Tumgik
#you could probably throw me into a volcano at this point and my brain would still find a way to get out of it and keep moving
actual-changeling · 6 months
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it's so. annoying? invalidating? that everyone is always like "oh but you're so resilient you still go to school/graduate/go to college/don't give up" like bestie do you think i WANT to keep going?? you think i see some sort of sense in any of this???
fuck, i wish i could just call it quits already but i can't. my brain won't let me.
every single time my therapist asks me why i keep pushing i tell her the same thing "i just have to". there's no goal, nothing i'm trying to achieve or get to. i literally cannot stop and i have never heard anyone else talk about that because yeah, i have to drag myself along but that's the only option.
i don't get to not do that. i hate it and i don't want to and it's killing me but i keep going because that's what i do.
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makeste · 3 years
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BnHA Chapter 315: I Didn’t Expect This to Blow Up
Previously on BnHA: Horikoshi was all “guess which plot that you thought was dead is actually not dead and is making a comeback!” and we were all “EVIL HPSC??” and he was all “girl you know it,” and that’s the story of how we got a sexy Lady Nagant flashback with lots of guns and murder. Flashback!Lady was all “gotta murder peeps to preserve the people’s trust,” but then a little while later she was like “actually wait that makes no sense,” and so she shot her evil boss and they sent her to jail. Back in the present, Deku was all “okay fair, the hero system might in fact be a little fucked up, but hear me out... have you considered not helping AFO take over the world so he can murder like a bazillion more innocent people??” The chapter ended with the not-all-there Overhaul finally revealing himself to Deku, and I honestly have no idea where this is gonna go.
Today on BnHA: In what is unfortunately the single worst plan ever concocted by anyone in BnHA, Nagant is all “I’m going to try and get this Deku kid to panic and freeze up by putting someone in mortal danger.” Deku is all, “[doesn’t panic and freeze up at the sight of someone in mortal danger].” Nagant is all “omg no way.” Deku, who is now all of a sudden being so OP that even I have to acknowledge that it’s OP lol, is all “[smashes Nagant’s gun arm to bits]”, which sucks but is also really cool, and which also apparently makes Nagant decide that she actually likes this kid after all. Deku is all “NAGANT I REALLY LIKE YOU AND THINK YOU’RE GREAT SO PLEASE JOIN UP WITH ME AND STOP BEING EVIL.” Nagant is all “aw shucks (✿ •͈ᴗ•͈) well okay then” and everyone is all “( ・◡・) ✰ ( ˆᴗˆ ) ( ᵘ ᵕ ᵘ ⁎)” and then Nagant FUCKING EXPLODES LIKE AN EGG IN THE MICROWAVE AND FALLS TO HER DEATH!!!! except not really because Hawks saves her??? In conclusion, (a) THE FUCK, and (b) AFO TURN ON YOUR LOCATION I JUST WANT TO TALK.
so I have to tell you guys something, which is that barely ten minutes after I made that “please don’t send me spoilers” post the other day, someone replied to the comments in a stunning fit of “tell me that you’re twelve without actually telling me you’re twelve” energy and posted what seemed to be the copy-pasted spoiler summary from reddit or twitter or whatever lol. so here is my good news/bad news rundown of all that
good news: I have very well-conditioned ABORT!! reflexes and have trained myself to immediately look away from the screen (usually in dramatic fashion) as soon as I realize that whatever I’m reading is a spoiler
bad news: unfortunately as I was subsequently deleting said comments, I accidentally read the very last one
good news??: said spoiler was so unbelievably, absurdly over-the-top that I’m almost positive this person was just trolling. like, there’s just no way lmao
bad news: but in the unlikely event that it is true I will absolutely lose my shit I swear to god
(ETA: “NAGANT DIES.” that was the spoiler I read lol. like, literally all I read from the person’s comments was “My Hero Academia Chapter 315 Title: “Beautiful Words.” Chapter starts with...” and then I noped out of there, and then of all the comments to read as I was deleting, it had to be that one lol. I seriously was just like “SURE, JAN.” all “just how gullible do you think I am” sob. but I was wrong. a troll, but an honest troll they remain.
but anyways like I’m pretty sure Nagant isn’t even actually dead lol, so in the end this whole little adventure doesn’t even have a point to it, but for me it was a journey!)
anyway, so there are apparently two versions of the chapter today?? no idea what the difference is, but I’m going to go with the Bean version, because it’s the one at the top and I don’t feel like making decisions today
huh, so Overhaul is actually more coherent than Horikoshi was letting on
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look at him having a whole back and forth conversation with her. side note, how is he still this jacked when he’s been sitting in a cell doing absolutely nothing for the past six months
anyway so he says he’ll go with her on one condition. I wonder what that condition could possibly be. do you think it could be the thing he literally hasn’t shut up about ever since he reappeared lol
yep! and damn -- maybe this guy will surprise me after all
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still would be nice if you also felt a bit sorry for the little girl you tortured and traumatized, but this is something at least. maybe Deku will yell at him for that other stuff lol
(ETA: also can’t help but wonder if he wants to make amends because he put him in a coma, or because his plan was a failure and ended up destroying the family. just hoping you’ve finally had that “hurting other people is bad” epiphany dude.)
anyways so now Nagant’s arm is transforming again, and this particular transformation happens to be the only truly unsexy thing that Nagant has done thus far so I’m just gonna skip right on ahead lol
aaaaand we’re back to the delirious ranting
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buddy. just. read the fucking room, guy
wow she really is aiming at Overhaul, then. those theories were spot-on
damn she’s really out here all “it really fucks with kids’ heads when you kill people right in front of them and make them blame themselves” like yo
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I’m picturing her saying all this in a very loud stage-whispery tone while making very significant eye contact with Deku lol
uh oh but wait
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um. okay. who’s gonna tell her. Nagant I might have some bad news for you about the kid you’re trying to capture here. specifically about the way he tends to do the opposite of what you’re thinking that he’s about to do
holy shit
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so it’s basically just “tap x repeatedly to charge up your attack” lol
and okay, so that’s cool and all, but is anyone else wincing at the thought of what that must be like on his knees. oh to be young
anyway, but so to the surprise of basically no one, Deku did not, in fact, freeze. I am very sorry, Nagant. he’s just like this
LMAO
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someone wanna tell me how getting yoloed in the fucking ribs by this fucking slingshot kid moving at literal sniper bullet speed is in any way even remotely better than getting hit by the bullet itself lol
(ETA: this is 10x funnier now that we know the bullet wasn’t even gonna hit him lmao.)
anyway so now Nagant is having an extended “!?!?!?” reaction about how Deku just moved with no hesitation, and I’m starting to get an inkling of fear that the rest of this fight isn’t going to go very well for her and maybe that’s what all the “hoo boy” is about
oh my god Deku are you about to Gomu Gomu no Rocket yourself at her you insane little man
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now Three is popping up again and he’s all “I see you’ve learned your lesson and are now only using three quirks at once instead of five” like with all this effusive praise about how great and badass Deku is and sob, okay, yeah. this chapter is basically one of those machines that shoots tennis balls at people, except instead of tennis balls it shoots hot piping discourse
OH MY GOD
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YOOOOOOOOOO but also, NOOOOOOOOOOO
lol oh my god it’s literally two opposing reactions at once wtf. do I love this or hate this. like just for once can Horikoshi actually let a badass lady character win their fucking fight without getting their arm ripped off, BUT ALSO fucking look at that absurdly cool “SMASH” onomatopoeia though. it looks like it’s about to float right off the page holy shit that’s some seriously good art
anyway so is this really the end?? do I need to break out my ಠ_ಠ faces
lmao okay yeah I can definitely see how this would piss a lot of people off
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he basically one-shotted her and she’s all “damn this kid is so amazing that I’m about to do a complete 180 turn on all of my previous angst” lmao. Horikoshi is really shounening it up today
on the plus side though, maybe this means there’s still a chance for her to join up with him after all? unless that spoiler was true lmao, then all hell is gonna break loose
YESSSSSSS
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OH MY GOD AND HE SAYS THE BULLET WOULDN’T HAVE DONE MORE THAN GRAZE OVERHAUL ANYWAY, wow, I’m actually more relieved by that than I would have expected. I mean I would have forgiven her either way, but it means that there was still more hero in her than she was letting on
YES!!! FUCKING YES, THANK YOU
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lol but I mean, it’s also like, “oh so today they get to have brain cells”, thank you so much lol. sometimes it’s really hard to tell which times we’re supposed to question these character decisions that seem dumb, and which times we’re just supposed to full on embrace them and switch off our critical thinking
but okay, so in this case it really was Nagant going easy on him on purpose, and not just her fucking up for no good reason even though she used to do this for a living and was the best in the game. and I know in this case it’s probably just Horikoshi giving us some consolation headpats to soften the blow of her losing so abruptly, but you know what, shit. I’ll take it
also you guys the light is coming back into Deku’s eyes again for just a moment here and I’m having feels about it?? the way it still comes back when he’s reaching out to save someone, and following his own hero path instead of the much darker and lonelier Christopher Nolan path that’s been laid out for him instead that he never wanted?? it’s both reassuring and also very sad
YESSSSSSSSSSS
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DO IT LADY OMG PLEASE?? PLEASE COME BE HIS NEW IRRESPONSIBLE ADULT SUPERVISION YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO
AHHHHHHH SHE’S GONNA DO IT AHHHH
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p.s. I am now absolutely scared shitless that that spoiler was actually true sob. swear to god, I will throw this manga into a fucking volcano. but we’re almost at the end of the chapter and this seems just WAY TOO GOOD to be true fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck f
UCK
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NOPE NAH SEND IT BACK, NOPE, NUH UH, DIDN’T ORDER THIS. “GULLIBLE” OKAY FUCK YOU?? “COUNTERMEASURES” NOPE, DON’T NEED ‘EM, WE’RE ALL FINE HERE. WE’RE ACTUALLY GOOD SO YOU CAN JUST GO, OKAY. PLEASE
fuck, lol, I don’t wanna do it. I don’t wanna scroll down what have I ever done to deserve this oh my god
WHAT THE HONEY-ROASTED FUCK
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WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT FUCKING VOLCANO IN ICELAND THAT I KEEP SEEING ALL THESE PICTURES OF. WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT SHIT. LET’S GO
ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW
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can someone please give AFO a really good, sharpish kick in the balls. just really let him have it. I’m so tired, what the fuck
-- ARE YOU KIDDING ME LOL WHAT
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bro. I was literally going through my Excel folders to find the spreadsheet about female characters in BnHA that I made back when Midnight died. was gearing myself up for a wholeass rant. and honestly I might just let all of that continue simmering on low to keep it warm just in case lol, because to tell you the truth I have absolutely no idea what’s happening right now
my girl straight up does not have a face. she used to have a face. people usually need those, idk. like, even if she’s alive, her gorgeous eyebrows are definitely not making it out of this and I’m gonna throw a funeral just for them
how the fuck did AFO just blow her up?? how did he know what was going on?? and if he had a quirk that could explode people at will, why is this the first we’re hearing of it?? you’d think that might have come in handy at Kamino or Jakku, like what
(ETA: present!me, who’s had more than three hours of sleep and can now actually remember facts about the series, would like to remind past!me that AFO gave Nagant a quirk, and so this is probably just more Vestige shenanigans now on his part. that’s also probably why Air Walk suddenly stopped working out of nowhere. still doesn’t explain why he doesn’t go around blowing people up more often though but maybe he thinks it’s gauche.)
Hawks just straight up out of nowhere. just Mirioed his way straight into the chapter just in time to be too late sob. here I was looking forward to seeing your face when Deku showed up with his new best friend. can’t believe Horikoshi deprived us of that moment
on the plus side, WELCOME BACK, HAWKS’S FEATHERS. I have no doubt that in this chapter of Deku being an almighty threequirk-mastering god, and Nagant losing anticlimactically only to be immediately blown up because girl characters in BnHA can only be cool for one fight and one fight only, there are still some people who are focusing solely on the “how dare Hawks get his wings back when he is a MURDERER this is an outrage what about CONSEQUENCES” discourse, and to hell with all the other discourses lmao
anyway, so yeah. wow. and now it’s just occurring to me that maybe the real reason why Overhaul is there is so he can get a head start on that amend-making by actually doing a good thing for once in his life, and using his quirk to heal Nagant. assuming he can still do that
and so now Horikoshi has got me out here actually rooting for Overhaul. you know what, on that note I think I’m just gonna go ahead and call it a day sob
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k3rm1e · 3 years
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hi love,
what about a short reader, like really short (i’m 5’0 lol) meeting ranboo irl for the first time. they get kinda intimidated by the height difference and their love language is physical touch so once they do feel better standing near ranboo it’s like the exact opposite, so now they’re all over him as if he was monkey bars.
also if you do end up using this could you tag me? i really wanna read it as soon as it comes out♥️
playground
hi love,
what about a short reader, like really short (i’m 5’0 lol) meeting ranboo irl for the first time. they get kinda intimidated by the height difference and their love language is physical touch so once they do feel better standing near ranboo it’s like the exact opposite, so now they’re all over him as if he was monkey bars.
also if you do end up using this could you tag me? i really wanna read it as soon as it comes out♥️
hi!! sorry this has taken a while, i am shit at scheduling (like really bad lmao) but i hope you like it anyways!!
cw: cursing 
playground:
  sitting in the airport, you waited for ranboo and his parent’s to pick you up. the california heat was absolutely miserable, burning you up. everyone in the airport seemed miserable, covered in the slick of sticky sweat. leaning your head over the back of your chair, you stared at the fluorescent lights.
  seeing someone shouting your name you picked your head up, only to flop it back down. how fucking tall was that kid…? would he crush you? stomp on you like a large goblin man? take you with his long arms and kidnap you, like slenderman? seriously, what the fuck were his parents feeding that kid????
  after a few more seconds of indulging your strange thoughts of the possible cryptids ranboo may be related to ((mothman possibly??) please?), he walked over and stuck his head over yours.
  “hello!” he stared at you from above, your brain racing with ‘tall man… tall man scary. but tall man friend…? confuse brain: ACTIVATE’ .
  “uh, hello ranboo.” you went to pick your head up from over the back of your chair, clashing skulls with ranboo. tall man = threat. 
  sitting on the floor you held your head, wishing you could simply evaporate in the sky and then be rained down on the earth. maybe droplet-you would land somewhere colder, like greenland. or alaska. knowing your luck, you’d probably enter the fiery pits of a volcano. maybe a desert. life is a misery of pain cursing you to feel the heat radiating of the sun. your existence was the explosion of one of the endless stars occupying outer space.
  “uh, you okay there? you’ve been sitting there for a few minutes now.” when you didn’t respond, ranboo made a confused noise. “i didn’t concuss you, did i?”.
  “no, no you did not.” finally coming back to earth, you looked at ranboo. sure, you had known he was 6’6'' but the knowledge of his height was not the same as seeing him in person. you would just barely reach his height if you sat on the shoulders of a small child. even then, you would still be shorter, as the small child would be flailing around. heh. small children are funny.
  standing up, you walked next to ranboo. with any other person you would be running to hug them. you had finally met one of your best friends, why weren’t you bursting at the seems. the simplest explanation for that is that he is so much taller when your next to him. thought he could crunch you like goblin earlier? wrong. you are jack and he is the beanstalk.
  while he moved his arms for a hug, you patted his arms in a way that felt cryptic. ranboo, already accepting your strangeness, patted you back. after the arm-patting-friendship-initiation ceremony,  you walked to the car. time to leave the stuffy airport.
  throughout the entire car ride, you sat as far from ranboo as you could. when he slid closer to you to show you something funny, whether it was on tiktok or twitter, you tried to press yourself into the car door. yeah, you might’ve been over reacting but who cares? he was a foot and a half taller than you, were you supposed to welcome him with open arms? if anything, it's good you were afraid. it means your survival systems were still (somehow) intact and working properly.
  once you arrived at the house, ranboo gave you your very own tour. within this tour, a pool was shown. a pool that would become your very new home. it was already decently late, which caused the enforcement of sleep. while you each went to your own rooms, you snuck out. pool time, as an escape from the blistering heat.
  in the dark of the night, you jumped in the pool, ignoring the noise you made. finally, a reprieve from the merciless, miserable heat. “finally, sweet, sweet, cool water.” you let our a pleased sigh, reclining in the pool, floating on the surface and lightly kicking your feet.
  with a quick end to your relaxation period, ranboo put his head through his window. “why are you in the pool?? its like two in the morning??” he stared down at you and you stared back. subconsciously, you moved further away from the house.
  “... hot. i wanted a reprieve from the rise of hell.”
  ranboo laughed and yelled back to you. “yeah, i expected that. i’ll be down soon.”
  you yelled back a “wha-!” but he had already moved away from the window. he was coming down there to what? join you in the pool with his tall-ness?
  you heard the back door slide open and out came ranboo. it seemed he also did not have the energy to change, both of you in normal clothing. Running torwars the pool, he jumped in, covering you in water.
  “oh my god! jesus! why is it so cold?!?” his head popped up and he was trying to push all his hair out his face. while he swan towards you, you backed away. he paused. “look, i don’t know if you’re playing some prank on me or whatever, but why are you acting so scared of me? seriously, i was super excited to meet you and i understand if you’re tired, but what’s your deal right now?”.
  you stared at him in silence. breaking the awkward silence, ranboo sighed and went to leave the pool. “... you’re too tall.” you muttered.
  “what?” ranboo turned around and stared at you.
  you sighed, accepting your fate. “you’re too tall. you’re like, a whole foot taller than me.”.
  he stared at you before breaking into laughter. “are you kidding me? seriously? that is NO reason to be scared i’m not gonna hurt you.”.
  you threw your head back. “i knowwww.”.
  ranboo started dying laughing, and soon enough you joined him. breaking out in a coughing fit, you stared at him. “i know, i’m an idiot.” you moved from the corner of the pool and moved near ranboo.
  “yeah, yeah, you are.” ranboo stared laughing at you and you could see him scheming.
  “no. no. nonononononono.” ranboo picked you up and through you into the water as hard as he could. swimming up as fast as you could, you saw him grinning like a fox. “you bitch!”.
  this started a disaster, of splashing each other and throwing people in the water. grabbing pool floaties, you both fell asleep in the water.
  the next morning your behaviors were a bit different.  “ranbooooo. i’m bored. hang out with me.” laying on his floor under an air conditioner, you looked at ranboo as he was editing a new video. from the corner of your eye, you could see a phone pointing at you. he better not post anything on tiktok.
  “i’m editing.” he smiled and kept looking at the screen, ignoring you.
  “like i give a shit. let’s go out. get ice cream.”
  knowing you would never shut up, ranboo gave in to your idiocy. “alright…”.
  quickly getting up, you forced him to take you to the ice cream shop, holding his hand all the way. arriving at the shop, ranboo was forced to pay for both cones.
  smiling, you chuckled. “gold digger…” you heard him mutter.
  sitting at the benches, you leaned your head on his shoulder. “so, what caused this change in personality?” ranboo leaned his head over to look at you.
  “nghhhhh;;;;;;; no.” you laughed at him, knowing you were frustrating him.
  “so you just magically decided i could be a replacement for a playground?”
  “i just got an idea! let’s go to the park! we can play on the playground.” ranboo sighed. you were the embodiment of :3, and definitely a handful.
finally this is out!! i hope you liked this, even though its late. very late… yes! But i hope you enjoyed this. side question - what’s everyone’s favorite ice cream flavor? personally, i always get superman from ice cream shops but strawberry from cartons.
tagged ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@feverish-dove
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thefanficmonster · 3 years
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Beyond The Darkness
Corpse Husband x Reader (Gender Neutral)
Warnings: Angst, Relationship Struggles, Self-doubt, Insecurities, Swearing
Genre: Angst with Fluff Ending, RPF (Real Person Fic)
Summary: Y/N finally expresses their worries, reluctance and suspicions regarding their relationship with Corpse who is more than surprised to be hearing such confession, thinking their relationship couldn’t be more perfect. Well, perfect on the surface.
Requested by @cinnamonbun332  Hi darling! I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to complete and post your request, but here it finally is! You asked for some heartbreaking and then heart-healing and I hope I delivered properly. Please enjoy! Love, Vy ❤
I didn’t choose to be insecure, I never wanted to be so anxious and self-conscious. No one can blame that on me for it’s something I’d get rid of within the blink of an eye if it were that easy. I didn’t choose to fall in love with Corpse either, it just happened. I was taken by storm by the feelings he awoke in me. It was terrifying and made me become a whole different person around him. I was torn between wanting him by my side at all times and never wanting to see him again for the purpose of those feelings dying down. That being said, I can’t be blamed for that either.
However, I can be blamed for one thing: accepting his offer for a date. I didn’t have to. I probably shouldn’t have accepted it just as much as he shouldn’t have brought it up. But, alas, I couldn’t help myself. That storm of emotions, that stirring lava within the volcano I was at the time was dying to seep out to the surface so it wouldn’t burn me from the inside out. Him asking me out on a date was practically the vessel for me to finally have a chance at expressing myself and how I feel and that’s something I’ve never been able to do properly or openly. 
But with Corpse it has always been so easy.
Or...it was so easy.
It was easy until I started overthinking everything. Every interaction between us, between him and his friends. Between our two separate worlds.
I now have a hard time seeing us as a union, like we’re living together on the same planet of understanding and companionship. No, we’re more alike two planets in orbits near one another that are close but not close enough. Never destined to touch. Where I once saw light, I now see nothing. Almost as if I flipped the switch to my happiness myself. I wouldn’t be surprised if I did, it wouldn’t be my first time. I have a way of always finding a way to kill my happiness, put an end to my bliss. The key to doing so is what I already mentioned: overthinking, underestimating, undermining, over-worrying. In short: allowing my mind to torture me.
Sadly, it’s also forcing me to torture others.
At the moment, I’m spending day four back into my apartment, having come back with the excuse that I needed to get some piping fixed in the kitchen and needed to watch over the plumbers as they worked. I think Corpse bought that only halfway but if he didn’t believe me, he didn’t show it and I’m grateful for it. Or at least I think I am. Obviously, there was a part of me which screamed ‘See, he doesn’t care!’ at me when all he said in response to my announcement was ‘Oh, ok’. Of course, I didn’t pay that voice much mind then, but it’s starting to creep back in now and I really don’t know what to distract myself with to avoid hearing it. It’s not like I can internally deafen myself to stop it from eating away at me slowly but intently and with a scary determination that even I myself don’t have. Sadly, the pessimistic side of me does.
Truth be told, I wasn’t planning on staying home alone for four days straight, thinking I wouldn’t be able to make it that long without Corpse, thinking my loneliness would kill me. But, now that I am indeed alone, for some reason, I don’t feel really lonely, if at all. It’s refreshing and new, like a new but old perspective. Basically one I’ve missed for quite some time now without knowing that I did. Who knew going back to my empty apartment would be the cure to my messy head. Well, not a direct cure, but I have managed to map out at least a small portion of what’s going on up there, mend some of the damage I’ve done to myself.
Why do you always do that?
There’s that voice again, and some audacity it has! I’m not doing anything to myself! That voice is!
Saying that in court would easily land you in a mental facility, you know.
Fucking touché.
I think the reason why this is happening to me at the moment is because it’s been exactly four days since I last contacted Corpse. Or since he last contacted me. See what I’m going for here? See how toxic my mindset can be? Yeah, even I can hardly believe it sometimes. Like, how can something so dark be part of me - someone who used to be so cheerful and bubbly growing up. My nickname used to be ‘sunflower’ for a reason, but I might as well be a wilted willow now.
And who do you have to blame for that?
Will you fucking shut it!!!
As I’m in the midst of yet another self-argument, I near the doorbell ring, scaring me to the point I almost fall off my desk chair. I only then become aware of the blank MS Word document staring back at me. Throwing myself into work hasn’t been able to help me today. Instead of it distracting me from my struggles, it’s the other way around and I can’t fucking stand it.
Just like I’m beginning not to be able to stand myself. How Corpse and my friends do it, I have no idea. Well, they have it easy I guess, they don’t have to hear all the shit that happens in this beehive on my shoulders.
I lazily saunter over to open the door, not even thinking about looking through the peephole prior to turning the doorknob and swinging it open. That’s a mistake, considering that the mess I am is now face to face with Corpse. Let’s be honest, I’m past the point of stressing over how I look in front of him, we’ve been dating for almost a year now after all. However, this look on me right now is beyond disturbing. One that would leave him questioning if I need help or if I’m doing alright. The answer to both of those questions is no, by the way. Yes, to both.
“Corpse?“ I croak out, fighting my way out of the cloud of confusion surrounding me.
“Y/N?“ He replies, mimicking me though his confusion isn’t as much confusion as it is concern. Gotta say - rightfully so.
I shake my head as if awakening from a fever dream, basically hitting the ground head-first, “Um...yeah, uh, come in!” I finally manage to say, forcing my feet to step aside to allow him inside.
He nods and takes a step beyond the doorstep, cautious as though I’ve rigged the place with traps. I mean, ok, I’m weird, but not that weird. I’m not a complete psycho. At least not yet. Give me a few more months by myself. Or weeks. 
“I haven’t been here in so long...“ he mumbles, sounding almost as if he’s talking to himself. Before I could say anything, he wanders off into the kitchen, “Where are the plumbers?“
“What plumbers?“ I blurt out, unable to contain the widening of my eyes when I realize what I’ve said.
You. Fucking. Idiot!!!
“The ones you came here to monitor...?“ His answer sounds more like a question as well, both of us just staring at each other as we await what idiocy will leave my brain and come out of my mouth next.
The silence lasts for a few seconds before he breaks it by speaking up again, “There are no plumbers, are there?”
“No, not today! I mean- not right now.“ I resist the urge to smack my forehead with the palm of my hand in embarrassment. “They’ll come back...later! They were here up until an hour ago.“
Real smooth, Y/N. This is why you never play Among Us
Corpse looks around, even taking a peek over my shoulder before making a mock-confused expression as he shrugs his shoulders, “Your kitchen looks pretty tidy for being a place of such complex fixes happening.“
I let out a hysterical gust of laughter, squeezing my thumb so hard I might rip it off my hand, “Yeah, you know me, I like my living space tidy.”
He nods slowly, “Yeah, I know you. I know you’re not.“
The air gets caught in my throat when he eyes meet mine when he says that. I feel redness creeping up my neck, spreading across my cheeks and climbing up to my forehead and ears.
Oh you’d so be ejected right now
“Y/N, what’s really going on here? Why have you been avoiding me? Did I do something wrong? If so, please just tell me. This silent treatment and avoiding is killing me. If I didn’t come here I would’ve gone insane. You would’ve found my walls with writings on them...“ He stops talking abruptly, letting out a soundless sigh as though his soul left his body, his gaze softening with sadness, “That is, of course, if you were even planning to come back. Ever...“
“Of course I was!“ I exclaim, feeling my chest tighten at the hurt I see in his eyes, “I just...I needed time. I still do.“
“Time away from what?“ He asks, desperate to hear the answer no matter how much it could hurt him.
I honestly don’t know what to tell him. I have no idea what I’m running from. I don’t even know if I’m running, hiding, contemplating, I have no idea what I’m doing. Is he the problem? Am I? Are we the problem? Our relationship as a whole?
“I don’t need time from anything, Corpse. I just...I need some time with myself. With my own thoughts. I’m really torn, have been for quite some time now. I don’t know what I’m doing or what I’m supposed to do. I don’t know if I’m doing is the right thing. I don’t know if we are the right thing. I-...“ I buffer for a second, feeling the words start getting more and more tripped up as they climb up my throat. Eventually, they end up getting caught in an invisible net which doesn’t allow them to make it to my mouth, let alone leave it. Now at a loss for words, I let out a sigh of defeat, feeling my eyes welling up with tears, “I don’t know anything, damn it! I’m a mess. Why do you tolerate me? I’m no good to myself let alone to someone else!“
I don’t know where this outburst came from, but I’d be a liar if I said it wasn’t relieving. I feel like a popped balloon, letting out what’s been straining me from the inside for a long time now. Lord knows how Corpse took it, I can’t bring myself to look up at him, but all I know is that I finally did something I can officially deem right.
Suddenly, I feel the familiar touch of Corpse’s hands on my shoulders, pulling my chest flush against his, his arms wrapping around me, enveloping me in a tight embrace. His lips plans a kiss a the top of my head before he rests his chin there, holding me tightly.
“Why haven’t you told me any of this?“ He whispers, his voice emotional to the point of almost making me regret saying all that.
Almost...
“I didn’t want to worry you.“ I let out a half-hearted chuckle, “And I didn’t want you finding out what kind of nut-job you’re dating.“
He scoffs, “Even if you were a nut-job, Y/N - which, by the way, you’re not - I wouldn’t mind. I’m a nut-job for you. Utterly and completely crazy for you, babe. I’m always here for you, always there for you to talk to me, tell me all that’s going on in that busy head of yours. All you have to do is talk, and all I’ll do is listen.”
I sniff briefly, “Now you’re making me regret not saying it earlier.”
“Then I’m doing the right thing.“ He mutters, his tone suggesting I take the wheel of the conversation and say all I’ve been keeping within me until now.
“You see, I tend to enjoy certain things a lot. Get attached to people super quickly and easily. And then, after a certain period of time, I find myself rethinking and overthinking everything about that thing or person to the point I’m not even sure I like it - or them - anymore. At least not to the same degree as previously. I slowly start become unsure of everything around me, even my own thoughts and feelings. It’s almost like where I used to see light, there’s now darkness. Worst part is, I’m the one who put that light out for myself. I always do it to myself and then hate myself for it. It’s a vicious cycle that I can’t escape - killing my joy and blaming and despising myself for it.“ I sigh, nuzzling my face into his chest, “I just wish this curse avoided our relationship. You’re too good to me, I love you too much to lose you, Corpse.“
I feel his arms tighten their hold on me even more, pulling me even closer despite it not being possible. “Y/N, you can’t lose me. Not over that, not over anything. We all have our demons, you just gotta remember to hold onto me tighter than those demons are holding onto you. You gotta let me help you when you realize you can’t help yourself.” He gently pulls away from me, his hands now coming up to cup my cheeks as he gazes into my eyes, “You gotta learn to see beyond the darkness you surround yourself with. Beyond the darkness, that’s where I’m waiting for you. I’m always gonna be there. I’m a very patient guy, you know.”
I can’t help but laugh, suddenly feeling the bubbly giggles escaping from my chest, pressed out of me by the massive wave of relief that’s washed over my sore insides. Sore from the holding back and now even more so from letting go. But damn does it feel good.
“Looks like I don’t need a plumber but an electrician to fix this light I keep turning off.“ I say, pushing up on my toes to only barely touch my forehead to his. Luckily, he sees what I’m trying to do, so he leans down. “I need him to make it un-turn-off-able.“
Corpse smiles, humming approvingly, “I can help you with that. Starting with...“ and with that he tilts his head, his lips colliding with mine.
I gotta say: damn have I missed this feeling.
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timextoxhajima · 3 years
Text
Love Me A Little Less: Chapter 1 - Frankenstein
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LOVE ME A LITTLE LESS CHAPTER MASTERLIST
Member: (3rd person pov) arranged marriage au with Lee Juyeon
Genre: angsty wangsty
Taglist: @hyunvelies​
“We buried you.”
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The feast before Kim Jang Won is absolutely stunning. Lemon meringue tarts, strawberry smoothies (with actual strawberry bits in them), pancakes and freshly buttered croissants, a gorgeous transparent glass pot with the golden shade of chamomile tea and a beautiful tray of puffs and eclairs.
It would be even more stunning if it wasn’t her view every morning though.
“Hey, um, don’t we have like alternating menus or something for breakfast? I feel like I’m eating the same thing every morning now, it’s kinda getting tacky.”
“Miss Kim, I hope you know you’re the one who decides what the menu is. You chose this set like a week ago and you told us not to change it for the next two weeks.”
Jang Won sneers at her butler, arguably the only person on the property to has the guts to talk to her in a way that could get her fired.
“You’re lucky I can trust you.”
Ro Il Jung purses his lips into a thin white line, scratching his cheek with one of those knuckly, wrinkly-skin-covered fingers of his. “You seem to forget that I wanted to retire last year, Miss Kim.”
Jang Won huffs childishly, sticking her tongue out, now a gentle, thick shade of smoothie on her tongue. “I’ll let you retire when I find someone else I can trust, Mr Ro. It’s just too bad I don’t have anybody in mind right now.”
Mr Ro shakes his head like a parent disapproving of his child, but a house guard pulling the heavy doors of the entrance over accompanied by some urgent yelling tears his attention away from the owner of the mansion. 
Jang Won looks up from her butter and croissant, at Mr Ro, who excuses himself before heading for the entrance hall. 
“Sir,” He begins before he can even note the visitor. “If you could--”
“Mr Ro!”
Jang Won hears her butler’s words fade to a complete silent, only listening to their visitor talk. But it’s strange, because it’s a familiar voice...
Mr Ro cannot believe the sight before his eyes.
“I can’t believe you’re still working here. It’s so great to see you again!” Then the visitor pulls Mr Ro into a hug, harshly patting the space between his shoulder blades. 
The lady of the house cannot take it anymore, not when she can’t eavesdrop on the conversation occurring in her own halls. So she gets up from the table, heels clacking against the marble floor as she heads into the entrance hall.
“Alright now, who’s got the guts to stop me in the middle of my French breakfast this morning?”
Mr Ro turns in silent shock, eyes wide and glaring while Jang Won processes the face of the visitor. 
The man hadn’t looked like he aged a day since he was--
“I’m sorry,” Jang Won scoffs, waving her beautifully done manicured fingernails in the air. “If this is some impractical joke, please do tell because my brain is just about to explode from the sight right now. Y’know,” She gestures to her head and mimics the sound of a bomb. 
“Jang Won...” The visitor strides towards her, arms wide. But she raises a palm and shifts backwards, a cautious half-smile mixed with a frown plastered to her flawless skin. 
“Not another step, nuh-uh,” Waving a finger before his nose, she shakes her head. “There is no way in Hell you can be standing here.”
“Oh, but I am, love,” Once a warm voice that sang her to sleep, Jang Won cannot decide if the tears in her eyes are welling from relief or fear. “I’m home.”
“No... no!” She slaps away his outstretched hands. “We... we buried you...”
“And I can only imagine what you’re feeling right now, my child, but... we have more important things to worry about.”
Mr Ro’s face is contorted with a mess of confusion and anxiety and he watches the first tears fall down Jang Won’s cheeks. 
“What...? ‘More important’-- No, how is anything more important than you... standing here?” The last word comes out like a final breath, at a volume just enough for him to hear. 
“I came bearing news, Jang Won. I-- Well...” He rubs the back of his head, eyes tilted down to his feet. “Because I’ve return to the board of administration now... part of the company now comes back to... me--”
What?
“And... you cannot inherit any part of the company unless you are married to someone from a family from the same administration board.”
Jang Won’s tears solidify into fumes of anger as the thought runs through her neurons. The middle aged man begins to panic when he can read the rage in her eyes, her fists now clenched and the markings of her rings probably embedded into the flesh of her palm. Her knuckles begin to turn white as does his face, ever so slightly.
“Now, now, love. I know what you’re thinking and we can sit down and have a chat about this--”
“‘Sit down and have a chat’?” Jang Won scoffs miserably, lower jaw hanging agape. “Why don’t we sit down and let me ask you whiCH SCIENTIST MADE YOU FRANKENSTEIN?!”
The hallways of the mansion echo the shouts, the sound waves bouncing back and forth between the marble walls mostly adorn with gorgeous, one-in-a-million paintings. 
“That’s not important now, hun. I just need you to understand that without this marriage, you will lose the house and everything you own from HERA & ARTEMIS.”
“I built HERA & ARTEMIS after you were fucking bURIED! Who are you to tell me that you will inherit it ownership and I can’t just because I’m not married?!”
“These were instructions from The Board, Jang Won. I had absolutely no say over this--”
“BULLSHIT! If you have the power to take ownership of HERA & ARTEMIS just because you climbed out of your own grave, why don’t you have the power to help m-- Oh, oh...” Jang Won frowns in disdain, disgust welling her lungs and her gut. 
“What?” His eyes widen and shoulders shrug.
“You came back just to tell me this... because you want HERA & ARTEMIS for yourself.”
“What-- No--”
"You... low-life... scumbag!" The sharp shatter of the glass cabinet behind him echoes through the entrance hall of the mansion. One of the palm-sized statues sitting on the table in the middle of the circular hall lands amongst the billion pieces of glass on the marble floor.
"You give me my freedom and now you tell me I have to get married?!" The final word is literally pushed through her teeth when she cannot clench her jaws even harder. The tremors vibrating up her fist and into her arm and then her entire body makes her look like a volcano ready to erupt, so if these people haven't gotten enough, they have yet to see what's in store.
"Just who the HELL do you think you are?!" Grabbing another one of those tiny statues, Jang Won throws it into the other glass door of the cabinet.
"Jang Won, will you calm down?!"
"Don't you DARE tell me to calm down! You waltz back into this house after GOD knows how long- Hell, we BURIED you!"
"There was a mistake of the body identification and frankly, I expected a warmer welcome from you!"
"HA! A ‘warmer welcome’?! What do you want me to do? Set the entire house on fire? Do you want me to? Because I will!" The man has his brows furrowed back, palms out stretched to her. The mansion staff have all gathered a safe distance around the two of them, Mr Ro and some of those closer to Jang Won trying their best to get to her and calm her nerves but there is just absolutely no way she isn’t going to hurl a brick at her father.
"I can't BELIEVE you're standing there as if you own this place," The muscles around Jang Won’s nose twitches as the frown sinks deeper into her forehead. "I want you to hear this mighty well and crystal clear. You may have been the one who gave me life, but you will never EVER be my dad.”
The huffs that are billowing out Jang Won’s nostrils are starting to hurt.
"There is not a single cent you're stepping on - or touching, for that matter - that belongs to you. The only reason why I haven't fucking put a bullet through your right eye is because I'd go to jail and every thing I've worked for would be thrown out the window.”
“Now, now, love, we can sit down and be civilized about this—”
“Fuck you,” The anger surges through her, and she picks up one more palm-sized statue from the blue resin table. The heavy bronze weight leaves her fingers, and before it can hit the slightly aged man, someone reaches out and catches it instead.
“What the HELL are you doing?!” The scream echoes through the hall of the mansion. Younghoon sighs heavily, hand retreating back to his side as he hands the statue to one of the house staff.
“You have no right to get involved in this—”
“Jang Won, let’s go,” Younghoon strides across the space and grabs her arm, back-facing his father and trying to pull her in the opposite direction. “We can talk about this in your office.”
“How are you thinking straight?! We BURIED him! We watched his coffin get lowered into—”
“I know! I was there!” His eyes flutter shut in frustration, shoulders raising as he sucks in a deep breath, flaring his nostrils. “There’s no point destroying your own property over this. We can carry out some investigations, figure out what really happened, then we’ll work from there.”
The grip on her arm tightens when her instincts try to writhe away from him, but obviously, he doesn’t relent.
“Don’t do it. It’s not worth your time, or mine.”
He stares down at Jang Won, but it doesn’t scare her, not when she has a ghost standing right in the middle of some shattered mess. Not one cut on him.
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Younghoon grimly shuts the door as Jang Won stomps over to her office desk and rests her palms flat against the Agar Wood surface. With a sharp, swift feat, she swipes nearly all the documents off the furniture. But when she misses the empty glass (that would usually be filled with some kind of alcohol or soda), she doesn't hesitate to pick it off the desk and propel it into the marble by the television mounted to the wall.
The shatter startles Younghoon as he whips around, eyes darting frantically between her and the mess she’s made.
"Jang Won!"
"Should I be concerned you don't seem one bit bothered that a dead man is standing in our living room - MY living room?"
"That dead man is our father."
"No, that dead man WAS our father before he ditched us! How are you not- UGH!"
Frustrated, furious and absolutely exasperate, she plops down into one of the two sofas sitting in the middle of the office, feet almost tempted to kick the frosted glass table in the middle but she holds herself back. Younghoon manages to get a few house staff into the room, who hurriedly help clear the glass and return the documents to the table. Fingers pressed into her temples, Jang Won could only imagine the gratification she could receive have if she had the chance to ram her first into someone's face.
Younghoon waits for the staff to leave, then stands by the sofa opposite her, one hand on his hip and the other running through his hair. The late morning sun reflects off his soft, dark brown locks when he absent-mindedly rubs the back of his head and he proceeds to unbutton his blazer to allow him a seat. The leather squeaks under his weight before he leans his elbows on his knees, knuckles resting under his lips and chin.
"Please tell me you're actually thinking and not just trying to look pretty. You're in my house now, not some studio photoshoot."
"I'm thinking about where to put a whole person for you."
"Don't bother, he's moved half his things into the first guestroom. He's probably holding a conductor's wand right now and asking the staff to help him with the second half."
"Have you called the funeral services?"
"And say what? 'Hey sir, have you... perhaps mis-screwed a coffin about 2 years back and now we might have a problem of a zombie'?"
"I'm just saying someone might've paid someone to replace the bodies!" Younghoon frowns, eyes stuck to the rug under his feet. "We don't know how it happened but someone MUST know, right?"
"I think your best bet is the asshole living down the hall now."
"He's not gonna budge, we both know that."
"Well, Sherlock Holmes, thanks for pointing out the obvious."
"I'm just trying to help. You need to stop your nonsensical whining and use your brain like how you used it to get all this money."
Jang Won picks up a pillow and hurls it into Younghoon. “You’re lucky you still stick around, else I’d have the both of you screwed over.”
Younghoon catches the pillow, holding it to his side. “The day I stop looking out for you is the day I die, alright? So you can be rest assured I’ll--”
“Miss Kim!” Mr Ro’s voice calls out from outside the office. 
“What is it, Mr Ro?” Younghoon turns and returns the call, head tilted towards the door. It croaks open, and Mr Ro’s eyes are tired, wary as he sticks his head in.
“Your father just left and... and I think you should see the news.” Mr Ro pushes past the heavy door and reaches for the remote sitting on the frosted glass. The television screen mounted above the fire place flickers on, and there it was, her father’s face.
“The Board has just confirmed the ownership of HERA & ARTEMIS will thus forth be returned to Kim Jo-Pil, father of Kim Jang Won, the current owner. Investigations as to Kim Jo-Pil’s supposed death two years ago are still ongoing.”
“I’m gonna kill him.”
“You can’t.”
“Watch me.”
“We’ll be-- Wha-- The Board’s just come in with some new information! Kim JO-Pil has announced a marriage between Kim Jang Won, current owner of HERA & ARTEMIS and Lee Juyeon, the next-in-line to becoming the next Director of Apple, South Korea.”
Younghoon’s eyeballs are about to bludgeon out of his eye sockets. “Jang Won... I know what you’re thinking... But don’t--”
“I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL HIM!”
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funtimebunnyblog · 3 years
Text
Does anyone remember that Game "Raymon Raving Rabbids"? 🤔 I used to adore that video game! 😍🥰 In fact, it was the first real video game I ever got! I played that thing on the Wii all through my childhood!
Anyways, there was a jump rope level that was my inspiration for this here! 🤔😇😘 I thought about what would happen in the Pillarmen's arena if you were playing a simple, everyday child's game; they would definitely up the intensity of it! (Like; Hopscotch: You're placed on a series of pedestals over an arena of fire and have to throw a bowling ball and jump from place to place while dodging knives. Chess: Your "pieces" are living Vampires that simply kill one another and move at each players command.) You probably get the idea! I’ll stop rambling now! 😇😇😇 Please enjoy (and please forgive me for being a little self indulgent once again 🤪)!
The Pillarmen play "jump rope" with you...
(Under the cut for length!)
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"Begin, NOW!" Kars announced from his perch, an arm swinging downward as he gazed down into the arena from high above.
A flurry of cheers erupted from the stands at his command, hundreds of Vampires were already out of their seats, fists raised and cheering for the show to begin. It's what they had been waiting for, it was also what you were here for afterall...
However, all you could do was stare, tongue cleaved uncomfortably to the roof of your mouth as you stood there, wide eyed. It was like you had suddenly sprouted roots on the bare, rough dirt of the arena beneath your feet.
What... was that a--
Your opponents stood before you, Pillarmen Esidisi and Wamuu stood at 6ft distance from one another, arms swinging in unison; the metal of the heavy chain in their grasp clicked and clanked, swooping in the air in slow circles. The jingling of the steel kissing the solid ground with each swing was the only thing passing through your ears despite the din going on all around.
"What's the hold up, Human?" Esidisi was the first to speak, regarding you with a cocked eyebrow. "You have to jump in if you're still willing to play!"
There had to be some sort of miscommunication, some misunderstanding here, surely they weren't expecting you to jump using... that!
"You're not forfeiting now, are you?" The white-haired man questioned, his voice nothing but a mocking coo.
"But--" the words fumbled past your lips, eyes darting around but unable to take in any of the faces staring intently at you where you stood. "But this-- this is jump rope!"
Laughter echoed from all directions, an endless loop of taunting wheezing guffaw ringing out from the stands as Vampires chattered, pointing and laughing like Children gathered outside the monkey cage at the Zoo.
You, quite frankly, didn't see what was so very funny, your embarrassment and confusion only growing as the two Men before you joined in on the contagious fit laughter as well.
Wamuu's shoulders shook, the corner of his mouth turning up as he too regarded you.
"You may have got to pick the game, little one, but you seem to forget that this arena belongs to us..." he laughed. "Therefore, we pick the rope you will jump with. It is the same game, we simply play by different rules."
You felt your eyes turn upward, twisting your head fiercely to gaze up at Kars who sat high above the scene, only to be met with the sight of the wicked smirk stretching across his face. His eyes gleamed like fierce droplets of blood, cutting deep within you where you stood, even at this distance.
So that was his plan all along. He let you pick the challenge just so he could bend the rules, twist the game around in his favor without breaking them.
Cheating, lying, no good, rotten, Sons of--
"Go, Human!" The hard shove of the Vampire who had escorted you down here made you squak in surpise, stumbling forward into the line of the chain. "Lord Kars already called the match to start!"
You just barely missed the chain as it swung over your head the first time.
Whoosh!
You found yourself fumbling to find a foothold as it was suddenly swinging under you and you had to jump to miss it again.
Swoop!
"1!..." Wamuu started the count as your feet hit the ground the first time. "2!... 3!..." Every voice in the colluseum followed suit, Vampires counting in unison as you jumped up and down, just narrowly missing each slow and heavy swing of the rope.
This method required more patience than a standard rope, the chain they were using was awkward and lacked any sort of grace. If you waited too long to act the force of the swing would no doubt crack an ankle if you weren't careful.
You didn't know how good you would be at this while hopping up and down like a flamingo, you were clumsy enough as it was right here, right now, so it was better not to find out.
"5!... 6!.... 7!..." You could feel sweat starting to bead on your brow, trying hard to focus and not go a moment too soon or a moment too late with each swing that teetered on too fast and too slow. "10!... 11!... 12!..."
CLANK!
The swoop of the chain was drowned out by the hard slap of metal against the base of your skull, vibration ringing hard and intensely through your brain in overwhelming fuzzy static. Your body slammed just as hard against the dirt next, stars spotting rapidly in your vision as white, hot pain erupted like an angry volcano straight from your temple.
Cruel, mocking laughter swirled about you, far too distant sounding this time as you laid there, crumpled, a hand helplessly plastered against the spot where you had been thwacked.
You had jumped too soon.
The Earth rotated beneath you, suddenly you felt too far away from here, like you were falling downwards into a deep, dark rabbit hole.
"Awww, you didn't even make it to 15, little one!" Esidisi laughed, suddenly he was standing right over you, the massive mans shadow in the moonlight shrouded you like a cold blanket. "Hmm, maybe you should've picked Hopscotch instead. Now that would've been more fun, eh?..."
It was only then that you realized you were crying, a harsh wet sob was your only response to him as your hand pressed tighter into the wound, your body's instinctive way of attempting to stop the endless throbbing and the flow of blood now oozing through your fingers.
Dirt was in your mouth, gritting in your teeth and turning to mud on your tear-streaked and bloodied face.
You had lost the challenge. They played dirty and now you would suffer the consequences of losing.
It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair!
It was the only thing your brain could scream in the haze of pain and confusion. The world around you went black, the voices all around you fading into silence as you were grabbed and dragged from the arena.
What the next challenge held for you, if you were even aloud to do the next one, only time would tell...
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Home Is Where You Are
Summary:  Morro loved his cousin more than anything in the world. Sadly, the rest of Ninjago couldn't seem to share that kind of affection. or In which Lloyd gets stabbed and Morro would like to do nothing more than join forces with his uncle and burn the entire city down.
[Movieverse]
Sometimes Morro wanted to beat up the world. Punch it until its only remains were about the size of a football and then burn it until the ashes of the ashes had ashes.
Sometimes, was most of the time.
But it really wasn’t his fault that the world had to be a stupid place filled with stupid people, that formed a stupid society that had somehow normalized the bullying of a fifteen year old boy, for something he had no control over.
That fifteen year old boy also happened to be his cousin, Lloyd Garmadon, son of evil Lord Garmadon, a warlord who attacked Ninjago on a weekly basis, trying to conquer it.
And while, obviously, everyone in Ninjago had labelled Lord Garmadon as “evil”, their tiny, tiny brains (if brains the size of a peanut could even pass for brains anymore) somehow had come up with the idea that Lloyd was “evil” too. Why? Because he was his son. Simple as that.
No one cared about the fact that the boy had never met his dad, hell, he had never even as much as exchanged a single word with him and Morro wasn’t even sure if Garmadon knew that his son existed.
But somehow that went over everyone’s heads because Lloyd Garmadon was blamed for every attack and every inconvenience in the city – he was easily the second most hated person in Ninjago, right after Lord Garmadon himself, of course.
The thing was, Lord Garmadon had it easy – in Morro’s humble opinion – because the warlord got to attack the city and then simply vanish back into his volcano in the middle of the sea – with no one able to reach him. And with Lord Garmadon being out of reach, Lloyd had to catch all the fists flying at him, all the insults people would throw against his head. The people just wanted to let their hatred and frustration out at someone – and that someone, was his little cousin.
Morro did his best to protect him as much as he possibly could, he loved the boy with his whole heart, he was his whole pride and joy. He was like a light in a dark for him, leading his way, giving him something to hold onto. But sadly, Morro wasn’t always able to be there, when he needed him. He couldn’t always pick fights for Lloyd and he knew that the fifteen year old would rather die than fight someone. His cousin wasn’t much for physical violence.
He understood why, though.
If Lloyd were to snap, it would be instantly used by everyone as some stupid “evidence” that he was just like his father, that he was evil and that he was going to destroy them all and join forces with Lord Garmadon.
Bullshit. The elder hated how stupid and blind Ninjago's citizens were.
Lloyd wasn’t evil, never had been evil, never even did anything remotely evil.
They were the real bad guys. All of them. Hypocrites. How dare they call his baby cousin a “villain-in-the-making” when they were the ones cursing him out, insulting him on the daily, trending disgusting songs about him and beating him up. And what did Lloyd do? He just took it. Took all the insults, took all the punches, never daring to stand up for himself or returning the favor. And why?
Because Lloyd was good.
Too good, for his own good, Morro thought as he looked up at his cousin's face, seeing silently tears streaming over his cheek.
“Tell me who did this to you,” the raven head's voice stern and stable as his hands made his way to his bleeding abdomen again, pushing a tissue on it to try and stop the bleeding.
Lloyd bit his lip, like he always did when he was nervous. His eyes continued to stare at the tiles of Morro’s bathroom, filling with tears once again. He shook his head quickly, blond locks stained with blood falling into his face.
“Lloyd.”
A sigh escaped him.
He loved his cousin but sometimes he just wanted to take him and squeeze his stubbornness out of him.
“This wasn’t a usual attack anymore, Lloyd. They stabbed you! They are getting bolder with their stupidity. You need to go to the police with this, they–”
“‘They’ what?” Lloyd’s head turned to him, looking at him in desperation and anger. “Don’t you get it? The police don't care about what happens to me! They could find me bleeding out on the street and they would just walk over me as if I were–,” the words suddenly seemed to be stuck in his throat, making him lower his gaze, once again, in – in embarrassment? In sadness? He wasn’t sure.
Morro’s eyes widened slightly, once he realized that Lloyd was right.
The police were just as shitty as the rest of the citizens of Ninjago. They already treated him as if he were a criminal, even though Lloyd probably had the cleanest criminal record in the whole city.
Stupid police, stupid people, stupid–
He silently nodded to himself, trying to think of what they were going to do next.
“Okay, no police then, but we need to get you to the hospi–”
“No!” The teen interrupted him once again, which was honestly getting quite annoying. Usually he would be the one interrupting the other. “No hospital! My mom can’t know about this and–” a hiss escaped his lips as Morro pulled the tissue from his wound, dry blood ripping from his skin. “–we can’t afford it. We need to deal with this on our own, it’s not that deep anyways.”
“Lloyd, it’s a stab wound.”
“I’ve gotten away with worse injuries, without going to the hospital.”
He felt like someone had punched him in the gut.
Morro was quite aware of the dozen of times Lloyd would come back from battle with his Ninja Gi looking way too much like Kai’s because – oh, hadn’t he mentioned?
Lloyd was the Green Ninja, sworn to protect Ninjago from his father. Protecting the people that bullied him. Just another reason he sometimes wanted to burn this city down and go a bit warlord like his uncle – but that would also mean that he would, probably, have to fight Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes. So he shrugged his warlord ambitions under the rug.
“Okay, we can deal with this,” the elder bit the inside of his cheek, silently wishing for his dad to be here to deal with this instead.
He didn’t like seeing Lloyd hurt. It broke his heart.
“It’ll need stitches, though.”
He noticed immediately how the younger's palms started to grab the rim of the bathtub he was sitting on, as if his life depended on it, knuckles going white. “Okay,” he gritted out quietly.
He hated this, everything about this. It felt so, so wrong.
Lloyd shouldn’t be sitting in his bathroom, white as a sheet, seemingly near to passing out from blood loss. Morro shouldn’t have to stitch him up because he couldn’t go to the hospital or the police. His tiles shouldn’t be coated in Lloyd’s blood. And for fucks sake, Lloyd shouldn’t have been spotting a stab wound to begin with.
“I hate this too you know,” the blond’s voice was quiet but audible, nonetheless. Morro could only nod as he grabbed his medical kit from the cabinet.
---------------------------------------------
"If I had the chance to, I'd kill the people that did this to you."
"I know, that's why I'm not giving you their names," Lloyd's voice sounded a bit too calm, too collected to be talking about the people that had just tried to kill him.
Morro hid his face behind his palms, trying his best not to scream in frustration. "You shouldn't be protecting them like this. They're criminals, they tried to murder you and all you do is– is–,” a groan escaped his lips.
“Lloyd, I swear to fucking god, you can't keep doing this.”
His words made the room go quiet, not one of the teens daring to say another word. The nineteen year old's eyes wandered over to look at his cousin, who was currently busy biting onto his lip, his expression unreadable and Morro worried that he might have gone too far.
The young teen’s head tilted, teary emerald eyes meeting his own. “Do you think I like this?” a bitter laugh escaped him, though it sounded more like a gasp for air. “I don't like this any more than you do, believe me! You have no idea what it is like to wake up and be scared because you don't know what people will do to you! But there's nothing I can do about it and I've accepted that.”
The raven head felt the blood in his hands run cold, grabbing his cousin by the wrists, shaking him slightly. “Lloyd, you shouldn't accept it just like that! You– you deserve better than how these people treat you.”
“Morro, I know you mean well but,” the blond twisted himself out of his grip. “I was hopeful for so long. I tried to believe that people would change and I tried to let them see that I'm not who they think I am but it didn't do anything – it only made me feel worse. There's nothing I can do. I can't fight back, you know that.”
And he hated how right Lloyd was.
He still remembered how, a few years ago, the younger would cry himself to sleep every night because he just couldn't seem to find friends, no matter how hard he had tried. He still remembered how he would cling onto Morro and sob his soul out until he simply didn't have any tears to spare because he thought something was wrong with him. Otherwise the entire city wouldn't hate him, right?
Morro also still remembered the stinging pain in his chest as he had wiped away the smaller's tears and held him close – trying to be as much of a help as he could but still feeling absolutely useless.
So really, Morro was a fool to believe that Lloyd wouldn't stop caring at some point. It had done nothing but worsen the pain.
That didn't mean he had to like it, though.
“Listen, I know I've told you this many, many times before but–,” he looked out the window, onto the city that had hurt them so much. Onto the city that was ruining Lloyd's life. Onto the city that would possibly be the death of him at some point– He pushed the anger, threatening to overflow, back into the bottle of emotions where it belonged. “What they say,” he spoke quietly but with so much venom in his voice that Lloyd couldn't help but wince. “It doesn't matter. Nothing they say matters, so don't you dare put any worth onto their words–,“ anything Morro had planned to say suddenly vanished to dust as two arms threw themselves around him tightly, blond locks tickling his face.
“I know–,” his whisper left the room numb as a sob escaped his throat, his head just pushing itself more onto Morro's chest. “I know and I'm just so glad that I have you and the others.”
He could feel the tears starting to soak through his shirt and started to play with the blond strands of hair, in an attempt to calm his cousin down.
“It's just so much sometimes and I– I–,” the small voice broke and Morro could swear he could feel his eyes starting to sting.
Silent shushing and sobs were the only sound that filled the room from then on. It was almost suffocating, the contrast from his once so happy and bubbly cousin to– well, to how he was now. The citizens of Ninjago had managed to break his spirit in unimaginable ways.
They broke his baby cousin because they were stupid and egoistic, because they wanted someone to let their anger out on and decided to use Lloyd as a punching bag instead of going to therapy or something for their anger issues–
The nineteen year old, however, really shouldn't be the one talking about people and their anger issues, considering how his own bottled up anger at the citizens started to slowly make its way back to the surface once more.
“I would burn this entire city down if I could,” his voice was drenched in bitterness, Lloyd nonetheless found the strength in himself to laugh, making him calm down slightly.
“That seems like something my dad would say.”
“Well, it seems like him and I would agree on that part, then.”
“Mhm.”
Morro looked down to where his counterpart had now comfortably snuggled up on him, his eyes still puffy but no longer as teary like they were half a second ago. He released a breath he didn't know he had held.
He didn’t know how to fix this. Hell, he didn’t even know if he could fix this even if he really wanted to. The only way he knew he could protect Lloyd from this city was by simply taking him and running away, going somewhere else where nobody knew them. He knew that that was impossible though. Aunt Koko couldn’t just leave everything behind and even if she could, Lloyd probably wouldn’t even want to leave because of his duties as the Green Ninja – because he was a self-sacrificing fool who apparently never learned to put his own needs before others.
And Morro wanted to be proud of him for it – really wanted to, because his cousin sacrificed his needs for the greater good. It was brave and noble of him and he should be proud. Perhaps the nineteen year old was a terrible person for even questioning it but– Every so often, usually when Lloyd came home spotting injuries which he knew hadn’t come from fighting Garmadon, he wondered if risking your life for a city that couldn’t care less whether you were alive or dead, was worth it – and in Lloyd’s case they would probably be more than thrilled to see him gone.
Well, until they’d notice that they no longer had a Green Ninja to protect them.
Cowards.
“Your angry thoughts are practically clogging up the air. Can you turn them down, for just one second–”
“Brat,” Morro huffed under his breath a small smirk placing itself onto his lips. It vanished as soon as it had appeared. “My cousin showed up on my front porch with a stab wound, I think I have every right to be angry,” Lloyd frowned, letting go of the elder.
“Morro, not this again. I swear–”
“I mean, you never show up and the only reason you did today was because you were bleeding to death. Seriously, am I not cool enough to get a visit by my annoying cousin anymore,” the raven haired teen grinned at the blond with his eyebrows raised, in an attempt to lighten the mood and get rid of the tense feeling that had settled between them ever since Lloyd had sat down in his bathroom.
He could always let out his bottled up anger on that Chen guy from the Cheer Squad. The smaller had told him something about the boy giving him a hard time, some time ago, hadn’t he?
“What? No! You’re plenty cool– I just didn’t– you know school stuff and my dad and–,”, he stumbled over his words making Morro laugh.
“Lloyd, chill,” he said, making his way up to his desk to get his phone and text Aunt Koko. She probably was already worried sick now that he thought about it “I was just messing with you. I know you’re busy, it’s fine.”
He felt the other stare at him for a second, unable to make out his thoughts, just before–
“You miss me!”
He almost dropped his phone in surprise at the sudden statement. “Wait, wait, no– Who told you that?”
“It’s obvious,” Lloyd mused, walking up behind Morro and placing his chin on his shoulder. “You miss me~ Morro misses me~”
For a second he stopped typing, sighing. “Shut up, I see you enough on TV, to not miss you– For real do they ever show something other than clips of the oh-so-great Green Ninja? Like, we got it, you’re cool and all that. Can we move on? I wanna watch the new episode of Starfarer.”
“Sounds like someone’s jealous.”
“Am not.”
“Sure are. Bet you wanna be the Green Ninja yourself. Do I have to lock myself in my room when I sleep at night because you might come in and murder me to take my spot–”
“Oh you definitely should because I might come in and choke you to death for being annoying,” he rolled his eyes, sending the text to his aunt. “Besides, I got my wind powers. What do I need a stupid title for anyways?”
“Not like you use them a lot,” Lloyd replied snarkily, already going over to Morro’s bed and letting himself fall onto the, in his opinion, too hard mattress. “I guess that I’m staying the night?”
Morro just nodded, already looking for more comfortable clothes for Lloyd to sleep in. “Sure are. You don’t think that I’m letting you go out alone right now, do you?”
His cousin sighs. “I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.”
“We saw how that went, didn’t we?” Morro replies a bit too harshly, almost wanting to take it back immediately, but he knew he was right. The sun had already set outside and Lloyd had just gotten stitches, if he was going to be attacked there’d be no way for him to get out of that fight unharmed. So Morro was going to keep him right where he was. With him.
He only got a hum in response, the younger probably being either too tired to take up another discussion on the matter or just not caring enough to try. Either way, he was fine with it.
“Hey sleepyhead!” he called, throwing the pair of joggers and a shirt right at Lloyd’s face, making a startled cry escape the blond. “Don’t you fall asleep on my bed, you’re sleeping on the couch.”
“You’re a big meanie,” the young Garmadon mumbled, taking the clothes off of his face but smiling slightly, nonetheless.
“Yeah, yeah,” he rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna get some water now. If you drift off while I’m away, I will wake you up.”
And true to his word, he left the room, not even waiting for an answer from Lloyd and entering the kitchen, collapsing on one of the chairs, suddenly feeling the tension pushing him down like weights that weren’t actually there.
He buried his face in his palms as soon as he felt his eyes starting to sting.
“Get a grip,” he hissed quietly to himself. He was a Wu for God’s sake. He didn’t cry, that was something for bratty little Garmadon’s with blond hair and no sense of self-preservation, who got themselves killed almost every day and– Fuck.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips, which was soon followed by hot tears streaming down his face.
He was angry. Angry at the city for treating Lloyd the way they did. Angry at Lloyd for not being more careful. Angry at himself for not having been there– But most importantly, he was scared. (Not that he was going to admit that to the Green Ninja, who already felt enough like a burden, even though he wasn’t.)
He was scared of losing his cousin. This whole ordeal had started with petty comments and glances, now they actually went out of their way and harmed him physically, stabbed him. Where was this going to end? When would it be enough for them?
Morro gulped. The only answers he could think of for these questions were terrifying and implied scenarios in which he would no longer have a little cousin to be annoyed at, he’d no longer worry if his family would still be whole after yet another Garmadon attack (because it wouldn't be whole to begin with), there’d be no more clips on TV of Lloyd fighting a bit too overdramatically and doing far too many backflips and there would be no more “Hey Emo-Boy, can I crash at your place? I’m bored” texts, hitting him at 3 am every once in a while.
A world without Lloyd would be an empty one, Morro figures. It would be cold and it would be lonely and he would rather die than live through it.
His legs carried him to the sink, filling the glass in his hands, which he didn’t remember grabbing, with water and chugging it down immediately. Maybe he should grab one of the bottles in the fridge for the teen in the other room – aside from blood loss he really did not need to face dehydration as well.
He spent a second leaning against the fridge with his forehead, desperately attempting to collect his thoughts. He couldn’t be an emotional mess in front of Lloyd, especially not now. He was supposed to be the strong one, the one who always kept a clear head. 
But after stitching up your cousin's wounds you were allowed to be at least a little shaken up, he supposed.
He took a deep breath, opening the fridge and taking one of the cool water bottles, before making his way up to his room and entering it, just to be greeted by– snoring?
For fucks sake-
Morro’s eyes fell onto the boy laying still on his bed, almost about to shake him and send him to the living room to sleep, but instead he froze, noticing the dark circles under his eyes and– Oh God, if his heart hadn’t broken yet it definitely was now.
He had been so focused on his wounds and being mad at the city that he hadn’t even noticed how exhausted Lloyd looked.
He bit hard onto his lip, only watching the boy, his mind suddenly going blank.
The Son of Garmadon hadn’t even properly put the blanket over himself – but hey, at least he had changed out of his Gi. Morro was going to give him credits for that.
Walking up to the nightstand next to the bed as quietly as he could, the Master of Wind placed the bottle he was still holding onto the little table, for the other to find once he woke up.
Seemed like he would have to sleep on the couch, after all. He made a face at the thought of the back pain he was going to wake up in tomorrow, but at least Lloyd would get proper rest for a night. He could be happy enough that the boy would even be able to be here tomorrow.
Before he knew it his hands had already grabbed the blanket, softly tucking his cousin in. If Lloyd could see him right now he’d most likely call him a big sap, which he, maybe, was but it’s not like his counterpart was any better. And it wasn’t exactly like the young Ninja wasn’t testing his sanity on the daily.
He hummed quietly to himself, already walking out of the room again and turning the lights off. His eyes fell onto his sofa in the living room.
“You and me, huh?” he mumbled, looking like he was on the way towards his deathbed.
But sleeping on the sofa was worth all the back pain in the world as long as he did it for Lloyd.
Because that meant that he still had a squeaky voiced, self-sacrificial, idiot cousin to return to.
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happylittledrabbles · 3 years
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Four Years
Rating: T 
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Pairing: Tsukishima/Kuroo, Tsukishima/Yamaguchi, Kuroo/Kenma
On the day of Kuroo's graduation, Tsukishima kisses him and runs away without another word, leaving both of them confused. Neither speaks to one another after that, and Tsukishima has to figure out his own emotions now that the person he loves has left, bouncing around from one person to another in order to fill the hole Kuroo created. Angst, hurt, self-discovery, and acceptance ensue, all ending in a high school reunion that ends in tears.
AO3
It happened so quickly, Kuroo barely knew what happened. 
One second, he was congratulating Tsukishima on his good work outside the nationals tournament gym, joking around with the skinny beanpole he had grown close to for nearly a year. Pushing him playfully, ruffling his hair, patting him on the shoulder. All the standard forms of affection Tsukishima had learned to tolerate over the months. Keyword:  tolerate . The last thing Kuroo expected was to have that affection returned by the same Tsukishima who slapped him the first time he placed his hand on his back. 
Especially in the form of a kiss.
A chaste kiss, one that lasted barely a second, but a kiss nonetheless. On the lips. 
Before Kuroo could even form a thought, nevermind actually react to it, he was faced with the back of Tsukishima’s head as he sprinted away and down the sidewalk to the hotel. If he hadn’t just been kissed, he would have found it comical that Tsukishima was finally putting effort into exercise—running no less—but all that he could summon was a shaky exhale as his trembling fingers came up to his lips, where he could have sworn he still felt Tsukishima’s chapped lips on his. 
If Kuroo knew that the last thing he’d see of Tsukishima for months to follow would be the back of his head, he would have sprinted right after him and captured his wrist, spun him back, and made fun of his escape plan before kissing him squarely on the lips. 
But he didn’t know that. So as he switched his gaze from the diploma in his hands up to the audience at his graduation and didn’t see the skinny blond he’d had his eye on since he first practiced with him, to blond who stole a kiss from him, he couldn’t help but feel his face fall and his heart go gray. His grip on his diploma tightened until his mother slapped the back of his head for damaging his diploma, but he couldn’t help it. He apologized to his mother and thanked his family for coming out in support of him and walked home with his family, desperately using the celebratory alcohol to escape the images of glasses paired with a shit-eating grin that assaulted his mind. What he would do to have that shit-eating grin in front of him and wipe it off the holder’s face with a deep kiss. 
He couldn’t even escape it in his dreams. Tsukishima dominated them in every form: his determined face as he practiced, his bored face as he watched his teammate’s foolish antics, his sleeping face that showed off an unguarded version of him for only a short time. But that short time was more than enough to win over Kuroo’s obsession. But that obsession had to come to an end. He had to focus on his new job while Tsukishima had to focus on school. They were at two different points in their lives. At least he would always have that kiss. 
 The problem was, Tsukishima wasn’t focusing on school when it started up again. Or practice. He wasn’t focusing on anything other than the kiss. Summer was torture since he didn’t have homework to at least pretend to lose himself in. All he had was his thoughts, and those were lethal. At random times, he’d find himself running his fingertips over his own lips, letting his eyes flutter closed and imagine Kuroo’s face in front of his, except instead of that surprised expression Kuroo held that day, it would be something full of want, of desire. When school started again, he was a lot more excited than usual, especially for volleyball practice. Except he still couldn’t escape the kiss. 
“Tsukishima!” Daichi yelled, snapping Tsukishima out of his thoughts. 
He hadn’t even noticed the volleyball that had whizzed past his head and nearly knocked Hinata down behind him, all thanks to the amazing ace who was currently apologizing profusely to the both of them, but Tsukishima couldn’t have cared less. 
“Sorry,” he said monotonously, trying to hold back a roll of his eyes. He got back into his blocker stance, holding his arms at chest-level in anticipation for Kageyama’s serve. 
“Great, now get your head out of your ass and actually play, moron,” Kageyama demanded before doing one of his powerful serves. 
Tsukishima scowled at the other, but the scowl lessened when he noticed how the light streaming in from the barred windows fell so perfectly against his black hair, casting an almost halo around him as he jumped nearly two feet in the air, seeming to float before finally landing on Earth. Kageyama at that moment reminded him so much of Kuroo, from the black hair to the offhanded remarks about his performance. Although Kageyama was a tad more offensive in his remarks, Tsukishima couldn’t tell the difference, especially when he was just reeling from the powerful effects of his first kiss. 
He swallowed thickly and swiftly blocked one of Asahi’s spikes, resulting in a very red palm from the aftermath. He cleared his throat and glanced directly at Kageyama, who was staring him down through the net. 
“That good enough for you?” he asked calmly, resulting in Kageyama needing to be held back by Daichi and promptly hit in the back of the head by Suga. He walked off the court and leaned down to pick up his water bottle, drinking slowly as he watched with pleased amusement as Kageyama tried to wrestle his way out of Daichi’s arms. 
“You do that on purpose, don’t you?” Hinata asked, causing Tsukishima to jump from surprise. 
“Geez, you pop out of nowhere, don’t you?” Tsukishima grumbled behind his straw, glancing down at Hinata before looking up at the ceiling. “But yeah, it’s fun to see him freak out.”
Hinata went quiet for a moment, which usually would have been a blessing for the blond, but it made him uneasy at the same time. 
“He has feelings, too, you know,” Hinata mumbled, looking down shyly at his fingers clasped in front of him. “He just can’t control them.”
Tsukishima scoffed. “What are you, his handler? Now I know that he officially needs to go to therapy for anger issues.”
“No!” Hinata exclaimed, attracting the attention of the nearby teammates. He blushed from embarrassment before grasping Tsukishima’s wrist and pulling him over to the equipment closet, staring up at the blond as much as the dimly lit room would let him. “He’s just misunderstood! And you need to stop throwing gas on the flame. He’s a nice person when you get to know him.”
“If I didn’t know any better, I would say you have a wittle crush on him,” Tsukishima teased, making grabby hands to further cement the idea of Hinata being a lovesick puppy. However, with the combination of Hinata’s deepening blush, the turn of his face to hide it, and his lengthening silence, Tsukishima’s eyes widened in realization. So...his suspicions ever since the first day of meeting them were right? Oh, this was delightful.
“No way,” Tsukishima breathed, a grin of disbelief spreading on his face. “You actually have a crush on that volcano?” 
“Don’t tell anybody!” Hinata pleaded, clinging to the front of Tsukishima’s shirt and not letting go as much as the blond tried to shake him off. “Please! I...I want to deal with it on my own time. Please…”
Tsukishima, had he truly been heartless, would have picked up Hinata by the back of the shirt like the scruff on a kitten and burst out the equipment room to proudly announce Hinata’s crush to everybody. However, he had a crush of his own, and due to his calm and collected nature, was successful in keeping it hidden. Nonetheless, if anybody had found out…
Safe to say, he had sympathy for the little orange. 
“...Fine,” Tsukishima relented, pushing him away and walking over to the ajar doors. “Just don’t rub your weird couple fights in my face when you get together.”
He rolled his eyes at Hinata’s loud declarations of gratitude, shutting the doors on the redhead’s face before walking back over to his water bottle. Since then, Kageyama had calmed down (the lack of Tsukishima’s presence possibly contributing to this). He was practicing his serves in the short break Daichi afforded them, probably because he was too busy flirting with Suga to notice the rest of the team. Was everybody on the team just interbreeding? It was kind of disgusting to Tsukishima. Who the hell would fall in love with a teammate?
“Hey, Tanaka, throw me one,” Kageyama said, motioning to the sack full of volleyballs. Tanaka nodded and tossed him a ball, which Kageyama responded to by backing up behind the line and tossing the ball into the air, jumping up, and practically spiking it onto the other side as a serve. 
Just that move, paired with the nearly slow-motion view Tsukishima’s brain tortured him with of the wind moving so swiftly to push back Kageyama’s hair to reveal his determined expression, was enough to get him to swallow his previous criticisms. 
Oh, no, he thought. Oh no no no no. No, not a crush. It’s not a crush. Just...appreciation of beauty, is all. Not that he’s attractive! He’s an ugly bastard. Yeah, that’s it. 
But as much as Tsukishima tried to convince himself that his eyes cementing on his day-one rival and sliding down his figure glowing with sweat was purely platonic, he was intelligent enough to recognize a crush when he saw one. 
So he did what he usually did with crushes (the only exception being Kuroo): avoided Kageyama at all costs. It did help that Hinata eventually confessed to Kageyama, who reluctantly confessed back and ended with them as a couple. It was literally no different to their relationship from before: they constantly fought, with Kageyama continuing to throw insults that would make any regular person cry, but Hinata only laughed and took it as an encouragement to play harder. The only difference was when they would walk back home together at night after practice, they would be holding hands. Their hands must’ve been so warm together in the snowy night. As opposed to Tsukishima, who had perpetually cold hands. And nobody to warm them.
It also helped that a few weeks later—Tsukishima’s crush on Kageyama completely gone—his lifelong friend Yamaguchi confessed to him that he’d had a crush on him since he first learned about romantic feelings. 
“So...all these years?” Tsukishima asked, breathless. 
It was a cloudless night, the moon on full display to light up the pair of friends like a stage show. It was cold enough to have their opaque breaths overlap with each other with how close Yamaguchi was to the blond, his eyes shining with wetness from his overwhelmed tears. 
“Yes,” Yamaguchi whispered, his eyes never leaving Tsukishima’s. “I...I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love you, Kei.”
A crush was one thing. But love? Yamaguchi... loved him? And not in a platonic way? As much as Tsukishima hated to admit it and never would out loud, he loved Yamaguchi as a friend. He loved their friendship and cherished it as close to his heart as his headphones. But in a romantic way...he couldn’t lie and say he never considered it. He found himself closing the gap, both physically and metaphorically, between him and Yamaguchi over the years, with the inches between them when sitting in class turning into centimeters and then millimeters. And when they had sleepovers, Tsukishima couldn’t help but turn over in his bed and watch Yamaguchi sleep. Sometimes, he’d wake up on the floor right next to Yamaguchi, who just assumed Tsukishima had sleep-walked or fallen out of bed. And he tried to convince himself of that fact so much that he thought it was true. Until now. Now he knew…
“Can you give me some time to...process all this?” he asked haltingly. His heart broke when a few tears escaped Yamaguchi’s eyes at that response. He knew very well it wasn’t the one Yamaguchi wanted. It was better to be turned down than to be kept waiting. But he physically couldn’t think at the moment from all the thoughts and flashbacks swirling in his head.
“S-sure, Kei…” Yamaguchi mumbled, wringing his hands. “Bye, then.” 
He turned away and ran as fast as he could home. Tsukishima knew they both lived in the same neighborhood, so he’d give Yamaguchi a running start before he began to walk home to prevent any more awkwardness. Besides, he couldn’t imagine walking with the way his legs were shaking. 
 —
The next night after practice, their sweat drying down in the frigid night, they found themselves in the exact same position as yesterday: facing each other with tears in Yamaguchi’s eyes.
“Really?” Yamaguchi breathed in disbelief, clutching his hands into excited fists. 
“Yeah, Tadashi,” Tsukishima replied, cracking a rare shy smile. “I really like you. I...I want to try this out.” 
That was all Yamaguchi needed before he threw his arms around Tsukishima’s neck and pulled him in close, joining their lips that were so chapped, but it didn’t matter to him. All he knew was that he was kissing the best friend he’d loved since they were old enough to have abstract thought. And he wasn’t about to let go anytime soon.
All Tsukishima knew was that this kiss was...different. Different than the only kiss he’d ever had before. This kiss wasn’t bad—in fact, he found himself wrapping his arms around Yamaguchi’s waist and pulling him closer until their chests pressed together, cocking his head to the side to deepen the kiss. But a flash of Kuroo’s face made him gasp and pull away, lifting the back of his hand to his lips. 
“Did...did I do something wrong?” Yamaguchi asked in such a small voice, Tsukishima immediately went to reassure him. 
“No, no, it was just...overwhelming,” he replied quickly, adding in a small awkward chuckle which made Yamaguchi’s face brighten. 
“I’m glad,” Yamaguchi whispered, nervously picking at his hangnails. “N-not at you being overwhelmed, but that I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”
“You weren’t,” Tsukishima whispered back, his face reddening to match the rose bush across from them. “At all.”
In fact, it was all his fault for imagining the black-haired upperclassman who refused to leave his mind, even after all these months. He was probably succeeding heavily in his new job, had a girlfriend—or a wife, who knew? Maybe he had some mini Kuroos running around. The thought made him nauseous. But why? He had his own boyfriend now. So why was he still thinking about that stupid kiss with that stupid Kuroo?
“Let’s go home,” Tsukishima offered, to which Yamaguchi furiously nodded. 
“Yeah,” he replied, slipping his hand into Tsukishima’s, their fingers lacing together. He ran his thumb over his knuckles, which gave Tsukishima the impression that Yamaguchi had been imagining every single second of how this confession would go. 
“Let’s go,” Yamaguchi murmured, pressing a kiss to Tsukishima’s cheek while standing on his toes. 
 They dated for the rest of high school, sharing all their firsts together. Minus Tsukishima’s first kiss. That was still reserved for the devil named Kuroo who still haunted his dreams instead of his boyfriend. They are right, though: time really does heal all wounds. It didn’t take long for Kuroo to disappear from Tsukishima’s mind. From homework to tests to volleyball to Yamaguchi, he simply didn’t have enough brainpower to focus on the man who was probably already married. That logic ended with his dreams. And he’d rather die than admit he still dreamed about anybody other than his boyfriend. 
They went to the movies, had picnics, ice skated, laughed, and kissed. When they weren’t on formal dates, they hung out just like they did as before when they were just friends: at school or in each other’s bedrooms, playing on their phones absentmindedly or helping each other with their DS games. The only exception being their bedroom doors had to be left open, per their parents’ instructions. But that didn’t stop them from doing exactly what their parents were trying to prevent in their third and last year in school. 
“Are you sure about this?” Yamaguchi asked breathlessly, his breath having been sucked out by the near ten-minute makeout session they were having before he pushed Tsukishima onto the bed and wavered over him. 
Tsukishima only nodded, not having any courage to confirm out loud. His face was beet-red, and it only got redder when he felt Yamaguchi’s lips on his neck, chest, stomach, and beyond. The entire time, he hid his face with his arms and silenced himself, only letting out occasional whimpers and pants. It ended with both of them satisfied and with Tsukishima wordlessly clinging to Yamaguchi’s side. That was something new he learned about himself: he could be very clingy. And Yamaguchi was more than pleased to learn this. 
However, he wasn’t afforded the same luxury of hiding away evidence of his pleasure the next time, with Yamaguchi physically ripping away Tsukishima’s arms from his face in order to look at his boyfriend in all his glory. After that time, Tsukishima boycotted cuddling with Yamaguchi...for the first ten minutes. Then his need for physical closeness overruled any grudge he had. 
He was happy.  
 —
They wasted no time making up for all the sex they could’ve had the last two years where they only had clandestine makeout sessions and subtle clothed grinding. But it wasn’t just because they were horny, but because it was their last year. Their last year until they eventually split because they had drastically different life plans. 
Kageyama and Hinata had already split up a month ago. Asahi and Noya had a very saccharine one year of dating until they split because of the long-distance after Asahi graduated. Suga and Daichi dated only for a month before splitting and graduating, if you could call going on one date and making out and grinding against a wall dating. It was only a matter of time before he and Yamaguchi did the same. All eyes were on them. Well, that was an exaggeration, but that’s what it felt like for Tsukishima. 
Which made it all even worse when he found out his feelings weren’t mutual. 
“What? You want to...break up?” Yamaguchi asked in such a broken voice that Tsukishima wanted to act like it was a prank. But he couldn’t. 
“I’m just thinking about the future, Tadashi,” he replied, trying to keep his voice level, but just that felt cruel juxtaposed against Yamaguchi’s crumbling exterior. 
“The future?” Yamaguchi asked, his voice breaking yet again. His confused face fell into despair, his under eyes seeming to sink inches into his face. His eyes fell down to his wringing hands in front of him. “Right...the future.”
“Yeah, I mean, it just—”
“Have you thought—” Yamaguchi interrupted, his eyes still fixated on his hands. “—that maybe I thought you were my future? That we are the future? You’re the love of my life, Kei. I could never just leave you.”
That hit Tsukishima like a train. No, a bullet. No, a bullet train. He physically recoiled, his hand gripping his sweatshirt. 
“I-I—” How the hell was he supposed to respond to that? “We’re going to be across the country. You’ll be in Sapporo, and I’ll be in Fukuoka. It’s just too far.”
“Oh, well,” Yamaguchi said, trying to sound casual, but the big gobs of tears running down his cheeks were a dead giveaway that he was, in fact, not casual. “We h-had a good run.” 
Tsukishima raised his hand slowly to see if Yamaguchi would object, and when he didn’t, he brushed his hot tears away with his thumb. They were so salty, they burned the cuts volleyball gave him on his fingers and palm. 
“The best,” he murmured before leaning down and kissing away Yamaguchi’s tears, ignoring the burning as they slipped into the cracks in his lips. He moved them away from his cheeks to his boyfriend—now ex’s—lips, giving him one last tender kiss before standing back up and beginning his long, tearful trek home. He never cried. Keyword: never . And yet he was bawling like a baby the entire way home, only stopped when he had to walk past his parents before collapsing on the floor of his bedroom and crying until his voice was raw and he ran out of tears. 
Graduation didn’t occur too long after that. He and Yamaguchi had stayed tentative friends, especially since Tsukishima wouldn’t have literally anybody to talk to if they hadn’t. He was going to a university close to Fukuoka, focusing on archaeology. He signed up for the intramural volleyball team, the sport being the only love in his life other than Yamaguchi. Despite them being broken up, he still deeply loved and would always love Yamaguchi. Perhaps in another life, or even a few years...who knew? His motto was always “you never know what will happen.” So after saying goodbye to Yamaguchi and Hinata and tipping his chin up in a mutual agreement to never talk to each other again to Kageyama, he thought those were all the friends he had left at the school. The rest had already graduated, and he didn’t really think of them as friends. Not that he thought Hinata and Kageyama were friends.
Bokuto still tried to get in touch with him, but all his face reminded him of was Kuroo. And he seriously thought he was over that pain in the ass after four years. Plus, Bokuto had his own career and tax-evasion to deal with. Almost every time he tried to call Tsukishima, the call was interrupted by the tax service calling him. So when Bokuto called him up a week after graduation, he just counted the minutes until he had to hang up. However, it seemed as if Bokuto knew about his limited phone time, so he got the information out as quickly as possible.
“Hey, so we’re thinking of rounding up all the members of the dream team—Karasuno, Nekoma, Fukurodani, the works—up for a reunion!” he spat out, barely giving Tsukishima enough time to react before launching into the details of the meetup. 
“Anyway, see you there!” Click.
Tsukishima blinked. He blinked again. The third time he blinked, it all registered in his mind. 
Kuroo might be there.
He shamelessly RSVP’d to Bokuto’s email immediately afterward. 
 —
He wasn’t exactly given the dress code for the event, so he played it safe with a simple deep violet button-down and black slacks. He wore his father’s expensive Rolex watch and a thick black belt as if trying to convey to the others that he was already so successful after just graduating. “To the others,” i.e. Kuroo. He stared at himself in the mirror, fixing his glasses for the umpteenth time, only looking away once he thought his ear was melting off his face from staring too long at himself. Finally, once his brother yelled at him to get out of the bathroom, he grabbed his car keys and drove to the homey bar downtown where they sometimes visited after practice games to stock up on carbs and protein. It gave him both PTSD and déjà vu. 
He took off his shoes at the entrance and slipped into the slippers they provided, but he nearly fell from tripping at the loud, familiar laughter that echoed throughout the bar. That could only be—
“Beanpole!” Tanaka yelled for the entire bar to turn and witness the drunkard ambling like a toddler up to the blond, slinging his arm around his shoulders as he nursed a bottle of beer. “What’s up, man? I didn’t think you’d have the cojones to show up here!”
“I will never miss you saying that word,” Tsukishima muttered, only earning him another loud bark of laughter. He groaned and pushed Tanaka off him, being caught by Kiyoko. 
Hm, they seem to be going strong.
Perhaps not every high school relationship fell apart after high school or long-distance. He ignored the thought for now since he knew it would cause him to fall into a deep depression over his need to break up with Yamaguchi for that very reason. He didn’t need that in the middle of a bar, especially since he was sober. 
All his former teammates and rivals were sat around three tables joined together, all laughing and clinking drinks and screaming ‘Banzai!’ until their voices went hoarse. Tsukishima’s eyes scanned the rowdy bar-goers: no sign of who he was waiting for. Yamaguchi noticed him immediately. That wasn’t a huge change from their high school years; he had grown a sort of sixth sense to sense when Tsukishima was around and then to provide him company, even though he looked as if he despised it. He never did. 
“Hi, Kei,” Yamaguchi greeted timidly, as if he was scared of his lifelong best friend. They were best friends above all, from when they were boyfriends to now that they’re exes. So that hurt Tsukishima even more than he was already in pain. He was lucky if he didn’t walk away with a shriveled heart by the end of this. 
He sat down next to Yamaguchi and crossed his legs, smiling at him politely. He had learned to smile more with Yamaguchi—not because Yamaguchi told him to, but because it had happened so gradually and naturally he had barely noticed it until his mother pointed it out. 
“What’ve you been doing this week after graduation?” he asked, trying to make polite conversation, but it was obvious that he was a little tipsy. 
“Ooh, nothing,” he slurred. 
Okay, more than a little tipsy. 
“Just, hehe—” He made a jerking up-and-down motion with his hand, which caused a red blush to overtake Tsukishima’s face at the connotations and the fact that Yamaguchi was being so brazen with his insinuations. “—and looking at internships. Trade school, maybe. I never figured it out in school. I was too busy with...you know.”
His eyes dropped to Tsukishima’s butt before flicking back up to those horrified brown eyes. 
“I love baking,” he continued as if he didn’t just say something to get the teammates around them snickering. “Maybe I’ll work at a bakery.” 
“It...fits you,” Tsukishima replied, still reeling from the neverending suggestive comments his friend just made. 
“Hey, Yams, if those scones you brought us that one practice are any indication, I’m gonna spend all my money on your bakery,” Nishinoya butted in before taking a long swig of beer, being goaded on by Tanaka and Bokuto. 
“Heh, thanks,” Yamaguchi mumbled, a blush spreading on his cheeks. 
Oh, so that’s what gets you blushing?
Tsukishima got lost in the conversation, especially when more and more alcohol was placed in front of him. He got so lost, in fact, he would have completely missed the doors to the pub opening to reveal the main reason he came to the reunion in the first place. The only thing that pulled him out of his mental fog was Bokuto’s dramatic gasp and sprint to the door to envelop the dark-haired figure in a bear hug. 
“Enough, enough—get off me, Bokuto!” Kuroo yelled, bonking Bokuto on the head as a last resort. 
“Is that any way to say hello to the love of your life?” Bokuto asked tearfully, batting his eyelashes as Kuroo rolled his eyes. 
“Sorry, lovey,” Kuroo grumbled, hooking Bokuto by the back of the neck and pulling him in to kiss him on the cheek. “Better now?”
Bokuto giggled and nodded. “Yeeahh.”
Kuroo turned to his side, and oh, Tsukishima barely recognized him without the awful dye job. 
“Get jealous there, Kenma?” Kuroo asked with a wink, to which Kenma rolled his eyes and went back to typing on his phone. Kuroo immediately reached forward and yanked the phone out of Kenma’s hands, pocketing it quickly. “I said no phone tonight.”
“You say that every night,” Kenma mumbled as they walked over to the table. 
Tsukishima physically could not tear his eyes away from Tetsurou Kuroo. He looked so...handsome. So beautiful. Genuinely. He looked almost the same, and yet there was a certain aura around him that screamed ‘successful’ and ‘confident’ and ‘good-natured soul.’ He thought Kuroo was attractive in high school…
Oh, he was drooling. 
As he wiped his mouth with a napkin, he secretly prayed that Kuroo wouldn’t go anywhere close to him. But that was too much to ask for, apparently, since Kuroo sat right across from him. It was as if he made a beeline just for Tsukishima. Could he maybe still…? No, it was just a coincidence. 
“Hey, Kei,” Kuroo said before dissolving into laughter. “Ha, the rhyme never gets old.”
Tsukishima forced on a pained smile, but it wasn’t because the joke wasn’t funny. Well, it wasn’t, but he’d gotten used to the cringiness of it long ago. No, just having Kuroo in the same vicinity was enough to get him sweating profusely, nevermind right across from him, talking to him. 
“How are you doing?” Kuroo continued, pouring two glasses of sake.
Get ahold of yourself.
“I should be asking you that,” Tsukishima replied with a nervous laugh, about to reach forward for one of the glasses until Kenma reached for it first. He only processed how awkward it was that his hand was just wavering above the table, so he quickly wrapped it around an empty beer bottle and acted as if it was full. 
“Ah, I’m boring,” Kuroo said with a dismissive wave. “Same old, same old.”
“And what is that ‘same old, same old’?” Tsukishima asked, swirling the last drops of beer around the bottle. His entire body was warm. He set down the beer bottle to take off his coat, and he could’ve sworn he saw Kuroo’s eyes give him a once-over before returning to his face. Just the thought caused him to heat up even more. At this rate, he’d be stripped naked by the end of the night. Well, if it meant Kuroo’s eyes would be on him—
Wow, he was drunk. 
“Well, office work, mostly,” Kuroo explained with a shrug. “Being a software developer is a lot more boring than it sounds.” 
“Are you still playing volleyball?” Tsukishima asked hesitantly, his eyes focused on the table because otherwise, he’d be staring very creepily at the man in front of him. 
“Every once in a while when I can get out of the office,” Kuroo replied. “At the local gym. I’ve found a couple of guys.”
“Oh, cool,” Tsukishima said with a bob of his head. 
What a lame response.
“Any cuties at work?” he blurted out, and woah, he would take a lame response over the abomination that just left his mouth. He looked down at the beer bottle he was just drinking from to see if it was accidentally pure vodka. 
Kuroo seemed more taken aback than Tsukishima himself, which made him want to wallow in self-pity even more.
“Oh, uh—” Kuroo laughed, although it didn’t seem nervous. “No, I’ve actually had my eye on somebody for a while.”
“For a while?” Tsukishima repeated, his eyes brimming with hope. His chest felt as if it would burst. He didn’t imagine their mutual love confession being in the middle of a bar with everybody nearly blackout drunk and falling over themselves, but as long as it happened, he’d be over the moon. He very conspicuously leaned forward and over the table, his eyes dropping to Kuroo’s lips. 
“Yeah,” Kuroo replied slowly, his eyes also dropping to Tsukishima’s lips. 
This is it, this is it, this is—
“Your eye on somebody? Really? You’re so romantic,” Kenma interrupted sarcastically, so rudely interrupting the moment Tsukishima and Kuroo were having. “It almost makes me forget our anniversary is next week.”
Anniversary…?
“What, you can’t catch my eye?” Oh, God, Kuroo was resorting to baby talk. He lifted a hand and cupped the side of Kenma’s face, and only then was it glaringly obvious that Tsukishima was horribly, horribly wrong. To add insult to injury, the golden band that suddenly appeared on Kuroo’s ring finger glinted atrociously in the light, as if bragging to Tsukishima that it wasn’t his. 
“Mmmm,” Kenma hummed absentmindedly, burying his face back in his phone, which he magically got back from Kuroo’s pocket. 
“This is why I married you,” Kuroo replied, earning a bout of whooping and happy shouting from amongst the other guests in celebration of the announcement. But Tsukishima was silent. And stone cold. 
Without a word, he stood up and tossed his jacket over his shoulder before promptly walking out of the bar into the cool air, but it did nothing to calm the rage and shame mixing pitifully in his chest. He had seriously thought that...with Kuroo...and he would…
I’m such a fucking idiot. 
He kicked a rock into the street, which instantly got run over by a car. That’s exactly what Tsukishima’s heart felt like. Crushed ruthlessly. 
The opening of the bar door caused him to turn, revealing Yamaguchi stumbling out with near sobriety. His body hadn’t quite caught up, though. 
“Hey, where’d you go?” Yamaguchi asked, walking straight up to Tsukishima until he could smell the alcohol on his breath. 
“I just needed some air,” he explained, looking up at the sky and how his condensed breath clouded it temporarily until it dissipated. 
“You know I know when you lie, Kei,” Yamaguchi replied, raising a brow before his face dawned with realization. “Was it Kuroo? Did he say something?”
“I—no, it’s nothing. It was just really hot,” Tsukishima said, waving Yamaguchi away. “Now go back, you’re missing the fun.”
“What, missing Tanaka throw up on Bokuto and try to clean it up himself and make it worse?” Yamaguchi joked. “Yeah, no thanks.” 
They stayed silent for a moment more before Yamaguchi’s soft voice broke the silence. 
“It was him, wasn’t it?” Yamaguchi asked, which immediately caught Tsukishima’s attention. Yamaguchi shoved his hands deep into his pockets and sighed. “It was always him.” 
“I...don’t know what—”
“Don’t lie to me, Kei!” Yamaguchi shouted, not caring about the passerby giving them strange looks. “I’ve always seen the way you look at him. Ever since that damn training camp...I thought that maybe, maybe I was just making it up because I was insecure, especially when you said you liked me back. But…”
Why did it always end up this way? With Yamaguchi crying his eyes out and spilling out his heart and Tsukishima dying of guilt? 
“But you never looked at me the way you looked at Kuroo just now. N-never.” Yamaguchi sniffled and wiped his eyes, but more tears just replaced the others. “Was I just...a replacement? Somebody to have fun with before moving on to somebody else? Was that it?”
“Tadashi, no—”
“Nevermind,” Yamaguchi interrupted, shaking his head emphatically. “I don’t want to know. I’ve already beat myself up enough after you broke up with me. I just...I hope you are happy, Kei. Or at least, I hope you get happy. I hope you find somebody who makes you as happy as Kuroo made you.” 
He smiled, but it was so pained that it felt like thousands of little needles were sticking straight in Tsukishima’s chest. 
“It’s okay, Kei. It’s okay.” Yamaguchi got on his toes one last time and pressed a long, tender, and tragic kiss onto Tsukishima’s cheek, wet with tears. Only then did he realize he was crying. 
“I’ll see you at the next reunion, okay?” Yamaguchi said softly, smoothing out Tsukishima’s shirt. “We’ll both be happy, Tsukishima.”
“I was always happy with you, Tadashi,” Tsukishima croaked, basically pleading for Yamaguchi to listen to him. 
Yamaguchi said nothing. Instead, he nodded curtly, pat Tsukishima’s chest, and walked back into the bar. Not long after, he walked back out with his coat, sparing Tsukishima another glance before getting in a taxi and leaving far away from the site of so many happy moments and one horrible, awful, disastrous moment. 
Tsukishima was getting ready to leave before the creaking of the bar door caused him to pause, but he didn’t turn his head. It was probably just a stranger, so he continued to search his pockets for his car keys, coming up empty. 
“Searching for these?”
A metallic jingle accompanied the voice, belonging to none other than his car keys and Kuroo himself. 
Tsukishima made sure the last of his tears were wiped away, but he still felt that his cheeks were burning and his eyes were bloodshot. 
“Uh, yeah. Thanks.” Tsukishima held out his hand and looked down at the sidewalk, awaiting the weight of the car keys in his hand, but it never came, forcing him to look back up and be met with Kuroo’s incredibly close figure who was currently smirking. 
“Why are you leaving so early? You just got here,” he asked, raising a brow in suspicion. 
“I just got tired,” he explained quickly, motioning to the car keys. “Please.”
“Ah-ah-ah,” Kuroo sang, shaking his head. “Aren’t you drunk?”
“Please.” Before long, Kuroo’s teasing got very old, and Tsukishima couldn’t hold himself back from blowing up. “Please give me my keys!”
Kuroo, for the second time that night, was taken aback. It reminded him of the good old days when he would be taken aback with every word Tsukishima said because he expected him to never talk, and when he did, it was always a jab at somebody. He found it amusing, but in this moment, he found it terrifying. 
“Tsukki, no way,” Kuroo objected sternly, stuffing the keys in his pocket. “You’re drunk. I’ll drive you home after this; just come back inside.”
“No!” Without thinking, Tsukishima grabbed Kuroo and drove him deeper into an alleyway, throwing him against the wall and shooting his arm out to try and dig his keys out, but Kuroo blocked him in every way possible. “Just let me get my keys!”
“If you want to leave so bad, let me call a—”
“Don’t you understand? Are you that fucking stupid, or are you just blind?” Tsukishima was crying again by now, his face glistening with new tears thanks to the moon shining straight above them. “Let me leave, and I’ll leave you alone.”
“What’s your issue, man?” Kuroo asked, but it was less of a question and more of demand. He continued to hold Tsukishima’s keys hostage, which made him even more desperate to get them. He clawed at Kuroo’s chest, practically falling on top of him with how his legs were failing him.
“Do you seriously not remember? Or notice anything? I don’t remember you being this idiotic,” Tsukishima yelled, and he watched as Kuroo’s face morphed from confusion to calm realization. 
“...That was nearly four years ago, Kei,” Kuroo said. This time his voice was low, rumbling deep in his chest, and Tsukishima could feel it through his hands. 
“And I never stopped thinking about it! I never stopped thinking about you. You did this to me. You made me fall—” He hesitated, but he had already gone too far. Time to come clean about everything. “You made me fall in love with you! It’s all your fault, and now I have to deal with the consequences. You won’t leave my head no matter what I try. And now you’re fucking married? Did I mean nothing to you? You never...you never talked to me again after that. I…” He raised a trembling hand to his face, hiding it as best he could. “I’ve loved you for so long, it’s ruined my entire life.”
Kuroo was dead silent. The alleyway was silent other than the ambient noise filtering in from the entrance of the alley, of traffic and passerby and animals. The only sound between them was Tsukishima’s panicked panting, trying to get ahold of his own breath, and his strained weeping.
“You’ve always loved me,” Kuroo repeated, and Tsukishima let out a pitiful cry just at the sound of Kuroo saying those words. Kuroo pushed Tsukishima away but only to look him square in the face. “You never contacted me, Tsukki. I was just giving you space to figure things out.”
“I-I-I—” He didn’t have any excuses for that. All he wanted to do was blame everybody around him for his out-of-control feelings other than himself.
How’s that working out for you, Kei?
“Tsukki,” Kuroo started, and just hearing him use that nickname after so long in that low voice made Tsukishima nearly melt. “Tsukki, you were always like a little brother to me. I—”
A pathetic yelp erupted from Tsukishima’s throat at hearing that. Just that sentence alone was enough to kill him entirely. 
“But—”
There weren’t any buts. He was now just a walking husk of a man, rejected by the man he’d been yearning after for years, had devoted his dreams and daydreams to just to get by in high school. 
“But I’ve never stopped thinking about it,” Kuroo finished. “I never stopped thinking about you. I never forgot about you, Kei. Or what could’ve happened.”
“What could’ve happened…” Tsukishima gasped and clutched Kuroo’s hand, another burst of excitement swelling in him. “Y-you mean—”
“No, Kei, I’m happily married,” Kuroo clarified, showing off that dastardly ring that mocked him in all its beauty. “If we did get together, I know it wouldn’t have lasted very long. But I do know we would’ve been happy during that time. Until we found true happiness in somebody else.”
“Which…” Tsukishima winced, “is what you did.”
Kuroo nodded sagely. “And you will, too. You don’t have to forget me, Kei. You just have to find somebody who doesn’t make you look back on me with regret but with thankfulness that you got to a point where you found somebody you love more than me.” He reached up and caressed the side of Tsukishima’s wet cheek, stroking the red skin with his thumb. “You’ll always be my beanpole middle blocker.”
And you’ll always be my pain-in-the-ass captain.
“I’m gonna go call you a cab,” Kuroo said, motioning to the end of the alleyway they came from. “I’ll see you later, Tsukki. Take care.”
With that, he leaned forward and pressed a soft, short kiss onto Tsukishima’s forehead, leaving him in the alley to wallow in his own tears and self-pity until the cab he called showed up. The entire cab ride, he never let go of his forehead, wanting to preserve the warmth on his skin for as long as possible. 
And when he got home, he realized Kuroo had kept his car keys. 
Did he do this on purpose?
 —
The next day, after taking pain meds for the killer headache assaulting his mind and cringing sufficiently over his actions last night, he finally mustered up the courage to call Kuroo.
The line rang two times before Kuroo picked up. 
“Hey.” His voice was like molasses in the morning. “Calling for your car keys?”
“Yes,” Tsukishima replied, coolly as he always did. 
“I’ll see you after work,” was all Kuroo said before hanging up. 
When Kuroo showed up later that night, he brought somebody familiar with him.
“Sorry about not telling you, but I needed somebody to drive me back,” Kuroo said, motioning to the tall man beside him.
“Is that…” Tsukishima’s eyes raked over the man’s figure before settling on his eyebrows—or rather, lack of them. 
“Aone,” he finished for Tsukishima, bowing in greeting. “It’s very nice to see you again, Tsukishima.”
“Enough with the formalities, Aone, geez,” Kuroo joked, punching him playfully in the shoulder. “Well, anyway, here are your keys. I gotta go drop Aone off at a single’s night at a nightclub. Because, you know, he’s single.”
Aone blushed. Tsukishima never thought he’d see the day this concrete block of a man blush. It was...endearing in a way. 
“No need to advertise it,” Aone whispered under his breath, which made Tsukishima chuckle sympathetically. Kuroo’s eyes shone.
“Well, anyway, gotta go,” Kuroo said, motioning to the car and tossing Tsukishima the keys, which he barely caught in time since his eyes were stuck on a certain man.
“W-wait,” Tsukishima said, reaching out to get them to stop. “Single’s club? Um...is it any fun?”
Kuroo laughed his usual devil laugh that sounded more annoying than cute now. 
“Of course it is, it’s a club,” Kuroo said matter-of-factly. “But I’m sure it’s not your speed.”
Tsukishima paused and looked down at his feet before admitting, “I, uh, can try it out.”
“Oh,” Kuroo said as if he had just been given a critical piece of evidence. “Aone, did you hear that?”
“I’m not deaf.”
“Alright, Tsukki, go get dressed because those pajamas are tacky,” Kuroo demanded, waving Tsukishima away.
He sneered and turned his nose up as he turned his back on the former captain. “Bokuto is rubbing off on you.”
“Never say that to me again.” 
Tsukishima held back laughter as he ran back inside, an uncontrollable grin forming on his face. And for the first time after an interaction with Kuroo, he wasn’t the person that stayed in his mind as he left. Tsukishima himself was the man he was thinking about, about how excited he was getting at the possibility of meeting new people. That never happened before because, well...his heart had always been reserved for Kuroo. 
Now it was open, open to everybody. Including himself. 
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homeformyheart · 3 years
Text
ménage - mason x nb!detective (twc)
author’s note: brooklyn was the last detective i created because i wanted to romance mason with a shy / oblivious detective that “wants something more” and found they have some deep resentment toward rebecca that i wanted to process/write. the ending was inspired by that sera ask. i hope you enjoy!
copyright: all characters, except my oc detective, are owned by mishka jenkins @seraphinitegames.
series/pairing: the wayhaven chronicles – mason x nb!detective (brooklyn kingston) rating/warnings: 14+; swearing, arguing word count: 2.5k summary: brooklyn finally lets out their resentment toward rebecca and quits out of anger, retreating to their apartment where mason comforts them.
ménage
mason could feel brooklyn begin to bristle under his arm as they sat on the living room couch, waiting for the meeting with rebecca to wrap-up. trapper activity had spiked in wayhaven, and this time they were seeing an increase in kidnappings of supernaturals that brooklyn recognized. well, they recognized their human forms anyway. which meant that the trappers were closing in on people who may have more of a connection to them.
brooklyn had kept themself busy to avoid thinking about the bounty on their head but hearing about trappers targeting people they knew was difficult to ignore. thoughts of tina, verda, eric, and haley easily came to mind and left a pit in their stomach that they couldn’t quite identify. it was probably a combination of guilt and anxiety and at this point, they just wanted to go to sleep and avoid dwelling on it anymore. the team had completed their briefing but rebecca wanted to discuss something with adam and nate before calling it a night.
they sighed and leaned sub-consciously closer to mason, his thumb absent-mindedly drawing circles on their arm. it was something that brooklyn realized helped soothe their nerves. they weren’t used to any sort of physical affection; they actually recoiled from it if anything since they didn’t have much relationship experience in that department and certainly didn’t receive any from their parents. but something about mason made them feel safe and warm, and they struggled to pull away like they would’ve done if it were anyone else.
the murmured conversation between adam, nate, and rebecca was becoming harder to ignore. not that they were particularly loud, but because it was obvious that they were discussing them. logically, the discussion was probably focused on how to increase protection for both them and the town without bringing in reinforcements lest people get wind of something happening, but all brooklyn could focus on was the concerned looks nate kept throwing their way and the disapproving frowns apparent on adam’s face, even from his profile.
“can you please stop talking about me like i’m not even here? or even better yet, stop talking about me like i’m a child and making decisions for me,” brooklyn snapped suddenly, irritation clearly lacing their tone.
mason’s arm around their shoulder tightened slightly, almost startling them out of their annoyance. they glanced at him, prepared to shrug his shoulder off in retaliation, when they noticed he was only looking at them with genuine concern. they leaned further back into his embrace but the tension never left their body.
rebecca blinked at them in surprise before putting her professional mask back in place. “please give us some privacy,” she said, glancing quickly at the team who nodded in return and left the room.
brooklyn took note of the fact that mason was the last to leave and not before he gave them a long, concerned look.
“you know they can hear everything we say anyway, right? sending them away doesn’t mean this conversation is private. how many conversations have we had with your team listening in?” they muttered, standing up so that they could be closer to eye level with rebecca.
“it doesn’t matter. what matters to me is your safety, brooklyn. you are always my priority,” rebecca said firmly, with such conviction that someone without a lifetime of experiencing less than that would be easily convinced.
brooklyn scoffed, eliciting a raised eyebrow from rebecca. “you have an odd way of showing what’s a priority to you. i could fill ten notebooks with all the times your job took priority over me.”
rebecca started twisting her hands together. “i made sure you didn’t want for anything. i gave you everything you needed to live comfortably, and i knew that i could trust your safety in the hands of the supernatural nannies.”
their jaw dropped. “oh my god – are you serious? so you surrounded me with supernaturals and yet lied to my face about what kept you away,” they said with a humorless laugh, shaking their head. they were getting close to their limit. “let’s be honest, you didn’t want to be a mother.”
they could see the energy drain from rebecca’s face and she swayed on the spot. “how—how could you think that? no matter our differences, you are my child and i love you.”
“what am i supposed to think? you weren’t around no matter what i did! i was the perfect child. i never got into trouble, i studied hard and got into a good school, i didn’t date, and i never stayed out past curfew. it still wasn’t enough for you,” brooklyn said, her voice starting to rise in volume.
“everything i did was to protect you and make sure you could have a normal life – and you did,” rebecca’s voice was starting to grate on brooklyn’s nerves.
an unfamiliar tightness in their chest made brooklyn pause to take a breath. “i didn’t do anything that would cause you to worry, and you think you can take credit for that? you think it’s because you were a good mother?”
years of repressed resentment bubbled up to the surface all at once. brooklyn had almost forgotten how deeply they had buried it all. it was easy to forget that a dormant volcano could still erupt if the telltale signs were ignored. balancing two jobs and handling all the supernatural missions and happenings took up so much brain space that they had been too exhausted to notice the building resentment.
it started with harmless annoyances, like rebecca’s comments about how the team could ensure their safety on a mission and the occasional question about whether they still wanted to be part of this world. it became harder to ignore when rebecca would pull adam aside to talk privately after almost every meeting and the way in which they both glanced at them made it obvious that they were the topic of discussion.
brooklyn couldn’t help the well of tears building in their throat. “you think it justifies that you were never around? i had already lost and never got to know my father. what i needed was my mother.”
* * * * * mason leaned with one foot against the wall of the hallway beyond the living room, arms folded across his chest and a small, almost indiscernible frown on his face.
normally the team would disperse when rebecca asked for privacy, however, adam was the only team member that promptly left the area. felix and nate were clearly hoping for a peaceful resolution to whatever was going on between agent kingston and brooklyn, if the concerned looks on their faces and pacing were any indication.
“i really hope they can talk things through calmly,” nate said, his brows furrowed so deeply that his face seemed to scrunch in half.
felix played with the frayed edges of his scarf anxiously and stayed silent, an unusual move for the typically chatty vampire, but mason knew he was a bit more sensitive to familial relationships and he had come to think of rebecca and brooklyn as part of their unit bravo family.
they could all hear the vibrations of the discussion in the other room, their heads snapping up once it escalated, the shouts passing through the walls as if they weren’t there.
* * * * * “you didn’t want a child – i know i was an accident,” brooklyn continued, “so don’t try to tell me you care about me. you can’t even look at me because i remind you of dad!”
“you are my child! i cannot lose you like i lost your father! i refuse to,” rebecca came the closest to screaming as one might expect from her.
that was the tipping point. once an eruption starts, it can’t be stopped, and brooklyn was ready to blow.
“it’s not up to you!” they screamed back, chest heaving and fists clenched. rebecca took a step back, shoulders sagging with a general weariness that seemed to sink her entire body.
but brooklyn was angry and wanted to be angry, glaring pointedly at rebecca without making direct eye contact. they didn’t want to feel guilt for hurting rebecca. they really didn’t want to sympathize or come to an understanding of her motivations. they wanted to hurt her as much as she had hurt them over the years.
they gritted their teeth and threw their hands up in the air. “you don’t want me to be part of this world that badly? you don’t want me to be part of such an important part of your life, then fine, i quit!”
they spun on their heel with the intent to storm out of the room before their mother’s pleading voice made them freeze.
“brookie, please—” rebecca’s eyes glistened with unshed tears.
brooklyn turned back around so fast even they were surprised they didn’t fall over. “no! you do not get to call me by dad’s nickname for me. i don’t want anything to do with you anymore!”
and then they finally did storm out before they could see rebecca’s body crumple to the floor in grief.
they threw open the door and nearly ran headfirst into nate who had been hovering by the doorway.
“brooklyn, she loves you and is worried about you, as we all are—” nate said gently, brow furrowed in concern.
they didn’t register that both felix and mason had stepped closer to nate, with felix laying a hand gently on nate’s arm to pull him back, eyes conveying a silent message that now was not the time to intervene. mason had stepped slightly in front, perhaps subtly trying to draw brooklyn’s attention unsuccessfully to him instead. but all brooklyn could singularly focus on was nate, who despite his good intentions, picked the wrong time to try to smooth things over.
their fury exploded. “i should’ve known that you’d take her side! i know you all would pick her over me. just like she always picked her job over me. well you can have her, i don’t want anything to do with any of you anymore!”
they clenched their fists and walked as fast as they could in their heels out of the warehouse to their car, seething and hoping that the team would leave them alone. they slammed the door and gripped the steering wheel tightly, peeling out of the lot and letting their adrenaline and anger keep the tears at bay until they were safely home.
as soon as they walked into their apartment, the fight left their body and they collapsed on the couch. brooklyn immediately started crying, putting pressure on their eyes with their palms to try to force the tears to stop. they were not someone who wallowed in their emotions. they needed to be composed if they were going to move forward and move out of wayhaven. they reached for their laptop and pulled up some of the job search websites they always had bookmarked.
* * * * * back at the warehouse
even though rebecca had returned to the facility, her professional demeanor securely in place by the time she walked past them, the team stood around the living room as though awaiting instructions. nate looked as close to being on the verge of tears that mason could recall.
felix was struggling the most, moving from the couch to the armchair to the window, barely settling in one spot with both feet planted before he was moving to the next.
he finally broke the silence. “do you think brooks meant it? quitting the team?” what he really wanted to say was us. were they leaving them.
“i don’t know, but i really hope not,” nate said quietly.
mason just shook his head and walked toward the door.
“where are you going?” felix asked, sounding a little… afraid.
“to check on brooklyn,” he said without hesitation. mason’s shoulders tensed for a second before he made eye contact with them both, a seriousness in his gaze that made their eyes widen. “don’t wait up.”
* * * * * at the detective’s apartment
a knock on the door made brooklyn’s shoulders tense and head throb even more than it did already.
“if you’re here to lecture me about family or being nice to my mom, you can leave right now,” they yelled through the closed door.
“you know i wouldn’t do that, sweetheart. let me in.”
brooklyn sighed and unlocked the door, not bothering to open it as they walked toward their bedroom. they heard the door open and close but didn’t turn around.
“if you’re here to convince me to stay with the agency or the team, you can keep it to yourself,” they called out, falling backward on the bed and applying pressure to their eyes again.
mason didn’t respond as he walked over to their room, sinking down in the space next to them and leaning over until his body cast a shadow over theirs and his hair barely brushed their hands.
“i won’t ever try to make you do anything you don’t want to,” he said quietly, gently pulling their hands away from their face.
their eyes were red and already starting to puff up but any thoughts of how disheveled they were flew away as mason’s grey eyes bore into theirs. they swirled with something, not the uncertainty and confusion of deeper feelings between them that they had gotten used to earlier in their relationship, but of something else. something that brooklyn had craved all their life.
“i was serious, you know. my resume’s been polished and i’ve bookmarked several open positions in the city,” they said, reaching up to stroke his cheek with their thumb if only to avoid eye contact for a little while longer.
mason smirked and leaned down until his nose barely touched theirs. brooklyn knew he could hear their heart start pounding louder and held their breath as he softly touched his lips to theirs.
“okay. but make sure the next apartment has proper heating. i am so sick of being cold,” he grumbled, pulling back so he could carry them in his arms and position them more comfortably under the comforter. he tucked his arm under their shoulders and pulled them close.
they glanced up at him, eyes wide with surprise. “really?” they blurted out, dazed. would he really leave unit bravo behind? the agency?
“i told you once before sweetheart, i go where you go,” he said as though it was an established fact.
their gaze dropped and mason heard the stutter in their throat as they whispered, “that was when adam gave you orders to.”
“hey. i’m saying it now,” he tilted their chin up with his other hand so that they were looking directly at him. “i go where you go.”
brooklyn looked up at him as he pulled the comforter up to their shoulders, all the tension and emotions from earlier leaving their body heavy in his arms. “thank you,” she whispered, eyes half closed with sleep.
* * * * * permatag: @kelseaaa; @kat-tia801; @anotherbeingsworld; @crackerdumortain; @pearlsandsteel; @gloynporslen; @sosolenoo; @alyssalauren;  @wayhavenots; @gingerbreton; @takemyopenheart; @fhauvilles; @writer-ish;
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dissoluteways · 3 years
Text
positions - Chapter III
Chapter I / Chapter II / Chapter III
PAIRING: Hyuk/OC RATING: Explicit WARNINGS: Office AU. WORDCOUNT: 4195
Notes: AH YEAH SMUT THIS TIME! not full on smut, but smut. Next chapter is the last one. Enjoy guys! 
By Monday, she was a bundle of nerves. It was hard not to overthink during the weekend. They did say they liked each other, and the kisses were so good she couldn’t stop thinking about it. He also kept texting her during the weekend, at some point during the day.
She was, however, a bit insecure about Sanghyuk still. She tried not to let it show too much, but by Monday she was still anxious.
He wasn’t there when she arrived. Somehow that was a relief.
Taking a deep breath, she settled in her office, taking off her coat and taking out her phone to check her messages. She looked out the window; it was really sunny that day and a little cool so she opened the window to let in some fresh air. 
She didn’t want to keep going over everything that happened too much, she was already nervous as it was, so she tried inhaling and exhaling slowly and deeply to calm herself down. Everything was going to be fine, it was Sanghyuk after all, he hadn’t given her a reason not to trust him.
Lost in her thoughts as she was, she didn’t hear Sanghyuk coming up behind her. She just felt when he suddenly grabbed her hand and spinned her around. She yelped, surprised at the sudden movement until she was face to face with Sanghyuk, who was holding her waist and pressing their bodies together, and at that point she started blushing, with her heart in her chest beating way too fast to be considered healthy.
“Hey.” He said with a smirk, a touch smug.
“Hey…” Her voice was a bit sore, so she cleared her throat a bit before speaking again. “You scared me.”
“Did I?” He faked concern, but it was obvious he was amused about everything. “It wasn’t my intention.”
“What was the intention then?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Surprise you.”
She couldn’t reply when he leaned in and kissed her cheek.
“And to give you that.”
God damn it, she wanted to keep him.
She was hoping to get more kisses, and by the way he was also looking at her, he probably had the same thing in mind. The phone interrupted them once again, making her jolt, and Sanghyuk looking less amused and more annoyed. She was starting to hate having a phone in the first place. 
Sanghyuk pulled away reluctantly and jogged to his desk to pick up the phone. 
“It’s HR, they wanna see you.”
She froze for a second, until she remembered the report she made the previous week. 
“I’ll be there right now.”
After conveying the message, Sanghyuk hung up. She started walking out of her office in a second, Sanghyuk following closely right after.
She was a bit nervous, but they told Jieun they would dismiss the guy. There wasn’t anything to worry about.
He must have sensed her anxiety, because when they arrived at HR and she was about to walk in to talk to the director alone, he patted her shoulder softly.
Jieun was right; they were dismissing that guy. They told her they couldn’t have two women in charge be harassed by anyone. She silently wondered if they could have any women actually be harassed, but she didn’t comment on that. 
“Your assistant, Han Sanghyuk.” She raised both eyebrows, when the director mentioned him. “He was really helpful. He seemed to have noticed everything right away.”
“That’s what I know.” She commented, not sure what else to say. 
“He didn’t want to damage your reputation.”
She looked at him, confused. 
“That’s what he said when I asked him why he didn’t report him earlier.”
Oh. She never really considered that.
She didn’t care about her reputation, she barely had one. But thinking about, it would look really bad to have someone flirt with her constantly, especially if they worked with her.
Touched, she bowed politely once the conversation was over before walking out. 
Sanghyuk was still there, sitting on a chair and shaking his leg. She smiled softly when he stood up as soon as he saw her.
“I heard something nice about you.” She commented once they were back at her office, checking to see if there was anyone close by before speaking.
“You did?”
“Yes.” She couldn’t help the smile on her face and how big it was when she slowly got closer to him.
“Whatever it was, I meant it.” He was grinning as well, but with a more playful look in his eyes.
She bit her lip when he slid his hand up her cheek before tugging her hair behind her ear. 
She hated it was Monday and there was work to do when all she wanted was look at him and kiss him and maybe even do more than that. 
They couldn’t stop stealing glances at each other throughout the day. It seemed that they couldn’t get a minute alone the entire day and she was upset, it was like the world was conspiring somehow.
When they left at the end of the day (finally), Sanghyuk put his arm around her shoulder almost as soon as they walked away from the building. She looked at him with wide eyes, then over her shoulder to see if anyone saw. 
“What are you doing?” She whispered, a little embarrassed.
“Just walking you home,” He was trying really hard not to even smile and look cool, but he wasn’t doing a good job.
She actually didn’t mind. They got to kiss when they reached her place, and it still felt like the first time once again; she wondered if it ever would feel any different. Hopefully it wouldn’t.
Sanghyuk tried to kiss her the next day just when she walked into the office, but she had to stop him, knowing well someone was walking into the office next door. The look on his face made her feel a little bad, but she pecked his lips once she made sure no one was going to walk in. 
It wasn’t her intention to make him feel bad, but he probably didn’t know. 
“It’s really not well looked upon to date a coworker.”
“But I’m not really a coworker.” He blinked.
“Don’t try to be smart.” She glared at him, and he broke into a smile. 
“Is it like, part of the rules of this company?”
“Well no…” 
“What is it, then?” Sanghyuk asked, confused.
“It’s just… frown upon…” She thought about it for a minute so to explain it better. “I think they are worried about abuse of power, especially when it’s lower ranges.”
He seemed to be thinking about it for a while before saying anything.
“So the problem would be if they see us.”
“I guess. It would be bad if someone were to find I’m fooling around with my assistant.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it, frowning. He spoke again after a moment.
“If someone were to find? The issue is getting caught?”
“Yes?” She blinked, he was basically repeating the same thing he already said before.
“Then,” Sanghyuk grinned mischievously. “We won’t.”
That smile sent chills down her spine. She gulped and said nothing. 
He was testing his luck when they walked out the building that day and they took just three steps away from the main entrance, before he pinched her butt. She turned to look at him, scandalized and covering her behind as her face turned red. Sanghyuk acted as if nothing had happened, and a small smile started tugging at his lips a few seconds later.
“Did you hear anything I just said earlier?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
She wanted to play and act mad, but she couldn’t when he started smiling. It was going to be hard hiding from everyone.
In any case it was starting to get fun, like a game of if they would get caught or not. She didn’t dare to do more than just a peck on the lips when they were in the office. But Sanghyuk noticed what she was doing, and he played around more than he should be allowed.
He walked into her office one day, and she looked at him curiously, expecting him to tell her something work-related, but he quickly walked towards her and grabbed her by the waist. She didn’t push him away or tell him to stop, she didn’t want to; but he never reached for her lips.
Sanghyuk only got close enough to press his lips to her cheek in an almost kiss, before dragging his lips down her jaw and stopping at her throat. She inhaled sharply, too stunned to push him away. She didn’t want him to stop, really, she wanted to know how far he was going to go, and how good it would feel.
His lips pressed against her neck before he softly scraped her skin with his teeth. She didn’t try to hide the moan that spilled from her mouth, and he seemed pleasantly surprised by her response. He bit down her neck and sucked; he was trying to leave a mark. And she wanted him to. She gasped when he repeated his previous play on the same spot, before he slid his tongue over her skin to soothe it. 
She tried to kiss him when he pulled away, but he dodged her lips swiftly, and stepped away, turning around to leave.
“What?!” She almost yelled, not really understanding what just happened. “What- Where are you going?!”
“Back to work.”
“But-”
“I’m sorry, you said we shouldn’t get caught.”
He didn’t say anything else before he actually walked out, and she couldn’t believe what just happened.
She couldn’t outsmart him in his teasing. She was still rather shy about initiating anything, but Sanghyuk seemed confident in himself and his effect on her, which he had every right to be because he did affect her quite easily. And he was getting bolder once he realized she basically was open to anything. She wouldn’t deny it, she would throw herself to a volcano if that tickled his pickle.
But he was going to pay her back, she’d figure it out somehow.
*
Hakyeon walked right into her office a couple of minutes before lunch time, just after she had dismissed Sanghyuk so he could have lunch earlier, and she eyed him curiously, wondering why he would let himself in so unceremoniously.
“Taekwoon told me he saw you and Sanghyuk.”
Her eyes opened, wide open, when those words settled in her brain. Saw them? Where? And what exactly were they doing?
“Um…” She tried to find the right words so she wouldn’t incriminate herself. “What?”
“He saw you two,” He replied, completely serious. “He told me Sanghyuk touched your ass?”
Shit. She covered her face with her hands as soon as she heard that, completely embarrassed that someone actually saw that. Especially Taekwoon. God knew the dude couldn’t keep any secret to himself.
“Hakyeon, I-”
“What’s going?” 
“I didn’t want to tell you yet, because I don’t know exactly what’s going on.” She replied, sincerely.
“What?” He looked more confused than ever. “Are you sleeping with him?”
“No, no! No-” She knew she wasn’t sleeping with him, but she might as well be because that’s where everything was leading towards. “We’re not sleeping together.”
He looked at her, expectantly. She sighed, gesturing for him to sit down.
“We kissed. We still just kiss.”
Hakyeon raised an eyebrow. 
“I swear. We just kissed.” She blushed. “It’s not like I don’t want to do more.”
“Must he have his hands on you at all times then?” He sighed, exasperated. “Remember that your jobs are at risk here.”
“I know, he was just playing…”
“With your butt?”
“Hey, you must play with Taekwoon’s butt all the time!” She fired back, as Hakyeon turned completely red. “Or he must play with yours, I don’t know how it is.”
“Don’t make this about me.” He tried rerouting the conversation back to her, totally ashamed. “Seriously though, what’s going on between you two?”
She looked down, flustered. 
“We like each other. At least he told me he likes me.” Her cheeks were hot, she imagined she must have been flushing profoundly. “I don’t really know what we are, to be honest.”
“He seems really interested in something more than just physical contact though.” He commented, looking at her fondly. “He walks you home every day, right?”
“I guess.”
She didn’t want to get her hopes up. Sanghyuk said he liked her, but they never talked more about whatever was going on. If she was honest, she was afraid he only wanted to just fool around, and nothing more. She didn’t want to be the one to bring up all those questions, so she settled with just enjoying what they were going through at that moment. It was still fun on its own.
“Just talk to him.” Hakyeon advised her, with a soft smile. “He seems to really like you.”
She returned his smile. She really adored him.
“You might want to cover that hickey you have on your neck, by the way.” He commented as he stood up and walked out of her office.
Blushing, she covered her neck with her hand, quickly going through her bag to find her foundation. 
Sanghyuk walked in, over an hour later, while she was standing in front of her desk, trying to tidy up her paperwork, but as soon as she felt his presence, she blurted out.
“Hakyeon knows.”
He stopped in his tracks, looking at her with wide eyes. She didn’t even have the chance to really see him, so she started blushing when she noticed he was wearing his workout clothes, with that incredibly deeply cut shirt. 
“He does?” He asked, voice emotionless. 
“Yeah…” She cleared her throat, blinking a few times and trying to only look at him in the eye. “Yeah, he came in earlier. Taekwoon saw us the other day.”
“He did?”
“Yes! He saw you touching my butt!” 
“Really?” He smiled, cocky.
“Yes!” She looked at him, questioning. “Why are you so calm about this?”
“It’s Taekwoon.” He replied, finally moving and walking closer towards her. “He will only tell Hakyeon-hyung about it.”
She frowned. He was right, Taekwoon wouldn’t snitch on them. But she was still a little worried someone else might have seen.
Any thought she could have had after that went out the window when Sanghyuk closed the space between them, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pressing her against his body. It was like colliding with a wall, her hands bracing her and she got to touch his chest, which was stronger than she expected. 
“Don’t worry,” He said, voice low. “We’ll be careful.”
“Do you know the meaning of that word?” She raised an eyebrow.
He didn’t answer. He leaned in and kissed her, sweet and hot, and she should have expected it, but she still melted a little inside. 
It was so brief, she barely got around to cup his face when he pulled away. She eyed him, confused, when he went to the door, and locked it. He lingered a little longer before turning to her, with a devious smile. 
Her face was completely hot, and she couldn’t help but gulp when he looked at her like that. When he approached her again, she considered asking him what was on his mind, yet at the same time, she was thrilled and only wanted to be surprised. 
Sanghyuk put his hands on her hips and pressed his body against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck when he kissed her, almost on instinct, like they belonged there, the only thing in her mind was having him close to her. It was gentle at first, just his lips slowly gliding over hers. His grip on her hips got tighter though, and she hummed, delighted, when he squeezed her flesh.
It was really hard to be in that position, pressed up against Sanghyuk’s body, and not feel heat rapidly blooming in her lower stomach. Especially when he bit her bottom lip, softly tugging at it. She moaned as he trailed his lips downwards, caressing her cheek then settling on her neck to nip at her skin. 
His actions had a purpose, and she noticed when he kept moving his hands up and down her sides, and pushing her body more towards the desk. She had to let go of his neck to support herself so she wouldn’t lose balance, her hands gripping the edge of the desk. 
She looked at him curiously when he pulled away again suddenly, and started taking off some of the stuff on her desk to the chair that was right beside them. Sanghyuk was trying to make space there for her to sit down somehow, and once she realized that she couldn’t help but giggle, covering her mouth with her hand. He eyed her once he got rid of most of the stuff, blushing a little. She never thought she would see him flush, it was incredibly adorable.
She yelped, surprised, when Sanghyuk picked her up and sat her down on the desk. He seemed totally pleased with the noise she made, smiling when he kissed her again. He was rough this time, all teeth and tongue, his hands resting on her thighs now as she spread them to make room for his body to settle in between them.
She couldn’t believe they were so blatantly making out like that in her office. Moreover, she didn’t care at all. She didn’t remember the last time she was so needy for someone. But all she could focus on was Sanghyuk, and his lips, and his body, and how much she wanted him.
Too distracted with Sanghyuk kissing her, she didn’t notice one of his hands sneaking over her skirt and between her legs until he pressed his palm over her panties. She moaned, loudly, breaking the kiss to look at him.
“Is this okay?” He whispered, staring back at her with soft eyes.
She didn’t believe he was actually asking her that, she appreciated the intention. She was obviously more than okay with whatever he wanted to do, so she nodded, bringing him for more kissing, hoping that was enough answer. 
Sanghyuk seemed to understand, pressing the palm of his hand again between her legs. She whined into his mouth, and he gladly swallowed down all the noises she was making while he worked her up. Every move of his hand had deliberate pressure, moving slowly in circles over her clothed core and making her legs twitch.
He pulled away, pushing her skirt all the way up. He stared deep into her eyes, gauging her reaction, when he hooked his fingers on her panties to drag them down. She could feel her face blushing under his gaze, a little embarrassed that he was paying so much attention to her response. When she didn’t say no, Sanghyuk took off her underwear, discarding it on the chair. 
It was a little awkward to be in that position, she wouldn’t feel like that if they were to be on a bed. But she was self conscious, knowing everything looked different when she was sitting up, and she knew Sanghyuk must have been really ripped underneath all his clothes. He didn’t comment on anything though, and she was relieved, trying to at least focus on what was currently about to happen.
He settled his hand where it previously was, this time pressing his thumb over her clit. She couldn’t help the moan that escaped her lips, loud and unashamed, when he started drawing circles.
“Shhh, baby,” Sanghyuk murmured with a smirk adorning his face. “You don’t want anyone to hear, do you?”
Damn him. She didn’t have it in her to reply, at least not when he was caressing her between her legs. 
Covering her mouth with her hand, she closed her eyes as he kept on teasing her with his fingers. He started mouthing at her neck, holding her close while rubbing her clit. She held tight onto him, trying to somehow anchor herself and not let her body fall on the desk when the heat between her legs started pulsing.
Sanghyuk pulled away from her again, and she inevitably leaned back all the way on the desk, gasping when she landed. He smiled at her, cocky, and he grabbed her legs, pressing kisses to her knees, before kneeling down in front of her. She couldn’t hide her embarrassment at that moment, knowing well her face must have been red not only from the teasing, but now because Sanghyuk was basically face to face with her entrance. 
He stared at her, eyes dark, when he leaned in and stroked her folds with his tongue.
“Oh, fuck!” There was no way she could keep quiet, not when they were having sex (kind of) for the first time, and in her office of all places.
It seemed like an illusion they were doing that, at her office, in the middle of the day. For a second she thought she might be dreaming, it was still unbelievable they were even an item. But the moment Sanghyuk kissed her clit, she couldn’t think about anything anymore. Only him, and how good it felt what he was doing.
He pressed his thumb to her clit again, as he kept working on her entrance with his tongue; and she might as well lose her mind. He only started touching her for what felt like a few seconds, she knew it was longer than that; but she could feel that knot in her tummy getting tighter and hotter, her orgasm feeling just around the corner. 
Sanghyuk hummed as he kept licking her, his finger softly rubbing her. She really tried to muffle any kind of sound she might be making with her hand, she knew she was failing, muted moans spilling every now and then. He made a pleased noise, eyeing her intensely from between her legs. 
Her legs twitched with every one of his moves, and her stomach started tensing; she knew she was going to come soon. That seemed to be his purpose, keeping a steady pace of his finger and his tongue. 
“Sanghyuk, I’m-” She tried to warn him, but her voice was broken, it was like she couldn’t find the words, any words, her brain too flooded with pleasure to even finish an idea. 
He seemed to understand, his eyes still fixing on hers. With measured purpose, he lapped at her clit a couple of times before sealing his lips over it and sucking. 
That was all she needed before she let go. Closing her eyes tight, she could only see stars, and her entire body trembled, pleasure spreading through. Sanghyuk kept kissing her through her climax, and she moved her hips towards his face, riding her orgasm and whining after a few seconds, feeling a little overstimulated. 
With her eyes closed, she let her arms and legs fall, completely spent. She could feel Sanghyuk pressing kisses to her thighs, his hands holding her legs up and squeezing her skin softly. She opened her eyes when he was just above her, hovering over her body, his hand stroking her cheek and pushing her hair back.
Sanghyuk kissed her gently before she could even think of anything to say. He just pressed his lips against hers, but she felt all warm inside her chest, like she could melt and turn into a puddle of goo.
She figured he must have been hard as well, and she confirmed it when he pressed closer, and she felt his erection through his clothes, pressed against her leg. Wrapping one arm around his neck, still kissing him softly, she trailed her other hand between their bodies. 
She was surprised though, when Sanghyuk grabbed her wrist, and pushed it gently over her head, intertwining their fingers together. 
“But-” She started, confused.
“Don’t worry,” He commented, still pressing kisses to her lips. “This wasn’t for me.”
She didn’t complain, especially when he trailed his lips over her cheek and down her jaw. Somehow, she would have argued more, but he seemed okay and sincere with his decision when he pulled away and helped her sit up. 
In that second she could only focus on how much she adored him, his hair dishevelled and face flushed was beyond endearing. Sanghyuk picked up her underwear and he slid it up her legs as she stood up to make it easier for him, helping her put her skirt in place after he was done. 
She pulled him into a kiss, bringing him closer by the shirt, and he made a surprised noise. It was a greedy kiss, but she very much tried to transmit her adoration, wrapping her arms around his neck to keep him close. She smiled, really happy, when he put his hands on her waist and started kissing her with even more passion than she did.
“Come to my place later?” She asked, quietly.
He seemed startled, looking into her eyes intensely for a hot minute.
“Okay.”
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heartslogos · 3 years
Text
newfragile yellows [1042]
“Just once,” Kaaras groans, knuckles turning white as he grips his seat, “Just once, I wish the planet I’m sent to do initial research on turns out to be not terrifying and out for blood. I always get the murder planets.”
“Well. This one doesn't seem to be outright bloodthirsty at the very least,” Ellana says, fingers flying over the controls as she swiftly navigates them out of reach from the giant trees that are trying to trap them on the ground. “It just seems lonely.”
“The entire plains was just a ship graveyard that got grown over,” Kaaras says. “The entire planet’s ecosystem is a living neural network. It is, essentially, its own organism.”
“Aren’t all planets their own organism in their own way?” Bull points out. “Also, not to be a back seat driver — “
“Whatever you’re about to say,” Ellana cuts in darkly, “Rethink it. Right now.”
“ — but you’re cutting it a little close with some of these turns,” Bull continues. Either the man doesn’t care about the welfare of his relationship and his continued wellbeing, or — well. There is nothing else it could be. That’s the only reason he could have for daring to tell Ellana Lavellan, ace pilot, that she’s cutting it too close.
“What, are you going to fly the ship instead?” Edric snaps from his own seat, eyes rapidly flicking from his console to Bull and back again as he quickly shoots at a few more branches that are getting too close for comfort. “Don’t piss the pilot off.”
“What’s she going to do? Kill us all out of spite?” Herah points out from the station across from Edric’s. She’s also working on shooting at branches.
“Both of you shut up and focus,” Ellana says, “Kaaras if you need to throw up I suggest you don’t because I may have to turn us upside down.”
“We should have the Inquisition invest in those new ships where the cockpits are semi-detached so they always stay the same direction no matter who you turn,” Edric says.
“We’d break it within the week,” Herah retorts. “Even with Ellana piloting it, we’d probably end up having to sacrifice it after flying into a volcano to avoid some kind of giant angry alien space shark.”
“You’re going to give me nightmares,” Kaaras moans. “Because with my luck I’ll be on that ship being chased by angry space sharks.”
“There are no such thing as space sharks,” Ellana says.
“There’s space whales though,” Bull points out, “So maybe there are space sharks.”
“You don’t even believe in space whales!” Ellana snaps. “Can everyone focus on helping me get us out of here? Bull, please tell me you’ve figured out how our coms signals are being jammed.”
“Not even close,” Bull answers.
“Well,” Ellana grinds out, “I hate to be a back seat coms officer then — “
“Can you two have your spat when we aren’t in the middle of being hunted down by an entire planet?” Edric interjects before the two can really et into it. “Unless that’s what really helps you two focus and do your jobs, then in which case go for it.”
“Maybe we should just fly in silence?” Kaaras suggests. “Some nice, tense, afraid for our lives silence where no one antagonizes anyone else? Ellana can focus on being a wonderful pilot. Bull can focus on trying to get an SOS signal out. Edric and Herah can focus on helping us not get eaten by a planet. And I’m going to ruminate on the fact that I’m a cursed space explorer who’s only able to explore planets that have a penchant for murder and violence.”
“Kaaras, you miserable sack of proteins,” Herah groans, “You’ve only been to two planets that turn out to be graveyards.”
“I’m two for two,” Kaaras says, “We’re in space! Possibilities are infinite and endless! The chances of me getting two murder planets is statistically regrettable!”
“Two’s a coincidence, a third is a pattern,” Bull says.
“I’m not risking a third,” Kaaras exclaims, “Are you insane? Planet one was full of moving salt pillars that targeted heat. Planet two is currently trying to trap us on the ground to absorb us into its topsoil as fertilizer. I’m not going for three in a row! As soon as we get back I’m going to tell Evelyn I’m never going down again. I’m only going to planets that we’ve confirmed are safe. I won’t go down for the second exploration phase. Maybe the third of fourth.”
“Kaaras, you’ll never get a good discovery that way,” Ellana points out. “Also, I’m about to do something incredibly risky so everyone brace yourselves. We may or may not get clipped.”
“Delightful,” Edric grimaces, “As if we weren’t already in the middle of one giant risk.”
“It’s not a risk, Edric. We’re in the middle of a fucked up escape,” Herah corrects. “It’s a risk if we think it could go either way. We know the planet wants to eat us. Risk implies we could still back out of that. Now we’ve got to get the fuck out of dodge.”
“I’ve figured out what’s jamming us,” Bull says. “The planet, this close to the surface and surrounded by all the things connected to it, creates a field of — I dunno. Brain waves? Something like that. It jams almost every frequency. You’d be lucky to get a short wave radio to work down here. Also real lucky that none of us got a chance to leave the ship otherwise we’d be fucked trying to find each other again.”
“Delightful,” Ellana mutters. "Can you work around it?”
“We’d have to be out of reach of the trees,” Bull says, “By which point we’d be home free so I doubt it’d be as urgent.”
“Do you think anyone’s noticed we’ve gone radio silent yet?” Herah asks. “Because if they send another party down here to try and find us and we just miss each other I’m not doubling back for them.” Herah pauses. “Well. I would, if asked, but I'd be complaining the entire way.”
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Humans are Space Orcs “Hand of Peace”
Welcome all, to the conclusion of this little mini series. (fear not it is not the conclusion of the overall series, just this plot point) don’t worry you will continue to get your content. However with finals coming up, I can’t be sure how much time I will have to write in the next few weeks, so be ready for that. I have really enjoyed hearing everyone’s reactions, requests and questions. If you are super desperate to support me, the best way to do it, is to interact, make comments and ask questions it shows me that you all are interested. Reading what you guys have to say makes my day! Read, and enjoy please :)
The rock clattered to the ground with a cracking thud. Captain Vir dusted off his hands, “Cane would be proud.” He muttered, shoving General’s Cosma’s unconscious body to the side with a distasteful foot, kicking her into the dirt a few feet to the left where she was no longer in contact with Sunny. He kneeled then, supporting Sunny’s head and shoulders in his arms, “You big….. idiot.” He scolded breathlessly, reaching down, and ripping a strip of cloth from his torn pant leg holding it to her face.
Her blood quickly wetted the rag, but there was nothing more he could do than apply pressure to the wound. She lolled heavily in his arms, barely conscious. Her mouth trembled softly voice barely audible past other echoing noises.
“You…. Shouldn’t have….. Interfered.”
“Shut up, Sunny. I wasn’t just going to let you die, you know me better than that.” He tried to keep his voice light, though, when he looked up, he found himself alone and exposed in a slowly encroaching circle of Drev soldiers. Their eyes were narrowed with anger, and their weapons were held at the ready.
“It’ll be alright, Sunny. Everything’s going to be fine, we won, you and me.” He kept talking as the circle grew smaller. Sunny’s eyes were closed, but he allowed a tail of the rag to rest over her remaining eye. He didn’t want the possibility of her seeing what was going to happen next. He knew what he had done, now they were probably both going to die. Him for interfering, and once General Cosma regained consciousness, she would finish what she had started and Kill Sunny too.
It was a real pity, for a moment there he had almost hoped that they would make it out, but who was he kidding. He had been lucky for years now he had had a great and supportive family, he had gotten his dream job, made first contact, participated in peace talks, survived the war, lost a leg but not his life, mostly recovered from post-traumatic stress, lost an eye, but avoided major brain damage, met one of his best friends; Krill, then his other best friend; Sunny somehow having run into the only Drev who would have been willing to befriend him, he had avoided a court-martial and then execution; if only for a few minutes, He was Captain of a SPACE SHIP for crying out loud, everyone dreamed of doing that.  
Honestly, it seemed only fair he should die here, in his lifetime, he had received and undue amount of Luck, a disproportional amount compared to others. Now that he thought about it, it seemed sort of unfair. He pulled Sunny closer, “You’re going to be alright Sunny, when we’re all done with this, I promise we can get you a new eye, like mine. There are a lot of choices, they have ones with targeting systems I think you’d like it. Maybe we can get you one that can see infrared too.” The Drev circle was tight now, almost shoulder to shoulder standing around them in a grim, aggressive line.
They looked around at each other before one of the creatures raised his weapon…. It was not dissimilar in style and shape to a human sword, accept cut form volcanic stone and glass. He was sure it would shatter against stone, but against the soft flesh of his throat…. There was no reason to hope.
He closed his eyes, “We’ll splurge, my paycheck for a year, how does that sound?”
Something swished softly through the air, cutting towards his throat.
“STOP!”
The blow never landed, Captain Vir opened an eye, his only eye, and glanced upwards. The Drev soldiers had turned away, their circle breaking slowly as they milled in confusion. Beyond them, just outside the village, a large, dark shuttle sat docked still settling into the dust. The ramp had been lowered into the strange, soft moss, and another group of Drev soldiers had spilled outwards watching them all with intent gazes. Their weapons weren’t held aggressively, but their posture was cautious.
One of the Drev soldiers surrounding Sunny, and Vir, stepped forward and a bit to the side, opening up his view a little more to reveal a large shape limping towards them. The figure was nine or ten feet tall, with thick plated red armor, and a set of familiar golden eyes.
“Cannon!” Vir exclaimed in shock. Below, Sunny had clawed her way from the edges of unconsciousness and blearily opened an eye, she seemed surprised too, as surprised as she could be in her current state, “You…. Know my…. Brother?”
The massive shape limped is way forward, pushing the other soldiers out of the way, “Step back, give them some air.”
The soldiers milled around for a moment in clear confusion, “Cannon? Aren’t you supposed to be….”
“Dead?” The Drev asked, turning his cold golden eyes onto the other soldier, “Wouldn’t that be convenient for you.”
“But, the rules.” The Drev sputtered.
Captain Vir looked up to the Ex Drev officer, “Cannon, what are they on about?”
“An ancient Drev custom, human, if you are crippled in battle and can no longer fight, you are encouraged, no…. expected, to rid the clan of your presence, so that you don’t waist valuable resources. In the past, it has been tradition to toss yourself into the fire as an offering to the gods.”
Captain Vir spluttered in surprise, “They wanted you to kill yourself!”
“It is not a custom that we use greatly anymore, but you understand that our family was very traditional, and tended to uphold any and all of the old traditions. Only Sunny knew what I had done in leaving this planet for the stars, everyone else thought I had gone through with my mother’s wishes.”
Captain Vir glanced towards General Cosma still sprawled in the dirt, “One sick puppy.”
Cannon took another few steps forward, but was blocked by one of the other soldiers, “This ends now, Cannon, you no longer have influence here. Your rank was stripped, and once the General learns what you have done, you will be disowned.” He pointed towards Captain Vir, “This one interfered with the laws of the duel, and will be put to death accordingly.”
Cannon looked on in bemusement, “Now remind me, I’ve been away for a while, but what is the law regarding duels?”
The Drev opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again, “Well, I don’t know the exact wording, but I know what he did was illegal, against principal.”
Cannon tapped his claws against his arm musingly. The posture, and the gestures were surprisingly human, “That’s interesting because I’ve been involved in a lot of duels in my time, and I seem to remember that they were supposed to be overseen by the village’s reconciler who would then make a writ of the terms of the duel. Furthermore, each duel was supposed to be held to specific stipulations. Did mother mention this was to be a one on one fight?”
The soldier remained silent.
Cannon grunted, “Well, that seems to be a problem then. Without a formal writ, and no witnesses, I can assume that my mother was not following protocol, which makes this an illegal duel. Sunny is not experienced enough to know the rules, so it couldn’t have been her fault. And in any case,” He motioned to the human’s leg, “I see some of Sunny’s armor there, and if that’s Sunny’s armor, than by way of the rules, he IS Sunny to an extent.” He looked on one set of arms crossed the other resting on his hips, “But of course, I am just the crippled disgraced son who didn’t throw himself into a volcano, so what would I know about the rules of dueling.”
The square was quiet, but after a moment, the Drev soldiers backed down bowing their heads as Cannon moved forward ordering his men to detain General Cosma. By then, Sunny had lulled back into unconsciousness, blood still welling from her eye socket and onto the hard packed dirt below. Captain Vir tried to hold pressure on the wound, but it didn’t seem to be helping as much as he might have wished.
After he was done ordering the soldiers around, Cannon knelt across from Vir, and looked down at Sunny. You couldn’t tell by way of skin color that Sunny wasn’t doing well, but she was growing cold, and that didn’t seem to be a good sign, “What do we do?” Cannon asked, it was clear he had no more idea of what to do that Sunny did. The Drev weren’t known for their great medical skill. It seemed that their response to illness and injury amounted to, if you are strong you will survive, and if you die than you were probably not worthy of living anyway.
Captain Vir looked up at the sky, “I have a medic aboard my ship…. If he’s still alive. If anyone can help her it’s him.”
Cannon nodded, and slowly moved to his feet ordering some of the soldiers forward to help. Captian Vir stepped back as one of them picked Sunny up off the ground and carried her back to the shuttle. She lolled, a dead weight in their arms, with two of her hands dangling limply from the side of her body. Blood trailed on the ground behind her. Captian Vir stayed close by trying to staunch the blood with the already saturated cloth. Aboard the shuttle, he removed his overshirt discarding the rag on the floor as he knelt over her.
A few of the soldiers were left behind to deal with general Cosma, but Cannon joined them aboard the shuttle forced to sit as the craft rattled into the air. Captian Vir clenched his teeth. He didn’t like riding in aircraft that he wasn’t flying. He knew it was petty to think so highly of himself, but he hadn’t yet met someone who could outfly him. This particular pilot had a habit of fighting against the controls, white knuckling against the natural roll and yaw of the craft as it moved through the atmosphere. The result was a rather rattling, jarring ascent.
He looked up again, from his blood stained shirt and upwards at Sunnys Brother, Cannon. He was, in fact, the first Drev Captain Vir had ever met personally. In fact, he was probably the first Drev that most people had ever met. He had been a real mess when they had first encountered each other. It had been a while after the war, after Vir had finally started recovering from his PTSD, and while he was still in the probationary stages of being a Captain.
He had been working at one of the Oxyclinics near the Galactic Assembly homeward getting himself used to being around aliens again, getting used to trusting them again after the war. It was during this time, Cannon had turned up, crippled, in chronic pain, and showing nearly all the symptoms of a major depressive episode. It’s rather interesting to note that humans have the highest rate of mental illness in the galaxy, they seem more susceptible to it, in most of its forms. In other species, mental illness is rather rare. The Drev, for instance don’t seem to experience post-traumatic stress like humans. Though they had not been studying the Drev for very long, the rates of PTSD remained at 0%.
For this reason, It’s a general rule in the clinic that if an alien is showing symptoms similar and almost equal to human mental illness, than there is something horribly, horribly wrong. At first, Captain Vir hadn’t been able to stand in the same room as Cannon without devolving into a full blown PTSD attack, but a desire to recover had driven him to change that. Cannon had been his mountain, and he had been desperate to help both of them.
It took months of trying on both of their parts before they were functioning again.
Captain Vir shifted Sunny into a more comfortable position cradling her head on his lap as Cannon watched head tilted, “You’ve come a long way.” He commented wryly
“I could say the same for you.” He glanced down at Sunny and then back up at Cannon, “Small universe.”
Cannon nodded looking down sadly at his sister, but he didn’t say anything and the captain didn’t ask, silent as they approached the Drev ship, and its magnetic claws gripping around the U.S.S Stabby. The rest of the Drev soldiers that had come along with them moved towards the docking station ready to make entry aboard the ship. Captian Vir stayed where he was, more worried about Sunny than he was about making entry. He hoped that they would manage to do something…. He hoped that his crew wasn’t dead. The shuttle pulled into the docking station with a rattle and grinding noise that set Vir’s teeth on edge. It was a terrible noise. Whoever was piloting this hunk of steel really should not be piloting.
They ground to a halt, and Cannon stood staying towards the back of his soldiers as he gave the order. One of them slapped the opening button and the doors released a pressurized hiss. A gust of wind blew through the compartment as the pressure equalized. Captain Vir readied himself for whatever might be behind those doors.
And was surprised to find, a rather scruffy group of marines standing over the unconscious bodies of the Drev soldiers. Two of them were holding wrenches, one of them brandished a crowbar, and all of them were mostly undressed. Two of the marines were wearing only their boxers, and one of the marines was conspicuously garbed in only a towel, one about her body and the other wrapped around her hair. She tossed a hammer up and down in one hand.
“They glanced over at the docking bay and like a group of wolves, they formed up on each other stalking forward. The Drev pulled back at the sight pulling aside to put the Captain in View. The marines perked up, “CF! You’re alive.”
Captain Vir stood in time as the marines pushed their way into the shuttle thumping him on the back, “We were just on our way to rescue you.”
The other marines nodded, “Yeah captain, these big beetles didn’t stand a chance.” The marine glanced over at Cannon, “No offence, of course.”
The captain responded with a weak grin, “You crazy bastards….” He paused, “Tell me, is Krill still alive?”
***
“I have a theory that the number of missing body parts is directly related to Idiocy.” Krill glowered at the captain, who sat on the edge of one of the cots, “First it’s you, and then it’s Sunny.” He waved his arms in front of the two of them, “You see this, it’s called having all of your limbs. It’s what happens when you are intelligent enough to be cautious, but no, the two of you can’t help but mount insurrections, challenge duels, and charge blindly into situations that will eventually get you dead.
Captain Vir glanced over at the bed on his left where Waffles was lying with her head resting on one of her paws ears up tail dangling off the side of the cot wagging slowly. He was immensely grateful the dog had survived with only minor injuries. She had been knocked out coming out of warp, and injured her paw, but otherwise, she was ok.
Krill had moved over to Sunny’s bedside where she lay bandaged, heavily drugged, and healing.
“I swear, the two of you give me palpitations. If we sewed the two of you together, we might end up with the correct number of eyes and limbs.” Krill grumbled bustling about the infirmary with help from one of the marines. He had injured some of his legs coming out of warp. If he floated, he didn’t have to use his legs, but movement wasn’t so fast, so he had commandeered one of the marines to pull him around the infirmary to help the injured.
Captain Vir sighed and rested back against the bed. He wasn’t really injured aside form a mild concussion and some bruising about the neck and wrists, but he was immensely exhausted. This past month or two had been exhausting. He just wanted to sleep, just for five minutes without their being antagonized by yet another problem.
He just wanted to sleep.
***
The Galactic Assembly stood as the Drev representative stepped into the room. The chamber was mostly quiet as the Drev’s silver armor sparkled in the light. Behind him Captain Vir, mediator to the Drev, stood with a group of other delegates including Sunny, and Cannon. The chosen Drev representative was General Magnus from one of the neighboring Drev tribes. For a Drev he was known for being open minded, cautious and astute.
As he sat, the assembly sat.
The chairwoman of the assembly stood, “The Galactic Assembly welcomes the Drev representatives on this historic day. Is there anything you wish to say before we begin peace talks?”
The room grew silent as Genderal Magnus stood once again. His voice was deep and slow echoing about the chamber with a stately power, “We, the Drev only wish to extend our hand to galactic peace, and our armies for the protection of all. But we especially thank the members of the human race for helping us to put aside our differences. The war has taught us much, and we are eager to learn…. Let us waist o further time, and begin.”
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totk-headcanons · 5 years
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Hey, what if the Old Champions manages to survive the blights and got put in the Link treatment? (In a coma for 100 years and lost their memories) Would they go on a adventures with Link?
This got very long, sorry no cut, I'm on mobile. However, enjoy the champions waking up, and facing their blights!
*Blue
Mipha
He had a sinking feeling when he first saw the cave that it was like the one he awoke in, and, unfortunately, he'd been right. There was a zora in the pool of water, and he hesitantly touched the slate to the console. A dull memory pounded at the back of his head as he watched the water drain, one of friendship and love and warmth. And then she jolted up into a sitting position, eyes wide, breathing shaky. Her gaze drifted to Link, and she calmed.
"Who... Who are you?"
"I'm Link. Who are you?" She paused, thinking.
"Mipha. Where are we? Why don't I remember anything?" He shrugged.
"Your guess on the memory is as good as mine. But we're near Zora's Domain." She nodded a bit to herself, climbing out of the pool.
"Well, I suppose I should thank you for... Waking me?" He shrugged again, unwilling to tell her she'd nearly died. "Would it be alright if I came along with you for a while? Until I find something I want to devote my time to."
"Not a bit. Welcome aboard, Mipha." He gave a bright smile, and she returned it.
Vah Ruta
"This thing doesn't like staying still, does it?!" She ducked out of the way of its spear, coming up with her own.
"Not really!" An arrow sunk into the eye of the thing, and it howled in pain, shooting upwards. And then the water, and the four platforms in the room, began to rise.
"Get on a platform, Link. No offense, but you're useless in the water."
"Great offense taken! But so is the advice." He clambered onto a platform, readying his bow. The thing was in its orb form, deciding where it would reform. It settled for right on top of the hero. Before he could fire or she could intercept, the spear slammed into his side. He was sent flying, and she was reacting before she knew what was happening. One hand reaching out, grabbing Link, power flowing through it and into him, closing his wounds. The other pointing toward the creature before lifting, a column of water slamming the thing into the ceiling. She shot through the water, depositing Link next to a platform, spear ready. The blight was dazed. She sunk her spear into it again and again and again, and it writhed. Screamed. She felt no remorse for the thing. And it hovered away awkwardly, reforming oddly. It screamed one final time, and exploded. Vah Ruta was free. Mipha had a brother to get to know, a father. A friend to help, and one to free.
Urbosa
His gut sank when he saw the shrine built outside the cave, the shield and sword that were left to rest there. He quietly entered, and sighed as he saw another shrine of ressurection. A gerudo lay in this one, her long hair splayed around her face. He activated the shrine, studying her. She felt... Familial, almost, though he clearly was unrelated to her. And then she was awake and on her feet. A warrior, his gut told him, though he felt no fear. She studied him for a moment, and then he took a breath.
"My name is Link. You probably have no memories, I didn't either when I woke up, you almost died a hundred years ago, so anyone you did know is probably dead. Well, aside from myself and Zelda, but we're weird cases, and-"
"You've certainly got quite a mouth on you." His eyes widened, and he clamped his mouth shut, looking away, earning a soft chuckle. "No, no, please, I'm teasing. It's pretty endearing, honestly. So, where are we?"
"Not, uh, not far from Gerudo Town. But I'm actually headed the other direction, have to get something back from the yiga, and-"
"I'll come with." He was surprised at the cold fury in her voice, and for a second, it looked like she was too. But it passed, and he nodded, turning to exit.
"Well, let's go then."
Vah Nabooris
"Shield, Link!" He glanced at her, and lifted his shield to her, bracing it with his other hand as she leapt off it at the blight. A swift slash had it screaming, shooting upwards. And then there was a thunderclap and lightning coursed through its sword and its shield. A shouted curse in gerudo had the hero staring at her in disbelief (because of the shout, there was no way a Hylian voe knew gerudo, right?), and then she was bolting forward, dodging slashes and stabbing past the shield. The pillar that slammed down next to her had her diving off the edge of the walkway, rolling at the bottom. Link was doing something with that slate of his, holding the pillar next to the blight. It's own lightning struck it, and she raced over to attack it. When it started flying again, she snapped on instinct, and lightning struck it. She grinned, Link and herself lunging in to finish it off. It's death scream had her grinning in relief, and she grinned wider at Link's relieved laughter. Now, to find a place for herself before the big battle...
Revali
He was far from startled by the shrine, walking in and studying the rito as he activated the pedestal. There was a rivalry, was it friendly? He couldn't tell. The rito slowly sat up, looking drowsy. His gaze landed on Link, and his eyes narrowed.
"What are you looking at?"
"You, idiot." The rito stood.
"Excuse me?" Link was about to retort, but he bit his tongue, taking a deep breath.
"I didn't mean to call you an idiot. Sorry." The rito's puffed up feathers settled, and he lost his threatening posture.
"It's fine, I guess. I was being rude first. ...I'm sorry as well." Link nodded, held out his hand.
"Let's start over. I'm Link." His hand was envolped in feathers a few beats later.
"Revali."
Vah Medoh
The blight's cannon was aimed at him. He darted into the updraft, let it carry him up, and fired four times in quick succession. One for the cannon, three for the eye.
"Nice shooting!"
"Thanks! See if you can keep up!" Link laughed, driving his sword into the stunned creature.
"I'm gonna be the one that kills this thing, bird boy!" It broke away from the hero, drones beginning to circle Link. And then they were all swiftly shot aside so that Link could have a clear shot on the beast.
"Only because of my help, wingless wonder!" The banter was easy, and it kept their spirits up while the thing danced away from their shots. And then a lazer, fired without an ounce of warning, slammed into his side. He hit the ground, rolled, and noticed the red dot painted on his chest. He felt a tugging urge in his gut, and trusted it. Steadied himself, spread his wings, and wind erupted beneath them, shooting him up at the last second. He whooped, firing, grounding the thing. Link finished it off, and Revali landed next to him. "You know, I do wonder when I learned to do that..."
"Make wind? I'd bet it was a long time ago." A soft slap had the hylian laughing, and Revali had to admit that it was infectious. He'd never say it out loud, but he quite liked his new beginning.
Daruk
He'd sought out the shrine as soon as he had gear to survive the volcano. He activated it, studying the goron. He felt safe, comfortable. And then the goron was up, looking around.
"Hi. I'm Link." The goron looked to him, and his extended hand. Grabbed it gently, and Link found himself very reminded of just how strong gorons could be by how careful he was to ensure he didn't break his hand.
"Daruk. And I'm definitely supposed to be doing something, though I haven't a clue what at the moment."
"Well, let's go find you something to do." The goron laughed a bit.
"Sounds good, little buddy. I like your attitude!" The two left, walking in step with each other, and it felt like they'd done it a thousand times before.
Vah Rudania
The creature began sucking in air for a fireball. Link threw in a bomb, and they both ran in to attack when it exploded in the things face. And then it was upright, a massive swing slamming into Link and bouncing off of Daruk's magical shield. It wouldn't hold under many hits like that. He swung his own massive blade, managing to dent a piece of the machinery the thing was made of. An arrow fired into its eye had it on the ground again, and Daruk continued to attack. The blight was defeated fairly quickly, Daruk thought, and he grinned at Link, who smiled tiredly back. It was a good fight. He wanted to make sure Link didn't have to fight for a long while.
Dark Beast Ganon
Link was exhausted. His horse was fleeing, he was half dead, and the thrice forsaken thing wouldn't stop. Zelda was quietly encouraging him, but he hurt, and he just wanted to be done. And then there was a loud whoop, and he saw arrows flying into the things sides.
"You have the wrong bow, bird brain!" Revali swooped down, having quickly abandoned his attempt when he saw it was doing nothing, and held his hand out.
"Then give me the right one, blue eyes." Link hesitated, and then nodded, quietly handing over the bow. He could vaguely make out other shapes coming closer, but he was on his way to unconsciousness, and everything was blurry. And then there was a hand in his back and warmth in his body and his vision cleared. He looked to Mipha, who smiled warmly. Daruk was taunting the thing, catching its hooves and throwing them back at it to make it stumble. Urbosa was rushing forward, and snapped, the lightning enraging the beast.
"Thank you, Mipha. I have to go help them."
"We, Link. We have to go help them." He grinned, and the two rushed in to join the effort of keeping the thing from paying Revali any attention while he shot arrows of light into it.
Zelda
She was back. All the champions kneeled to her, all in varying states of injury. And she smiled, tears in her eyes, overwhelmed by the fact that they'd all come for her, that they'd all survive. The first quiet sob had them all looking up, and before the next one came Urbosa was on her feet, enveloping her in a hug. The other joined, and she sobbed in relief, clinging to the gerudo. She was alive. They were alive. They were all safe. Hyrule had been shaken by the calamity, but now, now they were all together again. And watching them in the days that followed, she realized she had to get to know them again. Link spoke, now. He and Mipha were far less reserved. Daruk had lost some of his recklessness, and Revali didn't need to show off every moment. Urbosa, she thought, was the least changed. Until she caught her and Link sneaking out, wearing matching lizalfos masks. Yes, she had to get to know them all again. She didn't mind, she found.
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noel-byers · 5 years
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What monsters do you fight? || chapter O3
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Chapter O1 • Chapter O2 • Chapter O3
Words: 1570
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After almost throwing Will's bicycle in the back of the playroom, I walked in with a few strides and found myself standing in front of Kit, intent on munching a packet of chips like usual.
"Taste bbq?" I asked with a small smile.
"Don't try Byers. It is onion taste your most hated taste” Kit answered with his usual rabbit smile. I raised both eyebrows and put both hands on my hips.
"You really are ungrateful, if it weren't for me, you'd have twice your pounds, you need a poor wretch to help you finish the fries” I commented, rather disappointed, but keeping a slight smile of defiance.
"However you are late I will have to take ten dollars off your pay" my friend said at one point, continuing to crunch noisily.
"What?! And I, who had also taken care to bring you my acne cream, but since all of a sudden you became all asshole, then keep your onion breath and your volcanoes on the epidermis" I replied with theatrical making leaving myself behind a Kit that now implored my forgiveness and the divine ointment.
I started doing my reconnaissance lap inside the club, being careful that no one broke some machinery or just having fun seeing the children rosicare when they were game over. But my gaze stopped on a little girl who was playing Dig-Dug and immediately it occurred to me how much Dustin boasted about his "unbeatable score".
So as soon as I saw the girl cursing for yet another game over, I approached her.
"Twice on, one on the right, four on the left, two on the bottom and a counterclockwise turn with the keys" I said, laying a hand on the Dig-Dug machine, the red-haired girl looked up and her pale eyes met the my.
"What?" He asked with a questioning grimace.
"I'm revealing a trick to boost your character and upset the record list" I replied vaguely, shrugging my shoulders.
"And why are you telling me?" The redhead asked at this point, crossing her arms over her chest with a small interested smile. At his request I looked up at the ceiling for a few moments, pressing the index finger several times on my chin.
"I have a weakness for red hair" I replied in an amused tone.
"And how should I take this answer, like an advance?" The girl asked ironically.
"Nah just like a desperate request for friendship, a teenager who gets bored in the arcade" I replied with a small laugh, which she reciprocated.
"Do you agree, bored girl, and how do I know you're not fooling me for fun?" She asked at this point, raising an eyebrow.
"You are a very suspicious girl. We make a bet, if you are right, I offer you a hot dog, otherwise you will have to offer it to me if you are wrong” I proposed with a tone of challenge and she accepted the bet turning immediately to the Dig-Dug screen and pressing the proper buttons as I had told her.
At the end of the game The red-haired girl remained with her mouth wide open and turning to me trying to contain all her euphoria.
"Ok redhead fetishist, you won, I'll offer you this goddamn Hot-dog" he nodded with a broad smile.
"I very gladly accept, dear!" After taking a hot dog for both of them, the girl proposed to sit on the stairs outside the room, just ahead of the entrance. We sat down and as we ate another conversation started.
"Anyway, I'm Max" he said as he chewed.
"And I'm Noel, nice to meet you" when Max heard my name raised an eyebrow but said nothing about it "I've never seen you in these parts, you're new here in Hawkins?"I asked, taking a bite of the hot dog..
The girl at that point nodded but didn't seem to be of many words about it. I decided not to feel something unpleasant, also because I didn't have all this confidence yet.
"You'll be fine here, Hawkins may seem like a city too monotonous and quiet, but if you look hard you will find many unusual and interesting things" I commented gently.
"I hope so in the end...this place doesn't look so bad, it's great for skateboarding" replied Max nodding several times.
"Now I'm really curious to see you at work" I said putting both hands under my face and then looking at her with an amused air.
"Next time I could take him to the arcade" the redhead suggested.
"I find it an excellent idea" I concluded with a nod, only to be interrupted by a deafening roar of cars, which approached a few meters from us.
My throat knotted dangerously when I saw Billy Hargrove get out of that car, what the fuck was he doing here? Don't tell me he had a secret passion, hidden under that sawdust brain?
He leaned close to the hood of the car, lighting a cigarette, and looked with unfriendly eyes at Max, who looked down nervously, but Hargrove's eyes bulged when he recognized my figure.
Probably if he could have punched me he would have done it in that instant but probably being around a public place prevented him from putting his bestial desire into action.
"What the fuck are you doing here with her?" Billy asked frowning, earning a puzzled look from Max.
"I work here, asshole. And the girl is able to understand and decide what to do on her own" I replied without fear, but the blond's gaze was causing me a slight sense of anxiety.
"She's my half sister, bitch. And she does what I say, when I want and how I want to” Billy replied, then looked at Max, who looked at me almost sorry.
"You can't always behave like that with the Hargrove people as if they were all under your iron fist, you will realize that all this security is all in your imagination" I said to Billy as he entered his car and lowering the window he said to me:
"Take it in the ass, Byers"
"Well you do as a target first, Hargrove" I yelled back, while Max inside his car bit his tongue to keep from laughing, while Billy with a disgusting bitter in his mouth darted home.
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I made my way back home at midnight, my eyes had grown heavy and all I wanted was to throw myself into my bed and not think about anything but sleep.
I started towards our small kitchen, uncertain of a little water to drink and as soon as I found the bottle I poured a small amount into the glass. In the air reigned a heavy silence, almost unusual for our apartment, maybe Will would have slept quiet dreams that night. I was hoping for it with all my heart. My thoughts stopped abruptly when I heard a creak at the front door, as if someone had opened it ... was he a thief? He carefully opened the cutlery drawer and picked up a knife with the tip not out of tune, hoping it could be useful and turning around I saw only the figure of my younger brother who was going out of the house with an empty expression. "W-Will?" I whispered, frightened but at the same time perplexed, but he didn't seem to hear me. So after putting down the knife, with a small step he followed his path, until I saw him stop a few centimeters from the entrance door. He looked at the sky in a terrified way but there was nothing, I didn't see anything! His small hands trembled like dry leaves, while his eyes were wide with terror.
I knelt in front of him and with both hands grabbed his slender shoulders trying to shake a little. "Will what's up? what's scaring you?” no answer “Will please, can you hear me?” it looked like an ice statue “Will, please answer me!” I begged with eyes that started to contain more tears. His gaze dropped to me in a lost way.
"Noel...?" As soon as he heard those words, I looked into his shocked eyes and without thinking twice I greeted him in my arms.
"Will...holy god, what happened to you?" The child seemed to think about it a little before answering.
"I think suffering from somnambulism is one of the symptoms...of the trauma, the doctor told me" and yet there was something that did not come back to me.
"Are you really telling me the truth?" I asked frightened, he nodded "Swear me"
"I swear" he replied without hesitation as if he wanted to avoid the subject. I looked at him again for a few moments, stroking his face with one hand, then getting up and leading him back into the house.
"Do you want me to keep you company, little brother?" I asked in front of his bedroom door, he shook his head.
"No son’t worry, you know, I'm not a child anymore" he replied, raising his eyes to the sky and I nodded defeated, moving away to the bathroom to put on my pajamas and give me a fix. A few moments after putting on my pajamas I approached Will's room again, who seemed to have taken sleep immediately, I let a sigh escape from my dry lips and as far as I knew I was going against my brother's will, I approached his sleeping figure and taking a pillow I lay down beside his bed, on the floor and watching him like a sentinel, I let my heavy eyelids and defeated fatigue slowly take possession of my body, catapulting me into a deep sleep.
T O   B E   C O N T I N U E D …
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Tag list:
@xxemoluverxx @sledgy14 @ellenna
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colonel-insomniac · 4 years
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Music to Me
a big thank you to @whatdourelfeyessee for suggesting the song Music to Me from the musical Who’s Your Baghdaddy, and providing the inspiration for the two ideas tied together!! Happy late Valentine’s day, and enjoy!!
read the first four: 1 2 3 4
or read on ao3
“You are the banjo that I’m strummin’, the merry tune I’m hummin’, full of glee…”
Bobby would say he’s not scared of much, but then he’d be lying. He’s been through what he thinks of phases of being scared: he was scared of the dark, he was scared of getting made fun of, he was scared of getting caught skipping school that one time, he was scared of getting caught in the endless trap of procrastination, among other things. 
But Bobby’s never really been scared of heights. Not until he’d had to climb a volcano that was about to blow. He’s always liked feeling lifted above the world, away from whatever issue might be plaguing him. Now everything’s changed, and he’s scared. He’s been jumpy, and it’s been a week. Bobby thinks he just needs to face this terror head on, that’ll fix it all. 
So here he is, alone at four in the morning. Pat had been sleeping over since the event, keeping an eye on Bobby. Press had been swarming his apartment, meaning that they couldn’t go anywhere, but they were fine with that. As Bobby tiptoed over the sleeping forms of the press, he noticed that the famous anchorman, Perch Perkins, wasn’t amongst them. He thought that was a good thing, everybody needs to recoup instead of slapping on a mask.
“You are the symphony that slays me, my melody that stays right in key…”
So anyways, Bobby saw that same terrifying mountain from the same point a week ago, looming above him, and it’s almost as though he hasn’t ever left. But this time, he doesn’t have Sandy with him to ground him. His hands shake as he places him open palm on the grass and dirt. The mountain looks so peaceful for something that attempted to kill him not that long ago. 
Each step is premeditated, always checking to see if it’ll be the step to kill him. He gets ten feet up before he physically cannot move anymore, and collapses on an edge of the mountain that’s wide enough for him to sit on. Air keeps filling his lungs, he’s only inhaling now, and in the back of his mind he remembers he needs to exhale. Bobby quickly glances down before tilting his chin to look at the stars glittering in the sky. 
“You are music to me…”
No one was here to console him now, he truly was alone. And terrified, too. So terrified he started crying. It was like the world was closing in on him, darkness threatening to choke him. He desperately needed Patrick with him, but he can’t even move his arm to call him. He’s stuck, at four in the morning, watching as ocean waves lapped at the shore on the horizon, the palm trees swaying in the breeze, the chilled night air biting through his sweater.  
 He wants to go higher, he can’t chicken out at ten feet, and so reluctantly, Bobby stands on shaky legs, breathing in deeply to try and stabilize himself, and started climbing yet again. Bobby kept his eyes focused on the rock directly above him, climbing higher and higher. 
“Bobby!!! Bobby!!!” Bobby froze at the sound of his name, clinging to the rock for dear life. 
He's too shaken at the presence of another person that he doesn't process who it is at first. He can feel a drop of sweat slide down the side of his head, and when his brain tells him it's his beloved best friend, Bobby almost doesn't believe himself. He takes a chance, thoughts focused on Pat now: "P-Pat?" The word comes out a whisper, and he feels the fear clawing up his throat again. He can’t stop though, there’s no where for him to stand without having to cling to the rock. 
He gulps; he’s at an impasse. He can climb a little more or he can cling to the rock and wait for help. And now that he thinks about it, it feels as though his hands are slipping. He could die after all. He mutters the same words he did when he had to reassure himself at the event last week, but the words feel hollow. They can’t console him like they did before, and the thought makes him panic. 
He scuttles upwards, in all senses of the word. His feet kicked at the air, feeling around for somewhere to put his legs, his eyes scanning around every few seconds for somewhere he can stop. It doesn’t take him a long time to find and area where he can rest. Bobby knows he isn’t even halfway up the mountain based on his memories of climbing this exact area. 
“You are the tone of my piano, my chortling soprano chickadee…” 
“Bobby, what are you doing?!” Pat calls up to Bobby, who’s maybe fifty feet high. Pat’s voice is carried to him on the breath of a wind, strained and full of concern and love and all the good times with his best friend run through Bobby’s head in less than an instant. “I thought I could do it,” He shouts down to Patrick, who looks like a pocket-sized version of the actual Pat. “I was wrong. I don’t think I can get down. I’m scared.” 
Though he can’t see them, he can feel the goosebumps rise on his skin as his voice shakes in terror. He squints as Patrick turns around and looks at the town in the distance before stepping towards the mountain. Bobby’s shocked to his core when Pat starts climbing; and he's so worried for the one person he thinks he cares the most about. If something happens, it’s definitely Bobby’s fault; and what’s worse is he’d be so lost without Pat to guid him. 
“Patrick be careful!” He shouts down to Patrick, several times actually, and Pat just nods, focused on his one mission to get to Bobby. As Bobby panics, his subconcious releases a little song he wrote back in his senior year of high school. And with that comes a memory of his mom telling him to use what he loves to ground himself. His voice cracks once as he struggles to get the lyrics out of his throat. But they come out, and through his blurred vision, he can just barely see Patrick pause in the slightest bit. 
“You are the theme of my cantata, my masterful sonata in G…” 
He’s nearer now, Pat is. He climbs closer and closer, and then all that’s left is getting down. Right as Bobby’s saying the last lines, Pat reaches him, and the two embrace. “Buddy, you scared me bad. Don’t just leave in the middle of the night like that.” Bobby feels the vibration of Pat’s voice in his bones as the taller of the two holds the shorter one’s head to his chest. Bobby tucked his chin against his chest, his cheek firmly pressed against Patrick’s chest. 
“I know. I’m sorry, I honestly thought I could get over it if I forced myself to.” Bobby mutters in response.
“It’s fine to still be wounded from the whole incident, I still wake up sometimes thinking that you’re out there climbing this mountain of doom.” 
The words come as a shock to Bobby, even though maybe he expected to not be the only one still affected by the catastrophic events that almost ended the town. 
“You are the guitar that I’m strummin’, the rhythm that I’m drummin’, full of glee…”  
And all this time, through thick and thin, through fights and happy times, it’s always been Patrick who was there for him. It was Patrick who persuaded him to apply to the Krustie Krabbe, just like it was Pat who convinced Bobby to throw the Eruptor Interruptor into the flaming, smoking mouth of the volcano. 
And maybe Pat wasn’t always the highest scoring kid in their class, but he was insanely wise when you really thought about it, and Bobby’s been through a couple relationships, never once realizing that he really should’ve been looking at Pat in a closer view. 
Bobby steals a glance at Patrick, heart hammering wildly. He takes a chance, though, and while Patrick is distracted by watching the sunrise in front of them, he leans over and presses a quick peck on Patrick’s cheek. 
“You are the symphony that sweeps me, the tuning fork that keeps me in key…” 
Pat turns his head towards Bobby, confusion mixing with slow realization on his face. Maybe it’s because they’ve been in each others lives for so long, or maybe it’s because they’re meant to be, but it’s almost as though Pat can ready Bobby’s mind. Instead of saying anything, Pat simply wraps an arm around Bobby’s shoulders and draws him closer to his side, and leans his head ontop of Bobby’s. 
All is not fixed, Bobby’s still terrified, and Pat is still keeping a close eye on his best friend-slash-future boyfriend. But as the sun rises on their beautiful beach town, they know everything will probably be okay. 
The two sing the last lines of Bobby’s song together, softly, for one another and no one else.
“You are music to me, can’t you see?”
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Maya?? Maya!!
also Athenas lmao
finally i am free to work on this
boy i sure hope we don’t get more info soon *squints at Amara’s character trailer just around the corner*
tl;dr: athenas. wow. uhhh temple areas with the weird vault-shaped statue things might be a teleportation hub or something like a Stargate cuz, uh… they’re probably not Vaults. i mean. given what we know maybe they are Vaults but not like vaults with important stuff inside, just teleportation vaults. you know what im trying to say? i mean it’s not like the eridians had any spaceships we’ve seen. but they had to get around somehow. 
also it’s possible the big temple area we see is on Athenas, is in that giant fucking pyramid in the background that i completely and totally did not notice for the longest time. 
i also discuss Maya and her thoughtlock skill (if she gets her powers taken away from her) and if she’s gonna die or not. because she’s got the Cloud Kill legendary (’oh noo she ded’), an apprentice (let’s be real, the cliches aren’t looking great), and she seems to working beside rampagers in that giant temple area (also another reason i think it’s on athenas) and tbh i didn’t see her tattoos in either of those shots (but that could be cuz she’s so smoll). so that’s cool. 
oh also the order of the impending storm was probably pretty respectable back in the day, since they can track sirens (maya’s assassin in son of crawmerax), and maybe that’s how maya figured out ava was gonna be a siren even tho she hasn’t manifested her powers yet. and Maya’s probably unearthing all this buried Siren/Vault knowledge and bringing the Academic District back into power while also protecting the Order from Maliwan. who’s still v sus.
wow we have a lot to go over
so to start, im taking a wild guess and saying the temple is on Athenas. why? because we really haven’t gotten a lot of looks at either of those areas too much (compared to promethea and eden-6) and the architecture lines up to me. 
also i, an idiot, was all like ‘mannnn Athenas is super mountainy, that’s wild. love it’ and neglected to realize there’s literally a giant fucking pyramid in the background of a lot of shots
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on the right
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behind the tower
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to the right of ava
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on the left
so i feel really dumb right now for not noticing this sooner and writing it off as a mountain. It's literally the fuckin Vault symbol like. ~triangles~. i played skyrim i should know what mountains look like when they’re not 1 polygon
either way, if that’s not at least part of the temple, it’s definitely important. somehow.
but let’s talk about the temple. the parts we know.
let’s try to look out the windows of this wild place
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see cause this looks like inside a mountain
so my first instinct was eden-6 because we see a volcano on there
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i mean im under the assumption this is eden-6???
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bc all the plants match up
… maybe there’s more than one temple?
oh god i don’t wanna separate these by temple that’s going to be IMPOSSIBLE
but yeah i guess it’s possible there’s one on Eden-6 and one on Athenas… dear god…
but yeah my first instinct for that was ‘inside a volcano’
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possible mountain on the left there
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very rocky all around. im assuming this is underground or smth?
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it feels like we’re underground
so maybe it’s a thing where it just keeps going further down. iunno.
it’s hard to place exactly where this is going to be because of the whole ‘underground’ thing
the part that’s throwing me off the most is this
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because this looks like Pandora bc of Elpis and the rocks
and it looks like we’re walking outside a temple with the same friggen tiles on the floor, which means it is possible that this is The Temple, but you think we’d know about a giant-ass temple just on pandora. especially with the big dig site
but then we see a super similar dig site (supposedly on promethea). so what the HELL
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im almost inclined to believe this is some sort of Eridian teleportation system. i know, i know, we have Sanctuary-III so it’s pointless. but… will we always have Sanc-III throughout the story? yada yada orange/gray -> blue/yellow/red markings. you get the dealio by now.
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to
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when taken by the cult or smth.
idk it’s possible we won’t have sanc-III for the entire game (just like normal sanctuary in bl2, in that we’ll get it back eventually (or ill kill someone for taking my room decorations)) and then we’ll have to use this wicked eridian tech to move between planets with these gateways. sort of like a stargate…
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this thing is a stargate. I’ll call back to this in a hot second.
what kinda shit am i tripping on? i don’t really know. but given how it seems like these temples could be on ANY of the planets we see, im trying to figure out wtf the connection could be.
and give me this: we have never actually seen an eridian spacecraft, but we know they’ve traveled across the galaxy, putting vaults on different places. how in the fuck could they have done that if, you know, they didn’t have spaceships to travel through… space? 
well we know they have the power of teleportation down pat. i mean down so hard they were able to create a ‘teleportation gland’ that allowed a giant vault monster to teleport at will. (now im wondering if lilith has one… hm.) 
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this blue thing (which… is the same color as siren stuff. okay. im sorry. i won’t get off topic this time. but it’s stewing in my gray matter)
and given that we know all the (okay, we only know for certain some) vaults open up into this other dimension (space place), would it be so hard to believe that they’re created links between planets using this dimension? i just… something isn’t right here and this seems like the most logical solution. 
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take a look at Eleseer. look at all those holograms of labeled planets. of galaxies and stars in the distance. it’s possible eleseer is like the Hub for this teleportation system (explaining why it’s always open) and explaining why it’s got all those weird planet holograms sitting around. could also explain why Moon = Key.
These aren’t Vaults, they wouldn’t show up on the Vault Map- explaining why we never saw this one on Pandora- these are like… gateways or something, iunno. name pending until sept. 13th i guess.
so why tf am i going off about this on a post about maya and athenas?
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because i think athenas has a gateway in it too
yeah you should recognize that thing in the background!
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that’s this place!!! from the behind closed doors demo!!
and it still
doesn’t look like a vault to me
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it’s intact (also it looks like stairs…). all the Vaults we’ve seen are 100% not intact. they’re all chunky and in pieces (we’re gonna ignore eleseer and uhhhh all that business right now, but even thinking about how the sentinel tried to emulate a vault by spawning it in chunks and THEN assembling it)
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chunky
im just saying there has to be a reason these vault-like shapes are intact. they’re either just statues/monuments or they have a purpose.
so why tf am i convinced they have a purpose?
bc we’ve seen one light up
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taken straight from the void itself (seriously it’s like a gradient back there. which is weird.)
so there’s gotta be a reason it does this right? and if it’s not a Vault, because it’s on Pandora and the Crimson Raiders would have seen it on the Vault Map, then what the fuck is it?
welllllllll i just don’t know. but my best guess right now is some sort of teleportation system to travel between planets. if there are ‘temples’ on every planet then it would make sense that there is some way for eridians to travel btwn them. 
personally i think there’s one on eden-6 (maybe in that volcano area??) and one on Athenas (cause we really haven’t seen a lot of athenas yet and… i dunno i just have a feeling). and there’s apparently one on Pandora (given we see it with elpis in the background) and possibly one on Promethea. i don’t know what that instagram video was trying to imply. i don’t wanna think too hard about it right now my brain hurts enough already as it is.
but uhhh i was gonna talk more about athenas than this
i promise this is gonna lead into maya
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the academic district, with a Vault symbol on the door, to boot.
so this place is really interesting to me for a lot of reasons.
1. that vault symbol on the door
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2. they’re flying flags with the vault symbol on it
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3. giant pyramid in the back
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it’s staggeringly huge
4. they have siren tattoos on the building in the back there. specifically, amara’s tattoos
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yeah. maybe this is Partali? a smaller area on Athenas, like Meridian is a city on Promethea, and this is Amara’s way of tagging her presence/an area under her protection as the Tiger
more shots of Athenas from the amd horizons e3 stream
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it’s a very pretty planet
so if anything, this is the place we’re going to go to learn about Sirens.
and i don’t know how much the Order of the Impending Storm actually KNOWS about Sirens, because all we know about them from maya’s backstory is that they were assholes and using maya to keep the people scared and giving them money
also that they knew how to track sirens
that’s probably important…
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“Maya, you’ll like this next dude. He’s a Siren tracker named Mordo Sophis, Father of Brother Stephen Sophis, that dude you ganked back on Athenas. And boy, oh boy, is he just itching for vengeance.”
who isn’t, mr. mordo, sir? get in line
anyway apparently the Order knows how to track Sirens. Which could explain how Maya has a Siren apprentice when Ava uhhh apparently hasn’t manifested her powers (or tattoos) yet. might also explain how they got their hands on Maya when she was a baby. cuz yeah… i got the feeling they stole her and killed her parents… just a feeling.
y’know if tannis didn’t kill that siren tracker dude maybe she could’ve learned something from him first. that could’ve been interesting.
anyway, idk. maybe at one point the Order was respectable and, like, didn’t force people into giving them money by using sirens as a scare tactic. 
it looks like they have/had an academic district (which im sure maya is helping cultivate) focused on Sirens/Vaults.
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and there’s a lot of importance on books this game
seriously
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apparently
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there’s
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a
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lot.
but let’s get back to this in a minute, because i do wanna talk about the name of the Order.
it’s full name is the Order of the Impending Storm.
I know while writing bl2 they probably didn’t know that they were gonna be building towards a war in tps, but it’s still interesting that they decided to bring them back into play now. because they 100% could have just left them as a background monastery that Maya came from and have maya refuse to return/start her own organization. but they made her specifically return there.
so does their name have significance now? i’d be willing to bet a yes. I mean, war is coming. Impending Storm sounds like it’d be a pretty fitting name for an organization that knew this. Especially because according to Maya’s cosplay guide, they worshipped her like a God (seriously lol are all Sirens worshipped as minor deities? most people know Sirens are Sirens right? like just people with magic powers..? hmmm)
And if Maya returned to learn more about Sirens, then isn’t it implied that the Order did, in fact, know more about Sirens than Maya did? hell, maybe even Tannis…
especially if the temple or eridian ruins are nearby. Say… In this giant pyramid…
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so this doesn’t fit in with the aesthetic of Athenas at all. it’s almost like those are caution colors on the bottom strip there. warning you to not go inside. i don’t know if this was built by the eridians or by whoever is on Athenas to keep whatever’s inside… inside (cough Rampagers cough)
either way that pyramid is FUCKING HUGE
seriously, just compared to the academic district, it’s insanely big (that is the BASE in the background)
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also guess who just realized this would be a hilarious joke by gearbox
to have pyramids built by ancient aliens. oh, you.
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also, side note, there’s a crew challenge for moxxi in the academic district
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i just have no idea how we’re getting up there…
oh but the Order. yeah i get the feeling they know A LOT about Sirens/Eridians. maybe even what’s about to go down. but maybe a majority of that was lost in the archives when some corrupts assholes came into power. and now Maya returned and is slowly but surely unarchiving everything we need to know about Sirens.
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perhapith this book has some Siren-y knowledge within it? from someone who went into the temple on Athenas and… never came back out.
and I would bet Maya is waging war against Maliwan at the same time as she’s uncovering all this buried info (protecting the Order) because Maliwan is trying to get this info as well. 
Seriously, anyone else notice Maliwan is SPREADING?? They’re not just on Promethea. they’re on Eden-6. They’re on Athenas. They’re even fuckin on Pandora in some trailers (although I would not trust any trailer with roses at this point. something’s really fucky. I will make a seperate post about that i think, once we get Amara’s and Fl4k’s trailers). I’m really suspicious that Maliwan has either joined the cult, or they’re going to become the main villains. which, y’know, given corporations are the big bad in borderlands always… that seems about right.
I wouldn’t even be surprised if Maya/the Order knows something about the Children of the Vault. Given that one pic of her holding a book with the CoV symbol on it.
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that she seems to be passing on to Ava
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I dunno. I don’t think Children of the Vault is a name that the cultists/Calypsos just HAPPENED to come up with. And I still don’t think that the broadcast easter egg is from the Calypsos. it doesn’t make sense. I know I went over this in-depth in the Promethea post but god damn it im going to do it again because i feel so strongly about this.
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i feel like the cult stumbled upon this name and decided to adopt it as their own. or tried revive an old cult with the same name. and if they didn’t, why in the hell does the message say ‘Do Not Open the Vaults’? How do the twins know about Tannis by name?
i mean, okay, granted we don’t know exactly how she fixed the Vault Map and it could be that the twins know how she did it. Because I still haven’t been able to place that one shot of them walking outside the Recruitment Center 
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this one
and we know tannis fixes (??) the Vault Map in the recruitment center, so, maybe they saw it happen or there’s some sort of record in the vault map? that shows her fixing it and when they get to Promethea they send out that message?
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i meannn she seems pretty surprised it’s functioning, herself.
so maybe they come while/after tannis fixes the key/map to get it back and Lilith like alright everyone let’s book it to Ellie’s garage with the Map. she’ll help us get to Sanc-III.
and in that they see that she’s able to fix it (possibly with weird Siren/Destroyer/Slag/pickurpoison powers) and that’s how they know Tannis is not what she seems.
and maybe the twins just don’t want their cultists opening the vaults because they want to be the ones to open it.
Sure
BUT that’s boring sauce to theorize about because it’s all just there. I’m still partial to the idea that Children of the Vault is actually referring to Sirens tho. It would explain why Maya has a book with the symbol for the CoV on it and is offering it to Ava. Because why would Ava need a book about the Calypsos? who would WRITE a book about the Calypsos?? and make it look THAT old? like… c’mon.
At the very least, it’s an old name for a cult that got revived by the Calypso twins.
At the most, it’s the name for Sirens.
Or it’s the symbol for the Order of the Impending Storm, back when they were respectable. tho you think we’d see maya wearing the symbol somewhere in bl2, so maybe not. unless she took it off her clothes because they had her try to kill unarmed civilians.
I mean, why is the cult’s symbol the Vault symbol upside down, anyway? We know that the symbol for the Vaults in Eridian is the upside-down V in a circle, because Tannis tells us so in bl1. So why would a cult of people who believe the Vaults to be their birthright go around slapping what is essentially the opposite symbol everywhere?
i personally wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the symbol for Siren or something, given how closely intertwined they both seem to be to that alternate dimension.
regardless. let’s keep going
so let’s talk about Maya’s fate in BL3. Is she gonna die? is she not gonna die? i dunno. let’s discuss.
i personally would not be surprised if she does, but i’d be a little disappointed regardless. if any Siren is gonna die… Lilith is going to finish her character arc this game. not that I want her to die, but still. I get that they gotta keep the Siren cycle going.
sooo one big point in the ‘maya dies’ category:
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“Oh noo she ded” i mean. that’s just mean, gearbox. 
of course we don’t know if that’s talking specifically about Maya, could be talking about Tyreen, or a miniboss, or something. but i do think it’s interesting that it’s on maya’s legendary. plus uhhh given we had a death out of Roland in BL2, and in TPS 2 of those VHs died as well, I think it’s a given at least one BL2 VH isn’t gonna live to see the end of 3. as much as that actually physically pains me to type. 
And… to tip the scales further to Maya, Zer0 has crew challenges, which probably means they won’t be biting the dust anytime soon, unless you wanna completely ruin doing all the crew challenges by beating the game before doing the assassination quests. which doesn’t seem like something they’re keen on doing, if Roland giving out side quests had anything to say about it. Of course there’s always the argument that someone will take over Zer0′s crew challenges if they die, but… who would? Rhys? maybe. i get the feeling he might be too busy with Atlas though. Lorelei..? … i don’t know her well enough to make a statement on that.
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taken from K6′s awesome legendary loot vid
Back to the legendary. we know it’s hers based off the name ‘Cloud Kill’, which is one of her best skills (after the buff lol). It’s a corrosive only Maliwan smg (as far as i can tell. it doesn’t look like there’s the option to swap elements. so it’s cool to know uniques might throw out their manufacturer’s alternate firing modes). i’m gonna take a guess and say it mimics cloud kill by spawning a cloud on top of enemies that are shot with it. that could clean out an entire room in seconds, especially on Amara with Phasegrasp.
anyway i got more
so Ava is Maya’s apprentice, hmmmm?
well i dunno about you guys but whenever a character gets an apprentice/kid/whatever, it’s not good news for the character. and given that borderlands definitely doesn’t need children to keep the premise fresh, I’m a bit worried for Maya.
Ava must be important to the main story, or they could’ve taken her out or put Gaige in. The devs themselves said they only wanted to bring in characters that they knew had significant importance to the plot and so that characters wouldn’t feel shoehorned in.
so there’s a few ways things can go down with Ava, using apprentice stereotypes:
1) She takes over after Maya dies/has her powers stolen/is brainwashed and helps us bring Maya back by proving herself using the stuff she learned from Maya (or, the stuff she taught herself that Maya said wasn’t important)
1b) she inherits Maya’s powers and Maya trains her in the way of Phaselock
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possibly maya handing over her class mod or smth
2) she’s evil and the cult is using her to get info and secretly hates maya or whatever
Given Ava is like… 12… I wanna believe she’s not evil. of course we don’t actually know if she’s 12 cause apparently the Siren lore got messed up knowing Angel had her powers manifest at 5. but that’s not canon until mentioned in-game, so fuck it: let’s believe Ava is 12 and not evil and is just Maya’s kickass Siren apprentice.
The apprentice Maya was able to find because the Order knew how to track Sirens/determine if someone is going to exhibit Siren powers.
yes, let’s go with that.
So… what’s gonna happen to Maya, then?
I personally believe she’s going to have her powers stolen and used against her. One major part of her powers is that she’s able to ‘Thoughtlock’, which basically brainwashes an enemy to fight for her.
That sounds like it would be insanely powerful in the hands of the Calypso twins, especially since Maya has gotten more powerful since bl2, and tbh I can’t see them wanting to pass it up. Of course it could also be story-breaking, but let’s say they can only have one person ever Thoughtlock-ed at a time and suddenly it’s a lot less troublesome.
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so this scene makes me do a big thonk
(also, another reason im thinking this temple area is on Athenas is bc Maya’s there! plus there are triangles everywhere. Triangles… pyramids… iunno. just spitballing)
also idk if this is just cause she’s super teeny-tiny buuuut
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im worried i can’t see maya’s tattoos
she’s also entirely focused on the player instead of… oh, idk, the giant rampager right next to her
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and idk it looks almost like she’s holding a gun and aiming it at us?
which hey, i wouldn’t jump to conclusions right away because she does have a skill that allows her to heal allies by shooting them
but also… if she doesn’t have her siren powers, then that’d just be like… regular shooting, wouldn’t it? and if she DOES have her Siren powers, why in the hell is she not using them on the giant monster right next to her???
we see her again in the background of this shot
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again… tattoos not 100% clear.
she also seems to be taking radiation damage from the rampager! which is good. but also she doesn’t seem to care that much about it.
we can also see her gun here
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sorry it was kinda being obscured by the youtube progress bar
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but uhhh it’s not looking good.
boy i really hope Maya doesn’t die
we also know it was hinted that Krieg might be making a return! from his voice actor’s twitter:
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tho, he also soon made a tweet after that was all like “this doesn’t confirm nor deny that krieg is returning” which, yeah i get that.
either way, if Krieg is coming back, it’d be interesting to see what goes down with him, especially if Maya dies. or even if Maya’s ‘just’ in trouble, I could see him going absolutely apeshit.
maybe krieg will sacrifice himself to save maya, somehow. maybe he’s have a moment of pure lucidity and save her. maybe she’ll die and he’ll lose his mind and become a boss battle. maybe she’ll save him and they’ll live happily ever after ;w; who knows~
maybe ava will have heard about Krieg through Maya and will go to get him to try and help save her. that’d be really interesting to see- krieg smashing through a wall with Ava riding on his shoulder lol
anyway, holy shit im exhausted. i gotta wrap this up because it’s like 1am and i’ve been working on this post for like… 3 days straight now. ech.
if maya does die, it would be interesting to see is Ava inherits her powers after we kill the Calypsos. like, would the powers try to go back to their original host? would they see she’s dead and just find another Siren to give the powers to? i wonder if maya dying/being about to die would be enough of a traumatic experience for ava to unlock her siren powers.
ohh it’d be cool if Ava unlocked her siren powers and used them to save Maya from the cult/brainwashing/whatves
alright. im tired lmao
good night.
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