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stararch4ngelqueen · 7 months

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Taking the Wheel

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Time Written-10:47 p.m

Dick Grayson/fem!reader smut

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Clink, clack, clink, clack. The sounds of heels faintly echoed across the long since faded parking lot, carelessly crossing through thin spaces in between cars and trucks to throw the irritating bastard off your back.

Since you didn’t had arrive with friends, and the main reason you arrived to the packed Lounge, especially on weekends, quickly failed, you were left to walk a long ways across the vehicular maze to get towards your car.

A long, irritating walk on eroded asphalt, in obnoxiously irritating footwear.

Honestly? You could’ve cared less for the foot ache, attempting to push your pace to get towards your destination, your club mood spoiled over by a new desire of getting in your warm, vacant bed at home. Your attempt at distracting your endlessly rattled mind by going towards one of the hottest clubs in the city proved to be a complete failure.

This was Gotham. You knew better than to believe you were going to enjoy a night out for clubbing, completely ignorant to the possibility of the last man you ever expected to arrive, clad in his goddamn uniform, on the search for you.

The only way you learned it was him throughout all the blaring music and strong strobe light ambiance was the roar of patrons crowding around the hottest man of the hour around the dance floor.

What a stupid plan honestly, especially with the overwhelming presence of the obnoxious vigilante following shortly behind you, wondering if you were just doing this to get a reaction out of him.

“You can stop following me now, Grayson.”

It was strangely empty tonight, how he managed to shake off the crowds to go after you alone was a question you could’ve cared less to understand or answer.

"You're walking at night? Alone? You realize you live in Gotham, right?”

You only continued walking, holding yourself with your clutch purse tucked under your shirt, your heels scraping along stray parking lot gravel.

"Aren’t you cold?" Dick asks, trying to hide his worry about you being in that dress in this sixty five degree night.

He was right, watching your head shake no, despite how you carried yourself.

"Oh, come on." Dick says in assuming defeat, only to surprise you via cutting off your path by hopping up on the nearest challenger hood, abruptly jumping in front of your path.

“You can't just walk off like nothing just happened between us." Dick asserts, meeting your aggravated stare.

“Get out of my way—“

"Look, I'm tired of giving you space. Call me clingy, I don’t care. We need to talk about what happened, right now." The words sound more desperate than he intended, other than stern and demanding.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” You mutter, attempting to continue your walk before he holds a hand out in front of you, preventing you from squeezing past him.

"There’s always something to say,” Dick says, hoping you’d try to look back at him.

You’re clearly hurting more than you’re letting on. He can’t really blame you.

You’re no party girl, but you are a girl he hurt. Throwing yourself back out into the dating pool was a typical response, even he’s done it, but he can’t let that happen this time. Not with you.

"Let's... let's talk about this somewhere safe, okay?" He asks, looking down at you. You shift your head a bit, giving him an annoyed glare.

“I wanna go home, okay?” You nearly spat back to him, insisting to yourself that you had no patience to deal with him.

Dick doesn't immediately move in response, gazing down at you with sympathy instead of irritation, such a heart throb in his pretty eyes.

He probably practiced this often every morning in the mirror ever since you broke up, keeping you hooked like a mouse with cheese, or a pretty boy who always knew what to say.

“… Okay.”

He offers his hand out, awaiting your keys in his open palm.

“At least let me drive you home.” He offers, remaining stagnant until he received the only answer he expected. It’ll make him feel a whole lot better knowing you weren’t in the worst place in Gotham right now.

You could only huff through your nose before rummaging through your purse, pulling out your keys.

“Fine,” you mutter, dropping the item into his quickly closing hand. “Just home. That’s it.”

“That’s it,” Dick confirms with a hand raised before stepping off to the side, allowing you to walk ahead of him. “Promise.”

The car was warm, the heater constantly blowing warm air against your exposed back, nearly bumping back against your leather steering wheel.

The driver’s seat had long since been reclined, the material lightly squeaking in response to your sweaty bodies shuffling against each other. Lips battling in between teeth and tongue for dominance he willingly gave you, giving you the impression of control.

His body completely hidden by the suit, while you were still in your backless, black sequin party dress.

Sure, the car was private and warm, the alley was dark, the only light coming from the tiny radio screen, faintly reflecting off the various tiny black sequins of your dress, now pulled down from your torso, decorating your waist like a belt of dying stars.

You remembered the way his gloved hands impatiently unclipped the seatbelt so he could pull you across to his lap after an unprecedented, filthy make-out. The way he had purposely massaged the insides of your thighs caused electricity to shoot through you, needing you as close as physically possible, your short dress riding up precariously over your thighs.

"I should have done this sooner," Dick grunts against your painted lips while pinching your nipples in his thumbs, your nails rasping down the smooth material of his Nightwing suit, pulling it off his shoulders.

“D’you think someone will see us like this…?”

"No one's gonna be looking," Dick gasps out, his tone confident while dripping with cocky arrogance. "And if they do... who the hell cares."

Dick could barely focus on what was happening outside the car as it was.

For some reason, that thought made this all the more exciting. Not that the thought of being seen with a beautiful woman in Nightwing’s lap ever seemed like a bad thing.

“You looked amazing in this dress..." he runs a hand along the curve of your hip.

"But you look a lot better without it."

You’d physically cringe if you weren’t so damn aroused. Only someone like him could pull off cheesy one liners about eighty six percent of the time.

"So do something about it,” you whisper, nipping his bottom lip in your teeth, nearly contemplating on drawing blood once he chuckled.

"With pleasure, Princess.”

Wrapping an arm around your waist, he lifted you slightly with such ease, allowing him to pull his hard cock from the torturous material that suffocated him.

It would’ve been a much quicker process to undress if he randomly decided to arrive in that god awful disco suit, but it was far too late to complain now.

Prep was limited to the pleasant view of Dick stuffing three fingers into your warm hole, smirking at your hiss before raising them to his mouth, making a show of gathering his own spit while tasting you, before giving the tip of his red, angry cock a few quick strokes.

His fingers hooked your thin, messy panties to the side, hiding his mused smile from your gaze upon hearing your terribly hidden whimper as you felt the soft, blunt tip poking at your opening. A large gasp of air quickly invaded and evaded your lungs as you pushed down on him, feeling him splitting you open inch by torturously thick inch.

His own lust begged the rest of his consciousness to push further into you, aching to stuff the rest of himself inside your wet, greedy cunt. Luckily, you listened to your own thoughts, sinking yourself the rest of the way until you were properly seated, your bare thighs resounding against his with limited time to adjust.

"Holy-" He finds himself whining out, nearly crumbling apart from your silky, sweet cunt gripping him like a damn vice. Incidentally, his grip on your thong tightened after an involuntary thrust, forcing the weak band to snap apart.

The man could’ve cared less, carelessly tossing the ruined garment before gripping your hips with both hands, fingers hooking along your dress as an additional anchor to feverishly fuck you, hearing your breathing shift into quick, eager moans.

He wanted to take control so bad, but he was losing it before he even began.

The moans he emitted were heavenly, the muscles in his throat constricting as his head tilts back against the rest. He groans out your name in a delightful sigh, his fingers digging into your plush ass.

Lipstick prints littered his neck, eyes squeeze shut behind his domino mask.

“God, I've missed you,” the vigilante whimpers out, admiring your silvery necklace clink along the valley of your perfect, juicy tits bouncing erratically close to his chest, accompanied by the jingle of your matching bangles as you sunk your nails deep into the muscles along his back.

Dick's heavy lidded eyes gazed at your flushed face, your cheeks tinted pink with heavy, orgasmic blush. Your mascara stained lashes littered with cloudy black tears, bits of dappled glitter in the corners of your eyes, your signature touch, remaining poised along your perfect face. The picture he always looked forward to taking after every successful date night.

"Do you feel how much I've missed you?" Dick grumbles against your shoulder, his voice breathless, despite his best efforts to control his emotions. “Feel how hard, how deep, just fucking into this pussy? That’s all you baby.” The seemingly endless cooes against your neck render endless shivers down your spine, garnering the exact reactions he wanted from you; straining against the tight clench of your eager cunt.

"Oh-God. Fuuuck yes, missed you so much, princess,” Dick whispers, his tone filled with lust and excitement. He teetered on the edge of begging you to bite him again, to mark his neck up however with as many nips as you please, eager to see such raw evidence of your teeth marks in the morning.

“Mph— take it, baby. F-fucking take it all.”

You could only moan in response to his many words against his neck, your painted eyes nearly fluttering closed as you persist on your relentless pace. He was enjoying this a little too much, as much as you were, if not more.

Amidst the mind numbing euphoria of fucking his ex girlfriend in her own car, calloused hands full of black sequins and exposed skin, even he was calling himself an idiot in his own mind as he whimpers a lot louder than he intended within your shared ecstasy.

He was a damn idiot, thinking only about how much he’s hated being in a relationship with anyone except you. How much you’ve grown to become his favorite person; the one woman he needs every damn night. Every second of the damn day.

And if he wants to prove it by having you ride his cock in the seat of a car parked in a secluded alleyway, so be it. He’ll spoil you with a white plush bed caked in rose petals once after you agree to get back together with him.

"Ba-Baby..." Dick croaks through his stutter, his voice cracking slightly as he watches you come to an abrupt halt to his dismay.

A weak, pathetic grunt spews from his lips as you roll your hips, rocking along his lap, his bruised Adam’s apple bobbing after each whimper and whine. "Don’t stop—don’t stop. Shiiit, I’m begging you—“

His words muffle in a quick second as you stuff your ruined, bunched up thong into his mouth, cerulean eyes widening in surprise by boldness.

Many times he’s taken the lead, regardless over where your horny selves ended up. Any recollection of him doing this to you quickly faded once you locked eyes, his brows raised in surprise and submission to your taunt, prideful expression, lipstick smeared lips scowling in annoyance.

Right now, right now you wanted nothing more than to take out your frustrations on him. Even if it was one of the least violent thoughts you had when it came to him, you compensated via heavy scratches and relentless bites on his neck, and now this.

He wouldn’t be whining like such a bastard in a rut without your sweet, creamy pussy downgrading him from an arrogant, cocky, fearless vigilante into a raspy, quivering disciple. Bright, pretty putty in your hands.

Your hands grasped along the back of his head, purposefully frazzling his sweaty, perfect locks of hair as you eagerly chased another kiss. Your hands gripped his hair tighter causing him to take a sharp intake of air in.

You wouldn’t be such a quivering mess without the constant spear of his hard, delicious cock. A victim to this nearly endless cycle of ‘Fuck now, ask questions later.’

‘Or, just fuck some more later.’

You knew this, and you knew he’d give you what you wanted first before you even considered the idea of forgiving him.

“I need you to- fuck, j-just shut up. Shut up a-and keep going, Dick. Keep— Keep going. Just- Just keep fucking me.”

He stares straight ahead at the rich goddess amidst the fogged up windshield in front of him, his hands reinforcing his grasp along your thighs.

Obediently, he picked up the pace, the fat head hitting directly on your sweet spot much rougher and faster with intentions to leave you bruised, hoping you’d allow him to care for you for the rest of the week shortly after.

He moaned much louder against the damp, pheromone laced fabric, swallowing up your sickeningly sweet venom while he pistons his hips, making his soaking wet, twitchy balls constantly smack against your overstretched cunt.

Oh, if only you knew how much you drove Richard Grayson wild, if only you knew.

Hell, what was the argument even about? Neither of you could barely remember anymore.

#dick grayson #dick Grayson x reader #Dick Grayson x reader smut #dick grayson x female!reader #Dick Grayson smut #Gotham knights dick Grayson #based off Gotham knights dick Grayson but #yk #imagine whoever you want #yeah don’t ask much #I’m trying out Dick too #Don’t mind meeeeee #he’s not my favorite Robin but like #he aight #🌝

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ghoststyles · 17 days

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Meet Me In Augusta

A quick little check-in for Fairway to Heaven ❤️ inspired by my beefy hunky man at the Masters 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

SMUT. FLUFF. That’s all.

———————————————————————————

When Briar and Harry first got together, she thought she’d won the lottery. A doting, strong boyfriend who puts her needs above his own. He cares for her dog as much as she does, gets along with her family members, and donates to charity regularly. It’s like the heavens handmade him. And yes, the reverse is true on Harry’s part. She’s his dream girl, and the bloody best thing to ever happen to him. But, where he’d truly won the lottery differs slightly:

He won tickets to the Masters.

It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to attend one of the four major golf tournaments, and when Harry entered his name in the lottery system the year before, he never thought he’d see the day where his bucket list item would be checked off.

Briar is lounging on Harry’s couch, watching old episodes of Real Housewives (NY, obviously) with Gus at her feet and a bowl of popcorn and M&Ms beside her when she hears a completely manly and dignified shriek from Harry’s office. Sitting up in alarm, she opens her mouth to yell back to him, to make sure he’s okay, just as the heavy oak double doors swing open. Shirtless and in his Calvin Klein boxer briefs and socks, Harry sprints down the hall, phone in hand as he leaps over the back of the sofa to stand beside her.

“What on Earth! Harry, you’re scaring me! Is there a mouse? Where are your clothes?” Briar screams, jumping up to crouch on the sofa and cocooning herself in her blanket in case there’s a spider clinging to him.

Harry is laughing maniacally, and every so often an oh my god leaving his mouth. He nods to whomever he’s talking to on the phone as if they can see him before thanking them and hanging up.

He drops the phone, eyes wide and meeting hers. Grabbing her shoulders, he all but tackles her back to the sofa, signaling Gus to bark at him for hurting his mom. They’re on the settee part of the sofa, Harry’s arms wrapped around her, preventing her from moving, even if she wanted to.

“Harry! Tell me what’s going on right now!” Briar’s shrill voice finally brings him back to Earth.

He peppers kisses on her neck before shouting in her ear, “I’M GOING TO THE MASTERS!”

She doesn’t respond, not because she’s not supportive of his enthusiasm, but because she has no idea what that is. Feigning a smile, she replies, “wow, baby, that’s great!”

Craning his neck, his brows furrow when he meets her gaze, a clear indicator she’s confused.

“Birdie, do you know what the Masters is?”

“Mmmm, is it like MasterChef?”

Harry squawks out a laugh, shaking his head, “No, my love. The Masters is one of the big four golf tournaments for the PGA. When you win, you earn a green jacket and become a member of Augusta National in Georgia. And then you get to plan a celebration dinner. Plus, you win like, $3,000,000.”

“Ohhhh, okay, yes. Uncle Patrick has gone to that, I think. He didn’t win, though.”

Harry’s brows furrow even more, a bewildered look gracing his features, “We’ll come back to that later. I have a lot of questions. But, you enter a lottery to win tickets and I won! Otherwise, tickets are almost a million dollars.”

“A million dollars!? The course better be made of solid gold. I can’t even believe the stuff people spend their money on sometimes.”

“Tiger Woods will be there. He hasn’t played in a few years because of injuries. Baby, I could be near Tiger!” he smacks her ass, eliciting a yelp.

He hops up from his spot on the sofa as he looks outside with the biggest smile on his face, running his hands through his not-so-there curls on his head. He’d shaved it a few months ago impulsively; that was a crisis Briar never thought she’d see the other side of. But his peach fuzzy head grew on her.

“When is it?”

“Second weekend in April. Are you doing anything?”

“Me? Why wouldn’t you take Niall?”

“He and Lydia already have a wedding that weekend back in Ireland. I already asked him.”

“So, I’m your second choice!?” Briar smacks the sofa cushion beside her, faking offense.

Harry rolls his eyes, “You didn’t even know what it was five minutes ago, brat.”

She parrots his eye rolling, leaning down to snuggle Gus. They’re quiet for a moment, letting Harry soak in the news.

“Wait, why don’t you have clothes on?”

“Oh, I stripped them off as they were telling me I got the tickets. I was just too excited,” he responds casually, as if the answer is obvious.

———————————————————————————

So the pair is in Augusta, Georgia, watching Harry’s childhood dream come true. The problem? No phones allowed.

To maintain their traditional values, Augusta National banned the use of cellphones. Briar’s lovely boyfriend failed to remind her of this fact until they were in the back of an Uber heading to the course.

“No phones!? I wanted to document this whole experience for you!” She whines, gently squeezing his wrist.

“Thanks for wanting to do that, Birdie, but it’s okay. My generation isn’t addicted to their phones. We like to live in the moment.”

“Oh my god,” she snorts, punching him lightly. If anyone is on their phone too much, it’s Harry. His entire day is determined by solving the New York Times Connections puzzle. What do you MEAN the theme was ice cream flavors without the last letter?

“What if we get separated? How will I find you?”

“Did you pack your leash?” Harry smirks, waiting for her to smack him again.

“H! Quiet,” she snarls, trying not to look if the driver is listening. “Fine. Do they collect the phones or do they just kick you out if they see it?”

“I think they kick you out and you’re not allowed back, ever. There’s also no running. It’s hilarious. When everyone is trying to follow around the big names, it turns into a speed walking competition to try and beat them to the hole.”

She hums, looking out the window at the gorgeous scenery. She hasn’t spent much time down south, but this trip has changed her opinion of this part of the country. They’ve had beautiful dinners at night on patios and taken walks on historic grounds.

“Good news is, the food and drinks are super cheap, and I think you have some French 75’s calling your name.”

“Yesss!”

The Uber turns, the beautiful gates to the course opening as they pull in. The white building before them is gorgeous and neatly kept, embodying the prestige of the entire event. For a moment, she thinks Harry is tearing up. Harry snaps a photo of the two of them in front of the building to send to Niall and Patrick.

He grabs her hand and squeezes gently as he flashes their credentials to the security guard.

“Lead the way, baby,” Briar whispers, linking her arm with his as they stand outside the car, taking it all in.

Like a kid in a candy store, Harry drags her by the wrist, slaloming through the crowds of people as they all try to make it to the entrance.

Harry looks fucking good today. He’s donning a navy blue sweater on top of a cobalt blue golf shirt. His taupe pinstripe pants are pressed perfectly. His fingers are decked out in rings of all different finishes, and his Prada sunglasses fit his scruffy face perfectly.

The finishing touch, his shoes, are what has Briar giggling to herself. His black Hoka sneakers are throwing off the whole vibe. She tried to change his mind as they packed, but we’ll be walking a lot, and I don’t want my plantar fasciitis to come back!

To make the occasion even more special, Briar let Harry pick out her outfits. She knew he’d pick out her lavender sports dress, a classic piece she whips out when they play on weekends so he’s frustrated and thrown off his game. She’s 3 for 4 on this strategy.

Harry loves the way it cuts at Briar’s strong thighs, and shows a little bit of her back. To elevate the look, she tied a white Hermes scarf around her neck just like Daphne! Her shoes are white Vince Camuto sneakers with no support. She knows she can’t whine later if her feet hurt, in fear of hearing a relentless, I told you so!

Before examining his choices in her suitcase, she zeros in on the lack of underwear and bras. She knows he also picked her floor length, black bodycon dress. He’s really pushing the limits of voyeurism with these picks.

They finally make it past security, thankful they didn’t confiscate her purse, a gift from Harry that is just a smidgen too large for their rules. He leads them to the main clubhouse to grab their first drinks of the day, and maybe even a breakfast sandwich.

They start off with mimosas to ease into the day drinking, because Harry is too fucking old for daydrinking and Briar is a menace when she drinks when the sun is up. By their third round, Harry is full on fangirling as all the players buzz around him. He’s allowed to fangirl all he wants, but when she wants to gush about One Direction for a minute, he covers his ears. Eyeroll.

Briar snaps out of her brattiness, deciding she needs some food in her stomach. As they’re gathered on the 8th hole, she starts to “koala” him, as he so lovingly calls it. She wraps her arms around him from behind, laying her chin on his bicep.

“What’s wrong, Birdie? Hungry?”

Briar lightly bites his arm, looking up to meet his sideways gaze. Part of her hates how well he knows her. She slides her hands in his front pockets, making him wiggle uncomfortably.

“Be good,” he says lowly so only they can hear.

“Okay, Daddy,” she says sweetly, smiling up at him. “But yes, I’m hungry.”

Briar can feel him hesitate, clearly conflicted in what to do next.

“Okay, baby, but,” he pauses. “Tiger is at this hole next, and I’d really like to see it.”

Briar slumps, making a slight hmmph sound. She knows better, and knows how important this is to him, so she shakes it off.

“It’s alright, I can go back to the clubhouse by myself. Will you stay here so I don’t lose you?”

“Of course,” he leans down to gently peck her lips, before his head whips around as Tiger arrives at the tee box just a few feet from them, sending the crowd into a chaotic roar. She reluctantly lets go of his waist, crossing her arms over herself as she walks away.

The crowd has only increased as they arrived, and she’s honestly overwhelmed. A staff member nearby can sense her unsettled demeanor, so he asks if she’d like a ride back to the building.

She smiles at him, “Yes, that’d be lovely! Thank you so much.”

Trey, the worker, doesn't say much, but Briar isn’t one for awkward silences. She tells him about Harry, Wynnewood, and how this is a lifelong dream for him to be here. He nods along, visibly recoiling after finding out Briar isn’t single. She hops off the cart as they approach the doors, and waves a friendly goodbye.

Perusing the snack bar, her eyes are bigger than her stomach. She grabs grapes, potato chips, a turkey sandwich, and even a pudding cup. A nice man helps her condense her items into a cardboard box for carrying. She grabs a fresh squeezed lemonade to finish off her deliciously simple lunch.

Slightly tipsy and overly giddy, she finds a bench to start eating. It’s amazing the different walks of life at this event; the die-hards who don’t care about the glamor of it all, and the ones that are here only as a status symbol. It’s honestly nice not having her phone; she’s a little more in touch with her surroundings.

Taking small bites of her sandwich, she’s startled when another man approaches her on the bench.

“Pardon me, miss. Are you Miss Barlowe?”

Taken back, she nods as she swallows her bite, “Yes, can I help you?”

“Mr. Styles is on the line over there,” he points to the hilariously old fashioned phone stand, where 3 mossy green phones hang on the wooden stand. “He just wanted to make sure you were doing alright.”

Briar smiles, patting her mouth with her napkin and rising to her feet, “Thank you so much. Do I have to do anything to connect to the call?”

“Just press # and it should connect. I’ll be right over there if you have trouble.”

She laughs to herself as she approaches and presses the ‘#’ just as he said, “Hello?”

“What are you wearing right now?”

“Who is this?” She plays along.

“Your handsome, charming boyfriend,” he muses.

“I have a few of those, so you’re going to have to narrow it down,” she fakes a sultry tone.

“Briar – come on, you know I don’t like those jokes,” he mutters.

She laughs, twirling the curly phone cord around in her hand, “I feel like Carrie Bradshaw with this phone, talking to one of my boyfriends.”

“Are you insinuating I’m Mr. Big? I’m Aidan at the very least. The good guy.”

“Of course you’re Aidan. But instead, we get married.”

“Yeah, y’wanna marry me?” Harry can’t contain his grin as he looks around to see if anyone can hear him. “I won’t say yes until you come back here and get down on one knee, Briar.”

“In your dreams, Styles. Why’d ya call anyway? I’m just sitting here eating my sandwich.”

“Just missed you. Tiger got a birdie on this hole, so it made me think of you.”

“Aw, you’re cute. You’re the first place boyfriend today. You were in third yesterday, for reference.”

“Glad to hear that. Finish up your lunch and come find me. I’m gonna go to the 17th hole to try and catch Justin Rose. He’s an old friend from home.”

“Okay, I’ll come find you. Love.”

“Love.”

Briar hangs up the phone, the butterflies in her stomach buzzing. Since returning home from California, she’s never felt so secure in their relationship. He’s balancing fatherhood, work and their everyday life with ease.

Readjusting her skirt, she walks back over to the bench, mouthing a thank you to the worker who let her know Harry was calling. She sips on her lemonade, the ice rattling as she finishes the cup. Tossing the remnants of her meal in the trash, she spots the beverage cart girl. Briar smiles as she approaches her, requesting another French 75 and a Casamigos on the rocks for her lover.

The 17th hole is a hell of a lot closer to the clubhouse, but swarmed with people. It’s going to be a needle in a haystack to find him. Briar scrunches her brows, scanning all the kinda old white men with brown hair. Where is her old man?

Panic sets in for a moment, until she feels two hands on her waist, lifting her off the ground slightly and kissing her neck where it meets her shoulder.. She squeals, reaching for her skirt to make sure nothing is showing. He didn’t pack her any underwear, after all!

“There y’are, Birdie. Wish I brought your leash to drag my cute puppy around. Make everyone jealous.”

“They’d think you need to be sent to jail, actually. Were you able to focus in my absence?”

“Yeah, but I missed your hundred questions and commentary. Is that for me?” he asks, pointing to his drink.

“Yes, but you made me spill it on my shirt,” she frowns, her gaze traveling down to the beads of liquid wicking off the fabric on her chest.

Without a second thought, Harry leans down, pressing his mouth to just over Briar’s nipple to suck up the dribbled liquid. Her eyes widened, in disbelief he just did that. She grips the back of his hair, pulling him out of her bosom.

“H! What the hell are you doing? We’re in public!”

“Mm, I know. I’m so hard right now. And thirsty. Saw an opportunity,” he smirks, his grip now around the back of her neck. “Wanna take you to the clubhouse and fuck you dumb.”

“Harryyy,” Briar whines again. Little does he know all he has to do is slip her skort to the side to reveal her soaking wet pussy. She does her best to drag her six foot tall boyfriend to the treeline, hiding themselves from prying eyes.

“Let’s go. We’ll find somewhere safe. Daddy needs you to do a favor for him,” he says low in her ear, his tongue touching her earlobe. “Did I tell you how happy I am that you came with me?”

“I’m happy you invited me,” she places a gentle kiss on his lips. “Love seeing you happy.”

———————————————————————————

The lovey dovey talk is how Briar got HOODWINKED into sucking her boyfriend’s cock in an administrator’s office at Augusta National Golf Course at the biggest event of the year. The door locked, thankfully, but the amount of foot traffic outside the door has Briar’s head spinning, even more than when his tip touches the back of her throat.

Harry lets out a guttural moan, “Oh my – fuck! Such a good fucking girl.”

Briar is pulling out her signature moves; cupping his balls with one hand, tweaking his shaft with the other when her mouth doesn’t cover it, and swirling her tongue along the ridge of his bright red, plump cockhead.

Briar bats her eyelashes and pulls off just as he gives his sign of completion; his left thigh muscle twitching. Harry’s eyes shoot open as he grips the desk to prevent himself from falling over. He was so, so close.

Before he can speak, Briar stands, pushing him to half lie on the desktop, opening his belt and pants wider. She climbs on the desk to straddle him, staring down at him deviously.

“Wanna ride you, Daddy,” she whispers in his ear. She sits back up, pulling her skort to the side to show him her pussy, spasming and begging to be touched. He reaches out to touch her, but she bats his hand away, instead placing her hand around his neck firmly. “Nope. No touching.”

Harry snorts, knowing anytime she’s tried to be in charge, she fails miserably. He knows she’ll be howling for his help in a few minutes. His smug look is wiped clean as she grips his cock again to line him up with her dripping hole. They moan in unison when he pushes through the tight opening as she squeezes him for good measure.

Briar bounces lightly, the skin of their thighs slapping together. She could listen to the sounds their bodies make for the rest of her life. He bottoms out a few times, puffs of air escaping his nose as he struggles to not cum immediately.

She starts to rub at her clit, her free hand coming up to tweak her nipple. His eyes are closed again, so she takes her middle and ring finger that are rubbing and sticks them past his lips. He moans, lapping up the wetness from her fingertips and choking on them a bit. She smiles before bringing the fingers back to her center and continuing to rub.

“Oh my god, baby. You taste so good,” Harry whines. “Want you to come. Then I’ll come in your little pussy. Don’t know how you’ll hold it all in there.”

Briar cries out, seconds away from tumbling over the edge. She leans forward, gripping the desk above his head. They’re making extreme eye contact now, the tension between them palpable.

“I’m cumming, Daddy. I’m cumming. Your cock feels so big in my pussy,” she cries out as Harry feels a tiniest bit of wetness expelled from where their bodies meet. She twitches, barely able to hold herself up. He sits up on the desk to support her and begins thrusting up into her with his hands wrapped delicately around her body, fingertips digging into the plushy skin of her ass and waist. He captures her lips in a deep kiss, her breath stuttering when he rams himself back into her.

The two remain intertwined, reality hitting them when Briar utters words he never thought he’d hear from her.

“Fuck me, Daddy. Fill me up. Make me yours. Wanna have your babies,” she fires off things he can’t even comprehend. “Want you to make me a mommy. Fuck – want it so bad. Fill me up, please!”

Harry’s breath is knocked out of him as he throttles upward, his tip colliding with her cervix every time. As he topples over the edge, he buries himself in her pussy – his eternal resting place, he’s decided he’ll request in his will – and releases his full load into her. He drops backwards, beginning her down to lie on top of him, his pants now hanging around his ankles.

“Oh my fucking GOD, baby. So fucking good for me,” he says into her ear, a shiver running down his spine.

“Love you, Daddy,” she says quietly, her ear pressed to his chest so she can hear his heartbeat racing.

“Love you so fucking much, Birdie,” Harry sighs, petting her back.

Harry smiles to himself. The diamond ring he has in his bag at the hotel is going to make an appearance even sooner than expected.

He’s sure of it.

#harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles #harry styles imagine #Harry styles smut #dom!harry #daddy!harry #agegapfic #Harry Styles golf #golfrry #one direction imagine #daddy!h #fth h #fairway to heaven #harry styles x oc

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phoenixyfriend · 9 months

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Hey have a fun AU I came up with the other day after reading a bunch of fics with related tropes

It's a raised Sith AU. Anakin was found by Sidious well before he was found by Qui-Gon. He was raised by the Sith, is a classically horrible monster stalking about TCW to be Vader (mask and all, just as an intimidation factor instead of life support) while Ventress and Grievous and Dooku do their own things in a different section of the war. He's got a Really Fucking Weird dynamic with Obi-Wan, mostly attempting to kill him etc.

At some point, Palpatine allows Anakin and Padme to meet. The romance that blooms is one that Sheev decides is useful to him, so he lets it happen.*

Padme gets pregnant. Sidious arranges for her death. Anakin loses his entire shit and tries to kill Sidious. Obi-Wan is off trying to save Padme, unaware of Anakin getting his remaining limbs cut off by his this-universe Master. (This is important, because Anakin does remember Obi-Wan trying to save Padme.)

So we have Anakin, who was raised Sith, and just lost the only things that have mattered to him since his mom died when he was a kid, and Palpatine has pushed him further into the Dark than he ever has. Anakin… knows more about the Sith Secrets in this universe.

Anakin finds a Sithly Time Machine. Maybe on Malachor. There's an owl? Whatever.

Anakin, someone who's been Vader for the vast majority of his life, wakes up at age nine. Maybe even younger, like six. His mother is already dead at Sidious's hands. He's already roommates with Maul. He's already being trained as a baby Sith.

Anakin, being a 20 year old war veteran, is much better at escaping than Sidious has planned for. He reprograms a medical droid to take out his slave chip, steals a ship, etc. All the stuff that Maul wasn't very good at, and Anakin was too young for, so Sidious didn't have the preventative measures in place for yet.

Anakin heads for the one place and person he thinks he can trust: Obi-Wan Kenobi.

(Obi-Wan is still a padawan. But this Baby Sith just declared him Adoptive Teen Dad, so.)

@lizasweetling (all indented bits from here will be hers):

Because Sith. Bad for mental health of the user and generally bad for their environs But also baby. And if hes dragging Maul around no doubt the dude is constantly himself confused why he is here Like yeah, Sidious sucked, and this 6-9yo is way powerful and knowledgeable on the dark side (?????) But why are we going to the Jedi? And not even trying to kill them apparently?????

Anakin is very much being affected by Baby Brain and Baby Endocrine System. He cries a lot more than he should.

I WASN'T THINKING OF HIM BRINGING MAUL BUT YEAH. THAT'S. THAT'S A POSSIBILITY.

Jedi Council trying to decide if this is more "Adult Sith got shrunk" or "child got evil man's memories." Vader wants to know why it even MATTERS. (He didn't actually plan on telling them, but he has very little self control right now.)

The first Good Act he does is tell them where to find Ventress and Ky. (In the original timeline, he viewed Ventress as like. Cool older cousin.)

Vader's right, that distinction does not matter Aaaw, she deserves that, that's nice Maybe she will be like 20% less homocidally traumatized

Anakin is furious when Maul and Obi-Wan pick him up under one arm like a package. He is a GROWN MAN he is an ADULT he was a SITH LORD and about to be a FATHER, he is TOO OLD FOR THIS.

They point out that he is Baby.

😂 sorry lord of evil, you're too baby, have a nap and maybe your feel better. Assuming the crisis on Naboo is still happening, and as such the vote of no confidence is right now, it might be a great time to report Sidious as a Sith lord. Post-escape from Sidious, both he and Maul definitely will need a nap. It's that kinda place.

Oh, it's probably at least a year before. Anakin keeps trying to sneak off to kill the man himself, but the Jedi are more ready for his Sneaking than Mustafar was, so he keeps getting caught before he can reach the Senate.

At one point he tries to just CHARGE the place and you get Mace and Obi-Wan sprinting after him. The News captures videos of this very small child getting chased by an older Padawan and a Master and they are mostly yelling for him to PUT DOWN THE SABER.

(Sidious might see him but what's he going to do? Might cause too many problems for Sidious to be aware of Anakin's presence with the Jedi, though. Best not.)

It's probably more expensive on average to hire an assassin on a child, just in general But on a jedi youngling??? If he can even find someone to do that, it will be so very, ridiculously expensive And likely 70%+ upfront payments

Ahsoka definitely seeks him out. Toddler baby child. She adores him for reasons unclear to anyone and everyone.

!!! Baby has baby!! Vader's probably a little thrown by this. Been a while subjectively since someone just loved him. And not even for like, a reason. Baby Vader coerced into sitting obediently for nap by tired kiddo: [The council liked that]

The number of times that vader could only be convinced to nap by Obi-Wan grabbing him, caging him in his own lap, and forced to Sit Quietly until he just fell asleep like that...

He has things to do, he's not tired 😡😡😡💢 (He's 9. Distances are between 150 and 195% longer when measured with steps, he's hungry (subjectively) all the time, and has only middling coordination He so is too tired)

Anakin doesn't know Qui-Gon at all but he keeps getting stuffed into the man's top because he's just. Small enough to fit.

Like the bomb boobs gif, but it's a small child.

the indignity

You just. You can't let him get too self-important.

Vader is Disgusted every time the pediatric healers try to talk down to him like they do to other 6yos.

The difference between this and other "Vader goes back in time to the Jedi" AUs (like Force of Many Sights) is that this Vader has never been a Jedi, and doesn't know anything about them except how they fight when he's trying to kill their friends.

Also Maul's there.

Because even he has a hard time taking himself seriously when hes so easy to manhandle Rest of the time; I am fear, I am death personified As luggage child: I am so small. The tiniest. I crave violence He's probably very annoyed they keep taking away his saber And hey! Obi gets practice not losing his! Woooo!

Something something Anakin clinging to Maul's back (piggy back ride) and chewing on his head or something stupid like that. Perfect height for head biting.

You know, the classic anime head bite

Maul probably has been nominally talked into this because this 9yo is a powerful darksider But he is also the world's most annoying tiny kid Maul would've thought his phenotype would make him immune to this ridiculousness He was wrong At least the teeth are a bit less pointy than his other little brothers'? Appreciating the little things

tfw your unwanted little brother drags you to what you think is a cult but actually they're way less culty than your last two places so you just stick around to keep an eye on the little shit

Anyway. ObiMaul for this one.

They're peers They're tired They just want to sit down and not have to chase this weird little murder child They have a lot in common 😊

They are all just a little bit stupid, I love them.

Qui-Gon is a Cool Mom (throws condoms at them and books it).

Yeah, that's about as much involvement as would be appreciated They probably did a lot of sparring before the tension broke Which did not relieve said tension, generally made it worse (Competence, athleticism, sweat-) Vader is confused, but probably doesn't mind He's probably glad they're distracting each other from stopping assassinating a certain someone (Which- that is 9yo hubris. He would need help to do that)

I still can't decide where on 6yo-9yo he falls but somewhere in there

Babies means easier hiding in shirt, teenie Ahsoka, and longer for him to convince the Jedi council to do a Sith hunt before the Naboo situation

Also longer for Maul and Obi-Wan to faff about being all Tension

* Vaguely inspired by the backstory of Rulebreaker/Wildheart, which is great but significantly more of a romance fic than this.

#anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #maul #darth maul #obimaul #obi wan and anakin #anakin and obi wan #ahsoka tano #time travel #de aging #star wars #phoenix posts

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mischiefmaker615 · 8 months

Text

Marked

Rating: R

Note: Sorry its a bit short

Summary: Loki finds a way to make sure everyone knows you are his..

‘’Loki stop- you need to chill out!’’ you yelp as you stumble through your apartment door while your boyfriend pretty much just gropes you in public. You bat his hands away properly from your chest and waist once you toss your purse, hunching forward when you feel his lips try to attack your neck next; resulting in giving him better access to your ass instead.

‘’you know I don’t approve when you surround yourself with the male mortals- I know what those animals are thinking.’’ He growled as he pulled to against him by your waist, your rump very much feeling how hard he was as you stable yourself still.

‘’you mean when I go to work? Men can be disgusting out there- but you act like something happened every day-‘’

‘’they look upon you like you are meat, lusting for you to be theirs. If their eyes are on you, its as if they had already laid their hands on you love’’ Loki reasoned, his grip tightening ever so slightly as you turn around in his arms, your hands on his chest to keep him looking at you rather than allow him to have access to your front now.

‘’and every day I reassure you that I am yours and nothing will change that.’’ You tell him, voice serious as you look him in the eyes gentle and meaning every word.

His gaze softened, knowing it wasn’t a new lecture- and you knew it wouldn’t be the last. Yet he understood, and you understood him. ever since you got to together, he had been possessive; protective as he calls it. working in the field where there was mostly male wasn’t easy, and you knew they looked at you like animals. But, nothing has ever happened and you do our best to be aware of your surroundings and let him know immediately if anything did happen- but this behavior of his seemed to get out of hand when he didn’t give a shit about doing public displays of affection in.. well, public.

‘’well.. what needs to be done so this whole.. routine could ease up for the both of us?’’ you sigh, looking at him gentle with your hands cupping his cheeks, wanting to help him.

Looking down at you with the same gentle expression, his eyes went in to thought, gazing off ever so slightly from yours before they returned to you with a knew meaning. His expression changed to something of an idea, a result- a hungry conclusion which made you take a small step back but he already began advancing.

Taking steps back only made him take steps forward before your back found the door real quick. You trusted him with your life but his usual lust state always made you nervous- because you couldn’t read him.

His hands found the wall on either side of your shoulders, caging you in and by his tense muscles, you knew he was prepared on stopping you from ducking under. All you could do was look up at him as he leaned close, his eyes dilated as he ghosted the tip of his nose against your neck, taking in your sweet scent he loved so much with a deep inhale.

‘’L-Loki…’’ you whisper with uncertainty of what exactly his plan was with the matter you were previously discussing. The feeling of his body slowly getting closer to yours made itself known before he moved a knee between your legs and the rest of his body against yours to keep you pinned.

You could almost feel him smirking as you whimpered, feeling him lightly grind his knee against your cunt as your hands gripped his shoulders. Already feeling yourself getting wet, you suddenly feel his hand gently brush your hair to the side to allow him access to your neck before the same hand cupped your jaw and turned your face to the side while his other hand stabilized your shoulder more to prevent you from moving.

Knowing exactly what he will be doing, you start struggling but he keeps you face turned to the side and your movements only helped add more friction to your cunt against his knee as you gripped his shoulders, whining while you feel his soft breath on your flesh.

‘’you want the lectures to stop, then hold still..’’ he whispered before he suddenly placed his lips against the crook of your neck.

You’ve both had sex before, not a lot of stuff he did was new to you, but most of the reasons behind his actions for some reason always made you jump. His grip on you was gentle but firm, determined to keep you still as he pressed his body more into you while your pushing back deemed useless.

His lips were soft, using a sucking motion against your skin while feeling his tongue slowly lap your skin as if it were your clit. The shear action alone made your cheeks redden and a shiver run down your skin while the hand on your jaw shifted ever so slightly so his thumb was running alone your bottom lip playfully.

Your body began to shiver, feeling him suck slightly harder while his lips traveled, licking the spot on your skin before going to attack it once more. Your skin began to tingle, feeling the blood traveling up to your skin and leaving goosebumps on your arms. You felt his knee shift in slow motions, up and down against your cunt as you moaned before your eyes opened when his lips left your neck.

Looking over his work, he smirked and playfully pulled your bottom lip down before letting go, taking a step back. ‘’alright darling, if I can’t stop the males from gazing upon you then I shall provide them as a reminder that you already belong to someone.’’ He said confidently and smirked at you dangerously as you placed a hand on your neck, as if you expected it to be gone. ‘’and you’ll be wearing them. Every. Damn. Day.’’

‘’’..t-them?’’ you whimper as he smirked, caging you in again against the wall, getting reminded just how different your height differences are.

‘’don’t think that this was the only one i planned on giving you…’’

#loki smut #loki odinson #loki fluff #loki fanfic #loki god of mischief #loki x reader smut #loki laufeyson #loki x reader #lokifluff #loki

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teshamerkel · 3 months

Text

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 52]

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AO3 Link

Nia and Tobias have their mission. It's time to plan their next move, and get some training in while they're at the Lexym Guild.

Telling Maggie about their trip to Asra and Shivergleam is a tense affair. The meganium stays quiet for most of it, but Nia can see her honey-gold eyes darken after each brush with danger that they skim over, clumsily trying to fill in the gaps left in their story.

Finally, what feels like hours later, they're finished. Quiet falls over the three of them.

With a forced sort of calm, Maggie asks, “Is that everything?”

“It’s all we know so far,” Tobias hedges. “Our plan right now is just to find Xerneas. Hopefully she can prevent any of this from happening. Or at least fix the dimensional border if it does break.”

If she doesn't, the world falls apart, Nia silently adds, knowing she doesn’t need to say it for it to be in the forefront of all their minds. Both the Pokemon world and the human world would be destroyed.

Nia fiddles with the soft fur of her tail, too nervous to look up at Maggie. The silence while the grass type digests everything is heavy.

Finally, Maggie sighs. Nia jumps.

“I’m going to need a hug after all of that,” Maggie says.

Nia finally looks up, relieved, and willingly scoots closer for the meganium to pull her into a hug with her vine. Nia leans against her petals, soft but firm, and breathes in her fresh floral scent. She sees Tobias getting the same treatment on Maggie’s other side.

Immediately, Nia feels a little better. Everything feels less dire when she's tucked against Maggie like this. It's still quiet, but a comforting sort of quiet. It’s only the three of them in the herbalist quarters at the moment, Sage having been politely shooed out of the room to grab some berries for breakfast once Maggie realized that neither Nia nor Tobias felt comfortable explaining their trip with the ivysaur present. Sage had taken the obvious excuse with grace, thankfully, and is taking his time in returning.

“Thank you for telling me.” Maggie says. She takes a deep breath, Nia lifting with the exhale. “I just wish you two weren’t thrown right in the middle of all this mess. You’re so young.”

“We’re not little kids,” Tobias mutters.

“Oh, don’t pout.”

“I'm not pouting!” Tobias says, absolutely pouting.

Nia turns her face into Maggie’s petals to stifle a laugh.

“When were you planning on talking to August about all of this?” Maggie asks.

Nia pulls away to look at Tobias. He seems as unsure as she feels.

“Should we tell him?” Tobias asks, crossing his arms. “We’re getting intel from a banished legendary, if he even believes we're telling the truth. And we don’t know that he’ll actually do anything even if he does believe us. He said he’d look into the fire that happened in Ghatha but nothing ever came from that.”

Nia has to admit that he has a point.

Maggie sighs. “Even if it’s not obvious, I’m sure August is doing all he can to help. And if this is something jeopardizing not only our guild but the entire Pokemon world, I promise you he would want to know about it.”

Nia and Tobias exchange a doubtful look.

Maybe sensing that they’re reluctant to talk to August and worried that they’ll try to put it off completely, Maggie only allows a quick breakfast of the berries Sage brings back before marching the two of them straight to August’s office herself. The rillaboom looks pleased to see them, a soft sort of relief on his face when he catches sight of Nia and Tobias safely back from their travels. His warm smile fades as he locks eyes with Maggie, though, his more casual posture straightening up. He waves them in without a word.

Verene seems to be out, so they’re the only ones present in the spacious office. The leaves weaving in and out of the wooden walls are a lovely gradient of warm autumnal tones.

August takes a seat behind his desk, chair creaking. “Welcome back, Team Scarlet. It’s good to see you both safe. I heard from the crew of the Aqua Jet and that little sableye that you both showed impressive prowess as Seekers yesterday.”

Nia murmurs a thank you. Tobias nods.

“However, gauging by your expressions, I must assume that’s not why you came to see me today,” August says. “A shame. I could do with some good news, for once. What can I help you with?”

Nia looks to Tobias, so he starts them off. Retells the story once more with Nia stepping in on occasion, trading the explanation back and forth.

They mention Asra, first, to explain everything that comes after. Giratina. The protective shell of this world weakening from a preemptive crack in the very fabric of the dimension. Nia and Tobias being assigned to find Xerneas in a desperate bid for hope.

August’s brow knits and falls lower and lower as he listens, chin resting on bridged fingers. By time they’re finally finished, Nia’s throat is dry. The same oppressive silence from before falls over the room, and it feels thick enough to choke on.

August’s amber eyes settle on Nia. “How sure are you that Giratina was telling the truth?”

Nia tries not to let her own doubt show on her face. “W-Well…I guess I don’t have any proof that he was? But he felt…honest. And it makes sense. Or at least more sense than anything else people have guessed for why the world is breaking down, right? Could anything else cause natural disasters and make evolution stop? Or force legendaries to go dormant?”

“You think Giratina would have something to gain from us seeking out Xerneas?” Tobias asks, eyes narrowing.

August sighs, raking his fingers back through his leafy mane. “That’s difficult to say. I’m no expert on either legendary.”

“But surely there’s enough here to merit a deeper look,” Maggie pipes up. “If Giratina is being honest, then…”

August lets a rush of air out through his nose. “It would be disastrous for us to ignore him, yes.”

The quiet returns like an itchy, ill-fitting sweater.

“I’ll ask Alistair and Tawny to look into it immediately,” August finally says. “If they feel that searching for Xerneas is likely to be of help and not just playing into Giratina’s schemes, then I’ll reach out to the other Guildmasters so we can plan from there.”

Nia lets out a breath. Knowing that they aren’t solely responsible for saving the whole world feels like the weight of the Lexym Tree itself being lifted off her shoulders. She kind of wants to cry. “Thank you.”

August nods. “Of course. I’m here for anyone in the guild, but a matter pertaining to the safety of the entire world? That is not to be treated lightly.”

“Speaking of safety,” Tobias says, in a tone that would be casual if it didn’t sound like it was barbed with thorns. “You said you were going to send someone to look into the fire at Ghatha, right? And other human discrimination. Anything ever come of that?”

August gives Tobias a dry look. “Put away your fangs, Tobias. I did indeed look into the matter.”

“And?”

“The investigation into the Ghatha fire has unfortunately gone cold. While they can assume it was a fire type at the convention who started it, Rai’s guild hasn’t been able to determine who was the culprit. They’ve marked it closed for now unless new information arises.”

"Yeah, and I'm sure that decision has nothing to do with the guy not liking humans," Tobias mutters.

August's eyes narrow. "Where did you hear that?"

Nia blinks, surprised, and exchanges a look with Tobias. August doesn't know? "Keegan mentioned it, back when we were in Ghatha."

"The guild's second-in-command," Tobias clarifies. "A ninetales."

"Hm." August looks past them for a moment, locking eyes with Maggie. Before Nia can figure out what the two older Pokemon are thinking, he speaks again. "That's not something I was aware of. What are your thoughts on Keegan? I haven't had the chance to speak with him myself."

"He was nice!" Nia says.

"A little too nice," Tobias scoffs.

August hums. "...Noted. Regardless, for now the investigation remains at a stand-still."

Tobias’ muzzle crinkles, mirroring Nia’s own displeasure. While this news isn’t entirely unexpected, it is unnerving, not knowing the Pokemon who made a very intentional effort on all of the human lives at the convention in Ghatha. What if they try something else in the future? The thought makes Nia feel…uneasy. Unsafe.

“My scouts did also confirm your claims regarding the general perception of humans in Ghatha. It seems the aggression towards them is increasing. Considering you saw the same in Asra, I can only assume the trend continues elsewhere as well.”

“But why?" Nia protests, voice cracking. "We aren't doing anything wrong!"

“I know,” August says, rubbing at his face. “We know you have nothing to do with what’s happening to our world, Nia. None of the humans do. But unfortunately, the natural disasters and mystery dungeons are only becoming more and more common. Pokemon are injured and frightened, and humans are a handy group to shoulder the blame.”

“It’s escalating, isn’t it?” Maggie cuts in, voice soft. “Not just the aggression. The natural disasters. The spread of mystery dungeons. The Haven hasn’t been hit too hard yet, but…”

August hesitates with a glance at Nia and Tobias. “Yes. Which would line up with what Giratina is claiming. The closer we get to the moment when the barrier of our dimension breaks, the more and more dangerous our world gets. And the more that tensions run high, the more rumors spread about whose fault it could be.”

Another silence. Nia can hear the walls of the Lexym Tree creak around them in the wind.

“What about Will?” Tobias asks. Nia looks at him, surprised that he’s even willing to bring up the yamask he dislikes so much.

“Ah, yes. You mentioned wanting to visit him to see if he has any leads in finding Xerneas. My scouts didn’t hear much about his group while in Ghatha, but they also couldn’t find many humans at all, seeing as they’re keeping a low profile.”

“I sent him a letter before we left for Asra,” Nia speaks up. “Telling him about Giratina trying to pull me into the distortion realm through the stream. A-And about me recovering some of my memories. If he’s written back by now, he probably left a way to find him, right?”

“Should we even bother seeing if he has information, though?” Tobias asks, face twisting. “If we know that we’re looking for Xerneas, what are the chances he knows something Alistair and Tawny and the other guilds don’t?”

“Can we risk not checking?” Nia murmurs.

Tobias doesn’t have an argument for that. “I guess just flying straight to see him ourselves would be faster than waiting for mail.”

August's hand strokes at his chin. “I believe Nia is right. We can’t risk missing a potential lead from a network of information outside of our own. If you are willing to track him down, then I approve your travel to seek him out in a few days’ time. I will have the guild cover your flight costs across the sea.”

“Why’re we waiting?” Tobias asks, frowning. “Shouldn’t we leave right away?”

August shakes his head. “I want to first discuss with Alistair and Tawny. If they believe seeking out Xerneas could be as beneficial as Giratina suspects, I’ll have them spread word to the other guilds to start an official search. If they believe we could be playing into a plot, then we’ll put a hold on seeking out any information.”

Nia and Tobias trade an uncertain look, but eventually agree.

The three of them depart the office shortly after, August giving them a distracted goodbye as he turns to some papers on his desk.

“So we have a few days until we can leave,” Tobias says, jumping right into it. “What’s our plan until then?”

“We should probably go to our quarters first, right?” Nia says. “To see if Will even wrote back?”

Tobias frowns, but nods.

They reach the medical floor, and Maggie stops, reminding Nia and Tobias that the meganium has a job to do elsewhere.

“Oh, don’t give me those yamper eyes,” Maggie laughs. She nuzzles the top of Nia’s head, then Tobias’. “I have a job to do as well! And I’ll still be right here if you want to stop in again later tonight.”

Tobias visibly relaxes at the reminder, and Nia thanks the meganium for her help. For listening.

“Of course! Someone has to look after you two, always running off into trouble,” Maggie says with a wink.

Nia turns to head down the stairs, but pauses when Tobias doesn’t follow. The charmander is hesitating, staring at Maggie with a conflicted expression. Then he darts forward to squeeze Maggie’s leg in a hug. The meganium seems as surprised as Nia is by the unusually open affection, but after a beat her expression softens. She lowers her head to return the hug with her long neck and a vine, squeezing him tight.

Ah, right. Tobias had told Maggie about finding the home of the crobat outlaw, too. About finding the crobat's grave, and the loving family he’d left behind. Maggie had smothered him in a hug then, too, but it makes sense that he’s still feeling a bit emotional about it all.

Tobias only tolerates the affection for a few seconds before ducking free and slipping past Nia, calling for her to hurry up over his shoulder. Nia smiles as she waves to Maggie and hurries after her partner.

The two of them head to the Seekers’ quarters a few floors down. Most of the doors are closed since Pokemon are out and about doing missions in the middle of the day, but there are a few lattice windows in the halls that let in glimpses of bright sunshine and whistling gusts of air.

Their own room is just as they left it, save a thin layer of dust over everything. The wall is lined by a few wooden cabinets, along with a bookcase and chest to keep their belongings in. A large window sits on the far wall, its lattice-like roots currently opened wide. A leaf-woven curtain is pulled down over it to keep out the wind, and the sun shines through it beautifully, casting a dim golden-green hue over everything. In the center of the room lies their plush scarlet red rug, and away from the window sits their nests, resting side-by-side.

Tobias dumps their satchel next to the chest. Nia goes to the mailbox set into the wall by the door. She’s excited to find three pieces of mail inside—two letters and one thin slip of paper. She pulls them out and looks at the smallest one first. It reads 20% Off at the Kecleon Brothers Shop! with a cute little drawing of a pair of…chameleons?

“They have coupons in this world?” Nia asks, strangely amused by the thought.

Tobias’ warmth appears at her side as he peers over her shoulder. He snorts. “The kecleon merchants are really well-known. Good quality wares, but make sure you stay on their good side.”

“Um, okay. Why?”

Tobias flops down in his nest. “The last ‘mon that tried to steal from ‘em left with less limbs than they started with.”

“But they’re so cute!” Nia says, aghast, as she looks again at the little drawing.

“So are fairy types, and they’re terrifying."

Nia sinks into her own nest, gently setting the coupon aside. She’s not sure she wants to deal with the shop at all if that’s the reputation they keep. She lights up when she sees the second letter, though—it’s a cute little thing, blue, with Nia’s name written in delicate, loopy cursive.

Tobias rolls over to squint at the envelope. “Who wrote us a letter in gibberish?”

Nia blinks. “You can’t read this?”

“You can?”

Nia takes another look at the letter. At first she thinks the problem is that the writing is cursive, but then she realizes that it’s probably because it's English. Not the native Pokemon language.

“Oh,” Nia laughs, feeling a strange pang of homesickness. “It’s in English. A, uh. Human language.”

She opens the envelope with care, pulling out the stationery and smiling at the letter, which is also written in looping cursive. Tobias doesn’t say anything else, but she can feel his eyes on her so she translates as she skims.

“It’s from Hazel. She says that she can make me a human bed! Oh man, you are going to love it. You’ll never be able to go back to a normal nest. And she’ll even give me the family discount! Aww!”

“She should give you more than that after we saved her mate’s tail,” Tobias says.

“We hadn’t even met Beck yet when I sent the request! Let’s see here…she also says—”

Nia bursts into laughter.

“What?”

“She also says that she’s glad you’re nicer to me now, but that she’s willing to knock some sense into you any time if that changes.”

Tobias straightens up, flushing. “She did not say that.” Nia cackles, turning the page over to his grabby hands. “She did! C’mon, she’s the reason I confronted you in Afon’s Cap at all!”

Tobias makes a face, but he’s still bright red. Nia isn’t sure if it’s because he’s embarrassed to be called out, or because of his behavior during their early partnership in the first place. Either way, he folds the letter back up and frisbees it at her, huffing.

Nia laughs again and tucks the letter off to the side with the coupon. She’ll have to write the old raichu back later. Nia’s amusement dies down as she picks up the third letter.

Tobias sits up as he sees her expression. “…Will?”

Nia nods. Hesitantly, she opens the yamask’s letter.

Nia,

While I’m pleased to hear from you, I wish it was under better circumstances! I’m relieved that you escaped from Giratina unharmed, but concerned that you had such a close call at all. If you do feel unsafe where you are, please don’t hesitate to come join the community of humans we have amassed thus far—we’re growing by the day! We're just south of Ghatha, past Stonebrook and closer to Kaleido Bay. If you can find Stonebrook, they can direct you from there.

“Stonebrook,” Nia murmurs, tilting her head. “Why does that sound familiar?”

Tobias, who had scooched closer to read, frowns as he tries to recall as well. Then he groans and plants his face in his hands.

“What?”

“It’s where your stupid rookidee friend lives,” Tobias says, words muffled.

Nia gasps. “Junie! Oh my gosh, you’re right! We could stop by and see her! She could—”

“We are not inviting her to join us.”

“Aw, why not? I miss her!”

“You miss her because she doesn’t pick fights with you constantly!”

Nia looks at him for a moment. “I thought you kind of enjoyed it. It's like how you squabble with Andyn."

Tobias stumbles over a retort—outright stammers—his face growing red again, and Nia bursts into laughter.

“Oh my God, I knew it! You do like bickering with them! Why do you act like you hate them so much?”

“I do hate them!”

“Mhm.”

“They’re annoying and loud and—”

“They’re your frieeends,” Nia coos, poking him in the cheek.

“They are not,” Tobias hisses, swatting her hand away. “Shut up!”

Nia can feel him heating up with embarrassment so she knows he’s lying, but she takes mercy and backs off, still grinning.

“This is exactly why you don’t need to be spending more time with either of them,” Tobias grumbles, rubbing at his cheek. “They’re rubbing off on you.”

Nia finally tames her delight down to a manageable level and goes back to Will’s letter.

I am thrilled, however, to hear about your returned memories, even if you had to endure a terrifying illness to find them. After speaking with more of the humans under my care who have recovered their own memories, I have to wonder if there is a correlation between severe injury or illness and the recovery of one's memories. Perhaps brushing by Death’s doorstep unlocks a part of the brain once buried?

Huh. Nia has to take a moment to think after reading that. The handful of memories she recovered did only return to her when she was gravely ill, but she didn’t think it was a direct correlation. But Will seems to be implying that nearly dying could be a trigger for that process. If Giratina is correct, maybe it has to do with them getting close to…leaving their new vessels? So the memories that Mew sealed away kind of…loosen?

Nia shakes her head, unnerved by the reminder that she nearly died, and reads on.

I would love to discuss with you further if you do feel like visiting. Know that you’re always welcome. We have exciting developments in the works! Until then, I hope you and your partner are well.

Will

Nia sits back. “Well, he’s open to a visit, and we have directions…”

“Guess it’s settled then,” Tobias sighs. “I’ll let August know tomorrow.”

“August said to give him a few days to run everything by Tawny and Alistair, right? So…what should we do in the meantime?”

Tobias makes a thoughtful sound in his throat, eyes trailing over the faint pattern of leaves forming the window curtain. “We don’t want to wear ourselves out completely before traveling, but we should definitely do some training or missions or something. We need to keep getting stronger, and we need to keep rising higher in the ranks so Pokemon take us seriously.”

“That would give us more funds, too,” Nia agrees. “So I guess for now we just work on recuperating and take a few missions?"

“Then when we’re cleared for travel we go to the flying outpost.” Tobias finishes, a smirk growing on his face. “You excited to get back in the air?”

Nia groans, falling back into her nest. The soft scent of straw and moss wafts up around her. “Not even a little.”

Tobias snorts a laugh. “You’ll survive.”

There’s a moment of quiet where Nia lies starfished in her nest, listening to the wind blow against their curtain. The midday sun has warmed their little room enough for it to feel nice and cozy.

“It’s too late in the day to start a mission,” Tobias says, snagging her attention again. “But I’m going to go see if Azami or Val are around to spar with.”

While he isn’t outright asking Nia to join, the way he pauses to look at her makes the implied question clear. Nia perks up. “Oh! I’ll come with! I’ve been wanting to chat with Val about how my aura’s shaping up anyways.”

Tobias grins, pushing himself to his feet and offering a hand to help her up. The two of them leave the cozy atmosphere of their room to wind their way down the Lexym Tree.

At the doorway leading into the training floor, Nia nearly bumps into a taller Pokemon. She hops back with an apology, craning her head up to meet their eyes. They look interesting—an olive green and tan Pokemon with a mushroom cap and a long, almost kangaroo-like tail. In their bright red claws, tucked close to their body, they hold something like a clipboard.

The mushroom Pokemon starts a polite apology, but cuts himself off as he catches sight of Tobias standing behind Nia. Nia’s own apology trails off as she looks between Tobias and the new ‘mon. Tobias is clearly uncomfortable, an echo of his old, closed-off demeanor resurfacing as he crosses his arms and scowls up at the taller grass type.

“Try to keep everything in one piece,” The new Pokemon finally says, tone clipped, as he slips around them and walks off.

Nia turns to Tobias with a concerned frown. “Who was that?”

“Archer,” He grumbles, good mood clearly soured. “He keeps track of inventory.”

“Oh. Um. Why was he..?”

“I used to be more…destructive, with some of the dummies. They’re flammable.”

“Oh.” Nia stares at him, trying to parse that information. With how often they travel nowadays and how much Tobias has softened up around her, Nia always forgets that there are Pokemon in the guild who aren’t fond of Tobias for one reason or another. This reason doesn’t seem like a very fair one, though. “Aren’t training dummies meant to be attacked?”

“Not when you’re using fire, apparently,” Tobias snaps, moving past her and into the training area with his shoulders tense.

Nia hurries after her partner, relieved when she sees that not only are their mentors present, but that Val is working with Xander’s team. The medicham is listening to something the luxio is explaining, the rest of his teammates gathered around to listen as well.

Azami is nearby, manning a different fighting area. The tsareena is watching a treecko as they attack a dummy, but she beams behind her tall collar when she catches sight of Nia and Tobias. “Spitfire! And little Riolu. Good to see you!”

Tobias ducks his chin into his scarf, but Nia thinks he’s secretly pleased to have such a warm reception after bumping into Archer. Val, Xander and the rest of Team Shellshock turn at the loud greeting as well.

Avery smiles with a delicate wave.

Felix grins, fluffy ears perking. “Nia!”

“Good to see you," Xander says. "When did you two get back?”

“Last night! Sorry, are we interrupting?” Nia says, approaching the group.

“We were actually just saying we need to branch out a bit with our sparring partners,” Xander says, giving Nia a friendly flick of his star-tipped tail. His gold eyes move to Tobias. “Either of you interested in joining us for combat training?"

“Yeah! I’ve been dying to see how you squirts do in a fight,” Kry says. The fraxure cracks her knuckles to punctuate her words, as if her looming presence isn't intimidating enough.

Tobias, however, flexes his claws and steps forward to meet her. “You’re on.”

"Ohoho! Bring it, little 'mon!"

“Oh, this oughta be good,” Felix says, turning to lead everyone to the sidelines. “C’mon, we’d better clear the field for these two.”

“They’re going to battle right now?” Nia asks, giving Val a wide-eyed look even as she follows. They just got here! Shouldn’t they warm up or something?

The medicham shrugs. “Charmander stepped forward.”

Well, she can’t argue with that. Still, as Nia sits to watch, she can't help feeling nervous as Tobias crouches into a battle stance across from Kry. The fraxure lashes her tail and lowers her head with a sharp grin. Nia doesn’t think the brash Pokemon would actually hurt Tobias, but…

“Battle!” Val calls.

Both lizard Pokemon lunge, Tobias ducking under a slash and spinning to trip up Kry’s footing with his tail. The fraxure recovers with surprising grace and goes on the offensive again. Tobias is forced to backstep, shooting off small bursts of fire to try and gain some distance. Kry leaps right through one of Tobias’ flames as if it were nothing more than smoke.

“Whoa,” Nia murmurs.

“How was your trip?” Xander asks, leaning over to whisper.

“We had an, uh…eventful week,” Nia chuckles. “Solved a mysterious earthquake problem, fought some outlaws, got caught in a mystery dungeon on the river, so fun times all around.”

They also found the grave of a long-hunted outlaw and met with Giratina of all Pokemon, who told them the world was ending, but Nia feels reluctant to drop all of that onto Xander so suddenly.

Felix whistles. The wartortle’s gaze is on the fight, but his fluffy ears are angled her way. “Busy, busy! No wonder Tobias is holding his own pretty well. You two just don’t stop, huh?”

Nia smiles and straightens up, proudly watching her partner continue to dance around Kry. His fighting style is still more offensive than defensive, but he’s playing it smart, relying on his smaller size and speed to keep the fraxure from landing a spar-stopping blow.

“You willing to try a round next?” Xander asks, giving Nia a friendly nudge with his elbow that nearly knocks her over.

Nia laughs, a little nervous. “Sure? But, uh, I’m not as good at fighting as Tobias.”

“Somehow I doubt that’s true,” Avery speaks up from Xander's other side. The kirlia gives her a warm half-smile. “You tend to underestimate yourself.”

Nia flushes under her fur and looks back to the fight, wincing as Kry nearly lands a devastating punch on Tobias. Instead, her fist slams into the wooden floor with enough force to crack it. The fraxure seems to be getting frustrated, but Tobias is starting to slow too, panting hard. He hasn’t used his smokescreen yet, though Nia isn’t sure if that’s a matter of pride or if Kry’s vision would be sharp enough to see through it.

The fight continues for another minute, Tobias landing a few brushes of flames and claws on Kry’s tough hide, but the fraxure is the one who ends it. She clips the charmander with a left hook, and as he stumbles, she slams him hard in the gut with her heavy tail. Tobias staggers, and Kry takes the opportunity to pin him to the ground with her greater weight.

After a few moments of Tobias struggling to free himself—that tail whip must've knocked the breath out of him if he isn't using his fire—Val calls the match. Kry releases him, stepping back, and Tobias sits up slowly, wincing and rubbing at his stomach. Felix calls out a jovial “Good match!” while Val moves to Tobias’ side. At first, the charmander seems reluctant to listen to her, but after a few quiet words he looks at her fully, scowl lessening as he nods. She must be giving him advice.

Kry makes her way over and grins down at Nia, breathing somehow unlabored. “You next, scrap?”

Felix pouts. “You already got your turn, Kry.”

“And I asked first,” Xander says smoothly, standing and moving to where Kry stood before. He doesn’t sound bossy, but somehow even Nia can hear the quiet authority in his voice. While Nia and Tobias don’t really have a “leader” of their team, it’s clear that Xander holds the title for Team Shellshock.

“You up for it, Nia?” The luxio asks, confident expression softening.

Nia feels her heart flutter with anxiety, but Avery gives her an encouraging nod. She pads over to where Tobias is finally getting to his feet.

“Good fight,” Nia whispers to him as she passes.

“Kick his tail,” Tobias says in return, though it sounds less heated than the scathing comments he used to make towards Xander.

Nia nods and gets in position, lifting her hands and crouching just a bit, feet spread wide and stable. She still doesn’t particularly like fighting, even for fun, but she just tries to think of it more like…a friendly sporting match.

Xander spreads his paws wide as his tail flicks. Sparks come to life and crackle across his black fur, like stars in a night sky. Nia shifts, suddenly registering the fact that Xander is nearly twice her size. Usually the thought is comforting more than anything, but facing him as an opponent…

“Show ‘em what you did to that steelix!” Tobias shouts.

There’s a lull in the group's conversation that makes Nia’s ears flatten, embarrassed by the attention. However, the comment does lessen her nerves a bit. Hard to be intimidated by a luxio when she’s faced down a metal serpent the size of a semi-truck. And she did just learn work up in the last mystery dungeon, which should make her more powerful, but that might up her attack too much—she doesn't want to actually hurt Xander, after all.

Nia can hear Felix asking Tobias about the steelix comment, but Val starts off their spar with a loud, “Battle!”

In complete contrast to Tobias and Kry’s fight, Nia and Xander stay frozen in place, sizing each other up. The sparks crackling across the luxio’s fur make her wary to get in close like she usually does—he can probably cause paralysis, right? He is an electric type. But if she doesn’t get in close, then her only option is to—

Xander makes the first move, lighting up with a flash of electricity and sending a test bolt her way. Nia rolls out of the way on instinct, but she can feel the charge in the air prickling at her fur.

Xander’s eyes narrow. He darts forward to attack.

Nia yelps and creates a staff of aura, taking a swing to make him leap back. He does so, but shoots off another electric attack. Nia barely manages to scramble out of the way, rolling and leaping from bolt after bolt. She doesn’t realize Xander is herding her closer and closer to himself until he’s suddenly slamming into her side.

The electricity in his fur stings, and the blow sends her tumbling across the floor as her staff vanishes. Xander hesitates. Nia takes the opportunity as soon as she lands on her knees to charge up a messy ball of aura in her paws and launch it at the luxio. Xander’s eyes widen, clearly not expecting that, before he gets hit head-on in a flash of blue.

Nia winces. Yeah, she really doesn’t like fighting her friends.

“Oh, you learned aura sphere while you were gone?” Nia hears Avery say, excited.

Nia blinks, looking over at the kirlia. “I did?”

Tobias is also staring at Avery. “She did?”

Nia sees Avery’s eyes widen a split-second before Xander bowls into her again. As she rolls to a stop, she notices the tingly current racing through her body, making her limbs feel numb and locked into place. She struggles to sit up but can’t move. Xander takes his opportunity to pin her down, paws heavy on her arms.

He smiles. “My win.”

Nia accepts defeat with a sigh, letting her head drop back. “I got distracted.”

Xander laughs. For a moment his claws flex, and then Nia feels the electricity in her body…recede, as Xander’s own sparks increase. He steps back, and Nia can move again. She blinks as she sits up, rubbing the remaining tingles out of her arms. Did he…take back the paralysis? Like a lightning rod?

“Good fight, Nia!” Felix, ever the optimist, cheers.

“It really wasn’t,” Nia says. “At least not on my end.”

“That aura sphere caught me off-guard,” Xander encourages. “And I have a feeling you were holding back on me.”

“Not on purpose,” Nia assures, even as she keeps her mouth shut about how Xander hesitated too. He reminds her of her brother in the human world, Clay, so of course she doesn’t want to hurt him. She imagines he sees some of his younger siblings in her as well.

As they rejoin the rest of the group, Kry and Felix pass them to spar next. Val gestures Nia to sit at her side, between her and Avery.

“Sorry, I promise I’ve been keeping up with my training. I can fight better than that,” Nia says, shying away from her mentor’s inscrutable gaze.

“So we heard!” Avery says, ruby eyes shining. “You fought a steelix on your own?”

Nia shrugs, ears pinning to her head. “Tobias and Samir weakened him first.”

“It is still impressive, Riolu,” Val finally says. “Do not downplay your achievements. You fight hardest when there is a true threat. That is admirable in its own way.”

Nia relaxes, giving Val a thankful smile. “I just worry about hurting my friends when we spar.”

“Xander can take it,” Avery giggles. “But forget about that—what other aura techniques did you learn while you were gone?”

Nia perks up as she describes her improved control over her aura. She can form a pretty reliable staff of aura now, officially replacing her trusty branch as her main weapon, and apparently even throw something like an aura sphere at a short distance, at least according to Avery. Plus, there’s the way she used her aura to find Tobias in the mines under Asra—like a pulse. A radar.

At that revelation, Avery interrupts. “That could be a really useful skill to master.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely! Other than being able to find Pokemon buried beneath rocks or snow, you could even use it in battle or in the dark if your vision is impaired.”

Nia looks down at her hands, flexing them. She supposes she did kind of “see” Tobias’ aura to find him in the rubble. And she remembers when she was first learning to use her aura that Val’s energy formed a sort of…silhouette of color. Nia hadn’t thought of practicing her aura as a form of vision, but Avery does have a point about it being useful in certain situations.

“Want to try it?” Xander asks, dropping into the conversation from Avery's other side.

“Now?” Nia asks.

“Why not?”

Nia looks between everyone, but they all seem open to the idea. Tobias, sitting on Xander’s other side, looks a bit uneasy as usual at the mention of aura, but he doesn’t protest. Maybe since Nia has already seen his aura once, albeit on a very surface level, some of his reluctance has melted away.

“You…don’t mind if I look at your aura to practice?”

Everyone shakes their head, save for Tobias. He just shrugs, looking down to fiddle with his scarf. That's as close to a yes as she's probably getting.

Well, they’re all waiting for her. With a hesitant nod, Nia closes her eyes, trying to remember what she did down in the mines. At the time she was fueled by desperation, so it feels strange to try and replicate the move in a more relaxed environment. She thinks she just kind of…pushed out a thin pulse of aura? Like a wave.

She tries it once, gently. Her aura barely even leaves her body, brushing against Val’s orange energy and flashing in her mind’s eye before petering out. Frowning, Nia turns up the power a few notches. Not so strong as to hurt, but not so weak that it dissipates immediately.

On her second try, the aura washes over all of them in a single pulse. Colors light up in her mind’s eye, resembling their vague silhouettes. Val’s bright, strong orange. Avery’s calming indigo. Xander’s eye-catching red. Tobias’ deeper scarlet. For an instant, for a moment, she sees them all, before it goes dark again.

“That felt…interesting,” Xander says, making Nia open her eyes. He’s rubbing a paw over his chest.

Nia blinks. “You felt that?”

Avery nods. “Yes! It’s so hard to describe. It almost feels like you…brushed your paw over my arm to get my attention. But…against my mind instead? My emotions, maybe?”

Nia cringes, immediately glancing at Tobias. He was the touchiest about her aura being invasive.

He does look a bit wary. “How does it feel for you? When you do that.”

Nia looks down at her hand, curling it. “I…don’t think I focused on anyone long enough to get a read on anything? But I’m familiar enough with all of you that it was easy to tell who was who. I could still…feel your personalities? But not any specific emotions.”

“If you were to focus your aura more steadily, in a direct connection rather than a radius, I wonder how well you could track an opponent, even with your eyes closed,” Val says, hand at her chin.

“Could you attach your aura in some way?” Avery adds. “Tag someone, so you would have a constant link?”

Nia sits back. Huh. She certainly hadn’t thought of that. She’s glad these two are here to help. “I…don’t know? I’ve never tried.”

“Would you want to?” Avery asks, practically vibrating with excitement at the prospect of experimenting. They clearly wouldn’t mind being a guinea pig.

“Sure? If you don’t, uh. Mind. Any suggestions for how to do this? Since you’re a psychic type?”

“Well, you should probably start out by touching them, right?” Xander says, tilting his head. He glances Kry and Felix’s way when a small explosion goes off from their sparring. Felix is cackling as Kry shouts something at him.

“That would likely be a good place to start, yes,” Val says.

Avery holds out a hand, smiling. Nia hesitates, then takes it, closing her eyes and reaching out with her aura.

Avery’s purple-blue aura, as curious and deep as the night sky, flares to life behind Nia’s eyelids, making up the kirlia’s silhouette. Nia’s own bright blue aura is a strong contrast to it, the two colors a beautiful mix where they overlap at their hands. But when Nia pulls back her paw, Avery’s aura vanishes. She frowns, and touches the kirlia again so the indigo flares back to life. So she does need to…attach her aura to them, somehow. Anchor herself?

Nia can’t think of how to do such a thing, so she tries to let her instincts take over instead. Aura is all about emotion, after all. About her life energy, what she wills into being. So what if she just…wills her aura to connect? Wills her bond with the kirlia to become something…tangible. Something physical. Something more than the surface-level observations of aura that she's done so far, something deeper.

She thinks about Avery’s soft voice and bright eyes and the delicate way they move. How they’re always happy to help Nia think through a problem and how their very presence soothes something anxious in Nia. Warm affection wells up in her heart.

Nia’s aura moves to follow that pull, that connection, latching onto Avery’s instead of just brushing against it. She feels a rush of emotion, of thought, that isn’t hers.

fascinating eager friend proud curious

It’s less a voice, and more a…feeling of each word. Not too different from what Nia has felt in the past, but somehow more intense. Clearer. Nia yanks her hand away, startled, but between them a string of bright blue aura remains, tying her to Avery’s indigo aura and keeping their form visible behind her eyelids. If Nia focuses on it, she can still feels Avery’s emotions, distant. Like a voice from the next room over or a palm radiating warmth through a heavy sweater.

Worry friend okay?

Nia’s eyes snap open, and she feels the connection cut out, leaving her feeling almost…lonely. She’s panting like she hasn’t since the early days of her aura training. Avery, Xander, and Tobias are watching her with mirrored expressions of concerned curiosity.

“I-I think it worked?” Nia says.

Avery lights up, leaning forward. “Tell me everything.”

Nia tries her best to describe the experience as Felix and Kry return to the group, Kry pouting at her loss and Felix ribbing the dragon type with an elbow to her side. As soon as they’re caught up on what’s happening, Felix eagerly volunteers to be Nia’s next test subject.

Nia has a slightly harder time connecting to Felix’s leafy green aura, and frowns as she tries and fails to find a foothold.

“Maybe your aura is too depleted?” Avery suggests.

Nia considers that, but shakes her head. No, her aura isn’t anywhere near gone. It’s just like…trying to stick one piece of cotton to another, with no adhesive to hold it in place. With Avery, it was like there’d been a piece of Velcro to snag onto.

Val, arms crossed and head tilted, flicks her gaze to Tobias. “Charmander.”

Tobias, who had been watching the whole process with an unreadable expression, frowns. “Yeah?”

“You next.”

Nia and Tobias shake their heads at the same time.

“No.”

“H-He doesn’t have to, really!”

“He is your partner,” Val cuts in. “He of all Pokemon should be the one you are most familiar with. If you two are separated, I want to know you have a chance to use this skill to your advantage.”

That is…unfortunately a good point. Except Tobias has been so private with his aura, from the very beginning. Not that Nia can blame him! It’s a really personal thing. But…she also doesn’t want to disappoint Val, and—

“Fine,” Tobias grumbles, scooting over to sit in front of Nia and jabbing his hand forward. “Get it over with.”

Nia blinks at him, surprised. Just like that?

Tobias flushes. “She has a good point. C’mon.”

Nia still hesitates, but after glancing at his face one more time she closes her eyes and reaches out a hand.

Before even brushing against him, her aura leaps from her body to his, latching on like a magnet. Tobias’ emotions filter through the string, somehow…louder than Avery's. Clearer, like the reception is better.

hide hide hide calm down Nia won’t hate calm down will she get it over with already—

Nia cuts the connection herself, recoiling with wide eyes. Tobias glares back at her, none of the turmoil she just felt showing on his face.

“Riolu?” Val prompts.

“You didn’t even touch me,” Tobias grumbles. “Why do you look so freaked out?”

“I-I didn’t need to?” Nia says, more a question than a statement. “I…my aura connected on its own?”

“Without contact?” Avery asks.

Surprised, Nia nods. Her attention is admittedly torn, though, caught on the thoughts and emotions Nia felt when she connected to her partner. He’s…so scared of her looking at his aura. And not because of privacy reasons, like she’d previously thought.

He’s…scared Nia will hate what she sees?

“Hm.” Val looks like she expected this turn of events. “I suspect the depth of your bond with someone influences how easily you can connect to them.”

“Or maybe Nia is just getting better as she goes?” Felix suggests.

Nia can’t give the speculation her full attention like she usually would. She’s too busy trying to tear her thoughts away from Tobias’ suddenly worrying self-esteem, or lack thereof. She…doesn’t think she can really bring it up directly, since they were kind of his private thoughts? But she’s more than a little concerned. She’s confident that the two of them are friends at this point, but he’s still so scared that she’s suddenly going to…what? Turn on him? Just because she gets a better understanding of who he is?

“Try again on Wartortle,” Val says.

Nia manages to focus back on the conversation, at least a little. Distracted, almost without thinking, she reaches out and tries to make her aura connect to Felix again, this time without touching. Her aura strains and reaches an inch or two past her body before snapping back. Completely different than it was with Tobias, where it leaped for him like a long-lost friend.

“No,” Nia murmurs. “I think Val is right. It’s…it feels completely different.”

Felix looks unusually put out by Nia struggling to connect with his aura. Val, Avery and Xander, however, just seem thoughtful. Kry is busy picking at her teeth.

Tobias is staunchly looking everywhere but Nia, face redder than usual and fingers rubbing at his scarf. Embarrassed. Nia supposes she understands how he feels, even in her distracted state. It’s one thing to feel close to him, but another thing entirely to have tangible proof of their friendship. Then again, apparently he needs proof, if his inner thoughts are anything to gauge by.

“If only we could speak with one of the lucario tribes,” Avery sighs. “They must know so much more about aura and what it can do. Psychic energy can be used for telepathy and more physical techniques like telekinesis, but aura is an entirely different matter since it deals directly with life energy and emotions. I’ve heard you can even influence a target's emotional state and manipulate their aura like you would your own!”

Nia leans back, something in her gut turning over as she snaps back to the conversation at hand. Influencing others’ emotions? Manipulating their aura, their life energy?

"That…uh, sounds a little scary, Avery."

Avery seems surprised, but then laughs. “Apologies. I suppose it does. I just thought it was fascinating! And I know you would never misuse your aura, so I don’t fear that kind of power in your paws.”

Nia’s unease fades a bit as she gives them a smile. It’s nice to know Avery has so much faith in her.

“For now, continue to explore this technique, Riolu,” Val says. She tilts her head towards the battlefield. “Avery. Luxio. You are next.”

Avery looks reluctant to leave the discussion, but sighs and stands with an unreasonable amount of grace. They give Xander a teasing smile. “Think you can win this time?”

Xander laughs, lighting up in the way he only seems to around the kirlia. It’s kind of adorable. He nudges his teammate as they walk onto the battlefield together. “I’ll certainly try my best.”

Val hums, gaze lingering on the two of them as they start sparring without her call. “Charmander, you will battle Wartortle next.”

Nia frowns. Felix just battled a bit ago. “Shouldn’t I..?”

“You can fight if you would prefer to, but I can see you are reluctant. I believe you are making fine enough combat progress to focus on your aura today.”

Oh. Nia would prefer that over sparring, if Val thinks she’s doing all right. “O-Okay! So should I just..?”

“Practice with my aura while I monitor the sparring,” Val says, still watching the battle. “Connect to me, then try stepping away to see how far you can go before you lose the connection. Take a break between each attempt.”

There’s no hesitation in the medicham’s words, so after a moment Nia nods and closes her eyes to connect to Val’s orange energy. It’s not nearly as easy as Tobias or even Avery, but not any more difficult than Felix. A gentle tap to the fighting type’s arm, and the connection, though weak, is made. Val’s thoughts and emotions, calm as a still lake, leak through.

Luxio spark more aggressive Avery work on physical strength Riolu take breaks cannot forget exhaust herself—

Nia tries to channel out the medicham's thoughts, feeling a bit like she’s intruding. The thoughts are still there, but like someone murmuring nearby. She can kind of tune them out, and instead focuses on getting to her feet.

Whoa. She feels a bit woozy, as she usually does when stretching her aura in new ways. After a moment she manages to back away, one step at a time. The string between them stretches longer and longer. All Nia sees is her own aura and Val’s, the orange silhouette of her a bright beacon amidst the sea of black behind her eyelids.

Nia makes it ten steps away before she feels the string…strain, for lack of a better word. A tug on her soul. Then, one more step and it snaps. Nia gasps and stumbles, barely managing to catch herself before she can fall.

“Nia?” Tobias calls, apparently watching. His brow is furrowed.

“I’m fine!” She pants. That feeling just…surprised her. It was as if something she was leaning her weight on suddenly vanished.

“Take a break,” Val calls.

Nia does so, staggering back to Val’s side to sit and watch Xander and Avery exchange blows.

That’s how the training session continues, the others taking turns sparring, Tobias included, while Nia trains this new facet of her aura.

Avery, of course, gently interrogates Nia every time they are on the sidelines, watching Nia’s progress with fascination. The two of them hold a conversation as Nia treads back and forth, getting familiar with seeing the others through her aura. Avery is as curious about Nia and Tobias’ travels to Asra and Shivergleam as they are about everything else.

When Nia brings up how protect and misty terrain stopped the effects of the forming mystery dungeon on their way back from Shivergleam, Avery falls silent. When Nia finishes that round of connection training and opens her eyes, Avery is staring at her in much the same way they did when Nia made the connection between aura and type energy. Like their world has just shifted on its axis a bit.

“Avery?”

“…It’s almost a shame you became a Seeker, Nia. The research community would be lucky to have you.”

“Has no one ever tried to use a move like that in a mystery dungeon?” Nia asks, frowning. It feels kind of…obvious?

Avery hums. “I’m sure someone has, but it’s certainly not a well-documented strategy. The number of Pokemon who know such moves is already small, and the number of those Pokemon who just happen to get caught in a mystery dungeon forming are even smaller. To then also have a calm enough head to try defending rather than running? Even less so.”

“Oh.” Nia suddenly feels very, very glad that her instinct seems to be to freeze and defend, rather than to fight or flee. In this case, it worked in her favor.

“Mystery dungeons are a fairly recent phenomenon, in the grand scheme of things,” Avery continues. “Less than half a century old. And considering how dangerous they are to study as well as how randomly and rarely they appear—at least until recently—many basic facts about how they function are still unknown."

Huh. Nia guesses that makes sense.

"So this is an incredible discovery!" Avery says, excited. "I’ll need to share with Father later and ask him to connect with the researchers and archivists at the other guilds. I wonder why those moves can interact directly with a mystery dungeon? Is the environment itself using an attack somehow?”

Avery’s voice trails off to a mutter, and Nia has to stop herself from responding. Because she knows the answer to that, thanks to Giratina. Knows that the weakening border around the Pokemon world is the cause of the mystery dungeons, and that it’s made of life energy, of aura, just like any Pokemon. It makes sense that moves, which also use aura as their base power, can interact with it.

But sharing that knowledge would mean admitting to her run-in with Giratina. It would mean sharing the news of the world ending, the news that their hopes currently hinge on finding a long-lost dormant legendary. And August is going to talk to Alistair and Tawny anyways, right? Nia doesn’t want to put that burden on Avery’s shoulders. Not when there’s nothing they can do about it. They’re having a good time, training together! There’s no reason for Nia to bother Avery with terrible news. Not yet.

Nia takes a break shortly after that conversation, starting to feel truly worn down. Tobias sits down beside her after his latest spar, panting hard after facing off against Xander. Felix and Avery battle in front of them, while Xander and Kry talk strategy and Val observes.

“Hey, you crazy kids!”

Nia and Tobias tilt their heads back to see Azami hanging over them. She must be done training her own students. The tsareena’s mouth is hidden behind her high collar, but her eyes are crinkled with a smile. “Good to see you back at the Tree in one piece.”

Tobias scoffs, but Nia feels the way he relaxes at her side. “What, you think we were going to lose an arm or something out there?”

Azami laughs. “I never know with you, Spitfire!”

The tsareena takes a seat on Val’s other side to watch the spar now that she’s done mentoring her own students. After a moment, she decides to cheer on Avery. Felix sends her a betrayed look in the midst of battle that results in him getting blasted by a fairy move. Val gets up a moment later to move to where Felix is groaning on the floor, a quiet lecture about getting distracted in battle likely on her tongue.

On Nia's other side, Tobias is now arguing with Kry and Xander about offensive versus defensive strategies. Tobias insists that offensive is best, of course, while Xander leans more towards defensive strategies. Kry seems to be arguing that going on the offensive is not aggressive enough, somehow.

Nia, left to drift in the middle, sits in contented silence, letting her fatigued aura rest. She watches Val talk to Avery next. The medicham’s stoic expression is softened ever so slightly as she directs the kirlia on how they could’ve better dodged a tricky aqua tail attack earlier in the battle.

Azami leans over to whisper to Nia, “You’re one of her favorites, y’know.”

“W-What?”

“Val,” Azami says. She straightens up, but keeps her voice low. “She didn’t have the greatest mentor growing up, so she tends to keep her students at arm’s length. But she always perks up when you and Spitfire are back in town.”

“Oh,” Nia says, unsure what else to respond with. Her ears feel warm.

She…wasn’t expecting that. Val doesn’t seem to hate being around Nia and teaching her, but Nia has a hard time believing that Val holds any particular fondness for her, either. Especially considering Nia’s inexperience with pretty much, well…everything. If anything, she’d thought Val might find her kind of exhausting to deal with. Not that the medicham ever let that slip, but she doesn’t let much of anything slip.

“Trust me,” Azami laughs. “Other than Alistair, I’m the best Val translator in the guild. We’re close.”

Her voice is sly, and Nia glances at the tall grass type.

Azami winks.

Oh, Nia thinks as her brows shoot up. She doesn’t want to assume anything, but Azami isn’t exactly subtle. Does that mean her and Val..?

Val finishes offering advice and returns to sit between Nia and Azami, stopping Nia’s moment of revelation. Still, she can’t help peeking over at the two Pokemon afterwards, trying to figure out if Azami was just teasing her or not. Azami does lean awfully close to Val when they talk, and the medicham doesn’t seem to mind at all. Then again, cool and collected is kind of her default state.

For a moment, Nia thinks, I could connect to Val’s aura to find out.

Then she registers that thought and tears her gaze away to watch the next spar, stomach turning uncomfortably. She’s going to need to be careful with how she practices this new technique. Every time she thinks she’s getting a grasp on her aura, getting comfortable with it, something new pops up to throw a curveball and make her feel like she’s handling a live bomb. It’s just…scary. To know she holds so much power.

Val calls it quits on everyone’s training soon after. Tobias and Xander’s team are radiating exhaustion, and they eagerly agree to break for a late lunch. While Nia isn’t physically tired, her aura is worn down to a fraction of its usual amount and that leaves her ready for a rest and a good meal, too.

“Wanna come with us to the dining hall?” Felix invites, smile broad as he stands and stretches.

Nia glances at her partner. Tobias seems uncertain, but doesn’t disagree immediately, so he’s probably just feeling shy about how to say yes without a fuss. Nia accepts for them both, and the group packs up to head down the Lexym Tree to the cafeteria floor.

As they leave, calling thanks to Val and Azami, Nia spots the tsareena slinging an arm around Val’s shoulders, laughing about something. Val’s mouth twitches into a small smile.

Nia bites back a smile of her own and hurries after her friends.

#pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #pokemon #riolu #kirlia #luxio #wartortle #fraxure #charmander #pmd seekers of soul #tesha writes #tesha draws

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mochiimadness · 3 months

Note

hi! i really like your works, so i'd like to request a ( sort of angsty ) scenario where the rottmnt boys react to their s/o losing their memories after getting injured from a bad guy fight, so they completely forget who the boys are

Hello! I want to preface this by saying: this is mostly from their POV, so their thoughts are very much self-blaming, even if what they think is not at all the case!

Slightly angsty, filled with self blame and anxiety.

Rottmnt x S/O who loses their memories after a fight

Neon Leon

Leo feels the weight of this horrible situation crush him like a fallen building.

If only he had just been a little faster- or planned ahead better

Maybe if he had been more serious about his s/o and their safety this never would have happened.

He’s in shock at first when you flinch away from him

Whether or not you were genuinely scared or just shocked at seeing a mutant ninja turtle-

It hurts him all the same because of one thing

The genuine confusion on your face-

No trace of recognition in your gaze

He shuts down for a few moments as his brothers try to figure out what they can do to help

The ringing in his ears grow loud until the high pitch whine is all he can hear

He can’t even see you nor his family in front of him anymore- everything far too blurry

Just vague shapes and blobs of color…

Distorted and unrecognizable

Is that how his s/o saw him??

All he can think is;

He should have gotten to you quicker

He couldn’t even portal to you because he didn’t know where you were.

It’s his fault that you don’t remember him,

The life you two have life together,

All the laughter you shared,

Just gone… like it never existed…

…

He should’ve been better.

Don Tron

Donnie’s already trying to scan his s/o and check for any injuries the second he finds them

What could’ve caused their condition??

Blunt force trauma to the head?

Mystical memory wipe??

What’s ever caused it, he’s going to find it

And he will not rest until he can reverse this.

Absolutely could not handle your reaction to him-

Not knowing who he is,

Not knowing all the wonderful progress you two made together,

Helping him with his experiments and machinery,

Getting comfortable with prolonged touch,

The late night rambles-

Immediately started murmuring the statistics of regaining your memory under his breath

You had to get their memory back- you absolutely had to.

Statistics be damned- he’s making sure it’s a 100% chance.

There’s anxiety gnawing away at him slowly from the inside,

Creeping and burning like static in his bones.

Not even the numerous photos he has of the both of you are helping- maybe it’s just too soon

You did just wake up after all… but why-

Why couldn’t he have prevented this?

All of his fail safes,

The numerous emergency alert devices he gave you,

He weapon he had specifically designed to be easy to conceal and have on you at all times,

Even his GPS tracker-

None of them had worked to keep you safe…

He failed, and this was worse than any experiment exploding in his face.

He failed you and now you have no idea about just how close you two actually are

…

He will fix this- there’s no room for error this time.

Mystic Mike

Mikey’s on the verge of waking up the person who was cruel enough to harm you this badly- just so he could beat them up again.

They hurt you- hurt you so bad you can’t even remember his name

Let alone everything you two have been through together

Mikey feels rage

At the situation,

At the villains who did this,

And at himself-

Why hadn’t he been strong enough to stop this?

He can throw buses, skyscrapers even,

He can maneuver his way around places with ease with his razzmatazz mastery

But what was all that strength and skill for if none of it could help you?

He’s frustrated enough to cry

But he’s also the quickest to compose himself

Several deep breaths in and out before he's able to pull himself together enough to crouch down beside his beloved s/o

Gently reassures you that he means no harm,

That you were in a bad fight and letting you slowly collect yourself.

He also uses photos- but rather than doing this to specifically try to jog his s/o's memories,

It's more to show them that they actually do know him-

Trying to get your memories back can wait for later,

His main focus is making sure his s/o is calm and comfortable around him- at least enough to trust that he won't harm them.

Once you feel that they can trust him- even if only a little bit,

He'll take you home and make sure you're alright physically.

Later on, he sneaks off quietly to the gym area

Demolishes the punching bag they had-

All of his worries and frustrations are taken out with every punch

Would you ever remember him?

If you never regained your memories, is there any chance you two would ever have the relationship you once had again??

They're going to need more punching bags,

All the extra ones are destroyed too.

His family is worried, but Mikey is only focused on two things;

Helping you remember him and getting revenge for you.

He will make sure this won't ever happen again.

Big Red

What do you mean you don't remember him??

You're his s/o!

His partner!

Surely you must be playing a prank or something-

He is in complete denial at first,

Then, as his family explains that no-

You aren't joking,

You genuinely don't remember him,

His denial shatters into gut wrenching dispair.

How did this happen-

Why did this happen?!

...

This was all his fault.

Why wasn't he there for you when you needed him??

He's suppose to be able to protect those who he cares about

Especially his beloved s/o

Yet he failed

He wasn't there,

He wasn't able to help you, to stop you from ever being hurt this badly

And now you can’t remember a single thing about him, your relationship together, nothing.

RAPH is still able to move and check on you-

Though, it’s more like hovering worriedly while Donnie and Leo do their best to patch you up

He is watching like a hawk, making sure that you’re in no additional discomfort or pain

Once you’re clear enough to be able to go home though

Raph is stressing

If you leave now you could get hurt again!

But he doesn’t want to scare you off by being too overbearing

Especially if he wants any chance of you remembering him-

He can’t cause you to feel uncomfortable around him- or worse

Frightened.

He’s able to stop his anxiety fueled spiral before it consumes him

Focusing on making you’re you get home safely

Even if you decline having him walk with you-

He’ll make sure to follow stealthily from a distance

Once he’s certain you’re absolutely safe and sound

He’s pacing around the lair and pulling at his mask

What if you don’t remember him?

Donnie said you likely just had “mild amnesia” but what if it was worse?!

There’s a chance you’ll never be able to remember him-

And it’s all his fault…

He couldn’t protect you

It all boils down to one simple fact ringing in his head:

He wasn’t there

…

He’ll make sure he’s always there

He will be there for you.

Hello, I hope you enjoyed

Also for those who may not have watched ROTTMNT- Mikey is shown to be a little angry ball of revenge at times, while Raph is shown to be full of anxiety and mother-henning™️

So they may seem a little ooc compared to other versions of them!

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flowery-laser-blasts · 5 months

Text

It's the year 2023 and so much has changed...

Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable-Possible, now in their mid-thirties, work alongside Global Justice with their own specialized team (including Wade, Felix, and Jim & Tim). As for Dr. Drakken and Shego... After helping prevent the invasion of the Warlordians, Dr. Drakken and Shego were pardoned from almost all of their prior crimes against the safety of the world and eventually became, in their own words, 'neutral'. At times, they even aid Team Possible with intel, after all; who knows more about how villains do than ex-villains?

Dr. Drakken started working on his own world-improving inventions because he realized that 'positive' recognition from the world feels better than being despised by everyone, and this way he can rub it even more into James Possible's face... Shego became an elite mercenary/hitwoman after tutoring the best of the best agents of Global Justice for 5 years -it was part of her 'community service'- She now works separately from everyone, but always comes back home before Drakken finishes making dinner.

One day, Dr. Drakken thought of a hypothesis: if television programs are just a glimpse into an alternative reality and aliens exist with their ultra-advanced technology, then who says that alternative timelines aren't real? "Maybe we could learn from that to improve ours!"

He worked tirelessly on trying to find out if alternative universes or timelines exist, maybe ones where he and Shego were always good and Possible and Stoppable were the baddies, imagine!

But then he found something...

Dr. Drakken found out that there was a timeline that lined up exactly with the one they were in, except something was drastically different. It was stuck in some kind of purgatory; stuck in place but also as if looping over and over again. Separate from everything surrounding it but at the same time trying to free itself from its slumbering state.

Drakken looked into it, fascinated that this timeline could co-exist with theirs but at the same time not. What changed? Then it hit him.

"Tempus Simia... that Monkey plan-- It actually happened!?" Dr. Drakken sometimes ruminated on the weird feelings he had on the day the trio, and Shego, decided to abruptly give up on that time-traveling plan. None of them ever said or mentioned anything about it to one another, especially Monkey Fist... he became different. Drakken wished he could ask him about what happened that day, but alas the man became a supernaturally petrified lawn ornament.

"Did Monkey Fist know something about that statue that we didn't? Did the plan work? Is that what that timeline is?" Drakken became ansty, he needed to know what happened. Not that he was going to return to being evil, no-no, this was purely scientific, and well- curiosity took the upper hand. Perhaps he was a fair ruler in this 'time capsule'.

After months and months of calculations and testing, he managed to do it; Drakken succeeded in making a portal device that could connect and stabilize the broken timeline to ours. Shego wasn't entirely sure about this plan but decided to stick around to ensure the man wouldn't end up killing himself and everyone on the planet in some freak accident.

After flipping the switches and turning on the safety protocols, the machine started producing a whirling sound. No sooner did a small portal form, giving them a glimpse of the dystopian world of the Supreme One. "Wow, that-- is that me?" Shego pointed at a fallen statue. "Sheesh, who would've thought the sidekick could ever take over the world, right Drew?" Shego teasingly jabbed his arm, making Drakken roll his eyes in response. "Shego, dumpling, darling love of my life, I've apologized thousands of times already, can you finally let it go?!" He received a snicker in response, "I guess not, nevertheless, let me concentra--!" A loud bang snapped the two out of their banter, "Dr. D? What was that?!" Shego instinctively lit her hands as the room turned dark for a moment, the whirling sounds of the portal device intensified, and no sooner bright red warning signs started flashing while a deafening alarm went off around them. Shego looked at Drakken, who was frantically trying to close the portal. "Something's trying to push its way into here! I-- I haven't been able to properly secure that part yet-- Shego!" Drakken's face paled as he looked back in the direction of the portal.

"The Supreme One, actually." An icy chill went through Shego's spine as she heard her own voice coming from directly behind her. "I already thought, what took you so long Doc? It's not fun being stuck in time; ain' I right, Dr. D?" Both Shego and Drakken watched in disbelieve at the arrival of the Supreme One's sidekick, who within seconds hurled himself at the machinery, destroying most of it and breaking off the connection to the fractured timeline.

Drakken tried to jump in and save what was left by making his flowers restrain the brute, but the man ripped the foliage away from him as if it were nothing. The sidekick threw Drakken aside and blocked Shego from trying to get to him, holding her in a lock.

The supreme one stepped closer and looked at her restrained self.

"Now that botany-boy is taken care of... tell us, Shego: Where is Kimmie?"

---

I hope you guys like my little sequel idea for 'A Sitch in Time'. I absolutely love this TV movie!! I'm not much of a writer but it was so much fun imagining this story while drawing!! As for the future designs of everyone: - Kim's outfit is based on Stephen Silver's older Kim design. - Ron now has a utility belt that actually works and gloves that can help him control his Mystical Monkey Powers. - Shego's outfit stayed relatively the same with some adjustments, why change what works right? - Dr. Drakken (now Professor Lipsky) traded his blue lab coat for a white one... dress codes apply at his shared workplace, but he still wears a blue dress shirt underneath it. Aside from that his eyes aren't as good as they used to be and his contact lenses were out of the question since they tampered with the eye-scanning-security-device (he ended up being left outside of the lab for 3 hours because of it), so now he just wears glasses.

I also wanted to include Rufus in the story; Now a senior rodent, Rufus spends his retirement days around the lab assisting Drakken with various experiments and small talk while Kim and Ron are on missions. Hope you enjoyed both the drawing and the mini fanfic!!

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eris-snow · 1 year

Text

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐭

✨Quirk accident

Tags: bakugou x fem!reader, fluff, bakugou's birthday series 2023

Bakugou and you get hit with an attachment quirk.

“So you’re telling me…” Bakugou growls, hand clenching yours. “We’re stuck like this.”

You don’t like Quirk accidents. Sure, you haven’t been in one, but you’ve heard plenty of stories of the sheer mayhem it could cause if the Quirk accidents weren’t handled properly.

Your Thursday that day had been used as a hands-on internship at your respective agencies because of a villain from the Hero Gala attack running around chaotically while setting things on fire.

There are two things that happened today:

Number 1: Bakugou and you caught the villain.

Number 2: The villain got you with his Quirk.

After a long, drawn-out interrogation that only ended around noon, Bakugou and you learnt the following.

The asshole’s Quirk was called “Attachment”, and meant that Bakugou and you had to spend your next 24 hours in each other’s presence. Sharing skin contact, as the villain explained weakly, was also needed in order to prevent both of you from suffering from panic attacks.

Your face heats up in utter embarrassment.

How cliche.

Aizawa takes one look at the both of you and declares the both of you as excused from your respective internships, before ordering you to shift all your necessary items into the living room. That was going to be the makeshift arrangement for this one night until the Quirk wears off.

Your homeroom teacher dismisses you with a tired yawn, and that’s when you’re shipped off back to the dorms with no one but yourselves to keep you occupied.

“This is stupid,” Bakugou snarls. “No way I’m sitting around here all day. You up for some hand-to-hand combat?”

Your heart jumps at the idea of normalcy, making you nod your head vigorously. “Let’s.”

The both of you make do with this. You change inside the bathroom while Bakugou stands with his back facing the door, and the physical combat checks out the villain’s lame Quirk criterias.

“Your kick is too low!” Bakugou yells at you while blocking your hit with his arm. “I know you can do better than that, Sunshine! Don’t start going fucking easy on me now!”

“It’s on,” You deadpan, landing a counterattack on his shoulder. “Don’t start getting all cocky, got it Bakugou?”

“Like hell, I will!”

That activity occupies you for a good few hours before you get back to the dorms.

After you’ve showered and gotten fully clothed, Bakugou and you try to complete homework. It’s obnoxiously subconscious, because that’s exactly when the Quirk starts to act up again.

You and Bakugou have a mutual, silent agreement to minimise as much physical contact as possible, and this Quirk had decided to derail your plan just for the fun of it.

Bakugou doesn’t like the idea of touching you. With his Quirk and the numerous number of people talking shit about how dangerous his Quirk is, he’s reframed from touching others ever since the dawn of middle school. He doesn’t want to hurt you, whether intentionally or not.

But even with all of this baggage, the pull towards you is too strong for him to ignore. He thought that just being there with each other would be enough to satisfy the Quirk, but apparently, he thought wrong. You look fidgety too, with the way you struggle on a math equation you can typically solve in your sleep.

Bakugou almost gives out when you stand up to walk towards the kitchen for a quick glass of water. It’s fucking stupid, that all it takes is 5 seconds without you and his hand is quivering aggressively with his breaths getting more laboured with the next. “Idiot,” He grits out, trying to ignore the anxiety that pools in his chest.

It only gets worse.

Unable to bear it any longer, Bakugou stumbles to his feet, staggering to where you headed without him.

He glares at the sight he sees when he rounds the corner. You’re stabilising yourself against a table, two quivering hands supporting your entire body was you take long, deliberate breaths.

“Dumbass,” He rasps, causing your head to shoot up to face him. The pull towards you is better now that you’re in closer proximity, but it’s not enough.

Those words echo off the walls of his brain.

Not enough.

He’s walking over to you, but it doesn’t do much to calm the storm of fear-stricken thoughts in him.

Not enough.

He takes one look at your face and grimaces. You’re having a hard time as well.

NOT ENOUGH.

Bakugou caves. “Give me your fucking hand,” He grits out, shoving his hand towards you. You don’t even think twice.

Your fingers intertwine as both of you take sharp inhales of relief, the haunting fear dissipating immediately the moment you make contact. “Never do that again,” Bakugou says, yanking a glass off the counter with you in tow, filling the cup up with water with one hand. “What were you thinking?”

“I didn’t want to bother you,” You reply, taking the glass from him, looking embarrassed. “Sorry.”

Bakugou clicks his tongue. You’re such a Dumbass sometimes. Red eyes flickering to your joint hands, and Bakugou swallows back his initial annoyance.

“Let’s just go back.” Bakugou settles on, dragging you to the living room where your study materials. He tries to ignore the feeling of your hand in his, tries to think of anything to keep his brain from spiralling into the direction he refuses to acknowledge.

Your hand is a perfect fit in his, like it was made to be there.

You hold hands like that the entire time you’re doing homework.

It's quiet and incredibly awkward at first, but soon you and Bakugou learn to ignore it, and soon conversations start up again with a lot more life than before.

You remember that day vividly. The hand holding, the constant contact, the innocence behind it because Bakugou never overstepped boundaries with you. He needed the contact just as much as you did, and instead of getting all handsy, he opted for the most innocent form of touch.

You remember falling asleep on the couch with his hand in yours long before your classmates arrive home. It was the evening, and you both are drained from every goddamn eventful thing that happened so far over the month of April. Cherry blossoms symbolise change, and oh, boy, did it symbolise how far gone you were when it came to your crush on the blond Boom Boom Man.

His birthday was coming up, and you still hadn’t planned out your gift for him. You glare at your phone as you and Bakugou sit there in a somewhat comfortable position, with his arm resting on the couch and your hand lying on his. You can feel your eyelids start to close, and with how exhausted you were, you manage to drift off with success.

Bakugou glances over at you and sighs, tugging your phone away from your face and placing his away too. Just watching you snore peacefully is enough to get him yawning too. He lays down on his arm, head resting on the couch near your face. Fuck if he cares if his neck hurts tomorrow morning.

All that he could focus on now was how comfortingly warm your hand was, and how he wished that he didn’t need a Quirk accident to grasp it for the first time. He’d need to man up someday to spit out his feelings to you.

for the first time. He’d need to man up someday to spit out his feelings to you.

That day just…wasn’t today.

When you wake up the next day, it’s to half the fucking class gaping at you in unhinged surprise.

Bakugou and you have a lot of explaining to do.

#mha #mha fanfiction #bakugou katsuki #katsuki bakugō #bakugo x you #bakugou x y/n #bakugou fluff #fluff #bakugou katuski x reader #my hero academia #bakugou's birthday series 2023

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cuddlyjongho · 4 months

Text

movie night

idol!jongho x fem!reader

warnings: smut, fingering, semi public, implied threesome, MDNI

okay but imagine this: you and all the members are having a movie night and you are cuddled up to your boyfriend jongho with a fluffy blanket covering the both of you. an intimate scene starts playing halfway through the movie and it happens to turn jongho on more than he thought it would…

he manoeuvres himself carefully so he has better access to you. he whispers in your ear “i want you so bad right now but this will have to do until later”. as confusion hits your brain you just feel his hand travelling up your thigh until it reaches your core. you bite your lip to prevent making a noise. you look at jongho and he just smirks at you, leaning in to ask “can i?”. you silently nod, excitement building inside of you.

he slips his hand past the waistband of your pyjama pants and into your underwear. your wetness becoming evident as he places a finger between your folds. he quietly hums in your ear, satisfied with how wet you are for him already.

looking around the room, you both can see that no one is moving their gaze from the large tv which gives jongho the go ahead to slide a finger into you. biting harder on your lip now he starts to slowly thrust his finger in and out, hitting just the right spot each time which builds the tension in your lower abdomen. the darkness of the room and blanket covering the two of you allows him to go faster, determined to make you cum with only one finger surrounded by his oblivious members.

after a few minutes you finally come undone and cum so hard you almost moaned out loud but you quickly covered your mouth with your hand and the blanket. you look at jongho after calming down and he’s just sitting there with the biggest grin ever, being so pleased with himself. in your head you’re already planning your revenge for him making you cum like that and having to stay quiet.

after looking around the room once more however, everyone is still engrossed in the movie but then you lock eyes with wooyoung. he’s sitting there with a smirk on his face and cocks an eyebrows at you. if the lights were on he would see how much you were now blushing. he then focuses his attention back to the movie, smirk still etched on his face.

unbeknownst to you, jongho noticed wooyoung had seen what you two had just done and texted him secretly. that text message simply said “come to my room when we get back to our dorm”.

you were in for a long night and you didn’t even know it yet…

#ateez smut #atz smut #jongho smut #choi jongho smut #jongho x reader #jongho imagines #ateez imagines #ateez fanfic

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vhagarlovebot · 1 year

Text

UNDER THE MOONLIGHT.

pairing: jake sully x omatikaya!fem!reader.

summary: jake has been acting weird and distant for several days now and you can’t stand it anymore. but when you decide to find out what’s going on, you see him with someone else and it’s definitely not what you were expecting.

warnings: avatar 1 jake. hurt/comfort. jealousy. first kiss and just pure fluff.

note: hi besties! here i am writing for some blue aliens as i said i was going to. if there are any mistakes i apologize but as some of you may know english is not my first language. hope you enjoy! reblogs and likes are greatly appreciated.

IT WAS LATE, way past eclipse, when you went looking for jake. you were a second away from giving the warning of his disappearance when you finally saw him getting lost in the forest with ninat.

he was laughing, unaware of the knife cutting through your chest at seeing them walking away from the clan for the third time in the week.

and it’s not like you haven’t asked him, curious to know what business does he have with her. it’s jake the one who hasn’t given you an answer, dismissing the topic altogether by just walking away.

this time, however, you decided to follow them.

you did not know what you were going to find but certainly them putting together a picnic wasn’t what you expected.

“this will help.” ninat says, taking out a flower from a basket and handing it to jake, who immediately smiles.

you feel like you’re watching something private but can’t seem to find the strength to walk away and leave them to it. a part of you believes that if you stay right there you will prevent something from happening.

you only look away when jake reaches for another flower in the basket, and places it behind ninat’s ear. only then, you decide it’s better if you go. you don’t want another reason to cry at night.

but eywa has other plans and just when you take a step to run out of there, a branch breaks giving away your location.

their conversation stops abruptly and you close your eyes praying they haven’t heard you.

jake laughs. “all right, come on out.”

you come out from your hiding place, feeling embarrassed, but jake doesn’t seems upset, he, as well as ninat, still has a smile dancing across his lips. the only difference is that ninat looks at you with a weird expression on her face. and when you turn your face to look at jake, she swiftly disappears.

“it wasn’t my intention—”

“well? do you like it?” he interrupts you, his cheeks a deep purple.

of course you like it. the night is your favorite time of the day because how pretty and breathtaking the forest looks. if you add a picnic, it’s simply just perfect.

but that doesn’t mean anything. it’s not for you.

"it's for you." he pulls you out of your thoughts, as if he could read your mind. "ninat— she helped me prepare it all week. i didn't know how to do it, i just... i wanted to have a night for just the two of us." he explains and you feel like the most stupid and lucky girl in all pandora.

jake takes your silence the wrong way, face falling a little. but you react before he begins to feel bad, jumping into his arms and wrapping them around his shoulders as you bury your face in the crook of his neck, breathing slow and calm puffs.

jake’s surprised at your reaction, given that this is the first time you two share more than just soft hand touches, and it takes him a good couple of minutes to finally wraps his arms around your waist, holding you tightly against his body.

“i thought this was all for ninat.” you admit, softly playing with his hair as he still has you in his arms.

“silly girl.” he coos, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “don’t you see how i feel about you?”

you leave a kiss on his cheek before pulling away, but just enough so you can see him, and inclining your head to one side, feeling how the blood rushes to your face.

“now i see.”

“hey, listen,” he cups your face with his hands. “i’m sorry for being a skxawng but don’t you ever, not for a second, doubt my feelings for you.”

jake’s words make your heart skip a beat and feel something you thought was only in the stories the sky people told. the stories about how does it feel to be in love; how calm and right would it feel. that’s exactly what you feel right at this moment being in his arms, feeling his heartbeat, his breath against your cheek.

you can’t tell what he’s thinking but his next movements are enough to give you an idea. he looks at you with such intensity that your whole body trembles, his touch like fire.

“i’m gonna kiss you, is that okay?” jake whispers, thumbs caressing your face.

you can’t talk, barely breathing actually, and just nod, slowly closing your eyes when you see jake leaning is head and shortening the distance.

his lips are soft and fit perfectly against yours. both of you had been waiting months for this to happen and now that is finally happening, is sweet and soft. jake has one arm around your waist while his other hand is cradling your face, lips moving slowly, tasting every second of it.

when jake pulls away you chase after his lips, making him chuckle. but you don’t open your eyes right away, feeling dizzy and oh so happy.

jake grabs your hand and you force yourself to finally open your eyes, immediately seeing his pretty smile. he helps you sit down on a blanket he borrowed specially for tonight. he lays down taking you with him, and you rest your head on his chest, and your hand just above his heart.

you spend hours talking and seeing the stars, him telling you stories about his planet and you telling him about all the things you love about yours.

you end up falling asleep in his arms, dreaming of a human jake, subconsciously thanking eywa for bringing him to you.

#📮 ⌇ my works ˖⋆࿐#jake sully #avatar #jake sully x reader #jake sully fluff #jake sully angst #jake sully x you #jake sully imagine #atwow x reader #avatar 2009

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mouschiwrites · 3 months

Note

Kai,Cole, and Jay x Light ninja! Reader that can turn invisible by Manipulating light. Like if your mad at them or one of ninjas catches them stealing their shirts or hoodies reader will turn invisible? But turning invisible takes a lot of energy so they might pass out asleep in the middle of being invisible.

Such a cool power!

Ninjago - Kai, Cole, and Jay With an s/o That Can Turn Invisible

Jay

He thinks your power is the coolest thing ever

He's asked you countless times to use it just so he can see (or I guess... not see??)

He knows it makes you tired, but he just really loves fangirling over how cool it is

And of course he asks you ten million questions about it

Sometimes he'll just pop a question about your powers randomly, even if it's totally off topic

"Can you see yourself in the mirror when you're invisible? Like, obviously I can't, but can you?"

"Wha—we're making dinner plans right now..."

He has absolutely roped you into countless pranks and schemes

You're the perfect partner in crime, and he takes full advantage of this

Sometimes he gets too excited though, and he'll forget that you get tuckered out

Whenever you pass out while invisible, he freaks out

He can't see you, he can't hear you, he has no idea what's happened to you

He'll just start waving his hands around, hoping to bump into you while he apologizes over and over (if it was because he was asking you to use his powers)

When he finds you, and when you come to, he apologizes yet again

He swears he'll never let it happen again

Then he's back the next day with another scheme or a plead for you to "do your thing"

Cole

He has a more quiet admiration for your powers

He does think they're amazing, but he doesn't push you around or ask for demonstrations like Jay does

He just takes what he can get; saving the oohs and aahs for when you actually use it in battle

He knows it tires you out, so he doesn't want to push you to use it when you don't have to

Whenever you do use it, he makes sure to tell you how cool you are

"Have ever I told you how cool you are?"

"Yes, actually."

"Oh. Well I'm telling you again!"

He tries to remind you not to push yourself

The worry he feels when you're unconscious and invisible is a driving factor for this

He really hates that brief moment of panic when he can't find you, especially when you're mid-mission

Whenever you end up pushing yourself too hard, he's always ready to take care of you (once he can locate you, I mean)

He'll carry you if he needs to, quickly delivering you to safety

And ofc snack time is a must, you need to replenish your energy!

He'll whip up the most fiendish yet tasty snacks you can imagine

They're weird, but very filling and nutrient-rich

Like, one time he made you just. a bowl of peanut butter. (with chocolate chips and strawberries and bananas on top)

Protein I guess?

In any case, you'll both feel better if you cuddle while you eat up :)

Kai

He loves to help you get creative with your powers

Especially when it means he gets to show off, too

He thinks your power is super cool, and he wants to see just how cool it can get

He'll push you pretty hard while training, trying to unlock new little tricks and strategies

He does this because he wants you to be the strongest you can be, but also to build up some endurance

He'd hate for you to get tired and pass out mid-battle, so he does everything he can to prevent that

As much as he loves you using your powers in battle, he also knows to be conscious of your energy levels

He'll remind you to cut back a little when he starts to get worried

If you do end up passing out in battle, he totally blames himself

After all he did to protect you—the training, the reminders, watching you carefully—he just feels like he failed you

He'll be completely bummed out by the time you come to again, and he'll apologize sincerely

From then on he'll just keep pushing you harder during training and being gentler on you in battle

It's quite contradictory, but he'd prefer you to pass out in the dojo if you're going to pass out at all

He'll insist on inserting himself in your fights so that you don't have to use your powers, and when you do use your powers he keeps close tabs on you by asking where you are frequently

(Which isn't always helpful, especially when you're trying to go unnoticed)

"Y/n? Where are you now?"

"Trying to be sneaky, if you don't mind!!"

Thank you for your request! And thanks for reading, take care sweethearts <33

(divider by saradika)

#ninjago #lego ninjago #ninjago headcanons #ninjago x reader #kai smith #kai smith x reader #kai x reader #jay walker #jay walker x reader #jay x reader #cole brookstone #cole brookstone x reader #cole x reader

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mint-yooxgi · 2 years

Text

{3} - Hotel California - Yandere!Demonic Entities!Ateez X Reader

Yandere AU & Demon AU - Based off of This ask and Hotel California by Eagles

Genre: Mature, Horror, Angst, Slight Humor

Pairing: Ateez X Reader (Focus on San & Mingi this chapter)

Words: 11,810

Warnings: Mental Illness: talks of past depression. Whore Knee thots. This is a Yandere story, it will contain themes such as stalking, violence, obsession, possessive natures, and just general overall creepiness and swearing. You have been warned.

A/n: Hope you all enjoy this next update to this series!! I think it shows a different side to the guys, honestly. I’d love to hear any and all theories you guys have about the story so far, or even what you thing might happen next!! I’ve got a lot planned, but that being said I’m surprised this part turned out as long as it did lol, but as always feedback is greatly appreciated!! Enjoy~

Main Story - Part Two

Heaving a deep sigh, you look at your reflection in the mirror, fingers grasping onto the edge of the counter for dear life. Wiping at your cheeks with the back of your one hand, you move to turn on the faucet in the next moment. You’re sick and tired of crying; you’ve done enough in the past two weeks to last a lifetime, and honestly, if it were up to you, you wouldn’t shed another tear over this matter. You don’t deserve to be upset, nor do they deserve any more of your tears.

Testing the temperature of the water with your hands, you decide it’s a decent warmth. Allowing the water to gather in your cupped palms, you splash some on your face, rubbing at your eyes in the next second. Turning the faucet off, you grab the towel on the counter beside you, and dry yourself off.

This is your life now, and even though you still have trouble accepting it, crying about it isn’t going to change anything. You’ve shed enough tears for the life you lost, and you promised yourself earlier that you were going to stop wallowing in your own self-pity. You do not want to go back there again.

Shooting your reflection a weak smile, you close your eyes. The feeling of your lungs expanding and contracting as you heave another deep breath serves to ground you, allowing your eyes to open to meet your gaze in the mirror once more. With one final curt nod at yourself, you’re exiting the bathroom.

Stepping back into the main area of your room, you notice only San stands there now. Where the other two went, you have no idea. Your brow furrows, especially since San looks more interested in observing the painting on the wall of a field of flowers than turning to face you.

“They went to feed, by the way,” his voice cuts through the silence as he feels your gaze on his back, only momentarily though, for you’re shifting to look at the painting in the next second as you come to stand just a little ways behind him.

Oh, so badly does he want to turn and face you right now, but the feeling of your gaze flicking over his form, even only for brief a moment, prevents him from doing so. He knows you have more questions, and he will happily answer any and all that you may have.

“I know you’re curious,” he chuckles, and he hears you huff out a breath. “You need only ask, and we- I will tell you everything you want to know.”

“Stop reading my mind.” You reply, irritation slightly apparent in your words as you cross your arms in front of your chest. Then, as if deciding against your better judgment, “what do you mean by ‘feed’?”

This time, San cannot prevent the way he smiles as his body turns towards you. Finally, you’re asking about them. The mild curiosity he can sense floating through your mind surrounding them raises his spirits more than you’ll ever know.

“We can survive on regular food for a time, but we need something a little more substantial to survive.” He tells you, lips still tugging upwards at the corners.

“So, you do drink blood.” You say, eyes wide as you nod faintly in understanding.

“Yes, and no,” another voice coming from your open doorway draws your attention, turning to see Mingi entering your room. “It can sustain us, but it’s more of an aphrodisiac than anything. Something we only consume for fun every now and then.”

“It’s like alcohol that way,” San adds. “We don’t necessarily need it to survive, but boy, does it make things more entertaining.”

“Should I be worried?” Your attempt at a joke, needing to make light of the situation right now.

The two men share a brief look as Mingi comes to stand beside his brother.

“If you were to ever offer us your blood, then most likely,” Mingi replies, nothing but honesty interwoven with his words. “Right now, I don’t think even we would be able to tell you how we would act should we ever get a taste of your blood.”

Your heart skips a beat, fear coursing through your veins.

San shoots the taller male a narrowed eyed look.

“You don’t have to worry about us drinking your blood,” San assures you, turning his gaze back onto your figure. “We swore that we would never hurt you, or do anything along those lines that you’re uncomfortable with.”

“But if I offered, you would take it.” It’s not quite a question that you pose as you eye them warily up and down.

Of course, San immediately replies within his mind.

Without question. Mingi adds, unbeknownst to you.

Anything you have to offer them, especially if you give a part of yourself to them willingly, they will take. In a heartbeat. It’s one thing they’ve always wanted; one thing they’ve always desired.

“Let’s take it one step at a time, yeah?” San smiles at you, though you’re not very reassured.

You purse your lips, blinking at the two men before you. “You still haven’t answered my original question.”

“We just don’t want to scare you.” Mingi replies softly, San’s lips twitching as he nods once in agreement.

“Look, I said it earlier, and I’ll say it again, but if this is going to work, then we’re going to need to learn to trust each other.” You look from one male to the other. “Would you rather tell me now while I’m mildly curious, or have me find out later when I potentially trust you, and have it freak me out so much it breaks that trust?”

“Touché,” San’s eyebrow quirks, his expression mirroring the smugness he feels at having heard you say that you’re curious about them, even if only mildly. An expression which he knows is mirrored on his brother’s face right now.

“We need to feed on souls to survive,” Mingi tells you, watching as you stiffen, even if only slightly. He sighs, “see, I knew you would be scared.”

“Listen,” you echo his sigh, running a hand over your face in the process, “this is still a lot for me to take in. Two weeks ago I didn’t even know creatures-“ you hesitate, unsure of what to refer to them as, “beings such as yourselves existed. I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that you guys can teleport tremendous distances in mere seconds.”

“That’s not all we can do,” San smirks, loving the way curiosity continues to tug at your mind. “But how about we save that for later?”

“Why not just tell me now?” You quirk a brow, crossing your arms in front of your chest.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Mingi grins. “We have to keep you interested in us somehow.”

“Touché,” you echo San’s word from earlier. A moment later, and your eyes are drifting past their heads and to the painting on the wall once more. “Fine then. Tell me about that painting behind you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an art style like that before. I’m curious to know who chose it, and why you decided to put it in my room.”

“Oh, this?” Mingi quirks a brow, turning to look at the aforementioned artwork on the wall behind him.

“Yunho painted it.” San says, almost nonchalantly with a small shrug.

“He paints?” You voice, clear disbelief on your features as you take a few steps closer to examine the artwork in more detail.

“Paints, draws, you name it,” San continues, a small huff of amusement escaping his lips as he witnesses your eyes shine with a spark he hasn’t seen in them since you first got here.

Both men watch you carefully as you step past them to observe the canvas. Each cannot deny the way your look of wonder makes their hearts race inside their chests, even if it’s not something of theirs that you are admiring. They’ll be sure to share this with Yunho later. Their brother should be very pleased to know that finally something he has done for you has made you smile.

Sure enough, as you step closer, you take in the details of the painting. The colours are a soft pastel, blending well together and portraying an image of a clear spring day. A breeze drifts through the field of flowers. Flowers of which you notice are some of your favourites. The forget-me-nots dotting the canvas with their soft pale blue petals elicit a breathless gasp from your mouth as your lips part.

“Did he-“ the words die in your throat as your fingers come up to cover your mouth, the pads pressing lightly against your lips as you continue to stare at the canvas in awe. Your heart clenches slightly, and you have half the mind to ignore the feeling for the moment.

“When he gets back, why don’t you ask him yourself?” Mingi suggests, voice gentle as his eyes crinkle at the sides, a kind smile resting on his features.

You blink, seemingly collecting yourself and your thoughts as you clear your throat. You can practically feel the way that they’re both looking at you right now, soft smiles adorning their features. They’re gazing at you akin to how you were just looking at the painting: nothing but awe and wonder reflected in their eyes.

Finally, they’ve done something right.

“Anyways…” you swallow the sudden dryness in your throat, turning away from the canvas in the next moment as your hand drops back to your side. “I should probably unpack now.”

Turning towards your suitcases, you’re quick to close the distance between yourself and them. A few seconds later, and you’ve hauled one onto the mattress, unzipping it and throwing it open to reveal your clothes, some of which that have been haphazardly thrown into each compartment.

“Do you want us to leave?” Though it pains him to say it, Mingi manages to get the words out. Both he and San cannot help but to recall your words from earlier, echoing through their minds as they are both reminded of the shattered coffee cup that had remained in the lobby until Wooyoung had cleaned it up.

You pause for a moment, tossing the sweater you had just been holding in your hands onto the couch a little ways from where you stand now. You still cannot get over how grand this place is.

“Eh,” you shrug one shoulder, “just don’t make it weird.”

Besides, you know exactly which suitcase contains your more delicate items of clothing. That one you can simply unpack in the large walk-in closet without them peeping on things.

A warmth blooms in each of their chests, and San has to suppress the smile that wants to paint his lips as he sits on one side of the couch. Mingi, unashamedly, lets his content smile stretch across his face as he takes the opposite end of the sofa, your sweater resting in-between the two men.

A few minutes pass in silence, the two males content with just watching you work around the room. It takes you less than ten minutes to unpack the first suitcase, pulling another one along and plopping it onto the bed in the next moment. Only, as soon as you reach to unzip it, you pause, a furrow to your brow.

“Wait,” you subconsciously say your thoughts out loud, “what time is it?”

“Just past two in the afternoon,” Mingi supplies for you without so much as looking at a clock. “Why?”

You go to reach for your phone that rests charging beside your bed. Sure enough, Mingi is right. Seeing that it’s at full battery, you’re quick to unplug it.

“Well, like I said earlier, my parents are probably worried sick about me,” you say, going in to check your notifications that you’ve missed over the past two weeks. Sure enough, you see dozens of messages from your parents, and your sister, asking you where you are, and what happened to you. “I’m calling my mom. You two,” you turn to give them a sharp look, “stay quiet.”

Two seconds later and they can hear the familiar sound of a dial tone and then the tell tale ringing of an outgoing call. Each man watches you carefully, hearing your thoughts begin to consume you as anxiety takes hold.

What are you going to tell your mother? Will she even pick up? What if she starts asking too many questions? Are your parents okay?

It’s on the fourth ring that your mother answers your call, her face appearing on screen as a relieved smile paints your own features. You seriously didn’t realize just how much you missed her, or your father for that matter.

“Sweetie, oh my goodness!” Your mother greets you with a gasp, nothing but worry reflected on her features. “Are you alright? Where have you been? What have you been up to? What’s going on? Where are you?”

“I’m fine, mom,” you shoot her a smile, feeling as if a weight has been lifted from your shoulders as you see a familiar face. “I’m sorry I went a bit off the grid for a while, I just-“ you heave a sigh, running a hand over the top of your head, “needed a break from things.”

“Oh, sweetie,” your mother coos. “It happens to the best of us. As long as you’re okay.”

“I’m okay, mom. I’m okay.” You assure her, but at this point, you honestly don’t know if it’s more for her or for you.

“Where did you go?” She asks, and you can see her sit down on the living room couch in your family home, your father sitting on the opposite end as she angles the camera to include him in the frame.

“Hi, dad,” you shoot him a small wave as his eyes widen and he scoots forward to see you better. “I’m sorry for giving you both a scare.”

“We were worried sick about you, honey.” Your father voices softly, taking the phone momentarily from your mother’s hand. His concerned face fills the entire frame as he frowns. “We were about to put out a missing person’s report since you haven’t contacted us in so long, and you usually call or message every few days.”

“Yeah,” you chuckle awkwardly, shooting a sidelong glance at the two males sitting on the couch and watching your every move, “sorry about that.”

“What happened?” He mirrors your mother’s worried tone as he shifts to include her in the frame.

“I needed a break from work,” you reply honestly. “I took a weekend for myself, and it just made me realize that life is too short to be wasting my youth behind a desk at some stupid job that I’m already starting to hate. I just needed some time for myself.”

The partial lie falls from your lips so easily. Well, it’s like they say: the best lies contain partial truths.

“But not contacting us for two weeks?” Your mother stresses, her hand grasping at your father’s arm for support. You can just tell she’s getting a bit choked up. “Sweetie, we thought you died. Or something worse had happened to you. We didn’t know if we would ever see you again!”

“I know, mom,” you sit yourself on the bed, angled away from the two men so they don’t appear in the frame. “I’m sorry for worrying you, it won’t happen again. I promise.”

“Your sister was convinced that you met someone and ran away together,” your father jokes, attempting to lighten the mood if only slightly.

Oh, if only they knew the truth. You blink, gaze darting to the side to see both San and Mingi looking at you with amused quirks to their brows.

“You could say that,” you chuckle, shaking your head as if to dismiss the thought. “The running away part, that is."

Only, your mother doesn’t see it that way. Instead, a dramatic gasp is escaping her lips as she takes the phone from your father.

“Holy crackers! Sweetie! You did, didn’t you?” She smiles, her eyes shining at the thought.

“No, mom, it’s nothing like that-“

“Who’s the lucky guy?” She cuts you off with a wiggle of her brows. Then just as quickly, she adds, “or girl!”

“The important thing is that you’re happy,” your father adds with a nod. “And they treat you right.”

“Woah! Okay, there,” you hold up a hand, waving it frantically in the air as if to tell them to wait a second as a heat rises to your cheeks. “There’s no one like that yet! I’d tell you if anything were to happen.”

Your parents both chuckle, and you fail to see the way both males stiffen at your words. Sure, they’re upset that you’re essentially hiding them from your parents, but the language that you used only serves to kindle that spark of hope you gave them earlier today. There’s no one like that yet.

Yet.

Which means they still have a chance.

“Well, okay, sweetie,” your mother smiles knowingly as you laugh nervously. “If you say so.”

Oh, you can just tell she does not believe you. So, of course, you’re quick to change the subject. “How have you two been?”

The next thirty minutes are spent talking to your parents and catching up on all that you’ve missed. You tell them a bit about your little trip that you took considering your mother pointed out the luxurious room you seem to be staying in. (Both San and Mingi had smirked at that, pride filling their chests at somewhat gaining your mother’s approval for something, even if she is none the wiser.) She tells you about the day trip they took to the countryside, telling you that you’ll all have to plan something when you get back from however long you’ll be taking for yourself.

“Speaking of, how long do you think you’ll be gone?” Your mother asks, shifting her position on the couch as she leans further into the cushions.

“I’m not sure mom,” you reply, truthfully. “I won’t be back any time soon, that’s for sure.”

“Well, okay, dear,” she hums. “Just keep us updated and let us know if you need anything. We’re here for you, and we always will be.”

Your breath hitches in your throat, suddenly overcome with a tremendous sense of gratitude towards your parents. “Thanks, mom.”

“Seriously sweetie,” your father chimes in. “Anything at all, we’ve got you covered.”

“I really appreciate it,” you smile, a warmth settling in your chest and spreading throughout your body as you look at their happy faces staring back at you through the screen. “I should probably get going, though.”

“Alright then, sweetie, you have a good rest of your day!” Your mother cheers, her eyes shining in content at getting to talk to you once more after so long. “If you get a chance, you should call your sister. She’s also been really worried about you.”

“I will,” you promise, waving to both your parents. “Talk to you later.”

“Bye-bye, sweetie! Love you lots!” Your mother waves back, along with your father, both smiling at you fondly.

“Love you, too,” your lips twitch upwards almost sadly as you say your final goodbyes, ending the call in the next minute.

Tossing your phone onto the bed beside you after locking it, you rub your hands over your face. Your shoulders hunch as you take a few deep breaths to steady your nerves, conflicting emotions of utter joy and sorrow swirling within your chest. With a deep exhale, you’re dropping your one hand, tossing your head back as the other runs over the back of your neck, rubbing at the sore muscles there as your eyes close.

You can just feel their gazes on you as you crack your neck.

“Not a word,” your eyes snap open, turning to look at both males still sitting on the couch as a heat once more rises to your face.

San simply smiles at you innocently, while Mingi raises his hands in front of himself as if to tell you that he won’t say anything.

Despite the semi-embarrassment at having them listen in on that entire conversation with your parents, you still cannot deny the overwhelming sense of happiness you feel at getting to talk to them again after so long. Not only that, but gratitude.

You fumble with your hands in your lap, refusing to meet their gaze as you mumble a small ��thanks’.

They simply quirk their brows at you in response.

“You know,” you finally turn your head to look at them once more, meeting each of their gazes as you continue, “for trusting me enough to do that.”

Still, you hate the fact that you feel as if you need their permission to do anything. You hate feeling trapped, like you’re not in control of your own life. That’s the part you resent most.

“Of course,” Mingi smiles at you softly, eye shining as your emotional thoughts wash over him, even the bitter ones.

“It’s like we said before,” San smiles, mirroring the fond look shining in his brother’s eyes, “we only want to make you happy.”

You nod, and although it’s small, in the back of your mind, you’re starting to finally believe them. A fact which could not make them any more glad than they already are, pride warming their chests as content growls build within. Again, finally, they’ve done something that’s good.

“Did you want to finish unpacking?” San asks, eyes flitting to your still unopened second suitcase lying on the bed beside you.

“Maybe later,” you shrug. “Can you show me to the kitchen?”

Immediately, San perks up even further, “if you’re hungry, I could make you something.”

“I appreciate it,” your lips quirk upwards, “but I don’t expect you to cook for me every time I want something.”

“That kind of defeats the whole purpose of us taking care of you,” Mingi jokes, a teasing quirk to his lips as you see San pout at your words.

“I am fully capable of taking care of myself, you know.” Your lips tug upwards in the corner, the ghost of a smirk gracing your features. “Been doing it for years.”

“We know,” Mingi grins. “We just wish you would let us do more for you.”

Only San truly understand the deeper implications behind those words, but you do not fail to catch the way both their eyes flash as they meet your gaze.

“Well, you can start by showing me the kitchen.” You reply with a nod, motioning to the couch with your one hand outstretched in the next second. “But first, can one of you toss me that sweater?”

It’s like watching two rabid dogs go after a piece of raw meat after being starved for two days. Mingi grabs the sleeves of the hoodie while San grabs the bodice, each tugging it in a different direction to pull it closer to them as they stand.

“Let go,” Mingi growls, his eyes flashing black in warning at his brother as he tugs the sweater closer to his body.

“No, you let go,” San retorts, his own eyes flashing black with a snarl on his lips as he pulls the hoodie towards himself.

Like hell are they going to let the other do something for you, especially not when you’ve asked them so nicely. It’s the whole bar situation of the first night all over again, each wanting to prove to you how they can provide for you. Whatever they can do to make you like them more for the moment, they will. After all, progress is still progress, no matter how small.

Shaking your head, you take a step towards them in order to make your way over and simply grab your hoodie from their hands. Only, before you can move more than two steps, you’re freezing in your tracks.

For the second time that day, the sound of tearing fabric reaches your ears.

Your lips part and your eyes go wide in shock as you watch both males turn to look at you with equal expressions of disbelief on their faces. In each of their hands, they hold a piece of fabric that was once your completed sweater, the material clinging on to it’s original form for dear life as the sleeves quite literally hang on by only a thread.

“My hoodie,” your voice comes out small, high-pitched in disbelief as your expression drops, a pout painting your features. That was one of your favourites, too.

“Shit,” San curses at the same time Mingi swears, “fuck.”

“Baby, we’re so sorry,” San says, eyes pleading with you to believe him as he clings to your sweater for dear life.

“Just-“ you’re so stunned that you don’t even register the pet name he’s just called you, sighing in the next moment as you pinch the bridge of your nose, “put it down.”

Gently, they place the sweatshirt back onto the couch.

“Seriously, we didn’t mean to-“ Mingi begins, before you’re cutting him off quite sharply.

“It’s fine.” It’s not, really, but it’s only a sweater. You’ll live. “Accidents happen.”

At least their remorse is genuine, each male standing there sheepishly as you exhale another sigh. Besides, it can most likely be fixed, but you’ll deal with that later.

“So,” you begin, “the kitchen?”

“Right!” San jumps at the opportunity to guide you, stepping around your couch with a small ‘follow me’ in the next moment.

Wordlessly, you let him lead you out of your room and down the hallway, Mingi following close behind. Neither of them say anything for the time being, thoughts consumed with the idea that they’ve just let you down after just getting you to open up to them slightly. The one thing you asked them to do for you and they’ve already screwed it up.

Then, a brief thought from you has them both perking up.

It can be fixed.

Even though it’s not technically directed at them, the fact that you even thought of a potential solution has their moods perking up momentarily. Perhaps things are not as bad as they seem.

“There are actually two kitchens on the premises,” San explains as he steps into a room not too far off from the bar area, if you recall correctly.

“Of course there are.” You huff out an amused laugh. “I’m guessing the other one is in the opposite wing?”

“That would be correct,” Mingi nods, already sitting at the counter on one of the stools.

“Then I guess you’ll have to show me that one later,” you hum, eyes taking in the details of the cabinets before you.

The kitchen is fairly large in size, bordering on a cross between the size of an industrial workspace, and a conventional home design. The countertops are granite, that much your can tell, and there’s a separate gas stovetop off to the side. A large fridge sits against one wall, as well as two ovens just beside it, stacked on top of each other. The cabinets match the design nicely, and you find yourself nodding your head subconsciously in approval as you take in the space.

Little do you know of the smile that graces San’s features at hearing your impressed thoughts. Finally, a space that is his, and he can share it with you. Plus, you approve? There is simply nothing sweeter in this moment for him than this feeling right now.

Walking over to the fridge, you reach out towards the handle. Only, before you can pull it open, you hesitate, unsure of whether or not simply raiding their food stash would technically be considered rude at this point.

“Go ahead,” Mingi assures you with a smile and a nod, even if you’re not looking at him.

“What’s ours is yours.” San adds, leaning against the counter with a content look on his features as he watches you pull the fridge open.

The sight that greets you has your eyes practically bulging out of your head. Each shelf is stocked with everything and anything you can think of, and more. You seriously don’t have to worry about going hungry while you stay here, for they have everything you could ever want - everything you could ever need.

Nodding to yourself, a faint smile tugs at your lips as you reach in to grab some fruits. In no time at all, you’ve gathered some apples, a few peaches, some grapes, a package of strawberries, and a melon, placing them on the counter beside the sink.

Turning back to the cabinets with your hands on your hips, your brow furrows. If I were a bowl, where would I be?

San simply smiles to himself as Mingi lets out a soft chuckle. Wordlessly, San is opening a cabinet, handing you two large bowls as you nod to him in thanks. Placing the bowls on the counter, you realize that you’re still missing two things.

Yet again, when you turn around, San is already holding exactly what you need, placing the cutting board onto the counter before turning around and grabbing two different knives from their holders. Though, you notice him hesitate before placing them down, keeping them held steady in his hands as he faces you.

You quirk a brow at him, hands still resting on your hips as you look at him expectantly.

“Forgive me if I’m a little hesitant to give you a knife.” He replies, worry furrowing his brow.

You know that they’re both probably worried that you’ll either try to hurt them, or worse, yourself. Only, you have no intentions to do so. Not only have they proven that they’re faster than you, so even if you tried to attack them, it would be pointless, but also stronger, too. Besides, they can read your every thought, and you’d rather not try to dissociate again to make your mind blank for a surprise attack.

“Says the demon holding them in his hands while he faces me.” You counter, a slight tilt to your head.

Again, Mingi chuckles, watching as San places the knives on top of the counter for you.

“Fair enough,” San hums, taking a step back to give you some space.

You shoot him a small smile in thanks as you step closer to the sink to begin washing the fruit. You get about halfway through washing when you notice San’s presence lingering just over your shoulder.

You shoot him a pointed look, “stop hovering. Sit.”

“I’m not-“ the protest dies in his throat as both you and Mingi give him a look. “Fine.”

Grumbling under his breath, San makes his way beside Mingi on the opposite side of the counter, pulling out a stool and sitting down right beside him. Carefully, he rests his forearms on the stone, mirroring the exact same position that Mingi is sitting in.

The whole time you work, both males watch you intently, smiles on their faces. They often think of saying something, but the silence that settles over the three of you is comfortable, and they are more than content to listen to your unfiltered thoughts as you move around the kitchen.

Honestly, this moment in time with you is so peaceful, that they can already picture your future together. They wouldn’t mind if every day were like this, a blanket of ease settling over you all as the day moves forwards. You’re making them so unbelievably happy right now, and you don’t even realize it yet.

San cannot help but let his thoughts wander as he shifts his position so that his head is leaning in the palm of his hand as his elbow rests against the counter. Exhaling a dreamy sigh, he watches you with a soft gaze, picturing moments like this with you in either one of his two kitchens.

The two of you would be cooking together, perhaps you helping him to prep your favourite meal. He would come up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and burying his head into the side of your neck, inhaling your scent deeply.

Then, his thoughts shift, darkening along with his gaze as he pictures you being covered in his scent as he does so. The idea of you smelling like him, and him like you after a night of passion has desire swirling in his chest. His eyes begin to swirl with that all too familiar blackness as he envisions you begging him for more, leading to him taking you right on this very counter. Your legs would be thrown over his shoulders as he indulges himself in what he’s sure would be the best meal of his entire life. Fuck, what he wouldn’t give to be between your legs right now…

A harsh elbow to his ribs jolts him out of his all too vivid thoughts, Mingi shooting a side-eyed glare at his brother for his much too loud thoughts projecting themselves into his head.

Oh, please, like you wouldn’t be thinking the exact same things if you got a chance to see her working behind your bar. San rolls his eyes, noticing how Mingi’s gaze darkens.

In the next second, Mingi’s thoughts are overcome by the same exact desires. It’s exactly as San suggested, Mingi picturing what it would look like for you to be mixing drinks with him behind his bar. Slowly, the image shifts, and Mingi can see himself standing between your legs as you sit on top of the counter, your hands tangled in his hair as he kisses you. You’d wrap yourself around him, pulling him in closer to you as his hands found purchase on your thighs, squeezing the flesh appreciatively and eliciting the sweetest of sounds from your lips, He’d kiss down your neck, biting on the skin there before sinking to his knees, your hands still tangled in his hair as his lips-

That’s what I thought. San’s smug voice is cutting through Mingi’s all too vivid daydreams about eating you out on top of his bar.

Oh, fuck off. Mingi grumbles. You started it.

Can you blame me? San has to resist the urge to quirk a brow as he sees you cutting into the fruit so delicately, the juices dripping down your fingers just like how yours would drip down his chin as he makes you come over and over again for him from his tongue alone.

Not one bit, Mingi replies, attempting to control his breathing as his gaze darts to your lips, watching as your tongue swipes out to wet them as you concentrate on cutting the fruit. Fuck, what he wouldn’t give to feel them pressed against his own, against his body, wrapped around his cock… You probably taste just as sweet as the fruit you’re cutting into, too.

It’s subconscious, and both males believe that you don’t even realize that you’re doing it, but the song that begins to float through your thoughts as you cut into a peach nearly has a groan escaping their lips. They didn’t think it could get any worse for them and their all too vivid desires practically drowning their thoughts in everything you, but then you start humming. That same damned song, too.

Pretty girl, you’re like peaches. You chuckle to yourself, forgetting momentarily where you are. Then, in the next moment, you’re chuckling to yourself as you toss some slices into the bowl before you. Oh, Jongin, if there ever were a contest for the most obvious cunnilingus song out there, you’d certainly be the winner.

“Who is this ‘Jongin’ guy, anyways?” San’s bitter voice manages to pull you out of your thoughts.

Your eyes widen, managing to drop the halved peach in your hands onto the counter in shock. In the next moment, you blink, seemingly coming back to reality as you pick up your dropped fruit to continue cutting it and tossing it into the bowl.

“Kai? He’s just some idol,” you reply casually.

“Yeah, we gathered as much,” Mingi replies, somewhat shortly.

You raise your head to look at both of them, noticing how they practically scowl at the counter beneath their hands. Realization crosses your features, and a smirk pulls onto your lips. Perhaps you’ll have a little fun with this while you can.

“Well, he’s an excellent dancer,” you begin. “Certainly knows how to move his body. Especially his hips, if you know what I mean.”

It’s faint, but you swear you hear Mingi growl.

“His first solo release was better in my opinion,” you continue, having finished cutting all the peaches and moving on to the last fruits you have left to add to the bowl. “More sensual.”

A mental image appears in their minds as you envision what appears to be a music video in your own. A man is enticingly rolling his body with an open shirt as backup dancers flank him on either side, the tune playing throughout your head. You lick your lips, and action of which does not go unnoticed by either of them.

“He’s from one of my favourite groups, too. Though, he might not necessarily be my favourite in the group.” You add. Then, almost dreamily, “he is very handsome, though.”

Honestly, you’re surprised the counter hasn’t crumbled beneath San’s hands, given how tightly he’s gripping it right now. Though, Mingi isn’t fairing much better, a vein in his neck popping as he strains against every nerve in his body to hunt this idol down and kill him for daring to consume your thoughts for more than a second. Especially in this way.

“You kind of remind me of him,” you meet San’s gaze for a brief moment as you lean forwards. “Your eyes are similar.”

His mind blanks. Did you just, in a roundabout way, call him handsome?

A smile faintly tugs at his lips, a sense of smugness washing over him. If only it could last…

In the next moment, you’re humming, as if disappointed in something. “Though, I think he’s taller.”

This time, your eyes briefly meet Mingi’s, and it’s now his turn to freeze. Is this your roundabout way of saying you’re into taller men?

Mingi’s heart races in his chest, a sense of satisfaction flooding his veins as his lips quirk upwards at the corners.

“Though, he’s not the idol I think is the most handsome, but that’s subjective,” you shrug. “I much prefer his best friend. His brother, if you will.”

At this, both men straighten, inhaling sharply. Just like that, you’ve managed to burst their little bubbles, their minds swirling with disgust at the fact that you would praise another man like this in front of them. The worst part is, now, there seems to be another.

“Taemin’s a bit of a dork,” you smile softly, your tone dripping with affection. “Well, a crackhead is more like it. He’s also a great dancer. Very kind, and very easy to love.”

This time, there is no mistaking the snarls that tear from their throats. A fact in which has your eyes going wide. Perhaps you’ve taken this a bit too far, you don’t want to push them any further than you already have. You still don’t know what they’re entirely capable of, and the fact that their eyes have bled black is in no way reassuring.

“Relax,” you’re rolling your eyes in the next moment, “I didn’t say I was in love with him. There’s a difference.”

You freeze, knife pausing halfway through the last apple you have to cut. You have no idea why you just said that. Why you felt the need to reassure them, or even clarify that simply ideology you’ve had since you were small, is unbeknownst to you. What you do know, however, is the effect your words have on them, for they both seem to calm down, even if only slightly, at this revelation.

“Are you in love?” San asks, somewhat quietly, clearing his throat slightly as he suddenly avoids your gaze. “With anybody?”

You take a moment to consider his words, an amused huff escaping your lips in the next second, “isn’t that just the million dollar question right there?”

They both look at you, darkness swirling in their gazes at the thought of you being in love with another. They know it’s way too soon for you to be in love with one of them, or one of their brothers, and even though they can hope, they know it’s not possible. It just doesn’t work like that.

“To answer that,” you sigh, placing the knives in the sink along with the used cutting board as you begin to clean up the small mess you’ve made, “no. I am not currently in love with anyone.”

Then, within your mind, even though you don’t mean to, you add: not even myself.

Both men are caught completely off guard by your mental admission, staring at you with wide eyes as you dig through some drawers for a fork after setting the now washed dishes off to the side to dry. A few moments later, and you’ve grabbed a smaller bowl, tossing some pieces of fruit into it so you can finally eat. Wordlessly, you push the larger bowls towards them, silently offering them some fruit as well.

“So,” you say, looking back up to meet their gazes as you spear a piece of strawberry onto your fork, “are one of you going to show me around this place, or am I meant to wander around on my own?”

Immediately, both males are on their feet, the sound of the stools that they had just been sitting on scraping against the floor echoing around the room. They watch as you move around the counter to stand beside them, fork resting against the skin of your lips as your tongue darts out to wet them. You quirk a brow.

“Follow me,” Mingi says, beginning to lead you back out of the kitchen and to the hallway.

However, before you leave, you watch, practically mesmerized, as San leans over the counter to grab a piece of fruit from one of the bowls. Not just any piece of fruit, though. A peach slice.

Without breaking eye contact, he pops the piece of fruit into his mouth. You have to strongly resist the urge to swallow the sudden dryness in your throat as you watch his tongue dart out to lick at the drop of juice that drips down the corner of his lips. He smirks.

“Are you coming?” Mingi’s voice from the open doorway manages to pull you out of whatever daze you were in, your mind reeling at the double meaning that could be interpreted in his words.

“Yeah,” you clear your throat, hoping that both men ignore whatever it was that just went through your mind.

Unfortunately for you, that does not seem to be the case. You can just tell from the way that San easily catches up to you, his fingers ghosting along the skin of your lower back as he guides you along the hallway, that he’s caught your all too vivid thoughts about what his tongue may or may not be capable of doing to you.

You purse your lips, a heat rising to your cheeks as you stuff a piece of melon in you mouth. Curse these attractive demons and their stupid handsome faces.

Little do you know of the way both San and Mingi smirk at hearing your thoughts wash over them. Yes, you may still be guarded from them, protecting yourself in the only ways you know how, but they can still affect you just as you can affect them. Knowing that you still find them attractive, even after everything, simply makes their chests swell with pride, that all too familiar feeling of hunger - of desire - for you swirling within.

“Well, we’ve affectionately labeled this part of the house your wing.” Mingi begins to explain, stopping momentarily to motion in the general direction you were heading in. “You’ve already seen the kitchen and the bar area, but there’s a few more rooms we think you might like.”

“My area?” You quirk a brow, wondering in the back of your mind what that particularly means.

“Your room is the only one on this side of the house,” San tells you.

Only, before you have time to register his words, Mingi is entering what appears to be a large gaming room.

Your lips part in shock as you take in the details before you. There’s a dart board off to the side, a pool table, a foosball table, a table for ping pong, hell, even a card table. Not only that, but there’s a large TV set up with ample sitting space with every console you could dream of resting on the vanity below. You’d bet anything that behind the cabinets resting to either side of the television there are board games, and every other type of game you can imagine.

“You guys really went all in for this, didn’t you?” You breathe, blinking a few times in shock.

“You don’t know the half of it.” Mingi chuckles, your expression of awe serving to fill both of their chests with a sense of pride as you take in the gaming space they’ve created with you in mind.

“Well, it’s not only just for you,” San adds, a teasing lilt to his voice.

“Fair enough,” you nod, placing another piece of fruit onto your tongue.

A few moments later and you’re across the hall, staring at a large home theatre. The plush seats line the room, evenly spread out, but still close enough together as they face the large screen. In fact, some of the recliners are actually couches once you take a closer look. The one at the back even looks more like a bed.

“Anything you could ever want to watch, we have,” Mingi informs you, and even though you don’t necessarily see shelves full of movies or anything of the sorts, you believe him.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” you reply, somewhat breathlessly as thoughts of watching your favourite movies and series flit through your mind. “Wait, can this connect to YouTube?”

“YouTube, Netflix, you name it,” San says, resting against the edge of one of the chairs with a proud smile tugging at his lips.

“But is there an ad-blocker for YouTube?” You quirk a brow.

The last thing you want is to be watching a video and then get stuck with a bunch of ads. You honestly cannot stand that, it’s annoying as fuck. Besides, you’re so used to no ads on your laptop, that half the time when you have the option of watching YouTube videos on a bigger screen, you opt not to, just because of the ads.

“Of course,” Mingi grins. “Anything you can think of, we’ve provided for you, and if not, it takes us nothing to adjust things to your liking.”

“I see,” you hum, not wanting to admit how impressed you are already.

The thought alone, no matter how minor, makes them both smile as they lead you to the next room.

“A dance studio?” Your brow furrows slightly in confusion.

“A few of the rooms are for us, you know.” San chuckles, his arms crossed lazily across his chest as he sees you catch your own gaze in the floor to ceiling mirrors that line the back wall.

“You guys dance?” You turn to look at them, nothing but pure curiosity reflected in your eyes.

Little do you know how much such a simple expression means to them.

“Some of us do,” Mingi nods. “Well, more than others.”

“Wooyoung is the main dancer,” San adds. “Helps him relax. I try to join him when I can, but it’s mainly his thing.”

“Ah, I see,” you nod, spearing another piece of fruit on your fork to eat in the next moment.

If you’re being honest with yourself, you’re torn. You absolutely love watching people dance. It’s always fascinated you since you were younger, but you don’t quite want to go around asking them to dance for you. That would be a little too awkward for you right now, and besides, you don’t quite know if you want to, yet.

Unfortunately for you, these men cannot seem to leave your thoughts alone.

“If you want to watch us dance, all you need to do is ask,” Mingi hums, flicking the lights off while on his way out of the studio as you follow behind a little meekly.

“I know Wooyoung would be more than happy to perform for you,” San adds, sharing a brief look with Mingi ahead of him. “So would we.”

“I’ll- uh- keep that in mind,” you clear your throat, averting your gaze somewhat shyly at their offer as you continue on down the hallway.

There’s a few more rooms here and there that aren’t anything extravagant, but they’re still nice. There’s a few seating rooms, giving you ample space for you to hide away and read, or do whatever you’d like to do if you want to get out of your room but need some alone time. You can tell they’ve put a lot of thought into this, and you hate to admit it, but you’re touched. Each room is catered to your preferences, a few of the windows having benches to sit on in front of them just like you’ve always dreamed about having in your own place when you grew up. They really thought about everything.

Finally, you arrive at the last door in ‘your wing’ as they’ve so lovingly put it, and as soon as Mingi opens the door, a gasp is escaping your lips.

It’s quite a large room, a beautiful bay window stretching along the one wall and allowing sunlight to stream in, reflecting off of all of the instruments scattered throughout the room. A grand piano rests off to the side, more instruments hung on the walls surrounding the area. You can tell that each have been carefully placed, not just randomly put around the room.

Then, one instrument in particular catches your eye.

Your breath hitches in your throat as you take a step towards it, transfixed by the smoothness of its lacquered wooden body. Before you can stop yourself, the question escapes you, a tinge of hope lingering in your voice. Not only hope, but excitement. “Do any of you play?”

You’ve always had an affinity for string instruments: basses, cellos, violas, harps, guitars, you name it. However, there has always been one you’ve cherished more than the rest. An instrument that never fails to bring chills to your spine whenever you hear it being played.

The violin.

“We don’t,” Mingi shakes his head slightly, “but Yeosang does.”

You don’t understand why, but you find yourself clutching onto that bowl of fruit in your hands for dear life. It’s so brief, the thought that flashes through your mind, but you’re sure they still catch it. Especially when you see them both smiling at you so fondly as you exit the room, your cheeks flaring with heat.

Perhaps I’ll ask him to play for me sometime.

Then, softly, as he’s closing the door to the room, Mingi replies, “he would like that very much.”

You say nothing in return, opting to pop another piece of fruit in your mouth as you walk back towards the lobby. An area which you’re not quite sure really is a lobby anymore.

“Well, technically, this isn’t a hotel.” San offers, a lilt to his voice. “It was just disguised as one.”

“Yeah,” you scoff, somewhat bitterly. “I know that.”

“We hope you’d think of it as your new home,” Mingi says, softly, hope shining behind his eyes as he looks at you. “With us.”

You narrow your own at him in response, “too soon.”

Both males have the decency to look upset by your words, eyes drooping in sadness as they clear their throats.

“Anyways,” San begins to lead you towards the opposite side of the house. “You’ve already seen the dining room and the courtyard with the pool, so all that there’s really left to show you is our wing.”

“I’m assuming all of your rooms are on this side, then?” You quirk a brow.

“You would be correct,” San grins.

“Huh,” you let out a puff of air, “I don’t know whether to be grateful or amused by the fact that you decided to at least keep our rooms distanced. Though, I guess it kind of defeats the purpose when you can appear in my room in the blink of an eye.”

“We figured you would want a little bit of privacy from us at times,” Mingi nearly cringes as he hears the words escape him.

You huff out a dry laugh, “now, isn’t that funny how that works.”

The two of them say nothing as they lead you down the hallway. From the thoughts drifting through your mind, they decide it best not to show you the interior of their rooms right now. The last thing they want to do is upset you further, especially when you were all just having such a decent time together. Still, they point out who’s room is who’s.

“Jongho’s is the closest to the main foyer,” San points out a door on your left as you pass by. “Then mine on the right.”

“Wooyoung is beside San,” Mingi points to a door a little ways down as you continue walking along the hallway. “Then me.”

Across from Wooyoung’s room rests Mingi’s, him pointing out the door as you pass by.

“The other rooms are upstairs, but we’ll point them out when we get there.” San explains, to which you nod. “Anyways, here’s the other kitchen.”

Just as he says that, he opens the door and a similar kitchen to the first one greets your vision. Nodding, you enter, noticing only slight discrepancies in colour from the first, but it still has the same general layout.

Moving over to the sink, you’re quick to wash up your bowl, considering you’ve finished your fruit for the moment. San attempted to do it for you, but with one stern look from you (and a laugh from Mingi), he backed off with a pout on his lips.

“Alright, what’s next?” You say, drying your hands off with a towel before folding it and placing it back neatly to hang off of the rack you found it on.

“Well, there’s Yunho’s art room.” Mingi offers.

“You’ve already seen Seonghwa’s tailor shop.” San adds, a hint of a growl on his lips as you’re all reminded of what last transpired within those four walls the last time you visited, the memory flashing through your mind and causing both men to stiffen. It’s not like either of them wanted the honour of feeling your skin beneath their own touch like that first, or anything.

“Yeah, I’d rather not revisit that right now,” you sigh. It’s one of the reasons why you’re in this whole mess in the first place. “Upstairs then?”

“Upstairs it is,” Mingi nods, leading the way.

As soon as you reach the top of the landing, San is reaching for a door.

“Wait,” you reach out a hand to stop him, and he pauses with the doorknob held in his grasp, not even turned. “Is this the art room?”

“Do you not want to see it?” San frowns, confusion tugging on his features.

“I do,” you admit, your curiosity getting the better of you, “but I also have a few friends who are artists, and I know they wouldn’t like people snooping around or intruding on their space while they’re not there.”

“I’m sure he won’t mind,” Mingi smiles at you faintly. “Especially not if it’s you.”

“I don’t know,” you hesitate. “I just wouldn’t feel right invading his privacy like that.”

To you, art in any shape or form, has always been a reflection of a person’s soul. All of their fears, their deepest insecurities and flaws presented within their work. Not only that, but also their joys, their sorrows, and just who they are as a person, and what they value deep within. You would feel wrong, even given the situation, to intrude on his private workspace. Especially when he’s not around to be there to show you himself.

Both men share a look, hearts warming at the consideration that is flowing through you right now towards one of their brothers. It means more to them than you’ll ever know.

Yunho has always been a bit conservative when it comes to showing other people his artwork, even them for a time. They only know that he wouldn’t mind if you took a look because he told them as much before you came to them. You are the one and only person he is ready and willing to display his art for. Every time, and without question or hesitation, you would be the first one who would get to see it. That’s how much you mean to him.

“Alright then,” Mingi smiles at you, eyes crinkling at the sides as San backs away from the still closed door.

Continuing down the hall, they point out the last four bedrooms. Yeosang is the closest to the stairs on the right, while Yunho is across from him on the left. At the end of the hallway, Seonghwa’s room is on the left, while Hongjoong’s room is on the right, directly across from it.

Then, at long last, you come to the final room they have yet to show you. Anticipation lingers in you mind as you approach the grandiose double doors, intricately carved from the finest wood you have ever seen in your entire life. You hold your breath.

Then, as if in slow motion, each male takes a knob in hand, pushing the doors open to reveal the grandest sight you have ever seen in your entire life. You nearly fall to your knees at the beautiful library that greets your gaze, stretching on seemingly endlessly for two stories, books lining every shelf that your eyes can see.

They really weren’t kidding when they said they went all out to impress you.

You take a step forwards on shaky legs, mouth parting as your eyes shine with unshed tears, your entire being overcome by emotions at the meaning behind such a gesture. Sure, you knew there was a library somewhere in the house, and you couldn’t deny the way anticipation clawed at your mind the further you went on this tour without seeing it, but never would you have ever expected this.

It’s like having all of your fantasies come to life - the intricate details on the bookcases, the way the sunlight is filtering through the paned glass windows. Even the few seating areas you can see scattered throughout the room from your view at the top of the second floor balcony all seem to take your breath away.

For the first time in a long time, are you truly speechless, your heart and head both reeling from the emotions washing over you.

“You guys did all this,” you blink, voice the gentlest it’s ever been when speaking to them since you’ve gotten here as you choke on your emotions, “you did all of this,” your eyes trail around the room as your hands come to grip the balcony railing behind you as you lean on it for support, “for me?”

“And we’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.” San replies, seemingly just as breathless as you are as he takes a cautious step towards you, nothing but pure sincerity shining within his gaze.

“We just want to make you happy.” Mingi nearly chokes on his own words, overcome by his own emotions for the moment as your thoughts consume both of their minds. “You mean more to us than you’ll ever know.”

You don’t say anything in response, opting to turn back around to take in the vast space before you once more.

But to them, you don’t have to say anything. They already know. For, despite your better judgement, and probably your sanity at this point, you’re starting to believe them. A fact which could not make them happier than they already are in this moment with you.

“Who-“ so badly do you want to know which one of them was the one who came up with this idea, but the words die in your throat, almost scared of the answer you might get.

“It was Hongjoong.” Mingi informs you without a second thought, voice airy as he breathes the words out.

“It was all his idea,” San confirms, tenderly placing his hand onto your shoulder. The best part is, you let him, and this time, you don’t flinch or pull away from his touch.

The admission hits you like a truck, your sudden conflicting emotions now swirling inside of you. Yes, you are most certainly touched by the gesture - the thought alone that went into this place still has your head reeling. However, you cannot deny the way that your anger from earlier boils beneath the surface. He still broke into your apartment, with Seonghwa no less, and stole your collection right from under your nose.

The least he could have done was ask.

“Can one of you show me to my books, please?” Still, with the care and detail they’ve put into this place, that anger is dissipating fast. Besides, you don’t know if you have the energy to be angry like that all of the time.

“Follow me,” Mingi breathes, his own thoughts still reeling from the tender moment they’ve just shared with you.

Ecstatic doesn’t even begin to describe how both he and San are feeling right now, but your reaction only serves to comfirm the fact even more. They are deadly in love with you, and they would do anything to prove it. From the looks of things, the wall that you had managed to put up around yourself after the whole dinner fiasco is slowly crumbling, and like hell are they going to let any of their efforts go to waste.

Finally, they’re making progress.

With every step you take, San helps to guide you down the stairs, hand moving from your shoulder to the small of your back. Both cannot help but to watch you with that same fondness shining in their eyes as you are brought right before your entire collection.

You can tell there was just as much care put into placing your belongings on these shelves as there was put into the rest of the library, if not more. Each piece is placed exactly where it would have been back at your apartment, your little trinkets angled just how you like them.

Perhaps you should give both Hongjoong and Seonghwa more credit. Perhaps you’ve been a little too harsh on them so far. After all, it’s clear that they care about you, especially if they went through all of this time and effort to plan this out and create such an elaborate place just for you. All of them did, and you think you’re starting to feel yourself truly relax, accepting your fate little by little, if today was anything to go by.

Carefully, you walk past the few shelves holding your collection, running your fingers over the spines of both your books and manga volumes until you reach the start of your albums. Quickly, and with the expertise of knowing exactly what you’re looking for, your eyes scan the different titles, finding the exact one you’re looking for.

Good. At least it’s still there, in tact, with everything still inside of it. You’d hate for your very first album of your collection to be damaged in some way, shape, or form. From the looks of things, none of them are, a fact which makes you smile as you slide the album back onto the shelf. Besides, it almost looks as if your entire collection has been cleaned.

Taking a step back, you nod, approvingly, a weight seemingly lifting from your shoulders as relief washes over you. You’re still a little upset at the fact that your things were taken without your knowledge, or permission, and you understand that they probably wanted to surprise you with such a thing, but still. You just wish you had some warning. You suppose that that’s life, though.

“Okay,” you breathe out, a faint smile tugging at the corners of your lips as you turn to face both San and Mingi once more. Each still wear that look of fondness on their face as they continue to observe you, their hearts beating erratically in their chests as they are overcome with this moment they’ve been able to share with you. Really, they cannot wait to share it with their brothers when they get back, too. “I have one final question.”

“Anything,” Mingi’s response is but a tender sigh on his lips.

You take your time to look around the bottom half of the library, eyes catching on the glass doors that lead back out into the pool area. Honestly, you’re surprised you didn’t catch that the first time.

The longer you let the silence linger in the air, the more anticipation builds in their minds. Your own thoughts are still swirling with how grateful and impressed you are towards them at the moment, giving nothing away as to what you may want to ask them. A fact of which that has them holding on to every breath you take.

Finally, you meet their eyes, “where’s the garden?”

To say they’re taken aback by your question would be an understatement, both wearing equally dumbfounded looks on their faces.

“Uh,” San blinks, clearing his throat. “There isn’t one.”

“Not even a greenhouse?” Your brow furrows, slight disappointment lingering within your mind. Then, you quirk a teasing grin, shaking your head all the while, “all of this effort and you guys don’t even put in a garden."

“We can, if you want,” Mingi’s reply is instantaneous, worried that them not having added a garden could be the one dealbreaker to end what would have otherwise been a perfect day with you.

“What do you mean by that?” You eye him skeptically, thinking how it would be impossible to simply just add a garden.

“We mean exactly that,” San responds. “We can attach it just outside the library.”

Then again, stranger things have happened.

“You need only think of something you want, and we can provide it for you.” Mingi adds.

“So, if I wanted a room full of kittens to cuddle with?” You quirk a brow.

“Done.” San answers with a shrug, as if it would truly be nothing for him. Though, each of them would prefer if you cuddled with them instead. They already have enough to worry about with your stuffed animals. They don’t want to be competing against real ones now, too.

“A room inspired by the galaxy, complete with pillows and a moving ceiling to reflect the cosmos that I could observe whenever I wanted?” You question, still partially skeptical to what they’re telling you.

“If that is what you desire,” Mingi nods, clasping his hands behind his back.

“Is this apart of your teleporting thingy you guys do? Making stuff appear out of thin air?” Your brow furrows slightly as you attempt to wrap your head around what they’re implying.

“A part of it, yes,” San moves to sit in the chair closest to him, crossing his legs so that his one ankle rests on top of his knee as he leans back in his seat.

“I’m still not used to that,” you shake your head, recalling exactly how it felt to jump from one place to another not once, but twice today.

“It’ll take some getting used to,” Mingi chuckles, sitting in the chair opposite San as they both continue to watch you, eyes tracking your every movement.

“No kidding,” you huff out a breath, placing your hands onto your hips for the time being.

Taking one final look around the room, you smile to yourself before moving to exit the library. Only, before you can get very far, Mingi’s voice is drawing your attention back to him.

“Where are you going?” There’s a tinge of worry in his tone, apparent on his face in the way he furrows his brows.

“Back to my room,” you reply, as if it were obvious. “It’s been a long day, and I still have to finish unpacking.”

“We’ll join you,” San goes to stand but your hand reaching out to stop him freezes him right in his tracks.

“I appreciate it, but I think I just want some alone time, now.” You smile softly at them as if to reassure them you’re not about to go back to your room and sulk, or cry, or wallow in your own self-pity like you had been the past two weeks.

They share a brief look.

“Alright,” San sighs, leaning back into his seat for the time being.

You shoot him a gracious smile, moving to exit the library. Though, before you do, you pause, your back still turned to them as your hand rests on the doorknob. Then, you turn to look at them both from over your shoulder.

“Thank you. Both of you. For this,” you say, your voice soft and barely audible in the room, but they still manage to hear you as clear as day. Your hand tightens its grip on the knob as you turn to face the door. Then, under your breath, as if you say it more to yourself than anything, “perhaps you’re all not so bad after all.”

Without another word, or even allowing yourself the time to process the words you’ve just spoken, you’re making your exit. The door slams shut behind you, echoing your final admission to the two men sitting there, stunned, in their seats.

Little do you know of the way their hearts race, veins flooding with a pleasant warmth as happiness spreads through their entire body, seeping into every pore. Growls of contentment build in their throats as their eyes fixate on the spot you had just been standing in, their minds screaming at them to simply chase after you - to pull you into their arms and show you just how unbelievably hopeful and happy you have just made them, and just how grateful they can be.

Progress. They’re finally making progress.

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