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parasite-core · 2 years

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Last night in Pathfinder we saved the “Lemon King”, fought shadow duplicates of our worst selves, and finally regained our lost memories.

Everything’s been leading up to this.

We arrived on the dream moon, where a prison run by Moon Beasts was located. Igil managed to intimidate the Dream Ghoul guard into not interfering with us busting open the front gate, and we entered the facility. We convinced three Denizens of Leng that we were “Riot Exterminators” a-la Futurama, and were directed to go upstairs to talk to the prison warden to get a contract worked out.

First, however, we went to the next room over and ran into a Denizen of Leng who ranted at us that we were there to take her emerald. At which point she held out her emerald, yelled “chaos control”, the DM began playing “Live and Learn”, and the entire thing was a meme fight because the character in question literally had an item called a Chaos Emerald and there was no way any of us were taking it seriously because there were two Sonic fans in the group. Berin killed her in one hit with his vorpal scimitar anyways. Ileark got to keep the Chaos Emerald while in the Dream Lands.

After that bit of weirdness, the party headed upstairs. They heard the Warden telling them to report to him in their heads, not realizing they weren’t his guards. They came up the stairs. The moment the Moon Beast realized they weren’t his men, he threw a Shadow Evocation Fireball at them. It didn’t get through Ileark’s spell resistance, Igil and Jo disbelieved it, while Dia and Berin believed the illusion, and Berin failed his reflex save and took the full brunt of the fireball.

The party was immediately going to go on the offensive for him attacking first, but Berin stopped them when the Moon Beast showed confusion over them saying they *had* come to help him but now we’re going to kill him. Berin, despite getting the most hurt out of all of us, managed to keep his cool and calmly talk to the Warden, finding out that he’d attacked in sight because he thought they’d been sent by the faction of the other Moonbeast who was leading a coup on the other end of the facility to kill him. He wasn’t terribly apologetic about the misunderstanding, but he did offer some items to make up for it if we really were there to help with his situation. He gave us the keys to the facility, and showed us a perfect model of the facility. The biggest issue was going to be getting to the other faction’s side of the prison. There was a moving hall between us and them that was currently out of alignment, and the controls were on the enemy’s side. We decided since we had a perfect map of it, Ileark could use that knowledge to dimension door up into the control room above the hall that would connect to the moving hallway, along with someone to watch his back. They’d both be made invisible by Igil, just incase. They’d flip the switch, then hunker down while the second group made their way to them.

It sounded like a good plan. Berin decided that Jo should go with Ileark ‘for some quality bonding’. Igil revealed at this time that he had an ability he kept forgetting about that would allow him to link himself mentally with everyone for a short time, so he mentally bonded all of them minus Dia so they could communicate over a distance. Then Ileark dimension doored himself and Jo upstairs to the control room.

Jo secured the room while Ileark flipped the switch. The sound of the hallway shifting was loud. The entire prison could definitely hear it. Group B rushed across to try to get to Group A as quickly as possible. Berin got sidetracked, however, when a prisoner began calling for help. It was a woman with a scarred face. After talking to her he recognized her name—she was the big game hunter they’d heard about in one of the previous Dream Lands—the one they’d contemplated killing and giving to the Ratlings as food >.>

Anyways she was here. Berin said he’d be back for her later, for now he needed to clear out the prison. But he was going to leave some reading material for her. He left her with a pamphlet to the Sarenrite faith. Then he went to catch up with Igil, who had been heading towards the stairs, more focused on making sure the others were okay than in checking on the prisoners for now.

Berin, Igil, and Dia went up the stairs, and at the top saw a woman working on a machine. The woman had an aura of terror emanating from her, although the trio managed to resist it. The woman spoke to them, talking about how her machine was broken and she was repairing it. She asked who they were and why they were here. They once again gave the excuse about being riot exterminators. At the same time, Jo burst out of the other door to try to catch the woman off guard at Igil’s mental prompting.

Unfortunately, the woman could see invisibility and wasn’t caught off guard—nor did she believe the bluff. Because she wasn’t a human woman at all, but a Nightmare Dragon.

She hit our entire party with a breath weapon that painfully pulled forward our worst emotions and impulses, tearing us apart from the inside. Jo and Berin went in to attack her up close and personal, while Ileark stayed on healing duty and threw spells from a distance to little effect, Dia kept the party buffed, and Igil threw his own spells to greater effect. In the middle of the chaos, the dragoness summoned four living torture devices to attack the party under her command as well.

She didn’t get long to use them, as Jo decided she had enough of this. As the dragon flew by and attacked her, Jo stabbed her, leapt back, and then leapt at the dragoness and stabbed her right through the chest with her spear, cleanly slaying the dragon.

Which only left a slow grind through the living torture devices for a few rounds of clean up before we were finished and ready to move on.

We knew from having seen the map where the solitary confinement cells were, and we figured that was probably where our good friend The Yellow King The Lemon King was. We were right on the money, in a bubble of Silence, King waited in a cell. We used a parchment and quill to converse with him, and explained that we needed to take care of the Moonbeast who held him captive first. Just in case. We didn’t want them coming after him again. He wasn’t pleased with being left in the cell, but we gave him some cards to pass the time and that seemed to distract him.

We went past the bubble of silence and rushed the staircase, using our Operation Uninvited Guests on the two bloody creatures who looked like women with overly sharp smiles in the next room. One went down by Jo’s hand immediately. The other was blinded by Ileark and had her brain scrambled by Igil but was still standing.

While we focused on the sharp smiled woman, Igil ran to the door and threw it open. As he suspected, the Moonbeast was on the other side. He threw a spell at it and disabled it for a few rounds, giving the rest of us time to take care of his minion and to then go after him at our leisure. Dia killed the minion, and Jo darted into the other room and smashed the Moonbeast, deflating him like a sad balloon on her spear.

Off the Moonbeast we retrieved another set of keys, which we figured would probably unlock Lemon King’s cell. We returned to our guide, and finally freed him.

We also freed the big game hunter after Berin had a talking to with her and convinced her to consider using her skills to protect towns from wild animals instead of trophy hunting, since she could still make money that way and it would be helping people instead of hurting innocent creatures.

We took the Lemon King and left on the giant flying creature we’d come in on. The creature was happy we’d finished so quickly—it gave him plausible deniability about having ever come here.

Seeing as the trip back would be a while, King suggested we wake up and return later if we had things we needed to do in the waking world. We agreed that seeing as we’d been in the Dream Land for days now in Dream Land time, it was probably a good idea for us to wake up and check on the ship.

When we woke up, only a day had passed in real time. So we went about our regular day, Igil worked on some sewing, Jo and Ileark worked on the ship, and Berin hung out below deck. Then the night came. And we knew the time had come. Tonight we were going to finally, really, get our memories back.

Dia told us she was not going to be joining us tonight. This seemed too personal for her to be a part of. And also, given that Weiralie had come after the Lemon King to get to us, she feared the ship might be in danger while we sleep if she wanted to interfere one last time. So she would watch over us. We agreed that this was the most prudent option.

So the four original members of our group joined the ritual, and for one final time we entered the Dream Land. We once again found ourselves in the sunny desert outside of the Caravanserai. Only this time it wasn’t in ruins—it was a bustling market, alive and well travelled. We found King amongst the crowd, talking to some vendors. He greeted us happily, informing us that in the Dream Land it had been twenty years since he had last seen us, but that he’d known we’d eventually return. In the meantime he’d been rebuilding the Caravanserai, because he’d decided a king deserved an opulent castle, and so now it was once again bustling like it had been at its height.

He retrieved some gourds of Endure Elements so we could safely cross the desert, then began leading us out into the bright sandy heat.

After hours of travel, we came upon a hut shaded by a tree. King said he would stay behind, and wished us luck. His advice was to be polite despite any eccentricities, try not to insult him, and whatever we did *do not* fight the Mad Poet. We would lose. Greater people than us had tried and lost.

We took the advice to heart and moved forward. As we approached the hut, however, the tree shading the hut came to life. We noticed in horror that it’s fruits looked like our faces. The fruits opened their mouths and wailed in our voices. Jo tried to make a break for the door, but froze as she got close to the tree. Instead of moving past it, she was compelled to reach up into the tree and pull down a fruit shaped like her head…and eat it. Her mind went foggy in confusion and wisdom damage from the fruit’s poison.

Igil took note of the danger and flew around the tree, trying to get to the door of the hut. He got smacked by a branch in retribution. Ileark dimensional hopped across the gap and began knocking on the door, requesting the Poet call off his tree—but there was no answer. So Ileark tried throwing his starknife at the plant, but he was out of practice and it went wide. Igil tried knocking on the door, but was suddenly hit by a wave of sweet scent from the tree that drew him towards it—and he also grabbed a fruit that looked like his head and bit into it. Fortunately for him, unlike Jo, the poison didn’t take hold and he tossed the fruit aside, retreating back to the doorway.

Finally Berin made it to the door. He knocked and politely informed the Poet that perhaps he remembered them, and that this time they came bearing seven gifts for him, if he would please let them inside.

At last the door opened. The Poet told the tree to stand down, as we were guests. He said normally he didn’t meet with people who didn’t defeat his guardian first, but he remembered us, even though he knew we didn’t remember him, and Berin said we came bearing gifts for him. So he would let us enter.

We followed the Poet inside. He asked Igil to lay out the gifts onto a long table he had, and Igil did so. The signet ring, the striped tail, the ghouls king’s skull, the jade idol, the heartstone, the tricorn hat, and the red foot. Seven objects we’d worked tirelessly to obtain from all corners of the Dream Lands.

The Poet asked us each a question, about what we valued most. When we answered, we felt slightly empowered. A token of appreciation for retrieving all seven gifts. (Translation: we got a permanent bonus to one ability score depending on our answer to the question, each answer corresponded to an ability score. Might= strength, swiftness= dexterity, clear headedness= intelligence, etc.)

Afterwards, we were led to a pool. When we looked in, we remembered the last thing that happened before we lost our memories. Being dragged forward one by one, and dunked under the water. The air leaving our lungs, drowning.

It’s no wonder both Igil and Jo panicked at having their heads go under the water in the river before. We all have drowning trauma.

We staggered away from the pool, and as we did the Poet told us we needed to face the worst part of ourselves, because we didn’t want to remember what we’d done. From the pool rose four shadows. A vampiric aristocrat Berin. A night hag Ileark. A ragged butler Igil. A bloodthirsty monster Jo.

Each shadow went after its counterpart. Shadow!Igil never got a chance to act, as Igil stunned him for 3 rounds with his Mind Thrust, correctly supposing that he himself had the lowest chance of succeeding a save against his own attack. Shadow!Berin pulled out his own Vorpal Scimitar and began a deadly dance with Berin, mocking the Sarenite’s weakness. Shadow!Jo went all in against Jo, beating her down full force—which was a problem because we hadn’t healed after the last fight, except to heal the wisdom damage the plant’s poison had done to Jo. Berin, Jo, and Igil were all going into this already hurting badly. Shadow!Ileark tried to hit the party with a mass doom spell, but the party was more willful than he’d expected. Ileark told his night hag self that he was under estimating them, to which the shadow mocked him that he knew that wasn’t the truth. He knew all he was good at was running away.

Ileark stepped back and used multiple uses of channel energy to heal the party a good amount with both a swift and standard action, giving his teammates a fighting chance. Igil paid him back by striking Shadow!Ileark with a Mind Thrust, since Shadow!Igil was out of commission.

Berin nearly crit on Shadow!Berin, but Shadow!Ileark altered fate to force a reroll on the confirmation roll and it failed to confirm, keeping the vorpal blade from activating. Fortunately, Ileark reasoned he would only be able to do that once, since Ileark himself can only do that once a day. Shadow!Ileark tried to claim he might be able to do it more often since he’s better than the real Ileark, but Ileark didn’t believe him, since altering the threads of fate isn’t exactly easy to do, even for experienced clerics of fate.

It didn’t end up mattering, because after Shadow!Ileark made a grab for Ileark and tried and failed to blind him with Touch of Blindness, Igil crushed him with a final Mind Thrust—the first shadow down. For a moment to the shadow he no longer looked like a night hag, and Igil did, as his mind was destroyed. In his final moment he accused Igil of being a traitor, before falling back into the pond and returning to water. Ileark thanked Igil for the assist, and Igil brushed it off joking that he would tell Alazhra that he killed a Desnan he knew.

While this was happening, Jo was struggling with her other self. Shadow!Jo was giving her a beating and was proving hard to hit back in return. As Shadow!Ileark fell, Jo fell unconscious.

Ileark ran to her side, dropping a spell to cast Cure Critical Wounds, and then doubling up on it by also channeling energy for everyone including Jo.

Shadow!Jo didn’t take kindly to this. She decided the best way to hurt Jo was to go through her annoying little friends.

Suddenly Ileark found himself on the danger end of a version of Jolyn’s morningstar yet again. He went from full HP to 16 in a single full round of attacks. And Shadow!Jo locked eyes with Igil, just a step away, and promised the squishy psychic was next. Igil couldn’t do anything, as his shadow self has become in stunned and had hit him with a spell that left him dazed for a round, leaving him momentarily defenseless.

Ileark saw that he needed to run to heal himself. He couldn’t just step back, because he knew Jo’s fighting style—she was good at following spellcasters who try to distance themselves with a 5-ft-step. He needed to dimensional hop away. But he wasn’t going to leave Igil. So he used up every bit of movement he had left of his dimensional hop to grab Igil as well and hop them only 15 feet back—far enough that if Shadow!Jo wanted to go after them, she’d have to incur an attack of opportunity from Jo. Then he licked his wounds, patching himself up just a little.

Shadow!Jo took the bait, charging at Igil. Unfortunately when Jo and Ileark swung at her, they both missed.

While all of this was happening, Berin had taken care of Shadow!Berin, having fought him back fair and square, no vorpal blade needed. He’d switched to his Sun Blade just to make a point, and his point was very much made when he staked the vampiric noble version of himself through the heart, and the shadow melted back into the water.

Jo told Berin to go after Shadow!Igil, who was running to put some distance between himself and the rest of the combatants. Berin overpowered Shadow!Igil, and none of the dark psychic’s abilities had any effect on him due to his strong will. In an act of desperation, Shadow!Igil cast invisibility on himself and ran.

Unfortunately for him, Igil still had the gem of Trueseeing.

As Shadow!Igil fled, the real Igil ducked away from Shadow!Jo and fished out the gem, using it to aim one final Mind Thrust at his counterpart.

Nothing flashy. Just putting an end to that part of himself.

That left only Shadow!Jo.

Jo went after her Shadow self when Shadow!Jo went after Igil before. Without Shadow!Igil to fight, Berin joined the fight against Shadow!Jo.

Shadow!Jo decided to go all in against Jo.

Jo, after taking the hit, mocked her. “That’s our problem. We don’t think.” She said, as she whirled around to flank with Berin, because Shadow!Jo in her singleminded run at Jo hadn’t taken into account her positioning. Jo drew back her morningstar, and with one final swing, reduced Shadow!Jo to water. In her final moments Shadow!Jo lamented that she wasn’t strong enough.

The way was open. The pool was clear. Our memories awaited us. Jo stepped forward, more to clean herself off than to look into the pool, but the moment her eyes met her reflection she froze. One by one we joined her at the bank of the pool and looked into our reflections. And one by one we remembered.

***

Ileark remembered that he was left to be raised by two Desnan clerics who had always prayed for a child, as they couldn’t have one of their own. He’d always known growing up that he wasn’t their biological child, because he didn’t look like anyone else in the village—he had darker skin and different hair. But his parents loved him as much or more than any other parents could, they believed he was a blessing sent by Desna. Even when he chose a new name—the name he goes by now, Ileark, they took to it and his choice of pronouns immediately, because they loved the gift they had been given more than anything else, and there was no way he could be imperfect. So he lived as happy a life as any child could, raised by his parents to follow in their footsteps as the small village’s cleric someday. Life was good. Until one day, when he was out in the fields, and he saw her. Lurking at the forest’s edge. A being he could see but couldn’t quite see, who he knew in his blood he moment he laid eyes on, although he didn’t know how he knew their connection deep inside of himself. He ran. And he was so afraid that he hid it from his parents. For months he filed down the claws that began growing in, and didn’t tell them of the shadow lurking at the edges of his vision. Until one day his mother walked in on him filing down his claws. She had known something had been wrong, but not what. She broke down and told her everything. His parents did not reject him for being some kind of monster as he feared—how could they, he was Desna’s gift to them and they still loved him dearly. They tried their best to protect him instead. But as time passed, things got worse. At night he heard clawing at his window. Livestock disappeared. Crops withered. Small plagues visited the village. Always right after he’d seen the figure in the woods. No one had connected it to him yet, but he feared it was only a matter of time. And he knew that so long as he was in the village, nothing would get better. They would continue to be in danger. Which meant he had to leave.

So he told his parents his fears, and they gave him an idea. Spherewalkers travel the land in Desna’s name experiencing all the world has to offer. Maybe if he left, the being would leave him alone. And he could have fun on his journey. Meet new people. See new places. Try new things. Just…promise to reach out from time to time and keep in touch.

So Ileark packed his things and took to the road, hopeful that a change of scenery would protect him from what had haunted him. But it didn’t. When he stopped shortly in a village to get some books in a local library, she’d appeared again. And when he’d stopped for the night in another village not much farther out from there, she’d appeared and forced Ileark to flee in the night.

From then on he was always moving, careful to travel quickly and to never stay too long. However he met many interesting people in his travels. He stayed with an elven family in Varisia with three sons and a quiet somewhat sad seeming daughter who was interested in his travels. He met a fiery young woman and her much more reserved young friend at a monastery—the young woman kicked him in the shins and ran off, leaving her friend to apologize before running off after her. He met a handsome junior pathfinder member who he had a one-night stand with. He met a band of traveling mercenaries in Isgar, including an ambitious youth who called himself the Crimson Wyvern and his scythe wielding young friend. And he met an alchemist in Cheliax who seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders, but who sold him his potions with a wisecrack.

(These are each past PCs but ~20 years before what was before now our earliest campaign. In order: Unae Thandes, Linda Blackwell and Meinus, Rich Rolf, Roland Terrasold, and Maxwell “Sawbones” Orias. All of these except Sawbones were from Rise of the Runelords. Unae’s player and I also decided it’s Ileark’s fault Unae ran away from home and ended up in RotRL now so…oops. As for Rich…it’s half Ileark really would sleep with a handsome stranger who flirted with him and half because it’s funny if he slept with Rich specifically because by RotRL he’s washed up comic relief until he gets himself together by the Hell Arc and becomes a Real Hero.)

Despite all his travels, Ileark could never shake the hag that shadowed him. If he ever slowed down, if he ever failed to move in fast enough, she would always reappear. Then he heard about the Seven Towers from someone in passing, and he decided to travel to them, in the hopes of finally getting rid of her once and for all.

But as he remembered before, this failed. She returned within a day from being banished by the artifact. Ileark was distraught. After how far he’d travelled and all he’d done, he’d come out empty handed, still as haunted as before. He knows his travels weren’t specifically to find a way to get rid of Her, but still…he’d really believed he’d found a solution, and now it looked like there was really no escaping the shadow that constantly stalked him.

In his sorrow, Ileark walked into the desert. And it was out there, tired and beaten, that he saw a ship approaching. One manned by creatures he now knew to be Denizens of Leng. He tried to run, as he always does, but they chased him down. They were so much more powerful than he’d expected. They bound him, kept him from using the holy markings across his hands, and dragged him onto the ship. The last thing he saw was the shadowy form of his hag mother.

For the first time, he saw her turn and walk away.

He remembered on the ship meeting Berin. Despite their grim situation, Berin tried his best to keep spirits up. Ileark liked the dhampir immediately. Then he remembered being brought to Thrushmoor, and being sold to Lowls, who liked Ileark and Berin because they were oddities. The next months were exhausting labor, watching Berin slip further and further from himself as he was drugged out of his mind by Lowls, being forced to intimidate and hurt people he didn’t want to, and the—initially reluctant—respite he gained from talking with Igil. Then he remembered in the last few weeks before they were taken to the Mad Poet to be sacrificed, Lowls was oddly foggy headed, and more irritable than usual.

***

Berin remembered having a lonely childhood, his mother was distant. Initially it wasn’t that bad, just isolated, but at least he had the servants. But then one day when he was young he bit a servant. He didn’t know any better. He was just hungry, and dinner wasn’t for hours. He didn’t mean to upset anyone. But he was locked in his room, and his mother told him that if he ever did that again, he would be out of the house. And from then on the servants kept their distance. No one doted on him, everyone was scared or hated him, his mother always had something backhanded to say to him. He was miserable.

Then one day he saw a group of Sarenrites passing through. Paladins and clerics, in their bright colors, and they looked so happy. He wanted what they had. So he went to one of their clerics and asked about their religion. Everything he heard sounded amazing. Everything they stood for, kindness and redemption, it was all the things he believed should be in the world that he didn’t have. He wanted this. He wanted to join them. He left, and told his mother he was leaving home to join the Sarenrites. She laughed in his face and told him to just try it, he’d never make it. So he did, he walked out the door and returned to the cleric and asked him to let him join their order.

The cleric was uncertain about bringing a member of the undead into their flock, so he decided to devise a test to see if Sarenrae would find Berin worthy. First he tried to test if Berin would burn in Sarenrae’s warm sunlight—the sun still did Berin harm. Berin begged him to give him another chance. The cleric said he had one other idea, but if it didn’t work, it could kill Berin. Berin was desperate. He needed this. He agreed. Please, do the test. He was ready to risk his life for this.

So, the cleric cast positive energy into Berin’s body.

And Berin felt warm, for the first time in his life. He believed that for the first time he understood what a mother’s love must feel like, it must feel like this warmth that filled him with so much joy. Despite being half undead, the positive energy did not harm Berin. Sarenrae protected him. He was to be given a chance.

From then on he worked with the church, helping people, fighting monsters, redeeming wrongdoers, just…doing good. And he gained the trust and friendship of his comrades along the way. And more importantly, eventually Stefan came into his life. Stefan was a traveling writer of some sort. He had bouts of melancholy not even Berin could do anything about, but he always came back around eventually.

Berin remembered that at one point Stefan had insisted on meeting Berin’s mother. To do things properly. However after one too many backhanded comments about Berin, Stefan snapped. He stood up from the dinner table, told Berin’s mother off for failing to see what an amazing person Berin was, what an incredibly thing he’d done being the only undead Sarenrite, and then dragged Berin out. He apologized for losing his cool—only to be interrupted mid-sentence by a kiss from Berin.

The two of them had a “shot-bow” wedding, Berin wore a golden suit, and Stefan wore his signature black. Perfect for Berin being his sun and Stefan the moon.

Berin didn’t want to keep his mother’s last name, and Stefan wasn’t fond of his own last name, so the two decided to start a new lineage. They chose the last name Cyrus. So Berin’s name is actually Berin Cyrus, and we now know his husband’s full name is Stefan Cyrus, so we can finally use Sending for him.

It was not long after the wedding that Berin remembered begin kidnapped, and everything that followed.

***

Igil was born to the illustrious Molot family, a long line of elven butlers to the Diaboro family. Igil was a bit clumsy at helping his parents, but he was eager to learn. The bundle of sticks he has includes a stick for each member of the Molot family, going back generations, so it’s an extremely old heirloom given elves’ ages and the number of sticks in it.

Things were going well for Igil, until around the time he was 50–so still a child for an elf. It was around this time that Collette Diaboro was born. Igil was told that Collette would be his responsibility. And Igil took his responsibility very seriously. But as Collette grew older, it became clear she had some sort of issue with elves. She wasn’t cruel in front of adults—after all Igil was part of the important Molot family, they were well looked after. But behind closed doors she bullied him, tripped him, did everything she could to make him miserable. He was 50 years her senior, but he was just a kid, and he didn’t know what to do about this. He was supposed to take care of her, but she was being cruel to him.

And then something worse happened, when Igil was 80 and Collette was 30. Collette blamed him, but Igil doesn’t know the truth, no one does. Somehow a stove fire was left on, and it caught half the manor on fire. Collette’s parents and Igil’s were both killed in the fire. Igil didn’t know what to do. He was still basically a child despite having lived for 80 years, there were no elven communities in the area to take him in, and a part of him still felt beholden to his duty to the Diaboro house. Out of a mix of desperation and a sense of duty, Igil stayed with Collette.

But life only got worse. It got to the point where Igil took comfort in his nightmares—because at least his nightmares couldn’t *really* hurt him. It was because of this that Alazhra took notice of him. She began whispering to him.

And eventually she made him an offer. Power, and revenge, for his worship.

It was an easy choice.

Igil ripped away everything he once was in the dream, and underneath was the Night Hag nightmare form he has now. Alazhra asked who he wanted to go after first. The choice was clear—Collette. See how she liked living in a nightmare.

He chased her in her dreams for what could have been moment or years from her perception, it was impossible to say. Then when Igil pulled away he was in Collette’s room. And she was dead. Igil went on a massacre from there. Everyone in the house. Everyone who had let Collette get away with torturing him for years without a word. They all deserved to pay. One by one he snuffed out their lives. Until he came to the last survivor.

Collette’s young son, Henry.

Igil hesitated.

Then he said no. He refused to kill an innocent child. He pulled the dream leech from Henry and ate it, sparing him. Igil then fled, stealing half the fortune from the manor’s vaults and leaving half for Henry.

After that Igil lived life for a while pretending to be a noble, up until money began running low. It was at this point that he began his scam of getting close to a noble house and then emptying their vaults and skipping town.

Until he met Dia.

She saw through him right away. She laughed, but she saw the usefulness he could provide, so she didn’t out him to her father. Instead, they made a plan that would be mutually beneficial—she needed a political marriage to take control of her family without putting her sister in the line of fire. If Igil would marry her and help her take control of her family, then he’d be in control of a considerably powerful noble family.

Igil agreed. Maybe because he had feelings for her and wanted to be married to her anyways.

Alazhra was not amused.

Alazhra told Igil it was time to move on. They had other places they needed to be. Dia was a smart girl. She didn’t need him to work things out. She could get by on her own. Igil needed to leave. And do it in a way so she wouldn’t go looking for him afterwards.

So Igil left, and took her Ioun Stone with him to make her think he’d been playing the long con.

After that, Alazhra led Igil to Thrushmoor, and Lowls. For two years Igil was there, wondering why. He was there for longer than he ever was with anyone, but every time he asked Alazhra if it was time to move on, she simply told him they’d arrived a little early, but that it would be time soon.

And then one day a ship arrived carrying slaves, and Alazhra spoke to Igil again. She told him that on that ship was a man of Mwangi descent, who was her son, who Lowls was going to be bringing back with him. She needed Igil to befriend him and convince him to give in to her, because right now he kept running away from her, and she needed him for her plans.

At first Igil did as Alazhra asked, working to befriend Ileark. But as he got to know him, he grew uncertain. And when Jo came to him asking him to set Ileark free, Igil knew what he had to do. Alazhra confronted him and asked just what he thought he was doing. After everything she’d given him, she’d only asked for this one thing in return. He didn’t want to disobey her. She wouldn’t be there when he needed her if he did. Igil said his mind was made up, and Alazhra promised he’d regret that.

So Igil picked the locks and broke the collar. And when Lowls went to dunk our heads under the water, Igil saw a dark figure who turned away and did nothing to help him.

***

Jo remembered a time before “Jo”. She remembered a sense of being in space, floating, and of one being latching onto another, and then another, and each clinging to each other until many became as one. They were exhausted, and when they came upon Golarian and saw a hole in the clouds, they decided to fall there. They didn’t land in the mountain where the other thing had fallen, but fell to Ustalav, and buried themselves deep in the ground there.

Jo Mazik was found as a baby six feet under the dirt by Pharasmans digging a grave, somehow still alive despite being an infant buried alive. She was taken in by the church, as she was brought forth by the graves so she belonged with the Pharasman faith.

She grew up in the church, the head of the local church being the closest she ever had to a mom. She learned all about the faith, and some medical knowledge. Unfortunately at some point her recklessness got the head of the church injured on a mission, permanently. Then came the day she was called to the central church, and she left home forever, as afterwards she was given her mission by the cardinal to infiltrate Lowls’ estate and discover the secret of his ritual and stop it covertly.

***

We each woke up back on the ship after having our memories returned. Berin was in a great mood. Igil was in a dour mood, and Jo was completely unable to talk. Ileark was somewhere in the middle, not in a good mood but not taking things as badly as the other two since he’d already known most of what he found out (since he didn’t get *Igil’s* memory that revealed who his hag-mom is. Two of us maaaay have yelled something at the GM when she dropped that reveal in the middle of Igil’s memory)

We decided to split up for the day, Igil going off to work on making clothes, Ileark and Jo taking some time to just think, and Berin and Dia sparring and talking after Berin made some tea and finger foods for everyone to help cheer them up.

That evening we all met back up to eat dinner, except Jo who took her food to go. Berin and Ileark shared their memories. Igil said he would share, but he wanted to be on the deck of the ship under the stars to share. He wanted Desna watching for what he had to say.

So they went up to the deck of the ship. They found Jo sitting alone, barricaded at the front of the ship, looking at the sky with her spyglass. When she looked at us, there were tears streaming down her face. When she tried to talk, all she could speak was Terran. Ileark cast Communal Tongues so we could understand her. She said that she missed them, but she didn’t even know who “they” were. She tried to explain how she has remembered “before Jo”, and how she didn’t even know if what she remembered was also her, or something separate from her that’s inside of her and she is just Jo, or what. She was acting unusually subdued compared to usual, her voice was very stilted, and her eyes kept flashing colors uncontrollably, similar to when she uses her judgements but out of sync. We tried out best to be supportive and understanding to the best of our ability. Berin was the closest to understanding, having woken up knowing he was missing someone but not knowing who. The rest of us could mostly only offer sympathy and the fact we would gladly help her to find out what was going on, even if it had to happen after we dealt with Lowls.

Jo directed us back to Igil since we’d come up here to talk to him. Igil offered us another bottle of wine. He poured us glasses, then took out his unholy symbol that doubles as a flask, and poured a little wine is it as well. He swirled it around, setting it on the railing of the ship.

He told the party there was one thing he wasn’t going to tell them, because the thing that brought him to Alazhra was something he wasn’t proud of, and he’d hurt a lot of people for her. But now the one thing they needed to know was this.

He looked as Ileark. “Your mother is a bitch.” And he used his psychic projectile to hurl the unholy symbol off the ship as far as it could go.

Ileark was immediately demanding clarification for exactly what Igil meant. Igil spelled it out “Your mother, Alazhra, is a bitch.”

Before anything else could be said, Alazhra’s voice spoke. Suddenly they weren’t on the ship anymore. They were at a wooden table in a cabin, and Alazhra was across from them.

Ileark immediately began panicking and tried to keep as close to Igil as physically possible.

Igil was a little drunk and just asked if now she was dragging his friends into this too.

Jo, Berin, and Dia, who had never been in her presence before, felt like if they looked at Alazhra something bad would happen. Ileark looked away because he knew from past experience that nothing good came of trying to look at her. Igil was the only one who could stand to look, as now he remembered he’d looked at her many times before.

Jo began carving a spiral into the wood of the table in a desperate cry for help to her own goddess.

Alazhra asked Igil why he’s doing this. Hadn’t she given him everything he wanted? Hadn’t she given him great gifts? Igil argued that now that he saw things clearly, she’d had him do something horrible. She sneered that she shouldn’t have left him to his own devices while he lost his memories. She should have told him everything from the start so he had to rely on her and only her, like always, now he was being too headstrong. She turned her attention to Ileark, telling him that he really should accept her gifts. She’d left him with Desnans so he’d have a close understanding of things already—their spheres of influence have so much overlap after all. Desna handles fate and Alazhra has a hand in bad luck. Desna handles dreams and Alazhra makes them into nightmares. Desna is over travel and Alazhra is over interplanar travel. They’re two sides of the same coin, really. Ileark told her “you realize I will never follow you”, to which she merely shrugged off as him making grand statements. She asked what was so distasteful about doing as she asked. She wanted what they wanted. She would only direct him to kill evil people—their souls were her favorite food, after all. And she didn’t want to Great Old Ones coming through any more than we did—after all they were stepping on her turf. So if the end result was the same, why did it matter if I was following her or Desna? Ileark was panicking still, but thankfully Berin butted in and told her that it’s about how you do things. Evil means for the same ends don’t justify those actions. Alazhra groaned at that, saying mortals were so pedantic about things like the way you go about getting to the same end result.

Fine. Alazhra would let them go for now. Igil had served her faithfully for 30 years. And she still loved him, and Ileark too. But Igil wouldn’t be rid of the night hag form in his dreams—that would be a permanent reminder.

After that, they each drifted away into actual dreams.

Ileark felt arms around him. Comforting. A joyful voice greeted him. When the figure moved around in front of him, he was face-to-face with his goddess, Desna. She was ecstatic to finally meet him. Apparently Alazhra’s presence around him had forced her to keep away due to the gods’ non-interference pact, but now that she’d pulled away Desna was finally free to contact him. She would have just broken the rules but she didn’t want Iomedae on her ass. She was super excited to have a Night Hag-Changeling follower, and she liked the progress he’s made so far. She’s looked into the future and there’s a lot of pretty nasty stuff to come, but she knows he and his Allie’s can handle it.

But that’s beside what she wants to talk to him about. She knows that Alazhra made him an offer, and while she knows he has no intention of taking her up on any offer she made, Desna wants to make an offer in kind. When Ileark’s gotten stronger, after having dealt with everything that’s going to happen in the near future, then she wants him to join basically a black ops team to travel not just the world but the universe seeking out and stopping plots to bring back the Great Old Ones like this one. His friends are welcome too as a “sign on bonus”. This would be an eternal commitment, if he said yes, so she wanted him to take some time to think it over. Although Ileark is just immediately wanting to be like ‘yes interplanetary travel doing Desna’s will sign me up immediately’.

Also it’s vital to note that Desna was voiced like a perky prep the entire time.

Afterwards everyone had a shared dream. They remembered in a haze being dragged along to the Asylum after their minds were sacrificed. They remembered the chaos as they were dragged down to the basement of the Asylum during the initial doppelgänger attack. And they remembered the dream, the first thing they all remembered upon waking up. Only this time they were watching it from a third-person perspective as the Tatterman hunted them down. And they heard a voice telling them to wake up. And then telling them that if they wished to remain awake, they needed to find her.

The next day we shared theories about what that dream might have meant (and Ileark shared his dream and got dubbed Seer Ileark by Dia for having seen their goddess in his dreams). We decided a possible explanation was that it was the Briarstone Witch, who had some connection to the city Lowls was seeking and supposedly to the Tatterman, and who we’d never found much else about after seeking information about her for a bit in Thrushmoor and the Asylum. It seemed as likely a guess as any. If nothing else, it certainly seemed our fates are quickly leading us to that city, one way or another.

With another free day, Ileark prepared all of his 4th level spell slots as Sending for the others. First, of course, was Berin. Ileark sent a message to Stefan along the lines of ‘this is Berin only not this is his friend Ileark. What’s up? The sky.’ Which is unmistakably from Berin. There was an incredibly long pause. Berin started shaking Ileark asking why there was no response if Ileark knows the Sending went through. Then Berin got multiple uses of Sending sent to him, for a poem, and an apology from Stefan for not trying to reach out sooner, but he had been afraid that if he did he’d find out that Berin was dead. Berin dropped Ileark and dashed to their room, kicking everyone out for some privacy, and began talking to his husband for the first time in three years.

While Berin was doing that, Igil and Dia made amends, and then Igil went to find his “bro” Ileark to also make use of Sending. Because now that Alazhra is Igil’s (bad) mother figure and Ileark’s biological mother, they’re brothers now.

Igil had two people to Send. One was Dia’s sister, because when they’d been talking she’d expressed that she missed her but was too scared to reach out incase she was dead. So Igil figured he’d reach out instead, and if she was dead he could figure out how to break the news gently instead of Dia having to find out the hard way.

Ileark sent a message to her sister that he was a friend of Dia’s, and that her sister missed her. Dia’s sister responded that she missed her too, but that Dia needed to stay far away. She wasn’t safe there.

The second person, Igil wanted a message sent, but he wanted it to have no connection to him. He wanted to know how Henry was doing, how he’d grown up. After some prompting so Ileark could understand so he’d know what to actually say, Igil admitted that he’d killed Henry’s mother. Having heard the conversation with Alazhra about how Igil refused to kill a child and that was the right choice, he understood now that this was that same person. He agreed to send a message. Ileark sent a message saying he was a distant cousin of his mother, Collette, who was looking to reconnect. He was curious how he was, and what he was doing with himself. Henry replied back that he was happy to hear from him, he was doing well. He had a wife and three children. The oldest daughter was named Collette and the youngest son was named Igil (I’m sorry I forgot the middle child those other two were the ones that stood out for obvious reasons). He hoped to see him sometime (making Ileark feel a little guilty for the lie).

Ileark told Igil everything, including the children’s names. Igil mused that maybe he *should* get back into contact with Henry sometime.

Berin and Stefan talked for a while, using multiple Sendings back and forth. In the end Stefan promised they’d see each other again soon.

And then we switched to our narrator, the Detective, who had been following us from the beginning. He was crying.

“He contacted me. He remembers me.”

The Detective is Stefan. Berin’s husband is on his way, following behind us every step of the way. On a boat not far behind us. So he and Berin will surely be reunited soon.

#pathfinder #PF weekly

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small-gremlin-thing · 2 years

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MY THOUGHTS ON AMPHIBIA S3E17:

Oh man, where do I even begin with this?!? The overarching story in general and the feeling of “this is it” that was prevalent throughout the episode was phenomenal, I was damn near on the edge of my seat the entire time. The visuals were also absolutely stunning, the fight scenes were edit worthy (source: already working on one lol), and I’m just blown away at how much the animation as a whole has improved since the start of the series.

I do have a few grievances unfortunately, the episode felt sort of rushed and could likely have been split in two, but I personally can look past that since I don’t expect perfection from this series (if you can’t look past it, I totally get where you’re coming from and we can agree to disagree).

Now, to break down my absolute favourite scenes, though not in full detail since I don’t want to type a 10 page english paper (that’s reserved for annoying my irl best friend). First and foremost, the introduction to Marcy’s mindscape/room/void(?). I’ll lump all of these together for simplicity. Going in I didn’t think that the room that Marcy was locked in was a little puzzle room, but really that doesn’t surprise me. Then we got to see the massive library and the fantasy world created for her (+ the dope ass outfits), and I unironically would love it there that place looks fun as hell (minus the creepy friends and possession of course). Then when Marcy rejected the fantasy by realizing that she didn’t want that, she wanted her real friends, and she got thrown into the void(?) I was lowkey a bit worried. But the connection was severed and she’s fine, so that’s good. On a similar note, the flashback to Marcy meeting King Andrias for the first time just solidified how much I love her as a character, and how much of a dick the core is.

The fight scenes in this episode need no introduction, as I’ll once again say that they were absolutely phenomenal! Whether it be between the Plantars/Boonchuys and robots/herons, Anne and King Andrias, or Grime/Sasha and Darcy, they all had me screaming (/pos, mostly). On a similar note, the loss of Grime’s arm caught me (and the vast majority of of the fandom as I’ve seen) by complete surprise. Time to bust out the clown makeup I guess, because I was convinced that it would be Anne. I’m not mad about that theory being false though, Anne doesn’t need any more trauma than she already has.

The scene where Sprig read King Andrias the letter from Leif and King Andrias sacrifices himself was also very well done! We got even more confirmation that Leif is a Plantar, and Andrias sacrificing himself(?) and turning out to be a cyborg was emotional (and unexpected as far as the cyborg aspect is concerned).

Finally, the reunion between Sasha, Anne, and Marcy was one I’ve been waiting for for forever, and it feels so nice to finally see it. They’ve all got their issues but the bond that they share is like no other and they’re destined to be by each other’s sides and just AAAHH MY HEART, I LOVE THEM!! The final moments where they realize that the moon is falling (is this Majora’s Mask??) and their work isn’t done followed by the end of the episode just left me wanting more in the best way.

Jesus Christ on a bike I wrote a lot, but not without reason I guess. My closing note is that I won’t be doing an analysis like this for the final episode, instead I feel it would be more in order to write a love letter of sorts to this show that has brought so much joy into my life. I was 13 when this show began, 15 when I was introduced to it, and I’m now 16 and almost done with my sophomore year of highschool. I feel like a love letter is in order if you ask me (also, if that would fall under the Amphibia Supernova event let me know so I can tag it accordingly!). I’m not ready for this series to end, but that’s where we’re headed, so I’ll see y’all on the other side.

#amphibia #amphibia spoilers #amphibia season three #anne boonchuy #sasha waybright #marcy wu #mrs boonchuy #mr boonchuy #hop pop plantar #sprig plantar #polly plantar #grime amphibia #king andrias #darcy wu #leif plantar #sorry this is so long i love this show a lot ok

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juniorgman187 · 3 years

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Be Forever Young (Reid Fluff Fic)

Summary: After Penelope’s resignation from the BAU, she attempts to set up her tech protégé, Reader, with Reader’s intellectual match yet much older counterpart - Dr. Spencer Reid.

A/N: The POV switches between Reader and Spencer, just use context clues to detect who the narrator is. Pairing: Fem!Reader x Spencer Reid Content Warning: 21 year age gap, headcannon proposal Playlist: Cloud 9 by Beach Bunny Word Count: 6.1k

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Prologue

Events like these weren’t exceedingly rare. They weren’t anything like Halley’s Comet, by any means, where it only happens once in your lifetime - if you’re lucky. But they weren’t exactly sunrises - something that you can count on occurring every day without fail.

The best celestial phenomenon I could compare it to are blue moons. Rare enough to still have an element of surprise when they came, but not so rare that I should never expect them.

These ‘blue moons’ are actually the events in which I meet an intellectual match.

It’s not too often that I find a mind quite like mine, so you’ll forgive me for the reaction it elicits to watch them transcend the physical level and connect with me on the psychological one. There’s only been a handful of people who’ve ever had the exact standard of aptitude to be permissible into this metaphysical world with me, but now - there’s a handful and one.

The newest addition to the list is her.

_ _ _

Getting a word in edgewise when it comes to a conversation with Penelope Garcia is nearly impossible. Getting a word in edgewise when it comes to a conversation with Penelope Garcia about Dr. Spencer Reid is impossible.

I couldn’t tell you when the first time she brought him up was, but I could probably tell you just how many times since then she’s mentioned him.

A trillion. At least.

For months on end, he was the only thing she would talk to me about. Morning, noon, and night. Every single day she’d gush about him with the same unrelenting zeal as she had the day before and the day before that. It was both scary and impressive how she never seemed to run out of good things to say about him.

“You would just die for his apartment. It’s got this super chic dark academia thingy going on. You’d be really into that,” she would say. Or something to that effect. I was never really listening.

Not that I wasn’t interested in learning about Dr. Reid - I was very interested in him.

As a superior.

I first learned of him when he taught my Psych 101 class. Freshman year me was simply enthralled with him as a speaker, probably due to the charm of his awkward humor. I found it eerily relatable and touching, in a way. That was probably my favorite class, minus the assholes who made it less than enjoyable at times. (That’s a story for later).

The next interaction I had with him happened not even a year later when he came back after temporarily teaching to sit in on a philosophy class. Even though he was only auditing the lecture, whereas I was enrolled in the course, he ended up sitting in the seat right beside me. Had he not been gifted with an eidetic memory - a fact I found out during one of my obsessive research sessions - I doubt he would’ve even remembered sitting next to me.

Our shared field of work helped to bring us back together repeatedly throughout college. I would run into him at seminars, workshops, once even at a library where we were both looking for the same book.

But for the most part, our relationship was parasocial. It largely consisted of me learning from him at a distance. I would use his brilliant research to support my own assignments, read the books he recommended, audit the classes he would teach.

Rather than accurately interpreting my very limited, very professional connection to Dr. Reid, Penelope was deliberately using it as ammunition for her arsenal of reasons why I should consider dating him.

“You guys are basically already friends, and nothing is cuter than the friends-to-lovers trope!” Now that she actually did say, and the only reason I remember it verbatim was it was so outrageous I couldn’t not remember it.

And probably because she just said it to me right now.

“We’re not friends! We’re ... acquaintances. Colleagues, if you will.” My attempts to gain distance from Penelope and this topic of conversation were crashing and burning. The more I tried to walk away from her, the faster she would chase me. It was inconceivable how she managed to do that and continue to pelt me with her perky persistence.

“Even better! You know I’m no stranger to workplace romances.”

That I did. One Derek Morgan or one Luke Alvez ring a bell?

“Dr. Reid and I don’t work together,” I reminded her, if only to burst her bubble of insanity.

“Exactly my point! If you two don’t work together, then there’s nothing keeping you apart.”

I was stopped dead in my tracks, almost causing Penelope to trip since she was right on my heels.

“Nothing? Really? Try 21 years.”

That surely kept us apart.

Our age gap was one of those glaring disparities Penelope couldn’t wave away with her magic wand. Frankly, it wasn’t an age gap so much as it was an age Grand Canyon. He was a whole person of legal drinking age older than me!

Hell - our age gap itself was older than me!

Maybe there weren’t any contracts or agreements or supervisors to keep us apart, but there was still one significant thing doing that.

Time. Arguably the most important thing you needed to get right for a relationship to work.

If there were any chance that he and I were good together, that was squandered by our divergence in age.

Right person, wrong time ... but wrong time by more than two decades.

I could see the smallest fragment of hope wither away in Garcia’s eyes, and it actually hurt to have known that I caused that. Her voice was more solemn when she said, “You don’t have to date him, I just want you to go on a date. Get to know each other better. Who knows? You might finally graduate from colleagues to BFF’s.”

Not that I was seriously considering the possibility of growing closer to Dr. Reid, but there was one question lingering in my mind.

“Does he even want to go on this date? Have you asked him how he feels about it?”

Part of why I was wondering was on the off chance that she’d tell me he had the same objections towards this that I did, which would be good news for me since it would mark my reluctance as a sound judgment. If there was anyone whose opinion was worth something, it was his, right? After all, he was the provable genius in the same compromising position as me.

“Trust me, he’s been dying to do this.” In spite of her preface to trust her, I didn’t. I couldn’t be sure if she was suggesting that he’d been dying to go on a date with me or if he’d been dying to go on a date in general.

No offense to him, but I guessed it was the latter, and if that was the case, he was only being a team player because she hadn’t told him it was me she was setting him up with. Already suspecting that I’d probe further to navigate through her vagueness, she cut in with one last Hail Mary. “One date! That’s all!”

Whether you believe me or not, 100% the only reason why I said what I said next was to put an end to this madness. “Fine. I’ll go.”

Maybe 99.99%.

_ _ _

I never knew how I could lose so much time. Sure, if anyone asked, I could probably account for everything I’d done in my day, second by second. But still, there was this cloudiness, a fog, inhabiting my brain, casting this haze on whatever else dwelled in my mind, too.

I couldn’t focus on anything for more than 4 seconds at a time, and while that wasn’t incredibly concerning for the average human, it was disconcerting for me.

What was going on?

What is going on?

“What’s going on?”

Suddenly, a hand began to wave in front of my face. “Yoo-hoo? Anybody in there?” JJ wondered aloud, causing me to realize it was her voice that asked the question from before.

“Yeah, sorry,” I shook my head to regain some clarity, but that did me no good. My foggy brain still remained. It goes without saying my words were worth nothing as well. JJ saw right through me in a way that never failed to scare me shitless. I could never conjure up a lie good enough to follow that look she’d give me. So I settled for the truth. The question that cast the haziness in my brain to begin with.

“What do you think about me dating again?”

If I thought that first look was bad, then the one she was giving me now was something of a nightmare. At least with the first, I knew what she was thinking. With this one, I hadn’t a clue.

To relieve us from some of the insufferable silence, I found myself speaking again in my defense. “Garcia mentioned something earlier about setting me up with someone and it got me thinking.”

Thinking about Max that is.

Being my most recent girlfriend, it made sense why she was freshest in my mind. That being said, we’ve been broken up for 14 months, which in any other context would seem like more than enough time to start dating again, but therein lies the catch.

We didn’t just break up. She said “no” when I asked her to marry me, which, if you ask me, is one hell of a way to break up.

So from that perspective, it obviously begs the question: is 14 months too fast to move on from something like that?

JJ sharply inhaled. “Well, are you ready to start dating again?”

I still didn’t have an answer for that myself. “I don’t know. There isn’t exactly a rulebook on how long you have to wait until it’s socially acceptable-”

“Lemme stop you right there, Spence,” She placed her hand on top of mine. “You can’t just do whatever statistics or studies or science say is right all the time. You not only need to be more in tune with your own needs but accepting of them, too. Screw what anyone else has to say about you dating again - including Socrates, including Einstein, including Aristotle ... including me. Do whatever you think is acceptable by your standards - not society’s. Do what you wanna do and I’ll support that.”

There was something special about having JJ’s approval. It was like getting permission to be excited, something I didn’t know I needed or wanted.

“I’m ready.”

Born ready, as Penelope herself would say.

_ _ _

I was starting to get suspicious that maybe I had an invisible string attached to me and on the other end of that string was Penelope. It was the only explanation as to how she managed to trail behind me at an isochronal pace. Perfectly equidistant, perfectly equal intervals of time. Must’ve been some form of magic that she was able to synchronize that connection for as long as she did as we pranced around the office, basically chasing me.

“Okay, I know the date isn’t until Saturday, but I really think we need to amp up your wardrobe choices ... like stat.”

Hearing that I was seeing my superior still didn’t settle well with me. I don’t think I could ever get used to the thought.

I should’ve been offended at her suggestion to change my clothing taste as it implied my stylistic choices weren’t up to par, but a part of me, a very small part of me, knew she was right. And just because I wasn’t keen on the idea of going on a date with Spencer didn’t mean I didn’t want to look nice for him for it.

“I’m assuming you’ve got some ideas in mind,” I said in a teasing voice, knowing that’s precisely why she brought it up.

“See! You are a genius! Exactly why you and Spencer are meant to be together!” Her exclamation was just as loud as it was outlandish.

“Alright, calm down sparky,” I shot a warning look. “It’s just one date - we’re not soulmates.”

Then, talking in the quietest voice I didn’t think Penelope was capable of speaking with, she said, “Not yet.”

I knew the minute I showed even the littlest bit of interest in Penelope’s fashion guidance, I’d end up draped in ruffles, sequins, glitter, tulle, rhinestones, or all of the above. Nothing again Penelope’s personal style - it’s just not mine.

I was scared to ask, but I had to know. “So what were you thinking?”

Before my very eyes, Penelope’s constantly-there smile transformed, something akin to the mischievous grin of the Cheshire Cat. “I was thinking …”

In a Mary Poppins-esque fashion, Penelope produced a dress that in no feasible reality should have been able to fit within that little Hello Kitty side bag.

I suppose it must’ve been absolutely backbreaking for Penelope to refrain from choosing a multicolor or at least pattern-riddled dress, so as compensation for the fact that it was only one singular color throughout, it had to be a bold one.

Red.

“Not too shabby, right?” Her eyebrows jumped on her forehead, knowing she’d made a good choice.

And a part of me actually died saying this, but it was pretty perfect.

_ _ _

My life didn’t flash before my eyes, per se, the moment I finally arrived at the delicatessen. It was more like a very specific, singular memory had flashed before my eyes.

That story for later? This is the one.

Psych 101 was my best class in Freshman year ... by a long shot. Come rain, wind, or snow, I was always excited to go. It was a standout course on its own, but not because it was terribly spectacular or the most fascinating subject in the world, but more so because of how it changed my own person. It challenged me, like all worthwhile things do.

There were more judgmental meatheads - boys, if you will - than not, who would jump down my throat for being a smart ass or a teacher’s pet if I so much as answered one of Dr. Reid’s questions. Par for the course, really.

As a result, I had a proclivity to avoid raising my hand. It wasn’t that I was hyper-fixated on managing my reputation, just that participating wasn’t worth the eventual harassment from my dimwitted classmates.

Nonetheless, one day, I felt compelled to answer Dr. Reid when he asked what our thoughts were about the sampled, pretense manifesto.

No one else was jumping at the chance to speak, perhaps they were just as cowardly as I was, and it was clear that he was going to stand there waiting until someone finally would. The silence was painfully awkward for everyone and so I felt obligated, as a student who was actually enrolled in the class for credit and not just to audit like 90% of the other girls here, to break it.

Slowly, ever so slowly, my hand hesitantly inched up into the air until it floated just high enough above the student in front of me’s head. As soon as I knew he saw it, I let it plunge straight back down.

“Yes, Ms. (y/l/n)?”

I could already feel the dirty looks and snide comments coming before I even said a word.

“I know we’re all collectively referring to this unsub as a man, and while that might just be a general assumption or Freudian slip perhaps ... I think the language is steeped in betrayal and contempt. And it would be ignorant not to notice how it reads more like the wrath of a woman scorned than your typical jilted male lover.”

“Lover?” Someone two rows back snickered quietly, clearly to mock my choice of words. I didn’t even have to look to know it was Brad who had said that. Nevertheless, Dr. Reid was impressed with my answer. His lips curved into the faintest smile as he nodded his head. If he had heard the commentary of one Brad Sterling, he made no visceral reaction to it.

With an extended hand, palm facing up, he gestured for me to, “Please. Stand up.”

I fumbled my way up and out of my seat to possibly delay the shit I’d get for this mere action.

“That, ladies and gentleman, is what it looks like to have courage,” He underlined his words with a grand flourish of his hand in my direction. “Putting yourself on the line even in the event you’ll be mocked and ridiculed or deemed wrong. That’s something you’ll need if you are seriously considering being part of the BAU, or the FBI at any capacity.”

My face was flushed from the acclaim he was showering me with. Suddenly, I was glad I volunteered.

Taking me completely by surprise, Dr. Reid wasn’t done yet.

“So, Mr. Sterling,” He began, directly calling out the boy in the back who without a doubt made the remark. I wouldn’t have had any reason to believe he heard it since his attention never diverted away from me long enough to catch the comment, much less the culprit. I wonder if he’d heard all the times Brad made jokes at my expense. Was he finally at his wits end with the sarcasm? “Make fun all you want, but might I suggest that if you like a girl, you do the opposite of that.”

His sickly sweet drawl was followed by a short wink at me as if to say ‘I have your back’, and I was lucky to have already been in the process of sitting back down because my knees would’ve given out underneath me from the sheer exhilaration of his praise.

The thought never once crossed my mind that Brad was so fixated on me because he had a crush, but it all made sense once it did. And if I didn’t know any better, Dr. Reid only humiliated him and brought it up because the realization dawned on him, too.

Was it possible that Dr. Reid was ... jealous?

In the spirit of complete transparency, that suspicion may have lit the tiniest wildfire imaginable in my chest. A wildfire that, even now, has yet to extinguish. Perhaps that little flame is the 0.01% of the reason I said yes. I could only imagine what kind of omnipotence it would soon gain if this date went well.

If he could light such an enduring kindle with simple praise, think about what would happen if he smiled at me. If he laughed at my jokes. If he held my hand.

If he kissed me.

Dr. Reid’s validation would be something I actively sought from all walks of life, I knew that much. What I didn’t know was how far that desire would take me.

I would have never guessed it would lead me here.

Standing in front of a fancy restaurant in a pretty red dress with the tenuous hope that the professor inside might just like it so much that he’ll end up liking the girl wearing it, too.

_ _ _

No matter how many times I adjusted the bouquet of poppies, they sat perpetually crooked on the table. Much like the dark gray tie around my neck that tightened around my throat with every passing second. I had to keep messing with it to loosen the noose-like grip it had on me. Who knew if it actually was becoming more restricting or it was the flourishing bundle of nerves in my stomach that made it harder to breathe.

I was never very good at lying in wait patiently. Especially if I was expecting something. Now that I was expecting someone? I could say with perfect clarity - I was not good at waiting.

I don’t wanna seem the way I do

Every time the door opened, my eyes flashed to it instantaneously. And every time it wasn’t her, a little part of me was disappointed. It was still too early to say for certain that she was standing me up, but my mind was doing what it did best. It wandered. There was nothing else to do after all.

Except maybe adjust those blood orange poppies one more time.

I’d picked them out specifically because Penelope slipped in a not-so-subtle comment about her dress being “a perfect match to the color of papaverales” - her words exactly. I thought if she went through that much trouble to find a color coordinated plant and say the scientific name for me to decode, it was worth picking up a bouquet of them on the way.

It was only the most ironic occurrence in the world that when I went to rearrange them one last time, I devoted my full attention to the action, missing the very moment I was on the lookout for the past hour and a half.

I didn’t even see her until the red poppies camouflaged into the identically colored setting of her dress.

Then there she was.

All the disappointment in the world was worth that first time I saw her with fresh eyes.

I was dumbstruck for a moment, long enough that it warranted an apology for not standing up sooner.

“(Y/n)! Hi!” I accidentally squealed. I couldn’t control myself, let alone control the pitch of my voice apparently.

I could see, in her, youthful naivete where, in others, I saw their age. She paradoxically had not aged a minute, and yet a new womanhood was piercing through her ultimately adolescent appearance.

“Hi, Dr. Reid,” She said through a laugh and a smile, shaking my hand politely and professionally. She was greeting me like I was still her professor and she’d just happen to run into me on an errand. Next, she’d be attempting small-talk for as long as it took for me to let her go.

Unfortunately for her, I had no plans for that.

But I’m confident when I’m with you

“Please, it’s just Spencer,” I reminded her, hoping to break down that governing image of me she surely maintained.

“Spencer,” She tried again; doing it more to be obedient to my instruction than to satisfy her own desire. It sounded so unnatural to her, just as it did to me. I found it adorable, actually. It seemed like she was breaking this unspoken, and very much illusionary rule to say my first name. “It’s nice to see you again,” She added after I pulled out her chair for her.

“Is it?” I asked when I rounded the table to get to my seat. “I get the feeling you’re a little disappointed.” The only reason I pointed it out was that it was true, not just that I’d observed the notion grow more poignant in her face for the past minute.

“Not at all,” She shook her head, which luckily for me, drew a line of congruence between her body language and verbal language. At least, she was being truthful. “It’s just that I’m sort of embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed?” I repeated in astonishment, unable to cultivate a list of reasons that would justify her feeling that way. I couldn’t think of a single thing I’d done to provoke that emotion, and it nearly broke me to consider her internal being substantiating it.

“Embarrassed isn’t the right word, but I can’t find a more accurate one for what I’m feeling,” She shied away from my eyes when she lowered her head as she spoke.

“You could try to explain it to me?” I offered gently. It took an overwhelming amount of self-restraint to not offer my hand with it. It would’ve been so easy to slide my hand across the threshold to enter her territory of the table, but who knows if doing so would just make her that much more uncomfortable.

“Well for one thing, I don't really go on dates,” From this alone, I could already relate to her enough to laugh at the fact. “Don’t laugh at me! You know how dangerous first dates can be,” She swatted her hand in my direction to chastise me.

“I do! I do! I think it’s really good that you’re protecting yourself to the point of avoiding dates,” I was teasing the implication that she wasn’t asked to go on very many, which was thankfully delivered well enough to make her laugh again.

“Hey! Many people have wanted to go on dates with me, thank you very much. You included.”

“Me included.” I nodded in approval. We sat in a short period of silence while we exchanged one soulful glance, borne from the insinuation of what I just said.

“And for another ... I respect you too much as a figure of authority to see you in that way.”

_ _ _

“In what way?”

Rather than tossing me a lifeline, he was feeding me to the sharks. Forcing me to dive into the deep end. He wanted to see me struggle to stay afloat in the sea of his sticky toffee eyes. He knew I'd get suspended in them when he gave me that look. How much I’d be willing to get lost in them just so I could wander in the depths of his honeyed orbs for a little bit longer.

That look ...

“You don’t find it weird?” This was the most honesty I could’ve demonstrated.

“Find what weird?” For someone with such a high IQ, you’d think he’d be quicker on his feet.

“This! You - me. On a date!” I gestured to the space between us. “You’re ... well frankly, Spencer, you’re old enough to be my father.”

“Does that make you uncomfortable?” He genuinely cared about the answer.

“Only in theory. Not in actual life,” was the most precise response I could give.

“So what is making you uncomfortable?” Again, I could tell my answer mattered to him.

“You were my professor once, and now I’m just supposed to go on a date with you and see you as my equal when I’ve spent the entire time I’ve known you, putting you on a pedestal? Do you know how much pressure that puts on me? To be perfect?”

“Who says you have to be perfect? Who says you’re aren’t already?”

That one caught me off guard. I had to gulp down the lump of shock.

“You think I’m perfect?”

“That, or you’re pretty close to it.”

Lately all I feel is bad and bruised

I could’ve smiled, I could’ve thanked him, I could’ve fallen at his feet and thrown my dignity down there along with it, but I just laughed. I laughed.

“That’s ridiculous! You barely know me.”

“You’re wrong,” He simply replied with a firm shake of his head and a cavalier sip at his drink. It showed just how confident he was in his answer. How cocky he was.

“How am I wrong?”

He cleared his throat as though he were preparing to deliver the world’s greatest speech. Then, he leaned forward, motioning with his fingers for me to do the same.

“If I’m remembering correctly, which you know I am, you were the student who had the gall to raise your hand and correct me on my gender identification of the unsub, right?”

The second the sentimental thought, ‘aww he remembered’, came into my head, it was soon followed by, of course, he did, idiot. Eidetic memory, remember?

Tired of tripping on my shoes

“What does that have to do with me being perfect? Or so you claim?”

He was piercing deep into my eyes now, his gaze overwhelming my senses and sending shockwaves akin to the feeling of butterflies everywhere … and I mean everywhere.

“Bravery is the audacity to be unhindered by failures, and to walk with freedom, strength, and hope, in the face of things unknown.”

I recognized the quote as one of Morgan Harper Nichols, but the words went right to my chest like they were his own.

That damn wildfire just got a whole lot bigger.

“I’ve always thought about how if I could be unfazed by failure or even just the prospect of it, if I could just be strong enough or have enough hope to face what I couldn’t predict, I’d be set. I’d be golden,” He paused. “I’d be perfect ... but you? You, little one, have already got that figured out. So whether that means you’re perfect on your own because of your bravery or you're a perfect match for someone fainthearted like me, is up for you to decide. Whichever interpretation of being perfect you choose would be correct, but you should know - I meant both either way.”

But when he loves me I feel like I’m floating

When he calls me pretty, I feel like somebody

Even when we fade eventually to nothing

You will always be my favorite form of loving

“Do you want to get out of here?” He asked when he finally refound his voice.

“Since the minute I walked in.” I replied after refinding mine.

_ _ _

“You always take girls to your apartment on the first date, Doctor?” Asking this in the name of taking a jab at him was the most clever way I could think to conceal my underlying motive of trying to gauge how giddy I could let myself feel about the fact that he’d taken me to his ‘super chic dark academia’ themed residence - Penelope’s words, remember?

“Well, in my abundant dating history,” He sarcastically began, “I can’t say I ever have, no. You’d be the first.”

That shot another quick bolt of lightning to the wildfire in my heart that I’m ashamed to admit made the heat reinvigorate. The flame must’ve been too much for my chest to contain so it had to relocate to my face, where my cheeks were left to burn under his gaze and thanks to his admission.

I was the first.

He must’ve seen the glint localizing on my countenance and decided to speak on it. “Why does that amuse you?”

“I don’t know,” I dumbly but truthfully replied. He didn’t need any more information to get his answer, though. Because even if I didn’t know what amused me about being his first, I never denied that it did, and that was more than enough confirmation for him.

“You promise to be here when I come back?” He wagged a cautionary finger at me like it might persuade me to stay and hold me accountable if I didn’t.

Spencer needed to go into his room to collect an item that ‘shall not be named’ but was apparently essential for our super secret plans tonight (secret to even me) and he was leaving me in the living room while he did so. I guess being the initial girl he took home on a first date was okay, but being the initial girl he took into his bedroom on a first date was crossing a line.

That was alright with me, though. I was in this for the long haul.

“I promise I pose no flight risk, Your Honor,” I taunted with a coy tone. “But I can’t promise I won’t snoop around some.” Hey, at least I was telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

“Snoop around all you want,” He laughed ruefully, demonstrating an openness I quite envied and admired. “You’ll probably learn a lot about me that way. And you won’t even have to talk to me to do that!” I knew he was only saying that out of self-deprecating tendencies he harbored, but I couldn’t help feeling that a small part of him actually believed that I wasn’t interested in talking to him.

“Spencer, you know I do like talking to you right?” I caught him just before he ran into his room. Already halfway in the door, I could still catch the megawatt smile on his face.

“So stay then,” His smile grew impossibly bigger. “We can talk all you want when I get back.”

The door closed, and then suddenly reopened to let just his face through, a face that said, ‘Don’t go anywhere.’

After a few minutes of loudly sorting through his room, I heard the sanctimonious cry of victory. “Found it!”

I could hear the little pad of his feet and he happily trotted out of the room. “Ta-da! My stargazing kit.” He said it as though he were introducing the basket he was holding to me, and me to it. Like it was a real person he wanted me to know. I almost felt obliged to say, ‘Hi stargazing kit! It’s so nice to meet you. I’m (y/n)!’

“Let’s go,” He smiled, reaching for my hand.

I unabashedly took it, because although it meant that I was truly leaving his apartment, I had a very strong feeling that I would be back here again one day.

_ _ _

We were lying there on this big quilted comforter that was stashed away in that stargazing kit of his, staring up at the sky, drunk on the sound of our occasional fits of laughter.

“It’s Earth Day, you know that?” I wondered aloud in a state of complete euphoria.

“I actually did,” He said through a sheepish laugh, almost as if he was admitting the knowledge of it against his own will to protect my fragility.

From out of nowhere, there was a small tug on the skirt of my dress. I looked down to find Spencer’s hand there, playing with the fabric until it lay perfectly on my leg.

I coughed to possibly relieve the tension brewing in my loins. “So then you know the Lyrid meteor shower is tonight,” I moved the tiniest bit closer to lean into his touch.

“At exactly 4:33 a.m,” He moved too.

“Is that why you brought me here? To watch the shooting stars? To make a wish?” I thought for a second that I would appear exceedingly childish - more so than I already did being 21 years his junior. But he didn’t judge me at all for the kid-like notion of making a wish on a shooting star or the implication that I still believed in those things.

In fact, I piqued his curiosity, telling by the way he moved only his head to the side to watch my reaction. “Say I did. What would you wish for?”

In the throws of dreamy elation, I softly murmured the only honest answer. “To be older. But not the unfulfilling 9 to 5, loveless marriage, ‘I do my taxes for fun’ older. I want to be old in the ways that the stars and the sky are old. I want to be infinite.”

“...To be infinite.” He whispered my wish back, sounding sort of in awe of me.

Just then, the overhead horizon grew larger. With no buildings or people to block the view, it was just us, the stars, and the sky. I could actually feel that I was lying on a planet. It was so wide. So infinite.

“Can I hold your hand?” I asked softly, in a manner so vulnerable it scared me.

Without any words or hesitation, he put my hand in his.

“The universe seems so big right now. I just needed something to hold onto.” I explained quietly, practically with the hopes that he wouldn’t hear me. But he heard.

“I’m here.”

We didn’t know what was ahead of us then. We were just two people, looking up at the sky on a cold February night. We weren’t divided by power, or age, or space. We were ourselves and no one else.

My eyes fluttered shut again and a smile stretched across my face. “Stargazing was a good idea.”

The world and the sky and the stars and I - we were all infinite. I couldn’t have felt bigger in my own body. In the best way possible, I was taking up so much space. I was occupying the earth. I was made up of matter. I mattered.

Just as I began to open my eyes, I caught a glimpse of a fading shooting star. Though I had wished to be older, I still felt like a child. Then it hit me. I didn’t feel older because I wasn’t older.

I was infinite.

Yes, I was a child, but not in the pinch your cheeks, bottles and pacifiers, babyish way. I was a child in the ‘you have a life full of possibilities ahead of you’ way.

You are young. He tells me with his eyes. And that is a good thing. Be forever young.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

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#spencer reid #spencer reid fic #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fanfiction #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #spencer reid fluff #juniorgman187 #be forever young

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bearlybella-but-sluttier · 2 years

Note

This is random but I was watching someone mod fnaf security breach and when they got to to sunnydrop I thought about how his face is kinda like the beneviento crest since it’s the moon & sun. Which then lead me to think about how he has an almost mannequin like quality to his limbs which had me thinking about the Mia mannequin in the beneviento house, and then I thought about how when switching to moondrop he kinda flies around on a string. Personally I think with some of these puppet like qualities I feel like sunnydrop/moondrop remind me of something that maybe Donna would create in her shop and idk I feel like sunnydrop and angie would get along and cause chaos and when switching to moondrop he could def scare off any unwanted visitors! Sorry if someone else has made these connections before but I thought the idea was entertaining lol

Honestly I can definitely see Donna making Sunnydrop/Moondrop as a friend for Angie and the dolls, maybe as a babysitter for them. The dolls all look childlike and probably get really bored when Donna is away at meetings or when she can’t play with them and Angie so she built a sentient animatronic like doll to keep them entertained.

Honestly me personally I can see Donna get into building an animatronic similar to the ones in fnaf minus stuffing children in them because I really think Donna isn’t that cruel plus loves kids too much to do that. She would put parts of her cadou in it to make it more sentient.

#resident evil village #resident evil 8 #donna beneviento #sunrise and moondrop #sunnydrop #sundrop #fnaf security breach #very interesting ask btw!

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immacaria · 3 years

Text

Eternity

Here comes the Day 3 with the prompt ‘Eternity’ from Beetober 2021 from @bloody-bee-tea! I took inspiration from this prompt of @mingcheng-prompts too and I kind od made myself cry a little but okay! Tears are mostly good, according to my sib and my mom. Anyways this is one is actually Mingcheng and it’s a reincarnation AU. The word count is 2504 words. This being said, I hope you guys enjoy this and stay safe and healthy!

________________________________________________________________

When it happened the first time, it was confusing and he was called crazy by some and a dreamer by others. Whispers that the gods had cursed him with the memories of the past went behind his back, ones that were sure that he had been too bad in his previous life and that death was a too easy escape for him. Not that Jiang Cheng didn’t agree with it all, he did, but he was angry at the gods nonetheless.

Because he had suffered in his previous life too, he had lost so many things already and now he had to live with the same memories as before. His siblings’ laugh and his nephew’s radiant smile, his best friend’s dramatic acts and his husband’s sleepy faces everyday in the morning right after he woke up. Now he had to live not only with the memories of his crimes, but with the memories of what could never be again. Maybe he had been too bad before and he did deserve all of it now.

But, as the lives passed, the memories built up, not fading or mixing as he expected them to. Jiang Cheng still remembered Wei Wuxian’s corny jokes that didn’t make sense anymore and Nie Mingjue’s little screams every time one of the younger disciples appeared out of nowhere and scared him. But, now, he remembered his mother in his second life, Liu Xiaotong, and her loud laugh and big hugs and the way his younger brother in his fourth life, Shen Yuan, had the bad habit of climbing trees to the highest branches and scaring the passersby with his screams too and he was happy did.

Every one of them had its happy moments and laughs, but they had hardships too, some more than others. He starved and suffered from the cold in some of them, always trying to give a more comfortable life to his younger siblings and cousins, and in others he was killed even before he could reach the adult age, sometimes for being rich and others as a punishment for his parents. All of them left memories behind, good or bad, and Jiang Cheng still prayed in every one of them that he would forget at least some of them.

He never did, though. So he tried to ignore them and more on with his life - or lives - until whatever sadistic and bastard god above tired out of playing with him and let him actually die. Or, at least, forget some of the memories. But, at some point,trying to ignore didn’t have any more effects and he was forced to face all that stayed behind, all the pain, all the despair and traumas.

But sometimes that countless memories came in hand, let it be as an instinct from a previous life or a memory from a historical moment he lived - because, yes, he ended up in some really fucked up moments - through and needed the knowledge. Even if he lost count of how many lives he had lived and the memories sometimes got mixed up, Still, every now and then, it was good to have the memories and Jiang Cheng almost thanked whatever sadistic god above for them.

Only, almost but if it was for him to thank anything it was the few times where he saw familiar faces around. Most of the time it was only one or two faces and he generally wasn’t connected at all to them. But, sometimes, he would reincarnate as a family member of one of them and his heart would always ache with the past memories and the hope of them remembering anything from the past. There was a time where he was born as Jiang Yanli’s older brother, Jin Zixuan was their neighbour and the whole time he was waiting for Wei Wuxian to appear too with his corny jokes and loud laugh but he never did.

It happened other times too, sometimes with both his siblings or just one of them, sometimes their dynamics changed way too much and others not so much. Everybody had appeared in his life one more time, from Yu Ziyuan to Jiang Yanli and Lan Xichen to Nie Huaisang, everybody minus Nie Mingjue. No matter how many times he searched, looked around and hoped, his husband would never be where he thought or even pass by him in the street just for him to see him one more time. But it never happened and, with his luck, it never would.

For example, this new life of his had everybody from his first life, but he was still to find Nie Mingjue. He was born as Jiang Yanli’s twin brother, Wei Wuxian’s older cousin - though the boy was raised as their brother - and the “second'' son of Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian because Yanli was born two minutes before him. Funny enough, at least for him, it was actually Jin Zixuan who had a crush on his sister first and acted like a fool.

Meng Yao was still Jin Zixuan’s brother, though he was raised as his cousin, and was the one to take his siblings out of their father’s reach. He and Lan Xichen were dating since high school and it was their fault that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji met and Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng were suffering now. Still, there were only two things that managed to surprise him in this new life: 1. After his parents divorced and his mother married Wen Zhuliu, of all people she could choose, she actually changed from that bitter and angered woman to someone happier and easier to deal with, someone that actually tried to understand others, and 2. There was something strange in the air, something off that he really couldn’t see, but if he had to guess, it would be the fact that literally everyone from his first life was there.

He discovered it soon enough, though. It was Saturday and they were making barbecue in his mother’s backyard - an activity he never thought he would see Yu Ziyuan participating in - when he discovered what it was. Unfortunately, it was hope. Hope that Nie Mingjue was among them and well, even if he didn’t remember anything, hope that this time he would at least see his husband dimples again. After all, this was too the first time that everyone from his first life was alive at the same time.

“Cheng-ge! Cheng-ge!” Wei Wuxian screamed from the other side of the backyard, waving his arms excitedly. He was near the pool Wen Zhuliu had built for Yu Ziyuan and was wearing a black swimming shorts with white little ghosts all over it with tattoo sleeves running down his arms. “Look at this!” He smiled and fear ran down Jiang Cheng’s spine as he realized that he was going to jump.

“Wei Wuxian, don’t you da-...” He said, getting up from the wood bench he was laying down on and going to the pool as his idiot brother did a black flip and almost hit his head on the pool edge. “Shit.” He took a deep breath, squeezing the tip of his nose.

“Did you see it, Cheng-ge?” He appeared near him, smiling widely and looking like a wet rat, a very cute one, but a wet rat nonetheless.

“You are looking like a wet rat and of course I saw it. It was rad.” He sighed, rolling his eyes and squatting near him. “Who taught you that though?”

“Lan Zhan!” He chirped, before disappearing under the water again and swimming again. Jiang Cheng looked over his shoulder to where Lan Wangji was helping his brother and Jin Zixuan on the grill with his ears reddening as Lan Xichen giggled beside him. Maybe another murder will make me finally die for real and the gods will be tired of me., he thought as he got up and started walking up to where the psychopath that Wei Wuxian called boyfriend was.

Fortunately for Wangji, his death was delayed as Nie Huaisang appeared from inside the house with a big and red thermal box in hands and screaming his name like he was being murdered. “Jiang-xiong! I’m so sorry I’m late, really, really sorry! But, look! I made moon cakes and baozi!”

“If you think you can make me forget and forgive your delay with food, you are…” He started before his sister interrupted him, coming from absolutely nowhere and taking the thermal box from Huaisang’s hands.

“Absolutely right! Thank you for them, A-Sang!” Jiang Yanli smiled, before elbowing him in the ribs and angrily muttering. “Shut up, don’t be rude. Or I’ll kill you if you make him go away with these buns.” He only scrunched his nose back at her, putting his tongue out as she walked to where her boyfriend was, with her face all scrunched up and tongue out too.

“Why are you late, anyways?” He said, rolling his eyes as Yanli’s giggles reached his ears and Huaisang smiled at him knowingly. The little bastard knew way too well that his twin would kill him if he was rude to him.

“I went to get my brother at the airport. Hope that you don’t mind that he came too. His apartment isn’t ready yet and I think it will be good for him to meet some new people.” He shrugged, pointing over his shoulder and completely ignorant to the way that Jiang Cheng’s heart missed a beat and hope threatened to grab his neck and suffocate him as he waited - No, prayed - for Mingjue to appear at the same at the same path his brother did with all his glory and hellish dimples that rendered him stupid whenever he smiled.

“You have a brother?” He whispered, hand fisting at his shorts as he tried to swallow down the knot on his throat.

“Yeah, his name is Nie Mingjue, he is my older brother. He was out to the United States these last years but he’s back now and doesn’t plan to leave any time soon again.” He said happily, lightening up at the thought of his brother staying and Jiang Cheng felt his head light as his vision went white.

When he could see again, the first thing he saw was Wei Wuxian's wet face staring down at him with wide and fearful eyes and dripping water on his face. If he was still able to, he would have scared himself, but instantly he just groaned and tried to move just to notice that he was leaning in the ground. He felt his face heat up as he noticed that everybody on the barbecue was around him and looking at him with worried eyes.

"What the hell, Jiang-xiong?" He heard Nie Huaisang say as he covered his face with a hand and got up. That's when he felt strong and oh, so familiar hands wrap up against waist.

"I don't remember you fading so easily, my heart." Nie Mingjue joked when he turned around quickly, both their eyes shiny with unshed tears and Jiang Cheng let out a laugh as he launched himself at him.

"You asshole! This is your fault!" His arms hugged his neck and he hid his face on his neck, taking deep breaths and relaxing against him. "Do you know how much I missed you? How much I waited for you?"

"I don't, but if it's half as I did, I can tell you that you didn't deserve to suffer all of this hurt alone." Nie Mingjue said against his hair, kissing his head. "But I think that first we have to explain to your family why you are crying and clinging to me."

"Oh! Right." Jiang Cheng sniffed, turning around to meet his sister's amused look, his brother's angry glare, his stepfather's inquisitive gaze and his mother's unimpressed face. "Well, shit."

"Well, shit, indeed, Jiang-xiong!" Nie Huaisang said, throwing his hands in the air before pointing at Mingjue's face. "Did you fuck my best friend, Da-ge? When did you fuck my best friend, Da-ge?!" Behind him, Wei Wuxian's glare turned downright murderous and Yanli's got a lot less amused and a lot more angry.

"What the hell, Nie-xiong? Shouldn't you be saying that to Jiang Cheng?" Mo Xuanyu said, looking over Jin Zixuan's shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

"No! Because I'm stuck with Da-ge, but I can still lose Jiang-xiong and I will not risk it because my brother fucked him." He waved his finger at him again. "Now, answer me, did you fuck my best friend?"

"Did you?" Wei Wuxian growled, making Jiang Cheng facepalm as Nie Mingjue leaned in his ear and whispered.

"I fear my life now."

"As you should." Jiang Yanli said and Jiang Cheng started to laugh loudly, hiding his face on his husband's neck.

♡

"So your mother is now married to Wen Zhuliu? The one that used to melt golden cores back in the day?" Nie Mingjue said, hugging his waist and leaning back on the headboard of his bed. After the barbecue, many explanations and threats to Nie Mingjue's life, they decided to go back to Nie Mingjue's apartment and just relax the rest of the day. And catch up with each other too. "And your father is still an asshole?"

"Yes, yes and yes. And I'm Yanli's twin brother. Fraternal. And Wei Wuxian's older cousin, though we were raised like siblings." Jiang Cheng said, putting his head back on his shoulder. "Meng Yao and Zixuan have only seven months of difference between them and Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji are identical twins, I think."

"And A-Sang is only three years younger than me. And my parents are alive, the three of them." He added, putting his own head on his. "How many lives have you lived, my heart?"

"Too many to count and too little to actually forget." He answered, closing his eyes and intertwining his fingers. "But I estimate something along twenty or twenty-two. What about you?"

"Same answer, but I could say that I had only fourteen or eighteen." He shrugged and Jiang Cheng squeezed his hands. "I guess that dying from qi deviation holds the reincarnation for some time."

"Oh, my soul." He turned around, sitting on Mingjue's thighs and holding his face. Slowly, he kissed the corner of his mouth, his cheek, the tip of his nose, his eyes and finally his mouth. "We are together again. That's what matters." He whispered against his mouth, caressing his cheeks with his thumbs.

"Yes, we're going to be fine now." Nie Mingjue whispered back, hugging him tight and pulling him down to the bed. He was right, they were together now and they were going to be fine because even if he kept reincarnating and keeping all his memories, they would still have each other's memories to keep them going until they were together again. Because they would be together for as many lives as they could and, if possible, for all eternity.

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havethetimeofyourstyles · 3 years

Text

Chapter Three.

a/n: get ready for the yearning in this chapter! also please make sure to reblog to share and leave feedback — it really helps writers continue wanting to post and continue writing.

SERIES MASTERLIST | word count: 8.2k

come talk to me about wtsgd! i’d love to know your thoughts!

April 30, 2017

Luci woke up to loud knocking on her front door, too loud for eight in the morning when she wanted to sleep in. She thought she was dreaming, like someone was knocking directly onto her head, telling her to wake up. But the knocking increased, making her scream into her pillow, getting out of bed. Her pink soft house slippers that Ren made sure she brought so she wouldn’t get her new floors dirty with her outside shoes padded on the wooden floor and towards the entrance, opening the door.

Once she opened her door, her parents and Nathan were behind it, smiling as they waved their hands into a jazz-like movement.

“Lulu!”

“My Lucky!”

“Ana!”

Her family charged through her doorway, bringing her into their arms for a family group hug. Luci was wide awake and smiling at the sight and presence of her family. They all eventually let her go to give her individual hugs to have their own moment because they just missed her that much.

They made their way out of the front entrance and hallway, walking more into her apartment as Ren and Beatrice looked around in awe of how much natural light that was provided. She gave her parents a tour before they all settled into the living room where they had a cup of coffee in to-go cups and ate breakfast sandwiches.

Luci then told them the events that happened yesterday, minus her unexpected hangout with Harry, and they were furious. All at once, their hearts broke but were quick to ignite with anger.

“How could she do that?!” Ren had an angry expression on his face, and it was one that she and Nathan had always been afraid of ever since they were younger; it was rare to see their father angry since he was much softer as it would take a lot for him to get him to that state.

She shrugged her shoulders. “People favor power over fairness these days, or else they’d lose their biggest stars.” Nathan scoffed from the sofa chair next to the couch, but didn’t say anything more.

It was the harsh truth of showbiz that almost everyone knew—it was a fact; Broadway and Hollywood don’t play fair, it’s obvious they want the best of the best, and if that’s passing up a new talent that could take them to the moon over the seniority of actors who’ve been in the industry for much longer, they’ll take that opportunity. And Luci knew that when she signed up for this.

Beatrice told Luci that she was sorry this was happening, and they all agreed that whenever her time to perform on stage comes, they’d be there. Luci smiled at her lap, appreciating their support. The Suki family talked for another hour and a half, catching up on the month that passed when they weren’t all together, before they took the subway to the hotel they were staying at to catch their flight out of New York. Luci said her goodbyes to them in front of the hotel, apologizing that they had to come out here for nothing, but they brushed it off, saying that they would do it again just to see her.

She watched them get into an Uber, waving at her family as they took off down the streets of Manhattan. She took the subway back to Brooklyn as she wrote down a list of what she wanted to do today; find more decorations, clean, eat pizza, and crack a bottle of wine because she damn well needed it.

It was almost eleven a.m. when she got back to her apartment and decided to get ready for the day. Her throat felt incredibly dry, so she hydrated herself, gulping the liquid down her throat until she heard a knock on her door. Luci furrowed her brows, wondering if it was Nathan or Beatrice behind that door, asking if they’d left their wallet or phone since they were the more forgetful ones in the family, but when she looked around her living room, she didn’t find anything.

A knock on the door was heard and Luci sighed, walking over to open it as she didn’t expect the person behind it.

“Samuel?”

“Hey, babe.” A smug smile was present on his face, but a scowl was present on hers, rolling her eyes at the pet name.

“What are you doing here—no, how do you even know where I live?” Luci placed her hand on her hip, a wrinkle in between her eyebrows.

“Not gonna let me in?” He gave her an amusing smile, and she rolled her eyes, huffing before moving to the side and letting him in. He walked into the main part of the apartment, looking around.

Luci crossed her arms, trailing behind him. “So, are you gonna answer my question?”

“I got your address when you texted me to come over that one night, remember?”

She mentally cursed herself. Her relationship with Samuel had done a complete one-eighty. After the afterparty on opening night, things were very weird between them after she denied his request to have sex with him in the bathroom of the longue. He had avoided her unless it was work related, but even then, he kept the conversation and words to a minimum, adding attitude and rudeness. If she thought things were weird then, it got even weirder the night leading up to when Daisy took her spotlight on stage last night.

During rehearsals, he’d flirt with Daisy sometimes even kiss her up. Daisy would give Luci a snarky look every time his face was in her neck, biting her skin, and that was when Luci found out the real reason why Daisy despised her. All because of Samuel. All because of a man. The bitter looks didn’t bother Luci and it wasn’t like she was jealous, but it simply confused her because one day he wanted to fuck her and was sweet to her but when she said no, he was rude and would fuck someone else—there was no real type of closure. He probably took her into the bathroom after she left, Luci thought.

So, she didn’t really care for him anymore because after all, he was just a someone to fuck; all she cared about was why he decided to show up at her apartment unannounced and uninvited.

“That was a very weak moment for me.” Luci rebutted mockingly; Samuel scoffed and smirked cockily. He leaned against her countertops, and she hated that she still found him attractive because anyone with eyes knew very clearly that he was a very sexy guy, and the worst part was that he knew it too—he knew it very well. “So, tell me what the fuck you’re doing here?”

“I’m here to tell you that you’re probably not going to perform anytime soon…” he said in a mocking tone, a fake pout on his face as he gave her puppy-dog eyes.

She scoffed, shaking her head lightly. “Aww, did Daisy tell you to come all the way here and tell me that?”

“And if she did?”

“It’s cute that you’re a messenger now. It suits you since you have all this time to waste, like you did mine.” She breathed out a laugh, making him roll his eyes, and it only brought satisfaction to hurt his huge ego. “Well, how about you tell your little Daisy to stop sending people to tell me things because if she had the balls, then she would tell me herself. Plus, you’re wasting your time here to tell me one little thing that doesn’t affect me.” Luci dramatically gasped. “I’m really living in both of your minds rent-free, aren't I?”

Samuel inhaled heavily, biting back his words as if Luci had offended him, but it would only make sense that he felt that way because of his feelings for Daisy. He headed towards the door with Luci hot on his tail as a way to push him out faster than he came in.

“Well, I’ll see you Luci—not on stage, but yeah, I’ll see you.” She wasn’t going to lie, but those few words took a dig at her heart; luckily, she’s an actor, so she was able to mask her pain and anger, giving him a scornful smile as she opened the door. Samuel chuckled, not amusingly but in a way that made him think that she was an outright bitch.

Harry’s door suddenly opened, making him stop in his tracks as he witnessed the interaction happening because it definitely looked like this guy was just leaving her place. Luci’s head turned towards him as her eyes widened slightly; Harry had a weird look on his face, looking back and forth between her and Samuel.

“Hey, Harry.” Luci broke his train of thought and Harry looked directly at her, smiling slightly.

“Hi, Luci.” She suddenly felt a wave of nerves wash through her, butterflies erupting in her stomach once he said her name, thinking that he was by far the best person to say it.

She felt antsy, fiddling with fingers as she started bouncing on the balls of her feet—a habit that she did when she started to feel nervous. Samuel could see straight through her, catching all the signs when she was a bit anxious and he had a feeling that it had something to do with her neighbor.

Samuel brisked past her, giving her a kiss on the cheek to mess with both of them; Luci’s eyes widened, pulling her face back but it was too late as his lips had already connected with her skin.

“See you, Luci.” Instead of the cocky smirk he had when he arrived, he had a loving and kind smile as he left because he wasn’t the only actor in the room.

Once Samuel rounded the corner, Luci looked at Harry and there was a crease in between his brows.

“I-I, uh, that’s not-”

“No worries. You don’t need to explain to me, honestly.” Harry walked out into the hallway, locking his door before giving her a toothless grin and walking down the hall.

Luci’s mouth was slightly ajar as she watched him. She closed her door and placed her forehead against it quite harshly, letting out a frustrated groan.

After much sulking, she decided to get on with her day, hoping she can be as productive as she hoped to be. But the thought of if Harry liked her—even as a person or ‘friend,’ if she could call herself that—lingered around in her head; and she doesn’t know why what he thought of her had so much of an affect on her, but it did. Maybe it was because she had a sort of infatuation with her neighbor, or that she couldn’t stop thinking about him and what he was doing across the hall. Whatever it was, she only hoped that he liked her too.

May 13, 2017

Quite early, Luci received a phone call from Tal.

Her phone was buzzing rapidly on her brown wooden nightstand; and in her sleep, she was trying to determine if she had set an alarm the previous night. When she thought she did, she let her phone snooze for ten minutes. But it was certainly not an alarm because just a few seconds after the buzzing stopped, it had started again.

Grumpy as usual in the morning, she groaned, propping her elbows on her mattress as she pried her eyes open and picked up her phone. When she saw Tal as the caller ID, her brows furrowed in confusion.

“Hello?”

“Luci? Luci? Hi, can you hear me?” The gauging sound of the city was heard on the other end of the call, and she could just imagine Tal placing one hand to her ear as she walked through the bustling streets.

“Yeah, I can. Hi.” Luci’s voice increased, becoming more audible for Tal.

“Great! So, I’m glad you answered. I know things have been a bit weird lately ever since, y’know…” she said, referring to when Daisy had stolen her spotlight. “But I want to let you know that you’re performing tonight. I’m saying this in a calm manner because I know you know the shit in the show, so I’m not worried about it. But I need you to play Kim tonight.”

Luci’s breath hitched in her throat as her eyes widened. She was completely speechless and she felt like she was dreaming. But first thing’s first, she needed to know why Tal’s statement at the end was demanding and slightly panicked.

“What happened to Daisy?” She wondered, sitting up fully on the gray wrinkled sheets from her slumber.

Tal sighed deeply, perceptible through the chaos of the outside. “Last night, she partied a bit too hard. She’s just getting back to her place, according to Samuel, and she was high off her ass. I don’t need that today, or ever. So, I figured this would be the perfect time for you to step in.”

“And why me? Why not Wendy?” Luci referred to the understudy for Kim.

“Listen, I’m sorry I didn’t stick up for you when I should’ve. Daisy has always been…intimidating to me, which is crazy because I run the show, but I should’ve been more stern with her. So, with Daisy out of the picture for today, I want you to perform tonight.”

Tal genuinely felt guilty that she wasn’t being the stage director that she should’ve been. She let Daisy control some of the show when it should’ve been her to direct everyone. Tal loved her job, she did, but every time she had Daisy as one of the lead characters, she almost dreaded work. She didn’t want to be one of those people who dreaded work because although theatre is stressful at times, it’s also fun and her passion.

“Okay…” Luci couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I’ll perform tonight.”

Tal let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god. Okay, perfect. Thank you so much, Luci. I’ll see you at five.” \

“I’ll be there. Bye, Tal.”

Luci hung up the phone and sat on her bed for what felt like forever, simply gazing into the sheets as she couldn’t believe what had happened. Luci was going to perform tonight; her dream was finally coming true.

When the realization hit her, the corners of her lips turned up into a bright and excited smile. She laughed and screamed and squealed into her pillow, doing a little mini dance on her bed. Looking at the time, it was nearing eight so she had plenty of time to start her pre-show morning routine. But the first thing that she needed to do was to text her family.

I’M PERFORMING TONIGHT!

Instantly, she got responses from them.

Nathan: REALLY?! I get off work at four, I could take a last minute flight.

Luci hearted her brother’s message.

Pa: Luci, I’m so happy for you! Your mother is still asleep but I’ll wake her up and tell her the news. We’ll see what we could do to make it to the show.

She thanked them, texting that she hoped to see them tonight, but would understand if they couldn’t make it since it was last minute.

Hopping out of bed, she washed up and changed into her workout clothes to go on a walk and grab a smoothie. It was such a beautiful day out that there were more people out on the streets in the morning than usual as they were basking in the bright sun and lovely weather.

Once she got back home, she made her favorite breakfast—a bacon, egg, and cheese on a bagel with cream cheese; and rehearsed some of the more emotional and dramatic lines, taking notes on which parts needed more depth of emotion.

The day had gone by relatively fast as she showered, tidied, and packed her belongings; and it was already 3:45, so she headed out the door.

As Luci was locking up and about to walk down the hall, she looked at Harry’s door. She hadn’t talked to him in about two weeks, since the time he opened his door to Samuel kissing her cheek. She had sort of missed him, and she felt like the event with Samuel had put up a wall; she felt like he was avoiding her.

Thinking back to their conversation at the diner, she remembered that he told her he would be there when it was her time to perform, and she didn’t want to not inform him on that because she had a feeling that he would be disappointed hadn’t he known.

Bravely, she stood in front of his door and knocked, hoping that he was home because she didn’t have his number to tell him. Luci waited one minute before she knocked again and waited another minute before sighing. Just as she was two feet down the hall, his door suddenly opened, making her turn around quickly. Harry looked out into the hall without taking a step out of his apartment and saw Luci with a tote bag on her shoulder, wearing leggings, a vintage tee with Stevie Nicks printed on it, and a beige cardigan.

“Luci?”

She turned around. “Harry, hi. Uh, how are you?” Her attitude had visibly changed and brightened as she was ecstatic to see that he answered the door. His hair was wet, separating the strands of hair into slightly thicker chunks as water droplets lingered at the tips; which explained why he didn’t answer the door right away.

“Good, good. How are you?”

“Good—great, actually. I-I’m actually performing tonight and I wanted to tell you that in case you wanted to watch the show.” She suppressed a wide smile, linking his hands together to refrain herself from jumping up and down in excitement.

Harry raised his brows before the corners of his lips turned upward. “Really?” She nodded. “Luci, that’s amazing!” He exclaimed.

“Yeah, I’m really excited. I was just called this morning that I was performing tonight, so I’m heading to the theatre right now.”

“I’m so happy for you. But I, uh, have plans already tonight. I’m sorry,” he said sympathetically. Luci couldn’t deny the ache in her chest when he said that, but she completely understood as it was a last minute decision for her to perform.

“Oh, no worries. Maybe another time whenever I get to perform again. I’ll let you know?”

“Yeah, please do.” He nodded. There was a bit of silence after as there was nothing left to say. “Well, uh, good luck out there.”

“Thank you.” She smiled. “Maybe we could get some coffee or a smoothie. There’s this really good smoothie place down the street-”

“Brooklyn’s Smoothies?” He asked; Luci nodded. “That’s my go-to smoothie place. But yeah, I’m down for that. Just let me know when.”

Now, she had another thing she could be excited about: her second hangout with Harry.

“Great!” She headed towards the hall before she walked back towards him, pulling her phone out. “Here, put your number in—only if you want to.” He chuckled, grabbing her phone as he quickly put his number and name into his phone before handing it back to her. “I’ll text you. Bye, Harry!” She waved as she walked towards the end of the hall; Harry waved back before walking back into his apartment and closing the door.

Once she was on the subway, she found Harry’s contact, which he named himself ‘Harry (neighbor)’ as if he thought she was going to forget who he was. But it was quite the opposite as he seemed to invade most of her mind as she mindlessly thought about him. She almost always curses herself for being so nervous around him, but that was because he somewhat intimidated her; and that said a lot because she’s very confident in her own skin and rarely finds anyone intimidating. But there was just something about him that made her nervous, and that thought slightly scared her.

Hi, Harry! It��s Luci, here’s my number.

She placed her phone face down on her thigh that was relentlessly bouncing before she hit send. Before sending it, she looked over the text, practically overthinking a simple greeting that didn’t need any more thinking. A few minutes later as she was transferring trains and sitting on the blue bench, her phone vibrated. She picked up her phone as the screen lit up; Harry’s message appeared on the screen.

Hiiii, thank you. Good luck tonight x

Luci smiled crazily at her phone, putting her chin to her chest as she hid her smile from the many people on the subway with her. She thanked him, and decided to start another conversation after the show so she could tell him how the show went, which was an excuse to text him again. She locked her phone and turned the volume up higher as G Luné played through her Airpods.

Her cheeks had started to hurt due to the fact that she couldn’t stop smiling, like it was genuinely difficult for her stop. A surge of happiness and relief had washed over her that she felt the happiness line on her chart increase. With a little over two months of living in New York, she had felt like her career was going nowhere when that was the entire reason why she moved there; the whole situation with Daisy had made her life plateaued as her happiness line wasn’t moving upwards. But tonight, it was skyrocketing.

T-minus five minutes until showtime, and Luci was bouncing on the balls of her feet. She started humming and whistling to get her mind off the perturbation that ran along the linings and spaces of her body; it didn’t help that everyone was literally running around, passing by one another through the dark corridor.

Obviously, everyone knew that it was Luci’s first night performing, so they tried keeping everything light and easy for her, which she appreciated. Once she walked through the doors of backstage, she was immediately greeted with warm and excited smiles—the complete opposite as the last time she walked through the door. Nina squealed and hugged her as they both jumped around in elation; Luci truly missed the first friend she’d ever made on Broadway, and they promised each other that they’d hangout more often outside the theatre.

After Luci had her hair and makeup done, changed into her costume, and was mic'd up, she was standing on the side of the stage where she could hear the crowd settling into their seats as they talked amongst themselves. Peter, who was playing Chris tonight, stood beside her, rolling his neck in circles and moving his jaw around. She was glad to know that Samuel wasn’t performing tonight because god only knows what he would say to her, only to get inside of her head right before the show.

She heard the technical and stage crew speak into their headsets, asking if everyone was ready as they counted down from ten. The lights went out, the curtains were pulled to the side, and Luci’s mind went blank as ‘Kim’ took over, completely owning this character because it was fucking showtime.

After two hours of pouring emotion to give her best act while the spotlight was on her, shining brighter than ever before so she couldn’t see the audience below her, watching intently, her first performance was successfully over.

She’d earned a majority of standing ovations and was called for another curtain call, where she ran back on stage to overwhelmingly smile brightly, waved, bowed, and blew kisses to the crowd who were whistling and cheering for her wonderful performance. This amazing and exhilarating feeling was something she anticipated, and it did not disappoint; it was a feeling that she wanted to feel every other night. She loved the praise, the cheers, and the claps that were thrown at her so fast that she could cry at how hard the impact was.

When she left the stage and headed over to the dressing room, her cast members cheered for her as Luci clapped all around the room for everyone’s hard work tonight as well. They all took pictures with one another to share this memorable moment; Luci told everyone to send her the pictures because she wanted to get them framed for her apartment because this moment was definitely frame-worthy.

When it was time to leave, they all took off their costume and hung it on its rightful rack, and changed into their own clothes before walking out into the lobby where the audience could meet and greet some of the cast. Cheers erupted in the lobby once the cast walked through the doors, and they all smiled, mouthing ‘thank you’ and bowing their heads in appreciation.

Luci walked through the crowd as they stopped her to tell her that she did an amazing performance; she was grateful and said thank you to everyone she came across. She weaved through the crowd, trying to find Nathan or anyone she could share this moment with; and she was lucky that Nathan was tall because she spotted him instantly.

When she finally reached him, she was somewhat surprised to see their parents with him because they didn’t mention they were coming tonight, just that they had to see what they could do in order to make it.

Beatrice was the first one to hug her. “Oh, my Lucky Star. I’m so proud of you!” She hugged Luci tight, swaying to the side. Once her mother let go, she hugged her dad who had the proudest and biggest smile on his face.

“Lulu, you did amazing up there.” She smiled into Ren’s shoulder, feeling herself tear up from the positive reaction of her performance.

Nathan was patiently waiting for his hug; and Luci pulled away from her father, giving him a smile before hugging her brother.

“Ana, you’re so talented.” He squeezed her, patting her back as she always found the action comforting since she was a little girl. Beatrice was taking photos of her kids, tears glossing her eyes at her greatest accomplishments.

“Thank you for coming. I know you’re tired from work, but thank you for being here anyways.” She could tell that Nathan had just put a long coat over his navy blue scrubs, meaning that he had flown to New York straight from work.

“No worries. We wouldn’t miss this for anything, honestly.”

Luci pulled away, smiling as she faced her family. She thanked her parents for coming, still surprised, and they said the same thing Nathan did: that they wouldn’t miss it for the world.

They took pictures amongst each other, taking a family selfie before Ren had just asked someone nearby to take a proper photo of them.

“Excuse me? Do you mind taking a picture of us?” The man turned around, making Luci softly gasp. Tonight was just full of surprises because Harry was the one who turned around and nodded, grabbing her mother’s phone to take a picture of her family.

Harry looked dashingly handsome; he wore black trousers, a baby pink shirt with a black coat over. He held a bouquet of flowers in his arms as he took the picture; and for the life of Luci, she couldn’t dare to stop smiling at him instead of the camera.

Ren was the first to walk over to him and thanked him, but Harry didn’t walk away, he simply stayed put until Luci walked over towards him. Her parents and brother were looking at each other warily, wondering how Luci knew the man who took their picture.

“You’re here.” She smiled so brightly as if the spotlight was glued onto her.

Harry blushed, looking down at his feet before looking back up. “Yeah, I told you I would be here when you were going to perform, right?” Something that she hadn’t witnessed yet until now, that took her by surprise, was the dimple that indented his left cheek, more so than his right cheek. He looked absolutely adorable when he smiled, on top of being handsome; Harry was simply a beautiful man.

“You did tell me that, I remember.” She couldn’t stop the giddy grin that felt like it was permanently placed on her face because she couldn’t believe that he was here.

“Oh, these are for you. You did an amazing job—the crowd loved you.” He handed her the mixed bouquet of pink peonies, baby pink roses, white lillies, and baby’s breath wrapped in brown paper. Luci smiled down at the bouquet, admiring how pretty the colors and how well the different flowers looked together. She wondered if Harry picked these out himself; if he individually picked every single flower that was in the bouquet.

Feeling her face heat up, she unexpectedly leaned in for a hug; and this time, he was ready as he opened his arms and hugged her. He squeezed her tighter than he did when she was crying in his arms, making her heart flutter in her chest. Luci had completely forgotten that her family was behind her until she pulled away. Her eyes slightly widened, knowing that they were most likely enjoying the show that was happening off-stage of her hugging a man they didn’t know.

“Thank you so much for coming, Harry. It means a lot to me.” He simply nodded. Luci slightly turned her body, presenting herself to her family. “Uh, Harry, this is my family. And this is Harry; he’s my neighbor.”

Beatrice brows raised, and Luci gave her a knowing look that told her not to say anything weird.

“Hi, I’m Beatrice, Luci’s mom.” She shook his hand.

“Hello, I’m Harry. Nice to meet you.” Beatrice turned towards Luci with wide eyes once she heard his accented voice, and she chuckled at her mother’s reaction.

Ren and Nathan introduced themselves, and they all made conversation quite easily. It was a side that Luci’s never seen of Harry—quite talkative. She wondered if she was the problem as to why he wasn’t so talkative. But she figured that almost everyone wanted to impress and get along with their friend’s parents.

Once they were finished talking amongst themselves, Beatrice whispered into Ren’s ear and then Nathan’s; and Luci wondered what they could be so secretive about that they couldn’t say it out loud.

Suddenly, Nathan said, “Well, we’ll see you soon, Ana.” He gave her a quick hug as Luci furrowed her brows, confused.

“Oh, I thought we could get dinner or something.” It was like her parents didn’t even consider her suggestion as they were hugging her goodbye.

“I have to get back to Boston, work tomorrow, y’know?” Nathan excuses; Luci nodded, understanding before turning her head towards her parents, seeing which excuse they’ll use since tomorrow was Sunday.

“Uh, we have a flight to catch—red-eye.” Beatrice spoke up, a little white lie slipping so easily on her tongue. Luci looked at Ren, finding him nodding, warily looking at his wife.

She could tell, inside and out, that her parents weren’t being truthful because she knew that they’d want to spend every minute with her while they were in the city so they wouldn’t get a red-eye flight on her opening night. Plus, Beatrice had been eyeing her and Harry ever since he introduced himself, so she knew that her family acting weird and how they suddenly had to leave was most likely them wanting Luci to hangout with Harry.

“Plus, don’t you have an afterparty to go to?” Ren asked.

“I mean, yeah, but I could always skip it-”

“Now, why would you do that? It’s your opening night; people are gonna be wondering where you are!” Ren did make a point, making Luci mentally agreeing.

Luci didn’t bother asking any more questions, and decided to let them leave, although she was a bit sad that they had to leave again. They said another round of goodbyes and hugged each other tightly; they planned to come to New York again so they could properly hang out, and Luci said that she’ll see what she could do with going back home to visit. Of course, they didn’t forget to say goodbye to Harry; Ren and Nathan shaking his hand as Beatrice gave him a hug. Luci watched them interact as if he was an old boyfriend or a new boyfriend that they happened to like and adore so much.

She waved to them as they headed outside the Broadway Theatre doors, and then she was left with Harry. He shyly smiled at her, and Luci hugged the bouquet of flowers tightly to her chest.

“Uh, would you like to go to the afterparty with me?” She asked.

Luci watched as Harry considered the invitation in his head. There were two options that he was debating from: go home and have a boring night in, or go to an afterparty with his insanely beautiful neighbor that he was slowly but surely taking a liking to. He realized that wasn’t such a difficult decision after all, so he chose the latter.

“I’d love to.”

The entire cast settled into the same lounge that held their very first afterparty. The lounge apparently didn’t mind since everyone contributed to buying lots of alcohol, so they obviously wouldn’t pass up the opportunity of business.

Luci introduced Harry to the cast who decided to show up, and she was happy that they were very friendly and welcoming to him because the last thing she wanted was awkward tension between her neighbor and coworkers. She wished Nina had gone to the after party because Luci knew that she would get excited about the neighbor she’s crushing on.

Luci and Harry decided to pace themselves with the drinks as they didn’t take the shots that were given to them at the same time as the rest; instead, they nursed and sipped their drinks. They were towards the end of the circle, in their own world as they talked to one another. Luci was happy they were getting to know each other better, but she figured that was the help and magic of what alcohol did. They told each other childhood stories that made each other laugh, increasing the buzz going on inside their heads.

Harry had an additional glow to him when he was tipsy, and Luci thought it was the cutest thing ever. He was very touchy—placing a hand on her arm, shoulder, or knee at any given moment—and his laugh was contagious as it was loud and he threw his head back. It was a side that pleasantly took her by surprise, and she hoped that as they continued talking and hanging out, this side of him comes out more when they’re sober and comfortable with one another.

“Can I ask why your brother calls you Ana?” He wondered, asking at the same time Luci was taking a sip of her drink.

She nodded. “Yeah. So, Nathan is five years older than I am, and my mom and dad said when he was five, he still had a hard time speaking, like he’d babble and seem to talk gibberish. Anyways, when I was born, my parents were trying to get him to say my name, but couldn’t pick up on the first part of it; he started out with ‘An,’ but eventually picked up ‘Ana.’ And since then, it just seemed to stick—he’s the only one who calls me that and would personally get offended if someone else called me that.” She ended with a chuckle and a sip of her shot.

“What’s your full name?”

“Luciana Ivy Suki.” She said slow and a bit sultry, which she hadn’t meant to. The dark light and booze didn’t help that she felt a bit sexy.

Harry smirked slightly. “Luciana.” He stated as if he was testing how it sounded and felt on the tongue. Luci felt a chill run down her body, making her skin prickle from the goosebumps.

If she was starting to melt from the sound of her nickname from his lips, the sound of her full name had completely liquified her.

After an hour, the two moved to the bar, completely forgetting that they were with the cast. Luci suggested getting more drinks for them, and Harry told her that he’d come with. He said something along the lines of “don’t want to miss a moment hanging out with you,” and Luci swore that her heart was becoming a butterfly’s nest as it sank down to her stomach and made her smile.

“It’s genuinely insane how talented you are, like I was nearly crying by the end of the show!” He complimented, sipping on a Pomegranate Paloma through a thin black straw. Harry was genuinely so amazed as he watched Luci act, alas he was near the rear mezzanine, which was towards the back, he was still blown away by the entire production, especially Luci’s talents.

“That’s so sweet. Thank you, Harry.” She smiled down at her Royal Manhattan, swirling the drink around in its glass. She was used to taking compliments about her acting and talent, but when Harry complimented her, it made her insides jittery and her face heat up; she felt so honored that Harry was praising her for her talents.

“Now, can I ask…I thought you had plans tonight. What happened to that?” She wondered.

Harry blushed, nervously chuckling. “Uh, I canceled them.”

Her eyes widened. “W-Was it anything serious?”

“It was a date that my friend, Jeff, set me up with but I wasn’t all that interested in the first place.

She pouted. “Harry, I feel bad.”

“Don’t be. I wanted to be here.” She smiled at that, looking at the contents inside of her glass.

“I’m really glad you’re here.” She reciprocated the thought, clinking her glass with his as they both sipped their drinks.

After another hour, the cast was lessening one by one, calling it a night as they said their goodbyes to Luci and Harry. She hadn’t realized how quickly time had gone by until the bartender of the lounge had told them that they were closing in a few minutes. Luci looked at her phone as the time read 12:55 a.m., which her and Harry laughed about because they were both in shock about the night being so late already. So, they left the lounge, not before generously tipping the bartender $40 each and gathered their belongings; Luci made sure to not forget the beautiful flowers Harry gave her.

Neither of them felt like they were sober enough to get on the subway themselves, knowing they would probably get on the wrong one or fall asleep and end up somewhere else. So, they decided on an Uber, seeming as that was the most responsible and safest option there was.

Luci got inside the black Honda, saying ‘hi’ to their driver. The entire ride back to Brooklyn was quiet, only the soft breaths they both exhaled and the pounding of their hearts. Harry felt himself getting sleepier, and unexpectedly resting his head against Luci’s shoulder. She tensed up at first, not expecting the action, but she welcomed it, placing her head on top of his. They both watched the city through the car window as it disappeared from their sight once they were in Brooklyn.

Once they were in front of their apartment complex, Harry offered her his arm and she looped her arm through his, leaning into his side as he guided her to the elevator. He leaned against the corner of the elevator with Luci pressed up against his side with her arms still around his, and he looked down to see her eyes closed. He softly smiled, moving the strand of hair that had fallen in the middle of her face to the side.

The loud Ding! of the elevator seemed to wake Luci up as she startled awake, making Harry chuckle. They walked down the hall and towards their door; Harry occasionally had to tell Luci to keep quiet as she was singing ‘Wannabe’ by the Spice Girls, but Harry couldn’t help but join in.

When they got to their doors, as usual, they unlocked and opened it; but they didn’t immediately go inside their apartments. Instead, they turned around to face each other; both of their eyes droopy from the slight buzz that was still in their system.

Luci smiled before leaning in to hug him. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders as his arms went around her waist. The hug was sweet and warm as it definitely fed to the touchy-feely side of their buzz.

When they pulled away, Luci leaned up to boldly plant a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for being here, Harry. Shall we hang out next week?” Harry nodded, not trusting his voice to say anything as his heart erupted into flames. She gave him a smile as he was frozen from the chaste kiss; and Luci walked into her apartment, waving at him before she closed the door.

Harry was out in the hallway, stunned as he blushed from the small kiss she had left on his cheek; and it was something he was going to be dreaming of until he wakes up, only to think about it over and over again.

Harry was cooking breakfast when he heard relentless knocking on his front door. He peeked his head out from the kitchen to look at the door, like that would tell him who was behind it, as he was whisking some eggs in a white glass bowl. Setting the bowl down, he walked over to the door and opened it.

To his surprise, Luci was behind it as tears streamed down her face with her phone in her hand; she was in her soft blue pajama pants with a black hoodie over, and despite her recent state, Harry thought she looked absolutely adorable and cuddly. But he pushed that thought to the side; immediately, Harry was concerned. His eyes widened and his protective side turned on, thinking he was going to lose his shit on whoever caused this poor girl to cry.

“I-I’m sorry. I just…” she hiccupped, and Harry took her into his arms. He was slightly confused about what had happened during the six hours he’d last seen her—when they were coming home from the lounge. He still couldn’t get that kiss out of his head; in fact, it was difficult for him to sleep because he kept reiterating it in his head.

He pulled her into his apartment, closing the door as he sat her down on his brown leather couch. She cried into his shoulder as she passed him her phone that was unlocked on an article. He grabbed it, not letting go of her while he rubbed her arm.

The article read on the bright screen read:

Miss Saigon or Miss No-BE GONE!

Just twelve hours ago, I went to see the show ‘Miss Saigon; for the second time. The first time I went to see it was last month when Broadway star royalty, Ms. Daisy Beck, was playing the role of ‘Kim.’ With its amazing cast, production set, and story-telling, I knew I needed to see the play again.

My hopes and dreams were crushed when I didn’t see Ms. Beck on stage, but instead, a newbie Broadway actress known as Luciana Suki. Before writing this review, I did some research on her to my very best ability because she’s practically a nobody in this business, and found out that she had been in several commercials since she was a child (great another child actor) and has been on Off-Broadway, which definitely explains the acting! At least give a man a warning before I decide to put up with a shit-show of a performance. I couldn’t even stay for the entire show because it was completely horrifying to see injustice served to Kim and a downgrade from Daisy Beck.

I tried, I really tried; but I left during intermission. Luciana Suki is not meant to be playing the part of Kim—almost everyone agrees. There was no connection, no emotion to the character, and it was a poorly done job in Luciana’s part and the casting.

It’s Daisy Beck or no production. Simple as that, or else, the show will lose its audience and precious money that they wasted on paying Luciana Suki.

Harry sighed, balling his hands up into fists as he locked her phone and set it aside. How could anybody be so cruel? He understood the importance of critics to the theatre, but to outright insult and humiliate someone wasn’t even critical—it’s being straight up rude.

Once Luci was ready and had somewhat calmed down, she pulled away from Harry’s embrace, looking at him. Poor Luci’s eyes were swollen and her eyes were red from the crying, and she was a sniffling mess. Harry quickly grabbed her a few tissues to dry her tears, and she blew her nose into the soft cotton paper, not really caring how unattractive she thought it was.

“That article was written by Adam West—the most important critic in Broadway.” She wiped the snot under her nose. “H-He practically just ruined my career and any chances I have on Broadway ever again.” Luci sobbed as it was difficult for her to accept the fact that she may never act ever again because of a senior journalist. Her chest hurt and her eyes started to become sore from the amount of times she squeezed them shut, freeing her tears.

“No, come here.” Harry’s heart ached for her, and he couldn’t imagine what she must be going through when that article was directly made towards her. He pulled her in for another hug, and she softly cried against his chest, staining his white t-shirt with her tears, but he couldn’t care less. “You’re insanely talented—critics or no critics—no one could deny your talent. What he said was unprofessional and poorly written, and that’s coming from an English major and a teacher. Now, I’m sure that you know you’re extremely gifted and you’ve worked hard to get to where you are. So, don’t let him get to you because almost everyone loved your performance last night.”

Harry reassured her quite well that Luci had calmed down; it helped that the vibrations from his chest to her ear as he talked had soothed her—it was quite relaxing. She pulled away again, looking at him through glassy eyes as another tear threatened to fall. He placed his palms against her cheeks, taking his thumbs and running it across her skin to wipe her tears away.

“Would you like some French Toast? Heard it’s a comfort-food, but I may be wrong. Maybe I’m being biased because I think my recipe is good.” He tried lightening up her mood, and it’d definitely worked because she breathed out a chuckle and nodded.

“I’m not intruding, right?” He shook his head. “No significant other to get mad at me and throw me out?” She slyly asked as she had been wondering if he had someone. Plus, she was still wondering about the red-hair woman who frantically left his apartment.

“Nope.”

“The…red-haired girl. You’re not with her?”

Harry smirked as he definitely indulged into the slightly jealous feeling that Luci was portraying. “No, we’re not dating. She’s just a friend.” He chuckled. “What about you? Someone I should be worried about?” He stirred the topic towards her as curiosity also got the best of him.

“Nope.” She answered the same way he did. “Do you make out with all of your friends? Noticed her lipstick was a bit smeared off.” Luci knew later on that she would regret opening her mouth and spewing out those particular choice of words. Her tone also seemed a bit jealous, and she had no right to be, but her crush on Harry was quickly increasing.

“I mean, some of them; when the time comes.” He somewhat joked.

“Would you make out with me?” Luci spat out, but quickly slapped her palm against her mouth, eyes widening. Her mind was speaking for herself as she’d been dreaming of the way Harry’s pink lips felt against her mouth and other places she wouldn’t dare speak aloud. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why-”

“Yeah, I would,” he responded honestly. This was the most honest and straight-forward he’d ever been, which only occurs every few months, so it was time to close that window again and wait for it to open. But he also couldn’t deny his attraction to her, like it was difficult to not be so enticed with her. He felt at complete ease with her, and it felt incredibly easy to talk to Luci and be open. “So, the French Toast?” He changed the subject, walking over to the kitchen, leaving Luci glued to her seat on the couch.

Astonished by his words, she was extra shocked that he was so quick to move on from his response. But she was glad to know that he would want to kiss her, maybe, some time in the future; but the thought made her giddy because she undeniably wanted to kiss him too.

come talk to me about your favorite moments and scenes, and your thoughts and feelings! thank you for reading <3 next chapter will be posted next saturday!

#harry styles fanfiction #harry styles au #harry styles angst #harry styles smut #harry styles fluff #harry styles x ofc #harry styles ff #harry styles fanfic #harry styles series #harry styles writing #teacher!harry #boyfriend!harry #actress!oc

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thisbeatchachinglikemoney · 3 years

Text

☆viii - perfect imperfections☾

Chapter 8 of Me From The Moon, You From The Stars

Summary: Taehyung and Jungkook tell everyone and plan a date

Warnings: Abuse

Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9

AN: Let me know what you think and if you want to be added on to the tag list.

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"All of me loves all of you, all your curves and all your edges, all your perfect imperfections."

JUNGKOOK watched Taehyung with a large smile spread across his face. His mate was tugging him excitedly towards their usual table where most of their friends were sat, minus Namjoon. He noticed how Yoongi and Hoseok were looking at the pair of them in confusion. Last they had heard, him and Tae were not talking to each other, and now they were smiling and holding hands with each other. He was excited to tell them. It would cease the endless teasing.

He remembered when Yoongi and Hoseok had found their mate. It was quite a funny story really. Jimin had been at a club when Yoongi appeared. He had had an argument with his girlfriend at the time – they knew they weren't each other's mates, but were both in need of a relationship so they got together. Both Jimin and Yoongi started talking and before they knew it, they kissed each other and had sex together. Then Jimin had a date with Hoseok the day after, where they also kissed, and then Jimin loses his ability to smell other alphas and omegas.

Hoseok had always told Jungkook that he was the first one Jimin approached, but Yoongi liked to say that he was the first. Jimin had showed up at their house and had seen either one of them and found out that the same thing had happened. Then the other showed up and said the same thing, and the three of them have been going out ever since.

Jungkook liked their story, but he thought his and Taehyung's was better. Maybe he was biased, but who cares? There is way more romance with theirs.

"Jiminie!" Taehyung yelled excitedly, hugging his friend from behind, his arms around his shoulders. Jungkook smiled at him fondly as he moved to stand in front of Yoongi and Hoseok.

"What's going on with you and Taehyung?" Yoongi asked, staring as Taehyung let go of Jimin and made his way to Jungkook, tucking himself under his arm.

"You can call me Tae, Yoongi hyung." Taehyung said, making Jungkook press a kiss to the top of his head.

"Well done, baby, I'm so proud of you." He said. Taehyung hadn't liked being called Tae by anyone he didn't really know. He had said it made him feel weak and pathetic, but Jungkook had told him that it didn't. Yes, it made him sound cute, but it was also a powerful name, especially because it belonged to someone so beautiful. So him letting Yoongi call him Tae was a step in the right direction for him to get over his rape, which Jungkook was so proud of. Tae looked up at him and smiled before leaning the side of his head on his chest.

"Yeah, what's going on, Kook?" Jin asked with a knowing smile on his face.

"So, me and TaeTae, or is it TaeTae and I?" Jungkook frowned. He had never been that good at grammar. "Oh well, we are mates." He said. Hoseok choked on the noodles he was devouring, causing Jimin to panic while Yoongi whacked his back.

"Did you say mates? You're too young, Kook. Still a little boy." Hoseok said, his face still red and straining although he had managed to get the noodles out of his windpipe.

"Hoseok hyung, I'm nineteen. Taehyung's younger, he's still eighteen!" Jungkook protested. "Anyway, at least it happened in a more romantic way than you, Jimin and Yoongi."

Yoongi growled. "Watch it, you brat."

"And don't forget your honorifics!" Jimin added, noodles dangling from his mouth. Yoongi chuckled and kissed him, biting the excess noodles and eating them.

"Hyung! Ew!" Jungkook turned towards Taehyung. "Tae baby, can you get rid of that awful image please?" He asked, looking at his beautiful mate. Taehyung flushed pink and leaned up on his tiptoes to peck Jungkook's lips. Jungkook wasn't too happy with that. "Baby," He whined, making Taehyung giggle and kiss him properly.

"Better?" He asked as he pulled away from the kiss, his lips red and shiny, looking absolutely delectable. Jungkook nodded and licked his lips as Jin cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Are you going to sit down and join us?" Jin asked, raising his eyebrow.

"No, actually, we've finished our classes and so I'm taking my baby out on a date." Jungkook said, squeezing Taehyung's waist. It was then he noticed the wince Taehyung did. He frowned in concern, but decided he would ask Taehyung about it after their date. He might have just fallen, but Jungkook wanted to be sure.

"Okay, have fun. Don't be back too late." Jin said, making Jungkook roll his eyes. Jin was an overprotective older brother, but Jungkook knew it was for the best.

"I won't hyung." Jungkook said with a playful whine before leading Taehyung to his car.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

TAEHYUNG marvelled at Jungkook's car. Sure, it was like ten years old and a bit battered and scratched, but it was a Mercedes! That was a classy car! He looked around on the inside as Jungkook plugged his phone in to connect it to the radio so they could listen to some music.

"What do you want to listen to, Tae baby?" Jungkook asked, scrolling through his music in his phone. "I have a bit of everything, as well as Spotify, so just tell me a song and I'll play it for you."

"Can we listen to some John Legend please?" Taehyung requested. Jungkook nodded and hit shuffle on the John Legend playlist on Spotify. The first song that came on was 'All of Me'. This was one of Taehyung's favourite songs – it made him feel all warm inside, as if John was actually singing it to him and had written it for him. It made him feel loved, considering everything that had happened to him. He began to softly sing along as Jungkook pulled out of the school's parking lot. Taehyung caught Jungkook's smile out of the corner of his eye. "What?" He asked, curious as to why his mate was smiling so widely.

"Your voice is beautiful." He complimented, making Taehyung blush. "Like you."

"Kookie." Taehyung buried his head in his hands. "Don't, you're making me blush." Jungkook smiled and reached over, taking hold of his hand.

"So, let's stop by your house first and then we'll stop at mine and then we'll go somewhere to eat. Does that sound good?" Jungkook suggested. Taehyung froze. He didn't want Jungkook to see the awfulness that was his family. Hopefully both his parents were out and so wouldn't see them.

"O-Okay." Taehyung nodded. "But can we be quick? I'm hungry." As he spoke, his stomach growled loudly, making Jungkook chuckle and rub his tummy playfully.

"Okay, calm down. We won't take too long, little tummy." He smiled at Taehyung, who blushed even more if that was even possible.

Taehyung typed his address into the GPS and they drove to his house. Taehyung could feel the anxiety building. He couldn't let Jungkook see what his parents did to him. He couldn't make himself a burden to him. He didn't want him to know that his father would hit him every night because he didn't manifest as an alpha, or that his mother would constantly hurl insults at him.

They pulled up to his house and parked in the driveway behind the red Hyundai that belonged to his mother. He gulped. "Jungkook, I don't think I need anything." Taehyung said before they got out the car. He knew there was fear and worry written over his face.

"What, baby? What's wrong?" Jungkook asked. He knew something was up. Taehyung sighed and looked at the house where the front door was opening, and his mother was storming out, dressed in one of her business dresses and a pair of slippers. She had most likely just come home. There was no use leaving now. She had seen him.

"Never mind. I'll be quick. I'll grab some stuff and then get changed at your house." Taehyung said, unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of the car. "You can stay here, I'll just be in and out."

"What if I want to meet your mum, baby?" Jungkook asked.

Taehyung shook his head. "You already have. She knows who you are." He said, opening the door and sliding out. "I'll be back in a second." He shut the door and reluctantly approached his mother, who was ready to start hurling insults and abuse at him.

"And what the fuck do you think you're doing?" His mother yelled at him. His parents were not omegas. His mum was a beta, and his dad an alpha. No omegas in sight in this family. Until him. "I didn't think I would see the disappointment until later. Why aren't you at school? Did you get expelled for fucking some alpha teacher to fill your needy omega desires? You are pathetic!" Taehyung ignored her and continued walking towards his room. "And so he ignores me! You are ungrateful and don't deserve to be here on this planet alive!"

Taehyung shut his door, and wiped his eyes, brushing the tears away. He had to be quick so Jungkook didn't suspect anything. He walked towards his closet and picked out a few outfits because he wanted to look nice for their lunch date but then wanted to change into something more comfy when they went back to Jungkook's house. He grabbed his oversized pale blue hoodie with a pair of shorts for his comfy outfit and some light blue ripped jeans with a white tshirt and a black denim jacket with sheep fur collar. He decided he would get changed at Jungkook's house rather than here. He didn't want to spend any more time in here than he had to.

He packed them into a bag and waited by his door, trying to hear whether or not his mother was waiting for him. He couldn't hear anything so he flung open the door and ran down the stairs and pushed open the front door, going back to a normal speed as he approached the car.

"Taehyung!" His mother shouted after him. "Pathetic slut, where the fuck are you going now?" She began to quickly walk towards him.

He got in the car and shut the door. "Let's go." He said with a smile on his face.

"Are you okay?" Jungkook asked, looking at him carefully. Taehyung nodded and took hold of Jungkook's hand, kissing the back of it.

"I'm perfect." Taehyung replied.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

JUNGKOOK could tell something was up with Taehyung. He heard his mother shouting at him, but he wasn't sure what she was saying. He had a feeling that Taehyung wincing earlier was related to this. But he didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable, that was the last thing he wanted to do. He was his baby, and he needed to protect him with everything he had.

He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel as they drove along the main road. Taehyung was fiddling with his fingers in his lap, his head swaying slowly with the beat of the music. His curls were kissing the tips of his ears his fringe flopping into his eyes slightly. Jungkook's eyes followed the shape of his face, the careful slope of his nose and the smooth cheekbones, down to the slight pout of his lips and his chin. He was beautiful.

"I can feel you staring." Taehyung said, his voice low. He glanced at Jungkook sideways, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"I can't help it. Your face is too pretty for me not to stare at." Jungkook smirked, as Taehyung blushed and giggled slightly.

"If you keep staring at me and not the road, you won't be able to stare at my pretty face for much longer." Taehyung pointed out. Jungkook pouted slightly, but Tae did have a point. "Are we almost at your house?" He asked, looking out the window. "You don't live with your parents anymore?" He asked as they drove past his old house.

"Oh, um, no." Jungkook felt a pang of sadness in his heart. "They passed away in a car accident a few years ago. I live with Jin, Yoongi and Hoseok hyungs."

"Kookie, I'm so sorry." Taehyung reached over and placed a hand on top of his hand. "They loved you so much. I had no idea. I'm sorry."

Jungkook knew that the second apology was definitely about them not talking for a few years. "Taehyungie, baby, you don't need to apologise anymore for what happened between us." He said, kissing the back of his hand. "It's behind us now. We are each other's present and future. That's all that matters. We can't dwell on the past. Besides, I have forgiven you." He turned the steering wheel to pull into the driveway of his house. "We're here. You coming in?"

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

TAEHYUNG felt awful. Jungkook didn't deserve to have gone through what he had gone through with his parents dying. It was like he was being punished, even though he wasn't in the wrong. His parents were so nice and loved Jungkook with all their heart. The way they died was awful.

Jungkook lead him to a decently sized apartment. "It's only got three bedrooms, but we survive." He said. "I mean, the only people that stay are Jimin and Namjoon, and now hopefully you, but they share with their mates, so we don't really need anymore." Taehyung nodded as he glanced around.

The walls were covered in framed photos of pets, family and friends. There were a few of Jimin, Yoongi and Hoseok, and Namjoon and Jin, as well. It was actually quite tidy, which surprised Taehyung. Normally, teenage boys were messy, but everything seemed to be in order. Definitely due to Seokjin, he thought to himself.

His duffel bag brushed against a bruised cut on his shoulder, making him gasp in pain. Jungkook looked over at him concerned. "Baby, what's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, I must have hit my shoulder on the doorframe when I left my house earlier." He said, not wanting Jungkook to know the real reason. It had been a doorframe, but only because his father had pushed him against it. Jungkook narrowed his eyes at him, making Taehyung gulp. He didn't fully believe him.

"Let me take your bag, baby." Jungkook said, taking the bag from him. The strap brushed against it again, making him wince. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked. "Baby, you can tell me. I'll protect you, and keep you safe." He said, leading him to his room.

As Jungkook pushed open the door, Taehyung knew that Jin was the one who was tidy. There were clothes strewn on the floor, with used plates and glasses stacked up precariously on the dresser like a dangerous game of Jenga. There was a gaming computer and a desk tucked away in the corner and a large dresser in the middle of the wall opposite the bed. The bed was a large double with simple black and grey sheets.

"Sorry, it's a bit messy." Jungkook flushed a slight red, making Taehyung smile.

"It's okay." Taehyung said with a small smile. Jungkook dropped the bags in the corner before sitting on the bed and pulling Taehyung onto his lap.

"I know you're not telling me something, baby." Jungkook said. "Talk to me please." He begged. Taehyung sighed. He knew he had to tell Jungkook. Maybe he could get him out of there.

"I think it's easier if I just show you." Taehyung said. He took a deep breath before tugging off his shirt, allowing his cuts and bruises and scars to be visible.

Jungkook gasped before running his fingers lightly over the imperfections on his skin. "Baby... What happened to you?"

"I became an Omega." Taehyung said bitterly. "You know, it's funny how you think your parents will love you unconditionally, no matter what, but then they stop over something that's not even in your control."

"Your parents did this to you?!" Jungkook sounded angry. His scent also got stronger, indicating his anger. "That's it. You're not going back there. They're hurting you! Does anyone else know?"

Taehyung shook his head. "You're the first person." He revealed. Jungkook sighed and pulled him closer. Taehyung could feel his heartbeat against his back.

"Thank you for telling me." He said softly. "You know something, baby, you are so beautiful." Taehyung felt warm inside. "All of these are your battle scars, and they make you so much stronger. My brave baby." Jungkook kissed just behind his ear.

"I'll need to get my stuff from the house." Taehyung said, standing up and looking at his boyfriend. He had his arms crossed over his bare chest and stomach to hide them from his view. "Can we still go on our date, though?"

"Of course, we can, baby. And then you can get your stuff tomorrow after school." Jungkook said. He frowned slightly when he saw Taehyung's arms crossed over his body. He took hold of his wrists and pulled them apart, so he was exposed. "Baby, you are so perfect." He said.

Taehyung shook his head. "No, I'm not. I'm covered in scars and bruises. And that's just what you can see. I'm so messed up. How can you even stand to be around me?"

Jungkook stood up and pulled him close. "Because you are my soulmate, my best friend, my one true love. You are beautiful, smart, kind and perfect in my eyes. And I want to help you see that." He said, kissing the top of his head. Taehyung sniffled, resting his forehead against Jungkook's chest. "What did your mother say to you?"

Taehyung took a deep breath and wiped his eyes. Why was he crying so much? "She called me a disappointment." He said. "And then accused me of fucking one of the teachers to fuel my needy omega desires."

Jungkook scoffed. "I'm going to kill her." His scent spiked again, making Taehyung ball up his shirt in his hands.

"No, you can't!" He cried. "Please don't. Just let me get my stuff tomorrow and we never have to see her ever again. I can stay here, right?"

Jungkook was silent for a bit. "Well, I don't know, we might not have enough space..." He said. Taehyung blinked at him. Had he said something wrong? Was it because of his confession to Jungkook? "Baby, I'm joking. Of course, you're staying here. I wouldn't want you anywhere else."

"Thank you." Taehyung nuzzled his head into Jungkook's neck. Jungkook said nothing; he just stroked Taehyung's back and kissed the side of his head. His dark chocolate and cinnamon scent filled his nose, calming his nerves and allowing his heart to stop pounding in his chest.

"You smell so good." Jungkook whispered into his hair. "Like cherries." Taehyung let out a short huff of laughter as he pulled away. "Your lips look like cherries as well, red and plump and ready for me to devour." Jungkook leaned down and kissed Taehyung. It was a playful kiss, but Taehyung's heart still leapt in his chest and his stomach filled with butterflies as it somersaulted inside him. Jungkook tasted like a dark chocolate cinnamon cake, sweet with a hint of darkness. He nipped at Taehyung's lips as he pulled away, his teeth gently pulling at the red flesh.

Taehyung pouted playfully. "You might have just removed all of my lip gloss." He stuck out his bottom lip. "I didn't bring any with me."

"You don't need it baby." Jungkook said, swaying them from side to side. His stomach growled, making Taehyung jump slightly before giggling at how he had been taken aback.

"Hungry?" Taehyung asked. Jungkook nodded. "Then let me go change." He lightly hit Jungkook's chest, making the older mock a glare as he released the smaller omega.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

JUNGKOOK watched his mate with a small smile playing on his lips. How could someone look so cute yet so achingly hot at the same time? His Tae baby was perfect. He watched as the younger boy bent to open his duffel bag and pull out his clothes. The scars on his back stretched and puckered as his muscles flexed and relaxed.

It annoyed him at how parents could treat their own child like that. His parents were the type of people who would have loved him no matter what – even if one day he decided to get surgery to give himself cat ears or something extreme like that. They would never think of laying a hand on him because of how he presented.

But Taehyung's parents were not. The scars on his back varied from white and red showing how recent they were. Jungkook was angry with himself. How long had this been going on? If he hadn't been so stubborn and tried to get through to Taehyung and reassure him that he wouldn't leave earlier, then maybe he would have been able to get him out of that horrible environment before it got too much for him to handle.

Taehyung threw his clothes onto Jungkook's bed. "Hey, don't mess up my room!" Jungkook whined, making Taehyung wrinkle his nose as he smiled.

"I think it's already messy, Kookie." He observed, pointing at some of stacked plates and cups. "Does Jin hyung not come in here at all?"

"Not really, the sight repulses him." Jungkook laughed, making Taehyung huff and roll his eyes as he pulled on his white tshirt.

"I'm not surprised." Taehyung said unfolding his jeans and shaking them out. "Now close your eyes. I need to change my jeans." Jungkook frowned. He wanted to see his baby's body and worship it, from his head down to his toes. "Kookie, please, close your eyes. I'm not that comfortable with you yet to allow you to see me in my underwear." Jungkook obliged, closing his eyes. He could hear fabric rustling and a small thud.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his eyes still closed.

"Yeah, I'm just clumsy. You can open your eyes now." Taehyung said. Jungkook's eyes fluttered open and he took in the sight in front of him. Taehyung's jeans clung to his legs like a second skin, making Jungkook's mouth drop open.

"Ok, wow." He said. "Wow."

"That's all you can say, Kookie? Wow?" Taehyung teased, making Jungkook growl playfully and reach up to tickle his waist. Taehyung giggled.

"When there is literally a Greek god in front of me, yes, wow is the only thing I can say." Jungkook stood up and looked Taehyung in the eye.

"I'm not a Greek god." Taehyung said. "You are though." He reached up and traced Jungkook's features with his finger.

"If you're not a Greek god then I'm an ant." Jungkook said. "Baby you are so beautiful. I wish you could see that." He hated that his baby didn't love himself.

"I'm working on it. I promise, Kookie." Taehyung said softly. "Can we go eat now? I'm starving."

"Of course baby. Let me just change my top." Jungkook pulled off his black hoodie and walked over to his wardrobe to find something else to put on. When he turned around with a black v-neck tshirt in his hands, he saw Taehyung staring at him, some drool falling from his mouth. "Baby, you're drooling." He said. "Like something you see?"

"You have abs." Taehyung observed. "Like actual abs. Like an actual six pack." Jungkook chuckled.

"You are too cute, little Tae baby." He said, walking over and dropping a kiss to his lips. "Now, let's go eat at the mall. Ramen and kimchi?"

"Yes please." Taehyung nodded, taking hold of Jungkook's hand. Jungkook smiled and kissed his curls. He picked up their jackets and they left the house.

#taekook #taekook smut #taekook fluff #taekook angst #yoonminhope #namjin #omega!taehyung #omega!namjoon #omega!jimin #alpha!jungkook #alpha!seokjin #alpha!yoongi #alpha!hoseok #me from the moon you from the stars #perfect imperfections

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clnriswood · 4 years

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ARCHIE ANDREWS X READER

Big Little Town: Part Four

a/n: so happy to be back on this series -- also -- first chapter at rdh! prepare for a world of pain, hehe. don’t forget to ask to join our tag list! x

gif dobhennig

tag list: @my-soul-is-the-moon @lghenry4 @megumii-606 @a-littlebreak-for-b

. . .

First day of school. Again. Except this time the girl was going to put forward her best foot, as she had no intention of letting her troubled past or awfully introverted persona be the talk of the school. When she awoke that morning her alarm had yet to go off, for her nerves alone brought her stinging eyes open. She lay on her back, staring at the ceiling and listening to the thrum of her heart until her alarm rang, at which point she coolly turned it off and sat up with an extended sigh. The girl flipped on a lamp switch and headed for the shower, scrubbed herself three times over, washed and curled her hair, and grabbed the outfit she’d hung the night before. To make sure it was suitable for a first day at Riverdale High she’d sent a message to Betty for help, at which point Betty re-directed her to Veronica, at which point Veronica, appalled by her choice of jeans and a plain shirt, fixed the girl up with something better.

Standing in front of the mirror, the girl gave a long sigh and fluffed up her hair with the tips of her fingers. She wore a satin rosy crop top with thin straps that clutched tightly to her skin, a short black skirt that swirled around her hips, and some tannish ankle high boots with thickly chunked heels. This was certainly far classier than she normally would’ve gone for school, but first impressions were apparently important as ever at Riverdale. The girl caught herself scowling at her reflection, at which point she leaned forward, topped up her sheer lip gloss, and practiced smiling… literally. After giving up shortly after, she resumed her scowl, picked up her black leather backpack, and went to open her thin white curtains. As she did so, none other than Archie Andrews caught her eye.

He was wearing only boxers and a pair of black jeans, leaving his completely exposed chest open to the glittering sunbeams that seeped into his room. He’d let out a huge yawn, one hand running through his auburn locks, and his eyes were adorably sleepy. The girl felt a lump grow in her throat when her eyes caught sight of the not-so-subtle six pack Archie was sporting, one that was deathly attractive and connected sharply to the prominent V shape that connected from his hips to his-- well--

Archie, locking eyes with her, went still. His eyes seemed to glaze over the same exact way hers surely had done when she looked at him. Both of them just kind of stood there for a good few seconds, like deer in the headlights, absorbing one another. Then the girl, awkwardly shooting her gaze from his abs and to the ceiling with a forced fake cough, turned and bolted from her room. Archie, seeing this, fumbled to grab his dark blue Riverdale hoodie, and pulled it over his head as he too went stumbling away. The girl met her mother on the stairs, insisting they leave now, and went speedily out the front door to avoid making further contact with Archie after that embarrassing incident. But they hadn’t made it two feet onto the grass before Archie came jogging out to meet them.

“Mrs. (Y/L/N)!’ he called, panting and giving a jovial wave and smile.

The girl’s mother smiled sleepily, “good morning Archie.”

“Morning,” he said through a short breath, stopping to meet the two in the middle of the lawn.

The morning dew settled on the girl’s shoes, as she dug her heel nervously into the ground and pursed her lips into one of her fake smiles and grumbled a hello.

“Mrs. (Y/L/N),” he said again, slinging his bag over his shoulders, “I was wondering if I could take your daughter to school, since it’s her first day.”

Please say no.

Her mother raised her brows with a smile, “that sounds lovely, actually. My work is on the other side of town so it’d be a big help.”

Fuck.

“Doesn’t that sound lovely?” her mother elbowed her with a very obvious wink.

The girl widened her eyes in horror and her mother’s indiscretion, to which Archie, completely obliviously, beamed.

“Right,” the girl laughed uncomfortably, raising her eyes to Archie’s big brown one’s.

And he looked so excited that she couldn’t help but soften, giving him a genuine smile, “it does.”

“Great,” Archie nodded, giving her mother a squeeze, “have a great day at work ma’am.”

“Thank you Archie,” her mother cooed.

As the girl followed Archie, she threw a glance over at her mother, who raised two giant thumbs up, making the girl go beet red as she tried desperately to get away faster.

Archie went ahead, unlocking his truck and opening the girl’s door for her with a happy little grin. She climbed in, sighing with nerves as Archie entered beside her and brought his truck roaring to life. But before he pulled out, he turned to look at her, his eyes flashing with like.

“You look really nice,” he said, clearing his throat and giving her a timid smile.

She felt herself stiffen, “thanks, Archie. So do you.”

At this Archie glanced down at his own clothes, checking himself out skeptically like she must be unaware of what she’d just said. But she’d meant it. Only Archie Andrews could make a hoodie and jeans look that flattering.

“Thanks?” he raised his brows with a chuckle. The girl just let out an airy laugh and turned her eyes to the road as he pulled his car back and made way down the scenic road. They didn’t talk much on the way to school. The churning in her stomach made her too nervous to. But Archie didn’t force it, he just kept his eyes forward with contently upturned lips. It looked like he was keeping on his promise to look out for her after all.

. . .

The halls were packed at the school. Blue lockers were thrown open and swarmed by students of all sorts, most of whom seemed to be completely familiar with one another. It was for that reason that it was unsurprising to see them collectively taking second looks when they realized there was fresh meat walking down the hallway, accompanied by Archie himself. At times when she’d been jostled she’d wanted to reach for his arm, but resisted the ridiculous urge by folding her arms tight over her chest. Soon thereafter she saw a blonde ponytail bouncing down the hall.

“(Y/N),” Betty beamed, “I see you had a chat with V.”

Betty herself wore a pink sweater with little polka dots, tucked neatly into her skinny blue jeans. It was weirdly suited for her.

“You look great,” she elaborated. Then, turning, she said, “here’s your locker, it’s near mine.”

Betty brought the girl to the locker located to the right of her own, whispering, “I made sure they gave you this one.”

“Thanks,” the girl smiled bashfully, unloading her schoolbooks into the locker by her new friend.

Archie stayed quiet the whole time, leaning lazily onto the next locker down as he surveyed the two.

“If you get lost at lunch just look for me and Jug. Oh, and we have AP Gov together by the way,” Betty continued on, handing the girl her schedule which was neatly printed onto a crisp white sheet of paper. “And Psychology!”

“Great,” the girl said, feeling a little overwhelmed.

Archie pried the paper from her hands, noting, “my first period is with you.”

An unfamiliar voice chimed in, “mine too.”

The girl brought her eyes slowly up to look behind Archie’s shoulder, where a fiery redheaded girl stood.

“Cheryl Blossom,” the girl extended her perfectly manicured hand.

Her long red hair fell perfectly around her pale face and perfect features, and her bright red lips bent upwards into a smile as she stepped confidently forward. The girl felt instantly intimidated.

“(Y/N)(Y/L/N),” she replied, extending a nervous hand in return.

Cheryl shook it firmly, “I know. Well, I know of you.”

The girl raised a confused brow, to which Cheryl leaned forward, whispering, “you’re not the only Riverdale nutcase around.”

She felt her heart drop.

“Don’t ask,” Cheryl cut her off before she could open her mouth, “I know everything about everyone. But don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me, new girl.”

Archie and Betty, who were just close enough to hear her whisperings, exchanged confused glances. But Cheryl just smiled and pulled away, patting at her red dress with a clear of her throat.

“Anyways,” she said, loudly this time. “I’m having a seniors only party this Friday, you know, to kick off the school year, and I hope to see you there. Until then, first period,” she winked and gracefully swept away, leaving the girl with an opened mouth and glazed eyes, which were interrupted only by the sound of the bell.

Betty, bewildered as ever, said her goodbyes, Archie looking similarly confused as he escorted the still dazed girl into a nearby classroom where she’d be studying-- literature-- according to the whiteboard her eyes landed upon. The boy took a seat near the back, hitting off a fellow classmate so the girl could sit beside him. This fellow classmate looked displeased until he saw what, or who rather, this was for.

He was tall with jet black hair that was slicker perfectly atop his head, minus a loose stray dangling in front of his dark eyes, He wore a Riverdale jersey and a kind of permanent smolder, and he extended a hand to the girl as she sunk into her seat.

“And who might this be?”

“(Y/N),” the girl responded as the room’s lights and sounds came back into focus, her eyes now preoccupied with the rather attractive boy who towered over her.

She took the boy’s firm hand, to which he smirked a “Reggie” in reply. “You didn’t tell me the new girl was hot,” Reggie said quite loudly to Archie as he continued shaking her hand, to which the both of them grew red.

“Shut up Reggie,” they said in unison, making the boy snicker.

He beamed, flickering his finger between the both of them, “that’s funny. You two are funny.”

“Take a seat, mister Mantle,” a stern female voice said from the front of the classroom.

Reggie, obeying the teacher, scoffed and took his seat in front of (Y/N), keeping his eyes lingering on her for a second longer than comfortable. He soon after procured a notebook, tore a sheet out, and began jotting away with a stray pen. As the teacher gave her introductions, Reggie leaned back and stretched over his head, dropping the paper onto the girl’s desk. Baffled, she unfolded it.

Want a date to Cheryl’s?

The girl felt herself grow warm in surprise. Clearly this boy got straight to the point with things, she thought. As she picked up her own pen she saw Archie leaning not so subtly over to get a look at the paper, at which she chuckled softly and moved it out of his view.

Wasn’t planning on going.

She folded the paper neatly up as a student began passing around textbooks, giving her enough of a distraction to pass the paper onto Reggie.

She’d meant what she wrote. Parties weren’t really her scene, especially not one led by the girl who apparently knew everything about everyone. The thought alone made her stomach churn, at which she recalled the note she’d received the night earlier, one she’d stashed away in her dresser the minute she’d gotten inside. Maybe it was someone playing some sick practical joke oh her, or something. Maybe Cheryl knew.

Reggie apparently read over the reply, as he had turned back in his seat to give the girl an unimpressed raise of his brows. He dropped his voice an octave and leaned into her to mouth a quiet reply.

“Change your mind.”

His voice raised a little at the end like it might be posed as a question, but the confidence in his tone simultaneously ruled that out, making it instead appear as a heavily influenced suggestion.

“Mr. Mantle,” the voice from the front of the classroom called sternly again.

He gave an exasperated sigh, running his long fingers through his jet black locks as he gave a disgruntled “ma’am” and resumed his silence.

Archie gave an inaudible scoff, his steely eyes remaining forward for the rest of the class.

. . .

“What did Reggie want?”

Not two seconds after class ended and Archie was on her case about it, blindly trailing her out of the classroom with his fists stuffed cooly into the front pocket of his hoodie.

The girl shrugged half heartedly as they entered the hallway, “he asked to escort me to Cheryl’s.”

“Oh,” Archie said, quickly clearing his throat and trying at it again when he realized it came off sounding upset. “And what’d you say?”

The girl stopped at her locker, leaning against it to look at the stony faced boy and feeling herself getting caught up in his stupid gorgeous eyes.

“N-nothing,” she shook her head with a sharp inhale, “I said I wasn’t going.”

“Oh?” the boy replied.

“Yeah uh, not my thing,” she pursed her lips with a shrug, leaving out the other little part from her reasoning. “Are you going?”

“We are!” a voice exclaimed.

Veronica Lodge seemingly poofed into existence behind Archie, wrapping her arms around his back with a big grin, “right Archiekins?”

She wore a black dress and sleek matching heels, something that, once again, only she could seemingly pull off at school.

Archie blinked down at his girlfriend in surprise, giving her a squeeze back, “uh, yep. We are.”

“Cool,” the girl feigned interest, switching out the books from her locker before shutting it a little too hard.

“Walk you to your next class?” he perked up hopefully.

But the sight before her was making her grow increasingly uncomfortable, and somehow the thought of the two of them trailing behind her to class entwined like that did the opposite of reassure her, so she gave a forced smile and happy wave of her schedule.

“I’ve got it, actually. But, thanks.”

The rest of the day sort of blurred past in a haze. The classes were fine. The people were fine. Everything was… just alright. It didn’t seem like there was anyone or anything in particular to cause her worry. She’d met a few new people, one of whom went by Toni Topaz and fought Reggie off with a textbook when he tried sitting by the girl in calculus. Turns out she was Cheryl’s girlfriend, which she wouldn’t have guessed from their stark differences in personalities, but seemed generally lovely. She’d also sat with Betty, Archie, Jughead, and Veronica at lunch, but felt herself the target for many eyes in the cafeteria, and a major fifth wheel to say the least. At the end of the day, she found herself alone in the halls, at which point she checked the coast before promptly slamming her forehead into the locker with a groan. It was going to be a long year, she knew that much. Taking a deep breath, she aligned her back once more and gathered her thoughts. While going home now was certainly an option, she couldn’t help but recall Archie’s mention of some sort of cheer team. Of course, she had no interest in joining, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t check it out, right? At least, that’s what she told herself as her feet took her striding down the halls and onto the back field, where she was greeted by a blast of light to the eyes.

Shielding her face, she approached the neat green grass and uniform clad girls who were assembling on it. They were led by none other than Cheryl, who was barking inaudibly at them all from a high chair. With her were Toni, Veronica, and about a dozen others. The girl felt her stomach lurch at just the sight of all of them, but what really did it for her was seeing the boys run in from the opposite end of the field, led by Archie, of course, who hadn’t noticed her. His eyes had fallen right on the raven haired girl, not that she was blaming him. The sweaty auburn haired boy, suited full in his football uniform, jogged over to his girlfriend for a short lived embrace and kiss on the lips, which brought the bystanding girl swiftly back to reality. Realizing where she was and the stupidity of what she was doing, she stumbled backwards in a frantic effort to leave. Of course, in her panic, she twisted her ankle and yelped in hurt, drawing attention from all on the field.

“Joining us?” Cheryl snapped from her chair, her big red lips parted.

Archie squinted sunbeams from his brown eyes, an attractive slick dripping from his brows as his mouth hung open in a half smile at her.

“Um,” she yelled back awkwardly, “no.”

“Come on, (Y/N)!” Veronica encouraged with a dazzling flash of her teeth. “Come try out!”

“Yeah!” Archie beamed hopefully.

The girl just stood there, eyes flickering between the teens who stood awaiting her reply. She was suddenly very aware of the blistering heat that chomped at her flesh. And then there came no reply. Rather, she hooked her fingers in her bag straps and bolted back into the doors from which she came before she could answer in full. Panting and red in the cheeks, the girl half-sprinted down the halls in an effort to distance herself from her painfully awkward encounter. She wasn’t halfway out of the school before Betty came bobbing into sight, however.

The peppy blonde smiled a big hello as she interjected her in her path, “what are you doing here?”

The girl stuttered a wordless reply and rubbed at her temple, not sure how to explain what’d just gone through her dumb head. Luckily, Betty seemed to piece the answer together for herself.

“You weren’t trying out for the Vixens, were you?” she chuckled.

“Uh,” the girl laughed sheepishly, “I considered it.”

“And?” Betty smirked knowingly.

“Not for me,” she laughed with embarrassment.

Betty grinned, “don’t worry, me neither. I used to think it was, but the only reason I really joined back in freshman year was because I liked Archie.”

Pure panic ensued.

“Ridiculous, right?” Betty chortled on.

“Yeah,” the girl snorted unconvincingly, “ridiculous.”

Betty arched her brow ever so slightly with faint curiosity, but she dropped it and gave her the benefit of the doubt.

“Anyways, what’re you doing?” the girl asked in an effort to divert the subject.

“Oh, I work yearbook after school sometimes,” Betty explained.

“Ah,” the girl nodded in understanding, her lips pressing together. Then, not having anything else to say, she concluded, “well, have fun!”

But she hadn’t raised a toe before Betty stopped her in her tracks, her pony swinging as she gave her new friend a warm smile and a cheeky perk of her brows, “wanna help?”

. . .

Yearbook was much more her pace. It was calm, organized, came with good company, and most importantly, was air conditioned. Betty walked the girl through her usual procedures, and soon enough they were both at work, sometimes in silence, sometimes making easy conversation. The girl’s creativity along with Betty’s logical practices mingled well. Afterwards, Betty offered the girl a ride, to which she now happily obliged. On their way out of the abandoned classroom they were held up in, the doors down the hall came bursting open, at which point the cheer and football team made its way flooding down their direction. The stench of hot grass and sweat followed them in. At their front, Reggie led the pack, his long black locks plastered to his forehead and his chest heaving as he took swigs of the icy water contained in the bottle he held. The girl made the mistake of stopping in her tracks to stare, gaining her an instant visit from the boy, who swaggered his way over to her as the students passed. Betty’s eyes flicked between Reggie and the girl once, twice, and a third time before she put together what was happening and sauntered in the other direction with a giggle.

“Betty!” she called, “my ride?”

Betty didn’t even turn her head as she replied, “meet me out front when you’re done.”

The girl sucked in an annoyed breath and forced her eyes up to the boy who towered above her, “yes?”

Reggie sniggered, “hey now, sass.”

Her pursed lips softened into the smallest of smiles.

“Reggie,” she said.

“(Y/N),” he beamed back, flashing her one of those killer smiles. “Reconsider my offer?”

The girl gave a sarcastic laugh, “you’re persistent, Mantle.”

His dark eyes flashed with like, “mhm?”

“But I’m still not interested,” she said, running her tongue lightly over her teeth and avoiding eye contact with the impossibly attractive boy before her.

Her gaze, looking for anywhere else to land, settled on Archie, who just now emerged from the pool of light at the end of the hall, his arm loose around his girlfriend’s shoulder. He looked surprisingly clean in comparison to the other boys, she noticed. Likely this was Veronica’s work. The two smiled at each other, inseparable as they made their way down the hall. Archie’s large hazel stare seemed to suddenly gravitate to the girl’s, like he knew she was watching, at which point she snapped her jaw firmly back up to Reggie.

Reggie, unbothered, continued.

“Not true,” he hummed, his lips twitching into that infuriating smirk.

“What’s not?” her brows furrowed in mild aggravation.

“You not being interested,” he shrugged with a tilt of his head.

“Oh yeah, Mantle?” she crinkled her nose and folded her arms.

“Yeah,” he chuckled amusedly, “otherwise you wouldn’t be flirting with me right now.”

Her eyes went steely and her jaw went stiff, the girl’s blood suddenly sounding very loud in her ears as she brushed off his remark with a grumble.

“Come on,” he pleaded, extending his large hands and peeling the girl’s arms from her chests so he could hold her little wrists in them. His eyes softened in menacing adoration, “please?”

Feeling her face flush, she stuttered wordlessly and found her eyes wandering, once again, back to Archie’s. Archie was now standing up against his locker, waiting for her, as Veronica leaned into his front, her view of the two obscured. He seemed to watch her with some sort of unidentifiable expression, his forehead creasing as he observed Reggie’s gentle grip on the girl. But whatever strange thing he was thinking was interrupted by Veronica leaning up to kiss his lips, at which point any trace of him that could be read was stifled.

“Yes,” the girl decided at once.

Reggie’s lips split into one of those huge grins, “wait, really?”

The girl sighed in defeat and tucked a lip between her teeth, “what can I say, Reggie? You’re persistent.”

“YES!”

He whooped, releasing her wrists so he could half dance half punch the air. It was ridiculous. And cute.

The boy beamed down at her and flickered his black eyes over hers, his gaze softening like he wanted to, well, kiss her or something. But like a gentleman, he didn’t. Instead, he once more reached for the girl’s wrist, bringing a hand up to his lips, where he pecked her gently with a stupid little laugh, making her half scowl half chortle in embarrassment.

“Pick you up Friday?” he winked, releasing her.

“Whatever,” she shrugged, not giving him the satisfaction of her flattery as she pursed her lips in an attempt to suppress her smile.

Reggie half walked half skipped down the rest of the hall, turning a good few times to throw her glances as he disappeared out of sight. Once the coast was cleared and the halls had drained empty, Archie’s voice rang out.

“(Y/N),” he said.

She turned to meet him. Veronica now stood beside him, fingers intertwined with the ginger’s ones. Archie looked like he had something sour in his mouth.

“Uh, can I- do you-” he started, his words coming fast and tripping confusedly one after the other. He shook his head and pressed his tongue to his teeth, trying again. “Need a ride?”

She shook her head, “thanks, Archie, but I’m good.”

She gave him a little smile, which he exchanged for a forced one of his own, “alright.”

And he watched her go.

. . .

The ride home was hazy. The girl’s head was swimming with thoughts, the last day playing over in her mind like tapes. Betty exclaimed gleefully at her newfound interest in Reggie, adding that it was no wonder she’d been interested in joining the Vixens. By this she meant to get closer to Reggie, of course. The girl played it off accordingly. After Betty dropped the girl home, she made her way across the stone path towards the little red door. There was a little pep to her step, a hopeful sway that told her maybe this year wouldn’t be so bad after all. But her thoughts were short lived, when they focused instead on the new note that lay upon her doorstep.

I’m watching.

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coeurdastronaute · 3 years

Text

The Story, Ch. 3

Previously on The Story

The heat roared into July without a bit of relief. Days stretched onward without the slightest speck of a cloud in the sky, without the slightest taste of rain for the county. The lawn lost its blush of green, lost its softness, instead growing dry and brittle and angry. The grounds seemed to sweat under the sizzling sun, thwarted from any relief by the burdensome layer of humidity that seemed to weigh everything down further.

Over the course of the week, Dani noted the change in the way the gardener moved through the grounds. Ever with a weary eye no the horizon for any sort of break, she seemed to grow slightly more hopeless with every set back as she attempted to save all of her hard work. Still, day after day she toiled along, and Dani ran out of reasons to see her most days.

The week became a grind where nothing went quite right, though there were no major catastrophes. The kids were slipping back into a mood, despite Dani’s best efforts, and the mythical heat wave didn’t help at all. Lessons weren’t going quite right, and the days were longer, nothing left to do.

So, for the first time in perhaps her life, Dani decided to do something, to make her own moment of happiness. She did this, of course, by prowling the halls while the children were reading their assigned chapters to themselves. She did it with purpose and while almost admitting to herself that she enjoyed her time with the gardener. She hid it in benevolence and worry though, creating excuses in her mind to appear in the tiny room off of the back of the house, the glass roofed green house where a certain gardener could be seen prowling at any given moment.

“It’s boiling in here. I don’t know how you do it,” Dani murmured, making her way down the few steps, careful and with hands full of sweating glasses that dripped on her feet.

“I sweat my bloody tits off, that’s how,” Jamie retorted, not looking up.

“Thought you might need to cool down. It’s lemonade. Don’t worry, Hannah made it.”

Jame cracked half a smile. That might have been Dani’s favorite one, and with that realization she recognized that she must have been cataloging them.

“It’s much appreciated. You’d take the time to think of little old me out here toiling away.”

“It was actually the commotion you seem to make that reminded me.”

“Well, whatever I gotta do, right?” Jamie smiled and accepted the glass, taking a long, long drink and sighing with the relief it brought.

“Seems like it’s been a rough week for you.”

“No rougher than the one before I imagine,” she shrugged, pulling her gloves back on. “Or the one to come.”

Dani watched her shoulder flex, not huge and built, but prominent and there, the muscle slivering beneath her skin. She watched her bicep move with purpose as she dug around. And finally, perhaps most importantly, Dani shamelessly watched the tank top ride up a few inches as Jamie reached for something on the shelf. And Dani gulped before blinking and staring at her drink.

“Haven’t seen you around much.”

“Not much for me to do, unfortunately. Just watering everything I can, all damn day.”

“Your starts are lovely though. I mean, your hard work shows. I’m sorry it hasn’t been easy.”

Dismissive of any form of praise, Jamie just shrugged and returned to the pot.

“They’re accustomed to this kind of thing, you know,” Jamie explained, elbow deep in a pot of soil. “Drought. Sun. Wind. Even the most fragile thing was made to withstand more than it thinks. I’m just trying to help them along as best I can.”

“It’ll break soon.”

“Now you sound like me.”

“I like to believe in the inevitably of rain. Even now, it feels like one of the few sure things in life,” Dani decided, earning a smile.

Jamie dragged her forearm against her brow, a streak of dirt appearing above her eye. She searched the au pair, to see if there was a hint of teasing in the line, but recognized the hope she once felt, as well.

“You okay, Poppins?”

“The kids are a little off. They’re bickering more than ever, and I’m getting more attitude from Miles than I have before. I offered to take them swimming in the pond again, and they about lost their minds--”

“This pond? Here?”

“The one behind the old stables,” Dani nodded, furrowing at the look Jamie gave her as she paused her digging.

“Did no one tell you about Becca?” She shook her head and Jamie sighed. “We found her body in the pond. That pond. Or rather, Flora did. They won’t go back to it.”

“Jesus… I didn’t know.”

“I don’t know if I would ever go back in. I don’t even like looking at it, I get so mad.” As if to accent her words, she shoved more dirt in, pushing harder. Dani felt her attempt at cheering up the gardener begin to backfire. “When I pulled her out… there was just… We did what we could.”

“I thought I was escaping tragedies, and I keep bumping into them it seems,” Dani bit her lip, tightening them as she fret over it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

The guilt bubbled up, for bringing it up, for learning this about Jamie when Dani doubted she wanted it to be known. She thought of the gardener, soaked in her overalls, carrying the body of the former au pair out of the water. The way that must have hurt.

“I’m alright. The kids are doing better. You came along and have really done a number on the whole place, if we’re being honest.”

“I don’t know if I can take any credit.”

“You should. You have. Even for me.”

From her spot leaning against the work table, Dani fiddled with the worn wood, ran her thumb along the knots and grooves. She knew she was blushing which she also knew, for some reason, only made Jamie look at her more intently.

“I don’t know what to do for them now, though. They’re just…”

“Cooped up kids in a long, hot summer. Just let them be kids.”

It wasn’t exceptional advice, but Dani felt better for hearing, for learning that sometimes there wasn’t a solution, or worse yet, perhaps there wasn’t even a problem for her to solves.

“There is a place for a swim though, if you’re up for it,” Jamie offered without looking up from the pot she was arranging. “Not really appropriate for the wee ones. A little bit of a hike.”

“I don’t know if I should leave them for any amount of time. They’re about to burst.”

“You worry too much, did you know that?”

“I worry just the right amount, actually.”

Jamie laughed, one big ha.

“You fret. It’s adorable, but you do.”

“It’s not-- I don’t-- They’re my responsibility.”

“Hannah can watch them this evening, and you know it,” Jamie reminded her. “You haven’t left the grounds since you arrived. It’s been three months of being an au pair. You can have a moment.”

“You’re a rotten influence. I came in to cheer you up, and I’m corrupted now.”

“That’s the spirit,” Jamie nodded. Her spirit had been lifted. “I’ll meet you at the front gate at eight tonight.”

“I have to see--”

Somehow, Dani realized too late that Jamie was so close, in her space, eye to eye and intimidating in a way that made the au pair want to never move again because it was incredibly thrilling. It’d been a stretch to go without human connection.

“You can’t just fix everyone here, and not allow yourself some of that. I’ll see you at eight,” the gardener insisted, reaching around the frozen body, snagging a large sack, swinging it over her shoulder in one fluid motion.

She backed toward the door outside of the green house as Dani just watched it happen.

“I heard you were a good time once.”

“Eight.”

Before she could say anything else, to argue or confirm, Jamie walked out with a smile over her shoulder. Dani watched the gloves in her back pocket bounce and sighed, for the first time, audibly and defeated as sweat ran down her back in the sweltering room. She was still running, even if she didn’t realize it. Jamie made her see alternatives.

In the distance, Jamie disappeared behind an ivy wall, and Dani finally made herself leave the green house. The tickle at the base of her sternum felt nice.

XXXXXXXXXX

In the dark, Dani stood at the front gate, monstrous and wrought as it was, unsure of what she was doing there, leaving the grounds and the children, off to some undisclosed location with a relative stranger. Though, Dani reasoned with herself, Jamie didn’t particularly feel like a stranger. She felt like a book she’d once read but forgotten and rediscovered. She was understood, if not at all completely remembered word-for-word. There was an inherent safety and comfortableness with the gardener that Dani couldn’t quite place, and yet she didn’t know her birthday. Couldn’t even begin to imagine if she was right or left handed, wasn’t certain if she liked to read or enjoyed crappy tv.

Behind the bleachers at the ninth grade dance, Dani kissed a girl. Neither ever spoke of it again, and Dani wasn’t sure she’d ever beat the feeling of having feelings and beating them back, deep into the bottom corner of her heart.

Jamie felt like she was prying that open again, and it was exhilarating and also something insanely easy to overthink. There weren’t any bleachers at Bly Manor.

The truck rumbled up the road, stopping before Dani had too much time to fully address the trail of thought she’d just found herself toying with. With a squeal of the breaks it stopped. Jamie slipped across the seat to open the door.

“Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Dani resolved, hopping into the cab and offering a smile in the dark.

The lights from the dashboard made the truck glow, and Jamie hadn’t changed since earlier. There was dirt on her neck now, but she remained unchanged by whatever happened in the hours between the morning and now.

“There’s not much out here, so you haven’t missed anything,” Jamie said as she changed the gear and shifted until they were going down the road.

“I don’t mind. It’s a nice change of pace honestly.”

Already there was a quiet between them as they trudged along. Dani took a deep breath and looked out toward the darkness, but couldn’t make out much minus the shadows of trees and the beam of the moon. But she didn’t fight it, as she normally would, hoping to escape any kind of quiet for too long.

It was a short trip, just a few minutes up the road until Jamie heaved the wheel, turning them toward a pasture where she parked beside a fence.

“I don’t understand,” Dani squinted to see what she was missing. “I don’t see anything.”

“We’ll go on foot for a little bit,” Jamie explained as she hopped out. “I thought you were up for a little adventure.”

“I am! I am.”

Scurrying, Dani followed, taking Jamie’s hand to help her over the rails of the fence. She didn’t let go for a few more steps; until she caught her balance, she told herself. Jamie led them across the field, directing the best path away from the fence and the trees by the road.

The heat stuck around from the day. In the distance, clouds formed, billowing and bulbous and just out of reach. They illuminated with static shocks every few seconds.

“Looks like the rain is coming.”

“Just heat lightning,” Jamie tossed over her shoulder, not pausing to give it too much attention. “But soon.”

“I never thought I’d miss rain as much as I do this summer.”

“In a few months we’ll beg for this much sun.”

“We’re never pleased, are we?”

“Occasionally, and only for a very short amount of time.”

“Do you ever think we’ll talk about anything other than the weather?” Dani tried.

“Is there anything more pressing at the moment?”

She never stopped moving, but Dani tripped slightly over the uneven field while Jamie pushed forward up the gentle hill, ever farther away from the car and the fence and the known.

“Where are you from?”

Jamie stopped moving so quickly that Dani nearly bumped into her. She turned around, her face barely visible in the night, but smiling as she snorted at the shift in their conversation.

“That’s what’s on your mind?”

“I don’t know anything about you,” Dani shrugged. “I’m curious.”

“I heard that doesn’t go well for cats.”

“You don’t answer questions, you know? You skip past or say something to distract from them. It’s almost like you’re doing it as a reflex.”

It seemed to have hit a spot as they walked for a few moments in the silence of their shoes clomping through the grass and the heaving breathing that came with the exertion of the hike. She didn’t want to, but Jamie seemed to admit to herself that maybe she did that, and maybe it was perhaps the most innate thing about herself, to defer, to deflect, to keep it all. She didn’t willingly keep herself a mystery, but rather preserved herself.

“It’s a small suburb, a hamlet, really. Fallholt. Nothing there but coal dust and bitterness.”

“How far is it from Bly?”

“About three hours north. Do you feel like you understand my entire being now with this tidbit?”

“It’s a start.”

While she wanted to sound annoyed, Jamie didn’t seem to mind telling the au pair anything about herself. The problem came with the fact that she held so much of herself so tightly in her hands, it was proving difficult to wretch the words from herself, to wrestle anything free to give up. So well-practiced was she in the art of hiding herself away, that even when she gave herself permission to speak, it was impossible.

“Are you right handed or left handed?”

“Seriously, Dani?”

“Curious.”

“Righty.”

Triumphant with this knowledge, Dani caught up to the longer strides of the gardener until she saw the moonlight reflecting off of the water halfway down the other side of the hill.

“That’s where we’re going?” she asked in disbelief.

“I promised you a pond.”

“Is this someone’s property?”

“Isn’t everything someone’s property?” Jasmine asked innocently. “Do you think they’ll mind two trespassers?”

“Probably.”

“Maybe,” she agreed. “If they find out. Come on. I’m sick of sweating.”

Before she could lodge her first protestation, Dani watched as Jamie started walking toward the pond. She doubled her own steps to catch up a minute later, though by then the gardener was already tugging off her shoes.

By the time she reached the water’s edge, Jamie had created a pile of her boots and socks and unbuttoned part of her shorts before turning around to the au pair. Much more carefully, Dani put her shoes on the ground and looked warily over the water.

“Um, where can I cha--”

Dani watched as Jamie tugged her top off and add it to the pile.

“Let’s go, Poppins. I’m not going in alone.”

“Right, yeah,” she nodded quickly and began working at her own shirt, turning around to give some semblance of privacy.

Over her shoulder, Dani looked quickly as she unbuttoned her shorts to see a gardener run and jump off of the small pier lit only by moonlight and heat lightening, clad only in a bra and underwear. The splash echoed across the empty field until she popped back up with a laugh and hiss at the chill.

From the water, Jamie tossed her hair out of her face and tread, watching the form of the au pair wrap her arms around her middle and walk out onto the pier.

“It looks cold.”

“It is,” Jamie nodded, splashing an armful of water towards her, making her squeal. “It feels wonderful.”

She worked exceedingly hard to keep her eyes trained on Dani’s. That was the polite and proper thing to do, and despite it all, Jamie worked hard to be just those things, despite what even she believed about herself.

“Is there a ladder or steps?”

“Good time, huh? Just jump. I promise to rescue you if need be.”

“I can swim.”

“Prove it.”

There was a debate, some internal convincing before Dani stood there and pinched her nose, taking the leap a second later with much less force, but coming up with the same hiss and chattering teeth.

“How is it s-s-s-so cold?”

“Isn’t it great?” Jamie decided, taking a few strokes lazily around the newly bobbing body. “Haven’t felt this cool in weeks. I think I was overheating completely. My brain was about to melt.”

“It does feel better than this afternoon did. Is there anything in this? Like fish?”

“Oh, probably a few. Maybe some snapping turtles. Maybe some wee beasties on the hunt of trespassers.”

Jamie skimmed along the water as Dani turned around to follow her.

“That’s not funny.”

With a mischievous grin, the gardener slipped beneath the water. Not a ripple remained of her, not a bubble as Jamie peered into the dark water as if it would help. Too long seemed to pass before she called out. Her leg was pulled a moment later, dipping her under. She came up splashing and shoving at the warm body.

“That’s really not funny,” Dani complained with a laugh.

“You could have fooled me,” Jamie laughed as well. “Don’t worry. Just you and me and maybe a few sleeping minnows.”

“So long as they’re sleeping.”

The water grew more comfortable, losing that biting chill that came to especially overheated bodies. Despite a few splashes earned for her not funny jokes, the pair simply glided around, enjoying the stars and the evening, falling into a relatively calm quiet. The groaning of bull frogs on the banks and the crickets in the field made more than enough noise.

But Jamie couldn't help but feel the need to say words, something she was beginning to dislike. Silence never bothered her. She’d learned long ago not to fill it up with too much because it was a gift.

“I think you know plenty about me,” Jamie muttered as they floated, relaxing in the cool chill of the water on their overheated skin. Dani stretched, pulling herself through the water and furrowing at the blurted comment. “Earlier… you said I deflected. Like a reflex.”

“You’re a tightly shut book. But I don’t mind.”

Jamie dipped her smile into the water to hide it before wetting her face, running her hands over it to further hide any blush.

“Where are you from?” she asked as Dani slicked back her hair.

“A suburb of Chicago. Not too big, not too small. Perfectly average in every single way a town could hope to be.”

“And you really were a teacher?”

“Mhm,” Dani nodded, shifting, skimming through the water. “Fourth grade. Started teaching immediately after college.”

“How do you like it here?”

“This might be the most questions you’ve ever asked me.”

“Might be the most I’ve asked in my entire life,” Jamie agreed. “You’re not exactly an open book either, you know.”

The two bodies rotated around each other. The moon shined on slick shoulders, danced in the ripples they created. Neither looked away from the other, just floated along in an even harmony.

“I like Bly. I love the manor. I appreciate everyone being so welcoming. I hadn’t thought of that part, but it’s been a nice surprise. And the children are… they’re special. They’re in so much pain sometimes, and they just don’t know what to do with it all. But they’re still so inquisitive and eager.”

“Kids are resilient,” Jamie agreed.

“It gets harder though, doesn’t it? To bounce back?”

“Yeah. It does.”

Dani nodded to herself and took a deep breath before closing her eyes and leaning back slightly.

“Thank you,” she finally offered, finding Jamie’s face in the water as it gazed at the heat lightning rolling toward the west. “For showing me this.”

“Couldn’t let you melt, could I?”

“I suppose not.”

Dani pulled herself onto the pier finally, hoping to dry in the humidity and heat while the looming grey clouds flashed beyond the tree line, retreating somewhat from their threatening posture. She wrung out her hair and huddled slightly, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on it.

Not wanting to leave the relief of the water, Jamie hung on the edge, letting her legs hang lazily, her hips remaining under the water. She rested her cheek on her arm as she stayed there.

“What if I just want to forget everything from before?” Dani whispered, almost too quiet, almost as if it were an absent thought. “I don’t mean to be dismissive, I just… what if I want to not be or remember all of that?”

It was only when she met Jamie’s eyes did the gardener realize she was waiting for an answer, that it wasn’t just a dream.

“I don’t know if you can.”

Dani nodded, not enjoying the answer.

“But I think it gets easier, sometimes,” she continued, hoping to provide some kind of relief. “It’s exhausting to keep running, isn’t it? I tried. I still do sometimes. But I think at one point I just stopped. I stood there and let it all tackle me, and it sucked. I didn’t enjoy it. But I got to walk afterward. And it wasn’t so tiring anymore.”

“I know who I want to be, I just don’t know if I can get there, away from it.”

“You can.”

“How do you know?”

“If I can survive it, I know you can. You’re much tougher than I, Poppins.”

To accent her words, Jamie tugged a toe, making a leg flop back into the water. Jame rolled her eyes and splashed with a kick, the girl who hid on the other side of the pier.

“What if I’m not who you think I am?”

“Who ever is?”

“You can’t keep answering questions with questions to make yourself sound wise.”

“Can’t I?” Jamie asked, pushing herself away until she floated on her back a little more.

The moonlight was at its brightest in that moment, and Dani watched the pale skin of the gardener’s torso shimmer beneath the water. She lost the tan lines and curls, and was smooth and at peace. Like a fountain, she arched water from her mouth, grinning as she did. A true dichotomy of freedom and fear, all in one person.

Dani stood once again, ready to keep running, at least for another night. She took a step back before launching herself with a laugh at the gardener. In a splash, they disappeared beneath the water, emerging only a second later with giggles and swearing and splashing.

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