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maddiwrites · 3 years

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Secret Lives

Pairing: JJ Maybank x reader

Summary: You and JJ never got along so your friends trap the two of you on a boat in the middle of the marsh to work it out. Only it doesn’t go as planned.

Note: Hi guys! This is my first writing piece. I tried not to do a two parter for my first one but it ended up being so long. Sorry! I would love to hear your feedback so feel free to leave me a message! Part two will be posted soon. Also I have completed a rewrite of the show with a JJ x Routledge sister pairing so keep an eye out for that! Also wanna shout out @skiesofthesketchy @malfoyfarms @collecting-stories because they were some of the first masterlists I read and I loved them and it inspired me to write my own. So thank you!

Word Count: 5.3k

Warnings: Language, angst, very slight mentions of abuse

Part 2

Y/N Y/L/N. That’s you. Or as some like to call you, Hannah Montana. You live the best of both worlds, living it up on Figure Eight and wearing hundred dollar dresses to fancy dinners and parties, sneaking expensive mimosas to brunches with your friends, and getting biweekly mani pedi’s with your sister. Meanwhile, when you’re not rolling around in the luxuries of Kook Life, you’re rolling around in the dirt with your Pogue friends, baking in the sun on a dirty small boat while drinking the cheapest beer one of the boys’ could get their hands on. Most Kooks hated you even when they wanted to be you. And most Pogues didn’t trust you even as they tried getting in your pants.

One of them being JJ Maybank.

Kiara introduced you to her group of friends right after freshman year. The two of you were the black sheep of Kook Academy. Both your families have money, sure. But you weren’t jerks about it. You enjoy a little pampering here and there, but you’re not tone deaf and superficial like the rest of your peers. You were so grateful that your science teacher paired you two together for that year’s science fair. You instantly clicked with the curly brunette and spent most of the class talking about whatever came to mind instead of actually brainstorming project ideas. After working together for months on a science fair project with a shared passion of wanting to help save the environment, Kie finally introduced you to her best friends.

John B and Pope immediately made you feel like one of the group. Sure, they were curious about your life but you never felt like you were being interrogated with questions. They included you on inside jokes and even gave you the nickname ‘Sassy’ after proving to them that you can hold your own in a verbal fight.

Thanks to JJ.

From the start he claimed to never like you. He hated where you were from, who your parents were, and that you never had a job. He hated that you didn’t even have to try to get people to like you. In his eyes, everything was handed to you on silver platter. You had a picture perfect life and all you had to do was bat your eyelashes and show off your pearly white teeth. He couldn’t stand you.

Yet, he was dangerously attracted to you.

He loved the way your hair shined against the setting sun, he loved that you didn’t wear makeup every single day like every other Kook on the island, he loved how your white jean shorts perfectly shaped your curves, and he loved how your temper was as equally as short as his because it made you fighting with him that much hotter.

Last night was no different than every other night with you and your friends. It was quiet, spent around a bonfire in John B’s back yard. You sipped on cheap beer from the can while the smell of JJ’s marijuana smoke wafted through the air. Kie lightly strummed the strings of her ukulele while Pope and JJ bickered about the pros and cons of smoking weed.

This was your family. You had friends on the other side of the island too but you weren’t as close as you were with the Pogues. You would do anything for the people surrounding you. Even JJ. You tried to tell yourself you hated him just as much as he hated you, but you couldn’t help but feel like every other girl on this island, falling for his ocean blue eyes and golden locks. His wit and his charm. His loyalty and protectiveness of his friends. How he looked with his shirt off. How he would wink at you when he caught you staring. You wished you didn’t, but you loved him.

“Hellooo, Y/N?” John B waved his hand in front of your face. You hadn’t even realized you’d been staring.

“I’m sorry. What were you saying?”

John B smirked but didn’t say what he was thinking. He always thought you and JJ were acting dumb when it was clear as day that the two of you were attracted to each other. He always caught you two staring at one another when the other wasn’t looking. You two would always ask about the other person when they weren’t there even if it was just to throw a sharp jab behind their back.

“I asked you what you were up to this weekend.”

“Oh,” You shrugged. “Probably run some errands, babysit my neighbor’s kids...”

Just like Hannah Montana, you also lived a secret life. Your life wasn’t as perfect as everyone thought it was, but you’d never admit to it. Your mother would be crushed, your friends would find you stupid and pathetic, and you would hate yourself even more than you already did.

“Good. Sunday we’re going to check out the surfing competition on Seasill Beach. JJ’s trying to qualify for it next year.”

Your smile immediately dropped. “Sunday. Oh.”

“Already got a spa day planned, Princess?” JJ smirked from across the way.

“I, uh,” You tried your best to fake a grin. “I’m sorry. I can’t go. I already have plans.”

You held you breath as you waited for someone to respond. This was the third time this month you flaked on your friends without a good explanation. You never knew what to tell them, only that you had plans. You were afraid if you said anything else, they’d find out you were lying.

“Again?” Kie stopped playing her ukulele to look at you. “Seriously. Is there some secret boy we should know about or something?”

You scoffed. “No.”

You felt the most guilty lying to Kie. After all she was your best friend. The one you were supposed to be able to share everything with, even the stuff you couldn’t tell your parents.

“Kie’s right. You bailed on us last week last minute too,” Pope said.

You opened your mouth to say something, but your head wasn’t working fast enough to come up with a lie.

“We all knew this day would come.” JJ’s smirk was gone. He flicked the butt of his joint into the fire and claps off the ash from his hands. “Hannah Montana dips her toes into the wild life. She feels free and independent long enough to decide she’d rather go back to her cookie cutter life and live with all the privilege that daddy has to offer.”

The word ‘daddy’ physically made you flinch. Your eyes narrowed in a tight glare as you dug your fingernails into the palm of your hand, hating that this was the way JJ thought of you.

“J...” John B tried to warn him but JJ didn’t listen.

“No, seriously.” JJ stood up. “I bet the reason she’s not telling us what all her ‘plans’ are is because she knows you’ll all be disappointed. Me? Well, I couldn’t care less whether you hung out with us or not. In fact, I’ve been praying for it. So tell us, Y/N, what are you doing that you won’t tell us? If it’s not some dude, then maybe you decided you’d rather be a Kook. Are you going to fancy lunches and riding yachts across the ocean? Maybe you’re spitting in the faces of the people who work to make your life easier. Maybe -”

“JJ!” Kie yelled.

You stood up, your vision turning red and your skin going hot. Usually you could take JJ’s insults. You were use to JJ throwing your family’s money in your face, trying to make you feel bad for something you can’t control, but this was too much. Because now he was calling you out on your loyalty to your friends. And he was so far from the truth.

“You would like that, wouldn’t you?” You said. The other three stood up when you took a step in JJ’s direction. John B stood close to you. He didn’t know what you were going to do, but he’s never heard your voice so low and threatening in a long time. The other time was with a Kook who was giving JJ shit. Ironically. “For me to just leave.”

“I didn’t stutter, did I?”

“Well I hate to break it to you, but I’m not going anywhere. In fact, because I’m such a nice friends, I’m going to give you some free advice. First, the last thing you want to question me about is my loyalty to the people who’s lives I would put before my own. Second, I would suggest removing that stick up your ass because it seems like your way too uptight to handle it.”

JJ glared at you and didn’t move to respond. A part of you was surprised he didn’t have anything to come back with and the other part of you was relieved.

The thick tension between you and your friends was suffocating. Your night had been effectively ruined by a simple question. But the sad part is, you didn’t even know who to blame. JJ, or the other man causing most of your guilt and grief.

“Y/N/N...” Kie tried stopping you as you gathered your stuff to leave.

“I’m out of here.”

You stormed out of the backyard and into your car. There was only so much you could take until you broke. And you were not going to give JJ Maybank the satisfaction of seeing you break.

***********************

You couldn’t fall asleep last night. JJ’s words kept replaying in your head like a bad song stuck on replay. You wanted to hate him. You wanted to blame him for not trusting you. But instead, you hated yourself. Because you’re the reason he can’t trust you. Cause you have secrets you don’t want shared.

Your thumb hovered over his contact. Not JJ’s. The man who’s made your life a living hell for the last sixteen years. You wanted to scream and cry and slap him in his face. But instead, you stayed frozen in fear. Like the little pathetic girl he says you are. And you hated yourself more for proving him right.

Your attention was taken away when someone busted through your bedroom door out of breath. Kie immediately went to your drawers and pulled out the first bathing suit she could find and threw it at you.

“Kie -”

“We need to go,” She said. “Get dressed.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Pope and John B ran out of gas doing grocery runs for Heyward. We need to get them with the HMS Pogue.”

“Where’s JJ? Why can’t he help you?”

“He’s working,” Kie said quickly. “Come on.”

***********************

You and Kie found Heyward’s boat stranded in the middle of the marsh like Kie said it would be. John B and Pope were waiting for you on the back and thanking you both for coming to help. You hold the gas as they helped you onto the boat. They directed you to the tank while they helped Kie.

As soon as you made your way to the front of the boat, you heard the engine of the Pogue rev and take off. You dropped the gasoline gallon and sprinted to the back of the boat where they left you. John B and Pope waved back to you as Kie drove them back to the Chataeu.

“What the hell?” You yelled at them to come back.

“You and JJ need to work your shit out!” John B yelled back to you.

“What...” You mumbled to yourself before you heard the sound of heavy footsteps running towards you. You gasp in surprise when a sweaty JJ passed you to glare at the boat that’s getting smaller and smaller by the second.

“What the fuck?” He screamed.

“There’s food and blankets in the cabin!” Pope yelled back.

“We’ll come get you in the morning,” Kie said.

You clenched your teeth together with frustration. JJ looked just as pissed off and small part of you was disappointed with that. He turned around, cursing to himself and hitting random shit in his way.

This was going to be a long day.

***********************

After four hours, you and JJ still hadn’t spoken to each other. He took over the cabin while you laid out on the back of the boat. Your head was running with different thoughts. Should you try to make up with JJ? Should you just continue to ignore him? Should you tell him why you can’t go to the surfing competition tomorrow?

You didn’t know what to do but you knew you couldn’t sit here in silence anymore.

You reluctantly stood in front of him with crossed arms. He was smoking a blunt and looking out into the setting sun. If you were friends, you would take a picture of him right now. The pink sky painted his skin perfectly.

“What?” He said without looking at you.

“Seriously?” You raised one brow. “We’re asked to do one thing on this boat and that’s all you have to say?”

“I’m not sorry for what I said last night.”

“Neither am I.”

“Fine.”

You rolled your eyes. The problem with both of you was that you’re both stubborn. But if the problem with JJ couldn’t be fixed today, you didn’t know how much longer you would be able to put up with his rude remarks and assumptions about you.

“What the hell is your problem?” You said.

“My problem?”

“Yeah. Your problem. You’ve been treating me like shit ever since Kie introduced me to you. What could I have possibly done to make you hate me so goddamn much?”

JJ shook his head in annoyance. “I’m not doing this.”

He got up and walked to the back of the boat where you were sulking not even five minutes ago. You followed him like the stubborn person you were and you continued to grill him.

“I’ve tried so hard to be your friend. I’ve bought you drugs, I’ve even done yours and JB’s laundry. I put in a good word to the tourons who ask about you at boneyard parties. I laugh at your jokes, even when they’re about my friends. I try so hard to be on your good side and you still want nothing to do with me!”

“Because you’re a Kook!”

“So?”

“You have everything. Money, family, friends, a future. I don’t trust you because I don’t know what the hell you want with us. What do we possibly have that you can’t get on Figure Eight? Hm? Are you trying to prove a point to your mom that you don’t need her? You trying to prove to your dad that you’re a tough girl and don’t need his money or protection to keep you safe? Huh?”

“You know what your problem is? You don’t listen! I’ve told you time and time again that I don’t care about any of those things. I hang out with you guys because you are my friends. I have a good time when I’m with you. Why is that so hard for you to get?”

JJ scoffed. “Please. You don’t think I see you constantly checking your cell phone? Making sure no one can see who you’re texting? If we’re such good friends, why won’t you tell us what you’re doing tomorrow? You always have ‘other plans’ and then you never tell us what they are.”

“Because that’s none of your business!”

“If my friends are going to get hurt because of some lying bitch then it is my business!”

You were breathing so heavily, you were basically panting. Your blood felt like it was boiling under your skin and your head felt fuzzy with lack of thoughts. You didn’t know what to say, truly lost for words.

JJ took another step closer to you. You’re so close to him, you can feel his breath on your face and see every mark on his skin. You never knew he had a scar right above his brow or a freckle under his ear. He smelled like weed and sun sunscreen and his breath like mint. Had you not been fired up with rage, you would have thought he looked hot and maybe even made a move.

But now it was the last thing you wanted to do.

“I’m sick and tired of you spoiled brats getting everything you want. You’re nothing but a spoiled rich kid who doesn’t even know the kind of privilege she has if it hit her in the face. You can’t relate to anything we have to go through. You don’t have to get dirt underneath your fingernails to make a buck. You don’t have to wonder where your next meal is coming from. You wouldn’t last a week on the Cut because you’ve never known what it’s been like to live the life we do!”

“You don’t know anything about me!” You snapped. The heart in your chest felt like it was being shredded to pieces by a rapid wolf. You felt like you were being torn apart one by one with each insult he threw in your face. Little did he know, he was wrong.

“I know enough to never want to see you again. I will never accept you into our group of friends. Don’t you get that? So you can stop playing the nice girl act around me and go back to Sarah Cameron and the other Kooks that you still hang out with despite knowing everything they’ve done to us. To Kie!”

Bringing up the fight between Kie and Sarah was a low blow and JJ knew it. It was something you always struggled with because you continued to be friends with both of them separately. At first, they were both mad at you but then accepted your friendship when they came around to loving the idea that you would fight for both of them. You tried getting them to talk and make up, but both of them refused. Maybe you should just stick them on a boat in the middle of nowhere and force them to work it out.

Although, clearly your experience with it wasn’t going so well.

“That’s not fair.”

“Yeah, well life’s not fair sweet heart. But you wouldn’t know about that.”

You thought the fight last night was bad. But this one took the icing off the cake. You wished so desperately that Kie had just trapped you both in a locked room, so at least you had the chance to break out and run away from the darkness that was clouding around you.

You were most upset that this was how JJ thought of you. You didn’t know if you would have the same devastating reaction if someone else had said these things to you. You wanted so badly to be friends with the blonde Pogue. You saw the way he interacted with his friends and you wanted to be a part of that small circle so badly, you would almost do anything to be in it.

But you didn’t think you could last another second of being belittled and tormented with JJ’s outspoken feelings towards you. You wished there was a rewind button so you could go back to bed and hopefully never wake up and you’d lock your door so Kie couldn’t break in.

You swallowed back the tears that threatened to fall and admit your defeat. You wanted to find the nearest corner and crawl into it and escape the murderous glare of JJ Maybank. JJ was wrong. You didn’t have everything. Because in this moment, you still wanted him. And you were just realizing that you never will.

“You judge me by the surface. You’ve never once tried to get to know me. You don’t ask. You just assume that I’m like every other kid on Figure Eight. You don’t know where I’ve came from. What I’ve been through. What I live with. You don’t know my plans for the future or my hobbies or even my favorite color because you didn’t ask!” Adrenaline pushes through your veins like a wave of energy. You’ve never felt so powerful but so small in your life.

“All right. So tell me,” JJ said. “Tell me whatever story you can think of that will change my mind about you.”

You paused, standing there face to face with someone who will never accept you. You were suddenly overcome with so many emotions you didn’t know which one to choose from. Anger, sorrow, fear, confusion, shame.

You couldn’t believe you even thought about telling JJ your story. A story that you haven’t even told Kie. The story about how you were actually born and raised on the far end of the south side. How your dad use to abuse your mother right in front of you before she managed to escape when you were eight. For six months you lived in her car before she got a job as a housekeeper at a cheap motel used mostly for hookers and their cliental. Her employer let you live rent free if your mom accepted a cheaper pay check. During one of her shifts, your mother ran right into Andrew Y/L/N. No, he wasn’t one of the hooker’s clients. He was actually on the property looking to buy out the place. Even though he was a Kook, he looked through the housekeeper’s uniform into my mom’s heart and loved everything about her. He took her on a couple dates, then less than a year later, married her. You changed your last name to his because you didn’t want any relation to your father anymore. You thought the man was scum and deserved to rot in hell for everything he put your mom through. You hated him and even wished for him to die. Sometimes you even thought about doing it yourself. But then you saw him again. At a gas station in the middle of The Cut. You couldn’t believe he recognized you and you were even more shocked he had the audacity to talk to you. And you listened. He told you how sorry he was. How he never meant to hurt your mom. How he missed his baby girl and wanted to be in her life again. You fell for every word because a part of you you didn’t know existed missed having a biological dad.

That was your biggest mistake.

He didn’t change. He was still the same bastard he was eight years ago, using violence and threats with people much weaker than him to get what he wanted. He loved guilting you with your new luxuries. How you now had everything right under your fingertips after you left him to wither away with nothing. He said you owed him. Because you were his daughter and you were supposed to love him unconditionally. And you fell for it every time. He never hurt you like he hurt your mom. A few slaps here and there but nothing to leave a mark to get your mother questioning.

So now you were trapped - trapped in his world and in his life. Using your own money that you actually worked for, little did JJ know, to pay for his bills, his drugs, and sometimes, even his bail.

You didn’t tell anyone about this secret life because you didn’t want anyone to make you feel any more pathetic and weak than you already felt. And most importantly, you didn’t want to hurt your mother by telling her you’ve been supporting the one person she’s been trying to protect you from.

And you were about to risk that by telling someone who probably still wouldn’t care about you even after hearing what you had to say. You are who you are. If JJ didn’t like you now, he shouldn’t like you after telling him your story, anyway.

“No.” You shook your head.

“No?” JJ scoffed. “I’m finally asking you tell me something and you’re saying no?”

“Because you don’t care, JJ! Not really. You think knowing my sob story is going to get you to like me? I don’t need a pity friendship. I am who I am because of shit I’ve had to overcome. And this is me now. So if you don’t like it, then fine. We’ll do it your way and call it quits.” JJ didn’t say anything as you turned around to find somewhere to pass out in hopes of getting morning to come faster.

You found a blanket deep into the cabin and pulled it over your body, shielding yourself away from the world. You hoped the darkness would sweep through your head so you wouldn’t be plagued with torturous thoughts about your past or what’s going to happen to tomorrow. You cried - you cried because even after JJ ripped into your like a zoo animal, he still hated you.

JJ was wrong. You didn’t have everything. Because you didn’t have him.

***********************

Surprisingly, the sun rose sooner than you expected it to. Sleeping on the swaying boat wasn’t as awful as you thought it was going to be. In fact, it was kind of peaceful with the stars above you and the sound of moving water right under you.

The morning wasn’t so calming. You were slapped in the face with memories of the night before. Your stomach twisted at the thought of being face to face with JJ again. You knew what you had to do and thinking about it made you sick and depressed.

You pushed yourself up and checked the time on the radio. 8:03. Anxiety instantly flooded through you. You only had two hours to get home to be ready in time to run ‘errands’ with your dad.

You looked out to the back of the boat where JJ was looking into the horizon, probably waiting for your friends to come.

Fresh set of tears pricked your eyes at what’s to come. You loved your friends and you even loved JJ. But you couldn’t stay with the Pogues. You didn’t want to make JJ any more uncomfortable than he already was and you were afraid the constant fighting would push your friends further apart. You didn’t want to be the reason for that.

You pulled the blanket tighter around your shoulders and walked next to JJ. Without a word, you looked out in the same direction he was looking and admired the morning sun.

Surprisingly, JJ was the first one to speak. He looked at you and instantly felt guilty all over again. He tossed and turned all night contemplating on whether he should wake you up to apologize or just wait until morning. He knew he wasn’t being fair. You’ve done nothing but tried to earn his trust since day one. You accepted him for all his flaws and he couldn’t do the same for you. Yeah there was the phone thing and not telling the others what you’re up to, but it wasn’t like you were constantly in his business. If you see him with unexplained bruises, you don’t pester him about it. If he comes back to the Chateau in a pissy mood and blames it on a fight with his dad, you try to make him forget about it with a distraction instead of making him tell you what the fight was about. Why couldn’t he give you the same respect?

Truth was he wasn’t so much worried about his friends getting hurt as he was getting hurt. He liked you more than a friend should which would make your departure from your friends that much more heartbreaking for him. He never felt this way over a girl, let a lone a Kook and he tried so desperately to hate you. But it didn’t work. Instead, it made him feel like the biggest asshole in the world. He wanted to fix what he broke. He told himself he still had time left. His friends weren’t back yet to get him.

“Listen, Y/N -”

“It’s fine, J,” You sniffled. This time you couldn’t stop the tears from running down your cheeks. You tried blinking them away which only made them fall faster. You hated crying in front of people. Your dad always said it was a sign of weakness and you believed him. You wouldn’t be surprised if JJ laughed in your face right now and called you a loser. “It’s done.”

“What are you talking about?”

JJ’s heart physically broke when he saw your tears. He had never seen you cry. Not even out of joy. He couldn’t believe he was the cause of this. That he had made someone as beautiful and as kind as you actually feel bad about herself. He wished he could take back time and start over. He wished he gave her a chance from the beginning. He wished it wasn’t too late.

You both looked up when you heard the engine of the HMS Pogue. In the distance, you could hear your friends laughing and calling out to you, not yet realizing their plan went to shit. You had to make this quick.

“The last thing I want is to get between you and your friends. You don’t have to worry about me hurting anyone, especially Kie. I’ll back off.” You said, making JJ’s brows furrowed in confusion and his heart raced with worry. “I’m giving you what you want. I’ll stay out of your life.”

JJ couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe he drove you to do the one thing he actually never wanted you to do. “Wait. You’re leaving?”

You looked JJ in the eyes and he wished you didn’t. Because for the first time, he didn’t see the light behind your eyes or the little crinkle in the corner when you smiled. They were dull and lifeless, making him sick to his stomach.

“I didn’t stutter. Did I?” You used his words from the other night and it felt like a stab in the heart to JJ.

JJ was left speechless which almost never happens. He wished he could say something, anything, to make you feel differently, to tell you he was wrong and sorry. But nothing came out. He could barely breathe.

“Hey you crazy kids,” Kie’s voice pierces the air, jokingly and airy. If only she knew that wasn’t how you were feeling.

“Missing a key or something?” John B joked alongside her.

“You should have called us sooner!” Pope added.

When the boat came closer to yours, they finally got a look at the two of you. They were shocked to see you silently crying and looking like all the life had been sucked out of you. JJ looked mad but they couldn’t tell whether he was mad at you or them or himself.

The three of them went sick with anxiety, suddenly wondering if this was a bad idea. Kie tried to get you make eye contact, but you wouldn’t look at her. You couldn’t look at any of them - afraid you might actually break completely if you did.

“Y/N/N...” Kie said softly.

“You guys okay?” John B asked wearily.

JJ helped Pope tie The Pogue to Heyward’s boat and hopped on right after. Pope traded spots with JJ and came up beside you and stood there awkwardly. He didn’t know what to do either.

You looked up at him before he could come up something probably stupid to ask. “Can you drop me off please?”

Pope glanced back at his friends and nodded. “Uh, sure. John B will probably get you there faster though if you -”

“No, it’s okay,” You said. You didn’t think you’d be able to handle being in an enclosed space with JJ for another minute. You just wanted to go home and forget the past two years ever happened. “I’ll stay here.”

Pope shrugged at his friends when you trudged back into the cabin and curled yourself into the corner. You didn’t know what the next few weeks would be like, but you hoped they go better than the last twenty four hours did.

#jj maybank fic #jj x reader #jj fic #jj maybank #jj #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank one shot #jj maybank fanfiction #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank x kook!reader #outer banks #outer banks fic #outer banks imagine #john b routledge #kiara carrera #pope heyward

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beefcakebarnes · 3 years

Text

Bake the Cake

Summary: A sweet surprise for Bucky turns into a disaster only he can fix.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 945

Warnings: messes are made, fluff, a few tears, a little bit of panic, Bucky is definitely out of character in this so bear with me.

A/N: This is the first thing I’ve posted in almost 6 months and I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty proud of myself. For those of you that have asked if I’m going to update my series, there’s a large possibility that I may in the future. I’m just starting to dip my toes into this stuff again so it’s going to take a while but I still appreciate for patience. I’m a bit rusty but I hope you enjoy! I also couldn’t find an appropriate gif.

4 missed calls, 2 voicemails, and 5 unanswered texts.

He hasn’t heard from you since the previous night and he’s worried. It’s not like you to not answer, and it’s definitely not like you at all to at least tell him you won’t be free that day.

Of course, his mind goes to the worst possible scenario. Bucky would beat the hell out of himself if you got hurt - or worse - but he tries not to think about it. You’re probably fine and just having a day to yourself but he can’t help but check his phone every seven minutes with his anxiety nagging at him in the back of his head. But it’s almost four in the afternoon and you haven’t even looked at his messages.

Finally, he loses the battle. He’s throwing on his jacket and locking his apartment door behind him before he can think twice about his decision.

Your door is unlocked when he gets there, and he can feel his heart race through the flesh of his hand as he turns the knob. Bucky’s tried to remind you multiple times to lock it when you’re home alone after the creepy old guy next door got evicted but you forget almost everything so he’s not surprised.

When the door clicks shut behind him, it’s quiet inside. Everything looks like it did when he was here the night before, except there’s no you. And then he smells it - multiple smells, something sweet and something...burnt? It’s something familiar, so familiar he can almost taste it.

“Y/n?”

No response.

He takes a few light steps into your living room and takes a peek through the doorway of your kitchen. Finally, he’s able to release a sigh of relief. Nothing’s broken, there’s no mess like he’d think he would find. It’s just you, sitting on the kitchen floor with your head in your hands….covered in flour. Everywhere.

Then he notices the real mess. It’s not just you; it’s the whole kitchen. Sticks beyond sticks of butter, flour, sugar, and a few dozen eggs litter every inch of countertop he can see - there’s some on the floor, too. And there’s enough both burnt and raw dessert in the trash to feed Steve and himself four times over.

“Y/n?”

Bucky’s voice is more hesitant this time as his boots thump quietly on the tile of the kitchen. You mumble into your hands and his eyebrows furrow on his forehead. “Are you okay?”

There’s a sniffle, then you look up to him in his crouched position in front of you with puffy eyes. “I just wanted to do something special.”

“Special?” Yeah, he’s confused, but he goes along with it.

“You weren’t supposed to know or even be here. And was gonna bring it over to your place and we were gonna eat it together and-”

Bucky’s heart breaks when he sees more tears spring to your eyes. More flour gets smudged onto your cheek when you attempt to stop the tears from falling. He knows when you’re truly upset about something; you get so infested, so passionate about something and when it doesn’t work out all hell breaks loose.

He sighs through his nose and reaches to wipe his thumb across your cheek, taking some of the mess with it. “Well,” he starts, a sympathetic smile on his lips, “I’m sorry I ruined the surprise. I just haven’t heard from you since yesterday and got worried, sweetheart. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you sniffle, dropping your hands in your lap and looking around at your mess, disgusted with the aftermath of your first attempt at baking.

With a huff, Bucky lowers himself to the floor beside you, resting his arms on his knees. “What were you trying to make, anyway?”

Suddenly, you’re sheepish. You duck your head and wipe your nose with the back of your hand, shrugging your shoulders in that cute way you do when you’re embarrassed. Bucky watches and waits for a moment with an amused smile as the gears turn in your head. With another sniffle, you tilt your head up to him. “It was supposed to be gooey butter cake…”

He pauses, his smile falters, and it clicks. Gooey butter cake...he used to make it with his Ma and little sister all the time before he was shipped off to war. The memory of a messy kitchen and laughter and smiles - it puts a bittersweet sting in the back of his throat. Bucky can’t help his grin, now.

“Do you want help?”

Are you offended? You look like it. “It was supposed to be a surprise, Bucky. You don’t make your own surprises.”

“Please?” he asks, a hopeful gleam in his eye. “I haven’t had gooey butter cake in decades.”

You debate his help for a moment. Do you try to redeem yourself by going for another attempt by yourself? It’ll probably end up being part of the mess that’s already in the garbage can if you do. With a sigh through your nose, you nod and sniffle one last time.

Bucky jumps to his feet with child-like excitement and pulls you up with him. But he pauses for a moment and eyes of the mess of the kitchen, the disaster that was an attempt at doing something for him. He turns back to you, his heart full, and places a featherlight, lingering kiss on your forehead.

“Thank you,” he mumbles into your skin. And he means it.

With help, a sweet treat finally gets made. It’s not like Ma’s, but he’ll swear on his grave that it’s the best damn 21st-century gooey butter cake he’s ever had.

Like it? Let me know!

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky fanfiction #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky fanfic #marvel fanfiction #marvel fanfic #James Buchanan Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes #beefcakebarnes

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notbleachtea · 3 years

Text

Favorite Shirt

Okay time to post again. Slight warnings, mention of death, toxic relationship, slight emotional abuse.

Word count ~2.9k

"Tch, I guess it’s about time I clean my desk. I can't work with all of this crap on it." Jotaro annoyedly says.

While cleaning off the countless stacks of paper he pauses. All desire to clean is quickly knocked out of him. He sits back down in his desk chair holding the group picture you all took in Egypt. He glances over each face in the image, some happy memories, some not so much. He would give anything to go back in time to change the way things played out. So many stupid mistakes. His eyes immediately halt when he gets to yours. His face expressed sorrow and longing.

His favorite memories of the two of you start to come rushing back to his head, and for a moment, he smiles. The constant flirting that always occured between the two of you. The silent stares you each felt from one another. No matter how much the others teased you two, you still weren't sure if admitting your feelings was the best idea. You each had your own reasons for keeping distant. The mission was much more important anyway, and so was your friendship.

He recalls one of his favorite memories with you.

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

It had been a long week of tiresome stand battles, the closer you got to Egypt, the more intense they became. He noticed this was taking quite the toll on you and made the gang find a hotel that night so you could get some much needed rest. In the meantime he suggested that you use him as a pillow in the car on the way there.

Honestly, you took him up on the offer. You took everything you could at the time knowing that it would never go any further no matter how bad you wanted it to. Your head rested on his large chest, which was surprisingly soft for how tough he was. Every now and then he'd tug on his hat to cover his face when in fact he was just trying to steal a few glances at your peaceful, resting figure.

"Alright, we're here, group up and we'll get going into our rooms," Joseph states.

"I ca-"

"She's staying with me. There's no discussing it." Jotaro then picks you up and carries you to your room.

You started to wake up from the movements and the background noise going on in the hotel, and the first thing you saw was Jotaro's face when you opened your

eyes.

"Clearly I must be dreaming," you thought.

"Look who decided to wake up." he scoffed at you. "Really left it up to me to carry you all the way up here."

"I'm so sorry! I won't let it-"

"That's enough. I was just kidding anyway. You fought really hard today, it's the least I could do."

You smiled back at him as he set you down on the bed. That was honestly all the thanks he needed.

"Anyway, I'm going to go get something to eat, I'll bring something back for you if you want, but you should probably get some real rest soon."

You began to crawl up into the bed in your dirty and torn clothes from the day you just had.

"Good grief, what do you think you're doing? You're really going to sleep in a nice clean bed in your dirty clothes??"

"Well, I don't really have any clean clothes left right now, so, unless you have a better ide-"

You were quickly cut off with a soft hit to the face. Jotaro threw one of his clean shirts at you.

"Here. You can use this. It'll be more comfortable anyway."

Jotaro had left to go pick up some food and when he came back he was greeted with his favorite shirt filled with his favorite person. Wearing only that shirt made you look much smaller than you actually were, it practically went down to your knees.

"Thanks Jotaro! I promise I'll get it back to you as soon as I can."

"Keep it. It looks better on you anyway." He cooly tried to say as he pulled his hat down over his eyes.

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

After everything that had happened in Egypt, you just wanted to get away from it all for a while. Go out on your own to a new place with no reminder of the loved ones you lost and all the feelings you never acted on. As a thank you for your hard work, the SpeedWagon Foundation offered to pay for everything of whatever you decided to do. You thought maybe you'd try going to school in America for a while. It was great, you had all the experiences you grew up seeing in movies and on TV. You made plenty of new friends there and even dipped your toes in the dating pool.

Right after you finished school, you and your boyfriend got married. You thought that's what you ought to do, you've been with him for so long. Everyone thought you were the perfect couple. He always took you out on extravagant dates and bought you expensive jewelry. Every girl wanted to be you. But that was only because they didn't know what happened behind closed doors. He never physically hurt you, not many people could, I mean you could hold your

own in Egypt, you're pretty tough, but mentally, he knew you were weak. You would confide in him in the beginning of your relationship about all your friends back home that you missed. He never let you call home or talk to them either. The ones you could never see again. Everytime he wanted you to hurt he would just remind you that they were dead because you weren't there for them, you weren't strong enough to save them. Countless letters came in from your friends and family and he'd throw them away before you could see them. He would even tell you that no one was writing to you anymore.

Every now and then you manage to chat with Jotaro. He'd call you on your lunch break at work from time to time just to play catch up. Asking things like 'how's life?' and 'are you doing okay?' and the sort of thing. Everytime you told him you were doing great. You love your husband and you even try to brag about how well he treats you by describing all the luxurious gifts he's been buying you. Everytime Jotaro ended the call saying he was happy for you and then a

quick update on his life.

To be honest, Jotaro wasn't falling for your phone calls. He knew something was wrong, but he never knew how bad it really was. He thought it was strange that you never wrote to him or called him outside of your work hours. It was also strange how you never really went into depth about your personal life either.

One fateful day, you're having a routine call with Jotaro when your husband decided to stop by to take you out to lunch. He asked the secretary why your door was closed to which she simply responded, "Oh, she's talking to her childhood friend Jotaro! He usually calls about this time every week."

He walks into your office catching you off guard while you're still on the phone. The shock alone causes you to drop the phone with a quiet screech.

"Y/n, are you there?" Jotaro stays on the line worried about what he just heard.

Your husband shuts your office door leaving just the two of you in there and is yelling just loud enough to where your coworkers can't hear him.

"I thought I told you no one wanted to talk to you anymore? They're all fed up with you, can't believe you let your friends die back in Egypt. They'll never

forgive you for that."

"You're right I'm sorry just please don't do this here."

"What makes you think you can tell *me* what to do? That's not how this works. And who gave you permission to talk to other guys? There's going to be some serious consequences for this when you come home." He walks out of your office smiling at all of your coworkers like nothing had just happened, followed by a shut of your office door and your muffled cries.

"Y/n?? Are you still there? Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"Wh- what did you hear?" You managed to squeak out, choking back tears.

"I heard enough y/n, he's not a good guy. I knew something was wrong. We have to get you out of there."

"No. This is my life now. I don't need your help, I told you I'm perfectly fine."

"Y/n I'm not kidding, you have to get out of there *now* and I won't take no for an answer."

"I can't, okay! I have nowhere to go. No one would believe me if I said the things he's done to me. Anyone who I try to run to just rats me out to him and the situation gets worse."

"Y/n, go pack your most essential things while he's out of the house. I'm buying you a ticket home for tonight. You'll be safe here this time tomorrow."

The instant care Jotaro had just shown you only causes you to cry more. How could you let yourself get like this? You really weren't okay. You were just too headstrong to admit anything was wrong.

"Thank you." You were able to muster through even more tears.

After picking yourself up off the floor and drying your face, you left your office, no intention to come back. You rushed home to grab only your essential items while your husband was finishing his day at work. You grabbed a few sets of clothing, your toothbrush, hair and makeup accessories, a few pairs of shoes, and your folder of important documents. Everything else was replaceable and or retrievable at a later date.

You take a deep breath and get the courage to call a ride to the airport.

Free from your husband's control, you weren't scared to text or call Jotaro on your own phone now. You called him letting him know that you were on your way.

One short plane ride across the ocean later and Jotaro was waiting there for you to take you home. You're not sure how long he was there for but you're convinced he was waiting there since before you even took off.

"Y/n, over here." He waves you over.

You walk over shyly and ashamed of what he had witnessed just the day before. You couldn't even pick your head up enough to look him in the eyes.

"Y/n it's okay now. You're here with me, he can't get to you right now."

"Ye- yeah I guess you're right. So where do I go now?"

"C'mon, I'll take you back to my place."

"We're stopping there before the hotel?"

"I'm not letting you stay alone right now. You're staying with me at my house. The only reason I let you fly alone was because it got you out of there faster."

Jotaro takes your bag and you both head to the taxi.

"C'mon short stuff, get those legs movin' faster."

"Hey! Not everyone can be freakishly tall."

Jotaro raises one eyebrow, "So I'm a freak, aye?"

"Sorr-"

"Don't apologize, you're already more vocal when you're free around here. I like it."

The taxi drops you two off at his house. The drive felt like an eternity when in reality it was only a few short minutes. You stared out the car door window in awe.

*So this is what he's been up to this whole time*

"Well c'mon now, let's get inside."

You quickly follow after him like a lost puppy.

"There's a spare bedroom upstairs and down the hall, why don't you take this time to relax and freshen up while I make us something to eat?"

"You really don't have to do this for me Jotaro, but I appreciate it."

You head upstairs with your bag. It really was a long flight. You decide to take a quick shower and put on some clean clothes.

About an hour goes by when Jotaro comes by your room to collect you.

"Dinners ready y/n."

"Okay, I'll be right out, I just have to put some makeup on first."

"Uhh, what for? We're not going out anywhere."

"I don't know. I just always do. He always made me wear makeup, even at the house, I guess I'm just used to it."

Jotaro quickly turns around and starts heading towards the kitchen, but not without leaving a remark, "well don't. You look better without it anyway."

You follow soon after him with a fresh blank face. The table has already been set beautifully and you can already smell your favorite dish. He brings over two plates of food followed by a new bottle of wine.

"Why don't we catch up for real this time?" He asks.

Hours go by at the dinner table along with a few bottles of wine. The two of you bickering just like the old days. You missed this. You needed this.

You finally caught a glimpse of the time and stood up to help clean up the table.

"You don't need to help clean this up y/n. We can even clean it up tomorrow. Why don't we go talk in the living room for a bit longer?"

You move forward as an attempt to get to the couch, finally realizing how much you actually drank, you're quite tipsy in fact. Jotaro moves over to the couch to join you. Sitting side by side he grabs your hand with a guilty look on his face.

"Y/n, I'm so sorry this happened to you. It's all my fault."

Clearly he's a bit tipsy too if he's actually trying to admit being at fault right now.

"None of this is your fault Jotaro, what are you going on about?"

"If I was just straight with you when we were younger. If I actually had the courage to say something to you. Maybe you would have stayed. Maybe you would've ended up with me instead. Instead I thought you were too good for me."

Your eyes start to swell up. "Don't say that. Ever. I'm the one that's not good enough for you. Why would you ever want someone like me?"

"Well, you're you, that's why. You're strong, you held your own in the desert, you tried your hardest for us and you made it out. I've never met anyone as strong as you, and to know that someone took advantage of you? And I wasn't there to protect you? I'm so sorry for all of it."

Now full on ugly crying again, Jotaro wraps his arms around you and pulls you in for a hug.

"I'm so sorry Jotaro. Can you forgive me?"

He lifts up your crying head by your chin and brushes all your loose pieces of hair out of your face. He holds you here until you return the look into his deep aqua eyes. He moves forward, crashing his lips into yours. There was no hesitation on your end, you kissed him back just as hungrily. Neither of you needed words to figure out what the other one was thinking. You could feel the admittance of your love for each other from just that embrace. Jotaro pulls back and pushes your head into his chest so he can hold you once again. He pats your head.

"It's all okay now, I'm sorry it took this long," and he leaves a kiss on the top of your head.

The moment is only ended by your yawning since you've been up for lord knows how long. Jotaro picks you up and carries you in his arms to his room. He notices the slight confusion in your face.

"I was thinking maybe you sleep in here with me tonight, kinda like old times?"

"Okay, just let me go change into my pajamas. I don't want to get in the nice clean bed in my dirty clothes.".

You walk back into his room in just his old t-shirt you kept from the desert.

"You really kept that old thing?" He spouted.

"I really did. It's how I kept you close that whole time I was gone." You said with an embarrassed smile.

"It really does look better on you ya know?" He says through a full face of blush. Just seeing you again in that shirt made him think of all the things he wanted to do to you now and then.

You moved to go lay down alongside Jotaro in his massive bed. He always wanted to know what it'd be like to hold you in his arms in his own bed.

Jotaro pulls you into his chest to hold you tight, with no intention of letting you go. He places a delicate kiss on your cheek. You squeeze his hand as a subtle sign of acceptance and nuzzle into his broad figure.

“Goodnight y/n. Sleep tight.”

#jotaro kujo #jojo #jjba x reader #jjba #jjba jotaro #jotaro kujo x reader #jotaro x reader #jojo jotaro #jojosbizzareadventure #jjba pt 3

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power-of-plot · 3 years

Text

Pool day! Hcs.

I just realized i haven't been in a pool for over a damn year and a half .-. ... does this count as a spoiler? Bakugou is "developed" (his character) here. Also, i've written for him before but this ma first time posting it, tell me watcha think.

Warnings: Some cursing.

B A K U G O U

It takes you some convicing from you first since this type of activites just don't fit him that well, water is all happines and relaxation, he is living dynamite, or he used to be.

When he's "forced" to do some childish shit in a pool and sees there's no way of declining he lets out a somewhat exasperated sigh before giving green lights "Fine but next time i choose what we're gonna do , deal?"

Despite this not being his favorite, he's "angrily" joyful inside since whatever you do you'll spend time together, that's more than worth enough to bear anything for.

He makes sure you got all you need like towels, goggles (wich he’d never use because ‘it looks fucking weird and his eyes are not going to fall off because of some water’) etc, don't mock him or call him a mom when he forces you to put on sunscreen before going into the pool or while he's applying it on your back.

When you give him a hand to put it on his back, he's surprinsigly calm, he even tells you his preferences in his own way. "Don't turn my back into a slice of bread with cream cheese. Done? Uh thanks.. i'm not blushing it's the fucking sun! THIS DAMN SUNSCREEN IS NOT WORKING."

He would ask if you know how to swim just in case before you go into the pool, how he acts around depends in your answer.

If you don't know how to (kinda my case) you're not going past the limit into the deep part unless he's strictly right next to you OR you have a donut floatie or a pool noodle, anything that doesn't depend on balance, he is not taking the risk of you falling off. "Do you rather being an embarrased 'little kid' or a drowned grown up?"

If you somehow slipped or went into the deep part.. the moment he hears water sloshing then sees you struggling to not sink, oh lord, he's gonna YEET himself right in propulsing with one almost-full power explosion, he doesn't give a fuck if it leaves a big black burn mark on the ground.

He's relaxed if you do know how to swim. He can drag you along if you push him into the pool or drop you in from his arms, you'd also play waterpolo or voleyball.

"DIE!" He had to pay in a public pool for a broken ball after one of his explosions turned it into pieces of rubber scattered all over the water. That’s just one of the times he literally exploded, the most remarkable would be when someone didn’t know where their eyes were looking and he casually scared them off.

He marks his territory. While chilling he'd either have an arm wrapped around you or have you resting on his lap with his hand holding yours, although not with the same potency due to the water the caramel-like scent of his sweat would still emanate from him.

If he's in a very good mood or you just have a way with words there's a chance you could end up "cuddling" in there. Him floating and you simply resting on his torso, clinging onto each other so you don't float apart.

M I D O R I Y A

Give this dude an award for being the broccoli none of us would want to avoid, he gladly accepts when you suggest having a pool day! He’s fine with whatever you come up with, it means you’ll do something together, double win :D

He asks beforehand if you do know how to swim to know whether he should bring a floatie or not besides pool noodles because he likes them, he also brings a small extra sunscreen just in case you forget yours, when it comes to him reminding you to put it on he asks like a mom making sure you have seatbealt on “Wait, sunscreen?”

When he feels your hand touching his back he inmediately breathes in through his nose and tenses up, but when he turn around he has that adorable smile of shyness and a rosy color on his cheeks “T-thank you! I’m so sorry, i’m sort of shy!”

Izuku is a toe dipper you can’t change my mind! He holds out his leg then quickly dips his toe in to check the water temperature before slowly going in, if you don’t push him first, if you did, his face of feeling betrayal while having a coughing fit would be priceless

He’s alert if you get near the deep side and he’s not that close, another guy who would yeet right in if you don’t know how to swim, OFA enhaces his physical strenght, add the adrenaline of the moment, he could pull you out the water with one single arm.

He’s not rough at all, he wouldn’t push or drop you into the pool (unless you were the kind who likes it or asked him to), more like jump in with you, you’d definitely jump in holding hands or with you in his arms. He’d also have you on his shoulders or his back.

He looks like seaweed when he’s underwater.

You’d have a watergun fight! Believe me when i say he’s the personification of Terminator with that thing on his hands, he’s going to exterminate you until he has to re-fill his gun.

He’s alert on public pools, he’s not jealous he trusts you but he doesn’t like the idea of someone making you uncomfortable or looking at you on inproper ways. He’s rather affectionate than territorial, he’d put his arms over your shoulders and rest his head on the crook of your neck, you’d get some small pecks here and there.

When it’s time, he gets out the pool first so you don’t go through cold, he receives you with your towel open in his arms to wrap around you to your neck with a soft smile.

T O D O R O K I

Another guy who’d be fine with whatever you like, you could invite him to sky dive and he’d be there falling limpily, holding your hand with a straight face despite he’s falling from dangerous heights.

You’re not going to a public pool on his guard, he’s going to use his father’s credit card to go into a private place, probably with a rooftop or an oversized pool where you can swim freely.

With his childhood privated from many pleasures it’s unlikely he has any floaties so he has to buy some, he buys a donut and a noodle, he likes to relax and float better than swimming around, as for you, he wants you to have freedom to swim around.

We saw him using no more than swim trunks while training at the pool in U.A but he seems like the kind who would wear something on top as well, like a short sleeved swimming t-shirt.

Even before learning to be okay with his left side he never minded the water temperature that much, he simply goes in with a small jump. Now the fun part is: you can ask him to warm the water up to your content, he’d hold you close while he’s irradiating heat, pretty relaxing if you ask me

(bruh that sounds good should i write a drabble about that? anon or not tell me lmao)

If you start drowning.. freaking Elsa from Frozen is coming to the rescue, he’s going to rush at you like that scene where she fleed from a castle by freezing her way through a river.

He’d create large water slides with his ice and again, have a straight face while he’s going down at great speeds, if you were not there that is, seeing just how happy he can make someone with his quirk and his mere prescence.. a genuine bright smile appears on his face.

If you pushed him into the pool he’d turn around and stare at you with an unreadable glance, as if saying “why?” with his eyes, he needs a hug! Would never drop or push you in, even when you ask him he’d use moderate strength, he rathers having you cling onto him resting over his back.

It’s just wholesome when he’s relaxing on his donut and your next to him holding his hand or when he sitting on a stair of the pool with you resting on his shoulder, there are no words but you both enjoy it.

He doesn’t bring you your towel, he brings you to the towel. He carries you in his arms keeping you warm with his left side as he walks towards your stuff, he can hug you too so the towel doesn’t let any cold in.

What’s this, two post in the same week?! let’s see how much i can post in this week, i might post for AOT next :).

#thanks for reading #my hero headcanons #mha headcanons #midoriya x reader #todoroki x reader #bakugou x reader #mha fluff #fluff headcanons #mha x reader #boku no hero #my hero imagines #bnha #my hero academia #wholesome headcanon #ok i'm done #hope you like it

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therealvalkyrie · 3 years

Text

Painter’s Hands and Guatemalan Coffee: Part 1

on the inevitability of dating a frat bro

Pairing/setting: Levi Ackerman x Female!Reader, modern!college!AU

Summary: When you catch your idiot boyfriend cheating, your grumpy roommate is there to pick up the pieces and watch your back as you toe a carefully drawn line in the metaphorical sand

Word Count: 5.0k

Warnings: light angst, fluff, cheating, alcohol, swearing, minor injury

AN: So!! I am REALLY excited about this fic, but it’s the first AOT piece I’ve ever written and the first piece I’ve posted at all in a WHILE. As of now, it can stand on its own as a mainly platonic/unrequited Levi x reader, but I have big ideas for potential expansion in the future! Please don’t hesitate to reblog/comment/send in an ask with any suggestions, questions, or feedback!! ~valkyrie

Palms slap flat against the door of your apartment as you stumble the last few steps, barely catching yourself before your right ankle twists out from under you. Sharp pain shoots up your leg, and you know it’s gonna hurt like a motherfucker in the morning.

“Shitshitfuck ow,” you slur as you slide to the ground, back to the wall, short skirt bunching dangerously high on your thigh. Fumbling fingers go to the ankle strap of your right stiletto and pull fruitlessly on the ties. With a whine, you curse the forethought you had to double knot the thin cord when you were getting ready to go out earlier in the evening. Your tongue sits heavy and dry in your mouth as you lean your head back against the wall and press palms against your eyes until stars swim into your vision.

How the fuck did I end up here? you think with a soft hiccup, and all of a sudden you’re crying again.

As you sit in your apartment hallway, drunk and distraught and slowly freezing from the outside in, you recall the events of the night. Getting ready with Hange for girls’ night, meeting up with Sasha and Hitch at the new bar across town. Downing shots and cocktails until the worries of the week melted away, dancing until your feet ached and your eyes stung. Seeing your boyfriend across the dance floor making out with another woman. Correction, seeing your boyfriend making out with your best friend. Correction, seeing your ex-boyfriend practically fucking your former best friend in the middle of the goddamned club-

With that image freshly burned into your mind, you let out a gut-wrenching sob followed by a tremendous sniffle just as the apartment door opens.

A soft thump echoing through the apartment jerks Levi out of his light sleep. It takes him a second to remember you went out to your girls’ night, glancing over at his alarm clock. 2:17 am, sounds about right.

He rolls over and readjusts his sheets around him, determined to go back to sleep. It’s not uncommon for you to spend your weekend out with friends all night, and he learned a while ago that you’re perfectly capable of getting yourself showered and into bed after a night out. That’s one of the things Levi likes about living with you: you generally know how to stay out of his hair, and he doesn’t find himself caught up in yours.

When Hange had introduced you to him at the end of last semester as a potential roommate, he had been hesitant. In his book, anyone Hange approved of was bound to be at least slightly off their rocker, but he had been hoping to sign a lease for the next school year before leaving town, and after meeting you he felt willing to take a chance. He told himself it was because of your stellar recommendations from former roommates and respectable credit score, but the smallest part of his mind admitted it was also because of your pretty hands and intelligent eyes.

That day at his favorite tea shop when you had met up to sign the lease, he had asked you about your major and you had practically lit up with the way you spoke about the architecture degree you were pursuing. The pair of you had chatted all afternoon, discussing books and comparing experiences with professors in the art department. When you learned he was in the painting program at your university, you had grabbed one of his hands off the table in both of yours and examined it closely.

“You have painter’s hands,” you had proclaimed after a moment, turning his hand in yours and tracing the cracks in his palm lightly. “Just like my mom’s.”

Levi had simply sat there, stunned at how such a small gesture made his heart race and neck grow warm.

With a groan, Levi rolls back over in an effort to shake himself out of his turbulent thoughts. 2:19 glows green at him from his bedside table, and suddenly he’s struck with the realization that he hasn’t heard you actually come into the apartment, let alone close your bedroom door with your habitual sharp snap.

“Damn it to hell,” he mutters as he flicks on a beside lamp and stuffs feet into slippers. Careful to avoid knocking over the painting set to dry on the easel by his desk, he opens his bedroom door and hears the muffled sound of sobbing from the front door.

Levi stands in the doorframe in sweatpants and a loose t-shirt, poking his head out into the hall. For a moment, he can only stare. He’s never seen you like this before, utterly dejected, scatter-brained, small, so unlike the confident woman in the tea shop.

“You look like shit,” he says plainly, the barest hint of concern in his voice.

You keep your eyes downcast and weakly flip him off, continuing to sob gently. At the lack of your usual backtalk, his expression slips from his usual impassivity to a sharp frown.

A delicate hand encircles your upheld wrist and you let it go limp in Levi’s grip as he crouches down next to you.

“Hey, hey, what happened? Are you hurt? Why are you crying?” His calm tone helps you focus your mind, and you manage to hiccup a response.

“G-god I’m an idiot,” you sniffle, and raise your eyes to barely meet his. His head is ducked to your level, and he’s crouching on the balls of his feet, one hand gripping your limp wrist and the other hesitantly reaching for your shoulder. “Just leave me out here to w-wallow, or better yet take me out with the t-trash, that’s obviously all I-I am,” you gesture vaguely at yourself.

“Did someone tell you that? That you’re trash?” Levi asks sharply, dipping his head with yours in an effort to maintain eye contact.

Your bottom lip trembles and you sniffle again. Just under the delicate white noise of life, Levi can hear his heart break cleanly in two.

“It was more implied,” you supply weakly.

Levi sighs, then drops his hands and straightens up.

“Alright, up you get.” He extends his hand, and you stare at it for a second before adjusting your bag on your shoulder and gripping his warm hand with your freezing one. A solid pull later, you find yourself balancing in your heels, Levi’s hand gripping your elbow and the other around your waist. You mumble a thanks, and attempt a step on your right foot towards the door. The traitorous ankle buckles again and you cry out as you stumble once more. But this time Levi’s there to catch you against his chest, now fully supporting you at the waist.

“Ah, I forgot,” you mutter into his shoulder.

“Tch,” he clicks, gently chastising, and in a second he’s scooped an arm under your knees to carry you into the apartment. Vaguely, you wonder at how coordinated he is as he kicks the door shut and nudges the light switch with his elbow. Pretty buff for an art major, you muse, with your head laying against his chest and arms looped around his neck. How pathetic is this, can’t even walk into my own home.

He nudges his way into your room and casts his gaze around in the ambient glow of your desk lamp. You can tell he’s holding himself back from commenting on the clothes strewn across the extra chair by your closet and the lipstick-stained coffee cup sat atop a pile of textbooks on your desk, and you look down in embarrassment. There’s a reason you keep your door closed most of the time. Despite the mess, he successfully navigates across to your bed and gently puts you down, arranging your pillows behind you to support your back before disappearing into the living room again.

You take a moment to wipe at your eyes, sigh self-pityingly, and slouch down into your soft bed, not caring that you’re still fully dressed. Not only did you catch your boyfriend cheating, but you managed to wake up your (usually grumpy) roommate, reveal to him how messy you actually were, and injure yourself in the space of half an hour. Just about a record.

The shrill ringing of your phone breaks into the silence. As you’re digging through your purse to pull it out, you remember with a sinking feeling that you didn’t even tell the girls you were leaving the club, let alone what happened. You slide a shaky finger across the screen to accept the call and put it to your ear.

“Hello?”

“Uhm, hello? Where the fuck are you?” Hange’s loud voice makes you wince and hold the phone slightly away from your face.

“Oh god, I’m sorry Hange, I went home. S-something happened and I, well I just called an Uber and didn’t even think,” you finish lamely.

“What happened? Did you get home safe? Did someone hurt you? I swear to god-”

“Hange, I-”

“-rat bastard bartender was eyeing you all night I could’ve guessed he’d try something-”

“Hange!” She stops short and allows you to speak. “I got home safe. Levi’s here. I’m not hurt, the bartender didn’t try anything, I… I’ll tell you everything tomorrow, okay?” You inject your tone with some bright optimism in an effort to assuage her panic. “Tell Sasha and Hitch not to worry, okay?”

Over her momentary silence on the other end of the line, you can hear traffic sounds and faint club music, as though she had stepped outside to call you. A strained sigh, then: “Okay. I’m glad you’re okay, but I’m still mad at you for not checking in before you left. Had me worried sick.”

“I know, I’m sorry, I’d be mad too. Can you swing by tomorrow? And I’ll explain everything?” Your hand rubs down your face and you close your eyes in a guilty grimace.

“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” The call ends and you drop your phone down onto your bed where it bounces gently away from you.

When you open your eyes again, Levi is standing in the door holding a cup of tea, his other hand cupped around something, studying you with uncertainty. You sit up hesitantly against your headboard, surprised. You’d figured he went back to bed and left you to put yourself to bed as you usually did.

He crosses the room with his smooth gait, and in a moment, you feel two ibuprofen pressed into your palm and the mug of tea nudged into your other hand, your roommate gently prompting you to drink. He watches as you pop the pills and take a slow sip of the tea, smiling faintly when you recognize that it’s chamomile.

“Good.” He takes the mug and sets it aside on your bedside table. Pulling your desk chair up to the side of your bed, he sits, and leans over towards your feet.

His light fingers start to work on the knots in the ties of your shoes, and you can feel his voice rumble lightly as he says, “What happened, kid?”

You huff a laugh at the pet name, then consider where to begin. You decide straightforward is the best approach with someone like Levi.

“I saw Reiner and Annie at the club, sucking face in the middle of the dance floor. I thought he was at some quote unquote frat thing and she insisted she couldn’t come out to girls’ night because of some stupid group project. They didn’t even see me, I just turned around and left before I knew what I was doing. And poor Bertholdt, he probably has no clue what Annie’s been up to.” You take a shuddering breath and let out a choked sob, trying to stop the waterworks and unable to keep them at bay. “God, I’m such a spineless coward.”

“Hey.” Levi’s sharp tone startles your teary gaze to meet his eyes, which look practically murderous. He leans over to grasp your shoulders, warm hands scorching cool skin. “You are not a spineless coward. He is the goddamned spineless foolish bastard, and if I ever see his ugly mug I will wreck it so bad his own mother won’t be able to identify the body. As a matter of fact, that goes for Annie, too. Are we clear?”

You blink in shock before fully registering his words and nodding slowly. “Crystal.” Levi looks the most angry you’ve ever seen him, brow furrowed and mouth set determinedly.

“Good.” He returns his attention to your ankle. While you were talking, he had successfully untied and slipped your shoes off your swollen feet. “Now, let’s see what’s going on with your weak-ass foot.”

He spends a good minute poking and prodding and turning your ankle every which way in his grasp. “Does this hurt?” and “What about this way?” are answered with soft “no”s or a wince and a “yes”. His hands are practiced and intentional, and you briefly wonder how much experience he has with treating injuries. After a last gentle prod, he sets your foot back down on the bed.

“Well, it’s definitely not broken. It is swelling, though, and probably sprained. I’ll go see if we have an ace bandage or something.” He stands and moves to leave, but before he can get too far you gently grasp his forearm.

“Thank you, Levi.” Your voice is soft and sincere as you look up at him through curled and mascaraed eyelashes. “Thanks for picking me up off the floor and listening and taking care of me.”

Levi studies your tired face for a moment. The trails of mascara down your cheeks, a stray piece of glitter sitting on your cheekbone, lipgloss smudged on the left side. It seems as though his hand moves on its own, reaching out to stroke your cheek lightly, thumb gently brushing away the escaped glitter. He doesn’t miss the way your lashes flutter as you subconsciously lean into his touch. Finally, he tousles your hair with a hint of tenderness in his eyes.

“Tch. Don’t worry about it, kid.”

“I’m barely younger than you!”

“Whatever, brat.”

Levi is sitting at the kitchen table nursing a cup of tea and hunched over his laptop when you step out of your room late the next morning. Freshly showered, your hair curls delicately over your shoulders and the scent of peppermint body wash reaches his nose. He studies you for a moment. You’re wearing a loose sleep shirt, cotton shorts, and an oversized cardigan, and he can see where the ace bandage he found last night pokes out from under your fuzzy socks. Clearly, you’re planning to stay in today.

“G’morning,” you murmur, passing behind him to get to the kitchen. Your roommate grunts a greeting in response and takes a sip of tea in his odd overhanded way. You start your coffee routine, reaching for the French press and coffee grounds from a shelf and setting the kettle to boil on the stove. It’s grounding to go through the motions of a daily ritual after the emotional turmoil of last night. Or rather, the emotional turmoil of this morning. It had been hard to drag yourself out of bed before noon, and harder still not to crawl back into your warm sheets after a scalding shower. You steel yourself for the inevitable conversation as you measure out grounds, then finally turn and hop up to sit on the counter facing Levi when the only thing left to do is to wait for the coffee to brew.

“Sooooo,” you start in a long, drawn out syllable, leaning back on your hands.

His hands still on the keyboard and a quiet tension fills Levi’s shoulders before he turns his body fully towards you, resting a hand on the back of his chair. He doesn’t say a word, but his eyes are softer than they usually are when you interrupt his studying.

You take a deep breath.

“So, uh, last night I was kind of a wreck and you were really sweet, and I just wanted to say thank you again and I’m sorry you had to witness that.” It’s said in a rush, and by some miracle you manage to maintain eye contact.

“Like I said, don’t worry about it. That’s what friends are for.”

“I know, I know, I just-- it felt really nice to have someone, y’know, there after what, uhm, after what happened and I really was a mess I mean I must’ve looked so gross and I woke you up at like what? Two am? And you were just so steady and kind and I mean you even tucked me into bed for God’s sake--” you ramble on, the words falling over each other in your awkwardness. God, you idiot don’t you know when to shut the fuck up?? “--and I know how much you like it to be quiet at night and I really do try to--”

Levi cuts you off when he stands fluidly from his seat and crosses the kitchen in two strides, entering your space and placing his hand over your mouth in the same motion. You look at him with wide eyes, suddenly breathing very oddly. The clean smell of paint thinner and black tea simultaneously clouds and calms your mind.

A beat, then: “Brat. Stop rambling, you’re welcome.” You study each others’ faces. Levi’s eyes are stern and steady as he looks up at you through elegantly disheveled bangs. To Levi, you look like a deer caught in headlights, all surprised eyes and warm cheeks. After a charged moment, he lets his hand drop and takes the smallest step backwards.

It takes your brain a second to reboot, then you’re fumbling over your words again. “Okay. Well, uhmm. Okay.”

“How’s your foot?” He glances down at the foot in question as if to check it’s still there, then back at you.

“It’s okay. Still hurts to walk on but I can handle it,” you manage to breathe out with the air left in your lungs.

“Good.” He nods once, then turns and sits back down at his laptop. He hears you huff half an incredulous laugh and slide down from the counter to pour your coffee. A shake of the head and a sip of tea later, his mind slips back into essay mode and away from the woman drilling holes in the back of his head with curious eyes.

“Hey baby!” You hear Reiner’s voice from the door as he pushes through it with his usual boisterousness. From your position at the kitchen table in front of your laptop, your back is to him and you allow yourself a moment to press your nails into the palm of your hand and steel your nerves before plastering a smile on your face. You stand up and turn to greet him, limping to meet him halfway from the door.

“Hey babe, come on in!”

He winds an arm around your waist and pulls you in to peck you on the lips as usual, but you manage to subtly turn your head so it lands on your cheek instead. With the flash of an innocent smile as a coverup, you step out of his arms and make your way into the kitchen to set the kettle for coffee. “So, uh, how was your frat thing?”

He follows close behind you, completely oblivious, and cages you in with your back against the counter after you’re done at the stove. “Eh, it was alright. Got some new pledges, you know how it is.” He grins in the cocky way you fell for and leans farther into your space. You give a giggle and rest gentle hands on his chest, keeping him at a distance while feigning affection.

“Oh, sure. Busy night of fun, I’m sure.” Your tone is sickly sweet and you mentally grimace at yourself to take it down a notch.

Fiddling absentmindedly with the collar of his shirt, you take a moment to mourn your relationship. While it’s about to end swiftly and brutally, you know that you will miss the security and warmth you had with Reiner in the beginning. You finally lean in to lay your head on his chest one last time, and your heart aches at the way he tenderly rests his chin on top of your head. The moment is broken by the kettle beginning to whistle and you gently push him away to go turn it off.

“How’re Hange and the girls?” He leans himself against the counter and watches as you bustle around the kitchen, preparing coffee as you usually do when he comes over. It’s one of the things the pair of you had initially bonded over, trying new beans and methods of brewing nearly every week. Recently, you had been using Guatemalan beans with notes of peach and candied almonds, a birthday gift from the cheating boyfriend himself.

As you measure out grounds into the French press, you maintain a cheerful disposition. This is it, you think. Don’t back down now.

“They’re doing great, we had so much fun! We went to that new bar on Oakland Street, I think it’s called like Stevie’s?” Of course it’s called Stevie’s, it had been all anyone could talk about since the new bar opened earlier in the semester.

“Oh, yeah, uhm I’ve heard good things, good things….” His voice has a nervous edge to it, and a glance in his direction confirms that he’s awkwardly rubbing his neck as he usually does when he has something to hide.

You push on: “Yeah! I think you would totally love it! Very much your vibe. Anyway, we got absolutely plastered, to be honest I’m not even sure I remember how much I had to drink.” A pause for dramatic effect accompanied by a ditzy laugh. “But y’know, I do remember seeing one thing.” You carefully bloom the grounds before pouring the rest of the water in, focusing your gaze away from Reiner in order to keep your cool.

“Oh?”

You casually set the chicken shaped kitchen timer on the fridge to four minutes and adopt a thoughtful tone. “Yeah, I saw Annie there. Which was odd, because she told me that she had this huge group project to be working on. Guess she finished early. Oh, and you know what else I saw?”

“W-what?” A sharp turn away from the fridge reveals his increasingly nervous face to you

“I saw you there, too! Maybe you got so drunk at the “frat thing” you just don’t remember going, how funny is that?” You keep your voice light but find yourself unable to maintain a smile, your expression slipping into somewhere in between hurt and determined.

He shifts awkwardly on his feet and looks anywhere but your face, hand still rubbing the back of his neck. “Ahaha, really? Are you sure it was me, becau--”

“Oh, it was you. And do you know what you were doing?” This time, your voice is icier than the sidewalk in February after a week of sleet, causing his body to still and face to fall.

“N-no…” It’s almost pitiful how quiet he is now that his usually confident demeanor is shaken.

“You were kissing Annie. Which is funny, considering you both are in relationships.” The statement hangs in the air and you stare steadily into his eyes. You make it a point to regulate your breathing and blink back the first tears beginning to pool.

After another charged split second, your idiot ex-boyfriend decides on the worst path: badly gaslighting you into thinking it wasn’t him.

“I uhm, I was uh, are you sure? It couldn’t have been A-Annie-- I mean uhm, me, uh, ahaha, if it was, that’s so funny…” He stumbles over his words, only trailing off in defeat when you hold up a hand to silence him.

“Save it, Reiner. I already had a breakdown last night, I’m not particularly in the mood to deal with yours.” You limp over to the table and pull out a chair to reveal the cardboard box of his things you had packed up that morning. “Here’s your stuff, now get the hell out and stay the fuck away from me. Maybe go grovel to Bertholdt and see if you can salvage that relationship.” Your hand trembles as you point at the box and then the door and your lip quivers with the effort of not crying.

Reiner evidently sees the vulnerability in your eyes and decides to grasp at a few last straws, adopting a pleading mien, complete with sad smile and innocent eyes. He moves towards you slowly, as though approaching a wounded animal, and reaches out to lay a hand on your shoulder. “Aww, come on, baby, it wasn’t like that, it was just a heat of the moment thing, I didn’t mean--”

“Didn’t mean what?” Facade finally breaking, all you can muster up is a furious, cracked whisper and angry tears. “Didn’t mean to stick your tongue down my best friend’s throat? Didn’t mean to practically fuck your best friend’s girlfriend in public?”

“No, I mean, yes, but I, aw, c’mon sweetheart,” he admonishes, cautiously reaching out to wipe away your tears. You cringe away, but before he can touch you his arm is ripped away and he’s stumbling back with a shocked expression.

“I believe the lady told you to get the fuck out.” Levi’s standing in front of you out of nowhere, hands eerily still at his side. Evidently, he had come back from the store smack in the middle of The Dumpening, and a glance towards the entryway confirms there are grocery bags discarded haphazardly on the floor. Turning your attention back to the men in your kitchen, you see Reiner’s face has rapidly shifted from surprised to angry. He’s caught himself against the counter, breathing hard, eyes flicking from your teary eyes to Levi.

“Hey, this isn’t any of your fuckin’ business, buddy,” Reiner drawls, confident as he straightens up to his full height. He practically towers over Levi, the shortest of the three of you, and you can tell he’s already estimating your roommate to be an easy fight should it come down to that. Sharp panic enters your chest at the thought of a fight breaking out, and your hand flinches out to grasp Levi’s jacket sleeve desperately. You’ve seen Reiner in a couple bar fights, and even drunk he’s a force to be reckoned with.

He doesn’t acknowledge your touch, instead injecting a quiet venom into his usually dispassionate tone. “You made it my fuckin’ business when you touched my roommate without her permission in my home.”

The taller man opens his mouth to retort, but you beat him to the punch: “Reiner, just go. I want you to leave.” Some mettle has returned to your voice and you force obstinate lungs to take a deep breath. “Please take your stuff and go.”

Eye contact with Reiner usually makes you feel warm and safe and in love, both of you prone to wearing your heart on your sleeve. This time the experience is sullied by conflicting anger and hurt and guilt written across his face, filling your already aching heart with an unshakeable leaden weight.

He inhales sharply, then speaks in a much more uncertain voice. “Is this really what you want?”

Your mouth quirks to the side in an effort to quell more tears. “Yes, this is really what I want.”

The fight slumps out of his body, shoulders rounding imperceptibly, and he holds up his hands in defeat. He crosses to the cardboard box of his things sitting on the kitchen chair. You don’t miss the way Levi casually keeps his body between you and Reiner, staring him down as he moves towards the pair of you. Your grip hasn’t slackened on Levi’s jacket, and at this point you can’t distinguish if it’s to stop him from doing something stupid or simply to have something to hold onto.

Reiner hoists the box into his arms and turns his head towards you once more.

“Goodbye,” his voice cracks on your name and you tear your eyes away in favor of staring at the linoleum kitchen floor.

The front door clicks shut.

You finally drop your hand from Levi’s sleeve, sink slowly into the chair behind you, and bury your face in your hands. The dull aching of your heart seems to seep through the rest of your body until your limbs are heavy, ankle throbbing from standing on it for too long.

You hear Levi’s retreating footsteps towards the door, the shunk of the lock slipping into place, and the crinkle of plastic grocery bags as he picks them up off the floor. He works in silence putting the food away, giving you space to collect your scattered self. When his task is complete, he joins you at the table, sitting in the chair which had previously been occupied by Reiner’s box.

When the chicken timer rings, he calmly shuts it off and returns to sit by you.

When his cell phone dings with a text notification, he deftly sets it to “Do Not Disturb” and returns to keeping you company.

When you finally meet his eyes, it looks like you’ve aged a year.

“You all right?”

“Been better.”

“At least this time you’re sober.”

“Pfft,” you scoff. “Wish I wasn’t.”

“On that note, I got wine and cheese at the store. The “perfect break up cure”, in your own words.” His tone is dry, but his mouth is slightly quirked at the side. “And I saw that Pride and Prejudice is streaming on Netflix.”

His thoughtfulness chips into your melancholy, and you hazard a watery smile. “Aw Levi, you didn’t have to do that.” With that, you lean over and pull him into a warm hug, arms around his neck and chin hooked over his shoulder. He hesitantly puts his own arms around you and pats your back awkwardly.

“Really, it’s no--”

“Oh, shut up and let me be grateful for you.”

(read Part 1.5 here)

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyoujin #levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #reiner braun #annie leonhart #hange zoe #sasha braus #hitch dreyse #bertholdt hoover #swearing #alcohol #painter's hands and guatemalan coffee #valkyrie writes

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hmslusitania · 3 years

Note

Prompt: AU to 2.01. during the workout scene Eddie brings up Abby and Buck feels hurt and betrayed that Chim would share his private life with basically a stranger. When Chim says Eddie’s cool Buck says he can be wary of the new guy who gets so comfortable right off the bat when Buck himself got hazed like crazy as a probie. When Chim says Abby’s not a big deal Buck turns to Eddie and asks if he found his abandonment amusing. Eddie feels horrible and Chim finally understands his screw up. Buddie

Hi Anon! I’m not 100% sure this will satisfy your prompt, for which I apologise. That said, in a longer fic I’m currently working on, this scene gets examined hardcore from both Buck and Eddie’s POV and I hope to post that fic soon, so if this does not quite do it, hopefully that will. All that said, I do hope you enjoy this:

The kid is like a brother to him, but good god. It’s only Eddie’s second shift and they haven’t even all clocked in yet, and Buck is already being a dick. Chimney sighs – on the inside – and keeps buttoning his shirt while Buck slams locker doors and Eddie just tries to change.

When Buck finally stomps out of the locker room, Eddie takes a second and then turns to Chim.

“So, is it just me, or…”

“Try not to take it personally,” Chim recommends. He likes Eddie, has liked him since they met. It’s nice to have another medic on the shift, even if Eddie isn’t certified as a paramedic like him and Hen. Bobby’s and Buck’s EMT certification is great and useful but sometimes that little bit of extra medical knowledge comes in handy.

“So he’s just a dick to everyone?” Eddie asks.

Chim sighs. “Nah,” he says. “He’s just – look, the kid’s got a heart of gold, he really does, and most of the time he’s the sweetest guy you’ll meet, like a giant 6’2 golden retriever, but his first serious girlfriend just dumped him and then ghosted him, and he’s been a bit…in a bad mood.”

Although, now that he thinks about it, Buck’s straight up denial about Abby having dumped him has kept his mood afloat well enough. Up until Eddie showed up at the 118. But Chimney can’t fathom how the two would be related.

Eddie nods like that makes sense and they continue getting ready for their shift.

Chimney does his best to stay out of Buck’s way for most of the morning. It’s only by coincidence he finds himself in the gym at the same time as Buck and Eddie. Buck, clearly trying to comfort himself with the hot firefighter calendar, starts taking selfies over by the bench press.

Chimney does not know why Eddie decides to start something.

“You’re in the wrong light, man,” Eddie says. Chim frowns. Light? For a selfie?

“Some of us don’t need lighting to look good,” Buck shoots back.

Chim glances at Buck, but he’s distracted by himself.

“Hey, Eddie? What did you mean by the wrong light?” Chim asks.

Eddie explains about warm side lighting as opposed to flat blue light, and shows off the pictures his niece had taken for him. Chimney doubts that most of the effect is just because of lighting. As he’d pointed out on Eddie’s first shift, that is a beautiful man.

Still, having well done photos can’t hurt.

“You think she’d be willing to take my pictures for me? I’m told I photograph like an Asian Fabio,” Chim says, which gets him a laugh from Eddie.

“Sure she would,” he says.

And then, of course, Hurricane Buck.

“You shouldn’t get his hopes up,” he says to Eddie, all glower. “No offence, Chim.”

Chimney isn’t sure how he’s supposed to take that as anything but offensive. But—

He’s got a heart of gold, Chim reminds himself. He’s got a goddamn heart of gold.

“None taken,” he says, heading back to his bench dips. “Evan.”

He gets maybe two reps in before he hears Eddie say, “Okay, man, what’s your problem?”

Chimney winces and looks over to see Buck getting up in Eddie’s face.

“Okay, you,” Buck says. Chimney frowns. Eddie? It really is personal? “You’re my problem. Your comfort level. You’re – you’re not supposed to just walk in here like you’ve been here for years. There’s supposed to be a getting-to-know-you period. You’re meant to respect your elders.”

That’s what Buck is pissed about?

“You’re not his elder, Buck,” Chim points out. As he says it, he realises he doesn’t actually know how old Eddie is. He’s been assuming due to his work history that he’s on the other side of thirty from Buck, but he doesn’t actually know.

“Look,” Eddie says. He sounds calm and rational, in complete contrast to Buck’s anger and irritation, which Chim takes as a good sign. “I in no way meant to, uh, be too familiar or step on anybody’s toes. I know you’re going through some personal stuff right now.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Chimney can see Buck flinch.

“What personal stuff?” he asks.

Whoops.

“I know your girlfriend recently broke up with you and you’re coming to terms with that,” Eddie says.

“No, I’m not,” Buck says. Which, points for honesty, Chim thinks. “And she didn’t break up with me. Who told you that?”

When they both turn to look at him, Chim tries to melt into his exercise equipment.

“I’m just saying, I hear you’re a good guy, and I’m sorry you’re going through pain but you don’t need to take it out on me,” Eddie says.

“I’m not in pain,” Buck snaps, wounded.

Chim doesn’t mean to heave a dramatic sigh, but it happens. Buck rounds on him.

“And why are you telling all of my personal shit to strangers?” Buck asks.

Chim winces. There are a lot of reasons – Eddie asked; Eddie is already a clear part of the team, not a stranger; because Chimney’s worried about him and gossip is how they deal with things at the 118; but he doesn’t think Buck’s in a mood to accept any of those.

“I asked if you were pissed at me or something else,” Eddie says. “And I’m sorry about your girlfriend, man, I know what it’s like to have someone you thought loved you disappear on you in the dead of night.”

Chimney stops doing his dips and turns to scan Eddie, concerned. But Eddie’s just looking at Buck.

“She didn’t – I drove her to the airport,” Buck says.

He sounds so damn small and vulnerable that despite how much of a dick he’s been recently, Chim kind of wants to just hug him. He’s spent so much of the past four months since Abby left acting like he was completely fine most of the time, and so they hadn’t really…

Well, they hadn’t been there for him. Bobby’s got his reasons, Chim knows, since Hen’s almost certainly right about the secret Bobby-Athena relationship going on in the background. But Chim and Hen could’ve done better.

“Look, man, all I can tell you is that staying in denial isn’t gonna help,” Eddie says. “You’re still gonna get the divorce papers in the mail eventually.”

“We weren’t—” Buck starts and Chimney almost jumps into the conversation to make sure Buck isn’t actually that stupid. “Oh.”

“Truce?” Eddie asks, taking off one of his boxing gloves and holding his hand out in Buck’s direction.

Buck swallows and, after a long, awkward moment, takes Eddie’s hand. “You’re still a probie.”

“I promise you, there is no worse hazing you can do to me than the guys in Afghanistan already did,” Eddie says.

Chimney wonders if he feels like eating those words later that night when Eddie and Buck get into an ambulance with a live grenade. Chim and Hen aren’t on the call with them, since they were already doing a transport from the previous call, but when they all get back to the station, something has clearly shifted between Buck and Eddie.

“You two idiots got in an ambulance with a live grenade?” Hen demands, hands on her hips. Chim has seen her deploy this expression at Denny before. It usually gets her immediate apologies and chagrin.

“Eddie was an army medic,” Buck says. “We were totally safe.”

“Until the ambulance exploded,” Eddie points out.

“Yeah, but we weren’t in it anymore,” Buck says, knocking his shoulder into Eddie’s while they sit at the kitchen counter together. Hen shakes her head slowly, like she can’t believe what she’s hearing. “And besides! We saved the patient.”

“Which is what matters,” Eddie adds.

Hen throws her hands up, exasperated. “I’m so glad there are two of you now.”

She stalks off and Chim watches while Buck and Eddie exchange bright smiles. Chim couldn’t say for sure, but he thinks the last time Buck smiled like that, he was talking to Abby. Which is certainly a development Chim didn’t see coming.

He finds Buck later in the bunks.

“Hey,” he says, knocking on Buck’s partition. Buck isn’t asleep, he’s just scrolling through his phone. “Got a sec?”

“Sure,” Buck says, sitting up and dropping his phone into his lap.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Chim says. “Telling Eddie about Abby, I mean. I don’t think any of us really realised how much you’re still hurting over that.”

“I’m fine,” Buck says. It’s too quick, and just a bit too sharp to be genuine.

Chim just waits.

“I’m – I’ve – I’ve been single for four months, haven’t I?” Buck asks quietly.

“Yeah,” Chim says, because Eddie had pointed out, denial just hurts more.

“Great,” Buck says. He clears his throat a couple times like he’s trying to get rid of a blockage. Chimney takes that as an opportunity to clap him on the shoulder.

“You’ve still got your family,” Chim says. “By which I mean the 118, because as far as you’ve said, you may as well have sprung out of the ground fully formed.”

Buck snorts. “I’ve got a sister,” he says, which is the first biological family member Chimney has ever heard Buck mention. “Maddie. She’s actually sleeping on my couch right now.”

“God, a female Buck,” Chim says. “I can’t even imagine how terrifying that must be.”

Buck scoffs and elbows him. “She’s not like me at all. You might even like her. She’s basically the best person ever, just a heart of pure gold.”

Chimney doesn’t quite trust Buck’s judgement when it comes to his sister, but if he’s right, well…

“Certain shitty comments you’ve made recently aside, that sounds exactly like you, Buckaroo,” Chim says.

“Thanks, Chim,” Buck says and sounds like he means it. “And I’m sorry for being a dick.”

Chim nods and claps him on the shoulder again before turning to head back to his own bunk.

“Hey, Chim?”

Chimney pauses.

“Do you think Eddie’s—”

Chimney waits, but all Buck says is “never mind.”

Their next call isn’t until morning when they find a group of idiots who have cemented their friend’s head into a microwave. When the kid falls into a pool, Buck jumps in to save him without hesitation and Eddie is only a split second behind him.

Chim doesn’t think about it until they’re all back at the station and changing out for the end of shift, but he thinks that this particular level of drift compatibility between Buck and Eddie might be a bit of a dangerous thing.

When they’re all back in civvies, Eddie says goodbye to everyone and starts to leave, only for Buck to follow him out, calling, “Hey! Eddie! There’s a really great brunch place down the street if you want to grab something, maybe?”

Chim and Hen watch them go, and wait until they’ve both driven off – together, even if in separate vehicles – before commenting.

“They’re gonna give us all heart attacks, aren’t they,” Hen says, resigned.

“Oh yeah,” Chim agrees.

“At least Buck seems happier?” Hen asks.

“Small victories,” Chim replies. “I’ll see you on Thursday.”

“See you then,” she says, going back to cleaning her locker.

Chimney only makes it as far as the parking lot before he’s stopped dead in his tracks by a breathtakingly beautiful woman. He’s never been a poetry kind of guy, but he’s pretty sure he could wax poetic about the bright stars in her eyes for several days if pressed. It doesn’t hurt that she’s holding a large Tupperware of baked goods.

“How can I help?” Chim asks, swallowing his gum. There’s nowhere to spit it out and no way to do that in front of a pretty girl that doesn’t look tacky.

“I was actually looking for Evan Buckley,” she says. “I wanted to surprise him. He said he was having a kind of intense shift.”

Chimney feels an instant spike of envy, and then realises who she is.

“You must be Buck’s sister,” he says.

“I am,” she agrees. “Maddie Kendall. Well, Buckley, again, I guess.”

“I’m Chimney,” he says, offering her his hand to shake.

She balances the container of baked goods on one forearm and shakes his hand. “It’s nice to put a face to a name. Buck says you’re one of the best guys at the station.”

Chimney can’t help but smile at that. “That’s funny, I was just saying the same thing about him.”

Maddie laughs and Chimney is struck by the desire to make her laugh always.

He stands there, grinning at her like an idiot, for much longer than he should until Maddie finally says, “So, where would I find him?”

“Oh! Sorry! You just missed him,” Chimney says. “He already left for a brunch date with the probie.”

Maddie’s eyebrows lift, delighted. “A date?”

Chim shrugs. “I’m not sure either of them knows that part, but definitely.”

“How about I put these down somewhere and you tell me absolutely everything,” Maddie suggests, holding up the box of muffins.

“I don’t know if I should,” Chim says, showing her up the stairs to the loft where D shift are working on the coffee maker. “I kinda got in trouble for telling people things about him recently.”

“Mm, big sister’s prerogative,” Maddie says, happily accepting the cup of coffee Chimney offers her.

“Okay, but if he yells at me again, I’m blaming you,” Chimney says. He takes one of the muffins from the now open container and groans. So not only is she gorgeous and the best person ever by Buck’s estimation, she can also cook and she thinks Chimney is funny. “These are amazing.”

“Thank you,” Maddie says. “And I’m sure we can work something out about Buck re blame. So long as you dish.”

Chimney grins. “Deal.”

#the ghost ship scribbles #the ghost ship answers questions #9-1-1 #9-1-1 fic #pre-buddie #pre-madney #2x01 revisioning #Anonymous

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rudypankwow · 4 years

Text

sea legs | jj maybank

not my gif! (i’m not sure who posted it bc the post didn’t say!!)

you don’t know how to swim so jj teaches you

requested: yes!

warnings: none!

word count: 1.1k

masterlist

a/n: this is really not my best work but i really wanted to post a request for you guys!!! some more high quality stuff coming soon sorry :( Somehow, the love of the ocean had been lost on you. It must have missed a generation. The rest of your family loved to be on the boat and surf and swim, but you just didn’t. Growing up, you had just never been interested, instead choosing to sit in the sand, and now you were so intimidated by the water that the thought of going in made your heart race.

You had managed to keep it from your friends thus far, telling them that you were cold or wanted to finish your book or that you’d forgotten to wear your bathing suit. And it usually worked. For whatever reason, they just never seemed to question it.

Until JJ tried to take matters into his own hands.

You guys had been out on the boat for most of the day, everyone drinking beers and swimming and sunbathing on the deck.

“C’mon, (y/n)!” JJ called out, his hair dripping water as he pulled himself onto the boat. “You never come swimming with me.” He pouted, sitting down next to you and pulling you up to be eye level with him. He wrapped an arm around your waist and nestled his face into your neck, planting kisses on your warm skin.

“Not right now, J,” you say, running your fingers through his wet hair, “I’m trying to read my book.”

He pulls away to look at you, a smile on his face that only makes you nervous. In one swift move, he taking your book out of your hands and throws it across the deck. He’s on his feet in an instant, grabbing you by the waist and hoisting you over his shoulder. He walks to the side of the boat, and you’re pounding on the back of his chest, begging him to stop. He just laughs, blissfully unaware of the fact that not only do you hate the water, but you can’t swim.

“JJ, seriously,” you plead, “please put me down.” Your palms are sweaty and your hands are shaking, and you’re trying your hardest to stop yourself from crying. He starts to throw you over the edge, so as a final hail mary, you yell, “JJ I can’t swim!”

Everyone freezes. The laughing and talking stops and all attention goes to you. JJ takes you off his shoulder and places you in front of him. You wrap your arms around his neck, pulling yourself into him, needing to calm your breathing before you can even try to explain. He holds onto you immediately, rubbing circles into your back. You’re sure he’s confused, but you’re also sure he can feel your heart beating out of your chest.

You finally pull away, stepping back and taking a seat on the deck. He sits down next to you, squeezing your knee. “I just,” you start to explain, sighing, “I never had much interest in the water when I was little.” You look up at all your friends, listening intently. “And now I just feel so far removed from the ocean that I’m terrified to even try to go in.”

“Why didn't you tell us?” John B says finally.

“Yeah, anyone of us could have helped you get more comfortable,” Kie adds.

“Nevermind the fact that if you ever fell in we’d have no idea you couldn’t swim,” JJ finally speaks up. You look over at him, the look on his face is soft and comforting. He reaches over and brushes some hair out of your face.

“I know,” you say, shaking your head. “I should have told you, I’m sorry.”

The group falls silent. JJ’s hand goes back to your thigh, giving your leg a comforting squeeze. “Well,” he says, “do you wanna learn now?”

“Oh, I don’t,” your heart starts to race again, “I don’t know.”

“Hey,” JJ says, putting his fingers under your chin, making you look at him, “I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, okay? I won’t even let go of you if you don’t want me to.”

You take a deep breath. You want to scream out no, absolutely not. But you know you need to do this. He’s right if you had fallen in you’d be completely done for. So, before your fear can take over and answer for you, you just say, “Okay. I’ll do it.” You look at JJ, pointing a finger at him. “But if you let go I will kill you.”

Everyone laughs, and you try to laugh along with them to calm your nerves. It helps a little, and JJ placing a kiss on your forehead definitely doesn’t hurt. JJ jumps into the water, leaving you sitting on the edge of the boat, your toes dipping into the marsh.

“Don’t be nervous,” Sarah says, which produces a chorus of encouragement from the rest of your friends as they sit next to you.

JJ swims over to tread water right in front of you. He reaches up and grabs onto your ankles. “You ready?” he asks.

“No,” you smile, “but let’s get it over with anyway.”

He helps you slide into the water, grabbing into your waist as soon as he can. You’re wildly nervous, but JJ’s arms wrapped tightly around you make you feel infinitely better. He spends the next 15 minutes teaching you how to tread water, showing you how to properly move your arms and legs to stay afloat. You can tell it’s a little hard for him to hold you up and also teach you, but he does it anyway, not complaining once.

“Okay, let me try on my own,” you say, much to his, and your, surprise.

His eyes search your face. “Are you sure?” he asks.

“Yeah,” you say, “I’m never gonna really learn if I don’t try on my own.” In truth, you’re terrified, but you put on a brave face for your own sake.

“Alright,” he sounds weary. But he says anyway, “You can do this, okay? Don’t be scared. I’m right here if anything goes wrong.” You nod, and he lets go, keeping his hands close to your waist. Your head nearly dips under the water, but you kick your legs harder and manage to keep yourself afloat. JJ smiles and the rest of the pogues let out a few cheers.

It doesn’t last long, though, and you feel yourself losing some energy, slowly slipping further and further into the water. JJ’s hands are on you in an instant, pulling you back up to the surface. He helps you get over to the boat, and Kie and Sarah reach their hands down to pull you back up to the deck.

JJ’s arms are around you before you even see him get back onto the boat. “I’m so proud of you,” he says, peppering your face with kisses.

It’s pretty safe to say you still can’t swim, but at least you’re no longer petrified of the water.

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amphii-writes · 3 years

Text

Random Haikyuu Head Canons I Have

these are all taken from my discord server cause i remember to write them there, if you want to request fanfics, my requests are W I D E open! there is also nO order! these are just all the headcanons i could find tbh

warnings: mentions of blood, and just overall wild times, swearing

Asahi loves knitting sweaters because his shoulders are broad and he also loves seeing the reactions from his teammates when they get a sweater from him! He says he buys them but he doesn’t

Aone likes knitting socks because he has big feet and he loves fluffy knee high socks but his team will never know

Asahi and Aone regularly hang out and knit together! (after asahi wasnt scared of him anyways)

Nishinoya gives you shiny rocks he finds because “your eyes shine like them!”

Yamaguchi likes to have your head rest on his chest while cuddling!

Aone likes to bake

Aone dressed like a polar bear because koganegawa told him to- halloween was amazing

daICHI HAS A KISS THE COOK APRON

Daichi secretly can make some kick ass steak and is amazing at grilling sorry

Okay but real talk, Kenma and Yaku swear like sailors and it scares everyone because they always whisper the most foul, insulting things under their breath. Hearing it is like seeing a cryptid

Speaking of cryptids, Fukunaga and Shibayama are THE most true crime, mythology, and mystery obsessed fanatics on the team and often fanboy about it together

Fukunaga’s obsession with moth man has gotten to an unhealthy stage

Kenma absolutely had a vampire phase and has read twilight. Only Kuroo knows and has sworn to secrecy via blood pact

Kuroo’s a musical nerd. Knows all of the lyrics to Hamilton, BMC, DEH, Heathers, Rent, Beetlejuice, Etc. Kenma considered dropping him because of it

Iwaizumi tells the worst dad jokes and Kyotani, wanting to beat him, started doing it too and it drives everyone insane

Yahaba and Matsukawa get along surprisingly well. Both are true crime freaks and bond over their forensic files obsessions

Matsukawa didn’t really like his thick eyebrows so he got one of his female friends to pluck it for him, but almost cried and gave up after the first hair. Oikawa called him a pussy for the next year

Hanamaki jokingly flirts with everyone on the team so most of them just got used to it, but it still confuses Kindaichi to the point of mental breakdown

Makki called Kyotani ‘puppy’ as a joke once and now mad dog is truly terrified of him

Kyotani’s dog absolutely ADORES Oikawa and it’s the funniest shit to the rest of the team

Mattsun and Makki play DnD and once convinced Yahaba and Kyotani to join. Kyotani kept rolling to fight everyone and Yahaba was a bard that kept rolling to seduce everyone. They kept yelling across the board so they had to kick them out

Outside of his school uniform, Goshiki specifically wears only plaid

Tendou makes little chocolates for the whole team every once in a while so they don’t think he’s scary

Semi and Shirabu once had a fistfight in an abandoned McDonald’s parking lot while Tendou filmed and Goshiki cheered them on

Everybody makes fun of Shirabu’s haircut but nobody dares to say it to his face. its gotten to the point where they say he got it done by a blind old lady

There’s a running joke about Shirabu also getting his haircut from prison but Goshiki is starting to suspect that it may not be a joke

Yamagata and Tendou are good friends with the mutual goal of collecting as much blackmail on their team as possible

Tendou loves animals generally considered to be ‘ugly’ like rats, crows, reptiles, etc.

80% of Goshiki’s playlist is shit overplayed on the radio. Him, Shirabu, Tendou, Kawanishi and Ushijima have a permanent ban from the aux cord

Nobody watches YouTube with Ushijima because he never skips the damn ads (other than tendou)

Suna once said y’all’dn’t’ve unironically and made a first year cry

Akagi once said UwU unironically and had an identity crisis.

Osamu has one of those rainbow gaming keyboards and is constantly on a discord call. Atsumu always yells weird shit in the background to embarrass him and once pretended to be him

During Seijoh group chat arguments. Hanamaki and Mattsukawa like to drop facebook minion memes in just to piss everyone off even more

mattsun and maki both have separate photo albums in their phones labelled ‘minion memes to piss everyone off’

Hinata carries a pocket knife and no one has no fucking idea why

mattsun and maki both have matching rat fursuits that look like they actually where in a sewer- they chased oikawa around

For all his talk of plant analogies and metaphors, Ushijima cant grow shit

Goshiki’s Bangs are the way they are because his favorite character was Rock Lee from Naruto

Oikawa has watched Ouran High School Host Club front to back so many times and he can quote all of Tamaki’s lines by heart -He keeps bothering Iwaizumi to “be his Haruhi, since you’re shorter than me”

Koganegawa has definitely gone as an Angry Bird for Halloween

Fukunaga has those reflective cat eyes, and he has terrified Yamamoto on several occasion

Hanamaki and Matsukawa have a teddy bear that they pretend is their child and they share custody

Suga always sprays whipped cream straight into his mouth whenever he sees a can

Nishinoya definitely bit people as a kid

Nishinoya would be the guy to wear shorts all year round and even if it's snowing, he'll insist he's not cold

Tendou is still stuck in his emo phase and would fangirl over Creepypasta with me and I appreciate that (me too buddy, me fuckin too)

Kyoutani LOOKS like he’d listen to viking death metal, but in reality he listens to Mother Mother and knows all the words to Ghosting

Sugawara would definitely encourage me to dumb shit and not stop me, and you’re all dumb for thinking he wouldn’t

KENMA IS NOT ‘uwu owo’ SHY, HE IS ‘your fucking gross’ SHY SO LITERALLY STFU

Bokuto listens to Nicki Manaj. And knows all the words. To every. Single. Song.

Ushijima for some reason knows an odd amount of 90′s-2000′s R&B and he will hum along to the songs if they come on the radio (he also loves Dolly Parton) ((he says he relates to her music))

Bokuto once ate instant ramen for an entire month

TERUSHIMA DID TRY TO FUCK A PLANT WHILE SHITFACED AND GOD I STAND BY WHAT I SAID

atsumu let’s you put makeup on him and pretends to eat the brushes (do yk what im talking about- like n o m)

tendou ran for school president as a joke but actually won

i 100% believe that all of karasuno’s third years apologize when they bump into inanimate objects, but when suga is really tired or stressed out, he’ll yell at them instead.

Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Taketora have a group chat called "Bros who want sum hoes" and they send each other hypebeast memes and shit

Sugawara knows how to do a bunch of flexible shit because he sometimes goes to yoga with daichi and asahi's moms, its fucking hilarious

tanaka and noya both breakdance- they work as a team and sometimes go to tokyo for underground competitions- saeko drives them

Daichi knows a little ballet- nobody other than Kiyoko knows because they saw each other at the ballet class and had to work together- dont tell tanaka and noya that he lifted her though

Osamu once put glitter on Atsumu's pillow- he still finds hot pink glitter on shit

kita knits and crochets with his grandma

Kita's grandma knows everyone's names because kita talks shit bout them, her favorite is Aran

Kuroo has burnt his eyebrows off doing an experiment. His goggles didn't cover all his brows,,, so he just showed up to practice like that. No eyebrows and a chemical burn

kenma has played all kinds of games, but he was dared to play corpse party by kuroo. He wasn't scared because of the gore, he was thinking about the trauma the characters went through. Punched kuroo the next day because that game was fucked up

Lev isn't a strong swimmer, so he often grabs people by the head to keep himself up. happened with kenma and lev couldn't walk due to the force of kenmas suprised water kicks

akaashi has those fancy pens that you have to dip in ink and they're so nice

Bokuto has and will eat pencil erasers again

Daichi once almost lost his shit at his team but instead he lost his shit at the door that decided to stub his toe on the way out of the gym. not the best thing to be found yelling to.

Yamaguchi for sure has been dragged to one of terushimas parties because he didnt wanna say no. oh and terushima has like frat boy level parties too. Yams has for sure had some wild nights and doubts anyone other than Tsukishima and the party-goers will ever know

Akaashi can actually flirt very well! He reads romance novels sometimes and has analyzed any and every book in his possession! so he's actually quite charming

Daihsou unironically posted on twitter after mika broke up with him "I still see her shadows in my room"

Mattsun and Maki run a fake oikawa account; its been going ever since twitter even started getting popular and they even started sending messages in spanish. The posts would range from "I love all my fans!" to flirting with them :) Oikawa is pissed cause the account got verified before he did and most of his fans also follow the fake oikawa. Tooru has no idea who runs it JUST IMAGINE OIKAWA JUST LIKE RANTING TO THE SEIJOH 3RD YEAR ALUMNI AND JUST "no Iwa-chan, you dont understand! they run a fake account and pretend to be me!" while makki and mattsun laugh their asses off

Oh, kenma for sure has pretended to be a girl on discord and has gotten someone to buy him stuff. after they do he says in his normal voice "fucking simp" and then hangs up and blocks the other persons discord

Yamamoto, despite his rough appearance, loves kids and has and will be a human jungle gym

suna in middle school had a game with his friends about who could make kids cry the fastest

The twins switched places back in middle school and nobody could tell because of how great they are at acting like eachother

Daichi once arrested coach ukai for public intoxication after a game :|

Daichi has arrested many people from his old volleyball team but the most memorable case was when he arrested tanaka and noya for reckless driving. poor idiots got so scared when they saw their old captains face in their mirror and started to pray

tanaka, while trying to intimidate someone, once said "You dont gotta tell me twice, i may be straight but these hands are bisexual" and he often cringes at night thinking about it

Kageyama, as a comeback to Tsukishima, said "one thing about us royalty is that we love to feast" and he also fuckin hates what he said

the third years made a cult for Kiyoko. they chant every wednesday "i'll do anything for kiyoko, she makes me go loco"

oikawas fangirls are known to be fucking rabid

yAMAMOTO AND KENMA AFTER THEIR FIGHT WERE FORCED BY KUROO TO MAKE IT UP: so they dyed their hair together

Makki and mattsun sang two trucks in front of the entire team. everyone was so confused. Makki: "twO TRUCKS HAVIN SEX!!" Mattsun: "oH yEs!"THEY'D SWITCH OFF AND HAVE LIKE CHOREOGRAPHY TOO LIKE THEY'D DO A TANGO WHILE THE SONG IS LIKE "two beer trucks, making love"

tendou once called Oikawa "mr. no-nationals" and got kicked in the shins before iwaizumi could save him

Tsukishima had a my little pony phase

you work with matsukawa at a morgue and he makes dead people jokes while you fix some dead guys face with wax and makeup he'd be like "so didnt he like,,, stick his head out of the sunroof of a moving fuckin car??" he'd be singing dumb ways to die the entire day

i feel like Kuroo has one crazy accident a year. like it might not be deadly but its fucking crazy like for example: Kuroo for sure has ridden in a shopping cart at past midnight with kenma (who pushed him down a hill) causing Kuroo to get scratched up hella well. he lied and said he spent the night with a girl and kenma fucking hated himself cause he would be the girl if that was true

Mattsun has flirted with the 4th years moms before (AS A JOKE), and because of this: he is known as “fuckin milf hunter” sometimes by the team

Warning, this next headcanon is talking about cannabis, weed, mary jane, the zoink root. so if your uncomfortable, please dont read below :)

dude i wanna get high as SHIT with Asahi

i think Asahi would be one of those mfkers who takes one hit and is gone

ASAHI ACCIDENTALLY GOING TO PRACTICE ZOINKED

IMAGINE HIM SEEING TSUKISHIMA AND JUST "he looks so judgemental,,, im scared"

OR LIKE A MAD DAICHI AND JUST "i'm gonna,,, im gonna go jump out the window now"

Noya and Tanaka would know tho, i feel like they'd have a 6th sense when it comes to weed. they probably get some from Saeko cause she'd rather they do it in the house. they'd smell asahi like fucking dogs and just so,,, big guy had fun without us huh?

DAICHI WOULD KNOW ABOUT ASAHI BEING ZOINKED, SMASH HIS FACE INTO THE WALL, TURN AROUND WITH A RED MARK ON HIS FOREHEAD AND WITH A BEAMING SMILE AND FEUX ENTHUSIASM SAY: "YOSH, LETS WARM UP!"

#haikyuu #hq #haikyuu!!#haikyuu crack #haikyuu boys #haikyuu x reader #haikyū!!#haikyu x reader

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yurtletheturtlehenderson · 3 years

Text

Hey everyone. I hope things are only going well for each and every one of you. I'm not exaggerating or being polite when I say I've missed you all so much everyday. But I meant what I said, that I wanted to hold myself accountable and work on being my best self and find out what that looks like. It's been messy, but rewarding I think. Helpful. I've realized a lot of things and that includes the fact that I'm not gonna get anywhere if I don't mess up every once in a while, cause I will. But that's how I learn and improve. And that's all I really want to do. I just want to be better, and I'm always gonna strive for that as I think that's all anyone can really do.

I'm sorry for taking up your space. I hadn't realized that's what I had done when I made that post, and as mortifying as that was I'm glad I was able to take something from it.

I've given coming back a lot of thought for several weeks now, and I've only just started to feel like I might be ready to do that. I'm not gonna jump back in right away, but I would like to come back. And not just because I miss you all so much but also because I've gone a long time without spreading awareness and using my platform to do that. I'm unable to protest, i am unable to donate, and I'm unable to volunteer so reblogging stuff and sharing links and awareness is what I've always done and will continue to do until I can do otherwise. And that's one of the reasons I've decided to come back.

The other being the fact that while it's good I've been able to stop and reflect, I've also kinda been stuck there, in that one spot, not doing anything but reflecting. And while that's good too, I'm realizing I'm not getting much farther than that, nor have I for a while now and it's starting to get dangerously close to wallowing. Which obviously helps no one. So, if you guys will have me, I'd love to dip my toe back in the water and put my words into action.

And one of the ways I'm gonna do that is not be super talkative and not super active on tumblr. I'll post chapters when need be, and I'll reblog resources I see when I'm on here, here and there. But I'm gonna hold off on the asks and sharing stories and other content and such for a little bit while I readjust.

If you read this far, thank you. I sincerely appreciate it as I do for those of you who stuck around and gave me the chance to improve.

I love all of you guys, no matter what, and I hope you are all staying safe and endlessly happy.

💞💞💞 - Yurtle

#personal #thank you for listening

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florenceandthemachine · 4 years

Text

@hearteyesforbuck asked:

I have been dying for a meet-cute au where Eddie takes Chris to the gym once a week and they box a little together before Eddie spars; usually Chris sits by the ring and reads but one day Eddie finds him laying on a bench, lifting an empty bar while this really cute blond guy spots him and gives him encouragement ....

guess who’s asks are still broken?

Tumblr keeps adding the “Read More” into the ask box, which breaks the entire post when I try to post it. Why is it happening? No idea, but if anyone knows how to fix it, please let me know, this is getting really old.

anyway, fun fact that I just learned about myself—if you want me to dedicate 100% of my brainpower to writing 4.5k of something in one sitting, you just throw in Christopher Diaz.

Eddie liked to think of himself as some kind of a “do it yourself” kind of dad.

Most of the time, that was a good thing.

Kitchen faucet broke? No worries, Eddie has some plumbers tape and three different YouTube videos telling him how to fix it.

Car wouldn’t start? Not a problem, Eddie bought the full repair manual offline and knows his way around a wrench.

Christopher needed forty gluten free, egg free, dairy free cupcakes for class tomorrow? Eddie was perfectly capable of... admitting when he was outmatched by a stand mixer and calling thirteen local bakeries to see if they delivered, because his car still wasn’t starting.

Point is, if there was a way he could work on something, Eddie would at least try it—and needless to say, that got a little complicated where Christopher was involved.

Eddie still wanted to do a lot of it on his own. Chris was his kid, and no one else's, and he didn’t even like being away from him while Chris was at school—he wasn’t sure if that was guilt stemming from leaving Chris as a kid, or guilt about introducing Shannon back into his life only to have her wind up dead, or guilt about... well, pick-a-thing, but he was pretty damn sensitive about what he perceived he could do to help his kid.

Which is why, when Chris’ physical therapist gave Eddie some suggestions about how Chris could work on strength training at home, Eddie dove completely into the deep end, head first, no floaties.

Working on Chris’ fine motor skills had been cake. Writing, drawing, arts and crafts, even playing video games, all helped improve Chris’ hand eye coordination (and if Eddie ran out of room on the fridge for Chris’ masterpieces and started framing them instead, well, that was his own business, no matter how nosy the busybodies at Michael’s got).

Working on his gross motor skills, though, that was another story. They could go on walks, sure, and they did every day. Eddie could hook up the trail-a-bike to his own once or twice a week so Chris could ride along with him, without worrying about his balance, but those were both leg heavy activities—and while it was great that Chris was building his core strength and leg strength, Eddie wasn’t about to just strap a wrist weight to Chris’ arms and call it a ‘well rounded workout’.

Short of more physical therapy, Eddie was at a loss as to what to do—so when Google Maps pushed him off the 101 to avoid a wreck on his way home from work and he got caught by a stop light right next to "Ricky’s Boxing Gym”, Eddie felt like his prayers had been answered.

Over the next few months, they had set up a pretty good routine. Eddie would bring Chris to the gym, they would hop into one of the many rings, and he and his son would get a half hour of quality time, three times a week. Eddie had his own set of boxing mitts, and Chris thought that spending a half hour trying to punch his dad’s hand was the most fun a kid could have after school. Chris would tire himself out and sit on the bench, drawing or reading for a while more, while Eddie would actually spar with one of the staff members, get his own workout in, and then they’d go home.

Nine times out of ten, they’d stop for ice cream or pizza, and completely undo any of the workout they had actually done, but Eddie thought that was a small price to pay for the whoop of joy Chris let out when he actually managed to hit Eddie’s glove dead center.

Eddie’s sparring partner of choice (well, after Chris) was Tommy Kinard. He was nice enough, and kept Eddie on his toes, giving him plenty of time to look over to Chris to make sure he was safe, and happy, and occupied, and (“Dad, I’m fine! Go punch someone!”) okay, maybe he was helicoptering a little bit. He hadn’t really thought it was a problem until Kinard went on paternity leave, leaving him in the capable, and brutal, hands of Boscoe.

Boscoe was a beast. He didn’t know her first name—didn’t know if she had a first name—but what she lacked in pleasantries she more than made up with strength. If Eddie was being honest, though, he kind of loved it; even after the first day they sparred together, when he wound up limping into the 118, proudly admitting to Hen that he had been beat up by a girl.

The thing was, Boscoe was intense, and while that was a good thing, it gave him less of a chance to helicopter over Chris.

Which, okay, maybe that was a good thing too. Whatever.

He knew the gym pretty well by that point, and knew the people who worked there, knew he could trust Chris with any of them—which is why when he looked up after dodging a jab from Boscoe, and saw Chris absent from his bench, he only panicked a little bit.

When he managed to take a wider look around the gym and saw a familiar pair of shoes laying down on a workout bench, the rest of him obscured by a bigger, bulkier body, that panic went from 0-60 real quick.

“Hey!”

He only barely managed to dodge a glancing blow from Boscoe as he ducked beneath the ropes, grabbing a towel to blot at his face as he hopped down. His voice was little more than a quick bark through the gym as he stepped around another group of machines, his frantic pace slowing a little as he got into earshot.

“... yeah, come on buddy, you can do it! Come on, give me one more rep! You got this little man!”

Fuck, had this stranger actually given Chris a set of weights?

His temper was white hot by the time he finally got around the front of the machine, opening his mouth to shout, to get a manager, to do something, but the words died in his throat as he took in the scene before him.

Because Chris was definitely on the bench, and he definitely had his hands on the bar—the bar that was completely devoid of weights, Eddie noticed, the same bar that had two much larger, stronger hands attached to them. Hands that were probably doing all the actual work of lifting the bar, because Chris was laying back, unable to speak, because he was giggling so hard.

The bar landed back on the rack with a dull thunk as Chris pulled his hands back, sticking them straight up in the air triumphantly as he sat up. The man behind the bar gave a big show of leaning against the frame of the bench dramatically, fanning himself, giving Eddie a full view of an employee shirt, name badge, and the gym logo stitched across the polo he was wearing.

Whelp, that was almost very embarrassing for him.

“Holy cow, that was such a good job! Man, you have got to be the strongest kid I’ve ever met in my life!”

“Dad, did you see me? Buck says I’m super strong!”

Eddie had to admit, he was a little thrown by whatever was happening here, but Chris was obviously having a good time, and he felt the white hot anger dissipate into something a little less angry and a little more embarrassed.

“That was some pretty impressive work, buddy! Have you been holding out on me?” Eddie dipped down and tossed a few playful jabs at Chris, selfish only because he wanted to prolong the joy his son was obviously feeling, but it was all worth it as he was handsomely rewarded when Chris started giggling again.

The man—Buck, Eddie gathered—laughed, drawing Eddie’s attention upward, and for a moment, his brain short circuited, because there was no way on earth a gym rat could be this... pretty.

Because damn. Buck was pretty.

Pretty enough that Eddie was easily distracted, waxing poetic (internally, thankfully) about beefy arms and a plush lip that he didn’t notice what was happening until Buck stuck a hand out, smiling, and Eddie could only guess what was going on. He reached out and took the hand, his own smile hitching as Buck’s face slipped into confusion.

“Uhh—”

“...I was asking if you wanted me to take your towel for you and get you a fresh one.”

Oh. Right. Towel.

Eddie’s face burned as he pulled the towel off his shoulder, handing it over, giving a too-tight laugh as he nodded his head. “Yes! If you could get me a new towel so I could strangle myself in embarrassment, that would be great.”

Well, at the very least, that got Buck to laugh again—death would be worth it if that was the last sound he heard. “Sorry I kind of stole your kid. He was wandering in between the machines, and it’s my first week off of the evening shift, so I just wanted to make sure he didn’t get hurt—but then he started asking about all the weights and pulleys and stuff, you have a really smart kid!”

Total Gym Hottie (Buck, his mind corrected. If he was going to drool over someone the least he could do was use their name) was complimenting his kid now, and Eddie was so star struck he was actually proud to say he didn’t stumble when Buck nudged his shoulder, head jerking back to the ring he had abandoned.

"...anyway, I think strangulation is the least of your worries, if I know that look, Boscoe has an entirely different death planned for you if you don’t get back in the ring. Go on, I’ll help little man here wheel you out on a gurney when she’s done with you.”

Buck sounded way too positive about that, and it was all Eddie could do to groan and walk back to the ring, tail between his legs.

Sure enough, even after he had the next day off, he was still sore when he walked into the 118 for his next shift.

Buck became easily, seamlessly, a part of their routine, in a way that probably deserved a little more insight on Eddie’s part, but insight was for suckers. At least two days out of the week, their schedules aligned—Eddie and Chris still worked on their exercises, but now it included Buck giving a dramatic play by play on the sidelines, talking up Chris like an announcer, or just otherwise causing shenanigans.

It was worth it, easily, because while Chris was certainly never a negative kid, Eddie had never seen him in brighter spirits. And Buck... well, anyone that could find a way to help out his son in a way that Chris clearly enjoyed earned an instant gold star in Eddie’s book. The fact that he was easy on the eyes wasn’t a bad thing, either.

“Diaz, I swear to God—”

Eddie only barely ducked under Boscoe’s extended hand, forcibly rooting himself back in the moment, looking guiltily back to her instead of watching Buck and Chris.

“—can you pay attention for like three minutes so I can hit you without feeling bad about it?”

Eddie tried, he really did, but it was hard. A few weeks had gone by since their initial meeting, and Eddie had gone from “wow he’s pretty” to “full high school crush” in no time flat. It wasn’t his fault, though—because what sealed the deal wasn’t the moment Buck had switched to tank tops over polos, or how happy Eddie was to spend time staring at Buck’s magnificent ass (and it was really, really magnificent, let the record show), it was how he interacted with Chris that sent him over the edge.

Buck was good with Chris, but somehow that was the understatement of the year. He was kind, and he was bubbly, and he was just in sync in a way that Eddie wasn’t even sure he had reached, and Chris was his son. Buck was patient in a way that seemed effortless, easily slowing himself down or changing what he was doing when he noticed Chris struggling, wether it was in going over a math problem while Eddie got the crap beat out of him or just showing him how some of the different machines worked.

Hell, right now, Eddie had his hands securely around Chris’ hips as he lifted the other male to a chin-up bar, helping Chris count out the pull-up’s he was doing—and while all Eddie could hear was Chris’ laughter, all he could see were the thick cords of muscle attached to Buck’s arms, lifting Chris like he weighed nothing.

Eddie wondered, not for the first time, if Buck could lift him like that.

Like she was a horrible mind reading pervert, Boscoe smacked him with an open hand—not hard enough to hurt, but not soft enough that he was going to ignore it.

“Diaz, this will be our last session together. Kinard is back next week—” Another punch, a quick jab that Eddie blocked with his forearms. “—so the least you could do is focus on me and not the apple of your eye over there.”

“Buck isn’t the apple of my—fuck—my eye, grow up.” Eddie huffed as he threw out a punch of his own, his hand knocked away violently, only barely dodging the sharp hook that Boscoe sent to him.

“God, I was talking about your kid, Diaz. You’re embarrassing yourself.”

Oh.

Ignoring how red his face was, Eddie grumbled and threw another quick jab, though he missed completely as Boscoe stepped back, a grin on her face, and Eddie knew better than to trust that look. The last time he trusted that look, he had been talked into fighting bare-handed, and he still wasn’t sure his knuckles would ever really work again.

“You know, Kinard is supposed to take you back as a client, but I bet if you asked nice enough...”

Oh no.

“Hey, Buck!”

Oh no. Eddie looked up in horror as Buck easily lifted Christopher onto his shoulders—god, so much muscle—and jogged over, with the nerve to not even be out of breath when he smiled up to the pair in the ring. Eddie bit his tongue and leaned over to high five his kid, fully prepared to deal with whatever terrible thing was about to come his way.

“Kinard was supposed to take Diaz here back after he’s off leave next week, but I know he wanted to ease back into things after being away from the gym for a few months. You think you could spar with him in the interim?”

Oh, no, didn’t seem to cover it anymore. Eddie was having a hard enough time focusing on the task at hand when Buck was in the same building, he would be signing his own death certificate if he had to stare Buck in the face, and then try to hit said face. He hadn’t even seen Buck break a sweat before—he didn’t know if his little bisexual heart could take it.

He was somehow both relieved and regretful when Buck shook his head, looking plenty apologetic as he pulled Chris up and off of his shoulders, making sure that he was steady on his feet before he leaned up against the ropes. “Sorry, Eddie. I don’t really box, and besides, I think Chris and I are making real progress while you get your butt kicked. Show him the guns, Chris!” Buck said, and Chris immediately started some classic strong-man poses, Buck posing dramatically behind him, and Eddie felt his heart melt for two entirely different reasons.

Buck turned around mid pose as the door chime went off, giving Eddie ample time to count out the individual strands of muscle fiber in the moment before Buck relaxed, turning with a smile back to the gang in the ring. “Lena, that's my next client. Chris, Eddie, I’ll see you both next week, yeah?” He said with a grin before he fist bumped Chris and waved to Eddie, slipping back into Professional Buck mode. Eddie waved back, brows almost in his hairline as he looked back to Boscoe, who was scowling at him.

“So—”

“No, Diaz.”

“Wait, why not? Buck gets to call you Lena!”

“Beat me in the ring as often as Buck does and I’ll consider it.”

Eddie had his mouth open to retort when Chris cut him off, pushing his glasses up on his nose as he tilted his head. “Can I call you Lena?”

She didn’t even hesitate a moment, nodding her head seriously. “You can absolutely call me Lena, squirt.”

Chris promptly stuck his tongue out at his dad, and Eddie reacted in sort, falling to the floor of the ring as he grabbed at his chest. “The nerve! Betrayed by my own child, my own flesh and blood!”

Chris looked thoroughly unimpressed, sitting back on the bench as he started to pack up his schoolwork. “Lena, can you tell my dad to stop being such a drama queen?”

It wasn’t until they were both in the car, that Eddie, thoroughly beaten down by his son, his trainer, and his own brain for providing a play by play of Buck that day while he was in the locker room shower stall, really thought about what Buck said.

He didn’t box. Which was strange enough in a boxing gym, but whatever, there were plenty of machines that Buck could be working on instead.

But them Boscoe (god, he couldn’t even call her Lena in his head, it felt like she would figure it out and beat him to death) basically admitted that Buck regularly whooped her behind the ropes

If Buck wasn’t boxing in a boxing gym, what the hell was he doing?

As it turned out, Eddie didn’t have to wait long to figure it out. Barely a week had passed before Eddie had received a call from Chim, all but begging Eddie to switch shifts so he could take the girl he had been seeing out on a proper date. The switch was a no brainer—Maddie seemed like a great girl, and as much shit as he gave Chim for... well, being Chim, he obviously wanted to see his teammate happy, especially when the only thing he would have to change was a gym day from a Monday to a Sunday.

If he had known that this would be the day that sealed his fate, he probably would have reconsidered the switch all together.

The gym was packed—which probably wasn’t surprising for a weekend day, but damn, Eddie had been glad he booked a ring with Kinard ahead of time. It was nice to see a familiar face in the gym anyway, one that wasn’t trying to beat the crap out of him in the ring, and once Kinard joined up with them, it was easy to shoot the shit. Eddie congratulated him on his step into fatherhood, ruffling Chris’ hair as he did—not that Chris noticed, busy scanning through the machines for a familiar blond head.

Not that Eddie could judge, when he was doing the same thing.

“Hey, I’m gonna toss my stuff in a locker. See you out here in a sec?”

“Yeah, sounds good! Buck and Boscoe are almost done in their ring, we have it next.”

Eddie was halfway to the locker room before what Kinard had said clicked in his brain, and he immediately did a 180, making a beeline to the rings set up on the far side of the gym, easily spotting the pair when he knew what to look for.

It was no wonder that neither he nor Chris had recognized Buck when they walked in—he was literally drenched in sweat, his usually fluffy blonde hair dark and slicked to his forehead, scowling around his mouth guard as he danced around Boscoe.

Boscoe, who Eddie had never seen so worked up. Damn, she really hadn’t even had to try during his matches. Wasn’t that a blow to the ego.

No, Buck definitely wasn’t a boxer, because this was a dance. Every move he made, he made with his entire body, his energy flowing through each form, moving easily and gracefully in a way that shouldn’t have been possible with such an incredible amount of force and flat out violence. He almost felt dazed as he followed Buck’s movements, but in the best possible way, his eyes snapping back and forth as he tried to trace where one hit ended and the next began.

“Wow.”

Eddie was glad that Chris said it, because he still couldn’t find the muscles needed to pick his jaw up off the floor. He didn’t know if Chris had followed him over to the ring or if his Buck-radar was just that good, but for the time being, Eddie was more than thankful for the minute distraction as he ruffled his kids hair again.

Boscue was moving more desperately as the match continued, launching into a series of quick jabs, but even Eddie could see where that was her downfall. Buck knocked her arm back with her last punch and sent a kick straight for her shoulder, but then he twisted his entire body off of the mat and his other leg was in the air too, and Eddie instinctively sucked in a breath as Buck locked her neck between his thighs. They both came crashing down to the mat, struggling impressively until Boscoe slapped Buck’s thigh twice, and then—

—and then Buck was all smiles again, beaming as he released her and took a knee on the ring, helping her back into a sitting position, spitting out his mouth guard with an excited moment of praise for her technique.

Eddie could not compute. This was his downfall. Eddie is dead, long live Eddie.

“Holy cow, Buck! That was amazing! You’re like... you’re like a ninja crime fighting super hero!”

Well, that was one way to put it.

Buck’s head whipped around at Chris’ excited outburst, lighting up when he spotted Eddie and Chris near the bench, eagerly scooting forward into a sitting position closer to the ropes.

“Thanks, little man! That was some mixed martial arts, it’s super fun. I’ve been teaching Lena for a few years, she’s getting pretty good!”

Buck’s grin slid into something a little more proud and pleased as he looked to Eddie, and Eddie felt every muscle in his body tighten as Buck’s gaze burned through him.

“What did you think of that leg lock, Eddie? Total knock out, right?”

Oh fuck, was Buck flirting with him now? That had to have been flirty, right? Come on, Brain, do something.

“... legs.”

“...my legs?”

“Buck, your... your legs.”

Buck’s smile looked a little more pinched as Eddie groaned, shaking his head. “Okay, I, I’m sorry, but I have to ask you this or I will completely die. Can I take you out to dinner sometime? I know a great place off the strip, you’ll love it, my treat.”

The look on Buck’s face was skeptical, at best, but at least he wasn’t shutting him down, giving Eddie the benefit of the doubt (and giving him a moment to get his brain back online). “Because of my legs?”

“No. Well, okay, you have amazing legs. And arms, though, and like... a stupidly handsome face, and I would be blind not to notice those things—” shit, Eddie probably sounded like such a shallow asshole right now. “—but I’m asking because you’re really smart. And you’re kind, so kind to Chris too, and you’re patient, and... Buck, you’re really really sweet. And I would love to take you out for a dinner date the moment you can look past my apparent inability to form a single coherent thought.”

After a moment that felt much longer than the three seconds it was, Buck sighed and leaned past Eddie, looking critically to Chris. He slid down to his stomach, squinting as he dropped down to eye level with the boy. “What do you think, Chris? Should I give your dad a shot?”

Well, at the very least, Buck was asking the one person that Eddie knew he always had in his corner; and sure enough, Chris delivered. “I think so. Dad really likes you.”

That’s his boy.

“Last week he spent my whole entire physical therapy appointment telling Dr. Wilson how much help you gave me and how nice you were and how much he appreciated it. It got kinda annoying.”

...well damn, Eddie wasn’t expecting to be called out by his own kid like that, but if the suddenly soft look Buck was giving him was any indication, it might have been the necessary push to get him to understand how serious Eddie was.

Eddie tried to keep his excitement tamped down when Buck nodded, sitting back up. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll make you a deal. Only because you managed to ask me out before I could ask you.”

Wait, Buck wanted to ask him out anyway?

“If you can land three hits on me in three minutes—should be easy after spending a weeks with Boscoe—then you can pick the time, the place, and I’ll even talk Lena in to letting you call her Lena. But if you don’t...” Buck reached through the ropes to help Eddie up, tossing him a wrap for his hands as he did. “... then I get to pick the time, the place, and you start training with me in MMA instead of going back to boring old boxing.”

Eddie blinked at him in abject horror as Buck dipped his voice low, seeing with terrible clarity exactly where Boscoe had learned her terrifying grin.

“That way you can see my leg choke up close and personal. Deal?”

The stakes were too high, and Eddie couldn’t say no.

He was screwed.

He was elated.

But fuck, he was screwed.

(Three minutes later, Buck asked if Eddie was free on Friday at seven, promised to pick somewhere nice, and gave him a searing kiss before he disappeared into the staff locker room. Eddie, on the other hand, needed a spatula to peel himself off of the floor of the ring.

He had never been so happy that he could barely move in his life.)

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bangtan-dreamland · 4 years

Text

A Fairy Tale’s End [Chapter 3]

Pairing: ot7 x reader; jjk x reader; myg x reader; jhs x reader

Word Count: 18,825

Rating: pg-15

Warning: reader is a little ball of stress and a rambling mess, war is discussed, very brief mentions of slavery, some mentions of discrimination, violence, kidnapping

Genre: some angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, e2l, fantasy!au, elf!seokjin, fae!yoongi, dragon!hoseok, wizard!namjoon, vampire!jimin, kitsune!taehyung, mermaid!jungkook

Summary: You wanted, for once, to be someone important, someone needed- to be wanted and appreciated, to love and be loved. Well, you should be careful what you wish for.

AN: Here we are with the third chapter… they really do keep getting longer ashjkdasd I’m sorry ;;; I just end up writing and rewriting and adding so much ;-; also, if anyone has questions about the story please do tell me lol my friend said the whole series had so much confusing stuff XDDD

As always, thank you so so much to not only @mindays and @btsxdoll for reading this over and editing it, but also for @dee-ehn who made the banner!!! I’m so grateful, because if not for them I swear this chapter would never have been finished or posted T^T

(Also the banner is fucking gorgeous and if like me you end up staring at it hard sAME)

masterpost // previous chapter

Taglist: @btsxdoll, @mspjm, @barbikatherine, @xxqueenwxtchxx, @catsandstrawberries, @bangtan-bestofme, @bubbletae7, @butaes, @serious-addiction

»»————-　♔　————-«« The morning after that felt, in a way, different.

Oh, at first glance, everything was the same. Nothing much had changed- you were still you, stuck in a world unfamiliar, given a quest that you still didn't think you could do.

But you could try. And... it wasn't as if you were alone. You had Jungkook, and you had Yoongi too, didn't you?

The thought brought a smile on your face- and for once, you began the day feeling... excited? You paused as you saw yourself in the mirror, sporting a shy, sort of half smile, one that eventually grew into a grin.

... Okay, so maybe not much had changed, but the things that did- well, it was very, very important to you.

You opened the door giddily, wondering where the others (Jungkook and Yoongi) were-

-and immediately let out a squeak as you met Seokjin's eyes, the man himself only raising an eyebrow at your reaction to his presence.

“Um.”

You couldn’t help but stare, your thoughts whirring for something to say. Even in the early morning, Seokjin looked composed and regal as ever. Was being calm and collected something like his default persona?

You resisted the urge to turn tail and flee, the automatic reaction you had towards Seokjin who you really weren't on the best terms with ever since the beginning. Still, your words from yesterday filtered into your mind- and you steeled yourself, gently toeing the water.

Try, you promised to try.

"Um- uh, good morning?" You winced at the lilted end to your sentence. "Good morning, Seokjin." There that was better.

Seokjin's lips quirked into a slight smile for a moment. "Good morning, Y/N. Have you packed your stuff yet?" He asked.

Wait, what?

At your blank look, he sighed and elaborated. "We explored the rest of the ruins yesterday. Since we already got the clue we needed, the next plan of action should be to head off to Crossroads, isn't it?"

"Oh." You grimaced at the obvious oversight, readying yourself for a scolding. "Um- sorry, I'll, uh, I'll go get ready now. I'll only take a few minutes," I hope, "um- are- that, is everyone else all ready to go...?"

He only shook his head, observing you for a moment. "You just woke up," he stated, rather than asked. You hesitantly nodded. "... The others should be waiting downstairs. We can spare some time, but don't take too long."

You internally sighed in relief. "I will- um, thanks. I'll- I'll go now."

The moment he was well out of your sight, you released the tight grip you had on your clothes, the nerves leaving your body. You robotically stepped back into your room, your movements stiff- and then you reached your bed. With that, you immediately dropped to your knees, covering your face with your hands as you held yourself in a fetal position.

You internally screamed. Why did I do that for fuck’s sake what the fuck even Y/N you dumbass we just made progress last night and now-

You cut your thoughts off and let yourself fall forward, groaning as your face met the somewhat soft mattress. Why am I like this...

To the side, when you opened your eyes the few items that you brought along stared back at you. For a few moments, you sulked, feeling the embarrassment of the previous situation wash over you- and then you rolled over for one last scream into the blanket before determinedly getting back up. There was no use regretting anymore over what happened- it was done and over and nothing would happen if you kept moping, right? So!

You nodded to yourself, turning back to your items and checking them over, packing it all neatly into your bag.

“I fucked up, but- then again, it doesn’t seem like he’s too bothered?” You grimaced as you talked to yourself. “... I hope he’s not secretly tallying me up or something. I don’t really want to go back to how it was before... I might just go crazy if I have to put up with that again.”

“Huh. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen then, you’re one of the few people I can tolerate being around after all.”

“Yoongi!” You cried out, the item you were holding falling from your hand in your surprise. You pursed your lips, trying not to pout- then shot a glare at Yoongi who stood by the doorway, who was looking at you with amusement. “Can you not do that, please?”

“I just wanted to talk to you,” he said, though you could see the edges of his lips turn into a smirk.

“Yeah, well-” you bit the inside of your cheek as you tried not to show how upset you actually were. “You know, a little bit of warning would have been appreciated,” you finally said, sighing, before his presence registered into your mind. You scrunched up your nose.

“Um… did you need something?”

“I initially came to wake you up, but I guess it’s unnecessary now,” he shrugged.

“Oh,” you mumbled. “T-Thanks.”

WIth that, you turned to continue your task. For a few moments there was silence- then the space beside you dipped low, and you could catch hints of Yoongi’s hair at the edges of your vision.

“Don’t mind him,” Yoongi eventually said, his voice much closer than before. You huffed, realizing what he meant.

“... Yeah, well, how can I not? He practically radiates authority and disapproval. Not that, I mean, not that’s a bad thing, but-” You sighed, giving up on your task for the meantime as you turned to face him. “Just… Seokjin really makes me nervous. For a good reason too, I mean- he just wants the quest to go smoothly, and I haven’t exactly been a good, well, leader? But, um, yeah, back to my point, he makes me nervous just by being in the same room.”

Yoongi sat nearby on your bed- the feel of him close helping you calm down as you finished your word vomit. You scrunched up your nose. “... Actually, how are the two of you even friends? I-I mean, you’re calm and nice and he’s, well. He’s very… intense.”

Yoongi cracked a smile at your words before he became serious. “Seokjin… He isn’t usually so strict,” he admitted. “The only time I’ve seen him act like this was during the Great War.”

“The Great War?” You drew your knees up to your chest, laying your head on your knees as you stared at Yoongi, curious. “I… remember hearing the people talk about how you two fought together with the hero.”

It could have been just a trick of the light then, but for a moment, you swore you saw Yoongi freeze, the remains of something dark and empty passing as soon as it came.

When he answered your question then, it was with a mild tone of voice.

“Yes. The Great War… it was a turbulent period of time. But before that, you know… Seokjin was actually known for being goofy and playful.” He chuckled at the shocked look on your face, before continuing. “This quest… it just means a lot to him. Elves were one of the first to fall under the loss of magic… It may seem like it, but he doesn’t hate you, if you’re thinking that. It’s just that he’s hard on you because he wants this to succeed.”

“...I guessed all that with how he’s been to me since we met,” you sighed, your voice quieter than before. “Although he really was a jerk at first, but, I mean, he does have a point, and we ended up talking it out for the better, so,” you shrugged wryly. “Well. Though hearing that, I guess- his initial reaction to me makes sense. I mean, it’s not like I’m not qualified to be on this quest in any way, right?”

“You were chosen for a reason, Y/N. You’ll see eventually,” Yoongi’s tone contained hints of amusement and you rolled your eyes discreetly.

“Fat chance of that happening,” you muttered as you looked over what was left.

Thud.

You frowned as the two of you heard heavy footsteps, ones that you immediately recognized to be Jungkook’s (the only one other than you who walked so noisily, then again he wasn’t used to using legs so…)

“Y/N?”

You looked behind, where Jungkook hovered by the doorway.

“What’s up, Jungkook?”

“Everyone is downstairs, save for you and Yoongi, so I thought I could look for you and see if you needed help... Seokjin also asked me to check up on you while I was heading here,“ he admitted.

You winced, realizing you’d taken so much longer than you intended, what with your talk with Yoongi. “I’ll be down in a few minutes. You guys can go ahead.”

“Alright then. I’ll keep him distracted while you finish up,” Yoongi teased as he got up. You could barely hear his footsteps, light, before the noise faded away.

You turned back to pack the last of your items.

It was hard, deciding which ones to take and which ones to leave. There only remained a small pile of items on the bed by now, including several freebies given to you by the townspeople- you had to admit, even if you didn’t believe in it, everyone else seemed to all but worship the ‘savior’.

One of the items included two small dream catchers- pretty little things that you had to wonder how it was made, considering its design and its size. You put one inside, deciding to bring it along (the craftsmanship was beautiful, after all), before frowning. Where had the other gone to...?

You were surprised when you looked to the side to see Jungkook fiddling with the other piece, curiosity and intrigue visible on his face.

His fingers held each piece gently as he examined it closely- and then you remembered his words from before.

“This is my first time going on land.”

You paused in your packing. “You can have that, if you want.”

Jungkook flushed as he looked up at you, eyes wide, an apologetic look forming before your words sank in. “Huh?”

You fiddled with the bag, cheeks reddening, eyes darting to the side, even as you repeated your words. “The trinket, I mean. You can have it. You keep looking at it, so…”

“Oh… really?” He slowly grinned, relaxing.

“You can think of it as a reminder of today,” you mumbled. “Or, I mean, like… um, something to cement our friendship?”

“... I think I would like that,” he hummed, instantly putting in his pocket. “I’ll keep it safe, I promise.”

Your lips quirked into a smile at the earnest look in his eyes. “Really? I’ll trust you then.”

“The three of you seem much closer now.”

You almost jumped at the new voice, warily looking back over your shoulder.

Jimin casually leaned against the doorway, a nonchalant smile on his face as always, his face unreadable except for the slight thrum of amusement in his eyes. You wondered when he’d gotten there- and how much he’d heard. Beside you, Jungkook tensed up- and you instinctively moved closer to him in the hopes of calming him down, a small detail that didn’t miss Jimin’s eyes.

“Quite surprising, considering yesterday’s events,” he added. “You seem to have made up? Though I’m surprised you’re as relaxed with Yoongi as you are with him.” Near the end of the sentence, Jimin nodded his head at Jungkook, who remained quiet, lips pursed.

“... Yoongi helped me in talking to Jungkook,” you eventually said, your guard up as well.

“So you mean to say, Yoongi’s wise counsel was a huge help, then.” Jimin’s smile widened.

“Yoongi is dependable, isn’t he? Isn’t it a relief that he’s travelling with us? The saviour certainly seems to appreciate him. Not to mention how close she is now with Jungkook,” he remarked, eyes darting to the side for a moment. You glanced there for a moment- but Jungkook said everyone was downstairs already. You frowned at him in confusion- what was he getting at?

Just as you were thinking how to get out of the situation, Jungkook cut in.

“Was that all you wanted to say, Jimin?” His voice was blunt as his eyes narrowed at Jimin. “If so, we’d like to go back to packing up. We are, after all, leaving soon.”

Jimin chuckled. “No need to be so hostile, I was just making an observation.” He cocked his head- the smile remaining on his face before he started to close the door. “Well, I’ll be going downstairs then. We’ll be waiting for you two.”

As the door closed shut, you released a sigh of relief at his departure “Well, that was weird,” you joked, before smiling at Jungkook. “Thanks for the help back there.” He offered you a shy smile.

“It’s no problem. I’ll carry your bag for you- consider it as thanks for the gift.”

You chuckled. “You just want to show off.”

“Well, when you say it like that…”

»»————-　♔　————-««

The next two weeks of journey, contrary to your fears turned out to be, well, not that bad.

To start with, your departure from the town of Rivermouth was met with tearful farewells from the villagers- who, although you were glad for their support you were equally glad to leave, unable to bear their ever present eyes.

The second time the eight of you were on the road turned out to be leagues better than the first- for one, you’d come to a sort of mutual agreement with Seokjin. And while it didn’t mean that you and he were friends, or anything like that, he at least stopped criticizing you for your mistakes, though there were times you’d hear him sigh and you’d internally wince.

You decided to meet him halfway too. It was a given that you were, truthfully speaking, the weakest link in the group. After all, you didn’t have the supernatural abilities the others were born with, nor did you have the training that they had. Hell, you didn’t think you could match up with any of the villagers even, considering what you were used to was so far away from what the people here were used to.

But that didn’t mean you’d stay helpless and useless.

Resolved to make the most out of it, you began to soak up every relevant information you could grasp from him, or from Yoongi, or (reluctantly, admittedly) from Namjoon. Maybe you wouldn’t ever need to know how vampires fed, or how kitsune made deals, but it was better than doing nothing.

Speaking of vampires, the day you left the town, you’d been surprised then, for Jimin to talk to you as you set camp.

“Good evening, Lady Y/N,” he almost purred your name as he strolled up to you, an easy smile on his face as always. You stiffened, almost dropping what you were holding then- before reluctantly steeling yourself to actually talk with him instead of at.

“G-Good evening- I mean, hi, Jimin.” For a moment you remained in place, thinking of what to say, wondering why he’d even approached you in the first place, but-

“I sincerely apologize for what happened in the town,” Jimin surprised you by taking the initiative then. You gaped at him, before hastily replying.

“Oh, uh, I mean, it’s okay! I-I mean? That, um,” you stammered, searching for the right words to express what you wanted to say. “It’s… okay. It wasn’t just your fault, I mean, Jungkook himself admitted that he should’ve acted better… although, um, I mean, w-why are you telling me this instead of Jungkook…?”

“I tried,” he sighed, looking at you with remorseful eyes. “But I’m not sure my intention came across for what it was. Although, I don’t blame him, after all, I share a huge part in the reason why the commotion happened.”

You shook your head. “No, I’m sure he did understand! I-I mean, if you’re sincere then the feelings should come across? Or, I mean. S-Something like that.”

You fidgeted with your fingers. “Actually, I should be the one apol-”

“I assure you, there’s no need for that.” Jimin’s tone remained nonchalant as he cut you off, at the same time taking over the pile of firewood from your arms. “After all, I’m aware that as vampires we carry a reputation not so favorable.”

You floundered, even as you could’ve sighed in relief as the heavy weight left your arms.. “Um- still. I mean, I’ll…” try to understand you? “... be better?” Even you winced at your words. “After all, just because you’re a vampire doesn’t mean you’re actually bad, r-right?”

You could have sworn his eyes flashed for a moment then, but it was gone all too soon and you were left wondering if you had imagined it. “Of course,” he nodded, a relieved smile appearing on his face. “Thank you, Lady Y/N.”

… Honestly, you still didn’t understand him and you would have preferred for him to keep his space, hopefully distance, but at least- well, at least you made up? Sort of?

There was Taehyung too, who, while when you’d left you’d been on a one-sided cold war with, you’d finally made up.

“Taehyung!” You could have knocked yourself on the head for how loud your voice was, but then again, could you have been blamed? You didn’t want to prolong it any longer- as much as Taehyung acted like an ass the first round of your travels, hell even from the start, having him determinedly keep quiet as he was most certainly pissed off made you nervous as hell. It was so much more easier dealing with him when he was pranking you- you knew how to deal with that, at least, but people getting angry with you and confrontation… not really something you ever got used to dealing with.

“... Yes?” You didn’t let the guarded look on his face deter you, though it made you all the more nervous.

“Um. Can I… can I tell you something f-for a moment? It’ll just be quick I promise!” The last sentence fell from your lips in a rushed manner, you didn’t want to- well, if you had your way you wouldn’t even be having this talk in person. Preferably over the phone. Or email. At least that way you could think over your words and hide if needed. But it wasn’t as if you had that option now, did you?

“... Alright, I’m listening.” You heaved a small sigh of relief at his words, and so did he, although his sigh was more a disinterested one. You reviewed your words over in your head for a moment- before you spoke it all out.

“I’m sorry for what happened at the store!” If you had looked up then, you would’ve seen him raise an eyebrow in surprise. You’d evidently caught him off-guard with your apology. “I didn’t mean to imply that I agreed with the man, that you were stealing in any way. I was focused on stopping the fight that I didn’t stop to think that maybe I should’ve let him have it for just accusing you without proof, not when it was so obvious that you didn’t at all! Please forgive me!”

There. Short, sweet, simple. You could feel your legs tremble as silence trailed after your small speech slash yell; a part of you just wanted it to be done and over with. Still, your gaze remained locked on the ground, and the silence was deafening- in all honesty, it was probably only around a few seconds or so, but it felt way, way longer than that- and you gave in to your fight or flight instinct.

“Um,” you started, legs already moving. “That was all I wanted to say thank you andgoodluckIneedtogohelpcookbye!”

You didn’t look back at him as you left, too embarrassed.

And, well, if you found a little bit of unknown help instead of pranks the next time around, well. You were only too happy to accept.

Moving on, Namjoon and Hoseok remained the same as ever. Hoseok was still distant, polite, quiet. You had trouble reading him, he was so closed off to everyone. But at the same time- for some reason, you wanted to actually see what was underneath. Hoseok had been more of a mystery than the others, what with his quiet and unassuming demeanor so far.

Well, actually on that- you tried talking to Hoseok too, on the way. If only to thank him at least for what happened before. But…

“Hoseok- um, can I-?”

You looked around in surprise as you saw no one, though you could’ve sworn you saw Hoseok headed this way earlier. So what…?

Oh well. You could try again, right…?

And another time-

“H-Hoseok! Um, please-!?”

You squeaked as you almost tripped over yourself, for some inexplicable reason and what even just happened; when you looked up again, the man in question was gone.

For some reason, whenever you tried to talk to him, something would go wrong and you had to abandon your plan. Still… you wanted to hold hope and continue anyway.

Namjoon- well. It would be a lie if you said anything big had happened with your relationship with him. Although there was that brief moment at the inn, it was mainly centered around the quest- it did nothing to solve the root of the reason why you felt uncomfortable around him. So, sad to say, you were stuck where you were with him from the start- trying to somehow avoid him at all times, without making it obvious.

You grimaced at your thought, though you couldn’t deny it. What was worse was that whenever you tried to muster up the courage to correct his view of you, he would say something that would remind you of his hero worship, and you’d lose your courage. It wasn’t as if the others corrected him too, really...

You shook your head. A lot had changed for the better, at least that you could be happy about.

The biggest change in fact that made you happy yet was the new, easy friendship you fell into with Yoongi and Jungkook.

Ever since your arrival, and the start of the quest- you’d found it hard to relax even a single moment. After all, you were stranded in another world- one where nothing made sense to you, from how magic seemed to be real, or how the people interacted with you. It made you miss your old life terribly. At least, then, you knew what to expect. It may have been dull, and boring- but you never had to deal with so much trouble. These days it seemed as if your heart would stop beating from how much it was overworking.

However, with both men, for once you felt some semblance of peace.

Yoongi, contrary to what you expected wasn’t closed off, nor was he stand-offish- rather, it was in his nature (you giggled at that) to be quiet and calm, something that was your saving grace. Wise, mature and yet at the same time a fucking troll with how he always seemed to have schaudenfraude for your clumsy ass while helping you.

“Ah!”

You almost yelled as you tripped over a root- the twigs and sticks you collected so far in your hands all falling to the forest floor.

You would have, too- if it was for the hand that caught you. Dark eyes met yours, before Yoongi raised an eyebrow. Somehow, even if he hadn’t said anything you could still almost hear what he was thinking.

“I’m- uh, just not that used to trekking in the forest,” you huffed. “You literally live in it. Don’t judge.”

“Whatever you say, Y/N,” he smothered a laugh.

Still, for all that Yoongi seemed to have a witty remark for almost everything, and a complaint for every time he had to go out of his way to help you, you noticed that he was always there to lend a hand, even when in doing so he had to go through so much more trouble than necessary.

“The rain is going to fall soon,” Yoongi commented. You yourself noticed the grey clouds in the sky- still, you continued your task anyway. “We should head back. It’s a hassle travelling when it’s raining, and this one is going to be a rainstorm, I can feel it.”

“Not until I find this herb,” you insisted, a stubborn frown on your face. For all that Namjoon had come prepared, his stock of medicinal herbs was running a little low- so you volunteered to replenish it while the others set up camp, Yoongi accompanying you for both safety and as a guide. You didn’t think much of it at first. It was just picking herbs after all, right?

Wrong.

An hour later still found you searching through the grass for chamomile, your brows furrowed. Still, not even Yoongi’s warning could make you stop- even if you got wet, you would just change your clothes or something.

So invested were you in your task that you didn’t notice your surroundings, nor the time. When you finished, you whirled around to excitedly tell Yoongi- only to gape in surprise.

Around you, rain was pouring down, hard- but not where you were. Just… Just around.

When you looked up, you saw trees clustered around you, close, shielding you from the rain. Huge, and in any other situation they would have been imposing, but as it was, because of the trees even the sound of rain was slightly muffled, creating a semblance of peace within the area you were in.

On one of the branches, you saw Yoongi frowning at the sky- his hands gently swaying as the trees obeyed his whims. It wasn’t hard to realize what he was doing.

Even when the rain stopped and you two returned to the campsite, not a single part of you was wet from the rain.

Jungkook, compared to Yoongi, was cheerful while shy. After your talk at the pub, and at that night in the kitchen, it seemed that he trusted you enough to let down his guard- becoming more relaxed and open as he told you about his adventures back home. Often he’d needle you about what your daily life was like, though you found it hard to answer. After all, the daily life you knew was drastically different from the one people had in here.

That wasn’t all he asked about, though. Jungkook had the curiosity of a cat and the energy of a puppy. Once he started getting interested about a subject he could keep asking about it for hours- only to surprise you when he would, in some sort of challenge to himself, attempt to learn all about it, proudly showing off his efforts to you after (which most of the time was a success). Talented and eager to learn, indeed- you could now understand why, despite being young even for his race, he was sent on the quest.

“Jungkook.” If your tone was laced with amusement, well. He’d just have to deal with it.

On the ground before you, remained the mangled remains of a pheasant, a gaping hole in its body from the spear that pierced it.

Jungkook remained silent, but the look on his face told you everything you needed to know.

“I‘m pretty sure I told you spears won’t work the same way here on land that it would under the sea, right?” You continued.

He pressed his lips, eventually forming a pout.

You smirked, for once feeling the urge to tease him playfully. “... Really… you’re used to having your way, aren't you?”

It was obvious that you caught Jungkook off guard with your sudden teasing, and he sighed (in a rather dramatic way that had you biting back laughter).

“Perhaps just a little…" he said, and you wouldn’t have been able to stop yourself from laughing then at how flushed his cheeks suddenly were, if it weren't for the look in his eyes that said he’d retaliate for any teasing done. “I’ll get it right next time, though. I know I will,” he muttered.

You could barely stop yourself from shaking your head. When you spoke, exasperation laced your voice. “You don't have to be the best at everything, you know. Do you see everything as a competition?”

It was then that he huffed before facing you with a playful grin. "You say that as though it's my fault I'm gifted at whatever I do. And as to your second question... hmmm, I don't know- tell me, do I?”

You scrunched up your nose at him, rolling your eyes dramatically. “Yes, yes, really… what’s even there to compete about?”

He only shrugged. “Well… when you say it like that, I suppose it isn’t so much as a need to compete, rather than a want to learn. I may not get a chance like this after this all ends, after all.”

His gaze lowered- and the words you were about to say were stuck in your throat.

You scrambled your mind for a safer subject, instead. “If you really want to learn how to hunt on land, I mean… you could ask Seokjin, couldn’t you?”

“... Huh?” He looked back up at you, surprised. You continued speaking, almost stammering over your words.

“I-I mean! As an elf, he has to know a lot about the forest, and, I mean, he’s always carrying that bow! And, um, yeah, he’s old-” you winced and immediately backtracked, “-wise! He’s very wise!”

You cleared your throat as silence fell upon the two of you, the familiar rush of red flooding your cheeks. “So. Um. Yeah. You know. An option. If you want one.”

You kept your gaze firmly on the ground, away from him, resisting the urge to groan.

But then you heard Jungkook put the pheasant in his bag, and in a tone far too nonchalant for what he was thinking, he asked you, "… Y/N, which do you prefer? Hare, or deer?”

You blinked back at him, the sudden question surprising you. “I… I guess- deer? Um, why?”

He smirked. “Oh, no reason at all, I assure you,” he cheerfully replied.

You couldn’t help smiling as you remembered the smug, but mostly proud expression on his face a few days after, as he presented a dead buck to you. It’d taken him hours to be able to do it as well as he intended, even with (and this part still had you reeling because honestly how, what even?) Seokjin’s help.

Even more than that, when he shed away the ‘I am the best and you should pay attention to me’ show, you had to admit that Jungkook had this youthful, innocent charm around him, different from the one Jimin or Taehyung had- being able to melt even the hardest and coldest of people.

“I thought you didn’t know archery?” You looked at him curiously. “I’m no expert but this doesn’t seem like something a beginner could’ve done.”

He beamed at you. “I asked Seokjin for help!”

You stared at him in surprise. “You what?”

“I asked Seokjin for help,” he repeated, giggling at the dumbfounded look on your face. “Seokjin is a tough teacher, but he’s very thorough. Much better than my mentors back home,” he added.

You glanced up- meeting Seokjin’s eyes as he raised an eyebrow at you, before deliberately ignoring your gaze when he saw you were just gaping at him. Your eye twitched- and then you looked back at Jungkook, staring at him for a moment before your gaze became mock serious.

“You, are seriously dangerous,” you proclaimed, resisting the urge to smush his cheeks when he scrunched up his nose at you. “Seriously. No one is safe from you.”

He only laughed then.

That night, and the next few ones, you all had plenty of food- although by the end of it you had to discreetly plead Jungkook to stop hunting, lest the presence of wildlife become too thin in the forest.

In a much better atmosphere than before, the journey to your next destination happened in a blink of the eye, and soon enough you were at the city of Crossroads.

»»————-　♔　————-««

“So this is Crossroads...” you heard Jungkook say in awe. Two weeks of being on the road with him- two weeks of being in close quarters with him almost every second of the day and Jungkook being a naturally open person had you being able to read him better and better. Even as you looked at him now, you could see the way his eyes flitted from almost every part of the city to another, his attention everywhere as he tried to take everything in. It was undeniably adorable.

“Countless books mention that the city of Crossroads is the capital of history,” Namjoon commented behind you. You looked at him to see him reading a book- before he snapped it shut and smiled. “It will be difficult, but for now there are a few inns we can rest at nearby, before we start looking for Alexander’s journal.”

“Still,” you mumbled as you looked at the copy of the map in your hands. “The city is really big, huh… I hope we find it in time…”

“You know, as nocturnal races we could start the search by ourselves,” Jimin suddenly spoke up. “As you’re so worried. After all, it’d be best to have this done as soon as possible, right?”

“Liars. You only want to slip away and do whatever you like,” Jungkook immediately accused them, frowning, before he turned to you. “We should go to the inn first, right?”

You almost wilted under their combined gazes, from Taehyung and Jimin who seemed to find amusement in your reaction to Jungkook’s who seemed to be asking for your support. Your eyes darted to Yoongi who only looked back at you calmly in return, as if to say that he was waiting for your reply too- Namjoon, who looked as if he wanted to intervene but held himself back.

You couldn’t see Seokjin in the back- but you could catch a glimpse of his back- as he crowded around Hoseok, who seemed uncomfortable. No help from anyone, it seemed.

You fiddled with the strap of your bag as you tried to answer as calmly as you could. “Inn first. We’ve had a long trek getting here, so, um, we should probably get some rest first,” you said, before faltering. “I mean, as much as the quest is important, it shouldn’t affect it too much to rest for one night, right? And, um, the shops are closing, so... “

“Sounds good to me,” Yoongi nodded, smoothly continuing your words as he turned to Namjoon. “Where should we head to, then? How recent is that map of yours?”

Namjoon hesitated, before answering. “It should still be accurate, it was made just a few months ago.”

“Well then, let’s go?”

»»————-　♔　————-««

Upon arriving at the inn, it was easy to get rooms, just as Namjoon had said- there were as many libraries as there were inns in the city, and fortunately the one you chose, upon learning who you and your companions were, were offered free service all the way. You still didn’t quite trust nor believe it, but you wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth anymore.

Dinner then on had been a peaceful affair too, as both Seokjin and Hoseok stayed in their rooms the moment they were given them- basically locking themselves up inside. Yoongi too had opted to join them, citing that the crowds were too noisy and technically, he didn’t need human food to survive, so…

Jimin and Taehyung parted away from your table the moment you entered the bar connected to the inn, for what, you weren’t quite sure. Still, it wasn’t exactly unexpected anyway.

Thus it was only the three of you- you, Jungkook, and Namjoon. Dinner was somewhat peaceful then- or, at least, as much as it was with Jungkook being his curious self. He didn’t ask much while eating, but afterwards he kept asking you about so many things he’d seen as you entered Crossroads, ones that you were, while tired, all too happy to indulge him with.

Of course, in accordance to your luck someone spilt soup on you as the three of you got up to leave- the perpetrator, a drunk man who, after drinking some water and talking to, turned out to be quite decent. Still, dealing with your wet clothes was much easier and something you preferred rather than talking to the man who was half-intoxicated, you just decided to go on ahead to your room.

»»————-　♔　————-««

“Although I expected it to be big, I didn’t think it’d be this big.”

Currently, you and Namjoon sat in what seemed to be the lobby of the guild, La Salutem. Situated near the middle of the city, it stood proudly and was obviously a center of operations, what with how many people passed through the doors.

Seokjin’s first suggestion in searching for the journal was to visit the guild, saying that if there was any place other than the kingdom of Quies that held Alexander’s old stuff, then it would be in the very guild he founded. Thus found you hours later, sitting in the lobby with the two men. While Jungkook originally wanted to go with you, he’d been told to stay at the inn with the explanation that as Seokjin had to go, someone had to stay behind and mediate if something happened with the others, and Yoongi might need help. With that, Jungkook reluctantly agreed.

Seokjin had gone ahead to talk with the guildmaster. While initially you prepared yourself for another uncomfortable one-on-one talk with a member of the ‘All Hail the Savior Y/N’ club, both men had, thankfully enough, picked up on your unspoken feelings about it. Though you still had to come along to the guild just in case- Seokjin would talk to the guildmaster himself.

You were still left with Namjoon- but, well. You were getting better at the whole ‘not looking like I’m freaking out over everything 24/7’ attitude, and it was getting easier to treat his more subtle (now) hero worship as nothing, so…

“Crossroads has a long history intertwined with not only the war, but the guild. This city holds one of the first guildhalls established, which must have been when it was but a small town- explaining how it remains in the very center of the city, as if Crossroads was built around it,” Namjoon explained, his words delving into a sort of rant near the end, though he soon stopped and grinned. “Though I admit, I find myself fascinated as well.”

“‘La Salutem’, huh?” You mumbled as you looked around. “That means…”

“- ‘safety’,” Namjoon added. “‘Protection’, ‘health’, ‘security’. All things that La Salutem strives to embody, as a symbol of peace and prosperity for all that supported so many not only during, but after the war.”

“For all, huh…”

Your eyes trailed over the banners that decorated the walls- and your conversation with Jungkook last night easily came to mind.

“Hey, Jungkook… um, can you… do you know what the war was about?”

“I don’t really know much about it,” Jungkook frowned as he nibbled on a piece of sushi. The inn you were staying at allowed you free reign of their facilities, and guess what- Jungkook actually knew how to make sushi, the food in question actually a specialty of his people. Was there anything he couldn’t do? “I was born after it ended, and even before that, mermaids stayed out of the entire war.”

“That’s okay,” you reassured him. “Just- um, tell me what you know, please? When I asked before in the kingdom, no one could answer me, so… and, well, um, I’m not sure if it’s something Yoongi would be okay with me asking.”

“Oh.” He scrunched up his nose, deep in thought, before answering.

“No one knows how it started, if I remember correctly,” he started. “But... one day, they say dragons began to grow more greedy and blood thirsty. They started conquering towns and cities, even those from other species, looting and robbing them too, and then using the captured towns as their slaves, their own to use. It was… a pretty dark time. There were many more dragons then- enough that they had a capital too. Their power, the fact that no one expected them to suddenly attack others, and not to mention their numbers helped them. Each race kept to themselves then, and yet all the same it plunged everyone in distress, ready to bow down and acquiesce to the rule of the tyrants- but then there was a prophecy about the downfall of the dragons, and the arrival of a hero.”

“It was the only reason they still had hope. It was a good thing, too, as the dragons had taken over what had to be a fair amount of cities then- and a few kingdoms too, when he came. The Hero, Alexander. They say he arrived as the sky blazed bright. People didn’t believe him at first, when he declared that he was the chosen one, but…”

“Just when a city was about to be besieged by the dragons, he came up with a plan to defeat them. It was ingenious- and no one thought he’d succeed, because his plan seemed too ridiculous to work- but it did. And after that, he began to come up with other contributions to the war, the first and greatest of which was to unite the races to defeat the dragons.”

You released a shaky exhale at his words, at the story he was telling you. It was obvious to see the parallels between you and this ‘Hero’, and the way that the people treated you suddenly made a whole lot more sense.

“The humans and the mages were the greatest partners in the war, then- humans with their inventions and mages with their spells and enchantments. The elves, as much as they disdained getting involved with anything outside of their forests were persuaded to join, by the Hero of course- and so were the fae. I can remember my teacher telling me about Seokjin and Yoongi too, actually, how they fought in the war as well. Together they defeated the dragons and ushered in an era of peace.”

“... What about the other races, then?” You questioned. “What about the- yokai? The vampires? Surely they had to be involved in some way too.”

“That…” Jungkook paused, a furrow in his eyebrow as he tried to remember. “I think… I think I can recall people saying that yokai joined the war, but that most of them sided with the dragons. And as for vampires… They mostly acted as mercenaries in the war, fighting for whichever side offered them more money.”

It offered so much more insight to the way each race reacted to another than the book you read before could. Or, at least, that was how you saw it- piecing in what you could read between the lines as each race interacted with each other.

When the war ended, what exactly happened? To the victors went the spoils, after all. It was easy to imagine it now- the sins of the fathers being passed down to their children, the discrimination that followed those who lost, the whole race branded as evil, as wild, as dangerous.

Humans and mages led the winning side, and so they were given the biggest credit, flourishing and thriving on the shares given to them as they took over what the losing side had. Lands, cities, treasures of all shapes and sizes taken not just as payment, but also as deterrent.

For elves, the fae, both entered the war mostly just to protect themselves, and they succeeded- though, of course, the greater the risk taken, the greater the rewards reaped. They lost less than mages and humans, but in return they had little to show for after the war. They only kept autonomy over what they originally had- the lands and the forest that they lived in.

Mermaids- having stayed out of the war, the most neutral of all races as they refused to join in any way at all, remained almost completely clueless and out of touch with the developments that happened after the war then, as they isolated themselves.

Then the vampires, who, in a sense acted neutral- favoring no side but that of coins and money. The yokai who were divided, some joining humans, but most of them joining the other side… not to mention the dragons themselves.

You could easily see how the effects of the war lingered on from what happened then until now. You hadn’t seen even a hint of the last three races anywhere since you began your journey. While at first you chalked it up to each of the races not liking interaction with the others, now that you knew more about the war, it was easier to pick up on the general subtle hatred of the populace against the three.

It was obvious even now, inside the guild. You could hear certain words about vampires and yokai being spoken with disdain, apathy at best and hatred at worst, though more often than not disgust was in there too.

“I wonder if this is why they didn’t want to come with us…” You sighed, eyeing the recruitment posters, and the mission board- both of which further proved your suspicions. The recruitment posters, as long as they were, only held spiel about humans and mages, though a few minor lines were dedicated to elves and fae. And the mission board- you could see several job posters that called for a mediator between them and a ‘troublesome person’.

Well. Though. It wasn’t really much of a surprise, was it? Nothing was perfect- and even this, as much as the guild, as much as ‘La Salutem’ seemed to represent the harmony between races, well. You discreetly slid down into your seat with a sigh.

Then you jerked back up at the sight of Seokjin coming down the stairs.

“It’s not in here,” he announced as he arrived to you both, a furrow in his eyebrows the only sign of his frustration. “We talked about it, but it seems that the item in question wasn’t given to the guild.”

“B-But there has to be a clue, he mentioned in the recording he wanted it to be known,” you muttered, deep in thought as well.

“It might be with one of the books he kept preserved then donated to the city’s libraries,” Seokjin didn’t quite sigh so much as the words left his mouth in a weary undertone and a light scowl. To the side, you noticed Namjoon closing his mouth, his face twisting before he looked away. Well, no surprise he’s not enthusiastic about it either. Who would?

You tried your best not to groan, you really did. “... The city? The whole city?”

He sighed, evidently dreading what was coming himself. “Yes. And… it seems we have no choice but to search manually.”

… Fucking hell damnit.

»»————-　♔　————-««

When you all returned to the inn, to your relief it didn’t take much before the boys were all assembled again, even as your nerves rolled in your stomach- a common thing that happened every time you held a meeting in regards to the quest.

“Alexander’s journals,” Namjoon spoke up first among you, his notes and a copy of the city’s map laid down on the floor in between all of you. “The guild already spoke to us that they don’t have the journal, but that it should still be here in the city… Although Crossroads is quite large, and there are many libraries around…”

“We should split up then to have an easier time searching,” Yoongi suggested as he looked at the map. “It’d be a more efficient way to cover ground, too.”

His eyes flickered to you. “... How should we divide the teams, Y/N?”

You stiffened as everyone’s attention fell on you, except for Seokjin who seemed more content examining the notes.

“M-Me?” You stammered. Jimin’s lips curled into an amused smile.

“Well, yes. You are our leader, after all.”

You bit the inside of your cheek at that. Jimin’s words technically, were true, as much as you didn’t want to admit it. It didn’t quite help that Yoongi and Jungkook supported your ‘leadership’, as much as you first considered them trustworthy.

Actually, on second thought, Jungkook was understandable. Yoongi was the insane one for still holding you to your alleged position when he knew how unfitted you were. Even if he thought you had potential.

You sighed as you looked over the men in the room one more time.

If you had to pair them up, then it would have to… Well, it would have to be by who got along with who, right? Although you definitely couldn’t put Jimin or Taehyung together- you weren’t sure they’d actually get anything done, no matter how Taehyung seemed to actually put in effort, and how Jimin apologized before. No, you had to break them up- but with who? You racked your brain for an answer- recollections of the many times Jungkook and Jimin almost got into a fight flitting in your mind, as well as the way Seokjin seemed to hold everyone at an arms’ length. Then again, so did everyone else to each other, now that you think about it. Jungkook was the exception- after the events in Rivermouth, he seemed to open up a bit more, becoming closer with both Yoongi and Seokjin. Still…

“Namjoon and Jungkook,” you slowly started. Namjoon’s shoulders slumped minisculely, and Jungkook looked disappointed for a moment- but then the next moment they seemed the same again, making you wonder if you had just been seeing things for a moment. Ah well.

“Seokjin and Taehyung,” you continued. Now your decision was met with raised eyebrows- mainly from both Jimin and Taehyung.

“Lastly, Yoongi and Jimin.”

Yoongi only held your gaze for a moment, as if to ask you if you were sure- then he looked away, catching Jimin’s eyes, who frowned, though it soon changed into a smile.

“I have every faith in our leader’s words,” he almost purred. “If she says we’re to do this together, then together we will do this task.”

You had to smother the laughter that built in you at the momentary twitch of the eyebrow you noticed from Yoongi, though he curtly nodded afterwards all the same.

“That said,” you added, “If anyone, um, if anyone has anything they want to say or add, about the teams, we’ll, um, we can discuss it.” You inwardly cheered yourself at how you managed to stop yourself from turning your sentence into a question.

A moment of silence fell in the room as each person looked at the others. Still, it seemed that they’d accepted your suggestions. You looked at Taehyung last, as you hadn’t heard anything from him as you mentioned the pairings, but he only looked nonchalant.

“You won’t hear a word from me,” Taehyung remarked, before a small smile alighted his lips. “Though I hope you don’t regret it,” he snickered. You scrunched up your nose at him before rolling your eyes.

“You’ll be with Hoseok, then.”

You looked at Seokjin, surprised at his sudden words- for a moment you’d forgotten about Hoseok, who remained quiet all throughout the meeting. Meeting Hoseok’s eyes, you flushed, embarrassed at how you were reminded of his presence only because of Seokjin.

“Um, yes. Those are the teams,” you cleared your throat.

Your eyes darted over to Yoongi- who, to your relief read the plea for help as it was and continued the meeting. “Now, as for which pairs will be covering which parts of the city…”

»»————-　♔　————-««

And that was that. Surprisingly enough, as much trouble as there had been deciding which ones would pair up with which to search the city, the rest of the meeting turned out well- Seokjin and Yoongi leading it, planning out what to do.

… Okay, you had to admit, there was a moment after the meeting, when you came down for your nightly talk sessions with Yoongi and Jungkook, that you found yourself faced with a sudden, unexpected little problem.

When you stepped into the kitchen, it was to the usual sight. Tea on the table (brewed by Yoongi, of course), snacks (also prepared by Yoongi, who knew he was such a housewife? You didn’t even think it possible, the image of gentle, domestic Yoongi cooking so far from what you first saw him as, but here you were), an amused Yoongi- you paused, why was he amused? Did something happen?

Then you looked at your other companion and had a double take.

Jungkook sat on the other side of the table from where Yoongi was, body hunched and head slightly turned away from you- and it didn’t take you more than two steps closer to see the frown that practically defined his current mood.

You warily stepped around him, choosing to gingerly take a seat beside Yoongi instead, confused. If you knew why Jungkook was sporting a scowl you might have made some attempt to talk to him, but as it was, you didn’t have a single clue why. If you talked to him now- you had a feeling you’d do more harm than good. Instead, you looked over at Yoongi, who looked a step away from snickering. You could see the smirk that lingered on his face, though he covered it behind the cup of tea he held.

‘What happened,’ you mouthed to him. He raised an eyebrow at you, as if to say ‘you don’t know?’. You narrowed your eyes at him, taking a quick look at Jungkook who seemed fully immersed into the glaring contest he was holding with his tea, before turning back to Yoongi.

‘Would I be asking if I did?’

“Neither of you are subtle at all,” Jungkook finally broke the silence in the kitchen with a grumble, gaze finally leaving his tea, but still, to your confusion, not to you. “I’ll have you know I’m neither blind nor deaf.”

“Well,” you started. “Um, you seemed a little, um, preoccupied?” You fidgeted with your hands, worry and concern bubbling over. “Jungkook, um- I mean, you don’t have to say anything, if you don’t want to, I mean, but just- are you okay?”

“... Don’t concern yourself over me,” he muttered. “This is nothing.”

You paused, feeling a trickle of apprehension flow through you. “But... um. You… seem like you’re in a bad mood.”

“... You said we’d tour around the next town we stopped at, he’s probably upset over that.” Yoongi generously offered, something close to laughter evident in his voice. As if on cue, Jungkook scoffed loudly.

“I’m not upset.”

“Oh.”

You immediately had to hide the grin on your face with your hands, then, or even show a hint that you were feeling anything close to amusement, but eventually the amusement faded and you felt bad that he was, well, disappointed.

“I… I chose those teams for a reason,” you explained, hoping that it’d lessen his frustration. “I-I mean, if I had my way, I’d want to be with you, you know,” you admitted. “But, um, I made the decision based on who could work with each other best while, um, while taking the others into account. So… please, I mean, I’m sorry… I didn’t want to make you feel like I’d forgotten about it or something.”

You looked down, your hands fidgeting with each other, awaiting his response-

- and to your surprise, Jungkook only deflated, the scowl turning into a pout. Glaring eyes became downcast, fingers loosening from the tight grip they had on the cup. For a moment or two he seemed to be torn, before he released a long sigh.

When he spoke, it was still with the pout on his face and you had to physically stop yourself from cooing, finding him and his reaction way. Too. Adorable. “No, I understand. If it happened that you and I were on the same team I would be too tempted to do nothing but what I wanted. Which, admittedly, has nothing to do with the quest.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it though. I was looking forward to going around the city with you,” he mumbled, before pausing, a flush covering his face. “Both. You b-both.”

You ducked your head, feeling a wave of warmth wash over you at his words. Still, it was hard to keep the red out of your cheeks, the giddy smile on your face too wide.

The shit-eating grin on Yoongi’s face was what made you finally compose yourself though, already dreading the teasing comments you’d certainly be hearing in the future.

“Really? But, I mean, it’s not like we’ll be separated the whole time,” you finally said, your voice light and giggly. “I’ll still see you in the evenings.”

“I know,” he- did Jungkook just roll his eyes at you? You had to stifle your laughter then. “I told you, this is nothing. I’ll get over it.”

With that said, he turned away, but not before you could spot the pout that, if possible, became bigger..

“... maybe we can have a few hours the day we leave to have a little walk around?” You suggested, smile faltering afterwards as you corrected yourself. “The three of us, of course. I’d, um, I’d love to do that with you guys.”

You heard Yoongi let out a small half-laughter at your words- you were so, so tempted to kick him then. As it was, you glared at him instead.

Still, you could hear him snicker as he nodded his head, adding, “Of course, you could also take notes of places you really want to visit together along the way.”

“Yeah,” you mumbled- and this time it was you who had to avert their gaze as he looked back at you two. “So, I-I mean. Um- we can spare some time, m-maybe after the day’s search? And- well, I-I guess not,” you amended your words, wincing at your habit of speaking before you thought about it, descending into a rambling mess now, not noticing Jungkook’s brooding turning into something softer. “Well, I was going to say that we could walk around and take a look at s-some of the shops, but, I mean, on second thought if it’s night time they’re probably gonna be closed and we need to have energy so if we spend most of it wandering around we-”

A huff of laughter, and then- you stilled as fingers gently tucked a loose hair back, Jungkook’s focus on you then making your thoughts just stop.

“Um-” you choked out. “I-I-I-w-what?”

“I told you, I’d get over it. I’m not a child.”

“But if you insist, I wouldn’t be declining. Though… you should wear the hairpin more often,” he finally said, a hint of smugness visible in his eyes. “If you’re only walking around, it wouldn’t be hard to keep it from falling, now would it?”

“I-” you stammered, “I m-mean, I, I guess so.”

He grinned. “Then, as a symbol of our friendship, and as a reminder of your words,” he grinned. “Tomorrow, before you head out with Hoseok, wear it- please,” he added at the end, though it didn’t erase the self-satisfied look on his face.

“Uh.”

All traces of whatever bad mood he’d been in before was absent then as he finally leaned back, and, with a hum, drained his cup dry of tea in a single swoop.

“Well, I hate to admit it, but I’m feeling quite tired,” he cheerfully announced. “I’m going to retire to my bed now- goodnight, Y/N, Yoongi.”

Even as he left, you could only gaze after him, mouth still slight open at his sudden actions.

What even…

It was only when Yoongi finally burst into loud chuckles that you were released out of your stupor.

“Pfft!”

“... Yoongi!” You cried out, red covering your whole face as you gave in and finally smacked him on the shoulder. “Stop laughing!”

“‘Stop laughing’, she says,” he cracked up even further. “Did any of you even notice at all- no, of course not,” he grinned, before it turned into a smirk. “But you know, if you’d seen-"

“I’m not listening,” you half-yelled half-shrieked, letting your head fall to the table as you covered your ears and shut your eyes. “La la la la la, I’m not listening!”

You stubbornly kept it up, determined to wait it out and spare yourself the teasing- although you couldn’t deny, that, well, a part of you was enjoying this. In some way. As much as you were embarrassed, in the moment, it felt like- well. It felt like the two of you were like closer friends, ones you’d see in so many places, teasing each other even if it made the other person angry beyond hell.

… although this wasn’t quite a normal friendship based on normal things.

And that was that.

Still, even with all the preparations, there was still a part of you that worried whether you would succeed in finding the elusive journal. The city was huge, after all, and a bustling port- it wasn’t hard to think that maybe the book had already been taken. Then again, Namjoon said he was certain, and considering his track record, you took him at his word.

So even as the fourth day rolled in, you decided to keep your spirits up.

In a way, you had to admit that there was something nice about going around the city with Hoseok. Make no mistake, the people at Crossroads, upon learning about your status treated you the same way the villagers at Rivermouth did- with reverence and awe. Wherever you went, you could feel eyes trailing after your every move- something that, while it used to unnerve you greatly, faded a little with every day that you had to endure it. At least, to the point where you could dismiss it as part of the background, somewhat. It helped that there were so many travellers and visitors in the city, who were there only for a short time and thus didn’t know who you were, ironically granting you more peace of mind in a crowd than there was without.

It was the first time since you arrived that you were able to talk to Hoseok one on one, too. That you were able to study him.

Hoseok was… an enigma, in a different way from the others. Sweet, polite and kind- but then you’d notice the moment someone got too close to him, he would back away and reject their touch, one particular time even flinching away when someone hugged him, mistaking him for someone else. It reminded you of the time you met him, though now you knew better.

Spending time with him was preferable compared to everyone but Yoongi and Jungkook.

“Y/N, do you- uh, do you mind if we try that today?”

You looked over his shoulder at the stall he was pointing at, noting the delicious smell of food that wafted from it. Another thing that helped you relax around him- you soon found out that Hoseok, much like Jungkook, held a very short history of interaction with humans. On your second day, after a few cautious suggestions from you, you both decided to satiate your curiosities and take your time examining each part of the city as you went from library to library- which included sampling each of the dishes and snacks you would pass by.

You wouldn’t admit it so easily out loud, but… Hoseok had a certain pull that you couldn’t help but get dragged into. At first, the atmosphere between the two of you was tense, all the way; he put nearly a few feet of distance at most, a foot at least between the two of you at all times, he remained quiet unless spoken to, and even then his words were short. It was almost as if you were with a ghost, but…

“Hoseok!” You stood firm in your ground then, although the way your heart beat ever so fast, so nervously, easily gave you away. “Can you listen to me for a moment?”

“Uhm.” If the wide eyed stare wasn’t enough, the way he quickly averted his eyes gave away how close he was to bolting. At this point, even you could tell that he was avoiding you- in a weird, sort of way. Actually, it was probably easier for you to notice that he was avoiding you, because the subtle way he’d leave the area whenever you arrived, staying as quiet as possible unless spoken to, his words short and faint, well, you had firsthand experience with all of that.

“I just wanted to tell you something, please,” you lowered your voice, aiming for something soft and easy on the ears. To your endless relief then, he slowly, hesitantly, but all the same he nodded his head.

“Hoseok… do you, um,” you paused for a moment, trying to gather the courage. “It’s okay to, um, to talk to me? I mean-” you flushed. “I just, did I do anything to make you feel uncomfortable? We’re working together on this quest, and, just, um, I don’t want you to feel like you have to- um, like you have to keep so far away from me at all times.”

“I also… I mean, I also want to hear about what you think,” you mumbled out the last parts of your small speech, gaze trained on the ground as you nervously awaited his reply. Then you cringed. “No, sorry, um, you don’t have to if you don’t want to and I’m sorry for being pushy-”

“No!” Your head snapped up in surprise as you met his panicked eyes, and the two of you stared at each other, both shocked and nervous.

“Are you sure-”

“I should be-”

The two of you stopped again as you spoke at the same time, a deeper flush covering both of your cheeks. Though, you couldn’t help but giggle a little at the situation. Hoseok’s shoulders slumped forward, and you gave him a sympathetic smile.

“I...I’ll try,” you eventually heard him mumble. You grinned at him; Hoseok averted his gaze yet again, but you could still see the small tug at his lips.

“That’s all I ask for.”

True to his word, you had an easier time communicating with Hoseok then. What was a few feet of distance eventually reduced to walking side by side, and when you talked you didn’t seem like someone just talking to herself like a crazy person- well. You hoped you didn’t.

It always helped that Hoseok had a nice voice that you liked hearing.

“Sure,” you smiled. “I’ll just wait here, then.”

Currently the two of you had just about explored most parts of the city, at least the part assigned to the two of you. While you weren’t sure, you hoped at least that one pair would make progress in the search- but until then, you had to keep looking.

“Where do we go now, though…” You muttered to yourself as you examined the map in your hands.

“Miss Y/N?”

You glanced up at the voice. A familiar face greeted your eyes- your smile became a little strained as you recognized the person speaking to you. “Hello. You’re- uh, the one from the inn a few days ago, right? Abby?”

He chuckled at you. “‘Abby’... That’s really what they told you, huh? Then again, it is a nickname of mine… yes, I am. Glad to know I’m not that forgettable.”

“I don’t think I could forget someone who spilled soup on me... no offense meant, though,” you mumbled, cheeks reddening at the last part. He only laughed in response.

“Yes, well, I can get wild when drunk… I apologize for that. Enough about me, though. I didn’t expect to see you again.”

“We’re-” You paused, thinking over your words. “We’re staying here for a while. Crossroads is pretty famous. There’s a lot to see and visit.”

He seemed pleased at that, a grin appearing on his face. “It is, isn’t it? Not only is it a central focus of trade, it has a long history too,” he boasted. “It’s one of the best cities in the kingdom.”

You smiled a little more genuinely at the sparkle in his eyes as he talked about the city.

“Which places have you already visited? Wait- actually, where’s your guide? I want to ask him if there are spots you haven’t visited yet,” he suddenly said.

Guides? … You hadn’t seen any, and you didn’t think there would be any…

“We’re just- um, we’re just actually walking around by ourselves,” you admitted. “I mean, if we had a guide, we’d probably have to set like- a time limit for every place, right? I like to, um, take my time.”

“You like to immerse in the city?” You hesitantly nodded. “You’ll miss out on a lot if you go just by yourselves, though…”

“Oh, I know! Maybe I can help. Why don’t I be your guide?” He suggested, grinning at you. “I never did get to formally ask for your forgiveness, for the other night.”

You fell silent..

“Ah, sorry,” he said, seeing your face turn somewhat wary. “Too sudden?”

You flushed. “Oh no, just…”

While the quest wasn’t really a secret, the finer details of it was. You weren’t sure if it was okay to bring in a stranger’s help.

“I’m- um, I’m not sure right now... we kind of already have plans for today,” you cautiously answered. It was best to discuss this first with Yoongi and the others, right? “How about tomorrow?”

He frowned, disappointment evident on his face. “I guess… Though, I’m supposed to leave in two days for work….”

“Oh,” you mumbled.

“Tomorrow, right? Consider it, okay? I could be a big help,” he offered again. “I’m a native to this city, after all. Born and raised here.”

You perked up at his words- though still unsure. Yoongi’s words resounded in your mind- ‘Be wary of everyone, you aren’t familiar much with anything here and it’s easy to trick you.’

“... Are you- um, are you familiar with Alexander?” You eventually asked, deciding on a middle ground-

“Alexander, the hero? Of course! I know more about him than anyone here,” he jovially grinned. You released a sigh of relief at that. It wasn’t like any of you had been making progress on your own so far, so…

“Um- If it’s alright, can you tell us about him, then? Just for a while.”

“Sure- oh wait, I’ll just finish up my purchase. Be back in a bit.” And with that he delved back into the crowd, though you could see his back enter a shop nearby.

You pocketed the map in your hands, sighing. That… while you were hopeful at the sign of help, you were still unsure- you also felt it could have gone better too.

The smell of noodles under your nose brought your focus back- you looked down, then to the side- meeting Hoseok’s worried gaze. You blinked- and then reacted.

“Uh- sorry, Hoseok,” you flushed. “How long have you been standing there?”

“I just arrived a few seconds ago,” he reassured you, before peering up at you with an odd look in his eyes. “That said… who were you talking to just now?”

“Oh,” you tensed up. “That- someone I bumped into at the pub when we first arrived. It- um, it turns out that he knows a lot about the city, including, um, Alexander, and we weren’t making progress, so…” You faltered.”I mean, he offered to help as an apology? And I thought, again, it’s not like we’ve made much progress so far- not that we haven’t just been walking around, and it’s not like I just took his offer, just talking for a bit- I mean, we’ve covered a lot of the city by now and I’m having fun too, although I know this isn’t really for fun but you know what I mean and oh god I’m so sorry I’m just rambling right now.”

You fell silent, feeling the urge to cover your face with your hands, your face red- though unable to do so as you were holding food. You didn’t dare look up- only giving Hoseok a tentative glance when he hesitantly patted you on the back.

“That’s good news then, right? I mean, if he has information about the man that we don’t, it should help us.”

“That- yeah.” You hardly dared to react too much in fear that he would pull his hands away. For all that he was a dragon and they were assumed to be monstrously strong, Hoseok was gentle as he comforted you. In fact, his touch was light on your back- barely even touching you.

The two of you stayed like that for a few moments, until you saw the man come back, a noticeable bulge in his bag that wasn’t there before. He raised an eyebrow at the two of you- Hoseok withdrew his hands, his face reddening as much as yours did.

“Companion of yours?” He asked as he drew near.

“Um- yeah.” You dithered introducing Hoseok him- should you? It would be impolite, right? But for some reason, you could tell that Hoseok was wary of him. Still, before you could speak up again, Hoseok coughed, nodding at the man, a small, polite smile on his face.

“Please, just call me Hoseok.”

»»————-　♔　————-««

“Abby?” Namjoon repeated your words later that night, a slight frown appearing on his face. You looked up at him, a touch nervous as your hands fidgeted with the food on your plate.

“Um- yeah. Remember, the guy I bumped into our first night here? Red hair, silver badge with angel wings on his chest? We met him again earlier, and he said he had information about Alexander…” You trailed off near the end as Namjoon’s eyebrows remained furrowed- and you wondered what he was thinking about.

“Are you- um, I didn’t say anything about the quest, if that’s what you were worried about,” you offered. “I just told him we were travellers who got interested in Alexander and his journals, since he’s someone famous in this city.”

“Oh- no, I mean,” Namjoon hesitated. “It- it’s nothing.”

“... It is alright, isn’t it?” You looked up, meeting Yoongi’s eyes.

Dinner at Crossroads for the time consisted of only you, Namjoon, Seokjin, Yoongi and Jungkook- you all agreed that you had to meet up nightly to discuss the efforts of the search, if only to conserve efforts. Still, it didn’t take much for you to notice how uncomfortable Seokjin and Yoongi were with the rowdy crowds ever present in the pub.

Currently you retold to them your encounter with Abby. It seemed to be a bit of a saving grace, really, as no one had had any luck so far.

Seokjin and Taehyung had stuck to the plan quite neatly- you were amused to confirm that even Taehyung bent under Seokjin’s cold gaze, although from what you could tell he remained playful all the way. They followed and checked every place assigned to them in an orderly manner. Seokjin admitted in a quiet voice that Taehyung charmed the librarians and shop owners into helping them, but that they had no progress. No one had even heard of a journal in Alexander’s name, nor had they seen any book that matched its description.

The less said about Jimin and Yoongi, the better. Yoongi and Seokjin were the only ones that could Jimin in check so far, you noticed, so you put Yoongi and him together- but, hearing about their experiences, you realized that in the same line of thinking you set Yoongi up to be his glorified babysitter.

Namjoon and Jungkook, lastly seemed to be like you and Hoseok- simultaneously touring around while checking the appointed locations to them. Jungkook seemed to take a shine to Namjoon too, excitedly asking him about anything that he didn’t understand. Namjoon in turn seemed to take his questions in stride as he answered them as best as he could.

Honestly, a part of you felt more than happy seeing Jungkook branch out, gaining a friend… or something like that in Namjoon. Even in your nightly chats together, all he could speak about was the little things he’d learnt about, and what he wanted to share with you. Although you yourself couldn’t stand to be in Namjoon’s presence because of the- well. You were at least happy for him. Them.

Still, they didn’t have any information either.

“If you’re sure of what you saw, then it should be,” Yoongi spoke up. When you looked at him with confusion, he explained. “A badge with angel wings means they’re part of the Silver Vanguard.”

“Silver Vanguard?”

“It refers to an elite unit in La Salutem.” This time, you were surprised to hear Seokjin’s voice. When you looked at him, though, he seemed to be focused on his food, even as he spoke. “They only allow warriors who have a long history of merits to join. And if the person that you met really is a part of it, then... he might be trustworthy,” he finally said. “Still, remain on guard.”

“Wow, Y/N, way to go!” Jungkook grinned. “That’s more progress than any of us have done so far.”

“So it’s alright then, right?” You asked once more. Yoongi nodded. Jungkook bumped your shoulder in support- and even Seokjin seemed to quietly give his approval.

None of you quite noticed the lingering frown on Namjoon’s face.

»»————-　♔　————-««

The sun, painted in red and orange currently made a brilliant backdrop from where you were. Your feet hurt- but at least you were sitting down at the moment. The three of you were now at the park near the Fiendfyre ruins, after a day of touring with Abbadon (you had to ask him his name, you couldn’t keep calling him Abby after all no matter how he didn’t seem to mind it) as he immersed both you and Hoseok in the city’s history.

“You know a lot about the war, and the guild,” Hoseok quietly commented once, after Abbadon went into a rant about how it affected the trade in the city. Abbadon perked up at his words.

“So you speak!” He joked, before assuming a serious expression. “To answer your question, I’m a survivor of the war. There was an attack- my family didn’t survive, but... I was saved by La Salutem. They raised me.”

“You were?” He asked, his taut shoulders relaxing by a fraction, something you noted with relief.

You weren’t quite blind to the tension that existed between the two. For some reason, both were a touch, well, wary, about the other person, although it was mostly Hoseok. Whenever Abbadon wasn’t looking, from your position in the back you could see Hoseok give the other man glances, and then frown, something that happened more often as the day continued. With Abbadon’s answer now, though, he seemed to let go of some of his suspicions.

“Yeah. Trained me, too. And I got offered a place in their divisions right after the war ended,” Abbadon grinned.

“You must have done a lot of missions then,” you murmured. “Looking at your badge,” you explained. Abbadon chuckled.

“So you’re looking for his journal?” Abbadon asked, a curious look on his face. “Huh. I didn’t think that was even real.”

“Yeah, well…” You flushed. “He seems like a really interesting guy, so.”

“True, true,” he agreed, before sighing. “Sorry I wasn’t much help in the end.”

“Oh, please!” You waved your hand, not wanting him to feel bad. “It’s not like our research was anything serious- besides, um, what matters is that we had a lot of fun today, right?”

For a moment your gaze flitted over to Hoseok who had been approached by a few children. From where you were, you could see him try to politely reject the kids- the keyword being try. They didn’t exactly give him the chance to make good on his answer as they pulled him to play.

Not that Hoseok seemed to mind it too much anyway, considering the smile on his face.

“If you’re curious about Alexander and his relics, then you should visit the castle ruins,” Abbadon told the two of you. “It’s a hidden place, known only to the city residents- a well-kept secret of ours.”

“A secret?” You echoed. “Why?”

“Why not?” He countered, before grinning. “Well, the reason is that there are bad memories attached to the place, so few people ever come there. Not to mention it’s falling apart, too, so it’s dangerous. Those that do are mostly kids curious about the ‘forbidden area’.”

“Fiendfyre, the castle of the late kings, and Blackburn, where the dragon’s fortress used to be.”

“Ah yes, he seems to be having a lot of fun, isn’t he?” Abbadon chuckled. “Still, they should be careful though, the ruins here are-”

“No!”

You suddenly gasped- some of the children playing close to you two had wandered too close to the ruins, tagging and pushing each other, when one of them tripped on the wall- causing a part of it to collapse. It fell straight down, and you could feel your heart beat in a frenzy-

But then dust cleared and there stood Hoseok, an arm propping up the huge rock as he shielded the children under him.

You released a shaky sigh of breath.

“Oh god, that was close,” you muttered, your heart still beating fast, before you turned to your companion. “Did you-”

He was staring straight at Hoseok, with an unreadable look in his eyes.

“Abbadon?” You hesitantly asked.

“... I knew it. He’s a dragon, isn’t he? And that face… the son of the late king?” He finally said after a long while, and while his sentence ended in a question, the tone of his voice was a statement. You froze, and then you were about to refute his claim-

“Oh, don’t worry,” Abbadon smiled at you. “I’m not the type to talk or gossip with other people.”

You remained quiet, your nerves still strung high. Abbadon chuckled uneasily, a sheepish smile appearing on his lips.

“I won’t! I swear on my badge,” he promised you, a lighthearted air around him now. “That said, you should be careful though. Dragons- people around here have a complicated view of them, you know? Especially considering his status.”

“... I do,” you hesitantly replied. “I’m just surprised you easily realized it.”

He chortled. “Yes, well, in my job it’s an imperative to assess our surroundings, to know if we encounter an enemy or a friend. I just had this feeling when we met and I saw him- the super strength just confirmed it. Still, it’s something special, isn’t it?”

Your gaze returned to Hoseok’s figure, the bright smile contrasting with the red flush on his face as the two children and their mother thanked him profusely.

True, you’d only recently got to know him better- only recently had you been able to take a look past the first set of walls he’d built around him, but even with the little that you’d seen so far...

“...Yeah, it is,” you smiled warmly. “He’s someone special.”

“Looks like it’ll be a while before they’re done playing, though,” Abbadon commented, frowning a little. “We still have one more memorial of Alexander’s that might help you, if you wanna take a look.”

“Though it’s getting dark soon…”

You hesitated, your eyes darting between Hoseok, the loud laughter of the children, then the darkening sky…

… It was fine, right? Abbadon had proven to be trustworthy, so far. It was the last option you could have at the moment- and tomorrow he’d be gone, while you and the others would have to stay, until at least you could get another clue about what to do next.

“... Okay,” you agreed, smiling at him. “Lead the way, please”

“Gladly,” he smiled. “It’ll just take a minute, I promise.”

You waved to Hoseok- but he remained busy, and you wondered if he’d even see you, the children asking him to play with them- you hurried your footsteps when you noticed your guide almost disappearing from view.

“W-Wait up!” You called, running after him- Abbadon’s figure almost disappearing amongst the trees. You frowned as he consistently remained just on the edge of your sight. What…?

When you came to, you realized that you were in a small clearing. “... Abbadon? Hello?” Your heart beat fast in your chest- a premonition, but then-

Your vision went black.

»»————-　♔　————-««

You woke up to coldness, clasped tightly around your limbs- the chill bitingly spreading across your limbs. When your eyes opened, for a few moments you could only groan- your memories and thoughts too jumbled to make sense of. Still, as you slowly came to, you realized one thing-

You were bound and chained to a wall.

As soon as the realization hit you, you instinctively jerked in horror and panic, the fear within you rising as the metal chains harshly kept you captive. You looked around again in panic- feeling the darkness seemingly close in on you, making you feel even more terrified-

“Y/N!”

You stilled, tears in your eyes. “... Hoseok?”

When you looked across you again, you finally made out the outline of Hoseok’s figure- and then you gasped.

If you thought your current situation was bad enough, Hoseok’s was way worse. Chains adorned almost every part of his body- from his feet, to his neck- even some sort of helmet cuff wrapped around his head. His hands and feet were similarly bound to his back, in a way that prevented him from moving at all, and you had no doubt that it was hard for him to even breathe, with how tight they were cuffed on him.

But it was the metal covering his face that was the worst of it.

“What…? Why are you chained up…?”

He smiled bitterly- or, at least you think he did. “To keep me from transforming. I think... “ For a moment he faltered, looking away, but then he continued. “I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I suspected it, but I wasn’t sure, and now you’re in danger.”

“‘All your fault’?” You repeated, confused and worried. “What do you- what does that mean?”

“It means that he’s aware of his sin.”

You fully flinched at the sudden voice that echoed through the walls of (what you were now sure to be) the dungeon. You glanced to the side, where the voice came from- freezing in surprise as the person revealed themselves.

“Abbadon?” You gaped, your mind scrambling to keep up. “You- why?”

The familiar figure of who you thought had been a friend and a guide- Abbadon looked at you with a slight smile on his face. “Hello, missy.”

“I-I thought- what’s going on,” you faltered. “Why are you doing this?”

“You don’t know?” He mused, coming closer to you. You flinched back when his hand drew close, a shiver running through you when he patted you on the head.

When you failed to answer, he let his hand fall away- staring at you.

“... You’re a part of La Salutem, aren’t you?” You eventually said. “This isn’t what the guild stands for, I’m sure.”

“Oh, you thought I was part of that stuffy old guild?” Abbadon giggled- your blood ran cold at the insinuations in his words. “Take a closer look, missy. These aren’t angel wings- these are dragon bones.”

“I- dragon bones?” You choked out. “What…”

“... You really are confusing, you know?” He eventually shook his head idly, intrigue on his face. “Maybe I should start with you first, cut you open, see how you can remain so deceptively naive.”

Hoseok suddenly growled- you stared at him in wide-eyed surprise, surprised to see this new side of him. “Let her go. She doesn’t know anything about it,” he snapped.

Abbadon only laughed. “Oh, I knew it! I knew there was something wrong- if she knew, she definitely wouldn’t be so lenient on you for even existing,” he chortled. You shivered at the tone of his voice- although you felt the beginnings of rage bubble up in you at his words.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Lying before us in chains, is Prince Hoseok of the dragons,” he announced, a gleeful little smile on his face.

“I already knew who he was when I met him,” you frowned, still confused. He didn’t seem like he had a problem back then, so what…? “Not that any of it made me wary of him.”

“But you don’t know exactly why dragons are the vilest creatures, do you? There’s a reason they stay in their dirty little hovels,” Abbadon smiles, a nasty little thing that told you for some reason he believed he had information that would make you change your view. “Then again, it’s where they belong after all.”

“Really,” you narrowed your eyes at him. “And that reason’s what?”

“You’re evidently knowledgeable about the war. But nobody told you about the massacre, did they?”

“There was no massa-”

“Yes, there was. The massacre.” Abbadon’s voice was soft, yet deadly- a far away look in his eyes. “Near the war, the dragons were losing. As they should have been. After pillaging and conquering for so long, every rule of tyranny must come to an end. Good always triumphs evil, you see?”

“Mages and humans, together, on the battlefield, saving lives, not to mention elves and fae… I only watched memories of it, but, god, it must have been a sight to witness,” he sighed wistfully. “The rest of the other races stayed neutral or sold themselves out like whores- selfish cowards.”

“But it wasn’t enough, you know?” He eventually said, sighing as he walked over to Hoseok, looking down at him with sheer hatred in his eyes. He harshly struck him with the heel of his boot- smiling when Hoseok let out a muffled cry of pain. “Dragons are vile,” thwack! “selfish,” thwack! “greedy,” thwack! “filthy beasts.”

By the end of it Hoseok lied on the floor, unable to even speak as he curled in pain.

“Around their empire, the dragons had so many cities under them- a few of them composed from other races, but most of them human,” he said, still smiling, even as the resentment remained in his eyes. The look on his face kept you quiet- frozen in fear.

“Three days. Three days was all it would have taken to storm their dirty little hole,” he spat. “But the dragons, heartless as they were, loathed the thought of anyone taking away what they considered ‘theirs’.”

“So they burned down every city.”

Only the sound of breathing remained unnaturally loud- from who, you wondered. Was it you? It didn’t feel like it- you didn’t feel like you were breathing.

“The ruler of the dragons decided if they couldn’t have their empires then no one could have them,” Abbadon continued, every word smooth and hypnotizing even as he hissed them out. “Three days, and every city was burned. The amount of lives lost then- it was catastrophic. Not to mention how they must have felt. Three days, and dragons filled the sky, flames everywhere and bloodshed covering every area. Though they were all eventually eventually executed, it still doesn’t come close to repaying what they did.”

You didn’t notice Hoseok choke out a cry at his words, tears forming in his eyes. Abbadon only continued, eyes dull with pain and yet sharp with recollection at the same time.

“My family was one of those trapped, you know. I was only saved because I had to hunt animals then- I didn’t even find their remains, days after. All that remained was ashes all around.”

“The guild took me in, tried to give me a new life, but I said no. I only knew how to hunt animals- and even now, I still do my job. After all, don’t I have one in chains right now!?” He suddenly laughed, wild hatred present. “And to think! That I have the previous King’s son!”

“Why, I have the glory of putting an end to this evil bloodline,” he giggled. You wanted to throw up.

He turned around- you couldn’t quite keep yourself from biting your lip when he drew close.

“Knowing all that, doesn’t it make you regret ever standing up for it?” He sighed again.

“... So?” You eventually rasped out. “What does that have to do with Hoseok?”

He frowned. You continued, gritting your teeth.

“What does that have to do with him? So what if he’s that King’s son? That doesn’t mean that Hoseok is just like him!”

“Of course it does!” He spat at you, before calming down again. “No, no, I see now. You’ve spent too much time with it. It corrupted you. No matter, no matter… I’m not the type of person to kill someone innocent and manipulated by dragons to boot. I’ll let you go, on one condition,” he says, the smile remaining on his face. “I want you to kill it.”

“... What?” You stared at him in horrified disbelief. Still, he keeped smiling- manic, wild.

“If you won’t kill it, then I will. I’ll make sure to dispose of you after too,” he nonchalantly added, before visibly rethinking over his words. “Actually, nevermind. I think it’d be more fun to torture it.”

You felt bile rise up in your throat.

“If you’re really friends with this beast,” he hummed cheerfully, his tone becoming twisted as he gestured to Hoseok dramatically, “well, won’t you put it out of future misery then? I’ll even spare you, for finally coming to your senses.” He grinned. “Or- you could try to escape. But trust me, you’ll regret not accepting my deal.”

“Like hell I-!”

“Y/N,” Hoseok’s whimper was both a warning and a plea. You bit the inside of your cheek angrily- glaring instead at Abbadon who only gleefully smiled at your expression.

When you saw his smile, you snapped.

“You sick bastard, I hope you rot in hell, because that’s where murderers like you belong!”

“Y/N!”

You trembled from the force of the blow- a bright, red mark showing on your cheek as Abbadon’s smile turned dark. Behind him, Hoseok’s growl was loud, fury present in the deep rumble on his voice.

“Cheeky little thing,” Abbadon sighed, swiftly moving away from you as you struggled in your chains to claw him up. “Really. Never would’ve thought you to be this rude too, when we met. No matter, I’m not that petty.”

Backing up, he aimed a blow at your stomach, and then at your head- you cried out in pain again, this time too weak to even fight back. Your sense dulled- you could barely make out anything. For a moment, all you could hear and feel was the thud of your heartbeat-

Moments later, when you felt a rush of clarity in your brain, you were shivering on the floor, weak, injured- but unshackled.

In front of you was a sharp knife.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes, Missy. If your dragon isn’t dead by then, you can watch me as I punish it.” Abbadon’s voice echoed through the hallway. “Or you could join me, if you finally see the light.”

Thud

For a few moments you could only lie there in pain, groans leaving you, your heartbeat the only thing your mind could hold onto.

It was- hard to think. Hard to- feel. Brief flashes of pain flared up in your body, and you felt as if you would throw up-

But then your blurry eyes met Hoseok’s and the situation sunk in.

Why were you lying down?

You had to- you had to get up.

You had to get up- do something-

Your stomach hurt so much- and your head, god, your vision was still shaky, your hearing faint. Hoseok’s words barely registered in your brain. You didn’t even understand what he was saying.

But, you slowly thought, your legs weren’t injured. Neither were your arms.

You took a deep breath- whimpering in pain as you slowly got to your knees- and then to your feet.

Across you, Hoseok remained silent, still. No, no, no… that was bad. That was bad, right? Hoseok couldn’t- he had to keep going.

You took a step forward, your steps shaky- but still you continued. Think. Think. You had to get him out the chains somehow- find a way to free him, so you could escape together.

You forced yourself to go forward, your legs trembling as you reached him.

From where you were, you could see Hoseok’s eyes flutter open weakly. Unfocused- before they fell on you. Good, that was good, he was still conscious, you two still had hope. Now back to your main problem.

“... elf.”

You stared at the chains, still thinking. How, how how how? How were you going to get it off him?

“Y/N,” Hoseok whispered your name. You examined the chains- thick, metal, it was solid and obviously wouldn’t easily melt or break. Okay. Okay, so you had to look for another way.

“Y/N!” Hoseok’s yell was more of a groan- one that immediately took a toll on him as he coughed and hacked after. You immediately flinched, tearing up, even as your hands hovering uselessly above him as you soothed circles on his back.

“Sorry! Sorry- I’ll get you out, don’t worry, just…” You trailed off, frustrated with yourself. Hoseok caught one of your hands as you grabbed one of the chains again.

“Y/N, just go without me. Save yourself.”

The chain in your hand fell to the ground.

“Don’t say that,” you said, your voice calm, even as your hands quivered. “That’s not a good joke.”

“I-It’s not a joke.” Hoseok raised a hand to wipe away the tears forming in your eyes- or, at least he wanted to. Instead the bite of the metal around his arms kept him grounded. “Between the two of us, you’re much more needed. You should escape while you have the chance.”

You dryly laughed, the tears forming faster now.

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Think about the quest, Y/N. Give up on me.”

“And I told you,” you seethed. “I won’t. So stop asking. Actually, shouldn’t we talk about what he said? Why didn’t you defend yourself?” You snapped, before deflating. “Is… is what he said before the reason why you wouldn’t let anyone get close to you in any way?”

The two of you lay there for a moment then- you, awaiting his response, even as you stubbornly continued your task to free him and Hoseok stubbornly avoided your gaze. It was only when you took his hands in your own, inspecting the chains around his wrists that you realized he was shaking.

"... I'm just scared," he finally whispered. "I didn’t want you to get close to me. I didn’t want to get your hopes up for nothing. Because it’s instinct for us to shift, I feel like if I show even a fucking hint of this curse, I'll be proving everyone right... that I'm a monster just like him. I could hurt you easily even when I don’t want to. I just..."

Tears formed in his eyes and for once, you could see the resignation in his eyes. You stopped. "If there’s anything I know, it’s that I’m not someone people want to be near. Even if I seem nice, that doesn’t change the fact that I could easily kill at the same time… when we met, you seemed so nice and I wanted to be friends with you, but… I became scared that eventually you’d realize what they know. That afterwards, you’d be afraid of me too."

"But that's it. I'm not afraid,” you frustratedly told him, as the tears fell from your eyes, feeling a plethora of emotions inside you at his words. "Why would I be?"

“You heard it from him. I’m a mons-”

“Stop letting other people's words define you!”

For a moment it felt hard to breathe- rage and sorrow mixing in you as your emotions pushed you over the edge.

“You won't give yourself a chance because you just accept what other people say about you, like they know who you are, but you know what? Even if we’ve only been together for three weeks, even if I only got to actually spend time with you for only three days, the Hoseok I’ve seen so far isn't anything like that!”

“You hate yourself because you believe that you deserve only the worst, but please. I believe in you. I believe in the Hoseok that's kind and gentle, the one that smiles just from being able to make someone happy, the one that cries so easily because they read something sad, wearing his heart on his fucking sleeve, never even being able to lie because he knows how lies can hurt. The one that's honorable, and will fight for what's right. Being a dragon doesn't mean you aren't any of these things, it just means you have powers that others don't have. Being his son doesn’t mean you’re a carbon copy of him either. What you do with those powers- that's what makes you who you are.”

For a moment, after your rant, you breathed in slowly, carefully, all of a sudden feeling as though there was not quite enough air in the room. Still, you continued- and as your hands clutched your clothes, you felt something in your pockets. When you brought the item out-

You grinned wildly, for the first time since you woke up.

The Key of Eden fit snugly in your hand. Looking down, complicated as it was you could see the little keyholes that connected each chain, each one soon becoming undone as you pressed the key inside. With each chain that fell apart, you began to breathe easier. It was only when the last three remained that you began to speak again, determination hardening your voice.

“Even if the whole world says you're evil, Hoseok, how can you expect me to believe them when the whole time we've been together you've only been so far away from it?”

Clang

“Thinking it’s no good even before you try, giving up and just accepting their words and treating it as if it’s the truth…!”

Clang

As the second to last chain was unlocked, you looked him in the eye- ignoring how he stiffened under your hold.

“For once I want you to see yourself as someone that deserves to be heard, instead of something irredeemable.”

You reached down to free the last chain-

“I see you didn’t take my advice.”

-and found yourself gasping as your arms were harshly locked together, your body turned around. Abbadon- his face containing pity for you, never before had you wanted to strangle someone so badly- used one hand to keep you from doing anything.

You stilled when you saw the knife in his hand.

“While I wanted to give you a chance… It’s a pity,” he idly remarked. “I’ll make sure you have a nice view.”

You instinctively kicked behind you at his words- the sharp clang of the knife as it fell to the ground mixed with Abbadon’s pained yell, one that felt like music to your ears- a split second was all it took before you lunged for the knife and leapt away from him in turn.

When he got up, snarling, you were already on the other side of the room.

“Come now,” he said even as his teeth were gritted into the semblance of a smile. “Give me the knife.”

“I won’t let you hurt him,” your voice was firm- even if your throat rasped.

“But then who’ll stop me from hurting you?”

Your breath caught in your throat- you dived to the side, his hands almost catching the edges of your dress before you scrambled away, feeling behind you for anything- Hoseok’s alarmed yell as he tried to help you but found himself restrained.

And then you felt it. The click of a door. Your eyes widened in surprise- then you grinned triumphantly at him.

“I guess I found my answer,” you taunted him. To your surprise, he only laughed.

“Sure, missy! Take a look behind you, it’ll surely help you escape- from life, that is,” he mocked.

You took another step behind you as you looked back- then felt your knees get weak.

All this time, you hadn’t considered just where the two of you might be. After all, you were much more concerned with freeing yourselves. But now, as you looked over what had to be more than a hundred meters of drop, you wished you did, if only to contemplate how you would be escaping.

You were in Blackburn, the tower’s entrance behind you, lying several hundred feet above the ground- you could see miles and miles of the surrounding forest and mountains.

“I thought it would be fitting, to kill it in its own house. That said, you have two options,” Abbadon said, his voice calm again. “Either take a step into Death’s clutches, or embrace Life. What will it be?”

“My companions are looking for us. They’ll be here any moment. Even if you kill us, you’ll still be caught in the end.” Your mind raced with excuses, words, anything that you could use to threaten him- yet he only laughed.

“But you both will still be dead. It,” he jabbed a finger at Hoseok, who glared at him, “will be dead, and that’s all that matters to me. Besides, are you even sure they’ll be coming? This isn’t the easiest place to find, you know.”

“If I fall, Hoseok will save me. Or have you forgotten dragons can fly?”

“Will it? I don’t think it’s ever even shifted,” he scoffed. “Which is a good thing, really. I would’ve shot it straight if it did. But no, if not just the chains sapping away its magic, then the lack of unease he has with the chains should tell you he’s never even tried shifting. How else could it tolerate the chains? If it tried now- I'd give it 4 seconds before it shifts back.”

Abbadon slowly smiled again. “So, how will you be taking your chances now?”

It was obvious that Abbadon took Hoseok as nothing but an ant, not a threat, just something so worn down that he wouldn’t fight back, even if he was freed. With how much he seemed as if he’d given up earlier, the weak, sluggish movements, and the hatred he had for being who he was- you weren’t surprised, but still, you hated it all the same.

Your heart beat in your chest then- fast, hurried. Inside you, you could only feel fear, the situation being as it was-

-but then you met Hoseok’s eyes.

For once, they weren’t swimming in self-martyrdom or pity- but rather, in determination. You could see the support in his eyes, the decision he’d made. Trust me, he seemed to tell you.

Whatever fear you had then- it dissolved.

“Neither,” you spoke up, your gaze firm as you looked Hoseok in the eyes and smiled. Abbadon frowned, his eyebrows furrowed. “I’m not taking chances, because I know he’ll save me.”

Saying so, you took a step off the edge- and let yourself fall.

Thud

Thud-

"-Hoseok!" You screamed as you descended.

When you opened your eyes, instantly a burst of colors surrounded you, the grey walls of the tower being replaced by the vibrant scenery- the sky in itself being a mix of blue and white, with the vivid greenery of what had to be the forest-

The wind rushed around you, harsh, fierce, and you felt the urge to shut your eyes out of fear, but you kept them open, even if your sight blurred with tears. For a second, nothing- then-

You could faintly see the top of the tower collapse, dust and debris flying everywhere, and then a large mass of something diving after you.

A wheeze escaped you as leathery wings wrapped themselves around you. Heat, warmth that felt addicting to feel after the chill of the dungeons enveloped you, and for a few moments all other senses dulled. Though this time, it wasn’t from any outside force, but rather from the weeping sense of relief of finally being safe, the adrenaline keeping you hyper aware even now that the danger was gone, the added drop in altitude making your heart beat fast, too fast for your liking-

And then a flash of light- and you were wrapped securely in his arms. In Hoseok's arms. You held on to him tightly- and, even with your heartbeat pounding away at your ears you could finally feel the wind around you two settle down, and the gentle flap of what had to be his wings.

You shivered- Hoseok pulled you closer. Close and closer and you were close enough to smell the faint scent of smoke lingering on his clothes, and then-

Your feet touched stable ground. Your legs still trembling from the recent, you almost stumbled forward when you let go of him, but Hoseok only held you in turn- firm, gentle, and so you remained safe.

For a few seconds, you could only greedily take in gulps of air, your form still shivering, disregarding everything else. Then- you disentangled yourself from Hoseok, even as your hold on each other’s hands remained.

"You… you saved me," was all you could say. "I knew you would. Thank you for saving me."

Hoseok looked at you, an unreadable expression on his face."Y/N, I-"

"Y/N! Hoseok!”

You looked past Hoseok’s shoulder- the sound of footsteps becoming louder and louder, as you finally saw six familiar figures. The first to come near was, surprisingly enough, Seokjin- who smoothly pulled to a stop in front of you, shielding both you and Hoseok from Abbadon, who you just discovered was standing a distance aways from you two.

The next to arrive had been Namjoon- who looked at you with a worried look on his face, eyes darting from you to Abbadon. His eyes, when they met yours, widened and he looked away, face filled with something- and then Jungkook, who was obviously furious and also worried- Yoongi, who, while seemingly calm had a tight, neutral expression- and Jimin and Taehyung, lingering somewhere beyond your current view.

“Iron Butcher.” You’d never heard Seokjin’s voice so cold before, not even when directed at you- you trembled, for a moment, just hearing it- Hoseok’s hands squeezed yours in support. “Harming innocent people is against the law, as I’m sure you’d know.”

“Hah,” Abbadon scoffed. “That isn’t a person, that’s only a vicious beast. I’m merely upholding my job as a protector.”

“It has been years since the war,” Yoongi’s voice was without any emotion. “Hunting dragons and dragging in innocent civilians is a crime worthy of many years of jail, not to mention you went for the Prince and the Savior.”

“Your best option would be to surrender.”

“And if I don’t want to?” Abbadon giggled.

“We’ll fuck you up,” Jungkook snarled. “For daring to lay even a hand on them. On her.”

Your heart warmed at his words, even as you wanted to protest. For a moment, there was silence- and then-

“... Ahhh, fine. I know when I’m out of my league.” Abbadon’s voice was light, airy- he spoke as if you were only discussing a friendly match. You shivered at the familiar tone- now aware of the hidden darkness he could easily switch into. You burrowed your head in Hoseok’s chest- your grip on him tight, and while a part of you was afraid of his rejection- he only pulled you in closer, until all sounds were muffled.

You counted the sound of his heartbeats, trying to will your breathing to adapt to its rhythm. One, two, three, four…

You could hear someone’s words as they tried to soothe you, though you trembled not just from fear, but also exhaustion.

“... It’s okay now, Y/N...”

Yet again, you fell unconscious before you could hear the rest of his words.