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weighty-ghosts · 3 years

Text

‘Stolen Kisses’ (wolfstar)

Stolen Kisses, by weightyghosts

“It felt like there was a constant tension in the air, an anticipation, like they were hanging in the balance, waiting for something to push them in the right direction. The problem was, Remus didn’t know which direction was the right one.”

Rating: Teen

Word count: 2706

Pairing: Remus x Sirius

Published: March 3, 2021

Warnings: None

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29811711

“I can’t believe you’ve never let us visit before!”

“He’s been keeping the muggles all to himself, I tell you.”

“The height of betrayal!”

Remus rolled his eyes at his ridiculous friends as they strolled down the main road of the quaint village near his family’s house, feeling lazy and languid with the summer sun beating down on them.

“Muggles are brilliant,” James stated, his voice full of wonder as he stared with open fascination at everything there was to see. “I mean, look, look!” He stopped to point at the window of an appliance store, and Sirius peeked curiously over his shoulder, “What even is that?”

“It’s a dishwasher, James,” Remus patiently informed him.

“Wow… Brilliant, I tell you! The things muggles invent!”

“James!” Remus admonished as James’ voice had been rising to a shout, “Keep it down! What was rule #3 when I said you could visit?”

James looked back at him sheepishly and the three boys recited the third rule Remus had laid out in his last letter to them.

“‘Don’t break the International Statute of Secrecy and force the Ministry to obliviate my neighbours,’” they quoted in chorus.

“That’s right,” Remus nodded, “Now behave or I won’t show you the toy store.”

“No, ” Peter whined, “I want to find out what a kazoo is!”

James blinked at Peter, then leaned in to Sirius to ask under his breath, “The bloody hell is a kazoo?”

“Merlin if I know,” Sirius shrugged, “Wormtail?”

“I just said I don’t know!”

“We’ll be good, Moony,” Sirius said to Remus with an angelic smile as they set off again down the street, “Don’t worry.”

There were a lot of things Remus had worried about when James had insisted he, Sirius, and Peter were coming to stay at the Lupin’s for a week in August, but getting into trouble wasn’t one of them; he knew it would happen regardless. Remus was more concerned about Sirius. More specifically, his inescapable feelings for Sirius.

Something had changed over the course of their sixth year at Hogwarts, and at first Remus thought it was a result of what Sirius had done the year prior; their friendship was strained and rocky for a long time afterwards, but eventually, it somehow brought them closer. The closer they got, the more Remus realized just how different his relationship with Sirius was than with anyone else.

By the end of last term, Remus could hardly stand to be alone with him. It felt like there was a constant tension in the air, an anticipation, like they were hanging in the balance, waiting for something to push them in the right direction. The problem was Remus didn’t know which direction was the right one.

“Let’s stop in here,” he said suddenly, desperate for a distraction, and gestured to a corner store they were walking by. “I’ll get us some lemonades.”

“Thank Merlin, it’s hot as dragon’s breath out here,” Peter complained, pulling on the collar of his shirt to try and get some air on his skin.

Remus held the door to the shop open as the others shuffled through, and Sirius winked at him as he passed. “Such a gentleman, Moony.”

“Who said chivalry is dead?” Remus replied, walking in after him, and if Remus’ cheeks were a little pink, it must have been from the sun; certainly not from Sirius winking at him.

Peter and James had quickly disappeared down one of the aisles, and Remus found himself wandering around with Sirius.

“Do you actually know what all this stuff is?” Sirius inquired, squinting at the muggle items on the shelves.

“Yes,” Remus laughed, “Of course.” There was something tugging at his heart at the sight of Sirius in such mundane surroundings; he was so out of place here, with his magic practically radiating off of him, and yet, Remus felt like it suited him, like he could naturally fit in if he wanted to.

“I reckon James was wrong,” Sirius mused, breaking through Remus’ thoughts, as he reached out to pick something up from a shelf. “I think muggles are barmy. I mean, who would ever want beans in a can?” He showed the can to Remus as if it were an offensive old shoe. “Or corn! Why is there corn in a can, Moony?”

Remus couldn’t help the bubbles of laughter that escaped him as Sirius showed him more and more banal pieces of muggle life.

“No!” Sirius gasped, “No, tell me I’m not looking at canned tuna!”

Remus swallowed his giggles and adopted a somber demeanor, “I wouldn’t want to lie to you.”

“Moony! That is horrifying! How does a fish even fit in that tiny thing? This is absolute madness.”

“I know you’re used to food magically appearing in front of you, Padfoot,” Remus mocked, his voice dripping with condescension, “Literally by magic, but the other half of the world has to cook it for themselves.”

“I know that!” he cried indignantly, then raised his chin in the air, “I know all about cooking, thank you. James’ mum and I cooked scones the other day.”

“Baked. You baked scones.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s what I said, but aren’t you impressed?”

“I am,” Remus acknowledged, pretending to focus on a box of candy rings, “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Moony.”

Remus stilled and looked back at Sirius, who seemed to be standing closer to him than a moment ago. There was something about the way he spoke that made Remus think they were talking about two different things.

“Really,” Remus quipped, trying to keep his voice steady, “You think after six and a half years I don’t know everything about you?”

“I know you don’t.”

“You’re saying there are hidden depths to Sirius Black?” Remus certainly felt as if he were losing his footing and tumbling into those same depths.

“I can’t help that I’m a complex, intriguing person, Moony,” Sirius purred, his head tilted to the side.

“I suppose-”

“LADS!”

They jumped a foot in the air as James whipped around the corner with Peter in tow. Remus noticed Sirius taking a significant step backwards; he hadn’t realized they’d been leaning in so close together.

“What is it, Prongs?” Sirius asked with a smile on his face, though it seemed a little forced.

“Have you seen the crisps aisle?”

“No, we were busy looking at cans of fish.”

“What? That’s nasty- no,” James cringed but shook the unpleasant image out of his head and rallied with enthusiasm, “You have to come see all the different kinds of crisps. Pads, remember crisps? Remember we had them last summer?”

“I remember.”

“There’s a barbecue flavour! I don’t even know what barbecue is but I have to taste it! Come on!”

Sirius sent a quick smile Remus’ way and let James tug him back to the wonder that was the crisps aisle. Peter also smiled at Remus (he was always happy when James was happy), and they followed the other two boys, drawn by the excited noises they were making. Well, James was making.

“Salt and vinegar, Pads! We have to try it. Get one of each-”

“You should send some to Lily!” Peter suggested eagerly, then dropped his voice, “She’s muggleborn; I bet she loves crisps.”

James dropped the bags he was holding and grabbed Peter’s face, planting a big, sloppy kiss on each of his cheeks, much to his delight.

“Brilliant, Pete! Yes! We’ll get one of each for us, and one of each for Lily-”

“Er...James?” Remus asked hesitantly, “How are you planning on paying for all that? Did you bring any muggle money?”

James’ face fell like Remus had just told him his favourite broom had been smashed to pieces.

“I left it in my bag at your place. Oh, no! This is a disaster.”

“Relax, mate,” Sirius placated, then turned to Remus, “Can’t we take the stuff now and come back with the money later?”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Remus chuckled, shaking his head at Sirius’ ignorance.

“Well…” Sirius was looking at James’ dejected face, and Remus could see the cogs in his mind turning, thinking of possible solutions to their problem. “We could-”

“No hexing the shopkeeper!” Remus quickly interjected, peering over the shelves to the middle-aged woman reading a magazine behind the cash register.

“Alright, alright,” Sirius rolled his eyes, “We’ll just have to come back later, eh James?”

“I guess,” James sighed dramatically.

“But in the meantime…” Sirius paused meaningfully, and James’ eyes began to light up at the mischievous grin on Sirius’ face, “How about a game?” Remus groaned inwardly and prayed that whatever plan he was concocting didn’t involve breaking the law; muggle or magic.

“I dare you to knick something,” Sirius challenged.

Remus should have known better.

“Knick what?” James asked, his calculating eyes darting to the items around them.

“Anything. But just one item.”

“Done,” James accepted easily, “But you have to do it too.”

“Done.”

“Wormy? Moony? Care to join in?”

Sirius laughed. “As if Moony is going to steal-”

“I’m in,” Remus announced. He smiled at Sirius’ dumbfounded expression as James convinced Peter, and Remus leaned in closer to him to whisper, “I’m a complex and intriguing person too, Padfoot. There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

He watched as Sirius’ eyes flicked down to his mouth, and Remus bit his bottom lip as his stomach contracted with a sudden, almost painful intensity.

“Alright!” James pronounced loudly, and Remus and Sirius jumped apart again, “Off you go, and let’s meet in the alley beside that dish-cleaner-”

“Dishwasher.”

“-Dishwasher shop,” James finished, and immediately snatched up a small bag of crisps, shoved it under his shirt, and skipped out of the store while thanking the shopkeeper for her excellent service.

Remus and Peter were left staring at the closing door with their mouths agape.

Sirius was smirking with pride and amusement, then turned to Peter. “Go on, Wormy,” Sirius nudged him, “Do it quickly before the nice muggle lady gets suspicious and calls the muggle Aurors on you.”

Peter gulped audibly, sweat starting to drip down his temples, and turned frantically down the next aisle.

“I don’t know why I’m friends with you, honestly.”

Sirius grinned at Remus. “Because life is always interesting when I’m around, Moons.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Remus teased, his stomach doing another flip at the other boy’s brilliant smile. They began to meander through the shop as nonchalantly as possible, and again Remus felt like he was standing at a crossroads with Sirius; torn between two paths, two possible directions with two different outcomes, and someone had to make a choice before it was too late.

“So,” Sirius stopped abruptly and turned to face Remus, “Have you decided?”

“What?” Remus asked sharply, having a wild thought that Sirius had somehow read his mind.

“Have you decided what you’re going to knick?”

“Oh, right, maybe-”

“You going to pay for that, then?”

Sirius and Remus swiftly stood on their tiptoes to look over to where Peter was frozen in front of the door to the shop, beet red, with a package of black licorice sticking out of his back pocket. The woman was leaning casually over the cash register, gazing at Peter with a mixture of exasperation and entertainment.

“I-I’m sorry!” Peter squeaked, as he whipped the licorice out and threw it on the counter, “I’m sorry! I don’t want- I’m not- I- Sorry!” And he ran out the door.

Sirius burst out laughing, and Remus tried to shush him so as not to draw attention, although he knew the woman was already watching them closely.

“Hush, Sirius!” Remus' voice shook as he tried to contain his own laughter.

“Poor Pete,” Sirius crowed, wiping a fake tear from his eye, “He’s never very good under pressure is he?”

“You are a terrible person.”

“Good thing you love me anyway,” he grinned.

Remus watched as Sirius realized what he’d said, his cheeks flushing pink and his smile wavering, and he tried to lean coolly against a shelf of sweets. Remus wished he knew what to say, although he was pretty sure his throat was closing up on him so he wouldn’t have been able to anyway. They stood awkwardly looking at their feet, waiting again, waiting for a push in the right direction.

“You know, it’s now or never, Moony.”

Remus’ head whipped up and he stared into Sirius’ striking eyes.

“N-now or never?”

“Yeah, you better choose quick,” Sirius explained, his voice low, and Remus once again felt as if they were talking about something else. “What are you doing to take, Moony?”

Remus didn’t have to ask Sirius what he would steal; he had snatched up Remus’ heart long ago. With that realization, he knew what to do; Remus had to be the one to choose which direction was right, and he had to be the one to push them towards it.

He glanced around them for a moment, then slowly stepped up in front of Sirius, bringing them almost toe to toe. He reached forward, his eyes sliding from Sirius’ to the shelf over his shoulder, and he heard Sirius’ breath catch as he leaned close, close enough to feel the warmth from each other’s bodies, and smell the sweat on each other’s skin.

Remus was acutely aware of Sirius’ eyes on him as he kept moving until they were almost cheek to cheek, and he turned his head at the last second, capturing Sirius’ lips in a quick kiss that tasted like honey and summer.

He pulled back, grinning at Sirius’ shocked face, and turned away abruptly, leaving Sirius standing there stunned. He floated over to the refrigerators, feeling like he was flying on the fastest of brooms, and grabbed four lemonades. He brought them to the counter, where the woman eyed him with suspicion, before smiling knowingly when Remus overpaid for the drinks and told her to keep the change.

Sirius, still slightly dazed, followed Remus out of the shop and around the corner to the alley where James and Peter were waiting. Peter was leaning against the wall, trying to calm his breathing, and James was patting his shoulder comfortingly, biting his cheek to try and stop from laughing.

“He’ll be fine,” James reassured.

“Have a lemonade, Pete,” Remus said, holding one out to him, which Peter accepted gratefully. Remus handed a bottle to James, then to Sirius, who blinked up at him as he accepted his drink, his face soft and vulnerable.

“So?” James inquired, “What’d you steal, then?”

“Er,” Sirius cleared his throat and looked over at James, “Muggle chewing gum.”

“Nice. And you, Moony?”

Sirius glanced at Remus nervously, but Remus simply put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar, holding it up for them to see, smiling wryly.

“Ha!” James laughed, “Of course.” He threw his arm around Peter to steady him, and guided him out of the alley, muttering affirmations as they started down the street towards the toy shop Remus had promised to take them to.

“When did you grab that?” Sirius quietly asked when they were alone, walking at a distance from the other two.

“When I was stealing something else.”

He looked over at Sirius to see him smiling almost shyly, something Remus had rarely seen before, and he knew he would never tire of it; that private smile, one that was just for him.

“It can’t have been better than the chocolate you swiped, though,” Sirius quipped.

“It might’ve been,” he teased.

“Probably difficult to compare,” Sirius tapped his chin thoughtfully, his eyes full of mischief, “When you only had a quick taste... Sounds like we should do a more thorough test, Moony.”

“Yeah,” Remus agreed, his mind reeling and cheeks flushing at the implications, “Yeah, I think we should, Padfoot”

Remus brushed his hand against Sirius’, leaving a tingling sensation along his skin as they hurried to catch up to James and Peter. He was warm all over, not just from the brilliant sun high above them, and couldn’t wipe the smile off his face, feeling confident that the path he was finally leading them down was the right one.

#wolfstar #wolfstar fanfiction #ficbyweightyghosts #wolfstar fluff #fanfic #marauders #padfoot x moony #remus lupin #sirius black #james potter #peter pettigrew #summer boys #boys in love #first kiss #harry potter

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punkscowardschampions · 3 years

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Rio & Buster

Rio: I found out who my stalker is

Buster: So tell me

Rio: Lexie

Buster: You’re sure?

Rio: Oh yeah

Rio: [show the texts from ‘Lexie’]

Buster: Jesus Christ

Rio: She kept denying it

Rio: despite the fact she literally sent that text whilst we’re all out together

Rio: Why? Why would she do this, I don’t get it

Buster: Are the denials all she said?

Rio: Yeah, she said she didn’t even send that text, like, how fucking stupid does she think I am

Rio: Oh my God

Buster: How stupid is she, you mean, or how up herself that she reckons you’ll believe she’s important enough to be the centre of a bullshit plot to frame her for something she didn’t do

Rio: Seriously

Rio: I trusted her, that’s what I can’t get my head around

Rio: this has been going on for years now

Rio: why’d she decide to out herself now, because that’s what it is

Rio: she wanted to get caught so why is she denying it still

Buster: You were friends for those years, ‘course you trusted her, she didn’t give you any reason not to, me either when I’ve been around her and I’ve been surrounded by untrustworthy cunts for nearly as long

Buster: It doesn't make sense that she wouldn’t just own it, like, but maybe we can make the timing fit at least, what’s been happening before tonight? Talk me through it

Rio: I mentioned before, that she said someone was fucking with her, making weird online stuff but also being around her house and everything

Rio: She started saying that when Liam and Edie got together, so we thought it might’ve been related to that

Rio: Maybe she thought I was onto her… Because I told her about my situation, she could have thought I was letting her know I knew

Rio: When in reality I had no fucking clue

Buster: And she obviously needed help to keep it going if you were, hence the message

Rio: You don’t think other people were involved, do you?

Buster: It would be a reason to keep denying everything if she was protecting someone else, but I don’t know why she wouldn’t be contacting them instead to throw you off, what would be the need to try and recruit yet another person?

Rio: so I can’t trust any of my friends actually, great

Rio: none of this makes sense, she has no reason to do this unless she’s just hated me this whole time

Rio: which again, is a really nice thought

Buster: You can trust me

Buster: but yeah, it’s fucked, and I’d feel better if you came here until we can work out if any more of your friends are involved or if this is actually over now

Rio: I can’t, schools about to start

Rio: she can’t do anything now

Rio: I know it’s her

Buster: She could get someone else to do something, if her move is gonna be to keep acting like she’s innocent, and she reckons that’ll prove it

Buster: Come on, we can easily sort school, get them to send your work for you or whatever, they’d do it if you were sick

Rio: What have I done to deserve this

Buster: Baby, don’t

Buster: you know it’s nothing you’ve done

Rio: This doesn’t just happen to anyone

Rio: something I did or do or represent to them has made them do this

Buster: It can, you’ve read everything I have, total strangers see someone in a park and decide to stalk them based off of literally nothing, it’s not your fault Rio and it never has been

Buster: shit’s been happening ‘cause Lexie caused it, not you, she decided to do this years ago for reasons we might never fucking get, but regardless of what they are, you don’t deserve any of it

Rio: but she isn’t a stranger

Rio: that’s best-case scenario and that isn’t what this is

Rio: she was a friend

Rio: I should’ve known

Buster: It doesn’t mean her answers would make any more sense than someone’s off the street, there’s a chance it’s a long held jealousy of how beautiful and kind and loved you are, but there’s equal odds it wasn’t that deep and she was having fun with it

Buster: She wasn’t your friend, but you’re not in the wrong for not knowing something unknowably fucked, you’ve always seen the best in people and her exploiting that is the worst-case scenario possible, not something you should just be able to predict

Rio: I’m not

Rio: I’m a fucking joke and everyone thinks it

Rio: that’s all this has proved

Rio: because it wasn’t fun for me

Buster: Fuck anyone who thinks that, all this has proved is she’s cracked

Rio: I can’t do this no more I swear

Rio: If I just stop it all, then they will

Buster: Get on the flight I’m booking you, you don’t have to do anything else after, I’ll make how this feels stop and deal with it if you wanna go back for the start of school, but until then, I can take care of you and you’ll be safe

Rio: I can’t

Rio: It isn’t even my night, it was meant to be about Edie and she’s ruined it and now I have to fix it

Buster: Edie’ll be letting her boyfriend fix it, you don’t need to take that on as well

Rio: That won’t help my relationship with her, if I just run away and do nothing

Buster: Long as you don’t throw your phone into the sea you ain’t running away or doing nothing, like you said, summer’s basically over, how much do you reckon you’ll see her while she’s out making the most of what’s left

Rio: you’ve still not forgiven Nancy for leaving

Rio: it would be the same

Buster: It’s not even close, you’d be going back, and giving a shit while you were here

Rio: because give it a week and it’ll all blow over?

Rio: it’s been too long to keep kidding ourselves like that

Rio: I need actual solutions, to actually do something

Buster: That ain’t fair or how it is, taking some time to see if any more of your friends come out of the woodwork as stalkers is working towards a solution, not to mention giving yourself some space, and me the opportunity, to help you deal with the fact one of them already has doesn’t make either of us the bad guy

Rio: Liam’s going to help

Rio: and I’ve said I’ll take them out to apologize

Buster: You didn’t ruin Edie’s night, you’ve got fuck all to apologise for

Rio: How would you know, you aren’t here

Rio: She didn’t even invite me herself, then I invite a load of people including Lexie who make it all about themselves and this bullshit, of course I ruined her night

Buster: You invited loads of your friends so there’d be a big crowd to support her, I don’t have to be there to know that, I know you

Rio: yeah but it backfired so it doesn’t matter what I was trying to do

Buster: ‘Course it does, Edie’s not stupid, she’ll get what you were trying to do

Rio: It’s not that simple

Buster: Nothing’s gonna be if you keep overthinking it

Rio: Overthinking, yeah

Buster: Edie’ll be fine, will you?

Rio: I’m not fine but you basically telling me to calm down isn’t helping

Buster: Why would I tell you to do anything when you’re not listening to a word I say

Rio: It’s like you believe her

Rio: just because she says it isn’t her, doesn’t mean it isn’t

Rio: it could be over, why do you have to make it so all my friends are now in on it

Buster: Yeah, it could be over and I’d still want you here, ‘cause like you fucking had to remind me I wasn’t there tonight

Rio: It’s just my life here is the life that’s fucked

Rio: I could go to yours and ignore everyone and everything and pretend everything’s perfect but where is that getting me

Buster: With me, but okay, I’ll get on the plane then

Rio: I’m not going to be any fun

Rio: if that wasn’t apparent

Buster: I don’t stop loving you when it stops being fun, in case that wasn’t apparent

Rio: It makes my skin crawl, how close she’s been this whole time

Buster: I know, babe

Buster: if it was a lad I could’ve killed ‘em, I’m fucking useless with how this has played out

Rio: A lad would’ve been easier for me too

Rio: at least I’d know why

Buster: Can you remember fuck all about what she was like when it started?

Rio: It was so long ago

Rio: Hang on

Rio: that might actually be a lead

Buster: What might?

Rio: She was going out with Liam

Buster: It’s not a coincidence, like, it can’t be, this was Edie’s night and now you blame yourself for it being ruined

Rio: but if she still likes him, why not stalk him this whole time

Rio: maybe it isn’t just her after-all

Buster: You said he was gonna help, yeah? Maybe she knew she’d get caught by him if she did

Rio: It kind of makes sense but something’s missing because it also doesn’t

Rio: It’s not like I’ve been dating him, or have been super close this whole time

Rio: it’s worth mentioning though, to Liam, definitely

Buster: Or maybe it’s just that she knew hurting Edie would hurt you and it is more about you for whatever reason, but obviously hurting her is then an added bonus if she’s still remotely bothered about Liam, ‘cause none of us saw the two of them going out coming, so she wouldn’t have reckoned on it either

Rio: That’s what I figured

Rio: what the fuck though

Rio: Poor Liam

Buster: At least she can’t have had fuck all to with how they met, that’d worry me if there was any chance of her getting them together to break them up

Rio: Oh God, don’t

Rio: that would be horrific

Buster: She could’ve been warning other girls off this whole time and we wouldn’t know, you said he’d not been out with anyone else

Rio: That’s not all he said though

Rio: he’s definitely not working with Lexie

Buster: What did he say?

Rio: that she was lowkey pressuring him back then

Rio: not to like, really bad extents by the sounds of but it isn’t great

Rio: and I’d know if they were secretly a thing this whole time, she was still posing as my friend even if she wasn’t, we spent way too much time together for that to go unnoticed

Buster: Fucking hell

Rio: His sister had just died, basically

Rio: I did tell her it was a bad idea, in the politest way

Buster: So alright, you were against it and you were right, it’s a fucking stupid reason to turn on you, but if she’s obsessed with him and she’s that fucked up, who knows

Buster: why not try and get back with him before Edie was in the picture though?

Rio: I honestly can’t recall her mentioning him since

Rio: like surely that obsession would come out at least slightly

Rio: He’s cute and she wanted to but the impression I always got was it was never that deep for her

Rio: again why I said it wasn’t good timing for it

Buster: We hid how we felt about each other for years, we both know it’s possible, babe

Rio: Okay, true

Rio: but what are her stakes

Rio: there’s no reason she needs to hide it, bar the fact he doesn’t like her back, but if she’s tapped enough to stalk me she’d be tapped enough to ignore that fact

Buster: That’s one of the holes in the theory

Rio: yeah, it doesn’t work

Rio: which means it probably isn’t over

Rio: but it was nice believing that for a minute there

Buster: It could still be over, we don’t need a reason why it started for that, she got caught and you know it’s her

Rio: maybe it’s all coincidence

Rio: I don’t fucking know anymore

Buster: We also don’t need to solve this tonight, whether it’s over or not

Buster: you’re allowed a break, to take a breath, like, that’s what I’ve been saying

Rio: But I want it to be over, not to breathe

Rio: I’m sick of this being my life

Buster: 'Course you do, but I know better by now than to promise anything relating to this

Rio: I’m not going to apologize

Buster: Good, don't, it ain't your fault

Rio: I’m gonna get blackout

Buster: If you aren't sure you can trust your friends, maybe it's not the best idea

Rio: 🙄

Buster: I'm just saying, stop before you put yourself in blatant danger, I ain't gonna apologise for it

Rio: I’m not stupid

Buster: I'm not calling you stupid, Rio

Rio: Just implying it, yeah

Buster: Implying you'll regret it, that's it

Rio: I won’t

Rio: this night can’t get any worse

Buster: Yeah you will, same goes for any other decision you make when you're this upset

Rio: Fuck’s sake

Buster: Fuck it, I can be there before you blackout

Rio: Thanks for believing in me in this one instant

Buster: I mean it, do it if it'll make you feel better, I won't let the night get any worse

Rio: You can’t come here that short notice

Buster: I can do whatever I want, it's too short notice for anybody to stop me

Rio: You don’t need to

Rio: don’t only come because you think I’m a mess

Buster: You’re not a mess, you've been dealing with this bullshit for years, getting pissed now it's over is the least you deserve

Rio: Some celebration

Rio: fuck her for making me look this pathetic

Buster: Fuck her for all of it, she can't hurt you anymore though, I'll celebrate that

Rio: Be my guest, babe

Buster: Got a flight to catch first

Rio: That’s the appeal of airports

Rio: duty-free and being able to drink at any time

Buster: Not before, if I get

blackout too they ain't letting me on

Rio: and who are you that you suddenly can’t handle your liquor

Buster: Who are you that you reckon anyone could make you look pathetic

Rio: I don’t know anymore

Rio: if all my ‘friends’ are in on this then that’s who I am

Buster: If, and it's only an if, any of them are involved, it changes who they are, not you

Rio: You know that’s bullshit

Rio: everyone’s been laughing behind my back if that’s the case

Rio: and that’s worse than the people who just do it openly

Rio: I know about that, I can handle that

Buster: I know you and exactly what you can handle, you're the one forgetting

Rio: I just feel exactly how everyone says they want you to feel

Rio: alone and to blame and like I need to change everything about my life to make this stop

Buster: But you're not and you don't

Buster: You've been there for me during every shitty thing that's ever happened and not let me give up, but not in the bullshit 'grin and bear it, you fucking pussy' way my parents do, instead it's 'cause you remind me why it's worth keeping going

Buster: I can do the same for you, I will, I swear

Rio: Is it always going to be like this for us

Buster: No baby, it's not

Buster: We're gonna get everything we want

Rio: Promise

Buster: Whatever it takes, I promise

Buster: We've come this far, but we both know it ain't far enough yet

Rio: It’s like

Rio: it’s so hard

Rio: and then you’re never here

Rio: so it’s like, what’s even the point

Rio: and you know I know what the point is, obviously

Rio: but it feels like all we do is put in the hard work for none of the reward

Rio: you feel it too, I know you do

Buster: You're the reward, I'll put up with years of shit to spend a second with you, I already have

Buster: I'm not gonna act like it's not hard, 'course it is, but I'll take having to struggle with you now over coasting with cunts who don't matter ' cause soon we won't have to and I'll always be there

Rio: I know

Rio: I know, I’m just sick of everything tonight

Rio: it’ll be better in the morning

Buster: What can I do? Fuck

waiting until the AM

Rio: Just distract me

Buster: [call her and do that please sir]

Rio: Thank you

Rio: I’m sorry for being bratty earlier

Rio: I think I’m actually processing it now

Rio: 🤞

Buster: Don't be, I can handle it

Rio: I don’t want to be something you have to handle

Rio: not in that way anyway

Buster: I don't want you to think you have to act a specific type of way just to please me, especially if it's the opposite to how you actually feel

Rio: Alright, don’t be so mature and show me up 😜

Buster: Alright, if that's the roleplay we're doing, babe

Rio: We can try but I have a feeling I’m too 👸 for that role reversal

Buster: Tell me about Edie then, I've never seen her perform

Rio: You’ll have to

Rio: She’s like, properly good

Rio: at all of it, not just being able to sing but to put it all together and perform it and have a presence

Rio: but I’m not surprised, even though it was 🤯

Rio: she’s always been amazing at everything she’s wanted to do

Buster: None of that surprises me either, but yeah, I've obviously gotta see it for myself

Rio: How long are you going to stay, actually

Buster: At least until school starts

Rio: Good, then you can come out with us

Rio: I said I would

Rio: it’ll be less awkward as 4

Buster: Cheers, I'm sure it won't be awkward making small talk with him about whatever weird shit he likes

Rio: You haven’t even met him yet

Rio: he’s actually really nice

Buster: I've met Edie and you already told me they had loads in common

Rio: Don’t be mean

Buster: I ain't

Rio: you don’t have to come

Buster: Come on

Rio: Be nicer than this then, please

Rio: I’m building bridges not burning ‘em down 🙄😏

Buster: Since you said please

Rio: You know I’ll be nicer to you if you behave so do it, yeah

Buster: You make me and I make you, deal

Rio: That is the deal, always

Buster: And have I ever let you down

Rio: Never

Buster: Alright then

Rio: I love you

Buster: I love you

Rio: What are the chances of Edie being nice to you, do you reckon 😕

Buster: She can be as big of a cunt to me as she wants, as long as she’s nice to you

Rio: Don’t bet on it but I’m trying

Buster: I know, and I’ll reward you for your efforts even if they don’t

Rio: Yeah? 🥰🤤

Rio: I think he actually encourages her to not just totally ignore me

Rio: He invited me tonight, like

Rio: so that’s good

Buster: Yeah

Buster: He’s actually a good influence? I wouldn’t have bet on her going for someone like that

Rio: Are you staying over or are you getting a room?

Rio: Trust me, no one is more surprised

Rio: He doesn’t even have a tattoo, let alone a face one

Rio: well, I don’t THINK he does

Buster: Do you want me to stay over or do you want somewhere you can escape to?

Buster: Okay, you can stop thinking about him if you don’t want me to fight him, like

Rio: You can stay over

Rio: Baby 😏

Buster: Tell me you miss me and I’ll forgive you

Rio: I do miss you

Rio: a lot

Buster: If you’re gonna think about possible tattoos they should be on me

Rio: not on your beautiful face though 🥺

Buster: So where?

Rio: hm, that is fun to think about

Rio: you’d look good with a tattoo anywhere because your body is perfect

Buster: What you really need to ask yourself is if you want everyone else to be able to see it or you don’t, and that probably depends what it is, ‘cause your name, ‘course you would

Rio: To start with

Rio: When you’ve got used to the pain of it we’ll go for the full portrait moment 😉

Rio: Would you really get my name tattooed on you daddy?

Buster: To start with, leave a mark where you think your name might look good, and by the time I have to leave either your mouth or nails are bound to have found the perfect place for your name to go

Buster: It's not gonna hurt even if you decide you wanna claim my entire body by inking those 3 letters everywhere over and over again, but you know I'd still do it if it did, yeah?

Buster: I'll do anything for you, baby

Rio: Did I mention how much I’ve missed you?

Rio: Stay forever

Buster: Say it again or add a please to how long you'd like me to stay, I'd be happy to hear either

Rio: Everything is right when you’re here

Rio: I can handle anything when I’ve got you to look after me

Rio: Please come home to me

Buster: I'm on my way, I'll be home really soon

Rio: Good

Rio: I need you

Rio: Now

Buster: I've missed you a lot too, obviously I'm not glad this is why, but I'm glad I'm coming back

Rio: I can’t wait til you’re here for uni

Rio: And we can have our own place

Buster: It's the only scenario with a big enough incentive to tempt me away from you any time remotely close to the start of term

Rio: We’ve come this far

Rio: Not long now in comparison

Buster: Exactly

Rio: Still

Rio: It made me sad, seeing them all loved up

Rio: Sad for me, obviously, not them

Buster: I don't think PDA will get Edie on my good side but I'm willing to take the risk to cheer you up

Rio: It definitely won’t

Rio: I’m honestly not expecting her to agree but Liam seemed to think so and he’s got a better chance than me so

Rio: we’ll see

Buster: They've gone, yeah? You can have it all when I show up there instead

Rio: Yeah, they’re gone

Rio: idk where

Rio: Lexie better not still be here

Buster: All tonight has proved is we have no proper idea if she is or isn’t that fucking stupid, like

Rio: She’s just lucky Edie was here

Rio: or it would’ve gone down different

Buster: I’m sure she factored that into her reasons for doing it tonight

Rio: Probably

Rio: There was a time when I’d have to hold her back

Buster: Don’t think about what it used to be like, you’ll drive yourself mad

Rio: yeah

Buster: Have another drink or request a song you’d wanna dance to

Rio: okay

Rio: that’s a good idea

Buster: I don’t have bad ones

Rio: Debatable 😏

Buster: A debate you’d lose if you were taking that side

Rio: I didn’t say I was

Rio: but everyone else is going to point out you just left

Buster: Everyone else can say and think whatever they like

Rio: Schools not started, no one can be mad anyway

Buster: And if it had I’m so far ahead of every other cunt I could tell my teachers it’s an act of charity to give some of ‘em a fighting chance of keeping up

Rio: You’re such a nightmare

Rio: If I didn’t love you you would do my head in

Buster: That ain’t what’s going on when I’m in your dreams and how hard I work is one of the things you love about me

Rio: Both true

Rio: but you’re so

Rio: you don’t need to put them down to look good so why do it?

Buster: They’re where they put themselves, it’s their own fault it’s so far below where I happen to be ranked, I’m just stating the facts

Rio: Good thing I opted for the drink 🙄

Buster: Come on

Rio: Just stop

Buster: Stop what?

Rio: Annoying me

Buster: Why are you getting annoyed about this? You know what it’s like

Rio: Yeah, I know what it’s like

Rio: I don’t think us being like this is helping us though

Buster: Alright, well what do you think would help us?

Rio: I think we have to try harder

Rio: here, where we are rn

Buster: Okay

Rio: Come on

Rio: it would make everything better

Rio: easier

Buster: I said okay, I can always try harder

Rio: You shouldn’t come then

Rio: Stay there

Buster: I’m already coming

Rio: then that’s it yeah

Buster: I can’t turn a plane round

Rio: so come this time and then we’ll take a break

Buster: What the fuck, Rio

Rio: It’s fine it’ll be fine

Buster: It’s not fine, what the fuck are you talking about?

Rio: It can be

Rio: It’s what we need to do for now

Buster: Don’t

Rio: Don’t make it a big deal, we’ve done it before

Buster: Don’t act like it wasn’t a big deal before, that it isn’t always

Buster: You said you need me and I make everything better by being there, we’re doing what we have to do already, right now, it’s this

Rio: Only when you’re here

Rio: then it’s back to how it always is

Rio: I need to focus on that bit

Buster: I’m part of that bit as well, you don’t need to push me out of it as if I’m not

Rio: You aren’t

Rio: we don’t live in the same place, that’s just how it is

Rio: our day to day needs to be better than this

Buster: Bullshit, just say what you actually mean, you think you can fix things with Edie and the others by taking a break from me

Rio: What’s wrong with that?

Buster: It’s only gonna last as long as the break does, as soon as you get back with me you’re back to square one with them

Rio: You’re saying that, not me

Buster: We made our choice, knowing what was gonna happen

Rio: No, I did not decide everyone was going to hate me forever

Buster: You don’t get to decide how everyone feels about it

Rio: I know that

Rio: It doesn’t mean I have to accept losing them and not work at it

Buster: We should be working together

Rio: How do you reckon that’s going to work

Buster: How do you reckon your plan is?

Rio: Their problem is with us, get that out of the way and I can fix the relationships between me and them, make them stronger

Buster: To break them again, ‘cause the problems they have with us will still be there and come back when I do, so unless it’s over forever, what’s the point?

Rio: The point is I’m not going to give up

Rio: I don’t know why you think I would

Buster: Not on them, just on me

Rio: No

Buster: Yeah, it came down to me or them for some of them and you chose, but you regret it now, so this is you rolling the dice again

Rio: I’m not being forced to choose by you or them

Buster: Then don’t

Rio: I’m not, I’ve said

Rio: you’re making it something it’s not

Buster: You’re making it either/or

Rio: I just said let’s take a break so I can fix my fucking life

Rio: Christ

Buster: You can’t fix anything by putting yourself last all the time, they have to at least try and meet you some of the fucking way

Rio: You just said I can’t change how they feel about it, so no, that’s not gonna happen

Buster: Have your break then, I’ll go home and wait out there until I can get the first flight back tomorrow

Rio: Alright

Rio: I’ll pay you back

Buster: I don’t want or need you to

Rio: Well you should let me

Rio: it’s been a waste

Buster: The cost is irrelevant

Rio: Suit yourself

Buster: Worry about what you’re meant to be focusing on

Rio: Doesn’t mean I don’t care at all

Buster: You’ve just saved me loads of money on future flights so

Rio: Not about the money, apparently but yeah, guess so

Buster: It is for you, obviously, otherwise you wouldn’t still be going on about it

Rio: Whatever then

Rio: you should go see your sister, whilst you’re here

Buster: I doubt she’ll fit me in while I am, she needs at least 2 weeks notice to come up with a believable excuse not to, so I’ll probably get left on read

Rio: It’ll make it worthwhile for you too

Rio: why give the opportunity, you know where she’ll be

Buster: And I know she wants me around even less than you do

Rio: So

Rio: what do you want

Buster: Fuck all from Nance

Rio: So don’t blame her

Buster: You’re saying that I do, not me

Rio: You just said she doesn’t want to see you, you don’t want to see her, that’s the bit you know for sure

Buster: I said I don’t want anything from her, ‘cause there’s no point you and me both kidding ourselves

Rio: Fuck off

Buster: I am

Rio: Good

Buster: You wish that was how it felt, yeah, and I’m trying as hard as I can to make that happen for you, babe

Rio: Thanks so much

Buster: Anything, I said

Rio: You can’t try to make me feel bad

Rio: I know I’m doing the right thing

Buster: Good,‘cause I’m trying to make you feel better about it

Rio: Yeah right

Buster: You’re sure you’re doing the right thing so

Rio: So stop being shitty with me about it

Buster: Stop telling me what to do, our lives are totally separate, remember

Rio: You’re so unfunny

Buster: I’m not joking so it’d be awkward if I was

Rio: You’re being stupid

Buster: You started it

Rio: You

Buster: You, but I’ll take the blame, same as I just did for Nance

Rio: Like you don’t love getting to claim being the hero

Rio: you’re so fucking welcome

Buster: I love you and that’s fucking unwelcome for now apparently

Rio: I love you but that doesn’t mean the rest of my problems don’t exist because of that

Buster: It means I should be there helping you solve them not that the fix is I fuck off and leave you to sort them out on your own

Buster: we’re supposed to be in this together, not separated by a bullshit line you’ve drawn between what’s us and what’s you

Rio: You can’t

Rio: it’s patronizing you act like you have any idea how more than I do

Rio: I’m just trying a different approach and you’ve made it into a huge thing it didn’t need to be

Buster: Yeah, it’s not patronizing at all for you to act like I have to react in a certain way to you breaking up with me

Rio: I’m not breaking up with you

Rio: it’s a break

Rio: I could’ve just lied and said I had plans for the next however many weekends and you wouldn’t know the difference

Buster: It’s the same thing, for fuck’s sake, stop acting like you can fix this in a few weekends

Rio: It just needs to be better, not perfect

Buster: It’s still gonna take loads of time regardless

Rio: What else can I do?

Buster: You’re the one saying I think I know better, I didn’t say I had a clue

Rio: I’m sick of not knowing what to do

Buster: Then try this, I’m not stopping you

Rio: You’re making me feel bad

Buster: Well now I’ve made my point

Rio: What does that even mean

Buster: I’ve made it known how I feel and what a shit idea I think this is, so I’ll shut up without labouring it any more, is what that means

Rio: okay

Buster: Okay, goodnight then

Rio: You aren’t going to sleep

Buster: It’s a conversation ender, that’s all

Rio: Yeah, say what you mean

Rio: Bye then

Buster: I’m trying to calm down and stop before I say something I don’t mean

Rio: Wow, unlike me, yeah

Rio: gold star for you

Buster: I’m not saying shit about you

Rio: Yeah you are, by trying to prove how mature you are

Buster: Fuck you, I’m actually trying to not be so fucking angry all the time, you know that

Rio: You’re right, go

Buster: Yeah

Rio: I’m sorry

Buster: Me too

Rio: I’m going home

Buster: Alright, do you need a lift?

Rio: Come get me

Rio: Please

Rio: You can’t come here and not see me at all, it’s not right

Buster: It’s just common sense to wanna make sure you get home safe after everything that’s happened with Lexie, not my hero complex

Rio: I don’t care what it is

Buster: I do

Rio: then that’s what it is

Buster: You’re not damaged goods or whatever the fuck those sort of bullshit heroics would make you

Rio: I am but it’s not the point

Buster: You’re not, fuck that

Rio: Shh

Buster: No, listen to me and trust what I’m saying

Rio: 🥺

Buster: You’ve always been flawless and that ain’t gonna change for anything or anyone

Rio: I love you

Rio: You know it breaks my heart to hurt you

Buster: I know it breaks your heart for shit to be like this with your family too

Rio: I don’t want anyone to hate us

Rio: I thought everyone would come around by now

Rio: Stupid, really

Rio: like you said, I can’t force them to change their minds, nevermind give a timeframe for that to happen in

Buster: They don’t hate us, it ain’t that simple, that’s what makes it so hard

Rio: It’s like I’m asking them to love you like I do

Rio: all they can say is how they could never imagine it and how wrong it is

Rio: but that’s because they aren’t us, it would be wrong if it was any of them because they don’t feel it

Rio: but I can’t explain that, in a way that makes it sound like I’m saying anything but we’re special

Rio: If they felt it, they’d know it, I always have

Rio: I didn’t view you one way, like they do, and then wake up and decide to change my mind

Rio: It’s how I’ve always seen you

Buster: You are special though, which isn’t ever gonna help me with explaining it, but maybe I’m sick of having to

Buster: I could give them years of proof, justification for everything we did and didn’t do and it’s not good enough, nobody else has to, they get to be in love, end of

Rio: They don’t know how it happened

Rio: as if we do

Buster: Well I ain’t ever gonna be sorry for rewriting history the way they saw it ‘cause how we had to live it was loads worse

Rio: I missed you all the time, it felt like there was something wrong with me

Rio: I can’t go back, how would we now

Buster: Even if they did all hate me, I’ve hated myself for years, thought every fucked up thing about me that they’re thinking now, and however angry they are at what’s happening, I’ve been angrier at what’s happened, or should’ve but couldn’t

Buster: I’m not gonna carry on living like that, and if they cared about me at all they wouldn’t ask me to

Rio: Even if they’re right, and we’re wrong

Rio: and this is fucked up and wrong

Rio: We’ve made our decision

Rio: I just don’t want them to think part of that was letting them leave my life willingly, that I wanted that part

Buster: Fight for them for however long you need to, I’ll wait, it’s not like I haven’t before

Rio: I shouldn’t have done any of it like this

Rio: That was stupid and having a weird fucking night isn’t an excuse

Buster: I should’ve made more allowances for what a weird fucking night it was

Rio: Nah

Rio: I was pushing you away and I was blaming you ‘cos nothing is that fucking simple and it’d almost be nice to pretend

Rio: but all the things they’re mad at me for would still be true, even if I was lying to myself and them about it

Buster: I was bringing my own fucking weird night to the front of this just ‘cause it happened when we were on a break before, but I can’t blame you for that, pretend it didn’t happen then or would now

Rio: It’s so fucked I said you should make friends with them when there’s people like her around

Rio: I didn’t mean her but still, I’m sorry I was being so blinded by my own shit

Rio: I really hope Lexie didn’t

Rio: that’s not what it sounded like but maybe I should’ve pushed more, I don’t know

Buster: There are other people around I should try harder with, you weren’t wrong about that

Buster: And you could try again, with Liam, if he needs to talk about it he’s not gonna mind, if he doesn’t want to, I’m sure he’ll say that, like

Rio: Does her boyfriend know what she’s like, that’s what I don’t fucking get

Rio: Not that we need to talk about her, not ever if you don’t want to

Rio: Yeah, I’ll definitely put the feelers out again

Rio: and reread what I actually said when I’m sober, maybe it was enough but I feel like no

Buster: He barely knows what day of the week it is, I’m not saying he’s constantly as wrecked as I was but it’s close enough

Buster: Does Edie know what Lexie did or maybe did? I mean, she’s still breathing somewhere assumedly so probably not, right?

Rio: That poor baby

Rio: If they didn’t live in that postcode it would be taken from them so fast it’s not even funny

Rio: Liam said she was the one who made him see it was any sort of deal so she does

Rio: but the fact Lexie is still walking about indicates it wasn’t like, THAT bad, definitely

Rio: bad but not properly wrong

Buster: If her poor parents weren’t raising it for them

Buster: And people think we’re making shitty decisions, Christ

Buster: maybe Liam’s making her soft like you’ve done to me

Rio: Of course

Rio: Ugh, it’s not even their age, young parents can be good parents but if she didn’t want it that hard, why did she have it

Rio: that’s slanderous, thank you

Buster: Yeah, like mine, and your mum, we definitely would be as well, even with all the plans I already have for the future

Buster: It’s accurate, I’m so weak and it’s entirely your fault

Rio: Will be

Rio: right?

Buster: It would turn this weird night around, but it would also go against every rule of being on a break

Rio: I didn’t mean we should have a baby right this second but you know

Rio: rules are boring and it isn’t as if they could be any madder at us

Buster: My parents would find a way to be if we had a baby right now, but Ava’s their favourite anyway so what do I really have to lose

Rio: It’s fine, it takes nine months, so I’ve heard 😏

Buster: Yeah, you’re right, that sounds fine to me too

Rio: Imagine how cute our baby would be though

Buster: I won’t be thinking about anything else until I pull up now

Rio: Well if you aren’t at least thinking about how fun it’ll be to make it too, bit rude

Buster: I was already thinking about that before you told me to start imagining anything

Rio: Glad to hear it

Rio: Or I’d have to check you hadn’t been hacked by some imposter

Buster: Lexie wouldn’t dare, also couldn’t keep up with any of your fantasies

Rio: She’s shit out of luck for a threesome now, yeah

Buster: All your friends are, you’re the hot one

Rio: I’d only touch them if you wanted me to, no one else can touch you

Buster: I thought you said rules are boring

Rio: 🥺

Buster: Don’t worry, I’m not changing ‘em, you know I fucking hate sharing and nobody else could touch me the way you do

Rio: If you really want someone else involved to prove that we can

Rio: Feel a bit bad for the girl though 🤷‍♀️

Buster: Bad enough to say no?

Rio: No, I’d do anything for you

Rio: That’s where my loyalty always lies

Buster: I ain’t forgotten

Rio: Don’t

Rio: Would that make you happy?

Rio: nights still young, we don’t have to go home

Buster: I don’t need anyone else to make me happy, just you

Rio: You’ve got me

Buster: I need you so bad, you know

Rio: I know, I need you just as much

Rio: I can feel it

Buster: The driver’ll be getting involved, like it or not, ‘cause I’m not going home before you feel everything

Rio: There’s no way I’m getting in that car and not getting on you immediately

Rio: I need you to know how much I adore you

Rio: I need to be that close to you, to hold you and love you and not let go

Buster: When you get in this car I'm gonna fuck you so slowly, 'cause you're mine and we both know forever is the only timeframe that makes sense for us, but not gentle 'cause like I said, you don't need to be treated like that, he'll hear how deep every thrust is, how much I desperately need to be inside you, that I'm not letting go either, not for a single second

Rio: Be here be here be here

Rio: I’m so desperate for you

Buster: Say please

Rio: Daddy please

Buster: [show up and stop torturing her boy]

Rio: [enjoy because this has been intense]

Buster: [a fucking weird night is accurate and lbr it's been an intense few years, thanks for that Liam]

Rio: [the audacity, thanks for stopping now though, imagine how long it’d take to stop waiting for things to happen still]

Buster: [as if they didn't have enough on their plates with the sneaky incest and yeah soz that you're not gonna be tense for ages cos it's not like he was stalking you every day with no pauses ever]

Rio: [least everyone knows now, even if we hating lol]

Buster: [and at least he has actually stopped imagine if it was like bitch you thought and you can't trust anyone bye]

Rio: [small mercies truly]

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jwminssi · 5 years

Text

chasing starlight {jikook | T | part 3/final}

It’s the middle of the night when an explosion on his backyard turns Jungkook’s life upside down. Through a mess of fallen stars, witches and the secrets his parents are keeping from him, Jungkook will have to make sure he’s selfless enough to make the right choice and ignore the way his heart beats faster for the boy that fell from the sky.

read on ao3

Jungkook doesn’t know why but he still screams out Jimin’s name, his voice echoing in the silent neighborhood and being swallowed up by the night.

It’s not long before he feels hands on his shoulders turning him around and he’s met with a very distressed Taehyung.

“What happened?”

Jungkook shakes his head, the image of Jimin’s scared eyes flashing insided his eyelids every time he blinks. “I-I don’t know, they… they just disappeared.”

“Who’s they, Jungkook?” Taehyung shakes him harder but Jungkook can’t even try to free himself from his grip.

“A man and a woman, they… took Jimin.”

Taehyung screams out at nothing in particular and the power with which he does makes Jungkook’s heart skip a beat, his voice sounding like earth-shaking thunder to him. That’s what makes Jungkook come back to reality and sends his mind back to work.

“Let’s get inside.” He calls out to Taehyung, who looks at him like he’s insane.

“What? No! I’m going after Jimin!” He says, already walking away.

“Yeah? Where?” Jungkook asks and Taehyung stops. “Do you have any clue where they went?” The star doesn’t answer but his silence itself is enough. “Thought so, let’s get the fuck inside and find help.”

“Fine.” He agrees, though it’s clear he doesn’t really want to.

Sooyoung is just turning the living room light on when they get back in. “I heard screaming.” She starts off, cautiously. Jungkook notices she looks behind him as if expecting to see Jimin there.

“Jimin’s gone.” He says simply. Taehyung makes an angry noise again and punches the wall, leaving a dent on it. “Hey, calm down!” Jungkook pushes him towards the couch and makes him sit down. “Breaking stuff is not going to help.”

Taehyung glares up at him but remains seated anyway. Jungkook rubs at his eyes and looks at the clock above their family portraits. Half past midnight. Where the hell are they supposed to find help at this hour?

“You need to go back to Hoseok and Yoongi.” Sooyoung finally breaks the silence after about ten minutes of them trying to come up with a solution.

“Right now? I’m not sure they’d be too happy about it.” Jungkook says, shaking his head.

“They won’t mind.” Sooyoung assures. “It’s your best option, Jungkook.”

Jungkook nods as he makes up his mind. She’s right. “Okay.”

“I’ll ask your father to drop you off there.”

Just before anything else can be said the doorbell rings. The three look between themselves, all thinking the same thing: who would be at their door so late at night?

“I’ll get it.” Jungkook says slowly, giving Taehyung a look to stay put before going to the front door carefully.

Jungkook puts his hand on the knob and hesitates but figures that if it was someone meaning any harm they would have just kicked the door open. He takes a deep breath and pulls it open at once, stopping dead in his tracks when he finds Hoseok and Yoongi on the other side.

“Oh! I was just going to your shop...” Jungkook says as he steps aside for the two to come in.

“Really? Glad we didn’t miss you, then.” Hoseok comments as he takes his shoes off and leaves them by the door, Yoongi doing the same. “It wouldn’t be the best idea to go there right now.”

“Why not?”

“Your pretty star has caused quite the commotion…” Yoongi explained, toying with his pink collar, the only splash of color in his otherwise all-black outfit. “Joohyun didn’t really believe it was just us at the shop that day. We have a lot of eyes on us.”

“Oh, I’m sorry...” Jungkook frowns and scratches at the back of his neck. He leads them further inside the house and towards the couch, where Taehyung is sitting watching them carefully.

“It’s okay.” Hoseok assures him. “We heard she caught him, though… We’re here to help.”

Jungkook feels relieved that he can count on them. Honestly, he had deposited all his hope on the two men and had nowhere else to go in case they refused.

“Wait, how did you even know where I live?” He asks when his brain finally catches up with the fact that he never told them that piece of information; or anything else about him, for that matter.

Yoongi smiles, his cat-like eyes shining with mischief. “We have our tricks...”

“Honey, who is it?” Sooyoung calls out as she joins them, apparently having been gone upstairs to wake Dowoon up since there’s noise coming from their room now, but stops abruptly once she sees who just walked in her house.

“Huh…” Hoseok mutters, head tilted to the side as he frowns. “I have to say I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Hoseok. Yoongi.” She greets slowly, sounding more surprised than alert, which calms Jungkook down.

“Sooyoung.” Hoseok smiles at her and even Yoongi’s lips curl up slightly. “You look beautiful as ever.”

“You know each other?” Jungkook asks. Even though she had been the one to give him the address of their magic shop, he didn’t expect them to be on such friendly terms.

“You could say that, but it’s been a few years…” Hoseok says, eyes back on him and he squints as if in thought. “Eighteen, to be precise.”

“How old are you again, kid?” Yoongi asks, not one to hold back his tongue and always wanting to get straight to the point.

“I’m eighteen.” Comes the answer. “And my name is Jungkook.”

“Don’t tell me…” Hoseok starts, exchanging a look with Yoongi. “Could it be? Holy shit, it really is a small world.” He mutters more to himself than anyone else. Yoongi only hums.

“Mom?” Jungkook looks back at her, expecting an explanation. At this point, he’s not even surprised that things keep coming up like this. “What are they talking about?”

“He doesn’t know anything?” Yoongi raises his eyebrow at her. “At all?”

“Jimin told him the basics…” Sooyoung sighs. “But not everything. He probably doesn’t realize it himself.” Dowoon joins them, then, but he takes a seat and stays there just watching. Jungkook knows, from the look in his eyes, that he’s not going to get involved in the matter any more than he already is.

“Realize what?” Jungkook notices he’s almost whining but he’s honestly kind of sick of not knowing anything about his own life.

“The necklace Jimin has been wearing?” Yoongi begins with his monotone voice. “It’s yours.” There he goes, right at it as usual.

Jungkook makes a face. “No, it’s not.”

“It is, honey.” Sooyoung says and he has to process that information for a moment.

“So you’re telling me the reason he was being chased after is the necklace, which is mine, so it’s my fault.” Jungkook assumes, running a hand through his hair as he starts beating himself up for Jimin being in danger.

“Partially.” Hoseok says, trying to make the situation better. “You can’t forget he’s a fallen star. They’re very valuable to witches.”

“Why?” Jungkook asks. He needs some time, needs to go outside and breathe, needs to sleep, but he can’t. Not until Jimin is safe again.

“Because we have pure hearts.” Taehyung speaks for the first time since Hoseok and Yoongi arrived. He gets up from the couch and joins them around the dinner table, where they’re all standing up. “They kill us so they can eat it and be young again.”

“What the actual fuck…” Jungkook mutters and he’s sure his mother would be scolding him for language if she wasn’t so worried about his reaction to everything. “Wait, do you…?” He looks at her with wide eyes.

“No, honey, I’m practically human.” Sooyoung answers quickly.

“And I refuse to kill innocent beings for vanity.” Hoseok adds when Jungkook turns to him with the silent question hanging in the air. “There are other ways to maintain our youth.”

“They don’t work as well as eating our hearts, though...” Taehyung comments, pursing his lips. It’s a test, words said to start something, and everyone in the room knows it.

“I don’t care.” Hoseok shrugs, not bothered by the star’s behavior. “I’m not killing anyone for my own benefit.” He looks straight at Taehyung as he says it and the other smiles slightly at his answer.

“Okay…” Jungkook continues, pulling everyone back to the point. “Why didn’t anyone tell me it was my necklace?”

“We’re not supposed to.” Sooyoung sighs, for the first time hating the rules they have to follow. “You have to touch it and realize it belongs to you. Though I think Jimin would have given it to you if he knew.”

“Wait, you never touched it?” Hoseok asks, surprised. It explains why he doesn’t know much but it’s still a bit of a shock because the two seemed close and he just thought he would have had opportunity to do it at this point.

“No, he put it on his neck and it stayed there. Not even when we ki-” Jungkook interrupts himself when he notices the murderous look Taehyung is throwing his way. He clears his throat and continues. “I never touched it. What’s the big deal about it anyways?”

“For you, as soon as you touch it, the necklace recognizes you’re its owner, so you’ll get all your memories back and you can choose whether or not you want to use its full power to become immortal.” Hoseok explains. Jungkook looks over at Sooyoung with his eyebrows raised and she nods at him. “It can be very useful depending on who you were as an angel. For the others looking for it, it can give them immortality, too, but only if they use it the right way.” Jungkook wants to ask how they can do it but decides he already has too much on his mind to worry about someone stealing what’s his.

“So… what? Do I get my angel powers back or something?”

Sooyoung smiles at the way he phrases it. “No, you’ll stay human and you won’t get any powers. But if you were a warrior, for example, you’ll surely remember your training.”

“Which means I can kick ass and get Jimin back.” Jungkook concludes like it’s the most logical thing in the world.

“He was definitely a warrior.” Yoongi says with an amused huff.

“You know what that means, right?” Hoseok asks Taehyung, a small smile on his lips at the star’s displeased expression.

“What?” Jungkook asks, looking between the two.

“He shouldn’t hate you since you two probably fought side by side before.” Hoseok says, eyes still on the star, who only rolls his eyes.

“He’ll make up reasons to hate me either way.” Jungkook waves him off, choosing not to stay on that topic for too long since it’s not going to take them anywhere. “How do we find Jimin?”

Hoseok looks over at Yoongi as he thinks and the latter shrugs. “Seokjin.”

“No.” Taehyung says decidedly and Yoongi rolls his eyes at his behavior. “Someone else.”

“You know him?” Hoseok asks, curious.

“He’s my brother.” Taehyung answers shortly. “Well, not anymore.”

“You’re the one that killed Namjoon.” Hoseok says, and it’s not a question. Taehyung only clenches his jaw and glares at him.

Yoongi scoffs. “Figures.”

“Let’s go to someone else.” Taehyung tries to move on from having to reach out to him.

“Seokjin is our best option, he’s been around for centuries and he knows everything that happens around here.” Yoongi explains, looking absolutely done with him. “If anything, he’s already getting ready to rescue Jimin himself since he probably doesn’t trust his selfish brother to do it.” He goes on, never one to care about how harsh his words sound. “I wouldn’t, if I were him.”

Taehyung looks offended as he takes a step closer to Yoongi. “You don’t know me.” Jungkook takes a deep breath and looks up at the sky for some patience.

“Thank the gods for that.” Yoongi snickers. “I mean, look at us right now…” His voice is laced with disgust but no one tries to stop him. “Your brother is probably about to get killed and you’re refusing the best option to rescue him for pride.” Yoongi’s eyes are so hard Jungkook would not want to be the one on the receiving end of that look. “I wouldn’t trust you even if my life depended on it.” He spits the words out right at Taehyung’s face.

Everyone in the room watches as Taehyung’s eyes glow a bright blue and he makes his sword materialize in his hand to point it right at Yoongi’s neck, who doesn’t even flinch.

“Enough!” Jungkook raises his voice as he slams his hands down on the table. “Yes, Taehyung is an asshole, we all know that, but I couldn’t give two shits about it right now.” He looks at the star, finding his gaze already on him. “Do you want your brother to be safe or not?”

Taehyung scoffs and puts his sword away. “What the fuck kind of question is that? Of course I do.”

“Then stop fucking around and let them take us to Seokjin.” Jungkook almost screams the words at him, hoping it will help him understand that he needs to stop being stubborn when Jimin’s life is on the line like this.

Taehyung clenches his jaw and clicks his tongue before he says, “Fine.”

The silence that follows is deafening and the tension in the room could be cut with a knife, until Yoongi breaks it by saying,

“Yeah… Definitely a warrior.”

Hoseok and Yoongi give them the precise directions to where Seokjin lives and stay with Sooyoung and Dowoon at the house. They offered to go but Jungkook denied, claiming he didn’t want to risk their lives even more and that their help had already been more than enough.

They hail a taxi not wanting to take Sooyoung’s car because they most likely won’t have a place to leave it while they go where Jimin is. The ride is silent and filled with so much tension the drives keeps throwing worried glances their way through the rear-view mirror.

Seokjin lives in a small house in a more secluded part of the city, with big front and back yards, surrounded by plants and with birds chirping every now and then.

They stop in front of it for a while before Jungkook risks a glance at Taehyung. The star looks like he’s one second away from turning around and doing things his way so Jungkook hurries to go knock on the wooden door.

Seokjin doesn’t show any emotion when he opens the door to find them there. “Figured you’d be coming here.” He turns his back on them and leaves them to close it after they get inside. “Though I must admit it still surprises me that you didn’t try to find him on your own.”

Taehyung glares at the back of his head. “Don’t start.”

“Can you help us?” Jungkook asks, trying to take control of the situation before Taehyung can ruin their best shot.

“Of course, I was getting ready to leave, actually.” Seokjin turns to smile at him, a completely different treatment than he gives his brother. “Any help is appreciated, especially from you.”

Jungkook pauses. “Why?”

“If we can get your necklace, we’ll end them in no time.” Seokjin explains as he goes around a shelf to look for something.

“You know it’s mine too?” Jungkook wonders just how many people knew about things he didn’t even find out about himself until recently.

Seokjin shrugs. “Figured as much when I had a talk with Hoseok and Yoongi about the two of you…”

“Okay, and… how does it work?”

“All you have to do is touch it.” He says while Jungkook listens carefully. “I’m pretty sure you were a warrior just by looking at you so that’s a good thing for us. Everything else will come back to you and you’ll know exactly what to do.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready to fight anyone.” Jungkook admits, the realization that he’s going into this mission seemingly unprepared finally catching up to him.

“You will be.” Seokjin smiles at him sweetly again, making Jungkook feel better with the reassurance.

“Can’t believe you’re our only hope.” Taehyung tsks as he looks around Seokjin’s house.

“I also happen to have your only ticket home…” The older star answers, ignoring the comment completely. “Aren’t you desperate for this?” Seokjin pulls an object Jungkook doesn’t recognize out of a box and Taehyung immediately reacts.

“A Babylon candle.” He reaches for it but Seokjin puts it out of his reach.

“I’ll give it to you with one condition…” He talks slowly as if he’s making a deal with a child. “When we rescue Jimin, you’ll let the little prince decide if he wants to stay here or go with you.”

Taehyung immediately scowls. “I can’t do that.”

“Then you better find someone else to get you one of these because this one will surely not be yours.” He puts the candle back inside the box and locks it, keeping the key around his neck.

“Seokjin!” Taehyung protests.

“Taehyung, he is not a baby, you can’t control him forever.” Seokjin argues. “Let him make his own mistakes for once in his life.”

“Not when those mistakes can lead to his death.” Taehyung shakes his head, seemingly adamant on his decision.

“Being on the ground is not as dangerous as they make it out to be.” Seokjin sighs; Jungkook notices then he looks exhausted. “We’re living in different times, Tae, things have changed.” It’s the first time he sees Seokjin talking to Taehyung in such a soft voice. “Let the kid live…” He says and looks at Jungkook as he completes with, “Let him love.”

Taehyung clenches his teeth and looks away for a moment before his eyes land back on Seokjin. “Fine, I’ll let him decide.”

“Good to see you’re growing up, Taehyungie.” Jungkook is sure the nickname is supposed to sound teasing but it comes out almost in a fond way from his lips. “And you, angel boy, you can’t come wearing that.” Seokjin says as he eyes him up and down. “Come on, I’m sure I can get you better than sweater pants and an Iron Man T-shirt.”

Jungkook frowns at his own clothes as he looks down his body to study them. Right, he didn’t have the mind to change from his sleeping attire after the whole mess happened. Great job, Jungkook.

He follows Seokjin to a room at the back of the house, most likely his bedroom, and sits on the bed as the star opens his wardrobe and begins his search.

“Are you sure Taehyung isn’t going to burn your house down or anything if we leave him alone?” Jungkook asks, mostly out of spite than anything else.

Seokjin lets out a short laugh. “He might be an idiot but I don’t think he would do that.”

Jungkook sighs, fingers tracing the flowery pattern of Seokjin’s bed sheets. “I just don’t see how Jimin can adore him so much. He’s not exactly the most pleasant type.”

Seokjin stops digging through his clothes to look at Jungkook. His expression is as neutral as one can be and Jungkook hates that he’s so good at hiding what he’s thinking. “Taehyung was initiated into a hard life way too early.” He begins and thinks over his words before he continues. “I was heir to the kingdom and Jimin was always father’s precious diamond so he was the one that was designated pretty much since birth to rule the army when he got old enough. He was able to enjoy part of his childhood like the normal young ones and he was always attached to Jimin’s hip wherever they went, so they’re really close.”

It’s an explanation, in a way, of why the two look like they can’t keep each other out of their line of sight. Partially, it also tells Jungkook why Taehyung is so overprotective of Jimin; it doesn’t explain, though, why he’s such an aggressive guy.

“But life started getting rough for him way before it should and he grew up in an environment that shaped the being he is today, cold heart and all.” Seokjing shrughs, finally letting some emotion slip into his eyes: sadness. “Jimin is the only one that can still get a glimpse of the kind soul he used to be.”

Jungkook thinks this over for a moment and Seokjin goes back to finding something for him to wear. Jimin is definitely the type to always see the good in everyone and Jungkook admires that on him; but it doesn’t mean he can just start to like Taehyung because he had a rough upbringing or anything like that.

“What’s your story?” He asks suddenly. Jimin already told him a good portion of what happened but he wants to hear it from Seokjin himself now. “Why aren’t you up there sending your soldiers down here to kill humans since you all hate us so much?”

“It’s not like that, Jungkook…” The smile he gives him is a mix of amused and sad. “It is true that most stars despise humans but we were never enemies.”

Jungkook raises an eyebrow. “Taehyung doesn’t seem to agree with you.”

Seokjin sighs. “Well, he grew up on the wrong side of the spectrum. Our army is full of radical conservative assholes who think they’re superior beings, and they managed to drill that into his head.” There it is, another emotion Jungkook can recognize: anger.

“And what happened between you two?”

“We had a great relationship.” Seokjin starts off with that. He doesn’t look like the same condescending guy that Jungkook met that night when he broke into his house. “When he started his training, he would come up to me for advice whenever things got too hard for him to handle.” He picks a set of clothes for Jungkook and comes to sit next to him as he finishes his story. “But I had my own responsibilities too. As heir, I was a spokesperson between us and the angels… Sometimes I’d come down here with them on missions.”

“That’s when you met Namjoon.” Jungkook concludes, remembering the name Yoongi used at his house earlier.

Seokjin swallows before he nods. “Yes. He was… as charming as a human can be, cute dimples and all.” He smiles, sadness seeping through every syllable. “Incredibly smart, too, he was actually a pure human like you, a strategist for the angels when he was still among them.” He stops to take a shaky breath. “I didn’t know stars could fall in love, but I did, and it was fast.”

Jungkook can definitely identify with that; he doesn’t know if it’s something to do with the fact they’re stars or just a coincidence but he sure fell fast for Jimin too. “How did Taehyung find out?”

“I started coming down way more often than I should.” He shakes his head, clearly still feeling guilty about the result of his actions. “One day, he gathered a back up group and followed me. Namjoon and I were sitting in his kitchen drinking tea when they barged through the door. There were soldiers yelling, some of them grabbed Namjoon while the others stopped me from getting to him, all while Taehyung watched.” Seokjin stops and when his eyes meet Jungkook’s he can see how heartbroken he is. “I didn’t recognize my brother that day, Jungkook. There was…” He swallows around the lump in his throat. “So much hate in his eyes. He killed Namjoon just a few hours after that and he made sure I was there when he chopped his neck off.”

“That’s…” Jungkook tries to find the words but he can’t, not able to even imagine what that must have felt like. All he can think of is that he would be devastated if he ever lost Jimin like this. “I’m sorry.”

“I tried to kill him next.” Seokjin continues, staring at the floor. “I always hated how heavy the sword felt in my hands so I never used it, but… I couldn’t, I-” He shakes his head. “I was also blinded by anger.”

“But you didn’t…” Jungkook says, trying to understand what else happened that day. “Kill him, I mean.”

“Aside from Jimin, Taehyung’s closest friend was the head of the angels’ army, Rahatiel.” The name sounded somewhat familiar to Jungkook but he couldn’t figure out where from so he let it go. “When I ran towards them with my sword he put himself in between me and Taehyung. I ended up killing him instead.”

Jungkook’s chest hurts as soon as the words come out of Seokjin’s mouth and with the way his lungs feel like they just stopped working all he can say is, “Oh.”

“Have you ever heard Taehyung scream?” Seokjin asks him suddenly.

“Uh, kind of?” Jungkook replies after taking a deep breath. He doesn’t know the reason behind that question, though. “Earlier, when he found out Jimin was gone. It’s scary.”

“When he saw Rahatiel’s body lying there lifeless, the scream he let out made the entire kingdom shake.” Seokjin explains. He sounds like he’s reliving everything inside his head right now. “I wouldn’t be surprised if even the humans heard it. I was sure he was going to kill me but the worst part is that I didn’t care.”

“What stopped him?”

“Our father heard about what was going on and came to the training grounds to solve the situation. There was nothing else to be done, though.” Seokjin says, getting up again. “I resigned my role as heir and fell, making a deal to never go back up whereas Taehyung promised he wouldn’t come looking for me.”

“Seokjin, I-” Jungkook doesn’t really know what he’s supposed to say but he doesn’t even have to worry about it because the bedroom door opens harshly.

“Is story time over?” Taehyung asks, eyes hard when they land on Jungkook. “Jimin still needs to be rescued.”

Seokjin sighs and hands Jungkook the clothes he picked for him. “Get dressed.”

It’s not long before they’re on their way to where Jimin is being kept.

Seokjin told them Joohyun uses the same place every time she needs to prepare a bigger and more intricate spell, so he’s sure that is where she took Jimin. It’s even further away from the city than Seokjin’s house but Jungkook supposed that’s the whole point of it, that no one can find the place where she plays out all her evil witch plans.

They can’t drive a car up there this time around, though, so it takes about another hour for them to spot the place. Jungkook studies the warehouse as they get closer to it, having only the moonlight to help him, noticing how it looks abandoned and like no one goes there in ages; again, it probably serves Joohyun perfectly because of that.

Before leaving Seokjin’s house, the three agreed that Taehyung would go in first and Seokjin last, while Jungkook walked in the middle. For a moment, Taehyung tried to convince the boy to stay, claiming he couldn’t be of any use to them since he didn’t know how to fight. Seokjin argued that all he had to do was get his necklace and that problem would be solved.

So they went, with careful steps towards the big wooden door that led to the inside of the warehouse, hoping Joohyun didn’t have many more big men with her like the one that helped her kidnap Jimin from Jungkook’s house or they would be in serious trouble.

Finally walking in, they hide behind some cages and study the place. The only source of light comes from candles that are scattered around, creating weird shadows all over the walls. They can see Joohyun from where they are, in the distance and going up a set of stairs making some sort of preparations in front of a table where, they presume, Jimin is.

Seokjin starts moving to his right while Taehyung goes to his left, leaving Jungkook to have to decide on his own who to follow. He surprises even himself by going with Taehyung.

They’re starting to cross the warehouse when Joohyun sees them. She doesn’t waste time in sending two men to get them, watching to make sure they’re both preoccupied before focusing back on Jimin; Jungkook doesn’t have much time to look at her, but he’s sure he sees Seokjin tackle her down before he’s punched in the face.

Jungkook steps back in a daze before taking one of the many random things that are tossed all over the place and throwing it at the man, managing to stun him just enough so that he can put some distance in between them. He looks back at Taehyung and sees that he’s still dealing with the other guy so he has to do this on his own, going forward throwing punches and kicks as best as he can without getting too hurt himself.

There’s the sound of a body falling to the floor and what’s definitely Taehyung’s thunder-like voice yelling “Watch out!” before Jungkook feels a sharp sting on his arm. He pushes the man that’s coming at him away just enough so he can turn to see what hit him and finds yet another one of Joohyun’s men, but this one is carrying a machete as he runs at him at full speed.

There’s barely even time for Jungkook to blink before Taehyung is pushing him out of the way and receiving the hit himself, his blood coming out of him in quick spurts as his body falls right at his feet.

Jungkook watches in horror as the man pulls the machete out of Taehyung’s body and looks straight at him. He’s going to die, he can feel it.

His only regret is not being able to tell Jimin that he’s in love with him.

“Jungkook!” He spins around, purely on automatic after hearing his name, when he hears Seokjin call out for him, fast reflexes acting up to catch whatever it is that he throws at him.

Time stops as soon as he touches the delicate jewel he recognizes now.

The necklace. His necklace.

When Jungkook thought about what it would feel like getting his memories from a past life back, he imagine it would be like watching a movie. He thought he would see the images in the back of his mind, of moments he lived and places he’s been, passing through one by one until he got everything. Instead, he’s bombarded with all his memories at once in a jumbled mess of colors and sounds; and somehow, he recognizes them all separately.

He can tell there’s an explosion of light of which he’s the center and when he opens his eyes, the two men that were running to attack him are just getting up, confused about what just happened. Jungkook doesn’t hesitate before he takes Taehyung’s sword from where it landed next to him and goes full force at the one that’s closest to him.

His human brain is still trying to fully process what’s going on but his subconscious moves around like second nature, as if he’s trained years to be able to fight like this; and, in a way, he supposes he has. The weapon feels great in his hands and there is not a single doubt in Jungkook’s mind that he was born to do this.

It takes a total of thirty seconds for the two men to fall, the sound of their limp bodies hitting the ground echoing around the warehouse. Jungkook runs towards where Jimin and Seokjin are now cornered by Joohyun as she recites some words, her back on him as he climbs up the stairs.

A voice in the back of his head complains about missing his wings but Jungkook doesn’t have time to dwell on it right now.

He stops when he hears a big noise behind him and turns around just in time to see a fire starting right where Taehyung is still lying down. The structure of the warehouse, made out of wood, is starting to give in and Jungkook knows he has to act fast if he wants to get everyone out of there as safely as possible – and, in Taehyung’s case, alive.

Objects from all around the place start flying in Jungkook’s direction, most likely commanded by Joohyun, and he has to be careful not to get hit by any of them before he has the chance to take her down.

When Jungkook finally reaches the top of the stairs, Joohyun has magically trapped Seokjin against the wall – where he’s seemingly choking if his red face is anything to go by – and Jimin under her tight hold on his neck as her long nails leave marks on his soft skin.

There isn’t even one moment of hesitation on Jungkook’s part before he takes the sword and slices it across her body just above her shoulders. Her head rolls down the set of stairs and her blood splatters all over Jimin’s terrified face, staining him in a way that’s most likely going to be more than just physical.

They exchange a look and all Jungkook wants to do is hold him tight in his arms. But he can’t. Not right now.

Seokjin falls to the ground with a thud and all the things flying in Jungkook’s direction do, too.

“We have to go.” Jungkook says, eyes already on Taehyung, who managed to drag his body away from the fire, leaving a trail of his own blood behind.

Jungkook takes a still panicked Jimin by the hand and runs down the stairs to where his brother is, looking behind him to make sure Seokjin is following closely. Both stars stop in pained shock when they see the state Taehyung is in, neither having seen the moment one of Joohyun’s men got to him.

Still, with his mind working fully on automatic, Jungkook doesn’t even spare them a glance as he picks Taehyung’s weak body from the ground carefully and carries him outside. The building is on fire, they can’t be bothered to stop like this.

It’s cold when they step out of the warehouse, the middle of the night atmosphere catching up to them even though it’s probably not long before dawn at this point.

When they reach a safe distance from the building that’s falling apart, Jungkook finally puts Taehyung down. Jimin is the first to come closer.

“No…” Jimin whispers as he kneels beside Taehyung, cradling his face in his small hands with tears already pooling in his eyes. “What did you do?”

“He… he saved me.” Jungkook says, human brain finally coming up for air in the middle of his subconscious angel behavior. He suddenly feels overwhelmed.

“Minie…” Taehyung tries to speak but he chokes on his own blood and ends up coughing instead of talking. “For you.” That’s the only thing he manages to croak out.

Jimin sobs when he understands what he means and only then Jungkook believes what Seokjin told him earlier about Taehyung not being selfish.

“Back off, the two of you.” Jimin says suddenly and he dries his tears with a serious look on his face. He exchanges a meaningful look with Seokjin, who seems to know what he’s about to do, while Jungkook stands there completely lost.

“Come on, Jungkook.” Seokjin pulls him by the arms until he catches up with him and leads him to a safe distance from the two brothers still on the ground. “Close your eyes.” He says before covering Jungkook’s eyes himself.

“Jiminie, no…” Taehyung protests but it’s no use; Jimin has already made his decision.

“Hey, Tae, answer me this: what do stars do?” He asks as he holds his brother’s face between his hands and leans their foreheads together.

“Shine.” They say together.

Even with his sight blocked by Seokjin’s hand, Jungkook can still see the brightness behind it. He feels the explosion of light that surrounds them, just like the one from the night Jimin fell on his backyard, and then, as fast as it started, it’s over.

When he reopens his eyes, both Jimin and Taehyung are passed out in front of them.

Jungkook runs to Jimin and falls to his knees next to him right as Taehyung sits up with a start, eyes glowing a bright blue. Seokjin approaches carefully and places a hand on the star’s shoulder as if to ask if he’s okay; Taehyung nods curtly at him, eyes falling on Jimin’s body.

Before Jungkook can even start to panic about Jimin not waking up, he chokes searching for air and opens his eyes, now a pretty shade of brown that’s different from the grayish blue Jungkook got used to.

Jimin’s gaze fixates on him and he gasps. “Oh.” His voice sounds somewhat different to Jungkook’s ears, too, but he can’t tell why. “You’re much more beautiful like this…”

Jungkook frowns at the same time he feels his cheeks heating up, completely taken aback by the comment at a time like this. “W-what?”

“He’s human now.” It’s Seokjin who speaks, while Jimin seems lost in Jungkook’s face, studying every inch of him as if it’s the first time he’s seeing him. “His entire being changed, and that includes his senses. It might take a while for him to get used to it.”

“You’re… human?” Jungkook asks, heart beating faster because somewhere inside his brain he knows Jimin can’t go back to the sky anymore.

“Yeah, I…” Jimin starts, for the first time looking at his brother sitting next to him. “I gave up my starlight to heal Taehyung.”

“You shouldn’t have.” Taehyung scolds, as if he wouldn’t have been dead if it wasn’t for Jimin’s sacrifice.

“Would you rather have died?” Seokjin voices Jungkook’s thoughts but he’s ignored.

“I can’t take you home now.” Taehyung continues staring at Jimin.

“I wouldn’t have gone anyway…” Jimin says softly as if not to piss him off. “I want to stay here, Tae.” He adds, just to make sure his point is made. “And I’m human now, it’s not dangerous for me anymore.”

Jungkook’s mind is spinning. His human and angel lives and memories are finally melding into one and Jimin just said he’s staying on the ground. Sure, he’s most likely going to live with Seokjin but still; he’s not losing him forever.

Taehyung only sighs but doesn’t say anything as he gets up. It’s not like he has a choice anyways.

“Can I still have that candle?” He asks Seokjin, who smiles softly at him.

“Let’s go get it for you, TaeTae.” The nickname slips from him easily and Taehyung gulps when he hears it, but doesn’t say anything after staring at Seokjin for a good minute.

“Can you give me my sword back?” Taehyung talks to Jungkook instead, who takes off Taehyung’s belt he picked up from the ground and hands it to him, the weapon firmly attached to it.

Their eyes meet when he passes it over and it all comes together at once.

“Jungkook… are you okay?” Jimin asks when he doesn’t follow him as they start walking.

“Yeah, I just…” His head tilts to the side quickly before he looks up. “I remember you now.”

“Oh, that’s right, you got all your memories from your past life.” Seokjin remembers. “Who were you?”

Jungkook makes sure his eyes are trained on them as he says the name. “Rahatiel.”

The three express different reactions. Jungkook knows what each of them mean.

“Are you serious?” Taehyung chokes out, the first to break the silence and taking a couple of steps towards him. He looks like he’s about to go into shock; it’s the first time – in his human life – that he sees Taehyung wear his heart on his sleeve like this.

“Good to see you again, Taehyung.” Jungkook lets himself smile, voice heavy with the memories. “Even though you hate me now because I’m human.” He jokes, trying to lighten the mood.

“You died for me.” It comes as a whisper but in the dead silent of the night, everyone can hear it.

“Guess we’re even now, huh?”

The hug that Jungkook is pulled into comes out of nowhere and startles everyone. It takes a moment for Jungkook to gain back his senses after the initial shock and wrap his arms around Taehyung. He looks over at Jimin and their eyes meet before Jimin smiles at him, the happiest Jungkook has ever seen him.

The wave of relief that he feels hugging Taehyung feels out of place at the same time that it feels like going back home. As an angel, he never got to say goodbye properly but he remembers their friendship perfectly and he doesn’t regret giving his life for him. All the bad feelings he had towards Taehyung disappeared now that he knows who he is and what they went through as soldiers that fought side by side and as children that were put into leadership positions way too soon.

“Take care of my brother.” Taehyung says after he pulls away, voice heavy with all the emotions he’s been suppressing for so long.

“Will do.” Jungkook assures him. “And you, don’t be so hard on yourself.” He asks of the star, remembering how close they used to be and all the things Taehyung confided in him. “Stop being so scared of living your own life. You’re great at what you do, but you shouldn’t live for the war.” Taehyung nods, surprised that he remembers even those little talks where he let all his frustrations out to his best friend. “And...” Jungkook pulls him close until he can whisper in his ear. “Forgive Seokjin.”

Taehyung doesn’t react to the words but the look he exchanges with Jungkook is enough answer for him.

And speaking of Seokjin, he’s slowly coming closer too, almost scared to approach.

“Jungkook...” He chokes out, not trying to stop the tears filling his eyes like Taehyung did.

“Don’t.” He stops him before he can continue. “Don’t even think about apologizing.”

Seokjin sobs.“I killed you.” He whispers, not having the strength to admit it out loud.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Jungkook assures him, holding him by the shoulders carefully. “I heard your side of the story, it’s okay.”

“It’s really not.” The tears are streaming down his face freely now and Jungkook pulls him into a hug.

“I can see you honestly regret it, Seokjin.” He says without letting go. “Don’t beat yourself up for it, leave it in the past. Besides, if you hadn’t killed me I wouldn’t be here right now and I wouldn’t have Jimin.” Jungkook pulls away to look at him with a smile, Seokjin doing the same even if it’s subdued by his crying. “So I guess you did me a favor in the end.”

“I-” Seokjin tries to speak but Jungkook shakes his head.

“Really, it’s okay.” He pats him on the back once more before letting go. “Let’s go home.”

Jungkook expects Jimin to say something but he only smiles and stretches out his hand for him to hold, which he does more than happily. Their fingers intertwine automatically and it feels like they were made to be like that.

The sun is shining when Jimin and Jungkook finally ring the doorbell at Jungkook’s house. They stopped at Seokjin’s so that they could get cleaned up from all the blood and dirt all over their bodies, Jungkook getting his clothes back and Jimin borrowing some from his brother.

Taehyung decided it was time for him to go back and they said their goodbyes, once again turning emotional when Taehyung pulled Seokjin into a tight hug before lighting up the Babylon candle and leaving.

Sooyoung starts crying as soon as she opens the door to find them there, wrapping her arms around both of them at the same time as she talks about how relieved she is that they’re home and fine.

Hoseok and Yoongi, who are surprisingly still there, also look pleased that they’re safe, welcoming them with warm smiles and words. Dowoon shoots Jungkook a stern look but he holds his son in his arms as he takes a deep breath into their hug, doing the same with Jimin and shocking both of them with the action.

They eat breakfast before Jungkook pulls Jimin up to his room, body aching and begging for some rest.

They’re lying in bed, Jimin’s body almost completely on top of Jungkook’s when Jimin asks,

“Do you remember me?”

Jungkook smiles. He was expecting that question. “Of course.”

“You wouldn’t stop flirting with me.” Jimin giggles against his chest, playing with the strings on his hoodie as his mind goes back to a good two hundred years ago.

“Taehyung hated me for it.” Jungkook huffs, amused. “But he wouldn’t stop talking about you and you were always around when I went to see him, so obviously I payed attention.”

Jimin raises his head to look at him. “Did you do it just to spite him?”

“Flirt with you? Of course not.” Jungkook answers honestly. “You were the most beautiful of them all, star or angel, no one compared to you.” He watches as a smile blooms on Jimin’s face, growing until it reaches his eyes. “That’s still true, by the way.” He touches his cheek when a blush paints itself across them.

“I wish we could’ve been closer.” Jimin pouts.

“I don’t.” Jungkook disagrees. “You would have suffered a lot with my death.”

“Taehyung did… I almost didn’t recognize him.” Jimin frowns as he remembers the way his brother was during that time. “You know, he swore to kill Seokjin if he ever saw him again.”

Jungkook shook his head, hands softly going up and down Jimin’s sides to calm both of them down from the bad memories. “It’s awful what hate can do...”

“Yeah…” Jimin agrees with a sigh before looking up at Jungkook expectantly. “So what now?”

“You’re staying with me, right?” Jungkook risks asking, even though they didn’t really define whether he would stay with Seokjin or not. “I’m moving to Seoul for university in about a week and I wouldn’t mind having some company.”

Jimin smiles, moving so he can peck his lips shyly. “Of course I’m staying. I’m talking about the necklace, though…” He makes a dramatic pause. “Do you want to be immortal?”

“Only if it’s with you.” Jungkook says without hesitation.

“I’m definitely on board with that.” Jimin says, feeling warmth spread all over his body at the feeling of being so wanted like this.

“Let’s not worry about that yet, though…” Jungkook sighs, squeezing Jimin’s waist and loving how warm he feels close to him like this. “I’m not sure I want to be stuck in my eighteen-year-old body forever.” Jimin giggles at the face he makes. “For now...” He takes the necklace from his nightstand and puts it around Jimin’s neck. “I know you’ll keep it safe for me.”

no man can live forever

except he, who possesses the heart of a star

and Jimin had given his to Jungkook completely

and they still live

happily ever after

#jikook #jikook fic #kookmin #kookmin fic #nat writes

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hamburgergod · 5 years

Text

stay out of the cold with the latest orange and grapefruit verse where Dean and Cas are roommates and Cas happens to be a human-harpy hybrid! In this installment, Charlie and Jo deal with a broken heater and Dean and Cas offer a solution. ~2.5k

[AO3] [dreamwidth]

“The heater at my place broke again,” is what Charlie says instead of a normal greeting.

“Hey to you, too,” Dean replies through a mouthful of rice and chicken. “Again?”

“Yeah.” She’s wearing the full gear—mittens, earmuffs, a scarf, the whole lot. She slumps over the cafeteria table. “This is how I’ve been sleeping.”

“Are you serious?”

“No,” she replies and Dean starts to laugh, but she only grows more grim. “I also wear ski pants on top of one of those fuzzy pajama bottoms and these super thick socks that I can’t fit into my boots. Also two sweaters and my coat.”

“Oh. Shit.” Dean forgives her for stealing one of his chicken pieces, if only out of pity. “That sucks, man. Did you tell the landlord?”

“Yeah, but he hasn’t done anything yet.” She chews on the piece mournfully. “He said he would, but he hasn’t. On a completely unrelated note, our lease includes all utilities, so. You know how it is.”

He can relate—it wouldn’t be the first time a college student had a dick landlord. “Dude, that sucks,” he says, more for consolation than anything since there’s not much he can offer.

She shows him the pictures she took of her windows this morning, which are completely frozen over—not with frost, but covered with bumpy ice, and the sides almost like thick icicles that are seen on tree trunks during winter. Jesus Christ. Dean adds a mental note to pick up some insulation film for their own apartment, although that might be overdoing it this year.

“This winter hasn’t been easy on anyone from what I hear,” she says, nibbling on a piece of green pepper from his lunch. “So how come you’re fine, Kansas boy?”

“Stereotype.”

She laughs. “But seriously,” says Charlie, “last year you wouldn’t shut up about how cold you were. How come this time you’re so—” She waves at him, half-disgusted at his well-being, “content?”

She has a point. Around the same time last year, Dean thought freezing to death in his room half-delirious from staying up the night to finish his report was how he was going to go. He shrugs. “Maybe ‘cause I have a smaller place now?”

“Like hell,” Charlie replies, and Dean laughs. “Maybe your landlord actually cares about heating this year.”

Dean snorts. “Maybe.”

It took him a little while to understand that it wasn’t the heater that’s been extra productive but another fairly new constant in his life. Said fairly new constant that’s currently walking into the living room wearing an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants, yawning up a storm.

“Good nap?” Dean asks, looking up from his phone. Cas nods, still somewhat out of it, and joins him on the couch. The heat from his body radiates towards Dean soon enough, and it’s such a perfect amount of toasty that Dean’s about to break out the marshmallows and the graham crackers. Dude’s like a walking heater.

Dean can’t help but let out a content sigh. The otherwise frosty living room soon thaws, and Dean loosens his grip on the blanket he was clutching at.

“What’s for dinner?” Cas demands sleepily. Dean huffs, and tells him it’s mac n’ cheese. “Stovetop or from the oven?”

“Which one would you rather have?”

“Oven-baked. Obviously the superior version.”

It’s a bit more work, but Dean’s up for the challenge. “Okay, then I’ll make that one.”

Pleased, Cas smiles. Maybe Dean imagines it, but the heat radiating from Cas becomes a little more intense for a second before it flares back down into a steady source of warmth.

Good mood means more heat. Cool.

Dean helps to shake the snow off the top of Charlie’s bobble hat. She gives a full-body shiver in return, her nose red and her cheeks icy cold.

“God,” she says. “I’m going to die. Straight up freeze my ass to death.”

“Heater still not fixed?”

“F-fucking—nope.” She shoots a grim smile. “But Jo and I sent our landlord an email briefly mentioning the HUD, and he replied saying he’s booked a repair guy. Right away! Can you believe this guy?” She sniffles. “Except today is Friday, so repair guy won’t be here until Monday at the very least. I just know that my ass is out of that house as soon as the lease is up.”

“How long’s your lease for?”

“…Until the summer. Ugh.” Charlie shivers up again. Dean pities her. “Apparently it’s supposed to snow tonight, again. I’m going to die, Dean.” Her voice sounds slightly blocked from having a congestion, and Dean touches the tip of her nose. It’s completely frozen.

“You guys don’t have a couch to crash at until then?”

“Nope,” Charlie replies miserably.

So miserably, that Dean doesn’t think twice about it when he whips his phone out to text Cas.

Charlie almost cries when she steps into their apartment.

“I have never been more glad to be in a dude’s apartment than I am now,” she says tearfully, and Dean snorts, directing her to the couch. She gladly takes the offer, and snuggles up against the blanket that’s already bunched up on top of it. Dean makes them both a cup of hot chocolate while she boots up her laptop, making cooing noises at it all the while.

“Jo says she’ll head here as soon as she’s done work,” Charlie says. “God, do you know how nice it is to feel my toes again?”

Dean laughs. “Did you want anything specific for dinner?”

“You’re feeding me too?! Oh my god, dude.” Charlie sends the blanket flying as she hugs him. “Best temp roommate ever.”

“Alright, alright.” Dean gives her a firm pat on the back with a smile. “Don’t get too used to it.”

“I’ll treat you guys tomorrow. I promise.” Charlie holds up a hand to Dean’s protest. “Dean, you’re already providing us so much. It’s the least I can do.”

It’s then that Cas shuffles out of his room stretching and takes a moment to blink at Charlie in split second confusion before his smile breaks through. “Hello, Charlie.”

“Hey man!” Charlie gets up to hug him too. “Thanks for this. Jo and I are super grateful.”

Cas frowns. “The living condition at your place doesn’t sound very accommodating.”

“Don’t get me started on that.”

Jo joins them after work as Charlie’s promised and soon enough everyone’s piled up in the living room being warmed to their very core. Charlie dozes off a few times and Jo pokes her awake just long enough to have her finish her essay. Dean makes quesadillas and passes plates of it around, smacking Jo’s hand away from grabbing the plate near her.

“Ow! What’s your deal?”

“That’s Cas’s,” Dean replies. At Jo’s eyebrow quirk, he adds, “He doesn’t like chicken.”

Cas’s head perks up from between his textbook and gives Dean a blinding smile. Dean flushes hot under his collar at the sight; it’s not that big of a deal for Cas to look so pleased that Dean remembered that Cas doesn’t like eating chicken (“Is it like… borderline cannibalism for you guys?” “Not so much cannibalism as it feels… wrong for me to eat. Would you ever eat a monkey?”). His face is warm as he hands him his plate and he still doesn’t cool back down when he’s sitting in his spot with his own plate.

“Is it hotter in here or what?” asks Charlie.

“What?” Dean clears his throat. “No. What?”

“No, it definitely got hotter,” says Jo. She fans herself, her own face slightly red. Oh. Temperature-wise, they mean. Duh. “It went from 0 to 100 real quick all of a sudden.”

Charlie rolls up her sleeves and Jo ties her hair up into a ponytail while Cas pretends to not notice any of this is happening, his face slightly red also probably from his own body heat, and Dean tries to contain his own smile. Dude must really like his quesadilla or something, geez.

The rest of the weekend goes by relatively event-free and Charlie and Jo are more than happy to go back to their house after their heater is fixed. Though the apartment feels much bigger after those two leave even though they only stayed for two nights, Dean’s also secretly a little bit relieved to have his and Cas’s space back. He especially feels worse when, as soon as Charlie and Jo walk out the front door, Cas lets out a mile long groan and his wings shudder out full-force, twitchy from having been crammed in without an opportunity to stretch them.

Dean winces. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine,” says Cas, even though this must’ve been harder for him than anyone else in the apartment.

“Was it? Really?” Dean pokes the side of Cas’s wing and Cas yelps. “Sorry!”

Cas huffs as he relaxes his wings down again, and rolls his shoulders with a crane of his neck. “It was still nice to have their company,” he says graciously.

Cas cranes his neck with a wince and look, Dean feels bad. He really does. So he offers the only thing he can think of. “D’you want a massage?”

Cas’s head snaps to Dean, wide-eyed. “What?”

Dean blinks. Well, that was a response. “A massage. For your wings.” Dean shifts his weight on his feet, slightly unnerved by Cas’s sudden upped intensity. “I feel bad, y’know? My fault you couldn’t stretch them out.”

Cas’s wings twitch in place like he’s trying to hold them very still just like how he holds himself right now as he stares at Dean with disbelief. His face grows more and more crimson until the tips of his ears are bright red.

“Did… I say something wrong?”

“Um.” Cas blinks rapidly. His tongue quickly pokes out to lick his lips. “No. Just.” He coughs. “You don’t understand what you’re offering to do.”

“Huh?”

As if saying that out loud was more to confirm it to himself than to inform Dean, Cas relaxes as he watches Dean’s cluelessness grows. “Humans… hold hands and, and touch each other as an act of intimacy typically when they’re romantically involved. Wing grooming and such for harpies…”

“Oh.” So Dean basically offered to… He flushes. “Oh.”

“It’s alright,” Cas says quickly as if he understands how painfully embarrassing it is to misunderstand one’s cultural aspect and make a fool out of himself. Oh, wait. Ha. “You didn’t know what you were saying.”

“Right.” Dean laughs awkwardly.

Cas offers an awkward smile in return and suddenly the living room is more stuffy than ever, a thin layer of something hovering over them as they stand there like dumbasses without being able to look each other in the eyes for some reason.

Dean can’t take it. “Do uh, do you only wing groom your partners?” he asks with the sole purpose of academic interest. Someone’s gotta ask these questions, right? “Like, this is strictly romantic?”

Cas thinks about it. His face contorts in an interesting way as he thinks, his eyes screwing up as his eyebrows move up and down and his mouth pursed into a thin line. “No. Not always.”

A sliver of hope. “Oh?”

“No,” Cas says slowly, like an old computer rebooting itself after it blue-screened. “A baby harpy would have their wings groomed by their parents, or close friends would help each other with hard-to-reach places. No,” he repeats, “there’s a platonic aspect to it. It’s circumstantial.”

“Oh.” Dean’s shoulders sag with relief and he laughs, more genuine this time. “Then why’d you make it so weird when I offered, dude?”

Cas frowns down. His wings twitch again. “I don’t know.”

Thank god. Thank god it was just Cas being his socially awkward self and not Dean having crossed a line. “Well, hey, offer’s still on the table if you want.”

Cas flushes and rubs the back of his neck. His wings flutter slightly. He sighs. “It would be nice,” he admitted.

They sit down on the floor since the couch is too small to accompany Cas’s wings while he’s sitting up. Dean thinks about suggesting Cas to lie down but thinks better on it. Now that he actually has Cas’s wings sitting in front of him, he’s not sure where to start.

“Should I…” Dean experimentally digs his fingers upwards into Cas’s right wing, watching with fascination as his fingers disappear into the feathers. Cas stiffens for a split second before he relaxes with a big breath. “You okay?”

Cas nods though he’s still a little stiff. “Yes.”

Dean sort of… kneads his fingers into Cas’s wings by moving up against the feathers like Cas told him to, until he reaches between Cas’s shoulder blades and gently presses a few times. Cas groans into the touch and yep, okay, he must’ve done something right. Dean grows more confident as he kneads back down each wing, doing his best to not hurt Cas’s joints by mistake and Cas’s feathers become more lax.

He works himself up a sweat moving up and down on his knees—he’s boiling hot— but Dean’s starting to really get the hang of this. Cas seems like he’s responding better too, with the way his back arcs slightly and the way he lets out a sigh every once in a while as his wings shudder under Dean’s touch. Cas’s wings flutter out of Dean’s grasp then, standing up abruptly and almost leaving Dean with a handful of feathers.

“Thank you, Dean.” He clears his throat. “I think that’s good enough.”

“Yeah?” Dean grins. “Feel better now?”

“Yes.” Cas shuffles his wings before he puts them away in the blink of an eye. Dean still can’t get used to the transition. Cas’s face is still red so Dean’s not the only one feeling the temperature. “I have a—I remembered that I have a thing to work on, so.”

“Yeah, sure man. Let me know if you ever want another massage,” he says to Cas’s retreating back, who gives him a thumbs up without turning back and goes straight to his room.

Well, that wasn’t so bad. Everyone got off that pretty happy, and hey, Dean’s pretty proud.

Dean yawns and gets ready for the rest of the day.

Castiel, meanwhile, face-plants onto his bed and lets out a long, quiet groan of frustration into his pillow, the sensation of Dean’s touches still ghosting over his wings.

Now he has to live with knowing how that feels.

#destiel #my writing #spn #orange and grapefruit verse #stay out of the cold by cuddling a phoenix harpy near you today

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frenchy-and-the-sea · 7 years

Text

So here’s a thing. Back when @villnis was sending me prompts from this meme, they sent so many that they literally got blocked from sending more. So a few of said prompts got sent over Discord, including this one, which involves @phoenix-failing‘s incredibly Cavvery and Val with the prompt of ‘pinky promise’.

Now I’ve never written Cav before, and I only know so much, but I hope she ended up okay here! I was afraid that if I didn’t post this, I’d get caught up in the nitty gritty and it would NEVER get done. so here’s hoping it came out okay!

1500 words this time, set in a made up scenario that we have not and probably will never actually have to deal with in the campaign.

Cavvery had raged against this plan.

Splitting the group was suicide enough to her mind, but these idiots had decided to cement themselves in Death’s good graces by separating her and Bren. And they must have been rubbing off on him too, because he had the nerve to agree.

Yes, they would move quieter as two smaller groups. Yes, they had done their best to split their strengths evenly across both. Yes, Bren would be traveling with the half that had plate armor and a shield and a willingness to take the big hits.

No, she still did not have to like it.

She had made everyone very aware of this fact too, with a daggered silence that had quashed even Ianry’s chatter, and a glare that should have rightly set the whole camp on fire. Only Bren seemed immune to it, trying every so often to make conversation, failing when she cut him off in a few short, angry words.

He never stopped trying though, so Cavvery turned immediately from her rummaging when she heard boots crunching closer, fire and daggers all ready.

“I don’t want to hear - ”

She broke off when she found herself staring up not at Bren, but at two yellow eyes glinting in the dark.

“Don’t worry, I’ll only be a minute,” Val said, with a faint and lopsided little smile. Cavvery frowned, but didn’t object as she turned away. Val could talk if she wanted. It wouldn’t change a damn thing.

The tiefling apparently took her silence to mean as much, because after a moment, she carefully picked her way over to where Cavvery had returned to hunching over her pack. She could feel Val’s eyes watching as its contents were stowed - potions and poultices, bandages, alchemical solutions, a few vials of the tincture to keep their less flattering sides at bay.

“I know you’re worried about him,” she said at last. Cavvery made very sure to make the stutter of her hands look like she just missed a pocket. She still didn’t look up.

“Hell,” Val went on, with a short, humorless laugh. “I feel like I haven’t stopped worrying since we met you two at Kay’s party. I can only imagine what you’ve been dealing with all these years.”

A round of the same mirthless humor Val had used pressed suddenly at the back of Cavvery’s throat, escaping as a sarcastic huff.

“Well, at least you’re honest about the fact that you don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, the nonchalance in her voice undercut by a tincture glass clattering into the bag with what was admittedly more force than necessary. Overhead, she heard a noise that might have been a sigh if Val’s teeth hadn’t been clenched so tightly.

“Glad to hear you agree that I’m honest enough,” she said after a moment of terse silence. Her voice still sounded a little thin, but remained flat and even as pond water. “So you’ll believe me now when I tell you that I’m gonna make sure nothing happens to him, yeah?”

Cavvery snorted, a short huff of air through her nose, and finally looked up. She could feel the ice-fire burning behind her eyes as she did, and Val, for all her height and strength and the scars under her plate, took a full step back at the force there.

“Are you absolutely sure you’re qualified to make that promise?” she asked. If Val’s voice was pond-water still, Cavvery’s was unnaturally so, and dark as midnight. She usually loathed the idea that Kay’s lessons stuck to her even when she stopped playing puppet, but they had their uses from time to time.

Like threatening anyone who so much as chanced her brother’s safety.

Val didn’t recoil this time though, didn’t frown or snap or lash out; instead, her grim look softened, and she sagged under her armor with a sigh.

“Lass,” she said with a weary smile, “If something happens to anyone here, I can tell you it won’t be while I’m alive.”

The frigid heat that Cavvery felt glowing behind her eyes suddenly sputtered, then fizzled out completely. Val seemed remarkably comfortable with the phrase, with the implication that she would fall for the sake of someone else. Resigned, her mind provided helpfully, and she felt her stomach twist in a way she didn’t care to think about for any particular length of time.

Something must have shown on her face though, because Val suddenly shifted with an uncomfortable cough, and seemed intent on getting away from the subject. She nodded back towards the fire at the center of camp.

“I’ll do what I can to take care of your brother,” she went on, softer again, “But you’ve gotta be able to promise me the same.”

Her eyes darted pointedly sideways, and Cavvery followed the look over to where Amon was sitting, bent over a map with Sarula, carefully marking paces off one by one.

“Amon?” She turned back to Val, genuine surprise coloring her expression. “You two are…?”

“Not by blood, no,” the tiefling replied, the corners of her mouth tugging up in a faint, knowing smile. “Not that I can figure anyway. But he’s family all the same. They all are.”

Then she fell silent, her eyes turned to flint by the edges of her smile dropping suddenly away. She didn’t have the practice, the training, the hollow emptiness burned onto her soul to quite pull off the cold heat as Cavvery had, but with the fire throwing shadows up along her horns and her yellow eyes narrowed to slits in the dark, Val got pretty damn close.

“I can’t lose another family, Cav,” she said, her voice thin and very quiet, “not a third time, understand?”

A shudder rolled involuntarily down her spine, and Cavvery quietly cursed the natural inclinations of tieflings. She straightened her shoulders to quell the shivering and forced herself to look directly up into Val’s grim stare.

“Sounds like we’ve both got our work cut out for us, then,” she said after a moment, trying at a thin smirk. It felt strange and lopsided, but the attempt must have been noted; Val’s expression softened again and she coaxed up the beginnings of a smile. Hers, at least, held steady.

“You more than me, admittedly. But if you promise to make sure Amon doesn’t do anything stupid, I’ll keep my shield up for Bren,” she said, holding out a hand. Cavvery reached up to take it, then pulled away again, puzzled. Val hadn’t offered her a full hand; just the smallest finger, hooked like she expected to grab something. She turned her narrow look to the tiefling overhead, whose smile widened as she reached down - whole handed this time - and pulled Cavvery to her feet.

“Never seen that before?” she asked. The little tinge of smug amusement in her voice made Cavvery frown, but Val didn’t seem to notice. “Street kids used to do it in the cities I grew up in. To them, it was as good as swearing on blood, or on the life of your mum. Difference being that I’ve seen people break both those promises before, and never saw one of those kids so much as joke about it when little fingers were involved.”

“And you're just as serious,” Cavvery said slowly as understanding dawned. Val grinned and offered her finger again.

“Can't think of a better way to show that than with the only vow I never saw broken.”

Cavvery looked down, staring fixedly at the hand held out in front of her. A part of her - the noble, rational part, the one that had been groomed so carefully all of these long years - told her that she should scoff at this. Swearing allegiance over a children’s vow was ridiculous at best, insulting at worst. Her brother’s life was worth more than some street rat’s game, after all. If it wasn’t going to be blood or gold, her word should be enough, would have to be enough -

She felt her finger slip in beside Val’s almost before she recognized what she was doing, with a deliriously giddy skip of her heart that politely explained that her rational side that it might fuck off entirely.

Across from her, Val’s grin glowed in earnest. She shook once, a firm pump of their joined hands, and then broke the grip to clap a hand onto Cavvery’s shoulder.

“Now,” she said with grand flourish towards the fire. “Your brother has been moping for the past hour, and I’ve got coin that says you’ll snap him out if it in ten minutes or less, if you’d like to help a girl win back some of her hard earned gold.”

The grin that had been threatening finally broke out across Cavvery’s face, and she shrugged Val’s hand from her shoulder as she strode towards the fire pit.

“Fine,” she said, with a dramatic sigh, “But I’ll be taking half.”

#my writing #other people's ocs #pile of idiots #valtish #d&d shenanigans #will I ever be satisfied with something I post when I post it?#WHO KNOWS #at least i'm posting stuff though so #that's something

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gabrielxcarson · 4 years

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Favors // self para

Gabriel thought the sound was a part of his dream, hoped and prayed it wasn’t actually happening, but it persisted. The same loud thud with the same three knocks with each cycle. Well, they weren’t proper knocks when whoever waited rather impatiently used their palm to slam into the door’s wood. Maybe if Gabe pulled the covers over his head further, the visitor would take the hint and leave him the hell alone. Or at least, have enough consideration to know that it was a little past the butt crack of dawn, Thankfully, Bellamy spent the night over at a friend’s, so he wouldn’t have a cranky eleven year old complaining about the interruption to his sleep schedule. It wasn’t Bell’s he was concerned over at this point. “Go away.” Gabe mumbled. Off days were rare for him and all the more so when those days were a weekend.

Still, the knocking did not let up. The first thought to pop in his head raised the suspicion of the emergency scenario or maybe it was only Boone coming to drag his ass out of bed for an important case. There were devices called cell phones, however, and it’s a better chance his partner would call or text rather than be the dick and show in person. Then again... “Fuck. I’m coming, I’m coming.” Gabriel practically rolled out of bed and groaned as his feet landed on soft carpet, stopping for a moment to unsuccessfully smooth down his hair in the dresser’s mirror and making his way to the foyer. He worked on unlatching each lock slowly. From the way he saw it, it’s sweet revenge making Boone wait for waking him up to begin with if he was responsible. It was when Gabe opened the door half-expecting to chew out his friend did the proverbial slap in the face stop him with a cold boiling fury spreading throughout his entire body.

“Well, hey, kiddo.” It wasn’t Boone. It wasn’t another co-worker dragging him from the free day for a case. God, who was Gabriel fucking kidding? He would rather sacrifice a million off days for the entirety of his career if it meant he would never have this moment seeing Noah Carson standing on the other side of his door. He watched his father give him the same permanent damn smirk that didn’t disappear. Despite the freezing winter weather, Noah only wore a tank underneath the long-sleeved plaid shirt in which Gabe could see the small square outline of the cigarette pack in his front breast pocket. “Got tall on me, didn’t you?”

Gabe immediately moved to slam the one thing preventing the conversation from happening closed before his father swiftly wedged his foot between the small space of the doorframe and pushed it open a little too forcibly. The younger Carson possessed the means to protect himself and send any unwanted intruders running for the hills, but the only solution dealing with a man like his father was stepping back and letting it happen. “Now, is that any way to say hi to your dad?” Noah crossed the threshold of his boy’s apartment, taking in the jammed quarters with a mischievous glint to his eye. Gabe made out well for himself, but no one ever pegged Noah Carson himself for the lovely dovey father figure glowing with pride for a son who couldn’t handle a few nights on his own and simply ran. And not only did he run, the little shit took Noah’s five month old baby with him. “Where’s your brother?”

“Not here.” The answer was short, annoyance clearly not an issue Gabe bothered hiding. It was the best decision he ever did, letting his brother stay at a someone else’s house. He didn’t need to be here for this.

“Damn, was hoping to see who he turned out looking more like. He’s got to be, what? Pushing the teen years?” Noah’s gaze flitted to his son who took a few steps to the side like he was scared shitless he’d catch a disease standing too close to the father who disappointed him before curiously scanning the room. Invading personal space wasn’t a problem he had, however. “I have to say, Gabriel, I thought you’d be doing a lot better than all of...this.” He lazily swept his hand toward the somewhat cramped space that was the main living room. “You sure were arrogant enough to pretend taking Bellamy gave him the better life.”

“What do you want, Dad?” Gabriel snapped at him, “You’re one to talk about giving your kids a better life, so what the hell are you doing here?” The man folded his arms across his chest firmly, “Is it money?” That was the real sad truth about Gabe’s reality involving his father. The only reason he could possibly find as most likely were financial troubles. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if the visit presented itself as Noah knocking on the door with an open hand. Gabriel didn’t necessarily believe the Carson household was a dirt poor one, despite his parents throwing away their money on alcohol and drugs, but it’s already been over a decade. With the path they were heading down, it could’ve been likely they were in debt. “And don’t...don’t spoon feed me bullshit.”

“You think that little of me I would think myself desperate enough to come to you for cash? Always assuming it’s about you, isn’t it?” Noah released a scoff and used the edge of his thumb to rub at the lower half of his lip. “I heard you were running with the donut pigs nowadays. Well-respected around these parts, wearing blue, with the badge and everything. Ain’t that some ironic shit.” He reached for the cigarettes in his pocket before changing his mind judging by the glare of daggers Gabe would likely shoot in his general direction. Might as well come out with it. “Your mother lost her touch, Gabriel. She got caught snorting something she probably shouldn’t be and had her ass thrown in jail.”

“Okay.” Now, Gabe didn’t exactly appreciate the stereotype his father cast on his job and the courageous cops he worked with, but that wasn’t the important matter at hand. So, what, his mom is spending maybe more than a night in a cell for drug possession and his father thought to come all the way here and tell him? “What does that have to do with me?”

“I told you,” Noah shiftlessly turned on his heel and completely faced the other, “You’re a well-respected man about town with your police cruiser and macho protective civic duty. We weren’t speaking for the last decade, boy, doesn’t mean I don’t have eyes or listen to the gossip. You have an in with the right people, a...” He waved his hands a little, pausing to find the right words, “An authority. Maybe you could go down to the station, talk to your partner, whoever arrested her, and put a good word in. Maybe use some of that intimating strength I know you have somewhere.”

Gabriel stared, simply dumbfounded by the explanation. Annie getting arrested and charged with something, he could certainly believe, but this was absurd. No, no, on second thought, why should it have a shock value when it’s the type of shit he expected from the shittier parent? “So, let me get this straight,” He spoke slowly, “You come all the way here, knocking on my door after ten long years and interrupting one of the once in a blue moon days I’m off from an over forty hours a week job, begging to spring your piss poor excuse of a drug addled wife from a cell she should’ve been in years ago? What made you possibly think I would ever grant you a favor as if I owed you anything?” Gabe release a scoff, shaking his head. “No. You get the same I got from you for all those years. Nothing.”

“You want to talk about who owing who here.” Noah’s response fled from his lips in a small growl, “You left home without so much as a word. No note, just two cleaned out rooms and a fucking empty crib. You think you had it so bad, Gabriel? I never once hit you, did I? Never slapped you or your mother around, instead, you’re the one punishing us for going out there and having a great time.” Noah held the expectations at a low enough standard to figure Gabe wouldn’t go for bribing the police, but his sheer disappointment was real. “Because of that, I have every right to ask this of you just as much as it’s a right for me to know Bellamy. He’s my son.”

“And he’s my brother. Did you raise him? Did you soothe every temper tantrum, change every diaper, scrap the bottom of your own goddamn bank account to keep a roof over his head?” Gabe snapped back furiously, “You still don’t get it, do you? It doesn’t matter if you didn’t raise a hand to me, the damage you inflicted was never physical. I made my own breakfast, I packed my own lunch, I made my dinner, I cooked, I cleaned, and I went to bed to an empty house.” The more Gabe listed, the louder his tone increased. “Then you had Bellamy and I had to skip school to take care of him because you never gave me the money to hire a sitter. I rarely saw you and Mom and when I did early in the morning hours, I was the one tucking you guys in.” Gabe pressed his lips tightly together and breathed out a rush of air through his nostrils. “The silence I endured in that house would drive anyone insane from the loneliness, but I endured nonetheless without your help. You lost the right to ask shit of me and call yourself my father.”

“You done?” Noah’s inability to hold off on the sarcastic reply after a long pause for silence hadn’t disappeared despite the serious confession plaguing his kid. Never one for softness, he could see why Gabe left home because of it. “I admit, it’s hard being the dad when the only thing your grandpa taught me was how to use the hard end of a belt. Fuck, even that’s not a good excuse, but your mom and I didn’t do that swell of a job taking care of you. I get it, you’re pissed at us and I sure can’t fucking change it. We liked our fun, indulged every now and then. That’s who we are, Gabriel, that’s how we bonded. However, you love forgetting this little fact,” He jutted a finger at Gabe, “We still came home.”

“At the rate you two were headed, you shouldn’t have come home at all. I wish you didn’t.” Gabriel could feel his feet carrying him towards the door and turning the knob before swinging it open. His body instinctively knew what he wanted even when his mind took a moment to catch up. “I want you to leave. Don’t come back here favors or otherwise, don’t contact me, and if I ever hear you went near Bellamy, I’m filing a restraining order. That’s a promise.”

“And I promise you, Gabriel, I’m not going anywhere.” Spoken under different circumstances by a different man perhaps imploring the forgiveness of his child, it would have been a true promise carrying comfort, but from Noah, there was an underlying threat to his words. “A real man doesn’t run from his problems. I know you’re spreading lies about us to him, so why don’t you tell your little brother the truth, or I might just let it slip myself.” Noah walked straight for the door, throwing out the comment as he passed, “Maybe you’ll know exactly how it feels playing the horrible father. Remember that.”

Gabriel forgone taking the bait and refraining from handing over any reply his father could have used for ammunition, instead, shutting the door behind him and leaning against it with a long breath of what he imagined was his first since Noah’s reappearance. Ten years’ work of forgetting his parents ever existed undone by a visit that lasted a total of ten minutes. He wasn’t about to take Noah’s words lightly either. It’s a matter of time before his father approached Bellamy, introduced himself, likely twist why he and their mother wasn’t around to his own favor. Gabriel thought he had years to spill the secret.

Now, he just had days.

#self para: favors #noah

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