#that those words in particular connect with those locations
Note
hey! i really love ur writing! are your requests open?? if they are would you maybe write another arthur x reader fic? maybe something with arthur introducing his new girlfriend to the gang for the first time? thank uuu!!😊
𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓯𝓪𝓲𝓻𝔂 ,
❥ ˚₊‧ swishswishswish prattles the pink-tinted brush within your nimble hold. Each delicate tap against the swell of your soft cheeks swell even more with colour, adorning a scent you were far too familiar with— cherry-kissed by love herself. ˚₊‧
𝓑𝓔𝓕𝓞𝓡𝓔 𝓨𝓞𝓤 𝓟𝓡𝓞𝓒𝓔𝓔𝓓 ! ꒰ ❥ hyper-feminine ! reader ❥ female ! reader ❥ reader is mentioned to be physically shorter than characters mentioned below ❥ lovesick Arthur Morgan ❥ super-shy reader ❥ rugged cowboy bf x mini baker gf ❥ fluff ❥ Age gap implied ❥ 7k words ꒱
❥ arthur morgan x female! reader
꒰🍰꒱ “SWEET GATEAU” Written in all bold, the colour pink, carved in cursive. The board swings heavily amidst the top of the pole that sticks out to show off the demure place.
That was the name of your workplace. Located in the most populated city in the state of Lemoyne, Saint Denis. It was an obvious spot for cakes and pastries, considering that the literal meaning of ‘Gateau’ was cake in French. It stands out from most buildings surrounding it as do the connected shops beside it- large windows to display the sweet delicacies of riches on little shelves for those to glance at when passing by.
More-so.. advertising then teasing, you'd say.
The comforting, delicious fragrance of vanilla extract fills the air. You have yet to work on other requests commissioned by customers, though you focus solely on this particular order. Mainly because it was the easiest and much quicker to prepare.
A simple sponge plain cake with vanilla icing. Couldn’t be too hard.
You’re quite tempted to take a little swipe of the wet cream and taste it yourself- fortunately your temptations resist yet again because of repetition and practice. tiktiktik does the whisk in your hand go as it constantly scrapes against the bowl, the mixture hardens and becomes more of a fluffy-like texture rather than a wet clump of nice smelling liquid.
The comforting sound of the fire crackles with faint embers floating amongst the brick-encased oven. Inside the oven lay two lovely little flat cakes. Just exactly twenty minutes ago you’ve bestowed them upon a wooden flat board to dish out near the heat to harden up.
“Ten more minutes..” You mumble to yourself. Enough time to finish whisking the vanilla icing and pour into a pipe-bag.
You admire the prettiness of the sweet-tasting icing which was coated inside the surface of the bowl, before glancing at the paper-filled request again to make sure that you’ve been following the guide correctly. Thankfully enough, the woman who requested the small two layered cake wrote it on a piece of paper rather than verbally out loud. Her hand-writing was lovely, and so was she. At the end of the piece of paper, her signature was written out—
‘Mary-Beth. :-). Please do not forget the cherry on top !!!!’
You can’t help but giggle softly at the absurd amount of exclamation marks she wrote down. She was quite bubbly, and that lady was- very excited. From the looks of her- you were just at least a year or so younger than her. You remember she adorned a long skirt, dark pink in colour.. with her hair in a half down half updo. Freckles prettily placed on her skin. You recall stating to come pick up her order at around 8 in the morning tomorrow. The clock strikes 6 A.M. Two more hours until she can pick up her cake!
Long, dewy lashes tinker at the sound of the bells at the door jingling as a person enters. You were quick on your feet, miniature ribbon-tipped slippers softly tapping on the ceramic floor of this building, curiously peeking your dainty head from the corner. Another rich man seemed to peer around curiously at all the pastries and such inside, pondering if he should buy a few sweets. You weren’t one to really socialise, neither was he- from the looks of it. You could only offer the sweetest smile you could etch onto your face and shyly nod as he turned to you to acknowledge you, before returning back to the kitchen hidden from customers to work on the cake.
He could just ring the bell on the front counter to get your attention.
It was common for people to enter the little bakery, though at around 10-2 is when chatter becomes louder and you become more frantic.
And with that- ten minutes has passed. You clumsily get the cakes out of the oven and place it on the kitchenette's bench. Hot and rough-looking around the edges.. You could probably cover it up with the icing.
Before you do, you cover the first layer with the fluffy icing, before plopping the second layers on. This job was very therapeutic, you considered.
Droop does the vanilla sweetening go as you drown the plain cake with the sweet icing. Delicate swipes of a butter knife allowing it to smoothen amongst the hardened surface of the spongy delicacy. Plop! One little swirl of icing on top. And another.. and another.. Until it surrounds the whole edge of the cake. Oh, don’t forget! One big swirl in the middle of the cake, where the cherry shall be placed upon.
You can’t help but decorate the sides with little frosted hearts, the piping bag in your hand ever so sturdy as it squeezes most of the remaining out and onto the lovely decorated cake.
Was the decoration necessary? No, not really. But did it make you feel bubbly? Yes.
Ding!
You hear the sound of the silver bell reverberating against the metal itself just a few times from outside the kitchenette. You blink a few times, before toddling out and back at the counter. Seemed like the man from earlier had already decided on what to buy.
The sound of your meek, tiny voice can be heard echoing about and bouncing back to you. It was rather empty, considering that it was 6 in the morning-
“Welcome to Sweet Gateau! Where all your tastebuds experience sweet wonder and satisfaction. How may I help you?” Recitation of the same line allows you to memorise the whole thing completely. Sometimes you do change it up a bit just to have a bit of fun.
The man blinks at you.
He looks around before narrowing his eyes at you, sizing you up- albeit.. confused.
You want to ask what's wrong, did he perhaps get the shops wrong?
Perhaps it was his old eyes, or the way he perceived people by appearance. Maybe the tuft of pink on your uniform, or maybe the way you style your hair with ribbons and such. But looking at you, you looked as if you were just a..
“...Does this business support child labour?”
You stammer.
꒰🍰꒱ You are not one to argue with customers. Or argue at all.
But you’ve had to greatly convince the man that this place does not in fact, recruit people under the age of fourteen to work. He stumbles over his words as he realises that you were not actually in early adolescence, and to affirm his apology, he tips you a dollar. The wooden door which was pulled back allows the sweet little bells hung on top to jingle gently yet again as you see his retreating form with the paper bag of biscuits and sugary delicacies.
You smile happily. Another customer satisfied! though.. confused.
The clock strikes 7. One more hour until the lady can pick up her cake.
With a hum that sounded more like a serenade, you pack the cake into a small frilly-looking box, a sort of see-through material shaped in an oval which was built inside the frail box to allow the person to see the decorated cakes. Your beady eyes shimmer at the leftover frosting inside the piping bag.. maybe you could just have a little..
Your temptations are yet again disrupted by a flood of customers coming in. It was a Saturday, of course people were shopping at early dawn. The small crowd amidst the bakery mainly consisted of young ladies in friend groups admiring the pretty delicacies around, rich elderly retrospectively adorning the sweets from their childhood.
A squeak and a babble of incoherence once many line up, you're quick on your tippy toes to heat a tea-pot up with water near the brick-encased oven and organise many distributions of loose tea leaves.
Sometimes, you wonder if people did genuinely acknowledge their health since eating cakes and biscuits and other sweet stuff in the early morning wasn't really considered the healthiest breakfasts. Though, at least you earned a fair paycheck at the end.
A pretty smile feigned on your face until your apple-blossomed cheeks strained, as you recited the line over and over again to many customers who pointed at the delicacies they wanted to buy and eat. The fragrance of chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, it swirls into one and becomes a potent scent which drives more and more to eat up. You can’t help the giddy smile and the apple-blossom swelling with colour on your cheeks as you shyly peer at everyone who eats the pastry with delight. You’ve baked a few of the treats that linger in the bakery, and the soft moan at the end of the bite which signifies great pleasure in eating your own baked sweets allows your tummy to flutter with butterflies.
The tip jar starts to slowly fill every ten minutes. Quarters shine and tinker within the glass container, bidding every donation with a pleased 'thank you!' and a little wink.
It’s been an hour or so. Mary-Beth has yet to pick up her cake.
As if on cue, the bells attached on-top of the door chimes, producing the same little melodic drag. You look up to see the lady you were thinking about! Mary-Beth, if you recall correctly. You wave at her with a happy smile, and she reciprocates with a big grin obviously excited to see the order. From behind her slightly taller figure in comparison to you was followed by three more ladies, admiring the shop with a soft coo and a gasp.
“I told y'all this bakery was cute!” Said-woman falls with a bemused smile on her face.
“Twenty-five cents for a whole brownie! What a catch,” One nudges another.
“It has caramel in it!! C’mon Abigail, we oughta!” The lady with blonde hair almost whines, “It’ll be a good surprise for lil’ Jack!”
“Mh, I don’t know Karen..”
Mary-Beth eagerly comes to the counter, her dark rosetta coloured skirt swishing around as she does. “Hello, miss [name]!”
You smile in return, wiping your powered-up hands on your frilly light-pink apron, “Hi, Miss Gaskill. Your vanilla glazed cake is done. Are you here to eat in or to take out?” As nimble as you were, you can’t help but be comforted by the lady’s presence. A sunshine amongst a field of closed sun-flowers.
She almost seemed surprised at your words. Perhaps the usual shops that she went in did not offer such things. She ponders, before calling out to the three women who still stare at all the sweets on display, arguing with each other whether or not they should buy a few sweets, “Would you all mind quieting down!?”
You can’t help but softly giggle under your breath.
You patiently wait for Mary’s answer, that small grin still plastered on your face.
“Hm..” She hums, “Do you perhaps have spare plates and serviettes..?” She meekly asks.
“Of course!” You nod sweetly, “Give me a moment to prepare a table would you?”
“Oh! Okay,” She beams.
As you pass by, all of the girl’s bid you a “hi!”, “lovely place!” “hello!” You respond to them with a wave and a smile.
“She’s very pretty,” The black-haired girl whispers to Mary-Beth. She nods immediately at her response.
“She really is,” She agrees, “So lovely too! I think she's got to be the nicest girl I've ever met in Saint Denis.”
As the chatter in the bakery by other folks becomes a tad bit louder, you're too busy preparing four serviette-adorned plates. You nod to the lady waiting, she bickers with the others and allows them to toddle on over and take a seat. The legs of the chair scrape at the floorings below, some are mindful about the fact and instead of dragging it, they slightly elevate it to eliminate the scratchings.
“Oh! Right, would you like me to cut the cake?” You graciously ask.
She smiles and politely nods, “Yes please!”
Their prattling drowns out in silence as you waddle away back in the kitchenette to cut the cake.
Mary-Beth smiles at the other girls.
“So? How do y’all like it here?”
“It’s real fancy in here,” Abigail responds calmly, “Real pretty, though.”
“Mhm. Anywho.. How much did you pay for the cake?” Her blonde haired friend asks. She fiddles with the napkin on the plate, before placing it beside the food holder. She inhales the scent of the bakery, sighing sweetly.
She sheepishly grins, “Err.. five dollar.”
“I— Mary-Beth! My goodness..”
“Tilly, I promise you. It’s gon’ be real good!” She nudges the girl in the yellow dress.
"I better see miracles happening once I take a bite out of the cake," Karen- the blonde haired woman scoffs, allowing herself to get comfortable in the chairs. The two women beside her softly giggle at her bluntness.
The bold, sweet odour of the sugary vanilla glacé hits their nose, arriving with a slight wiggle inside the box as you carefully place it in the middle. Mary-Beth was the first to gently take the lid off, she gasped at the small decorations at the side. Little piped hearts.. "My, oh my.."
"Now, ain’t that just the cutest little thing i’ve ever seen?" Tilly coos.
You do a little curtsey, tipped with a sugary smile and doll your wispy lashes. "Enjoy, ladies!"
"Ah ah, wait a moment now- hold on!" Mary-Beth frantically stammers and tries to get your attention with a squeak once your small back is turned to them. It does, fortunately.
You turn back around, curious. Your head is slightly tilted to embody your confusion, beady eyes staring at the ladies whom seem to also want to keep you back here.
"I've seen you runnin' all about and uhm.. Do you ever take breaks, miss?" She curiously asks.
You blink. Was she offering..?
"I do," You respond truthfully, albeit shyly.
She sheepishly smiles, "Would you perhaps.. Like to enjoy this with us?"
You stammer, "I-I uhm, I'm not sure about that-"
The woman in blonde cuts you off, "Awh, c'mooon! C'mere and sit, girl. You need a damn break."
You hesitate again. "No, really-"
"Ahh, give us a break- c'mere now!" She cuts you off easily. The one whom insisted on you sitting down with them grabs a chair from an empty table, before easily plopping you down.
"What's yer name, lil' lady?" She asks with a smile.
You grin with a docile muse, saying hi to the other girls, "It's [name]."
"Ooh! Purdy name for an even purdier girl." She cheekily pats your pixie-like shoulder. Your cheeks pop with colour at her low-toned flirting
"I'm Karen, that's Tilly, Abigail, and of course, Mary-Beth. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance, little miss [name].”
Another girl pipes up, “Do you work here all alone, [name]?” Tilly— the one with the pretty yellow sundress asks with interest. She admires the interior of the building, how the edges of the roof had little floral pastry designs, on-going around the whole building and to the hidden kitchenette behind.
“Mhm!” You nod. Abigail raises her brows up, leaning slightly on the table. She has the mother-like aura which makes you feel ever-so giddy. She’s hushed in her tone, worried that she might make a scene if she spoke too loud, “Excuse me for intrudin’ but.. Ain't you a little… too young to be running this store all by yourself?”
“Ah!” Your cheeks become darker in hue. “I’m of legal age to work, miss. It’s just the frills ‘n the bows.”
Tilly was the first to serve herself a slice. She takes a small bite from the sweet delicacy, icing oozing out inside as she lets out a delightful hum. She finishes chewing it, before her eyes twinkle and she turns to you, “My goodness! And you baked this all by yourself?”
“Uhuh, I’m so glad you like it.” You clasp your hands together happily. Mary-Beth is eager to get a slice, then Abigail, then Karen.
“Okay, maybe the dollar was kind of worth it for this cake..” Karen mumbles quietly, poking her fork at the sweet cake.
Mary-Beth cheekily nudges Tilly’s shoulder, “Seeee? I knew you’d like it.”
You look around, noting yourself that you should give them something to drink to drown that sucrose-filled treat. You excused yourself from the table, the little frills etched on the back of your small skirt bobbling about like a tiny princess toddling about. You’re quick to bringing a teapot over, with a few porcelain-like cups stacked on top as you gently place it on the table.
“Wait- er.. Does the tea cost extra?” Mary-Beth asks, raising a finger before lowering it down as it catches your attention.
You raise a brow, “It’s free.”
“I could quite literally kiss you right now,” She beams, allowing you to pour the hot tea in the cups which were given out to the women around.
The overall vibe amongst the interior was pleasant. The small, gossamer-bunched bonnet on your head tilts a bit as you lean down to tip the fragile teapot.
As you carefully pour the hot liquid, you hear them conversing with each other as usual. Though you tend to take a blind eye- or ear in this case, you can’t help but be a tad bit curious to their little gossip.
“D’you reckon we should’ve invited Molly over?” Abigail asks.
“Oh- Maybe. I feel like she'll like it here, but I also have this feeling she’ll just fan herself away and give us nasty looks the whole time.” Tilly mumbles, delicately cooing out a 'thank you' as you poured a cup of tea for her. The tea swishes and sloshes against the cup as she drinks from it with her pinkie out.
Karen snorts, "You're so right. Just one touch from Dutch, and she's ready to take over the world. Miss primp and polish she is till' mister Dutchie doesn't give her a lick of affection."
Mary-Beth gasps softly, "Karen!" She calls her name as if to scold her, only for a small chuckle to follow after.
Your curiosity is visible, but you don't say anything. You're one to entertain gossip, but you aren't one to prod- considering that you've only met these lovely ladies.
They finished the small cake in another hour. Currently, you were situated behind the mini counter serving a few customers amongst the treats they wanted to buy.
"Ah, that was real good." Abigail wipes her mouth with the napkin provided, in a more rushed sense- an underlying feeling that she wasn’t so used to these kinds of etiquette.
"Maybe we should buy sumthing! We ain't gonna visit 'Denis for a while unless if we like- beg Arthur or sumn' to come wit', so I reckon we should give ourselves a little treat after all the things we've been through."
"We should buy them caramel brownies.."
"C'mon, c'mon! Lets get it then," Karen ushers Tilly and Abigail out of their seats once they've finished up, Mary-Beth following after with a giggle.
"[name]! These brownies cost twenty-five cents a bar don't they?" Mary-Beth calls out, pointing at the display at the front. Oozing with caramel delight, encased with a delicious chocolate coating which makes her swoon at the beautiful sight.
"It does, yes." You nod with a shy smile.
"Goodness, [name]. These prices are kinda high.. Reckon' you can give us a lil'.. discount? Y'know! Since we're friends!" Karen winks.
You shyly ponder, "Mhh.. Alright, why not?" As said before, you weren't really one to argue. Besides, they were sweet girls.
"Woo-hoo!" They cheer with a giggle, before eagerly grabbing the little tong at the side to grab a slice.
"A bar of brownie.. 20 cents." You bargain.
Karen shrugs, "Good enough." And she hands you the coins.
You hear them all bidding you a good-bye, and a cheeky "Expect to see me here again!!"
The door closes, and you're left with the constant conversations on-going. You stare at the shining coins placed in your hands, and can’t help the pleasurable feeling of gentle-tipped joy flood your tummy.
꒰🍰꒱ Morning dawn comes.
Another day at the bakery.
You rise slowly from your beauty sleep. The silky gossamer curtains flow slightly from the wind, as the sun shines pink and yellow lights from the half open windows of your room. The wood creeks beneath your light footsteps as you grumble on to get ready for the morning.
Lazy pats of coloured light pink powder is gently flushed against your cheeks, the small ribbon-tipped brush rattles because of the amount of use it's been through. Your hair is done prettily, silky bows attached to the side which matches the coloured powder you put on your dewy face. It takes you a tad longer to arrange your morning routine into a real situation, until you're out of the door and walking on the path to the bakery.
Pushing past the entrance, you hear those bells chime a little ballad that was always memorable and will never be forgotten.
Though it may be a nuisance to look at the same things constantly, you are always reminded that this place was a safe-zone for anyone or anything. Mainly because at the entrance hangs a low sign on the door handle that entrees prohibit the use of weapons and must take it off before entering the store.
Suddenly, your thoughts are interrupted as the entrance opens to the same women from yesterday. Though, two older men are accompanying them from behind, albeit.. begrudgingly.
"-I don't think this store is the right thing f' me.." He grumbles, you can see from behind the counter that Abigail was holding his hand, perhaps her lover. She glares and hisses at him, pinching his arm. "Quiet, you."
"Y'sure this place sells them biscuits I like?" The one in dirty blonde seemed low-key embarrassed to be in here, scratching at his head as he looks around. His hat is tilted to obscure his eye-sight. Your curious eyes widen a bit as his own stares at yours. You quickly avert your eyes with a soft blush etched on your cheeks.
"They sell all kinds of sweets 'n' delicates," Tilly pipes up, slightly hitching her long skirt up with her thumb and index finger. Shoes clack gently against the floral-designed tiles, eyes wandering around the familiar place. "I'm sure you'll find those dumb biscuits you keep talkin' about!"
"[name]!!" Mary-Beth was the first to run to the counter with a giddy smile, "Told ya I'd be coming back."
You have a small smile on your face, "Welcome back, miss Gaskill!" You do a tiny curtsey with your frill-bunched apron and skirt.
She giggles, "Goodness, [name]. You are too cute for your own good."
She perks up, "Ah! We brought a few friends over. This here's John," She points to the man who grumbled a 'hi', crossing his arms. He clearly does not want to be here. The woman who clings onto his arms scolds him quietly for being so ‘impolite’. You hide your lips behind your hand to stifle your soft giggle.
“That’s Arthur.” Mary-Beth points to the man who looks at the biscuits section. Topped with a black shirt and a vest which had a unique design, he seemed.. very determined to find those biscuits he mentioned earlier when entering the bakery. He looks around curiously, the little flower-y paint-job is something he expected for a small little bakery like this one here.
He’s holding onto his belt whilst striding to the counter lazily, before curiously looking at you. Cold, dark eyes peer at you like a lone wolf about to catch it’s prey for lunch. You meekly shrink just a bit as you feel him size you up with his daring gaze.
“Howdy, miss.” He greets casually.
You slowly nod, very shy with your greeting. Your quiet voice echoes loudly in his ears. He unconsciously has to lean just a bit to even hear you. “Hello, welcome to sweet Gateau..” A smile forms on your face as you see his brows relaxing slightly at your harmless form. Suddenly, he’s as bashful as a kid being told off for causing a ruckus. He looks around with a narrowed gaze, before looking back at you. A soft grunt escapes his lips.
“..Do ya’ll make uh.. Osborne biscuits?” He asks in a low tone.
You brighten up.
“Oh! Yes we do. Would you like a bag?” You ask with that same pixie-like smile which makes him soften up even more. Something.. catches his eye. He’s not sure what though.
“Ah, um.. Yes please, miss.” He tilts his head to obscure his eyes from your view.
You mumble a little ‘excuse me,’ to push yourself off your shoes to retrieve his request. He watches the way your fluffy-frilled skirt bobbles up and down.
Very.. cute.
A tap to his shoulder, and a soft snicker catches his attention. He turns around.
“Whuh.. What?” Arthur blinks at the three ladies who stare at him with a big grin. He was stunned at the abnormal behaviour they were currently showing off.
“Yer cheeks are real red.” Mary-Beth comments. Tilly has to hide her soft chuckle with her hand the corner of her eyes becoming alike of a crows feet to acknowledge her amusement.
“They are?” He quirks a brow, crossing his arms. Though imposing, he’s as docile as a lamb when it comes to the ladies, “Yer jokin’ with me.”
“Are not!” Karen laughs, “Don’t tell me you like her already. Ya’ll only just met!”
Arthur looks defensive, he narrows his eyes at the women in-front of him. “The hell you talkin’ bout?” He rests on the soles of his feet, nervously looking around. Anywhere but in their eyes.
“It’s as plain as daylight, cowpoke. No shame in hidin’ it, she’s real cute.”
Unaware of their conversations lingering in the background, you come back with the bag of Osborne biscuits. located within a transparent plastic bag and secured with a ribbon. A sticker in the middle with the bakery's emblem on it It rests delicately in your palm as you blithely toddle up front. The chatting suddenly ceases when you return.
“Apologies for taking a while,” You apologise sweetly, placing the biscuits on the counter. He brightens up entirely at the cute packaging of the biscuits he was craving for for so long.
“Don’t sweat it,” He opens the satchel hanging over his shoulder, “How much?”
“Fifty cents for a bag.” You watch him throw a few coins onto the counter. You smile sweetly, counting the coins before placing them inside the cash register. The swelling of your cheeks become just a tad bit more prominent as his fingers linger on yours to grab the bag out of your hand once you push it lightly in his direction.
You do a tiny curtsy. So much alike of a princess who expresses their gratitude to a king. “Thank you for ordering!”
He could only nod, scratching at his stubble as he awkwardly looked away. “Yeah. Uh.. No problem.”
“Do we really needa be feedin’ Jack all this? He’s gon’ be diabetic once he grows up if we keep feeding him this stuff..” John and Abigail bicker in the background which catches both of your attention. You can’t help the amused smile on your face at his comment. Though he was trying to be quiet, these walls echoed right back at you.
“Are.. They always like this?” You can’t help but question the sweet- or.. something couple from the back. It was cute in your eyes. Arthur can’t help the grin forming on his face.
“Their way of showing love I guess,” He leans on the counter with the biscuits in his hand. Then, he slowly turns his head to you, “Er.. What’s yer name?”
“[name],” You squeak in response to the handsome man.
He blinks. Without hesitation, he says with a soft hum— “Purdy name.”
Your cheeks become the same pigment of powder you apply on your temples. You look down at the ground, your hands behind your back as you can’t help the giddy smile on your face, “Thank you..”
Arthur is curious to learn more. He's fascinated by the personality you portray. With a pixie-like physique and a timid mindset akin to a doe, a stark contrast to his.
“How uh.. How long have you been workin’ here? In sweet..” He pauses awkwardly, trying to think of a way to say the final word in a mumble without looking or sounding ignorant.
“Gateau,” You finish his sentence for him with a light smile. He’s thankful that he didn’t hear a soft giggle at the end. Perhaps you were trying to save him from looking pitiful. Or maybe you were really just a decent-hearted girlie.
You do not notice the way the other ladies looked back at you and Arthur with a cheeky smile.
“Ah, yeah. Sweet Gateau,” He clears his throat with an oafish, low beam.
You can’t really remember the exact date you started working in this petite patisserie, but you give him a rough estimation of when you started. He nods with an interested hum, seemingly curious about your story. He didn’t seem like a man who would indulge in small-chat. But for you, he did.
“We’re leavin’, Arthur! We all got what we wanted!” One of the women calls out to him, causing him to be startled at the abrupt calling.
He clears his throat shyly again. “Ah.. Um.. I should get goin’. Only came here to see if ya’ll had ‘em in stock. Glad you guys did.” His words were nothing but gentle- waving even. As if Arthur didn’t want to leave just yet. You nod kindly, letting a tiny blossom of adoration to slowly develop inside your tummy.
“Come back next time,” You faintly add, shyly waving at him with a sweet beam.
He has a low smile, “Oh, I will.”
Your heart stammers a bit.
The door closes. The sound of multiple footsteps creaking amongst wooden floorboards is heard.
John’s looks at the cowpoke who strides next to him. He’s careful not linger near the dirt-path, noting to himself to not get his boots so dirty. A nudge to his arm is what gets Arthur away from his thoughts.
“What the hell was that?”
Arthur glowers. “What’s what?”
“Don’t play dumb, cowpoke. Saw how you looked at ‘er.”
“I don’t know what yer’ talkin’ about.”
The conversation ends there. Either John was becoming frustrated with his ignorance his words were stuck in his throat, or he gave up entirely to persuade the man’s attraction to the girl behind those doors.
꒰🍰꒱ To your utmost surprise, Arthur Morgan slowly yet surely becomes a common face within Sweet Gateau.
It’s not to say he was unwelcome in the premises, rather more.. how should you say this, amusing to say the least.
A man who stands firm and tall at a whopping 6’4 in height, who carries a gun at his side with a rifle almost as big as you- with a sharp gaze that could pierce your heart as quick as a glance in your direction, stands in a small bakery with light pink fairy-like cakes and floral themed walls. Perched up on a table with his little snack whilst scribbling down things on that journal he always took. You wonder what he writes about.
With his constant visits, it’s clear that you’ve down packed his order to your brain.
Osborne biscuits with a small cup of coffee.
You wonder if that man likes to torture himself with such blandness. No sugar, no milk, just coffee. It’s as bitter as it can be- if you can smell that bittersweet scent from just a few centimetres away.
Sometimes he would come up to you for a small chat to probably make you feel less lonely as you sweep away at a dusty corner for a few minutes straight. Other times he would just mind his own business, munching away on those plain biscuits he always orders.
It’s been a few weeks since seeing the other girls. Sometimes you ask Arthur to say hi to them for you, and he always comes back with a lazy grin saying that they miss you and hope you’re doing well despite only knowing each other for a few days.
The bell rings up front.
You know it’s him from the way he slowly strides to the counter, a quiet grunt escaping his lips as a faint jingle of spurs become evident the more he walks closely.
You truly cannot help the blossoming smile which etches on your face.
“Good afternoon, Mister Morgan. Welcome to sweet Gateau,” You welcome him with a slight lean on the counter. You can’t help that cheeky expression, “The usual?”
“Y’know me.” He nods at your words, “The usual, please.” Baritone and deep, his voice was. It almost sends a shiver down your spine.
You watch him turn his back to go sit at one of the more secluded spots in the bakery, deep into a corner. A diary in hand, with a pencil busily being worn down on the papers. The sounds of led scratching at the fibres of the white expansion of pages is heard easily from afar. It’s calming to say the least.
You’re quick with the order, almost giddy as you place the plate of those plain biscuits on his table with his bitter coffee. He gives you a small ‘thank ya’ kindly.’ before returning back to his sketching on something.
In just under twenty minutes will the bakery close. It’s quiet, with only a few people including Arthur relaxing in the wooden chairs placed within the interior.
You’re busy within the kitchenette, allowing the brick-encased oven to be put out completely. Washing up all the equipment you’ve used to make and create such food, soapy bubbles floating everywhere. The sounds of the door opening and closing is heard, many of the customers served leaving with a small tip inside that jar of yours up front.
Slowly yet surely, you wipe down the benches of the kitchenette before putting the rag back down. You walk up to the counter with a soft yawn from the tiring day.
A soft clearing of a throat catches your attention. You blink a few times and see Arthur.
“Oh! I thought you would’ve left a while ago,” You smile. Though you’re not very keen on customers staying five minutes before closing time, you’ll be very glad to make an exception for Arthur.
“Sorry, uh..” He awkwardly scratches at the back of his head, “Reckoned It’d be better to give this to you in private.”
You tilt your head sweetly, almost puppy-like. His heart squeezes at the simple yet innocent gesture. What was he giving you?
With that, he hands you a piece of paper, folded in half just once with a small heart at the corner. Your eyes light up immediately, as you shyly take the piece of paper- one which was from his diary he probably torn off, considering that one edge of the paper was bumpy and rough.
You mumble out a shy ‘thank you’, very curious and opening it with one simple hand gesture.
You feel like the luckiest girl alive.
A pretty led-based sketch of you. You were drawn with your usual frilly outfit on, the bakery drawn in the background. He drew every single detail on your face so accurately, it sort of amazes you. The small beauty mark was in the correct spot, with your eyes big and sparkly.
You softly gasp, putting a small hand over your mouth to not look like a dummy in front of him, “Arthur..”
“It ain’t the best but..” He averts his gaze, “I couldn’t help but draw ya. You just looked..” Pretty. Beautiful. Adorable. Cute. “—..Lovely.”
“Ain’t the best?” You scoff. “This is so beautiful, Arthur. Y—You got the bow, too! And the outfit, and the background..” You beam sweetly.
“Thank you so much,” You keep the drawing close to your chest. You note to yourself mentally to buy a picture frame, “This is so beautiful, Arthur. I love it!”
He holds his gaze low, cheeks slowly burning from the praise you squeaked out. He awkwardly shifts, before bidding you a goodbye.
You open the piece of paper one last time, flipping it over to see a message written in cursive which read:
‘Kinda weird to write this but I heard you were free tomorrow. Would you like to walk around the park nearby with me? I’ll probably be around there at 8 in the morning, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to. —A.M ◡̈’
For a man like him, you’d never thought his handwriting was alike of a fairy tale novel.
꒰🍰꒱ swishswishswish prattles the pink-tinted brush within your nimble hold. Each delicate tap against the swell of your soft cheeks swell even more with colour, adorning a scent you were far too familiar with— cherry-kissed by love herself.
You are very adamant in looking like a right pixie for today.
Last night you could not get much sleep because of the excitement your heart held. You were dying to meet Arthur again without being in the same frilly uniform you always wore, a face coated with powder not from your beauty products but from pastries you make and serve.
You adorn a floral patterned dress, with a pretty pearl necklace. The hat you wore was similar to a southern belle darling sun-hat, but less brim and less flowers, a simple laced bow tied around the rim instead. And of course, your signature laced bows clipped in your hair.
As pretty as a porcelain doll you were.
Your ballerina-like flats click gently on the cemented pavement down towards the park. The scent of steam and machine slowly transition to more of a petrichor-like smell as you near the park.
There he was, standing around the entrance, admiring the flowers from beyond. You can’t help the soft giggle escaping your lips as he looked behind him and went immediately silent at the sight of your beauty. It was almost coincidental on how the flowers around gently wavered by and shined more brighter once you passed by with a shy smile.
“Hi,” You greet him softly- almost too gentle for his liking. Your hands are positioned behind your back, with the soles of your feet resting on the ground as you tilt your head to maintain eye contact with him. You notice his hair was slicked back a bit, and his attire was more cleaner than usual.
“Hey,” He replies back. He lends out an arm for you to hold, and you do so happily. He looks everywhere but your direction.
He clears his throat with a bit of hesitancy. “Thought you weren’t comin’. Hell, I thought you didn’t even see the message I wrote on the back.”
“Why wouldn’t I go?” You smile eagerly, “It’s nice to be somewhere else for a change. Being cooped up in that bakery can sometimes make me feel dizzy.” That was the longest sentence he’s ever heard you mutter.
“I reckon smelling the same sweets over ‘n’ over again would make ya go crazy” He replies cheekily. His eyes size you up again. Slowly yet surely. A little fairy you were, with beauty no other. He opens his mouth to say something, anything- but he slowly shuts it.
And suddenly, he builds up enough courage to say something.
“You look.. Real pretty.” He quietly mutters. Lovely doe-like eyes stare up at him again- and how quick did his knees almost buckle was a good comparison to his latest duel.
“..You think I look pretty?”
He slowly nods, scratching at the stubble on his chiselled jaw with his other hand, “The prettiest.”
He’s not sure if the glittering pink powder on your cheeks becomes more prominent as seconds pass by. He watches you slowly become sheepish and giddy under his sharp gaze. You fight the curled corner of your lips to turn downwards, but alas you give up immediately as you quite literally melt under his touch.
You shyly stutter out a small “Thank you.” The grip on his arm becomes just a tad bit tighter.
The silence was nothing but comfortable despite it being a bit awkward at the start. After his compliment, you can’t help that fluttering feeling of love bursting inside, up in the skies lays an imaginary cherubim whom shoots those heart-shaped arrows quickly into your heart as you glance at him another time.
And it seemed that the cherubim shot his arrow in his heart, too.
“I loved that drawing you made f’ me yesterday,” You mutter. High-pitched yet so soothing in tone- was your voice. Almost mellifluous, like a serenade similar to those soft jingles heard in the entrance of the bakery, “I never knew you could draw.”
He chuckles lightly, “Yeah, figured. I don’t really look like the type to draw, do I?”
“No, not really.” You softly giggle, “But it’s.. it’s cute.” The way your tone changes pitch at the end makes him conclude of how your intentions were supposed to be.
He quirks a brow. A slow smirk curling on his face.
You catch on immediately. Your cheeks become the same pigment of blush you used, “I-I didn’t mean it like that—”
His soft laugh interrupts you. “No, no. I get ya, I get ya.”
You can’t help but look away from embarrassment. Just a few minutes in and he’s unconsciously teasing you.
“Hey.. Look at me.” He narrows his eyes at your little show.
You don’t.
“C’mooon, it ain’t such a big deal..” He’s about to grab your chin to make you look his way. Though his hand backs away when he sees those beady eyes of yours slowly coming back to maintain eye contact.
He smiles unconsciously at your sweetness. “Yeah. Good girl.”
He unconsciously brushes your cheek with his thumb. You puff your cheeks out immediately, heart hammering in your chest at the title. You cross your arms in-front of your chest, hand resting on your fore-arm. He quietly notes to himself how pretty your hand would be if a ring was seen on your ring finger.
Suddenly, you feel your heart drop. You want to say something, anything.
“Arthur?” Your hand suddenly goes to his sleeve, tugging it softly to get his attention.
“Mhm?” He responds, tilting his head down to meet your gaze.
Suddenly, you feel like your tongues all tied up inside your mouth. Your mind is in shambles and you’ve suddenly forgotten every word in the English dictionary as his pretty eyes stare at you as if you were an ethereal being.
“I.. er,” You fiddle with the small frills of the end of your dress, “N—nevermind.”
“Hey, now.” He comes a bit closer with that boyish charm smile. The faint scent of hair pomade and wood makes you swoon just a bit more, “You can’t just back off like that, c’mon.. tell me.”
“I..” You hesitantly start off. “What.. What are we, Arthur?”
He seemed to be a bit caught off guard with the abrupt question. You catch onto his quietness, and immediately you shrink out of embarrassment. You feel ashamed, flustered for even asking that!
You dare try to look at him in the eyes once more, “I- I’m sorry I shouldn’t have—”
“Don’t apologise.”
You slowly blink when he cuts you off.
He’s a bit difficult to read at this moment as he processes his words. He looks at you a few times, gosh did his heart beat fast.
Then, he slowly opens his mouth. “I.. I ain’t so sure myself. But I just..” He takes a deep breath, “I like you, a lot. Yer a real lovely girl, a good girl. But you shouldn’t be with a man like me, miss.”
You feel yourself falter, “Wh— What? Why?”
He shakes his head. He’s hesitant. He doesn’t want to answer, but for your sake he does.
“I.. ain’t a good man, [name].” He tries to explain to you. “Never was in the start. ‘N I don’t want you gettin’ into trouble just cuz people seen you with me.”
You narrow your eyes, allowing him to continue on and elaborate. You feel like the happiest woman alive, but the saddest.
“I’m..” He looks around to see if anyone was listening, and he leans in just a bit, “I’m an outlaw, sweetheart.”
“…And?”
He’s taken aback once again. The garden amongst you quietens as soon as you uttered out that single word. You feel awfully thankful because of the fact that no one was around you.
You feel like this’ll be the most stupidest decision in your life. Your heart and brain yearns for the man that stands in front of you, who holds you like a porcelain doll and who treats you like the prettiest princess alive.
“I— I don’t care if.. if yer an outlaw.” You stutter out, “You’ve made me feel things I’ve never felt before and I..”
Both his hands come to yours, fingers coming to intertwine with yours. The bold contrast between your skin and size told you everything. Calloused filled, scar-stricken hairy hands paired with hands that were always smoothened, delicately cared with little to no blemishes. He squeezes your hands firmly.
“Darlin’..” He sighs, “I don’t want you to get hurt ‘cuz of me, ‘s all I’m saying.”
“Please, Arthur.” You plead silently. You’re not even sure what you’re begging for at this moment. You want him, and he wants you. He looks so conflicted, his demeanour falls as soon as you use those puppy eyes you were blessed with. Long lashes slowly fall down, which rises and shows those glistening pearls of coloured irises.
“..Damn.” He kisses his teeth out of pure irritation over the situation. Not because of you, never. But because of the decisions which ultimately resulted in the worst. He looks at you one more time.
“You’re real needy thing y’know that?” He grunts lowly before leaning in slowly to press his lips on your forehead. Immediately do you melt in his arms, you cling onto him like the princess you were.
He holds you closely. Your face meets his chest, and his arms are wrapped around your waist, “You really wanna get with me huh?”
“Yes,” You reply, out of breath at the touch. “More than anything.” You continue on with a sweet whimper which makes his desires go crazy in his mind.
“You’re gon’ be in for a real long ride, sweetheart.” He mutters softly in your ear.
You don’t hesitate to answer back. “I don’t mind.”
“You really sure?” He asks one more time, “Y’can’t back out once yer with me. You’re mine from then on, y’hear?”
“All yours.” You nod once again.
꒰🍰꒱ “I’ve been thinking.”
The brush in your hand is slow in movement, before placed down gently on the table below. A brow is quirked at the sound of your beau’s voice which rattled in your head.
It’s been over few months or so since you’ve gotten together. When he couldn’t visit, he’d send letters with the sweetest words. You’ve kept them all in a small box which cheekily peaked out in the corner of your room, right on top of your mahogany wardrobe.
“You oughta meet m’ family.” He bluntly states.
“Your family?” You tilt your head.
He nods, scratching at the stubble on his angular jaw. Your eyes catch the slight tremble his hand had when it was coming to his jaw, and you can’t help but be even more curious.
“Lemme rephrase that.. Reckon you should come meet my gang. They’re my family, in a way.”
You hesitate at the word ‘gang’. Obviously, by that word alone it insinuated meanings which you were taught to be aware.
“Don’t you worry, they’re all nice people,” He brings up a hand to place on-top of yours, “You don’t have meet ‘em if you don’t feel ready yet, ‘m just saying.”
You shyly smile up at him.
“I’ll meet them.”
His crinkled eyes widen in surprise, “You will?”
“Mhm,” You nod, “Oh- Just give me some time to prepare, will you?”
“Right, right. You go do your little princess activities which’ll span for over a whole five hours.” He teases. He earns a glare from your puppy face, something he’s all too familiar with.
“Quiet, you.”
“The hell are you even doing in there? Does it really have to take you a whole two hours to pick an outfi— Ouch.” A sock clumsily hits his face.
Surprisingly, it didn’t take you a whole five hours to get ready. Before you could grab the necklace on your desk, Arthur reaches from behind to grab those dainty pearls of yours before clasping it behind your neck himself. He slowly leans in to delicately place a soft kiss on your sensitive neck before standing up to dust himself.
“Y’ready, sweetheart?” He asks with a low drawl.
“Mhm!” You smile happily, clinging to his arm.
Outside from the building you lived in has a small horse post outside to hitch said animals. He leads you to a horse far more taller than him, quite literally towering over you. With the least of efforts, he picks you up from the waist to plop you on the saddle, before he himself hitches on the magnificent mare.
It took over an hour to travel to some sort of densely packed trail. You can’t help but tilt your head at the location, tilting your head up to question the man who lazily rode the horse behind you. His chest was quite a good alternative for a pillow.
“..You live here?”
He snorts, “Er.. Kinda. You’ll see.”
Not long do you see a large campsite, you feel yourself shrink at the sound of.. new people.
Sure you worked at a job where you had to talk to people. But you weren’t the best at keeping up a conversation with.. criminals, you could say.
“Arthur’s back, Arthur’s back!” A little boy’s voice rings through your ears, you can’t help but curiously peak from his shoulder to see whom it was. A young boy with brown hair- blue coat and a tooth missing. He eagerly points to the man as he enters in the vicinity.
“Ooh, ‘n he’s brought a girl..” The young boy ushers a woman far too familiar to come over.
“He what now?” The sound of a few footsteps were heard- oh gosh did you feel as nervous as a doe trying to not stumble on its legs.
“A girl?”
“Don’t tell me we’ve got another mouth to feed.”
“She’s real purdy.”
“She seems fancy..”
“[name]?”
You jump at the sound of your name being called- you look behind to see.. Mary-Beth!
“Oh!” Arthur hops down, picking you up from the horse to settle you onto the ground. You eagerly smile at the woman you knew well.
“What are you doing here?!” The book-worm asks with a squeal, rushing to you for a hug.
“I— I could ask you the same thing!” You stammer as you feel yourself getting lifted up a bit from the ground, hugging her tightly back.
Arthur coughs to interrupt the soft chattering, “I’d like you all to meet m’ girl. No touching, ‘cept for the girls ‘n Jack.”
“Ha! Knew you had a thing for her—” You hear a raspy voice from afar, near the little boy you presumed was named Jack. You’ve seen him before, and if you could recall.. His name was John. A flick to the forehead is what you see between your beloved and him.
“Tilly ‘n the others are here somewhere finishing chores up,” Mary-Beth beckons a few of the girls to come over. Karen was the first to bid you a ‘hello!!!’
“Y’got any cake for us?” She jokingly asks. Her eyes widen when she realises she’s spoken too soon when she sees the few boxes of treats which were stacked and tied with a pink bow neatly on top of Arthur’s horse.
“[name], I think ‘m gonna kiss you.” Karen walks away to grab one box for herself. You let out a giggle as you go and greet the other girls.
Fortunately for you, everyone was welcoming and homey well um, except for one. But you’ve heard from most that he’s always like that.
“It’s quite a surprise for Arthur to bring a woman back to camp,” An old man to which you’ve became comfortable talking with for a while sits next to you. Hosea was his name, for some reason does he remind you of your grandfather.
“Oh? How so?” You shyly question. His warm eyes stare at your figure endearingly.
“Well for starters, he usually scares them off.”
“Hosea.” Your love comes to your side, embarrassed at his words.
“It’s quite true! Here, let me tell her about the story of when you…”
For the rest of the day, you were treated carefully and lovingly. You weren’t sure what you’d expect from a gang filled with criminals and thieves, but you could surely say that they were a sweet group of people.
You’ll be expecting a large sum of visitors on the following days, and perhaps a small ring soon enough.
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Welcome to the shitshow
We have:
A ✈ sighting. No pics.
The MPC live, scarce details. No rings. Spartan decor. Suntan and out of Bonnie Scotland. No further details on destination, which might or might not be the same as the flight. Mark me, I think it is - he is in Gran Canaria and for a very precise reason: keeping his part of the deal and his Onlies on tenterhooks.
C is seen in Marseille, hullaballoo ensues. We pinpoint some coincidental details. I was expecting the shite to hit the fan in 4, 3, 2, 1...
And it did. With both sopranos hinting at the same person, but only one brave (or rather foolish enough) to push a name out there. Disingenuous, to say the least - but oh, how convenient for any given agenda. Because it's too easy, when you give out a name to a thirsty crowd to say: 'well, of course it's because of the shippers! They did this or that (sky is the limit)! They are to blame!' (excuse me?) and 'well, of course they won't say a word, now' (how convenient if the thing does not stick, eventually).
That was, IMHO, a strategic mistake and the petticoat is showing across the pond.
Around the same time, I started to get a different kind of Anon, day after day after day. Very brutal. Foul-mouthed. And...with some intel. I answered the first, but then when things started to 'happen', the coin dropped very quickly that: a) I did hit a nerve and b) someone or some people wanted me to push this particular agenda - remember when...?
For reference:
And then today, just in time for the long, boring, chilly and even snowy (depending on your location) week-end, the bomb dropped and the cargo was juicy:
A name. A woman. A gym. Not one, but three suspicious videos: the one with the leg, the one with the clear voice (unmistakably S!) and the one with the dog (and more S voiceover). How nicely connected. How fucking perfect.
An Airbnb close to the gym. What would a single woman traveler do in a three-bedroom gargantuan villa all by herself, when you are in Winterbird Central with a bajillion other accommodation options, is beyond any logic. So easily and lazily - OMG, date!
Unless...
Unless you conveniently forget some details:
Not one, but three different promos/endorsements, with a discount code to boot - 10% off, how nice!
The one that has been discussed by just about everyone:
The one that provided the discount code for new subscribers: Gymshark, a fitness attire manufacturer (https://eu.gymshark.com/).
And the most important one, hiding behind a humble hashtag: #metcon. Now I don't know you, but I'd rather digress about tea parlors and bookstores, and so had no fucking idea Metcon was, in fact...
Yup. Nike. A very recent model - expensive and sure, in need of immediate product placement/promo:
And so, for tax reasons, she just had to (mandatorily) include the #ad (as in advertisement, lest we'd not have naive Anons again!) hashtag.
Also, this, posted along the short reel with S's voice (but who cared, all 👂were there and only there):
That woman was working. She has, after all, 450k Insta followers. If she and S met at a gym in a winter destination very sought after by Scots should be none of our business. If they met again or have a regular training schedule does not mean they fuck or that we're going to look out for Remarkable Week-end 2.0. If they met in Hyrox GLA - so what? What is this, I beg your pardon, Gilead? People just can't hang out, like ever, I mean men and women?
🙄
But.. but... the gargantuan villa...?
Och. Sure enough, the place is correctly identified. You can check chez Marple. I am not posting it, because I do not want to and by now, I trust just about everyone has seen those pics. But this time, I am not going there. The name of that villa, even, made me laugh like a drain. I mean how more in your face can they be?
Who footed the bill of this rather comfy PR shitshow, reminiscing of Ha-wa-wee, 🐰 and whatever else you could think of? SRH?
Perhaps. But what if Nike did, as a freebie to a very good promoter? They sure can spare the dime and, to be honest, as we speak, there is no sign S and her share anything else than a gym schedule. What tells us with absolute certainty, at least at this moment in time, she is not there with friends, family or even a group of fellow promoters, Avon-style?
Oh, and the world is definitely a handkerchief, especially in GLA, it would seem. Wanna know who also follows her on Insta?
Paul Donnelly. Nope, not the chef. This Paul Donnelly:
The one who literally owes S a shitload of cash. A post that earned me a report (I was just explaining, if I remember correctly, that S would have been wise to legally secure that hefty loan, nothing more).
And now you know what? That post is gone, vanished, poof and I have no idea why. I surely did not take it down, I never do this.
And surely enough, just before I started writing, Filthy Anon came back and warned me there was more (pics, 👅👄) about McFitness. Surely enough, the same info (albeit toned down) was picked up by *urv in her comments' thread, about twenty minutes after Anon dropped by.
Agenda, anyone? God forbid!
You draw your own conclusions. I can only very honestly say:
Welcome to the Shitshow - the Winter Edition!
This page is not going to follow blindly your script, whoever you are. This page simply hopes to cleverly hit a nerve every time it considers necessary. Other than that, big effing deal, really. Ship on.
Sorry for the length. I was never good at summing up.
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Pathologic Bachelor ARG Megapost
This post is a culmination of months of (mostly my own) research into the Bachelor ARG. For far too many days and far too many hours, I’ve been doing my best to solve this, with the help of a few other people. I looked very deep into most Fyodor Vitin posts, played through The Marble Nest several times, looked extensively through the Pathologic wiki, and read/analyzed countless outside sources for this post, and I will link as many of them as I can. (If there are links that you think would help the ARG that you’d like included in here with credit please let me know.) For any people that are credited, an “@” before their name implies that it’s a Tumblr username, while a “u/” proceeding their name implies it’s a Reddit username. I have discovered and analyzed dozens of leads, some of which are more likely to be important or intentional on the part of IPL than others. The primary purpose of this post is to give all of you Pathologic fans new leads and theories to analyze in pursuit of solving the mystery behind this ARG, so many of the things within this post should be looked into further! With this post, I will lay out my findings in a series of sections, all of them having several connections to each other. This post is more than 10,000 words and is not meant to be read all at once, so feel free to read sections, take breaks, re-read sections, or skip around if you'd like. “Observations, Research, Analysis” is a vast majority of this post and consists of observations made about the ARG material, as well as any research I did into those findings that bore fruit, and analysis/connections to other things. The additional notes section consists of some of the conclusions I’ve reached after putting all of my evidence together, as well as some connections I didn't really make in the previous section, but keep in mind they’re still just theories so they could obviously be wrong. I would like to emphasize that I am not a native Russian speaker, but I did have many native Russian speakers helping me along the way, and in particular, I’d like to thank @kurury-chan for her massive help with this. She transcribed the newspaper for me, provided tons of consulting, translated many other Russian sources, and actually went out of the way to go on an irl tour of a certain ARG-related location to see if my theories about it could hold any ground! Because I'm not a native Russian speaker, the sections where I'm required to analyze Russian text (notably the newspaper section) will probably be the least interesting and I'll probably end up making a lot of points that aren't valid. Additionally, I’d like to thank @cryingsyren (who also happens to be my bf) and @ded-not-ded for their help. As for formatting, since Tumblr doesn't have tiered lists for some fucking reason, all main points will be written as bullet points, and any sub-points within that bullet will then have numbered points afterward. For example like this:
The first main point about a topic
Sub-point of the first point
Second sub-point
The second main point about a topic
I'll either do that or I'll do it like this:
First main point
First sub-point
First sub-sub-point
Second sub-point
Second main point
Edit 1: I've had to revert much of the Chat text (the font I used for the sub-points above) to regular text because of a formatting glitch that irreversibly changed most of the Chat text to bold, which was very confusing.
Depending on which looks better in the context of the points.
Because that formatting is so awkward and clunky I'll try to minimize the use of tiered lists as I convert this from the Google Docs format to the Tumblr Format. Most of the time that I use tiered lists here it's to deal with the character limit Tumblr has on single blocks of text within a post. With that out of the way, let's just get into the post.
Observations, Research, Analysis:
"The Accident" Fyodor Vitin post
The first thing I noticed about the newspaper when I took a good look at it was the use of bolding with certain letters. If you look at the Newspaper you’ll also see ink splattered on the page in several areas, which could be a clue toward noticing the bolded letters, or it could be something else I’ve yet to discover. I knew I wouldn’t be able to transcribe the entire newspaper by myself, not being a Russian speaker (although I’ve just started learning!) so I enlisted the help of @kurury-chan, a native Russian speaker, and she transcribed the entire newspaper for me in Cyrillic. After getting this transcription I went through and spent a couple of days looking for which letters were bolded, writing them down, and coming up with possible translations/meanings. I’ve come up with lots of possible meanings for these, but for many of them I couldn’t figure anything out, and I’d love help if anyone has any idea what they could mean! To me many of them seem like word fragments that are simply missing one or two letters, and so in the document where I list all of the bolded letters I put some words/phrases that are very close to the seemingly fragmented words. Once again keep in mind that, while I’m trying to learn Russian, my understanding of the language is still rather weak, so I may have mistranslated some of these. Another small detail to mention is that there’s a prominent crease on the left side of the paper that runs through a decent portion of the bolded words. First, I’ll start with the bolded letters on the left side of the page. I may have missed a couple, and I may have written some of them down as bolded when maybe they aren’t supposed to be seen as such.
Here is a link to a list of all the letters I think are bolded on the left side, which lines they’re on, and possible meanings, many of which I’ll be discussing here. I will not go individually through what I believe all the bolded letters mean, but I will go through and explain the ones I think are most meaningful and important, as well as some connections I’ve made with them. And here is a link to the original Russian transcription and my best attempt at an English translation.
It’s possible that the crease that runs through the left side of the paper and notably runs through many bolded words somehow denotes that those particular bolded words are special, or perhaps that they should be seen as separate from the other bolded words.
Line 15 has a rather interesting bolded phrase, because it actually appears to make a somewhat coherent 3-word phrase, but one of the words seems to be a surname, “Pepe.” Additionally, the crease on the left side of the page starts right above the word “ПЕПЕЛИЩЕ” in the title, and splits it so that “ПЕПЕ” is separate from the rest of the word. (ПЕПЕ is Pepe in Cyrillic.) If you want to know what the non-Pepe words say, skip to the next bullet point, because the rest of this one is my analysis of the ПЕПЕ part. So, of course, I looked into the name a bit, looking through all notable historical figures with the last name, and found one that I think is of special interest: Guglielmo Pepe. Born in the small ancient town of Squillace, Pepe entered the army at a very young age, and was an Italian commander during the early 1800s, but his military career was fraught with trouble, as he also had rather revolutionary politics, which angered both the government he was serving and many of his peers, and he was exiled on several occasions. Upon Pepe’s return to Italy at the age of 30, he was given the rank of general. After this, the most notable events in his life would largely consist of his attempts at going rogue in revolutionary attempts to change the existing power structure, for which he was usually punished. (It’s also perhaps worth mentioning that his brother was part of the attempted French invasion of Russia.) All of this is to say, Pepe obviously shares some striking similarities to General Block, perhaps the most striking of which is his status as a 30-year-old general, which is an aspect of Block’s character that is highlighted several times. So, of course, I looked into Block’s character a bit more, and discovered that in the Russian version of the game he is called “General Ash” instead of “General Ashes.” “Strange,” I thought, until I saw that in Russian, Ash is “Пепел” which is pronounced as “Pepel” for anyone that isn’t familiar with Cyrillic. If we look into it, we do see that the letter after the Пепе is л, but it is notably not bold. This is, if you're counting, two separate times in this paper where the plural for ash, пепелище, is split up so that only the пепе is emphasized. As for other connections between Pepe and Block, we could look at them both harboring some revolutionary tendencies and being punished for it, both by The Powers That Be and his peers. General Block also tells Artemy that he was born in a town not too dissimilar to the Town on Gorkhon; this is interesting because there are some connections to be drawn between Squillace and Gorkhon, primarily that both of them preserve the beauties of ancient times that have all but been lost to most people. Related to this, it should also be noted that I believe the plot of The Marble Nest was heavily based on the plot of The Seventh Seal, which is the same movie that inspired the character Alexander Block.
The rest of line 15 is also interesting, but I’m not sure exactly what it’s supposed to mean yet. It translates to “Heaven on Pepe” basically. I consider the “Pepe” part to probably be the most important, since there’s a large crease that runs through it, which I think probably denotes a level of importance? The line’s meaning might be related to the fact that “heaven” is sort of a synonym for “utopia,” or the character that Block is based on is the protagonist of a movie that revolves around the ideas of heaven and Christianity, which is something we saw very briefly with Block in Pathologic 1. If you have any ideas please post about them and tag me, or simply comment/reblog this with your ideas!
Line 1 and line 18’s bolded letters both start out with “ов”, and for my English speakers out there it is pronounced sorta like “ove.” ов is interesting because if you translate it as о-в it actually is the shortened form of “island” in Russian. Line 1’s bolded letters read as “ов попо”, and for people not familiar with Cyrillic попо is basically “popo.” There are, apparently, many Popo islands in the world, and I couldn’t find one that I think directly connects to the ARG or Pathologic, but maybe someone else out there will, or perhaps that line has a different meaning to it. As for line 18, it says “ов испустивших” and according to Russian wiktionary, the second word is one letter off from the word “Emitted.” I looked a bit deeper, though, because that didn’t satisfy me (why would they use the incorrect spelling of a word after all?) and I didn’t see much, but I did find two things that used the exact word “испустивших” that interested me: A Saudi Arabian newspaper that has been translated into Russian, as well as a Russian poem from 1777 celebrating the birth of Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, also known as Alexander I of Russia. The latter is more interesting to me for numerous reasons, the first one being that it might serve my theory about the connection between line 1 and 15, as line 1’s bolded letters end with попо and line 15’s end with пепе. The connection is weak, too weak for me to make it a separate bullet point, but strong enough for me to want to explain. So, as we know, there is a connection between line 1 and 18, it’s what this whole bullet point is about, and this theory (using the term “theory” loosely) relies on us seeing them as very closely connected. Basically, Alexander I was the ruler of Russia during the French invasion, which is interesting because, if you’ll remember, Guglielmo Pepe’s brother, Florestano Pepe, took part in the French invasion. This, to me, is an interesting connection, but I do admit it’s definitely a reach.
That’s where I’ll stop talking about the bolded letters on the left side of the paper. If you’d like to see what other bolded letters there are, what they could possibly mean, and try to decipher the meaning for yourself please go to my linked Google Doc(s).
As for the right side of the Newspaper, there are some bolded letters, but I can't seem to make much sense out of them, and by this point in my research I was starting to pursue more promising ARG leads, so this section is rather incomplete. Just as a reminder, the right side of the newspaper is an advertisement for a lantern/kerosene shop. I personally think the right side is more interesting than the left for a couple reasons, but most of them are either self-evident or will be discussed later.
The lantern on the right side of the paper is the same model that’s used throughout the Haruspex’s route, but most notably it’s used a ton during The Marble Nest as set dressing. And when I say "a ton" I really mean it.
I also remembered vaguely an unused lantern item found in the game files of Pathologic 2, so I went to the Pathologic wiki to look for it, and surely enough the exact lantern used by Artemy, the one that appears so many times in The Marble Nest, is also an unused item present in the game files. When using console commands to give yourself the item, you’re able to click on it and select the “touch” option, upon which you’ll see the number 6192355001378070 where the name of the item should be, and 6192355001378072 where the touch text should be. I’m not sure exactly what these numbers are supposed to mean; my first thought was that they seemed long enough to be coordinates, so I put them into google maps and it does lead to a location in Russia! Nonetheless, the numbers are a little bit too long to make sense as cohesive coordinates. Still, it might be something worth investigating. You'll see later in this post just how significant numbers and number patterns are in this ARG.
The word used to describe one of the victims of this inferno, “academician,” has sorta interesting connotations in countries that were once part of or heavily influenced by the USSR. This person is referred to as “Mr. F.L.” in the article. This guy is also said to be a historian and a “бытооописателя,” which as you can probably tell by the fact that I’m not using the translated English version is a weird word. Perhaps the strangest thing about this word is the fact that it clearly has 3 o’s where there should only be one. The actual meaning of this word is odd, as it’s very rarely used, and according to all sources I could find (including native Russian speaker and linguistics enthusiast @kurury-chan) it is either an archaic term for a historian or a term meaning “writer of everyday life.” I’m honestly not sure what that means, and at first, I thought it meant something like a blogger. The most complete and coherent definition I could find describes it as “author of works describing everyday life.” A different translation I found seems to say it means something like "chronicler," which I suppose makes some sense.
In the bottom right part of the paper, you will notice what at first appears to be a signature. Admittedly I had almost no hand in this part of the investigation, except for the isolation and upscaling of the text. Most of the work here was done by @cryingsyren with some help from @kurury-chan and @ded-not-ded. Here is the image that I got for them of the text, and here is our current interpretation of it: It at first seemed to be Russian cursive (and it probably is supposed to be), which complicates things quite a bit, and @cryingsyren spent a couple days trying to figure out exactly what it says, (with some help from @kurury-chan) and as far as we can tell it’s four letters, which are separated into either two or three sections. I think we have a decent grasp on what they’re supposed to be in Cyrillic, but the interesting thing is that they do look a lot like both Russian and Latin cursive. I’ll describe them now using what Latin character they look like in quotes followed by what Cyrillic character they look like in parenthesis. The first section is an “M” (М) and a “K” (К), which are very clearly connected. The next section is either an “H” (Н) or an “H” and an “n/u”. We’re not exactly sure whether the H and the n/u are supposed to be connected, but the n/u being lowercase seems to imply it is. The interesting thing about the n/u is that, while it looks like it could be a Latin n or u, it also looks like it could be a Cyrillic и, which is the italicized version of the Russian letter и. It seems all too coincidental that all of the letters they used have almost exact visual counterparts in the Latin alphabet. At the moment our working theory is that it could be initials, and this is where I come in, because for days I knew I recognized the "MK" part of the signature, but I couldn't remember exactly where from until today. For anyone that has played too much Pathologic Classic HD like me, you may recognize the "MK" signature from the center of the loading screen in that game, scrawled in a way that most people wouldn't pay attention to it, and certainly that most people wouldn't have it committed to memory like me. During the roughly 170 hours I've spent playing the game I've probably looked at that MK more than I've looked at my youngest brother. This presents the question, who is MK? Well at first I thought it could be Mr. Katzman, as referenced in the "Mask" post, but that didn't seem right to me. This is when the fact that so much of my brain is Pathologic lore facts came to help again, when I remembered state inquisitor Mark Karminsky, who you may remember as being one of the men people thought would come to the town before Aglaya Lilich showed up. As for the rest of the writing, I'll leave that up to you guys to figure out.
Something to note for later on: We know there to be 19 inquisitors when Pathologic takes place, and in this ARG the number 19 becomes very important with later clues.
"Mask" Fyodor Vitin post
Arguably this is the Fyodor Vitin post I’ve done the most research into, and it eventually led me to develop a very deep and passionate interest in the Buryat peoples that has so far caused me to read several books and around a dozen academic papers about them. I haven’t only done research into the Buryats for this post, though, because although the Buryats are the primary inspiration for The Kin, they’re not the only inspiration. Despite all of this research work, this section will be rather short because I’ve already been through and exhausted most possible leads I’ve found, and this is what remains. Since the post is in English, and I think everyone that follows me presumably knows English (если вы не говорите по-английски, я хвалю вас за то, что вы зашли так далеко) I won’t summarize it, so I’d recommend reading the Vitin post and then coming back.
We see in the post the mask of “Muu Shubuun,” which we’ll immediately notice is almost the exact same mask as is used by the Executors in the game. Actually, in the Marble Nest, you can acquire the Executor mask, and its touch text reads, “The mask of Muu Shubuun, ‘the wicked bird.’ Part of the Reaper costume from the local theatre.” I have found several different sources that lead me to believe this is based on actual Buryat folklore, however, I’ve heard several conflicting accounts on whether Muu Shubuun is an evil spirit that tricks people by taking the shape of a beautiful woman, or if it’s closer to what we see in the game/ARG, but both seem to be documented as existing within sources on the Buryats. I think this confusion between the two likely means the stories and connotations associated with Muu Shubuun vary based on different groups of Buryats. An alternate spelling I’ve seen used is “Mu Shuvuu.” Possibly related to this is the character “Shar Shuvuu” (which means “eagle owl”), who appears in The Marble Nest during the “marriage” scene in the steppe camp behind the cathedral. In fact, a surprisingly high number of NPC characters in this DLC are named after birds.
The phrase used in the post to describe a seasonal festival, “dosoo ba beshē tēēhēē” is where I’ve devoted much of my research, with most of that research being from about a month ago. Only the third word in this phrase, beshē, appears as a kin word in the games as far as I know. However, we can use a method here that people in the Pathologic community have been using for years to figure out the meaning of kin words: Most of the steppe language in the game is based on one of many languages: Buryat mostly, Mongolian sometimes, Tibetan sometimes, and some parts of it also take inspiration from other languages of similar origin to these. A majority of the language seems to be based on Buryat, and many Kin words come straight from the language. A few words in the game seem to be made up entirely by Ice-Pick Lodge, and many are based on words from the aforementioned real languages but tweaked slightly, as if to indicate that the steppe language spawned from those languages but has some distinctive elements. To determine what this phrase means, I tried my best to dig into the languages and find parallels:
“Dosö” in Buryat means “inside”
In Mongolian “dooshoo” means “down”
In Mongolian “ba” means either “and,” “we,” or “sorcery”
In Tibetan, “ba” means “cow”
“Beshē” in the game’s steppe language means either “not” or “other”
The prefix “të-” in Buryat means “to transport”
In Mongolian the prefix “te'e-” also means “to transport”
As for the “-hee” part of the word, I have not found a single source that could tell me what it means. I’ve found several Buryat words that end in “he,” but I can’t seem to find a connection between them strong enough to suggest what it denotes.
Upon first seeing this festival mentioned, I believe I commented somewhere on the Pathologic subreddit that it might be the same one we see in the Kin’s camp behind the cathedral in The Marble Nest. While I’m not 100% convinced still, I also don’t doubt it that much. One interesting thing to note for any people that might wanna investigate this in the future is that I’m pretty sure what we see in the Marble Nest is the same thing that Nara and the Haruspex perform in the abattoir, as they both seem to happen on day 10, and if you look close you can see that Nara is the one that is cut open in The Marble Nest. Seemingly with the Haruspex gone, there is no one that knows the lines and so the ritual doesn’t go as smoothly as it could.
“Messages” Fyodor Vitin Post:
This particular Fyodor Vitin post is the third one, which if you know Ice-Pick Lodge certainly has some importance to it. The post is a series of letters and images, one depicting an Executor and one depicting Voronika Kroy, who's a minor character in Pathologic 2 and the main character in the Pathologic Feverish Feelings ARG. The letters detail how the recipient’s reports about Voronika Kroy have been seen and have started an investigation by the Federal Bureau. What’s most interesting to me are two things: the jumble of (Latin alphabet) letters in the bottom left, and the number used within the letters (the post-card letters in this case).
The number in question is “196-17-1” which is apparently the case number used for the Voronika Kroy investigation. This number will be more important later in relation to other clues. One interesting thing I've found is that the RGB value for 196-17-1 is a deep red.
The jumble of letters at the bottom of the picture is “eiamrucdvrturxoevecid”. It is 21 letters and can be divided up into chunks of 3 or 7 letters. 3 and 7 of course being Ice-Pick Lodge’s favorite numbers. Up until this point, it has been assumed that this is an anagram, and I have no reason to doubt that. It has already been pointed out in the Pathologic subreddit that the words “Executor” and “Corvid” can be found in the anagram, as well as the Latin words “Cura”, “Curare”, “Curari”, “Medici”, and “Vivam.” Credit for finding the Latin words goes to u/apostforisaac who is apparently studying Latin at university! Additionally, u/Own_Sympathy_9814 deduced a possible meaning by unscrambling the anagram and finding “MAVRUD + VERIDIC + EXECUTOR”, which they believe hints toward the answers lying in the Marble Nest (I wrote the entire Marble Nest section of this post before finding their post about that, so I do feel pretty validated by it). Many people have been approaching this anagram, like many other parts of the ARG, as if they have one right answer, and frankly, I just don’t think that’s in the style of Ice-Pick Lodge. I’ll quickly list out some words/phrases I found in the anagram and what they mean/how they could relate. I will also include words that have already been discussed, and they’ll be marked with a “*” so you don’t think I found them. Most of the ones marked with a * I won’t be discussing, as most have already been discussed extensively. I also won’t be discussing the ones that I think probably don’t have much meaning, but I’m including them because it still could be something later on down the road.
I am
You don’t actually even have to unscramble the letters to get this one, as the second, third, and fourth letters of the jumble simply spell it out. What's interesting is that the 7 "I am" discourses are a crucial part of the Christian Gospel according to John. The Gospel according to John was an important clue during the Feverish Feelings ARG, which revolved around Voronika Kroy and her Inquisitor father, Peter Kroy. If we're speaking of the four canonical gospels, we must also address the Gospel according to Mark, which coincidentally is the name of an inquisitor that has popped up elsewhere in this ARG. Following this theme, there is actually a non-canonical Gospel According to Peter, which seems too cool to be a coincidence.
Eve
This is one you don’t have to unscramble also. Interestingly, Daniil is often compared to a snake, even being called a snake-man in Marble Nest by Shaazgai, a man belonging to the Kin. In the biblical story of Adam and Eve, it is a snake, often thought to be the devil, that convinces Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Retroviridae
The scientific name for a retrovirus. If I was more knowledgeable about biology I would say more, but this seems important.
Rex Iudaeorum
Translating in Latin to “King of the Jews,” this was the inscription that allegedly was put on the cross that held Jesus of Nazareth, as detailed by 19:19 in the book of John. Very interesting as Daniil does compare himself to Jesus at least once in the Haruspex route, on the night before Aglaya comes. The Gospels, as discussed before, all detail the life and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The "19" connection is also interesting because of the inquisitor detail, and I'll talk about more of the connections to 19 later in the post.
Cardio
Commonly used medically as a prefix for heart conditions, “cardio” is a Latinized version of the Greek “kardia,” which simply means heart. Heart imagery is very common and significant to the Bachelor.
Eva
This is similar to the Russian version of Eve.
Corvid*
Cura*
Curare*
Curari*
Medici*
Vivam*
Mavrud*
Veridic*
Executor*
Order
Could relate to the committee in The Marble Nest and the fact that after they’re replaced by tragedians the absurd order begins getting sent out to the orderlies.
Carex ericetorum
This is a plant that would almost definitely be present in/around the Town on GorkhonThis is a plant that would almost definitely be present in/around the Town on Gorkhon
Creature
Marble Nest:
The Marble Nest, as we know, is very concise, only really lasting half a day in-game. Because of this, the dialogue does tend to feel a lot more intentional, as though the named characters are not necessarily speaking only to The Bachelor but also trying to convey a message to the player. This, of course, is because The Marble Nest takes place inside Dankovsky’s head. If this ARG will be revolving partly around The Bachelor, as it seems to be, then there’s no better place to start than digging into his head, which is why I’ve played so much of the Marble Nest for this.
There are several specific stories/myths/historical figures that are mentioned through Marble Nest. First, we’ll go through some of these.
There is a very interesting conversation that The Bachelor has with Georgiy Kain, where he is trying to justify his decision to lift the quarantine restrictions to The Bachelor, who is rather upset obviously. I’ll cut down and paraphrase most of the dialogue, since if I didn’t this would be much longer, but basically the conversation goes as:
[Georgiy introduces himself, and says he decided to let The Bachelor sleep so that he would have the strength to face the upcoming trial]
[Daniil asks if Georgiy lifted the restrictions and let the plague into The Stone Yard]
Georgiy: “Quite so. It's plain to me that you are on the verge of shredding me into pieces. But still your wrath. As a great Athenian once said, ‘Strike, if you will, but hear.’”
Daniil: “Themistocles, I know. He met a rather gruesome end, by the way. Died of plague.”
Georgiy: “No, it was Pericles. You are a learned man, but history is not your strong suit. Which is why you should listen to me. Perhaps it will help you see something that you missed in your previous studies.”
[Georgiy then goes on to explain a bunch of other stuff about the plague, which as far as I’m concerned isn’t all that useful to the task at hand.]
I find this so interesting because The Bachelor, in his own head, poses a question to himself, gets it wrong, and then has another separate figment of his imagination correct him, and then proceeds to tell The Bachelor that he’s not great at history and should listen to Georgiy more. What’s even more interesting is that, as far as I can tell, Georgiy and Daniil are both wrong, it was actually Themistocles that said “Strike, if you will, but hear,” and it was Pericles that died of plague. I found this interesting enough to look into who Themistocles and Pericles were, and here’s what I found:
Themistocles was a politician and general that broke the mold by being non-aristocratic and populist, which gave him the support of the people but put him at odds with the nobles and some of his peers. He turned 30 in 494 BC, which qualified him to run for the position of Archon, which he did, and won the position the following year. He had a prominent rivalry with another politician named Aristides. Whereas Themistocles was populist, Aristides primarily fought for the upper class. Themistocles eventually 20the rivalry after Aristides was exiled. Years later, though, Themistocles himself was exiled, and while he was gone his enemies took the opportunity to charge him with treasonous activities, knowing he could not defend himself. Because of this, Themistocles could never return to Athens, and so found employment and a home among the people that he once fought against while serving Athens. Given military command once more, he was actually Themistocles who said “Strike, if you will, but hear,” and it was Pericles who died of plague. I found this interesting enough to look into who Themistocles and Pericles were, and here’s what I found:
Pericles, to me, has less interesting things about him in relation to Pathologic, with the main two being that he rehabilitated the image of Themistocles and he died of a plague. What could be interesting is the fact that General Block and Captain Longin are in both Pathologic 1 and 2 often compared to Achilles and Patroclus, two Greek soldiers from ancient folktales, primarily known for being two of the most important characters in The Iliad. To me, drawing a connection between Achilles and Block, as well as Pericles and Longin, isn’t that absurd. What could also be interesting to note is that Pericles was the main character in a play written in part by William Shakespeare.
While Themistocles' life almost exactly fits the character arc of General Block, down to the weird connection between him dying of the plague in The Marble Nest and Themistocles drinking bull blood (as well as Dankovsky thinking Themistocles died of the plague), I think how Pericles fits in could lie in the Shakespearean play, as we all know how important theater is to Pathologic. You see by now at least partially what I think this alludes to, but I’ll talk more about it in the additional notes section.
Next, I’ll discuss a mythical story brought up in the Marble Nest: The Tower of Babel. This is brought up by the clerks sitting directly outside Georgiy Kain’s house. I think most people would talk to these guys right before talking to Georgiy, but I have more to say about it so it’s written second. When talking to one of the clerks during their argument about the plague, one man mentions that he thinks The Polyhedron is at fault, and no matter how Dankovsky replies (he has 3 options), the man then says “History already knows an example of people trying to erect an impossible tower. It ended in tragedy.” I could go on explaining why I believe this guy is talking specifically about the Tower of Babel, this post is already long enough so just trust my reasoning here, please. Notable to the point I’m trying to make, one of the other clerks brings up that he thinks the plague was started because of the irreconcilable differences between The Kin and the town, and the fact that the Kin have been forcibly mashed into the town. When Dankovsky asks the man if something is holding the Kin in the town, preventing them from leaving and returning to the earth, the man says “Someone is… our rulers. They have embedded the steppe people into this town, carved them into its warm flesh. This isn't a town, it's an honest-to-God minotaur. A chimera. And chimeras have remarkably short lifespans and bad health. Can you breed a snake and a crane? You can, yes. But the progeny won't live long.” This dialogue is interesting for a few reasons, one related to the tower of Babel and two related to other possible ARG clues. The first interesting thing is that what he’s describing, drawing a connection between the Tower of Babel and the Polyhedron, actually makes a lot of sense. To him, the Polyhedron is not only an affront to God, but its accentuation of human hubris coincides with a beating down of nature and the earth, represented in part by most of the Polyhedron’s mass being concentrated far above the earth while also piercing the earth’s heart. The story of the mythical tower, to oversimplify it, is essentially a tale of people from many different walks of life all coming together to construct a giant, seemingly impossibly tall tower in order to avoid the possibility of a second biblical flood destroying most of humanity. God sees this attempt as an affront to both him and the natural order, and so before the men are able to finish the tower he divides them all by making them speak different languages, making it impossible for them to understand each other. So, in this second clerk’s interpretation, the plague is a result of the town both rebelling against/abusing nature and also taking the Kin into itself. Unlike the first man, who believes the tower itself is at fault, this second one believes it’s all because of the town making itself into a “chimera,” which he believes cannot live long. What’s clear to me, though, is that although these men believe they disagree, their explanations complement each other very well, which brings us to our third man, who has a rather simple but somewhat confusing explanation. This clerk believes that this plague occurred in the town because men should not be “remodeled or altered,” and when asked what that has to do with the epidemic he replies “I don’t know… It wasn't we who designed the world like this. I believe in men, Doctor; in superhumans, I do not. This earthly life wouldn't fit them. Immortals have no place in the world of the living. This is just how it works. Take from it what you will.” This man seems to be implying that Simon Kain, the immortal man, is the reason why this plague appeared in the town. This is when it all started to come together for me: these men's stories do really all complement each other, because here they are posing the Polyhedron, chimera, and Simon as all the same. This will further be explained in the additional notes section. Three parts of one whole if you will.
Now, the mention of the Tower of Babel is interesting for two other reasons, one of which will be discussed in the additional notes section and one of which I’ll discuss here. In the Fyodor Vitin “One can work here” post there are numerous items displayed in the room pictured, but perhaps most interesting to me is the golden bull statue that sits at the front and center of the photo. My first thought when seeing that image was “Oh! This reminds me of the biblical story of the golden calf statue, which I bet is what they’re referencing.” For those who aren’t familiar, I’ll be oversimplifying another biblical story now. While trekking from Egypt to the holy land, Moses leaves his people behind to climb to the top of a mountain and commune with God. Moses is gone for forty days, upon which the people are fearful that he will not return, and so they molded a calf statue out of gold to worship. God, upon seeing this, sends Moses down to the base of the mountain to punish his people for their sins. Moses burns the golden calf in a fire, ground it to powder and water, and forced his people to drink it. He then killed all of them basically. My thought process was related to the fact that The Bachelor is punished severely by The Powers That Be for his own affront to God, the pursuit of immortality. Now, after that previous discussion about the Tower of Babel, I am noticing some very interesting things in this picture, and primarily that there are two other related statues. Now that we have the previous context about The Tower of Babel and the clerks in our mind, we can see new meaning in these statues: a black statue of a centaur, and a white bust of a man. The interesting thing about the centaur should be obvious, it is another chimera. The bust of the man, which seems to be made of marble, reminded me somewhat of ancient Greek statues that are chiseled to glorify certain leaders and make them seem somewhat perfect while also immortalizing them in stone. You can probably see the connection I’m making here, and so I will leave the rest of the explanation for the additional notes section.
Another thing that's interesting to note is the aforementioned three men, unlike most characters in Pathologic 2 and the Marble Nest, do not stop moving when you pause the game; their animations continue to play even after you bring up the pause menu. If you’re unaware, there is actually a small detail in Pathologic 2 where pretty much everything nature-based or that is a natural force of the world, as well as everything that’s supposed to be seen in a meta-narrative sense, does not stop moving when you pause the game. This includes rain, leaves falling, the particle effects that come off the clocks, fire, executors (not orderlies), plague particles, etc. Once I noticed this (while trying to get a screenshot of some things to analyze) I tested out some other NPCs in The Marble Nest, and all of the other people I tested seemed to freeze when the game was paused. However, this is not to say that no other characters in the Marble Nest move when the game is paused. I only tested about 4 guys besides the primary trio we're discussing, mostly just to make sure it's not a thing that all Marble Nest characters do. If one of you people reading this would like to go through and see which characters in The Marble Nest also possess this trait, it could prove fascinating.
Finally, I’ll talk about two somewhat modern (at least modern compared to the previous two) stories that are brought up in The Marble Nest, although not directly: The Time Machine by H.G. Wells and The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe. Admittedly, I have not read either of these stories (it’s possible I read the EAP story 5-6 years ago and just don’t remember it), but I do actually know quite a bit about the stories and their themes from a couple of literary studies on specific genres I’ve done over the years. Additionally, for this section, I have done some more research on the plots and themes of these stories which yielded fascinating results.
The Time Machine is brought up when The Bachelor visits The Cathedral and speaks to a Tragedian standing within. The Tragedian talks about how the building is not a temple, but a machine. Daniil asks what kind of machine, and The Tragedian responds “This is a time machine. Time works differently on the inside and on the outside. It's frozen now. I think something's broken.” To which Dankovsky can say “A time machine? Are you saying it can transport me to the past or to the future? Like in that Englishman's book, what's his name…” For this, I did some research into what book he could be referring to, and almost instantly Time Machine stood out to me for a number of reasons. I think there might be something interesting to be said about how this relates to the ARG, but I’m not going to be the one to say it, because I’m honestly not sure how or if it does. I will describe how it connects to Pathologic though, in case that sparks anyones mind. The work is apparently seen as popularizing the idea of time travel and the time machine, which relates to what IPL has said about The Bachelor’s route I suppose. As for the plot, it’s about a Victorian man using a time machine to travel to the year of A.D. 802,701. He meets two races of people, one descended from the oppressed working class and one descended from the pampered owning class. Over hundreds of thousands of years of this lifestyle, the two races have started to diverge, with the owning class becoming child-like and basically useless, while the working class has been forced into a life of toil and hardship which has shaped them into a race of underground-dwelling animalistic race of people. Essentially the novel is a depiction of class struggle and the class contradictions inherent within capitalism, but with a bit of a metaphorical twist. The toiling of the working class underground is what allows the upper class to live in abundance without the need for work. There is very interesting commentary here to be made on the worms/odonghs in the game, as well as the eternal youth that is present in some elements of the stone yard, but this isn’t a Pathologic essay, it’s a Pathologic ARG essay.
The Masque of the Red Death is alluded to by The Bachelor in a dialogue with a wandering citizen, who opens up the conversation by saying “A masquerade ball will be held in the main square this evening. People want to celebrate our victory over the sand pest. You don't mind…?” To which The Bachelor has 3 possible replies, one of them being “I seem to vaguely remember a rather famous story about a masquerade held to celebrate a victory over a plague. Remember how it ended?” To summarize, The Masque of the Red Death is about a group of noblemen taking refuge in an abbey to hide from a plague (the plague is known as the Red Death). The plague’s symptoms are gruesome, and all people who contract it apparently die within a half hour. The main character, Prince Prospero, and his fellow noblemen believe themselves to be entirely safe, though, as they have welded shut all the doors and isolated themselves in the abbey. To entertain the guests, the prince holds a masquerade ball that takes place in seven of the rooms of his abbey, each colored differently. The first six rooms are blue, purple, green, orange, white, and violet, with the last being black and illuminated by a red window. No guests venture into the seventh room, as they are all scared to enter it. Every hour a clock in that room chimes, upon which the guests freeze and go silent momentarily, before resuming normal activity once the chiming stops, only to do the same thing after an hour. Once midnight comes, a person appears in robes covered in blood and resembling a funeral shroud, wearing a mask that depicts a person clearly infected with the Red Death. This figure walks through six of the chambers before the prince starts chasing them with a dagger. Confronting them in the seventh room, the prince immediately falls dead upon seeing this person’s face. The other party-goers all charge the figure, stripping them of their clothes and mask, only to find that there is no one underneath. The conclusion of the story states that the figure was not a person, but rather an embodiment of the Red Death. The Red Death also appears as a reference in the novel The Phantom of the Opera, as well as several film and musical adaptations. The titular phantom dresses up as The Red Death, and in many adaptations wears a skull mask as part of the costume.
I believe Hamlet is also brought up at some point in The Marble Nest, but I can’t seem to find the dialogue so I’m unsure if that’s true.
Next, I'll talk about another random Marble Nest clue
The Bachelor’s hover text for the beetle item says “I used to collect these as a kid. Left the collection with my father.” @pseudoquiddity found that a paper on the top of “The Beginning” Fyodor Vitin post spells out Mechnikov, which is almost definitely referencing Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, who was a Russian zoologist and immunologist who achieved incredible scientific discovery during his life, and notably for us he was largely focused on the issue of aging and extending human life. Mechnikov was actually brought up in an IPL teletype post as one of the Bachelor’s main influences scientifically, alongside Albert Einstein and Max Planck. The relevant thing about Mechnikov here is that, as a zoologist, he did many notable studies on insects throughout his career to see how their bodies reacted to things compared to how ours did. One thing that’s interesting to me is that the type of beetles we see in the game, I believe, are based on Trypocopris Vernalis, commonly known as the spring dumbledor or spring dor beetle, which is not known to inhibit the region that the Town on Gorkhon would reside in. Another thing I find interesting is the touch text from the Alpha version of the game, which reads “Some fifteen years ago, the Soul-and-a-Halves, the gang of children who are defined by sharing special bonds with their pets, actually considered to allow flower chafers as their "Halves" due to the beetles ‘looking as though they knew something’. The idea was quickly abandoned as ridiculous.” Maybe I’m just 8.6 thousand words into this post and have finally gone insane, but I think the beetles “looking as though they know something”, combined with their close connection to Dankovsky, it seems too intentional.
In the “Feverish Feelings” ARG, the Beatles (the band) were brought up indirectly and used by the players as a clue to get more information. This also related to the clue relating to the Gospel according to John.
Additionally, speaking of Mechnikov, u/Fantastic_Advice5593 theorized that the numbers on Daniil’s train ticket from one of the original ARG notes could be hinting toward the date May 15th, or 5/15 (15/5 if you use the non-American dating system I believe), which is Mechnikov Day, and is commonly recognized as Mechnikov’s date of birth. Proving this connection further, the “Messages” Fyodor Vitin post was posted on May 15th. Another interesting thing is that if we convert the time that the “Messages” image was posted to the time scheme used in Pathologic (that is, a 24-hour clock), it comes out to 19:35 (Using GMT+3 time zone, as that’s where Moscow is located.) This is interesting because “Messages” was also posted 19 days after the previous post, and I know for a fact that 19 is an important number in this ARG: The newspaper from the “The Accident” post was labeled as issue number 19, the bible passage that we saw referenced in the anagram from the “Messages” post is John 19:19, the jumble of letters that we found in the touch text for the unused lantern item includes “19,” and so does the 196-17-1 number from Messages. In a way, the number 19 is sort of a self-checking method to substantiate some of the clues we’ve found thus far.
Griffins’ Tower
Many of the details in this section wouldn’t be possible without @kurury-chan who, upon my inquiry about the tower and its accompanying pharmacy, actually visited it, got tons of cool pictures, and translated a ton of the history for me! I literally cannot thank her enough for her help with many elements of this post, but especially in this section.
In the original Pathologic ARG, “Feverish Feelings,” the Griffins’ Tower is brought up a couple of times throughout, and was part of an intensive fandom discussion because many elements of it paralleled many themes and plot points of Pathologic. The following connections/possibly related facts are a combination of fandom discussion from the time and my own research:
The tower is connected to a pharmacy that has existed since the 18th century. Both were once owned by the Poehl family, who were a rather eccentric yet somewhat mysterious rich family. Rumors from the time (The 18th/19th century) speculate that members of the family engaged in “…alchemy and witchcraft, and in the basements of the house he turned mercury into gold and bred griffins. Since ancient times, it was believed that griffins, mythical creatures with the body of a lion and the head of an eagle, were the guardians to secret sacred knowledge and treasures.”
In 1994, the artist Alexey Kostroma, together with the society "Here and There" (Tut i tam), organized a demonstration/art-piece to advocate for the preservation of the tower and the revitalization of the city, which they believed was falling apart before their very eyes. During this demonstration, they hoisted a large egg (approximately 1.5 meters) onto the top of the tower, and they painted (I’m not sure what was used to put the numbers on the tower, but I assume it was paint) numbers on almost every brick of the tower. While the purposes for the those two additions rarely get brought up in conversations surrounding it, the egg and the numbers are now some of the most well-known parts of the tower, despite the fact that neither of the two are there anymore. The Polyhedron, as we know, is a tower that at the top houses children and is made from its own complex blueprints. Additionally, in the Marble Nest, but also throughout Pathologic as a whole, there is a common piece of imagery that connects eggs and the Utopians. In the opening of The Marble Nest, the item that’s used on the loading screen is an egg. If you look at the egg sprite in P2, you’ll see a crack in it that heavily resembles the Polyhedron. Daniil Dankovsky commonly uses the Latin phrase “ab ovo,” which means “from the beginning” but when literally translated means “from the egg,” and his touch text for the egg in Marble Nest reads “To understand anything, start ab ovo — ‘from the egg.’”
While playing through The Marble Nest several times for this ARG, I noticed something that gave me more confidence in The Griffins’ Tower playing a role in it. If you guys have played Pathologic as much as I have you’ll know there’s a tower in between the Stone Yard and the steppe that you can’t enter and is barely ever really explained. If I’m picking apart my brain correctly for Pathologic 1 knowledge, I believe it is implied to be a Focus of some sort. If you’ve only played Pathologic 2, or you haven’t played through The Bachelor’s route in P1 enough, or you haven’t read through the Pathologic “Corpus” entries, you probably have an incomplete idea of what a “focus” is and all that it entails. I won’t go too deep into it now, but it’s said in one of the Corpus entries that, on top of the Polyhedron, Cathedral, Stillwater, Crucible, etc., there were a number of experimental Focuses that were built for Simon Kain to test the limits of what buildings could capture the human soul and memories. It’s a building you can’t ever enter, but it does have a visible door, which is very similar to the way that Simon’s focus is described by Victor Kain. I’d like to draw your attention to the visual similarities between that tower and the Griffin Tower. I’d also like to draw your attention to the fact that, in the original design concepts of Pathologic 1 every character is associated with a specific animal, and Simon Kain’s is a griffin. What is a griffin? Well, it’s a fusion between two drastically different creatures, a lion and an eagle; a griffin is a chimera.
Interestingly, in 2005 (the year Pathologic came out) the pharmacy connected to The Griffins Tower was closed for a while because it became flooded with water while trying to extinguish a fire.
There is a photo in the pharmacy connected to the tower (which has now been converted into a museum about the history of the place and pharmacies in general) that depicts, during the early 1900s, the pharmacy sitting next to a theater called “Simpatiya” (Sympathy).
While @kurury-chan was on a tour of the pharmacy/museum she found an interesting marmite that was on display. It was created by Samuel Clarke and it’s called “Pyramid,” and the marmite has an accompanying poem:
Когда ночи темные, подумайте о Кларке,
который попал точно в цель.
Его ночные огни создают светлые ночи,
в которых вы прекрасно видите.
(When the nights are dark, think of Clark
hitting the mark.
His night lights create bright nights
in which you can see perfectly)
This is interesting largely because the poem reminds me somewhat of the body text for the lantern ad found in the newspaper post.
In the original email mentioning the Griffin’s Tower, Voronika Kroy appends the message by saying “P.S. I feel like I’ll need this memory later.”
Seventh Seal
I watched this movie after discovering all of the allusions to General Block we’ve seen thus far, but being unsure what to do with any of them. For those that don’t know, the movie The Seventh Seal’s protagonist Octavius Block has been listed as one of the main inspirations for Alexander Block, and since IPL seems intent on leading us to analyze certain works of literature/film/theater for this, I decided to look into it. What I found is incredibly interesting I think, because it seems that one of the main inspirations for The Marble Nest is The Seventh Seal.
The title is based on a bible verse (from the Book of Revelations) that reads “And when the Lamb had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.” This verse appears both at the very beginning of the movie and then again toward the end. This thirty minutes/half-an-hour element appears prominently in both this story and The Masque of the Red Death. One other place it appears is on the pocket watch in the first Fyodor Vitin post, where the time on it is 2:30. I am very confident that it also appears in The Marble Nest once or twice, but despite looking I was unable to find it. If anyone else knows where it might be, either comment on this post or message me, and I will put it in this section and credit you.
The movie's plot revolves around Antonius Block, a disillusioned medieval knight returning from the Crusades. Block is struggling throughout the movie with his inability to believe in God and his realization that his whole life has been wasted. He wishes more than anything to do one last deed before his death to give his life meaning. The movie is set during the Black Death, with prominent elements of the story revolving around the plague. The movie largely focuses on how Block takes in several poor and out-of-luck folks fleeing the plague, inviting them to stay at his castle and escorting them along the way.
Toward the beginning of the movie, Death comes to take Block, but he convinces Death to play him in a game of chess for his life. This game of chess continues throughout the movie, with Death allowing Block to take several breaks in order to find clarity about his life and death. Toward the end of the movie, he allows Death to take his queen, effectively ensuring he would lose the game in the next turn, so that his companions could get away without Death noticing. After returning to his castle, everyone has a nice meal before Death arrives and takes everyone, excluding the people that Block helped get away by tricking Death.
Many things from Pathologic seem to take inspiration from this movie; most notable being the storyline of The Marble Nest (Dankovsky’s “People” screen categorizes people as chess pieces, essentially implying that his struggle against death is a sort of chess match), but there are also some smaller things. For example, there is a scene where the characters encounter someone afflicted with the plague who cries out for help, and one of the women tries to get closer to give the man water, but another person stops her, as giving water to a plague victim is futile and dangerous; almost immediately after this, a personification of Death appears. This heavily reminds me of the intro/tutorial of Pathologic 2, where a similar scene occurs.
While watching the movie, it’s very easy to see how Block was directly inspired by the main character, but it’s hard to convey exactly how without describing many scenes in detail, so I will simply describe one of them. After leaving a church confessional where he admits to his faith faltering and wanting to perform one meaningful deed before he dies, Block encounters a young woman who’s about to be burned at the stake for allegedly having ties to the devil. He takes pity on this woman, seeing something special in her, and believes she can tell him about life after death. This, to me, seems very reminiscent of Block’s storyline with the Changeling in P1.
Another small lead before this part of the post is finished: This lead, I will admit, I stumbled across completely at random, and will not talk about much because there’s not much I can say about it that isn’t obvious. It might be worth looking into the Russian philosopher Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov, and perhaps thinking about if Fyodor Vitin was based partially on him, since we know Vitin works closely with Daniil.
Additional Notes/Comments:
In the newspaper clipping, it is said that a man with the initials “F.L.” had been one of the apparent two victims of the fire that burned down several buildings. This man (who I’ll simply refer to as “F” from now on) is an academician, historian, and writer of everyday life, which obviously fits well with the man that we know as Fyodor Vitin, and it has been assumed up until this point that he was the victim of this fire. I think there are three possibilities here: Fyodor Vitin was not the victim of this fire somehow, Fyodor Vitin is not his real name, or the newspaper is lying to us. In connection to the light/lantern emphasis in the newspaper, it might be worth it to note that the word “vitin” in Faroese means something like “the lighthouse”/“the beacon”, while in old Swedish it means something like “to know.” What’s more interesting is that Vitin in old Swedish is a second-person plural present indicative, and for people that got a useful education, that means it’s a verb that’s used to factually describe the current actions of the people that the speaker is saying it to. If Vitin isn’t his real surname, his username could mean “Fyodor beacon”, or “Fyodor (that you all) know”.
As discussed extensively in the section on the Tower of Babel, there is a direct connection drawn between the Polyhedron, Simon, and chimeras. We elaborated a bit on this connection in the section on the Griffins’ Tower. What’s especially interesting then is the fact that, in The Marble Nest, the Polyhedron is labeled as “focus,” implying that Simon’s essence is infused in the Polyhedron, as is what happens in the first game. This, I believe, confirms our theory about the connection even further. What then makes this even more related to the ARG is the fact that in the “One can work here” post by Fyodor Vitin, we see the three statues depicting the golden bull, the centaur, and the marble bust of a man. It is then worth noting that this bust of a man made of marble could be a reference to The Marble Nest, perhaps trying to get us to look there for clues. I believe, if the golden bull is meant to represent the Polyhedron (or at least the Polyhedron argument in The Marble Nest), and the centaur is meant to represent the chimera, then the marble bust of the man is meant to represent Simon (or, once again, represent the Simon/immortal man argument from the Marble Nest). This is supported by my point about the marble busts both immortalizing men and also making them more into concepts than men (as the statue can only depict a small part of a man’s life, usually depicting him in battle, leading a governmental position, etc). In the original game, and as can slightly be seen in hints of the second game, Simon is sometimes seen as more of a concept than a man; he is the ideology of the utopians incarnate, the perfect man that represents everything humanity could be. As a chimera is vital to Burakh’s quest, so too is it vital for Dankovsky’s (and it’s interesting to note that Burakh has the chimera revelation while in conversation with Dankovsky.) If the Marble Nest is used to represent the stone yard, or the “town” in its purest form, then Simon Kain is the marble man. It then becomes important to figure out where the “One can work here” picture is supposed to be depicting. I believe, if the statues there are supposed to represent all that we’ve said so far, the location should be representative of Dankovsky’s fight against death, and therefore I say it probably has to be Thanatica.
Now, as for all the connections with General Block, there are obviously many of them, from the Guglielmo Pepe hypothesis to the mention of Aristides/Pericles to The Seventh Seal to the whole “ash” thing, it seems far too much to be a series of coincidences. I don’t think it’s too crazy to connect the prominent appearance of the number 30 in the Block/Pepe/Aristides context to the prominent appearance of the number 30 (as in half an hour) in The Seventh Seal, which makes the appearance of the number 30 in that first Fyodor Vitin post even more interesting. It’s long been theorized that, from what we see in the Haruspex’s route and what we’ve seen in Pathologic 1, the Bachelor’s new route will probably feature General Block much more prominently. Perhaps, as the first ARG was so focused on the inquisitors, we’ll also get to learn more about the army in this one. Maybe General Ashes even had something to do with the building that was reduced to ashes?
The topic of religion, and specifically Christianity, comes up a lot in The Marble Nest. I think all the connections I’ve made in this post to Christianity have convinced you that it’s seemingly an important part of this ARG. In the first ARG, there were certain biblical passages that acted as clues, specifically from the Gospel according to John, which we talked about in the section on the “Messages” post. As is also mentioned in that section, the connection to Inquisitors Peter Kroy and Mark Karminsky seems to be driving us toward looking into The Gospel according to Peter and The Gospel according to Mark. It’s also talked about in that section how these both relate to Daniil. Mark Karminsky specifically also seems to have had something to do with the "Accident" mentioned in the newspaper, and so perhaps combining numbers from the newspaper within the Gospel of Mark could lead to some clues.
Still, as much as I’ve said in this post, there is more I wish to analyze but have not yet. This post has been in the works for a while, though, and I don’t want people to be waiting any longer, so I’ll have to save that other stuff for another day.
If anyone can somehow get into the game files of the Marble Nest and retrieve the texture/model for any of the letters or books (like the two linked images), that will end up being very helpful.
Other screenshots from Pathologic 2/The Marble Nest that could be of interest:
Grigory Gorky (Pathologic 2)
Grigory Gorky (The Marble Nest)
Mikhail Goba (The Marble Nest)
Daniil Death Certificate (The Marble Nest)
Rug (The Marble Nest)
Book (The Marble Nest)
Familiar Bloody Handprint (The Marble Nest)
Tipped Over Lantern (The Marble Nest)
Staff Sergeant Plover (The Marble Nest)
Avrely Gubar (The Marble Nest)
Odd use of Roman Numerals (The Marble Nest)
Cathedral Letter (The Marble Nest)
Plant that I found several times in the Cathedral (The Marble Nest)
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𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐮𝐧 || 𝐋𝐞𝐱𝐢 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵
𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴
𝘐 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳"
Inspo: Tori Kelly - young gun
Pairing: Lexi Howard x Black!Male!reader
Summary: You did everything to make her feel worth it, but she gained it from another...
Warnings: slight angst with a bit of sad fluff
Words: 1450
The stars hung high tonight. Their glow brightened this particular night.
Sand shifted beneath your feet with the minuscule rocks pressing against them gently. And the ocean collapsed and washed up on the shore in a certain rhythm. Its harsh smell can be blocked out by the pure beauty of the moon’s shape reflecting off its surface.
It was tragic. If there was any way you could set it all on fire, you would. Maybe you would find comfort in the flame and get lost in it. But removing the time capsule of the memories connected would fucking destroy you. Because that would ultimately mean giving up moments of joy and raw love you’d felt then.
On a none systematic point, the time so fondly thought upon was wild and random. It was the peak of your high school life and where you had ventured further from your friend group. Seeking out people to make friends with or finally making your move on Lexi Howard. The girl who had been your MJ since grade school.
She told you everything that she loved and one of them was the ocean. How it looked in the night and how it felt more natural being here than in her skin at times. And you strove to make her feel worth it and more.
You gave up the vices you sought comfort in. You were content. But she flipped the world upside down and made your heart swollen. Just receiving a mere glance from her would make you stumble over your words like an idiot. Or hearing her laugh would make you choke on your breath.
There wasn’t much you wouldn’t do for Lexi. To only know that these feats you had managed for this girl would end up with her in the passenger seat with a drug dealer.
And maybe you still would’ve done these things. Maybe you wouldn’t have swam into the ocean and grabbed shells to gift her. Or the amount of money you had spent taking her on road trips. All of these had stacked up to the point where you could’ve been in financial ruin–but you loved her still.
Even now, standing at this beach with the continuous waves hitting the tips of your shoes, you managed to think so fondly of those memories despite how they turned out for you.
Looking to your right, you saw the group of classmates you spent years with. A class reunion. Maddy was still enjoying life and taking it by the balls. Spending time with celebrities in L.A. Cassie, well, she was nowhere to be found. Rue was living happily with Jules–still healthy after getting sober all those years ago. And Lexi was going big with her plays in New York. She was a full-scale writer and set designer.
But you? You went to school and pursued cooking. Got out of school and quickly realize that there was little to nothing you had entitled to. So, you moved. There had been no destined location in mind. You were managing to get by at some of the restaurants you worked at and as shitty as it sounded, you were happy. It was just a matter of time before you caught a break and could feel that pay off after everything you’ve been through.
It was beautiful, to say the least. Seeing all your friends here, hearing everything they’ve been up to. It made you wonder why you had even thought that coming here would be a terrible idea.
The shifting of sand under footsteps drew your attention. Turning to find Lexi with a sheepish smile, hands clasped around a red solo cup. “How’s life treating you, Y/n?”
Maybe it had been the timing and the greeting because of your prior thoughts, but you smiled. Letting a soft chuckle slip from your lips as you shrugged, shoving your hands into your denim pockets.
“Jumping from location to location has its perks. Get to see places I never thought existed,” you explained, exhaling heavily. “But it can’t be as good as being a big-time playwriter, right?”
Lexi shrugged bashfully, smiling up at you. “I wouldn’t say big-time, Y/n. But it’s been my dream and I’m getting to live through it. So, it’s been good.”
It was hard maintaining any conversation with her without it dissolving into remnants of your favourite memories. Sparking those forgotten emotions might be the worse thing you could do tonight. Because if you were being honest with yourself, you likely wouldn’t see her again after tonight. Just by fate or the decision to try and forget her for your sake.
“How’s Fez?” You inquired suddenly, clearing your throat and looking down at your feet.
“He’s Fez,” she laughed, “Still working tirelessly and still using his head to make ends meet on his end.”
“I heard you guys are having a kid.” It hurt seeing it on Facebook. Seeing how ecstatic she’d been with the news and how everyone was happy for her. And as much as you didn’t want to be selfish or weird, you’d imagined the two of you to have kids. Start a family in New York and strive for both of your guys’ dreams. But as much as your soul hurt, you were happy for her. “You thought of any names for it?”
Lexi laughed. “It?” She repeated giggling. “We haven’t thought of a name for her yet. But, I haven’t been able to sleep because names keep bouncing around in my head.”
You smiled, humming, deep in thought. That was something you’d be on the receiving end of hearing - especially from her. Maybe it was just you grasping the final pieces of reality, but it still shook you to your core hearing and acknowledging she was having a kid with Fez.
Sighing, Lexi looked out at the ocean and smiled. “Been a while since we’ve been here together, huh?”
“Yeah, 10 years or so, right?”
Lexi nodded, exhaling softly. “You know, I never told you how much of an influence you’ve had in my life,” she breathed. “Like, I don’t think I would’ve gone for my dreams without you.”
You blew a raspberry, shaking your head. “Nah, I didn’t do much.” You glanced down at her, sparing a pitiful smile. Truthfully, you don’t think you were in any way connected to her motivation or drive to pursue her dreams. If anything, you resembled a mosquito in the back of her mind that wouldn’t leave her alone.
But it did feel nice to live with that little bit of pride and happiness. Even if it was for such a short period of time.
“I don’t think you even realize the power you had.” Lexi looked up at you in question. Seeing that faint smile on your lips as you scoffed, shaking your head. “You had this thing about you. Like, you could give confidence to anyone who needed it. You appear in a room–it would clear everyone out and give you the center stage, you know what I mean?”
Lexi nibbled on her bottom lip, watching you turn to her with a sigh. “And despite how I feel and how much I love you, I am so fucking proud of you, Lexi. Really. You deserve all of what you have. The kid, Fez, the job. You deserve every-fucking-bit of it.” Hesitantly, you placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair, smiling when she grumbled. “Remember your worth, Lex. You are amazing. Don’t ever forget that.”
Leaning down, you kissed her head before brushing past her. So quick yet so gentle, it felt like a gust of wind danced past her. And it took a few moments for her to realize your words before she spun around to see your fleeting figure. It becomes disfigured in the darkness of the night with only the moonlight giving way of your departure.
She couldn’t contain the tears that stung the brim of her eyes. A natural heat of emotions blossomed and enveloped her entire face as she squinted, wanting to take in the last bit of you and take in every detail. “Y/n! What do you mean?”
You stopped for a moment, stuffing your hands in your pockets and turning toward her, smiling softly. “It’s something I never got to tell you before you left Highland. Maybe things would’ve been different if I did.” A tear slid down your cheek as you chuckled sadly. “But you need to know that talking to you and getting to know you has been the greatest thing in my life.”
Nodding to yourself, almost looking like you were finalizing something, you said, “I hope I see you again, Lex.”
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Addiction | Lee Sangyeon
SUMMARY: you were tasked to assassinate the infamous Twilight. but what happens when it turns out that after all this time, your target was just right next to you, and it just so happened that your boyfriend is the man you have been hunting for as long as you can remember.
PAIRING: spy!Sangyeon x assassin f!reader (feat. police!Haknyeon)
GENRE: spy x family au, fluff, angst, crime, some crack & humour, slight thriller
WARNINGS: nc-17, violence, blood, fighting scenes, mentions of weaponry (guns, kunais, etc.), kissing, betrayal, a rather heartbreaking ending, Haknyeon is there for the chaos
WORD COUNT: 10k
A/N: happiest birthday to the loml ❤️ i've always wanted to write a spy fic for him and i finally got the chance to do it for his birthday 🥹 i've tweaked some bits from the manga but there will be scenes/scenarios that might seem familiar to those who are a fan of the series!! yes, Sangyeon is Loid while reader is Yor 🤭
“Code name: Lunala, reporting in for duty.”
As soon as you heard that you were approved to enter from the other side of the room, you turned the doorknob slowly and opened up to see that your chief, The Shopkeeper, was already expecting your arrival.
Walking towards the chief, you noticed tons of folders scattered around messily on the table, indicating that the chief hasn’t been in the best mood, or rather, has been pretty frustrated with a particular case, or rather, someone.
Once you have reached close enough to keep a fair distance, you clasped your hands and placed them behind your back before speaking up to question why you were summoned in the first place.
“You have a mission for me, sir?”
“Indeed, I have. And it is rather a tough one. Hence I needed higher-level assassins like you to handle the job.” The Shopkeeper responded as he furrowed his eyebrows.
As he got up, he directed your direction towards the whiteboard situated right beside him, Upon closer look, you could see that The Shopkeeper himself had been hunting the individual in question for weeks now, judging from all of the available information and the red strings that connected a picture or a clue from one end to the other.
Most of the time, the Garden Assassin Syndicate, better known as the Garden, are often tasked with assassinating individuals who threaten Ostania. You were part of the group for the past three years, more or less. Joining the association wasn’t by your own choice, though—you were eventually scouted by the Shopkeeper himself after witnessing how you have managed to wipe out an entire army from your previous job.
Back then, you weren’t part of any organisation whatsoever—you simply killed for the sake of living, earning some pocket money to provide for yourself and your little brother, Haknyeon. You often listened to the news and bought the daily newspaper as well, for there were individuals out there who posted their requests to kill anonymously. If you were to take the job and succeed, you would be paid at a specified location later on in the day without ever meeting who your employer was.
It was a risk, but you simply had no choice because you were born and gifted with such skills, and you had nowhere to go but to turn to assassination as a profession. As long as it was enough to keep you and your brother alive, it was all that mattered to you.
When you were accepted into the Gardens three years prior, it was a vast improvement for you and your little brother. Not only would you be paid loads, but you would also get a safe rooftop above your head each day. But it came with a cost—you had to have two different identities, and no one was to ever find out about your affiliation with the organisation itself.
Including your brother, Haknyeon.
You took up the job because you had no other choices, and continuing with what you have done in the past was getting too dangerous for you to handle alone—it also risked the chances that your brother would eventually find out about your little “side job”.
After years of training and experience, you have risen to the ranks of being one of the higher-level assassins, often tasked to handle more gory and challenging jobs. So that was why you were summoned here today by the Shopkeeper himself.
However, you had to blink twice when you looked at the board just to ensure you weren’t seeing things wrong.
“With all due respect, sir, this is the man you would want me to assassinate?”
“Indeed. We have kept him on our radar for long enough, and I think it is about time that we make the move to put a stop to his schemes.”
“But sir… that’s Twilight, Westalis’s well-known spy. Why would we have to assassinate such an individual when they do not have contact with us at all?” You were starting to ponder this whole scenario. Indeed, the chief might have made a mistake. Targeting the spies? That would call for a war between them and the assassins.
“I know what you might be thinking, Lunala. But I believe once you start tracking him down, you will understand why. And a fair warning, we do not have much time, and I need you to close up on him as soon as you can, and I expect you to report back to me immediately before I give you your next mission.”
With the chief’s stern and firm demeanour, you knew that there was little to no chance of persuading him or changing his mind. Hence, you reluctantly accepted the offer, reassuring him that you would find more clues along the way as well.
Walking out from the door, there was only one question that pondered in your mind.
What exactly is there about you, Twilight?
Sangyeon’s POV
“My my, if it isn’t my number one loyal customer!!” Freddie shouted out loud as he witnessed how Sangyeon slowly made his way towards his store.
“You flatter me too much, Freddie. How are the sales today by far?”
“Not much, like the usual. But now that you’re here, I expect a big order from you, no?”
Sangyeon chuckled. “You know me well. I will be getting two kilograms worth of roasted peanuts. They’re for the kids in the orphanage right across the streets.”
As Freddie started bagging Sangyeon’s order, he couldn’t help but smile at his answer. He knew that Sangyeon came every week to do the same deed, but he wasn’t sure why he would risk it all and do it on his own rather than letting the multiple organisations available that dealt with cases like this take over such trivial matters.
Every single time Freddie tried to ask Sangyeon about it, he always got the same reply, more or less.
“The only reason I became a spy was to bring a much better life for the kids in both Westalis and Ostania. I wish to create a world where no more children would shed tears.”
Freddie could only sigh and smile back at him. Sangyeon was such a kind-hearted soul, and yet he was always out there risking his life in all of his missions.
He has indeed built a reputation for himself, for Twilight is now well-known across the country to be the best spy there is out there. Because of that, the director could always rely on him and often gave him missions that could end up in a life-or-death situation. But Sangyeon never once complained and always took off the offers available. It was just the way he was.
Just when Freddie thought Sangyeon would leave after getting the two kilogram worth of roasted peanuts, Sangyeon took a few pennies from his back pocket and passed it to Freddie as a tip. However, Freddie’s eyes widened as he looked at the coins themselves.
It was Cipher F.
Without much hesitation, he immediately invited Sangyeon into his store, looking around to see that nobody had caught up with what they were up to before closing the door.
As they walked deeper into the store, both of them hopped into a wooden wardrobe located at the very end of the room before pulling a hidden lever in one of the walls as they travelled down to the basement.
Here was where Sangyeon and Freddie would often discuss detective work hidden away from the busy streets of Ostania. It also served as Sangyeon’s little base for when he needed to trade some weapons or even elicit Freddie’s help for some profiling assistance.
Freddie immediately went to turn on his computer as he quickly sat down and started typing away, seemingly trying his best to decipher the person that has been trailing Sangyeon for a while now. In the meantime, the spy himself was browsing through the walls filled with new weaponry that could prove to be helpful in his new missions to come as he picked out a few guns and began examining them as well as loading them.
As Freddie finally managed to narrow down to a few names and asked the agent himself to have a look, he couldn’t help but tease his old friend a little while scrolling through the browser page.
“Damn, Twilight, have you gotten rusty to have someone trailing you like this in broad daylight?”
“Oh sweetheart, I never fail, nor do I let my enemies come close to me within a five-metre radius. Which certainly means whoever this person may be is far more dangerous than all of the usual criminals that I deal with.” He wasn’t ready to admit that he had been tailed with, and his blood was starting to boil now to think that whoever this was would think they would get their hands on the infamous Twilight himself.
After a few more scrolls down the page, Sangyeon immediately laid his hands upon Freddie’s that were situated on the mouse, as he asked him to zoom in to have a closer look at the profile of this person.
Upon closer inspection, Freddie was certainly not buying it, thinking that this individual would stand no chance against Sangyeon himself.
“Twilight, are you sure that you have gotten the right person? As far as my eyes do not deceive me, that is a woman alright.”
“Not just any woman, Freddie. She’s the infamous Lunala from Gardens.”
Sangyeon knew exactly who you were. He has had a good amount of encounters with the assassins from your association throughout his whole life as an undercover agent for the Westalian Intelligence (WISE). Unfortunately, the spies from WISE are not usually on good terms with the assassins from Garden, and things typically turn out sour at the end of each mission. Sangyeon himself has had a few ones that turned out pretty ugly at the end.
He has never encountered you in person before, but he has undoubtedly heard about your deeds and your reputation, as you have certainly made a name for yourself among the spies and assassins. This has piqued his interest. No assassins have ever dared laid their hands upon the Twilight himself, for they would be losing their heads first if they did.
So what exactly is your mission? Why, of all people, would you target the best spy in Westalis?
Sangyeon was pumped up to figure out your motive, and he was determined that he was going to get you first before you could even try anything funny.
He quickly geared up and took the necessary equipment before he gave Freddie a quick wave goodbye.
“It has been a while since I’ve been this pumped and excited for a mission.”
Y/N’s POV
“YOU DID WHAT????” You screamed at your younger sibling, unable to fully absorb the information dumped on you.
“I did the right thing, noona! It’s about time you settle down and get married.” Your younger brother Haknyeon crossed his arms as he sat on your couch.
Apparently, Haknyeon was getting very concerned about your love life—especially when you were already 27 years of age and had never once dated or had an actual boyfriend. At this point, he was extremely worried that he would have to accept the fact that he would not be having nieces and nephews to spend time and play with.
If you were, to be honest with yourself, you were also desperate in trying to find a partner for yourself. You have been hearing tons of whispers and receiving loads of side eyes at work, for you were one of the last ones who has not been giving out marriage invitations or even an engagement announcement while all of your co-workers have done so. You have always heard that maybe nothing was charming about you—hence why no guys would want to dedicate and spend the rest of their lives with you.
But you certainly did not expect your brother to intercept and find you a date for tomorrow night.
“Be at the Four Seasons Hotel tomorrow at 8:30 pm sharp, I have booked a table for you both and he would be anticipating your arrival.”
“You are insane.” You were the one crossing your arms now, scoffing that your brother did such a thing before you turned your heel and decided to retire back to the comforts of your room.
That got Haknyeon jumping up from the couch and running in front of your door, stretching out his arms to prevent you from stepping into the room before giving him an actual answer.
“Come on, noona. I promise you that it will be worth it. Look, he is a psychologist. Moreover, I’ve even done a background check back in the station before I got off work, and I can assure you that he is clean in my books! It wouldn’t hurt to just try it out for the night and see if the man of your dreams is finally right in front of you.”
Haknyeon then kneels to the ground, giving you that signature pouty lips as he clasped his hands together. “Pretty please?”
After staring at him for five seconds, you immediately slumped your shoulders and gave out a huge sigh, nodding your head, which made him jump up to give you a tight embrace.
“If he turns out to be a whole different person from what you have described, I swear I will kick you out of my apartment and you will be banned from entering my house.”
“Deal.”
God, this was such a bad idea.
That was the only thought that filled your mind as you rubbed your sweaty palms together as you sat in your seat, waiting for your date to arrive.
Being all anxious about the dinner, you arrived half an hour early, apologising to the staff members that they had to accommodate you way earlier than the expected time.
But you have told yourself that you would rather be the one waiting instead, so here you were—sipping your water every minute to calm your fast-beating heart down while constantly checking the time on your phone.
As the clock struck at 8:30 p.m., a deep husky voice resonated above you.
“You must be Y/N, right?”
You quickly lifted your head to find a tall brunette male wearing a black suit with his hair parted to the side. He seemed pretty tall, about 176cm in height, and he was holding a little bag before he extended out his other free hand to give you a handshake.
Panicking, you quickly stood up to return the handshake, which made him smile at you. As you both sat down, he immediately took out the item that was in the bag that he was holding—a red wine.
“I hope that you are fond of drinking red wine. At least, that was what your brother has informed me of.”
Oh, you were so going to kill Haknyeon after this.
There was a problem. You have never told Haknyeon about your alcohol tolerance and how you were certainly not going to survive drinking a few glasses of red wine. But as a courtesy, you have no choice but to accept the offer and to act as if nothing was wrong about it.
As the man poured both of you a glass and the food came, you were both enjoying the ambience and the company for he was a pretty chatty man himself. He knew how to break the ice and not make things uncomfortable for you both. It was the way he was always so engaged in every conversation or topic that either you or he has come up with, and he never judged any of the answers you have provided.
What was more intriguing was his gaze upon you. There was something about it that just drew you in, which made you felt comfortable and wanting to share more with him.
And how attractive he looked.
As you both chatted more, you eventually found out that he was indeed a psychologist, and he worked at the local hospital in town. He was well-trained in his job, for he would often be sent back to Westalis, his hometown, to treat the patients there. In other words, he is going back and forth between both countries, trying his best to help as many patients as possible.
You, on the other hand, introduced that you were working as a clerk in the Berlint City Hall, and how you mentioned that you were just an ordinary person. But apparently, your date did not agree with this information as he gently laid one of his hands upon yours, reassuring you that you were doing more than enough to serve the city.
Oh, how you were starting to fall in love with him.
It wasn’t long before you realised that you had yet to get his name this whole time that you were chatting about other topics. When you finally asked, it was a name where you knew that it would undoubtedly fit a fine gentleman like him.
“Oh, my deepest apologies where was my manners?” He gently wiped his mouth clean with the given napkin before putting that signature smile back onto his face.
“You can call me Jayden.”
You were now trying your best to balance yourself as you were tipsy and actually on the verge of being blackout drunk. Jayden was extremely worried for your well-being, so he was still beside you as you started walking down the streets. As much as you tried your best to tell him that you were okay and would call it a day, he was not buying it and started to grip your hands and placed them over his shoulders while his other hand laid gently on your waist.
“There’s no way I am letting you go home alone like that. Please, let me at least take you to your doorstep.” He replied firmly, clearly not giving you any room to fight back anymore.
It seemed as if you were left with no choice but to allow him to give you a helping hand as you both strolled towards the direction back to the comforts of your home.
It was then you both heard a gunshot.
Both of your eyes widened and your ears perked up from that loud sound as you both turned towards the direction of where the source of the sound came from.
Squinting your eyes, you eventually make out a few figures running into the dark alleyway down the road, carrying a gun as they begin shooting again.
That had sobered you up before you freed yourself from Jayden’s grip and took off running towards that direction, ignoring Jayden’s calls for your name.
Getting drunk and having a low alcohol tolerance was your weakness, but that does not mean that Lunala’s skills would diminish in any sort of way. You were now putting on your assassin persona, scanning the place to find traces of where the individuals may have gone. That was when you noticed a few scratch marks on the walls, and you quickly followed the direction towards the sound of the gunshots.
It took you a few turns before you finally found yourself in a corner, witnessing the group of thugs who were aiming their guns at a poor individual holding a bag that probably contained something that they were after. Your footsteps did not go unnoticed, for the thugs immediately turned back to aim their guns at you. Luckily for you, and not so luckily for them, you were now sober enough, ready to land a punch and kick to knock those thugs out.
In one swift movement, you ran towards one of the individuals, knocking the gun out of their grip before throwing a punch right into their face—causing the individual to fly across to the other side. The other thugs began to panic as they were surprised that a woman like you possessed such strength. Their hands began to tremble before one of them decided to put on a brave face and lunged towards you.
It turns out it was a horrible move to make because he would eventually be knocked out cold and tumble down the alleyway thanks to your brute strength. Not wanting to waste more time, you quickly took out each individual at a time, successfully knocking out all of the weaponry they possessed in their hands.
Dusting off your hands, you slowly walked towards the individual before that familiar voice made your eyes widen, and you turned your back to face the source of where it was coming from.
“Woah, Y/N. What exactly happened here?”
Damn it. It was Jayden.
There was no way you would tell him that you were an assassin, so possessing combat skills was part of your forte. You were struggling to think of something before you heard some shifting noises coming from behind you.
“Umm… I-It’s not what you think it is—”
“Y/N! Duck!”
Within a swift motion, Jayden quickly made his way towards you before throwing a punch at the individual holding the bag in their possession towards the ground. You were confused as to why Jayden did precisely that before he slowly bent down to face the individual himself. He quickly took the bag out of their grip before looking back at the individual grunting on the ground.
“Well, it must have been very bold of you to steal these jewellery pieces from the local art museum. Unfortunately, luck was not on your side for tonight.”
“Why you…”
“Oh, if I were you, I would save up the energy, darling. You were clearly in no way better than the thugs who were chasing you down the streets.”
“W-what? How did you know—”
“Oh, I do know, alright.” Then Jayden’s voice went down an octave lower, and the look in his eyes would be enough to send shivers down one’s spine. Unfortunately for the individual, he now finally recognised who exactly he was dealing with.
“Y-you… you’re… Twi—” The individual was knocked out cold by Jayden once again, only this time, he would not be waking up anytime soon. Jayden gave himself a huge sigh of relief before he stood back up, turning back to you with that signature smile of his.
“Well, that was something. I am sorry if I terrified you in any way. I hope you’re alright, Y/N?” Jayden questioned as he examined you to see if you were left with no scars. But that wasn’t what concerned you the most. That brute strength he had shown back then was not something an ordinary individual could pull off. Sure, maybe someone who possessed martial skills could do it anytime—but something just felt off.
You needed to know. If he genuinely does possess something else rather than just being an ordinary psychologist.
“J-Jayden… how did you know—”
“Oh, you meant that individual back there? Well, working with patients across the country has gotten me a fair amount of networks that I could rely on to keep up with the latest news. That also meant individuals like him who escaped from the facility and did the dirty work on the streets.”
Hmm… okay. That does seem plausible.
“And to be fair, he was about to inject you with some sort of liquid with the syringe he possessed in his hands right into your neck, so I had no choice but to knock him out cold.”
Syringe? Liquid? How exactly did this happen?
You quickly turned to look back and examined the scene, and sure enough, your eyes landed upon the shattered syringe with the liquid now oozing out onto the floor.
How could you not have noticed this before?
It seemed as if your date had somewhat of a keen sense and could detect certain things that you couldn’t, which was odd since you usually never miss out on a single detail.
Maybe it was the influence of alcohol. You reasoned to yourself, not wanting to ponder upon this topic for too long since your head is starting to hurt now as if it were the after-effects of the alcohol.
Jayden noticed how you were placing one hand on the side of your head as you closed your eyes to deal with the pain that was starting to get more prominent than before.
He calmly took off his suit and draped it across your shoulders, now holding you close to him once again.
“Let’s go home now, hmm?”
It has been a week since that fateful incident.
You were typing away on the computer at work, but almost every five minutes, you would get distracted as your mind constantly wondered who exactly your date was.
There was just something about him that just stood out. You couldn’t pinpoint what it was, for you struggled to find the exact words to describe it yourself.
You searched for as much information about him as possible from the city hall’s database. Still, all that you could come up with was just as he had described himself: an ordinary psychologist who travelled back and forth between Westalis and Ostania to treat as many patients as possible.
At the same time, you tried asking your brother Haknyeon about Jayden himself, but the answers were the same as you had predicted. You undoubtedly did not tell him about the suspicions you have had about the man himself—there was no way Haknyeon would find out about your side job as an assassin anytime soon.
You sighed as you leaned back into your chair, closing your eyes to eliminate the frustrations. That was until the telephone from the table rang, and you quickly picked it up, expecting it to be from your higher-ups from the office.
“Code name: Lunala. Report for duty.”
Your mission for the night was to assassinate the chairman of the Lee Corporation, as it was a task given by the state government.
It was an A-rank mission, meaning you would do the dirty work for the state government. Sure, they have gotten their people to handle assignments like this, but they care about their reputation too much to get their hands dirty.
Since the Gardens took on side jobs for the government and they were the ones who authorise you people to keep the organisation up and running, you assassins have learnt the hard way to keep one of your eyes closed and continue with the job as quickly as possible.
Making your way towards the hotel, you got through the security team quickly with your forged pass. As you finally reached the top floor where the chairman would be hiding, you slowly approached the two bodyguards who were guarding the doors and tried your best to woo them before finally drawing out both of your kunais as you slit their throats. As they dropped to the ground one after another, you gently knocked on the door, earning a response from the other side.
As the door opened, you wasted no time but to dash towards the first person that was within your sight, taking him out in an instant. All of the other men quickly armed themselves and charged towards you, but your quick reflexes beat them to it as you aimed for all of their vital spots.
Now that all the bodyguards were out of the way, you slowly walked towards the chairman, who was panicking as he got up from his chair and quickly grabbed one of the pistols from the ground, aiming it towards you.
“S-stop… please don’t kill me… I’ll give you whatever you want!!”
“Unlucky for you; you have no room to determine whether you would live. It is I who is going to end your life tonight.” You replied bluntly before getting yourself into your offence position and started charging towards him.
It was then the walls above came crashing down, and an individual jumped right in front of you, grabbing onto both of your wrists.
You tried your best to fight back, but clearly, the individual was way stronger than you were, still holding onto your grip firmly, not planning to let you go anytime soon.
The individual was wearing a hood, so it was nearly impossible to determine what they looked like. The only thing you could make it was their dark brown eyes.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. But I shall be taking the chairman with me.”
You narrowed your eyes, trying to figure out ways to escape from the individual while conversing with them to keep them engaged.
“Who are you? And what makes you think that you’ll be winning against me?”
“I’d like to think I am pretty good at my job.”
“Prove it then.”
It was then you kicked into the individual’s abdomen, causing them to take a few steps back before you aimed one of your kunai into their direction and threw it, only for it to miss and land towards the ceiling.
But it was part of your plan, for your aim was to get them to follow the direction of the weapon so that you could launch an attack when their defence was at its lowest. The individual caught on quickly, and he could defend themselves by crossing their arms to shield themselves from your punch before the both of you began a non-stop one-on-one combat with the individual.
Surprising to you, it seemed as if their stamina was not diminishing at all, even when you both have been brawling against each other for a good ten minutes now. If this keeps up, you know it won’t get you anywhere, and you need to assassinate the chairman to prevent him from escaping.
With one final punch, both of you retreated to each end of the room, quickly getting back into your defence position with both of your kunais in hand. The individual then promptly took out a handgun, aiming it straight towards you.
“Sweetheart, I do not wish to hurt you.”
“Bold of you to assume that you would actually be able to leave a scratch on me.” You taunted the individual while you were trying your best to catch your breath.
Before you could reason your next move, the individual then aimed the gun towards the ground and shot. To your surprise, the weapon did not contain any bullets, but rather a good amount of smoke was coming out from the gun itself. As you took a tiny whiff of it, you knew that you were in big trouble.
Sleeping gas.
It was too late for you to run as the smoke quickly engulfed the room. You tried your best to keep yourself awake, but eventually, you collapsed to the ground as your eyes began to close.
Before you blacked out, you could vaguely make out the individual’s last words before they eventually left the scene.
“...forgive me, Y/N. This is part of my job too.”
You were awakened by the beeping noises seemingly coming from your side. You tried your best to open your eyes amidst the bright light shining into your face as you tried to make sense of your surroundings.
You then found yourself lying down on a bed with an IV drip inserted into one of your arms. An oxygen mask was placed over your mouth to help stabilise your breathing. Just as you were about to get up, you heard that familiar voice as they entered the room.
“You’re awake, Y/N.”
You turned towards the door to see your date from the other day walking towards you while holding a tray of food that he had prepared. As he placed them down on the table situated beside you, he gently gave you support as you slowly sat up from the bed.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, Y/N. I was worried sick about you.” He expressed his genuine emotions while trying to remove the oxygen mask away from you.
So many questions were running through your brain, and you tried your best to eliminate the ones where you could potentially risk yourself exposing your identity. Instead, you went for a general question that you hoped would somehow be acceptable in the current situation you were in.
“How did you find me, Jayden?”
“It just so happened I had a conference at the Lotte World Hotel. We were all told to evacuate when there had been an intruder reported at the top floors. The chairman of Lee Corporation was supposedly one of my clients that I was supposed to meet up with after my conference was over, I went up to the top floor to see dozens of men who were killed in cold blood. And it was also where I found you lying there on the ground.”
Mentally, you were cursing yourself for messing up the mission and nearly exposing your cover. Out of all people, you just had to encounter your date from the other day—as if what happened that fateful night was not enough to embarrass yourself or expose your identity even further.
While you were busy furrowing your eyebrows, Jayden took a seat on the side of your bed and gently placed one of his warm hands onto yours, which, to be completely honest, made your heart skip a beat.
As you looked up to meet his eyes, you could tell he had this genuinely concerned look, as if he was about to cry.
“Y/N. What exactly is your job?”
Oh, hell no.
This has been the number one question that you have been trying your best to avoid since the day Haknyeon set you both up on that very first date. What happened the other day would have blown your cover if Jayden had just asked if whatever happened back then was your doing. But given the circumstances now, especially when he found you amidst the dozens of dead bodies in the hotel, even an average person would think that something is not right in that situation.
As you were doing somersaults in your mind, you tried your best to keep calm and respond in the most natural way you possibly could without causing much further suspicion to be thrown at you.
“W-why would you say that?” You chuckled nervously.
“I don’t know… Y/N. I’m pretty sure you weren’t just there for fun, and I don’t think an ordinary clerk from Berlint City Hall would have business with the chairman. You could have lost your life if I didn’t find you there and then.”
You lowered your head to look back at the bedsheets, not knowing what to say. Perhaps you could tell him that you work for the State Security Service (SSS)—that would be a reasonable answer to buy some time for now. But there was a problem. Your brother Haknyeon is part of SSS, and there is no knowing if Jayden would do a little background check on you later on—that is, if he doesn’t trust you enough.
Or worse, you never know if he might have contacts from SSS, given that he is a famous psychologist in the country. He must have his networks to access pieces of information as quickly as possible—
Your train of thought was cut off when you were pulled into an embrace. Jayden rested one of his hands on your head as he began stroking your hair, and he gently rested your head in the crook of his neck. He rubbed his cheek against your soft hair, inhaling your scent before eventually speaking up.
“Y/N… I may not know much about you yet, but one thing I know for sure is that I do care a lot about you. That date that we’ve had the other day? It wasn’t just some ordinary date. I genuinely do like you and have slowly started to take an interest in you. You have no idea how I have been yearning to see you again, and only to have my heart dropped when I found you unconscious in the hotel.”
Your eyes widened at the sudden confession and embrace, but it seemed he wasn’t done letting out his feelings just yet.
“Y/N. I want to get to know you more, and in order to do that, I want to protect you at all costs. Even from the other day in the dark alleyways, I was so glad that I came in time to save you. So will you accept this offer?”
Never in a million years would you have thought you would score in a relationship. You have never dated, heck, no man has ever taken an interest in you. Who would’ve thought that a simple blind date set up by your very own brother would land this opportunity for you.
Jayden then slowly pushed you away, only for him to grab both sides of your shoulders, looking desperate into your eyes.
“Please? Will you give me a chance, Y/N?”
You were now having an internal battle with yourself. As much as you want to reject him, merely because of the dangers of your actual job and you were supposed to keep your close contacts to a minimum. But your heart says otherwise.
It would have been a lie to say that you weren’t smitten by him on that very first day that you both met during that date. You were entranced by him, and you thought that he might be a little too good for you, thinking that there was no way you would deserve a man like him.
But now that he has made the first move and confessed to you, that paints the whole situation differently.
Say no, Y/N. Do not risk it all—
“Yes, Jayden. Let’s make this work.”
Immediately, he threw himself over you, causing you both to fall back onto the bed. It was as if he was a puppy wagging its tail; being all happy would’ve been an understatement at this point. He was hugging you tightly and rubbing his cheek against yours, and you decided to return the favour.
“Thank you, Y/N. I’ll be sure to make you the happiest woman alive.”
“Ju Haknyeon, I swear you are so dead this time!!”
You slammed your apartment door open and screamed at the poor young fellow, who turned their head towards your direction while stuffing his mouth with his favourite chips. The young fellow was confused as to why you were so mad that your face was slowly turning into the colour of a bright red tomato at this point.
“Now, what have I done wrong this time, noona? I thought we were on good terms now that you have an actual boyfriend—”
“BOYFRIEND. Thanks for clarifying that. Because tell me why my little brother made an effort to announce to the majority of Berlint City Hall that I am engaged and ready for marriage within six months??”
That was when he remembered what he did, and his mouth formed an ‘o’ shape.
You were not having it, as you quickly stomped towards him and grabbed his bag of chips away, causing the male to whine and cling to you.
“B-but noona!! It is clear to everyone that you have been head over heels with Mr Jayden. Indeed, it would be natural to let people know that engagement is possible now.”
“You have no idea how badly I want to kick you out of my apartment like RIGHT NOW.”
Just as you were about to drag the male towards the front door, he suddenly screamed out something, which made you drop everything that you were holding right onto the ground.
“By the way, Jayden called a few minutes ago and said he will be waiting for you at the Four Seasons hotel!!”
You gasped. “Well, why didn’t you tell me this earlier!!”
You were now rushing into your bedroom, digging out clothes that would fit the theme and ambience of the date as you tried your best to fix your makeup as quickly as possible before dashing out to the front door again.
You waved a quick goodbye before you slammed the door shut, causing Haknyeon to grin as he pulled up another bag of chips he was hiding behind the couch.
“Noona is down so bad for him at this point and I am loving this.”
It turns out that Jayden booked the same exact hotel and table for the night to commemorate your third month as a couple.
It was crazy to think how time passed so quickly and the both of you have been having so much fun together. Jayden would always meet you after work right outside the city hall, and the two of you would often go cafe hopping on weekends too. For the first month that you were together, he booked two tickets to the local aquarium—all thanks to your brother Haknyeon who told him that you have an abnormal obsession with penguins.
For your second month, the man himself got two tickets for you to head to the local zoo because they were hosting an annual Halloween trick-or-treat event where all individuals, from kids to adults, were free to participate. It was then you showed off your childish and bubbly persona—something that Jayden himself truly really loved. It was rare for him to see you in such a manner since usually you were more shy and reserved. But it was good for a change.
So for tonight, he decided that it would be great for you both to just wind down and relax with a candlelight dinner at the very first place you both met, sharing about how each of your days has been for the past week. The both of you haven’t been able to meet up with one another for a while since Jayden was away in Westalis for a conference. So it was good to have him back now.
Or so you thought.
“Say, Y/N. There’s something important I need to tell you.” He took a sip of his wine before placing it down on the table.
“What is it?”
“I think… I might be gone again for a while.”
“Oh, no it’s fine—”
“No, I meant like… for a long time, that is.”
Oh.
As much as you were sad for him to leave again when he just got back, you couldn’t help but understand that it was his job to travel around the country for his career, meeting with clients and treating as many patients as possible. You tried your best not to portray how sad you would be in your emotions and your response, but clearly, Jayden could read your body language easily.
“I’m sorry, Y/N. I know I’ve just returned and have to leave again. It’s not fair for you at all.”
“Oh my god, no, please! I mean. You do what you have to do, Jayden. It is work, after all.”
This time, he took both of your hands into his and he gently placed a kiss on top of your palm, now looking back up to you while interlocking your fingers with his.
“I promise. I will be back sooner or later. I will keep you posted by writing you letters often. I love you, Y/N.”
Trying your very best to hold back your tears, you leaned in to give him a quick peck on the lips before responding to him.
“I love you too, Jayden. More than anything.”
It has been close to a month now since you last encountered your boyfriend. It felt like yesterday when you had just dropped your boyfriend off at the Ostania train station, hugging him tight and not wanting to let him go despite the train master calling for the remaining passengers to board the train as soon as possible.
Eventually, you did let go, but not before Jayden leaned in to take a final whiff of your scent and kissed the top of your forehead, promising he would return in the blink of an eye.
At the very beginning, the both of you exchanged letters quite often—at least you would get a letter per week from one another. Jayden would often update you about his life in Westalis—talking about how he saved this one blind man who was about to be run over by a herd of horses on the streets, how he almost spilt his director’s coffee because he insisted on carrying five to six cups at once, and how the children from the orphanage home loved his company so much so that they are begging their caregiver to send him at least twice a week to play with them.
You often giggled reading through his letters, it always felt that he was always near and never far away, and you loved the way he could make you smile even through his writings. Every time you got his letter, you would rush back to your apartment, ignoring how Haknyeon called you out to cook him his favourite marinated pork ribs for dinner because you had more important things to do.
You would often write back to him the same day his letter arrived, so by the next morning, you could drop it off at the local post office and eagerly wait for his notes for the following week.
But unfortunately, the letters stopped coming a week ago.
It was very odd, to say the least because it all happened so abruptly that there was no reason for him to have stopped doing so. You tried writing a bit back more than usual but to no avail. You even tried your best to contact his office in Ostania, but it seemed that they hadn’t been receiving any updates from their very own psychologist himself.
Something must have happened to him. As much as you did not want to think about it negatively, you just couldn’t help but fear that something terrible must have happened. But still, you tried to place your faith and trust within him, holding onto the fact that he will indeed return for you.
So you have decided to search for clues about his whereabouts every time you were sent on a mission by the Gardens. You would make full use of your time staking out enemies while finding potential clues about even the tiniest detail that could lead you to Jayden.
There hasn’t been any luck, but you were determined and not ready to give up any time.
Jayden, wherever you may be, I will be looking for you.
The banging sounds of gunfire resonated in the city as the SSS were hunting for a mastermind criminal that had gotten on their radar for the past few months.
The criminal himself has evaded capture for the longest time, and when the SSS finally located his whereabouts, they couldn’t help but contact the Gardens to ask for their assistance. In response to that, the Shopkeeper sent his best assassins to help hunt down the criminal and to bring him back either alive or dead—naturally, you have been summoned due to your rank and also to guide the rookie assassins as part of their training.
With your lead, you instructed the SSS to stake out the buildings on the ground, sending in as many soldiers as they possibly could to narrow down the chances of escape for the criminal himself. Meanwhile, the assassins would take on the buildings from the top so that if the criminal escaped from above, you and your team would stop him.
You were examining the whole crime scene from below, watching how the soldiers from SSS had already begun firing, which indicated that the criminal had revealed himself. With that, you phoned your fellow assassins through your earpiece, signalling them to get into their offence position and watch the scene below carefully to ensure that the criminal does not escape this time.
As you slowly got deep into your work, you felt as if someone had been standing right behind you for quite a while before you eventually drew out one of your kunais and aimed straight into their face, only to be stopped by their firm grip on your hands.
Your eyes widened as you saw who it was—the hooded individual back from the Lotte World Hotel.
“So, we meet again.” The individual taunted.
You scoffed; your blood was boiling again. You have already been humiliated once by them, and you certainly were not going to let them take advantage of you any longer.
“You have interrupted me once, and I will not let you do the same again.” Rage was now pulsing through your veins, and your grip on your kunai hardened. Oh, how you wanted to kill this individual so badly now.
“Try me, then.” The individual challenged. Before you knew it, they freed you from their grasp and you immediately threw a strong punch towards their abdomen, only for them to escape your quick reflexes before they did the same towards you.
It was then you were reminded of the scene back in the hotel. Knowing that this individual somehow had the skills and reflexes that were on par with yours, you knew that battling them like this would take you nowhere. This time, you would need to use your wits to win against them instead.
As you were trying your best to come up with something, you were unfortunately disrupted by an ear-splitting scream from your earpiece—it was from one of your subordinates.
Holy crap—
The individual took this opportunity to see that your defence was weak, and they quickly charged towards you, pushing you straight towards the wall on the rooftop. You grunt at the sudden impact; not going to lie it actually did hurt quite a bit.
Suddenly, the individual began speaking up again, it seemed as if they were not done taunting you.
“Look how the tables have turned. I would’ve expected more from the infamous Lunala.”
“What do you want? I’m sure you’re here to disrupt our mission, aren’t you?”
“It’s a yes and a no. I had my own personal reasons for coming here tonight.”
You scoffed. “Mixing up personal reasons with work? Now, that’s professionalism done incorrectly—”
“Y/N. Do you not really know who I am?”
Wait a minute.
That voice. It sounded so familiar yet so distant. It was as if your mind were playing tricks on you, thinking that this person is someone you are acquainted with. But who could it be? You tried your best to narrow it down. It could be one of the criminals from the past that you’ve dealt with. Or maybe a past Garden assassin? You have heard that some have gotten away—
It was then the individual lifted off their hoodie, revealing the one that you would’ve least expected to see in this current situation you were in.
“J-Jayden??”
“It’s been a while, Y/N.”
But… but how? So many questions were going through your mind, and you were confused with this whole situation, trying your best to convince yourself that you’re stuck in this terrible dream and you’re actually asleep.
But you knew that it would be impossible. In reality, you were on a mission, and it just so happened that you had encountered your boyfriend, whom you had not seen in so long, in the worst situation possible.
However, it seemed as if you finally made a connection in your mind, and you needed answers right away. If Jayden were the man standing before you now, that would also mean…
“Yes, Y/N. I was the same guy in the Lotte World Hotel the other day.”
No way. “And you actually had the audacity to save me when it was you who wanted to kill me in the first place?”
Jayden took in a deep sigh. “You see, Y/N. Things have changed, and it certainly did not go according to as planned.”
“Well, I don’t want to hear it at all.”
“Actually, I think you might want to.”
His grip on you loosened slightly before he ducked his head down, trying his best to find the right words to explain the whole situation to you in the most positive way possible.
“Y/N. Meeting you was… I don’t know. I would want to say it could be a blessing in disguise, or maybe not.”
Your blood was already boiling and you were on the verge of tears, and quite frankly, you have no idea how much longer you could restrain yourself before you combust. “Cut to the chase, Jayden. Tell me what exactly is your true motive.”
“I was convinced…that all assassins were always on the opposite side between us. Based on past experiences, I’ve lived with the mindset that people like us just don’t get along with the Gardens. So, it was pointless to even think about wanting to make amendments and change history, all of that biz. At least that was what I thought.”
He now slowly moves his hands so that they are holding onto your shoulders instead, and he looks straight into your eyes, also trying his best to hold back his tears.
“But you proved me wrong, and I was wrong to target you in the first place. Unfortunately, because of how dangerous my job is, I can’t let things like this get the best out of me, let alone emotions hinder the way in my profession—because that would put the people I care about in grave danger.”
“Why is that… Jayden. What, or rather. Who exactly are you?” It was your time to pose the question back to him. It took him a few seconds to compose himself before blurting out his true identity.
“I am the man that you’ve been on the hunt lately, Y/N.”
No. No, it can’t be. You did not want to accept reality. It would seem as if you would be better off killed—oh, how badly you have stooped so low to discard the Lunala that you’ve worked so hard over the years to build up.
Love was dangerous. That was why assassins like you always struggled to find a partner—especially when they were from the other side.
One thing is clear now, the man in front of you is no longer your boyfriend. In fact, he is actually your worst enemy right now, and you were the same to him.
The only question is: who will make the first move to kill the other person?
It was then you let your emotions get the best out of you, as you finally let the tears that you have been holding up for so long drip down onto your face. You didn’t care if you felt vulnerable at this moment; you just needed to vent your feelings.
You sobbed before finally began to ball up your fist and started hitting Jayden on his chest.
“Why? Why did you just have to come into my life? If all that hadn’t happened, I would’ve just carried out my mission most easily and quickly as possible.”
“Perhaps, it was also my fault for thinking that I would surely get away and perform my mission well like how I’ve always done in the past. But it just so happened that you were the first one to prove me wrong.”
Jayden didn’t resist as you continued hitting him in the chest, which he deserved for failing to keep his composure as Twilight.
Just then, he suddenly moved his hands to cup your face, lifting your teary face to meet his. “We don’t have much time, Y/N. But before we part ways, let me just do this for once.”
Slowly, he leaned in to close the distance between you too. His lips felt warm against yours, and you didn’t hesitate to return the kiss. Jayden kissed even harder as he moved his hands to your back, pushing in and wanting to taste you more. As a tear dripped onto your face, he gently moved his fingers to wipe them away.
This is wrong. So wrong. But neither of you could resist it.
When you both finally parted and tried to catch your breath, he rested his forehead onto yours before whispering.
“We will return to being enemies the next time we see each other again, but just so you know, Lunala will always have a special place in my heart, even if my actions prove otherwise.”
With one final look into your puffy eyes, he pushed you away and quickly made his way towards the edge of the building; he took one final look at you before saying his potential last words to you.
“Sangyeon. Lee Sangyeon. That’s my real name.”
Within a flash, he jumped from the building and ran into the darkness, never to be seen again.
You were brought back from reality by your subordinates ringing you through the earpiece, and you tried your best to compose yourself and wipe your streaming tears away before you finally responded.
“Tell the soldiers from SSS to secure the entire premises. We have another individual to assassinate for the night.”
Sangyeon’s POV
It wasn’t part of his job to have encountered you tonight. In fact, he was tasked with capturing the criminal and bringing them back to the headquarters in one piece, all while avoiding the SSS at all costs. It just so happened that the Gardens were called forth for the mission, and he knew that you would be there guiding the rookies.
There was a reason that he had been avoiding you for the past month. It was true that he has got to attend some conferences as part of his psychologist persona. But the main reason he left was because he knew that things were starting to get more dangerous than they already were—he began to develop feelings for you.
His main reason for even accepting Haknyeon’s call in the first place was because he knew that you were the famous Lunala, and it was as if pure luck that the opposing party were the first to make a move instead of him. It was something that he was thankful for in the first place.
Things started fine at the beginning, he was going to get close to you, gain your trust, and eventually wait for the right time to confront you about you trailing him for the past weeks.
His record has always been perfect: no flaws, no mistakes and most definitely, he has only been diverted from his mission so badly once you came into the picture. He realises the growing addiction that he has developed for you and suddenly, you became the most challenging mission that he would ever be assigned to.
He constantly blames himself whenever he thinks about his mission, how much he has let his guard down, or how this is not who Twilight is. But every time he does that, the soft, pure and bubbly image of you pops up in his mind.
Never would he have thought that he would fall in love, especially when he had gone through a difficult childhood himself, having the lack of love nor attention from his actual parents. There was just something about you that made him change his mind—that the world did not just have to revolve around crime and anger.
So he did what he knew was best for the both of you, him leaving before it would be too late to do so. He was not going to put your life in danger, and it would kill him to find out that you would get hurt all because of him and his actual job.
And for the first time, since he was known to become the infamous Twilight, he had a failed mission written in his books.
“Is it an addiction, Y/N? Because you were not an easy mission to fulfill.”
A/N: i know i have been writing long oneshots lately shush—
masterlist
taglist: @deoboyznet @kflixnet @k-films @flwoie @zzoguri @kyusqult @tinkerbell460 @cheonsafics @sulkygyu @jaerisdiction @lngwayup
#deoboyznet#k-vanity#k-labels#kflixnet#k-films#🥭—happy sangyeon day!#the boyz#tbz#the boyz x reader#the boyz imagines#the boyz scenarios#the boyz fanfic#tbz scenarios#lee sangyeon#lee sangyeon x reader#sangyeon x reader#sangyeon fluff#sangyeon angst#sangyeon crime#sangyeon imagines#sangyeon scenarios#spy x family#spy x family au#the boyz fluff#the boyz angst#the boyz crime
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hi! I looove your positively mouth watering fic with connor, and was wondering if we could get something sorta similar with nines? if not I tooootally get it, I just wanted to ask! love your work!
Elements of Control
Nines (rk900) x Reader
Note: Hi anon! Thanks for the request, I had a lot of fun with this one!
Word Count: 3,159
Warnings: NSFW
You were starting to wonder what you had done to deserve being tortured in the way that you were.
This whole thing was supposed to be easy, a quick evaluation of a scene to see if it could be connected to a potential serial killer case that yourself and your partner had been put in charge of.
Except upon your arrival, you'd been informed of an issue:
State PD seemed to think they had jurisdiction over this crime scene because of it's slightly rural location, despite the fact that you were still very clearly and firmly within city limits.
And to make matters worse?
They absolutely refused to listen to anything that you had to say about it in favor of calling your authority into question.
Upon your arrival at the scene, even after having taken note of the three Michigan State PD cars, you'd still believed things to be business as usual.
It wasn't necessarily odd, after all, for MSPD to be called to a scene if your dispatch team noted that a great deal of your officers were off duty or busy.
But this time, as you'd stepped out of your car, you'd been surprised to see a rather frustrated looking Officer Miller approaching you, his body language tense.
"Miller, what's going o-"
"These guys are assholes."
Chris huffed, cutting you off in the middle of your question and immediately causing you to raise a brow at his words.
"What guys?"
You asked, watching as your friend and coworker motioned toward the state police cruisers in exasperation.
"Those guys. They keep insisting that they have jurisdiction over this case even though we already informed them that it's not only within city lines, but that it's also a part of the case that your team is actively working on."
You felt your brow crinkle slightly in confusion,
"Wait, seriously? They aren't listening to you guys at all?"
Chris shook his head, clearly still frustrated,
"No! Not even a little bit. They've been forcing us out of the scene and messing with the investigation for at least an hour and a half now talking some bullshit about needing to speak to the lead detective on the case."
You sighed but nodded,
"Well the good news is that I'm here now, so hopefully they'll be leaving soon."
Chris scoffed, rolling his eyes,
"I doubt it, they're on some crazy power trip and keep going on and on about how we need to respect them because we're all so much younger. Talking to them is like talking to a wall."
You patted your friend on the shoulder and tossed him a supportive and understanding look before you thanked him for his update and set off toward the small crowd of officers standing near the door of the house that had been dubbed a crime scene just a few hours prior.
As you approached, you could hear people arguing, Person and Chen in particular, though louder than them were three extremely noisy and unfamiliar male voices that were clearly trying to talk over the two women in an effort to silence them.
You sighed, but continued walking toward the porch that they were all standing on, rapping your first against the slightly splintering wood before you leaned against it, trying to keep your body language as casual as possible to hide how stressful this situation was beginning to feel.
Both your officers and the three Michigan state men turned to face you all at once, the two women immediately looking relieved at your presence, but neither of them saying a word as they watched you open your mouth to speak, your tone casual but firm.
"I heard somebody was looking for the lead detective on this case?"
You asked, trying to channel your inner Hank in an effort to come across as far less of a person that someone wanted to argue with than you probably looked like to these guys.
Unfortunately though, your strategy proved useless as they all scoffed,
"You're the lead detective? Yeah right, you look young enough to be my granddaughter."
Bristling a bit at the disrespect, you took a step forward onto the first step of the porch, your hands finding your pockets to keep your body language as relaxed looking as possible even as you replied with quite a bit less professionalism than you'd initially thought you would be right off the bat.
"And you look old enough to be my grandfather. Now look gentleman, as much as I love making these incredibly fun observations with you, I'm actually supposed to be doing so inside of the crime scene instead of outside of it, so if you don't mind, I'm going to have to ask you to move along."
The three men glared heavily at you, and one laughed humorlessly and took a step in your direction,
"I don't know who the fuck you think you are, kid, but I already told your rag tag little group of city cops, this is our case, and we ain't leaving unless you can prove you have an actual lead detective here at the scene."
You sighed, pulling your badge out of your pocket to present it to the man only to have him snatch it from your hand and chuck it back in the direction of Chris, who watched in absolute shock, both you and your officers baffled at the lack of professionalism found in these three state police workers.
Your hands clenched into fists at your sides, and for a moment or two, you thought you might actually risk your job and punch the man in front of you, only to bark out the names of your nearby officers instead, clearly more than a little frustrated.
"Chen. Person. Follow me for a briefing on the case please. I'm going to give these idiots a few minutes to come up with an apology good enough to convince me not to arrest them for disrupting a crime scene."
The men burst into laughter behind you as you and the two women made your way back over towards Chris and the three other officers who were present on the scene, your face twisted into a scowl as you approached.
"Did they seriously just do that?!"
Chris hissed as you grew close enough to hear, causing you to nod stiffly before you motioned for your officers to group up around you.
"Clearly these guys are out of control, and I don't want any of you getting wrapped up in something ridiculous because they feel like acting like children, so please just stay away from the scene until I can get in contact with the captain and have him send someone to talk to-"
"Excuse me, Detective."
A familiar voice sounded from behind you, halting your orders before you could even finish giving them.
You turned on your heel to find your partner just a few steps away from where your badge had been tossed, holding it up between his thumb and forefinger as he approached,
"Lose something?"
You scoffed, crossing your arms as Nines grew closer, his long legs carrying him over with ease as he smirked down at your smaller frame.
"No, actually. That was on the ground courtesy of Michigan's finest over there."
You said angrily, gesturing toward the bumbling idiots who called themselves officers of the law that were still planted firmly upon the porch, not paying any attention to what was happening in the yard in front of them.
Nines raised a brow at that, and handed you your badge before speaking up,
"So they threw your badge when you presented it to them?"
He clarified, causing you to nod in exasperation before he hummed,
"I see. Why exactly aren't they under arrest then?"
You huffed,
"I'm not going to ask any of my officers to deal with them all up close and personal like that, and I certainly don't feel like risking my job wrestling three assholes into a cruiser. They think they have jurisdiction here and won't leave until they speak to a lead detective that they don't think we have, so I'll just try to get Fowler to send Hank or Reed or something."
You grumbled, causing Nines to regard you with curiosity,
"But Detective, you are the lead on this case, the presence of either Detective Reed or Lieutenant Anderson is simply not a requirement."
You groaned at your partner's explanation, resenting the idea that you needed to be reminded of your own position on the force, though you pressed forward nonetheless.
"I know that, but they won't believe me and I don't feel like arguing today. This shit was supposed to be simple, drop in, inspect the scene, and wait to receive an autopsy report to see if the crimes appear connected. Corralling three old dudes on power trips was not meant to be a part of the process."
Nines rolled his eyes but nodded,
"I see. In that case, give me a few minutes. In the meantime, ensure the driveway is cleared for their departure. They will want to exit swiftly."
You were just about to ask what Nines meant by that when he simply walked away entirely, making his way over to the officers standing childishly outside of the scene with his expression neutral but his eyes shining.
Whatever he was about to do, he was absolutely going to enjoy it.
And you'd be lying if you said that you didn't want to see for yourself.
So, after rushing to help the team move your cruisers, you all walked toward the porch until you were within earshot, which was when you found out why Nines had been so certain that the men were going to make a swift exit.
He was scaring the ever loving shit out of them.
And God, was it hot.
He stood on the porch, an inch or two taller than even the tallest of the officers, thus allowing the android to quite literally look down upon them as he regarded all three men with an immense amount of disdain.
"I'm unable to understand where exactly your confusion is stemming from, are you calling my lead detective's authority into question?"
He asked, tone low and vaguely threatening as he spoke, though his posture remained relatively casual, with one of his hands in his pants' pocket as if he could not have been less concerned with looking the perfect picture of professionalism that he usually strived for.
It was almost staggering what a difference that made in the way that you were looking at him.
Your eyes trailed up his long legs, clothed in his typical black slacks, before you allowed them to move upward, where they lingered briefly on his hands as the one that was not resting within his pocket clenched and unclenched at his side seemingly unendingly, reminding you far too much of the way his digits had felt as they'd curled inside of your soaked heat just the night before, your back arcing off of the bed as his other hand had moved to the small of your back, keeping you perpetually pressed against him in a way that had nearly brought tears of bliss to your eyes.
You blushed heavily at the unexpected recollection, attempting to shake off your embarrassment (and arousal) before either could hope to get the better of you, choosing to try and distract yourself with Nines' rather hostile interaction again.
Unsurprisingly, as much as you'd hoped that might help, it only served to make your situation that much worse.
Because unfortunately, the state officers must have answered Nines' question in a manner that he far from agreed with, because the android was taking two intimidating steps toward them now, expression fairly neutral but his tone cold and almost cruel as he spoke.
"And what makes you think you have the right to question someone with a higher position than you? Are you insinuating that my partner is somehow lesser than yourselves? Lesser than I?"
You shivered at his tone, ironically recollecting a time several days prior where the android had seemed hellbent on teaching you the opposite of what he was saying to the older men standing before him.
"What a pathetic little thing."
He'd all but cooed with a shake of his head and an ever so slight chuckle, his eyes alight with amusement and arousal as he watched you squirm, sliding his cock, hot and thick and so very close against your wet folds, teasing you ceaselessly as you whimpered and writhed beneath his piercing gaze and searing touch.
"Please!"
You'd gasped out, sobs rushing out of your mouth uncontrollably as you did your best to arch and buck into the android's touch, desperate to feel something more than what he seemed to be willing to give you in that moment.
Nines chuckled, fingers moving to snatch up your jaw as he forced you to look him in the eyes, humming as he leaned in closer, his tongue tracing the outline of your lips as you trembled beneath his touch,
"Look at you, so helpless, squirming your weak little body in a shameful attempt to get me to fold for you. Did you really think that would work? That I might succumb to desire or take pity on you?"
He smirked and trailed his lips up to your ear, where he continued his degrading questions,
"I think we both know how slight the chances of either of those things happening are, don't we?"
He groaned slightly as the tip of his cock grazed your slit, causing you to mewl and plead briefly until he shushed you and spoke up again.
"You're completely at my mercy, and there is absolutely nothing a feeble little thing like you could do to make me give you what you want before I feel you've earned it."
You whimpered at his words, and watched with slightly wide eyes as he pulled back with a smirk, hand reaching to your hair before he grabbed a preliminary fistful of it and yanked ever so slightly, a warning of what was to come, no doubt.
"Now get off of this bed and onto your knees."
You felt your legs quake slightly as you recalled the familiar memory, licking your lips involuntarily as you all but forced yourself to watch on rather than continue letting the android impact you so devastatingly through your memories alone.
You watched in shock as Nines reached forward to grab at the collar of the obvious "leader" of the group, expression as close to anger as you'd seen it get all day as he all but growled,
"Now, I highly suggest you leave before I take offense for my partner over there and decide to give you a reminder of whose really in control here that you won't soon forget."
The older man sputtered slightly in Nines' grip, but almost seemed to refuse to relent, eyes glaring as he continued to spit whatever venom came to his mind.
"Oh, we can see who it is that's in control here."
He snapped, eyes briefly shooting toward yours, glaring daggers into your soul,
"How shameful that a supposed lead detective can't even manage a crime scene without the guidance and direction of an intimidating fucking toy."
Nines tightened his grip, causing the man to gasp and struggle for a moment before the android scoffed and let him go, immediately sending him falling onto his ass in front of his friends.
"You see, Officer, that's where you're wrong."
Nines began, his tone a low purr of satisfaction as he watched the man struggle to stand again, his chest heaving with both anger and effort,
"She doesn't need me to tell her anything. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it's her who directs me more often than not."
He smirked as the three men attempted to move past him and toward the steps, which he followed them down with an intimidating and practiced ease, his long legs helping to keep up with them without any sense of urgency.
"If you'd like though, I would be more than happy to show you what I'd be doing to you right now if she wasn't around to ensure that I couldn't do things my way."
He said casually, still following the men as they rushed back to their cruisers, eyes wide and petrified as Nines made his intentions clear.
They could leave now, or, he could show them how things went without your guidance, since they were so eager to act as if you had never arrived in the first place.
You watched in utter shock as the men sped off almost as soon as they reached their cars, one of them even shouting a frightened sounding apology in your direction as he tore out of the driveway.
Nines hummed and crossed his arms over his chest, watching them as they went with satisfaction evident in his body language.
The officers around you cheered, rushing over to the android from where you had all been listening near the porch as they both thanked him and offered props before they seemed to start actually briefing him on parts of the case that had not yet been added to the file.
He stood there, seemingly absorbing every word that everyone was saying, casually shrugging out of his jacket and tossing it over his shoulder in preparation to begin heading inside before he rolled up his sleeves slowly and methodically the way he always did before entering a scene.
Except this time, you felt the strong urge to not allow him inside until your current frustrations were eased.
He still had yet to actually fuck you after the other night, or even the evening before, some clear attempt at breaking you to get you to beg for his cock like the weak minded little human he seemed (at least some of the time) to believe that you were.
Maybe it was time to settle the score then.
You gritted your teeth together, hoping desperately that the sensation would distract you, only to give up with an exasperated sigh before walking quickly toward the android in question, who regarded you with slight surprise before his eyes swept over your face and body, and a slight smirk began to tug at his lips.
It was borderline obnoxious how easily he could read you, but in that particular moment you couldn't have cared less.
He raised a brow at you as you continued making your way over, before stopping abruptly a little over a foot away, eyes challenging and body tense as you spoke.
"Nines, car. Now."
You muttered before regarding your colleagues with a respectful nod and rushing off before they could ask any questions.
Nines chuckled, following suit with slow but long steps, his hands casually finding his pockets as he watched you eagerly.
"Certainly, Detective."
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#c: nines#dbh nines x reader#dbh x reader#dbh nines#dbh rk900#dbh rk900 x reader#dbh nines x reader smut#dbh rk900 x reader smuut#dbh nines x reader oneshot
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Your Highness - Jamil Viper [Female Yuu] [Heiress Yuu] [Smug Jamil?] [Part 3]
Summary: Jamil received information that his family is no longer under the control of the Asim Family and has claimed the title of Royalty in the Lands of [Kingdom Name] Lands. He heads to Ramshackle to meet Yuu. On the way there, he overhears an interesting conversation taking place inside Ramshackle, and it sounds like Yuu is unhappy with the person she's speaking to.
[In Front Of Ramshackle Dormitory]
His stride bore purpose but his face was flushed and his mind was racing a million miles a second; so many things had happened within the timespan of a few days and Jamil wanted to see his fiancee - he needed to see the woman who captured his heart.
Jamil closed the gate to Ramshackle before he started up the stone stairs that led to the door, his hand reached out to grab the knob when his keen ears picked up on the voice of his diamond speaking to someone in the Lounge Room - he was aware that the lounge was down the hallway, but he was able to pick up on sounds from long distances, just in case someone was speaking ill of Kalim to plot against him or of his beloved diamond. He needed to get into position, just in case he needed to jump in to save his diamond.
With a feather touch, Jamil opened the door to Ramshackle and opened it in such a way that the hinges did not creek before he crept into Ramshackle and closed the door behind him without a single sound. The light coming from the Lounge caused his training to kick in and he sneaked along the floor until he reached the edge of the illuminated room and listened to the voices speaking within the room: He could make out two - One of them being Yuu - and the other was...
"Seriously, Herbivore, I don't know what the hell you are thinking: Getting engaged with that serpent and elevating him to the rank of royalty! What the hell is going on in your mind?"
'Leona Kingscholar?' Jamil's eyes narrowed, 'What the hell is he going on about?'
"I asked Jamil to marry me because I love him and I want him to stay by my side when I return home. Jamil is the other half of my heart and I cannot imagine my life without him in it." Yuu explained with an exhausted exhale - showing that she was getting annoyed with this conversation.
"Why him?" Leona growled at her, "I've known you longer than him and yet HE is the one you decided to choose? Why?"
"I have a great connection with Jamil, Leona. Whenever I am around him, I feel extremely happy. We don't even have to be doing anything in particular, just being in each other's company is enough for me. Whether we are cooking together, reading, watching him play basketball, or he's teaching me how to breakdance, it doesn't matter as long as I am with him. It could be as simple as having a study date or watching over Kalim, and I would still be content. Seeing Jamil's smile is enough to make my day." Yuu's words caused Jamil's blush to intensify and his heart to race, but he needed to calm down to keep his location hidden.
"It should be me and you know that." Leona spouted bluntly, making Yuu scoff.
"Leona, the only thing I have ever saw you as was a friend, maybe even an older brother, but I have never seen you in a romantic light and I never would. I love Jamil. Jamil is the one I want to rule my kingdom when I claim the throne." Yuu is silent for a moment before she speaks again, "I know what all this is about - you want me to choose you instead of Jamil because my kingdom is larger and stronger than the Kingdom of Sunset Savannah. You think marrying me and becoming king of my lands will allow you to finally beat your elder brother. Leona, you really need to let it go."
"What?" Leona raised an eyebrow at her.
"You are angered that you were born second, that's the whole reason you overblotted, but I thought you gave up those thoughts the moment I freed you from your blot and you never showed any interest in me, even when I started dating Jamil; you didn't start this until you heard I was a royal and the one who I choose to marry would be King." Yuu stood up from her seat and started walking around Leona, "There is so much more you could be - let go of your strife already."
Yuu was almost away from him when she felt his hand wrapped around his upper arm, stopping her from taking another step.
"Leona... Take your hand off me." Yuu warned.
"Give me a chance to prove that I am better than Viper, Yuu. I can actually offer you something." Leona said.
"I do not understand what you are trying to accomplish by constantly giving me headaches about your laziness or trying to create chaos between my kingdom and your brother's, just to prove that you are better than him. Leona, I refuse to play these games with you. You have two options: Either accept my relationship with Jamil and continue to be my friend, or I will have to cut you out of my life. I want to make it clear that I will not tolerate any further attempts to control or manipulate me. Now, I am repeating myself, please take your hand off of me." Yuu glared at him.
That was when Jamil stepped out of the shadows, "Get your hand off my fiancee, Kingscholar." This drew the attention of Leona and Yuu.
"Jamil? When did you get here?" Yuu asked.
"Not too long ago, My Diamond; however, I didn't want to interrupt your conversation but I wanted to keep close in case he tried something." Jamil glared at Leona, who returned the glare.
"I was raised to respect women, Viper; I would never do anything to harm her." Leona growled.
"Then, why are you still holding her by her arm when she told you to unhand her, twice might I add. If you really respected women as you claim, you would respect her choices, alas, here you are: Attempting to make her change her mind because you don't like her choice." Jamil glared into Leona's eyes; he was so tempted to Snake Whisper Leona, but he swore to Yuu that he wouldn't use it against her friends.
Leona said nothing else as he released Yuu from his grasp and walked out of the Lounge Room, bumping arms with Jamil, before leaving Ramshackle with a slam of the door. Jamil looked behind him for a while before he turned to his lover, walked over to her, and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss, which she gladly returned.
"You said you wanted to talk, My Viper?" Yuu smiled once they broke the kiss.
"You are very crafty, my love. You freed my family from the clutches of the Asim Family and elevated them to royal status within a matter of a few days. I know that you love me, but I never thought you would do that for them and you haven't met them yet." Jamil smiled.
"Not true, I met your sister once." Yuu smiled.
"On a video call, Diamond." Jamil chuckled before he held Yuu in a tight embrace, "You do so much for me, I shall do whatever I must to keep you happy."
"Just promise to love me and never betray me. That's all I want." Yuu smiled as she hugged Jamil.
[END]
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Letters From Watson: The Naval Treaty
Themes, Crimes, and Lies
For those of you tuning in to this reread without background knowledge this one is going to get esoteric, and for that I apologize. The primary mystery here is whether the cases known as The Second Stain and The Naval Treaty are, in a Watsonian perspective, fictionalized, and secondly it's whether they are fictionalized versions of the same case.
(The Watsonian perspective, remember, is the game we play of attempting to make the timelines, scientific knowledge, and biographies of Holmes and Watson make sense as if they were real, historical people. From a Doylist perspective, Second Stain, published eleven years after this during ACD's reluctant revival of the franchise, is almost certainly a shortened remix of The Naval Treaty.)
Fictionalization, Evidence:
National Importance, Exhibit A: Although names have been changed to protect the recognizable, neither Second Stain nor Naval Treaty is shy about connecting the case to a high ranking politician, or allowing a contemporary audience (or a wikipedia literate one) to draw relatively concrete conclusions about the contents of the lost documents.
As I pointed out in A Scandal in Bohemia, this does not make a lot of sense if you assume any of the details such as the date or the "identity" of the fictionalized public figures are even close to accurate. A Watson whose first published short story referenced the obviously nonexistent "King of Bohemia" and fudged the year might feel confident that the safely married public figure in question, residing in a different country with a different primary language, would not bother him over the similarities and therefore confirm them, but I wouldn't assume the same lassez-faire idea would apply to the prime minister of his own country. I don't have the time or expertise to go into 1890's british laws and see if this would amount to some kind of libel, but I don't have to: Watson characterizes himself as a patriot, and has sympathy for the victims in both of his espionage stories. We can assume that enough of the details are fudged to give the innocent privacy and not reflect too badly or obviously on the public figures under whose watch these thefts (or whatever inspired these stories) took place.
Crowded timeline of Summer of 1888, Exhibit B: 1888 and 1889 are wild years no matter how you start your Holmesian chronology. Lots of cases happen and if you take Watson's word for the exact dates you run into contradictions. If one presumes that high profile cases are slightly fictionalized, (such as giving a date that's a year or two off), it makes the timeline much more manageable.
Then there's the fact that Second Stain and Naval Treaty are recorded by Watson as occurring in the same month.
"The July which immediately succeeded my marriage was made memorable by three cases [...] recorded in my notes under the headings of “The Adventure of the Second Stain,” “The Adventure of the Naval Treaty,” and “The Adventure of the Tired Captain.”"
-The opening paragraph of The Adventure of the Naval Treaty.
Second Stain was written up much later, so when reading in publication order this is a lot less obvious than when reading in Baring-Gould’s chronology order. But even Baring-Gould apparently decided that two documents scandals in 1888 were too much, and ignored all text indications in order to place Second Stain in 1886.
Case so Nice We Wrote it Twice, Evidence:
Exhibit A, Case Structure: The particulars of the case are extremely similar: a young public servant charged with national security documents leaves them in an insecure location briefly and has them stolen by a trusted household member. The documents, although potentially ruinous, are not released to a foreign power because the would-be seller is separated from them almost immediately after hiding them away. The hiding place is a hollow in the floor of a room.
Exhibit B, Case List: At the beginning of The Naval Treaty, Watson lists Second Stain as taking place in the same month. Even with Watson's flattering description of both of Gascoyne-Cecil's expies and his sympathetic portrayal of the public officials in need of remedial document security courses, TWO major data breaches seems deeply careless, even if nothing comes of either. I think it's more probable that the case Watson originally named The Second Stain had very little to do with national security.
Exhibit C, publication date: The Second Stain was published 11 years after The Naval Treaty and 14 years after its alleged date of occurrence. (Year and decade that shall remain nameless my ass.) It's the final story of the second batch of short story publications (which were collected into the third book of short stories, The Return of Sherlock Holmes). Watson didn't publish again for four years: it's possible he was scraping the bottom of the barrel for publishable cases and decided it was time to revisit a case that he'd already told, or tape the interesting bits from multiple cases together.
Conclusion: I believe that both The Naval Treaty and The Second Stain are two different retellings of the same case, but both are changed a lot to make them both less identifiable, and more exciting. The incident that inspired both stories probably did not take place in early summer of 1888, if only because the easiest way of fudging the details of a case would be to definitively give the wrong year.
Additionally, it may be that certain details in The Second Stain were originally part of a case that had nothing to do with any top secret documents. The blackmail angle already present in that story would be sufficient for a case on their own, but the secret documents that Mrs. Hope squirreled away could have been deeply boring business documents, or deeply boring official government documents that nonetheless had no strategic value. If so, it's very possible for Watson to have swapped some details between the two cases: a prospective brother in law with no political knowledge might impulsively steal a document that was more embarrassing than strategic, such as an impolitic letter from a foreign official, in the hopes that it was valuable, while a career blackmailer might target the wife of a government official known to have access to military strategy documents. The victims in both cases come off as more sympathetic, and the danger to the country less severe, if the diligent young clerk has a breakdown over a clearly important military document, and the wife of a government official is blackmailed into handing over an angry letter from a foreign dignitary.
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Alexithymia. | JJK +18 [ 1 of 3]
Pairing: Demon!Jungkook x Reader
Rating: Mature +18
Genre: Angst, smut, SoulmatesAU
Word count: 17.8k
Description: Jungkook always had a pull to you. An unexplainable connection that brings him to your side daily, like a permanent routine. Is it a hobby? An obsession? Or was the centuries old prince just bored? No… boredom doesn’t make his heart race. It’s not supposed to make him lose his own self control, or fill him with blinding rage, and it certainly isn’t supposed to have him hallucinating the strangest things until it drives him back home for answers. Maybe he just cares too much for you and he thought that it’d be better to wait than to give in, but the longer the prince spends his time away, the more he realizes he has absolutely no Idea what emotions have been festering since the very beginning. What if he could just turn them off?
Warnings: Cursing, explicit language, mentions of blood, near death experience, some good ole fashion violence, mentions of killing, light smut, Eventual smut, hallucinations, Nipple play, pining, a very pissed and jealous Jungkook.
Song Inspo: Pretty- The Weeknd, Waves- Normani, Softcore- The Neighbourhood, Middle Of The Night- Elley Duhe
Author’s note: This will be a mini series of three parts due to the high word count lol Also In no way am I an expert on demons, all of this is from the top of my head or made up honestly. It’s more of an angsty self-indulgent plot to write demon JK for (several months) so please enjoy and if you want leave your thoughts on it as well! :)
Masterlist | 1 2 3
I. Emotional Arousal
He’s pissed, he was blindingly pissed.
He shouldn’t have been gone for as long as he was and it wasn’t like him to be this stressed about you, running around like a mad man on the hunt.
The problem is… Jungkook, a high ranking demon with much bigger priorities is worried because he isn’t able to feel you anymore. That’s right, the prince could no longer sense the random human girl or her location while he was working and it was driving him crazy. Sneaking off once again like he’s done multiple times to come find you, but you were no longer connected to him.
“Angel, where are you?” He growls loudly out into an empty space while simultaneously ripping your front door open and trying to ease down the anxiety filling him.
The loud bang of the white wood smacking into the wall would be loud enough to scare anyone half to death, had they actually been inside. But that was the problem, there was no one here- meaning you were lost, out into the night where anyone or anything would be able to get their hands on you. He had warned you plenty of times about the night life being far more dangerous when it came to the ungodly creatures lurking around and yet still the only evidence that seemed to be left of you anywhere in your entire home, was only a slight indication of your sweet almond scent marking everything you touched.
Your front door, your kitchen, even the hallway that leads to your living room, it's almost as if you hadn’t been here in days.
Wait...
Noticing something completely off, Jungkook opens his nostrils again. His heightened sense of smell takes in an out of place scent as he walks closer into the cozy space of your living room. It was almost so faint that he nearly missed it in his frantic search. However, It's as if he could see it before he smelt it, another aroma rising from one particular spot on your couch, a spot way too close to where you’d usually be sitting and he’d pop in next to you while you were reading one of those pointless romance books.
It's where he should have found you exactly at this time or at least he knew you’d be studying.
Jungkook couldn’t shake it, the other scent wafting up his nose and taking over yours so much that it began to make his stomach sick and he’d hate to ruin your nice creamy carpet, but now that he was thinking about it, the demon couldn't believe he didn't notice the smell from your front door in the first place. It’s everywhere, following him with every step he takes and it’s so hard to place whatever the hell it could be.
Maybe…it belongs to another person.
He easily concludes this in his investigation, stepping back from the space and glaring at the spot that holds the unwelcomed presence of someone he couldn’t place. Beyond annoyed, Jungkook tries to rid himself of it, needing to badly follow yours and get a sense of where the hell you could have gone off to so late.
He does exactly that, turning back down your dark hallway that leads towards the jarred door that was the opening of your bedroom. Your scent was strongest here, driving up his nose blanketing him in a sweet cocoon of you. The sensation drives him wild almost every time, reminding the powerful demon of the human he’d randomly taken a liking to while surfacing from his home one day.
He couldn’t tell you what made him leave it after a total of only 100 years had passed by, considering he was fairly entertained. He just wanted a change of scenery, tired of the same old routine of tortured souls and being confined to miserable ‘yes men’ serving him just to save face. He needed to roam, move around to new places, even if that meant walking amongst the strange and despicable lives of those who still held them.
Humans.
He’d only been in your realm for a total of two days, before he’d found himself just as bored as being back with his family.
Nothing excited him, the weather was unpredictable, sunny one second and pouring down on him the next. The humans were rude, ruder than his clan somehow and he wasn’t sure how many times he would have to hold himself back from easily wringing the life out of anyone else who wanted to call him an e-boy- minus the hundreds of girls, who for some reason, kept mistaking him for a random k-pop idol.
Jungkook planned to leave within the next moments, having had enough for another century or two, until one day he’d seen something or rather someone.
It was you…trying to open your cheap umbrella in the continuous downpour of rain. What compelled him to rush across the street, nearly getting wrecked by three cars to help you, he once again had no clue and he still didn’t to this day, but as if a magnet had been pulling him along, he ignored every alert of the goosebumps rising on his skin while drawing closer.
Without thinking, Jungkook froze getting near you, a deep shock in his abdomen as his fingers connected on yours once he instinctively reached for the contraption in your hold. As if like magic, Jungkook had taken it and fixed it for you- the tall, raven haired male towering your fair height almost twice and holding out the umbrella you’d damaged trying to open a few minutes prior.
“Uh- Here...you’re getting wet.” He comments carefully while holding it over your head, though with how drenched you’d gotten, you honestly didn’t need it anymore.
You would blink up at him, awe struck with wide sparkling eyes as he stood with hard droplets of rain pelting all over him. “Oh! Thank you… you didn’t have to.”
He’s seen how your eyes roamed all over him in curiosity. All black attire that began to cling to his body, multiple oddly shaped metals pierced into the pale skin of his ears and bottom lip. He has big almond eyes and shoulder length raven hair pulled half way up into a ponytail, or at least from what you could tell as the rain had matted it down to his head.
From the corner of your eye you could vaguely see the small pieces of ink flowing up his neck that you sure lead to the rest of the hand holding out your umbrella.
The intimidating man with the baby face, radiates a powerful aura you’d never experienced from anyone before. It was almost inhuman, as if you were supposed to fall to your knees the second your eyes landed on him. It made your stomach jump and with that goosebumps eroded your skin as well. Bringing in not only an unknown feeling in you, but also filling your soul with unease, as if you were in a horror movie and you’d inadvertently discovered he was the killer.
Well, you weren’t that wrong…In no way, was he to be considered innocent, hell you’d probably be horrified in learning everything he’d done, but Jungkook never had any intentions to harm you. In fact even as he walks away from you- the demon could very well say that there was not much else he found himself thinking about besides you after that day. Your cute expression with your light filled eyes, your attractive pouty lips pulled into a shy smile as he fixed the object for you and then... the sharp spike of arousal inside of you the moment your eyes had connected and you replied with a simple thanks.
That was the first time he sensed you, your sweet scent punching him in the nose so hard he almost began to feel dizzy and it brought him a new high with a light buzz, also making his vision darken in effect. It was like having a bucket of fire thrown upon him, his own skin and body heating up uncontrollably from his fingers to his toes. He’d never experienced anything like that before and along with that thought came the excitement he'd been waiting for.
Jungkook discovered something new.
Something that made him crazy enough to purposely run into you a week later while you were struggling to carry a few groceries out to your car or even the next two days after that since he couldn’t wait that long, where he ran into you at the mall, standing in front of you at the food court in a coincidental encounter.
When he thinks about it now it was almost too obvious and he can’t believe you’ve never asked about that...He was really a full on stalker.
Jungkook always thought about you, bringing you up to his brothers and constantly wondering what you were doing or what you were really like in your daily life. It almost took him too long to realize his obsessive behavior, leaving his duties unattended and finally noticing this craving to have you around all the time. It just kept bringing him back, for more and more- until eventually Jungkook had taken the opportunity to get to know you, fully understanding everything about you as a friend.
He didn’t have many friends…at least not human ones. But, apparently he found you. A random girl with a heart of gold and a soul so pure, it’d actually made him question himself on whether or not he should continue on. It probably would have been best to leave you alone, you didn’t need someone like him in your life and especially not if he would only end up possibly corrupting you later down that line.
...Obviously that idea didn’t last too long.
It was selfish, but Jungkook still came around more often, your small talks turning into heavy conversations. You both began to hang out and eventually you’d begun to notice how much of himself he didn’t reveal to you or that you never knew much of anything about him as he did you and with that, you’d begun to get wary of him. The mysterious man you’d always had a great time being around, seemed a bit too closed off than you would like and to that extent...reluctantly—Jungkook made the risky decision to reveal the most important part of himself.
Who, or rather what he is.
Although the demon was well aware, you weren’t ready to see the unworldly elements of his appearance, he still took to showing and explaining to you the bare minimum of him. Somehow, it wasn’t enough for you to believe him and Jungkook wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or disappointed, because the last thing he wanted to do is to show you his true nature when he barely knew you.
Jungkook huffs, shaking his head at the lost memories as he pushes your bedroom door open. Just thinking about the hardships of your rocky beginning had him cringing before stepping inside, searching around for you.
He still remembers the rough 6 months it took to get you to come back around, how you were skeptical of him at first and figured it was all a joke until you realized how serious the man was. Fear had suddenly become the only emotion you felt for him and you proceeded to think of him as some crazy asshole.
Much later down the line, Jungkook can understand why you’d think that.
He then had to admit that as funny as he found it, he was a little hurt when you told him to stay away from you, threatening to call the police if he so much as breathed in your direction again. Jungkook was not put off by this, because even if you did- the 100 year old demon could easily kill them all within the first five seconds of their arrival but of course you wouldn't know that and he’d never want you to.
Jungkook never wanted you to be afraid of him.
It was just strange however, that while you told him such a request, he could still feel your disappointment in the damaging reveal that resulted in the loss of a new friend. But as you requested… Respectfully, Jungkook went away—at least from your eyesight.
Of course he was still around, the demon couldn’t keep himself away from you even if he tried. It was physically draining at that time and he didn't notice it like he does now. He was always around, watching over you and seeing you interact with others who weren’t him. For the first time in his life, he’d actually experienced sadness. He wanted to talk to you, interact normally with you, and smell that faint scent of yours that used to give him such an amazing high whenever you were together. On the other end, Jungkook wasn’t going to force you and he would wait for you to come around, somehow knowing that on your end...you kind of missed him too.
He just didn’t realize that day would be more than 2 months later and not in the way he hoped.
By then Jungkook had actually gotten busy back at home and while you were still on his mind, he’d grown to always keep another sense for you- which he didn't know he was capable of. Anytime that the demon had crossed your mind- he knew and he saw all of it. Your relieved thoughts wishing him good riddance, your bittersweet memories of the laughs you shared and even a few dreams he’d managed to sneak a peek at. Some of them were formed from your memories, others were concocted from your fears, and the rest-...well lets just say the demon will never understand why your dreams were perfectly timed to stop whenever you and a faceless man had begun to inch too close to each other. Rarely did you ever have them though and sometimes he wondered what could ever be the cause of them…Though, now he has a pretty good idea.
There was also another sense, one he always hopes you would never have to use again. One day you fell...hard. A terrible accident of you slipping in your shower and breaking your arm while also creating a lethal blow to the back of your head. In fear you laid on the shower floor, hot water spraying over your injured figure and you couldn’t call for help, hell you were barely conscious enough to.
Jungkook didn't know how, but he could feel it, something was wrong, you weren’t okay and wherever you were, he needed to be there and fast. The whispers slithering around in his head and an unclear image of you popping up behind his eyelids. It could have been from the silent pleas in your head or the pure emotion of terror pulling him to you, but Jungkook had found you, Appearing out of thin air in a steamy blur of your bathroom and ultimately scaring you half to death in your pitiful state. When he found you, he was so horrified that he didn’t pay attention to your scent causing a dangerous reaction to him and his body.
His vision went dizzy and his mana began to seep from his fingers, but none of that was too big or too important when he was watching you slowly die in front of his eyes.
He remembers the tears slipping down your beautiful face and mixing in with the red water flowing down—…red…water? The blood, Fuck, you were bleeding so much!
Jungkook could still remember his panic after noticing the crimson liquid being produced from the back of your head- coating the strands of your wet tangled hair. His breathing became labored as something shifted in him and you were still conscious right up to the point where you could see the shocking changes to his features. Deepening veins crinkle around his face connecting to his pitch back eyes…skin turning a sickening gray as his teeth poked to the top of his lip.
You were holding your arm, the life in your eyes dimming out by the second while looking confused and more terrified than ever as you silently pleaded for this not to be your end. You truly thought He was going to kill you and that realization overwhelmed you completely.
Needless to say you passed out as soon as you saw whatever was happening to him, eventually leaving him in a hasty and awkward situation to gather you up from your position and covering up your bare body.
Jungkook’s hands shook unknowingly, feeling your life force fade by the second and he moved quicker, suddenly concentrating enough to heal you and bring you back to your normal state. Which actually might’ve been something you would have wanted to be unconscious for, because there was no way you’d want to experience the smoky black essence that had begun to slither out from Jungkook’s hands and into your head. It was never a pretty process, at least not in the rarest of times that he’s had to use it. It pained him to watch you groan and cry in your sleep, but at least they were signs of you still being alive.
It took a lot of his energy to bring you back from the brink of death, but Jungkook did it anyway, exhausting himself in the end. So much that when he was done- the black blood dripping from his nose, he collapsed next to your unconscious form and waited with you, just for a couple of minutes and then he would leave when he felt you were okay.
He overestimated his impulsiveness, those minutes slowly turned to hours as time passed and it was purely unintentional, he couldn’t find it in himself to leave you. The more Jungkook stayed by your side the more he had begun to feel comforted by you and the less he felt panicked by your sudden injuries, nor by the idea that you would slip away permanently.
When you came to, in your bed later that night, you’d tried to write it off as a horrible dream. However it wasn’t and you quickly came to that realization, because he was still right beside you on your bed, watching you and holding your healed figure so tight you were sure it would eventually cut off your air intake.
He felt your inner turmoil, the anger, the relief, and another feeling he couldn’t quite decipher. All he knew was that your heart was beating way too fast for him to keep up and that your scent had gotten just a little stronger.
He wondered if you could smell him the way he smells you, reveling in it and inhaling as much as he could before you’d eventually push him away again. He knew it was coming any moment, Jungkook could feel the fear and the confusion, knowing that you were aware of the dull pain emanating from the back of your head and your arm. You still had your memories and it was baffling how quick you came to the realization that absolutely none of that was in your mind and Jungkook was actually something that wasn’t meant to be a part of your mundane life.
Yet, by the look of the crimson blood staining his shirt and your bed sheets…there was some explaining that needed to be done.
Jungkook knew you had many questions and were probably still too shaken up to figure out which one you wanted to ask. Not to mention that he was still the last person you wanted to see, so he didn't mind your uncomfortable state in his arms. It wasn’t until time slowly passed again that he’d heard you speak to him for the first time in months with your actual voice. He couldn’t help but hold his breath to your soft tone, so small and precious…it made him melt inside.
“The last thing I remember is… my shower.” You hesitate, well aware how much stiffer he’d gotten as it connects to his ears. Jungkook’s body froze intensely from hearing you and although he was excited, he couldn’t bring himself to answer because he refused to think you actually wanted to speak to him. He wondered if that was all you truly wanted to say, still feeling the huge mix of emotions, because you had to have noticed the blood over his shirt.
“Is that…my b-blood?” You had so much fear asking that, lip trembling at the thought as your eyes zoned in on the out of place stain.
“Unfortunately, it is Angel.” He swallows.
Your eyes water, scoffing at the ironic pet name. “Am I dead?”
He frowns and shakes his head, even though you couldn’t see him. It’s probably best if he answered you honestly. “You… were half dead when I found you. You almost didn’t make it if I hadn’t helped…”
You peered at him lost. “How did you know?”
He shrugs with you still in his arms “I heard your voice call out for help, it was so sad that I followed it and… it led me here. I managed to stop the severe bleeding to your head, but your arm may hurt for a couple of days. I’m sorry, I didn’t have enough energy to heal it fully.” He then cautiously explains it to you as simply as he could and you try your best not to let your tears drop in front of him from the recent thoughts.
“Don’t apologize, I-It's not like you had to help me.” You say more embarrassed than anything.
You nearly died and you were actually saved by a self-proclaimed demon. The same one who’d transformed into something horrifying right before your eyes, but is also holding you close to him for dear life, as if you were his only comfort.
Jungkook…the man or thing you insulted and told to stay hell away from you and he’s the very reason you’re still breathing. What does he want from you? He didn’t have much of a connection to a random person like you. Is he watching you?
“I know, but I wanted to.” Jungkook hesitates after another long silence...anxious to ask you something that's got him on edge. “Are...you scared of me?”
You nod, making his chest burn in response and at the time Jungkook didn’t understand why he cared so much.
“I was at first when I thought you were here to kill me or that I imagined you before dying.” You sniffle, your weary voice then following. “b-but, I think I’m just confused more than anything. I don’t understand why or how you helped me.”
I don’t understand you. Is what you were truly thinking and Jungkook could very well say the same thing.
You were beginning to think you were going crazy, letting yourself feel safe within his arms and allowing some unworldly creature into your life under that title. But in the moment, underneath all your fears and doubts, you were actually happy to have someone there who cares for your well being-even if he wasn’t human.
You live alone and your estranged family is miles away from you, making it highly doubtful that no one else but Jungkook could have found you before it was too late. There was no telling what could have happened to you if he didn’t and that thought had stuck with you even within the next couple of weeks that the man had disappeared again.
There wasn’t much else you’d seen of Jungkook and whether you noticed it, you had begun thinking of him more often once he was gone. He always saw that night replaying over in your mind continuously even while he was too busy with his duties. There were a few times he swore he heard you call out to him again, but every time he ignored his urges. Watching the images of you in his head and keeping a safe distance until he’d heard you again within a desperate rush.
Why the hell does he keep hearing you like this? And Jungkook never stops himself from following it.
When he found you, this time it was you and your co-worker Min Yoongi being held up by what looks like a hooded man pointing a weapon towards both of you. He could tell you’d just come from work, that hideous uniform making its first appearance to him and he mentally swore one day he would burn it.
Which Jungkook definitely did. Twice.
He takes his time to assess the situation and the look of concern coming to his friend’s face. He really needed to act fast, before it all goes wrong, the both of you being in serious danger. Well at least not for long, not after he’d taken the liberty to come behind the robber too fast for you to comprehend. It didn’t take more than two seconds before the both of you heard a sick crack of the man’s neck, followed by the clatter of his gun. In the next second Jungkook was gone as well as the robber, leaving you and your friend baffled in silence.
“What the fuck was that?” Yoongi frowns, stepping from in front of you to make sure you’re alright. You shake your head feigning innocence while also willing your heart to stop the erratic beating as your mind replays the whir of a tall and dark figure appearing and disappearing with what you assume to be the now dead offender.
“I don’t think I could give you an answer for that.” You swallow, still processing the moment.
You tried your best to push away the panic after that event, but something deep in your gut was telling you it was possible and for some reason you hoped that was the case. Was that? No way...You would immediately think of only one possibility which of course would lead back to the only abnormal thing in your life and that was Jungkook.
He saved your life again, you quickly realized and from that moment, there wasn’t a day that passed by and you didn’t think of him. Sometimes he could even feel when you wanted to call out to him again, your questions still left unanswered as to what happened that night and why your friend suddenly couldn’t remember a thing the next day.
As much as he had tried to ignore you like before- your cries had become stronger than ever by the day, beckoning him to you- especially when he’d begun to feel a deep sadness in you as time had passed on.
Jungkook didn’t like this, he’d never sensed it on you before and it was so strange to feel it from you so often. He’d gone back to watching over you himself, seeing you be so lively in front of all your other friends and masking down the unknown pain you’d been feeling for a while.
You felt alone.
Apparently you’d felt that way for a very long time. When you were by yourself, he felt your true emotions- even when you took it upon yourself to go out one night to a bar.
Jungkook couldn’t stop himself from following you, watching in the background once again ( truly not his proudest moments.) and seeing you drink yourself to the point where you couldn’t tell your left from your right. At first he didn't think too much about it until he heard your slurred words leaving softly from your mouth, though they should normally be swallowed by the deep bass of an upbeat song blasting throughout the dark scene.
Jungkook felt his body go cold, your face stricken with despair. It was enough of an image to tug on his emotions, which strangely had been harder to keep a control on.
He kept on watching you drink consistently, more and more as if you were trying to drown within them. Being drunk wasn’t a good look on you and especially not when so many others were watching you with ill intentions. By others, he means...the rather unmerciful creatures hiding amongst your kind. The ones who could easily be drawn to the purest part of your soul and would then run off with you somewhere else to devour you without batting an eye.
Unsurprisingly, that disgusting thought had Jungkook caving, knowing any of them could easily be apart of his bloodline.
It had become unbearable to watch you continue on like you did and without much more thought, he’d left from his dark corner, hiding him well within the crowded space. The demon maneuvers around the multiple bodies on the dance floor, making his way across the lively building and heading your way once he’d notice an unpleasant scent of another too close to you.
Jungkook searched, his enhanced eyesight flitting around the dark scene until he saw it standing beside you and leaning comfortably against the table, blocking any way out for you. A sick grin is plastered on its face as it talks nonsense in your ear and it was disgusting to see the murderous intent hidden well behind its eyes, but not from Jungkook. He could see well within its blood driven thoughts, if not, what would even be the point of his high ranking if he can’t see every move of the underlings.
“She’s mine. Fuck off…” Jungkook growls deeply under his breath in a menacing manner. It's all he has to say to have a horrified look replacing the creature's smug expression.
Those murderous eyes, flit around the room and towards him with nothing but fear dancing behind it’s pupils. He’d barely put any effort or authority in the command, but it had heard him enough as if he was standing right beside it. Jungkook’s dark essence encased the creature within it’s head and it swore it nearly saw the prince ripping the life from its body.
Just like he wanted…honestly they always had the weakest minds to access.
The creature had conveniently taken the form of an attractive human male, most likely looking for its next meal. He didn't give a damn what it had planned for you but what he does know is that if it isn’t gone by the time he was walking up to you- the creature would never have a chance to blink before Jungkook would have fulfilled exactly what was seen in it’s head.
The creature was smart when it took off afterwards. It disappeared within the next second, no questions and especially no hesitancy within the prince’s presence. You’d frown, wondering where the random guy had run off to, before a familiar scent of mint burned strong in your nostrils and your blurry eyesight was able to make out a familiar face standing right beside you out of nowhere.
“Boo.” He whispered and your body was stiffening. Suddenly you could hear your heart beating rapidly in your ears and it felt as if someone had knocked all the air out of you as you flinched back.
“Jung-kook…?” He could barely make out through your grumbled pronunciation.
He sighs at the unfortunate situation. “You should be home, Y/n-”
Before he could finish, you’re letting out a strange giggle that was swallowed up by your extreme intoxication. Your eyes half lidded when you slam your hand down to make your point and you swung it towards him. “You are wat-ching me. I-I knew it…I felt it.”
He grimaces from the hearty burp following those words and the redness of your eyes staring somewhat in his direction. Of course he was watching you, he never stopped …and you knew that? You couldn’t have.
“Y/n, how many do you see of me?” Jungkook goes on to ask, waving an inked hand in front of your eyes that you definitely weren’t following.
You then squint as if you were thinking hard about the question. “Ummmm...di- you always h-have a twin?” You hiccup.
The man suddenly frowned under all the ruckus and music...There was no way you were getting home without him.
How are you suddenly this reckless?
Irritated, Jungkook grabs your hand without warning and leads you out of the area with haste, before anyone or anything could target you again. He then leads both of you out of the club and onto the sidewalks of the dark, empty street.
You tried your best to keep your stomach down, groaning as the big scary man walked both of you out of sight and into a dark alley beside the busy building. Thankfully you were too drunk to comprehend much, that meant Jungkook didn’t have to go through the miserable task of walking you home. Instead, all he had to do was keep you beside him- an arm grabbing you and pulling you so close, anyone would assume both of you were just an average couple.
You two are most definitely not…well you were pretty normal, Jungkook was the one that just couldn’t stay away from you.
He doesn’t know if it was because of how pissed he was or maybe he was just too focused to pay attention to your heartbeat speeding up from the close proximity, but he definitely missed your audible gasp from the move.
It clearly didn’t matter, the one goal he had for that night was to make sure he got you home safe. Which, technically... he did- but it wasn’t as quick and simple as he’d foolishly hoped it would be.
The only way to describe your sudden transition, would be as if the both of you were just walking casually down the alley way of the city and when he hugged you closer, a two second blur passed over your eyes and you were suddenly walking through the entrance of your apartment. There was no sound, no sparkles or magical effects to signify the inhuman move...just him.
Jungkook immediately removes himself completely from you, stepping away to another part of your living room as if he couldn’t stand to be any closer.
“Go to bed.” He then suggests, with a somewhat disappointed gaze.
Somehow... that hurt both him and you to say.
You pout suddenly trying to sober yourself up and you didn’t want him to go away again. You wanted to know more, you couldn’t understand why when you shut him out and clearly wanted nothing to do with him.
“ But I-...you...?”
Normally there would have been more fight in you from the command, but with the after effects of all those drinks, your body felt as if it was ready to shut down any moment.
Even Jungkook could sense your low energy, watching your uneven stance as you were swaying side to side but ultimately trying to keep yourself awake enough to say something to him. The man was seriously starting to question why he even had such a strong pull to you- but the second he noticed your body swaying a bit too far for his liking, all those thoughts had shot out the window.
Jungkook had sprung forward from the distance he tried putting between both of you– catching you within unreal speed before your entire body could collide with the floor. Instead you had landed safely within his arms, the man groaning in exhaustion that he now had to walk with you all the way to your bedroom, because there was no point using up more of his energy to teleport both of you there when it was only a few feet away. Still, it was never supposed to go this far and you definitely weren’t supposed to meet him again after the last time he helped.
Why were situations like this becoming so damn hard?
It was too late to make sense of it, even in your intoxicated state and you’d just be dumb to think this was a dream. Jungkook, a man who is a demon...and has saved your life so many times that it might as well be a cliché, had taken you home from his own volition and brought you to bed with absolutely no complaint.
Towards the very end of that encounter, once again you’d managed to thank him like before, drowsy, half-way conscious. You then panicked because when you finally had the opportunity to see him again, You blew it. Drowning yourself in alcohol to avoid the obsessive thoughts you always had of him and the small hunch in the back of your mind telling you that he is always near.
He’s not dangerous...in-fact you’d know better to think he actually cares about you, but Jungkook didn’t know that you were beginning to understand that, putting your theory about him watching over you to the test and Jungkook had passed with flying colors.
Meanwhile Jungkook, feeling stupid enough to let you see him again, was ready to leave as fast as possible. He remembers setting you down gently onto your bed and slightly missing the feel of your body in his arms, but it was a small emotion that he could easily bury to the back of his mind. He was ready to let go and maybe even ignore the odd pull to you once and for all until something soft had grabbed weakly for his hand when he’d begun to turn away.
Again, he overestimated his impulsiveness.
He flinches in the process, his guard crumbling so easily and he’s looking down towards his wrist to see you staring up at him with those wide starry eyes he’d first met you with.
“Please…stay.” Jungkook’s face screwed up in confusion, you were barely able to finish that last sentence before slipping into unconsciousness and letting him go as you passed out with slumber.
Stay? No, absolutely not. He shouldn’t– he can’t…Jungkook won’t.
He breathes in, encouraging himself to leave and to move his feet, but that never quite worked out. In-fact Jungkook has become comfortable watching you sleep peacefully, your dreams of a faceless man again coming up and he watches them like a movie. Your smile bright as ever, leaning into someone with raven cropped hair and a toothy smile. You both looked perfect together and some part of him envied that even while it wasn’t real.
He’d laid beside you, plenty of space apart, going over every last feature and detail of your face. He was content, the bored void inside him faded and Jungkook never realized how dangerous that feeling was so easy to become addicted to.
He didn’t know that's where it all began.
Skipping over the next few months of your developing friendship, Jungkook had begun to pop in and out more often whether you wanted him to or not- kind of like this moment and after the past few years, You’d gotten accustomed to it, no longer jumping out of your skin at the sight of a gorgeous demon appearing in your home or at your side to talk to you at any moment. You’ve grown to not be scared of him, you wholeheartedly trust Jungkook with your life and he could say the same. Spending hours of your free-time together, talking and teaching him about the latest trends or simply enjoying each other's presence.
You became a safe haven for him. When Jungkook was stressed, he came to you, when he’s tired he comes to you, and if he was just bored from working…he spent the rest of his time with you. Under all that consistency, there's no one else who could bring him the same kind of peace. He respected you and cared for you, but at some point Jungkook knows it’s grown to be more than that.
He loves having you around, it’s exhilarating every time, making his heart beat faster than usual and he had to admit the thought of your body against his brought unspeakable, filthy ideas to his mind, but Jungkook had never entertained the idea of truly being with you before and maybe that was because of his inability to think you’d never want to be with anyone else than him.
Clearly that had changed.
He realizes that maybe he’d taken that thought for granted, because he really doesn’t want anyone other than you. He’s definitely unable to skip the idea of confessing to you the second he sees you, thoughts of knowing someone was here not too long ago, sending him into a fearsome state and if that wasn’t enough then maybe it was also the pure anger that he couldn’t only smell you anymore but that putrid scent he was beginning to loathe. The mixed smells waft around your bedroom and it’s enough to almost have him losing control, because no one else should be able to touch you.
You are his and his only-... wait, no you’re not…you’re actually just friends, because Jungkook is a dumbass who never made his move. Still that didn’t mean he couldn’t hope you weren’t sleeping with other people.
It feels like Jungkook was walking on a thin line- balancing himself from tipping over. Too much is going through his head, his jealousy and anxiety on your well being confusing him more than ever. Something about this situation is completely off to him and he was more possessive than usual, so worked up that he can’t seem to let himself feel any different as if an invisible force was playing around with him.
Jungkook can’t think straight.
“I’m getting too worked up over nothing. We’re just friends.” He whispers silently to no one, feeling as the mana lowers as well as his anger. The only problem is, it feels like his body won’t listen to him anymore.
Trying one more time, Jungkook begins to think of you. He closes his eyes, taking in a long breath as the whispers in his head begin to fill the silence. He focuses on them, a blurry vision attempting to get a hold of his usual connection to you, only to fizzle out moments later with no progress. Jungkook goes back in again and tries so hard to reach you, that the energy from it actually triggers a freakish spark to your room and hallway lights, dimming them out completely and leaving him there pitifully within the dark silence.
He never thought feeling nothing could ever be so terrifying.
Suddenly, his chest begins to tighten and he can't breathe as something overcomes him. A highly noticeable sharpening comes to his vision as Jungkook lets out a powerful wave of frustration. In the dark, while his eyes are being covered in pitch black, the veins in his face surface with the same color. His skin then turns a lighter shade of pale gray and immediately Jungkook panics, closing his eyes briefly before shutting them tight then intaking a deep breath of air.
If you came, you wouldn’t want to see him like this…then again, what if you had someone else with you and you were still with them? What if you brought him back and Jungkook lashes out at him, you’d definitely hate him afterwards. Fuck, his thoughts just went in a huge unreasonable circle.
He shouldn’t be this possessive, but something was clearly telling him otherwise. Jungkook just can’t shake those thoughts. He doesn’t want you to be scared of him again.
You’re allowed to hang with others besides him and Jungkook knew that, you were never alone-albeit you did have few friends including Yoongi, but you were still a highly likable person. He didn’t have the right to question who you were into, but damn if it didn’t have him seeing red or better yet-black at the possibility, especially being that he has absolutely no idea who it could possibly be.
He opens his eyes as his vision begins to get back to normal, his gaze landing on the small but open space of your bedroom.
Like many times before he’s seen the familiar baby pink shade to your walls, the various bots of random plants he had no clue the purpose of. The cute white vanity on one side of the room and a tall glass mirror on the other where he constantly finds you getting ready. Lastly in the middle- your neatly made up queen sized bed with cream sheets, a thousand plushies and too many matching baby pink pillows to count. He’s seen all of this before and even laid there with you while watching some kind of princess movie called Disney? Whatever, that's not what's important right now and it's not like he was actually paying attention anyway.
Not with you so close to him.
Jungkook couldn’t seem to get the image out of his head- the memory of both of you cuddled together, his arms wrapped securely around your waist and you lying comfortably on his chest as the light from the screen highlighted your soft features in your sleep. A feeling of absolute content washes over him and there was nowhere else Jungkook would rather be than there. He loved the position mostly because it allowed him to feel your heartbeat, and more so the way it would speed up or skip whenever you felt him shift under you as if you were hyper aware of his very presence. It was the kind of feeling where Jungkook would actually think maybe he had that same effect on you like you did him- except you just never showed it and you were surprisingly good at it for someone whose mind is easily accessible.
Though there have been times where Jungkook would get a glimpse of your thoughts and he had to admit, the shocking images that would randomly sprinkle in once in a while of him—he would immediately regret ever taking a look, abruptly springing up and removing you from him to hide his sudden horniness.
You can’t imagine how frustrating it is for him, when you’re showing him thoughts like that, but he can’t sense your feelings towards him and he gets even more antsy when he can't sense you at all.
Just like this moment.
Jungkook hasn’t seen you in almost an entire month, part of that mostly being the prince’s fault. He’d gone home, a while back, atoning for his neglect over his reign. It was only right, leaving to attend to important matters and clearing whatever he had left undone. However, was that really the only reason?
Jungkook felt like a coward. Shame entering his chest whenever he found himself around you before that. He couldn’t stop thinking about it, a strong urge inside him whenever he gets too close to you. He’ll never know what triggered this strange behavior, but he does remember the exact day it had begun.
1 year and a few months…
He came just before you did, hearing you huff out a weary breath as you stepped through your bedroom door. When you do, your eyes instinctively scan the space, not disappointed when they fall towards your bed to find your friend waiting in a very comfortable position against your headboard like always.
You pause to adjust, a line coming over your lips to hide your tired smile at the scene of him playing with your pink bunny plushie. In a way, it oddly reminds you of him- cute, but mischievous as he tosses it in the air and catches it to bend the arms gently.
for some reason he always chooses that specific toy.
“You know. If you like Cooky so much you can keep him.” You say walking in further and bending forward to slip your nude heels off of your feet to get comfortable. “I mean he’s practically your twin, except with all the redeeming qualities of course.”
Jungkook’s eyes snap from the little character and over to you as if he hadn’t been expecting you to walk through the door. You knew he could sense you very easily, so you doubt he didn’t hear you arriving home on a Sunday afternoon.
You were right, however, Jungkook could always tell when you were close and that was because he could always hear your thoughts whispering to him at random. Like how relieved you were to see him after a long day of faking your social life with a group of your old college classmates you clearly didn’t care for.
What Jungkook wasn’t expecting, was to see you walking in with a much different attire than he was used to…
“Just because he’s fluffy and incredibly handsome doesn’t mean you get to compare him to the original.” You hear him say while also hearing movement from your bed as he shifts to face you.
You turn to make a face at him. “He is the original.”
Jungkook fakes being hurt with a hand to his chest and then tosses Cooky down, back into the spot you had him before. He watches you silently with a curious gaze, as if thinking hard about what he’s seeing and you realize that the second he looks your way, he hasn’t looked anywhere since. That was evident enough when you walked over towards your mirror only to meet his unwavering gaze in the reflection.
He gives you a once over, face blank of any thoughts and you’re silently trying to distract yourself from the way it had begun to make you squirm. They follow slowly down your back, arching a brow when your dress stops only a few inches above mid-thigh.
“I’ve never seen you in a dress like that before.” He comments, but from his expression you can’t tell whether it was good or bad.
It was definitely good.
“That's because I only wear it when there's actually people around to impress.” You tease and Jungkook then hears you clear your throat from his silent response. Your arms reach up and bend back attempting to unzip the back of the fitted silk dress when a nervous thought enters your head.
Your fingers were beginning to fumble, suddenly feeling under fire from the Judging gaze and it was strange, because you never truly cared whether or not anyone had approved of the way you looked. Apparently, that kind of mentality didn’t matter when it came to the prince. Then again, nothing about your friendship was normal since the beginning.
After attempting to unzip for an embarrassing amount of time, your eyes are meeting Jungkook in the mirror again, an amused smile being held back as he nibbles on his lip ring from your clumsiness.
“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?” You ask slightly annoyed.
“No, don’t mind me. I’m just watching you at your most impressive.” He nods while folding his arms, feigning innocence.
You’re immediately rolling your eyes, landing on the inky bulge of his bicep under the oversized black graphic tee. You then realized the kind of rockish look he’d gone for- his long hair, styled half-way back as usual and he was also wearing a pair of black cargos bunched at the chunky soled boots.
He then arches a brow, patiently waiting for the inevitable. You frown, not at him, but more so to yourself for noticing. “Shut up and just help me already.”
“I didn’t say anything…” He chuckles with a shrug.
“You didn’t have to.” You then grumble as your face heats up. You honestly have to stop giving him opportunities to let his arrogant side through. It feels like the longer you know him, the more aware you’re becoming of it.
Jungkook suddenly laughs, moving to stand from his position when he decides to put you out of your misery. Honestly, it was really easy to get you flustered sometimes and Jungkook always enjoyed that a little too much.
Suddenly, when he prepares to take a stride towards you, something shakes Jungkook to the pit of his stomach. He’s only one step in when his world turns abruptly and the laugh begins to die on his lips from your reaction.
What…the…?
You didn’t notice his sudden expression within the mirror, dipping your head low to allow access at the top and under your hair while also hiding your slight embarrassment.
Something had reached Jungkook’s nose…your scent…He- can smell you again, but it’s different. This time it's incredibly strong, wafting into his senses as he takes a step forward and Jungkook frowns from the odd amount. Each breath becomes labored when he comes closer to your awaiting figure, trying his best to play it off in his hazy state. It was like inhaling a poisonous gas, except every pull became more addicting than the last and Jungkook felt like he was losing more of himself within it.
You’re completely clueless, staring off to wherever your mind has gone, probably keeping yourself preoccupied with whatever wasn’t Jungkook. Meanwhile, his body was becoming exceptionally hot stepping behind you and he held his breath, casually reaching for the lodged metal trapping you within the soft material of such a beautiful dress.
A sudden image of him taking it off of you comes to him and he frowns from the rush of the sight- adrenaline flowing through his hands. Where the hell did that come from? He thinks a bit worriedly and brushes it off as fast as it had come. Jungkook then tries to focus and fiddles with the zipper, successfully freeing the material that was caught in between and on accident, exhales in relief only to breathe again.
Now, Jungkook felt really weak.
A light buzz fills his head when he allows himself to smell again. Something within his vision then blacks out, causing him to blink multiple times as his eyes darken in effect to adjust. He grips to pull on the object fully until he’s mildly aware of the sudden movement within your reflections. At first it’s too subtle, but his hyper senses had his skin prickling with unease and there's suddenly a deep chill up his spine.
Jungkook tenses further, slowly looking up to find that you’re staring straight into his eyes un-moving and almost lifeless. He’s stuck, unable to free himself of whatever creepy trance your pointed gaze had him in and all the heat within his chest had begun to move down into the pit of his stomach- creating a fierce hunger inside.
“Is something wrong?” You tilt your head, a strangely confident look flashing in your eyes as if you were silently taunting him. Your face hides an unknown emotion, egging him on to continue and its shocking shift from your personality before. Almost terrifying.
“Jungkook-?”
His heart nearly plummets from the way you say his name.“-No everything is fine.” He barely mumbles, unable to look away within your stare.
“Then why did you stop?” You ask, interrupting him. To Jungkook your voice sounds much different. Thicker and lower as if you were purposely making it that way and completely different to the normal lightness it usually had.
“Should I keep going?” He asks, confused.
It feels like a strange tension had fallen over the both of you so suddenly and with the way Jungkook couldn’t ignore your sensual pull, his breath is once again caught, watching you cutely bite your bottom lip and say.
“Touch me…”
When those words fall from your lips, your eyes are slowly being covered in pitch black as your innocent smile turns into one of seduction. He notices by the way you both stand there closer to each other, how much your chest had begun to rise harder and there was no mistaking the lust behind your intentions.
This can’t be real.
A desperate look then falls over your face and expression becoming hooded, making his own eyes widened in shock. He then flinches, eyebrows dipping when your body inches closer to his.
“Y/n? Fuck, why are you looking like that?” Without thinking, he lifts the inked hand, pressing to the middle of your back and holding down the silk material- but something stopped him from moving, like a red siren flashing back and forth inside his head.
He swears it was meant to hold you in place, but the contact of you against his hand burns, shooting all the way up his arm.
“Please, Jungkook.” Your hands fall onto the mirror in front of you, purchasing there while moving your ass back onto him impatiently. You were then pressing your thighs together, a fucked out expression on your face that he’d never seen on you before.
Why does this turn him on? He shakes his head, but the movement feels like he hasn’t moved an inch. However, that soon becomes another case when he’s moving again. Like a mind of its own, Jungkook’s hand slowly began to lower the zipper without his doing, it was like he was having an outer body experience.
He breathes harder, watching the peaks of your soft skin as your dress slowly begins to unravel from your torso and he’s pretty sure he’s harder than ever- stifling a groan as your ass rubs against his crotch, burning him wherever the both of you touch.
He couldn’t think, slowly giving in to your soft whimpers whispering within his ear and your dress was beginning to fall down further, revealing the swells of your breasts. Your nipples are hard against your bedroom’s air, the visual tipping Jungkook closer over the edge and he can’t help himself but to do exactly what you’d asked of him.
“Touch me now Jungkook.”
“Okay.”
This shouldn’t be happening. Jungkook’s body was bending to meet yours, his hands slipping forward and underneath what was left of the silky material covering you. Instantly, he hears your voice coated in sugar as a moan falls past your lips, feeling his large inked hands palm your chest and pressing your back into him.
His mouth instinctively lands to the column of your neck, your head leaning further to allow him full access and Jungkook takes advantage of it, placing wet kisses here and there, sucking as his hands begin to knead at your supple breasts. He tugs at your nipples, hearing a squeak from your end and feels his mouth water, wondering what you would sound like if he was actually fucking you in this moment. Would you scream his name if he had his cock buried inside you, your hands gripping his hair between your legs?
He wants to experience all of it, the dark desire of ripping off your panties and rolling his hips against your ass over and over just so he could watch the both of you in this mirror until you were cumming around him with only his name in your mouth.
“Jungkook...it’s too hot.” You’re gasping, arching your back and he loves the way it falls helplessly from your lips, so gentle and sweet.
Jungkook feels one of your hands reaching back for his hair, fingers searing his scalp as they tangle within it. He nips, sucking on the skin and biting down as a shiver racks through you.
“I’m fucking burning.” He agrees and continues through the sweet burn of your skin on his mouth, trailing behind your shoulder and down your spine- listening to the sweet melodies of his name coming from your mouth just as one had starts to leave your dress and caresses up the skin of your inner thigh.
So close, he’s so close to feeling you and he didn’t know he wanted to this much.
“Jungkook, please.”
“Yes, Angel.” He gives a kitten lick to the small of your back, fingers finally reaching towards the top as he was nearly drooling to tug your dress off.
Just a little more–
“Jungkook?” You frown at your daydreaming friend.
“—Huh?” As if suddenly jolting awake, Jungkook sees you lift your head with innocent eyes, nothing compared to what he’d just been through in the last few seconds. Your scent isn’t as strong to him as before and you were definitely still fully clothed, waiting patiently for him to unzip the back of your dress just like before.
What? How did he get right here? His heart races to understand.
You scoff. “Were you seriously not listening to me all this time?”
Jungkook’s mouth opens slightly, speechless when you’re rolling your eyes in the reflection as a playful glare makes its way onto your face. “If this is your way to act cute from what I said, it’s not working. Are you going to unzip me or am I going to have to call Yoongi over to help?”
Jungkook tries his best to recover, unable to form any words or thoughts after whatever was just imagined in his head. He had you, your breasts, your body writhing within his hands, begging for him and none of that was real- but it sure as hell felt like it. The worst part is that he suddenly really wants it to be and there's no denying it from the slow tightening in his pants.
Jungkook then releases a shaky breath, trying to come up with any kind of solution as to why he saw that, but nothing comes to mind. All he knows is that he wants to get far away from you as possible right now.
He clears his very dry throat. “Sorry, something came over my thoughts. What were you saying?”
Jungkook watches your eyes snap to him again in a blank stare, instant fear shaking him to his core at the Deja-vu of the gaze. This is until you had a beautiful smile gracing your features and your eyes shining like stars instead of that chilling black, showcasing a smug humor within your gaze along with a small amount of something behind it.
A different emotion Jungkook would continue to push down from then on, but first he needed a long and cold shower.
He feels utterly helpless.
What kind of a dumbass leaves for an entire month and can’t find the one person who anchors them to the closest thing they could call love. Your connection to him was too weak to track. It made him worry, like a dark cloud was falling over him without seeing you as much and he’d almost begun to feel the emptiness of his existence again.
He suddenly sighs to himself in the middle of the silent room, but he was sure there was nothing silent about the way you actually had his emotions bouncing off of the walls. Jungkook still couldn’t control his anger and he definitely couldn’t shake the dark paranoia of you being with someone else while he was gone.
Is Jungkook too late? Did he miss his opportunity too many times?
The man had been gone for a while...but, at least he warned you first. He actually took the time out of his day to tell you that he would be going back home for a few days.
Then again, those days slowly turned into weeks and the weeks turned into a full month of no communication, because at some point those thoughts of you had begun to feel so real and with no warning. They were uncontrollable and Jungkook figured having some time to himself could help, but that's his fault because he blames himself for ignoring his growing feelings.
Now he just couldn’t control them…
“...Jungkook?”
The black blood inside of his veins freezes over his body as the familiar voice of someone that wasn’t you, sounds within the thin walls of your bedroom, followed by a very familiar scent. He doesn’t want to turn around, even with his high level of mana but odds are he would be greeted with someone he didn’t want to see and now really wasn’t a good time.
Not while he couldn’t think.
“Hyung, what are you doing here?” He asks hesitantly.
“What do you mean what am I doing here? I’m checking on you as always.” The silver haired King speaks up from his stance. “I hope you have a good reason to be standing in the middle of your girlfriend’s bedroom, aren’t you supposed to be home right now?”
“She’s not my girlfriend.” Jungkook slowly turns his head, his back stiffening in effect of his anger still residing within him. Right there within his smaller stature Min Yoongi’s coal black eyes stare away at the Demon’s face.
The shorter, but much stronger man walks in skeptically and Jungkook doesn’t say anything, while staring at him like a wounded animal in the dark. “You can spare me the consistent bullshit on how you’re just friends with her for once. I watch over the both of you all the time, I’m not dumb Jungkook.”
As if he’d just noticed something odd, Yoongi feels a powerful surge completely out of place and radiating from his tortured friend. It’s almost enough to have his full body going on alert, his concentration centering on one conclusion and Yoongi isn't sure how he couldn’t have sensed Jungkook before he got here.
“You-…why do you look like you’re ready to rip someone’s throat out?” He then points out, not as a question but more of a statement.
“Because I am.” Jungkook turns towards him. He breathes, trying to get a grip on himself for his friend’s sake. “I came here to see Y/n, but I can’t get a handle on her. I’ve been getting this terrible sense that something is wrong and…I can’t feel her anymore.”
“You want to see her looking like that?” Yoongi points to him as a scowl comes to his face. Jungkook’s eyes were pitch black, skin pale and fingers shaped into claws. He looks like a creature straight out of a horror movie. Not to mention, that Yoongi can sense a ridiculous amount of Malice coming from his friend. “...-I don’t think that's the best idea right now.”
Jungkook stares at him lost. “Why not?”
“You mean besides the murderous energy around you? Or was your deformed figure not enough of a giveaway?” Yoongi asks with an arched brow.
“Hyung. I'm just trying to think.” Jungkook replies.
“Think about what? How not to look like you’re ready to slaughter your girlfriend? You can barely control your thoughts, let alone your body.” Yoongi seems to ignore what Jungkook had just told him- concern uncharacteristically filling his eyes as the room grows incredibly colder, literally. “Jungkook how long do you think you can keep this up? If you go see her while you’re like this, there's a good chance she won’t be safe.”
Yoongi could then see all of Jungkook’s energy rolling off him in unnatural waves, the dark aura slithering and seeping out of his body all around your room. Even he isn’t sure he’ll leave here unscathed, realizing he stepped into a complete shit show…Dammit Yoongi might actually be too late.
“Relax. I’m pissed, not blood thirsty. ” Jungkook clips, a frustrated hand running through his long raven strands as if he was feigning, Yoongi could tell it was quite the opposite.
He then scoffs, “We both know that doesn’t mean anything when it comes to someone like her. She’s not one of us Jungkook, with the state you’re in- you’d be lucky if you don't consume her within the first minute.”
Jungkook’s stomach suddenly churns from the fear firing within the pit of it, chest puffing from the irritation that the man across from him was causing. He inhales deeply, the image of your face coming to his head and somehow that not only calms him, but makes him even more frustrated than before.
He’s aware of the possibility within his control, but there was no way he was going to get any work done if he couldn’t tell whether you were actually safe or not. All he’s been able to concentrate on is you, even though he wasn’t around you for an entire month.
So in conclusion his distance from you has only made things a lot worse.
Jungkook finally huffs in denial. “I wouldn’t think about hurting her.”
“Then why do you suddenly look so afraid?” Yoongi steps closer warily. “You’re losing control of yourself, aren’t you? You should have listened to me last time when I suggested you go see Hoseok. Instead, you keep brushing this off…sooner or later you won’t be able to. ”
Yoongi isn’t dumb and he knows how badly Jungkook wants to see you, but he can’t let that happen, at least not yet while Jungkook wasn’t in control of himself. The man doesn’t realize how big of a mess he’s made, not only for himself- but for you as well and as infuriating as it is, Yoongi is trying his best to diffuse the situation before he has to explain to everyone how he let the youngest member destroy his only relationship.
Jungkook exhales, attempting to release some of his anger once again, but it feels like nothing is working. Not only that, but the more Yoongi tries to convince Jungkook, the more he’s finding this entire situation so odd and completely infuriating. He just wants to see you, that's all and he can control himself, he's sure of it…so why the hell is it such a big problem? “I look like this, because I don’t know where the hell she is. Hyung, if you’re going to make things worse, just leave.”
“Well you may not remember this, but you already dragged me into your petty situation. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t taking that seriously, unlike you I take care of my responsibilities Jungkook.” Yoongi deadpans the obvious. “You wanted me to protect Y/n, this is me doing that...Even if its from you.”
Jungkook sighs dismissively as something begins to thin in his patience.
“You don’t have to protect her from me. What part of this seems like I don’t care? Because as far as I am concerned- there's nothing more important to me than seeing her and witnessing with my own two eyes that she’s safe and not out there with some random asshole.” He spits with a nasty venom at the thought, his calm façade cracking with a wild look.
It’s not like his friend couldn’t tell how he was really feeling anyway...
“-What?” Yoongi blinks before narrowing his eyes as he tries to come to terms with what he just heard. “What do you mean by random exactly?”
Jungkook pauses from his mistake and he curses himself. “N-Nothing. Just forget it.”
He can’t concentrate the more Yoongi talks to him and as much as the king doesn't want to be affected, he can’t help his own confusion from Jungkook's behavior…he seriously thinks you’ve moved on from him?
“Jungkook, please don’t tell me you’re here right now because of your possessive impulse to Y/n’s life.” Yoongi asks in a desperate manner and trying to mask his own sudden anger.
“If I say no will you go away?” He rolls his pitch black eyes in return.
Yoongi frowns bemused. “We both know I can't make it that easy.”
Jungkook then sighs, turning completely away from him, but Yoongi refuses to let him brush over this.
“Look I don’t know what the hell is going on in your head but one thing I highly doubt is that Y/n is seeing someone else- I would know. Not to mention that you’re the one who left for a month and apparently you both aren’t dating.”
“I didn’t have a choice.” Jungkook replies, but he purposely ignores the other part of what was mentioned. He knows that you’re not together, but that reminder always seems to stir something crazy in him every time.
“You do now...Jungkook, You've been coming here for years straight. Everyday you spend either with her or waiting to speak to her and you’re so blinded by the thought of her you can’t even tell what you want anymore. You don’t find that slightest bit odd, your deep obsession with her in your life constantly?” He then steps forward and Jungkook’s chest rises harder as his right eye twitches. “You can obviously see the way you feel about her, what I don’t understand is what made you so damn scared that you’re driving yourself mad because of it.”
Jungkook’s eyes go cold, clearly beginning to tune Yoongi out, but his words hit a nerve way too delicate, setting off an unwanted reaction in him.
“Fuck off.” Jungkook clips as he inhales.” I don’t need you to play therapist Hyung.”
Yoongi frowns standing strong, watching something flash within Jungkook’s eyes.
“There it is, That same fear you keep ignoring. That's the cowardice that sent you running home weeks ago. If you’re going to keep on this way, you might as well–” Before Yoongi could even finish his remark, the next thing he knew, there was a booming smack to his back-knocking the air out of his chest and a thunderous crack of your bedroom’s wall.
“Fuck-!” The King growls out in thunderous anger and pain before his fists are balling up and his patience for Jungkook was quite literally knocked from his body. “So this is the route you want to take? Fighting me so you can keep ignoring your problems?” He suddenly stands from his position- glaring daggers at Jungkook as his eyes turn to an endless void of black- mana stretching unbelievably from his body.
“You keep pissing me off, so that makes you a problem to deal with.” Jungkook only seethes in return and the two have a lethal stare off. Neither of them calming from their chaotic temper.
Yoongi swallows the blood wanting to rise in his mouth. He motions towards Jungkook- beckoning him with an invitation. “Don’t forget that this problem can easily kick your ass. Try me.”
Before Jungkook knew it, he was once again lunging towards Yoongi, willing to to pour out his pent up frustrations. However, Yoongi was too quick for Jungkook to comprehend, stepping out of Jungkook’s way and slamming a calloused hand to Jungkook’s chest. Yoongi’s inhuman speed was always something that could catch Jungkook off guard. While the man acted and thought like a sloth- He was probably the fastest of the clan’s bloodline.
Jungkook’s hands then claw at Yoongi’s arms, slicing through his skin with only one strike and ultimately putting the shorter man’s patience below zero. Yoongi brings his arms back ignoring his pain and quickly coming back full speed towards Jungkook’s chest as his fists connect with a lethal crunch to his breaking ribs.
“Ugh!” The prince suddenly cringes, feeling the incredible force of Yoongi’s assault.
The King then roars, those hands slamming against Jungkook’s broken ribcage when he sees Jungkook getting ready for his next strike. Yoongi then closes his eyes, driven by rage and he’s lifting the bulky demon up- slamming his back down onto the floor so hard that Jungkook is sure he’d shattered his spine and crushed his lungs all at once. Honestly its amazing he didn’t fall through from the force, let alone damage the hard material.
Eventually feeling a numbing cold spread from his legs and to his head. Jungkook was close to passing out, but the pain won’t let him. He then coughs violently, the pitch black blood in his chest bubbling from his lips as he barely stares up at his friend with an overdue sense of clarity. For a moment, something flashes behind Jungkook’s eyes, an unclear image of a beautiful face smiling and walking up to a familiar figure without a care in the world, Just like you always did in your dreams.
No.
Before Jungkook could form a thought, or bring himself to comprehend the small visual he’d been trying so hard to grasp, that connection was gone within the next second he’d opened his eyes to a pissed but still concerned friend.
Yoongi just brought him to the brink of death…
His hand is pressed above the area where Jungkook’s heart resides as he watches a sad look wash over Jungkook’s suddenly broken face. Whether it was because of what just happened or not Yoongi couldn’t tell but there was no way he was going to forget about what just took place.
Fuck, what the hell just came over him? Yoongi thinks as he tries to inhale a deeper breath and gather himself from his unleashed anger. It would have been so easy, he could have simply ripped out Jungkook’s heart if that's what he really wanted…but it’s not and that's only because Jungkook is someone valuable to him.
“...I’m not going to kill you, even though it sure as hell would make me happy right now.” The elder man threatens while watching Jungkook blink and attempt to stay conscious. Yoongi stays kneeled beside him, his hand on high alert as the black veins running over his skin begin to disappear.
Yoongi then slowly feels Jungkook’s mana lower as well and he hates that it took him this far to calm him down. Jungkook’s labored breath reaches Yoongi's ears, which lets him know that his lungs were quickly healing themselves.
“Even if you did, it won’t change anything. Go ahead.” Jungkook abruptly coughs again.
The moon light from your windows shines down onto Jungkook’s face where the liquid had also begun to drip from his nose. Instantly, Yoongi feels an immense amount of guilt- but it had to be done, he had to restrain Jungkook. The only thing that made him feel worse about losing his own temper, were the words of his brother at that moment.
“What did you just say?” He then questions with a horrified look, watching the defeat in Jungkook’s eyes.
With an unbearable amount of pain filling his body, a very familiar scent fills Jungkook’s nose, causing a shitty feeling to come to him at such an inopportune moment. He doesn’t smell that disgusting scent with yours anymore…it's just your sweet almond floating alone within the space other than the two residing injured in the dark. He then shifts, feeling his bones pop back into place and bringing structure back into his spine.
The problem was, nothing hurts more than the thought of losing you to another and simply because he didn’t know how to navigate around his own feelings. So much that Jungkook isn’t sure why he’s completely overwhelmed by the weight lifting off of his chest when he wasn’t able to pick up on the foreign scent he’d been smelling all this time.
“My chest hurts…” Jungkook croaks.
“I mean…” Yoongi’s brow arches as he looks him over. “ I just caved it in with my fists so that's bound to have some kind of damage.” He jokes.
Jungkook shakes his head, a humorless scoff garbled in his throat. “No. I mean it hurts because I can’t feel her…Part of me is so upset, because I can’t shake the feeling of someone else being involved in her life while I was gone- the pain makes me want to die for giving up.”
Yoongi doesn’t answer that for a while as he stares down at Jungkook with nothing but confusion. The gears in his head turn when a deep scowl abruptly comes over his face and he’s truly understanding the full extent of the situation.
“You must be out of your goddamn mind telling me that.”
Jungkook frowns, clearly offended. “W-What?”
“I truly hope this girl is worth it, because I don’t know what else could make you act like this much of suicidal dumbass. I knew you triggered your bond, but I had no idea you were this late into rejecting it and you’re only just now coming to terms after you tried to kill me.” He doesn’t mean to but the words come out harsher than he intended. “Like I said I’m not going to kill you, but if you think you’re going to continue on like this- then I can promise that will change. I have to get you to Hoseok.”
Jungkook’s brows furrow as he tries to stay focused. “What are you talking about? You think I’m bonded to Y/n?”
“You just said you would rather die if you couldn’t have her, I think that stands within the category of a soulmate.” The smaller man shrugs bitterly.
“I told you before that my connection to her isn’t like that Yoongi Hyung.” Jungkook groans skeptically when he feels his bones shift in his back again and lock into place- healing is such a bitch.
“So you’re telling me that you always stalk the women you have hallucinations of?” Yoongi asks, staring straight down towards him only to see the shock in Jungkook’s eyes from his comment.
So that's it.
“...How did you know about those?” He then questions horrified with a freaked scowl.
“I didn’t, but now I do- which confirms that the real reason you went home is because they’re scaring the shit out of you right?” Yoongi smirks, knowing he just hit the bullseye. “That's how it starts...”
“You… don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jungkook goes to move, but honestly everything still hurts and he didn’t like the nasty feeling coming to his chest at the sudden realization of his friend’s confession. There hasn’t been a day that's gone by where he wasn’t obsessed with being closer to you and that includes this very moment where he was craving to be around you again.
Yoongi shakes his head in disbelief at Jungkook's denial. “I know exactly what I’m talking about. You’ve been thinking about Jumping your girlfriend’s bones for a while now and instead of acting on it, like a coward, you hid at home within your work. Now you’re an obsessive ass, with an unstable temper that's going to get you killed.”
Jungkook’s head was swimming, trying to take in the information. Something in the back of his mind was warning him as his body no longer felt cold and numb- his labored breaths becoming normal again. “She’s…not… my girlfriend.”
“Jungkook-Do you know what happens when you trigger your bond with someone and you reject it? It fights back.” Yoongi suddenly mumbles as a more serious tone begins to fill his voice again and the sound honestly puts Jungkook on edge as he lays idle on your bedroom’s floor.
“We don’t have one.” Jungkook swallows hard, the taste of blood still evident in his mouth but he couldn’t focus on that. Not with the sour taste accompanying it as Yoongi begins to explain more into his theory.
“Hey, I know you hate to be wrong, but I think it's time to understand that everything you’re feeling is not okay. Having a connection like this to someone is not a common phenomenon for us. In-fact it's both equally terrifying and liberating.” Yoongi says with more annoyance to Jungkook’s obliviousness.
He then blinks, definitely taking his current position into account. “Maybe, it could be from the intense pain I’m currently feeling, but hypothetically, if we were to have a connection with each other. I’m having a hard time understanding how any of this could possibly be liberating.” Jungkook starts. “I’m still not sure how you’ve come to that conclusion when I’m swallowing my own blood right now.”
Yoongi sighs thoughtfully after he finally removes his hand and it runs through his snowy hair. “Scent, warmth, and an unexplainable obsession with the other. No matter how bizarre or plausible- these are all signs of the Alexithymic bo–”
“ –Alexi-… what?” Jungkook cuts him off.
“Alexithymia, it's where you can’t express your emotional arousal. Therefore an Alexithymic bond and considering how oblivious you are I’d say its a perfect title.” Yoongi answers, arching a dark brow.
He huffs, not believing how this suddenly sounds interesting.
“Hyung, my spine just cracked itself back in place and you’re giving me a vocabulary lesson.” Jungkook winces, watching Yoongi roll his eyes again and stand from his position crouched over him. The King strides across the dark space giving Jungkook room to get up. His back should be healed by now, but judging from the congested cough- his chest still isn’t fully recovered.
“I’ll crush your lungs again, if you don’t let me finish.” Yoongi suddenly threatens and leans back onto his heel to concentrate. “Our bonds are rare but more common the higher ranked you are. It's like a new obsession, constantly thinking about that person day and night- nothing else matters. However, it's considered a curse for a reason. The second you begin to ignore any pull it creates between you and that person, it will punish you in a very ugly way. You’ll see and experience things you’ve never felt before and it’ll only drive you mad until you’re triggering the darkest part of you to rid it.”
“Has that ever worked?” Jungkook tries not to ask too curiously but Yoongi knows that hint of fear laced within his question. Jungkook was definitely scared of whatever was going on with him, including how he wasn’t sure if he’d been imagining a new scenario of you running off with someone else based on a nonexistent scent.
“…Well…you can ask Hoseok that. He ignored his bond to Jiminie because he refused to think anything other wise. Eventually, Jin had to step in and restrain him in the process those few years back. We had to take him away.”
“Hobi Hyung?” Jungkook repeats one of his brother's names when something finally registers in his mind. “ Do you mean the incident where Jimin Hyung got hurt? I…thought he was just sick.”
Yoongi’s eyes show the pain behind them as the memory plays fresh in his mind of the situation, an almost traumatizing thought to think of. “-Technically speaking, he was…but somehow Hoseok found a way to eventually keep it under control. I think the thought of hurting Jiminie again must have triggered something rational in him. He wasn’t the same for months, but eventually the two worked through it. just like I’m sure you and Y/n can.”
Something in Jungkook resonates with such a horrible fear of hurting someone like you. In a way, it was actually strange considering that the thought had never entered his mind before, but now…He wasn’t super certain of his feelings towards you. Jungkook would love to believe everything is alright, but tonight has only ever shown him the opposite.
Dammit Yoongi was actually getting to him.
Maybe the grumpy man for a friend was actually right and Jungkook wasn’t the one in control after all. For the last couple of months, it's true that the thoughts he’s had when it comes to you have been worrying him. They always came at random and whenever they did, it was not only an inconvenience, but distracting as well.
All that being said, Jungkook still can’t shake the edge he feels not being near you. He’s held out long enough and there wouldn’t be any harm in him seeing you-even if it were for just a second, honestly what's the worst that could happen?
“You could kill her.” Yoongi suddenly chimes at perfect timing and Jungkook is looking at him with a deeply confused scowl. “You’re wondering what would happen if you stayed right? I can see that look you’re getting again after all I said and you should know how wrong this could go.”
“Yeah, I do.” Jungkook then suddenly groans from the pain and moves to stand feeling his body continue to heal and get back to its original state. He nearly stumbles back down before balancing himself again and he’s sighing from the entire ordeal. He looks up, taking in a reluctant breath before he stares at Yoongi head on once again. “I’ll leave after I see her and after that I won’t come back until I can fix this. Hyung, please if I go now, it’s gonna drive me crazy and all of this would have been for nothing.”
“Jungkook…” Yoongi starts for the last time until he’s realizing how much energy this is really taking away from him. Honestly they both have better and much more important things to be doing right now, besides wondering how he was going to get his friend laid.
Jungkook’s eyes glisten with a desperate shine, puppy eyes staring directly at Yoongi and he tries hard to keep his stoic expression back towards the other. Yoongi feels the slight guilt from before crawling back into his chest and hates how much influence it has on his next decision.
“...Fine. If you want to risk your girlfriend’s life, be my guess, I knew I should have stopped you when I first suspected something.” He huffs in miserable defeat, knowing that if he stays- Yoongi is worried he’d actually end up killing Jungkook out of his own irritation.
He really hoped it wouldn’t turn out this way.
“Hyung, for the last time she’s not my girlfriend.” Jungkook steps forward, ignoring the pain that shoots up his spine and it looks as if Yoongi was getting ready to leave. He pauses after pushing himself off of your door frame with a wary look on his face as Jungkook comes closer.
“Seriously, Do you want me to break your back again?” Yoongi asks, rolling his eyes and still trying to push down the part of him that doesn’t want to leave a highly unstable Jungkook behind. However he knows exactly how this might play out and if it was anywhere near what he hopes is the best outcome out of the worst- Jungkook will come back home for help and you will be safe.
Again…Hopefully.
Feeling an end to this conversation, Jungkook begins to consider his options when Yoongi’s presence with all of his mana was gone in the blink of an eye and Jungkook was once again alone within your bedroom- waiting until the moment he could hear you coming through that front door.
He doesn’t know how long he’s stood there waiting for you, but it felt like hours had passed when suddenly a subtle scent hits his nose and he’s inhaling. Sensing a familiar presence that has his heart hammering in his chest, he’s very aware of your front door opening within the next couple of minutes.
On instinct he moves, thick boots clunking across the hard floor- a shot of adrenaline speeding through his veins when his teeth grow longer and his hands are itching to grab you. He thinks about how he wants to hold you again, inhaling your scent as much as he could. Jungkook could see himself squeezing you closer and nipping on your skin while leaving hickeys all around. He wants to taste tugging on you harder until his fingers were digging into your sides deep enough to- No…he thinks to himself, immediately remembering his unstable form and ultimately stopping himself from coming to you.
Not only that, but something didn’t feel right…Jungkook’s intentions suddenly felt unclear- just like Yoongi had warned him. He sighs before taking another breath and closes his eyes as your scent hits him even stronger towards your bedroom just like all those times before. The sound of your light footsteps draw near and are drowned out by a rapid heartbeat within Jungkook’s ears.
Yours or his? He didn't know.
What he does know is that It’s extremely hard when he feels his body going haywire the closer you get all over again. He tries to avoid the darkening within his vision and before you could even sense someone else inside. Jungkook has half a mind to come into alert a few seconds too late before bringing himself back from over the edge. He inhales seeing you, but then opts for holding his breath so that he couldn’t be drawn into you further.
You however hesitate, calling out his name into the dark and waiting for no response. It’s too dark, for you- but he can see you perfectly within it. A pain in his chest from the hope in your eyes as you unknowingly stare directly into his. He wants nothing more but to reach out and hold you, though he knew that couldn't happen just yet. First he needs to calm himself and quickly find that it needs to be done sooner than later, because whatever Jungkook was thinking about a second ago no longer felt normal.
It felt ravenous...
“Jungkook?…Is that you?”
If there was anything more relieving than clocking out of your final shift for the week- then it was knowing you wouldn’t be doing anymore doubles for a very long time. It wasn’t usual for you to take on so many at your job, but with all the recent call-outs and you needing some extra cash to save on the side, you’d been working your butt off for the past few weeks.
You sigh tiredly, your entire body screaming of exhaustion and your feet aching in your shoes by the time you were heading out for the day. Walking out into the night air, you quickly found yourself shivering and felt goosebumps eroding your skin.
Although you had been running around like crazy, your body easily succumbed to the cold wind breezing by even as you were walking to your car. When this happened, you always blamed it on the hideous uniform you were forced to wear every shift, cursing the cheap fabric that was no help when it came to protection.
Suddenly, you giggled to yourself while thinking of a certain someone who always made it a point to announce how much he hated seeing it on you. “That shirt is too tight, you look like you’re freezing and suffocating at the same time.” Jungkook had once said this to you before, draping his cozy jacket over you afterwards and leaving himself bared to the night as well. At the time, you weren’t aware of the man’s unworldly nature and even now you still felt like a fool when you scolded him for acting so recklessly.
Originally, you thought your friend to be at least 3 years younger, making it natural for you to be concerned about his health, even if he was much bigger than you. But as time had gone on, you’d soon found out that the sweet boy was not only a demon within his human form, but that he was also a good few 100 years older than you.
Oddly enough he just never acts like it...Jungkook was like a arrogant brat in your eyes, but one you’ve come to adore over time.
Speaking of…You had begun to pout while letting yourself into your car, wondering when your friend would return from his schedule back home or if he would return at all. It's been so long since you last saw him and once it passed the week timeframe he had given you, a deep unease began to form in the pit of your stomach a while back. Is he avoiding you? You’ve wandered over and over with a deep rooted fear overtaking your mind, but then there were times where you could feel Jungkook in the back of your head like before and you knew he was watching over you somehow. You just wished that it would include him physically being here with you and not wherever he’d gone off to.
You never thought you would be this bothered without Jungkook around, feeling irritable every now and then to the point where you definitely weren’t your normal self. You had trouble sleeping and like now, after getting off of work, you drove home in your car fast and a bit recklessly if you were being honest with yourself. It was as if you were racing against time, a deeper part of you hoping that tonight he’d at least pop in before you went to bed, especially since this would be the first night you actually planned to stay in without him there.
It’s been a while since you allowed yourself to actually wait for him, giving up a while back on his visits but still holding on to the hope of his presence.
The more you didn’t have him around, the more you had begun to feel yourself get antsy. Why exactly you weren’t too sure and for some reason you couldn’t bring yourself to ask. All you knew was that, it felt like you were wasting time- like you actually needed to see him soon before something bad would happen.
But even when you had made it home in one piece. Rushing up the elevator impatiently and finally arriving before your front door, you were disappointed to open it and be met with a very lifeless apartment.
Out of nowhere, your heart sunk in your chest. Nothing but darkness and silence filling the space until you thought you heard shuffling and whispering in your bedroom. Immediately you thought them to be heavy footsteps, possibly belonging to a man you knew could produce them with his heavy shoes. Is he back? If he is, you have no doubts Jungkook would be confused to not find you here at this time. You were always home by now and if you weren’t catching up on your studies then you were hanging around with him.
Without thinking, your body was on autopilot, immediately closing the door and walking further along the open space of your living room and down the hall towards the now freezing area which held your bedroom.
Shivering, you frowned wondering why it had suddenly gone so cold when you always kept your house on a casual 74 degrees, not to mention that you specifically remember keeping your hall light on by accident while leaving in a rush earlier. But as quickly as you were beginning to question those thoughts, your curiosity vanished the second you stood in front of your bedroom’s doorway.
Suddenly, your body freezes- swearing you were standing only just a few feet away from a large silhouette. You frown, a deep breath being taken as if your presence had a surprising effect as it had on you. You feel your heart pounding in your chest, butterflies from not only fear but the familiar scent of mint hitting your nostrils just as it does whenever he is around. Like the first time you’d ever seen Jungkook, there's a jump in your stomach that came with unease from the intimidating energy you felt while in front of him.
Maybe he’s in there…? You think of biting your lip at the foreign shiver that snakes down your spine. You stood staring into the room for about five seconds, letting your imagination run wild until his name was rising up your throat.
“Jungkook?” You whisper with barely enough sound to leave your mouth. “Is that you?”
There's no response and part of you should have expected it, you had to be a lunatic to feel so secure that a demon was possibly standing in the middle of your room waiting for you. Then again you were used to the possibility and it was strange to think he’s actually avoiding you. Somehow, that thought doesn't stop you from stepping in closer, your fingers inching towards the switch on your wall to reveal if everything you’d been witnessing was true. With a quick flick you wince, letting the warm ceiling light cast down upon you and to your dismay, find the spot where you swore he had been standing, to be empty.
You weren’t happy, but you also weren’t disappointed- not as much as the beginning of your week when you’d first been expecting the return of your friend.
“Oh…” You sag visibly, a shameful emotion of how much you’d actually felt your heart skip a beat at the thought of seeing him. You then scowl deeper, suddenly feeling the beginnings of fatigue catch up with you and it wasn’t until about 30 minutes later after getting your things settled in, that a sorrowful huff leaves your mouth as your gaze burns through the white tiles of your master shower.
“I’ll be back, just give me a week.” You bitterly remembered him saying this to you as you closed your eyes and imagined him with his bright smile. He seemed so warm and didn’t give off the vibe that something could be wrong, so you were at a loss as to why this had been the umpteenth day you haven’t seen him.
Maybe he’d gotten bored of you…That couldn’t be it, somehow you could still feel him around, but you do remember how much he had begun to space out while being right beside you. It started out small about a year ago, but eventually you had begun to notice the way Jungkook couldn’t focus or that he wasn’t paying attention to anything you would say when you came near him. It was almost like he’d lost interest in you, but it wouldn’t explain why he would continue to pop in or even tell you he was planning to come back.
Unless…Could someone else be taking up his attention?
That seemed to be another question plaguing you and the thought not only made your heart sink but whatever emotion was clawing at your chest had spread to your body-ultimately exhausting you in the end. This had been the same thought process you’ve had for days now and there was no describing the consuming despair that overtook you because of it.
While you got ready and slipped into your bed, you could swear that you were somehow aware of his presence within your home. Without him here, it felt empty and lonely. Whereas other times, you’d be laid up next to him watching some kind of kid friendly movie and having him wrapped around you. You're not sure when the both of you had gotten so comfortable being within such an intimate setting, but it had easily became a second nature that you took advantage of.
You toss and turn in the coldness of your bed. The darkness of the room was now a bit scarier to you and again like many nights before- you found yourself restless. It might have something to do with the fact that your mind was used to the thought of sleeping next to someone else for comfort. But still, why was it so hard to sleep? To relax and let your worries melt away? You’ve certainly earned it after working so hard and if anything you should be ready to knock out at any moment.
“Ugh…” You groan, kicking around in frustration before laying flatly on your back.
You were stressed and somehow more distraught than what would feel normal. Were you seriously this upset over him? He’s only your friend…right?
It’s no secret to anyone who’s ever met him- how undeniably attractive Jungkook is. Long raven black hair that was soft to the touch, piercings on his lip, and earlobes. He was the complete opposite of you, dressed in mostly black while being covered in what you thought were tattoos but turned out to be his natural markings inked beautifully into his skin from his hands, all the way to his chest and back just to signify his bloodline. You only knew that last part because you’ve noticed through the few times you were able to catch the small slips of skin under his shirt, your eyes immediately zoning in heavily towards those areas and there had been plenty of times you’ve wanted to run your hands across them.
You swallowed and brought yourself back from the unusual thoughts of your friend. Quickly, you sit up from your position and there's an enormous amount of guilt brushing along your chest when you realize that you were actually getting turned on by the thought of the demon again.
Why? It was so sudden....but slowly as those thoughts were beginning to triumph your mind more frequently, it was becoming apparent that it truly wasn’t and there were numerous times, you found yourself thinking of the man. When you would stare at his big smile- tongue dragging subconsciously across those pink lips and the way his eyes would have those small crescents as he did so. He was much taller than you and whenever you hugged him, you had to admit the impressive build of his frame against yours. You never really cared for mint, but whenever you smelled it on him, you felt like you could dive into an ocean of it.
Seriously, what was so special about him? Well besides the fact that he is clearly nowhere near human…and that he’s literally royalty within his family.
Jungkook was always just a friend to you, but one that can easily light up your day with just one look. He’s kind and considerate, two traits that completely contradict what someone would think about a dark creature of his stature. But for some reason he’s always had an attachment to you and it’s so obvious that even you couldn’t miss it…The way he looks at you… when he holds you, his entire body tenses up and he gets all giddy just from you calling his name. He also gets jealous whenever he sees you leaving work with your male coworkers. However, something tells you that even Jungkook doesn’t realize his own strange behavior when it comes to your connection with him.
What if you were the same way? From the beginning, Jungkook was nothing but a stranger and someone who couldn’t keep himself away while knowing absolutely nothing about you. In a way, while you so openly cherished having him here in your home, you still knew next to nothing about Jungkook other than what he allows and yet…He’s the most important person to you in your life.
As your breathing begins to take a deeper turn and an overwhelming wave of warmth washes over you, there's two things that are starting to become very clear. First, you can’t stop thinking about Jungkook. You haven't been able to since you walked through that front door and secondly, the problem wasn’t that you were too stressed to sleep-you were just incredibly...unbelievably sexually frustrated and it's fair to say that you’re pretty sure he’s the cause of it.
Two long years since you met him and a little longer since you last had a crush on someone or even just an attraction. Everything that you ever thought you liked in a partner had been completely washed away and that was no thanks to him. A man that thinks Disney is actually the name of a movie, acts like a cocky brat and you were pretty sure his job was to torture souls for a living.
Jungkook. You have a crush on him—Great.
If anyone could see you, they’d wonder why your eyes had widened to the size of saucers. It was hot and you turned yourself over onto your stomach while instantly hiding your face into the fluffiness of your pillow. Hoping you could drift off into deep darkness of shame.
How the hell did you let him get under your skin?
...
Tag List : @thisartemisnevermisses @vampyjk @taeilmom @outro-kook @bishuthot @mwitsmejk @irissilujm @vickyboo @awesomebabyyoda @hanzyyme @gerim-1995 @i-dont-give-a-fok @hwangheiress @hollyverday @seajae @oishee09 @jolinaprincess @yoongibabs
#my fic#jungkook fic#soulmates#jungkook x y/n#jungkook x reader#demon jungkook#bts fic#bts fanfiction#bts fanfic#kpop fanfiction#kpop fic#kpop smut#bts#yoongi#bts suga#bts jungkook#bts angst#bts fluff#bts soulmates au#Alexithymia#Jeon Jungkook#min yoongi
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Swaps! Master of povs. Any advice on writing multiple pov-fics? I'm working on a multi chapter fic that would thrive if it was written in multi povs, alas, that's hard and I don't know where to start. Any thoughts about the process, or any chance you have already answered such an ask before and can link me that? (as always: love your writing. It's gold. Thank you for letting us be part of your journey.)
Oh, yesssssss, I live for multiple POVs! Thank you for the kind words!
Now, keep in mind, I wheel and deal in multiple POVs. For me there is no such thing as too many, which I am sure a lot of others would disagree with, and I don’t think you see it used and abused in published work the way I do it. But hey, I’m writing for free, and my fic in particular is predicated on the idea that every POV is on the table except for the main character, and I will use whatever POV I need to center the one POV I can’t have.
What a lot of sensible people will do is settle on a fixed number of POVs, say, 2-4, they’re willing to rotate through and try and distribute them somewhat equally. The Expanse series does this, for example. So one way to do it is to think about the story you want to tell and select your POV carousel based on who you think you will get the most mileage out of. If you have a story taking place in different locations simultaneously, you probably need a POV character for each. If you are looking at two different sides to the same story, you probably need POVs that are antagonistic to each other.
Or you can be like me and use whatever POV seems most useful at the time, no matter how many it winds up being in the end.
With the caveat that rules are made to be broken, and I am writing this as more of a peek into what I do vs a treatise on the right and wrong ways to do it, this is a breakdown of some of the exercises I work through when choosing and working in multiple POVs.
Be thoughtful about whose POV you want and why. One of the benefits of multiple POVs is that you can get wildly different perspectives on the same series of events. Different characters see the world differently. They notice different things. They interact with their world differently. These are things you can use to your advantage, and act as tools to tell your story. One of my favorite things to do is use the POV of a character who absolutely would not clock the important takeaway I’m after in a scene, but the things they notice and observe make the reader able to clock it. What that character experiences might be very different from what the reader experiences. I’ll often ask myself, ‘what does this character give me that another character wouldn’t in this scene, and why is that important?’
Spend time sitting between the ears of your chosen POV character to get a feel for how they see the world. I usually wind up marinating in a character’s head for a while before I dive into their POV for the first time. What state of mind are they in when we meet them? What’s important to them? What are they thinking about? What drives them? How can you use those drivers to connect back to your central narrative? You'll see a character you think you already know in a whole different light if you spend the time you need to really think about these questions, how to answer them, and what that means for the story. You’ll be really glad you did it.
Treat the POV character as the hero of their own story. One of the struggles and rewards of working in multiple POVs, especially POVs who are not a main character, is that those POVs have to work on two levels: they have to further the plot/character arcs of the main characters while honoring the motivations and goals of the POV character. It can be really difficult to find the right way to line both these things up, but it’s worth doing. If you just write a POV character in service of the main character/plot, it falls flat. (This is honestly true of any character, POV character or not, but for the sake of this post we’re focused on POV.) I’ve done a lot of agonizing over how to center a POV’s character’s own narrative within a larger context. Your character doesn’t know they are in a story. They don’t know they aren’t necessarily the main character. That’s where multiple POVs can really shine: by letting that character have their own agency within a bigger narrative, you can add a lot of depth.
Make your POV shifts clear and easy to follow. This can mean sticking to a single POV per chapter, or using a clear scene break if you’re switching within a chapter. Establish your new POV as quickly as possible so your reader doesn’t get lost or confused. I could go into a whole other discussion about head hopping and multiple POVs vs. omniscient POV, but that’s getting off track.
Have fun and be creative! If you’re wheeling and dealing like I am, sometimes POVs you never would have considered otherwise can offer you a totally new perspective. My “No Main Character POV Rule” led me to try the POV of a character I never would have otherwise tried, and it has dramatically shaped the story in some really powerful ways. Don’t be afraid to try something off the beaten path!
I hope any of that helps. I love multiple POVs. The kaleidoscope of perspectives it offers is such a fantastic tool that I really love using, and I hope you have a lot of fun with it!!!!!!
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Belongings
Chapter 10: “Matilda you talk of the pain, as if it’s all alright.”
(Series Masterlist)
A/N: hey it’s been a while, buuUtttt I finally finished this chapter! Whoop whoop 🙌 🙌 . This story is about to get a whole lot more interesting, and it’s time for y/n and Harry to face the music; but not in a way you might think???
Warnings: Angst.
Word Count: 3327
Thursday: @11pm
Will: Y/N, I haven’t be able to get a hold of you, something has come up. I can stay before our wedding now!
Friday: @8am
Will: Y/N, not sure if you are getting these, presuming your phone is dead, because I know what you’re like haha. But we need to talk, it’s about the bakery
Friday: @11am
Will: Y/N, please call me. It’s your dad, he can’t handle this on his own.
Will: Y/N! Are you even getting these messages.
Friday: @4pm
Will: Please y/n, call me. I don’t want something bad to happen. I’m trying to stop it but you have to call me.
Will: y/n after everything that’s happened. I am sorry.
Friday: @9pm
Will: hey I’m not sure if you’re gonna get this, presuming that the service in your hotel is bad or we keep missing each other but, the problem has been resolved. Don’t worry - I have sorted it out. Have a nice time and call me when you’re back.
Saturday:@8am
Will: hey, when you get back please come to the bakery, we really need to talk.
***************
As Harry wakes up early in the morning, he finds himself in a delicate situation. Y/N is peacefully sleeping beside him, and he wants to preserve the tranquility of the moment without disturbing her. With a mixture of adoration and caution, Harry quietly admires Y/N's peaceful gestures, gently stroking her hair as she softly slumbers.
However, his curiosity and unease get the better of him when he notices notifications popping up on Y/N's phone. Harry's initial instinct is to ignore them, respecting Y/N's privacy and the boundaries of their relationship. He knows it would be wrong to invade her personal messages.
Yet, despite his intentions to let it be, the notifications persist, and Harry can't help but notice one particular contact—Will. His heart skips a beat, and conflicting emotions swirl within him. He recognizes that reading Y/N's texts is a violation of trust, but the temptation to know what lies behind those messages gnaws at him.
In a moment of realization and a desire to protect their connection, Harry decides to take a different course of action. He feels it's best not to let the potential distractions of those messages come between them during their special week away. With a heavy heart, he takes a deep breath and deletes all of his own texts, not wanting Y/N to become preoccupied or conflicted by the reality of their situation.
It's a difficult decision, driven by a mix of selflessness and fear, but Harry hopes that by doing so, he can maintain the integrity of their time together and shield Y/N from any unnecessary complications. He knows that when the right moment comes, they will address their relationship openly and honestly.
With a sense of heaviness and a tinge of guilt, Harry sets aside the phone and turns his attention back to Y/N, their peaceful slumber, and the promises their future holds
Y/N and Harry decide to conclude their week in London with a trip to the picturesque South Downs, a range of rolling hills located in Southern England. They embark on an adventure to climb one of the hills in the area, eager to take in the breathtaking views and enjoy the beauty of the countryside.
As they arrive at the chosen hill, Y/N and Harry begin their ascent, taking in the natural surroundings and the refreshing countryside air. The climb proves to be invigorating, and they find themselves immersed in the tranquility of the landscape.
As they reach the top of the hill, they are rewarded with a stunning panoramic view of the South Downs stretching out before them. The rolling green hills extend as far as the eye can see, dotted with quaint villages and framed by the clear blue sky. Y/N and Harry pause for a moment to soak in the beauty of the scene, feeling a sense of awe and contentment.
They find a comfortable spot to sit and unpack a picnic they had prepared earlier. Surrounded by nature's beauty, they enjoy a delicious lunch while sharing stories, laughter, and the warmth of their company. The peacefulness of the surroundings creates a serene atmosphere, allowing them to relax and forget about the hustle and bustle of city life.
“Y’know, one thing I can’t get past, why now? If you’ve felt like this for a while, why didn’t you just tell me?” Y/N asked taking a bite out of her marmite sandwich.
“Because, relationships ‘an me, don’t work. Never had. I got close to someone, they then get scared and overwhelmed and leave. Didn’t wanna even risk it with you-.” Harry opens up about his struggles with relationships, expressing his fear of burdening someone else with the pressures of his fame and his inability to maintain long-term commitments.
“I guess that’ changed when I told you-.”
Y/N listens attentively, understanding the weight of Harry's words and the vulnerability he is showing. They take a moment to gather their thoughts before responding. With a gentle smile, Y/N reaches out and places a hand on Harry's, offering comfort and support.
“I’d never leave’ you. Y’know that? Believe me, even if I tried, you Harry Styles follow me wherever I go,”
In a heartfelt response, Y/N assures Harry that finding the right person is key to overcoming his fears. They explain that a strong and healthy relationship is built on mutual understanding, trust, and shared experiences. Y/N acknowledges the challenges that come with Harry's fame but emphasizes that true love and support can withstand any pressure or obstacle.
Harry's eyes meet Y/N's, filled with a mix of gratitude, affection, and newfound hope. In that heartfelt moment, the air between them becomes charged with emotions. Their connection deepens, and they both feel the weight of their unspoken feelings.
Without hesitation, Y/N leans in, capturing Harry's lips in a tender and sentimental kiss. It's a moment of realization and the beginning of a new chapter in their relationship. The world around them seems to fade away as they embrace the authenticity of their emotions.
After the kiss, they pull back slightly, their foreheads gently resting against each other's. They exchange a shared look, a silent acknowledgment that they are ready to embark on this journey together.
Feeling a renewed sense of optimism and excitement, Y/N and Harry embrace the significance of the moment. They continue to cherish their time on the hill, knowing that their bond has deepened and that they are now on a path of love, understanding, and support.
“When we tell Will, it’s gonna be hell, for a while. But we’ll get through it. I promise,” Harry responds, knowing deep down that life was going to get much harder.
*******************
"Hey, Will," Y/N replied, forcing a smile as she stepped closer to her supposed fiancé. "It's good to see you too."Y/N glanced at Harry, her eyes momentarily betraying the complexity of her emotions. She released his hand with a gentle squeeze, trying to hide any hint of hesitation or longing.
She kept her tone light and cheerful, trying her best to maintain the façade. Deep down, she knew this charade couldn't last forever. There were decisions to be made, and she couldn't keep living a lie.
Will approached Y/N and enveloped her in a warm hug. She leaned into it, seeking comfort and familiarity. But as she closed her eyes, she couldn't help but think of the man standing just a few feet away. Harry, her true love.
They had embarked on this ruse for the sake of protecting their relationship, but it was becoming harder to deny their feelings. Y/N knew that sooner or later, she would have to confront the truth and face the consequences.
As Will released her from the embrace, Y/N took a step back and glanced at Harry, silently communicating a mix of sorrow and determination. They both knew that their time together as an engaged couple was drawing to an end, and they had to find the right moment to reveal their true feelings.
But for now, Y/N had to focus on the present, on the act she had to maintain. She turned her attention back to Will, forcing herself to be fully present, at least until she could find the right moment to be honest with him.
As they engaged in small talk, Y/N couldn't help but steal glances at Harry, their eyes silently conveying the depth of their connection. They both understood that they couldn't keep up the pretense forever, but until the time was right, they had to play their roles.
“Y/N.” Y/Ns father came from around the corner, clearly concerned, looking like he hadn’t slept it days. Immeadiatly, she rushed to his side, hugging him and asking what was wrong.
In the wake of the tense situation with Harry and Y/N, Florence and Will exchange a significant glance, silently communicating their shared knowledge of the circumstances. With a mixture of regret and sorrow, they turn their attention back to Harry and Y/N, who remain unaware of the underlying turmoil.
Florence, hesitant but resolved, finally speaks up. "We tried to reach you," she admits, her voice tinged with a hint of sadness. Will adds, "But it was too late."
Harry, perplexed by the cryptic exchange, demands answers. "What was too late? What's going on?"
Y/N, sensing Harry's confusion, steps in, attempting to sort out the situation and seek comfort from him. She feels a mix of emotions—worry, confusion, and a deep sense of loss. However, she also knows that Harry is just as clueless as she is about the unfolding events.
"It's about the bakery, Harry," Florence finally confesses, her gaze downcast as she wrestles with the weight of her words. "We couldn't afford to keep it running."
Y/N's heart sinks as the reality of the situation begins to sink in. She tries to assure herself that she had savings set aside for such emergencies, and she had shared them with her father in case things got worse. She pleads with her father, hoping he had used the funds.
But her father, stubborn and proud, rejects the idea. "I refuse! Those savings were for your dreams, not for this. Besides, it wasn't enough."
Y/N is devastated, feeling the weight of their family's legacy slipping through their fingers. She mourns the loss of the bakery, an integral part of their lives and their identity.
However, Will interrupts the despair with a glimmer of hope. He explains that his family stepped in to save the bakery, taking it over to ensure its continuation. Y/N, confused and unable to comprehend Will's involvement, looks at him with a mix of surprise and gratitude.
"How?" she manages to ask, her voice choked with emotions.
Will moves to the counter, placing a new pin, symbolizing the continuation of the bakery. "My family offered their help," he replies softly. "Consider it an early wedding gift."
Y/N's heart sank as she processed Will's words. The realization of what it meant hit her like a tidal wave. The family bakery, a place filled with memories, love, and her dreams, was no longer hers. It had been taken over by Will's family, effectively binding her to this arranged relationship even more.
Her mind raced with conflicting emotions. Gratitude for the saving of the bakery warred with a sense of loss and the feeling of being trapped. She had always dreamed of running the bakery, of preserving her family's legacy. But now, it seemed like that dream was slipping away, replaced by a future that was not of her choosing.
Y/N's gaze shifted to Harry, her eyes pleading for understanding and support. She wanted him to see the turmoil inside her, to assure her that they would find a way out of this predicament together. But even as she sought comfort from him, she knew that the revelation of her true feelings for him would only complicate matters further.
As Y/N's father stood there, guilt and exhaustion etched on his face, she realized the sacrifice he had made. He had chosen to let go of the bakery to ensure her financial security. And while her heart ached for the loss, she couldn't deny the love and concern that lay behind his decision.
Taking a deep breath, Y/N turned her attention back to Will, her supposed fiancé, and the man who now held control over her family's legacy. She knew that she needed to tread carefully, to find a way to regain her independence without causing irreparable harm.
“I thought you’d be happy.” Will argues in fustration. Allowing his true temper to show through now it was just the two of them.
“I am. It’s just-.” Y/N wasn’t happy. She knew deep down, will owing this place meant, nothing she ever did here would be hers any more. It would be theirs. A world which she no longer wanted.
“I should’ve been invovled in the conversation.”
“Well, I’m sorry. It’s not like you went and left us for London for a week.” Will snaps, shaking his head.
Y/N's eyes widened at Will's outburst, his frustration finally breaking through the surface. She had known him as a patient and understanding person, but now his true temper was on display, and it startled her.
"I understand that you're frustrated, Will," Y/N
responded, her voice calm but tinged with a touch of sadness. "But this is a lot for me to process. The bakery was my family's legacy, and now it feels like I've lost a part of myself."
Her words hung in the air, heavy with the weight of her disappointment. She had hoped that Will would comprehend the significance of what had happened, but his defensive response only added to her doubts and concerns.
"I never wanted to leave you and my family," Y/N continued, her voice filled with a mix of pain and understanding. "I needed that time away to figure things out, to find myself and discover what I truly wanted. It wasn't about abandoning anyone; it was about finding my own path."
As they stood there, the weight of their unspoken emotions still lingering in the air, Y/N couldn't help but steal a glance at Harry. It was a silent reminder that there were still choices to be made, and that their hearts held the key to their true happiness.
******************
Y/N's gaze intensifies as she confronts Harry about his suspicious behavior. She can sense that something is amiss, and her instincts push her to uncover the truth. She presses him further, urging him to open up and share whatever is bothering him.
Harry, caught in a web of guilt, initially tries to dismiss Y/N's concerns with a simple denial, saying it's nothing. But Y/N's persistence and their deep connection make it difficult for him to maintain the facade.
With a heavy sigh, Harry finally admits to his actions. He confesses that he had intentionally deleted all of the conversations between Y/N and Will, effectively blocking her from being aware of the ongoing situation with the bakery. The weight of his deceit hangs in the air between them.
Y/N's heart sinks, her eyes welling up with a mixture of hurt and betrayal. She feels a deep sense of disappointment, knowing that the person she trusted and considered the love of her life had invaded her privacy, going through her personal messages, and then deliberately lied to her face.
A wave of emotions crashes over Y/N—anger, hurt, and a sense of betrayal. She feels robbed of the chance to make informed decisions about her family's bakery and deeply wounded by the breach of trust.
Unable to find the right words to express her emotions, Y/N looks at Harry, her eyes filled with a mixture of pain and disappointment. The silence between them is heavy, and the damage inflicted on their relationship is palpable.
“Say something.”
“Say anything at all!”
“I can’t believe you! After everything I’ve done - you did this to me! If I were here I could’ve stopped this! I could’ve been able to get the money together.”Y/N's voice trembles with a mix of anger, hurt, and frustration as she responds to Harry's explanation. The weight of the situation hangs heavy in the air, and the tension between them reaches its peak.
““I didn’t know that it was about this! I thought he was going to try convince you to come home! And I didn’t want you to leave me! I thought you’d read his text, then realise that this was all wrong and go back to him.” Harry's face contorts with regret and remorse, realizing the gravity of his mistake. He never intended to hurt Y/N or undermine her abilities. His actions were driven by fear and a misguided attempt to protect their relationship.
“So you didn’t trust me.”
“That’s not what I said!”
“It’s what you meant. You, Harry fucking styles didn’t trust me! A women who is willing to drop my family, my friends and my fucking fiancé for you, and yet you don’t trust me to know who I want.”
“Y/N! I do trust you, I do I just-.”
“Leave!” Y/N snaps, leaving him speechless. In all of the years they had been close he had never seen her this angry before. And to know he had caused this made him want to die.
Y/N's words strike Harry like a dagger to the heart. The anger and hurt in her voice reverberate through his entire being, leaving him speechless and overwhelmed with guilt. He watches in silence as she walks away, her footsteps echoing the distance growing between them.
The weight of the moment settles heavily upon Harry. He never imagined he could cause Y/N so much pain and anger. The realization that his actions had led to this breaking point fills him with a profound sense of remorse. It feels as though the ground beneath him is crumbling, and he is left standing in a wasteland of his own making.
As Y/N's anger lingers in the air, Harry's mind races, desperately searching for a way to make amends and repair the damage he has caused. He knows that mere apologies will not be enough, that he must prove through his actions that he is willing to change and regain her trust.
A wave of regret washes over Harry as he replays the events that led to this moment. He had acted out of fear and insecurity, seeking to protect their relationship but only succeeding in driving a painful wedge between them. He wishes he could turn back time, undo his actions, and rewrite the narrative.
With a heavy heart, Harry contemplates the depths of his love for Y/N and the devastating consequences of his mistakes. He understands that the road to redemption will be long and uncertain. But he also knows that he cannot give up without a fight, that he must confront his own shortcomings and strive to become the person she deserves.
“Y/N. I know you angry, but please don’t do this-, we can get through this together-.” Harry yells, running over to y/n attempting to comfort her. In response she immediately walks away, going back to the kitchen to speak to Will and her dad; wanting nothing to do with Harry.
Harry's desperate plea echoes through the air, but Y/N remains resolute in her decision to distance herself from him. She continues walking, determined to seek solace and support from her family, leaving Harry standing there, feeling the weight of his mistakes.
“Go Harry. Please.”
#harry styles#harry styles fanfic rec#one direction#harry styles concept#harry styles angst#harry styles fanfiction#harrystyles x y/n#harrystylesxreader#harry styles x reader#harrystyles cute
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Introducing: Undertale self-insert #102480125 (Version 1.0)
HELLO HELLO SO I KNOW I HAVE TO CATCH UP WITH INKTOBERTALE BUT SHUSH I NEED TO INTRODUCE IO'S "CREATOR" COUNTERPART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you haven't already read the introduction post of my primary Undertale 'sona' i advice you to do so. here's the link to it
DRRRRRRRRRUMMMROLLLLLLL
NOTE: THE REF NEEDS TO BE UPDATED
THIS THANG TOOK LIKE FOREVER TO FIGURE OUT BUT NOW I AM FREE FROM THE PAIN
Now it's time to explain the physics of this hhh
Aurum doesn't live inside the UTMV, but rather, exists as a creator for it, and lives in the fandom itself. That "fandom" location functions as a realm that allows for creativity from beings living in our world to brew and develop further to then take form in the UTMV itself, and is also where Creators can interact with eachother, no matter the distance.
Aurum cannot interact directly with the UTMV, but, due to being a Creator, is able to craft things and characters that live within it.
To do this, she requires a quill that it takes with itself wherever it goes. It functions as an outlet for her creative abilities.
I've also been thinking of the possibility of its soul being that quill, due to how tightly Aurum is connected to her creativity, but it might take me a bit to figure out the specifics for that.
In addition to creativity, Aurum is also able to spectate the works of other Creators, and of course, interact with said fellow Creators, but it can take her a bit to get out of it's shell.
Aurum tends to add quite an amount of detail to its work. While it has tried various artistic outlets, the one in which she excels the most is drawing, animation and writing, especially the earlier 2, as those are the hobbies it has been practicing since it has memory.
It also happens to be quite the extra-clever being. (extra clever earthbound spirit ghost in the form-)
It struggles with issues from a past fandom she used to mostly create for, and is trying to recover by 'pushing away shame', as it would word it. It also appears to have a particular dislike of what is known as cringe culture.
That scarf it wears? Just as the ref sheet says, it provides safety, but it also helps somewhat at covering up her neck scar that comes from a far older thing that happened. The scar may sometimes bleed when Aurum feels unsafe or as if it has 'slipped up creatively'.
Some bonus trivia:
Aurum's blood is gold! I made it like that because i myself have RH Null blood, which is also known as the....golden blood type.
It's design is inspired by the silver fox because I just recently found out it is one of my kintypes. And also because i have a tendency to represent myself online as a fox.
And the 'draconic' stuff? Dragon kintype, though that is covered by Io.
Speaking of, Aurum is the being that puppeteers Io.
INK FANGIRL INK FANGIRL INK FANGIRL
To add on the thing from above, this thing collects Ink images to survive.
probably has a little room full of simpy stuff
it's like a dragon hoard maybe
Aurum is meant to be in the autistic spectrum, as i myself am autistic!
I got the name Aurum from "Au", which is the periodic table of elements's symbol for gold. And y'know.... AUs! Aurum is a Creator! Doesn't that tie together nicely?
Yes, the scarf that it's wearing is a recreation of Ink's scarf.
Aurum first started as an arctic fox but then started getting covered in ink over time from drawing and drawing and drawing a lot, so it's basically identical to an actual silver fox.
Aurum sometimes stands on 2 legs, usually when interacting with other Creators.
I believe that's all i can think of right now, now off i go to catch up with Inktobertale. I may also do asks for Aurum when i take breaks! (AND I JUST REMEMBERED I MADE A SIDE BLOG TO RP AS IO HHHHH I GOTTA GET IT READY)
Later on i'll make a masterpost with the links to both Io and Aurum's posts
#whenever i do tags for this i feel like i'm walking on eggshells#honestly i think this concept of a “creator living outside the UTMV but still doing things for it” is pretty obscure and unexplored#corv's ocs#corv's aurum#undertale oc#undertale au oc#undertale au oc: creator edition#utmv oc: creator edition#utmv oc#undertale multiverse#utmv#i probably haven't revised this enough but oh well
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TIMING: Recent
LOCATION: Fable Blades
PARTIES: Ophelia (@scorched-sunrise) & Daiyu (@bountyhaunter)
SUMMARY: Opie meets Daiyu in the weapons shop, who assumes the nymph is a hunter after finding out that Rhett is her father.
CONTENT WARNINGS: none!
—
The hunt wasn’t going well, and each day that passed without finding her father and those god damned fae was another that made her more despondent than the last. She needed a pick-me-up. Today, that came in the form of a visit to Fable Blades—a shop that carried some of Rhett’s creations, operated by a warden that she’d met a couple of times already through her father. Stepping through the door was, just as before, an unpleasant experience, but one that she pushed through with intent. Chet, the aforementioned retired warden, lifted his head from the blade he was polishing at the desk to greet the customer, grinning when he realized who it was.
“Ahh, Ophelia! Good to see you again,” he greeted her cheerfully. He didn’t know, she realized. Of course he didn’t know, who would have told him? Rhett wasn’t exactly the easiest person to keep tabs on, even in the best of times. He seemed to recognize the lack of fire in her eyes and cocked his head to the side, adjusting the cap on his head. “You all right, lass?”
Ophelia scoffed, dragging a hand over her face as she approached the counter. “Been better,” she said. “Rhett’s missing.”
“Oh… well, I’m sure he’ll turn up! He always does,” Chet offered, giving an unsure smile. Ophelia didn’t really want to talk about it so she just nodded tiredly, leaning on the counter and pointing at the recurve bows that hung on the wall above their heads.
“Wanted to check some of those out, actually…” The shop owner brightened and reached for a hook to get them down with.
“Any in particular?” Ophelia stared at them for a moment, then shrugged.
“Whichever you think would fit me best.” Chet nodded thoughtfully, sizing her up before turning to pull down two bows.
“These oughta be the proper weight n’ length, judgin’ by your stature, but go ahead n’ give ‘em a fiddle. See if it feels good.” The nymph did as she was told, picking up the first bow from the counter and turning back toward the front of the store, just in time to see someone else walk in. A pretty young woman that had her straightening her spine just a little, gaze following the stranger as she walked confidently up to the counter as well. Ophelia tried not to stare, taking a step to the side to give the woman more room but keeping her ears perked as she lifted the bow and mimed drawing an arrow.
—
The knives she’d gotten from Rhett (for free, mind you!) had become favorites quite easily. They sat nicely in her hands, had wonderfully constructed blades and did their job well. Which was to say, they were good for close combat and also for slicing apples in nice bite-size pieces. She was versatile like that, when it came to weapons.
She’d recently come into a nice amount of money after having successfully wrapped up a hunt and so there was an opportunity to splurge. Though she suspected that Rhett had gone with the wind as he’d seemed intent to, Daiyu had remembered his words of advice and thus, found her way to Fable Blades. She wasn’t sure yet what she was looking for, but she figured she’d get another piece of the warden she’d met before they were all sold out and acquaint herself with the people behind the shop. It was good to have connections. She wasn’t the best at building bridges, but she wouldn’t be herself if she’d stop trying.
As she entered the store she was faced with a gruff man, a younger woman holding a bow and a glorious array of weapons. She held up her hands playfully, “Don’t use me for your target practice, yeah?”
She recognized the man vaguely from The 3 Daggers, which was a good thing if he had also seen her there. Daiyu approached the counter, leaning her elbows on it so she was leaning in a little closer. “Good afternoon,” she said, starting off more polite than was usual for her. “Heard this was a solid place to go to find some pieces from Rhett? Got a few knives off him and they’re awesome, so you know.” A grin. “Would be more than down to get my hands on something else. Do you have anything for me?”
—
Ophelia’s lips quirked into a small smile, her gaze dropping to her feet and her neck warming with mild embarrassment. “Wouldn't dream of it,” she responded, slowly letting the string move back into its starting position. She was about to draw again when she heard the woman's next words, and damn near choked on her spit. She wheeled around, her gaze jumping from the stranger to Chet. The old warden wore an expression that told her several things: familiarity. He knew this woman, if only in passing. Concern. He seemed worried that a fight might be about to happen, but she wasn't sure if that was because of the mention of her father, or because this woman was a hunter. Lastly, a dash of awkwardness as he let his gaze flit quickly over to Opie. She widened her eyes at him, silently telling him to answer the question. The man cleared his throat, putting on his best customer service voice and delivering it with a smile.
“Of course! My best client, that one-eyed bastard. Stocked me up with lots of quality pieces. Ah, here…” He motioned for her to follow him farther down the counter to a glass case. “These are all his.” A small sign sat atop it that claimed “created by a local artisan”. There were knives, swords, axes, and even a couple of spears. On the wall behind the case were three maces and a spiked flail—he'd gotten creative at one point, it seemed.
Ophelia was watching the interaction with keen interest, sidling up beside the woman once Chet was finished speaking. “You know Rhett?” she asked casually, letting her gaze drop from the woman's face to instead stare at the pieces of weaponry her father had crafted. “Have you… heard from him recently?”
—
She followed the other without complaint or argument, which to Daiyu was proof that she was plenty capable of listening to what others had to say as long as they were reasonable. Hungry eyes took in the various weapons. She’d attempted to fight with a sword before, but it took a kind of practice and technique that hadn’t come as quickly to her as she’d like. She liked her mother’s dao, though, if only because it was one of a kind beautiful — but she’d never dared to use it.
And so the swords were ignored in favor of the knives and axes, as she was very much equipped to handle those. Swords just seemed inconvenient for fighting beasts, didn’t they? “Neat,” she said, leaning in to observe the handiwork. She felt a dull sort of sadness that the man who’d made them wasn’t here — the craftsmanship was great, and she wanted to see him make an axe. Maybe the warden behind the counter could offer her something like that, though.
She was about to ask to hold one of the axes when the other person in the store addressed her. Daiyu turned her head towards her. “I mean, yeah, a little,” she said, leaning an elbow on the counter. “He made some knives for me a while back. He said he was leaving town, though, so haven’t seem him since. Pity. His knives rock. You know him too?”
—
Her expression fell, because of course this person hadn’t heard anything of him since he’d left the town. It was what she should have expected, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. At any rate, it seemed like the relationship had been brief, so at least it wasn’t a lot of lost ground. “Oh… that’s cool. Um, yeah, he’s…” Ophelia wondered for a moment if she should be honest with this woman, but Chet was there, she figured… it’d look weird if she lied. Also it’d make her stomach hurt. Besides, odds are this stranger was another hunter if Rhett had made knives for her, and she was shopping here. Obviously not a warden, or… or maybe she was just really good at acting casual. Better use the get-out-of-jail-free card, just in case.
“He’s my dad,” she finished, plucking at the bowstring in her hands. “Went… missing, as you’re obviously aware. Still, uh. Still looking.” Giving a shrug, she tried to throw on a lopsided smile. “But I mean, he goes missing all the time. He’s kind of a nomad like that. Probably nothing to worry about.” She pressed her lips into a thin line, glancing at one of the axes in the glass case. “... he told me about that one while he was making it. It’s iron, but it’s got that silver inlaying, too. Not just on the surface, but throughout, like veins of the stuff.” A real two-for-one kind of weapon, she thought. Good for killing fae and shifters. That’s what dad had said. “Pretty sick, if you ask me.” Her gaze flitted back up to meet the stranger’s and she smirked, moving the bow to one hand and holding the other out between them. “I’m Ophelia. Or… Opie. Or whatever!”
—
She watched the other battle with something going on within her mind and Daiyu wasn’t sure what to do. And so she just waited, her attention sliding towards some of the knives out of politeness and in the name of her own comfort, but her focus mostly on the strange girl. She just wasn’t very good with emotions, neither her own or those of others. As the other finally spoke those words, she looked up fully. “Oh.” Beat. “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t – well, I just thought he went off somewhere.” Her dad? She hadn’t thought that old gruff man would have had a daughter, but then there were all kinds of people out there who were dads who didn’t seem the type. “Didn’t know he had a kid.” To be fair, they’d met twice. Daiyu hadn’t even told him she’d had a dog (which was the same, in her mind).
She smiled vaguely. “Yeah, it’s a good knife. Better than most. It really is sick. Pity he’s ditched town. You reckon he’s just doing his nomad shit?” Obviously not, even someone with as little insight as Daiyu could gather that. She plucked at one of the loose strands hanging around her face. “I’m Daiyu.” Her smile grew a little. There was something exciting about meeting hunters her age, wasn’t there? And there was no reason not to think that Ophelia wasn’t a warden like her dad. “Neat to meet you. So what’s the bow for?”
—
Why had she lied? Her stomach was aching from it, and she sucked in a sharp breath as they shook hands and Daiyu introduced herself. “Um… truth be told, no. I don't really think that. I was just trying to be, you know… not weird.” Ophelia's brow furrowed and voice lowered, despite them being the only customers at the moment. “He got taken by a group of fae. I'm trying to hunt them down. Which… is what the bow is for.” If she found them, if her father was still alive (and even if he wasn't), there was no way she was going to be able to take them all out in hand-to-hand combat. She'd have to down a few from a distance first with iron-tipped arrows.
Glancing back down at the weapon in her hands, and then over to Chet (who was giving them a bit of privacy, it seemed), the nymph tightened her grip on it. “Have you… do you have experience with bows? I've never actually fired one before. Could use some, um.. you know! Tips or whatever.” Which she could absolutely get from Chet, he'd made the damn thing after all. But she'd rather it come from the person standing in front of her… nothing against Chet, but he wasn't as easy on the eyes.
—
Daiyu wasn’t very well equipped to deal with situations like these. She was all shoulder punches and finger guns, laughing shit away and not addressing elephants in the room, even if they were sitting on your chest. But this stranger just said, straight up, that her father might have been kidnapped by fae. And Daiyu blinked at her for a moment. “Oh.” Another beat, again. “Shit.” She should add more words to her arsenal. “That’s fucked up. Like, seriously.” She wasn’t sure how she’d feel if her dad was kidnapped. She’d probably be antsy, waiting for news that he’d died — and then feel a sickening type of relief. “You got any idea where they’re at?” Because hunting was something Daiyu knew. Even if she was pretty shit at hunting fae.
She was a little surprised that the other didn’t know how to shoot a bow. Had her father not taught her? Bows were awesome, after all. Quiet and precise. But Daiyu didn’t think about it for too long — she liked being the person in the room who knew more, if not most. It was a rare thing for her. “I could show you, yeah! That’s cool. I mean, you gotta get these bastards, right?” For all she’d known about Rhett, she didn’t like the thought of him having been kidnapped. Seemed a little unfair, considering he was pretty much a grandpa. (That would mean that Ophelia had kids … she wasn’t sure if she did. She’d ask, later. Or never.) “Maybe not in this shop though, huh?”
—
“There’s an aos sí up in the mountains where they’re from. They took him—” From there. Could she say that? Saying that a warden had been at an aos sí would beg a lot more questions that she didn’t feel prepared to answer right now. Better to speak only vague truths and just deal with the wave of nausea… she’d be honest with Daiyu once they knew each other better! Yeah. That was an okay plan. “—He was there, for a while. Then they took him away… I don’t know in what direction. I’ve been scouring the mountains for signs of them, but it was hard going with winter on full blast…” It’d be easier now that spring weather was around the corner, but that also meant that tracks had been long since lost. She was hoping for a bit of luck, at this point.
Ophelia’s face actually brightened as she smiled at Daiyu’s agreement, giving an enthusiastic nod of her head. “Yeah! I don’t think Chet would appreciate that, much.” She turned to look at him again, beckoning him over and fishing out a wad of cash. She reached over the counter and pressed it into the old, retired warden’s hands, her eyes flashing with renewed hope and a sense of vengeance. “I’ll take the bow, and as many iron-tipped arrows as you can fit into a quiver.” She glanced back over her shoulder at Daiyu and her grin widened. “What d’you want of my dad’s, there? I’m sure Chet would be willing to part with it at a discount for a family friend.” Chet, for his part, only looked put out for a moment before sighing and nodding his head. From the messy wad of bills she’d shoved into his palm to the calm, confident insistence that he’d take a small monetary loss for the sake of someone she liked, he couldn’t help but imagine his old friend standing there by his daughter, communicating through her. “God help us if ya should find ‘im,” he said aloud in a soft voice, smirking and turning away to go gather the arrows. “Aye, as she says… pick what ya like, lass. Will give it at a fair price. More than fair.”
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Rebels Rewatch: "Flight Of The Defender"
We go for a fly and a ride, and the ancient guardians of Lothal awaken.
Live reaction version.
KITTIES! :DDDDDD
We're revisiting allll the familiar locations this season aren't we?
The bright bouncy tones of the opening cue and this particular area of Lothal still looking relatively pristine and untouched are bit of a mood whiplash from last episode. (But then of course the Empire can't have mining crawlers getting too close to its landing strips, the smoke would interfere with pilots' visuals.)
It's vaguely implied that Ezra connects with these Loth-cats, possibly even calls them? They're immediately eager to help when the Rebels need a distraction and it's definitely possible they read Ezra's intentions and were like, "HELP FRIEND."
"The Empire has been fortifying their anti-aircraft defenses." Ha ha yeah you run afoul of those later don't you?
"And there are some new fuel tanks near the factory." *SOBS ENDLESSLY*
Also:
This contrast is immediately horrible. "Zero Hour" was three weeks from the start of this season. "In The Name Of The Rebellion" a couple days out from their victory at Mandalore. It's not clear how much time elapsed between then and "The Occupation" but it can't have been too long, Ezra was already agitated about Lothal after parting with Saw and his words still seem fresh on his mind in "The Occupation". (And as a side comment, I love how deeply connected to Lothal Ezra is, that he could sense the danger Ryder's group was in across that distance.)
This complete burnishing of the grasslands happened within a few weeks to a couple months.
I noted in my original liveblog that Ezra uses "Phoenix 6" randomly here, instead of the usual "Spectre 6", that Hera also calls him. I'm still confused about if that was a mistake or not or if they use the callsigns interchangeably.
I cannot emphasize enough how well they portray the TIE Defender Elite here. It is so fast, so maneuverable, they manage to make it move like a fighter jet. It never looks clunky or unwieldy, just sleek and quick and able to turn seamlessly on a dime.
And predictably my ship will be spending a lot of quality time together this episode, as Ezra immediately assigns himself to come with Sabine onto the dangerous Imperial-filled airstrip. <3
Yeah no I think Ezra definitely connected with the Loth-cats prior to this and they decided they liked him enough to volunteer. He didn't specifically call them or influence them but I like the idea that he's just... open enough in the Force to them right now, so connected to Lothal itself, that they became his allies anyway.
Possibly it was this general openness that called the Loth-wolf to him too.
Anyway, let this be a lesson to never antagonize the cats. Or any of the local wildlife for that matter.
Snippets of the Imperial March as the shuttle sets down, and then a couple blaring notes recalling "Thrawn's Web". Something interesting musically I've touched upon in my commentary but I'm reminded of again hearing this: Thrawn is nearly always musically represented in the score with organs. The organ is an instrument we basically never hear in the Rebels score until Thrawn enters the picture, so any time you hear the hint of an organ note, you can immediately recognize Thrawn's presence.
Aaaaaand there's "Thrawn's Web" playing out more fully.
There's an interesting chime here that plays when the wolf first catches Ezra's eye, it's overlaid by strings and synths and the little vertigo effect the camera uses on Ezra and the way the music abruptly cuts out when Ezra's discovered almost makes it seem like the wolf drew him into some kind of brief trance.
My son just rolls with it, decides to absolutely embrace the chaos he's capable of generating, love it.
"Well Ezra, you certainly got their attention." "I'M GLAD THIS IS WORKING FOR YOU!" I laugh every time I swear, lololol.
I remarked on it before but this is a lovely use of the environment. I love when action setpieces do that. This whole sequence is just such a lovely demonstration of Ezra's skill and competence. <3
And the little shit has the audacity to casually "Hey!" Thrawn, I love him so much.
Ooof with how Ezra ordered Zeb and Ryder to leave with the info and how he told Sabine to get out I think he may have possibly been planning some kind of Jedi self-sacrifice? In which case ow my heart.
This bit here where Thrawn stands unflinchingly in front of the oncoming TIE Defender is a visual reference to a shot from the movie Patton I'm pretty sure. Fitting, as it's German general Erwin Rommel, who clashed with the titular General Patton in the WWII theater, that was one of the inspirations behind Thrawn.
Aaaaaand there's Thrawn sacrificing pilots to prove a point again. Ngl, he's one of the better Imperial commanders to work under but you still get a raw deal if you're too low-ranking, the man will throw you like a meat shield at his enemy to test their mettle and be completely unconcerned when you die.
Ezra: *tells Sabine to hang on*
Sabine: *literally clings to the back of his chair*
Also, do note the sonic boom. The Defender Elite is supersonic.
Oh, this shot where the Defender just threads the gap between two stone pillars? *chef's kiss*
Even Ezra looks a little stunned by how maneuverable the thing is.
Think I noted it before but Sabine sounds really stressed about the kill switch. 'course she experienced it firsthand.
Their banter this episode is amazing I love it.
Hera looks really worried here. Given that her two youngest Spectres were (essentially) kidnapped and taken off into the unknown by Saw just recently maybe it's warranted.
Yeah uh, y'all were never going to make it far enough away from the crash site lugging that thing. Hiding it was a way better plan.
Subtle animation appreciation moment: The mist drifting over the ground here.
Sabine not seeing the Loth-cat we can maybe chalk up to her just not seeing it, because unlike the wolf the cat is definitely an animal that normies can see. (Ryder in "Legacy", for example.)
Another semi-random musical score note: Snare drums are used primarily for the Empire, probably owing to their usage in militaries and marching bands. Hear a snare drum in the score? Audio shorthand for the Empire.
"Ezra and Sabine have each other. They'll find their way home." Kanan says, to comfort a worrying Hera, and I awwww.
Ezra continually getting distracted by the Loth-wolf reminds me of how his attention kept drifting with the purrgil.
Sabine's barely able to help him keep focused lol.
Of course Sabine remembers the wolves from the artwork of them, ha ha.
YEAH NO THAT'S NOT A SIGHT I'D BE COMPLETELY COMFORTABLE WITH EITHER.
The Loth-wolves as a concept are pretty basic but also not quite fully explained. We know they're guardians over Lothal and strongly connected to the Force, motivated to protect it from the Empire in general and Palpatine's machinations with the WBW in particular. But the show also kind of just lets them... do things and doesn't explain them.
Like I'm still not entirely clear on why this wolf had to knock Sabine out with a sleep suggestion. Is it that they're not quite ready to reveal themselves to the mortals yet?
Despite doing so literally the next day?
IDK whatever the motivation it did provide me with these lovely bits:
The fearful warble in his voice when he asks, "What did you do to her?!" How he reaches for his lightsaber and doesn't let go of it until the cat appears and the wolf clearly shows it's aligned with it through the little ear wiggles.
How even though the wolf has tentatively gained his trust he's still all *anxious noises* about it handling her. (Watch how many times he looks back and forth from the wolf to Sabine.)
And they way he is so gentle and careful with Sabine, handling her so tenderly this whole ride.
There's something kind of Miyezakian about this cue in the score, it sounds reminiscent of the theme from Princess Mononoke. (Which I'm pretty sure must have imprinted on Filoni as a wee mini young'un to inspire his lifelong wolf obsession.)
*side eyes the writers*
*whispers* If no supposed to ship... *gestures inarticulately*
Kanan believes Ezra about the wolf though, even if he gets all weird and cryptic about it. Frankly I think the "All paths are coming together now." line maaaaay have just been inserted in this scene for trailer purposes lol. It does seem a little out of place.
Another solid entry. The animation is beautiful, the fur on the Loth-wolf is a vast technical improvement from the wookies all the way back in the pilot, with several individual tufts and segments operating independently to move more naturally around the animal's body. The design is basic, just a normal wolf shape with the tooka chicken feet and scaley foreheads, but solid.
Thrawn remains unflappably intimidating. Pryce continues to prove the more hotheaded of the two, which will come back to bite her hard this season.
Aaaaaaaand of course Ezra and Sabine have the most adorable interactions this episode. From the sharply-written banter to their genuine concern for each other, to Ezra's absolutely tender cradling her for the duration of the midnight wolf ride. I was spoiled and I enjoyed it, sue me.
I do maybe wish we could have had a bit more explanation behind the Loth-wolves instead of having them be mysterious for the sake mystery but that's about it.
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˚ ༘ 🎞️ ｡𖦹 ° 🎥 ...✩ Maknae line's ₊⊹ ⭑⩇⩇:⩇⩇⭑
EMBLEMATIC TATTOO'S 𖥔
ꖛ ꙳꯬ note 𓂅 ໋⋅ : i am a self-taught tarot reader, and the interpretations i provide are personal. if anyone would like to share their own insights, i would be more than happy to hear them! please be kind <3
Sunoo ☆
Sun and Moon - On the back or front of the shoulder, ribs, shin
The Sun, The Moon, Temperance
The Sun and Moon are powerful symbols in tarot, representing balance, harmony, and the integration of opposites. Sunoo might choose these symbols as an emblematic tattoo to reflect his own nature and beliefs.
The Sun symbolizes vitality, joy, and success. It suggests that Sunoo is a radiant and optimistic person, bringing light and warmth to those around him. This tattoo could represent his inner strength and positivity, serving as a reminder to always shine bright and stay true to himself. The Moon, on the other hand, represents intuition, dreams, and the subconscious mind. It suggests that Sunoo is deeply intuitive and in touch with his emotions. This tattoo could symbolize his connection to his inner self and his ability to navigate the complexities of life with grace and understanding.
As for the placement, the back of the shoulder and ribs are both significant areas. The shoulder is associated with strength and protection, suggesting that Sunoo may want to protect his inner light and intuition. The ribs are close to the heart, symbolizing that these qualities are deeply ingrained in his being and are central to who he is.
Jungwon ☆
A butterfly or a word/quote with personal meaning - Forearm
Page of Pentacles, Ace of Swords, Seven of Cups
The cards suggest that while he may not be enthusiastic about tattoos currently, his perspective could shift in the future. The Seven of Cups indicates that he may be exploring various interests and ideas, and his views on tattoos could evolve as he experiences more in life.
Getting a butterfly tattoo or a word/quote with personal meaning on his forearm could symbolize a profound transformation or change he has experienced or anticipates in his life. The butterfly, in particular, represents metamorphosis, growth, and the beauty of transformation. Placing it on his forearm could suggest that this change is something he wears proudly, visible to others, and is a significant part of his identity.
The word/quote tattoo would likely hold deep personal significance, serving as a daily reminder or mantra that guides him. Placing it on his forearm could mean that this belief or phrase is something he wants to keep close, where he can easily see and be reminded of it.
And last but not least, the tattoo ENTHUSIAST...
Ni-ki ☆
An animal from the Japanese culture (dragon, snake) or something related to his role models - Somewhere on the back of his body, nape, ribs, forearm or wrist (initials or a number)
The Emperor, The High Priestess, The Chariot
Ni-ki's potential tattoo choices reflect his deep connection to his identity, aspirations, and inspirations. The Dragon/Ryū symbolizes strength, wisdom, and transformation, suggesting that Ni-ki may seek to embody these qualities or undergo a significant personal metamorphosis. Alternatively, the Snake/Hebi represents renewal, healing, and intuition, indicating that Ni-ki might be on a path of self-discovery and growth, trusting his instincts to guide him.
Choosing a tattoo related to his role models signifies his admiration and desire to emulate their qualities. This suggests that Ni-ki values their influence and seeks to incorporate their characteristics into his own persona.
The placement of these tattoos suggests a desire to keep certain aspects of his identity or aspirations private, as they are located in less visible areas. However, the possibility of getting initials or a number on his wrist indicates a more public display, perhaps signifying a specific person or date that holds significance to him.
#enhypen#enhypen tarot#enhypen reading#sunoo#jungwon#ni-ki#sunoo tarot#sunoo reading#jungwon tarot#jungwon reading#ni-ki tarot#ni-ki reading#kpop tarot#kpop reading
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Incantation Magic
(Just some thoughts, not meant to be comprehensive, barely even coherent)
Incantatory magic to me is an elegant simplicity of words strung together in order to commend oneself to the protection and favor of divinity. The appeal to the spirits is a call to come forth, to guard the petitioner. The words themselves build around the caster as an armor - the words tell a story and, in the telling of it, makes story come to life by mimicking the events in the present time; a sort of microcosm, macrocosm effect. By telling the stories of the spirits (Christian or not), the speaker is viewed literally as calling down the essences, the spirits, of those same stories - seen as very real and independent beings with their own agency and arsenal - to enact upon themselves. Therefore, if the gods hold divine weapons and armor, the petitioner calls upon the gods to loan them the use or power of such instruments of fortitude and protection.
Healing magics by way of incantation weave similar stories to different effect. A charm might tell the story of an injury and how a god or spirit (often a saint) cured it. In this instance, the caster is asking to be loaned the same ability - essentially letting that spirit guide their hands to undertake the healing in the same way that spirit once did. Another form uses the stories of magical items, similar to the lorica (breastplate). The item's story is told and mimicking actions may take place during the recitation to pull on the power of the item itself and its history.
Incantatory storytelling is also used to drive out spirits that may be harmful, banishing them. In this case, the caster uses scenarios in their story that are either "impossible" or hearken to specific realms of spirits, place locations. Either way, it serves the purpose of sending it back or sending it away to a place that either doesn't exist or that cannot be escaped from (the impossibility, the non-existence, creates a perfect trap). By impossibility, it's not just a place that does not exist but also specific scenarios that would never happen. For example, in order for that spirit to be released a condition would need to be met that could never be met. It would be released on a date that would never occur, or under a circumstance that could never happen.
The storytelling aspect of incantation lends history and credence, adding weight to the words. Naming the gods or spirits involved is an immediate way to connect to them, to garner their interest, to appeal for their aid, and to put some of their power to the words being spoken and it's intended effect - if they decide to assist, that is.
"Apportioning" by incantation was used in similar fashion as the method of banishing I've described above, but by driving out the spirit of a sickness or the evil eye using a combination of various locations and repetition. The incantations would describe sending away the illness or spirit causing illness/misfortune to various places - a portion to the mountains, a portion to the rocks, a portion to the hills, a portion to the sea, and so on. By doing this, the purpose was to divide up the affliction or spirit and the "pieces" would be so many and so scattered, the malevolence would have no hope of ever reforming itself.
Symbolism within the words points to the powers ascribed to the being who is called upon for aid. Columkille portrayed as standing astride land and water denotes power over both land and sea. God being referred to as the King of Elements conveys his power as ultimate, dominion over all the elements and therefore, all else that falls under them. Charms calling upon Michael or Patrick evoke their strength, while Brigid and Mary are often called on for healing. Christ's baptism features in several healing charms meant to stop blood flow, and Christ himself is called upon by saints in healing charms - Peter's toothache, and Lucy's eyes. Brigid in particular is called for the protection of cattle and livestock but is also appealed to during childbirth as the midwife of Mary and foster-mother of Christ, and there may even have been a time when Brigid was appealed to as a healer of sight and eye-related injuries. As the spirit's regional folklore grew, so did their repertoire.
#wren rambles#folk magic#folk charms#healing magic#banishing and protection#incantation#under the roses#traditional witchcraft#witchcraft#fairy faith#personal praxis
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