#That moment when you write and rewrite the chapter and has a nice little plan for the story

[wintertimestoryteller]

Linked Universe x Reader Fairy Tale Collection

@luimagines It is finally here! XD Apologies for the huge delay, suddenly became a dog mom again and life has been difficult, apologies to all who waited. Hopefully it's at least half decent, this did not want to write itself at all X_X

Warning for dark themes of the fairy tale kind and violence. I recommend researching Penta by Basille if some of you are curious about the interrupted story, though I did leave a lot out for obvious reasons, the first story is actually a reference and I thought it would be fun to see how many catch it and who would notice the reversal of roles here. No Shadow Links were (seriously) harmed in the making of this chapter, just Reader and their poor mind who can't catch a break.

Technically this is the final act before the Masterlist for each Link, though there is technically a bonus act and an intermission I doubt anyone would be interested in that, y'all came here for the Links and the fairy tales not the lore and behind the scenes stuff done to get here because I decided to pull a Hans Christian Andersen even while trying to keep this as short as an opening act should technically be, might write them down if there's enough interest but for now I'm leaving it up to interpretation xP

Opening Act, Scene IIII

It's almost strange, how peaceful your first few days and nights in the theater were.

It was hardly unwelcome, of course it was a pleasant surprise. Even with it's darkened, solemn corners and the way the shadows played eerily across the walls, dancing and laughing mockingly as they put on a show only they knew, it hardly felt truly unsettling for long, maybe it was just your long time on the road which made you jaded to the concept of old buildings that felt like echoes of their former selves, ever lonely, ever grieving like a widow, knowing their lover would not return from the war but waiting for as long possible before considering taking poison. The building was much the same, threading the fragile, dreamlike barrier of a long, wistful forgotten dream and a feather soft, fondness warmed memory.

It felt just about on the edge of death, but not quite ready to cross the border, it felt alive, like watching a barren wasteland attempt to host life again, even if it wouldn't last long or ever recover.

You believe it's in large part due to it's residents.

It was impressive, really, though you're all clearly wary towards one another, the troupe was seemingly more delighted by the fact they had new people to tell new tales to than bothered by the fact the Chain was clearly high strung from a long journey with the carmine and jade weariness of hunters unable to continue searching for their quarry. Director Raven had given you all full permission to explore and was only ever truly strict with corralling the crew to perform, the obsidian speckled mist of their excitement reflected in the way their coat sleeves flapped while directing each member to their roles and how their steps practically glided across the floor and the stage, their feline companion ever present on their shoulders as they truly gave their name sake justice as they crowed and crooned new characters into Byron's ears, sparkling ruby glee as the bloody feather on their hair and gem collar at the gentleman's smile with the flame bright elation of a mad man as he worked on costumes, scenery and props like a man possessed occasionally hissing like an offended cat at Edgar, who was quick to bark and judge even the slightest imperfection as he marked cues for Anabella's scripts, the woman, once having heard of the Links musical prowess, having lit up like the chandelier serving as spotlight at the stage, gently having coaxed the boys towards Amelia, the petal soft smiling dark haired young woman you've met earlier whom Raven just couldn't help but squawk amusedly at Anabella having a very clear soft spot for, who wasted no time in convincing a few of the heroes to follow sheet music the young woman had written but never quite had enough people to help perform.

It was honestly amusing, seeing the young woman and Warriors practically team up to bully Legend into playing the violin again, the veteran protesting for a good while, until a small, well placed tease from Sky made him cave, you and Wind both pretending to hide bright laughs at seeing him pretend not to smile, the jewel bright sight of her delight making you feel warm as she suggested to the exccentric playwright to share your own stories with the troupe and the boys once again as the sweet notes of musical and Raven's narration rolled up and across the aisles, the ruby cheer of the chattering of their cheek with the sweet aquamarine of your gentleness making even the likes of ever serious steel serious Cal or solemn First smile.

The only incident any of you all had really was when you've met Priscilla properly, or to be more accurate, when Priscilla found you all, the youngest of the troupe popping from the ceiling like a bat in front of you from the theater's costume attic like a reverse phantom of the opera, giving you a small fright with her cat smug smile as she finished fixing the lights and eagerly jumped into Twilight's back the second she heard Epona being mentioned, asking all sorts of questions about horses and their proper care until Edgar came knocking to pry her off.

A few minor incidents were had, what with your boys' usual brand of chaos and only so much you, Time and First could do while Raven rounded up the brand of madness found in their own little troupe (like how Anabella, much like Hyrule, should not be allowed near any form of food supply lest they both commit crimes agaisnt nature and the last leg of Wild's morals and sanity, how Byron, Warriors and Legend could almost snarl at each other like feral dogs when it came to fashion sensibilities, or Priscilla attempting to coax Wind and Spirit onto the attic and catwalks with her to play pranks onto the unsuspecting audience and performers below just to see Four and Edgar twitch), but overall, the first three days of constant strong storms and two of the stories told passed quickly, like the heartbeat of a humming bird.

... Which made your own feelings for a certain hero grown ever more transparent like the polished crystal which made up the spotlight.

How could you not contemplate these feelings? How could you even begin denying something that has been sinking it's teeth into your soul for months now? Ever since the Chain found you, injured and with nowhere to go, it was always moving, ever forward, ever running, ever hunting, for if you all didn't hunt the shadow, it would stop at nothing to tear everything and everyone so much as grazed by the bright, ever burning diamond flame of the Hero's Spirit, with the burning fury of a maddened beast with nothing left to lose, with enough hunger it could render divinity to pieces. So, so so wrong to the very fabric that made up the curtain of Hyrule's stage it made one's flesh crawl before it even set it's bloody, hungry, vile gaze upon you.

(You didn't have a choice, when they'd left you behind, the portal simply opened to place you in harm's way again and again and again and again, you only survived through pure luck most of the time, the other half being due to run ins with different members of the Chain. Eventually, finally, after you'd met again and dragged First's abandoned, bleeding, almost dead but oh so stubborn he wouldn't die quite yet, carcass to camp, they'd decided to teach you how to wield a blade and take you along.

After all, it's not like you could go home.

... No, no, you couldn't go home, ever again.)

Being in the theater was a welcome breath of fresh air, even with the oddities of it's residents. But it also gave you nothing but time to think. About home, about the people who are likely to be looking for you, and kind gem bright eyes, leaves on the wind gentle touches, and smiles that could put the sun and the moon and stars to shame with their radiance and the unshakable, beautiful, lonsdaleite and steel of the will to protect and courage to follow through so, so warm it left you scorched, stealing the breath from your lungs and replacing it with lava and frost, pinning you into place better than any arrow or trick the shadow could pull. Left you aching more than any moment in the battle field, shaking you to the very marrow of your bones as the laughing dove that was affection stole into your heart like a thief, and gave half of it to the beast called love.

And

It

Was

Torture.

How could you not fall for that?

How could you not think about it?

So instead of getting even more flustered by possibly slipping up and making a fool out of yourself, giving yourself away and wanting to just wander into the Lost Woods without a guide and let yourself go mad from mortification and become a Poe (because at least then it would be a more manageable form of insanity), you'd instead taken to haunting the back wings and auditorium of the theater like a ghost. The theater was hardly all that big, but it wasn't small by any means, the size of a noble's summer home at best, so there was plenty of empty supply rooms and forgotten lounges to think, contemplate, and to keep a tenous hold on your sanity as you avoided dwelving deeply into your feelings.

After all, why would he want little old you? Unimpressive, ordinary little you, who lived a most relatively peaceful life before falling into Hyrule, who couldn't protect them properly, who most importantly of all would hurt the one you adored because you couldn't stay?

... It would be agony, you couldn't do that to him. It wouldn't be any difference than the Shadow taking your face and torturing your hero, so you'd stay silent, and hope these feelings died a quiet, peaceful death. At least in this abandoned lounge room you could refrain from making your hopeless longing obvious until you'd need to return.

"Oh me oh my, what are you doing here all alone?" Came a cawed, lilting honey coated rasp, padparascha curiosity in the the flap of nightlock coat sleeves, "I thought you'd want to join your companions! This place is still too dusty for back tours I'm afraid."

... Well, not quite so abandoned now. Is it?

Then again, you're not even too surprised, you'd be lying if you'd say you were. If there was anyone who could navigate these darkned, old halls with ease to find someone allegedly missing, it would likely be it's master.

Director Raven swoops into the room with quick, almost silent steps, a specter with the grace of a Gerudo dancer, sending you a smile, their feline companion is gone, but their ever present bloodstone feather chimes like a bell as they brush dust off an old couch, you laugh sheepishly, hoping that the tempest winds outside took your thoughts away so you could focus, "I'm sorry, you said we could go just about everywhere and I needed some time alone. Hopefully it's not any trouble?"

They cluck at you, taking a new accessory from their coat and placing it behind your ears with a cheeky poke to the nose, you blink as you touch it, a red, red rose, "Oh please, not at all! I'm a professional of my word you know? I was just worried is all, you're basically part of the troupe at this point and your lover boy has been staring at you with such concern, you know? So I thought I'd check on you."

Their concern makes you blink, with a small bite of confusion to their wording, "I've only helped you folks perform for three days now?"

They chuckle with amusement, the tone raspy and crowing as they perch themselves upon the couch, "Doesn't matter! We've had folks who stayed and helped for less time, we still consider them troupe members. Once taken in by the Astoria, you're part of it for all time, can't I have some empathy for someone so clearly pining?", You jolt, the director gives you a knowing smile, mercury amusement and gallium understanding, how did...? "Broken hearts are as dangerous as broken minds and wills to a person, take it from me. I've told and been part of one too many stories to know that all too well, now, why don't you tell good old uncle Raven what ails you?"

That makes you snort, rose quartz embarrassment mixed with xanthic amusement, "Uncle, really? Weren't you the one who said you'd actually take someone to court for emotional damages if someone tried utilizing gendered terms for you?"

They squawk, ruffling your hair with a click and hiss, as they jump up with ruffled feathers and a raised chin, mock offended, "Oh kiss my grits! This ain't about me here. This is about your longing making me sad and me being willing to hear you out from the goodness of my heart, and there you go! Spitting on my good will! As I was about to offer to make you tea, no less."

You laugh and you catch a grin on the director's lips from the reflection of a mirror, you wave them on, "Alright, alright. I'll humor you, will you want some help deciding the next story to tell while at it?"

They wink, prancing around the room for the kettle in the corner, "You know me too well! You're a wealth of new stories, I can listen to you pour your little heart out and grill you for inspiration at the same time. That way your heart will be lighter than a leaf on the wind when you next see your lover boy"

Settling in, you wait until Raven has made you both tea, getting comfortable and taking a sip.

Mhm, coming to the theater was a welcome change of pace. And talking to someone who wasn't Link about this would likely do you good.

(So preoccupied you are with your thoughts and the vaguely floral tea the director had broken out of storage and brewed, you don't notice the way another figure shows up on the reflection of the mirror just as the thunder booms, and how Raven's gloved fingers tighten a fraction as the shadows flicker oddly once you drink the tea. The cinnabar of their smile turning iron speckled with guilt and tense as they spot bloodstone tiger eyes on the doorway. Before turning fireplace warm once the Hero of Skies popped his head onto the doorway after a few hours of listening to you want, they offer him a spot of tea.)

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

The storm still raged on relentlessly outside, it's screams and howls those of lost souls and old forgotten or yet to be remembered deities rending the air with water and thunder, it's been almost a week since you all had started staying in the theater, everyone had settled into a small sort of routine, as it didn't seem like the storm would cease to rage anytime soon. You'd all wake up (checking your weapons as you go, just in case, your dagger on your sleeve a common secret among the Chain members ever since a bad run in with the Yiga, Artemis had taught you and Warriors well and if any of the troupe members notice, they didn't press), go through the usual daily routine you all had while under an actual roof, Wild, you and Twilight would cook with occasional aid from either Raven themselves who twitched and squawked about the injustice of allowing guests to cook before Edgar would cuff them over the head and take over or a very chipper Amelia whose early morning energy could only be likened to a ray of sunshine Anabella would trip over her feet and possibly kill a grown man for, and in turn you'd all take your turns occupying themselves for the day, the troupe making sure to give everyone their due space until the early evening, which is when you'd all take to storytelling.

You couldn't help your small grin as you let yourself be led by the hand by Twilight, blindfold coming off as he twirled you around as you deliberately sang an incredibly off key note, laughter and chuckles being draw from your boys as you were set down onto the stage and raised your tune, his pelt slipping off your head like the heavy, but comforting cape it was, his smile campfire warm and oak steady, Raven's crowing laughter being hidden by a coughing fit before they seemed to compose themselves enough to continue on with a straight face, "And so the wolf, once a princess, remembered the prince. And thought she'd never sing again, and it wasn't very good-" they choked as you deliberately hit a note that sounded like a dying cucco, you can vaguely see Cal coughing into his fist, First shaking his head in amusement in contrast to Sky's summer breeze laughter while Time's lips barely twitched with honey sweet amusement and Wind wheezing agaisnt a laughing Spirit's side, mission accomplished! The director sent you a look, mockingly ruffling his feathers, "Commit less to the bit darn it! I won't be able to finish if I'm rolling around on the floor!"

Your smile widens with cheek, topaz bright with delight, "No such thing as overcommiting to the bit!"

"For what it's worth they don't sound too bad when not trying to sound like a goat going into labor." Cut in Twilight, using your head as an arm rest, you playfully shove him off, you briefly catch a smirk on Warriors face, Four chuckling while Legend leant agaisnt his side for support, good. Him and Hyrule looked off kilter recently, if you could make them smile by playing the fool this once, you'd be glad.

"Oh by the Goddesses- I'm almost regretting allowing you to volunteer on stage. I'm never listening to Priscilla ever again, anyway!" They clap their hands, clearing their throat, "The prince couldn't care less, for he had a dear friend back to him. And so they stayed on that cliff's edge, enjoying each other's company and lived happily ever after!"

"That was a shockingly sweet story," Smiled Hyrule, "Short and simple but just sweet enough."

"Can't believe the rancher actually made half decent royalty though." Jabbed Warriors, though you can feel the amusement in his tone like drinking songs after a long time of conflict. "And that the final conflict was basically triggered if someone ever messed with the vet's raccon pile of stuff."

"Excuse me?!"

"You're excused."

Twilight gave him a side glare then nodded at Hyrule, seemingly deciding that Legend could deal with Warriors well enough and after you playfully darted around him like a prancing doe, snagged his pelt back, you sighed at the loss of warmth and the feeling of security, but ushered him off the stage, "Never been on stage before and have no wish to do so on an official capacity, thank you. But Dusk would have my hide if I didn't pick a thing or two to add to entertaining the village children if nothing else. Have to say that last twist was a shock though." He sent you a glance and smile, "You're awfully good at playing the amnesiac, I'll say. Almost had me panicking."

You chuckle sheepishly, sitting at the edge of the stage, accepting a bit of warm tea cup Raven had brewed for everyone, "To be fair, there's a reason for that Wars, there's technically a companion story for the witch, but the actors need to go through a specific series of actions to be allowed to perform it side by side for consistency and that would be cruel on Twi. Could say the same to you, you make quite the dashing, kind prince. Thanks for coming up here."

Was that a tinge of crimson on his cheeks? You tilted your head and blinked, must have been a trick of the light, "No problem at all."

Edgar nodded, not even looking up from the script as Anabella and Amelia cuddled together to the side after a job well done, "You both together definitely made our job easier. Barely had to cue you both."

Raven nodded with a grin and wink, their voice carrying over the stage and to the audience, "You sure none of you boys want to quit this questing nonsense and join us here on the Astoria? I pay well and give benefits! Byron has lowered prices on potions on the village, plus free food and lodging."

Wild shook his head with a hum, "Tempting, but still no."

Raven clucked, their disappointment exaggerated but understanding as they leafed through the scripts you've both brainstormed together, "Ah well, worth a try. Come here then, I want your opinion on our next pick for today, I think we can squeeze a short one separated from the original deal as a bonus."

You nodded, getting up and handing Priscilla the empty tea cup back before walking over, pausing, did... Was there a hollow space beneath the stage? Experimentally, you let your steps weight a bit more onto the stage. That sounded like a trapdoor, huh. Why only use the attic? Maybe it was stuck? You catch Time's eye, he inclines his head questioningly, you mouth at him 'I'm fine, later', then bound over to Raven's side, looking at the scripts, "Any you had in mind? We're probably exhausting my mental stock at this rate if none of the noted ones do."

"Well I'm not about to go on the Hyrulean ones just yet, you have any idea how performing the same old legends over and over again can grow dull? No matter how many twists and turns one adds?" They deadpan back, you cover a wince as Four and Sky twitch, before picking one of the sheets at random.

Your voice sounds distant to your ears as you pinch the parchment between two fingers, analyzing it critically, then presenting it to the director, "How about this one? Should be short enough right?"

The Director peeks over your shoulder, head tilted from side to side, the feather on their hair seems more bloody than usual, as if the crystal would flow crimson and stain the hardwood floor. That cat is back on their shoulder again, looking at you with sharp, intelligent eyes.

(Too intelligent, hisses your mind, as mercury heats into burning iron at a forge, then cools, something is wrong wrongwrong

Come now, relax, it'll all be alright. Play along

Nothing is wrong, it's all in your head.)

"Penta the Beautiful huh? Are you sure?"

You nod firmly, "Yes. This one will do quite nicely."

(Raven's ever present smile dims, the embers of a warm fireplace and stories around the fire dying a quick death, Anabella holds onto Amelia a bit tighter as Priscilla pales, quickly leaving the room guided by Byron after ushering you back stage for a change of ensemble and to hand you the appropriate props while Edgar resolutely keeps an eye on the cues the director handed him.

The Chain notices, because of course they do, and trade a look, Spirit trades a look with Wind and slips away to the entrance with Warriors to try the heavy door.

It's locked, the shock of magic making the captain hiss. Though the air remains unnervingly sterile.)

The stage is set with no fanfare by Byron, and you walk back out with a fine white dress suit and boots to match, a mix of a suit and a dress, your head feels clouded, as if you're trying to traverse the deep fog of the Lost Woods with naught a single lantern or guide in sight to light your way, you vaguely hear Director Raven start to talk, echoing and crowing raspily with the first words that every good tale start with, "Once upon a time, there was an once prosperous kingdom. Home to a handsome king, a beautiful queen, and the king's sister, one day the queen fell ill and eventually passed for no cure could be found and no magic could heal her. I suppose some things are simply fated to happen, but the king, maddened in his grief, started lusting for none other..." The director paused, sneering with a disgusted shiver, you think that if they truly were a bird, their feathers would be ruffled, "His own sister."

You could see the exact second that each Link cringed back, those with siblings of their own (or who actively looked over others as siblings themselves) turning to ash white and to thistle green with revulsion and horror, the director nodding along with a hand over their head in a mock swoon, "I know! How could such vile thoughts manifest in a ruler's mind? It's preposterous! Outrageous! Horrifying! Though the words of a proposal did indeed leave his mouth, his sister princess was equally bewildered and disgusted, spitting venom from her spleen with rage."

That was your cue.

You growled, snarling with fury hot enough to rival a dragon's flame, allowing poison to sharpen your tongue, "You may have lost your mind, but I shall not lose my modesty or my shame! Why would you offer me rotten eggs when you need fresh ones?! How dare you!", somewhere in the audience you hear a choke, but you continue on. Committing to the role with a dedication you didn't know you possibly possessed, feeling vaguely disconnected from your body and actions, "I regret that you have a tongue to speak of such lecherous actions towards myself and that I unfortunately have the ears to hear such a suggestion. Am I your sister or cheese cooked in oil? Either way those and siblings not mix! Either way, go find a holy spring to bathe in so you may set your mind back on straight." You gesture towards yourself, baffled, "I am not a morsel that would make anyone lose their minds over, so what on Farore's good land about me could have made you grown so sick in the head?"

The director continued on, tone dry as they set their hand on a hip, "I'll spare you the monologue, my dear audience, because I'm sure it would make both you, me and our poor performer here retch and that would be a waste of Sir Wild's lovely cooking. It essentially boiled down to her hands. So, after acquiring her answer, she left in a flurry of rage and conviction, after all, if it was her hands that caused this..." The director trailed off, pausing, mouth clicking shut.

As if not willing to continue on.

(The pain in your head was getting worse.

"If it was his love for her hands which caused this, all she'd need to do is chop them off.")

Conflict passes through their slate gray gaze, before determined resolve settles into it, their tone quiet and tight, "... No. I can't go through with this anymore.", They swivel, running to you with quick strides, you feel the agony of your head splitting open, in between the haze you see more than react to the blade. Your blade held in your hands, twisted in such a way to sink into your flesh, blood beads onto your sleeve before Raven catches your arm in their hands, twisting towards the now alarmed heroes with panic on their face like a someone realizing they'd just went somewhere to die, "Listen! It's not safe here, specially NOT for them. I'm so sorry. Take them and get out through-"

That cat is there in a flash of darkness, it sinks it's claws into Raven's shoulder, the director crying out and letting go of your arm to try and get it off, leaving the dagger to slice deeply. You can see Time slam into a magically erected barrier around the stage as it's crimson eyes gleam with malice and satisfaction. The cat bites at the director's shoulder, tearing away the black ribbon holding the red gem they always wore. You hear Legend screaming and Hyrule casting a spell at the barrier, the shockwave palpable as it does not budge

You'll never know what they wanted to tell you all, though the flash of desperation, guilt and apologies will likely haunt your nightmares as their head fell off.

All of the lights go off.

And in a flash of thunder, you hear a sigh behind you. The barest tips of a clawed hand making your skin crawl with revulsion.

"Well... I'd like to say I'm surprised. But I'm really, really not that they didn't have the nerve to fully go through with it. Pity." That awful, awful voice is colored with disappointment while they pass you by, you think you feel the brush of a scaly tail around your legs and a blade at your throat. You try desperately to wrestle control back to your own body when you can't hear the Chain anymore. They stalk dance gently at your side, the rustle of cloth as someone bends down, the crystalline, padparascha crimson feather Raven always wore in their hair gleams in the dark with a melancholic light of their own, "Ah well, at least they did half the job I wanted them to and held onto what I needed. Still, just proves that if you want somebody gone that you just have to do it yourself."

You feel a feather light touch on your chin, tilting your head up, your heart freezes alongside your body as you lock gazes with the bloodstone empty gaze of a feathery mask, the figure in front of you wears a dark hood, caliginous and fleeting like the memories of a nightmare hanging onto your mind by it's very claw tips. It blends in perfectly with the darkness, liminal and just on the edge of the negative spaces of reality.

They smile with all of the sweetness of rotten things and arsenic and it makes you sick.

"Dear me... You are so, so pathetically helpless like this. I can take my time with you, can't I? To tear everything that makes you yourself piece.by.piece..." the touch tightens, nightlock claws sink into your skin and drawing blood, you feel like screaming but your mouth won't open, your body betrays you as you drown and drown and fall. It makes the thing behind you hiss out a laugh and you are certain you won't hear a more wretched sound in your life as they study you like a pinned butterfly, "How very precious, it fills me with joy, but really it's more disappointing and disgusting. It's almost enough to make me want to die!" The being in front of you snarls, all venom and the burning flames of a madman, before they calm, smiling a dagger sharp, hateful grin with a hum, "... Ah, whatever. Let's get this show on the road properly this time, shall we? You wait for your cue darling." They mockingly pat the snout of the Shadow in front of you, narrowingly dodging a snap of teeth with a cackle, before they disappear in a flurry of obsidian and ember feathers.

They clap, and the light returns to the theater. Their mismatched hands are spread, clawed and gloved and you see a cloak of black feathers laid over their entire body, the tip of dagger sharp, silver heels making them tower easily over the pool of blood from the director's severed neck.

"Good evening, blood red dogs of Hylia!-"

They barely finish their sentence before the boys move, arrows and magic set loose at the figure in a blur, the figure dances back, tsking as they appear on the chandelier now, lounging nonchantly and revealing your form at blade point from the Shadow, struggling to remove your dagger from your arm. You can almost feel their disapproving look as they cross their arms at the face of furious glares from the heroes of Hyrule, "Rude."

First does not look amused as he stays Sky's hand from unleashing a Skyward Strike, the other's eyes as frigid as the storm outside, "We are going to need you to let our companion go before any apologies are given I'm afraid."

"And I'll be needing you lot to stop snapping and growling like mutts before making any negotiations like that." The figure snaps back primly, a pot and tea cup appearing nearby, with a flick of their wrist two things appear on their hands as freshly brewed tea poured itself which makes a shiver fun down your side, alarm and panic gnawing at your skin and exposing your fragile heart with almost clinical curiosity as they toss it down.

A dark iris purple Minish Feather earring, and penumbra dark, torn fairy feathers, you think you still see the bits of wisps clinging to it like blood and the exact moment Four tenses, colors prismatic as they flash over his eyes and Hyrule freezes, Twilight sending them a concerned look, though his hand doesn't move from his sword.

The display is enough to keep your companions on guard, but not react, that thing atop the chandelier perfectly positioned to crush you without a second thought leisurely sipping tea. Before addressing the Chain below, "Now that I've successfully gotten your attention by indicating the extermination of vermin I've had to recently do, why don't we talk? I'm perfectly reasonable, I promise not to bite or anything, blood is quite the nuisance to clean off rhe stage after all."

"Very well," Time's voice cuts through the silence, composed even as his mind is running a mile per minute, "May we make some inquiries?"

Their lips curl in amusement, a slightly mocking edge to their relaxed lilt, "There we go, was being polite so hard? You may, one at a time though!" They look down at the Shadow, which hisses up at them, eyes focused on the heroes, the edges of it's existence flickering oddly, casting itself over walls and the now scorched wooden floor, "Don't want to agitate our friend here you know? Or else we'll have a sparrow singing very very soon." They sing song, you can feel Warriors cringe where he stands, but he's also the first one to jump to questioning at Time's slight nod.

"Why are you working with the Shadow?"

The figure shrugs, pouring themselves a second mug, "Why does anyone do anything? Complete and utter, sheer boredom is why. It had a good sales pitch won't lie, I haven't been bored since you lot decided to stay here."

You see the way Legend's eyes narrow, a scowl on his face and tone biting, itching to move, "What did you do to them?"

"You'll have to be more specific, if you mean your little friend here. Nothing really, they came up on the stage and used the knife themselves after all." The masked figured clucked, shrugging, "As for the rest, you can blame Raven. They lost their nerve when they shouldn't have and dragged the troupe down with them, when I gave them one job besides watching my theater, plus..." they sighed, placing Raven's feather by the thorns holding the mask grafted onro their face, clicking their clawed, bloody hand agaisnt the tea cup, uncaring when your blood mixes with the sugar cubes, "They also failed to do proper research, I mean doesn't help certain nasty little disgraces-" they growl pointedly at the Shadow at that, who snarls back, making a twisted duet of mutual, black loathing come to life, "Also made their job harder, but seriously. Even a braindead donkey could have done a bit more research."

"What do you mean? No need to insult Raven like that! They were nice." Blurted out Spirit, you can practically feel the poor dear itching to snap the whip to snatch you, Wind holding onto his an Cal's wrists like a vice so they wouldn't make any sudden moves, First tapping Calamity's back and looking at the hooded being's perch, making Calamity's eyes narrow and Sky slowly let go of the possible Skyward Strike, thankfully enough. Being crushed to death would not help your boys get out of here.

The hooded and masked figure twitched, head listing lazily to the side, unhurried, as if bored or maybe dissapointed as they sighed apathetically, it gave you gooseflesh, but you dared not move an inch, struggling against your own limbs and with the Shadow at your back, "I mean I was just taken by surprise. You know, I wouldn't have taken the heroes of Hyrule for liars and oath breakers, and also against the laws of hospitality. Shooting arrows and magic at your host within their own home? For shame! Didn't your parents teach you better?"

You could see how each of the heroes bristled, but seeing crimson beading against your unwilling, trapped skin stayed their blade, though that did not stop Legend from snarling up at the hidden figure, sipping tea as if it was watching an incredibly entertaining play, "Oath breakers? That's rich coming from you! Raven said we could stay here safely and then leave once the storm was over!"

"And you attacked one of our own first." Added Warriors, his tone as glacial as the winter winds, enough to freeze anyone down to the marrow.

They incline their head, voice distorted, the screaming echo of scavengers like nails on chalkboard and as refined as a well curated blade, "True, though neither they nor I never said you'd all leave unharmed, did we? And you didn't keep your end of the deal either." Their tone goes dryer, as they throw the tea cup away without a care in favor of throwing their hands up, as if it was the Chain being unreasonable and not the person who presumably did something to Shadow and Hyrule's own Shade, you can see Sky barely keeping his grip on an enraged Four, "Besides! I didn't attack them, they kindly volunteered to go up stage on their own. You're all so up in arms for something that's part of the performance, a little injury is a small price to pay for the bit."

"A 'little injury'?! I doubt they'd try cutting off their own hands for a BIT." Stressed Hyrule, snapping out of his shock, in response to that, the cloaked person shrugged.

"I mean a little disarment never killed anyone."

Wild looked seconds from firing another arrow, teeth gritted and bared as Twilight sent a furious glare to the one perched atop the stage, just above the lights, ready to knock them down and crush you if needed be, "I'm pretty sure it has, actually."

"Anyway! You're all so caught up on semantics, by the Three, so uptight. Does having the splinters so far up there not sting?" they glanced at the Shadow, the obsidian and granite lizalfos glancing back at them before hissing at Time, ready to lunge, teeth stained with Director Raven's blood, "This the kind of tough crowd you have to deal with? Yeesh, no wonder you yap more than a kicked dog at times." They turn back to the Chain, clapping their hands, "In any case, let's make another deal, shall we? I'm a playwright of my word after all. You could leave your little friend here to become one of my actors and go on your merry way." You swore you felt your heart stop, blood rushing in your ears, you barely caught the sharp glint of a hollow smile beneath the crow shaped mask and their next words, "Or! If you're really that attached-", they send you a bemused look, "Can't see why but hey," shrugging, they continue on, unrelenting like a hunting wolf, "You can act instead. I'll send you all into different tales and should you finish them in accordance to the script, I may let you just leave without too much of a fuss. No catches." They point to the Shadow, "Can't make any promises for that one though, it's a solo act you see, if anything I'm just lending the venue and he was lucky to rent first, the wretch."

"And if we refuse?" Probed Time, you could see the gears turning in his head like clockwork, trying to find a way to swing this in everyone's favor so you all can get out alive.

The vulture in crow skin only smiled wider, "Then none of us gets them and you die here, I'll let the Shadow tear you apart to it's void soul's delight, and kill them on the spot." The blades press against your arms against your will, and you twitch, trying to wrestle control back and only getting pain for you troubles, muffling a yell, "Maybe put them in a soup and make jewelry out of the bones that I don't reuse in a broth, I'd look pretty dashing in a crown." They giggle, unhinged cruelty into every word as they clap their hands, voice rising to a screeching crescendo, "Oh oh! Or just roll them down a barrel filled with spikes on a hill, or make them dance and dance and dance on hot iron shoes until they drop dead! Haven't decided yet, so many choices, so little time. It's almost enough to leave me hot and bothered." The true owner of the theater sighed, longingly hugging themselves before turning a cold, hard tone to the heroes, "You sure you want to risk that?"

Silence descends upon the theater like a widow's shroud, seems you're all at an impasse, you're unable to move and while you're certain your boys could overpower whatever that monstrosity is and deal with the Shadow, none of you could be sure they could do it before the Shadow slit your throat or that being (person? No, it felt too unnatural to be human.) Knocked the chandelier down or made good on their threat.

The masked unknown simply summoned themseles a second mug, pouring more tea, "Take your time to answer. I can wait. Though if you ask me the choice is extremely obvious, come on now, what's one more or one less for your little group? It's not like they're important to the narrative anyway-"

"No tricks?" Cut in First, you see the being twotch at the interruption.

"Rude. Seriously, does Hylia just likes to pick the feral ones and set them loose upon the world? Seems like bad business." They pause, then hum, "Then again, maybe not, I hear her incarnations can be quite unhinged. Quite the match made in hell, you lot then and those Demise decides to live rent free in huh? I almost feel bad now. Yikes, my condolences." They pluck a bouquet of camellias, roses and acacias from the inside of their cloak and throw it down to the Chain. You're not even surprised when Wild snags the fire rod from Legend and sets it aflame.

"Holding our friend hostage and talking about actively killing them doesn't inspire us to play nice." Gritted out Four. Grip tight onto his sword.

"If you feel bad then just let them go!" Gestured Wind from his side.

"Your criticism has been noted. I only don't concede because I can't see any reason why you'd want them around." The figure drawls back before answering First, "No tricks or catches or too much of a fuss, all you have to do is play along the script and play nice. Do that and in theory we shouldn't have much trouble. Maybe I'll even be nice and throw in one of those rewards like the places you all crawl through do on occasion, why not?" The Shadow roars at that, they snap down at it, "My theater, my rules! I'm bored okay? Let me spice things up!"

Time breathes, you can see the lonsdaleite persistence come back to the forefront, "Then we accept."

The figure stills, before shaking their head, they leap down from the chandelier, gliding across the stage with quick steps as the feeling of drowning recedes, the Shadow begrudgingly letting you go as you gasp, the figure snags your arm in one clawed hand, drags you to the edge of the stage, then kicks you off with a sigh, thankfully, Twilight and Warriors are there ro support you as they turn towards Time, tone blank as they extend that same clawed hand, "Way to pick the boring choice, but fine. I shouldn't expect much of a surprise I suppose." They shake hands, you feel the hum of magic settle into the air, twisted and wrong it almosy brings that drowning feeling back, water trying to pull you down as they grin and step back, opening a blank, black book, snagging the crystalline quill and using your blood as ink, they write, everything goes dark quickly as the Shadow snuffs out every light again as it dissolves, spreading ober every single nook and cranny of the open space.

You think they bare their teeth at you specifically before snapping the book shut, "Let me weave you a tale!"

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

Scene IIII End. Thus closes the Opening Act.

#linked universe x reader #linked universe au #lu x reader #linked universe fairy tale au #fairy tale typical violence #fairy tale typical dark themes #reference to Penta of the Chopped Off Hands #told y'all not to get attached to the theater crew #Reader is going through it and frankly it's probably gonna go downhill from there #wonder how many will catch the reference with Twilight #I thought it would be cute to be fair. Reader has a lot of knowledge from our world and they'd likely convert as many stories as they could #for variety if nothing else #Dink's hired help here just wants to watch the world burn and preferably roast Reader over a fire while at it #why? that's for me to know and y'all to find out lol #they're not really relevant to the plot. they're just here to kick it into gear. cause chaos. be dramatic and bully Dink #specially if he messes up the venue #No Shadow Links were Permanently Harmed in the Making of this Chapter #WintertimeStoryteller Stop Clowning Yourself and Stick to the OG Outline Challenge (Failed Miserably) #That moment when you write and rewrite the chapter and has a nice little plan for the story #but sleep deprivation and life happens so you have to throw it out the window #Reade is all over the place because they're meant to don't worry. The theater just Does That #no beta we die like my sanity #no beta we die like First and the Hero's Shade #WintertimeStoryteller Writing #Hopefully it's at least half decent

[lahooozaherr]

What Was I Made For?

Part 2

Please note: This blog stands with Palestine. If you are interacting with my account and TLOU related posts, I ask that you PLEASE visit these links. Be critical and mindful while partaking in TLOU content and be aware that creator Neil Druckmann is a Zionist.

Word Count: 3.7k

Warnings: FLUFFY FLUFF, Joel is very soft and deserves softness, slight angst if you squint?, yearning, “first date jitters”, a smooch!! Honestly that’s kind of it, nothing wild happens in this. As always, let me know if I missed something 🫶🏻

MY WORKS ARE 18+ MINORS DNI. AGELESS/BLANK ACCOUNTS WILL BE BLOCKED.

Chapter Summary: Since your recovery, you’ve settle into town and your routine nicely. Tommy sets you up with a job at the stables caring for the horses after their morning patrol, where you regularly see Joel. The two of you spend a lot of time together and Ellie has noticed. Joel asks if you’ve ever ridden a horse before, and upon discovering you haven’t, asks you take you on a horseback ride.

A/N: I had to rewrite parts of this, sit and contemplate, daydream, etc until I was finally somewhat satisfied with what I wanted to do in this chapter. So if it’s seems kinda clunky I apologize lol. I’m planning to make this a three parter so we’ll get to the fun in the next part! I can’t make promises on when since a lot of my writing is very dependent on my mood and how creative I feel. But I’ve also started my Death Worker apprenticeship and it gives me enough homework to space out for the month, so I have to keep balance! I hope yall enjoy this little installment. It’s a special little project for me, I just want Joel to be happy and to have someone that brings out his ability and need to process his grief.

Joel Vibes Playlist

Series Masterlist | Masterlist | AO3 | My Taglist

Joel continued to visit you as you recovered, bringing you some of your meals and discussing the books you shared interest in. Sometimes you’d share moments of vulnerability with him when you spoke of your past, and he’d do the same. He was guarded over some parts, but you understood. It can be terrifying to share that much about oneself.

You offered him a kind of softness and compassion he hadn’t come across in a very long time. That’s not to say he hadn’t, Tess was compassionate in her own ways, albeit her tough exterior, and he had immense respect for that.

He wasn’t used to it and at times he’d find himself questioning if he’s too harsh around the edges. But you never withdrew from him, you welcomed him with a warm smile everyday. You displayed a genuine interest in his company, it had become a comfort for you. Inadvertently, it had become a comfort for him as well. A balm for his aches that he didn’t know he needed.

Ellie had started to notice the times he had been absent, usually after his morning patrol.

“I haven’t seen a lot of you lately,” Ellie noted as she takes another bite into her breakfast. Joel leans against the counter with his coffee mug and takes a sip before replying, “when I’m not doing patrol I’ve been checking on that woman I told you ‘bout.”

“Oh?” Ellie’s face brightens, the corners of her lips turning upward into a mischievous grin. “You got a girlfriend now, old man?”

Joel shoots a glare back at her, “no.” It doesn’t deter her and she smirks, “if you have to deny it like that then she probably is.” He releases an exasperated huff before taking another sip from his mug, “I’ve just been checkin’ on her. That’s all.”

“Whatever you say,” Ellie stands from her place at the table and walks to the sink beside him to deposit her dishes. Joel gives her shoulder a pat and squeezes with his free hand, she returns the gesture by placing her hand on his and squeezing back.

She heads for the door and turns back to him as she opens it and calls out, “it’d probably do you some good!” Shooting him finger guns as she backs out, he rolls his eyes.

Eventually, you’d meet her and her unending curiosity. Ellie wanted to figure out what drew Joel to you. Eating meals with her and Joel was refreshing, allowing you that feeling of belonging in this world again. Ellie was a firecracker with the mouth of a sailor and you grew to adore her all the same. She enjoyed your company and sensitivity towards her and her interests.

Your recovery was swift, you were in good hands with the town’s doctor. Upon the day she cleared you with a clean bill of health, Joel’s brother Tommy and his wife Maria helped set you up in one of the houses in town. The house was currently being used by a few other unrelated individuals, basically creating a roommate situation. You didn’t mind at all, you were immensely grateful. This was far better than your situation back in your previous QZ.

They took time to show you around town, showing you where everyone meets up to eat in town. Various “shops” in town, trading was “currency” of course. They helped you aquire you some new clothes and essentials

Tommy suggested bringing you on to work in the stables in the mornings, helping care for the horses when they returned from that shift of patrol. After getting to know you and what he’d been told by Joel, he felt that your delicate touch was just what was needed to care for the horses. He also knew how therapeutic it could be to be with them.

His suggestion was met by an immediate ‘yes’ by you. You were mostly excited to start doing your part. You had never worked with horses before but you were sure you’d get a hang of it in due time.

Horses are gentle creatures, you remember hearing of forms of therapy done alongside them from the days before. You could see why, they were calm for the most part. You had slightly worried about being intimidated by them but that subsided when you were introduced to them.

The stable-hands you worked alongside were thorough and patient when they trained you. Teaching you how to feed, brush and even untack the horses upon their returns. You got along with them quickly and with ease. It had been too long since you’d been able to give love and care to an animal.

Being in this position also meant seeing Joel very regularly. Whether that was on purpose by Tommy or not, you weren’t sure. But you didn’t mind, you treasured your bond you’d created with him in such a short amount of time. It had also been too long since you felt connected to another human being.

When he’d return from patrol, you’d welcome him back as you helped him remove the saddle from his horse, Old Beardy, a beautiful and well mannered horse. He’d stick around to chat about what he’d seen that morning as he helped brush his coat as you fed him. When the horse would nicker at you and nudge you with his snout, you’d return the gesture with affectionate scratches and cooing.

Joel would watch you in admiration, an old and almost unfamiliar feeling that had been simmering under the service had started to take root. Everyday it sprouts new leaves and blossoms. Although it was undeniable, he’d been afraid to name it. A while ago he had told himself he can’t let “someone like himself”, rough edges and all, dim your light. He had only recently begun to explore what it meant to be a father again, he wasn’t sure if he was fit to re-explore having something more with you.

He was scared that he would hurt whatever he touched. That he would fail to protect, again.

You, on the other hand, are aware of the crush you’ve been harboring. Although there was that little, nagging voice in your head that would ask how someone as independent and strong as Joel could have those kinds of feelings for you.

You’d sometimes catch the way he looks at you when you’re focused on your work in the stables. Or the warmth he regards you with compared to others. You weren’t sure if he returned your feelings exactly, but you’d caught on to small gestures of his.

It was hard to deny the way your heart sped up in your chest when you’d greet him in the mornings. How it felt to have his eyes on you, his undivided attention. Sometimes guiding you by the small of your back when he walked with you through town, on the way back from the stables or your meals.

But how does one court another in an apocalypse?

—————————————————————————

“Mornin’, Joel,” you turn to see Joel returning Beardy to his stall, back from his morning shift.

He returns your greeting with nod and a smile as he begins to remove the horse's saddle, “Mornin’ sweetheart.”

You turn back to your task of cleaning your brush, hiding how you fight back against a grin that twists your lips and the warmth spreading across your cheeks.

You finish up and join Joel at his side, handing him a brush. He takes it from your hand, brushing his against yours in the process. Beardy turns his head towards you and bumps his nose against your arm, he knows what time it is. With a loving roll of your eyes, you remove an apple from the apron you wore, “Yeah yeah boy, I’ve got you, don’t worry.”

Joel truly admires the way you interact with the horses. You move around them with confidence and intention, he’s pleased to see his idea of suggesting this job for you to Tommy seemed to really suit you. You’ve really come out of your shell since your recovery. You were very thoughtful and attentive to the horses you worked with daily.

“I haven’t thought to ask ‘til just now,” Joel begins as he works to brush the horse's shoulder. “Have you ever ridden one?”

You snicker, “ironically, no. I’ve somehow come this far in life without the privilege.”

Joel is almost surprised, people are typically kind of afraid of the animal at first. You acted as if you’d always been around them.

Joel fights to look neutral as he offers, “I could….take you on a ride…”

He pauses and you glance at each other quickly as he almost nervously adds, “I mean, if you want.” To not seem overly dependent on your answer, he gives an indifferent shrug, but the smile behind his gesture betrays him.

With an excited sparkle in your eye, you perk up and smile, “Really? When?” You never shy away from showing your emotions or how eager you are. He also appreciates that about you, it’s helped provide some kind of a balance in his life. Regular connection with someone in touch with their emotions he finds safety and refuge in. “Emotion” is something he just only shows to a select few.

“How about this next day off?”

“You mean it?”

“When have I ever not meant what I said, sweetheart?” He flashes a smug grin and you shake your head with a chuckle.

“That’s very true. In that case, I’d love to.”

Joel finishes his brushing and sets the tool aside on a hook, “Alright, I’ll be at your house first thing in the morning? Before sunrise, I think you’d like seein’ that.”

You remove your apron and hang it, adjusting your coat as you do. You walk up to him and state, “It’s a date.”

He’s caught off guard and slightly frowns, not in disagreement but having trouble processing what you just said. A date.

You frown back and a sinking feeling almost lands in your abdomen, then his lips curve into a smile. A warm, humored one.

“It’s a date.”

Relief washes over you in the form of a big grin you can’t seem to fight off anymore, biting your bottom lip. He tosses you a wink before turning to leave the stables.

—————————————————————————

Maybe calling it a date wasn’t such a good idea, because it’s added much more pressure than you’d originally intended. You don’t date in this kind of world, do you?

You’ve spent a good 30 minutes bouncing back and forth between outfit choices, the very few you own. Pieces that are more about durability and appropriate for weather and not so much…attractiveness. But you wanted to at least try.

One of your roommates, Lisa, passes by your door on the way back from the bathroom you share, noticing you fidgeting at your outfit.

“You’re up early,” she takes notice, she herself is getting ready for her own morning shift. It’s your day off and unusually early for you to be up and about.

Her voice startles you and you turn to greet her, “Morning, Lisa.”

“Morning! You got something goin’ on today?”

“Yes, uh…” you become flustered as heat threatens to take over your face. “I’m going on a horseback ride with Joel.”

Her face lights up, “are you finally going on a date with grumpy Joel?”

“You really shouldn’t call him that. And yes? No? Maybe? What do you mean ‘finally’?”

She smiles knowingly and folds her arms across her chest, “I don’t know, it’s not like you spend most of your free time with him. On top of time you get to see him when you’re working.”

“Is that….bad?”

“Not at all, girl. I just think it’s about damn time.”

You blow a raspberry at her and chuckle as you make final touches on your outfit, she mimics you and taps your shoulder with the knuckles of her fist, “you look good, stop worrying.”

—————————————————————————

Joel approaches the door to your home. He’s nervous, if he’s being honest with himself. He can’t remember the last time he’d even been on a date, even before the outbreak. He was way more invested in being a father and running his business.

He rubs his hands on his jeans, palms slightly sweaty. He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and knocks on the door. You open it shortly after, whispering to him a “good morning” before quietly exiting and closing the door behind you. He echoes the greeting in a similar tone of voice, being mindful of your roommates you share the home with.

When you smile it makes his stomach turn over, a weird dance between anxiety and peace plays inside of him. He feels so out of practice, but something about your energy helps ease those worries and grounds him.

The walk to the stables is quiet, something he chalks up to it being so early for the two of you on your mutual day off. But really, his mind is also racing, so it’s just a convenient excuse for him to gather himself on the way there.

When the two of you have Old Beardy prepared and ready, he looks to you, “you ready?”

A glimmer of joy is in your eyes, “absolutely!”

“Alright, let me help you up.”

“Oh, right,” you say hesitatingly, looking over the horse and saddle wondering how this will work. A chuckle rumbles in his chest before he kneels beside you, holding out his hands laced together.

“I’ll lift you up. Just step here and swing your leg over.”

He can still sense your hesitancy and offers you more reassurance, “don’t worry, I’ve got ya. I won’t let you fall.”

You trust him implicitly, you have ever since you’ve built your relationship with him. So without fear, you move as he instructs. When you successfully land on the saddle, you let out a squeak in triumph.

Joel pats your leg as he stands back up. “Atta girl,” he remarks in his southern-drawl.

That embarrassing heat begins to crawl back up your spine. What did he just say? But you love it, can he say it again please?

Joel lifts himself up and settles right behind you in the saddle, caging you in his arms. His broad chest against your back is warm and all encompassing. You haven’t been this physically close to him since he rescued you. It’s electrifying, a feeling you crave more of.

Joel has similar feelings about this, but stays professional. He has to. This isn’t that kind of date, or so he tells himself.

Beardy begins to trot in response to Joel’s whistle and commanding movements. You gasp in amazement and laugh, Joel can’t help but smile to himself as he listens to your small reactions.

Soon, the two of you’re out the gate. The sky is still somewhat dark, but a light in the distance signals that sunrise is on its way. Joel has the perfect spot in mind.

“How’re you doin’, sweetheart?”

“I’m great, this is so fun,” you respond joyously. His laugh in response is deep and rich as he signals the horse to speed up just a little bit.

The surrounding area is quiet, save for sounds of crunching snow under Beardy’s hooves and Joel’s breathing. You debate if you should break it and say anything, but you can’t seem to come up with anything. You don’t really want to. It’s so peaceful, it’s just perfect. If it’s like this every morning, you almost wish you could join him on his patrol.

“Oh, hold very still,” Joel’s voice drops an octave as he lowers his lips next to your ear to murmur, lightly brushing, and it sends shivers down your spine. You hope he doesn’t notice. “Look.”

You look around and see a family of deer, a Doe and her two babies. They don’t notice the two of you, Joel had stopped to a standstill just a few yards from them. The scene is serene and makes your heart swell. It’s amazing how life goes on in the wild despite the outbreak. If anything, it has thrived even more so.

“Beautiful,” you’re careful to whisper so you don’t disturb the moment.

He’s caught himself watching you again, instead of the deer family. It feels like witnessing the world again, through your eyes. You hold an appreciation for the small things that he’s taken for granted before.

Joel nudges Beardy and turns his reins to walk beside carefully, avoiding the small family. They go on eating, undisturbed.

“It’s just right up here,” he states. After a few turns, he brings you to a small hilltop. The sun is just starting to rise as you arrive and Joel gives himself a mental pat on the back for his perfect timing.

“Oh, Joel….” You trail off, the view of the sunrise and landscape leaves you speechless as you take it all in. The snow before you is untouched and smooth. It sparkles in the growing light of the sun rising over the mountains. The sky itself looks like a beautiful painting with purple bleeding into red, pink and orange hues.

“This is…this is breathtaking, I don’t know how else to say it,” you profess to him.

“I know, it makes you just stop, doesn’t it?”

Almost instinctively, you lean back into Joel’s chest and relax. You feel him freeze and almost regret your action until you feel him quickly settle that fear, feeling his chest press against your back in return. You wish you could tell him his embrace makes you feel the safest you ever have.

The tranquility of the moment lingers on until you speak, “thank you, Joel.”

“You don’t have to thank me for this.”

“I mean, for everything. You’ve been so kind and welcoming to me since I came here. You saved me.”

You turn your upper body to face him, he looks back into your eyes with his deep brown irises. Suddenly, you could slice the tension in the air with a knife.

“Thank YOU, also,” his lips purse.

“Me? For what?”

“For helping remind me why I’m here. Why I’m STILL here.”

“Oh gosh, you didn’t need me for that…” you begin to turn your head away until suddenly, his large palm cups your opposite cheek and brings you back to face him.

Your breath hitches in your chest when your eyes meet his. Joel’s eyes are dark and formidable, but you’ve found the hints of compassion and warmth in them recently. This time is no exception, chocolate eyes conveying how genuine he is. He always means what he says.

The initial shock of him maneuvering you to face him subsides quickly, as if it’s natural of him to do this. He wonders if he’s being too forward when you nuzzle your cheek into the palm of his hand. He lets out a quiet sigh of relief.

“That means the world to me,” emotion breaks through your voice, tears begin to break through at the corners of your closed eyes.

Joel wraps his arms around your shoulders and brings you close to him, placing a faint, soft press of his lips to the top of your head. Your quickened heartbeat threatens to expose you to him but you don’t seem to care, because maybe it’s time he knew.

Maybe it’s time he knew what he really means to you.

“Could we get down for a moment? I’d like to stretch my legs.”

“Hm? Sure thing,” Joel agrees. He jumps down from the horse and turns and reaches up to assist you. It seems the tables have turned from you using this moment to confess when he brings you down into his arms, encasing you in his embrace.

He doesn’t move and neither do you, as you search each other’s faces. Your lips part, you try to find the words you need but they’re as lost as you are in his eyes. You watch as his eyes dart down and back up to yours as the tip of his tongue quickly darts across his lips.

A fire is lit in his chest, one that he had assumed was gone for ages. It became an ember when he met you, and now it scorches as he holds you in his arms. He can’t find the words either, but he’s more of a man of action.

His face inches closer to yours and you take the cue and mimic him. When he sees this, he takes the plunge and closes the gap and gently, experimentally presses his lips onto yours.

With butterflies in your chest and a boost of confidence, you take advantage of the angle he has you in. Bring your arms up and wrap them around his neck to deepen the kiss.

His lips are as soft and pillowy as they look, a puff of air escapes his nose as he slowly molds his lips to yours. His aquiline nose pushes against yours, he feels like a puzzle piece made to connect to you. You can smell him, a mix of the smell of firewood, pine and a smell that's unique to him.

You feel one of his hands lift up to grip the back of your hold to himself steadily against you. It’s like he refuses to part and come up for air, continuing to take short breaths through his nose. But soon enough he’s forced to pull away, if ever so slightly.

It’s been too long since you’ve ever shared something so intimate with someone, and surely you’ll be addicted after this. Kissing Joel Miller is sensual and slow, right off the bat. You probably look drunk on his kiss but you don’t care, if your feelings weren’t obvious before they really were now.

“I, uh-I…” Joel stammers, blushed from the cold and being unused to speaking his feelings. You lean in and kiss him again, effectively shutting down his attempt to speak. When you part from him, you look into his eyes smiling as you exhale a breath.

His heart races in his chest and he doesn’t remember the last time it did this in response to something other than adrenaline or fear. He asks himself if you can read his mind when you place your hand over it. But really, you just wanted confirmation.

His smile in return is wide, showing his teeth and exhilarated as he does so. You don’t think you’ve ever seen him exude such happiness.

You cup the back of his head with both of your hands, gently nudging him towards you. You touch your forehead to his and close your eyes and he joins you.

“It’s ok Joel, I’ve got you.”

@nerdieforpedro @joeldjarin @orcasoul

Divider by @saradika-graphics

#Joel Miller #joel miller x f!reader #Joel miller x female reader #joel miller x reader #the last of us

[hillbilly---man]

A list of my works on AO3

(they're all Saiki K fics at the moment but I'll add fandom categories to this post if I ever get a new interest lol)

It doesn't fit my plans; it's something I don't understand

Published July 11, 2021

Summary: Saiki is fascinated by Satou Hiroshi, and the people around him start to see that this might be more than just a platonic curiosity.

What is this feeling called love?

[Notes: Bittersweet ending. Nobody gets together. My insistence on theming these early fics after songs is pretty embarrassing now. I'm not proud of my writing here but the story is ok. I might rewrite it someday. Not bad for my first fic since like 2003 though]

Something Changed

Published August 11, 2021

Summary: Aiura wrote a letter to her soulmate the night before they were supposed to meet.

She's predicted a lot of things... how could she have gotten this one wrong?

[Notes: Another sad ending. The format of this is almost entirely an excited letter about the future Aiura imagined that would never come to pass. Not really much of a story happening here tbh]

Won't it be strange when we're all fully grown?

Published August 28, 2021 (INCOMPLETE)

Summary: With graduation quickly approaching, the psychics of PK Academy (and Akechi) worry that they'll drift apart. Luckily, they come up with an idea.

"Let's all meet up in the year 2030!"

A lot can change in a decade.

[Notes: Kind of like a psychicker class reunion where they're all adults with jobs and everything catching up. Future chapters were going to have almost a Scooby Doo vibe (with a twist reveal at the end about Aiura's husband!) I abandoned it because I posted some art and someone called my art creepy and it made the whole fic feel bad to think about. Maybe I'll get back to it someday. It's cool to see how quickly my writing improved. I was also super proud of how well I wrote Akechi's dialogue here]

Hotel Valentine

Published September 24, 2021

Summary: Toritsuka Reita is a pretty lucky guy. He somehow managed to not get expelled from PK Academy, he graduated, and he's avoided creeping on any living girls for a few months. To celebrate, the PK Psychics paid for a one-night stay in the fanciest hotel in Tokyo so Reita can creep on the ghost girl of his dreams. Pretty lucky, right?

Too bad things aren't going his way. He's being ignored by the staff, he's bored out of his mind, and he can't find the ghost girl anywhere. Some vacation, huh?

[Notes: Spoiler: Toritsuka's a ghost stuck in a nice hotel. This is based on a concept album that most of you have never heard but hear me out! It really has nothing to do with the Cibo Matto album of the same title except that the chapters are named after the songs and there are fun Easter eggs for fans of the album. Another slightly sad ending but not too bad]

Coffee & TV

Published August 27th, 2022

Summary: The new silence in her house felt heavy on Kumi's shoulders. Everything reminded her of Kumagoro... especially her grandson Kusuo, who has been coming to visit more often than ever before.

[Notes: this is my least popular finished fic and I understand why. It's about grief and the loss of a grandparent. It's about the unique pain that a psychic would have after failing to prevent that death. There's a sad twist that TBH I think I was a little too subtle with. One of my favorites]

Friendly Fire

Published January 8, 2023

Summary: Being an adult is great until the Problems start. Good grief.

30-year-old Kusuo's psychic powers have been pretty well controlled for over a decade. Why are things starting to go haywire all of a sudden?

[Notes: Friendly Fire my fucking beloved!! In this fic, Saiki gets essentially psychic multiple sclerosis and has to deal with some complicated emotions. I don't think it's a masterpiece or anything but it was cathartic to write and I'm in love with the versions of these characters that I wrote here. So much so that I'm writing a sequel just so I can write more of them. Also, FINALLY a happy ending!!]

Ramen Ikouze?

Published April 28, 2023

Summary: After being dragged to get ramen with Nendou every week, Kusuo starts to realize that it's not so bad after all.

[Notes: I love Nendou, he's so good. This fic is very cute and about their friendship. A couple of fun twists]

Saiki has Plans?

Published May 2, 2023

Summary: Saiki mentions having plans after school, and the overactive imaginations at PK Academy work themselves into a fuss trying to imagine what he could be doing.

[Notes: This fic follows around a bunch of Saiki's classmates as they gossip and snoop to find out what he's up to. It's my most popular fic for some reason]

A Bright Flash

Published May 13, 2023

Summary: Saiki develops an annoying new ability, and through some comedy series logic is forced to tell Teruhashi about it. She tries to be a good ally to her "newly psychic" crush.

[Notes: Teruhashi accidentally finds out about Saiki's new power and he's like "fine. I'm a psychic. But it's just this one power and nothing else."]

Heat Wave

Published June 6, 2023

Summary: There's a historic heat wave in Hidariwakibara, and some of our favorite PK Academy students end up running into each other while taking refuge from the hot weather.

A series of four standalone (but connected) stories taking place at the same time:

Aiura has a vision of disaster, and she and Nendou try to stop it

Yumehara gives Toritsuka some advice to improve his game

Akechi meets Teruhashi's brother

Saiki really wants some shaved ice from the kakigori stand where Mera is working

[Notes: The summary explains it well but also I weaved so many connections between the chapters (that are all happening at roughly the same time). It was also a lot of fun writing interactions between characters that didn't get much in canon. Also you can tell it was hot as hell when I wrote it because I definitely gave Saiki some kind of psychic heat intolerance lol]

Immunity

Published July 6, 2023

Summary: She didn't know why, but Kokomi was finally able to see the truth.

Why Saiki seemed to appear and disappear without explanation. Why it seemed like he always knew what she was planning. Why he wore those weird hairpins.

It was all so obvious now.

Saiki had psychic powers.

[Notes: The veil is lifted suddenly and all the truths that Saiki kept locked behind his mind control were revealed to Teruhashi. He and Aiura have a chat with her about it. Also this was the first fic of mine that an IRL friend read (to my knowledge) and his comment was something like "I don't know anything about your boy but he sounds autistic and gnc" and I took that as a fucking compliment! You know you've written Saiki right when people can see that shit from space]

The Disastrous Financial Situation of Saiki K

Published August 9, 2023 (IN PROGRESS)

Summary: Adjusting to his new limitations has been annoying, and now Kusuo (age 31) needs a car to get around.

Unfortunately, taking time off work has drained his savings.

How is he going to get the money for a car now?

[Notes: This is my sequel to Friendly Fire but it's a lot lighter in nature. 100-Yen-Man goes around doing stuff for Saiki's friends. There are mentions of his disability from Friendly Fire and it's plot relevant but I think you can catch on even if you didn't read the original. I haven't updated in a while but I am actively working on it!! A Yumehara and Makino chapter next and then a Toritsuka chapter after that. TBH this isn't my best work and it's pretty unpopular but I'm having fun and that's all that counts)

#i got my work done so as i promised.. this is my reward #this is for organization purposes and to get me thinking about the things I've written again #my fics #saiki

[seraphinitegames]

The Wayhaven Chronicles—Update 17/June/2022

Oh my word, it's a hot one here!

Hope everyone is staying cool if it's hot where you are (or keeping warm if you're on the other hemisphere! :D)

The plan was to get some editing in this week, but I skipped that because I was on SUCH a roll with writing!

On such a major roll in fact that I finished Mason/Morgan's version of Chapter 14!!!!!

On Thursday I was doing so well that in the back of my mind I was thinking, 'I might get this done this week...', but I didn't want to rush myself because I wanted to make sure and get everything in I wanted (as well as a couple of extra dialogue choice sets because, well you know, it's me, hehe!)

So that means I can get a jumpstart on Adam/Ava's early and begin it today!

Chapter 14, although a split version of the chapter so each love interest has their own chapter, is really lovely and straight forward after the intensity of the last few chapters! But I think it's also needed for the reader, as A LOT has happened in the story at this point—not just with information, but to the actual MC, so some downtime is definitely needed for a bit.

There was also a major thing that I added in this week that meant a lot to me personally.

'[New Character] gathers three rats into his arms, their colours like an ombre: one flint black, the next a caramel-brown, and the last one a silver-grey. 

He hugs them against his chest with a sigh of affection. The rats nuzzle against him, one of them wriggling to be free and scamper onto his shoulder.'

For anyone who's been following me for quite some time might recognise this cameo...

Although I lost my boys a while ago now, I just really wanted a small part for them in the story. They were with me for so much of Wayhaven when they were with me, that it feels right to have them memorialised in there.

So yeah, it was a little bit of an emotional moment to write that, especially with M being their usual grumpy self in this scene too, lol!

For Adam/Ava's version of Chapter 14, I'm a little ahead of myself again too, as I have a chunk of scene I cut from Chapter 11 for them to use in this chapter instead, so that's nice! I've got to rewrite it to fit in with what's happening here, but having that base is always a good jumping point!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! We'll be offline as usual, so I'll update you all again next week! <3

#the wayhaven chronicles #interactive fiction #update #progress report #book three

[thelightofthebane]

through the good and bad and all in between

Summary: Magnus was born a warlock. Magnus became a mundane for love and by self-sacrificing tendencies. Magnus turned into a vampire after an act of spite and revenge.

A story about survival, new identities, love through adversities, and accepting changes.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s03e17 Heavenly Fire, Vampire Magnus Bane, Turned without consent, Major Character Undeath, Immortal to Mortal to Immortal, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Good Boyfriend Alec Lightwood, Soft Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Cat & Alec friendship, Domestic Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending

Rating: E

Chapters: 10

Words: Around 23k~

This fic was created for the Shadowhunters Mini Bang 2023: Presented by the @malecdiscordserver

You can read it on AO3 or the last chapter below ~

Chapter 10 - I need you here 'til the very end

Seven years later

By some miracle, things settled for a long time.

No more catastrophes. No more Greater Demons or madmen. No more jealous ex-girlfriends. No more near-death experiences.

Jia and Lydia had become a refreshing powerhouse for the Clave. A rewriting of the Accords was even in the plans, and this time there would be more Downworlder representatives than before.

Alec had been helping Lydia with a project that would spread the idea of Downworld Cabinets for all Institutes, as well as some really needed reeducation regarding Downworld culture. Surprisingly, Alec chose Clary to be aboard in the project, and her suggestions of Mundane culture have been really interesting and useful for once.

The New York Shadow World was thriving too. Alec not only reformed the Institute and made sure no one under his leadership would mistreat a Downworld ever again, but he also put into action new ideas - like a mixed school for Shadowhunters and Downworlders’ children to learn together.

Magnus was…

Magnus was much better. His nightmares were still present, but few and far between. He seemed more settled in his new role, and despite missing his magic a lot, he could now think about it with fondness instead of grief.

They had married two years after Alec’s proposal. Jace and Clary married a year later. Simon and Izzy, four years later.

Jace and Clary became parents around the time Alec and Magnus celebrated their 5th anniversary. It also lit up a tiny flame inside Alec’s chest that wished the same with Magnus. Maybe it was time to have the adoption talk.

Well, if another disaster wasn’t about to happen, but judging by Izzy’s serious face, Alec didn’t want to push his luck.

“Please, don’t tell me you found out about another secret experiment by the Clave.”

Isabelle cracked a tiny smile, shaking her head.

“It’s something personal, actually.” She closed the door and went to sit on the chair in front of him.

“Are you okay? Did you and Simon fight?”

“No, although it has to do with him.”

Alec frowned in confusion. She smiled a bit more genuinely this time.

“I bet no one could’ve ever imagined that us both would end up in a committed relationship with vampires.”

Alec snorts. 

“Understatement.” He went back to write on a report mission, letting his sister to take her time to tell him whatever has been bothering her. However, when after ten minutes nothing more was said, he decided to push her a little bit. “What’s your point, Iz?”

“Have you ever thought about staying?”

The pen halted on the paper, and Alec needed a moment to comprehend what Izzy was saying. When it finally hit him, he put the pen down and looked at her.

“Yes,” he croaked, his eyes automatically straying for a drawer containing books and years of research. “Since Magnus was turned.”

“Did you find something?”

“Besides becoming a vampire? No.” Alec huffed, frustrated with the lack of alternatives.

“And that would be too bad?” Izzy mumbled, but her brother heard anyway and looked a bit spooked.

“W-What?”

“Look, it was one thing before when Magnus was still an immortal warlock. But he’s a vampire now. Would it be that bad to be the same as him?”

Alec’s frown only deepened.

She… had a point.

He was so worried looking for answers, he had forgotten that Magnus changed. He was still immortal, but a different kind. And if Alec did become a vampire, the only thing he would be sacrificing is food. He was sure that if he asked Jace, his brother wouldn’t mind giving him his blood, too.

“Oh…”

“Yeah, oh.” Izzy smirked, but it was slightly shaken.

“Is this what you want?”

The woman released an equally shaken breath and looked directly at her brother’s eyes.

“I do. Simon is… Simon is right. You know I’ve never cared much about love, but something in him makes me dream about things I didn’t dare before. He makes me happy in a way that hurts, you know? A good hurt, the kind that fills me up and makes me stronger and braver.”

Alec smiled, his eyes now finding the photo frame on his desk. Magnus and he were holding each other under a Sakura tree in full bloom, petals falling over them in a pink rain. They were both laughing, blissfully happy.

Yeah. He knew perfectly what Izzy was talking about.

“Besides, it’s not only about him. I… There is so many things I want to do now, and I think a single lifetime will not be enough. The project draft I showed you last week regarding more secure and efficient weapons, as well as high-tech shields… It’ll take years to heave at least one prototype done. I want to see this to its end, big brother.”

Alec hummed. Getting up, he got around the desk and crouched next to her. “Let me ask you again. Is this what you really want?”

Isabelle straighted up her shoulders and nodded with a fierce glare, full of determination and stubbornness that was practically a Lightwood trait at this point.

“Yes.”

“We have a lot to plan, then. But first, we need to talk to our parabatais, then our family. Simon and Magnus should come last, because they’ll be the most difficult.”

“I know… But you’ll be with me, right?”

“Always, Iz.” Alec grinned then. “Forever.” 

~*~

As Alec expected, talking to Magnus didn’t start well.

“Absolutely not! If… If I were still a warlock or you could stay as a Shadowhunter… But a vampire? No. Never.”

“Why not? You’re one!”

“You’ll have to die, Alec!”

“You died!” Alec yelled and suddenly a heavy silence wrapped the room, only their gasps filling the air.

Then, Alec sobbed, frustration and guilt still weighting his heart.

“You died… And I couldn’t do anything.”

But Magnus was equally stubborn.

“I can’t stomach the idea of you dying. Even if your intention is to come back.” He shook his head, shuddering. “Alexander, we don’t know if it works for Nephilim. Mundane blood is one thing. Even if you derune yourself so the runes won’t interfere, we don’t know what your angel blood might do. What if doesn’t work?”

“It does. Izzy and I researched. There are some cases of Shadowhunters who were attacked in patrols and turned, and some that turned willingly.”

They spent a couple of minutes just staring at each other, neither of them willing to back down.

Until Magnus deflated at last.

“You’re really serious about that, aren’t you?”

Alec nodded with certainty. Soon enough, though, his forehead creased in concern, a huge lump in his throat.

“Unless… Unless you don’t want me forever. Unless only a mortal lifetime would be enough–”

“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare imply that I wouldn’t want you for all eternity. I’m not ready to lose you now, and I’m sure I’ll never be. But I don’t want you to regret this, Alexander. Immortality is a curse. I… I don’t want you to resent me over time for this burden.”

“I won’t.”

“You can’t be sure.”

“But I am, Magnus.”

“How so?”

“Because there isn’t a lifetime or universe where I would regret choosing you, Magnus Bane. You’re it for me. You’re mine and I’m yours.”

Magnus’ eyes fluttered, his eyelashes already damp although no tears had fallen yet.

“What about your family? Your parabatai?”

“I’ve already talked to them. Jace gave me his blessing, Max was totally chill about it, and my parents struggled a bit but agreed in the end without any fuss. And Izzy… Izzy will stay. With us. For as long as I live, I’ll have the love of my life and my baby sister with me.” Alec smiled.

“And Simon?” Magnus tried to joke, but his voice cracked with all the emotions currently overwhelming him.

“If it’s the price for Izzy’s happiness, I can tolerate him.” Alec shrugged. “He is your family, too.”

“I can deal alright with Sherman.”

Alec grinned, approaching Magnus and pressing their foreheads together.

“I promise I want this, Magnus. Trust me.”

“I do… It’s just… I’m afraid. You know how become a vampire is like a gamble. You either turn or your soul is trapped forever at the in-between.”

“I know. So, will you be my sire?”

“Oh god, I forgot about that. Yes, of course, but…” Magnus bit his lower lip. “Should I look for a way to…” He choked. “...to kill you quickly and painlessly?”

At that, Alec stepped back and looked horrified at him.

“Are you crazy? I won’t let you kill me! You already have enough nightmares for many lifetimes, Magnus. I won’t give you one more.”

“You should not die alone, Alec! It’s awful, believe me. I can’t let you take your own life either. I won’t!”

“Magnus!”

“Alexander!”

.

.

.

The immortality talk was never an easy one.

Even if they were sure about the ‘why’, they argued for weeks about the ‘how’.

It was Catarina who offered them a solution.

~*~

“Oh wow, we are going to be four!” Simon blabbed, all excited like a kid at a candy store. “We can already form our own club, The Daylighters.”

Magnus cocked an eyebrow and Alec narrowed his eyes. It was the same bullshit from his wedding-that-wasn’t with Lydia.

“You’re so lucky that Izzy loves you.”

“Of course I am. Actually, talking about her, what if we went on double dates after you two turn? I heard about this blood bar near Times Square that sells these cocktails with different blood types, and they have this tiny umbrellas made of-”

“Oh my God! I’m going to look for Jace and spar with him.” Alec groaned and left before Simon finished.

“He still hates me, doesn’t he?” Simon chuckled, this time without much humor.

Magnus’ eyes softened.

“Relax. You know how Alexander is. He might not say out loud, but he already considers you family.”

“Really?” Simon’s whole face lit up. “Then, we’re not going to be just a club. We’re going to be a family of Daylighters!”

And wasn’t that a whole concept?

Sometimes Magnus couldn’t believe that despite all the suffering, all the pain, all the choices taken from him… He could still have this.

A big family.

At first, it was only him, Ragnor, Cat and Raphael.

Then, they lost Ragnor. And Raphael was now a mortal, so their time together was limited.

But for the centuries to come, more people became part of their small, special bunch of immortal troublemakers.

Madzie, Simon.

Very soon, his husband and sister-in-law.

Maybe in the future… Their own kids.

Jace and Clary were okay with their mortality and opted to die as Shadowhunters. Furthermore, considering their extra angel blood, neither of them wanted to gamble with a high probability of failure. What if their super angelic blood burned the demonic virus and they remained dead? No, it was too dangerous to even try. But the Herondale-Fairchild clan would forever be assisted and protected by them, never letting Jace and Clary’s legacy to be forgotten.

They would all be okay.

“Yes, Simon. We’re really going to be.”

~*~

It took a couple more of years before they went forward with it.

Alec still had some last arrangements to do before retiring from the Institute and starting his new life as a vampire. Isabelle had already gone through the process, and it was her former parabatai's blood that turned her into a Daylighter.

Now, in his late 30s, it was Alec’s turn to take this unchangeable step.

They went back to Ragnor’s home, where everything has started. They dug a hole right next to Magnus’ grave, and stocked the place with bags of blood. Cat was there too, but this time she would wait inside the house until it was time to bury Alec’s body. They all agreed that, no matter the end result, it was better to not leave Magnus alone. What they were about to do wouldn’t be easy for either of them, but Magnus refused to let Alec be by himself.

“Do you think Ragnor would mind having me here too? I know you three agreed to be buried together, but maybe a Shadowhunter would be too much for him.”

Magnus smiled softly. “It was Ragnor that actually convinced me to fight one more time for us on that day of your wedding with Lydia. I’m pretty sure Ragnor would allow you here knowing you are the one whom my heart belongs to.”

Alec flushed, a boyish smile adorning his face. Oh… It was going to be the last time Magnus saw that pretty pink color on Alexander’s cheeks.

Well, it was okay, he thought.

Alec was still full of things Magnus absolutely loved. 

Under a big oak tree at Ragnor’s garden, they shared some more words and kisses, showering each other in promises and love.

They kissed for a long time, until Magnus slowly started a trail of open-mouthed kisses down to Alec’s neck. He licked and nibbled the sensitive skin around the deflect rune. Then, without holding himself any longer, he bit hard, breaking skin and making his husband bleed. Latching at it, Magnus drank the Nephilim blood, losing himself for a moment.

Alec tensed, feeling pain and fire and death under his skin, but soon his thoughts halted and his mind went numb.

Magnus was delighted, feeling how that was better than any blood he has tried. So delicious and addictive and his, only his.

“M-Magnus…” Alec whimpered, enough to break through the fog on Magnus’ mind. Alec’s blood dripped from his lips, the marvelous taste still exploding on his tongue. “I- Your… I need your blood…” Alec was paler, but he held himself with the determination of a man in a mission.

Magnus nodded, and using his fang, cut his own wrist and put it near Alec’s lips. A bit sluggishly, he also drank Magnus’ blood, grimacing at the metallic taste.

“There, you are doing great, my darling,” Magnus cooed, nuzzling Alec’s cheek until he reached the other side of his neck and bit there too, drinking more.

A moan and weak tap on his arm forced Magnus to stop again and look at his love. Alec’s eyes were glazed, half-hooded and dull. If Magnus still had a beating heart, it would’ve certainly stopped for a moment.

“Now… please…” He could see that Alec was barely holding up now. Quickly, he fished out from his pocket the potion Catarina made especially for that occasion. It would accelerate Alec’s death while he slept. Quick and painless.

Magnus helped Alec drank the murky green liquid, and soon enough the Shadowhunter’s eyes were dropping.

“L’ve… you…” He forced a breath. “See’ya… soon…”

“I love you too. I will be here, I promise.” Magnus took Alec in his arms, holding his husband with all the care and desperation in the world.

Alec’s heart started to slow down, the beats stuttering.

Please…

Slowly, slowly stopping.

Come back.

His breath turned into tiny huffs of air until it was gone.

You have to come back to me, Alexander.

A last beat.

Please.

Silence.

Please.

.

.

. 

Later, while waiting beside Alec’s grave, when a hand with a beloved and familiar wedding ring emerged from the dirt, Magnus knew everything was going to be all right.

They were going to be all right.

#shmb2023 #shadowhunters #malec #magnus bane #alec lightwood #my writing #colorfulwarlock

[treescape]

hi!! i missed the old icon, nice to see it's back xx

SOOOOOO, here we go, i'm very interested to know what these three are about: luke/what needs must/ “What would you do if I kissed you right now” 👀👀👀

Ahh, thanks 😆 I still wasn't recognizing my own posts even after a couple weeks, so figured it was time to change back and maybe just use the other one (which I do really love) as a blog header.

And thank you so much for the ask! 💕 (From this wip game)

luke

This one is for a vaderwan prompt, in which Vader knows about Luke, but not Leia. Obi-Wan and Luke are basically in captivity on Tatooine, a couple of years after Mustafar, though Obi-Wan is...planning to do something about that. But for now, Vader visits them when he can. I'm about halfway through it, and I'm hesitant to post too much because I'm currently going back and forth on whether or not to continue or try something a little different. But here's a bit I do like:

“He’s so strong in the Force,” Vader marveled, and somewhere halfway through those words, it happened. Something twisted, collapsed in on itself, and just like that he was entirely Vader again—the Dark Lord of the Sith perched on the edge of his son’s bed, gold in his eyes and plans of victory in his heart.

“What he is right now is sleeping,” Obi-Wan said with a shrug, his voice even and contained, pitched so as not to alter that fact. “He won’t be conquering any planets tonight.”

Vader gave him an amused look, and then, after another moment, he rose to follow Obi-Wan from the room.

what needs must

This is my chaptered, marriage of convenience vaderwan fic. I've got an entire chapter just about done, but I've been sitting on it because I think I want to do a rewrite of it. The premise is that the Jedi Order has been whittled down to almost nothing over centuries by the Sith, and the remnants are in hiding in small groups. Obi-Wan marries Vader, the Emperor's heir, in return for protection for the rest of the Order.

"What would you do if I kissed you right now"

This one is for a prompt for obikin, seeing each other for the first time in a while, +“If I kissed you right now, what would you do?” from this prompt list. Apparently I inverted the question in my mind when writing the title 😆

But it's an obikin piece in which Obi-Wan and Anakin fall in love during the war but agree to wait until after the war to start anything. Now that the war is over, they would really, really like to do that, thank you very much, but they keep getting sent off on separate missions because there's so much to do in the aftermath of the war. They're about at their wits ends when they finally, finally end up in the same place for the first time in months.

In, of course, the middle of a skirmish.

This one I hope to wrap up soon-ish, now that I'm really thinking about it again. I don't know why I got distracted from it!

A very short snippet:

“What would you do if I kissed you right now?”

“Probably die,” Obi-Wan said helpfully. Awkwardly, his arm still slung over Anakin’s shoulder, he managed to deflect a blaster bolt aimed at Anakin’s head. “All things considered.”

#wip games #obikin #vaderwan #trees writes #asks

[springsaladgaming]

Follower Milestone

Hey there, all! I recently passed 400 followers, so I thought it would be nice to gift you all some writing!

I had a particular short story that I wanted to gift when we got here, but I’m not entirely happy with it and want to rewrite it.

So, instead, I thought it would be fun to share the predecessor of Ninelives. For those of you who don’t already know, Ninelives was adapted from a short story that I wrote a decade ago for university. It is about a young man who is struggling with depression and, in a failed suicide attempt, learns a small thing about his parents that could potentially evolve into something explosive.

When I started writing this short story, I realized that I wanted to turn it into a novella. The main character would have met someone with a very Carpe Diem attitude and made the shift into a healthier headspace while dealing with his family problems. The overarching theme of the story was the way that little secrets add up. It was always my plan to go back to it once I was done with school, but then real life happened a little too hard (shitty job, pretty severe depression, and some family issues). I never touched it again.

My memory is pretty famously bad about certain things (due to I think ADHD and anxiety). But, of all the short stories that I wrote at uni, I remembered this one like the back of my hand. When I started writing Ninelives, I technically still didn’t touch the old story. I didn’t need to look back at it to remember the overall narrative. I just went at it. And then, a couple of weeks ago, I found the old external drive that I used to store all of my work on and dug up this short story once again.

I think you’ll find the similarities between this short story and Chapter 1 of Ninelives pretty quickly. Dad is kind of an asshole, Mom is pretty dismissive of the main character, and the brother seems to be the only one who cares. Ninelives is also carrying on the theme of secrets in a way. I was actually a little surprised by how similar the two still are, even though they are now different works with a decade of time between them.

This short story is a decade old, thus it hasn’t been edited or revised in the same amount of time, so read it with that in mind. Also, just to be on the safe side...

CONTENT WARNINGS: discussion of suicide, drug abuse/overdose, cigarette use, verbal abuse

And now, without further ado...

Jamie’s ass was beginning to stick to the porcelain tub, and it was getting to him.  As if that weren’t enough, the paper sign taped over his crotch created a pocket of hot air that made his dick stick to his leg. The sign read HOW’S THIS FOR AN EXIT, but Jamie wasn’t going anywhere, and that’s what bothered him most of all.  He’d downed his father’s bottle of blood pressure meds, but nothing was happening.  At least, nothing seemed to be happening, except that Jamie was now hot and sweaty.  He had no idea what ODing on blood pressure meds did, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t this.  He was even more sure that he wasn’t dying.

This would go down in history as the most anticlimactic suicide ever.

Ten minutes.  Twenty minutes.  Thirty.  An hour.  Jamie felt some discomfort—a little sick to his stomach, the porcelain pressing against his boney ass—that was it.  Now he was bored and naked, and someone would probably come looking for him soon.  Probably.

His brother, Graham, was the one who called up to him.  “Hey, Jammy,” he said.  “Dinner’s ready. Get down here.”

Jamie spent a good five minutes after that staring at the ceiling, which was covered in a layer of grime from years of shower steam.  Either that or the years during Jamie’s childhood when he’d come in here to smoke.  His parents had never looked for him here.  That hadn’t changed now that it was the spare bathroom instead of Graham and Jamie’s.

But Graham knew Jamie’s hiding spots and came looking for him.  Jamie heard Graham call for him in the hall for a few minutes, maybe less.  Then Graham knocked on the door.  “Jammers, dinner.  What are you doing in there?”

Jamie hadn’t locked the door.  That would have been too dramatic.  Now it was a mistake, and Graham walked in just as Jamie got out of the tub and crumpled up his suicide note.  The family always seemed to be catching Jamie with his pants down, just never quite so literally.

Graham didn’t seem surprised or the least bit embarrassed.  Jamie felt one of the two emotions, though he wasn’t sure which, and it wasn’t so much over his nakedness as it was the other circumstances.  Graham crossed his arms and said, “Taking a bath?”  He raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat.

“No, I wasn’t jacking off,” Jamie said.  “Just being here makes me limp.”  The fact that Jamie hated coming home wasn’t news to Graham.  Jamie thought that would be enough to end the conversation, but Graham’s eyes flashed to something behind him, and Jamie remembered he’d left the empty prescription bottle on the side of the tub.

“What were you doing, Jamie?” Graham asked.

Jamie grabbed the bottle and tossed it in the garbage along with his suicide note—or maybe it was better to call it his ex-suicide note.  It would be the only ex he’d ever had.  He grabbed a towel from the wall to cover himself and said, “Remind me to tell Dad that Mom’s been giving him placebos.”

“Jamie—”

“Gonna let me get dressed for dinner or what?” Jamie said.

Graham let Jamie pass but followed him down the hall to his old room.  Jamie packed clothes in his backpack instead of leaving some here like Graham did.  It took him a few seconds to get the shirt he was looking for.  He could feel Graham’s eyes on him.  He gave up on pulling out his nice pants and put on the jeans he’d worn earlier that day.  Graham was getting suspicious, Jamie knew.  But it didn’t matter why he was staring; it made Jamie self-conscious of just about everything under the sun.  He fumbled with the button on his pants for a good few minutes—almost broke the thing off—before he got it.  When he turned back to the door, Graham was still staring.

They made eye contact and Graham asked again.  “What were you doing?”

“Nothing,” Jamie said.  He tried to make his way downstairs, but Graham was blocking the door.  This time, he didn’t move.

“Jamie, you’re scaring me,” Graham said.

“Would it make you feel better if I said I knew they were placebos?”

“Did you?”

Jamie pushed his way past Graham.  Graham grabbed Jamie for a second and then let go, as if unsure what he was supposed to do once he had him.  Jamie didn’t have the answers either, wasn’t sure what he’d do if he their positions were reversed.  They would never be reversed, though.  Graham’s life was perfect; suicide wasn’t even an option for him.  He had no idea what it was like.  Maybe that’s why he was silent now.

Once they were seated around the dinner table, it was almost as if it never happened.  Their parents went on about their usual praise of Graham’s life, but not before ragging on Jamie about his.  “Dinner has been at seven sharp every Saturday for the last fifteen years,” Margery said.  “I don’t know why you can’t get that through your head.”

Jamie knew that.  That’s why he’d chosen the time he did.  “I lost track of time,” Jamie said.  He didn’t say more; they were going to tear him apart either way.

“It’s those work hours of his,” Hugh said.  “He has a different schedule every week.  If you’d get a real job, you wouldn’t have that problem.” Hugh didn’t look up from his plate as he cut his meat.  He always ate the meat first, but not before cutting it into perfect little cubes.

I have a real job, Jamie might’ve said, but they’d had this conversation before.  Hugh meant a salary job.  Flipping burgers didn’t count unless Jamie was making more than twenty an hour.

“Speaking of work,” Margery said, “How did your last settlement go, Graham?” Margery went for her veggies first.  She didn’t eat meat and only let Hugh at dinner, though Jamie suspected he snuck it during his lunch.

“It went well,” Graham said.  He’d barely touched his food, but Hugh looked up from his plate at that moment, and Graham dug in.

“You’re not usually so tight-lipped,” Hugh said.

Graham kept his eyes on his plate.  “It’s pretty easy to reach a settlement when the couple agrees on it before they even come to see me,” he said.

Graham was a divorce lawyer, carrying on the family tradition.  Sort of.  Their grandfather had been a judge and a prosecutor before that.  Hugh was also a prosecutor.  Graham’s decision to become a divorce lawyer had been met with a little resistance, but Hugh readily accepted it once Graham proved it made a lot of money.  Everyone’s getting divorced these days, Graham had said.  I’ll never be out of the job.

“That’s how prevalent your brother is, Jamie,” Hugh said.  “Divorcees go to see him even when they don’t need his help.”

Jamie kept his face in his plate and poked at his food with his fork.  What Hugh really meant was, “Why can’t you be successful like your brother?”  It was the same game every Saturday; that’s why Jamie hated coming here.  But it meant a free meal, even if Jamie had usually lost his appetite by the time he got it.  Besides, if he didn’t come, that would be just one more disappointment.

“Jamie will figure it out,” Graham said.  This was his way of taking Jamie’s side.  Usually.

“As soon as he figures how to pay his rent on time,” Hugh said.

Will you please stop talking about me like I’m not here, Jamie wanted to say.

“You’ve paid this month’s rent, I hope,” Hugh said.

“I paid it last month,” Jamie said.  He’d borrowed some money from Graham to do so with the promise of paying it back once he found a new roommate.  The last one packed up and left without a word.  Jamie's parents didn't know about the money, and he wasn't about to tell them now.

“You need to learn how to get ahead in all areas of your life, not just your bills,” Hugh said.

“Jamie,” Margery said, “get your chin off the table.”

Jamie felt like he was eleven again.

Jamie went outside for a smoke when dinner was over.  He didn’t smoke anymore, but he kept reserves for these occasions.  Few Saturdays passed without a cigarette.  He usually kept with the old ritual, smoked on the edge of the tub with the bathroom door closed and the window open.  After today, he avoided that bathroom., and not only because it embarrassed him.  Graham was like a hawk for the rest of the night.  He didn’t take his eyes off Jamie, even when they were cleaning the dishes.  He’d gone so far as to clean all the knives himself.  Jamie couldn’t lay a hand on them.

Graham was outside with Jamie, too, hovering over his shoulder like Hugh used to do when Jamie was a child.  “You still smoke,” Graham said.

“Only after I’m well-cooked by the parents,” Jamie said.

“Smoking will kill you, you know,” Graham said.  He shifted his stance.  “Why not just smoke two packs a day?”

“Because so far the only life goal I’ve met is not getting cancer.”

“We’re switching rooms tonight.”

“Why?”

Graham took Jamie’s cigarette and tossed it into the gravel.  “My room doesn’t have a lock,” Graham said.

“Oh, please,” Jamie said.  “I didn’t lock the bathroom door, did I?”

“Thank god for that.”

“What does it matter?” Jamie said.  “Dad will kill me when he finds that bottle in the trash anyway.”

“Let’s go inside,” Graham said.

“I didn’t get to finish my cigarette.”

“Inside, now,” Graham said.

Jamie didn’t have time to move before Graham corralled him inside with a hand on his shoulder.  When they came in, Margery was on the landing and Hugh was shouting at her from their bedroom.  To Margery, Jamie and Graham must have looked like two brothers who’d just shared a special moment.  It was some kind of special moment, but she didn’t pick up on the animosity and smiled down at them.

“What’s Dad shouting about?” Graham asked.

“He can’t find his medication,” Margery said.  “I’m sure he just misplaced it.  Wouldn’t be the first time.  I assume you two are leaving early tomorrow?”

Graham nodded.  “Actually, I’ve been talking to Jamie about moving in with him.”

“Oh?” Margery said.

Jamie echoed the oh so immediately that they almost said it at the same time.

“Yes,” Graham said.  His fingers dug in to Jamie’s shoulder.  “At least until he can find a new roommate.”

Margery smiled.  “Maybe you can help him get his life on track,” she said.

“Something like that,” Graham said, and he shook Jamie’s shoulder.

Graham was true to his word and made Jamie take his room.  He opened the doors wide and, instead of going to bed himself, sat and watched Jamie from across the hall.

“You have to drive in the morning,” Jamie said.

“You’ll drive,” Graham said.

“Not afraid I’ll crash the car?”

“No,” Graham said, “because then it would be a murder-suicide.”

“You’re not moving in with me,” Jamie said.

“Either I move in with you or I check you into a psyche ward on suicide watch.”

“The apartment is small.”

“Jamie, I lived in a smaller apartment through eight years of college,” Graham said.  “I’ll manage.”

“You’re really going to watch me sleep?” Jamie asked.

“Get used to it,” Graham said.  “From now on, I’ll have to watch you do a lot of things.”

In the morning, Graham was still watching.  The two of them drove back to Denver in Graham’s SUV, and Graham started moving some of his things into Jamie’s apartment later that day.

#follower gift #short story

[tsarisfanfiction]

21 Asks: Fanfiction Q&A

Well I got tagged by @onereyofstarlight @gumnut-logic and @janetm74 for this, so here goes (answering on fic blog, because... fic!)

This is going to take a while, but it’s also going to be fun, so let’s get started :D

1. What fandoms have you written for?

Uhh... several.  In alphabetical order because that makes my brain happy, we have:

Published: Bleach, Boku no Hero Academia (My Hero Academia), D.Gray-Man, Detective Conan, Flight Rising, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Märchen Awakens Romance (MÄR), Mortal Instruments, Naruto, One Piece, Team Fortress 2, Thunderbirds, Twilight.

WIPs (Unpublished): Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dragon Orb, Flame of Recca, HunterXHunter, Inuyasha, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures (Part 7/Steel Ball Run), Kuroko no Basuke (Kuroko’s Basketball), MI High, Yu-Gi-Oh (Duel Monsters, GX, 5Ds), Yuri On Ice

A couple of those are only because of crossovers... which we’ll get to later.  Similarly, a bunch of the unpublished I have no plans to publish, but I’ve written them so they count in my head.

2. How many works do you have on AO3 &/or FFNet?

AO3: 150 FFN: 149 (the difference is due to a co-authored fic with @lenle-g on AO3, because FFN doesn’t support co-authorship)

(Tumblr has many more because so many of those fics are actually fic collections)

3. What are your top 3 fics by kudos on AO3 &/or favs on FFNet?

AO3 Kudos:

Tales From The Heart (1449)

The Combat School (524)

Succor (348)

FFN Favourites:

The Combat School (681)

Tales From The Heart (185)

Succor (136)

4.  Which 3 fics have the least kudos & favs?

AO3 Kudos:

Wishes of the Dark (0)

4am Forever / Leave Out All The Rest (2)

FFN Favourites:

A Little Fall of Rain / He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, Leave Out All The Rest / See You In The Sky / Stolen Shadows all have 0

5. Which Fic has the most comments and which has the least?

AO3 Comments:

Tales From The Heart (618)

37 have 0

FFN Reviews:

The Combat School (608)

After Sundown / Heroes Made of Gas / Splatter / Stolen Shadows (0)

6. Which complete fic do you wish had gotten more attention?

I mean, I always like attention :P  That’s a hard question because my fandoms vary wildly in size, so for example, while Tales is one of my most popular fics, it’s still pretty tiny in comparison to the big One Piece fics out there, but ones like Grounded numerically barely rate while actually getting the attention of a much larger proportion of the fandom.

Honestly the fic that’s getting less of a response than I’d hoped is still incomplete... but I think I’ll go with Vulnerabilities.  It’s an older fic, and a drabble collection rather than a cohesive story, but it never really got any traction.

7. Have you written any crossovers?

Ah yes, crossovers.  I’ve got three published at the moment:

The Combat School (Harry Potter/D.Gray-Man)

Vampire vs. Shinobi (Naruto/Twilight)

Stolen Shadows (Flight Rising/Thunderbirds)

As far as WIPs go, I have (who knows when or if I’ll actually finish or post these):

Alliance (Naruto/Team Fortress 2)

Black Phoenix (Harry Potter/D.Gray-Man)

Legend of the Exorcists (D.Gray-Man/Yu-Gi-Oh/GX/5Ds)

Untitled (Avatar: The Last Airbender/Thunderbirds)

Untitled (Inuyasha/Lord of the Rings)

8. What is the craziest fic you’ve written?

What even counts as crazy?

Okay, I say that, but Vampire vs. Shinobi is a stupid, Twilight-bashing, parody crossover thing so.  Probably that.

9. What’s the fic you’ve written with the saddest ending?

Ahaha.  There are a few.  All of these have MCD warnings (two are canonical), two of which are suicide, so watch out if you’re poking around:

Deception (canon)

I Promised

The Fish and the Mermaid

The Light That Shines Twice As Bright... (suicide)

Torture (suicide)

Unwanted

Whirlwind (canon)

10. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Tsari likes positive endings.  I’m not actually sure what the happiest is, though.  I often write... hopeful, rather than happy?  The happiest I can think of... is a WIP that I have the ending planned for but that’s spoilers~

I’ll go with Riding the Dragon, I think.  But honestly just take your pick out of the family fluff.

11. What is your smuttiest fic?

Tsari does not post smut.  She has written some, she has not posted it and will keep it that way.

Out of the posted stuff... there is kissing in Briefings?

12. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I think when you hit 100+ fics, you’re lucky if you don’t.  I’ve had a few here and there, but they’re ignorable

13. What is the nicest comment you’ve received?

Oh boy.  I have had many nice comments, but I am going to highlight this one in particular because it’s the one that forever and always springs to mind when I get asked this:

Wow. That was pretty great. You writing managed to keep everyone in character, and still kept the story from falling flat. It's almost as if you stole a page from Cassie's story, and stuck it here. I really want to see more from you.

On: A Tradition of Pride

It’s nowhere near the longest I’ve got, and long comments make me super happy, but this one?  Being told it fits in with the original book?  Makes me beam like an idiot every time.

14. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

[insert eyeroll here]

I have had fics reposted, yes.  Tales From The Heart and Whirlwind have both found themselves posted on sites I don’t use - I managed to get Tales taken down, but the site hosting Whirlwind isn’t paying me any attention.

15.  How many fics do you have marked as incomplete?

Nine, which is both too many and not as many as I thought.  Although if you ignore the collection fics - Tales From The Heart and Behind The Scenes, which are basically eternal wips - it’s seven.

16. Which of the WIPS will most likely be finished first?

Just A Bruise, because it’s already just about finished, @lenle-g and I just need to tie up the final chapter and editing the rest of it before it’s posted.

17. Which WIP are you looking forward to finishing?

Long Way From Home, because it’s going to be huge and finishing that will feel amazing.  But it’s going to take a long time.

18. Is there a WIP that you’re considering abandoning?

Nope.  I will, one day, finish all of them.  Yes, even Uchiha Itachi.

19. Which complete fic would you consider rewriting?

Complete?  None.  However, the above mentioned Uchiha Itachi is being (very slowly) rewritten - and is actually on its second rewrite - because it pains me in its current state.

20. Which complete fic is your favourite?

Asking the hard questions I see.  I have a soft spot for In Your Shadow, I admit, although I have several fics that I love (mostly my Military Bros stuff...).  Also Tales, although that’s technically not “Complete”.

21. What’s your total published word count?

AO3: 956,962 (I aim to break 1 million by the end of the year... just watch me!)

FFN: 1,102,070 (FFN counts author’s notes, AO3 does not)

If someone is brand new to your writing, what work would you want them to start with to get to know you, your style, what you’re all about?

This is not a numbered question, I see, but it was on the post I copied these from, so I guess this is 21+1 questions!

I’ve answered this before, and honestly I think I’d stick with the same answer - Black Widow.  It’s not my biggest fandom.  It’s not my most recent work.  But it does contain a lot of playing around canon without breaking it.

Although, if someone has the time, Tales From The Heart does great for showcasing the range of things I write.  But that’s also 250+ chapters, so probably not a good one to start with.

And this is where I tag people, yes?  Not entirely sure who’s been tagged already, but let’s go with @lenle-g @ak47stylegirl @thetwelvecaesars @gaviiadastra @willow-salix @scribeofred

#thunderbirds are go #and various other fandoms i am not tagging them all #ask me #tag game #fanfiction

[todaydreambelieversfic]

Author Spotlight: Gleefuldarrencrissfan Day 2

Author: @gleefuldarrencrissfan

Share one of your strengths.

I've been told that I do a great job writing in each character's voice, especially Blaine, Kurt, Santana, Brittany, and Finn.  It's very important to me that my characters remain true to who they are.  I work very hard to make sure that each one sounds like they would in the show.  

I've also been told that I'm great at cliffhangers.  Honestly, I end on cliffhangers a lot as I try to figure out which route I plan to take for the story.  I map out stories, but sometimes, the story takes me in a different direction.  I also like to take suggestions from my readers.  Many times, I have multiple scenarios on the direction in which the story can go.  I love keeping my readers on their toes. 

Share one of your weaknesses.

Well, because I have so many scenarios running through my head, I sometimes get stuck, and so, I don't update regularly.  I used to try to publish weekly or more, but as a mom of two, a full time assistant in a high-needs classroom, an avid crafter, and a member of a band, my plate stays pretty full.  I hope that my readers will subscribe and drop a comment from time to time to remind me to keep writing. 

Which fic has been the hardest to write?

I'm going to bring up two, Dueling Duets and Love, Blaine.  Dueling Duets is a complex fic with many characters and a very intricate plot.  On top of that, Blaine has PTSD, as do I.  It became too painful to finish this, so it is the only fic of mine that is abandoned.  I would like to finish it, but I just don't see that happening any time soon.  

Love, Blaine was so difficult for me because I wrote it all before publishing, and I thrive on feedback.  I kept going back and rewriting scenes over and over because I just couldn't make up my mind about certain things.  I also get anxious with a timeline hanging over my head, and so I went past the deadline.  Unfortunately, my appendix decided to burst the week I was supposed to publish, so I was trying to write through the pain.  I did finish it, and I'm proud of it, but I probably won't put myself through that again. 

Which fic has been the easiest to write?

Private Messages, by far.  Honestly, it was so easy because Kurt was me in a sense, a fanfic author, desperate for feedback on his writing.  I also outlined this fic thoroughly, and so it just seemed to flow when I got to a certain point.  It is by far, my most popular fic, and honestly, it is my favorite of all of the ones that I've written.  Don't get me wrong.  It was very complex, bouncing back and forth from Blaine's and Kurt's perspectives, with plotlines from the show, Kurt's story, and the actual story all coming together and interweaving at times making it difficult to write, but I always knew where it was going, and so it was the easiest to finish. 

Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?

It's one of my passions, along with music and crafting.  I'm an artist at heart, and so I'd never be happy or fulfilled in life if I wasn't creating in one shape or form.  I honestly love the way art makes you feel, both as the artist and as the person affected by other people's art.  My favorite thing is one someone tells me how my writing or work made them feel.  

I'm also writing educational children's books, and I hope to inspire kids in the future to love to learn, and so it is a major passion of mine to be a published author and get my books out there for kids to read. 

Is there an episode or character or arc above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?

Blaine Anderson.  He was by far the character that inspires me the most, probably because I see myself in him, the confident, happy performer who is really quite insecure and maybe even depressed. I wish that the show would have let us see more of his personal life.  At felt like, at times, he was just Kurt's boyfriend, but he was so much more than that.  It would have been nice to actually see his home, his parents, and his brother to get greater insight on why he is the way he is.  Thank god for fanfiction.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Just write.  The first draft does not have to be perfect.  That's what editing is for.  Get yourself a beta, dig in, and just get the words on the page.  No one can read your work if the pages are all in your head.  

What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Stick to what you know.  That's what research is for.  Branch out.   Explore.  Interview and talk to others.  Although, if you are researching something embarrassing, for example, Brazilian waxing, use incognito mode.  lol. 

If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?

Private Messages.  I just love this story, and I think it would best translate into a movie.  Besides, Blaine is an actor in this one, so it works. 

What’s your process? Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order? Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines? What are the perfect writing conditions for you?

Ha ha.   I find it funny that I have a process because it depends on the fic I'm writing at the time.  for my more complex stories, I do best when I map them out first.  I don't do a complex map, just a basic synopsis of the first 10 chapters or so, and then a rough outline afterward.  Of course, I keep it a soft outline, and I also plan a few other scenarios in case the story goes in a different direction.  Even Chris Colfer says that his characters surprise him in his stories, and so I'm in good company, I suppose.  

However, on my shorter stories like Rim Job, and idea just comes to me, and I just write what comes to me, and then I even take suggestions from my readers about further chapters.  I guess it just depends on the tone of the fic.  If it's serious, I'm much more structured, but on my less serious pieces, I just have fun and write.   

The perfect conditions are when I'm alone (be it when others are sleeping or out of the house) and I can just allow my muse to work.  I put on some background noise (Glee music or episodes) for inspiration and just sit down in front of my laptop with my notebooks.  Many times, I have scenes written in my notebooks before I type them out (I write when I'm waiting at the dr.'s office or at work during a break, ect) so all I have to do is type and polish the scene.  Unfortunately, I have several scenes in my notebooks that haven't made it into a word document yet just because of lack of time.  Hopefully, I will catch up this summer.

***

Check out Gleefuldarrencrissfan’s Fics

Somewhere Only We Know -  Blaine has three little words on his mind when he says good bye to Kurt in the court yard at McKinley. Can he make himself declare them out loud? An alternate ending to "Born This Way"

Silly Love Songs -  It's Valentine's Day, and Blaine had plans to serenade Jeremiah. But what if Blaine discovered the doodle Kurt made in Silly Love Songs before he serenaded Jeremiah? The scene at the Lima Bean is canon and everything to the point of Kurt sketching the doodle, but the ending, of course will be how I had hoped it would've happened.

Courage -  Do you believe that one moment can change the course of your life? That one event change the way you saw everything, or do you think it's a series of moments that build from one experience to the next. A year ago, I would've said that was crazy. But I'm not the same guy that I was a year ago.

#author spotlight: gleefuldarrencrissfan

[zeppelin-and-unicorns]

Fanfic recommendations part three: Season 7 fix-its

Some of these stories are post season 7 finale, some of them take place during season 7 and diverge from canon. Season 8 who? We don’t know her.

I’ve read and enjoyed all of these stories, they are all worth the read.

(By the way this is a big category, so this post is huge)

All Our Yesterdays by ChronicallyChill

After the events of "Street Fighting Man", Jackie and Hyde wish more than anything that things had happened differently. The next morning, they wake up in the past, on the morning of Vanstock where Jackie promptly makes one dream come true. They are not together—but, soon enough, one change snowballs into another... Time Travel AU.

I didn’t knew if I should’ve placed this story on the season 7 fix-it category or in the AU category, in the end I chose this one, if you think it’s incorrect, please let me know so I can change it.

Okay so this story deserves a special comment because OH MY GOD, it’s incredible. It’s amazing how the author writes the characters so well, and I simply love the addition of Buddy Morgan to the gang.

This story is a WIP, it hasn’t been updated in a while but I still have faith.

121k words, 7 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna, Buddy/Fez

Also available on AO3

As You Wish by c00kiefic

A dark comedic look at love, loss and death. Hyde’s there for Jackie when she needs him the most.

This story is complete.

7k words, 2 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Daddy’s Home by bellamarie

Jackie and Hyde’s relationship has been smooth sailing for the most part since their last break-up in ‘79. As Hyde begins to seriously commit to Jackie, her dad is released from prison and he returns home to supposedly rekindle his relationship with her. Hyde, suspecting that Jack’s intentions aren’t pure, enlists the help of his friends to try and expose Jack for the still crook man that he is. While Hyde may be a paranoid burnout, he knows that the wily politician is up to no good. There is one thing, however, both men have a common interest in: Jackie Burkhart.

Okay so this story basically ignores the existence of season 8, that’s why it’s in this category.

Oh, and I’m pretty sure this is an abandoned story. Unfortunaly. It only has two chapters and damn, I’m dreaming about the day the author will update this, I’m already hooked.

4k words, 2 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Finding the Right Future by springsteenicious

After Chicago, Hyde starts driving to Las Vegas, planning to get over Jackie. His car nearly breaks down in Iowa, forcing him to stop. While he's there, he meets Fortune, a woman who will change the course of his life forever.

This story is complete.

13k words, 8 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Halloween is Over by MistyMountainHop

Eric wants to be scared for Halloween, really scared. Donna proposes a contest, and all their friends are in. But Hyde and Jackie's renewed relationship might not withstand the stress. Donna and Kelso must fight their impulses, and Fez and Eric's chances of survival are slim.

This story is complete.

25k words, 8 chapters.

Rated M

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

Also Available on AO3

Hyde’s Long Way Home by MistyMountainHop

This story is perfect. It literally has no defects. I love ALL of MIstyMountainHop’s stories, literally, all of them, but this one has a very special place in my heart. It’s complete and it’s definitely worth the read.

Hyde goes on a self-destructive bender after finding Jackie with a towel-wrapped Kelso. The day after that, he wakes up ... and it's the same day as before. He's doomed to live the same day over and over — unless he can figure out a way to live it right.

151k words, 26 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

Also available on AO3

I’d Have You Anytime by anonymous author

What if Jackie after panicking in her show, gave up? And what if she made an unnatural friendship? Basically a fix it of season 7. If you like a story with good Jackie/Eric friendship moments, I totally recommend this one!

Trigger warning for past eating disorder.

This story is a WIP and it’s being updated frequently.

15k words, 9 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

I Found a Reason by JoyfulHeartEO

Can Donna help Hyde see the light before he loses the one thing that's most important to him? Or will Jackie decide to leave at all?

Rated T.

9k words, 3 chapters.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, background Eric/Donna

Jackie and Hyde: The Untold Story by Lotusflower655

I was going to place this in the “Hidden Moments” category (spoiler alert, the next category), when I realised this has a different season 7 finale, so... here it is.

Rated M.

12k words, 6 chapters.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Let’s Grow Up Together by yabookreader96

One day Jackie receives a certain letter in the mail, and she finds her life quickly beginning to change. Suddenly she is a grown up navigating life on her own, drifting away from the sleepy little town of Point Place...and from her friends who can't seem to find the courage to discover life outside the Forman basement. Will her friends catch up, or will Jackie be all on her own?

This story is complete.

67k words, 12 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

Magic by poetdameron

Hyde has never been good at words and Jackie has never been good at waiting, they need to find a balance to stay together. Hopefully, they'll do it before is too late.

16k words, 2 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Also Available on AO3

Please Don’t Say You Love Me (’Cause I Might Not Say It Back) by orphan_account

An alternate take on the end of season 7. Instead of running off to Vegas Hyde downs a couple of beers in the good ol' El Camino before deciding that some things are more important than his pride - i.e. his relationship with Jackie.

This story is complete.

3k words, 2 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Reflections Through the Glass by MistyMountainHop

Okay, this story is quite a trip, and it’s amazing. It’s based on a minisseries called The 10th Kingdom.

Six months after Chicago, Hyde no longer believes in love — or in Jackie. Donna's not speaking to Eric. Kelso's confused about his whole life, and Fez has gone missing. The only way back may be to leave it all behind.

This story is complete, and there’s a sequel, called Beneath a Shattered Sky. Honestly, I love the first story, but the sequel... The sequel is probably one of the best stories I’ve ever read. Those are both very long stories, but they are worth it.

138k words, 46 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna

Season 8 redo by tanith75

This is the most famous story of the fandom for a reason.

The story starts after the s7ep21 episode, so there’s no Chicago problems or people going to Africa over here :) It’s amazingly written, it’s funny as hell, and it honestly feels like I’m watching an episode of the show when I’m reading it. It’s amazing, it’s what should’ve happened in the show.

This story is not complete, but please, don’t let this stop you from reading it.

293k words, 42 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, Eric/Donna, Red/Kitty, Fez/Laurie, Kelso/Brooke

Shade by MistyMountainHop

This story ignores season 8 completely and season 7 is canon, that’s why it’s in this category.

Hyde finds himself homeless on a night where Jackie is without parents. The gift he gave her last Christmas draws him to her, but his attachment lingers past that rainy first night, grows through countless experiences, and leads him across state lines. Their relationship is a high-stakes gamble, but Jackie may fold before Hyde can show all his cards.

This story is complete and it melts my heart every single time I read it.

43k words, 10 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Also Available on AO3

The Seeker by QuarterflashWoman

With Donna and Eric's own relationship kaput, after Eric left Donna at the altar, what does this mean for our favorite opposites-attract couple Steven and Jackie? Wedding bells, baptisms, betrayals, and ultimatums. It's just another year in the lives of those of Point Place.

This is mainly a season 7 hidden moments story until it diverges from canon, and it’s lovely. I wish it was complete, but it’s still worth the read.

121k words, 23 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde, some background Eric/Donna angst.

We’re All Alright by glittermila

In which Hyde and Jackie actually talk things out after he caught Kelso at the motel.

This is a lovely story, and I really enjoyed it, seeing Jackie and Hyde having a mature relationship is everything.

This story is complete.

48k words, 21 chapters.

Rated M.

Pairings: Mainly Jackie/Hyde

Zenmasters: Seasons 3-5 by zdbztumble

I was having a lot of trouble categorizing this story, in the end, I decided that it was a season 7 fix-it of sorts, since season 8 doesn’t exist and season 7 ends in a satisfying way.

This story is a rewrite of some episodes, the author foreshadowed J/H relationship during seasons 3 and 4, and she added some pretty nice J/H moments in some chapters. The author also changed some things in some episodes (like the way J/H get back together after the nurse, and some other things). It’s a pretty good story, I like it a lot.

After "Jackie Bags Hyde," a certain subplot went into hibernation for a season and a half. What if it hadn't? And, if it hadn't, what other surprises would pop up along the way? "Tune in" to find out!

This story is complete.

170k words, 43 chapters.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

One-shots:

A change in fate by KaraSkinner

After leaving Jackie in Chicago, Hyde gets into a car crash and meets an angel that shows him just how bleak life would be if he doesn't change his fate now.

4k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

don’t I love you so by orphan_account

Hyde’d spent so long trying to keep her out, and what had happened? He’d finally opened up the gates, only to realise she’d been there the whole time and had had enough. Love — it was a goddamn Trojan horse.

or; a 7x25 fix it where hyde and jackie talk like adults for once in their damn lives.

4k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Hyde Asks Jackie to Stay by springsteenicious

When Hyde finds Jackie in the basement when she's supposed to be in Chicago, his first instinct is to push her away. Instead, he asks her to stay.

2k words

Rated G.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

I’m not a heartbreaker, so be gentle with mine by FalaZure

It's just a proposal, Hyde's been through worse and really how hard can it be?

or: 5 times Hyde tries to propose to Jackie, and one time he succeeds.

This story ignores season 8 completely, and it’s mainly just fluff, I LOVE it.

12k words.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Jackie Doesn’t Leave Before Getting an Answer by springsteenicious

Jackie stays in Point Place and waits for an answer to her ultimatum. At long last, Hyde gives her one.

2k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Let’s Do It by poetdameron

According to the tags, season 8 does not exist on this story, so off to the season 7 fix-its category you go.

There are things a man should not say after great orgasms on Christmas' Eve, Steven Hyde should have known better.

2k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Moth Drawn to Light by blackorchids

After Hyde sees how good Jackie is with baby Betsy, it makes him start to think.

Ignores the existence of season 8 completely. Just a fluff little one-shot on Hyde’s thoughts about fatherhood.

1k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Our Last Night on Earth by c00kiefic

When Hyde wakes up in the beer warehouse, he decides to actually fight for his girl.

3k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Remember to Breathe by PrefectMoony

She’s all bubblegum laughter, and butter scotch kisses. Hyde thinks he loves her, thinks he’s always loved her. Hates that it’s taken him so long to tell her as much.

Hates it even more that the first time he’s ever told her so is when the break between them is too raw— too jagged— to be able to mend with pretty platitudes.

Beautifully written.

4k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

sighs in my sleep by finkpishnets

“Congratulations,” the nurse says, smile pulled too tight as she glances at Jackie’s unadorned hand.

Jackie wants to shrug it off — “My husband’s getting the ring engraved as an anniversary gift. Isn’t that just so romantic?” — but she can’t find the breath to let the lie trip off her tongue, even in the face of pity.

2k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Street Fighting Man by springsteenicious

Hyde finds Jackie crying at the Packers Game. He tries to fix it.

1k words

Rated G

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

Tea For One by KayRight

The second Mrs. Forman walked in with a letter for him he knew what had happened. Marrying her scared him, but losing her terrified him to his very core. Takes place in Season 7 after Jackie tells Hyde she got a job in Chicago.

2k words.

Rated M.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

The One Where They’re Happy by amidtheflowers

When Jackie and Hyde start dating, it takes the gang a while to see how that relationship even works. Something that creepy and unnatural can't possibly work, right? Meanwhile, Donna wonders why she puts up with any of them.

Adorable, I love this story so much, please read this.

3k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

we’ll be alright by marvelfoodlover

What if Jackie didn't easily forgive the gang after they missed her graduation party?

Season 7 fix-it because it diverges from canon.

2k words.

Rated T.

Pairings: Jackie/Hyde

I think that covers it.

I’ll repeat this at the end of every single post: speaking as someone who writes, it would be really cool if you guys decide to leave a review (or a comment, if the story is on AO3) in the stories you read, especially the unfinished ones. It really motivates the authors, and receiving a compliment is always a mood lifter. I’ve seen some authors updating stories after years because of nice reviews, so… yeah, this is just an idea.

If you think I left out a good story, feel free to reply to this post!

Next category: Hidden Moments

#jackie x hyde #jackie and hyde #jackie burkhart #steven hyde #zenmasters #that 70s show #that '70s show #fanfic #fanfic rec #fanfic recommendations

[janicho88]

Fire, Fur & Mistletoe Chapter 3

Pairing- Eventual Dean x Female Reader.

Word Count-2,383

Warning- Mentions of: loss of parents, death, and fires.  Possible swearing. Slight angst. Fluff

Summary- A rewrite of the Nine Lives of Christmas, Hallmark movie. AU, Dean is a firefighter who doesn’t do commitment, the Holiday’s don’t mean much to him.  Coming home after a shift he finds a dog in trouble.  The reader is a veterinary student who works in a coffee shop trying to make it to graduation, until someone causes problems there for her.  She isn’t interested in finding anyone other than her own dog until after she finishes school.  Do their four legged friends have other plans?

A/N- This series is written for @spnchristmasbingo.  The square filled for this chapter is Christmas Tree  The first two chapters will stay closer to the movie than the rest will.  

This chapter also fills my entry for @supernatural-love14​,100 Followers writing challenge.  Prompt - I don’t remember the last time I truly enjoyed Christmas.

This has its own tag list and it is open.  That way I am not tagging anyone who doesn’t want to be tagged in Christmas stories.   This story is unbeta’d.

Header by the amazing @winchest09

Divider from freepngimg.com

Series Masterlist

To say you were surprised to end up at an elementary school would be an understatement.    Dean’s group of fascinating people were the kindergarten classes. He even had plastic fireman hats for them, and of course an extra one for you. 

The kids were so caught up in his speech about fire safety and the important things to remember if there ever is a fire.  He was so good with them and kept them all interested.  He finished his presentation talking about Christmas trees and how they should all make sure their parents keep them watered, so the lights don’t catch them on fire. 

Dean took questions at the end.  Some of the boys wanted to know what it was like to drive the fire truck, someone asked if it was fun to slide down the pole.  They were disappointed when Dean told them there wasn’t one where he worked.  One little girl at the end ran up and gave him a great big hug before you guys left.  He was so adorable with her. 

When you left there Dean asked if you were interested in helping him pick out tiles for the kitchen backsplash.  You didn’t have anything else to do and had been enjoying helping him with the house so you agreed. 

Getting to the store he had three different ones selected and had you help him decide.  After the paint he trusted your opinion on the color selection.   

They had enough in stock of your choice to let you two get started on it when you got home.  The rest would be in soon.  You had a system worked out, you put the mastic on the back and Dean applied the tile to the wall. 

That afternoon Dean headed into work for another 24 hour shift. The second call of the afternoon was for a house fire.  Thankfully for the residents it was mostly contained to one room, just the living room.  But that room had a bit of damage done.

Hoping out of the truck back at the station he asks, “Okay who seriously is going to BBQ a turkey in the fireplace.  And plan on doing it twice because this was just going to be a test run before Christmas?”

“It’s the Holidays,”  Bobby stated.  “People are going to be doing crazy things.  You’ve been here a few years don’t you know this by now.”

“That is true.  Y/N and I were talking about that earlier after we left the school presentation.”

“Wait, WE, left the presentation?  Did you take her with you?”  Benny wanted to know.

“Well,”

“She’s living with him now, didn’t you know that?” Sam asks him.

“What, really?”  Benny couldn’t believe it.

“She moved in a couple days ago.”

“Wow, you two move fast.”

“It’s not like that you idiots.  She got kicked out of her condo and had nowhere else to go, and she already got fired because of me.  I’m just giving her a place to stay till she figures things out.  The house has the room.  Our dogs get along great.”

“Is that why Miracle isn’t here?”  Cas wants to know.

“Yeah, Y/N’s taking care of him and Dean. He’s falling in love.”

“Who Dean or Miracle?” Cas questions Sam.

“Dean, probably both.  She is very easy to like.”

“You’ve met her, besides that day she was in here?”  Benny wanted to know.

“Yeah, Dean called me to help move her.”

“I would have helped the nice pretty girl move, why didn’t you ask me to help?”

“I’m not sure packing would have been the only thing you tried with her, Benny.  I just found her again, I’m not letting you scare her off.”

“He didn’t deny the love.”  Sam says with a smile. 

“I’m not falling in love with anyone, bitch.”  Dean shakes his head at the whole thing as he removes his gear. 

“I’m sorry, my jerk of a brother, is falling in love, but he doesn’t know it yet.”

“That can’t be true Dean, come on man.  I look up to you, playing the field avoiding commitment, a constant string of beautiful women.”

“It’s not true, we aren’t falling in love, not dating.  I still don’t do commitment, and never getting married.”

“So what are you doing with Miracle if you don’t do commitment?”  Bobby asks as he takes off his coat.”

“Temporary long termish house guest.”

“Uh huh.”

“I told him when the house is sold he’s on his own.”

“Let us know how that works out in a couple of months, you idjit.”

“I’m calling your bluff with the girl.  Can you say no to these three things.”

“Really Cas?”

Cas ignores Dean and continues on, “ You live with her?  That’s a yes.  Two, you spend all your free time with her? Yes.”

“Well.”

“Three, you think about her when you aren’t with her? Yes,”

“No, no, you have it all wrong.  Like I said she is only staying till she gets back on her feet.  We are getting to know each other so we hang out, but only  because she’s already there.”

“Getting to know each other like you would if you were dating someone?”

“Shut it Sam.”

“Are you saying he is falling in love?  The legend, is human after all?”  Benny questioned.

“No, I’m not falling in love.  Y/N is a temporary roommate.  That’s it.”

“Man, you are like five minutes away from marrying this girl.”  Sam tells him.

“I hate you all.”  Gear off Dean leaves them behind to take a shower.

“Keep telling yourself that!”  Bobby yells after him.

Wandering around Dean’s house alone while he was at work, you got to thinking.  There was one thing you were really missing this close to Christmas, and it was something you didn’t think you would be able to have this year.  A Christmas tree.

When Dean gets home the next afternoon you bring it up.

“I was wondering if you were going to get a Christmas tree this year?”

“Usually don’t.  I don’t think I’ve had one in a few years.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I haven’t seen a reason too.  I buy a house, fix it up and sell it.  Usually I don’t stay in one long enough.  I don’t do much for the Holidays.  Why do you ask?”

“I was thinking maybe we could get a tree?  I have a little artificial tabletop tree, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a real one?  To have that Christmas smell when you walk in the door?”

“If you like real ones so much why didn’t you already have one in your place?”

“It was against the bylaws. Apparently too much of a fire liability.”

“That didn’t stop you with Dakota.”

“The tree can’t be hidden quickly like she was.  She was worth risking it for.”

“You really want to get a tree?”

“Please, it helps it feel more like Christmas.  If you don’t want one I understand.”

Dean threw his head back and sighed.  “Fine we can go get a tree.  I think there is a tree lot near the station that hasn’t sold out yet.”

“Let’s go to a tree farm, get the whole experience.”

“You’ll be the death of me Sweetheart.”

Dean didn’t have to work at all the following day, so after breakfast the two of you headed out to the Christmas tree farm.  Dressed in warm clothes and boots you were ready to walk all around the 8 acre tree farm if you needed to, just to find the right tree.   There was a wagon ride that took you around to the different types of trees.  Dean and you got off in the back lot figuring you could walk your way toward the entrance. 

“There’s a tree,”  Dean points out as you start walking down the first row.

“Yes, and it’s also like four foot tall.  It’s still growing, let the baby be.”

“Okay, miss Christmas tree expert.  How do you pick the perfect Christmas tree?”

“It’s really pretty scientific you know.”

“Oh really? Please do explain it to me.”

You laughed at his expression. He had turned to you with wide eyes and a cheeky little grin.  Like he was going to absorb whatever you said.  “You dork.”  Heading over to a tree you reach for a branch pulling your hand back toward you slowly.  “First you need to check the freshness.  If the needles stay on when you do that it’s good.”

You drop your hand to the side, “Then you need to inhale deeply and see how it smells.”

Dean did just that, “It smells like a tree.”

“Okay, but does it smell Christmassy.”

“Christmassy?  Pretty sure you just made that word up.”  

“Nope it’s totally in the dictionary.”

“Okay, Webster.  Then what does it mean?”

“To be filled with Christmas spirit.”

Dean just stared at you for a moment.  “You think a tree is going to smell like it’s filled with Christmas spirit?  Just wondering if you were drinking before I got up this morning?”

“Oh come on, it’s that fresh cut pine smell that fills the whole place and makes it feel like Christmas.”

“Whatever you say, I’ll leave the nose work to you.  What is step three?”  He wants to know as you two walk down the lane looking at the trees around you.

“The lean test.  You need to look at a tree straight on, then lean to the right and to the left, then stand back up straight.  You don’t want a tree that is leaning too hard one way and is crooked.”  You stop to inspect a tree, but continue on down your way.

The fourth step is checking the trunk and making sure nothing is wrong with it.  Sometimes the tree might be straight but that isn’t.  Or it could have a double one that won’t fit in a tree stand.”

“Height is important too.  Your ceilings are fairly high so we could get a foot tree no problem.”

Dean is just smiling listening to you go on about trees while you walk through the lot. “Yep that is extremely scientific.”

You two stopped and looked at different ones but kept going.  There was one you stuck a stick up in top of to mark if you didn’t find anything else you liked. Around an hour into your search you stopped in your tracks.  Dean was lost in his thoughts and took him a moment to notice.  

“That’s the one.”

“The one?”

“Yep, that’s the tree we should get.”

“There is only one?  How do you know it’s the one? What if you are wrong, but you’ve already committed to it?  What happens then, fighting and hurting the kids?”

“You lost me, Dean.”

“I um,”  He just realized what all came out of his mouth. “I  mean it’s a great tree.  Let’s get that one.”

“You sure you are alright?”

“Yep great.  Hold that steady, till I need you to push a little, will you?”

While you were helping to hold the tree from moving too much Dean got on the ground and started sawing back and forth till he had it lying on the ground.  You couldn’t help but notice the muscles in his arms as he worked. 

The two of you carried the tree toward the path in the hopes the wagon would be around soon and you wouldn’t have to carry it all the way to the front.  Thankfully only about five minutes later you could hear it coming around.  Up at the front they shook and bagged the tree for you.  

They also had Santa, and some petting animals around.

“Did you want to go tell Santa your Christmas wish?”  You asked Dean.

“You know, I already saw him this year.  He and I are pretty tight.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

After seeing the animals you hopped in his truck and headed to the store.  Neither of you had a stand that would fit the newly bought tree.  With that accomplished you were on your way back to the house.  Getting the tree inside it was set up in the living room not to far from the fire place, but not near enough to catch any sparks that may pop out. 

Dean didn’t have any decorations in the house, but you had some you had been saving.  After the lights were on you went to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate for the two of you and pulled out some of the peanut butter blossom cookies you made the day before.  Coming back Dean still hadn’t turned on the tv so you asked if you could.  Finding the different music channels you finally came across a Christmas one.

The two of you were enjoying the music and each other’s company as you decorated the tree. 

It was late afternoon by the time everything was done and cleaned up.  You offered to start dinner and Dean came in to help you.  The two of you working easily in the newly finished kitchen. 

After dinner you two retired back to the living room turning off the lights in the room and just letting the tree shine.  There was a roaring fire going, The Santa Clause 2 playing on tv.  Chet had to be one of your favorite reindeer in training. It was very relaxing.  

After the movie Dean mutes the television and turns to you.  “Thank you for suggesting the tree.  It’s actually really nice to have it.  I don’t remember the last time I truly enjoyed Christmas.  My parents fought a lot when we were little after the fire, before and after separating.  After we lost them it was just Sam and I.  Both of us just worked double shifts on Christmas at the station so others could have the time off.  Now Sam has Jess so he works part of the day, but doesn’t do a double anymore so he can spend time with her and her family.

He looks around at the decorations on the mantle, “I wouldn’t be opposed if you had some other small decorations you wanted to get out too.”

“Okay, I’ll see what I have that won’t be in the way.”

He turns the volume back up and the two of you settle back to watch another movie.

Thank you for reading!

Chapter 4 

Tags- @winchest09  @waywardbeanie @whatareyousearchingfordean  @flamencodiva @deanwanddamons @jensengirl83 @abuavnee @lunarmoon8 @amyzombie1013 @akshi8278 @that-one-gay-girl @mandalou29  @igotmadskills

#fire fur & mistletoe #dean winchester #dean x female!reader #dean x reader #christmas #supernatural-love14 writing challenge #supernatural #spnchristmasbingo

[openheartfanfics]

Newly Added Fics

June 6 -12  

🎭 Angst  |  🛸 AU  |  ☁ Fluff  |  ♥ NSFW  |  📚 Series  

Bryce x F!MC

Waiting - @storyofmychoices ☁ The moment Bryce and Olivia have been waiting for is finally here and they’re more nervous than they expected. [Wedding] 

Ethan x F!MC

A New Direction - @chaoticchopshopheart 🩺🎭 Penelope has received a surprising offer from EdenBrook. She has also received an offer to be Co-Head of the Diagnostic Team from New York Presbyterian. [3.16; Post-ending] 

A Quick Visit - @yanawillow ☁ Ethan drops by at Anastasia’s apartment with some comfort food for her and her friends the day before her board exams. [3.14] 

Alternate Ending - @jerzwriter ☁ Heartwarming ending Ethan fans deserve, but probably won't get. Starts right where we left of, Book 3, chapter 15. I think this is a perfect ending, and I hope you enjoy it. [3.15] 

Capital Letters - @helloayz ☁ Moments leading up to her last day of residency.  [3.16] 

Epilogue - @liaromancewriter 🩺☁ Three months after deciding to lead the Diagnostics Team at Edenbrook, Cassie Valentine comes into her own. This is my version of how chapter 16 should have ended. [Post-ending] 

Everything - @lem-20 🩺♥ Ethan and MC spend the night at his apartment after his love confession. 3.16 missing scene [3.16; Post-ending] 

Godly Sins - @utterlyinevitable 📚 [mini: wip]  Ethan’s still pissed at Becca for her Tobias stint when he was in the Amazon. What happens when the narcissist joins the team? Feat. Ethan x F!MC x Tobias [Angst; Broke Up; Ethan’s POV; Fighting; 3.4]

II. Echo of Nemesis

GOOD AS GOLD - @vi-writes-stuff ♥ The events before and after their impromptu date night. Set between book 2 and 3. Sequel to All I’ve Ever Known

Happier - @kat-tia801 🩺🎭 A year after the events in Open Heart 3, Ethan laments what could have been.  [Post-Ending; Break Up] 

Impressions & Declarations - @bex-la-get 📚 [extended: wip] Book 3 rewrite. 

Part 2

K.O - @utterlyinevitable ☁ An awkward encounter at CVS, but Ethan’s got her back. 18. “Who knocked you up?!” “That would be me. Hi, nice to meet you.” [Pregnancy; Protective] 

Late Night Talks - @theinvisibledreamergirl ☁ When MC feels insecure about board’s exams Ethan does a wicked little plan to get her to sleep. [3.14; Hurt/Comfort] 

No More “I Love You”s - @dr-colossal-pita 🩺🎭 Some things are better left unsaid. [3.16, Gender-Neutral] 

Old Foe - @potionsprefect 🩺🎭 The news that Edenbrook has a new leader for their diagnostic team sweeps through Mass Kenmore [Post-Ending] 

On Second Thought... - @cryomyst 🩺☁ A conversation over dinner about Naveen's offer.  [Post-ending; 3.16] 

Past Tense - @chaoticchopshopheart 🩺♥ Jealous Ethan. Ricky’s best friend from Harvard Law has always had a crush on Penelope. They dated casually for a few years. [Post 3.16; Jealousy] 

Power Couple - @headoverheelsforramsey 🩺☁ The morning of Ethan and Meera’s first day as a power couple in the hospital. [Post-ending] 

Sunshine & Sea - @potionsprefect ☁ Victoria and Ethan head away before they start their new roles [Vacation] 

The Boards - @chaoticchopshopheart ☁ It’s the morning of Penelope’s boards and she is tense. Ethan comforts her and drives her to the exam hall. [3.14] 

The Fix It Series - @gryffindordaughterofathena 🩺📚 [extended: wip]  A fix it series where I try to fix the inconsistencies through out books two and three, by omitting certain plots and adding a few others.

1. The Reset

The Missing Pieces - @bex-la-get 📚 [extended: completed]  

 A group of stories that fill in the gaps in OPH2, starting from after the attack and ending at the Edenbrook shutdown. [Hurt/Comfort] 

Worldwide - @helloayz 🩺🎭 She decided to leave Boston and go back home.  [Post-ending] 

Your Love Is Killing Me - @headoverheelsforramsey 📚 [mini: complete]  A canon divergent take on the emotions Ethan and Meera face on returning from Miami, and what happens when Meera faints in the hospital atrium. [1.10; Miami] 

Part 1  |  Finale

Love Triangle

Delaying the Inevitable - @jerzwriter 📚 [extended: wip]  Ethan/Casey/Tobias love triangle.

Chapter 1: Inevitable  |  Chapter 2: Spreading the News  |  Chapter 3: Confident Insecurities

Chapter 4: Play Hard  |  Chapter 5: Memorial Day

Godly Sins - @utterlyinevitable 📚 [mini: wip]  Ethan’s still pissed at Becca for her Tobias stint when he was in the Amazon. What happens when the narcissist joins the team? Feat. Ethan x F!MC x Tobias [Angst; Broke Up; Ethan’s POV; Fighting; 3.4]

II. Echo of Nemesis

Tobias x F!MC

Godly Sins - @utterlyinevitable 📚 [mini: wip]  Ethan’s still pissed at Becca for her Tobias stint when he was in the Amazon. What happens when the narcissist joins the team? Feat. Ethan x F!MC x Tobias [Angst; Broke Up; Ethan’s POV; Fighting; 3.4]

II. Echo of Nemesis

_

SUBMIT OPEN HEART FICS & WRITERS HERE

#open heart #open heart fanfic #open heart fanfiction #choices open heart #open heart fanfics #ethan ramsey #ethan x mc #tobias carrick #tobias x mc #bryce lahela #bryce x mc #newly added fics

[mira--mira]

Question from an aspiring writer:

How do you stay motivated on one project for such a long time?

I personally have the attention span of a goldfish, and whenever I have an idea I either have to write down everything my brain can spew immediately or have it be lost in the void for eternity.

Never mind going back and turning my outline into a fic or gasp editing.

Do you have any tips and/or tricks you use?

Ok, I got completely carried away with this just fyi, but hopefully I ended up answering your actual question 😂 tl;dr at the bottom.

To be honest, staying motivated is a tricky thing, one that I feel I'm still learning how to do even now and varies a bit between shortfics/oneshots and multi-chaptered fics/longfics. For a bit of background, I've been writing fanfic for about a year and a half, but I've been writing original fiction since I was seven, over a decade and a half, and I still wrestle with it. It's definitely a learning process.

One thing I wish someone would have told me when I was starting out was the power of ~scenes~ in either multi-chapters or one-shots. All writing is ultimately made up of scenes, but if you're struggling to put things together, focusing on an individual scene, or multiple short scenes, might help you focus on getting something completed, and it's something that eventually can be applied to longer works as well. Writing has been a snowball process for me and once I started getting anything completed, I felt more secure in knowing what I could write comfortably and what was out of my comfort zone, eventually getting to the point where I felt comfortable tackling bigger and longer projects and knowing I could stay with them.

OoT's interlude chapters and the snippet series are both good examples of scenes because I wrote them with that intention...even if most of them are actually two or three scenes combined. "Gai meets Hashirama and Madara", "Hashirama gets revenge on Kakashi", "Tatsuki and Hashirama pick flowers for Madara, then give them to him" etc. were all my starting points.

If you're first starting out and feel comfortable with outlines of some sort before you start writing I would encourage you to try and write down a bullet point list of your scene(s) and what you know you want to happen in it.

"Gai meets Hashirama and Madara"

* Hashirama meets Gai first, mistakes him for Lee.

* Madara is shopping for a gift for Hashirama

* Madara finds Gai and Hashirama, they spar, Gai kicks his ass, both of them love him.

This is how my initial outline looked for the first interlude chapter, technically each one of these "points" are their own scenes stuck together. Outlining is different for everyone, some people like super specific points, others even less detail than this. For me this is a nice middle that gives me a roadmap for the chapter, but allows plenty of room to naturally diverge and add detail. Play around with outlines and see what you're comfortable with/what gives you the best results.

I'm not sure of your individual situation, but if you're struggling to put together fics in general something like this might help. Doing this process again and again personally helps me stay on track and gives me a sense of progress.

This sense of progress is ultimately key and why I think motivation differs slightly between one-shots/short fics and longfics. If you confine the individual scene to a one-shot, that might give you the motivation to complete it. Even if you start writing and you get interrupted/can't finish having in one setting, bullet points sometimes help inspire me to finish because I'm not starting from scratch when I return to writing. The whole "eat an elephant one piece at a time" thing was difficult for me to learn, but ultimately proved true. Learning to chip away at something bit by bit is going to be the only (healthy) way to write longer projects you can't complete in one sitting.

For longer projects, it's a similar beast just on bigger levels and with an added dimension. I would actually suggest something similar to OoT for a starting project because it is ultimately broken up into arcs that you know and can reference, instead of making a lot of og content for a fan setting. Maybe not go into it thinking, 'I'll do a complete rewrite' but once you feel like you're ready for a longer project 30K+ or so, the rough outline method and the ability to follow arcs was what got me started when I eventually decided to make the fic multi-chaptered. Try writing one arc and keep yourself contained in that. Now the added dimension aspect in general for longfics is that you eventually want to plot individual chapters in a multi-chaptered longfic and individual arcs (character, plot, etc). This comes with practice. I honestly don't think there's a way to get around that. It's something that I'm still trying to work on and I can look back at my early work and see how I've improved, how I can recognize where things didn't go well in certain places, and how I would change them if I was writing today. That's a good thing to be able to do, it means you've grown! The other thing I find that helps with staying motivated week after week for longer projects is to roughly know where you're going and to try to be excited about a plot point/scene/chapter/etc that you're going to write. Really try to hype yourself up. For me, it's a moment that comes at the very end of the chunin arc and I start grinning even thinking about it because I know it's going to be awesome. It's always what gets me through the rough days, imagining the moment I'll get to actually write that scene in its entirety (it's definitely already outlined and I mentally play it out at least twice a week lol) and is a big motivating drive.

So far I think this is pretty standard stuff if you're an outliner and you've been writing for a few years, but the other thing motivational-wise for me is having a schedule. From reading this message alone, I would not suggest it for you right away. Get comfortable finishing small things and feeling confident that if you let an idea sit for a week or two, you can pick it back up and continue. But if you eventually dip your toes into longfics (and don't plan to pre-write everything before you publish) that routine and rhythm really helps keep me going. I've made a commitment, I've posted it online, I'm going to stick to it. No one is going to jump down my throat if I fail to keep it (this is still a hobby and having fun is the most important thing) but in my mind I should commit to it unless something irl prevents me from doing so. Don't put a tight deadline on yourself, I'd start with once a month or if you write shorter chapters every three weeks. This also would help you build up and get a readership, interaction being another big motivational key.

Also, it's important to accept that sometimes you bite off more than you can chew, and when you feel completely demotivated from a fanfic project...it's okay to drop it. It's okay to take a step back and work on something else. Maybe you'll come back to it, maybe you won't. If you can, try to pinpoint what it was about that project that made you demotivated, were you pushing yourself too much and you got burnt out, was it an ongoing series and your interest for canon lagged and so did the fic, was it just too stressful to keep juggling plotpoints, etc. and keep that in mind moving forward. Every experience can be a learning one and eventually make you a better writer that can eventually tackle those bigger projects. Don't be afraid to take on big aspirational projects, but don't walk into them blind either. Above all, and this is repeated a lot because it's true, enjoy what you write. Some days you might not. That's true with anything, but any project you take on the good should outweigh the bad.

This is my wrap up of the motivational section but I also wanted to throw my two-cents in about editing because "oh no editing" is a perspective I've seen from a lot of writers, and used to have myself, but I think is going to stifle your progress in the long run.

Here's the thing: you need to look forward to editing.

You don't have to be jumping for joy, but editing, imo, should be a positive thing. You have all these great ideas, you made it into a fic, something you wrote, and now you get to go back and make it even better! This is a tough attitude to adopt. I'm not going to pretend otherwise. It took me a long time to unlearn the negative attitude and even then sometimes I still wish the editing was already done once I type in the last period. But I've learned to at least appreciate what editing does and I try to think to myself as I'm going through and making changes things like "wow, this suddenly became so much better. X plot point that I thought of ten pages from now is suddenly being hinted at and doesn't come out of left field. The transition points are a lot cleaner, it's not so jarring anymore. I bet the readers are going to love this little detail. Here's some foreshadowing that I hope someone picks up bc it's going to come back in like 5 chapters from now" it's hard, especially when you start, but this is something you made, and now are actively making better and that's something to celebrate.

I hope this helps anon! I know it's a lot and I'm by no means an expert but I've been doing this for more than a decade because I love it and I want to help others get into writing to! I have no problem answering any writing questions you may have if you find this helpful!

tl;dr

-motivation is slightly different between short/long fics.

-starting out, learn to outline by scenes and focus on finishing small projects and getting to a point where you feel like you can put something down and come back and pick it up again in a week. Completion is key and will help you feel satisfied/know your limits.

-long projects also can work on the scene-to-scene outline but now with individual chapters and individual arcs. It's tough to balance both but comes with practice. Bit-by-bit is key, as is having 'one moment you can't wait to write', possibly a schedule if it works for you, and reader feedback are all huge long-term motivational points.

-editing is tough but learn to look forward to it instead of dreading it.

edited: added a bit more/few typos fixed

#asks #anon #writing advice #god i hope this is understandable #long post

[ladyinbooks]

Are you a plotter or pantser (or somewhere in between)?

Oooh an excellent question!

(Under the cut, because this got long...)

I'm a 'somewhere in between'. There are some key moments or plot points that I will always have mapped out in a fic; but there's definitely gaps between those markers.

For example, IB had a lot of things I knew had to be worked in, because otherwise the whole story wouldn't come together at the end. Similarly, Path to Paradise has some points I've had planned from the start (e.g. Dan's real role in the Apocalypse; the altar scene; what really happened to Hess etc.). And because as a character Hess lies so much, I've had to keep a firm eye on making sure those points are still somehow foreshadowed!

That said, literally 100% of the time, the spaces between those plot points/reveals end up being larger than I anticipate. P2P is a good example of this - it's a 'three chapter' fic. Except it's really, really not! It turns out that what I actually meant, was it's a 'three act' fic, which... is a very different thing.

So what falls into those plotting 'gaps' for me, is the character work - the moments that build the characters and shape their behaviours. I'll often know what I think a character's defining traits are, but they'll suddenly surprise me with something new! I'm trying to get from A to B, and I'll discover that actually there's a whole extra three scenes, because someone will decide they actually have quite a few things to say for themselves. Often, it's something important and I'll discover something about the character I didn't know previously.

Lastly, I'll always know the ending before I start. Even if it changes a little on the journey, the core of it remains the same. Most of the time, the ending is the first thing that comes to me! For example, for IB I had a very, very clear image of a man, waiting on a beach at sunrise, for the love of his life to come home to him. Now, elements of that changed a little in the writing - but the core of it (for me at least) remained the same.

I tend to build backwards from there. All the fun scenes turn up one by one, and then it's my job to somehow stitch them together into a coherent whole with worldbuilding. The characters tend to develop alongside it, because often I'll get a vague feel for how they're going to behave in those scenes, before I have a firm grip on their motivations.

(Last example of this: 'Going Down'/the Criminal underworld fic has started in a similar way. I had a nice neat plan for Jack's motivations, but something felt a little off when I was thinking of why he was reacting the way he did to certain things. Then I got thinking about Tris instead, and basically got punched in the face with a clear concept of his character, but it relied utterly on majorly rewriting certain parts of Jack's backstory. It's been a pain, but... it now makes a lot more sense for the pair of them, and in the context of their major plot points.)

So, tl;dr - yes, I plot, but I also definitely pants it when I get beaten over the head by characters who have very clear ideas of who they are, and what they have to say for themselves! 😂

What about you? A plotter, or a pantser?

#lady replies #thank you bluepandawrites!

[bangtan-dreamland]

A Fairy Tale’s End [Chapter 3]

Pairing: ot7 x reader; jjk x reader; myg x reader; jhs x reader

Word Count: 18,825

Rating: pg-15

Warning: reader is a little ball of stress and a rambling mess, war is discussed, very brief mentions of slavery, some mentions of discrimination, violence, kidnapping

Genre: some angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, e2l, fantasy!au, elf!seokjin, fae!yoongi, dragon!hoseok, wizard!namjoon, vampire!jimin, kitsune!taehyung, mermaid!jungkook

Summary:  You wanted, for once, to be someone important, someone needed- to be wanted and appreciated, to love and be loved. Well, you should be careful what you wish for.

AN: Here we are with the third chapter… they really do keep getting longer ashjkdasd I’m sorry ;;; I just end up writing and rewriting and adding so much ;-; also, if anyone has questions about the story please do tell me lol my friend said the whole series had so much confusing stuff XDDD

As always, thank you so so much to not only @mindays​ and @btsxdoll​ for reading this over and editing it, but also for @dee-ehn​ who made the banner!!! I’m so grateful, because if not for them I swear this chapter would never have been finished or posted T^T

(Also the banner is fucking gorgeous and if like me you end up staring at it hard sAME)

masterpost // previous chapter

Taglist: @btsxdoll​, @mspjm​, @barbikatherine​, @xxqueenwxtchxx​, @catsandstrawberries​, @bangtan-bestofme​, @bubbletae7​, @butaes​, @serious-addiction​

»»————-　♔　————-«« The morning after that felt, in a way, different.

Oh, at first glance, everything was the same. Nothing much had changed- you were still you, stuck in a world unfamiliar, given a quest that you still didn't think you could do.

But you could try. And... it wasn't as if you were alone. You had Jungkook, and you had Yoongi too, didn't you?

The thought brought a smile on your face- and for once, you began the day feeling... excited? You paused as you saw yourself in the mirror, sporting a shy, sort of half smile, one that eventually grew into a grin.

... Okay, so maybe not much had changed, but the things that did- well, it was very, very important to you.

You opened the door giddily, wondering where the others (Jungkook and Yoongi) were-

-and immediately let out a squeak as you met Seokjin's eyes, the man himself only raising an eyebrow at your reaction to his presence. 

“Um.”

You couldn’t help but stare, your thoughts whirring for something to say. Even in the early morning, Seokjin looked composed and regal as ever. Was being calm and collected something like his default persona?

You resisted the urge to turn tail and flee, the automatic reaction you had towards Seokjin who you really weren't on the best terms with ever since the beginning. Still, your words from yesterday filtered into your mind- and you steeled yourself, gently toeing the water. 

Try, you promised to try.

"Um- uh, good morning?" You winced at the lilted end to your sentence. "Good morning, Seokjin." There that was better.

Seokjin's lips quirked into a slight smile for a moment. "Good morning, Y/N. Have you packed your stuff yet?" He asked. 

Wait, what?

At your blank look, he sighed and elaborated. "We explored the rest of the ruins yesterday. Since we already got the clue we needed, the next plan of action should be to head off to Crossroads, isn't it?"

"Oh."  You grimaced at the obvious oversight, readying yourself for a scolding. "Um- sorry, I'll, uh, I'll go get ready now. I'll only take a few minutes," I hope, "um- are- that, is everyone else all ready to go...?"

He only shook his head, observing you for a moment. "You just woke up," he stated, rather than asked. You hesitantly nodded. "... The others should be waiting downstairs. We can spare some time, but don't take too long."

You internally sighed in relief. "I will- um, thanks. I'll- I'll go now."

The moment he was well out of your sight, you released the tight grip you had on your clothes, the nerves leaving your body. You robotically stepped back into your room, your movements stiff- and then you reached your bed. With that, you immediately dropped to your knees, covering your face with your hands as you held yourself in a fetal position.

You internally screamed. Why did I do that for fuck’s sake what the fuck even Y/N you dumbass we just made progress last night and now-

You cut your thoughts off and let yourself fall forward, groaning as your face met the somewhat soft mattress. Why am I like this...

To the side, when you opened your eyes the few items that you brought along stared back at you. For a few moments, you sulked, feeling the embarrassment of the previous situation wash over you- and then you rolled over for one last scream into the blanket before determinedly getting back up. There was no use regretting anymore over what happened- it was done and over and nothing would happen if you kept moping, right? So!

You nodded to yourself, turning back to your items and checking them over, packing it all neatly into your bag.

“I fucked up, but- then again, it doesn’t seem like he’s too bothered?” You grimaced as you talked to yourself. “... I hope he’s not secretly tallying me up or something. I don’t really want to go back to how it was before... I might just go crazy if I have to put up with that again.”

“Huh. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen then, you’re one of the few people I can tolerate being around after all.”

“Yoongi!” You cried out, the item you were holding falling from your hand in your surprise. You pursed your lips, trying not to pout- then shot a glare at Yoongi who stood by the doorway, who was looking at you with amusement. “Can you not do that, please?”

“I just wanted to talk to you,” he said, though you could see the edges of his lips turn into a smirk.

“Yeah, well-” you bit the inside of your cheek as you tried not to show how upset you actually were. “You know, a little bit of warning would have been appreciated,” you finally said, sighing, before his presence registered into your mind. You scrunched up your nose.

“Um… did you need something?”

“I initially came to wake you up, but I guess it’s unnecessary now,” he shrugged. 

“Oh,” you mumbled. “T-Thanks.”

WIth that, you turned to continue your task. For a few moments there was silence- then the space beside you dipped low, and you could catch hints of Yoongi’s hair at the edges of your vision.

“Don’t mind him,” Yoongi eventually said, his voice much closer than before. You huffed, realizing what he meant.

“... Yeah, well, how can I not? He practically radiates authority and disapproval. Not that, I mean, not that’s a bad thing, but-” You sighed, giving up on your task for the meantime as you turned to face him. “Just… Seokjin really makes me nervous. For a good reason too, I mean- he just wants the quest to go smoothly, and I haven’t exactly been a good, well, leader? But, um, yeah, back to my point, he makes me nervous just by being in the same room.”

Yoongi sat nearby on your bed- the feel of him close helping you calm down as you finished your word vomit. You scrunched up your nose. “... Actually, how are the two of you even friends? I-I mean, you’re calm and nice and he’s, well. He’s very… intense.”

Yoongi cracked a smile at your words before he became serious. “Seokjin… He isn’t usually so strict,” he admitted. “The only time I’ve seen him act like this was during the Great War.”

“The Great War?” You drew your knees up to your chest, laying your head on your knees as you stared at Yoongi, curious. “I… remember hearing the people talk about how you two fought together with the hero.”

It could have been just a trick of the light then, but for a moment, you swore you saw Yoongi freeze, the remains of something dark and empty passing as soon as it came. 

When he answered your question then, it was with a mild tone of voice.

“Yes. The Great War… it was a turbulent period of time. But before that, you know… Seokjin was actually known for being goofy and playful.” He chuckled at the shocked look on your face, before continuing. “This quest… it just means a lot to him. Elves were one of the first to fall under the loss of magic… It may seem like it, but he doesn’t hate you, if you’re thinking that. It’s just that he’s hard on you because he wants this to succeed.”

“...I guessed all that with how he’s been to me since we met,” you sighed, your voice quieter than before. “Although he really was a jerk at first, but, I mean, he does have a point, and we ended up talking it out for the better, so,” you shrugged wryly. “Well. Though hearing that, I guess- his initial reaction to me makes sense. I mean, it’s not like I’m not qualified to be on this quest in any way, right?”

“You were chosen for a reason, Y/N. You’ll see eventually,” Yoongi’s tone contained hints of amusement and you rolled your eyes discreetly.

“Fat chance of that happening,” you muttered as you looked over what was left.

Thud.

You frowned as the two of you heard heavy footsteps, ones that you immediately recognized to be Jungkook’s (the only one other than you who walked so noisily, then again he wasn’t used to using legs so…)

“Y/N?” 

You looked behind, where Jungkook hovered by the doorway.

“What’s up, Jungkook?”

“Everyone is downstairs, save for you and Yoongi, so I thought I could look for you and see if you needed help... Seokjin also asked me to check up on you while I was heading here,“ he admitted.

You winced, realizing you’d taken so much longer than you intended, what with your talk with Yoongi. “I’ll be down in a few minutes. You guys can go ahead.”

“Alright then. I’ll keep him distracted while you finish up,” Yoongi teased as he got up. You could barely hear his footsteps, light, before the noise faded away.

You turned back to pack the last of your items. 

It was hard, deciding which ones to take and which ones to leave. There only remained a small pile of items on the bed by now, including several freebies given to you by the townspeople- you had to admit, even if you didn’t believe in it, everyone else seemed to all but worship the ‘savior’.

One of the items included two small dream catchers- pretty little things that you had to wonder how it was made, considering its design and its size. You put one inside, deciding to bring it along (the craftsmanship was beautiful, after all), before frowning. Where had the other gone to...?

You were surprised when you looked to the side to see Jungkook fiddling with the other piece, curiosity and intrigue visible on his face.

His fingers held each piece gently as he examined it closely- and then you remembered his words from before.

“This is my first time going on land.”

You paused in your packing. “You can have that, if you want.”

Jungkook flushed as he looked up at you, eyes wide, an apologetic look forming before your words sank in. “Huh?”

You fiddled with the bag, cheeks reddening, eyes darting to the side, even as you repeated your words. “The trinket, I mean. You can have it. You keep looking at it, so…”

“Oh… really?” He slowly grinned, relaxing.

“You can think of it as a reminder of today,” you mumbled. “Or, I mean, like… um, something to cement our friendship?”

“... I think I would like that,” he hummed, instantly putting in his pocket. “I’ll keep it safe, I promise.”

Your lips quirked into a smile at the earnest look in his eyes. “Really? I’ll trust you then.”

“The three of you seem much closer now.”

You almost jumped at the new voice, warily looking back over your shoulder.

Jimin casually leaned against the doorway, a nonchalant smile on his face as always, his face unreadable except for the slight thrum of amusement in his eyes. You wondered when he’d gotten there- and how much he’d heard. Beside you, Jungkook tensed up- and you instinctively moved closer to him in the hopes of calming him down, a small detail that didn’t miss Jimin’s eyes. 

“Quite surprising, considering yesterday’s events,” he added. “You seem to have made up? Though I’m surprised you’re as relaxed with Yoongi as you are with him.” Near the end of the sentence, Jimin nodded his head at Jungkook, who remained quiet, lips pursed.

“... Yoongi helped me in talking to Jungkook,” you eventually said, your guard up as well. 

“So you mean to say, Yoongi’s wise counsel was a huge help, then.” Jimin’s smile widened. 

“Yoongi is dependable, isn’t he? Isn’t it a relief that he’s travelling with us? The saviour certainly seems to appreciate him. Not to mention how close she is now with Jungkook,” he remarked, eyes darting to the side for a moment. You glanced there for a moment- but Jungkook said everyone was downstairs already. You frowned at him in confusion- what was he getting at?

Just as you were thinking how to get out of the situation, Jungkook cut in.

“Was that all you wanted to say, Jimin?” His voice was blunt as his eyes narrowed at Jimin. “If so, we’d like to go back to packing up. We are, after all, leaving soon.”

Jimin chuckled. “No need to be so hostile, I was just making an observation.” He cocked his head- the smile remaining on his face before he started to close the door. “Well, I’ll be going downstairs then. We’ll be waiting for you two.”

As the door closed shut, you released a sigh of relief at his departure “Well, that was weird,” you joked, before smiling at Jungkook. “Thanks for the help back there.” He offered you a shy smile.

“It’s no problem. I’ll carry your bag for you- consider it as thanks for the gift.”

You chuckled. “You just want to show off.”

“Well, when you say it like that…”

»»————-　♔　————-««

The next two weeks of journey, contrary to your fears turned out to be, well, not that bad. 

To start with, your departure from the town of Rivermouth was met with tearful farewells from the villagers- who, although you were glad for their support you were equally glad to leave, unable to bear their ever present eyes. 

The second time the eight of you were on the road turned out to be leagues better than the first- for one, you’d come to a sort of mutual agreement with Seokjin. And while it didn’t mean that you and he were friends, or anything like that, he at least stopped criticizing you for your mistakes, though there were times you’d hear him sigh and you’d internally wince. 

You decided to meet him halfway too. It was a given that you were, truthfully speaking, the weakest link in the group. After all, you didn’t have the supernatural abilities the others were born with, nor did you have the training that they had. Hell, you didn’t think you could match up with any of the villagers even, considering what you were used to was so far away from what the people here were used to. 

But that didn’t mean you’d stay helpless and useless.

Resolved to make the most out of it, you began to soak up every relevant information you could grasp from him, or from Yoongi, or (reluctantly, admittedly) from Namjoon. Maybe you wouldn’t ever need to know how vampires fed, or how kitsune made deals, but it was better than doing nothing.

Speaking of vampires, the day you left the town, you’d been surprised then, for Jimin to talk to you as you set camp.

“Good evening, Lady Y/N,” he almost purred your name as he strolled up to you, an easy smile on his face as always. You stiffened, almost dropping what you were holding then- before reluctantly steeling yourself to actually talk with him instead of at.

“G-Good evening- I mean, hi, Jimin.” For a moment you remained in place, thinking of what to say, wondering why he’d even approached you in the first place, but-

“I sincerely apologize for what happened in the town,” Jimin surprised you by taking the initiative then. You gaped at him, before hastily replying.

“Oh, uh, I mean, it’s okay! I-I mean? That, um,” you stammered, searching for the right words to express what you wanted to say. “It’s… okay. It wasn’t just your fault, I mean, Jungkook himself admitted that he should’ve acted better… although, um, I mean, w-why are you telling me this instead of Jungkook…?”

“I tried,” he sighed, looking at you with remorseful eyes. “But I’m not sure my intention came across for what it was. Although, I don’t blame him, after all, I share a huge part in the reason why the commotion happened.”

You shook your head. “No, I’m sure he did understand! I-I mean, if you’re sincere then the feelings should come across? Or, I mean. S-Something like that.”

You fidgeted with your fingers. “Actually, I should be the one apol-”

“I assure you, there’s no need for that.” Jimin’s tone remained nonchalant as he cut you off, at the same time taking over the pile of firewood from your arms. “After all, I’m aware that as vampires we carry a reputation not so favorable.”

You floundered, even as you could’ve sighed in relief as the heavy weight left your arms.. “Um- still. I mean, I’ll…” try to understand you? “... be better?” Even you winced at your words. “After all, just because you’re a vampire doesn’t mean you’re actually bad, r-right?”

You could have sworn his eyes flashed for a moment then, but it was gone all too soon and you were left wondering if you had imagined it. “Of course,” he nodded, a relieved smile appearing on his face. “Thank you, Lady Y/N.”

… Honestly, you still didn’t understand him and you would have preferred for him to keep his space, hopefully distance, but at least- well, at least you made up? Sort of?

There was Taehyung too, who, while when you’d left you’d been on a one-sided cold war with, you’d finally made up.

“Taehyung!” You could have knocked yourself on the head for how loud your voice was, but then again, could you have been blamed? You didn’t want to prolong it any longer- as much as Taehyung acted like an ass the first round of your travels, hell even from the start, having him determinedly keep quiet as he was most certainly pissed off made you nervous as hell. It was so much more easier dealing with him when he was pranking you- you knew how to deal with that, at least, but people getting angry with you and confrontation… not really something you ever got used to dealing with.

“... Yes?” You didn’t let the guarded look on his face deter you, though it made you all the more nervous. 

“Um. Can I… can I tell you something f-for a moment? It’ll just be quick I promise!” The last sentence fell from your lips in a rushed manner, you didn’t want to- well, if you had your way you wouldn’t even be having this talk in person. Preferably over the phone. Or email. At least that way you could think over your words and hide if needed. But it wasn’t as if you had that option now, did you?

“... Alright, I’m listening.” You heaved a small sigh of relief at his words, and so did he, although his sigh was more a disinterested one. You reviewed your words over in your head for a moment- before you spoke it all out.

“I’m sorry for what happened at the store!” If you had looked up then, you would’ve seen him raise an eyebrow in surprise. You’d evidently caught him off-guard with your apology. “I didn’t mean to imply that I agreed with the man, that you were stealing in any way. I was focused on stopping the fight that I didn’t stop to think that maybe I should’ve let him have it for just accusing you without proof, not when it was so obvious that you didn’t at all! Please forgive me!”

There. Short, sweet, simple. You could feel your legs tremble as silence trailed after your small speech slash yell; a part of you just wanted it to be done and over with. Still, your gaze remained locked on the ground, and the silence was deafening- in all honesty, it was probably only around a few seconds or so, but it felt way, way longer than that- and you gave in to your fight or flight instinct.

“Um,” you started, legs already moving. “That was all I wanted to say thank you andgoodluckIneedtogohelpcookbye!”

You didn’t look back at him as you left, too embarrassed.

And, well, if you found a little bit of unknown help instead of pranks the next time around, well. You were only too happy to accept.

Moving on, Namjoon and Hoseok remained the same as ever. Hoseok was still distant, polite, quiet. You had trouble reading him, he was so closed off to everyone. But at the same time- for some reason, you wanted to actually see what was underneath. Hoseok had been more of a mystery than the others, what with his quiet and unassuming demeanor so far.

Well, actually on that- you tried talking to Hoseok too, on the way. If only to thank him at least for what happened before. But…

“Hoseok- um, can I-?”

You looked around in surprise as you saw no one, though you could’ve sworn you saw Hoseok headed this way earlier. So what…?

Oh well. You could try again, right…?

And another time-

“H-Hoseok! Um, please-!?”

You squeaked as you almost tripped over yourself, for some inexplicable reason and what even just happened; when you looked up again, the man in question was gone.

For some reason, whenever you tried to talk to him, something would go wrong and you had to abandon your plan. Still… you wanted to hold hope and continue anyway.

Namjoon- well. It would be a lie if you said anything big had happened with your relationship with him. Although there was that brief moment at the inn, it was mainly centered around the quest- it did nothing to solve the root of the reason why you felt uncomfortable around him. So, sad to say, you were stuck where you were with him from the start- trying to somehow avoid him at all times, without making it obvious.

You grimaced at your thought, though you couldn’t deny it. What was worse was that whenever you tried to muster up the courage to correct his view of you, he would say something that would remind you of his hero worship, and you’d lose your courage. It wasn’t as if the others corrected him too, really...

You shook your head. A lot had changed for the better, at least that you could be happy about.

The biggest change in fact that made you happy yet was the new, easy friendship you fell into with Yoongi and Jungkook.

Ever since your arrival, and the start of the quest- you’d found it hard to relax even a single moment. After all, you were stranded in another world- one where nothing made sense to you, from how magic seemed to be real, or how the people interacted with you. It made you miss your old life terribly. At least, then, you knew what to expect. It may have been dull, and boring- but you never had to deal with so much trouble. These days it seemed as if your heart would stop beating from how much it was overworking.

However, with both men, for once you felt some semblance of peace.

Yoongi, contrary to what you expected wasn’t closed off, nor was he stand-offish- rather, it was in his nature (you giggled at that) to be quiet and calm, something that was your saving grace. Wise, mature and yet at the same time a fucking troll with how he always seemed to have schaudenfraude for your clumsy ass while helping you.

“Ah!”

You almost yelled as you tripped over a root- the twigs and sticks you collected so far in your hands all falling to the forest floor.

You would have, too- if it was for the hand that caught you. Dark eyes met yours, before Yoongi raised an eyebrow. Somehow, even if he hadn’t said anything you could still almost hear what he was thinking.

“I’m- uh, just not that used to trekking in the forest,” you huffed. “You literally live in it. Don’t judge.”

“Whatever you say, Y/N,” he smothered a laugh.

Still, for all that Yoongi seemed to have a witty remark for almost everything, and a complaint for every time he had to go out of his way to help you, you noticed that he was always there to lend a hand, even when in doing so he had to go through so much more trouble than necessary.

“The rain is going to fall soon,” Yoongi commented. You yourself noticed the grey clouds in the sky- still, you continued your task anyway. “We should head back. It’s a hassle travelling when it’s raining, and this one is going to be a rainstorm, I can feel it.”

“Not until I find this herb,” you insisted, a stubborn frown on your face. For all that Namjoon had come prepared, his stock of medicinal herbs was running a little low- so you volunteered to replenish it while the others set up camp, Yoongi accompanying you for both safety and as a guide. You didn’t think much of it at first. It was just picking herbs after all, right?

Wrong.

An hour later still found you searching through the grass for chamomile, your brows furrowed. Still, not even Yoongi’s warning could make you stop- even if you got wet, you would just change your clothes or something.

So invested were you in your task that you didn’t notice your surroundings, nor the time. When you finished, you whirled around to excitedly tell Yoongi- only to gape in surprise.

Around you, rain was pouring down, hard- but not where you were. Just… Just around.

When you looked up, you saw trees clustered around you, close, shielding you from the rain. Huge, and in any other situation they would have been imposing, but as it was, because of the trees even the sound of rain was slightly muffled, creating a semblance of peace within the area you were in. 

On one of the branches, you saw Yoongi frowning at the sky- his hands gently swaying as the trees obeyed his whims. It wasn’t hard to realize what he was doing.

Even when the rain stopped and you two returned to the campsite, not a single part of you was wet from the rain.

Jungkook, compared to Yoongi, was cheerful while shy. After your talk at the pub, and at that night in the kitchen, it seemed that he trusted you enough to let down his guard- becoming more relaxed and open as he told you about his adventures back home. Often he’d needle you about what your daily life was like, though you found it hard to answer. After all, the daily life you knew was drastically different from the one people had in here.

That wasn’t all he asked about, though. Jungkook had the curiosity of a cat and the energy of a puppy. Once he started getting interested about a subject he could keep asking about it for hours- only to surprise you when he would, in some sort of challenge to himself, attempt to learn all about it, proudly showing off his efforts to you after (which most of the time was a success). Talented and eager to learn, indeed- you could now understand why, despite being young even for his race, he was sent on the quest. 

“Jungkook.” If your tone was laced with amusement, well. He’d just have to deal with it.

On the ground before you, remained the mangled remains of a pheasant, a gaping hole in its body from the spear that pierced it.

Jungkook remained silent, but the look on his face told you everything you needed to know.

“I‘m pretty sure I told you spears won’t work the same way here on land that it would under the sea, right?” You continued.

He pressed his lips, eventually forming a pout.

You smirked, for once feeling the urge to tease him playfully. “... Really… you’re used to having your way, aren't you?”

It was obvious that you caught Jungkook off guard with your sudden teasing, and he sighed (in a rather dramatic way that had you biting back laughter). 

“Perhaps just a little…" he said, and you wouldn’t have been able to stop yourself from laughing then at how flushed his cheeks suddenly were, if it weren't for the look in his eyes that said he’d retaliate for any teasing done. “I’ll get it right next time, though. I know I will,” he muttered.

You could barely stop yourself from shaking your head. When you spoke, exasperation laced your voice. “You don't have to be the best at everything, you know. Do you see everything as a competition?”

It was then that he huffed before facing you with a playful grin. "You say that as though it's my fault I'm gifted at whatever I do. And as to your second question... hmmm, I don't know- tell me, do I?”

You scrunched up your nose at him, rolling your eyes dramatically. “Yes, yes, really… what’s even there to compete about?”

He only shrugged. “Well… when you say it like that, I suppose it isn’t so much as a need to compete, rather than a want to learn. I may not get a chance like this after this all ends, after all.”

His gaze lowered- and the words you were about to say were stuck in your throat. 

You scrambled your mind for a safer subject, instead. “If you really want to learn how to hunt on land, I mean… you could ask Seokjin, couldn’t you?”

“... Huh?” He looked back up at you, surprised. You continued speaking, almost stammering over your words.

“I-I mean! As an elf, he has to know a lot about the forest, and, I mean, he’s always carrying that bow! And, um, yeah, he’s old-” you winced and immediately backtracked, “-wise! He’s very wise!”

You cleared your throat as silence fell upon the two of you, the familiar rush of red flooding your cheeks. “So. Um. Yeah. You know. An option. If you want one.”

You kept your gaze firmly on the ground, away from him, resisting the urge to groan.

But then you heard Jungkook put the pheasant in his bag, and in a tone far too nonchalant for what he was thinking, he asked you, "… Y/N, which do you prefer? Hare, or deer?”

You blinked back at him, the sudden question surprising you. “I… I guess- deer? Um, why?”

He smirked. “Oh, no reason at all, I assure you,” he cheerfully replied. 

You couldn’t help smiling as you remembered the smug, but mostly proud expression on his face a few days after, as he presented a dead buck to you. It’d taken him hours to be able to do it as well as he intended, even with (and this part still had you reeling because honestly how, what even?) Seokjin’s help. 

Even more than that, when he shed away the ‘I am the best and you should pay attention to me’ show, you had to admit that Jungkook had this youthful, innocent charm around him, different from the one Jimin or Taehyung had- being able to melt even the hardest and coldest of people.

“I thought you didn’t know archery?” You looked at him curiously. “I’m no expert but this doesn’t seem like something a beginner could’ve done.”

He beamed at you. “I asked Seokjin for help!”

You stared at him in surprise. “You what?”

“I asked Seokjin for help,” he repeated, giggling at the dumbfounded look on your face. “Seokjin is a tough teacher, but he’s very thorough. Much better than my mentors back home,” he added.

You glanced up- meeting Seokjin’s eyes as he raised an eyebrow at you, before deliberately ignoring your gaze when he saw you were just gaping at him. Your eye twitched- and then you looked back at Jungkook, staring at him for a moment before your gaze became mock serious.

“You, are seriously dangerous,” you proclaimed, resisting the urge to smush his cheeks when he scrunched up his nose at you. “Seriously. No one is safe from you.”

He only laughed then. 

That night, and the next few ones, you all had plenty of food- although by the end of it you had to discreetly plead Jungkook to stop hunting, lest the presence of wildlife become too thin in the forest.

In a much better atmosphere than before, the journey to your next destination happened in a blink of the eye, and soon enough you were at the city of Crossroads.

»»————-　♔　————-««

“So this is Crossroads...” you heard Jungkook say in awe. Two weeks of being on the road with him- two weeks of being in close quarters with him almost every second of the day and Jungkook being a naturally open person had you being able to read him better and better. Even as you looked at him now, you could see the way his eyes flitted from almost every part of the city to another, his attention everywhere as he tried to take everything in. It was undeniably adorable.

“Countless books mention that the city of Crossroads is the capital of history,” Namjoon commented behind you. You looked at him to see him reading a book- before he snapped it shut and smiled. “It will be difficult, but for now there are a few inns we can rest at nearby, before we start looking for Alexander’s journal.”

“Still,” you mumbled as you looked at the copy of the map in your hands. “The city is really big, huh… I hope we find it in time…”

“You know, as nocturnal races we could start the search by ourselves,” Jimin suddenly spoke up. “As you’re so worried. After all, it’d be best to have this done as soon as possible, right?”

“Liars. You only want to slip away and do whatever you like,” Jungkook immediately accused them, frowning, before he turned to you. “We should go to the inn first, right?”

You almost wilted under their combined gazes, from Taehyung and Jimin who seemed to find amusement in your reaction to Jungkook’s who seemed to be asking for your support. Your eyes darted to Yoongi who only looked back at you calmly in return, as if to say that he was waiting for your reply too- Namjoon, who looked as if he wanted to intervene but held himself back.

You couldn’t see Seokjin in the back- but you could catch a glimpse of his back- as he crowded around Hoseok, who seemed uncomfortable. No help from anyone, it seemed.

You fiddled with the strap of your bag as you tried to answer as calmly as you could. “Inn first. We’ve had a long trek getting here, so, um, we should probably get some rest first,” you said, before faltering. “I mean, as much as the quest is important, it shouldn’t affect it too much to rest for one night, right? And, um, the shops are closing, so... “

“Sounds good to me,” Yoongi nodded, smoothly continuing your words as he turned to Namjoon. “Where should we head to, then? How recent is that map of yours?”

Namjoon hesitated, before answering. “It should still be accurate, it was made just a few months ago.”

“Well then, let’s go?”

»»————-　♔　————-««

Upon arriving at the inn, it was easy to get rooms, just as Namjoon had said- there were as many libraries as there were inns in the city, and fortunately the one you chose, upon learning who you and your companions were, were offered free service all the way. You still didn’t quite trust nor believe it, but you wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth anymore.

Dinner then on had been a peaceful affair too, as both Seokjin and Hoseok stayed in their rooms the moment they were given them- basically locking themselves up inside. Yoongi too had opted to join them, citing that the crowds were too noisy and technically, he didn’t need human food to survive, so… 

Jimin and Taehyung parted away from your table the moment you entered the bar connected to the inn, for what, you weren’t quite sure. Still, it wasn’t exactly unexpected anyway.

Thus it was only the three of you- you, Jungkook, and Namjoon. Dinner was somewhat peaceful then- or, at least, as much as it was with Jungkook being his curious self. He didn’t ask much while eating, but afterwards he kept asking you about so many things he’d seen as you entered Crossroads, ones that you were, while tired, all too happy to indulge him with. 

Of course, in accordance to your luck someone spilt soup on you as the three of you got up to leave- the perpetrator, a drunk man who, after drinking some water and talking to, turned out to be quite decent. Still, dealing with your wet clothes was much easier and something you preferred rather than talking to the man who was half-intoxicated, you just decided to go on ahead to your room.

»»————-　♔　————-««

“Although I expected it to be big, I didn’t think it’d be this big.”

Currently, you and Namjoon sat in what seemed to be the lobby of the guild, La Salutem. Situated near the middle of the city, it stood proudly and was obviously a center of operations, what with how many people passed through the doors.

Seokjin’s first suggestion in searching for the journal was to visit the guild, saying that if there was any place other than the kingdom of Quies that held Alexander’s old stuff, then it would be in the very guild he founded. Thus found you hours later, sitting in the lobby with the two men. While Jungkook originally wanted to go with you, he’d been told to stay at the inn with the explanation that as Seokjin had to go, someone had to stay behind and mediate if something happened with the others, and Yoongi might need help. With that, Jungkook reluctantly agreed.

Seokjin had gone ahead to talk with the guildmaster. While initially you prepared yourself for another uncomfortable one-on-one talk with a member of the ‘All Hail the Savior Y/N’ club, both men had, thankfully enough, picked up on your unspoken feelings about it. Though you still had to come along to the guild just in case- Seokjin would talk to the guildmaster himself.

You were still left with Namjoon- but, well. You were getting better at the whole ‘not looking like I’m freaking out over everything 24/7’ attitude, and it was getting easier to treat his more subtle (now) hero worship as nothing, so…

“Crossroads has a long history intertwined with not only the war, but the guild. This city holds one of the first guildhalls established, which must have been when it was but a small town- explaining how it remains in the very center of the city, as if Crossroads was built around it,” Namjoon explained, his words delving into a sort of rant near the end, though he soon stopped and grinned. “Though I admit, I find myself fascinated as well.”  

“‘La Salutem’, huh?” You mumbled as you looked around. “That means…”

“- ‘safety’,” Namjoon added. “‘Protection’, ‘health’, ‘security’. All things that La Salutem strives to embody, as a symbol of peace and prosperity for all that supported so many not only during, but after the war.”

“For all, huh…” 

Your eyes trailed over the banners that decorated the walls- and your conversation with Jungkook last night easily came to mind.

“Hey, Jungkook… um, can you… do you know what the war was about?”

“I don’t really know much about it,” Jungkook frowned as he nibbled on a piece of sushi. The inn you were staying at allowed you free reign of their facilities, and guess what- Jungkook actually knew how to make sushi, the food in question actually a specialty of his people. Was there anything he couldn’t do? “I was born after it ended, and even before that, mermaids stayed out of the entire war.”

“That’s okay,” you reassured him. “Just- um, tell me what you know, please? When I asked before in the kingdom, no one could answer me, so… and, well, um, I’m not sure if it’s something Yoongi would be okay with me asking.”

“Oh.” He scrunched up his nose, deep in thought, before answering. 

“No one knows how it started, if I remember correctly,” he started. “But... one day, they say dragons began to grow more greedy and blood thirsty. They started conquering towns and cities, even those from other species, looting and robbing them too, and then using the captured towns as their slaves, their own to use. It was… a pretty dark time. There were many more dragons then- enough that they had a capital too. Their power, the fact that no one expected them to suddenly attack others, and not to mention their numbers helped them. Each race kept to themselves then, and yet all the same it plunged everyone in distress, ready to bow down and acquiesce to the rule of the tyrants- but then there was a prophecy about the downfall of the dragons, and the arrival of a hero.”

“It was the only reason they still had hope. It was a good thing, too, as the dragons had taken over what had to be a fair amount of cities then- and a few kingdoms too, when he came. The Hero, Alexander. They say he arrived as the sky blazed bright. People didn’t believe him at first, when he declared that he was the chosen one, but…”

“Just when a city was about to be besieged by the dragons, he came up with a plan to defeat them. It was ingenious- and no one thought he’d succeed, because his plan seemed too ridiculous to work- but it did. And after that, he began to come up with other contributions to the war, the first and greatest of which was to unite the races to defeat the dragons.”

You released a shaky exhale at his words, at the story he was telling you. It was obvious to see the parallels between you and this ‘Hero’, and the way that the people treated you suddenly made a whole lot more sense.

“The humans and the mages were the greatest partners in the war, then- humans with their inventions and mages with their spells and enchantments. The elves, as much as they disdained getting involved with anything outside of their forests were persuaded to join, by the Hero of course- and so were the fae. I can remember my teacher telling me about Seokjin and Yoongi too, actually, how they fought in the war as well. Together they defeated the dragons and ushered in an era of peace.”

“... What about the other races, then?” You questioned. “What about the- yokai? The vampires? Surely they had to be involved in some way too.”

“That…” Jungkook paused, a furrow in his eyebrow as he tried to remember. “I think… I think I can recall people saying that yokai joined the war, but that most of them sided with the dragons. And as for vampires… They mostly acted as mercenaries in the war, fighting for whichever side offered them more money.”

It offered so much more insight to the way each race reacted to another than the book you read before could. Or, at least, that was how you saw it- piecing in what you could read between the lines as each race interacted with each other.

When the war ended, what exactly happened? To the victors went the spoils, after all. It was easy to imagine it now- the sins of the fathers being passed down to their children, the discrimination that followed those who lost, the whole race branded as evil, as wild, as dangerous. 

Humans and mages led the winning side, and so they were given the biggest credit, flourishing and thriving on the shares given to them as they took over what the losing side had. Lands, cities, treasures of all shapes and sizes taken not just as payment, but also as deterrent. 

For elves, the fae, both entered the war mostly just to protect themselves, and they succeeded- though, of course, the greater the risk taken, the greater the rewards reaped. They lost less than mages and humans, but in return they had little to show for after the war. They only kept autonomy over what they originally had- the lands and the forest that they lived in.

Mermaids- having stayed out of the war, the most neutral of all races as they refused to join in any way at all, remained almost completely clueless and out of touch with the developments that happened after the war then, as they isolated themselves.

Then the vampires, who, in a sense acted neutral- favoring no side but that of coins and money. The yokai who were divided, some joining humans, but most of them joining the other side… not to mention the dragons themselves.

You could easily see how the effects of the war lingered on from what happened then until now. You hadn’t seen even a hint of the last three races anywhere since you began your journey. While at first you chalked it up to each of the races not liking interaction with the others, now that you knew more about the war, it was easier to pick up on the general subtle hatred of the populace against the three.

It was obvious even now, inside the guild. You could hear certain words about vampires and yokai being spoken with disdain, apathy at best and hatred at worst, though more often than not disgust was in there too.

“I wonder if this is why they didn’t want to come with us…” You sighed, eyeing the recruitment posters, and the mission board- both of which further proved your suspicions. The recruitment posters, as long as they were, only held spiel about humans and mages, though a few minor lines were dedicated to elves and fae. And the mission board- you could see several job posters that called for a mediator between them and a ‘troublesome person’.

Well. Though. It wasn’t really much of a surprise, was it? Nothing was perfect- and even this, as much as the guild, as much as ‘La Salutem’ seemed to represent the harmony between races, well. You discreetly slid down into your seat with a sigh. 

Then you jerked back up at the sight of Seokjin coming down the stairs.

“It’s not in here,” he announced as he arrived to you both, a furrow in his eyebrows the only sign of his frustration. “We talked about it, but it seems that the item in question wasn’t given to the guild.”

“B-But there has to be a clue, he mentioned in the recording he wanted it to be known,” you muttered, deep in thought as well.

“It might be with one of the books he kept preserved then donated to the city’s libraries,” Seokjin didn’t quite sigh so much as the words left his mouth in a weary undertone and a light scowl. To the side, you noticed Namjoon closing his mouth, his face twisting before he looked away. Well, no surprise he’s not enthusiastic about it either. Who would?

You tried your best not to groan, you really did. “... The city? The whole city?”

He sighed, evidently dreading what was coming himself. “Yes. And… it seems we have no choice but to search manually.”

… Fucking hell damnit.

»»————-　♔　————-««

When you all returned to the inn, to your relief it didn’t take much before the boys were all assembled again, even as your nerves rolled in your stomach- a common thing that happened every time you held a meeting in regards to the quest.

“Alexander’s journals,” Namjoon spoke up first among you, his notes and a copy of the city’s map laid down on the floor in between all of you. “The guild already spoke to us that they don’t have the journal, but that it should still be here in the city… Although Crossroads is quite large, and there are many libraries around…”

“We should split up then to have an easier time searching,” Yoongi suggested as he looked at the map. “It’d be a more efficient way to cover ground, too.” 

His eyes flickered to you. “... How should we divide the teams, Y/N?”

You stiffened as everyone’s attention fell on you, except for Seokjin who seemed more content examining the notes.

“M-Me?” You stammered. Jimin’s lips curled into an amused smile.

“Well, yes. You are our leader, after all.”

You bit the inside of your cheek at that. Jimin’s words technically, were true, as much as you didn’t want to admit it. It didn’t quite help that Yoongi and Jungkook supported your ‘leadership’, as much as you first considered them trustworthy. 

Actually, on second thought, Jungkook was understandable. Yoongi was the insane one for still holding you to your alleged position when he knew how unfitted you were. Even if he thought you had potential.

You sighed as you looked over the men in the room one more time.

If you had to pair them up, then it would have to… Well, it would have to be by who got along with who, right? Although you definitely couldn’t put Jimin or Taehyung together- you weren’t sure they’d actually get anything done, no matter how Taehyung seemed to actually put in effort, and how Jimin apologized before. No, you had to break them up- but with who? You racked your brain for an answer- recollections of the many times Jungkook and Jimin almost got into a fight flitting in your mind, as well as the way Seokjin seemed to hold everyone at an arms’ length. Then again, so did everyone else to each other, now that you think about it. Jungkook was the exception- after the events in Rivermouth, he seemed to open up a bit more, becoming closer with both Yoongi and Seokjin. Still…

“Namjoon and Jungkook,” you slowly started. Namjoon’s shoulders slumped minisculely, and Jungkook looked disappointed for a moment- but then the next moment they seemed the same again, making you wonder if you had just been seeing things for a moment. Ah well.

“Seokjin and Taehyung,” you continued. Now your decision was met with raised eyebrows- mainly from both Jimin and Taehyung.

“Lastly, Yoongi and Jimin.”

Yoongi only held your gaze for a moment, as if to ask you if you were sure- then he looked away, catching Jimin’s eyes, who frowned, though it soon changed into a smile.

“I have every faith in our leader’s words,” he almost purred. “If she says we’re to do this together, then together we will do this task.”

You had to smother the laughter that built in you at the momentary twitch of the eyebrow you noticed from Yoongi, though he curtly nodded afterwards all the same.

“That said,” you added, “If anyone, um, if anyone has anything they want to say or add, about the teams, we’ll, um, we can discuss it.” You inwardly cheered yourself at how you managed to stop yourself from turning your sentence into a question.

A moment of silence fell in the room as each person looked at the others. Still, it seemed that they’d accepted your suggestions. You looked at Taehyung last, as you hadn’t heard anything from him as you mentioned the pairings, but he only looked nonchalant.

“You won’t hear a word from me,” Taehyung remarked, before a small smile alighted his lips. “Though I hope you don’t regret it,” he snickered. You scrunched up your nose at him before rolling your eyes.

“You’ll be with Hoseok, then.”

You looked at Seokjin, surprised at his sudden words- for a moment you’d forgotten about Hoseok, who remained quiet all throughout the meeting. Meeting Hoseok’s eyes, you flushed, embarrassed at how you were reminded of his presence only because of Seokjin.

“Um, yes. Those are the teams,” you cleared your throat.

Your eyes darted over to Yoongi- who, to your relief read the plea for help as it was and continued the meeting. “Now, as for which pairs will be covering which parts of the city…”

»»————-　♔　————-««

And that was that. Surprisingly enough, as much trouble as there had been deciding which ones would pair up with which to search the city, the rest of the meeting turned out well- Seokjin and Yoongi leading it, planning out what to do.

… Okay, you had to admit, there was a moment after the meeting, when you came down for your nightly talk sessions with Yoongi and Jungkook, that you found yourself faced with a sudden, unexpected little problem.

When you stepped into the kitchen, it was to the usual sight. Tea on the table (brewed by Yoongi, of course), snacks (also prepared by Yoongi, who knew he was such a housewife? You didn’t even think it possible, the image of gentle, domestic Yoongi cooking so far from what you first saw him as, but here you were), an amused Yoongi- you paused, why was he amused? Did something happen?

Then you looked at your other companion and had a double take.

Jungkook sat on the other side of the table from where Yoongi was, body hunched and head slightly turned away from you- and it didn’t take you more than two steps closer to see the frown that practically defined his current mood.

You warily stepped around him, choosing to gingerly take a seat beside Yoongi instead, confused. If you knew why Jungkook was sporting a scowl you might have made some attempt to talk to him, but as it was, you didn’t have a single clue why. If you talked to him now- you had a feeling you’d do more harm than good. Instead, you looked over at Yoongi, who looked a step away from snickering. You could see the smirk that lingered on his face, though he covered it behind the cup of tea he held.

‘What happened,’ you mouthed to him. He raised an eyebrow at you, as if to say ‘you don’t know?’. You narrowed your eyes at him, taking a quick look at Jungkook who seemed fully immersed into the glaring contest he was holding with his tea, before turning back to Yoongi.

‘Would I be asking if I did?’

“Neither of you are subtle at all,” Jungkook finally broke the silence in the kitchen with a grumble, gaze finally leaving his tea, but still, to your confusion, not to you. “I’ll have you know I’m neither blind nor deaf.”

“Well,” you started. “Um, you seemed a little, um, preoccupied?” You fidgeted with your hands, worry and concern bubbling over. “Jungkook, um- I mean, you don’t have to say anything, if you don’t want to, I mean, but just- are you okay?”

“... Don’t concern yourself over me,” he muttered. “This is nothing.”

You paused, feeling a trickle of apprehension flow through you. “But... um. You… seem like you’re in a bad mood.”

“... You said we’d tour around the next town we stopped at, he’s probably upset over that.” Yoongi generously offered, something close to laughter evident in his voice. As if on cue, Jungkook scoffed loudly.

“I’m not upset.”

“Oh.” 

You immediately had to hide the grin on your face with your hands, then, or even show a hint that you were feeling anything close to amusement, but eventually the amusement faded and you felt bad that he was, well, disappointed.

“I… I chose those teams for a reason,” you explained, hoping that it’d lessen his frustration. “I-I mean, if I had my way, I’d want to be with you, you know,” you admitted. “But, um, I made the decision based on who could work with each other best while, um, while taking the others into account. So… please, I mean, I’m sorry… I didn’t want to make you feel like I’d forgotten about it or something.”

You looked down, your hands fidgeting with each other, awaiting his response- 

- and to your surprise, Jungkook only deflated, the scowl turning into a pout. Glaring eyes became downcast,  fingers loosening from the tight grip they had on the cup. For a moment or two he seemed to be torn, before he released a long sigh.

When he spoke, it was still with the pout on his face and you had to physically stop yourself from cooing, finding him and his reaction way. Too. Adorable. “No, I understand. If it happened that you and I were on the same team I would be too tempted to do nothing but what I wanted. Which, admittedly, has nothing to do with the quest.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it though. I was looking forward to going around the city with you,” he mumbled, before pausing, a flush covering his face. “Both. You b-both.”

You ducked your head, feeling a wave of warmth wash over you at his words. Still, it was hard to keep the red out of your cheeks, the giddy smile on your face too wide. 

The shit-eating grin on Yoongi’s face was what made you finally compose yourself though, already dreading the teasing comments you’d certainly be hearing in the future.

“Really? But, I mean, it’s not like we’ll be separated the whole time,” you finally said, your voice light and giggly. “I’ll still see you in the evenings.”

“I know,” he- did Jungkook just roll his eyes at you? You had to stifle your laughter then. “I told you, this is nothing. I’ll get over it.”

With that said, he turned away, but not before you could spot the pout that, if possible, became bigger.. 

“... maybe we can have a few hours the day we leave to have a little walk around?” You suggested, smile faltering afterwards as you corrected yourself. “The three of us, of course. I’d, um, I’d love to do that with you guys.”

You heard Yoongi let out a small half-laughter at your words- you were so, so tempted to kick him then. As it was, you glared at him instead. 

Still, you could hear him snicker as he nodded his head, adding, “Of course, you could also take notes of places you really want to visit together along the way.”

“Yeah,” you mumbled- and this time it was you who had to avert their gaze as he looked back at you two. “So, I-I mean. Um- we can spare some time, m-maybe after the day’s search? And- well, I-I guess not,” you amended your words, wincing at your habit of speaking before you thought about it, descending into a rambling mess now, not noticing Jungkook’s brooding turning into something softer. “Well, I was going to say that we could walk around and take a look at s-some of the shops, but, I mean, on second thought if it’s night time they’re probably gonna be closed and we need to have energy so if we spend most of it wandering around we-”

A huff of laughter, and then- you stilled as fingers gently tucked a loose hair back, Jungkook’s focus on you then making your thoughts just stop.

“Um-” you choked out. “I-I-I-w-what?”

“I told you, I’d get over it. I’m not a child.”

“But if you insist, I wouldn’t be declining. Though…  you should wear the hairpin more often,” he finally said, a hint of smugness visible in his eyes. “If you’re only walking around, it wouldn’t be hard to keep it from falling, now would it?”

“I-” you stammered, “I m-mean, I, I guess so.”

He grinned. “Then, as a symbol of our friendship, and as a reminder of your words,” he grinned. “Tomorrow, before you head out with Hoseok, wear it- please,” he added at the end, though it didn’t erase the self-satisfied look on his face.

“Uh.”

All traces of whatever bad mood he’d been in before was absent then as he finally leaned back, and, with a hum, drained his cup dry of tea in a single swoop.

“Well, I hate to admit it, but I’m feeling quite tired,” he cheerfully announced. “I’m going to retire to my bed now- goodnight, Y/N, Yoongi.”

Even as he left, you could only gaze after him, mouth still slight open at his sudden actions.

What even…

It was only when Yoongi finally burst into loud chuckles that you were released out of your stupor.

“Pfft!”

“... Yoongi!” You cried out, red covering your whole face as you gave in and finally smacked him on the shoulder. “Stop laughing!”

“‘Stop laughing’, she says,” he cracked up even further. “Did any of you even notice at all- no, of course not,” he grinned, before it turned into a smirk. “But you know, if you’d seen-"

“I’m not listening,” you half-yelled half-shrieked, letting your head fall to the table as you covered your ears and shut your eyes. “La la la la la, I’m not listening!”

You stubbornly kept it up, determined to wait it out and spare yourself the teasing- although you couldn’t deny, that, well, a part of you was enjoying this. In some way. As much as you were embarrassed, in the moment, it felt like- well. It felt like the two of you were like closer friends, ones you’d see in so many places, teasing each other even if it made the other person angry beyond hell.

… although this wasn’t quite a normal friendship based on normal things.

And that was that.

Still, even with all the preparations, there was still a part of you that worried whether you would succeed in finding the elusive journal. The city was huge, after all, and a bustling port- it wasn’t hard to think that maybe the book had already been taken. Then again, Namjoon said he was certain, and considering his track record, you took him at his word.

So even as the fourth day rolled in, you decided to keep your spirits up.

In a way, you had to admit that there was something nice about going around the city with Hoseok. Make no mistake, the people at Crossroads, upon learning about your status treated you the same way the villagers at Rivermouth did- with reverence and awe. Wherever you went, you could feel eyes trailing after your every move- something that, while it used to unnerve you greatly, faded a little with every day that you had to endure it. At least, to the point where you could dismiss it as part of the background, somewhat. It helped that there were so many travellers and visitors in the city, who were there only for a short time and thus didn’t know who you were, ironically granting you more peace of mind in a crowd than there was without.

It was the first time since you arrived that you were able to talk to Hoseok one on one, too. That you were able to study him.

Hoseok was… an enigma, in a different way from the others. Sweet, polite and kind- but then you’d notice the moment someone got too close to him, he would back away and reject their touch, one particular time even flinching away when someone hugged him, mistaking him for someone else. It reminded you of the time you met him, though now you knew better.

Spending time with him was preferable compared to everyone but Yoongi and Jungkook.

“Y/N, do you- uh, do you mind if we try that today?”

You looked over his shoulder at the stall he was pointing at, noting the delicious smell of food that wafted from it. Another thing that helped you relax around him- you soon found out that Hoseok, much like Jungkook, held a very short history of interaction with humans. On your second day, after a few cautious suggestions from you, you both decided to satiate your curiosities and take your time examining each part of the city as you went from library to library- which included sampling each of the dishes and snacks you would pass by.

You wouldn’t admit it so easily out loud, but… Hoseok had a certain pull that you couldn’t help but get dragged into. At first, the atmosphere between the two of you was tense, all the way; he put nearly a few feet of distance at most, a foot at least between the two of you at all times, he remained quiet unless spoken to, and even then his words were short. It was almost as if you were with a ghost, but… 

“Hoseok!” You stood firm in your ground then, although the way your heart beat ever so fast, so nervously, easily gave you away. “Can you listen to me for a moment?”

“Uhm.” If the wide eyed stare wasn’t enough, the way he quickly averted his eyes gave away how close he was to bolting. At this point, even you could tell that he was avoiding you- in a weird, sort of way. Actually, it was probably easier for you to notice that he was avoiding you, because the subtle way he’d leave the area whenever you arrived, staying as quiet as possible unless spoken to, his words short and faint, well, you had firsthand experience with all of that.

“I just wanted to tell you something, please,” you lowered your voice, aiming for something soft and easy on the ears. To your endless relief then, he slowly, hesitantly, but all the same he nodded his head.

“Hoseok… do you, um,” you paused for a moment, trying to gather the courage. “It’s okay to, um, to talk to me? I mean-” you flushed. “I just, did I do anything to make you feel uncomfortable? We’re working together on this quest, and, just, um, I don’t want you to feel like you have to- um, like you have to keep so far away from me at all times.”

“I also… I mean, I also want to hear about what you think,” you mumbled out the last parts of your small speech, gaze trained on the ground as you nervously awaited his reply. Then you cringed. “No, sorry, um, you don’t have to if you don’t want to and I’m sorry for being pushy-”

“No!” Your head snapped up in surprise as you met his panicked eyes, and the two of you stared at each other, both shocked and nervous.

“Are you sure-”

“I should be-”

The two of you stopped again as you spoke at the same time, a deeper flush covering both of your cheeks. Though, you couldn’t help but giggle a little at the situation. Hoseok’s shoulders slumped forward, and you gave him a sympathetic smile.

“I...I’ll try,” you eventually heard him mumble. You grinned at him; Hoseok averted his gaze yet again, but you could still see the small tug at his lips.

“That’s all I ask for.”

True to his word, you had an easier time communicating with Hoseok then. What was a few feet of distance eventually reduced to walking side by side, and when you talked you didn’t seem like someone just talking to herself like a crazy person- well. You hoped you didn’t.

It always helped that Hoseok had a nice voice that you liked hearing.

“Sure,” you smiled. “I’ll just wait here, then.”

Currently the two of you had just about explored most parts of the city, at least the part assigned to the two of you. While you weren’t sure, you hoped at least that one pair would make progress in the search- but until then, you had to keep looking.

“Where do we go now, though…” You muttered to yourself as you examined the map in your hands.

“Miss Y/N?”

You glanced up at the voice. A familiar face greeted your eyes- your smile became a little strained as you recognized the person speaking to you. “Hello. You’re- uh, the one from the inn a few days ago, right? Abby?”

He chuckled at you. “‘Abby’... That’s really what they told you, huh? Then again, it is a nickname of mine… yes, I am. Glad to know I’m not that forgettable.”

“I don’t think I could forget someone who spilled soup on me... no offense meant, though,” you mumbled, cheeks reddening at the last part. He only laughed in response. 

“Yes, well, I can get wild when drunk… I apologize for that. Enough about me, though. I didn’t expect to see you again.”

“We’re-” You paused, thinking over your words. “We’re staying here for a while. Crossroads is pretty famous. There’s a lot to see and visit.”

He seemed pleased at that, a grin appearing on his face. “It is, isn’t it? Not only is it a central focus of trade, it has a long history too,” he boasted. “It’s one of the best cities in the kingdom.”

You smiled a little more genuinely at the sparkle in his eyes as he talked about the city.

“Which places have you already visited? Wait- actually, where’s your guide? I want to ask him if there are spots you haven’t visited yet,” he suddenly said.

Guides? … You hadn’t seen any, and you didn’t think there would be any…

“We’re just- um, we’re just actually walking around by ourselves,” you admitted. “I mean, if we had a guide, we’d probably have to set like- a time limit for every place, right? I like to, um, take my time.”

“You like to immerse in the city?” You hesitantly nodded. “You’ll miss out on a lot if you go just by yourselves, though…”

“Oh, I know! Maybe I can help. Why don’t I be your guide?” He suggested, grinning at you. “I never did get to formally ask for your forgiveness, for the other night.”

You fell silent.. 

“Ah, sorry,” he said, seeing your face turn somewhat wary. “Too sudden?”

You flushed. “Oh no, just…”

While the quest wasn’t really a secret, the finer details of it was. You weren’t sure if it was okay to bring in a stranger’s help.

“I’m- um, I’m not sure right now... we kind of already have plans for today,” you cautiously answered. It was best to discuss this first with Yoongi and the others, right? “How about tomorrow?”

He frowned, disappointment evident on his face. “I guess… Though, I’m supposed to leave in two days for work….”

“Oh,” you mumbled.

“Tomorrow, right? Consider it, okay? I could be a big help,” he offered again. “I’m a native to this city, after all. Born and raised here.”

You perked up at his words- though still unsure. Yoongi’s words resounded in your mind- ‘Be wary of everyone, you aren’t familiar much with anything here and it’s easy to trick you.’

“... Are you- um, are you familiar with Alexander?” You eventually asked, deciding on a middle ground- 

“Alexander, the hero? Of course! I know more about him than anyone here,” he jovially grinned. You released a sigh of relief at that. It wasn’t like any of you had been making progress on your own so far, so…

“Um- If it’s alright, can you tell us about him, then? Just for a while.”

“Sure- oh wait, I’ll just finish up my purchase. Be back in a bit.” And with that he delved back into the crowd, though you could see his back enter a shop nearby.

You pocketed the map in your hands, sighing. That… while you were hopeful at the sign of help, you were still unsure- you also felt it could have gone better too.

The smell of noodles under your nose brought your focus back- you looked down, then to the side- meeting Hoseok’s worried gaze. You blinked- and then reacted.

“Uh- sorry, Hoseok,” you flushed. “How long have you been standing there?”

“I just arrived a few seconds ago,” he reassured you, before peering up at you with an odd look in his eyes. “That said… who were you talking to just now?”

“Oh,” you tensed up. “That- someone I bumped into at the pub when we first arrived. It- um, it turns out that he knows a lot about the city, including, um, Alexander, and we weren’t making progress, so…” You faltered.”I mean, he offered to help as an apology? And I thought, again, it’s not like we’ve made much progress so far- not that we haven’t just been walking around, and it’s not like I just took his offer, just talking for a bit- I mean, we’ve covered a lot of the city by now and I’m having fun too, although I know this isn’t really for fun but you know what I mean and oh god I’m so sorry I’m just rambling right now.”

You fell silent, feeling the urge to cover your face with your hands, your face red- though unable to do so as you were holding food. You didn’t dare look up- only giving Hoseok a tentative glance when he hesitantly patted you on the back.

“That’s good news then, right? I mean, if he has information about the man that we don’t, it should help us.”

“That- yeah.” You hardly dared to react too much in fear that he would pull his hands away. For all that he was a dragon and they were assumed to be monstrously strong, Hoseok was gentle as he comforted you. In fact, his touch was light on your back- barely even touching you.

The two of you stayed like that for a few moments, until you saw the man come back, a noticeable bulge in his bag that wasn’t there before. He raised an eyebrow at the two of you- Hoseok withdrew his hands, his face reddening as much as yours did.

“Companion of yours?” He asked as he drew near.

“Um- yeah.” You dithered introducing Hoseok him- should you? It would be impolite, right? But for some reason, you could tell that Hoseok was wary of him. Still, before you could speak up again, Hoseok coughed, nodding at the man, a small, polite smile on his face. 

“Please, just call me Hoseok.” 

»»————-　♔　————-««

“Abby?” Namjoon repeated your words later that night, a slight frown appearing on his face. You looked up at him, a touch nervous as your hands fidgeted with the food on your plate.

“Um- yeah. Remember, the guy I bumped into our first night here? Red hair, silver badge with angel wings on his chest? We met him again earlier, and he said he had information about Alexander…” You trailed off near the end as Namjoon’s eyebrows remained furrowed- and you wondered what he was thinking about. 

“Are you- um, I didn’t say anything about the quest, if that’s what you were worried about,” you offered. “I just told him we were travellers who got interested in Alexander and his journals, since he’s someone famous in this city.”

“Oh- no, I mean,” Namjoon hesitated. “It- it’s nothing.”

“... It is alright, isn’t it?” You looked up, meeting Yoongi’s eyes.

Dinner at Crossroads for the time consisted of only you, Namjoon, Seokjin, Yoongi and Jungkook- you all agreed that you had to meet up nightly to discuss the efforts of the search, if only to conserve efforts. Still, it didn’t take much for you to notice how uncomfortable Seokjin and Yoongi were with the rowdy crowds ever present in the pub.

Currently you retold to them your encounter with Abby. It seemed to be a bit of a saving grace, really, as no one had had any luck so far. 

Seokjin and Taehyung had stuck to the plan quite neatly- you were amused to confirm that even Taehyung bent under Seokjin’s cold gaze, although from what you could tell he remained playful all the way. They followed and checked every place assigned to them in an orderly manner. Seokjin admitted in a quiet voice that Taehyung charmed the librarians and shop owners into helping them, but that they had no progress. No one had even heard of a journal in Alexander’s name, nor had they seen any book that matched its description.

The less said about Jimin and Yoongi, the better. Yoongi and Seokjin were the only ones that could Jimin in check so far, you noticed, so you put Yoongi and him together- but, hearing about their experiences, you realized that in the same line of thinking you set Yoongi up to be his glorified babysitter.

Namjoon and Jungkook, lastly seemed to be like you and Hoseok- simultaneously touring around while checking the appointed locations to them. Jungkook seemed to take a shine to Namjoon too, excitedly asking him about anything that he didn’t understand. Namjoon in turn seemed to take his questions in stride as he answered them as best as he could. 

Honestly, a part of you felt more than happy seeing Jungkook branch out, gaining a friend… or something like that in Namjoon. Even in your nightly chats together, all he could speak about was the little things he’d learnt about, and what he wanted to share with you. Although you yourself couldn’t stand to be in Namjoon’s presence because of the- well. You were at least happy for him. Them.

Still, they didn’t have any information either.

“If you’re sure of what you saw, then it should be,” Yoongi spoke up. When you looked at him with confusion, he explained. “A badge with angel wings means they’re part of the Silver Vanguard.”

“Silver Vanguard?” 

“It refers to an elite unit in La Salutem.” This time, you were surprised to hear Seokjin’s voice. When you looked at him, though, he seemed to be focused on his food, even as he spoke. “They only allow warriors who have a long history of merits to join. And if the person that you met really is a part of it, then... he might be trustworthy,” he finally said. “Still, remain on guard.”

“Wow, Y/N, way to go!” Jungkook grinned. “That’s more progress than any of us have done so far.”

“So it’s alright then, right?” You asked once more. Yoongi nodded. Jungkook bumped your shoulder in support- and even Seokjin seemed to quietly give his approval.

None of you quite noticed the lingering frown on Namjoon’s face.

»»————-　♔　————-««

The sun, painted in red and orange currently made a brilliant backdrop from where you were. Your feet hurt- but at least you were sitting down at the moment. The three of you were now at the park near the Fiendfyre ruins, after a day of touring with Abbadon (you had to ask him his name, you couldn’t keep calling him Abby after all no matter how he didn’t seem to mind it) as he immersed both you and Hoseok in the city’s history.

“You know a lot about the war, and the guild,” Hoseok quietly commented once, after Abbadon went into a rant about how it affected the trade in the city. Abbadon perked up at his words.

“So you speak!” He joked, before assuming a serious expression. “To answer your question, I’m a survivor of the war. There was an attack- my family didn’t survive, but... I was saved by La Salutem. They raised me.”

“You were?” He asked, his taut shoulders relaxing by a fraction, something you noted with relief.

You weren’t quite blind to the tension that existed between the two. For some reason, both were a touch, well, wary, about the other person, although it was mostly Hoseok. Whenever Abbadon wasn’t looking, from your position in the back you could see Hoseok give the other man glances, and then frown, something that happened more often as the day continued. With Abbadon’s answer now, though, he seemed to let go of some of his suspicions.

“Yeah. Trained me, too. And I got offered a place in their divisions right after the war ended,” Abbadon grinned.

“You must have done a lot of missions then,” you murmured. “Looking at your badge,” you explained. Abbadon chuckled. 

“So you’re looking for his journal?” Abbadon asked, a curious look on his face. “Huh. I didn’t think that was even real.”

“Yeah, well…” You flushed. “He seems like a really interesting guy, so.”

“True, true,” he agreed, before sighing. “Sorry I wasn’t much help in the end.”

“Oh, please!” You waved your hand, not wanting him to feel bad. “It’s not like our research was anything serious- besides, um, what matters is that we had a lot of fun today, right?”

For a moment your gaze flitted over to Hoseok who had been approached by a few children. From where you were, you could see him try to politely reject the kids- the keyword being try. They didn’t exactly give him the chance to make good on his answer as they pulled him to play.

Not that Hoseok seemed to mind it too much anyway, considering the smile on his face.

“If you’re curious about Alexander and his relics, then you should visit the castle ruins,” Abbadon told the two of you. “It’s a hidden place, known only to the city residents- a well-kept secret of ours.”

“A secret?” You echoed. “Why?”

“Why not?” He countered, before grinning. “Well, the reason is that there are bad memories attached to the place, so few people ever come there. Not to mention it’s falling apart, too, so it’s dangerous. Those that do are mostly kids curious about the ‘forbidden area’.”

“Fiendfyre, the castle of the late kings, and Blackburn, where the dragon’s fortress used to be.”

“Ah yes, he seems to be having a lot of fun, isn’t he?” Abbadon chuckled. “Still, they should be careful though, the ruins here are-”

“No!”

You suddenly gasped- some of the children playing close to you two had wandered too close to the ruins, tagging and pushing each other, when one of them tripped on the wall- causing a part of it to collapse. It fell straight down, and you could feel your heart beat in a frenzy-

But then dust cleared and there stood Hoseok, an arm propping up the huge rock as he shielded the children under him.

You released a shaky sigh of breath.

“Oh god, that was close,” you muttered, your heart still beating fast, before you turned to your companion. “Did you-”

He was staring straight at Hoseok, with an unreadable look in his eyes.

“Abbadon?” You hesitantly asked. 

“... I knew it. He’s a dragon, isn’t he? And that face… the son of the late king?” He finally said after a long while, and while his sentence ended in a question, the tone of his voice was a statement. You froze, and then you were about to refute his claim-

“Oh, don’t worry,” Abbadon smiled at you. “I’m not the type to talk or gossip with other people.”

You remained quiet, your nerves still strung high. Abbadon chuckled uneasily, a sheepish smile appearing on his lips.

“I won’t! I swear on my badge,” he promised you, a lighthearted air around him now. “That said, you should be careful though. Dragons- people around here have a complicated view of them, you know? Especially considering his status.”

“... I do,” you hesitantly replied. “I’m just surprised you easily realized it.”

He chortled. “Yes, well, in my job it’s an imperative to assess our surroundings, to know if we encounter an enemy or a friend. I just had this feeling when we met and I saw him- the super strength just confirmed it. Still, it’s something special, isn’t it?”

Your gaze returned to Hoseok’s figure, the bright smile contrasting with the red flush on his face as the two children and their mother thanked him profusely. 

True, you’d only recently got to know him better- only recently had you been able to take a look past the first set of walls he’d built around him, but even with the little that you’d seen so far...

“...Yeah, it is,” you smiled warmly. “He’s someone special.”

“Looks like it’ll be a while before they’re done playing, though,” Abbadon commented, frowning a little. “We still have one more memorial of Alexander’s that might help you, if you wanna take a look.”

“Though it’s getting dark soon…”

You hesitated, your eyes darting between Hoseok, the loud laughter of the children, then the darkening sky…

… It was fine, right? Abbadon had proven to be trustworthy, so far. It was the last option you could have at the moment- and tomorrow he’d be gone, while you and the others would have to stay, until at least you could get another clue about what to do next.

“... Okay,” you agreed, smiling at him. “Lead the way, please”

“Gladly,” he smiled. “It’ll just take a minute, I promise.”

You waved to Hoseok- but he remained busy, and you wondered if he’d even see you, the children asking him to play with them- you hurried your footsteps when you noticed your guide almost disappearing from view.

“W-Wait up!” You called, running after him- Abbadon’s figure almost disappearing amongst the trees. You frowned as he consistently remained just on the edge of your sight. What…?

When you came to, you realized that you were in a small clearing. “... Abbadon? Hello?” Your heart beat fast in your chest- a premonition, but then-

Your vision went black.

»»————-　♔　————-««

You woke up to coldness, clasped tightly around your limbs- the chill bitingly spreading across your limbs. When your eyes opened, for a few moments you could only groan- your memories and thoughts too jumbled to make sense of. Still, as you slowly came to, you realized one thing-

You were bound and chained to a wall.

As soon as the realization hit you, you instinctively jerked in horror and panic, the fear within you rising as the metal chains harshly kept you captive. You looked around again in panic- feeling the darkness seemingly close in on you, making you feel even more terrified-

“Y/N!”

You stilled, tears in your eyes. “... Hoseok?”

When you looked across you again, you finally made out the outline of Hoseok’s figure- and then you gasped.

If you thought your current situation was bad enough, Hoseok’s was way worse. Chains adorned almost every part of his body- from his feet, to his neck- even some sort of helmet cuff wrapped around his head. His hands and feet were similarly bound to his back, in a way that prevented him from moving at all, and you had no doubt that it was hard for him to even breathe, with how tight they were cuffed on him.

But it was the metal covering his face that was the worst of it.

“What…? Why are you chained up…?”

He smiled bitterly- or, at least you think he did. “To keep me from transforming. I think... “ For a moment he faltered, looking away, but then he continued. “I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I suspected it, but I wasn’t sure, and now you’re in danger.”

“‘All your fault’?” You repeated, confused and worried. “What do you- what does that mean?”

“It means that he’s aware of his sin.”

You fully flinched at the sudden voice that echoed through the walls of (what you were now sure to be) the dungeon. You glanced to the side, where the voice came from- freezing in surprise as the person revealed themselves.

“Abbadon?” You gaped, your mind scrambling to keep up. “You- why?”

The familiar figure of who you thought had been a friend and a guide- Abbadon looked at you with a slight smile on his face. “Hello, missy.”

“I-I thought- what’s going on,” you faltered. “Why are you doing this?”

“You don’t know?” He mused, coming closer to you. You flinched back when his hand drew close, a shiver running through you when he patted you on the head.

When you failed to answer, he let his hand fall away- staring at you.

“... You’re a part of La Salutem, aren’t you?” You eventually said. “This isn’t what the guild stands for, I’m sure.”

“Oh, you thought I was part of that stuffy old guild?” Abbadon giggled- your blood ran cold at the insinuations in his words. “Take a closer look, missy. These aren’t angel wings- these are dragon bones.”

“I- dragon bones?” You choked out. “What…”

“... You really are confusing, you know?” He eventually shook his head idly, intrigue on his face. “Maybe I should start with you first, cut you open, see how you can remain so deceptively naive.”

Hoseok suddenly growled- you stared at him in wide-eyed surprise, surprised to see this new side of him. “Let her go. She doesn’t know anything about it,” he snapped.

Abbadon only laughed. “Oh, I knew it! I knew there was something wrong- if she knew, she definitely wouldn’t be so lenient on you for even existing,” he chortled. You shivered at the tone of his voice- although you felt the beginnings of rage bubble up in you at his words.

“What do you mean by that?” 

“Lying before us in chains, is Prince Hoseok of the dragons,” he announced, a gleeful little smile on his face.

“I already knew who he was when I met him,” you frowned, still confused. He didn’t seem like he had a problem back then, so what…? “Not that any of it made me wary of him.”

“But you don’t know exactly why dragons are the vilest creatures, do you? There’s a reason they stay in their dirty little hovels,” Abbadon smiles, a nasty little thing that told you for some reason he believed he had information that would make you change your view. “Then again, it’s where they belong after all.”

“Really,” you narrowed your eyes at him. “And that reason’s what?”

“You’re evidently knowledgeable about the war. But nobody told you about the massacre, did they?”

“There was no massa-”

“Yes, there was. The massacre.” Abbadon’s voice was soft, yet deadly- a far away look in his eyes. “Near the war, the dragons were losing. As they should have been. After pillaging and conquering for so long, every rule of tyranny must come to an end. Good always triumphs evil, you see?”

“Mages and humans, together, on the battlefield, saving lives, not to mention elves and fae… I only watched memories of it, but, god, it must have been a sight to witness,” he sighed wistfully. “The rest of the other races stayed neutral or sold themselves out like whores- selfish cowards.”

“But it wasn’t enough, you know?” He eventually said, sighing as he walked over to Hoseok, looking down at him with sheer hatred in his eyes. He harshly struck him with the heel of his boot- smiling when Hoseok let out a muffled cry of pain. “Dragons are vile,” thwack! “selfish,” thwack! “greedy,” thwack! “filthy beasts.”

By the end of it Hoseok lied on the floor, unable to even speak as he curled in pain.

“Around their empire, the dragons had so many cities under them- a few of them composed from other races, but most of them human,” he said, still smiling, even as the resentment remained in his eyes. The look on his face kept you quiet- frozen in fear.

“Three days. Three days was all it would have taken to storm their dirty little hole,” he spat. “But the dragons, heartless as they were, loathed the thought of anyone taking away what they considered ‘theirs’.”

“So they burned down every city.”

Only the sound of breathing remained unnaturally loud- from who, you wondered. Was it you? It didn’t feel like it- you didn’t feel like you were breathing.

“The ruler of the dragons decided if they couldn’t have their empires then no one could have them,” Abbadon continued, every word smooth and hypnotizing even as he hissed them out. “Three days, and every city was burned. The amount of lives lost then- it was catastrophic. Not to mention how they must have felt. Three days, and dragons filled the sky, flames everywhere and bloodshed covering every area. Though they were all eventually eventually executed, it still doesn’t come close to repaying what they did.”

You didn’t notice Hoseok choke out a cry at his words, tears forming in his eyes. Abbadon only continued, eyes dull with pain and yet sharp with recollection at the same time.

“My family was one of those trapped, you know. I was only saved because I had to hunt animals then- I didn’t even find their remains, days after. All that remained was ashes all around.”

“The guild took me in, tried to give me a new life, but I said no. I only knew how to hunt animals- and even now, I still do my job. After all, don’t I have one in chains right now!?” He suddenly laughed, wild hatred present. “And to think! That I have the previous King’s son!”

“Why, I have the glory of putting an end to this evil bloodline,” he giggled. You wanted to throw up.

He turned around- you couldn’t quite keep yourself from biting your lip when he drew close.

“Knowing all that, doesn’t it make you regret ever standing up for it?” He sighed again.

“... So?” You eventually rasped out. “What does that have to do with Hoseok?”

He frowned. You continued, gritting your teeth.

“What does that have to do with him? So what if he’s that King’s son? That doesn’t mean that Hoseok is just like him!”

“Of course it does!” He spat at you, before calming down again. “No, no, I see now. You’ve spent too much time with it. It corrupted you. No matter, no matter… I’m not the type of person to kill someone innocent and manipulated by dragons to boot. I’ll let you go, on one condition,” he says, the smile remaining on his face. “I want you to kill it.”

“... What?” You stared at him in horrified disbelief. Still, he keeped smiling- manic, wild.

“If you won’t kill it, then I will. I’ll make sure to dispose of you after too,” he nonchalantly added, before visibly rethinking over his words. “Actually, nevermind. I think it’d be more fun to torture it.”

You felt bile rise up in your throat.

“If you’re really friends with this beast,” he hummed cheerfully, his tone becoming twisted as he gestured to Hoseok dramatically, “well, won’t you put it out of future misery then? I’ll even spare you, for finally coming to your senses.” He grinned. “Or- you could try to escape. But trust me, you’ll regret not accepting my deal.”

“Like hell I-!”

“Y/N,” Hoseok’s whimper was both a warning and a plea. You bit the inside of your cheek angrily- glaring instead at Abbadon who only gleefully smiled at your expression. 

When you saw his smile, you snapped.

“You sick bastard, I hope you rot in hell, because that’s where murderers like you belong!”

“Y/N!”

You trembled from the force of the blow- a bright, red mark showing on your cheek as Abbadon’s smile turned dark. Behind him, Hoseok’s growl was loud, fury present in the deep rumble on his voice.

“Cheeky little thing,” Abbadon sighed, swiftly moving away from you as you struggled in your chains to claw him up. “Really. Never would’ve thought you to be this rude too, when we met. No matter, I’m not that petty.”

Backing up, he aimed a blow at your stomach, and then at your head- you cried out in pain again, this time too weak to even fight back. Your sense dulled- you could barely make out anything. For a moment, all you could hear and feel was the thud of your heartbeat-

Moments later, when you felt a rush of clarity in your brain, you were shivering on the floor, weak, injured- but unshackled.

In front of you was a sharp knife.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes, Missy. If your dragon isn’t dead by then, you can watch me as I punish it.” Abbadon’s voice echoed through the hallway. “Or you could join me, if you finally see the light.”

Thud

Thud

Thud

For a few moments you could only lie there in pain, groans leaving you, your heartbeat the only thing your mind could hold onto.

It was- hard to think. Hard to- feel. Brief flashes of pain flared up in your body, and you felt as if you would throw up- 

But then your blurry eyes met Hoseok’s and the situation sunk in.

Why were you lying down? 

You had to- you had to get up. 

You had to get up- do something-

Your stomach hurt so much- and your head, god, your vision was still shaky, your hearing faint. Hoseok’s words barely registered in your brain. You didn’t even understand what he was saying. 

But, you slowly thought, your legs weren’t injured. Neither were your arms.

You took a deep breath- whimpering in pain as you slowly got to your knees- and then to your feet.

Across you, Hoseok remained silent, still. No, no, no… that was bad. That was bad, right? Hoseok couldn’t- he had to keep going.

You took a step forward, your steps shaky- but still you continued. Think. Think. You had to get him out the chains somehow- find a way to free him, so you could escape together.

You forced yourself to go forward, your legs trembling as you reached him.

From where you were, you could see Hoseok’s eyes flutter open weakly. Unfocused- before they fell on you. Good, that was good, he was still conscious, you two still had hope. Now back to your main problem.

“... elf.”

You stared at the chains, still thinking. How, how how how? How were you going to get it off him?

“Y/N,” Hoseok whispered your name. You examined the chains- thick, metal, it was solid and obviously wouldn’t easily melt or break. Okay. Okay, so you had to look for another way.

“Y/N!” Hoseok’s yell was more of a groan- one that immediately took a toll on him as he coughed and hacked after. You immediately flinched, tearing up, even as your hands hovering uselessly above him as you soothed circles on his back.

“Sorry! Sorry- I’ll get you out, don’t worry, just…” You trailed off, frustrated with yourself. Hoseok caught one of your hands as you grabbed one of the chains again.

“Y/N, just go without me. Save yourself.”

The chain in your hand fell to the ground.

“Don’t say that,” you said, your voice calm, even as your hands quivered. “That’s not a good joke.”

“I-It’s not a joke.” Hoseok raised a hand to wipe away the tears forming in your eyes- or, at least he wanted to. Instead the bite of the metal around his arms kept him grounded. “Between the two of us, you’re much more needed. You should escape while you have the chance.”

You dryly laughed, the tears forming faster now. 

“What if I don’t want to?” 

“Think about the quest, Y/N. Give up on me.”

“And I told you,” you seethed. “I won’t. So stop asking. Actually, shouldn’t we talk about what he said? Why didn’t you defend yourself?” You snapped, before deflating. “Is… is what he said before the reason why you wouldn’t let anyone get close to you in any way?”

The two of you lay there for a moment then- you, awaiting his response, even as you stubbornly continued your task to free him and Hoseok stubbornly avoided your gaze. It was only when you took his hands in your own, inspecting the chains around his wrists that you realized he was shaking.

"... I'm just scared," he finally whispered. "I didn’t want you to get close to me. I didn’t want to get your hopes up for nothing. Because it’s instinct for us to shift, I feel like if I show even a fucking hint of this curse, I'll be proving everyone right... that I'm a monster just like him. I could hurt you easily even when I don’t want to. I just..."

Tears formed in his eyes and for once, you could see the resignation in his eyes. You stopped. "If there’s anything I know, it’s that I’m not someone people want to be near. Even if I seem nice, that doesn’t change the fact that I could easily kill at the same time… when we met, you seemed so nice and I wanted to be friends with you, but… I became scared that eventually you’d realize what they know. That afterwards, you’d be afraid of me too."

"But that's it. I'm not afraid,” you frustratedly told him, as the tears fell from your eyes, feeling a plethora of emotions inside you at his words. "Why would I be?"

“You heard it from him. I’m a mons-”

“Stop letting other people's words define you!”

For a moment it felt hard to breathe- rage and sorrow mixing in you as your emotions pushed you over the edge.

“You won't give yourself a chance because you just accept what other people say about you, like they know who you are, but you know what? Even if we’ve only been together for three weeks, even if I only got to actually spend time with you for only three days, the Hoseok I’ve seen so far isn't anything like that!”

“You hate yourself because you believe that you deserve only the worst, but please. I believe in you. I believe in the Hoseok that's kind and gentle, the one that smiles just from being able to make someone happy, the one that cries so easily because they read something sad, wearing his heart on his fucking sleeve, never even being able to lie because he knows how lies can hurt. The one that's honorable, and will fight for what's right. Being a dragon doesn't mean you aren't any of these things, it just means you have powers that others don't have. Being his son doesn’t mean you’re a carbon copy of him either. What you do with those powers- that's what makes you who you are.”

For a moment, after your rant, you breathed in slowly, carefully, all of a sudden feeling as though there was not quite enough air in the room. Still, you continued- and as your hands clutched your clothes, you felt something in your pockets. When you brought the item out-

You grinned wildly, for the first time since you woke up.

The Key of Eden fit snugly in your hand. Looking down, complicated as it was you could see the little keyholes that connected each chain, each one soon becoming undone as you pressed the key inside. With each chain that fell apart, you began to breathe easier. It was only when the last three remained that you began to speak again, determination hardening your voice.

“Even if the whole world says you're evil, Hoseok, how can you expect me to believe them when the whole time we've been together you've only been so far away from it?”

Clang

“Thinking it’s no good even before you try, giving up and just accepting their words and treating it as if it’s the truth…!”

Clang

As the second to last chain was unlocked, you looked him in the eye- ignoring how he stiffened under your hold.

“For once I want you to see yourself as someone that deserves to be heard, instead of something irredeemable.”

You reached down to free the last chain-

“I see you didn’t take my advice.”

-and found yourself gasping as your arms were harshly locked together, your body turned around. Abbadon- his face containing pity for you, never before had you wanted to strangle someone so badly- used one hand to keep you from doing anything. 

You stilled when you saw the knife in his hand.

“While I wanted to give you a chance… It’s a pity,” he idly remarked. “I’ll make sure you have a nice view.”

You instinctively kicked behind you at his words- the sharp clang of the knife as it fell to the ground mixed with Abbadon’s pained yell, one that felt like music to your ears- a split second was all it took before you lunged for the knife and leapt away from him in turn.

When he got up, snarling, you were already on the other side of the room.

“Come now,” he said even as his teeth were gritted into the semblance of a smile. “Give me the knife.”

“I won’t let you hurt him,” your voice was firm- even if your throat rasped.

“But then who’ll stop me from hurting you?”

Your breath caught in your throat- you dived to the side, his hands almost catching the edges of your dress before you scrambled away, feeling behind you for anything- Hoseok’s alarmed yell as he tried to help you but found himself restrained.

And then you felt it. The click of a door. Your eyes widened in surprise- then you grinned triumphantly at him.

“I guess I found my answer,” you taunted him. To your surprise, he only laughed.

“Sure, missy! Take a look behind you, it’ll surely help you escape- from life, that is,” he mocked.

You took another step behind you as you looked back- then felt your knees get weak.

All this time, you hadn’t considered just where the two of you might be. After all, you were much more concerned with freeing yourselves. But now, as you looked over what had to be more than a hundred meters of drop, you wished you did, if only to contemplate how you would be escaping.

You were in Blackburn, the tower’s entrance behind you, lying several hundred feet above the ground- you could see miles and miles of the surrounding forest and mountains.

“I thought it would be fitting, to kill it in its own house. That said, you have two options,” Abbadon said, his voice calm again. “Either take a step into Death’s clutches, or embrace Life. What will it be?”

“My companions are looking for us. They’ll be here any moment. Even if you kill us, you’ll still be caught in the end.” Your mind raced with excuses, words, anything that you could use to threaten him- yet he only laughed.

“But you both will still be dead. It,” he jabbed a finger at Hoseok, who glared at him, “will be dead, and that’s all that matters to me. Besides, are you even sure they’ll be coming? This isn’t the easiest place to find, you know.”

“If I fall, Hoseok will save me. Or have you forgotten dragons can fly?”

“Will it? I don’t think it’s ever even shifted,” he scoffed. “Which is a good thing, really. I would’ve shot it straight if it did. But no, if not just the chains sapping away its magic, then the lack of unease he has with the chains should tell you he’s never even tried shifting. How else could it tolerate the chains? If it tried now- I'd give it 4 seconds before it shifts back.”

Abbadon slowly smiled again. “So, how will you be taking your chances now?”

It was obvious that Abbadon took Hoseok as nothing but an ant, not a threat, just something so worn down that he wouldn’t fight back, even if he was freed. With how much he seemed as if he’d given up earlier, the weak, sluggish movements, and the hatred he had for being who he was- you weren’t surprised, but still, you hated it all the same.

Your heart beat in your chest then- fast, hurried. Inside you, you could only feel fear, the situation being as it was-

-but then you met Hoseok’s eyes. 

For once, they weren’t swimming in self-martyrdom or pity- but rather, in determination. You could see the support in his eyes, the decision he’d made. Trust me, he seemed to tell you.

Whatever fear you had then- it dissolved. 

“Neither,” you spoke up, your gaze firm as you looked Hoseok in the eyes and smiled. Abbadon frowned, his eyebrows furrowed. “I’m not taking chances, because I know he’ll save me.” 

Saying so, you took a step off the edge- and let yourself fall.

Thud

Thud

Thud-

"-Hoseok!" You screamed as you descended. 

When you opened your eyes, instantly a burst of colors surrounded you, the grey walls of the tower being replaced by the vibrant scenery- the sky in itself being a mix of blue and white, with the vivid greenery of what had to be the forest-

The wind rushed around you, harsh, fierce, and you felt the urge to shut your eyes out of fear, but you kept them open, even if your sight blurred with tears. For a second, nothing- then-

You could faintly see the top of the tower collapse, dust and debris flying everywhere, and then a large mass of something diving after you. 

A wheeze escaped you as leathery wings wrapped themselves around you. Heat, warmth that felt addicting to feel after the chill of the dungeons enveloped you, and for a few moments all other senses dulled. Though this time, it wasn’t from any outside force, but rather from the weeping sense of relief of finally being safe, the adrenaline keeping you hyper aware even now that the danger was gone, the added drop in altitude making your heart beat fast, too fast for your liking-

And then a flash of light- and you were wrapped securely in his arms. In Hoseok's arms. You held  on to him tightly- and, even with your heartbeat pounding away at your ears you could finally feel the wind around you two settle down, and the gentle flap of what had to be his wings.

You shivered- Hoseok pulled you closer. Close and closer and you were close enough to smell the faint scent of smoke lingering on his clothes, and then- 

Your feet touched stable ground. Your legs still trembling from the recent, you almost stumbled forward when you let go of him, but Hoseok only held you in turn- firm, gentle, and so you remained safe.

For a few seconds, you could only greedily take in gulps of air, your form still shivering, disregarding everything else. Then- you disentangled yourself from Hoseok, even as your hold on each other’s hands remained.

"You… you saved me," was all you could say.  "I knew you would. Thank you for saving me."

Hoseok looked at you, an unreadable expression on his face."Y/N, I-"

"Y/N! Hoseok!”

You looked past Hoseok’s shoulder- the sound of footsteps becoming louder and louder, as you finally saw six familiar figures. The first to come near was, surprisingly enough, Seokjin- who smoothly pulled to a stop in front of you, shielding both you and Hoseok from Abbadon, who you just discovered was standing a distance aways from you two.

The next to arrive had been Namjoon- who looked at you with a worried look on his face, eyes darting from you to Abbadon. His eyes, when they met yours, widened and he looked away, face filled with something- and then Jungkook, who was obviously furious and also worried- Yoongi, who, while seemingly calm had a tight, neutral expression- and Jimin and Taehyung, lingering somewhere beyond your current view.

“Iron Butcher.” You’d never heard Seokjin’s voice so cold before, not even when directed at you- you trembled, for a moment, just hearing it- Hoseok’s hands squeezed yours in support. “Harming innocent people is against the law, as I’m sure you’d know.”

“Hah,” Abbadon scoffed. “That isn’t a person, that’s only a vicious beast. I’m merely upholding my job as a protector.”

“It has been years since the war,” Yoongi’s voice was without any emotion. “Hunting dragons and dragging in innocent civilians is a crime worthy of many years of jail, not to mention you went for the Prince and the Savior.”

“Your best option would be to surrender.”

“And if I don’t want to?” Abbadon giggled.

“We’ll fuck you up,” Jungkook snarled. “For daring to lay even a hand on them. On her.”

Your heart warmed at his words, even as you wanted to protest. For a moment, there was silence- and then-

“... Ahhh, fine. I know when I’m out of my league.” Abbadon’s voice was light, airy- he spoke as if you were only discussing a friendly match. You shivered at the familiar tone- now aware of the hidden darkness he could easily switch into. You burrowed your head in Hoseok’s chest- your grip on him tight, and while a part of you was afraid of his rejection- he only pulled you in closer, until all sounds were muffled.

You counted the sound of his heartbeats, trying to will your breathing to adapt to its rhythm. One, two, three, four…

You could hear someone’s words as they tried to soothe you, though you trembled not just from fear, but also exhaustion.

“... It’s okay now, Y/N...”

Yet again, you fell unconscious before you could hear the rest of his words.

#bangtanhq #bangtanscenery #bangtanfairygarden #ficswithluv #bts x reader #ot7 x reader #kim seokjin x reader #min yoongi x reader #jung hoseok x reader #kim namjoon x reader #park jimin x reader #kim taehyung x reader #jeon jungkook x reader #bts fanfic #bts fic #bts angst #bts fluff

[singledarkshade]

Rip Week Fics

It’s almost Rip Week 2021 and time for the brilliantly talented Rip fans to show us what they can do.

Before that though I thought I would look back at the fics I’ve done for Rip Week since I started joining in back in 2018.

2018

I only managed one fic for RipWeek for 2018 (only the first chapter was written for RipWeek which blossomed into a multi-chaptered story and a three story series).

Day 6 – Rip & The Future.

In The Dark - To his surprise, Rip doesn't die when the core explodes but instead is sent back in time with no way to contact anyone. Alone he has to make a life for himself but, as usual, Rip can't catch a break and there's still a fight to win.

2019

Day 1- The Many Faces of Rip Hunter – Rip wasn’t always Rip, he’s been Michael, Phil, Evil, a Time Master and Director of the Time Bureau. This is a day to explore all his facets and personalities.

Bedtime Stories, Breakfast and Being Together - Rip goes home to see his family.

Day 2: Crossovers, Fusions, and AUs – Do you have ideas for what happens when Rip meets Pikachu? Or perhaps you’ve plans for Rip hanging out with the Avengers. Alternate Universes are also welcome, from coffee shops to rock stars to ancient mythology, anything goes.

Thief- Gideon Ryder meets a very unusual man at a party thrown by Queen Consolidated but is he what he appears to be.

Day 3: Unusual Friends – Rip has had some interesting relationships with the Legends and people he’s met on his travels. This is a day to focus on all those unusual friendships, canon compliant or not.

What's A Little Time Travel Between Friends? - Rip recruits John Constantine for a mission but won’t give him any details.

Day 4: Ship Rip – It’s ship day. Romance is in the air. Give us content for Rip and the significant other or others that you’d like to see him with.

Reunited- “What are you doing here, Rip?” she asked softly. He swallowed nervously, “I wanted to see you.”

Day 5: Fix-It – Set right what once went wrong, re-write those episodes to make them better, fix those broken characters and generally turn Legends of Tomorrow into the show it should be.

A Bad Plan Is Better Than None - Sara let out an annoyed sigh, “Rip, you realise for someone with not much time to explain you’re talking a lot and not getting to the point.”

Day 6: Rip lives! – Rip survived overloading the time drive but how and where is he now?

Escape - “You called your dog, Tempus?”

Day 7: Free Day – Anything goes, so do your own thing and give us whatever you like.

Scarred By Time - Gideon awakes to find Rip alive, she is now controlling a building instead of her ship and that time has been changed so there are now no Heroes or Legends in the world. Their new mission is to fix everything but they’re going to need some help.

2020

Day 1: Friends and Family – We’re starting off the week with two things that Rip doesn’t have a lot of, or perhaps he does and he just hasn’t realised it.

Worth Something - Lifting a purse proves to have bigger consequences than Michael realised. Now in a world he doesn't understand he wants to trust that Miss Xavier cares for him. But no one ever has before, why would she?

Day 2: Perfect Episode – Rip left the show too soon, so give us the ideal episode that we never got. Alternatively, you can fix something to make it better, or give us that perfect scene that we never had. Canon compliance optional.

Nightmare Scenario - How do you live in a world you don't belong to? Rip does his best to survive while running the Time Bureau, while Sara does her best to make sure he doesn't disappear into his work. Danger however is on the horizon and Rip's life is about to be torn apart once more. A Season 3 rewrite.

Day 3: Playing Favourites – Pick your favourite moment, favourite line, favourite costume, favourite headcanons or anything else that you love and inspires you.

More Than A Coat - It was just a coat, but it held more memories than anyone could ever know. It wasn’t just a piece of cloth. The duster told the story of who he was.

Day 4: Time for Romance – Rip is a romantic at heart, ship him with whoever you think is right for him. Any pairing goes.

Stress Relief - Stuck with the annoying Lieutenant Coburn on a mission, Rip is being driven crazy. But it's a mission that will change his life forever.

Day 5: Infinite Earths – The Arrowverse may have collapsed the multi-verse, but imagination has no bounds. It’s Alternate Universe day.

Always A Team - Time Masters no longer work alone and Rip, Eve and Miranda are the best team they have. But there are still secrets in the Vanishing Point.

Day 6: No Body, Not Dead – Rip is definitely not dead, so where the hell is he? Is he on his way back to sort out the timeline or has he retired to a nice cottage by the sea?

The Only Title I Care About - Rip Hunter has been called many things in his life, but after everything that has happened, there is only one he cares to be called.

Day 7: Free Day – You’re free to give us anything you like, so let your imagination run wild.

Finding The Lost - Rip used the Time Core to stop Mallus. Waking from his coma this act put him in, Rip has no idea what surprises are waiting for him.

Enjoy and from tomorrow there will be more fics joining the list.

Happy Rip Appreciation Week

#Rip Hunter #Rip Appreciation Week #fic