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twirlingsmilingwriting · 4 months

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Paper Talks || Young! Coriolanus Snow X Plinth! Reader pt. 1

TLDR: You knew that people would try to gain your attention and trust because of your families status but Coriolanus always seemed to go above and beyond the usual hallway waves. Are his feelings true and genuine or is he just as shallow as the rest?

Warnings: Capital people talk, reader is a little bratty, She/Her pronouns reader

A/N: This is part ONE of THREE planned stories. So basically I got requests for this same parring of Snow X Plinth! reader and one wanted angst the other wanted fluff so this is the set up story to those two. The story will break off and diverge from this point and you'll get to choose the ending you want. Will they fall in love or will it burn to pieces? YOU CHOOSE!

Based on THIS ask

Word Count: 2.1 k

Taglist: @simpovereveryone

The academy was rather boring most days. Constant busy work 24/7 about things I already knew just didn't ever seem to rub me the right way. What was the point in this education if it felt like you were never actually LEARNING anything? I sighed tapping my pencil ever so slightly against my desk while I listened to Highbottom ramble about whatever painfully vague topic he wanted to yap about today. That man drank so much I swear, not only could you smell the liquor off of him but you could see it, like a weird mystifying haze around him and in his eyes. He must've been mixing something in his cup because liquor doesn't do that much damage. I, honestly, needed whatever he was having to get through this lesson.

Finally, like a saving grace, the bell rang and we were excused from the lecture hall. A few people waved and smiled while I walked through the halls and I did the same back. While I was from the districts, the capital people still seemed to treat me fairly, to my face that is, because of one thing and one thing only, my last name.

Plinth.

We were new money and we sure had a ton of it. An ever-looming fear of mine is that people don't actually like me but just want to get closer to me so they can get a piece of my family's fortune. Easily, I can see why people would want to get closer to me. It didn't help when my last year in the academy came and my father announced there would be a "Plinth Prize", a scholarship of sorts that would help other students pay for university. My father is a very charitable man for offering up a chunk of our wealth to others but it made me a lot more paranoid at school. What if people were just trying to get closer to me so I'd put a good word into my dad? The thought caused a deep sinking feeling of anxiety to sit in the pit of my stomach. Shaking my head, I dusted away the emotions, grabbed my food and tried to find a spot to sit in the cafeteria.

Looking over the area, I saw the broad stocky build and curly brown hair of a boy sitting alone at a 4 person table. Oh, Sej... Sej is my twin brother, obviously not identical twin but he was my twin. I placed my food onto the table with a 'plop' and eagerly sat down to eat.

"Sejanus"

"Y/N"

We both nodded and continued to eat. It was a weird sibling thing we did. Hello's get boring when you have to say them all the time so we just say each other's names then move on. I started absolutely demolishing my sandwich. Words can not describe how delicious a sandwich is after having to listen to Highbottom's intoxicated rants for hours on end. That's when I noticed something, Sej wasn't eating. His eyes were distracted, focused on something behind me. I cocked my brow up in confusion before slowly turning my head to see what he was looking at.

I don't know when he got there but the tall, lanky frame of a man clad in our school uniform was walking to where we were sat and promptly stood at the edge of our table. Curls so blond they were almost white framed his face with a smirk painted across it. His eyes switched between the two of us slowly as if they were slithering inside of his head. Coriolanus Snow. I don't think I've ever actually talked to him before but we did share a class. Sej smiled and said hi to him and he nodded back before asking,

"Is that seat taken?" his head motioned to the seats beside us and I was about to say 'yes' but I couldn't beat the enthusiastic nods and "Oh no it's absolutely free please come sit down," from my brother.

I watched dumbfounded while he reached over and slightly pulled out the chair next to him for Coriolanus. The blond man ignored this, the fabric of his sleeve touching my hair every so slightly while he slid behind to take the seat next to me. That pissed me off, just a little. I hate when people touch my hair. Spend so long to make it look presentable and then people go in and mess with it UGH. My brothers smile faded slightly before it perked back up again as he excitedly started to strike up a conversation with Coriolanus who couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of me. I felt his gaze burning my skin like thousands of little coals. Who knows what kind of comments he might have been making in his head. I looked back down at my sandwich and started to eat it again, but a lot slower.

Sejanus and Coriolanus went back and forth with some banter, clearly, Sej was a lot more interested than Coriolanus was. I felt kind of sad for my brother at times. I don't think he realized how easily people could use us. He trusted too freely and it seemed like he really liked Coriolanus. While other students would try to be kind to us to our faces, that didn't stop them from laughing at us behind our backs. I've only overheard their snickers and chuckles about how we were 'dirty district' twice but that was twice too many. Sej couldn't see through the plastic personas. He leaned over the table, directing his full energy and attention to holding this conversation with Coriolanus who wasn't even holding eye contact with him. He was cut off mid-ramble when Coriolanus spoke.

"Sejanus... you never told me you had a sister"

Oh god, I've been noticed. ABORT MISSION. ABORT MISSION.

"Actually, she's my twin sister. I assumed you would've already known she-"

"I think I have a class with her... Y/N right?"

Why were they talking about me like I wasn't right there? Sejanus was about to open his mouth again when Snow tapped my shoulder, forcing my attention to him. I got to get a better look at his face up close now and I couldn't deny the absolute gravitational pull those blue eyes had. Silently, I swam into the oceans of those blue eyes. I knew I had to get out before I drowned. I swallowed hard and nodded.

"Y/N. Y/N Plinth. And you are... Coriolanus?"

"Please, call me Corio." His smirk turned to a cheesy smile and he tipped his head slightly, extending his hand out for me to shake. I looked down at his hand and then back up at him while I nervously took it and shook it. His hands were as cold as icicles. The feeling almost made me shiver. He gave my hand a squeeze when I tried to pull away like he was trying to keep me there. I did not like that one bit. When he finally released my hand he didn't take his eyes off of me once.

"Sure, Corio..." I mumbled out before trying to return to my almost-finished sandwich. Sej took that as his opportunity to continue blabbering on to Coriolanus.

The passing days started to notice a frequently rising increase in Coriolanus Snow bombarding my days. He started to become one of those faces that would wave at me in the hallways but he always wanted to stop and talk and compliment my appearance. Just the other day he moved seats in our shared class to sit next to me, conveniently on the day we had to start a group project with our "table partner". I didn't like how he seemed to be infecting every inch of my life. Sejanus even started to invite him to the mansion so they could hang out and I'd have to see those icy blue eyes cross my vision whenever I went downstairs for a snack and of course, he had to talk to me.

A part of me wants to believe how that Corio was genuine and was trying to be our friend but I couldn't help the impending sense of doom I felt whenever I thought about opening up to him. Today was unlike the others. To start, when Sej and I walked to school together, Coriolanus crossed our path and walked with us. His body hung close to mine as he and Sejanus talked over my head. Corio kept trying to drag me into their conversation but I was trying to minimize the amount of Snow that was being left on my person. When I made it to my first class that's when I noticed a white rose placed on the side of my bag. It must've been from Corio. He must've slipped it in my bad while we were walking this morning. I'm just a girl! I couldn't help the way my face lit up bright red with a blush from this action.

Just as my face felt hot so did my temper. I couldn't let myself get distracted here. I knew what he really wanted, right? I twirled the stem of the rose between my fingers, carefully trying to avoid the thorns, and watched how pretty it looked spinning. Humming softly, I closed my eyes and watched as the rest of the day went by fast.

Corio and I sat sitting next to each other in the library trying to study for class. He started insisting on these study dates after we had that first group assignment together. I don't understand why he felt the need to sit there and explain all the questions to me. I knew what he was talking about. The fabric of our pants touched each other lightly as it was the one barrier that stopped our knees from touching. Coriolanus continued to ramble on about the question we were on and was explaining the steps to solve it for the 100th time and I was starting to get seriously bored. With a heavy sigh, I pulled my paper closer to me and started to solve the problems at a lot faster of a speed than we were going at. I had done about 4 questions by the time he was done explaining that one to me and that's when he realized, he had pretty much been talking to the air.

"Y/N? Y/N? Are you listening?"

He spoke, leaning ever so closer to me. He started snapping his fingers in from of my face and I felt this anger start to boil in me.

"Darling, I'm trying to show you how to solve this."

Finally, when he placed his hand on my thigh and I heard the word 'Darling' escape his lips did I snap. My head shot up and I looked over at him, shooting daggers in his direction. I hissed under my breath,

"Corio, do you think I'm stupid? I know what you want "Darling, " I let the darling roll off my tongue sarcastically and mockingly. "and it's not me. You're not sly Snow, I know you're flirting with me and I suggest you scurry along here before I put in a bad word to my father about how this boy in my class can't seem to leave me alone in peace to do my school work. Are we clear?"

Coriolanus took a step back, his mouth agape from the shock of what was just said to him. He took a sharp inhale before a smirk spread on his face, similar to the one he had the first day he sat next to Sejanus and I. There was a plan behind that smile I just knew it.

"That is where you're wrong I'm afraid. I love your feist though Ms. Plinth, simply another challenge, and don't forget, Snow always lands on top."

His body glided so elegantly through the air as he stood up from his seat next to me, placed his hands on my shoulders, and leaned down to look over my shoulder, leaning down so close I could feel his breath against my neck. If my heart was beating any faster it might have turned into an engine an raced out of my chest.

"By the way Y/N... the answer is 3 not 67, I can't even process how you'd make that kind of mistake but if you ever need help with math, let me know. I'm sure you would've gotten it right if you were listening."

He whispered in my ear before standing up and leaving the room. The whole interaction caused a shiver to go down my spine in shock before the anger came rushing back into my veins. Who does this man think he is? And what a cringy tag line, "Snow always lands on top"? please. We will just have to see about that one.

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satureja13 · 3 months

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A happy Lunar New Year! It's the year of the Dragon! 🐉 I wish to you happiness, good health, luck and prosperity! The Year of The Wood Dragon starts from 10th February 2024 to 28 January 2025. The Dragon is known for wisdom, honesty, and kindness — bringing cheerfulness and new opportunities.

The show must go on and the Boys took a day off to celebrate.

It's really a day to celebrate since it's the first time they all eat together! 🍜 (Vlad only found out recently that he can eat food instead of plasma fruit.)

No, Little Goat - Year of the Dragon. The Year of the Goat is 2027 🐐

Vlad and Saiwa have such a great friendship. They did this by themselves :3

Our new Profile Pic

They were all having a hard time today since noting is solved between them...

Sai is still mad at Jeb for urging him into a fake relationship with Kiyoshi. And so so so embarrassed! And poor Jeb is so afraid Sai will break up with him again. He doesn't know what to do.

And Jack and Kiyoshi are having a hard time too since Jack broke up with Kiyoshi and Kiyoshi is fully back from the Tree and they know the truth now...

I have no idea what's wrong with Ji Ho, they had such a fun evening in the hot tub. I guess he feels bad for his friends.

Haha oh my, this lot really has some problems. They never went to where I asked them to when we shot the photos. As if there were invisible obstacles around. And here they don't even stand opposite of each other while giving high-five... And everytime I touched something in build mode, some of them jumped up from where they were sitting ^^'

Poor Saiwa, nothing is easy in this world either... But they are all stuck here now and have to find a way which they can walk together - somehow.

(Awesome dragon deco is from My Wedding Stories Pack)

Take life one day at a time That's what a wise man said to me. He said, "Life, in all it's complexity Is the ultimate test for you and me."

When you walk holding your head up high For the masters watching you from the sky I know not what trouble lies ahead Before you fight, use your head.

It's time to leave my nest where you were born This journey you must make alone. (Spread your wings and fly) There's a power deep inside you, an inner strength You'll find in time of need. (The Glow)

Like the seasons, love will come and go If it's right, you'll automatically know. The world of mystery exists only in your head. When you become one with yourself The wall will fall

The journey now before you is the final test You've learned your lesson well. (I can teach you no more) There's a power deep inside you, an inner strength You'll find in time of need. (The Glow)

You are the Last Dragon You posess the power of the Glow

Theme from one of my fovourite movies of all time: The Last Dragon 🐉

From the Beginning ~ Underwater Love ~ Latest 🛺 'Home happy Home' from the beginning ▶️ here 📚 Previous Chapters: Chapters: 1-6 ~ 7-12 ~ 13-16 ~ 17-22 ~ 23-28

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shadyauthor · 1 year

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Nah bc yall are CRAZY where did yall come from!??!? I woke up to 100 likes and like a bunch of reposts!! Thank yall sm 😭 now here's the full chapter you guys probably want

Strings of their hearts💕 FULL chapter 1

You bursted from your dream, flying up to sit up in your bed. Cold sweat practically dripping from your face. It was that dream again.. you couldn't stand that dream, the uncanny silence always followed by you falling to the ground and wondering what was happening, or what happened really. You never fully understood why you started having that reoccurring dream, you never did anything in the waking world to even cause the dream. You didn't watch horror movies alot, and you haven't been to a forest since you were a pre-teen. Even then, your memories about that summer were blurry and you couldn't remember what happened.

Looking to your nightstand you read your clock "5:00 AM" You sighed, 'time to get up' . You and your friend group had an entire weekend planned out, you all had been planning this for a few weeks, you all would take 3 of your vacation days off of work and go do fun stuff. Fun stuff as in go out on the town for 2 days and regret it all on the third and go back to work on the 4th, today you all were gonna go shopping, you all had very decent jobs so it wasn't very hard to save up alot of spending money.

So not wanting to be late you got up and trudged to your bathroom, flicking the light on you slightly jolted at your appearance 'damn I look like shit man..' you sighed, your hair an absolute mess and your shirt had a wet spot of drool on the collar. Getting ready was the easiest part of most of your days, as you usually knew exactly what was going to happen in the day, so you knew how to dress. But as this days only objective was to "go shopping" it was to vague to know exactly how to dress, but going casual should be good enough. Getting in and out of the shower was a simple task other than the undying fear that you'll slip and break your neck.

You dried your hair with a towel, you wouldn't brush it till you went downstairs. Throwing on your grey button up and torn jeans you shut the lights off and headed downstairs to do your hair and eat breakfast "alexa play don't worry be happy" you stated nonchalantly, it was your favorite song to play in the mornings to calm the nerves.

Humming along to the song, you shuffled to the kitchen in your socks. 'Hmm cereal or eggs...cereal...or....nah cereals easier' you moved over to the cabinets, opening them and pulling out the generic unhealthy colorful marshmallow cereal. You only had a few dishes in your kitchen as you lived alone, unlike your friends who had spouses and kids already. You preferred to live alone, it was more peaceful this way, you had less to worry about. Though you didn't hate the idea of a family, you just didn't really have time to go on dates, you hadn't even had a vacation since you first got your new job. Shaking your head you brought your thoughts back to the task at hand : 'find a bowl and spoon and eat already dude!'

As soon as you got your bowl of cereal ready you moved to your large living room, with black leather couches and dark rugs that complemented the rest of your homes dark pallette. You turned your large mounted TV on and immediately changed it to cartoons, not really wanting to bother watching the News, you already knew the world was going to shit you didn't need another reminder while you where trying to eat your color bombed cereal.

You sighed in content when you settled on spongebob, the joyful sponge making you forget about it all. You finished eating and reached to your brush that was laying on the couch from the previous day of you being to tired to put it up, sighing you brush through all the tangles of your messy hair and half styling it, as in you just brushed your bangs out of your eyes and called it a day.

You pulled your phone from your jeans right pocket, seeing it was already "7:45 AM" you smiled, it was time to go pick up some of your friends!

You got in your car, it was the biggest out of your friends, the most seats and room. So it was the favorite of the group, in total your friend group would be riding in two cars, to make it easier to go from place to place. In your car, you had : Mark, Jamie, Clara, Anita, and Fry. You were close friends with Clara, Anita, and Fry, Mark and Jamie being mutual friends you met through the group. Your friend Claire was driving the second car, in their car they had: Gary, Moose, and Wendy.

You and Wendy used to date, you remember. But you both knew it would've never worked out, neither of you could imagine a future with eachother, but you two were still very good friends. You were the ring carrier at her wedding, she had a very kind wife, always smiling and always caring for others.

Smiling you drove the half hour to pick your first friends up, Mark and Fry. They lived next to eachother, everyone in the group knew they had it bad for eachother but themselves, you shook your head, they were so oblivious to eachother. You tried turning your radio on, but to your dismay, all that played was static. You tried connecting it to the Bluetooth but that wouldn't work either 'Huh...weird, might have to take it to the shop already.' You slightly grumbled, you really didn't want to take it to the shop. You had just gotten this car barely a year back, it was only a few years old itself, it really shouldn't be having problems yet.

It was 8:20, you were daydreaming and drumming on the steerwheel to a made up tune in your head, waiting for your friends to come out already. Smiling as soon as you saw you blonde haired friend Mark, he was always worried about being late to things, he was generally anxious alot either way, but being late was like life or death for him. "Hey buddy! Ready for the day?" He said with his raspy voice, he was the eldest of the group and used to be a singer until his last show that ended in an accident that costed him his voice. It took him years to be able to talk again, the entirety of those years you and your friends worried for him so badly. He fell into a deep state of depression, his deepest passion was gone forever, and he could do nothing about it.

"Course I am bud, how about you? You ready to tell Fry how much you love him?" You smirked, looking at the rear view mirror to look at him. He burst into a fit of embarrassment "Don't say that! He could be here any minute!!" He whisper yelled at you, looking around like Fry would appear out of thin air at any moment. "Fine fine..you gotta tell him at some point Mark." You said, smiling at him after finally turning your head to fully look at him "he's on his way out right now, he just texted me" He nodded, scooting to the seat behind the driver's.

You two only had to wait a minute before Fry was clumsily running out the door, struggling to pull on his coat and walking at the same time. His long red hair falling all over the place, coffee in hand, he really looked like a disaster waiting to happen today. He scooted into the middle back seat next to Mark, already red and embarrassed for how foolish he must've looked.

As soon as they both buckled in, you pulled out immediately. You had to pick up Jamie, Clara, and Anita next, which is absolutely god sent because they were siblings and still lived in the same house.

Arriving at the mall wasn't the easiest thing in the world, no matter how simple it seemed, you and your friends argued for half an hour over which mall to go to and whether to stop for food first or not. In the end, you got some quick fast food and ate on the way to the south mall center and waited in the car till both parties were done eating.

You were already tired, you could feel a headache starting to pull at your head and you wanted to be done and go home already. Your entire body was tired and you couldn't understand why you were so exhausted already, at this point if they just left you in the car to sleep you'd be fine with it.

The triplets were sitting in the back row of seats in your car, all rough housing and making the car shake, fighting over food. You shook your head, you would've said it was to early for this already but it really wasn't with how long they took to pick up. "YOOO WHAT ARE YOU TEXTING YOUR BOYFRIEND???? THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE?" Jamie practically screamed, they really had no sense of an inside voice, and it didn't change that you all were in a car. "NO DUDE SHUT THE FUCK UP YOUR HURTING MY EARS" Clara shoved Jamies face away from her phone, she was always on it, it was like her prop that was glued to her hand. "Was that a rat in the parking lot just now?? Oh nah you aren't getting me out of this car now." Anita, the quietest of the trio, but also the most clean freak of the entire group. She was a neutral hard to hate person, because she was just calm, unless you were dirty then may God have mercy on you.

"Guys, we were supposed to be in the store YESTERDAY. Jesus fuckin' christ man" you passive aggressively told them

You had already been to countless stores, its been hours and if you were exhausted before? Your starting to lay down in the grave now. And the worst part was that they hadn't let you go to a single store you liked yet, and you knew for a fact that you, Fry, Jamie and Moose, wanted to go to the same type of store.

Finally...FINALLY, one of the three spoke up and said they were going to one of the game stores. And just as you guessed it, not only yourself tagged along, the other two did as well. As you and your group walked to the exit, where the game store was at, you all decided it was gonna be the last store you visit for the day as it was already getting dark and the store was closing already.

As you guys all separated inside the large gaming store, filled with anything and everything possibly related to game stuff, from game boards to games to decoration. You knew it would be the shortest trip in the entire store as everything was overly priced and the majority of everyone has spent the most of their money for the day.

Sighing you looked through the games, new, old, demos, it was crazy! They had everything in here. Choosing a few random titles that looked fun and interesting you were nearing the end of the aisle, all the digital games being located in the back corner of the store, it was creepy and poorly lit strangely but to you it was magical. The closer you got to the end of the aisle the more uneasy you felt, the more dirty the floor got and dusty the shelves became. It felt like you were being watched despite no one being near where you were, so finally just speedwalking to the end instead of taking your time and becoming more creeped out.

Then. Something caught your eye, shiny, very shiny. Somehow shining through the cobwebs and dust thats built up over clearly a very very long time, you used one of the cases to wipe it off and looked at it... 'weird...I didn't know they sold dating sims..they really do sell everything I guess' you hummed while looking it over. The characters looked silly and colorful, though it was clearly worn as the colors were fading, the title in jumbled colorful letters spelling "Strings of their hearts" with little glittery hearts surrounding it, those must've been the things that caught your eye. To say you were intrigued would be a bit of an understatement, you slipped it between your other cases of games, not wanting to be teased for getting it.

Dropping your friends off was the most relieving part of your day, as you dropped the triplets off it felt like a pressure had been taken off of your head.

Driving to Mark and Frys residence was the second to last thing left to do today, you looked in your rear view mirror to watch as they both smiled and giggled while talking to eachother, you smiled, they were so happy together and the day they finally tell eachother about their feelings they will be even happier. It is almost a toothrotting sweet thought, you slowed your car into a stop at the curb near their home, you let a breath of relief out as their neighborhood was hard to locate in the dark, even with your headlights on.

It was 10:55 and you still had time to pick fast food up on the way home, you waved to your to friends and your smile widened as you saw they were holding hands as they walked eachother home.

Okay nevermind, the trip to your local Wendy's was already proving to be even more stressful than your mall trip, the lady in front of you yelling at the cashier over a coupon that had been expired for atleast a year. You decided to just walk out and go through the drive thru instead, it was quiet and more peaceful, though the line was long and you were fourth in line you decided to make yourself less bored by trying to see if your radio was still broken, turning it on and turning to a random station that would play at late hours you waited..all that came out was static but you felt like you should wait longer, and then you heard it

... A garbled sound of someone trying to talk through multiple different voices and sounds, you immediately got freaked out and shut it off, 'if Satan wants to take my soul he can do it later when I'm not in a Wendy's drive thru..talk about embarrassing'

After getting your food and it already being 11:40 you were semi-speeding home, you already didn't like being out this late no matter how much it looked so beautiful. You would keep remembering your dream, as the moon hung overhead, and it didn't help that your neighborhood with very large gaps between houses was filled with trees, it was like a forest. You hated it. It made you feel sick and like you didn't belong there.

Stepping on the gas and slowing down as soon as you got home, you grabbed your paper bag of food and plastic bag filled with games and stuffed animals among other things and raced into your home, not bothering to lock the car until you locked your own houses door. If anyone..anything..was out there it couldn't get you in the safety of your home..right? You didn't spend an arm an a leg getting the best security system in the country for nothing.

You ate your food on the couch while watching more cartoons, but something wouldn't stop biting at your brain. That game, it was dusty, old, and was extremely underpriced, so much so that the employees were slightly agitated on how little you spent at their store. You looked at the bag, and jolted as the case was slightly falling out of the bag, 'weird..I thought it was buried in there??' You were slightly unnerved, but having nothing to do, and not being tired enough to sleep, combined with having finished you food..

You turned the TV off, taking the case and the bag upstairs to your room, throwing the bag to the bed as soon as you entered into your room, locking your door you turned to your PC. You didn't know if it was a download code game or a disk, but it did say it was a PC game, so putting the case on the desk and sitting down while your monitor and pc booted up, you read the back.

"Wow! Thank you so much for getting the game! Your just the most aren't you?

Well, welcome to the neighborhood neighbor! Its so nice to have a new face around here, and a very good looking one at that! And say..I think a few of your new neighbors think that too! Find out who likes you and what happens! You have two months to get a date! Have fun!" With a crayon designed smiley face under it. Though it was weird that they knew you bought the game, maybe it was just an oversight? You turned the case back around, looking at the characters again. They were colorful and some of them were attractive to you but then again you were attracted to the weirdest things, but one of them stood out to you, the yellow skinned puppet with blue styled up hair. He looked like your opposite, calm, charming, he actually had his hair styled unlike you...you started laughing at yourself, of course you would degrade yourself and compare yourself to a Muppet lookalike, it was a very you thing to do.

Shaking your head you opened the case, unlike the outside the inside was black. That was extremely weird for a game case, like..really really weird but you shook it off and popped the disc into the slot on your PC.

The game immediately started booting up, and very catchy music that your positive would be stuck in your head started to play, the screen fading from white to a colorful scene of all the characters on a picnic blanket looking at you, as if inviting you to sit down and join them. So joyful, you already loved it, it seemed you were gonna become obsessed with yet another game again

And this...was going to be a long night.

HOOO BOY THAT TOOK ME AN ENTIRE TO DAY TO WRITE OUT. I'm EXTREMELY sorry that its kinda short, as I've said before I'm very sucky at writing, BUT I'm determined to see this out through the end. My thoughts tend to drift alot and overdetail pointless things like the side characters though they won't really contribute to the story much

SO IM SORRY 😭😭

Im working on the date outfits as I write this, and they are literally turning out better than my writing itself, so you guys will probably enjoy those more than the fic. As I'm going to be making short comics to go with these!

Anyways see you next chapter!

#wally darling x reader #fanfiction #julie joyful x reader #sally starlet x reader #welcome home x reader #welcome home au #welcome home fanfic #welcome home #heart strings💕 au

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parkkiablah · 6 months

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Teasing game - pt. 2 (Zevlor x Tav)

part 1 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7

The next time you met Zevlor was when you were just buying food for the day.

You were on your way to the merchants, still thinking about what kind of food you were craving. It really shouldn't be a tough decision to just figure out what you wanted to eat, but honestly it felt too easy, too much like a normal life to you.

Your mind was still stuck on trying to survive a war against the Absolute and deciding what to eat was never part of your thoughts back then. It felt like such a luxury problem to you now.

Your mind cleared when you saw Zevlor standing at one of the merchant stands, picking up vegetables.

A smile instantly found its way on your lips when you saw him and you found yourself walking over to him already.

I linked my arm with his, which startled him slightly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.", you said laughing. He smiled at you as soon as he realized it's you.

"You didn't scare me, I was just surprised. It's good to see you." His gaze fell onto your arm linked with his, but he didn't comment on it. "I guess you are here to buy food, too?"

"Yea, even though I can't really decide on what I want to eat. It really shouldn't be such a tough choice.", you said while you casually gazed around the vegetables the merchant offered. All of them looked fresh and probably tasted just as good as they looked but still your stomach didn't seem to show any interest in them.

"If you don't mind me offering, you are welcome to join me. I am not the best cook, but eating in company is always better than eating alone.", he stated and you couldn't help but be caught off guard by his offer. He was still looking at the vegetables in front of you, which you read as him not seeing it as a big deal, while he was actually just to nervous you might say no, that he couldn't look you in the eyes.

"Sure, I would love to.", you responded once you got over the surprise.

You still had your arm linked with his, which you claimed to be a brave move of yours, when actually he had just startled you with a simple invitation for lunch.

When you arrived at his home you weren't suprised to see it very clean and organized, yet it seemed to hold a certain warmth that made you feel welcomed.

"Do you want to drink something?", he asked after he had put his bag down. When you said yes he took two cups out of the cupboard.

"Water or wine?"

"Water. It's only noon.", you responded laughing.

"Fine, we will save the wine for later.", he laughed and handed you the cup with water.

You blinked a few times taking in what he just said.

"Can I help you with the food?"

"Feel free to just take a seat and relax, it's noting too complicated.", he said as he started cutting some of the food and preparing it.

You did sit down for a few minutes but you were too curious to what he was doing, still looking for inspiration for the next time you couldn't decide what to make.

You walked up behind him, putting your chin on his shoulder to look over it.

He turned his head to the side to look at you and you noticed how close his face was to yours.

"What are you making?", you asked him. It made you nervous how close he was but you weren't gonna back down now.

His eyes stayed on you, locked with your eyes but you noticed how his gaze was falling to your lips for a moment.

"Just a dish, that I learned how to make while traveling. You'll see.", he stated while turning his attention back on the food.

"Are you on the menu, too?", you asked.

He immediately stopped and looked back at you. He seriously didn't trust his ears today.

"Uh-.. what?"

You smiled at him sweetly like your simple question didn't just make his heart stutter and took a step back.

"You heard me."

He paused for a moment, trying his best to remain calm on the outside and find a fitting answer.

"I'm not so easy to chew." He quickly avoided your gaze.

He was in disbelieve, you can't seriously be flirting with him. You are the most beautiful, smart and brave person he knew, so why would you be flirting with him? You obviously had a dozen better options than him.

"What a pity..", you said and leaned against the door frame still watching him.

"Seriously feel free to just sit down and relax, the food will be ready in a few minutes anyway."

"But I enjoy watching you.", you stated.

He laughed to hide how nervous he felt.

Just as he calmed his heart you got him flustered again and he was as thankful as he could be for his skintone perfectly hiding his blush. What was he supposed to do? He tried to focus on the dish he was making while he could feel your gaze on him. You were gonna be the death of him for sure.

"Do you ever knock something over with your tail by accident?", you asked noticing the movement of it while he was leaning over to pick up some of the ingredients.

"It honestly happens more than I would like to confess.", he sounded amused by your questions but he would probably be just as curious. "It usually happens when I trip over something and use it to catch balance."

He looked over his shoulder at you and noticed your eyes taking in his form. If it were for any other person looking at him like that he would have been uncomfortable. It's probably because he saw the genuine curiosity in your eyes and the fact that he knew you wouldn't judge him for anything. Thats something he adored about you. No matter what he did, you were always certain he had a good heart and it showed in the way you treated him.

He noticed your eyes finding his again and you smiled at him.

"Any more questions?", he asked amused.

"Not for now.", you answered.

A few minutes later you were sitting in front of him at the table with the food in front of you. It smelled amazing and you couldn't wait to try it.

"I hope you like it.", he said when you shoved the first bit of it in your mouth.

It seriously was the best meal you've had in a while. Probably the best you ever had, to be honest.

"Didn't you say you aren't a good cook?", you asked in disbelieve.

He nodded.

"Liar."

"Excuse me?"

"This is amazing. Do you seriously think you're not good at cooking?" You couldn't believe it.

He laughed quietly while looking down. You weren't going to get tired of hearing his laugh ever.

"Thank you. I rarely got the chance to cook for anyone else but me, so I'm very glad you like it."

"No, thank you for inviting me." You reached over to his hand and gently held it.

He looked up at you at the sudden touch.

"Anytime. It's much better to eat in good company."

"Very true."

(I just can't stop writing about Zevlor, there aren't enough stories about him fr 😭

I hope you enjoyed the new part! 🧡)

#bg3 #bg3 tav #bg3 zevlor #zevlor #zevlor x tav #zevlor x reader

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raccoonsrummagerostrum · 1 year

Text

Yautja x preschool teacher reader

Yautja x GN! Preschool teacher reader

Word count: 521

Warnings: children, drama

Summary: being a preschool teacher has us ups and downs, but thankfully your lover is waiting for you at home ready to hear all about your day

A/N: this was an idea from a friend. I thought it was cute so here you go. @spacialshrimp

The yautja don't have a concept of work the way oomans do. So it took a lot to explain. School hours are from 8am to 3pm, but you have to be there by 7am, drop off starts at 7:30. And even though pick up starts at 3 it goes until 5, and even still there's this one parent who despite being told repeatedly that pick up ends at 5 and that you and the other teachers need to go home they keep showing up late, up to an hour late sometimes. Your lover finally put a hand on your shoulder, politely calming your rage induced ramblings.

The biggest thing that they didn't understand was child rearing. In yautja culture it is common for mothers to live in groups with each other, either in villages or on clan ships where they would raise the sucklings together. Caring for, feeding, and looking after each other's children. So when explaining that you and two other teachers were responsible for one classroom that made perfect sense, but you lost them entirely when you told them that none of the children are yours and more, the children all go home with their own family's at the end of the day.

Eventually they come to accept your strange earth ways. They even find it quite endearing that you so dutifully care for the little creatures. Everyday they look forward to hearing about them. Some days you have nothing but good to say about the kids. You'll come home with drawings, crafts, and other trinkets that your kids have given you. Other days you have nothing but complaints. You try not to complain about the kids, and usually you don't need to, they're just kids trying to figure out how to be a person for the first time ever. No, your complaints are usually about the adults.

If your job was just getting to play with kids, even with all the mess and smells that entailed then your job would be perfect. But there is so much more to it than that. You have to keep your boss happy, which is never easy given the mounting demands that she places on you. Some, not all, but some of your coworkers are the most catty, backstabbing, manipulative people you've ever met and it's a wonder they're even allowed around other people let alone kids. And the parents. Oh the parents. They're demanding, entitled, selfish, shortsighted, ignorant. Not all the parents there are few who remind you of why you do this job. But you have to desperately cling onto them like a life preserver in order to keep you going.

However you come home after work, whether it's glowing from all the cute things your kids did today, or fuming at the abuse you had to endure from the other adults, your lover knows how stressful your job is and makes sure to take care of you with a warm mug of your favorite cozy drink and some comfy cuddles. Allowing you to turn your brain off and just relax in the company of someone who loves you.

#fanfic #yautja #writing #x reader #gn!reader #predator alien #yautja x human #yautja x reader #domestic #domestic fluff

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forgottenfourr · 10 months

Text

i saw you in a dream - university smau

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chapter nine - gone.

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warnings: angst (sorry not sorry), dissociation

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word count: 1.1k

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a/n: second written part of this series! i’m definitely not as confident with my writing when it comes to written parts so i hope i am able to portray somewhat of what yn is thinking and feeling. i know i said slight angst for this smau but i will feeling a bit silly i guess.

- x four! <3

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yn's pov:

it finally happened. the thing you've feared since the start of all this. for the first time in months, you didn't dream. you didn't dream of him. you didn't dream of the place. the place you once felt as if you could call home.

instead of the comfort and safety that usually filled every inch inside you as you finally drifted asleep, you were met with darkness. an empty shallow cavern where your happiness once was. you felt engulfed, suffocated with hopelessness and loss. there was nothing there. no trace of what once was.

---------------

you woke up in a panicked cold sweat, feeling distant from yourself. like you were watching yourself in 3rd person. nothing felt real and you didn't want it to be real.

you kept hastily closing your eyes. trying to force yourself to sleep. hoping, begging that you'll find yourself in another dream, being greeted with the blonde's kind smile.

but it never happened. each vast attempt met with nothing but disappointment. you found yourself staring at the ceiling. too confused to cry but too sad to try and reason with yourself. to figure out why it had suddenly stopped. you continue to just lay there lost. minutes feeling like hours and the world around you growing more stale and cold by the second.

heartbroken. it was the only way you could describe what you felt. the last thing you had in your life that you felt was actually yours. that belonged to you. was gone. the boy you had spent months with had disappeared. the small things about him you grew fond of and the things you did together were now just a mere memory.

it was pathetic, really. the fact that you are so destroyed over the loss of something that wasn't even real. even though it felt so real to you. it wasn't. it was all made up and you were stupid for getting attached to the dreams in the first place. deep down you always knew that they were going to stop one day. you just didn't want to believe it. nor did you think that day would come so soon.

7 months. the dreams went on for 7 months and it wasn't nearly enough time. you still had so much left you wanted to do. so many things you still wanted to say. to experience. to feel.

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before you knew it, the sun had risen and your day was meant to begin. you only had one class today but you couldn't do it. you couldn't force yourself to get out of bed let alone sit through an hour and a half long lecture. so you continued to just lay there. wallowing in your pain and sorrow.

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seungmin was the first to notice your absence in the spared apartment space this morning. how it was 10am and you had yet to leave your bedroom. it was unusual for you.

"hey gyu?" seungmin calls out to his other roommate.

beomgyu gives a stretched-out hum in response.

"have you seen yn today? their class starts in 30 minutes and i don't think i've seen them yet." the worrying tone in seungmin's voice making beomgyu more aware of the situation.

"uh, no i don't think so. maybe they just slipped out while we were both in our rooms." beomgyu replies, trying his best to reason for your vacancy.

seungmin shakes his head. "no that's not like them," he replies sternly as he gets up and makes his way to your bedroom door, cracking it open slowly.

it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the stark contrast of the darkness in your room to the light filling the rest of the apartment. but after a few blinks, he can clearly see your figure on your bed. your blanket wrapped tightly around you as you sit there staring at something in the distance.

"yn?" seungmin asks softly.

your eyes dart to him almost immediately, seemingly snapping you out of a trance you yourself didn't even know you were in.

you clear your coarse throat, "yeah minnie?" the pain and exhaustion are clearly evident in your tone, striking seungmin in the heart.

"are you okay? your class starts in less than 30 minutes," he asks carefully, almost too quiet for you to hear. he knew it was a stupid question, you obviously weren't okay. but in that moment, he didn't know what else to say.

you can feel your lip quiver at his simple question. you rarely cried but with seungmin and beomgyu? you crumbled almost immediately at their worried questions.

just as you were choking down your tears in order to answer, beomgyu appears at your door, taking a place next to seungmin.

"you can talk to us you know," beomgyu says warmly, "we might not say it much but we love you and we're here for you."

you felt the seal crack as warm tears began to stream down your face. a choked sob leaving your mouth soon after.

without another moment, both boys run to your side and embrace you. giving you the warmth and comfort you so desperately craved and needed at the moment.

you stayed wrapped in their arms for a long time, and neither complained. each of you needing this moment in one way or another.

it was a still and quiet morning. seungmin and beomgyu both opted to skip their classes as well, neither of them leaving your side as the hours went on. you cherish moments like these, where you realize just how loved you are. how lucky you are to call these people your friends. how willing they were to drop everything to be with you, even if they didn't know what was wrong.

you couldn't find the strength in yourself to tell them. you couldn't bare the embarrassment it would bring. and they didn't force it out of you either. they knew that if you wanted to talk about whatever was causing this pain, you would do it on your own time. all they cared about was being there for you.

it had only been a couple of hours later when jisung, minho, and soul had picked up on the fact that something was wrong and were at your doorstep, and even in the silence, you knew you were safe and loved.

yet still you yearned for the dreams, for the boy. that you knew you would feel for a long time. you had too many questions that you needed answers to. even if you weren't exactly sure how to find said answers, you needed them.

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prazinos · 1 year

Text

Metal in Pink

Summary ~ Eddie has been dating you for nearly 4 months and finally has a chance to see your room. Just to find out you're a metalhead?

WARNINGS ~ None! Purely fluff!

Word Count ~ 1.8k

You and Eddie were what everybody saw as polar opposites.

Eddie was metal chains, leather or denim jackets, band t-shirts galore.

You were pretty pink skirts, ribbons in hair, glittery nail polish.

How were you two attracted to each other?

Nobody in Hawkins knew, not even your friends understood it.

But you loved Eddie and Eddie loved you. Eddie would look at you like you painted the stars, you would look at Eddie like he was the only guy in the world.

And yet, Eddie had never been to your house. Why? Your parents.

Your parents were stuck up, rich, and downright assholes. Eddie hated them, your parents thankfully hadn't wanted to meet Eddie. Always too busy with business.

But having strict stuck up parents also meant you rarely had friends over. Let alone boys. The only boy that was allowed in your house was Steve Harrington.

Oh how your parents swooned, he was everything they could have asked for and more. But you and Steve were just friends, best friends.

But finally, finally Eddie could come over and spend the night. Your parents were in New York trying to land a business deal. Leaving the house to you for an entire week!

Steve, Rob, Nancy and the kids were coming tomorrow but tonight you had invited Eddie over, and he was going to stay the entire week.

It was finally 7pm, Eddie had sweaty palms, what if somebody tells your parents some homeless guy was scoping out their house?

He shook the idea from his thoughts and pulled out the key you had given him at Family Video today.

He stared at the key for what felt like hours, before shoving it in the keyhole and opening your door.

As he walked in, his breath was snatched from his lungs. A giant chandelier hung from the ceiling as two staircases on the left and right lead to a large upstairs area. In between the room seemed to go further and expand into a dining room.

Jesus Christ. You were filthy rich. You were so humble? Eddie thought you may have been Steve Harrington rich. But you were clearly much wealthier.

Old money, he remembers you saying once.

Eddie had one time asked what your parents did for a living. You had just shrugged your shoulders saying 'I dunno, some wine business?'

Eddie remembered what you had said, up the stairs, second door on the right.

As he turned the knob to step into your bedroom he could have sworn that he walked into your brothers room. But you didn't mention a brother?

The walls and ceilings were nearly fully covered in band posters, metal band posters.

Dio, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Motley Crue.

He nearly left in hopes of finding you in a different room, before you walked out from your bathroom in silky pink pjs drying your hair with a towel.

'Oh! Ed's you're here!' you said running over to him. You kissed Eddie before stepping back your arms reaching out, gesturing to your room.

'Sweetheart, this is your room?'

'Yeah? Why? Is it ugly or something?' you asked, completely oblivious.

'No no, not at all. It's just-you're so pink and pretty-'

'-well my beds pink'

'-and the fact you have all these metal posters? It's just surprising. Hot but surprising' Eddie said kicking off his boots.

You smiled up at him gesturing to your metallica poster

'You know, when I first saw you, I thought you looked like Kirk Hammett' you giggled

Eddie barked out a laugh before kissing you again.

'Wait how come I haven't seen you listen to any of these guys?' Eddie asks

'Eddie I listen to them all the time. I listen to the mixtape you made me 24/7' you said lightly punching his shoulder.

'Right' Eddie said, still shocked about this entire ordeal. 'How do you get the posters? What about your parents?' he continues.

'You'll see how I get them, and they never come into my room' you said shrugging.

It was only now Eddie realised why you and Steve got along so well. Your guys' parents didn't even care about their kids enough to get to know them. It's like they had you just so they could have their money go somewhere when they died.

'Anyway, let's order pizza, i'm starving' you said exiting your room.

Eddie got changed into just some plaid pyjamas. Admiring your room one more time.

As Eddie walked into your living room he stared at the massive couch against the wall. Massive TV, had to be 45 inches at least.

He sat down on the couch and thought he nearly fell through it. It was so plush. You giggled when you walked into the room, seeing Eddie pushing his hand into the seat of the lounge.

You headed over to the TV, popping in the movie you had picked out for tonight.

'What's this?' Eddie asks, putting an arm around you as you snuggle in next to him.

'Smokey and The Bandit'

'What's it about?' he prods

'Just watch the movie Eddie' you say playfully.

About 20 minutes into the movie the doorbell rang, you got up as Eddie was too invested in the movie.

You opened the door to a guy that honestly looked like a douchebag, clearly only getting a job because his parents forced him to. He looked you up and down smirking slightly.

'Your pizza pretty lady' he said 'charmingly'

'Thanks' you say taking the pizza and garlic bread, giving him the 20 and 10 dollar bill.

'Hey uh, you eating this alone? I could eat it with you, show you a nice time' he said leaning against the door frame.

You furrowed your brows about to say no before you saw Eddie come from your peripheral.

'Nah, she's good man. Doubt you'd last more than thirty seconds anyway' Eddie said taking the pizza and garlic bread from you.

The douchebag looked terrified and then mad, and before he could say much else you slammed the door in his face.

You giggled as you practically ran back into the living room, Eddie going to grab some pepsi and beer from your fridge.

He expected you to already be eating by the time he got back but you were just staring at the open pizza box sitting on the couch.

'I've never eaten in my living room before' you whispered.

Eddie laughed before grabbing a piece and prodding it at your lips that were currently in a pout. Your pout turned into a smile as you took a bite.

Eddie carried you to bed that night, smiling as he stared up at your bedroom ceiling. He couldn't sleep at first. Not liking the different surrounding. Whenever you stayed at the trailer he was fine, he knew he could protect you, but here in this rich neighbourhood he didn't know what rich people were capable of, if anything. But your light snores had him drifting to sleep, arms around you protectively.

You woke up the next morning groaning as the insistent sound of the doorbell filled your ears.

'Dustin' Eddie groaned, shoving his face into the crook of your neck.

'Maybe he's like a crying baby, he'll tire himself out?' you asked.

You felt Eddie's chest vibrate with his laugh, lifting his head only enough so you see the chocolate eyes you love so much.

Your door flung open, followed by a scream that could have quite literally only come from Dustin.

You looked over at him as he kept screaming 'YOU GUYS ARE NAKED, YOU GUYS HAD SEX, EW EW EW!'

You rolled your eyes, before Eddie just yelled 'We didn't having sex! Jesus Christ Dustin'.

You flung the doona cover from your body's revealing that Eddie was merely shirtless and you had your silk pjs on.

Dustin sighed in relief before mentioning the entire gang was in your living room.

'Leftover garlic bread in the fridge!' you yelled out to Dustin as he turned away to go downstairs.

You sat up, looking down at Eddie, admiring his slightly toned torso, tattoos covering him in different places.

'Take a picture, it'll last longer' He said, moving the arm covering his eyes.

You giggled, kissing him before getting up and going downstairs.

Steve handed you a cup of coffee, and you smiled tiredly in gratitude. You sat next to Robin on the island (on, not just one of the stools). And leaned against her as you watched Dustin challenge Mike in an arm wrestle.

Eddie came down not much later and you enjoyed the chaos that had entered your home.

Will asking about Eddie's tattoos, piercings.

You, Steve, and Robin talking about Steve's latest failed date.

'She just had no sense of humour' Steve complained.

'Maybe it's not the girls, maybe it's you' Robin shrugged. King Steve looked at her as if she killed his first born.

'Get a piercing Harrington, girls love piercings' Eddie said as he stuck out his tongue, showing off his own. Steve looked like he was actually considering it and Robin just started going 'ew ew ew'.

'Oh shit, here Y/N, we snagged some more magazines for your room' Steve said, handing you a handful of magazines.

Eddie's head turned to you as you flipped through the magazines, looking at the posters you would be able to take out and stick on your ceiling and walls.

And of course Eddie had to have his input on the posters, to which you rolled your eyes at half the time.

And then Will came over to you, looking all shy.

'What's up bud?' You asked, genuinely concerned.

Will handed you a rolled up A3 size piece of paper. Not saying a word as he looked to the floor, his hands fidgety.

You put down your coffee cup and unrolled the paper, to see that Will had drawn a Corroded Coffin poster, Eddie front and centre on his signature guitar. There were lightening strikes and fire, Eddie's eyes being red instead of brown.

You audibly gasped as Steve Robin and Eddie all just gaped at the drawing.

'Oh Will! It's wonderful! Thank you so much' you said setting the poster aside to give him a hug. Will just smiled bashfully at you.

'Yeah little man, this is some real talent you got. When we make it big you'll be designing all the album covers' Eddie said ruffling Wills hair.

'Really?' Will asked with wide eyes.

''course bud' Eddie said taking a sip of his own coffee.

Eddie thought he knew everything about you, clearly he still has a lot to learn, and boy is he excited.

HI BOZOS

so i got covid, and um it's not fun but whatevs anyway, hoped ya'll like this, it was stuck in my head for like days.

BYE BOZOS !!! <3

#eddie the freak munson #eddie x fem!reader #eddie munson #eddie x you #eddie x y/n #eddie x reader #stranger things #stranger things au #eddie x metal!reader #Eddie x pink!reader #polar opposites #the party #corroded coffin

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quaranmine · 1 year

Text

The Incandescence of a Dying Light (Chapter One)

It's 1988. Grian and Mumbo are roommates living in the US. Mumbo leaves on a solo camping trip at Grian's suggestion to get away from his job for a while. But when he fails to check in at the end of his trip, Grian is forced to report him as a missing person. And now the clock is ticking.

It's 1989. Grian takes a job in Shoshone National Forest as a fire lookout, prepared to spend the summer alone in the wilderness. But his primary goal isn't finding forest fires: it's finding Mumbo, who went missing in this location a year ago, alive and well. He expects to be alone. What Grian doesn't expect is having the company of the other nearby lookout, a man named Scar. Their relationship grows through their conversations held via two-way radio, as Grian finally begins to let Scar into the truth about why he's really here and mystery he's unraveling.

A Hermitcraft Firewatch AU.

Chapter One: 7,162 words

Masterpost | Chapter Two >>

Welcome to the Firewatch AU! It's okay if you've never played the game, since the plot of this story is different than in the game. If you have played the game, you'll notice some similarities, especially in the setting. If you plan to play the game, this fic will not spoil it. I just really really like fire lookouts :]

Content warnings will be added per chapter as needed. I've done a lot of research on this topic so some there will also be some notes on a reblog. This fic will be Grian and Scar centric, but it's also very much about Mumbo as well. There will also be the inclusion of art with the chapters.

May 31, 1988

Grian remembers it because it’s 7:30 PM on a Tuesday evening, and he’s sitting at his desk in front of the window trying to catch the early evening slanted sunbeams on his sketchbook. The light is golden on the page and his hand casts a shadow on his work.

That’s when Mumbo crashes through the front door–quite literally, too. The door swings shut with a bang. It’s a heavy door prone to closing on its own.

Without looking up, Grian calls out, “Remember not to slam it! Mrs. Grant complained last week, you know.”

“Right! Right, sorry!”

“Bad commute?” Grian asks.

He hears Mumbo drop his bag in the corner with a sigh, and the sound of him flopping down on the couch. Grian turns around to look at him sympathetically. Mumbo has dramatically put his palms over his eyes, slowly dragging them down his face.

“Ugh,” he groans. “It was the worst. Someone wrecked on 25.”

“That sucks.”

“Oh, shut up,” Mumbo says. “How long have you been sitting here? All day?”

“Nuh-uh, I had a meeting today with Mr. Perry.”

“Did that go well?”

“Yeah,” Grian says, lying through his teeth. But only just a little.

Mumbo hops up off the couch and walks over to Grian’s desk. “Is that what you’re drawing now?” he asks. He picks up the sketchbook.

“Yes,” Grian says sagely. “I have many ideas.”

Mumbo squints at the page. “You’ve only got a tree, Grian.”

“Hey!” Grian says, snatching his sketchbook back. “Look around! There’s plenty of trees out here! Well, maybe not on this street specifically, but give me like 20 minutes and I’ll drive you to a big forest.”

“Oof. Make it an hour. The traffic’s awful today, I told you.”

Grian and Mumbo stare at the tree drawing for a few seconds. “Is it at least a nice tree?” Grian asks.

“You’re supposed to be drawing houses, mate,” Mumbo says, amused. “Your meeting went terribly, didn’t it?”

“I have absolutely nothing,” Grian says. “Zilch! Zip! Nada! Empty brain. I can tell you there will be at least one tree next to his house, though.”

“Imagine that,” Mumbo says. “Million dollar house on a mountainside. One tree guaranteed.”

It’s Grian’s turn to use the shut up line. “Shut up,” he says.

There’s something ticking in Mumbo’s brain, and Grian can tell. He looks past Grian through the window with the streaming gold light, out at the mountains in the not-so-far distance. And Grian remembers it, even when he doesn’t want to.

“We should go camping,” Mumbo says. “Get out of the city for a few days. See some trees with no houses next to them. Get away from all that highway traffic.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice,” Grian says. “This weekend? Do you want me to call and see if I can reserve a spot in the national park? Or a little more west and hit a national forest?”

Mumbo screws up his face a little at that. “Let’s go a bit further this time,” he suggests. “Do several days instead of just a weekend. We could even leave the state. Go someplace we haven’t already been a million times. Maybe even a little more remote.”

“When?” Grian asks.

“Is next week too soon? I could just take off midweek and we could go drive somewhere. Please? Think of all those early summer wildflowers up in the mountains.”

“Dude, I can’t take off mid-week,” Grian says sharply, suddenly feeling very frustrated. “You know that. I need to be finishing these designs! You gotta give me more notice than this, Mumbo.”

“Right,” is all Mumbo says, and he looks so tragic that Grian already feels bad for snapping at him.

“Is it that bad at work?” he asks.

Mumbo looks away, past Grian back back out into the mountains in the distance. “I just don’t know if I can take another week,” he admits. “I need to take some time off. And hey, maybe he’ll even fire me this time for giving him only a week’s notice that I’m taking vacation time!”

“You need that job for your visa,” Grian points out softly.

Mumbo rolls his eyes. “Fine, I’ll try to keep my job I guess. No trying to get fired. I’m still taking that time off though.”

“He wouldn’t fire you anyway,” Grian says. “You’re much too useful.”

That causes Mumbo to crack a little, and he starts to smile again. “Yeah, mate, that place’ll burn down without me. If I leave for a week they’ll be begging me to come back and fix everything that went wrong.”

“If anything, that’ll just ensure your job security!” Grian says. “Hey, maybe you could just go without me. I’d love to go, I really would, but I can’t lose this deal with Mr. Perry. I’m the project leader this time and he’ll likely drop the whole project if I don't so much as answer the phone on the first ring…”

“Rich people,” Mumbo says with a nod.

“Ugh, yes, rich people,” Grian says, and throws his head down on his desk for dramatic measure.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Mumbo says. He thinks for a moment. Grian lifts his head and watches the way contemplation flashes across Mumbo’s face.

“Dude, just go by yourself,” Grian urges. “I can’t stand to watch you drive yourself insane another week. You’ve done it before, right? And why don’t you bring the bike? That way you can do all those difficult trails you’re always trying to drag me down without worrying about me wrecking it.”

“Should I?”

“Yeah,” Grian says, and he remembers this too, for as long as he lives, “I bet it’ll be fun."

»»———-　　———-««

June 16, 1988

Grian is bouncing his leg, trying to bleed off nervous energy with every shake. He’s bouncing his leg because at least his leg is hidden under the table he’s sitting at, whereas the pen he’d been tapping earlier was about to have resulted in an annoyed client and lost job.

The table is large, and oval. He’s in some weird conference room-home office place in Mr. Perry’s gigantic house, discussing the floor plan for yet another gigantic house Mr. Perry wants to build. Mr. Perry, of course, hates half of the floor plan Grian has proposed.

Grian hasn’t quite figured out why Mr. Perry needs two gigantic houses, but it really isn’t his business considering he’s being paid. And he’s being paid very well for this. It’s probably the best job he’s landed since he started and he’s grateful his boss let him take this client, annoying as he is. This newest house would be within walking distance of a ski lift though, and this house isn’t, so Grian can at least see the value there.

He bounces his leg. He tries to count how many times he bounces it in a minute, only to find that he can’t really keep up with the passage of time, number of bounces, and the bouncing itself all at the same time. He loses track instantly. But if he can just get through this meeting, then he can make an excuse to go home. Only 4,000 leg bounces until he’s passed enough time to leave. He’ll be out of this stuffy room like a bullet.

He’s thinking so hard about leaving this meeting and going home that he forgets that he has to actually be in the meeting first.

“Excuse me?” Mr. Perry says sharply. “Did you hear any of what I just said to you?”

“Hm?” Grian says back, before suddenly being slammed back into reality. “Oh, apologies sir. Can you repeat that, please? I must have been a little distracted.” He gives a wan smile.

Mr. Perry gives him a long look. “I was saying that I don’t think I like the placement of this room.” He jabs a finger at the blueprints. “I mean, who needs a parlor these days, let alone a second parlor? I want to change it.”

Grian squints at the room in question. “I think we could open it up to the kitchen and living room,” he offers. “Open concept and all that. There’s a lovely view to be had that’s being blocked by the walls right now.”

“Let’s make it a pool room,” Mr. Perry says.

“Uh, a pool room sir? On the second floor?”

“Not an entire pool, that’s nonsense,” he says. “Just a large indoor hot tub. It’ll be cold out when I’m visiting this house.”

“I…I think I can do something like that, sir,” Grian responds. “We’ll just ensure that the engineers clear it for the amount of water weight it would put on the floor and add extra support if needed.”

“Can there be some windows or screens in the room?”

“You mean on the inside wall?”

“Yeah. So I could see the hot tub from the living room if I wanted.”

“Um, sure. We can do that.”

He sneaks a glance at his watch. Only 35 minutes to go now.

He just…doesn’t want to think about it. He just needs to leave. He’ll get home, make the phone call, and it will be okay and he’ll feel silly. But every second he’s stuck in this godforsaken massive house is just another second he has to spend knowing that he’s delaying something very, very important.

If he thinks about it, he’s going to spiral, so instead he keeps trying to channel every bit of the nervous energy into his right foot.

“Grian,” Mr. Perry says, and Grian snaps his head back up from the blueprints, a little surprised that the man has used his first name.

“Yes?”

“Would you like to leave early?” Mr. Perry asks. “Since you clearly have somewhere else you want to be.”

Grian freezes. “My apologies sir, I’m not trying to make you feel rushed in this process. It’s very important to me that you feel like everything in your future home is exactly how you want it, no matter how many tries it takes for us to get to the perfect result.”

“I don’t appreciate it when my employees lie to me, you know,” Mr. Perry says. “Save the corporate spiel for later. You’re making me exhausted just looking at you. I think if you bounce that leg any faster it’ll fly off.”

“Oh,” Grian says with a hint of a nervous chuckle. “Suppose that’s true.”

“You can go home now,” Mr. Perry says. “You’re not paying attention anyway. Just get me some new ideas for that hot tub room and we’ll reconvene on Monday.”

“Yes sir, thank you so much,” Grian blurts, and grabs his papers off the desk, and tries to walk out of the door at a normal speed instead of sprinting.

»»———-　　———-««

He arrives home a little after 3:30 pm, tossing his bag and papers haphazardly on the couch as soon as he runs in. The door accidentally slams again, but he doesn’t really care what Mrs. Grant thinks today. His goal is the phone on the table by the kitchen; even all the way across the room he can see the message light blinking on the answering machine next to it.

He pulls the phone off its rack and presses to listen to the message on the tape. It plays, and…he sets the receiver back down.

It’s just his landlord, calling to say that he won’t be around to fix the door for another few days.

Grian paces once around the living room, then twice.

He pauses in front of the window. It’s clear and sunny out, with very little smog on the horizon. The mountains are in clear view.

Grian returns to the phone, and dials 411. Directory assistance. He’s not quite sure the number he needs to call for this, and his local phone books are of no use for out of state numbers. An operator picks up.

“Hello? Yes, I’d like to place a call to the Shoshone National Forest Ranger Station. Location? Uh, I think it’s in Cody, Wyoming. Yes, thank you.”

A minute or two later with the correct number for the office scribbled on a notepad, Grian is patched through. A young woman answers the phone.

“Good afternoon, how may I help you?” she asks.

“Erm, hi,” Grian says. “I’m calling because I’m worried about my friend. He was in the National Forest and he’s missed his check-in.”

“How long has it been since he missed his check-in window?”

“Several hours at least,” Grian answers. “He told me it might be late, or really really early, so I was expecting a call last night or this morning. But I didn’t receive one. I left for work early, thought maybe he’d taken a bit more time than he told me, but it just nagged at me. It was supposed to be hours ago. When I came home just now there’s no message on the answering machine.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that, darling,” the ranger says. “Can you please give me some information about him? Full name, age, appearance, vehicle, license plate if you know it, and the trails or locations he told you he would be hiking in? We can pass that information on and begin a search.”

A knot in Grian’s throat forms at the word search. “Of course,” he replies.

He rattles off the information as she asks for it, from Mumbo’s somewhat rickety AWD sedan that he was always convinced he could drag down any road he wanted, to his dark hair and mustache. He gives her Mumbo’s full real name, and feels a little silly when he includes the nickname right along with it, but he figures Mumbo might appreciate it. He tells her the trails Mumbo had mentioned doing, and how many days he planned to spend hiking.

“He brought his mountain bike too,” he says. “I don’t know if he took it with him on any overnight hikes but he had a setup for that, where he could strap his pack to the bike.”

“Thank you,” the ranger says. “Being on a bike could extend the range he could be in, but it could also limit which trails he could be on due to terrain. Here, I’m going to patch you into the local Sheriff’s office to make a report too, is that okay? I’ll call some of the field offices and get some rangers on this. We’ll start by checking for his car at the trailheads.”

“Thank you,” Grian says.

He calls the Sheriff’s office and makes a report. He tells them much of the same information he told the ranger, and the second time repeating it only makes it seem more macabre. He answers all the questions to the best of his ability. Yes, Mumbo was an experienced hiker. No, he was not having a personal crisis, just wanted a few days off work to unwind.

And then he sits and waits. The whole process had only taken a little over an hour.

He paces some more for a while. He goes to the kitchen to get some water, drinks that, and finds it only killed a couple minutes, so he goes and paces some more. He stares out the window for a while again. Then, he organizes some of the papers he hastily threw down when he got home, because it’s still probably not a good idea to risk losing or bending any of Mr. Perry’s documents.

He gets another call around 8 pm.

“We found his car,” the ranger says. “It's still at the trailhead.”

“So he never made it back to his car last night.” So he’s not just a spoon who forgot to find a payphone and give his friend a call.

“I’m afraid not.”

“So…so what now?” Grian asks.

“We’ll start sending some rangers and volunteers down the trail to look for him, in case he’s hung up somewhere and needs a little help. His bike wasn’t in his vehicle, so he must have had that with him.”

“Thank you,” he says. “Please keep me updated.”

That night, Grian doesn’t sleep, and the next morning Grian doesn’t go into work. He’s already driving northwest.

»»———-　　———-««

May 1989

11 Months Later

He’s grateful when he finally rolls up to the trailhead after being jerked around on the rocky, uneven road for the last 19 miles. He’s the only one in the small lot, which is less of a parking area and more of a clearing at the terminal point of the road.

He lays his head back on the headrest for a moment just to rest, eyes closed, and sighs. The sun through the windshield is warm on his forehead, but the day outside is pleasantly cool with the bite of winter still on the wind. There’ll still be snow on the mountaintops for a while yet.

It’s noon. He spent the night in Cody, in an old motel but different room and left in the morning with his whole life packed in a bag. He has a long hike ahead of him this afternoon, and he won’t get there tonight. But he might as well start.

Grian gets out of the car and inspects it. It’s a 1978 Chevy Blazer he picked up two weeks ago when he realized he was going to need a 4x4 to even make it to the trailhead and traded in his old sedan. Its red and white paint is covered completely in a coat of dust and topped off with several mud splashes from snow meltwater on the road.

Fortunately, nothing rattled off the vehicle during its inaugural off-road journey, so Grian is just left to hope it still has air in its tires the next time he hikes back out. And that might not be for a while, so he’s stocked it with a spare and patch kit. He has an elementary knowledge of how to fix a tire but he figures the motivation of being stranded 19 miles back on this empty road will breed enough desperate ingenuity to fix any problems he encounters.

Grian grabs his pack from the backseat, and starts down the trail.

Grian loses himself for a while during the hike. It’s easy to do that–to just walk and turn your brain off completely. One foot in front of the other over and over. The motions over and over tune the rest of Grian’s brain into a nice numbness. He listens to his boots crunch gravel and dry leaves. He looks at how the sun dapples the trail.

He hikes onward.

The forest is loud in a way the city isn’t. It’s not the type of loudness that announces itself, but the longer Grian hikes onward and alone the more its presence makes itself known. It’s like Grian’s brain is getting rid of the noise that’s filled it for so long and allowing him to really listen to the sounds of life.

The wind whistles through the trees, shaking the pine needles. It doesn’t blow on Grian; the taller trees around him shield him from the gusts. He hears the light gurgle of a creek well before he comes down a hill to cross it, and when he approaches it a frog leaps away from the bank.

At one point, Grian’s dragged out of his silent contemplation by the commotion of rattling leaves in the undergrowth next to him. It spikes his heart rate and he freezes in place, until a medium sized brown spotted bird explodes out of a bush at the side of the trail and flies away, low to the ground.

He smiles a little to himself. Just a bird, startled by a person. He is trespassing, in a way, it seems, to intrude his presence upon such a wild area. This is the bird’s home, not his. He’s just being offered a place in it to protect it.

He hikes onward as the sun dips lower in the sky.

»»———-　　———-««

June 17, 1988

Grian arrives at the Forest Service office in Cody, Wyoming at half past ten in the morning. The sky is blazing blue and cloudless, but there’s haze on the horizon.

He stumbles into the office, brushes a piece of greasy hair that’s fallen on his forehead back up, and tells a slightly-startled looking lady at the front desk: “I’m here to join a volunteer search. My friend’s missing.”

She looks him up and down with a critical, yet sympathetic eye. “What’s your name, sir?” she asks, in a way that suggests she might already know.

“Grian.”

“Grian, where did you drive in from?”

Grian stares at her. “Denver. Why?”

“Denver’s eight hours away,” she says. “Isn’t it?”

“I don’t see why that’s relevant.”

She sighs, and gives him a look. A pitying one that he hates. “Darling, how much sleep did ya get? It’s not even noon yet.”

Grian huffs. “I don’t know. An hour or two. I’m fine!” He looks at her pleadingly. “Please, just let me know where I can go to help out.”

She just shakes her head, and picks up the phone on her desk. Grian watches her dial it, and hopes for a second she’s calling another ranger to come escort him or something, but that hope is crushed the moment she speaks again.

“Hello?” she asks on the line, and waits while the other person answers. “Yes, I was wondering if you had a room available. You do? Good. I’m going to send someone over your way. Yeah, I’m doing good, how are you? Glad to hear it. Thanks, darling. Yeah, he’ll be coming in a bit.”

She hangs up and scribbles something on a notebook, before tearing out the page and handing it to Grian. It’s got a short list of directions. Down the road two miles, turn right on the second road after the bridge.

“It’s a nice little motel not too far from here,” she says. “They’ll give you a room and you can get some rest.”

Grian shoves the paper back across the desk at her. “No. Tell me what I can do to join the search for my friend, please.”

She smiles saccharine-sweet and hands the paper back to him again. “Take it. I don’t want to see you back here for at least another few hours. In fact, I won’t give you any information unless you come back in a few hours. Get some sleep, you stayed up all night and just drove eight hours straight. You’ll be much better equipped to help out if you aren’t too tired to hike.”

Grian feels frustration well up in his chest, consuming the ball of anxiety in his chest. It threatens to break him too, so he looks away from the ranger and at the floor instead, though. Finally he speaks again. “My friend,” he whispers. “Will he be okay?”

The woman answers, “All our rangers are trained in search and rescue. They’re professionals. This is what they do, Grian, and they’re good at it. They’ll do everything in their power to find him.”

Grian nods tightly.

“Now get some sleep, darling.”

»»———-　　———-««

May 1989

It’s night when Grian arrives at the tower, on his second day of hiking. He’s been backpacking many times before, but the rough terrain on this hike was still a surprise. It’s difficult to scale rocky hills with a bulky pack, and his shoulders are sore and his walking is slower now–so it’s night by the time Grian arrives at the place that’s going to be his home through October.

It’s a wooden tower built on a hill. A staircase winds itself around, leading to the top where there’s a single room surrounded by boarded up windows. Nearby on the ground is an outhouse, small storage shed, a generator, a water tap, and nothing else.

Well, at least he’ll have electricity. He’ll have water too, but it seems like he’ll have to haul it. He knows from his lookout orientation a few days ago that there’s a water tank with rainwater catchment and filters, but there’s no way to pump it 30 feet to the top of the tower.

Grian turns on the generator, and heads up the steps with the single-minded determination of an exhausted man who knows there’s a bed waiting for him. When he arrives at the top he throws on the lights, tosses his pack down, and surveys the place.

He was expecting it to be pretty dusty and ill-maintained, but it seems pretty clean. There’s bedding folded up neatly on the mattress–Grian had been expecting to just use his sleeping bag. It looks like someone had been sent to the tower recently to clean and stock it in preparation for his arrival, which he appreciates.

He’s not really sure the level of effort it takes to maintain this place out here in the wilderness, and his mind goes down a brief rabbit hole. How was all this wood hauled out here? What about the nails, the rivets, the glass, the tanks? Was it hauled up on the same trail he just spent a day and half walking down? They must have used horses to carry materials but someone still had to assemble all this. He has a lot of respect for that.

Grian is just starting to lay out the bedding when something over on the table begins to crackle. He walks over to inspect it. It’s a small black handheld radio sitting on a charging stand. He was told he’d have one of these.

It’s not set on the frequency he was told to keep it at, but before he's able to tune it to the correct one, it crackles to life anyway.

“Two Forks, Two Forks come in! This is KSNF, broadcasting to you live from Thorofare. Your host on this fine spring evening is-”

Grian picks up the radio. “Hello?”

“-none other than Scar.”

Grian sighs. Of course, this is a two-way radio. He can’t respond until the other person on the line has stopped talking. He waits as the so-called Scar keeps going. It occurs to him that he might be trapped out here all summer with this guy.

“He’s brilliant, he’s handsome, and he’s calling you dear listeners, hoping to hear your thoughts. What ails you tonight? What are your hopes, dreams, loves, losses? Or perhaps, what is your name, Two Forks?”

Grian, sensing the pause, jumps in. “Um, hi,” he says. “This is Grian. The new lookout at Two Forks. And you must be…Scar, I presume?”

“Grian!” the radio chatters. “What an interesting name. Yes, I’m Scar. I’ll be your supervisor this summer, ‘cause I’m so good at this. I’m also practically your next door neighbor.”

Grian looks out the window, but it’s dark and the windows just reflect himself. He looks away. “Uh, yeah. How did you even know when I got here? Where are you?”

“I saw your lights flick on,” Scar replies. “Been keeping an eye out for when you’d arrive. Go outside, you’ll see my lookout to the north.”

Grian steps outside, feeling the chill in his bones again. Once he stopped hiking and rested for a few minutes, the warmth from the movement wore off and he’s reminded again how cold spring nights in the mountains are. Sure enough, out in the distance, snuggled amongst the dark peaks, is a tiny orange light.

“Oh,” he says. “There you are. I see your light too.”

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Scar says. “We’re the only lights out here tonight. Nothing else for miles around. Not even a campfire–well, of course not, ‘cause those are banned right now. Please report any of those you see.”

“I’ll be sure to do that,” Grian says. “That is the job, is it not?”

“Oh, we've got a smart one,” Scar replies, and it’s a sentence that would probably sound acerbic in anyone else’s mouth, but Grian detects no sharpness in the words. Just friendliness.

There’s an awkward few moments on the radio, before Grian speaks again. “Okay, erm, I’m gonna call it a night, then. See you in the morning.”

“Goodnight!” Scar calls, and then, “Wait, wait, don’t go yet. Your radio, um, write down the frequency band we’re on right now. Keep that.”

“Um, okay,” Grian says. “It’s different from the one I was told in orientation.”

“Yeah, we’ll use that one too. That’s the one you need to report on. This one’s just for us. You don’t want the whole Forest Service to hear us chatting all the time, do you?”

Great. This guy wants to chat with Grian.

“I guess not,” he says finally, not untruthfully. He doesn’t really want anyone to overhear him talking, because he doesn’t really feel like talking to anyone in the first place. Half the point of taking this job was the distinct lack of human contact in every possible aspect, after all.

“Good! Anyway, talk to you tomorrow, um….Grian. Your name was Grian.”

“Yeah. It is.”

“Goodnight, sleep tight, don’t let the mosquitoes bite, Grian!”

He flicks the switch on the radio to the off position before Scar can say anything else, and runs a hand tiredly through his hair. This might be a long summer, and he cannot allow this guy to distract him from the other half of the reason he took this job:

He’s here to save Mumbo.

»»———-　　———-««

“Two Forks! Two Forks come in!”

Grian wakes up to the tinny sound of his radio across the room, and streaming golden sunlight over his face. But mostly the radio.

“Oh wonderful lookout of the tower over yonder, wake up! It’s a beautiful afternoon today, the sun is shining, and I can let you sleep no longer! Alas, our duty calls. Two Forks, answer your radio.”

Grian rolls over and puts a pillow on his head. Scar continues.

“Perhaps this is like a fairytale,” Scar muses. “Are you sleeping beauty, locked away in your tower, desperately waiting for true love’s kiss? Well, I can hardly speak for your true love, so you’ll have to settle and wake for me instead. Do you like Disney, Two Forks? What’s your favorite movie?”

Grian kicks his blanket onto the floor and slides unceremoniously out of bed. He sways for a moment. His legs aren’t really sure they’re ready to support him today, not after all the mountain climbing he did the other day. Then he strides resolutely to the other side of the room, picks up the radio, and turns the switch off.

Ah, peace.

Grian wanders over and sits on the bed for another few minutes, letting his mind spin out and gain traction again. He takes his glasses out of their case beside the bed and puts them on. The sun is bright and high in the sky, so it’s not early. It casts the room in a nice light, and Grian takes his first opportunity to look over his new home. It’s painted an old and slightly chipped white, with little posters and photos pinned to open spaces on the walls. The room is mostly filled by its spacious windows. They frame every side of every wall, almost as if Grian is living in a glass house.

The view is, of course, spectacular.

The mountains are both jagged in some places and rounded in others. He can see hills upon hills for miles, wrinkling out into the horizon like a piece of crumpled paper. There’s pockets of meadow and open woodland that contrast with thicker pine forests, creating a patchwork. The hillsides are painted in different greens–an aspen grove there, fir here, golden spring grass, or the bright spring flowers he can see coloring patches of the meadow. The sky is a blazing blue, and there is no haze on the horizon.

It would be spectacular, wouldn’t it? Something so beautiful would have to be so cruel. Grian is already familiar with these views in the way of someone scorned. He’s been here before, and this time he isn’t leaving without dragging the secrets from the darkest valleys.

Grian stands up again, a little more clear headed, and heads to the stove. It’s propane powered, and he’s grateful it exists at all. He takes out a small metal pot and, upon finding it dusty, casts it aside and pulls his own camp pot from his pack. He’ll wash things later. He pours some water in it, sets it to boil, and tries to figure out where he’s set his tea.

With a mug of tea in hand–tragically no milk and a supply of sugar he’s decided to use very, very sparingly–and the radio in his other hand, Grian steps out onto the wraparound walkway at the top of his tower. It makes for a nice deck.

Lazily, he flips the radio back on. “This is Two Forks,” he says smoothly. “I’m awake now, what do you need?”

“G-man!” Scar nearly shouts on the other end. “It’s great to hear your voice this afternoon.”

“Ugh, afternoon,” Grian groans. He checks his watch. “It’s what, 12:30? Lunchtime? Already?”

“You’ll be okay,” Scar says. “You’re not really officially on duty until tomorrow anyway. I always like to check on the new lookouts on the first day anyway, though. You doing good?”

“Fine.”

There’s a pause, like Scar was clearly waiting for more than that. Grian is giving him nothing. After a moment he gets the memo and proceeds.

“Good to know, good to know. So, G-man,” he starts. “You’re a lookout now. That means your only job, from now until October, is to keep an eye on this forest for any fires. If you see a fire, report it to me, or to the rangers on the official channel. I’m talking campfires, fireworks, lightning strikes, everything. You got that?”

“I believe I can handle it,” Grian says drily. “I’m pretty good at looking out windows.”

“Do you see the round thing on a table in the center of the room?” Scar asks. Grian does not, because Grian is outside on his deck, but he’s seen it before already and doesn’t feel like walking back inside to play along.. “That’s your Osborne Fire-Finder. I assume they taught you how to use that?”

“Yeah. Always keep it calibrated, locate the fire in the rotating sight, and use the tool’s measurements to determine its location and precise angle.”

“Wow, you’re going to put me out of a job!” Scar says, and somehow Grian just knows he’s genuinely beaming on the other end of the line.

“I can’t be in two lookouts at once, now can I?” Grian says, words sharp. It doesn’t phase Scar.

He continues. “The only other real thing is that you need to report daily first thing in the morning with the weather conditions at your tower. This helps us keep track of what the fire danger is on any given day or week, so I expect you to take that seriously. Additionally, you’ll be expected to keep logs of conditions in your area. Anything else, well, I’ll just help you with it if it comes up!”

“Cool.”

“Any questions, G-man?” Scar asks.

“Um, yeah,” Grian says. “Just one. Have you been calling me ‘G-man’?”

“Yep!”

“Alright, follow up question. Can you stop?”

“Nope!” Scar says brightly. “Every lookout needs a nickname, it’s only fun. I suppose if you had a nickname you’d rather be called though, I can consider it.”

“Uh, no,” Grian says. “I don’t have another nickname for you to use.”

“Aw, too bad. I guess it’ll just stay G-man, then.”

Grian is nearly overcome for a moment, and, despite the objectively peaceful surroundings, desires to tear his hair out. He does not. Instead he replies, in his most carefully snarky tone, “Fine. Is Scar your nickname, then? What’s your real name?”

“Grian!” Scar exclaims, in mock offense. “I’ll have you know that this is my legal name, thank you very much.”

“I have so many reasons to doubt that.”

“I would never lie to you, G-man.”

Grian rolls his eyes at that, but he can’t stop the corner of his mouth from turning up. He takes a sip of his tea. It’s nice in his hands, warm, and the smell alone is making him feel more at home. There’s silence on the radio for a long time, and Grian almost assumes that Scar has gone. He’s fine with that being the end of their discussion for the day.

Scar isn’t gone, though, and after a while the radio crackles again. “Say, G-man,” he starts. “Now that you’ve asked me your questions, mind if I ask one of my own? A little equivalent exchange, you know.”

“Go ahead.” Grian sips his drink.

“Where are you from?”

“Denver.” It’s not untrue.

“Um, I don’t mean to be rude,” Scar says tentatively, “but…where are you from before that?”

Grian sighs. “England.”

“I knew it!” Scar cries. “Uh, sorry. Didn’t mean to shout, there, my bad! It’s just interesting to me, that’s all! You’ve got such a lovely accent.”

“I guess,” Grian says. “You never met a British person before?”

“Oh, sure,” Scar says. “I’ve met several tourists from the UK. But between you and me, most people flyin’ across the ocean for a vacation tend to just stop at Yellowstone or Grand Teton instead of here. And the ones that do don’t stray too deep into the Forest.”

“Yeah, well, s’bit far back here. Took me two days to hike in and then I slept until noon afterwards.”

“Yeah, that hike tends to beat people up,” Scar says. “So. What on earth brings someone from England to Colorado to Wyoming?”

“Maybe I just like the mountains.”

“You don’t have mountains in England?” Scar gasps in horror. “Oh my goodness, that’s a tragedy. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.”

“No, it’s like, well–we do have mountains in England. It’s just, well, they aren’t exactly like this are they? It’s a different sort of landscape. And besides, the place I grew up in just had hills.”

“Oh,” Scar said. “You know, I’ve never been to England. Never really left the western half of this country, actually. Is it pretty there?”

Grian thinks back, to cobblestone streets in town and misty mornings. He thinks of the way everything was just drenched in vibrant green in the summers. He thinks of old churches with ivy on the walls and fields of grass hemmed in by stone fences.

“Yeah,” he says. “It’s pretty there.”

“Man,” Scar says. “I’ll have to go one of these days. I am wondering, though–it’s not, uh, very common to meet, um, someone from another country working this job. Since the Forest Service is a federal agency, you know.”

Grian scoffs. “Isn’t this line of question a little forward for a first introduction?” he asks. “Whatever. It’s not like they didn’t poke into my background enough during the hiring process. I have dual citizenship–free, clear, whatever you wanna call it, to work for the US government.”

“That’s so cool,” Scar says. “So does that mean you like, came here and applied for citizenship and got it or–or were you like born here, and then moved to England. Or, even, you got it through marriage? Are you married? Like how does this work?”

“I’m not going to tell you all the details of my life.”

“Oh. Sorry,” Scar says.

“It’s fine.”

“Hm,” Scar says. “You know, it’s interesting that I met you, almost like a coincidence, right? I remember hearing about another British guy in the park last summer–a tragedy, I tell you. I heard the rangers still haven’t–”

Grian’s blood instantly runs cold at the mention, and the warm mug in his hands isn’t doing enough to pull the heat back into his body. For a moment he wants to dash the mug onto the ground dozens of feet below, and cut his hands on the ceramic when he goes to pick up the shattered remains–leave no trace–on the forest floor, dripping blood onto the leaves.

He doesn’t do that. Instead, he flicks the radio off with shaking hands, cutting Scar off mid-sentence, and stalks back into the cabin.

»»———-　　———-««

Grian’s sitting on a rock next to a lake. The sun is slanted now, casting golden orange rays across the water. The air is crisp and, although Grian hasn’t touched it, he knows the water is cold. It’s snowmelt-fed, afterall.

He’d turned on his radio again an hour or two after he turned it off earlier, once he’d recovered enough to have a normal conversation. Scar had been worried, but he’d accepted Grian’s excuse that he’d left some water boiling on the stove and needed to attend to it immediately. He hadn’t known Grian long enough to see through his excuses yet, unlike Grian’s old supervisor.

Scar had been quiet the rest of the afternoon, though, as soon as Grian told him that he was going out to explore. Grian appreciates the peace.

He pulls a map out of his bag to study it. It’s not the map he was given of his lookout area when he started. No, this one is worn on the edges from countless foldings and unfoldings. It’s not so much a map as it is several maps–it’s several detailed topo maps taped together into a square.

In one map, the Two Forks lookout is circled in red marker. Grian did that a few weeks ago, when he’d learned which lookout he was assigned to. It’s a beacon on the page, his new base of operations for the next few months. And it couldn’t be in a better location.

The rest of the map is marked-up too. There’s highlighter along some trails, penciled in areas of interest, and shaded areas. They’re search areas. It’s not the first time Grian has been here.

He examines the maps, cross referencing his with the topo map he was given as a lookout. The Two Forks domain covers much of the locations that Mumbo’s search did last year, but more. There's still a lot of blank space on the maps, especially in areas that were inaccessible by trail. Just because it was off-trail doesn’t mean Mumbo never went there for some reason.

Grian takes a pencil out of his bag and begins to mark up the map once again. It’s something he’s done before, and there’s spots on the map where his eraser has rubbed off part of the ink. He pours over the contours, thinking, this valley has shelter from the wind, or there’s a source of water here.

When he’s finished he stares at the page for a long moment, and then back out at the lake in front of him. The shadows are even longer now. On the other side of the lake, the ground is cast in shadow already, with the sun disappearing early behind a mountain.

Did Mumbo enjoy these views, too? Was he here?

Grian would ask him when he found him.

Masterpost | Chapter Two >>

#hermitcraft #grian #mumbo jumbo #goodtimeswithscar #gtwscar #hermitcraft fanfic #hc_firewatch_au #quara fanfic

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lumine-no-hikari · 14 days

Text

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #118

I went to bed at roughly midnight last night!! Which is roughly an hour past 11pm, which is what's supposed to be my bedtime! But my alarm is set for 8am! Which means I should have gotten around 8 hours of sleep! 8 hours is sufficient!

…Unfortunately, I woke at around 7:30am of my own volition, and then I was not able to go back to sleep. But that's okay; I slept more than I have on recent nights, so I feel better than I did yesterday, for sure!

I made myself some tea. This morning, it was apricot-vanilla flavored black tea! I wonder if you would have liked this one; I'm more than a little sad about the fact that I'll likely never find out, ahahaha…

…But… well. There's not a damn thing I can do about that, other than take pictures and send them along, hoping that they'll reach you somehow… Here:

I had intended to go today to the post office to send the completed amethyst tree sphere to the other side of the planet, but as it turns out, shipping things that far is very expensive, goodness me! So I'm going to have to make more spheres and sell them first, so that I can save up! It shouldn't be too hard, except for the fact that I'm FAR more inclined to simply give them away. I'm no salesperson, and it feels nicer to just be able to hand someone some unexpectedly beautiful thing anyhow; you wouldn't BELIEVE how some people's faces light right up when hand them one of my weird little woven tree crafts! It's seriously the best thing, ahahaha~! 🥰

So, instead of going to the post office, J and I went on a pizza date. We went to our favorite spot! I got a tomato slice, a shrimp scampi slice, and a chicken and mushroom marsala slice, and these were ABSOLUTELY DELECTABLE, oh my goodness! J got a tomato slice and a slice of spinach pie. I took pictures:

Also, J specifically asked me to take a picture of his spinach pie slice from his perspective, just in case you might like it. Here:

…I am not the only one here who likes you and hopes to see you be safe and happy in the end. Even J would like to share a little bit of joy with you. There are lots of people who want to share a little bit of joy with you. You're not alone. Sephiroth, I promise you that you're not alone, no matter what your brain tries to tell you when it's being mean to you.

Speaking of sharing joy with you, I also went on a walk today, and I tried to make it a point to take some nice pictures for you. I hope you'll like them:

I also found a tiny salamander friend on my adventures! I found it trapped inside an abandoned cooler in the woods:

I really have no idea what a cooler is doing in the woods. But it looks REALLY REALLY OLD, good grief! It is NOT a good place for a salamander to live!

The little thing seemed to want to get under my sleeve for some reason, ahahaha~! But as adorable as it was, sadly, I had to disappoint the poor thing; I put it on the ground, underneath some fallen leaves. It'll be happier and safer there, for sure!

As I walked around, there was a pretty big hawk flitting from tree to tree. I followed it around for as long as I could, on a whim. But I wasn't able to get any pictures of it for you; its plumage made it blend too well with the surrounding trees. But, I've been seeing an unusually large number of birds-of-prey and crows ever since the eclipse; I wonder if it threw them all off somehow. In any case, hopefully I'll get you a nice picture of a hawk or something soon!

Anyway, as I imagine you can tell by looking, I ended up getting into weird positions on the ground to get some of these pictures, and I ended up with a deer tick on me as a result. I feel really silly about it; it wasn't the best idea for me to get careless like that, because ticks are a real problem in my world. Ticks are very tiny arachnids that burrow their heads into an animal's skin in order to feed on their blood. This wouldn't be a problem if ticks didn't carry all sorts of nasty diseases, but they do in my part of the world, and one of the scariest ones is Lyme Disease.

Lyme Disease is spread by a kind of bacteria that the ticks catch from feeding on small rodents. Left unchecked, these bacteria like to eat things such as nerves, joints, and myocardial tissue. Deer ticks are the only carrier of Lyme Disease where I live, so I guess I'm gonna hafta keep an eye on the bite and make sure it doesn't develop the bullseye rash that's characteristic of infection. I also put the tick in a little disposable plastic sandwich bag just in case I develop weird symptoms; it'll be good to have on hand just in case I need to get it tested for diseases.

It's all right though; the tick was on me for less than 24 hours, and it came out of my skin really easily - didn't even hurt! And I washed the bite as soon as the tick was removed. It didn't get an opportunity to feed on me yet, because it was removed too quickly. Chances of infection are very low, if not practically nonexistent. And even if I did get infected, we've got fancy medicines to clear it right up, no problem; everything will be okay! Don't worry your pretty little head about me, alright? I'll be fine! 😁💖

Oh! I also cooked some ground pork and beef, in preparation for making a recipe that some awesome person on the internet sent to me… gosh… a while ago now. I've been meaning to cook it up for a number of weeks, because it sounds ABSOLUTELY FREAKING DELECTABLE, but lately, I've been either too busy, too exhausted, or some weird combination of both. But I have all the ingredients on hand; it's just a matter of putting them together! I'm looking forward to it!! I can't wait to show it to you, because the person who shared it with me cares about you, too!

Anyhoot, it's getting late, and it's probably about time I went to bed. I've got a lot to do tomorrow, goodness me; therapy, and hangouts with my best friend B, and maybe cooking the thing if I still have energy leftover (I hope!). We'll see what happens!

Hey Sephiroth! Please remember to rest and to take delight in wholesome things and to treat yourself nice, okay? I dunno exactly what you're trying to do over at the Edge of Creation, but if you're gonna make it through all this okay in the end, you're gonna hafta make kind and loving choices, and to be able to do that reliably, you're gonna need all your strength. As far as I know, I can't zoop over there and give you a nutritious, wholesome meal and a nice cup of tea, because I am just a derpy autistic nerd who is totally devoid of reality-bending powers (much to my chagrin). So you gotta do it for yourself instead, okay? Promise me that you will, won't you?

And if you're having trouble, just pretend you're me for long enough to treat yourself in the same way that I would treat you. Or you can just make pretend like your self-destructive tendencies are dragons that need to be slain. That's how I've been dealing with mine, anyway, and it's objectively true that you're FAR better at slaying dragons than I could ever hope to be - I mean, c'mon, have you taken a look at me? I'm basically just a weird squiggly noodle. You can do better than I can at most anything - I promise.

I'll write again tomorrow. I love you. Stay safe out there.

Your friend, Lumine

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tic-toc-clock77 · 21 days

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My mom got diagnosed with bipolar recently and last night I went to stay with her. It was a very emotional night for me so you'll probably be seeing a lot of Dwellers content involving the mothers of the cast for a bit. Maternal angst, here we come. More of a personal explanation below

cws; neglect, drinking, abuse, abandonment

We talked about a lot of things; mostly about she had a lot of regrets in raising me how she did and it was the most lucidity she's ever had, that i've ever seen her have in all of my 16 years alive. Her impulses and her stunted mentality are still present but she seems better. I lost faith slowly in my mother since I could remember; she pushed me away, neglected me and I always felt alone in her home during the weeks. I lost all faith in my mother when I was 7, I held such incredible disdain that I still sometimes feel today.

My mother was never a "mother". For years, I was blamed for her messes, her problems and she always found ways to shit talk me to her friends. She abandoned me regularly for random men and even treated me as if I were coemption for the romantic/sexual affections of her adult lovers when I was 9 years old and had begun puberty. I nearly broke my arm once and had laughed at me while taking photos, she did the same when I'd fallen off my bike after she didn't allow me to wear the proper gear my dad bought me.

My mother never cleaned, meaning our house was a mess, our dishes weren't clean and she refused to clean them so I could eat, I ended up doing it myself or trying to learn to live with it. My mom would also waste money; she wouldn't by groceries or anything we actually needed. Instead she spent all our money on clothing and other expensive fashion things. There's a lot of other things too.

I held this disdain since age 7, I bottled everything up until 4 years later, at age 11 and on Christmas, my parents got into a huge argument and I decided I didn't want to go back and forth anymore, I wanted to live full time with my Dad. My dad left and told me to call him if he needed to pick me up. When I tried calling him, my Mom took my phone, threatening me not to leave but I left anyway, taking my phone back and abandoning her.

Now that time is passed and she seems better, I can't allow myself to forgive and forget these things, even now that she's on proper medication, I find it hard to trust her, I don't think I ever will.

I don't think I even love her at all, she's not my mother by anything but blood which makes it hard to write motherly characters like Connie Rogers.

I wish I knew what it was like to have a mother but I don't, I'll have to settle for writing a mother thats better than mine

#creepypasta #dwellers au #mother issues #bipolar #bipolar disorder #tw bipolar #mommy issues #abuse #tw abuse #tw drinking #connie creepypasta #connie rogers

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noshitbarnes · 1 year

Text

Better Now?: Chapter 7

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC

Summary: Sophia was 18 when Hydra kidnapped her, gave her abilities, and made her their new secret weapon. Now, flash-forward 9 years later and she’s living with the Avengers, trying to live with everything she did, and trust those she now calls teammates.

Warnings: language, pure fluff

Word Count: 3,423

Better Now? Masterlist

TWO DAYS LATER

Sophia had spent a few more days in the hospital like Bruce had wanted, when Helen told her that she was finally able to leave, ”You ready to go back to the compound?" While taking out her IV.

"Yeah, I'm getting stir crazy. Not that I'm gonna go out and do things," she watches Helen wrap up her hand and shrugs, "I just wanna be back in my room.”

Helen nods, ”Well, you'll be alone there for a while." Sophia raises an eyebrow and Helen continues, "Everyone has been on a last minute mission the past few days. They aren't due back until Friday.” Sophia nods, today was Wednesday, which meant she had a few days to adjust to the place again, alone.

**********

Sophia made her way back to the compound with Helen's help, once the woman made sure she remembered where everything was, she went back to the hospital. Sophia was left at the hangar, which was fine, she knew how to get to her room from there, it was just busier than she remembered. There were agents running everywhere, Quinjets coming and going, orders being given over the intercom; but then there was Sophia, sticking out like a sore thumb, standing there like an idiot. She awkwardly makes her way through the big double doors, down the long hall, and up the stairs to the living quarters, deciding all that commotion was a bit too much right now. She makes her way into the kitchen when she's greeted by FRIDAY, “Good afternoon Miss. Dreyer, how are you feeling today?”

She purses her lips, “Um, I'm alright, thanks.” She still felt weird talking to an AI.

"Good, I’ve been told to notify Mr. Stark once you were back in the compound. If you’re comfortable with that, miss.”

She nods, “Yeah, that’s fine.”

She walks to the fridge to look for something to eat when FRIDAY's voice comes back, "Mr. Stark is requesting for you to go down to his lab and have a chat with him.”

Sophia grabs a bag of red grapes that have Sam’s name on them, "I thought he wasn't here?" She stuffs a few in her mouth and shuts the fridge door.

“He’s not. He's going to call in 10 minutes. I can assist you if you want.”

“Um, alright. I guess I can try and find my way there." She raises an eyebrow, "Um, actually could you help me there too?”

"Of course.”

**********

After following FRIDAY's directions, Sophia found her way to Tony's lab, which wasn't that far from the R&D lab. It was much bigger than she expected, she wasn't sure what she expected to begin with. It was huge and had all kinds of robots, lasers, and some technology she didn’t even recognize, Tony's various Iron Man suits were lined up against one wall and his computer was on the opposite side. As she's admiring all of his armor in their respective cases, his computer starts to ring and FRIDAY answers it for her, "Nice to see you found your way," Tony's voice echoes around the room; Sophia makes her way toward the desk and sits down, "how are you feeling, kid?”

She smiles, “FRIDAY has been very helpful.” She pauses and shrugs a bit, “I’m alright, although, it’s uncharacteristically quiet without all of you here, outside of the hangar anyway."

Tony chuckles and he leans back in the chair he was in, "Does that mean you miss us?"

She scrunches up her nose, "I wouldn't go that far.”

He smirks, “Sorry that I didn't tell you we were leaving, it was sudden.”

"It's okay, I'm fine." She looks around the room a bit more, "I've never been in here before, it's nice." She smiles looking at Tony's armor, "I like your suits, nice to see you broaden your horizons from the red and gold.”

He rolls his eyes, "Do me a favor though?" She nods as he continues, "Don't touch anything. The last thing I need is you blowing something up while I'm not there so contain the damage.”

Sophia grins mischievously, "Well, see now I feel like I have to mess with something." She laughs and he narrows his eyes, "Don't worry so much, I'll behave! Scouts honor." She gives him a little salute and he laughs.

"We'll be back in a few days. I just wanted to make sure you made it back safe and were feeling alright." He takes a deep breath, "Keep in touch?”

She shifts in the chair and rolls her eyes, "I'll try.”

"I know Romanoff gave you a phone, use it.”

"Okay, you're not my Dad, Tony. I'll be fine!" She rolls her eyes at his overprotectiveness.

He grins wide, "Hey! You called me, Tony, finally!" He laughs and Sophia blushes slightly, "Anyway, I know you'll be okay," he glares in the direction behind his phone and then looks back to her, “and I wouldn't have to act like your father, if you weren't reckless.”

"What?" she wrinkles her brows together, “Since when?”

"Barnes told me you tried to kill him." He tries his best to suppress a smile, but it still showed.

"That wasn't recklessness, I got scared! He shouldn't have snuck up on me!" She crosses her arms and Tony shakes his head, "I really do feel bad about that, okay?” She felt like a kid getting scolded by their parent, it was extremely embarrassing. Especially since she knew the rest of the team could hear the conversation, she could hear their laughter. What was Tony gonna do next? Ground her? Take away her phone? She heavily sighs at her own thoughts.

"Don't, he's not mad," he shrugs, "he actually thought it was funny.”

She blushes down at the keyboard on the desk, "I didn't think so." She hears another voice in the background, but couldn't make out what they were saying.

”Alright! Hang on." He rolls his eyes and looks back to her, "These idiots keep bugging me." He stands up and starts walking, "I'm gonna have to go, hun. You gonna be good?”

She smiles and nods, "Yeah, I'll be fine. See you in a few days!” The computer goes black and she's left alone again and sighs, "What am I suppose to do until Friday?”

**********

FRIDAY EVENING

All Sophia had been doing for the past two days was stay in her room, read, and watch the occasional show on Netflix. It was actually really nice, she hadn’t wanted to do anything else anyway, she still felt a little drained from the surgery. Tony asked her to keep in touch, but she hadn't been and she knew she was going to pay for that when everyone got home. She just didn't know what to talk about with everyone yet or how to make small talk, so she just decided to be silent. Maybe after more time things would be better with talking to them. She was expecting them home any time now, so she shouldn’t have been so shocked when her door was burst open by Bucky and Sam. Sophia sits straight up in bed and instinctively throws out her right hand to put up a wall of ice, “What the fuck?!”

“Dude, that’s awesome!” Sam says admiring the ice wall in front of him, “You didn’t say she’d actually do something!” Turning to Bucky who's laughing next to him.

“She didn’t when I scared her last time, okay? Just had a glowing hand.” He chuckles and looks to Sophia, “She’s got good reflexes.”

She takes a deep breath, closes her hand, and the wall shatters while the rest of the team enters the room, “Welcome back, everyone,” she glares at Bucky and Sam, “thanks for the adrenaline rush, boys.”

“Why did you guys have to do that?” Natasha says also glaring at them.

“Hey!” Bucky says backing away and letting the team stand around Sophia's bed, “I wanted everyone else to endure what I did. Steve’s laughing too!” He points to Steve who was trying to hold back laughter, but failing miserably.

“I’m sorry Sophia, but it was kinda funny.” Steve says embarrassed.

She shakes her head at Steve's attempt to be polite, “It’s fine, I’m okay.”

After they all ask how she's feeling, they start to fill her in on things she missed out on while she was covering in the hospital. Wanda told her there was a new coffee place across the street that the three girls needed to go to, apparently the place had the best blueberry muffins and the cutest little coffee mugs. Sam said that there was this new comedy special on Netflix that Sophia needed to watch because he needed to prove to the rest of the team that it really was funny. Apparently, she was the only one who hadn’t seen it yet. Vision informed everyone that last week Tony had caused an explosion in his lab while trying to build a new, more advanced suit. No one was suppose to ask about it though, it was still a touchy subject. Everyone had some story to tell, a joke, or something— except Bucky. He was off to the back of the room leaning against the wall closest to the door, just listening. Natasha catches Sophia glance at him and walks over to where the soldier is standing, “Barnes, stop ignoring the girl. You’re gonna make her think you hate her.” He rolls his eyes at her, but doesn’t move.

Sophia watches the pair and he smiles sweetly toward her, making her blush, then looks back to Natasha, “You know I don’t hate her, Nat,” he glares down at the red head, “I’m just giving her space. You guys are crowding her.” Natasha rolls her eyes and then whispers something to him that makes him sigh heavily, “Alright.” They both walk back over and Natasha sends Sophia a wink, which makes her roll her eyes.

Bucky stands at the foot of Sophia's bed and she makes eye contact with him, “Um," he raises his eyebrows at her voice, “I never got the chance to apologize for trying to kill you the other day. I really am sorry.”

Everyone laughs and Bucky shakes his head, “It’s no big deal, Soph. Tony was right, I really did find it funny.”

“Oh, well alright then...” she trails off looking back at the book in her lap.

“Is it dinner time?” Sam asks from next to Sophia on her bed, he was laying on his back making himself at home, “This is comfy by the way.” He chuckles and sits up, “I’m hungry.”

Everyone nods in agreement, “Um, I already ate...” Sophia trails off and bites her lip, “Oh, that reminds me!“ She turns to Sam, “I owe you grapes okay, I’m sorry.”

He laughs, “It’s cool. No big deal.”

“You still wanna join us?” Bucky asks tilting his head and everyone looks to him bewildered, Natasha just smiles, “Um," he looks around noticing all the eyes on him, “it’s just, we haven’t seen you in a while, so I dunno…” he trails off and looks up at the ceiling.

Sophia looks at everyone else and then narrows her eyes at Natasha who just continues to smile, "Sure.”

**********

“I’ll get her back okay!” Bucky laughs while grabbing a box of noodles, “I said it was funny, but still," he playfully glares at Sophia, “I could’ve died!” He dramatically puts a hand to his chest.

“Oh whatever!” Sophia laughs grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and makes her way back to the sofa, “I’m not scared anyway. You seem quite harmless.”

“Yeah, what are you gonna do Barnes?" Sam says, "Fight her? Put fucking mentos in her soda? TP her bedroom? Your pranks suck.” He then rolls his eyes and takes a drink of his beer.

“Oh yeah?” He narrows his eyes at Sam, “What about the time we hung Natasha’s clothes on that electrical line!?”

Sam’s eyes widen and Bucky fell silent, as did everyone else, “Barnes, I hate you.”

They both slowly turn to look at Natasha who was calmly drinking a cup of coffee next to Sophia on the sofa. She smiles as she takes another sip, “So that was you boys?”

“Maybe.” They both say in unison.

Natasha looks at Sophia and then smirks a bit, “I knew it was you two, I’m not an idiot.” She smiles, “I’m over it though that was almost a year ago.” That didn’t seem to make them feel better though because they start to shift uncomfortably under her gaze, “But if either of you hurt her—“ she gestures to Sophia, “I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

Everyone is silent for a moment, then Tony enters, and he raises and eyebrow at the silence, “I haven’t heard you guys this quiet in a while. What happened?”

“Nat threatened to kill Sam and Bucky.” Steve said calmly, not looking up from his food.

“Oh, so nothing new.” He sits on the arm rest next to Sophia, “"I thought I told you to keep in touch?”

Tony figured Sophia wouldn't keep in touch, but he had hoped she would. He wasn't actually angry or disappointed in her, he was more curious as to why she didn't. He understood that she still needed some time to adjust to living with everyone, but he thought they had a good bond and that she would at least let him know that she was alive. Maybe some day she would learn to open up to him more, learn to trust him more, he just needed to be more patient.

She groans next to him and leans her head on his elbow, "I know, I'm sorry." She sits back up and frowns, "I didn't do anything. I just stayed in my room and watched Netflix, read a few books."

He nods and grabs a box of noodles from the coffee table, "Alright." He notices she wasn't eating and raises an eyebrow, "You gonna eat?”

"I did before you guys got home.”

"She ate all all my grapes!" Sam points at Sophia, "I'm heartbroken!" He sighs and grabs his chest.

She glares at him, "I said I was sorry, Sam!”

Bucky elbows him, "You don't even like grapes you asshole." He shakes his head, "You got them by accident. You thought they were some new form of blueberry." Sophia giggles and Bucky winks at her.

"That's a damn lie!" Sam glares at him, "Like yeah I hate them, but I'm not that stupid!"

"Then why did you get them?" Wanda asks.

"I dunno, I was on this fruit kick a while back and Steve said grapes were good," he shivers, "he lied to me.”

“Hey, I like grapes!" Steve chuckles, "But not the green ones, those things are too sour.”

Sophia nods, “Yeah, I like the red ones the best.”

"Why the fuck are we talking about grapes?" Tony groans while getting up and dropping his untouched container back on the coffee table.

"We should all go to bed," Steve says looking at his watch, "it's late.”

"You're no fun, Rogers." Natasha smirks as she stands up, taking her coffee cup to the kitchen, "I am exhausted though.”

"Even after the coffee?" Sophia turns around in the sofa looking back at her.

She chuckles, "It's decaf, hun.”

Sophia pulls her legs up to her chest, "Oh." She gnaws at her bottom lip for a moment, "We should probably clean this stuff up though.” She looks at the coffee table full of half eaten Chinese containers.

"We can do that," Steve says, "you get to bed." He says gesturing toward the hallway behind the sofa.

Sophia furrows her brows together, "I'm not helpless, I can do something.”

"Hey Buck," Steve calls out, completely ignoring her, making Bucky look up from the pile of containers he was collecting, "can you make sure Sophia gets to her room? She needs sleep and so do you.”

Bucky raises an eyebrow suspiciously at Steve then looks Sophia up and down, "If she wants to help, let her.”

"Bucky, just go." Steve says more stern this time, "Next time, you both can clean up by yourselves, deal?”

Bucky rolls his eyes, dropping the container that was in his hand, and walks to the entry way of the kitchen, "Alright Sophia, Captain says it's beddy time," he gestures with his hand, "so let's go.”

She glares at Steve who just smiles innocently and then look to Sam, Wanda, and Natasha who can't hold back their laughter, "I'm not sure I like being back.”

“Aw," Sam says, "don't say things like that! You're gonna hurt our feelings!”

She ignores Sam's comment while walking toward Bucky and down the hallway, silently cussing in her head. She didn't know why everyone was trying to push Bucky on her, not that she minded spending time with him, he was nice to look at and he smelled so good, it was just he didn't seem to want to be around her. The pair are silent for a while as they make their way up the stairs towards her bedroom. Suddenly, Sophia decides to vent a little, "How long is everyone here gonna treat me like I'm a kid?”

Bucky chuckles a bit, "They're just looking out for ya, they don't mean anything by it."

"Really?" She wrinkles her nose in frustration, "I guess I'm just not use to so much, niceness." She sighs and shakes her head.

He nods, "It takes some adjusting, but you'll be fine.”

They get to her door and she turns to him, “Hopefully I adjust faster. I keep thinking there's a hidden agenda behind all of this." She chuckles to herself and looks at the floor.

Bucky leans with his back against the wall not looking at her, “Look, I know this is none of my business, but can I give you some advice?” He pauses waiting for her to stop him, but she just shrugs, "That part of your life is over. The people here are genuine and really do care." She fiddles with her fingers silently and he turns to face her, "Tony never calls people when we're on missions, occasionally Pepper, but that’s it. Then there’s Natasha, who rarely ever likes anyone, but she's taken quiet a liking to you. Vision actually talks to you about normal things, which no one else can, outside Wanda of course. Banner obviously cares, I mean, he built that thing to make sure you get better. Wanda helps you through your nightmares and shares books with you. Clint got him and you matching bracelets. Steve really cares about you too that’s why I'm here, making sure you get to bed." He smirks and shrugs, "But Sam's an asshole to everyone, so I can't speak for him.”

She chuckles a bit and then smiles, "What about you Sergeant?”

His eyes widen, “Um, what about me?”

"You mentioned everyone, except yourself." She smile shyly and looks into his eyes, "What do you think of me?"

Bucky wanted to tell Sophia everything that was in his heart, but the words just wouldn't come out. Truthfully, he hadn't stopped thinking about her since she moved in a few months ago. The way she made him feel like such and idiot every time she looked into his eyes just drew him in more and her smile was something that took his breath away; he'd move mountains just to see that smile. The longer he stands there trying to think of something to say, the more uncomfortable Sophia seems to become, so he looks away from her and clears his throat, "Um," he pauses for a minute unsure how to proceed, "you're nice, except for the almost killing me thing."

Sophia sighs lightly, "I really am sorry about that.”

"I'm just kidding." He pushes off the wall, "Now, get to bed before Steve kills me."

"Okay, Sergeant." She rolls her eyes and turns to the door.

“Hey," he clears his throat and she turns back to face him, "I've been meaning to tell you, call me Bucky.”

"Steve didn't like me calling him Captain either..." She trails off and crosses her arms, "It's just, um, weird for me. I've always had to call men by their rank.”

He takes a deep breath, ”I get it,“ he smiles gently back to her, "but you're among friends now.”

She takes a shaky breath, “Promise?”

“I promise.” He nods to her room, “Now get some sleep, I’ll see you tomorrow."

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wifebread · 2 years

Text

Obsessed | Pt.3

Pairing: Stalker!Min Yoongi x Original female character

Tags: Forced relationships, Hurt/Comfort, Manipulations, Mentions of cruelty, Mentions of deaths, Mentions of drugs, Murders, Original female character, Out of character, Stalking, Unhealthy relationships, Violence.

Summary: She wasn't afraid of this man, didn't take threats seriously, blaming everything on the fact that it was just to attract attention. However, she did’t know what he was capable of.

word count: 1,6k

I do not condone the actions described in the story, this is all fiction and does not relate to the real members of the BTS in any way. If you are uncomfortable with tags, please do not read!! Or read at your own risk.

a/n: Thanks to the wonderful author who allowed me to translate this work! Please keep in mind that English is not my native language, so if you notice any mistakes, point them out to me! I can also edit the chapter after I publish it, so don't be surprised if you see some strange moments (it means I haven't corrected them yet). Thank you.

source: https://ficbook.net/readfic/12255891

Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 , Chapter 4 , Chapter 5 , Chapter 6 , Chapter 7 , Chapter 8

"One condition"

It's been a few days since Shin was got to the hospital. Percy didn't dare to visit her friend— you never know what would come into his head — so she made do with care packages. Sometimes, to find out about the condition of Shin, the girl had to call his mother. She kindly replied that everything was fine and the guy would be released soon.

He didn't stop texting Percy, even started doing it too often. The girl decided not to answer anymore, to ignore. If he wants Percy not to hang out with other guys - ok. The girl really did not want anyone else to suffer because of her fault. Therefore, she tried to observe the rules that he told her to follow.

And for the past week, Percy has been doing nothing but carrying parcels to the hospital and staying at home. However, fate decided to fuck her ass.

Song's pen friend is coming today, so the parents' rules - "curfew at 9" and "no partying" — will be broken.

“Kitten!” the girl screamed, throwing her suitcase and rushing at full speed to her friend.

“Brinnie," Percy said, hugging the girl, which literally knocked her off her feet. “You got there, as I see, without incident.”

“Yeah,” Sabrina replied with a nod, rising with Percy.

“Mom and Dad are at work, so we're alone until the evening.”

“Got it. Wait, I'll take the suitcase.”

***

“Well, what did you want to offer me?” sipping some coffee and putting a cup of cocoa on the table in front of her friend, Percy asked, sitting down.

“I suggest recalling the events of three years ago and reviving the old.” Sabrina snapped her fingers.

“Now in a human way?” Percy asked, raising one eyebrow uncomprehendingly.

“Hang out, dummy.” Poking her friend in the nose, Sabrina began. “Remember how we used to rock.”

“Correction, you used to rock," Percy said, nodding.

“Well, right, you were drunk and stoned,” Sabrina said with a snort, rolling her eyes. “But now everything is different.

Percy looked at her friend, a la: "How is that?".

“Now we can both get drunk,” the girl began to enumerate, bending her fingers. "we can both smoke and..." Sabrina said after a pause, thereby intriguing Percy. “There is something to celebrate. You won't believe it; I broke up with this jerk.”

“Really?” Percy was genuinely surprised. "And Felix didn't even protest?"

"Who the hell knows," the girl replied with a shrug. “I texted him that everything was over between us and changed the SIM card.”

“Boy oh boy,” Percy laughed, almost choking. "Don't worry," she continued, calming down. — You're an attractive chic; you'll find a boyfriend quickly.

“Don't mess me about," Sabrina said, shaking her head. “Tell me, how are the things on your love front yourself? Shin is being dismissed, I say right away. He may be a two-meter fella, but even so he could not stand up for himself. Not mentioning your protection.”

Percy wondered if she should tell Sabrina about her watcher. Up to this point, the girl had never mentioned him when talking on the phone. Song knew her friend well. And I understood that if she told her about it, she would certainly want to help get rid of the snoop.

“Hey, why are you frozen?” Snapping her fingers in front of Percy's face, the girl asked.

“Oh, I thought about it and I want to tell you about ...” Percy stopped when she felt the vibration of the phone in her pocket. "One seс," she added, taking her smartphone out of her pocket.

Even before turning on the screen, the girl already guessed who was writing.

From: Psycho

13:16 "Don't involve your friend in this, the sunshine :)"

13:17 "It will be extremely unpleasant if something happens to her, right?"

“What? Is that mom?” Sabrina asked, finishing her cocoa, forcing her friend to look up from the phone.

“No, some ads by e-mail,” turning off the smartphone, Percy replied. —“I wanted to tell you... that no one is even trying to get to know me.”

"And if someone wants to, this fucker will put him down," Percy added, in thought making a sad little pug.

“Oh, my friend," Sabrina began, putting her hand on Percy's shoulder. “Today we both have a great chance to meet someone.”

“I don't even know if they will let me,” the girl hinted at her parents, and the thought of her watcher did not leave her head.

“Calm down, your folks trust me. Let's say we're going to a girls night party with a mutual friend, and her brother will take us home.”

The phone vibrated again, and it wasn't hard to guess that he didn't like the idea.

"I'm going to call Jiwon," Sabrina began, putting the empty mug in the sink. “I'll tell him that we'll come.” The girl looked at Percy expectantly. “We're going, right?”

Percy pursed her lips, doubtful. On the other hand, she can just not approach the guys and have fun with her bestie.

“Yes,” Percy said, giving up, exhaling. “We're going.”

“Great!” Sabrina shouted happily, clapping her hands, hugging her friend.

When the girl came out of the kitchen, Percy grabbed the phone again, turning it on.

From: Psycho

13:22 "You're not going"

Percy stared at the screen for a long time, reading the message over and over again. The girl thought that she could pretend to be a good girl and convince him that she would play by the rules.

To: Psycho

13:24 "I haven't seen my friend for a long time"

13:25 "I have no intention to go in order to pick up someone"

13:26 "These days"

13:27 "You have settled in my thoughts"

Percy had already thought many times that such words would not help her; they would only worsen the situation. After all, he is clearly not stupid; he won’t fall so easily for such a thing.

Only the girl wanted to delete the last two messages, as she received an answer:

From: Psycho

13:27 "I didn't expect you to think about me so often"

13:28 "It's nice to know :)"

Percy closed her eyes, exhaling with relief. She was surprised that the guy believed her. Inside, the girl was triumphant, but visually she tried not to show it. You never know if he’s watching.

From: Psycho

13:30 "One condition"

"Holy shit," Percy thought, batting her eyelashes in surprise. "Now I also have to receive conditions? Just because I want to be an ordinary teenager and go have fun?"

To: Psycho

13:32 "I remember the rules"

From: Psycho

13:33 "That’s cake"

13:34 "You shouldn't forget them anyway :)"

To: Psycho

13:35 "What is the condition?"

And after that, he fell silent. Percy fidgeted with her fingers, looking at the screen in anticipation. But the answer did not come either after 5 minutes or after 10. And as Percy had noticed, it wouldn't do any good.

***

After going up to her room, the girl wanted to put her smartphone on charge and go to the guest room to find out from Sabrina what time it would be necessary to get ready.

Percy was about to leave the room, having looked around the room for the last time, when suddenly her gaze was fixed at a piece of paper glued to the window with something.

Hesitantly coming closer, the girl saw the text. After reading it, Percy almost fell. She frantically opened the window wide open, looking for him among the passers-by.

"Don't close the windows at night, otherwise I'll have to look for another way to visit you ;)"

“What are you doing?” Sabrina, who had just entered the room, asked. “Suicide is not a solution. And jumping from the second floor - this is the maximum to break your legs.”

"I just wanted to get some air," Percy was taking a piece of paper off the glass, drowning out the rustling sounds with her voice. “What time do we move out?” crumpling the paper in her hand behind her back, the girl asked, forcing a smile.

"Jiwon said we can move out right now.” throwing the phone on her friend's bed, Sabrina answered. “So, let's get changed.”

“And you go too. You can't go in your pajamas.” Percy said, laughing. “Shall we put on makeup now as well?” Sabrina nodded and then left the room.

***

By the way, Percy met Jivon a year and a half ago.

It happened during term time. Since he was a librarian's assistant, and Percy was a frequent guest of the reading hut, they were left after school, with a request to help rearrange the books in their places, and to postpone the spoiled ones.

It is remembered, they almost got into a fight then because of the distribution of responsibilities. Jiwon didn't really want to exert himself, so he planned to help the girl only with moral support. But Percy wouldn't have been able to do it all alone, and even with such a height.

The screams of teenagers could be heard all over the library. If Percy tried to keep herself in hand and not swear with a choice obscenity, then Jiwon thought of throwing a book at her. And the first thing the guy heard after that was, "You're such a fucker."

The guy was genuinely surprised that Percy knew such words, so he laughed. And the laughter was so contagious that the girl forgot about what happened a couple of moments ago.

“Yoon Jiwon,” sitting on the floor by the bookcases, the guy said, holding out his hand.

“Song Percy,” the girl shook the guy's hand, as a sign of acquaintance. "For the record," she continued, poking Jiwon in the shoulder. “it was very painful.”

“I kind of figured,” remembering Percy's words, the guy laughed again, and the girl caught it.

“All this, of course, is wonderful. But we never finished.”

“As an apology..." Yoon began thoughtfully. “I can help you reach the upper shelves.”

"Now this thing," Percy began, picking up a thick book. “is going to fly at you.”

“I was just joking," Jiwon said with an innocent smile.

to be continued...

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