#LET THEM LIVE! LET THEM BE HAPPY! THEY'VE SUFFERED ENOUGH!

[mysafehaneul]

AQUAMARINE: EPILOGUE

April Showers (M)

Dedication: For my girls, who like like their men secure and obsessed.

JEON WONWOO X READER

WORDS: 14k+

SERIES MASTERLIST

GENRE: ARRANGE CONTRACT MARRIAGE AU! ENEMIES TO LOVERS!

FLUFF!FLUFF!AND SMUT (I THINK WE HAD ENOUGH ANGST FOR 8 CHAPTERS)

A/N: So, I guess this is it huh? well Happy Reading!!

4 years ago Zurich, Switzerland KIU

Noella entered the lecture room, a spacious gallery-style classroom with long wooden benches and rows of paintings adorning the walls. The large windows bathed the room in natural light, and it felt more like an art gallery than a typical lecture hall. She quietly pushed the door open and entered, the soft creak of the hinges barely audible over the lecturer's voice.

The professor at the front of the room, Jeonghan, continued with his lecture on the definition of meaning during the Enlightenment era. He stood confidently in front of the class, with a relaxed yet engaging demeanour. His dark hair was neatly styled, and his glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, giving him an air of intelligence.

As Noella found a seat at the back of the room and settled in, her eyes met Jeonghan's for a brief moment. There was a flash of recognition, but he didn't let it disrupt the flow of his lecture. With a warm smile and a nod, he acknowledged her presence before returning to his discourse.

"During the Enlightenment," he began, his voice both soothing and authoritative, "philosophers like Voltaire and Rousseau grappled with the concept of meaning. What does it mean to lead a meaningful life? Is it found in the pursuit of knowledge, happiness, or something more profound?"

The students listened intently as Jeonghan paced gracefully across the front of the room. His words were thought-provoking, encouraging his students to consider the philosophical inquiries of the past and apply them to their own lives.

She couldn't help but be captivated by his lecture, not only because of the subject matter but also because of the way he presented it. She had known Jeonghan for years, and seeing him in his element was both familiar and awe-inspiring.

He continued, "Voltaire famously stated, 'Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.' This is a profound notion because it encourages us to continuously seek understanding. In an era marked by intellectual growth, philosophers challenged the status quo and sought to unravel the mysteries of existence."

The students absorbed the wisdom he shared, their eyes reflecting the curiosity sparked by his teaching.

Jeonghan, with his usual eloquence, continued his lecture, delving into the void that exists within humanity, a craving for meaning that often goes unnoticed. He cited Nietzsche's concept of this void, the insatiable longing for purpose that some fill immediately with their surroundings and become fervent devotees of a cause, never realizing the hollowness they've concealed. "The process of discovering that void for the first time," he explained, "is a pivotal moment in our lives. It's when we come to the stark realization that something is lacking in that department."

As he spoke, Jeonghan gestured passionately, his words resonating with the students. "Albert Camus presents us with an ultimate example of struggle and suffering, only to have our efforts amount to nothing. This is a metaphor for life, for Camus. We exist in a vast, inconceivably large, and complex universe, and with every step we take, we're battling against a tidal wave of forces that could end our existence at any moment."

He paced back and forth at the front of the class, emphasizing the challenges of human existence. "We live through good times and endure bad ones, all while accepting the reality that the universe, in all its grandeur, couldn't care less about our individual actions. It's true that in a humanistic lens, what we do matters within the microcosm of our lives, but on the universal scale, we're a mere speck on an ordinary galaxy. The sun will eventually explode in 5 billion years, and our existence will come to a definitive end."

Jeonghan's eyes scanned the room, and he implored his students to consider the meaning of all their suffering, effort, and sacrifice. "Where does it all lead? At the end of the day, we're like Sisyphus, condemned to push the rock up the hill only for it to roll back down, forcing us to begin again. But in our condemnation, we should strive not to agonize over the process but to find enjoyment in the act of pushing the boulder as far as we can."

He paused, his gaze intense, and then continued. "The experience and reflection come into play. What we're reflecting upon may appear meaningless to outsiders, but when we are experiencing it, it means the world. Yet, at what point do we realize it's all meaningless? It's the moment we stop being present, take a step back, and question why we're doing this in the first place. We look around and condemn it all as meaningless. This is where the concept of meaning comes into play."

Jeonghan raised a finger, emphasizing the contrast between reflection and lived experience. "When we reflect, we stop doing whatever we're engaged in, and we use our capacity for reason to ask questions. But it's important to recognize how presumptuous this entire process is. We apply this tool of reason to the universe, attempting to derive conclusions, yet what if the reason isn't the right tool for the job?"

He took a deep breath before continuing. "Reflections and reason, as human capacities, may not be the right tools to determine the meaning or meaninglessness of the things we do. What if, instead, we focus on the task at hand, to immerse ourselves fully in what we care about? Reflection is valuable, and a necessary part of life, but it can lead to diminishing returns. If you reflect too much, the only thing it'll do is deteriorate the quality of your lived experience."

As the lecture neared its conclusion, Jeonghan's eyes sparkled with a sense of purpose and resolution. "Embrace the absurdity of the universe, and then immerse yourself fully in the tasks you care about. Just like Sisyphus, who made the rock his own, we should learn to love what we do. Appreciate the grooves in the rock, the hindrances in your path, and the patterns to success. Love what you're doing without constantly pondering if it will have any meaning. After all, if the ultimate doom is inevitable, if everything will cease to exist, why not live and die doing what you love and believe in? Enjoy every moment of pushing your own boulder, and do it with passion and determination."

With a final nod and a warm smile, Jeonghan concluded his lecture on the meaning of life during the Enlightenment era.

As the students packed their bags, Jeonghan left them with a parting comment. "Remember, class, your term papers are due at the end of this week. And my sincere condolences to any grandparents, uncles, and aunts who are going to meet their end at 11:59 on the 29th."

The room filled with a mixture of laughter and groans, the students either appreciating Jeonghan's dark humor or dreading the impending deadline. Noella gathered her belongings, slinging her purse over her shoulder, and made her way down to Jeonghan's desk.

"That was impressive, Dr. Yoon," she complimented him with a warm smile.

"Thank you, but what brings you here?" Jeonghan inquired.

"Oh, the dean just invited me to give a speech for the department," she explained. "Our company is going to join one of the on-campus recruiting events, so I thought I'd see what you've been up to."

Jeonghan nodded in understanding. "Ah, that sounds interesting. Want to catch up over lunch?"

Noella’s laughter rang through the classroom. "Of course, it's not like we didn't meet for dinner last night." The two of them shared a friendly chuckle before leaving the classroom.

........

........

Present day.

London.

The morning light filtered through the window, casting a soft glow in the hotel suite. Empty bottles still littered the room, and discarded shirts and pants were strewn across the furniture. Wonwoo slept soundly on the bed, his deep slumber undisturbed even by the honking of cars on the street below. The sound was just background noise until it eventually stirred him. His hand reached out, searching for you, but the spot next to him was empty. A sense of panic rushed through him, and he jolted awake.

He looked around the room, his eyes darting from one corner to another. The droplets of tears on his pillows from the night before served as a painful reminder. "No…" he groaned, his heart sinking as he believed that you had left him.

As the ensuite washroom doors opened, you walked out, dressed in the clothes you had worn to Jeonghan's wedding. Your hair was still damp as you towel-dried it. You stood in front of the mirror, unaware of the emotional turmoil Wonwoo had just experienced.

However, his reaction was quite different from what you expected. Wonwoo dashed from the bed, letting the quilt fall to the floor, and enveloped you in a tight hug from behind. "I thought you left," he confessed.

"Shall I pinch you to make sure I'm still here?" you teased, but he remained mostly silent, holding onto you. As you began to apply moisturizers to your arms and neck, you spoke again. "Babe, I appreciate the affection, but can you please shower? We have to pick up Noel and then head to the airport."

You looked up at the mirror to catch his reflection. His hand was nestled against your neck as if he were sleeping while standing. You couldn't help but question the abundance of bottles in the room, asking, "By the way, why are there so many bottles?"

Wonwoo cleared his throat, a bit flustered. "You're right; I should shower."

With that, he planted a kiss on your clothed shoulder and headed to the shower, leaving you to roll your eyes at his antics. As you got ready for the day ahead, you couldn't help but think about the significant conversation you'd had with him the previous night

The previous day, you had called Jeonghan to assure him that you were safe. After shouting and sobbing at you for 15 minutes finally left for his Honeymoon and left Noel with Leila for the night. You and Wonwoo had spent the evening talking, staring from your whole trajectory of Noella and Joshua to Nikolia's death threats.

Now, in the hotel suite, you finished putting on your shoes when Wonwoo emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He began to dress in a black suit, and as you watched him, your eyes couldn't help but linger on the marks your nails had left on his defined back. You quickly looked away, back to the task at hand.

After buttoning and tucking in his shirt, Wonwoo rolled up his sleeves, leaving his veined forearms exposed. You picked up your earrings when he softly called your name, his voice tinged with a hint of nervousness.

"Hmm," you replied, struggling to clasp the earring lock.

Wonwoo walked closer, stopping beside you. Both of your reflections were visible in the full-length mirror. When you finally managed to clasp the lock, you let out a sigh of relief and reached for the other one when he took your left hand in his and turned you to face him. His thumb traced soothing patterns on your knuckles as he began to speak.

"I know our beginning was far from perfect, but even with its imperfections, it has given me something more than I could wish for. Today, as we walk out of this room, I want us to step into a new beginning—a future where there are no more secrets, no more contracts, just us and Noel. I know I don't deserve you, but I'm willing to humble myself before you."

Wonwoo then got down on one knee, and your eyes widened. A soft gasp escaped your lips as he continued, "I will try every day to prove myself worthy of you if you'll have me."

With trembling hands, he unclenched his fingers to reveal your wedding ring. "Wonu…" you whispered, a lump rising in your throat.

His eyes glistened with tears as he spoke from his heart. "I don't know when it happened, y/n. There were times when I even detested people who changed entirely when they entered a relationship. After Eleanor, I didn't bother seeking that kind of connection. But here I am, on my knees, asking my wife to let me love her, to allow me into her heart. Will you, y/n?"

The tears blurred your vision, but you managed to nod vigorously. Wonwoo carefully slid the ring onto your finger, and as he stood up, he immediately pulled you into a tight hug, overwhelmed with emotions.

As you and Wonwoo walked out of the suite and into the parlor, you were slightly surprised to see four tall, equally buff, and slightly intimidating men standing in the middle of the room. You glanced at your husband with a quizzical expression, and he gave your back a gentle push, saying, "Don't worry, they are your and Noel's new bodyguards."

You blinked in astonishment and turned to look at the four men who were still standing in a respectful bow. "Wonu, I don't need bodyguards," you protested.

Wonwoo gestured to the men to rise and wait outside before addressing your concerns. "Y/n, I am well aware that you're capable of protecting yourself, but I'm not taking any risks or having any discussion on this matter. Please, darling, humor me. You won't even notice them. They've been following you and Noel since the day you arrived."

You hesitated, wanting to argue further, but his words made sense. "But it looks awkward to walk around with guards like…"

"Y/n, although I'm gravely grateful to Noel's grandfather, I can't forget or forgive what his son did," Wonwoo declared with determination. "You have to realize that you're not just an L/N anymore; you're a Jeon now. I'll be damned if I even allow a fly to harm my wife."

Before you could say anything in response, Wonwoo sealed his statement with a tender peck on your lips and began walking toward the exit, your hands clasped together as you followed him.

........

.........

Nikolia found himself in a disorienting darkness, tied securely to a cold, unforgiving chair. He struggled to grasp any sense of time, all memory of the past hours and days escaping him. After his arrest, he had been transported to an undisclosed location, but he had no way of knowing for how long he had been in this inky abyss. The van that brought him here had taken a bizarre turn into the unknown, and that's when the men had covered his face, shrouding him in a suffocating blackness.

His desperate cries and frenzied curses echoed in the void, but they were swallowed by the oppressive silence that clung to him like a shroud. The journey had been a nightmare, a cacophony of fear and dread. When the vehicle finally stopped, his captors grabbed him and dragged him into this unseen space.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, and he heard footsteps approach. His heart raced as the men, with hands like steel, grabbed him and removed the blindfold that had been his only connection to the world. A rush of blinding light stabbed at his eyes, and he squinted, disoriented, and dazzled.

Nikolia's first instinct was to struggle against the restraints that bound him to the chair. "Let go of me, you bastard! You're messing with the wrong man here, All I need is one phone call and your whole family is done for" he yelled, the defiance in his voice strained with anger and frustration.

Wonwoo, took a languid drag from his cigarette, his eyes hidden beneath a veneer of cold detachment. "Am I?" He arched one meticulously groomed eyebrow as a henchman in the room landed a brutal punch on Nikolia's face, sending shockwaves of pain coursing through his body. Blood sprayed from his mouth as the impact made his jaw rattle.

As the coppery tang of blood mingled with the acrid scent of tobacco, Wonwoo continued, seemingly unperturbed." you know Nikolia, when I first saw you in the court I understood what a weakling you are, tch, such a waste of a pretty face" Wonwoo tilted his head to the side, as though pondering an intriguing conundrum. "You didn't even have the caliber to fight like a man. If you wanted the money all you had to do was come and beg us"

Nonchalantly, Wonwoo discarded his cigarette and crushed it underfoot, further emphasizing his indifference to Nikolia's suffering. "But no," he continued, rising from his seat with calculated elegance, "you had no go and get yourself get fucked over by your own stupidity"

Wonwoo seized Nikolia by the hair, his grip merciless, and forced him to meet his unrelenting gaze." you should've known your enemy before messing with them, if you get the chance from all the bending, ask who Jeon bo Hyuk was" With those ominous words, Wonwoo swung a heavy fist, striking Nikolia squarely across the cheekbones. The sudden, blinding pain sent white spots dancing before Nikolia's eyes. "That's for even thinking about harming my wife" He gasped as the warmth of blood gushed from his nose.

For a brief moment, Wonwoo stood above him, an imposing figure against the harsh light, before he delivered another devastating blow," and that's on behalf of Noel" he declared, his voice laced with cold fury.

The room filled with the dissonant sounds of Nikolia's choking gasps and labored breathing.

The man in the black suit handed Wonwoo a towel, while behind Nikolia, a maniacal laugh and a series of painful coughs echoed. Nikolia's laughter, punctuated by bloodied gums, grated on the nerves of everyone present, "You're gonna regret this bell boy"

Without turning to face him, Wonwoo retorted, "And what are you going to do, tattle to Yunho?"

Nikolia's eyes widened in alarm as Wonwoo turned to the man in the black suit and commanded, "Return him to Richardson, make sure to tell him to treat him with so much care that he regains his faith in god again"

With a murmured "Yes, boss," the men swiftly began the process of transporting Nikolia out of this nightmarish confrontation.

"And to think," Nikolia sneered, even in his bloodied and beaten state, "that bitch has you wrapped around her finger. I guess her pussy has that effect I still rememb--""

Before he could complete his sentence, Wonwoo's fist struck with unrestrained force, and the chair, still bound to Nikolia's body, fell to the ground. The world swirled into a whirlpool of darkness as Nikolia's consciousness slipped away. Wonwoo gazed down at the battered and broken Nikolia, his voice laced with icy authority. "Rule of the thumb, you keep my wife's name out of your mouth," he declared, the weight of his words bearing down upon the man.

(A/N: Dude why didn't I made wonwoo mafia opens another wip )

........

........

One Month later

The evening of the 75th Anniversary gala was marked by an air of anticipation as you sat in a plush chair, the skilled hands of your makeup artist, Ashton, expertly crafting your hair into a glamorous masterpiece. You held a phone call with Racheal, going over the final details for the night.

"Make sure no more than five interviews," you instructed, your voice firm.

"That's done," Racheal confirmed promptly. "Each will get 2 minutes, and no personal questions."

"Good," you replied with a nod. "Are you there yet?"

Racheal's voice sounded through the phone, "No, just about to reach."

"Okay, then drive safe," you told her before ending the call. The preparations were in full swing as you adorned a stunning red-plated off-shoulder cape dress with a high slit. The fabric draped elegantly around your form, exuding an air of regal sophistication.

Just as you were getting ready, there came a discreet knock at the door. Chan, who had once stood as a symbol of discord between you and Wonwoo, now entered the room, holding a blue box in his hands. While things had improved between him and Chan, the tension still lingered his presence often an uncomfortable reminder of past misunderstandings. Wonwoo was prepared to go so far as to fire Chan in his act of contrition. However, you intervened, reminding him, "Why should someone else suffer for something you initiated?"

"Mr. Jeon sent you this," Chan explained, "and expressed his desire to see you wear it tonight."

You excused everyone from the room, leaving only Ashton behind, and Chan proceeded to open the box with a sense of reverence. Revealed within was a necklace that bore a stunning piece of history—an emerald and diamond creation that had once belonged to Catalina the Second of Russia. The gem sparkled with a rare, captivating beauty that made even Ashton gasp in awe.

"This is from the Anakami collection, part of the royal vault of Russia," Chan informed you, his tone respectful and impressed.

You nodded, your knowledge of the piece shining through. "From Catalina the Second."

Chan's understanding smile mirrored his acknowledgment of your profound familiarity with the necklace. Your appreciative smile revealed your thanks, and you gestured for Ashton to place the exquisite piece around your neck.

As the necklace adorned your neckline, he couldn't help but compliment, "Indeed, your husband has an eye for a gem."

Thanking Chan for his delivery, you expected him to take his leave, but he remained in place. After Ashton left the room, Chan went into a polite bow. You looked at him and turning back to your reflection with a more somber expression, you addressed him.

"Get up, Chan," you said gently, "the workers should not apologize for their loyalty to their boss. You did what any subordinate would do. I am not angry with you."

Chan's smile returned, and he bowed once more, an expression of gratitude and humility in his eyes. As he prepared to leave the room, you stopped him with a final piece of advice.

"Chan," you began in a soft but firm tone, "next time, try to keep your experiences and advice to yourself. Hmm?"

"Duly noted, madam," Chan replied with an appreciative nod. The understanding between you felt like a small step toward restoring a sense of normalcy to your relationship.

You were nearly ready, as Ashton entered again to finish the final touches.

The grand gala was a spectacle of opulence and glamour. The chandeliers hung from the ceiling, their crystal facets glistening in the soft, warm light. Servers in impeccable uniforms weaved through the crowd, offering trays of exquisite hors d'oeuvres and champagne flutes. The air was filled with the clicks of cameras and the hum of hushed conversations as guests from various elite circles, including A-listers, entrepreneurs, and influential individuals from both sides of your families, mingled and celebrated.

The event's announcer took center stage, standing beside the grand stairs, and her voice resonated through the room as all eyes turned toward her. "Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you all to the grand celebration of 75 years of L/N Diamonds and Special Stones. We gather here to honor the visionary who started it all 75 years ago with his hard work, dedication, and passion for a woman's best friend. What makes this evening even more special is that it is also a celebration in honor of the newlyweds, the heiress of the L/Ns, and the prince of JJ Group, Jeon Wonwoo."

The crowd erupted into applause, and Wonwoo, surrounded by business partners, raised his glass, receiving smiles and nods from those around him.

The announcer continued, "Now, without further ado, I would like to call upon the stage the star of the evening, the diamond heiress and the CEO of Fareed Switzerland, Y/n L/N."

All eyes turned to the top of the grand stairs, and the clapping of the guests filled the hall. You descended the stairs gracefully, your red cape trailing behind you, giving you the appearance of a character from a classic film. The necklace adorning your neck, a magnificent royal heirloom from Russia, captured everyone's attention.

Everything seemed to slow down for Wonwoo as he watched you descend the stairs. He was struck by the realization of his incredible luck in being married to such a remarkable woman. His chest swelled with pride and second-guessed his luck.

As you reached the stage and adjusted the microphone, you smiled at the host and began your address, "Thank you, Lana, for that lovely introduction. Although the second half was lost to me because I was busy thinking about how not to trip on the stairs."Laughter rippled through the crowd. "Since I'm not a big fan of long speeches, I'll keep this address short and sweet. This evening is not about celebrating L/N Diamonds and Fareed but about those who dare to dream and the realists who support their dreamers, like Mr. Locke, Mr. Kim, and Mr. Jeong, who are present here this evening."

The spotlight fell upon their table, and you acknowledged them with a nod as they raised their glasses. "They started this journey with my grandfather 75 years ago, and, most importantly, to the backbone of this foundation who are present here—from the miners to the designers." You paused a round of applause resonated through the crowds, "When I was young, my grandfather would often be stuck in his office, spending hours analyzing the diamonds. He talked to me passionately about their history."

You continued, "One day, in my naivete, I asked, 'Grandpa, who do you love more, the diamonds or Grandma?' It might seem like a silly question, but he turned to me and said, 'Your grandma.'"

You recalled his words, "How come? You rarely spend time with her." He laughed and replied, "Because when I make a bracelet she likes, the smile on her face and the pride with which she wears that piece make me feel like she's carrying my love with her everywhere she goes. Love is never constant. Some days can be bad, and some good, but we do not live in days; we live in memories. These diamonds remind us of why we choose to wake up every day and be with the person we love."

You expressed your gratitude for the past 75 years, "For the last 75 years, we have not only been making diamonds but tokens of love that eternalize our memories—resilient, forever cherishable, and bound by legacy. So, let's raise our glasses to the 75 years of trust from our customers and the passion of our designers.

To my parents, who taught me love, to my son, who reminds me of how to love."

Your eyes found Noel standing with your father-in-law, holding his hand just a few feet away from the stage. Your eyes find Wonwoo's across the room when you smile as you address your husband, "And to my husband, who has shown me what it feels like to be loved."

The entire room joined in, raising their glasses and echoing your words, "To love."

Wonwoo mouthed the words, "To love," as he emptied his flute, a contented smile on his face.

(the angel on the left "This is getting too fluffy"

angel on the right "It is an epilogue it is supposed to be fluffy")

The music resumed, and you gracefully stepped down from the stage, leaving Rachel to deal with the waiting media. After about 20 minutes of enduring half-baked sexist questions and borderline invasions of privacy regarding your marriage and the recent conflict, you finally returned to the party and began greeting the guests one by one.

On the other side of the party, Rachel had finished her duties and decided to take a break at the bar. She ordered a drink and was savoring the moment when someone approached her. There was a slight hesitation in his demeanor, but he continued, "Shall I give you my card? I think you're going to need an attorney tonight."

Rachel furrowed her brows in confusion, asking, "Why?" Lowering his voice a bit, he replied, "Because you're dressed to kill." She rolled her eyes and smiled behind her glass. "Come on, it wasn't that bad," he defended.

"I didn't say anything," she replied, looking up at him. Their eyes locked, and Rachel felt hers drifting down to his lips. Unconsciously, she bit her lip and shook her head to snap out of her trance. That's when Jungkook cleared his throat and began, "Listen, Rach, about the other day…"

Rachel cut him off, saying, "It's alright. It doesn't matter. It was just a kiss. We met by chance, had an argument about wines, and then one thing led to another. It was a mistake, so let's forget about it, okay?"

Jungkook felt a pang of rejection, something quite unfamiliar to him in his experiences with women. He clenched his hands inside his pockets and wanted to say he didn't want to forget it, but before he could, a server interjected. "Excuse me, Ms. Lee. Madam Y/n is calling for you." Following the server's indication, Rachel spotted you standing in a group and beckoning her over with a subtle gesture as your eyes met. She got down from the stool, took her drink, and told Jungkook, "It was nice meeting you, Jungkook. Take care," before leaving him.

Jungkook, feeling a strange wave of melancholy, needing some air, took a glass of scotch and walked towards the balcony.

As you saw Rachel approaching, you gently pulled her to your side and introduced her, "Nora, Minny, gentlemen, this is Rachel Lee, currently the Managing Director at L/N's. Rach, this is the board of Fareed." They all exchanged greetings and shook hands, sharing a few words and smiles. You continued, "People, I hope you all treat Rachel well. She's my nomination for the COO candidate for Fareed."

Rachel could feel her eyes widen in astonishment, and her mouth slightly opened, but she quickly schooled her features. Bubbles of excitement tingled through her, just like they did when she kissed Jungkook. She stopped herself from following that train of thought and focused on answering Minny's questions.

.......

You were engrossed in a conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Kwon, Joon-hee's in law's, who was complimenting your exquisite necklace Mrs. Kwon, leaning towards you with a sly smile, said, "Thank you, I'm glad you both could make it. I thought you'd be in Japan."

Mr. Kwon nodded in agreement as his wife continued, "We were, but then Sunmi insisted we attend, especially since we didn't get the chance to meet her daughter-in-law due to your wish for a quick and private wedding."

You responded with a thin-lipped smile and a nod, but before you could reply, a familiar arm wrapped around your waist, enveloping you in a comforting scent.“There you are sweetheart, Sorry I am late, I was looking everywhere for you” Wonwoo smiled down at you and planted a soft kiss on the corner of your lips.

"Evening, Mr. and Mrs. Kwon. How have you been?" Wonwoo greeted them.

Mrs. Kwon interjected, "We're fine, as much as age allows us to be. I was just telling your wife that her preference for private meetings can sometimes leave a bad impression regarding close relationships."

You were about to respond, but Wonwoo beat you to it. He explained, "Well, it was my wish to have a private wedding. I didn't want to waste plates, where mouths would be busy chatting instead of chewing food."

Mrs. Kwon's expression soured, and she clicked her tongue against her teeth. On the other hand, Mr. Kwon smiled and reached out to shake hands with Wonwoo. "How are you, young man? Why don't I see you around the club anymore? You know, Y/n, he'd give even Matsuyama a run for his money."

Wonwoo gave a humble shake of his head. "Mr. Kwon is too kind. Well, if it's okay with you, may I steal my wife?"

Mr. Kwon let out a hearty laugh and said, "Sure, young man."

Wonwoo swiftly pulled you away from the couple, and as you walked side by side, he leaned in and whispered in your ear, "You look absolutely gorgeous."

You teased back, "You don't look half bad yourself." The subtle flashes of cameras continued as you asked about his interviews. He gave you a tired look that conveyed his reluctance to discuss it at the moment.

As you both approached your parents, Noel ran to you and hugged your legs. "Baby boy, are you having fun?" You asked, and he nodded, pointing towards Somi. "Can Somi and I go to the chocolate fountain?"

"Sure, why not," you gestured for them to follow Tham, As he waved goodbye to your dad.

With the kids occupied, you talked to your parents, complimenting both your mother and mother-in-law on their incredible planning and coordination. Your parents were going to Italy for a bit of business that your father had, followed by a leisure trip to Sicily.

As you were about to move on to greet other guests, Lana took the microphone and said, "Although the average wedding reception occurs within an hour of the ceremony this one took 3 months" subtle chuckle from the guest "upon the suggestion of Mrs. Sunmi Jeon herself, I would like to request Mr. and Mrs. Jeon to bestow the honor of their first dance."

You looked around, a bit surprised, as all eyes were on you, anticipating your dance. You were about to shake your head in refusal when Wonwoo extended his hand towards you, his eyes locked onto yours. "May I have this dance, Mrs. Jeon?" he asked with a charming smile.

You looked at his outstretched hand and then met his gaze. There was a shared understanding, a connection that ran deeper than words could express. With a nod and a graceful curtsy, you accepted his invitation. You placed your hand in his, feeling his strong, warm grasp, and he pulled you gently towards him.

The crowd hushed in anticipation as the first notes of the waltz enveloped the room. You and Wonwoo moved together as if you were the only two people in the world. The dance floor felt like a world of its own, a place where only the two of you existed.

Your red dress swirled around you, its cape fluttering in harmony with the rhythm of the music. Wonwoo's tuxedo looked impeccable, and the soft colors of your outfits complemented each other perfectly. With each step and twirl, you moved as one, your eyes locked, and smiles shared.

On the balcony, Jungkook stood gazing at the night sky, an air of melancholy surrounding him. The soft glow of the stars above painted a serene backdrop to his contemplation. The world seemed to move on around him as he lost himself in his thoughts.

A voice broke through his reverie as Joonhee opened the door and stepped out onto the balcony. She had a teasing tone in her voice as she asked, "Hey, you aren't planning on jumping, are you?"

Jungkook didn't turn to look at her. He replied with a hint of wry humor, "Not without leaving a testimony that if I'm found dead, the first person to look for is you."

She walked over to him and stood by his side, her back against the railing, and her elbows resting on it. Curiosity laced her words as she asked, "You're wearing the same expression you had when we had to put Dora down."

Jungkook offered a rueful smile, reminded of their first horse, and said, "Not really, just thinking about a few things. Where's your husband?"

She glanced towards the hall where you and Wonwoo were dancing. "He's near the chocolate fountain with the kids."

Jungkook let out a dry chuckle. "Do you ever think that you're raising two kids, not just one?"

Joonhee smiled and nodded. "Every day."

A comfortable silence settled between them as they both leaned against the railing, watching the two of you dancing inside the hall. Eventually, Joonhee began to speak, her words filled with wisdom. "I've learned in life that if something doesn't work out, it means something better is waiting around the corner. You just have to be patient."

Jungkook clicked his tongue and voiced his doubts. "Sometimes certain things don't get better with time. They always take a part of you with them, and you're left incomplete, no matter what you do to fill the void."

Joonhee offered her perspective. "Then maybe you're filling that void with the wrong things." Both of them turned their gaze towards you and Wonwoo, who were concluding your dance.

"Remember when Eleanor left, oppa?" Joonhee hummed, her thoughts drifting back. "He was nothing but an empty shell, always working, never laughing, and not even attending the same places as she did. I hated her for what she did." She turned to Jungkook. "But that didn't stop you, did it?"

Jungkook shrugged, nonchalantly. "I can't be bothered about her. Her husband is an important client of my firm, and you know how it works. We don't really have a choice."

Joonhee nodded thoughtfully. "Look at him now. You know, Jungkook, things do get better with time. But if you find something you really want, then you have to fight for it."

Jungkook questioned with a hint of uncertainty, "What if fighting makes it worse?"

"Then let it go," Joonhee advised. "If it's meant to be, it will be." They watched as you and Wonwoo concluded your dance, finding solace in the knowledge that sometimes, life had its own way of bringing better things when least expected.

As the final notes of the music filled the air, you and Wonwoo came to a graceful stop, and the room erupted in applause.

.......

As the night wore on and the party grew livelier, the atmosphere became even more festive after the dinner. You had just sent Noel home and Wonwoo was engrossed in conversation with some old college friends, their laughter echoing from the other side of the room. you found yourself near the bar, waiting for your drink. From amidst the crowd, you spotted a familiar face approaching, and a smile of recognition crossed your lips as he stood in front of you.

"It's been a while," he said as he slid next to you.

You nodded and replied, "Three years, I suppose. How have you been, Mr. Choi?"

Seungcheol grinned, "Y/n, please. I thought we were friends." He tilted his head, and you nodded in agreement.

"I've been good, just returned from Denmark," you told him.

"I see. And how's Mr. and Mrs. Choi?" he asked.

"Same old, playing the Cupid," you replied, and both of you shared a laugh.

"I would say you could relate, but here you are, married, leaving your comrade all alone," he said with a mock frown.

"Oh, come on. You know there was a limit to how far we could keep up the ruse. My mother caught on before the third date," you reminded him.

Wonwoo couldn't help but smile as he took a sip from his glass, listening to his friend's humorous recollection of their past swimming adventures, including the infamous incident where they had stolen his clothes, leaving him standing naked. However, his laughter concealed as His gaze wandered around the room and eventually landed on you, near the bar, sharing a hearty laugh at something Seungcheol had just said. Wonwoo's eyes were fixed on you, his brow furrowed in thought as he tried to place where he had seen Seungcheol before.

He watched as you laughed freely with someone else, your joy radiating from you like a warm glow. A tinge of unease settled in his chest as he realized that he couldn't easily divert his attention from the sight of you both having such a good time together.

"That's a cute kid," Seungcheol commented as you showed him pictures of Noel from Jeonghan's wedding. "Wow, so that's Jeonghan and Victor you were telling me about?"

You nodded and locked your phone. He raised an eyebrow, seemingly remembering something. "And what about that friend of yours, what's her name?"

"Noella," you assisted.

"Yes, what about her?"

You cleared your throat and informed him with a sad smile, "She and her husband passed away in a car accident two years ago."

A look of remorse flashed in Seungcheol's deep, dark eyes. "My sincere condolences, Y/n. I didn't know."

You smiled, saying, "It's alright, just life, you know."

He nodded in agreement, and a moment of silence passed between the two of you. Seungcheol then picked up his glass and said, "Well, I wasn't going to make it tonight, but I was curious to meet the man who managed to sweep you off your feet. Where is he?"

Before you could answer, Wonwoo's voice sounded from behind. "Why don't you meet him yourself?" You turned, slightly surprised, to find Wonwoo standing beside you, emitting a slightly intimidating vibe while keeping his eyes trained on Seungcheol.

You tried to break the stare-down, saying, "Seungcheol oppa, meet Jeon Wonwoo, my husband." You grabbed Wonwoo's arm and continued, "Wonwoo, this is Choi Seongcheol, you must have heard of him, Choi Motors and Tyres."

Wonwoo frowned and shook his head, saying, "Nah, doesn't ring a bell." You gave him a wide-eyed look, shocked by his response.

Seungcheol just laughed and reassured, "Y/n, maybe we have to work harder to reach the tall towers," extending his hand for Wonwoo to shake.

Wonwoo's hand was still in his pocket, and you dug your nails into his bicep. He reluctantly took his hand out of his pocket and gave a tight grip and shake. Seungcheol raised an eyebrow, saying, "It's a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Jeon."

Wonwoo replied, "Likewise. May I know how you know my wife?"

Seungcheol explained, "Y/n and I go way back. Our mothers are friends, and they decided to set us up together. So, we used to date."

"Fake date," you corrected.

Seungcheol teased, "Really, it was real for me." He felt Wonwoo's grip tighten, but he was enjoying making the man squirm. "Our mothers set us up to save the hassle, so we'd say we were on dates when, in truth, we'd just meet for 4-6 minutes and then part ways."

You chuckled as you continued, "Then, oppa had to leave for Denmark, and that's that."

"Tch, if not, you'd be Mrs. Choi today," he said with feigned remorse, further provoking Wonwoo. Wonwoo's smirk grew as he clenched his jaw.

He took his right hand out of his pocket, which was brushing your side. You released your grip on his arm and rested on your hand side, As he wrapped an arm around your waist, a little lower on the hip. You gave him a quizzical look.

"Then I should treat my mother-in-law better for being so quick-witted," he remarked.

"Wonwoo, did you know—" you began, but he cut you off.

"Y/n, Dad said he was leaving. Do you want to see him off?"

You felt a slight irritation flare within you as he cut you off, but you masked it with a smile, nodded, and turned to Seongcheol.

"It was so nice catching up with you, Oppa. If you're here for a while, why don't you come to our house? I'm sure it would be fun."

"Ah, I wish, but I have to fly back in a few days. But it was nice seeing you again, Mr. Jeon," Seongcheol said.

"Mr. Cho."

"Congratulations on your marriage and 75 years of L/N's."

"Thank you, Oppa."

Seongcheol looked at Wonwoo and advised, "Take care of this one; she can be a little feisty."

Wonwoo responded, "You don't say." With that, Seongcheol turned and left with a smile on his face.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Wonwoo turned to you and said, "Funny man. So, how many more have you fake-dated?"

You gave him a glare. "What was that?"

He looked down at you, confused. "What was what?"

"How many have I fake-dated before Seongcheol oppa?"

"Oh, now he's your oppa," Wonwoo mumbled.

"I can't believe this, Rude bastard" you muttered, shaking your head as you walked away from him. He glanced at your retreating figure and asked Himself, "Was I really that rude?"

.........

It was 2 am by the time you both reached home, your whole body aching from standing all evening. Adding fuel to the fire was Wonwoo, who still lingered around you. You managed to give him a little cold shoulder, still pissed at how he cut you off and treated your guest and asked that question. You never asked him how many women he indulged in, now did you?

As you were about to shut the door, a hand stopped it. "This is my room too," he said matter-of-factly.

"Right," you replied as you picked up the phone you threw on the bed. You were about to leave when he stopped you.

"Y/n, don't be like that. Come on, baby."

"Don't 'baby' me. Why did you have to act like some territorial brute, as if I have—"

"I know, I'm sorry. I just… I don't know, I didn't like seeing you laughing with another man. It pissed me off, okay?"

You raised your brows, pressing your lips into a thin line. "So, can I ask you if I do that as a profession? Fake date people? Do you even know what it feels like to have someone always nagging on top of your head, huh? With another shit-ton of things going on in life?" Your voice fell an octave.

"I know, baby. I'm sorry. It's just… fuck, I was just so pissed that I don't know what got over me, and I said that. I was just jealous."

You turned to him. "Would you forgive me if I admit I was?" He looked like a kicked puppy, and your anger radiated off of you.

You both walked back to your bedroom. Wonwoo's knees hit the edge of the bed as he plopped down, looking up at you. You gave him a knowing look, teasing, "How jealous?"

You placed your knees between his legs, pressing your kneecap against his groin. A soft hiss escaped his lips. He admitted, "So jealous that I wanted to take you right there in front of all those people. The moment you walked down those stairs, I couldn't believe my luck, that I am married to you."

You felt your heart quicken, and the familiar fire ignited within you. Slowly, you reached to remove the pin holding your hair in a half updo, letting your hair cascade down. You were about to take off your earrings when he stopped you, saying, "Leave them on."

He grabbed your hips, making you take a step back with one foot on the bed, causing you to fall back down. He pulled you to straddle his lap. Both of you leaned in, and your lips brushed against each other. You grabbed the back of his head and jerked it back, teasingly saying, "Nuh-uh."

You got off his lap and walked to the dressing table, settling down on the plush chair.

You gestured with your fingers in a "come hither" motion. On your command, Wonwoo discarded his suit jacket, tossing it somewhere in the room. He walked over to where you were sitting. When he was just two steps away, you raised your hand to halt him in his tracks, and he stopped.

"On your knees," you ordered.

"Y/N," he warned.

You raised your brows, taunting him. "So you don't want your forgiveness?"

He hesitated. You repeated your command, "Come here to me on your knees, Wonwoo, or I'll leave the room."

Without missing a beat, he dropped to his knees and took the remaining two steps, bringing him between your parted legs. A glimpse of your panties was visible from the slightly hiked slit in your dress. Wonwoo licked his lips and swallowed as he knelt before you.

Once he was on his knees between your legs, his hands reached to touch your thighs.

"Did I say you can touch me?" you asked.

"You're playing with fire," he threatened.

"Why, are you afraid of being extinguished?"

"Open my shoes," you demanded.

His eyes were burning with desire, but equally aroused and dilated. His hands reached your feet, and you raised your feet as the shoes fell with a thud, the relief of finally removing them washing over you.

Wonwoo brought your ankle near his mouth and bit on the Achilles tendon, making you hiss.

"Show me how sorry you are," you breathed out. His hands gripped your thighs to pull you to the edge of the seat.

"Tch, no hands," you commanded.

"How will I?" he asked.

"That's not my problem," you replied.

He removed his hands from your thighs and gripped the sides of the chair's cushion, his knuckles turning white as he slowly kissed his way up from your calves to your inner thighs, biting, kissing, and licking until he reached your panties. He took a whiff, rubbed his nose, and muffled, "How will I remove them?"

Your excitement was building, evident in your soaked panties. You condescended, leering down at him, "Foolish man can't even do this much alone."

Suddenly, he gave a hot lick and a soft bite on your labia, making you jolt and yelp. You grabbed his hair and pulled him away, a smug smile on his lips. "You think you're funny, huh?" Your chest heaved. "Just couldn't resist," he said with feigned innocence. You clenched your jaw and leaned back.

Your back was against the dressing table, and your feet, previously resting next to his thighs, were now pressing against his bulging, aroused crotch. You pressed your heels into him, making him hiss, and rubbed them up and down with slight pressure. Cocking your head to the side, you asked, "Don't you think you were a little out of line just now?"

His eyes slightly shut, enjoying the sensation, he responded with a low hum. You pressed harder for an answer.

"I'm sorry," he admitted.

"But I don't feel like you're sorry, darling."

You halted your actions and slowly bunched the dress around your waist. "Use your teeth."

On your command, Wonwoo leaned in and bit the side hem of your thong as you raised your hips to slide it down your feet.

"Now, here's your chance for redemption. Make it like you mean it."

Without further ado, Wonwoo gripped the cushion in a vice grip and delved into your bundle of nerves, exploring every nook and corner with his tongue and small bites. Your hands grabbed his hair, and you pushed him further in, your labored breaths and gasps echoing in the room.

One of your legs hiked up on his shoulder. "Fuck… ahhh… Won… Wonuuu…"

He continued with an unforgiving pace, your hips automatically trying to ride his face. The familiar tension started building in your womb, and you threw your head back, jaw slack. Your body and senses succumbed to the pleasure as the orgasm finally consumed you, with chants of his name leaving your lips. You came down from your high, panting.

Wonwoo felt a surge of pride course through him. It was his name on your lips, and your release belonged to him. He had been a fool to let a petty thought ruin the mood, but now he understood the beauty of redemption.

After you finally calmed down, he looked up at you and said, "Am I forgiven, baby?"

You nodded and teased, "Can I touch you now?"

"That's not how you ask for permission, Wonu," you playfully chided, "Do I have to give you a special etiquette class?"

He shook his head in response and corrected himself, "Can I please touch you?"

"Yes, you may," you granted him permission.

Without a second thought, he sprang to his feet, pulling you up from your seat. He captured your lips in a feverish kiss as his hands reached for your zipper. The dress pooled at your feet, and your hands were busy undressing him. You threw his coat and belt aside, opened his shirt, and then dealt with his pants as his hands touched and groped every part of you.

He was throbbing painfully as your hands grabbed him, rubbing along his slit. He sat on the bed and pulled you to straddle his lap, raising your hips as you rubbed his head against your lips. You slowly descended down on his length, both of you moaning together. Your hips matched each other's pace as you rode him, and the pleasure was overwhelming.

Your hair was sticking to your back as you reached to gather it into a makeshift ponytail. The earrings and necklace were the only accessories adorning you. He groped and sucked on your nipples, rolling his tongue around them and grazing with his thumb while the other hand played with the other.

You reached your other hand down and gave his balls a squeeze, eliciting a loud moan from him. "FUCK, Y/N," he exclaimed as he looked up at you, an enticing sight for his eyes.

"Not so soon," you panted. But he was desperate and wanted more. You fiddled with his balls, letting go of your hair, and pushed him back onto the bed. You began to ride him vigorously.

Even in the midst of overwhelming pleasure, he couldn't close his eyes. Your hips picked up the pace, and your chests matched the rhythm. He couldn't tear his eyes away from your neck, which was adorned with the expensive necklace he had gifted you, worth every million.

Your hands gave him another squeeze, and his release shot up. "Will you cut me off again?" you commanded.

Wonwoo shook his head in desperation. "No, no, never, never," he declared, his hips chasing the final ropes of pleasure.

He reached for the back of your head and brought your lips to his, your chests pressed tightly against each other. His thrusts chased the climax. "You fuck me like this and then question why I get jealous when another man tries to come close to you? How would you feel if some other woman tried flirting with me?" He gasped against your lips, and you bit down on his lips, tasting a slight tinge of copper.

"That's just wishful thinking, darling," you retorted, "as if you'd even desire another woman after getting fucked by me." You clenched around him, his now softening dick, making him gasp as your pleasure overtook you.

Wonwoo couldn't help but agree, realizing that you couldn't be more right.

.........

.........

2 Months Later

You were sitting in the living area, waiting anxiously for Noel and Wonwoo to return from their baseball game with your father-in-law. The news you had learned that morning had your heart racing and your palms sweaty. You couldn't help but feel jittery as you waited.

Finally, Noel and Wonwoo walked in, and to your shock, they had a puppy with them. You looked at both of them with a puzzled expression, "What is this?"

Wonwoo appeared confused and asked, "What? This little furball?"

You huffed, "Yes, that golden retriever puppy."

"Oh, come on, Y/N, don't be like that. That's Noel," Wonwoo replied, trying to explain.

A chorus of "hey" came from the boy, who was now playing with the little golden retriever pup. You glared at Wonwoo, crossed your arms, and tilted your head to the side, clearly displeased.

Noel began, "On our way back, we saw a woman putting this puppy litter on the road. She was giving them away because her dog died while giving birth, and she couldn't raise them all alone. So she was giving them to whoever wanted to take them."

You scowled at Wonwoo and retorted, "You could have asked me first, you know."

He defended their decision, "Yeah, that would have ruined the surprise."

Wonwoo then took the pup in his hands and held it up in front of his face, using a fake cute voice, "Don't you think I'm cute?"

You looked down at Noel, who was giving you the same puppy-dog eyes as the actual puppy. He pleaded, "I promise I'll take care of him. I'll take him for walks, feed him on time, and even give him a bath, I promise."

Wonwoo chimed in, "He promised."

You sighed and continued to examine the dog, lowering yourself to its eye level. You extended your hand for it to smell, and it automatically started licking your hand. You looked up and inquired, "Did you at least get him checked by the vet and have him registered for vaccines and stuff?" Your tone was laced with a warning.

Wonwoo hesitated, avoiding eye contact, and a sense of guilt washed over him.

But before you could press further, Noel interjected with enthusiasm, "Of course, we did, Dad and I took him to the vet, and I've even named him."

"So, what did you name him?" You looked at Wonwoo and then at Noel, curiosity in your eyes.

Wonwoo began, "Well, I first suggested Tony, you know, after Tony Stark—"

"But then he kind of reminded me of Baden," Noel interrupted. The pup gave a yelp, as if responding, and Noel continued, "He liked it, see? He even responds to it. So I named him Baden."

You and Wonwoo exchanged a knowing glance. You had informed Noel about Baden's passing in an accident and had made sure his funeral was well taken care of. However, you refrained from attending, choosing instead to pay your respects a week later.

You gave Noel a tight smile and reached to take the dog from your husband's arms, raising him to your eye level. "So you are Baden," you mused. The little puppy wagged his tail and stuck out his tongue, letting out a small bark. "But I'm going to call him Denny," Noel innocently added. You silently approved, knowing that you'd likely be calling the dog's name at some point, and you didn't want to summon the spirit of Baden Bulavia inadvertently.

"Then welcome to the family, Baden. I hope you take good care of my son," you said to the puppy. As if understanding every word, the little dog turned his head to the side, listening intently.

With a nod of satisfaction, you sent Noel off to take a shower and asked Ahjumma to buy some milk and puppy diapers. You couldn't deny the cuteness of the new addition, but you had no intentions of cleaning up after his mess on your new carpets and bedding.

"Wonwoo, we need to talk," you said, your voice carrying the weight of seriousness. Wonwoo, who was in the middle of sharing details about the game, immediately stopped speaking. He could sense the gravity in your tone. Following your lead, he walked to his ground-floor office.

Upon entering, you closed the door behind you. adorned with rich mahogany bookshelves, stuffed with leather-bound books, and filled with the intoxicating scent of Paper and Tobacco. Files were meticulously arranged on the desk, and a sleek laptop sat at its center, the flickering screen casting a bluish glow on the polished wooden surface.

"Y/n, if it's about the dog, then I'm sorry. I know I should have informed you, but I couldn't say no to Noel and -"

Your heart was racing, and his rambling only made it worse. You fiddled with your wedding ring, taking quick breaths.

"…and I know you don't like surprises. If you want, then I guess I'll return it back."

"Wonwoo, I'm pregnant!" you blurted out in a quick breath.

As soon as the words left your mouth, all the rambling died in Wonwoo's throat. His mouth opened and closed like a goldfish, and all the switches in his brain seemed to go off. The world slowed down around him, and anxious anticipation coursed through his veins. In a whispered tone, punctuating each word, he asked, "You are what?" His eyes widened, and his eyebrows almost touched his forehead.

"Well, for the past few days, I was feeling kinda queasy, and my periods were late. I went to the doctor earlier when you both were at the game because I wasn't sure, considering the uterine device…"

Wonwoo took a step towards you, and you continued, "The doctor ran some tests, and… I am four weeks pregnant."

You kept your gaze on your hands as you spoke. When you felt Wonwoo's hand on your shoulder, you raised your head to see him. His eyes glistened with unshed tears, and your eyes welled up as well. "You are pregnant," he said, his voice trembling towards the end. "We are going to have a child, a baby."

A sense of doubt arose in his voice as he asked, "Are you unhappy?"

"Are you kidding me? I am the happiest man on Earth right now," he said and picked you up, spinning you around. You laughed and playfully slapped his shoulder. He halted his spinning to look into your eyes.

"We can't tell anyone, at least for the next two months."

"But—"

"No 'buts.' I just don't want to jinx it."

He looked a bit dejected but understood your point. "But we should at least tell the housekeeper to be extra careful and Noel that he's going to be an elder brother now."

A smile faded from your face, and Wonwoo gently put you down, cupping your face in his hands. "What's wrong?"

"It's just… I don't want other people's malice to affect Noel. You know how they talk behind our backs, and what if Noel feels neglected and hates it."

"My love, Noel is a very wise and smart boy who knows that no matter what, your love for him and his place in your heart will always be irreplaceable, okay?"

Bending down to your eye level, Wonwoo kissed your forehead and then your cheeks. "You have no idea how happy I feel right now. I can't wait to hold her."

You furrowed your brows and looked up at him. "How do you know it's a 'her'?"

"Call it a father's instinct," he said, and you rolled your eyes, letting out a sarcastic laugh. "Load of shit."

"What—" He laughed. "You don't believe me. You'll see. The way she managed to dodge the uterine device with her resilience and stubbornness, there are no other arguments but to think it's a girl. Just like her mother." You pinched his hip. "Ouch! Haha."

He embraced you tightly, taking a step back to hold your chin between his thumb, bending down, and getting lost in a heartfelt kiss.

.......

Later that night, after dinner, Wonwoo went and told the housekeeper and Noel's nanny that you were expecting and to be extra careful with you, not even allowing you to step into the kitchen. And signing off that if this information goes outside he will know who leaked it.

The room was painted in shades of red and gold, resembling an Iron Man theme room. Beddings, action figures, and toy cars lined the shelves, creating an exciting atmosphere. The door was left open, and Wonwoo leaned against it, watching as Noel sat on his bed, ready to sleep. He was reading a book to Denny, the pup, who sat on his stomach with a diaper on, listening attentively.

"Hey, bud, got a minute," Wonwoo called.

"Oh, Dad, come in," Noel responded, looking up from his book.

Wonwoo sat on the side of the bed near the bedside table and wrapped his arms around Noel's shoulder. The pup jumped onto Wonwoo's lap, and his hands instinctively started petting the soft fur.

"What are you reading there?" he asked, pointing to the book.

"The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse."

"Hmm, that's deep stuff," Wonwoo remarked.

"So did you have fun today?" he asked.

"Yeah, it was fun. By the way," Noel turned his body to face his dad, "does Grandpa get that excited about every match like that?"

Wonwoo snorted and said, "Pretty much, yeah. He used to be like that when I played in college."

"You played baseball in college?" Noel looked curious.

Wonwoo nodded. "Do you like any sports?" he asked.

"Well," Noel started, thinking for a moment, "I like horse riding, but baseball is cool too."

"Anything else?" Wonwoo suggested.

"Hmm, football. Uncle JJ told me that he and my father used to play football together sometimes."

"Football, huh? If you want, you can play too. JK is really into football. I'll ask him if he knows any good clubs."

"No, it's okay, my school has a team," Noel added.

"So, I wanted to talk to you about something," he cleared his throat and started. "Tante wants me to return Denny."

"What? No, she doesn't. The thing is, you're going to be an older brother."

"How?"

"Please don't make me give you a birds and bees talk right now; I am not prepared."

"Do you mean Tante is going to have a baby?"

"How do you know this?"

"We were taught in Moral and Physical Ed class about good touch and bad touch. They also told us how babies come in their mom's stomach."

Wonwoo felt it was best that he left this conversation to You. "Right."

"Yeah, when a man and a woman come together, and—"

"Got it, bud. Yes, we made a baby." Wonwoo cleared his throat at the end of the sentence.

"But I just wanted to talk about you being an older brother now. So, you're going to have a lot of responsibility and have to look out for your sibling and grow taller and stronger."

He closed his eyes and started again. "Noel," Wonwoo breathed. "There are going to be times when people's opinions grow a vicious voice in our heads and make you feel bad about yourself and other things. I just want you to know that even though we are not related by blood, you will always be a special part of our hearts. So, no matter what people say, you will always be our son. We will always love you, okay? So whenever you feel like that, you can come and talk to us, hmm?"

Wonwoo gave a reassuring squeeze on Noel's shoulder, and the boy wrapped his small arms around his ribs, hugging him and nodding against his chest. Wonwoo smiled and looked down, caressing his back, then kissed him on the top of his head. They realized they were almost squishing the pup between them when a small bark interrupted their moment. Parting, Wonwoo said, "I still think we should've gone with Noel Jr."

"DADDDD!!" Noel whined, making Wonwoo laugh. "Okay, okay."

........

........

In the cold, sterile jail visitor cell, Nikolia sat on one side of a thick glass partition, separated from his lawyer, who occupied the other side. They conversed through old, scratched telephones affixed to the wall.

Nikolia appeared unkempt and disheveled, with wild, devilish hair, dark eye bags, and an unruly beard. His wrists were encircled by handcuffs, a constant reminder of his current predicament.

“What do you mean my appeal got fucking canceled?” Nikolia growled, his frustration evident in his every word.

His lawyer, a man in his 50s with thinning hair, closed his eyes for a moment, collecting his thoughts before explaining, "It hasn't been canceled, Nikolia. It has been taken for further consideration."

“Then how much time will they need for consideration, huh? What do I feed you for? Fifteen years you've worked for me, and this is the best you could do, you pathetic fat pig.”

The lawyer sighed, realizing he had to tread carefully. “Nikolia, I understand your frustration, but you've been charged with four murders—three of your own family members—and other illegal arms trade activities. This led to the cancellation of our license as well. If that were not enough, you gave death threats to Jeon's daughter-in-law. They have everyone in their pockets.”

“I DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK WHO THAT BITCH HAS IN HER POCKETS. I AM NIKOLIA BULAVIA!! WHERE ARE THOSE PIMP-ASS FAMILIAS, HUH? DO THEY WANT ME TO OPEN MY MOUTH?”

The lawyer leaned closer, his voice hushed. “I'd suggest you keep your voice down and mouth shut about the Familia. They are already waiting for you to make a move so they can pull the trigger. If you want to stay alive, then stay put and mind your own business.”

Before Nikolia could unleash another tirade, the line emitted a beep, signaling the end of their call. An officer approached to escort Nikolia back to his cell, but he jerked his hand away defiantly, muttering, “I can walk on my own.”

The lawyer sighed heavily and went to sit in the waiting area. His phone suddenly rang, and his hands trembled as he glanced at the caller ID. Without wasting a second, he brought the phone to his ear.

"Yes, boss."

A deep, gravelly voice came from the other end, inquiring, "How was the meeting? How did that bastard look?"

"Very miserable, sir. He kept whining about how no one would help him, but he threatened to take the Familias down with him."

The man on the other end burst into a hearty laugh. "Let him suffer. That's what he gets when he underestimates the Knoxes. And if he makes even a slight squeak, you know what to do next, don't you?"

"Yes—yes, sir."

As the two men engaged in their conversation, a breaking news story flashed across the television screen.

"ACCORDING TO OUR WITNESSES, DURING THE PRIME MINISTER ELECTION, THE DEVELOPMENT MINISTER AND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OF CANDIDATE LEE HYUN JOON, WIFE OF CONGRESSMAN LEE JOON SUK'S WIFE, ELEANOR LEE WHO WAS ACCOMPANYING HER FATHER-IN-LAW AND HUSBAND DURING THE RALLY WENT INTO LABOR A MONTH EARLY AND NOW HAS BEEN BLESSED WITH A BABY BOY," the news anchor reported.

The old woman nodded approvingly, her fingers interlaced in her lap. "Aigoo, such a considerate young lady," she mused.

The woman next to her, also engrossed in the broadcast, chimed in, "Their party has always been very family-oriented."

"You're right," the old woman replied, her voice filled with admiration. "They hold these values very dear. I guess he is a very promising candidate to vote for."

The two women continued to watch the news, their discussions about the Lee family, and their commitment to their political party.

.........

.........

3 Months later

The morning sun streamed into the lavish living room of your mansion, casting a warm and inviting glow. The day after Christmas had left remnants of the holiday festivities scattered all around. The majestic Christmas tree stood tall and proud, adorned with twinkling lights and ornaments, while the couch was strewn with colorful gift wrappers that had been torn apart in excitement.

You sat comfortably on the couch, legs tucked beneath a cozy blanket, taking in the cheerful chaos of the room. It was around 9 am, and beside you, Noel was still engrossed in unwrapping his birthday and Christmas gifts. This year was extra special as it marked your first Christmas after getting married, and it was also your beloved son's birthday.

You had decided to host a family gathering along with some of Noel's school friends, and the festive spirit lingered. However,. Jeonghan and Victor were celebrating the holidays with Victor's family, and Rachel was settling into her role as the new COO of Fareed in Switzerland.

Surprisingly, Jungkook had also missed the gathering. He had to rush to Zurich due to an emergency meeting with a client, leaving his mother inquisitive.

Noel continued to tear through the gift wrappers with enthusiasm, his excitement evident in the smile on his face. Amidst the chaos of wrapping paper, Denny was indulging in a game of peek-a-boo, occasionally popping out from beneath the torn remnants of gift wrap.

Despite your best efforts to keep your pregnancy a secret from family and friends, your husband Wonwoo seemed to be on high alert at all times. You weren't showing yet, and your choice of loose-fitting clothing helped maintain the illusion. However, subtlety appeared to be a foreign concept to him.

Wonwoo's protective nature was on full display, as he doggedly hovered around you, rarely venturing more than a few meters away. His concern for your well-being was unwavering, and he had a tendency to ask the same questions repeatedly. Whether it was inquiring about your comfort, worrying if someone was pressuring you to do something, or making sure you weren't on your feet too much, Wonwoo's vigilance, love, and care for you were unmistakable, even if his overprotectiveness sometimes bordered on comical.

During a conversation with Sunmi and your mother, Sunmi couldn't resist making a comment. "Have you gained weight?" she inquired, her eyes traveling up and down your figure.

You took a nonchalant sip of your hot chocolate, the smell of meat and eggs making your stomach churn. Even though these foods were essential for the baby's development, they had become almost unbearable. Wonwoo had made it his daily mission to ensure you ate at least one boiled egg before he left for work.

"Maybe I haven't checked," you responded with a hint of indifference.

Sunmi let go of the subject with a simple, "Hmm." However, your mother-in-law continued to eye you for the remainder of the evening, her eyes revealing a knowing glint. It felt like she knew your secret, and you couldn't help but think of her loose-lipped palm tree wannabe son.

"I'm going to tell them next week anyway," you thought, as you and Wonwoo had already confirmed the baby's health, assuring a healthy heartbeat.

Noel was over the moon with excitement ever since you'd shared the news with him. He would often come to the master bedroom to tell stories to the baby and inquire about its current fruit size. Sometimes, he'd fall asleep on your bed while Denny, who had become his inseparable companion, would curl up by your feet.

As Wonwoo entered the living room with two cups in his hands, he handed you the decaffeinated coffee. You offered your gratitude with a mumbled "Thank you, baby," and he leaned down to give you a quick peck on the lips. In a hushed tone, he whispered, "No worries, love," against your lips.

He then picked up Denny and settled down on the couch, the dog hopping from his lap to yours. Your nails naturally scratched the top of Denny's head while Noel nestled comfortably between the two of you.

"Noel, who's this from?" you asked as he was eagerly tearing into another gift.

"Nana and Pop's," he replied, his eyes filled with excitement as he managed the last rip of the wrapping paper. When he finally unveiled the gift, he exclaimed, "Cool, a hoverboard!" You and Wonwoo exchanged smiles. "Your parents will spoil him with gifts like these."

"My parents? Yours gave him a PS5 and a new tablet," you countered and smiled. When Noel asked, "Mom, can I go and try this out?" you felt a sudden shiver down your spine as if someone had paused you in the moment. "What—" you spluttered, "What did you just call me?"

"Mom," Noel looked a bit confused at your reaction. "Did you not like it? But Somi and my other friends said yesterday that since you're my godmother, I can call you 'Mom' too. I already call Dad 'Dad.' Should I not call you that?" His anxiousness peeked through his nonchalant tone.

Your eyes began to water as an overwhelming feeling washed over you. You set the cup aside and enveloped the boy in your arms. "Of course, you can, baby boy," you assured him, kissing the side of his head. "Go try the new gift." Noel eagerly unboxed the hoverboard and ran out, with Denny following closely behind. You shouted after him, "Don't forget to wear the protective gear! Mrs. Tham, please make sure he does that."

Your tearful eyes met Wonwoo's, and he approached, pulling you into his chest. "How are you feeling?" he asked, gently rubbing your arms in light traces.

"Not sure," you replied. "I feel happy as well as guilty. This was the third birthday without his parents. Every day he grows up, I'm grateful to witness it, but I feel bad that Noella and Joshua aren't able to. I hope wherever they are, they're proud of their boy. I still can't believe that he turned 8 yesterday."

Wonwoo didn't say anything, content in simply listening to you speak your heart.

He set his cup down and gently placed his hand on your now slightly protruding stomach. In the past, when you'd sleep together, his hands were wrapped around your waist or ribs. But now, he would sleep with his hand slipped under your t-shirt or nightdress, his palm resting on your stomach.

"I sometimes think about what would've happened if I'd let you walk out of the office that day," he began, his eyes slightly cloudy as he reminisced the moment.

"What do you conclude from it?" you asked.

"That I would curse myself until the day I die," he replied. He nudged you. "What about you?"

You tightened your grip around him and replied, "I don't know. I don't like to think of a future where you're not with me."

"My goodness, Mrs. Jeon, from where do you conjure these lines of flattery?" he teased. You looked up, your eyes finding his.

"A place different from where you get your corny ones," you retorted.

"Come on, they can't be that bad."

"Have you heard yourself when you speak, old man?"

"You make me sound like I'm ancient."

You just laughed and nuzzled your nose into his chest as he traced light circles on your stomach. Then, you mentioned, "Eleanor had a baby boy. People were talking about it yesterday."

"Yes, I heard. Good for her, I suppose," he replied.

"Hmm, maybe we should send them something."

"No need," he replied quickly, and you fell into a few minutes of silence. Then, you thought out loud, "Yesterday, I feel like your mother caught on to the pregnancy."

"How come? I was sure I was discreet about it." You moved out of his arms and looked at him with slightly raised brows. "Were you? Are you sure?"

"Okay, I may or may not have gone a little overboard with the concern," you confessed.

You moved closer and planted a kiss in the corner of his lips. "It's alright. We'll tell them on Saturday either way. I can't wait for the advice and Mama Bear mode overload."

Wonwoo laughed and leaned down to capture your lips in his. The pecks turned into kisses, and the kisses turned into a full-blown makeout session. Suddenly, Wonwoo got up from the couch.

"What's wrong?" you asked.

"Too many eyes," he replied, referring to the housekeeper and a staff member moving around in the kitchen, cleaning up the aftermath of yesterday's party. He then carried your bridal style to the master bedroom.

.........

.........

2 years later

Nestled in the outskirts of the city was nothing short of a luxurious paradise. It offered a 5-star experience, with its stunning landscapes that overlooked the entire city. The sprawling pool glistened under the sun, surrounded by lush greenery and pristine gardens, creating an atmosphere of opulence and relaxation.

The gathering was nothing short of grand, with everyone in attendance. The Jeon family, your own family, and all your dear friends had come together to celebrate a special occasion. Jeonghan and Victor joined the festivities, their newly adopted newborn son, Yuri, cradled in their arms.

As you looked at Noel, now a little older, you could see that he was growing more and more into his mother's features and his father's personality. His mischievous grin was reminiscent of the happiness Wonwoo had shown when the doctor revealed that you were expecting a daughter.

Iris, your little girl, was nestled comfortably in Wonwoo's arms. Her bright eyes held a sense of wonder as you held both of the children's hands. Together, you cut the ribbon to Oasis, marking the grand entrance to the celebration. The entrance was a perfect blend of grandeur and hospitality, adorned with an array of paintings representing different cultures.

As the gathering and welcoming ceremony continued inside the grand resort, you decided to take a quiet walk outside. You strolled along a serene pathway near a pond, where you noticed a duck entangled in some branches. Determined to help, you crossed a picturesque bridge and carefully reached out to free the distressed bird.

Lost, you didn't hear Wonwoo approaching. He found you engaged in a scene that felt oddly familiar – much like the first time he saw you. The duck pecked at your hand, and you assured it with a soothing voice, "Just a moment, I'm almost done." With a gentle touch, you managed to free the duck, watching it swim away to safety. As you took a step back, you collided with a sturdy chest, and when you looked up, your eyes met Wonwoo's warm gaze, accompanied by a contented smile.

"When did you get here? I didn't hear any noise," you asked, puzzled by his silent approach.

Wonwoo chuckled softly. "Well, some years ago, a little girl told me I should walk softly or else I might scare them."

Your eyes widened as he continued with a story from your past. "Then I asked her why she was helping them even if they were hurting her."

The girl, it appeared, had a wise reply. "Sometimes people who are hurt say or do harsh things because they don't know how to ask for help."

With realization dawning upon you, you gasped and covered your mouth. "You were that tall boy with the emo fringe haircut."

Wonwoo grinned and admitted, "Ouch, but yes, it was me."

The newfound knowledge left you surprised. "So the first time we met wasn't at my parents' place?"

He shook his head, confirming your suspicions. "And how long have you known this?"

"Since the moment I saw your picture on my desk," he replied, the affection in his eyes evident.

A gentle breeze ruffled your hair, and Wonwoo tucked a loose strand behind your ear. He then looked deep into your eyes and spoke from the heart, "I must have done something good in my life that lead me to you."

Moved by his words, you closed your eyes, savoring the warmth of his hand on yours, and let out a contented sigh. "You know, Wonwoo, if someone were to ask me today if I would endure everything all over again if it meant it would lead me to you and our kids, I would say yes a thousand times over. Because you made me believe that maybe I can be loved too, or maybe I was born just to be loved by you."

In the grand tapestry of the universe, where the stars align in intricate patterns and destinies are etched before birth, finding meaning in life's every task may indeed seem like an exercise in futility. But perhaps, it is precisely this realization that can bring a sense of contentment and gratitude for where life has led you at this moment.

You and Wonwoo found yourselves leaning in for a passionate kiss. Lost in the tender moment, you were suddenly interrupted by a cheerful voice.

"There they are," Jungkook's fiancee exclaimed as she approached you, cradling a crying Iris in her arms.

The baby girl was frantically looking for her parents, her babbles pleading for "mama, mama."

With a loving smile, you reached out to take Iris into your arms. "What's wrong, darling ?" Your soothing presence seemed to calm her, but she then began reaching for Wonwoo and switching to his arms with a happy cry of "dada."

With a smile on his face, Wonwoo gently took her into his arms, cradling her close. "Yes, my princess, Daddy is here," he whispered as she nuzzled her head into his neck. The tenderness between them was heartwarming, and Iris continued to babble about her brother, "El no playing."

Assuring her, Wonwoo replied, "El is not playing with you." He continued, "What is he doing?"Iris reached for her headband, as if her speech delay was due to it, and took it out, blinking at you. She threw it to the ground and finally said, "El, Denny, Somi."

"Denny, El, and Somi are playing together and not playing with you," Wonwoo telepathically reasoned with his daughter she nodded at energetically at her father’s comprehensive skills. "It's alright; Dada will play with you. Let's go meet Grandpa."

As he started to walk toward the waiting family, Wonwoo turned to you with a warm smile. He extended his hand, inviting you to join him. "Come on," he said. You took his hand, and together, you walked toward the gathering of loved ones.

Jungkook was engaged in a playful game of frisbee with the kids and Denny. He noticed your approach and waved, acknowledging his fiancee before turning his attention to you and Wonwoo. As you settled down with your family, you couldn't help but look around and bask in the contented atmosphere.

Tham took Iris into her care, where Yuri was playing. Your gaze met Jeonghan's across the space, and he raised his glass with a friendly salute, and you nodded in acknowledgment. He resumed his conversation with Joon-hee and her husband, and you turned to Jungkook's fiancee, who was standing next to you.

You struck up a conversation, asking her, "So, Rach, how's life?"

............................The End..................................................

EXTRA

Noella ascended the stairs, her thoughts meandering as Joshua was away at work. Her steps were reflective of her inner contemplation. When Noella was young, she had never understood why her parents, seemingly always fighting, and her mother, who seemed to resent her father's profession, didn't just leave. It wasn't until she reached the age of 27 that it all became clear. Sometimes, when people are in love, they can become incredibly selfish. So selfish, in fact, that they'll go to any lengths to hold onto their last vestige of hope in the harsh, unrelenting reality of life. Despite her physical resemblance to her mother, at the end of the day, she was her father's daughter, through and through.

She was deep in thought, musing over her own obliviousness to your hesitations, your puffy eyes, and your quiet demeanor when she and Joshua first started dating. Did Joshua know about her feelings or the feelings she once had for him?

Noella had been out drinking with Jeonghan, who had indulged a bit too much in alcohol. In the midst of his inebriation, he confessed that you had been in love with Joshua and proceeded to shed tears for you. It felt like her illusions were crumbling, and her beliefs were disintegrating into the vast expanse of life's infinite possibilities.

She was about to reach her room when a soft, heartwarming "Mama" halted her in her tracks. Warmth enveloped Noella's heart as she bent down and scooped up her 5-year-old son, asking, "What's wrong, honey boo?"

"I can't sleep," he pouted, nuzzling his head in the crook of her neck.

She rubbed his back gently as his small hands clung to his pillow and teddy bear. She asked, "Want to sleep with Mama tonight?" To which he nodded.

Noella entered her and Joshua's bedroom and laid down next to him, "Hey, El."

"Hmm?"

"Do you ever think that if you could have any power in the world, then what would it be?"

"I would love Flash's powers; he can run super fast, you know," Noel replied with a glint of admiration in his eyes.

Noella couldn't help but chuckle at his response. "Flash's powers, huh?"

When Noel turned the question back to her, "What about Mama?"

Noella looked at her son's curious eyes and then up at the ceiling. After a moment of contemplation, she replied, "Time travel."

"Wow, that's so cool, but why that?" Noel inquired.

Noella's thoughts were already racing, formulating an answer when, in the midst of her thoughts, she added with a tinge of melancholy, "There are a lot of regrets to undo."

"But wouldn't that change the future?" Noel asked with innocence.

"Maybe," she shrugged, "maybe that's why we can't travel back in time to fix things."

Noel's eyes were heavy with sleep as slumber finally claimed him. He mumbled, "Tante says that not everything needs fixing. Sometimes time and patience are the best friends, and everything works out for the best."

"My son, when did you become so smart, huh?" Noella whispered, her fingers gently caressing his forehead. She began to sing the lullaby her mother used to sing, a soothing melody that cradled her son into a peaceful slumber.

Que sera, sera

Whatever will be, will be

The future's not ours to see

Que sera, sera

What will be, will be

With Love,

MSH

XXX

#aquamarine #seventeen wonwoo #seventeen imagines #seventeen kpop #seventeen x reader #seventeen x you #seventeen fluff #seventeen smut #seventeenscenarios #seventeen scenarios #wonwoo fic #jeon wonwoo imagines #jeon wonwoo #wonwoo seventeen #seventeen arrange marriage au #jeon wonwoo x reader #jeon wonwoo smut #wonwoo smut #svt x reader #svthub #Thank you for loving this fic

[sweetcarolina-24]

Spoiled Little Princess

Azriel x Reader

This is an excerpt from Stargirl. Stargirl is originally Rhys's sister x Azriel in first person pov, but I changed it to second person for this post.

cw: just angst and a harsh reality check for reader

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

It had been over a year and a half since you and the boys had built the tree house. But only Azriel and you still used it.

It was a late night, your favorite time to be up there. You had chosen the highest tree, so you could see the stars out of the windows.

Azriel passed the bottle of wine you were sharing, and you sipped at it, though you were already a bit drunk.

"I hate my life," you admitted. He let out an irritated scoff. "How could you possibly hate your life?" he demanded. "You have everything." "Then why doesn't it feel like enough?" you wondered.

"Because you're a spoiled princess," he spat. Your eyes snapped to his. "I'm not a--" "You throw a tantrum when you don't get your way. You've had everything handed to you," he pointed out. "I have not," you pouted. "The worst thing that has happened to you is that you have to live in these mountains," he went on. "And your days here consist of eating breakfast, doing your lessons, having lunch, ice skating, and then eating dinner. You grew up in a castle--" "It's not a castle," you argued. "It's huge," he retorted. "You've never gone a day without three meals. You've never had a night where you weren't comfortable in a bed. Your mother loves you more than anything--" "Okay, I get it," you seethed. "I don't have a right to be dissatisfied with my life." "You have no idea how easy you have it," he realized with a scoff. "It's insane to me. You have never suffered." "Isn't that a good thing?" you snapped. "It's an incredible thing," he replied. "I'm happy that you didn't have the upbringings Cassian and I did. It's just irritating to hear you complain." "Just because I wasn't locked away in a cell for eleven years doesn't mean I can't be upset," you glared. "The other girls here hate me because I didn't have my wings clipped." "Would you rather that they did clip your wings?" he demanded. "Would you rather the life my mother had?" "Of course not," you denied, shaking your head. "But it isn't my fault they weren't clipped. So why are the girls so mean?" "Because their lives have been terrible," he snapped. "You don't realize how the other females are treated here. They don't have high status parents to shield them from abuse." "So they're jealous," you shrugged. "Of course they are," he said. "They've been tortured their entire lives, and you're this privileged little princess--" "But I don't deserve the way they treat me," you insisted, tears stinging your eyes. "I never said that," he said softly. "I just mean--"

"I don't care what you mean," you grumbled, pulling your knees to your chest.

One of his shadows came over to you and stroked your cheek, as though attempting an apology for Azriel's harsh words.

But he was right. You didn't know what it was like to truly suffer. You'd spent your life in comfortable bliss, throwing a tantrum at the slightest of inconveniences.

You just took a long sip of the wine, refusing to pass it back to Azriel.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

#acotar #acotar angst #azriel x reader #azriel x you #azriel x female!reader #azriel x oc #azriel acotar #azriel shadowsinger #light angst #acotar fanfiction #angst

[minty-mumbles]

Whumptober Day 16: "Don't go where I can't follow" (Pt. 1)

Summary: Hyrule and Wild are time travelers trying to run away from their past. They seem to be doing a pretty good job at it until they stumble across a family they don't want to leave behind. They end up leaving anyway, but unlike every other time they've left people behind, the Lon family doesn't seem content to stay in the past.

AN: This is fairly tame as far as whump goes. Mostly just emotional whump, but there is some human experimentation/slavery in the flashbacks

Read on AO3 | Part 2

~~~

“Hyrule, are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“The apple we sent forward in time is sitting in front of us.”

“Yeah.”

“Wild, we sent this forward in time a month ago.”

“Mhmm.” 

“The spell worked?”

“It worked. Hyrule!” 

“Wild! We did it!”

”Oh my gods! Are- are you-”

“The apple is still fresh! There’s no sign of rotting.”

“Are- are you feeling okay though? Not feeling woozy or anything?”

“My magic feels just fine. The spell was completely reliant on that magical battery. All I had to do was set the magic going in the right direction, and let it run. It didn’t drain anything from me at all. What about you?”

“You know I’m fine, ‘Rule. I don't have the power needed to do something like this. All I’m good for is fine-tuning. If the spell had been operating off my power, it wouldn’t have even worked in the first place.”

“...”

“I wonder what those stuck up Sheikah scientists would do if they knew?” 

“Probably try to take credit for our work. Two teenagers with magic invent a fictional time travel spell before they can? They would kill us.”

“Not funny, Hyrule.”

“I wasn’t really joking.”

“...”

“Wild, do you know what this means? Now that we know the spell works, we can leave! Well, we need to get our hands on another battery. Preferably one that won't run out of power and explode like the last one did, and who knows how long that’s going to take, but-!”

“But afterwards we can leave! We can travel back to before this gods-forsaken building was even built and just walk away. And I don’t think it’ll take us long to get a hold of a strong enough battery.”

“What do you mean?”

“I swear, you need to start paying more attention to the scientists, Hyrule.”

“That’s kind of hard to do when I’m nearly unconscious every time they finish their… experiments. It’s hard to listen to their conversations if I can’t hear anything.”

“Right, sorry.”

“It’s okay. What were you saying?”

“They found a new artifact. They’ve been testing it for a month and still haven't found the limits of its power. They think it might be regenerating the power on its own. Supposedly it’s a combination of ancient Sheikah tech and magic. They’re calling it the Sheikah Slate.”

“A self-regenerating power source? That’s almost too good to be true.”

“Yeah. So…. How long will it take you to steal it, ‘Rule?”

“Just point me in the direction of the room they’re keeping it in, and I’ll have it to you within twenty-four hours.” 

“...“

“Wipe that grin off your face, Wild!”

“Why shouldn't I be happy? We’re finally getting out!”

~~~

Wild and Hyrule.

Hyrule and Wild. 

It had always been the two of them. They were brothers. Maybe not biologically, but they had suffered and survived together, and now they were doing more than surviving. They were living. 

They traveled together, always one step ahead of harm and one spell away from safety. They were filled with a longing to explore the world, and neither of them had a reason to ignore that longing, so they simply didn’t. 

They had a thirst to see, to know, to experience, and they had the power to do all that and more at their fingertips.

It was kind of ironic that the time travel spell turned out to be so simple in the end. Hyrule provided the force behind the spell, the Slate provided the raw power, and Wild did the fine-tuning to get them exactly where and when they wanted to go. After casting the spell hundreds of times, it was second nature to them. They could slip through the fabric of time with less effort than a sewing needle slipping through loosely woven cloth.

The Slate had been a blessing from the gods. They never would’ve escaped that laboratory. Not only did it provide a steady source of power that never seemed to run dry- no matter how often they jumped through time- it was also able to store items and money within it. It made their lives so much easier. 

The two of them had been everywhere and everywhen. All over the world, in all different time periods. Sometimes they traveled back to the time when humans were nothing more than apes living in the trees, and spent weeks living off the land. Sometimes they stopped in busy cities to enjoy the rush of the crowds. Occasionally they would wander into a library, pull the first history book they saw off the shelf, then travel to the time period the book was about. 

The entire world was open to them, and they could do whatever they wanted to.

Well, mostly. There were some limitations.

They couldn't change the past. As much as they wanted to, they couldn’t stop wars from breaking out or plagues from spreading. They also couldn’t go back and prevent their own personal tragedies from happening. Doing that would cause their pasts to change too much, and they might end up not existing in the first place. 

Neither of them were exactly eager to cause a paradox, so neither of them tried to play the hero, and they stayed away from times and places they’d already been to before. 

They also couldn’t travel beyond the late 2200s. That was when functional time travel technology had finally been discovered, and then promptly outlawed for normal citizens. They’d learned that the hard way when they’d nearly been arrested in 2311 for illegal time travel. 

Getting arrested was the last thing they needed. Wild said that he could think of plenty of governments that would love to get their hands on two of the most powerful mages in the world. Hyrule squawked in protest at being called one of the most powerful mages, but there was no refuting that Wild was probably right. 

There were very few mages left by the 2200s. Wild and Hyrule probably were the strongest ones left by that time. Any mage that was still living a free life after magic was outlawed would be too weak to be noticed by the government. (Well… technically magic was never completely outlawed, but it was only legal if you were using it in the service of the government. It was a nice way of saying that if you showed any signs of having magic, you were taken into state custody and you stayed there. Forever.)

To their relief, the pair had never seen any other time travelers before the 2240s. They didn’t know why, but they weren’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. As long as they stayed in time periods before then, they were safe from the government, or anyone else for that matter, coming after them.

The fact that time travel was only discovered in the late 2200s offered them a bit of smug satisfaction. They had figured out time travel first, and they did it long before anyone else had. Nearly a hundred years before anyone else.

On top of that, the scientists obviously never cracked the secrets of magical time travel. Their time travel was purely technology-based. When Wild realized that, he gloated for a whole hour. Even Hyrule had smiled with a sense of sick satisfaction. Those scientists never got anything useful out of them. 

Good.

~~~

There had been a time Before. There had been a time when they hadn’t known each other. There had been a time when they’d had loving families and normal lives ahead of them. Wild had lived with his mom, dad, and little sister. Hyrule had been cared for by his mama and aunties and countless cousins.

Then it had all fallen apart. 

They were both young when their magic came in- only five or six years old, by their recollection. It had started slowly, as it always did. Little sparks would dance across Hyrule’s fingers, and Wild’s eyes would glow an eerie teal in the dark. 

Small, harmless things that marked them for slaughter. 

Wild’s parents hadn’t been brave enough to fight for him. 

They hadn’t wanted to face the consequences of harboring a magic user, even if that person was their own son. They had their other child to worry about, after all. They couldn't risk having his sister taken away from them as well.

So, at the young age of five, mere days after he had started showing the fit signs of magic, Wild’s parents had given him away with little fuss. It was one of Wild’s earliest memories. (Which was saying something, since he didn’t remember much of his childhood.) 

His parents both wore sorrowful expressions that day. Wild remembered being confused, but not commenting on it. His parents had been acting strangely for a while, after all. They had woken him up early, gotten him dressed, and handed him a backpack filled with some of his clothes. Then they had taken him to their living room where an official-looking stranger had been waiting. 

Wild hadn’t known what was going on at the time, so he had watched silently as his parents had signed the necessary paperwork to transfer custody of him over to the state. 

That had been the last time he had seen either of them. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to say goodbye to his little sister.

Hyrule’s mother had been braver. Hyrule had been her only child, and she was not so willing to give him up. 

When she’d seen him use his magic for the first time, she’d screamed and cried in despair. Her reaction had frightened Hyrule so badly he’d ran away and hid under his bed. The two of them had left their house soon after that, selling it to one of his aunts. 

They moved out to the middle of the woods and learned how to grow and hunt most of the things they would need so they didn't need to go into town as much. His mama had started homeschooling him.

His mama had tried so hard to keep it a secret. She’d done everything she could have done. And it had worked for a time. The pair of them spent three years living in seclusion, but it wasn’t enough in the end. 

Hyrule never learned how the secret got leaked. Maybe one of his cousins had figured it out and blabbed. Maybe one of their neighbors had seen him doing magic in the woods one day. Hyrule didn’t know. 

In the end, it didn’t matter how it had happened, only that it did. Their little cabin was raided, and Hyrule was forcibly removed from his mother's care, and made a ward of the state.

That was how the two met at the age of nine, causing their fates to be changed forever.

~~~

It was rare for the two of them to stay in one place for longer than a month. They both had itchy feet, and nothing seemed to hold their interest for very long. Usually, they arrived, saw what they came to see, and then grew bored and moved on. 

No one expected them to stay, no one expected them to go. No one expected them to do anything. After years of being observed and examined through a microscope, it was a novel feeling to blend into the background.

It was even easier to blend in during the earlier time periods. Back then, people hadn’t looked twice at strangers wandering into town with no documentation. The pair had tried to rent an apartment in the 1980s once. That hadn’t turned out well when they realized neither of them had any paperwork. Like, say, a birth certificate, driver’s license, or any kind of identification. 

In general, it was less of a risk in general to exist in the 1800s or earlier, when no one had cameras or access to the internet, and no one cared if they ran into two teenagers living in the woods. 

It was also easier to earn money if they needed to. 

The pair didn’t shy away from stealing if it was necessary, though they were careful to try to only steal from people who wouldn't miss it too much. However, when they decided to stay in one place for a while, they typically tried to find a steady source of income instead. 

After they had spent so long wandering, they had both picked up a wide variety of skills. Neither of them were true masters of any one trade, but they could perform the basic tasks well enough to serve as assistants in most kinds of workshops. They could work in the fields, tend livestock, butcher animals, harvest, hunt, and fish. They knew enough to do the busy work in leatherworking, baking, stonemasonry, shoemaking, and all other sorts of crafts.

Wild had learned how to fletch arrows, which was always a talent in high demand in the eras where people still used bows. Hyrule had studied under a cartographer for a few months. They both became proficient with swords, bows, and spears. They learned how to use their bodies as weapons if needed. They even learned how to fire guns, even if they were rarely in a time period where guns existed.

Fighting was the topic they’d studied the most diligently. They learned and relearned until they didn’t even need their magic to defend themselves anymore. Not as long as they had weapons in their hands. (The phantom feeling of the weight of the magic suppressors on their ankles was ever-present. Never again would they be that helpless without their magic.)

Growing up with a basic understanding of modern medicine put them miles ahead of even the most educated doctors in the 1500s. Having a basic understanding of what germs were would do that, but Hyrule had taken the time to translate that modern knowledge into a form that could be applied using the materials that were available in the pre-modern era. He also, thankfully, learned how to use that medical knowledge in a way that wouldn't get them hung for being witches when he provided a miracle cure to some disease or injury. 

If they really needed to, they could even find a small city and become street performers or put on a show in a tavern or pub. Hyrule had slowly taught himself how to play the ocarina and flute, and Wild could sing. They didn’t even have to make up their own songs. All they had to do was play music from the modern era, and the foreign rhythms of the songs drew attention to them automatically. The amount of money you could get from playing an instrumental version of Britney Spears’ Toxic in 1432 was truly a wonder.

In short, there was always something they could do to earn some money if they wanted to. 

~~~

Wild sat on the edge of his bed and watched dispassionately as the new kid sobbed into the tiled floor. Wild’s feet didn't reach the floor, so he idly swung them back and forth as he observed. His fingers, restless and still numb from the freeze spell he’d been forced to cast over and over today, fiddled with the edge of the soft blanket he sat on top of.

A small part of him wanted to go help the boy, even if he knew it would be pointless. Wild had been here for years, and he’d seen plenty of other kids come and go. Some of them were quiet when they entered the room for the first time, nodding to Wild and putting away their meager selection of clothing in the dresser they would share with Wild while they lived here. Those were the ones who had already been in state custody for a while.

Then there were others, like this boy, who were forced into the room by the guards. Sometimes they screamed, sometimes they cried, sometimes they clawed at the door desperately, like wild animals. Those were the ones who had just been dragged away from their families. 

Wild knew that trying to offer comfort never actually helped. Nothing he could say could make it better, and some things he would say could make it a whole lot worse

The boy was one of the ones who simply cried. He hadn’t even bothered to stand once he had been shoved into the room, instead lying defeated on the floor. 

The boy looked sweet, with thick brown curls and freckles covering every inch of available skin. 

He was probably right around Wild’s age too, which was somewhat of a rarity. Sometimes his roommates were as young as five, sometimes as old as fourteen or fifteen. Having a roommate his own age would be nice.

Wild wondered if the two of them would get along. It was always a hit or miss as to whether he would get along with his roommate, but as long as the boy didn’t try and kill Wild, then it would be fine. 

Eventually, the boy’s wails died down into uncontrollable hiccups. Soon even those faded, leaving just uneven breaths, and Wild realized that the boy had fallen asleep. Wild wasn't even sure if the boy knew there was someone else in the room. Probably not, or he wouldn't allow himself to fall asleep and leave himself so vulnerable to Wild. 

Not that Wild would hurt him! But the boy didn’t know that.

When the boy had been quiet for a few minutes, Wild hopped down from his bed, walking closer to get a better look. The boy was really a mess. His face was covered in tear tracks and snot. His shirt and shirts were dirt-stained and torn, and he wore no shoes, his feet calloused and muddy. A magic suppressant cuff was secured tightly around his ankle. The blue light that indicated the device was turned on was blinking steadily. 

Wild reached down to try to move the boy into a more comfortable position but hesitated. The dirt that covered the boy made Wild twitch and reconsider touching him. It wasn’t anything like the clean and sterile environment he’d been surrounded with for the last four years. He couldn’t figure out if he liked it or not. 

It didn’t matter either way. 

Tomorrow, the guards would come and get the boy and take him to the washroom to get clean. The boy would become just as sterile as everything else in here, whether the boy wanted to or not. The scientists didn't like it when the person they were studying was dirty, and they would no doubt want to take a look at the new addition as soon as possible. 

The ruined clothing would be replaced tomorrow too, and Wild hoped for the boy’s sake that the guards would give him some socks and shoes. The tile floor in their room got cold even in the summer.

Wild wondered if the boy was cold, laying on the tiles. He shuffled over to the bed opposite his- the one that this boy would be sleeping in from now on- and dragged the blanket off. With a flourish, he draped the blanket over the boy. 

The blanket was large enough that it seemed to swallow the boy whole. Or maybe the boy was just small.

Wild climbed back onto his bed and resumed his previous position, watching the boy with a burning curiosity. 

He wondered what his name was.

~~~

Even Hyrule and Wild sometimes grew tired of it all. They would grow bored of the constantly changing scenery and want to rest for a while. Whenever they felt the urge to stop and smell the roses for a while, they would find somewhere to settle for a while. They would find lodging with a family kind enough to open their home to them or work for their room and board. They would put away the Slate and, for the most part, stop using their magic.

They met people, made friends, formed bonds, and inevitably broke those bonds when they left.

They never knew how long they would stay. Sometimes it would be a month, sometimes as long as a year, but in the end, they always had to leave. They were driven ever onward, both by their own restlessness and the knowledge that they never truly belonged anywhere. They couldn’t look backward, couldn’t dwell on the past.

(They were both painfully aware of the irony of that statement. Time travelers who couldn’t afford to think about the past. What a joke.) 

Sometimes they did the familiar song and dance of telling people they were leaving. They would break the news to their new friends that they were leaving, and listen as they were begged to stay. 

Most of the time they tried to avoid that heartbreak. Most of the time they left silently in the middle of the night and left behind no hint that they ever existed. Maybe it was cruel to leave without a trace, and leave behind those who cared about them, but Hyrule and Wild had done this many, many times. It would always be difficult, no matter how they left. Leaving quietly spared them a bit of the pain, so they didn't have to see the pain their departure caused. 

Sometimes Wild wondered why they bothered interacting with other people at all. It would be easier if they didn’t. It would spare them the heartache. Yet somehow they ended up making connections again and again. Hyrule said that everyone, even traumatized time travelers, needed human contact. Wild personally thought that was bullshit.

(Yet, he never protested when they wandered into a town and decided to stay for a while. Because in the end, they were both lonely.)

Hyrule never forgot the names and faces of the people they’ve met. Before they started time traveling, it had been Wild who had the better memory regarding people, their names, and their faces. It wasn’t like that anymore. Now, it seemed things like that slipped out of his mind easily. 

Sometimes Wild asked Hyrule to tell him stories about the people they’d befriended. It was always a toss-up if the stories would end with them laughing and happily reminiscing, or sitting close together, drenching in misery as they ached for forgotten friendships.

It was difficult. Difficult to form connections knowing they would have to end, and difficult to break those connections when the time came. 

There were times when it became too much. Times when they wanted to stop for a little while, but didn’t want the burden of human connection. At those times, it was easier to find a nice, uninhabited forest to make their home for a few weeks. 

Having lived in the woods for a good part of his childhood, Hyrule was already more than comfortable doing that. Wild took a bit longer to adjust but once he did, he was as at home in the woods as Hyrule was. 

As long as it wasn’t the middle of winter- and it never was, for them- the woods offered them the perfect place to enjoy the freedom that came with being wanderers

~~~

Today had been a bad day so far, and Hyrule didn’t foresee it getting any better. 

He’d woken up sluggish, inexplicably tired despite the fact that he’d slept like a rock the night before. The rest of the morning hadn’t been much better, for no perceivable reason. Everything had proceeded like it always did in the mornings.

One at a time, the guards had escorted Hyrule and Wild to the washroom to shower and get ready for the day. Once they were both back in the room and dressed, Breakfast had been brought to them by the guards. 

They’d given pancakes with maple syrup and a side of fruit and a few slices of bacon for breakfast today. The pancakes and maple syrup usually would’ve excited Hyrule- he had an infamous sweet tooth- but today he could hardly muster up a smile at the sight of it. 

Wild noticed his lack of enthusiasm and sent him a concerned look, but Hyrule had shrugged it off and kept his gaze firmly on his plate for the rest of the meal. He didn’t want to worry Wild for no reason. He doubted he was actually sick, so there was no need to say anything and there was nothing Wild could do if he did.

After they ate, their plates and utensils had been taken away. Wild and Hyrule had more privileges than most mages in this research facility did. It was a perk that came with being two of the residents that had lived there the longest- eight years for Wild, and four years for Hyrule- but they still weren’t allowed to keep the dull plastic knives they were given to eat with. 

A shame. Hyrule would have loved to keep one of them tucked under his mattress with the rest of his contraband items, but the guards always double-checked that all of the utensils were returned after every meal. 

Then they were left alone for a half hour or so, as was usual. It was a tense period of time as they waited to see if the researchers had anything planned for them today, or if they got to spend their day inside their room, entertaining themselves. 

When the guards returned, Hyrule was the only one called out of the room. Wild was left sitting on his bed, face passive as he watched Hyrule leave. The only reason Hyrule could tell the other boy was both relieved he hadn’t been summoned and a little worried for Hyrule was because he’d known Wild for so long. 

Wild had a habit of going stone-faced whenever one of the guards or scientists were around. Hyrule couldn’t blame him for that. The two of them had already gotten enough of their privacy taken away from them. They didn’t need to give the scientists a front-row seat to their inner thoughts and feelings as well. 

Hyrule followed the guards at a sedate pace, not able to muster up the energy to move any faster. (He was careful not to move too slowly, though. He knew from experience that the guards wouldn’t hesitate to drag him if they felt he was moving slowly on purpose.) A familiar feeling of anxiety bubbled in his stomach. He wondered what he would be made to do today. Hopefully, it wouldn't be anything too strenuous. 

He was taken to one of the standard testing rooms. There were several of these rooms in the building, and Hyrule was well acquainted with all of them. They all looked the same, with white cinderblock walls, a concrete floor, and one wall being made entirely of a one-way window so the researchers could observe him. The only furnishings in the rooms were a table and chair off to one side which were bolted to the floor and a speaker tucked up in one of the corners of the ceiling. 

Hyrule, used to this routine after so many years, went and took a seat in the chair. As always, one of the researchers came to take his blood pressure and listen to his breathing. They did these sorts of physical exams before every test they performed on him, and it was so routine that Hyrule barely registered when it happened anymore. 

Soon, the researcher was done jotting things down on their clipboard and exited the room. Hyrule sighed and slumped in his seat a little. All he wanted to do was curl up in his bed and sleep. Maybe when he got back to their room, he could ask Wild to read aloud to him from the physics textbooks they’d been given. Learning about momentum and friction usually put Hyrule right to sleep, even if Wild loved it. (For some weird reason.)

That was the one upside of being a mage, Hyrule thought sarcastically as he stared dully at his reflection in the window across the room from him. Once the government found out you had magic, you never had to worry about school ever again. They were given textbooks and notebooks to keep themselves entertained when they weren’t needed for experiments, but they weren’t actually expected to know any of the material. Which was good, because Hyrule couldn’t imagine having to take exams on this stuff. He never managed to stay away for more than the first chapter of that stupid physics textbook-

A sudden noise crackled through the overhead speaker, startling Hyrule out of his thoughts. 

“Alright, Hyrule. We’re just going to be doing some energy tests today. Standard stuff, okay?” When he registered the voice and what it had said, he breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that voice, and he was glad that this scientist would be the one running his tests today. 

There was a constantly rotating staff of researchers that Wild and Hyrule interacted with on a near-daily basis, but there were three main scientists who seemed to be in charge of the facility. The one they saw the most often was a positively ancient man with a rather eccentric personality. Every time Hyrule saw the man, he grew more and more surprised that he hadn’t passed away from old age yet. The second was a severe-looking woman in her mid-forties who never spoke to them unless it was to give them an order. Both Wild and Hyrule agreed she was the worst to deal with.

The last, and the one who was apparently overseeing his tests today, was a young woman in her twenties that Hyrule suspected was an apprentice of sorts to the other two. (Probably a replacement for when the old man finally kicked the bucket, Hyrule thought snidely.) Hyrule didn’t know what her name was, though Wild probably did. He was always better at paying attention to and remembering details than Hyrule was. 

Everything about the third scientist was soft. From her voice, to her mannerisms, to the way she treated the two of them. Hyrule rarely got a chance to look at her- or any of the other scientists- but when he did, he thought that she even looked soft. She had a rounded face and softly curling white hair that fell to her shoulders. Her face was faintly familiar, and every time Hyrule looked at her, he was reminded of his mother. 

He hated her for that, a little bit.

“Hyrule? Are you ready?” Hyrule blinked, the woman’s voice startling him back to reality once again. He hadn’t given any form of acknowledgement to her previous statement, he realized. 

‘Yeah, I’m ready,“ he confirmed.

“Okay, great!” The bit of warmth in her voice made Hyrule want to melt into the floor. He pushed that urge away. “We’re going to bring in the first artifact now. I’ll run you through the procedure as always, but I know you’re a pro at this by now, so we should get done pretty quickly.” 

She was right- testing magical artifacts, figuring out what their purpose was, and trying to find a limit to their power was one of the most common things they had him and Wild do. It was usually an easy and painless job, as long as the magic cast on the objects was inherently harmful. (if it was- well, that was a different story.)

Hyrule turned his gaze toward the door. Like clockwork, a man wearing a hazmat suit wheeled in a cart with an ancient-looking wooden box sitting on it. That must be the first item he’d be working with today. Once the cart was in the middle of the room, the man approached him with a familiar device in his hands. Hyrule, still on autopilot, lifted his leg, allowing the man to wave the device over this magic suppression cuff, deactivating it. 

Instantly, Hyrule felt a wave of relief wash over him. His magic, which the cuff had been suppressing, swelled up within himself. When the cuff was active it squished his magic down. Hyrule could still feel it, but he couldn’t access it. 

Hyrule didn’t know how the cuffs worked. All he knew was that he hated everything about them. Being unable to access his magic was like one of his limbs had been paralyzed. He knew it was still there, but he wasn’t able to make it do anything. 

When the researcher was done turning off the cuff, he shuffled off to the side of the room. Hyrule knew he would wait until the tests were done, and then reactivate the cuff before Hyrule was let out of the room. The only door out of the room would remain locked until then.

Testing was the only time the suppression cuffs were turned off. They had to be deactivated to allow Wild and Hyrule to use their magic for the tests. The scientists were always careful to only turn the cuffs off when they were locked in a secure room with a locked door, and under constant scrutiny.

They were a little bit stupid, in Hyrule's opinion. It didn’t matter if he was in a locked room and under constant watch. When he had his magic, he could simply unlock the doors, or force the guards to turn their attention away from him. When he was finished with whatever he needed to do, he could walk right back to where he’d been before, and no one would be any wiser.

Honestly, given how adept both Wild and Hyrule had become at making themselves unnoticeable, it would be stupidly easy to get out of the facility, 

The only reason they stayed was the fact that they knew they’d gotten off easily. Some mages got shipped off to use their magic to fight in wars. The fact that the two of them were only in a research facility where they got three healthy meals a day and a comfortable place to sleep wasn't something to be overlooked. Hyrule knew they wouldn’t be as lucky if they tried to escape and got caught a second time.

They’d seen what happened to mages who managed to escape from research facilities and then were caught again, and it wasn’t pretty. What they needed was a guaranteed permanent ticket out of here. So far, they’d come up empty.

The overhead speaker crackled to life once again, the scientist speaking the first instructions, and Hyrule heaved himself to his feet.

Gods, he hoped the scientist was right, and they would be able to finish early today. 

He was so tired. 

~~~

When Wild and Hyrule stumbled across the Lon family’s house, they hadn’t been looking for civilization, and they certainly weren’t expecting civilization to find them, but that’s exactly what happened.

Neither of them realized their feet had found a well-worn path until they were stumbling out of the woods. The trees surrounding them slowly transitioned from naturally planted oaks and maples and pines to neat rows of apple and pear trees. The pair slowed as they walked through the orchard, confused. They knew there was a town within a day’s walk of here, but they hadn’t expected to find any civilization in this forest. 

Soon, the trees fell away, turning into a large field with a house and a barn tucked away near the edge of the woods. A garden filled to bursting with vegetables lay near the house, and a paddock with a few horses and goats stretched out as far as they could see into the field.

It was a large property and very well taken care of, especially for this time period. Wild and Hyrule exchanged glances, smiles creeping across their faces. 

“Hyrule, when was the last time we ate fresh pears?”

“Couldn't tell you.” Despite Hyrule’s short answer, they both knew what the other was thinking. The owners of the house wouldn’t miss two or three pears, especially if they didn’t see Hyrule and Wild take the fruit. No one was outside, and if they were quick they might be able to take some and leave before anyone came out of the house or barn.

In no time at all, Wild had climbed up into one of the pear trees and was tossing the fruit down to Hyrule. He had just thrown down the third one when a shout sounded from behind them.

“What the hell are you two doing?!” 

“Oh, shit!” Wild yelped, nearly falling out of the tree as he was startled. He managed to turn his fall into a somewhat controlled descent, landing awkwardly next to Hyrule, who’d already turned to face off with the person who had yelled. 

 A boy, maybe a few years older than them, was stomping across the field from the direction of the house. He had strawberry blonde hair and was wearing a red tunic, and he looked pissed.

Wild and Hyrule winced, glancing at each other. 

Busted.

“Those are my trees! The pears only just started to ripen, and you come in here and try to take advantage of my hard work? Oh, no, absolutely not.” As the boy stomped closer, his anger seemed to drain out of him. Wild could feel him examining the pair of them, and taking stock of their dirty appearances and slightly-too-thin bodies. By the time he had drawn to a stop in front of them, he seemed to have deflated. 

The teen didn’t look irritated anymore, but the pity in his eyes was almost worse. 

Hyrule and Wild liked their lifestyle, even if it maybe wasn't the best for them. It was better than the alternative. They might have gotten three square meals a day in the research facility, but they would take their freedom over that anytime, even if it meant going hungry occasionally. 

If anyone wanted to pity them over their appearance, their usual reaction was to leave. There was no reason to stick around where they would be drowning in that sticky sweet emotion known as pity. It wasn’t like anyone could stop them from leaving, anyway.

Then the stranger seemed to make up his mind, and the pity vanished from his face, being replaced by an expression of irritation. Wild couldn’t tell if the teen was actually irritated or if he was putting on a mask to hide his true emotions.

He didn't get the time to figure it out, because in no time at all Wild and Hyrule were on their knees in the garden, pulling weeds. Neither of them were quite sure how they got there. The stranger- apparently named Legend- had steamrolled any of their protests. He insisted they helped as a repayment for the pears they took. 

Since they had nothing better to do, they hadn’t protested too much. 

After they were done in the garden, Legend offered to let them clean up using his family's bath house. When they were hesitant, he insisted, saying that since they were only so dirty because he had them working in the garden all afternoon, he should let them bathe. 

When they’d finished and returned back to the house, there were steaming mugs of tea waiting for them. By the time they were finished with the tea, there was a pot of stew bubbling over the fire. Legend wordlessly shoved bowls of thick venison stew into their hands, refusing to meet their eyes.

Wild narrowed his eyes at the bowl suspiciously. Had it been drugged, or poisoned? Why was Legend being so weirdly nice to them and giving them food? There must be something wrong with the soup. Wild quickly flicked his magic out, testing the food, looking for anything wrong with the stew.

Just as quickly as he sent it out, his magic withdrew into his body and settled calmly within him, curling up contently. There was nothing wrong with the stew, so Wild reluctantly ate. It was a bit flavorless, but still filling.

He missed how Legend’s eyes narrowed in his direction for a moment when he had used his magic to test the soup.

After they had all finished dinner- awkwardly and in silence- it was already dark, and rain was pattering softly against the windows of the house. Neither Wild nor Hyrule made an effort to excuse themselves from Legend’s house, as neither of them were eager to go out in the rain. They would continue abusing Legend’s generosity for as long as he would let them. 

Surprisingly, Legend’s generosity extended further than expected. He offered them his family’s spare mattress, dragging it out from the storeroom and leaving it in the living room, close to the fire. He huffed a gruff goodnight and retreated to the second floor of the house. Wild got the impression that Legend half expected the pair of them to have left by the time morning came. 

The mattress was small. It clearly wasn't made for two people, but neither of them minded. They were clean, full, warm, and their magic was giving them no warnings of danger. They were more comfortable than they had been in a while, no matter how cramped the bed was. 

They were more than used to sleeping curled around each other anyway. 

Wild was ready to drift off to sleep like that, curled around Hyrule and warmed by the embers in the fireplace at his back. Hyrule seemed to have a different idea, though, his voice breaking Wild from the content haze that had settled over his mind.

“I think Legend is a mage.” 

That certainly caught Wild’s attention. Wild stiffened, anty semblance of sleep being yanked away from him. He hadn’t even considered that as a possibility. Was that why Legend was being so kind? Because he knew they had magic and he was trying to be kind to his fellow mages who looked down on their luck?

“Why would you think that?” He asked.

“I can just feel it. When he looks at us… It feels like he's actually seeing us. The real us. And he doesn't feel like a normal human. It’s not exactly the same as the other mages we’ve seen, but I’m pretty sure he has magic.”

Wild didn’t respond, and eventually, Hyrule drifted off to sleep. There really wasn’t anything more to say about that. Either Hyrule was right or he was wrong. Either Legend had magic or he didn’t. 

It didn’t really matter. The two of them would be gone soon, anyway. 

When they woke the next morning, they found Legend sitting at the table, waiting for them with another pot of tea. 

So they had breakfast with him and then helped him with chores around the house. The next thing they knew, Legend’s father and brothers (all five of them) had returned from whatever errand they had been running the previous day. They had been surprised to return home to find three people in the house when they were expecting only one, but it had all been smoothed over easily.

Before Wild and Hyrule knew it, they were being offered a place to stay. As long as they earned their keep, they could live with the Lon family as long as they wished. 

Hyrule was insistent they would be leaving soon, though Wild had his doubts. He didn’t say anything to Hyrule, but he knew how easily staying one day turned into staying two, then a week, and then a month, and then longer. He suspected they would be living with the Lons for much longer than planned.

So they did. A few weeks into their stay, they came back to the house to find their mattress moved into what had previously been a spare room. They had become a permanent fixture in the house now. Dread slowly crept through Wild when he realized that. 

The Lon family was kind. They got along well with Wild and Hyrule, even if there was more teasing exchanged than kind words. Now the Lon family thought that WIld and Hyrule were going to stay. 

And Wild knew they couldn't.

They could never stay anywhere.

But a few weeks turned into a month. Then a month turned into half a year, and the leaves had long since turned to bright golds and brilliant reds and then fallen from the trees, and there was a fire burning in the hearth more often than not.

Wild and Hyrule both knew they should leave and spare themselves the heartache of growing close to someone before eventually having to leave them. 

But they didn’t.

~~~

Wild let out a jaw-cracking yawn, tucking his head under Hyrule’s chin. The two of them were curled up together on Wild’s bed. It was a bit awkward to cuddle like this, given that Wild was half a foot taller than Hyrule, and the bed was made to only fit one person, but they made it work. 

The pair of them didn’t sleep in the same bed every night, but it wasn't unusual. For the most part, the only friendly physical contact they could expect to receive was from each other, and sometimes they needed more than a brief hug. Some nights, it was an overwhelming sense of loneliness that drove them together. Some nights, one of them would wake up shivering with fear from a nightmare, and crawl into the other’s bed.

And some nights, like tonight, one of them would come back from testing and be too tired to even support their own weight. 

Usually, it was Hyrule who was subjected to the more draining experiments. He was the more magically powerful of the two, after all. Recently, however, Wild has been receiving more attention from the scientists. 

It was leading to more situations like this, where Wild was left lying prone on his bed, barely able to muster the energy to speak. Just as Wild usually did for him, Hyrule gathered all the blankets and pillows from his bed and took them over to Hyrule’s. After he got Wild comfortably situated, he climbed into the bed after him.

It took nearly a half hour of laying in silence for Wild to gain the energy to speak. “They’re becoming more and more interested in my time magic. I think they’re starting a new project.” His voice was muffled, spoken into Hyrule’s shoulder.

“I’ll be honest, Wild, I really don’t care about what the scientists are working on.”

Wild huffed. Hyrule could see he was irritated. It made Hyrule curious- normally, Wild didn’t care anymore than he did about the experiments the researchers were doing. If he was trying to tell Hurue about them now, when he was obviously exhausted, it must be something important.

“I think they’re trying to figure-” Wild was interrupted by another large yawn. Hyrule was about to tell him that he could tell him tomorrow, but he needed to go to sleep now, but Wild finished before he could. “They’re trying to figure out time travel.“

Hyrule frowned. “That’s not possible. Magic can do a lot of stuff, but time travel? There’s no way…”

Wild shrugged. ‘I dunno. I can slow time down a little bit. It’s not out of the question that if we combined our magic, we could stop time for a little bit. And that’s pretty close to time travel.“

Wild fell asleep soon after that, but Hyrule was kept awake, ideas swirling through his head.

Time travel?

Hmmm….

~~~

There was no doubt in Wild or Hyrule’s minds that the Lon family was a coven. 

There was no other reason for seven mages to be living together, especially when most of them weren’t even related. (Everyone knew that Twilight was the only one of Time’s gaggle of children that was biologically his. Everyone knew that the man cared for them all equally anyways.)

Covens were groups of mages who had bound their magic together. The process of joining a coven made your magic more powerful. It came with the side effect of tying your soul permanently to your coven mates. If they died, it would feel like part of your soul was being torn out. But many found the risk was worth it for the increased power, and the promise of family. Because if nothing else, your coven was your family.

There weren’t any covens left in the time period the two had come from. After magic had been exposed to the world, and all mages were being hunted down to serve their governments, groups of mages congregating together became too dangerous.

The two had run into a few covens while they had been traveling. Some of the covens were generous to who they perceived as two covenless young mages with no guidance. Priceless knowledge could be learned from them. If Hyrule and Wild stuck-around long enough to be taught, that is.

Some covens were more secretive, barely acknowledging Hyrule and Wild also had magic. Neither of them could blame the covens that choose to disregard their shared magic. Even before magic had been revealed to the world, mages were secretive. (After seeing what happened when magic was finally revealed, Hyrule and Wild knew they were right to be.)

So, when the Lon family hadn't breathed a word about magic to them after they had been living there for six months, Hyrule and Wild knew better than to bring it up themselves. Both parties knew that the others were mages, but neither spoke of it. If the Lons didn’t want to bring up their magic, Wild and Hyrule certainly weren't going to do it either. 

Hyrule had been the first one to pick up on the fact that the family they were staying with was magical. He’d told Wild his suspicions the first night they’d stayed in the house. At the time, Wild hadn’t cared. But the longer the pair stayed with the family, the more convinced Wild became that Hyrule was right. 

There were the little things that were just unnatural enough to be noticed. The garden was too well kept for how little time the family spent tending to it. Somehow the flowers continued to bloom and the grass remained lush and green long after the autumn frost had started to set in. The food the family had available was too high quality for this time period, especially for people who lived in the woods with the nearest town being barely more than a village. Somehow the house was kept spotless, though neither of them ever saw anyone cleaning.

Then there were the bigger things. Hyrule had caught both Wind and Four having full conversations with no one, speaking into thin air as if they were talking with spirits. There was the strangely tame wolf who only seemed to turn up around the house when Twilight was gone. There was the chest full of enchanted masks that Time kept under his bed. 

There was all that- the big things, the little things, and all things in between- and then there was the fact that Wild was quite sure the family could see past their glamor magic. 

Normally, the magic they surrounded themselves with disguised both their clothes and their modern mannerisms. It translated their words into something understandable to those who were listening. 

Although the coven had welcomed Hyrule and Wild into their home, they’d stared for too long at the pair's strange outfits. Most people’s eyes usually slid off their modern clothing without even seeing it in the first place. It was the same with modern terms and slang words. When Wild had slipped up and mentioned “texting” to Wind, the boy should have heard “writing a letter,” or something similar. Based on Wind’s confused face and the conversation Wild later overheard where Wind asked Warriors what a “text message” was, that hadn’t happened.

It was plain to see that the coven could see straight through their magic, but it was also plain that the coven was ignoring it, purposefully not mentioning their strange behavior, clothing, and language.

There was no way their host family actually understood why Wild and Hyrule acted so strangely- time travel wasn’t the first thing that popped into people’s heads when they saw someone acting strangely, even if they did know about magic. It was more likely the family thought that they were foreigners, and were using their magic to try and hide that fact.

Still…

Through their silence, the family had made it clear that they knew about Wild and Hyrule’s magic. It also made it clear that they weren’t going to bring it up. 

And if they weren’t going to, then Wild and Hyrule wouldn’t either.

~~~

“Hyrule, I think the tests are getting worse.”

“...”

“See, this is what I mean. Half the time you return from testing, you’re unconscious. It makes me look weird, talking out loud to no one like this.”

“...”

“I don’t know how much longer either of us can live like this, Hyrule. You can barely stay awake in the evenings, and I… I can’t remember what I did yesterday. My memories just keep slipping away, and it gets worse every time I get taken for experimentation. We need to find a way we can get out of here. Permanently.”

“...”

~~~

There wasn’t a singular moment that made Wild decide enough was enough. It had been coming for a while, that creeping feeling of dread that told him they had to leave soon if they wanted to be able to leave at all. They’d already become attached to this family so if they didn’t leave soon, they would never leave.

He knew it would already hurt more to leave this family than any other. Wild would miss cuddling near the fire with Wolfie, would miss cooking dinner every night for more than two people, would miss the loud camaraderie and the quiet companionship he had found in this house. 

But they had to leave. They didn’t belong here. 

Wild had had enough. He was leaving. And where he went, Hyrule went. 

It was an early spring night, nearly nine months after they had arrived. The whole family was gathered in the main room of the house, each absorbed in their own tasks. Hyrule was curled next to Legend and nearly half asleep. Wild was sitting on the floor in front of the chair Time was sitting in. His legs stretched out in front of him to put his feet near the warmth of the hearth, and Wild would almost say he was content, except for the little fact that he knew this peace couldn’t last.

He could tell Hyrule wasn’t happy when Wild shot him that look. The look that said, “I’m done, I can't do this anymore, We have to go.” Hyrule glared back at Wild and then closed his eyes, ignoring Wild on purpose. 

Looks like they would be talking about it later, then. (Not that they could talk about it now, given that they were in a room with seven other people.) Wild leaned back against Time’s legs. He looked nonchalant, as if the exchange the two had didn’t happen, but there was tension in him now, because now he knew they were on their way out of this house and the lives of its inhabitants.

It turns out “later” means that very night, after everyone else had gone to bed.

Hyrule might have been acting like he was unhappy with Wild’s decision, but he knew just as well as Wild did that it was time to leave. They barely had to exchange words before they were both packing up the belongings they were going to take with them. 

They left behind most of the things they had gained while they were staying here. They wouldn’t need most of it, and they didn’t want to steal from the Lon family. They had been so kind to them, they didn’t deserve to have the two of them steal from them. 

Soon, everything they were going to take with them was packed up. They stood shoulder to shoulder in their room, looking down at the bed they’d been sharing for the last nine months.

Eventually, Hyrule turned to Wild. “Ready?‘ he whispered.

“Yes,” Wild lied. Neither of them moved for quite some time, neither wanting to make the first move to leave.

This time, it was Wild who broke the silence. He shuffled over to their mattress, lifting it up and pulling the Slate out from under it. They hadn’t needed it while they’d been staying here, but now they had a use for it again. “Do you think we’ll ever find a place we’ll want to stay forever?”

“I doubt it. If that was going to happen, it would have happened already.” Hyrule murmured back to him, not meeting his eyes.

“You’re probably right.” Wild flicked the Slate in the direction of their belonging, sucking them into the Slate to be safely stored away until they needed them again. 

With that, they turned to each other, instinctually getting into position to cast their spell. Wild could see Hyrule’s grip on the Slate was so tight his knuckles were bone-white. He didn’t look up, knowing if he did, he would see tears trickling down Hyrule’s face. 

“Now,” he whispered.

In a shower of blue sparks, the two disappeared, gone from the lives of the Lon coven forever. 

#mint's fanfiction #linked universe #lu wild #lu hyrule #lu legend #lu wind #lu warriors #lu time #lu wild angst #time travel #angst

[chez-cinnamon]

Time is meaningless, so just Good. How are you.

I know all the puppets' personalities are essentially the same, but they clearly don't act like children's characters anymore (like wallys fuck you to fionn in that one ask;I know it was a joke but still)

When wally watches old wh reruns, or when any of the others see any, I feel like they'd get reeeallly embarrassed. And like, identity-crisissy seeing how they were before they gained sentience

Sally (on tv): I just LOVE watching MOVIES with my FRIENDS!!! What's YOUR favorite movie???

(awkwardly long pause)

That's MY favorite, too!!!!

Regular Sally: 😐😑 what the fuck

Just some thoughts to rotate in your brain. Have a Day

Abgbgfnghf I mean you're not wrong - they keep their original personalities but as the days go on they realise they've actually changed a lot from who they were before they gained sentience...

Wally, still the friendliest neighbour you could meet and still a lover of the arts, but everything he went through changed him from a once calm and silly puppet to a tired, traumatised puppet who feels responsible for their predicament, and suffers from the betrayal of his own Home.

Barnaby still loves to tell jokes and act the sly, silly scallywag he is, but inside is an unshakeable paranoia, that he might lose his neighbours and best friend for real this time, and he doesn't want that to happen. He's already lost his mama technically, and that's bad enough!

Still joyful and playful, Julie feels skittish and restricted however, in a world that sees adults as those who have to be serious, hard money making machines, where fun is looked down upon. On top of that she has technically lost her siblings.

Frank remains knowledgable and stoic, his love for butterflies never dying, but inside he hates the sudden change. He didn't want to leave Home, he didn't want it to go; thus he is prone to meltdowns every now and then.

Eddie's heart is still of gold, still clumsy as can be yet forever well meaning, but after seeing Home's carnage, he feels kind of lost. His dear post office was ripped away from him, and his dearest Frank was nearly taken too, so he will never let Frank out of his sight, no matter how overbearing he seems.

Friendly clerk Howdy remains the fast talking, smiley caterpillar he always was, and even gets a chance to let loose in the human world, but like Eddie, he so dearly misses his little bodega, even if it nearly hurt him. He now feels responsible for Frank and Eddie's behaviour, trying to keep them in check, and oh how can dealing with Fionn grind his sanity.

Once a performer, always a performer: Sally always likes to make little plays to keep everyone happy, and will make all the foolproof plans in the world to keep them safe from any dangerous humans. However even the most skilled actress can tucker herself out with people pleasing through acting, and like Howdy, arguing with Fionn puts a toll on you.

Poppy is definitely the most careful neighbour, always looking out for her friends and being there for them always. But after travelling to a whole new world, wouldn't your nerves and worries increase tenfold? Hers certainly did, bumbling and whimpering at anything bad that might happen, feeling like a burden due to her cautious nature.

Watching their old shows brings back a sad mix of hopelessness, longing and nostalgia - they may not be able to go back, it seems, but at least they can still experience their old lives one way or another, even with the occasional embarrassment at their quirks in episodes!

#real world au #*pats each of them* these puppets can fit a whole lot of trauma in them

[dragonofeternal]

Hot take/unpopular opinion time?

While I understand the urge to give Legato something nice by having him be rescued by Vash instead of Knives and think there's some very cute art and thoughts out there...

That would not fix him and it would not make him happy.

Knives's "salvation" for Legato wasn't just an end to Legato's present suffering, it was the fact that he completed the work Legato could not, even left a sliver of life enough for Legato to take some vengeance of his own. He would NOT be content or happy just to be taken away from his suffering in a nonviolent way. Vash would saunter in, shoot to disable the people actively raping Legato, and whisk Legato away, forcing him to watch those bastards as they pick themselves up to keep living their lives. Their survival would needle at the back of his brain, bristle any time he saw something that reminded him of that time in his life.

And for all that I love Vash the Stampede, I don't think he could give Legato the kind of help he needed to survive and thrive again. Vash is kind of like a wildlife rehabilitator- he takes people out of crisis situations, helps the to soothe the hurt, but he doesn't try to get attached and he tends to quietly slip out once he feels like they've reached a space where they're stable and the danger is gone.

Vash doesn't give people answers, he asks people to look within and find them for themselves.

Except Legato had reached a point where he felt he *had* nothing left within. We see his eyes go dull, watch all hope leave them. And when he and Vash fight at the end of TriMax, we see Legato recognize that dull flatness in Vash's eyes too.

Vash cannot give Legato something he doesn't have.

Knives, on the other hand is FULL of GLORIOUS PURPOSE. Is it good purpose? Is it smart purpose? Is he doing anything other than flailing around like a muppet made of sharp objects and fear and anger most days? No! But it's a purpose and it MATTERS.

And it's a purpose he can share with Legato, who needs something to believe in, something to fill himself with again because he feels so fucking empty. With Knives, there's a ready answer for the yawning emptiness in Legato's soul.

I'm not sitting here going "becoming the number one Kool-aide drinker in the Cult of Knives was a good life choice for Legato Bluesummers" or anything like that, but I WILL say it's a choice that gave him the ability to keep going. It's a choice that makes him Legato Bluesummers and not someone else.

Because my other concern with Vash's attempts to impress morality on Legato is what I said at the very top: Legato is never going to forget or forgive the people who wronged him. He's not going to let go of wanting to kill and destroy and hurt. There is a trolley problem of one thousand three hundred and one lives versus Legato's singular personhood, and if he is monstrous to want vengeance, if he cannot be allowed to take vengeance, then the only answer is to flip the track from his persecutors to himself. It's a rather simple solution, when you don't feel like there's a reason to be alive.

(all manga caps are taken from @trigun-manga-overhaul)

#Legato Bluesummers #Vash the Stampede #trigun #doemeta #long post #rape mention tw #suicide mention tw #you know it's Legato backstory discussion so it's kinda what it says on the tin #this is not in any way meant to be a dig on these aus #like I said they're cute! I just see Leggy a bit differently I suppose...

[klance-brainrot]

klancing all things end by hozier

tw: angst, mcd, klance on-off relationship

They know they will break up again and then get back together and then break up again because they just don't work together but they can't live without one another.

Their personalities clash too severely for it to work permanently.

"The last time I felt your weight on my chest, you said: we didn't get it right, but love, we did our best"

this is them knowing they are going to break up again soon because they can't be together for more than a month and they both feel the end nearing. This is the calm before the storm, this is the night before another big fight, this is the cuddle before the argument.

"Just knowing that everything will end and we should not change our plan when we begin again"

this is them talking about their next try at a relationship and how, even though it never works, they would never change anything about their fucked up relationship attempts because at least they can be together that way.

"All that we intend is built on sand"

when starting new they both already know it's going to fail again. it's a fragile peace, it's all built on sand, it can be swept away by a single wave.

"If there was anyone to ever get through this life with their heart still intact, they didn't to it right"

this is Lance standing over Keith's grave and thinking about all they could've been and all they could've done together if it had worked. But it didn't work out. They tried so often but it never worked out, but Lance knows he doesn't regret a thing, he would've tried over and over and over again for those moments where it does work.

Until it doesn't.

Since he knows Keith, he knows, he didn't regret a thing either. Keith too would've tried over and over and over again just for those few moments of peace in between.

Their friends and family had tried countless times to tell them that it wouldn't work - it wouldn't work this time and it wouldn't work the next time they tried, but they never listened. For a while they tried to keep their distance from each other, but both of them were doing so bad during it. Lance was barely eating and ended up in the ER. Keith thought he was the only one suffering that badly but once Shiro let it slip that Lance was in the hospital he couldn't do it anymore and he came back. They always came back to each other. They cant live without each other.

"I have never known a silence like the one fallen here, never watched my future darken in a single tear"

this is the first time they broke up. They really thought it would work but their personalities and traumas and behavioral tendencies just work against each other unfortunately. Keith thought it was fixable, he would try everything, but one fight had gone too far and Lance breaks up with him. He sheds one single tear while doing it but remains otherwise neutral and says that it's probably better form him to take some time for himself. Keith is numb from shock and can't really say anthing, nothing that'd help Lance stay. So he watches the single tear fall and he watches him leave. For the first time. He will watch him leave over and over and over again.

"I know we want this to go easy by being someone's fault, but we've come long enough to know this isn't what we want"

this is their 5th breakup. They've done this before. They know how this goes. They get back together, they are good together for a few weeks until everything goes down the drain again. Most of the time there isn't even a trigger really. It's just a few fights too many and a few unfortunate things said that hurt bad. Too bad.

Lance says this when he's about to leave again - they both know it's both of their fault and at the same time it's noones fault.

Because that's who they are.

Keith with his parental trauma and need to distance himself from the ones he loves, and Lance with his fear of abandonment and being the second choice. He grew up in a happy family and can't deal with Keith's traumas forever. He needs to put himself first and he can't do that while being with Keith. But he can't live without him either.

They can't live without each other.

thank you @justdissimp for the beta and @numerous-bees-in-a-skin-suit for the encouragement <3

#they can't live without each other guys. #soooo normal about them (lie) #Also sorry for the pain I don't know where that came from #tbh I normally don't read angst and I would not touch mcd with a 3m pole but. #I've been brainrotting to hozier and this had to get out #sorry to the discord server for the surprise angst LMAO #voltron #klance #fanfic #klance fic #klance fanfic #klangst #kangst #langst #keith kogane #lance mcclain #vld #voltron legendary defender #og brainrotting

[hellsingmongrel]

So, bit of ramblings on my Post-Trimax Wolfwood headcanons.

Man, one of my favorite tropes in media is a character who's spirit lingers on after they've died, but it's usually something you only see in fanfic, so I cannot get over how FUCKING FERAL I was when I realized that it was legit a thing in Trimax, and that Wolfwood was the one we actually got to see, legitimately talking to the people he'd left behind and confirming that ghosts in the canon weren't just hallucinations or something! Like yeah, we saw Tessla leading the boys to her body, but since her ghost was never mentioned again, it could have easily have been written off as a fluke, right?

NOPE. They are real and they linger after to watch over the people they care about or to send messages to the people who are still alive! And the fact that the character who had just wormed his way into being just as beloved to me as my favorite character (Which NEVER happens, I usually only have enough brain cells for one at a time!) and that we had just had our hearts ripped to shreds watching him die was also the one we got to know had definitely stayed behind to watch over the people he loved just makes me SO HAPPY! I rp that asshole from time to time, and I just love exploring the implications of it!

I play him like he's been there a LONG TIME. When he died, Rem was there, watching over Vash, but when Knives spent the last of his energy, she chose to move on with him, now that she knew Wolfwood would be there to keep watch over Vash, and he took it SERIOUSLY. He's been waiting so long, he's lost his sense of time, he thinks it's only been a couple decades when it's been CENTURIES. And the time has softened his own trauma, he's gone from being surly and angry and defensive to being at peace and finding comfort in the fact that its allowed him to see more of Vash's life than he ever would have been able to live long enough to see when he was alive. And it's given him time to notice just how unwell Vash is, how broken he is, watching over him when he thinks he's alone and lets himself break down.

But it's also made Wolfwood a bit unwell in his own way; as time went on and the people he knew in life began to pass away, too, his interest in paying attention to what the people around them were doing wained, and his dedication to watching over Vash until it was his time to pass on became a strange sort of dependence. He loses his sense of self, in a way, until the most important thing in his existence is being there for Vash, waiting for him, having long-since accepted that when the time comes, it'll be over and he's alright with that.

He's happy, but to the perspective of a living person, it would seem TWISTED in a way. He still thinks he's a damned soul, stealing more time than he's allowed and only damning himself further by doing so, and he just knows that when he gets to walk Vash into whatever comes after for them, they'll be separated again, for the last time, and there won't be any coming back from it that time, because Vash is too good, too kind, too HOLY to ever be damned. But it's fine. Wolfwood knew he was damned long before his death, and time has just given him the chance to make peace with it and simply be happy with the fact that at least he'll be able to be with Vash when he can move on to wherever good people go at the end. And yet when it happens, Vash feels the same way about himself, so certain that he's the one who's damned, and their reunion is wonderful and painful and terrifying for both of them in different ways.

He's even worse with interacting with people, once he's forced to interact with the living. I play Wolfwood in a game where he stumbles into revealing himself after spending centuries never letting himself be seen, and he worries that going "silent" again will upset people. He's spent centuries being a silent shadow, certain that letting Vash know he was there would only cause more suffering for an already unwell mind, so he's forgotten how to interact with tact, blurting out whatever pops into his head because he's only had himself to talk to for all that time. He hurts people without meaning to, begins to suffer from the crisis of worrying that no matter what he does, he's a burden to the people who mourn him, he doesn't belong, his existence is nothing but a constant reminder of what's coming and will only cause the people around him pain. He's both able to be the kind, caring, loving person he might have been if the Eye of Michael had never taken him from the orphanage, and also a HUGE, ANXIOUS WRECK.

And the thing that makes it all worse for him is the fact that when he was dumped into the game I have him in, he was separated from the Vash of his timeline, and now lives in constant fear that he'll never see him again, that he won't be there when he passes on and there won't be anyone to greet him on the other side, alone and never knowing that he was waiting for him. He made a promise to Rem that he'd watch over him for her, that he'd lead him to his final destination where he could be with his family again, and now that he's lost that, what purpose does he have? He's terrified to let go himself, worried he'll pass onto the other side when Vash was right around the corner, but the thought of lingering without finding him again, missing his chance to be there for him when it's his turn, leaves him in an almost constant state of almost-panic.

I also just think it's kind of sweetly poetic, if in the end, he chose to continue the role he'd been forced into; take Vash where he's supposed to be. Only this time, it's his choice, and it won't be to his death. He wants to guide him to where he knows people are waiting for him, where he'll finally be happy and be at peace. He doesn't mind the fact that he's going to Hell, so long as he was able to be the one that leads Vash to the place where he won't have to be in pain ever again.

#Trigun #Trigun Maximum #Nicholas D. Wolfwood #Vash the Stampede #This probably is a bit insufferably angsty #I can't tell #I'm PMSing and having Vashwood feels and I'm making it eveyone else's problem! #But no really though I fuckin' LOVE ghosts in media! #Favorite trope 10/10 would rip my heart out again! #RP musings #Vashwood #Also yeah this may be completely out of character to other people but #S H R U G #This is just where my brain lead me when I started wondering what Wolfwood's ghost did after Trimax #Also I know it doesn't exactly fit canon but his Vash has started developing salt-and-pepper streaks in his black hair #and little age lines because he's like 500 YEARS OLD at that point or something #andI kind of love that mental image #Wolfwood still thinks he's the most beautiful thing on No Man's Land but he's VERY biased and has developed a bit of an unhealthy fixation

[spicerackofblorbos]

Chapter 8: June - Part One

☾ Pairings ➼ Levi Ackerman x fem!mute!Reader (she/her pronouns), set in a modern semi-fictional world

☾ Summary ➼ Due to childhood trauma, you find yourself an adult without the ability to speak. After years of working on it, you have found ways to live without a voice. Now here in your late 20s, you are 5 months in getting used to a new town. On a fateful day in late November, you and your adopted sister visit a local bookstore-café, unaware of the friendships about to blossom. Throughout the months, one friendship in particular develops into something more.

☾ Content/Warnings ➼ fluff, slowburn, oblivious feelings, romance, angst, mention of minor character deaths, trauma, illness, adoption, mentions of fire, disabilities, alcohol use, very light nsfw mentions, references to child abuse, smoking and alcohol abuse mentions, domestic violence, light assault

☾ Author's note ➼ Hi guys! Welcome to the final chapter!! As you can see, I will be splitting up June into multiple parts!! I don't know how many yet. I have multiple days planned, each with their own twists and surprises. I can't wait to get to day 3 and 4 AAAAAAAA. Anyways. This chapter is really slow but it's set up for the stuff later, I promise!! Happy summer, see you in my next update (hopefully soon)!!

☾ Word Count ➼ ~5.1k

As promised, you find yourself on a plane to the Marleyan coastal city, Liberio, in the middle of June. The flight was not as long as you thought but unfortunately for you, Hange forgot their earbuds. The consequences of their scatter-brained self fell onto you. Your sister decided to fill the space with their voice as they spoke animatedly about the itinerary that they've changed at least six times since the plane's departure. You offered to let them borrow your earbuds - mainly out of mercy for yourself – but they refused, stating they were yours to use. Not like you had a chance to really use them anyways.

For the most part, you were able to zone out as Hange’s words became a buzz. You opt to fill the time as you stare out the window and into the horizon, fleeting thoughts of what the future held flying by like the plane you sat in. Only when land could be seen breaking up the dark blue expanse off in the distance did you notice the silence. You're not sure how long it had been since your sister stopped talking. You twist your head around, fully expecting to see Hange asleep. This was not the case.

Heavy-lidded slate gray eyes stare into your own, typical deadpan expression painting the rest of the owner's face. You jump slightly at the sudden change, your heart doing the same but not entirely from the shock.

"Hi."

‘What are you doing here?' You sign curiously.

"What? Tired of me already?" A hint of teasing slips into his tone.

'No! I'm just confused. You're okay!" Your eyes widen in worry, hands flying everywhere.

"I'm kidding. Hange kicked me out of my seat to speak with Erwin." He turns his head in the direction of said person a couple rows ahead, talking just as lively as your sister.

Your eyes trail back over to Levi's face, taking note of the thin sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead. His eyebrows crinkle in the middle the way they do when he’s agitated. You flicker your gaze down to see his hand tightly gripping the armrest that separated the two of you. His knee bounces so hard you’re surprised the plane isn’t moving with it. Levi is anxious, something you've never seen him be before now.

Reaching over, you gently place your hand on top of his. His eyes snap to you at the touch of your warm skin, tense at first but then visibly relaxing when he remembers it's you. You offer him a small smile, a look of relief washing over his face for just a moment.

You knew this was your first time flying anywhere but you assumed you were the only one. While you had stared out the window in childlike wonder, Levi must have been quietly suffering. You had enough tact as well as enough knowledge of your friend to know he wouldn't want to talk about it. Instead, you wrap your fingers around the back of his hand and turn back to the window.

You stay like that when the sea changes to land and don't let go even when the wheels hit the pavement.

.

The moment you step outside of the airport’s sliding glass doors, you're instantly hit with a gust of humid air. It's hot and you already feel a sticky sweat clinging to your clothes not a minute later. The late morning sun filters through the slats that vertically adorn the awning above the pick-up zone as cars stop and leave like a drive-through for people. Erwin had called for a taxi while you all had waited for your respective bags at the claim area. The plane had landed during the worst time, and it showed as you note there is no end in sight for the line.  

“Well, it appears to me that I forgot that time zones exist and unfortunately we can’t check in to the condo for another couple of hours. Any ideas?” Hange whips around to look at the group, making sure to hold their hat in place before it can fly off in the breeze.

“I’m starving. Want to grab a bite somewhere?” Erwin checks his phone to verify the time as he inquires. It was a little past 11am which means that it had been about 6 hours since you had last eaten a full meal.

“Whatever is fine with me. But I think we may be here for the next couple of hours anyways.” Levi shrugs as his eyes scan for the oncoming taxi. They land on you for a moment, lingering. His gaze doesn’t stay long but it’s enough for you to shoot him a toothy smile and thumbs up in agreement. The corners of his lips twitch as he looks away.

“There’s a little café within walking distance of the place we’re staying, why don’t we go there? Maybe you guys can get some ideas for No Regrets while we’re there, huh?” Hange nudges Levi in the shoulder with their elbow.

“What are you trying to say, four-eyes?” Levi cuts his eyes over to your sister.

“Oh nothing, shorty.” Hange snorts back.

“Okay, okay, you two. The car is here, cut it out.” Erwin glances over to you and winks, as if to say ‘children’.

The ride to the café is relatively short. Since you were all staying a little less than a week, the suitcases were small and easily maneuverable, fitting nicely in the trunk of the car you sit in as it speeds down the highway. Luckily, the local people spoke the same language but the accent they had was something you were not expecting. It’s light and airy, but it’s obvious they had their own dialect.

By the time you sit down at one of the outside tables and order the rest of your meals, the clock reads 1:48pm and your stomach feels as if it will devour itself. Hange and Erwin are chatting about something off to the side while you take in the rest of your surroundings. It was overwhelming to say the least, but not in an entirely bad way. Bright colors and tan buildings overtake your senses. You rub your eyes, realizing just how tired and strained they were.

“Maybe we should have gotten you some caffeine?” Levi looks over to you as he sips the tea he ordered. It’s dark as usual, the steam from the hot liquid drifting and refracting the sunlight in a million different ways. There’s a look of peace on his face as he ingests it, a clear sign that he is pleased with the way it was made – which is hard to do for Levi Ackerman.

‘I’ll be fine. I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight.’ You wave your hand dismissively when you’re done, shooting Levi a small smile. He doesn’t look convinced but doesn’t press.

“Do you know the plans for the next couple of days?” He inquires, staring over to your other two friends deep in conversation. They’re pointing to a paper itinerary they had printed out prior to leaving home.

‘Hange has changed it so much that I have no idea. I know we’re going to the beach tomorrow morning but that’s it.’

Levi says nothing else, the clinking of his teacup hitting the saucer being the only noise responding back. You start to wonder if Levi feels as you do – like a passenger along for the ride with Erwin and Hange helming the wheel. You wonder even more if he’s of the same mindset that you don’t really mind being thrashed around if you get to be with your friends, with him. A breeze blows past, granting a brief respite from the sweltering humidity and pulling you from your thoughts. You can’t wait to shower later.

.

Just as Hange said, the condo isn’t too far from the café. A few minutes walk from it, actually. The building where you would reside for the next week is massive, much more than the pictures gave credit for. You can hear the distant crashing of waves belonging to the ocean that sits behind it. When you step inside the cool, air-conditioned lobby, your mouth drops slightly. This was not like your typical residential condo complex.

The outside looks quite plain, white with light blue accents. But the inside? Marble flooring and gold embellishments flood your eyes. Dark, glossy wood makes up all the furniture with navy blue velvet to line the seating. A massive crystal chandelier hangs from the center which also splits a double curved staircase leading to who knows where, sitting under it are a couple of elevators. To your right sits a restaurant called Rumbling Bar and Grille and to your left, something that looks like a grand ballroom. Double French doors stand open outwards, and you can see more marble flooring filling the space. There’s a billboard hanging by the doors with multiple fliers about upcoming events tacked to it.  The only noises you hear are the patrons at the bar enjoying an afternoon meal. You can’t believe Erwin had managed to book something so grand as this.

After your birthday party last month, Erwin had explained the reasoning for such an occasion, saying the perks that were planned for the next few days were from a trip he had booked forever ago - A trip he had booked for him and Carly as an anniversary present as well as a place to ask her to marry him. Considering after everything that had happened so many months ago, you can see why he didn’t want to bring it up. But then Carly called him to ask about using it for her and her friends and well, it was under his name. He said it wasn’t hers to take.

Erwin said he was fine about it all and would rather it be put to use by someone else, not to mention that it was all nonrefundable. He didn’t really go into details about what the perks were other than that some things were easily upgradable to fit the four of you comfortably. You can’t help but feel slight guilt for taking advantage of such a lavish gift, but Erwin stared you down before you could even protest any further.

“Little Berry!! Are you coming or what?” Hange pulls you out of your thoughts and your eyes zero in on Hange, Levi, and Erwin waiting by the elevators for you. Signing a lazy sorry, you grab the handle of your rolling suitcase and hurry to catch up with them.

The complex is set up so that every floor has one condo each, and there are about 30 floors in total. Due to that, every resident is given a private code that must be put into the elevator that gives it the permission needed to move to the appropriate floor. Erwin inputs the code he was given by the hosts and eventually the doors open up on the 27th floor half a minute later.  

Your first impression of the condo is warmth. The owners have it decorated in a typical beach fashion but instead of the normal navy blues and grays, it was all oranges, pinks, and tans. Very much like a vibrant sunset on the beach.

The entire floor was built with an open plan. A large living room sits in the middle with spacious, comfortable looking couches and a massive flat screen TV sitting upon a long table up against the wall. A grand kitchen sits off to the side, separating itself from the dining room with a white marble island countertop that serves as a bar to eat at. Along the entire wall facing the ocean sit wide windows, starting from the floor and reaching up high to the tall ceilings. Natural light would not be a problem here.

Originally, Erwin’s booking had a single bedroom. Somehow, he was able to get something so last minute with 3 bedrooms, all with their own private bathrooms. A king, a queen, and a double twin. The men got the bigger rooms which left you and Hange in the smaller one, but you didn’t complain about that at all.

Your bedroom isn’t as small as Hange claimed, however. It’s big enough for two people, the same area as a typical hotel. On the far wall, a glass door separates the room from a small veranda that faces the ocean, equipped with a single garden chair and small round table.

You clumsily place your suitcase on the bed closest to the bathroom, grunting in effort as you do. Hange does the same, and smiles over to you in accomplishment. You and Hange didn’t have many similarities even though you’ve lived with them for more than half of your life, but you did share the need to over-pack for every trip ever made.

“We don’t have any plans for the rest of today, right?” Hange flops onto their bed and stares over at you. Their head slowly sinks into the soft pillows.

‘Not that I know of. I don’t even know what we’re doing for dinner.’ You shrug your shoulders and brush the hair out of your face that fell with the exertion of moving your suitcase.

“I was actually thinking about us making dinner and staying in to rest up for the next couple days.” You think for a moment and ultimately decide that’s not a bad idea. You were quite tired and wouldn’t mind relaxing.

‘We don’t even have groceries for that, silly.’

“Why don’t you and Erwin go? I trust you both to think of something delicious.” So much for relaxing.

‘I guess. But what will you do?’

“If you must know, I’ll be staring at the back of my eyelids.” Hange chortles as they move their arms across their eyes. You huff and start unpacking a few things before pulling off your suitcase and tucking it into the corner. By the time you stand up straight, you hear the light snores that belong to your sister.

In their defense, they have been pulling late nights the past week so that they didn’t have much to worry about while they were gone. So you didn’t have much to be mad about, not like it bothered you much to begin with. This was vacation after all, and they had practically planned it all with Erwin.

You step over to your sister’s bed and gingerly pull their shoes off, placing them on the floor by the glass doors. You grab the handles of her bag and tug it gently. They had packed way more than you did, and it showed in your face as you did your best to lift it off the bed without disturbing them. You pluck off Hange’s glasses and set them on the bedside table before brushing their hair out of their face, smiling down at them as you do. Doing this reminds you of all those nights back when you took care of Hange in the deepest part of their university years. Once satisfied, you grab your shoulder bag and quietly step out of the bedroom before closing the door with a soft click.

You twirl around to find Erwin busy typing away at his laptop on the sofa while Levi’s in the kitchen inspecting the cabinets, moving things around like he’s looking for something. You move closer and rap on the coffee table with your knuckles to get Erwin’s attention.

“Hm?” He responds, not bothering to look up at you. You knock again, finally getting his bright blue eyes to land on you. “Oh, sorry. What’s up? Where’s Hange?”

‘They elected to take this time to nap. We’ve been chosen to do grocery shopping for tonight’s dinner.’ Erwin chuckles at that.

“That’s Hange for you. That sounds great but I’m unfortunately in a pickle trying to get these reservations set for tomorrow. I’m sure Levi wouldn’t mind going with you, though.”

“Wouldn’t mind going where?” Levi calls from inside a cabinet, his back turned to you.

“Grocery shopping. We’re having dinner here tonight.” Erwin goes back to his typing, his eyes squinting as he reads along with something.

“Normally I’d say no, but this place has next to no tea and if I’m to survive this week, I need more than what the café had to offer.” Levi laments and finally wheels around to face your direction. Your eyes meet and you point to the elevator with a thumb. He nods and shuts the cabinet behind him before heading towards the doors.

“What do you want?” Levi mumbles over his shoulder towards Erwin.

“Whatever you two want. I trust you implicitly.” Levi grumbles more at Erwin’s response as he presses the button to call the elevator. It looks like whatever was on the menu for tonight fell onto the two of you.

.

The walk to the grocer was not a very long one. With every passing moment, you start to understand why Erwin chose this spot. It was close to everything you would need without having to rent a vehicle. However, because of how short the trip to the store was, it left you and Levi little to no time to decide what to make for dinner tonight.

Levi stands with his hands in his pockets as he stares at the selections of meat in front of him, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. You’re leaning against the shopping cart as you stare over his shoulder at the options. There were too many to choose from and you really had no idea what you wanted. You glance over to the glass case tucked into the corner of the store, filled to the brim with fresh fish and crustaceans sitting on a bed of ice. Levi didn’t even bother to look at it when you passed it the first time.

You both had already been here for half an hour, gathering small things for the rest of the trip like sunscreen, drinks, and snacks. Not to mention loose leaf tea in which Levi had spent 15 minutes of that time alone finding the right one. You would never tell him, but he is such a tea snob. You had mentioned taking a walk around as you both did the extra shopping to give yourself more time to think, but you find yourself still in decision paralysis as you stand shivering in front of the cooler.

“Any ideas yet?” You reach over and tap him on the back of the shoulder to get his attention.

‘Not yet. You?’ Levi clicks his tongue in slight frustration.

“Tch. Are we sure we don’t want to just eat out instead? It would save us the hassle.”

‘Levi.’

“Okay, okay. Pasta? How about pasta?” Levi points to the seafood bar. “With shrimp?” You stare at him incredulously, questioning if he can read your mind. But also confused, as you didn’t think he cared for it considering the uninterested tone. But still, you nod in approval, almost a little too enthusiastically. He hums back in response and gently pulls on the cart towards the freshly caught shrimp. You have no choice but to be tugged along.

You watch as Levi orders a pound of de-shelled shrimp in his usual monotone voice. The way his jawline tenses as he waits, the way his bottom eyelashes sit on his soft cheeks. His pouty lips, marred from his past mistakes. You don’t notice how hard you’re staring until his gray eyes cut over to you.

“What?”

‘Nothing, you just have an eyelash on your nose.’ Levi rubs his nose with a finger to rid of the imaginary lash.

“Better?” You nod, face heating up at being caught.

“Here you are sir.” The guy behind the counter calls out, holding a taped up package of the cold shrimp. “Anything else I can get you?”

“No, thank you.” Levi reaches over and takes it carefully before tossing it into the cart. He turns in your direction but looks past you to the aisles behind you. “Let’s go grab the rest of the ingredients and get out of here, yeah?”

With that, you and Levi weave and bob through the aisles you had once gone through already. Luckily with the grocer being so small to begin with, it didn’t take much time at all now that you knew what you were looking for. At one point Levi wanted something off a shelf but couldn’t reach. He stood there for a minute staring daggers into what looked like a package of shortbread biscuits. He of course didn’t say anything and instead twirled around and left down the aisle. You reached up to grab it after he disappeared around the corner and tucked it away into the cart.

To make it fair, you both decided to split the grocery bill and much to your surprise, it wasn’t as much as you thought it would be. If Levi wasn’t so stubborn, you would have offered to pay for it all. You can already picture Levi staring holes into your skull at such an offer.

When you get back, you note that not much has changed. Erwin is still on the sofa, scrolling through something and only stopping once he hears you placing paper grocery bags down on the counter. The TV is on, playing the local forecast for the rest of the week. It looks like sunshine and high temperatures.

“There you are. Find anything good?” Erwin places his laptop on the coffee table and stands up before making his way over to you and Levi. He sticks his hands in the bags to help unpack and eyes the fresh tomatoes, shrimp, and cream. Blue eyes then trail over the dry pasta that Levi currently held in his hands.

“Shrimp pasta?” He raises an eyebrow at you both.

‘Tuscan shrimp pasta.’ You correct him. ‘Levi’s idea.’

“Hm. Interesting.” Erwin chuckles at that and places it all down on the counter. You look up at him curiously as he does so.

‘What do you mean by that?’

Erwin leans down to whisper so that only you can hear while he sticks his hands back into the bag. Levi isn’t paying attention as he’s currently putting the cold ingredients away in the fridge.

“Pasta is one of his comfort foods. But the shrimp? He’s not a fan. Something must have changed his mind.” He pulls away and looks down at you with a gleam in his eye, an award winning smile blinding you. You fidget with the hem of your shirt as you consider his words.

‘Is Hange up yet?’

“No, but I did check on them. They are out like a light.”

‘I’m going to wash all this travel grime off then. Be right back.’ You turn on your heels to head towards your room at a brisk pace.

“So Levi...” You hear Erwin start just as you close the door behind you.

Hange is indeed passed out. When you left, they had their arm over their face. Now, they’re face down on their pillow and snoring away. Good thing you had moved their glasses when you did. You take a moment to gather some fresh lounge clothes before setting out your night wear for later. You take one last glance at your sister to make sure they were still breathing and close the bathroom door behind you.

The rest of the evening goes by in a blur. Hange had woken up by the time you got out of the shower – which took you a while to do as it was the nicest shower you have ever used. While you waited for Hange to clean up as well, you spent some time on the balcony looking out into the ocean as the sun lowered into the sky. Your skin warms in the golden light that came with this time of night. You watch as families pack up their things and leave the sandy shores, the sounds of small kids whining making their way up to you.  

Dinner, as planned, took little to no time at all to make. Especially considering the four of you teamed up and tackled every part of it flawlessly, all working in sync. At some point, Erwin and Hange were on vegetable chopping duty which left you and Levi tending to the stove, stirring the cream sauce and sautéing shrimp respectively. You watch Levi out of the corner of your eye, noting how intently focused he is on the task at hand.

“You keep staring at me today, what’s up with that?” He doesn’t even look up when he speaks, choosing to do so once he finishes his sentence. Sharp gray eyes stare into your own and you force yourself to look away, opting to gaze down to the bubbling cream mixture before you.

‘I’m not.’

“Tch, could have fooled me.” His remark contains no traces of malice, so you know he’s not truly all that bothered.

‘Maybe you just have a slappable face,’ You tease. More like kissable, you think. Your cheeks flare at the flashing thought and mentally swat it away.

“I’d like to see you try.” A soft chuckle escapes his lips as he tosses some seasonings into the pan.

“Alright you two, stop flirting and move, the tomatoes are done.” Hange chirps from behind you.

Was that flirting? You don’t stop to dwell on it as you’re pushed away from the stove and far from Levi. You move to the other side of the island and lean against it as you watch Levi start arguing with Hange about something again. Erwin is doing his best to move them along before the food burns. You laugh to yourself at the scene unfolding before you, feeling your heart warm at it.  

.

Whether it was from Hange’s soft snoring or the endless thoughts racing through your mind, you find yourself tossing and turning in bed. Reaching over to the side table, you pull your charging phone closer to you and click the side button, resulting in you flinching away at the sudden bright light. When your eyes adjust, you note the time reading well past three in the morning. You can already feel the imminent exhaustion for tomorrow.

You set the phone down carefully and push yourself up into a sitting position. Out the veranda glass doors, you spot the distant movement of ocean waves as the current pushes in and out of the shore. The reflection of the full moon glitters along the dark expanse. Without another thought, you pull yourself out of bed and throw on your thin jacket before padding out of the bedroom and through the front door.

Compared to this afternoon, the night is considerably colder and the breeze off the ocean made it even more so. You pull your jacket around you tightly, scolding yourself for not putting on more clothes. The bottom of your night dress ripples in the wind creating goosebumps up your legs. Besides the cold though, the night is gorgeous. There is quite a bit of light pollution from the night activities blaring through the streets so the stars are muted but otherwise it’s a very clear night, not a cloud in sight. The ocean, the moon, the muffled music in the background of the ultimately silent and peaceful night… you revel in it.

The waves lap the shore gently as you make your way over to the shoreline. Your bare feet digs through the soft sand and you chuckle to yourself. This is the first time you’ve ever been on something like this and it was strange. You get close enough to where the water stops and take a deep breath before taking a few steps more. When the salt water rushes over your feet, you jump in surprise. It’s a lot colder than you expected, but you chalk that up to the fact that the sun is no longer out to warm everything.

“Couldn’t wait until tomorrow to take a swim?” You hear a familiar voice grumble behind you. Startled yet again, you jump and snap your head to the visitor. Levi stands with his hands in his jogger’s pockets, black t-shirt billowing in the wind with his hair doing the same. The moonlight hits him like it always does, giving him a glow that only he can reflect.

‘It’s the only good time for skinny dipping.’ You sign back jokingly. He only rolls his eyes in response. He takes a few steps closer but not enough to get his feet wet, which you notice he’s completely laced up in sneakers. Must be the sand, you think.

“You’re a dummy. Can’t sleep?”

‘Too excited. I have a lot of thoughts.’

“Like what?” He smirks over to you and crosses his arms over his chest.

You walk over and stand beside him, tapping a finger on your chin like you’re lost in thought.

‘Like… what kind of sand mermaid I’m going to make you into tomorrow. Later today.’ You smile over at him.

“I’m sure whatever you choose, it will look great.” Levi huffs in amusement.

‘What’s keeping you up?’

“Perpetual insomnia…” He trails off and gives you a side eye before continuing on, “And I heard you leave.”

‘Afraid I might run off with someone in the night?’ You gain another huff from Levi, but he doesn’t say anything back. He shifts his weight, a subtle wince flashing across his face.

‘Need me to carry you, old man?’

“Oi, fuck off.”

Another cool breeze blows past, this time pulling your unzipped jacket back and exposing more of your skin to the open air. You’re now very aware of what you’re wearing in the presence of Levi. Not that you had planned to run into anyone, but you scold yourself again for not layering up even more. Your night dress didn’t show too much in terms of cleavage which was comforting. But then the fact that you had no bra on and the fabric was quite thin races through your mind. You catch his gaze flickering down before you can pull your jacket around you again. When you glance back up, he’s already looking in the opposite direction.

“The way I see it,” He clears his throat. “we can either walk along the beach until you’re tired enough to go to bed or we can head back and you can try your hand at sleeping now.” That was quite an ultimatum, you think. You rack your brain to see how tired you really were. Before, you might have head back after a bit. But now that Levi is here… well. You didn’t want to cut this moment short.

‘I don’t want to go back yet.’ Levi nods and starts off to the left, the soft crunch of sand emanating from every step. Yes, you were quite excited to see what else this trip had in store.

☾ Previous Chapter: May ☾ Next Chapter: June - Part Two

#Skys blog recovery #this is ported from my old fandom blog chaotic-on-main #I did not steal these I swear lol they’re mine #attack on titan #attack on titan fanfiction #shingeki no kyojin #shingeki no kyojin fanfiction #levi ackerman #levi ackerman fanfiction #fanfiction #fluff #levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #erwin smith #hange zoe #levi x fem!reader #aot #aot fanfiction #levi ackerman x you #snk fanfiction #long fic #snk #aot fluff #attack on titan fluff #attack on titan levi #unspoken words #modernau #x reader

[thedeadparrot]

wout/christophe, rain

for @cycleprompttuesday and the prompt 'rain'.

---

The road is slick underneath their wheels. Their tires kick up water, splashing against their legs and backs. Their bibs are soaked through, clinging to their skin. Rain drips down Wout's face and leaves wet trails along his chin and cheeks. The team car is in their ears. They have one minute on their chasers.

Christophe pulls ahead. Wout settles into his wheel. The rain comes down harder. Droplets are smeared on Wout's sunglasses. They have thirty kilometers left to go. Keep pedaling he tells himself. The rain doesn't matter. The wind, the cold, they're just distractions. What matters is the road, his bike, and Christophe.

Wout knows the power of Christophe's legs, but he also can see the strain in them. He's pushing himself hard. They both are. Fighting, as always, to keep going. They can't let the fatigue, the pain stop them. There is a finish line in the distance. They just have to reach it.

"Don't lose him," the team car says as they climb the Kemmelberg. And of course, Wout never had any intention of doing so. He pushes himself to to the top, and then he slows down, letting Christophe take his wheel again. They are in this together.

Together, they chew through the kilometers. Wout takes his turn at the front. Then Christophe does. They are not a single organism. They are two separate ones, working in tandem. Wout lives to race. Sometimes it's just him against his competitors. Sometimes it's this, too: the thing they create by working together.

As they pass underneath the flamme rouge, Wout asks, "Do you want it?" Christophe put in the work. He is here at Wout's side, suffering through the rain, the cobbles, the climbs. And after all that, Wout can give away a part of himself. He's won this race before. He doesn't need to win it again.

"Yes," Christophe says. He smiles. Wout can see the flash of his teeth.

When they reach the finish line, Wout pushes Christophe across it first, arms outstretched. It's a beautiful sight, Christophe's happiness. It's one of the most beautiful sights in the world.

They get swarmed by cameras and attention. Everyone wants their own piece of them. Wout lets them have it, lets them bask in this reflected glory. Christophe pulls Wout into a hug. His kit is damp and wet under Wout's hands. They are both water-logged. There's rain everywhere. In their shoes, their hair, their bibs, their ears. He smells like the roads they've been riding on. Asphalt and dirt and car oil. "Thank you," Christophe whispers into Wout's ear. Wout holds this moment close, closer than he can hold Christophe while they have an audience.

A small couch. A podium. A shower of champagne. Both of them so full of joy they're bursting with it.

When they're alone again, Wout kisses Christophe's lips. They taste like the champagne. Christophe's hair is still damp with rain and sweat. Wout closes his eyes, and thinks of this: the road stretched out in front of them, the rhythmic push-pull of Christophe's legs, the too-sweet artificial taste of gels in his mouth.

Christophe makes a small, pleased noise, and Wout tastes it instead. Drinks it in. Christophe's hands cup Wout's chin and cheeks. Christophe's stubble scratches against Wout's skin. Wout's limbs feel heavy. It was a long, hard race.

It's still raining outside. Raindrops splatter against the windows. Wout leans into Christophe. He's warm, and he's solid. Wind rattles through the trees. It whistles. It howls.

Is this what love is? Two bodies moving together through misery and pain to find something beautiful beyond it? Wout doesn't know. What he does know is this: they won a race today. They were strong, strong enough to survive the wind and the rain and the chasing peloton.

And then Christophe wraps his arms around Wout's neck, and he slides his tongue into Wout's mouth, and Wout doesn't think about anything else for a while.

#my fic #cycling #wout/christophe #cyleprompttuesday

[dairy-farmer]

(You are absolutely spectacular, love all your stuff)

I feel like Bruce would quote literally be insane enough to find a concoction to permanently de-age the rest of the bats to young children, stage an accident, and convince Tim that in order for them all to be a “true” family, he needs to be their mother and Bruce’s wife. Or maybe it happens by actual accident on a mission and Bruce takes advantage.. Even better if eventually, a new little sibling was on the way .

👀👀👀👀👀!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tim returns to the manor following a long mission and is greeted by the sight of a todder dick and cass, a baby jason who has only barely started to crawl, and damian who can't be more than a month or two old. all along with bruce who looks gray and haggard with an unshaved face and clear exhaustion painting him. bruce tells him about some dimension traveling magician that tore through gotham while he was away. that bruce had been scrambling to catch all the falling babies from falling off a roof to send out an alert. he tells tim about how the magic user had already flickered away and that the magic consultants they kept on retainer couldn't fix this, the magic was too archaic for one. for two it was done by an outerverser and the possible complications of trying to undo it were too high risk. and so, on the suggestion of three different consultants... the safest thing to do was to just...let them all grow up again. it was the only was to make sure they didn't suffer some horrible blowback from the magic in them which included mind wipes, changes at the cellular level, chronal element level time magic.

tim is thrown for a loop. devastated and horrified for his siblings because they've lost their friends, their lives, the things they went through. dick and jason will no longer have memories of their biological parents only of bruce. both cass and damian...have lost the traumatic childhoods that carved them into the people they were. and...tim tries to ignore how part of him believes that's not quite a bad thing.

he watches as cass loudly giggles at a barbie movie playing on tv and tim just stares at her from where he's carefully holding a fussy jason while she's being bounced on bruce's knee in a puffy tutu and hairclips galore.

dick is napping in a playpen on the floor between him and bruce while surrounded by blocks and soft toys that he joyfully chucks out before wearing himself out and nearly falling asleep while sitting up on his little diaper clad tush.

damian is upstairs in his nursery napping and awaiting another bottle feeding that bruce has a timer for to wake him up for. there's a baby monitor on the coffee table between them tuned so finely that tim can hear the slow and soft inhale and exhale of an infant. he knows that the moment damian makes the slightest cry he'll be up and racing up the steps with bruce close behind him.

tim has been helping for a few days now, helping relieve bruce of the various duties he has shouldered all by himself. alfred is still out of the country on his month long vacation he takes every year. it's a silent rule to never call and bother alfred during his recharge time and its only bad luck that all this happened while he was out of the manor. bruce had struggled those first few nights, tim knew that much. he'd seen the desperate searches on the batcomputer and the inquiries about how to change a diaper, how to hold a baby, how to rock a baby, what do babies eat, how to burp a baby. then the rapid purchases for diapers, clothing, bibs, binkies, and various other supplies that were delivered to the door of the manor within the hour.

batman has taken a temporary leave of absence from the justice league and tim is going to be sending a similar notice to the titans because the family needs them both more.

tim can see the exhaustion lining bruce's face but also the small bit of happiness every time he picks up one of the babies. tim has to admit that once the shock wore off, his siblings were all rather cute. they're small and chubby. dick is a darling child...when he's asleep. awake is when he's constantly toddling away and giggling with glee while he's chased. cass is deeply enthralled with the tv and the most well behaved so long as there's a movie or show on. jason is a lethargic baby. always sleepy and tired to the point that tim was concerned something was wrong because when jason wasn't asleep he was crying or clearly in great discomfort. bruce has an appointment for him with a discrete pediatrician in a few days (along with another for the other children) and so tim does his best to comfort him, holding, and kissing him until they can figure out how to make him feel better.

still. it's hard coming to terms with everything knowing that his siblings, as he knew them, were now no longer the people they'd grow to be. tim was scared, worried that they'd grow up and hate him or hate bruce because of what they did or didn't do.

bruce seems to think the same because he brings tim into his room after they've all been put to bed. he talks about how all of the kids need structure. they need parents. reliable parents who love and care for them and can give them what they need to grow up happy and healthy. bruce has been studying and he tells tim the statistics and the studies about the effects of growing up with a single parent. about the impact of different parental authority figures. about the effects of all the parenting styles.

they need stability, they need parents who will care for them, and bruce says he knows he's asking for a lot but he just needs to ask- can tim be there for them.

bruce can't do it alone. he knows he can't give them everything they need from a loving parent he's too...broken. but tim...tim can. he can fill the gaps- he can make sure the children never have anything to want for. bruce will take care of them all but he needs help....he needs tim.

bruce asking him to be the other parent...the be the....mother...it makes tim stop. makes him consider the needs of his siblings of his...children.

he knows bruce is right. tim knows he'll feel better if he's there to help bruce learn and to make sure all the mistakes he made while raising them aren't repeated again.

and...he sees the potential. the potential lives the children can lead. happier, better adjusted, more fulfilled, less timid, less scared of disappointing bruce. tim knows its a lot. becoming a parent is a huge sacrifice but...if it's him and bruce in it together....then there's nothing batman and robin can't do.

#answered asks #asks #anonymous #brutim

[theheirofthesharingan]

An AU in which Itachi takes Sasuke with him after the massacre instead of leaving him in the village because he couldn't trust the village. Itachi joins the Akatsuki and Sasuke is an unofficial member group. Sasuke can't go to the Academy because Itachi is an S-ranked criminal but Itachi still educates his brother and they train together. Itachi is still guilt-ridden and has nightmares but being with Sasuke helps him calm himself down. And since Sasuke is the unofficial member of Akatsuki, he accompanies Itachi to the meetings, and gets to sit outside in their hideouts while they do their business talks. It's mandatory to be nice to Sasuke. They've given him a tiny Akatsuki cloak that's still a bit large for his size but Sasuke loves it. He can't paint his nails though until he turns 13. He pouts a lot when he sees Itachi painting his nails and Itachi does this on Sasuke's little finger to make him happy. Konan adores Sasuke and Itachi and is like a mom to them both because Itachi is a baby too. When Sasuke grows up he understands what happened to their clan. He goes against Konoha. Since Sasuke doesn't live in the village Itachi feels no affection towards it either. Sasuke works hard and trains with Itachi's help. Eventually, when he's strong enough he faces Naruto. Not as a friend or a rival but as an enemy that is blind to what's wrong with the village. Naruto has the rosy picture of the village while Sasuke knows how ugly the world is. In the end Sasuke wins (how can he not if plot convenience isn't used to defeat him?). His revolution, a little bit different from how it was in canon, comes. His motivation from the beginning to the end is Itachi - to not let anyone else suffer how his brother did. Some Akatsuki members die in the process, but Itachi lives.

#sasuke #itachi #uchiha brothers #itachi uchiha #uchiha itachi #sasuke uchiha #uchiha sasuke #don't ask why this came to me but i thought about it for a good while #akatsuki

[hmshermitcraft]

Despite popular belief, the Emperors did not die when the rapture came, not when a good majority of them were gods or supernatural hybrids or had relations to gods.

One of the emperors who survived happened to be Scott, who gravely brought up at a meeting of the remaining emperors (Joey had decided after being found and healed by Gem that he wanted nothing to do with the emperor life anymore and disappeared, Pixlriffs had disappeared to fulfill his role as the keeper of the dead, Katherine had returned to the Fae realm, and Shrub was out doing Wolf Spirit things) that if he were alive, then Xornoth likely was as well.

And thus began their search for both Jimmy (Who had gone missing and was not as easy to find as Lizzie was) and Xornoth.

It took months before they finally got the slightest lead on Xornoth, a blind man who only saw via his sensing of magic described Xornoth’s magic in perfect detail and gave them the direction they were headed in.

Perhaps if they stayed long enough for the old man to finish telling them about Xornoth’s stay in his village they would have been less rattled by the sight they came across.

They had found Xornoth, but they had, changed. The dark charcoal skin they were used to the demon having were reduced to simple patches that marred their skin, a head of hair growing in magenta rather than white, and eyes that looked just like they did when the demon was still elf. But that wasn’t the only shock, in fact the second sight rattled them either further.

Traveling with him was none other than Jimmy, a very very human Jimmy but Jimmy nonetheless.

(They supposed that Jimmy’s situation must have been like Lizzie’s, their powers and therefore memories drained along with their domain, Gem found herself worrying that they wouldn’t be able to fix Jimmy like they managed to with Lizzie)

Meanwhile Jimmy is incredibly confused on who these strange people are and would really just like them to leave him and his fiancé alone, he is already preoccupied enough with trying to find a way to cure Xornoth of the dark magic infecting their soul (Exor’s remaining magic) the odd feeling of familiarity when he looked at the cyan haired elf with a face like his fiancé didn’t matter.

- 🍪 anon

Scott doesn't know if it's worse that Xornoth themself doesn't remember. Would it be easier if he could pretend they'd done this out of spite? A target for his grief, turning it into anger.

But Xornoth is changed in more than just his appearance. Maybe it's poetic, for Scott's own lost memories to come full circle like this. (Though, he thinks he suffered enough forgetting his own brother.)

Jimmy is happy. Scott watches them interact like any almost ordinary couple would and feels as if he's looking in a mirror. Lizzie tells Jimmy they're siblings - though she leaves out the whole god thing. Scott can't blame her, considering he introduces himself to Jimmy like he's a stranger.

Gem catches Scott's arm as they walk to the tavern, led by Jimmy and Xornoth. She whispers that Scott doesn't need to help here. He can go back and continuing assisting with the rebuilding efforts - providing a haven for the many refugees. It's not the empires of old, but something new. Something unified emerging from the ruins of the past.

Scott knows he needs to see this through. He has the most knowledge of Exor and Aeor of all of them. He'll find a way to expunge the remaining magic from his brother and let them finally live the life they've always deserved.

The life Scott might have deserved, once upon a time.

#empiresshipping #ask #scott tag #jimmy tag #gem tag #xornoth tag #xornimmy #flower husbands #🍪 anon #mod 🎀 #angsty tw

[not-alien-girl-v]

I am BEGGING for a part two to the George fic, please please PLEASE let her have happiness with matty have we not suffered enough???

Everything I Didn't Say (Matty Healy)

Part 1 is right here read it first

Warning: idk

Note: i have 2 active crushes rn this is so upsetting i feel like a 13 year old girl writing in my diary

2.1k

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Hesitantly, she approaches Matty, no idea of what is next to come.

He seems equally unsure. Hands grasping at nothing by his sides, clenching, unclenching, folding up lightly then releasing. He looks over her shoulder, at Ross and Adam, looking close to opening a bag of popcorn, anticipating every next movement from the two before them.

Not today, not now, Matty thinks to himself, and gives the boys a look that is easily translated to 'head out now, lads.' They understand, a bit disappointed, as the both of them have been waiting on something to happen with the dreaded love triangle for as long as its existed. They had to endure every painful moment with them, and now they can't be present for the grand finale?

Alas, this was their friends lives, not a TV show they've been binge watching for years on end, so they file out of the room without a word, trying to go unnoticed, not bothering either of the people left standing there, staring at each other with pained expressions.

"So," she starts, though she feels as though Matty has more to say to her than she does to him at this point. It's a complicated thing they have going here. She just witnessed the years-long crush dissolve into vapor right before her eyes in a millisecond, only to find out Matty has been equally as pathetic, perhaps even more so, about her as she has been this whole time.

Does she see him like that? She doesn't not see him like that. To be honest, all 4 of the boys she calls her best friends are all wildly attractive, it makes her wonder how she ended up having a crush on George in the first place. Why not anyone else?

The simple truth is that upon meeting the boys, she was a bit starstruck just by the sight of them. Adam was quiet, distanced in a friendly manner, not one that spoke 'I don't like you' to her, but just in the matter that that's the way he is as a person. She observed him closely for a while. He's like this with everyone else he knows, minus his long-term girlfriend, Carly, which is the main reason Adam wasn't the one to catch her eyes in a romantic sense in the beginning.

Ross was gentle, kind, funny, but more than that, he was an amazing friend, and perhaps if he had gotten close enough to her as George did in a platonic sense, he could have easily caught her attention.

And Matty was a mess. Still is. Probably always will be. He's loud, he's warm, for lack of better words, he's welcoming. But he was also messy. That's not to say she didn't care deeply for him. She loved him more than life itself. In all the times George turned inexplicably sour, Matty was always there, sweet as ever.

She hates that when she thinks of Matty, the first word that comes to mind is 'messy.' But it's the whole truth. He's never kept a solid relationship for more than about 2 weeks, and he always seems to leave a branding mark on the women he surrounds himself with in a romantic sense. Branded, burning, on fire.

It scared her more than she liked to admit. She tried not to think about herself in a different timeline, having been dating Matty for years now, letting him do unforgivable things and then forgiving him each time in the name of 'love.'

When she met George, he was single, approachable, and all over her. It didn't take long for feelings to arise. He didn't scare her like Matty, wasn't aloof like Adam, and seemed to pay closer attention to her than Ross.

But it's all out the window now. Out the door, into a car, down the street, and far, far away.

What remains is Matty, eyes dripping with pain, love, infatuation, and some tears in the mix as well. He could never help but cry at the slightest sign of emotion.

"Y/N." He says it plainly, like he doesn't plan on elaborating, but she wishes to any higher power that he does. She's unsure about how to go about this, and she can't do it alone, without his help.

When she waits a moment and he actually doesn't continue, she sprouts conversation from her mouth, "you like me."

"I love you."

Whatever words she had stored in her throat are gone now.

"Listen to me, okay? If you don't feel the same, if you don't feel for me in the way I do you, I won't be mad. I'm sorry you had to find out like this. If I could change things, I swear to you, I would. But I had to say what I did, I couldn't continue biting my tongue about you, you just make me so-"

"Crazy?" She jokes, quietly, feeling smaller than a mouse. She wishes she had some magic way to regain enough confidence for this conversation.

"I was going to say 'passionate'. But sure, crazy works too. I did mean it though, everything I said. I have loved you for longer than I can remember, and I am so sorry I waited so long to tell you. I'm sorry things ended up like they did, like they are, it's no fair to you and you don't deserve any of this and it's all my fault and-"

"Stop," there it is, that hint of confidence on her tongue, charging behind her teeth where she lays her words to rest.

"What?"

"Stop that. Apologizing. None of this is your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for."

They're still standing face to face in the kitchen, about 2 or 3 feet away.

"What do you want to do now? It's your choice, love, not mine, I won't force you into anything, ever. If you want to forget about this, forget I ever said anything, pretend nothing ever happened? That's okay. I'll do whatever you want me to."

She looks around the room, feeling heavy. "I want to sit down. With you. Talk about this." He nods, and walks over to the table, pulling out a chair that she expects him to sit in, but he looks at her, waiting, and she comes to realize it's for her. "Thanks."

He takes a seat opposite her at the table. He has no words, only gazing, impatient eyes, ready to drink any and every word she has to tell him. Hopelessly devoted. Deeply in love. How did she never notice this before? The way he looks at her, heavy and pained.

"I love you, Matty. I'm scared. You scare me."

"What have I done, darling? Was it when I hit George, said all those awful things to him, because I swear to you, no matter what happens in our future, I would never, never treat you in such a way."

She shakes her head, eyes down at the table. "No. It's not that. It's... it's hard to explain. The woman who have loved you, the ones who you give your love to, they're never satisfied with you. Never happy, never for long. Why? Because it's a problem I've noticed, and it scares me. To be one of those women, forever changed, I'm scared."

He purses his lips, finally breaking his longing gaze to look down at his fiddling fingers resting together on the table. He aches to take her into him, just a sliver of her, a tiny piece into his hands to hold on to. He knows better, though.

"I suppose you deserve the entire truth, everything I didn't say."

He breathes in like he's about to give a heartfelt speech, and maybe it's not far from the truth.

"The issue has always been you. I'm not blaming you for anything, this is not your fault, it's mine. Completely mine. I've felt so deeply for you for so long, and you've always been out of my reach, far away from me, so I tried to move on. To something else, somebody else, and it never worked out. Fuck, nobody wants to date a guy who's too pathetically into his best friend to maintain a meaningful relationship with anyone else. It's you. It's always been you."

"I'll admit, I've done wrong by too many women due to this. I've let some get too close to me, closer than they should have been for their own benefit, because after a given amount of time, they all came to understand me, see me for who I really was, my motives for everything, and they never liked what they found."

"So it really was me? Through everything?" She steals a glance at his handsome face, coming to find him looking up at her again.

"Of course. It always will be, I'm afraid. But I'm sorry for causing you to think of me so lowly. If I had a way to tell you about all of this before, I would have done it."

She smiles, without much happiness or joy, almost in sorrow, pained to see how much he's hurting over this. "What did I say about apologizing?"

He smiles back, but is at a loss for words now. There it is, the world's most awkward silences. How is she supposed to move on from this?

After too long of neither saying anything, he speaks up, voice shaking, and she can tell the tears are streaming down his face. It stabs her roughly, she wants to wipe them away and hold onto him tightly and tell him everything will be okay and-

"I don't think we should be friends anymore."

"Wait, what?" She is so shocked, she feels as though her jaw is on the literal floor.

"I know I said I wouldn't be mad, no matter what. But either way, for my own sake, I think I need distance. From you. Again, not your fault. This is me being selfish, doing something purely for my own benefit. But will you allow me this tiny piece of self-indulgence? Allow me the distance? I think it would be best." He chews on the inside of his lip, mouth curved into a frown. "Please?"

Before she can make any sense of anything, he's already stood up, standing by the doorway. She gets this sinking feeling that if she lets him disappear out of it today, she may never see him again, or she'd regret it until the day she dies, or worse, both.

"Fuck no," she stands too, grabbing his wrist in attempt to keep him near, hoping she doesn't have to revert to clawing and crying and begging him not to leave, but she feels prepared to do so if necessary.

She loves him. That much is for certain. The shock of the situation made her feelings hard to see through, but seeing him there, about to walk out the door on her for the foreseeable future, it puts everything into perspetive.

She loves him, she wants him, she needs him, and she's never letting him leave.

On some odd instinct, some impulse buried deep inside of her that only comes out in the most dire of moments, she grabs him forcefully by the back of his neck, curls squished under the weight of her heavy, gripping fingers, and pulls her lips to his.

It's one hell of a first kiss. She's instantly incinerated, entire body burning, stemming from her lips which are messily pressed to his in desperation, and he stands still for a few moments, letting himself be kissed, in shock, she hopes. Finally, his hands come to meet the sides of her head, holding her in place firmly, and he kisses her back with just as much force, as much passion. She hopes she never has to let him out of her grasp.

He pulls away first, both his hands slipping down to rest on either of her shoulders, and she reaches a knuckle up to gently wipe streaming, hot tears from his face.

"I won't let you leave, not today, not ever." He nods with every word she speaks, like he's drunk on her cadence.

She goes back in for another kiss, hoping to reignite herself, but he dodges it. "Wait, what does this mean? For us? What's going to happen next?"

She holds his gaze with intensity. "Next, you're going to kiss me more. After that, you're gonna drive me home. And tomorrow, you're going to take me on our first date. We can figure it all out from there. But for now, I just want you."

He nods, smiles, no smugness or cockiness behind it, which is so unlike him, "I want you too," he is so sincere her heart aches to hear him whisper it onto her lips.

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Taglist: @indierockgirrl @itssimpleanditgoeslikethis @americanangel @milkluvr8

#the 1975 smut #the 1975 fanfiction #matty the 1975 #the 1975 fanfic #the 1975 #ratty matty #matty healy #matty healy smut #matty healy fanfic #matty x reader #matty healy x reader #matty healy fanfiction #adam hann #adam hann x reader #ross macondald fanfic #ross macdonald x reader #ross macdonald smut #ross macdonald #fanfiction #fanfic #the 1975 fluff #fluff #matty healy fluff #the 1975 fic

[uchiwife]

「Believe me, my heart is unchanging, I promise to wait a thousand years. No matter how many winters have passed, I will never let go.」

— 𝗘𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗞𝗶𝗺 𝗛𝗲𝗲-𝘀𝘂𝗻

A mini-story in which Sakura and Madara are continually reincarnated, but only one of them remembers all the lives they've lived. No matter the period, the world or the universe. Madara is the one who will remember every life they lived together - whether it had a happy or tragic ending. Sometimes, Madara would even witness one of Sakura's reincarnations falling in love with another and living her life.

There had been a time - the first, during the Nanboku-chō era, when Madara and Sakura were on opposing sides. He vaguely remembered it as a civil war between the Northern and Southern courts. Specifically, between the supporters of Emperor Go-Daigo, who ruled the Southern Court, and the supporters of Emperor Kōmyō of the Northern Court.

Madara was part of Emperor Go-Daigo's army, but Sakura was a kind of oracle. A Miko. Although she'd been a servant, she'd worked her way up to the court, and Emperor Kōmyō often sought out her gifts of divination.

Madara remembered that it was this same Miko who had predicted his imminent death. At the time, he hadn't been amused. Even less so when she had claimed that he would return, that ‘the threads of fate were already working for him.’ He'd found her singular, a beauty marked by her long pink hair and jade-green eyes. There was something celestial about her.

They'd ended up falling in love, but unfortunately, Sakura had been right about his death. It was quite ironic. He'd died at the hands of the man he'd served. Come to think of it, bonding with the Miko from the enemy camp might not have been the best idea, but the love he'd felt for this woman was such that he'd have burned an entire nation to stay by her side. All he knows is that the North won out over the South in 1392. Another prediction from the pink-haired high priestess.

There had been countless occasions when he'd experienced happiness and a love that transcended time and space, but each loss had been more painful than the last. Sometimes it was Sakura who suffered that loss, and it was in those moments that he was almost grateful that she didn't remember their previous lives. There had been strange ones, and others he didn't understand, because the place was so different, from the architecture to the clothes, that he was certain it was one of those "other worlds". A dimension apart.

That's why, after a while, Madara stopped believing in the thread of fate. He'd had enough of loving so ardently if every time everything went to ashes. This wasn't the life he wanted. It was Sakura he wanted; but hope was already lost to him and he knew he had lost his way for good when he returned for the umpteenth time. On a battlefield, in the middle of a war, and once again, she wasn't one of his allies.

Sakura stood there like a goddess of war, showing no mercy to the enemy. He looked, looked at this woman he had loved in countless lifetimes. It was as if he'd been born for her, born to love her. This romantic bullshit might make him puke right now, but it was a fact that was confirmed with each new reincarnation. He knew, deep down, as disgusting as that thought was to today's Madara, that even if he hadn't been lucky (unlucky) enough to remember Sakura, he would still have loved her. That was the way it was. That's why when she came at him with her war cry to attack him, his body reacted instinctively and impaled her. She had wanted to create a diversion so that her teammates, one of his Uchiha descendants and the host of the nine-tailed fox could attack him.

Of all the lives he'd lived, this seemed the fairest. Maybe because he was a shinobi, maybe because he was one of the most powerful, and it had taken five entire nations joining forces to stand a chance against him. Ironically, in a life where he would probably have been best placed to protect her, he now had to kill her. He had a plan to keep. Maybe this way he could create a world with his own vision. A vision in which he knew Sakura would probably never exist. Not just because they were enemies, but because in this life, they hadn't been reincarnated at the same time. He didn't know why, he didn't know why the gods had such a twisted sense of humor, but he'd come to terms with it, and hatred had won his heart when love was no longer there.

If he were honest with himself, Madara would say that the main reason also lay in the fact that Sakura, his sweet Sakura, looked at his descendant as if he were holding the moon in the palm of his hand. He knew that look. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, and at the same time, if he weren't so mad with rage, although he denied that was the reason, he could laugh: this Uchiha Sasuke shared an uncanny resemblance with his late little brother Izuna.

So maybe his killing intent wasn't simply based on the fact that they were enemies. His jealousy had led him to make many mistakes, but his hatred made him make far more horrible ones.

When he was eliminated by the shinobi alliance, he knew there would be no next time. No next life. It was as if he'd heard the whispers of the gods in his ear, taunting him. It was his curse.

In his last moments, as his old friend Hashirama stood by his side and they exchanged their last words, he heard him say that he was sure ‘Sakura would be all right, and that he was sorry that once again, this life had not been the right one for them, but that something told him she was in good hands.’ Hashirama was the only person on Earth who knew Madara's secret, and he had never breathed a word of it to anyone.

His last look was for her, his last smile too, and as he died, he knew that his heart would live forever in her.

#madasaku #sakura haruno x madara uchiha #madara uchiha #sakura haruno #naruto fandom #multisaku #Naruto #sakura x madara #naruto au #angst #uchiwife

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for trying to make my best friend and girlfriend's lives better?

I (16M) have extremely powerful magical abilities that allows me to do almost anything. I often use this to do nice things for my best friend (17M) and girlfriend (15F), but as of late I've felt bad about how me using my powers for only minor things like giving them nice gifts have lead to them suffering horribly emotionally when I could help them, especially after an incident where I let someone I love probably get killed because of my girlfriend telling me not to use my powers to save her.

So my best friend also has the same powers I have, but he's been told his whole life, as I was told, that using the powers will make him "lose his soul" and turn into a violent killer. Unfortunately, a relative of his with the same powers did actually snap and kill most of his family, and because of this he is horribly traumatized and afraid to use his powers. But this is all not necessary because I've figured out a loophole where I put all my powers into a scroll so it's not me actually using it and it doesn't affect me, and with this ability I've been using the magic freely without being affected. He doesn't listen to my reassurances and stays miserable and afraid of himself, not doing all the good he could do for himself with his powers, and up until now I've respected that because I understand how traumatized he is. But I've also realized that his girlfriend (17F) is really unhealthy for him and contributing to his self-hatred. When we first met, she tried to kill me just for having powers, and she's hated and been suspicious of me ever since. It must be horrible for his self-esteem to be with someone who is so bigoted she would want to kill people just like him when he already has so many issues with his self-worth, even if she tries to tell him that he's "one of the good ones".

Then there's my girlfriend, who doesn't have the same powers but can see the future. In particular, multiple futures, all of which have a possibility of happening. She's also pretty miserable and anxious all the time because of all the horrors she sees, and trying to fix it all from such a young age. But a lot of the bad futures involve me becoming evil and doing bad things, so she's always watching and criticizing me to make sure I don't do that. Although I sympathize with her, I find it tiring because I wish she would trust me and understand that I have free will, that I shouldn't be punished for things I haven't done yet and I wish we could just live in the moment and be happy together. Plus I feel I've already sufficiently proved that I'm not going to be evil, because I deliberately sacrificed my own powers to put them in the scroll just so I wouldn't lose my soul, even though it meant the powers would no longer be mine and I would be vulnerable. Why isn't that act of love for her enough?

So, the things I tried to do to fix their problems: first of all, I sealed my friend's girlfriend inside a wooden doll, while faking a letter from her to make my friend thing she just left. No, she's not conscious in here, and I didn't kill her (reviving the dead is not allowed with my powers), so I can bring her back any time I want without issue after I figure out how to make sure she stops being a bad influence on him, so this is not the same as murder, it's just trying to make my friend finally happy! And secondly, I gave my girlfriend earrings that would make her only see happy futures, so she would be happy and not miserable with worry for once. I thought what she doesn't know wouldn't hurt her and she really did seem so much happier, but now they've found out about the earrings (they don't know about the wooden doll thing) and they are all telling me that I am evil now and this is the bad future, and I don't get it! I'm not killing anybody, I'm just trying to help them and I've succeeded in making their lives a lot better! But since they are insisting I decided to post here to ask if I was being the asshole.

#aita #am i the asshole #unreality

[cockneydio]

🔥 on the whole fanon characterizations of Bruno and Abbacchio being reduced to the 'team mom and dad'

Honestly, I don't have a problem with it. At least, I don't vehemently hate it like a lot of people who oppose this characterization do. And here's why.

Fanon exists not because one person comes up with a headcanon that everyone else adopts, but because many people across the spectrum watched a show and got similar impressions of it. When you first saw fanart of Bucciarati as a cat, say, with Mista, Fugo, and Narancia his precious kittens, and Abbacchio his husband begrudging the addition of two more little scamps, did that idea strike you as cut from whole cloth? Or did you see the parallel between Araki's Bruno, who built his gang from an assortment of rejects that wound up sharing a mutual respect, if not friendship or love? I'm going to guess it's the latter.

People see the Bucci Gang as a found family, rightfully so - at least based on the tiny sliver of their lives that Vento Aureo gave us. While you could argue that forcing a nuclear family structure on found family groups is reductive, we tend to draw on what's familiar to create new things. The parental roles go to the people who are older and ostensibly wiser, because that's what we know (and/or want) from our experiences growing up. And if the gang hadn't been comprised of a bunch of teenagers, there might not be such a robust fanon that imagines them as children adopted by the older and (again presumably lol) wiser members - although ofc found families of characters who are similar in age to each other still impose this dynamic. Araki gave us a group of people who care about each other and go through some rough stuff together, and if that's not a family, I don't know what is.

Where I object to the bruabba mom and dad dynamic, though, is the disregard that characterization often has for who Bucciarati and Abbacchio actually are as characters. I've said before that there's tragedy in imagining either man responsible for the wellbeing of others. They're kids, too, the same generation as the rest of the squad, and they've got problems enough keeping themselves alive, let alone being in a position to give the proper care that a parent should to a child. Imagining them as the leaders of a family unit is fine, but the fandom tends to project an ideal upon these characters that misreads who they are and what they're capable of. Too much softening of the rough edges of a character will turn him into Ned Flanders (and even Flanders has more depth than some fans give to their flanderized faves).

In the end, I think fandoms want their characters to be happy, to imagine a world where they don't suffer the trials and heartbreaks that lie in canon. That's beautiful. But willfully ignoring the way those characters are written takes away qualities that literally (because characters don't exist unless someone creates them) define them. At that point, you may as well make an OC.

#excellent ask thank you #I have been struggling with a debilitating brain fog for a while now and it's made it hard to think about character and story and stuff #so I appreciate the opportunity to do that :) #whether these opinions are unpopular or not? eh #bruno bucciarati #leone abbacchio #bruabba #found Family #bucci gang #unpopular opinion #ask game #answered ask #anonymous #spam my askbox