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liquid-luck-00 · 3 years

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Seven Stages of Being thrown into Teenage Superherodom

Stage 1: Panic

@marijon-week Day 1: Blue Eyes / Identity Reveal

@t1dwarrior-of-earth

Here *** Second

~~~~~~~~~~

Ever since Fu made her Guardian she left Paris. The Kwamii convinced her that the stress of being ladybug and the mental, and now physical, abuse of her classmates has become too much. Her parents also noticed her shift and they supported her leaving.

This was how she found herself in Blüdhaven. She was a student at Gotham Academy, but with Gotham's high crime rate they wanted somewhere safer for her. Sure she could have also chosen Metropolis, but the commute from Blüdhaven was shorter.

She will be the first to admit that it wasn't ideal, but for her mental health it was great. And with complete honesty and sincerity she wouldn't change a thing.

You see one thing that apparently gets overlooked is that Nightwing is the resident vigilante of Blüdhaven. Even more is the fact that he happens to be her neighbor.

OK so maybe a little bit backtracking here. Marinette may have figured out that her next-door neighbor, Detective Richard Grayson, happens to moonlight as Nightwing at night.

So the building they had chosen for her was extremely safe, however they didn’t take an account Marinette's extremely packed and late work schedule. With how Marinette would still be awake in the early morning hours, and if she heard a thump of boots on the balcony next to hers regularly, she is going to look out the window eventually.

When she does, she sees Nightwing at her neighbor's apartment. Which could be one of two possible reasons why Nightwing could be there. One, his significant other lived in that apartment and he just came regularly. Or two, he lived there and assumed every sane person was asleep.

Her question was eventually answered one night when she was at the desk next to her balcony door, she heard boots like normal, but this time they were closer than normal, this time they were on her balcony.

The door moved, causing her to turn and focus on the door. That was when a male voice muttered, I thought I left it unlocked like always.

So most people would have quietly left, but she wasn't most she opened the blinds. She is pretty sure she had a stare down with him but its difficult to say because at the mask.

However after countless akuma attacks, you tend to figure out who the target is, which is what she did. Same height, same rough build, same hit and skin tone, combined with her ability to recognize figures for fashion, that gives you Richard Grayson. Without breaking eye contact she got up, stepped to the door, opened it and pulled him in, shutting it and the blinds, turning to face him. Then is when she noticed the blood near his hair line and down his neck.

“There better be an extremely good reason why this happened Mr. Grayson.” She looked innocently at him, “because I don’t know how to explain.” She gestured to him now seated at her desk. She pulled out her first aid kit and started checking him.

“How did you find out?”

“Night owl,” she shrugged. “I hear you come in every night and well um, well...”

“Curiosity got the best of you.” She nodded.

Of course this was when her phone would go off, she grabbed it, opened it, and groaned, because of course she was being called a Paris in the middle of the night, morning over there.

“You know what you're still alive, just a superficial head injury, but I have to go.” She said moving towards her bedroom when Mr. Grayson finally reacted.

“I’m supposed to… you said you were 14 right?” She nodded. “I’m supposed to let a 14 year-old leave in the middle of the night?”

“I am, I can explain in the morning.” She tried to justify, but he wouldn't let go of her wrist. So in a leap of faith, she gave him a quick rundown of the Paris situation and why she had to leave. If after this Blüdhaven had another vigilante well no one else knew why, Trixx loved it though. And she had someone who not only knew who she was but knew how to help and train her. Even if he acted more like a brother to her.

After all the eyes are the windows to the soul, and as a true guardian and a pure soul of creation, she knows that she can trust Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson’s.

- - -

It’s almost humorous that the next pair of eyes she would this come to trust were a blue so electric that they seemed to hold Lightning itself. Those eyes belong to one Jonathan Samuel Kent.

She had actually met John while in class at Gotham Academy, but nothing much more than their initial meeting and a good morning in the halls. This was pretty much because he seemed to stick with Damian Wayne, the ice Prince of Gotham. And green eyes always hurt her in the past, so she mostly stayed away from them.

However the fates had another plan for them. A group project, yay was sarcastically running through her head because of course, the two people she was partnered with happened to be two pairs of eyes that made an impression on her originally.

“So, should we go to your place, or should we go to the library, oh maybe we should go to Damien’s, or maybe mine to work on this.” Jon rapid fired at her and Damian, as they well she moved in order to talk about the project.

“I um... I’m not exactly...” she couldn’t even finish the sentence before Damian butt in.

“Tt figure this out and inform me later.” With that he go up and walked away. And go figure her assumption that everyone with green eyes were complete and total dicks is just reinforced. Because if you’ve never had a good experience with anything or anyone who shares the same traits why would it be any different now.

“Maybe we should just meet at the café or at the library just get this over with.” She got up with the bell, turned on her heel, leaving Jon sitting at the desk she just vacated.

She heard of a soft, “oh ok” as she walked away.

But of course nothing ever was easy in her life. Because the next thing she knows she hears foot falls behind her, they were actually picking up speed, and then stomps as if they were trying to stop right behind her. That was when I hand wrapped itself around her wrist making her spin and face the person who grabbed her.

In that moment she didn’t think, she reacted, she reacted like every other time one of her classmates decided to hurt her. It was a motion that came as naturally as breathing while in her civilian form, so much so that she would bet her heartbeat wouldn’t have changed. She dropped the books and book bag from her arms and shoulder lifting her arms defensively to protect her head and she pushed her shoulders forward , defend her head, in an attempt to stop a blow. But the swing never came, no weight, no pressure, no kick, no pain, just silence.

She tentatively opened her previously shut eyes eyes and looked forward, towards where the hand had originally pulled her, to the person who pulled her, she saw Jon, shocked at her reaction and then that turned to fear almost, it seemed to her, as if he was wondering if he did something wrong, if he hurt her, quickly she tugged her arm away from him and dropped to the ground and tried to pick up her items. However what shocked her was that he also dropped down and tried to help her pick up her things.

She looked up as he handed her a stack, “I forgot to ask you for your number so we can do a group chat. Are you OK?”

“Oh yeah yeah I’m fine.” She pulled a pen quickly from her bag and a sticky note, she usually uses to annotate her sketches and class notes come on, “here.” She handed him the piece of paper, Marinette got up and started to walk away again, as to not miss her next class.

By the end of the day, she found out that Jon can can text her head off. She always tries to respond to text quickly but this boy spammed the chat trying to get to know her better. If she was Damian, and she figured he did, she would’ve silenced the conversation, but it would be rude of her not answer.

Eventually they did figure out a an arrangement, Damian was going to go meet a brother after school so he wouldn’t be available meaning that she and Jon would start the project. So they decided to open a chat just between the two of them and figured it out from there.

Seeing as both of them lived outside of Gotham they decided it would be a little bit safer to meet at Marinette’s and John would leave from her apartment. And that is what they did, together the two of them left Gotham Academy after school, took the train to Blüdhaven and got into study mode. They worked in relative peace, researching and writing down ideas until there was a knock on the door. Marinette made her way up to the door, looked through and there stood Dick. So she opened the door, yet what got her attention was not just her pseudo Brother but the person who is with him. This person just happened to be the missing member of their project group, Damian.

“Hey Mari, I thought I would introduce you to my baby brother!” He beamed then noticing the other person in the room. “Hey Jon.” He greater and then took a double take “Jon!!!”

“Hey Dick, Damian.” He smiled.

“Tt. Anyone care to explain this.” Damian glared between her and his brother.

“Wow something the boy wonder doesn’t know.” She muttered under her breath, apparently it wasn’t quite quiet enough as some reacted.

“She knows?!?” Jon directed towards Dick and Damian.

“Know what?” She bit the bullet.

“Boy Wonder!?!” He seemed to shout just loud enough to get their attention. This did cause a reaction, Dick almost looked proud but Damian seemed ready to attack her.

“Okay I knew you were clever but seriously?!”

“Not the time Dick!” She moved so the kitchen island was between her and Damian. That was when something clicked Boy Wonder, Robin, Damian is Robin. Dick is Nightwing, both work with Batman. Jon heard her the others didn’t, Robin is close with… oh sweet honey iced tea. “ Dick please please tell me that I’m wrong!”

“I’m going with no your right.” Thump went her head as it fell onto the counter unrestrained.

“Why can’t my life be normal?” She asked no one in particular.

“You are a magical girl who can use the power of mini sized gods who you also protect.” Dick supplied ever so helpfully.

“Not helping!” She glared at him.

“Your life wasn’t normal long before we met.”

“Still.” She grumbled. Damian and Jon were now watching her and Dick interact as if trying to figure something out. Ping. Her phone went off. “Oh come on.” She fell back on the counter.

“Who is it this time?” Dick asked.

She tossed the phone to him. “I hate elementals.” A livestream of Stormy Weather ravaged the city of Paris.

“Cookies?”

“Cookies, I’ll be back.” He tossed her a box from her pantry. Special macaroons for the kwamii.

“Wait! Let me come with you.”

“And how many times have I told you that would be a bad idea.”

“But…”

“No, don’t make me call Honey Bee to venom you again.”

He slowly backed up and sat on the couch dragging Damian with him. “I’ll um… I’ll hold down the fort. Don’t call Goldie.”

“I won’t.” She turned to go to her room. “Oh there is fresh cookies in the jar.”

She silently transformed and portaled away. Luckily her team was already there and they made quick work of the Akuma. Meaning she was back near instantly.

“That was quick.”

“Viperion was there.”

“How many times?”

“Dunno.”

“Liar.”

“Am not.”

“You are.” Jon interjected into their bickering.

“Who’s side are you on anyways?” She asked out.

“I have no idea.”

“Great we broke Superboy.” She plopped down on the couch next to a stunned Jon. “If only… Fluff.”she smiled, and knowing that smile Dick panicked. “Fluff. Hey Fluff.”

“Oh no time travel is what got you into this time travel will not get you out.” Dick jumped landing on her keeping her seated.

“What it’s going fine?!“ Jon screamed at them, looking pretty close to a mental break down, she should know.

“You didn’t explain anything did you.” She looked on up from her position under a pile of a Dick and pillows.

“I was meaning to come up with the cookies were good and kind of had my mouthful.”

“OK great so here’s the rundown. Hello my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I was chosen at the age of 13 to wield the Miraculous of the Ladybug which grants me the power of creation and healing. I moved Blüdhaven and enrolled into Gotham Academy because of my utterly deteriorating mental health as a result of bullying in my previous school. Not to mention the magical terrorist who prays on sad or negative emotions, who happens to be using the Miraculous Butterfly or the miraculous of transmission. My partner uses the miraculous of the black cat which grants them the power of destruction, but he’s a total and complete asshole, but that’s not surprising. I was then given full guardianship of every single miraculous in the Chinese zodiac box, the most powerful of all of them the tender age of 14. I figured out that Dick was Nightwing about a month after I moved in and afterwards I have been going out into with him as he’s in as the vigilante Vulpes. And I literally just figured out you are Robin,” she pointed at Damian. “And you are Super Boy,” she pointed at Jon, “because of you’re a little outburst. I would not have figured it out otherwise! And I’m totally not I am going crazy because now there is a total of three people who know my identity in another country, no less, and I’m sure I can figure out the rest of the Bat family from here but I so I don’t want to.“ She was able to breathe now, after having explained this in just under a minute.

She looked between both Damian and Jon noticed they both looked as if she was either crazy or that certainly made a lot of sense, or a mixture of both she really can’t tell.

“You were bullied.“ Jon seemed to only take away. “That actually explains earlier.” He said just load enough for her to hear, as they were still next to each other.

“I’m not going over this again.“ She huffed, causing Dick to roll off of her laughing onto the ground and she followed suit. “You know there’s a reason I’ve always trusted blue eyes.” That was the beginning of and inseparable friendship between her and Damian, and something more between her and Jon.

None of them quite knew that at the time.

~~~~~~~~~~

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forasecondtherewedwon · 3 years

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Stare Enough

Fandom: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Pairing: Sam Wilson/Bucky Barnes Rating: T Word Count: 4034

Summary: Bucky's got a new stare. Sam spends all afternoon and most of the evening working up the courage to meet it.

Both Sam and the food are the main attraction at this party and the problem with that situation is that it takes so damn long for one main attraction to get a second to enjoy the other.

He’s grateful—god, is he grateful—for the turnout. Friends, neighbours, the kind of people he and Sarah call family without there being any actual relation by blood, they’ve all shown up. Since the Blip, Sam’s felt like he’s always around, but this feels like a real homecoming. No sadness, nothing bittersweet. It’s a celebration and he’s at the center of it. Him and the food.

At last, Sam’s done the circuit with his plate, spooning creamy salads and grilled vegetables, stacking shellfish pink as a sunrise. There’s a fresh-baked roll perched atop a scoop of sweet potatoes and caramelized onions that smells so fucking warm and mouth-watering he has to resist walking with his nose buried in it. He collects a set of utensils furled in the middle of a paper napkin (courtesy of an efficient assembly line of old ladies, chatting and twisting neat rolls of cutlery), plate bowing into the palm of his other hand, and that’s when his damn phone vibrates in his pocket.

Sam halts and makes a sound of frustration. Nobody’s come to this thing empty-handed, so there are dishes crowding the surface of the tables, no place to set his plate down. His phone vibrates again. A teenager comes up to peruse the spread in front of him and Sam sighs, knowing what he’s about to do.

“Here,” he says heavily, offering up his beautifully arranged and wonderfully fragrant meal. The cob of corn shining with the butter he lovingly smeared over it nearly rolls over the edge. “You’re the luckiest kid in the world.”

Quickly, Sam turns away, sliding out his phone and bringing it to his ear. He doesn’t want to witness the boy digging in. His stomach growls as he greets Joaquin Torres.

“Sam,” Torres says. “Uh, I mean, sir. Mr. Captain Am… Captain Wil—”

“Take it easy,” Sam laughs. “You know me, Torres. Don’t get starstruck now.”

“Honestly, I never really got over you being the Falcon. Now that you’re Captain America… Apologies if it takes me a little while to be cool about it.” After a pause—taken while Torres attempts to become cool with Sam being Captain America, Sam assumes—he asks, “You celebrating?”

Not far from where Sam’s standing, there are two little girls singing along to their clapping game. At a table behind them, a trio of elderly gentlemen are arguing over which one of them it was that caught that 50-pound snapper off the dock back in 1978. There’s a sear of meat and fish being rotated onto and off of the grill and, bouncing over everything, music from a speaker someplace.

“Yeah,” Sam says with a broad grin. “Yeah, we are. I’d save you a plate, but I can’t even manage to hang onto my own.”

He doesn’t mention that Torres is responsible for that situation; he’s aware that, besides being a fan, the Lieutenant is a little bit infatuated with him. Sam’s trying to be gentle until the day he can respond to Torres with friendly smack-talk, the way he would Steve or Scott or Bucky. Maybe not exactly like he does with Bucky.

“Don’t worry about it,” Torres cheerfully insists. “I wasn’t calling for that, I just wanted to give you a heads up about something.”

“Alright. Let me just…”

Sam strides away from the heart of the party towards the water, seeking quiet. Kids dart in front of him and that’s nothing unusual, but when he follows them with his gaze, he sees they’re running towards Bucky. Bucky, who has his Vibranium arm extended and two kids dangling off it already, one of whom might be Sam’s nephew. Of course, Mr. Casual, Mr. Smiles, Mr. Social Butterfly, is carrying on a conversation like his arm isn’t being used as a jungle gym. A conversation with Sarah.

For just a moment, Sam stops in his tracks, considering whether he should go over there and break up any potential flirting. But then he watches them. Bucky’s just talking to her, not flicking his gaze up and down while he checks her out. And Sarah, she’s relaxed and smiling, totally at ease, like Bucky’s another member of their community. That makes him a friend. Family.

That’s one thought too far and Sam jerks himself into motion again, walking until he’d be swimming with another step.

“What’ve you got for me?”

“Well, I’ve been trying to watch as much of the coverage of the fight outside the GRC vote as I can, trying to get a sense of how they’re spinning Walker’s reappearance, the legacy of the Flag-Smashers now that Karli and her inner circle are gone… Anyway, there’s a lot of footage and you’re at the center of most of it.”

“Guess the new suit draws the eye. And the cameras.” It’s no surprise to Sam. Part of the job of being Captain America.

“Yeah, but…”

“What is it, Torres?”

“Bucky’s in the background a lot,” he explains in a voice that tells Sam there’s more Torres isn’t saying.

“Makes sense. He was in the thick of it as much as I was.”

“He’s there at the end too. When you were talking to the Senator about power and the common struggle. Man, that was a great speech. Do you think—”

“Torres. Please. The point.”

“Right, for sure, man. Bucky never takes his eyes off you.”

That flusters Sam for a second. He wasn’t expecting the blunt delivery, especially of those words. He squints down at the water where it’s lapping the side of the dock. He knew Bucky was there; they spoke right after, when Bucky tried to feed him that bullshit (and he knew it was bullshit at the time) about texting and missing the exact speech Torres is apparently still hung up on.

“So Bucky was actually listening to me,” Sam says carefully. “That’s a surprise, but it isn’t really the kind of thing that’s significant enough for you to bother notifying me about, is it?”

“I’d say that depends on what you consider significant.”

“Torres.”

“I know, but he’s not just listening! It’s how he’s looking at you!”

“Like he’s wishing I would wrap it up?” Oh, Sam remembers Bucky’s miracle from their session with Dr. Raynor.

“Like he’s totally into you! Major heart eyes. Sir,” Torres hastily adds.

And Sam should reprimand him for this. Calling with a trivial piece of information when he must know Sam’s already being very selective about which of the hundreds of recent calls (and it’d be more if more people had this number) he chooses to pick up. Calling to speculate on how Bucky was staring at Sam that night in New York.

“I don’t need to tell you this is gonna be one of those investigations we keep between you and me,” Sam states.

“For sure. I just thought maybe you’d wanna know.”

“Uh huh. You get any real news, you pass it along.”

“I will.”

Sam ends the call and turns. He looks to his right: the sparkling river. His left: his people, all the way down to the squirt with the glasses who’s hanging off a metal arm, and the man that arm belongs to.

He’s felt it, the way that Bucky stares. It’s not like it used to be though, when it irked Dr. Raynor at the police station in Baltimore, or confused Walker and Hoskins in the back of that jeep in Germany. This new stare of Bucky’s isn’t one Sam’s ever caught him doing. Bucky hasn’t quite let him. That’s actually how Sam noticed it was happening—Bucky would immediately glance away instead of leaving that dead expression on his face when Sam met his eye. Now that he has proof of it, proof he’s certain Torres would send him footage of in an instant if he asked, he’s scared to look.

Instead, he watches Bucky look at other people. Like Sarah. Like kids from the neighbourhood. His literal hangers-on disperse as Sam observes, scattered after Bucky leans towards them to say something. Sam sees half his smile and even that much has his heart swelling up in his chest. Bucky weaves through the tables and standing groups, the dancers and the kids who’ve broken out a skipping rope. (After eating from that buffet? Kids are crazy. Gonna make themselves sick.)

Without thinking too hard about it, Sam returns to the noise and the smells, trailing Bucky with a stealthy eye on his ass in those jeans. There’s no friction here between him and everybody else Sam cares about, he can see that in every short, friendly exchange someone engages Bucky in as he walks. Things flow as smoothly as the butter oozing off the corn Sam reluctantly gave up. Clearly, they remember Bucky from when he was here helping with the boat. They respect him. They like him. They’ve gotten to that last thing faster than Sam has, which makes Sam feel a little embarrassed as well as a little overwhelmed by how much the two of them have actually been through. He’s seen Bucky as a mindless killer and it almost brings a genuine tear to his eye—here on this glorious day in front of all these folks—to see the dork who rushed out to get his hands on a copy of The Hobbit in 1937 return in his current form as the dork who’ll take a fake punch from AJ and blush over brazen old women telling him how handsome he is.

Bucky stares different? Well. Sam feels different about the staring.

Sam keeps his distance until Bucky reaches the food, then his stomach gurgles a reminder than he hasn’t eaten yet. No ass is nice enough to distract him from his meal. He sidles up beside him and Bucky seems unsurprised, not even glancing over.

“Anything important?” he asks.

“What?”

“Your phone call,” Bucky clarifies, adding a heap of glossy green beans to his plate. Damn, those are some of Sam’s favourite. Bucky better not take all of them. “They need us somewhere?”

“Oh. No.”

Bucky shoots him a suspicious look after this stilted response, but he doesn’t say anything until Sam grabs a plate of his own, hungry eyes roving the feast that’s diminishing now that people have started coming back for second helpings.

“Put that down,” Bucky instructs. He doesn’t wait; he takes the plate out of Sam’s hand and tosses it back towards the pile. Thankfully, the plates are made of paper.

“Buzz off, man,” Sam tells him, reaching for the plate again. “I’m starving.”

“I figured.”

Wait.

“That’s for me?” he guesses, gazing longingly at the plate Bucky’s preparing.

“Yep.”

When Sam doesn’t reply, Bucky pauses with the plate in one hand and a serving spoon in the other and sighs.

“I didn’t want you to miss the good stuff. This party’s for you.”

“I think it might be for both of us.”

Bucky seems too self-conscious to say anything to that. He goes back to loading up Sam’s plate while Sam quietly feels his throat close up with emotion as he watches. He clears it gruffly.

“I woulda had to eat the cake you brought,” he jokes. “Pretty sure only the really little kids have eaten any. You know, people who don’t know better.”

“I was tryin’ to be a good guest.”

“I can’t believe you brought a store-bought cake,” Sam says, laughing as he grabs a set of cutlery for the second time and continuing to shuffle along next to Bucky.

“Have you ever seen me cook?”

“…No.”

“Exactly. Trust me, what I did was kinder.”

“If you say so.”

“You know what, Sam?” Bucky demands challengingly, turning to face him. “I do say so.”

Sam’s eyes go from the plate Bucky’s holding between them up to Bucky’s face. He’s close. And he’s got this look, this dancing look in his eyes that undercuts the shit out of the hard line of his eyebrows. Trying to seem all stern. All Sam can think for several seconds is that, if he just grabbed Bucky by the chain around his neck and hauled him forward, they’d never get the food stains out of their clothes. But their laundry would smell delicious.

He clears his throat.

“Then you better stay for a while.”

The corner of Bucky’s mouth twitches up and he hands Sam the plate he’s prepared for him.

“I plan to.”

When Sam picks a table to sit at, he makes sure there’s enough room for Bucky too. When Bucky sits next to him, he sits so close that their thighs press together and claims that’s all the space there is. Bucky talks and laughs when other people at the table talk to him. He’s easily drawn into conversation now and Sam feels weirdly proud of having brought this great guy home to meet everybody, even if he’s not here like that. People tells stories about last week and last century interchangeably, one old smartass making Bucky howl with laughter when they toss out a memory of Little Sam Wilson streaking from his house to the river for a naked swim. This is the danger of welcoming Bucky into the community. Sam, suppressing a smile, doesn’t really mind.

Elbows up on the table so he can eat, talk, and gesture emphatically with his fork, Sam feels Bucky’s stare creeping up on him. Slow, like the sun slides across the landscape when the clouds blow past. Bucky didn’t make this food, but Sam can feel his satisfaction as he watches Sam accept what he provided. Feels like there are grasshoppers springing around in his stomach. He still has a roll on his plate, one side soaked in family-secret barbecue sauce, and he tears it in half. While the rest of their table are caught up in some story being boisterously told by overlapping voices, Sam turns to Bucky and wordlessly offers the bread, edges dimpled where he gripped to split it. They watch each other chew and Sam’s closed mouth is smiling.

Inevitably, somebody pulls Sam back into the conversation and he does his best to laugh and heckle, covering the fact that he wasn’t listening, that he dropped the thread. The voices rise and rise and fall like water slopping over the side of a bucket.

In the next quiet moment, Bucky inclines toward him slightly and says, “You wanna talk later?”

And Sam says, “Sure.”

The day feels long, long, long, and Sam’s face gets sore from smiling, tired from talking. He does not confess that to Bucky, who’s almost always at his side. Lights go on overhead and beers come out of coolers, leftover food packed up and redistributed among neighbours, small children with drooping eyelids toted home. At first, Sam thinks Bucky’s leaning into his side because he’s drained from so much socializing too, but when he meets his eye, he just sees an invitation.

“Where are you two goin’?” Sarah asks when they slink past her carrying a too-big Cass in her arms.

“Just walkin’,” Sam tells her.

“Gotta stretch our legs,” Bucky contributes.

She looks from Sam to Bucky and back, smiling knowingly.

“Uh huh,” Sarah says.

Sam grabs Bucky by the shoulder to turn him forcibly away from his sister’s insinuations and just… forgets to let his hand fall as they wander along the water. Bucky’s steps angle towards his until his arm’s bumping Sam’s side, Sam’s arm slung around his shoulders. Is this still the body language of a couple buddies on a warm Delacroix night? Is it now, when Sam drops his arm and brushes the back of his hand across Bucky’s?

They leave the party lights on the horizon with the lazily setting sun, scrabbling off the end of the dock and onto the riverbank. Sam reaches up to give Bucky a hand down, so he won’t step in the soft mud and sink to his ankles. Bucky clasps his hand firmly and jumps.

The sound of people drops off down here and the sound of wind in grass, frogs hiding between reeds, rises.

“Are there alligators in here?” Bucky wonders, scanning the river’s edge.

Sam laughs.

“For sure.”

“And you swam here when you were a kid?”

“Even then,” Sam boasts, puffing his chest out, “my courage was legendary.”

“Yeah, and your nudity. Is there anyone within a mile of here who hasn’t seen your bare ass?”

Their eye contact holds. Oh right. Sam breaks away with an awkward, hiccupping laugh, directing his gaze at the dirt.

“The gators haven’t gathered too close to the dock in decades,” he promises Bucky. He stares out at the undisturbed water, enjoying the sun on his face. “Got skittish of the boats. Most of ’em, anyway.”

“Consider me not entirely reassured.”

“You scared of a little Louisiana lizard, man? Didn’t you grow up with Creature from the Black Lagoon?”

“Nah, that was after my time.”

“Damn, you’re old.”

Bucky snorts a laugh, refusing to look at him.

“You wanna take a dip?” Sam goads.

“No.”

But by the time Sam’s pulling his shirt over his head, Bucky’s peeling off his socks. Sam spares him a smile and keeps going, the ground soft underfoot. It could be like the few times they’ve changed in proximity to one another before, but it’s not. He senses Bucky’s eyes on him the whole time. Face hot, he takes a quick look in Bucky’s direction as he’s unzipping his jeans. His heart feels like his new suit—wings just waiting to unfurl.

When they’re down to their underwear, they wade in.

God, it feels nice. The water’s cool and the sun’s clinging to the horizon.

“Just don’t get any water in your mouth,” Sam instructs, then dunks his face and comes up squirting water at Bucky from between the gap in his front teeth, a trick he perfected as a kid. “That arm ain’t gonna rust, right?”

“You asked for this,” Bucky warns. He points a menacing finger and plunges below the surface.

Sam twists as he treads water, trying to see what’s going on down there, searching for a ripple or bubbles of released air. His legs move in twitchy kicks because that’s where he’s expecting Bucky to grab him. But the idiot is playing some kind of psychological game first, making Sam wait a full minute. Two minutes. Three.

He’s opening his mouth to call out Bucky’s name when he breaks the surface. Sam’s ready to swap the concern he was about to form into words into a taunt instead—did Bucky get down there and decide the scariest thing he could do was let Sam’s imagination take over?—until Bucky shakes his head and slicks his hair back. Then the words get caught in Sam’s throat and he just kinda stares.

“There was a really gross fish down there,” Bucky informs him. “Do you guys have eels there? Mighta been an eel. Maybe we should get out.”

“Alrighty, scaredy-cat, let’s get you to shore.”

Bucky propels himself out in front, arms moving in powerful strokes, and Sam’s hand darts out on instinct, fingers closing around Bucky’s hard calf muscle. Bucky jerks and Sam burst into loud laughter.

“Did you think that was an eel? Did you?”

“You’re lucky I…”

I’m lucky you what? Sam wants to ask when Bucky trails off, but he just swims after him.

During their game/possible eel panic (there’s no way it was an eel), they weren’t always fighting the current, so they’ve drifted downstream some. Bucky takes sloppy, sloshing steps out of the water, underwear that might’ve been light grey now dark and plastered to his ass. Sam feels like he’s choked on river water, though his mouth is dry. He lumbers out too and they begin the march back in the direction of the dock and their clothes. The water tickles as it runs down Sam’s legs; must be bugging Bucky too because he plucks his waistband away from his skin before letting it snap back. Clenching his jaw, Sam stops himself from trying to see too much.

This end of the dock is made of old boards before it transitions to pavement farther down, wood smooth on Sam’s feet when he and Bucky haul themselves up, dropping their collected clothes and shoes into a single pile. No point getting dressed until they’re dry, so they sit on the edge of the dock, feet swinging. Feels good. Feels home. They don’t speak until the sun’s set, the sky orange, then grey, then rich, velvety blue.

“You know, don’t you?” Bucky asks softly.

“Know?”

“Yeah, you know. Whenever you don’t know something, you talk and talk—”

“Sometimes I can work through a problem better if I vocalize,” Sam explains.

“But when you do know,” Bucky goes on, ignoring Sam’s input, “you’re quiet.” He looks at Sam. “You’re quiet.”

What else is Sam? Nervous. His skin’s prickling with it, and because even the warm air feels cold when he’s just climbed out of the river. There’s a wet patch spreading around him that he can barely see with evening rapidly deepening into night. He lifts a hand from the dock and sweeps it up his neck, brushing water droplets away.

Without glancing over, he says, “You’re doing that thing you do.”

“What?”

“Staring. That new stare you do.”

“Maybe,” Bucky acknowledges. A bird starts calling, the sound drifting in and away like the sway of a hypnotist’s watch and Bucky’s silent until it’s over. “Maybe I’m staring for the same reason you’re quiet.”

Sam waits. Bucky doesn’t add anything, so Sam turns to look at his face, hung with cool shadows.

“You’re not gonna say it, are you?”

“I thought you would say it,” Bucky argues defensively.

“You’re the one who’s been staring at me like that for a week. You should go first!”

“Please, you don’t even know how I’m staring at you, I only do it when you’re not looking.”

“Do it now then and see what happens,” Sam dares him.

“Fine.”

Just like that, Bucky locks in like Sam’s attention is the only handhold on a sheer cliffside. Vital and stable, a last chance, the one thing around him that wants to help him higher instead of watching him fall. A lot of that’s familiar from his regular hard stare, but then something opens up behind his eyes. Some fragile thing (that might be Bucky’s sense of caution) breaks. Suddenly, Sam’s seeing what Joaquin saw in the news footage and amateur cell phone video. Except he’s seeing it two feet in front of him. It’s intense. It makes the air a little harder to breathe.

Bucky’s lips curve into a smile, then part as he says, “I love—”

Hopefully, he wasn’t going to end that sentence with ‘store-bought cake,’ because Sam can’t really take back his reaction. The finger slipping behind Bucky’s ear as he cradles his face, the mouth sealed to his. Especially that. Thankfully, Bucky kisses him back, just as hard, and then harder.

“Thank god,” Sam pants when they break apart.

“You interrupted me.”

“I got you to stop talking? Guess we’re in my miracle.”

“I’d complain…” Bucky shrugs. “…but your miracle is pretty nice.”

“Not bad, right?”

He sighs and looks out over the water. Bucky pushes up on his fists and sits closer, offering his hand for Sam to interlace their fingers.

“Hey,” Sam prompts when it hits him that it’s super dark outside and they aren’t gonna dry much more like this, “did you book a hotel room again?”

“You kiddin’ me? I spent all my money on that cake.”

Sam laughs.

“Right, well, I guess you need a place to stay tonight then.”

“You know anything nearby?” Bucky asks with a soft smile.

Getting to his feet and bracing to pull Bucky up after him, Sam uses his free hand to motion towards their clothing pile.

“Put your pants on,” he says, “and I’ll see what I can do.”

#my writing #tfatws #tfatws spoilers #The Falcon and the Winter Soldier #CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE WINTER SOLDIER #Sam Wilson #Bucky Barnes #Joaquin Torres #Sarah Wilson #sambucky #Sam Wilson x Bucky Barnes

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thisisawonderfulusername · 3 years

Text

let's save the world

season two, episode eight

five hargreeves x reader

summary: you have one final idea to get back to twenty-nineteen: finding yourselves

warnings: cursing

word count: 2.6k

a/n: this took for fucking ever but i'm not even gonna apologize at this point because i'm ninety percent sure it will happen again. sorry in advanced. just be glad i did it, alright? anyways, please enjoy episode eight, i loved writing it, i don't know why i put it off for so long

“we were that close.” you whisper to yourself as you go up the stairs, “so close.”

the door to one of the rooms slams behind you as you quickly look through the cabinets, before finding a bottle of whiskey. the only thing you need right now.

you twist the cap off, tossing it to the side as you sit on the couch with a heavy sigh.

you can hear luther speaking as he presumably follows five up the steps, but you don’t focus too much on what he’s saying. something about making a new plan, which almost makes you laugh. no other plan would ever work, if this one didn’t. his family would never let that happen.

the door opens once again as five enters, slamming it shut and locking it before luther can come in behind him. “five!” the big man shouts outside of the door, knocking on it, “come to what?” a sigh follows shortly after, and you hear his steps recede, apparently giving up.

you look to five, holding the bottle out, “want some?”

when he takes it, you expect him to take a drink, not find the cap and twist it back on, “what are you doing?” he questions.

“what are you doing?” you shoot the question back, reaching for the bottle, “if you didn’t want any, you didn’t have to take it.”

he looks at you incredulously, holding it out of your reach, “we still have an apocalypse to stop! you can’t just be sitting in here drinking!”

at that, you let out a loud laugh, yet nothing about this is funny. “you’re kidding, right?” you raise an eyebrow, sinking into the cushions, “i’m done with that.”

setting the booze on the coffee table, his eyebrows furrow at you, “what do you mean? you can’t be done with it. we don’t have much time!”

“don’t you get it, five?” you lean forward as you look up at him, “we can’t stop this. no matter how hard we try, we’ll never be able to. there’s always something that gets in the way when we get seconds away from actually doing it. let’s face it, the world is against us, and this apocalypse is happening.” you sound defeated, and you hate hearing it. you never wanted to give up, to let the world get the best of you. it tried to before, and you persevered. but none of that matters anymore, because soon enough, you'll be nuked and your existence won't have mattered.

he’s shaking his head in disbelief, “no. no, it isn’t. you’re supposed to be the one helping me, y/n! we can still do it.”

“and what’s your plan this time? do you even have one?” you can feel the tears brimming your eyes, and you hate feeling this weak in front of him, but there was no stopping it now.

“i do.” he states, “but i need you to help me.”

sitting on the couch next to you, turned in your direction, he gently guides your eyes to his, his hand resting on your cheek. "i can't do this without you. i can't save the world if i don't have you to help me."

a tear escapes and you quickly wipe it away, sniffling as you gather yourself before you break down completely. "fine." you breathe.

you were currently in the kitchen, chugging down as much water as you could from a pitcher before passing it along to five. This plan was so, so stupid. he began to drink from it as well, and luther, who had been napping on the couch, entered.

“five, what…” he glances between the two of you, you putting baby powder anywhere on your body you deemed necessary, and to him, taking in a breath as he flipped the top closed on the pitcher. “are you guys okay?” he questions in confusion.

“we need to be hydrated.” he breathes out, and you hand him the baby powder once you were finished.

if it was possible, luther’s confusion grew, “what’s with the baby powder?”

“it’ll help with the itching.” you state, giving no further explanation.

“what itching? there’s itching? what the hell is going on here?” as five puts some of the powder in his pants, realization dawns on his face, “you do have a plan.”

grabbing his blazer, five sighs, “well, it’s a desperation move, but… since our brain-dead siblings are incapable of meeting a simple deadline, well- we have no choice.”

“no choice about what?” you follow him into the living room, flipping the watch you stole from the formerly sleeping man- since he no longer needed it- open.

“we have to find ourselves.”

luther is so stunned, trying to process it, that he doesn’t speak. “we just arrived in dallas fifteen minutes ago.” you state, closing the watch and sticking it back in your pocket.

“should i be worried about you guys?” luther finally asks, his eyebrows furrowing at the two of you.

“luther, if you recall,” five speaks as he begins to stretch, “we were sent to nineteen sixty-three on a job by the commission to make sure the president was assassinated.”

“oh!” luther starts to understand, “so, wait, your old self is out there.”

“precisely.”

“what, just walking around dallas?”

“walking around dallas with a briefcase that can get us home.” you tell him with a smile. now, if this plan didn’t work, you were truly screwed. of course, the older looking versions of yourselves won’t give up the briefcase so easily, but you know for a fact you can do it. and with that briefcase, there wouldn’t be a time limit. you could gather all of the siblings together and finally be rid of the apocalypse. maybe, just maybe, it will be the last that you have to deal with.

“oh, my god.” luther’s hands come together in front of him, “you are geniuses.”

“however, there are two significant problems with this plan.” five tells him, you nodding along, “problem number one: we are two trained assassins, arguably the most dangerous assassins in the space-time continuum. If we know ourselves, we’re not going to react kindly to bumping into us.”

you knew it sounded like you were giving yourselves a pat on the back, but he wouldn’t be saying it if it wasn’t true. and it definitely was.

“problem number two,” he paces, “this is the real fly in the ointment here: you’re not supposed to exist in close proximity to yourself in the same timeline. the side effects can be disastrous.”

luther seems as if he’s trying to process all of this, “side effects? what sort of side effects?”

“well, according to commission handbook chapter twenty-seven, subsection three-b, the seven stages in paradox psychosis are…”

“stage one: denial.” you begin counting off on your fingers,

“two: itching.” five looks to his brother,

“three: extreme thirst and urination,”

“four: excessive gas,”

“five: acute paranoia,”

“six: uncontrolled perspiration,”

“and seven:” you pause for a moment, dropping your hands, “homicidal rage.”

“homicidal rage?” luther questions, to which both of you confirm, “jeez, i don’t know. this maybe isn’t such a good idea.”

five begins to pace again, throwing his arms to the side, “it’s a hail mary. but what choice do we got, luther?”

leaning against the door frame, the large man shrugs, “i don’t know, you already seem a bit squirrely if i’m being honest.”

“listen luther, we’re gonna need you to help us get through this one, alright?” you stand in front of him, “we need… a spotter.”

“a spotter?”

“yeah,” you breathe out.

his eyebrows furrow, “what is that, like a wingman?”

“in case the paradox psychosis gets too severe,” five strides over, “we need you to help us stay on task, alright? so whatever happens, whatever we say, we need to get that briefcase. okay?”

“okay,” luther breathes.

“okay.” your shoulders relax.

both you and five turn and make your way to the steps, and you barely realize that luther is still at the doorway, staring in front of him. “luther, come on!”

“right.”

there’s an irish jig playing as you enter the bar, and chatter fills the air between the people inside, sitting at tables and at the stools along the bar countertop. you look around, skimming over all of the people, until you see them. or- you and five. it’s weird, seeing the older looking woman who sat next to the older looking five. you barely recognized them, since you had been looking at your thirteen year old selves for a while now.

“there we are.” five has spotted them as well. sitting at the bar, the briefcase on the raised wood that acted as a footrest between the two older versions of you.

“why don’t we just grab the briefcase and run?” luther asks.

“luther, we would never let that happen.” you tell him, looking up at him for a second, “we’re trained to guard those briefcases with our lives.”

“right.”

“plus, it’s the inherent paradox where this gets tricky.” five adds in. “we’re endangering our existence just being in the same room with ourselves.”

“huh? what do you mean?”

you roll your eyes, “luther, keep up. if our old selves don’t travel back to twenty-nineteen like we’re supposed to, the whole thing unravels itself. we cease to exist. got it?”

“i… got it.” he doesn’t seem to, but you decide not to try to explain further and confuse him even more.

“so our best chance is to talk with them, to reason with them.” five rolls his shoulders back, “they’ll understand. trust me. i know us better than… better than i know us.” the sentence is confusing, but the point gets across.

as five reaches up to scratch his neck, luther is quick to point it out, “that’s stage two of paradox psychosis.” he whispers urgently.

“no, i didn’t.” five states, “i didn’t itch my neck.”

“denial is stage one.” the large man points out.

“let’s stay on task, shall we?” you wave towards the two of you sitting at the bar, and as you’re about to step forward, luther reaches his hand out to stop you.

“wait!” you look at him in a mix of confusion and annoyance, “maybe i should go first.”

“why?” five asks him, also confused.

“well, you’ll freak them out.” he motions at the two of you, “bumping into your own tiny doppelganger? they’ll lose their shit.” he looks to the older versions of you, “just, let me break the ice.”

five glances around, sighing, “okay.”

“okay.” luther breathes out slowly, and you watch as he approaches the two older yous. you’re not sure if you can trust him one hundred percent.

as he begins to speak, the two of you very quickly get confused and on guard. meanwhile, you unconsciously grab hold of five’s hand to approach. “nope! don’t freak out. no freak-outs. alright.”

as the large man slowly steps to the side, you see yourself- your old self- tense up at the sight of younger looking you. “hey there, stranger.” your five speaks up, and the two older yous are almost shaking in their shoes from the shock and confusion.

you swear you see fear in your own eyes. it’s a look you remember seeing when you first landed back in twenty-nineteen and looked in the mirror at the you that had gotten stuck in the apocalypse. the you that was stuck alone for years until the commission brought you back to five. it was jarring to you as well, at first.

you remember staring into your own eyes. the little girl who had held five’s hand as he discovered the full extent of his powers, until it disappeared from her grasp and she was left in a smoldering, crumbling world.

the five of you had gotten a table, and you sat across from your older self, gaze unwavering. out of the corner of your eye, you could see the two fives glaring at each other.

“well, isn’t this nice?” luther breaks the silent tension, “the five of us, together like this.”

“no.” all four of you speak in unison, and luther is clearly uncomfortable, almost squirming in his seat.

the old five doesn’t look away from himself as he begins to speak, “somebody explain to me how it is i’m having a pint of guinness with my younger self.”

“older, actually.” the five sitting next to you states, “i’m you, just fourteen days older.”

“i have pubic hair smarter than you.” the other you says coldly, her fingers laced together on the table in front of her, “how’s that possible?”

“i can explain,” the younger seeming boy responds, “you see, one hour from now, on the grassy knoll, before the president is killed, you break your contract with the commission.” he leans forward slightly, “i already know you’re thinking about it. all those years in the apocalypse, we never stopped worrying about our family. well today, you’re going to do something about it.” he sits up straighter.

“today, you are going to attempt to time travel back to twenty-nineteen. however, you are going to screw up the jump, and end up in this twip of a body.” he points to himself with his two thumbs. “trapped forever, small, pubescent.”

“okay.” the older one finally breaks his stare, shaking in his seat, “even if i was to believe you, what am i supposed to do, not jump?”

“no, no.” you break away from the eyes of yourself, “we need you to jump. if you don’t jump, we cease to exist.” you motion between yourself and your five, “what we need is for you to jump correctly.”

“i’m listening.”

“the first time through, i got the calculation wrong. that’s how we ended up in these bodies.” five begins to explain, “but now, i know the correct calculation.”

the other is almost on the edge of his seat in anticipation, “what is it?”

“he’ll tell you.” you tell him, causing his gaze to turn to you instead, “in exchange for the briefcase you’re holding under the table.”

“yeah, yeah.” luther speaks up from where he’s sitting, “so now, you go back to twenty-nineteen, as planned, but this time with the right math, so you remain a full grown man. in exchange for that briefcase that you no longer need.” he points to the space between the older yous where it rests, a smile on his face.

“timeline restored, paradox resolved.” five speaks, “everyone goes on, existing happily ever after.”

the older you finally breaks her silence, “that’s quite a bit to take in.”

everyone’s heads turn towards her, “what do you think?” five asks, glancing between the two of them.

“i think,” older five says, “i need to piss.” he promptly states, standing from his seat and grabbing the briefcase, heading in the direction of the bathrooms. older you quickly looks between all of you, before also standing up and heading in that direction as well. you have a feeling that they’ll be discussing the situation at hand.

once they disappear down the hall where the bathrooms are, luther breaks the short silence that fell between the three of you. “well, besides the flop sweat, i think that went pretty well, right?” you had barely noticed, but there was, in fact, beads of sweat on your face, and you grabbed one of the napkins to wipe it away while luther patted one to five’s face.

“no, there’s something…” five fidgets in his seat, “something doesn’t feel right about this.”

luther is confused, which you’ve noticed happens a lot. “what… what do you mean?”

agreeing with five’s sentiment, you shake your head, “i don’t trust them.”

“but… they’re you.” he states in confusion.

“exactly.” the two of you speak in unison.

“well… i’m going to go to the bathroom too… maybe talk to him?” it’s more of a question as he stands up before quickly scurrying away.

“they’re planning something.” you state, leaning back in your seat as you scratch the back of your neck.

nodding, five takes a drink from his glass, “we have to be ready for whatever it is. we’re dangerous.”

“very.”

taglists

main: @horrorklaus @megasimpleplan4ever

tua: @rasberrymay @noodlextrash @atomicpillar @malfovs @andreasworlsboring101 @lunylovelovegood

five taglist: @anapocalypseinmymind @five-hargreeves-official @insatiable-ivy @coffee-e-addict @xplrreylo @fandomfreakff @colie-babi @flowertoty @avovada @badwolf00593

let’s save the world: @aspiringwriter1 @thetrashypanda423 @lilacs-lavender @wow-lookit-all-the-fandoms @ohmyitsfaith @xplrreylo @fandomfreakff @onedollarduck @sleepygal124 @faith-quake @stripedchickens @youcandalekmyballs @pettyjayy @libidinexx @bts-chub @theoriginalkat @flowertoty @whenyouwantdeath @ot7purple @purblerain @megasimpleplan4ever @whenyouregrungeaff @dumdumsun @malfovs @hxney-lemcn @frnks-stuff @imwaytootires @avovada @badwolf00593 @dumdumsun @zero2461

#tua #the umbrella academy #umbrella academy #five #five hargreeves #number five #tua x reader #the umbrella academy x reader #umbrella academy x reader #five x reader #five hargreeves x reader #number five x reader

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yeahimaloser · 3 years

Text

Oh To Be In Love: Part 7

Summary: Being in love can be hard, but it’s much harder to be in love with your best friend, and even harder to be in love with japans number 2 pro hero.

A friends to lovers story.

Hello!

sorry this took so long! but I hope you all enjoy it!

part 1 -> part 2 -> part 3 -> part 4 -> part 5 -> part 6

Also I still plan for there to be a re-write of some previous chapters, they are just taking a bit.

Word count: 4.3k

. . .

Keigo's smile never left his face, not after he took you back to your home, driving as you two talked and joked, and not after he got back home. Not even when he felt the nerves in his face become tighter and tighter.

The whole night just felt like a dream come true, and he desperately wanted it not to end. If he could, he would have danced with you the whole night, holding you in his arms, it almost felt better than flying.

He desperately wanted you closer, desperately wanted to feel you against him again, it was a sensation akin to a drug. Your presence that was draped around him was intoxicating, the way you moved with him, he had felt like it was all a dream, like something that good could not possibly be real.

But it was, and that's what made it so much better.

The fact that you two actually danced with each other, holding on to one another. He had never felt as safe as he did in your arms, feeling you so very close to him, God, he wished he could have had you the whole night.

For a moment, he had allowed himself to dream, allowed himself to think about what it would be like if you and him were...lovers. He knew it was futile, he knew that, in the end, you and him would always be apart, never enduring in his true feelings for you.

But, he allowed himself to wonder what it would be like to feel the shape of your lips, to feel the curve of your body, he let himself imagine you and him happy together, together, and in love. He let himself wonder what it would feel like, he always imagined the electricity that would flow through him as your lips would connect, how your body would press to his as he did so. He wanted to know, he wanted to know so desperately it hurt.

Yet, he thought about your feelings, and they kept becoming so muddled to him.

Did you feel the same way? Did you love him? Did you feel that spark as you two dance under each other's touch?

He hoped so.

He sighed as he opened the doors to his penthouse, the cool, lonely air filling his senses.

He didn’t know if he would call this place home, it felt more like a storage unit more than a place of comfort. Most often he was off alone, patrolling or on a mission, and when he did come home, he was much to exhausted to dapple in the comfort of his own home. It felt too big, too lonely to call a home, when he stepped foot inside, he was reminded of one, central fact.

He was alone. He, at the end of the day, was never going to fill the house with the laughter of another person. How he felt like a bird, trapped in a ginormous cage.

It was filled with expensive furniture, lavish TVs, a giant kitchen, and a pool he seldom used. And although the house was filled with high-priced objects that anyone would be thankful for, and although each part of the house was decorated with lavish decor, to him, it felt empty. It felt like every time he came home, he was walking into a void.

There was one thing he liked about the home, only one thing that kept him from selling the place and moving out.

The view, God was it amazing.

In the morning, when the sun rose, he would see how the sun would peek above the clouds, how the light would wash into the rooms of the house, the pure beauty of it all soaking in everything around it. And as he watched the sunrise, his body felt peaceful, he felt like nothing could hurt him, like he was simply himself, watching as the sun bathed the city in gold.

And then at night, he would sit outside on his roof, just watching as the stars dotted the inky blackness, watching as splatters of color shown above him. He watched as the lights of the city below him sparkled on, twinkling below his reach. The sky itself looked so vast, so long and endless, he stared up in wonder as the black sky consumed the world around him. In those moments he let himself forget, letting himself feel free, even for a moment.

He made a mental note to show you the stars one day.

As he got ready for bed, he heard his phone ding against the hardwood of the nightstand, his eyebrows rose in mock surprise.

He opened it, seeing a text from you.

Y/N: thanks for tonight :) I had an awesome time

He smiled, remembering the way the candlelight showed against your features, the way you smiled as he danced with you. The way your body fit against his, the feel of your skin, the way your eyes shone in the late night’s beautiful light. How your hand fit into his as you danced away with him. He would do anything, pay anyone, just to relive it again.

Hawks: No problem

Hawks: Now go to bed don’t stay up all night

Y/N: whatever mom

He chuckled to himself, almost hearing your snicker.

He was about to put down his phone, tired and happy, but that’s when he got a new message.

He had expected to see your name flash on his phone, but his eyes widened when he realized the message was from someone else, someone who he knew was going to ruin the perfect night.

Commission Higher Up: Tomorrow afternoon, meeting, do not be late, non-negotiable.

Keigo sighed, knowing that his day of fantasy with you was over, and knowing tomorrow was going to be started as a nightmare.

------

As Keigo walked into his agency, he was met with the waves and greeting of his sidekicks and workers, a normal, typical day.

“Oh! Hawks, sir,” his secretary waved him over.

He walked over to her, already knowing what she was going to say, “Sir, I just wanted to remind you that you have a meeting with the head of the Hero Public Safety Commission.”

He gave her his hero-winning smile, “Oh yeah don’t worry about that, I got a message from him yesterday.”

“Oh, well, sir, that’s the thing, he just came in.”

Keigo tried his best not to let his smile slip, but he was sure his eyes were deceiving how he truly felt.

He didn’t necessarily hate the commission, they had taken him in when he was nothing but a child, they had made him become a hero. That being said, the commission was always breathing down his neck, always watching, waiting for him to slip up. There were so many rules, who he could be seen with, who he couldn’t, what he could do, what he couldn’t do. And yet, they had helped him be the person he was, the hero he was. So no, he didn’t hate them, but he knew what it meant when they came to meet with him. It was one of three things; one, he was in trouble (he knew it was very unlikely), two, they needed him to do a press interview (most likely not, he had just made one a few weeks ago), which just left option number two…

A mission.

He nodded curtly to his secretary, still smiling at her, “Thank you for letting me know, please have no one disturbed us.”

She nodded, writing down his instructions on a piece of paper as he left.

Slowly, his smile fell away, turning his face into one of cool calculation.

He prepared himself for what he would hear when he opened the door, about how most likely he would be sent away again, on some mission far out.

Slowly, he creaked the door to his office open.

He wasn’t necessarily a disorganized person, more of he didn’t find a lot of time to clean up his messes, yet, they never seemed to bother him all that much. A stack of paper was left on his desk, a few had flown off into their own space on the wood polished surface. The carpet was cleaned, and the window looking out to the city was clear and breathtaking.

But he did not have time to admire the view today.

The director had placed himself on the opposite side of Keigo’s desk, facing the door, no doubt expecting him to walk in any minute.

Keigo walked over to his desk keeping his features neutral, not wanting to give away anything about his true feelings. He was good at that,

Keigo refused to be the one to speak first, he had nothing to say. He knew the Director would seldom make small talk, so there was no need to act warmly towards him.

The HPSC director stared back at him, his face one of serious intent, “Hawks, we have a business to discuss.”

Keigo nodded, walking to sit down on his office chair, “What is this about? I have an idea, but I would prefer it if you told me. I don’t like making guesses.”

The director nodded, “We’ve had a surge of nomu attacks, and we were wondering if perhaps you had learned anything new about them?”

Keigo shook his head, all of the information he had learned had already been given to the directors, he had learned nothing.

And boy, were they up his ass about it.

He rarely had free time, his days were spent doing mostly hero work and collecting intel, working was almost the only thing he would do. He was lucky you were his one escape, the one thing he had that could help him to relax.

He felt a pang in his heart, a sadness taking over him.

If he did go on a mission, he wouldn’t see you, he wouldn’t feel you or touch you the way he did last night, he wouldn’t feel the electricity spark through him as you brushed your fingers over his feathers. The warm breath so close to him, God it would be trying.

“Thought so,” the director sighed, “well, in that case, you will need to leave almost immediately, on a mission. We need more intel and we need it soon, you’ll leave for an intel mission. I’ll message you the rest, but be ready, you’ll leave tomorrow.”

Keigo couldn’t stop his eyebrows from shooting up, “Tomorrow? So soon?”

The director frowned at his panicked and upset tone, and Keigo tried his best to calm his racing mind.

Tommowero was so soon, so quick. While it was true that Keigo had made a quick recovery from his fight, he didn’t exactly feel like now was the best time for him to be going on missions, especially when he noticed a significant amount of attacks going on near the area around his agency. And yet, he couldn’t complain, he knew this was non-negotiable.

The director nodded, “Yes, I expected you to be fully briefed on the situation. Are we in an understanding?”

Keigo bit back the reply he wanted to spit out, how they didn’t have an understanding, how he didn’t want to go on some stupid mission. But, he knew he had no real choice in the matter, he knew he had agreed to take on the responsibilities of stopping the League Of Villains. He knew the responsibilities that came with that, he knew what he had agreed to, he couldn’t stomp around now, acting like a spoiled child. He knew he had no choice but to take the mission. He was a hero, he was someone who protected others, and at the end of the day, his job took precedence.

He had worked so hard to get to where he was, if he had to work harder, that was ok.

Normally, he would have been fine going on a mission, happy even. When he had first started all he could think about was work, saving people, becoming a hero like his younger self would have always wanted. Yet now, he felt a strong pull to another sense of duty, one almost stronger than his need to be a hero...

He stood up and gave a polite bow to the director.

“Yes sir, thank you for coming in.”

The director nodded expectantly, “Good, your secretary should get my message about your next mission, pack your bags tonight.”

Before Hawks could even nod, the director had made his way out the door.

Keigo sighed, exhausted.

He knew that the director would be curt and quick, and he knew the conversation had lasted only a few minutes, which was usual. But he swore it felt like hours.

His phone buzzed, he smiled as it did. You always seemed to know how to cheer him up.

Y/N: hey hero man

Y/N: what are you up to tomorrow

He sighed as he typed his answer.

Hawks: mission

Hawks: gotta leave by tomorrow

Y/N: WHAT

Y/N: TOMORROW

Y/N: well then do you think I can come over tonight?

Y/N: nothing bad I promise

Y/N: Did they say how long

Hawks: no they didn’t

Hawks: but I’m guessing a week maybe two

Y/N: it’s settled

Y/N: I’m coming over tonight

He smiled. A well-needed break from his stress, he thought...

-----

He fidgeted nervously with the ring placed on his finger, tugging at it slightly.

He noticed he had a nervous habit of doing such things, especially when you were involved. He seemed to have a hard time keeping still in general, yet, when it came to you he seemed to worsen.

Being the fastest hero had its strange habits, this was just one of them, the need to move and to be agile at all times. A part of him had wondered if it also came from his training, the need to keep a strong guard up at all time, and to always be at the ready.

Combined with the ring he had on his finger, he had put on a casual outfit.

A nice black sweater combined with a nice set of jeans, he had to admit he didn’t know why he wanted to look nice, it’s not like you’ve never seen him in sweats and a slim top. And yet, he wanted you to remember him as looking so nice before he had to leave you.

It was around 7 pm, the time you had agreed to come over, the time he had planned.

He didn’t really know what he wanted to do when you came over, he just knew he had to see you.

Slowly, he heard two knocks at his door, he practically jumped up from the spot on his couch to open the door.

Was he that tense?

As he opened the door, there you were, a smile slowly spreading on your face, “Hey there, bird boy, how are you holding up?”

You both gave each other a light embrace, although it was very much needed.

You both walked inside his home, big as it was, with you inside he felt much more at home.

“So,” you sighed as you sat down on the couch, “you’re off on a big mission tomorrow? Do you know how long?”

Keigo nodded his head, “Yeah, about three weeks, not so long but long enough.”

You shook your head, “That’s so dumb, you just got back in after that villain attack, I can't believe they’re sending you out so soon. I wish I could give them a piece of my mind, who do they think they are.”

He smiled, your concern was friendly, even cute in his mind. He loved how you were prepared to help him, even if he didn’t deserve it.

“Yeah well,” he said as he gave a dark chuckle, “I signed up for this hero business, gotta pay the price right.”

You rolled your eyes, “That's so dumb, they should at least give you a break. And then what? You get hurt on this mission too? You come back in and have to go back to that hospital again? They’re so inconsiderate, ugh it makes me sick. I wish-”

Keigo stopped you, placing a hand lightly on your thigh, “Hey come on,” he gave you a light squeeze, “I’m the number two pro hero, I can take care of myself.”

You only huffed in response, “You can’t stand up to them? You can't say anything? Come on, I know your body must be tired.”

You were right of course, although he had mostly healed from his time in the hospital, he knew his body wouldn’t be able to handle being thrown right back into battle, just to get pummeled again.

“I appreciate the concern, sweetheart, I really do,” he smiled, “but no, there’s not much I can do.”

You shook your head, “You really can’t try? What are they going to say, they need you, I’m sure you can ask for some downtime, Hawks.”

But Keigo just sighed, “No, Y/N, there would be no point. It’s complicated, alright.”

In truth, he wanted nothing more than to drop the conversation, he wanted his last night with you to be a happy, fun-filled memory, one to look back on as he went away. He knew it wasn’t fair to you, he knew that for the next week you would have to wonder in silence if your best friend was safe or not. He knew you just wanted him to be safe, but you had to know that he was a hero, first and foremost.

“Yeah, Hawks,” you said, your tone edging, “I know. Look I guess… I guess I’m just worried,” you turned your body to face him, “I know how hard you fight, and I just wish you let yourself relax. I’ve seen you when you're hurt, you can barely sit still. I wish you could just stop moving so damn fast and just slow down and look at the world around you. If anyone deserves that, it’s you.”

You gave him a light smile, “I wish there was some way I could show you my gratitude. To show you how grateful I am to have you in my life, just like so many others. You’re so young, and yet, you put yourself out there in order to help others. I think...I think you don’t give yourself enough credit, you’re one of the bravest people I know, you do so much for people. You deserve to be happy.”

For once, he felt at a loss for words. His jaw went slack as his eyes widened.

“You don’t,” Keigo thought, only for a moment, “you don’t have to show me, I know you're grateful. I’m not a hero out of want or desire, I just have a goal, and I wanna reach it fast. If that means I have to work harder and faster, then so be it. I’ll do anything to achieve my goal.”

“Yeah, I know. You haven’t changed from that wide-eyed boy from when we first met you know.”

“What do you mean?”

You shook your head, “When we first met, you had the same goal, you had the same aspiration, it’s one of the things that drew me to you. You haven’t changed all that much.”

Keigo rolled his eyes, “Glad to know I haven't changed in all these years.”

You giggled, “Well, you certainly got much more handsome.”

He managed to stop his wings from fluffing out, they had a habit of doing that whenever you did or said something about him. It annoyed him, yet, a part of him found it enjoyable, though he didn’t know why.

Luckily, he knew how to keep his cool, “Huh, more handsome, care to go into more detail? I would love to know.”

“Nah, now you're way too cocky, before you were like a little kid, cute and funny. Know you’re just lame.”

Hawks laughed, “Lame? Number two Por hero and I'm lame?”

You laughed with him.

He looked at you, for a moment he felt as though his worries could all drift away like he didn’t have to wake up tomorrow morning and leave like he could spend eternity with you. And boy, did he want to.

“Hawks, oh my goodness,” he turned to face you again, but your eyes were glued to the outside, his balcony.

“I don’t remember you having this beautiful view, oh my god.”

Hawks smiled, he knew you would like it, anyone would.

He sat up, extending a hand to you, “Well, why don’t we go out and see it? I’ll lead the way.”

You smiled, grasping his hand as he let you up, “It looks so beautiful.”

As you two made your way outside, the cold air hit his face, the breeze felt so inviting, he almost wanted to take off and sore above the clouds. And yet, you kept him anchored down, his feet planted, his hand in yours. The way your face was lit up by the stars, the way you smiled up at the night sky. Your eyes twinkled as you gazed up as if you were memorizing each constellation in your mind.

For a moment, for just a second, he had forgotten everything that he was worried about. He had forgotten why he was so anxious, he had forgotten why he was worried, the only thing that mattered to him at this moment was you. You, who looked so stunning under the night’s light, you, who shone brighter than any star, you, who he loved.

But it all came back to him a second later, why he was going to leave, why he was out with you for the last time for weeks, why he was upset that he wouldn’t see your glowing face for days. He wanted to etch your features into his mind, he wanted your face to be the only thing he would think about for days to come.

For a moment, he let himself dream, he let himself believe that there was no mission, that it was just you two, looking up at the stars, as they showed down on your face. He let himself believe that he could stay here, with you, looking into the pale night sky, watching as your eyes flickered towards the moon.

For whatever reason, he remembered his childhood. He remembered how he never truly felt this way about another person before. How, every time you were around him, he felt his heart become warm, how he felt it in his body, that want, that need for you, reaching out with an invisible hand for you. In his childhood, there were marks of sadness that were never truly healed, the marks that would never go away, seeping into his life, even now. And yet, you made them seem like distant thoughts, you made his life feel joyous, you made him feel like he could be himself, that he could be Keigo. He had never felt so sure, so strongly about his feelings for another person before, the whole ordeal shook him, and yet, he found excitement as well. He knew that even if you didn’t return his feelings, even if you someday came to dislike him or drift away from him, he knew he would always be content with you being on the same planet with him because he loved you just that much.

“Hawks?” your voice was etched with concern, your eyes had moved back to his.

“Is everything ok? You look pretty far off,” you said.

He just smiled, “Sorry, just thinking.”

You nudged him with his shoulder, smirking, “Well? Spill, you were looking so intense there.”

He shook his head, “It’s so dumb, you’re gonna laugh.”

“Come on, I promise I won't, please,” you moved slightly closer to him.

His breath hitched when he looked back at you, seeing your eyes light up with genuine curiosity, seeing your face closer to him, so, so close.

Even if he wanted, he couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out of his lips, “Thank you.”

Your eyebrows furrowed, your face becoming one of confusion, “Why are you thanking me?”

He sighed, “I don’t know, for a lot of things. For sticking by me, for helping me, for being here, I mean, I’m leaving tomorrow and you’re sitting with me when you could be off doing who knows what, but here you are. You’ve always been by my side, you’ve always been there for me. And, God Y/N, I can't express to you how much that means to me.”

He found himself taking a sharp breath, “I’ve never had a stable life before, I’ve never had just one person I can actually depend on. But with you, I feel like that’s different, I feel like I actually have someone who wants me around.”

He let out a sad chuckle, “I haven’t had that since... Jesus, I’ve never had that.”

He felt you grip his arm, “Stop it Hawks, you have no idea what you’re talking about. People love you, people everywhere depend on you. People want you around, Hawks.”

“Yeah, but,” he turned to face you, “you want me, you don’t just want pro hero Hawks, you want the real me. And I’m so not used to that. You want the real side of me, not some flimsy hero, and I just…”

For once, he felt a loss for words. He felt as though sentences could not explain what he truly felt, like all the words in the stars could not convey the way his heartbeat for you. He knew that there was no way he could ever truly help you understand the impact you had on him.

The weight of it all felt like so much.

Before he even knew what he was doing, before his brain could even catch up to his body, he was moving in, the space around you two closing. His breath becoming cool and concise, his hands placed firmly on your hips. You didn’t move away.

His lips feel on yours.

He had kissed you.

. . .

sorry for the clif hanger :) I hope you enjoyed!

Hawks Taglist:

@under-the-clouds @shylesbiannerd @blue-peach14 @roko-ppk @1small-frogs @m-ray20 @assassinslittlesister @starrygoblin @afuckingunicornn @weepinginternetrunaway @chick3n-nugget @portgasdelisa

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cryptidofthekeys · 3 years

Text

The Beginnings of Obsession

@tiny-yan-anon You said you’d like to be tagged in the Jek n Hyde story so there ya go, this was fun to write but gosh d a m n was it long as hell- Uh TWs would probs be for like Drugging, Violence (Someone gets beat with a cane to be specific), Blood is mentioned but there’s nothing graphically gory, Obsessive Behavior, and Yandere-Ish themes

You were out for a walk in the park, it was evening time so it was nice and cool outside, you didn’t have to worry so much about overheating at this stage of the day, it was nice and peaceful out as well… Nothing and nobody could bother you… You could relax on the bench and watch the sunset, you had hoped you weren’t too late to catch the view you always loved so dearly, you took your seat on the bench and sighed, you could see the sun perfectly from here, nothing obstructing it at all as it slowly began its descent, and then it was letting the moon have its turn up in the sky. You watched as the moon slowly began rising and sighed in bliss, this was so nice… It was so nice whenever you got the chance to come to the park, this place had always calmed your nerves. The moon was just as peaceful as the sun, granted, it was dangerous around these parts at night which is why you couldn’t stay for too long, after the moon ascended further you got up and quickly made your way out of the park, glancing off at it as you continued walking, the stars shone brightly in the sky, and not a cloud in sight tonight… And as you continued your walk you bumped into someone and fell backwards, you winced a little in pain before quickly apologizing, the person held a hand out and you could get a good look at him now.

He was a man around five foot seven, wearing a blue turtleneck underneath a white lab coat, blue pants and even shoes that matched his outfit, he also wore circle glasses as well, he had a well groomed beard and sideburns, his hair was dark brown with some gray on the sides and it was a bit of a messy curly undercut, aside from all that those eyes were the most striking thing about him, they were a baby blue color and his face held such a friendliness to it, he held his hand out to you “No no, it’s quite alright, here, let me help you up” You nodded and slowly reached out for the extended hand, he quickly tugged you up to your feet and helped you dust yourself off a bit “There we go… Are you alright? I hope I didn’t startle you!” His tone was very polite and you smiled albeit a bit awkwardly “Not really… I just, wasn’t paying attention to where I was going was all” The stranger nodded “Ah, I see… I do not want to lecture you but you should know, it can be awfully dangerous at night time here, you never know what kind of depraved individuals you’ll run into at these hours…” You nodded “Of course, I’ll keep that in mind…” The stranger smiled before he realized “Oh, where are my manners? I haven’t even introduced myself yet…! My name is Henry! Henry Jekyll” You took a moment before you then had a realization.

“Oh! You’re that Doctor I’ve heard so much about aren’t you?” Henry nodded, chuckling a little “My reputation exceeds me I suppose… Yes, I am the local Doctor everyone talks about so dearly” He looked a little embarrassed but nonetheless you smiled and extended your hand “My name is (Y/N), it’s nice to meet you Doctor Jekyll” The man laughed a little, accepting the handshake “Please, you may just call me Henry… Would you like me to escort you back home? After all, wandering these streets alone at night as I’ve said, can be quite dangerous, and it would be a shame if something bad happened” You shook your head “Oh no, I don’t want to trouble you or put you outta your way…” Jekyll only smiled “Nonsense, I can assure you… It’s quite alright, I wasn’t too busy for tonight anyways” You sighed but smiled nonetheless “If you insist, then I guess it’s alright…” Jekyll let go of your hand, realizing it was awkward that he was still holding onto it and then you and him were on your way, you told him your address so he could actually lead you back there.

“So, what were you doing out here anyways? Er, if you don’t mind me asking that is” Henry asked to which you quickly responded “I just… I really love watching the sunset when I get the chance, and seeing the moon and stars… It’s all a very pretty sight when you can find time of course…” Jekyll nodded “Hm, I do suppose the sunset can be quite charming… And there are no clouds obstructing the views tonight either, a perfect evening for a stroll, I rarely go out anymore, I suppose I have gotten all wrapped up in my work as of recently” You nodded “So, your a doctor, what is it you do exactly?” Jekyll cleared his throat before speaking “Well, I used to have an ongoing experiment but uh…” And then he sighed “I would rather not go into details of that old experiment... After all, it uh, it is in the past… I will say my field is mostly in scientific studies, alchemy to be more specific, I spend quite a lot of time in my lab back at my mansion, if you’re ever interesting in learning about such things then I would be more than happy to teach you” You nodded “I’ll keep that in mind” And there was a pause before he spoke up “What is it that you do exactly?” You shrugged “Eh, I just do little things here and there… Nothing much, just… Enough to keep food on the table and pay the bills I guess…” Jekyll nodded “I see…” And there was another pause, this one a bit longer than before.

“Well, er… I know we just met but if you ever need any help with any of that, then please, don’t be afraid to contact me, after all I do love helping others out in times of need” And then he pulled out a little card with his info and number on it, you took it but then shook your head “I appreciate that offer immensely, but, I’d never wanna trouble you like that…” Jekyll merely smiled “Oh but it isn’t any trouble at all, like I said, my job is to help the people around! And even if that means paying for their bills or buying them something to eat or drink then so be it” You smiled at that “...You’re very kind… Not a lot of folks, especially not the richer ones would offer something like that” Henry nodded and sighed “Oh believe me, I know how you feel on that matter… Even if I am rich, I have always refused to act so snobby and selfish, being selfish and snobby gets you nowhere in life…!” ...Well, maybe he lied a little on the selfish part … But they didn’t need to know such details, the two of you continued your conversation, getting to know each other before finally he had led you back to the address you told him “There we are…! I’m surprised we didn’t run into any sorts of hooligans… I suppose it’s our lucky night, huh?” You nodded “Yeah… Oh uh, thanks by the way… I appreciate you taking the time to walk me home”

Henry had a bright smile on his face “It wasn’t a problem!” The people around here really didn’t tell a single lie about Henry Jekyll, he was as friendly as could be, so sweet and polite as could be, especially to offer such things to a person he barely even knew, as you were heading inside you turned back to him for a moment “I uh, I’m sure I’ll see you around some time, yeah?” Henry then shrugged and adjusted his glasses a little “Perhaps! I DO spend most of my time in the lab but, if you ever want you are free to stop by my home! My address is on the card I gave you” And then you nodded and he waved goodbye to you as he headed back to his own home, you got inside and closed the door behind yourself, you looked down at the card in your hand and read it more properly now ...Maybe, maybe you would pay him a visit one day, for now though you wanted to get some sleep, you walked over and placed the card down on the counter and headed off to the bathroom to brush your teeth, as you were getting ready for bed.

You couldn’t help but keep thinking of the doctor, you were a bit curious about him you wouldn’t deny, and it seemed he was curious of you too given all he had said, offered, and asked.

M e a n w h i l e. . .

Jekyll had returned to his home and sighed deeply, he greeted Poole first since he was standing right there, must’ve been waiting actually… As he began walking toward his lab he greeted the maids as he walked past, they offered him some tea or something to eat to which he refused, he wasn’t feeling too hungry or thirsty right now, besides, he had some things to think about as he made it to the door, he quickly shut it behind himself and locked it, he then walked over and sat down in his chair and ran his hands through his hair, the entire walk home he had only thought of the person he had met earlier, he had only thought of you the entire time… It was so strange, the moment he first saw you he started feeling… Something, he thought about it some more, and it seemed like… Love? There was no way! Love at first sight was only ever in those fantasy stories, he had never really believed in love at first sight, it wasn’t the way he was wired, sure if some believed in that, who was he to judge then? But for him to feel such a strange feeling so suddenly… He heard a voice laughing at him and of course, right on cue to be a bother… Jekyll sighed “What do you want, Hyde?” He sounded a little snappy but then again, who could blame him? He watched as the exact being he didn’t want to see manifested right in front of him.

Hyde gave him a smirk as he paraded around the other “Someone’s got a crush~!” He kept exclaiming, cackling as Jekyll blushed and tried to defend himself “I do not! There is no way I can have a crush on someone I just met! I don’t even believe in love at first sight!” Hyde only grinned, displaying those sharp unpleasant teeth, somehow, even after all the years Jekyll’s spent with him, that display still managed to unnerve him “Oh come on! It’s SO clear~! You looove them~ But tell me something, do you even know if they have a significant other? Do you even think they’d like you back? I mean, who’d ever wanna get with a pathetic weakling such as yourself?” Hyde seemed to take notice of Jekyll tensing, and that look in the other’s eyes… Now, Hyde has seen many expressions on the other’s face before but this one looked… Different, he couldn’t quite place his finger on it just yet but it piqued his curiosity nonetheless. “Ugh, why don’t you just disappear for a while, hm? Just leave me alone for once” He was avoiding those questions which Hyde quickly caught onto, he walked over and got uncomfortably close to Jekyll, studying his expression carefully “...Hmm… You wish for me to leave you be?” There was a pause before he grinned, even though he was just like a ghost practically, those teeth being this close unnerved Jekyll immensely more than before.

“Fine then, I shall leave you be ...For now~” And just like that Hyde vanished which surprised Jekyll entirely, there was no way the other just up and left like that… It was up to something, he was planning something and Jekyll didn’t like that one bit, he knew asking would be pointless, Hyde would never admit to anything anyways… He sighed and ran his hands through his hair again, great, now he’d have to worry about whatever the other was up to…

...This was going to be a long week… After a day had passed you decided you’d visit Jekyll, you were curious about his work and maybe you could get to know him a little better in the process, it wasn’t too hard a place to find too which was good, you knocked on the door and a Butler answered the door “Ah you must be (Y/N)... The Master has told me about you, please do come in” You nodded at this. You then made your way inside and wow… It sure was fancy, a lot fancier than you were used to for sure, then again, what else were you even expecting with such a famous doctor? The Butler cleared his throat “My name is Poole... The Master is in his Laboratory right now, if you will wait here a moment I will go and fetch him” You nodded and waited as he entered through the door, you took this moment to properly look around the place, it was huge and had a lot of fancy decorations, lots of fancy pictures, overall it was just… Super fancy, of course, even though you didn’t know much of this man, there was one thing for sure, all of this house definitely seemed fitting for him, after a few more moments of waiting you heard the door open and turned to see a smiling Henry “Ah! (Y/N), I didn’t, um, actually expect you to visit so soon…! There isn’t anything wrong, is there?”

You shook your head and smiled “No, just thought I’d come by and see you, this... Isn’t a bad time is it?” Henry quickly shook his head “No no! Not at all! Would you like something to drink while you are here?” You nodded “Some tea would be nice…” Henry nodded and told Poole to fetch him and you some tea, he nodded and got straight to work, meanwhile the doctor led you to the couch and you both sat down “So, how have you been doing today?” You shrugged “The day’s been alright so far, I had some free time today hence why I got to drop by here… How about you?”

Henry smiled “Yes, it’s been… Good so far, I have just been working around in the Laboratory for the time being as per usual” You nodded “Made any new discoveries yet, orrr anything interesting in particular happen?” Henry then shook his head “Not quite yet… I am still working on a few things here and there but those are just simply works in progress for now… Alchemy can be so fascinating and interesting once you get involved in it!” You nodded “I see… I dunno if I could ever understand honestly” There was a pause before he spoke up “If you would like, I can show you some of my works in progress” You looked at him in a surprised manner, and even he looked surprised, he was never usually the type to let many if ANYONE down there in his Laboratory… And then Poole was delivering the tea to the both of you, Jekyll thanking him quickly and then Poole promptly left out of the room to give you two more privacy, after that you looked at the doctor “I mean… If you wanna show me, then I wouldn’t mind…” You gave him a smile which honestly made his heart flutter every time he saw that bright smile of yours, granted he knew it shouldn’t, this was far too soon for any nonsense like that.

It was strange even because the more Henry looked into your eyes the more he felt his heart rate spike, those eyes held something he couldn’t describe, and whenever those eyes landed on him he swore he could almost feel a blush threatening to appear, he needed to stop being so ridiculous, he needed to get a hold of himself! He quickly grabbed his cup of tea and began drinking, you did the same and for a few moments it was silent until you spoke up “Your house is very beautiful” You honestly didn’t know of anything to really say but something was better than nothing, this made the other smile “Ah thank you” ...Jeez, okay, you needed… To just, relax, you didn’t know why you were being so uptight with him, and honestly he seemed a little nervous as well.

You took a deep breath after taking a sip of tea and then you sat it down on the table “So uh, if you want… You can, go ahead and show me the projects you're working on…” Jekyll seemed to notice you finally relaxed and he was relieved of that, he almost felt himself relax a little as well “Oh, of course…!” He stood up after sitting his tea down “Come on, follow me!” He exclaimed, he was excited in all honesty to show someone his work, especially you.

...Ahem- (I’ll be honest, writing peeps first meeting n getting to know each other is not my strong suit but just bear with me) You followed him down to the stairs and you gasped upon seeing his Laboratory, the room was huge and it was filled with, okay, well you didn’t know what all it was exactly but from what you could see there were lots of bottles and beakers filled with various substances, there were also lots of notes here and there, files, and honestly a lot of stuff cluttered around “I uh, have been meaning to organize things a bit better in here but I got caught up in my work…” He could hear a voice in the back of his mind that said liar, you just got lazy… But he merely shooed that away, he prayed that Hyde wouldn’t bother him right now… You looked around the Lab in awe “It looks so cool…! If you uh, want I can help you clean up the papers” Jekyll shook his head “I appreciate your offer but I will clean it up myself, later on…” You then noticed some weird ingredients in some jars on the table, you walked over and knelt down to get a better look at them “What’s this…?” Jekyll looked over to the jars and smiled brightly “Ah! Those were two ingredients I had been planning to mix together recently, I got sidetracked with other things however…”

He then walked over and pointed to the jar that held some green looking leaves “This would be Scented Bay Leaves…!” He grabbed the jar and carefully opened it, holding it up to your face, you sniffed at it and the leaves definitely had a strong floral scent to them, he then closed them back up and sat them down, he grabbed the other jar and the material inside looked… Well, very strange if you were going to be honest with yourself… “And this is, well it’s some of one of my own formulas I have made before” The liquid inside the jar was a bit cloudy and gray looking and it looked gross, he then opened the jar and sat it back down on the table, he grabbed the bay leaves jar and opened it back up, he grabbed a pair of tweezers and set them down near the jars and then he grabbed a beaker, he also put some thick looking gloves on (be safe when your fucking experimenting and toiling in gods domain sometimes ok?) He told you stand back just a bit and you did so, you could still what he was doing as he picked up the tweezers and grabbed one of the scented bay leaves with it, he hovered it over to the jar with the weird liquid inside and after a few moments he lowered it and dropped the leaf into the substance.

After a few moments of nothing happening, the substance began to bubble up, it was foaming and okay… It was overflowing a little onto a tray he had quickly set it into, luckily it didn’t seem like it was going to overflow out of the tray, you looked on in awe as you watched the liquid bubble and foam and then slowly begin turning into a Dark Purple color and you were amazed but Jekyll seemed a little… Disappointed “Ah… ...T-That was… Supposed to turn Black… N-Not a Dark Purple like this” He saw Hyde manifest in the corner of the room and he could see the other laughing at him, laughing at his failure, he tried to just ignore the other which was always easier said than done, he took the gloves off and cast them to the side and sighed, you walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder which he did flinch a little at, but he quickly relaxed upon seeing a smile upon your face “Well… I uh, I don’t know how it went wrong or what exactly went wrong… But that… That was still cool…!” Henry looked surprised, he expected you to laugh at him as well, he expected you to comment about his failure and give him a bit of scrutiny even, this definitely caused a blush to appear on his face and Hyde was even stunned by this, jeez… You REALLY weren’t like the others, they would have laughed directly in his face!

This quieted the ghostly being in the corner down immediately, he watched Jekyll’s facial expressions carefully, given how long Hyde had been with Jekyll, he knew the man inside and out, literally… He could hear those thoughts, those thoughts the other kept trying to bury deep down, trying not to think like that, this was… Definitely interesting, he wanted to see just how this little story played out… Henry quickly cleared his throat and there was a smile on his face “...Thank you… I… I appreciate that…” You nodded

“Yeah… I’m sure you’ll get it next time…! Just uh, be careful… I dunno much about Alchemy but I don’t want you getting hurt” Jekyll nodded “But of course… I always try my best to be careful…” You looked up at the clock and it was getting late “Oh jeez…! I should really get going, thank you for the tea and for showing me your lab, this was cool! I had a lotta fun!” Henry suppressed a sigh, he hated that you had to go so soon, he wished you could stay here, with him… Forever… ...What was he thinking?!? He quickly spoke up “Oh of course, sorry to have kept you so long haha… Do you want me to walk you home tonight?” You shook your head “I appreciate that offer again but I’ll be fine…! I gotta hurry, I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow but the next day I’ll be free, seeya then?” Jekyll took a moment before nodding “If you want, remember you are free to stop by anytime you would like!”

You nodded and waved him goodbye, he waved goodbye to you as well and watched as you walked back up the stairs. He quickly took a seat in his chair and sighed in bliss, you were so wonderful… You didn’t judge him once or think his fascination and love for Alchemy was nonsense or ridiculous, you didn’t even give him any scrutiny for his little experiment failing in such a way… Which okay, he was still a little embarrassed about, next time he’d need to make sure things wouldn’t fail, he wanted to properly impress you… He wanted you to stay with him forever… His eyes widened a little at that thought, that thought had been creeping in a lot, jeez, he needed to get a grip on himself, that was not the type of thought to be thinking, especially not since you two were still getting to know each other...

He then glanced over to Hyde who was still standing in the corner, the two locking eyes and then Hyde was approaching without a word, this worried the doctor for a moment “...H-Hyde?” The ghostly figure never once breaking his gaze with the doctor as he stopped right in front of him, his expression was neutral as he studied Henry’s nervous one… After a few moments he suddenly smirked “You really a r e in love already… You want them, you want them s o badly… You are willing to do a n y t h i n g and e v e r y t h i n g to have them by your side…”

Jekyll was about to object to that statement but Hyde held up a clawed hand “I’m N O T finished yet… Jekyll, I can r e a d your thoughts, even the ones you’ve been so desperately hiding, the one you’ve been burying ever since you first laid eyes on them… I’d say this goes f a r beyond just love… It’s…” Hyde grinned before continuing “O b s e s s i o n…” He rasped out, this made Jekyll shake his head and he shot up out of his seat “I- No, that is not-” He felt himself get pushed back into his seat.

He was surprised at that, but Hyde got f a r too close for comfort, he could practically feel the other grab at his shirt collar “Henny… Don’t you d a r e lie to me…! I k n o w you from the inside and o u t… You can’t hide anything from me~ You are obsessed with them…! I never thought you would ever be obsessed over anything b u t your little experiments but here we are…~” He chuckled, stepping back a little as the doctor shook his head “...I… I don’t know what you are referring to, Hyde, now kindly leave me alone…” The figure laughed at Henry “Oh but you d o… Henny… C’mon~ If you’ll allow me, I can take care of this~! I can go get them for you!” Jekyll immediately stood and Hyde was surprised at the glare in the other’s eyes “Don’t you DARE! I will NOT let you hurt them! I will-” Hyde cut him off immediately “I don’t mean to hurt them, dumbass… What I mean is… I can fetch them for you! You want to keep them, you want them by your side…! I can go fetch (Y/N) for you! All you must do is give me the chance! I’ll deliver your precious (Y/N) unto you~” Henry shook his head “No way Hyde, there is no way I am going to let you out to do anything of the sort! I am NOT obsessed like you seem to think I am…! You are just trying to trick me like you always here, so I will let you have some inkling of control but I am NOT going to do that!” Hyde scoffed and crossed his arms “...Think about it, Jekyll… I’ll give you some time” And just like that, Hyde was gone.

Henry huffed in pure frustration, taking his glasses off to momentarily clean them before putting them back on his face, he sat back and slumped down in the chair, running his hands through his hair “...I am NOT obsessed with them… I just think they are quite charming and nice and I… I just… Want to get to k-know them a little better, that’s all…” Jekyll tried not to think of Hyde’s words, tried not to think of any of that but during the night, even as he tried to sleep… He could not take his mind off of you, even into the next day, ever since he first met you he had been thinking about you non-stop, he had been thinking about you being by his side, you being his in general… His beloved… The further into the day it got the more those thoughts intensified, at first he had thought maybe Hyde was somehow influencing this but that wouldn’t be right, Hyde wouldn’t care for such a thing surely… Jekyll never knew Hyde to express attraction or any kind of love to anyone before, as much as he could try, blaming it on Hyde wouldn’t work this time… Because this wasn’t that monster’s doing, this wasn’t his mentality, it was all of Jekyll’s own accord, all his own thoughts… He sighed, he tried to work on his experiments throughout this day since you wouldn’t be coming over, and he wanted to try taking his mind away from you.

Try as he might, nothing seemed to work, usually working with his experiments took his mind off of anything else, but not you… You were still in his head, you were still his primary thought, he tried to read, write some stuff down even, but no matter what happened, no matter what he did, he kept thinking of you… This day finally passed and yet another night of him dreaming of you, dreaming of you standing by his side, dreaming of you two holding hands together, the two of you even sharing a kiss one day perhaps… The next day you had come by just as you said you would, you greeted the doctor happily and even gave him a little hug, he froze at this at first but then he had the brightest and warmest smile on his face as he placed one arm around you, he… Wasn’t used to being hugged but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy one from you… So soft, so warm… Like the day you first visited him, the two of you sat down and had some tea together and got to know each other a good bit better, asking each other various questions and the more you talked about yourself, the things you liked, just…

Anything and everything about yourself made Jekyll’s heart swoon, you were so passionate about your hobbies and the things that interested you, he even felt like you matched his own passion for things of that sort… It only made him adore you all the more… He listened to you go on and on and let you talk mostly, usually he loved to talk about his accomplishments and he’d lead conversations but he was more than happy to let you have the stage here… Eventually it was evening and time for you to leave again, he was sad to see you go but he knew you’d be back the next day, and it continued like that for the next FEW days actually, you kept coming to visit him, the two of you would talk about how your days have went, any new discoveries Jekyll had, etc- Like always by the evenings, you’d have to leave and get back home, this would leave Henry to think about you during the evening and the rest of the nights, slowly but surely he realized, he couldn’t fight this feeling off much longer, he still was not obsessed no matter what Hyde had tried to tell him, it was probably just another tactic of his to gain control or to upset him or something… Another day had come by, you knocked on the door and were greeted once more by Poole who looked delighted to see you “Ah, (Y/N), please do come in, The Master is waiting for you…”

Now, unbeknownst to Jekyll, during those few days, Poole had pulled you aside along with the other maids and told you about Henry seeming so much more happier since you came along, Poole mentioned how the doctor seemed to like you a lot actually, any time you said you were coming over he’d practically beam and the more Poole told you, you… Really needed to tell the doctor something this day, he knew it was something important from what you had said over the phone before coming here, he was sitting on the couch and smiling like usual, he waved you over “Ah, hello (Y/N)!” You smiled back albeit much more nervously “H-Hi Henry…” You came over and sat down, at first Jekyll had asked for some tea for the both of you but you quickly spoke up “Um, I-I don’t want any tea right now, I’m not… Thirsty…” Jekyll seemed to take notice of your nervousness “...(Y/N)? I...Is there something wrong? You did say you had something important to discuss with me before coming over here… You aren’t sick or anything are you?” Jekyll simply motioned for Poole to leave for now which he quickly did, you then shook your head “No no… I-I uh, I’m not sick… I have… I have something to ask you…” Henry raised a brow “And what would that be? If you need money for something, I can gladly-” You cut him off “N-No, nothing like that…!”

You took a deep breath, already you were beginning to tremble… “...I… I… Jekyll… Do… Do you…” And then you paused, you were sweating a little, jeez… This was going to be harder than you first thought… He waited patiently however as you tried to steel yourself, you took some deep breaths and after a few moments you finally blurted out “...Do you like me?” Henry blinked in surprise as he looked into your eyes, he then quickly looked away, a blush forming on his cheeks “...I… Erm… W-Well… I uh…” There was a pause from him, he kept his gaze down to the floor as he spoke “...Well, to be quite honest with you (Y/N)... Yes, yes I do…” ...And that’s what you were afraid of… Oh boy… Jekyll studied your expression, one of sadness… He was confused, but he waited since it looked as if you were about to speak, you stood up as you did so “...While that is… Flattering… I-I… I’m sorry… I… I al-I al...alre…” You felt a lump in your throat, you were so worried he was going to be angry or react poorly “...I...I already have a partner…”

There was a long pause, it was awkward and so silent you could hear a pin drop in this very room… You slowly looked toward Henry who seemed to be processing this for a moment, he then stood which worried you but then you saw a smile on his face. It wasn’t a bright or happy one but still “I understand, (Y/N)... I want to ease your mind, I am not going to overreact, I am not going to get angry or upset over it… That would be so childish of me” You looked surprised, even though he was clearly a little hurt, you stood yourself “...Th-Thanks for understanding… We can still be f-friends if you want though…! I-I mean unless y-you think poorly of me now… O-Or if t-this made it too awkward…”

Henry shook his head “No no, not at all… I am not going to think poorly of you, I should apologize though, I hope I did not make you feel uncomfortable in all this either… If you don’t mind or find it too awkward, I would love to still be friends with you” He held out a hand, offering a handshake which you smiled and took “Of course… Th-Thank you… Thank you s-so… So much for understanding… I-I’m sorry if I l-” After shaking hands he then held his up “No no, none of that now… I promise you, it’s fine, you do not have to apologize” You nodded “Alright… I-I’ll still come and visit you… If you’ll allow me” Jekyll nodded “You are welcome here anytime, you and your partner both if they wish to come along!” You nodded and gave him a hug which he hugged back, and then you were on your way, waving goodbye to him and he did the same to you.

Once you were out the door and out of sight, he let his hand fall to his side, and then it balled into a fist, he glared daggers at the door, he heard Poole enter the room and he spoke up “...Poole, I am going to be in my Laboratory for awhile… I want NO disturbances from ANYONE, is that understood?” Poole quickly nodded as he heard his Master’s tone “Yes sir… Of course…” Jekyll then stormed over to his lab door, slamming it shut and locking it behind himself, Poole looked at the front door, he had overheard a bit of the conversation from the other room, he did not intend on eavesdropping but still, he sighed “...I hope he will be alright…” He then rushed off to go tell the maids and others not to bother the doctor any tonight, to let him cool off…

Meanwhile Henry had stormed down to his lab, right over to the table and he placed his hands upon it, for a moment he simply stood there, before he shoved everything right off the table and into the floor, the crashing and smashing of jars echoing off the wall, he then pounded his fist directly into the table, he screamed out in frustration as he punched the table over and over to the point where his knuckles were red… The thoughts going through his head right now weren’t pleasant, after all this time, all the days they spent talking together, after him trying to gain confidence to ask you out, it turned out you already had a significant other!

The thought of anyone else besides him holding you close made him want to wretch, it made him sick to his stomach to think that someone out there had stolen his love away, they stole Y/N from him… They stole them away, that wretched disgusting excuse of a living creature had stolen his precious Y/N away from him! He felt so many things… He felt anger first and foremost, then he felt sorrow and heartache, and then he felt sick to the point where he was almost sure he would vomit… Every time he thought of your partner, every time he thought of them kissing you, holding you close, saying those three little words that HE should be saying, NOT them… HE should be the one holding you close, HE should be the one kissing you, HE should be the one you love! NOT them! Not ANYONE else! HE was the ONLY one you should have ever fallen for!

And yet here some dirty filthy scumbag had gotten to you before he could? ...No… No NO NO! He was NOT going to simply stand by and allow this! After all the days and nights he spent thinking of you, after all he had secretly written down about you, the love letters he had even written but was too afraid to send, oh no… He was NOT going to let you go that easily… No, you WERE going to be his, you WILL be his…! He stood there, fists clenching in anger, a darkness in his gaze for once, something he usually only saw in Hyde… And then it hit him… He had denied this for so long, he denied having feelings for you in the first place, denied so many things…

...He was done denying, even if he had to admit this was an obsession… Then so be it, he was done holding back, he was far too desperate… Far too desperate to have you here, with him, by his side, he was so desperate to hear you say you loved him instead of that disgrace of a human being, the more he thought about them… He felt pure disgust wash over him, there was no way they were fitting for someone as perfect as you, no way they were fit to have such a lovely being as yourself standing by their side, no one so lowly deserved you… You were his… You… You would be his… And then he slowly raised his head up, he noticed he had been crying a little as well in the process of this.

He wiped his tears away and then slowly he turned his head to the bottle on one of his tables, it was a dark brown bottle… “...Tr-Tri… Trichloromethane…” He muttered to himself, that bottle of sweet smelling liquid… Usually called Chloroform… He stared at the brown bottle before looking back down to the table, his hands grasped at the table and he continued to stare for a moment before he took a deep breath and then spoke aloud… “...Hyde…?” Right on cue, the being manifested right behind him, even though Hyde hadn’t manifested into his ghostly form before, he heard and saw the entire thing unfold… He had a smug smirk on his face “Yes, J e k y l l…?” There was a long moment of silence as the doctor slowly stood upright, he walked over to the other table, the monster following right behind him, Jekyll’s hands balled into fists at first before he grabbed a beaker of green liquid, there was a long pause, a tense aura filling the room before Henry finally spoke up “...Go fetch them for me… ...Please…” The desperation in the doctor’s voice was almost too intoxicating for the monster that stood behind him, there was a moment of silence before he grinned, displaying razor sharp teeth “...But of course, d o c t o r~” Another pause before he chuckled “...Do you want me to dispose of their partner as well…?”

“...Do what you wish, just do not hurt (Y/N) no matter what, quite frankly I do not care what happens to their partner, whether they live ...Or they die…” Hyde’s grin widened immensely at that “Ooh~” His voice getting a bit raspier, he was getting more excited by the second… Henry quickly consumed the substance from the beaker and he clutched at himself, it had been so long since he let himself drink this vile thing… Since he had let Hyde take control, but that was the least of his worries, he didn’t care about Hyde having control right now, he just wanted Y/N… That’s the only thing in his mind right now, that’s all he wanted… He did let out a loud cry of pain as he slowly began transforming into the very monster he had been fighting for so long to keep restrained, even if Hyde got out sometimes on occasion, Jekyll was still mostly in control… He could feel his body morphing and changing, first was his height, he grew to be about six foot six at least, then those razor sharp teeth were poking through, pointed ears and claws growing into place, and those multiple tongues lashed out into the air as he let out a heavy breath.

After a few moments of his body morphing and changing and making so many god awful noises, this was it… Hyde was FINALLY in control again! He looked down at his large clawed hands as he moved his fingers individually, he let out a very raspy and shaky breath, he had pure ecstasy coursing through his veins right now “...O h… To be f r e e a g a i n…” He quickly looked up and walked over toward the mirror, looking over himself “Ahh…” He breathed out, this was REALLY happening, he was FINALLY in control! (for personal reasons, Hyde takes control and the fuckin outfit comes with him fdjkslrjfgdks its also funny as fuck to imagine just Hen transforming and Hyde comes out along with his clothing) “Oh my d e a r… You have n o clue what you’ve just done…” Hyde laughed, his laugh raspy and horrible just as it always was, he turned his attention to the bottle of chloroform and walked over, grabbing it and a rag “This should come in handy…” Hyde glanced over as he saw Jekyll manifest into ghost form “Hyde, do you have an actual plan?” The monster cackled at that question “What do you take me for, some kinda idiot?” “...Yes actually” And there was a snarl from Hyde, he looked angry at that and he stopped dead in his tracks.

“Hmph… I guess you really don’t want (Y/N) as bad as I thought…” Henry quickly spoke up “No! NO! Hyde, please…” There was a pause, even with the ghostly form Jekyll took, Hyde could see the pure desperation in the other’s eyes “I apologize… Just, please, I want them… I n e e d them by my side…” The monster smiled wide, “That’s more like it… Mm, don’t you worry… By the end of the night, they’ll be by your side alright… You know, I’m q u i t e interested in meeting them myself, for such a being to exist to cause t h i s sort of reaction from you… For it to go as far as you finally letting me have control, WILLINGLY at that, I need to know m o r e…” And then he set off, he of course took the back entrance, not wanting Poole nor any of the others to see him, he crept off into the night, it was wonderfully dark out, even with the nightlights on, the moon was covered in clouds, oh this was so incredibly perfect… He could easily track the both of you down and go undetected! This was perfection! And it felt so good to have the breeze brush through his hair, to smell the disgusting air of the city, it was revolting and yet he loved it so! He ran through the darker parts of the street, only running into and knocking over a few people which he didn’t stop for in the slightest, he only chuckled as he darted past, he had a mission to do!

He paused for a moment to sniff at the air before quickly running again (fuckin- animalistic predator lookin ass) after a bit he arrived near your home, he hid in the shadows as quickly as he could as he watched you and your partner walking up to the door, hand in hand, he sneered at this display, they wouldn’t be holding hands for too much longer, while Hyde didn’t see anything in particular about you, he knew there was something special about you, he even heard and definitely felt Jekyll’s heartbeat pick up, the doctor manifesting himself beside Hyde, he watched as you conversed with your partner, and then they gave you a quick peck on the lips, that made Henry ball his hands into fists “...So they are the one who stole my (Y/N) away from me… I… I…” There was a pause as Hyde turned to look at Jekyll, he saw a look he had never seen before in the weak and usually timid doctor, he was so shy usually but the look he saw, and the words the other spoke… “I h a t e them…” He hissed before continuing “I want them OUT of the picture…! (Y/N) is mine and mine alone…!” Hyde snickered “With all the time I’ve spent with you, I have n e v e r seen t h i s from you before…”

“You are usually such a righteous man, the thoughts you're thinking right now… Such violence…~ Are you going to blame that on me this time, or will you finally accept that you're not as righteous as you claim?” Jekyll sighed “...I… I… Hyde, please just, focus… I am fed up with waiting… I need them, I want to hold them close in my embrace… I want to give them the proper love that they need” The monstrous figure rolled his eyes “Yeah yeah, I get it… You want them, you looove them… Blegh… I don’t see it…” And then Jekyll vanished, leaving Hyde to watch you enter your home with your partner, he’d strike but not yet… He wanted to wait just a bit longer, given the time of night that it was, you two would surely be going to bed very soon… Even though love wasn’t something Hyde particularly cared about, he was still curious about you himself, he could feel it deep down himself, perhaps being a part of Jekyll, if he gains an obsession over someone, perhaps it affects him as well then… ...He’d find out soon enough, he was sure of it, he waited for a bit and then he saw the lights all turn off and he grinned “Oh… Sweetness… You’ll be ours soon enough, it’s fate…” He waited a few moments longer before slowly creeping from the shadows, it was time…

Meanwhile… You had fallen asleep cuddled up right next to your partner, it had been a long night out, they took you out to get some ice cream so you wouldn’t feel as bad as you did for earlier, you knew it had hurt Jekyll and even with him reacting as well as he did, you still couldn’t help but feel guilty, so your partner decided to take you out tonight and take your mind off it, and it did help a lot, going out and enjoying the night… It felt good, boy were you exhausted when you had arrived home however, it had felt good to get into bed, you fell asleep fairly quickly along with them after you two had gotten ready and then turned the lights off… You were sound asleep, snoring softly, blissfully unaware of the danger that was slowly creeping in through an open window in your home, it was prowling around in your kitchen at first, eating some of the food you owned which Jekyll scolded it for, the monstrous figure only rolled his eyes at the ghostly manifestation, shooing him away with a clawed hand, Hyde might have been on a mission currently but there was no way it was going to pass up an opportunity to cause a little mischief here and there, he looked around the place and it was rather basic, far too boring of a place for his standards.

He wandered around, trying not to knock anything over, although being silent for a being as wide and large as him was easier said than done, he crept through the house, looking for the bedroom in particular, after he found it and saw you sleeping so soundly, he grinned, he almost couldn’t contain himself as he crept to the foot of your bed, he stared at you for a moment, how could such a being drive Jekyll to this point… He was so curious of you, not many things nowadays caught Hyde’s attention but you? You definitely piqued his interest… Maybe not in the way you did with Jekyll but he still held a certain interest in you… He stood at the foot of your bed, staring at you and then his attention turned to your partner who slept just as soundly, he grinned at them, so this was the one keeping you away and driving Jekyll to the point of pure anger, driving him to let this monstrous beast take control? ...Hm, this would be much simpler than Hyde thought, and then he saw you stir, his attention immediately snapping back to you as you raised up, rubbing your eyes slightly and looking around the room, you then laid back down for a few moments before…

You immediately shot back up and glanced toward Hyde, your eyes as wide as could be as you stared at the tall figure, he was covered in the shadows but you could see those eyes staring back at you, those glowing red eyes, and then you could see a wicked grin, full of too many teeth in the dark, you looked toward your partner and began shaking them to wake them up, it took a few moments before they grumbled “Wh-What is it, hun…?” You quickly spoke “T-Th-The...There’s a person…! THERE’S A PERSON STARING AT US!” You quickly shrieked, this made your partner shoot right up to look in front of them, however when you looked back toward the spot, that figure was gone… Your partner had turned on the lamp to illuminate the room a little and there was definitely nobody there now “B-But… I-I KNOW I saw someone…! It… It had red glowing eyes and… And… T-Those teeth…” Your partner looked at you, they were definitely a bit skeptical of that but... “Do you want me to check it out, (Y/N)?” You bit your lip and nodded, they got out of bed, and grabbed a flashlight from the drawer “You wanna come with me?” You shook your head “I-I think I’ll just stay r-right here…” Your partner nodded “If someone tries anything, whack ‘em with the lamp, there’s plenty of shit in here to use…!” You nodded at that and watched as they first shined the flashlight toward the shadow-y spot.

They then checked the entire bedroom before leaving to go check the rest of the house, you heard them fumbling around in the other rooms as you took a look around the bedroom, not really getting out of the bed since the room was illuminated enough and they had checked it out beforehand, you had no idea what you saw but you knew it was something or someone staring back at you from the darkness… You knew that wasn’t just a dream or hallucination surely, there was no way… You were awake right now as well! After a bit you realized you couldn’t hear your partner anymore, no noises indicating them searching things “A-Are you okay?” You called out loud enough so they’d be able to hear and no response…

You tried calling out their name and nothing and that’s when you immediately got out of bed and walked toward the bedroom door, you peered out and saw nobody so you called out again, still no response, you were starting to get worried now… You made your way down the hall and right as you got to the bathroom you let out a scream as something jumped in front of you, after you had stumbled back only then had you recognized it was your partner who was laughing, you immediately stood and glared at them “T-That wasn’t funny! What the HELL is wrong with you?!” You gave them a punch in the shoulder, nothing too hard of course, it was merely a playful punch even if you were actually a little angry with them.

They laughed and rubbed at their shoulder “Oh man! You shoulda seen the look on your face (Y/N)! Holy shit, that got you w a y more than I expected!” They continued to laugh as you huffed and crossed your arms “That wasn’t funny at all… I thought something bad happened to you…!” Finally their laughter died down a little “I’m sorry, c’mon… It was just a lil joke…” You let out a hmph “It wasn’t a very good or funny one…!” They bit their lip to refrain from any more laughter “Alright, alright… (Y/N), c’mon… I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist, ya know it was too good an opportunity to pass up!” They wrapped their arms around you in a hug “Coommeee oonnn… Honey, please don’t be mad…!” They were beginning to look like a hurt puppy “I’m sorry, I won’t do it again!” You laughed at that “Yeah right…! You’d absolutely do it again if you got the chance!” And then they snickered “...Well yeah maybe~” You huffed but proceeded to hug them back “You’re very mean…” They chuckled “I know~” They then pulled back and held your hand.

“In all seriousness though, we should get back to bed, I checked everywhere in the house, no signs of anyone or anything, no signs of someone breaking in, nothing…” You sighed, a bit relieved, maybe it was a mere hallucination “...M-Maybe I was just seeing things…” Your partner nodded “I think we’re both still exhausted… It’s been a long day, come on dear, let’s get back to bed and rest… And tomorrow we’ll… w-we’ll…” Your partner began trailing off and you could feel their hand beginning to tremble, you looked toward them and saw their eyes were wide “H-Honey…? [Partner’s Name]? ...W-What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost…! Tch, are you seriously trying to scare me again?!” (I’ll let y’all name your own partner, it's a useless thing but ya know have some fun)

They didn’t respond, they were frozen for a moment before they pulled their hand away from yours and shakily pointed behind you, you huffed “I swear… If this is another one of your scare tactics, you’ll be sleeping on the couch tonight…!” You turned around and then your eyes widened just like theirs… “...H-Holy shit…” You muttered, you were staring up at a large figure, he was dressed from head to toe in a black and red, his eyes were also red, and then you noticed his grin, those were ra… Razor sharp teeth… T-This was the thing that had been staring at you in the bedroom!

“Ah…” He rasped out, his breath ghosting over you and okay… His breath reeked, it almost made both you and your partner gag right there “Good evening you two…~” His voice was bone-chilling and as raspy as one could get, you were staring into his eyes for a moment, frozen with fear before your partner had grasped onto your arm and immediately pulled you back “Run!” They shouted, quickly tugging you along with them, you sprinted alongside them and the figure only snarled as it charged forward “You cannot escape me, my love!” It called out, he seemed surprised he uttered that in particular, ah… Perhaps fascination would soon turn into obsession, either way he wasn’t going to focus on that right now, he had a job to do…! As you both almost made it to the front door, the figure had pulled out a cane and whacked your partner in the back of the head, they collapsed to the ground as you screamed out, you could see some blood running down and onto the floor, you knelt down beside them and your hands were trembling, you had almost forgot about the massive being standing just over them for a second before he lifted his cane up again, you quickly shoved him back away and stood in front of them.

“I won’t let you hurt them again! If you wanna kill them you gotta go through me!” The figure only snarled and lowered his cane “You are a defiant little one, aren’t you?” He then paused before chuckling “I couldn’t care less about them! It’s y o u who I’m after my dear…~ Since I’m in an oh so generous mood tonight… I’ll give you a choice, you can make this much easier for yourself if you’ll come along quietly with me or you can choose the hard way and run and well… You won’t like what happens then~ And don’t forget, if you run now, I’ll have an opportunity to swing at your precious little partner~ And if they aren’t dead already, then they will be with this next hit!” You bit your lip, he was right… If you tried to run he could easily swing again and if they weren’t dead already, there’s no way they could take another hit… Before you answered him you looked down at your partner, they weren’t moving, you had hoped they were only unconscious, not much blood had come out, not enough to cause death surely… Then again you didn’t know but either way, you couldn’t risk them getting hit again, you wouldn’t risk it… You looked toward the figure and nodded “F-Fi...Fine… I-I’ll go with you…”

The figure grinned widely “Excellent choice my dear…” And then it grabbed your arm, a bit too harshly and was dragging you out the door, you took one look back at your partner, they still weren’t moving but you could only hope they would be alright, after all, had you tried anything he’d surely go back for them, and that was the last thing you wanted… You didn’t want them to die, maybe… Maybe someone would even call for help, the figure tugged you closely to his side and snarled “Keep up…! You might as well forget they ever existed, because you’re never going to see ‘em again…!” You glared up at the figure “Wh-Who even are you anyways…?” There was a pause before he grumbled “...You may call me Edward Hyde…” So it did have a name… “Wh-Where are yo-you even taking me…?” He rolled his eyes “Tch, so noisy… You’ll see when we get there my dear~” This was FAR easier than Hyde had expected, he didn’t even have to use the chloroform he had grabbed earlier! He kept dragging you down the street and as much as you did try to resist, the man had a v i c e grip on your arm practically, you continued walking with him until you got way farther from your home before you suddenly held a leg out in front of him, sure this winded up tripping both him and you up but you were faster than he would be.

You quickly got up before he did and as he tried to grab your ankle you quickly kicked him in the face and dashed away as he yelled out your name, you were not going back to your home, no way were you going to endanger your partner like that, and there was no way he was going to go all the way back to your house just to finish them off either, he wouldn’t go out of his way like that surely, you dashed down a different street, you had no idea where it led but you didn’t care as long as you got away from that thing… You kept running into the night, it was very late and there wasn’t a soul in sight, everyone was most likely in bed by this hour, this street had a bunch of large homes, mansions in fact… This must’ve been a place where very rich people lived, and you didn’t figure they’d help someone like you out, you looked around, not knowing where to go next, and then it hit you…

Maybe you could go back to Jekyll’s place! If he’s there he’d surely protect you! You looked at one of the street signs as you were coming up to it, Jekyll’s home was a street over from this one! Luckily there seemed to be access from the street you were currently on, you made a mad dash for that street in particular, you hadn’t heard Hyde in awhile, you hadn’t seen him either, you hoped maybe he had just given up entirely, maybe it got bored of the chase, either way, you wouldn’t stop running until you got to Jekyll’s home.

Eventually, you had managed to get there, your legs had almost given out on you during the run, you were breathing heavily, chest heaving with heavy ragged breaths as you rung the doorbell, after a few moments nothing happened, but you rang the doorbell again and then a light came on, you waited for a few moments and then you were greeted by Poole who looked surprised “(Y/N)? What on earth are you doing here at this hour? And… ...Oh my… Is everything alright? You look frightened…!” You took a moment to breathe in and out before explaining to Poole the entire situation, from the monster attacking your partner, to trying to take you, to you tripping him up and then finally to you running here for some safety… Poole quickly stepped aside and let you come in, knowing that his Master would be q u i t e upset with him if he were to refuse that, and even then, he didn’t necessarily want to see you hurt either, after you dashed inside, he quickly closed the door and locked it before looking back at you “Would you like for me to call the Police?” You thought about it before you realized, while the police could probably help you out, you remembered your partner, laying there on the floor…

“Not f-for me… Please… He… That thing attacked my partner… I-I want the police to go there, and… Get an ambulance f-for them…” Poole nodded, you told him your address really quickly and then he called the Police, he explained a bit of the situation to them, that a terrible incident had occurred and they needed to send some help over to your home, somebody was hurt or potentially worse, after all was explained and done, he hung up the phone “The Police will arrive at your home as soon as they possibly can… If you would like, and I do believe it… IS for the best… You should stay the night, after all… The Master would give me s u c h a scolding if I let you get injured or worse…” You nodded “Y-Yeah… I… I wanna… s-stay here…” After all this, you had almost been on the verge of tears, from thinking of your partner being potentially already dead, to just this insane situation in general, your hands were as shaky as could be… “Wh...Where is… Jekyll a-an...anyways…?” Poole pointed toward the Lab door “The Master has been in his Laboratory all night… I am, admittedly, a bit worried about him… I doubt he would mind it if you went in and checked on him, and besides… You should be the one to inform him of your situation” You nodded, you walked toward the Lab door and carefully turned the knob, to your surprise and especially Poole’s surprise, the door slowly opened, that’s odd… Poole could have s w o r n the doctor locked that door earlier… ...Oh well, either way, he watched you enter the Lab and shut the door behind yourself.

You carefully walked down the steps until you finally reached the Lab itself, you called out so you wouldn’t hopefully frighten the doctor “H-Hey…? Henry…? Are… Are you down here?” You didn’t see him yet but just in case he was in here, you had started to talk about your situation, the danger you could be in and your partner, and that’s what had you on the verge of tears again, you quickly tried to wipe them away, however when you got no response to that… You looked confused “...J-Jekyll…? Poole s-said… You’ve been in here all night… ...A-Are you alright?” Again, nothing but silence and now you were walking around the Lab, it was a fairly big one… But even then you didn’t see him at all, you tried calling out to him again and you were growing more worried by the second, you searched around but saw no sign of him, maybe he had gone out for the night? But then… Oh no… What if he was in danger as well?! You needed to go tell Poole, you turned back around and ran right into something… Something large… You stumbled a little bit but then you looked at the thing you had run into and your heart sank… Your eyes widened as you looked up into the other’s… Those red eyes were all too familiar, and then the figure grinned “My my… It seems I found you again, my love~” He purred, and stepped forward, and then you stepped back, it repeated like this until your back hit a wall which you softly gasped at.

Hyde leaned forward, he was far too close to your face and you could see those sharp teeth that could easily rip you apart if it so desired, his breath ghosted over your skin, it made goosebumps form across your skin and the hairs on your arms stand up, his breathing was purposefully heavy, you could hear rasping and some growls even as he opened his mouth further, a set of tongues lolling out of his mouth, you stared at them, eyes wide with terror as the tongues reached up, caressing your face in a sickeningly gentle manner, you whimpered, tears cascading down your face as you shivered in pure disgust, after that he pulled away and chuckled at you “You really… A r e something special… Aren’t you~?” You glared at him “...What did you do with Doctor Jekyll, you sick fuck…?” Hyde took a moment before…

He burst out with laughter, that laugh sending chills down your spine as it echoed off of the Laboratory walls, after that he looked back at you, a smug smile on his face “Oh… Don’t worry about Doctor Jekyll… He’s perfectly fine my love…~” You looked around for some kind of opening to try and run, it was going to be tough, extremely tough given how large Hyde was, but it wasn’t completely impossible by any means… Hyde wouldn’t deny this either, he was starting to feel… Something himself, maybe it was just as he said earlier, maybe this little obsession was getting to him as well, when he looked into your eyes he felt something… The only thing different being, Jekyll didn't like seeing the tears on your face or seeing you so scared and distraught. Meanwhile Hyde seemed to enjoy it f a r too much to the point where Jekyll had even spoken up “H-Hyde… That’s… That’s enough, don’t scare them anymore than you already have…!” However Hyde merely ignored Jekyll this time around, almost like he didn’t even hear the other in the first place, he brought a clawed hand up and gripped at your chin, forcing you to look him in the eyes, he took his other hand and wiped your tears away, his claw getting dangerously close to nicking you in the eye.

“Shh~ Now now, there’s no need for the waterworks, my dear…~” You tried pulling away from him but his grip was still vice-like and okay, it was beginning to hurt your chin a little bit, you reached up and grasped at his arm “J-Just… What do y-you even w-want from me anyways…?” Hyde chuckled, his grip loosening from your chin finally, you brought your hand up to rub at the spot, that was going to be sore later… “Mm… What I want is v e r y simple… I have told you already or perhaps you’ve forgotten it?” You looked at him, confused, this was your only chance to run because you saw him reaching behind himself into a pocket “...I want…” He rasped out, his hand slowly pulling out a brown bottle, shit… You had a feeling you knew what that brown bottle was “...Y O U!” And with that you slipped past the opening you had seen earlier, it was a tight squeeze to slip past him but you managed to do so, you made a beeline for the stairs, you heard Hyde snarl and okay now he sounded really pissed… As you reached the top step, Hyde jumped up onto something and then over the railing, slamming down on the ground below, it's a good thing this staircase wasn’t made out of wood otherwise Hyde would have had the entire thing come crashing down, he instantly grabbed you and hooked an arm tightly around your waist.

“NOT… This time my love…” He growled out, clear anger in his tone, you still tried to struggle away from him, trying to call out for help in hopes that maybe Poole would hear or someone, as you did this however, his grip only tightened even more to the point where you wheezed, jeez if he tightened his grip anymore he would probably crack a rib, even though this was an awkward kind of position, he managed to open the chloroform, he then threw you to the ground rather harshly and stood over you, he grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and poured some of the substance onto it, trying not to stain himself nor his clothing, he then tossed the bottle to the far side, meanwhile you were trying desperately to crawl away from him, he crouched down and sat atop you, pressing the handkerchief over your mouth and nose rather harshly, your hands shot up and you tried to fight him off, not that it really did much good, this thing was far stronger than you could ever hope to be, either way you still weren’t going to go down without a fight! You screams were muffled by the rag but you prayed that someone upstairs would hear you, even before when you had screamed, you had hoped someone up there heard those!

You didn’t hear anyone approaching the door or any sounds of someone talking however, and after a few moments and him keeping the rag pushed directly onto your face, your struggles began to slow, and you could feel yourself fading, your vision starting to blur here and there… Even then you struggled until your body wouldn’t allow you to anymore, the last thing you saw was that smug bastard grinning at you before your vision faded and the darkness overcame you… Eventually you shot up out of a bed with a gasp, you were still a bit disoriented from what had happened earlier, you tried to immediately get up out of the bed only to stumble here and there and when someone put their hand on your shoulder you screamed and swatted it away “(Y/N)...! C-Calm down, it’s only me…!” You blinked in surprise, your vision still blurring a bit but you could at least make out who it was, even by voice alone “H-Henry…?” You rubbed at your eyes and that helped your vision a bit, it was enough to see the figure standing in front of you… “Yes, that’s right… It’s me, it’s Henry…” You looked around the Laboratory for any signs of that monster from last night “Wh-Where is… Hyde…?” Jekyll sighed and shook his head “No need to worry yourself with that man, my dear friend… I am assuming you mean the man I saw hovering over you last night of course… Ahem... Let me explain a bit further, if you’ll allow?” You nodded and as you almost stumbled over, Jekyll helped you back onto the bed.

“You see… It must have been after you passed out, because as I walked in the door, I saw h i m… That monster of a being standing over you… You say his name was, erm… Hyde, yes?” You nodded at this and so he continued “I quickly grabbed my cane and ran him off and out of the lab, I… I just… (Y/N)... What was that man even after in the first place? Did he hurt you at all?” You had to take a few moments, you rubbed your face a little and then looked up at Henry “I-I… I don’t know… I don’t… H-He said… He said something about… Me? Wanting… Me…? I don’t understand… I just… He attacked me and my partner… O-Oh god… [Partner’s Name]...” Tears welled up in your eyes and you pulled Jekyll into a hug, he carefully wrapped his arms around you “...I’m sorry (Y/N)... I’m so sorry you had to go through all that… I heard from Poole actually, a bit about that… He said he had called the police for your significant other… I myself, do not know of their condition… But, I heard they got sent to Doctor Lanyon’s Hospital… He is a fine doctor and a friend of mine! If anyone can help your partner, it would be him…” While you couldn’t see his face, Jekyll was smiling, almost smirking even as the hug went on, oh it was so lovely to get to hold you close like this… You felt so warm to him… Sure, one side of him did feel a bit bad for lying to you and for what Hyde had put you through but you were here now and that was all that mattered, he would have to… Thank Hyde for that later, somehow anyways.

Because even despite causing trouble here and there he DID deliver you to the doctor as promised, he did exactly what he said he would do… And even after he was finished, Jekyll could see Hyde over in the corner, just staring at the two of them, his gaze flickering back to you in the end, there was no denying it from the both of them at this point, love and obsession had stricken the both of them, and it was pretty safe to say with one glance, the two of them were definitely in agreement on this one, they would never be letting you go… “...Jekyll? Did you hear what I said?” The doctor blinked before looking back at you “O-Oh…! My apologies, what did you say?” You repeated yourself again “I said… Thank you… For saving me, i-in the end at least… I don’t wanna think about what else… That thing would have done…” Henry nodded and smiled “I… I do wish I could have been here a lot sooner, before he got to you in the first place”

“But… At the very least, I still managed to get to you before he dragged you off to God knows where… And I am just… Glad you're safe…” And then the both of you realized, you were still hugging each other, you pulled away first and chuckled awkwardly, wiping some of the excess tears off your face “Yeah… I’m grateful… For that…” And then Henry looked around the Lab “You know, since such a dangerous man is at large… Perhaps it would be best if you stayed here, with me, Poole, and the others for a while? I, of course, will not force you… But, I would rather you stay with someone at the very least and not risk being alone…” You thought about it for a moment and shuddered “...Y-Yeah… After… What happened… I-I really don’t… Wanna be alone…” And then Jekyll was smiling brightly “Wonderful, you may stay here for as long as you’d like my dear… ...Friend!” He needed to be careful with his wording for now… After all, this was only the beginning, he didn’t want to rush things and risk any suspicion, in due time… You would fall for him, you would fall for the both of them, and even though he is normally a patient man, he can barely w a i t for that day to come, to think of hugging you, kissing you, dancing with you, it filled him with a euphoric sense but for now…

This was only The Beginning…

(Thats the ending, Im making it sound like a chapter thing but I s w e a r its not, I mean unless people would really wanna see it develop n shit go down or whatever but for now, very VERY subtle Yandere undertones from the good righteous man himself, keep in mind btw, these are MY versions of the lads, not- from anything else,, so ye- This was fun and exhausting to write but I’m EXTREMELY proud of this one, sometimes subtly in yandere stories can be fun to write

This literally started off with o n e concept of Jekyll falling for the reader and then it turning into basically an obsession/yandere deal and getting DESPERATE enough to let Hyde take control and go after them and that was it, that one thing spawned this entire story- I didn’t intend for it to be this long either but I figured I might as well see it through to the end otherwise I wouldn’t have been proud, anyways- im just rambling now, I hope y’all enjoyed this <3)

#jekyll and hyde #dr jekyll and mr hyde #tw yandere behavior #tw obsessive behavior #tw obsessive thoughts #tw violence #tw drugging

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whereisten · 4 years

Text

ghouls just wanna have fun (A Creature Feature Story)

A Taeil fic that’s part of our Halloween Series!

Summary: After your date ends up being a dud, you stumbled upon an unusual movie theater and its most appealing visitor, Moon Taeil.

Pairing: Ghost! Taeil x female reader

Genre: romance, angst, pinch of smut, drama, fantasy, horror

Word Count: 7k

Warnings: gore mention, death mention, smut: masturbation mention

(A/N: Hi! Special shoutout to the Creature Feature readers. I love you...It’s almost one year to the day that I posted Part 1 (I know: where the hell is the rest of it?). Rest assured, the series will continue in November. This Halloween series has gotten me out of my funk. I hope you enjoy this story. And to newcomers, welcome! This story can be read alone, if you'd like, but I think you’d enjoy this more if you read my Creature Feature updates! Anyways: SHOUTOUT TO MY BEST FRIEND AND PARTNER IN CRIME/WRITING KRYS. SHE CREATED ANOTHER SPECTACULAR MOODBOARD FOR ME. SHE’S MADE SEVERAL FOR ME. AND I AM SO SPOILED. HER BRILLIANT BRAIN AND VISION DESERVE ALL OF THE LOVE. SEND IT HER WAY. We hope you enjoy this installment and our upcoming posts! Thank you for all of the love in our stories so far!

___

“Jaebum, I’m not going. Let me off here,” you demanded.

Well, tonight was just fantastic. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Your date that your friends set you up with ended up being a bust. He wanted to take you to a house party so he can get high and you could be his side piece for the night. Your friends were all in committed relationships and they thought you were bummed because you felt single and bitter.

No, you were just bummed at the fact that your friends had blown you off too many times for their significant others. That was the actual problem.

But they were doing better with you, you had to admit. They spent more time with you as their honeymoon stages with their significant others had finally dwindled. The set-up was supposed to be for fun.

They even thought that this date could open doors for you.

Doors to what? Well, it ended up being to the stench of weed in the back of Jaebum’s old Sonata.

Jaebum’s car, which included his two stoner friends Jinyoung and Yugyeom, came to a halt at a red light near a plaza.

“You want to leave, y/n? Then here’s your stop,” Jaebum said.

You raised your eyebrows. “You’re kidding me, right?”

Jaebum shrugged. “Take it or leave it. I got places to go.” His friends muttered over how uncool you were. The least this jerk could’ve done was take you back home.

You rolled your eyes. “Fine. Go to hell.”

The car sped off as you stood near the plaza entrance. It was getting colder as midnight approached. So you decided to wait outside of an abandoned Spirit Halloween store so your Uber could pick you up from there. You walked towards the plaza and suddenly…

Bright lights appeared before you that you quickly shut your eyes. You blinked them open, wondering what just transpired when you realized...

There was an active movie theater there, with a giant sign surrounded by bright light bulbs. It read “Sinema”.

What the hell, you thought.

You walked closer and closer and saw people coming in and out of the theater. And then...oh, wow, you really had lost your mind. Little human-like creatures of different colors were flying around the entrance...They were fairies! Their pixie fairy dust landed on your shoulders. You picked off the dust that had fallen on the shoulder of your dress. The texture reminded you of Cheeto dust. It was hard to get off. You were certain your black dress was permanently stained.

Then, a man walked past you and transformed into a large purple dragon before your very eyes. He blew out fire within a few feet from you, you yelped. He set off for the sky and vanished. After, another group of men walked past you, flashing their vampire teeth as they laughed about something. They were all stunning but the one with wavy electric blue hair was the real showstopper. You couldn’t think that too long as people that looked bright and transparent walked towards you.

You thought they were going to bump into you so you said. “Hello? Watch where you’re going!”

But they walked right through you and kept going. Seemed like they got that kind of comment a lot.

You blinked a few times. Did that just happen? Were those...ghosts?

A young woman in her red and navy blue uniform appeared before you. She smiled. “Welcome to Sinema, the premier theater for the supernatural! My name is Haseul. You look like you have a lot of questions. Is this your first time here?”

“I...I…” You started. “Is this really happening?”

She laughed. “Yes...All supernatural creatures and their approved companions are welcome here!”

You frowned. “There must be some mistake. I’m not a supernatural creature.”

Haseul pulled out her phone. “Your name?”

“Uh...y/n y/l/n…” You said. “Wait, why did I say that?” You answered her without even thinking. It was like she compelled you to do what she asked.

She winked. “It’s a special little skill of mine. It’s a part of the job.” She scrolled through an app on her phone. “Well, you’re not a part of the approved human companions list so...You have to be supernatural!”

You gaped. “That’s funny…This is a joke, right? Some kind of Halloween event? Well, you’re a few months too late…”

Haseul shook her head. “Oh, no, this is no reenactment. This is the real deal. Allow me to escort you inside.”

You weren’t sure if that was a good idea but you were curious. You followed her inside.

The movie theater was elegant and modern. The latest video games were available at the arcade. The concession stand was huge. It had to be with the number of creatures that were lined up for snacks. The theater was three stories high. Posters for the latest movies were up. The music that played overhead consisted of songs from the 70s, 80s, and more. Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” was playing. Sinema seemed like any regular theater.

Well, except for the supernatural creatures, of course.

“What is this place?” You asked Haseul. “This can’t be real...I’ve been drugged. Jaebum got something in my system and I’m hallucinating. That has to be it.”

Haseul gave you a confused look. “This place is very real, y/n. I know it might be a hard pill to swallow but you belong here. To the supernatural world. A part of you is connected to this world. I’m not sure why it took you so long to discover that but...you’re here now.”

Haseul’s phone rang and she answered. “Yeah, boss?...Okay, I’ll stop calling you that...Oh? I see. Well, have fun with your boyfriend…” She teased. She hung up and she continued, “Well, y/n, I must be going but if you need anything, you can reach out to anyone who is wearing this uniform.” She showed off her uniform. She looked like a very casual flight attendant. The navy blue skirt was very flattering on her. Her white blouse had a red tie over it. Her name tag had her name written in her own elegant cursive.

“W-wait…” You started.

Haseul gave you a reassuring smile. “You can stay or leave, y/n. No one is keeping you here. But know that you’re always welcome here at Sinema. We hope to see you again.” She walked off to resume working, you thought.

You stood there, confused over what to do. Going to the movies hadn’t been in the cards for you tonight. Much less finding out that the supernatural existed in the same world you did.

Unless this was a parallel world, which just made your head spin even more.

Deciding to stay, you went back out to the main entrance to buy tickets. You heard growls among the chatter of people that stood in line before you. All kinds of creatures stood in front of you: werewolves, selkies, fairies, kitsunes, and more. You felt like the only outsider. For everyone else seemed to know their place…

According to Haseul, the only reason you could access this place was because you were a supernatural creature. And that...that just couldn’t be true. Sure you were adopted but you never displayed any kind of power or ability that would indicate you were a creature.

It was impossible, you thought. A striking young man with long silver hair stood behind you and you could feel his eyes on the back of your head. He was tall and muscular. You wondered what kind of creature he was or if he was actually a companion like Haseul described. You turned to him and his stare never wavered. “Can I help you?” You asked.

He blinked a few times to snap out of it. “I’m sorry...I zoned out…” He tipped an imaginary hat. “It’s your turn.”

“Miss?” The employee at the ticket stand asked. Like the young man behind you, she seemed human. However, the red tint in her eyes told you otherwise. You wondered what she could be.

“Oh, uh... A ticket to ‘Spider-Man: The New Kid’, please,” you said.

“That’ll be 12.50,” the employee replied.

Even if this was a movie theater for the supernatural, they certainly charged like a regular theater did. You paid the employee and got your ticket. The ticket stub was actually very beautiful. It was holographic so you could collect these stubs like trading cards, if you wanted.

You hung around too long so the silver-haired boy approached you.

He smiled at you. “Hello.”

You smiled, a little uneasy. “Hi…”

“First time at Sinema?” He asked. The man was stunning with his high cheekbones and dangerous dark eyes. A devil-may-care smile that must have won over a few women.

You nodded. “Is it that obvious?”

“The look of horror on your face hasn’t faded,” he said, chuckling.

You sighed. “Yeah...Well, I’m still pretty stunned.”

He said, “Well, you’ll get used to it eventually. Something about you makes you belong to this world, right? Do you know what it is?” His eyes widened.

It was almost as if he knew the answer. But if you didn’t know, how could he?

You sighed. “I couldn’t tell you. Maybe I’m just a fluke.”

“Oh, I have to disagree…” He started.

A ghost materialized right beside you. He stood closer to you and stared down the silver-haired man. Even if he was a ghost, he was the most alluring man you’d ever seen. Although translucent, his features were striking and not to be ignored. His undercut that accentuated his face so well was bright red, like rubies. His ears were decorated with crescent moon studs. He wore a navy button down and black slacks, like he was dressed for a hot date. His tan skin cast an ethereal glow. “Yuta, give the girl some air. She just discovered she’s not human.”

The silver-haired man named Yuta sighed. “Do you ever stay out of people’s business?”

The ghost rolled his eyes. “Do you?”

You averted your eyes from them and looked at the concessions menu. Hmmm, the Sour Patch Bats looked promising, you thought. You started, “I’m gonna go.”

Yuta was about to call your name again but the ghost boy raised his hand to stop him. “You’re already messing around here too much. Leave her alone.”

Yuta rolled his eyes. “I don’t have to listen to you. I’m the alpha.”

The ghost boy made faces as he imitated Yuta’s voice. “I’m the alpha. I eat the hearts of my enemies for breakfast. I’m Yuta.”

Yuta growled and it was so animalistic that you wondered if he was going to transform into the creature he most likely was. Your money was on him being a werewolf.

Yuta stormed off and returned to his posse of gorgeous and muscular people. They all watched you and you wondered what was so fascinating about you.

The ghost boy followed you as you got in line for concessions. “What’s your name?”

“Y/n...Yours?” You looked into his soulful eyes.

He smiled. “I’m Taeil. The eyes and ears of Sinema. And you’re new.”

“Yup...And I have no idea who I am or what the world is anymore…Well, it’s time for a snack.”

Taeil chuckled. “The Sour Patch bats are really popular but they sell out fast.”

An employee at the concession stand announced over the intercom. “Sorry, folks. The Sour Patch Bats are sold out.”

Everyone groaned and moaned and growled and wailed. Even you couldn’t help the tiny huff of disappointment that escaped your lips.

Taeil sighed. “Well, lucky for you y/n. I’m friends with the manager of this joint.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Oh, are you?”

He smirked. “I know where she keeps her secret stash of Sour Patch Bats. Now she normally hides those away for her boyfriend but I’m sure she won’t miss one bag…”

Taeil led you upstairs to the manager’s office.

You frowned. “Are you sure we can be here?”

Taeil winked. “Nope. But she owes me.”

Taeil moved himself through the front door and unlocked the door from the inside. You entered the office and found a bouquet of flowers on the manager’s desk.

“How did you touch…”

He cleared his throat like he’d debated what he was going to say. “With most of my strength, y/n...Anything to impress the prettiest girl to set foot in Sinema.”

Although your concept of ghosts was completely debunked (ghosts could indeed touch inanimate objects), your face warmed up at that comment. You tried changing the subject. “Taeil, maybe this is a bad idea…”

He shook his head as he stuck his hand through the manager’s desk drawer and rummaged around before he grabbed a bag of the popular candy. He threw it over to you. You caught it.

You opened the bag and ate the bat-shaped sour gummies of lime, orange, lemon, and cherry. They were the best candy you’d ever tasted and until tonight, you’d been deprived of their existence.

Your eyes grew. “These are...Oh my God.”

Taeil smiled knowingly. “I knew you’d like them. See, the supernatural world isn’t so bad, is it?”

You were touched. He was being so kind and attentive. So quickly, too. “No, I guess not…”

His beautiful lips curved upwards as he watched you enjoy the candy.

“What movie are you going to see?” He asked.

“Well, Taeil, I thought you were the eyes and ears of this place. You should know,” you teased.

He laughed. “Well, I don’t. Is it an oldie? Sinema plays throwback movies every week to appease the masses.”

You shook your head. “I’m watching the new Spider-Man. The new actor they picked is supposed to be above all of his predecessors so I’m excited.”

Taeil asked. “Can I join you?”

You pretended to deliberate. “Well, you have supplied me with sustenance so how could I say no?”

Taeil usually kept to himself, occasionally confiding in his best friend. He really was the eyes and ears of the theater. He knew of all the romantic entanglements that transpired. The current feuds between species. And more.

Typically, he was stuck facing his demons and never quite got past the last thing he needed to overcome in order to ascend to heaven.

He’d sought justice so what was holding him back?

And at the sight of you, he felt an ease in his heart that he hadn’t felt since he was alive.

___

Your first night at Sinema was the first of many where you and Taeil bonded and enjoyed each other’s company. You went to the theater every weekend and met up with him. You’d see a movie together and talk about it for hours on end. He’d even sometimes accompany you back to your dorm. And even if you could see him...no one else in the human realm could. So you would have to pretend you were on the phone when you talked to Taeil. Even as he sat closely beside you. Longing to hold your hand.

You wondered just how many creatures hid from you in plain sight. Some of them could masquerade as humans and you’d never know it. That terrified and excited you.

You loved Taeil’s sense of humor, how he showered you with free movie tickets and concessions (courtesy of his best friend’s connections), his wit, his smile, the goofy, fascinated look he gave you when you spoke.

You always wanted to push back his hair and slap his arm when he teased you. And you wondered what those soft red lips would feel like on yours.

But you couldn’t.

The most wonderful person you’d ever met.

And he was an apparition.

As for Taeil, well, he loved everything about you. Your mind. Your curiosity of the world. Your inability to shut away the unknown completely. The way you adapted to Sinema so quickly. The way you looked at him.

He was convinced that you also wanted to kiss him.

It killed you both, honestly.

You told him you were in your senior year of college. You were getting a degree as a nutritionist but you felt unsure about what you would pursue after college. You felt like nothing got your heart racing. You were just going through the motions, making your parents proud. They’d given so much to you so you didn’t want to disappoint them. So you figured getting a steady paying job was a step in the right direction and maybe one day you’d figure out your passion...and how to capitalize off of it.

Taeil could tell you were frustrated and lost and he wished you didn’t feel so down. He saw the light in your eyes. You had a whole future ahead of you. You would find your dream job someday, meet a man, settle down, have his children, and grow old together.

And him? Well, maybe at that point, he would finally have moved on.

Before meeting you, he was fixated on getting even with the man who murdered him and the woman who betrayed him and got the ball rolling.

He told you all about it...Originally, he didn’t want to because the details were too gruesome. But you’d been honest with him so it was the least he could do for you. He told you about his life in the west coast town of Luna, where he aspired to be a producer and songwriter. And he told you about how his life came to an abrupt end.

Taeil’s killer had been none other than Jung Jaehyun, the man whom his girlfriend had cheated on him with. Jaehyun was a member of one of Luna’s most notorious gangs and he detested Taeil. Taeil’s girlfriend, Lexa, didn’t know how to break up with Taeil so she could be with Jaehyun. She was frustrated because Taeil was so sweet and giving. He was so good to her that Lexa chickened out and never broke up with him. She was getting frustrated and Jaehyun was getting even angrier.

One of the nights that Lexa spent with Jaehyun, she let it slip that she wished there was a way she could get rid of Taeil. And Jaehyun was more than happy to oblige.

Jaehyun and his men cornered Taeil one night. He thought he was meeting Lexa for their 300 day anniversary. He got a text from her phone saying to meet her on the rooftop of the Nectarine Hotel because she had a surprise for him.

However, she was nowhere to be seen. Jaehyun took Taeil by surprise and pushed him off of the twenty story luxury hotel.

Jaehyun’s men lingered downstairs and made sure there were no witnesses on the scene. All evidence of Taeil’s death had been covered up. Taeil’s family and friends reported Taeil as a missing person. Lexa had also disappeared off of the face of the Earth. And many wondered if she and Taeil had disappeared to start anew.

That couldn’t have been further from the truth. Jaehyun, Lexa, and his men disposed of Taeil’s body off underneath an overpass. They’d buried his body and washed their cleans of him.

Taeil always thought about whether or not an afterlife existed. When he hit the ground from his fall, everything went black. The roaring pain all over his body that hit him for one moment...Quickly vanished at the next.

Taeil opened his eyes again and instead of seeing Downtown Luna...Only white surrounded him. Surrounded by golden specks.

An angel appeared before him with stunning peach-colored wings. The angel shined so brightly that Taeil couldn’t make out their face. They spoke softly… “Moon Taeil...Born June 14, 1994...Died October 22, 2018.”

Taeil sobbed then. “Please, is there any way you can save me?”

The angel sighed. “My poor child...You’ve been wronged. I want to give you the opportunity to seek justice...And once you have seeked justice and found peace, you can ascend into Heaven and join us. Our Heavenly Father awaits you.”

Before Taeil could respond, he became a ghost. He manifested into another town he couldn’t recognize. It was the city of Mystic. Jaehyun lived a life of luxury and terrorized the new city with his gang. And who reigned right beside him in a God-awful bubblegum pink wig?

The woman he’d loved and planned to propose to: Lexa.

Lexa played around with the buttons on Jaehyun’s designed shirt as she quietly thanked him for killing Taeil. And Jaehyun murmured back a thank you for giving him the idea and for suggesting a good hiding place for his remains.

Taeil felt sick to his stomach. The love he felt for Lexa had quickly shifted into hatred. And Taeil wanted revenge. He wanted to take them both down. But how, he wondered.

It took him a few more months to figure out how exactly he could enact revenge on them. Haunting them for a few weeks was a thrill but he wanted Jaehyun behind bars. And Lexa? Well, Taeil just wanted her to drown in guilt.

And then, Taeil found Sinema, a supernatural hub in the seemingly typical town of Mystic. Taeil struck a deal with the vampires to help them dig up his body. They in turn compelled the police to find his remains and track down Jaehyun.

Taeil owed the vampires a few months of haunting humans who had deceived them when they were once humans. So both parties were happy.

Taeil decided to spare Lexa from prison. Instead, her family, her friends, and everyone from Luna shunned her for having a hand in Taeil’s murder. Although she was never charged, she was as good as guilty as Jaehyun and his men.

Lexa remained in Mystic in a run-down apartment, barely making ends meet. The luxuries she was able to afford before, because of Taeil and then because of Jaehyun, were no longer accessible to her so she lived a life full of resentment.

But Taeil visited her many nights to remind her that more than anything, she should’ve felt guilt and remorse for what she’d done to him.

How she convinced him that he’d found happiness in her. How she made him out to be a fool. And how she discarded him like a piece of trash.

Lexa’s mind slowly unraveled over time and the guilt slowly consumed her each time.

Taeil ate it all up. This felt like justice and he didn’t want to ascend just yet. He wanted Lexa to get on her knees and pray to God for forgiveness for what she’d done to Taeil.

But that day hadn’t come. So Taeil frequented her apartment at night...Having Lexa think she dreamed of him as she slept.

One late Saturday night...going into Sunday morning, Taeil waited with you at the bench for your Uber to arrive to take you back to your dorm. Sometimes he accompanied you to the dorm and talked to you. You’d have to pretend you were on the phone so your Uber driver didn’t think you were talking to an imaginary friend.

Tonight, though, he wouldn’t be taking you home.

You asked, “Are you going to see her now?”

Taeil froze. “What?”

You wondered aloud, “Lexa...Do you haunt her on the weekends too?”

“Not recently, actually...I’ve been seeing her less.”

You smiled. “Taeil, that’s great. It means you’re getting over her.”

Taeil glared. “I don’t need to get over her. I despise her.”

Your smile vanished. “I know that. It’s just-”

He shot back, “Just what?”

You looked down at your hands and played with your fingers. “It’s just...You’ve sought justice...Jaehyun is rotting in a jail cell...Lexa is guilty over what she’s done...And...I hate to say this...But I think if you stop going to see her...There’s a chance you can finally ascend.”

He looked taken aback at your words. “I can ascend whenever I want.”

You lifted an eyebrow. “Really?”

Taeil looked even more annoyed as he sneered. “Absolutely. Excuse me for wanting to spend a little more time with you before I leave forever.”

His words infuriated you. “Taeil, you...I’m not the reason you want to stay...You’re hung up on your ex. Even if it’s not in the romantic sense...You’re fixated on terrorizing her until what? She begs for forgiveness?”

“And what the hell is wrong with that?”

“Taeil, you’re meant to find peace. You have to let her go.”

“Well, y/n, thank you for your opinion. I never asked for it but it’s certainly never stopped you...Have a safe trip back to your dorm.”

“Fine! Manifest yourself back to me when you get a grip.” You crossed your arms around your chest in anger. He was unbelievable. You were right. He just wouldn’t let go. He wouldn’t give up on seeing that...that wretched bitch.

Why did you let this piss you off so much and why were you overstepping...You had no right…

Perhaps it was because you’d fallen for Taeil and seeing him jeopardize his fate over this woman infuriated you like nothing else had.

The full moon was out that night and you couldn’t help but yell in fury at the sky.

Someone crept up behind you and with his claws, he scratched deeply into your collarbone. “Hey, what the fuck?!”

You turned around to find a werewolf before you. It was a literal wolf on two legs. His muscles protruded like that of a man’s but they were so large...You knew he could easily snap your neck with a quick movement of his hands. His tawny coat shined in the moonlight. His brown eyes watched you, expectantly.

You were about to get on your knees and beg for mercy.

You saw a group of people lingering beside the werewolf. You remembered them. They were a part of Yuta’s pack.

“Yuta?” You finally connected the dots and realized the wolf who scratched you was Yuta. You hadn’t seen him since that first time.

He had been a werewolf, after all. But why had he transformed? Why was he here? Why had he done this to you?

You winced slightly at the scrapes and monitored them as they quickly vanished. You couldn’t believe your eyes.

Yuta’s fur vanished as he transformed back into his human self. He was shirtless but his pair of jeans remained on. “Y/n, I wanted to confirm something…”

You frowned. “What?”

“The scratch of the alpha is borderline lethal to any outsider of the pack...So any pack member or...descendant of that pack member can heal from his bite…”

You laughed nervously, confused. You wanted to get the hell out of here. Where the bloody hell was your Uber? “Uh...That’s interesting, I guess.”

“Can’t you see, y/n? I’m the alpha of the Nakamoto clan. You’ve healed from my scratches...Which means…”

You demanded, “What does it mean?”

“It means you are a descendant of this clan, y/n…”

You shook your head. “No...That’s...Impossible. I’m not a werewolf…”

“You were adopted at five months, y/n...Your parents perished in a war against the vampires...Your parents led normal lives as humans for as long as they could...Much to the disappointment of my father.”

“Yuta, you don’t know what you’re saying…”

“I do, y/n. The pack and I have uncovered everything about you and your family history. You’re a werewolf. An unawakened one.”

“No…”

“Explain how your bite healed. The only way you could enter Sinema of your own accord is if you possessed supernatural blood. And werewolf blood is as supernatural as it gets.”

“Yuta, please, you’ve got the wrong person...I don’t know why you bit me and why it healed. Maybe it’s some magic trick you pulled off to please your pack...I’ve had a shitty night so if you don’t mind, I’d like to go home,” you said, checking your phone for the arrival of your Uber. It was arriving.

“Y/n!”

The Uber pulled up and you turned to him. “Just leave me alone.”

___

You visited your parents the next day. You asked them about where they’d adopted you from. They’d always been very mum about the details.

“Someone told me something crazy the other day,” you said to them as the three of you shared dinner with your adopted younger siblings.

Your parents both looked at each other, concerned.

“He said my biological parents were werewolves!” You laughed in disbelief. “How crazy is that?”

Your parents eyed each other again.

Your mom started, “Who is this man?”

“Mom, I believe the proper response is ‘That man is crazy. Where did he get that kind of story?’”

You knew your parents were hiding something and you wanted to hear the truth from them.

Your father scratched his neck as he took off his glasses. Your younger siblings all eyed each other uncomfortably.

“Why aren’t you guys saying anything?” You asked.

Your dad said, “Y/n...We hoped for you to never find out.”

You shook your head in disbelief. “Dad, you’re scaring me...Find out what?”

Your parents went on to tell you about the incidents you had when you turned eleven. After you’d had your first period, you began to experience terrible mood swings and throw tantrums left and right around the time the full moon occurred. And when you turned thirteen and the first full moon following your birthday occurred…

You’d attacked a neighbor who was walking their dog.

You’d grown teeth and hair all over your body that night. You’d become a wolf, according to your parents.

Once the night had ended, you’d transformed into a human again and fallen asleep.

Your neighbors never knew that it had been you. Your parents helped your attacked neighbor get to a hospital and they reported an animal attack in the neighborhood. Your neighbor couldn’t remember anything.

But her dog never forgot and hated you.

Your parents got a hold of the adoption agency and they had no information on your birth parents besides their names. Your parents then got in touch with a psychic, who referred them to a witch. They took you to the witch and she told them you were an unawakened werewolf. You were a fledgling. Unless you received the bite of an alpha werewolf and acquired your position in the pack, you were susceptible to these monthly full moon transformations and since you hadn’t been awakened, it would be even worse and dangerous for those around you. So the witch concocted a potion that would suppress your fledgling urges but it was critical that you consumed it each month.

Which explained why your parents were always so adamant for you to come home every month for dinner. They put the potion in your dinner. So you were able to suppress your urges up until this point.

Could this be the reason why you felt so unfulfilled? Because you never explored your true nature? Your parents never gave you the choice to control it.

Your parents had good intentions but you had the option to meet the pack all of these years...And you never knew.

You’d always felt like a part of you had been missing and your trip to Sinema had done the trick to lead you to the truth.

___

Back in your dorm and without having ingested the potion your parents had given, you’d only had a few days until the full moon. You were resolved to speak to Yuta.

You’d gotten out of the shower, letting out a shaky breath from all of the bundled up nerves you carried. You were shocked to find Taeil standing in your common room that you shared with your roommates. They were all away for the day.

“Taeil!” You started as you covered your towel more tightly around you.

“I heard,” Taeil started, worry etched all over his face, “If I could kill Yuta, I would…”

“Taeil, I’m going to him,” you started.

“What?” He asked.

“I’m going to be awakened by him.”

He looked at you in disbelief. “Y/n, what are you-”

“I’m an unawakened werewolf, Taeil. My biological parents were werewolves and if I don’t receive the official bite of the alpha, I’m going to suffer by the influence of the full moon.”

“Y/n, the full moon is in two weeks!”

“I know…” You said.

Taeil sighed. “Y/n, you have a chance to be away from the supernatural world. To avoid the dangers of these creatures. I know humans are terrible, deceitful, and cruel...But the supernatural doesn’t fare better. You didn’t grow up in this world. It could consume you and spit you right back out…”

You were resolved, though. You longed to explore more of the world and to embrace the part of you that had always been neglected. “Taeil, I’ve made my decision. My family has respected it. And I hope you will, too.”

A tear escaped Taeil’s eye. “Y/n, I’m so sorry. If I hadn’t left you alone…”

You shook your head as you wished to embrace him. “Taeil, this isn’t on you. This opened my eyes. My path is more defined now...Who knows what awaits me once I awaken? That’s for me to find out.”

Taeil extended his hand out and pretended to caress your face. “There’s nothing I can say to make you change your mind, is there?”

“No,” you said, as you leaned closer to his transparent hand.

He smiled weakly. “Y/n, I’ve thought a lot about it and you were right...I’ve given up on visiting Lexa.”

You opened your mouth wide. “Really?”

Taeil avoided your stare as he stared at the potted plant by the window. “I...wanted to stay longer but...we’re both meant to part ways...And I’m not happy...Terrorizing Lexa hasn’t given me any sense of fulfillment. Temporary pleasure? Yes...But I long to find that peace.”

You cried. “Taeil, I’m so happy to hear that. And you will find that peace, I promise you.”

“In the meantime, I’ll be by your side as you head into your next chapter.”

You smiled at him and didn’t realize your towel slipped to the floor.

“Y/n…” Taeil coughed as he quickly turned red and turned around.

“What?” You frowned.

Without looking at you, he pointed to the towel on the floor.

“Shit!” You exclaimed. But then, you watched Taeil...He was blushing…

“Did it hurt that much to look at my body, Taeil?” You asked, quietly.

“What?” He asked, confused.

“It’s okay...You can look…”

Taeil turned and was shocked to see you still unclothed.

You gave him a flirty smile. “I know we can’t touch...But it doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, right?”

You got onto your bed and slowly began to tease your clit and Taeil’s jaw nearly fell to the floor. He adored every inch of you as he scanned your body and worked his hardest to commit it all to memory.

You could see his member grow in his pants. He immediately gripped his gorgeous length and pleasured himself alongside you.

“I wish I could feel your heavenly cock on my clit…” You told him.

He grunted. “Heaven can wait...This is real paradise...Here with you.”

You muttered sweet nothings to each other and imagined that you made love to each other that day.

___

You and Taeil were more inseparable than before. Because you knew your days together were numbered.

The full moon arrived and Yuta had agreed that this was the ideal time for your initiation into his pack. You would be able to absorb the moon’s power as you transformed from Yuta’s bite.

Yuta invited you to his mansion in the woods not too far outside of town. His pack members were present and they’d arranged a massive bonfire at the center in honor of your awakening.

Taeil was right beside you, much to the chagrin of the rest of the pack members. But what could they do? Drag him out? When they couldn’t even lay a finger on him?

Yuta was dressed in his best tuxedo as he recited the pack’s code of conduct to you and welcomed you into their pack. He transformed into his wolf form and at the brightest the full moon had been, you’d taken on your fledgling form. You howled at the moon and became rabid. Yuta knew what he had to do.

Taeil watched you in concern but Yuta had sworn to protect you. For you would be one of his family soon enough. So Taeil had no choice but to trust him.

Yuta bit into your collarbone and your eyes shifted from their usual color and into a bright amber. You felt yourself regain consciousness and became aware of where you were.

“Y/n, do you know who I am?” Yuta asked.

You nodded.

Yuta continued, “Good. You are now a fully awakened werewolf. Harness your abilities with honor and know that you have a family in the Nakamoto clan forever.”

“Hear hear!” The pack members yelled out.

You’d reverted back into your human form through your own accord. You were shocked at how quickly you could turn back.

You ran over to Taeil and he beamed at you. “How do you feel?”

“I feel...whole...Fulfilled...I have no idea what will happen next but it’s a new kind of uncertainty...And I like it.”

Taeil said, “I’m glad, y/n…”

He started to pixelate before you and his voice began to fade.

Your smile faded. “Taeil?”

“I think God wanted me to stick around for this momentous occasion...Before he summoned me…”

You couldn’t help the tears that escaped you. “Taeil, I love you.”

He cried with you. “I love you, too. I will see you up there...Soon. I’d better be the first person you look up when you ascend, you hear me?”

You wrapped your arms around him and to your shock. To everyone’s shock at the party...You could feel Taeil. He was muscular and the warmth of his body was like the fuzziest blanket wrapped around you after the worst day. He felt wonderful. And you never wanted to let him go.

Taeil longed for the day he could feel your body around his...And it was only at this time when you two had to bid farewell when he could feel you against him. You were strong but at that moment, he held you tenderly. Like you would break at any second. Because this moment was the most fragile. It was fleeting. So you both soaked in the feeling of each other’s bodies as you held each other.

Taeil kissed you and you reciprocated. His lips felt just like you’d imagined them. Soft. Perfect against yours. His kiss was the euphoria you would treasure for the rest of your life.

You released each other.

“Goodbye, Moon,” you teased. You made a play at his last name. Since you were a werewolf now, you’d be highly influenced by the activity of the moon.

He joked back. “Goodbye, Wolfie. Don’t forget to howl at me once in a while. It’s kinda hot...” The cliche of werewolves howling at the moon was actually a common practice for them.

You shook your head and laughed as he faded away. You cried hard that night, missing him already.

Yuta and his pack comforted you as you cried. They celebrated you and they mourned with you. This pack had become your family.

___

Taeil finally ascended to Heaven. It was a lot like Earth but idealistic. Paradise had everything at his disposal. He could go to the movies and have an unlimited supply of Sour Patch Bats. He finally knew what they tasted like. He could get a foot massage whenever he felt like it. He could play his music and sing to his heart’s content. God was a big fan of Moon Taeil.

But the thing he loved most was being able to look after the loved ones he left behind.

Now that Taeil had become an angel, he would accumulate power overtime in order to send blessings to the people he loved most.

Especially to you.

____

You’d gotten a better grip on your powers but you were still a long way from being Yuta’s right hand. You’d moved into one of Yuta’s apartment complexes that he owned. You were finishing up your last year of school, as well. Since you’d stabilized your powers, you could carry on with your day-to-day activities. It’s just nighttime that would be unaccounted for.

One day, Yuta visited you.

You greeted him as you welcomed him inside your spacious apartment. He sat down on your L-shaped couch in your living room as you gave him a glass of water. “To what do I owe the pleasure, boss?”

Yuta never visited his pack member’s homes unless it was important business. Usually, he summoned them to a common area, like one of his mansions in the city.

Yuta smiled. “I see you like your new place.”

You nodded. “It beats hearing my roommates screw their boyfriends every other night, I must admit.”

He laughed. “Well, I’m glad to hear that.”

“What’s up? You’re not usually one for small talk...Unless you want to sleep with them...And that girl isn’t here at the moment.” You knew about Yuta’s tumultuous relationship with Sinema’s manager.

Yuta blushed then. “You...Knock it off.”

You laughed heartily, then. You two had developed an older brother little sister relationship. Yuta was able to uncover more information about your parents and your extended family. He’d been extremely helpful during this time, providing financial support not only to you but your entire family.

When Yuta said the pack was a family, he really meant it.

Yuta was mulling over his next words and he gave you a solemn look. The light, breezy mood had quickly vanished.

The power the alpha held to control the room.

He said, “Y/n, prepare your things. The war is about to begin.”

[Fin...Or is it?]

Stay tuned for the next spooky story...

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btsslowburnfic · 4 years

Text

Argument with Yoongi-part 2

Part 1 found HERE

Summary of part 1: you leave you and Yoongi's apartment after he can't say that he loves you anymore and he hasn't been home in weeks even though they are in town.

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

You had no idea where you were going to go. You weren't particularly close with any of the other members or their significant others since Yoongi really didn't socialize with them outside of work. You walked down the street with your backpack slung over your shoulders. Fuck, this sucked.

"Y/N!" you heard a voice call out. Seriously?

You kept walking. You were too old to have an argument out on the street. Despite your best efforts to ignore him, you ended up turning around and seeing Yoongi awkwardly jogging after you.

You stopped and glared at him.

"Where are you going?" he asked as he caught up to you.

You jerked your head to the side and walked down the nearest alley to have some semblance of privacy.

"Y/N please. Where are you going?" he asks again.

Alright. You guys were really going to have this argument out here? OK. You were so angry. You gave him a chance to talk to you and he wouldn't do it. "Why the fuck do you care? You said you don't love me. You're never home. You said you can never trust me again so why the hell are you out here following me?" you spat out.

Yoongi looked up at the sky like he wanted to scream. "I'm an idiot OK? Is that what you want to hear?"

You rolled your eyes. "No. What I wanted at a bare minimum was for you to tell me you loved me 15 minutes ago when I asked you and you couldn't even handle that."

Yoongi's eyes started to tear up; his deep voice began to crack, "I know I'm bad at stuff like this. Please. I can't do this alone."

You wanted so badly to just wrap your arms around him and forgive him. To take him home and tell him that of course you’ll stay, he’s the only person in the world for you. But you can’t. Things would just go back to how they have been and you two will just end up doing this to each other again. You scoffed. "What about me? I've been alone for months at a time. Literally alone in our apartment. While you won't come home because you say you don't want to see me even though you’re 5 minutes down the road. No." you shook your head. "I don't know where I'm going, but I know it's not with you." you turned and walked out of the alleyway and to the subway station.

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

A week passed by. You were homeless the first two nights, catching some power naps in an internet cafe, but then managed to find a cheaper hotel if you didn't mind the far walk to the station. Seoul was expensive. You sighed. Maybe it was time to move. Everywhere you turned you felt like BTS and Yoongi were being shoved in your face. You decide you're going to have to suck it up and go back to the apartment to get new clothes. You had packed the bag not actually thinking you were going to leave. Yoongi hadn't texted or called you. Which didn't surprise you given the fact he didn't do those things when you were together.

You assumed Yoongi wouldn't be at home considering he never was anyway. You unlocked the door and were immediately overwhelmed with the scent of booze and garbage. What the fuck.

You sat your backpack down and wandered inside. There, on the couch, was Yoongi. He looked so small and sad, curled up in a ball, passed out. There were several empty bottles of wine and whisky covering the coffee table. You pursed your lips together. Idiot.

You went to the laundry room and started a load of your dirty clothes. You started gathering bottles, rinsing them out, and placing them in the recycling bin. Sure, now he’s home. You found yourself thinking sarcastically.

You heard movement on the couch and you froze. You were counting on him being out of it for a while longer. You heard his groggy voice, "I told you to leave. I don't want to do this again."

You rolled your eyes. “I’ll be gone in a minute asshole. I just came to do my laundry. Also, trashing the apartment and skipping work aren’t going to make me come back.” you retorted as you continue to clean up the living room.

“I don’t care. They sent me home anyways.” he responded and rolled over, facing away from the couch now.

You sat a glass of water down on the table. “Is that so? Well I’m so glad you are home now that I’m gone. It’s really comforting to know that it was actually a choice to stay away from me.”

“Go away nightmare woman. Usually you leave when I open my eyes.”

“There’s no reason to be so mean Yoongi. I get it.” you sighed as you walked back to the laundry room to put your clothes in the dryer.

"She's gone but you keep coming back to me every time I close my eyes." you hear him whine on the couch. Does he think he’s dreaming?

“Oh yeah, your girlfriend left you?” you asked, taking a seat in the chair across from him.

“Yes.” he said sadly.

“Now why would she leave such a pretty face?” You had decided this was far too interesting not to play along.

“Because I’m a dick. I’m a bad boyfriend. I leave her for months at a time. I live in my head and forget to come home. I work all the time. And even though I think about her all the time it doesn’t matter because I’m never there for her.”

“Yeah. That does sound pretty dickish.”

“I just miss her so much.” he said quietly.

“Yeah. But even if she came back, you’d just do the same shit again.”

“No. I love her. I wouldn’t leave her alone again. They sent me home because I told them I was quitting.”

You froze. What in the everliving fuck did you just hear? You didn’t know what to say to that. You got up and walked into the bedroom, dialing one of the few BigHit contacts you had saved in your phone. You dialed Namjoon’s number. You’ve only met him like twice before and you knew they were super busy all the time so you were shocked when he actually answered.

“Hello?”

“Hey. This is [Y/N], Yoongi’s girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend.” you corrected yourself.

“Oh. Well, Yoongi’s not here. He got sent home 4 days ago.”

“Yeah. About that. Why did you send him home?”

“I don’t really feel like it’s my place to say. You should really ask him.”

“Yeah...I tried that and he’s like half out of his mind somewhere between sleepy, hungover, maybe still drunk, and slightly delusional so...yeah. I’m looking for some clarification.” you replied. You heard Namjoon sigh deeply. Ever the diplomat.

“He came in here a few days ago talking about how you had left him. He said he was going to quit because of it. He was...unpleasant to be around. He said he got tricked into joining the group anyway because all he had wanted to do was write music. Just you know. Angry Yoongi things.” he took a deep breath. “Anyways. We told him to go home and think about what he was saying. To cool off and come back after some time.”

“Ok. Thanks.” you said, heading back to the laundry room to check on your clothes.

“Sure. no problem. How’s he doing?”

“Bad.” you responded instantly.

“Are you two going to work things out?”

You checked the clothes. Still damp. “I don’t know. I’m not going to be with a ghost. So I guess if he’s serious about not working so much I would consider it. I don’t want him to quit; I know he loves writing and he also loves performing even if he acts like he doesn’t. I just feel like there should be some boundaries. You know?”

“I do. It’s something all of us are working on. We all talk about it a lot.”

“Yeah. Life is fucking weird.” you said, closing the dryer door. You heard Namjoon laugh.

“Well, I hope it works out. You two really do seem perfect for each other. But, if not, no hard feelings. We all have to walk our own path, yeah?”

“Yeah. Thanks. Take care.”

“Bye.”

You put the phone in your back pocket and turned to walk back into the living room and you saw Yoongi standing in the laundry room door, looking like he was about to cry.

You stared at him, unsure what to do. He walked towards you and wrapped his arms around you. “You’re real.” You feel him shudder against you.

You let yourself relax into his embrace slightly. “I am real. And I’m still upset.”

“I know. Even if this is the last time, please let me have this.” He said sniffling, his lips ghosting the top of your head. “I meant it, you know? I’ll quit.” he pulled away to look at you. “There’s no point in working all the time if I don’t have you to come home to. I took for granted that you would always be here and I shouldn’t have.”

You placed your hand on his chest. “I never wanted you to quit. I just wanted to see you more often. Especially when you’re in the same city as me.”

“My music was all I had for so long. And then the other members. And then ARMY. And then finally, you. I just don’t know where all of it fits together.” He confessed.

“Maybe I don’t fit in there and that’s ok.” you said, your eyes becoming glossy.

“But I want you. I want you so badly.” He took your hands up to his mouth and gently kissed your knuckles. You felt your face growing red.

“I want you too. But not every few months. Not when maybe you remember to come home. Not like an afterthought. I either want you to be all in, or don’t bother.”

“Will you take me back if I say I’m all in?” he asked, running a hand through your hair.

“I would consider it. But I’m being serious. I can’t keep getting my heart broken and getting my hopes up. It hurts too much.” you said, tears streaming down your face.

“I’m all in. Please. Just come home. I’ll come home too. Every night that we’re in town I promise to come home to you. Even if it’s 3 in the morning. Just please. I need you.”

You let out a very soft, “Ok.” You see him flash the smallest gummy smile. The one that you love so much.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. I love you.” he kissed you.

You returned the kiss but crinkle your nose, “Ok, yeah. No more make-up kissing or other activities until you at least brush your teeth. And shower.”

He smiled, “Yeah ok.”

“And then go into work and beg them for your job back.”

“I thought you wanted me here more and now you’re already sending me back to work?” he pouted.

You rolled your eyes as you gently pushed him on his shoulders, guiding him to the bathroom. “At least call Namjoon and apologize.”

“Deal. But for today, I plan to begin making it up to you.” he snuck one more kiss.

“TEETH. Brush Em!” you giggled and playfully shoved him towards the sink; so glad to finally feel like the two of you were on the same wavelength again.

#bts angst #bts reactions #bts fanfic #bts fanfction #bts yoongi x reader #bts suga x you #bts scenarios #bts au fanfic #bts yoongi #bts suga #soft yoongi

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where-dreamers-go · 3 years

Text

“A Declaration” Riley Poole x Reader

(A/N: Here’s some Riley Poole for the new year! A coffee shop AU for @girl-next-door-writes Bingo challenge! Me, my twin sister, and my mom got a bit too invested in this coffee shop that my sister had started making up a menu. That’s kinda new. This year didn’t start off on a significant high note for me, which leads to the feel of this insert reader. But you know I can’t leave this without cuteness! Bingo Card: Coffee Shop AU Warnings: Smidgen angst if you squint your eyes. Word Count: 1,179 words)

Overcast skies and a wind that nipped your nose held you onto the earth. An idea of movement, a spark of motivation had grasped your attention and lead you outdoors. The act of walking occupied most of your brain. Nature’s energies started neutralizing the emotional and mental slump you had been in. That state of mind was not destined to be your new comfort zone nor new normal.

Hands stuffed into your jacket pockets, you moseyed along the sidewalk until it morphed into aged brick. You sniffled, but hardly thought against the weather. Store and various businesses lined the street. All different and purposeful.

Your eyes peered up to your destination.

Gates Family Coffee And Tea Shoppe.

The shoppe had been family run and in business for over one hundred years. A unique opportunity with its tradition of providing old style brews to try and order. The added Internet access was a bonus. So was the added fun of their daily history trivia.

You had visited the shoppe more often in the past couple of years. The familiarity was a great comfort on days when you really didn’t know what to do with yourself. It was one of those days.

Your pace picked up until you had reached the door that welcomed you with a soft chime.

In waves of scents in every step, it felt as if you were traveling through the past. Antique chairs and tables decorated the main area as a long display counter showed off the delicious treats.

Food.

Glorious pastries, chocolates, breads, as well as bags of tea and coffee were in display for all to see. To consume. To look at.

“Hey (Y/N).” Ben Gates greeted from behind the counter. His name tag clean and pinned to his apron. “How are you today?”

“As well as I can be.” You shrugged.

The man nodded in understanding. “Anything I can get you?”

Two squeaks on the floor and a smiling brunette walked out from the back.

A glimmer of happiness seeped into your chest.

“Hi.”

“Hi Riley.”

The young man took another step closer to the counter. His apron had a couple of smudges and speckles of ingredients decorating its surface. Usually he spent his time in the front of the shop.

Are they short staffed today?

“There’s some fresh spice bread in the back if you want any?” Riley offered.

“Um…not today.”

“Declaration bar?”

“It’s actually on a special today.” Ben added in, gesturing to a part of the display case.

“Wow,” you eyed the price. “That’s a steal.”

Ben smirked.

“May I have one Declaration bar, please?”

“Sure.” Both men said in unison. A frown appeared for only a moment on Riley’s face.

“It’s…ahem…pretty cold outside, would you like some coffee?” Ben offered.

“One hot chocolate?” You asked. “For here.”

“Got it.” Riley spun off towards a beverage station.

You smiled.

In movements of someone who had years of experience, Ben had a fresh Declaration bar on a small ornate dessert plate on the counter in less than a minute.

After exchanging money for the treat, you made your way to a vacant table by a wall.

Better. You thought, today is better.

The past few days were not exactly days of full celebration. They weren’t all terrible either, but the other night was an exception. Not something you wanted to replay in your head again. You refused to go into that headspace.

“Hey.”

Your head snapped up.

Riley stood beside your table, eyebrows pushing together. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay.” Your voice was quiet. It didn’t help that he was the one asking. Someone who was always candid about life.

He continued to look at you for a moment before slowly nodding.

“Thank you.” The words barely made it out without cracking. You immediately avoided his gaze. Only then did you notice the steaming mug atop of a coaster sitting beside your treat.

“You’re welcome.” He placed the Wi-Fi password card on the table. “Let me know if you need anything.” Taking too big of a step back, he bumped into an empty table. “Ah.” He steadied the table before retreating to the counter.

For Riley’s sake, you didn’t watch him. Not noticeably anyway.

A low murmur of voices bounced around the shoppe as customers occupied other tables.

After taking a calming breath, you started eating the Declaration bar. The treat was soft, warm, slightly chewy, and had a hint of lemon.

Oh, yeah. Needed this.

A calm, cozy atmosphere was exactly what could ease your mind. A simple change in scenery did wonders.

You could not help the amused smile forming on your lips as you picked up the mug of hot chocolate. The coaster provided for you read: Treasure.

Just as each time you had ordered a drink to stay in the shoppe, you had the same coaster. You knew for certain there were others with different words because of what you had overheard customers’ comments in the past.

It was a little thing, but it still had you smiling into your drink. A welcome feeling of happiness, that was certain. Especially knowing that kind Riley always got you a drink.

Reaching for the laminated card with their shoppe logo on it, you flipped it over to check the Wi-Fi password, and paused. You set the mug down.

Okay…A new daily clue setup. Maybe? You thought as you carefully removed the paper. It was a note.

May I buy you lunch some time? Riley

Staring at the paper, you read it over three more times and felt your skin grow warmer when your eyes passed over the phone number he added.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Wow. Not what I expected today—at all? Maybe.

The urge to glance over to the display counter was strong. What if Riley was looking? What if he was in the back room?

What do I say? You thought before drinking more hot chocolate for procrastination. It’s a seasonal drink here anyway. You took another sip. At the moment and as far as the day went, you did not fully trust your voice.

He did give his number, you reasoned to yourself.

Having another bite of the dessert, you pulled out your phone from a pocket.

Here we go.

In more time than it would normally take to type a text message, you finally hit send. A nice, short message sent to Riley’s phone. An affirmative answer that you did like to eat lunch with him.

That was when you noticed how warm it was indoors.

You started tapping your shoe distractingly.

CLASH CRASH clang

All heads turned to an empty table.

“Riley, are you alright?” Ben asked from behind the register.

Shoes surrounded by two scattered mugs, a chipped plate, a tray, and more of a mess, Riley stood holding his phone.

“I’m great.”

You smiled.

“Riley,” Ben said slowly. “Just….clean it up.”

“Yeah.”

“Now.”

“Right.” Riley pocketed his phone with a grin.

Picking up your hot chocolate, you smiled into the drink.

Gosh, he’s cute.

~~~

(If you love my writings and want to support me, I have a Ko-Fi where you can buy me a coffee. I would be eternally grateful.

Best wishes and happy reading.)

~~~~~

DreamerDragon Tags: @cubedtriangle

Riley Poole Tags: @darkenwolfy @wesleeporstudy

**Let me know if you would like to be tagged in insert readers, either through replies, ask, or message.**

#Riley Poole x Reader #Girl Next Door's Make Me Feel Bingo #National Treasure fanfiction #Riley Poole imagines #National Treasure #Riley Poole #where dreamers go #Riley Poole coffee shop au #coffee shop au #Ben Gates

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the-sound-of-her-wings · 3 years

Text

I Don't Know How to Love Him, Pt. 2

Bruce Banner x GenderNeutral!Reader, Set during the entirety of The Avengers. Part I of Unknown- will likely span all of Avengers, Age of Ultron, and Infinity War.

You are a former shield agent who gets dragged back into the business after Loki steals the tesseract. You meet a cast of fun characters along the way, and maybe even fall in love.

Part 1

Word Count: 2,050

Contains: Mistrust/Angst?, Research, Discussions of Norse Mythology, Sleipnir

Inspiration: I Don't Know How to Love Him

Facial recognition technology detects Loki in Stuttgart, Germany. Instead of flying down to confront Loki in the quinjet, you are held back as a last resort in case something goes terribly wrong with the mission. Fury doesn’t want to blow his best assets on a capture mission.

After taking a shower and checking out your new, temporary bedroom, you head back to the lab to check in on what Bruce is up to. Turns out, nothing that interesting.

“Hey Bruce”

“y/n? I thought they’d send you out with the others.” He is startled by your entrance.

“I’m just the backup, Bruce. Only needed if things go south out there. Which, hopefully, they won’t” You respond.

“Or you're here to babysit me” He retorts, still not trusting you.

You roll your eyes. “Bruce. Do you really think I would have left you alone for almost 5 hours if I was really just here to make sure you didn’t turn into the Hulk?”

“Maybe that was just to make me feel comfortable. There are at least 5 surveillance cameras in this lab alone. I counted 10 in my room.”

“If it makes you any better, I have 20 in my room.”

His facial expression tells you that he doesn’t believe you. Still, his blood pressure is remaining even, a significant improvement from a few hours earlier. Not really concerned for any of Shield’s property and wanting to gain his trust, you systematically destroy every camera in the room by flinging an ice spike through them one by one.

“Better?”

“Why are you so desperate for me to trust you?”

Ouch. “I didn’t realize one of your several doctorate degrees was in psychology”

“It’s not. I’m sorry, that was rude.” He nervously fidgets with his hands.

“It’s fine. And you're right- I want you to trust me because I want to help you gain control over the Hulk.”

“Why?” He’s still searching for reasons not to trust you. You won’t give him any.

“I would’ve wanted someone to help me.”

“Your powers seem a little easier to control”

You scoff. “Yeah, now. Not when I first got them. Do you know how many people I almost boiled alive back then?”

“A non-zero number.”

“I once was so angry that I accidentally evaporated my high school’s swimming pool. Thankfully, no one was in it- but if they had been- I would’ve made people soup.”

“That’s not a pleasant thought.” He shakes his head, having unfortunately imagined the worst outcome.

“Exactly. Look, even if you don’t trust me, I think I can still help you get things under control with the Hulk. And in return, you can try to figure out my powers.”

“What makes you think I’m interested?” At least he’s stopped doubting that you are there out of genuine interest in helping him, and not for some nefarious reason.

“I have yet to meet a scientist who hasn’t been.”

“Okay. Deal.” He holds out his hand, and you shake on it.

“Deal. Now. Where would you like to start?” You say, having a ball of water in your right hand and ice in the other.

“Farther back than that. Are you spontaneously creating water or are you using the water in the air around you?”

“The latter. I’ve been in zero humidity climates before and the only water I was able to control was my own bodily fluids and those of the people around me.” You respond, evaporating the balls.

“And as far as you're aware, your ability to change the state of water is unlimited?” He has brought up a notepad on one of the computers and is typing away.

“As far as I know. I’ve never tried anything extreme, like evaporating the ocean or pulling all of the water out of the atmosphere. So there might be a limit- but I’ll probably never have to discover it.”

“You mentioned the ocean. Did you ever try controlling it or pushing part of it aside while in the Coast Guard?”

“Oh, all the time,” You begin to explain, “I couldn’t be too obvious about it or the other members of my team would’ve found out about my powers- but I would hold back a few waves to make rescue operations go smoother, or make the area around the person who needed to be rescued oddly calm. Those sorts of things. I think I probably could have created a dry spot in the center of the ocean if I wanted to, but that was never necessary, and probably would’ve led to a couple broken bones”

You can see him thinking of various possibilities as he continues jotting down notes.

“So, it sounds like you change the states of water in your immediate surroundings, and are then able to manipulate that water in whichever way you choose.”

“That sounds about right.”

“Can you make an ice ball encircling your hand, please?” He asks you, looking up from his notes.

You comply, and he begins to make his way closer to you. “Do you mind?” He asks.

“Go for it” You respond, having been poked and prodded by scientists before. He gives you a slight smile before gently touching the iceball currently encircling your fist.

“And you're not feeling that, are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Either my touch or the iceball surrounding your fist” He responds, still running his fingers across the top of it.

“Nope, It’s not even cold.” You respond.

This seems to set off a lightbulb, as he walks over to another part of the lab, grabbing a portable microscope. He puts it directly on the iceball, even with the top of your hand.

“I’m going to need to hold onto your arm to make sure it doesn’t move. Is that okay?” He asks for consent again, which you appreciate. The Shield scientists took one yes to mean you were okay with everything.

“Absolutely.”

His left arm steadies your right, as he keeps his right arm where it was previously positioned on the iceball, holding the microscope. He peers through it and smiles to himself, letting go of your arm and removing the microscope from the iceball.

“You’ve got a barrier between your skin and the ice.”

“I do?” You ask, melting away the iceball. “I didn’t know that.”

“You’ve tried to manipulate your own internal fluids before, right?” He asks.

You think back to times where you’ve tried to stop yourself from choking on a glass of water with your powers- it’s never worked.

“Unsuccessfully, yes.”

“That’s because of the barrier. It must have been part of the mutation- preventing you from injuring yourself with your powers.” He explains to you, just as Fury walks into the room.

You eye him suspiciously as he announces, “We’ve captured Loki. Dr. Banner, this is for you.” Behind him, a few shield agents roll a cart in holding the scepter, which they’ve placed in some sort of holder. They take it off the cart and place it on the table, closest to the windows facing outside the ship.

“Colonel Y/n, with me.” Fury directs.

“Dr. Banner,” You say, giving him a polite wave goodbye, before following Director Fury out of the room. Bruce watches as you leave until you are no longer in his line of vision.

“So you’ve caught him?”

“With some help.” Fury admits, begrudgingly. He hands you an earpiece, which you promptly put in your ear.

“Let me guess. Stark?” You weren’t sure Fury had ever been directly involved with Stark before this, as news of him being Iron Man made it to you through regular news media. But you were sure he was now, even if he hadn’t been before.

“Yup. Another Asgardian, too.”

You raise your eyebrow, but don’t say anything. You arrive at the empty containment cell, waiting for the Shield escort team to follow behind you. You can feel his eyes on you before you see him- they’re piercing. You look eyes with him as he is shoved into the glass cell, right after a shield agent uncuffs him. He doesn’t seem to react to this treatment- in fact, he seems to be thriving. His blood pressure is also suspiciously even for someone who just got captured.

You stand by as Fury and Loki exchange words, Fury trying to emphasize that he’s lost and Loki hinting at the fact he hasn’t. After insulting Bruce, Loki turns his attention towards you.

“And who’s this supposed to be? Your personal bodyguard?” Loki attempts to insult him.

“This is Colonel y/n. They’re going to keep you company for a little while.” Fury responds, walking away from him.

“You expect this agent of yours to withstand me?” Loki calls after him.

“Yes,” You begin, stepping into Loki’s field of view, “And I have a lot of questions.”

“Do you, now? Tell me, do you expect me to reveal my plan to you?” He asks, pacing around his cell.

You chuckle, “Of course not. My questions have nothing to do with your plans.”

Loki is slightly puzzled, but his facial expression remains even. He gives no hints about what he’s thinking. “Only if I can ask you questions.”

“That sounds like a fair deal. But since I’m the one outside of the cage, I’ll ask my question first. I admit it’s been burning in my mind since I first heard it was you trying to invade the Earth. Did you or did you not give birth to a horse?” You are dead serious when asking this question.

“What?” He is so surprised that his facade has dropped, giving way to genuine confusion.

“You know, Sleipnir. You transformed into a horse to distract a giant’s horse so he wouldn’t complete the fortification of Asgard in time. Your distraction caused you to become pregnant with Sleipnir, which you later gifted to Odin.” You say, pacing in a large circle around his cell.

“I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Sleipnir is my father’s horse, yes, but that’s the only part of the story that’s true.” He responds, now intrigued by your odd tale.

“That’s. Admittedly a little disappointing, as I’m not sure how I’m supposed to make fun of you for that now.”

“Why did Fury send you to guard me?” He asks you his first question.

“That’s a loaded question with many different answers. I don’t know exactly, but if I had to guess, it was because of my interest in Norse mythology. Fury probably thought I would be an annoying distraction because of the many questions I want to ask.” You are technically telling the truth, although without your powers, Fury probably would’ve been way more hesitant to put you in this situation.

“I see.”

“Wait. Did you say Odin is your father?” You ask, having just realized the implications of his earlier response.

“Yes. I believe my brother is on this ship as well.”

You turn away from him and ask the name of the other Asgardian over your earpiece. The name that is given back to you is not one that makes sense.

“Hold on. Thor’s your brother? What? That’s not-”

Loki cuts you off, “I believe it’s my turn to ask a question.”

“Yes. Go ahead” You are trying to figure out how the myths could have been so wrong, and are scratching your head about what happened to Helblindi and Býleistr.

“A lot of the other members of the team sent to capture me are enhanced somehow. Do you have powers?”

“Yes.” You do not elaborate before asking your question. “You are still married to Sigyn, though, right?”

“Your mythology says I have a wife?” His entire demeanor changes in a way you find hard to describe.

“Yes. She’s sometimes described as the Goddess of Victory, sometimes the Goddess of Fidelity. Mostly she pictured trying to ease the burden of your various punishments.”

“Wrap it up, Aqua Marine.” You hear in your earpiece. You roll your eyes- Stark.

“While I’d love to stick around and continue asking questions- I’m needed elsewhere. Enjoy contemplating your existence.”

“One last question-”

You cut him off. “It’s not your turn, Loki.” You announce, before walking out of the chamber holding his cell. You begin the trek back towards the lab, to figure out whatever Stark wanted.

#bruce banner x you #bruce banner x reader #bruce banner x gender neutral reader #bruce banner x y/n #marvel x reader #part 2 of i don't know how to love him

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let-it-raines · 4 years

Note

Prompt: this was supposed to be a low key first date, but now I’ve gone and injured myself (hiking?) so will you please take me to the hospital?

on ao3 | here |

word count: ~ 4800

-/-

When Emma agreed to go on a date with David’s friend from the office, she figured it would be to a mediocre restaurant where the lighting was a little too dim and the price a little too expensive for the food that was a little too small. That’s how the past few of her dates have gone, besides the one guy who took her to McDonalds. She didn’t know what to think of that. At first, she thought it was a little weird, but she didn’t really mind since sometimes she does want to clog her arteries with their fries. Then, though, she found out that he was testing to see if she was “uptight” and she ended that. Anyone who tests a woman on a date, no matter their reasons, is an asshole.

She is tired of dealing with assholes.

A part of her thinks Killian Jones may be one.

She’s met him a few times, but it’s never been anything significant. It’s been a “hello” at a barbecue, a “how are you” as they pass at a bar, a nod from across the street when they happen to be in downtown Boston at the same time. That’s not exactly a small place, but they frequent the same bars because she goes where David goes and David goes where the rest of the financial advisors in his office go. So, they do end up around each other, and she’s observed him from afar. He nearly always has a smile on his face as he charms a woman, usually a tall brunette that looks a hell of a lot like Ruby, and she’s gathered that he’s funny enough to make them all laugh. That, or they all fake it because he’s attractive and makes good money and they want to get into his pants. If she saw him at a bar and had never heard of him before, she’d probably want the same.

But she’s not at a bar or at that classic mediocre restaurant. She’s waiting in her car in the parking lot of World’s End, a park outside the city where you can do anything from horseback riding to skiing to kayaking to hiking. She’s in a pair of black running shorts, a tank top that’s knotted at the small of her back, and her worn-out running shoes that she doesn’t actually use to run. She’s already rubbed herself down with sunscreen, has her hair pulled back in a ponytail, and she’s got her largest water bottle filled with ice water. She’s totally going to have to pee halfway through this hike, and that’s going to make a great impression.

Emma doesn’t really care about impressing Killian Jones, though. She only agreed to this date because David (mostly Mary Margaret who has bugged her about it at every training session and every dinner they’ve shared) has been trying to set them up for months now. It was getting to the point where Emma was pretty sure she was going to walk into her gym or her apartment and the man was going to be sitting there. To keep that creepy as hell thing from happening, she’s here now, getting ready to sweat her ass off on her day off from training and helping other people train. She always works Saturdays, and she can’t believe she’s using a free day for this.

An SUV pulls up next to her, so she flips her mirror down to make sure her makeup or hair isn’t out of place. It’s not, and when she flips her mirror up, she sees Killian Jones just outside her car window, smirk already stretched across his lips.

“Hello there, Swan,” he greets as she steps outside. “You look lovely.”

She glances him up and down, taking in the fitted gym shorts, gray t-shirt and similarly worn sneakers. He’s got a Sox cap on, but if she had to guess, he probably spent a long time fixing up his hair before this. “Same to you.”

Silence falls between them, and Emma shuffles her feet. She’s not exactly great at small talk, always feeling like it’s stupid to have to talk about the weather when there’s nothing else to talk about, but Killian quickly nods his head toward the trail entrance. “Shall we?”

“We shall.” Emma bites her tongue at her stupid-ass answer, and iron fills her mouth.

She’s starting to wish she was at a mediocre restaurant instead. At least then she’d get food.

“So, David told me you’re a personal trainer, so I know you already spend a lot of time exercising. I figured you wouldn’t mind this, though. It’ll only be around five miles. I didn’t plan on it being so bloody hot, though.”

“Well, if all else fails, we can jump into the water to cool off.”

“You make a good point, love.”

Killian guides the small talk – thank God – as they work their way up the trail. He tells her that he got into being a financial advisor because he screwed up in university by getting a degree in finance despite hating it. He’s good with numbers, though, even better with people, and most of his job is about convincing people to trust him. It was the only job he was qualified to have after graduation that wouldn’t require more overpriced schooling, and since he wanted to stay in the country, he had to take whatever was given to him. Six years later, he doesn’t love his job, but he doesn’t hate it.

“So, you came to America to go to a big, fancy, stuck-up Ivy League school, picked a major that you hate, and now you con people into letting you handle their money?”

“It’s not a con.”

Emma pinches her brows together. “Sure.”

“Well, half of your job is convincing people they need help reaching their fitness goals when they could do it on their own.”

“I’m going to go ahead and guess you have never had a personal trainer if that’s all you think we do.”

His forehead wrinkles when his brows lift, and he holds his hands out. “Do I look like I need one?”

Cocky asshole.

Emma hums, pretends to study him, before gently reaching over and patting his stomach. It’s firm, but she doesn’t have to admit that. “I would say there’s definitely some room for improvement there.”

His head tilts back with laughter, his blue eyes closing, and he shakes his head and starts jogging ahead of her. “Hope you can keep up, Swan,” he jokes, his speed getting faster and faster, and Emma quickly runs after him. She’s not a runner. She hates it more than she hates black coffee – which is a hell of a lot – so she only does it if Ruby forces her to do it or if she has to do it with a client. She’s more of a Pilates, cycling, boxing, anything-other-than-running kind of girl. Killian is obviously a runner from the way he moves with ease, his stride nearly perfect, and she knows he’s going slow on purpose to allow her time to catch up.

“You’re an asshole,” she yells out, laughing despite herself, as she gets a little closer to him. The bastard starts full-out sprinting, and she’s left catching her breath as she runs after him. Yep, running is definitely still a bitch, and the other people on the trail are staring at the two of them as Emma chases after Killian. She nearly calls him a “fucking bastard” out loud before she remembers there are children around. That would have been extra shitty on her part, especially since she already called him an asshole.

“Catch me if you can,” he teases, glancing back to look at her, bright smile on his face, and yep, he is a full-out runner. He can speak without gasping for breath, and she’s struggling.

She still hasn’t caught up.

Emma sucks in a deep breath, clutches her water bottle in her hand, and sprints as fast as she can, adrenaline pumping through her veins and her heart pounding. She’s almost there, Killian just out of her range, and it happens before she can stop it.

A rock catches underneath her shoe, twisting her ankle into an unnatural position, and she starts falling to the side before she can stop herself. Emma tries to catch herself, sticking her arm out to keep her face from hitting the ground, and while she does manage that, she knows her arm is going to be a killer tomorrow.

Not as much as her ankle.

“Shit,” she hisses out, rocking backward and reaching for her ankle, but it stings and aches and any possible bad word out there, it does. “Shit, shit, shiiiiit.”

Tears fill her eyes, but she refuses to let them fall. It has to be a sprain and only a sprain, but she’s not stupid or stubborn enough to try to get up on her own. Emma gently lays her foot down, not moving her ankle if she can help it, and shakes out her right arm as she looks up to see Killian slowly coming to a stop in front of her, squatting down until they’re almost eye level.

“Are you okay?” he gasps, scanning her face as if that’s what she hurt.

“Oh, I’m just dandy,” Emma mocks. She’d really like to punch him in the face, right across those pretty teeth. This is his fault. He shouldn’t have started running. He’s not even sweeting. She hates him. “This is the best I’ve ever been.”

“I’m so sorry, love.”

“Not your fault,” she says, even though two seconds ago she was blaming him. She still kind of is, but her ankle is throbbing so much that she can’t think straight. “I’m just…I’m not a runner, and I wasn’t looking where I was going. That rock jumped out at me.”

“Accidents happen to all of us.” He scratches behind his ear and then points to a slash on his cheek. “Fell flat on my face during a run. Ten stitches.”

“What that sounds like to me is that neither of us should be running.”

Killian chuckles, lines appearing around his eyes. “Possibly. Do you think you can stand?”

“I’m thinking I can get up but – ” She attempts to flex her ankle, but she might as well be setting herself on fire “ – I don’t know if I can put weight on it.”

Killian nods, reaching down to gently run his fingers over her already swelling ankle. She hisses, and he backs away before standing and leaning down to help her up. Begrudgingly, she takes his hand, and she does manage to get up. When she attempts putting weight down on it, she knows that’s not going to work. She’s going to have to go to the freaking hospital to make sure the damn thing isn’t broken.

“So, good news,” he says, wrapping his arm around her waist while she holds onto his shoulder, “you can stand…a bit. Bad news, we’re a solid two miles away from the cars because we ran a little further than I realized.”

“Can you leave me here and then drive your car through these tiny trails?”

“I’m thinking I’ll get fined for destroying the park.”

“It may be worth it.”

Killian chuckles and starts slowly moving. Emma basically has to hop with him, but she does it, the two of them gingerly moving forward. “I can see if we can get someone who works at the park to bring us a golf cart. Would you like that?”

“No,” she lies, and maybe she’s a little more stubborn than she thought.

“You sure? I know you’re fit, but I don’t think anyone should hop on one leg for two miles when we can get help. I’m guessing you won’t let me carry you on my back.”

Emma curses under her breath and encourages him to keep moving forward. She distracts herself by asking Killian if he’s been to a Sox game yet this season. He’s gone to several with some of his friends, David included, and that starts an entire conversation about David and his weird habits. Talking about a man who is like a brother definitely takes any possible romance out of the date, but then again, so does a trip to the hospital.

It’s a good thing she didn’t have any expectations for this.

Emma makes it a mile before it hurts too much to keep going, and they stop at a bench as Killian googles a number to call to ask if they can get a golf cart up here. They can, but it’ll be at least thirty minutes, so they stay sitting down, Emma’s leg elevated in Killian’s lap as they sit in silence while people walk by enjoying their hikes.

She used to be one of them.

“So, this will probably be the last time you take a woman hiking on a first date?” she jokes, adjusting her ponytail so she has something to do with her hands.

“What? Do you not want to do this again?”

Emma’s hands still. “You want to do this again? With me?”

“Possibly.” He shrugs, but quickly stills so as not to twist her leg. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, this has been an absolutely minging date.”

“Thanks?”

“No, no,” Killian laughs, holding his hand up. “You’ve been wonderful, love. I’ve honestly enjoyed myself, but when you get a woman injured because you’re a bloody competitive arsehole, it doesn’t usually go down well. Dave is never going to let me live it down.”

“Oh, is that why it’s bad? Because David is going to take the piss out of you for it?”

“Definitely. It has nothing to do with you.”

Emma scoffs and leans back, the sun shining down on her face. It was boiling at the beginning of the date, but now she’s sweated so much the heat almost feels comfortable. She’s got to look great right now. She doesn’t even want to check to see if her mascara has run. “Good to know. Besides, you probably only agreed to go out with me to shut David up, right? You spend eight hours, five days a week with him. That’s a lot of time for him to talk.”

Brows pinch together as his eyes narrow. “What makes you think David had to convince me to do this?”

“I don’t know. Don’t you already have a roster of women lining up to date you? From what I’ve heard, there’s a line to your apartment door.”

Killian scoffs and tilts his head back, the sunshine hitting across his stubble and lightening it before it returns to a deep brown. His jaw clenches with a visible pulse, and Emma knows she’s fucked up.

She knows, she knows, she knows.

And she doesn’t know how to fix it. She knows she went into this with a shitty attitude about the date and about Killian, and even though she can be a prickly ass sometimes, she never wants to make someone else feel bad.

She was stupid to assume Killian had the same feelings about this date as she did.

Emma is not used to people actually wanting to be with her.

“I’m no stranger to women as I’m sure you aren’t to men, love, but that doesn’t mean I only asked you here to check off a mark on a list. I was the one who brought it up with David to see if you were interested, not the other way around.”

“Killian, I – ”

“It’s fine.” He waves her away, and she knows it’s not.

The seconds tick by but it feels like hours, and by the time the golf cart arrives to take them to their cars, Emma is convinced she can walk again out of the sheer determination to get away from this awkwardness. Killian talks to the man driving the cart, Graham she thinks, as he drives them off the trail. It’s the only conversation they have until they’re in the parking lot where Emma realizes she’s going to have to ride in his car with him to the hospital. She knew that, logically, but looking at her Bug and then Killian’s SUV, all she can think about is how much she wants to be alone right now.

This is the worst date she’s ever been on, and Neal used to count stealing food from convenience stores as dates.

(Okay, so maybe every date with Neal counts as the worst date she’s ever been on since he royally fucked up her life with them.)

Killian helps her into the backseat of his car so she can keep elevating her leg, and then he closes the door and gets in the front. He turns his radio on, some eighties classics playing through the speaker, and Emma pulls her phone out of her sports bra to text Ruby.

Emma Swan: Fell on my hike, on the way to the hospital to have my ankle checked out. I also insulted Killian, and I’m pretty sure he wanted to leave me on the hiking trail.

Ruby Lucas: What the hell?

Emma Swan: I’ll tell you about it when I get home.

Ruby Lucas: Do I need to meet you at the hospital? I’m going out with Mulan tonight, but since she has to be at work early, I’ll be home around midnight.

Emma Swan: I think the only thing that could make this worse is if he knows I’ve texted my roommate to come and save me.

Ruby Lucas: Well, if things getter better, just know it is possible to have sex with a messed-up ankle.

Emma snickers, and she catches Killian glancing in the review mirror. She bites her tongue and looks down, wondering when the hell this day is going to be over.

-/-

The wait in the emergency room is over an hour…if no one else comes in. That was the caveat the nurse told her, and she gets it. She’s not an emergency. She’s not having a heart attack. She’s just got a sprained (hopefully) ankle.

Looking back, they should have gone to an urgent care.

And she does mean “they” because Killian is still sitting next to her.

“So, what, are you a gentleman or something? Waiting for me like this.”

“I’m always a gentleman, love.”

Emma doesn’t believe that for a second, but she’s not going to argue with him. She’s already done a great job mucking things up, and she imagines David is going to have a field day with her.

She imagines Killian thinks she’s the worst.

“I’m sorry for being so awful,” Emma blurts out, and Killian’s shoulder brushes against hers as he turns to face her. “I didn’t mean to imply that you were some kind of man whore or whatever insulting term I implied. I just…I mean…I am obviously a great date, a great person, a great everything. I’m charming the pants off you.”

Killian scoffs and leans back, his arms going over his head before falling to his lap. She catches a glance at angry red scars on his left hand and forearm that she never noticed before. She wonders why he didn’t share the story behind those when he was talking about the scar on his face. It can’t have been from the same accident. No running accident is that bad. “This is not the worst date I’ve ever been on.”

“How is that possible?”

“Three years ago, I’d just gotten out of a long-term relationship. I was gutted, and I basically had to be dragged out. I was set up with this girl, we went to dinner at Yvonne’s, and there, sitting one table over, was my ex and her husband, who I had just found out about. I didn’t want to tell my new date this, so I tried to pay attention to her. I obviously did a shit job of it because she got so frustrated with me, she poured her soup on my lap and left.”

“Was the soup still hot?”

“No,” he laughs, winking at her. “It was cold, so I’m all still functional down there if that’s what you were worried about.”

“Shut up.” Emma sinks down a little lower in her seat, trying not to laugh or blush, but she knows she fails at both. “So, even after I’ve injured myself and insulted you, I still don’t get the number one spot?”

“I’m afraid you don’t, but you can feel free to give it another go.”

Emma pushes herself back up and twists to look at him, narrowing her eyes to try to figure him out. “Like, right now or on another date? Is that still up for grabs? Because no offense, but if you’re still willing to go on another date with me, I think you might have also fallen and hit your head.”

Killian shrugs. “Or I’m just as much as a wanker as you are and am willing to give you another chance.”

He cannot be serious. That seems ridiculous and ill-advised, but she sees no lie in his eyes. Has she found the craziest man in all of Boston?

There are a lot of them, and she didn’t expect it to be him. A wolf in sheep’s clothing or something else like that.

She also didn’t expect herself to want to give this another shot. Maybe it’s for her ego, but Emma’s going to try not to think about that now.

“I’m pretty sure you’re messing with me because I don’t know how we’re ever going to get past this, but if we were to go on another date, I get to pick the venue.”

“Please tell me it’s not going to be Yvonne’s.”

“Damn, you’ve ruined my plan.” He huffs and Emma nudges him with her elbow. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to walk properly again, but what do you say? You want to go to a Sox game? If we end up hating each other, we can be distracted by the game. Or we can flat out move to empty seats to avoid each other.”

“I like this plan.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I think we should get seats at the top and have you walk there.”

Emma groans and elbows him again, a little harder than necessary. “Okay, so I’m buying the tickets then.”

“That was my plan all along.”

“Emma Swan,” the nurse at reception calls out, “we can take you back now.”

-/-

It’s just a sprain. A bad one but a sprain.

She’s supposed to ice it, elevate it, and rest for a few weeks. She curses at that because it means she’s going to have to be sitting during her job, which she hates, and she’s also going to have to do rehab on it. Plus, she was about to hit a record with her cycling classes, and that’s going to be delayed.

But it’s not broken, and she’s been given crutches to help her out for the first few days. She walks out on them – no one ever tells you how much they hurt your armpits – to see Killian standing, waiting for her, soft smile on his lips.

“How are you feeling?”

“Amazing,” she lies.

“David and Mary Margaret have gone and gotten your car,” Killian explains, not missing a beat, and steps to walk next to her, “and have returned it to your apartment. Mary Margaret wanted to rush here, but they’re going to that show tonight.”

“I’m sure David had to restrain her.”

“Oh, he did. I couldn’t see it, but I could imagine it from the way they talked.”

“I don’t even need to hear their argument to imagine it. Thanks for getting that taken care of.”

“No problem.”

Slowly but surely, they get to Killian’s car. She insisted he didn’t need to pull it around – he probably did – but by the time they get there, she’s having a hard time not sweating. The heat is still miserable. The air-conditioning in his car is amazing, though, and Emma nods off as he drives her to her apartment.

“I was worried the entire way here you wouldn’t have an elevator in the building.”

“I’ve got one. Don’t worry. Ruby and I moved about six months ago because we were tired of living in an old building that had a slight egg smell that never went away, so if this had happened six months ago, I’d be out of luck.”

“Small blessings, I guess.” He presses the button to turn off his engine. “Do you need help getting inside or…”

Emma rolls her eyes. “I don’t, but do you want to come in and get delivery? I feel like it’s the least I can do for you.”

“As long as it’s not soup, I’d love that.”

-/-

Emma manages not to insult Killian for the rest of the night. There are times when she thinks she takes it too far, her natural sarcasm coming out, but Killian gives as good as he gets. He never misses a beat, is constantly challenging her, and he puts away half a large pizza with as much ease as she does.

She can never tell her clients this is how she eats.

Really, sitting on her couch, her ankle wrapped in ice and set, she has a better time than she has on any of the dates she’s gone on in the past year. Killian’s never seen The Umbrella Academy, so she puts it on and they watch it, a bowl of popcorn with all the fixings between them.

She really can’t tell her clients this is how she eats.

At some point, the sun now set and the outside world darkened, her eyes get heavy and she drifts off, hushed conversation and laughter in the background. She recognizes those voices, and opens her eyes to see Ruby and Killian talking, but then she’s nodding off to sleep again, the world’s edges blurring. She still feels soft lips and harsh stubble brush against her forehead before everything bleeds into darkness.

-/-

“I cannot believe you screwed that one up.”

“What?” Emma asks, blinking her eyes open. Her neck is killing her, but that’s only momentary distraction from the way her ankle is throbbing.

“I can’t believe you screwed your date up,” Ruby says, and now Emma recognizes that it’s Ruby talking to her. “I mean, he was hot, Emma. So, so hot. Like, I would sleep with him even if he was the biggest asshole in the world.”

“Can you get me some more ice?” Emma groans, groggy.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Ruby gets up and walks into the kitchen, and Emma tries sitting up and opening up her eyes a little more. She doesn’t know what time it is, so she fumbles around for her phone, the bright screen opening up to tell her it’s seven in the morning. She’s also got a slew of texts from David and Mary Margaret, her boss at the gym, Elsa, and one Killian Jones.

The first text is a link. It’s two tickets to a Red Sox game two weeks from now, and the seats aren’t in the upper deck.

Killian Jones: Can I count on seeing you there? You know, to redeem yourself.

Emma Swan: I thought I said I’d buy the tickets.

The bubbles pop up immediately despite Killian having sent his message at two in the morning.

Killian Jones: Didn’t want to chance that you’d run away.

Emma Swan: Is that supposed to be funny?

Killian Jones: Absolutely.

Emma laughs and the corners of her lips tug up. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t anywhere near the worst date she’d ever been on even if it did leave her sore in all the wrong places.

Emma Swan: I’ll be there.

“What are you smiling about?” Ruby asks as she comes in with a newly filled ice pack.

“I didn’t screw the date up as badly as I thought, I guess.” Emma shrugs and lifts her ankle as Ruby wraps it up. “I think it goes down as one of the most interesting first dates in existence, though.”

“And you didn’t even sleep with him, so that’s saying something.”

Emma tosses a pillow at Ruby and sinks into the couch, her heartbeat going a little faster than normal.

Killian Jones: If you get hit by a fly ball, I think that may be it for us. I can’t have you be injured on two dates in a row.

-/-

She doesn’t get hit by a fly ball.

She doesn’t get injured at all.

And in all of the other dates they go on, no one sprains an ankle or gets it by a fly ball or breaks an arm. They’ve got a pretty good track record of good dates, but as Killian likes to say, you never forget your first.

#shireness-says #cs prompts #cs fic #cs ff #cs fanfic #captain swan fic #captain swan ff #captain swan fanfic #captain swan #a real kick in the (hiking) boot

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