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minkkumaz · 11 months

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FROM WINDOW TO WINDOW

it took three days for you and your family to fully move into your house. it took you three hours to finally set up your room. but it took three minutes for woonhak to see you from his bedroom window and fall in love with you. THE DAY I MET YOU series

PAIRING kim woonhak x fem!reader WC 3.2k TAGS adults dni. fluff, fluff, oh look! more fluff! cussing. woonhak is in puppy love. mutual pining. OMI NOTE i have the biggest smile on my face rn hehe.

the past few weeks had felt like what you could only describe as hell. at first it was long and tedious days of shopping for homes. then, it was doing lots of construction work inside the house. and finally, after not having a proper place to live that wasn’t a shitty hotel, your family began the moving process.

it went a lot faster than you had initially expected, but you were happy. the calm presence in the neighborhood made up for the lack of people in the area.

there was boxes on top of boxes in your arms, in which held almost your entire life. you had to lean back to maintain the weight, blowing wispies of hair out of your face so you could properly see where you were walking. part of you was too stubborn to make more than two trips, so you trudged along to your upstairs bedroom.

after dropping your things to the ground, you analyzed the surroundings properly; since you have not been able to explore much due to earlier construction. the ceilings weren’t very high since it was the second floor, but you didn’t care much at all. there were pretty hardwood floors, glazed with a matte finish, and the lighting was wonderful.

you noticed one large window on the side of your wall, mirroring exactly to the house next to you. the dark blue curtains were barely peaked open, so you paid no mind as you sat on the sill to go through one of your multiple boxes.

though as time passed, you failed to notice the sudden presence of the boy next door opening his window for fresh air. however in the middle of this, he saw you.

your figure sat idly, furrowing your eyebrows as you rummaged through your things. if looks could kill, there would be burn holes in your face from how intensely he stared at you. you were cute. really, really, cute. because of this, he was determined to get to know you.

when you felt a gaze in your direction you looked over to see the boy staring at you. he jumped at the sudden attention, making you smile. you waved kindly, opening your window to see if he needed anything.

“hi! this is a sort of random first interaction!” you huff from pushing your heavy window up.

“oh shit– i’m sorry i wasn’t trying to spy on you or anything! i just noticed you and that bedroom is usually empty you know?” he spoke very quickly, but he was quite charming. “and then woah! there’s a person in there haha…”

“no worries! i didn’t think anything negative. i’m y/n!” you smiled at him again, leaning a little more out the window.

“nice to meet you y/n, i’m woonhak.” he almost melted right there seeing you smile prettily.

“woonhak.. it has a nice ring to it. maybe we shall meet again at our windows, woonhak?” you tell him, pulling yourself back into your room.

“yes– hopefully!” he stuttered out, watching you close your window and resume your unpacking.

when you disappeared into the rest of your room, woonhak doesn’t think he’s ever bolted to his phone quicker. immediately he went to unlock his phone and pull up the groupchat with all of his friends. how could he not boast about the stunning girl next door?

all he could do was pace around his room. the sound of ringing for a couple seconds made him feel impatient, but he saw jaehyuns profile join the group call.

“holy shit jaehyun tell everyone they need to join the call right now.” the rest of the boys quickly popped in before he could say anything more.

“what do you need, woonhak?” taesan asked, sounding obviously sleepy.

“all of you guys need to come over to my house right now, but like don’t be suspicious when you pull up because i don’t want the girl next door to see.” woonhak begged.

“girl next door? wasn’t that house empty?” riwoo thought.

“yes but someone moved in, this is about her!” “our cute little maknae has a crush?!” sungho exclaimed, clearly excited for the boy.

“that’s so sweet it makes me want to vomit.” leehan made fake gagging noises, causing jaehyun to laugh.

“okay whatever but she’s actually gorgeous and i swear all of you better be on your way.” woonhak whined.

“the bikes are locked and loaded as we speak.” there was some rustling sounds from each of the boys on the other line.

“hurry!” woonhak hung up the call, quickly peeking outside to see if you were still there. your silhouette was a little blurry from the dirty windows, but you were going around hanging stuff on your walls and organizing items on your desk.

it didn’t take forever for the remainder of the boys to arrive at his house. they only lived down the street, so the bike ride wasn’t long. after parking their vehicles (as jaehyun calls it), at the side of woonhak’s house, they followed him inside.

“okay okay tell us everything!” jaehyun jumped onto the bed, kicking his feet behind him. everyone else made themselves comfortable around the room, ready to listen.

“so basically i was eating lunch downstairs right?” woonhak leaned back into his desk chair, “then when i came back up to my room, i saw someone moving in the window across the way. at first i was confused as hell because i thought it was a construction worker but it was a girl!”

“what happened next? you didn’t imagine things right?” taesan asked, suddenly intrigued.

“i’m not crazy like you are taesan– but anyways. i was honestly kind of staring at her and then she looked over at me. at first i fucking jumped i was ready to get out of there, but then she smiled at me. i swear, how could she be so pretty? it was insane.” he went on, “and get this, she opened her window and we started talking!” “i think she wants you at this point dude.” jaehyun clapped his hands together, making leehan nod his head with a grin.

“she literally introduced herself and everything, then told me that maybe we’ll meet again at our windows.”

“are you going to ask her to hang out, because you definitely should!” sungho looked out behind him, “is that her?”

everyone stood up to go look, but woonhak scrambled to get them all sitting back down and close his curtains.

“holy shit i know you guys aren’t about to all try to see her?” woonhak panicked, “what if she saw you that’s so creepy!”

“maybe she’ll find it charming that you brought all your friends over to talk about your one minute interaction.” riwoo joked.

“okay if you guys wanna see her you have to be more discreet about it.” woon cracked open the curtains a tiny bit, signaling for them to come over and see. you remained doing the same tasks you were doing since he met you, and apparently almost done.

“she is really pretty not gonna lie.” taesan mumbled, earning a shove from the lovesick boy.

“dude!”

“my bad my bad!” he chuckled, going back to his previous seat.

“so what’s the game - plan woon?” leehan looked over to him, who was now the only one standing amongst them.

“i don’t know, maybe she’ll miraculously show up at my door and confess her love to me?”

“wait! invite her to that party we’re hitting up tonight. maybe she’ll want to come with us? she can ride on the back of your bike.” jaehyun suggested.

“that could work actually, i could introduce her to the neighborhood too..” woonhak pondered, “okay but how do i ask her? i’m sure i can’t just go to her front door.”

“throw an eraser at her window to get her attention?” sungho said before picking up one of the many erasers on woon’s desk.

“i guess that could work, but all of you guys hide! that’s so awkward if she saw all of you guys staring behind me.” after giving in, he grabbed the eraser from sungho’s hand and opened his window.

the rest of the boys squatted underneath, giggling like school girls watching their friend try to talk to the girl he likes. of course they were supportive, and would stay that way to their graves, but teasing him was very amusing. it was safe to say that woonhak’s fidgeting hand pulled all of their hair to shut them up.

from what he could see, you were just on your phone scrolling mindlessly so he was hoping not to bother you. after contemplating for a solid few seconds, he chucked the object at your window. the sudden noise made you jump up slightly before opening your window and putting your head out.

“hello to you too?” you laugh, “did you need me or something?”

“sort of? i was um actually wondering if you’d want to go to a party down the street with me and my friends tonight? it can be like a welcome to the neighborhood kind of thing… only if you want to!” he took a deep breath after speaking.

“smooth.” riwoo whispered.

“that sounds fun actually! i don’t know how my dad would feel about it though.” you chew your bottom lip, thinking a bit.

“then sneak out with us? assuming your parents have been unpacking all day they’ll probably be tired and pass out! i don’t mean to be a bad influence or anything but it’d be really fun.”

“hmmm, i’d say you’re quite persuasive. what time?” you press against the sill and rest your cheek on your fist.

“at nine pm. so about four hours from now? we’re riding our bikes there but you can go on the back of mine?”

“then it’s a date, woon. i’ll see you then.” you waved at him before closing your own curtains.

you were unsure what to think as the cute boy next door asked you to hang out. especially after meeting you less than three hours ago; specifically from your bedroom window. it was an odd way to get to know your neighbor, but for some reason it was quite endearing.

was he staring or were you just a little delusional? maybe so, but that wasn’t relevant.

three and a half hours flew by, and you were anxiously getting ready. woonhak was right when he said your parents would fall asleep quickly, you could hear the snoring from across the hall.

you put together a presentable outfit, fixing up your hair as you usually do. the whole party scene wasn’t always your thing, but you wanted to make a good impression. part of you was also trying to impress him, as he technically knew nothing about you. you could put up a completely different front and he wouldn’t tell the difference.

it was important that he liked you, because being his nextdoor neighbor and also enemies didn’t sound too good.

as soon as you finished getting ready, you shoved a couple pillows underneath your blankets and opened up your window. the drop down could probably break your legs, so you sighed in defeat before pulling an extremely shaven down pencil from your desk and heaving it at woonhak’s window.

there was a little bit of silence before the curtains opened and revealed the boy you were trying to look pretty for (and his entire gang of friends behind him).

“hey! i’m ready but i kind of have a problem?” you say embarrassed.

he had to pause for a second, gawking at you like crazy. you wore a dress that hugged you perfectly, with a thin jacket draping over your shoulders. it wasn’t anything crazy fancy, but still cute for the event.

“oh– um yes! yeah hi what’s up.” woonhak blushed, scratching the back of his neck.

“i have no idea how to get out of my window… sneaking out of the front door is risky right now. my parents only went to sleep an hour ago.” you pout out your bottom lip disappointed.

“i can come down and catch you maybe? i don’t know, only if you’re okay with that!” he recommended shyly.

“yeah, yeah. that could work! just don’t drop me please.”

“only a fool would drop a girl like you.” he smirked, taking you aback slightly. the rest of his friends were reacting boyishly behind him before they all filed out to come get you. this was the moment you truly felt like a princess in need of saving. way to go feminism.

when he appeared below you his lips pulled into a wide smile, holding his arms out, “ready?”

“i’m kind of scared.”

“i promise you’ll be fine.” he plants his feet down hard, ready to catch you. “but you are wearing shorts right?”

“yes of course i am you pervert.” you roll your eyes playfully, making him blush.

swinging your leg out the window, you carefully try to step against the texture of the wall and grab against the edge. you’re able to lean yourself far enough to where you’re at a comfortable distance and let go.

you land against woonhak, feeling his tight grasp first - hand. though you stumble slightly, he’s able to hold you still against him.

“see? i caught you.” he tells you, wiping the hair from in front of your face.

“yeah you did.” a pink tint grazes over your cheeks, causing you to look away and avoid eye contact.

“you guys can stare at eachother all you want at the party, lets go!” jaehyun groans, pushing his kickstand with his foot

the others began on their bikes while you followed behind woonhak to his own.

“i’m sorry if this is a little awkward for you.” he apologized, sitting down. “but it would probably be a little safer if you held on to me.. i’ve never really rode a bike with another person behind me.”

“no– i understand! i don’t feel awkward at all woon.” you sit behind him, letting your hands snake around his waist and grabbing firmly. the sudden touch made his stomach swarm with butterflies.

as soon as you were situated, he began pedaling down the street. you were pressed against his back, letting the comfort of the night consume you. a breeze sent shivers down your spine, making you almost nuzzle your head into woonhak.

“getting comfy?” he pointed out to cover up how giddy you made him feel.

“mm, just chilly. but it’s just the wind.” you sigh against his cardigan.

“we’re almost there, it’s not too far.”

when you arrived at the party, it was a lot louder than when you barely heard it down the street. music made the walls vibrate with the bass, and there seemed to be a lot of people there. if not the whole neighborhood, most of it.

“this is the most popular house on the street for parties. there’s one almost every week during the summer.” woonhak yelled loud enough so you could hear.

“do you come to every one?” you responded with the same energy.

“not really, this is my third one this summer.” he replied. “let’s go get a drink from the kitchen, it’s loud in here.”

you accompanied him to the kitchen where it was a little quieter. there were cups spread out everywhere and lots of snacks. a few people here and there, but they were mainly in the living area.

“sooo, is this your first party?” woonhak mentioned to break the silence.

“it isn’t my first party but definitely the loudest.”

“i get that, it can get pretty deafening in here. just wait until jaehyun starts breaking out in the dance circle. i might just have to hype him up louder than the crowd.” he laughs, handing you a cup of fruit punch.

“i take it you’re very extroverted?” you take a sip from your drink.

“you could say so, i just enjoy being with my friends. but i’m nervous around certain people.”

“like who?”

“nobody specific– don’t worry about it.” he played it off, making you giggle

the rest of the night you and woonhak barely left the kitchen. he was easy to talk you, like you instantly clicked. there was something about his demeanor that switched the longer you had a conversation with him. he even skipped out on hyping jaehyun to continue speaking to you and making sure you wouldn’t be left on your own.

it was comforting to know that he wasn’t letting his eyes off of you in such a crowded space. but you could barely realize that he couldn’t look away even if he wanted to. you looked so perfect in the multicolor lights that flashed nearby.

you quickly lost track of the time, so entranced by him, that you didn’t notice the slow pile out of people. sungho and leehan came tumbling into the kitchen, completely exhausted.

“hey i’ve been looking everywhere for you guys! we’re leaving right now because jaehyun accidentally slipped and ate shit… it was getting late anyways.” sungho grunted.

“we stuffed his nose bleed with some toilet paper and he’s waiting outside.” leehan perked up from behind sungho.

“ah alright we’re right behind you.” woonhak stood up, tossing his empty solo cup to the trash before leaning out a hand to you.

you held onto the offer graciously, pulling yourself up. but when you were up on your feet, he didn’t let go, leading you outside hand in hand.

“are you cold?” he questioned as the air outside made you shiver.

“just a little, this thin sweater isn’t doing me much justice.”

a sudden warmth overflowed you as the cardigan woon was wearing made its way over your shoulders. the smell of his cologne immediately englufing you.

“there, that’s better right?”

you nod sheepishly, situating yourself on the back of his bike once again.

once your house came into view, you felt a little sad. the rest of woonhak’s friends filtered out to their houses on the ride back.

it was maybe one in the morning, but those hours you spent with woonhak would be engraved in your mind forever. you felt stupid getting so attached to him in the span of a day, but how could you not?

“so, this is your stop.” he parked his bike in the grass spot in between your houses, walking you up to your porch

“yeah haha..” you mumble, “thank you a lot for tonight, woon. it was really nice talking and getting to know you.

“it was really nice getting to know you too y/n. and um– you looked really really pretty tonight.” he looked everywhere but at you, still you know he meant it.

“thank you…” you felt very bashful, and didn’t know what to do. so you tried what felt right.

walking closer to him, you took his face in your hands and planted a kiss on his cheek. it was quick, but it sent off fireworks in his stomach.

“was that okay?” you stammer.

“that– that was more than okay.” he places one of his hands on his cheek, his fingers ghosting over where your lips were.

“i’m glad then. goodnight, woon.”

“goodnight, y/n.”

he watched as you entered your home quietly, not to wake your parents. but as soon as you were out of his view, he was grinning ear to ear, running back to his house and kicking off his shoes.

as soon as he reached his bedroom, he immediately went up to the window to see you coming into yours. you smiled at him tenderly before shutting your curtains.

that night you slept peacefully thinking about the boy next door, and you knew he did the exact same.

© 2023 minkkumaz, all rights reserved support your writers by reblogging + giving feedback! it is greatly encouraged and appreciated. thank you! → why feedback + reblogging is so important. ~ (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡ if you'd like, donate to minkkumaz !

THE DAY I MET YOU series

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precuredaily · 19 days

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Precure Daily's Sixth Anniversary

On April 10, 2018, I posted the first review in the project that became Precure Daily. It wasn't actually on tumblr at that time, but on Facebook. The plan was to watch an episode every day and just post some thoughts, but it evolved into reviews and screenshots and that necessitated a whole blog, and here we are. That was six years ago today!

Six years. It's hard to believe. I honestly, truly didn't think I'd still be doing this. Whether I petered out before the end, or managed to get it all done in the 2-3 years I anticipated, I figured I'd have stopped by now. But somehow I haven't given up yet! I'm still watching, still writing, and still getting new fans to share with, and that makes it all worth it.

The past year was slow, I will readily acknowledge it. I only got about 7 reviews out in that time, including the one that just went up earlier today, but one of those was the Go Go movie. That was a whole undertaking, it took me nine months to get out. Granted, for about 6 of those 9 months it was just sitting there unchanged. I'd open it occasionally to poke at it but then not end up getting much done. Maybe it still wasn't the best it could have been but I'm proud of it nonetheless. It was a good review for a good movie. Also, I got to review the very first All Stars, even if it was a short film. Having recently wached the most recent All Stars brings that experience full circle and it's real nice.

One small hiccup is that, at the time of writing, I haven't yet gotten out the traditional Honoka birthday post. I just haven't had time to sit down and gather artwork for it. Hopefully that'll come out in the next day or two!

Outside of the blog, let's look at the wider world of the Precure series over the last year

I said last year that I hadn't finished Delicious Party, and that's still true. When it was on air, I was watching it with a friend and she was really into it; we are going to resume watching together to finally push through it.

HIrogaru Sky's second half was good, it lacked a little bit of the driving power of the first half and the villain plot never properly came together in my opionion. I still love the characters, I think they're my favorite cast in a good while.

I did not watch Otona Precure. Although I've watched Go Go before, I want to finish this current watchthrough for the blog before I jump into it. Maybe I'll even review it as I go, that remains to be seen. I've heard mixed things about it and I'm not very big on the idea that the girls just go back to teenagers when they transform, but I'll reserve judgment.

Wonderful Precure did not appeal to me when information started coming out, and I fell off it for a few weeks when the first couple eps didn't impress me, but I decided to keep going and it's thoroughly enjoyable. I don't think it's going to crack my top 10 but it should be a solid middle of the road series.

I watched the Delicious Party Precure movie and Precure All Stars F with friends in fairly close proximity, and wow do those movies exist on opposite ends of the spectrum. DeliPa's film was one of the weakest Precure movies I've seen, while All Star F was phenomenal. I need to rewatch it.

I did say last year that the blog would look different when I finish Go Go. That is still true. I should be able to wrap that up in a few months, then comes the next phase of things. Deets when it happens.

And also just because I can, here's some recommendations for shows outside of Precure you should watch that came out in the last year-ish:

Oshi no Ko

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (featuring Wonderful Precure's Tanezaki Atsumi as a monotone elf)

SPY x FAMILY (featuring Wonderful Precure's Tanezaki Atsumi as a psychic toddler)

Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger

The Last of Us

And I think that's it for this year's update! Here's to another year of watching and writing about Precure! Thanks as always to my loyal friends and fans for making this project a success: @sailorzombiestar, @vertixscribe, PaintedOutlaw, @hanasaki-tsubomi, yugimon135 (can't tag you for some reason), and my newest fan @nono-bunny.

Here's all my previous sappy anniversary posts if you want to go back and read them.

First Anniversary

Second Aniversary

Third Anniversary

Fourth Anniversary

Fifth Anniversary

#PCD anniversary #PCD sixth anniversary #read this

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tessa-liam · 1 year

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Smoke and Mirrors

-6- You Are the Reason

Book: The Royal Romance Finale +, Alternate Universe

Series Premise: Hidden in the shadows, poised to challenge the status quo are enemies of the state. The loyalties and honesty of family and of friends will be tested. ‘Keep your friends close, your enemies closer.’

•Catch up: Smoke and Mirrors Masterlist

•Main Pairing: Liam Rys x F!MC Riley Brooks-Rys, OTP ‘LiRi’

2nd Pairings: Leo Rys x Amalas

Drake Walker x F!OC Delaney Leigh

All characters belong to Pixelberry except Delaney Leigh, Officer Alex Cossoy, Geoffrey Bessler (Amalas’ head guard)

•Rating: M🔞*Series Warnings: NSFW material, sexual innuendo, adult language/swearing/drinking, gun violence.

•Category: Alternate Universe/on-going series/angst/fluff

•Words: 1774, Read: 9 minutes

Chapter 6: You Are the Reason

Insert picture***

Chapter Summary: Arriving back at the Monterissan palace, discoveries are uncovered, and fears are realized.

Music Inspiration: Need You Now – Lady Antebellum

You Are the Reason – Calum Scott

A/N1: My submission for @choicesflashfics Week #27, Prompt #3 - “I don’t know if I want to know the answer, but what are you doing?”

***insert picture

Monterisso Royal Palace - Seaside Balcony

It had just turned 10 p.m. and the sun was setting over the Mediterranean Sea. The cool pool water was refreshing as Riley leaned back to submerge under the surface. Even though it was late evening, the temperature in the Capital was still 43 degrees C.

Amalas slowly lifted her gaze up when she noticed Geoffrey, her head royal guard, step onto the terrace beside the jacuzzi.

“Your Majesty, please excuse my interruption.”

“Yes, Geoffrey?”

“King Liam’s Royal motorcade has arrived at the palace.”

“Thank you.” Amalas sat up and reached for a towel.

Noticing Riley was getting out of the pool, “Hey, Ri? Is the pool is too cool for you?”

Riley laughed, “oh no, the water is amazing. I totally forgot how hot it was out here tonight.”

“Where are you off to? Would you like another iced tea?”

“I would love that, thanks. Let me just check on the girls quickly; I will be right back.”

“I wonder why Liam is coming back tonight?”

“I am not sure; Leo messaged me earlier and said that they had hit a dead end,”

Completely unaware that Liam and Leo had just walked out onto the terrace behind her, Riley slipped into her sandals. Liam lifted his finger to his lips to signal to Amalas not to alert her.

Amalas chuckled as she watched her surprised friend turn and then ‘yelp’ when she was lovingly encased in the arms of her husband from behind, as Liam caught her off guard.

“My love, maybe it would be better if you join me in the jacuzzi instead of roaming around the palace in your towel?” Liam whispers in his smooth, deep baritone into her ear.

Smirking, Liam grins as Riley shakes her head.

“Well, I’m delighted you came home early,” Riley coos.

Turning and slipping her hands up Liam’s chest, she reaches up to kiss him ‘hello’.

“Hey, Ri, how is the water?” Leo interrupts.

Sauntering up to Leo, Amalas quips, “well, there is another way to find out.”

Leo leans down to kiss her cheek. “Is that so? Care to take a swim with me?”

Amalas coyly smiles, “follow me.”

***

“So, tell me, Liam, what happened today? What changed?”

Liam looked at the ceiling, “I overheard that the Interpol intelligence reports showed that this palace would likely be the location of where my ‘supposed’ sister would be.”

“Liam, who did you overhear?”

“Alex Cossoy. He was confiding that to Olivia.”

“Oh my God, here?” Riley gasped.

“He told Olivia that his gut feeling was that this woman has a connection to the royal guard here in the palace through Bastien.”

“Bastien? Bastien again! It seems like there is a covert underground spy network between our countries.”

“Well, I am delegating this investigation to my brother. Leo has agreed to head the investigation with the assistance of Interpol here in Monterisso.

Since Officer Cossoy is assigned to Cordonia, he will lead the investigation from our palace. Olivia has already offered her assistance to Interpol.

Liam stopped, turning to Riley, “I need to get you and Ellie out of Monterisso now. It's not safe here; we are going home.”

Spotting the King and Queen walking towards her, Mara, who was standing guard outside the princess’ room, bows.

“Your Majesties.”

Riley nods and walks inside of her daughter’s room.

“Hello Mara, any issues to report?” Liam asks, noticing the guard’s attention was focused behind his right shoulder. “Your Majesty, I need to report a concerning incident that I witnessed earlier this evening.”

Officer Cossoy, responding to Mara’s request stepped alongside Liam.

***

Mediterranean Sea, Monterisso

“Never have I ever, ever thought I would someday be swimming in the Mediterranean,” Delaney smiled widely.

Drake answered back, “never have I ever thought I would be skinny dipping with a hot blond in the Mediterranean." He raised his eyebrows and grinned. “...but, here we are!”

Wanting to get closer, he stepped forward. admiring her curves underneath her bikini top.

“Well, not yet, anyway.” Drake chuckled reaching for the tie of her top.

“I don’t know if I want to know the answer, but what are you doing?” Delaney asked curiously.

“I think it’s time to teach you how to swim.”

Delaney gasped and started to walk backwards away from him.

“Tonight? Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Not in a lake, not in a pool, but in open water,” he told her confidently.

She stared at him, “you mean like, here in the ocean?”

Delaney had told Drake her fear of deep water. Drake had made a promise of teaching her to swim so that her fears would diminish.

He nodded, “I know you can do this.” Walking towards her, Delaney stared at his broad, ripped chest.

Delaney thought about it, “Why are you so sure I can do it?”

Drake smiled, “Because you’re smart and beautiful, and you can do anything you put your mind to.

Come on, get your suit off and come here,” waggling his brows he closed the distance, drawing her close.

“And there it is!” Delaney giggled.

***

Eleanor’s Chamber

The nightlight glowed soft blue as Riley entered the room. Ellie was wide awake, sitting on the bed, holding her lovey tightly.

“Mommy!” Her bottom lip quivering as she raised her arms for a hug.

“Sweetheart, what is it?” Riley rushed to her bedside and enveloped her daughter in her arms as Ellie started to cry.

“I’m scared. I want to go home.”

Riley knelt down beside her.

“It is late. I am sorry you are afraid. Tell me about your bad dream.”

“Mommy, I didn’t have a dream.”

“If you cannot sleep, I will sit with you.”

“I don’t like that lady.”

Puzzled, Riley asks, “What lady, sweetie?”

“The lady who was reading a story to me and Mikky. The one who looks like Daddy.”

Shocked, Riley gasped, finding it hard to breathe. It took every strength to hold it together and to remain calm in front of her daughter.

“Li..Li..Liaaammm” Riley cried out.

***

Walking along the shore, hand in hand, Delaney and Drake were close to the palace as Drake started to slow. Looking sheepish, he turned, and paused scanning the outside perimeter of palace terrace.

“Drake? Where did our backpacks go; I don’t see them anywhere.”

“Stay here, I will run up and take a closer look.”

Close to the exterior wall of the palace, he spotted a tall figure looking up to the terrace with binoculars.

Slowing his movements, he called out, “excuse me, have you....”

“Freeze!”

Before his eyes, Drake watched as two men pointed their firearms at the figure in the shadows.

‘Shit, what the hell?’

He stood motionless as the lone figure turned and started to run.

A gunshot rang out as one of the men fired a warning shot into the air.

His next thought was, ‘Delaney!’ as someone pulled Drake down to the ground from behind.

“Who the fuck...”, Drake jostled hands off his shoulders. He stopped and turned as Olivia lifted her eyebrow.

“Just say ‘thanks’, Walker.

Drake felt relief when he spotted Delaney standing at a safe distance at the seashore.

Olivia and Drake turned and noticed the lone figure being arrested; cuffed and led away, Lena was silent.

***

Leo and Amalas heard the sound of a gunshot, as they were talking and lounging inside the jacuzzi.

“What the hell!” Leo jumped up looking toward the barrier wall of the terrace.

“Your highness, get down.” Geoffey shouted as members of the Monterissian Royal guard surrounded their queen.

***

Liam pushed Mara aside as he bolted into Eleanor’s room.

Noticing Riley’s fear stricken look and his daughter crying in her arms, he knelt down beside them and enveloped them protectively.

Officer Cossoy entered next, with his gun drawn. Mara locked and secured the door behind her as she noticed royal guards standing at attention in the hall outside.

“Your Majesties, there is a situation developing outside and the palace is in lockdown.”

***

The sound of the engines could be heard from outside the SUV as it moved closer to the Royal jet on the tarmac.

Riley watched Drake help Delaney out of the lead SUV already stopped up ahead.

“Are you ready, my love?” Liam asked Riley, as he lifted Ellie, fast asleep, from her car seat.

“I am.”

He smiled, “Then let us go home.”

Taking her hand, he led her to the door of the jet.

“Your majesty,” Mara greeted as the nanny lifted the sleeping princess from Liam’s arms.

As the jet took off, the sun was rising on the horizon.

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hypegirl1 · 9 days

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In my dreams(Rodrick Heffley X Fem!reader)

AN:WASSUP Y´ALL?I had no inspiration to write these last months,I´m sorry,but I finally got it back lmfao I basically had a breakdown while listening to In my Dreams by RV and ended up having inspiration,damn...(This is proof read so dw,also I have no idea why tf this is so long) Summary:You´ve been in town for a few weeks since you moved,however,Rodrick doesn´t notice until one day,when he sees you on the school hallway Word count:1786 Warnings:Language(Ig?) Genre:Fluff(Ig)

"Nah dude,last week was amazing,what do you mean?"

"I know dude,but like,what about the girls?We don´t get bitches"

That´s the conversation Rodrick was having with his friends at the school´s entrance,the infamous Rodrick Heffley.It hasn´t even been a month since you arrived and you already knew pretty much everything about him:he had 2 little brothers,was the drummer of a band he made,was never that smart and he loved messing around with people,well,pretty much an average teenager,right? He lived in front of your house,and you always saw him at school(when he went),never talked at all,not even a "hi,who are you?never saw you around". It looked like he never realized you were there,but at the end,you didn´t cared,until now.

"Bro,I´m telling you,when we become famous,we will get A LOOOT of bitches"

"Yeaah"

That´s the last thing they said before Rodrick bumped into someone for not looking.

"Hey!Watch your-step"

"Sorry,I was rushing and didn´t saw you,are you okay?"

That´s when Rodrick realized that the girl that bumped into him,was one that he never saw around before,was he dreaming?

"Yeah yeah,sorry,I was in the way"

Damn,is it hot in here?

"I´m glad,I have to go,see you around Rodrick!"

"Bye..."

Rodrick was just standing there like a lamp post,what just happened?

"Dude,you good?"

"Yeah yeah,it´s just...who´s that girl?I never saw her around"

"Y/N?She moved into your neighbourhood a few weeks ago,you didn´t realized?"

"What?She´s been living next to my house and I didn´t realized?"

"Dude chill,just say hi to her"

"As if it was that easy..."

The bell rang,that meant that the day was over,everyone started filling the hallways,Rodrick got in his van and headed home as quickly as possible,they were right,the house in front of the Heffley´s now belonged to your family,how come he didn´t realized?

"Uhh mum,who are our neigbhors?"

"You mean the Y/L/N´s?"(your last name)

"Yeah,them"

"Oh,they have 2 daughters I think,Y/N and Kelsey are their names,If I´m not wrong Y/N is your same age and Kelsey is about Greg´s age,why the question?"

"Just asking"

Damn,your house was literally in front of Rodrick´s,how come he didn´t realized?is it because he nevers pay attention to the stuff that he doesn´t care about?Oh but he did cared now,what should he do?Go over to your house to just say hi?Invite you to have dinner with his family?No way,you had been in town for a few weeks now,and it was too soon to get you to meet his disaster family...He had been thinking in his room about what to do for the last 10 minutes,until he realized that he left his bedroom door open,and saw that Greg was there spying on him.

"What the fuck do you think you´re doing here?!"

Greg panicked and started running towards his room,but Rodrick had already started to chase him,he was lucky that he locked his door just in time.

"Where you spying me?!"

"Maybe-I mean no!"

"You better open this door if you want to live Greggy"

"I saw you earlier talking with mom about the new neighbours and got curious that´s it!"

Wait,hold on,maybe Greg new something that he didn´t?

"Do you know them?"

"Yes,Kelsey is in the same class as me,she´s nice,I could say she´s my friend now"

"And do you know something about her sister?"

"Why should I tell you that?"

"Greg I swear to god that if you don´t tell me I´m breaking down your door"

"Okay okay!But don´t do that please.I always see her sister after school,she picks Kelsey up because her parents don´t get home til night,as far as I know,she´s super nice,she always offers to take us and Rowley home"

"And?"

"That´s all I know!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! I promise!"

"Fine,tomorrow I´ll go pick you up and your other guy friend from school"

"What?no way,I´ll preffer to go by feet"

"I said that you´re coming with me"

Greg knew that his older brother had something going on in his mind,but it probably was worse if he said a word.Good,he had some basic info about you,but what else?The plan was that tomorrow,he would show up to pick up his little loved brother,he had to give you good vibes and not the type of guy that is 24/7 bickering with his brother,wait,maybe it was too late?I mean,you already knew a lot about him,how would you react if you suddenlt saw him as a perfect man instead of the angsty boy he is?Meh,It doesn´t matter,people change all the time.Of course,he could talk to you at school,but you weren´t in the same class as him,and let´s say that he wasn´t that brave enough to talk to you at school.

The rest of the day went by as usual,except for the fact that Rodrick looked super distracted in today´s rehearsal for Löded Diper,he was barely able to start the song,his friends were worried,this wasn´t usual in him,and all just because he couldn´t get your pretty image off of his head,your figure,your hair,your eyes,your lips,he remembered everything as if it depended on his life.

But it just got worse when he saw you there,you where at the entrance of your school,sitting on the stairs,writing on your notebook,you looked so dreamy,the day was sunny and clear as glass,your hair flowing with the little wind that was coming,the way your top and shorts hugged your figure,so unbothered by the rest of the people around you,on your own little world,you looked so unreal...

You felt that someone was watching you,and as you turned back you saw him.

"Rod!What are you doing there?Come sit with me!"

You gave him what was probably the sweetest smile he ever saw,he could melt any moment.

"What?Oh sorry"

He sat next to you,he was nervous,why were you being so nice to him?

"Are you okay?You look nervous,is something bothering you?"

"No no it´s just that...you´re so pretty Y/N,I could stare at you for hours and not get bored"

"Aww you´re so sweet,since when are you so romantic?You didn´t told me those things when we started dating,I love this side of yours"

Wait,dating?No way,since when does the school loser date a pretty girl like you?Did he had amnesia or something?

"Wait,dating?"

"What?Rod are you okay?Yes,for a month now,are you sure you´re fine?"

He couldn´t believe your words,this was so unreal,when did this happened?

"I swear I´m fine,it´s just that- sometimes it´s unbelievable for me to know that I have the most perfect girl in my life"

Now he had no idea what he was talking about or since when he speaks like this,this situation was kinda weird,but it all changed when he heard someone from a distance calling his name.

"Rodrick?Rodrick,come on,Rodrick!"

Suddenly he was at his room,and that´s when reality hit him,he was just dreaming about you...

"Rodrick you´re gonna be late for school come on,get up"

His dad left the room,leaving a sad yet happy Rodrick,he was happy in that dream,but after waking up,damn,he missed that...

This was probably the first time ever that Rodrick got dressed in a nice way only to go to school,he tried really hard,he had to give you a good impression about him,but let´s say that his parents and his younger brother Greg were kinda concerned when they saw him like that...

At school,he only saw you at the time between classes,but you did say hi to him everytime you saw him at the hallways,he was too stunned to say hi back,damn...

And as the day ended,you got on your car on the way to your sister´s school to pick her up as usual,when you got there,she was talking with her friends.

You parked and got off the car and walked to Kelsey,she was laughing with her friends.

"Kelsey,come on let´s go home,give me your backpack"

"Y/N!"

She hugged you as strong as she could,since she was born she always saw you as her idol,she thought you were perfect,even though you didn´t saw yourself like that,you wished that puberty didn´t made your little sister hate you,but as things looked like,that wasn´t going to happen.

"Do you guys need me to take you home?It´s kinda hot today"

"No need Y/N,but thanks,my brother will pick us up"

"Are you sure?If you guys don´t want to wait here I could take you home real quick"

"No need thanks,here he comes"

And he did,as Greg finished talking,a white van parked next to the school,black letters on one side that said "Löded Diper",Rodrick´s van

"Greggy!My dear brother,how are you doing?"

Rodrick petted Greg´s head,leaving him with his hair like a bird´s nest

"I´m-fine I guess"

"It´s the first time I see you pick up your little brother from school"

"Y/N?What a surprise!"

You could tell that something was off,he seemed nervous,uncomfortable.

"Hey!I wasn´t expecting to see you here,you know Greg always walks home"

"Oh well It´s because-I´m always in a rush you know?"

"Yeah,next time,don´t be scared to say hi to me in the hallways,I don´t bite you know?"

Oh god,you realized that he never said hi back,of course you realized,you´re not dumb,what has he thinking?

"Uhm,Greg you can get in the car,I´m going to talk with Y/N for a moment"

"Okay?-"

"You go Kelsey,I´ll be there now,so,what did you wanted to tell me?"

"Uhm well,you have been in town for a few weeks now,and I never introduced myself properly"

"Neither I did,don´t worry,I should have introduced me first before saying hi to you without you knowing who I am"

"Oh,fine then haha"

"Should we start over?I´m Y/N,your neighbor,I like shopping and going outside,how about you?"

"I´m Rodrick,your new neighbor"

Suddenly,there was a very awkward silence,usually you knew how to get out of these,but there was something that didn´t let you speak or say something.

"Uhm...yeah that´s it"

"Yeah!cool cool..."

Silence...just silence...oh god why was this happening?

"Well...I have to leave,I gotta take Kelsey home,see you tomorrow!"

"Sure!"

You started walking towards your car,and before opening the door you heard Rodrick´s voice calling as he ran towards you.

"Y/N wait!"

"Yeah?"

"I...gotta tell you something else"

"Well tell me"

"I-i like you"

"Wha-what?"

"Don´t take this weird!But,I didn´t knew who you were til yesterday when we bumped into each other,it was love at first sight,I´m not looking for an answer or something,you can act as if this never happened,but I just want to tell you that in my dreams,you loved me back"

That was...weird?no,it was romantic,no,weird,so many emotions started to cross your mind,he dreamed about having you?

"Rodrick I-"

"No,I´ll just leave"

He started to walk away,leaving a confused you behind him.You knew why you said hi to him at school,you wanted to know him better,there was a spark in him that you never saw before.

"Rodrick wait!"

He turned around,looking at you.

"I didn´t answered.Meet me today at 4pm at the park,maybe...we can get your dream to come true"

#doawk #rodrick x reader #rodrick x y/n #rodrick heffley

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wordwings · 5 months

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Fun Facts About Me (tag game)

Tagged by @surroundedbypearls over here! Thank you!

A scent you love

Lavender, rose and rosemary.

What’s something you’re looking forward to this week?

Tomorrow we’re finally playing DnD again after not having been able to get together for months! Excited to return to the story and my character, a deep gnome ranger-warlock called Eli (among many other names).

What’s a book you’re currently reading?

I’m borrowing my brother’s Spy x Family manga volumes, just finished volume 4! I’m also listening to the audiobooks of Juniper & Thorn (almost finished and it’s so good) and Chameleon Moon (reread of a favourite).

What’s a game you’re currently playing?

I haven’t been gaming a lot lately but I was playing Civilization VI with my brothers earlier. I don’t have the attention span to have a proper strategy so I’m just doing whatever and hope they fight each other and leave me alone 😂

What’s the most recent movie you watched?

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves! I had seen it in the cinema already but I watched it again with my mum this week. It’s so much fun, and definitely a comfort movie for me.

Are you watching anything on TV or listening to any shows?

Yes, my partner and I watch a lot of shows together that we switch between (yes we’re an ADHD household). Currently we’re mostly watching Elementary and For All Mankind. We also listen to podcasts like My Brother My Brother and Me, You’re Wrong About, If Books Could Kill, and Maintenance Phase. And I personally listen to The Adventure Zone and Welcome to Night Vale!

Favourite season?

Autumn!

What’s something you’ve learned recently?

That I can write sustainably if I actually listen to my body and don’t push through my fatigue! It seems simple but it took 10+ years, many health professionals saying otherwise and consistently worsening symptoms to get there.

Have you had any water lately?

I’m constantly drinking water, so yes.

Tagging: @anoelleart, @likegemstone, @olive-riggzey, @winterandwords ✨

#tag game #writeblr tags #fun facts about me

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sasuhinasno1fan · 2 years

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The wish for a different life - Adrien AUGreste Day 1+2

My night was crappy but this was inspired by the stories I’ve seen where Lila wins and wishes for Adrien’s life. In those stories, their moms stay the same but this time I thought, but what if they didn’t? Apologies if the Lila salt was heavy, it was hard to make her lies be noticed now without slandering her a little. I don’t know, I just worked hard on this and wanted to make sure it was posted. The first part was pulled from Lila’s Lament by BroadwayCutie16 on AO3. @adrienaugust

Who Am I?

"I Wish to have everything Adrien Agreste has!"

And the world...

...went...

...b l a c k...

.......................

Seconds later, reality twisted and warped itself to rewrite fate itself.

To adjust the world to the Wisher's demands.

The universe, the director of the world, snapped his fingers to alter his script.

He moved actors around and rearranged their roles.

He rewound the show to the beginning.

He pressed "play".

And Lila woke up in a strange new room.

_____________

“Adrien, piccolino, time to wake up. We need to meet the headmaster before I go off to work.”

Adrien groaned, rolling his face into the pillow even more, hoping to go back to sleep. He ignored the footsteps and the sound of his door opening and the sound of the lights turning on. He felt a hand ruffling his hair before hearing the sound of his blinds being pulled open. He finally pulled his head away from the pillow and blearily looked at the woman inside his room.

“Come on caro. I told you to go to sleep earlier.”

“But new episode.” He whined, sounding as exhausted as he felt.

The woman shook her head, her loose brown hair shifting on her shoulders. “I’m sure it could have waited.” She approached the bed again, running a hand through Adrien’s blonde hair. “Come on, go get showered and if we have enough time, we can go out for breakfast. I hear croissants are to die for.”

“Ok, mama.”

He watched with green eyes as she walked around the suitcases and boxes in his room, gathering her brown hair into a ponytail. He got up, stumbling himself as he reached the window and looked at the view he had of the park. It was mostly runners or a person feeding the pigeons, but it was pretty. The whole of France was from what he could see. They’d arrive pretty late the night before and had struggled to get their things upstairs as their apartment didn’t have an elevator but thankfully it was only the third floor. After things were moved in and they showered, his mom went straight to bed while he did what his mom warned him not to do and watched the newest episode of Spy X Family.

“I don’t hear movement!”

“I’m coming.”

He showered and changed, pulling on his ripped jeans and stuffing his feet in his boots. His oversized cropped sweater barely brushed the end of his jeans, allowing his formfitting tank underneath to be seen. He didn’t bother brushing his hair, ruffing his fingers through it before sticking a beanie on his head. He picked up his bag, looking at the clear front. His pins on his ita bag hadn’t moved around and the charms were mostly still in place. He looked inside at the old notebooks that had been used almost a week ago at his old school in Italy. He missed it already, only having been back for a few weeks before being sent here, but he only called it a good thing that he hadn’t made many new friends before he left. He hoped he could make friends here. According to his mom, this assignment was going to be for at least 2 years.

He met his mom in what was their attached kitchen. Like most diplomatic placings, the living area was huge, the set furniture home to a few boxes and bags. His mother was flipping through things in a small carry on, putting the documents into one of her clear folders, one Adrien had ordered from Japan as a gift for doing well on an exam he had 2 days to study for.

“The school should have most of this paperwork already, but just to be safe. Maybe we can finally move these things out of this suitcase and into a safer place. I thought you got rid of those boots.”

“I did. And I got new ones.” His mother scowled at him. “These shoes are in at least 3 different outfits.”

Getting out of the house didn’t take long but figuring out the way to school was a bit harder. They only had enough time to stop and pick up croissants before they finally pulled up to school. Another town car was pulling up and letting out a student as he and his mother got out of the car. He glanced at the girl in designer clothes heavily featuring a butterfly and long brown hair, who seemed stunned to see him.

“Oh, caro, finish that quickly so we can go meet the principal.” His mother said, wiping some of the crumbs off the side of his mouth. He noticed the girl seemed upset but she quickly covered it and stormed off. He’d seen other teens at the schools he went to do the same, unwilling to show their emotions. To be honest, he hated it. The idea of not showing who you were, letting people see you at your worst and best? Sure, there were times where it was good to hide it but forever hiding it? No thank you.

____________________

Lila watched Adrien enter the classroom behind Mml. Bustier. She couldn’t believe how the once model was dressed, in cropped shirts and boots, his bag displaying pins and charms, but it didn’t matter. She had his life and she knew how this would go.

Waking up in Adrien’s life was a surprise, but it was proof she got what she wanted. The room, the clothes, the house…the absence of the father. She still couldn’t believe how Gabriel was treating his own child. The breakfast of chicken breast and celery, the massively long schedule that was recited for her, needing to book time to see her own father? But it was fine, she’d been Gabriel’s muse before and she managed to yank him in any direction she pleased so it was only a matter of time. Her classmates were acting odd around her. Adrien used to be greeted with welcomes when he walked into the classroom, smiles and general good cheer. Her appearance hadn’t gotten that. A few replies, but most was stares that seemed to go right through her.

She was Lila Agreste. They should be rushing to greet her.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet your new classmate. Adrien, why don’t you introduce yourself?”

“Hi, I’m Adrien Rossi. I was born and raised in Italy but I move around a lot. Both my parents are diplomates, which makes this my third school of the year? I like anime, cosplay and hanging out with my mom. I hope we can be friends.”

The whole class kindly welcomed him, which made her clench her fists. But it was ok, she’d get her way.

“Mml. Bustier, I’d be happy to give our new student a tour.” She said, standing up.

She felt everyone staring at her, but it wasn’t the good kind that made her stand up taller. It was the same feeling she got when she thought Marinette might actually win in calling her out. But that was crazy.

Mml. Bustier didn’t seem to think so as she stared up at her, much like Mml. Mendeleiev would do to most students. “I don’t think so. Your free period is being spent with Max for studying remember? Your last quiz has your father very disappointed. Nino, would you please show him around?”

“Sure.”

Class was swiftly swept up and started and everything felt wrong. This wasn’t how people treated Adrien, so why were they treating her this way? But it was ok, if she had his life, Adrien had hers, which meant he’d lie. She could call him out and win affection. It was easy.

She had a chance when Literature ended a few minutes early and everyone swarmed Adrien, trying to get to know him.

“Have you been to really amazing places?”

“I mean, I call them amazing, but some wouldn’t think London for 2 weeks is amazing and the month in Scotland after that. But I enjoyed every minute of it.”

“What was your favourite part about it?”

“Food and cosplay locations. Some of my best pictures were in random places I found, though I do love a lot of the ones in Italy when we were back or visiting family.”

“You must have a really popular Instagram then. I mean, you must have access to meeting so many celebrities.”

“Not really. I’ve only met a few C list celebs, who came to benefits. But that was just in passing mostly. My mom doesn’t want me taking ad deals and such while I’m still in school and I agree. My life is pretty quiet, minus the moving. It’s only gotten more hectic recently but it’s never been anywhere extravagant. I guess I rubbed elbows with a few elite kids, but they didn’t want anything to do with me, so it didn’t matter.”

Wait, what? Where were the embellished tales? Talks of fabulous places to live, people who wanted to be near, perfect life?

“I’ve never seen you at a benefit. Must not be to high up on the ladder.” The words came out her mouth without thinking.

“What benefit would you have gone to? You never left your house until last year.” Alya stated, staring her down.

“My father stopped inviting yours after all those rejects.” Chloe, who was still sitting in her seat, spoke.

“Just watch, another lie for the media to rip into.” She heard Kim whisper.

Media? what did...She was in the media. A media who chased and exposed Adrien’s location. A media that posted his every word. Marinette might of used the media to try and pull apart her lies but no one higher ever called her out about it. But if she was in the media all the time like she’d be now, her every word, her every lie would be scrutinized.

“Well, your mother doesn’t love you!”

The class exploded, all yelling at her before Adrien stood up, glaring at her. He looked at her like that once, but this felt worse.

“I don’t know who the hell you are, nor do I care but watch your mouth about my mother. My mom happily spends time with me and makes sure I know how much she cares. Just because you’re so clearly starved for love, doesn’t mean you get to take it out on me. Grow the fuck up.” He turned to Nino. “Why don’t you show me around now?”

“Gladly!”

____________________

Adrien wasn’t one to just yell at a person, but this random girl told him his mother didn’t love him. Who did she think she was?

“What is her deal?”

“That was Lila Agreste.”

“Agreste? Like Gabriel Agretse, the fashion designer?”

Nino nodded. “You’ve heard about how he’s a recluse right? Well, Lila started school for the first time last year. We got pretty star struck when we met her for the first time. Should have realised something was up when Chloe, daughter of the mayor and never lets anyone forget it, didn’t like her. Lila kept telling us all these things, making all these promises to us but thing is, when we started talking about it to other people, word got around and the truth started coming out. She’s really good at lying and manipulating people. Once we realised what she does, we stopped believing what she said. Marinette, the Asian girl sitting behind you? she tried welcoming Lila, but she was just beyond help. Ignore anything she says. It’s a miracle she hasn’t been pulled from school with all the scandals she’s caused.”

“Well, she doesn’t matter. So, my mom works a lot. It sucks yeah, but she still checks in with me and I know she loves me.”

“Well, her mom did disappear 2 years ago.”

“And that’s sad, truly it is, but that doesn’t give her the right to act like that. My parents are divorced and you don’t see me attacking people with married parents.”

Adrien decided to put Lila out of his mind. She just seemed to be a spoiled rich girl and he had practise with those.

“Hey, any chance you know of the best Italian places to eat?”

“You want to Italian for lunch?” Nino asked, looking a bit confused.

“No, my mom and I have this tradition that whenever we move to a new place, we find the best Italian place. We judge it on how good the pizza and cannolis are.” Adrien said, nearly bouncing as they went down the steps.

“Well, I’m usually fine with whatever, but if you want a real expert opinion, we can ask Alya. Her mom is a chef at the most premier hotel in France. But first, the tour!”

By the time the tour was over, lunch had started so Nino dragged him to cafeteria, bringing him over to sit with Alya and Marinette. He waved to his other classmates and watched Lila storming into the cafeteria, Max following after looking annoyed and exhausted. He guessed the tutoring session didn’t go well.

“Hey Alya, does your mom have suggestions for Italian places? Adrien and his mom wanted to know.” Nino asked, while Adrien pulled his sweater off, pulling his beanie back down, seeming to not see the blush on Marinette’s face.

“I can ask her. You know, Marinette had a question about your cosplays. She’s a designer.”

“Oh really? That’s amazing. My skills are pretty basic. I’ve been tempted to do Hawks from Boku no Hero Academia, but trying to figure out how to do wings seems nearly impossible.”

“Oh, I’ve never gotten to do anything like that. But I’d be happy to help. Do you have pictures?” Marinette asked.

Adrien pulled up his cosplay Instagram, handing his phone over, not questioning when Alya switched between his food and personal Instagram as well.

“I know you say your life is pretty normal, but these look amazing.” Alya said, swiping through the pictures of food, landscapes and Adrien in both elaborate and simple costumes.

“I just look for the positives, I guess. You guys will have to show me your favourite spots.”

“How about in exchange for 3 of the best Italian places, as suggested to by my mom, you let me do an interview on my blog? It’s mostly focused on the heroes but after meeting Lila, surprisingly, I’ve realised it does a reporter good to have a broader reach.” Alya stated.

“Right, who are the heroes? My mom is here mostly because of this ‘supervillain’ that’s appeared, mostly to off assistance and advice but I’m a bit vague on the details.”

Alya brightened up, using Adrien’s phone to bring up her blog and handed it to him, leaning over the table so she could scroll for him.

“Scarlet Bug and Catseye, two themed heroes who appeared out of nowhere, just around the same time akumas did.”

“Demons?” seeing the confused look, Adrien explained, “Akuma is a Japanese spirit, also known as a demon. They show up a fair amount in anime, usually fantasy or magical.”

“I’m gonna ask you more on that later, but these akumas are purple butterflies. In fact, Ivan had been the first victim. They go for people experiencing high negative emotions. We don’t know how Hawkmoth, the guy controlling them, chooses the person, just that it can happen at any time. Scarlet Bug and Catseye showed up at the same time and where able to both defeat Ivan and help him turn back but also cleansed the akuma so it was just a normal butterfly.”

“Most of our class has been akumatized already.” Nino reminded. “we’ve been called the Miracuclass, since the items the heroes turn with is called the Miraculous. Hawkmoth wants them for some reason. That’s always what the akumas ask for when fighting them.”

“You know, Lila pretended that she knew the two of them, but they went on record saying they didn’t, saying the couldn’t been seen as familiar friends with civilians, even famous ones.”

Adrien leaned over, looking past Alya to where Lila was sitting, alone. He felt sorry for her, but seeing what she’d been doing and hearing what she’d been saying, it didn’t stay that way for long.

“Are they at least cool?”

“The coolest! I have this theory that they might be related to each other just because of how they act towards each other. Reminds me of me and my siblings.”

“Alya is still learning to not go running into fights for footage. She’s gotten scolded but has yet to listen.” Marinette said.

“Will you shush? Trust me, if your mom ever meets them, she’ll know they’re a major help to France.”

“I’ll make sure to mention it to her. And I’ll ask about the interview, mom is pretty insistent I don’t get into any sort of ads or media she doesn’t agree with. She only agreed to the Instagram since I don’t show my face in the food one and I’m in costume on my cosplay one.”

“Fair enough, now about those food suggestions.”

#adrien augreste #adrien aguast #lila wins and wishes for adrien's life #lila's mom is now adrien's mom #adrien curses

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taz-skylar · 1 year

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hi roh!

no worries about the late response, as you can see I'm also sending this kinda late myself - it's been another hectic week. I hope this week was kinder to you! the previous one really did sound very busy with all your tests and deadlines 🫠

lkadskf I feel like if I share what animangas/ other shows I like it would be a dead giveaway to who I am 🤡 for now, let's just say one of favorites is haikyuu 🌝

same here! I'm trying to keep up with a couple of currently airing animes as well, spy x family and blue lock being two of them. I've watched link click (earlier this year I think)! how are you finding it so far?

oh I'm terrible at keeping up with release dates and what's upcoming tbh so it's more likely instead that I'll have to ask you or some other people what's good 🥲 for now, I'm just waiting for new seasons of a couple of shows (including link click). I think the one new anime I'm waiting for is solo leveling (I didn't read the webtoon though)

question of the week! who is/ are your favorite character(s)? ishas there been any character you've related to?

- your animanga secret santa 🦖

it's been a long month fjlakdjf i had a final on monday and now i have to get through 5 more over 4 days starting on monday so lots of studying happening right now, especially since my first 2 finals are the harder ones 😭 fjaldkfja i feel like the only animanga that would give you away was if you like op since there's not as many fans of the series as i'd like there to be but also haikyuu is so much fun so i love it so i can already tell you have great taste! how are you liking sxf and blue lock so far?? i love the way those 2 series are just totally opposites and i love watching them one after another because they're both so fun in their own ways. like legit, i know blue lock isn't a comedy, yet my sister, moh, and i are laughing too much during each episode bc i love their dramatic antics and i'm so glad to see it all being played out on screen now. i've only seen the first 3 episodes of link clink so far but i really like it so far!! moh and i are loving watching it and theorizing to the max about it as much as we can during our watches (since i haven't been able to join all of amc's watches). i gotta warn you that i'm like super bad at keeping up with what's coming out so i'm probably the last person you want to ask for recs, but i can definitely direct you to some people who have simply the best recs !!! oooo solo leveling is another one that's on my list (dw i didn't read the webtoon either faldkfja) to answer the question of the week: my favourite characters are: roronoa zoro and nami (one piece), oikawa tooru (haikyuu, which is probably unsurprising bc of my sideblog's url), dabi (boku no hero academia, even though i've given up on bnha ever being a good story), nakahara chuuya (bungou stray dogs), zeno (akatsuki no yona), minako aino (sailor moon), and sherlock and william moriarty (yuukoku no moriarty) characters i relate to: unfortunately i've found myself relating to luffy (one piece) after october 2021 a lot, which definitely sucks and nakahara chuuya due to our bodies betraying us but i also am relating hard to mizuno ami (sailor moon) right now bc of all the studying, roronoa zoro bc he sleeps a lot, miya twins always bc moh and i fight like them all the time, wei wuxian and kamado tanjirou bc of our protectiveness over our siblings, edward elric bc of my shortness i asked @luffys who she thinks i relate to and she immediately said asta (black clover) bc i'm screaming at her all the time, which to be fair is always valid bc she's a dipshit, and she also said i relate to murr (vanitas no carte) bc i'm always done with everything but mostly her, she also said a character from free but she was just trolling me with that since she knows my opinions on that show fladkfj

thank you for the questions, bud!! they were super fun to answer 💙

#rohreplies #🦖#animangasecretsanta22 #animangasecretsanta #again sorry if i'm responding very late #it's just been a long month faldkjfa

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mxtxfanatic · 2 years

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Tag 9 People You Want to Get to Know Better:

I was tagged by @sluttyilinglaozu

Favorite color:

If you looked at all of my belongings and wardrobe, you’d say pink (and you wouldn’t be wrong! 😅) However, I also love blue and any pastel coloring.

Currently reading:

I am still in the middle of rereading Scum Villain vol. 3, but I’m rereading the extras from the fan translation, finally got to reading (skimming) the 2ha extras, I started reading a baihe novel called Fangsi, and I still need to finish a poetry collection I started called Bestiary by Donika Kelly!

Last Songs:

Lol, I think I mentioned that one thing that derailed me from starting svss vol. 3 other than my eye issues was a new album drop. I’ve been listening to Beyonce’s Renaissance the most, but also Doechii’s, Flo Milli’s, and Megan Thee Stallion’s new albums. (These last two weeks have been a blessing in music for me 🥺🥺🥺)

Last Series:

Spy x Family, which if you haven’t seen is definitely worth checking out if you love fake marriage turned real, found/adopted families, genuine caring, and shenanigans! I’ve also slowly been trying to work through the Legend of Hei webseries with a friend, but we are in different countries so time zones have been 😬

Last movie:

Everything Everywhere All At Once, and I’ve watched it like 4 or 5 times. I haven’t seen a movie that made me feel this much and kept me thinking long after it ended in years.

Currently working on:

LMAO! So technically I have two mdzs fics I’ve been “working on” for months. Still debating whether I’ll actually finish and publish them or not. As for original works, I have a book and a few poetry collections in the works. That laugh was because all of my writings have been on hiatus since I got sick earlier this year, so I’m trying to get back into it now.

#tags!#had to wait til i could get to my laptop for this since mobile wouldn't let me copy/paste #i hope nothing got deleted #I’m leaving this open again for anyone who wants to join!

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courage-a-word-of-justice · 2 years

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Spy x Family 9 | Paripi 10 - 12 (FINAL)

Spy x Family 9

I love how the CR subbers did the little echo thing with the subs.

Yuri’s possessiveness of his sister reminds me of this one Samatoki fan manga (from HypMic of course).

Paripi Koumei 10

This is so close to finishing…I’ll miss it when it’s gone.

Shibuya 109 is the background.

Uh…question. Does Kongming know how to operate a shower…? Or does he go to a bathhouse?

For some reason, I had to watch a few seconds a few times before I understood what was happening.

The title of a work is always important, whether it be for a blog, book or song.

Yup, Futaba has freckles.

“…how do people decide on titles anyway?”

One of the bubbles on the handouts talks about a “guerrilla live [concert]”.

Looks like the computer they’re using is a variation of a Mac…at least, OS-wise.

Looks like Sekitoba did indeed notice Kabe’s shaking.

…Kongming…went home?! I didn’t expect that!!! What???

Paripi 11

“…recommended that he…”

Tbh, I’d never heard of the Shibuya moyai until it became an injoke in the server I’m a moderator of… *sweatdrops*

Tover Records, kek.

Ain’t it dangerous on the roof of Shibuya 109, Kongming…?

The eyecatch didn’t even have “Paripi Koumei!” this time… (slightly forlorn because this means the anime is ending soon)

*wheezes* Airhorns! That always means a rap song…in HypMic terms, at least.

A & M instead of H & M…heh.

Update: The QR code after Eiko’s concert is for the Paripi Koumei anime website. I couldn’t get the other QR code, but I assume it leads to the same place.

Update 2: After someone on the ANN forums mentioned it, turns out I found Nanami in the OP dancing alongside Kabe, Owner Kobayashi, Kongming and Eiko.

Paripi 12 (FINAL)

…oops, I take a break for a week or two…I come back and get duped by that QR code again… *sweatdrops* (I love Paripi, but I had other commitments – including watching Cowboy Bebop – which meant this anime had to take the backseat.)

“Perceive your dream…”

The DMC logo (…or was it DMD…?) I saw earlier was a parody of DMM Games (responsible for Touken Ranbu), while the Atsu…something…logo was a parody of a drugstore chain called Matsumoto Kiyoshi.

That sash of Kongming’s… Kek!

We haven’t heard from Mia in a long time… *sweatdrops*

This anime isn’t just Kongming’s story – it’s Eiko’s and Nanami’s, moreso than anyone else’s.

Ohhhhhhhhhh…that makes a tonne of sense. Shibuya 109 got in uncensored because the 109 staff were in on this production…haha.

Awww…that was great. See you around some time!

#Spy x Family #Paripi Koumei #Ya Boy Kongming #simulcast commentary

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beyondspaceandstars · 3 years

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Dog Days

Relationship: Natasha Romanoff x Reader Warnings: N/A, just fluffy! Summary: You agree to accompany Yelena to the pet shelter so she can look for a dog. While there, though, you lock eyes with the sweetest golden retriever... Natasha ends up coming home to quite the surprise. A/N: Bad title, even worse summary! but what’s new.

Masterlist

When you woke up that morning, you hadn’t expected that by the afternoon you’d be standing in what felt like a sea of dogs. In fact, you knew for a cold hard fact you weren’t supposed to be in this position.

Earlier in the week, Yelena had finally announced she was committing to getting a dog, a task she had been hemming and hawing about for months. Naturally, you and Natasha were pretty excited for her. It felt like you two were becoming aunts in some sort of way. Natasha then offered to go to the shelter with Yelena and the plans had been made.

But come the morning of and Natasha was whisked away to a meeting or something. You didn’t know, you weren’t an Avenger — you only dated one.

You broke the news to Yelena that morning when she came to pick up Natasha. There was a tinge of disappointment written on her face but she did her best to keep up that unbothered persona. It never worked on you when your girlfriend did it and it certainly wasn’t working now with her sister. After a short debate with yourself, you had impulsively grabbed your purse and told Yelena you’d go with her. She didn’t fight you on it.

And that was how you ended up being pestered by dog after dog after dog. They seemed to be never-ending as you two walked up and down the aisles of the local shelter. There were big ones, small ones. Loud ones, shy ones. Puppies and seniors. Each and every one of them looked up at you with the sweetest eyes. It was starting to become concerning how much your heart ached for these little guys. But you weren’t here for yourself — no way, that was never the plan — and instead directed your attention to pointing out potential adoptees for Yelena.

She was quick to shut down your chihuahua suggestion which, well, was sort of reasonable. Yelena didn’t come off as the type. Then you passed some cages of great danes but those were a little on the too big side. Another fair point, they could be tough to corral.

Then you two stumbled upon the German shepherds. You don’t think you’d ever seen Yelena’s eyes light up so much. If falling in love at first sight was a thing with dogs, it happened at that moment you observed. While Yelena approached the cage to introduce herself to the dog, you stepped around looking at the others in the area.

That was when you had your own love at first sight moment. There, in the cage right next to the dog Yelena was looking at, was the sweetest, happiest golden retriever you had ever seen. He perked up immediately as you stepped towards the cage, tail wagging happily, mouth opened to what looked like to be a smile. As weird as that fact sounded, it felt true. This dog certainly looked happy to see you. The feeling was mutual.

Carefully, you stuck your hand between the cage bars and the dog sniffed you out. Within seconds he was licking you, a silent greeting and acceptance. It was over for you then and Yelena apparently had picked up on it.

"Natasha is going to have quite the surprise for her once she gets home," she laughed, watching you pet the dog as well as you could between the bars.

You bit your lip, holding back your own laugh. "It’s not like I can just walk away."

"Of course not."

"That’d be cruel."

"I agree."

You playfully rolled your eyes. "You just want me in trouble."

Yelena shrugged. "I do think it can be amusing hearing you and my sister bicker."

"Oh, just worry about your own dog," you shooed her away. She turned back to the German shepherd, letting out another laugh. The shepherd barked.

When Yelena found a volunteer to begin the adoption process, you followed as well. Like your feet had a mind of their own. Or maybe it was your heart. Whatever it was, you just knew you hadn’t expected your day to go as such.

***

It was very clear that Natasha also hadn’t expected the day to go the way it did.

It was close to midnight when the apartment door opened. You and the new dog, which you had found was named Sparky, were still up playing with the variety of new toys you had purchased for him. After adopting the golden retriever, you realized, well, you had nothing for him. He wasn’t technically supposed to be in the back of the car, looking around all excitedly, if today had gone the way it was meant to.

You stopped by a pet store on the way back which Sparky was very, very excited about. You found he was very kind with other dogs and got overly excited about anything flavored with bacon. You even let him pick out his own toys which led to quite the array of items.

You had just bounced a ball for Sparky to chase when you noticed a presence in the entryway of the living room. You nearly jumped out of your skin, still not used to the way your assassin girlfriend could be so stealthy.

"Nat, hello!" You exclaimed as if everything was normal and this was a very typical night. She didn’t look impressed standing with her arms crossed, eyes darting every now and then to the golden retriever who was now prancing back to you with the ball.

"What’s going on here?" She asked slowly, curiously. Sparky finally noticed Natasha and trotted over, trying to say hello. Your girlfriend looked a bit unsure, to say the least.

"Um, that’s Sparky the Golden Retriever," you explained, motioning to the dog still waiting for Natasha to pet him. She patted his head gently.

"I see that," she nodded. "I guess I’m asking… What’s he doing in our apartment?"

You stood from the floor and took a few steps towards your girlfriend. You discarded the toy in your hand, trying to figure out how to really explain everything now. "Well, you see, after you went to that meeting this morning, I told Yelena I’d go with her to the shelter."

Natasha nodded, encouraging you to go on.

You sighed. "I-I didn’t plan on it, obviously, but I saw Sparky in the cage and I just… Oh, Nat. You should’ve seen the way he looked at me. He’s so sweet. We got along right away and he seemed so excited to meet me… I couldn’t just leave him there!"

Natasha let out a light laugh, completely abandoning her angry girlfriend persona to finally kneel to the golden retriever’s height. She scratched behind his ears which earned a happy sigh from the dog. "Of course you couldn’t leave a face like this."

You let out your own sigh of relief and kneeled down as well. Hesitantly, you asked, "You’re not upset?"

Natasha shrugged. "I was certainly surprised," she admitted, "but I think I should’ve known this would happen."

"Excuse me?" You let out a faux surprise gasp. Natasha chuckled.

"Well, when I knew I couldn’t go I figured you’d step in," she explained. "You are absolutely hopeless when it comes to resisting animals. It was just a matter of time until I came home to this."

You smiled at her analysis of you. Ever the spy, can never turn it off. "Yelena was no help either in the situation. She definitely persuaded me but she was just banking on us arguing over it."

That made Natasha let out the most joyous laugh. You couldn’t help your smile getting bigger at her finding the situation amusing. "I expect nothing less from her," Natasha said.

You nodded in agreement. "Thank gosh it worked out," you said and began petting Sparky’s back. He was stuck between a shower of love and was taking in every second of it, tongue hanging out in happiness, eyes shut in content. "I was worried you’d make me return him."

Your girlfriend shook her head. "That’d be impossible." She sighed, "I can’t believe I’m now a… What do they call that? A dog mom?"

You gasped, a lightbulb going off in your head. "We could get little dog mom shirts made. Sparky could even get his own bandana. We’d have matching family outfits."

Natasha raised her hand, wordlessly asking you to slow down. "Please don’t push it, dear."

You playfully rolled your eyes. "Fine," you shrugged, "but you can’t control what I get you for Christmas."

As if he understood, Sparky let out a bark in agreement.

Natasha sighed. "I’m outnumbered now, aren’t I?"

Sparky turned towards you, giving your cheek what felt like a million licks. Through your laughter, you confirmed your girlfriend’s suspicion.

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jincherie · 4 years

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sunshine riptide | ot7

— COMMISSION —

⊙ — pairing: ot7 x reader ⊙ — genre: hybrid au, fluff, comfort, found family, ac inspired ⊙ — wc: 13.8k+ ⊙ — warnings: oc has an almost/light anxiety attack towards the end. there is no explicitly mentioned trigger and it isn’t dwelled on for long, but better to let u guys know! ⊙ — notes: here it is! it’s soft, and warm, and I hope that it can be something to cheer up a little bit those who aren’t having such a good day. i love u all, and I hope you like this piece :) to the commissioner, thank you for allowing me to write this and I truly hope it helps you feel even just a little bit better! <3

Moving to this island whose inhabitants are mostly hybrids was a bit of an impulse decision, something you did with empty pockets barely a cent to your name. Thanks to the kindness of the island’s ‘mayor’ you have a place to stay, the last spare room in a sharehouse with seven hybrids, and for three months he will pay your rent in exchange for you to work in his shop until you are back on your feet. It’s a sweet deal, but when you begin to get along better than expected with your housemates and the deadline for your departure looms ever closer, you’re not sure you’re going to be able to make yourself leave when the time comes.

— posted; 06.09.2020 | masterlist

“So in exchange for three months paid stay on the island while you get back on your feet, you will work part-time at the Rabbits Den three days a week, and man the desk in the Resident Services Building on Sundays. Is that okay to you?”

You nod eagerly, the ordeal seeming too good to be true and something you’re afraid will be retracted if you don’t act with haste. Mr Bang returns your motion with a little less fervour, the same kind look never leaving his face.

“Perfect, it’s settled then! We’re glad to have you with us, y/n.”

Something lifts from your chest in that moment, as though you’d been walking beneath the cover of a lead blanket and it has finally slipped from your shoulders. You feel a little breathless, and you know the grin that slips onto your face is stupidly wide. Embarrassingly, you feel salty pricks at the corner of your eyes.

“Thank you so much,” you say, and you mean it. It hadn’t exactly been a well thought out plan, moving here with nothing to your name but your most basic possessions, but you’d just needed to escape and start anew and this… this had been the first opportunity you’d seen. The best opportunity you’d seen. “Really, thank you.”

“You’re more than welcome, young lady.” Mr Bang’s expression grows even softer, if possible. “This is a place people come to find refuge, and happiness. You’re welcome here.”

You clear your throat, turning your head to the side and pretending that you need to cough so he doesn’t see the tear that slips out. You have a feeling he knows, though, as you turn back and find him smiling at you, floppy rabbit ears framing his round face. He reaches out, patting you on the shoulder.

“Now, lets find you a room for the night. I’ll send word to the house I have in mind and make sure they have it nice and tidy before your arrival tomorrow. Sound good?”

It hits you only now how tired you are, more emotionally exhausted than anything, and nod while allowing him to lead you down the hall. That does sound good, actually. That sounds amazing.

O – O – O

You’d arrived on this island in the early hours of the morning yesterday, the late-night ferry the only one that runs to this island on the outskirts of the archipelago. It’s likely due to the fact that the captain is a nocturnal hybrid, and hence prefers to run his business under the cover of night. You hadn’t been able to sleep on the trip over, so when Mr Bang had shown you to the room he was happy to lend you for the night, despite it being barely ten o’clock in the morning you’d passed out the second your head hit the pillow. It was more of a nap than anything, but you suspect that the events of the past few months all caught up to you at once because you woke only for dinner and then fell asleep once more. Mr Bang offered no judgement, and simply left a note instructing you where the bathroom is and where you could find towels so that you could freshen up once you awoke. He also left you a coffee bun in a container, since you’d missed the afternoon tea he held the day before.

You hadn’t even been on this island a day and already the kindness of one of the residents was almost bringing you to tears.

Due to the fact that you’d slept far too early, you end up waking up at an ungodly hour the next day, the day you are meant to be moving in to the sharehouse that Mr Bang told you about. Laying in the bed, nestled in the warmth of the covers and watching as the suns rays slowly begin to stain the ceiling and the curtains in rich marigold, you do your best to get yourself together. You can breathe easy now, any anxiety you’d felt previous now nothing more than an echo in your chest. You feel refreshed, and not just from the ridiculous amount of sleep you’ve had in the past twenty-four hours. There are of course some nerves pertaining to meeting your new housemates, but it’s manageable. You have faith that everything will turn out well. It’s a good feeling.

Mr Bang is kind enough to offer you breakfast, and likely would have pushed you to stay for lunch had you not shown up down the stairs with your baggage already in tow. So begrudgingly, he allows you to head on your way, informing you that your new housemates knew of your arrival and had endeavoured to tidy up as much as possible. You thought it was a little funny he was telling you that—just how messy is the house usually?—but he simply shook his head with a smile that told you the answer would come soon enough.

The island isn’t big, but it most definitely isn’t small. The sun is warm and the air cool with a tinge of salt and sea trailing along the breeze, and the path you walk along that skirts the beach is peppered with sand and the odd shell. It makes you happier than anticipated, because just being out here makes you feel so free. Mr Bang told you that the house where you will be staying is on the other side of the island, past the little cluster of shops and small businesses and perched at the edge of the sand, backing onto a river that flows into the ocean and skirted on one side by a small cliff.

“It’s their own little alcove,” Mr Bang had snorted, a mixture of fondness and amusement evident on his features. “They get up to more trouble than I can keep track of over there, but they’re good boys.”

Ah, that’s right. You’d almost forgotten; your new housemates are a bunch of boys. You hope that Mr Bang is right about their character and you won’t be living in discomfort for the next three months.

The path wound and curved a bit, following the edge of the island, and before long you were walking through a section of light forestry. You suspected the house would be on the other side, and were in the midst of thinking just what it would look like when a small squeak! catches your attention and you halt, almost dropping your bag.

It’s silent, save for the way the breeze caresses the leaves around you. You peer around, eyes unable to spot anything in the foliage. Did you imagine it? It’s a little early in your stay to be going crazy. Hesitantly, you adjust your grip on your bag and resume your trek.

Squeak! S-squeeeak!

No, you definitely heard that. You freeze, having gotten a better sense of where the sound is coming from now and turning towards a large tree smothered in vines of varying thickness and clinginess. For a moment, you don’t see anything, eyes squinting hard—it’s like one of those I spy books you used to rave about as a kid— and just when you think you might be looking in the wrong place, you catch movement.

There, in a cluster of the vines dangling from one of the tree’s thicker limbs, is a tiny creature, all tangled up and squeaking in distress.

“Oh my goodness,” you drop your bag, immediately moving closer. “Poor thing—hold on just a second, bub. I’ll get you out. Promise not to bite me?”

The creature offers a squeak and logically you know it isn’t answering your request, but you pretend it is anyway. Carefully stepping over plants and twigs, thanking past you for wearing more practical boots, you reach where the creature is stuck, dangling just below eye level.

The vines it has managed to get all tangled up in aren’t particularly thick, but there are a lot of them, and it has managed to get a few of its limbs stuck in place. Carefully, you snap a few of the more central ones and ease the tiny thing out, getting a better view of it the more you pull from its body. It’s squeaking all the while, though with much less distress and more of an energy that simply feels chatty. It makes you smile.

“There you go,” you murmur, cradling the tiny baby in your palms and cooing, trying to calm the heartbeat and hurried breaths you can feel racing against your skin. You stroke along its back as lightly as you can manage. “Oh, you’re a little sugar glider! You’re so pretty, such a cutie. Look at your markings, wow… so pretty.”

Almost as though it can understand your praise and is basking in it, it flicks its bushy tail and rolls in your palm, like a cat rubbing against something with its cheek except this little glider is doing it with its whole body. It’s awfully friendly, you note. Perhaps much of the wildlife here is more peacefully accustomed to human and hybrid activity.

“Okay, you’re free now. I’ll stop ogling at you and let you go,” you say, holding your hands up to a part of the tree that isn’t covered in vines lest there be a repeat of the earlier situation. The sugar glider merely blinks, eyes still on you, and doesn’t move. Brows drawn in confusion, you move your hands closer to the tree, “Well, aren’t you going to—oh!”

Faster than you can react, the little thing darts from your hands, leaping to your bicep and scurrying up with tiny claws in your shirt to your shoulder. Once at its apparent destination, it rushes to the crook of your neck and makes itself at home, nestling against you and securing itself with its tail partway around the back of your neck and its little paws clutching your shirt edge. You giggle, still in shock and trying not to jostle it off as you fight the ticklish sensation.

“Okay. I guess you can come with me. I’m not sure if you can stay the whole while, but I’m sure it will be okay while I walk.”

So off you go, bending and retrieving your bag carefully so you don’t dislodge your tiny new companion. You’ve seen a bit of sugar gliders, but the way this one is acting is quite peculiar. If it sticks around until you arrive at the house, you’d love to snap a quick picture because it really is so pretty, so cute.

The trip is faster than anticipated, now there is something else to occupy your thoughts. Before you know it you’re out of the forestry and approaching a large, modern three storey building that is probably just a few yards short of a mansion, nestled between the ocean, the river, and a short cliff-face just barely higher than the roof. This is the place for sure.

The little glider seems to perk up, the closer you get, something that surprises you since it was so quiet you thought it was asleep. With a soft noise, it grabs onto your hair with tiny paws and scurries to the top of your head, likely making a mess of it in the process but it’s so cute you can’t bring yourself to mind. At least it will be an interesting first impression.

As you approach the front door, you think you see movement in one of the windows on the ground floor. You almost dismiss it as you reach the eve, until you catch the hurried patter of feet against hardwood from beyond the door.

You barely manage to blink before the door is flying open, a man with raven curls and two fluffy russet ears peeking between the locks presenting you with the biggest grin you have ever seen on anyone’s face. It’s boyish and cute, a direct contrast to the mature, sculpted features of his face.

“Hello!” he says, and you catch sight of a long, fluffy russet tail whipping behind him and betraying his excitement—not that he was doing much to hide it. “You must be the new roomie! It’s nice to meet you! We’ve been waiting all morning, and one of us actually went to pick you up but… I’m not sure where he is.”

You’re a little overwhelmed but easily recover when he simply keeps looking at you so happily, returning the man’s bright smile. There’s rustling in your hair at the back of your head but you ignore it, adjusting your grasp on your bag. “Ah, thank you. I’m y/n, it’s nice to meet you…?”

The man pulls back, a sheepish look on his face that accompanies a light flush in his cheeks. “Oh, right. I’m Taehyung. Sorry. My hyungs tell me I tend to get a bit ahead of myself sometimes.”

You keep the smile on your face. “That’s okay, we got there in the end. It’s nice to meet you, Taehyung.”

Taehyung brightens, tail curling happily behind him. He opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted from a voice to the side.

“Are you going to make our poor new housemate wait outside all day, Tae?”

The light blush colouring Taehyung’s cheeks deepens, a sheepish laugh escaping. “No. I was just about to invite her in!”

He steps back and reveals the person behind him who had spoken, a tall man with dimples and silvery hair that did little to conceal the large, rounded grey ears atop his head. He seems a little awkward in his stance, like he has more body than he knows what to do with, but still extends an arm in greeting with a kind smile. “y/n, is it? Welcome, please come in. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay here with us, however brief. We’re happy to have you.”

Don’t cry, don’t cry! If you cry now you can never show your face here again. You clear your throat, returning his smile as you step inside and out of the sun, the difference in temperature against your skin immediate. “Thank you, I really appreciate your generosity in letting me stay here.”

“Nonsense,” Taehyung snorts, “Namjoon-hyung has been saying for months we should find someone to fill the spare room, and now you show up on our doorstep! It’s perfect.”

The taller, who Taehyung had referenced as Namjoon, seems a little bashful, his cheeks heating. Does everyone in this house blush so easily? You hope it’s not contagious.

There is movement in your hair again, the glider apparently needing to breathe, and you have your mouth open ready to explain when Namjoon beats you to it.

“Oh, I see you’ve met Jimin already!”

What?

The glider leaps from your head and onto Taehyung’s outstretched arm, climbing to his head before leaping from that too and gliding through the air, all the way around the corner. There is a small clutter, the sound of a light swearword entering the air, and then the ever-familiar patter of feet against hardwood. Another boy rounds the corner, ashy-blond hair tousled and parted by two small grey ears, bushy tail curling behind him.

He skids to a stop in front of you, dipping in a brief bow before rising and shooting you a bright smile. “Hello! Thank you for helping me! I’m Jimin, welcome home!”

It takes all of your willpower to keep the happy tears at bay as you tilt your head back and laugh, already feeling lighter than you ever remember feeling before.

O – O – O

Your next introductions to the hybrids you will be sharing your home with for the next three months go much smoother and without as many surprises as the last ones. Jimin, who seems to have warmed up to you quickly, was more than happy to take you on a tour of the house and to go through introductions while he was at it. He happily told you who was what hybrid as well, without you asking. You figured that he realised your underperforming human nose wouldn’t be able to tell, so he took the initiative and you’re thankful for it, because you were curious.

The oldest resident of the house is Seokjin, a red-panda hybrid who goes on a spree of stress-baking every time exam season rolls around. Most of the hybrids study online, as you learnt from Jimin’s excited chattering. The second you met Jin, as he preferred to be called, you were stunned at how handsome he was. Of course, any awe that rooted you to the spot quickly dissipated as he said a joke so painfully funny it left you with whiplash between the urge to roll your eyes and guffaw. You like him, though. He’s nice.

You quickly discover that all the inhabitants of this house are, though. Yoongi is the second oldest and a squirrel glider hybrid—something Jimin said he found funny since he was closest to Jimin, a sugar glider, and Hoseok, the third oldest and a sunny squirrel hybrid. He giggled as he told you, and you couldn’t hide your own smile even as Yoongi’s ear had flicked and he’d shot the two of you a suspicious look. The little fun fact Jimin had told you about Yoongi had taken you by surprise; he remotely operates the island’s radio, many of the tunes ones he has created himself. Often, if there is a festival, he will volunteer his time to work the music jobs there, too. Apparently Namjoon also pitches in, and Hoseok when he has free time outside of the classes he teaches on the other side of the island.

Hoseok is a dancer, Jimin had gushed, and while he teaches at the school part time, he also volunteers time outside of that to hold dance classes for the kids. Jimin told you that he joins occasionally, but less often lately since his workload for university has increased. He did tell you, though, that the youngest of the house had all but taken his place, his youthful heart at home mucking around with kids and helping them learn.

Jungkook is his name, and Jimin informed you with a very fond and very amused look that he is rather shy, so you might not see him for a few days. Apparently it had been uttered just loud enough for the hybrid in question to catch it though, because there was a tumbling sound from the floor above and a series of stomping footsteps. A head of long, wavy inky hair had popped over the railing, grey ears pinned back as a baby-faced boy delivered a glare to the blonde to your side.

“Hyung! That’s not true! I’m not too shy to even introduce myself!” he had defended himself avidly, red-faced and huffy. When his eyes turned to you, mouth open to follow through on his words, he abruptly shrank and all that escaped was a squeak. It took him a moment to conjure speech once more, and this time he was noticeably less bold. “I’m—I’m Jungkook! It’s nice to meet you! I have to go now! Goodbye!”

And then he was gone, and so concluded your final introduction to the residents you had yet to meet. You thought you had a good feeling when you first arrived, but now that you’ve met everyone and everything feels that bit more real, you find yourself thinking…

It’s a really good feeling.

O – O – O

“It’s not what it looks like!”

You raise a brow, book in hand as you stand at the edge of the sand bank where green bleeds into gold. Against your heels is cool grass, and your toes are dipped in the gentle warmth of the sand. Namjoon sits in front of you, beneath a tree protruding from the dune, with a bundle of leaves in his hand and a guilty look in his face.

“Isn’t eucalyptus toxic to humans and hybrids?”

“I’m not eating it!” Namjoon waves his hands in a frantic bid to assure you, eyes wide, and almost drops the leaves in question. His large, grey ears flick in his distress. “I was just… I know I can’t eat it but it smells so good… I was just sniffing it. It calms me.”

You let out a light laugh, walking closer and plopping down on the sand beside him, beneath the generous shade the tree offers. The sea breeze is kind and cools your skin where it smarts from the sun, tickling your neck and manipulating your hair into a tumbleweed. Namjoon snorts, helping you get it back in order.

“No judgement,” you say, crossing your legs and placing your book in your lap for the meantime. “Just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t have to take you to a hospital, because I do not know where to find one on this island.”

Namjoon grins, rosy cheeks complimenting his skin the way it glows gold in the sun’s glare. “You’d drag little ol’ me all the way to the hospital if you knew where it was?”

“Well, yeah,” you laugh, sifting sand through your fingers as you relish the sound of waves crashing barely a yard away. It’s so peaceful, you feel so at peace. “Since none of you seem to know what a car is.”

“We had a car,” Namjoon admits, face flushing violently as he averts his gaze, turning his head. “There was just, um, an unfortunate incident… that may have involved a tree, or two…”

You decide not to probe further, lest your current good impression of Namjoon come under threat. A beat of silence passes, before Namjoon shuffles, placing the bundle of leaves back on the grass. He angles his body a little more towards you, sniffing subtly.

“So… how is your stay so far? Is everything going okay?”

You can’t hide the expression of surprise that makes its way to your face as you turn to him, blinking. You don’t know what you were expecting, but for some reason it hadn’t been that. It’s awfully nice of him.

You’ve been on the island almost a week now. The interactions you’ve had with your housemates so far, though not too bountiful, have all been pleasant, and you genuinely have nothing to complain about. You haven’t seen much of Jungkook, Hoseok, or Yoongi—but that mostly comes down to incompatible work hours and commitments. Mr Bang’s nephews run the Rabbit’s Den, the local convenience store that occasionally hosts a few exotic goods, and they have been nothing short of helpful, polite, and friendly while you worked there. You have worked a single shift at the Resident Services Building too, and it was pretty chill. A few residents came in, happily introduced themselves to you, and then you helped them with whatever had warranted their visit. All in all, your stay has been amazing so far.

“It’s been good,” you say, and it feels so nice to have the words escaping your mouth be true to the warmth in your chest. “Everyone here is super nice. It does feel a bit odd though, sometimes I feel like I’m the only human here.”

“Oh, yeah. You are,” Namjoon huffs an amused laugh. “You’re the first human Mr Bang has allowed on this island.”

Your surprise is evident, and it makes him smile when he turns his head to give you a sly look. “He must have had a good feeling about you. Rabbit hybrids tend to rely a lot on their gut feelings and intuition.”

“Oh,” you say, cheeks warming. Well, you’re glad he had decided to let you in. You say as much to Namjoon, and he smiles brightly at you.

“We’re glad he decided to let you in, too.”

You’re not sure what to say to that, a little embarrassed from the unexpectedness of it—was he really telling the truth? You’d hardly spent any time with some of your other housemates…

A calm silence begins to settle between you, and you take the time to open your book and resume where you left off. You get so carried away reading that when you finally look up some time later, the sight to your side almost makes you gasp.

Namjoon had, at some point, fallen asleep in a little patch of sunlight that manage to pierce through the foliage—in the place of the large, long-limbed man you had been talking to is now a considerably smaller fluffy koala, sitting upright and snoozing lightly. You suspect this isn’t the most ideal position for him to be sleeping in, though, because every few moments he will sway on the spot, almost tipping but not quite going far enough to have an abrupt meeting with the sand.

You coo, unable to help it, but the sound quickly grows alarmed when he leans too far—before you can think your arms shoot out to hold him up, but it seems there is something true to what is said about koalas being clingy because the second he feels something touch him, koala Namjoon clings.

You squeak, a fully-grown koala now wrapped around your forearm. Slowly, you bring it closer to you (feeling your bicep burn all the while because damn is he heavier than he looks!), planning to use your other hand to ease him off, but it seems that the second you’re close enough he can sense your warmth and he wants in. You sit, exasperated and amused, with a koala now latched to your midriff, arm forgotten. Both your hands are now free, but at what cost?

You figure that he’ll probably let go when he wakes up, or he might fall back into the sand in his sleep, but until then you resign yourself to unexpected but definitely not unwelcome koala cuddles. You just hope he won’t be too embarrassed when he wakes up; you can already see him stuttering and going red in your mind’s eye. It brings a chuckle to your lips, and with a smile on your face you return to your book once more, a little more content than before.

O – O – O

It’s been a while since you’ve had to deal with the dreams.

Usually, once they start you can wake yourself up, or you can manage to turn them around if they’re one you’ve had before. But some nights, when the dreams come, you’re helpless but to see them play out. Sometimes they’re not that bad, but even the milder ones leave you with a nauseous ball of anxiety beneath your lungs and a feeling of discomfort that digs claws deep in your bones.

About three weeks into your stay, you wake up after one such dream, a cursory glance to your phone and the painful glare of its screen revealing it to be the early hours of the morning. For a moment you simply lay, blinking, with your gaze rooted on the ceiling. You had strung up some fairy lights around your dresser, and on the plaster above you the soft colourful rainbow of their hue meshes and blends with the cool pools of moonlight slipping through your curtains.

Absently, and with a sense of resignation that you feel in your bones, you strip the cover back and climb out of bed, deciding you may as well grab some water since you’re likely not going to be able to fall asleep very easily anytime soon.

As you make your way through the levels to the ground floor where the kitchen resides, you’re careful to be as quiet as possible—you’re not sure how successful your effort is but you do know that quite a few of your housemates have been inundated with coursework lately and you don’t want to disturb any of the valuable rest they need so badly. Jimin had looked so wiped out yesterday that you’d literally had to pull him away from the dishes and send him to bed. He complained on the way, but as soon as his head hit his pillow he was out, leaving you in a mixture of awe and concern. He explained as soon as he woke the next morning that he had been up all night completing an assignment, and it made you realise just how exhausted a lot of your roommates seem lately. You hope this period passes soon for them; you may not have been here long but you have grown to care for them and you don’t like seeing them so unwell.

You’re just pondering this when you reach the ground floor and venture into the kitchen, thoughts and feet coming to an abrupt stop as you take in the sight that greets you there.

Seokjin is standing by the bench, hands moving slowly as he puts something together just out of your view. A quick survey of the rest of the countertop tells you that he’s making lunches, and while ordinarily this would touch your heart (as it does every time you see how each of the hybrids in this house cares for each other), this time you’re overcome with a strong wave of concern.

Delicately put, Seokjin looks dead on his feet.

Every few moments his head bobs down, chin almost hitting his chest before he jerks awake just long enough to lift his head, before the cycle repeats once more. He looks so exhausted you’re impressed he managed to make as many lunches as he did. Though, from the looks of it he’s only about halfway through.

“Hey, Seokjin… are you okay?”

The hybrid jumps, the startle you gave him probably rendering him more awake than he has been in a few hours.

“Wh—what are you doing awake?” he sputters, having to lean against the bench so that he doesn’t fall over. “It’s almost midnight!”

You can’t help the look you give him, a mixture between amusement and concern. “Um… it’s a little past midnight actually… probably closer to two… are you alright?”

Seokjin blinks at you for a second while your words sink in, before he sags with a light groan, bringing a hand up to scrub at his eyes.

“Yeah,” he mumbles, voice thick with sleepiness. His bushy, striped tail sways behind him before curling around his thigh. “I’m just… kind of wiped out. I was up finishing a part of a really big assessment piece and it took longer than I thought… I was going to go to bed but then I remembered that I hadn’t prepared the boys’ lunches, and I always do that, so I came down here and…”

He makes a great, sweeping gesture over the mess on the bench, a result of his patchy attention. A huff of laughter escapes him. “Yeah.”

“I’m glad you finished your piece, but… do you really have to make their lunches? I think you should probably get some sleep…”

You were a little worried he might take your words the wrong way, but you can tell from the serene expression on his face that he doesn’t. “I always do it. If I don’t, then they might worry about me, and I don’t want them to worry about me when they should spend that energy worrying about themselves. Plus, I don’t know if I’d be able to sleep if I knew they weren’t done.”

You return his amused smile, taking a step closer and willing yourself to speak the idea that had come to mind.

“Well, considering I found you almost sleeping on the spot when I came down, I think you should probably call it a night and get some rest. I’d be happy to finish up and make sure the lunches are done, if you’d like?”

You can see the resistance immediately, the tall man opening his mouth to refuse—but he halts, and for a moment slips into his own thoughts. Sensing that he just needs a little push, you continue, “If you tell me what you usually make, I should be able to finish the rest of them without too much trouble.”

He blinks, and in that moment you see the rest of his exhaustion flood to the surface. He sniffles, unable to fight the yawn that rises. “… Okay. If that’s really alright with you…?”

You laugh, reaching to bump Seokjin’s side. “Of course it is. I don’t mind at all, especially if it means you’ll go to sleep in your bed and not on the kitchen floor. Now, what do you normally make…?”

Letting out a soft laugh, Seokjin does his best to stay awake long enough to instruct you on what he makes and how he makes it for the remaining members of the household. You can’t help but notice throughout his explanation that he doesn’t seem to make lunch for himself despite making it for everyone else, and as he finally plods off to bed and passes out, you make the decision that you’re going to make some lunch for him too. It takes you a brief google search on the diet of red pandas and their hybrid counterparts, as well and recalling what you know of Seokjin’s taste in food, but it doesn’t take you too long to decide on what to make. You work through the lunches one by one, grateful for the distraction, and complete the task fully when Seokjin’s sits primly next to the rest. You pile them all into the fridge, washing your hands again before grabbing the water you originally came down for, and then you’re making the trip back upstairs to your own bed, a soft smile on your face and a warm satisfaction curling around your lungs. You fall asleep easier than expected for a night where you had one of those dreams, but there most definitely aren’t any complaints to be found as you drift off with a faint smile on your lips.

The next day, it’s only a little before midday when Seokjin finally rises from his slumber and makes his way downstairs. Blearily, he reaches the kitchen and heads straight to the fridge, attempting to think through his sleep-addled brain what he should make for lunch. Those thoughts are interrupted as he catches sight of a box he hasn’t seen outside of the little tupperware cupboard by the stove in ages sitting on the middle shelf, a little paper tag with ‘for Seokjin’ scribbled onto it perched on top.

He pulls it out and places it on the bench, staring in confusion. It takes him an embarrassingly long time to kick his limbs into gear and open it, but from that point on the realisation comes quickly with the memory of last night.

You’d gone and made lunch for him, too. And from the looks of it, you’d paid great attention to what to include.

His stomach rumbles violently as he takes in the sight of berries and the bamboo shoots he usually stores in the fridge that you must have taken the time to boil and season. There is a sandwich in there as well but he doesn’t need to check whether he will like it because he can already smell the salmon.

He doesn’t know what to think, or really what to say. He knows he’s just lucky you’ve already gone to work at the Rabbit’s Den because otherwise you would probably be here and risk seeing his eyes tear up a little.

A side effect from being sleepy and stressed is the dramatics, he knows, but still… he can’t help but notice the warm feeling that lingers in his stomach when he thinks of how nice you are to do such a thing.

O—O—O

“You’re gonna love it when we get there, y/n! It’s so pretty, and there’s so much fruit… I’m going to feast.”

You can’t help but let out a laugh, thoroughly enjoying the company of your two housemates and the combination of cool breeze and warm sunlight the air offers as they kiss your skin. It’s earlier in the morning than you tend to wake up, but you’ve been invited out on an exclusive adventure and you aren’t in any position to say no. For the past few weeks you’ve noticed that on a Saturday and Sunday morning, Taehyung tends to disappear. You don’t know where, and each time you saw him again you forgot to ask, but finally the opportunity had arisen for you to sate your curiosity. Happily, the lemur hybrid had informed you that there is a small section of the island towards the north that is absolutely packed with trees, bushes and otherwise, all peppered with ripe fruit. Some days he goes to tend to them, but on the weekends he confessed to you that he normally goes to harvest the literal fruits of his labour.

“Just don’t eat all of the tamarind again, Jiminie, or I will have to kill you myself.”

Jimin lets out a loud laugh, stumbling in his gait for a moment from the force of it. “Yessir! Understood, sir!”

Taehyung’s lips quirk into a smile, and he returns his gaze to the front to continue marching ahead and leading the two of you to his secret spot. You adjust your hold on the woven bag over your shoulder, brushing away some of the more unruly strands of hair that have made their way across your face by riding on the breeze.

“Thanks again for inviting me, Tae,” you say, unable to hide the skip in your step as you plod along after them, smiling brightly. “I’ve been wanting to explore more—it feels wrong that I’ve been here for a month and barely seen everything there is to see.”

Taehyung spins to flash you a beaming grin over his shoulder, ears flicking and tail curling happily. “Of course, it’s no problem! I did wonder if you’d like to come some time, so I’m glad you mentioned it the other day.”

Jimin gasps, the sound somewhere between playful and affronted. “You asked her yourself to come?! I had to beg for weeks! Weeks!”

“I told you, the fruit weren’t done when you first asked!” Taehyung whines, reaching back and pausing in his steps just long enough to whack Jimin on the shoulder. “You just didn’t listen!”

“I’m baby,” Jimin says, whether in affirmation or explanation you’re not sure. It manages to tear a laugh from Taehyung either way, and you’re no different.

You’re not left stewing in anticipation for long; before you know it you’re broaching the place that Taehyung and Jimin speak so highly of. Rounding a corner, you come across a large grove that ends beyond what your eyes can see—some trees curl and wind, others stand straight and proud with their roots covered modestly with smaller shrubbery. Vines cling and string around some trunks, but the one thing all of the flora in front of you has in common is that they’re all ripe with fruit, ready to be picked.

“Oh wow,” you remark, barely aware you’ve even said anything. A deep laugh sounds from beside you and you turn to see Taehyung grinning brightly, tail curling happily behind him and his little ears flicking with glee.

“Pretty, right? Some of these were already growing here when I found it, like the apples, but the rest of it I planted over time. I’m proud of how it’s turned out.”

“You should be!” you exclaim, pointing to the fruit displayed in the very image of temptation before you all. “Dude, they look delicious.”

“They are!” Jimin chimes in, flitting past you and snagging his finger in your sleeve as he goes to drag you along. “Come on, there’s a mulberry tree up the back and it has the juiciest berries. We have to pick them now before all the birds and fruit bats get them.”

Laughing, you allow the sugar glider hybrid to lead you into the grove of greenery, the man ducking and weaving around branches with ease as his feet follow a path well-worn into the dirt and grass. The splotches of sunlight that filter through the foliage are pleasant where they warm your skin, breeze ensuring you don’t get too hot beneath the kiss of a star. In the shadows of the trees, it is actually much cooler than you expected, but you can’t help but feel that the temperature, the air, the sights—everything feels perfect.

The mulberry tree, fondly called Ol’ Bessy as Jimin had eagerly informed you, is a large, looming monster of a tree with a plethora of winding trunks and subordinate thin branches that dangle and sway in the breeze in the image of a weeping willow. When you comment on the sheer size of it, Taehyung simply shrugs and tells you with a smile that it’s been here a long time, before anyone was on the island.

The three of you don't have much desire to waste any more time standing and dawdling, and so you begin your activity for the day, woven bags and baskets prepared and at the ready. You inspect the mulberries that are hanging lowest, spying the occasional green one but becoming easily appeased when you find bunches of ripe ones, plump and fit to burst as they weigh the thinner branches down.

Gathering them is harder than anticipated, because you hadn't accounted for the fact they they're, well, berries. It takes a few attempts and more than a few instances of stained hands before you figure out the best way to pluck them from the tree without bursting them. Taehyung saw the first one you popped and the way it went all up your arm, and hasn't stopped laughing since.

The three of you bounce between fruits and trees, filling your containers with whichever you prefer. After a while though you all seem to have the same idea to congregate at the mulberry tree. Admittedly, you hadn't been able to stop yourself from munching on some of the fruits as you picked them, but as you look at them and see berry stains around their mouths and apple leaves in their hair, you feel a little less guilty about it. Taehyung places his basket down, leaning it securely against the base of the tree trunk, before dusting his hands with a sharp clap and then resting them on his hips.

"Right," he says, eyes alight. "There's just one more tree to visit. I think you're gonna love it."

You tilt your head, wondering just what other kind of fruit he has up his sleeve when already you've picked so many. Surely he's constrained even a little bit by the climate? Or does he have magically green thumbs? Jimin giggles at your confused expression.

"How good are you at climbing trees?"

The question gives you pause. "Uh... decent? I suppose?"

"Great!" Taehyung exclaims, picking his basket back up and closing the lid to help secure it on his back. "Let's go!"

Once more you're lead in between and through the trees and shrubs, following the gleeful lemur hybrid and his grinning companion back to the middle of the grove. Before long you're stumbling to a halt, having reached the location and wondering how on earth you managed to miss this tree before.

It's bigger than Ol' Bessy by a decent margin, but confusion filters through you when you can't seem to spot any fruit hanging from its branches. You turn to Taehyung, about to question him, but he simply grins and darts over to the massive trunk (really, you don't think two of you could hug it from either side and have your fingers touch, it's so big). It's only after he begins scaling it with alarming ease that you take note of the grooves and footholds curled into the trunk, making it a naturally perfect tree for climbing. Jimin darts up after his friend, apparently also well-versed in the art of climbing this tree, and breaks you from your awed reverie with a shout over his shoulder.

"Come on, y/n! Or Tae is gonna take the good spot!"

Unsure what he means and unsure if you're willing to find out via Taehyung following through on that, you scramble to follow after them and do your best to climb.

It's easier than anticipated, actually, and dare you say it... relaxing. Though you're going higher and higher with each branch you clear, and see less of the ground and more of the canopy with each step, you can't say you're all that scared, or worried. If anything, it's as though a moment of peace has been captured in a bubble, and now settles like cool mist on a spring morning at the bottom of your chest.

In sharp contrast to the cool breeze that brushes your face as you emerge from the thickest part of the foliage, the sun is quick to kiss warmth back into your cheeks. For a moment, you have to pause in your climb, because the view around you is simply so beautiful you're at an absolute loss for words.

From here, the highest point in the grove, you can see a vast majority of the island, a sweeping panorama of lush greens and soft sands that blend into the crystalline waters of the ocean, sunlight turning the surface to a sea of diamonds. Along the stretch of beach, in the distance, you can just barely glimpse the sharehouse, and on the other side of the island the little market square where all the stores and restaurants are appears as smudges and blobs of dark colours.

"It's so beautiful, right?"

You're so immersed in your observation that for a second you almost don't even register that someone is talking to you. Mouth open in awe, you simply turn your expression to Taehyung; the lemur laughs, almost tumbling back from the force of it, and you're shocked back into the moment with worry until you see what stopped him from falling.

Here, at the very top of the tallest tree in Taehyung's secret grove, he has built a small little fixture, a deck with enough space for four people to squeeze onto it at most. It hugs the trunk of the tree and is braced on the few thick branches that split from the tree beneath it. A lot of it is untouched, natural wood, but the bottom is made of processed planks and some of the short balcony ledge has been painted with acrylics, little scenes spanning the length of the strips. You didn't know Taehyung painted, but figure you'll bring it up at another time when you aren't precariously clinging to the top of a massive tree.

Taking the hand that both men offer you, you haul yourself carefully up and onto the deck, marvelling as you get an even clearer view of the island from your new position.

"It really is," you answer him, somewhat belatedly. When the two of them settle down, tree swaying much like you imagine a ship would on the vast expanse of the ocean, you follow suit, with your back pressed securely to the trunk.

Jimin is already flinging open his container, smacking it onto the wood in front of him, and Taehyung laughs once more, the sound so freeing and light that it makes that little bubble of peace in your abdomen expand ever so slightly.

"And now, we feast!" The lemur says, eagerly opening his own basket and setting it in front of him, besides Jimin's. They're both set to overflow from the amount of fresh, ripe fruit piled in.

They shamelessly and unabashedly dig in, eliciting a laugh from you as you move your own bag before you to do the same. It's nice, the perfect lunch in more ways than one; the small amount of foliage above you offers just enough shade that you want for nothing more in the moment besides maybe a pillow or two, everything else accounted for in excess.

You're not sure how long you spend there, but you do know that the sun has made a decent amount of headway in its journey across the sky by the time the three of you are done stuffing your stomachs full, laying across the deck and squinting until the clouds swimming leisurely across the sky begin to resemble something you can put a name to. It's fun, and light, and for what is alarmingly far from the first time, you find yourself so thankful for the choices you made and the path that led you here, to be staying on this beautiful island with these lovely boys.

By time you finish and the three of you are heading back, you’ve eaten through half of the fruit and the boys are so full and sleepy from the big day that they’ve shifted into their animal forms and are now clinging to you, Taehyung with his long limbs around your neck and Jimin with his tiny paws clinging to the hair at the top of your head. You suspect he’s made himself another little nest up there, but can’t find it in yourself to be upset with him for it especially when the soft sounds and chitters he makes to communicate with Taehyung are so damn cute.

The trip back is shorter than you recall, and before you know it you’re approaching the sharehouse once more, it’s looming sides graced with the warm gleam of afternoon sun. Jimin and Taehyung are asleep as you reach the front door, and you’re saved from having to move all the bags and baskets in your hold to open the door when it opens for you. Hoseok is standing there, a startled look gracing his features that quickly blends into one of fondness as he sees his friends, something that makes your cheeks warm ever so slightly.

“Good day?” he asks, stepping back to let you in. You nod, unable to help the wide grin touching your lips.

“Yeah, it was.”

O – O – O

‘…They should be setting up a tower soon, so hopefully it won’t be long before I can call you again. But until then, I look forward to every letter you send, bubbles.

Write back soon! I miss you.

Love, Dad’

You sniffle, trying not to let out the tears that are so close to slipping from your eyes. You’re not all that upset, you love receiving letters from your father, but it’s just… a little bittersweet. You’d moved here to escape your family, following a certain incident that you’re not keen to revisit, and your father had always been and will always be supportive of you— but it’s hard, when he’s halfway across the globe on one expedition or another.

It was only in the past ten years that your father managed to snag the job of his dreams and follow the passion he’s harboured since he was a child, graduating from his career as an accountant through attention garnered from numerous big research papers to become a well-respected biologist. From the second he accepted the offer, he’d started down a path that led him spending a majority of his life outside of the home and always on the move, hopping from one destination to another.

Whenever he could, he’d take you with him, but he wasn’t always able to. This expedition, which has landed him in the Antarctic, is an example of that. While he can’t be with you physically, he writes often and calls every chance he gets—and though it saddens you sometimes when it highlights the dismal state of the rest of your family, more than anything you’re happy for him and overjoyed that after years of slaving in an office, he finally gets to do what he wants.

You inhale, closing your eyes and trying to let the breath escape in a long, level manner. It’s night, not when you normally go about reading letters from your father but this letter had come late and you’d almost completely forgotten on your way to bed. Taking the opportunity to get some fresh air, you’d taken the letter and made yourself comfortable on the balcony, using the ample moonlight as a makeshift reading lamp.

Placing the letter carefully on the table, mindful not to place it in anything dirty or unsavoury, you settle back in your chair and tilt your gaze to the skies, allowing your eyes to become unfocused and simply stare. It's a pretty sight, as you expected-- the stars are much more outgoing here, with no haze or pollution masking their display like in the city on the mainland.

You let out a breath, but even to your ears it sounds more like a sigh. You miss your dad, and you know he misses you too but despite the fact you know it's selfish of you, you kind of wish he had been here with you when you made the decision to move. Of course, you've told him all about it, and he's supported you wholly in every choice you've made, but it's not the same. You don't blame him, and you love him dearly, but still... you're allowed to be sad, just a little. Just for tonight.

Well, that had been your plan-- apparently the universe has other ideas that don't include sulking in the moonlight on your balcony. A scuffling sound disturbs your reverie from the side of your balcony, and you look over in time to see a decent blob of shadow scaling up the side of the balcony next to yours and flinging onto the railing. Once there, it halts, and your eyes adjust just in time to meet those of the creature-- the raccoon, you realise quickly. It tilts its head up, sniffling the air once, before pinning you with an unreadable look. For a moment the two of you sit in silence, locked in place by the other's gaze, before the raccoon lets out a soft noise and then it's little claws are clacking against the hollow metal railing, and it disappears beyond the wall.

Whose room is that... Jungkook's? You muse to yourself for a moment before you remember what kind of hybrid Jungkook is, and in the next second there is the sound of a door sliding shut and Jungkook's bright-eyed face pops around the side of the wall.

"Uh... are you okay?"

You blink, brain taking a moment to catch up and then decipher how he could have possibly known you were even a little bit upset. You recall suddenly that animals can pick up cues, like chemoreceptors, and tilt your head at him with a small smile.

"Yeah... no... I'm alright." You angle yourself more towards him in your chair, cheering internally when you see him stop hiding behind the wall and come to lean against the railing. "Was that you? Where were you off to, this time of night?"

Jungkook looks like he wishes to address the first thing you said, but your follow-up has thrown him a bit for a loop. You can't be sure your eyes aren't deceiving you, but you could almost swear he's blushing.

"Oh, yeah... sorry." He reaches a hand up to rub the back of his neck, hair mussed and eyes averted. "I know my animal form isn't that nice... sorry if you thought it was gross."

"What?!"

At the sheer suddenness and volume of your almost-shriek, Jungkook jumps about a foot in the air. His wide eyes swing back to you, chest heaving as he rests his hand in the centre of it. You clear your throat, shrinking a bit in embarrassment.

"Sorry," you wince, before going to elaborate on your earlier squawk. "But please don't ever apologise for something like that! I don't know who told you that your animal form is gross, but they can't be all that bright... it was cute."

He looks more like a deer in headlights than the animal he's spliced with right now, eyes wide and staring right at you. You can't help but laugh and tease him, just a little. "Cutest raccoon I ever did see, anyway."

He suddenly comes back to earth, slamming his face into his hands and letting out a long groan. It's from embarrassment, you can tell from the flashes of reddened skin that peek through his fingers. You don't say anything for a moment, letting him return to the conversation on his own terms. Jungkook might be one of the housemates you've interacted with least, but you've heard plenty from the rest of the hybrids in the house.

More often than not, it's about how shy he is and how cute it is when he gets embarrassed. You'd simply nodded and laughed at the time, but now you realise there truly is merit to everything they said.

It takes a few moments of Jungkook muttering into his hands before he pulls his face away, averting his eyes and mumbling softly, "... Thanks. That's really nice of you to say."

"You're welcome," you shrug, smiling when he risks a glance your way to gauge your reaction. Upon seeing nothing that will make him turn tail and flee back into the safety of his room, he eases up, returning his body to it's previous angle towards you.

"So... why were you upset?"

Surprisingly, his question doesn't bother you as you thought it might. You hum, watching as his gaze follows yours to the table, where the letter and the envelope it came in, addressed to you, lay discarded.

"Letter from my dad," you offer in explanation, watching his eyes light in realisation. "Nothing bad, I just miss him so it's... bittersweet."

Jungkook hums, nodding and resting his chin in his hand as he leans forward. "I understand. It's like that with my parents. I know they love me, and I love them, but they're pretty far away and I just... miss them. They're always working."

You're a little surprised that he can relate, although you suppose you really shouldn't be. You don't know very much about Jungkook at all, so it's not fair of you to assume anything about him, even in relation to your own experiences.

"Yeah," you sigh, looking to the sky for a moment as you try and organise your thoughts. "I'm happy he is where he is, doing what he's doing, but I think it's okay to be sad, just for tonight."

Jungkook hums, but doesn't say anything further. It surprises you when he speaks next, the two of you having fallen into a lull.

"Well, you could keep being sad for the night if you want, or... would you maybe wanna see the film I've been working on?"

Your head whips to face him faster than the speed of light, startling him into another jump on the spot.

"Really?" you ask, hurried as though the offer will be rescinded at any moment. "You mean it? I can see it?"

"Yes...?" Jungkook answers, somewhat bewildered. You launch from your chair immediately, rubbing your hands together-- you've heard really good things from the others about his talents in photography and editing, so you've been trying to figure out a way to slip it into conversation for weeks. You've wanted to see them for yourself so badly.

"I'm coming over," you announce, gathering the letter and envelope and already beginning to move towards your room. "I hope your room is clean, Jungkook, or else I'm gonna tease you!"

You'd just meant it as a joke, but the scrambling and hurried footsteps you hear after you say it make you think he took you seriously.

Well, you dad would probably want you to spend the night happy, anyway. You can save being sad for another night.

O -- O -- O

Your time at the house has gone by much faster than you anticipated, and while initially you'd thought that you wouldn't be able to wait to get out, now you find yourself feeling quite the opposite.

You kind of don't want to leave.

At this point, about two months into your stay, you've settled into such a comfortable, stable routine that you struggle to imagine going through the motions in any other way. Often after your early shifts you'll return to the house and catch someone lounging in the sun, and you will no doubt be roped into a short, sweet afternoon nap. On the weekends is group breakfast, and you make sure that you go to bed as early as possible the nights before so that you don't miss it. Taehyung drags you with him of a weekend to fetch fruit and Jimin drags you around the town in general. Some evenings, you find yourself accompanying Namjoon on a walk along the beach, both of you feeling more at peace than ever before when you're standing with feet buried in the sand, watching dusk bleed into twilight and the colours around you stain violet and periwrinkle in the absence of the sun's kiss.

Jungkook knocks on your door at late hours, grinning and eagerly summoning you to his room to watch his latest creation. Seokjin no longer resists your help every other night to make lunches, and has started including you in the schedule as well.

Yoongi and Hoseok are among the busier residents of the house, but you've still spent bits of time with each of them, probably moreso with Hoseok. It's not that you avoid Yoongi or anything like that, it's just that he happens to be the most busy and more often than not is holed up in his room. You don't always see him throughout the week, but he always attends house breakfast on weekends and you're thankful that you get to see him then.

Today, you're spending a little more time with Hoseok. Your shift ended early and you couldn't have thanked your lucky stars any harder, because today the squirrel hybrid had invited you to his dance class. Usually Jungkook or Jimin went with him, both of them enjoying dance as much as their older housemate, but they had both been unavailable today. You'd seen the way Hoseok's face had fallen when they'd told him, and had immediately asked about the class-- you didn't even talk for more than a few minutes before Hoseok was happily inviting you to attend.

It made you a little more pleased than you're going to admit.

You're on your way there now, actually, a skip in your step and a swing in your gait. You've got the tote bag you hold your work things in, and you can hear the rustling of the nuts you'd shoved in there last minute earlier in the day. You'd noticed that Hoseok had forgotten them, so you'd grabbed them to give to him when you saw him. Hopefully he hasn't stuffed himself too full of other foods in the meantime, though from what you've heard apparently he's such a workaholic that he probably hasn't even had lunch yet despite the fact it's currently three in the afternoon.

A majority of Hoseok's classes take place at the school where he teaches, in a room at the end of the drama block that often doubles as a dance classroom when the school gets the funding for it. When you arrive, the door is slightly ajar and upbeat pop is leaking through the gap, Hoseok's sunny voice piercing through the music like a pendulum.

"--and one, two, three, one, two, three-- that's it! That's fantastic! Really good job, guys!"

A smile is already on your face as you push the door open enough to let yourself in, gaze immediately falling upon a group of grinning children that are looking up at Hoseok like they're a tiny field of sunflowers facing their namesake. Hoseok stands before them in a borderline comical pose that only primary school teachers can really pull off, hands on his hips and a proud, beaming smile on his face. You can’t help but blink because for a moment it really was as blinding as looking directly at the sun. He spots you before you can recover fully, and greets you with a wave.

“Ah, perfect! Everyone, this is Miss y/n! She’s going to be sitting in today—I told her how good you all were and she couldn’t wait to see for herself. Let’s all say hello!”

A chorus of greetings is immediately thrown at you, the attention of the little sunflowers now completely on you. Some gasp and run over, grinning brightly at the novelty of a new character, and others watch from afar but seem pleased nonetheless by your presence and alleged eagerness to see them perform.

Before they can launch into conversation with you like you can so clearly see they want to, the ears of some kids ramrod straight and alert and others’ tails flicking in excitement, Hoseok calls them back to where he stands and to your surprise they obey immediately.

“Alright, let’s let Miss y/n get settled down and we can show her what we’ve been practicing, hm? Sound good?”

There is a chorus of ‘yes!’ that pulls a laugh from you as you make your way to the side of the room with the best view and plop down, cross-legged. Eagerly and very self-consciously, now that they have an audience, the small army of children runs to take their place in the formation, and Hoseok pulls his phone from his pocket to pause the song currently playing and pull up the one that matches their routine.

The opening notes filter into the air and Hoseok nods, foot tapping to the beat, before he counts them in and off they go.

Put simply, you’re so incredibly impressed. These kids can dance! You don’t have a doubt that they can dance better than you, not that you ever claimed to have much talent in that department. By the time they finish running through their little routine, you’re clapping and cheering loudly, relishing in the laughter that you’re exaggerated reaction elicits. Hoseok, too, is smiling as he sees how you interact with his students, wandering over after he takes them through it a few more times before giving them a small break.

"So, what do you think?" he asks as he approaches your side of the room, slightly out of breath from doing the routine with them the last few times. "They're so good, aren't they? They've only been working on this for a few weeks and already they have it almost perfectly down-pat. I'm so proud of them."

He slides down the wall next to you, reaching for the bag he'd dropped there presumably before class began; across the room all the students are reaching into their class backpacks for their afternoon snack, and it seems Hoseok has the same idea. You don't even remember the nuts in your bag until he rifles through his for a few minutes, brows furrowed when he comes up empty. His bushy tail flicks dejectedly, ears twitching back on his head, and he pouts.

"Damn, I think I forgot my lunch this morning," he says, and it's enough to jog your memory. You jump in place from the startle of it.

"Oh, I saw that! Here," you quickly reach into your own bag and pull out the nuts and dried fruits, passing it over to him. "I brought it for you, since I figured you'd probably want it at some point."

The way Hoseok's eyes light up when they see the little plastic bag in your hand is almost enough to make you laugh and/or coo out loud. By the skin of your teeth you barely manage to hold that reaction back, but you do smile as he cheers with a short, happy scream and eagerly takes it from your grip.

"My nuts!" Hoseok wastes no time ripping the bag open and grabbing a handful, setting about munching immediately. "You have saved my life today, Miss y/n. I was soooo hungry."

"Didn't get lunch?" you guess, already knowing the answer and having it confirmed when Hoseok nods, completely unfazed by the fact he'd skipped a meal or two.

"I was helping one of the students," he explains, munching happily. His bushy tails curls in content behind him, a sight that makes something happy and warm settle in your chest. "I don't mind missing lunch if it means they get the help they need. I do feel it afterwards, though. Sometimes when I get home I feel so hungry I could eat the whole cupboard out."

A laugh tears from you at his words, the image even funnier because he didn't specify whether he would be doing it in his human form or his animal form. The image of a squirrel wreaking havoc in the house pantry is funnier than you care to admit, but Hoseok just seems happy to have elicited a laugh no matter the magnitude.

It's just a small thing, spending the afternoon with Hoseok and his students, but you find afterwards that it was almost... healing. On the way home, walking besides Hoseok and discussing which dried fruit were the superior dried fruit (he's wrong, and you'll take that opinion with you to the grave), you can't help but feel so light and happy. Like everything is in place, in motion and flowing smoothly. A river without debris and jagged rocks; life right now feels like that moment in nature when water runs over smooth pebbles in a creek, tumbling and pouring but doing so without chaos, and without mess or fallout. Just one continuous, fluid motion.

It feels nice.

You don't even realise until you're laying in bed that night that for a while now, that's how you've been referring to this place.

As home.

O -- O -- O

Aside from the occasional uncomfortable dream, these past few months have been remarkably incident-free, where it concerns the unfortunate topic of your extended family. You'd changed a lot of things when you'd made the decision to move to this island; your phone number, your email addresses and all your passwords, your social media... all of it had been combed through and either switched out or slimmed down. This place is an escape, a place of refuge for you, and that's how you want it to stay.

Unfortunately, the universe isn't always on your side.

It's a rainy afternoon when you receive the call, and you're so fixated on watching the way the rain falls in thin sheets over the ocean that at first from the first floor patio, that you miss it. They don't call again, but a message sets your phone off a minute or so later, and that catches your attention.

Of course, the second you read it and see who it's from, it does more than just catch your attention.

You're not someone prone to many episodes, and you've become adept at self-soothing. But as your eyes begin to stare unfocused at the message and you feel your chest constrict, diaphragm pushing against your lungs, you realise distantly that this is more than you just being momentarily overwhelmed.

You get a bit lost in the moment, lost in the sensation of light-headedness that suddenly washes over you, so much so that when a voice sounds distantly, muffled as though you're listening to someone speak to you from the depths of a pool, you barely even register it at first.

"Hey, y/n, have you seen--"

Still, your eyes are stuck on the message; you don't even notice the way your fingers had begun to tremble while holding the phone until a hand brushes your arm, a figure in front of you blocking the light from beyond the porch.

"y/n, hey, are you.... look at me. y/n, look at me."

Oh, that's a voice, and you do as it says without even a single thought flitting through your head. Looking up, you're barely even as surprised as you should be to see Yoongi standing there, a look of concern spread across his features, brows drawn together as he regards you. You feel a warm touch against your hand, phone tugged from your grip to be replaced with his own. Both your hands are now in his hold and he uses it to ground you, even if just for a moment.

"Can you do me a favour?" Yoongi says, and his voice is so soft and soothing that you find yourself listening as attentively as you can right now. "I need you to breathe with me. I'm gonna count ten breaths, okay? Let's do the first one-- in..."

He inhales deeply, his whole chest moving from the magnitude of it, and you feel as though you're floating in your own head in the moment as you follow suit. Slowly, patiently, he takes you through each breath one at a time, making sure you inhale as big as he does and exhale as long as he does. By the time you reach ten, the light-headed feeling has faded and the constriction in your chest has eased, ever so slightly. As soon as you finish your tenth breath you sag slightly, letting out a gush of air.

"Sorry," you say, slipping one of your hands from his grip to cover your face. "Sorry, I just--"

To your complete and utter surprise, Yoongi's hand lets your other one go and in the next moment you feel arms slipping around your shoulders, bringing you close to his chest and letting your face rest on his shoulder. You see his fluffy tail from where your face is squished, catching glimpses over his shoulder of the way it curls calmly.

Once the moment of shock passes, you're unable to help yourself but to return the embrace, surprised by how much you needed this without even knowing so.

"It's okay, don't apologise," Yoongi says, voice still soft and calm. You sag against him, and your eyes burn not from the message that triggered your almost anxiety-attack, but from the sheer kindness you feel emanating from this man. "Happens to the best of us. Are you feeling a little better?"

You nod, because oddly enough you are, and he slowly releases his hold on you, easing back with an assessing look. Another apology rests on the tip of your tongue but you bite it back, knowing he would refuse it if it ever entered the air.

“I am. Thanks,” you say, eyes looking for your phone as you realise suddenly that it is no longer in your hand where you’d left it. Yoongi holds it up, handing it back easily; his gaze passes over the screen as he does so, and the look he gives you is one of empathy and knowing.

“Shitty family?” he inquires, and you nod, choosing not to look at your phone and to slip it straight into your pocket instead. You go to sit against the wall, facing the edge of the patio, and he joins you.

“I get it,” he says, lifting a hand to fluff up his grey-tinted hair before shifting his gaze out to the rain and its reunion with the ocean. “’Part from my parents, the rest of my… relatives… they’re, uh… they’re not so nice. Didn’t treat me all that well, or even my parents for that matter. So… I get it. You don’t have to elaborate if you don’t wanna, but I get it.”

You don’t really know what to say to that; not that you’re speechless, per se, but moreso that there is simply so much going through your head at once that you can’t seem to settle on anything to voice.

“Thank you,” you say again, sniffling as subtly as you can as you focus on evening your breaths and calming your heart. You feel something on your hand and look over to see Yoongi has placed his palm over your own, his face soft and comforting.

“It’s no problem.”

A different kind of ache, the sort that is tinged around the edges with bittersweet warmth, begins to make itself known amongst the turmoil in your abdomen, and in this moment you can’t quite decipher whether it’s a good feeling or a bad one. What you do know, though, is that you’ve never been more thankful to have had the fortune of meeting these boys and having them make room in their hearts for you, even just a little, than you are right now.

O – O – O

You can’t believe that all the time you’ve spent here has gone so fast, and that currently there is no more than a week before your three month deadline is up and your contracted stay at this house is to come to an end.

If you’re being honest with yourself… you don’t want to go.

When you’d first come to this house, you’d expected that you would have a nice time, but also that you would be eager to move out by the end of the three month period. You had no way of knowing how well you’d fall into routine here, how attached you would become not only to the residents but to the home, the place and the feeling it offers and the way it allows you to feel happier than you have in years.

You know that you have to leave, they’d only agreed to house you for the three months after all, and you also know that they seem to have realised your time here is coming to an end as well. You’ve caught them talking amongst themselves a few times, not quite whispering but definitely conversing about something that halts as soon as they catch wind of you anywhere nearby. You get the sense that they’re unsure how to approach the topic, and you understand since it’s a bit tough for you yourself. You decide to bite the bullet and do it for them, though.

You ask them to meet you in the living area, a week before you leave, to talk. You wanted to just… officially thank them, you suppose. They’ve done a lot for you, in the time you’ve been here, whether they realise it or not. They’ve helped you settle, they’ve shown you that there really is more to life outside the misery your relatives tended to create, and they’ve ensured every second you’ve been with them that you have felt welcomed, and included.

Truthfully, it means more to you than you know how to put into words.

Which is why it’s especially difficult for you to accept that you have to leave.

The expressions on their faces as they gather are a mixture between curious and somewhat apprehensive, with Namjoon, Jungkook and Hoseok bordering on nervous. You wonder why before realising they might not know why you called them here.

“Hey, thanks for gathering,” you say, attempting to keep it light and ensure the smile stays on your face. Of course, they all return is as they take seats across the room, some on the couch and others on the coffee table or the floor. Taehyung’s head tilts, tail curling lightly behind him.

“Um, I just wanted to say something to you—to all of you, while I could. I didn’t think I’d be able to catch everyone in the one room any time but on the weekend,” you muse, smile widening at the round of light laughter your joke elicits. You shift, taking a breath and grounding yourself through the motion of meeting their gazes, one by one.

“I wanted to say thank you,” you begin, voice softer than intended but not so soft that you’re worried their senses won’t pick it up. “Because when I moved here it was to get away, and start anew, and you guys… really gave me that. You’ve made these three months the best and happiest months I’ve had in a long time. I’m so thankful that you let me in, and welcomed me into your home and even into your lives. I don’t think I can word this the way I want to but… really. Thank you, so much. I know I have to leave in a week, but—”

“Oh!”

You halt mid-spiel, wide eyes moving to Taehyung as he suddenly sits up, holding his hands out. “So that’s what you wanted to talk to us about—we actually wanted to talk to you about something, too.”

Freezing, you simply blink, mind coming up blank as to what they could possibly want to talk to you about. Namjoon clears his throat when no one else follows up after Taehyung, averting his eyes before he gathers himself and meeting your confused look. “Well, you probably noticed we’ve been talking amongst ourselves a lot lately—I mean, I know you’ve noticed because you’ve walked in on us a few times, and we’re not very good at being subtle, but—”

“We want to know if you’d like to stay here—permanently.” Taehyung cuts his friend off before he can finish, apparently no longer able to hold the question at bay. There is an expression of pure, unguarded sincerity on his face, excitement lighting in his eyes. “We all talked it out and found that we want you to stay—all of us.”

“You fit,” Yoongi says suddenly, voice still soft but loud enough for you to catch easily. He offers you a gentle smile when you look his way. “We know that if you left, the house wouldn’t be the same after… it would be missing something. You haven’t been here long, but you’re kind of already part of our family so… please don’t go, if you don’t want to.”

Some of the others are pinning Yoongi with a surprised look that you suspect is not directed at what he said, but rather the fact that he said it. You’re too busy biting your lip and trying not to cry like a baby to notice all that much.

“Is that really okay?” you ask, déjà vu washing over you as you think to yourself that again, this sounds too good to be true. “Do you guys really want me to stay?”

Immediately, there is a mixture of nods and loud ‘Yes!’s and ‘Of course!’. You really can’t hold it back, you find, because the sudden flood of warmth and affection washing over your insides is more than you know how to handle. You sniff, unable to reach the tears fast enough to prevent their fall down your face.

“Will you stay?” Yoongi asks, head tilted. Regrettably, his tenderness makes more tears fall.

“Yeah,” you manage, wiping your face furiously, “Yeah, I will. Thank you.”

And that’s all the confirmation you need before your new family is tackling you one by one, replacing your sobs with laughter and making sure you know that from now on, you don’t have to cry alone, you don’t have to be sad alone. They’re here for you.

And it feels so, so nice.

a/n: thank you so much for reading! please let me know what you think and how it made u feel, and let me know u enjoyed it by liking and reblogging! feel free to even just send me an ask screaming! thank u! i love u !

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mandoalorian · 3 years

Text

No Body, No Crime [Dave York x F!Reader]

Summary: When Dave York’s wife expresses her suspicion of him having an affair, you agree to help her gather the evidence to confront him. You believe that if you can prove his infidelity, their marriage will fall apart and you might actually stand a chance with him. But when you follow him out one night, you make a shocking discovery.

Warnings: SMUT, m receiving oral, f masturbation, choking, infidelity, murder

Rating: 18+

Word count: 3000>

Author’s Note: Please consider this my official application of entry to the Dave York pit. This one is quite intense. I’ve never written a thriller type fic before, so I hope it’s okay!

Masterlist

He had to have been cheating. There was no other excuse for sneaking out so late at night, and not returning until the early hours of the morning. His actions radiated infidelity. The only answer was that he was having an affair.

Dave York was the typical suburban dad living the perfect life with the perfect wife and two happy daughters. You would know as you were the York’s housemaid, and had the privilege of living with them. As an insider, it also meant you were a pair of extra spying eyes. And you watched Dave, a lot. It was only a matter of time before Carol caught on and realised something was up. So when she came to you one morning after Dave had set off to work, and the girls were at school, you could already sense her concerns.

If you recalled correctly, it was the fourth time this week he’d snuck out. You remembered last night, sitting by the attic window and watching him drive off into the distance. There was something about it that got you all riled up. You were ashamed to admit it -- but you were more than attracted to Mr. York. Once he was no longer in sight, you closed your eyes and slipped your fingers under the hem of your panties. You let out a puff of air as your digits found your clit and you began to rub tight little circles, squirming around in the wooden chair that you’d been sitting in. It creaked in the midst of the night, but getting so caught up in the moment, you didn’t even care if your movements or whimpers woke Carol up. You imagined Dave burying his cock deep inside you, moaning out your name. It was really bad, you knew that… but the truth is, if Dave wanted to fuck you next, you’d have no qualms. You’d let him. You’d beg him. With your free hand, you clutched the edge of the window sill so hard your knuckles turned white as you felt your body pull to its orgasm.

You stayed by the window for around two and a half hours after that, apprehending his return. If one thing was sure, it was that Dave made an effort to remain unseen. He dressed in all black, even opting to wear a hat to hide his brown locks of hair. You heard the keys jingle as he let himself into the house, this time via the back door because he knew it would be quieter. You heard his footsteps emerge up the stairs. Strangely enough, you heard the washer switch on as he would do his own laundry. In fact, you couldn’t remember the last time you had cleaned Dave’s clothes. Washing his clothes at four in the morning only made him even more suspicious, but you had to applaud his efforts.

“I think Dave is cheating on me,” Carol announced as you finished up doing the dishes. You felt your body stiffen at her tone, before taking a deep breath and turning to face her. She looked exhausted, nursing a cup of coffee and her bleached blonde hair tied into a messy bun. “He’s been… acting different,” she revealed sadly. “He slips out of bed at around one in the morning, every night. He comes back at four-ish, and I pretend to be asleep. But he undresses, and he smells like sweat. We don’t talk much anymore. I don’t think he loves me.” she confirmed, and you could tell she was trying to hold back unshed tears.

“I’m sorry.” was all you could offer her.

She sank down into the dining room chair and held her head in her hands. Carol wasn’t a bad woman -- but you couldn’t bring yourself to empathise with her. She was the lucky one who got to marry Dave in the first place… who got to bring up his two wonderful kids. She got to live in the big suburban house, and she got to drive the expensive family SUV. Clearly, she was struggling. Her suspicions of her husband cheating were eating her alive, and you knew from your own spying that he was certainly up to something. It must have sucked for her, but even if Dave was being unfaithful, she was still living your dream life.

“I think I’m going to call him out,” she confessed with an uneasy shrug of her shoulders. “I have to. I can’t keep living like this. It’s just… I have no evidence. No way to prove it.”

Carol had a point. If she was going to confront him, surely he’d just deny it and get mad. You liked Dave a lot, that much was clear, but maybe… in this scenario… you could be some use to Carol. If you could provide her with the evidence that he was cheating, then their marriage would inevitably fall apart. Then you could harness the chance to steal Dave away for yourself. This could actually work.

“I can help you,” you said suddenly, pulling out the chair opposite Carol and sitting beside her. “I can help you find what you need to expose Dave’s affair.”

Carol furrowed her eyebrows together in bewilderment, and you hoped you hadn’t sounded too excited about the prospect. “How do you plan on doing that?” she asked you with uncertainty.

You hummed, your mind weighing up the possible scenarios. “Uhm… well, next time he sneaks out I can watch him leave... and then I take your SUV and carefully follow him. I’ll try to snap some photos of him getting caught in the act.” you suggested and watched Carol wince at the thought of you seeing him with somebody else. Seriously… were you supposed to feel bad for her? Carol looked unsure but finally she sighed a breath of defeat and nodded her head, agreeing to your plan.

“Okay… but be careful you don’t get caught.” She warned.

“I’ll do it tonight,” you promised. “Don’t worry Carol, let me handle this.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

This time, when the night rolled over, you weren’t in the attic like usual. You were hiding out by the living room window downstairs which gave you quick and easy access to the front door. Once you were satisfied that Dave had driven an ample distance away from the house, you grabbed Carol’s car keys and jogged down the patio to her SUV. You knew the roads would be empty at this time of night, so it shouldn’t be too hard to lose sight of Dave. What would be hard though, is trying to remain unseen by him. Any car out on the roads at two in the morning would be suspicious. You figured you were doing a good job at staying back in the shadows.

To your surprise, Dave began to drive out of town and he headed towards the forest that peppered the outskirts of the little village he lived in. You knew that nobody lived in this area, and so why he was driving this far out was beyond you. Though, it only piqued your curiosity more, and so you continued to follow him.

You parked around ten feet behind him, the car tyres getting stuck in the dirt. You watched as Dave hopped out of his car and swung a black duffel bag over his shoulder. He ventured into the depths of the forest, amongst the tall trees, until eventually he was nowhere in sight. You sat in the driver's seat for a few moments, contemplating what exactly was going on. You didn't expect this at all. You figured that, all this time, he had in fact been driving to a different part of town, letting himself into someone else’s house and having an affair.

Then, the reality that he could still be having an affair struck you. You hopped out of the SUV and turned on your phone’s flashlight, helping you familiarise yourself with your surroundings. Dave’s clunky boots left a trail of footsteps in the mud, thankfully, which meant it was easy enough to track him down. You were making good progress and doing fine until you heard a man scream. And your heart sank in your chest.

The same voice cried out in terror, before another scream followed. Could it be Dave? Was he in danger? Your mind shot to what you believed to be the worst possible case and your light jogging turned into running as you followed the sound. You had to make sure Dave was okay.

As you got closer and closer, you began to hear a squelching noise and a series of grunts and groans. You noticed a figure, on his knees by a large tree trunk -- and evidently, he noticed the way your flashlight had highlighted his body. The masculine figure rose to his feet and dropped the knife to the ground before turning to face you.

It was Dave.

“What are you doing here?” he interrogated, removing his hat and stuffing it into his pocket.

“You… I--... you…” you were speechless, your gaze flicking between Dave and the corpse that he had tied to the tree. The screams you had heard earlier hadn’t come from Dave, but instead had come from the man he just murdered.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” He repeated, malice dripping from his tongue. When you didn’t answer, he scoffed incredulously and pulled out a clean knife. He took only a few steps towards you, breaking any distance, and held the silver blade to your neck. The coolness of the metal stung your skin and your gaze fixated on his cold dark eyes in horror. “I’ll ask you one last time,” Dave whispered, his warm breath fanning over your jaw. “Sweet girl, tell me, why are you here?”

“Carol sent me…” you lied. “I didn’t want to. But-- but she thought you were cheating on her. She told me to follow you into the night and see where you ended up.”

“That bitch,” Dave huffed, taking a step back and shaking his head in disbelief. “And you were happy to betray me?”

“No!” you said defensively, your voice raising an octave. “She said if I didn’t, she’d fire me.”

“You should have come to me first.” Dave gritted out, his voice deep and his eyes locked on yours. God, he was hot. If he hadn’t just murdered someone, you’d be all over him.

“I know,” you gulped and made an effort to flutter your eyelashes apologetically. “I was scared.”

“Scared of me?” Dave quizzed, tilting his head and wrapping a gloved hand around the column of your throat. He gave it an experimental squeeze.

“N-no,” you stammered out, biting your lower lip. “Scared of Carol.”

“And now that you know where I’ve been going every night. Now that you know that I’ve been murdering innocents… are you scared of me?” Dave rephrased after a moment of silence.

“No,” you confirmed again but with a shaky exhale. You raised your hand and cupped his cheek. The touch caught him off guard. He wasn’t used to this kind of affection from anyone. “Actually… it turns me on.”

Dave pulled away from you and a wicked smirk crossed his lips. “I never pinned you to be that kind of person.” he revealed, but if the tent in his pants was anything to go off, you knew that he liked it.

“I never pinned you to be a murderer.” you shot back with a sweet moan, licking a hot stripe along his jaw and maneuvering your hand along his broad chest.

Dave let his own gloved hand tangle in your hair before yanking your head back and forcing you to look at him.

“Not a murderer, just a cheater?” he questioned, venom in his tone.

“Mm, I’m sorry.” you whispered, and Dave began to push you down onto your knees.

“Show me,” he hissed, and you hungrily nodded your head.

In the darkness of the night, you began to undo his belt. Pulling it through the loops of his pants, you discarded it to the ground and then started to work at the zipper. You dipped your hand into his pants and pulled out his already hard cock. You couldn’t help but gasp at how heavy it felt in your hands.

You began to pump at his length, your fingers gathering the beads of precum that had dribbled out of his tip. “Let me fuck your mouth.” he commanded. You opened your mouth as wide as you could, preparing yourself for his girth, and stuck out your tongue. Dave chuckled darkly before thrusting his thick cock into your mouth.

His breathing hilted when you wrapped your lips and moaned around him, the noise sending vibrations through his body.

He pushed his entire length into you and then gently began to trace your throat with his index finger. The movements of his hands were achingly soft in comparison to the rough and messy nature of his thrusts. It didn’t take long for you to realise he was actually tracing the bulge that his thick cock had made there, and you gagged around him in response. He doubled back, pulling out of you and only giving you a second to catch your breath before fucking your mouth again.

His speech was slurred and his vision became hazy as he muttered words of degradation. “You little whore, sucking my cock in the middle of a fucking forest at night. Do you like this? Do you like taking my cock in your mouth?”

You could only hum in approval. You felt tears begin to prick at the corners of your eyes and his cock began to throb in your mouth. You knew he was close now. You brought your hands to his balls and began to massage them, and looked up through your lashes at Dave who had tossed his head back, the pleasure consuming him.

Without any warning, Dave came undone, his salty load shooting into your mouth. He brought his hands back down to your head and forced you to swallow him whole. It wasn’t easy, but you managed to do so, relishing his taste. Eventually, he let you pull off him, a mixture of his cum and your saliva creating a trail between his cock and your lips. He grabbed your hand and helped you to your feet before tucking himself back into his pants and zipping himself up.

“Well, I can’t murder you now.” he sighed, rubbing his jaw.

“Do you need me to help you hide the body?” you offered.

“No,” he replied. “I do all my murders in this forest because no one has visited in years. They decompose quickly too. I just leave them to rot.”

It sounded pretty risky, you thought, but evidently, Dave knew what he was doing. He must have been doing this for a long time. “Oh okay…” you mumbled. “I’ll just… head back to the car then.”

You spun around on your heel and took a few steps in the direction you came before you heard Dave call your name. You froze and waited for him to speak.

“I’m going to kill Carol,” he said, the five words echoing amongst the trees around you. “And I need you to be my alibi.”

“M-murder Carol? But why?” you asked, honestly feeling a little uneasy at this point. You trusted Dave, you really did. But Carol had sent you out to try and evidence the fact he was cheating on you. In the past half hour, you’d witnessed her husband murder someone, and then you had proceeded to give him what could quite possibly have been the best blow of his life.

“She thought I was cheating on her,” he said, his voice so quiet it was almost sinister. “She has betrayed my trust.”

You wanted to throw in the fact that he had actually just cheated on her, with you, but you decided that might not have been the best idea. He needed to know that you were on his side. You hadn’t realised the length of time you’d stayed silent for. Clearly, had been too long for Dave’s liking.

“Are you going to betray my trust?” Dave queried and you shook your head ‘no’ profusely. “Good.”

“Good thing I’ve cleaned enough houses in my time to know how to cover up a scene,” you said softly, taking a few steps closer to him. “And it’s a good thing I helped Carol take out a big life insurance policy.” your lips curled into a smile.

“So we do it tonight,” Dave whispered, his thumb grazing the height of your cheekbone. “We go home together, and I’ll kill her. I’ll take her body to the forest and you clean up before daylight.”

“What about the girls?” you couldn’t help but ask.

Dave picked up his belt and the bloodied knife before throwing them haphazardly in his duffle bag. “Good thing they’ll still be living with another, amazing woman that they can look up to once their mother is gone,” he smirked, and you felt your cheeks flush with heat at his words. “I’ll call the cops tomorrow morning and file a missing person’s report for Carol.”

“Will it work?” you wondered out loud.

“Do you trust me?”

Maybe you were foolish, but as you contemplated his words, you realised that you really did trust this suburban murder dad.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

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pleasantanathema · 3 years

Text

Graves into Gardens | Reiner Braun x Reader | Chapter Six

Chapter Six: Revelations

Pairing: Reiner Braun x Fem!Reader

Rating: Explicit (18+ Only)

Warnings: Modern AU, spoilers up to season four, slight manga spoilers (only by including characters met later), captivity, mentions of death, violence enemies to lovers, angst, and eventual smut (ohohoho we’re so hot on it now, just wait until the end of this one)

Word Count: 5k

A/N: Thank you so, so much to everyone who has left comments, screamed in reblog tags, and just encouraged me to create this story. I have never felt so much love for a fic in the time I’ve been writing.

This chapter reveals a lot, and it’s a little longer than the rest, but it’s for good reason- the end of this is one of my favorite things I’ve written.

Previous Chapter | Masterlist | Next Chapter

Reiner’s apartment truly wasn’t much. You thought he’d been joking, perhaps was even being humble, but the small studio apartment was quite dismal. The walls were stark white, a few faded posters peeling off the wall from neglect, a couple of medals and trophies lining a small bookshelf that was bursting with paperbacks and notebooks. A simple bed with a royal blue comforter and overstuffed pillows, the most compact L-shaped couch in front of a tv, and a corner dominated by a desk with two monitors and stacks of documents, manila envelopes, and crates of papers crammed below.

A kitchenet that looked hardly used was tucked away in another corner, the entryway to a small bathroom right near it.

There was truly nothing worth looking twice at, save a handful of framed photos scattered around.

You’d taken it all in rather hurriedly, still out of breath from practically running through snowy alleyways, the developing snowstorm covering the land like fresh linen. There was a window near his bed, which you gravitated toward after kicking off your damp boots by the door. Not much a view, either. Just more desolate, brick buildings and a sorry looking street below.

He told you once that he didn’t grow up with much, and it unfortunately seemed like despite joining the ranks of the military, he was still left with close to nothing.

“What are we here for?”

He was busy toiling with the thermostat, thick fingers mashing against the heat button to try to warm the small box of an apartment.

“You won’t like it,” he grumbled, golden eyes glancing over to you with a tinge of regret painting his brow.

“Then why bring me?”

“Because you need to see it.”

You tucked your hands under your arms, the chill of the winter’s day finally settling into your bones.

You watched keenly as he shrugged off his snow laden jacket, hanging it by the door before promptly locking it. He seemed as out of breath as you were, nose red from the cold, hands shaking as he fumbled with his phone. You bit the inside of your cheek with impatience, a small flame of ire licking its way into your chest.

Bringing you out here could get you killed. He knew that, right? Of course he did, but he did it anyways. Surely this matter of seemingly great importance could’ve been fetched by one of his comrades. You hadn’t quite considered the danger leaving the headquarters could bring upon you until you were dashing through the streets, the heavy paw of Reiner’s hand squeezing around your wrist. At one point in time, he’d shoved you back down another corridor, shielding you with the size of his body as particular caravan of cars turned down the roadway. He seemed to fear any pair of government eyes spying you.

He always was so careless.

He was busy texting someone, still standing idle, lip worried between his teeth.

Must be the girl you ran into that’s giving him a headache. He probably thought he could slip out and back again without a soul noticing, without anyone giving him grievance, but that bright eyed little cousin of his had ruined that. She’d been so excited to see him; he probably hadn’t been to see his family quite a while, seeing that he was on guard duty after his last mission.

How many days had it been since you’d been here? You’d honestly lost track of time, your world feeling like it had been caught in a slow turn of molasses. A few seconds could feel like hours, days felt like minutes, every heartbeat felt like it could be your last. You tried to add it all up in your head, eyes closing as you replayed all the events that led to you standing in Reiner Braun’s home in Marley.

A week and a half, you surmised. But it could be a little more, a little less. You think you would have kept your eyes on the sun a little more acutely, seeing that you’d missed it rise and fall for at least two days when you were bound in that cell.

“Are you alright?”

For a moment, you thought you had spoken the words. You were thinking them, but he asked you instead.

“That’s a loaded question,” you looked back down to the street, catching the sight of a line of what appeared to be school children marching in tandem down the sidewalk, snow in their hair and happiness on their faces, “but for the moment, I’m okay.”

Reiner pulled his lips to the side, considering your words. Maybe it hadn’t dawned on him that you couldn’t have been in any state of ease since you’d been promptly abducted and plopped down in this new world to navigate.

“Are you alright?” You encored, observing how his worried thumbs were still fast against the screen.

“Have I ever been?”

You made at face at that reply, corners of your mouth turning down while your shoulders shrugged. Fair enough.

Though, for the first time, a bit of pity crept into your mind. Reiner didn’t really ask for this life, did he? He was doing whatever he could to get by, fallen rather inelegantly into the position of being sent to Paradis, and was now being handed you to watch over, presumably without his full consent. You were both pawns in this world, kings and rooks dominating the board and playing you both for fools.

Being a Scout hadn’t been your intention, either. You’d once had other dreams: college, a career, a family, but you’d been grandfathered into the role by your government working parents, and cemented into it when they’d died. You had nothing else to do, so you served. You served your country, your friends, but you also served yourself, using the role to keep your life afloat, even if it sometimes meant spilling the lifeblood of others, even if it meant sacrificing aspirations and settling. Though, you would admit that some rather beautiful things managed to bloom from the barren soil. Regrettably, those had all been left behind, washed away by tides you couldn’t control.

“I’m sorry,” Reiner grunted, sinking into the cushions of the couch, “she—she already opened her mouth. I’ve gotten Annie to settle things at HQ, but I imagine Chief is still furious.”

“Is it such a bad thing to take me out here? I mean, you could easily stop me if I tried to run away.”

“Could I?”

You debated his question. While you were quite nimble, you’d be like a rat in a maze trying to find a way out of this god forsaken place.

“If I let you,” you reasoned, a tinge of humor behind your words.

He smiled, all warm and soft, full lips parting. The realization that you hadn’t seen him smile in years pummeled into your chest like a heavy hand stealing from your lungs. It made the sorrow that much more palpable.

“For the record, Zeke is more upset I didn’t ask permission. He’s hellbent on his authority.”

“So I’ve noticed.”

You also pinpointed something else of note, a picture glinting on his nightstand catching your attention.

It resembled the same one you’d seen on Zeke’s desk, only now you could make out the faces. Reiner didn’t pay you any mind as you reached for the framed memory, plucking it from its home, dust from the back of it staining your fingers.

A red booth housed five familiar faces, all grinning over half-drank pints of beer. Their arms were interlocked around each other’s shoulders, all the men young and handsome, Reiner and Bertholdt even more youthful than when they’d first walked through the doors of the Scout Office. Then there was Zeke seated next to Porco, the latter in that green jacket you’d seen him in earlier. But your eyes were set on a face you’d never thought you’d see again, a face that possessed the very recesses of your mind, only appearing late at night when you’d see it in corners, catch it lingering behind your eyelids. He was attractive, appeared personable, messy dark hair and distinct brow that matched the boy next to him.

“Reiner…” you whispered, still unmoving from your spot between the bed and the window pane, “who is this?”

He peered over his shoulder, any hint of a smile now vanished like etchings being erased from a page.

“You don’t recognize him?”

Him, a photo full of faces, and he knew who you were asking about. He’d probably stared too long at the ghost himself. You wondered if he ever placed the frame down at night to sleep better; you would have, if you’d killed someone you cared about.

“You know I do.”

Reiner held his hand out, long arm stretched across the back of the couch. You finally talked your feet into moving, shuffling across the hardwood as you placed the offending item into his upturned palm.

Then, you sat next to him, your knees bumping together as you tried to analyze the emotions stirring within. You couldn’t quite place any of them—Regret? Fear? Curiosity? Sadness? But they were quelled when Reiner placed his hand on your twitching thigh, pressing that anxiousness away for a moment.

“Marcel Galliard, Porco’s older brother.”

Your lips parted, both of your attentions centered on the souvenir held between you.

“It was his birthday, and we hadn’t had the chance to celebrate mine and Zeke’s yet either, so we all went out for drinks. I unfortunately don’t remember much from that night, but I remember being…happy, content.”

“Why’d you do it?” you asked it a little quickly, “why would you…save me, not him?”

“I told you, some things I don’t have a choice about.”

“But you—you could’ve said he killed me and got away, right? You did have a choice.”

You saw how his jaw clenched, muscles in his cheek flexing.

“I don’t know.” Agony lined his voice, the words soft, hushed.

That situation was something you both thought about far too often than you’d like to admit, a late-night mulling that never led to conversation.

“I’m sorry.” You took the photo away, placed it face down on the coffee table.

“Don’t be. We can’t change the past,” he said solemnly.

You could, however, lament it. Which is something you did perhaps too often.

━━━─── • ───━━━

Reiner wasn’t ready for what was to come. He knew he never would be, which is why he threw precaution to the wind and decided to lay his cards on the table now.

He had to pick a side. Even if these wars didn’t truly concern him, even if the fate of countries ultimately didn’t matter to his conscious, you did—you mattered, he mattered, and he had to start thinking about things on a smaller scale.

He wanted to go back to Paradis. He practically yearned to go back in time, to return to a place where being Eldian didn’t matter, where his status didn’t matter, where he could remake himself into something new. If it hadn’t been for his binds connecting him to Marley, he could’ve actually seen hope instead of sorrow on the horizon. He could never seem to cut the vines, could never actually get away from the people controlling his life.

But now, now he saw an out, and it was with you. When this cataclysm first happened, all he wanted was for you to be dead, for you to go away and leave him and his miseries alone to rot and wither. Being with you, however, reminded him of a life he could have. He just had to make it happen, he had to start molding his own clay, had to keep bearing the weight of the world like the weary Atlas until he could find a way to make it turn in his favor.

He was tired of wishing for death.

Which is why he had to bring you here and why he would handle the consequences that were waiting in the distance.

You might not be very helpful to Marley, but he could be of use to Paradis.

“I believe you,” he hadn’t noticed he was still touching you, fingers gripping onto your leg like a lifeline, “about Zeke. I believe you because I—we, Pieck, Annie, Bertie—we know he’s up to something beyond what he tells us and the generals. He is working with someone in Paradis. We don’t know who, but we do think we know what for.”

“Oh my god…oh my god. Why didn’t you—”

“You think I can just fucking say that when anyone could be outside my door listening?”

“I thought you said I wouldn’t like what you have to show me.”

He noticed how your shoulders relaxed, like you’d been holding in tension for far too long.

“That’s not…I have something else for you.”

He didn’t move just yet, not quite ready to actually set this all in motion.

This all hinged on you. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew you quite well; of course, that was the you of four years ago. The you he had next to him now was older, scarred, burdened, but he still felt that same magnetic pull to you that he could never explain. He was just a moon consigned to orbit you, to be connected to you even when neither of you desired the attachment.

He knew you were going to be upset, livid; his skin was already prickled at the thought of how you would possibly punch him if when you read what he had to give.

At least you always looked pretty when you were angry.

He could still remember how Jean had cowered undeath his desk when you’d stomped into the office after discovering he’d used the branch’s own money to play in a high-stakes poker game while undercover. He’d been fishing for information on the elites, found himself tipsy, and then found himself on the receiving end of your fury. The only thing that stopped your yelling was Erwin, who, for personal reasons, didn’t want any fuss made over government money being gambled away.

Erwin. He’d never cared for how close you were to him.

Reiner finally stood, expecting you to sit and wait, but you were following him like a shadow, small hand wrapped around his forearm as he moved to his computer. When he sat down, that hand moved up to his shoulder, your fingers squeezing into his muscle with encouragement. It didn’t really put him at ease.

He turned the desktop on, the monitor flashing to life. He typed in his password quickly, then went searching for that folder he’d kept hidden away so he’d never bother to look at it again.

“Hand me one of those,” he nodded his head in the direction of a small container of flash drives on the other side of his desk. You plucked one out of its resting spot and went ahead and placed it into the port on the computer. He knew you wouldn’t question why had so many on hand—you both knew how it all worked, you both kept important documents that had to be shuffled around digitally.

Familiar names lined the inside of the folder, ones he’d once tried to forget. He heard you suck in a quick breath and took a moment to look up at you. Your brow was set, tongue obviously caught between your teeth to keep yourself from saying anything.

This was his job. He was in charge of keeping tabs on The Scouts, he was the one who fed Marley all the information they could. Well, almost all of it.

“These are files I never gave over. They’re yours now. I never gave Marley everything they wanted I…I thought I was protecting you. There’s also a few files on Zeke that Pieck created in here, too.”

You both watched as he copied the folder over to the flash drive, one by one the names and dates slowly dropping into a new safe place for them.

He touched your waist, signaling you to step back. He rolled his chair out, ducking under the desk for a split moment to gather a box of the printed documents he had actually handed over; the action was a mistake.

You were leaned over him in an instant, hand clutching and moving the mouse so quickly it scraped against the desk. He attempted to reach up and stop you, but he paused—there were still bruises on your wrist, on your fingers, faded watercolors of surviving pain. He’d gripped your hand, your wrists, all day, why hadn’t you stopped him?

He already knew which file you opened; he didn’t need to look. But he did anyways, moving the crate to the side and sitting back in his chair, arms crossed across his chest. His poor heart felt like it was going to burst.

Marco Bott’s face filled part of the screen, all sweet and freckled like he remembered. Those kind eyes were looking straight at him, judging him. Reiner was just waiting, he knew what was said in there, he wrote it all, still recalled how puffy his eyes were when he did it, how much he regretted it.

There was a pregnant pause, one so heavy he felt like he was being crushed.

This all hinged on you. He needed you to help him, needed you to help you.

“I fucking knew it.”

He was already flinching, shrinking. He watched the screen scroll, the black letters and white spaces all a blur.

“Threat eliminated by gunfire, killed by organized crime members after…” you hesitated, eyes dancing as you reread the words, “after his gear was removed to ensure death.”

He was on his feet before you could hit him, backing away from your clenched fists, chair rolling to be forgotten in the corner.

“What. Did. You. Do?”

Each word came with a step toward him. He was running out of space, nearly tripping over the edge of the couch as you encroached upon him.

“What did you do?” Your voice was getting louder, pain written across your face like he’d just stabbed you. “You told me there was no fucking truth about Marco!”

“There isn’t! Marco’s dead, there’s no changing—”

“There’s no changing the past,” you mocked his words, venom dripping from your tongue.

━━━─── • ───━━━

Your blood was boiling, wrath itching between your fingers.

You were going to kill him. You were going to wind your fists around his neck and watch the life drain slowly from his eyes like he fucking deserved.

You couldn’t believe you’d let you guard down, that you’d started to trust him. You always knew something had gone awry the night Marco died. He’d been slaughtered, ransacked with bullet holes across his body. It was like he had been dropped into the line of fire, dangled out like a piece of meat to be eaten alive.

And he didn’t have his gear, that’s what stumped everyone looking into the mess of it all. It was like he had walked in unprepared, like a boy on a suicide mission walking straight to his death. Thirty-six bullets and even more empty, splattered holes littered had riddled his corpse. Jean had fallen to his knees. Connie didn’t speak for a week. Sasha didn’t eat for days.

Because of Reiner’s decision, that man suffered, you all mourned, and you felt like you most of all had let him down. Marco had been your protégé, you’d taught him everything he knew, and that was the first mission he was allowed to go on after his training. You’d been tailing a rather violent gang, found their hideout, and were infiltrating for arrests and to see what was inside. Marco had been paired with Reiner and Bertholdt to lead the first wave of infiltration, while you and the rest waited for the signal to rush the back doors to the run-down ranch not far out of the city of Trost. They’d been up ahead by the barn that was sandwiched between stables.

But your signal turned to sounds of gunfire. You could still hear it echoing in your ears as you approached Reiner. The sounds of metal clicking, of repeated blasts from automatic weapons ringing across the hillsides like single note windchimes in a raging storm.

“Tell me why.”

Your fingers were digging into his shirt before you could stop yourself, the threads of the worn Henley threatening to rip from your nails sinking into it. You could actually feel his heart beat against his chest, a frightened bird trying to flee his ribcage.

When he didn’t speak right away, your anger flared, made you shove him back against the wall with all your might. It made your arms hurt, like you’d just slammed your hands against brick, a sharp pain that made you hiss.

“He overheard us—”

“Overheard what?”

You could tell he was getting a little infuriated as well, nostrils flaring as he looked down his nose at you. It must look funny, you pressing him against the wall of his own apartment. Reiner was nearly twice your size—he was bigger than most people, and he towered over you like a looming threat.

“Let me fucking finish,” he took a deep breath, eyes nearly glazing over, “He overheard Bertie and I talking about how we should relay the details of that gang, of organized crime in general, to Marley. We—we hadn’t had time to talk alone since we’d been prepping that shit for days. We didn’t know Marco followed us around to that side of the rooftop.”

“That’s it? He heard you whispering little secrets and you killed him for it?”

One of the buttons near the neckline of his shirt popped as your knuckles dug deeper into the fabric.

“He literally heard us say that we needed to find a time to call General Magath of Marley. If he lived and told someone that—,” his breath caught for a moment when one of your nails started to pierce his skin, “it would have compromised our entire mission. We’d been there for three years, and he could’ve ruined it all.”

You were at your breaking point. You could feel that terrible heat that comes with sadness creeping up your neck, snaking around to your cheeks. If you weren’t careful, you were going to cry. All this time, all this time spent wondering why, and this was why he had to die?

Killing wasn’t unusual in your life. It was part of the job, something you’d unfortunately had to do on a few occasions. You knew those strangers who ate your bullets or your knife had families, that they were people too, but most of them were monsters, thieves, rapists, threats to the corrupted balance of the governmental structure. But Marco…he was like family, and finding his limp, almost unrecognizable body had sent even the most hardened veterans into despair. Levi took off from work the next day; the only time he had ever missed a day on the job.

“Tell me how!” You truly didn’t mean to scream it, but the emotions raging in your stomach, your chest, it all ached too much.

“Be quiet, I have neighbors—”

“I don’t give a fuck about your god damn neighbors, Reiner!”

He finally moved then, his once idle hand now jerking up to your face to fiercely hold your cheeks beneath his fingers. You tried to smack his hand away, your own fingers digging and tugging at his wrist.

“Letme-go!” Your words were jumbled, your open mouth allowing his fingers to press your cheeks in between your teeth.

“You have to be fucking quiet,” he hissed, a whole new light shining in his eyes, a familiar rage you had seen when you’d fought against him the day Paradis was invaded. The reality of how large he was sunk in again; he looked like a vengeful god peering down at you, all hot-blooded and incensed.

You thought for a moment he wouldn’t hurt you, but then you remembered he already had. He had the inclination to be just as cruel as you could be.

His fingers stayed firm against your cheeks, holding you like he was daring you to speak again.

“Tellmehow,” you managed to spit out, wincing when he took the leverage he had on your face and used it to shove you back. You stumbled, banging into the side of the couch as you rubbed at the sore flesh of your mouth.

But he was unmoving, back straight against the wall, a statue built on the foundation of wrath and agony, waiting to crack and fall onto you if you made the wrong move.

“We knew their guards were patrolling. Bertholdt covered his mouth while I stripped him of his equipment, of his guns, and I pushed him off the roof and into their sight.”

He said it so calmly that it made you sick. But that was a reality he had to live with every day, wasn’t it? He had to replay in his mind over and over again that he had done such a vile thing, he had to justify it else it would eat him alive.

Your tears were hot, but contained, your lashes blinking them aside as you just stared at him. You opened your mouth to scream at him, you were so ready to spew hatred and let it burn him, but he was quicker than you.

With one step, he was on you, your hair wrapped in his fast as he wrenched your head to the side, smarting your scalp to silence you.

“Marco’s dead, and I’m sorry for it. You fucking screaming will do nothing but have the assholes who live below me calling the authorities and you’ll find yourself in a much worse prison than before.”

You didn’t like how he was right. Still, you glared up at him, brows pinched together in pain.

It felt like you’d merged into him, those rapid hearts within your chests suddenly beating as one with the same suffering, the same torment. You both had to live with the poor reality of your lives; you were killers, you were monsters too.

You were too close to him, could smell the heat of his skin, could feel his breath against your sore cheeks. Your hands were flat against his chest, trapped between you, his arm an anchor as it tugged at the roots of your hair, keeping your face turned towards his.

You couldn’t help but look at him, there was nowhere else to focus, only on him. It was like you could see the pages of a book open across his face, wretchedness and anguish painted in broad strokes in the fair wrinkles around his eyes, in the curve of his brow. It was beauty and pain bleeding together, the amber color of his eyes swirling as he searched your own face like he was looking for something. What would he find hidden behind your own grief?

“I hate you,” you whispered, breath long gone.

“I know.”

“And I’ll never forgive you.”

It was like he was moving closer, the time you were losing now completely stopped, frozen between your bodies.

“Don’t want forgiveness,” he caught your whisper and gave it back, “just judgement.”

His lips met yours with a bruising fervor.

The hand in your hair flexed, pulled you closer, made you gasp as your hands slid up his chest. Your fingers found his rumbling throat, and in the back of your mind, you recalled how just moments ago you were waiting to snatch the life from his neck. You felt his pulse beating beneath your thumb, a war drum beating hot and fast in his veins. Your mouth was moving against his, eyes closed, suddenly greedy and hungry; for what, you didn’t know. All you did know was that this felt so wrong, like you’d taken a misstep and landed right into the lion’s lap, but that it also felt like absolution, like he was devouring your sins and taking them for his own.

Your mouth slanted for him, a hum resounding from both your throats as you fell into this new, strange rhythm. You’d thought about it before, kissing him like this, feeling those plush lips against yours, angry and hot and needy. You cherished the taste of him, like a dark, rich wine filling up your mouth, spilling over and enveloping your senses. Your tongue tempted him to open his lips, to let you in. There was no hesitation.

His other hand found your hip, fingers mean and pulling you impossibly closer. Your palms drifted up from his neck, found his face, thumbs smoothing over cheekbones. You could feel the soft hairs of his cheeks, his chin, sweeping against your skin. It all felt too good, like you were getting lost, delirium taking over. Nothing else mattered anymore, just the gratification of tasting his emotions, of taking his groans into your mouth and echoing them back. You pressed harder into him, kept your tongue tangled with his, noses brushing as you found new beats to your rhythm.

It was wicked, sinful, something your heart was pleading for and your mind screaming out against. But you couldn’t stop. You didn’t stop. It was as if you kissed for as long as you’d known each other. Every year passed by, every regret, every sharp turn of your tongues against one another, all the hurt and longing, placed into one moment of your bodies finding one another.

When the heat began to die, you were both still stroking the flames, deep, languid kisses turned into smaller presses of your lips against one another. It was intoxicating and you felt so drunk, so, so drunk off of him.

There was a stillness between you, like the gentle sigh and breaths of the world as it awoke to the morning sun when you finally stopped. A lulling peacefulness lingered in the wake of what you’d done.

His hands were still on your body, in your hair, looser now. Yours were still on his face when your eyes fluttered open.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, lips plump, wet.

“I know.”

Next Chapter

#reiner braun #reiner braun x reader #reiner x reader #snk reiner #snk reiner braun #AoT #aot reiner #aot reiner braun #aot fanfiction #aot x reader #snk fanfiction #snk x reader #reiner x you #reiner braun x you

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swan-of-sunrise · 3 years

Text

Spellbinding (Chapter Nineteen)

Summary: A normal mission quickly goes south when (Y/N) loses control of her magic, and she makes a life-altering decision.

Pairing: Loki X Reader

Word Count: 4.8k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: I’m back, and I brought a whole ton of angst with me! I hope that you enjoy!

Chapter Nineteen April 11th, 2016 Rome, Italy (Previous Chapter)

“The conquest had to be done, (Y/N)…I did it for us, for our family…we shall begin a new and glorious dynasty, more powerful than anything else the Nine Realms has ever seen!”

“(Y/N)? Everything all right, darling?”

The familiar voice pulled (Y/N) out of her thoughts, and she quickly glanced over at Loki with a smile. “I’m fine, Loki, just lost in thought. Has the target been spotted yet?”

Her fiancé shook his head, moving forward to stand beside her at the window of their hotel room. “No, not yet, I was merely wondering what you were thinking so deeply about.” His face broke out into a mischievous smirk. “Could it be that you were re-living the rather…extensive events of last evening?”

(Y/N) began to smile despite herself, vivid memories of the events in question immediately springing to mind as she coyly asked, “And if I was?”

“Well, then, it would seem that great minds really do think alike.” Ducking his head down, Loki softly trailed his lips along her neck before pulling the collar of her uniform down to press a final kiss on the dark bruise he’d placed there the night before; she bit back her moan at the sensation, and she felt him smirk against her skin. “We’ll have to celebrate our mission’s success when we return home; champagne, chocolates, perhaps even a soothing bubble bath for two. How does that sound?”

“It sounds like you two need to focus up and stop traumatizing me.”

Cringing in embarrassment, (Y/N) pulled away from a bemused Loki and held up a hand to the comm link in her ear. “Sorry, Nat. And you too, Steve.”

“That’s okay, (Y/N). I think Nat and I had it a little easier than Thor did last week.”

“Yeah, the poor guy actually walked in on-”

“All right, can we all please stop talking about this now?” Loki practically pleaded, his earlier amusement gone at the mention of ‘The Incident,’ as he and (Y/N) had begun calling it. “Is it time to move onto Phase Two yet?”

Through their comms, (Y/N) detected the spy’s smirk as she answered, “Yeah, you might as well; this guy’s not gonna show himself until we give him a reason to. What do you think, Cap?”

“I agree. Let’s move onto Phase Two.”

Loki leaned down to press a chaste kiss to her lips before straightening and backing away from her. His body shimmered as a green-tinted illusion formed and solidified, revealing an entirely-new person standing before her; the man was slightly shorter than her fiancé, with dark blonde curls and clear-blue eyes, and he was dressed casually in a pair of jeans, a tee shirt and a leather jacket. Others would be easily fooled by his illusion but (Y/N) knew better; no matter what form he took, Loki always had that recognizable glint in his eyes.

Her fiancé held out his arms and did a slow spin. “How do I look?”

“Exceptionally ordinary.” (Y/N) flashed him a smile and watched as he left their hotel room, turning back to the window with a small sigh. She appreciated all the distractions that Loki provided her, but lately her mind always seemed to travel back to her reoccurring nightmares. Probably because of that bad news you got last week, she silently reasoned as her frown deepened. After studying (Y/N)’s genetic makeup for several months, Doctor Cho had come to the conclusion that there was no scientific way to remove her Alf Seidr, as the magical ability was ingrained within her DNA; and then, the doctor revealed that the strange metallic cuff that the unknown assailant had placed on her arm to suppress her magic had somehow gone missing. It seems that I’m stuck with this volatile magic for life, she thought to herself, feeling her anxiety beginning to rise at the very idea.

“I’ve got eyes on the target.” Steve’s voice in her ear shook her out of her ruminations. “Loki, move in. Nat, start evacuating the square but be discreet; I don’t want this guy getting spooked. (Y/N), stand by.”

(Y/N) peeked through the curtains covering the window and watched a disguised Loki cross the busy street towards a large bank; he was loosely followed by Steve, who was dressed casually in street clothes with a baseball cap pulled low over his brow. Her eyes followed her fiancé’s movements as he walked up the steps of the bank and entered the building, the super soldier trailing close behind. “Nat, do you have eyes on them?”

“Negative, they just entered the bank. Remember, we can’t apprehend the target until we’re sure he’s in possession of the Chitauri guns.”

“I know, it’s just…I have a bad feeling about all this.”

Agitated, (Y/N) subconsciously summoned a ball of swirling magic in her palm as she closed her eyes and took a calming deep breath. The spy’s whispered assurances that everything would be all right suddenly cut off in her ear and she frowned in concern, bringing her free hand up to her comm link. “Nat? Do you read me, Nat?”

(Y/N) opened her eyes and gasped in alarm; she was no longer standing in a hotel room across the street from the bank, but instead she was standing alone in the middle of a vast battlefield. The skies above were reddish-orange and filled with dark billowing clouds of ashy smoke. When she glanced down, she immediately saw all carnage; bloody corpses of Alfheimian men and women littered the field and she covered her mouth in horror at the stomach-churning sight of the butchered Light Elves.

“The conquest had to be done, (Y/N),” A woman’s voice called out to (Y/N) but when she whirled around to face her, she saw no one. “I did it for us, for our family. Your father and I will soon rule Alfheim and Midgard and with you, a child of both realms, we shall begin a new and glorious dynasty, more powerful than anything else the Nine Realms has ever seen!”

Screams of terror echoed throughout the battlefield and (Y/N) clamped her hands over her ears to block them out. The ground beneath her began to shake and as she watched with widened eyes, it began to split open and humanoid-shaped creatures began clawing their way out of the fissures; terrified, (Y/N) squeezed her eyes closed and just as a clawed hand wrapped around her ankle…

“…(Y/N), do you copy?! (Y/N)!”

Eyes flying open, (Y/N) staggered back and gasped for air, completely disoriented and confused by what had just happened; she was back in the hotel room and as she glanced down at her hand, she watched in shock as the scarlet-tinged magic shifted back to purple and faded away into nothing. It was like my nightmares but worse, she thought as her erratic breathing continued, almost as if my magic is what caused the hallucination.

“(Y/N)! (Y/N)!”

She hurriedly brought a hand up to her comm link and stammered out, “C-copy, Nat, what’s wrong?”

“The target just detonated some sort of bomb outside the bank and he’s getting away! Didn’t you see it go off?!”

Ignoring the spy’s incredulous words, (Y/N) wrenched the window curtain back only to see the vast destruction on the street below; the steps of the bank had been completely destroyed, as had all the shopfronts alongside it, and first responders were already beginning to arrive on the scene. “Which direction did he go?”

“North, he’s in a black SUV; I’m helping clear people out of the rubble, Loki and Steve are already in pursuit but they need backup now!”

Without another word, (Y/N) threw open the window and leapt off the balcony of the hotel room, summoning her magic and using it to propel herself up and through the skies. Looking past the scene of destruction in the direction Natasha had given her, she quickly spotted a fleeing black SUV weaving through the traffic on the street; several car lengths away was a blue truck that seemed to be giving chase to their target, so she flew after it, her cloak whipping in the wind as she did.

In no time, she landed down hard onto the bed of the speeding truck and planted her boots to help stabilize her. The passenger-side door opened and Loki, now looking like his usual self and dressed in his Asgardian battle armor, easily maneuvered himself so that he was standing right beside her. “Local law enforcement is currently blockading streets so we can force him away from the city!”

(Y/N) nodded, holding tight to the roof of the truck as Steve whipped around a corner. “And what about the Chitauri guns?”

“They’re highly volatile,” Loki hurriedly explained, one hand gripping the edge of the truck’s roof while the other held her steady by the small of her back. “Any exposure to a significant energy source could possibly set them off, so using our magic to retrieve them is out of the question! I-”

The back window of the black SUV shattered and a blast from a Chitauri gun shot out of it directly towards them. Acting on instinct, (Y/N) threw up her hand and quickly created a purple-tinted magical force field around their vehicle, watching as the blast bounced off and hit the stone railing of the bridge they were crossing. A chunk of the stone railing disintegrated upon contact and she swore under her breath. “This isn’t working! We need something that’ll absorb the blasts, not deflect them, or else we might harm civilians!”

Loki’s expression morphed into one of resolution. “I’ll create an illusion to mask your presence while you fly over to disable their vehicle. I can absorb the blasts until you’re successful; a Chitauri weapon shouldn’t seriously harm a Frost Giant-”

“No, Loki, you can’t take that chance!”

“There’s no time to argue!” Her fiancé turned his attention to the comm link in his ear. “Did you catch all that, you two?” Once Steve and Natasha confirmed that they’d heard the plan, he turned back to her and she felt the magic of his illusion beginning to form. “I’ll be fine, (Y/N), just go!”

Giving him one last glance, (Y/N) used her magic to launch herself through the air once again, looking down just in time to see their target fire off another blast and see it hit Loki directly in the chest. While the target fired off another blast, she flew down beside the car and grabbed the edge of the roof, using the momentum to kick the passenger-side window in and land directly on the empty seat. The target, a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties, quickly overcame his shock and started to aim the Chitauri gun at her but she backhanded it out of his grasp and sent it flying into the backseat. He threw a punch and she dodged, taking advantage of his attack to elbow him in the face and slam her foot down on the brakes; unfortunately, that was right when the disoriented man beside her wrenched the steering wheel to the left.

The car violently swerved on the road before flipping over and while it was in midair, (Y/N) thought fast; she grabbed the target by the arm and used their combined weight to slam down in the passenger-side door. The door ripped off its hinges and they crashed onto the street below, the jolting force of the impact causing them to tumble off the broken door and down the street. She came to a stop after several yards, letting out a groan of pain as she began to sit up; glancing over, she watched as the overturned SUV skidded to a stop and breathed a small sigh of relief when she spotted no fire in the wreckage.

However, her sense of relief was short-lived as she glanced over to see the target standing beside the heap of mangled metal, a modified Chitauri gun in one hand and a glowing Chitauri bomb in the other. That’s not good, she thought with dread, slowly getting to her feet and holding her hands out in a placating way as the man called out, “Stay back!” Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Loki and Steve skid to a stop beside her; her heart leapt in her throat when she noticed the way her fiancé was limping and clutching his wounded chest. “You take one more step and you’re dead!”

“All right, let’s all just calm down,” Steve calmly spoke, unfazed by the Chitauri gun that was now aimed directly at his unprotected torso. “You don’t want to do this-”

“Don’t talk to me like you know me! You don’t know anything!”

(Y/N) nodded, taking a cautious step forward and ignoring Loki’s quiet warning. “You’re right. We don’t know you or why you’re dealing in stolen weapons but we can help you. Just set the gun and the bomb down, then we’ll talk.”

The man’s frightened expression suddenly shifted into a cruel smile as he met her gaze. “Talk? Like how your parents talked to their terrified subjects before butchering them in cold blood?” Something was definitely wrong; the man’s eyes were strangely unfocused as he hurled his taunts at her and it might’ve been her imagination, but her vision had slowly begun to redden. However, none of that prevented a feeling of intense anger from slowly rising within her. “Does your lover know how much of a monster you truly are? How your magic’s been corrupting you from the moment you first came into it?” His mocking smirk widened. “Perhaps I should be merciful and kill him before you get the chance to!”

The next few moments almost seemed to happen in slow motion. The man aimed the Chitauri gun in Loki’s direction and fired; with an enraged ‘NO!’ (Y/N) stopped the blast of pure energy dead in its tracks with her now-scarlet magic, sharply twisting her wrist and sending the blast straight back at the man. It hit him square in the chest, knocking him straight into the wreckage of the SUV and as her fury overwhelmed her, she instantly willed her magic to detonate all the Chitauri weapons within the mangled car.

All three of them were thrown back by the force of the blinding explosion. (Y/N) landed harshly on the street and before she could do anything, Steve grabbed her arm and dragged her up onto her feet, a furious expression on his face. “(Y/N), why the hell did you do that?!”

“Let her go, Rogers!” Loki growled, his green eyes flashing dangerously as he wrapped a hand around the super-soldier’s arm that was holding her in place. “Now!”

Steve was unfazed as he gave her a small shake. “Answer me!”

“I was defending Loki! He was trying to kill him to hurt me!” (Y/N) shouted at him, only growing angrier as he stared unmoving at her. “You heard what he said about my mother, what he said about me! And you saw how close that blast came from hitting Loki!”

Steve released her arm and took a step back, his now-weary eyes flicking over to Loki; her fiancé’s face was pale and his expression could only be described as dumbfounded. “(Y/N), the target was lowering his weapons…he was surrendering.”

(Y/N) froze. “N-no, he wasn’t, he was talking about my parents and-”

“He was laying down the weapons when you used your Alf Seidr to hurl him back and then, you…you detonated all of the Chitauri weapons…” Loki’s uneasy expression deepened when she began shaking her head. “Your magic was scarlet, (Y/N), and your eyes…your eyes were, too…”

As she blinked in confusion, (Y/N) was acutely aware of the flurry of activity surrounding them. Steve was talking fast into his comm link, a troubled look on his face, and when she looked past him she couldn’t stifle her horrified gasp; the buildings surrounding them were on fire and residents were quickly being evacuated onto the street. The remnants of the SUV were ablaze and as she watched, the limp form of their target was being pulled away from the wreck by two other people. That was when she realized that her vision was crystal-clear once again and not tinted with the mysterious reddening glow.

“I…” With widened eyes, (Y/N) met Loki’s speechless expression and choked out through her tears, “I think I’m losing my mind, Loki…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Silence. Over the past two days, (Y/N) had grown to detest the silence, the dead-quiet air only punctuated by the sound of her steady breathing; in the silence, her only companions had been her intrusive, all-consuming thoughts and no matter which meditation techniques she’d tried, they refused to go away. But no matter how much she hated the silence, it was a hundred times better than looking her teammates in the eyes and seeing the shifting emotions within them; sympathy, anger, pity, fear…she couldn’t stand knowing that they were judging her for her horrific actions so the moment that the Quinjet had arrived at the tower, she’d locked herself away in her bedroom and hadn’t spoken to any of them since. They’d all respected her privacy and left her alone…all except Loki. Her fiancé had tried everything he could to coax her into talking to him about the incident but as well-meaning as his efforts were, (Y/N) couldn’t bring herself to. So, he’d stationed himself in her suite’s living room and made sure none of the others tried bothering her, but she knew she didn’t deserve his kindness after what she’d done in Italy.

According to J.A.R.V.I.S., (Y/N)’s reckless actions had resulted in forty-eight people being taken to the hospital; thirty of them had been released after being treated for various minor injuries, twelve were in stable condition but six were still in critical condition, including their target. The investigation into the incident had revealed that the target, Daniel Wyatt, had turned to selling stolen Chitauri weapons in a desperate attempt to pay off his family’s debts. And, just as with Antoine Garmenia three months earlier, Wyatt’s background gave absolutely no reason to believe he had a connection to Alfheim or her family.

My magic did exactly what I was afraid it would do, (Y/N) thought as she buried her head in her pillow. The nightmares, the hallucinations…a part of herself had been telling her that her magic would corrupt her but she hadn’t listened; at first, she tried to find a way to get rid of her magic and when that didn’t work, she naïvely believed that just because she was a decent person she could control the immense power raging within her, but…she failed spectacularly.

The sound of muffled voices pulled (Y/N) out of her ruminations; easing out of bed, she padded across the bedroom and slowly opened the door to see Loki and Sam deep in conversation by the door of her suite. Loki’s agitated expression and the tension in Sam’s shoulders made her frown in concern but before she could say anything, both men turned to her with unconvincing masks of calm on their faces.

“Darling, I’m sorry that we disturbed you.” Loki flashed her the briefest of smiles. “Everything’s fine, Wilson was only checking in-”

“Please don’t lie to me, Loki. What’s wrong?”

Sam took a step forward, briefly glancing over at Loki before answering. “The U.N. council finished analyzing all the security footage and cell phone videos, and they want you held accountable for what they view as an unprovoked attack. Fury managed to convince them to wait until a psychological evaluation can be performed to…to take further disciplinary action.” She wordlessly nodded and he sighed. “Look, (Y/L/N), we all believe you. Everyone in the tower knows that you’d never consciously do something like that, but maybe…it might do a little good to talk to us about it. We don’t judge each other for our worst mistakes.”

Swallowing the lump in her throat, (Y/N) met Sam’s concerned eyes and shook her head. “I-I can’t, Sam.” She turned away from the two men to stare out the window, listening as Sam mumbled a brief goodbye to Loki before leaving. The door of the suite closed behind him and the suite was eerily quiet for several long moments.

“You cannot go on blaming yourself for something you had no control over,” Loki softly spoke, the sound of his footsteps growing louder as he continued on. “Darling, what happened in Rome wasn’t your-”

“Stop lying to me, Loki, please!” (Y/N) whirled around to face him, her frustration and guilt finally reaching its breaking point. “You think that lying will make me feel better but it doesn’t! It was my magic that caused that explosion, my magic that landed forty-eight people in the hospital!” She wrapped her arms tight around her torso as her eyes began prickling with unshed tears. “It was my responsibility as an Avenger to keep my magic under control, to only use it to help others, and I failed; I couldn’t stop my magic from corrupting me and now…now I’m the same monster my mother was.” (Y/N) hurried back to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her and dropping down to sit with her back against it as a wave of fresh tears streamed down her cheeks.

There was a gentle knock on the door. “(Y/N). (Y/N), please don’t shut me out. You don’t have to go through this alone.” She wrapped her arms around her knees and leaned her head back, barely making out Loki’s sigh through the closed door. “Not long ago, you helped me to realize that my heritage didn’t make me a monster. Please let me help you to do the same…if you won’t talk to the others then at least confide in me-”

“Stay away from me, Loki!” After several moments of silence, (Y/N) heard his footsteps retreat and the door of her suite close, and she finally released the sobs she’d been suppressing. Her eyes squeezed shut in pain as she cried, hating herself for pushing Loki away but knowing that it was all to keep him safe from her.

As her sobs began to subside, a tingling sensation on the back of her neck made (Y/N) flutter her eyes open and slowly raise her head in confusion, and her gaze was instantly drawn to the reddish glow emanating underneath the closed door of her closet. Frowning, she got to her feet and cautiously approached the closet, hesitating a moment before grasping the handle and opening the door. Tucked behind her pairs of boots on the floor of the closet was a glowing red leather-bound book, the book King Tarian had gifted her on Asgard.

(Y/N) had only tried reading the book once, on the evening they’d returned from their trip to Asgard, and after experiencing one of the worst nightmares she’d ever had, she hid the book in her closet and hadn’t touched it since. But in that moment, while her fear and pain were at their most intense, she reached for the book without hesitation; hoisting it into her arms, she carried it over to the bed and sat before opening it to the page she’d previously marked.

Just as she remembered, the page was filled with graphic descriptions of the actions of her parents, but she didn’t shrink away from the words; it was almost as if her mind was on autopilot when she began flicking through the pages. She finally stopped on a page that depicted an illustration of a jagged blue-colored stone and her fingers trailed beneath the writing surrounding it as she read aloud:

“After claiming the throne of Alfheim as her own Layeia took possession of the realm’s most sacred artifact, the Fjӧlkyngi Steinn, fearing that an enemy would utilize its power to rob her of her destructive Alf Seidr. The artifact was returned to King Tarian upon the tyrant’s death…”

Before she’d even finished reading, (Y/N) had grabbed her cell phone and searched the internet for an Old Norse translation website; she typed in the name of the artifact and nodded once she saw the results. “‘Magic Stone.’” She summoned her magic to her fingers – hardly noticing that it was still a bright shade of red – and held them above the open book. “How do I use the Fjӧlkyngi Steinn?”

An invisible wind rustled the pages of the book and (Y/N) grimly watched their progress, her jaw set in determination as she continued reading and formulated a plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Around midnight, once she knew that her fellow teammates were fast asleep, (Y/N) crept out of her suite and made her way to the stairwell. She’d donned her uniform and fastened her sword to her waist as a precaution, since she had no idea what to expect when she reached the other realm, and while she’d dressed she was acutely aware that it would be the last time she’d ever put it on; her act of desertion after such a public incident wouldn’t go unpunished upon her return, and if her sentence wasn’t imprisonment than it would surely be expulsion from the Avengers.

“So be it,” (Y/N) spoke lowly under her breath as she stepped out onto the tower’s protruding helipad and walked to stand in the center. “If removing my magic will protect the people I love, then so be it.” Closing her eyes, she took a deep calming breath to center her mind before summoning her magic into the palms of her hands. The air around her hummed with energy and with her eyes still closed, she recalled what had been written down in her book. “‘Only the most powerful brand of Alf Seidr may open a doorway to the realm of Alfheim…’”

(Y/N) was about to begin the spell but the sound of the stairwell door being thrown open broke her concentration. “(Y/N)!” Her eyes flew open and she spun around to see Loki, his emerald-green eyes filled with a mixture of confusion and panic. “(Y/N), what are you doing?!”

“What needs to be done to keep you all safe.” She replied, heart clenching in her chest as she looked into her fiancé’s pleading face. “Please don’t try and stop me, Loki. This is my choice.”

“What, running away? I speak from experience when I say that running from your problems won’t do anything to solve them.” Loki took a slow step forward, raising a placating hand out towards her as he continued. “We can work through all of this together, darling, you needn’t carry this burden alone.”

While Loki spoke, (Y/N) calculated her next move; she knew that he’d do everything in his power to stop her from leaving, and she also knew that her magic was no match for his centuries of training and experience. So, she took a page out of Natasha’s book and forced herself to begin tearing up, choking out, “But I hurt people…”

Loki’s expression immediately softened and he strode forward to stand in front of her, gently cupping her face in his large hands. “So have I and yet you’ve always been by my side. You’re not alone in this, (Y/N), I swear that you’re not.”

Surging forward, (Y/N) captured his lips in a desperate kiss that served as both a distraction and a goodbye, for what she was about to do next would surely mean the end of their relationship. Loki predictably began kissing her back and just as his hands moved to rest on her hips, she brought hers up to either side of his head and sent streams of scarlet-colored magic straight into his mind, using all of her concentration to bend it to her will.

“I’m sorry, Loki, I’m so sorry…” (Y/N) sobbed, pulling away from him and crying real tears when she noticed his glowing red eyes and blank expression; after everything he’d gone through in his past, forcibly taking control of his mind was the worst thing she could ever do to him. I don’t deserve his love, she silently anguished, not after how I’ve just hurt him. Reaching down, her fingers trembled as she slipped off her engagement ring and tucked it into his pocket. “I’ll love you forever, sweetheart.”

The effort to control Loki’s mind was beginning to drain her energy so with a heavy heart, (Y/N) turned away from him and closed her tear-filled eyes once again; following the instructions in the book, she brought her hands up before her and imagined in her mind’s eye that her fingers were wrapping around the edges of a curtain. The air surrounding her hummed with energy and while her arms shook with effort, she slowly pulled her hands apart and opened her eyes to see a swirling red portal before her.

Without a single backwards glance at the man she loved, (Y/N) squared her shoulders and stepped through the portal to Alfheim.

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A/N: Oof, that was heavy...I just wanted you guys to know that I’ll be changing the update schedule for this fic from every week to every other week, I like having the extra time to work on this story so I think every other week will work better for me! Thank you guys for understanding and I’ll see you in two weeks!

Thank you all so much for reading and commenting! I’ve created a Spotify playlist inspired by this series, and I’ll be updating it every time I upload a new chapter. Enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2wx8TZwpDN0l33tES3W3Nk

Chapter Twenty

Spellbinding Masterlist

Tagging: @nexiva @ravenclawbitch426 @cminr @confusedfandomwriter @momc95 @nickkie1129 @austynparksandpizza @brooke0297 @destructivebliss @outoftheregular @ladydmalfoy @itscomplicatedx @0-artemis @vivloki

#spellbinding #loki x reader #loki odinson x reader #loki laufeyson x reader #loki #loki odinson #loki laufeyson #steve rogers #captain america #natasha romanoff #black widow #sam wilson #falcon #marvel cinematic universe

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