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#so i can try inflicting this particular tiny little moment on you all
sollucets · 3 months
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WORD OF HONOR || EPISODE EIGHTEEN
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yoongsisbae · 3 years
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Bon Voyage: Into the Sea - Chapter 3
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BTS fantasy AU. OT7 x reader. werewolf!Namjoon x werewolf!Hoseok x werewolf!Jungkook x siren!Yoongi x vampire!Jimin x vampire!Jin x whatis?Taehyung. This is the "vampire chapter" :'D
Thank you for all the love on this random nightmarish story lol. This extra update is for all the readers who made it my most popular post! Thank you! <3 Also this is my contribution to the start of the spooky season :D
Warnings: Hi, remember when I said this was horror? This chapter in particular is pretty horrific, you have been warned! blood, fighting between m/w, blood, graphic violence, blood, imprisonment, blood, blood, blood, minor character death, vampires doing vampire things including noncon blood drinking, human imprisonment, mind manipulation, stockholm syndrome, dubious consent, slut shaming, anal, degradation, foursome, orgasm control, orgasm denial, what a ride, you must be over 18 to ride this ride, scary scary scary
Word Count: 22k
---
“Scared, y/n?” Jimin’s face sends you a wicked smile.
You look back and forth between the men, uttering an unconvincing “No.”
Seokjin speaks again, “You should be.”
---
‘So did you get the answers you are looking for?’ You sit up, jolted out of your sleep, Hoseok’s words echoed softly in your mind.
Seokjin moved so fast, his striking face in front of you in an instant, his red eyes centimeters from yours, delicate lips curving into a smile over his fangs as water splayed around where he stood. That was the last thing you remember.
He smiled down at you sweetly and held you by the neck, putting pressure on your vein until you passed out. It all happened so fast your scream remained halted until this moment. The response came out of you abruptly, as fleeting as the memory.
And now where the hell were you? It looked like the room of an old bed and breakfast; large bed, writing desk, love seat, high windows; but to your captors the breakfast on the menu was you.
The first thing you notice is how the curtains are drawn together blocking the sunlight, but you know it’s there, just out of reach, as evidenced by the small line of light that trails its top edge. The room you found yourself in was dark, from the wallpaper to the furniture, the stillness unsettling, you listened as your own rapid breathing filled the silence.
You were seated right in the middle of a king size bed. They left you atop the cleanly-made white bed sheets, a treat placed in the center of a platter. You shiver, your clothes still remained damp from the night before, cold and stuck to your skin. That is why you shiver, you tell yourself, because you don’t hear them, but you feel them...watching you...
You build up enough courage to scan the room, and that’s when you see two pairs of red orbs staring back at you from the corners’ shadows, glowing in the darkness. Eyes of beasts, watching you, studying you.
You try not to react, not show your captors how scared you are, but every mechanism in your body betrays you, and the pair immediately pick up on your rapidly beating heart, the sweat on your brows, your unsteady breathing-
“Good morning, y/n,” Seokjin says, walking out of the shadows. Jimin stays hidden, but you can hear his soft laughter.
Those answers you wanted, where are they?
Seokjin slowly moves to the edge of the bed. “It seems like our friends have taken quite an interest with you and I want to find out why. Is that okay?”
You purse your lips, keeping your eyes trained on the thin strip of light showing at the top of the window curtains. You sit in silence. Has your breathing always been this loud? The shaking of Seokjin’s legs, a sign of his growing impatience, rattles the bed and your resolve.
He clasps his hands together, finally saying “If you don’t want to speak to me,” he leans in slightly and whispers the rest, “I can always let Jimin pry information out of you, but I don’t think you’d appreciate that very much.”
The pounding of your heart and the uneasiness in the pit of your stomach makes you feel like you’re going to become sick at any minute, but you manage to form a coherent sentence to ask him, “What do you want to know?”
“First, I want your permission to find out,” he speaks softly, placing a gentle hand on your calf, but you flinch away anyways. That’s a loaded question if you ever heard one. You wonder if it’s all an act, the same way Jimin fooled you. You stay silent.
Seokjin sighs again, looking over his shoulder, “Jimin?”
“No!” you yell. “Not Jimin! You...you, okay I give you permission.”
“Thank you, y/n.” He smiles, “I’ll be gentle.”
You yelp. Seokjin’s cold hand travels down your leg, wraps around your ankle and pulls you down the bed closer to his body, and in an instant his lean frame is hovering over yours. This close, his beauty is intimidating alone, but his eyes feel like they are piercing through you, digging inside, seeing all the ugly secrets you try to hide from even yourself, you feel like you could catch fire the way his gaze burns you.
He holds you down loosely by the neck, fingers searching for a pulsing vein, eyes focused on you with the concentration of a doctor performing surgery. Seokjin wipes away the tears that begin spilling from your eyes and smirks, “Don’t cry Dove, I promise this time will be the least pain you’ll experience from now on.” His words are devoid of any real sympathy, a false comfort, a looming warning.
You consider fighting back, but in this position there is no way you would be able to reach for your dagger (hidden away in a secret pocket in the front of your corset) without Seokjin stopping you, and even if you were lucky enough, there’s still Jimin, waiting in the shadows.
So you choose to wait, and try to find comfort in Seokjin’s twisted words. It could be worse. A tiny voice inside you reminds you it will become worse. You’ll just have to escape before then. You take a deep steadying breath, preparing yourself.
Don’t cry.
Seokjin’s lips latch onto your neck, soft and full as he rolls his tongue harshly over your pulse point. Goosebumps bloom across your body, and you try to focus on the sunlight rather than the vampire above you and his overwhelming aura, that sliver of light that you pray won’t dim.
This could be worse. This could be more painful. This could be Jimin.
Seokjin can feel the jumping of your pulse against his tongue. The vampire wants to know your story, what is it about you that riled Jimin up more than he’s ever seen him. But with your sweet scent enveloping him and the cocktail of emotions Seokjin’s keen senses could smell: fear and anger and mounting arousal, you smelled better to him than the finest wine and he can’t stop himself from teasing you a little longer, drink it in just a bit more and savor the moment.
Seokjin still understood the importance of ‘living’ in the present, he enjoyed taking his time with things. Others would have gone mad by now with the infinite amount of time, but not Seokjin, he used it to his advantage. Your warm body, your addicting smell, the softness and saltiness of your skin, the shifts in your breathing, Seokjin took his time to savor the gifts of life that he still missed.
You try not to react to his sensual touches, tensing your body under him, until you feel two sharp pricks on the surface of your skin. Your reaction is involuntary, you grip the bedsheets with your fists and let out a soft cry, moving against him. His bite hurt for only a second, like a pin prick, but Seokjin in his precision had nicked an artery for optimum bloodshed. With each gasp of breath you take, with each pounding beat of your heart, you feel your blood drain as it escapes the punctures in your neck and into Seokjin’s waiting mouth.
Seokjin groans against your skin, sending fire through your veins, pressing himself harder into your body. The vampire is better at keeping his physical responses to blood drinking at bay than Jimin, but he hasn’t had a new taste in awhile, and you’re so responsive.
When he pulls away from you you reach to cover your neck and stop the blood, a reflex in an attempt to save your own life, but Seokjin grabs your wrists before you can, pinning you to the bed, studying, his red gaze challenging you.
You gasp as the blood rushes out down your neck, over the sheets, seeping into your clothes. ‘They’ll underestimate you...’ Yoongi’s words replay in your mind and you stay still. No matter how much you want to fight back, this time you have to be smarter, you have to believe in Yoongi’s words.
Jimin has stayed quiet for this long, staying in the shadows, but your whimpers and grunts of pain are music to Jimin’s ears, the blood pouring from your body like an offering to him. His groans can be heard from the shadows.
He holds himself back for now, waiting for his turn. Jimin wonders where all that fight went, he had expected a show, for you to thrash away from the older vampire like you did the merman. He can’t help but feel a little disappointed. When it’s his turn, he thinks, you’ll become more entertaining then.
You watched in silence as Seokjin licked his lips clean of your blood. The red liquid that he had stolen from you, that was now steadily seeping from your wound and covering the white bedsheets underneath you, like a Rorschach picture mapping your life. “You’re strong,” he grins, speaking too tenderly for the brutality he was inflicting. “Stop fighting and it will end sooner, y/n. Let me into your mind.”
What does that even mean?! In your blood loss the tips of your fingers begin to feel cold like your captor’s, your head pounds and your vision blurs with each passing moment as the blood drains from your artery, you don’t want to give in, but if it will end this torture...
You shut your eyes tightly, and turn your head to expose your bleeding neck further to the monster above you. When Seokjin lowers his lips to your neck, you try to think of sweet Jungkook instead, his warm body instead of Seokjin’s cold one. You didn’t dare wish to be with him again, you didn’t dare think you made a mistake, that you should have stayed. Now all you can do is hope you can save him and yourself from this horrible island. Jungkook doesn’t deserve to be imprisoned with the likes of them.
Seokjin drinks the warm liquid pouring from your throat. You listen to him gulping down your blood, How much longer, until he finds what he’s looking for? You feel your fight escape you with each swallow, you feel yourself slipping away. It reminds you of drowning, it reminds you of Yoongi and how he kissed life into you instead, but this was the kiss of death.
‘Yoongi,’ you close your eyes and think of him. And then you felt it, the pull inside your mind. Your current circumstance falls away in shambles, your memories are pulled out of you through the cracks, the images race through your mind as Seokjin bears witness to it all.
---
Yoongi sits at the table, hair and clothes dry, turning his head to see you awake.
The relief that softens his features as he’s walking to your side.
The delicate way he places the hairpiece back in its place.
The way his eyes melt at your words.
Why hadn’t you seen it before? Seokjin saw it all. The way Yoongi screams at you, the rage and embarrassment in his eyes as he tells you how much he can’t stand you, the way he licks his lips when you yell back. His eyes studying you when you yank him closer, full of anger and full of-
You weakly push against Seokjin, you don’t want to remember, you don’t want to miss him. You can’t stop it, you can’t stop the memories flooding through your system.
You suddenly remember Jungkook’s sparkling round eyes watching you, wanting you, the crinkle of his nose when he laughs, the pink flush on the edges of his ears when you talk to him, the muscles of his arms flexing as he cages you under him, his deep groaning in your ear, the vein in his neck when he pushes into your wet heat, the truth in his voice when he says he’ll protect you.
You feel Seokjin’s hands travel down your body the same way you remembered Jungkook. You curse him in your mind, but your body couldn’t tell the difference, your stomach tightens and you’re no longer cold, warmth spreads over you to the tips of your toes.
You want to scream, scream for Jungkook, but you’re frozen, lost in your own thoughts, confused by your senses. Jungkook feels as real as Seokjin, but you know he’s not really there, no matter how much you wanted it to be true.
You remember Hoseok’s harsh looks, the growing anger in his eyes, the hurt in his eyes, the pain in his eyes, the pain still present in his eyes even in his wolf form when he howls and cries at you. He’s begging you to stay, he’s telling you he can’t bear to lose someone again. How could you leave them? Why can’t they be enough for you? Hoseok will treat you better, if you just stay with him, please. You understand his barks and howls now, because Seokjin understands. Tears well up in your eyes and you try to move away, but Seokjin is too solid, too powerful, and unyielding in his search.
Namjoon’s eyes are on you as you eat next to his brothers at dinner, filled with nothing but warmth and happiness. Those brown eyes, you miss them. You feel dizzy and helpless, you can’t take it anymore. You grab a fistful of Seokjin’s hair to try to pull him off of you.
“What have you done to Jimin? What have you done?!” Namjoon’s voice roars in your memory. But it’s not any memory you remember having. Before you realize what you are doing, your hands hold on tightly to Seokjin’s hair, pulling him closer and holding him to you so you can see more.
---
“It-It wasn’t me...” The tall vampire is covered in blood. Some of it is Jimin’s blood, yes, but the majority of blood that drips down his face and hands, that covers his clothes, belongs to five other men. Dead men. Men who beat the broken man in his arms to the brink of death.
Seokjin found his dear friend screaming in pain. He saw them over Jimin’s bleeding body, blood Seokjin treasured just as much as he treasured his bond with the compassionate and playful man. His friend, Jimin, who wailed for Seokin, for Namjoon, for Hoseok, for Taehyung, for anyone to help him, while his bones cracked, lying in the dirt, choking on his own blood, precious blood.
Seokjin explained to Namjoon when he saw them laughing, like hyenas over a carcass, spitting hateful slurs down at Jimin, he couldn’t control himself. Seokjin tore them apart one by one. He chased each one down like the pathetic animals they were, and tore the limbs that touched his dear friend straight from their bodies.
Seokjin had been weak, he had become too accustomed to the harmonious life he and Namjoon had created for themselves. Had it been decades before, he would have endured, but living with the pack had softened him too much and he couldn’t stand the pain of losing Jimin, so when he found a weak pulse he gave Jimin as much of his venomous blood as he could.
Namjoon simply nods at the information, his weary eyes examining his two friends, friends who were like family to him. He didn’t want to lose Jimin either. “We need to take him somewhere safe...to the island, before he wakes up,” Namjoon places a hand on the trembling vampire’s shoulder.
“What if he doesn’t wake up?” the vampire’s voice shakes, he notices the cuts on Jimin’s face and body have yet to heal themselves.
“That’s not something you should be worried about,” Namjoon runs his hand through Jimin’s tangled hair, gently placing the dark strands back into place, his eyes filling with tears, “it’s when he wakes up, we need to make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone.”
Seokjin nods weakly.
“Go now. I’ll clean up the mess, brother.”
Your hands fall, the blood loss making you too weak to grip onto Seokjin’s hair. Seokjin had taken more blood than he intended, lost in his own memories.
The vampire pulls away from you, even as the edges of your vision blurs, you see his eyes, glowing red and glassy with unshed tears, staring at you with a mixture of pain and surprise. He shakes away his bewilderment and rips into the flesh of his wrist, placing the cut across your lips as you can no longer hold consciousness.
---
When you wake again it’s night time, the light behind the curtains has left you.
Your body aches. You run your fingers along your neck, searching for the punctures, and you can only feel smooth skin crusted in dried blood. Your head feels like it’s splitting. You groan in pain.
You see Jimin before you hear him, and even then you’re not sure if your brain created the sounds to ease your mind as he stalks closer to your waking form.
“Finally! Now what could you have possibly done to Jin?” Jimin says, contemplating the reason his friend holed himself up in his office, refusing to speak to Jimin or even look at him.
He jumps on the bed, shaking your already pounding head. “He refuses to let me bite you,” he whines, “Explain now, pet.” Jimin prods you with his foot. “Explain what memory of yours Seokjin pulled.”
You just groan back, turning away from Jimin, burying your head into the cold pillows of your bed, one of the few things not soaked in your blood. Everything is so cold you can’t stand it. Jimin places a hand on your shoulder to make you face him. Cold fingers touch your skin, everything is cold.
“Don’t touch me!” you pull away from him, yelling.
Your face stings. Jimin had slapped you hard, you come to the realization only after the fact, the skin he touched burns hot. It makes you laugh, because you wanted warmth, didn’t you?
Jimin’s eyes narrow on you, “Say that again, I dare you.”
You bite back tears and ask, “What the fuck happened to you?!”
“So you’re back to being a disrespectful brat. You’re not on the same level as me, human. Learn to behave.”
“No! What happened to you to make you so heartless? What changed you?” How did the bleeding man you saw Namjoon cry over in Seokjin’s memories become this monster? He was human at one point too, you wouldn’t have believed it if you didn’t see it for yourself.
Jimin rolls his eyes, “Don’t act like you know anything about me, bitch.”
You take a deep breath trying to calm your temper. Not only had you seen Seokjin’s memories, you had felt his emotions. His pain lingers in you still, beside the fear and hatred you feel, you look at Jimin and feel...sorry for him. You have to look down, the emotions are too much and too overwhelming. It was easier when all you knew was the monster before you. Jimin takes your silence as obedience instead.
“Now can you be a good little pet and answer my question,” he says, tapping you on the head hard enough to make your headache roar back to life. You flinch and search the eyes of the man before you. Or rather the shell of a man, you think bitterly.
And what a beautiful shell it is. Jimin is stunning, bright white hair pulled away and styled so you can see the delicate features of his face. He holds himself gracefully, like a dancer, his elegant figure hiding his true strength. You wonder what he was like before turning into a monster, what kind of man was he? Someone whom Namjoon cared for.
“It wasn’t my memory...you. I saw you…” You whisper, knowing Jimin’s sharp senses can hear you loud and clear, “I saw Seokjin turn you.” Silence falls over the room again, a silence so deafening you start to hear the pounding in your head becoming louder.
The vampire stares at you, soft features stoic. He looked lost in thought, you pictured his face full of cuts, bloody lip, black eye, human, and Seokjin so unsure, scared, worried, trembling, so unlike themselves now.
“How did he turn me?” It surprised you how genuine Jimin’s question sounded. Did he really not know?
You keep your mouth shut, you don’t think it would be wise on your part to tell him. Jimin seems like the type to shoot the messenger. Unfortunately, unlike Seokjin, Jimin had little to no patience. His expression changes like lightning, full of anger. He pulls you by the hair dragging you off the bed and onto the floor.
The vampire crouches over you and grabs your face, holding you down to the wood floor, pressing his sharp nails into the skin of your cheeks making you yell.
“Ahh there’s your voice! Tell me.”
“Why don’t you ask Seokjin?!”
“But I rather you just do as I say,” he says playfully, as his fingers dig harder into your skin, cutting the flesh and drawing blood.
“Why don’t you just bite me, then?!” You spit the words out through clenched teeth.
You watch the vampire lick his lower bottom lip, thinking it over briefly as he pulls your face closer to his, you struggle against his painful grip. “How impetuous...” he watches you squirm like an insect stuck in glue. “You’re rather dumb, aren’t you?”
Should you reach for your dagger now? Should you try to kill Jimin?
Every time you thought about hurting him, you remembered Seokjin’s crying face, and you wanted to cry as well, what was happening to you?
“Jimin, leave us.” Jin stands in the doorway to your room.
Jimin stands up in a huff, letting you go. You fall back onto the hardwood floor. He balances on his heels, ignoring you and scrutinizing Seokjin. He wanted to question the older vampire, he has so many questions now, but decides against it. What does it matter anyways? The idea of being a weak and powerless human revolts him. “I’m getting impatient,” he says before he leaves, slamming the door and making you jump.
“T-thank y-you.” You try to calm your breathing.
Seokjin looks at you with a frown, extending his hand out to you. You hesitate and place your hand in his and he easily lifts you to your feet. You watch the older vampire walk slowly around the room, drawing his fingers along the furniture he passes. You stand awkwardly, you don’t think making a run for it would gain you any favors right now.
“I’m hungry,” Seokjin says. He doesn’t even look at you when he says it, continuing to meander around the room, waiting for your response.
You clench your jaw. So this is what you’ve been reduced to, you think, a late night snack. “Are you going to just keep me trapped in this room? I’m hungry too, I haven’t eaten anything-”
“Dinner's already passed. Before I let you go roaming around, I need to make sure you’re going to behave yourself, do you understand?”
No, you don’t understand at all. It sounds like he’s going to starve you into subservience, and you have to get out of this room, you have to find the portal.
“I will do as you say...please...” you walk over to where he’s standing, trying your best to seem meek. “I’m starving,” you reason, “I’m sure you know how it feels to hunger for something” you say, turning your head to stare at the windows, curtains now open to the night sky, extending your neck to the vampire. His eyes are pulled to your attention, following the lines of your shoulder. You roll your neck, loosening the stiff muscles, moving close enough to him that your chest bumps into his. You look up into Seokjin’s eyes through your lashes, “I-I will behave.”
Seokjin smiles, bringing his head down into the curve of your neck, lips skirting across the skin. Your fingers reach up to caress the back of his head. You can see the pair of you in the bedroom mirror. Another myth proven wrong, you think, as you study your seduction, how his lean frame bends closer to yours, his arms wrapping around the lower part of your back.
In truth, Seokjin wasn’t hungry. He had taken more than enough blood from you this morning already, but Seokjin wanted to see if lightning could strike twice. Never had the pull been so strong for him that a human had been able to enter his memories, not even when Jimin was alive. He needed to learn more.
Seokjin licks your face, tongue tracing the cuts Jimin’s nails left behind. You hold your breath, trying to act like you enjoyed it. You hated it, you wished you could stick Yoongi’s dagger into Seokjin’s cold dead heart and be done with it already.
Seokjin trails kisses back to the place he bit you before. He keeps kissing your sensitive skin until his lips reach your ear and he whispers, “I’m not Jungkook, little Dove, you’ll have to do better than that.”
You stumble backwards but it’s too late, Seokjin already has you in his clutches.
He pulls you into a tight embrace, walking you backward even more. His bite is precise, you suspect perfectly precise to where he bit you this morning. Your arms are locked tightly in between your bodies as he holds you to him.
Thunder roars in your memory, you feel yourself drowning. Your muscles ached, your lungs burned. You feel Yoongi’s hand on your ankle, pulling down, hand on your waist, pulling down, hand on your neck, pulling you closer, his lips on your lips-
You cry and yell against Seokjin’s grasp. Cold turns to warmth as you see Namjoon, Jungkook, and Hoseok laughing around the firepit, and Seokjin, and Jimin, laughing too. Yoongi sits with a calm expression on his face, his lips curved upward, and a man you don’t recognize sits next to him-
Seokjin yanks his mouth away from you and you fall backward, back hitting the bed while you struggle to breath. You cover the holes on your neck with your palm to stop the rushing blood.
“How?” is all Seokjin can say, shaken by the happy memory that even he had forgotten about.
You stare up at the high ceiling dazed and too weak to move, “Do I...” you can feel the blood spill between the gaps of your fingers, “look...” you gasp, “like a vampire expert...to you?”
Seokjin moves to the window, his back to you. He watches the waning moon and lets his mind wander to his old friends. If they were off the island, he could see a scenario where you and he would meet at a bar, laugh over drinks, but the ending would always be the same. “You look,” he looks over his shoulder at you, “like you could use a drink,” his lips curving into a half smile.
“Are you,” you gasp, “offering?”
He walks over to you slowly, bringing his wrist to his mouth, and then extends the sliced skin to your mouth, waiting expectantly.
You take his offering bitterly, gulping down the metallic liquid, the wounds burn like fire as they heal over. The pain is nothing like you’ve ever experienced before. You shut your eyes tightly, you want to cry, or scream, but like Namjoon said, no one can help you here. You feel fingers intertwine with your bloody fingers, pulling your bloodied hand away as you weakly protest. The room spins, even if your wounds are healed, your blood is still gone and you’re feeling the effects of two feedings.
Seokjin brings your hand to his lips and licks away the blood, tongue circling your fingers. “This can hurt or it can feel good,” he says slowly.
You laugh, delirious from hunger and blood loss. “I wonder, that memory,” you gasp, still laughing, “does it bother you to be reminded of your humanity? Does it hurt you?”
You probably shouldn’t have said that, but the blood loss is doing funny things to you, or maybe you just really wanted to get a reaction from the guarded man, no, guarded vampire.
If your accusation angered Seokjin he didn’t show it with any emotion, instead he sighed and bent over you, biting down hard on your shoulder. The searing pain makes you scream. You cry out, not expecting the sharp and throbbing kind of ache from his bite as Seokjin’s teeth stayed deep in your flesh.
Seokjin pulls another memory out of you, and you curse your luck in remembering Jungkook again, remembering his tanned and muscled body next to yours. Jungkook kissing your knuckles and telling you how he’s yours now. Jungkook kissing down your body. His head between your legs, his mouth feverishly licking at your folds. The more you try not to think about him the stronger the memories feel. The pain in your shoulder dulls as your legs tighten around the vampire's sides.
Perhaps it was your bloodloss mixed with Seokjin’s bloodlust seeping into your consciousness, the memory of Jungkook’s length buried deep inside you and feeling of Seokjin’s growing bulge pressed against your stomach makes your head spin and you just want to feel more. You hear Namjoon’s deep authoritative voice whispering dirty things in your ear, it makes you shudder, a moan escapes your throat-
Seokjin pulls away from you abruptly at that, his eyes are deep red, so dark they look black. He watches as your body twitch in pain, as he focuses on calming the storm of human emotions, your emotions, running through him, as he tries to forget the compromising memory of his old friend. He bites down on his bottom lip until he draws blood, his blood mixing with your own blood in his mouth, and he presses his lips on yours.
You realized how passionate Yoongi’s kisses were compared to Seokjin’s. The merman was distant, but his actions were full of feeling, whether they be good or bad. Seokjin was cold in body and mind, a hard shell, you felt like you were kissing a statue as you choked on his blood, the liquid metallic and sweet.
You can feel the punctures in your skin closing, it hurts so much worse than when he bit you, you distract yourself by licking into his mouth, feeling his tongue against yours.
Seokjin jumps off of you the second your wounds are healed and leaves without saying a word. You can hear the door lock in your daze.
You scoff, what was up with him, you wonder, dining and dashing like that. The blood loss has you quickly falling asleep despite wanting to use the time alone to plan your escape.
---
They both leave you alone all day until night again. You wake up hungry and weak. When Seokjin wordlessly stalks towards you that night you tell him so.
“I still can’t trust you to play well with others.”
“I need food! I need to eat! I am not a goddamn vampire like you! I can’t survive off your blood!” You throw your pillow at him. Should you have done that? Probably not, but you’re too hungry to care.
Seokjin pauses, looks at the floor where the pillow lays at his feet after coming in contact with his chest. “I’ll bring you food later tonight, now lie down, I’m hungry too.”
Ugh.
---
There were so very little things now that intrigued Seokjin, and this connection had become a mystery he wanted to solve. The strength of his pull on you was so intense it had become almost addicting to feel for Seokjin.
A vampire's pull had always been one-sided, but this pull acted like a wave, crashing onto the shore of your consciousness, pulling back and forth, dragging his memories along the current too.
Promised food, you comply, lying down against your better judgement. You glare at him as he lies next to you, and he smooths your furrowed features with his fingers instead of matching your anger. It makes you feel self conscious, the way he watches you with searching eyes. “Well? What are you waiting for?”
“So demanding, do you want me to bite you that badly?”
Is he teasing you? “No. I don’t. At all!”
“Okay then.” he lies back down, his arms underneath his head.
You sit up to look down at him. “Is this a joke?”
“I’ll wait, I don’t mind. I can wait for days, the question is can you?”
If you tried to stab him now he would definitely be able to stop you. Too bad. “I think I can’t stand you.”
“You barely know me!”
“I’ve seen enough,” you scoff.
“I’ve lived a long time,” Seokjin says, serious again, “you don’t care to see more? Who I really am?”
“Who are you?”
“Let me bite you and find out,” he winks.
'Well, he seems to be in a better mood,' you think. You wonder why he is even bothering to ask you, you’re his prisoner, after all. “So this is not just about feeding anymore?”
“I’m a vampire, of course it is.”
You sigh, you’re hungry and tired from blood loss. “Okay, bite me, but choose some place else,” you rub the sensitive spot on your neck and shiver. “NOT THERE!”
Seokjin stops pushing your legs open. “But there is an artery in your leg-”
Your face goes hot, you shove your wrist in his face. “Here then!” He sighs and lies back down again, pulling you over his body easily. You sit awkwardly against his lap as you watch his fangs prick your inner wrist. The blood loss this time wasn’t so bad, but it still made your weak body sway, your free hand bracing yourself against his chest.
He does the same thing to you again, pulls memories of your life. You saw memories from before the boat wreck to your childhood, and you saw glimpses of Seokjin’s life as well. You learned at one point in his very long life he stopped being a complete monster and became a part time bartender.
For decades he moved from taverns, to pubs, to bars. The perfect career, and as his beautiful looks were admired everywhere he went, he was never short of meal options. You woke in the morning and you laid on clean sheets, there was water for you and bread and butter and jam, an apricot and an apple, food not found on an island. The portal.
Tonight. This night you will be ready for Seokjin. You quickly realized you weren’t just remembering with Seokjin, you were feeling, and he was feeling too. If you could distract him well enough with a memory, you think you’d be able to escape!
---
Tonight Jimin walks into your room instead.
“Where’s Seokjin?”
“You didn’t miss me?” He holds a pear in his hand, throwing it up in the air and catching it easily. “He is busy, the others were feeling neglected by him-”
“There are others? Other humans?!”
Jimin smirks at your wide eyes. “Yes, pet, did you think you were special?” You swallow, keeping your questions to yourself. So Seokjin really meant it when he talked about playing well with others. Who were they and how long have they been here? Could some of them be your friends? Maybe you weren’t the only survivor on your boat! More humans, more people to help you fight against Seokjin and Jimin, if you could just meet them and somehow convince them...
Jimin heard your accelerating heartbeat, could see the happiness dance across your features. “What ever you are thinking, I suggest against it. Actually, go ahead and try, I haven’t punished anyone in so long.”
“Are you going to bite me or not?”
“Oh, so now you’re eager for it, it’s always the same.”
“Still not allowed, huh? Must suck to be you. Ha! Get it?”
“Do you think you’re being cute? Jin said I can’t bite you, he didn’t say anything about not hurting you.” Jimin throws the pear in the air again, “What? No clever retort?”
“I don’t know about Seokjin,” you speak softly, “but you used to be human, why do you act like this?” You watch as Jimin drops the pear on the ground and steps on the fruit with his feet. You bite your lip. What a waste. You consider pulling out your dagger just for that.
“Being human?” Jimin runs a hand through his hair, “I don’t remember anything about that. I can’t imagine being so weak and foolish.”
“You really don’t remember?” You look at the pear, squished into a pulp. “Can you do what Seokjin does, with the memories?”
“What makes you think I want to learn about your pathetic life?”
“No,” You idiot. You sigh. “But maybe you want to learn about your pathetic life?”
You scream, Jimin’s nails were digging into your skull, a handful of your hair in his fists. “Call me pathetic again,” he threatens lowly.
“Pathetic,” you say bearing your teeth. Jimin smiles, because in that moment you reminded him of someone. He’s going to enjoy breaking the bones of your body and watching your limbs reassemble again. He grabs your forearm, pulling your arm closer to your face. You wince as his grip tightens, struggling against his tight hold on your hair. “Call me pathetic again,” he sings, his eyes sparkling with delight.
You weigh your options in that moment.
“Seokjin!” you scream.
Jimin laughs, tightening his grip even more so you are sure to have bruises, “Do you think he really cares about what happens to you?”
“Jimin was a regular at your bar! Wasn’t he?!” You had seen the younger vampire, only briefly, you barely recognized him with dark hair, but you knew it was Jimin the way you felt your own heart soar when Seokjin glanced at him for the first time.
You screamed louder than you’ve ever heard yourself, making the vampire wince at your volume, because in that moment Jimin snapped the bone in your forearm. “Even if you don’t remember,” you cry, mumbling out the words through your pain, “you were human. Just. Like. Me.”
Jimin grabs your upper arm this time, and squirm in his hold. You start to cry harder despite trying to hold the tears in. The door to your room slams open. Seokjin looks furious when he steps towards the both of you.
“Jimin leave!"
“What?” The white haired vampire loosens his grip, but stands his ground. Seokjin doesn’t speak again, only gives him a look, and Jimin relents, breaking his stare with several blinks and releasing you. The younger vampire can’t hide his emotions as well as Seokjin and you see the hurt twist his beautiful features.
You sit on the ground grimacing in pain, holding your broken arm to your chest. Outside your room you hear the familiar crash of glass and scrape of wood and you suspect Jimin is not taking Seokjin’s orders well. Seokjin looks much more unhinged than you ever recall seeing him and then impassiveness washes over his face again, much to your disappointment.
“He is usually not like this. He can go months without drinking blood, it seems my ban has just made him all the more obsessed with you,” he sighs.
“Greeat,” you wince, “Lift the ban then, might as well.” If you were being honest with yourself, you were curious what would happen if Jimin bit you. Maybe then he wouldn’t despise you so much.
“The ban is not to protect you, naive little dove.” He sits down on the floor next to you. You find the sight comical, Seokjin in an expensive suit sitting on the dusty floor.
You roll your eyes. Of course. “You care a lot about him,” you whisper softly. He nods. You turn to him, “Do you remember why you started caring? Do you think who he is now still acts in the same way that made you care so much for him?”
“You think I’m a fool?” he laughs softly, “I know Jimin’s...lost his way...” You sit in silence as you struggle to take your mind off the pain in your arm. “For us, time, is infinite. This is only a small stretch of time compared to what I’ve been through. Jimin will come back around, I know it.”
“Well I think he’s a lost cause,” you mumble.
“He’s not, no one is...This is going to hurt a lot, if you don’t mind, I can make it quick.” His hand traces your jaw and turns your head to face him, eyes glancing towards your lips.
“Am I going to have to get used to this, you fixing the pain he causes-”
“Am I going to have to get used to you both provoking each other all the time?”
You bite your lip, he started it, it’s not your fault he freaks out over every little thing you say. You change the subject. “Are there really other prisoners here? Other humans like me?”
Seokjin tuts disapprovingly, “House guests, y/n! They can stop being in service to us whenever they want, we provide them all with a choice.”
“Oh, and what are the options, be your personal feeding supply or die?”
“Ahh see, you catch on quickly, and Jimin calls you stupid.”
Your eyes narrow on him, “Not much of a choice there.”
Seokjin leans into you, “it comforts them, when they think they have some control. You know, you would all be at the bottom of the ocean if it weren’t for us.”
You pull your legs closer to your body, it’s hard to look at him, much less listen to the disturbing things he says, “Why are you telling me this? Am I supposed to be grateful?” You shuffle your body, trying to get comfortable despite the throbbing pain of your broken arm.
“Perhaps,” he scrutinizes your body, “At least don’t provoke Jimin. Ready?”
You hum, “Yeah, I’m ready for my medicine, Doctor.”
He looks down, nodding. “No anesthesia for this surgery I’m afraid.”
He motions you closer, bites into his wrist and fills his mouth with his own blood. You’re careful not to jostle your arm too much as you move in front of him. His long fingers hold your head still as he presses his mouth onto yours, feeding you his blood. Even when you scream in pain he holds you to him as your bone readjusts itself and heals back together, your body in excruciating agony. He holds you tightly, his mouth swallowing your screams until the process is complete, until you pass out in his arms.
---
You wake up to clanging silver. The light feels warm on your face, and then you feel nothing as the curtains are drawn. You open your eyes, ready to protest.
“Oh my god!”
The woman before you jumps at your words. “Your breakfast,” she motions to the tray.
“You're real, oh my god, it’s true! Help me! Please, we can escape together!” The woman stumbles away from you as you desperately try to hold on to her.
“What?” Why is she looking at you like that? Why is she acting like that?! She pushes you away as she opens the door. You’re too stunned, too hurt by this stranger who you thought could help you to question her when she says, “There is no escape.” She closes the door, locking you inside. What just happened?!
Now that you’re alone again you search the room from top to bottom, desperate now that you’ve realized you’re up against so much more. All the drawers are empty, not even a pen and paper in the desk. The window opens but that doesn’t help you because you’re several floors up. The bathroom has running water and the prettiest bathtub you’ve ever seen, so you give up and spend the day soaking yourself, in your clothes. The dress floating and surrounding you reminded you of a certain man, well, merman. No one visits you that night.
The day repeats itself six times. You try different approaches to try and convince the older woman to help you and every time she refuses or ignores you completely.
You don’t get it, you don’t understand, and her behavior disturbs you. You had asked her, “Don’t you want to see your friends and family again?! Do you have children? Or a spouse?” Her answer was, “I don’t think so.”
‘I don’t think so.’ She couldn’t tell you how long she’d been here either. The implication scared you.
You sit at the door, your ear to the wood all day. Sometimes you’ll hear footsteps, you know it’s not Jimin or Seokjin, because they don’t make any noise when they walk. Sometimes you yell and bang on the door waiting for a response that never comes.
One day you yanked down the drapery, opened the window completely letting all the sunshine in, and soaked it in like a cat. Before you woke up the next morning everything had been set back the way it was. It was maddening.
So one day you flooded the bathroom, just to see if anyone would come to stop you. They didn’t and the next morning the tub was gone. You cried all night.
For six nights you’re alone. The fifth night you dig into your dress pockets to find the tiny shell Yoongi gifted you. You tap it three times and wait, holding it to your ear.
“Y/n?” His groggy voice fills the sea noise. You can’t bring yourself to speak, or you would really break down. Hearing his voice was enough.
---
Before the sun sets on the seventh night there is a knock on your door. You’re already so close to the entrance you can hear the soft click as it unlocks and you swing the door open to see Jimin.
He smiled down at you, a picture of sin. The young vampire wore casual loose-fitting clothes, shirt hanging over his shoulders. He dresses so relaxed, so opposite to Seokjin, who wore his shirts buttoned up to the collar. All you wanted to do all day was talk to someone, be heard, but with Jimin here you feel like an animal cornered in a trap, and you want to hide.
He gives you a cocky smile and drapes his arm over your shoulders, dragging you back into the room. “Look at you! Perfectly fine, Seokjin always overreacts,” he whines, “I’m tired of waiting. I can trust you not to tell on me, right pet?”
The vampire presses himself against your back and wraps his arms around your waist, locking you to him, chin digging into your shoulder. You stand frozen against him, Jimin is excellent at making sure you feel like you’re trapped and powerless when you’re around him.
His nuzzles your neck, lovingly like a lover would, inhaling your scent. You craved human contact, but this man isn’t exactly human now, is he? Your stomach turns as the familiar feeling of fear bubbles inside you.
“And if I don’t?” you whisper, and his grip tightens around you.
“You tell me, what do you think will happen, if you don’t?” he mumbles against your neck, teeth grazing your skin and he moans softly. He wrapped himself around your body, caressing your curves, it confused you at how affectionate he was being, or was he just a snake constricting his prey?
Your stomach tightens, you were stronger than this, right? A week in time out didn’t work on you, right? You couldn’t stop the sounds escaping your lips every time Jimin shifted against you. You blame Seokjin’s fondness for him that must have rubbed off on you. You try to step away but Jimin pulls you in closer.
“I thought I was a disgusting human, are you the one who missed me, Jimin?” You ask him softly.
“There are things about you that are only barely revolting, I guess.” He can feel the shift in your mood as annoyance bristles through your body, it makes him smile. You are so defiant for being so scared, it makes him want to break you even more.
You’re scared, but deep down there was a part of you too curious for your own good, that just wanted Jimin to bite you, just to see why and what Seokjin was protecting him from. It would only be to your advantage, if that was the case, right? You stretch your neck to the side slightly to see what Jimin’s reaction would be. His fingers dig into your hips. “What’s this?” Oh no.
Jimin pulls the shell hidden inside your pocket. You grab at his hands, but he’s too fast, dancing around you as he pushes you away, pushing you to the ground.
Somehow you always end up here on the floor, at Jimin’s feet, probably exactly where the vampire thinks you should be. You’ve never seen him more excited, it twists your insides.
Jimin’s cold fingers inspect the tiny shell, tutting. He mouths the words, ‘bad girl’ silently. Tapping the tiny shell, he brings the shell to his lips.
“Yoongi, I know you’re there. Do you want to hear y/n?” He crouches next to you, lifts your chin so your eyes meet his, smiling as if you were playing along on an inside joke. “Do you want to hear her cries? Do you want to hear her moans?” his sinful voice sings tauntingly.
The younger vampire promised Jin he wouldn’t touch you, but Seokjin has so many rules, and this just proved you couldn’t be trusted, that you needed to be taught a lesson. Seokjin will forgive him, Jimin thinks, he always does.
“C’mon, Yoongi wants to hear you, y/n! I bet he misses you. Let him hear your pretty voice.” You just glare at him, staying silent. Jimin didn’t seem angered by your defiance, in fact, he seemed happy.
He pulls your hair, moving your face closer to the shell, his nails dig into your scalp, and you feel them pierce your skin. The pain causes you to let out a strangled cry. “That’s it!” You hold back tears as you glare at him, Seokjin is wrong, Jimin can’t be saved.
“I’m not afraid of you anymore,” you grit out, scratching at his hand.
“Oh, no?” He releases your hair. You jump up but Jimin pulls you down to the ground again. Even as you kick and hit him, it’s obvious it’s not hurting the vampire. He easily pins you down, caging you in with his thighs, his knees pinning your arms to your sides. His fingers wrap around your neck, holding you tight as you grunt against him. You’ve become a mouse, trapped by a snake.
“Afraid yet?” You know he won’t kill you, it seems like torturing you is just too much fun for him. Jimin may be stronger than you, faster than you, but he’s as caged as you are, stuck on this island, leashed by Seokjin’s rules, acting out like a child.
“No.” He lets go and you heave in air, coughing. “Seokjin will find out, even if I don’t say anything. He said-”
“Jin,” he bares his fangs, “says a lot of things.” He brings the shell to his mouth again, “What bone should I break first?”
Jimin laughs, and you wonder what the merman said to him.
Jimin grabs your jaw, tilting your head to the side, reveling in your struggle. He places the tiny shell next to your ear. You try to silence your heavy breathing. “Yoong-g-gi?” You hear the ocean, the rumbling of the sea, and you hear-
“Y/n!” Yoongi’s voice rumbles through the tiny shell, he calls out to you, words rushed and worried, full of concern that has your heart dropping, “Jimin has a weakness, It’s T-” Jimin crushes the tiny shell between his fingers.
Jimin pouts, “I thought he would have used the opportunity to confess, now he’ll never get the chance.”
He moves away from you, “Well, aren’t you going to make a run for it? I didn’t lock the door.” He lifts his eyebrows up, nodding towards the door.
You lie on the cold hard ground stunned. Yoongi's gone. You think of a scenario where you rush towards the door, only to be stopped by Jimin as he tackles you again. No, you won’t do that. Jimin takes and takes, you're going to make it your mission to take from him. You stand up on shaky legs and walk towards Jimin.
“Actually, I rather you just bite me instead.” You’re not confident that he’d really go against Seokjin, so might as well egg him on. “Unless you’re scared of Seokjin?”
Jimin scoffs, jaw clenching in annoyance and eyes narrowing. “Any other cute little means of communication you tried to sneak in here, hmm?” He yanks you close to him again, his hands pull at your dress, wandering over your thighs, skirting dangerously close to your center. He smirks down at you as you pretend to act unaffected by the way his hands glide over your ass, kneading the flesh. His hands run up your corset, getting closer and closer to your dagger.
You run your hand over the front of his pants. It was the only thing you could think to do to distract the vampire before he found your dagger and really killed you. It worked. Jimin stops you, digs his nails into your wrist, but he doesn’t pull your hand away.
So without many other options, you send your quarrel with the vampire off into a whole other direction as you grab for the bulge in his pants. You feel the weight of him in your palm, your mouth drops a little at his size. Jimin’s jaw tightens as you rub up and down his bulge.
You’re stuck in a staring match with the vampire. Two stubborn beings, challenging each other to see who breaks first.
Surprising you, he spins you around and starts undoing the straps of your corset.
No, no, that’s the opposite of what you wanted! “What are you doing?” You try to wiggle your body to face him again, “Just fuck me already!”
Jimin cages you against his lean frame, crushing your body to the closest wall with his own. He inhales into your neck. He can sense the torrent of your spiraling emotions, he feels your hatred for him radiating off your body stronger than ever as he slows his advances down.
“You are acting more stupid than usual, pet.”
“You wanted to play,” you say, “Well, let’s play then.”
He’s never played this kind of game before, and you’ve enticed him, he has no problem calling your bluff. His hand runs along your cleavage, kneading the flesh.
Jimin pulls your dress up slowly, his cold hand running up your leg. You rest your forehead on the wall, shuddering when he drags his fingers across your center. “Your hands are cold.”
He pushes two fingers inside you, deep, you were barely ready for the stretch, crying out from the sudden intrusion and cold sensation. Jimin groans as you whimper against him, “Forget what I am already?” He licks your neck, fingers pumping in and out at a dizzying pace.
“How could I ever forget?” you whisper.
“I regret destroying that shell, I would have liked to let Yoongi listen to what a whore you are.”
Your body tenses and Jimin leans his body harder into yours, pressing another finger inside. “What would the dogs think, knowing their bitch is so wet for their enemy, hmm?” Making you angry is too easy, he thinks, and makes you smell so much better, sexier. Jimin is used to fear, he’s grown accustomed to desire, but your rage makes him ravenous. If Jimin wasn’t so consumed by his carnal desires, he might question himself as to why he wants someone to hate him so much, but all he can think about is how he’s going to drive you to madness with just his fingers. He resists the urge to bite you by sucking harshly on your neck, pulling the blood closer to your skin and leaving dark marks behind.
Before you have a chance at release he pulls his fingers out of you, leaving you empty and holding up the evidence of your arousal, the clear substance clinging to his fingers as he licks them clean, moaning in your face. The sight is depraved, and you can’t look away. He smiles smugly at you as he smells your lust surround him.
“I knew you wouldn’t bite me.”
“We will get to that, we’re playing a game remember? Or do you want to stop now?”
“All this talk and I still haven’t been bitten or fucked, are vampires impotent or something or is it just you?”
Jimin laughs, yanking your body to face the wall again and pinning you to him. “I’ll make you forget everything but my dick while I’m fucking you, you won’t have a single other thought in that pretty little head of yours other than giving me all your pleasure.”
“Oh yeah? Well, I’m waiting.”
Jimin laughs again, pressing three thick fingers deep inside you again, you legs go weak as he holds you up with the force of his body against yours. He drags his fingers out and higher until he’s circling your other opening. His digits press into both of your holes, filling you up completely as you cry out. You haven’t had someone give attention to that part of you in so long, you tense at the unexpected stretch. His thumb works against your clit expertly as he rocks his hand against yours. You feel so full and overwhelmed by Jimin. “So close already? Beg me to make you come, pet.”
“I’m not your pet.”
You take his torture silently, hold in your moans as he brings you to the brink of release and stops short of satisfaction over and over again. He thrusts his fingers in and out of your holes, until the tight stretch goes away, his fingers easily gliding in and out of your wetness, until the ache is replaced with a need for more. Your entire core pulsates as he slowly and torturously circles your swollen bud, changing the pressure just enough to drive you crazy by ghosting over your clit when you needed more and rubbing even harsher circles when it all becomes too much, his touch making you feverish and sick with desire. When you clench around his fingers, closer than you’ve gotten to release since he started this torture, he pulls out of you completely, pressing his hard cock, straining against the cloth of his pants, into your sore center.
“You smell so good,” he moans. You don’t want to think about Jungkook, you don’t want to taint his memory, but Jimin’s words are so similar. Jungkook is nothing like Jimin, but they are more similar to each other than to a human like you. Perhaps you are just as weak and pathetic as Jimin says, a human can be no match for a vampire, and you’ll never be able to win against him.
“Please Jimin...just let me cum...”
“Beg me.” His usual airy voice drips with arousal, and he presses his bulge harder into your wetness.
You don’t do as he says, you can’t, so he continues his torturous little game, until you’re moaning loudly, head thrown back against his shoulder, whimpering every time he stills. He pulls his fingers out of your dripping core, focusing his attention on your ass, thumb rubbing harsh circles into your throbbing clit, you feel so empty and painfully full as your sensitive walls clench around nothing and his fingers stretch your rim open for him. Your entire body vibrates, but you’d rather stay unsatisfied than say please to Jimin ever again.
Finally, as the sun sets and the last bit of light around the curtains disappears, Jimin realizes he can play his game no longer and pulls away from you completely. Your legs give out as you slide down the wall, mind finally free from the haze of lust Jimin kept you in.
“So weak,” Jimin tuts.
“...impotent...dick...”
“Pathetic slut.”
“I thought about Seokjin the entire time,” you whisper.
“...liar.”
---
You must have fallen asleep, you feel a hand cupping your cheek, and you open your eyes to Seokjin, blonde hair, red eyes, suit buttoned to the collar. You let out a small laugh, and then groan once the pain in your joints wakes you fully.
Jin carries you back to your bed. You tug on his sleeve.
“Please take the pain away,” you ask softly.
Seokin’s eyes search the expanse of your skin, “There are no cuts on your body.”
Groaning, you sit up and kiss the vampire who freezes against you. So you take the opportunity to straddle Seokjin’s lap, and start unbuttoning his shirt, kissing, licking, biting his smooth skin. Jimin’s harsh words replay in your mind and sting you. Screw him, let him think whatever he wants, let him hear you. This had been a part of your plan anyways, first Seokjin, and then you’ll worry about him, might as well have some relief too.
“What happened?” Seokjin asks as you rut into his body, tearing his shirt open. He doesn’t look upset that you popped the buttons, does he ever get upset anymore? You hastily unbuckle his belt. His hands cover yours, repeating his question, “What happened, y/n?”
You grab his hand and move it under your dress. Seokjin stills as his fingers come into contact with your thigh, slick with your wetness from hours of Jimin's teasing. His hands travel up your shaking leg.
“You’re so wet,” he groans, “...Did Ji-”
You silence him with a kiss. “Fuck me, I feel like I’m dying.”
Seokjin laughs against your lips, “Humans are so dramatic,” but he’s already pulling you closer, turning you around to lie on the bed. He bends down to your core, pushing your dress over your waist, you spread your legs wide open for him.
He licks your arousal from your inner thigh, fingers massaging your aching center.
“Ugh fuck, stop teasing me,” you whine. Seokjin fills you with two long fingers, pushing inside you to the knuckle. His teeth bite down on your inner thigh, it stings but your lust somehow lessens the pain. Your body tenses, you clench around his fingers and he speeds up, pulling more blood from your veins.
You flinch when you see Jimin again, reliving the memory from Seokjin’s mind. He’s half naked, kissing a beautiful woman who is fully naked, right in front of Seokjin.
Jimin looks so different, dark hair, flushed skin, tenderness in his eyes.
The girl lowers her body between the men, and fills her mouth with Seokjin’s hardening length. You feel yourself become wetter. Seokjin moans against your feverish skin, biting you for a second time, higher up your leg. It stings again, but you’re too busy trying to get off on his fingers to care about anything but release. Seokjin bites the mound of flesh close to your center, his tongue pressing against your hood, your vision goes white and then-
You see Yoongi’s sharp eyes above you, his naked body on top of yours, cold and wet, hard cave rocks against your bare back. You see Namjoon, a younger version of him, long hair pulled back into a low bun, across the room in bed with another woman. The room is small and empty. Two beds, two couples, Seokjin watching his friend fuck the random girl senseless.
You feel jealousy, watching Namjoon through Seokjin’s eyes. He looks so different, so feral and savage. The bed creaks loudly underneath him as he grips the headboard, and thrusts into her wildly. Jin pumps his fingers inside you in time with Namjoon's thrusts, it makes you feel like you’re going to burst into a thousand pieces. Namjoon’s eyes glow yellow as he gives Seokjin a wicked grin and you’re scared for the first time of Namjoon as he growls, releasing into the woman.
“Don’t make a mess,” he drops the spent girl on Seokjin’s lap, who caresses her face. She’s breathtaking, you feel inadequacy course through you, you feel jealousy, you feel turned on when her full lips envelop Seokjin's thumb. Namjoon pulls the sleeping naked girl from Seokjin’s bed, tapping her check to rouse her awake.
Seokjin’s arousal is overwhelming you. He slams into the woman’s body from behind, chasing his high while holding her face down into the bed, and then his fangs pierce her back as her screams are muffled. You don’t want to come to this, to the feeling of her blood filling his mouth, arousing him and arousing you. Namjoon’s grunts and sounds of sex fills your mind again and you come undone in a silent scream around Seokjin’s fingers.
---
Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit.
You run around the room, darting around Seokjin who watches you rather calmly for the unfolding situation. The rest of his body frozen, the blessed dagger lodged in between his vertebrae, stopping his regeneration.
Once you came, thighs snug around his head, you pulled the dagger from your corset and stabbed him in the back. You kicked him away from you before he could attack and he fell backward, the dagger piercing deep into his back, and that’s where he was currently, frozen on the floor, watching you as you run around the room in disbelief that you actually managed to stab a vampire.
You trip over him by accident and he lets out a soft grunt. “Fuck! Are you okay?” you sit next to his frozen body, “Like, relative to being stabbed, I mean? Don’t answer that...because you can’t. Oh fuck.” You put your head down, resting it on his chest, you don’t hear anything but your laboured breathing. ‘Believe in yourself, y/n! Yoongi believed in you…’
You gather yourself up once again and you move to the window, jiggling the handle. It’s still unlocked! You’re too high up to escape but...
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” you whisper, “I really am sorry,” you grunt as you heave the immobilized vampire to the window, inch by inch, Seokjin’s body like a sack of bricks. You place him against the wall and crouch down so you can look him in the eyes, patting down his messy hair, tousled in your struggle to move him, “I’m sorry,” you repeat again, “but you’re a vampire right?” You say encouragingly, and you give him a couple of pats on the cheek, his eyes dart down to watch the action, “Technically, you can’t die.”
With every ounce of strength you have left inside you, you shove Seokjin out the window.
---
You quietly lock the door to what had been your room and prison cell behind you, quickly walking through the halls. You’re not sure what you expected, maybe a gothic interior fit for Dracula, burning candlesticks and red velvet drapes, but you got electricity and mid century modern eclectic, the walls were colorful with art pieces, deep emeralds and golds and blood red. You open the first door you come across.
A young woman sits on a large bed reading a book, looking up at you. Is that how you looked to them? A more disheveled and unpleasant version of her? She looked happy, until she noticed you, and then her smile fell, disappointed you weren’t Jimin or Jin. You slam the door shut and lock it again.
You race as quietly as you can through the halls, you have no idea what you’re looking for, quickly peeking into each room you come across. Strangers, stop what they are doing to look at you, waiting like obedient lap dogs. You have yet to find an empty room. Four doors you’ve opened on this floor, no empty rooms, and you begin to feel hopeless.
You open the fifth and final door and you’re assaulted with the loud sound of moaning. The moaning comes from a woman specifically, her cries almost as loud as the slapping of her skin against Jimin’s naked body. Jimin had needed an outlet after his time with you, specifically, someone to use and bite that wasn't 'off limits.'
You stand frozen in shock, it feels like all the air has escaped the room, filling the woman’s lungs instead as she screams in ecstasy. He is standing next to the bed, fucking into her at an inhuman speed, holding her hips in the air as she struggles to hold the rest of her torso horizontal. You can’t look away, because her body, her stomach, her large bouncing tits, it’s all covered in blood. You almost scream, almost, but the small huff of air you let out instead is enough. The bed stops creaking as Jimin’s movement stops and you meet his surprised eyes.
You shut the door, lock it and run.
You run down the stairs, you see the entrance and you almost run out the door, but you instead run down the hall, flinging every door you see, praying you find something. There's a kitchen, a dining room with the longest table you’ve ever seen, and an empty room! It looks like an office! You run inside. You run to the desk, looking over the papers. Weird markings litter the pages, it reminds you of the markings on Yoongi’s bag. You have to be getting closer to your objective, you have to be! You scatter the papers around, yank open the drawers, hoping to find something useful. There’s a bookcase behind the desk, and you start pulling down books, nothing is catching your eye. You pull on the bookcase, you run your hand across the wood frantically, searching for perhaps a trap door-
“What are you looking for? I can try to help.”
You jump, almost screaming. You hold your heart, it hadn’t stopped, to your surprise. You had no idea someone else was in the room with you. You stare back at a calm man with messy brown hair, he looks at you timidly. “Sorry, I didn’t want to scare you. I just wanted to help, and it took me a while to organize those books,” he laughs softly. The man shuffles back to the wall, you hear metal clanging and look at his feet, they have chains around them, his hands too.
You look down at your feet, papers and books are all around you “I-I’m sorry. I was just-I didn’t know-” You had no idea how much more time you had to spare so you cut to the chase. “Is there a portal here?!”
The man’s eyes go wide, “Not here,” he speaks softly, “One level lower.” He gave you the answer you were looking for without any hesitation, was this a trick? You look at him more closely, his clothes are loose, like pajamas, and he’s barefoot, he looks at you happily, like you didn’t just storm into his room and destroy his things. The innocent expression on his face reminds you of Jungkook.
You remember why he looks so familiar, “You were sitting next to Yoongi!”
The man tilts his head confused, and then he stares at the door, “you need to leave now,” he rushes towards you, “Go down the stairs to the right.” He finds a pen on his desk. “The portal is in the basement, in Seokjin’s office. You’ll need this to open the door, it will only work once.” He grabs your hand and writes a long looping character on your palm, it burns gold and then disappears, while you stand still in shock.
Before you can question him the door bursts open. Jimin stands in the doorway, looking at you and the other man. His anger is replaced by an expression you don’t quite understand. Heavy silence envelops the room. The awkward tension is cut when Jimin speaks to you calmly saying, “Come here. Now.”
The man steps between you and Jimin. “Stay here, he can’t come inside, just like I can’t leave.” The man leans against the desk, his long legs blocking you from leaving, his chains clanging again.
“Y/n, come here now.” That was the first time Jimin said your name. You look between the men.
“Why would I go to you? You’re going to kill me!”
Jimin runs a hand through his hair, rolling his eyes to the side, “I promise you I won’t kill you if you come here right now.” He says the words as sweetly as he can in his growing irritation, trying to coax you to him, but to you he sounds patronizing and angry.
“Jimin’s lying,” the man next to you whispers, confirming your suspicions.
“Tae, just bring her to me!” the vampire screams.
“No, I don’t want to, you’re going to hurt her.”
‘Tae, he said. Is this Taehyung?’ The same man you saw next to Yoongi, the same man Namjoon warned you about, the man who is protecting you and gave you a way out of this hell of a place?
“Can’t you just do the right thing for once?!”
“You haven’t come to visit me in how long, Jimin?”
They yell at each other like an old married couple. You stare down at your hand, it looks perfectly ordinary, you think you might have just imagined it all, what Taehyung did, but you realized on this island nothing was impossible.
“A-are you a wizard?” you interrupt the men’s arguing.
Taehyung turns back to you surprised and gives you a bright smile, “No, I just learned from one. He didn't call himself a wizard, though” he laughs, “I think the correct term is warlock?”
“Oh, okay, good to know,” you mumble. Jimin quietly seethes at the doorway.
“Why do you have chains on if you can’t leave this room?”
“Yeah, why do I have chains on, Jimin?” He turns to the vampire accusingly.
“Just wait until Seokjin comes,” Jimin mutters, and he pulls the dagger you used on Seokjin out of his back pocket, holding the handle with a handkerchief. “Nice trick, by the way, y/n. Seokjin is still healing himself from the fall. You’re going to regret not coming to me when I asked.” He glares at you.
“So that’s what fell!” Taehyung roars with laughter.
“I said I was sorry,” you mutter, biting your lip. How the hell are you going to get out of this situation now? As if you summoned the Devil himself, Seokjin appears next to Jimin.
You hide behind Tahyung out of instinct, grabbing onto his chained arm. Taehyung holds in his joy while the two vampires' expressions darken.
“Don’t fucking touch him!” Jimin seethes.
You let anger get the best of you and wrap your arms around Taehyung’s waist instead, glaring from behind his shoulder.
“Y/n-” “Don’t,” Taehyung interjects. “-get away from him,” Seokjin warns.
“Why?! How do I know you both aren’t going to murder me as soon as I leave this room?”
“Is there not a spell we can use to get her out?!” Jimin turns to Seokjin ignoring you. You grind your teeth. Two can play that game.
“Why are you locked in here? How do you know Yoongi and Namjoon?”
“Yoongi? We all met him when we came to the island.” Jimin screams Taehyung’s name to silence him, but he ignores him easily. “You should have seen Seokjin and Jimin, he got them all wet and they vowed to make sushi out of him!” he laughs, turning his body around in your arms to face you instead of the pair.
You look over to the two vampires who have gone quiet. “And Namjoon?”
“Taehyung..” Seokjin warns.
“What? I’m not even allowed to talk about it now?” Taehyung whines.
“Enough! Y/n come here...please.” You hadn’t expected a request from Seokjin. “I swear, I won’t punish you for what you’ve done, just come here.” he holds out his hand for you, you can see the magic swirl around his fingers, burning his skin. He winces, but doesn’t move his hand away, even when his tips begin to turn black with char.
“What about Jimin?”
“Yes, fine, I won’t punish you, just hurry the fuck up,” the younger vampire looks anxiously at Seokjin’s hand.
“Y/n, please no! I’ve been here by myself for so long, I can’t stand it! You’re the first person who’s visited me. I don’t want to be alone,” Taehyung whimpers, a high pitched whine as you hesitantly make your way to Seokjin. He reminds you so much of Jungkook. He paces around you, begging you to stay.
“I-I don’t want to be locked in that room anymore.”
“Okay! Just come here!” Jimin yells.
“How can I trust you? How do I know you won’t go back on your word?!”
“They will, y/n, please! Look, Jimin promised he would visit me, he lied!”
Seokjin pulls his hand away, completely burned black and puts out his other arm instead. “You’re just going to have to trust us, like we will have to trust you not to pull any more stunts. We’ll trust each other, okay?” Seokjin pleads with you.
“I-I’ll come back to visit you,” you say to Taehyung. “Right?” You turn to Seokjin who relents and gives you a hasty nod.
“No!” Taehyung whimpers, “They are going to lock you away! Please believe me! You’ll never be able to escape.”
You reach for Seokjin’s hand, but Taehyung jumps in between you, holding out his chained hands. “Look at them! Look closely, what are these made out of, y/n? LOOK!” You study the metal, it looks shiny and silver. It’s silver.
Seokjin lurches forward quickly, his suit catches fire, his warm hand grasps onto yours and pulls you out of the room and away from Taehyung and everything goes black.
---
You wake up in a different room. You’re not alone. Another woman sits on the bed next to you, she jumps when you wake up. It makes you jump, ‘fuck why is everyone so jumpy here?’ you think holding your head in your hands to calm your nerves.
You try to scoot away, and you feel a tug on your ankle, so you pull the covers off of you. You’re in a new dress, all white, like the sheets, like the woman’s dress next to you. You see a chain connected to your foot that reminds you of Taehyung’s shackles but darker metal. No. “My clothes!”
“They made me, I-I’m sorry, I had to give them your clothes. The necklace wouldn’t come off, I-I didn’t tell them,” the woman pulls at her sleeve. “I kept your secret, but I can’t promise you they won’t find out, Master might look into my memories.” Your hand traces the gold watch chain around your neck, calming down.
“Okay...thank you.” You whisper uneasily. “H-How long have you been here?”
The woman thinks, humming to herself. “I lost count, Master did give me this on our Fifth Year Anniversary!” She shows off the blood red jewelry dangling from her ears.
Ugh. “That’s nice,” you say and get out of bed. The dress is tight around you, covering your arms and flowing down to your ankles, the one place the fabric doesn’t touch is your neck, the hemline sits off your shoulders and plunges into a deep V. You scoot your way to the door until you can’t take it anymore and reach for the bottom of your dress, pulling the fabric until it tears.
You hear the woman let out a soft, “oh no.”
The chain stops you from reaching the door, even if you stretch out your legs you can’t grab the handle. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
You wheel your body back around, “Hey, what’s your name?”
The woman thinks, humming to herself. “I don’t remember.”
“Listen, I’m going to need you to-WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T REMEMBER?!”
The woman flinches from your volume. “Well Master calls me his little doll and I like that name a lot, and I just, well, forgot my other name.”
You take a deep breath as you try not to be sick. “Well Dolly, your MASTER IS A HUGE FUCKING ASSHOLE. YOU FUCKING LIARS!”
---
The group in the parlor turn their heads to the small voice echoing through the halls, Jimin winces, hearing your words clearly, moving one of the women off his lap. “She’s awake.”
“I’ll go-”
“It seems you failed at controlling her, brother. Why can’t I just try?”
Seokjin scoffs, “You can barely control yourself.”
Jimin’s jaw clenches. “I’ll-” he coughs, “-use restraint. I won’t hurt her.”
---
“Monsters!”
“Oh no, they’re going to be so mad.”
“Taehyung was right! I swear to God-”
“So so mad, oh no, oh no no no.”
“I won’t let you get away with this! Liars! Bastards!”
“Master!”
The door opens and Jimin stands against the door frame, ignoring your irateness and addressing your new roommate with a smile, “Hey Doll.”
Jimin standing in front of you had extinguished some of your rage and replaced it with apprehension, halting your tirade for now. “You fucking lied,” you glare at him.
“It’s not locked, I’m not forcing you to be here,” He looks over your shoulder, “Right Baby Doll?” The woman nods enthusiastically back. “The chain was a precaution, I’ll remove it, I promise. We just need to set some ground rules, okay pet?”
“I am not your fucking pet!”
He moves around you, like a buzzard circling it’s next meal, “You look so much better in this instead of that ugly sea dress.”
“Don’t I look pretty?” you hear the woman’s tiny voice ask Jimin.
“Of course!”
You rub your temples, “Jimin, just take this chain off me.”
“After everything you’ve done, and you’re still trying to make demands? Do you know how incredibly lucky you are? Can’t you just show a bit more gratitude like her?”
Jimin kisses the woman and she moans against him, deepening the kiss. You rub harder at your temples. You're chained, a captive audience to what ever the hell display is happening in front of you, becoming more uncomfortable and annoyed with each passing minute.
“Seriously?”
He drapes his arms around the woman’s shoulders and stares at you, “Jealous?”
You scoff. You think back to the version of him in Seokjin’s memories, with the other woman. You remember the tenderness in his eyes as he watched her and you swallow down the lump forming in your throat. You are not jealous! And anyways, Jimin’s tenderness is all gone now.
“She doesn’t even remember her name anymore.”
“She doesn’t seem to mind,” he winks at her, and the woman giggles at your exchange.
“Her entire life has been taken away! What happened, it’s worse than death.” You hug your arms close to your body. Was that going to become you if you stayed here?
“Worse than death?” Jimin echoes your words and you notice him stare at his reflection in the room’s mirror. You stand in silence, watching him as he runs a hand through his hair, pushing back the loose strands while the woman softly hums to herself a sweet melody. She doesn’t sense the looming danger all around you and it makes your chest tighten in anxiety.
“You’re right y/n. Come here.” He holds out his hand for her.
He pulls her into a kiss, she smiles against her lips. You awkwardly shift at the exchange. She seemed happy with Jimin, even if she couldn’t remember the person she was anymore. It makes you wonder if she had resisted in the beginning or had always been this irritatingly agreeable...or maybe she even loved him, maybe her love was the only thing left in her.
Jimin holds her face in his hands, dragging his lips across hers, a spectacle of two lovers. She’s beautiful like Jimin, they fit perfectly together, a rose and a thorn.
It happens so quickly you stand stunned, you don’t have time to scream or stop him. She’s on the ground, neck twisted, dead.
You’re so stunned you can’t even cry, you just shake, fallen to your knees, staring at her beautiful lifeless face. Her red earrings dangle from her ears catching the light.
“What have you done?” Your voice sounds tiny and high, like hers.
“I saved her from a fate worse than death, according to you. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
You can’t speak. He moves closer, putting a hand on your cheek, the same way he had held the woman’s head a few seconds ago. His cold finger wipes away your tears. When did you start crying?
“We aren’t liars. I’ll unchain you. So, will you behave now?”
---
You walk the halls during the sunlight. You stop by Taehyung’s door knocking four times, opening the door an inch. “I found this in the kitchen!”
“I’m...allergic.”
“Allergic to chocolate?! I-I’m sorry,” you mutter, though it doesn’t stop you from enjoying the bar yourself.
You lean forward into Taehyung’s room, he puts his chained arms over your head, and gives you a hug. He reminds you of Jungkook so much, sweet and gentle. But he’s not warm like him, he’s still a stranger to you, always dodging your questions. Namjoon’s words constantly play in your mind not to trust Taehyung. Even though out of everyone here, you trust him the most, you like him the most. Being able to spend time with him, even if your conversations are shallow and lighthearted, is the best part of your day.
“Y/n?”
“Hmm?”
“Why haven’t you escaped?” He whispers.
You play with the hem of your dress as a distraction, “I don’t know.”
He always asks you the same question and you always give him the same answer, but today Taehyung persists. “They won’t catch you if you go now! Isn’t that the whole reason you let yourself get caught?” Even though you hardly know anything about Taehyung, he knows so much about you already.
“I’m...I’m scared.”
He pats your head, you shake his hand away, lightly shoving him back. “I’m not a dog!”
Taehyung laughs, “Yeah, you’re a scaredy cat.”
“How dare you!” you hit his leg as he giggles.
“I want to show you something! It will help you when you finally escape!”
You cover his mouth with your hands, shushing him. Looking around to see if there were any others lurking around you, but no one ever comes around Taehyung. “What is it?”
“Well, um, you’ll have to come all the way inside.”
“...I can’t.” You move away from him again and lean your head against the door frame.
Taehyung sighs. “I knew you’d say that!” he whines. “Do you do everything Jimin says now?”
You roll your eyes, “Not even close,” you mutter. “And it’s not just Jimin...”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been told not to trust you...and you haven’t been very open with me, have you?” you look down at your hands, intertwined with his, you trace the gold markings along his chained wrists.
“It’s complicated,” he whispers.
“I can’t see how it could get more complicated than being a werewolf trapped in a house full of vampires.”
“It’s much more complicated,” he pulls on your arm, staring at you with pleading eyes. “Leave a shoe outside and they won’t notice you’ve come inside, I promise!”
You hum, searching for a compromise. “How about this,” you scoot over the entrance, sitting closer to Taehyung while making sure to keep your legs outside. “Technically, I am inside and also outside.”
“But the magic won’t work unless your body is fully inside here,” Taehyung pouts. “The spell on the room will clash with mine and who knows what will happen then!”
“How do you know so much about magic?”
“I can’t say…” Taehyung whispers.
Your expression turns sour, ‘What can you say...’ you think. “Well can’t you just like, Houdini yourself out of here?”
Taehyung shakes his head regretfully. “No, if only it were that simple. And please don’t ask me to explain,” he teases. Taehyung scoots behind you and pulls your body onto his lap. “Let’s stay like this for a while.”
“Okay,” you hum.
“Let go of each other!” You wake up on the floor with Taehyung cuddled to your side, one lone foot of yours still remains outside the door. Jimin pulls on your foot before you can untangle yourself from Taehyung, dragging the rest of your body into the hallway. Taehyung grunts, waking up as you’re pulled from his embrace.
You blink away the sleep from your eyes, face-to-face with Jimin, his head hovering over yours, eyes bright red with anger.
“Leave her alone, Jimin!”
“I-I am allowed to talk to him,” your words come out small and high when you finally speak and you hate it, the way your fear strangles your voice.
“On one condition, just one.” Jimin hisses.
“W-well, t-technically-”
"You're being so unfair!" Taehyung yells. "Do you like her that much?"
“Tae, enough!” He slams the door in Taehyung’s pleading face.
There is a bang on the door, only once, so loud and strong it shakes the entire connecting wall, the picture frames wobble and dust falls from the ceiling, the sound so abrupt and booming it makes you, and even Jimin, flinch.
---
“Jimin told me you were in a...compromising position, with Tae today.” You and him watch the stars from your bedroom window, now locked.
Your stomach tightens. “Taehyung is lonely, maybe if Jimin spent time with him I wouldn’t have to,” you mutter.
“Do you care about Taehyung?” Jin’s eyes study your features, his sharp hearing picks up your heartbeat, waiting to hear any lies in your answers.
“No, I just-He’s the only normal person here.”
“Person? Normal?” Jin quietly laughs.
“A werewolf is a person too.”
“Ahhh, so you think Tae is a werewolf.”
“He is, isn’t he?” You spin around to look at Jin but his poker face is as strong as ever as he smiles down at you.
“Is a vampire a person too?”
You chew on your bottom lip, “I guess so,” you side eye the man next to you, “Deep down. Somewhere.”
Jin kisses your lips softly, carrying you back to your bed and placing you beneath him. You’ve managed to latch onto Jin since that night, a lesser of two evils. The vampire truly was a forgiving man, and even if parts of you were weakened by fear, your mind had impressively blocked Seokjin’s pull since that night as well, so he had deemed you his personal pet project, his puzzle to solve, keeping Jimin an arm’s length away from you.
Jin was nice, sometimes. And sometimes, you enjoyed his company too.
You play with his soft blond locks. You know the pain is coming eventually, so you do everything you can to distract yourself, admiring the vampire’s beautiful features before you. He pulls the deep neckline of your dress easily down your body, exposing your chest to his piercing eyes. His eyes stop on the gold piece nestled in your cleavage, like always, he ignores it. He knows what it is, what he doesn’t know is why Namjoon gave it to you.
The cold air and Seokjin’s cold fingers kneading your breasts sends you into a bout of shivers, when he drags his tongue across your skin you arch your back and push your chest closer to his soft lips. He’s so gentle with you now. Sometimes, you wish he was rougher, like the Seokjin you witnessed with Namjoon.
“Won’t you let me in again, Dove?” Namjoon’s watch falls into the dip in your clavicle, replaced by Jin's fangs as he bites the flesh of your breasts, his fingers pull at your nipples distracting you from the pain. He doesn’t drain you unconscious anymore, instead Seokjin likes to covers your skin in lovebites, taking all night with you.
“I-I can’t control it.”
“Let’s practice control,” Seokin smirks, lips stained red, and he moves his hands down your body.
He takes time stretching you full with his fingers, his lips never leaving your chest, steadily building up the pressure inside you with each quick stroke of his thumb against your core until you’re tightening around his digits. “Don’t cum.”
You tense around him, unable to successfully hold in your moans. “I can’t. I’m going to-”
“Just try, Dove.” You would hope he’d stop moving his fingers, at least slow down, but he’s steady and relentless, his digits pushing inside you in the most perfect mind-numbing pace. There’s no way you could stop your impending orgasm, but you try to hold it off, just two more three four five agonizing seconds longer. Seokjin sucks on the sensitive skin of your breast, mouth pulling as much of the mound as he can fit inside while you pulse around his digits. You feel his teeth sink deep into your flesh and his name escapes your lips in a strangled moan.
His usual dull eyes look up at you shinning with desire. “Let’s try again.”
---
“I brought biscuits.” You hold up the sweet cookies in front of Taehyung’s confused face.
“Thank you, y/n.” Taehyung gives you a bright smile and hugs you extra tight when you peek your head into his room.
“Ready to escape?”
“I-I don’t know.”
Taehyung pouts. “You’re-I'm-” Taehyung struggles to say the right words, “We’re running out of time, y/n.”
“What do you mean?”
“I just need a couple minutes with you, please. I have everything ready!” Taehyung runs to his desk, pulling together a stack of papers. “You want to see everyone again, don’t you? You friends and family?” he pleads.
Your family, you’re ashamed to admit you haven’t thought about them. It wasn’t even purposeful, your mind just had stopped wandering to thoughts of them.
Yoongi, Namjoon, Jungkook, and Hoseok, you couldn’t bring yourself to think about them anymore either, it hurt too much. The small traces of their personalities that Taehyung reminded you of had become sufficient enough as you tolerated living. “W-What do you mean we’re running out of time?”
“I think I have just enough magic to fill your necklace,” he whispers, “but if I remember correctly, that model only holds twelve weeks worth of time. How long have you been on this island, y/n?”
Your fingers clutch at Namjoon’s watch resting against your heart. Could you really rewind back time to when you never got on that damned boat! “I-I just need to take off a shoe?”
Taehyung’s face lights up. “Yeah, or something that has your scent that they can still sense, just in case”
“So the more I leave the less noticeable it would be?”
“Well, I guess so?”
You look around at the hallway, still empty like always, and pull off both shoes from your feet. “Do you have a shirt I can borrow?” You begin to shimmy out of your dress. Taehyung’s eyes go wide, and he wets his drying lips, then he springs into action, searching his closet for something to cover you. You pull his large sweater over your body and take a hesitant step inside.
Taehyung wraps you into his arms in a proper hug, holding you close. “I’m so happy you found me, y/n. I’m so happy.” He whispers.
He holds you tight to him, you're ashamed how affected you are by his kind gestures, you shouldn’t feel this way about someone who Namjoon told you to stay away from, it felt like a betrayal. “Don’t forget about me once you escape,” Taehyung whispers.
You melt into his embrace. “I won’t. Isn’t there a way to break the spell on the island? There just has to be! There has to be a way to save you and Yoongi and-”
“You like him,” Taehyung pouts.
“What? Who? Yoongi?!” Your face flushes hot.
“I don’t like sharing,” Taehyung mumbles into his sweater currently draped over your shoulders.
You swallow thickly. “Tae?”
He pulls away, holding you loosely, searching your eyes. During your interactions, you usually kept your attention around Taehyung, unable to focus too long on his intimidating aura and good looks, worried you'd start feeling too much for the mysterious man, worried you'd disappoint Namjoon. But now Taehyung is all around you, and his magnetism is too strong for you to resist. “Tae-”
His kiss is brief, however no less impactful, the way he pours his desires into you until your lost in a haze, following his lips as he pulls away, entranced by the small smile he shows you.
When he lifts his chained arms over your head, he pulls your necklace off as well. You were surprised how easily he removed it, when even Jimin couldn’t pull it off you (much to the vampire’s annoyance). You watched intently as Taehyung turns the watch's dial and whispers a spell in a language you can’t understand. “There, it worked, I set it to the full twelve weeks. you’ll know when to use it.” He places the watch around your neck again, his fingers cupping your cheeks and he rests his forehead against yours, content. Your face burns hot, Taehyung is so affectionate and sweet and treats you like glass.
This close, you can peer into his deep warm brown eyes, irises twinkling back at you so beautifully, it looks like gold swirls in them. “Just one more thing, and then the world is ours,” he says.
---
You sit up in your bed abruptly. Your fingers search for Namjoon’s watch as you try to steady your breathing. The hard gold feels comforting against the tips of your fingers as your eyes adjust to the darkness. You’re reminded of the night you first arrived. But gone is Yoongi’s colorful dress, the clinical white fabric of your new dress, sits tight around your body like a straight jacket and blends in with the white bed sheets.
Weren’t you just with Taehyung, what happened? You remember he told you you were running out of time. Then what happened?
You have to go find him!
You leave the bed and search out his room again. Jimin passes you in the halls, as quiet as a cat, startling you so much you almost fall if it weren't for his fast reflexes. “There you are, ugh I figured you’d be headed to Tae’s room,” Jimin frowns, “Let’s go.”
“Where are you taking me?” You fight against his grip as he pulls you in the opposite direction.
“I haven’t fed in weeks, and my favorite meal is gone because of you.”
You shut your eyes tight, trying to push away the images of the woman who haunts your dreams.
“So you’re taking her place.”
“What?!” You're doing what now? “J-Jin said-”
“Are you his parrot now? Well lucky for me, tonight Jin went to go speak with Yoongi,” he says smugly.
You step into Jimin’s room. The dresser was covered with random items that don’t seem personalized to the vampire’s taste at all. Unread books, countless jewelry pieces, and a plethora of knives.
“Don’t even think about it, pet.” Jimin warns as he sees your eyes stop on the sleek blades.
“I wasn’t,” you mutter. It was the truth.
There’s no window in his room, no mirrors, just wood furniture, covered in scratches and dents of aggression. The areas of his room, like his dresser, are littered with things, so many discarded things. The room is soulless, like Jimin, it feels like a lavish prison cell.
“So,” you don’t look at Jimin, instead you look at his things, trying to find some sense of his personality, “I guess you’re going to finally prove to me you aren’t impotent after all?” you mock. You know you shouldn't poke the beast, but Jimin is like an annoying itch you can't help but scratch.
Jimin scoffs, “Slut, can you go a night without getting fucked?”
“Can you?!”
Jimin smirks. “I'm almost going to miss that.”
You take a step away from him at his words. “What are you going to do?”
“Jin is too sentimental, he only skims the surface of his powers now. There is another aspect to a memory pull, it’s much more fun. Can you guess what that is, pet?”
You’ve been guessing and trying to make sense of everything since that night. “That woman's memories, you took them, right?”
Jimin claps his hands, slow and mocking at your right answer. “It’s not a simple task, but she was particularly compliant,” he bites his lip in memory. “She was much more willing to part with her past, her previous life wasn’t so great if you were wondering...some would see what I did as a blessing.”
The vampire stands in front of you cupping your cheek. “But I’m sure you...” his hand follows your jaw, “...will put up an impressive fight.”
You let out the breath you've been holding, if you can do what happened to Jin, maybe you can find something you can use against him. Maybe his torture won’t work on you...!
“You’re going to regret this,” you say, pulling your head away from his hand.
He laughs, “I regret not doing this sooner.” Jimin was tired of Jin's special treatment of you, all these new rules, all the things you've gotten away with when he wasn't even allowed to drink from you, follow his most basic of urges, it was annoying, you were annoying.
You feel exposed under his penetrating stare, you turn your head and hold your wrist out to Jimin, “Well? Go right ahead.” You think the inevitable has been dragged out long enough.
He looks at your wrist, lips rolling over his tongue as his fingers glide over the thin skin, and then he pulls you closer so you stumble into him, yelping. He looks up and down your body, his hair brushing against your forehead, the strands ticking you. You're supposed to hate each other, but the way he holds you and touches you, it’s too intimate, too rough and too soft for you to make sense of it.
“Do you have to ruin all the dresses we give you?” He noticed the slit you cut into your too long dress.
“Why are they so tight?” you say, watching his eyes as they roam over your exposed skin, feeling hot from his attention. You try to keep your thoughts calm, pure, so he doesn't notice what he's doing to you. “I can barely walk around.”
“Then maybe you should stay on your back,” his voice low and taunting. His free hand reaches for the torn fabric and as quick as a flash Jimin tears the slit higher up to your hip bone.
Your hands attempt to pull the slit closed in vain, and Jimin takes the opportunity to pull at the neckline of your dress, ripping the line even lower, exposing your cleavage to him. You slap him across the face, like you would have done any other man, but Jimin is not just a man, not anymore. He turns his face around and you see his fangs against his curled lip, he looks delighted, like you gave him just the reaction he wanted.
He grabs you around the waist and you feel vertigo as you're thrown across the room. You land on his bed, sinking into the mattress, and before you can scream Jimin is hovering over you.
“Your foreplay sucks.”
Jimin pulls your head back, laughing down at you.
"Get it?" you struggle to speak, “because you're a-”
You scream as Jimin finally bites the column of your neck, his body weight pressing down on you. Pain erupts and you can barely breath. His bite is somehow even more painful than Jin's, you hit his shoulders, pull at his shirt, trying to push him away to release you.
---
“What’s your name?” You can barely hear Seokjin’s voice over the trumpets of the band.
“Jimin.” He yells back.
“Military man,” the bartender nods to his uniform, “This one is on the house.”
“Thanks, um?”
“Seokjin.”
Jimin pulls his bottom lip in, studying the handsome stranger. “Thank you Seokjin.”
---
Jimin pulls away from your neck, breathing heavy. You laugh, and laugh, feeling exhilarated, eyes meeting the vampire while you laugh again. Did you just beat Jimin at his own game?
Your laughter stops when Jimin flips you on your stomach. His fingers dig into your hair, bending your back up to meet his chest. You grunt, jaw slack. “Still waiting to see what you've got, Jimin.”
You’re confusing. Jimin doesn’t even smell fear on you anymore, even when he tightens his grip. You must be feeling overwhelmed, like Jimin, who is trying to make sense of the long forgotten emotions coursing through him right now.
For the first time in a long time, Jimin feels uncomfortable, struggling to make sense of your taunts and why you aren’t submitting. Something unpleasant inside him stirs. He’ll make you regret acting like this, he’ll break you in half until you beg for mercy. He’ll do it. So why isn’t he doing it?
“Well?!”
“Fuck, you’re annoying,” he hisses into your ear.
“So I’ve been told, military man.”
Jimin knows you're goading him, yet still, blind rage courses through his veins, stinging his chest. He rips the back of your dress, tearing it down the center.
Was Jimin fulfilling a twisted fantasy you had ever since you saw Namjoon and Seokjin fuck that nameless woman senseless? Could you admit that to yourself as you feel your core become wetter as he presses his hand down onto your bare back.
You push up on your elbows, but Jimin uses his strength to push you back down, holding your head down. His sharp hearing can hear your muffled moan and the unpleasant feeling in the center of his body twists again.
"You like this?" He groans, affected by the smell of your lust. “Fuck, you act like such a desperate slut.” He palms his dick, needing a release. His moans fill your ears as his stokes himself to the state of your body.
You feel his spit hit your skin, his hard length running along your center, covering his member in your juices and his saliva. His tip teasing your entrance, you push back into him seeking more, and his hands hold you down, making you all the more feverish.
Your arousal hits the vampire’s senses in waves, affecting him more than usual as he tightens his grip to keep you still, focusing on the blood blotting your neck. His cock runs up your slit until he rests over your second hole. You look over your shoulder, prepared to taunt the vampire even more, but his dark expression, filled with carnal desire, slightly unraveled, entirely captivated by you, sends your thoughts into a tailspin.
Jimin pushes his thick length into you, stretching you over his cock, inch by inch until your whole body spasms.
Jimin stayed pressed up against you, a small kindness, his fingers circling your aching core. “Don’t-” you moan, and he stills against you, “d-don’t hold back.”
"I wasn't intending to."
And he doesn't. Your orgasm wracks through you, you feel so full and empty as your walls clench down on nothing while he pounds himself into you relentlessly. You start to shake in overstimulation. His thrusts are wild, your neck is there, you smell so delicious and he's so close to release.
When you come close again, at the peak of arousal, he bites down on your soft skin. You yell, clenching around him even tighter.
“This is your fault.”
You see Tae laugh, so unlike his usual sweet boisterous laugh, he chuckles deep, fighting against the chains around him, his wrist markings glowing gold, then deep orange like fire. “No, this is your fault. You were supposed to kill Jin, we could have had everything we ever wanted. How could you betray me like this?”
Jimin’s hands go lax around your waist, so you put yours over his, holding on as tight as you can.
You see Seokjin and Jimin under a street lamp, you and Jimin watch the way the flies dance around the bulb.
“You’re a vampire.”
Seokjin tenses, so Jimin continues, “I saw you with that girl, the regular with black hair.” His eyes scan the man beside him.
“And what are you going to do now?” Seokjin’s words come out low, almost menacing. Jimin laughs.
“Would you believe me if I said you’re not the strangest thing I’ve seen?” Breaking the awkward silence, Jimin brings an arm over Seokjin’s broad shoulders, pulling the man into a headlock. “I forgive you for always ditching me for lunch.” He teases.
Jimin releases his mouth from your neck.
You shift beneath him to look up at the vampire. Jimin’s bite wasn’t as meticulous as Seokjin’s who knew how to expertly pierce an artery, so you weren’t profusely bleeding, but the wounds still ached. Seokjin has the precision of a doctor, Jimin is messy, wild, his entire front is covered in blood. Jimin's eyes were unfocused, you could tell he was lost in thought.
“Jimin?”
“Enough,” his voice shakily commands you. “I’ll just take the part of you that keeps doing this.”
He pierces your exposed flesh once more concentrating harder.
---
Jimin is tiny. His head reaches the older woman’s knee as he hugs her leg. He points to the butterfly, wings fluttering back and forth slowly as it sits on a leaf Jimin found.
“I fixed it, see!”
“My beautiful son,” she kisses the top of his head, laughing at his cuteness. She looks weak and fragile, sunken eyes and skin pale.
“I’ll fix you too, I’ll learn!” He hugs her leg tighter. She soothes her little boy, knowing it’s already too late for her.
“Grow up to be a doctor, heal people.”
---
He pulls away from you. His eyes look wild, like an animal’s, caught. “Stop looking into my mind!” He screams.
“I can’t control it!” You’re just as stunned as Jimin, you never expected to see a version of himself so innocent.
Jimin holds you down by the neck, he doesn’t squeeze your neck enough to stop your breathing, even though he should, he thinks, he can’t do it, he can’t bring himself to tighten his grip.
“Do it again and I’ll fucking kill you,” he lies.
“I said I can’t control it, asshole!” you struggle against his hold, “Maybe if you weren’t so weak-minded-”
Jimin roars. Pressing his weight back on you, his fangs strike at the sensitive flesh between your collar bone. Your first kiss was so special to you, you could still remember it to this day. You were young, awkward and shy, he was your first crush, a cute boy, his features reminded you of one of your favorite idols at the time, who was-
What did he look like? What was his name? When did he kiss you again? It was after school, you think, you can’t remember. How did he kiss you? That’s right, it was an awkward kiss, because you and him were...friends? Weren’t you? You can’t remember, you can’t remember what had happened, it was so special to you and now it’s gone.
Jimin sucks harder onto your skin, pulling more blood out of you. He took it, your first kiss, you know he did. Jimin, if that sweet little boy could see himself now.
You start to cry. You cry for your stolen first kiss.
His teeth sink into your neck again, pulling more blood greedily, trying to silence the memories he found with the steady beating of your pulse instead. He drags his fangs across your skin, more blood releases, so much blood lost already that everything spins around you. “Jimin!”
He covers your mouth to stop your protests. Jimin seems determined to lose himself again, ravaging your body with more bites. So you close your eyes and your thoughts drift to the young boy.
“Good job!” the soft voice of his mothers fills both your minds. Jimin holds a syringe full of milk to a tiny kitten’s mouth. “You have to take care of her now, remember, treat her gently. There you go!”
“She’s so cute, momma, I love her.”
“You both have to watch out for each other when I’m not around, okay?”
You can hear Jimin whimper into your neck.
You feel sadness wash over you. He could have been a doctor, he could have been a healer. He is, in some twisted way, he been given the gift of healing, and yet he uses it to inflict pain. Even if he wanted to pretend he didn’t experience it, you felt the love that he held so dearly for his mother as a small child. You can hear his laughter, he had the same laugh as his mother.
‘Jimin, I’m going to save you too.’
---
You wake up healed, your head pounding. You look around, Jimin lies next to you, he’s out like a light. You both look like you’ve been in a massacre. Your clothes shredded and blood everywhere. You move away from him, his features look angelic, but his skin is covered in dried blood, like a killer. What the hell happened? You take a step and your legs buckle, you cry out when you knee hits the hard floor. The vampire next to you sways, moves across the bed until he falls completely out of it, groaning.
You crawl your body to the other side of the bed where he is still lying on the floor.
When you look at him again, meeting his eyes, you come to a realization. You know his secret.
“Oh Jimin...”
“Y/n...” his voice is shaky, he covers his face with his hands and his soft cries fill the room. You struggle to get up, everything feels tilted on an axis. You sway and hit furniture as you make your way to the door.
There’s a ringing in your head that won’t leave. You follow the halls down to Seokjin’s office, a place Jimin has been so many times before, retracing his footsteps from a memory of his.
Taehyung’s spell worked just as he said, opening the door to Seokjin’s office, the bright markings glowed and then burnt away from your skin, leaving a trace of ash. ‘Taehyung,’ you’ll have to deal with him later, you think. First you need to get away, as far from the island as you can and try to find Jimin’s family.
There’s a large door to the right of his desk, wood an alien shade of purple. The high pitched ringing in your ears makes the room sway again, but you’re able to grip the handle and fall through to the other side.
---
You sit on the floor of a tiny shop. There’s intricate gold pieces; statues, vases, piled high on countless of glass shelves, every inch of the shop is filled with items, it reminds you of someone but you can’t remember who. You can’t even remember how you got here. Where the hell are you? It feels dangerous, it feels wrong.
You move to a corner and hug your knees to your body. ‘Where am I? Wait, who am I?’ You try to remember anything, any memory from your childhood, from your adulthood. And the past five minutes replays in your mind instead. Gold jewelry in glass cases and the feeling that you shouldn't be here, and a deep voice in your head whispers, “y/n.”
Y/n, is that your name? Your hands skim over the fabric of your torn dress, looking for pockets, looking for anything that might explain something to you. You need to get out of here, you need to leave, but you don’t even know where you are.
You hear a ding, a bell alerting an opening door. You hear a man speak to another. You run out the door while the man behind you lets out a surprised yell to come back.
You run and you run, past buildings past people. You’re barefoot, your clothes hang off you. Eventually you stop. Eventually you decide to ask an old couple who looks unthreatening where you are while you unsuccessfully try not to burst into tears. The old woman holds your hands and strokes your arm to calm you while the husband calls the police.
At first they suspected you were a victim of abuse. They took you to a hospital. The doctors performed several tests on you, each one worse than the last. You had no old memories, and all your new ones were horrible. Clinical, painful, strangers prodding and poking your body. Your dreams were filled of palm trees and warm sunshine on your skin, a sparkling blue ocean, laughter, happiness. So you slept most of the day.
Then one day, detectives came with nurses and they told you who you were. That it took so long because you had been pronounced dead over a month ago. Your parents were on a flight to come get you. You listened to them explain the events hoping to have a jog of memory but nothing comes. They talk about the boat, the crash, no survivors. Always another horrible new piece of information. When will it end?
When your parents picked you up, a lovely man and woman who you tried desperately to remember, the hospital staff gave you a bag with the clothes they found you in. There was a gold pocket watch, an item you didn’t remember having, but you didn’t remember anything, so it didn’t surprise you. You told them to throw everything away, but you kept the watch with you.
You have to stay with them, everything in your life had been reduced to a few boxes they had kept. You lost your home, your identity, you had no money, no job, the only thing you acquired during this whole time was a death certificate.
You start remembering your childhood, slowly at first, a memory here and there, a fall and cut knee, a tea party with stuffed animals, a school field trip, and then years at a time.
You found yourself again. You remembered who you were, your entire life up until you didn’t, the memories fracturing at the end, and the harder you tried to remember how you could have ended up in a different country across the world, your mind would construct horrible images instead, blood, drowning, and death. You couldn’t bare to think of it.
---
“Y/n!” you make your way into the coffee shop, you reconnected with some old childhood friends now that you were back in your hometown.
“Hey, oh my god, who is this big cutie?” Your friend’s dog barks excitedly while you fluff the black fur on his head. He’s so cute, his ears flop to the side with each happy bark.
“Y/n, are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“You’re...well you’re crying?” She looks at you concerned.
You touch your wet cheeks. Why? You don’t know when it started, but as your friend’s dog nudges his head into your palm for more pets, your heart aches.
---
One night, a crazy thought enters your mind. You want to go back to that shop. You want answers. You leave a note for your parents telling them your intentions and pack your freshly made identification cards and travel documents into a suitcase.
So here you are again, in a foreign country, alone again, filled with purpose that seems to pull you in despite how terrified you are.
You scroll through your phone while you lie on the hard foreign hotel mattress. You open a map of where you are on your phone, and zoom out until you see water.
There's islands around the peninsula, you zoom into each one and search each name on your phone, learning each habitat, who lives there, if it is accessible. You do that to pass the time until you fall asleep.
“It’s too dangerous.”
You reach for the merman, grabbing at Yoongi’s shirt and pulling him closer, your eyes meeting his. “Explain.”
Yoongi is taken aback, licking his lips trying to think of a good way to start. "We made a blood pact to protect this island from the outside world, it's indiscoverable and once anyone does come here, they can't leave."
"Why..." you let go of his shirt, but he stays close, "Why would you do that?"
"Think, just think what you humans have done to the world...the others needed some place safe to go to and I-" the merman huffs, "At the time, I thought...well, they were...at the time I didn't mind sharing the island with them. "
Your fingers roll over the bracelets Yoongi put on you. "That was nice of you." The merman glares at you in return.
"You know, they'd come here, we all spent time together." Yoongi's stare is faraway and distant. "In the beginning, at least."
"I-I'm sorry." You hold his hand, and he stares at your fingers only briefly before shaking you off.
"Whatever, I'm surprised they didn't start trying to tear each others throats out sooner," He mutters. "We had portals of course to leave when we wanted to, but one day Namjoon and those dumb dogs destroyed all the portals-"
"What?! Why would they do that?"
"I don't know all the details, but I believe Namjoon did it to protect the rest of his pack. I can respect him for that...but the problem is they trapped us all here like idiots!"
"Is that why you're helping Jin and Jimin?"
"What? To get back at Namjoon? Pfft no. Jin came to me with a deal. He looked off, sick, and he offered me anything I wanted, so I helped him. That's it."
"So technically you can leave the island?"
"I can swim the waters, but I can only go so far, the magic always pulls me back eventually, it's useless to try," he mutters.
You hum.
"Anyways, what Namjoon doesn't know is Jin used some leftover magic and created a portal. Jin has lots of friends that serve him, owe him favors, he uses it as a delivery system."
"So you think if I?"
"That's the only portal I know of, but the magic is dangerous, the vampires put so many protections on their house, they won't even go through it themselves, there has to be a reason, right?"
"I...I'll take my chances."
"They wont even chance going through it, and you will?"
"Yes! And what if I can find a way to break the spell? Then you can finally leave! Yoongi, you have to let me at least try!"
"You're going to get yourself killed one way or another," Yoongi scoffs.
"No, I refuse to believe that."
"You're impossible to understand."
"I'm going through that portal. Then I'll come back for you."
"Wait, you'll come back?" Yoongi asks.
"Well, yeah, if you help me, a deal is a deal. Yoongi please, help me come up with a plan and I swear to you I'll come back with your payment. You're the only one who can search the ocean, you just have to find me again, so what do you say merman?"
"I'll find you again."
---
Your alarm wakes you up. 'What a weird dream,' it felt so realistic. Like all your dreams, the more you think about it, the less you remember, but that man's scarred eyes, whose name you forgot already, they stay with you.
You brush your teeth and wash your face. You notice something as you rinse off your skin. 'What the hell is that?' You inspect the gold writing behind your ear. Taking some more soap, you work to remove it but it doesn’t come off, the glittery ink is permanent. You rubbed your skin raw trying to take it off, it didn’t look like a tattoo, but nothing you did would get rid of the gold markings. You pace around your hotel room, things are getting weirder and you start to feel a nagging sense of dread, but there's a voice inside you that says to keep going until you find the answers you are looking for.
You don't walk right into the shop at first, instead casing out the place. You drink coffee at a nearby restaurant and keep watch on the shop. There are not many visitors, and those who do enter are not who you would expect. You would think maybe some older people who were looking for vintage items would decide to enter, or eccentric younger people, but it was almost always a intimidatingly large man entering, bringing items in rather than taking items out.
You’ve gotten into the habit of playing with the gold chain around your neck, the gold pocket watch had become a permanent accessory.
It's almost closing time for the restaurant, so you reluctantly make your way to the shop, and walk in after a group of tourists.
The shop looks different than what you remember, new items litter the shelves. You hide behind the large cases, studying the objects, until you come across something that makes you hesitate. A necklace with a large red gem hidden behind a thick glass case with a lock.
“You’re that girl! You...you came back.” Your head turns into the direction of the voice, a very old man stares back at you. He looks at you incredulously while you can only stare back dumbly. “C'mon, let’s go,” the old man says, he grabs your elbow. “Seokjin should be awake by now.”
“Let me go! You can’t keep me here!” You pull away from his grasp, your hand tightens around the amulet.
He laughs at you amused, giving you some space. “You walked into my shop, did you not? You don’t want to talk to Seokjin?”
“I…” Do you?! Would he know what happened to you, why does it make you shiver hearing his name.
Wait...you look down at your hand, to make sure you didn't imagine it, and there you see the necklace in the middle of your palm, heavy in your hand, you hide it behind your back, looking over your shoulder to the empty case, the shock of it makes you freeze.
The man looks at you cautiously, “Why are you here, girl? Are you here for Seokjin?”
Seokjin. That name fills you with dread. A vision of a man flashes across your mind only briefly, “I d-don’t know.” The old man raises an eyebrow at you. “Stay here, girl. I'll be right back.”
Where is he going? What is he going to do with you? Your mind spins and the skin behind your ear stings. 'Now y/n. Do it now.' that deep voice is back. You panic when the old man comes back with two others.
'Use the watch, y/n. Use the watch. NOW!'
---
“On one condition, just one.” Jimin hisses.
As you lie on the ground you feel like the weight of the world just crashed upon you. Your chest feels like it’s going to explode, there’s a ringing in your ears, the skin behind your ear still burns hot.
Jimin noticed the sudden shift in your demeanor, the way your heart begins to race as you start to break down. Every day, starting on the night your boat was capsized, replays in your mind as you start to remember your time on the island. You see Taehyung, who looks at you and then his eyes go wide, realizing the situation, eyes ablaze with growing excitement.
“It worked, didn’t it?” Taehyung’s deep baritone voice breaks the silence. You can only take in shaky breaths as your tear filled eyes try to focus on where you are. You traveled back in time, precisely twelve weeks to the second, you’re back on the island, thrown back into your nightmare like you never left. The only difference now is your left hand clutches a second pocket watch, now broken, and your right hand clutches the amulet.
Jimin looks between you and Taehyung. “What have you done?” Jimin accuses Taehyung, whose eyes haven’t left yours. Taehyung’s lips curve into an encouraging smile, he holds out his chained wrists to you. The vampire whips his head in your direction, but it’s already too late. You throw the amulet into Taehyung’s awaiting hands. You didn’t want to give it to him, but as if Taehyung had pulled strings around your body, you complied to his silent request. The minute the gem touches his skin, the gold markings around his wrists burn away.
The explosion knocks you back meters, everything is broken, everything is dust, you can’t see and your body aches. You hear screaming and yelling and groans of pain. You crawl through the debris searching for a way out.
Red light flashes through the smoke. You choose to crawl towards it, hearing Jin’s loud booming voice.
Taehyung pulls you back, his body behind you like it just materialized out of thin air. "C’mon y/n. Let’s escape."
“This...This is all your fault!” He looked surprised by your reaction.
“What you think you know, you’re mistaken.” He lifts you to your feet easily.
It feels like the air around you is vibrating, your body feels lighter in Taehyung’s presence.
“Please let me go,” you cry.
“Don’t worry, once we escape, we’ll be fine again.” His hand holds your hip tight to his body as he drags you in the direction of the portal.
Seokjin crashes into you both, knocking Taehyung away from you. You hear their struggle, and you’re back to crawling away through the smoke helplessly. Your fingers hit the hard cold gem of the amulet, and you wrap the chain around your fingers.
You can’t remember how you found the stairs, the wood half shattered, or the exit, blown wide open by magic, you can’t remember leaving the mansion, you just remember once your bare feet hit the soft grass outside you ran and you didn’t stop running, until you heard the sounds of waves. You ran until water hit your feet and then you screamed.
---
YAY I FINISHED THIS MONSTER OF A CHAPTER (Get it? I’ll shut up). Thank god, I felt as trapped in this chapter as y/n in that damn room :’). Okay, but now we’re getting somewhere! What do you think is going to happen now? Looks like this story might finally be headed off the island :D. I’m excited!
Questions to ponder for the next chapter: What is Jimin’s secret? Looks like there was a good reason for keeping Taehyung locked away, so what is his ultimate goal? What did Taehyung do to you? And why are Jin and Namjoon no longer friends?! Those are just some of the questions floating around in my mind as I am writing the next chapter, now do you have any questions you want answers to? Let me know! <3
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sugakuns · 4 years
Text
[ʜᴄ] | 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬
being childhood friends with kenma, akaashi & iwa + telling each other they’d be married when they were younger
ᴀ/ɴ: gender neautral pronouns
— kozume k.
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you’ve known kenma basically since the day you were born
both you and his family lived in the apartment building and you happened to live next door to each other which was both a blessing and a curse
since kenma was quite shy he had never really iniciated any conversation or play with you so you overcame your own shyness to play with him
mostly the two of you would play with dolls or go out in the local park but as soon as kenma got his first gaming device he would never go outside
even when the new kid kuroo came along it took him a while to warm up and try to play with you and kenma
kuroo noticed how throughout primary school you seemed closer to the quiet boy
you’d hang off of his shoulder and call him cute names like “kenma-san” or “kenken”
so one day kuroo gave you the idea to propose to little kenma
yes, at 7 years of age kuroo told you to ask 6 year old kenma to marry you
so you did
with little plastic rings from a magazine your mother had bought you
“kenken, im giving you this ring because it means we’re married, okay?” kenma nods and takes the ring, even going as far as slipping it on his ring finger
“Kenken!” Your voice bellows throughout the gym, hands extending out as you throw yourself into a frankly violent hug. Kenma stumbles a little, hands grasping your waist as he trieds to stablilise himself from the running hug. His hair tousles from the impact, the stray strands brushing along your cheeks as you pull away.
“You’ll never guess what I found!” Your smile is large, beaming under the fluorescent lights belonging to the gym ceiling. Kenma states curiously, his expression close to one of a curious kitten. Practice had just ended and currently Kenma and Kuroo were the only ones there due to waiting on you.
Your fingers swiftly dance along your screen as you locate the picture you had taken of your family’s photo album. There was one particular picture of both you and the now faux blonde, both smiling (albeit kenma’s looked a little forced) and showing off the plastic rings you had won in a vending machine the day prior.
“Remember? I forgot we’re married!” You giggle as Kenma stares at the picture on your phone. He hadn’t forgotten that day - yet he hoped you would - the day his childhood crush told him that they were getting married. He hadn’t put much thought into you remembering what happened on that day but when he thinks about it he feels a warm, blooming senestaion fill his chest.
“You’re married?” Kuroo chuckles as he swings the keys around his index finger in an attempt to look suave. You nod quickly whereas Kenma blinks coyly at the taller male. Kuroo can feel the chuckle bubbling up from his chest into his throat yet he catches it last moment at the sharp state he’s getting from his friend.
“Yeah..We’ll get really rings later” Kenma muses, a lazily sweet smile resting on his lips.
— iwaizumi h.
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so you actually knew oikawa before iwa,, so he was the sole reason you even met hajime
iwa was actually a little jealous of oikawa since the two of you were closer and he developed a puppy crush on you 🥺
the two of you were around 8 and iwa still held the crush he had since he was 5 - yes he didn’t give it away surprisingly (since he was a child)
so one day, when the both of you were playing and oikawa had planted a kiss on your head cuz he was feeling all confident iwa got jealous
“me and [y/n] are married stupidkawa!! you can’t do that!”
you just went along with it and told oikawa he had cooties LMAO
“Oh my god, you will not believe what I just remembered” Oikawa exclaims, hands clutching at his alien themed pillow. The three of you usually had sleepovers, even at your older age, and Oikawa usually hosted them since his house was bigger.
The three of you were perched on his bed dressed in your pajamas. You and Iwa were leaning against his beds headboard and Oikawa was laying further down the bed, leaning against the wall beside his bed.
“Your brain works?” You tease, chucking lightly as Oikawa dismissively sticks his tongue out at you. Iwa sniggers at your fast witted comment, even going as far to ruffle your hair.
“Yes.” Oikawa deadpans “But, seriously, remember when we were kids and Iwa-chan got jealous because I-I kissed you and he said- he said you two were married!” Oikawa howls with laughter at his own words, barely able to even spew the sentence before he clutches at his stomach to stabilise himself.
Your eyebrow raises, watching as Oikawa laughs to himself. Iwaizumi states dismissively too, arms crossing along his chest.
“We flamed you after that, Tōru” You state, remembering the relentless teasing that both you and Iwa inflicted on the poor boy.
“Plus, we’re dating..Iwa gave me an actual promise ring” you point at the ring on your finger (which was way too expensive for your liking) which reflects under the dim lighting in Oikawa’s room.
Oikawa pouts, laughter seizing as he sees his plan to fluster the two of you didn’t go through “You’re both boring”
— akaashi k.
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akaashi didn’t have a lot of friends when he was younger
so you were really his only proper friend,, so he’s find himself with you most of the time
a lot of the time the two of you would play in the public park or at his house
and you two would usually play volleyball since akaashi liked it and you enjoyed it too
he hadn’t really thought snout his feelings for you since he thought they were normal to have towards a close friend
but one day you got quite jealous of all of the other (mainly girls) people who would flock to akaashi
so you simply told them that you two were married so they couldn’t take him away from you
akaashi, like kenma, just went with it
“Bokuto-san, what are you doing?” You ask as you watch the two-toned ace feverishly flick through your childhood memorabilia. He smiles as he comes across old photos of you and his new ‘bestie’ Akaashi; cooing as he looks at the tiny baby shoes that used to for your small feet.
The two boys had came over to study for a test but along the way Bokuto had become distracted and noticed the shiny box on your bedside table. He was more of a magpie than an owl at the moment, diving towards the shiny items rather than the dull items.
“What’s this?” He holds a poorly written letter between his index finger and thumb, staring at the crooked writing on the lined paper. It’s a little crumbled, plastered with stickers and has a massive love heart on the back. You flush as you realise what letter it is, the letter you gave to akaashi to sign if he wanted to marry you.
Bokuto squeals, jumping up and allowing the box to fall recklessly onto your bed. He practically screams as he swings the old piece of paper around.
“You’re married!” He seems more excited than confused, almost acting as if the two of you were actually married.
“Bokuto” Akaashi starts “If you keep this quiet from the rest of the team I’ll do even more serves for you tomorrow”
Bokuto jumps in excitement, the old piece of paper forgotten as he animatedly thanks his friend in advance. You can’t believe that you had forgot to take the little piece of paper out of the box since you had already thought about Bokuto finding it.
However, you can’t help but smile. That was how Akaashi asked you out in first year, reactating the letter you had made in childhood.
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whump-a-la-mode · 3 years
Note
Would it be possible to get the aftermath of a heroic whumpee who went up against someone incredibly far out of their league? Kind of along the lines of that one time Dazzler went up against the Juggernaut on her own (A heroine with light projection powers vs a villain with the power of unstoppable force) and ended up being beaten to the point where she was too weak to move. The other heroes become her caretakers for a little while. I loved that arc and could really use something similar.
I can hardly describe how much I love this prompt. I absolutely adore it, and I can only hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I think I’m somewhat familiar with Dazzler, though when I looked through the wiki, I couldn’t find anything about this story? The wiki may just be incomplete, though. It reminds me of a story arc of the original ms. marvel, too!
This is absolutely one of my favorite kinds of whump, and I really hope that I did it justice. Thank you so much for the ask!
CW//Medical settings, poison, therapy, paralysis, inability to speak, self-hatred, low self-esteem, hair-pulling
The metal doors at the entrance to the Metropolis General Emergency Room swung upon with the force of a thunder clap. And, just as thunder, they too heralded lightning.
Or, at the very least, light.
A pair of lab-coats pushed forth a gurney on ratta-tatta-tattling caster wheels, footsteps crashing on the floor in even rhythm. Close behind, an entourage of two sprinted in close pursuit: A pair of heroes in civilian clothes.
“Lux!”
To the person laid upon the gurney, the voice felt to be emanating from a thousand miles away. Or more. Maybe a couple thousand, or a million... It was hard to think about numbers when their mind was stuffed with cotton, and their vision was dominated by blurry white ceiling tiles.
“What in the world happened to them?” The doctor that spoke had had all sense of clinical professionalism drained from their tongue.
“We don’t know.” A hero, outfitted in jeans and sweater, replied in a single, slurred sound. “We just found them, and-”
It was too loud. Far, far too loud-- Lux felt as though the full force of the ocean had made the sudden decision to crash into their eardrums. And, beneath at all, the caster wheels refused to stop their clitter-clatter. Spikes piercing their temples, they let out the tiniest of cries.
A tiny sound, and all eyes were on them.
“Lux!”
“Lux, what in the world happened to you?”
“What the hell did you do?”
“Talk to us!”
“Wake up!”
“Wake up.”
“Lux. Lux, what did you do?”
Lux, what did you do?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 
The support beam shook against the force of the body, hurled at it. Shudders rocked from the base to the top, threatening for the thousandth time the structural stability of the building.
And the structural stability of Lux’s ribs.
With several hoarse coughs, the hero struggled to hands and knees, joints wobbling as though the ground they were braced against were the epicenter of an earthquake.
They could taste it.
They could taste what they had been inflicted with, more than they could feel it. The wound upon their side had long since gone numb-- at the very least, the poison had that benefit to it. Now, the sensation had migrated to Lux’s tongue. A bitter flavor of burnt coffee.
Even if they had the chance, they had no desire at all to examine the gash that had been torn across their side. They’d heard the stories, seen the headlines.
Lux knew what happened to Mercury’s victims.
That was why they were here, after all.
“Had enough yet, kid?”
The voice was booming, sounding from the other side of the half-toppled warehouse. In their weakened state, Lux could barely raise their head high enough to meet the eyes of their foe.
Mercury’s height was unimportant, as was their general stature. After all, it was hard to focus on his body. It was hard to focus on anything but the claws-- terrible, wicked things curling outwards from his knuckles.
A single slash from them, and flesh would begin to curl away, to rot. To necrose.
The wound they had been inflicted with was already a death sentence. But, not an immediate one-- Lux had a bit of time left on death row.
A bit of time to make this right.
Shivering, the hero stood to their feet, facing their opponent from a hundred foot’s distance. It was the most ridiculous of match-ups. A chihuahua against a pit bull. A garden snake against a cobra.
That didn’t mean that Lux couldn’t try.
“Firefly wants another round, then?” The villain’s voice curled, almost as venomous as their blades. “Try me, kid.”
And try they did.
Hands balled to fists at their side, Lux took one, single step forth, stomping onto the warehouse’s concrete floor with a decisive strike.
It was as though a bomb had gone off.
The world was swallowed, all at once, by white. Light engulfed each shadow, each color, until the universe was as blank as unexposed photo paper.
It was merely a distraction, a smokescreen. But they needed time to recover. Time to catch their breath.
Time to remember why they were doing this.
In the world of heroes, Mercury had a particular nickname-- “The Untouchable.” He was the lion in the zoo. No one dared get near him, much less touch him. It was a death sentence, to be slashed by his claws. The heroes were terrified of him, and that gave him a free license to tear the world to shreds.
It was from one of their villainous informants that Lux had heard of the plan initially. The water supply. Mercury had found a way to distill the poison held within their claws, and they intended to release it into the city water supply.
To kill every last citizen of Metropolis.
But the others turned merely a blind eye. No one would touch the villain. They had resigned themselves to dealing with the aftermath.
That would mean deaths. That would mean ‘acceptable causalities.’
To Lux, there was no such thing as an acceptable causality. Only a problem that needed to be solved.
Their teammates had insisted, begged, nearly, that they not be so careless. But, when had Lux even been known as the careful one?
Not once in their life.
“Stop this, Mercury!” The hero snapped into the expanse of white. “Just-”
Lux did not so much as see the fist before it connected. Did not so much as feel the claws, raking their neck.
Not before the world went from black to white.
Lux, what did you do?
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“You did it.”
Those were the first words that Lux heard clearly, after escaping from their haze. Consciousness teased them as the world above turned from colors to shapes to vision.
White tiles, spotless and all in a row. Their perfect nature was threatened only by an out-of-place beeping that nearly forced the hero to once more fall to sleep.
But, they managed to cling to consciousness as they turned their head to the side, revealing a figure, interrupting their view of the tiles overhead.
A figure. A person. A-
“You did it, Lux.”
Nora. Nora, their friend, their teammate, their comrade. Not Mercury. Not a villain. If Nora was here, then they were safe. The hero had an almost supernaturally calming way about herself, located somewhere between her wispy tangle of black hair and the way her movements imitated the performance of a dancer.
But, wait- Why wasn’t she in uniform? No, now she bore only the clothes of a civilian.
No. No, of course she wasn’t wearing a uniform. Lux had gone on a mission, yes. But it hadn’t been with their team.
They’d tried to stop Mercury, and-
“The water’s safe.” Nora’s voice was only just as smooth as her movements. “Mercury’s been contained. You did it.”
“And by god, what were you thinking?!”
The shout sent a stabbing agony through the side of Lux’s skull. That was more so the reaction they had expected.
Nickel. The most paranoid superhero on planet Earth.
Lux struggled to open their lips, to bring forth an explanation. To state that they had been doing what was right. That they had been doing what a hero should have done.
And yet...
And yet, their lips refused to so much as twitch. Too, their tongue sat dead in their mouth, numb and useless.
The only muscle in their body that functioned was their heart, which in that moment began to race.
“You could’ve died!” Nickel’s tirade continued, despite the fact that the target was showing not a single reaction. “Or worse! You could’ve died, or worse, or both! That was so stupid.
Don’t give me the silent treatment, dammit. Explain yourself!”
Lux wanted so desperately to do so. Their heartbeat turned, now, to a pounding tattoo within their skull, the pedal of a bass drum, slamming against the inside of their cranium.
They couldn’t move.
A twitch of the head. A blink, maybe. That was all. That was all they had left.
Lux had saved the world.
Their vision began to swirl.
Lux had saved the world, but what had they given up in exchange?
Telling when the hero fell unconscious was nearly impossible. Yet, when their eyes at last drifted closed, it became clear that whatever wakefulness they had had was now extinguished.
That left two heroes, one proud and one paranoid, leaning over a hospital bed. Shivering both in their own rights, Nickel and Nora stood. It was with great care that the room’s entrance was pushed open. The doctor that did so walked backwards-- their hands were quite thoroughly occupied by a clipboard.
Nickel and Nora said not a word, as speechless as their teammate. They both knew that this was the bringing of news.
This doctor was the bearer of their friends fate.
“They’re going to live.”
That was what they started with. 
“With medical care, Lux will survive this ordeal. However, they will need to stay under intensive care until their immediate symptoms subside.”
Nora stared blankly for a long moment, before whispering:
“They aren’t moving. They aren’t talking.”
The doctor could manage only the more sympathetic of nods. Again, they repeated themself, but, this time, with an addition:
“Lux is going to live. But, most likely, they will never be the same. The poison has taken its toll on their system. There’s no cure. No antidote.
One day, they may be able to move, or speak. But, they have a very, very long road ahead of them.”
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 
Very, very long was an understatement.
No, the doctor would have been better have describing Lux’s journey as a highway from Moscow to Las Vegas.
“The rains in Spain fall mainly on the plain.”
“Da ra’zz spa- ff mm a pla.”
“The rains in Spain fall mainly on the plain.”
“Za ree z’pa fa ma- play.”
“One more try. The rains in Spain-”
“Nnn- oh! No!”
The lab-coated doctor sitting before Lux set down their clipboard with a heavy sigh, sending only another bubble of rage rising in the hero’s chest. They balled their hands into fists, shaking them furiously before placing their open palms upon their temples.
Lux hated this. Lux hated every last minute, every last instant of this. They hated the doctor. They hated the doctor’s office they had to sit in, walls covered from floor to ceiling with charts of vowels and consonants. More than anything, they hated their exercises.
It should have been simple! Eight words. Eight simple words. If they could repeat them properly, then they would never have to go to one of these stupid appointments ever again.
But, they couldn’t. They couldn’t say eight simple words. In fact, they couldn’t even say one.
A month in the hospital, and Lux could not so much as speak. It made them want to tear their hair out! In fact, they would do that, had they had the motor control for it.
But, they didn’t. They didn’t have anything.
The last month had been the longest of the hero’s existence. Hell, those thirty days had felt to be longer than the rest of their entire life, put together! Thirty days and thirty nights of utter hell.
When they had gone off to face Mercury on their own, Lux had been very well prepared to die. They had not been prepared for this.
From the outside, the progress that the hero was making was undeniable. They had begun in a state of complete and utter paralysis, able to move their head, their eyes, and not a thing else. It was only with thrice-a-day physical therapy that they had begun to move. First, it was only moving their head. Then, their arms. Their legs. By the end, they could even sit up, with the help of a helping hand.
Every day, Lux’s teammates visited. And, every day, they congratulated their friend on their progress.
But, as far as Lux was concerned, it had been a month, and they hadn’t made an inch of progress. As hard as they tried, they were still laid up in a hospital. Still broken. Still useless.
They knew that their friends were trying. They knew-- it was evident on their expressions. Those constant, stupid looks of pity. They would never speak about their own lives, about their missions. The villainous plots they’d stopped, the battles they’d won. No. They focused only on the mundane: Where they’d gone for lunch, how they’d spent their evening.
It was out of pity. Lux knew that. It was all pity. But, in all truth, those were the only moments during which they ever felt, truly, like themself. Like Lux.
Like a hero.
So they’d heard, the media had praised them, lauded them for their victory. But they never spoke of the sacrifice it had taken.
Their friends’ visits were the only parts of the day that Lux had to get forward to. The rest of their life was filled with... this.
“Lux.” The doctor coaxed. “You need to do your exercises. You’re already getting so much better! But you won’t make any progress if you don’t try.”
“Don’ thwaa ex- thwaa ta.”
“Don’t want exercises, want talk?”
Lux narrowed their eyes. But, that had been what they were trying to say. The fact that it needed to be repeated, interpreted, however, made them feel sick.
“You need your exercises, Lux. How about we just try one more time? I know you can do it. You’re already doing so well!”
Eight simple words. Eight simple words, and Lux could be a hero again. Eight words, and they could be a person again.
“Okay, Lux. Repeat after me: The rains in Spain fall mainly on the plain.”
“Tha ran-”
Yet, that was all they could make out. Lux’s throat ran dry of words, void of syllables. They couldn’t speak before, and now, they couldn’t so much as make a sound.
They never cried in front of others. Never. Yet, that rule had been broken in the hospital already a dozen times. And, so it seems, this would make thirteen.
Lux’s chest was wracked with heavy sobs as they buried their face in their hands. Soon, tears leaked from beneath their shaking fingers.
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“I’m right here for you, Lux. Lean on me all you need.”
Nora’s voice carried the same cadence as water, meandering through a stream. Too, of course, did her gestures. A gentle, yet firm hand took Lux by the wrist, wrapping their arm around their comrade’s shoulder.
“It’s going to be hard, okay? It’s going to be hard. It’s okay to get tired. And you don’t have to get it on your first try. Or your fifth. Or your hundredth.”
Lux stopped listening on the last part.
This was it. The final gauntlet. Nearly an entire season spent within hospital walls-- now came their test. Everything counted on it. As far as they were concerned, it was a matter of life or death.
If they succeeded, they were home free. They could be brought home by their teammates-- of course, while still attending outpatient physical therapy, but still! They would be home.
And, yet, if they failed? They would be placed back in their hospital room. They would continue to be useless, a burden on both doctor and friend alike.
Everything was riding on this. Lux took a deep breath, and opened their eyes to face their challenge:
A hallway.
They had studied it extensively. Seven feet in width, and perhaps twenty in length. A tiny little thing, used only to get between two particular rooms. It was in the very depths of the hospital; that was why they were using it. There was no chance of distraction, of interruption.
“Are you ready, Lux?”
“Yesthh.”
“Okay.”
Their weight was leaned, nearly entirely, upon Nora. But, that didn’t matter. It wasn’t a test of standing on their own. If that was the test, they’d never get out of this hellish place. All they had to do was make it to the end of the hallway, with help. They could go slowly. They could lean. They could rest.
They only had to make it to the end.
Nora placed one foot forward, waiting for Lux to do the same, which they did, slowly and shakily. It was in this manner that they moved. One foot, one foot, staying always in the slowest of locksteps.
For Nora, it was simple.
For Lux, it was agony. Their knees felt mere milliseconds away from buckling, legs straining under the weight of the rest of them, even as the vast majority of it was leaned onto their friend.
Five feet. Five tiny, minuscule steps. That was how far Lux made it.
And then they were falling.
They did not remember the fall, not really. One moment, their knees had given out. And, the next, they were on their side, on the carpet.
Shaking.
This had been it. This had been their chance. All they had to do was walk down a hallway, that was it! Then, they could have gone home. Then, they could have been with their friends.
Then, they could have finally been a hero again.
And they’d failed. They’d failed the simplest of tasks.
In that moment, a certainty struck Lux like a dagger to the chest: They were never going to get better. Never. It didn’t matter how many exercises they did, how many doctors they saw. This whole thing was pointless! They were going to be worthless until the end of time.
On the floor, Lux screamed. It was a babbling, incoherent thing, as most sounds they made were. Too, they began to thrash, slamming their fists into the floor as they howled in anguish.
Then, they weren’t thrashing anymore. They couldn’t.
Lux had no need to open their eyes to tell what was happening. They knew Nora’s footsteps, knew the sound of her racing over. The feeling of her, hauling them into her arms. Holding them close.
They knew, also, the sounds of doors opening. Of more footsteps, familiar footsteps. Of chattering voices. Their friends’ voices.
Their whole-
Lux’s breath caught in their throat.
In order to avoid distraction, it had only been them and Nora in the room. They had assumed that it was only Nora who had visited that day. And, yet, they knew these voices.
Their whole...
Their whole team. Their whole team had come to watch. They counted every voice, every pair of footsteps. Every last one of their friends had come to watch them succeed.
But, they’d only watched them fail. Lux expected heckling, expected to be berated.
They did not expect the half-dozen pairs of arms, wrapped around them. They didn’t expect to be the center of a group hug.
“You’re doing so well.”
“You got so far!”
“Just a little more practice, and you’ll be back out there fighting crime in no time.”
“You’re almost there!”
“That’s the furthest you’ve been able to walk yet!”
“We’re proud of you.”
Lux’s tears did not stop.
And, yet, they realized something:
They were no longer tears of sorrow.
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chipper-smol · 3 years
Text
Feral Vessel Chain 2
reminder that these are being posted by when they finish and not chronologically 
Prompt: Herrah has a heart to heart with Feral about looking after Hornet once she’s called to fulfill her duty as a dreamer.
( @reverieriver​ )
“Feral one.”
Herrah’s voice, calm as it was, immediately had their attention. Ghost wouldn’t say they were afraid of the Beast, not by any stretch of the word--but they also weren’t inclined to go against her lest they get on her bad side. They’ve seen her bad side. It wasn’t something they wished to inflict on even the Radiance.
“Come with me. I need to speak with you in private.”
Respect, that was it. Everything about her presence demanded respect. That wasn’t something they gave freely, but they respected her. They nodded in silent affirmation, and followed as she led them away.
It was only when the both of them were settled in a quiet room away from the bustle of the Palace that Ghost noticed the tiny, red-cloaked form of a familiar spiderling clinging to her mother in her sleep. Their heart did a little jump inside their chest. It was still difficult to imagine this adorable being as the cold and stern sister that tried to kill them twice.
“Ghost.” Once again, Herrah’s voice redirected their attention at once, moreso now with the sound of their name. So she did know it. Father or Mother must have mentioned it in passing. Why did she need to talk to them, though? They watched her with intent curiosity. She said nothing at first, taking the time to contemplate her words before she spoke again. “You know what is going to happen.”
They tried their hardest to tamp down the sudden surge of panic that threatened to rise up. What did she mean by that? There wasn’t any way she could know, right? There might have been suspicions, of course, but they thought they were pretty good at hiding the whole “I’m from the future and know everything that’s going to happen” deal.
“You know of the plan the Wyrm has for us.” Oh. Right. That. That was something they knew anyway. Of course they did, they were technically part of it. But why bring it up now?
They watched as Herrah gingerly plucked her daughter from her cloak to cradle in her arms instead. The hatchling fussed for only a moment, scrubbing her eyes with tiny hands before nestling against her mother and settling into sleep again. There was a look in Herrah’s eyes that Ghost wasn’t sure they’ve ever seen before as she gazed down at Hornet. A certain softness, a mother’s affection... but also, fear. Uncertainty.
“I...” She faltered, and took a deep breath before continuing. “One day, I will enter an eternal slumber. On that day, and all the days after, I will not be able to care for my child. I will not be able to raise her.” She hugged her daughter a little closer. Her voice wavered in a way that made Ghost ache to the very core of their void. “I won’t see her grow up.”
Finally she looked at Ghost again, after collecting herself. “Someone will have to look after her, in my stead. Someone I trust enough to hold my child’s life in their hands.”
She moved in close to them. Something shifted, and their arms reflexively curled around a gentle weight placed in their grasp. Herrah pulled back, and Ghost realized with a start that Hornet now rested against them. The hatchling’s eyes blearily blinked open, looking up at Ghost... and then she nuzzled into them much like she had with her mother, and went back to sleep.
They looked up at Herrah again. There was something like a sad smile in her eyes. “Out of everyone here, I trust you the most. Ironic, isn’t it?”
Their gaze dropped back to the little slumbering spiderling in their arms. She was so small. So light, she barely weighed anything. But the gravity of the situation sat heavy in their mind, as they remembered again that she was one day going to grow into the Hornet they knew. They remembered again how she looked when they returned from the dream realm after breaking Herrah’s seal. They remembered her grief, and their own guilt.
They wanted more than anything to change that; to see her grow up with her mother; to see what kind of bug she would become if she never lost her, and never closed herself off to the world, cold and bitter. If they succeeded, and the Dreamers never had to Dream.
But if they failed, if they didn’t find a way to get the Dream Nail or some other means to fight the Radiance, then what would all this be for? Hornet would still lose her mother, their sibling would still be sealed away, everything would continue to fall apart in slow motion and there wouldn’t be anything they could do about it.
Ghost wanted to protect their family, but as things stood now, they couldn’t even protect them from their fates. Couldn’t even protect the spiderling in their arms, so small and so vulnerable, from the pain they knew she would suffer in the future. Vaguely, they were aware of Herrah beginning to say something when--
“No cry!” a tiny voice squeaked.
They looked down, startled. They hadn’t even realized that Hornet had awoken at some point. Worse yet, they hadn’t realized the moment that tears began spilling down their mask. But she had. “No cry,” she pleaded once more, a tiny hand reaching in their general direction as though trying to offer comfort. They dipped their head towards her, and she pawed at their tears.
It almost made them want to laugh, that their baby sister of all bugs would try to comfort them right now. They carefully shifted her weight to one arm so they could have a hand free to wipe their eyes.
“You... don’t have to, you know,” Herrah offered. “I simply thought that, considering how I trust you and how she adores you--”
Ghost raised their hand with a quick motion to say, stop. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to, that much was certain. But their resolve was set now; they were going to do everything in their power to make sure that they wouldn’t have to. Not that they could tell her as much. So they gave her a nod in answer. If, and only if, they did fail after everything was said and done, then they would take care of Hornet in her mother’s stead.
Herrah nodded in turn, and her relief was nearly tangible. They could only imagine how she must have worried for her daughter’s future. “Thank you, Ghost. Now, if I may have my child back?” She reached for Hornet, only for the spiderling to scuttle straight up Ghost’s head to settle between their horns in an attempt to get away. “Little one...”
“Wanna stay wif Ghos’!”
Herrah laughed softly. Ghost did as well, if only silently. “Well, alright, then. I suppose I can let you watch her for a while. I trust you’ll take good care of her.”
They nodded. No matter what happened, they promised: They would take care of their sister.
( @philliaesaya​, https://twitter.com/ArtistPhillia )
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( @ofstormsandfire​ )
If Ghost could speak, they’d have to say they very much underestimated just how high-energy their sister would be. But then, who would they say it to? They certainly wouldn’t admit it to the Pale King, who likely isn’t even aware of their current whereabouts, never mind Hornet’s. Herrah is a possibility. Their mother is also a possibility.
But due to a particular monarch’s insistence on his perfect vessel having no voice to cry suffering, Ghost is as voiceless as the day they were hatched. Never mind that they are, by choice, nearly as far from being that perfect, impossible vessel as anyone can be without actively colluding with the Radiance.
(That wasn’t a choice Ghost had ruled out, upon waking up in their past. They haven’t entirely ruled it out even now. But to do anything concerning the Radiance, Ghost would first need the Dream Nail. To get the Dream Nail, they first need to find the Seer. And, unfortunately, their drawings of moths when shown to others are always mistaken for surprisingly non-insulting caricatures of the king.)
“Ghostie! Be tall!”
Out of nowhere, Hornet leaps all the way from the ground to cling onto Ghost’s mask. She hangs there and giggles. Her giggles only intensify as she starts to slip.
If Ghost could smile, they would. As is, they catch her with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside, and deposit her once again in the space between their horns. Hornet grabs both of them with a tiny cheer, and they start walking again.
They still can’t quite decide what is stranger: Hornet being this small, or Hornet being this friendly. This is a Hornet long before her life and her family fell apart, before any of the things that make her who she becomes go horribly wrong. But they still see the Hornet they know in her own, clumsy attempts at pranking the king, attempts that are slowly but surely getting better and better.
The Pale King blames Ghost, as he does for even the smallest and fully unrelated inconvenience. Ghost strongly suspects Hornet would have turned out like this with or without their influence.
Their wandering takes them to the Resting Grounds, as it often does. Never before has it been with their sister in tow. They pass the space where Xero’s grave will rest, the not-yet-built memorial to the Dreamers. Both are reminders of time running out.
Xero did not turn against the king for no reason. He has not, yet. He will not until their sibling is sealed away, and it is becoming clearer and clearer that the desperate plan the king pinned everything on has failed.
There were Six Great Knights, once.
And the Dreamers… Ghost cannot speak for Lurien, as the Watcher is conspicuously absent from his Spire whenever Ghost comes around. Perhaps he knows, somehow, that Ghost would exact revenge for his knights in prank after prank after prank. Perhaps he doesn’t, but merely suspects what Ghost is up to and hides himself away in preparation. But even he does not deserve to sleep forever, no matter how many times they were reduced to shade and broken shell attempting to reach him.
They have met Monomon and Herrah, however. Monomon automatically earns a place on their List Of Bugs They Like, Actually by sheer virtue of unintentionally assisting them in their sacred quest of vengeance (and on one notable occasion, very intentionally assisting them.) Quirrel had already been there, and nothing short of him attempting to kill them would take him off that list. Their opinion of him had shot up with his involvement in the Unn Incident, however.
Herrah is so much like the Hornet Ghost remembers that it’s painful. They’d overheard her, once, saying that a large part of why she’d agreed to this was so Hornet wouldn’t have to go through the things she had.
There had been no crimes committed against the king that day. They had been too busy crying somewhere no one would find them.
Lost in their thoughts, they almost miss the flash of movement up ahead. Almost. They do not, however, miss the gasp, nor the… was that a purple cloak?
It might have been. It was certainly some dark color. The Seer wore a dark purple cloak, or perhaps those were the wings they never saw her use outside the realm of dreams. That might not be the Seer. That could be any other bug, or even just a figment of their imagination.
But if it is her… why would she be hiding from them?
The answer is so obvious, Ghost could kick themself for not realizing it sooner. Of course the Seer would hide from a vessel, now. For all she knows, they could be their sibling, but even if she has no knowledge of the Pale King’s plans, of course she’d hide from someone close to the king.
They have no voice to explain otherwise. Somehow, Ghost gets the feeling she won’t stick around long enough for them to sign anything, and even if she did, she wouldn’t know their signs! Only they, their sibling (who Ghost stubbornly refuses to refer to even mentally as Hollow, because they are not) and to a limited extent, their mother understand their signs.
They can’t exactly write an explanation, either.
Maybe they can steal the Dream Nail? They would feel kind of bad, but it’s for a good cause and they can always just give it back once they’ve dealt with the Radiance, however they’re dealing with the Radiance. That might be their best option at the moment, actually, but what if the Seer attacks them?
What if she attacks Hornet?
They reach up to their horns, disentangling the tiny presence there that had just begun to purr. Internally, they apologize for setting her down.
“Ghostie? Where you going?”
I’m sorry. I’ll be right back. They pat her on the head and pull out a charm: Nailmaster’s Glory, no longer in Sly’s possession and unlikely to be returned to Sly’s possession anytime soon. Ghost places it in her tiny grasp and closes her grip around it.
“Keep dis safe?”
Ghost nods.
“Like Ghost keep safe?”
Their shoulders sag, but they still nod.
“I’ll be right back,” they sign, even though it will be a very long time before she understands half of what they say around her. Somehow, somehow, Hornet seems to understand.
“Back soon,” Hornet says impatiently. That, Ghost nods to much more forcefully, and then they turn and run.
They do not find the Seer, though not for lack of searching. Unfortunately, they cannot fit into all the tiny spaces they could when smaller. After they’ve looked through what feels like the entirety of the Resting Grounds, they eventually give up and return to where they left Hornet. They can’t help but be relieved when they see her there, sitting on the lip of a tombstone, swinging her lowest set of legs back and forth without a care in the world.
“Ghost!” Hornet cheers once she sees them. “Wanna show something!”
Ghost nods wordlessly, and kneels in front of her. Hornet chrrs in concentration. She reaches back into thin air, but there’s something shiny in her grip. The charm they left with her, perhaps? No, that’s in her other hand, and honestly, Sly never kept it in as good of condition as they did.
Then pink light erupts from her back hand. Familiar pink light, in the unfamiliar form of a needle. For a few, brief moments, Ghost is the closest to truly hollow they’ve ever been from the utter confusion radiating from them.
What the fuck, they think as Hornet swings.
The Dream Nail—Dream Needle now, what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck, passes through them harmlessly. It tickles, actually. Apparently learn what the Dream Nail feels like on the receiving end is something they can cross off their bucket list, although there’s a distinct funny feeling after. If they didn’t know what it was and what it did, they would have assumed the Dream Needle was merely a trick of the light.
But they found the Dream Nail. Hornet has the Dream Nail. Needle. Of course it would take the form of a needle for her. Has she even seen a real needle yet?
Hornet blinks innocently up at them and says, cheerfully, “Fuck!”
Their sibling finds them on the outskirts of the City of Tears, nail strapped to their back in the same way Ghost’s stick is. Free from prying eyes, they cross their arms and tap their foot impatiently, as if expecting an explanation.
Ghost signs, Not sorry.
“Holly!” Hornet crows from her perch atop Ghost’s horns.
Holly… that’s actually a name Ghost can get behind, for their sibling. As usual, Hornet is the best at names, even if she doesn’t know it yet.
“Hello, little sister,” Holly signs back, having apparently deemed Hornet safe enough. Even if she isn’t, who would look at Holly next to ghost and honestly assume that they weren’t hollow either?
The Pale King sure wouldn’t, and right now, that’s all that matters.
Hornet doesn’t understand a word they’re signing. Dream Needle tucked carefully in her dress, she proudly proclaims, “FUCK!”
Holly looks at Ghost. Ghost shrugs helplessly.
“We don’t even have a sign for that. How?”
Ghost shrugs again, because they don’t have a sign for the explanation either.
Holly sighs. They resume their typical, supposedly hollow stance. “Let’s go home.”
The White Palace is not home to Ghost. It never has been, and it never will be. But when Holly extends a hand to them, they take it.
The Pale King’s reaction, once they return, is glorious. And he can’t even really blame Ghost, because no fucking voice to cry suffering, asshole! No voice to teach their little sister to curse, either! Of course, he blames them anyway, but it’s the principle of the matter.
And no matter who he blames, it doesn’t change the fact that Hornet has a new favorite word, and it’s going to be echoing through the palace for weeks. Maybe it’ll drive him crazy. Maybe it’ll distract him from Hornet’s newest toy.
Ghost knows where the Dream Nail is now, but that’s just the beginning. They still haven’t seen anything of the Godseeker. Without the Godseeker, how the—to quote their favorite sister—fuck are they going to find the Radiance?
There’s much to think about. And they’re slowly, oh so slowly yet oh so quickly, running out of time.
At least they have Hornet scandalizing nearly every adult in the White Palace in the meantime.
( @tangelojack​ )
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( @idiotjuicyy​ )
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( @dovalore​,  https://twitter.com/dovalore )
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( @lesiasmadness​ )
Lullaby Lament
Nothing was ever off limits to the princess of Deepnest. The fact that she hasn’t grown to be spoiled rotten was great testament to her graceful and collected nature.
“Only proves that she does take after my dear Wyrm,” thought the White Lady as she gently cradled Hornet. A little while ago the Gendered Child was carried by her collar into the garden by the Pale King, after an adventurous day in the Palace with her half brothers. The King didn’t give his wife many chances to figure out what exactly transpired that finally got all the little ones in trouble, but it definitely involved Grimm’s spawn setting something on fire and sweets. The queen allowed herself to giggle softly now that her sweetheart was out of sight, her branches shaking a bit, causing the child in her hands to move a bit in her sleep, only having drifted off recently. Silence finally filled the White Palace, a rare occurrence nowadays, as Hollow was sent to his fathers office to wait for his disciplining, Grimmchild was tossed into the troupe masters hands like a naughty kitten to his owner, and Ghost ran off somewhere, no doubt to resurface soon and unite with his new found nightmare spawn friend. But for a short while, all was quiet.
Hornet brought a new kind of chaos to the Palace. Something the White Lady should have expected, but couldn’t have predicted the feelings it would invoke. Hornet was an actual kid. Unlike the two vessels who could, as soon as they hatched, climb their way up the ledges most adults would struggle with, the Gendered Child needed to be cradled and fed, supervised at all times. In other words, she was vulnerable. Anything happening in her sight left a mark on her, and seeing those changes filled the queens heart and mind with fascination and worry at the same time.
The first time Herrah brought her little one to a meeting, the baby wouldn’t stay quiet, and despite all the disruption it caused, the White Lady wanted them to stay for as long as possible. For the first time in many years, she heard a child’s laughter. Ever since that day, any time Feral shook his shoulder indicating a mischievous chuckle, the queen's mind goes back to that moment.
Not a sprout of envy ever rooted itself in the White Lady’s heart. It didn’t even cross her mind until Dryya asked if she might be resentful of the Deepnest’s queen for getting to hear her daughter’s voice, while she didn’t even know how it felt to hear “mom” once. Her answer was that Herrah would never feel the same euphoria that came over White Lady when she finally figured out how to speak to her child with their hands,
seeing them sign, “happy! happy! happy!” over and over. The joys of motherhood came in many unpredictable ways, and the journey would never be the same for any two families. But despite the differences, and despite almost never speaking to each other aside from diplomatic affairs, the two queens understood each other in the feelings that plagued them at every waking hour. First, it was a desperate desire to have an offspring of their own. Perhaps that understanding was why, upon hearing the request to have the king’s child, the White Lady agreed even before her husband did. Then, another feeling resonated between the two. Constant, cold dread. Dread of their time with their children running out. It might take years before the time came for Hollow to step into his role of being a sacrifice to the kingdom. But even now, there wasn’t a moment when Herrah’s heart didn’t ache, not for herself being deprived of both life and death, as a Dreamer, but for her daughter being left on her own. At least White Lady will get to nurture the feral vessel even after Hollow is reduced to a living gravestone. But even then, the queen would soon lose her only link to the child. As every new sign they learned together only reminded her of how fast her vision was weakining...
“Root lady!”
The queen’s wandering thoughts scattered like a flock of startled maskflys. She hadn’t noticed Hornet opening her eyes a few moments earlier.
“Have I disturbed your slumber with my light, little princess?” “Nu! I’m not sleepy. I didn’t sleep! Imma go play with Ghost.”
Ghost tried to pull the same bluff sometimes, as if the letters on his paper didn’t trail off the borders, turning into a crooked line ending where his quill lay as he dozed off right there on the table, sometimes right in his mother’s lap.
“Oh? You’re not sleepy at all? Goodness, Ghost must have been running way more than you today” - The queen made an exaggerated confused expression.
“No! I run more! And faster! Ghost can never catch me.”
To much of Hollow’s confusion, Ghost often play-raced with his little sister, and always lost on purpose. Something he suspected was that she didn’t get much slack back home, as it wasn’t customary in Deepnest to go easy on anyone, even if it’s to humor a child. No doubt once she’s old enough to train with a nail, she’ll know just how much building character is prioritised over mercy in those lands.
“That can’t be right,” - The White Lady put a hand to her chin, pretending to be deep in thought. - “They surely are more tired. How can it be that Ghost is already asleep, but Hornet isn’t even sleepy?”
“Ghost sleeps now? Bleh, baby.”
“Maybe little Hornet should sleep a little too. Your mother is talking to the king about important things, but they are taking a longer time because, can you imagine? While they were having a meeting, some kids made a fire in the palace!”
The humm of the garden filled with Hornet’s chiming laughter, as she flailed her tiny feet a little bit in amusement.
“That’s Ghost! Me, too. We made sticky sweets!”- the little spider announced proudly, showing her hands, still covered in bits of burnt marshmallow.
“Really?” “Ye! The flying... The flying bug... Lilpet made fire with his mouth!” “Lilpet?” “Ghost’s Lilpet. They can fly and have pretty eyes.”
After a few seconds, the queen deciphered that Hornet gave Grimmchild that name hearing her mother call it “Ghost’s little pet.”
“Ah, I understand. Do you like them? “Lilpet makes soft sounds. I like them more than sounds at home.”
From Dryya’s tales, the White Lady knew that from every tunnel in Deepnest you could hear the hissing of its wilder residents. Although she’d expect living there would make one numb to such sounds. However, the only noise in the White Palace was the one kids caused. Perhaps the difference is playing with Hornet’s ears. Hornet liked it in the Palace. So many spaces for her to climb and stick her silk to, and brothers to look after her, who would always find a way to catch up, even on the ceiling, getting them to chase her was almost its own game. Besides, she’s never forbidden from doing anything, as Herrah wouldn’t let the king boss her child around, thus White Lady being the only one he cpuld turn to to tame the rambunctious child. At home, she’s probably running wild as well. Herrah had no reason nor will to restrict her child from anything that’s not dangerous. She wanted to spend what little time she had left seeing her little daughter curious, free, and happy. So causing chaos at home wasn’t nearly as fun as raising the roof of the palace, though, as she won’t get the same reaction she gets from the Pale King. And having an accomplice in Ghost makes it double the fun.
The noisy mischief those two cause amused the queen every time, but the moments of quiet the two share are much more precious. Ghost would often try to teach their sister their signs, and being young and clever, she picks them up no problem, although the learning process resembled charades. Hornet is often Ghosts voice, and she cheers as much as the vessel does once they manage to communicate something to servants in the castle or the knights. Watching her child indulge in the process of teaching others the same way she does warmed their mother’s heart.
“...When will mom co-...?” - Hornet yawned mid-word.
“They need some more time, little princess. But I heard sleeping makes time go faster.”
“You made that up!”
“My-my, you are a clever child! People can tell you a lot of lies, but you can ask your mom if what I said was true.”
“I can’t ask her now.” “We’ll just have to wait then, huh. ... Or you could try and see for yourself“ “But I can’t sleep. I’m not tired!”
“Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?” “What is lulby?”
“A special song they sing to princesses when they can’t sleep.” “You made that up again!” “Well, I won’t sing it then.” “No, I wanna hear!”
“Lie down and close your eyes then.”
The queen wrapped her hands around Deepnest’s princess, dimming her glow, and a soft hum soon crept just at the edges of Hornet’s hearing. It grew into a melody, and somehow, a song, although the sounds weren't like words at all, they resembled ringing, resonating with the sound of the garden, and the specks of white glow seemed to dance to their tune. The pale beings song was not in any language, but the meaning of its lines Hornet would carry in her memory long after, and years later she’d put them into words she could actually sing herself.
Twist the spindle Round and round Princess sleeps Don’t make a sound Born of three
And left with none Stop the spindle thread is done.
In the darkness
Far below
Wishing star
Is born to glow
Thread by thread
The star has sawn Silky web
they’ll call their own
Soon came spring To be her guest
Gave her life Then left to rest Summer came Was brief and sad left behind
A cloak of red Autumn took The lone star in Made her strong Fit to be queen Winter shook The web star made Soon two bugs Came for her aid Hide the bugs
In her cocoon Safe from winter
Pale as moon Twist the spindle Round and round Princess sleeps Don’t make a sound Born of three And left with none Stop the spindle thread is done.
To the gentle hum of the song Herrah found her daughter sleeping in White Lady’s hands. No words were exchanged between them as she gently took Hornet and held her close, the little princess will soon be home.
( @huntersapprentice​ )
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( @astronomicartz​ ) 
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( @brimal-baspid​ )
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Terrible to Meet You - A Harry Styles One Shot - Act 2, Let not the time discern
++
Harry wants to get out of the house. Alex wants to get home.
Alex meets Harry at at crossroads. Harry meets Alex on a one way street.
A coffee shop OU fic feat. lattes, lamingtons & that Great Unfathomable Feeling.
Story Page Here My Masterlist Here
Read Act 1, If at first we meet Here
++
Two of Us:  'This universe ain't big enough to keep us apart'
&&&
Harry went back to the cafe the next day. (And, after that, every day for a medium while)
There was something about it. Something about the tiny cafe he must have walked past a hundred times before but never took much notice of. Perhaps it was the way he felt the rest of the day after having been there. Or the fact the coffee was fucking good. But also maybe it was her—kind eyes, a foreign accent and a quick wit. It would take Harry's mind and body marginally longer than his heart to recognise what pulled him there. 
Alex was surprised when he returned. Part of her was relieved, too. The other part of her was busy extracting the dagger of guilt that shot through her chest. Seeing Harry reminded her that she forgot to tell her flatmates the juicy The Daily Dose gossip about Harry Styles. And Harry walking up to the window a little before 8 am with a calm but reassuring smile on his face made something in her still, and Alex realised he wasn't gossip at all. 
"Hi," he greeted her pleasantly, seemingly thinking nothing of the way his hand was tucked into the top of his running shorts to extract his phone for payment. (Alex's heart did a lusty little backflip) She saw a slither of a toned tummy and the way the elastic of the shorts folded over itself, "I'm back for more," he said.
More coffee, and more of whatever else it was packaged into the takeaway cups with it. Alex and Paul were Harry's first human interaction after returning from LA. And, where 24 hours prior his aching need had been to see literally anybody, it was now just a need to see more of this somebody. A person whose name he didn't know yet and who Harry had absolutely no reason to feel connected to at all. Knitted hearts aren't visible to the human eye, not when it isn't Looking.
He did though. Although the way she was now watching him with a completely blank expression on her face and a far off look in her eyes made Harry's confidence falter. He repeated what he'd already said over in his head looking for where he might've gone wrong. Harry came up blank. Was she completely freaked out by him already?
Paul rescued her from what Alex was sure was turning into a flushed moment for her. Did Harry really not realise what he'd said with his fingers beyond the elastic of his shorts? Paul's head appeared over her shoulder as a frown started to appear on Harry's face, "Careful Harry, she's a grump today."
Nobody blinked an eye at Paul using Harry's name before it was technically given to them. 
"I am not," Alex insisted too quickly, too forcefully. Her elbow launched backwards, trying to catch Paul's gut. She really was a grump. But last night's wine was still causing her head to thump and her throat to ache. Tears and a bottle of red worked well in the moment but weren't as comforting the morning after. 
Paul's eyebrows rose in Harry's direction, and he waved a hand out in front of him, expertly weaving away from her attack even in the tiny space, "See?"
"Ah," Harry nodded awkwardly and briefly looked at his feet.
"Doesn't like it when I start talking about universe stuff," Paul explained loudly, despite nobody asking for him to. "Very spiritually pragmatic, the Australians."
"Didn't know that," Harry added, expression turning to one of interest. He wasn't involved in this part of the conversation the previous day.
"Long black?" Alex asked because yes she remembered his order, and she had the defence of it having been less than 24 hours since she last made Harry's coffee in case anyone started raising eyebrows for another reason.
"Uh, yeah," Harry fumbled over how quickly the exchange turned to business, "Thank you."
She got to work but felt Harry's eyes on her as her hands ran on autopilot, stepping through the process. The click click of the bean hopper, the churn of the grinder, packing the head … Alex put the machine on to run and internally cursed Paul, who took himself into the back room, mumbling something about them running low on serviettes. A blatant lie. 
Now, when she turned back to Harry, she tried to look calm and serene, like him. But she was already covered in coffee grind and couldn't be sure there wasn't a smudge of it across her face. Paul never told her when there was. Harry's heart was waving to hers widely.
"So … You're definitely not in a bad mood then?" Harry had an expression on his face that told Alex he was testing the waters, but the teasing note was there in just the right amount. 
"I'm hungover, which is completely different," she provided.
His smile turned into a grimace, "Oh yeah, completely … Nothing worse … Self-inflicted misery."
Alex tried not to let Harry's awkwardness affect her and in doing so fell into an old pastime of hers; filing the silence with mindless chatter, "Exactly. And then if you add in some idiot going on about the universe and it's wonderful, eternal plans for my existence … I could just kill a man, you know?"
Paul, Paul is the man I could kill, she thought.
He didn't know, but Harry nodded obediently anyway, "You need carbs and coffee, not the cosmos."
"Thank you," Alex gave Harry a look that told him she thought it was obvious the two of them were right, "I mean, the downright gall of that man, trying to put the universe on me this year of all years. Absolutely bloody insane."
Harry tried to hide the instant smile that came to his face hearing her accent navigate absolutely bloody insane. "I'm Harry … By the way … Feel like we're at names."
"Alexandra. But it's Alex." She added quickly, ignoring the lovely, melodic chuckle that came from Harry, "Do you really think that this year, with a global pandemic, anyone can claim that the universe is conspiring for their specific good? Like, 'Sorry everyone about the pandemic, this is really about my destiny, so you're all just going to have to hang tight while that all falls into place!' This is a terrible year. The universe isn't setting up shit."
"Well, it's terrible to meet you, Alex," Harry grinned, stealing her word. She really was in a grump, and he loved it. But if there was one thing Harry knew how to do, it was charm and disarm. He had a feeling nothing would look as lovely as Alex with a blush he'd put there. 
Alex paused where she was about to put the lid on his coffee. She felt her cheeks heat as the last few moments played over in her head—her ranting, Harry's introduction, threatening to murder a man—and then she took in the way he was watching her. A little pink-cheeked himself, amused but not appalled, a waiting look of anticipation on his face for what might come out of her big mouth next. 
"I think I might still be a little drunk," she excused meekly. Despite herself, Alex thought she might have a little crush.
"You're handling it well," Harry provided kindly, taking the coffee from where Alex put it down in front of him. He waved his phone over the payment portal, waiting for the beep before locking the screen and going back to looking at her, "Drinking for any particular reason?"
"Oh," Alex's eyes widened, "I—
—"Sorry, that was intrusive of me."
"No, it's okay," she continued quietly, not seeing the way her softening had Harry frowning in concentration to tune into what she was about to say, "I've been trying to get home—back to Australia—for a while now. Flights keep getting cancelled or, on Saturday, I was bumped from one at Heathrow…. So we're back to square one."
Dread filled Harry instantly. He could see how upset Alex was, the heartache in her voice—the homesickness—and he hated this look on her, the opposite to the one he'd just daydreamed about. If there was one thing Harry knew it was what it was to miss home. There was no cure for it. A dozen ways he could offer to help burst to the tip of his tongue, but he held them back. 
"I'm sorry, that's really shit. Have …" he hesitated to ask, "Have they put you on another one?"
She smiled through glassy eyes, "It's complicated, that's not really how flights home are working at the moment … But it's alright! I'm fine. I'll get there eventually. I got the refund for the first one, back in April, last week and Paul's let me come back to work here three times now so … This can't last forever, right?"
Harry didn't have an answer for that, he was in no hurry to return to his house as he took a sip of his coffee, "How long has it been since you were home?"
"I went back for a visit a little over two years ago," Alex flipped a button on the espresso machine in front of her, to distract herself from the subject but also the way Harry was watching her. If only she could see the way the hearts were watching each other. She started rinsing out her coffee mug under the stream of boiling water, "My sister came over for Christmas last year, though."
"I just got back from America," Harry provided without knowing where the urge to comfort this stranger was coming from, "I was only gone a few months, and it was a little hard to get back, it felt dreadful, so I can't imagine what it's like for you. That's a long time to be so far from home, especially now."
While he spoke, Alex started making herself a latte, for something to do in the moment and for something to hold onto if Harry stayed at the window. 
"How long have you been in London?" He asked. How long have you been just around the corner? Harry thought. 
When she looked over at him, Harry felt like she was seeing through him. There was something about her soft, brown eyes and the way they exuded kindness that had him buoyant with giddiness at the same time as feeling incredibly self-conscious. 
"Four years now," Alex told him, "Was supposed to be just a 12-month adventure."
"Your family must miss you then."
She shrugged, "I think they're used to it now. Life moves on without you, which is strange at first. Tough to get used to, that the people who own you suddenly have lives you only know about from catch-ups and Instagram posts."
Harry didn't know how to tell her that he knew exactly what she meant. He'd been struggling with that very notion for years now. Home never left like the same home he remembered, and wherever he found himself living—LA or the road—never quite felt right either. 
"I've loved it though," Alex added, "Wouldn't have stayed if I didn't. This year though … I just want to be home, London's… Lost something."
Harry watched her shake herself out of the sad moment, her face brightened, and he barely registered the way Alex said in a genuinely upbeat fashion that she'd just have to wait for her time. He smiled along with the rising of her cheeks and felt like he saw a transition between two feelings that was entirely healthy and okay. She wasn't pretending. Her graciousness and patience with life were astounding, despite the fact he'd equally seen her sadness as being genuine as well. The balance there was enlightening. 
"Need to make the most of the bonus time you've been given here then," he tried hesitantly. The hearts nodded at each other, gleefully. 
That had been the right thing to say, the smile on Alex's face amplified in agreement, "Exactly.”
3AM 'She's got a little bit of something' &&&
Alex was sitting on an upturned milk crate as Harry rounded the corner. 
His step faltered but only because she was looking right at him as if expecting him to arrive. He smiled under his mask and tugged it down while he was still a reasonable distance away. Alex smiling at him, holy hell did that taste—the flavour of her spirit—feel good in Harry's chest. Each day for nearly a month he'd felt the same way every time he saw her.
Alex received a text message from Harry just after 7 am that morning. Unlike the ones he sent every other day telling her he was on his way (an old fashioned tip from his sister, to demonstrate to Alex that Harry was thinking of her) that morning Harry told her he wouldn't see her until the afternoon. All day, she waited. Her heart tapped its foot impatiently in her chest, a nervous ticking that made Alex clumsy and disappointed when every new customer wasn't him.
"Hello," Harry grinned back at her, because that was all he could do, really. In her presence happiness exploded out of him and charged his whole body faster than caffeine ever could. His shoe scuffed the concrete path again as he looked at the closed cafe behind her, "Did I miss something?"
Harry stopped a safe distance from her, not sure how this new level of interaction would go. He'd never seen her whole body all at once, part of her was always obscured by the cafe window. Alex in the flesh—in the whole—was like the first taste of chilli on his tongue, invigorating in a way that stole the breath from his lungs.
"We close at three every day," she stayed seated but pushed another crate towards him with her foot. There were brown smudges of coffee grind all up and down her shins, and he guessed the black jeans she wore to work were strategic.
Harry squinted the sign on the window by the door, he was always occupied by her and didn't need arbitrary activities like reading signs to keep him entertained waiting for his coffee, "Really?"
"You usually come in the morning," Alex said pleasantly, waiting for him to sit down opposite her, "Here."
Harry was overwhelmed, he really was, by the sight of a white takeaway cup in her hand, and he reached for it carefully, "What's this—Alex."
"Can't have you missing your coffee … Made it right before closing, had to put the tiniest drop of milk in there otherwise it would shit itself and taste horrendous," she laughed at his wrinkled nose at the mention of milk, he sniffed the lid just to tease her or to get her to roll her eyes at him blithely. It worked, "It won't kill you, promise."
"Says someone whose intestines know how to handle lactose without making you shit yourself," he borrowed her phrase. Sounded better when Alex said it, with the wideness and the breadth of her accent. 
Alex tilted her head back and laughed. Really laughed and Harry didn't have it in him to be embarrassed or scold himself for how he just spoke about his bowels in front of her, because the sound is marvellous and so Alex. It's unapologetic and genuine and a touch off-beat, which he loves. 
"Holy shit," she let out a long, shaking breath afterwards, holding a palm to her rib as if in pain. She was pretending not to notice how Harry stared at her while she was laughing as if extremely happy with himself. "You wear white bottoms far too often for that to be a daily worry for you."
"Oh, it's a worry," Harry insisted, mainly to keep the joke going. He felt like his face was about to crack in half, "I can't have people spiking my coffees without my knowledge," Harry took a sip but then pointed his finger at her playfully, "I'm going to have to keep an eye on you."
As if he wasn't already.
"Busy day?" Alex asks, watching Harry take a hearty sip of the coffee she made him.
"Yeah, I um … I had some, ah, work stuff."
"Oh?" Alex crossed one leg over the other and looked at Harry with (mock) interest, "What do you do for work?"
Harry's eyes bulged involuntarily, and his mind went completely blank. Did she actually not know? 
Alex only let the horror play on his face for a few seconds, "I'm kidding! I'm kidding. Jesus, Harry, sorry. I was just having a go."
"You're an excellent actress, as it turns out," he swallowed down the moment of panic. It only ever happened once before, years before, that a girl he'd been interested in hadn't known who Harry was beforehand. It hadn't ended up going down well.
Alex asks Harry about the book recommendation she sent him the week before, whether he'd started reading it yet. 
Harry held up a finger at her, "I've been meaning to talk to you about that," he said, "But I haven't had lunch … I'd promised myself one of Paul's ham and cheese croissants."
"Well, you're shit out of luck, unfortunately," Alex told him, "He takes the keys with him, I can't break in and make you one. But the cafe on the high street around the corner stays open until five. You could try there?"
Harry felt like he was about to defecate himself, but it wasn't from the lactose, "Will you join me?"
Alex's eyes brightening instantly, but Harry didn't miss the way her cheeks reddened, "Sure. Of course."
"Great!" Harry coughed down his too-enthusiastic response then worried—as everyone did in 2020—that his physical reaction to her saying yes, the cough, would be interpreted as a symptom of something else entirely. He checks the time on his Apple Watch, "Should we go then?"
They walk in step away from The Daily Dose, and away from the previous pattern of their friendship. It strikes them both that this is the first time (both trip over 'first' in their minds as having the possibility to suggest it happening more often but their hearts have known all along, of course) they were out in the world together, the first time they were more than barista and customer.
Harry's hand touched Alex's forearm when they got to the cafe's door as he held it open and encouraged her to go inside. They ordered takeaway, Harry got a croissant (he was still working on the coffee Alex made him) while Alex ordered a tea. They then walked back a little way to where there was a small park with vacant seats Harry noticed on the way past. 
"So, the book …" Alex asked him, the lid of her tea is off to let the heat escape. She’d crossed her legs and angled her hips towards him on the bench seat. Harry faced forward, heart hammering as he tried to remember how to use his voice.
Harry struggled to look dignified while biting into his too-hot croissant, the cheese burnt his lip, but he tried to hide it, "Oh, yeah, well, I haven't started it."
"I thought you said you wanted to speak to me about it!" She laughed.
"A ploy," Harry admitted sheepishly, "Was trying to figure out how to ask you to come with me."
In her head, Alex squealed. Her heart held two thumbs up at Harry's.
"How's the coffee," she asked, eyeing the cup in his hand.
Harry grins, knowing his next line is a winner, "Best in London, easily."
+++
GIve me all your best Alex & Harry theories Act 3, Hearts beat not fail - coming soon!
+++
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honeybeezx · 3 years
Text
Armor - Oberyn Martell x Reader x Ellaria Sand - Part 3
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Author’s Note:  Guys, gals, and non-binary pals, I give you more Prince Oberyn. This chapter really focuses on him and reader but I promise we'll get to Ellaria soon :) For now, enjoy our favorite prince!
Summary: Oberyn visits you at King's Landing
Word Count: 4.4K
Warnings: mentions of death
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“And he was pleased?” Tyrion asked as you both sat in the peaceful library of the palace. You sat in the window sill, Tyrion at a desk not far from you.
“He was.” You confirmed. A little too pleased, but Tyrion didn’t need to know that. “The prince is certainly...passionate. He doesn’t hide much does he?”
“No...it’s an asset for him rather than a weakness. He has no secrets so there is nothing for us to exploit as an advantage over him should we have ever needed one.” Tyrion said, sighing as the wheels of his mind began turning. You could always tell when he was deep in thought. His brow furrowed and he looked somewhat distant. “We do have his passion for revenge to use against him though. He wishes to seek revenge for his sister. If we can direct that revenge towards The Mountain rather than towards my father, we may escape this wedding with all Lannisters in tact.”
“You say that as if it were a good thing.” You snipped. Tyrion eyed you with contempt.
“They are still my family. As often as I think about throwing Cersei and her demon of a son in a dark cell somewhere, they are my blood as well as king and queen regent.” He reminded with a chastising tone.
You gruffed and turned your head to look out onto the city. It was aggravating when he looked at you as if you were a child. You loved Tyrion, but sometimes his intelligence and the fact that he was a bit older annoyed you. “All I’m saying is that your sister and nephew are not the most empathetic of people. They don’t rule, they just seize power. They’re no king and queen...just tiny people wanting to feel big.”
“Your choice of words wounds me.” Tyrion teased.
You rolled your eyes and gave a small chuckle. “You are twice more human than anyone in your family and you know very well that your stature does not diminish that.” You were more scolding him than complimenting him. He knew you better than that. He gave a small chuckle, amused at your annoyance only to annoy you more.
“You are very kind to say so. I wish Cersei had your compassion. It seems nowadays she points out my stature every chance she gets.”
“It’s only because it’s her only weapon against you.” You reminded him.
Tyrion gave a small chuckle. “Let’s pray she doesn’t have one against you. Your little bit of theater upon our arrival has already put you on her bad side-“
“I don’t care what side I’m on.”
“Well you should.” Tyrion retorted. He tensed before taking pause and sighing. The pressure in his shoulders subsided as he calmed himself. “You forget that Cersei is queen regent and her son is a tyrannical king. You are skilled with a bow, but you are only one person. Cersei has an entire army and she will not hesitate to use it if you push too far.”
You were finding that King’s Landing was your least favorite place on earth. Before you could pick fights with whomever you pleased and you could get yourself out of them before anyone could inflicting any harm upon you. Being silent around someone who made your blood boil was proving difficult. How could one city harbor so many people you despised?
Before you could respond, a guard promptly entered the library, looking frantically between the two of you before his eyes settled on Tyrion. “My lord, Prince Oberyn has arrived at the palace and is waiting in the gardens.”
“I should have known he’d visit sooner or later.” Tyrion sighed and got up from his chair. He was about to leave when the guard blocked his path.
“Forgive me my lord, but his request was for the Silver Hawk specifically.”
Your eyes widened in surprise as both men eyed you curiously. “Well don’t look to me! I didn’t invite him in.” You quipped, out of defense. You knew exactly why he was here. He wasn’t going to kill you. No, he’d be too bold to do so right in the king’s palace as a guest to the royal wedding, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t threaten you.
“It seems our little hawk has made a friend.” Tyrion teased, but looked to you for further explanation.
“I have done no such thing.” You huffed as you strapped on your bow and sling of arrows, as if to prove a point. “If I had to guess, he wants me to shoot for him. Apparently, his brother told him of me and now he wants to see if the rumors are true.” You lied. He was here to threaten you, or worse, tell Tyrion about your temper while with him and his paramour in the brothel. He had just scolded you for not taking heed with the queen regent, you didn’t need to hear it again over Prince Oberyn.
“I’m sure that will go over well.” Tyrion laughed. “If you don’t want to show him you don’t have to. But you must decline him politely if that is your decision. Be cordial, but you are not entertainment.”
You smiled at your friend. Sometimes you wondered if anyone else understood you so well. “I suppose I must break it to him gently then. Maybe I’ll offer him a girl as compensation.” You laughed, though you weren’t so sure he wouldn’t hold you to that.
———————————
It was sunny outside, far too sunny for your liking. Your leather armor did not suit the beating sun. You felt beads of sweat down your back, but you ignored it. You weren’t about to meet the man you offended armorless, knowing full well that he kept a dagger on him.
You wondered the gardens a bit, but he was nowhere to be seen. You kept your eyes peeled for a flash of yellow or gold, only to be deceived by the bright flowers that surrounded you as you walked the stone path.
You finally came upon the beautiful pond that marked the middle of the garden. It was captivating, tranquil. Lilly pads with little white flowers blooming on top, and little fish swimming to the top of the water only to sink bellow its depths once more, it was enough to put you at ease, if only for a moment. Not able to resist, you let your hand skim along the surface. The cool of it sent goosebumps on your skin, what you wouldn’t give to dive in, just for a bit.
“It’s beautiful is it not?”
You shot straight up and turned at the sound of the accented voice. Sure enough, Oberyn was behind you, giving a small smile. How long has he been there? Was he watching you this whole time? He approached slowly, hands at his sides, the very picture of calm and confidence. Confident you were, calm you most certainly were not.
“It is.” You agreed, trying to remain composed. “I confess I didn’t know it was here until just now.”
“The palace seems to have many hidden beauties.” He charmed with a grin.
You rolled your eyes, if only to have an excuse to avoid his gaze. “Prince Oberyn I already made it clear I-“
“I’m here to apologize.” He interrupted. His features softened. It amazed you how he could switch between the sultry, arrogant prince you thought him to be to...this. He just seemed like a man, not the prince of Dorne. “Well partially.” He laughed as he looked up to the sky for a moment, before returning to you. “Ellaria and I, we do not hide our desires. You are a beautiful woman, we do not take such beauty for granted.” He explained, his brown eyes meeting yours.
Even then you still didn’t understand.
“But,” he continued, “we...disrespected you when it was not our intention, and for that, I give my sincerest apologies.”
Part of your job was to detect liars, and although you suspected Oberyn could be a very good one, you were confident you could tell when he was being deceptive. But now...Well...You figured it would be hard for a man who was prideful and arrogant by nature to feign sincere regret. But there was no give, no sign of false pretense or acting.
You turned away from him, looking out into the water to clear your thoughts before replying. His gaze did not make it easy.
“Perhaps,” you began hesitantly, “I should not have threatened you before leaving. But I am not a prize to be wanted Prince Oberyn. I’m a soldier, and I’ve worked hard to be treated as such.”
Oberyn nodded and looked out into the water, his brows furrowed. You could tell he was thinking deeply about something, but you couldn’t tell what occupied his thoughts. “Men do not take you seriously because you are a woman?”
You eyed him in confusion. “Does that surprise you?”
“We do not define people by their gender in Dorne.” Oberyn stated simply. “Women are treated equally, they are no less capable than any man. A person is defined by their character regardless of gender. Though I should not be surprised. Women are mistreated in many places, and each time I encounter it, it breaks my heart. I think of my girls, and my sister, Ellia.”
“You have daughters?” You asked, surprised .
Oberyn smiled fondly. “I have eight daughters.”
“Eight daughters?!” You quipped before forcing your mouth shut again. Your mind raced, trying to imagine Oberyn with one daughter, but eight?! “How you and Ellaria manage to leave Dorne at all with eight daughters is beyond me.”
“They are all strong, fiercely independent women, but I worry about them. The thought of something happening to them fills me with dread. The acts of men are far too often evil, especially when women are concerned.” This particularly bothered him, and for some reason, it surprised you. You took him as the sort of man who only used women for pleasure, after all, that is what brothels were for. But the way he spoke of his children...well...no one could fake that level of sincerity, of gentleness. “They are safe in Dorne, but they all have a desire for adventure, to see lands beyond their own. I curse myself for giving them that particular trait.” He laughed.
You were stunned. Life in Dorned seemed so far removed from the life you’ve known. You had to fight for respect, to be taken seriously. Anyone who looked down on you as some little girl could be quickly silenced with a good aim and a sharp arrow. In Dorne, it seemed as if it were just given so long as the person were of good character. It seemed so simple yet imagining having such an attitude was difficult.
Not only that, but you were shocked to find that the prince seemed to agree with his land’s attitudes. It was only yesterday you thought of him as a prick who only saw women as objects of pleasure only to find that he was suddenly very open-minded and accepting.
It seemed far too good to be true.
“You are lucky to live in such a land, and your brother is wise to rule with such upstanding morals. It seems like a lovely place.” You complimented, trying your best to imagine Dorne.
“You’ve never been?” Oberyn asked curiously before you shook your head in reply. “You would like it. It is the very opposite from the North. It is warm, but lush and green. It is vibrant and warm, much like its people. Though I think you may faint from the heat with all your armor.” He teased.
Once again you rolled your eyes. “My armor protects me, especially here. No one knows who is a friend and who is a foe in this city, it’s maddening.”
“Which is partially why I am here,” Oberyn explained, looking back over to you. “Ellaria and I....we at least want to offer friendship. King’s Landing is a dangerous city, everyone needs allies. I saw you when you arrived that day, in the palace. I thought you were going to take off Cersei’s head.” He chuckled, only earning him another glare. “I do not mock you.” He clarified, still keeping a light tone. “I found it...Refreshing to see someone talk to Cersei like the queen regent she is not.”
He made it very clear that he wants to kill any Lannister that he sets his sights on.
Tyrion’s words echoed in your head and you remember the story of his sister. You didn’t dare bring it up. Not only was it none of your business, but the less he knew you knew, the better. This was the Game of Thrones, and you were a spy in the middle of it all. Friendship was not a thing you could afford, but it could be a thing you could fake.
“I’m a friend to anyone who hates the Lannisters.” You sneered while you lied right to his face. “I am loyal to Tyrion because he is nothing like his family, but that is as far as my loyalties extend. The rest of the Lannisters are terrible people who will, at least one day, pay for their crimes.”
“I’m glad we share the same feelings towards them. The Lannisters took my sister and her dear children from me and my family. I did not come here for some boy-king’s wedding.” And suddenly the charm the prince once had melted so smoothly into a fiery lust for revenge, a fire fueled by his hate for the Lannisters.
It was like looking into a mirror to see the person you once were.
“You intend on killing one of the Lannisters.” Your voice was barely a whisper. You turned to him and his eyes met yours. It scared you to see how much hate there was in them. “Seeking revenge...it won’t bring you the satisfaction you think it will, Prince Oberyn.” You warned. You weren’t sure why you cared. He was a prince who could do as he pleased. If he had a death wish that was on him, but somehow you could not shake the overwhelming sense of dread and horror at the very thought of the handsome prince’s blood being spilled.
“And you know this how?”
Too close.
“Come now, Prince Oberyn. We only just formed a truce, can’t reveal all my secrets just yet.” It was a tease laced with a warning. You weren’t stupid. Getting you to open up only to use it to betray you later, it was the oldest trick in the book. You didn’t even tell Tyrion anything about yourself for ages, and you liked Tyrion. As far as you were concerned, the Red Viper was still a threat. In another life, you could maybe appreciate Oberyn’s charm and boldness, but with all the tension surrounding the tyrannical king’s wedding, there was no time for making true friends.
Not that you couldn’t fake it, for Tyrion’s sake. Oberyn was just a pawn in this game as well, a chess piece for Tyrion to have handy when the moment was right. But if he was going to attempt the murder of a Lannister, all that would be lost. It was now you wished Tyrion was here. You had a silver tongue, but Tyrion was much better at devising plans than you were. This was his game, not yours.
Oberyn laughed and beamed at you.
It’s like the warmth of the sun settles in his chest.
“You are very wise for so young a person.”
“Not as young as you think.” You retorted sharply.
“I meant no offense.” He found himself repeating this sentence the more time he spent with you. “It was a compliment, something you clearly are not used to receiving.”
“I don’t need compliments, I know my worth.”
Oberyn turned so his whole body was facing you. You held your ground, you would not break under his gaze again. “And what if people simply wish to compliment you?”
His voice was like honey. You were suddenly conscious of your chest heavily rising and falling, aware of how close the two of you were. There was still a respectable distance between the two of you, but if felt like every slight movement was a pull towards him. You felt like a fly being lured to a spider’s web. And you thought the size of the palace made you feel small.
“Then they are wasting their breath.” You pulled yourself out of it. Now it was you who hadn’t meant to be offensive. Oberyn didn’t seem offended, he only looked at you as if you were life’s greatest mystery. You could hardly blame him, you had given him a similar look before. “I only mean that words are precious and powerful things. People should use them wisely, in the right moments, at the right times. I don’t need compliments, so you don’t have to pay me any.”
Oberyn smiled and shook his head once again. It seemed like every word you said left him deeper and deeper in thought. “And you are the decider of when is the right time and when is not?” He refuted, challenging you.
And that flash of anger you felt in the brothel came back and settled in your chest, but you buried it. You were prepared now, you wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. “I should be. I’m very rarely wrong after all”
Oberyn erupted into a hearty laugh, and even you had to crack a small smile.
“The Silver Hawk has a sense of humor! I was beginning to wonder if you were capable of smiling.” He teased.
You rolled your eyes, but there was still a small grin on your face. “Don’t get used to it.”
But Oberyn was still smiling.
Good, let him think he’s gotten my guard down.
“You are a wonder, Silver Hawk of the North. I am glad our paths have crossed, though I wish it were not under these circumstances. If Tyrion should ever relieve you of your services, even temporarily, you must come to Dorne. You would be a most welcome guest and I know my daughters would be delighted to meet someone of your skill. They are trained warriors themselves, but none of them are archers. I’m sure they would love the lessons if you were willing.”
It was a pretty thought. Traveling more, exploring Dorne, even meeting his daughters intrigued you. But it was only that, a pretty thought. “Seeing Dorne sounds...intriguing. I always try envisioning your land but I’m afraid I lack such imagination. As for your girls, I would be delighted to meet such warriors. But I am loyal to Tyrion. He pays me well and I’ve seen more of Westeros in the time I’ve been in his service than I’ve seen in my lifetime prior to being in his service. And as a Lannister, he’ll always need protection...his family has too many enemies.” You explained. That, and very deep down, you would miss him and the rest of your crew too much.
“But you are only a person. Every person longs for freedom, no?” He asked, surprised by your answer.
“I am free.” You replied more sharply than you intended. You took a deep breath and tried calming yourself. But you were not some loyal dog. You knew that Tyrion would let you leave the moment you asked him. You wanted to stay.
But Oberyn didn’t need something to use against you.
“Tyrion doesn’t keep me chained. If he did, he wouldn’t have let me speak to you so freely. I can do as I please as long as I do not neglect my responsibility and duty to protect and help him.”
“So you are free when you are not needed?”
“When I am temporarily not needed.” You retorted but calmed yourself before you could feel the flutter of anger you were used to feeling in your chest when you talked to the prince. You weren’t sure he actually meant to insult you anyhow, he was just good at doing it naturally. “With all your respect, I don’t expect you to understand. You are a prince. I don’t imagine you’ve had to fight to live or survive. You fight for your country which is honorable. We just...fight for different reasons.”
Oberyn began to walk alongside the pond. You followed suit. You’d been looking for an excuse to explore the gardens anyways. He smiled as he took in the surroundings. “I admire that, your reason is honorable as well. You fight for yourself, you honor yourself. We may not be so different as I thought. I fight for my family, but I honor myself in a much different way. To you, Ellaria and I’s advances were offensive, and again we apologize, but to us, we are simply honoring ourselves by being completely ourselves. We do not shy from our desires, life is too short to not pursue the things you want...even if things may not always go the way you think they might.” Oberyn chuckled, giving you a small nudge. You let out another small chuckle.
He wasn’t so bad.
Still a threat, but not so bad.
“I suppose there is some honor in that.” You relented. “I would only suggest taking into account who you are talking to Prince Oberyn. This is King’s Landing. Making enemies here is as easy as breathing. You almost made one this yesterday.” You joked.
“I do not care about making enemies and I care less about what people might think...until today.” He grinned at you, and your reaction was to instantly turn away. No one has ever looked at you like that. There was a gentle fondness to him that blended far too well with his confidence. You had heard only a few stories that told of his skill on the battlefield, but there was a far greater danger in his tongue than his sword.
What we’re you to say to that? He seemed to care less about what even Tyrion, the right hand of the king thought of him.
“Tell me something Prince Oberyn, and speak candidly. Why are you so interested in me? You have seen woman warriors before, your own daughters even. I have shown you nothing of my skill and even less of who I am until today. So why?” You asked before you were even sure you wanted to know the answer.
“Because you are beautiful.”
Your jaw set. Was that really it?
“And, though you are not as forward as Ellaria or I, you have the same passion, that little spark in your chest. Why do you think our sigil is a sun?” He smirked, proud of his family, his name, and his city. If you were highborn and looked like him you imagined you would have the same gusto.
"It’s alluring and I want to more. Not many people have the pleasure of meeting you. You either steal their breath with your legendary arrows or you are guarding the Little Lion. We were curious about what lies beneath your armor.”
You wanted to scream, maybe even punch him, but you remained unmoving. So this was the game they were playing. Break the Silver Hawk to get to the Lannisters. What did he take you for? A  nieve girl pining for her first love?
“But-“ he continued, “the more I speak with you the more confused I am. You are a mystery, Silver Hawk, and that is your strength.”
You took notes of that. Of all things, you would believe that to be true. When you really thought about his words, you could understand what he meant. If no one knew anything about you no one would have a way to hurt you.
“And you embrace your flaws, and that is your strength.” You noted. There was an understanding between you two, an odd connection despite differences.
“Prince Oberyn.” That voice was far too familiar to you. You turned to see the golden-haired queen regent, somehow glaring at both you and the prince at the same time. “Welcome to King’s Landing. I apologize for not greeting you sooner, looks like someone beat me to it.” The queen regent flashed one of her signature fake smiles your way.
“I asked for The Silver Hawk. If I wanted you I would have asked for you.” Oberyn retorted.
Maybe you liked him more than you thought. If you couldn’t talk back to the queen, you were glad Oberyn could in your place.
The queen remained composed, but you and Oberyn were not stupid. There was rage under the calm demeanor. If there was one thing you understood about the queen regent, it was that.
“Though we welcome you to King’s Landing Prince Oberyn, in the future, the King and I will be made aware of your visits.” She addressed the prince, but glared at you.
“With all your respect,” you spat, meaning anything but, “I follow orders from the hand of the king. And I do believe Prince Oberyn made it clear that his only intention was conversing with me.”
“You have nothing to fear today, Queen Cersei.” Oberyn added.
Today...you suppressed a grin at that.
“Prince Oberyn, since you are here you must let me show you around the palace. It’s been ages since anyone from the Martell family has visited and the grounds truly are exquisite.”
Oberyn said nothing, but looked to you.
Is he asking for my permission?
“I must return to Tyrion. No doubt he’s going on about how he can’t do anything without me.” You joked, earning a small smiled from the prince. You gave a small nod towards your new companion and an even smaller one to the queen.
You turned to leave, but Oberyn’s hand clasped around your wrist. Your wild, shocked eyes met his calm, collected ones. The prince placed a small, chaste kiss to your knuckles, looking at you and grinning the entire time.
Right in front of the queen.
“Until we meet again, Silver Hawk.”
Panicked, you turned away quickly and made a beeline back to Tyrion
It was sure to go over well the next time you were burdened with the company of the queen regent.
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midyxthcrisis · 3 years
Text
let them go - part two | j.t.
warnings: violence, swearing
also i’m so sorry the ending is a bit rushed! this part was getting rather wrong so i did the best i could
part one
As it turns out, it wouldn’t be long before you saw Boy Wonder again. 
The only thing that standing in your way was the asylum that you were trapped in. You didn’t quite know how it happened, though in all honesty the only thing you were focusing on at the moment was the dark room you were trapped in. All you could remember was that you and the others had gotten separated and then there was nothing but black. Then you woke up, a heavy shackle around your left ankle in order to prevent you from moving too much about the tiny room.
You had screamed until it was physically painful to do so. You had screamed everything you could think of. The names of your friends, pleas of mercy, swears about how the bastards were all going to hell. And without quite realizing it the room had filled with ice and frigid air. There even were a few snowflakes falling from seemingly nowhere. You knew that you had abilities. That was why your family moved to Gotham and why Dick had been so kind to you over the years. Why you were here now. You just didn’t realize you were this powerful. If you managed to create a layer of ice on the walls without even thinking about it, imagine what you could do if you actually intended on doing it.
With a deep breath and a shaky hand, you grabbed the chain keeping you from reaching the door of the room. There was a surge of energy that flowed through you as you thought about the chain beneath your skin freezing and breaking. Before you knew it you heard the sound of just that. A breathless laugh left your lips at the sight of it. 
“Holy shit, I can do that.” You were saying it to nobody in particular, but now that you were aware of your abilities it seemed to be that years of pent up energy started coming to the surface. You stood up on shaky legs and made your way over to the door. It was a rusted metal door, one that clearly hadn’t been used in years. Your head tilted to the side slightly as you lifted up your hands. You didn’t know it, but your eyes had turned a pure white and were almost glowing in a way. 
The rusty hinges were soon covered in ice. It felt as if you had blacked out after the door fell to the ground when the hinges froze and broke. Your chest heaved up and down rapidly. The energy was still flowing through you, and it was clear by your glowing eyes and frosted hands. As you walked down the hallway a trail of ice followed in your footsteps. It was hard to believe that this was the same person who just a few hours prior was curled up on a couch watching cartoons and drinking illegal beer. 
As you continued to walk it was clear you weren’t the only one who had broken out. Rachel was quickly making her way down the darkened asylum hallways, a new woman by her side. The young girl had a smile on her lips when she saw you. 
“So, new look?” Rachel asked, her own breathing rather labored. 
“Yeah, something like that. Where are the others?” You were beginning to calm down by then, but there still was an icy air surrounding you. 
“We were about to get them, wanna come along?”
“I need to find Dick. Now.” You were more concerned about Dick than you were about anything else. If you lost Dick you didn’t know what you would do. He was the only person you had left. 
“Um, yeah, we were on our way to Gar. He can turn into a lion, after all. Could be beneficial.” 
There was a smile that threatened to come to your lips at the small joke Rachel managed. You agreed to continue on with them while they went to find the green-haired boy. You could see how the two had gotten close over the few weeks that they had known each other. It made another warmth flourish in your chest whenever the two would interact with each other. So without any more words, the three of you quickly walked through the maze of halls that the asylum had. 
The sight you came upon was one that would stay with you for the rest of your life. Gar was completely nude and in a cage, his wrists bound and above his head. It was clear there had been some sort of torture inflicted upon the boy. It made your blood boil. How anyone could treat the person who had shown you nothing but kindness like an animal made you want to punch someone.
You had never been a violent person. Of course you had gotten into fights and knew how to fight, you had lived in Gotham City for most of your life, after all, but you weren’t one to actively seek put fights. But right now, seeing Gar tied up, it made you want to kill someone. And you almost had. A man in a white lab coat found your little group. You nearly lost control, your eyes turning a bright white and your hair stood on it’s end as you began to charge at the man.
Rachel had stopped you.
She had stopped you and attempted to reason with the man. He didn’t get the chance to do anything to the girl, as Gar had transformed into his tiger form and killed the man. When Gar shifted back the poor boy was covered in blood and shaking. You felt bad, for sure, but you were grateful that he had intervened.
“Nice, kid. Rachel you get him clothes. I’ll go find Dick and Kory.” With that you left the three to tend to themselves. It was clear that you could handle yourself. It had been one hell of a ride so far, and you had an impression it wouldn’t be letting up any time soon.
And you were right. 
The five of you barely made it out of the asylum alive, but you had. Though you all knew Robin died with the burning of the building. With minor scrapes and bruises you all hobbled back to the safe house. You felt lonely without Jason there. Gar was still spending time with Rachel, and Dick seemed to be growing closer to Kory. You had debated texting Jason several times but that meant you would show him that you were interested. It wasn’t that you were interested in Jason Todd, he just didn’t need to know that. So you sat in the bathroom and tended to your own wounds. It was rare for you to get hurt doing things but whenever you did Dick would be there to clean them for you. 
It was hard saying goodbye to Dick. He was the only person you had in your life for so long, though now you knew that you had your own little family with Kory, Gar, and Rachel. You two promised each other that if anything came up you would immediately call. You knew that Dick meant it more for you, but you would hold him to that. If anything happened to him and Dick didn’t call...
You didn’t know what you would do. 
And boy did something happen.
The first few days at the house Rachel’s mother had brought you to were the closest you thought you would ever get to having a normal life. That was, until Gar got sick. He got really sick. The first thing you thought to do was call Dick.
“It’s Gar, I think he’s dying. I-I don’t know what happened. He was fine a few hours ago!” At this point you were standing on the porch of the home. You didn’t want to scare Rachel any more than she already was. 
“Okay, Y/N, calm down. Take deep breaths, remember? Donna and I will be there as soon as we can. Wait for us outside,” You began to question the odd request, “Just do it Y/N.”
The tone in his voice was one that you knew well. It was one that meant he was serious about what he was talking about. One that you knew not to question. Your heart was beating loudly in your ears as you leaned against the banister of the porch. You weren’t sure what happened next, it seemed as if the world went black for a couple seconds, but you were blown off of the porch and were laying in the middle of the yard. You could hear the sound of a car coming up the gravel driveway through the ringing in your ears. Dick’s voice came as a comfort to you.
“Shit, Y/N, are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” You managed to sit up, though you were nearly on the ground again when you saw what was in front of you. It seemed to be a sort of barrier surrounding the home. Why you had been ejected from it, you didn’t know. 
“Holy shit.” Those were the only words that you could think of in that moment. 
Then Dick started running at the barrier, and before you could do anything he was gone. The only natural thing to do was run after him. The three of you were met with resistance, leaving you outside of the barrier with no foreseeable way inside. 
- - - 
The sound of the car came as a relief. It had felt like days since Dick ran into the barrier, when in reality it had only been a few hours. You knew that Hank and Dawn were coming. You had only met them for the first time a month ago. They had both lived up to the stories Dick would tell you about the Titans. 
Who you didn’t expect to be there was Jason Todd.
“Boy Wonder. You missed me that bad?” A teasing smile was on your lips as you looked up at him from your seat on the ground. You managed to ignore the looks coming from the others, though you did take note of Kory’s smile. And of course the smirk that came to Jason’s lips.
“Yeah, something like that.” 
Once you had filled the three newcomers in on what exactly was happening, you all began to try and form a plan in order to get into the home. You were the only one there who didn’t have experience in the field. You had only asked Dick to train you a month or two into your stay with him. So, you just stood behind the rest of them and watched as they argued. Though you would never admit it, your eyes were mainly on Jason. The way his eyes seemed to glow in contrast to the mask that covered them. The way his lips would quirk up in a slight smile every time Hank would make a jab at him. 
You were so caught up in your staring that you almost missed the barrier surrounding the home disappearing. The planning stopped in its tracks, and with hesitation everyone agreed to go inside. You needed to save Rachel, Gar, and Dick. If you let anything happened to Dick you would never let yourself live it down. As you were about to step past the threshold you felt a hand grip your arm tightly. You whipped around to see Jason staring you down.
“What are the odds we’ll make it out of there alive?” There was an edge to his voice that you knew all too well. It was fear. You gave him a soft smile and took his hand into yours, a reassuring action and nothing more.
“Stranger things have happened.”
You turned, hand in hand with Boy Wonder, and walked towards the house.
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Chase
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Summary: Evangelina had to run away from Andy to protect her son from the man  his father was becoming.
Pairing:  OC X Biersack
Genre: Angst, romance, smut later, fantasy. FallenAngel!AU
December 5th, Two Years later, 5:30 PM “We found her sir,” a werewolf named James informed his superior, “She’s changed their names she also dyed her hair black.” Andy sat on his throne his hand beneath his chin as if he were trying to stay awake from such a boring conversation. However it was just the opposite he was actually thrilled that someone had located his missing family. Although he was disappointed to learn that his wife had actually abandoned him while stealing their child as well. “Just out of curiosity what names do they go by?” “Evangelina goes by Amy,” James told his superior who only smirked at this information. “And my son?” Andy asked this time amused and a little curious to know what name she had changed their kid’s name to. “Andrew Junior goes by the name Elijah now.” Andrew frowned he hated that name and he wondered now if Evan had changed AJ’s name to spite him even though he was still unsure why. He loved his wife and son so he was still confused as to why his wife and child had left. He hid his devastation well from his friends and minions but every day that passed by he thought of Evangelina and Andrew Junior. He was very unhappy knowing that when he found his wife he was going to have to have to punish her harshly for her leaving. No one made a fool of the Prophet. No one. That was the whole reason why he fell, he couldn’t be bossed around any longer but someone who was way too forgiving to those who did something that went against the supreme being. “And where are they now James?” Andrew asked finally sitting up fully. “New York City in the borough of Manhattan sir.” “I want my men in the city.” “Yes sir we should be able to surround her building easily—” “No I just want them to watch her for a week or two,” he replied, “I want to make her nervous enough to realize that we actually have found her.” “Yes your highness,” James replied, “We’ll take care of it right away.” “Notify me three days after your arrival,” Andrew ordered, “I will join you in the city after my meeting with the guardians.” “Of course.” The werewolf then bowed his head and exited the room; a norc opening the door for him. Once the creature had left the throne room Andrew turned to his man Jeremy, a fallen angel like himself but with the ability to heal any creature. “Elijah?” he snorted, “Can you believe that?” His friend chuckled, “She had wanted to name AJ that since her first trimester.” “I’m aware.” He mumbled lowly, “Not only did she leave by choice but she had to spite me while doing it.” “Don’t be so sensitive,” Jeremy chided, “She has been located and a few days you will have your family back.” “You’re right,” Andrew sighed before standing to his full 6’4 height, “We better begin with the preparations, we only have a week and my wife is very…particular.” Jeremy laughed and nodded his head, “Always has been.” “Always will be….” Andrew mumbled as he followed his friend from the throne room. *** December 9th 2:30 PM Four days later “Hayden…” I mumbled in to the phone while I played with my cup of tea, “I think he’s found us.” “How do you know?” “I’ve seen two werewolves, a warlock, and I’m entirely sure that I have seen Ashley down on my sidewalk.” “Well that’s a sheer sign if there ever was one,” he told me with a humorless chuckle, “What do you want to do?” “I don’t know if I pick up and leave now he’ll be sure to follow us,” I sighed running a hand through my hair, “I have to face him.” “Do you really think that’s going to work?” “What choice do I have?” I asked in return , “Eli keeps asking me about him and why he isn’t like the other kids anyway it’s time to grow up and do what I know I have to.” “Well put Evan I was about to play the inspirational music for you,” he teased me and I rolled my eyes. “Shut up,” I looked over my shoulder when my heightened senses picked up on the tiny pitter patter of my son’s footsteps. “I’ve gotta got Eli’s awake.” “Alright call me before you do anything.” I told him I would before I hung up the phone to turn around before my son came barreling down the hallway seeking me out in our tiny two bedroom apartment. I spread my arms for the fast paced child and swooped him up once he landed. “Oh my darling little cherub,” I chuckled as he snuggled in to my embrace letting a small yawn past his lips, “Are you still tired?” “Nuh uh,” he told me, “I awake now Mommy.” “Are you sure?” “Uh huh!” “Alright then,” I kissed his head, “It’s snack time for my little dude.” “Can I have a cookie?” he asked me sweetly playing with the ends of my hair. “Not right now,” I told him softly, “After dinner.” “Alwight,” he mumbled disappointedly. I smiled as I sat him down in his booster seat once again kissing his blonde head of hair. Why couldn’t my boy look more like me and less like his father? He had his eyes, his hair, his beautiful smile. Absolutely every physical trait that my husband has is reiterated in my son. I loved my son to death, but I despised that every time I looked in to Eli’s eyes I saw Andy. We had so many unresolved issues that I had such terrible resentment towards him. Even now as I contemplated the move I had to make after he actually closed in on us. I wondered if I should cooperate or make it hard on Andrew so it didn’t look like I was up to something? I didn’t know, I was more concerned with how Elijah would react to Andrew and vice versa. It was clear to me that he didn’t remember his father one bit since he always asked me about him and I knew that was bound to piss off his father. I’d cross that bridge when I got there, so I shook the troublesome thoughts away and served my son some sliced apples with a little peanut butter. As soon as I sat down there was a knock on my front door, I hated that our landlord hadn’t got around to fixing the main lock on the building’s door. Those Jehovah’s witnesses are a real pain in the asshole. I pushed my chair away from the table. “Remember the drill my cherub?” I asked my son as I ruffled his blonde curls. He nodded his head as I pulled him out of his booster seat and tucked him under the table to keep him safe, “I hide until you say da magic word.” “That’s right,” I squeezed his small hand, “Mommy will be right back.” He gave me a thumbs up as I continued on to our foyer, I got on my toes to peek out the peephole. I couldn’t see anyone so I poked my head just enough outside the door to see if there was anyone out there. But it came up clean so I closed the door until there was a booted foot caught between my sanctuary and the danger I knew my kid and I were in. I didn’t fight as hard as I should have but I didn’t want to frighten my kid, so slowly I backed away from the door as the booted foot pushed it open wide enough to reveal to me the seraphim I had left behind. He wore a leather jacket with a muscle shirt beneath it, tight black jeans and a devious smile that made all the old feelings come rushing back right where it hurt. I backed up slightly and nervously as I tried to gain as much distance as I could. I would do anything to keep him from touching me. I knew the moment he did it would be all over even with all the repressed anger I had for the seraphim standing in my doorway. “My darling…” his deep voice drawled, “Still as beautiful as ever even with pitch black hair.” “Thanks,” I held down the blush and covered my true feelings with sarcasm, “How’s Juliet?” He chuckled at me, “She’s well the black eye that you gave her healed rather badly.” “That’s nice to hear,” I replied getting a little kick out of the damage I inflicted, “Would you like a matching one?” “Is that anyway to talk to your husband?” “Is that what you are?” I asked sarcastically, “I thought you were a bad decision my parents made.” I saw his jaw twitch in anger and a long time ago I would have swallowed in fear but since I had Elijah my demeanor had changed I had become a protective mamma bear. I would brave fires and hell for my son’s safety. His father was close enough to being hell on earth. I had to learn how to swallow my fears in order to protect my child from his own father. “I like to think I enhanced your life for the better,” he replied after a moment stepping further in to my hallway, closing the door behind him. He looked around my apartment his eyes shifting around to the toddler toys I had placed around my small home. I snorted, “We’ve always been complete opposites even when we were kids.” “That’s obvious considering the downgrade you’ve made,” he openly mocked my two bedroom apartment with a laugh and a look of disgust, “You went from our palace to this little hole in the wall?” “That palace was never my home Andrew and you know it,” I growled at him feeling my wings shift angrily from where they hid in my back. “And I’ve never understood why since I did everything in my power to change everything so that it was to your liking…” “Aesthetically maybe Andy but you never made me feel welcome after you—” “After I what Evangelina?” he questioned him, his eyes turning in to blue fire. “…After you fell.” “Whose fault was that huh?” Andy barked at me losing his temper slightly, “It wasn’t mine that’s for certain.” “Are you serious?” I snapped at him, “I never asked you to follow me down here you did that on your own, the hierarchy sent me with a special request I would have returned to you. You knew that, don’t even try to make me feel like an idiot. You fell because of your lust for power, not because of your love for me, if you even have any.” “If I have any for you?” he snapped at me, “Would I have searched every end of this pathetic realm for you if I had no love for you?” I nodded my head, “I’m a possession that you don’t want to share with anyone.” “No you’ve seen my possessions,” he replied surprisingly calm, “I do not have children with my possessions.” “You have other children?” I asked bitterly, getting ready to throw a marble statue at his head at his admission. “Of course not Evan,” he shook his head, “That’s what I was trying to tell you.” I gave him a dirty look but he continued to back me up in to my own home. “However now that we’re on the subject where is my son?” he asked as he picked up one of Eli’s favorite stuffed animals; his elephant Toby, “If I remember correctly I gave him this toy right after he was born…Toby right?” I nodded my head stiffly. “Hey!” my son cried as he came barreling around my side of the double entry kitchen, I pulled him in to me immediately. He struggled with me but I refused to let him go for his own good. “I told you to hide,” I mumbled in disapproval. “I heard dat man say Toby,” he told me, “I thought you telled him da special word.” “Dat’s my toy Mr.!” Eli told him unhappily, something was brewing inside of Andrew as he looked at our boy. I guess it would be a bit of a shock, he hasn’t seen him two years he has gotten much bigger. “You haven’t taught him to share I see,” Andrew chuckled before approaching my son and I, I tried to put my baby behind me but the strong seraphim wouldn’t allow me to. “Andy—” He shot me a menacing look as he knelt down to my son’s level, “What would you say if I told you I gave you that elephant when you were a tiny baby?” “You gived me Toby?” Andrew smiled a genuine smile, “I did.” “How come?” “Because I’m your Daddy,” the seraphim admitted to our kid who looked unbelievably confused, he looked back to me for confirmation all while I glared at Andrew. “He’s my Daddy?” I nodded, “Yes Eli he’s your Daddy.” “How odd,” Andy said, “I could’ve sworn his name was Andrew Dennis Biersack Junior.” “Be quiet Andrew,” I snapped, “Don’t confuse him anymore you already dropped a bomb on him.” “I’m confusing him?” he snapped, “I didn’t take him away from you…he doesn’t even remember me!” “How can he?” I bit back in return, “You were too busy entertaining Juliet to even care about him!” “How dare you!” he roared and I honestly thought he was going to raise his hand at me, but my son’s frightful cry made him still in his place. “I apologize…Eli,” Andy told Elijah softly, “Your mother just frustrates me sometimes.” Eli only snuggled in to my side further refusing to acknowledge the older angel’s apology, once Andy realized that he adjusted his jacket and then pulled out an iPhone to check the time I assumed. “Come along Evangelina we have to get back to the palace in a few days,” He gestured for me to move forward, “We don’t want to be late for your homecoming party.”
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bre-meister · 3 years
Text
Training Wheels
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” 
Leon looked up at his wife from where he was sitting in the garage; baby Olivia sitting on her hip contentedly playing with her mother’s cropped hair. Their toolbox was sitting next to him, wrenches and some bolts spread around him. Isabelle’s bike stood in front of him in all its blue, glittery, tassely glory.
“Izzy says she wants to learn how to ride without training wheels - “
“Which Chris offered to do,” Claire cut in. “ He was really great at it when he taught me and he hasn’t gotten to see the girls that often lately - it would be a great way for him to spend some time with his niece.”
Leon looked at her from over the bike clearly not amused or in agreement.
 “Claire,” he started, voice flat and monotone, “ I can teach my own daughter how to ride without training wheels.”
“Really? Well don’t you need pedals to ride a bike?” she shot back in that same monotone voice, although a little mocking.
Leon sighed. He’d had this conversation with Claire before when Izzy had asked to learn in the first place. Claire had volunteered Uncle Chris for the task and Leon had jumped in immediately after to reassure everyone present that he could in fact teach someone to ride a “big girl bike” just as well as anyone else - even better in fact!
Leon had most definitely never had to teach anyone how to do anything like how to ride a bike before. So, he did the next best thing - research.
In all honesty, that research mostly comprised of him asking Hunnigan who then directed him to check the internet which really should have been his first step. So, he did as told and found a very promising article on some random blog that suggested taking the pedals off of the bike and ride down a small, controlled incline (aka, their driveway). Apparently, this was supposed to help the trainee learn how to balance without the distraction of trying to pedal. It seemed like pretty sound logic to him and he’d told Claire as much. And so, that was how they found themselves in their current predicament on a Saturday afternoon - Claire and little Olivia watching him butcher Izzy’s poor bike while waiting for said little girl to get home from spending time with Sherry to learn how to ride a “big girl bike”.
“Hey, I know what I’m doing ok? Trust me. When have I ever been wrong?”
Claire opened her mouth, a response at the ready but Leon interrupted her before she could get it out,
“Don’t answer that,” He said, returning his attention to the one pedal left on the bike.
“I already talked to Chris. He’d be more than happy to teach Izzy.”
“Claire!”
She fixed him with a look that said “don’t snap at me”  and “try that again and see what happens” all at the same time. A chill ran down his spine and his face twisted into a sorry smile.
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I just… this is an important milestone in our daughter’s life and I want to be the one to guide her in this --”
Everyone in the garage went silent as the loud snap was heard. Even Oliva quieted her babbling to look at her daddy - mouth fixed in a surprised o shape.
“So…” Claire wasn’t exactly sure what to say.
Leon sighed - this time, defeated. He stood, nodding his head in the direction of the now broken bike.
“Just call Chris already,” Leon disappeared behind the door leading into the kitchen.
For a moment, Claire thought he had gone inside to sulk. Part of her felt bad for him but another part of her felt like saying the implied I told you so. She was a little confused when he returned, keys in hand.
“What are you doing now?” Claire had to struggle to hold in her laugh.
“Going to buy our daughter a new bike before she gets back and sees...this,” he gestures towards the broken pedal and mess of bolts and - was that the chain? At least that’s what she assumed it used to be.
“Leon,” she had to take a minute to control herself to hold in her laughter. She moved a little closer to the bike to get a better look before continuing, “How - how did you manage this?”
She hoped her wide smile didn’t betray her attempt to hide her laughter. Unfortunately, Olivia did not seem to have the same courtesy. The little girl on her hip began to let out a round of liting baby giggles.
Leon paused his walk towards his jeep at the sound of his youngest daughter’s laugh. Turning around he made his way back towards Olivia and Claire.
“Are you laughing at Daddy, Livy?” he asked, incredulously.
The little girl just continued her giggling. Giggles turned into squeals as Leon reached out, tickling her little tummy. At this point, Claire was also laughing. She mouthed a “sorry” towards him but didn’t make to stop laughing. 
Eventually, Leon joined in as well - laughing at his own expense. 
“That was pretty funny, Little Bug, wasn’t it.”
Leon had always said that Liv’s little noises odd discontent sounded like a buzzing little bee and so, he had given her the name “Little Bug” to go alongside his nicknames for her and Isabelle - Angel and Princess respectively. Claire didn’t always buy into it but the name was kinda cute and Olivia seemed to enjoy the special attention so she never said anything about it either way.
Leon leaned in until his nose touched Olivia’s - matching features replicated smaller on her dainty face. He made his own buzzing sound and Liv tried her best to replicate it over her now revived laughter. Olivia reached for her Daddy’s face, tiny hands patting at the stubble on his cheeks as he pulled away and placed a kiss on top of her head.
Claire thought this little tradition of theirs was the cutest thing in the world. Then again, maybe she was a little biased but she’d be lying if she said she and Leon didn’t make cute kids. A hot husband plus cute kids doing cute things? Irresistible - she felt like melting then and there.
She was next. Leon planted a kiss on her forehead along with a quick peck on her lips before strolling back towards his Jeep, laughing to himself all the way.
“So you’re really going to buy a whole new bike?” She asked, tone filled with mirth.
“Well, what else am I supposed to do? I don’t think Izzy would take kindly to the news that her “big girl bike” has been broken before she could even learn to ride it. Plus,” he opened the car door, “ she’s had that bike for a while. All the tassels are falling off - it was bound to break soon anyway. Why not just get her a new one that’s a little bigger so she’ll have room to grow into it?”
Claire saw right through that charade,
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Kennedy.”
His mumbled reply was cut off by the closing of the car door. Claire stood there in the garage a little while longer watching as Leon started the car and prepared to take off down the street.
“Leon!” She waved her free hand to get his attention.
He rolled down the window and stuck his head out to make sure he heard her.
“Make sure you get the most glittery, purplest bike with all the tassels you can find. Oh! And a little bell.”
“Purple? What happened to blue?”
Claire smiled teasingly, 
“You said it yourself, our daughter is growing up and purple is a big girl color so all of her things have to be purple ‘cause she’s a big girl now,” Claire repeated what Isabelle had told her the previous day.
“Purple it is, “ Leon said.
Liv let out another round of giggles - this time for the way her Mommy’s necklace changed colors as the light hit it. She could hear Leon’s own laugh as he rolled the window back up and set off on his mission to find Isabelle a new bike.
Looking over the jumbled mess on the floor one last time, Claire went back inside to make the call to Chris requesting his services to teach her daughter how to ride a bike. She decided she’d spare the larger details - Leon’s pride had taken enough of a hit today. Claire loved him enough to spare him from the worst of the teasing her brother would no doubly inflict on the younger man.
She smiled to herself as she pulled her necklace out of Olivia’s hands before she could put it in her mouth. These were the kinds of moments she lived for - moments filled with laughter and love. Those were the feelings that she knew they would always remember even long after the memories faded.
Although, Claire would be hard-pressed to forget this particular memory. Just because she was sparing Leon from Chris’ teasing doesn’t mean he would be spared from her own.
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sit-back-and-read · 4 years
Text
Happy Birthday
Kendra was currently sitting on her bed. It was her birthday, at noon, so in a few hours she would go downstairs and blow out the candles on her birthday cake. She knew that it was supposed to be a surprise, but she had overheard her parents and Seth talking. From the conversation, she knew that her grandparents were coming, along with Warren, Dale, Vanessa, and Bracken. They were most likely already here.
But here she was, in her room, looking through a very particular box of letters. Gavin Rose’s letters.
She had read a certain letter many times. It was the first letter she had received from him. 
Dear Kendra,
I’m very sorry I can’t be there to escort you home.
Crazy news from Dougan, huh? I can hardly believe how upside down everything 
has become! I knew there was something shady about good guys wearing masks
. . . they’ve done away with them now.
I’m off on another mission. Nothing as dangerous as what we went through
together, but another chance for me to prove myself useful. I’ll fill you in later. 
Guess why I like letters? No stuttering!
You’re an amazing person, Kendra. I want you to know how much I have
appreciated getting to know you. Hopefully I’ll get a turn standing guard over 
you and you’re brother in the fall. I hope someday soon we’ll get to know each 
other better.
Your friend and admirer,
Gavin
Kendra quietly wondered if Gavin had meant anything he had written. She remembered looking forward to each letter, rereading the parts about missing her and hoping to see her soon. She had even memorized most of them! Had he had signed that letter “your friend and admirer” with a smirk on his face, knowing that his betrayal would leave her crushed? She hoped not. Kendra didn’t like to admit it, even to herself, but she had fallen totally head over heels for the demon prince. He had seemed so innocent and kind---the complete opposite of Navarog. 
Out of nowhere, Kendra noticed the sentences on the letter seemed blurry. Why was she so upset? She couldn’t be crying, could she? Contrasting her thoughts, a tear slipped from her right eye and onto the paper, making the ink clot around the word “friend”. She felt pathetic. How could Bracken, the most attractive person she had ever met, like her? She was just an ordinary girl who had powers because the fairy queen had pitied her. Dougan had given her that letter around the time of her birthday about four years ago. Why was she still upset over something that had happened so long ago?
The door to her room swung open so fast she jumped. Bracken jumped in holding a box wrapped in blue decorative paper with a metallic pink bow on top. 
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” he shouted. Kendra quickly brushed away her tears with her forefinger. She managed a tight, awkward smile. 
“Thanks,” she said, her voice cracking. Bracken’s smile vanished. 
“Hey,” he said softly, closing the door behind him. “You okay?” He sat down next to Kendra on her bed, setting aside the present on the bedside table.
“Yeah,” Kendra replied, “I’m good.”  Bracken looked unconvinced. 
“You never were a good liar, were you?” he asked, brushing a new tear off of her cheek.
“No, I guess not,” she confessed, smiling a bit.
“Tell me what’s going on,” he said, concern in his eyes. “What happened?”
“Well, it’s a long story, and, I mean it happened a while ago…”  Kendra started.
“Oh, come on.  You know I have all the time in the world.”  
“. . . Alright, here it goes.” she said hesitantly. Bracken nodded. 
“So, when I first became a Knight of the Dawn, two other people were getting knighted along with me. One was an old woman who I never got to know very well, and one was a 16 year old boy named Gavin Rose. Me and Gavin were friends from the start, we got picked for missions together, and wrote each other letters,” she said, nodding towards the heap of envelopes and ruffled up notebook papers sitting on her bed. She continued the story.
“Over time, we grew closer. I began noticing small things as romantic implications.” she admitted, glancing over to Bracken, hoping he wouldn’t mind her talking about this. His expression remained neutral, so she continued on.
“We were eventually assigned a mission at a dragon sanctuary. We had to regain a key to an artifact vault. We successfully found and took the key, but trouble began on the way out.
“Two dragons waited in ambush on the top of a pass that was a necessary exit route. We were all ready to fight, but before any one of us had made contact, Gavin transformed. His face elongated, and he grew wings, and before anyone knew what was happening, the pitch black dragon that had been an innocent 16 year old only a moment ago, ate Dougan, and hurled Mara off of the cliff. And then I was alone. I ran to a crevice in the mountain where I knew dragons would not be able to fit. In panic, I didn’t think about their human avatars.
“Before long, the Gavin I had known entered the cave. He was sporting a smile that looked like it belonged in a horror movie, not on his innocent face. He was holding a bag. It was the knapsack that held a pocket dimension to the room Warren was in, injured. He burned it to the ground. If we hadn’t recovered the teleportation artifact, Warren would still be in there, rotting.
“Gavin approached me slowly. He threatened me, tried to hurt me. Of course, the only lasting damage he had inflicted was on the inside. I wanted to break down and cry. I managed to stay strong though, at least until Raxtus came and saved me. He was small, and fit in the tiny cave. Navarog was gone in three bites.” 
Kendra had finished the story. She was staring at her feet. She felt tears coming, and didn’t blink them away, letting them flow down her cheeks. She gave Bracken the letter. When he finished reading, he glanced up at her. “How could he have written those letters Bracken? How could he have written these words down on this paper knowing that in the end he would betray me? Try to kill me?!” Kendra’s voice quieted. “Knowing he never even felt anything for me in the first place?” she looked away. She wished Bracken hadn’t seen her cry. He seemed a little unsure of how to reply.
“He must have been despicable, Kendra. He obviously had no idea how lucky he almost was.” He paused. Kendra wondered what he had meant when he said lucky. “Do you need time alone?”  He asked. Kendra hesitated. She half wanted to sit alone in her bed, alongside the pile of letters, and cry; but she also desperately wanted someone’s comfort. Or maybe just Bracken’s comfort. 
Bracken began standing up.
“No, stay” she said, not truly wanting him to leave. She tugged at his sleeve. He sat back down. Kendra began to notice that he was a little closer than before. Their legs were almost touching. She laid her head on his shoulder, and more tears streamed down her cheeks, making his shirt damp. They sat like that, undisturbed, for what felt like an eternity. Not in a bad way, in a wish-you-could-stay-like-this-forever kind of way.  After a while Bracken broke the silence. He moved his head to look at her. Kendra did the same. 
“No one is ever going to hurt you again.” he promised her. Tears glazed Kendra’s eyes. She looked down and nodded bitterly. “You know I would never hurt you, right? He asked. She looked up, straight into his clear, blue-grey eyes. She realized his face was slowly growing close to hers now. Her nose brushed against Bracken’s, and, moving ever so slowly, her lips found his.
All of a sudden, nothing really mattered. Gavin Rose was beyond her field of thought. The Society of the Evening Star had never been farther away. A dragon war was a problem for tomorrow. And the so many betrayals she had experienced had been made up a few seconds ago, when Bracken’s lips had found hers. 
Fresh tears beelined down her face, making her cheeks sticky. It felt like she had dranken all of Tanu’s bottled up emotions at once. She felt guilt and excitement, confusion and happiness, fear and love. And then their lips parted, and she opened her eyes, and looked up at him. 
“I know,” she whispered. They kissed again, the mood lightened by their connection. Seth sprang into the room. Kendra and Bracken both jerked their heads toward the doorway, where he was standing. For a moment the three of them just stared at each other, unsure of what to say. Then Seth started turning red, as if he couldn’t breathe.  “Seth?” Kendra said, nervous. 
“I KNEW IT!” he screamed suddenly, making Kendra jump. “OH MY GOD WARREN YOU OWE ME TEN BUCKS!” Kendra could hear him running down the stairs. “VANESSA! WARREN! YOU ARE SO NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!” he yelled, already downstairs. “I TOLD YOU SO!” he yelled, followed by a slammed door. Kendra and Bracken slowly turned their heads toward each other until they were looking directly into each other's widened eyes. And all of a sudden they were laughing. Kendra didn’t stop giggling until Vanessa stood in the doorway. 
“Kendraaa” she said in an accusing tone. 
“Yes?” she said, blushing.
“If what Seth told me is true… did you two…” she turned a little red.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not,”  Kendra said in a smug tone with her head up. “I’ve bet you’ve kissed Waaarreeeeeeen a ton of times” Kendra said, leaving Vanessa speechless. Kendra grabbed Bracken’s hand while Vanessa was thinking of what to say, pulled him up, and ran past Vanessa and out the door. As they ran down the stairs, giggling, Kendra could hear Vanessa say in a fairly loud voice, “I happen to be in my twenties, young lady! You’re 15!” This only made Bracken and Kendra laugh harder. 
“I’m 16 now, actually!”
Kendra could hear Vanessa half-heartedly jogging after them, so she sped up. Kendra threw open the screen door and ran outside, still giggling. She spotted Warren and Seth sitting in two lawn chairs just right of her. Seth was totally wide-eyed, and Warren had his hand out. Kendra gave him a high five and kept running. She heard Vanessa say “Warren!” in an exasperated voice, as Kendra and Bracken, still holding hands, entered her mom’s wooden greenhouse, locking the door behind them.
Kendra, panting and laughing, fell down into her mother’s bed of poppy flowers, her hand leaving Bracken’s in the process. It was pitch black in the greenhouse; her mom used special lights to grow her plants, not real sunlight; and sometimes she forgot to turn them on. Kendra tried getting out of the flowerbed, only to fall back down, laughing even harder. Bracken was also laughing hysterically, about two meters away. After they both calmed down, Bracken spoke.
“Kendraaaa” he whispered “where aaaare yoooooou”, he joked in a spooky voice. It took all Kendra had to stay silent and refrain from laughing again.  “Keeeendraaaaaaaa” he repeated. “I can't seeeee youuuuu.” Kendra snickered, and quickly covered her mouth. Bracken’s silhouette turned towards her and started walking. He passed her, and so she silently got up and started creeping away. Just when Kendra thought she found a great new hiding spot, she felt warm arms wrap around her waist, twirl her around and pull her closer. “Caught you,” Bracken whispered playfully. After a few moments of gazing into each other's eyes, Kendra felt Bracken’s face growing closer to hers. She could almost feel his breath on her face. Nervous, Kendra gradually moved her face closer to his. Their lips brushed against each other, and Bracken moved his face away from hers for a moment, as if asking permission. Kendra nodded slightly. He moved in slowly, and eventually their lips met. Kendra put her arms around his neck, and Bracken put one arm around her waist and used the other to pull the metal cord above him, which turned on the lights. Kendra suspected she would have squinted at the bright light, but she didn’t mind because her eyes were closed. Bracken’s other hand wound under her arm and bent upward to end with his hand on her shoulder. They stood, embraced, for many minutes. She wished this moment could last forever, just her and Bracken, but eventually she pulled away. 
“We should probably go.” Kendra said. “Wouldn’t want to miss cake”
“Yeah.” Bracken replied, sounding a little hurt.
“Hey,” Kendra said, pecking him on the lips. “It’s not you.”
He smiled.
Later, at dinner, they had asian food. Bracken and Kendra sat across from each other instead of next to, judgment of Vanessa. They played footsie until the cake was done. 
Soon, the lights were turned out, and the candles were lit.
“Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Kendraaaaaaaa, Happy Birthday to youuuuuuu!!!” sang Warren, Vanessa, Grandma, Grandpa, her parents, Seth, and Bracken. Kendra beamed. She couldn’t imagine a life without any one of the people in front of her. 
Before she knew it, everyone was saying their goodbyes. Warren had winked at her and wished her good luck with Bracken. She had blushed and nodded. Vanessa told her to fill her in on all the details by writing her letters with umite wax. Kendra had agreed. Grandma and Grandpa squeezed her tight and made her promise to call them at least once a week until her next visit to Fablehaven next month. And finally it was Bracken’s turn to say goodbye. 
“You’ll write?” he asked.
“Promise.”
“And call?” 
“Of course.”
“Then I have nothing to worry about.” he sounded relieved.
“Should I be worried?” Kendra asked, concerned. “Aren’t you going to a dragon sanctuary in a week? Are you gonna be okay?”
“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry needlessly. We’ll keep in touch.” he said, handing her a swirling pearly prism.
“You’re horn?”
“Yup.”
“Are you sure?”
“Completely.”
“Okay. I guess calling won’t be necessary then.”
“I guess not.”  
They stood in silence for a moment, looking at the ground.
“I’m gonna miss you” Kendra blurted, looking up at him. She blushed and looked back at the ground. “I mean, I have know idea when I’m going to see you again, or even if you’re going to make it out of the dragon sanctuary, and we have Ronodin to worry about, and I know you told me it doesn’t matter but---”
“Hey,” he said, tilting her chin up to look at him. “Everything is going to be fine.” Kendra sighed. 
“I know. It’s just---”
“Nope. No ‘it’s justs.’ it’s going to be okay.” he promised.
“Okay.” she sighed.
“I’m going to miss you a lot.” he admitted. Kendra smiled shyly.
“I will too.” she told him. She looked up at him. He looked away. Bracken took a deep breath, as if building up to something. He seemed a little nervous, his bright eyes hinting at anxiety. He glanced up at Kendra. Their gaze met, and his eyes shot back down. He inhaled heavily.
“I love you,” Bracken said, holding his breath. Tears were building up just above his lower eyelashes. Kendra kissed him before they could fall. When they broke away, Kendra looked up at him. His eyes were still closed, his mouth in an anxious grimace. He seemed to be dreading her answer.
“I love you too, Bracken.” She assured him. He took a deep, shaky breath and opened his eyes. This time it was he who leaned in for the kiss. It was soft and gentle, and Bracken wrapped Kendra in a warm embrace with one hand, the other on her cheek. She rested her hands on his shoulders. Their lips parted slowly. Kendra still had Bracken’s arms around her, and he had hers. Their foreheads rested on one another. When they broke apart fully, they gazed into each other’s eyes. Bracken’s thumb caressed her cheek. 
“Happy Birthday” he said.
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emerald-amidst-gold · 3 years
Note
3, 6, 20 for the writing meta asks!
Why hello there! I won’t lie, I was, of course, extremely happy to see another ask in my ask box! Perfect thing to wake up to, and get the brain juices flowing! So, let’s do some answering! >:D
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3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)
There’s one particular scene that’s actually been in my head for days, but of course, when I try to actually write it, my brain just fizzles out into the unknown. However, the scene I want to write and will have to write is Fane and Solas ‘reuniting’. More or less, when Solas finally realizes what and who Fane is and vice versa. It involves a lot of build up from previous chapters and scenes, and since those aren’t written yet I’m a little stuck on how to get it off the ground. I can share a few little concepts though that I did manage to write up!
“May I?”, Solas asked quietly and softly, carefully lifting a hand to hover near the aggravated gash. He would not touch it unless Fane explicitly stated that it was amenable. He would do no more harm than he had already.
There was a long pause, the two of them sitting practical inches from each other until Solas heard a sound between a growl and huff exit past sealed lips. That had a small smile working its way onto his face. How painfully nostalgic that sound was to him, like rolling thunder during a downpour..
“Hmph.”, Fane huffed out again before jerking his head lightly to indicate that it was fine, but he could see how a serpentine jaw locked up instinctively. 
Solas frowned slightly at that before shifting a bit closer, not ignoring how the other tensed up even more as he let his palm rest against the seeping wound. 
To have such adverse reactions.. How much have you had to suffer due to my rashness? A heavy, crushing feeling bore down on Solas’s heart--it was like a spiked cage was closing in around it, threatening to puncture and leave him to bleed out. He did not know all of what happened surrounding the Herald’s early life, but he had witnessed the man’s sensitivity to magic, watched as a normally proud and dominating form crumbled into no more than weak shivers and suffocating retching. He had also, during a moment of childish weakness, caught glimpses of magically burnt, jagged patchwork scars along an uncommonly naked arm--the skin, for once, having been freed to breathe and scream. Solas had not been close enough to see more, at the time, but the severity, the deepness of those torn segments he had seen, and the fact that Fane’s body was covered neck to waist in leather wraps told him then that strong arms were not the only place such...familiar, but gruesome scars existed.
The scars upon his arms, and most likely his entire body… They are indicative of what his kin had endured, but how…? Solas felt his frown deepen further upon that thought before refocusing on the wound marring a porcelain visage, which was as hard as stone as it peered into his own. He would have to think on those aspects later. He would get no answers while Fane refused to speak to him, and it would do neither of them favors to speculate. 
Solas gingerly swiped a thumb along the crimson gash on Fane’s cheek, involuntarily hushing the man softly when a light hiss escaped tight lips. The wound would scar, no matter how much healing Fane would allow. It was deep, nearly piercing through the thin skin of a cheek, and Solas had done that. In self defense, yes, but he had still caused damage.
He had caused harm due to an inability to stay. away.
He must suffer another scar because I was blind. He cannot not wrap this one. He cannot hide it from sight to make its deepness feel more shallow. I have marked him, in two ways, and neither are kind.. The weighty thought flitted through his mind before Solas blinked as he felt and watched Fane lightly lean into his touch, gold glittering in emerald despite the dimness of the cave as those eyes narrowed a bit from both stinging pain of a wet wound and, dare he say, contentment from a century absent gesture. 
That had Solas’s smile turning sad as he absently stroked under a brilliant golden emerald eye, unphased by the two toned hue that encompassed a blackened pupil as it met his gaze unflinchingly. How had he not seen it before? The truth was always staring at him--figuratively and physically. Why had he averted his own gaze? To hide? To run? Or was it to protect? He knew not. However, he did know, from the way a warm, but crushing feeling wrapped around his entire soul was a truth that could never be denied for fear of justifiable rage--for fear of punishment for mistakes so grave as to render a vow completely moot.
“...I missed you.”, Solas whispered against his better judgement and earlier thoughts, watching as Fane’s pupil widened a bit before it trembled slightly with emotion, the emerald within the iris deepening to drown out brilliant gold. He had to close his eyes at that, a feeling of weightlessness and oncoming longing threatening to have him, too, drowning within emerald. “What am I saying? I have no right to have missed you, but I can’t.. No. I do not have the right..”, he murmured  in the next moment before lightly shaking his head, absently cupping Fane’s warm cheek more fully. 
There was no use dwelling upon his lack of foresight, for it was his own blindness that had shaded him from the truth--his own pride and fear. He had not wanted to believe there was hope, and he did not deserve to have such lofty ideas after what he had done. He deserved to wander about in darkness, happiers visions obscured while only ghostly apparitions haunted him beyond the Veil, clambering, clawing for a way out of the prison he had locked them in. This was nothing but a hopeful dream--one of many that constantly plagued him with falsities and--
“I missed you, too..”, a hoarse, exhausted, but distinct voice sounded, completely cutting off the wave of his thoughts to shove Solas’s mind back into reality before it came once again, quietly. “I’m sorry..”
Solas’s eyes shot open upon those words, ignoring the way he could feel the hand that rested upon Fane’s cheek trembling slightly to gaze into deep, deep emerald as it shook just as much with concealed emotion. No--no, this could not be real. He did not deserve for this to be real!
“Sorry? For what? I am the one that should be sorry..”, Solas stated with a deep frown, gaze flitting down to the hand that bore the Anchor--his magic. “I have shackled you without even rattling the chains before you myself. It is a sound you should never have known..”
Fane let out a tired sigh, shaking his head slowly with a tiny grimace. “You have never held them, Solas.”, he said before sighing again. “The chains were always there, and you weren’t the one to make me aware of their sound.”
“But the orb--the mark, it is..”
“Yours, I know, but it’s not the same. I remember the difference. Trust me.”, Fane said before leaning into his hand more. “I remember...everything. Well, mostly everything. Some parts are still fuzzy, but I know you, I know who or...what I am, I know the bond we held, and I know how I died..”
Solas couldn’t help but flinch at that last statement, almost retracting his hand until Fane reached up weakly to keep it in place. “Herald, I--”
The corner of Fane’s mouth twisted into a tired sneer. “Don’t recede into formality. I hate when you do that.”, he said before letting his hand fall back to the ground with a light thump. “Responding as if I’m a stranger to you is pointless.”
“How would you have me respond after all that has happened? Should I feel jubilant from the pain I have inflicted upon the world, upon my people--upon you? Should I ignore that all that has transpired and will transpire is my doing--my mistake?”, Solas questioned, a niggling of irritability born of mental exhaustion working its way into his voice. He was exceedingly growing weary due to not resting for more than several hours at a time, the two of them having to swap routinely for watch.
He watched Fane’s chest rise and fall heavily with another sigh before glittering eyes shut with equal weariness. Solas frowned at that. What had gotten into him? He was tired, yes, but so was Fane, and he had not just had his identity sundered like a torn blanket, only to be stitched back together again with completely different patchwork. He had also not just suffered having his mind nearly broken from magic so potent and so sickeningly familiar as to cause an age old frenzy to take hold without an ounce of hesitation. This whole ordeal was simply exhausting and unbelievable, even as proof practically...leaned against him?
Solas blinked, thoughts once again veering off a depressive trail as he felt a heavy, but warm weight resting itself on his shoulder. He turned his head a bit to see that Fane’s head had lulled forward to find a place to rest--eyes shut and snowy brows furrowed as if in some kind of discomfort.
“Fane..?”, he called out softly, tentatively reaching up to card a few fingers through snowy hair--the strands coated in a grey hue due to residual ash and dirt. 
Emerald made a reappearance as Fane cracked his eyes open, glancing up at him drearily before starting to shift as if to move away. “Sorry.. I was--”
Solas quickly, perhaps too quickly, shook his head, weaving his fingers into dirty hair to gently guide the other to stay put. He should not do this, but...he couldn’t help it. Against his better judgement, Solas let his own head come to carefully rest upon the side of Fane’s before he shut his eyes--an instant wave of contentment filling in the void of his soul.
“Rest. We will speak more of this at a better time.”, he commanded quietly, smiling a bit as he felt the other relax his tensed up form. “I can tell you are exhausted still.”
“So are you..”, Fane muttered, his voice rumbling pleasantly which had Solas letting out a quiet hum. How he had missed that sound, even when it had had no voice to go along with it..
“I will wake you in a few hours. I can manage until then.”, he said softly before absently stroking through silky strands of white. He couldn’t help but chuckle quietly at the texture. How was it, that despite the grime and despairing ash, there was still a softened quality to the dragon’s hair? Perhaps that said something about Fane himself..
“Mm..”, a content hum reached Solas’s ears, the small smile upon his face growing by a fraction before he felt warmth and strength wrap around the rest of his body in the form of two tired arms. He tensed a bit before he realized what was happening; Fane was hugging him--holding him as if Solas would suddenly disappear..
He shifted his head a bit to gaze down at where Fane was resting against him, his heart growing tight upon a matching frown etched into a pale face. Oh, my dragon. I only cause you harm, so why do you continue to tempt more? And why can I not dissuade it? His mind questioned before his own arms came up to wrap around Fane’s shoulders, tangling a hand into snowy, short locks. 
He should not do this. He should not give false hope and promises to someone who deserved better, but it was like a tidal wave of longing, of yearning, and of grief had suddenly come crashing into him--slamming him against the rocks, wet and spent from fighting the tide. He wanted to drown in a sea of emerald and gold…
“Ma’isenatha..”, Solas whispered out the Elvhen without a shred of hesitation, even as his mind practically screamed for him not to. “Ma’isenatha..”, he said once more as he buried his face into Fane’s neck, the man’s own arms tightening around him to pull closer.
Obviously, there will have to be one hundred percent more context and soul searching, but I’m mainly just playing around with ideas of how both Solas and Fane will handle the situation. Like I’ve said before, I don’t see them avoiding each other, even with Solas constantly stating he’ll only cause Fane harm. Fane isn’t made of glass and Solas knows that, and he also knows that Fane has a place upon this particular chess board, but not as a pawn, but more along the lines of a rook or a knight. Fane’s involvement is essential to Solas, even if he’s not happy about it since it could end the same way it did before. It also helps that Fane is stubborn and as his abilities reawaken, he can back Solas into a corner to make the man face what he’s fearful of. That was Fane’s role as a dragon, after all. To guide emotion and unclog the dams of them so they could flow freely in a realm where emotion and imagination were the world’s very foundation. But again, this is just a concept of what could potentially happen after Haven, so it may change later on when I finally get there! 
6. What character do you have the most fun writing?
In terms of my OCs, it’s obviously Fane since I can still find ways to evolve his character and add on to what I already have established. In terms of those not of my own creation, I would say Solas. He’s easy for me to write, to formulate thoughts about. I think it all boils down to the fact that, in a certain way, he and Fane are parallels. There’s evidence in canon, of course, to support the Inquisitor is a mirror for Solas, but I took that a bit further. I also wanted to explore the emotions, that I believe, Solas would showcase with someone he not only knew before the Veil was erected, but loved in a forbidden way. I will never tire of making Solas melt over Fane and vice versa. There’s not enough softness in the world, so I seek to rectify that! >:3
20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)
I’m a slut for symbolism. Yes, I said it, I’m a slut for it. The whole reason I have focused so heavily on eyes in my fics is because eyes are the gate way to the soul. Fane can see into that window with his abilities and even without them depending on how open a person is, and it allows him to properly communicate without offending. It’s more or less a way of saying, ‘If you just look at someone, truly look at them, then you don’t need words to understand them. You can see the pain, the happiness, the sorrow, the whispered love without ever uttering a single word.’ That’s the whole basis of Solas and Fane’s relationship, and how it even formed in the first place. I mean, how else do you think a Elvhen god and a dragon became friends, and then lovers? It took a lot, I’m not gonna lie, but Fane is Solas’s heart and Solas is Fane’s sky. A heart and sky don’t need words; they only need someone to listen to the beat or gaze upwards to the clouds. Fane and Solas from the start, as two elves, synchronize with each other as if their souls are greeting each other without their physical forms knowing. You might say, ‘Well, wouldn’t Solas clue in after watching Fane? Or wouldn’t he know from his eyes?” 
Yes and no. The eyes throw Solas off, but he doesn’t focus on them because the memory of them belonging to another is too painful. This is another way of me saying, ‘If you don’t face the truth, it will remain hidden to you, but the pain it harbors in its very shadows will not. It will stalk you, it will taunt you, and it will tear you apart from the inside until you look.’ Solas denies his heart, even as it beats before him, from a fear of foolish hopes being mere dreams, and a grief that is so aged from hands died with draconic blood and magical chains. Fane turns his potent gaze from the sky, even as blue eternity stretches before him with love and understanding, for fear of turning it grey as he is and trying to convince himself that he doesn’t care even though he cares so much. It’s tragic in its own way, but I visualize a happy ending or at least bittersweet one.
There’s also a very heavy focus on color, primarily grey. This is physical in some way to Fane, things look muted to him or take on a greyish hue, but overall, its how he views the world at present. It’s grey, not black and white. Same things happen for different reasons and sometimes neither of them are good and neither of them are bad. Fane views the world in grey because that’s how he feels on a daily basis. He’s grey because he doesn’t know who he is or what race he should answer to. His existence is not black and white and sometimes, he wishes it were because it would be easier to accept. Those feelings lessen over time as Fane reconciles with the fact that he’s a dual creature with experiences spanning two lifetimes and two races, but the world’s greyness doesn’t lessen for him because between all the political intrigue, war, corruption, and ignorance, there’s red, crimson. As much as grey can make Fane feel hollow and out of place, red is another ball game--a terrifying one that houses inevitability and every time a noble topples peasant and opponent alike for personal gain, every time a plain of nature is destroyed for expansion, every time magic is used as a dominating influence rather than a ritualistic one, every. time. a dragon is erased permanently from a world that sorely needs them, that angry hue paints Fane’s vision and hands where there was otherwise indifference. And once again, it is inevitable, those happenings simply spur it to climb faster and faster. What is it, you ask? Well, I think we all have an idea. 
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Thank you for the ask and apologies for it being so loooong! You chose the question for me to ramble and I ramble ramble ramble! >:3
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yandere-wishes · 4 years
Text
Genie and the Savanclaw boys
So this was someting I wrote to get me out of my sour mood. Latly I haven’t been feeling to great. So I decided to wrote some platonic scenarios between my persona Genie and Jack, Ruggie and Leona, please let me know what you thought of this, I spent roughly six hours on it.
A quick recap of Genie's powers
Vision--  Genie can see small glimpses of a person's past. "Past Vision 2/4" occurs when Genie comes into direct contact with a person's possession (it could be inanimate or their darlings), this allows her to see a quick "video" of their past which can last up to 2 minutes. "Past Vision 4/4" is a longer version of the previous power. For her to be able to view an in detailed vision of a person's past, she must first have experienced a "Past Vision 2/4" of them and this power can only be unlocked while she's in her lamp. Think of it as downloading a video and only being able to watch the first two minutes until you're in "a room with a sort of significance to you." Due to this power also affecting her, Genie is sometimes forced to relive traumatizing events that have occurred to her in the past one thousand years.
Maniacal File-- Note that all of Genie's powers are based on manipulating the "yandere side" of people and or events. Maniacal file lets Genie create multiple scenarios or events for how a person under a yandere influence may act. Think of this as someone having a multitude of one-shots or stories about one particular "character". Now, these "files" allow her to do two different things. One being able to manipulate the person to commit various acts, such as murder, kidnapping amongst other macabre deeds. Two, she's able to mimic almost anything a that a person who's file she "owns" can do. Of course for this to work, the files first have to be shrunk to the size of a USB and inserted into her encephalon manually (or with the use of a bit of magic). The more files she has on someone the better she understands them and the better she can help them with their "wishes", there is also a sentimental viewpoint to these "files". Since Genie is very anti-social and withdrawn these fils are sorta like her "friends". For her to obtain a person "files" she will need to either see them perform a sort of "yandere like" act, stalk them to better understand them or/and have a very in-depth and detailed conversation with them.
Bloody Background-- Certain environments (like the entirety of the Savanclaw dormitory) trigger "bloody background" which always Genie to see multiple "escape routs" or "attack routs". These routes can be used for hiding, stalking and multiple other things.
Jack Howl
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Genie’s eyes landed on the warn out beat up door. Scratch marks ranging in size, were left on the wooden entrance, each one a declaration of war. The purple-haired Jinn traced her long slender fingers over a random set of claw marks, debating whether or not to enter the Jackel’s den. For a split second her vision flashed, the ground morphed from marble to rough rock, bones of wild animals littered the ground, the door had disappeared and in its place was the mouth of a pitch-black cave. Screams of terror scorched the air followed by maniacal laughter… She'd seen this place before, stood on the very same flooring and heard the same disparate cries o despair.  “Ten more seconds and then the roar” she whispered. But the visions never last that long, it shattered into a thousand tiny shards and scattered away. Genie once again stood in front of the battered door. Inside she could hear the low grunts and huffed breaths of the ill-tempered first year that resided within. There was no reason for her to enter, she had no need nor business to invaded his privacy like this, her intentions boarded on plain rude…but the curiosity of the matter was eating her alive. She had to know!
Jack Howl first year Savanclaw student with a knack for getting into fights. He had no friends, never showed interest in a darling and the only words he ever spoke where curses and threats. Due to his harsh and brutish manner, Genie had never been able to receive a type three profile on him. Sure she knew all his attack moves and strategies by heart and could predict any action he would partake before he even knew it himself. But that left the biggest question unanswered...what kind of darling did he desire?
Based on pure analysis she could take an educated guess and say a darling whose temper was even shorter than his and who would beat up a defenseless person for kicks. But there were so many "what ifs.." maybe he liked a girl who was the opposite of him. Or maybe someone brave enough to stand in his way and tell him to stop his meaningless fits of rage. All these questions made the young girl's mind race with potential suiter for the boy.
Hesitantly the Jinn pushed on the door, it creaked as it was shoved out of her path. "Um...J-Jack", she counted her heartbeats a thing most Genii tend to do to pass the time. One heartbeat, two--
"GET OUT!" A water bottle flew in her direction, hitting the left side of her face. Ok so maybe she didn't know every move as confidentially as she had thought. "Ow!!" a court whine came after, followed by a stream of tears. Before Genie knew it she had fallen to the floor legs splayed to either side of her and loud sobs escaping from her mouth. The bruise on her head where to waterbottle had hit her pulsed with pain each time her heart beated. She frantically tried to dry the tears with her wrists to no avail. This was not what was suppose to happen, but then again had she expected anything better?
"Hey cut that out" Jack kneeled next to her frame, roughly grabbing both her wrists in one large callused hand. She tried to wiggle out of his grasp for a second debating wheater to kick or headbutt him. Slowly her white hair aggressor lifted his other hand to her face and wiped away her tears. "hey hey no more crying ok? You're going to be alright got it?" His voice was rough and demanding but it held a gentle undertone.
It took a while but eventually, Genie's tears stopped and her sobs died down. When the room had fallen into a semi-comfortable silence jack spoke again. "What the hell was up with barging into my room? Are you trying to get beat up?"
Genie casted her gaze downwards and took in a shack breath. 1 heartbeat, 2 heartbeats, 3 heartbeats...
"I wanted to...to-to talk to you..." Her voice shook with uncertainty and cracked from the strain the crying fit had left on her vocal cords.
"What for?" Jack glared at her, a snarl spread across his lips and his grip on her wrists tightened. "Don't tell me a useless pipsqueak like you want to pick a fight with me?"
In that second a strategy started to map out in her brain, Millian old gears turning and formulating words, tailoring them together to generate sentences. She swiftly lifted her eyes and locked her blood-red orbs with his golden ones.
"I-I've seen you fight, multiple times actually and I...I um came up with some strategies and suggestions for how you can improve...not that you're not tremendous I mean sorta good, already but...but um I can help you improve...if if you want that um that is."
Jack's eyes bore into her soul for a solid moment, he tossed her hands aside savagely. Getting up he stomped in the opposite direction, his bushy snow-white tail smacked her beauty in the face. He paused for when he reached his punch bag, grabbing the role of hand wrap, reapplying it to his bloody bruised knuckles. Finally, he barked out an answer "Meet me by the elephant skull at twelve am sharp, got it!"
feebly Genie stood up, using the wall as a support. "S-sure thing" she replied, surprise evident in her tone "You g-got" a large triumph smile graced her tanned face.
"Oh and bitch?"
Too happy to register the insult Genie cheerfully responded with a chirpy "yes".
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!"
Ruggie Bucchi
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Booted feet pounded on the rough uneven ground. Heavy breathing filled the air. Behind her, Genie could hear footsteps chasing after her. Panic crawled into her mind, stretching its self thinly over her mind. It's ok she mumbled to herself, just realize you've done this a billion of times before.
"Bloody Background" she whispered under her breath. Genie blinked, hundreds of tiny blue circles appeared in her red orbs. A full layout of the land before he appeared in the far left side of her sight, multiple little notes flashed in bright shades of blue and red. navigating through the notes and maps, Genie finally made heads and tails of the situation. Quickly mapping out the most deceitful rout.
--Run 10 meters then take a left, lean to the right there is a 16 cm deep pothole in the middle of the path.--
Accelerating her pace she took a sharp turn, behind her she heard the squeaky raw sound of shows scrapping rock. followed by a few curses. She kept running, watching as a blue circle highlighted the promised pothole. She aimed right, hissing as the rock wall bite into her skin. when she was a good few feet away she heard a scream and 'thump', her pursuer had hit the fallen that should give her a head start of approximately three minutes.
--with a three-minute head start run straight ahead, you'll come to a cliff jump and role down. The current calculations do not predict any major damages to be inflicted, fractures and momentary body shutdowns are not guaranteed to be avoidable.--
Her body was feeling numb, blood rushing to her fingertips. A warm dusty wind hit her face, small bits of sand sticking in her eyeballs. "Thank you Arabian desserts" she mumbled, there really were some benefits of being born in the 8th-century middle east. In front of her the earth seemed to disappear, she braced her self for the jump. Leaping into the air she curled her body into a semi-oval like shape. Upon impact, with the rugged ground, she curls her self further. She finally used the tip of her boot to dig a slow her down. Getting up again she started to run trying her best to ignore the immense pain in her right arms and the various bruises and blooding scratches over her body.
--The skull on an elephant in approaching, hid in the inside of its hollow cranium.--
No, no hiding Genie thought to herself. This whole chase -although exhilarating- was starting to get boring. She scanned the ground, reading the comments trying to find something that might help. The blue comments kept highlighting potentially useful objects and hideouts. Swiftly Genie picked up two rock shards. Holding them tight she switched her path and dashed for the elephant skull in the far right.
She entering through the mouth, quickly taking in her surroundings. Using the jagged bone matter, Genie pulled her self up climbing until she reached the window of the empty eye socket. Looking out she could see Jamil, so he'd been her mysterious stalker. Racking her brain for a second Genie tried to find a reason why Jamil of all people would be after her. Did he need something? Was he having trouble with his darling? Or did he need her for something else?
The second-year Scarabia student was only a few meters away from the skull, his back turned eyes darting every which way trying to find the Jinn girl. Swiftly Genie positioned her self, one foot resting on the opening of the eye, the other ready to push her forward. One arm held her still while the other gripped one of the shards.
One heartbeat, two heartbeats, three heartbeats...
She leaped forward, crashing into Jamil's back. The third dorm's vice president landed face first in the dirt, Genie straddling his back. She raised her hand with the rock, balling it into a fist and slamming it down on Jamil's head.
"Ouch, cut that out you rouge Jinn!"
Genie didn't respond she struck him again and again. A sickly smile spreading on her face.
"Aw look at you little bunny, trying to beat a man to death."
Turning her head Genie glared at the source of the voice. Her eyes immediately widened. They're on top of an elephant spin sat the savage gluten of savanclaw Ruggi Buchi the vice dorm leader.
He leaned his head onto his hand and smirked down at the two. At that moment Genie noticed just how dark the sky had gotten and how many glowing eyes were watching her. She gulped and rolled off of the boy. Landing on the ground in a w sitting position. Jamil also got up, he placed a hand on the back of his head covering the bleeding wound. With his free hand, he grabbed Genie's wrist. "Listen here you useless genie.." Before he could finish Ruggie had landed next to him, claws leaving deep scratches in his arm. With a painful hiss, Jamil retracted his injured arm. Ruggie walked behind Genie placing a protective hand over her shoulder. "Get off our territory before Leona arrives."
Jamile sent one last glare towards the duo before returning from which he came.
"thanks" Genie mumbles
"Don't mention it, that's what a pack is for" Ruggie flashes her a predatory smirk
Leona Kingschalor
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Genie leans over Leona's shoulder, arms loosely wrapped around his shoulders. A few centimeters in front of them a blue port screen is floating in the air. pictures of multiple girls rotating with their bios on the side.
"We really need to find you a darling big brother" Genie mutters as she nuzzles the crook of his neck. Leona simply takes another bite of the beef jerky in his hands, he chews slowly, relishing the feeling of his beloved "sister's" warm breath over his exposed skin. "Why are you in such a rush? Despreat to have me occupied with someone else so you're all alone and abandoned again?" He could feel her body tense, her breath hitch, and the nervous tick as she dug her long nails into his shoulder.
"N-no you're just getting older and we need to find the future king his queen. That-that's all"
Leona huffed and glared at the screen, there was something rather monotonous about these girls, they all lacked a certain "spunk" to them. Plus how did she expect him to concentrate when she was right there.
Leona didn't know when the entirety of Nightraven had decided that the naive little psycho jinn would become his "little sister" or even why for that matter. If it had been up to him he'd declare her as his darling the moment her lamp had been tossed through that magic mirror in the director's office. But something had happended, some choices, something! What that something was he did not know...only that it kept them apart.
Genie straightened and walked over to Leona plumping down on his lap and grabbing the screen, scrolling through some names and articles mindlessly. Automatically Leona's hands when to her head patting her softs then braiding a section of their hair to match his own. It was the brotherly thing to do, but when had it become so natural? "Look big brother.." Genie turned the screen and showed Leona the "file" of a round-faced hyena girl. She looked cute, maybe even try worthy...just not right now. "She's cute," he mutters turning his emerald eyes to Genie's face. No, he though her Genie's cheeks where come how rounder and puffier.
"I could set up a date if you--"
"NO!" Leona flinched he hadn't meant for it to come out so harsh. He cleared his throat and gently caressed the "young" girl's face, started pulling both her cheeks. "Why don't you give me her number and I'll give her a call after my nap...how's that?" The purple-haired girl tried to nod despite her flesh being pulled in opposite directions. "Good" Leona let go of her face and got up, lifting Genie up in the process. He walked over to the door of his room kicking it open and letting her fall on the bed, not a second later he plumped down on top of her. Genie let out a giggle and squirmed under him until she had some breathing room. "Get some rest  Ruggi tells me you haven't slept in a week." This was concern, it was how an "older brother was supposed to feel for his "little sister". "But I'm not sleepy-" she tried to protest. "Don't care, do that counting thing you do sometimes maybe that'll bore you enough to drift off."
She obeyed like the good little sister she was supposed to be. As sleep took over his sense Leona heard her tiny voice barely above a whisper.
one heartbeat, two heartbeats, three heartbeats, four heart--
116 notes · View notes
ddaengyoonmin · 5 years
Text
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Pairing: Hybrid!Yoongi x Human!Reader
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Smut
Theme: Mate!au, Hybrid!au
Warnings: Mentions of blood and slight violence, Unprotected sex, blowjob
Playlist: “Professional-The Weekend”-- “Angels-The XX”--”Lust for Life-Lana Del Rey”
Word Count: 8.8k
@sugasheart
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You’d been thinking about getting a hybrid for some time now.  You had just never felt financially capable of supporting more than just yourself. 
But, this week you had just been informed you’d be getting a promotion at your job and a significant pay raise to go with it. 
Excitedly your first thought was that you could finally get a hybrid!
You called up your friend Namjoon as soon as you got out of work.  
“What was the name of that shelter you got Jimin from?” you asked him
“Lilly’s Hybrid Adoption Shelter, why? Are you finally getting a hybrid?” 
“Yep!” you beamed “I just got that promotion I’d been after and It seems like I can more than afford to now” 
“Woah, y/n that's awesome! Congrats, and I hope your search goes well, don’t get discouraged if you don’t click with any of them right away, it took me a while before I found Jimin”  he told you
“Yeah, I know, I’m hoping I do though! I’m so excited” 
“Well good luck!”
“Thanks Joon, I’ll let you know how it goes”
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You plugged the address for the shelter into your phone’s GPS and went straight there from your work. 
The shelter seemed like a nice enough place, it was pretty large and seemed to be a couple stories tall.  Namjoon had sung its praises when he adopted Jimin his golden retriever hybrid, but that was two years ago.  Hopefully it was still as good as Joon had remembered it being. 
You’d heard that some shelters were cruel and even put Hybrids down if they weren’t getting adopted and the shelter was filling up.  
You walked up to the glass double doors, taking a deep breath in anticipation.  You knew this was a big decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly.  Like Namjoon said, you needed to really click with your hybrid, you didn’t want to be that person to send your hybrid back after just a week or two because it wasn’t working out. 
The man at the front desk chimed out a “Hello there!” cheerily. 
He got up from behind his desk and walked over to greet you, “I’m Hoseok,” he extended his hand for you to shake, “Are you looking to adopt a hybrid today?”
“I’m hoping so” you nodded with a smile. 
“Awesome!” he grinned “Lets get some info from you first, and I’ll need your I.D before you go back to interact with the hybrids.  We have some requirements for adoption so I wouldn’t want to get your hopes up just to have to reject you after you’ve bonded with one of them” he shook his head, you assumed that had been a problem in the past that they were trying to correct now. 
“Of course” you pulled your I.D out to give to Hoseok, he took it and went back behind the desk, entering some info into his computer as he handed you a form with a pen to fill out.  You were surprised at how detailed it was.  They needed info like your age, where you worked, how much money you made, what the square footage of your home is, and if it was two bedrooms or more.  You did have a two bedroom home, but you didn’t think it was that big or extravagant, you hoped it would be enough for you to qualify. 
You hand the paper back to Hoseok when you had finished and he glanced it over, running his finger along each box you’d filled out. 
“Great!” he smiled and nodded in approval “You meet all our requirements and your background check came back clean.  I can take you back to meet the hybrids now” 
You let out a sigh of relief.  
“Jin can you watch the desk while I take Miss y/l/n here back to visit the hybrids?” he yelled out to a man who was walking by carrying some boxes. 
“Sure thing boss” Jin replied, setting the boxes down and trading places with Hoseok. 
“Awesome, come with me” Hoseok motioned for you to follow him as he walked you through a door behind the desk. 
There were many long hallways lined with big glass windows all wrapping around in a square with doors leading to an enclosed outdoor grassy center with benches and many hybrids playing with each other and with workers from the shelter. 
Hoseok led you to one of the doors, holding it open for you to go outside. 
Instantly an excited brown haired cat hybrid runs up to you, “Pets?” he said lowering his head for you to pet him.  Hoseok chuckled “This is Jungkook, he’s quite friendly” 
You laugh and pet the cat hybrid on the head.  “Enough pets” he said after only a few moments and ran back out to play with another cat hybrid that was playing alone in the corner of the yard. 
“He just got adopted today, he’s in a good mood” Hoseok said “But besides him, the rest of the hybrids here are up for adoption still”
You walked around the yard, spending a little bit of time with each of the hybrids, they were all very cute and friendly, any of them would’ve been a perfect companion.  But, there wasn’t a strong pull to any one in particular. 
“Is this every one?” you asked Hoseok after you’d met with all of them. 
“Well…” he paused, “There is one more...but we don’t let him out with the rest of the hybrids and we really don’t know what to do with him.  I wouldn’t suggest meeting with him”
You furrowed your brow confused “Why not?”
Hoseok sighed, “Well usually we only deal with the standard pet hybrids, dogs, cats, rabbits and such.  But this guy was brought to us by a friend of mine from one of the Kill shelters. He knew we were a no kill shelter here and had grown somewhat fond of the hybrid, but they just couldn’t seem to place him.  He’s dangerous…” he paused again “He’s a melanistic jaguar, better known as a black panther hybrid.  He’s been to many different homes and each time he’d been sent back due to inflicting injury on one of his owners, even a child at one point” 
You gasped. “Oh.” you thought for a moment “Can I still see him? I’ve never seen a black panther hybrid.  I’m kind of curious” 
Hoseok’s eyes widened, “I guess? If you really want to” 
He led you back inside and down a hallway to the rooms where they kept the hybrids beds. 
Hoseok stopped at one door with a large window where you could see inside. 
Sitting with his eyes closed on the floor and back pressed against the wall, and arms resting on his knees, was the most beautiful hybrid you’d ever seen.  
He had jet black hair that fell slightly into his eyes and his black ears that sat on top of his head were the same glossy black as the rest of his hair.  He was wearing the same uniform outfit that all the hybrids were, a plain white t-shirt and white jeans.  
Upon realizing that you and Hoseok had approached his catlike eyes shot open and into a glare.  He growled lowly at Hoseok, remaining still. 
“Yoongi be nice” Hoseok tried to soothe him. “This nice lady just wanted to see you.  He can hear us through the door” he added that last part to you. 
The hybrid rolled his eyes and let out a small hiss.  When his eyes finally looked your way his expression suddenly softened.  
He stood up and slowly approached the window. 
“Would you look at that…” Hoseok's eyes widened in shock. “He’s never approached us willingly” 
Yoongi shot a glare Hoseok’s way quickly before turning back to face you. 
“Hi” you softly spoke at him
Yoongi cocked his head to the side, curiously observing you and looking you up and down with a blank expression. 
He then put a hand up and pressed it gently against the glass window.  You stood still for a moment and then realized maybe he wanted you to put your hand up against his.  
You slowly brought your hand to where his was, your hand smaller in comparison to his.  You stood like this for a moment before turning to Hoseok. 
“Does he get to come out at all?” 
Hoseok shook his head “No way.  We don’t trust him.  Last time we did that he bit Jin pretty bad” 
You looked sad. 
“I’ll be good” Yoongi grumbled.
“Ahh, I don’t think that’s a good idea” Hoseok murmured. 
“What If I wanted to adopt him?” you said without thinking.  You knew that it was probably a bad idea.  Everything about this hybrid screamed danger, and the stories that Hoseok had told you backed up that feeling.   Yet something about him was pulling you to need more time with him, to get to know him.  Yoongi’s eyes widened at your words, he looked to Hoseok with a pleading expression. 
“Y/n, I thought you just wanted to see what he looked like, I’m sorry but he's really not up for adoption right now.” Hoseok sternly looked at Yoongi “Not until he proves to us that he isn’t a threat to others.” 
“I wouldn’t hurt her” Yoongi hissed out, eyes narrowing. 
“Hoseok I really think I’m fine, I’ll sign a waiver or something if that’s what you’re worried about” you then turned to Yoongi “I trust you” you nodded. 
That seemed to make Yoongi happy, a tiny smile pulled up the corner of his lips as he continued to look you over. 
“Agh, fine” Hoseok groaned. “I’m gonna go get my taser first just in case. Hopefully I won’t have to use it” he glared at Yoongi who was rolling his eyes. 
A taser seemed a bit drastic, but Hoseok was just looking out for your safety.  You also hoped he wouldn’t have to use it, and that you didn’t just get yourself into a dangerous situation. 
Hoseok returned and looked sternly at Yoongi, “Back against the back wall of the room.” He barked out at him. 
Yoongi hissed softly shaking his head, but obeying, sulking over to the back wall and leaning against it calmly. 
Hoseok unlocked the door and entered first, with you following close behind. 
You heart was fluttering in your chest with a mix of fear and excitement.  Yoongi smirked at your nervousness, “Can I move off the wall?” he asked Hoseok, his eyes not leaving you. 
“Slowly. No sudden movements” Hoseok ordered. 
Yoongi slowly pulled himself from the wall and started walking over to you.  You met him halfway returning the slow pace in your steps. 
Your breathing was quickened and shallow, your chest tightening with the fear and tense vibes in the air. 
Yoongi was staring down at you calm and cool, a small smile formed on his lips.  
“Hi” he muttered quietly. 
You took in the full sight of him, his eyes were golden and cat like, he stood strong and confidently as he took a slow step close to you, now only about a foot away. 
You gulped loudly as Yoongi extended out his hand, similarly to how he did on the window.  Waiting for you to return the gesture.  
You hesitated for a moment, but decided it couldn’t hurt.  You raised your hand up and started to bring it to his.  You noticed Hoseok holding tight to the taser at the door of the room, ready to step in if need be. 
When your hand touched Yoongi’s a shiver ran over you, his hand was cold and firm as he started to lock his fingers into your own.  
A smirk on his face and his eyes brightening.  
“Alright that's enough” Hoseok yelled out.  Startling Yoongi making him jump back a few feet from you and start to growl and hiss Hoseok’s way. 
Hoseok quickly ushered you out of the room, holding his taser out towards Yoongi as a warning. 
Once the door had been shut and locked, you next words were no surprise to you, maybe they should’ve been a surprise, but it all just felt so right. 
“I want to adopt him.  What do I need to do to get approved for that.” 
Hoseok groaned and shook his head.  “I really shouldn’t have showed him to you.” 
You gave him a look of unwavering determination. 
“Okay, I’m going to call the owner, I’m just a supervisor here so I don’t really have the authority to make this call.  I’ll give it a try.  But, are you really sure?” he looked at you like you were insane. 
You nodded confidently “I’m very sure.  He’s my guy”  you grinned looking over to Yoongi who stood by the glass and had heard your words.  He smiled the biggest smile yet, looking at you softly.
Hoseok brought you to the office where you would fill out the adoption paperwork if the owner approved you being able to adopt Yoongi. 
Things seemed to be going in your favor on the phone despite Hoseok’s worried opinions on the situation. 
“Ah. Fine. I’ll let her know” Hoseok spoke and hung up the phone.  “So...you can adopt him” 
Your face lit up and you grinned widely. “Yeah?” you excitedly bounced in your seat. 
“Yes.  We are going to do a home visit one a week for the first month though, nothing too intrusive, just a quick pop in to make sure he’s settling in alright and you are safe” he informed you. 
You nodded, that didn’t seem like a bad idea.  You were honestly grateful for how much they seemed to care about your safety and making sure Yoongi would go to a home where he could be well adjusted. 
You were sad that you couldn’t take Yoongi home that day, but it was policy for them to make new owners wait a week before bringing their hybrid home, to give them a chance to back out so as to make sure people weren't just getting a new hybrid on impulse that would just be returned as soon as they realized it wasn’t really what they wanted. 
“That’s happened more than you’d think” Hoseok told you. “Alright, well I think we’ve got everything covered.  I’ll see you back here in a week” he waved you goodbye as you left. 
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The next week was spent preparing the house for Yoongi.  You were so excited and nervous all at the same time.  You had set up your spare room as a bedroom for him, buying him some brand new soft silk black sheets that had instantly reminded you of his hair when you saw them on the shelf.  You also got him a plush red blanket that you hoped he’d like along with many other decorations for his room.  Not knowing what to buy for him to entertain himself with you picked out some new board games for the two of you to play together and bought a tablet that he could have as his own to play games on.  You were quite thankful for the pay raise you were getting as it ended up being quite the expensive shopping trip.
Finally the day had come for you to go and pick Yoongi up.  
Your felt a slight knot of anxiety in your stomach as you approached the door to the shelter, nervous and excited. 
When you entered the door Hoseok was sitting at the desk, “Y/n! Oh my god.  Someone was supposed to call you” 
Your heart sank, worried about what that could mean.  Had Yoongi been adopted by someone else? Had they decided not to let you get him? 
“What’s wrong?” you asked
Hoseok sighed and rubbed his temples “So...we were going to ask you to wait a few days to come pick him up.  A new worker had been hired a few days ago and...that idiot” Hoseok groaned “ I think the handler got a little spooked when Yoongi growled at him and roughed him up pretty bad.  He was fired right away.” Hoseok informed you. 
You gasped out upon hearing this.  Picturing someone hurting your Yoongi had you balling up your fists wishing that the horrible man could’ve been more than just fired. 
“ Yoongi is going to be okay  But he has been silent and curled up in bed for days.  No one can get him to move, or eat.” Hoseok paused “Well he actually did say one thing...he asked when you’d be here for him.  We told him we were going to have you wait a few days longer until he was better and that didn’t seem to sit well with him.  We just didn’t want you to have to see him like that” 
“No.  I need to see him.” you knew it would break your heart to see him like that, but he needed you.  He was asking for you, and they were going to make him wait longer? That annoyed you a bit. 
Hoseok nodded and took you back to the room you were just last week.  Yoongi was on the bed that was against the wall, unmoving and facing the nothingness in front of him with a thin blanket draped over his figure. 
“Yoongi”  Hoseok tapped the glass of the window “Someone’s here for you” 
“I’m not moving until y/n gets here” you heard Yoongi mumble. 
“Let's get you moving then” you called out to him with an affectionate smile. 
Yoongi’s head whipped around to face the door, his eyes widening and a smile growing large on his face.  He jumped up out of the bed and quickly ran over to the door pressing both of his hands up to the glass at you.  
You could see a yellowing purple bruise on his cheek and his lower lip looked like it was healing from where it had been split open.  It broke your heart seeing him like this, you needed to get him out of here before something like that could happen to him again. 
“So can he come with me now?” you asked Hoseok. 
“I’m still so skeptical about this.  But, you have our number if you need anything.” Hoseok unlocks the door and invites Yoongi to come out. 
You cautiously approach the hybrid man, opening your arms out for a hug.  Yoongi instantly accepts your offer for a hug, pulling you into his chest with his strong arms. He nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck and you could hear him taking a deep breath in, getting himself acquainted to the smell of you.  
“Ready to go home?” you asked him.  Yoongi nodded, still holding you tight in the hug.  You giggled, “Alright let's go” 
-----------------------------------------
Yoongi was nervous stepping into your home, he looked around at everything trying to get a feel for the place he was now going to be living. 
You realized now that you knew nothing about him.  Everything that had pulled you to him was pure feeling and you start to get nervous that maybe he would end up hating it here. 
“You’ll have your own room, and really anything here is yours now too.  Nothing’s off limits” You let him know.  He nodded and went to sit down on your couch. 
You decided to go join him, sitting with a good amount of distance between the two of you, not wanting to spook him. 
“So...tell me about yourself?” you asked Yoongi.  Not really sure what you were supposed to say or do now. 
Yoongi smiled slightly, his lips pulling into a smirk.  “You’re scared of me aren’t you” he spoke in a husky voice. His eyes narrowing looking you up and down.
You froze up instantly, getting awkward and nervous, “I-I wouldn’t say scared.  Y-you said you wouldn’t hurt me.” 
“You know I can tell that your heart is beating fast.  The part of me that's not human can feel when someone feels like prey…”
Yoongi is silent and moves closer to you, bringing his face close to yours, you can feel his warm breath on your face as he looks you over with a dangerous expression. 
“I trust you” you whispered. 
Yoongi parted his lips slowly and opened his mouth wide then snapped his teeth together harshly and suddenly in a biting motion to the air between you.  You flinched away from him and gasped. 
Yoongi pulled back from you calmly and rolled his eyes “Yeah.  I wouldn’t do that” he hissed as he relaxed back into the couch closing his eyes and crossing his arms across his chest. 
“I’ll be back at the shelter soon.” he shrugged. 
“What makes you say that? Do you plan on hurting me or something” you asked nervously, sliding back from him slightly. 
“I don’t plan on it.  But it always seems to happen that way.  I’m jumpy…” he opened his eyes and frowned staring down at the floor “I really didn’t mean to hurt that kid.  He pulled my tail hard while I was sleeping...it was just a reflex” he sighed, thinking back on that memory. 
“Okay, so Yoongi 101.  Don’t pull your tail.  Got it” 
You could tell Yoongi found that slightly amusing but was trying to hold back his laughter. 
“I don’t want to hurt you.  I think this is my last chance...and you seem...nice” he looked your way, his face getting dark and worried.  “I’m scared I’ll hurt you, so it's better if you stay afraid of me, and just leave me alone” 
Your face formed into a small pout.  “Yoongi, I mean it, I trust you.  Even if you do hurt me...I know you won’t mean it and I’ll learn from it what not to do next time” you informed him. 
He shook his head “That’s a ridiculous thing to say.  You’ll feel differently when it actually happens.  You’ll be so scared of me, the sight of me will make you afraid in your own home.  I can tell that’s what happened with the others.  It happens every time.  I always tried so hard to be good” he started to choke up a bit “I really want to be good.  But I’m just not.” 
You decided to move close to him again. Slowly, still slightly nervous, but wanting to assure him that the trust you said you have in him is real. 
“Yoongi…” you sat now with your leg touching his slightly, you slowly placed a hand on his leg, making sure he saw you doing it so you weren’t catching him off guard. 
Upon your touch his eyes grew wider slightly.  He stared at you, his lower lip now between his teeth.  
“Why did you act so nice to me at the shelter if you didn’t want to come home with me? I think you really do want to be here...So don’t worry about if it’ll end.  Because I have faith in you, and when I saw you...there was something there.  We had a connection don’t you think?” 
“A connection…” he repeated. “Yes…I…” he shook his head and stopped himself from saying everything that was on his mind. He didn’t want to tell you what that connection was for him.  That it was the way your lips looked, how jaw droppingly beautiful your body was to him.  The way your eyes trailing over him make his heart skip a beat and feel like growing wings and flying right to you, for you to hold onto forever and always.  He felt so foolish for falling for a human girl who was only just trying to be his owner, he knew that could never work, but he couldn’t help the feelings he was feeling.  The best he could do was try to ignore them, put them deep down inside where no one could find them, maybe they would fade away if he just pretended that's not what this was. 
---------------------------------------
The more time Yoongi spent at your house, the more comfortable he was becoming.  He was still nervous around you, scared of himself and what he was capable of.  Not wanting to hurt you, because of what he felt for you, and not wanting to feel for you, because he could hurt you. 
But you had welcomed him in with such care.  Every time you’d come home from work, you’d sit and talk with him about how your day went, he’d listen closely to every detail, loving hearing about your life and learning more about your personality, it only strengthened the feelings he was trying to bury.  
One time he happened to pass by the bathroom on his way to his room at night and realized you’d left the door a crack open.  You were completely naked and getting ready to step into the shower.  Your back was turned to him so he was sure you hadn’t noticed him standing there, but oh did he notice you.  Your curves and body were so perfect, the shape of your ass had him growing crazy with want.  It took everything in him to turn his eyes away and retreat to his room before he did anything that would probably just end up embarrassing himself. 
With each passing day that feeling had started to grow, and cloud his thoughts even when you weren’t there.  
One friday night you had ordered pizza for the two of you,  Yoongi was excited to try the pizza you had ordered, he’d never been allowed to eat with his humans at his other houses, they usually fed him separately from the rest of the household and it was always generic hybrid food.  Most all breeds of hybrids were able to eat human food, but most owners found that too expensive and just opted for blends of bland dry food that was just enough nutrition to sustain their hybrid.  But you let him eat with you at the dinner table or the couch every day, you’d even given him permission to help himself to anything in the fridge whenever he wanted as long as he cleaned up after himself.  Life with you was bliss. 
Yoongi had gone to his room to lie down for a quick nap while you waited for the pizza to arrive.  He slowly drifted into a light sleep, only to be awakened a few minutes later by the sound of your doorbell ringing.  He smiled and rolled over onto his side, listening to the cute way you answered the door. 
“Yay! Pizza! Thank you, and here’s your tip” you spoke cutely at the pizza delivery man. 
“I can think of a better way you could tip me pretty lady” Yoongi heard the man speak at you in a tone of voice that didn’t sit well with him at all. 
Yoongi felt the fur on his tail stand up straight as a chill went down his spine.  
“Ah no, um,” You awkwardly were trying to just hand the tip to the man and shut the door. 
Yoongi heard a thud, the delivery man had put his foot in the door to stop you from shutting it and was pushing it back open. 
“Aww come on sweet thing.  I gave you something delicious, I just want to taste something delicious as well” 
At that Yoongi was out of bed and to your side in a flash. Growling loudly and baring his pointed teeth at the man at the door. 
“She said no.  So unless you want me to rip your arms off I’d suggest you get going and hope that calms me down enough and I don’t feel like coming after you just to make sure you don’t ever come back.” he hissed standing tall with an aggressive stance.  Yoongi snapped his teeth at the man warning him that he was completely serious.
The man's eyes widened and he quickly scurried away.  Yoongi watched from the window to make sure the man got in his car and was driving away, growling until the man was completely out of sight. 
You had set the pizza down on the table and were staring wide eyed at Yoongi.
Yoongi suddenly felt embarrassed, “Y/n, I’m so sorry, I was out of control, I shouldn’t have-”
“Are you kidding me? That was amazing.  Yoongi.  Thank you” you ran up to him, throwing your arms around his neck tightly and burying your face into his chest. 
Yoongi was surprised, he had expected you to scold him for being aggressive, but you seemed so happy. 
“Wait, really? I wasn’t bad?” Yoongi asked you softly. 
“No way! I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t here” you pulled back and looked him in the eye, brushing away a strand of hair that was falling into his eyes.  Your face was only inches from his, you both suddenly paused and got serious, realizing the closeness.  Yoongi could sense your heart was beating quickly and mistook it for you suddenly getting scared.  He pulled back from you. 
You shook your head trying to snap yourself out of the odd thought that had just ran through your head.  You didn’t think of Yoongi that way, you couldn’t possibly. 
--------------------------------
The next few days had been...strange.  Yoongi had started to become unusual in his behaviors.  He seemed to be getting a lot more clingy, always over your shoulder whenever you were doing anything around the house, and getting slightly embarrassed when you’d call him out on it.  You had taken him out with you grocery shopping and he had growled at a man that he caught checking you out.  You didn’t scold him but you knew that it was slightly out of line the way he was behaving. 
Yoongi had caught on to you being displeased with him.  He was embarrassed but he couldn’t help it, he had started feeling so protective of you, and the thought of any other man's eyes on you just made his blood boil.  He didn’t quite understand himself what was happening to him.  
You had told Yoongi you were going to Namjoon’s house for a visit and that it was probably best if he just stayed back.  You felt awful for having to say that to him, but Namjoon’s hybrid Jimin was pretty skittish and territorial, and had said he wasn’t sure he’d feel comfortable with a black panther hybrid in his home. 
Yoongi pouted as you gathered your coat and purse getting ready to leave.  You had made sure Yoongi had dinner and things to do while you were away. 
“I’m really sorry again Yoongi, I swear I won’t be gone long” 
Yoongi grumbled something inaudible and glared down at the ground.  It broke your heart that he might be angry with you for leaving, and you debated on calling Namjoon to cancel, but decided against it, you haven't seen your friend in so long and you missed him. 
“Okay I’m off” you sang, trying to give Yoongi a warm smile before heading off. 
Yoongi suddenly pulled you in to a big hug, nuzzling his head into your neck and all over your shoulders. 
“I’m gonna miss you too” you laughed patting him on the head before pulling him off of you and heading out the door. 
-------------------------------------------
You had a good time at Namjoon’s, Jimin was excited to see you.  “Y/n!” he shouted out excitedly jumping into your arms and giving you a large hug.  “You smell like a big cat” he scrunched his nose up at the smell of Yoongi. 
“That would be my Yoongi you’re smelling Jimin” you chuckled at him. As he made a barfing face. “He smells.” Jimin whined.
Namjoon laughed at his hybrid, motioning for him to come sit next to him on their couch. 
“Don’t be rude Jimin, he just really doesn’t like cats” he shook his head and rolled his eyes.
The three of you spent the next few hours chatting and playing games, you had been missing Yoongi most of the time, wondering what he was up to back home, if he was alright, if he was angry with you for not being able to bring him with. 
Jimin was sitting in your lap falling asleep when you noticed it was getting late. 
“Shit.  I told Yoongi I wouldn’t be long! Sorry Namjoon, I gotta get going”
Namjoon nodded and went to lift sleeping Jimin off of you and putting him to bed in his room before coming out to see you off. 
“Hey y/n. So I didn’t really want to get into this talk with Jimin still nearby.  But are things really going okay?” Namjoon stood at the door as you were leaving. 
“Oh. Yeah if you mean like has he hurt me that's a definite no.” you told him
Namjoon nodded “That's good to hear” 
“He has been acting...odd though.  He recently started to just growl and lash out at random people at the store or out on walks just for looking at me. I know some animals get extra aggressive when they are sick, and he is part animal and all, so you don’t think he could be sick or something do you?” you asked.  That thought had been worrying you lately with Yoongi’s strange behavior. 
“Is it just with men? Or anyone?” Namjoon asks, thinking deeply about something. 
“Just men actually” You realized just then. 
“Oh...Interesting. I’ll look into it and let you know y/n” Namjoon said looking like he already had an idea of what it might be, but keeping it to himself. “See you soon I hope!” he smiled and gave you a hug goodbye.
----------------------------------------
When you got home Yoongi didn’t come running to the door like he usually did.  Your fears that he was mad at you were heightening. 
“Yoongi?” you called out.  Walking to his room you realized the bathroom door was wide open, and you could hear the shower running. 
“I’ll be out soon” Yoongi grumbled, poking his head around the shower curtain.  
Your cheeks blushed pink slightly and quickly turned around to give him privacy. You waited on the couch for him, taking off your shoes and settling in with a blanket draped over your legs and flipping through channels on the TV. 
Yoongi walked out to where you were sitting and plopped down lazily onto the couch next to you.  His black strands of hair were wet and clinging to his face in such an appealing manner, and you couldn’t help but let your eyes linger on the fact that he had opted not to put a shirt on after his shower.  He was sitting there in only black sweatpants with a white stripe up the side.  
“You’re not mad at me are you?” you asked, tearing your eyes away from his chest and trying to  look him in the eye hoping he didn’t notice you staring. 
Yoongi didn’t respond, staring straight ahead at the television. 
“Earth to Yoongi” you waved your hand at him. 
Yoongi groaned and scooted close to you, catching you off guard he brought his face close to your neck and breathed in slightly.  He instantly growled and recoiled away from you. 
“Yoongi!” you exclaimed at his behavior, “what’s gotten into you!”
His face was growing slightly red and flushed as was his chest.  
You slowly moved over to him and placed your hand on his forehead.  He grabbed your wrist instantly holding you just tightly enough that it hurt a tiny bit.  He released you instantly once he noticed you wince in pain. 
“Yoongi you’re really warm…” you murmured, rubbing at your wrist. “Are you...sick?” 
“If you can count that disgusting dog smell all over you that’s making me nauseous” he muttered. 
You rolled your eyes.  “Yoongi I’m serious, you’ve been acting strangely, are you okay?” 
Yoongi growled slightly, he looked you over with the most animalistic expression you’d ever seen on his face. “I’m fine” he muttered through gritted teeth. 
You sighed and let it go for now, planning on calling Namjoon as soon as Yoongi went to bed.
-----------------------------------
“So he was really angry with me when I got home.  He’s burning up with a fever and is acting really...feral?”  you told Namjoon over the phone. 
Namjoon sighed “Okay.  So I didn’t want to have to say this unless I was almost 100% sure that this is what I thought it was” he paused “But, I think it is.  So I’m going to ask you some awkward questions.”
“Huh? Awkward... Like what?” 
“Have you and Yoongi ever been...intimate?” Namjoon asked
“Intimate like hugs? He does hug me a lot but he has been getting more clingy lately”
“Okay, I guess that answers that” He chuckled “Awkward question number two that you probably never wanted to hear from your best friend. When's your next...time of the month” Namjoon avoided saying the word, cringing a little bit at having to bring this up to you.
“Time of the month? Well I had my last one a little over a week ago? What the fuck does that have to do with anything” you asked, embarassed to be discussing this with Namjoon. 
“So...there's a good chance that you’re ovulating.” Namjoon states “And thats whats happening to him”
“Wait...How does that have anything to do with Yoongi?” 
Namjoon groans on the other end of the line “Ahh are you really gonna make me talk about this stuff with you.  You really didn’t look anything up about cat hybrids.” he paused again “So you ovulating...is similar to what a cat being in heat.  Half of Yoongi is a part of the big cat species and...its in his biology to pick up on that sort of thing.” 
“So he’s mad at me because I’m ovulating...I still don’t understand Namjoon” 
“Dammit y/n.  You know we don’t talk about this stuff” he groaned again with a laugh.  “Yoongi’s biology...Is telling him to mate with you.  He’s probably embarrassed and trying to fight against it and that’s why he’s so cranky.  It makes him a lot more clingy and protective of you around other men he might see as a threat to his chance of mating with you.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimin’s scent on you tonight had him in rage” 
You were quiet in shock.  Yoongi wanted to mate with you?  Or at least the part of him that wasn’t human was telling him he wanted to…
“What...what do I do about that?” you stammered. 
“Umm. I suppose you have a few options. Just let him kinda deal with it himself until it passes, he’ll probably just keep being like he is, and he won’t feel well.  You could...encourage him to try and let out his frustrations through some self relief” Namjoon suggested “Or…” he sighed “You could...you know...help him.  If you want” 
“Help him? Meaning…” your eyes widening as you realized what Namjoon was implying “Meaning sleep with him!?” 
“It’s not that uncommon for Hybrids to mate with Humans y/n. But don’t do it if you don’t want things to become serious that way between the two of you.  To mate with him...would be a big deal for him.  It wouldn’t just be something casual.” Namjoon told you. 
“Oh...noted.  I-I uh.  I think I get it” you muttered. 
“Okay sweet we can be done talking about this now” Namjoon laughed “Good luck, and feel free to call if you need any advice”
You nodded and said goodbye to Namjoon.  Wondering what to do about the situation that you were in now.  You definitely thought Yoongi was attractive, and the way you felt for him was more than just being roommates, or just his owner.  You had thought of him as a friend...a close friend who you really cared for.  Could it possibly have become more than that at some point.  The thought that he wanted to mate with you actually had made you happy when Namjoon said it, you were certainly surprised, but part of you became excited at the thought that Yoongi was thinking of you that way. 
You went to walk to your room, walking past Yoongi’s room on your way.  As you did you heard a loud pained noise coming from his room.  Thinking he might be hurt somehow you quickly swung the door open. 
Your stomach clenched at the sight.  Yoongi was laying out on his bed in a sweat rolling back and forth, one hand clutching the sheets tightly and the other holding his crotch through his pants.  His face flushed and his chest was heaving up and down heavily.  You gasped out realizing that you walked in on something you probably shouldn’t have. 
His eyes shot to meet yours, his cat like pupils blown out, staring at your figure still standing in the doorway hungrily.
“Y-yoongi, sorry, I thought…” you stuttered out. 
“Y/n.  Please...It’s too much.  I can’t handle it” he groaned.  
You didn’t know exactly what he was asking for.  Please leave? Please come closer? You stood still debating your next move.  Thinking back on Namjoon’s words, if you decided to go through with this, it would mean a lot to Yoongi emotionally, you would basically be committing to him.  You realized that the idea of that wouldn’t be so bad, for Yoongi to be yours in more ways than he already was, that thought made your heart warm.  So maybe you really did want this.
  You thought back to the day that you had first met him, intertwining your fingers with his in that room at the shelter.  You now imagine intertwining every part of your body with his.  
You bit your lip lightly. 
Yoongi continued writhing in his bed, eyes still on you, his breathing shallow and quick.
“Why are you just standing there” he moaned out. 
You took a few steps into his room.  “Yoongi...do you...want me?  Is that really what this is?” you asked quietly, making sure you weren’t embarrassing yourself by assuming. 
He growled, but different than his normal aggressive growls, this one was full of lust and want. 
“Want? y/n…” he growled again “Need.  I need you.” he extending an arm out, pawing for you to come closer to him. 
You felt butterflies filling your stomach.  I’m doing this, you thought, taking a deep breath. 
You approached the side of the bed cautiously crawling up on your hands and knees to get close to him.  
He instantly pulled you on top of him.  Your legs straddling over his hips and obvious erection that you could now feel through his sweatpants. 
His face was so close to yours as you hovered over him.  
“You need me too right?” he asked in a whisper, his hooded eyes staring at your lips as he darted his tongue out to wet his own lips. 
You nodded shyly.  “Yes Yoongi. I need you” you admitted to him. 
“Mmm” he moaned out at your words.  His hand quickly found its way to the back of your head and he guided you to him, connecting his lips with yours in a hungry and desperate kiss. 
He growled lowly into your mouth as your kisses became more and most lustful, getting lost in the bliss that you felt being this close with him. 
His hand left your neck and slowly trailed it’s way down your back and ending up on your ass.  He gave you a light squeeze that caused you to moan back into his mouth in return.  His other hand joined in grabbing you, moving you to rock your hips against him, relieving some of the pained need that he was feeling right where you were now rubbing against him. 
You dragged your nails lightly down his chest from his collar bones all the way down to his hips.  He moaned and bucked his hips up in response, your actions affecting him heavily.
“Fuck, y/n.  I can’t take it anymore.  I need to be inside of you.  I need you so badly” he whined. 
You sat up and lifted your shirt up off of yourself, then unhooked your bra, tossing it aside frantically, before returning back to the kisses. 
“Oh my god” he had gasped out, his eyes wide, admiring your naked figure. 
You smiled and started moving the kisses to his neck, kitten licking for a moment making him grab tightly onto your ass at the sensation.  You moved your way down his body, planting light kisses the whole way down, each one causing a small growl to escape Yoongi’s lips. 
Finally you reach the band of the sweatpants still resting on his hips.  You hooked your fingers around it and pulled down,  his erection sprung free and was now laying against his stomach, hard, his need for you very apparent, and...so big.  You gasped out at the sight, and hungrily licked your lips, wanting to taste him. 
You wrapped a hand around the base of his cock, loving the feel of his smooth skin and the weight of him in your hand, and then lowered your head to him.  He watched attentively while you, With a flattened tongue you licked a long wet stripe up his shaft, flicking your tongue on the underside of his tip, then up to savour the salty drop of precum that had been sitting there. 
Yoongi then tilted his head back into the pillow, his eyes tightly shut, biting his lip with a loud needy moan as you take him all the way in your mouth. “Y/n. fuck.”
You chuckled slightly at that, the vibrations from your laugh making his hips jerk up into you reflexively.  You took him in as much as you could, hollowing out your cheeks as you did. 
He was so responsive to every movement you did, moaning, growling and moving his hips up off of the mattress.  You felt the warm arousal in your center getting wetter with every noise you pulled from his lips.  He was so beautiful, so perfect, so...yours.  You continued to bob your head up and down on him, his hands found themselves tangled in your hair moving with you as you took his entire length.  Your nose was pressing right into his stomach now and he held you tightly there for a moment, jerking his hips up into your mouth ever so slightly while growling erotically at the feeling.  He released his grip on your hair allowing you to catch your breath. 
“So good” you heard him whisper. 
You stopped and started bringing your kisses back up his stomach and chest and back to his lips, planting sloppy kisses onto his soft lips. 
He quickly wrapped an arm around your waist holding you close to his body and flipped you around quickly so that you were now flat on your back on the bed. 
He sat back on his knees to slide your shorts and panties off your trembling legs in one graceful movement. Licking his lips at the sight of you now completely naked on the bed in front of him.
  Yoongi then positioned his cock between your legs, right at the entrance between your folds.  He paused for a moment, like he was debating on whether he should.  You knew that must be hard for him, his primal urges were evident in every movement, yet he still restrained himself to double check that this was really what you wanted. 
“Yoongi, fuck me.  Please fuck me” you whined out, not wanting to wait a second longer to feel him filling you up. 
Yoongi didn’t wait a moment as soon as the okay passed your lips.  You felt his entire length glide into you, and he started at a fervent pace.  He dropped himself down so his chest was brushing against your breasts with every thrust into you, your hard and erect nipples grazing  against his skin.  He took a hand and brushed your messy hair away from your face, holding the side of your cheek lovingly and looking into your eyes as he moaned in the most lewd manner. 
The feeling of him moving inside of you was heavenly, he filled you up perfectly, and each  movement sent shock waves through you in the most perfect way.  You glanced down and were able to slightly see the beautiful sight of where your bodies were meeting, his cock moving in and out of you, your wet juices glistening on him every time he pulled out.
It seemed to be feeling just as well for him. His expression was so fucked out as he stared down at you in awe. 
His next words caught you slightly off guard. 
“Mine.” he growled, reaching a hand to grip onto the side of your waist tightly, holding you steady as his thrusts quickened and became more aggressive and carnal.  His hand clutched your face roughly.
  “Mine.” he repeated with a serious expression, his eyes narrowed, it didn’t sound like a question, but you realized that he was looking for a response. He continued his pace but his face stilled, waiting for the words he wanted to hear. 
“Yours.” you smiled at him while you moaned out “I’m yours Yoongi” 
His expression instantly turned into pure joy.  He lowered his face to the crook of your neck as he seemed to like to do, rubbing himself against you. 
“I’ve almost got that dog scent off of you” he grumbled. “I don’t like it” 
You realized that what Namjoon had said was true, he really was bothered by Jimin’s scent, it explained why he recoiled from you on the couch.  You also realized that must’ve been what he was doing when he rubbed his face over you before you left to go over there.  He was trying to cover you in his scent, mark you as his.  You were his, and you couldn’t be happier about that. 
Yoongi’s hips had started to roll against you in just the right way, brushing his cock against a spot inside you that was pushing you closer and closer to your high. 
“Y-yoongi, don’t stop, please, right there, i-it’s so” you gasped out.  Clutching his hair on the back of his head tightly as your whole body tensed.  
The knot of pleasure building in your stomach was growing more and more each time he moved inside of you. 
“I-I’m gonna cum Yoongi, you’re going to make me come” you squealed out.  Your eyes rolling to the back of your head at the feeling.  Your release was so intense, like waves crashing all around and spreading all over your body.  Your walls clenched tightly around Yoongi’s cock as he continued and carried you through your high. 
“Holy fuck that was beautiful.” he gasped out, wide eyed looked down at you now, planting a soft kiss on your lips. “And all mine” he added with a growl, dropping his head again and bucking his hips into you in a frantic pace, repeating ‘mine’ on a loop as he did. 
“I’m…” he began but it all happened too fast for him to finish his sentence.  Suddenly a sharp pain shot into your shoulder.  He was biting you, hard.  Surprisingly it didn’t bother you one bit, the pain mixed with the pleasure that he was giving you with his cock seemed to be a blissful combination.  You moaned out loudly, as did Yoongi, continuing to grip onto your skin with his teeth.  Your vision became blurry as you were lost in the hazy lust filled moment.  His hips started to break their steady pace and stutter as he came inside of you.  His cock twitching as his hot cum filled you up, and your tight walls milking him through his completion.  
He was panting heavily, beads of sweat had formed on his forehead. He finally released his grip on your shoulder, pulling back suddenly as he realized what he’d done. 
“Oh my god. y/n…” he gasped he face fell as he stared at your shoulder. “I-I hurt you” 
You brought a hand to your stinging shoulder and realized you were bleeding.  “Oh…” you were still too deep in the euphoric moment that the two of you had shared to feel the pain fully. 
You noticed Yoongi’s eyes starting to form tears as he pulled himself completely away from you, wrapping his arms around himself in shame and rolling onto his side facing away from you.
“Hey.  Don’t do that” you pouted at him, turning to put your arms around him.  
“I hurt you” he sobbed.  “I’m supposed to protect you.  And I hurt you” 
“Yoongi. It’s fine.  Really, I liked it.  All of it” you emphasized that last bit, “that was so amazing for me” you told him. 
He turned his head to face you, “Really? Even though I hurt you? You don’t hate me?” 
“Hate you!?” you almost shouted.  “Yoongi.  I could never hate you. In fact…” you paused debating whether or not you should say...but you figured after all that had just happened, it couldn’t be the worst moment
 “Yoongi, I love you.  I’m yours...and you’re mine” 
He turned all the way around to face you with a smile, “You...love me” he whispered. 
You nodded. 
“Y/n.  I love you too”  he pulled you into a warm and comforting hug. “I’m yours” 
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catholicartistsnyc · 4 years
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Meet CA-based Screenwriter Rebecca Christian
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REBECCA CHRISTIAN is a screenwriter and filmmaker based in San Diego, CA.  To contact her, email rebeccaechristian [at] gmail [dot] com, or visit her forthcoming website at www.rebeccachristian.com.
Check out her pilot for NO NERDS HERE, a mockumentary web series following the exploits of three former "Mighty Rangers" as they attend a weekend fan convention.
CATHOLIC ARTIST CONNECTION: Where are you from originally, and what brought you to your current city?
REBECCA: I was born and raised in San Diego. I went to film school at Loyola Marymount University and bounce back and forth between here and LA as needed. I was actually planning to move back to LA this year, and then the pandemic hit and I decided to remain in my hometown with my family for the foreseeable future. 
How do understand your vocation as a Catholic artist?
I don't think of myself as a "Catholic writer" in the sense that I desire to be in held in some sort of esteem within the respectable Catholic canon (i.e. Tolkien, Chesterton, O'Connor, etc). However, I do acknowledge how my faith is the foundation of how I understand the world in my sense of right and wrong, the need for redemption and the possibility of it. I always want my work to have a sense of hope in the immutable Christian sense, even if what I'm writing is darker in nature. I do think "Catholic art" should be life-giving, whatever that means to the particular artist.
Where have you found support in the Church for your vocation as an artist?
I used to be active on the core team of Catholic Underground LA, which was an apostolate of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal dedicated to showcasing art of all kinds. I joined when I was still in college, and it was really formational for me at the time when I was still nascent in my reversion to be around actors, writers, musicians, etc. who were all trying to express themselves and grow in their faith.
Where have you found support among your fellow artists for your Catholic faith?
I have a love/hate relationship with social media, but I've met and built friendships with several Catholic artists through it. 
How can the Church be more welcoming to artists?
Expanding what is considered "Catholic art" in the first place. I'm thinking of the lack of acknowledgement of a titan like Toni Morrison, who was a convert and whose exploration of humanity and suffering was certainly Catholic, and hang my head in shame about how her legacy has not been celebrated within Catholic circles.
How can the artistic world be more welcoming to artists of faith?
This is always an interesting question to me because I've never really faced ridicule as a person of faith in artistic circles. I think it's because I'm Black and a woman, so people express more of a curiosity about how someone like me could possibly believe in anything "traditional." I've had some wonderful conversations with people, and generally speaking I think artists are far more open to having these sorts of conversations than Catholics are, to be honest.  
Where in your city do you regularly find spiritual fulfillment?
I have a regular practice of going to adoration in a little 24-hr chapel near my house, which I've been unable to go to since the pandemic. It's been really hard for me in a certain sense, but my Lenten sacrifice this year was praying the Liturgy of the Hours throughout the day and maintaining that has been really helpful. I'm a member at St. Anne's, which is an FSSP parish saying the Extraordinary Form of the mass in San Diego. I'm not super involved in parish life anymore due large in part to my work schedule, but I used to host a women's group and occasionally get that group together again for brunch. 
Where do you go to get inspired?
I'm in a number of writing classes/groups online.
How have you found or built community as a Catholic artist in your city?
I haven't really done this specifically in SD but I probably should.
What is your daily spiritual practice?
At the moment, it's Liturgy of the Hours + a regular habit of yoga and meditation.
What is your daily artistic practice? And what are your recommendations to other artists for practicing their craft daily?
I try to write every day, even if it's just free writing. It's been difficult to keep up with during the pandemic, but I've finally found my groove again in the last couple of months. I'm not the type of writer that can wait for inspiration, or else I would never get anything completed, so if that sounds like you I'd recommend putting aside time daily to work on your craft. 
Describe a recent day in which you were most completely living out your vocation as an artist.
I developed a short film script with a production company earlier this year that featured a religious sister as a one of the main characters. The script's themes weren't religious at all, she was just one of the characters. It was interesting getting notes and feedback in the vein of, "Would a nun do that? Would a nun be friends with this other character?" It was clear that the producers had never really interacted with religious sisters before, and I had to gently explain that well, religious people are actually people too. They have friends, hobbies, needs, wants, and desires. It was comical for me to watch them assimilate that information throughout the development process, and I'm glad I was able to evangelize if even just a tiny bit.
How do you afford housing as an artist?
I rent a house with my mom in SD and when I come to LA for meetings I usually stay with friends. There are Catholic groups on FB to find roommates, couches, etc. I highly recommend using social media to find non-crazy roommates if and when you move.
How do you financially support yourself as an artist?
Some background on this -- I just started writing again in 2019 after taking about 3 years away from the industry entirely. I have a "day job" in the form of my doula practice. I really love it, and it allows me to build my schedule out to accommodate projects. I took an entire month off this year to finish a script that is currently in the final round of contention at the Sundance Development Track. There's a growing number of fellowships and paid development programs for screenwriters. Twitter is a great place for screenwriters (and other writers) to network. I don't have a manager currently (that's next on my list), but I've booked meetings and had my work read purely from networking there. There's no magic bullet, but putting yourself out there has been fruitful for me, and despite the changes in the industry being inflicted by the pandemic, I'm really excited about 2021.
What other practical resources would you recommend to a Catholic artist living in your city?
I really believe strongly in cultivating practices of self-care and spirituality. You can't pour out into your work if nothing is filling you up.
What are your top 3 pieces of advice for Catholic artists post-graduation?
Realize that "success" is going to take some time. Find your worth in who God says you are, not in what you do. Be genuinely kind to people and remember to network laterally! (Not just with people "higher up" that you admire.)
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Day Seventeen: Potion
(Author’s Note: Cut for length)
‘Dearest Heart? Come here a moment….’
Jilomena heard the rumble of her husband’s voice, and quickly turned her steps in that direction. He was calling to her from his Potions Lab.
‘Yes, my Darling?’ She greeted him with a warm smile as she entered the room. As much as she wanted to, she knew better than to wrap her arms around him or try to kiss him while he was brewing. There was every chance she might knock something out of his hands, or disrupt a measurement that needed the utmost concentration.
‘This particular potion I have been called upon to make requires the utmost timing. I need your assistance.’ Severus looked up at her briefly, before returning his attention to the cauldron. ‘I need to keep stirring, but the ginger for the next step needs to be freshly cut and peeled before it is added. Every second it is exposed to the air reduces its potency, so I couldn’t very well prepare it ahead of time. I knew that you could be trusted to assist me and perform the task correctly. ‘
‘Of course, Darling.’ She murmured demurely as she gathered together the instruments that she would need. A cutting board, of course, and the smaller of his silver knives. The jar of ginger was placed next to it. She stood at her station, ready for his command to begin.
‘I feel like I’m back in school, taking a Potions class,’ she mused with a wry grin.
‘Is that so?’ He stole another look at her, noting the mischievous glimmer in her eye. ‘A shame that I never got to instruct you.’
That much was true. Her sisters had sent her to Beauxbatons for her education, feeling that it would provide her with the grace and skills necessary to catch a husband. She certainly had, even if it wasn’t the Pureblood match that they had intended for her. Still, he was one of the Dark Lord’s most trusted inner circle, and they’d had to contend themselves with that.
She giggled with amusement at his statement. ‘True. But I supposed that I would have misbehaved most awfully.’
‘Then you would have been put in detention. Start preparation, please. Now.’ He nodded, not looking up at her this time.
‘Of course. Sir.’ She bit her lip on a grin at her cheeky substitution, referring to him as Sir instead of Darling as if he were her Potions Master and not her husband.
One of his eyebrows raised up, but he made no comment at her statement.
She deftly cut and peeled the ginger, ensuring that it was portioned into completely equal slices.
‘Nearly ready?’ He risked stealing another glance.
‘Yes.’ She didn’t cheek him this time, so busy was she concentrating on getting the ingredients as perfect as they could be for him.
‘Good. When I say “now,” lift the board and slide the ingredients into the potion using the knife. Take care not to touch them, the oils from your skin will disturb the whole mixture and I’ll have to begin again. Ready….now!’ He quickly moved back to allow her room.
She hurriedly picked up the board and started to slide the ginger into the cauldron as he had directed. One of her hands slipped on the knife and she only just missed touching the last piece of ginger by millimetres as it slipped down the incline to join its brethren.
‘That was close!’ She looked up at her husband with a sheepish grin.
‘Indeed.’ His tone was dry. The brew no longer needed his constant attention, so he could focus on her. His expression was faintly amused as he loomed over her, folding his arms over his chest.
‘I’m lucky you’re not my Professor and you can’t give me a detention.’ She chuckled.
‘No. But I’m your husband. I can do much worse things.’ A slow smirk spread across his face.
‘Like what?’ The chuckle grew more nervous and uncertain of itself.
‘Like I could give you a spanking.’ The same smirk stayed on his face as he found a chair in the corner of the room and sat down on it.
‘Wait. What?’ The chuckle died out completely.
‘I’m going to spank you. I think that’s clear and self-explanatory enough.’ He patted his thigh.
She walked over to where he was sitting as if in a dream, hardly daring to believe what was happening to her. She’d never gotten a spanking, not even as a small child. Oh, she’d been threatened with one on a few occasions, but neither her sister nor brother in law had ever bothered themselves with following through. Perhaps someone was actually going to hold her to account for her behaviour, from now on.
She took a deep breath before settling herself over his knees, face down. It felt a very strange and vulnerable position to be in. But this man was her husband, and she trusted him completely.
Complete trust or no, she still squeaked with alarm when he started to pull her skirt up and over her hips, and again when he hooked his fingers into her waistband to pull her knickers down to her knees. It never occurred to her that her bottom would be bared for her spanking. Surely he meant to just swat her once or twice and let her go?
She squirmed, feeling even more vulnerable and even a little embarrassed. This may have been her husband, but it made her feel self-conscious to know he was staring down at her naked lower half. She tried to clamp her legs together, but he gently spread them apart slightly, not even allowing her that tiny bit of modesty.
Jilomena hung her head, hair falling like a curtain. At least she could hide her face away. And at least she was getting her spanking in private. Only her husband was there to witness her mortification, and he had seen her naked countless times by now. She began to relax slightly.
Severus rested a heavy hand on one of her buttocks, rubbing and patting the flesh gently, before bringing it down in a sharp smack.
The action of his hand striking her skin caused a slight sting, but it didn’t feel nearly as bad as she had imagined it would. In fact, she reflected as he brought down his hand a second time, and then a third, it actually felt quite…good. Her bottom was being warmed nicely, and the momentum was making her rock forward against his leg. Delicious friction, but not anything like enough to satisfy the urge that was growing in her nether regions.
He spoke after he’d spanked her a dozen times or so. ‘You are doing so well, Dearest Heart.’ He stroked the reddening skin, providing a bit of comfort before sliding his hand between her thighs.
It felt like he was inspecting her, sliding his fingers along every inch of her slit. She squirmed in response, realising that his hand was going to come away wet.
‘What have we here?’ She didn’t have to look to tell that he was amused. ‘It would appear that you are enjoying your spanking. Aren’t you, Dearest Heart?’
When she wasn’t quick enough to answer, he brought his hand down again.
‘Yes!’ She threw her head back.
‘Yes, what?’ He spanked her again. ‘Yes, I’m enjoying my spanking?’ Another spank followed.
‘Yes, I’m enjoying my spanking! Oh, Merlin!’ she cried out, wriggling in his lap.
‘Well. In that case, I’ll have to continue, won’t I?’ Without waiting for a reply, he carried on spanking her. No smack was any harder than the first, but rather continued to rain down steadily while she moaned and writhed wantonly across his lap, no longer caring a whit for her modesty, never wanting the sensations she was experiencing to stop. Never had she imagined that being spanked by her husband could feel this good, that his hand could bring pleasure by inflicting a little bit of pain.
Finally, he stopped. ‘Good girl. Such a good girl for me.’
His praise was warming her, like the sun coming out after a heavy thunderstorm. It made her feel as good as his hand currently was, gently stroking and soothing her tender flesh.
She lay limply over his knees, all but purring with delight as she revelled in the sensations he was providing. The purr manifested itself as a low moan instead when his hand slipped between her legs.
‘I think you deserve a little reward, Dearest Heart.’ She could hear the slight smile in his voice. Then his fingers began to move, stroking along her opening, causing her to get even wetter and more desperate before he finally relieved her need by pushing his digits into her and pumping slowly in and out.
Her moans grew in intensity.
‘Yes, that’s it. Good girl. Come on my hand,’ he encouraged, withdrawing so he could circle her clitoris in the way that never failed to get a reaction. Ever obedient, she came hard at his command, crying out his name over and over as she rode out her orgasm before collapsing.
He stroked along her back, reassuring her with words of love until she was strong enough to sit up. Once she was upright, he held her in his lap. She was covered with his kisses, cuddled in his arms, and told over and over how much she was loved and adored.
A sudden shower of golden sparks from the cauldron caught their attention.
‘Ah. That means its time for the next step,’ Severus mused, reluctantly removing his arms from around her so he could help her to stand.
They shared one more kiss before he returned his attention to brewing. She chose to remain by his side, watching his every move with adoration.
She would definitely help him brew in future. Especially if every potion proved to be as interesting as this one had.
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