#then Pop spooked at a trash bag it was like he was reminding me that he is the main character and he wants me to pay attention to him pleas
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Hey! I’m sure you did some already at some point in here but after Fridays adorable atkh date chapter I’m desperate for more scenarios of fictional Matty and George together so do you have any more sickfic hcs for atkh? Both characters are rlly different than they are in all the other fics
Ahhh first off, thank you so much for reading! I'm so happy to hear that you're enjoying All the King's Horses and how fluffy Friday's chapter was! I've talked about ATKH head canons before- they can be found HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. The most important being that Fictional!Matty is a blue raspberry vape enjoyer, obviously lol
In terms of more sickfic head canons for those two... hmmm
Fictional!George is for sure more dramatic when he is ill/injured, he really wants Fictional!Matty to like take care of him? But honestly Fictional!Matty doesn't really know how? No one ever took care of him so why should he be taking care of anyone else? Like he doesn't mean that in a malicious or ill willed way at all, but like being vulnerable is embarrassing why would you WANT someone else around to see that?!
Meanwhile, Fictional!George tries really hard to take care of Fictional!Matty when he's unwell, but it's hard sometimes for him to even know when Fictional!Matty isn't feeling great - he hides it very well, is maybe a little more snappy (which isn't like him at all) but nothing major - he's also extremely uncomfortable with Fictional!George taking care of him be just doesn't know how to accept that kind of care / help
The biggest thing though, is that sometimes Fictional!Matty's back will bother him, maybe he twisted the wrong way in his sleep, maybe he was riding a horse that was a little special, maybe Fictional!George got a little too rough in bed, whatever, something has triggered it and Fictional!Matty would really like to just lay on an ice pack on the floor and feel sorry for himself in private (especially because even though he's been clean for two years, that's when the urges and cravings are the worst, it would be so easy to just take something and make the actual physical pain that he is very much feeling stop.) Slowly, eventually, maybe, he'll start to realize that Fictional!George wants to help him because he cares.
Thank you so much for reading and for like being interested in head canons about these two! This version of Fictional!Matty and Fictional!George are so special to me and so different from any of the others I have written and I love them SO MUCH and I'm just so grateful others have been so accepting and welcoming of them too!
I hope you continue to enjoy ATKH and that you are having a wonderful weekend!
❤️Ally
#allylikethecat#ask ally#anon ask#keep it kind#fanfiction#matty fic#gatty#fanfic#all the king's horses#atkh#equestrian au#headcanons#head canons#headcanon#head canon#thank you so much for reading!#and caring enough about these two to look for bonus content!#sick fic headcanons#i love them so much#took pop on a trail ride today and spent the entire time dreaming about fictional!matty and fictional!George#then Pop spooked at a trash bag it was like he was reminding me that he is the main character and he wants me to pay attention to him pleas#lol
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A New Friend
Asks are open, feel free to pop in and talk or request something!
Stone sighed as he walked out of the hospital building on base, several trash bags in his hands. He was so tired and he had at least five, heavy trash bags combined in his hands, full of trash.
It was the end of the day, so he had just been taking out the trash for the day. It was the last thing he had to do in the hospital building before he could get back to his barracks and rest, internally scolding himself for getting up at four in the morning even though he had been getting up at that time for years now.
He threw the heavy trash bags into the nearby dumpster, grunting softly at how heavy the bags were. Those were the last of the trash bags, which he was thankful about. He turned to head back inside the hospital building, only to hear rustling from the woods that bordered the base.
"Hello?" Stone asked, his voice cold as usual. His large, gloved hand reached for his sidearm, his brown eyes scanning the area for threats. "Come on out."
He was expecting an enemy soldier who had made it past the base's security measures or a recruit or two who were playing around in the woods, but instead he heard a meow. His cold brown eyes went to the sound just as a black, skinny cat jumped out from where it was hiding in a bush, its coat dirty with sand and leaves.
The cat meowed again and Stone's hand on his side arm fell. He turned towards the cat, eyeing it warily. "Ah, so you must be the stray cat that's been roaming around base," he said, his cold voice soft.
He had heard whispers of a cat that was roaming around the base, but it wasn't really a friendly cat, according to the stories. And there was evidence to back the stories up as several soldiers had come into the hospital building to get treated because they had been scratched at and bit by said cat whenever the soldiers made the mistake to get close.
The cat didn't seem hostile with Stone though, in fact it went right up to Stone's larger form and rubbed its head against his legs. He was surprised to hear the cat purring, and so loudly at that.
After a few seconds of hesitation, he took off his gloves and stashed them in his pockets, crouching down slowly to be eye-level with the cat. His movements were slow, not wanting to spook the smaller animal. As soon as he was low enough for the cat to reach his hands, the cat sniffed at his scarred hands and bumped its head into them, wanting pets.
"Hm, you don't seem like the hostile cat I heard about," Stone murmured, petting the cat. He let the cat guide his hand where it wanted to be petted, his touch gentle for the first time in weeks. "You seem... misunderstood."
He moved from a crouching position to a sitting one, which the cat really liked. He grunted softly as he felt the cat's small paws trample onto his lap, the purring getting even louder somehow. "You remind me of myself in that regard," he continued, uncaring that he was talking to a cat. "People tend to think I'm hostile too, though they're not entirely wrong. It takes some adjustment period to get used to me and I can be hostile if needed."
"I suppose you and I both, we've been hurt before, huh?" Stone kept petting the cat, the cat's front paws on his broad chest. He was so large at 6'6" that the cat looked like a kitten compared to him, though the cat was probably at least an adult by cat standards. "Can't trust just anyone, perhaps that why you're letting me pet you. We're kindred spirits, the two of us."
He spent close to an hour petting the cat and he promised to come back the next day, this time with some food. When Stone came back out after getting all of his stuff from the hospital building, he saw the cat still near the building. He gave the cat a little wave with his fingers when the cat meowed, feeling how his lips pulled into a small smile beneath his muzzle-like mask—something he hadn't known he could do.
He had never smiled before now, didn't know his muscles still worked like that.
"Until next time, cat," Stone said softly, turning towards where the barracks were. He walked away from the hospital building, feeling lighter than he had in months.
Reblogs are welcomed & appreciated!
#call of duty#cod mw2#cod mwii#call of duty modern warfare 2#cod#desi!oc#male!oc#call of duty oc#cod oc#cod original character#call of duty oc: stone#cod oc: stone#fluff#Stone is such a cat man#like he loves cats so much#if he wasn't deployed constantly he'd have SIX cats#miracle he doesn't already have one#but he could never leave a cat to be alone in a house for months at a time#he loves black cats in particular#him and cats click#task force 141 oc#:)
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More soft prompts. Billy has destroyed his favorite hoodie and refuses to replace it. It has holes, it has burn marks, it's been chewed by the neighbour's dog and the left sleeve is wrecked... it smells. So Steve has to enact a plan to get rid of it and get Billy a new one.
Hi gideon! I’m finally getting around to your prompt. I hope you’re doing well today
~*~
Max tried a million times to get Billy to wash or trash his hoodie.
She tried sneaking it into the laundry basket, but Billy would pull it out.
She talked Susan into doing a clothing purge and weeded out old clothes in her drawers to fill a bag for goodwill and oops somehow that old, holey hoodie ended up in her pile. But when she walked back into her room -- it was missing from the donation bag.
She tried talking gently to Billy -- asked him nicely, hey, I’m doing some laundry, and I noticed that hoodie’s kinda, like, nasty. Want me to throw it in with mine? But he only responded with no thanks.
And honestly, Billy talked so little after coming home from the hospital that she took his two words and his small smile as a little victory.
Billy wore it every day after his return with the hood up, hands jammed in the pouch at his waist.
He needed to hide from the world, and Max understood that desire. He’d been through hell and back. But five months later the thing was just looking ragged.
Steve Harrington entered the equation about two months after Billy came home. He’d dropped off Max from Dustin’s after a gathering, and when he asked how Billy was doing, she said, come in. Say hello. I mean he’d probably like to see a friend. And Steve got this little smile and he looked up a Billy’s window for a second, fingers flexing on the steering wheel before he said, sure. yeah. okay. good.
And that was how Steve ended up over at Max’s house three, four, five days a week. Weeks and months ticked by, and then it was December and the snowy, icy Hawkins roads didn’t stop Steve from spending time with Billy nearly every day.
Two weeks before Christmas, Max was ready to throw Billy’s stinking hoodie into the fireplace. She was trying to think about if she could spend some of her babysitting money on a new hoodie when Steve pushed through the front door -- Susan had banned Steve from knocking sometime back in October.
“Hey,” Max said as Steve shrugged off his coat and kicked off his boots. “Got a question for you. You know, uh,” she turned and looked back toward Billy’s bedroom door -- closed. “You know Billy’s hoodie?” She whispered the last two words.
Steve’s face immediately screwed up. “Yeah. Gross, right?”
“Well I was thinking that maybe I might, I dunno, buy him a new one for Christmas?”
Steve leaned down and said quietly, “Hold off on that, Max. I have an idea about the hoodie.”
And with that, Billy popped out of his room and smiled at Steve, jammed his hands into the pouch, and blushed 18 shades of red. “Hey,” he mumbled.
Steve straightened up and fixed some loose strands of hair, then awkwardly jammed his hand in his pocket. “Billy. Hey. How’s it goin.”
Steve’s tone was so forced and it reminded Max of how both Dustin and Lucas first sounded when they both tried talking to her when she first arrived in Hawkins and -- oh.
Oh.
She smiled and went back to her magazine, wondering what Steve might have up his sleeve with the hoodie and what was gonna happen between Billy and Steve with their feelings, or whatever was happening there.
Steve came over for Christmas. Max knew that something was up with his family or else he wouldn’t be coming over to spend most of his free time with Billy, especially since he seemed intent on camping out at their house on Christmas day.
Not that Max or Susan minded. It was fun to have another guy around, one who was nice and was polite to Susan and like an older brother to Max. Really, the best part was watching how Billy would react to Steve -- how he seemed more lively in general now that Steve had come into his life, but also how he just seemed to shine when Steve was around.
Of course Steve was involved in their gift exchange. He gave Susan a Billy Joel cassette and scarf, gave Max a stack of comics and an X-Men shirt, and then Billy. Max waited as Billy opened Steve’s gift, tearing open the wrapping paper and holding up the item inside.
It was Steve’s Michigan State University hoodie.
It wasn’t new, but it seemed well-cared for. Max had seen Steve wear in several times in the spring and in the fall and had thought to herself a couple of times that green was a color that suited Steve.
“I know you’re attached to your hoodie. And that maybe you really didn’t want a new one but, this one’s not new. It’s mine, so I thought maybe you might like something different.” Steve spoke softly, as if his gift might spook Billy back into his fresh-from-the-hospital shell.
But then Billy smiled, tugged off his dirty hoodie, and pulled Steve’s on. He pulled the neck up to his nose and gave a little sniff. “Even smells like you.”
“Yeah. I was wearing Polo the last time I wore it,” Steve said quietly -- seemed a little embarassed. “I mean I can wash it for you, if you if you want, I’ll just take it home and-”
“No!” Billy said, and it was the loudest she’d heard Billy say anything since before Starcourt. “I mean. No thank you. I love it just how it is.”
Max watched the scene before her, enraptured, because it felt like that tension on the soaps, that moment when two characters stand before each other, leaning in like magnets before there’s an explosion of passion and-
There was a nudge at Max’s knee. “Hey,” Susan said quietly. “Wanna come help me with the dishes in the kitchen?” The look on her face meant that that wasn’t actually a question.
Max rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
She glanced over her shoulder once as they made their way into the next room, and Steve was just unwrapping Billy’s gift, which she already knew was a framed picture of them from before the accident playing basketball behind Steve’s house. Billy had had Max help him wrap it.
Max dried the dishes and then called the Sinclairs, where she was planning on going tomorrow to exchange gifts. She talked first to Erica, who was describing her new dual-cassette stereo, then to Lucas.
When he was talking about his mom and dad, she stepped back once, twice, three times to the door to the living room.
On the floor, next to the couch, Steve was kissing Billy, his hand on Billy’s cheek. Billy’s hand rested on Steve’s knee. They kissed slowly, tenderly. Like lovers, Max thought. Her throat tightened up a bit.
Max felt warmth flood through her, and she smiled.
“Yeah. Can hardly wait to see you too,” she said to Lucas.
When she hung up the phone, Susan gave her a little wink, and they shared Christmas cookies at the kitchen table.
She gave Steve a hug that night as he left. “Merry Christmas Steve. And thank you. For everything.”
He hugged her back and ran a hand down the back of her head. “Merry Christmas kiddo. See you tomorrow.”
note: my asks are open for soft harringrove prompts for the duration of this quaratine. trying to find comforting ways to deal with a hard situation. my tag for this is soft fic for hard times.
#harringrove#max mayfield#susan hargrove#my fic#my writing#soft times at ridgemont high#soft fic for hard times#gideongrace
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A Taste of Heaven
Mikey helps a drunk girl get home ~2000 words
“I don’t know you! Stop touching me!” The girl turned her face up to the sky, shouting for any and all to hear over the loud pop music. Her words fell on a beat, with purpose and clarity. Mikey skidded on his heels and turned right around to check over the edge of the roof and down into the alley below him.
His hand went to the walkie-talkie on his shoulder to call his brothers but hesitated. Leo’s orders were to report any activity on the experimental patrol. Splitting the city into routes between the four of them was risky but they covered a lot more ground. Donnie was close by...but Mikey didn’t need help with this clown. It was just a routine rescue. Damsel in distress. A lone girl cornered by some jackass outside of one of the smaller clubs in Brooklyn. Easy peasy.
“C’mon, don’t be so loud, babe. You were all for it a minute ago.” The assailant persisted, covering her mouth with his hand until an empty bean can struck him in the temple. “OW! The fuck?!”
“The lady said back off, dude!” Mikey called from the fire escape before dropping down to street level. He landed intentionally loud to try and spook his opponent, a tactic Raphael liked to do. The shadows still hid most of his form but there would be no denying his size.
“Hey, this don’t concern you, fuckface. Get lost.” The assailant pointed, shoulders raised and hands otherwise balled into tight white-knuckled fists.
“Nah, bro. That ain’t how this works.” Mikey drew one of his nunchucks from his belt. He didn’t need a weapon against a common schmuck, but better safe than sorry. Plus, it looked cool.
“I said fuck off. I’m not gonna te-” He took his eyes off his prey for too long. The girl leaned her shoulder back to wind up a doozy of a haymaker right into her assailant’s cheekbone.
“Ohmygod-that hurt!” She gasped and shook her hand to try and rid herself of the pain. She paid no attention after that even as the man recovered from her strike and turned his angry eyes on her.
Mikey leapt forward and baseball slid into his shins to take him out. There’s nothing quite like the sound of a skull hitting the pavement. The man groaned and didn’t get back up as the ninja grabbed him by the back of the shirt to toss him in the pile of garbage bags lining the building.
“To the trash with you! Heh. That was easy.” Mikey put his nunchuck back in his belt and cautiously approached the girl. “You, uh, you good?”
“His face hurt my hand…What a douche…” Her voice was scratchy, words slurred together. “S’it s’pposed to hurt like that..?” The girl finally turned her head to look at him. She stared and squinted her eyes. “...you’re very green. Are you s’pposed to be green?”
“Been green my whole life so far. Life of a turtle, yaknow.” Mikey laughed nervously. She was very drunk but at least she didn’t scream. That was a nice change of pace. “Listen, you got friends inside the club or somethin’?” He couldn’t stay on the ground much longer, but he couldn’t leave her alone either.
“No…” She scowled and pushed herself off the wall. “They suck…” The girl let out a squeak when she felt herself lose balance from a moment of standing.
A quick shuffle of the feet and Mikey caught her before she fell. He helped her find her footing in her wedges but she stayed leaning against him. The warmth of her skin a dramatic contrast to the cool night air and the mix of perfume and beer was a welcoming scent so close to the garbage. Her head rolled to the side and then back up straight as she faded in and out of consciousness. She scowled again as she tried to get her eyes to focus.
“Where’s your nose?” She poked his beak with a painted nail and giggled. “Boop.”
“Uh-” There was a loud banging sound of a side door being opened loudly. More people were coming and Mikey felt himself panic. “Ok listen, I’m just gonna get us to a safer place so we can find your friends, okay? Please don’t scream.” He scooped up her wobbly legs in one arm to quickly scale up the fire escapes on the side of the building just as a group of loud drunks passed underneath.
“Woah..! Fuck was that..?" The girl looked around at her new surroundings. "How'd we get ...up here?" She stared at him. "..d'you fly? That-that's tight." Her head dropped against Mikey's shoulder, too heavy to hold up.
"Nonono don't pass out on me! I gotta get you home or somethin'." Mikey bounced his shoulder a bit to try and wake her back up with minimal success. Her head straightened up but her eyes remained glazed over and unfocused and she fell back down to his shoulder. "Aw man..! Okay, we're gonna call for backup. This is a good time to call. Leo will know what to do."
He adjusted the girl in his one arm as he reached up to press the button on his walkie-talkie.
"Yo, I got a problem. It's not, like, an emergency problem but I'm, uh, stuck."
"What happened?" Leonardo came through immediately, voice stern and commanding.
"I rescued this drunk girl and now she passed out and I don't know what to do."
"Jus' leave her where her friends'll find her. They're probably lookin' for her." Raphael chimed in.
"I can't just leave her! Someone's already tried to pick her up! That's what I meant by 'rescued', duh!" Mikey looked over the edge of the building. There was no sign of anybody looking for her.
"Does she have a purse? Her I.D. will have her address on it." Donnie suggested.
"Uh.." Mikey looked down at his unconscious charge and what she wore. No purse. No jacket. He looked down in the alleyway for a discarded purse. "No purse, Donnie. I don't know where she'd even put a wallet with this outfit."
"Hm. Where are you? I'll come help."
"Who'zat?"
Mikey jumped a bit when she spoke. He hadn't noticed her wake back up.
“That’s my brother, Donnie. He’s gonna help us get you home, okay?” He tensed up when she stretched her arm across his chest and her hair tickled his neck as she ducked under his chin to grab the walkie.
"Donnie! Come out with ush! We’re havin’ fun!” She laughed as her voice cracked and she raised her phone to take a selfie. “Le’s do shots!”
“Girl, where were you hiding your phone? Your pants don’t even have pockets!” He stared at her dumbfounded as he took the radio back to return it to his shoulder strap.
“Which ’s bullshit…” Her scowl only lasted a second before transforming into a smug smile.“Titties, babe. Hide stuff in ya boobs and they safe.” She pulled her shirt to look down the collar. “I got lotsa stuff in here.”
“Oh boy.” Mikey didn’t know his face could grow so hot so fast. For all his peacocking, he’d never actually been this close to a girl, or her boobs before.
“Mikey! Mikey! Hey! Does she have an iPhone?” Donatello’s voice was a welcoming distraction and the little brother answered in a shaky affirmative. “Great. Tell her to ask Siri how to get home. If she has her personal contact card set up, the A.I. will be able to give you directions. It’ll probably only work with her voice so she has to ask.”
Donnie for the win. After a quick battle of fighting with Siri to recognise the girl’s drunken dialect, it provided the address to an apartment building a few blocks away.
It was an easy run across the rooftops. Michaelangelo held onto his sloppy charge tightly and dropped down the fire escape to the window she pointed out.
"You sure this is the right one? Don't wanna end up in some rando apartment.” The turtle quickly scoped the area out, watching for neighbors and people walking down below.
“S’right.” She pointed at a potted plant of questionable health. “Them’s my tomato. They gon’ be spaghetti someday.” She informed him with a proud smile and rested her head on his shoulder. “M’little green babies...”
“Heh. Neat.” Mikey withheld his innuendo and pried the window open with a kunai from his belt. He held her close to carry her through the narrow opening and scraped his shell against the peeling paint of the window frame in the process.
The girl lazily pointed him across the apartment to a bedroom, clearly content with being carried. Mikey was careful to make his footsteps silent and keep an eye out for any roommates. He pushed the door open with his foot and stepped on a fluffy rug.
“Wow. Smells like girl in here.” Mikey blinked some at the mix of smells that hit his senses. Perfumes, candles, deodorants and whatever product she put in her hair all mixed together with the personal scent of the girl in his arms. It was soft, almost fruity, and reminded him of summer.
"Am girl. I live here.” She held her arm out to find her balance as Mikey set her feet down so she could stand and immediately kicked her shoes off, shrinking down a few inches in height.
“Well, uh, home sweet home! I gotta get back to work, so. See ya later? Be safe?” Mikey thumb pointed back at the window they originally came through and tensed up when she turned and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“No, stay. I gotta pay you for the ride.” She pressed her lips against the side of his mouth as she leaned awkwardly against him.
“NOPE.” Mikey pulled his head away even as he held her to support her. “It doesn’t count if you’re drunk! That’s not okay!”
“Well then, you get drunk n’then i’s fine.” She grinned and kissed his newly exposed neck. Causing the turtle to let out a squeak of a noise he didn’t know he could make.
“Idon’tthinkthat’showthatworks!” He whined and took her shoulders to hold her away from him and stared at her. “...my face doesn’t freak you out?” He asked quietly, cautiously. Even hopefully.
“I was in anime club in high school. This is not the first mask I’ve kissed. Or even the weirdest.” She poked his beak again. “Boop.” Her head rolled to the side as she laughed then she suddenly scowled. “Oh man, I almost threw up. Nevermind. Maybe next time. Mgoin’ to bed.” She turned away from him and pushed her laundry pile onto her floor before ungracefully flopping down on the bed. “Leave me your number and I’ll Venmo you money in the mornin’.”
“...Okay.” Mikey stood completely frozen, and yet on fire, as he watched her blindly burrow into her blankets. He eyed her desk and the stack of colorful sticky notes. His brothers wouldn’t leave her anything. It was a huge risk. She’s drunk, she doesn’t mean it. But what if she does. What if she could?
A decision made. A breath for courage and he wrote his name and number down on an orange sticky note for her to find. He added a little turtle in the corner for a personal touch and left the apartment with haste. He scaled to the rooftop and yelled up at the sky.
“Dear God, it’s me! Yer boy, Mikey! This is some bull-shit!” He pulled on the ends of his mask in frustration. “My first kiss from a girl and she’s drunk so it doesn’t even count..! Damnit.” He pointed upwards. “You better let this work out! I think you owe me by now!” He pouted and then sighed. “Please let it work out…Even a little bit would be nice. At least she didn’t scream…That’s a good sign.”
Mikey dared to crack a hopeful smile and ran across the rooftops to find his brothers.
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Of Treasure and Adventure
Genre: Treasure Hunter/Indiana Jones AU
Pairing: Ot7 x reader
Summary: Your grandmother gave you a gift that she won in a game, so naturally you are curious as to the origins of it. A decision was then made that you should seek the answers to your questions. However, you never expected your decision to lead you on a treasure hunting quest.
Tag List: @sevenincubistolemyheart @xxqueenwxtchxx @technicolor-blues @taevkimchi @youcantbesiriusremus @vannilacake
Chapter 5
As you walked along the forested path for what seemed to be ages, you noticed out of the corner of your eye how cheerful Namjoon was acting. He had a slight skip in his walk, a small smile graced his lips, and you were fairly sure that he was quietly humming to himself. Seeing the archeologist so happy made you feel warm inside. You also felt a lighthearted smile tug at the corner of your lips.
“Someone’s happy,” you commented, feeling the words fall from your lips unconsciously.
Namjoon snapped from his thoughts and turned to you, bewilderment flooding his features as if he was unsure if you were speaking to him. Once he realized that you, in fact, were, he cleared his throat and replied, “Well, who wouldn’t be? I’ve spent years researching the possible locations. And now to be actually so close to actually touching it?” He shook his head in disbelief. “It’s a dream come true.”
Your eyebrows shot up in shock. “Wait, you spent years racking your brain over this artifact?” you repeated aghast. Wow, if that wasn’t determination, then you didn’t know what was.
Namjoon nodded in confirmation, smiling at your surprised state. “Yep, Jin and I spent two years gathering as much information as we could. We were actually almost ready to give up, since we hit so many dead ends.” He then looked at you with a soft smile, as if you were a long lost friend who appeared to him after years. “And then you came along with the answers. Jin and I were ecstatic when you came into contact with me explaining about your tapestry.” His smile widened, looking off as if recalling a fond memory. “You were like an angel coming to answer our prayers.”
Your lips stretched out into a broad smile hearing Namjoon, but it soon fell apart when he called you an angel. Did he just say what you thought he just said? Your eyes widened in astonishment. His last sentence repeated over and over again in your mind, but you couldn’t seem to wrap your head around it. That was certainly a massive compliment from him. An angel? If you couldn’t remember the last time anyone called you ‘cute’, then you certainly couldn’t remember the last time anyone called you an angel.
You knew such a compliment would result in you getting flustered. Sure enough, butterflies fluttered around in your stomach, giving you the queasy feeling of anxiety. However, you decided to remain strong in this situation. No, you weren’t going to get muddled up. You already dealt with that far too many times already on this trip; you absolutely refused to allow it again.
“Awww! Namjoon just called y/n an angel!” Taehyung announced to the rest of the team, causing you to get even more embarrassed. He wrapped his arms around your shoulders playfully, making it extremely hard for you to continue hiking what with dragging him behind.
Your stoic willpower to remain strong began to slightly crumble when you saw all the eyes of the other members land on you. “Taehyung!” you cried out, already hearing the snickering from the others. “Don’t tell them that!” Oh no, this certainly wasn’t going to end well for you...
Jin, who was hiking in front of you, suddenly turned around to face you and Namjoon while walking backwards to keep up with everyone’s pace. “Wow, way to sound cheesy, Namjoon,” he commented, grinning cheekily.
Namjoon huffed in reply. “Cheesy? That’s rich coming from you. You would’ve said some lousy pun,” he snarked, arching an eyebrow.
Jin’s audacious grin slowly slipped from his lips, and a pouty frown replaced it. He folded his arms grumpily, reminding you of a sulking child. “Excuse you, don’t be rude. My jokes are hilarious...” he muttered, deep in thought. Suddenly, as if revelation dawned upon him, he turned his gaze back to you and Namjoon. “Here, I’ll prove it.” He brought back his brazen grin, ready to amaze you with the best joke he had in his utility. However, uneasiness fluttered around in your stomach, not prepared for what was to come. “Two men were talking about their wives. The first man says ‘My wife is an angel.’ The second man says “You’re lucky, mine’s still alive.’” He then burst into his famous seal-like laughter, wheezing and crying with a broad smile on his face. You laughed along, of course, if only to appease him. The others burst into laughter, each of each slapping each other on the shoulders while they cackled, but it was not because of Jin’s joke.
No, they laughed uncontrollably because of your expression. Your face held an expression of what any sane person would put on when someone told a rather horrendous joke. You laughed, but it was a nervous laugh that escaped your lips. Your eyebrows deeply creased with worry while you glanced around, wondering if anyone actually thought this was funny.
Luckily for you, Jin took everyone’s wheezing as a sign that his joke was indeed hilarious and beamed proudly for proving Namjoon wrong. It was definitely for the best that no one said anything about the truth, not unless you all wanted your ears to be ranted off by the mother hen himself.
However, you didn’t realize that one person didn’t join in the merrymaking. “Jin... that was a shitty joke,” Yoongi declared seething. You could’ve sworn you saw steam puffing out of Yoongi’s ears. Praying to the Lord that this wouldn’t result in Jin getting his ears boxed by the mechanic, you watched Jin cautiously, ready to alert Hoseok if it came to the worst.
“Yoongi... you wound me... how could you say that to me?”
“I just did.”
“Yeah, well, you didn’t have to be so blunt about it!”
“Hey, guys,” Jungkook announced to get everyone’s attention, “what’s that?” He lifted his finger and pointed straight ahead, eyes widened slightly with an expression washed over his faces as if he had seen a ghost.
You all turned ahead to see what had Jungkook so spooked. A few meters ahead of the group to see a rather wide river surrounded by a thick barrier of low hanging trees with vines wrapped firmly around its branches. The water was a murky brown, most likely due to the mud and dirt being mixed together. The waves moved rapidly downstream, taking anything swept in its currents down the river, forever trapped in the ever churning waves.
You glanced back at Jungkook, eyebrows arched in confusion. “Jungkook, sweetie,” you began almost exasperatedly, “I don’t know if you have these back in your homeland, but they’re called rivers.”
The young man sighed annoyedly, rolling his eyes so hard they almost rolled to the back of his skull. He threw his hands at his side irritatedly before throwing them out in a gesture toward the fast moving river. “Yeah, no shit, y/n!” he exclaimed. “Look harder!”
You rolled your eyes and turned your gaze back. Your eyes scanned over the raging waters over and over again, finding nothing out of the ordinary except for a few pieces of trash floating by every now and then. You quirked up your eyebrow at this realization. You squinted harder to heighten your vision. Those... those didn’t look like pieces of trash now that you’ve taken a closer look at it.
You took a few steps further, trying to get a better look at what exactly you were looking at. The pieces of trash would bob up and down the water and even move back up stream. That’s... odd... The trash swam around way in a lively manner, and it had... leathery skin...?
Your heart dropped to your stomach and all the air in your lungs instantly disappeared. Your eyes widened so large that they looked like they were bulging out of your sockets. Your jaw dropped like a sudden anchor was attached to it. You couldn’t believe what laid in front of you.
The waters weren’t raging because of the rapid current like you so thought. It was because of the extensive amount of wild crocodiles that were thrashing about. In fact, now that you put two and two together, you noticed how they were stacked on top of each other, each trying to get a comfortable spot in the river. Just how many were there?
“What the...” you mumbled, feeling your soul slowly slip from your mortal shell.
“Oh... my God...” Hoseok gasped with wide eyes, clinging to his medical bag as if his life depended on it.
“Crocodiles!” Jimin exclaimed ecstatically, bouncing in his spot like a little child on Christmas. You all jerked your heads toward the survivalist with shocked expressions, each of you silently wondering if Jimin finally lost it.
“Why the hell are you so excited?” Yoongi demanded, ready to just call it quits and abandon everyone. “Maybe we should throw you in first and see if you’re still excited then?”
Jimin sighed in an irked manner, eyes rolling as if he was so close to almost smacking the mechanic. He turned to Yoongi with crossed arms and a hip jutted out almost comically. “I know this isn’t good for us, but do you know how low the crocodile population has gotten ever since the British took over India? A lot! So I’m just glad to see so many of them here, because that means they’re making a comeback.”
“Wow, Jimin,” Jungkook began, edging away from the river slowly. “I didn’t know you were such an environmentalist.”
Jimin shrugged his shoulders indifferently. “It comes with the job. Learning survival techniques makes you appreciate the wildlife.” He then turned on his heel back toward the river, fingers tapping against his chin. He hummed to himself in deep thought. “Now then, I wonder if those branches are strong enough to support us...”
“You know...” Taehyung popped into the conversation with an innocent smile gracing his face. “I know of a way that can easily get rid of the crocodiles.” He then innocuously lifted up a grenade slowly into everyone’s view, wiggling his eyebrows to insinuate the plan he had in mind.
When Jimin’s eyes landed on the grenade, his jaw dropped offendedly as if Taehyung suggested something very inappropriate. “No! We’re not going to kill them!” He jerked his hand as if he was going to smack the explosive out of Taehyung’s hand but then remembered what exactly it was and quickly retracted his action. He then pointed up to the trees that hung over the river. “I bet we can just cross over by using the branches. They look strong enough to hold us.”
“Or maybe...” Namjoon suggested, his tone light as if he were a teacher ready to explain something to a child. “We could just swim over if we head upstream.”
Jimin looked upstream, taking in the rapid moving waves, and shook his head. “No, the current is too strong. If we somehow manage to avoid bashing our heads into the rocks, then we’ll just end up becoming crocodile food for them.” He readjusted his pack on his back. “Come on! It’ll be easy! I promise you.”
All the color drained from Jin’s face as he slowly backed away, his legs shaking as if they had suddenly become jelly. “Uh, I-I don’t know if I can do t-this,” he stammered nervously, hands pressed against his own chest in a frightened manner.
Hoseok looked as if he was ready to book it in the other direction, his face morphed into that of absolute terror. “Is there really no other way to cross?” He figetted his hands around his medical bag. “Couldn’t we just... go around?”
Jimin beamed as he began to move closer toward the river. He really looked giddy even though he was meters away from becoming someone’s lunch. “Nope! This river keeps going down this direction for another two kilometers, according to the map.”
Yoongi shook his head in disbelief, looking at Jimin as if the survivalist lost his mind. “You probably get off from being in dangerous situations, don’t you?” he asked, moving around as if he was unsure if he should follow Jimin or just leave. “You’re like one of those... what do you call them?”
“Daredevils? Thrill-seekers? Adrenaline junkies?” Namjoon suggested, following after Jimin.
Yoongi shrugged. “One of those.”
Jimin threw his large pack off his shoulders onto the ground, the containments inside rattling against one another. He opened his pack and began to rummage around in it, looking intensely for what the situation needed. “Okay, before we start crossing, we should probably make an order of who’s crossing over. Of course, I have to go last to make sure everyone crosses safely.” With a happy smile, he pulled out a thick corded, grappling rope. He then stood up with a bounce. “So, who wants to go first?”
Not a single noise came from the rest of the team. Each of the members, you included, awkwardly gave each other shared looks, hoping that someone would gladly volunteer to go first. You thought that it was for the best that Namjoon went first, seeing how he weighed the most out of the whole team. If he went first and the branches managed to hold him, then the rest of the group had nothing to fear.
You hoped.
After a few seconds of silence, Taehyung suggested that a game of rock, paper, scissors would be a fair way to decide what the order should be. You all agreed and stood around in a circle, sweat dripping down your foreheads and bodies shaking with fear of having to go first. This felt like you were choosing someone to die, which was kinda the case. You squeezed your eyes shut, not ready to face your possible end.
“One... two... three!”
Your slowly opened your eyes after a moment, looking down at your hand. You compared your hand to everyone else’s and sighed a big breath of relief. You were safe, you don’t have to go first. You could go down on your knees and thank the Lord for saving you from such a life-threatening situation. However, you realized that since you were safe, someone else was doomed.
Your eyes landed on the poor, unfortunate soul who lost the game, and your gaze connected with two, brown, round, innocent-looking eyes. Jungkook.
Your heart clenched seeing the poor boy having to accept his fate. He looked like someone who was forced to watch someone put down his puppy. His gaze jerked around frantically, seeking for anyone else’s hand to see if they had even worse luck than he but to no avail. “Oh... fuck...” he breathed out, his eyes widening.
The rest of the life deciding game went on, although some tears were shed. Jin had to go second, Hoseok third, Namjoon fourth, Yoongi fifth, Taehyung sixth, and you seventh, leaving Jimin, of course, last. You knew deep down that this wasn’t going to go well.
You all climbed up the tree after Jimin climbed up during the death game, Yoongi needing a boost from Taehyung in order to reach the first branch. This whole experience reminded you of climbing the trees in your grandmother’s backyard whenever you visited her in the countryside. You mentally thanked your childhood self for becoming so proficient at climbing trees, otherwise you’d be in Yoongi’s position.
Once you and the rest of the tree climbed onto the wide tree branch that Jimin stood on, scanning the area in front of him, you and the boys were lined up in the order you all agreed on. You saw that the branch you were on had a gap in between the next branch. Jimin was at the front, swinging the rope at his side in circles, searching for a higher tree branch to grapple to. Once he found an acceptable branch, he swung the rope high up, fastening it tightly to a strong looking branch. He pulled down the rope a few times, making sure the hooked end was securely embedded into the wood.
Seeing how secure it was, he smiled brightly to Jungkook, who looked like he was about to vomit, and handed him the rope. “Alright, Kookie, you first!”
Jungkook slowly took ahold of the rope, his knuckles tightening around it so hard they turned white. He inhaled deeply through his nose and exhaled through his mouth, trying to quell his nerves. He quickly readjusted his pack so that it was fastened more firmly to his body. Then he grabbed ahold of the rope again and took a deep breath.
Closing his eyes, he gracefully leapt off the branch.
You and the other boys shrieked seeing the youngest jump off to his possible doom. The rope strained under the immense weight as you watched with a hand hovering over your mouth. You feared that the rope would snap, causing Jungkook to be mercilessly eaten by a horde of crocodiles. Time slowed around you as your eyes followed Jungkook’s form swing precariously above death.
And then, it was over. Jungkook landed perfectly on the next branch as if nothing happened. He took a few seconds to recompose himself and boldly flashed you and the other boys a wide grin. “That wasn’t so bad!” he commented, chuckling at how nervous he was minutes earlier.
You and the team, excluding Jimin, released a sigh of relief that was trapped inside each of you. You knew that could’ve ended a whole lot worse than it did. Your nerves slightly ebbed away seeing that you weren’t going to jump to your end in the near future. However, that small voice in the back of your mind whispered the possibility of you dying in the most painful manner. You shuddered visibly, trying your very best to cram that thought to the darkest recesses of your mind.
Everything seemed fine at the very moment, until you remembered who was next in the order the team established. Jin. Uncertainty fogged your mind as you tried to recall if Jin had ever experienced a journey quite like this before. If he hadn’t, well, there’s a first for everything, you supposed.
Jungkook confidently tossed the corded rope over the gap to Jimin, who handed it to a terror stricken Jin. Pity flooded over you as you noticed how hard he was shaking and how ragged his breathing was. He gripped the rope tightly into his fists, staring at it with anxious eyes. “Do I have to...?” he quietly murmured.
Jimin nodded. “How else are you going to get across?”
The millionaire shrugged, visibly looking sick. “I... don’t need to.”
“It’s not that bad, hyung!” Jungkook called from the other side, hands cupping around his mouth to direct his shouting. “It’ll be over before you know it!”
Jin released a shaky breath and nodded his head slowly. He raised his head up, trying to avoid looking downward, and took a step off the branch, letting the rope swing him over. You heard the rope strain precariously as it took Jin’s weight. You worried your lip, hoping that he would make it over. He let out a loud scream as the wind ruffled through his dark locks, clinging to the rope as if his life depended on it, eyes slammed shut in terror.
Jungkook leaned out and grabbed the rope and Jin, laughing at Jin’s frightened demeanor. “I got you, hyung.”
Once Jungkook helped Jin, who clung to his limbs like a monkey, he tossed the rope back to Jimin. You then realized, Hoseok was next. If anything looked more pale and sick than Jin, it was the doctor, ironically. Jimin tapped him on the shoulder to snap him from his daze, causing him to flinch in a frightened manner.
“Come on, doc,” Yoongi encouraged softly. “You got this.”
Hoseok slowly turned to the mechanic, a flash of panic in his eyes. “Do I?”
Yoongi nodded confidently, digging his hands in his pockets. “I have total and utter faith that you’ll make it over. Now hurry up before I push you off this branch.”
Hoseok nodded in reply before turning back to the gap, releasing a shaky sigh as he grabbed the rope. He mumbled a few reassuring words to himself as he secured his medical bag in his hand as he gripped the rope. Taking one final inhale, he lept off.
That had to be the loudest scream you have ever heard in your entire life.
Hoseok’s screech echoed throughout the Indian forest, and you saw a flock of birds take flight from their resting place in a tree a few meters away. If anyone, and you wouldn’t be surprised if they could, heard the scream that emitted from Hoseok’s throat, they would think he was in the process of being murdered.
He swung across the gap slowly, and Jungkook leaned out once more to grab ahold of the rope to secure the doctor...
...but he missed...
You watched in terror as Hoseok paused his screaming kid swing only to see Jungkook miss and dreadfully swing back toward the rest of the team. You noticed the look in the doctor’s eyes as if he had been betrayed when he saw that Jungkook couldn’t reach him. He resumed his loud screeching, now hanging onto the rope for dead life.
“Jump off! Just jump off when you swing back!” you and the other boys yelled, hoping that your shouts could be heard over his shrieking.
“I CAN’T!!!”
For a few more seconds, you watched with wide eyes as Hoseok continued to swing back and forth. Yoongi groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose in ultimate agony as he looked at the disaster before him.
Jungkook in a panic told Jin to hold his arm in order to ground him as he leaned very dangerously over the edge of the branch to reach out to Hoseok. Jin protested loudly over the doctor’s screaming as he dug his heels into the bark, struggling to keep both him and Jungkook from tipping over and into the river.
Once Hoseok swung back to Jungkook, he grabbed onto the corded rope, causing Jin to slide forward a few centimeters. You gasped in horror, believing for a moment that you were about to see them tumble down to the crocodiles below. However, you and the others sighed in relief upon seeing Jungkook pull Hoseok to safety. You were going to get a cardiac arrest from this trip, you were certain about that.
Namjoon’s trip over went far more smoothly than Hoseok’s did, probably because he knew exactly what to avoid after watching the disaster previous to his. The only thing that happened that made your blood run cold was the fact that Namjoon slipped on the branch right before he jumped, causing him to spiral over in circles, twisting the rope a few times. Namjoon released a few sharp curses from his lips as he spun over, but Jungkook luckily grabbed him before anything worse could happen.
Besides Jungkook’s trip, you deemed Yoongi’s jump as the most easy going. You noticed the tired expression that wore down his soft features, probably from watching the catastrophes before him. You couldn’t blame him, exhaustion flooded your body from constantly worrying over the other boys.
Yoongi simply grabbed the rope and jumped off the branch, as if he couldn’t seem to give a single care about his possible death. Maybe he wanted to die? Maybe he just wanted to end his suffering? Again, you couldn’t blame him.
Although, your heart clenched tightly as you saw how Yoongi held onto the the rope in a fetal position, his legs wrapped around the rope tightly. It was rather adorable to see his face scrunch up as he slowly swung over.
“Y/n,” Taehyung suddenly spoke up, fear slightly enlaced in his tone. “Could you give me a hug?” He turned his head around and gave you the most adorable puppy eyes. Your breathing stifled as your heart clenched again. Damnit, why was he so cute?
“Why?” you asked, hoping your feelings wouldn’t affect your tone.
He paused for a few moments, as if contemplating his answer in his head. “I’m...” He paused, biting down on his lip nervously. “I’m scared of heights...”
You widened your eyes, not out of fear but rather surprise. Your eyebrows shot up. You certainly weren’t expecting that from him. “Really?”
He nodded slowly. “Y-yeah, can I please have a hug? It’ll calm me down a little bit,” he begged, ignoring the quiet urging of Jimin.
Of course, you knew you couldn’t possibly decline his wishes. You weren’t a heartless, cold bastard. You wrapped your arms around Taehyung’s shoulders as he tightly hugged your form, as if this was the last hug he was ever going to receive. You quickly noted how safe and warm you felt in his arms. You had to admit, he was an excellent hugger. “It’ll be fine,” you whispered gently. “Just... don’t look down.”
“Okay,” he breathed, finally releasing, although reluctantly you noticed, you from his arms.
“Hey!” Yoongi called out with an offended expression. “Why do you get a hug?” He folded his arms across his chest. You would say he was slightly pissed off, but you couldn’t get over the fact that he looked absolutely endearing despite the fact that he was annoyed.
“Because I’m scared, that’s why!” Taehyung yelled back in his defense, grabbing onto the rope with a determined force.
“Oh, and you thought I wasn’t!” Jin shouted back, swinging his head from side to side as he yelled.
Taehyung ignored his reply and jumped off with such a confidence you couldn’t believe that he was trembling just seconds prior. Was it everyone’s biting comments that gave him that sudden bravery, or did your soothing words and comforting hug actually calm him down? Either way, you watched in shock as he swung over without a hitch. He reminded you of those heroes in the books you’ve been reading lately with his strong-willed grandeur. Bloody hell, he didn’t even need Jungkook to reel him in!
You would have clapped and cheered for the demolition expert, but then you realized you were next. Dread washed over you as your heart sunk to your stomach. Oh dear Lord, why did that gaggy feeling suddenly appear in your throat? The tree branch slightly swayed from side to side, but you were uncertain if it was because of a breeze or that unexpected feeling of heaviness that invaded your head. You silently prayed that you weren’t about to keel over and vomit into the river. That would be embarrassing after everything that occurred.
Jimin noticed your nauseous expression and curled the corners of his lips into a smile. He held the rope out to you expectedly, and you hesitantly wrapped your fingers around the braided cord. You swallowed a rather large lump in your throat as sweat dropped down your neck and back, unsure if it was because of the humid weather or your nerves getting the better of you.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be over before you know it,” Jimin softly soothed, his murmurs only loud enough for you to hear.
“I know, I know,” you sighed, your eyes never wavering from the rope clutched in your hands. Your forehead slowly pressed against the corded material as another bout of nausea washed over you. “Bollocks, I just got really dizzy.”
You sensed that Jimin grew more concerned over your wellbeing. He reached out and placed a comforting hand on your shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. “Do you need me to carry you over?” he questioned, moving his head so his eyes could meet yours.
You shook your head. You could do this. You just needed to follow your own advice you gave Taehyung and avoid looking down. “No, I got this.” You swallowed another lump that stung your throat.
You didn’t give yourself time to prepare yourself from the jump. You knew that if you tried to hype yourself up, you would stall yourself even longer. You knew you just had to do it. Your feet left the solid tree branch and leapt off into the air. The wind ran through you hair as you released a small, soft gasp. Your hands tightened their grip around the rope, hearing the tension in it grow under your weight. You breezed through the air with ease, and you almost thought for a moment that you were flying.
You saw yourself coming closer to the boys on the other side of the gap, each of them waiting on edge for you to arrive safely to them. Jungkook reached out to you and managed to grab ahold of you. Your nerves instantly quelled when you realized you made it over safely. Never again did you ever want to do something like that. You didn’t think that your poor heart and stomach could handle something as nerve-wracking as that.
The other members of the team instantly embraced you in their arms, extremely thankful that you managed to get through unscathed. The warmth that emitted from them comforted you after going through such a horrible experience. You cherished the feeling of being in their arms for a moment before you laughed, “For a moment, I thought I was going to puke.”
Hoseok’s eyebrows shot up in deep concern. “Oh, do you need some medicine?” He then brought his medical bag securely wrapped on one shoulder and resting at his hip, rummaging through it with the sounds of glass clicking against each other. “I’ve got ginger, peppermint-“
“I’m fine, Hobi,” you reassured him, pulling away from the others to pat him on the shoulder comfortingly. “Did you already take some? I thought you were going to pass out after your trip over.”
Hoseok shuffled awkwardly in his spot on the branch, his hands sheepishly closing his bag. “I already popped a piece of peppermint in my mouth to suck on,” he admitted, his cheeks slightly flushed in embarrassment. “That was the worst thing I ever had to do.”
Jungkook scoffed as he tossed the rope back to Jimin. “It wasn’t that bad. If you just jumped like we all told you to do, then you wouldn’t have swung there for God knows how long,” he teased, a bold grin spreading on his lips.
Hoseok huffed, slightly annoyed. He tightened the strap on his medical bag unconsciously, as if it was a habit of his. “If you just grabbed the rope when I got over, then I wouldn’t need to jump!” he argued, folding his arms.
Jungkook merely shrugged his shoulders indifferently. His cheeky grin remained plastered on his smug face. “Don’t blame me. You didn’t swing far enough for me to grab you the first time. I risk my life big time just trying to grab you at the end!” he mentioned.
“You risked my life, too!” Jin shouted, wobbling around Namjoon on the narrow branch just to jab his finger against the younger man’s chest. “I almost slipped off the branch, for God’s sake! We both could’ve been crocodile food!”
Jungkook lifted a finger in front of Jin’s face. “But we didn’t. I have total and utmost faith that you would keep us alive, hyung, because that’s just how good you are.”
in bristled, anger emitting from him in waves. “Oh, don’t you try to smooth talk your way out of this! You barely gave me any time to get ready! Do you have any idea how close I was to the edge of the branch?! Any closer and-“
“Guys!” Jimin called over, interrupting Jin’s furious ranting. He leaned against the rope irritatedly, impatient with the argument that occurring in front of him. “I would like it if Jungkook wasn’t distracted so he can catch me when I swing over!”
Wanting everyone to get across as soon as possible, you agreed with Jimin’s statement. The most crucial member of the team currently needed to get across safely. The team couldn’t get snappy with each other at the moment. “Yeah, let’s talk about how horrible Hobi’s trip over was for all of us after we all get over the river of death.” You now scooted over so that you were sandwiched in between the oldest and youngest, giving some space between them.
Jungkook and Jin gave each other a final shared glance before the younger man turned back to Jimin, positioning himself so that he was ready to receive the survivalist. He held his arms out in a catching stance, waving his hands toward himself in a gesture meaning he was ready for Jimin to cross over.
Jimin wasted no time and lept from the branch with such a confident smile that it took you off guard for a mere moment. You supposed that since Jimin underwent immense training to earn the title “survivalist” he must be very confident in his skills in ordeals such as these.
He smiled the entire time he swung over and landed perfectly on the branch you stood on with the help of Jungkook grabbing his rope to secure him. His eyes locked with yours first and his smile curled up almost wickedly. He smirked and tap the underside of your chin upwards, surprising you in the meanwhile.
“Close your mouth, y/n. You might catch a fly. After all, India is most notorious for having some of the most poisonous insects in the world,” he informed, giving you a look as if he knew how starstruck you were because of him before moving around you.
You instantly clamped your mouth shut. You weren’t even aware that your mouth hung open. Were you that impressed with Jimin that you were left dumbfounded? As he brushed past, you noticed how close he pressed against you, so close, in fact, that his chest flushed against your own. You were fairly certain that he had enough room to move around without getting so close, but the words seemed to fail you as you stood frozen in your spot. During your flabbergasted state, you failed to spot the teasing glance Jimin gave you as he slid by.
Jungkook detached the rope from where Jimin fastened it and tossed it back to its owner. Jimin moved to the front of the group, calling out, “Alright everyone, let’s get moving!”
You all followed Jimin by climbing down the tree and, although you tried your very hardest, you failed to keep in your laughter when you saw Hoseok carefully and timidly climb down. He made various frightened noises whenever he accidentally misplaced his footing and almost slipped or if he looked down and noticed how large a distance it was to the ground.
“Geez, why did we even bring you along if you can’t even climb down a tree without screaming?” Yoongi commented at the bottom, watching the doctor take his final steps before reaching the ground. He then strode over to Hoseok and readjusted some of his clothing that had become disheveled during the climb, brushing off bark pieces and dirt that clung to him.
“Because you wanted me to come along,” Hoseok answered confidently, laughing when he noticed the mild frustrated look on Yoongi’s face when he realized he couldn’t refute that.
You helped Taehyung reach the bottom before you joined the others, who were gaining as much distance from the crocodile infested river as they possible could. After a few minutes of light jogging, you didn’t notice just how far away the team had gotten from the river until you looked back and couldn’t see it through the thick trees.
Once you Jimin assured the team that it was safe to resume walking, you all calmed down a bit and tramped through the long grass and plants. The path began to incline suddenly and soon you trudged up a rocky slope, your feet knocking various stones and pebbles down the hill.
You fanned yourself when sweat began to build on your brow. The temperature surely raised quite a few degrees since the team first embarked on the journey. The sticky air clung to your skin like tape would, and you felt suffocated by it. The wind died long ago, so that added to your sweltering agony.
What also didn’t help the situation was the amount of bugs that swarmed the team. Flies endlessly flew around your head and buzzed in your ear. No matter how hard you swatted and threw you hands around, the flies never left you. Poor Jin screamed a few times when a few insects dove at his head.
“Jin!” you cried out, feeling the heavy weight of exhaustion build upon your shoulders. “How long have we been bloody hiking?”
Jin, quite a ways ahead of you, turned his head to face you as he continued walking. “Since we’ve started? About...” His tired voice trailed off as he brought up his wrist to look at his wristwatch. “... Five and a half hours.”
You sputtered at this knowledge. Five and a half hours?! When was the last time you ate? You were so tired your body couldn’t even transcribe that you needed sustenance. Your heavy feet dragged along as you stumbled up the path.
You didn’t sign up for this, you repeated in your head. You didn’t sign up for this.
“Alright, everyone!” Jimin exclaimed, gathering everyone’s attention. “The path is getting narrower the farther we head up and the ground is more unstable! We need to tie our ropes to each other’s belts so we don’t accidentally lose a member!”
As you fumbled to get your rope unfastened from your belt, you looked around to see who you were going to have to attach yourself to. Your eyes quickly landed upon Jungkook and Yoongi, who were at your side and both as equally sweaty as you were.
“I hate this. I hate this so much,” Yoongi muttered to himself as he tied his rope into one of your belt loops, pausing for a few moments to wipe the sweat from his brow.
Your shoulders sagged in exhaustion. “You and me both, mate,” you breathed out, finally getting your rope unattached from your belt so you could connect it between Jungkook and you.
He double-knotted then triple-knotted his rope before he was satisfied. “I just want to go to bed and sleep to my heart’s content and then maybe eat a few lobsters before I go back into hibernation,” he complained, staggering back a few paces.
“Lobster...” Jin whined, closing his eyes as if he could imagine the delicious taste. “Don’t say that. You’re making me hungry.”
You nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I think I just drooled for a second,” you chuckled weakly as you tied your rope to your own belt loop then went over and tied yourself to Jungkook. “You’re probably loving all of this exercise, aren’t you?”
Jungkook panted for a few seconds, lifting his sweaty shirt so you had better access to his belt. Your eyes landed on the toned abs that peeked out from underneath his shirt. You quickly looked away, trying to stop yourself from staring and getting flustered.
“I enjoy a morning jog, of course, but this is a little ridiculous,” he admitted, looking up at the sky as sweat ran down his face. His eyes fluttered shut for a few moments. “It’s so hot...”
You quickly finished tying and stood at full height when he said that. The tone he used shot something through your veins, making you feel something you never felt before. “A cold bath sounds amazing right now,” you added, trying to cover up your awkward state.
Jungkook pulled down his shirt and smiled. “Yeah, maybe we could find a pool around here and take a quick swim,” he suggested.
You chuckled at his proposal. You wished there was a pond, but after seeing that river full of crocodiles, your mind started having second thoughts. “I didn’t pack a swimsuit,” you confessed jokingly, already resuming your trek along the thin trail.
Jungkook shrugged his shoulders indifferently. “Neither did I. We could always go naked,” he prompted, following after you.
You sputtered again, your eyes slightly widening. Naked? With him? He wasn’t serious, was he? As you stared at him for a few seconds, you soon understood that he was, indeed, one hundred percent serious. Your thoughts in a panic fumbled together with thousands of different ways to reply to what he said. However, your words unfortunately seemed to fail you as you continued to stammer and sputter before giving up altogether and turning your head back forward, biting the inside of your cheek in embarrassment.
Your eyes connected with Yoongi’s, who was grinning at you boldly. He didn’t hear the conversation you and Jungkook shared, did he? As his head turned back forward and you heard him inhale deeply as if he were about to say something to everyone, dread coursed throughout every fiber of your being.
He heard you...
“Guys! Jungkook got y/n embarrassed!” he announced cheekily. Everyone’s heads snapped to face you, each of them with a teasing grin painted on their lips. Oh no... not again.
You needed to defend yourself you soon realized where this was all going. “I am not!” you shrieked, willing yourself to be rid of your flustered state. “He just... caught me off guard is what.”
Yoongi tipped his head to the side in fake confusion, mischief twinkling in his eyes. “Really? So Jungkook suggesting that you two go swimming in the nude doesn’t get you all shy?” Oh how you wanted to strangle him at that moment.
A chorus of chuckles rang among the crowd as your cheeks flared with heat. You wanted to calm down and prove them wrong, but the mental image of seeing Jungkook swimming with nothing on only succeeded in making you cast your gaze down to the forest floor sheepishly. “No, it doesn’t!” you protested still, despite everything proving otherwise.
“Ah, maybe we should all going swimming together in the nude, y/n,” Taehyung encouraged provokingly. “Wouldn’t you like that?” His voice dropped a few octaves, making you shiver slightly.
You bit your lip, wondering to yourself how you could possibly dig out of this hole you seemed trapped in. “Or...” you brought up, cursing yourself internally for sounding so bothered. “We could just forget the whole idea of swimming in the nude and focus on the mission at hand?”
“That doesn’t sound nearly as fun,” Namjoon remarked, rolling back his shoulders in a way so you would obviously note the way his muscles tighten. “Besides, the Dragon of the Stars can wait for us while we... indulge ourselves.”
You ground your teeth in irritation. Your flared cheeks still remained as hot as ever from embarrassment. Namjoon was really starting to test you, wasn’t he? “Namjoon, I’m going to strangle you,” you declared, glaring daggers at his prideful smirk.
“My, y/n, I never knew you liked it rough,” Jin commented, wetting his bottom lip with a playful grin.
Your breath hitched in your throat at that remark. What the bloody hell was that? You jerked your wide eyes to meet his, eyes clouded with an emotion you couldn’t quite describe. After a few seconds of stunned silence, he gave you a flirtatious wink, sending electricity shooting down your spine.
“O-okay, stop it,” you stammered, fidgeting with your sleeve sheepishly as you tore your gaze from his. “You guys are acting like a bunch of immature schoolboys around a playboy magazine.”
Hoseok burst into laughter at your description. “You have to admit you set yourself up for that one. It was too perfect. Your face was too cute!” he cooed, jabbing a finger at your face.
You huffed and crossed your arms across your chest, hoping that way you could hide how perturbed you felt. “I’m glad my embarrassment is a good source of entertainment for you...” Your voice trailed off as you noticed Yoongi ahead of you take a step too close to the edge. The soft dirt began to crumble under his weight slightly and roll down the steep hill that hung off to the side. Your throat hitched realizing that the dirt would give way and Yoongi would slip. You lunged forward with a hand stretching out to the mechanic in a blind panic. “Yoongi, wait-!”
Your warning came too late as the dirt collapsed underneath him. Yoongi’s legs gave out from the unstable foundation he stood upon and tumbled down. His hands grabbed onto your shoulders hoping that you would provide a stable support, but your feet slipped on the soft dirt and you fell down with him. Yoongi let out a loud curse while a scream escaped your lungs.
Your tumble was interrupted due to the rope that connected you to Jungkook and the rope that connected Yoongi to Namjoon. Yoongi and you hung precariously on the steep hill as Jungkook and Namjoon were lurched in your direction. A string of cries and gasps rang throughout the team when they all realized the dangerous situation you both were in. Jungkook and Namjoon luckily dug their heels into the ground to prevent themselves from following you both down the hill.
However, that relief didn’t last long when the rope tying you to Jungkook unknotted from his belt loop. You mentally cursed yourself for your flimsy knotting skills before you shrieked as you slipped down the hill even further, taking Yoongi with you.
The wind was knocked out of you when the rope once more stopped your fall. You looked down the steep hill that went on for a few good meters, surely such a fall would be lethal. You swallowed a lump in your throat. “Oooooh, that’s high!” you cried, grabbing the rope between you and Yoongi and pulling yourself up.
Namjoon released a strain groan as he held the rope connecting him to Yoongi, holding the weight of you two all by himself. He silently prayed that he could pull you both to safety. Jimin rushed to his side and leaned over the edge, looking at you and Yoongi with panicked eyes. “You two okay?!” he demanded.
“Do I look fucking alright?!” Yoongi spat back, clinging to his rope with an iron fist.
“We’re fine!” you answered, ignoring Yoongi’s vulgar reply. “Just get us out of here, please!”
Jimin nodded frantically before turning back to the others, Namjoon most importantly. “Okay, everyone here needs to start walking backwards slowly and hold onto their ropes! Make sure they don’t loosen on your belts!” He then jerked his head back to Yoongi and you. “I’m gonna need you two to put your feet against the ground and start walking up as we pull you up!” He then flew to the back of the line and got himself into position once you and Yoongi did as he told you. “Okay, everyone start walking!”
You dug your heels against the steep hill and pushed yourself upward after Yoongi. Very slowly you both began to trudge up the hill with your hands clamped firmly on the rope that supported your combined weight. Sometimes the dirt gave out underneath your footing, and you slipped causing Yoongi to stumble back, but you luckily managed to resettle yourself before continuing on upward.
“I think we’re going to make it,” Yoongi muttered to you reassuringly.
You pulled yourself up a few more paces, hope filling your core. You could almost sigh to yourself in relief at how much progress you already made. However, your hope was soon short-lived. Yoongi was at the final stretch when a snapping sound caught his attention. His eyes wildly flashed to the source, where the rope between him and Namjoon began to snap and unravel under his weight. He jerked his gaze to Namjoon, who realized the same thing and met his eyes, flaming with shock and panic.
“Of course it starts to break because of you,” Yoongi sneered venomously as his eyes narrowed into a glare. “If I die, fuck you.”
Namjoon frantically pulled on the rope upward repeatedly, hoping he could drag you and Yoongi to safety before the rope snapped. Jimin noticed this quickly and anxiety shot in his core. “Namjoon! Don’t! You’re putting too much tension on the rope-!”
Snap!
The last strings of the rope that also kept your hopes up broke. A gasp left your throat as you felt your body slowly fall backwards, then your body collided against the hillside and everything went by in a flash. Your body tumbled and rolled down the slope, but your mind couldn’t seem to register what what was happening. Your eyes caught images of dirt and the sky repeatedly, but other than that you couldn’t tell where you were as you continue to plummet down the ridge.
Where was Yoongi? Was he by you? Your ears failed to pick up any noises that would reveal his presence over the sound of your body time after time slamming against the ground. Your hands blindly reached around to grab ahold of something, but everything seemed to slip out of your fingers. Cries and shouts escaped your lips every now and then. It seemed that your fall would never end.
Until it eventually did. Your body flopped around a few more times before it gradually stopped. You laid on the ground on your side, your eyes taking in your surroundings shakily. Your vision was blurry for a few moments before it returned to normal, revealing the dirt ground and hill that you rolled down just seconds ago.
You groaned tiredly and lifted your head, which felt like an anchor was attached to it. Rolling over so your back pressed against the earth, you stared at the blue sky for a few seconds, too dazed to even manifest a thought. The only thing your ears picked up was the sound of your ragged breathing escaping your mouth.
Suddenly you heard some disoriented footsteps and groaning before your eyes met the sight the Yoongi looming over you. Yoongi. A sigh of relief slipped from your bruised lips. He was alive along with you.
“Y/n...” he panted, snapping you from your frazzled thoughts. “Are you alright?” You noticed a trickle of blood drip down the side of his face from a cut located in the temporal area. Your hand reached out of its own accord and cupped his cheek.
“Yoongi...” you murmured softly, your action catching the mechanic by surprise. “You’re hurt...”
His face radiated heat and you noted the pink flush that tinged his soft cheeks. He looked away for a few seconds in a flustered panic before returning his gaze back to you. “I’m hurt?” he gently scoffed as he took your hand in his own and pulled it from us face, your fingertips dirtied with the blood that stained his beautiful face. “You’re the one with a nasty cut.”
Your eyes flickered over to your wrist that was held in Yoongi’s hand to see a long cut that stretched down the underside of your forearm. Blood seeped out of the wound in dribbles, a steady river dripping down your cut. You didn’t even know when you obtained the wound, since you never felt any immense amount of pain. Your body only cried out at the soreness that settled in your being. You knew that you would get some nasty bruises soon.
“Shit...” you mumbled, sitting upright once the dizziness that plagued your mind faded. “That looks bad.” Your other hand gently grazed against the tender skin along the cut, currently puffing up around the broken skin.
Yoongi nodded in agreement. “It’s better than bashing your head against a rock and dying,” he pointed out, letting go of your hand. “Damn... this isn’t what I agreed to. All I thought I’d be doing was fixing whatever Namjoon broke, not nearly falling to my death.”
“At least you did it of your own free will,” you mentioned, your eyes still focused on your wound. “I was practically forced into this.”
“Well, not entirely,” Yoongi admitted, rubbing the back of his neck to massage the sore spots. “I didn’t really want to do this. If it were totally up to me, I’d be back at home fixing cars and whatnot.”
You finally tore your gaze away from your arm to meet his own, eyebrows furrowing in weak confusion. “So why did you agree to this?” you prodded further.
He let out an extended sigh full of exhaustion, thinking over what he should say for a few moments. “Because my parents need the money,” he confessed, his eyes lowering to the ground. “The Japanese aren’t exactly kind to people who can’t work. They would have my parents starve in the streets because they barely have any money in their pockets.” His fists tightened at the many memories that ran through his mind. “When Jin offered me the job for this expedition, all I could think about was the money that could my parents. It was like he was hanging a bait hook in front of me. I didn’t want to go on this fool’s journey... but my mother and father...” His voice trailed off for a few seconds in deep thought before continuing, “I gave them all the money I’d been saving up so they could last a few months on their own. Then once this is all done with and I get paid, I’m going straight back home.”
You hung onto every word that he said, your heart clenching at how much he cared for his parents, so much so that he left his home to go into an unfamiliar country with no knowledge of what may happen. He just risked his life a few minutes ago just so his parents could have a roof over their heads. “So you don’t care about your country’s history?” you asked curiously.
He paused for a moment, eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Well, no, I do care. I mean, I love my country, and I don’t want its history to forever destroyed,” he answered, stretching out his cramped legs, “but you have to admit this is a fool’s journey. This Dragon of the Stars hasn’t been found in over two thousand years. What makes you think it’ll suddenly appear now?”
“Because everyone thought it was just a legend until Namjoon found my tapestry,” you responded. “No one has even tried to go looking for it.”
Yoongi sighed once more, shoulders weakly sagging at his sides. “Yeah, maybe, but I’m not getting my hopes up, and neither should you.”
Before you could even reply, a string of shouts and cries caught your attention. Yoongi and you jerked your heads to the source of the yells and saw Jimin arranging a safe path to come down with everyone close behind him. You waved them over with your uninjured hand while Yoongi shouted at them to gather their attention. All their heads snapped to where you and Yoongi sat at the bottom of the hill. They then quickly, although still safely, rushed down the hill and to your sides, all worried for your well-being.
“Oh my God! Are you two okay?!” Hoseok exclaimed as he fell to his knees right in between you two, grabbing his medical bag and rummaging through it.
Yoongi lightly brushed his fingers against the gash on his temple. “Well, we’re not dead. So I guess that’s good,” he mumbled, now looking at his reddened fingers. “You should start with y/n first though. She’s got a pretty bad cut on her arm.”
You held out your wounded arm for him to see your skin now completely smeared with blood. His eyes widened, and he immediately went to work. He took out a bottle and a clean rag and dabbled the rag with what assumed was alcohol. He applied the liquid to your cut, and you hissed at the stinging pain that ran up your arm. He wiped the wound clean of blood and leaned in slightly to get a better view of the cut.
“Good news is...” He paused to clean your arm a bit more. “... the cut isn’t deep enough for stitches. Neither is it over any joints. So the best I can do is clean it, then apply some yarrow salve to stop the bleeding, and then bandage it up.” He gave you a relieved smile as he searched through his bag for the salve. “You’re damn lucky you both didn’t break any bones or impale yourselves on any sticks.”
Yoongi scoffed humorlessly and rolled his eyes. “Oh, yes, so lucky,” he snarked sarcastically. “We just fell down a few hundred meters. Just a stroll in the park, if I do say so myself.”
“Don’t forget the part where we almost died,” you added as Hoseok spread the yarrow salve across the length of your wound. The cooling sensation over your hot, tender flesh sent a calming effect over you.
Yoongi pointed at you in agreement to even further his point. “Oh, yes, how could I possibly forget? Thank you so much, y/n. You’re such a doll,” he said in a sweet yet sour tone. His angelic smile turned bitter as his eyes narrowed into a glare. “We almost fucking died!”
Hoseok raised his hands in surrender. “Hey! I’m just saying it could’ve been a whole lot worse. A fall like that should’ve killed at least one of you,” he defended himself, returning to aiding you. His took out clean bandages from his bag and began to wrap your arm in a neat and professional manner. Then he tore the bandages once your arm was covered and clipped the end so it could hold everything in place.
You huffed, blowing up a few strands of your hair out of your face. “Thanks, Hobi. I love talking about my hypothetical death.”
“What you should be saying is ‘Thank you, Hobi, for treating my arm! If it weren’t for you, an infection would’ve settled in the wound and given me a painful, fatal disease! You’re the best!’” He then moved over to attend Yoongi’s injury. “Besides, if you should be angry with anyone, it should be Namjoon. He broke the rope.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Yoongi gritted his teeth in irritation. “I’ve got a bone to pick with him.”
“Where is he?” you inquired, craning your neck to search for the historian. “I’ve a right to box his ears.”
Hoseok dabbled a cotton ball soaked with alcohol to Yoongi’s temple, causing the latter to flinch and scrunch his face in pain. “Last time I saw him, he was wandering over in that direction.” He pointed off toward a rock mount a few meters from where you all sat.
You pulled yourself to your feet, the soreness stretching throughout your body. You groaned noisily at the dull pain, tautening your aching muscles and joints for a few moments. A heavy haze settled on your mind, sending your stumbling in your spot. Hoseok looked at you concernedly, pausing his treatment on Yoongi. “If you’re gonna head over, you should get someone to help you,” he suggested, brows furrowed in worry.
You shook your head. “No, it’s fine, Hobi. I-“
Hoseok interrupted you to call over to a person standing a few meters away from you, admiring the view in the distance. “Tae! Can you help y/n? She needs help getting over to Namjoon!”
You groaned exasperatedly as you lightly slapped your forehead with your good hand. “Hobi...” you whined. “I told you it’s-“
Before you could finish your sentence, Taehyung instantly ran to your side, giddy like a puppy wanting some attention. “Of course I’ll help! Do you need me to carry you over?” he asked, searching your well-being over.
You were at a loss for words at first. Taehyung’s readiness to come to your aid caught you off guard. In any other situation, you would find his intentions endearing, but currently you found it just surprising. “Um, no, I’m okay,” you babbled, still flabbergasted. “If I could just use you to steady myself, that’d be jolly good.”
He gave you a wide smile and offered you an arm for you to take. “No worries!”
Taking his arm in your own, the both of you slowly strode over to where Hoseok pointed to. Once in awhile you stumbled a few paces due to dizziness, but Taehyung luckily always caught you before you could fall flat on your face. He chuckled quietly to himself before saying, “You know, you and Yoongi really scared me at first. I thought for sure both of you were dead at the bottom.”
You brought your gaze to meet his, seeing his gleeful smile ebbed away to a worried frown. His eyes were clouded over with slight regret and concern. You attempted to smile to lift his mood. “It’s fine, really. Hobi said I’m really lucky to have at least just a cut,” you replied, looking for at least a hint of a smile on his face, but sadly you found none.
He sighed softly, full of regret. “I’m so stupid. I should’ve done something. I was at the end of the line. I should’ve grabbed you before you fell, but I couldn’t. All I could do was stand there,” he confessed, looking up at the pale blue sky with a soft mournful gleam in his eyes.
You chuckled quietly, tearing your gaze away to look ahead. “You don’t need to act like I’m actually dead or paralyzed. I feel light as rain. Besides, what could you have done? You could’ve put yourself in more danger than Yoongi and I were in.”
His lips curled up in a light smile. “Still, it would’ve been sad if the last thing I said to you was about all of us swimming in the nude together,” he commented, snickering to himself.
“Yeah, can’t argue with you there. That would’ve been sad.”
He then connected his eyes with yours, his cheerful attitude slowly returning. “I’m really glad you’re okay, y/n. We all are. You know we all have a soft spot for you,” he admitted.
Your lips curled into a slight pouty frown. “Really? I wouldn’t know what with all the teasing you guys give me,” you muttered, rolling your eyes at the familiar memory.
“Only because you’re too easy to get riled up,” Taehyung responded, reaching over to pinch your cheek and give it a playful tug. “You have the cutest faces sometimes~”
You shrugged his hand away, still pouting. “My embarrassment isn’t something for you to get off on,” you argued.
He grinned broadly. “Too late.”
Finally the two of you reached the rocky mount to find the rest of the team gathered around it. You cocked your head to the side in curiosity and confusion, wondering why this rock hill captured everyone’s attention. Jungkook and Jimin quickly saw you coming in arm with Taehyung and rushed to you.
“Oh, thank God, you’re fine,” Jungkook breathed, taking you from Taehyung’s arm and wrapping you in his own. He buried his face into the crook of your neck. “I don’t think I could ever forgive myself if you and Yoongi died.”
“Yoongi is fine,” you informed him. “I actually took the brunt of the fall.” You pulled away to show them your wrapped up arm. Both of the boys’ eyes flickered with worry before they softened, reminding themselves that you were well alive.
“I’ll admit, if we found you two dead down here, I was going to kill Namjoon,” Jimin confessed, then lifted a finger to his round lips. “Don’t tell him though. That would put a strain on our teamwork.”
“Speaking of Namjoon,” you began, craning your head around them to see the rock hill behind him, “what’s he doing?”
Jimin gestured to the rock structure behind him. “Joonie said that this caught his eye, and he wanted to check it out quick,” he explained concisely. “Don’t know why though. It’s just a hunk of rock.”
The historian in question came into view with Jin, both looking at the structure and exchanging soft murmurs to each other. You quirked an eyebrow at their peculiar behavior, a voice in the back of your mind wondering if they finally lost it due to the heat.
Finally Namjoon took a few steps forward toward a thick display of plants and brushed a few large leaves to the side. He poked his head past them and instantly retracted himself in shock, the soft murmurings became shouts of surprise and excitement. You watched in amusement with the others as Jin and Namjoon jumped around excitedly before hugging each other tightly. Taehyung and Jungkook decided to clown them and copy their actions, both jumping and exclaiming high-pitched shouts. You snorted in laughter while Jimin wheezed, bending over to regain his breath.
Despite this, Namjoon and Jin beamed over to where the rest of the team stood, their faces bright with enthusiasm and anticipation. “We found it!” Namjoon practically screamed.
“You found the Dragon?!” you exclaimed, your eyebrows shooting up in shock and disbelief.
Jin shook his head rapidly. “No! We found the cave where it’s hidden!” Namjoon and Jin squealed and hugged each other once more, bouncing up and down.
“A cave?” you heard Yoongi repeat, joining them team with stitches replacing his open gash wound. Hoseok walked at his side, closing his medical bag. “Shit, I was hoping that it wouldn’t be... you know... underground.”
You peered at the spot where Jin and Namjoon stood mere moments beforehand, confusion written across your face. You gestured to the planted area. “So behind that is a cave?” When Namjoon and Jin nodded quickly, you continued uncertainly, “So, what makes you two so sure this leads us to the Dragon?”
Namjoon grabbed your, luckily uninjuried, hand and eagerly led you over to the place in question. You stood curiously at his side while he lifted the large leaves up so you could see past them. Your eyes fell upon the mouth of a rather fairly sized cave and were surprised at how you couldn’t possibly see the entrance beforehand. The jagged stone surrounding the opening dripped with dew and saturated air, the walls radiating a cool mist.
Namjoon then lifted a finger pointing toward each side of the cave. Two smaller feminine statues wearing what seemed to be extravagant saris stood, as if guarding what was beyond the entrance. “They are tutelary deities,” Namjoon explained, gesturing to the statues once more. “I guess you could call them guardian deities sent to protect over villages, houses, or, in this case, a cave. Although these statues were obviously made in an Indian fashion, Korean shamanism also shares the idea of guardian deities assigned to protect places from demons.”
“Okay...” you murmured, your voice trailing off slightly. “... But what how do you know this is the cave? It could be a completely different cave for all we know.”
“Well, you see.” He paused to move passed you, going deeper into the opening of the cave. You noticed that the other team members had appeared around you, curiously watching Namjoon as if they also wondered how he and Jin were so certain about this. “Korean shamanism was the region’s religion before the Chinese came along and introduced Buddhism to them. So we can confirm that those who fled the Chinese two millennia ago were believers of said religion. Like I said before, Korean shamanism also has tutelary deities, which are called the sotdae. Essentially they look like birds on top of a pole, meant to scare away demons and the like.” He then wandered over to one of the statues earlier. “And we can find one of those... here.” He then with a wide grin pointed at the statue yet again, more specifically at what she was holding. Wrapped around her elegant fingers was a long pole, which you assumed earlier was a staff of sorts, and the very peak of it sat a ever-watching bird. “And there’s no other logical explanation for this since Hindus associate birds with the spiritual rather than the idea of guardianship! So it must be a sotdae!” He then turned his attention toward you, his excitement growing. “And on your tapestry, it wasn’t a mountain! It was... it was... this!” He wildly gestured to the rock structure surrounding him.
“It’s called an out-crop,” Jimin corrected, acting like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Everyone seemingly ignored him, and you walked a few more paces with wide eyes, taking in your surroundings. “So... we found it?” you breathed out, disbelief still settling in your core.
Jin bounced into your view, wrapping his long arms around your waist and lifting you into the air, spinning you around and around in circles gleefully. “We found it!” he cried out happily, his loud voice echoing off the cave walls. “You are an angel from heaven! Look where you led us! You led us here!”
Yoongi bristled slightly, his lips pressed in a thin line. “Hey! I also led us here! We both landed by this cave,” he reminded, folding his arms tightly across his chest while Jin set you down gently.
Taehyung then wrapped his arms around the mechanic from behind, a cheerful grin plastered on his face. “Aw, is someone feeling a bit left out?” he giggled, resting his chin on top of Yoongi’s soft hair.
Yoongi grumbled but didn’t make any action to move from where he stood. He just remained there with a sour expression while Taehyung continued to smother him with hugs.
“This would’ve been so much easier if our ancestors just left a sign saying ‘Here lies the magnificent Dragon of the Stars! Please watch your heads as you enter’,” Jungkook remarked, glancing to where the sotdae sat. “Not ‘Oh, let’s just leave a bird here. I’m sure our descendants will know what that means’.”
“They might’ve,” Jimin acknowledged, peering further down into the cave, “but erosion and natural forces would’ve rubbed it away a long time ago. I’m surprised these statues haven’t corroded already after two millennia.”
“You know,” Jin began, also examining the statues curiously, “having Indian tutelary deities alongside ours suggests that the ancient Indians might’ve helped our ancestors in hiding the Dragon from the Chinese.”
Namjoon nodded with a slight shrug of his shoulders. “That would make sense considering that the Chinese invaded ancient India on multiple occasions. They might’ve been sympathetic to our cause.”
Remembering the heavy weight hanging from your shoulders, you hastily grabbed your camera, thankful and yet very surprised that it was still working despite the random scratch and dent here and there after your painful tumble minutes ago. You knelt down a small distance from the statue with the sotdae. Bringing your camera up to your eye so you could see through the scope, you took a picture with a bright flash illuminating the dim cave. You captured a few more pictures, all performed in a professional matter, until you were satisfied and stood back up.
“Well, that was awfully nice of them,” you commented with a smile, cleaning your camera of any dirt or grime. “We should get moving. I’d like to get the Dragon before nightfall.”
Jin nodded in agreement, lips still curled up into a grin. “Oh, don’t worry, my dear. I’ve waited far too long for this moment. I won’t waste another second.”
With that, you and the rest of the team moved out and took out your torches before clicking them on, shining the bright light down your path. Jimin, of course, moved to the head of the group seeing as the cave might be considered dangerous as no one had been down there for thousands of years.
You watched the dew slid down the various stalactites and drip off the very pointed end and fall down into the moist earth. The sound of dripping water echoed into your ears ominously as the scent of musk entered your nostrils, making you very slightly uncomfortable. You swore to God if any bat flew straight at you, you were gone. The thought of bats living in the caves made you rather paranoid.
Jungkook walked at your side, waving his torch at any little dark spot in the cave. You noticed how uneased he appeared, moving his torch shakily. “You... you don’t think they’re any traps down here, right?” he asked quietly.
You scoffed, trying to shove another paranoid thought of possibly dying because of traps to the farthest part of your mind. “When would your ancestors have time to make traps? They were too busy hiding from the Chinese,” you replied confidently.
“I guess...”
Yoongi snorted humorlessly. “Okay, even if they had time to make traps, they obviously wouldn’t be working after two millennia,” he reminded, using his expertise to help calm your worries. “That’s just plain impossible. Any wood they would’ve used would be rotten, rocks would be eroded, metals corroded, and rope would be unraveled by now.”
Hoseok then whipped his head to meet Yoongi, anxiety written all over his face. “But what if it’s cursed? I read an article that the British claim that King Tut’s tomb was cursed after-“
“For God’s sake, there wasn’t a curse,” Yoongi interrupted as he rolled his eyes annoyedly. “It’s Egypt, for crying out loud. There’s lots of things in the wild that can easily kill you. Just like how I can easily die from anything in here.”
Hoseok fidgeted uncomfortably, his nerves obviously not quelled by Yoongi’s explanation. “Please don’t die, Yoongi,” he begged softly.
The mechanic sighed tiredly. “I’m not going to die. I was just exasperating.”
You moved your torch around to shine onto the walls when you caught something out of the corner of your eye. The cave walls no longer looked jagged with rock protruding out at every angle but rather somewhat flat with intricate designs carved into it. “Hey, Namjoon,” you called out with uncertainty etched in your voice. “Do you have any idea what this is about?”
The historian brought his attention to where your light was shone and gasped in wonder. He rushed over to the wall and ran his fingers over the symbols, completely lost in his fascination. “This is incredible. These walls were made in both Indian and Korean design. Jin, your theory was right! The Indians did help us!”
Jin ran over to where Namjoon stood in a flash, eagerly looking over the carved symbols. “These images... do they...? They tell the story of the flight from the Chinese?” he wondered out loud.
“It seems so.” He lifted a finger pointing down the cave. “If we continue, we can learn more about what happened.” Namjoon then eagerly ran down the length of the tunnel, leaving the rest of the team behind in the dust.
Jimin instantly ran after Namjoon, with everyone jogging after him. He had on a panicked demeanor, not wanting the historian to get separated from the rest of the group. “Namjoon, wait!” Luckily, since Jimin excelled in athleticism from hours of working out, he caught up to Namjoon in mere seconds, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.
Namjoon was extremely fortunate that he did, because the moment he did, he stepped on a tiled plate that sunk into the ground with a wet ‘thunk’. As this happened, Jimin yanked Namjoon back with the intention of bringing him to where everyone but instead ended up saving his life. Spears jutted out of the walls in a flash with such a powerful force that it made Jin and Hoseok jump and cry out in fear.
Namjoon flinched wildly away at what could’ve been his death, stumbling back a few paces into Jimin. Jimin held onto the historian with an iron grip that couldn’t be unclasped with anything short of a pry bar, a loud, shocked gasp leaving his lips. He then pressed his forehead into Namjoon’s back after a few stunned seconds of silence with a muffled groan. “You guys are really making me work,” he mumbled tiredly into Namjoon’s shirt. He lifted his head and dragged him back to the rest of the team. “You guys almost died three times in the span of an hour.”
Jungkook spun around to where Yoongi stood in shocked silence, round eyes blown with surprise. “I told you there were traps!” he yelled, voice almost cracking.
“They shouldn’t be working! The gears must be rusted as hell from all the moisture down here!” the mechanic argued, breaking his silence.
“Oh my God...” Hoseok breathed out softly, fear etched into every part of his face. His jaw hung open. “That means there are curses down here...”
“There’s no such thing as a curse!” Yoongi snapped, throwing his hands in the air. “But if you keep going on about it, I just might start screaming a lot of curses!”
“Everyone, calm down!” you shouted angrily. The boys stopped their bickering and looked at you, surprised and slightly afraid at how furious you sounded. You exhaled deeply to calm yourself down, before continuing in a more relaxed tone, “We need to figure out a way across.”
Jimin nodded in agreement, fingers curled around his chin in deep thought. He looked at the spears that slowly began to retract themselves into their holes in the walls with sounds of mechanical clunking and grinding. He brought his torch pointed at the ground in front of him. “The whole floor here is full of pressure plates,” he informed. “Maybe if we ran fast enough...”
“Oh, yeah, like grandpa here can run,” Jin cut in, gesturing to Yoongi.
The mechanic snorted in annoyance. “If anyone here is a grandpa, it’s you, hyung,” he retorted, placing much emphasis on the last word.
Before Jin could snap back at Yoongi, you mentioned to Jimin, “Did you see how fast those spears reacted to Namjoon? He barely pushed down on the plate and they came out. We’ll all be impaled if we try running across.”
Jimin hummed thoughtfully, realizing that you had a point. “How about if we try-? ...Tae, what are you doing?”
You turned your attention from Jimin and found Taehyung scouring along the dewy walls on his knees, his concentration deeply focused on the wall. “I’m looking for a button,” he mumbled in reply.
“A what?” you questioned, eyebrows furrowed deeply in confusion.
Taehyung pulled away from the wall and looked at you and Jimin. “Think of it this way. What if the Chinese invasion lasted a lot shorter than the Koreans thought it would, and it was safe to return back to their homeland? They would have to come back to Korea with the Dragon, right? Well, it’d be kinda stupid if they had they go through all these traps that they put up themselves, yeah? So they would have to put a button or some mechanism to stop the traps,” he explained himself.
Namjoon raised a finger as if ready to refute Taehyung’s theory but paused to think about it himself. “That’s... actually kinda smart.”
Taehyung curled his lips into a bright smile showing rows of pearly white teeth, sniggering softly to himself. “I know you guys act like I’m the team idiot, but I know a little more than what makes a good boom,” he boasted, returning back to scavenging among the walls. “Besides, I can never resist pressing a big button.” With that, he found an image of the wall of the Wheel of Dharma and pressed a finger against the axis, pushing it in with a satisfying ‘click’. The pressure plates groaned for a few seconds before dropping down with a ‘thud’. “Ta-dah! It’s safe now.”
“Good job, Tae!” you cheered, relieved that the team could move on.
Taehyung got up from his knelt down position and wrung his hands bashfully. “Aw, it was nothing, just a bit of common sense,” he continued to brag.
Jimin rolled his eyes and looped his arm through Taehyung’s. “Yeah, yeah, we get it. You’re sooo smart. Now let’s get moving,” he drawled, dragging him along the path. “The faster we get moving, the faster we can get home.”
The team set out once more further down the cave, this time more aware of various traps. You waved your torch down the path, looking for anything that may be considered suspicious. However, nothing jumped out to you that was fishy. The cave continued on and on for quite some time. Endless twists and turns came upon you.
“Watch it!” Hoseok suddenly pulled on you. You lurched back a few few steps, seeing that a few more paces and you would’ve gone careening off a ledge and into a pit full of spikes. Your heart nearly launched itself into your throat when you saw how close you were from dying. Hoseok pulled you into his chest, arms wrapped around you protectively. Instinctively, you responded by draping your own arms around his waist. Whether or not you did this to stabilize your balance or for other reasons you were unsure.
You rested your head on Hoseok’s shoulder, calming down your rapid beating heart from such a panicking ordeal. Your shoulders rose and fell in pattern with your heavy panting. “Thanks, Hobi,” you murmured gently in between breaths, feeling a small wave of exhaustion wash over you. You couldn’t help yourself. Hoseok’s arms felt so warm and comfortable.
“Yeah, just be careful next time,” Hoseok warned, slowly, though reluctantly, releasing you from his arms. “We can’t lose our lovely reporter, now can we?” He then grinned cheekily. “Should I hold your hand so you don’t get lost~?”
You rolled your eyes, all feelings of exhaustion wiped away. You pressed your lips into a thin, strained smile. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.” You moved away from the doctor, making sure to avoid the death pit from earlier.
After what seemed to be a half an hour of walking and avoiding numerous traps such as: snake pits, swinging blades, swinging logs, arrows, and even a gunpowder triggered trap, you and the team managed to get through all of them mostly unscathed. Jin got the short end of the stick and was nicked on the arm by a swinging blade. However, Hoseok quickly came to his aid and patched up the injured skin by cleaning it and wrapping some bandages around his upper arm.
You noticed that the cave began to lead upward rather downward like you assumed, and, for a moment, you worried that you would soon be reaching the surface. However, your fears were quelled quickly when you and the other came upon a spacious room, the walls, ceiling, and even floor covered in ornate designs.
Finding the room to be fascinating, you took out your camera and captured a few images of the intricate walls, the flash brightening the room for merely a second. When you pulled your camera down, you realized that there wasn’t no other exit other than the path that you all entered. “This isn’t where the Dragon is supposed to be, right?” you asked hesitantly, exploring the room with your torch.
Namjoon shook his head. “No, this isn’t it, but it’s definitely nearby. Perhaps in another room somewhere?” he wondered more to himself rather than the others.
Jungkook looked up, taking in the symbols carved into the stone. “And where would that room be? There were no other paths other than the one leading to here,” he recalled, bringing his attention back to the historian.
“There’s got to be a door then,” Namjoon declared, hurrying over to the nearby walls and examining them closely. “Maybe a secret passage of some sorts.” He raised his head back to the remaining group. “Hey, Tae! You’re good at finding buttons. Maybe you could find some mechanism that unlocks a secret door.”
Taehyung tilted his head in perturbed confusion, as if the historian just said something in a completely different language. “Why would I do that when I already know where the door is?” he questioned.
Namjoon sputtered for a moment and almost tripped himself rushing back to the demolition expert. “You do? Where?” he demanded, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Taehyung placed a long finger over the historian’s lips to silence him and raised his other one in the air, gesturing for everyone to listen for any sound. After a few seconds of silence, he asked rhetorically, “You hear that?”
Another few seconds went by as you listened intently for anything that popped out at you, but you couldn’t hear anything out of the ordinary. You were about to voice your findings when suddenly Jimin exclaimed, “Wind!”
The survivalist then rushed over to the source of the sound, located at the far end of the room. Jimin pressed his ear against a noticeable crack and held it there for a few seconds. His face broke out in a bright smile. “There’s air coming through here!”
Taehyung shrugged casually. “Geez, and you guys think I’m the dumb one.”
Namjoon rolled his eyes as he joined Jimin. “Excuse you, I have a PhD,” he reminded.
“And I have common sense,” Taehyung replied with a bold grin.
Jin happily clapped his hands together in anticipation, gathering everyone’s attention directly to him. “Great! Now how do we open it?” he inquired, eyes searching for anyone who had an idea.
“Well, there’s got to be a button, right? I mean, that’s the only possible solution,” you suggested, shrugging your shoulders.
“Or,” Yoongi cut in, raising a finger in thought, “we use Taehyung’s expertise in this situation.”
A gleam or excitement and euphoria flashed in Taehyung’s eyes at this proposal, and his face lit up in absolute elation. “Oooh, I like the way you think, Yoongi!” he exclaimed, hands already rummaging through his pack.
What Yoongi insinuated finally clicked in Namjoon’s mind, and his face fell into despair. “No! We are not blowing up thousands of years of history! Do you have any idea how much work these people put into making this cave, and you’re suggesting we just destroy it all?!”
Taehyung pouted, his lips pursing out like a child would. “Aw, come on! This was what I was hired for! I’m here to demolish things. That’s why I’m the demolition expert,” he whined. He whipped his head to face the team leader. “Jin, please let me blow it up. We could be down here for hours looking for this button or key or whatever it is. We could save so much time just by breaking down this wall.”
Jin pondered this dilemma for a few seconds, flickering his eyes between Namjoon’s pleading look and Taehyung’s begging. You could tell he was at conflict with himself, torn between the two sides. Finally, Jin sighed quietly. “Tae, do you even know if the rock here is stable? You could cause a possible cave-in.”
“A cave-in? Here?” Taehyung blew raspberries as if what Jin was suggesting was absolutely ridiculous. “No way. We’re nowhere close to any trench ends, and this cave is very well stable. If it wasn’t, then there would’ve been a cave-in a long time ago. I’m fairly certain that’ll we’ll be safe. Besides, the explosives I have in mind won’t produce enough shock to rupture anything.”
Jin rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, once more finding himself as a crossroad. “Namjoon... I’m sorry, but we need to get to the Dragon as soon as possible. Luckily, y/n took a few pictures of the walls. So they won’t be completely lost to history.”
Namjoon’s shoulders sagged in defeat, a somber sigh escaping his mouth. His eyes drifted toward the floor before he gave a weak shrug. “Fine, I guess.”
Jin then gave Taehyung a confirmed nod, and the demolition expert giddily went to work. He went over to the wall in question and took out a few small items that you couldn’t classify, placing them at the foot of the wall or any large crack that could fit them. Then he revealed a spool of wire and connected it to each of the small objects to it, making it look similar to a spider’s web. As Jungkook guided you to a safe area a few meters away from the wall, Taehyung unraveled the wire to where you all sat and connected it to a detonator.
As the demolition expert got into position with his eager hands wrapped around the detonator, he looked up to you and grinned rather wickedly, like how a playboy would when approaching a girl that caught his eye. “You might want to plug your ears, doll,” he warned in a whisper. “It’s gonna get very loud soon.”
Once you reluctantly did as he said, covering your ears uncertainly, he plunged down on the detonator, releasing a huge explosion from the room where you stood moments ago. Dust billowed out as chunks of rock floated past you, pelting you softly. Jin and Hoseok both yelped with a startle at the sudden explosion while the rest of you just flinched.
You coughed into your hand a few times when you felt the dust and dirt fill up your lungs. Your ears still slightly rang despite you covering them. Ugh, you hoped you never had to undergo something like that ever again. Too bad, you were, in fact, going to experience that many times over in the future.
Taehyung peered into the room once the dust and sand finally settled to see if was safe enough to venture out. Once he gave you a nod of approval, everyone else from their safe and hidden spots and returned to the spacious room. Large amounts of rock scattered around the room as if a tornado ran through there. You skipped and climbed over a few just to get past them. You noticed Namjoon’s sullen expression as he scanned the room, seeing the destruction of something he loved. You carefully went over to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry about this,” you apologized, trying to lighten his spirits with a small smile. “This room was really beautiful.”
He nodded slowly, bringing his gaze to meet yours. “It was. I’m sure it was even more beautiful two millennia ago.” He sighed dejectedly once more. “But Jin and Tae were right. It would’ve taken us another two millennia to find whatever opened that door. We can’t afford to waste even another second, not with so much at stake.”
You furrowed your eyebrows at his last statement, wondering why he sounded so cryptic. Before you could ask him to clarify what he meant, he left your side and approached the large, gaping hole in the wall. You reluctantly followed, figuring that you could ask him after you obtain the Dragon of the Stars.
You climbed over another pile of rocks and entered the next room, and you couldn’t help but let out a gasp of wonder at the sight. Instead of the stone room like before, this room had its own forest. Trees and vines grew and covered the very edges of the even more spacious room. Moss cushioned the floor with pools of crystal blue water scattered across. You looked up to see a hole in the ceiling where a beam of golden sunlight shone through, illuminating a pedestal that stood erect in the center of the magical forest. You approached the vine and moss covered pedestal, expecting to see the magnificent Dragon of the Stars. However, you were surprised to see what laid there.
“Hey! Jin!” Yoongi called, throwing a hand toward the empty pedestal vexedly. “I thought you said the Dragon would be fucking here!”
All color drained from Jin’s face as bewilderment settled upon it. He stood a few paces away from the pedestal, looking down at the empty spot. All light that shone in his eyes faded away, and he appeared as lively as the statues guarding the entrance. He looked completely broken, lost, defeated, lifeless. All of his hopes and dreams shattered as easily as an antique vase. He softly mumbled to himself, too quiet for anyone to hear.
“Hyung?” Jungkook, seeing the leader so distraught, came up to him. His round eyes softened with concern. “Are you alright?”
Jin lumbered around to face the younger man with shining eyes. He stumbled toward Jungkook and gripped him by the shoulders of his shirt while Jungkook scrambled to steady him from collapsing. “It’s supposed to be here, Jungkook,” Jin continued to mumble, fists tightening into his shirt. “Why isn’t it here? It should be here. All my research... it should be here.”
“Hyung! Snap out of it!” Jungkook shook him slightly in an attempt to focus him. “It’s gonna be okay!”
“It’s not! It’s not okay!” Jin screamed, his cries echoing off of the walls. He peeled himself away from Jungkook, hands folded over his mouth as he tried to make sense of the situation. He looked at the pedestal for a few more moments before turning to Namjoon, eyes now the size of saucers. “Namjoon, you don’t think... you don’t think the Japanese got here before us?”
Namjoon furrowed his eyebrows as he sputtered for a few moments, completely baffled by Jin’s proposal. “What? No, that’s impossible! There’s no way the Japanese government got here before us. They don’t have y/n’s tapestry to guide them here!” he reminded, hands thrown wildly into the air.
A few moments went by before Jin added, “But we’re not the only ones who have seen the tapestry...” His eyes wandered over to you, still as empty as before. He stumbled toward you, hands now raking themselves through his hair. “Oh my God, y/n, who else did you show the tapestry to?”
Your mind was at a complete blank at first, confused by Jin’s erratic question. “I...” Your voice trailed off as you tried to remember anyone suspicious who you’ve shown the tapestry to. “Recently only British people who work at museums.”
“Could the Japanese hire some British spies?” Jin went off, mumbling to himself. You watched in deep concern, wondering if your friend was falling into madness. “Those spies could’ve taken a picture or something. Maybe all they needed was a glance. After all, the Japanese-British alliance was formed in 1902. The British could’ve easily-“
“No way,” Namjoon interrupted, shaking his head. “The alliance was discontinued in ‘23, remember?”
“Maybe there’s still sympathizers around. The Japanese could’ve contracted those still loyal to the alliance.” His eyes wandered to you again. However, you noticed the dark glint that flashed. A rush of fear coursed through your veins being under his dark gaze. For a mere moment, you were afraid that he would lash out at you.
Jimin then understood what Jin was insinuating. His head snapped to you in a panic. “Wait, you’re not suggesting that y/n...” His voice trailed off, leaving the room full of tension. After he and Jin stared at each other for a few seconds, confirming Jimin’s suspicions, he shook his head. “No! There’s no way y/n is a spy!”
Your throat began to sting painfully upon hearing those very words. Seeing Jin, the man who brought you into this expedition in the first place, glare at you with such contempt and suspicion hurt your very core. Time around you seemed to slow torturously, and, just like the man before you moments ago, you felt your whole world ending. How could he think so little of you? What if the others began to agree with him? What if they all began to distrust you as well? You don’t think your heart could handle such pain. You have grown fond of the boys around you, despite their constant teasing. Now, to imagine them abandoning you because of suspicion, your body trembled at the very thought.
Your eyes widened as you jerked your head to Jin, your breathing suddenly erratic. “What?! No! Why would you think I’m a spy?” you demanded frantically.
His whole body shook with a silent rage. “What other possible explanation is there?!” he exploded, throwing his hands in the air.
“Literally any other possibility!” Yoongi came to your defense, arms folded irritatedly. Your thoughts and fears of the others joining Jin’s side died with that. You never expected the aloof mechanic to be the first one to defend you. However, seeing him glance at you with soft concern before sharpening his gaze back to Jin tugged at your heartstrings. He really was something else…
“I always knew you agreed to help us a little too quickly,” Jin sneered, ignoring Yoongi’s comment as he took a few steps toward you. His gaze darkened even further. “What else did you tell them? Did you tell them who was involved, huh? Did you give them our locations from the past week?!”
Taehyung stepped in front of the leader, acting as a guard between you and Jin. His eyes turned cold as he stared down the other man. You had never seen him so serious, so scary. It made goosebumps travel up your arms and shiver down your spine. “Jin…” Taehyng began, his face not moving a muscle. “Step away from y/n and calm down. You’re angry, and you’ve a right to be so. But taking it out on y/n isn’t going to help anyone or bring the Dragon here.”
“Or what? You’ll attack me?” Jin goaded, folding his arms across his broad chest. He clicked his tongue while shaking his head in disappointment. “I knew you all really liked her, but really? Jumping to her side? She’s not even one of us!”
“Okay, Jin, calm down!” Jimin exclaimed, raising his hands in front of him. “Let’s not jump to any drastic conclusions. If the Japanese were here before us, then wouldn’t the traps already be deactivated? How would they have found what unlocked the door? This place looks like it hasn't been touched in centuries!” His face lit up with revelation as he continued, “Besides, if y/n was a spy, why would she still be here? She would’ve given the tapestry to the Japanese, wouldn’t she? Why bother sticking around with us? She nearly died, Jin! Why risk her life?”
You noticed the dark look in Jin’s eyes slowly dissipate with each question Jimin shot at him. His ragged breathing calmed into a normal pattern, and his bristled shoulders sagged. He cast his gaze to the ground, seemingly thinking things over once more. “Okay,” he acknowledged through gritted teeth. “Does anyone else have any possible explanations then?”
Jungkook spoke up, “Maybe this was a red herring? Something to throw the Chinese or thieves off their trail?”
“It’s plausible,” Namjoon agreed, eyes glazed over in deep thought, “but would the Indians and Koreans have time to make this and then another hiding place?”
You looked around the room, searching for any clues that explain what happened to the Dragon. The only things that jumped out at you were the trees and plants that were scattered around. The boys argued around you loudly, but you ignored them as you wandered around, looking at anything that could help you in your search. The moss, the trees, the plants, the hole in the ceiling, the pools of water, anything.
You wandered over to one of the walls, which was covered mostly by a large branch adorned with thick leaves. Thinking that there might be something behind it, you brushed past the leaves to see what could possibly be hidden from you. Once you caught sight of the wall, your eyes widened into round circles. Your mouth gaped open as you released a shocked gasp. Backing away from it, you turned back to the group. “Namjoon!” you called, your voice mixed with excitement and disbelief. “Come look at this!”
The historian pulled away from the arguing boys and joined you at you side, confused and curious as to what you found. You brushed past the leaves once more and revealed your findings to him. His expression suddenly matched yours from moments ago. He looked on with disbelief, as if he just couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Hanging from the wall was a large tapestry, design equal to the tapestry that you had in your possession. In fact, where the tapestry began hung loose fibers, as if it had been torn. The tapestry stretched out through the entirety of the wall, images woven into the strings.
“Your tapestry, y/n! Take it out!” Namjoon burst out, barely managing to contain his excitement.
You opened your bag and took out your tapestry, unfolding to reveal the image you were well acquainted with. Namjoon moved some more leaves so you could lift your tapestry next to where it was obviously torn. When you did so, you beamed excitedly. It was a perfect fit.
“Hold it! Hold it!” You practically pushed the tapestry into Namjoon’s arms as you readied your camera, eagerly waiting to take a picture of your findings. After the historian raised it next to the rest, you snapped a few photos.
Namjoon returned to your side, eyes scanning over the rest of the tapestry with deep interest. “This is incredible!” he gasped, moving closer. His fingers ran over the symbols and images that littered the woven fabric delicately, as if it would all unravel under the slightest touch. “This explains what happened!”
“To the Dragon?” you prompted, following where his fingers flicked.
“To the Dragon and the Koreans who fled!” he assured, running his hands through his hair. He then stepped outside the brush of leaves where the rest of the team awaited. “Hey! We found what happened!”
Everyone at this news bolted over, surrounding you and Namjoon. Their gazes swept over the hanging tapestry, wonder stretched along their faces. Hoseok tilted his head curiously as his gaze flickered to you. “Hey, this looks a lot like y/n’s tapestry,” he mentioned, finger lifted up to point at the tapestry in your hands.
“That’s because this is the source from where y/n’s tapestry was cut from. Maybe one of the Koreans took it to keep the memory of this place alive,” Namjoon theorized, then wandered over at pointed at one of the images.
Upon closer inspection you noticed the fleeing Korean people were sitting in a room surrounded by trees and with sunlight pouring in from the ceiling. Actually, now that you thought about it, the image looked very similar to the one you were currently standing in.
“This isn’t the place where they hid the Dragon. This is where they lived when hiding from the invading Chinese forces! The traps weren’t meant to protect the treasure. It was to protect them from any enemies finding them,” the historian explained. “The Dragon was still with them.”
“Apparently they didn’t stay long though,” Yoongi remarked, gesturing to the next image. You followed his gesture and saw a picture of Koreans being slaughtered gruesomely by Chinese forces while the rest of the group escaped, one person in particular with the Dragon in her arms. You swallowed a stinging lump in your throat that was suddenly lodged. The image depicted some Koreans getting decapitated while others were impales with swords, streaks of red painted across the fabric.
“Yes,” Namjoon agreed, his tone more somber. “According to the text, an Indian traitor informed the Chinese of our ancestors’ whereabouts and led them past the traps. Some, but few, managed to escape with the Dragon.”
“Does it say where they went?” Taehyung asked, bewilderment and sympathy etched on his face.
Namjoon searched over the next image which showed Koreans running away and a text above it. He mumbled to himself in words you couldn’t understand. His pointed finger skimmed along the text as he read it. Then he let out a defeated sigh. “It doesn’t give a direct explanation of where they went. It says ‘Our brothers fled toward the falling sun away from deadly foes. To the land of three pits and flowing rivers they went. They wished they were like the baaz, flying the endless skies freely’.”
Yoongi groaned exasperatedly and rubbed his cheeks tiredly, careful to avoid pulling at his stitches. “Oh, these people can never be straightforward,” he complained.
“It’s a clue, regardless,” Jin commented, face scrunched up in thought. “Falling sun... falling sun...” He paced the floor back and forth for a few seconds, mumbling the same phrase repeatedly. Revelation lit his face up, and he snapped his fingers. “Falling sun! The sun is setting, meaning they went West!” He then grinned proudly to himself. “I knew taking those literature classes would be useful.”
“Couldn’t they be a little more precise with the location?” you questioned, ignoring Jin and realizing that going West could mean absolutely anywhere.
“Hopefully the rest of the text will tell us,” Namjoon replied. “To lands of flowing rivers... Jimin, got any ideas? You’re our geography expert.”
Jimin huffed annoyedly, rolling his eyes in the process. “Learning survivalism doesn’t mean learning global geography,” he snapped, but then sighed, “but I’ll do what I can. Flowing rivers could mean anywhere from here to Egypt. The Tigris and Euphrates are famous rivers in the western regions. Perhaps they went there?” He then cupped his chin, humming to himself softly. Confusion weighed down his eyebrows. “But the part about the baaz and the three pits?”
Namjoon kept his gaze on the ancient text, tapping his chin deep in thought. His brow scrunched together in concentration. “Baaz means falcon in their tongue, if that means anything, but the three pits... You’re right, that’s confusing,” he informed, although seemed disappointed that he couldn’t provide any further information. He paused for a few moments before his lips slightly parted and his eyes widened. He then slapped a hand against his forehead in disbelief. “Of course! How could I be so stupid?”
“It happens to the best of us,” Hoseok happily chirped in.
“What? No, that’s not what I-” He cut himself off with an annoyed groan and turned back to face the group. Running a hand through his thick locks, he continued, “Trigarta. It’s an ancient name for a territory to the west of here. Scholars debate on whether or not the literal translation of the word means ‘three pits’ or ‘land between three rivers’, which makes sense since the text here also mentions rivers. Nowadays the term isn’t used anymore, but one of the regions that was included in Trigarta was...” His voice trailed off as he quickly rummaged through his hip bag and pulled out a map. Opening it up, he searched for the land in mind before turning the map to face the team. “Punjab.”
You grinned broadly when your eyes landed on the territory labeled Punjab. You straightened out your posture confidently and boasted, “And since Punjab is entirely controlled by the British, I can use my reporter license to get us into nearly anywhere we wish.”
Taehyung wrapped his long arms around your waist from behind and squeezed you affectionately, rubbing his cheek against the top of your head, “That’s our little reporter! Opening closed doors for us!”
“Exactly,” Namjoon commented as he folded up his map and tucked it into his bag, “so we can stop accusing each other of being spies.” He gave a pointed look at Jin.
The leader crossed his arms grumpily, as if he didn’t want to be seen as a bad person for pointing the finger at you. His eyes were still narrowed into a sharp glance before he cast his gaze to the mossy floor, guilt and regret now softening his eyes. For once, he kept his mouth shut and pulled away from the team, focused entirely on leaving the room and continuing on with the expedition.
However, you noticed the way his determined pacing toward the exit slow as confusion crawled its way into his face. Jin tilted his head to the side in bewilderment for a few seconds before the look of confusion was quickly replaced with fear. He flung himself back toward the group, but down before screaming, “Get down!”
Before you could ask why, a gunshot rang across the room and everything was thrown into chaos. Everything happened so quickly it was like a blur to you. Everyone shouted orders to each other, teammates rushed past to take cove. It wasn’t until moments later did you realize Jungkook grabbed you roughly by the hand and pulled you toward a fallen over tree that would provide you enough cover to hopefully avoid getting shot at.
Your head spun with confusion as you barely registered what was going on. There was a gunshot. A gunshot. That meant someone else was here, someone who wished to kill you all. Your mind swam with the disbelief at was currently happening. Who? Why? Where did they come from? How? Questions bubbles out in your thoughts from seemingly nowhere as you tried to piece together what was going on.
However, you were snapped out of your daze when a colt suddenly appeared in front of you. Your hands instantly grabbed it, although your face was wide with horror. You looked up at Jungkook and were about to protest but couldn’t get the words to tumble out of your mouth. You merely gazed into the calm and focused expression his face slipped on. It almost scared you how serious he appeared despite the circumstances. He brought up his arms which held a pump-action shotgun, causing your eyes to nearly bulge out of your sockets. Just where the bloody hell did he pull that from?
He pumped the shotgun aggressively before turning his cool gaze to you. “Time to get work.” He took aim and fired.
#bts#bts x reader#ot7 x reader#kim namjoon#kim seokjin#min yoongi#jung hoseok#park jimin#kim taehyung#jeon jungkook#bts scenarios#bts imagines#bts au fanfic#seokjin x reader#namjoon x reader#yoongi x reader#hoseok x reader#jimin x reader#taehyung x reader#jungkook x reader#treasure hunter au#indiana jones au#fanfiction#fanfic
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Unromantic Love - Cubicles CYO Ending #5
(As requested by readers, I’m posting all the endings for Cubicles! I hope you enjoy them, and I am excited to bring you more choose your own ending fics in the future. Shoot me a message if you want to be tagged. Stay tuned! xoxo, Bri)
The sun streamed in through your bedroom window and slashed right across your eye line, waking you instantly. You groaned, rolling over and trying to escape the golden heat. How had you gotten back to your bed? You held your phone up and blinked blearily. Multiple messages left on your voicemail. Sighing, you opened the visual voicemail app and found that you had 4 from unknown numbers and one from Lily. It was about 10 am and you didn’t usually show up at Lily’s until lunchtime, but you listened to her message first. She reminded you that she would be rather upset if you didn’t show up to Lazy Saturday, and to call her when you were on your way over. Lily also suggested a cold shower and lots of water, assuming you might be hungover. Unfortunately, she was correct.
You pressed the next message after that, sitting up in bed and noticing a glass of water on your night table. You were truly confused now. Suddenly, a man’s voice began speaking boisterously.
“Goooooood morning, dearest! This is James, your favorite co-worker! Just checking to see that you woke up alright and that you’re not still on a bender from last night! You were quite a riot! -chuckles- Anyhoo, I’m sure the rest of the lads will have left you messages because we’re all very chatty, but if you need anything, well… now you have my mobile! Thanks for making last night fun and well-decorated, see ya Monday!”
Oh, Merlin… what had you done to elicit such a bubbly response from James Potter? You grumbled again, getting up and heading to the loo to pop a few aspirins into your weakened body. You shook your head and pressed the next message, after registering James in your contacts.
“Shut up Prongs! Er… sorry Y/N love, you know how James can be! Just wanted to drop you a line and make sure you drink the water on your side table, yeah? You’ll definitely need it considering that third shot really threw you for a loop, I think. Very cute though, and that gave me an excuse to ring you and give you my mobile, didn’t it? Feel better, see you Monday, and please also apologize to your owl for our intrusion.”
WHAT?! You stared at your phone incredulously for a moment before scurrying out of the bathroom, down the hallway and into the kitchen, where your owl was asleep in his cage. The only thing amiss was that the door was open. Had… had the group been in your flat last night with you...unconscious? You’d had the guys over for dinner before, but that was entirely different and in your control. You paused for a moment, looking around wildly, before gasping aloud.
“Oh, Merlin’s knickers! I must’ve gone out on the lash and they had to bring me home. Oh no... how dreadfully embarrassing.” You sunk onto the kitchen floor with your head in your hands. Steeling yourself after a moment, you decided to play the last two messages, which you could only assume were from Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.
“Hi Y/N, it’s Remus from work. I’m calling to fill you in on what happened last night because I imagine the others will take the opportunity to say some silly, unhelpful things… oh shut it, you know you’re just using it as an excuse to… Sorry about that. Anyway, James and Sirius had a drinking contest with you and you were completely out of it afterward, so we decided to make sure you got back to your flat okay… We just looked at your ID to find your address and you had your key on you so… Sorry, I know it’s not really appropriate, but I… -coughs- we were all rather worried about you and they felt bad for basically poisoning you THAT’S HOW ALCOHOL WORKS LADS so we set you to bed and put water and the trash bin around in case you needed. Sorry again, and please give me a ring to let me know you’re okay. Cheers.”
Honestly, at this point, your life couldn’t get any worse. Not only had you thought it was a good idea to try to drink James and Sirius under the table, but you proceeded to roll off your trolley and need assistance making it back to your bed. You were honestly surprised that they all collectively decided to bring you back and take care of you, but they were basically your only close friends at work besides Lily. You dragged yourself off the floor and darted back to the loo, rushing to take a shower and get yourself somewhat together so you could Floo over to Lily’s flat in 20 minutes. You didn’t bother to put on real clothes, as you were just going to be lounging on the couch with Lily. As you cobbled together snacks to bring over, you played the final message.
“Why am I going last?! OH! Hullo Y/N! I hope you’re feeling better this morning. Not that you weren’t having fun last night hanging out with us at the party but you seemed pretty sick by the end of it… Moony probably already told you we brought you home and woke up your owl. You didn’t throw up though, and we made sure to leave you on your side so you’d be okay! That was my idea! Your flat is very nice, I really like your posters! WHAT?! WE WERE THERE, I’M NOT GONNA LIE ABOUT LIKING WHAT I SAW! ...Sorry, that sounded creepy. Your decorations, I meant… not that you’re not lovely too… ugh, I’ll shut up now. Anyway, Y/N, I’ll bring you extra sweets Monday to make up for us breaking-and-entering. We really are sorry, but friends don’t leave friends alone when they’re knackered! Have a great weekend! Oh, it’s Peter by the way! Bye!”
You were finished by the end of the message, and you were pretty damn sure you would never be able to look any of them in the eye again after that shitshow. It was pretty funny that they all seemed to have recorded their messages together and were yelling at each other during that. You stepped into your fireplace with a sigh and shouted for Lily’s flat. Green flames licked up over you and whooshed you away, spitting you out in the lobby of Lily’s apartment complex. You gave her a ring to let her know you were downstairs. In a few minutes, the redhead appeared, giving you a once-over that was rather like a mum who thought her child was up to something suspicious. You blinked at her and gestured to go upstairs, and she shook her head before acquiescing. Lily lived on the third floor… and was apparently pet sitting?
“Right, I um… I needed a favor from Potter for this upcoming piece I’m writing, so I was obliged to babysit his cat Algernon for the evening while the party was happening. He’s actually much more agreeable than Potter, and you know I love making new ginger friends.” Lily chuckled nervously as the orange cat called Algernon wove his way around your legs appreciatively. You gave her a pointed look before reaching down and scratching Algernon behind the ears. He pawed at your leg, so you walked through to Lily’s couch and sat down, with Algernon hopping up onto your lap. Lily took the bag of snacks you brought with you and laid the things out on the coffee table. You flipped on the tv and scrolled to Witchflix, too embarrassed to bring up last night’s incident to Lily.
“What did you want to watch Lils? I don’t think I’m in the mood for another romantic comedy, I’m not gonna lie. I think I could do some interior decorating or baking or something…” You took a sip of the water bottle you’d brought along, feeling somewhat better than you had earlier in the morning. Lily appeared from the kitchen with a bowl of Chex Mix and gave you a once over before she settled in with you and Algernon. She snatched the remote and rolled through her queue, making reactionary noises at everything before stopping and looking over.
“Okay, out with it. What happened last night? You look like hell, didn’t take the mickey out of me hosting Algernon, and you haven’t said much since you came in. Did someone make an awkward love confession to you? Better yet… was it more than one of them?” Lily chuckled at the end, but she was fairly serious when she questioned you. You sighed.
“I just got rather drunk and…” You gulped, remembering the voicemails from earlier. You knew Lily was going to roast you for them. “The boys had to bring me home and tuck me in. Spooked Aidoneus and apparently checked out my decorating scheme. Nothing major. Honestly, I shouldn’t have done shots with James and Sirius because they’re notorious for how trashy they are when they drink.” Lily listened silently the whole time before she closed her eyes and sighed.
“Honestly… that’s much better than I expected. Not that being carted home by a bunch of bozos from work is okay in my book, but considering none of them tried anything and you just blacked out and went to sleep, I’m pretty much fine with giving the whole night a pass. Plus that means I didn’t have to babysit you!” She stuck her tongue out at you and you smacked her with a nearby pillow, almost dislodging Algernon from your lap. She held up her arms in surrender, laughing. After a fair bit of ribbing between the two of you, you enjoyed the rest of the afternoon cuddled up and laughing at the flailing and friendships of Muggle British bakers, and didn’t think about boys or work at all. It was absolutely lovely.
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Credit to @ghost-of-bambi and @fetchalgernon for letting me borrow their boy!
Tag List
@supremequeenofthenerds, @wizardwritings, @couragetocontinue, @fudgefight, @lionnottheanimal, @crtreg, @shehassomuchsoul, @formersovietunion, @serenefreakgeek, @bibimagines
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(In an effort to keep the “secret” element of the stories, I will only be linking to each ending in the main post, so check there if you want to read more endings!)
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The Avengers Haunted House
Summary: Loki was looking for a way closer to you. Nothing like a little haunted house (with some extra magic touches added) to scare you right into his arms.
Request: Hiii, well I was thinking about request with bucky/reader or loki/reader with a halloween theme(hope it's not too soon 😂). It doesn't matter which pairing you choose it's just I would like to read something funny and fluffy or angsty (your choice). From @marveloustrashpanda!
Pairing: Loki x Reader
Warnings: Some Halloween fluff, a tiny tinge of pining and lust, & some spooks thrown in!
Word Count: About 5k
A/N: Happy Halloween everyone! My treat to you is a lil Halloween fic while Loki is bringing the tricks here, so hunker down with some candy and enjoy a short read! Thanks to @marveloustrashpanda for the request!! Love you babe and hope you enjoy!! This was written & posted quickly so I apologize for the typos!
MY MASTERLIST // SEND ME A REQUEST // JOIN MY TAG LIST
You were pressed completely flushed against him, barely able to even breathe much less move under him. The cold wall at your back gave you no opportunity to move away. His warm body was lined up with yours, the force of it just on the right side of bearable.
“I’m beginning to think this was a bad idea,” you mumbled half-heartedly into his shoulder, not in any way sure if the butterflies and stomach turning was from sheer panic or having the Asgardian so skin-warmingly close.
A soft, low chuckle breathed down your ear and neck, Loki’s head leaned down and lips brushed your cheek.
“Yes, my little mortal,” he whispered, chest moving with yours, hands and arms circling you tightly. “I think you bit off far more than you can chew with this one.”
October 29th: Two Days Earlier
To say the Avengers were competitive wouldn’t have been a shock to anyone. You can’t grit and grind to the end of a brutal battle without the deep rooted need to win inside you. And the Avengers all had it. That need to surpass and overcome and above all win no matter what the odds or what the cost? Yeah, that was in no short supply on the team.
Unfortunately when there wasn’t a big bad to go after, that shared competitive spirit often led to interesting discourses and sometimes quite the intense challenges.
“It was by far the scariest costume of the party, I swear.” Clint said, crossing his heart. He was sitting up on the counter, back against the fridge and feet dangling into the sink (much to everyone's resigned displeasure).
“Please,” commented Natasha, used to this kind of confident talk and never letting it just slide. Not with Clint anyways. “I was there, and it was not. How is “The Blob” of all things in anyway scary? People thought you were a potato, Clint.”
The group gather in the lounge of the compound chuckled and smiled, all throwing looks each other. It was quite the amount of commotion, considering there were no missions happening and nothing on the radar either, meaning just about everyone on the team was hanging around.
You were there sitting comfortably on the couch with Steve and Tony, Clint and Nat were at the bar, with Sam and Thor to one side and Loki leaning against the wall behind you. Save a few members, the whole gang was mostly here and restlessly idle.
“Listen, it was terrifying and you know it, Nat.” Clint said, pointing back at her once the chuckles died down.
“Well, no it wasn’t. What was scary was the house.” Nat said. “It was completely decked out. Looked amazing. It had nothing on the other haunted houses I’ve been in... Or HYDRA crack dens either.”
“I could do it better.” Clint whispered in a sing-song kind of way, looking down at his fingernails.
“Guaranteed I could make a far more scary haunted house than you, french fry.” Tony piped up, not to be outdone. “And none of that low-tech, fake blood stuff, but actually terrifying. You’d all run out screaming your cute little heads off.”
Soon enough everyone was talking, Nat and Clint throwing remarks back and forth, Tony and Sam jabbing at one another on classic scares verses modern frights, and Thor talking to a rather disgusted looking Steve about what the otherworldly terrors he’s been witness too.
You just sighed and leaned into the couch, throwing a knowing look behind you to the quiet Loki who rolled his eyes a little, small smile on his face. Somehow it always ended up like this, the two of you shaking your heads at the boisterous bunch. But an idea came quickly to mind, as it usually did in times like these, and you figured it would be a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone as it were.
“Alright, alright,” you said, interrupting the cacophony before things got hairy. God, no one here was able to handle a bit of free time, were they. “Let’s settle this than? Halloween is in two days. How about anyone who wants to be titled “The Ultimate Horror Champion” picks a room at the compound here and we put on a real haunted house. After that, the few of us not participating vote on which room was the scariest.”
Bright eyes danced from just about everyone at the idea, a brief moment of silence following as minds began sparking with ideas.
“So... I take it that’s a yes?” you asked.
An immediate eruption of voices rang out, agreements flooding in and dibs on specific rooms sounded off. Some just jumped up and raced out of the room to get started on the first ever Avenger Haunted House.
It had at first been infuriating for him to feel this way for a little thing like you.
For some time behind closed doors he fumed at the thrall you had over him, an angry burn that flooded every inch of his Frost Giant body. But inexplicably that fiery heat melted into a calm, purring warmth in his chest whenever you walked into a room. Your sparkling laugh, your bright eyes, your cunning wit, ability to make peace or war with a few words, heaven-crafted beauty… In all actuality you reminded Loki of him, all those qualities he recognized clearly in his own self.
But your charm and personality wielded a quieter kind of power than his. It was a lighter, delicate, and peaceful type of power. An equal and opposite to his own. Despite you being mortal and possessing none of the seiðr Loki had himself, he was quite under your spell and had been for too long.
Eventually the fiery and stubborn resistance to you when you weren’t around faded, leaving him in a constant state of want when you were gone, and hollow contentment when you were close. Because you were just never close enough.
He wanted to feel your skin to his, your breath on his body, ring out in a laughter and pleasure that was all and only for him. And it was at a point where he just about couldn’t stand it anymore.
Now, part of his acceptance to the team was an agreement made to drastically reduce any magic and not to interfere with mortals... but that agreement was about to be altered. As soon as you had mentioned this Halloween haunted house game, Loki knew he’d manipulate whatever he could about it to his (and your, he assumed as it would mean being closer to him) benefit. He’d been far too good lately, it was time to break a couple rules...
You threw a bag from the cupboard behind you without looking, the plastic smacking down the counter. Bright little wrappers held mini chocolates, ready to be gobbled down by kids (or the bumbling Hogan, who was determined to sit by the door and wait for the trick-or-treating kids… probably only to avoid the supposed oncoming terror of the competition that night).
It was you and Loki in the kitchen alone, though the buzzing energy of the compound was palpable even here. Everyone was scattered and running around, getting all the last minute details in place for their haunted rooms. It had been two days of secrecy and madness, and no-one was willing to give up a spare second, determined not to lose whatever edge they could have.
“I know there were more in here,” you said, rummaging through the cupboard for more treats, voice muffled as you stuck your head in. “Actually, I did see your brother munching on something that could have been mini chocolate bars… I’ll bet he nipped a bag.”
“He is quite greedy and inconsiderate of children.” Loki agreed lightly, subtly emptying his pockets of wrappers into the trash while you weren’t looking.
“Please,” you laughed. “You and I are complete Scrooges compared to him. Let’s not kid ourselves about that.”
He quirked a brow, leaning against the counter a couple feet away from you. Though you couldn’t see him, he didn’t doubt you knew what question was on his mind.
“Sorry, wrong holiday.” you supplemented, now pulling down a million and one things from the cupboard in your hunt for more candy. “Scrooge is a Christmas thing, I don’t think we got to that story last year.”
“It can’t be any more dull than this holiday.” Loki said, gesturing vaguely to nothing.
“Please, you love it, I know you do.” you said above the shuffling. “Candy? Costumes and masks? Theatrics and over-indulgence? You were made to celebrate this holiday. Happens to be my favourite one too.”
“You mortals make no sense to me,” he said in feigning disapproval.
Well, maybe all mortals save you. You he understood perfectly.
“You know, you were here last year for this,” you pointed out to him, head popping out with a triumphant little smile at the bag of treats in your hand. “None of this is new information.”
“I’m aware,” he said with that mix of dry charm which always managed to pull a smirk and half an eye roll from you. “But I still don’t fully understand the point of people willingly giving out sweets rather than indulge in few harmless tricks instead.”
As you turned around to lean against the counter you saw that nothing about his look said any of his tricks would in fact be harmless. You could practically see the wheels turning on what tricks he would pull on kids and people alike behind those gleaming eyes and that subtly mischievous smile.
“What, you don’t like sweet things?” you said, eyes innocent and wide.
That look and the demure way in which you held yourself made him stop a moment, trying to casually swallow down the heated wanting it brought on. He shrugged a shoulder slightly looking at you head on, determined not to let the sway you held overtake him. It gave him a look of intensity, green eyes set to yours.
“Oh my dear, I love sweet little things.” he said back. He was about to take a step forward to you when Clint came barreling through at top speed in a clamorous sprint.
“I need more buckets! Stat!” he hollered as he ran through the kitchen and out the other side, leaving you and Loki watching him in vague humourous confusion. “Stat means now!”
A snort got caught in your throat at that, just as your phone alarm went off.
Looking up to Loki, your eyes were bright and smirk just as mischievous as his had been a moment ago.
“Time’s up for the team,” you said excitedly. “The witching hour is about to start.”
The deal was- much to Loki’s delight- that everyone would be paired up going into each room, and he knew he would have to find a way to get you as his partner.
Maybe mortals were used to giving treats on Halloween now, but he wasn’t mortal and tricks were far more his style. So that was his plan tonight. Just a couple simple tricks, nothing too intense or scary. But just enough to get you to jump in his arms for protection (which he’d happily oblige you).
So when it came down to begin this game, he was set to coerce, maim, or kill to get you alone with him. It was down to the last four people: Rhodes, Wanda, you and Loki. And before Loki could make a sly suggestion (before going to a bit more of an extreme route), you spoke up.
“Alright,” you said easily, to Wanda and Rhodes. “You guys go ahead, Loki and I will follow after and end out this haunting.”
The two took off eagerly, wanting to see what was in store for them after watching the other pair go in one by one. That left you and Loki along in a bright empty hallway, waiting for your turn. And the beginning to what was going to be a deliciously fun night for Loki.
“You ready?” you said quietly to Loki. “Because if I know these guys, they will try and make us run out of there screaming. Hope you’re made of strong stuff.”
“I’ve battled creatures you couldn’t begin to fathom, darling,” he said with that usual smirk to your half-eye roll. “But I’ll protect you from whatever lurks in there, I promise.”
You didn’t see his smile grow as he turned towards the entrance of the hallway. It was a long stretch that would lead to the other rooms, and the first stop in this haunted house. Loki held out his hand to you and you took it.
“Shall we?”
Windows lined the long stretch of the corridor to your left and all the way down at the end of the hall. The dark rustling trees outside and cold night gave off that feel of unease, with the only minimal light (if you could call it that) from the half moon outside. The rest of the space was pitch black, though you thought you could make out murky shapes in the darkness.
Taking a few slow steps in, the pair of you looked at each other, you giving half a shrug before carrying on down the dark space.
A low growl ran out from the speakers, the familiar static of a recording sounding with it. Not terribly scary just yet, despite the near pitch blackness and woods outside.
“I guess we’re starting off with werewolves,” you said to yourself.
Just down the hall you saw several pairs of eyes flash to life all at once, like little painted light bulbs. It was decidedly simple but did look a little eerie in the dark.
Loki took step just behind you, eyes on you as he breathed something in existence that was certainly not of Earth.
A moment later, you stopped in your tracks, confused. Instead of the yellowish eyes in the dark, suddenly red ones appeared. Big, gleaming eyes in the blackness like blood painted rubies shone back to you from the end of the hall. And they looked like they were moving closer. And closer… And closer...
The speakers cut out with a catch, but the growling didn’t stop. In fact, it only got louder, more feral, and dripping with predatory aggression. Your head snapped around behind you as you heard more growls in the dark, surrounding you both from either end. Red eyes watched and slowly moved in on you, only a shadowy outline of a hulking, crawling frame accompanying them. And those hungry eyes were fixed on you.
Okay, now you were a touch scared.
“Loki…” you whispered, voice tight with fear. You closed ranks, moving behind the Asgardian as you two stepped back to the window.
Loki wrapped his arms gently around to the small of your back, feeling you breathing increase and heart pound a bit in your chest against his back. You had a beautiful heat coming off of you, causing a tingle to cascade through his always cool skin.
“How are they doing this exactly?” he asked, keeping all amusement out of his voice and a tinge of apprehension there instead, needing to draw out this rouse as long as possible.
“I… I don’t know.” you whispered, eyes darting to either side of you, watching the red eyes get closer.
“Shall I take them, or will you?” Loki asked turning around a bit and unable to hide just a little humour there.
“Ha, ha,” you said back, giving him a light kick to the shins. “Like you could either keep me away from a fight or make me do all the work. Whatever this is, we’re doing it together obviously.”
With a bit of a gulp you stepped out from behind Loki, hand connecting and lingering with his as you moved slowly towards one end of the hall, and Loki the other.
“Listen,” you said tersely to the creature in front of you, jaw clenched. “If you’re Steve in a wolf costume, know that I’m coming at you. Like really coming at you here. So either drop this or expect a trip to the med bay, Rogers.”
But if there was a person in a costume, they made no indication.
Its deep growl became so low that it almost passed into an octave that you couldn’t hear, and its huge shadowy frame began to shift down closer to the ground. Just as it was preparing to pounce, so were you.
The moment it sprung up all chaos was let loose, ear shattering barks and claws scraping against tiles, flashes of dark shadows, blood red eyes, and snapping white teeth in the dark.
You dodged the initial strike, swiftly moving to the side by the skin of your teeth and gripping on the rough fur as it flew to where you stood just a second ago. You held on and used the momentum to throw yourself up onto the huge hunched back of whatever the hell this thing was, the jutting vertebrates digging into you.
Instantly the thing started freaking out, bucking and throwing its snapping teeth back to try and get at you, snarling and furious. In the darkness you locked the monster into a headlock, try to constrict its airways and knock this thing out.
“Jump!” came a voice, knocking the focus out of you and kicking in your reflexes. Instantly you complied, leaping off the creature and crashed to the ground. Just in time for a second beast to go hurling full speed at the thing, sending them both tumbling violently down the hall in a heap.
Hands were on you, lifting you up and carrying you down the hall in the second. As the creatures shook their heads dazed and struggled in the pile of limbs to stand, you and Loki raced by. You crashed through the door to the lit hallway, Loki setting you against the wall quickly before closing and securing the door behind you in a fevered rush.
The moment you were out and free from those things, you were leaned against the wall, hands on your knees, puffing and shaking your head.
“Okay… that may be the first one but that is the one to beat!” you said, straightening a bit and running and hand through your hair.
Loki was up to you in a moment, hands place on your waist and cupping your cheek, his expression concerned and caring.
“Are you alright?” he whispered to you, an innocent concern in his forest green eyes.
You closed your eyes and leaned your face into his hands. The feeling of it sent a bolt of addicting electricity straight through him. Touching you was an intoxication, but having you seek it out? Indescribably exquisite. His cool hand practically burned in the best possibly heat he’d felt.
“Yeah,” you said clearing your throat and straightening up, pulling away from his hand and breaking that electric connection with a snap. “Yeah, that was just… unexpected, I guess.”
Gently Loki tucked your loose hair delicately behind your ear, savouring the feel of you as much as he could and finding himself quite unable to stop touching you.
“They certainly can’t get any worse than that now, can they,” he said warmly, leaning in perhaps a little too much. “To the next?”
The next room was the large boardroom built to host quite a number of people, and much to your delight it was a great deal brighter than the last dark corridor. Also, it had no large dark beasts in it, so that was already a plus.
If the last one was like meeting wolves on a dark dangerous road, this room was like a jello factory exploded and left this room filled with the jiggly, colourful mess.
Big globs of slime were on the tables and chairs, dripping down the wall and ceiling, squelching on the floor as you stepped into the room. It made the room glow in a practically neon way.
You smacked a hand to your face, grin creeping out.
“Guess what this is,” you said, turning to Loki before raising your hands and wiggling your fingers spookily. “The Blob!”
You turned around to look at the complete goopy mess this place was, hand on your hip as you wandered in.
“Clint is going to have an awful time cleaning this up. Yeesh,” you said, picking up a fistful of the wet squishy stuff from the table. “This is just weirdly gross. I hope this isn’t some weird fetish of his…”
“Uh, Y/N?” Loki said. When you turned he was pointing up to a vent just on the wall beside you.
Forcing its way slowly through was more of that blob stuff, pushing through the grates of the vents and moving down the wall with seemingly more purporse than jello should.
“He put it in the vents?! Damn it, Clint.” you mumbled. But that wasn’t the worst of it you soon noticed.
It start coming out from under the door you just entered from too. Then pouring down from the ceiling light fixtures. You clutched Loki’s wrist as a snapping crack rang out, making you jump. You felt your feet shift, looking down in a bit of shock as the tiles were cracking and pushing up, ooze determined to get through.
Maddenly quick the fast unevening floor pushed and toppled chairs, raising up the table and cracking it in two, splitting the drywall, and coming down in huge chunks with the ceiling.
You decided now was the time to run.
You grabbed Loki’s hand, maybe taking two steps before slipping, jerking him down to the ground right on top of you. He ended up with his face coming down on the back of your neck, luckily able to brace slightly so you weren’t completely crushed under his Asgardian body.
You let out a groan, shifting and shuffling on the soaking ground so you were on your back, facing him with a hand on your forehead, eyes shut against the knock of pain the floor had given you.
Meanwhile Loki was transfixed, his body on top of yours with the lightest of pressure and the heaviest of longing in his chest. With every fast breath he lowered himself a touch more down on you, unable to help the temptation to simply be near and locked to you, to feel that sweet heat you gave off across the whole length of his body.
Loki took a second, risking you question of him not moving or demand he get off, staying on top of you with lips trailing just above your cheek...
When your eyes did open they immediately looked behind Loki, spurring you on to scramble up off the cracking vibrating floor. Loki turned, seeing the ooze coming up like a tidal wave about to crash down on you both.
Immediately (for the second time tonight already) he ripped you up from the ground into his arms, racing for the door. He threw himself against it and kicked it closed just as the slime was about to breach the threshold and drown you both.
The force back his kick made ended up pushing you both to the ground, your legs ending up over his lap, head on his shoulder, and back pinning his arm. Your soaked body was practically clinging to him with the slime. The pair of you took a moment together, breathing at your second narrow escape of the night.
“Just don’t tell Clint I thought this was scary, okay?” you said between breaths.
Loki just nodded as you lay there, you focusing instead on wiping slime from your face and arms though you didn’t move to get off him just yet. Loki practically hummed to himself, relishing the feel of your body and legs draped over him and your wet thigh under his hand. Slime covered or not, your skin still felt as great as he knew it would be.
That was the moment he knew he simply loved Halloween.
The next room was in a small but long lab, mostly used as overflow for any big projects Bruce and Tony were working on in the main lab.
This time when you stepped in, you were already holding Loki’s hand, not taking any chances this time. Just as he was hoping. And if he had anything to do about it, that closeness would only increase with each scare. So cautiously and hand-in-hand, you two entered.
The room was bright white and completely empty. As in there was nothing in it at all. No lab equipment to speak of or tables or chairs or fixtures or even outlets. The ceiling was basically a panel of frosted glass serving as one blinding light, while the floors and walls were the same huge white tiles. Nothing else at all.
“Well, this has a vague asylum feel to it,” you said, trying to rationalize what whoever set this up was going for. “Minus the padded walls.”
“Quite underwhelming,” Loki said, looking around, hand still holding onto yours, doing his best to slow his softly moving fingers against your skin.
“Not for long kids!” said Tony’s voice over the speaker, jolting you right up to Loki’s side.
A thin panel quick came down over the door you entered, preventing any escape for whatever Tony had planned, leaving the only escape at the very far end of the room. A moment later you heard a grinding machinery type noise, followed by some loud whirling. It was instantly accompanied by the walls starting to move in.
“Oh great!” you half shrieked, grabbing Loki and running.
But you only made it a few steps when a terribly loud bang from behind the walls sounded, knocking you both to the side and up against the wall. You immediately stumbled back from it, as now the once slowly moving walls were suddenly moving a mile a minute.
“Oh, I regret suggesting this stupid idea!” you yelled into the deafening whirling room, neither of you able to get even footing as you were forced back. “I regret everything in my life leading up to this moment! I regret Tony Stark ever being born!”
In second your back hit the opposing wall, coming up fast to meet you. You kicked out your legs, trying to keep the other wall from moving anymore and crushing you, but it was no use. A few second later you held your arms out against it, the space shrinking so fast you were practically blinded by panic.
Before the wall could reach you, Loki moved from your side to in front of you, your chest to his, bracing one wall with his forearms and one with his back. But even then it wasn’t enough, Loki having to settle for wrapping his arms around you.
Another loud bang and crack sounded, the walls stopping their movement in a jarring lurch. The whirled stopped suddenly, leaving the two of you positively pinned to each other, the only sound in the sudden silence being the breath passing between you.
“Well, holy shit,” Tony sounded after a few moments. You would have jumped at the sound if you could have moved in any way at all. “No idea what in hell happened, but I am fixing it right now, I swear! Don’t die, okay bye.”
There really was nothing to do but stand. You were pressed completely flushed against Loki, barely able to even breathe much less move under him. The cold wall at your back gave you no opportunity to move away. His warm body was lined up with yours, the force of it just on the right side of bearable.
Your legs were a tangle together, hips pinned to hips, stomach and chest pressed to each other, one of your arms caught between you the other stuck to your side as Loki’s arms wrapped around you.
“I’m beginning to think this was a bad idea,” you mumbled half-heartedly into his shoulder, not in any way sure if the butterflies and stomach turning was from sheer panic or having the Asgardian so skin-warmingly close.
A soft, low chuckle breathed down your ear and neck, Loki’s head leaned down and lips brushing your cheek.
“No, my little mortal,” he whispered, chest moving with yours hand and arms circling you tightly. “I think you bit off far more than you can chew with this one.”
“Can’t believe my first bad idea will actually be the death of me,” you chuckled nervously, trying to ease the palpable tension at the sudden and extreme closeness you had yet to experience with him.
Your teammate and friend he may be, but that hardly meant you found yourself in this type of situation ever. It was making you positively dizzy.
That laughter ended up with the tiniest squeak from you as Loki tried to shift, the smallest amount of additional pressure stifling. You tried to ignore how beautifully nice it was to have a cool body against yours, the heat flooding your system about to do you under.
“Am I hurting you, darling?” he whispered to you in response to your tiny surprised whimper.
“I…” you started, thankful at least you could hide into his shoulder. “I think a little maybe.”
A few beats passed before he spoke, delicately hushed voice in your ear.
“Then it’s time we left, I believe.”
He moved both his body on the front of your and his hands behind you, leaving you pressed and pulled into him. You turned up to Loki quickly, eyes wide and nose brushing his, about to speak before he cut you off.
“If I can get my hands loose,” he started, green eyes completely filling your view. “I’ll push against the wall and we see about breaking free, hmm?”
You swallowed and nodded once, tip of your nose lightly touching his. He held your stare a moment before shifting again, hands eventually pulling free.
Putting them up against the wall with his cheek leaned down to yours, he pushed. The groaning mechanics behind the wall protested, metal screeching and electronics popping out sharp snaps of sound. Loki breathed heavily in your ear, making a show of exerting himself in effort before with a booming crash the wall fell away.
The sudden loss of pressure against your back caused to you to stumble backwards with the wall, almost hitting the floor before cool strong arms caught you, bring you nose to nose with Loki yet again.
He said nothing, just looked at you as you watched him, the smallest and contentest smile on his face.
The next room was… well, different than the others.
The two of you stopped a couple feet in looking around with pulled together brows and similarly confused expressions.
“Is this…” you started, narrowing your eyes. “Did someone recreate Clint’s bedroom?”
There was about a hundred dirty socks, underwear, and old flannel shirts around a lumpy mattress of a bed and scattered across the entire floor. That was pretty much it. It was minimal to say the least.
“I’ll bet you a hundred dollars that Bucky and Sam teamed up to do… this,” you said, pointing out around the room which also included a waste bin in the corner filled with old fruit peels and half-empty milk containers.
“I… have nothing.” Loki said, giving up on what exactly to do with this mess.
“Next?” you said, stepping up to him perhaps closer than you usually did, he thought.
“Please,” Loki said looking to one corner over your shoulder. “Because I do believe they actually put vermin in here.”
You looked over your shoulder to the corner in question, see a bit of movement there too.
“Or the rats just followed the smell from Clint’s actual bedroom…”
Another pitch black room. This time you had wrapped Loki’s arm around your waist and the other went to your hip, pressing fingers and palms into you. Loki was deliciously breathing you in, trying to think of all the delightful ways he could draw his night out. Or perhaps he would just have to resort to scaring you more often?
The thought brought him to an edge, where one side lay the addicting closeness brought on from scaring you, and the other side the soul-warming feeling of protecting you from fear. He wanted the best of both and he’d find a way to get it.
An otherworldly wail built up from the ground in the darkness, and instantly in his arms, you froze.
A whispery white flash moved just out of sight to the your left, and you closed your eyes tightly for a moment before opening them again. Somehow, Loki noticed, you were already more scared than any other room, and he had only barely gotten started. Your skin had turned a bit colder, muscles tight and body stiff, breath shallow and shaky.
Another whip of white to the right and your nails dug into his flesh. Loki loved that feeling, wanting those nail to trance down his bare back…
In full view a devilish looking wraith came flying at the pair of you, shrieking furiously in the darkness.
A blood curdling scream erupted from you, quite unlike the ones you had made previously tonight, instantly turning and clutching into Loki with all the strength you had. You positively buried yourself into Loki’s neck, trying your best it seemed to keep from screaming.
“Loki, I hate ghosts,” you whispered, an octave lower than your usual tone and certainly not at all stable. “I hate them, I’m terrified. Please don’t do this, please just get me out?”
Loki stood there, a little surprised at this. Quick as always he wondered if by your words you knew what game he was playing, or if he had simply taken this too far. He hadn’t know you’d have this reaction though. Instantly he snapped his fingers and the ghosts that had suddenly filled the room left.
Loki lifted you easily, carrying you bridal style through the room and out of it. You didn’t look up, didn’t move from your clutching position in his arms, muscles still tense.
The bright and blissfully normal looking hallway on the other side was filled with Avengers, all trying to figure out what the hell happened tonight and also who had won. From the groups voices and yelling and arguments you heard Thor boom above the rest calling out for Loki in that frustrated motherly way he did, trying to search the crowd and rooms for his brother.
Loki took you down a quiet hall away from the commotion, setting your feet down and leaning you back against the wall. His hands went to your neck, his thumbs pushing your chin up to look at him, his face leaned down barely an inch away from yours.
“The ghosts were a little far, I think,” you said weakly, trying to swallow down some of the fear. What you didn’t do was move away though, sticking close and leaning into his touch. “It may not have taken much, but that was enough of your tricks, I thought.”
“When did you figure it out?” Loki asked, a bit of smug pride that his source of affection and longing saw through the little scheme (yet still let him have his fun, at least until the end).
“The first room, Loki,” you said in an obvious tone with bit of a shaky grin. “Werewolves don’t exist here. Neither does The Blob. And you’re Asgardian by the way, so I don’t doubt if you really wanted out of a room with closing walls you’d just do it and a lot faster. Now, Clint’s dirty gym clothes? That was definitely real and certainly terrifying.”
You chuckled to yourself at your own joke and Loki couldn’t help but watch you, his enjoyment coming from your own.
“Now,” you said, looking a bit more serious. “You’re not usually a jerk… To me anyway. So do you want to tell me what you were trying to do tonight?” You took a deep breath and sighed into him, your body completely flush to his and heavy lidded eyes matching his. “To scare me away, or scare me close?”
“Close, darling,” he whispered, hands moving to pull your lips to his.
Loki leaned in just as you did, closing the infinitesimally small distance together. That electric jolt of pleasure when he touched you was nothing compared to this, his heart and body lighting up like a birth of a new star. Your calming, easy energy shifted to match his fiery one in that moment as your lips moved against his. He was met with a wanting that matched his, a fever that rivalled his own. He was drunk on you in a moment, only retaining the barest of controls as he held your mortal little body under his own.
Pulling away he breathed your air, revelling in it, finally getting what he wanted and knowing he was not about to let it go. That place of longing inside him purred at the connection, deciding to fall on the side of protecting you from fear.
“I should have planned this earlier,” you said, hushed and lids still low with a lingering wanting that Loki was drowning in. “If I had known this was all it would take to get you to kiss me like that.”
“What do you mean?” Loki asked, unable to help grinning at that gleam in your eyes others often saw in his own eyes. Usually it meant pure mischief in him, but with you, there was an undeniable added hint of kindness. “You purposely wanted me to do all this? To frighten you like this, all for a kiss?”
“Of course,” you said, leaning up to kiss him again gently, lingering there just above his lips. Even that small touch made his breath hold in his chest. “I might be sweet but I have some tricks up my sleeve too. Especially on Halloween.”
A/N: Happiest of Halloweens darlings! This was my first Loki fic so I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you thought?? A reblog or message would make my day!
Permanent Tags: @dontpanc, @smodvocate, @bunsterjonez, @buckybonky, @marveloustrashpanda, @hangirl93, @captainrogerrsbeard, @friendly-neighborhood-lich-queen, @thisgirllikeme, @jjsoccer11, @innerpandablizzard-blog, @fanatic-fanfic, @mdgrdians, @christinky, @universal-death-of-a-fangirl, @cauraphernelia, @ailynalonso15, @cassiopeia-barrow, @1elboomdemsechevarria, @cameronskywalker, @rogrsnbarnes, @verygraphicink, @onlyanothersocialcasualty
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please tell me about your trash vamp tristan -candy pop anon
Alright buckle in coz I'mma tell y'all about my shitty vampire pretending to be a human pretending to be a shitty vamp. Tristan is the manifestation of a dumpster fire—and if there is a dumpster on fire it was most likely his doing.
((LONG POST IS LONG. I’MMA INFODUMP ABOUT MY SON.))
I believe I have a post or two that has dialogue from him, in which he’s not his usual self. He’s got some profound wisdom hidden in him somewhere, and some repressed sad from his life, usually buried down until he connects with literally anyone on a deeper level than: “Tris, why the fuck is there a skeleton in your cupboard?”
I'mma come back to Profound Wisdom and Repressed Sad later because let me first get y'all to the subject of Tristan’s cupboard skeleton.
Now, when I say trash vamp I mean that he’s not really a good guy. Like, he’s not evil, but he’s not good either. He’s a mess whose day job ((night job, considering he’s a nocturnal vamp)) is being a Certified Spook. It’s in his job description to cause just enough chaos that the supernatural is plausible in case anyone fucks up their cover, but still make it easy for the supernatural to be denied or debunked by humans. He maintains that stupidly specific balance.
Shitty Vamp = he’s got a lot of debilitating, stereotypical vampire traits that makes it super hard for him to do his job when the sun’s out
His cover is he’s a human from Ireland ((which is true, he was born in Ireland who knows how long ago)) but he’s pretending to be a stereotypical vampire from Romania ((half true due to him first being stationed in Romania due to his eldest adopted brother)).
So, technically he’s a supernatural government worker. But, again, he’s a fucking mess. There’s shit he’s repressed, or has been helped in repressing. There’s a lot of advantages to being adopted into a magic family. But there’s also a lot of disadvantages to being adopted into a magic family that descends from a hell realm.
So’s, he wasn’t raised with the best morals, and with some abstract-ish laws from a realm that birthed The Boogeyman and The Big Bad Wolf and Death’s Daughter and the Mother of Shadows. But he was also able to complete all requirements from two foreign governments and their realms to be able to have the job he does. So even if he doesn’t have the best morals—depending on your own standards, honestly—Tristan does adhere to local laws. Mostly.
Which brings us to Cupboard Skeleton aka F??? aka Frederick aka Tristan-doesn’t-remember-the-guys-name-other-than-it-starts-with-F-and-he-was-an-ass-in-life-so-Frederick-it-is
Frederick McCupboardSkeleton is the skeleton that someone—Tristan doesn’t remember if it was him or not—shoved into his cupboard in between all the cereal boxes and liquor bottles. He has slowly become a cursed skeleton since his death. Tristan’s a vampire, he doesn’t have the power or magic to banish an angry spirit or seal non-human bones to trap him. But he can contain him and keep an eye on him until he figures out who this guy was and why he (Tristan) was involved with his death (Tristan assumes). Thus he’s cursed and Tristan doesn’t keep him all in one piece.
So if ya spot Tristan anywhere outside his apartment or his eldest brother’s house, you can assume that there’s a skull in his bag and that it’s Frederick and you’d be goddamn right. They’re a pair until Tristan figures shit out OR Frederick enacts whatever revenge plot(s) he’s got stewing in his skull.
Tristan’s the one that’s usually shit on publicly and openly out of his brothers.
Ji’s the eldest and raised them all. He the one you truly have to look out for but no one’s gonna say shit to his face or even in his general direction. He’s That Guy. He’s old magic and hellfire. He’s got a reputation older than human civilization.
Isidore is biologically Ji’s little brother. Just basically runs Ji’s Estate, acts like an assistant, keeps tabs on Tristan whenever he’s home and will watch Frederick’s skull. Because he’s actually a witch that can deal with restless spirits. Not as intense as any of his brothers or his mother. The Calm One.
And the youngest is Luca. He’s a werewolf. No one truly knows if he was born that way or infected or born from infected parents. His origins are as unknown as Tristan’s. Luca was practically a baby when their mother brought him home. Just as traumatized and repressing just as much as his vamp brother. But Luca is Dealing with it, because he’s the Most Responsible of the four. Some-fuckin-how. (Izzy’s The Calm One, but don’t think he won’t go off the rails. You just won’t know until it’s too late.)
Luca works as head of personal security for the Song Siblings—who go between all the realms really. But they’re usually on Earth working with humans so he’s the closest to Tristan—also closest in age. Luca sees most of the shit Tristan ends up doing. He’s the first to point out Frederick’s bones to Tristan, actually.
But as much as he shit-talks Tristan’s bad habits—mainly mixing up the milk bottles and blood bottles and liquor bottles in his fridge when the vamp is having cereal in his presence because Luca can smell all the things—he does it out of concern. Tristan isn’t indestructible, and even as a vampire, the amount of alcohol and cigarettes he goes through a day has to be doing something to his body. Also the sugar in his favorite cereals can’t be mixing well with the blood Tristan actually has to consume to sustain himself. If sugar affects the being that blood came from, it’s probably doing even more shitty things to his brother. He’s the one that will fight you then and there if he catches you. (Ji causes paranoia because what the fuck is he up to and wHEN, and no one ever suspects Izzy until After the Fact.) ((You just can’t shit on Tristan just to shit on him.))
Tristan got fucked up by his birth family, and then by being raised in an environment where he only had one source of sustenance and it was heavily laced with things that are addictive to vampires. Addictive in ways it fucked him up even more. Namely magic, but There’s More. It’s a Big Concern for everyone who knows, because ya can’t exactly synthesize that shit. There’s More changes anyone who’s exposed to it long enough, and Tristan’s been eating it since he was a babby vamp. He doesn’t have much choice but to live off it and he absolutely hates it.
Tristan has that habit of trying to kill something inside him he can’t see or remember. He’s picked up the habit of eating junk food that’s almost pure sugar, smoking, drinking anything. He’s a fucking neon sign of reasons why preternatural mental health is A Thing they should be researching more. But also the poster boy of: We should be taking a vampire’s physical health more seriously than Just-Feed-Them-Blood.
But catch Tristan passing on some profound wisdom to school kids and anyone that reminds him of Luca. Partly because he feels like a shitty brother so here kid have some advice. Also because Ji won’t let Tristan suspend too much time with either of his kids, even with Ji’s son being 20-something now. Like, he gets it, and he’s not proud of it being that, but he’s not really changing because he has Luca and the Song Siblings. He has his friends in Louisiana. He’s buddies with Willy Shakes--
Now I’m spewing all this bullshit because a lot of it comes from a story I scrapped where Luca’s a teenager and Ji has the one kid and you meet the Song Siblings before they’re ever—Celebrities, I guess??
Because Tristan was worse. He was the brother you absolutely hated. There, you had the rest of the brothers who followed the law and then Tristan who was headed towards a Dead End. But when it came down to it, he was there for Luca. Because he was the only one there. Tristan risked himself for this baby werewolf and his friends.
And that’s where my tag in that one post comes in. Where it ties in with my dialogue posts.
It has to do with Tristan watching sad scared little witch Celia Song growing up confident-in-herself Song Seonmi.
Tristan has a habit of flirting with everything, mainly dating ghosts so far, so he has no fucking clue when she got under his skin. And as much as Luca tells him to back off his friend (and boss) he really can’t be mad that Tristan dropped The Worst of his habits to keep seeing her. Because the first time she walked out of his life completely was a disaster until Tristan figured out that she would keep disappearing before he ever reached her again so long as he was being a complete bastard. Because when she left she took her brother and his own with her. And he really didn’t want to go back to living on lockdown with Ji—or worse, with his mother in the hell-realm. Isolation does shit to you.
So the Tristan you see in the story is a better off vamp than the one from Alex and Celia’s story. That was. . . Bad. As in that story probably won’t ever see the light of day because I cried every time I sat down to write that Tristan. Like, maybe I’ll incorporate bits and pieces into other stories, and most of the TrisMi growth is written in their interactions. But I just can’t do it, yo. I love my trash vamp because there’s hope to him and just watching the change in him as he grows in the background of everyone else’s stories. I can’t write him being an Absolute Asshole.
What sealed the deal was when I wrote about Tristan losing control because of There’s More in his diet and Seonmi—still going by Celia at that point—does her damned best to try and snap him out of it. Like, my girl had hope in him and didn’t give up so I couldn’t either. Now here we are.
Tristan is as On Brand as I’ll ever be. Horrible Past, Trauma, Found Family, Walking Shitpost, Angst, and Hope. He don’t really know what he’s doing but he’s still going.
I mean yeah, I can get real deep about Tristan as a moment’s notice—i.e. this whole post because I’ve been in my feels tonight. Like, Tristan will do a bunch of shit to comfort himself. Dumpster fires. Speaking at preternatural schools (like cryptid academy I brainstormed with @ladymaliwan). Setting out food and drinks for Frederick’s skull because he feels awkward leaving none for the skull when he has his own.
Catch Tristan smokin cigs with the skull in a dumpster, both wearing sunglasses. Find trash vamp poppin out like Oscar the Grouch for advice. It’s not always good or profound, but he always got something. But also save him—because he’s sensitive to the sun as a ginger nocturnal vamp raised in a dark hell-realm, later an cold fog realm where a sun doesn’t really exist. Toss him in your trunk or a body bag to help him get home.
Dear lord, I can keep going and dump everything about him but this is long as it is. He’s one of my oldest characters. I created him before Isidore and Luca, but not too long after Ji and their mother—and Ji and their mom are fucking old. As in I’m finding scraps of paper where they’re mentioned. But it’s also telling that I’ve written Tristan on my blog more than any of my other OC’s for an original story.
#roxawrites#candy pop anon#tristan æfentid#song seonmi#luca æfentid#isidore æfentid#jianael æfentid#frederick mccupboardskeleton#listen I'll reblog this later at a more decent hour but currently the godless hours of 3am just feels right#also because i can't schedule an ask anymore??#but I can't write tags on asks on desktop anymore either???#i have such a large cast of characters that i gush about to friends#currently reworking some shit in worldbuilding but Tris won't change much I don't think#at least not as drastically that I'll scrap the story again and leave it at vague mentions#ladymaliwan#your tag since I mentioned cryptid pta story that I joked about tossing Tristan in once upon a time#also for adoring my trash vamp as much as i do#when the formatting gets fucked up after editing between devices because of the fuckin tags h el p
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