walked in dumbly. Footsteps heavy, arms seemingly forgetting how to move, his entire face and neck covered in a flush. His eyes were bright and it looked like he’d either been hit over the head with something or hit with a particularly strong stunning spell.

“James?” Sirius said cautiously, sitting up slightly. James didn’t respond but instead just sat down on his bed across from Sirius’, continuing to stare forward dumbly, “James, what happened?”

This sparked James to turn and meet his eye. His hair was even messier than usual.

“She kissed me,” he said softly, as if he almost didn’t believe it himself.

“I’m sorry, she what?” Sirius spoke loudly now, sitting all the way up.

“Lily,” he said simply, “we were saying goodnight after patrols when she just, she just kissed me. And then she just walked away. She kissed me.” James touched his lips at that, like he could still feel it.

“Nah, she didn’t,” Sirius shook his head at him. “No way, mate.”

“Sirius. She kissed me!” It seemed like Sirius’s disagreement woke him out of his stupor because he suddenly shot up and tackled Sirius back down into his bed, screaming “She kissed me!”

Years later

Sirius sat across from his godson. A brilliant boy made of all the best pieces of his two best friends. A boy who remembered so little of the people who loved him most.

“How come she married him?” Harry asked miserably. “She hated him!”

Sirius felt his heart break. How wrong this poor boy was. He couldn’t make himself explain all the ways Harry was wrong so he settled for the simplest explanation he could offer.

“Nah, she didn’t,” said Sirius.

#James Potter #Lily Evans #jily #My writing #mywriting #fic #fanfic #sirius black

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superfreakerz · 4 years

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IJR 2

Forgot to post this here, so here it is.

“It’s Just Research”

Rated M for smut.

Summary: AU. After having her smut-filled story criticized for being amateurish, Lucy decides once and for all it’s time to gain some experience in the world of sex. Her best friend, Natsu, agrees to help her with her research. Together, the two explore each other’s bodies, all the while denying their feelings for each other and insisting that they are just doing research.

Read earlier chapters on FF.net

Chapter 2

Aftermath

Lucy glanced at the alarm clock by her bed, wincing when she found that it was already two in the afternoon. It was Saturday, a whole week after she and Natsu had taken each other's virginities. Since then, she hadn't seen or heard from him since. Or anyone else in the gang for that matter since she had different classes from everyone.

Since that night, Lucy hadn't been able to bring herself to talk to Natsu. She couldn't even see the color pink without thinking of him and the scandalous touches he left on her skin- which was quite annoying since her room was covered in pink. She didn't want to think of that night, for it made her nervous.

She didn't know what was wrong with her. She wanted it and she loved it. It felt amazing and her body tingled every time she remembered his touch. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to face him.

Did he regret it? Did he only agree because he was drunk too? Was she bad at it? Questions like those plagued her mind. She was worried that despite her promise to him, their actions may have altered their friendship forever, and she didn't feel ready to deal with the aftermath.

Lucy's ears perked as there was a sudden knock at the front door. Dragging herself out of bed, she threw on a fluffy robe over her pajamas and quickly ran to answer the door. Hoping it wasn't Natsu on the other side, the girl took a deep breath before swinging the door open to find Levy instead.

"Levy-chan?" Lucy asked, surprised to see her there. "What's up? Is something wrong?"

"That's what I was going to ask you," Levy replied, her lips curled into a slight frown. "Can I come in?"

Lucy- despite wanting to say no in fear of Levy somehow finding out her secret with Natsu- nodded and stepped aside to let her friend in. The two sat on the couch, Lucy hugging a couch pillow and playing with the material in hopes of distracting herself.

"So… is something wrong?" Levy asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Cmon Lu-Chan. We haven't seen or heard from you in a week. You keep dodging my calls and you haven't been to Fairy Tail. Did something happen?"

Her night with Natsu replayed in her heard. She could almost feel his fingertips warming her skin as he grazed them along her body.

"Nope. Nothing in particular," Lucy answered, swallowing thickly. She could feel her face warming at the thought of Natsu.

Levy gave a skeptical look but didn't question her about it. "Why don't you come to Fairy Tail with me then? Everyone else is already over there."

"E-Everyone?"

Levy arched a brow. "Yeah, everyone. We all miss you. Now can you please come with me?"

Lucy fiddled with her fingers before sighing softly. "Yeah, I'll come. Just give me a minute to get ready."

As Lucy got ready, her anxiety grew. She was scared to see Natsu, but she promised him that she wouldn't let what happened ruin their friendship, so she was going to try her best to keep that promise.

After getting ready, the two headed for Fairy Tail. Fairy tail was a local pub run by the Strauss siblings. Lucy was particularly close to Mira, the oldest sibling and boss of the place. It was a popular place among all in Magnolia, filled with rowdy people of all ages.

As they approached the grand doors of Fairy Tail, Lucy took a deep breath before following Levy inside. She kept her eyes glued on the floor, her nerves getting the best of her. Reaching the table, she gulped, sweat dripping down the back of her neck.

"Lucy! Where have you been? It's been forever!" she heard Gray exclaim.

"Sorry guys, I've just been caught up with something," Lucy replied, sliding into the booth next to Levy. She kept her eyes glued to the table. She could feel someone's gaze boring into her, and she didn't have to lift her head to know who it was.

"Caught up? With what?" Erza asked.

"Oh you know, the usual. Studying, writing, the usual."

"Oh are you writing a new story? We usually don't see you for a week whenever you start a new one."

"Yep! That's what I was doing!"

"What's this one about?" Jellal asked.

"Uhh… That's a secret." Before anyone could question her any further, Lucy asked, "So what about you guys? Anything new happen while I was gone?"

Gajeel nodded his head toward Natsu. "That's what we've been trying to figure out for the last half hour now. It's obvious something's up with him, but he won't tell us anything. Even Erza couldn't convince him to tell her anything."

Lucy's eyes involuntarily peeked up towards Natsu, whose gaze was now glued to the table, obviously not a fan of where the conversation headed thanks to Gajeel. His cheeks were dusted pink, his lips tugged into a frown. As Lucy stared at him, she couldn't help but wonder what was going on inside his head.

"Now that you're here, you can drag it out of him," Gray said, catching her attention.

She moved her gaze onto the raven-haired boy. "W-What?"

"Well if Erza couldn't get him to 'fess up, then you're our only hope."

Lucy faltered. It was true. Whenever something was on Natsu's mind, she was the group's representative sent to figure out what it was and to cheer him up because she was usually the only one he confided in. It wasn't that he didn't trust the others, it was just that he didn't like opening up about such things and only preferred to do it with her. In truth, it made her feel special.

"Well, uhh, maybe we should stop questioning him about it. I'm sure he'll open up when he's ready," Lucy said. After all, she had a pretty good idea as to what was on his mind, and she did not want the group to know about it. Not now and maybe not ever.

The group shared a glance.

"Uhh, okay," Gray replied, having not expected that answer.

Finally, the group broke up into separate conversations, giving Lucy a moment of relief. It was hard to keep such a big secret from them, especially the girls. She promised them long ago that she would tell them everything once she lost her virginity, but now that it was with Natsu, she had to keep her lips sealed.

Peeking at Natsu in the corner of her eye, she found that he was still staring at the table, not even paying attention to the conversations around him. The air around them was so thick, it felt like she was going to suffocate.

Standing up from the table, Lucy wordlessly headed towards the bar in desperate need of a breath of fresh air- air that wasn't around Natsu. As always, Mira was manning the bar with her signature cheery smile.

"Hi, Lucy," she greeted, grabbing a large cup. "Want your usual?"

"Yes please," the blonde replied with a grateful smile.

The two idly chatted while Mira made her a strawberry milkshake, spraying a mountain's worth of whipped cream on top.

Lucy thanked the other girl for the milkshake, reaching into her pocket to grab her wallet when Mira stopped her.

"This one's on the house," she stated with a wink.

Lucy tilted her head to the side. "Really? Why? Is there some sort of promotional deal going on?"

"Nope. I could tell something was troubling you the moment you stepped in, so I thought I would try to cheer you up a bit."

"Oh, Mira, I'm fine! Here, let me pay!"

"Nope! I already said it's on the house, now shoo!"

Lucy smiled at the older girl. "Thank you, Mira."

"You're welcome, Lucy. I hope whatever it is gets resolved soon."

With a wave, Lucy headed back to the table, where everyone was still wrapped up in their conversations. That is, until they saw her drink.

"Oh great, something's bugging you too?" Gajeel asked, his gaze directed at her.

"What do you mean?" Lucy replied.

"You only get extra whipped cream whenever you're upset or something," Gray elaborated.

Lucy's mouth parted. They all noticed that small detail about her? They weren't just her closest friends for nothing.

"Hurry up and tell us who did it," Gajeel said. Lucy shivered at the threatening glint in his crimson eyes, knowing that if she were to tell him someone had wronged her, he would personally handle it in a way that left someone in a hospital. That was just how their group worked. They would pay someone back tenfold if they were to hurt one of them.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about," the girl insisted. "I just felt like having more whipped cream today!"

"Oh bullshit! First Salamander and now you? What's up with all the secrets!?"

"Lucy, you know you can tell us anything," Erza added.

"I know, but-"

"No but's. If something is on your mind, you should let it out and we'll listen. That's what friends are for."

Lucy ran a hand through her hair. She felt the urge to look over to Natsu, but she resisted. She knew that her friends would definitely pick up on the small action if she did.

She thought about telling them. She did promise the girls to tell them when she lost her virginity. Not only that, but maybe this would give her a chance to let Natsu know how she felt about the whole thing- though in truth, she still wasn't totally sure how she felt yet. All she had to do was alter a few details because she still wasn't comfortable with them knowing about her and Natsu.

"Okay, fine," Lucy said with a sigh. "You got me." She could feel Natsu's gaze whip towards her.

"Spit it out already!" Gajeel barked.

"Alright, alright! Sheesh!" She narrowed her eyes at them. "But you have to promise to keep your voices down when I tell you!"

"We promise!" Levy replied for all of them.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy thought back to that fateful night. She pictured Natsu's hands roaming her body, his hot lips grazing her flesh.

"I, uhh…" Glancing around the room to make sure nobody was listening, she lowered her voice to a whisper and continued, "I lost my virginity."

In an instant, everyone's eyes grew to the size of golf balls and their jaws dropped.

Erza's face in particular matched her hair as she sputtered, "Y-You had sex?"

Lucy buried her face in her hands and nodded. "Yeah, I did."

Gray furrowed his brows as he glanced towards Natsu. His face was scrunched up and his lips were pulled into a straight line.

"Lucy must've already told him," Gray thought, feeling sorry for him. He'd long since known about Natsu's feelings for Lucy. Hell, he probably knew about them before Natsu did. "He must've been devastated when Lucy told him, and that's why he's like this."

"Wait, who the hell did you have sex with?" Gajeel asked, clearly on the same page as Gray.

Lucy made sure to keep her gaze straight as she lied, "It was just some guy."

"Just some guy!?" Levy asked. "What do you mean just some guy!?"

"Just some guy I met."

"Where?"

"Uhh, on one of those apps."

"Lucy! Is that really how you wanted it to happen?" Erza asked.

Lucy furrowed her brows. "People do it all the time, why can't I?"

"Because you always talked about how you wanted it to happen! You said you were waiting to find the love of your life first!"

"Well, I got tired of waiting, okay? And I didn't want my inexperience to affect my writing anymore."

Juvia frowned. "Oh, Lucy, did you do it because of what we said about your story?"

Lucy tore her eyes away. "Maybe. Look, it doesn't matter why I did it. The point is, I did. And that's why I've been a little M.I.A."

"Why? Was it bad?" Levy asked. "Was he not attentive or gentle?"

"No, no! It's not that at all!" Lucy answered, shaking her head. It was embarrassing to talk about it, especially with the boys, but it was also relieving to get off her chest. And it was also nice to be able to tell Natsu what she felt without having to tell him directly. "The sex was great. Amazing."

Levy frowned as she asked, "Then what's bothering you? Do you regret doing it with him?"

Lucy heard a sharp intake of breath and couldn't help but glance towards Natsu. Her eyes met his, and she could tell he was wondering the same question.

Tearing her eyes away, Lucy shook her head.

"I don't regret it at all," she answered, her voice steady and her gaze firm. "It was a little embarrassing at first, but I don't regret a single thing that happened that night. In fact…"

She replayed the night over in her head, her cheeks set ablaze. As she was voicing her thoughts aloud, she finally understood what it was she was feeling. She felt nervous- nervous that Natsu didn't feel the same way about that night.

Because she wanted to do it again.

She wanted to feel his fingers against her skin, his lips on hers. She wanted all of him again and again. Thoughts about their night kept invading her mind and driving her body crazy, and she had a feeling they would continue to do so until she acted on her urges again.

"In fact," Lucy repeated, dragging her finger around the rim of her glass, "if he wanted, I would be more than willing to do it again."

Natsu's eyes widened, his mouth hanging open. His whole body felt like it was on fire, some of it shooting down to his pants. Burying his face in his scarf, he hid the grin that was taking over his face, not wanting the group to see it in fear that they would unravel Lucy's lies.

"So, yeah. That's about it," Lucy said with a shrug. Taking a sip of her milkshake, she hoped the cold drink would help cool off her body.

Juvia squealed, clasping her hands together. "Lucy, you're glowing!"

The blonde cocked her head to the side. "Glowing?"

"Yeah! Lucy is in love!"

The girl choked on her milkshake, spitting it out onto the table. "L-Love!?"

"Yes! Juvia has an eye for these things! It was love at first sight for Lucy, just like it was for Juvia!"

"I-I wouldn't go that far…" Lucy replied, tugging on the hem of her sweater. She hoped Juvia didn't give Natsu the wrong idea. She wasn't in love with Natsu. He was her best friend! She just wouldn't mind having a few benefits on the side if he was willing.

Meanwhile, Natsu couldn't deny the soft blow to his heart upon hearing Lucy's subtle denial. Still, he couldn't help but feel happy with what she said earlier.

"Anyways, it's been fun catching up with you guys, but as you know, midterms are coming up and I've got some more studying to do," Lucy said as she rose up from her seat.

"Wait! Before you go, can we see a picture of this guy!?" Levy asked.

"Nope!"

"Can we at least know his name!?"

Lucy chuckled, shaking her head. "Sorry, Levy-chan! That information is classified. Bye now!"

Before the group could bombard her with more questions, Lucy bolted for the door.

Three hours passed when Lucy felt a gust of wind wash over her back as she sat at her desk. She didn't need to turn around to know that her window had been opened, and that the soft sounds coming from the window were from none other than the boy who invaded her thoughts for the past week.

Warmth traveled through her body, the space between her thighs tingling with excitement as she heard Natsu stop just behind her. His abnormal body heat washed over her, sending a shiver down her spine as she thought of him closing the space between them.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to break into my apartment?" Lucy teased, thanking the heavens she didn't stutter. She still hadn't turned to face him, not wanting him to see the blush on her face.

"How many times do I have to tell you to lock the window if you don't want me breakin' in?" Natsu replied, his voice sending another shiver down her spine. Oh what she would give to have those lips against her again.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy swiveled the chair around to face Natsu, though with her sitting in the chair, her eyes were met with his toned abs instead. Gulping, the girl forced herself to meet his eyes, heat rushing to her cheeks as she pictured what was just below the hem of his pants.

"Hey, Natsu," Lucy squeaked. Clearing her thought, she brought her voice back down to its normal pitch. "W-What are you doing here?"

Natsu's lips straightened as he stared her down.

"Is it true?"

Lucy arched a brow. "Is what true?"

Natsu rubbed the back of his head awkwardly while nudging her carpet with the tip of his shoe. He suddenly whipped his head towards her, his onyx orbs gleaming with fierce resolve.

"Is it true that you don't regret what we did?" he asked. "Or were you just saying that earlier so they would get off your back?"

"Oh. Well I meant it," Lucy replied. "And I hope you don't regret it either."

"I don't!" Natsu exclaimed. Realizing his outburst, he ducked his face behind his scarf to hide his enthusiasm.

Still, he couldn't hide it from Lucy.

The girl blushed, clearing her throat and turning back towards her desk. She pretended to read through her notebook, absentmindedly flipping pages and moving her finger along the lines.

"Did you mean the other thing too?"

Her finger stopped, her eyes growing wide.

Slowly swiveling back around, she played with a lock of hair while swallowing thickly.

"M-Maybe," she replied meekly. "That is, if you want to, I mean."

"Do you want to?" Natsu asked.

"You tell me, I asked first!"

"No you didn't! I did!"

"No, your exact words were 'that is, if you want to.' Not a question, so I win!"

Lucy crosses her arms with a huff. "Well I want to, okay?" Realizing the words that slipped past her, she slapped her hands over her mouth. "I-I mean, we only did it once, so I'm still pretty inexperienced. I need to learn more if I really want to improve my writing."

"Oh, yeah. Your writing, of course," Natsu replied, nodding along. "And you do wanna be a famous author someday, so we can't let your writing be amateurish, right? What kinda best friend would I be if I didn't help you with your dream?"

"Exactly! So it's not weird for us to do this, right?"

"Not at all!"

The two broke eye contact, instead opting to stare at opposite walls as they laughed nervously.

"Well, let's set some ground rules if we're really going to do this," Lucy said, cupping her chin in thought. "First, we have to acknowledge that this is simply for my writing, that's it." After what Juvia said earlier, she couldn't risk Natsu getting the wrong idea. Not that he felt that way about her anyways, but just to be safe.

"Okay," Natsu replied, ignoring the punch to his gut he felt from her words. "I have a rule. If either one of us wants to stop, we have to tell the other person."

"Sounds good to me." Though she hoped he wouldn't want to stop anytime soon. "And most importantly, we can't let this ruin our friendship no matter what. If it seems like it's affecting our friendship, we call it quits. Got it?"

Natsu nodded. "Sounds good."

He held his hand out towards her, to which she accepted. They shook hands, solidifying their set of rules.

"So…" Natsu started, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Wanna go get some food?"

Lucy grinned. "Ooh yes! I'm starving!"

"Good! You're paying!"

"What!? No way! I paid last time!"

"No you didn't! I did!"

As the two bickered their way out of Lucy's apartment, their pact slipped their minds. In the moment, they were just two best friends, same as ever. Little did they know what the future had in store for them.

#fairy tail #nalu #lucy heartfilia #natsu dragneel #nalu fanfiction #ftfanfiction #ijr #its just research #super writes

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the-cursed-prince-au · 4 years

Text

The Cursed Prince AU Novel: Chapter 5

The Cursed Prince AU Novel

Written By: Kieri (@blazian_scribbles)

Co-written By: Aayden (@Artistiarc)

Edited By: Ava(@askewdoodles), Melany (@nonsense.socialite)

Chapter 5: No duh Sherlock

The scent of the cottage was the first thing that caught Logan off-guard. It smelled strongly of tropical and floral fruits, spices and herbs, but also had an industrial chemical tinge. He walked in the darkness for longer than he thought he should have, only being guided by the sound of footsteps in front of him. Despite what Roman had said, he did feel something that day. Unfortunately, it wasn’t an emotion. It was Roman. Even better, the back of Roman’s head hit him straight on the nose.

“Ow ow ow.”

“Ah, that hurt! Watch where you're going!” The knight's voice echoed around in the dark.

“It’s pitch black, how do you expect me to do that.”

“I don’t know I thought you were good at everything.”

“Roman we are not having this argument right now. Keep walking,” commanded Logan.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“There’s a door.”

“Then open it.”

“Wow! I didn’t think of that!” Roman sarcastically spat.

“Fine, then let me through. I’ll do it.”

“Good luck with that.”

Logan shoved Roman behind him in the dark. He put his hands forward to feel the door blocking their way. He slid his hand up and down, trying to find a handle. While he patted down the wood, Roman rubbed the back of his head.

“So who was that guy?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh, is that the person we’re looking for?”

“No. I suppose there are two people in this cottage I don’t know.” Logan completed his search of the door, concluding, “There’s doesn’t seem to be a handle.”

“No duh Sherlock.”

Logan rolled his eyes. He knocked on the door, listening.

“The wood is pretty thin. Let’s try breaking the door down.”

“Now look who’s using brute force.”

“Roman.”

“Fine, move aside.” After some shuffling, Roman was back in front. “Move back so I can get a running start.”

“I wouldn’t do that.”

“Well I don’t care, so move.”

Logan moved back a good distance from the entrance. Roman took a deep breath then started running towards the door, shouting a war cry and everything. Logan could hear his armor clanking with every step. As the knight charged toward the door, Logan noticed a slimmer of light.

“Wait-”

Before the knight can slam his shoulder into the wooden frame, the door swung open, the hallway flooded with light. Roman ran straight through the opening into a big open space. His eyes, which had adjusted to the dark, were suddenly exposed to a very well lit room. He squinted from the light and tripped, landing very hard on his shoulder.

“Ah ouch!”

Logan also emerged into the laboratory, except he was shielding his eyes from the light and walking calmly.

“Wow…” His admiration of science and magic was clear on his face as he looked at the bubbling beakers and boiling cauldrons. A familiar sound of a door slamming closed made him turn around to see the same person from outside, giggling.

“Hon, that was too easy.” The poorly dressed trickster walked over to the knight on the floor. Roman was biting his lip so hard it started to bleed. “I hope you're not mad, we just don’t get too many new guys to prank.”

Through his pursed lips, he forced a smile.

“Who’s ever been hurt by a little joke?”

Logan restrained himself from listing off horrible accidents that were pranks gone wrong. He couldn’t help noticing Roman clutching his shoulder and the beads of sweat on his forehead.

“Right? The old man always tells me it ‘drives the customers away’, but I blame that part on the firebugs.”

Logan approached the person crouching by Roman, arms crossed.

“Right, the firebugs. So you knew you had an infestation and you didn’t report it to the local authorities?”

The man stood up, hands in surrender.

“Hey look, honey, I just got back a couple of hours ago. I only came to restock my travel cart but luckily I heard you two and opened the door. What are you, an old married couple?”

He walked over to a shelf filled with a green liquid of every shade packaged in jars.

“Do you want your anti-anti-aging spell? I can ring you up for it right now, no refunds for the previous potion.”

Logan returned to his blank demeanor in front of the stranger.

“That won’t be necessary, these are our real ages.”

From the floor, Roman chipped in.

“Besides, if I was married to that prick I would have asked for a divorce potion.”

Logan almost broke his emotionless expression with an eye roll.

“Don’t mind him.”

The potion seller smiled and leaned on the counter.

“Well if you're not here for the potion, then I think you're in the wrong place hon. I couldn’t help but overhear your argument, and we don’t sell dragon adoption papers.”

Roman wasn’t concerned with keeping a straight face as he rolled his eyes to the divines.

“Har har.”

Logan followed the man as he checked on different potions around the room.

“We’re actually here for a book-”

“Oh yeah, the next piece in your ‘magical scavenger hunt’ if I remember, right?” He took a water dropper and dipped it into a bowl of steaming pink liquid. “Sorry girls, I don’t know of any book.” He squeezed the dropper full of pink liquid into a small flask.

Roman laid back down on the floor.

“Ugh, Logan we came here for nothing. This weirdo doesn’t know where it is. Let’s just go back.”

Logan was preoccupied, watching a potion forming. The man had taken a scoop of white dust in his hands and dumped it in with the pink formula. Finally, he opened a drawer and took out a bottle of yellow liquid. He swirled the bottle around for a few seconds in his hand, still holding the other beaker from before. Logan couldn’t contain his curiosity for magic.

“What are you making?”

He didn’t turn his head to look at the general but responded.

“A healing potion for your knight. Took quite the tumble over there.”

Roman, in hearing his title craned his neck to see the potion being made.

“Oh why thank you, but I’m totally fine.” He grunted as he stands up from the floor. “A good dragon hunter would never let themselves be injured by a mere door.” Roman flicked his shoulder haughtily, then immediately winces.

“Okay, maybe just a little bit of healing potion would help.”

The man laughed and opens the bottle of yellow liquid. He turned his head to look at Logan.

“Do you want to try and guess what this is?” Holding the bottle towards him.

Logan leaned forward cautiously and sniffed it, unable to contain a retching noise from escaping his calm face.

“Good Thomas what is that?”

Taking the liquid back the man smiled.

“What, they don’t let you play with dragon blood in the army? I would have thought you’d know this smell.” He expertly poured three dropped into the flask. He paused, hovering the bottle over the flask, thinking.

“Uhh yeah, it’s five.” He tilted the bottle to let the last two drops escape. “Oops, all out.”

The man capped the bottle and returned it to the drawer. He took a long glass stick and started stirring the three ingredients in the flask. Roman watched as the white dust started to melt, turning the entire mixture into a light peachy color. As the final step, the man took a jug of hot water and poured it in. After one last mix, he wiped the stick clean with a towel and pushed the potion toward the knight. Logan started to take out coins when the man waved him off.

“Oh no need for that hon, I’m the reason he hurt his shoulder. It’s only fair. Besides, I couldn’t stand it if a face like that had to wince all day; imagine the creases!”

Roman, clearly flattered, doesn’t hesitate before swigging a drink of the potion.

“Hey, this isn’t too bad. What’s in this?” He asked before chugging the rest.

“The yellow is dragon’s blood, the pink is the oil from fermented tomatoes, salamander skin, and pink rock salt mixed with grapefruit juice, and the white is just sugar.”

“Ah I see- SALAMANDER SKIN?!” He dropped the already empty flask, the glass shattering all over the floor. Logan flinched at the piercing sound of the breaking shards.

“Roman! That’s no way to leave a person’s place of business! This nice man here gave you a free healing potion and you break the container?”

The knight, who was now coughing, threw back a response between jagged breaths.

“Why don’t you try drinking salamander skin!”

The man’s face was full of amusement and laughed at the two bickering. Suddenly the loud noise of an opening door slamming against a wall silenced the three men, who froze where they stood.

“REMY!” A deep voice roared throughout the room, echoing against every surface until it hit the ears of the potion maker.

A look of horror crossed over his face.

“Oh no.”

Pounding footsteps are heard coming closer and closer. The man, Remy, scrambled to grab three brooms, tossing one to both Logan and Roman.

“Sweep like your life depends on it!”

“Why?” Roman asked, confused.

“Because it does!”

That was all they needed. The three, grown men, frantically swept the glass into a pile. Remy ran over to a shelf and grabbed an empty flask, identical to the one that had broken. The two warriors had finished collecting the glass. Logan turned to the man who was frantically remaking the same potion given to Roman.

“What do we do with the glass?”

“Just get rid of it! Burn it, eat it, sweep it under the rug, girl I don’t care, just hide it!” The panic in his voice was enough to make Logan and Roman both get down on their knees and start shoving shards of glass under a large cauldron in the corner. The potion maker took out the dragon blood container, then swore.

“Ah shoot, that’s right. We’re all out.”

A knock on the thin wooden door made everyone freeze. Remy sighed and walked over to it. He put a hand on the handle and prepared himself.

“Well girls, here he is. Meet,” He opened the door to reveal an old man holding a long vine wrapped cane topped with a dragon carving. The white hair not covering his chin and upper lip were tied up into a ponytail. In his other hand was a mug filled with a steaming brown drink. Over his light spotted brown skin, he wore square glasses and a fuming expression.

“My great-grandfather.”

#Cursed Prince AU Novel #cursed prince au #Chapter 5

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silverscribbler · 4 years

Text

Axel aka Axolotl, The Librarian

Inspiration and Disclaimer - Axel is a POC and he’s based off an IRL friend I have. I genuinely don’t mean to be stereotypical or to offend anyone. I just greatly admire my friend and it’s been two years since we’ve spoken in person. I moved away and our timezones conflict now. He also is a morning person where I’m not so when he and I do talk it’s very brief and I just wish I could ask him for advice in writing a Person of Color. If anyone does have advice please DM and I will do my best to make you proud!

Axel was called Axolotl by Leviathan after the Avatar of Envy blanked on what exactly he was seeing the one time he saw Axel’s Demon Form. Satan never let him live it down and now Levi calls him Axolotl to “prove a point.” Who he’s trying to prove a point to remains unknown even to him.

General Description:

Eyes - Green Hair Color - Two Toned, Black and Auburn Hairstyle - Side Swept Dreads (My friend loves this style) Skin Tone - Dark Caramel to Espresso Brown (Yes, my friend can tan) Nails - Galaxy Nails (Navy, Purple, Pink with White “Stars”) Body Type - Mesomorph (Medium Frame with More Muscle Than Fat) Extras - No piercings, no rings, no chains, but he has tattoos and a stainless steel watch with “Best Dad” engraved on it Sexuality? - Omnisexual; Prefers tacos to sausage, but enjoys the buffet (I swear this is my friend’s take on his own sexuality, I just love the phrasing)

Detailed Description:

He has dad energy. Have issues or need someone to be a father figure? Go to Axel. He’ll kill for his “adoptive children” and hunt down any heart breakers. He also enjoys fishing, cave spelunking, and playing catch, but he’ll take tea parties and dress up seriously. He met Asmodeus and ended up in a gown with full makeup before the two shared tea and gossip over cucumber sandwiches. He’s fun and can be goofy or comedic in the right situation. Dad jokes and puns are his bread and butter. He’ll also be a total soccer mom at any events where his friends, “children,” or partners are on the team/stage/etc.

Tattoos - He has a blue and purple rose tattoo on his left shoulder blade, a white dream catcher on his right pectoral, and a semicolon behind his left ear. He also has a white and blue lotus flower tattooed on his right ankle with plans to get more tattoos eventually.

Clothes, Casual - His pants are dark grey drawstring joggers and he wears dark purple and black basketball shoes. He wears a tight, dark purple tank top under a grey track jacket with dark purple and black accents. He carries a gym bag over one shoulder that has all the necessities. (Snack foods, beverages, first aid, medications (allergy, pain, cold, etc), spare clothes in varying sizes that just happen to all be athletic gear and appropriate for all body types, towels, and even menstrual products if there’s a human exchange student that could need them.) His watch is proudly worn and seems out of place in contrast to the rest of his appearance.

Clothes, Work - He wears black slacks, a lavender dress shirt, and a grey sweater vest. His dress shoes are black Oxfords. His top buttons are usually left undone and his watch remains a staple to his look even at work.

Demon Form - He’s a speckled black salamander so he has a thick, prehensile tail and his markings are oval and circular spots that contrast his skin. I chose this because my friend had one when we met and she was/still is his favorite pet. He really misses her and I figured I could incorporate that into the demon oc I made to be inspired by him. I also just find salamanders to be really cute. Now I want a pet salamander. (Image from California Herps)

OCCUPATION:

He works as the Library Director so he’s in charge of everyone. He is usually working on the budget and reviews a lot of requests from Leviathan wanting the Library to host a Ruri-chan event or Satan wanting to expand the Library’s selection of mystery novels. He also works with Diavolo and Lucifer when it comes to providing books for the Academy’s curriculum. All in all he has a job he loves doing regardless of how stressful it can be at times.

Bonus Content: Featuring His Dad Energy and Compassion

He’s adopted Satan and Leviathan and behaves as if they’re his own kids. Satan will come into his office without knocking, rant about Lucifer blowing things out of proportion, and then Axel will help him understand Lucifer’s side while also validating his feelings on the events that had transpired. Satan won’t acknowledge that his words have helped him understand whatever Lucifer’s decided or that his validation has made him feel more like a person. Instead Satan will help with any paperwork and offers to have Mammon look over the Library’s budget because Mammon IS good with numbers. Whenever he can he takes Satan to cat cafes or to volunteer at cat shelters. He doesn’t want Satan to exist solely in his room.

Leviathan slips into the Library and goes for the Manga, but will occasionally wait for Axel in his office when he’s in a bad mood. Axel will wait for him to be ready to talk and then he talks to Levi with the intent to uplift his spirits. He tells Levi that it’s okay for him to love the things that he does and always offers to take him out to conventions, concerts, and limited time events because it would help Levi get out of his room. He encourages Levi’s cosplaying and tries to take him out to the beach either in the Devildom or in the Human World.

Masterlist

#shall we date obey me #obey me original character #obey me demon oc #demon dads unite #please enjoy my oc dump #ask me about my ocs

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clumsydarknut · 4 years

Text

Scripted Wishes

Chapter 4: Anima Extalia

Beginning | Previous | Next | Most Recent (That’s this! Hi!)

Lucy sighed, stretching and flopping back onto her bed. The dress rehearsal – if you could call it that – had only gone for maybe an hour and consisted mostly of the crew running a few of the more complicated dance scenes and rubbing out a couple bumps in the cues, none of which Loke seemed interested in helping her learn. The Loke she’d met that morning was nowhere to be found, instead replaced with a nervous, twitchy, hyper-focused stagehand who was determined to pretend she didn’t exist. He hadn’t said a word to her, even when she asked him things.

“Which one’s the left spot again?”

Point.

“So you play guitar?”

Nod.

“When do you think Natsu will be back?”

Shrug.

That hour had seemed like an eternity, dragged out second by second with anxious glances and awkward coughs. It wasn’t a total loss, though. She’d been able to see first-hand why Jellal got the praise that he did. Most of the cast of Anima Extalia were adult actors who seemed very experienced, and Jellal matched their skill note for note and step for step. They had done a battle scene featuring some crazy aerobatics – the choreographer had called it capoeira – where Jellal had pulled some off some incredible flips and twists. She was kind of bummed the show was sold out, and based on the way Loke behaved it wasn’t likely she could watch from the sound booth.

Guess I’ll just have to try out for something, she thought. Probably the next musical.

With nothing else to do, Lucy wiggled her phone out of her tight pockets and unlocked it with a few quick taps. She was used to most of the notifications – a few spam and school emails, a new video from a YouTuber she liked, and suggested pins for her astronomy board weren’t out of the ordinary. To her surprise and delight, however, all of those lined up beneath six new texts from Levy.

I saw Natsu drag you to the sound booth. Nothing kinky going on is there? ;)

omg i can’t believe i said that plz don’t show him

Lucy?

Oh right probs busy learning sound booth stuff k nevermind

We hope you’re here to stay, Lucy! Welcome to Fairy Tail!

The last text brought tears to her eyes. Beneath the welcome message was an awkwardly thrown together group selfie, with Levy holding the camera and doing her best mock-Instagram face. Jet and Droy crouched next to her, grinning, while Cana leaned on them, pointing a finger gun and winking. Erza stood over Levy with her soft smile, and Gray stood just next to her, arms crossed over his chest and giving the camera a smirk. In the corner, she could make out the boxy shape of the sound booth, a blur of pink and a blur of blonde just visible in the fuzzy background.

Lucy grinned and rubbed a tear from her cheek. She let her thumbs dance over her keyboard while she tried to think of a good response. They really like me, she sighed. I’m in Fairy Tail, and they like me!

Her phone gave a buzz and she squeaked as her hands jerked in surprise, making her lose her grip on the slender piece of technology; she juggled it awkwardly for a second before it landed flat on the pillow next to her. She scrambled onto her stomach and flipped the vibrating phone over, grinning at seeing Natsu’s profile picture humming on the screen. She slid her thumb across the icon and put it to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Heya Luce!”

Lucy winced at the sudden noise, moving it a little further from her head. “Hey! What’s up?”

“Are you coming to the show?” he sang. She could almost see his toothy grin in the tone of his voice.

“It’s sold out, isn’t it?”

“Well yeah,” Natsu replied, “but you’re in the company now! You can watch from the sound booth with me!”

Lucy bit her lip. “Is that okay? I wouldn’t want to get in your way – it’s already pretty cramped with just two people up there.”

“You won’t get in the way,” Natsu chuckled, “Right Loke?”

She felt her breath hitch. Though she heard a faint “uh, sure” wobble on the other end, she knew the red-head was most certainly not okay with that. She wasn’t particularly fond of the boy, and certainly not of his playboy kind, but… he seemed genuinely afraid of her, and for no reason that Lucy could deduce. She didn’t want to make things worse if she could avoid it.

“No, it’s okay, Natsu,” she replied, “I should probably rest up – I’m a little woozy from all the action yesterday and today.”

“Aww, c’mon Luce! Is it cuz you’re afraid Loke will make a move on ya?” She heard Loke splutter something frantically. “Don’t worry, I won’t let him use a single pick-up line!”

“No, no,” Lucy laughed uncomfortably, “I just really need some rest.”

“Oh, okay.” Natsu seemed disappointed, but only for a moment before perking right back up. “I found a great role for you, by the way! I’ll tell you about it tomorrow, yeah?”

She smiled. “Sounds good!”

“Yosh! Ja na!”

“Bye!”

The screen turned black and she sighed. I’ll just have to miss this show, I guess. She rolled onto her back and picked up her phone again, humming as she decided what to do. She opened Instagram on a whim and flicked down to a random spot in her feed. It was another video posted by the school, bearing a very familiar face and a very familiar tag. She grinned.

I’d prefer to hang with him in person, but I guess this Salamander will do.

---

Gajeel really wasn’t one for theatre.

It was cheesy, weird, and straight up uninteresting. People prancing around on stage in frilly costumes, pretending to be things they’re not? And set to music? No, not really his thing at all.

Well, maybe that was a lie. He was in the Cosplay Club, after all.

But there was no way he’d ever admit the two things had anything in common. Cosplay was an art – a dedication to replicating a character so perfectly that it seemed they had stepped out of the world of fiction and straight into reality. Cosplaying a character was the ultimate testament to how incredible that character and their world truly was, and thus, being a cosplayer came with the heavy responsibility of making sure that character was done justice. It wasn’t this… thing, that played out on the stage in front of him.

He couldn’t really complain, though. Not since he was here on a date.

A second date, at that.

He leaned back further into his seat, scrunching down into his gray hoodie and tilting his head to look at the girl next to him. Sue was cute. She was at least a head shorter than him, with darker, tanned skin and forest green hair cut off at her shoulders. Now she wore a beige blouse and a short black skirt, but Gajeel much preferred her usual attire – a blue shirt with ripped sleeves and green cargo pants, along with an oddly adorable purple jester’s hat. He’d asked her out casually last week and they’d gone four-wheeling; when she asked him in return, this had been her suggestion.

He almost said no, but he actually kind of liked her.

He sighed, settling in for the show. The overture had finished, as well as the opening number – a solo by a guy in some weird ninja gear. Gajeel was pretty sure he’d seen him around school hanging with the other Fairy Tail dorks, which was a little bit of a surprise. Then again, all Fairy Tail had to work with was Fairy Tail, so maybe giving the title role to a teenager was the best they could do. Either way, the number was somewhat foreboding and left Gajeel with prickly discomfort itching at the back of his neck.

Sue gasped as the scene changed in a flash of smoke and a sheen of light. The eerie set the ninja dude had occupied was replaced with a multi-tiered stage painted as floating isles on a backdrop of a beautiful blue sky. Gajeel gave a smirk as Sue turned back, smiling, to see if he was watching. As soon as she looked back to the show he scrunched further into his seat. Maybe I can pick up some cosplay design ideas at the very least.

The show was pretty strange, in Gajeel’s opinion. Half the characters seemed to be humans from some post-apocalyptic magic-science hybrid country, and the other half were… cats? Cat people? Cat angels? Whatever they were, at least they weren’t furries. He had to admit the half-cat costumes were very well done, blending prosthetics perfectly into skin and avoiding the whole mostly-naked-with-body-paint deal that so often killed good animal cosplays. The rigging they used for some of the aerobatics attached to very well disguised harnesses with pretty impressive angel wings that seemed to be high quality animatronics. They’d somehow managed to get realistic tails as well, which moved and swished about like real ones instead of dangling limply or sticking out at awkward angles. Pretty cool, that. He made a mental note to scare the technique out of one of the stagehands later.

The main protagonist appeared to be a bluish cat called Shiawase, who, of course, was in love with a girl. Typical of musicals. The girl was a beautiful white cat called Charlotte who seemed to be a princess of sorts. From what Gajeel could tell, the two were just trying to elope while the humans warred with the cat people and it really wasn’t going well.

“Gajeel,” Sue whispered suddenly, pointing to Shiawase, “Isn’t that… Gray?”

Gajeel did the air equivalent of a spit take as he suddenly recognized the blue cat, sitting forward in his seat to study him with a squint.

“Sure is,” he chuckled. “Damn that’s a lot of makeup. Too bad he still looks like a twat.”

Sue gave him a pout. “C’mon, Gajeel, be nice. He helped you with the kanji on one of your katanas, didn’t he?”

“Tch.” Gray had been helpful that one time, being from Japan and all, but he was still a Fairy Tail dork.

As the show went on the story got more complicated. If Gajeel had cared, he would have found himself torn on which side of the war to get behind. The cat angels were some sort of tyrannical deities or the like, in which case he favored the humans, but the humans were merciless executioners who slaughtered their own kind as readily as they slaughtered the cats. As badass as that was, he couldn’t really get behind that either. Not that he was emotionally invested or anything. If he had to pick, he’d probably go with the humans – mainly because of the large, bulky black cat who had betrayed his kind to fight alongside them. Gajeel really didn’t care much, but that character was pretty neat.

The ninja guy from the beginning – Mist Can or something – was turning out to be kind of cool too. He was revealed to be the exiled prince of the human nation, swooping in to save the imprisoned cat protagonists right before intermission, and Sue bubbled over him through the entire break. Gajeel would have preferred to go get a snack, but… she was pretty adorable when she got all excited like that, so he didn’t mind too much. He’d lost track of most of the plot at this point, but he was actually sort of enjoying himself. Kind of. Maybe.

The entr’acte ended with a very mournful piccolo solo and the lights rose on the remains of a blackened forest. Charred branches scraped and clawed at the orange sky. Smoke effects drifted up in billows and the crackling of flames hummed in the silence. This was a totally different feel from when the show had begun. After another moment, the three main protagonists rushed onto the stage.

“W-wait,” Charlotte stammered, stumbling “I… I need to rest.”

“We cannot stop now,” the ninja man replied. “We have to get as far from the city as we can. It’s only a matter of time before my people use the Dragon Cannon.”

“There must be something we can do!” Shiawase cried. “We can’t just run away!”

“There is not,” he growled. He turned to continue the escape, cloak swishing behind him.

Shiawase rose to his full height, gesturing back the way they came. “You would just abandon your people? Your friends? You would turn your back as hundreds of innocents are murdered?!”

The man whirled around and ripped his veil from his face, storming up to the blue cat and leering over him. “I do not do so lightly, Exceed! May I remind you that it is your people who began this war?! That your kind have used us as slaves for centuries?!”

“That doesn’t change your cowardice! You’re running away, Mystogan! Running from your throne and your duty! It was not my people who made you this way!”

The two continued to argue as a harp plinked a note and the lighting around Charlotte changed tones. A tear ran down her face as she sang a pitiful, “Please, stop…”

“Stop?” Mystogan laughed as a bass tremolo hummed beneath him. In a darker tone he sang back.

“It is not I who slaughtered thousands.

Who killed children!

Who drove their slaves to madness!”

Shiawase picked up the melody, gesturing to the burning landscape.

“Do you think this is what we wanted?

Do you think this is the life we crave?

No, your Highness.

You’re wrong.

We may be at fault, but we tried to stop it!

It is you

who ran away.”

Mystogan stormed forward. “You speak of things you know nothing about,” he spat back.

Shiawase hissed. “And you run from people who need you!”

Mystogan’s voice took on a tone of fury.

“There’s naught I can do,

she’s doomed them all.

My people are dying, Exceed.

Our kingdoms have slaughtered each other!”

“We can end that,” Shiawase sang more insistently,

“We can end it all!

We can’t just save ourselves

we have to do something!”

Mystogan took a deep breath. “All you will do is die.”

Shiawase leapt at Mystogan, letting loose a vicious snarl. Gajeel raised an eyebrow in surprise. Damn, Gray, that was startlingly realistic.

“Please, stop…” Charlotte sang again.

Mystogan pushed Shiawase away and removed his staff from his back.

“We can’t fight like this…” she sobbed.

Shiawase took a fighting stance and the invisible rigging lifted him off the stage.

“I said STOP!”

The outburst from the white cat reverberated in the theatre. Her labored breath was the only sound heard in the room as she got to her feet. She stepped up to the unmasked ninja and looked him straight in the eye.

“I am sorry.” She intoned softly.

“I could have stopped this.

I could have tried harder.

Mother wouldn’t listen.

Couldn’t listen.

The blood of your people is on my hands.

We have both made grave mistakes

and cost innocents their lives.

Millions may yet die and it will be our faults.”

She paused and sighed before clenching her fists. When she began again, her voice was made of fire.

“But how dare you!

How dare you just give up?!”

Mystogan stumbled back a step, mouth dropping open slightly. Charlotte didn’t back down.

“This is your country, isn’t it?

Can’t you do anything without your throne?

Though it was all a lie

didn’t you try to live your best life,

protect your people where you could?!

Why are you giving up?!”

The air around Charlotte began to shimmer and slowly her feet rose off the ground. Mystogan stared up at her in awe.

“So what if you’re weak!

You’re not alone!

When weak things work together

Strength is born!”

As if by magic, Charlotte’s wings grew and turned iridescent. Gajeel’s jaw actually dropped – he could not fathom how they managed that.

“My country will not be destroyed!

It is my homeland!

It’s not going anywhere!

I will die before I abandon it!

And I will die before I let you abandon yours!”

In a burst of radiance and glitter her wings spread wide. The backdrop turned from burning orange to a smattering of stars as luminescent mist rose from the stage. She looked into the distance beyond the audience as she belted the last lines of the powerful refrain.

“I won’t give up!

I will stop this all,

or I will die trying!”

The rigging pulled her out over the audience at a startling speed, her wings and gown sweeping through the air in a dazzling blaze of light. The walls of the theatre suddenly became the night sky as she soared past, sweeping higher and higher until finally she was out of sight. In the near silence a single violin held a harmonic quietly as attention turned back to the stage.

Shiawase met Mystogan’s gaze with a stern resolve. Hesitance flitted in the man’s eyes, and the cat extended his hand.

“Are you coming?”

The violin dwindled to nothing. Gajeel suddenly realized he was holding his breath.

With purpose, Mystogan took the hand.

Shiawase smirked. Suddenly, the bass of EDM rumbled from beneath the seats, setting up a slow build. A chill shot down Gajeel’s spine and he exchanged amazed looks with Sue.

“Hold on!” Shiawase hooked his arm under Mystogan’s and gripped his wrist with both hands. The call of distant bagpipes echoed in the room on top of the building music. The two men took a few steps back. Shiawase flicked his wings out wide. The music grew as the bagpipes seemed to get closer. Mystogan nodded. Shiawase smiled. Then, they sprinted and leapt off the stage.

The scoring roared into a variation on the main theme at twice the speed it had been sung; Shiawase took off over the crowd, carrying Mystogan higher in a maelstrom of light and fire. Gajeel’s mouth hung open in awe as the audience let out whoops and whistles. Mystogan’s not wearing a harness. Is Gray… legitimately carrying him?

The two made a few more circles of the audience, the walls of the theatre – which Gajeel had figured out were screens – providing a continuous backdrop that gave the illusion of distance. As the music came to a close, they landed back on the stage, now a broken battleground of a city.

This was where Gajeel suddenly felt very, very strange.

“Cougairis!” Mystogan shouted. The scene was a blur of motion, cats and humans in combat in every conceivable space. Actors had spawned miraculously in the aisles near the stage and on one of the side balconies. That combined with the flash of explosions and the clang of swords made the battlefield come to life. He was surprised he could still easily focus on the main characters despite the chaos.

“Cougairis! I need your help!” Mystogan called again.

The man in question was forced onto the stage, locked in combat. This was the cat that he’d liked. The panther held back three other cats with his giant blade, fighting for control as they pushed their swords against his own. With a roar that Gajeel was sure just had to be recorded, the giant cat shoved his adversaries backwards, two falling off the front of the stage and out of sight. The last stumbled back, gripping his side painfully before crumpling to the floor in a heap.

The black cat turned to face Mystogan, and Gajeel froze.

Over Cougairis’ left eye was a slash; a deep, thick, raw slash that hadn’t been there in the first act.

Gajeel’s head throbbed and his heart pounded, chest tightening until all he could manage was a raspy pant. The edges of his vision grayed. Wha…? What’s happening?

“Gajeel?” He heard Sue whisper his name, but it sounded as though it were a thousand miles away. “Gajeel, are you okay?”

He lifted his hands and felt them tremble wildly as his eyesight shrunk to a pinpoint. He could hardly see, hardly feel. His long, wild hair fell over his shoulders as he tried to shake away whatever was doing this to him. He could no longer register Sue tugging at his arm in worry.

What…? Is this one of those… panic attack things? He couldn’t think of any reason he would have a panic attack – he’d never had one before and didn’t have any traumatic experiences that he could think of. It can’t be a panic attack. Why would a play give me a panic attack?

He looked back to the stage. His tunnel vision centered back on Cougairis. He tried to look away, to any other character, any other piece of set, but the cat’s scarred face seemed to fill his view. That scar. That black fur. That white muzzle. Something seemed to be stabbing his brain at every angle and yet he could not tear away from that face. Suddenly the cat looked out into the audience – looked right at him. As if being shot through the heart his breath stopped, and somewhere in the deepest recesses of his mind, he heard his own voice.

I’m taking you back to my guild one way or the other! And then, I’m going to make you my cat!

---

Gray watched from the shadows as Elfman strode to the front of the stage, their one and only child actor, Violet, perched on his shoulder. The audience roared and whistled as the large black cat set her down and she gave a small curtsey. Incredible, for a third grader, Gray smirked. I hope she sticks around.

The curtain call had always been one of Gray’s favorite parts of a show. Especially the final curtain call, on closing night. Molding yourself into another character was a huge, exhausting effort, and sometimes it was difficult to let go and become oneself again after rehearsal. The final curtain call, Gray felt, was an effective way to bridge the gap between being the character and living his own life. The audience, just for that final scene, now acknowledged you as both the role and the actor. In a way, it was a moment where he could be both people at once.

The music changed from Cougairis’ theme to that of Shiawase and Charlotte. Gray straightened his moss green, one-sided shawl over his bare shoulders and strode out from behind the curtains. From the other side, Charlotte – or perhaps now he should say Laurissa – strode out to meet him, a spring in her step as she took his hand. Renewed whistles and shouts rose from the house as they approached the edge of the apron, and just as they had done for every curtain call, Gray pulled her in for a kiss before they took their last bow. It had been her idea, of course, and the audience ate it up like free salsa at a Mexican restaurant. He and Laurissa weren’t romantically involved, but the reaction from the crowd was something they could both get behind.

The two parted as the music changed again, gesturing extravagantly as the star of the show took the spotlight. Mystogan rushed forward, twirling his staff several times before planting it solidly and whipping off his veil. The crowd screamed, applauding wildly and jumping to their feet. Gray clapped just as fiercely – not just for the performance, but for the grin spreading slowly over the blue-haired boy’s face. He knew that grin. The sage-prince Mystogan was gone; Jellal was back.

The company linked their hands and took their final bows as the music finished, and for the last time on that show, the curtain dropped.

“Excellent work, everyone!” Director Dreyar joined the scene from backstage, a toothy grin peeking from behind his mustache. “Very good indeed! A show well worth the effort! Head on home and we’ll strike the set tomorrow evening!”

“And don’t forget, the cast party is on Friday!” Mirajane added. The group bubbled into an energetic hum, matching the chatter of the audience just beyond the curtain. Hugs and claps on the back passed around along with laughter and the repetition of various inside jokes. Gray was happy – sometimes the afterglow of a performance was just as good as the show itself.

“Gray!” He twisted around to find the source of the call. Jellal waved him over. He grinned.

“Good to have you back, Jellal,” Gray replied. They did an elaborate fist-bump.

“It’s good to be back,” Jellal sighed. “At least, for a bit. King Oberon’s not a very complex character, so I won’t have to get into him for another couple weeks.”

“I’m sure Erza’s happy about that,” Gray nudged playfully.

Jellal blushed. “You could say that.”

“MYSTOGAN!” Gray turned just in time to dodge Elfman barreling through the crowd. The burly teen clapped Jellal hard on the back, and Jellal looked like he might’ve had the wind knocked out of him. “Your performance! OTOKO DA!”

“Thanks,” the blue-haired boy coughed. “You can call me Jellal now, though.”

“Oh, right,” Elfman chuckled. He turned to Gray. “Gray! You coming to Angie’s with us?”

Gray was tempted to say yes. He really wanted to. But he wasn’t sure if he’d make it that long.

“No, I gotta head home,” he replied. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Homework, y’know?”

Elfman gave him a funny look. “Homework? How? Today was literally the first day of school.”

Gray gulped. “Japanese stuff, y’know? Have to prep for tutoring.”

“Mmmm zannen da ne…” Elfman hummed.

“Yeah, that’s too bad,” Jellal continued. He didn’t look as convinced as Elfman was.

“Yeah…” Gray trailed off. He glanced between the two nervously, but tried to continue as if nothing were strange. “I should probably head out, actually. It’s pretty late and I really gotta get started.”

Jellal nodded, though his eyes still flickered with doubt. Gray gave a slight wave and sauntered away as confidently as he could, despite the knot in his stomach.

He made a short stop by the dressing room to pick up his things and drop off his shawl, his wings, and a few of the smaller accessories. The majority of his costume had been body paint and various prosthetics, so there wasn’t much he had to return to the company – there wasn’t much he had to wear on his way home, either. Body paint wasn’t a fun stain to get out of clothes, and he certainly didn’t want to scrub it out of his favorite jacket.

He made his way out the back to the rear parking lot, the night air chilling his bare chest. The cold didn’t bother him much – he was a hockey player, after all – but he was glad he’d come extra early to school to snag the closest spot. He clicked his key fob and the lights of his Chrysler 300 flashed. No one else had left yet; traffic was clear.

The ride home passed in a haze, as it always did. A turn here, a traffic circle there, the wonky tree on the end of the block followed by the gas station. He pulled into the dark driveway of his small, blocky house. No lights were on; his roommates were likely asleep. Good.

He locked his car by hand so it wouldn’t make a sound, then slipped inside as quickly and quietly as he could manage. A fan was on in the entryway, blowing softly against his bare chest. He cursed silently. His roommates wouldn’t have known better – he’d never said anything, never even gave a hint. At least, he was pretty sure he hadn’t. He wasn’t really sure if that was actually a good thing.

Just get to the shower, he thought. Get the paint off. You’ll be fine. Only a few more minutes.

He left the lights off as he made his way through the house, familiar enough with his home not to bump into anything in the dark. He figured most normal people could do that, could walk through their own house in the dark. This wasn’t strange. He was normal, too. Completely normal. Other people had sudden adrenaline jumps, right? It was nothing. Normal people occasionally had their heart start beating out of control, too, right? He was fine. He would be fine. This was normal.

Gray wasn’t sure he was being so stealthy anymore – blood pounded in his ears and he could hardly breathe, let alone tell if anyone else was awake. It was fine though. He shut the bathroom door behind him and ripped off the last of his prosthetics. It stung; the glue was particularly strong on his face. It didn’t matter though. If he was bleeding, he’d find out later. He couldn’t tell if he had cuts without the lights on.

His hands fumbled with the shower handles, shaking more than he would’ve liked. The water spattered for a moment before coming in a steady stream. Good. Warm. Paint. Take the paint off. He kicked off the last of his clothes. Steam. Hot water, sliding over his skin. Peeling away the paint. Not fast enough.

The blue skin of his character fell away, and left behind was only Gray.

Gray, and her.

#fairy tail #scripted wishes #fanfiction #japanese #anime #nalu #lolu #jerza #gajevy #gruvia #theatre

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operativesurprise · 4 years

Text

Dreams I’ve had recently enough to find with a quick scroll on my fb wall

was dreaming about a cave last night. With lots of shallow pools of water along the floor. I feel like if I'd seen the layout from above it would have looked like paisleys. There was a creature there tending the pools. Sweeping detritus away, skimming the surfaces of the water. It took moss that was growing too thick in some places and put it into bare areas, and it was very gentle with the little frogs and salamanders living on the walls.

There was the sound of bats and the dripping and echo of water, and a low hum in the background, but the creature itself made no sound. You heard the bristles of it's broom, and the soft shift of stones it touched, but no footsteps, no breathing, no nothing but a soft chiming noise as it looked in each pool.

The waters all glowed, some white, some pale blue, others pulsed through light pink to deep magenta. The whole dream had this aura of calmness, of being content. It was like being in a giant zen garden but dial the peace up even more. I'm not really sure where -I- was in the dream. My POV was kinda hovering over the figure as it tended to the pools, but I'm fairly certain I wasn't the figure itself. I was like, 6 inches up and to the left.

_____

I've been trying to sketch an image I had in a dream last night and it's just not setting up right. It was like. Honestly it was like the first few seconds of the Adventure Time intro animation - that super fast 'drone camera' POV that swoops down through trees and stuff and focuses in on a character with their back to the camera and then they turn and look?

I was swooping through this orchard of blooming apple trees - and I took note bc for some reason I was surprised they weren't pear and peach trees like 'they were supposed to be'.

But as the camera/I got closer to this feminine figure standing under the branches and the flowers and these really almost black-green leaves in this rich green velvet textured dress (it's totally the dress that's on the original golden book cover of Ella Enchanted), with big free fall bouncy waves of BLOND hair, they turn and instead of it being that kinda anime "turn and wink/smile" and the camera goes to the next, she turned around and it was a dead eyed marionette.

My camera POV just slammed to a halt with the freeze frame of this... entity (which I 'knew' in my dream was The Druid) (Even though this wasn't really an MJ dream) looking up and over their shoulder at me, like they'd become aware of the camera and were looking straight at ME. The branches with the flowers and the leaves above it framed it really close and I couldn't see much other than the scribbly ovals of it's eyes. Then the colors all got desaturated except for the apple blossoms.

And then that dream was over.

___

Vivid dreams last night about being on house hunters. With Lithrick as the realtor.

Also had a very ominous dream about standing in a misty open field, feeling the sawgrass scrape my bare arms and shins, staring up into the grey sky while sharp winged birds with broken bodies 'flew' through the air. It looked like how a washcloth you are swirling in a tub of water looked. There was no sound for that one but I could feel the rain on my face as I looked up.

Then I was dreaming about being on the beach in Belize with the chitons and baby hermit crabs and the breeze and I was watching the sunrise.

___

I've been having zombie nightmares since Sunday. Sunday and Monday were taking place in the shopping mall (which is a relatively new venue for my dreams), Sunday being the Beginning of the outbreak (and star trek themed) and Monday mostly about life starting up in the 'colony' of this gigantic shopping mall.

But last night I dreamed about the collapse of the colony and then survival in the forest.

There was a man in a wheelchair who had arrived at the shopping mall with his mother - both of whom were injured but not infected. We let them in and the mother succumbed to her injuries shortly after.

This left the man in the wheelchair distraught and he would wheel around the open plaza in the center of the mall mumbling. It was not concerning - until other weird things began to happen.

Like how one of the dorm areas had mysteriously become locked, how some people were going missing (presumably they left to try and find their families), and how some older people were getting injuries in the night - explained away by "well, old people have delicate skin and maybe they bumped themselves".

But then the man in the wheelchair wheeled up to the mezzanine and shouted for attention. And then he collapsed, and clouds of mosquitos erupted from his wounds and began to attack people.

Flash forward to a weird mix of irl and larp characters living in the woods behind my house in an abandoned homestead - I had gone from dying by mosquito to being Sano and a group of us avoiding Velociraptors in the long grass as we made our way back to the relative safety of this bombed out building husk.

But then The Rattler Gang came - horribly tattooed and violent and they ransacked through the homestead and were almost into our barricaded room when not-quite-Malaki and sorta-Allison with an ancestor spirit wig on saved us.

The dream ended with us all in a cave explaining to a horrified Morgrym that "see what happens when you're late?"

It was so weird bc as the dreams progressed and became more MJ and less Real World but with Zombies the zombies became less of an issue (I mean, repel undead is a thing)

___

Last night I dreamed about Ridge Road being a swamp instead of a road. The fields on either side were the same, but the road itself was a Louisiana/Florida/Bayou/Swamp thing with hot, moist air, dragon flies, grasses, alligators, everything you could want (though the water was clear as day).

And I was walking along the broken up boards that served as this sorta river trail following the path of the road. Slats were missing in places and it was a distinctive walnut color, and it was rickety and I could smell the heat of it like being on a dock in the summer time.

And as I was walking along I knew I was heading toward Harris Hill farm but instead of the farm it was the Pirate Tavern bar that I dream about fairly often.

(as I'm thinking about it, it kinda has the air of a setting in a Curse of Monkey Island game crossed against Diablo II)

But before I can get into the tavern there was a crowd of tourists wading through the water nearby. Like, the most stereotypical hawaiian shirt white-sunscreen-on-nose and flyfishing capped tourists you could imagine. And they were lost looking for their fan boat but I didn't know where it was - but I also didn't want them to find the Pirate Tavern bc it's a secret and my co-owner Matt Sch would be mad if we had to relocate AGAIN bc non-pirates had found us.

And in my dream I am DISTINCTLY aware that LAST TIME there were also VAMPIRES there, but Skye Collins had bought out their half of that Pirate-Vampire Tavern to own it outright as JUST a Vampire Tavern so this time I went into business with Matt. Not Lithrick, Matt.

And I was -upset- in my dream until I 'remembered' that I hadn't skipped out on Skye and the Vampirate Tavern, I'd just opened another location with a different partner after reaching an amicable business deal. We still traded aligator blood grog for peat moss from the other location to serve a certain cocktail with at THIS one.

___

Had a dream last night that I was diving on a whale fall. But either I was minuscule or the whale was super gigantic bc the rib bones were these looming spires like I was watching a stroll under redwood trees through a low fisheye lense.

Thinking about it I can totally piece out the different dives that meshed to make this dream up.

The stalactites from the Blue Hole, The gelatinous muck on the bottom in the St. Lawrence The cold from the Brownstone Quarry

___

If we want to talk about a fever dream... last night I had a dream about being trapped on a volcanic island while the whole chain of volcanoes were erupting.

The evacuation was happening but I went back to the house for the animals and got stuck there. And other neighbors who couldn't get out in time were coming over with their pets and supplies.

I was watching the lightning and the ash fall outside when I saw three red colored golden retrievers but I could only get two of them to come inside and I spent the rest of the dream upset and trying to find the third one. I found other animals trying to hide from the ash and storm, but I woke up before finding that 3rd golden.

The lava flows were coming down the mountain too.

___

Dream time. So. A classical vampire and an actual bat demon are out on the town looking for something to do when they come across a nail parlor.

What a great idea, they think! We'll get manipedis and then do brunch over at IKEA.

But when they go into the nail parlor there is far too much religious imagery to be comfortable and the demon doesn't want to stay anymore so they go back outside all sad.

Vampire suggests they just kill and eat the occupants of the nail parlor and find something else to do with their day off.

Demon agrees to the plan but they have this 'thing' where when the two of them murder a bunch of people they leave a haiku written in the blood on the wall.

They begin to argue because they both have different accents and can't decide on the syllable count for a certain word.

___

So there's a string of tall, skinny houses in Litchfield after 'The Church' that usually feature in any nightmares I tend to have. Last night did not disappoint.

The lineup was this:

🏚🏠🏡🏠 An empty house, My house, the neighbor's house, and then for some reason my grandmother's house.

And we had gone next door to the neighbor's house for dinner, even though we knew it was dangerous to be outside of our house after dark. But as we gathered in their entryway the spotlights on the rest of the neighborhood started turning on and we knew we had stayed too late.

"They" were out there. You were safe in the daylight, you were safe at night as long as you didn't open your doors. BUT now it was night. And we had to get home.

So we slip out the door and we can hear the neighborhood using birdcalls to communicate the 'all clear'. As we are going down this overgrown embankment toward our house we see it.

One of them.

And then we hear someone sound the alarm, a series of owl hoots. It distracts the thing for a moment and we think we could slip away but it turns and starts trying to get into our house so we run to the empty one next door and JUST barely make it.

Dream me's mother and little sister make it into the screened in porch just ahead of me and I fall in and turn and only just get the door closed in time when It attacks.

It was a zombie. Or a ghoul. Or something. a woman with a bloody face and terrible teeth and honestly it looked like Reagan from the Exorcist and she launched herself against the screen door which I'm trying to keep closed.

I know she can't get in the door but then she makes this horrible noise and says,

"You won't be safe for long. We're getting stronger,"

And the door is almost coming off its hinges but I -know- as long as I keep the door closed at night we are safe and then she laughs and presses her face to the screen and says,

"I'll just get in tomorrow morning. Before you're awake. Because, really, what difference does the sun or stars make? I'll get in tomorrow,"

And then I woke up.

____

My dream last night was so complicated I can barely keep it straight.

I was some grizzled, older ex-con dude pulled out of my soft retirement as a school bus driver because a child genius was being used as the catalyst for the robot war apocalypse by his wealthy mother's greedy board of directors.

And somehow I had a time machine that I was gonna use to bring the kid back to the beginning of all the issues and he was gonna start sabotaging the dangerous inventions so he could just be a regular child genius instead of responsible for global-scale mass murder.

At one point I had thrown the kid's manifesto at him but he hadn't actually read it bc it was too big and there were no pictures but also bad language and he asked me what "twat" meant and the kid was horrified that they would use that kind of language. Like he was ambivalent about the murders but bad language was crossing a line.

And as part of my "wait. He's just a kid I can help him instead of kill him" epiphany for some reason I looked out the time machine window and saw my old motorcycle which was painted in blue tiedye pattern and that memory moved me enough to offer to help the kid.

So the kid grabbed his froggy backpack and offered to give me all of his science fair winnings (which was like. Hundreds of thousands of dollars and two telephoto camera lenses for some reason. And a green and purple feather boa) but I just took enough to buy a new motorcycle and told him to hide it from his past mother so they're not suspicious.

___

Okay subconscious, doing laundry with the elves of mirkwood is NOT becoming a reoccurring dream. Three times is enough. Stop now. ____

I was an undercover secret agent posing as the nanny to a royal family's children. The children had a pool party for the oldest's birthday, and I was in charge of the yacht rides in the aquarium tank. Halfway through the dream, Pirates attacked with large assault rifles, trolls, and fire elementals. I managed to save some of the children, but then Katina was healing the ones that had been injured when a Shadow quick deathbed them and I had to resort to Improv comedy to keep the remaining kids from screaming as their friends turned to ghosts around us. None of the adults would listen to me that the attack had been planned, they were convinced that it was random, and despite the fact that I had a way to turn back time and catch the one woman who had started the fight they refused to do anything but complain that dinner had been delayed.

#me #personal #dreams #why do I have such weird dreams #why do i remember ALL OF MY DREAMS #I very rarely forget dreams when I wake up

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carmenlire · 6 years

Text

It’s a Vibe

I’ve spent three days on this fic and I’m ready to send it out into the world already. Here’s high!alec @magnusbicon @magicbicon @biconicmagnusbane @royaltybane @thattrainssailed @kindaresilient @ifthingsgetcrazy

read on ao3

Alec walks into the loft, already shrugging out of his suit jacket as the door swings shut behind him. It takes him a minute, the shadow of his day from hell keeping him from taking in the rest of the penthouse, but when he realizes, he can’t keep the expression on his face from morphing into a smirk, tension leaving him as he turns towards the living room, already knowing what he’ll see.

The loft smells like cloves with a dash of licorice and while the scent would have Alec wrinkling his nose anywhere else, tonight it has him relaxing, shoulders rolling back as he takes his cufflinks out and starts rolling his dress shirt up his forearms.

As expected, Alec finds Magnus reclining on the couch, whiskey in one hand and joint in the other. He must’ve changed before he’d settled in the living room, for he’s wearing an emerald green silk robe. It’s one of Alec’s favorites, hitting Magnus mid-thigh and loosely knotted, the edges have separated, showing a delicious strip of sculpted chest.

He strolls over to his boyfriend, leans down to kiss him. It’s a slow kiss, deep and unhurried, Magnus’s head tilting back and mouth opening for Alec almost immediately. It’s a welcome home kiss but Alec wonders how long Magnus has been indulging as he doesn’t even try to keep the moan from his throat. Alec lingers for a few minutes, nipping at Magnus’s bottom lip, swallowing that moan for his own.

Alec breaks off with a chuckle, just a little breathless as he asks, “How was your day?”

Magnus’s groan has an entirely different tone as he throws back the rest of his whiskey before taking a drag. Alec watches as the tip glows violet for a moment before he takes Magnus's glass and goes over to the drink cart, refilling it with a few fingers of top shelf scotch and knocking it back while Magnus answers.

“Today was terrible, darling, thanks for asking. I had a dozen clients, each one less tolerable than the one before, and one of them had the audacityto insinuate that perhaps they should’ve gone to another warlock for their request, a better one.

“Better, my ass,” Magnus sneers, bringing the joint back up to his lips, this drag more furious than the last. “It took everything I had not to turn him into a cross-eyed salamander and crush him under my heel. He didn’t even need anything unusual or interesting. It was a financially solvent potion that took me three minutes and half a brain cell. And it didn’t pay off very well, considering I charged him through the nose and he didn’t even realize.”

Alec laughs while grabbing the whiskey Magnus had been drinking and bringing it over to the couch. He sets the decanter on the low coffee table before turning fully towards Magnus. He takes him in, the low light making Magnus look ethereal, golden, like a king in repose. He steps closer and climbs into Magnus’s lap, straddling those strong thighs, wrapping his arms around Magnus’s broad shoulders.

Magnus lays one hand against his side as he offers Alec the joint. Alec leans forward, lashes sweeping low as he takes a long drag, cheeks hollowing. The last bit of tension leaves him and he settles more firmly on Magnus.

This doesn’t happen all the time. It’s not rare but it’s not nightly, or even bimonthly. But sometimes, both Alec and Magnus need a night to themselves. Alec never indulges without making sure the Institute is taken care of-- it helps his high, anyway, to know that he won’t suddenly have to dash to the Institute and put out a dozen pithy fires.

Izzy is in charge until tomorrow evening and as the drug starts to work its magic, Alec melts a little.

It’d taken some convincing at first. Alec was lightyears from that prudish shadowhunter with a perpetual stick up his ass that he’d once been. But it’d still been a shock the first time he’d returned to the loft only to see Magnus casually and expertly rolling, for lack of a better term, a joint. Alec wasn’t unfamiliar with drugs-- for fuck’s sake, Jace had had an annoying penchant for weed a few years ago and Izzy had always been a risk taker, looking for the next adventure.

Shadowhunters weren’t unfamiliar with drugs both mundane and of their world. They lived fast and died young, and the job could be stressful as hell. Everyone needed a break now and then. It helped that their metabolism and their biology, while not on par with werewolves, still left them immune to the more dangerous side effects that mundanes had to worry about. Alec, ever the big brother, had never tried anything but he didn’t begrudge others the need for an outlet.

Fuck knows he’d used questionable coping mechanisms enough to know how vital they could be.

But it hadn’t been anything so benign as marijuana that Magnus had put together. No, the papers were a deep green, the leaves bright purple and smelling intoxicating without even lighting up. It was some type of Seelie plant and that made Alec wary. Seelie shit was unpredictable as hell and Alec had no intention of rescuing his boyfriend from turning neon pink or into a fly.

Magnus had finished sealing the papers and turned just as Alec had started walking towards him. He’d offered Alec a hit but he’d turned it down flat. Magnus had raised a brow, murmured suit yourself, and taken a long drag. Immediately, he’d relaxed, glamour dropping and gold just a thin ring around slit pupils. Luckily, nothing unfortunate had happened and the two of them had spent a quiet night in together.

Magnus had tried to initiate sex half a dozen times but Alec had steadfastly refused-- Magnus was high and he wasn’t going to take advantage of his boyfriend, no matter that they’d been going out for months and Magnus was clearly on board. The next day, Magnus had sheepishly apologized and they’d talked it through, deciding with this particular drug, that as long as both were consenting, it was perfectly okay.

Alec still couldn’t remember the name of the plant but the third time Magnus had taken it out of his apothecary, Alec’s curiosity had finally been overwhelmed. Magnus only indulged when he’d had a particularly grueling day and needed help coming down from his frustration and anger. Alec’s day had been shit and he’d been so keyed up, he’d stopped by the training room for a few hours before coming home, beating the shit out of a punching bag until his knuckles were bruised, but it hadn’t helped.

He had come home to find Magnus almost done with the first joint and in a rare moment of impulse, had decided fuck it.

Magnus’s eyes had been glued to him as he’d plucked the joint out of his hand and taken an expert hit, taking a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

“And where did you learn to do that, love?”

Already feeling the effects, Alec had grinned, explaining, “Just because I don’t indulge doesn’t mean I’m totally sheltered, Magnus.”

Climbing into Magnus’s lap, they’d shared the rest of it. It didn’t change him, didn’t make him think or do anything out of character, it had just lowered his inhibitions. Only a few people knew that he was a huge nerd, a bit weird, and thankfully Magnus was one of them. Alec shared every thought as it came to mind, everything from a diatribe on the beauty of cows to wondering how the fuck his boyfriend was so hot.

Desire had stirred, simmering low and hazy, and Magnus had obviously been feeling similarly, as they’d made out for a few hours before falling asleep on the couch, waking up with mild headaches-- probably due to dehydration-- and a syrupy satisfaction.

Ever since that first night, Alec almost always joined Magnus when he decided he needed a little extra help relaxing.

Tonight, as Alec sits comfortably astride Magnus, he can’t help but think Jace and Izzy-- hell, the entire damn Institute-- would have a coronary if they could see him now. The ever straitlaced Alec, high as shit, giggling at what are probably inanities and moderately sure that he’ll end up blowing Magnus by the end of the evening.

The thing about this drug is that it’s potent as hell but not overtly dangerous. As Magnus had explained, it just loosened the tongue, making thoughts and sensations rise to the surface in a way they normally weren’t. For someone as stoic and closed-off as Alec, this plant, found in only a handful of Seelie forests across the world, could be particularly devastating since it provided such a marked difference from his usual countenance.

One of the things that had surprised Alec that first time was how incredible high sex could feel. He and Magnus had fucked plenty of times when they were drunk, probably too wasted to do whatever they’d done, and that was familiar. The sense that things were too urgent and everything was too much was similar to when Alec was high but there were subtle differences.

When they were high it was like liquid pleasure dripping into his bones. Everything was hazy and golden-- the fever was trapped under a layer, never rising to the surface in an explosion but always simmering beneath the surface. Things dragged out when they were like this. The slide of tongues was enough to occupy them for hours, the feeling of Magnus’s hips rolling up to meet his enough to send him over the edge.

The Seelie plant might be a bit of a low-level aphrodisiac, too. But then, Alec never could resist Magnus.

As Alec finishes the first joint, Magnus magics another one into his hand and takes the first hit. As it hits him, he grins and blinks slowly, holding it out for Alec after a few minutes. They stay like that for awhile, trading back and forth until the second and eventual third joint disappears.

Both of them are feeling loose-limbed and relaxed, completely forgetting the shitty days that had caused this, when Alec leans down and kisses Magnus, soft and chaste. It’s just a touching of lips, a point of contact, before Alec moves to the side. He starts nibbling on Magnus’s mouth, tongue sweeping out to taste Magnus’s bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth and leaving it tender and throbbing, before Magnus slides his hands under Alec’s shirt and digs his fingers into his hips.

The dull pain is enough to have Alec hissing out a breath, arching closer, and Magnus takes the opportunity to kiss Alec properly, swallowing his little grunts and groans, pleasure ratcheting up.

Things are just getting interesting, Alec draping over Magnus, breath mingling with Magnus slowing unbuttoning Alec’s shirt, when his phone rings. It takes several seconds before Alec registers anything through the haze of having Magnus so close and by the time he does, it’s gone silent.

With a loose shrug, Alec picks up right back where he left off, ducking his head until he’s mouthing at Magnus’s pulsepoint, sucking and biting and tearing these whimpers from Magnus that leave both of them hard and leaking.

Unfortunately, Magnus has just gotten Alec’s shirt off and is running those lovely hands over his back when Alec’s cell starts up again. Swearing, Alec rises up to his knees, hands going to his pockets in slow motion.

Everything feels like it’s being filtered through molasses and while it’s great when things are running smoothly, when Alec actually needs to do something urgent it’s hell on his focus.

Being on his knees brings his sternum right to Magnus’s mouth-level and as Alec’s frustration rises, Magnus laughs. They aren’t quite giggles, but they’re definitely giddy and silly and something that would never happen were he sober. Alec is vaguely aware of Magnus shooting him a devious glance before he feels lips against his chest.

Magnus’s mouth roams in an unpredictable pattern and Alec has finally gotten his goddamn hand around his phone and is pulling it out of his pocket when Magnus latches onto one of his nipples and bites, just a little, just enough to have Alec keening. His attention wavers for a few minutes as he forgets about his phone, instead bringing hands up to Magnus’s hair. He threads his fingers through those soft locks and pulls, bringing Magnus closer as his mouth opens on a silent gasp.

Everything is so intense and Alec loves it. His awareness is still complete but it still feels like he’s not in complete control. He loves giving that control up to Magnus, enjoys sharing it.

He’s always safe with Magnus.

He's is just bringing a hand down to his slacks, fumbling with the zipper when his phone goes off for the third goddamn time. Finally deciding that maybe he should really pay attention, Alec pulls away from Magnus.

He immediately wishes he hadn’t.

Magnus’s mouth is red and slick and those lovely eyes are staring at him in confusion, as though lost on why Alec could have possibly stopped things.

Distantly, Alec prays for patience before swiping to accept the call-- it only takes him half a dozen tries.

“Yeah, I’m here. What?”

Alec’s voice is probably meant to sound curt and snappish, no doubt letting the person on the other end know that their call is an inconvenience, but he completely misses the mark if so. Alec’s voice is unusually soft and there’s a lazy quality to it that makes it seem like he’s finding his words as he goes along. Such a short sentence shouldn’t have needed so much of his concentration.

“Good evening, hermano,”

“Hey, Iz. What’s up? Well, besides the sky, obviously.” Though he can’t see it, Izzy’s eyebrows almost fly off her face as she raises them in surprise. If she didn’t know better, she’d say her brother was drunk-- she hears him snort after his little joke and an answering smile covers her face.

“Besides the sky, I needed to know what your password is for your iPad.” Isabelle winces, knowing her next sentence will probably have Alec running back here but it can’t be helped.

“I need to file an official mission insubordination form but apparently only Heads have access to them, so. I need to get online through your private server. What’s your password?”

She takes a deep breath, waiting for Alec to start interrogating her, but it’s radio silence for almost a full minute. She’s just getting ready to see if the call dropped, when Alec responds.

“So. Those were a lot of words,” Alec sounds like a computer that needs to be rebooted, like he’s buffering, and she can just imagine him blinking owlishly. What the hell?

“I don’t know what you need but, like, the Institute is still standing? No one burned it down? There’s not a genocidal maniac or demon mom running around?”

Izzy is confused, to say the least, but she answers honestly. “No, really it’s just another administrative task I want to finish before I call it a night.”

“Okie doke,” Alec says and there’s another long pause. This phone call is starting to become painful.

“Alec?”

Alec immediately perks up. “Yeah?”

Izzy closes her eyes and prays for patience. “Your password?”

Alec hums. “Oh, right.”

Absently, he starts talking as if he’s having a conversation with himself.

“Now, let’s see. Password. What’s my password. For the iPad. It would be something I’d want to remember. You don’t want to forget your password. That would be, like, so bad,” Alec breaks off with a fucking giggle, Izzy swears to Raziel, and at this point she’s just ready to hang up and write it all by hand for Alec to type up tomorrow.

Alec starts talking again, but he’s obviously not addressing her, though he doesn’t pull the phone away from his mouth. “Magnus, babe, have you ever thought about the etymology of password. Like a word that passes. It passes a test. I hate tests,” Alec ends grumpily and Isabelle is two goddamn seconds from banging her head against the desk as she hears Magnus start to reply.

Her saving grace is that Jace walks in and she shoots him an imploring look that he returns with a confused expression.

Over the line she hears, “I know you do, darling, but you always pass with flying colors. Remember the first time you tested yourself to see if you could deepthroat my dick and--”

Izzy wrenches the phone away from her and stares at it, aghast.

Alec is obviously not in his right mind and Izzy keeps the phone away from her for a few moments, giving Alec time to finish his conversation with Magnus while she turns to look over at Jace.

“Does your parabatai bond feel okay,” she demands.

Jace just looks at her. “Yeah, it feels fine. I wouldn’t be strolling in here to annoy you if it didn’t. Why?”

She knows she’s behaving like a fourteen year old, but Izzy looks side to side before leaning forward, whispering, “I think Alec’s high.”

Jace immediately snorts, slapping a hand over his mouth to keep the noise in, but she doesn’t even pay attention to it.

Jace just looks at her, unimpressed. “You think our brother, Head of the Institute, the asshole with a perpetual stick up his ass, is what? Blowing reefer?”

Izzy releases a breath, hissing, “I don’t know but I just heard Magnus and him talking about deepthroating.”

She shudders.

“And,” she continues, “he seems preoccupied on the phone. He can’t keep up with the conversation; he’s distracted and going off on tangents that are weird, even for him. Like he’s devolved into a three year old with a shiny object. It’s weird as hell.”

Jace just raises a brow before his hand goes to his parabatai rune. He sits there for a minute, concentrating, before frowning a little.

“Huh. I don’t sense that there’s anything wrong with him. Things feel a little murkier than they usually do, though.”

Jace sits for a minute, quiet, before looking back up at Izzy. “Are you worried about him or something?”

“No, I’m not worried. It’s just out of character and now that I know for sure that there’s nothing wrong with him, I’ll admit that I’m insanely curious.”

Jace laughs. “If Alec is high off his ass, I’d pay good money to see that.”

An idea pops into Isabelle’s head and she’d normally never entertain it but she can’t help but think that this might be her only chance.

“What if we paid him and Magnus a visit?”

Grinning, Jace offers, “We were just in the neighborhood?”

Izzy nods. “I never intrude on his off nights but, Jace, I need to see what Alec’s like when he’s high. Can you imagine? He keeps all his weird under lock and key and now it’s just all out there. I’ve got to see it in person. I’ll have enough ammunition on him to last me years.”

Jace nods, seriously, and stands up. “Let’s go then.”

It’s as she’s standing up that Iz remembers Alec is still on the other line. She brings the phone up to her ear and hears Alec passionately arguing about-- mangoes? She rolls her eyes and hangs up.

She’s obviously not getting any more work done tonight and the report can wait until tomorrow anyway.

Alec, for his part, doesn’t notice the call end. He’s long since dropped it onto the couch, his complete focus on Magnus and winning this argument.

“Mangoes are like stars, Magnus,” he says reasonably.

“Darling, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. They’re moons. Obviously.”

Alec snorts. “Moons, Magnus. How? When you cut them up they have all those cubes that look like little starbursts. They’re a very attractive fruit. Who the hell is attracted to the moon,” Alec says all of this very seriously, and Magnus is in no shape to judge, but really. Stars?

“Alexander. Mangoes in their natural state are very round and look like an oblong moon. You know what’s more attractive than stars? Natural beauty-- of which, mangoes have more than their fair share.”

Alec looks triumphant. “So you think mangoes are pretty?”

Magnus scoffs. “Of course I think they’re pretty. They’re a tropical fruit that tastes like sunshine and smiles.” He pauses for a moment before offering absently, “I wouldn’t fuck a mango, though. That could get messy.”

Alec looks at him, deadpan. “You love messy, babe.”

Grinning, Magnus just says, “I love you.”

Alec lights up, his unfocused gaze going soft and a dopey smile stealing over his face. “You love me?”

Magnus echoes that look, leans in until he’s going cross-eyed to keep eye contact. “Of course I love you. You’re prettier than mangoes and twice as sweet.”

Alec feels like he’s probably blushing but he can’t be sure. He closes the few inches of distance between them, kissing Magnus softly.

It never stops. They can be just waking up, drunk off their asses or high as kites, injured or in a foul mood or distracted, but kissing Magnus always feels like coming home. There’s familiarity but always with a bite that keeps Alec going in again and again. He can never get enough of Magnus-- his taste, his smell, the way his body feels against his own.

He hopes he never gets used to it.

They’d been distracted with the phone call, but things pick back up from where they’d left it soon enough.

Riding that wave, it crashes over Alec, slowly. With some fumbling, he pushes Magnus back onto the couch, still straddling him, leaning down to nip at his mouth, chin, neck, mouthing over those lovely collar bones. Everything is slow, tempered with warmth instead of heat, and Alec lets himself drown in Magnus, in the moment.

He wrestles Magnus’s robe open, let’s the silk part to show his boyfriend in all his glory. Miles of skin is revealed and Alec wants to get his mouth on every inch.

Underneath the robe, Magnus is wearing nothing but a pair of black lace panties, the tiniest silk bow on the top and Alec’s mouth waters at the thought of getting around Magnus’s cock.

Magnus had opened Alec up to a world of debauchery and he was a willing and eager student. He’d discovered early on that he could be an absolute cockslut, but he had a special fondness for blowjobs.

Especially on nights like this, Alec loved wrapping his lips around Magnus, taking him in until breathing became difficult. He swore it added to the high, lack of oxygen and dizzying lust making his head spin in the best way.

Seeing Magnus falling apart under him, those breathy whimpers and desperate pleas, hit him like a punch to the gut. Alec usually came untouched whenever that happened, Magnus’s pleasure pouring into him, ruining him.

Alec is kissing his way down Magnus’s chest, his stomach, has just set his mouth over the jut of Magnus’s hip bone and is sucking a mark into flawless skin, when he thinks he hears a knock.

He dismisses it, redoubles his shoddy but total focus on Magnus, and skips down to start leaving marks on Magnus’s inner thighs, refusing to give in as Magnus arches up, trying to get Alec’s mouth where he needs it most.

He feels Magnus thread fingers through his hair, pulling, and Alec moans, the sensation going straight to his dick. Magnus guides him until his breath is ghosting over the damp patch in front of the underwear. Alec places one hand on Magnus’s thigh, grip bruising, as his other goes to his own cock, squeezing, looking for a hint of relief.

His complete concentration is on Magnus, on the blood swimming sluggishly through his veins, and he doesn’t hear the door open, isn’t aware of anything but the hands in his hair and the cock just inches from his open mouth.

He’s just gotten his mouth on Magnus through the underwear when he hears his sister.

Isabelle starts cackling, laughing like she’s lost her goddamn mind, and it takes it a second to pierce through the fog. Magnus is laying under him, hips still wriggling like he can’t help himself and Alec feels pain.

Of course he’d get interrupted when things were so promising.

Slowly, he turns his head, looks up and sees Jace and Izzy standing in the entryway with matching grins on their faces. They don’t even look disturbed at catching their brother in such a compromising situation.

It feels like there’s a disconnect between his brain and mouth, but after a few seconds he gets out, “What the fuck?”

Jace grins, looking subtly proud, as he answers, “Izzy thought you were high so we came over to see if it was true. We didn’t expect to find you with your hands full, though.”

At that moment, Magnus whines, hands tightening in Alec’s hair before he turns to address the intruders.

“If you don’t mind, I was very close to getting off, so please leave.”

He waves a hand and wisps of blue travel across the room, opening the door a little wider, a clear invitation for the two of them to see themselves out.

Alec can’t help shiver-- Magnus’s magic always gets him going-- and he looks up and meets his boyfriend’s gaze.

“Hi,” he says, smile making wrinkles form at the corner of his eyes.

“Hi,” Magnus echoes. He touches Alec’s nose and a dozen blue sparks pop out, falling a few inches before fizzling out and disappearing.

Alec goes a little cross-eyed trying to see the display.

“Woah. You’re so magical.”

Jace snorts across the room and Izzy elbows him in the side. While this was hilarious, it was also endearing. She could do without seeing her brother about to go down on Magnus, but this little interaction warmed her heart.

Alec was definitely high on something. The loft smelled like spice and pine trees and there’s faint purple smoke still lingering in the air.

If that wasn’t a tip off, the fact that Alec was letting all of his weirdness hang out would be a dead giveaway.

Alec likes to pretend that he’s above certain things-- Netflix, cute puppy videos, acting less than eighty years old. The truth was, though, that he’d been under such pressure for so long that sometimes Izzy genuinely thought Alec had forgotten how to have fun. Then he’d met Magnus and here the two of them are, half naked on a couch while laughing like idiots and talking, in serious tones, about how magical Magnus was.

It was both nauseating sweet and annoying.

Isabelle huffs out a laugh as Alec rubs his nose against Magnus’s, both of them looking like they’ve forgotten that they have an audience.

“Did you know that using magic increases your chances of getting laid by a million percent?”

Ah, there it is. Izzy cringes and beside her, Jace just shakes his head. Without saying a word, they both turn to leave. While it’d been fun to see her brother being ridiculous, it was obvious that things were about to heat up again and they needed to get out of dodge.

They head towards the still-open door and Izzy steadfastly refuses to look behind her as she hears the rustle of clothing.

She reaches behind her to shut the door and the last thing she hears is Alec’s cascading laughter.

Alec and Magnus don’t hear the two of them leave-- frankly they’d forgotten about them minutes ago. They stare into each other’s eyes fora long seconds, before Alec lets his head fall down, resting against Magnus’s stomach.

Magnus lays on his back, completely enveloped by Alec, threading one hand through his love’s hair, hearing Alexander moan a little at the sensation, as his other hand wraps around his shoulders.

Alec melts against him and Magnus feels a little smile curl on his lips as he stares up at the ceiling.

Today had been god awful but it feels a million miles away as he relaxes into the couch, Alec’s weight pinning him down and making him feel safe, comfortable.

Loved.

His thoughts always get unforgivably sappy when he’s high, particularly when he’s with someone.

It’s in these moments that Magnus realizes just how deep Alec’s reached into him. He’s taken his cold, battened-down heart and brought it back to life. There’s no one else on this planet that he can let his guard down with so completely.

Alec gets everything. He gets Magnus’s fear and insecurity, but he’s also the target of his whimsy and silliness and all-encompassing love. Magnus has known for centuries that he’s a lot to handle but Alec makes the job feel like his privilege. He makes Magnus feel like spun glass and the most fortified steel all at once.

Alec takes care of him and Magnus will return that favor with everything he has for as long as he’s able.

His mind is spinning, the Seelie plant-- Blue Azia-- is still burning through his system. The only thing he knows is that Alec’s with him and that’s all that matters.

Blue Azia has low-level aphrodisiac properties and Magnus knows this is a brief respite. They’re content for the moment, hearts beating in sync, breaths slow and deep. Magnus enjoys this particular drug because it’s mostly harmless. It truly is just to come down from a foul mood and there’s nothing quite like sharing it with Alec.

Alec, who never ceases to surprise him, takes hits like an expert, surrenders to the feelings coursing through him like a pro.

He’s always been the most attractive man Magnus has ever seen, but there’s something especially hot seeing Alec with a joint between those long, capable fingers, cheeks hollowing as he inhales, and it throws Magnus’s brain offline in the very best possible way.

Magnus feels Alec’s hand start to sweep across his side in delicate movements and doesn’t try to hide his satisfied grin.

The rest of the night will be spent steeped in pleasure, probably with another joint or two, with tomorrow reserved for a lazy day in bed, recovering.

Magnus gives himself over to the feeling, knowing that Alec will always keep him grounded.

#I hope this isn't awful!#this idea has been in my head since fucking january lol #also this is the first time I've written so explicitly so hope it's not dead awful #it's a vibe #why is ao3 down ugh #high!alec #high!malec #malec fic #malec fic rec #royaltybane

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not-all-that-chic · 6 years

Text

A Summer With You

Yoongi x Reader [Hybrid!AU]

“ Nearing my graduation, the stress of being alone when the time comes forces me to make a decision: befriending a hybrid. ”

trans. | I want this one to last forever.

genre | Angst, Fluff

wordcount | 10.8k

warnings | language, sexual themes, implied rape, abuse, character death

rec. track | ♫ ♩

The phone rang a few times. I chuckle at my friend; she never picks up. Finally, she answers and she breaths into the line.

"Did you run to the phone again?"

"Okay. Let me explain."

I laugh.

"So, I was jamming to my ringtone hella hard. Cause you know how Skyway is my favorite song."

"It is. Uh-huh."

"So then I realized, wait, that's my phone ringing! So I ran— but I picked up!"

"It's okay," I sigh into the phone. Typical of her. "I actually wanted to ask where you got Peanut from."

"My dog?"

"Yeah, your dog Peanut."

"It's on the Gangju and Huanghe intersection. It's a really nice pet store-"

And I wince.

"—Okay I know you hate pet stores, but I'm just saying that's where I got Peanut from. My dad came and bought him for me as a birthday gift."

"I wanted to go to a shelter to get a pet. Not a pet store."

"I totally understand that! But recently, with all the hybrids being thrown into shelters, full-blown animals are getting less frequent in shelters."

"That's horrible. Both the fact they're euthanizing innocent animals for space and the fact they have humanoids in animal shelters." I frown.

Ever since scientists discovered a way to cross humans and animals, hybrid pets have become the norm. And the problem with that is that although they don't have the intelligence of humans, they shouldn't be treated so horribly.

On top of that, over half of the hybrids are born with defects and live about as long as their animal counterparts. It's disgusting. I would go as far as to say that they shouldn't exist, for their own sake.

"I think you should get a pet. You've been stressed right?"

"Yeah. I'm close to graduating and I'm really panicking over my thesis."

"Maybe you should just get a boyfriend. Bet that would help."

I blush.

"Okayyyy. Bye." I hold the phone in front of my face.

"Bye~"

After hanging up, I look around my decorated and furnished apartment, but then realize despite its fullness, it feels empty. Maybe I should check out that pet store she talked about. With that in mind, I grab my keys, lock the door and go to my car.

As I drive to the store, I ponder. Who exactly gave scientists the bright idea to create hybrids? Humans and animals have evolved differently, so why combine them? The hybrids are entirely dependent on humans, like dogs or cats, but much more pricey and difficult to care for.

Not to mention how fetishized they are in the media or fiction. Why on Earth would someone want to have sex with a hybrid? It's just...unethical.

And that's not even the worst of it.

Before I know it, I've arrived at the store. The Flower Pot. A name much more fitting for a floral shop than a pet store.

I'm greeted at the entrance: "Welcome to the Flower Pot! Where friendship grows!" A boy with a boxy grin practically screams at me.

I suppose that's where they get the name. Not resisting my curiosity, I explore the well kept and cute store. The floors have a cute, sparkly confetti pattern and each section is labeled with a scripted, pink sign. It's cute. I find myself smiling at the fish tanks with soft pink sand beds.

I tap a glass with a bright yellow fish. It swims away, kicking up little bubbles. In another tank, there's a small, lime-green salamander.

"Need some help?" I jump at the voice. When I turn around, I'm greeted by a tall and kind looking boy. His name tag reads 'Jungkook'. He's smiling, looking like a bunny himself.

"Oh. I'm looking for a companion."

"Okay! Follow me then please!" He walks quickly and I'm almost left behind. I speed past a few cat cages until we reach the back of the store. There are at least ten glass containers lining the walls.

All of which holding hybrids. I nearly vomit. I feel sick just watching them. Jungkook motions me forward. One of the hybrids jumps forward, his cute, black kitty ears standing up.

"Hello! I'm Jimin!" Surprisingly, he talks! Why are such intelligent...creatures being held captive in enclosed spaces?!

"I'm sorry, Jungkook, but I'm not interested in a hybrid."

"What?" He asks, eyes wide. "Why not?"

"I don't think a hybrid should be enclosed in a space barely big enough to fit a dog. I also think it's wrong to have them as pets. It's inhumane." He smiles.

"I completely agree, but my friend told me something once. Uhhh," he pauses, trying to remember.

"Oh right! "If you take one and treat it how it should be, then that's one less hybrid being treated badly." Or something like that." He rubs his neck and chuckles.

That's an incredible point. If everyone were to take that initiative, maybe hybrids could begin to live well. Or at least better than they are currently.

"Jungkook!"

"Oh! Sorry. Taehyung is calling me. I'll be right back, okay, Miss?" He doesn't wait for me to respond as he runs to the front of the store.

As soon as I return my attention back to the wall, Jimin is smiling at me patiently.

"Your name is Jimin, right?"

"Yes. You're really pretty and smart. Can you please take me home?" His eyes are wide and sparkly. That's too cute. And really shocking. Something slams against the glass on the container to Jimin's left.

"No! Take me home! Please please please please please-" I walk in front of the container, and the dog hybrid's tail wags wildly. His face and smile instantly brighten.

"Hello. What's-"

"I'm Hoseok! It's so nice to meet you! You're so nice! And your hands look soft! Can I touch your hand please?!" His energy catches me by surprise, but I smile and reach a hand forward into one of the little holes in front of him.

The Golden Retriever hybrid eagerly shoves his head under my hand. I giggle at his reaction.

"Wow wow wow! I'm right! Please take me home! I hate being in this box! I wanna run around and lay down on your bed so you can pet me some more—PLEEEAASEEE?!"

The reality hits me once again. These hybrids are captive. They want to leave so badly. I step back and remove my hand. Hoseok whines, but eventually just sits down. They're probably used to being rejected.

On Hoseok's left is an empty box. Beside Jimin there is a sleeping dog hybrid of a larger breed. German Shepard by the looks of it. For the most part, the containers are empty. I assume it's because people have already adopted them. To a good home, I hope.

A furry tail at the very end catches my attention. I walk to it and notice this container is far away from the others. Inside, the hybrid flinches upon seeing me and backs deeper into the corner.

His build is significantly smaller than the others. He's as skinny as a stick. Now I see his tail is patchy and missing fur in some areas, where the skin looks more like a human's skin than an animal's skin. The ears are huge— almost as big as his head — and split at the tip. While the inside of the ears is furless and an angry red color. And his eyes are black and beady, to the point I can't see the pupil.

A mutated hybrid, no doubt. He looks frail and he knows it. I hold back my angry tears and kneel down, to appear less scary.

"Hi," I tell him my name and make my voice as small as possible. He watches me, silent and cautious.

"Hi," he responds. The smile on my face is warm and I'm sure he can feel it.

"What's your name?"

"...Yoongi."

"It's nice to meet you, Yoongi." His body relaxes and he uncurls his legs. The clothing on his body are clean, but they look old. And he doesn't have shoes on.

I scoot closer to him and reach my hand out. He quickly gets defensive, eyes wide, as his back tries to swallow the wall.

"I promise I won't hurt you, Yoongi." He blinks multiple times and furrows his brows.

Finally, he creeps forward, just enough for me to brush the tip of my fingers against his ears. They're the softest thing I've ever touched. He shivers and his eyes are wide in wonder. Despite his weird appearance and mutated genes, he's cute. Someone like Yoongi doesn't belong here. None of these hybrids do.

"Can I ask what you are?"

"...Chinchilla." My mouth gapes in shock. I've never heard of a Chinchilla hybrid. He notices my expression. "Is that...bad?"

"No!" He flinches at my pitch and I quickly apologize. "It's not bad at all. You're really special." His eyes take me in as if I'm the greatest thing to exist. I blush. He raises his hand toward the glass, but before he does—

—Yoongi backs away from my hand.

"Find any you want to adopt?" Jungkook comes running back, his Timberland's stomping with each step. Once I look back to Yoongi, he's back to his corner, as if nothing happened.

"I-"

"Yoongi? Did you like Yoongi?" The employee sounds like he's going to burst. I look back to Yoongi. His eyes have changed as we share eye contact.

"Yes."

"W-wow! That's great! Did you hear that Yoongi?! Someone's taking you home!"

"Why do you sound so excited?" His expression changes as he motions me away from Yoongi's cage.

He whispers, "Yoongi has been here for a very long time."

"How long?" Jungkook's sad smile tells me everything.

"Since he's a mutated and frail hybrid, no one has wanted to adopt him. He's very quiet, too."

It makes tears gather in my eyes. People are so cruel. Yoongi may have some defects, but he's never had contact with anyone outside of that cage. His shyness is a result of his lack of interaction. How could he possibly be at fault?!

"What about the other hybrids?"

"NamJoon is that sleeping hybrid-" he points to the dark-haired dog hybrid "-Is scheduled for an adoption tomorrow."

"How long has he been here?"

"About a month. It takes longer for hybrids to get adopted. As for Hobi and Jimin, they've been here for two weeks. But they're so friendly, they could be adopted any time soon."

Frowning, I look back to Yoongi, whose eyes haven't left mine. I don't understand animals— or even humans —much, but I can tell Yoongi doesn't want to be here anymore.

"Can I adopt him?"

"Yoongi? Of course! He's $1,000." My jaw drops at the price.

"What?"

"That's extremely cheap for a hybrid. Most average hybrids go for around $5,000. The rare ones anywhere from $10,000 and up."

"Is it because he's mutated?" Jungkook looks melancholic when he nods.

"He's also very old for a Chinchilla. After all, hybrids take the lifespans of the animal." Clenching my teeth, I grip my shirt angrily.

"I'm a college student. I can't afford that..."

"...It's okay. Don't feel bad. You can come to visit him anytime. Just... don't tell my boss I let you, okay? She would have my ass." After he finishes whispering, he goes over to Jimin's cage and pets the cat hybrid.

I sigh and stuff my hands in my pockets. I'm so sorry Yoongi. Checking the time, I realize it's time for me to go study. Giving Yoongi one last look, I wave.

He jumps— cute —and waves back.

"I'll be back, Yoongi. I promise."

My day consisted of boring lectures and an empty evening shift. Time seemed to have passed at a snail's pace. I— for some reason beyond my own consciousness —was anxious to see Yoongi again. Maybe I pitied him, for having lived so long in those glass containers. Alone. Never played with. And in his final years of life. I can't be certain the other hybrids were adopted into good families.

But something is better than nothing.

I grip the steering wheel tightly and sigh. Yoongi was not ugly. He was cheap. Maybe soft-spoken, but he is bound to make someone happy.

My feet tap on the wet concrete. The door jingles from the rusted bells above. The Flower Pot. Sad in its name, as if hiding the fact it kept hybrids. At the counter was Taehyung again.

"Oh! Welcome back! Are you here to see Yoongi?"

"Yes." His face softens.

"That's so nice of you. What's your name?" I tell him my name and smile.

"I'm Taehyung, but you could just read my name tag to find that out. Thanks for coming back. You're welcome here any time." Nodding, I stuff my keys into my pocket and walk to the back where the hybrids are.

Jimin is gone. Did someone adopt him? Hoseok greets me happily, letting out a bark-like sound.

"Oh oh oh oh! You're back! I'm so happy! Welcome back! Can you pet me?! Please? I missed you!" It's fascinating how animal-like hybrids are. But so much more intelligent.

"Sure, Hoseok." I pet his soft hair and his leg hits the wall.

"I'm okay! I do that by accident. Sorry."

"It's okay. And can I ask you something?"

"Of course, but please keep petting me!" He closes his eyes, his huge tail thumping against the wall and his leg shaking.

"What happened to Jimin?" His tail falters and his eyes open, reflecting something sad.

"He got adopted yesterday..."

"What's wrong?" I ask, sympathetic. Seeing this bright pup so upset squeezes something inside me. His ears flatten on his head.

"The man that adopted him kept pulling on his collar. And his d-daughter..." tears prickle his eyes.

"Shh, it's okay. You don't have to tell me anything." I gently run my fingers through his hair. He shakes his head and leans toward my hand.

"N-no. I can do it. His daughter, she was grabbing him."

"How so?"

"Grabbing his...pee pee." I feel bile in my throat.

"I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault. Jimin... he was so sad. I don't want him to be used like a... sex doll." Before I know it, a tear trickles down my cheek.

"I wish I could have done something." Hoseok smiles up at me with hope.

"I know you would have. I can tell." Hoseok touches his chest. "You have a big heart."

Choking on a sob, I lean my head against the glass. Hoseok does the same.

"I wish it could be better. Hybrids are people too. You don't deserve this..." Hoseok starts making a strange rumbling noise. Not a purr, but like a soft growl. It's not comforting, but it's his effort that counts.

"Bonding with Hobi, huh?" I jump and turn around. Jungkook. Embarrassed, I stand up and look anywhere except him. "Hey! No need to be shy. Me and Tae talk to them, too."

"Oh. That's good of you guys."

"I'm really really happy you came back to see Yoongi. And Hobi, too, now since Jimin and NamJoon are gone." When I look back at the containers, only Hobi and Yoongi are left. The latter of which I hadn't noticed. But he's watching me, awe written all over his face, hands pressed against the glass.

It's as if he couldn't believe I would come back.

"I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Where do you guys find the hybrids?" Jungkook brings his finger to his chin in thought.

"I'm not sure. Only my boss knows that. But by the end of the month, these containers are occupied again. Well, except the hybrids that aren't adopted." Frowning, I think back to Yoongi.

"How long has Yoongi been here, exactly?"

"Sorry. Confidential. My boss tells me I can't tell the customers Yoongi's age." He rubs his neck with an awkward smile.

I shift my weight on my leg and cross my arms. This boss of his must be a horrible person.

"Why?"

"It makes him more appealing to buy, not that it has ever worked. When I tell you Yoongi has been here a long time, I mean a long time. You can't imagine." Tears prick at the corner of my eyes. There's no way no one has never shown interest in Yoongi. It's unfathomable. I look back at the hybrid who is sitting there fiddling with some hairs on his tail— cute.

"Sorry. I just-"

"It's okay. It's okay. I was like that, too, when I got hired." He sighs and turns around. "Listen, I gotta go restock the shelves. You have a good night."

"Thank you. You, too." When he leaves, I turn toward Yoongi. His eyes widen when I look at him. Smiling, I go to sit in front of his container. He curls into himself, making himself smaller.

"Hi, Yoongi."

"Hi..." I come closer to the glass and he looks down.

"How are you?"

He blinks, mouth opening and closing before giving me a simple, "Okay."

"Really? Tell me about your day?" He vigorously shakes his head and brushes his tail. "No? How about I'll tell you about mine, then you tell me about yours?" Yoongi considers it a while and eventually nods.

"I had a really boring day. I sat in a class all day and then my work was empty. There weren't any customers."

"Was it...big?" His question caught me off guard.

"The class?" He nods. "Yeah! It's like the size of five of this store."

His mouth opens wide, a cute sound of awe escaping. It makes me smile.

When I first met Yoongi, I thought he would be more aggressive, but he's so gentle and adorable.

"So what about you, Yoongi?" He jumps, probably still thinking about how big the class was.

"Me?"

"Yeah. Tell me about your day."

The hybrid looks down. Something unintelligible is said under his breath. If my ears don't deceive me, he just whispered, "It's not important..."

"Of course it's important. Your day was really important. I think it's important." He grips his tail again.

"I slept."

"What did you dream about?" Yoongi whips his head up toward me. His eyes blow out and suddenly he squirms. I see his Adam's apple bob as he places his hand on the glass. I put mine on the glass above his hand.

"Oh. Ah... I can't tell you."

"Why not?" I put my hands on my hips playfully. He leans against the glass.

"C-can you..." his words trail off shyly.

"Hm?"

He shifts around and quickly blurts, "Can you pet me like you pet Hoseok?" It takes me a moment to understand what he's asking, but when I do, I smile softly.

"Yoongi, you're really cute." And unexpectedly, he sputters in embarrassment.

"W-why?" Once I pet his head, he starts shaking.

"Because you're so sweet and well-mannered. And physically, you're cute." He leans into my hand further and finally, I can really feel the softness of his hair and ears. Chinchillas really are soft. His face is practically pressed against the glass. And his whole body seems to react to my touch. It's fascinating to watch him slowly warm up to me.

My watch ruins the moment as it beeps loudly. Yoongi jumps away with a small squeak— so darn cute —as I look down. I frown when I realize it's time for me to leave.

"Sorry, Yoongi. I have to leave." As I begin standing up, his hand reaches out of the hole to grab my sleeve. But I suppose it was a thing of the moment since he retracted it as soon as it came. Judging by his uncertain expression, I know what is worrying him.

"I promise I'll be back again tomorrow," I say as I rub behind his ears. This time a little smile appears on his face.

The next day when I return, it's a bit earlier in the day since I would be working late night. I skipped my free period to come and spend a while with Yoongi.

When I arrive, Jungkook is at the counter instead of Taehyung. He smiles and waves.

"Welcome! You're here at a different time today." Leaning against the counter, he places his head on his palms.

"Yeah. I work late today. I didn't want to miss seeing the hybrids though." Jungkook stands up straight.

"Oh! I think Tae is in the back with a customer. I think Hoseok might get adopted."

"Okay. Thanks, Jungkook." At what he said, I don't know if I should be happy or worried. Who knows who will adopt Hoseok.

When I reach the back of the store, there's a thin, gangly looking man in a pinstripe suit. His beard is patchy and his eyes are thin, bags underneath. Hoseok is outside of his cage, a leash around his neck. Once I get over his height, I notice the sad look in his eyes. His whole body seems to sag.

"-Here are the papers, sir." Taehyung hands the man a folder as the man frowns.

"Why this mutt got so many papers?" The man's Chicago accent is thick as he tugs on Hoseok's leash. The Golden Retriever hybrid flinches and comes down. I step forward more. Gosh, I want to stab this man.

"It's policy when adopting a hybrid to have all their information. They are part human." Taehyung's voice is tight, although his expression betrays nothing.

"Human? This mutt's about as smart as an acorn!" The man laughs.

"Actually, dog hybrids are among the smartest, especially a Golden Retriever like Hoseok-"

"This thing ain't good for nothing except sex and killing. That's why they were created, kid. Don't be giving me none of that pretty shit." Hoseok whimpers at his words. The man pulls on Hoseok's leash harshly, making the poor pup cough and bend over. Taehyung sighs and clenches his fist.

I see red and can't bear to watch a second longer. Stomping over to the man, he sees my approach.

"What you-" I sock him in the eye and hit his pressure point. He falls to the ground. Heaving, my lips pulled in a snarl, I bend over my knees. My anger made me breathless. How can this man be so stupid and heartless and just horrible to treat a kind hybrid like Hoseok like that?! Hybrids should have never been created, to avoid suffering like this. I can't recall a hybrid ever being treated well.

"Thank you," Taehyung tells me once I've calmed down. I'm shocked.

"What?"

Hoseok jumps me, whimpering and whining and tears staining my shirt.

"I would have done that myself, but my boss would have fired me. I hate people like that."

"Why are you and Jungkook working here if you know what goes on?" I ask, outraged. Hobi's buries his head into my shirt.

"I trust you, so I'll let you in on a secret."

"Okay?"

"We've actually been freeing hybrids secretly. You remember how I told you about NamJoon?" I nod. "Me and Jungkook and a few other friends have been combining money to buy the hybrids and release them to hybrid sanctuaries."

My mouth is agape. So is this store... is a front? No way. They can't afford to release every hybrid. And Hoseok was just about to get purchased.

"What about the hybrids that don't get freed?"

"Well..." he smiles sadly, regret swimming in his eyes. "We can't save them all."

"I see..."

"That's why I'm glad you knocked out that guy. Hoseok can stay longer and that buys us time." Upon hearing his name, Hoseok parts from me and asks me to take his leash off.

"What about Yoongi?" The words pour out like vomit: uncontrolled and with a bitter taste.

"The owner...keeps him." My mouth is agape in horror. I can't stop myself from dry heaving. Why is there something so horrible going on behind the scenes? Where does this person get the hybrids? Do they abuse the others?

"The only reason we told you the price is that we thought you might actually take him. People don't even glance his way anymo-"

"What does your boss do with him?!" Taehyung shushes me to keep my voice down.

"I don't know. But I've stayed overnight a few times. I can hear things." I can't believe my friend bought a dog from this store. It makes my stomach lurch at the thought.

“What kind of things?”

“...Moaning-” Taehyung winces as soon as he says it. I cover my mouth in shock and disgust. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. That’s so horrible.”

"Every time I see Yoongi in that thing pressed against that corner, I feel so sorry. I feel sorry for his existence." Hoseok notices my distress and envelops me in a hug, rocking me back and forth.

"I won't stop visiting. I'll save up money. I want to take Yoongi away from here," I tell Taehyung with determination.

"Please do. I'm sure Yoongi would be so happy to hear that." Hoseok yawns and Taehyung chuckles.

"Wanna know something? He stares at the door every time that bell jingles. Yoongi."

"Really? I'm glad he's so fond of me." I grin and go to sit in front of Yoongi's cage. He comes up to me quickly and leans his head on the glass. Taehyung tells Hoseok to get back into his container and the hybrid falls asleep as soon as his head hits the blanket. He leaves Yoongi and me alone.

"Yoongi." He smiles. Just smiles. Can hearing his name make him that happy?

"Hi." He sounds less shy today. "You know what I dreamt about?" It visibly shocks me to hear him initiating the conversation.

"Sorry, sir. You probably were drunk."

"Damn. Can't remember anything."

"Shall I escort you to the door?"

"Yeah whatever."

"What did you dream about?"

"...You." His face is buried deep into his hands and I find myself blushing. That was...cute. For lack of better words.

"What about me?" I press him. He shakes his head, shy again. It probably already took so much for him to say that. "What if I say please?"

"Maybe..."

"Fine. Yoongi, will you please tell me what your dream about me was about?" Reaching toward his ears, I pet the soft, but slightly mangled appendages. Despite his mutations— no, because of his mutations —I find him so beautiful.

"I dreamt that I was holding your hand..." It makes my heart feel so weak. My whole body is warm and happy at hearing it.

"Do you want to hold my hand?" He looks back at me as his beady eyes search mine.

"...Can I?" His question is so innocent.

"Of course!" I stop petting him and hold my hand out. And for a while, Yoongi stares at it, as if he has never seen a hand before. As if my hand is sculpted by God himself. For Yoongi, it might just be that way.

Finally, his fingers brush mine and I feel my whole body alight. It was strange. His hand awkwardly wraps around mine. I laugh. He looks at me in confusion, eyebrows furrowed.

"Did I...do it right?"

"Mm. Sort of. Like this-" I interlace my fingers with his, feeling his digits slide with mine perfectly. His hands are warm and sweaty, a product of his high body temperature and nervousness.

He looks at our hands and moves them around, awestruck. Smiling, I come closer to be more comfortable. Yoongi closes his eyes and pets his tail with his free hand. A soft smile forms on his lips.

"I like it."

"Me, too." We sit in silence as he eventually leans against the glass. This makes me so happy. I've had so many friends, boyfriends, pets and yet none make me feel quite like this. So utterly complete. I want to know Yoongi more, but for now, this is enough.

"Thank you." Laughing, I watch the smile on his face transform into a gum-filled grin. He looks content.

"For what?"

"Coming to see me." I lean against the glass and he does the same.

A whole week passes. My semester finals had me staying up night after night and I didn't even have time in the day to eat. Day in and day out: studying. But I couldn't contain my joy— and guilt for not being able to see the hybrids —once I heard those familiar rusty bells jingle.

"Woah. You look worse for wear." Languidly, I turn to Taehyung at the counter.

"Thanks. Finals have not been gentle on me."

"I'm sure seeing Yoongi and Hoseok will brighten you up. I heard that animals and hybrids can reduce stress."

I yawn and send him a lazy thumbs up. He laughs.

"He missed you!" He yells at me once I'm past the entrance. It puts a smile on my face. I missed Yoongi, too. How has he been without me here to talk to him? Despite the guilt, I couldn't put aside my health and future for Yoongi. But now I was wholeheartedly his.

"Hi hi hi hi!" Something big and warm tackles me. And licks my neck? I wiggle in discomfort at being attacked. The person latched onto me eventually removes himself. I'm greeted by a beautiful heart-shaped smile.

"Hey, Hoseok," I say as I pinch his cheek. The hybrid gets off quickly and runs around excitedly.

"Oh boy! We should play! Let's play!" He runs somewhere in the store, effectively leaving my sight. My eyes drift and I see Yoongi on the floor, legs criss-cross and with a bowl of soup on his lap. When we lock eyes, he jumps and looks away.

Was he...mad at me?

I finally hear Jungkook chuckle. He was probably hearing the commotion.

"Nice to see you back. You came at a good time."

"Yeah. I was about to ask."

"For about thirty minutes three times a day, we take the hybrids out to eat and play-"

"Kookie, can I please use this ball?!" Hoseok rams into Jungkook. The employee laughs but shakes his head.

"Sorry, Hobi. You know I can't let you play with merchandise." And even as Hoseok whines, Jungkook stays strong. The Golden Retriever pouts and sits down to chow down on his food, making a huge mess. I laugh.

"How have they been?"

"Hoseok missed you a little, but fine. Yoongi, though, he asked for you every day."

"Be quiet!" Said boy protests, his cheeks big and lips pressed into a pout.

I walk over to him and grab his empty hand. He gasps and looks our hands.

"Sorry I didn't visit. I was really busy. I missed you, too."

His face softens and he smiles, but he decides to be stubborn as he looks away from me.

"Prove it."

"I will." With that, I gently bring him into my arms and press his head to my shoulder, treating him like fragile glass. He tenses up and I see his fists clench. I shush him to make him calm down.

His body feels warm and soft like a blanket. I pet his head and play with the hair around his neck.

He squeaks. I giggle. Eventually, he returns the hug and nuzzles into my shoulder, shaking and squeaking. We relax as I hum softly near his ear.

"Wow. I knew Chinchillas could squeak and shake, but I've never seen Yoongi do it. He wayyyy likes you," Jungkook explains as he begins picking up the food dishes.

Yoongi— for such a small hybrid —is still strong, since his iron grip doesn't want to let go.

"Come on, Yoongi. It's time for you to get back in your container-" I hear something gets knocked over. "-You, too, Hoseok!"

"Nooooo. I'm not tired yet!" Hoseok jumps up and down like a spoiled kid.

Patting Yoongi's back, he finally let's go. We both stand up. Yoongi looks so small and frail curled inside his cage, but he's still taller than me.

Jungkook unlocks the boys' containers and he practically forces Hoseok inside. Before going to crawl into his container, Yoongi turns around and smiles at me. He places on my head.

"You're small."

Was that him playing around with me? For some reason, it sends a flutter in my stomach and straight to my soul.

"You're not that tall, either!" Yoongi grins and hugs me again, placing his chin on my head.

He let's go and says, "It's okay. I like it." For once, it's me blushing furiously and not him. Crawling into his own, Jungkook comes to lock it, but Yoongi puts his hand up to stop him. Reaching his hand out to me, I interlace my fingers with his.

"Come back. Please." And as commanding as it sounds, it's accompanied by a shy smile and a Yoongi blush.

"Of course. I really promise to come every day from now on, okay?"

"Okay." He sits against the wall as Jungkook finally locks him up.

His gummy smile is on his face again, I send him my own. Shyly, he asks, "...Pinky promise?"

Giggling, I reach through the hole and interlace my pinky with his.

And at that moment, I made a decision. I would save up and buy Yoongi. Somehow I would save up those $1,000.

"Anatomy is canceled for the day. You're all about to graduate. Enjoy some freedom. I have to go somewhere." The whole auditorium erupts in cheers. People quickly disperse and those that don't, talk to their friends.

"Hey," my friend grabs my attention. "Let's get outta here?"

"Alright." We grab our bags and walk down the steps and out of the door. The hallways are mostly vacant. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about the pet shop."

"Oh yeah! I've been so busy I forgot to ask."

I rub my forehead. How typical of her. Jennie is either ditsy or cold, there is no in between.

"I actually didn't adopt anything."

"What? Why not?"

"To be honest, the moment I got there, this guy led me to the hybrid cages." When I finish saying this, Jennie looks sad.

We make it outside to the park near the labs.

"Hybrids are so cool and cute, but have you heard the news?" We settle down on a bench.

"What?"

"Since hybrid anatomy is so close to humans, they've been experimenting on them. And the government for some reason is totally okay with it."

"It's sad, but at this point, what can we do." I shake my head.

"Sorry for interrupting. What were you saying?"

I cross my arms and start, "When I went, I saw a mutated hybrid. He's been there for so long that the employees don't even want to tell me."

"Aww. Poor guy."

"Yeah. I was really considering buying him, but even with all those issues he's still $1,000." Jennie frowns and leans her head on my shoulder.

"Hybrids shouldn't be bought and sold. That's so...wrong!" Nodding, I sigh.

"About a week ago, I've started taking extra shifts. I want to get him out of there."

"Seriously?!" Jennie gets off my shoulder and watches me. I lock eyes with her and furrow my brows. "Holy shit! You're serious!"

"Yes," I whisper, as I smile at the thought of the hybrid I met a month ago. He's really so sweet, although he has some sassy moments. And of course, he's always so excited to see me. Yoongi is also handsome, a great bonus. I've grown to care for him beyond an owner and pet— not that it was ever like that anyway.

"Hey. What's with that face?" Jennie pokes my side with a dumb grin. "You looooveee him?"

"...I actually haven't thought about that. Maybe."

"Wait what?! I was joking! But if you do, then go for it. Hybrid and human relationships are..."

"Well, I hope in the future, it will be accepted." Jennie goes back to her side.

Silence passes over us.

If I can adopt Yoongi, will I be able to support both of us? What does he eat? How does he sleep? Bathe? What does he like? Can he work?

Is he interested in me how I'm interested in him?

"What's his name? And what is he? Like, hybrid."

"Yoongi. And he's Chinchilla." She squeals in my ear when she hears that.

"Cute! And soft. But don't they live for like five years?"

The one thing I didn't want to think about. The thing I keep pushing to the back of my mind. If Yoongi is old and Chinchillas only live for ten years, then how long would I have with him? Even if he was young, ten years is nothing for a human. A distressed expression appears on my face.

"Sorry for asking about it. It's probably not something you want to think about."

"Don't worry about it. I already knew; I was just in denial."

"Hey! Don't look so glum! Enjoy Yoongi a lot and don't worry too much, okay?"

"Alright, Jennie. I will," I say to pacify her as I force a smile to my lips.

But now, I can't help worrying.

Jingle. The bells sound really loud. When I look up, they're not rusty. I guess they bought some new ones.

"Good morning! You're here bright and early! I think Yoongi's eating breakfast," Taehyung tells me. I smile and go up to the counter.

"I actually am saving up to buy him. I'm really close!"

"O-oh really?" Taehyung is shocked and his expression morphs into melancholy and some shade of regret. But I brush it off.

"Yeah. I can't wait. I think next week is my big bonus."

"That's...good. The new hybrids are also coming next week. That container of his will be for another hybrid..."

Grinning, I chirp, "Yep! See you, Tae!" I quickly walk to the back.

I've been meaning to ask Yoongi his age, but Jungkook or Taehyung have been present and I know they won't let him answer. I'm hoping that today, Jungkook will be busy.

To my surprise, Jungkook is cleaning out Hoseok's container. It makes me explode in joy.

"Did you guys buy Hoseok?" Jungkook jumps and hits his head on the top of the container.

"Ouch."

"Oh. Sorry, Kook!" I walk over and rub his head.

"No worries," he waves me off as he leaves the container. "And actually, Hoseok got adopted by a really nice guy. I think his name was Jackson. He was about as energetic as Hoseok. I'm sure he's in a good place."

Jungkook locks the container.

"Wow... That's amazing. I'm so happy."

"We are, too. This month was pretty good with the exception of Jimin. Poor guy." We stand in silence for a bit as if sending Jimin our prayers.

"It's okay. You guys are doing great."

"Thanks. I'm glad you're here to keep them company. We can't be here all day. We have other animals to take care of and other things to do— Speaking of which-" He starts gathering his rag and broom. "I have to clean up!"

"Huh?"

"The inspectors are coming tomorrow and this place has to be spotless!" Jungkook runs off.

I send my thanks to the heavens.

"Hey. I'm here, too." The sarcastic remark reminds me of Yoongi's presence.

"Hey, Yoongi!" I sit beside his container later that week.

"Hello." He smiles and scoots forward. Yoongi pokes his hand outside of his enclosure and interlaces our hands. My blush appears.

I cough awkwardly.

"Um, I hope this isn't a strange question, but how old are you?" Yoongi tilts his head and looks around, trying to remember.

"I think...ten years old." My stomach drops.

"W-what? Are you sure?" I can feel myself shaking.

He doesn't have very long...

"Yes. I remember celebrating my birthdays. They put those number candles. In March I turned ten."

My grip on his hand tightens. I look down to avoid his eyes.

"And...h-how long have you been here?"

"Ten years." Tears stream down my cheeks.

"I-I'm so so sorry, Yoongi!" The sobs I've been holding in can't be controlled anymore. I cough as my throat feels like there's a golf ball lodged inside.

Why has he been suffering for so long? Having to watch hybrids adopted right next to him every day, watching and progressively losing his own hope of being taken home. The owner of this shop does God knows what to him when the store closes. How much has he gone through? And for this to have been the short, miserable existence he has had.

He'll die having experienced nothing that makes him happy.

Instead of telling me it would be okay, he places his hand on my head and pets me. I look up, surely a mess.

"You pet me like this when we first met. It made me feel better." He runs his fingers through my hair and hums. I sob harder and lean against the glass.

"Y-Yoon-gi."

"Don't cry. I like you happy."

My sobs reduce to hiccups and I stop crying. It does work, shockingly. When I look up, Yoongi looks drowsy.

"Better?" He yawns. "I'm tired. If I sleep and you're still here, wake me up."

His eyes slowly drift closed as he slows his petting.

I can't help wondering: Is he actually tired, or...is this something else?

Tomorrow is my bonus paycheck. I can adopt Yoongi and at least give him the best I can in the limited time he has. I can't wait. Practically running into the store, I yell a quick, "Hi, Taehyung!" and run to the back. Jungkook is on his phone waiting for Yoongi to finish his food.

Yoongi hears me approach and his scraggly Chinchilla ears perk up. He grins his typical, gum-filled grin. I see a few pieces of stray food between his teeth— the poor baby was probably starving —, but instead of being disgusted, I feel even more endeared.

"Hey, guys!" Jungkook looks up and jumps out of his chair.

"Great! You're here! Watch Yoongi, okay? I really gotta poo!" Scrunching my nose, I look Jungkook up and down with feigned disgust.

"Eww. Didn't need to know that, Kook."

"Yeah yeah. Okay, Mom," he sighs with an eye roll. He leaves us alone.

I grab his chair and come closer to Yoongi.

"Hewwo," he says through a mouthful of spinach. It's so cute that he loves spinach so much.

"Hey, Yoongi. I actually wanted to talk to you about my plans for tomorrow." He nods, accidentally dropping a piece of food, pouting. Gosh, he's so cute it melts my heart and insides.

"I've saved up enough money to adopt you. So I get a direct deposit tomorrow and with all the money I can come and take you home! I've been thinking about it for a long time and I've always wanted to adopt you. How does that-"

Yoongi crushes me into his body. He's shaking and his fingers clench the back of my shirt as if I'll leave him. His knees buckle and we end up on the floor. I can hear and feel his near hummingbird speed heart rate. And by God, is his breathing hard.

"T-thank you! Thank you so much!" When I hear his voice straining and the first tear touches my thin t-shirt, I near cry, too.

"Whatever for? I've always wanted to adopt you. I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner." He shakes his head.

"For showing me that not all humans are bad."

"Yoongi, you don't have to thank me fo-"

"I want to. You're my favorite person."

A burning chill runs up my back, arms, head— my whole body. I can't believe my ears.

"What?" He removes himself and searches my eyes, his own red and sparkling with tears.

"Can I say that?" Blushing, I take him in. I'm happy I could give him this simple, but rare joy.

"Of course. You're my favorite person, too." Yoongi's eyes widen, but he grins. Then, he blushes, hesitant.

Evidently, he catches me off guard when he presses his lips against mine.

I melt all over again. Of course, I press against him. He wraps his arms around my shoulders and I watch his eyes flutter shut. My own follow. Bunching up the fabric at his chest with my hands, I smile into the kiss. It doesn't last very long, but it's so soft and so full of love that it's better than any kiss I've had in the past. It has meaning.

He leans his forehead against mine.

"Did you like it?"

"Yeah. I did." He grins looking a bit more confident.

"Can I do it again?" Not a second elapses before he presses his lips to mine again.

This time, he's taken the experience from the first time and kisses me with more force. His lips move and dance with mine. I sigh, feeling content just like this. Something pokes my bottom lip, and I blush, realizing it's his tongue. Yoongi's chest is heaving against mine and he forces himself against me, pressing his body impossibly close.

"Woah! Didn't expect this after doing my business!"

We push away from each other upon hearing Jungkook's voice. I recover quickly, but Yoongi is red like a tomato and furiously picking at some skin patch on his tail. He looks like a kindergartener who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Cute.

Everything he does is so cute, who am I kidding.

"Wow. You weren't joking. All in cash, too!"

I woke up early the next morning— well I actually stayed awake until my deposit came in at midnight —to come to adopt Yoongi. None of my classes were this early, so I wanted to bring Yoongi home to help him get acquainted with my home. He just woke up and was rather confused why Jungkook woke him up so early.

But as soon as he saw me, he came and leaned his head on mine and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"All in cash, too, sir!" Taehyung laughs at my response.

"Alright, well, everything is all set. I'm happy you finally could take Yoongi home..." his voice drifts off as he glances over to hybrid. I notice this.

"Tae?"

"Actually, could I talk to you outside?" Nodding, I follow, but then adds, "Without Yoongi." Yoongi shrugs and tiredly leans against the counter.

The bell jingles.

The door shuts.

We walk a little away from the store.

Taehyung runs a hand through his hair and sighs. "Yesterday when you told me you were going to adopt Yoongi, I was so nervous." He hesitates.

I urge him to continue.

"Yoongi is ten years old. And Chinchillas don't live long. I think you've already noticed how tired he is recently."

Something heavy drops in the pit of my stomach. This again. Frowning, I look at Yoongi inside. He's almost asleep again, just leaning against that counter.

"As an employee, it's my obligation to tell you this."

"Okay, Tae. Please- just- just go on."

"He's going to die soon."

I swallow. Hard.

I've been avoiding that word. To put that word and Yoongi in the same sentence together, it's making me distraught.

"...I know. I still want to adopt him."

"I'm happy his last... months, weeks, days— who knows, are with you. He's been happier than ever-"

"It's nothing. He deserves better. Even much better than what I could give him." Taehyung nods and smiles, placing a hand on my shoulder. He can tell I don't want to discuss it anymore.

"Oh!" He reaches into his pocket for his phone. "Tell me your number. I'll text you mine and Jungkook's numbers. We are like this-" He crosses his index and middle finger. "-Now."

I giggle and roll my eyes. "Sure. I'll come by a few times. Maybe we can hang out like actual, normal friends."

"Eh. Maybe don't count on that. Anyway!" He pushes me back into the store, the jingling bells waking up Yoongi. "Take care of Yoongi! He's fragile!" Said hybrid rolls his eyes and follows me out of the store.

"Bye, Tae! Tell Jungkook I said hi and bye!"

We walk to the parking lot and Yoongi takes in everything with wide eyes. He touches my car and presses his face against the glass. I laugh.

"Get in, Yoongi!"

He looks overwhelmed, eventually asking, "You can go inside?" It makes me slightly sad, remembering how he's never gone anywhere except inside that store.

"Yes. Just pull on that handle." Once he sits inside, he finds more shocking revelations.

"There's so many buttons..."

"Don't touch them, okay? I don't want anything to happen." He obeys as I lean across the dash to buckle him in. Yoongi presses a kiss to my cheek. Sputtering and fighting a blush, I return to my seat to find a smirking hybrid.

"Okay. What kind of music do you like?"

"I can choose?"

"Of course!"

"Hip-hop."

"Oooooh. So cool, Yoongi." He nods and crosses his arms, feigning coolness.

But as soon as the car actually goes on the road, he's pressed to the window. He points at places through his window, in awe. All of which I promise to take him. By the end of the trip, my smile almost hurts, having never left.

Once we get home, Yoongi is so happily talking his head off about hip-hop that I don't dare to interrupt. Not that I want to; he's so cute when he's passionate. Plus, he never talks this much. I shove my key inside.

"Welcome home!" Yoongi cautiously steps inside. He slowly sits on the couch.

He looks up at me like a kid on Christmas. I've never seen Yoongi so happy.

"Like it?"

"Do you live here?"

"Huh? Well, yes," I respond, perplexed by his question. He yawns and lies down on the couch.

"Then I like it."

His simple words make my heart pump and toes tingle. The little smile on his lips as he rests on my couch has me like putty in his presence. Although his sudden tiredness worries me, I ignore it; he has had an eventful morning after all.

I check my phone for the time. He could nap for an hour before I had to go to class.

Tomorrow was the weekend. As I check the weather, I realize it would be absolutely perfect to go to the beach. Maybe Yoongi could use some sunlight. I laugh to myself.

I giggle at Yoongi's struggling to put the t-shirt on, his cute, pale belly wiggling. He eventually gets it on, a perfect fit.

"Sorry if it's old. It's one of my sleeping shirts. It was the only thing I could find that would fit you."

He brings it up to his nose and inhales deeply. Then, he shakes his head and smiles.

"It's fine. I like how it smells like you."

Damn. I clench the fabric around my chest dramatically.

"So-! Cute-!" He grabs my keys and hands them to me. By the awkward body language, I can tell I've embarrassed him.

I give him a once over and can't help the smile on my face. His cute little board shorts. It takes a lot of willpower to forego the trip and just cuddle him on the couch.

"Let's go."

Despite how many times I had to tell Yoongi to keep his seatbelt on, the trip was fun and quiet. Also, the fact Yoongi wanted to hold my hand made driving more difficult.

The beach is empty, probably since it's so early in the morning. Yoongi pulls on my bag.

Brows furrowing, he tells me, "Let me hold your bag."

"Why?"

"Taehyung used to put on movies for us to watch. Isn't it romantic for the boy to take the bag?" I look around, mentally looking for a spot to settle down before turning my attention back to him.

"Okay. Thank you, Yoongi." The bag slips from my fingers, but he does something unexpected.

He switches the bag to his other hand and holds my hand. We both blush furiously, but Yoongi can't seem to look me in the eye, so he looks away. Being careful of the dry seaweed, I lead him over to an empty spot.

"Sit here while I set up the umbrella." I remove my towel. Then I kneel down and prepare everything for us.

"You..."

"Me?"

"You look beautiful."

When I turn to Yoongi, he seems sincere.

"Poetic aren't you? Oh! Yoongi! We should build a sandcastle!" Upon finishing, I noticed the bucket and shovel.

"What is that?"

"I'll show you." The hybrid comes beside me, ears twitching with curiosity.

"Help me put sand in this bucket."

We work together until I carefully place the bucket upside down. When I remove it, the sand stays. Yoongi is in awe.

"I'm not done yet," I say as I begin drawing little decorations. Then I make a door. He gets the idea and carefully uses his fingers to carve little divots and ornate designs.

"Me and mom used to build sandcastles all the time when I was little." He smiles.

"What is she like?"

"Really nice. And she never gets mad at me. She's really smart, too. She is pretty even now. She's like an angel."

"You are just like her then. An angel." Our fingers touch and I look up at him. Next to me, Yoongi has a tender look in his eyes. He leans forward, planting a kiss on my temple.

My hand gets engulfed in sand and Yoongi flinches.

"Sorry. I ruined it."

"It's okay. Sandcastles are really great, but they're bound to go down."

"Oh," he whispers. And for some reason, he starts building it again.

"Do you want to do something else?" He numbly shakes his head.

"I want to build it again. I want this one to last forever," he explains, then turns to me. "It's the first one I made with you. It's more special."

Blinking, taken aback, I nod and help him.

Standing up once we finish, I grab his hand and help him up, but he nearly falls over. I panic and bring him close to support him.

"Yoongi?"

"It's okay." His eyes glaze over and I only now notice how weak and out of it he seems. Like a newborn dear, taking clumsy steps. He takes a few breaths and eventually rights himself.

He's weak. He's old. He's going to-

I stop the thought as I blurt, "Want to go get some ice cream?"

"What is ice cream?"

"It's difficult to explain, it's better to just try it." I grab my bag— which he takes out my hand in order to hold my hand —and very nearly drag him to an ice cream stand.

The man at the stand regards us with a fond grin.

"Pretty girlfriend." Yoongi blushes and I sneakily squeeze his hand.

"Thank you..."

"What can I get you?"

"One scoop of sea salt vanilla for him and a strawberry for me." Yoongi mentally notes what I said. I'm too scared to get him any other flavor for fear of his stomach not being able to digest it.

"Here you are! Three ninety-five."

Once I pay and we get seated on a bench, I eagerly start eating the dessert. But Yoongi, on the other hand, stares at it like it's an alien.

"Lick it." He observes how I do it before giving a cute, kitten-lick. His expression lights up, now devouring it like he won't ever eat again.

"Wow. I take it you like it?" He looks up from his treat, mouth stained with ice cream. Laughing, I grab a napkin and wipe his mouth.

He nods and struggles to say, "Gants." I laugh at his poor thank you.

After we both finish and our bellies are full of ice cream, I lean my head on Yoongi's shoulder. He follows and leans on mine, exhaling deeply. I can hear him yawn above me.

"I'm glad we could spend time like this, Yoongi. I really like you and I'm so thankful to have met you."

"Me, too..." His voice is quiet, and his body seems to sag. Maybe we can go home and relax after this.

Yoongi suddenly touches his chest. And he shakes. He takes a deep breath and doesn't breathe for a while.

"Hey, weirdo, what are you doing?" When he exhales, his heart starts pounding loudly. Yoongi sighs and grabs my hand, squeezing it.

"Nothing. I'm okay. It's nothing." Despite how strange it sounds, I ignore it.

"Can we come again tonight?"

"Tonight?" I look up at him, and he looks down at me with a pained expression.

"Yes. Please."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm okay. I just really want to come again." Nodding, I oblige to his wishes, but I can't help but worry about his odd behavior.

Just as I promised, when we finish eating dinner, I take him back down to the coast. I don't quite understand why he wants to come. As far as I can tell, he looks more ready for a long nap. But I still humor him and bring him down to the same spot.

The sandcastle was still halfway up, although the wind has definitely eroded it. Yoongi practically plops onto the ground. I don't bother setting up an umbrella and just get out a soft blanket and some cushions. After we get comfortable, Yoongi uses my lap as a pillow.

He takes a deep, shaky breath and touches his chest.

"What do you want to do?"

"Nothing. I just want to sit with you here a while."

"Oh," I mumble. For a while, I just run my fingers through his hair and watching his peaceful face. He looks like he's about to sleep.

"Are you tired, Yoongi?" When his eyes open, there are some unshed tears. My heart clenches, worried as to why he is so upset.

"I...yes."

"Why are you crying?"

"I am?" He wipes his eyes and forces a smile on his face, but I can't tell it's fake.

"You can tell me what's wrong."

"I'm sorry." Now confused, I watch as he grabs my hand and lays a kiss on the palm.

"Why?"

"Because... You've given me everything and I left you with nothing."

Frowning, I insist, "That's not true. You've given me a lot. Plus, I don't need material things. You're very precious to me. You've become the most person in my life."

He flinches hard when he hears that.

"Don't let me be that. It makes me feel so sad."

"Yoongi, you've been acting so strange today. As soon as we got home, you went to sleep. Then, when I asked you if you wanted to watch a movie, you told me you were too tired." Yoongi rolls over toward me and hugs my midriff.

I feel his tears on my shirt.

"I'm sorry."

"Yoongi. It's okay." I push him back so I can face him, and his eyes are swimming with a lot of things I can't place.

"Oh, Yoongi..." He clutches his chest.

Yoongi closes his eyes and breathes a few times. We sit there for a few minutes. I pet his head. The waves crash especially hard and our little sandcastle finally falls over. I smile at the memory from this morning. Yoongi was so happy to just be with me.

"Sorry. I have some thoughts really eating at me right now."

"It's okay. But never hesitate to tell me okay?" And for seemingly forever, Yoongi stares at me.

Then blurts, "I love you. I wanted to say it before I regret not saying it."

My heart beats out of my chest and if a human body could smile, every cell in my body would be smiling.

"I love you, too." He smiles his gummy smile. Again, he touches his chest. Closing his eyes, he grabs my hand again and squeezes it close to him.

"I'm going to...take a nap, okay?"

"Sure. We can go home after."

"...Yeah. And... Thank you so much for everything. My last— Uh. I'm glad you could take care of me for..."

He can't finish his sentence, as if something is holding him back. A little tear slips down the corner of his eye, but I don't catch it.

"I was in that place for so long. My entire life. Thank you for showing me love and happiness."

"Of course."

"And. I love you. A lot."

"Me, too."

"Can you say it? Please?" His voice cracks.

"I love you."

He smiles, still with an iron hold on my hand. His chest slows down. I can hear his heartbeat slowing, too. Such a calm, gentle thing. The waves crashing are the opposite. I didn't think I would get so attached to someone so fast like I did with Yoongi.

Sighing, I look down at him and squeeze his hand.

And I notice how oddly cold he is.

"Should have asked for a blanket, dummy." I drape it over him.

And then I notice that his chest isn't moving.

I furrow my eyebrows.

And then I realize I can't hear his heartbeat.

I gulp.

"Yoongi?" Lightly, I shake him.

He's as still as a rock.

Oh no no no no. Not now.

"Yoongi? This better be a joke!" I choke. Shaking him more vigorously, I start heaving.

Why now? Why?

I lean against his chest and can't hear or feel anything.

"Yoongi! Stop it right now!" My voice cracks. Before I know it I'm sobbing. I place my finger under his nose: no breath. His face is cold. I lean against his chest again, hoping for something.

The only thing I hear is my own heart.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" I grip his shirt, throat tightening, and stomach twisting. "I didn't know it would be so soon!" The tears running down my face are relentless.

How could he look so content and happy while my whole world is crumbling?! Why does time keep going, when I feel like it just stopped?!

"I'm so-so sorry. A month wasn't e-nough!"

He spent ten years of his life suffering and alone. It's not fair. Not fair for him or for me.

"I'm- I'm sorry I didn't do- do enough for you!" I hiccup. "You do-n't deserve th-this!" Bringing him toward me, I bury my face into his shoulder and squeeze him to me.

My tears reverberate:

Tap tap. Tap tap. Tap tap.

If only his heart sounded like that.

"I'm sorry, Yoongi."

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