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wintfleur · 2 months

Note

so stella is anemic, what if one of her brothers finds her passed out bc of it

౨ৎ passing out spells and a misinformed quinny

°. — pairings ( Estella Hughes oc! X brother! Quinn Hughes )

°. — details ( g; i honestly don’t know. w; Stella passing out, I think that’s all. wc; 1.6k )

˖ ་ 💭 roro’s notes ( thank you so much for requesting !!! So sorry that it took so long to get out, I’ve never written something like this before so I hope the passing out scene isn’t to cringe. I hope you guys enjoy it, please don’t be a silent reader !!! )

°. — ( feel free to send any requests of things you would like to see in this series, or if you just want to share some thoughts! I would absolutely love that! Please comment if you would like to be added to the tag list! )

au masterlist — you can find asks under #💌stellahughes!

Stella loved how peaceful early mornings were at her brother's lake house, especially when she had the house to herself. Luke was staying with some friends for the weekend, Jack was out doing God knows what, and Quinn decided to wake up early and go to a rink close by to do some laps. After making sure Stella was okay with being home alone, she was having a rough week, her energy was low, and she was basically napping and relaxing all week.

Stella was curled up on the couch watching Gilmore girls and eating, well more like picking at some cherries when Quinn kissed her forehead and said he would be back soon. Shouting out a ‘i love you’ before he left. Stella mumbled back an i love you as her tired eyes were focused on the big tv, watching as dean and Rory argue for what felt like the 10th time this episode.

She was currently rewatching the show with Luke, so she was stuck rewatching the earlier episodes since Luke was adamant of them watching it together. Stella yawned and brought the blanket she was cuddled up in up to her shoulders, she honestly wasn't sure whose blanket it was, it was already on the couch.

Stella watched 3 more episodes of Gilmore girls before she started to get stir crazy and hot under the blanket. She pushed the blanket off her legs and sat up from laying down, she searched for the remote and paused the tv in the middle of the theme song. She blinked a few times and let out a heavy breath, starting to feel a little nauseous. Maybe it was the smell of cherries? She thought as she looked down at the bowl filled with cherries on the coffee table.

Stella always got really nauseous whenever she was on her period, like now. She grabbed the bowl and got up from the couch, too quickly as she saw white spots in her vision. Stella ignored the nausea and the dizzy feeling she was used to and slowly walked out of the living room and into the kitchen to put the cherries in the fridge.

She held onto the corner of the island counter after she put away the cherries, the dizzy feeling was much worse and the pounding in the back of her head became unbearable. Stella winced at the pounding in her head, closing her eyes and hoping that it would help. She felt that familiar fear of passing out, she slowly walked back into the living room, her legs and hands trembling.

She grabbed onto the edge of the couch as she tried to lean against it, but she felt her knees become weak and her grip on the couch slip, her eyes roll back as she collapses on the living room floor with a thump. The last thing on her mind was that she was alone.

Quinn hums along to the song playing on the radio channel Stella had put on the last time she was in the car with him, he wasn't sure what the song was, but he had heard Stella listen to it many times. His car would almost always turn into Stella's whenever they were together, her things in the backseat, her ChapStick or lip glosses in the cup holders. He wasn't complaining though, he missed it when he was away.

He drove into the driveway and shut off his car, sliding his keys into his pocket and grabbing the cherry ChapStick in the cupholder that he remembered Stella complained to Cole about her losing it. He slid it into his pocket before getting out of the car and going to the trunk to grab his hockey bag. He gets his keys out his pocket and locks the car as he walks up to the front door and unlocks the door, a sigh of relief leaving his lips now that he's home.

Quinn closes the door behind him and drops his hockey bag near the front door, tossing his keys on the island counter in the kitchen. He was confused when he didn't hear the sound of the tv, but then again maybe she went up to her room. “Stella, I'm home!” Quinn shouts out and he gets no answer, he knows she could be sleeping but he got a weird feeling in his chest that something was wrong.

Quinn set the water bottle he pulled out of the fridge on the counter and made his way out of the kitchen and into the living room. Quinn's eyes drop to the floor of the living room and his eyes widen in fear and worry when he sees his sister's heart patterned socks peeking out from in front of the couch. Quinn quickly made his way around the crouch, and he dropped to his knees at Stella's side when he saw her unconscious on the ground.

“Stella? Estella, can you hear me?” Quinn frantically spoke loudly, his tone filled with worry as he quickly but gently rolled Stella to lay on her back, one of his hands on the back of his littles sister's head as he tilted it back to clear her airways. His heart was almost beating out of his chest as he tried to remember all the steps of helping someone who's unconscious.

He turned his body to reach and grab a pillow off the couch to put under Stella's legs but quickly turns back to his little sister when he hears the weak groan leaving her pale pink lips. Quinn brought his hands to cup stella’s face, gently forcing her to open her eyes as he rubbed his thumbs on her cheeks “Hey, hey stella can you hear me ⸺ c’mon open your eyes.”

“Oww” Stella sleepily whined out as she gained full consciousness. She was confused, she had no idea what was going on or what happened. All she knew was that her head was killing her, and her ass was numb. Stella slowly fluttered her eyes open, a wince leaving her lips at the bright light of the living room. Stella blinked a few times trying to get used to the light, Stella's hand gripped onto the fur of the rug, and she tried to flatten her palm to lift herself up from the uncomfortable floor.

“Not so fast, it's okay just lay back down” Quinn spoke softly as he grabbed a pillow from the couch and slipped it under her head so she could rest it comfortably. Quinn kept his eyes on his little sister, they were still filled with worry. Stella groans and rests her head on the pillow looking up at her brother as she whispers, “What happened?”

“Looks like you passed out ⸺ when were you gonna tell me you could do that hmm?” Quinn jokes with a weak smile, knowing that Stella would panic the more she thought of it. Stella sniffles and tries to smile at her brother's attempt to make her feel better, she was starting to remember what had happened. She replied quietly “Thought I’d surprise ya”

“Consider me surprised” Quinn sighed, he gently moved some of Stella's hair out of her face before he stood up. “Don't move okay, I'm going to get your iron pills and something for you to drink.”

Stella weakly nodded and watched as her big brother rushed into the kitchen. Stella waited for a few moments before she tried again to sit up, this time she was much more successful. Stella groaned quietly as she slowly stood up and sat on the couch, pulling the blanket over her lap and closing her eyes. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Stella chanted in her head as she did her breathing exercise, hoping that it would help with the pounding in her head.

“I told you not to move ⸺ they say you have to lay down for 10 minutes” Quinn groaned as he walked into the living room to see stella snuggled up on the couch, of course she didn't listen to him. ‘They’ being the internet. Quinn had scoured the internet for as much information he could get about Stella's anemia and what to do if she passed out when she was diagnosed.

“They also say you shouldn't put a pillow under someone's head after they pass out” Stella says matter-of-factly as she looks up at her brother who was holding out a cold glass of orange juice, the other hand holding two iron pills.

“What? ⸺ and you're just telling me this now?” Quinn gaped as Stella took the glass and pills into her hands. Stella rolled her eyes and swallowed the two pills with a big mouthful of orange juice. She looks up at her brother who was giving her an unimpressed look, he took her health and safety very seriously. Stella gave him an innocent smile and just simply shrugged “It was a really comfy pillow.”

“Where are you going?” Stella questioned him as he shook his head in disbelief and turned around to walk out of the living room, his hands on his hips as he dramatically walked out. All of her brothers were so damn dramatic . . . but so was she. She hears Quinn shout his answer from the kitchen and the sound of him unzipping his bag for his phone “Going to call mom and tell her you haven't been taking your pills.”

“They also say you shouldn't put me through any stress or yell at me” Stella shouted back with a playful smile, she took another sip from the glass while she picked up the remote and started looking for something new to watch. Already feeling much better.

“Now you're just making shit up!” Quinn shouted back with a roll of his eyes, knowing that his little sister was just teasing him. Quinn paused his movement of searching up their moms contact when he heard the faint sound of her laughter, a smile coming across his lips when he heard her sassily shout a reply.

“It's completely true and reasonable!”

˖ ་ 💭 roro’s notes ( THIS. IS. SO. BAD. IM. GONNA. SCREAM. 😄 )

°. — taglist ( @privatemythss @prettyboywoll @cixrosie @toasttt11 )

#⋆ ˚｡⋆୨👩🏻‍🎨୧˚ stella hughes au!#💌stellahughes!#hockey #nhl #nhl hockey #quinn hughes #jack hughes #luke hughes #vancouver canucks #qh43 #jh86 #lh43 #quinn hughes x reader #hughes brothers #hughes!sister #hughes sister #nhl blurb #nhl imagine

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vivianacht · 14 days

Text

making an important announcement about some things i’ve noticed in the gwendoline christie fandom that really bug me.

disclaimer: read this at your own convenience and discretion. i am not responsible for any sort of hurt feelings and frankly… i don’t care. if you’re mad about this, you are probably the problem. /lh

to start with id like to begin on a positive note so that i’m not diving into negativity, i don’t want to be completely negative about my experiences because i’ve actually met some of the kindest people in the world through this fan base.

the gwen fandom, the gwandom, the gwendoline christie fandom , the lesbian cesspool, has been an incredible experience that i’m grateful i’ve had the pleasure of being apart of.

i went through a rough patch during november, and if i hadn’t found out about gwen, or met such wonderful people during my time here , i honestly wouldn’t be here right now. i owe my life to these people, gwen included. i will forever adore miss christie and what she stands for alongside the friends i’ve made along the way.

and while i know someday this hyperfix will end, it’s really disheartening to me when a fandom is what makes me grow distant from things i enjoy. it happened before, i feel as though it is happening all over again.

and no, i’m not taking issue with anything like the catrissa stuff or the brienne and larissa ship going around or anything like that. i like that we can all be weird together and enjoy aus like catrissa and crackships like bririssa (not sure the official name that was decided lol). my issue is the amount of content i’ve seen that either focuses on gwen herself, or the strange relationship with minors, or the odd artwork of gwen, and the absolute disgusting behaviour towards giles.

gwen would be absolutely appalled seeing fanfictions of herself that involve nsfw or just her in general, anyone would, it’s disgusting to make works of real people in that setting. it’s like you’re treating them as an original character you can mould and manipulate as you see fit and using someone who is real with thought and feeling and consciousness for smut fics is not okay, or any fic in general. i totally get the hype around her characters, i literally have “brienne’s princess” in my bio and i’ve had “jane murdstone’s bloodbag” (in reference to my vamp au) as a name in a discord server.

but i think the fandom has begun to blur the lines between fictional characters and reality settings when it comes to gwen and the personalities she portrays on the television screen. it’s not fair to her. it’s disgusting. i’ve seen a minor do it, i’ve seen a grown adult do it. it’s something i don’t see shamed and frowned upon often enough and it’s really not okay.

on that note i’d like to quickly mention the photos, we alllll know what photos i’m talking about. the bunny one, the nudes, the ones gwen has expressed regret towards and wishes to not have them spread. was there not a “fan” who brought her a book of her nudes and wanted her to sign it? that person who was blocked on instagram by gwen because they reposted her nudes on their story and tagged her???? how can you refer to yourself as a fan after behaving so abhorrently? absolutely disgusting behaviour. as a collective fandom we need to stop touching those photos (metaphorically speaking) and leave them in the past.

i’ve been told of numerous circumstances in which adults have shown their nsfw works to minors in this fandom and it has to fucking stop. it’s disgusting!! how can you do that knowingly? i constantly ponder terminating my account after a minor got ahold of my nsfw work, and upon realising they WERE a minor it was as simple as blocking and moving on. it’s truly not that hard, folks. and the minors on tiktok who fight with others saying silly things like “that’s my wife” or worse. i’ve seen it all, i feel like, and the more i see it the more sick i become. i cannot stand it.

i have seen and heard of fans who have fat shamed gwen for that one pink dress she wore to the met gala. she looked so happy in that dress, and the audacity one must have to fatshame that poor woman on twitter then turn around and continue to proclaim your ‘love for her’ as if you’d done no wrong? are you fucking serious? are you mental?

and the sexualisation over the porcelain doll look, gods some of you are sick. those were not real breasts, people. considering the fact she wholeheartedly regrets her nude photoshoots , what possesses you to believe she would actually flaunt her chest in that outfit?

the blatant mistreatment of poor giles is not fucking okay either. just because you’re jealous of someone who makes her immensely happy does not give you the right to post something so vile and cruel about him. shame on you. why do you believe this is okay to post:

????????

are you serious? have any of you stopped to consider how HAPPY giles makes her? or is her happiness the last thing you ponder when you look at her? have you even noticed how unhappy she looks lately? have you truly paused to consider how she would feel about seeing this on your page, random twitter user, or the rest of you who think this is okay? bless your hearts.

and some of the absolutely horrific things i’ve seen about her online and the hurtful behaviour towards giles makes me question the difference between a fan and just the general paparazzi. because if you truly loved her and you truly loved giles then i would not be ranting into the fucking void about it for no reason.

i avoid interacting with pages i find problematic on here to keep from stirring the pot but tonight i chose violence and got reeeeeal pissy about how i felt about this place. it’s not okay what i see on here and it’s getting exhausting seeing the same cycle of content on a daily.

that’s everything i have to say, i think. i probably missed a lot that should be discussed in the comments but i’m done for now because i know if i go on i’ll probably cry.

before you post things about real people with real feelings , stop to consider how they will feel those real feelings towards the content you put out. chances are you’ll become less problematic and obnoxious that way. 💘

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love-quinn · 30 days

Text

WOVEN TOGETHER ━━━ remus lupin x reader

━━━ 𖥻︰ 2091 words

summary: despite your best efforts, remus lupin might just become your friend.

pairing: remus lupin x reader

tags: platonic remus lupin x reader, she/her pronouns, reader is a gryffindor the same year as the marauders, shy reader, mentions of anxiety

The common room was one of your least favourite places to be, but your dorm room was worse, so there you were. It was getting late, and you had a potions assignment due the next day, so you were sitting in a quiet corner trying to work on it. Well, trying to want to work on it. You were only just passing by the skin of your teeth, and if you failed this essay then it would bring your grade down from an Acceptable to a Poor, and that meant that you wouldn’t be able to get the NEWTS you needed. You weren’t sure what those NEWTS were, as the idea of having to do anything after finishing school filled you with fear, but you figured it probably would have something to do with potions. You sort of just picked the electives you enjoyed and then did your best.

Unfortunately, your best didn’t seem to be good enough with this essay, as you had been working on it nonstop for the past four days and you still had another 10 inches of parchment left.

“Disfigurement,” a voice came from above you. You looked up from your homework at a boy, looking bashfully at your parchment.

“Excuse me?”

He had the good graces to look embarrassed by the way you were looking up at him. “Disfigurement is one of the major side affects of using lacewing flies in the potion, a big part of the reason that it’s level three restricted by the ministry,”

Now, normally, a man standing above you and explaining something that you already knew would absolutely ruin your day, Merlin only knew it happened often enough. But normally, the men doing it didn’t look like they were talking about it out of pure interest.

His eyes got slightly dimmer as he realised your annoyance, a darkened honey colour that people wrote songs about. “Sorry, I should’ve- Just because you paused writing doesn’t mean you didn’t know what you were talking about. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” You decided on after a minute. You knew who he was, of course, you didn’t spend seven years in the same grade as someone without learning their name, but you were nearly one hundred percent certain he didn’t know yours.

“I just came over for…” he gestured uselessly at the small collection of cups on the table beside you, with a metal pitcher of ice cold water that stayed full no matter how much you poured it. A group of boys in your year had tried to use it to flood the common room one time. You had a sneaking suspicion the boy in front of you had been involved, despite the fact that he never received detention for it like the others did.

“Go for it.”

He poured two glasses of water and paused, looking at you. “I really am sorry. I’ve offended you.”

“I’m not offended,” you replied honestly. “I normally would be, but I’ll allow it just this once.”

The boy cracked a smile, slightly crooked, and it evened out his whole face, as though he had been created just to smile like that. “Thank you, then.” He corrected softly. “For not being offended by my interruption.” He put the cups down gently and looked for a moment as though he might shake your hand, before thinking better of it and leaving them hanging uselessly by his side. “I’m Remus.”

“So I’ve heard,” you didn’t mean to sound pretentious. “I just mean- we share a lot of classes, so I’ve seen you around a lot.” Now it was your turn to be embarrassed.

Remus continued smiling. “No, I know. I see you all the time. You always snag the good table in the library.” He gestured to you, testing your name out experimentally on his tongue, as though afraid to get it wrong. You nodded.

You liked studying in the library because it made you feel like an actual student. Doing homework on your bed, while the more common alternative, made you feel as though you were doing it wrong somehow. As if, because you hadn’t put in the effort to go all the way to the library and bring your study materials with you that you didn’t deserve to do well on whatever it is you were working on. “Do I?” your voice sounded far away, even to yourself.

“I’ll forgive you, though,” Remus said good naturedly, noticing your change in tone. This interaction had gone on far too long for your liking. You were beginning to feel exhausted. How embarrassing.

Talking to strangers for longer than ten seconds makes my stomach do a backflip, you thought bitterly to yourself. That was why your dorm room didn’t feel as welcoming as it was perhaps meant to. The girls in there talked, like they were friends. And they were friends, it was easy to see that.

You’d been so removed when you first started at Hogwarts, when you were only eleven. So overwhelmed by the hundreds of rooms and the hundreds of students, that when your roommates stayed up all night chattering and getting to know one another, you had felt nothing inside you aside from a desire to go to sleep. It took weeks before your nerves calmed enough to even attempt to contribute to their conversations, and by the time you had realised that maybe you did want to be friends with them, they had accepted your silence.

You gave Remus an awkward smile, the polar opposite of the one he’d given you. As if your grinning was a defect, not something you were designed to do. Sometimes it felt like maybe you weren’t.

He was still standing there. How could you make him go away without explicitly telling him to? You felt nauseous, squirmy under his gaze. Why hadn’t he left yet? “That essay Slughorn gave us is a real doozy, isn’t it?”

You cracked a real, genuine smile at his word choice. You didn’t know anyone who used the word ‘doozy’ and the best part was, it seemed to be entirely unironic. “Yeah, I guess.”

“I was planning on spending the afternoon up in the library, working on it.” His hand fiddled with the hem of his button-up. “Any chance I could sit at the good table?”

You nodded almost instantly. “Yeah, no, sure. It’s all yours. Sorry, I didn’t mean to hog.”

“You’re not,” he let out a breathy laugh. “You’re jumpy, aren’t you?” You felt it, and your cheeks burned at the notion that he could tell. “If you wanted to still study at your same table, and I was also to study there, both of us in complete silence, then I don’t think that would be so bad?”

Remus could see that you wanted to say no, and he didn’t want to push it if you were clearly uninterested, but he also knew that it had been seven years of you being the only Gryffindor girl he’d never spoken to, and also being the only Gryffindor girl he’d ever felt a strong desire to speak to. The others were great, sure, Lily and Marlene had become friends to him more concretely now that Lily and James were seeing each other, and Alice had always been sweet. You, on the other hand, had been described by your roommates as sad. Not ‘pathetic’ sad, but a more deep sadness.

“She’s awfully kind,” Marlene had told him once, hushed in the back of a History Against Magic Lesson. He hadn’t remembered how your name had been brought up. “Think she just likes it quiet.”

“The table’s yours,” you offered. “It’s okay. I can just study down here, it’s warmer.”

“It’s louder, though,” Remus reasoned. “Up there there’s no… well, no guys coming over here to explain something you probably already understand.”

“I thought you said you were going to be there?” You were genuinely confused at what he was asking of you by this point, but he laughed it off. You staved off a frown.

“I always find that homework is nicest when you’ve got someone there,” he offered finally. “Even if you’re not talking, just purely sitting there.”

You didn’t see how that would help at all. You’d probably be too distracted by anyone to even get any work done. But, you realised with a start, the notion of someone wanting to spend time in your vicinity, as innocent as Remus’s intentions were, made your heart ache.

He probably just wanted to be able to sit at the good table without putting you rout, you understood that. But at the same time, if he really wanted to sit there, and he really wanted to not disrupt your routine, then you didn’t see why not, even though maintaining eye contact with him for any longer than a second felt as though you were going to combust in a caramel-irised explosion.

“You can come,” you conceded, gently, hoping as not to come off rude or too territorial about your space. Perhaps it would be better if you studied outside, or in an empty classroom. That way you weren’t getting in his way.

“Excellent,” he was talking too loud, and he could tell that by the way you shrank back in your seat. “Maybe I can finally get my transfiguration grade up, Merlin knows you’re doing well in that class.”

Why would he say that? That made him come across as a stalker who knew all your grades. He hoped you didn’t think that implied you did need help in potions. Your reactions weren’t giving him much, and it was making him nervous. He definitely shouldn’t have come over here, but he had been scrambling for something to say, and now he had to take water over despite the fact that no one had asked for water.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine.” You closed your textbook so gently it didn’t even made a paper noise as the cover closed. “But if you really do need help, then I might be able to.” You offered him one final smile, cheeks tinged with a visible blush.

You hoped he couldn’t see how dizzy you were getting. You wanted to go sleep and pretend this was all a dream so you could go back to ignoring Remus’s existence like he could go back to ignoring yours.

Unfortunately for you, though, he’d found your little hidey-hole study space that you occupied yesterday, coming in to tease you light heartedly about abandoning him for transfiguration. You didn’t not want to talk to Remus, it was nothing about him. He’d been nothing but sweet and funny in the very limited interactions you’d shared, you were the issue.

“Should’ve known you’d ditch me,” he’d said with a sigh as he sat down, opening his textbook up. You found you didn’t mind his being there as long as you weren’t expected to contribute much to the conversation.

“Thought it would be obvious.” You’d attempted to match his airiness in your tone. It came out strangled.

He sighed gently. “I wanted to pretend it wasn’t so, sweetheart. I thought you and me had something special. I told you about disfigurement in potions and you tell me about disfigurement in transfiguration.”

He’d been attempting to do the spell for about an hour, trying to turn a ball of yarn into a scarf. It was a simple spell that’d normally be of no issue to him, but he just couldn’t get it this time.

After nearly forty minutes of mumbling all but silently to himself so as not to disturb you, you had enough. You reached over and, so delicately he’d thought at first it was simply a breeze, uttered the spell while controlling his hand movements. A long, thickly knitted navy scarf burst from the ball of wool, landing pooled by his crossed legs. You looked up at him, expecting to be reprimanded for the touching, knowing you would have done exactly the same.

“You’re not real,” he said after a moment. Sometimes you felt that way too. “We’re officially studying together every time, now.” He grinned to himself, picking up the scarf and wrapping it securely around your neck multiple times, tucking the ends in to your jumper. It was soft. “Every single time, you little wonder.” You maybe didn’t mind as much this time as you had when he’d last suggested it. Your smile was almost hidden behind the mass of fabric you’d just helped him conjure, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t see it.

#remus lupin x reader #remus lupin #remus lupin fic #remus x reader

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mimsynims · 6 months

Text

Fool For Love

part 5

~~~

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4

~~~

Author’s Note: This is becoming longer than expected, but I’m grateful for everyone staying on for the ride.

(Btw. When I’m writing, I’m imagining this with my own Tav, but I’ve been trying to keep it GN.)

~~~

Astarion x reader/Tav

Tags: (mild?) angst, pining, pining while fucking, jealousy, eventual happy ending

Summary: You thought you knew what you were doing when you let Astarion into your bed. He doesn’t have feelings for you, and vice versa. Only… now you do.

You’ve finally made a decision on how to handle it, but it turns out it might not be that easy to actually do as planned.

And then you go and make it even worse.

~~~

“Tav, wake up.” A hand on your shoulder tries to gently rouse you awake. “Tav, come on. It’s time to go.”

“Nooo, just let me sleep.” You were having such a nice dream. The details are a bit fuzzy, but you remember a body on top of you. Lips, hands, teeth. Warmth.

“You go on ahead, I will make sure our fearsome leader gets back to camp in one piece.”

Astarion. That fucker. He’s the reason why you are like this. Still half-asleep, still half-drunk. “No, not you.”

Someone — Karlach? — mumbles something.

“Go.” Astarion again. “I’ve got this.”

Perhaps if you ignore him, he’ll go away.

“Tav, darling, get up.”

The nerve. “Don’t call me that.”

“Stop acting like a baby and I will consider it.”

That has you finally opening your eyes and sitting up. “I can get back on my own.” In a bit, anyway.

“Perhaps.” Astarion steps up to you and holds out a hand. You can’t see his smug smile in the darkness, but you have no trouble imagining it. “Not sure we should risk it though.”

Just as you take his hand, it dawns on you that you finally have him alone. It’s just you and him, with nothing to interrupt your conversation.

Except you’re far from sober and in a bloody awful mood, to boot.

Feeling his fingers grasping yours, the arousal sparked by the dream stirs awake again. For a few heartbeats, you do nothing but stare at this beautiful man, this wonderful, enraging man.

Everything that has been bubbling inside you comes to a head, overwhelming you until the only thing you can do is tug him closer.

“Kiss me?” You know you’re doing it again, distracting yourself, but you’re feeling too much and the only thing that can make your mind go blissfully blank is him.

“Tav, darling.”

“Please.”

“I never could say no to you…”

There’s a strange note of exasperation in his voice, but you have no time to reflect on it when Astarion gets down on his knees and cups your face oh-so-gently. The kiss is unexpectedly fierce, matching the turmoil inside you.

“Astarion, I…” You dive back in before you say something foolish.

Sex with Astarion has never been boring, but there’s a new level of recklessness to it as you both tear at your clothes and give yourself to each other. You will probably have a bruise or two tomorrow — as will he — but it’s exactly what you need; it’s as if he knows what you crave even though you can’t voice it out loud. A part of you mourns that this doesn’t mean as much to him as it does to you — that you don’t mean as much to him as he does to you. Even as you scream his name in pleasure, sadness lingers in the outskirts of your mind, tainting the satisfaction and exhilaration.

The moon and the stars watch over you as Astarion drags you into his arms, both panting from exhaustion after your mutual climax. Burying your face in the crook of his neck, you revel in the feeling of intimacy, lying like this.

Inhaling, you take comfort in the scents you’ll forever associate with him: bergamot, rosemary, brandy. Blood. It’s faint, but it’s there, beneath his perfume.

You go still. Blood. He didn’t bite you. Even if he doesn’t always drink from you, he always bites you during sex.

But not this time. Why? Whatever the reason, it makes you feel rejected. Not good enough.

Perhaps he only slept with you out of pity.

“I must say I am pleasantly surprised, Tav,” Astarion purrs. “For a moment there, I thought you were going to invite Gale to your tent.”

“Perhaps I was.” It’s a lie, one you will have to make sure doesn’t reach Gale’s ears. You should take it back, but you’re hurting too much to be sensible. “Still could.”

“Him?”

“He’s a nice man.” Too nice for you. “And if he could bag a god, he’s probably good in bed too.”

Astarion sits up to stare at you. “You must be joking.”

“Why?” You feel cold, naked, and not just physically. Reaching for your clothes, you turn your back to him and try to put them on. Easier said than done. “We haven’t made any promises to each other.”

Astarion rises too and places his hands on his hips, unbothered by his state of undress. “I know, but–”

“I’ve seen you, with the others. I know. And it’s fine.” Even in the darkness, it’s difficult to face him, but you force yourself to do so. To stand your ground while you do this. “At least it was fine.”

“You are not making any sense, Tav.”

You’re too worked up to notice the note of desperation in his voice. “I saw you tonight, with the others, and I realised I’ve had enough.” This wasn’t how it was supposed to go, but you can’t stop yourself now. “We should end this.”

“What? Why?”

You ignore his obvious confusion. “I know you only propositioned me to make sure you’d be under my protection.”

“I–” Astarion sounds taken aback. “Yes, that’s true, I guess, but listen, Tav–”

“Don’t worry, for as long as you stay with us, I’ll never let anyone harm you.”

“So that’s it?”

He sounds hurt, but it’s most likely just his wounded pride. “I’m sure you can find comfort in the arms of Halsin or Shadowheart.” Or both.

“As you will with Rath and Gale, you mean?”

The bitterness has you frowning. He has no right because as you said, neither of you made any promises. “Maybe, maybe not. That’s none of your business, is it?”

You wish you could see his face more clearly, but it’s probably for the best that the night hides his expression. The silence feels heavy as you wait for several pounding heartbeats for his reply. A wildly optimistic part of you hopes that he will object, that he will tell you how wrong you are.

When he finally speaks, it’s nothing more than a whisper. “I guess not.” Without another word, he grabs his scattered clothes, tucks them under his arm and walks away, leaving you behind in the smothering darkness.

~~~

#astarion #astarion ancunin #astarion x reader #astarion x tav #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 fic #bg3 tav #bg3 astarion #bg3 spoilers #fic wip

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allfattenedup · 7 months

Note

I'm a huge fan of your content, but I need to take a minute to talk about something you do that drives me absolutely wild:

I love when gainers tag their stuff as "ex-jock". Because, in the "real world" when someone uses terms like that, it's typically to describe a specific body type. An "ex-jock" is someone who works out, or at least used to. Sure they've gone a bit to seed, and they have a nice little pot belly going on, but their strong muscles, the developed upper body or the muscled glutes are all still present and noticeable. Any fat they have doesn't really jiggle all that much, because at the end of the day, there's still, you know, muscle supporting it.

But you gainers have created a second meaning for the term. When gainers like you use "ex-jock", it's not helpful shorthand to describe a specific body type, it's something used to remember a person who doesn't exist anymore. Because no one looks at a developed, established fatty, gut hanging and jiggling, ass and thighs plush and dimpled with cellulite, two chins and chubby cheeks grown plump with gorging on thousands of calories of chocolates and junk food, and thinks "oh yeah, he ran track in high school". Once you hit a certain threshold of weight gained, that history disappears. No one can see the hours in the gym. No one respects the team captain anymore. No one sees you as anything other then a lifetime fatty, because how could someone that fat ever have been anything else?

But that's not how gainers like you like to operate. Destroying the athlete you used to be, rendering them invisible, is only half the objective. Sure, you're fat now, probably fatter then you ever wanted to be (not that something like a weight limit, or goal, could ever stop you), but that alone doesn't give you the perverse thrill you crave. So what can you do? "ex-jock". A word that works like a brand. Now, no matter how fat you get, no matter how hungry you are or how much muscle mass you replace with soft, jiggling fat, the world will know that you made yourself this way. Like a bat signal in the sky, calling everyone to see an athlete that was conventionally attractive, fit and energetic, and who gave it all away. All so you could be what you see before you now.

And you're still hungry for more.

I don’t know what I can add to this because it’s perfection 😩👌🏼🐷🥵 And you nailed it. To me, I use ex-jock so that when people look at me they try to imagine what I must have looked like before I ruined my body with fat.

When they see my belly wobble against my heavy thighs, I want them to know the feeling is still strange to me, still new, still a bit frightening. Very exciting.

That the face I see in the mirror was once radically different. You’d have thought so differently of me if you’d known me before I got fat. But if I use ex-jock, at least you know when you see me like this that once I was the complete opposite of what I've now become.

That I’ve changed. I’m not making the best of the body I have, I’m making the worst body I can possibly bear, and then a little bit worse than that. Maybe a lot worse if things get out of hand. Methodically, intentionally, fatter and fatter, loving how hard it is to see myself like this. Relishing the constant, gentle horror as my fat arms wobble while I eat. Delighting in the dreadful embarrassment of a new double chin.

And you're right. I am hungry for more. Desperate, even.

#askafu #exjock #😏

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ffc1cb · 2 months

Text

new art blog

the short version:

1. i made a new art blog: @cbge;

2. @ffc1cb will stay up as an archive.

the long version:

hi everyone. this announcement is somewhat late, since the blog in question has been up for a few months now, and i’ve already started posting art on it. the reason it took me so long to “reveal” it is because i’ve been trying to figure out whether a new blog is something i actually want, or if it's just me throwing darts at a board, trying to make myself feel better somehow.

i don’t know when precisely it all started, but ever since sometime last year i’ve been going through a hard time, both emotionally and creatively. i’m not sure whether being depressed is what made art harder, or art becoming harder is what made me depressed (a bit of both, i think), but lately, drawing has been a struggle.

i’ve found myself having less and less energy for art, and this lack of energy resulted in poorer quality of drawings, which resulted in me feeling like i’m getting worse at it, despite my efforts. i knew i could make good art, art that i’m proud of - i’ve done so countless times before, - but somehow it felt like i just couldn’t anymore, like my hands forgot how to. nothing looked right.

i’ve been trying to experiment. i’ve learned some new things, tried this and that - it was enlightening, to say the least, and even though i kind of liked how it looked, it made me feel a sense of displacement. i was at odds with myself, my art, and how i felt about it, when previously i was always in sync. i was making art, yes, and it looked nice, but it felt like it wasn’t mine.

i suppose part of it was also the growing lack of engagement, and i don’t mean likes and reblogs - i never particularly cared about those. they are all just numbers to me; dry and impersonal. what i’m talking about is actual, human interactions: personal thoughts in tags, asks, replies, etc. a conversation.

i don’t mean to sound “old” or anything, but i remember when talking to artists online was more commonplace. my wife tells me it’s because the internet culture has changed over the years, that people have become more reclusive, less willing to be open with their thoughts, and she's probably right, but in my slump i find it hard to believe. somehow it feels like it’s my fault for being less “engaging”, for seeming unapproachable or perhaps intimidating. maybe it’s “just a skill issue”, maybe it’s because i have stopped churning out fanart for popular fandoms, maybe it’s because i refuse to torture myself emotionally by having an art account on twitter (i can’t fucking stand the place anymore; i still post nsfw art there, but only because it’s literally one of the only places on the internet that allows you to do so. i miss when you could post female presenting tits on tumblr).

i have always, ever since i started posting art on the internet back in 2012, done it for human connection. i wanted to talk to people, and have people talk to me. i wanted to inspire people with my art, and i wanted to bring them comfort. i wanted to elicit an emotional response, and have people tell me about it. it was one of the main reasons i drew in the first place; having lost that, i’ve been struggling to stay passionate about making art.

i miss being a small artist on the internet during the 2010s. i remember when i could make a post going, “hey everyone, how are you all doing today?” and it would not seem weird to people in the slightest. it is just me? does anyone else feel that way? am i too deep in my own head? the internet feels so unwelcoming nowadays, especially to artists. we are all just content machines; people scroll by our stuff, or maybe look at it for half a second and leave a like before scrolling away. i know it’s unfair to demand people’s attention, especially now when our lives are already so overwhelmed by everything - no one has the energy to pay closer attention; i myself am not immune to mindless scrolling. but it feels bad. i wish we were all sincere and enthusiastic again.

anyway (sorry for rambling. i hope i haven’t bored you to death), you might want to say, okay, but how is making a new art blog on a “dying” social platform going to help with any of that? the truth is, i don’t know. i just felt like i needed a change.

i’ve been running this blog since 2016 (that’s almost 8 full years!). i feel incredibly attached to it, but at the same time, i feel it weighing me down.

there are people who followed me years ago for one specific thing, still expecting me to post about said thing (i still find it mindboggling that some people follow artists for a specific fandom only, but that is a whole other matter for a whole other post that i will never write). a third, if not half, of my following are probably dead blogs. and with my current struggle with trying to regain the joy i once felt for making art, looking back at all the art i’ve done over the years makes me feel tired. i still love it all; it’s all very dear to me. i’m proud of it; looking at it makes me mourn my younger and more passionate self.

so i’ve decided to make a new blog, where i will let myself post whatever i want, in whatever stage of donness i feel like. maybe it will help me, somehow. maybe it won’t. but if you care about my art, if you want to keep following me on my artistic journey, i welcome you to join me there. similarly, feel free not to - no hard feelings.

thank you everyone for your support over the years; it matters a lot to me. i’m not planning to delete or private this blog; it will stay up, and i will still be reachable on here. i will still answer asks, if there will be any. i’m just not planning to post any art here anymore. this is it for my dear old friend ffc1cb.

i can be found in other places:

@cbge, as mentioned earlier,

@k0nstanta, an art blog dedicated solely to my wife and i’s ocs,

@inquisimail, a dragon age ask blog that has become my dragon age sideblog in general,

and multiple other blogs, none of which are art related, but feel free to ask, if you’re curious.

thank you very much for reading all of this. i hope you have a wonderful day.

#salt talks

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babydollmarauders · 1 year

Text

TEENAGER IN LOVE — TREVOR ZEGRAS

trevor zegras x fem! hughes!reader

pt. 2

request: “hi! can i request something with trevor zegras with the prompts 20 and 23 please? thanks sm!! 💗”

20. “can we stay like this forever?”

23. “sleep over? please?”

summary: in which y/n reminisces on how her and Trevor started their secret relationship.

notes: i changed up prompt 23 a little bit to make it fit better, i hope that’s okay!

i was listening to Teenager in Love by Madison Beer quite a bit while writing this so…

Trevor and y/n are in an established relationship during the first little “present” scene.

reader is 20 in the present and 19 in the flashback.

**PRESENT**

i’ve never felt comfortable on planes. it doesn’t matter where i’m sat or what i’m wearing or who i’m with, i don’t like planes. my family knows this, my friends know this, anyone who will listen to me talk knows this, my brother however, simply does not care. and now i’m stuck on the Devils charter plane, not even sat next to Jack because he’s busy sat next to Dougie, talking about some video game they both play. so i’m left beside Jesper Bratt, who’s already asleep after only being in the air for maybe half an hour.

i didn’t intend to even tag along on this road game to California, but i moved in with Jack a couple months ago and he apparently didn’t trust me to stay in New Jersey by myself, citing his reasoning as “i don’t want any chance of you having boys in this apartment.” but the joke is on him, because he’s really just providing me with a trip to see the only guy he should be remotely worried about, Trevor.

as the only girl, growing up with three brothers, they’ve always been a bit overprotective. and by a bit, i mean a lot. even Luke, who’s a year younger than me, has had his fair share of threatening guys “in the name of my safety.” all of their friends have gotten the “if you even so much as look at my sister, i’ll make sure you never see anything again” spiel, and for a good nineteen years, their friends respected that. until Jack’s best friend, Trevor, and i were left alone for a night at the lake house last summer.

**FLASHBACK**

all the guys have left for a party down the road, they even took Luke along with them for his first party as an eighteen year old, and i’m looking forward to a quiet night of watching romcom’s on the couch with no judgment and no one complaining that “that would never happen in real life!”

decked out in one of Quinn’s oversized Canucks shirts, pajama shorts, and some fuzzy socks; i’m lounged on the couch, wrapped in a fuzzy blanket burrito. i’m just about to hit play on a movie on netflix when the front door opens and shuts and i hear footsteps getting closer to the living room. averting my gaze from the tv, i look over in time to see Trevor freeze in the doorway to the living room, and i become acutely aware of my current state of no makeup and probably looking like a dork with my blanket draped over the top of my head.

i’ve never had a problem acting normal around any of my brothers’ friends. usually, they’re all just like extended family, unwanted additional older brothers. except Trevor. when Jack first brought him home during their USNTDP days, i immediately got a schoolgirl crush. and unlike usual crushes, it’s only gotten worse with time. luckily, Quinn and Jack have never seemed to notice my awkward and shy behavior when Trevor is around, but Luke has and he’s made it his mission to send me scowls and snicker at my misfortune whenever it happens.

“oh hey.” he cocks his head in one those ‘sup’ nods and takes a glance towards the tv screen before fixing his gaze back on me.

“hey. what are you doing back already? are the others coming back too? i can go back into my room. i don’t wanna be a bother or anything.” cue the embarrassing rambles.

“nah, it’s just me. feeling kinda homesick, i don’t really wanna be at a party tonight.” he shrugs his shoulder and sits on the arm of the couch next to me. “whatcha watching?”

“oh, i was just gonna watch a romcom, but it’s fine, i can watch it in my room. you can have the tv if you want.” i have to crane my neck some to look up at him from my spot. “i can leave you alone.”

i start to stand up, still wrapped in my blanket burrito when Trevor grabs the back of the blanket and tugs me back down onto the couch. he stands and walks in front of me before taking a spot on the cushion next to me.

“so, what romcom are we watching?” he asks, kicking his legs up on the coffee table in front of us.

“you don’t have to watch it. we can watch something else, if you want.”

trevor’s only answer comes in actions, grabbing the remote from my hands and clicking play on the movie. i don’t bother to fight him anymore, allowing myself to get sucked into the movie instead.

i’m sat rigid throughout the entire movie, keeping aware of my limbs, not letting any stray too far towards the cushion beside me. and about halfway through the movie i remember how weird i must look and move the blanket onto my lap instead of wrapped around me. i can barely focus on anything other than the fact that Trevor is sitting next to me. the fact that i can smell his sandalwood cologne. that if i were to lay my hand next to me, i would almost be touching him.

once the movie ends, i expect him to put on something for himself or even just go to his room, but instead he turns to look at me.

“you okay?” he asks. my eyes widen slightly before i catch myself and revert them back to normal.

“yeah, why?” i try to sound calm, but my voice is slightly shaky, and i’m just hoping he didn’t notice.

“you seem uncomfortable. did i make you uncomfortable? did i do something?” i shake my head a little too violently for someone who’s supposed to be calm.

“no! i’m not uncomfortable! why would you think that? i’m cool.”

oh my god people who are cool do not say ‘i’m cool’, what is wrong with me? he chuckles and i can’t help the small smile that breaks out on my face at the sound.

“i was just checking.” he puts his hands up in a surrendering gesture. “we should play a game.”

“what game did you have in mind?”

“truth or dare? i don’t know, i’m just bored.”

“sure.” i have a feeling this will not end great for me, but i’m not about to let him know that.

“okay. truth or dare?” we turn and sit criss-cross on the couch, facing each other properly as i weigh my options.

“truth.” safest option. he takes a second to think about his question.

“okay, i got one. does it ever annoy you, how overprotective your brothers can be?”

“oh yeah. one hundred percent. they have all these rules for me; don’t drink unless we’re with you, no dating until you’re 30, don’t leave the house unless you tell us where you’re going, don’t crush on any of our friends. it’s overwhelming sometimes. and i can never stick up for myself because they’re so quick to hurt whoever hurts me, which is nice, yes, but it’s definitely taken a toll on how i present myself. it’s made me shy and my friends say i can be a crybaby sometimes because i’ve never had to handle problems on my own. like, don’t get me wrong, i’m grateful for my brothers, they’re always there for me, but sometimes it’s just too much. ya know?”

he nods, genuinely seeming interested in what i had to say, and my heart flutters.

“i can’t say i understand because i’m the older brother in my family, but i can imagine it can be difficult sometimes.”

“anyways, truth or dare?” he ponders his options before choosing dare. “i dare you to text the guys and tell them you just watched a romcom. and you CAN’T say it was with me.”

he groans and lets his head drop back for a few seconds before pulling his phone out of his pocket and typing for a minute. turning the screen so i can see what he just wrote, he lets me press the send button.

To: Jack-Attack, Huggy Bear, Moosey Hughes

just watched this great romcom on netflix called Set It Up. you guys should watch it. 10/10

i let my own head drop back in laughter and let out an ugly cackle.

“truth or dare? you evil little witch” his mocking insult rolls straight off my back when i see the smile on his face.

“truth again.” i shrug when he raises an eyebrow at my safe choice.

“have you ever broken any of your brothers rules?” my mind short circuits. there’s only one rule i’ve broken, and that’s by liking him. do i admit that? or do i just say no? technically, he didn’t say i have to say which rule i’ve broken, so-

“yes. but you can’t tell them that i have! it has to be our secret! they’d pester me to no end until they found out which one i broke!”

“okay, our secret. promise.” he holds his pinky out, waiting for me to link it with my own. a pinky swear. how adorable. fuck. i bring my own hand up, linking my pinky with his before breaking away and setting my hand back in my lap.

“truth or dare?” i ask.

“truth.” i take a few seconds to think of a question. how is this harder to think of than coming up with a dare?

“what’s your favorite part about the off season?” it’s a relatively boring question, but the first one i thought of.

“oh that’s easy. coming here. i love spending time with you guys.” more heart flutters, i may need to get that checked out. “truth or dare?”

“don’t kill me; truth.” i joke and he laughs again.

“i should’ve expected that, shouldn’t i? alright, if you wanna keep doing truth, i’m just gonna dig deeper and deeper until you tell me your darkest secret, y/n. which rule did you break?” my stomach drops. can i forfeit? can i plead the fifth? is that a thing that you can do in truth or dare? i wouldn’t know, this is my first time playing. i think i’m just gonna have to say it. it’s not like he’ll ever know it’s him.

“you can’t tell them! remember that!” i remind him before admitting- “having a crush on one of their friends.”

his jaw drops and he lets out a completely fake gasp.

“that is not what i was expecting. i expected you to say the drinking rule or the telling them where you go rule. how scandalous, y/n! a forbidden romance!” his jokes make me feel slightly better, at least he’s not judging me.

“yeah, yeah! it’s not like i’m dating the guy.” i defend myself. “truth or dare, Zegras?”

“dare, i’m feeling adventurous.”

“i dare you to go in Jacks room and steal my book back for me. he took it away from me because he said reading was boring and this trip isn’t allowed to be boring.” he bursts out in laughter, barely able to form words for a few minutes before he speaks again.

“oh you’ve got me doing your dirty work for you! i respect it!” he leaps up from the couch and within a couple minutes he’s back on the couch, my book in his hand. he tosses it on my lap and throws a wink my way. “one book for the lady.”

“my sanity thanks you. i can’t start another book until i’ve finished this one and it was killing me slowly.”

“truth or dare? although, i don’t know why i bother asking at this point.” i roll my eyes at his sarcasm and decide to throw him a curveball. mostly for myself though because i have a feeling i know what his next question would be if i pick truth.

“dare.” he grins, and for a second i regret my choice.

“i dare you to tell me which friend you were or are crushing on. c’mon, i can keep your secret.” he asked it anyways. what the hell. i don’t think you can do that. can you do that?

“that’s basically a truth! i picked dare! that’s cheating!”

“it is not!” now it’s his turn to defend himself. “i DARED you to tell me! i promise i won’t judge you, or laugh, or tell your brothers!”

oh god, i’m gonna have to tell him, aren’t i? i mean, i could always just say one of the other guys. i could say Alex, he’s always been the sweetest to me, so i’m sure Trevor would believe it. but then he might say something. it’s not that i wouldn’t trust him to keep it a secret if i say someone else, but Trevor has a big mouth, and sometimes he talks without thinking. he could slip up. so it’s smarter not to lie, to avoid any trouble or confusion. so i close my eyes and count to ten before i say it. here goes nothing.

“you.” i still don’t open my eyes. too afraid of his reaction. but now he’s quiet and i don’t like the silence. oh god, is he disgusted? is he trying trying to figure out how to let me down gently? “don’t get weird. you don’t have to say anything. you can just forget you heard that. pretend you didn’t hear any-“

i’m cut off by his mouth crashing down onto mine. i freeze, overthinking everything, before eventually melting into the kiss. moving my lips against his. it’s slow and sweet, and not at all the reaction i was expecting from him. we pull apart and i allow my eyes to flutter back open, watching his face as he slowly breathes in and out. he catches my eye and a wide grin spreads across his face.

“i’ve wanted to do that since high school.” his hands grip my hips and i let him pull me onto his lap, straddling him. butterflies are flying around in my stomach and my heart is pounding against my chest, but i let my body relax into his.

“really?”

“yeah.” he confirms, leaning his forehead against my own. “the first time Jack had me over to your house, he gave this whole lecture about how you were off limits. and i thought ‘no problem.’ but then i saw you, and i got to know you, and it turned out to be a big problem. you’re so beautiful, and then you turned to be this sweet, funny, amazing girl. and god, i could not get you out of my head. i still can’t.”

this time it’s my turn to plant a kiss on his lips, this one a chaste peck. i slouch down and lay my head on his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist.

“can we stay like this forever?” i ask, but before he can answer, his phone buzzes on the cushion beside us, and he picks it up and curses.

“Jack just texted to say they’ll be home soon. he said Cole is wasted and they need to put him to bed.” i pull back and nod my head, moving to get off him. but he wraps his arms around my middle and holds us chest-to-chest. “do you want me to tell him you’re asleep? you can come in my room. we can just cuddle, nothing else necessary. but i just got you, and now i just wanna hold you.”

i smile and nod again, silently saying a thank you to whatever higher entity above granted me such luck as to have him like me back.

“yeah, i’d like that.” we get off the couch and make our way to his room, remembering to turn the tv off on our way out of the living room. he opens the door to his room and allows me to enter first before he comes in.

“you can go ahead and lay down, i’m just gonna change into some sweats first.” he walks over to his opened suitcase on the floor and pulls out a pair of grey sweatpants and a t-shirt before leaving the room, going into the bathroom across the hall. i do as he says and lay down on his bed, on my side facing the door.

it’s not but a moment after he gets back into the room and shuts the door, that we hear the front door of the house open and shut, followed by multiple pairs of footsteps and some mumbling.

“jesus Cole, you could help me out here and actually move your feet.” i can hear Quinn say as he passes by Trevor’s door, i’m assuming helping Cole to his room. Trevor snickers and comes over to the bed, clicking off the lamp before laying down behind me and putting his arm around my middle, pulling me close against him. after about 15 minutes i can feel his breath start to even out, and i look over my shoulder to see his eyes fluttering open and shut, obviously having trouble staying awake.

“you can go to sleep, Trev. i’ll go to my room once i know they’re all in theirs.” i whisper.

“no. sleep over here? please? i wanna hold you tonight.” his voice is soft and low so we don’t get caught, but also laced with sleepiness. i shake my head.

“what if one of them finds us in the morning? you know how my brothers will react.” at my words, he pulls his phone out of his sweatpants pocket and taps a few times before leaning over me and plugging it in on the nightstand.

“there. i set an alarm for 7am. you know the guys won’t even wake up before 10, so that gives us plenty of time for you to go back to your room before they can catch us.” i sigh and snuggle back into him.

“alright. i’ll sleep in here.” he plants a kiss on an exposed spot between my neck and shoulder and i can feel his smile on my skin.

#trevor zegras #trevor zegras imagine #trevor zegras x reader #nhl imagine #nhl fic #faithlynn’s writings <3 #babydollmarauders #anaheim ducks #teenage dream au <3

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bluelancess · 3 months

Text

Midnight Blooms | Elriel AU part 1/?

Sports romance, college AU.

Summary: When Elain is told by her father, a ruthless politician, that she is to marry the son of one of his closest friends, Lucien Vanserra, to assure her father’s win on the next election, she has no other choice but to agree. What she never expected was her convictions being tested by a tall, devastatingly beautiful black-haired hockey player who moved in right next door. And if there was one thing Elain was certain of, was that Azriel posed a dangerous threat to the previously dormant desires roaming inside her. And she needed to stay far, far away from him.

Tags: forbidden love, arranged marriage, forced proximity, modern setting, slow burn

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Read on AO3.

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Chapter 1

I never saw you coming

ELAIN

I never thought the house where I’ve only lived for a year would become the place I’d end up calling home, but here we are.

It’s a two story brick structure, with four bedrooms and two bathrooms. The kitchen is big enough for me to spend dead moments baking, and discovering new recipes, the living room is open, and gorgeous, with a somewhat high ceiling, a chimney and big windows that showcase the back patio beautifully. My favorite thing, no doubt, is the garden. The one in the back to be more exact. It is the main reason why I fell in love with this property last year when my sister Nesta, and I were hunting for a place to live during the school year.

The big patch of land was pretty much dead.

The landlord said he didn’t have time to waste planting flowers or trees, and laughed at me when I mentioned the immense potencial this place has. Right now, is unrecognizable from how it was when we moved in. I have a little vegetable garden at the far right corner, the newest addition, it has been a pain on my butt to get the flimsy vegetables to grow, but I think I’m going in a good direction.

Right below the windows, there are planters with my favorite flowers, when some of them get to big to share the space I move them into either the soil along the sides of the wooden walls separating this property from the ones beside it, or I give them their own special little planter and distribute them along the backyard's sitting area. It depends on my mood, really.

Anyway, I haven’t been here in two months, since last semester ended, and summer break began. Father has us stay with him during vacations, and holidays, and although I wanted to sneak out and come check and make sure my flowers were nice and watered, he didn’t allow it. Good thing I decided to ask Mrs. Wade to help me during the months I’d be away. Being the sweet old lady she is, she agreed in a heartbeat, only demanding I bake her some of my special chocolate chip cookies once I returned.

I’ve been anticipating coming back here so much, that feeling absolutely nothing when I do, wasn’t really what I was expecting.

Guess it has everything to do with the silly, little fact, that I’m getting married in six months.

Twenty-six weeks.

A blink of an eye, in wedding planning time.

Even worse considering I don’t even know the man I’m supposed to marry and spend the rest of my life with.

Father and his dreadful ideas you can't refuse.

“We should call the police,” Nesta says, sitting angrily at my side by the breakfast table, although her eyes remain glued to the little kitchen window, it has an excellent view to the house on the other side of the street. “Look at them! They totally sell drugs.”

She crosses her arms, and furrows her thin brows, her mouth is slanted on a grim pout. I blink, rapidly, trying to make sense of her words. I have no idea what she might be referring to, but Nesta has a reputation of hating everyone and everything that crosses her path, so I don’t take her words very seriously.

“Sure,” I reply, bringing my cup of tea to my lips for a sip. It’s cold, and doesn’t taste as good as it usually does.

How long have we been sitting here in the kitchen? We got back here at lunch time, and we've been cleaning and setting things up all afternoon. It feels like just seconds since I boiled water to have a nice cup of tea and relax a little, but considering my cup is still full, and mostly cold... I have a habit of drifting too far into my thoughts and having trouble coming back.

“I’m serious, Elain.” She insists. “It would be just our luck to end up being neighbors with…” she points at them with a firm and accusing finger, “jerks like that.”

I look out the window, and my lips part when I see the reason of my sister's fury.

Three guys. All tremendously tall, broad shoulders, dark hair, tattoos covering their tan skin. All of them, shirtless, wearing low rise sweat pants, laughing and playing around like little kids on the front yard, bottles of beer in their hands.

“Who was the owner of that house, again?” Nesta asks, still not turning around to look at me. “Didn’t our landlord mention he knew them? Maybe he can get me their number, I’m sure a call would solve this.”

“I don’t see the problem,” I say and she lets out a tiny, frustrated groan. “They’re just guys. It might be nice to have someone our age living near us, for the first time in forever.”

“You say that now, but when you can’t sleep because of the noise they’ll make throwing parties… then you’ll agree with me.”

“You like parties.” I point out.

“Not when I want to rest.” Nesta points out. "You're so unbothered because your bedroom isn't the one looking out into the street."

Her bad mood makes me smile a little. What can possibly be bothering her so much? She loves male company most of the time.

“Are you sure that’s really the problem here?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Now she looks at me, with liquid fire in her eyes at the accusation. I giggle. She might think she is hiding her true feelings well, but I know her better than she’d like to admit. She's spent all summer away from men because father would be furious if he found out one of his daughters is sleeping around, the tabloids would go crazy if it got leaked to the press, and he'd probably cut her allowance off. Which is why she behaved.

But father is not here. And if some guy is stupid enough to not recognize my sister as the eldest daughter of our soon to be governor, then it is fair game for her.

“What are you guys talking about?” Feyre asks, coming into the kitchen wearing a knitted sweater and denim shorts.

“Nesta is drooling over those guys.”

“I'm absolutely not!” Nesta says, standing up to point towards the window, moving the think, embroidered curtain to a side, to show Feyre the show. “I’m just saying that they don’t look like the kind of guys you want to have as your neighbors. They probably cook meth in the basement.”

Feyre’s mouth opens and her eyes follows the three muscled man like a hungry beast following their prey. When she notices this, she shakes her head and takes a step back, awkwardly walking towards the fridge to retrieve a chilled bottle of water.

“They’re fine… I mean, they don’t look like meth dealers,” she says, and clears her throat. “How come you guys never mentioned you had such hot guys living only a couple feet away, huh?”

“Because we didn’t.” Nesta says, looking out of the window again, I’m pretty sure she’s giving them her signature death stare. “The house was empty last semester.”

Feyre shrugs.

“I don’t see the problem.” She brings the bottle water to her lips, peeking through the window once more.

“That’s what I said.”

“You two are too naive.” Nesta says, and then in a flash, her back straightens, and her shoulders tense. “Motherfucker.” She mutters, shaking her head from once side to the other so violently, the braid on the top of her hair looses a bit. “I know who these idiots are!”

“What?” I ask, standing up from the table, to peek at the window with them. Feyre is pretending not to be as intrigued as she is, and Nesta is just spewing curses. “Who are they?”

“The fucking hockey players, you know, the Night Beasts. Won the hockey tournament last year, or whatever it is called.” She says, and right as the words come out of her mouth, one of the guys, the tallest one, with shoulder length dark brown hair, half of it put up on a messy man bun, looks straight at us, the mischievous smile in his face only growing. “Is he looking at us?” Nesta lowers her voice as if she spoke a little louder he might listen, and the three of us freeze in place.

“Can he even see us?” Feyre asks.

“The window is glass, of course he can see us, Feyre.”

"I meant from that far."

And then, after a beat, the guy blows us a kiss and Nesta seems to me fuming at the ears.

“Cocky bastard,” she says, closing the curtain and grabbing our arms to get us away from the scene of the crime. “That’s it. I’m kicking them out.”

“You can’t kick them out, it’s not your house.” Feyre says, leaving the water bottle on top of the breakfast table, looking at me with concern. Neither of us really understands exactly what has Nesta so riled up, but she’s not listening to reason right now, and she most definitely won’t stop until all the anger boiling inside her disappears.

“What are you going to do?” I ask, following her with quick steps towards the main entry of our house. She rapidly puts on some shoes, fixes her braid, and storms out the house with a very scary aura surrounding her.

“Should we go too?” Feyre asks at my right. “She might kill them.”

“She won’t kill them,” I assure her, not sounding sure at all.

“Hey, you assholes! This is a family neighborhood.” We both hear her scream, and come to the silent agreement that yes, we should probably go stop her. Feyre moves faster than I do, crossing the threshold in three long, clean steps.

“Hey, there!” The tall guy says, waving a hand at us. “Maybe you should get binoculars next time, my abs are more impressive up close. That is, if you don’t have the balls to actually cross the street, our door is always open.”

“Don’t be a jerk, Cassian.” One of the guys say, he’s the shortest of the three, not less handsome, his torso also covered in dark ink, hair short, and perfectly combed. He looks friendlier than his friend. As soon as I join my sisters, I notice that Feyre’s feet are glued to the floor, her stare unmoving from the new guy’s face, and when he notices my sister, his eyes glisten at the attention, his smirk grows, and then he has the audacity to wink at her.

Feyre’s cheeks turn rosy pink, but she rolls her eyes.

“This is me being polite, Rhys,” Cassian replies, not breaking the eye contact with my sister, and hey, props to him for having the balls to face Nesta, not many have survived.

“Ladies, I’m sorry my brother here has the manners of a brute,” Rhys says, walking slowly to the side of the street, right where their front yard ends.

“I couldn’t care less about your brothers manners,” Nesta says. “This is a residential street, parties or loud noises after ten p.m are not allowed. And you don’t look like the kind of guys that live a very… quiet life. So, pack your shit up, and find somewhere else to live.”

“Nesta…” Feyre warns.

“Wait,” The Cassian guy says, pointing at my sister with one of his fingers. “I remember you.”

“What?” Nesta says, and I approach my sister until I’m standing next to Feyre.

Cassian laughs, throwing his head back as he does, like he can’t really contain it. “Don’t play dumb, now.”

“You don’t know me.” Nesta states as a fact.

“Oh, I know you,” he shoots back. “Very well, I might add.”

Nesta arches a brow. And the tension between them is so strong, it’d probably give you whiplash if it cut in half.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The alley behind Elysian the last week of February? Ring any bells?” He teases her, and I chew the inside of my cheeks, watching their word war is like waiting for a grenade to explode.

Now it makes more sense why Nesta was so riled up by the presence of these men. She would’ve never admitted it to us, though. Not if we tried to pry the truth out of her with the worst kind of torture. She’s closed off like that when it comes to the men she dates, or sleeps with. Dating is not really on her dictionary.

“Seems like you have it committed to memory,” She teases him back, and Feyre looks at me surprised, biting her lower lip to keep herself from laughing. “Can’t say the same, I don’t waste time remembering guys who are… underwhelming, to say the least.”

Cassian’s confident smile disappears in a blink.

“You gave me a fake phone number, you know?” He tells her, like he’s wanted to say that to her for months, but never had the chance.

“Oh, I did?” Nesta feigns innocence. “Guess I couldn’t be bothered to remember my real one.”

Feyre chuckles beside me, then clears her throat. “We should go back inside.”

“I’m done here, anyway,” Nesta says, turning around on her heels. But before she can fully go back to the house, she says to them, lifting a single finger in the air: “One transgression to my rules, and I’m calling the police.”

“You’ll be joining in on the fun soon, gorgeous, don’t worry,” Cassian tells her, his confidence is back in place, like Nesta never gave a life threatening punch to his ego.

“In your dreams, asshole.”

“Believe it or not, my dreams come true all the time,” he tells her. “Mostly the dirty ones.”

Nesta rolls her eyes, and goes back inside of the house, closing the door with a bang.

“Sorry about that, my sister can be… a little intense.” Feyre says.

Cassian looks over Feyre's shoulder, like he's hoping to get one final glimpse of Nesta. “Just how I like them.”

“Cass,” Rhys warns and Cassian shuts his mouth, then Rhys turns his attention to feyre. “We won’t bother you. Much.”

“Oh, don’t worry about us,” Feyre says, also turning back around to go inside the house. “It’s Nesta the one you want to keep… content.”

“Will do,” Cassian replies, fast as lighting, like he’s accepting a challenge and he hasn’t even realized it yet.

“Good luck with that.”

Feyre takes a couple steps towards the porche, and knocks on the door. Nesta completely forgot we were outside with her when she decided to do her grand exit.

I’m about to follow my sister, when a new, rich, and velvety voice that we hadn’t heard before reaches my ears.

“We are throwing a little get-together tomorrow night,” he says. I look up at the sound, and my mouth dries at the sight of the man in front of us, my breath catches and my heart pounds so fast, all I can hear is the frantic heartbeats. High cheekbones, and a boyish grin on his face. Short dark hair like his friends, but a little messier. I hadn’t noticed him before, standing on the porche, like hidden by the shadows. Now, he’s all I can see. “You should come.”

“Azriel is right, you should come. It’ll be something small, I promise,” Rhys says, also walking back towards the house, putting one hand on top of the shoulder of his friend. “A one time thing, even. To kick start the year. I’m sure your sister won’t mind if it’s a Friday, correct?”

Azriel.

He looks down at his sneakers, but there’s a tiny smirk on his lips, the right side of his mouth lifting up slightly more than the left. Then his eyes look up again, directly at me, and my knees buckle, like they want to give in at the heavy weight of my body. God, he’s beautiful.

Beautiful, like it should be forbidden, illegal, to be.

Men like him don’t exist in real life. They just don’t.

And it is so unfair, so unfair, that he happens to live so close.

“Will there be booze?” Feyre asks, and Rhys smiles at her.

“What kind of booze do you prefer?”

She takes a couple seconds to answer, chewing on her lower lip, gloating at the way the guy can’t keep his eyes off of her.

“I really like wine.” She replies. “Good wine, though.”

“I’ll get you the best.”

She smiles even broadly.

“Great,” Feyre knocks on the door one more time, and it opens with an angry force, I chuckle when I see Nesta walking away with heavy and furious steps towards the stairs. “I’ll bring my boyfriend.”

And then Rhys is not smiling anymore.

“Come on, Elain.” She tells me and I giggle. “Wanna order pizza for dinner?”

“Sure.” I turn around and wave at them. “Goodnight.”

Rhys and Cassian grunt, twin annoyed grimaces in their faces.

But Azriel... he smiles at me.

And then waves back softly.

---------

hi! thank you so much for reading! I've been wanting to write an ACOTAR fanfic in a modern setting for so long, and i finally have the time (and the ideas) to do it, so i really appreciate you taking the time to read it! I will be updating it as i go, i hope to post regularly, so we'll see!

i´m also posting this on AO3, so it'd be great if you guys could go support me there as well! <3

ps. i always say this, but english isn't my first language, so i apologize if there are any mistakes<3

#elriel #elriel AU #elriel fanfic #pro elain #pro elriel #pro azriel #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #azriel x elain #elain x azriel #feysand #elriel college sport romance AU

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a-bucket-of-trash · 1 year

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And we see us again – Kelvin x Neutral Reader - One Shot

Prompt: Kelvin has recovered, time for a friendly visit.

Tags: Fluffy uwu

The last time you had seen Kelvin, it had been a couple of months ago, in the hospital, after having been finally rescued, after several months trapped in that hellish forest full of cannibals, mutants and an overpopulation of squirrels.

You had nothing more than superficial physical damage and poor nutrition, after consuming the tons of fish that he caught with inhuman skill, industrial quantity blueberries and the occasional legs that, in the winter season, gave you the opportunity to don’t starve.

Kelvin had it much worse, as his untreated brain injury had handicapped him over those months. Being on the island, you knew that the fact that his ears bleed on their own every couple of weeks was absolutely not a good thing, but in a place like this, there was nothing you could do but give him extra rest when you could, and cool down his head with a damp cloth. The fact that he had a fever along with the bleeding was a sign that something had become infected in his poor head, and the medicines you found lying around weren't the best, especially since most of them had already expired.

Still, the prognosis for him was pretty good. With proper treatment, medication and so on, within a few weeks his brain was working as it should, his hearing was beginning to return and he was finally articulating words. At least that's how you had seen on one of the last visits to the hospital. Maybe he would never be 100% the same as before, but, after what had happened, neither would you, and you hadn't had brain damage. You also needed treatment, especially psychological.

Forcing some of your contacts in the army, you got an address and, in that warm noon, you knocked on the light wooden door, seeing a familiar face open the door, and a pair of warm brown eyes smile in recognition.

"Permission to break your bones," he said, spreading his arms.

You laughed an "Affirmative" before giving him a hug, feeling how he squeezed you hard, almost lifting you into the air.

You had never been there, but you really wanted to visit your old friend of adventures and tragedies. Soon you were inside a very normal house, watching him walk back from the kitchen, a bottle of cold beer in each hand, pointing to the pale couch in the middle of the room, noticing the light coming in through the windows and the music playing in the background.

It was a little strange for you to see him moving fluidly and wearing a brown shirt and gray pants, shaved. Especially after months of seeing him dressed as a military and walking like a hasty duck.

You heard him sigh deeply, sitting down next to you, while you held your own beer.

"And well?" You asked, curious, “How are you? Getting better? You feel good?"

"What?" He pretended not to hear, to which he laughed as you smacked his leg firmly. “I'm fine, I'm fine. Little by little. I still don't hear as well as before, the doctors doubt that I will fully recover, but 90% is better than nothing. Possibly I will have a chronic headache from now on, and for another month I was forbidden to do any physical effort… The worst is the Post Traumatic Stress…” Kelvin shrugged and looked at you “And you? How did you find my house? Our mission was supposed to be… you know…”

"What mission?" You joked, taking a sip “I feel fine, except that now I'm terrified of flying… And well, you know, I can be a real pain in the butt. And I may have threatened to say things if they didn't give me your address."

"You're going to have them accuse you of Treason and end up in jail..." He shook his head softly "But I'm glad you convinced them" He looked at you out of the corner of his eye, smiling "After so much time together, let's just say that I've missed being ordered around by paper”

"I'm going to give you another concussion" You pushed him playfully, seeing him laugh, "I missed you too, puppy face... Did you get your memory back?"

“Mmmm…” He rubbed the back of his neck, wondering. “I don't remember anything about the week before the accident. I only have fragments of the first month, and I have more and more memories of the following months. The doctors say that I will not recover much more because of how my brain was then"

"Honestly, it's a relief" You sighed, looking at him "What happened to you was horrible, but it was also a horrible few months, it's better that you don't remember much"

“It was complicated, but not at all horrible” His brown eyes fixed on yours “You were there, I never felt alone or hopeless, despite the circumstances. I remember the hundreds of times you ran by with an ax in your hand, ripping off heads like you were possessed, but I also remember how you looked for a way to distract me, to make me feel useful, to cheer me up…”

"Don't start, please" You smiled, somewhat emotional "We already cried whole days, I don't need more..."

"You cried" He bothered you a little, smiling "Crybaby" He pushed you gently with his shoulder.

"Shut up" You laughed "You were the one who told me, crying, that you couldn't sleep in the hospital because you felt so alone"

"I still find it hard to sleep alone," He confessed.

“Mmmm” You sighed “Me too…” You remembered something and looked at him “In the end, I never found out your real name. Tell me to replace your code name, because it's already strange to call you Kelvin, Mr. Alpha Bravo Charlie"

“10.4” He laughed softly “But I've gotten used to being called Kelvin by now. It's going to seem strange to me that you suddenly call me Robert"

"Is your name Robert?" You laughed, denying "You don't have the face of a Robert"

"Affirmative, I'm going to change my name to one that matches my face," He joked, shaking his head, before slapping your knee "Keep calling me Kelvin"

“Kel…” You thought, in your own world inside your head.

"Hey" He gently drew your attention, touching your arm delicately "I know I thanked you a thousand times for keeping me alive, but thanks again"

"You're welcome, again" You smiled.

“Are you going to tell me what you saw in the caves?” He saw you deny “What? Why not? Military secret?

"Why do you want to know that?" You hesitated, taking a long drink of your beer.

"Don't fuck with me... If the times I saw a mutant on the island, I almost shit my pants, and you would happily go with your ax to cut off their heads or whatever the hell they had" Kelvin gestured widely with his bottle "You faced them! Like it was a picnic! And every time you left a cave, you came back beaten, without resources, with skin things hanging from your pockets… I want to know what the hell you saw for you to forbade me to accompany you down there”

“Rob… Kelvin” You put the beer down on the table “There was darker than a moose's butt, you were deaf. What was I supposed to do? Put a noose around your neck and walk among mutants as if you were a dog?

"I don't know…" He sighed, before drinking.

“Besides, if something happened to me in there, I knew that you were at the base, relatively safe…” You thought “Knowing that you were waiting for me back, somehow gave me the impetus to be extra careful, to make sure that I would come back to help you…”

Kelvin looked at you, half sad and half warm inside. You took care of him, even with your absences. The sound of his alarm clock woke him slightly, looking at the time, time for legal drugs. He slowly got up, to walk to a medicine box that was to one side, looking for what he had to take. He took out three different pills which he placed in his mouth and swallowed with a long sip of his beer.

"I'm going to kick your head until you even forget about your mother" You snorted angrily, seeing his surprised look "Idiot, don't mix drugs with alcohol. Are you still half stupid or what?"

"Ah" He chuckled, walking back to the couch "It's non-alcoholic beer, overprotective"

"Oh" You lowered your face from him, somewhat embarrassed, seeing him sit nearby.

You were still talking, when you remembered something else. You lifted the sleeve of your shirt, showing him a recent tattoo on your arm, below your shoulder. It was a skull with an ax stuck in it, very similar to the one you had used in all that time on the island. And next to both, what seemed to be a notepad, and on it, written: Survive.

Kelvin looked at it carefully, holding onto your arm a bit. He recognized that handwriting and even the design of the notepad, since he had read commands and suggestions in it, for months.

“It was going to be just the skull and the axe” You mentioned to him “But I didn't survive alone, on the contrary, I don't think I would have survived without you. So the notepad was in your honor."

Your name sounded tenderly on the lips of a Kelvin who had gotten quite touched and who hastened to give you one of his especially strong hugs.

"Silly..." He whispered, closing his eyes "Absurdly silly and cute... Even though at the time I saw you cutting off the testicles of all the cannibals you killed because you were in a bad mood..."

"Aren't you afraid of being next to me? Who knows, I might do the same to you” You smiled, rubbing his broad back.

"I don't sleep well since you're not by my side" He whispered again, holding you more, squeezing you against his chest "I feel safe with you... Calm... And... Everyone who found out I had some brain damage treats me as if now I had the mind of a two-year-old..." He growled softly, somewhat annoyed "I hate being pitied... I'm not incapacitated, I'm not stupid... But..." Kelvin sighed, rubbing his face gently against yours "You treat me like if nothing had happened... Even though you lived by my side, when I was at my worst... For you it's over, and you treat me as such, as myself... That reassures me so much..."

“Oh, Kelvin…” You hugged him tighter “You, at your worst, hurt and deaf, on a demon island, did more than anyone would have done in the same situation…” You tried to lift his spirits a little “I never saw anyone fish with their hands as well as you, you should dedicate yourself professionally to that”

You heard him laugh softly, still squeezing you, as if he was partially afraid to let you go, although it didn't bother you, he was warm and utterly huggable. You knew it well, since, on many cold nights on that island, it was only possible to sleep because you both stayed embraced, sharing warmth and softness.

“Could you…stay?” He asked, almost as if his voice were a distant instrument of the music that was still being heard over the speaker, not daring to move a muscle, “I don't know… Maybe… Maybe you'll let me take a nap like we used to do then? I miss sleeping… accompanied…”

"Me too" You whispered, with your eyes closed, with his clean perfume entering your lungs.

"And have dinner…? I promise there are no fish to eat, not this time.” The soldier teased sheepishly.

"Sounds like a good plan to me, big guy" You smiled "I have weird dreams about fish"

"I dream... of you" He murmured "I only sleep well... if I dream of you"

You stayed still for a moment. The way he spoke was mixing with the feeling of his hands running down your back, and his face rubbing tenderly against your cheek. You prayed that you weren't misreading the signs, you prayed that it wasn't your own confused brain, that mind that months ago had fallen in love with that soldier, and you moved your face slightly, to find that pair of soft lips that had brushed your jaw like the wings of a butterfly, landing on yours.

You were sure that both of you had kissed at the same time, so you stayed there, still in his arms, tasting that shy mouth that tasted faintly of antibiotics. Kelvin was slow to kiss, but that made him utterly sweet, cuddly, and overly romantic, as if he had the time in the world for that. You weren't in a hurry either, you spent a long time in his mouth, caressing his soft short hair, enjoying it, so that later he just hugged you, burying his face in your neck, taking a deep breath, soaking in your scent.

"I hate that I can't do physical effort for a month..." Kelvin growled, impatient "But you wait... As soon as I have the medical approval, I'm going to show you why I could cut wood for hours..."

Your laughter echoed both in the walls and in his ears.

#kelvin #sons of the forest kelvin #sotf kelvin #kelvin x reader #sons of the forest #sotf #one shot

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just-another-author-i-guess · 2 years

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John Bender relationship hc

Requested HERE

Tags: fem!reader, 80’s setting, John is cute, and also kinda feral, like one mention of sex?

Authors note: omg it’s been too long since I’ve seen the breakfast club ): no but also there’s no fics for any of them? Literally?? They’re so underrated. It was kinda hard to write ngl, like we don’t really get that much info on them in the movie haha I hope this is readable tho

974 words

oh man

He is so goddamn emotionally unavailable you wouldn’t believe it

He’s pretty self destructive too and pretty quick to act out

You probably met him in detention

He immediately noticed you, tbh he thought you were hot as fuck

He wanted to flirt with you but his idea of flirting is.. interesting

Low key just bullied you for the entire day

Affectionate bullying?

You thought he was super annoying, but also couldn’t deny that he was hot

He literally doesn’t shut up, it’s kinda impressive how he never runs out of dumb shit to say

He acted up a lot more than normal during that detention, yk trying to impress you and all

It low key worked

No but like he really only have two moods

Annoying or gross

After bullying you didn’t seem to work, he started making sexual innuendos

Honestly he would find it so hot if you stood up for yourself and put him in his place

It probably wouldn’t work, but he would be very ecstatic lmao

When detention finally ends, he sneakily tries to ask you on a date

By which I mean, he said “Hey sweetheart, I know this reallyyyy nice motel not too far away. How ‘bout we rent a room?”

You didn’t even respond, just rolled your eyes and walked off

It now becomes his goal in life to take you on a date

He “accidentally” bumps into you in the hallways at school the next day

He’s a goddamn loudmouth, sometimes he just can’t help himself from saying dumb shit so the first few times he asks you out.. don’t really go well

He feels like he has to upkeep his bad boy persona

He tries to be even louder and more reckless around you, bc he assumes you’ll only like him if he keeps up with his reputation

Eventually you tell him that you actually like him more when he’s just himself and he’s just mind blown

He literally went :0

When you first start dating he really has to get used to physical affection

He has only experienced physical touch in a sexual or violent manner

So when you just simply hug him, he’s stunned

You held his hand once and the man was too stunned to speak

Please just pet his hair

I mean, have you seen how luscious it is

You’re the first person to genuinely understand him and communicate with him

His whole life he’s just been bossed around by his dad and authority figures

So he falls for you, hard. Like, the guy is following you around school with heart eyes

He skips his classes to watch your cheer practice lmao

(He just wants to see you in a short skirt ngl)

When he finally gets used to it, he’s a huge pda fan

Literally doesn’t care where you are, you will sit on his lap and hold his hand

Even if it’s in the middle of your English class

This eventually leads to more detention, but to John that’s just more time he gets to spend with you! Yay :D

He’s with you all the time, but will never ever take you to his house

He’s actually terrified of what his dad would do to you

Or even worse, maybe he would do something to John in front of you

John is so scared you think he’s weak for getting beat up by his dad

Which is absolutely ridiculous, you would never think that

You also tell him this, telling him that you also think he’s very brave for finally talking about it

If you have a similar home situation he would be your biggest support as well

But if you have a good home situation, he’ll basically live at your house

Ngl, he can be quite the charmer when he wants

He’s really trying his best to impress your parents

And besides all the times he’s been in the local newspaper for vandalism, they’re absolutely in love with him

He still has those episodes sometimes, like when he gets too angry at his dad and goes and does something dangerous or stupid

It always ends up with him hurting himself in some way

Sometimes he takes his anger out on you, he would never hit you or anything but he can get pretty mean

He always regrets it immediately after

After a fight, he feels too shitty to go back to you and apologize

So he just stays away for a bit, the longest he’s been away is a week

You legitimately thought he left town or something

He just hates seeing you cry and feels like the biggest asshole ever

As your relationship progresses, you’d be able to discuss these things with him a bit more

He’s still very quick to blow up and get angry, but he really tries his best

After a while, he stops leaving for such a long time, coming back after just a few hours

You didn’t hear it from me, but makeup sex with John is the best lmfao

Anyways

He l o v e s it when you wear his big coat

Sometimes he comes up to you and drapes it over you just because

He can’t help himself, it’s so damn cute how you almost disappear inside it

You’re definitely known as John’s girl at school

Ppl don’t really mess with you, anything is better than having an angry John Bender on your ass

He would literally do anything for you

Such a simp tbh

No but he definitely starts saving up his money, his plan is to buy a place for the two of you after you graduate

Please just let him wife you up lolol

He definitely became a lot nicer to other ppl when you started dating too, good job

Hi! Thanks for making it to the end <3

If you want to request more John Bender or anything else, you can do it HERE

#the breakfast club #john bender #john bender x reader #the breakfast club x reader #80’s retro #John is cute #self insert

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finnycomet · 5 months

Text

like real brothers, or even closer!

sorry i had no idea what to name this, that three buckets quote stuck out in my mind so i picked that. but i HAD to write a tickle fic for fern. i also practically had to physically force myself to post this. enjoy!

finn and fern were laid on one of the many grassy hills surrounding them, deciding to stop on the way home after fern had (hesitantly, and with some persuasion of finn) tagged along with finn for an adventure. it was at least a nice day, so why not, he figured? the two just hanging out together seemed to be steadily turning into a common occurrence as of late.

recently, fern found himself slowly becoming a bit iffy on monster fighting and dungeon crawling and such, since now it only ever seemed to remind him of being finn, and that reminded him of a whole package of other things he’d rather not think about.

but something they found they both still enjoyed was just skygazing. they often liked to lay down in the grass or on the top of the treehouse together, count the clouds, or the stars. they’d talk about everything, or nothing. which is what they found themselves doing now! but today, fern just seemed… off.

well, he always seemed a little off. in a way that finn couldn’t fully put his finger on. and he wasn’t talking about his grassy appearance, or the way he talked to himself up on the roof, or how finn noticed sometimes his movements would get a little rigid. those were all things he’d learnt to get used to, eventually.

but its like fern was never truly happy, or even content. admittedly, he did express that a lot… mostly through anger or self deprecation. but even on a good day, finn could still see the misery flickering behind his eyes like the subtle flame of a candle.

finn tried to accept that thats just the way fern is, because he doesn’t want to pry at fern for something he isn’t even sure he could help with. but each day, it got increasingly harder to ignore seeing his… friend? or he supposed, brother, so unhappy.

especially today however, he seemed more distant than usual. as much as finn tried to help fern with advice or attempts to reassure him, it never really seemed to do much in the end. and the last thing he wanted was for him to feel worse.

he knew that fern wasn’t having the best time in terms of figuring out his identity, but he couldn’t help but feel like there was something more. something that he wouldn’t open up about.

he wasn’t sure how to help, but he did want to. talking about it would probably be the first step. whew, why was this kinda nerve wracking? the human collected his thoughts— synchronous to him collecting blades of grass below him, picking at them one by one.

“uh, by the way fern… are you doing okay? like… i’ve just noticed you seem pretty sad. or not sad but, i dunno, generally troubled maybe? not just today, but kinda all the times. if you don’t mind me asking, why? whats on your mind dude? you can tell me anything, you know? i’m just kinda worried.”

hm. that came out a bit more unsteady than he was hoping it would.

fern, seemingly disturbed from deeply zoning out at the endless blue above them, peered over at finn with a glimpse of annoyance on his face, to which was finn’s cue to suddenly feel guilty for even saying anything. but he figured he’d acknowledge finn’s concerns with some sort of answer.

“right. uh… i dunno. i mean i do know— but… its all just so… i doubt you would… ugh. there are a lot of reasons, finn.”

finn waited patiently for the other to continue, but after about ten long seconds passed with nothing else but a sigh from fern, he guessed that was all from him.

well! that didn’t exactly get them anywhere!

he let a few more pass as he thought about his next course of actions, now ripping up small chunks of grass as he did so.

clearly, when it came to emotions, verbal communication wasn’t exactly either of their strong points. something more to have in common, at least. so maybe trusty old physical affection would work. that was something he understood!

“if you can’t explain, would you… want a squoze? would that make you feel better?” finn languidly sat himself up, already anticipating the answer to be affirmative.

“mm… maybe.” fern figured it would at least help a little. so he followed, crawling towards finn, and leaning back against him as he got the life (oddly comfortingly) squeezed out of him.

“…yyyeah okay, it helps.” he sheepishly admitted. finn beamed at this, and remained hugging fern. after a few seconds of silence, he was going to say something, but he had to admit, it felt pretty nice to be held like this. it wasn’t often that he got any sort of physical comfort, or any comfort at all besides what finn would offer him. jake used to be the one responsible for that kind of thing…

finn’s smile faded as he heard fern sigh bitterly once more. maybe it hurt extra bad because they had some sort of twin-like emotional connection, but whatever the reason, fern being like this broke finn’s heart a little more than he would prefer. theres gotta be something that could help, right?

in his desperate mental search for solutions, suddenly a particularly interesting idea appeared in his head. but was that even still physically possible…?

he’d thought about the concept of fern being ticklish before, maybe once or twice. but usually just brushed it off, and promptly forgot about it. but being tickled used to cheer finn up all the time. what were the chances that it would work on fern as well? probably good chances!

it was an entertaining idea in theory, but how could he not have considered that maybe, if he still was, it could serve to be useful!

maybe he should try…

“hey fern, mind if i try something”

“hm? uh, yeah, sure.” he seemed to be zoning out again, absentmindedly going along with whatever finn said.

the teen tried to hold back his mischievous giggles as he squeezed ferns side. and to his surprise, he yelped and jerked away! now this just got 1000 times more interesting.

fern froze for a second, before looking back at finn in embarrassment.

“finn! what are you… don’t do that-”

finn couldn’t stop the giggles that poured out of him this time as he decided this plan was officially in action, making sure his arms were tightly wrapped around fern, effectively trapping him.

he gave fern no time to attempt an escape as he quickly started testing something, deciding to experimentally poke around his middle like he was studying a test subject.

fern choked out a sort of strangled noise, and quickly tried to bat finns hands away with his own. his attempts are pretty useless however, and once finn is satisfied with his discoveries, he wastes no time skittering his fingers against the smooth grass of fern’s tummy.

ferns willpower almost immediately breaks, letting himself burst into a fit of squeaky cackling.

although its panicked, his laugh is surprisingly bubbly. its quite the pleasant contrast from his usual tone of voice, and finn can’t help but quietly snicker along with him in amusement. when has he ever heard fern laugh like this? he isn’t sure he has!

his thoughts are cut off by fern rapidly starting to get squirmy and kicking frantically at the grass below them, digging up some dirt and weeds in the process.

“eheheheHEHE- NAHAHAHA!” he cried, quickly shaking his head back and fourth.

“aw, fern! i didn’t know you were so ticklish! i probably should’ve guessed, since i… uh, yeah. but this is honestly fun, heheh!”

“f- for yohou maybeheHEHE!! FIHIHIN!!!” he full on screamed as finn reached down to scribble at his knee on top of it all. so, seems they have the same tickle spots! that makes this a lot easier. finn cheekily noticed that he wasn’t exactly trying to get away, though.

“i dunno, it doesn’t really seem like you aren’t liking this… i bet you do!”

“nooohoho!”

“heh, you totally do man. buuut you know, thats not a bad thing! that means its helping you, right?” he momentarily let fern have a breather to think about this.

and yeah, as much as fern would like to deny it, he couldn’t ignore the warm feeling that fluttered in his chest. didn’t mean he had it in him to bring his voice up to anything louder than a mumble, though.

“hehe- uh… okay, maybe just a little.”

finn grinned at this, getting right back to work. “good! so, where does it tickle more? right there? orrr here?!”

“AH- eheHEhe wait wait, WAHAHAH PLEHEHESHE!! oh gLOB!!”

and wait he did not! fern tried not to make so many embarrassing flailing movements or squeaky noises, but honestly, when his body felt like it was melting into a tickly mush, he’s pretty sure his mind had short circuited and abandoned whatever remaining composure he once had long ago.

finn started digging his fingers into fern’s ribs (or where they would be) and giggled at how his shrieks raised an octave. he was almost smiling as much as fern at this point.

it was surprisingly gratifying watching how his brother went from visibly upset, to now laughing so hard his eyes started to prick with mirthful tears in a matter of minutes.

occasionally, finn even earned some snorts from fern (which he did not fail to tease him about) as he switched to erratically claw and poke along his sides and belly. once finn realized fern was particularly sensitive to the rougher methods, he definitely made sure to utilize that knowledge. fern never remembered being this good at tickling people when he was finn, whats the deal!

after a bit longer of this, all fern could do in his weakened state is kick about helplessly, and let out giggly pleas for finn to have mercy through his shrill shrieks and babbling. or, thats what it sounds like hes saying… sort of. its kinda hard to tell at this point.

he decided to let up after fern’s voice started getting a little too wheezy, releasing him from the chamber that was his arms.

fern immediately flopped onto the ground, curling into himself and softly giggling at the tickly feeling that lingered on him. he didn’t realize how heated his face felt until now… and also until finn scooted over to look at him, and as the cherry on top of the embarrassment cake, pointed it out.

“woah, your face is… wait! is that supposed to be blush, or something? your cheeks are covered in flowers dude! ehehe!”

fern only groaned in response, hiding his face in his hands... yet he couldn’t help the giddy smile that remained plastered on it. his body felt all light and warm, and in the back of his mind he realized this was the happiest he’s felt in a long while… or maybe even ever, as himself.

but finn’s voice cut through his train of thought before he could let himself get lost in it.

“err, you… doing okay? sorry if i went too far. i kinda tend to do that, i think. but i didn’t even know you could still be ticklish! that was probs the most i’ve ever heard you laugh, too!” fern stayed silent as he continued to gain back his energy. but finn didn’t mind.

he went to lay next to fern, probably to be able to at least read him a little better.

“…so, don’t you feel a little better? eeeeh?”

the grassy creature uncovered his face, briefly taking a moment to brush off the flowers (and a mushroom that had apparently sprouted atop his head at some point) before meeting finn’s expectant gaze. a beat of silence passed, then his eyes suddenly lit up as he appeared to come to a realization.

“huh, yeah! i actually do! …i guess i never really get to feel that carefree. i don’t think i’ve actually been able to since i was a finn… but that really distracted me from stuff, you know?” he rubbed his arm meekly, suddenly lowering his voice to almost a whisper as he picked away some stray grass blades that stuck out.

“and it was… uh, kinda fun. you know, kinda like we used to do with jake. so thanks.”

and he smiled. probably one of the most genuine smiles finns ever seen from him. of course, he returned it in full. fern’s emotions just seem to be pretty contagious that way.

finn figured he’d need to try this again, if fern ever seemed a little more gloomy than he finds acceptable. and honestly, fern wasn’t sure he’d mind that so much.

#adventure time tickles #adventure time tickling #ler!finn #lee!fern #sfw tickling #tickling #btw the “something more” bothering fern that finn couldn’t put his finger on #was basically everything that torments him in the series #so like… his whole existence #fern rlly deserves to be happy and thats Exactly Why he needs this #okay im smashing my phone and deleting myself off the face of the earth now BYE

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jesuisici33 · 7 months

Text

Fuck it Friday

tagged by @daffi-990 @giddyupbuck @wikiangela @fortheloveofbuddie @callmenewbie from my buddie bachelorette wip! takes place right after buck and eddie get into a fight their first week on the show

The punches Eddie gave him are nothing compared to the look Maddie is giving him now as Chimney is patching him up in one of the mansion’s rooms they made into a makeshift infirmary. She’s currently facetiming him as Chimney is putting a splint on his nose.

“What the fuck, Evan?” A sinking disappointment makes its way further into his chest. She hardly ever calls him Evan anymore, instead calling him by his nickname nowadays. He didn’t want to answer her when she called, but he knows if he didn’t then Maddie would get even more worried and he couldn’t do that to her. “It hasn’t even been a week yet and you’ve already been in a fight? Maybe this is a sign you shouldn’t have done this.”

When Buck told his sister he was going on The Bachelorette, the first thing Maddie did was burst out laughing. He just realized that Abby is never going to come back from Europe – too long actually, and although he could see it on his sister’s face, he’s forever grateful she never said a sympathetic “I told you so, and I’m so sorry” to him – and he was having a shitty time getting back into the dating scene. Before Abby he tried, sometimes. But mostly he was focused on the getting laid aspect more than developing an emotional connection with someone.

Then he met Abby. Falling in love with her…he wanted that again. When he couldn’t find that over the many people he matched on dating apps and met through happenstance he felt that Abby must’ve been it for him.

Until he saw the auditions for The Bachelorette.

He’s familiar with the show, obviously. Maddie’s made him watch it sometimes when it’s her turn to watch a show. Sometimes a hookup would want to watch it as the Netflix portion during Netflix and Chill. He remembers whenever the bachelorette realizes how much she’s falling for a guy and how real their love feels when they become vulnerable with each other.

They can’t fake that.

Maddie didn’t approve. Thinks he is becoming desperate. “You just have to be patient. You’ll find your love, don’t try to force it. Also I really don’t need to see my baby brother embarrass himself on national television.”

“Hey, just be grateful your brother’s nose is the worst of his injuries,” Chimney says. Buck tries to glare at the paramedic the show hired in cases like what happened between him and Eddie, but Chimney is one step ahead of him and hands him a bag of ice. Gesturing for Buck to place it on his eye, he keeps talking to Maddie. “Besides, watching your brother try to beat the shit out of Eddie is the least dangerous thing I’ve had to deal with.”

From Buck’s phone, Maddie raises an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’ve seen worse.”

“Oh yeah! Used to work on The Bachelor before I asked Hen for a transfer.” He shudders. “Once you see a heel where a heel should not be…”

“I used to be an ER nurse, trust me I can imagine.” Maddie’s head tilts to the side and a small giggle comes out. If Buck had the ability to narrow his eyes, he would. “But tell me anyway? What’s the story behind that…?”

“Howard. But most people call me Chimney. Don’t ask. And actually it happened a few seasons ago between-” Chimney takes Buck’s phone, walking out of the room. In between telling the story to Maddie, he tells Buck he’s free to leave with the ice packs. Just be sure to bring them back once they’re warm.

He hopes that when he brings the ice packs back, he gets his phone back too.

tagging @911-on-abc @hippolotamus @eddiebabygirldiaz @monsterrae1 @apothecarose @mammameesh @thewolvesof1998 @forthewolves @loserdiaz @disasterbuckdiaz @wildlife4life @rmd-writes @wandering-night19 @liminalmemories21 @carlos-in-glasses @bonheur-cafe @ramonaflow @thebumblecee @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @your-catfish-friend

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the-obnoxious-sibling · 5 months

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Hello,

I found your takes very interesting and I would love to discuss them a big more.

Your analysis of the Shanksbuggy break up is really great based on what we have (Buggy pov of what happened) but I also want to add that they are teenagers that just saw one of the most important person in their eyes died. Obviously they're not in the best position to have a very clear discussion about future and it's even worse if you add to the mix the tendency of Buggy to jump to conclusion and the love of mystery of Shanks. And I also think in a way it a discussion about grief and mourning and how different people have different reaction to it.

I also have some hypothesis about why they changed their opinion about separating each other because they don't have the same dream.

- The first one is what happened quickly after their discussion: Buggy eating the devil fruit. The fact this incident is what Buggy uses as an excuse to explain his hatred of Shanks is obviously now a lie to himself but there is probably a part of true in that this incident changed their relationship and makes them more codependent due to Buggy's inability to swim while living on a boat. There is also probably a discussion to have with the quite weird relationship of Roger's crew and devil fruit (The fact that no one except Buggy have one).

- The second one is the circonstances of them leaving the crew. When discussing their plan, they speak about Leaving the crew and building something in a way which is very similar to a child leaving their parents house to go study or work. It's an active decision. (Even if Buggy's action at the time is closer to a teenager running away than a future adult 😅). But that's not what happened in the end, their departure from the ship is a decision which is forced on them and with quite a traumatic end. It willmakes sense then that they stick to each other.

- The third hypothesis is that they become teenagers and they went from best friends to lovers.

(Sorry I did end up writing a lot) 😅

hello! don't apologize for writing a lot, i am a big fan of writing a lot myself! …as you’ll see in this post. >>;

and you're very right, these are good points to bring up that i haven’t really gotten into before. grief, and the ways their circumstances changed (or might have changed—as you’ll see, i’m not totally convinced about one of your hypotheticals) after that first conversation. let's get into it!

grief.

the context for their fight, and the grief they must be feeling in that moment, is definitely worth taking into consideration. there's something of a truism that you shouldn't make big decisions in the first six months to a year after suffering the loss of a loved one, because during that early mourning period you simply aren't thinking clearly. you may make hasty, impulsive decisions that you'll regret later, or the additional stress of attempting to take action while emotionally burdened will cause things to go wrong. it's better, we tend to agree, to wait.

if buggy is asking shanks to go to laugh tale right now, that’s a textbook hasty decision, and one likely to go poorly if acted on. (i’ve stated my opinion to the contrary in tags before, but that is just my opinion.) and buggy’s rejection of shanks’ offer also seems impulsively made! a knee-jerk reaction to getting an unexpected response, that could also be the influence of grief though buggy is pretty impulsive in general so who knows.

in contrast, shanks deciding not to go to laugh tale ‘for now’ can be seen as recognition that it would be better, smarter, to wait.

at this point, i’d like to point out that we don’t know what life was like for buggy and shanks between dropping oden off at wano and this conversation in roguetown. as far as we know, nothing of significance happened after the roger pirates disbanded—emphasis on as far as we know. we don’t even know if buggy and shanks spent those months together, or if they met by chance at roger’s execution!

all that to say: we don’t know what the status quo for these two looks like in this moment. is shanks asking buggy to come with him asking him to stay together, to continue as they have been, or is this yet another impulsive decision? are they both trying to take action too quickly?

i think this was definitely a bad time to be discussing these topics—but there might not have been another time available to them. we know there were a lot of pirates in roguetown that day—and a lot of marines, too. there may have been an urgency to this moment that we can’t appreciate right now, with the information we have.

changing circumstances 1: the chop-chop fruit.

i used to think it was curious that buggy was the only devil fruit user on the roger pirate crew, until i remembered what other crews around at the time were like. specifically:

whitebeard, himself a devil fruit user, is all about embracing weird outcast types and bringing them into his crew (and his family). so to people who were already devil fruit users, who consider becoming pirates because they’ve been shunned and cast out of their home and society, whitebeard’s gotta be the go-to guy. he already knows what it’s like! he must have extra measures in place to keep his sons from falling overboard! you’ll be safe with him!

kaidou, also a devil fruit user, loves getting devil fruit users in his crew. he’s not as friendly or paternal a captain, but if you aren’t interested in that energy—if you got yourself a devil fruit for power’s sake but found the downsides made it hard to be on your own—he’s a good option.

basically, i think most people who went into piracy in those days already in possession of devil fruit powers found themselves drawn to captains who had one too—understandably so, in my opinion. a ship where no one has a devil fruit, would they know how to look out for you? for all you know, they’re one of those superstitious crews who take the “ocean’s curse” line seriously! better to stick with someone you know has devil fruit experience.

buggy’s one of the uncommon few to eat a devil fruit after becoming a pirate. that whole crew was offered the opportunity to eat the thing, and he was the only one who dared—because the rest knew that it was a risky move at best, especially with an unknown fruit. the power you get might not be worth the cost, especially for someone who makes their living on the sea.

we forget this, i think because there’s so many devil fruit users in one piece, but devil fruits are hard to come by! we’re seeing a small sliver of the population who managed to get their hands on one and then managed to survive the downsides. that the roger pirates ever found one was a rare thing. they didn’t even know for sure if it was real when buggy ate it!

all this to say, i don’t know that i believe the chop-chop fruit changes much about the shanks-buggy dynamic, except in the “he betrayed me!!” angle it brings to buggy’s future grudge against him. (not that i think this is what buggy considers to be shanks’ real betrayal. it’s just the one he can talk about without revealing his roger pirate history.) so buggy can’t swim anymore! so what?! neither can whitebeard! shanks, you better not look down on me for this!! etc, etc.

now, how much of that would just be talk from buggy? (i.e., claiming ‘you better not look down on me, i don’t need your help’ but clinging to shanks’ arm the second a wave looks like it might crash over the deck?) probably a fair amount! but i don’t think that’s a significant change in behavior from buggy, his words and actions often disagree.

changing circumstances 2: roger pirates disbanded.

it is one thing to boldly claim as a child that you’re going to be a great pirate captain, and quite another to actually do it. it probably helps to spend years on a great pirate captain’s ship, to see how he does it, to eventually start to wonder to yourself, would i do it that way, if it were me in charge? but even then, when you’ve been quietly thinking about it, maybe announcing your intentions a few times, setting aside the most important things to take with you on the day when you finally leave, on the day when you’ll finally feel ready to leave—

all that is very different from being told that everyone is leaving. that you don’t have a choice about when to go. that there will be nowhere and no one to return to if it turns out you weren’t ready to be on your own after all.

as i mentioned earlier, we don’t know what the time after the roger pirates disbanded was like for shanks and buggy. were they relying on the kindness of near-strangers, people who half-remembered them as members of roger’s crew from their first trip through the GL? were they lucky enough to be the last ones let go, at a trusted island in that early part of paradise? did shanks have enough understanding of conqueror’s haki at that age to get his ship through the calm belt when the news about roger’s arrest went out, or did a ship traveling into east blue end up with a stowaway or two?

any way you look at it, i have to imagine being a teenager alone (or nearly alone) on the grand line must have been terrifying. who wouldn’t think back on childhood dreams of independence and wince at that poor child, who didn’t know how good they had it? after going it alone against your will, who wouldn’t cling to a familiar face?

circumstances change 3: relationship upgrade.

kind of in line with the above: after being thrown into the world alone, unexpectedly, who wouldn’t cling to a familiar face? or… more than cling? 😉 but seriously, i’m a bit of a pessimist about this hypothesis. i think it can make sense, it just also makes me sad.

because if shanks wants buggy to come with him because they’re romantically involved, i think that would make buggy less certain of his place in shanks’ life. crew is crew forever! even when you leave the ship, you’re still a part of its crew deep down. a kissing relationship, though… that can go away easy as the wind. if shanks wants him around to kiss, what happens if they stop kissing? does shanks stop wanting him around?

but also: does buggy want to be around shanks, if he only wants buggy around to kiss? isn’t buggy a pirate worthy of shanks’ respect?! didn’t he grow up on the same ship, learning the same lessons? why shouldn’t he be captain of his own ship?! why is he even kissing this idiot in the first place?!!

of course, shanks doesn’t mean it to come across this way. when he asks a buggy he’s involved with to come with him, he means that he loves buggy and would miss him if they weren’t on the same ship. but you know how buggy always hears the worst possible meaning to any sentence spoken to him.

#asked and answered #my meta #jyanadavega #one piece #shuggy #shanks #buggy #sorry this took so long! i wanted to give this response as much consideration as you did your ask #and work was… so rough last week. hard to think good thoughts.#anyway you’re very right about grief playing a big role in the roguetown split #though i imagine much of that year post-disbanding was spent working through that grief in theory… the reality HAD to hit different #& in the last section i say ‘kiss’ but. feel free to substitute whatever verb you like. the essential meaning remains the same.#*the shuggy roguetown breakup #*the roger pirates disbandment #*the chop-chop fruit

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callsigndragon · 1 year

Text

A Rebel in my Soul [2023 ver.] | Ch.2 Call sign: Maverick

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x fem!pilot!reader (Call sign: Rebel)

Word count: 3.7k

Warnings: swearing, brief mentions of death, Hangman being an asshole (again), Rooster being the best friend we all deserve (i think that needs a warning), start of the rebel protection squad.

A/N: you'll notice more changes in this part, things are already a bit different than in the og version hehehe

Tagging the usual people, if you want to be added, comment down below!

Masterlist

Making small talk doesn’t get Maverick out of your head.

When you accepted this mission, you never thought that seeing your dad was going to be one of the worst experiences of this detachment, even worse than having to deal with Bag Man’s ass. Speaking of the devil, he’s now walking in your direction.

“Rebel,” he says, sitting next to you. Bob and Fanboy, who you have been talking to for a while, look at you with raised eyebrows. You’re sure that if you give the tiniest indication of being uncomfortable with Hangman, these two will get him out of your sight in a second.

“Hangman.”

“You know we’re gonna have a problem with your boyfriend, right? He’s not ready for whatever mission this is.”

“Your boyfriend is here?” Bob asks innocently, looking around as if that alleged boyfriend would have a big banner in his head that said ‘Rebel’s bf’.

“He’s talking about Rooster, and no, he’s not my boyfriend,” you correct, getting up from your chair and looking at Hangman straight in the eye. “Look, Seresin. You should be more concerned with whether you'll even make it to the mission's final cut or if you'll be sent home with a letter to your mother about how much her son screwed up."

You must have struck a nerve because when he stands up, looking down at you, his jaw is clenched so tightly it could break. "Wanna talk about mothers? Where's yours, Rebel?"

“Don’t know; don’t care. Is it true, then?” You retort, moving a step closer, his breath fanning over your skin. “Did you make Daddy so mad that you can’t see Mommy anymore?”

“Careful, little Maverick,” he whispers in your ear, your body shivering in disgust at his closeness. “You don’t want to bring your dad into this, right?”

Bob strides in your direction, grabbing you by your shoulders and putting some distance between you and the blonde pilot. You’ve never intended for it to be a secret, but somehow your father’s identity has remained hidden to the rest of the world, and you aren’t interested in people finding out.

But Hangman happened to be at the right place at the wrong time, and that’s how he heard you and Bradley talking about your dad. Rooster warned him that if someone found out, he would make him suffer in the most inimaginable way. Hangman can be an asshole, but you have to give him something: he’s a man of his word. He never said a thing.

That’s why his little threat doesn’t phase you. He won’t expose your ass like that.

“Are you okay?” Bob gently asks, looking at Fanboy, who is now coming closer to you too.

“Yeah, don’t worry. Just some ol’ bad blood,” you answer with a small smile, grateful that someone you met two hours ago is worrying about you. These two are going to become good friends.

“Is it safe to say that he’s the biggest asshole I’ve ever seen?” mumbles Fanboy, handing you your drink.

You chuckle, raising your beer and taking a sip. “It’s also safe to say that he’s the best pilot you’ve ever seen.”

“Funny, ‘cause I heard the same about you, darling.” Bob smiles, raising your glass in your direction as if toasting for you.

“Who told you that?”

“Phoenix.”

You laugh, shaking your head in disbelief. “She just loves me.”

“Also Rooster, and Coyote,” Fanboy adds.

“Coyote?” That surprises you. You know that Javy is loyal to the bone. So him saying that you are better than his best friend is surprising, to say the least.

“Yeah, he said that Jake can be his best friend, but he has to recognize talent when he sees it. That it feels like you were born for this, even if you sometimes break the rules.”

"Okay, first of all, I may be a not-so-by-the-book pilot, but that doesn’t mean I go around committing insubordination every second!” Both wizzos look at you, mirrored expressions of disbelief in their faces. “Oh, come on! What have they told you?”

“Breaking the hard deck” Mickey starts, counting with his fingers, “not returning to carrier when you’re supposed to, buzzing the tower after requesting a flyby that was, for what I’ve heard, denied, crazy maneuvers…”

“Okay, we get it. I’m living up to the name.”

“And you pulled 9Gs in an F-18.”

You sigh, remembering the exact moment. The story has become more and more farfetched every day since it happened. You were given permission to carry out risky maneuvers at such a high speed by the higher ups because it was necessary for the mission to succeed. But everyone thinks you’re a rule-breaker and speed junkie, and who are you to make people think otherwise?

Sometimes it is good that people fear you a little.

It doesn’t take long for Rooster to come looking out for you, claiming to be tired and wanting to leave. Your guess is that he’s actually tired of Hangman’s ass and he wants to get out of here, knowing that he will have to see his sore ass in the morning as well.

“Where are you staying?” You tell him the address while walking to your bike. “Wait, we’re roomies?”

“Oh, dear. Another three weeks of hearing your snores,” you whine, earning a smack on the back of the head.

“I don’t snore. I breathe loudly,” he protests.

“Sure, sure.” You take the keys out of your pants, getting closer to your yellow Honda bike. “Follow me, I’ve been there before.”

“You still have this old thing?”

“Of course, it’s like my baby,” you say while you sit on it. “So… I may or may not have some news that can make your good mood disappear.”

“… I have a feeling I’m not gonna like this”

“Oh, Roos, you’re so not gonna like it.”

“Know what? Don’t tell me today. I’ll find out on my own.” He says while twirling the keys in his hands.

“You sure about that?”

He nods repeatedly. “Positive.”

“Okay, then. Don’t blame me when you find out.”

You turn on the engine of the bike, ready to leave, and wait until Rooster gets into his Bronco. After a few moments, you both enter your house. The base gave it to you for a few weeks until the mission was over.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been in one of these,” says Rooster, sitting on the sofa.

“Yeah, I thought the same when I entered this morning... I’ll be right back. I’m gonna get out of this uniform. Your room is the one on the left at the end of the corridor,” you explain to him. He nods, getting outside again to grab his things out of the Bronco.

There’s a feeling in the pit of your stomach that tells you to ignore Rooster’s words and tell him about Maverick. If the situation had been different, if he had been the one who saw Maverick first, you know that he would have told you about him already.

Probably he would have screamed at Mav in the middle of the bar, wanting to know what he was doing here when he was supposed to be as far away as possible from Top Gun.

You have to tell him.

You go to your room, feeling bad for destroying Rooster happiness. You know he likes being back, surrounded by old friends, and being recruited as a member of a special team for a secret mission. And here you are, bearer of bad news.

After changing into some more comfortable clothes, you take a seat next to him. You look at the ceiling, counting up to ten, hoping that it will make the situation easier. It doesn’t work.

It’s better to just rip the bandage off. “Maverick’s here.”

Rooster's eyes, which were closed, open slowly as he moves around to face you. “You gotta be kidding me.”

“I wish I was, Roos... He was at the bar. I don’t know how you didn’t see him.”

He shuffles onto the sofa and places his hand in yours. “Did he talk to you? If he said something, I’ll kill him.”

“No, I couldn’t even look at him,” you confess, looking at your reflection in the dark screen of the TV. “He was the old timer who paid for the round. Well, he actually couldn’t and got thrown out by Hangman and Payback.”

Roos scoffs. “For once, Hangman did something good.”

You smile a little, looking at Rooster's hand. The moment Maverick betrayed both of you by pulling Rooster’s papers and trying to do the same with you, you stopped thinking of him as a father. Being related by blood doesn’t mean you’re family. Family is the one that stands next to you, side by side, in every bad moment of your life. The one who reaches out to you, protects you, and celebrates your big and small accomplishments, your victories.

The people you choose are your family. And you could never choose him.

“Why do you think he’s here?” asks Roos, hatred laced in his voice.

“He’s gonna teach us. Phoenix was right; we’re the best of the best, and we need someone better than us to teach us something that we don’t know already.”

"What does he intend to teach us? To kill friends and pull your daughter’s papers?”

Rooster had more than enough reasons to be angry and hate Maverick. However, you never thought that Maverick was behind Goose’s death. You’ve read the case files. It was investigated, and Maverick had nothing to do with it. But still, Rooster thought so.

“I just want to finish this, and it hasn’t even begun yet.”

“Feel ya… Wait, are you telling me that Hangman kicked out his instructor from the Hard Deck?”

You raise your head, looking at him with a mischievous smile. "I can't wait to see his face when he realizes tomorrow," you laugh.

Rooster laughs with you, hugging and kissing your forehead.

“Everything will be okay, Reb. We’ve got each other.”

“Of course,” you agree, getting up from the sofa and walking to the kitchen. “I’m gonna need a wingman when I get the team leader position.”

“Yeah, you need someone up there to stop your ass from time to time,” he mocks, following you.

You sigh and hug him tightly. How much have you missed this big man.

“We need to sleep, we gotta work tomorrow.”

“I hope I get to kick that old man’s ass. Prove him what I can do.”

“I’m sure you will have the chance.”

You're sitting with Rooster the next morning, waiting for Cyclone to arrive for the morning briefing. You keep bouncing your leg up and down, knowing that the moment Maverick enters the room, you’re going to have to talk to him and address him as your superior.

“Reb, calm down.”

“Easy to say,” you hiss.

Hangman approaches you both. Oh, how you’re going to laugh when he sees Maverick entering the room. “I see that you’re still joined to the hip.”

“Jealous, Hangman?” asks Rooster, looking up to face him.

“Of a rule-breaker and a slow rider? Yeah, sure,” retorts the blonde man.

“What do you want, Bag Man?” you ponder, standing up.

“I just want to ask you two to behave. Mostly you, Rebel. We don’t want to be ashamed in front of our teacher.”

You see from the corner of your eye how Rooster hides his laugh with a cough. You have to bite your cheek to stop the laugh that wants to come out, too. That stupid cocky smile of his is going to disappear when Maverick gets here.

“Don’t worry, Hangman. I can assure you that I won’t be the reason you're ashamed.”

“Morning, Rebel!”

“Mickey!” You hug him, his contagious smile makes you feel ten times calmer. There’s something comforting about being around Bob and Fanboy.

“Ready to meet the instructor?” he asks, fistbumping Rooster and ignoring Hangman’s presence.

“Some of the people in this room know him already,” you hint, looking at Hangman. He turns his head to one side as he looks at you, trying to understand the hidden meaning behind your words. You are about to speak when you see Cyclone and Warlock getting closer to the deck.

“Cyclone is coming; go take your seats,” you say, sitting again next to Rooster and watching both men leave.

“Wanna bet?” Rooster whispers.

“Sure.”

“Five bucks say that Maverick is going to tell us to forget the book.”

“Roos, if you need five bucks, just say it. That’s obviously the reason that they have called him. But… It's not bad to forget the book sometimes.”

“Attention on deck!”

Every aviator in the hangar stands up, waiting for Warlock and Cyclone. Cyclone stays next to Hondo, and Warlock is the one in charge of introducing Maverick.

“Morning. Welcome to your special training detachment. Be seated. I’m Admiral Bates, NAWDC Commander. You’re all Top Gun graduates. The elite. The best of the best. That was yesterday.” You can see the smiles drop in the room, Mickey turning to look at you with an eyebrow raised. You shrug, watching Bates and listening to the rest of his speech. “The enemy’s new fifth-generation fighter has leveled the playing field. Details are few, but you can be sure we no longer possess the technological advantage. Success, now more than ever, comes down to the man or woman in the box. Half of you will make the cut. One of you will be named the mission leader. The other half will remain in reserve.”

Hangman turns his head to look at Rooster and you, smiling, as if to say that he will be the team leader. You look at the pilots in the room. There are only two possible candidates you could consider for the team leader position as of right now: Phoenix and Rooster. You know Rooster won't get it because he has a lot of issues when a situation requires a quick response, and he spends more time thinking about how it should be done according to the book. It’s going to be Phoenix, and she’s going to do one hell of a job.

Well, if you’re being honest with yourself, your name should be added to that small list, too. However, you have a not-so-good reputation. But, again, if you weren’t the best of the best, you wouldn’t be here, right?

“Your instructor is a Top Gun graduate with real-world experience in every aspect of the mission you will be expected to master.”

You and Rooster look at each other when you hear someone walking behind you. You don’t turn around; there’s no need to. You sit straight in your seat, looking for anything interesting to look at rather than your father.

“His exploits are legendary,” continues Warlock, watching how he carefully chooses his words not to praise him too much, but at the same time giving him credit for all the things he has done right in between all the stupid situations Maverick has managed to get himself into. “And he’s considered to be one of the finest pilots this program has ever produced. What he has to teach you may very well mean the difference between life and death. I give you Captain Pete Mitchell. Call sign: Maverick.”

Hangman and Payback look at each other with shame on their faces, almost regretting being born.

“Good morning,” says Maverick, looking at everyone in the hangar. You and Rooster look at each other. Maverick looks directly at Rooster, his smile fading a little. Rooster turns his head to look at you. You found his hand under the table, holding it between yours.

“It’s okay," you whisper. Rooster nods and looks at Maverick again. After all, he’s a superior, and he has to be respectful. Much to your dismay.

“The F-18 NATOPS. It contains everything they want you to know about your aircraft. I’m assuming you know the book inside and out,” says Maverick, holding the big manual in his hands.

Several of your teammates agree with him; Hangman, of course, speaks whenever he gets the chance. Cheeky bastard. Maverick tosses the book inside the bin. “So does your enemy.”

“You owe me five bucks, Reb,” Rooster mutters next to you.

Cyclone and Warlock look at each other, apparently regretting their decision to bring Maverick. You see Phoenix smile. She loves people who don’t care about breaking some rules. That’s why she likes you so much. You have never told her that the man in front of her, the man she’s beginning to respect and admire, is your father. You’re afraid to confess now, fearing her reaction. You’ll keep it a secret forever if you can.

“But what the enemy doesn’t know is your limits. I intend to find them, test them, and push beyond.”

“He’s gonna get someone killed,” Rooster whispers.

“Look at Cyclone. He’s regretting this already. I don’t think Maverick is gonna last until the end, Roos,” you whisper back.

“Today we’ll start with what you only think you know. You show me what you’re made of,” finishes Maverick.

He looks straight at you. At you, not Rooster. He had seen Rooster fly once or twice, and they had run into each other a few times during the years. You never had to see him after what he did. As far as you're concerned, he's never seen you fly. He wants to know what you are capable of. So be it, then.

You're walking towards your aircraft, next to Rooster. The grip on your helmet tightens every time you think about how you’re gonna fly, and your instructor is going to watch everything you do, good or bad, and talk about it in front of everyone once the dogfight is over.

"I haven't seen you up there in a long time," Rooster says, brushing up against your arm. “Chin up, Rebel. Mission’s a mission, remember?”

You stare at him, your mouth open in surprise. “Did you just quote Bag Man?”

“Don’t you ever tell him that I agree with him on something,” he warns you, smiling.

“Rooster, Rebel,” you hear Maverick calling you both.

"Great!” You keep walking. You have nothing to discuss with him.

“Bradley. Y/N.”

Rooster takes a deep breath. “Leave us alone,” he says low enough for you to hear.

“Lieutenants Bradshaw and Mitchell!”

At that, you stop. If he calls you by your name, you know he’s trying to be casual, maybe wanting to talk about the elephant in the room. But if he’s using ranks, there’s no way you can go around ignoring him. You don’t want to face Cyclone’s wrath because you’re not being respectful towards a superior. That’s Maverick’s thing, not yours.

“Yes, sir,” both of you say, turning around.

“Let’s not do it like this,” says Maverick, looking at both of you.

“You gonna wash us out?” Rooster asks him, and that’s honestly the only thing you want to know about him. Is he going to be fair, or is he going to try to do something nice for you again, like the one time he pulled your papers?

“That’ll be up to you two, not me,” he simply responds, walking a step closer.

"It’s hilarious how this is up to us, but deciding what to do with our lives wasn't,” you articulate, every word filled with resentment.

“Rebel...”

“Are we dismissed?” Rooster cuts in, not wanting to hear another word from Maverick.

You don’t wait for him to dismiss you; you turn around and leave, seeing Hangman and Phoenix looking at the both of you. Great. If she wants, Phoenix can put two and two together and guess that he’s your father. Rooster walks you to your airplane, puts on his helmet, and looks at you.

“Safe and sound, Rebel.”

“Safe and sound, Roos.”

You hit his helmet two times; Rooster doing the same with yours. It became a thing when you two ended up at Top Gun together. He walks away, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

Hangman smirks as he approaches your plane before you board. You inhale deeply, hating that he’s enjoying this with the entirety of his soul. “Let me guess, the only reason you’re here is because you’re a nepo baby,” he whispers, not wanting anyone else to hear. How kind of him.

“He doesn’t want me to be here, Bag Man. Just like you.”

“Are you sure about that?”

You snort, rolling your eyes. “Hangman, I told you once, and I’ll tell you again, because apparently the only functioning brain cell you have is living in your dick. He can be my father, but he doesn’t know shit about me. We don’t have a good relationship, and he was as happy about me joining the Navy as your dad was.”

He looks at the floor, his lips tight and his face contorted into a frown. “Show him how it’s done.”

You nod, getting into your airplane, ready to prove to that old man that you’re better than him. If there’s something you and Hangman have in common, it's the amount of shit your fathers have made you go through. You don’t know the exact details of Hangman’s family drama, but you’ve heard enough to understand why he, all of a sudden, has said those words to you. He knows what it means to have a father who doesn’t support you, and that makes it so clear that he will try and destroy all your chances of achieving your dreams.

People bond over traumatizing childhoods.

You fasten your helmet, pressing the necessary buttons to get the plane ready to fly. If Maverick wants to see how you do it, then you’ll show him the best you got.

@xoxabs88xox

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chimcess · 1 year

Text

Birdie Shoppe || pjm (V)

Pairing: Jimin x Reader Other tags: Werewolf!Jimin, Witch!Reader, Shifter!Reader, Shifter!Jimin, A/B/O Dynamics, Alpha!Jimin Genre: Supernatural!AU, Werewolf!AU, Angst, Mutual Pining, Fluff, Smut, Word Count: 7.1k Synopsis: Within the four realms of Lustra lay the Bangtan forest home to the Foxglove pack of the north and known as the “land of magic.” It is also home to the Birdie, a powerful witch from a cursed bloodline who is one of the sacred guardians of the forest. Y/N is the 123rd Birdie, a young girl who was given her position too early and asked by the goddess herself to fulfil a task none had ever done before- become the Grand Witch of the Foxglove pack. Now a woman, Y/N is revered as the most loved and powerful Birdie of all time, but hiding under the surface is a woman who has to battle between her duty and her heart. Chapter Warnings: Long-hair Jimin (yes, this is a warning), Cursing, Violence, Mentions of blood, Descriptions of blood, Descriptions of gore, Main Character Badly Injured, Did I say long-hair Jimin? (think The Witcher), the feels, ANGST, this is probably the most angst we’ve gotten, fluff, just Jimin being a cinnamon roll (partially edited) A/N: Not me updating within a month. I’ve been writing a ton lately, so I was able to pump this out. Hope you enjoy~

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My heart ached at the sight of Kim Taehyung. It had been little more than a day since he had been chosen and already his life was spiraling out of control. The pack did not accept him as their leader and Sol, while clear in her desires for him, had been barred from seeing him until everything had been sorted out. Namjoon had challenged him and his authority just before four in the morning which led him to my door step.

He looked worse for wear. His unruly hair tangled into matts that would take hours to brush out. Chief Ahn had taken out much of his frustration on the young boy and now Taehyung’s once lovely skin had bruises, welts, and cuts all over it. One look at him and I did not hesitate to allow him sanctuary. It was the least I could do for the man who saved me from heartbreak.

“I’ve got your face,” I mumbled, reaching back into another jar of salve. I had used two on his face and neck alone. “Take off your clothes. I need to make sure nothing is infected.”

Taehyung nodded, still crying. The moment I let him inside he had unleashed all of his emotions and was having a very difficult time getting himself under control. I did not mind. I felt pity for the alpha.

I was not surprised to find his body in just as bad of shape as the rest of him. I took great care not to stare for too long. I was not uncomfortable with his nakedness, but I was still aware that he was a man. Grip harsh, I started with his stomach. I let out a large, frustrated breath through my nose.

“I can’t believe this,” I grunted. “Why would you allow them to do this to you?”

Taehyung hissed in pain as I pressed too hard on a tender spot.

“I did not want to fight,” He replied.

I laughed humorlessly. “So they get to do as they please with you then?”

He did not know what to say.

“If you ever want to be taken seriously-” I opened up another jar of salve and began rubbing it into his chest, “-this will never happen again.”

Taehyung bit his lip and furrowed his eyebrows. He seemed upset by what I had said. He was such a naive boy. I felt my eyes watering with anger. If Kim Namjoon were here right now, I would kill him myself. How dare he allow anybody to do this to a child and feed into it by challenging him? I would be sure he knows just how unhappy I am with him.

“I do not want to rule with violence,” Taehyung said. “I don’t like fighting or shouting. It’s… uncivilized.”

I hummed. While I agreed I would not entertain the idea. Taehyung needs to fight if he wants to be seen. It is the only way to garner respect unless he wants to be compared to the others for the rest of his life. Chief Ahn would never allow that. Again, my anger spiked. That man…

“And yet you can come to my doorstep at the crack of dawn like some kicked puppy?” I spat. “Are you truly that pathetic?”

Taehyung whimpered and I almost felt bad. Harshness was necessary in these circumstances and I wanted him to become fired up. Instead, it only served to back him further into a corner. Taking a deep breath, I willed myself to calm down.

“Alpha,” I said.

“Taehyung,” He corrected weakly.

I sighed.

“I apologize for my rudeness. I’m sure you’ve gotten enough of a beating for one night and I don’t intend to add to that.”

He laughed without humor. It was scary how much my temper flared at the sight of him. All I wanted to do was march down to the village and give every single one of them a piece of my mind. A certain fair haired man came to mind, and I saw red. How could he allow this to ever happen?

“However,” I continued, “You’re Sol’s mate. She needs you to be strong right now. Think about her.”

For the first time tonight, I saw something light up in his eyes. I knew it was torture for the both of them to be away from one another. Sol was probably raging a storm back in Foxglove and I knew she expected the same from her alpha. She would be dreaded to know where he was instead. Taehyung seemed to have picked up on that idea as well.

“I have been!” He snarled. “It’s the only reason I didn’t want to fight back! The chief is her father and she wouldn’t forgive me for that.”

I bit my tongue. As much as I wanted to throw him out for yelling at me, I was glad to see some spark in him. It made sense why he would allow Chief Ahn to get away with just about anything. The pack would kill him if he had laid a hand on the old man. However, the rest of the wolves should have been given no mercy. Again, I thought of Jimin and seethed.

I wiped my hands on my nightgown and stood. Taehyung was covered from head to toe in the salve, and already the marks were going away. It would take more than that to heal his bruised ribs. So, I went to the kitchen and looked around for a healing potion. I did not feel like making one at this hour.

“Why did you come here?” I asked, gently.

Taehyung sighed. “Because I knew you would help me.”

Again, my pity returned. While my blood boiled, my heart hurt for the alpha as well. I could imagine him hurt and abandoned, nowhere to turn to, and not being able to trust the local doctor. I found an old potion in the back of a cupboard.

“You can sleep here tonight,” I offered, handing him the potion. “Any wolf idiotic enough to poke at me is a dead man.”

Taehyung seemed at ease with this. Downing the potion, he curled up on the couch and closed his eyes.

“Thank you, Birdie,” He grinned.

I did not reply. Instead, I used my magic to bring him a few blankets and struck up the fireplace. He was weak and may not be able to regulate his body temperature as easily. It got cold in the living room at night. Seemingly satisfied with his place on my small, uncomfortable couch, Taehyung fell asleep within seconds.

I had never seen anything like it in all my life. Stifling my laughs, I began blowing out the candles around my house, and put away all the used tubs of salve. I would need to make more soon. Exhausted and still recovering from the ceremony, I drug myself back to bed. Shiloh was waiting for me when I arrived.

“How many times do I have to tell you to take your bedrest seriously?” The barn owl nagged.

I groaned and rolled into my bed. It was warm and soft. Shiloh flapped to her nest.

“It was Taehyung,” I argued.

“I don’t care if it was Lilith herself, you better stay your-”

“Shiloh,” I warned, “Shut up.”

The bird grumbled to herself, but I was too far gone to pay attention.

I awoke to loud pounding on my front door. I could hear voices outside, none of them sounding too happy, but all I caught was the name of a pack alpha. Angry and still sore, I used magic to lift myself out of bed and threw on my robe. I saw Taehyung curled up in a ball in front of the sofa. He did not notice me until I was standing in front of the door.

Shiloh was shouting at me to get back in bed, to let the wolves handle their own business, but I ignored her. When they decide to take their anger to my doorstep I have every right to give them a piece of my mind. Squaring my shoulders, I took a deep breath before forcing my arms forward.

My front door flew off its hinges and into whoever was standing behind it. Namjoon was unfazed by this and slapped the thick wood out of his way. I could see the shock in his eyes but I was not finished with my assault. I began to sing, a whirlwind of objects floating around the room. Namjoon backed away but this only pissed me off more. Shiloh shouted as a large, hot, blue flame sprouted from the palm of my hand and flew at the wolf.

“How dare you?” I shouted, everything dropped once my singing stopped. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

Hoseok and Jimin stood on either side of their brother. I knew I would regret attacking them eventually, possibly the moment they left, but I would not let myself falter. No one was going to come here and intimidate me. I don’t give a damn who they are attempting to fight with.

“Birdie-” Hoseok pled.

Ignoring him, I kept my gaze perfectly trained on Namjoon. He stared at the large, ashen spot at his feet as I stared at him. My face burned with anger and I felt another surge of magic rush through my body. A dull ache began to form in my back and I knew I was bleeding again. I had used too much magic and my body was having a hard time healing.

“Who do you think you are to challenge him, Namjoon?” I roared, eyes burning. “Sol chose him. The Goddess chose him! Do you think you know better than Lilith now?”

Namjoon swallowed thickly before finally looking at me.

“Of course not. I-”

“You listen to me,” I sneered. “If you ever get the gull to come bang on my door again, I swear to you, I will not show you the same mercy.”

Namjoon scoffed, “Mercy? You had better watch your tone, little girl. Especially with a limp like that.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but a voice from behind me beat me to it.

“Don’t speak to her like that,” Taehyung said.

Namjoon seemed to darken. I felt my muscles clench as I readied myself to defend the boy. No one was going to hurt him. I promised to protect the Luna with my life, Sol was my good friend, and I refused to let harm come to her mate. I was as good as dead if I had.

“There you are,” Namjoon taunted. “Been looking everywhere for you, infans.”

Taehyung growled. I steadied my racing heart. I would have to protect him inside. Namjoon would have the advantage of leaving, and I was vulnerable to the sun’s rays if he decided to extort that. Still, I positioned my hands defensively.

Suddenly, Shiloh flew out of the house and screeched loudly. Everything happened quickly. First, Shiloh was barreling towards Namjoon and then a wolf was standing in his place. I knew it was an accident. Taehyung was only trying to protect me, however, his massive frame surged me forward. I was in the sun before I could save myself, and soon my face slammed into my front steps and the sun beamed on my back.

My skin burned immediately and I could not help the tortured screams that flew out of my mouth. Unfocused eyes trained on Shiloh saw her turn towards me before a large, russet wolf shoved her out of the way with his nose. I felt many hands on me and I was dragged back inside.

My body trembled as I screamed. Every inch of my skin was on fire and I closed my eyes only to see white. It felt like someone was tearing me apart. All around me I heard screaming and shouting.

“What the fuck do we do?” Hoseok shouted.

“I don’t know,” It sounded like Taehyung was crying.

My eyes rolled to the back of my head and I could not think straight. The pain was numbing. Opening my eyes again, I saw my ceiling and raised one of my shaking hands. Black feathers had pierced through the skin and I cried out once more.

“Get away from her!” Someone screamed but I could not make out who.

“Is she alright?”

I knew something was happening a few feet away but all I could focus on was the fire in my body. I knew this would subside eventually on its own, but I had something that could help. I just needed to gather the strength to get it. I opened my mouth to speak but could only scream.

“It burns,” I managed to grunt, convulsing.

I could feel hands on me but I could not get my eyes to focus. Sleep would be impossible now and I knew my body was in the worst shape it had ever been. Between the ceremony, the small amount of magic I used, and the sun I would be out of service for an entire week at this rate. Possibly even more.

“Move,” I heard Shiloh’s voice through the rest of the nonsense going on around me.

Looking through my lashes, instead of an owl there was a beautiful woman before me. Her fiery hair glistened in the sun and looked like it was underwater. Her skin had a dim glow to it and sparkled brightly. She looked like diamonds and I reached out to touch her. The spirit had tears in her eyes, the water shining brilliantly, before she caressed my hand.

“Sanitatem,” She whispered, fingers grazing my arm.

Instantly, I felt the relief I had been begging for wash over me. Sighing in relief, I closed my eyes and curled closely to Shiloh. I felt her fingers running through my hair and felt extremely tired.

“I’m going to put you to bed,” She whispered. “Where you belong.”

When I woke, I could smell food cooking. I was in my bed, my memory faded and hard to recall, but I knew Shiloh had been in her true form. Rubbing my eyes, I thought about Taehyung and my mood darkened. I could not remember the alphas leaving. My body screamed in protest as I sat up but I pushed forward. No one was going to harm him- not while I still had air in my lungs.

Upon entering the kitchen, I had to grasp my door frame for support. The stove was lit, I could smell the applewood, and one of my large pots was on top of it. The rest of the room was clean. Far cleaner than I ever left it. Someone had mopped and swept by hand. I could smell the lemons they used on the wood. Taking a large breath, I began taking a step forward.

“You should be in bed.”

I jumped up. Whipping my head around, Jimin was sitting in my recliner across the room. Taehyung was staring at me from in front of the fireplace. Neither Hoseok nor Namjoon were there. I could not feel or smell my familiar’s presence either.

“Where’s Shiloh?” I demanded, stumbling forward and grabbing on my island.

Taehyung stood up and came toward me quickly.

“Please, don’t push yourself, Birdie,” He said softly.

The alpha led me to my loveseat and helped me to sit down. Jimin sat beside me and covered me with one of my spare blankets. He must have went digging around while I was asleep. Sparing a glance at my hands, all of the feathers were replaced by nasty scars. They were pale white already, like they had been there for years, but I felt sad looking at them. I could only imagine what the rest of my body looked like. Almost sensing my mood, Jimin placed his hand over mine. I looked at him.

“She stepped out for a while,” He finally replied.

I had been angry with him, I remember vividly I thought of our next conversation, but being in front of him now it had all but vanished. There was no way Park Jimin would ever be fine with what had happened. Nor would Hoseok or Namjoon. Even thinking of him I found myself more sad than anything. I could only imagine how he had felt after everything had happened. I did not think anyone could have prepared for that amount of shock. However, gazing at Taehyung, most of my sympathy stopped there. Namjoon was still trying to kill someone else over his own lack of faith. His own ego was blinding him. I just hoped he could see that before he destroyed his own life. Sol would never forgive him and neither would I.

“Is everyone alright?” I asked.

Jimin hummed, “Everyone but you. Namjoon and I got into a fight before he left but he’ll be fine.”

I scowled at Jimin. “I don’t like the idea of you fighting.”

He grinned, “Don’t worry, amica. I won.”

“Doesn’t change my feelings.” I grumbled and looked at Taehyung.

He seemed confused. While most of his face was perfectly schooled, his eyes told a different story. As they bounced back and forth between Jimin and I, I could see confusion turn into something… other. Almost, acceptance. Strange, I thought. I did not think about it too much. My affection for Jimin was likely apparent, and stronger, than that of the other alphas. The boy was probably trying to get used to it. Then he winked at me and I looked away,

Was it possible that he had caught onto my feelings? Had I sized him up too quickly? I knew he was mischievous and care free, but I also knew he was very aware of others. When he had spoken so passionately about being what a good ruler was, I had gotten that impression as well as his own naivety. However, my troubles were quickly dismissed as I looked into Jimin’s eyes. It was impossible to stress when he was around.

“Do you mind if I stay with you both for a few days?” He asked.

My eyebrows shot up.

“What for?” I replied.

Jimin hesitated before responding. “I found the letter that your friend sent you in your coat pocket. Your familiar asked me if I would stay.”

Confused, I frowned. What on Earth was he talking about? Racking my brain, I found myself at a loss before the lightbulb went off.

“Wendy!” I exclaimed.

Going to stand, Jimin gently grabbed my arm. He looked bashful and unsure of himself. I was just like the last time he had been here, only it felt different. He almost looked… afraid to tell me what he had read. My breath quickening, I pulled my arm out of his grasp.

“What did it say?” I asked, wearily.

When I got no response, I lifted myself up and ignored the two men. I hobbled to my coat rack. However, strong arms wrapped around me before I made it a foot away from the sofa.

“Taehyung,” I threatened. “Put me down. Now.”

“Sit,” He pleaded and walked me back over to the living space.

Frustrated and anxious, I turned my head and bit the side of his arm. The wolf yelped before letting go of my wait. I stumbled, wobbled over, before landing on my ass.

“This is ridiculous,” I complained, slowly lifting myself up. I ignored Taehyung’s outstretched hands. “You come to my home, go through my things, and then not allow me to read my own letter? She’s my friend! If it’s important I ought to know.”

Jimin sighed, frustrated. I refused to back down and continued to stand up. Taehyung had given me some space, which I appreciated, but was close enough to catch me if I fell down again. The older alpha and I had a stare off.

Finally, after a few minutes of silence, Jimin spoke, “If you had more patience, I could have given it to you. It’s in my pocket.”

“If you,” I countered, limping back to the sofa, “had just said that instead of looking at me like an idiot then I couldn’t have gotten up.”

The alpha glared at me but said nothing more. Snatching the paper from his hands, I made myself comfortable in my spot. Taehyung came closer, a weary look on his face. An apology was in order but I fought with my own pride to give it. He picked me up without consent and so I bit him. End of discussion. Still, the need to tell him I was sorry was strong.

Birdie,

I’m happy to hear you are feeling better. However, I’m sure by the time this reaches you the Luna’s ceremony would have taken place and you’ll be back in bed again. I’ve always marveled at how powerful you are and yet so fragile. My mother thinks it was the way the Gods meant for it to be. You’d be far too much if you had all of your abilities and the same willpower as any other witch. In other words, goodluck and I hope you have a fast recovery.

In other news, my sister has decided to marry Seojun. I am very happy for her and I know Irene will make a good wife. It did, however, make me think of you and I. Will there ever be someone for us? Will you ever get the chance to find them even if they were out there? It’s incredibly mean for the Gods to put you under such horrible conditions. At least you are able to leave in a way Aldara never was. I do hope I can learn of your name before you pass on. I’ve known you for far too long and we’re too close for me not to. Please tell me you will.

Birdie, would you hate me if I told you I was considering staying here? My time in Northorn has opened my world to many possibilities. Then I think of you, Yoongi, and Seokjin and the thought repulses me. Oh, I love him. I love Seokjin. I want him to be with me and yet… my eyes still wander. Is that wrong? I know you understand me more than anyone else. Have you ever thought about telling him how you feel or is it too scary? Because I’m scared, Birdie. I’ve hurt him too much.

I should stay here, right? Spare both him and Yoongi the heart ache. Goddess knows I’ve put too much of a strain on their relationship already. From what I hear, they’re already back to being friends since I’ve kept away. Yes, I think I will stay here.

Please help me. Do something for me. I’m confused and unsure of myself. Irene says I’m overthinking everything, but I know you will be more honest. Sending you all of my heart- at least what is left of it.

Your dearest friend,

Wendy

Rereading the letter over again, I felt my heart sink. Shiloh must have decided to go and see her after finding out. I mentally thanked her and immediately went to fetch a pen and paper. Neither wolf tried to stop me.

It made sense now why Jimin would hesitate to talk with me about the letter. He had never, as far as I know, met Wendy. It must have been confusing to read through. I remembered her line about me understanding her and my stomach sank. That must have been a strange thing to read about, too. I cursed under my breath before I began to write.

Wendy, my darling,

I am fine. There is a lot happening in Bangtan at the moment, most of which I hardly understand, and it has taken its toll on me. Between the ceremony and now I haven’t one moment of peace. I do hope you can help me relax once you return. I know you will.

Forget about those two fools and remember why you have stayed here all this time: your mother, the sisterhood, your coven, and the forest. Whoelse can tame a magindara like you? No one. Who can purify the sea and sing with the shore like you? No one. Do not let petty, childish things stop you from enjoying your life. You will always have me and I will forever be there. I’m happy for Irene! Her engagement is splendid news and I wish I could be there with her.

However, Lilith has chosen a different path for me just as she has chosen one for you. I am frightened, Wendy. Everyday I am scared of what it will bring, but I do not let that stop me from enjoying the sunshine. I love the flowers, the trees, and the winds that ripple through them. Aldara used to tell me, “Fear reminds us that we’re alive, and without it many would surely be dead.” So, don’t kill yourself off just yet, darling. Keep swimming and come home. Talk to Jin and he will understand. Yoongi has no ill will toward either one of you. Let go of your fantasies and stay rooted in the reality of your heart.

You were meant to be with the most stubborn, loud, obnoxious, lovely, kind-hearted man in all of Lustra. You and I both know that, and have known that, for a long time. So go for it. Even if I am afraid, you do not have to be. See you soon.

Missing you greatly,

Birdie (I’ll tell you someday. I promise.)

My body was beginning to loosen and the pain was becoming bearable. Satisfied with my response, I waved it in the air to make it dry faster as I rummaged through my drawers for an envelope. I could only hope I could muster the strength to send it off. If Shiloh were hare, she would have went off herself or asked one of the boys, but I was on my own now. Alone and in desperate need to get this damn letter to Wendy. Shuffling to my ceremonial bag laying by the front door, I sifted through it until I found my Meteor Powder.

I knew I was taking a risk with this sort of thing, but I had to be willing to risk it if it meant I could change Wendy’s mind. I was already hours behind. Without a second more to lose, I gathered up a piece of parchment and a pen to begin drawing. Remembering Wendy’s face was simple enough, years of drawing and perfecting using the powder making it almost easy to do, but I still felt uneasy. My heart would not rest until I received word back or the sea witch showed up at my door.

Praying that I got every soft feature right, I contemplated adding color but quickly dismissed the idea. It would not really make any difference and I was not sure if her hair was dark or light anymore. Wendy often went through fazes with that sort of thing. Laying the paper on the floor, I said her name for good measure, and threw the powder on top of it. Less than a second later, the paper was gone and I sighed.

“Hope she got it,” I mumbled to myself.

It was Taehyung who broke my trance.

“That was so cool!” He exclaimed.

I chuckled, “Not as cool as my own magic, but it’ll have to do. I can hardly feel anything in my body.”

Walking back to the couch, I curled up beside Jimin. He looked worried again and I realized I had messed up. Admitting that I was weak and tired would only make him drag me back to bed. Readily myself for another spat, I squared my shoulders and looked at him.

“She seemed upset,” He said instead. “I had not realized your friends were involved in that way.”

I hid my surprise well. It did make sense for Jimin to worry about others, I had just never imagined he would take my friend’s hardships so seriously. Grinning, I nodded.

“It’s been a thing since we were children. Don’t worry too much, she will come back and they will be together.”

“Why aren’t they now?” It was Taehung who asked.

“Because,” I sighed, “they’re both far too stubborn.”

Taehyung was a nice company to have around. He took good care of his things, cleaned up after himself, and was useful. I had stopped sending supplies to Foxglove, something that neither Taehyung or Jimin agreed with, but it did not change my mind. They did not deserve my help if this is what they were going to do with it. No one had come to collect anything either, so I assumed they were boycotting my services indefinitely.

Wendy had written to me the following morning confirming she was coming back. She had even written to Seokjin. While I did not know what she had said I could take a few guesses. It was only a matter of time before Seokjin told me all about it. He was the worst at keeping secrets.

Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes and stared at my altar. My magic had come back a few days ago and I had been allowing it to rest. Today was the first time I had performed a ritual spell in days. Looking over my shoulder, I smiled gently at Jimin napping on my sofa.

He had not left since he arrived. While we had not spoken much since that night, he was doing his best to help Taehyung make a plan to win over the town. While I thought it was foolish to think he could do such a thing without a fight, I believed in them enough to support it. Jimin was a loved person and having him on Taehyung’s side greatly increased his odds. I knew the pack was feeling his absence.

“What’s a cah-dee-jo?” Taehyung asked, obnoxiously loud.

“A cadejo-” I corrected, rolling my eyes, “-are spirits that help worthy travelers find their way.”

Taehyung raised an eyebrow. “And if they’re not worthy?”

“They’ll eat them,” I replied easily.

The alpha had been interested in my books after finding something I had written about the magindara when I was a kid. He was going through them so quickly, I was having to go to the cellar to get new material for him. As naive as he was, Kim Taehyung was a bright young man with a vivid imagination. He always asked questions, never settled for one answer, and listened carefully.

“Why?” He asked.

“Why not?”

He said nothing after that and went back to reading. I had started growing fonder of the man and hoped he was able to go back home. When he spoke of his siblings his eyes lit up and it broke my heart. His parents must be worried sick.

Having spent most of my morning sitting, I decided to make lunch. I was expecting Shiloh to be back later today. Wendy said my familiar had gotten to her inn just before she sent off her letter, so I knew the owl was safe. Thinking about her I grew emotional. Exposing her spirit form was extremely dangerous, a risk I would never have asked her to take, and she had done it regardless.

Going to my kitchen window, I whistled loudly and began pulling out a pot and pan. Tomato soup sounded lovely and I could always make a quick loaf of bread. A few minutes later, Delinah was at my window. Looking up from the onion I was dicing, I grinning at the deer.

“Morning, Dee,” I greeted.

She bowed her head. “Glad to see you moving around. You gave us all a fright.”

I hummed, scooping the onions and throwing them into the pot along with three whole heads of garlic, some fresh herbs, and oil. In the corner of my eye I saw Jimin beginning to stir on the sofa.

“I’m good as new,” I joked, using a spell to light my stove. “Would you mind fetching some tomatoes from Seokjin’s garden? I’d ask Shiloh but she’s out of the forest for the time being.”

“Where’d she head off to?” Delinah asked, pulling the cloth tote I kept on the windowsill into her mouth.

“Northorn,” I replied.

“Northorn? What’s so important in that miserable place?”

I laughed, placing my knife down to help my friend get the tote around her neck. Delinah nuzzled my hands. Giving her a quick pat on the head, I promised her carrots when she got back.

“And to answer your question,” I walked back to the counter. “Wendy is attempting to run away so she’s bringing her back.”

She laughed, “Oh, that Wendy. You never know what you’re going to get with that one.”

“But we love her.”

Jimin was up and walking around right after Delinah left. Taehyung was still head-first in my magical beasts book. I took over my try of onions and garlic and let them begin roasting over the open flame of the stove. The tomatoes would not take long to char. I could hear the two men talking quietly but decided to play them no mind. It was hard to have privacy in this house as it was.

Delinah was back quickly and I sent her off with a bundle of carrots. After roasting the tomatoes, I used my pestle and mortar to blend everything together. Working in small batches, I took my time to be sure everything was smooth before throwing it into the pot I had taken out.

“Birdie,” Taehyung called out. “Can I get your opinion on something?”

I nodded, “Ask away.”

“I want to write a letter to Namjoon but I’m not sure how he’d take that.”

I paused for a moment to think. While it might be a wise idea to test the waters with a note of some kind, I was also not foolish enough to think he would be able to deliver something to the village at this time. People were looking for him and to show his face might lead to more speculation. However, he had to do something before the elders made a decision as to what to do with him. Namjoon had officially challenged him and only revoking that, which would terminate the fight, would be his best option. I had full faith in Taehyung’s ability to defend himself if he truly wanted, but his personality would make it hard for him to commit to a brawl. Namjoon would win just from his determination alone.

“I don’t think that would help much,” I admitted. “Everyone is committed to seeing you fight at this point, and your runaway stunt has them more on guard. I would seriously begin considering a fight, Taehyung. It’s your only option right now.”

I heard his sigh of defeat and felt saddened. I empathize with the alpha’s situation. I knew it would be a hard thing for him to do. In my younger years, Aldara enjoyed teaching me defensive magic but I could never strike her back. It was not until that night I truly saw what I could be capable of if left to my own devices. I shuddered at the thought. I would not wish that on anybody- especially Kim Taehyung. Mixing the soup, I spoke.

“I’m sorry it has to be this way.”

“Me too,” He replied.

The three of us ate our lunch in silence. Jimin had been more quiet than usual and I knew his brain was on overdrive. He had also been away from his family, his pack, and his home for three days without an end in sight. I knew how hard the silence could be and even then I had been quieter. Still, it must be hard on him. It was a wolf’s nature to be with his family.

Taehyung did not ask anything after that. The rest of the day, he sat on the floor near the fireplace and read book after book while Jimin looked out of the windows. They never went outside. I managed to do a few chores, practiced some new spells, and wrote in my grimoire, but nothing else had sparked an interest in me. The tension in the house was suffocating. It was not until Shiloh returned at sunset that the house stirred.

In a whirlwind, the barn owl flew through my bedroom window, her loud voice bouncing off the walls. Carelessly I threw my pen down onto my grimoire. Black ink smeared into the pages ruining all of my hard work, but I did not care. She was back and I could breathe a bit easier then. I knew Shiloh would have an answer. She always knew what to do.

“Between those wolves and you witches,” She complained, “I’ll never, ever catch a break.”

“Oh, Shiloh,” I cooed, opening my arms to her.

My familiar raced into my waiting embrace and let herself be babied. I pet her head and smoothed her feathers down gently. The owl leaned into my touches with joy. I could not remember the last time I had smiled so widely since she had gone.

“You’re so strong and mighty, little one. I missed you dearly.”

She laughed, “I’m so happy to see you up and walking around.”

“Where’s Wendy?” I asked, letting her go.

Shiloh flew into the kitchen and I followed behind her. She must be exhausted after the long journey. She pecked at the bread from lunch and made note of the wolves in the living room.

“She’ll be back after her sister’s wedding.”

“Oh, wonderful!” I clapped my hands together in delight.

“Another pain in my ass,” She mumbled.

And I laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

It was always an adjustment when you first transform, I found. Even after all this time I was slightly disoriented after the whole ordeal. The first night Taehyung had been here, he had almost broken my bedroom door down trying to see if I was alright. If Jimin had not reassured him, I was sure he would have been traumatized by the scene. It was the fourth night now, and Taehyung slept peacefully through my screams. Shiloh had gone to bed extra early. Jimin was the only person still awake when I flew through the kitchen window.

He was still dressed in the same clothes he had been wearing for days. I hand washed everything twice, but he insisted on keeping them. I had made clothes for Taehyung and was a bit upset at Jimin’s rejection. However, I never brought it up again. I simply washed them and used magic to get them dry.

Tonight, however, he had taken off the long cape he usually wore. His socks and shoes were also somewhere else, and I noticed his belt was also missing. He wore his hair down, the silver strands sitting at his waist, and I saw a simple headband keeping his bangs out of his eyes. He was sitting at the kitchen island staring at whatever he had been writing. I decided to go to him.

“Hello,” He offered, a smile that did not meet his eyes thrown my way.

He looked tired, more so than usual, and worn. Taehyung snored loudly on the floor and rolled over. Jimin did not bat an eyelash and continued looking at the papers. I hopped closer and twisted my head to look at them. The alpha did not try to stop me.

They turn into paste if you mash them. By hand, they keep their nectar, and the flavor is much better.

When they’re whole you need to wait much longer for the flavor to seep through.

No, but it is one that is very dear to me.

I realized it was the paper I had used when I had visited him a few weeks ago. I felt myself growing emotional. He had kept it… something so inconsequential and yet he had kept it. Apparently, he even walked around with it. My heart grew fonder with every encounter we shared, and I found I could not breathe properly.

“It brings me comfort,” Jimin whispered. “Knowing that you’re out there.”

Turning to look at him, I found him crying. The moonlight illuminated his delicate face and the tears that ran down his cheeks. For the first time since I have known Jimin, I felt sure of myself. Drawing near, I gently flapped my wings and landed in his lap. Clicking, I rubbed my face on his stomach and allowed the warmth within me to shine. He had kept it.

Jimin grabbed me and held me tightly as he wept. What his sorrows were for, I was not sure, but I had to guess it was something to do with this situation. Whatever the case may be, I melted into his touch. He was always so open with me like this. I wished he would hold me tightly as a woman, too. I knew I was beginning to grow greedy but did not care anymore. He had kept that stupid piece of parchment and I was completely done attempting to care about customs. I loved him more than anything else.

“I don’t know what to do,” He whimpered. “I couldn’t live with either of them dying.”

And as mad as I was at Namjoon, as badly as I wanted to throw him against a wall and scream in his face for being such a pig-headed nitwit, I could not say I wanted him dead. We were friends after all. Even after our spat the other morning I could call him that freely. I knew something had to give sooner or later. It killed me to see Jimin torn up.

The alpha only allowed himself two minutes to cry. After that, he apologized to me profusely before gently setting me back down on the island. Wiping his face aggressively, he excused himself before leaving the cottage entirely. I wanted to go after him but thought he might need the space and time to think. Looking down at the paper at my feet, I felt something shift inside of me.

So what if a letter is offensive? They beat Taehyung to a bloody pulp, exiled him, and made his friend think he needed to challenge him in order to keep the pack in order. If a simple letter would be the thing to set them off then I would happily be the bad guy. Knowing that I was more than likely making an awful choice, that the chances of someone else getting their hands on Namjoon’s letter were high, I still had to try. I would never see Jimin cry like that again. My mind made up, I gathered up some paper and an ink jar and began to write.

Taglist: @greezenini @adventures-in-bookland @kthstrawberryshortcake-main @zae007live @jimin-neverout @nikkiordonez12 @canarystwin

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