#and like we know that (at the beginning) the foxes fight all the time but usually manage to shelve that shit while theyre on the court

[daycourtofficial]

Use Somebody

Summary: you and Lucien have to pretend to be together, causing a fight between you and a certain shadowsinger. You discover too late that you’re a wanted aspect to an evil plot - can Azriel save you in time?

“We could have (y/n) and Lucien do it.” You overheard Rhysand saying as you walked into his study.

“You could have me and Lucien do what?” You ask, biting into your apple.

Rhys turns to you, tutting so you don’t bring your apple too close to his desk, “we need someone to attend a ball in the winter court. Azriel’s picked up some rumblings, and Kallias has asked if we could help. We’ll all be attending, but we need you and Lucien in particular to do some recon.”

You stop mid bite of your apple, still confused on the plan. “But Lucien and I aren’t spies, we’re just court nobility.”

“Which is why you two are perfect - you’re nobility to two different courts, autumn and dawn, so the two of you mingling wouldn’t be too suspicious. Plus the two of you are very good at socializing at these events.”

“So you want to send us to go to a ball to do what exactly?” The idea still making zero sense to you.

It’s Azriel who speaks up, “he wants you and Lucien to pretend to be together and get close to a few targets, see if you can find anything out.”

You look at Azriel, and he looks pissed. You’re not sure if it’s because he just returned from the war camps, at this plan, or if he doesn’t think you and Lucien are capable of spywork. The idea of disappointing Azriel made your stomach drop to your pit.

Rhys interjects, “you and Lucien have been friends for centuries - it’s a believable cover. And you’re talented with glamours - you could even glamour a mating bond scent over the two of you.”

You reply, “We attended tons of events together when we were younger - but anyone from one of those events would know we were lying.”

“It’s been hundreds of years, anything could have happened. Besides, I can provide you with a guest list to look over, ensuring you don’t know any of the guests.”

“I don’t know, Rhys…” you drawl.

Rhys sighs, “it’s one night. Do you think you could do this or not?”

You think it over for a moment and decide that you can, Azriel’s hesitation at your involvement be damned.

-

The irony wasn’t lost on you. You and Lucien pretending to be a couple when the two of you are pining over Azriel and Elain, who seem to be a couple. Cassian disagrees with your assessment of the situation - he’s convinced that Azriel has feelings for you and that Elain is just a friend, but you’re not so sure.

Lucien’s voice stirs you from your thoughts. “Wouldn’t our lives be so much easier if we were mates instead?”

You laugh, the idea having crossed your mind a time or two. “It certainly would be. We’d also have adorable babes.”

Lucien laughs, “those poor, beautiful babes, shame they’ll never exist.”

You two laugh, trying not to think of the heartache too much. Your own pining aside, all you want is happiness for Lucien. Pushing it aside, you two begin crafting your story: you’ve been married for two years, living in dawn for the time being, but you two want to explore all of the courts before deciding where to settle down permanently.

-

“You look lovely, dear,” Lucien tells you. If you two were going to pretend to be in love, you wanted the both of you to look incredible. Lucien’s wearing a green jacket with brown pants, and you’re wearing a deep green dress, with exposed boning and a thigh slit practically at your hip, exposing your entire left leg. You had gone a step further, embroidering a tiny fox onto Lucien’s jacket’s lapel and a matching one onto the shoulder strap of your dress.

“Thank you, you look very handsome as well.” And he did. The shade of green you selected for both of you matched both of your complexions and honestly, you two looked hot.

“What should our mating bond smell like?” You ask him.

The two of you think about it, ultimately deciding on a combination of smells: apples, fresh tea, and honey, the scent filling the room.

“Incredible work - I must say, you are a fantastic fake mate, darling,” he says, offering his arm to you. “Likewise, fake mate,” you say, tipping a pretend hat in his direction and placing your hand in the crook of his arm, walking out of your room.

-

Rhys had given you one main objective: talk, mingle, dance, drink. The hope is that you and Lucien can overhear something or that someone will inadvertently tell you two lovebirds something they don’t mean to.

The two of you take the dance floor, the band playing a slower song, one you and Lucien have danced to thousands of times, the rhythm ingrained into your mind over a centuries worth of balls.

You loved dancing with Lucien, the two of you fell into easy rhythm and garnered a ton of attention whenever you found yourselves on the dance floor. The two of you made a striking couple, and your dress looked incredible as he spun you around the floor.

Through the dips, the turns, and the spins of the song, you made sure to keep eye contact with Lucien as much as possible. You looked into his russet eyes, but all you wanted to find was hazel ones staring back at you. You’re sure Lucien was hoping the same about Elain in your stead.

The song ends and the two of you garnered more attention than you thought you would, and all the attention made you blush. You stepped away from your friend to get some wine, almost crashing into someone.

“Saffron?” You ask, incredulously. Rhys had been able to provide you with a full list of everyone attending, to ensure no one you knew was attending, but you didn’t see Saffron’s name anywhere on that list.

She looks at you, wrapping you in a hug. “It’s been so long! Of all the people to run into at one of these things, I’m not surprised to see you!”

She pulls back, looking you up and down, noticing the fake wedding ring on your hand. “And who’s the lucky male?”

Saffron knew you and Lucien when you were younger, so she knows there’s nothing between you two. You could either lie and try to skirt away from her, or tell her the ‘truth’ of this mission.

“It’s Lucien - we got married a few years ago actually!” You say, not sounding totally convincing.

“Lucien? The red head you were always with?” She asks, almost laughing. “You two always seemed more like siblings than lovers.”

You swallow, worried your entire night is unraveling because of her presence. “It was a surprise for us too! But one day the bond just snapped-“

“Wait, you two are mated?”

“Yes,” you reply curtly.

“I had heard he was mated to another girl and she rejected it.”

Her knowing that has definitely thrown a wrench in the plans. “Um, the rumor mill must have been working overtime. There’s no other girl, it’s just us.”

She looks at you, something odd flashing in her eyes, before she decides to leave it be. “Anyway, it was great running into you - congratulations!”

You thank her before she walks away and you can let out a breath of relief.

-

After running into Saffron, you spent hours dancing, mingling and drinking. You walk outside onto the balcony, telling Lucien you need a moment of fresh air. The noise level of the room was getting to you, so you thought you’d step out for a moment.

The moment the door shut behind you, Azriel emerged from the shadows. You startled, not expecting him to pop out.

“Hi Azzie,” you say, your nickname making him recoil. “Should I be seen talking to you, since.. ya know?” You ask, unsure of how spywork worked completely.

“So you don’t want to be seen with me, but you have no problem being seen all over Lucien?”

His question catches you off guard, and you look and notice just how angry he looks, anger directed at you.

“That’s not what I said at all, besides you know why I’m all over him tonight,” you reply, looking to make sure no one can hear this conversation.

“Yes, but you sure jumped at the chance to spend the night wrapped in his arms, didn’t you?” He moves closer to you, the two of you less than a foot apart, facing each other.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about - he’s my friend and he’s mated!”

“But she hasn’t accepted it yet,” he states.

“So?” You ask, “to me he’s mated, he’s off limits. Besides, I’m not in love with him, I don’t have feelings for him!”

The four glasses of wine weren’t a problem in the ballroom, but they’re a problem out here, making this conversation even more confusing to you.

“If the two of you want to parade around about how happy you are, why don’t you find another court to go do it in, and stay out of mine,” Azriel practically growls at you.

Your soft, sweet Azriel is growling at you. You’ve never been on the receiving end of his anger, but it terrified you.

He wasn’t getting it, he wasn’t getting that you didn’t want Lucien, you wanted him.

You sighed, trying not to let his words sting too much when you say, “maybe we will.” and storm back into the party.

-

After your fight with Azriel, you got considerably more drunk. At the end of the night, you and Lucien walked back into the palace together, laughing, him holding you up from the excessive wine you drank. You’re about to tell him something, when someone catches your eye.

“Hi Elain!” You say, pointing out Elain to Lucien.

“Hi,” she says to you, but she won’t stop looking at Lucien, “is it okay if I have a moment alone with Lucien?”

“Yes, absolutely, excuse me,” you say, brushing past Elain. You turn around giving Lucien a thumbs up and a smile, showing him it’ll be okay.

You walk into the kitchen, looking for more wine, when you bump into Cassian. “Owww,” you say, rubbing your arm where you bumped into him.

He laughs at your obviously drunken state, and tells you, “you did good tonight, doll.”

You look up at him, “yeah? Do you think Lucien and I could be spies now? Do you think Azriel was proud of us?”

Cassian’s caught a bit off guard by your question. “Why wouldn’t he be proud of you?”

You sigh and look at your feet, “because when Rhys asked us to do this assignment, he looked so upset, like he didn’t think we could do it.” You’re not sure why this is spilling out of you, but it’s started pouring and it won’t stop. You look Cassian in the eyes and ask, “what’s wrong with me, Cass?”

Cassian can almost hear his heart shatter at your question. “Why would anything be wrong with you?” He asks, grabbing your wine and going to get you a glass of water in replacement.

You slump your head down on the kitchen island and mutter into your hands, “why am I in love with someone who hates me and loves someone else?”

Cassian starts to panic. He’s good at consoling when you’re injured, but you’re heartbroken. This is uncharted territory. Usually you talked about these things with Mor or Feyre, not the giant Ilyrian next to you. “Who?”

You lift your head up, and he can see tear stains running down your face, “your dumb handsome brother.”

If you didn’t look so sad, Cassian would laugh at how you said that. “Wait, what did he tell you? Did he make you think he doesn’t care about you?”

“I thought we were friends, Cassian,” you choke back a sob, “I don’t know what I did, but he hates me now. He wants me to leave the night court… and maybe I should.”

Before he can say anything else, you get up and tell him, “I’m done, Cassian. It was hard, but I could bottle my feelings if we were friends.” You look up at him, and Cassian doesn’t think he’s ever seen such heartbreak on a face before. “He hates me now, and I still love him. Maybe I should leave the night court for a while, leave his precious court like he asked me to.”

Grabbing a bottle of wine as you pass him, you head upstairs for the night.

Cassian was a violent man. He’s been in countless fights, multiple wars, several battles, but seeing you so upset over his idiot brother made him rage in a new way. He stomped up to Azriel’s room, flinging the door open, and pulling the sheet out from under him, causing him to fall to the floor. “What the f-“ Azriel starts to say, but he’s cut off.

“Are you in love with Elain?” Cassian asks.

“You woke me up to grill me about my love life?” Azriel asks, more confused by the second.

“Answer me,” Cassian practically growls at the shadowsinger.

“No, okay! No. I’m not.” Azriel says, still sitting on the ground where Cassian hurled him.

“Are you in love with someone else? Someone who just spent the night pretending to be in love with someone else in the hopes that you would approve of her?”

Azriel blinks in confusion. “You had me. Then you lost me. It doesn’t matter - I saw how she looked at Lucien.”

Cassian did not have time for Azriel to begin wallowing. “Have you ever thought that while she was looking at Lucien, he wasn’t who she was seeing?” He pauses for a moment, then says, “you better talk to her before morning.” He kicks his brother for good measure then storms out.

-

Azriel got the courage to go to your door half an hour later, but you didn’t respond. At first he thought he had just gone too far, but when his shadows whispered gone, gone, gone to him, he knew something was wrong. The room was empty, and he could smell blood on the duvet covers. He told Rhysand mind to mind what was happening, and decided the best source was the last male he wanted to see: Lucien.

He started banging on the door to Lucien’s room, when the redheaded male finally opened the door. Half-dressed, with Elain hiding under the duvet, Azriel gets to the point, “did anyone tonight give you the impression they wanted to hurt her?” Lucien opens the door a little wider, asking Azriel a question he doesn’t want the answer to.

The shadowsinger sighs. “She’s missing, and her room shows signs of a struggle.”

Lucien begins asking a million questions, when Azriel stops him. “Rhys and I want to talk to you about every person you met with tonight.”

-

Lucien walked them through your night, including when you had left for a few moments to go on the balcony. Azriel flinched at the memory, his jealousy getting the best of him in the moment.

Rhys was about to ask him to go through a few people again, when something catches Rhys’s eye.

“Lucien,” Rhys says, “your fox is glowing.”

The fox you had embroidered on his jacket was glowing. It glowed for a moment, and then they heard your voice, confused and drunk, and another voice, projecting from the fox.

“Clever girl,” Lucien whispers.

-

You woke up in a dirty cell, Hybern shackles adorning your wrists. Your head was throbbing, the blow to the head really rattled you, and you’re still drunk. There’s a small window, and the moon is still high in the sky, so you don’t think you’ve been out for too long. You do remember the fox you had embroidered on your clothes, and you hope that, since the magic was sewn into it, it would still work despite the shackles. You place your palm over it for five seconds, and you just hope and pray that your enchantment will actually work.

The door to the cell opens, and in comes Saffron.

“Saffron?” You ask, confusion over your features. “What is happening?”

“Everyone always talked about how smart you were - why don’t you put the pieces together?” She asks, her disdain for you icing every word.

“Okay, I’m still drunk, and someone hit my head, but let’s see.” You pause, thinking about everything you know about Saffron. “We went to school together, you liked… magic classes. You liked knowing what magic could do.” You pause for a moment, something wanting to come to the surface of your thoughts. “You were interested in my powers. You once called Lucien weak. You like oranges - okay I’m getting a bit off track.”

You start thinking again, your head pounding from all the thinking.

“I saw you at the one hundred year reunion, and you worked for Kallias, documenting the magical capabilities of fae….” You trail off, your head still pounding, begging for you to go to sleep.

Your eyes snap up, “you got in trouble in school for using arcane magic on the grounds, but you were only suspended for a while. Then fifty years after the reunion Lucien told me he had run into you and you were with… uh.. that guy..” you start snapping to remember, “Wren! You were with Wren!”

Your mind is whirring, so many thoughts swirling around in your drunken haze. “Wren was that ugly guy who.. you dated him.. and..” there’s something there with Wren, but what is it?

“Wren always wanted to eat at that place on the corner that served soup. Wren wanted to be an arcane magic scholar, but they wouldn’t let him,” you pause, slurring a bit while you point at Saffron, “and you two got in trouble, but he was expelled!”

It didn’t matter that you were drunk, the wheels in your brain were turning. “You once told me after a break up that you don’t want love, you want power. And Wren was obsessed with ancient power rituals. He talked about them all the time.”

The idea hits you as you say it out loud, “it’s a full moon tonight.” Your thoughts have sobered you up instantly. “It’s the summer solstice, the strongest night for arcane magic,” your voice gets really quiet as you say, “and you’re going to do something. But what?”

She looks at you, egging you on to realize what she wants. But what does Saffron want? Power. Power. Power.

“You told me I was the most powerful of our year.” You swallow, realization hitting you to your core. “You’re going to take my powers.”

The silence hangs in the room. If your fox communicator worked, then you imagine the room is dead silent there too.

Saffron slowly claps. “There she is, brightest of our age. Oh how all of our teachers adored you,” she says, crossing the room to you, “it was incredible running into you at the party. Once I heard you were attending, I had to swoop in so I could see you. I slipped some faebane into your drink while we were talking so I could subdue you. My sweet, there’s one thing about the ritual you don’t know.”

She leans in closer to you, when she says, “we won’t just be taking your powers, we’ll be sacrificing you, which is a bit more extensive, but it allows for us to also take your knowledge and your memories.”

Your eyes snap up to hers, “no, no!”

“Your memories will teach us all we need to know about your little night court companions,” she laughs, walking towards the door to leave you alone with the revelation. Right before she’s out the door, she wants to tell you one last thing, “I always thought your powers were wasted on the likes of you. You could have been a queen, you could have given the high lords a run for their money.”

-

Everyone was dead silent, waiting for more news from the fox, but it seems like your captor left you alone. By this point the entire inner circle was in Lucien’s room, and tears were streaming down Mor’s face. She approached Azriel and said, “you have to find her, don’t you usually keep a few shadows on her at all times?”

Mor talking to him broke his concentration on the fox stitching, embarrassment flooding his senses. “No, I don’t, not tonight.”

“Why the hell not? You don’t even let her go down the street without a few extra shadows, but you let her do mission work unguarded!”

Lucien looks up at Azriel, realization coating his features, “She was upset about something after she came back in from the balcony, and she got plastered. You got in a fight and called the shadows off, didn’t you?”

Heat creeps up Azriel’s face, at both the mention of your incredibly dumb fight and the fact that his entire family was looking at him, aware of how badly he messed things up.

Rhys is the one to break the silence, “you told me you could behave, Azriel!”

“And I thought I could! I just.. I had a moment. A lapse in judgement.”

“A lapse in judgement!” Cassian cries, “she was crying to me because she thought you hated her! She thought you’d never want to see her again. She told me she might leave because it’s what you want from her!”

Mor gets to Azriel first, swatting him on the chest after every word she says, “what” swat “did” swat “you” swat “do?” swat.

Azriel lets her hit him, he more than deserves it. He can’t believe his stupidity in calling his shadows away from you, something he did out of pure anger at watching them dance around you on the balcony.

He starts to respond, when a shadow comes barreling in through the window, hitting Lucien on the head as it comes to inform Azriel of what it just found out.

-

You had been hopeful that the fox would be more helpful, but you’re thinking the magic didn’t work. Still in your party dress, you move around the cell a little. The witching hour is getting close, so you know they’ll be coming for you soon.

The cell opens and in comes Saffron and two huge males. “I brought some back up in case you tried to run,” she practically purrs at the idea, likely imagining them beating you half to death.

“Great,” you say. You follow them down the hallway, and the thought does skirt past your mind, but you’re shackled at the wrist and the ankle, you won’t be able to run fast or far, especially without your magic.

They open up two doors to the outside - it’s a nice, cool night. The moon is glowing brighter than you’ve ever seen it, distracting you from seeing the wooden logs surrounding a giant pole. You breathe in deeply, wishing, willing your friends to come rescue you. Now is the time, you think.

One of Saffron’s goons leads you to the pyre, and you take this opportunity to swing your shackles at his face, hitting him right in the cheek. The other one grabs you from behind, allowing the one you hit to face you.

He grabs your face, “such a pretty little thing. Too bad we didn’t have more time, I could have had a lot of fun with you.” His insinuation makes your blood run cold, and he pulls back his fist and punches you squarely on the nose, and you can feel it break, the blood pouring down your face already.

He nods to the goon that’s holding you in place and he lets go, giving you a second of repreive, until the one in front of you grabs you by the neck, and holds you up in the air, cutting your lungs off from the night air. You start clawing at his hands, desperately trying to be able to breathe. Just as your vision starts going a little spotty, he releases you, and you fall to the ground, gasping for air.

The other goon grabs you, lifting you up onto the top of the pyre, tying your hands to the pole. You take one last opportunity and kick him in the knee. He goes down for only a second, when he comes back up he just looks at you and spits on you. You gasp, anger fueling you.

“Enough,” Saffron says, “enough. It is time, call everyone here.”

Within a moment, ten other fae come into the clearing, all staring at you. “We’re here today to take power that we rightfully deserve!” The crowd cheers. “We will take this power and use it for a better tomorrow!”

The crowd erupts in applause, honestly you had no idea a dozen or so people could be so loud. Saffron begins chanting in an ancient language, and despite the shackles, you try sending out an emergency message to Rhys and Feyre, if you’re going to come rescue me, please do it now.

She brings a lit torch to the bottom of the pyre, lighting it. You can feel the heat as more of the pyre catches. The fire is getting closer to your feet, and you start coughing at the smoke.

Their chanting continues, getting louder, and you can feel parts of you draining, even with the shackles around you. You start yelling, trying for any distraction to break the concentration on their chanting. If you’re going down in an ancient ritual, you are not going with grace.

“Hey fucker! That’s right! You, Saffron! Not powerful enough to subdue me on your own, you have to use these stupid shackles from Hybern! You fucking coward - I bet you couldn’t even handle my power! It would consume you and burn you alive!”

Saffron faltered a bit at your taunts, but the rest of the crowd continued, persistent. “Is she supposed to be your new leader? what has she promised you? Power? Money? Land? I have all of those things, and look where I ended up! She’s crazy! She isn’t going to help you, she’ll steal your powers too!”

The flames are skirting up the pyre, getting awfully close to the fabric of your dress. You pull your legs, trying to climb up the pole you’re tied to.

“She’s weak, I’m tied up like a roast pig because she’s nothing!”

The chanting falters for a beat, enough for you to feel some of your power seep back in. You’re still shackled and can’t use them, but that doesn’t mean you want them gone.

You start coughing, excessive smoke inhalation perhaps, but you keep going. “My friends are going to be so pissed when they find out you killed me!”

Saffron allows the group to continue chanting, while she looks at you and says, “The unwanted Vanserra boy? I promise you, dear, he doesn’t scare us.”

A darkness creeps into the clearing, and a voice speaks. “I promise you, I’m much more terrifying than the fox.” Azriel steps out of the shadows, darkness radiating off of him in waves.

You’ve seen Azriel angry before, but never like this. He is almost feral with his emotion, he’d still be terrifying without the mass of shadows rolling off of him.

A few shadows come to you, circling around you, as if assessing you.

Rhys, Feyre, and Cassian step out at other points of the clearing, circling around the fae gathered.

Cassian makes a break for you amidst the chaos, and their arrival momentarily made you forget that you are moments away from being a filet mignon.

“Cas, I’m drugged! No powers!” You yell, as he approaches you. The smoke is growing stronger underneath you, forcing you to cough.

The general had no idea what to do, the fire was growing rapidly by the second, so he did the only thing he thought to do and didn’t allow himself a moment to reconsider: he ran, charging straight at you. Running up the pyre, ducking down so his shoulder makes contact with your hips, his momentum is enough to break the pole you’re secured to, the two of you tumbling off the pyre. Your head hits the grass with a hard thud, but otherwise you’re unharmed.

Cassian pulls himself off of you, checking you for injuries, and stands up and starts stamping out the train of your dress that had caught fire.

Coughing, and still tied to the pole, you thank Cassian. He moves to the top of your head, pulling the pole out from behind you, allowing you to at least stand up, even if you are still shackled.

Your ordeal with Cassian didn’t allow you to see the fight, but the remnants lead you to think it was quick and incredibly painful for the fae that captured you.

Saffron and one other are missing, assumingly already being taken by Rhys or Azriel for interrogation.

Feyre comes over, crouching down next to where you sit. “Are you okay?” She asks, placing both of her hands on the sides of your face.

The weight of the night begins settling, and you look at her, “I almost died. They wanted my powers, my knowledge, my memories.”

“We know,” Feyre says, hugging you. You’re not sure how but as she hugs you she undoes your chains, freeing your hands. You use the freedom to wrap your arms around your high lady’s waist.

“If they had taken my memories and come after you all, it would have been my fault.”

“But you were so so incredibly clever with that charm on your and Lucien’s clothes, we were able to get here just in time.” Your head turns to see Azriel crouched next to your and Feyre’s embrace, having come up without your notice.

Your eyes meet his, the tone of his words working to calm you down. At least, to make you feel less guilty.

“Do you want to return home?” He asks, holding a hand out. You nod, and he scoops you up, the shadows enveloping you as you realize you never specified which home to go to.

You were relieved when Azriel’s room at the House of Wind comes into view, afraid he’d take you straight back to your familial home in dawn after the last words he spoke to you.

“I’m sorry I failed you.”

Azriel wasn’t a man of many words, so he liked getting straight to the point whenever he could. He kept you close to him, still holding your hands from winnowing.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I was dumb, and jealous, and you were looking at Lucien like how you usually look at me, and I got scared.” He sighs, “I shouldn’t have told you to stay away from my court.”

You nod, trying not to think too much about him calling himself jealous, especially saying he’s jealous over Lucien.

“I just,” he sighs, running his hand through his hair, “seeing you with him, it brought up all these feelings of inadequacy. I’m not court nobility, but you are, and I’ve never felt good enough for you for a million reasons, and that’s one of them. Not that I think Lucien deserves you, hell no, but you deserve someone that’s your equal.”

Your mind is still reeling from the wine and the concussion you’re most likely sporting, but you’re hoping you’re gauging Azriel’s words correctly. Otherwise this will be really awkward.

You take one of his hands, “and you are not my equal? I’m the princess of the dawn court, truly no one could be as equal to me as a shadowsinger. Or is it too on the nose for a princess of the sun to be in love with the man in the shadows?”

His grip tightens on your hand and he pauses before asking, “are you saying you’re in love with me?”

“Yes,” you reply, with all the tenderness this moment deserves. “And as for how I looked at Lucien,” you clear your throat, “I was thinking about you, not him. I spent the night pretending I was dancing with you.”

He looks at you, really looking into your eyes, trying to memorize your face, as he raises his hands to cups your jaw.

“Is it terribly cliche for the man in the shadows to fall in love with the woman who radiates sunlight?”

“Maybe a little,” you reply, “but I’ll allow it.”

You’re not sure which of you leaned forward, perhaps it was both of you. The kiss was full of night cool air and the feeling of the sun on your bare skin, his mouth enveloping yours.

#acotar fanfiction #azriel #azriel x reader #azriel x you #azriel fanfic #azriel fluff #azriel angst

[linkspooky]

GREAT TEACHER, GOJO

For my final commentary on chapter 236, I thought I'd talk about this panel the starter of a million flame wars on twitter dot com. The big controversy is Nanami stating that Gojo fought only for himself without mentioning his students which a lot of people thought was a last minute reversal on Gojo's character, or character regression.

I'm not going to call anyone stupid, or say if you have good teacher Gojo headcanons you're wrong. However, I'd like to point out that Gojo's always been more complicated than most shonen mentors. He's not Kakashi, and he's not Aizawa, and I'd argue the fact that he's not the standard "I'd die to protect my students" mentor we see in shonen manga is what makes him interesting.

The Springtime of Youth

Jujutsu Kaisen is a shonen jump manga that is very aware of the other manga that are running in the same magazine and uses that awareness to play with audience expectations.

To put it simply if you don't want to use words like Deconstruction - if you're reading Jujutsu Kaisen then things are probably not going to go the way you expect them. It's not Naruto, it's not My Hero Academia, it's a little bit like Bleach except characters actually die.

If you expect things to go one way in Jujutsu Kaisen, then you're going to be thrown a curveball. To name some examples briefly before diving into Gojo.

Yuji Itadori is a normal boy protagonist suddenly dragged into the world of the supernatural.

However, everything goes wrong from there. Jujutsu Sorcerers are not heroes. Yuji is told that much from the beginning by Megumi within the first thirteen chapters. The world of Jujutsu Sorcery is not a good place to be, Yuji is initially excited to be a sorcerer and to be a part of this world and then learns that lesson fast. I mean, imagine if Deku was accepted to UA, and then he immediately learned that students at the school die on the regular and all the adults are either terrible selfish people, or if they're not they die too like Nanami because being selfless means sticking your neck out for someone else.

Yuji's not really special in the narrative. He's just a kid who swallowed a finger. He doesn't have a secret technique. We're hundreds of chapters in and he's still just punching people. If he's cornered in a fight he doesn't unlock a secret technique either, he just loses.

Yuji has a superpowered evil side, like the nine tailed fox, or Hollow Ichigo except it's not really his super powered evil side. It's an evil parasite attached to his soul with a will of its ownt hat will manipualte him. Hollow Ichigo and the Kyuubi can escape temporarily and there's usually no consequence. Sukuna escapes twice, the first time he nearly kills Megumi, the second time he kills thousands.

Yuji is kind of like a main character who is not a main character.

If you still believe he's the main character, then you can agree he's punished for thinking he's the main character and therefore things are going to be easy, because nothing is ever easy in Jujutsu Kaisen.

Megumi is a riff on the chosen one. He's supposed to be the Gojo Satoru of his generation, born with the strongest technique that ca even surpass the limitless and he's nowhere near the level he's supposed to be. This is because Megumi has been continually failed by every adult figure all his life, starting with his father who sold him, then Gojo the man who SAVED* him techically but with a big asterisk that he needed to become his student and do jobs for Jujutsu High School otherwise Gojo would just let the Zen'in take him or let them starve I guess. Megumi has no adult figures to rely on, and has been given very little freedom about who or what he wants to be in his life, and therefore he's a very passive, repressed individual who's riddled with insecurities. Megumi doesn't want to be the strongest like Gojo, or like many hero / rival characters in shonen manga. Megumi doesn't even know what he wants to be, because he's never been given any choice in life.

If you don't think Megumi's a deconstruction of any sort of character type, look at those posts on twitter that are like "Look at the black haired depressed shonen boys" and then look at Megumi, he's never actually like any of these boys because he's much deeper and probably closer to being the main character than Yuji is.

Then we get to Gojo who is very unlike all the other mentors in shonen manga.

If Yuji and Megumi are both riffs on a main character, a hero in a world so cynical he's not allowed to play hero and actively punished for it, and a chosen one who doesn't want to be the chosen one then you have Gojo as the mentor who's nothing like the classic mentor.

The problem with mentor characters in fiction is that number one they die a lot (spoiler warning Obi Wan Kenobi dies in Star Wars just so you know) and number two they're not usually the most complex character in the cast.

What is the mentor there for?

To Mentor (duh.)

What this means is they are usually a fully formed adult who can teach a lesson to the main character, who in shonen manga is typically a teenager.

I say they're usually less interesting because stories are about characters changing, or characters learning lessons. A teacher presumably already has learned his lesson. They are usually at the end of their journey and not the beginning, that's why they can offer wisdom to the main characters. They're not usually their own separate characters because of this - a narrative doesn't have time to waste on a character that's not going to change.

Jung had a term for this character, it's called the Wise Old Man.

In Jungian analytical psychology, senex is the specific term used in association with this archetype. Examples of the senex archetype in a positive form include the wise old man or wizard. In the individuation process, the archetype of the Wise old man was late to emerge, and seen as an indication of the Self. 'If an individual has wrestled seriously enough and long enough with the anima (or animus) problem...the unconscious again changes its dominant character and appears in a new symbolic form...as a masculine initiator and guardian, a wise old man, a spirit of nature, and so forth'.

The role of the wise man archetype is to help other people along with their ego development, because usually they are already fully developed individuals.

Obi Wan is the most typical of typical mentors, and he dies in Star Wars because after he finishes teaching Luke he has nothing to do. This is Luke's Hero's Journey. Obi Wan's already happened offscreen, he's at the end of his journey there's no room for change or growth in him because his story purpose is to exist to advise Luke and to do that he needs to be a fully grown adult figure.

The subversion to this when the mentor has their own agenda (Gandalf), or the mentor is as flawed as the main characters themselves and so therefore he has something to learn.

Gojo is kind of a combination of both, like Gandalf he is the mysterious but seemingly all powerful wizard (er... or rather sorcerer) with his own agenda, and he's also practically the fourth member of the main cast who are otherwise all teenagers. In fact, Gojo spells out his agenda in the same panels that everyone uses to constantly assert that Gojo is a good teacher who only wants to protect his students.

He wants to make the Jujutsu World a better place (good) which is why he is raising students so he can turn them into his political allies to make a regime change (hidden agenda).

It's a means justifies the end type scenario. In Gojo's mind the means (raising kids as tools in support of his political agenda) justifies the ends (a better jujutsu world for those children). His motivation is still the same. This is what I think people most often get confused about with Gojo's character. I think he is one hundred percent genuine about wanting a better world.

"I have a dream, I want to reset this crappy Jujutsu World" is his motivation, but not his means. He uses his students as a means to achieve that end. Even if it's purportedly for their sake, he's still using them. I don't even think this is subtext it's text, both Megumi and Yuji call themselves cogs.

"But senpai, what's your function...?"

You could say in this case that the ends don't justify the means. Is Gojo really protecting these kid's youth, if Yuji and Megumi are going around calling themselves cog and acting like they don't matter in the grand scheme of things? In fact the narrative is inviting you to question if Gojo's ends justify his means.

Gojo's ideals can be one hundred percent real, but he can also pick faulty ways of choosing those ideals that fail to live up to them. In fact most people fall short of ideals, that's why they're called ideals. Gojo is taking these kids in because they have strong potential as sorcerers and he wants to recruit them, that's his hidden agenda. It's confirmed in databooks in Yuji and Yuta's case, and even if you don't trust databooks as canon then look at how he treats Megumi.

Megumi is explicitly Gojo's student, not his son. He only intervened in Megumi's situation on the caveat that Megumi work for him. Presumably, if Megumi didn't want to be a sorcerer and just wanted to be a normal kid, Gojo would have either let the Zen'in have him or do nothing. The option of just calling child services and getting someone to foster Megumi until he was older didn't even seem to cross Gojo's mind. There's the help he gives (Food money, rent, protection from the Zen'in) and then the hidden agenda (Don't work for the Zen'in who are my political rivals, you're my student now).

Yet at the same time Gojo is shown going to find Megumi after Geto's defection, probably because of the words he said to Yaga "You can only save those who want to be saved," when he realized it was too late for Geto. Was he intervening earlier for Megumi because he learned from being too late with Geto? Did he think Megumi needed guidance, or did he think Megumi needed protection in his youth so the Jujutsu World wouldn't corrupt him like it did Geto, or did he think he just needed to make it so Megumi was strong so he wouldn't fall behind him because Geto fell so far behind him once Gojo became the strongest. There's ambiguity there, because the hidden agenda is you know... Hidden. That's what I mean with Gojo though, you can look at him from multiple angles, he's not just (I love my students I'd die for them) because that character would only have one purpose in the narrative and that'd be being the perfect mentor who teaches them all the right lessons.

Gojo's not like other mentors, and in fact he's a commentary on the mentors that everyone is always comparing him to and expecting him to be like.

Literally everyone who reads Naruto has the exact same response, "I hate how the manga never talks about how it's a bad thing to send these child soldiers into war, and nobody breaks the cycle."

There are a lot of people unhappy about the same thing in My Hero Academia, "Why does nobody talk about how wrong it is that the adults make these high school students fight on the battlefield."

Well there you go. That's Gojo. His dream is to make it so Jujutsu Society is a place where teenagers can survive until adulthood. His method of doing so is to... raise those teenagers to be stronger than the previous generation, but you know still letting them be child soldiers on the battlefield just stronger ones. He does this because if he's working within the system the his two choices are raise a group of people who can age out and replace the old regime, or just kill everyone at the top.

Everyone complains about how no one talks about the child soldiers in Naruto or My Hero Academia, but here you go, we have a manga that is centered around how messed up it is to send high school students to continually fight these curses before they even turn eighteen. Gojo's sending these kids out there still even if he wants to change things, and it's supposed to be a little messed up and also a contradiction to what his ideals are supposed to be.

Because in My Hero Academia you have characters like Aizawa and Kakashi who are "I will die for my students" but then they just send those teens out to fight in a war, and seem totally fine with that. It's a hole in the writing, but this time it's done on purpose, to ask why these adults are always comfortable sending teenagers out to fight for them?

Jujutsu Kaisen provides two answers, number one the system is inherently corrupt and it sees the youth as cogs because the system is rooted in traditions that keep the elderly in power. Number two, in Gojo's case at least this is exactly what it was like for him growing up as a child. Gojo is just repeating with his students what was done to him, subconsciously.

The reason Nanami said this, and then repeated it in this most recent chapter is Gojo was born to be a Jujutsu Sorcerer. Being a Jujutsu Sorcerer is a highly deadly occupation for everyone else, except for Gojo. Not only that but because he's so good at it, and he's so lauded for it he's built his entire identity around it. Nanami's not just saying that Gojo is selfish, he's also saying that Gojo thinks being a sorcerer is a good thing. It is the end all, be all of Gojo's existence.

He doesn't want to make it so sorcerers don't have to fight, or make it so all cursed energy is gone for the world like Yuki Tsukumo, his dream is actually kind of limited in scope he doesn't want the school days of his students to be destroyed by the outside world the way it was for him and Geto.

Gojo looks at the symptoms and not the cause. Geto defected, Haibara died, Yaga wasn't really able to do much for his students in both scenarios. Gojo deduced it was because the elders and regressive policies were holding people back in favor of keeping the regime in charge (correct) and that because of that the sorcerers in Gojo's high school years just weren't strong enough to keep up (this is just what Gojo thinks).

His words to Megumi are encouraging him to be strong so he won't get left behind, which as I speculated above might imply Gojo thinks that part of what went wrong with Geto was that he simply wasn't strong enough to keep up with Gojo or stay on his level. If not then he still encourages Megumi to get strong before everything else, he's not taking care of these kids emotional needs, he's pushing them to get stronger because in Gojo's mind that's the be all end all solution to every problem.

"Nanami's line was not saying that Gojo doesn't care about children, it's saying that "You live for Jujutsu." It is the lens through which Gojo sees everything, and so therefore he doesn't think of breaking kids out of the Jujutsu World, just making it a place that's slightly more safe for them. Gojo's ego is so strong that he only ever sees things from his point of view, being a sorcerer was fun for him, his high school days were the happiest time in his life before they got ruined by outside forces.

He's trying to protect those days for his children, but he's not arguing against the existence of an institution like Jujutsu High in the first place. He's not saying the teenagers should never be sent out on missions, he's saying we need to make the teens stronger. If they're stronger than they won't die (that's probably true but they'll be even safer if they don't have to go on missions in the first place).

Now we have a reason! Why do Aizawa and Kakashi send out child soldiers into the battlefield if their goal is to protect their students? Because it's a shonen manga and the main characters are all teenagers.

Why does Gojo send out teenagers to fight for him if he wants to protect them, well I just explained it.

In fact, the entire purpose of Nanami in the story is to give us a character who explicitly treats children like they are children and not miniature adults. Who acknowledges that this is emotionally hard for children to deal with and they shouldn't have to do that.

Nanami's lines of "I'm an adult you're a child" and "Being a child is not a bad thing." would not have the weight they carry if they weren't so different from the way that every other adult in the story (including Gojo) treats children.

Nanami and Gojo have the same goal of making being a Jujutsu Sorcerer easier for children, but Nanami practices what he preaches. He tells Yuji to stand back and that he doesn't need to fight if he sees an enemy that's too strong, to let the adult on scene handle things first.

When he sees that Yuji is disturbed by the idea of killing former humans that Mahito had changed with his technique, he consoles him. He knows that Yuji is a sensitive kid and tries to spare him as much of that grief as possible. When he leaves Yuji behind he tells him explicitly that he's the adult in this situation, he shouldn't be forcing a child to help carry that burden if it's not necessary.

He also explicitly tells Yuji that being strong or jumping into life threatening situations =/= as growing up. Nanami is a character aware that the problem isn't that the children are not strong enough, but that too much responsibility is being thrown on these children. That there is a difference between what children and adults are emotionally capable of. Gojo doesn't see that difference because he reached enlightenment as seventeen. He even explicitly chose Nanami because Gojo knew he wasn't good at that stuff.

Nanami was not saying that Gojo doesn't care about children, Nanami was saying Gojo lives to be a sorcerer, Gojo who loves sorcery doesn't understand why being a sorcerer is too much of an emotional burden on a child. He just doesn't. He literally says his students are flowers.

Now, here's the kicker. Nanami dies.

Nanami wanted Yuji to not take on too much responsibility, and he died leaving Yuji with more responsibility than he could ever carry. Nanami failed in his goal, despite the fact he is the most responsible and well-meaning adult in the story who treats children like they're children.

The reason he dies is because this is what happens to people like Nanami in Jujutsu Society. The whole of society is built to condition people into being cogs and Nanami who's just one person can't overcome it on his own. I can write a whole meta on how Nanami's way of dealing with children is way better than Gojo's and yet they do essentially the same thing, throw way too much responsibility onto Yuji even though he's just a kid. They're both too ingrained in the system to make any sweeping changes, and that's why the child soldiers keep on child soldiering.

Gojo as a Character

The second reason as eluded above that Gojo is not meant to be read as a perfect teacher, or even a good one really is because he's the fourth main character of the cast. If you are a main character, then you need a flaw, and an arc where you either improve upon that flaw or you succumb to it in tragic fashion.

Gojo's not the perfect adult mentor, because he's kind of in the same place as the kids themselves. I think there's a reason we never learn anything about Gojo's backstory, we know nothing about his parents, the Gojo clan, because those details aren't as relevant. The most important thing about Gojo is the three years he spent at high school, because that was the only time he felt like a person, and also because he is trapped there mentally.

There's a reason that Gojo's dying dream is him imagining everyone reset to seventeen years old, because that was where the clock stopped for him in his youth, and that was where all of his regrets as an adult come from. His motivation to help teenagers today only comes from his own youth being ruined, and the adults in his life failing to protect him.

It's very likely that Gojo who lives for Jujutsu probably would never have realized the problems in his current society, if his youth wasn't ruined by those same adults he's now fighting against.

The reason most mentor figures in fiction are not main characters is because as adults they don't really need to grow up anymore. The obvious solution is that you just need your mentor character to just fail to be an adult in some glaring way.

To show how Gojo falls short as an adult, especially in regards to these children and how he treats them is to drag him down from all powerful, all knowing wizard, and make him struggle with the rest of the main cast. Gojo is not a positive adult figure in these kids lives despite having the best of intentions, because he's not really an adult.

I guess if you were already the best and strongest person in the world at seventeen, smarter and more capable than all the adults around you, you wouldn't really feel the need to grow up. Coupled with the fact that you are alienated from other people and do not relate to them on a personal level that's not going to help with your identity formation.

I mean I constantly compare Gojo to Superman, but to be fair to Gojo instead of bullying him like I usually do Clark Kent was raised by parents who raised a boy not a superman, and who constantly tell him that he's just a normal person, his powers don't make him great, it's his heart.

Nanami says that Gojo only fights for himself that ""You don't wield Jujutsu to protect something, you use it solely to for your own sake. What a weirdo" it's likely Gojo only fights for himself because he's never ben told that's he's more than just the six-eyes and more than just the limitless.

The best way to make a mentor a part of the cast, is to make them through some way or another have failed to grow up properly in their youth and therefore they need to do it while the story is taking place. We know how Gojo failed, his springtime of youth ended early, it ended the day he couldn't stop Geto from leaving, the day he can be the strongest sorcerer ever and still fail because sorcerer society is too corrupt for one person to handle alone. We also know he didn't really grow up past this point, because he still thinks the solution is to make people be stronger. Why does he not do anything about Geto for 11 years? In story terms he's basically suspended in time unable to grow past Geto. Kenjaku literally uses the trauma from his youth and the memories that seeing Geto alive would provoke in Gojo again, to trap him because he knew it would make him freeze up. Gojo is frozen in the past, he failed to grow up in story terms and must now grow up while the main story itself is taking place along with the children he's trying to raise.

This is how you make a mentor interesting. You have to make them flawed in some way that makes it worth having them onscreen, because a perfect mentor only serves one purpose to teach a main character and then he's gone.

Dazai Osamu from Bungo Stray Dogs is a character that's almost as massively popular as Gojo. Similiarly, he is a teenage genius who found trouble relating to other people who is now as an adult attempting to mentor two children.

However, Dazai's faults as a mentor are made much more explicit.

Dazai suddenly punched Akutagawa in the face, preventing him from finishing his sentence. Akutagawa flew back onto the ground, his head bouncing off the stone flooring with a thud. "Perhaps I made it look like I wanted to hear excuses. Sorry for the misudnerstanding," Dazai said while rubbing his knuckles. "Urg..." Akutagawa moaned. He'd hit his head so hard that he couldn't even stagger to his feet. "Give me your gun," Dazai ordered one of his men. The subordinate was hesitant but nonetheless handed over his weapon. Next, Dazai removed the magaine from the automatic pistol, took out all but three bullets, then put the magazine back in. He immediately pointed the gun at Akutagawa, who was still on the ground. "I have this friend who's supporting several orphans all on his own, you see," he continued his weapon still drawn and aimed at the boy. "AKutagawa I'm sure Odasaku would've been patient enough to give you the guidance you needed had he been the one who'd found you on the brink of starvation right in the slums. That would have been the 'right' thing to do. But 'righteousness' doesn't take very kindly to me. And there's only one thing people like me do to useless subordinates." Dazai mercilessly pulled the trigger the moment he finished his sentence.

(Don't worry, Akutagawa lived). Dazai is a character who had a troublesome youth he never grew up from. He was too smart for the world as a kid, and because of that joined up with the mafia because he wanted to feel like he was more connected to life and other people by getting closer to death (weird dazai logic I know) and was the best of the best at it, but it only drove him further away from people. He makes one friend, and loses that friend similiar to Gojo. Just like Gojo too, that friend is the one who gives him his purpose as an adult that drives him to mentor young people.

"Odasaku.. What should I do?" "Be on the side that saves people," Odasaku replied, "If both sides are the same, then choose to become a good person. Save the weak, protect the orphaned. You might not see a great difference between right and wrong, but... saving others is something just a bit more wonderful."

Is this not what Nanami said just in different words. Odasaku tells Dazai point blank, I know you're selfish, I know that you don't really have any concept of good or evil but you can choose to save others anyway.

Isn't this what Gojo does?

He is selfish. He doesn't really consider the morality or his actions or get hung up on the idea of protecting the weak like Nanami or Geto do, but he still does go out of his way to live for the ideal of saving children.

Both Gojo and Dazai are characters who are struggling with this ideal of saving the children, because while their ideals are good they themselves as people are morally gray. Adding onto that, they're also children and a good deal of their backstory is devoted to showing why they never really grew out of the mindset that they held as children.

The story doesn't call them horrible monsters for it, it's just saying that they need to grow up or face the consequences of not growing up.

"I have one regret," I said. "I never got to say good-bye to my friend. He was always there for me as 'just a friend.' He was bored of this world and always waited for death to come for him." "That man was in search of a place to die just like me?" "No, not exactly," I answered. "I thought you were similiar to Dazai at first, rushing into battle and wishing for death without even considering the value of your own life. But he's different. He's sharp-witted with a mind like a steel trap. And he's just a child - a sobbing child abandoned in the darkness of a world far emptier of the world we're seeing." He was too smart for his own good. THat was why he was always alone. The reason why ANgo and I were able to be by his side was that we understood the solitude that surrounded him, and we never stepped inside it no matter how close we stood. But in that moment, I kind of regretted not stepping in and invading a little.

Does that sound like the narrative is condemning Dazai for being who he is? No, it's Dazai's best friend offering empathy and understanding for how lonely it must be, and how if Dazai made real connections with people then he could have a chance of growing up like everyone else. That's what the narrative challenges Dazai to do while empathizing with why it's harder for him to and why he's still trapped in his youth, because to take care of children you need to be an adult yourself. Otherwise if you're a child, and I'm a child, then nobody's driving the plane.

Rupert Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer is another mentor who faces the same moral dilemna that Gojo does. In fact his entire character revolves around the fact he knows deep down he's sending a kid to her early grave.

Buffy is the Chosen One TM. One girl in all the world is chosen to fight the vampires. Much like sorcerer society, there is an entire bureaucracy dedicated to identifying the chosen slayer and then raising her up and guiding her as a weapon to be used against the threat of vampires and demons.

The watchers are all adults. The slayer is a teenage girl. The slayer slays. The watchers watch. Just like in Jujutsu Kaisen, there is a necessity for the Slayer to exist, because the alternative is just letting vampires eat people. Yet even if the slayer needs to exist, at the end of the day a bunch of adult men are sending a teenage girl to fight for them.

All Slayers die young. All of them without an exception. No matter how good of a mentor is, no matter how much he cares about her, Buffy is going to die one day, and Giles is going to watch. Because that's what the watcher does, they watch. Sending her on missions means Buffy's in danger, not sending her means innocent people are in danger.

It's a scenario that's pretty much like Gojo's, and the narrative of Buffy makes it explicit that Giles really can't be a father figure to bufy in this scenario. A father would have to choose to put their child above the world and keep them safe, not send them out straight into danger.

It is a choice that Giles makes over and over again. He is always her watcher and never her father. There's a season 3 episode where Giles literally drugs Buffy as a part of a test to prove she is "worthy" of being a slayer. A test that deliberately puts her in harms way that he complies with - because the system told him to. A choice to be her watcher and act according to what the council of watchers wanted and not what Buffy wanted. A choice that shatters the illusion that Buffy had of him, showing her that Giles is only there to teach her to be a Slayer, not to take her to the iceapades or buy ice cream with her.

In this scenario Gojo is very much like Giles as no matter how much he may personally like these kids, he is not their father, and there is only so much he can do for them when he's still feeding them into the same system. Giles loves Buffy, Giles wants to protect Buffy, Giles is a part of the system that exploits Buffy. Giles is an adult asking Buffy to risk her life to save the world.

Gojo goes out of his way to recruit Megumi, Yuji, and Yuta among others. Gojo still doesn't let them be anything other than sorcerers, and as sorcerers they're still guaranteed to one day die and probably die young. Gojo wants to revolutionize the system he is, but he still sends out his students to do missions as part of that system. He's not letting them escape it, he's just making them be stronger sorcerers.

Not only is Gojo not a father figure to Megumi, he is exploiting him more or less. The option of Megumi not being a sorcerer isn't on the table. No matter how well-intentioned he may be, or how good his ideals are he's still an adult telling a child to make a sacrifice for the world.

So, there are two character conflicts with two different mentors that both reflect Gojo. Gojo cannot grow up because he's still trapped in the tragedy of his youth. He himself is not an adult, for various reasons (lack of connection to other people, trauma in his youth) he's egocentric like a child but there are children in his life who need him to be.

Gojo also cannot be a proper adult, because he is part of a system that exploits children. We see what the system does to proper adults like Nanami, he shows us just how much well-intentioned adults struggle to help kids under sorcerer society so how about Gojo who thinks being a sorcerer is really fun. A proper adult would never send kids on those missions, they'd find some way to shield them but Gojo cannot do that. Because sorcerers are short staffed and innocent people will die if he doesn't. Because Gojo isn't the sorcer-king of Jujtusu Society and is working within it to affect change. There are reasons, but still Gojo is failing to live up to his desire to protect children because he's not doing what a responsible adult should do in this situation.

Gojo's failures are two-fold, and yet it's because of those failures that he was a main character who got as much special plot attention as he did. If Gojo was a perfect teacher he wouldn't be a character. After all, we relate to the struggles of other human beings we see onscreen in television and in movies so why would we care about a perfect character?

Gojo has a lot more to say about teachers in shonen manga, and also about childhood vs. adulthood as a bad teacher struggling to be a good one, then a teacher who's already perfect. Nanami said those lines because he wanted us to understand the audience that this is who Gojo is, he is a selfish and egotistical person who nonetheless was trying to do good things.

#jjk meta #gojo satoru #satoru gojo #nanami kento #kento nanami #jujutsu kaisen meta #jujtusu kaisen #jjk spoilers #jjk 236 #jujutsu kaisen spoilers

[socialjusticeinamerica]

They don’t even know of a time when life was better in America. Actually Gen X was the first generation in America not to do better than their parents. The same being true for the last few years of the Boomer generation. Y also is struggling.

The lady Boomers and X’ers remember what it was like before Reagan took over and busted unions in 1980. Wages dropped, factory owners took their shops to the Deep South where unions had long since been busted or never allowed to set up in the first place. Then the oligarchs outsourced their work and shuttered factories nationwide.

Before Reagan one parent working 40 hrs a week at a union job could afford a mortgage, a new car, medical insurance, and college for their 2.5 kids. That also applied to “minorities” or marginalized people who benefitted from union protections and negotiated standard pay scales.

With Reagan a home went from two years salary to 10+ years salary. Tuition did the same. Cars that cost a month’s salary soared to a year’s salary. Wages have remained stagnant for about 40 years. The wealthy paid high taxes and we had everything. Now the remnants of the middle class pay the bulk of taxes while multimillionaires and billionaires pay little or even nothing. Credit card interest soared to over 20% in some cases while Republikkkans passed laws making it easier for those card companies to sue you whilst making it nearly impossible for you to sue them. Mentally disabled people were literally dumped into the streets causing widespread homeless which is criminalized in affluent areas and red states. Guns and drugs flooded the streets. Bigoted white nationalists became radicalized when Reagan granted Australian Rupert Murdoch citizenship so he could open Fox News and then shut down the Fairness Doctrine so propaganda could be spread under the guise of news.

All the societal problems we suffer today began with the birth of the modern RepubliKKKan party led by their racist Dotard Ronald Reagan in 1980. The GOP became an organized crime syndicate and the government became a tool for the rich. The middle class shrunk from a sizeable percentage of the population to a handful of areas in the north and along the west coast. Many foolish people believe themselves to be in the middle class but in fact they are just perpetual debtors.

If you’re young your first reaction might be to blame the Boomers because that’s incorrectly become a marketed belief. The Boomer generation fought against the GOP and its wars, racism, pollution, big oil, corporate welfare, and black hole military industrial complex. They were the hippies and political activists that marched on Washington and other places. They booted the racist Dixiecrats (southern conservative racist Dems) from the Democratic Party while shifting educated liberals left. Sadly the GOP under Nixon and his colleagues welcomed the racists and conservative nut jobs. Don’t fight a generational war when you should be fighting a class/culture/political war.

The younger generation needs to educate itself about the political parties and how life was better just a few decades back and begin to vote. Vote, then organize in the workplace through unions and in the streets to attract more young voters and to counter protest the Republikkkan right-wing oligarch take-over of America. Complaining and taking refuge in the internet won’t turn things around. Become politically active, become stoke, bring back lower tuition, affordable health care, labor unions, workers rights, voters rights, etc.

[acourtofthought]

THE ERA OF VANSERRA

I'm starting to think the Night Court is setting themselves up for problems by their lack of respect for the Vanserra's 😂

Nesta lifted her chin, smirking at last. “I suppose once we have the Crown in our hands, the Night Court won’t need you after all. Neither will I.” She could have sworn Cassian was repressing a laugh, but she kept her gaze on Eris, who went rigid, rippling with rage. “I do not appreciate being toyed with, Nesta Archeron. My offer was sincere. Stay with the Night Court and you risk your ruin.”

So Cassian said, “I grew up surrounded by monsters. I’ve spent my existence fighting them. And I see you, Eris. You’re not one of them. Not even close. I think you might even be a good male.” Cassian opened the door, turning from Eris’s curled lip. “You’re just too much of a coward to act like one.”

Rhys said at last, “I can stomach being around him.” “I’m sure he’d love to hear that thrilling endorsement.”

“Am I not doing that now?” He arched a brow. “Am I not sending twice-weekly reports to your spymaster?”

Not feeling very festive at all, I said sharply, “That you now feel more comfortable with humans than with the High Fae. If you ask me—” “I’m not.” “It seems like you’ve decided to fall in with two people without homes of their own as well.” Lucien stared at me, long and hard. When he spoke, his voice was rough. “Happy Solstice to you, Feyre.”

But I asked, “And what, exactly, does this Band of Exiles plan to do? Host events? Organize party-planning committees?” Lucien’s metal eye clicked faintly and narrowed. “You can be as much of an asshole as that mate of yours, you know that?”

Mor took another bite from her pastry. “Lucien can’t be entirely trusted anymore.” Cassian started. “What?” “Even with Elain here, he’s become close with Jurian and Vassa. He’s voluntarily living with them these days, and not just as an emissary. As their friend.”

“And?” Cassian bit out. Lucien threw him a withering look. “I’m not your enemy, you know. You can drop the aggressive brute act.” Cassian gave him a grin that didn’t meet his eyes. “Who says it’s an act?” Lucien let out a long sigh. “Very well, then.”

"I'm talking about you, about to kiss Elain, in the middle of the hallway where anyone could see you, including her mate".

"I think Lucien will never be good enough for her"

"I'll defeat him with little effort".

These two brothers are extremely connected and well informed and they've been going out of their way to share information with the NC. And while the NC is occasionally forthcoming and at times decent to Lucien and Eris, there's always an underlying lack of disdain, disrespect or lack of trust the IC has towards them.

Lucien is known as "the fox" and we know Autumn is a cutthroat Court. Is it possible they'll start working together after being put down one too many times by the IC? That they'll make a plan to head to the continent (with Jurian) to free Vassa and deal with Koschei and Beron but will conveniently "forget" to reveal their plans to Rhys and Feyre? Eris has grown increasingly concerned with Berons activities, and I don't think he's all that fond of the IC after they played him at the ball so it might be a natural breaking off point for Eris to begin distance himself and offering up less information.

We know Eris’s (and Lucien's) fire will probably not be a match for Koschei's lake:

"His fire wouldn’t have withstood Koschei’s lake, I don’t think.”

But know he now has a made dagger which he tried to trade for Nesta though Rhys said he might need it yet:

Keep the dagger, though. You might need it.”

And Lucien has Day Court powers. Both things possible weapons against a Death Lord (after first finding the box where he possibly keeps his soul which Elain may be able to lead them too) AND Beron.

There have been hints that Eris would like to make ammends with Lucien:

But as Eris strode by … I could have sworn there was something like sadness—like regret, as he glanced to Lucien.

Or has possibly been in contact with Lucien:

Eris’s face filled with cool amusement. “I wanted to feel out Vassa and Jurian.” He didn’t mention his brother, oddly enough. “But they clearly know little about this.”

I'd actually love to see them reconnecting and working together in Lucien's book. I have no doubt Jurian will remain Lucien's found family but also having his blood brother as found family sets up an even better core group of people for Lucien.

I wonder if the IC will find out their plans to travel through Azriel's spies (without having all the details), then send Elain to travel with them as their own "spy" to see what they're up to using Mor as her cover, claiming they've been unable to reach her.

Feyre winced. “Mor left for Vallahan this morning and is out of our daemati magic’s range.

Elain had squared her shoulders and declared that she was a part of this court—and would do whatever was needed.

"Don't forget that gardening often results in something pretty, but it involves getting one's hands dirty along the way"

Also, SJM has been hinting at revealing the truth between he and Mor since ACOWAR and beyond. Having Lucien, Elain, Eris AND Mor (as well as Jurian and Vassa) all in the continent together makes a lot of sense when tying up loose threads:

“I knew why you did it.” Again that secret smile that had Mor shrinking. Shrinking. “So I gave you your freedom, ending the betrothal in no uncertain terms.”

“And what happened next,” Azriel growled.

“There are few things I regret. That is one of them. But … perhaps one day, now that we are allies, I shall tell you why. What it cost me.”

Eris nodded to where Mor watched them from beside Feyre and Rhys, her face neutral and aloof. “She knows the truth but has never revealed it.” “Why?” “Because she is afraid of it.”

“Give me a damn answer.” Eris crossed his arms, then winced. As if whatever injuries lay beneath his immaculate clothes ached. “You’re not the person I want to explain myself to.” “I doubt Mor will want to listen.” “Maybe not.” Eris shifted on his feet, and grimaced again. “But you and yours have more important things to think about than ancient history. My father is furious that his ally is dead, but he’s not deterred. Koschei remains in play, and Beron might very well be stupid enough to establish an alliance with him, too. I hope that whatever Morrigan is doing in Vallahan will counteract the damage my father will unleash.”

As both Elain and Mor were absent from the crossover scene in CC2, it's another piece of the puzzle that seems to fit.

And while this line doesn't necessarily go with the above, I kind of love thinking about the Elain / Eris interactions we might get:

Nesta barely glanced to Eris, who pulled his assessing gaze from Elain to stare at the eldest Archeron sister with a mix of wariness and intent that set Cassian’s jaw grinding

#elucien #elain archeron #acotar theory #lucien vanserra #eris vanserra #mor acotar #koschei acotar #beron vanserra #elucien book

[myymi]

lost world angst, anyone?

Sonic wasn't sure what he expected to happen to Tails after he got stuck in that trap and taken away before he could save him.

But his money certainly wasn't on the kit being half-roboticized.

He wanted to puke at the sight of his brother. (Which is an idea he wasn't too entirely fond of at the moment. Amy had made him a really nice breakfast this morning and it sits better in his stomach than on his shoes.)

He wanted to say he didn't even recognize the kid, but that'd be a lie. He'd always know when he was looking into his little brother's eyes, no matter if they're drained of life or artificial.

He could imagine the screams the fox probably let out as his body was torn into, flesh and blood being forcibly replaced by steel and oil.

Eggman had gloated about the process once years ago and it still haunted the hedgehog. To think Tails, his kid, fell victim to it..

He was going to rip those stupid zetis into shreds.

“What did you do to him.” Sonic demanded, even though he knew the answer. He just needed them to say it.

He needed them to admit they tortured a barely seven year old child.

“Calm down.” Zavok waved off the obvious anger radiating from the hedgehog, not at all worried about his opponent. “We simply gave him a few upgrades. Isn't he so much better?”

Better?

Better?!

How could anyone think that was better?

Sonic's face fell into a harsh glare, his royal blue quills shifting a few shades darker as he stared right into Zavok’s stupid, purple eyes.

“I'm going to fucking kill you.” He growled, angrily baring his fangs. He wasn't the biggest fan of swearing, especially not around Tails, but he'd let it slide this time.

“You'll have to deal with your little tagalong first.” The zeti stayed nonchalant as he gestured to the half-robot fox and, oh Chaos, his eye was so dull. There was no life in him.

Sonic didn't say anything in response to that, so Zavok decided to begin the fight with a simple command, “Tails, kill that worthless creature.”

The fox-robot listened to the command, lifting up its arm that now had a cannon attached to the end of it. The reality of the situation only fully kicked in when it started charging, a small purple energy or quickly growing in size.

“Oh, buddy.” Sonic knew he could fight Tails. Even if it wasn't him anymore, he couldn't hurt his brother. He promised him, “I'm so sorry, kid. I should've been faster.” He apologized, raising his paws in surrender to show the other he wouldn't fight.

Even if the fox was about to kill him, he was going to accept it. He deserved it after failing to keep the kid out of the zetis’ hands.

He braced himself for the inevitable impact of the orb once it looked like it was finished growing. It wouldn't be long before it shot, and Sonic would've left Mobius as a failure of big brother.

But then the light in Tails’ eye resparked.

With a wink, the kit quickly pivoted on his heel and dropped to crouch on his knee. He did his best to prop up the cannon as he aimed it right at Zavok’s head, “Never!” He shouted, pulling the trigger.

The blast ended up striking Zavok right in the center of his chest, the force sending him flying a few feet backwards.

Sonic could do nothing but stand and gape at his little brother. He didn't understand what happened, it all went by too fast—isn't that the craziest thing? Too fast for Sonic to keep up.

“Hold it, fuzzball.” Zeena said, stepping up as she pointed a remote at the fox and pressed a button. “You're still ours. Now do as you're told so we can end this. I need to fix my nail polish and you're delaying it with your wanna-be hero stunt.”

Tails yelped and grabbed his head with the paw that hadn't been turned into a weapon. His organic eye closed tightly in obvious pain as the other flashed between blue and red.

Sonic knew he should do something, but it felt like his feet were glued in place. No matter how much he begged, his body wouldn't move.

“No!” Tails cried out, shaking his head before just barely opening his eye. The first thing he saw was the arm cannon, which reminded him of a program he added in last minute as a backup plan.

Sonic was going to be so mad at him for this.

He didn't give his brain a chance to bail on the plan in fear of upsetting his big brother. He spun his tails as quickly as he could, doing his best to ignore how one of them felt like pure metal and flew straight into the center of the zetis.

He didn't stop flying until he landed on top of Zomom, looping his legs around the orange zeti’s neck as much as could as he pressed a hidden button on the cannon.

As the three second timer kicked off, the fox looked up to find his brother. He sent him a smile, quickly mouthing ‘I'm sorry.’ before his vision was full of white, then almost immediately fading to black.

“Tails!” Sonic screamed right before the explosion hit, knowing that silent apology couldn't have been a good sign.

The force of the bomb knocked him back a bit, but he was back on his feet in a second and running to where he last saw his brother.

One of the zetis, the depressed one, was entirely missing from the group. But, other than that, the rest of them were all knocked unconscious.

“Tails?” Sonic's voice choked on tears as he slid beside the kit’s body. The bomb had destroyed some of the metal, revealing that most of it was just show.

Tails hadn't been roboticized.

He swallowed past the lump in his throat as he gently cradled his baby brother, shoving away the haunting bits of metal.

He knew this entire encounter was going to haunt his dreams for a while.

He didn't dwell on that matter though. Tails was far more important. He needed to get him away from these monsters.

So he ran.

He wasn't sure where he was running to exactly, but anywhere away from the zetis was a good place to be.

By chance or maybe an unknowingly conscious effort, Sonic had made it to where they had parked the Tornado. She hadn't moved a muscle, her red paint still glistening in the sun as she soaked in the heat.

Feeling calmer from just the plane's presence, the hedgehog carefully climbed into the cockpit and settled into the seat.

Tails was still cradled to his chest, his grip on the fox tightening as he found a comfortable enough spot.

He didn't know what to do. They didn't really have the supplies to treat whatever happened to the kid.

He was just gonna have to wait it out. Figure out how Tails was feeling when he woke up and then go from there.

The hedgehog curled around the younger boy as much as he could when he felt his eyelids growing heavy. He nuzzled the fox's fur, making sure to lay extra attention to the sections that had been covered by metal. He planted a small kiss above the eye that had been seemingly replaced by an artificial one.

They would be fine if he took a quick nap. He'd wake up if something attacked them, and the Tornado’s keys were already in the ignition. It'd be okay.

Chaos, he prayed Tails would also be okay when he woke up.

He didn't like his slow heartbeat or his weak pulse.

#tails may or may not be okay #idk i haven't decided #really badly written cause i rushed it sorry #i got excited :/ #miles tails prower #sonic the hedgehog #sth #tails the fox #sonic #unbreakable bond #dynamic duo #sonic lost world #zavok the zeti #zeena the zeti #zeti #major character injury

[bananasofthorns]

lunch break

read on ao3

In a rare stroke of luck - or, more accurately, bureaucratic alignment - Cody has leave at the same time as Wolffe, and they manage to talk Fox into taking a break for once in his life to join them for lunch.

Cody also uses the opportunity to finally make good on his promise to Kenobi to introduce him to his batchmates in a non-professional setting - Dex’s, in this case. He hasn’t yet decided if he’s going to regret this decision. Wolffe already knows Kenobi, to an extent, and they at least seem to like each other. Cody thinks that Fox and Kenobi will either despise each other or get along like a LAAT on fire, on fire part emphasized. Reason: they are both pains in Cody’s ass and he, unfortunately, still loves them.

He and Kenobi arrive at Dex’s early and claim a booth in the back; they sit across from each other and Kenobi allows Cody the seat that faces the door, since he has the Force and Cody just has paranoia. Wolffe arrives a minute or two late grumbling about traffic. Cody graciously does not make fun of him for being unable to account the hell that is getting anywhere on Coruscant into his travel times.

They make small talk - about the war, of course, because what else do any of them do with their lives - while waiting for Fox. After ten minutes without even a hint of his presence, Kenobi orders them a large basket of fries. Cody gets himself a milkshake and then resigns himself to the losing battle of keeping Wolffe away from his straw.

Wolffe could ask Dex for his own straw, or even his own milkshake. He does not, because Wolffe is an ori’vod and a bastard. Cody respects Dex too much to start a fight in his diner, but he resolves to make Wolffe spar with him once they’re back in the barracks.

It hits minute fifteen with no sign of Fox. Cody shares a look with Wolffe. They reach for their comms in sync.

If Fox does not respond to their pestering by the time it reaches minute twenty, they will write him off as a lost cause and enjoy lunch without him.

Minute eighteen arrives. There is no response to either of their messages, but there is a flash of familiar red through the windows of the diner’s door. Two flashes, in fact. Cody raises an eyebrow.

Fox and another Coruscant Guard commander that Cody doesn’t recognize slip into the diner with surprising stealth, given that they’re in full armor and there’s a bell above the door. Cody scrutinizes them as they approach.

They’re both limping, though the unfamiliar commander only slightly; Fox’s is much more pronounced even as he tries to hide it. When he reaches their booth, he lifts his arm gingerly to remove his helmet.

Wolffe greets him with, “What the fuck happened to you?”

This is a fair question. There is a large bandage plastered across the right half of Fox’s face, stretching from just beneath his eye to his chin. The rest of his visible skin is so bruised it looks like he went hand-to-hand with a commando droid.

“He got mugged,” the unfamiliar commander offers when Fox stays silent. “I’m Thire, by the way.”

Thire takes the seat beside Kenobi and leaves Fox to the fate of sitting next to Wolffe. He has a mullet, but he makes it look good, so Cody doesn’t hold it against him.

Fox sits, reluctantly, and finally graces them all with the deadpan scrape of his voice. “He’s my babysitter.”

Thire’s smile is as sharp and bright as a vibroblade in sunlight. “Yes. Sorry for joining your lunch without notice - we had to make sure Fox wouldn’t get into any more fights along the way.”

“This was not my fault,” Fox growls.

It is, obviously, an old argument. Kenobi interrupts before it can begin again.

“We’re happy to have you,” he says. “Have you been to Dex’s before?”

Thire blinks at him. He does not comment on the unusual presence of a Jedi in their midst, unlike Fox had, many times, when Cody had first broached the topic. Even now, Fox does not seem very pleased that Kenobi is here.

“I’ve had his food a few times,” Thire responds, which is a non-answer. Cody has become very good at noticing them in his time working as Kenobi’s right hand. “It’s good. This is the real reason I went with you,” he tells Fox.

Fox, eloquent as ever, flips him off. 

Dex arrives to take their orders. He greets Fox and Thire with familiarity and does not comment on Fox’s injuries.

When he leaves again, Wolffe keeps the ensuing quiet from stretching into awkwardness by turning to Fox and saying, “I'm serious, vod. What in the depths did you do?”

Fox waves a hand. “Blacked out. Woke up on the lower levels. Got jumped. They got in a few lucky hits,” he gestures to his face, “before I killed them.”

“Just a normal Centaxday, really,” Thire adds faux-cheerfully. “What about you guys? What have you been up to? Besides the war, of course.”

The change of topic is not graceful. Cody exchanges a look with Kenobi. Kenobi raises an eyebrow. Cody raises one back: no, it is not normal for Fox to show up looking awful - this awful, at least. Something bigger is going on here.

“You blacked out?” he asks for both of them.

“It's fine,” Fox dismisses. “Happens to everyone at some point, right?”

He is full of shit and he knows it. Cody tells him so.

More diplomatically, Kenobi adds, “I  am curious by what exactly that turn of phrase means, at least in this instance. I’m sure you weren’t drunk, but just to be clear—”

Thire laughs. Fox sighs. “I was not drunk.”

The two of them look at each other and proceed to have a conversation that consists entirely of facial expressions. Gone are the days when Cody could do that with his batchmates; they don’t spend enough time together now, and the only people he can read that well anymore are Rex and Kenobi. He has no idea what Fox and Thire are saying to each other.

Finally, Fox says, casually, “I’ve been losing time since about six months into the war.”

All of Cody’s attention snaps to him. The war has now been ongoing for over two years. This is not what he was expecting to hear at all; Fox has never even hinted at it before. 

“Ah,” Kenobi says delicately.

“And you’re just mentioning this now?” Wolffe asks with far less grace.

“Well, I kind of hoped the problem would go away on its own,” Fox shoots back dryly. “Clearly, that didn’t happen.

“I started losing time six months into the war,” he starts again. “A few hours, a day. A few days.”

“The worst one was over a week,” Thire inputs quietly. Fox acknowledges him with another dip of his head.

“Every time, I’d wake up somewhere on Coruscant, usually in the lower levels, with no idea how I got there. If I had all of my gear still on me, it was lucky, and if I was uninjured, it was even luckier. After a few months, I realized I wasn’t the only one this was happening to.”

“It’s all of the commanders,” Thire explains. “Fox and I have them the most often, followed by Thorn. Stone only gets them rarely.”

“So that’s why you look so bad,” Wolffe surmises.

Fox chuckles, low. “Yeah. Woke up way further down than I should’ve been with half my armor gone and in the middle of some natborns kicking the shit out of my body.” He scoffs. “They should’ve made sure I was dead first.”

Cody, Wolffe, and Kenobi all grimace, though the latter’s expression is likely for very different reasons.

“You said you killed them to get away?” he asks. “How many of them were there?”

Fox frowns. “Not sure; it was all kind of a blur, and my memories are always shit after blackouts, anyway. Five, give or take.”

“And you killed them,” Kenobi repeats. “All of them?”

“Yes.”

Wolffe shakes his head, somewhere between fond and amused. “Of course you did, Fox’ika.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Fox and I were the top of the entire command class on Kamino,” Cody explains for Kenobi’s benefit. And, as much as he hates to admit it, “He graduated with the highest score in hand-to-hand combat sims.”

At peak condition, a handful of natborns would be laughably easy for him to take down. This time, he was injured and disoriented and obviously paid the price, but Cody still isn’t the least bit surprised that he came out of that fight on top.

“I see,” Kenobi says, nodding. “You must be a very formidable fighter.”

Fox smirks. Somehow, it just makes him look tired. “I am.”

There’s a rumble of that old, bitter anger in his voice. He hadn’t been happy to find out he’d been assigned to Coruscant instead of the frontlines they’d all trained for their entire lives. Clearly, his opinion has not improved. 

Wolffe clears his throat. “Do you know what’s causing the blackouts? Because they sound a little fucked up, vod.”

Thire and Fox exchange a look.

“Well,” Fox says, and then does not elaborate.

“We have...theories.” Thire glances around and lowers his voice. “As far as we can tell, the blackouts only happen after one of us has a meeting with the Chancellor.”

Well, indeed.

Dex sweeps over with their food. They all gratefully take the excuse to process what was just said. Kenobi looks like he’s bitten into something sour, but the expression fades as he takes the first bite of his nerfburger.

In the awkward conversation lull that’s arisen, Thire adds, “I think Palpatine is a Sith.”

Cody jerks his head up and stares. Kenobi chokes.

“Oh?” he manages, strangled.

Wolffe recovers first. “That’s a pretty fucking big accusation.”

Thire shrugs. He and Fox are both eating like they’re starving; Cody takes another, closer look at them and notes the sharpness of their cheekbones. A warning bell pings belatedly in his head.

Kenobi has recovered his dignity. “Yes, it is. I assume you have evidence, or at least suspicions, to back it up?”

“I’ve been around Sith before,” Thire explains between bites. “I was there on Rugosa when General Yoda stopped Ventress from assassinating the Toydarian king. I know what they feel like. The Chancellor feels the same way.”

Kenobi’s raised eyebrow betrays his incredulity. “Forgive me for presuming, but as far as I’m aware, none of the clones are Force-sensitive.”

“This is true.”

“So how is it that you can sense the Dark side on Chancellor Palpatine when none of the Jedi ever have?”

“Maybe he doesn’t bother shielding himself around us,” Fox mutters. He doesn’t look up from his food even when everyone’s attention swings to him. “Trust me, he drops all his other facades, too.”

Thire scoffs. “Yeah. He hates us and he’s not subtle about it. Stone jokes that he’s getting off on our misery.”

He seems to remember who he’s talking to and grimaces. “Uh. Sorry, sir.”

Kenobi does not seem to register the apology and has abandoned his food entirely, lost in thought. Cody passes him a napkin before he can press his fingers to his temples and get grease in his hair. He nods absently in thanks.

“A Sith controlling the Senate,” he murmurs to himself, with an expression like he’s connecting several dots and is severely unhappy with the picture they make. “Well, then.”

Louder, to Thire, he continues, “You do realize I’m going to need something more substantial than your word if I’m to bring this to the Jedi Council.”

Thire and Fox look at each other. Another wordless conversation commences. Wolffe, meanwhile, turns to stare at Cody; what the fuck? his raised eyebrows ask. This, at least, is not hard to understand. Cody shrugs back.

This is not the kind of bonding between the two sides of his life he had anticipated. He is honestly not sure if he’d prefer the possible-friendship possible-immediate-hatred or the sedition.

“I could just shoot him and see what happens,” Fox finally says.

Cody sighs. Wolffe presses a hand to his face. He has never looked more like an ori’vod.

“Please don’t,” Kenobi says, pained. “That could go incredibly badly if you’re wrong.”

“We could ask,” Thire suggests.

This is only marginally better than Fox’s idea.

Cody turns to Kenobi. They have done stupider things before and ended up with perfectly satisfactory results.

“I’ll turn on my helmet cam,” Fox adds. “Is that good enough evidence for you?”

Kenobi pauses and then shrugs like it hurts him to do so. He does not say no. The great negotiator has run out of will to argue; Cody never thought he’d see the day.

<><><>

It is less than twenty-four hours later that Thire, Fox, and a third Coruscant Guard commander that Cody doesn’t know come stumbling up the steps of the Jedi Temple. Thire is clutching Fox’s helmet against his chest. The third commander is carrying Fox himself and yelling for a medic.

Cody does not personally witness that spectacle, but he is there a few hours later in the chamber of the High Council when Thire gives his report. The third commander - Thorn - is with Fox in the Halls of Healing, having refused to move from his sentry position by Fox’s bacta tank. Cody hasn’t even seen him yet, with how quickly the Council meeting was called; all he knows of his batchmate’s condition is how long the list of injuries is.

“Sir, have you heard of the Sith?” Fox’s voice, distorted slightly by the recording, asks.

Palpatine chuckles. It sends chills down Cody’s spine in a way it never has before. The holo wavers, once, before Thire gets control of the shaking in his hands.

“Of course I have, Commander. Who hasn’t, in times like these?”

“Are you one of them?”

It is times like these that Cody both curses and loves Fox’s bluntness. Naked shock flashes across Palpatine’s face before he can control his reaction; the mask of the kindly old man does not return. The Jedi murmur at the poisonous anger in his eyes. 

The recording stays steady. Thire does not shake, and neither does Fox, even in the face of darkness.

“An interesting question indeed, Commander. Let’s make sure you don’t remember it.”

Lightning bursts forth from his outstretched hand. Fox falls. The recording glitches and cuts on the edge of his scream.

It is only years of training that keep Cody from flinching. Thire’s knuckles are white on the helmet when he lowers it back to his side.

“Is that enough evidence for you?” he asks quietly, looking at Kenobi but directed at the Council entirely. Yoda’s ears droop. “Sirs?”

It seems it is. Cody has never seen the Jedi Council formulate and mobilize a plan so fast.

Fox is still in the bacta tank, but they let Thire take his slugthrower. The questions have already been asked, and he shoots first.

The Chancellor - the Sith Lord - dies quickly and loudly.

Afterwards, the Force is lighter than it has been in decades, or so Cody is told; he can neither confirm nor deny it, but the war is over, and he imagines the foreign joy he feels at this realization is a similar sensation.

#commander fox #commander cody #commander thire #star wars #the clone wars #tcw fic #banana made a post #banana writes things #this is very goofy i like it a lot

[000marie198]

There are way too many things to analyze in this scene!

First of all, I couldn't help but notice how Nine hid away his strengths and capabilities. He internally loves and enjoys a little gloating and all but when he senses it could have a consequence, he hides it away. The same way he tends to hide his tails! The same way he refuses to fly in front of others (the only times we've seen him fly is either in front of only Sonic or to save Sonic. And just once when they were escaping from the Egg Forcers back in Escape from New Yoke City. He remained cautious throughout afterwards to not fly in front of the Resistance again.) Anyways, here in the beginning of this scene, he hides away what he can do bcoz a part of him has figured out that letting Eggman learn anymore of his capabilities could lead to a consequence, he just doesn't know what it could be.

"You think I have vision and imagination?"

There is scepticism in his voice, not hope or confidence or smugness. He knows what he can do and he is trying to hide it.

.....

Secondly, using Nine's intellect against him in a tricky way. It seems Mr Dr Eggman - ugh, this name is a mouthful, I'll just refer to him as Eggman - it seems Eggman's skills lie much more in manipulation tactics than previously presumed. He's also using the fox's insecurities to hit him where it hurts.

......

Moving on to the third thing- Nine, when his deepest insecurities were being pointed out, we could see in his eyes that the words were having an effect on him. He's a traumatized kid still and just because he had learned to fight back doesn't mean he still can't get hurt. He did get hurt in this scene.

But then he blinked and instantly composed himself and smirked back. An act. Both a coping mechanism and a method to fight back. Hide your vulnerabilities, hide and pretend to be unaffected by what hurts you so the other wouldn't succeed, so the other wouldn't keep it up. Nine did just that. He diverted what was thrown at him and turned it around.

"I'm pathetic? You're the ones with unlimited power and all you can think to do is build a bigger robot."

A deflected strike back and criticism on the other instead of falling on defending himself cuz that would've both implied he felt insecure and would've revealed his capabilities. That was one psychological attack he dealt against, which indicates he might've suffered from it in his life before (no wonder he's so bitter about the city and its inhabitants).

.....

Moving on, he clearly has as much confidence in Sonic as Tails often does, like a brother, that's pretty sweet. He has full confidence and belief that the council can't beat Sonic and he feels both smug and happy about it. He's gotten attached to the hedgehog just as much.

Whatever his goals are, whatever his end motives will be, a part of him has genuinely accepted Sonic as his kin and did so long ago, right when he asked Sonic, "What else did we do?" It's clear from analysing his character in this scene that Nine never willingly shows any of his insecurities to anyone, much less vulnerabilities. He is never open with others but in that moment, he consciously made the decision to be vulnerable with the hedgehog, to let some hope and yearning take over him in that moment. He trusted Sonic. He still cares about the other just as much.

......

And finally, that one thing that happened to poor Tails in SA2 just happened to Nine. Even the reaction is the same! Tails accidentally revealed that Sonic had the fake Emerald, Nine accidentally revealed how to be on the same level as Sonic. And both times, Eggman manipulated his way through it to get confirmation from the fox. Which is both kinda regretful and funny. I like how they sneaked in that easter egg.

Also, the way he panicked and worried and blamed himself right afterwards he cares about his friend so much! Ufhevxjfjtjfjfjjgj

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic #sth #miles tails prower #miles nine prower #tails nine #sonic and tails #nine the fox #mr dr eggman #chaos council #sonic prime #sa2 #sonic prime spoilers #dr eggman #sonic prime s2 spoilers #sonic prime nine #prime sonic #sonic prime sonic #sonic prime s2 #sonic prime season 2 #sonic prime analysis #analysis #character analysis

[captain-mj]

This has been on my mind a lot since I read your monster AUs and I love your writing ❤️

König being surprised that one of the team members is immediately comfortable around him. Usually people react to him with fear or at least caution. He doesn’t suspect that it is because Horangi is something much darker than he could have ever imagined.

(Maybe he’s a Gumiho? Where better to get a supply of fresh hearts than in the special forces. Also plz to as sfw or nsfw as you like 🙈)

Never heard of this creature before so thank you so much!! It’s so fucking cool

~~~~

König followed behind Horangi, watching for any enemies. They were alone on this mission but so far there hadn’t been much action. 

It gave him time to think about Horangi. Most people were put off by König. His size, the hood or even just his general disposition. Horangi never did though. He always looked at him with the same cool calmness he gave everyone. It was so nice, being treated as everyone else from the beginning. 

König should’ve known there would be something wrong. This mission had been just a little too easy. The IED went off when Horangi tripped a wire and then it all went to hell. 

König flew through the air, almost weightless for a moment. He slammed onto his back and all the air left him. His body wouldn’t move and for a moment, he worried he may be paralyzed if it wasn’t for the pain that followed. Everything in him ached down to his toes. 

Men came from nowhere and König realized this would be the end. He looked around for Horangi, trying to see where he was. Or how many pieces he was. The explosion had been focused on him and König decided he didn’t want to know. 

König tried to move his limbs. Tried to twitch them. 

The men came closer, one of the guns moving to his head. 

“You here alone?”

König frowned. Wha- 

Something slammed into the men and then there was an intense sound. A bleeding, horrid screeching that broke the air. Gunshots from multiple guns blared but they were silenced one by one. 

König tried to move, but his body just wouldn’t listen. He started to struggle and panic flooded through him. 

“König.” Horangi spoke softly. His footsteps grew closer.

“Horangi! You are okay! We need.. need.” He trailed off, seeing how bloody Horangi was when he came into view.

Horangi didn’t have his mask on. Or his helmet.  König could see the scars on his face and the... fox ears. They trailed off into his dark hair and behind him,  König could faintly comprehend... something. It looked a bit like tails. Several of them, also thrashing in tandem. 

His mouth. There was so much blood. His teeth, sharp vicious things, all stained with it.

“Can you move?”

König stared, very afraid. He managed to shake his head, body freezing as adrenaline filled his veins. Normally, it helped. He wanted to fight. But his body decided now was the best time to change his fight or flight response to fucking freeze.

“Shame.” Horangi moved and... straddled him. 

“Did you eat those men?” König couldn’t breath, the weight on Horangi meshing with the pain to crush his lungs. 

“Just their hearts. Only part worth eating.”

“Are you going....”  König started to gasp and Horangi looked down at him, a smile playing at his lips. 

Those teeth. Needle sharp. Clearly made to tear through flesh. He opened it slowly, baring them, before leaning down, hovering right over where König’s heart would be buried under the skin.

“You’d taste amazing. I just know it. Might have some other organs worth eating.” He reached down and removed his sniper hood. “Don’t worry. No one else here.” 

König froze, not wanting Horangi to view his face. His hands ended in dark claws and they were trailing over his face, tracing the freckles. 

“Bitte...” 

“I wouldn’t hurt you, König.” Horangi said quietly. “Wouldn’t want to lose my friend.” He leaned down. “Do you trust me?”

König nodded slowly, staring into his eyes. They were so dark, pools of the night sky. 

Horangi kissed him softly, pushing what felt like a hard candy into his mouth.  König’s eyes widened and he froze, feeling hands on his face. Horangi’s tongue invaded his mouth, mapping it out. He swallowed on instinct and the candy slid down his throat.

Horangi grabbed his face hard and forced him to look at the sky. It felt like everything came crashing down. Things he shouldn’t know invading his brain in a way that bordered on painful. 

The pain in his body disappeared. He felt fine. 

Horangi had gotten off of him during his... whatever that was. 

“You won’t speak of this. I’ve had to clear an entire base because they found out before. I’m not afraid to do it again. Everyone you know, everyone you work with, dead and gone. Understood?”

“Yes.” König got up, flexing his fingers and his toes. Everything worked fine. “Thank you.” 

Horangi fixed himself, putting his mask back on. He didn’t speak again. 

König looked at the bodies with their cracked open ribcages. Part of him knew he should be disgusted or frightened. But Horangi said he wouldn’t hurt him and he trusted him. He padded after him. 

It was a while before it came up again. They ended up on another mission, just the two of them. König and Horangi had been attacked by a few men, but it wasn’t much of a problem. 

König had one of the two last men, Horangi locked in a knife fight with the other one, and it hit him that Horangi probably hadn’t eaten since that day. He hadn’t went on any solo missions and he doubted he could get away from the others. 

König didn’t slit the guys throat like he had been planning. Instead, he dove his knife down on his sternum and cut down the place where his ribs would end in the center of his chest. The knife wasn’t really meant to cut through bone, but it worked well enough. He shoved his hand into the place he cut, feeling the man struggle weakly, blood gushing. 

Once he wrapped his hand around his heart, he pulled it out, mind on auto pilot. 

Horangi walked over. König could hear his footsteps. “What are you doing?”

König held the prize out to him, the heart still twitching as if beating.

“Hungry?”

#Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II #Call Of Duty #Konig #König #Horangi #Körangi #König x Horangi #Horangi x König

[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook

W.D.Y.W.F.M [Lovebites]

Jungkook could've adopted anybody else, really. He's gotten to know a lot of hybrids left and right during his time at the carecenter and foster homes- low maintenance ones, friendly ones, ones that are easy to be around. So why would he want you?

Tags/Warnings: Idol!Jungkook, Hybrid!Reader, Fox Hybrid!Reader, mentions of trauma, Reader isn't cute & cuddly in this at all, manhandling (not the spicy kind), sort of brat-tamer Jungkook but not in the kinky way if that makes sense? This is about four years AFTER the Prelude chapter!, slight angst, okay it's actually not slight, mentioned attempted violence against mc, mentioned panic attack, fluff, slightly suggestive towards the end but overall SFW

Length: 3.4k words

There is no taglist for this fic.

A/N: Have you forgotten about this because I didn't

-> Masterlist

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He remembers the day he'd made it public. Not only the fact that he had you, was living with you, legally.. well, owned you-

But that he was also in a relationship with you.

Jungkook remembers the immense wave of both support and hate clashing against one another, both sides aggressively trying to win a fight that was never theirs to fight to begin with. No one ever really pushed against or with him- it had always been about you. Fans trying to shelter and protect you, others attempting to use your past against you, slandering you or even attempting to scare you away from him.

From online threats against your safety, birthday projects all over the world to people actually attempting real life harm against you on airports, and others making signs specifically about loving you to hold up during concerts.

It's a constant push and pull- but after four years now, fans had to pretty much accept the fact that you existed and had this connection to him, or stay in their delusions and theories as to why it cannot be true.

It's like it's gotten simply boring. Old news.

He's kept you at his side, safe and sound, through all these years. Doesn't hide you when he's live, or outside, or taking the plane, or filming. You're a part of his life, and he doesn't ever attempt to keep you hidden. And neither does he ever want to back down and give anyone reason to think that he's not taking you seriously- neither as someone to love, nor as someone to keep safe.

He will do both, fully. Love you, and protect you.

Jungkook is currently live, talking to fans while you're on the couch next to him, tired but unable to sleep yet because it's something you've developed ever since staying with him. It's kind of his own fault- bad timing of him leaving the apartment every time you'd sleep making you wary of leaving him out of sight even to this day. He feels bad for it- but you're both working on that these days.

He doesn't want you to believe that he'd ever leave you alone.

"Is that foxy? Yes, she's right here!" He grins, leaning back a little to teasingly pull one of your ears into frame, showing that you're halfway laying on his lap. It makes some people upset in the chat, but most find it cute. "She doesn't sleep well alone, when I don't sleep she doesn't either." He explains to the fans watching. "Which is.. my fault, I kind of messed that up, but we're working on it." He nods, leaning back forwards to read the chat. "Calvin Klein? Huh?" He wonders why he reads the name of the brand in the chat considering he himself is wearing a simple white nike shirt- before he turns around, spotting you climbing over the back of the couch, seam of your pale purple underwear displaying the brand name. "Ah, yes! We got sent some stuff from their hybrid collection. Looks really pretty!" He smirks teasingly into the Chat, and he knows his management is probably holding their heads again in agony- so he can't help but make them mad just a little more, by reaching out behind him to smack your butt once, earning a squeak from your end and a wave of emojis in the chat.

They can't do much against his relationship or you, but that doesn't mean that they like it when he talks so easily and openly about it like this, or even dares to show public displays of affection towards you. He's not supposed to.

He does it anyways.

"Calvin Klein shooting when? Ah~!" He laughs, leaning back with arms crossed. "I'm not sure if I'd be happy with others seeing her in underwear." He jokes, though there's a hint of truth in it. He's painfully possessive over you- he doesn't like you even just playing around with the other members, for example, does everything for you before anyone else could offer. He doesn't like it when you're being taken care of by others, and he knows that's a bit childish. "But maybe normal clothes. Who knows. Maybe one day." He shrugs and reads the chat that asks him what you're doing- so he turns around to check on you in the kitchen-

Instantly jumping up over the back of the couch to run to you.

"Hey hey hey, no climbing that!" He scolds on his way, pulling you down from the counter before setting you down. "What did you want?" He asks, getting the bowl from the higher shelf for you before teasingly pulling your tail. "Don't do that again, yeah?" He shakes his head as he walks back to the couch, sitting in front of the camera again. "What happened? Ah, she couldn't reach something and climbed on the counter. But she could get hurt, so I don't like it." He explains. "Why? Ah, she doesn't do it usually!" He waves off. "She really doesn't. She's just having an episode these days, so she's a bit more trouble than normal." He says, trying to laugh it off- quickly changing topic.

He doesn't want anyone to really dwell on the fact that the most recent airport accident had sent you into an episode of all things.

Episodes in hybrids can vary in severity. Yours is a pretty serious one- it's been more than 24-hours since the airport incident, and yet you're still quiet, you're still regressing, and most of all- still terribly jumpy, as if you're right back to square one when he'd first brought you home, just ten times worse.

He'd been caught off guard this time. The same as security. No one saw it coming.

The airport had been crowded from the start, which had been normal. It's not unusual for him to draw in a large crowd- you never changed anything about that at the end of the day, if anything, you just increased it with many hybrids becoming fans of you, begging their owners to take them to the airports and other places where they could garner a glimpse of you. But this time, a crazed 'fan' had slipped through security, had grabbed after you- acrylic nails scratching hard on your arm, drawing blood and making you panic, as she yelled in a language he couldn't understand fully at you, hand raised to strike.

Jungkook had barely managed to pull you close, dash towards the car with security suddenly on highest alert, until you both had reached and entered the car.

He will never forget the sight of you, terrified, scrambling to crawl over the backseats, trying to get into the trunk area instead because in that moment, everyone had been an enemy in your eyes.

Him included.

It took him more than half an hour to get through to you, reassuring you enough with his strong hold and scent to push through the fog in your mind, and make you remember that he is safe. He's your person. He's to be trusted. And he's not mad at you for biting him in that moment whatsoever.

You'd thrown up the moment you'd entered the apartment due to the stress, before you shamefully hid in the furthest corner of the shower, cowering in panic, body trembling still.

Jungkook had wanted to cry so badly while the guilt crawled up his neck. Instead, he'd given you space, and had instead called a doctor to schedule an appointment asap for today, and one home visit later, you're all bandaged up and medicated to help your anxiety until you're able to think straight again.

He doesn't like that it has to be like that. But he understands that it's all that can be done to at least make your episode a bit more manageable and comfortable.

"Yeah, I'm gonna take some days off. I actually wanted to anyways, it's not just because of what happened, so don't worry." He reassures the fans concerned over your well-being- probably mostly because of the official statement from his company, which also announced his short hiatus from all activities, and a sharp increase in security measures moving forward. You simply crawl over his lap to lay down lazily, tail smacking around, your impatience the result of lack of attention. "Is she okay? Yeah, she has been prescribed some medication, she is okay." He offers, before he changes the topic again for a moment, until he can finally find a good opportunity to end the livestream.

The moment he does, he leans back, tension leaving his body as he watches you turn your head towards him. You've not said a word since the airport- and your gaze is hazy, not quite there.

He feels guilty just looking at you.

"I won't let that happen ever again." He promises, a hand on your head gently petting your ears. "I'll protect you more seriously." He mumbles, and you just watch him, happy to gain his attention even if you've got no idea what he's saying. Right now, you can't really comprehend anything- neither time, nor words, nor anything else.

You just exist, healing in silence it seems like.

And that's fine with him, as long as you'll be okay.

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You're biting on his curled up finger, while he laughs and wiggles your head around with it, no pain whatsoever in your bites.

You do that, occasionally, even when 'normal'. Though in that state, you typically recoil from your own actions, feeling bad for them even with his patient attempts at reassuring you that it's fine with him. But like this, still in your episode, you're a lot more open with what you're usually hiding when it comes to your natural hybrid behavior.

Love bites. That's what Jungkook calls them.

You bite his arm randomly when he stops paying attention to the movie you're supposed to watch together. You bite his neck whenever you cuddle, tangled up limbs and careful nips on his skin, well aware you shouldn't mark him up- even though he wouldn't complain. You bite after his hands when he tries to feed you stuff, though his reflexes tend to be better. And you bite at his clothes and pillows and toys- those you have a tight hold on though, testing his strength every single time.

He doesn't mind any of those things. He knew what you'd be like right from the start.

Your mind is slowly clearing up a bit, the second day into your episode- though it seems like you're still hiding away behind your hybrid behavior, taking your time to properly heal and collect yourself again before facing reality. And he's fine with that.

You can take as much time as you need and want.

He's brushing your hair for you while you sit on his lap, still tired form having just woken up. He can't really leave you alone like this- and you also still need to go to your regularly scheduled appointments to make sure you're recovering physically and mentally. Last checkup they've found some growing bruises near your hip, probably from the car door having accidentally swung into you in all the frenzy, and because you can't really tell anyone how you're feeling right now, everyone including Jungkook is being a little extra careful.

Though he can't say he doesn't enjoy moments like these, where he's truly got you all to himself.

He's opening a pack of wet wipes specifically for hybrid features, and you automatically move to lay your head in his lap as he cleans your ears for you- something back then, the shelter had told him to teach you to do yourself first things first since you hated having it done with a passion, but he's never had any problems with you. Sure, you can be a brat-

But you always have somewhat of a reason for lashing out if it happens, down the line. And he's learned to take a step back and look for that reason first and foremost, before judging or scolding you.

You wiggle around a little bit as he finishes up, putting everything away before he lets you go to lay down somewhere near the windows on a mattress he'd laid out. He chuckles as he walks back inside the living room, holding out your collar towards you, and his heart breaks a little when your ears clearly droop, probably still scared of leaving the apartment. "I know, but we have an appointment today that has to happen at the doctor's." He gently speaks, squatting down to where you're stubbornly rolling away from him, shielding your neck so he can't put your collar on. He clicks his tongue, carefully putting the collar down into his lap before he pulls your wrists away from your neck. "Baby please. I promise you, no one will ever hurt you again as long as I'm with you, okay?" He presses on, and at that, he can see your ears turn towards him, before you slowly give in to his hands pulling yours down.

He carefully places the simple velvet collar around your neck, both an Identification mark and a Yellow mark with the words 'Caution; Nervous' on it. He's received it from the doctor that checked up on you right after your episode had started- and he feels awful that you have to wear it like this.

But he'll do anything to make sure you're safe.

"…kook?" you ask, and he immediately perks up at hearing you speak again, arms open to let you crawl into his lap. "M' scared." You admit, and he nods.

"I know." He agrees, because he really does know that you're still fearful. It's only natural after what had happened. "But I'll do anything to keep you safe. You trust me?" He asks, and after a moment of thinking-

You nod into his chest, making him feel unbelievably proud of himself.

He won't let it go to waste.

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It's been a week, and Jungkook has to admit- he's never been happier that you're back to your old, chaotic self.

"You know you're in trouble." He states, holding up one of his sweaters-

The strings of the hood all chewed up, clearly because of you. You're just sitting on the floor on a random pillow, tail wagging, as if you're proud of your work. "People keep staring at you!" You complain, huffing in anger as you cross your arms. "You need my scent on you, so they know you're taken!" You say, and he sighs, shaking his head.

"It's not like I'm gonna wear this with those strings still in place anyways." He tells you, and you seem to become even more frustrated now. "In fact, I'm not really wearing anything top-wise in the most recent photoshoots-" He says, and suddenly, you get up, and dash past him, your shoulder hitting his body as you push towards your room- But he doesn't want you to just lock yourself in and 'sleep it off' like you always do. He wants you to explode into his face like this- he needs you to be honest for once. "No, you'll stay right here." He tells you, but you shake your head, trying to claw his hand from your arm.

"I don't want to!" You bark at him, now simply letting yourself drop down, hanging limp from his grip, and he just watches how you throw your little tantrum. "Let me go!" You hiss up at him, but he just takes in a deep breath, and continues to hold you.

"No." He denies. "And I can do this all day long, you know?" He shrugs, dragging you over the floor by your arm into the kitchen to get some water out the fridge.

And even as he can see your eyes start to tear up, he doesn't budge.

"You know, I'd really like to help you." He sighs, sitting down on the floor close to you. "I hate seeing you cry."

"Then let me go!" You try again, but he shakes his head.

"I won't." He denies once more. "I told you that's not how it works. Over and over again." He reminds you, his grip softening a bit. "I need you to talk to me, not just bottle things up and shove them into a corner inside your head." Jungkook complains, and you deflate at that.

"I don't like that.. no one takes me seriously." You say, and he tilts his head a bit in question. "People act like.. like I'm not even there." You say quietly, and he's unsure what you mean.

"What are you talking about baby?" He wonders, helping you sit on his lap, legs over his thighs wrapped around him just like your arms. "Many people love you. And by now, almost everyone knows you too." he reminds you, but you shake your head.

"They know me as your hybrid." You say, in a defeated manner. "But people don't see me as.. you know.. your mate." You complain into his shoulder, and at that he hums to himself, seeing the issue finally reveal itself.

"You're jealous?" He wonders, and you shrug.

"Sometimes." You admit. "When.. people how well this or that.. famous person fits you, you know." You finally say honestly. "And the worst is that they're often right. You do look nice with a pretty actress maybe, or-" You begin to rant, when a hand runs over your back, up and down.

"Mark me." He tells you, and you freeze.

"What?" You wonder, leaning away to properly look at him. But he just smiles, teasingly almost, and leans his head to the side a little.

"You heard me." He chuckles. "Wherever you want. Mark me up." He shrugs.

"But.. I'm not allowed." You shake your head, unsure if you understand him correctly. "I'm not supposed to."

"I do it all the time to you, don't I?" He asks, and you nod, a little shy now. "So? Only fair if you get to do it too. I'm sorry I didn't realize how.. that must've felt like to you, the fact that I always told you not to do it." He offers, a hand running over your tail.

"But they'll get angry at you-" You remind him, and he still denies it, instead leaning in to peck your lips once. You huff at that, even after the second, the third- but the fourth is when you melt, join in, and let yourself be swepped away by his love.

Jungkook knows best, you remind yourself. He knows what he can and can't do. He'll manage that.

You're mouthing at his neck on instinct, careful still- before you actually do end up biting and marking him, the evidence of this staying even the next day and the day after, causing his management to scold him numerous times- all of them Jungkook simply lets wash over him, not really taking it to heart.

He loves you, and therefore things like these are simply normal. They shouldn't be forbidden. He's not a child anymore.

And, at the end of the day, he doesn't need the fame, or money, or anything else.

He only needs you.

#bts imagine #bts fanfic #bts fic #jungkook imagine #hybrid imagine #jeon jungkook x reader #jeon jungkook imagine #bts jungkook #bts jungkook fanfic #bts jungkook imagine #bts jungkook x reader #bts x reader #bts jeon jungkook x reader #bts jeon jungkook imagine

[lover-of-mine]

Yk, something about my Eddie fell first essay, I never really went like "oh this is something that could be proven right by canon" mostly because when I wrote that I was still dealing with buddie being a distant possibility not something that's so close I can taste, but then Ryan was let out of interview jail. Then I went full conspiracy theorist. (Please note everything from here on out is a conspiracy theory that will most likely never be confirmed or denied so I'll live in it forever) I had made the post about how I think Ryan is playing Eddie as in love with Buck, the question was whether he was being told to do that or he was just playing it up as much as they allowed him to because we know Ryan supports the ship, and then Ryan said the "this goes beyond friendship and I love you to the core" thing.

He said he talked to someone about what it meant for Eddie to do that, because he didn't understand it at first, and then that's the conclusion he reached. But the thing is, that line "I love you to the core" specifically means so much in the context of the season, to say I love you to Buck like that in season 4 is so MONUMENTAL, that I wanna believe one of the writers straight up told him "yo this is a love confession" and explained it to him like that, and he has been playing Eddie with that line in mind ever since, and that's why he had that locked and loaded for the interview. Because, like, I, in my most normal day, am out here arguing they casted Ryan with a plan, even more considering the way Eddie was written for Ryan, they could very much have told him "look, play with the chemistry you and Oliver have, if the audience likes with might amp it up, if we're lucky we might go there someday" because you have moments in season 2, but season 2 is still very low stakes, but then when I think about the the season 3 of it all, the there's nobody in this world I trust with my son more than you, the lawsuit, and well of it all and the way they put Ryan in pr jail after Eddie begins, an episode that would retroactively be HUGE for buddie but it's pretty big for them anyway, I'm like 🤔 because we all saw Ryan talking about buddie this past month, the guy CANT SHUT UP, and if he was told something during season 3 or 4 along the line of "play it up, we are gonna fight to make this happen", putting him in pr jail would make sense, because they can't risk him saying something if they're not sure they can deliver, because how fast they dealt with Buck being bi while in a new network makes me convinced someone on fox was blocking it and nothing will convince me otherwise. But now they can, so they let Ryan run free. Because you can make a VERY strong argument that Eddie is aware of something during season 5 and 6, season 6 most of all, but you can very much make season 5 queer coded and have Eddie be like "oh I can't ignore how I feel about him anymore", because Ryan also said something about Eddie's breakdown and how that's what allowed Eddie to let Buck "know who Eddie truly is" which is interesting with the way Eddie is constructed, because if Buck is inside the last wall Eddie had up, what's actually stopping Eddie to see he's in love with Buck by the end of the season? Which would make season 6 as a pining season for Eddie make sense. Down to the way the cemetery seems to be pulling these very specific reactions from Eddie that are the same reactions we saw him have in breakups and flights with Shannon. But also things like Eddie's reaction to the lightning being something we never saw from Eddie before AND the way Oliver talked about a scene of Eddie losing his composure during in another life, not during in a flash that we didn't get to see most likely because they completely rearranged 6b because they thought they were gonna get cancelled, so they wouldn't be able to deliver what they had in mind. But now they have nothing but time, season 8 is already confirmed, and by the looks of it abc was like "go for it" with buddie in a way that fox never was, so they finally got to tell Ryan "we're doing it, go crazy" and now we are here. They could prove me right today. About Eddie not about Ryan knowing and some secret plan being in place forever. I don't think it's gonna happen. I seriously don't think it's gonna happen. I'd be more surprised to be proved right than wrong here. But the conspiracy theory is a possibility that felt very real for a second there during promo season lol

#i know this sounds crazy #but when do i know sound crazy lol #anyway #911 #911 speculation #sorta #is it spec if it's retroactive? lol #thoughts thoughts thoughts

[targaryenrealnessdarling]

A Stranger’s Hand (10)

Summary: With a broken heart and recent truths, the tourney for Helaena’s ladies finally begins.

Warnings: angst, some foul language, mention of blood, mentions of sex

A/N: This one’s a biggie at over 8.5k so STRAP IN. IT’S TOURNEY TIME

A Stranger Masterlist

Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11

There is something extraordinary about heartbreak.

Something so overwhelmingly painful, so endlessly unbearable. And perhaps most of all, so mercilessly soul-crushing.

And yet, feels so human.

It is grief, fur-lined with fear that joy has forever escaped. It is the plate of food that you leave behind untouched. It is the uncomfortable shudder when the bath water has become too cold. It is staring distastefully at your shoes, and not having the strength to put them on. It is the flush of pink that has forever left your cheeks and migrated north to the corners of your eyes.

How could both happiness and heartbreak be two sides of the same coin, when they barely felt like they were of the same world.

In the human sense, it felt cruel, to allow people to feel what you felt at this very moment. And something that quite possibly many women before you had felt. How could the Gods have done this, to create such a feeling as this.

Perhaps it had not been part of their plan at all. And you wondered, did they pity mere mortals when they saw such despair? When they saw how something as raw, pure and visceral as love could descend into such turmoil.

Sometimes, when you clasp the sapphire necklace around your neck, you look at yourself in the mirror and think of all the things that have been said about you. That you are an inhuman female demon, that you are an innocent victim of a man-crazed forced against your will and in danger of your own life, that you were too ignorant to know how to act, that you had green eyes, that you had blue eyes, that you had both, that you have brown hair, that you have black hair, that you are of a resentful disposition with a quarrelsome temper, that you are a temptress, that you are a virgin, that you are cunning and devious, that you are soft in the head and little better than a fool and that you are a good girl with a compliant nature.

And you wonder, how you can be all these different things at once. 

Sometimes when you are laying in bed, unable to sleep but too fearful to venture out into the dark, you whisper to yourself. Ambrose. Risley. Tarth. Thorne. All the men who over the past few days since the list was distributed, you learned would fight for your hand in marriage. Perhaps they would be kind. Or perhaps they would not. Perhaps they would insist on a bedding ceremony, and have their men tear their clothes from you at your marriage table, hands clamouring at your flesh as if you were a hen caught beneath the paw of a fox. 

Perhaps they would take pity on you and prepare you for the duty of bearing their heirs kindly and slowly. Perhaps they would take you like the whore many supposed you were and that this meant they needn’t prepare you. Perhaps they would die quickly without planting their seed inside you. Perhaps they would live and continue to torture you with their unloving presence for years yet to come. 

“Ambrose. Risley. Tarth. Thorne”

“Targaryen”

The name rouses a cloud of guilt and shame in your chest.

You thought of all this as the ache between your thighs where Aemond had been started to fade, a sore reminder.

They don’t understand. That guilt doesn’t come from the things you have done, but from the things that others have done to you.

Otto Hightower’s words are an incessant whisper in your left ear, ‘You see? How easy it is for an idea of a person to be forgotten’

And in your right, Aemond’s words from several weeks before, ‘We are wed in soul, my love’

You thought of your mother and what she would think of you. The whore or the maiden? And as Otto’s words racked around inside your head with lack of sleep, you thought more often of her and what hardships she had endured. What had happened to her, you wonder. You could almost see her face before you, but focussing on one part of her face meant that the others disappeared and blurred away into non-existence. And you wondered how long it would be before you could not remember any detail of her face. Did your father feel the same? Did he stare up at the canopy, trying to remember his wife’s face?

Despite being the middle of the night, there were still various servants strolling about the Keep in hurried manners. Preparing for traveling west to the grounds, for the tourney.

Grasping the navy robe around you tighter to make yourself appear smaller, you knocked on the oak doors, expecting a few seconds to go by before the voice would come. After all, it was the middle of the night. You looked at the moon, which was not quite full, and the longer you looked at it the further away it seemed to get.

“Lady Highgreen” came the voice of Larys Strong from between the crack of the door.

When you looked upon his face he looked expectant, almost pleased to see you at his door. For no other reason than to imagine what secrets he could draw from your pretty little mind.

“Lord Strong” you greet, not bothering to curtsy too deeply for him, “May I speak with you a moment?” 

Almost too eagerly, he opened the door a slither more and allowed you to squeeze through unnoticed. His chambers were dark, lit only by candlelight, but part of you thought that perhaps it always looked like these even in the middle of the day. A sunny day and Larys Strong didn’t seem like they could co-exist together. 

“I am very sorry to disturb you so late-” 

“It is no bother, my Lady. Please sit” he interrupts. You tie your robe tighter out of nervousness and sit opposite where you had presumed he had been before your arrival. He limps over to a table to get another cup, “I assumed you might want some wine” he says. Again, not really a question, but more of an assumption. This time a correct one.

He gives that unreadable smile when he hands you the wine filled goblet, watching the ways you clasp your nervous fingers around it in your lap. You didn’t particularly like Larys, in fact finding him a little disconcerting, but what you did appreciate was that he was forward, to the point. Something you feel is lacking in Court most of the time.

This is proven by his opening line.

“I trust you are anxious for the tourney tomorrow” 

With a curt nod, you take a sip from the cup, letting the slightly bitter wine linger a little.

“I have a duty, as does everyone else” is all you answer, but he acts like this answer is unsatisfying.

“But you do not want it”

At this, you meet his eyes. He is sitting opposite, his cane in his right hand, fingers stroking the pattern of the wood. You note that he is still dressed in his day wear, did this man ever sleep?

“I think I would be lying if I said I did, my Lord”

Larys huffs a laugh at that and you wonder for a moment what you said that was so funny. His mouth opens to say something but you endeavour to beat him to it.

“Forgive me, my Lord, but that is not why I am here” 

He raises his eyebrows at the forwardness of it, but somewhat amused. 

“Alright” he says, gripping his cane tighter, “then why are you here?”

The lack of formality does not surprise you. He is trying to be as unnerving as possible. A chill runs up your spine that you try to hide.

Taking in a breath, “I no longer wish to be tortured with the memory of my mother when I do not know what happened” you begin, “I wish to know about her, prior to my birth”

Larys cocks his head, “What would possess you to believe I know?” 

You want to say, don’t be so cocky, but you need his cooperation, “I know my mother and father were here, both for their marriage and my birth. I believe you were here also, your father was Hand of the King at that time”

He smiles, but it falters for a moment before returning. 

“Indeed. And what is it specifically that you would like to know?”

You take another sip of the wine, sending a jolt of confidence through you that you knew you’d need. 

“I have heard some rumours about her, and I would like to know if there any truth to them” you start, fingers tracing the rim of your cup, “it is said she caused quite a bit of trouble, I know no more than that” 

Larys’ smile seemed to fade at the mention of ‘trouble’ and averted his eyes, as if casting his mind back, to before a time where you were even born.

“I remember the wedding very well. Your mother was quite the picture. The Queen Mother, I believe, was present as a guest”

“So they were close?” 

“They were inseparable. As if attached to the hip. I believe the Lord Hand may have been acquainted with your grandfather”

You nod your head in understanding. Perhaps you had not realised just how close your mother and Alicent had really been.

“The ceremony lasted well into the night, your mother and father were practically hanging off one another in love. It is a rare sight to see, for an arranged marriage”

“Why were they married here?”

“I would have thought the Queen Mother insisted on having it in the capital”

Larys sighed once he swallowed some more wine. 

“Not two moons passed since the wedding when your father was hurried away for business and it didn’t take long for your mother to find herself in trouble”

You lean forward, “Trouble?...”

Larys smiled widely. 

“It is said that your mother and her cousin, Lord Cameron Tarth, were discovered in a…compromising position within her chambers”

Despite the heat of the room, your blood suddenly ran cold in your veins and you shuddered, swallowing dryly. You tried to envision it, trying desperately to not let the opinion of many others colour the judgement of your late mother. For she was not here to defend herself.

You allow Larys to carry on.

“It is unclear exactly what transpired. Your mother was beside herself with hysteria for days. And only when your father returned did she finally come out of her chambers”

“What of Lord Cameron?” you ask. You are sure he is still alive, but had never truly met him.

Larys shrugs, “Some say he left for the Wall, others say he crossed the Narrow Sea. If one thing is certain he left King’s Landing with haste”

The answer doesn’t satisfy you and you’re left with a bad taste in your mouth.

“The rest are merely baseless rumours, but many in fact believed your mother had a brief affair with Lord Cameron. And not long after-”

“She was with child” you interrupt, looking up to meet his eyes, “Was she not?” 

Larys merely nods, tapping a ring-clad finger on the rim of his cup, “Your mother was inconsolable. And I do not mean to offend you my Lady since you are living and breathing before me, but it was clear she did not desire to be with child” 

You clear your throat, “And what of my father? What did he do?”

“Well…” he sighs, casting his mind back, eyes on the ceiling of his chambers, “...your father was annoyingly very indifferent, despite the King’s counsel. It created quite the fuss and because of all the commotion there was the fear that your father would lose allies”

The realisation hit you that this was why your father so diligently allied himself to the Greens when the Dance began. He must have felt the need to prove himself, even so many years later. It didn’t make you want to swipe the smug face off Otto’s face any less though.

“In my opinion, your mother’s image was saved entirely by the Queen Mother”

Your eyes meet him again, drawing up slowly from your lap.

“She would certainly have flung herself from the Tower of the Hand to end the pregnancy had the Queen Mother not been there to comfort her”

You ponder the answers you received for a moment, learning more here than a lifetime with your father. No wonder he was secretive about her, he had not wanted to uproot her memory and stir about such rumours again.

So you polish off the rest of the wine in your cup and clasp your hands before you, offering a small curtsy before making for the door.

“Thank you Lord Larys, I appreciate your honesty”

Watching you leave with a smirk, Larys responds, “It is no problem, Lady Highgreen”

Before placing your hand on the doorknob, you swivel on your spot, seeing Larys’ eyebrows raised to his hairline.

“I must ask” you begin, “why is it that there are no records of my mother being here?”

Now Larys looked confused, “Oh there certainly are. Just perhaps not where you would expect them to be”

Why is everyone so cryptic here, you think to yourself. 

Without another word, you leave, with even more questions than what you started with. The sky that you had observed before was tinged with a light blue, the sun threatened to come over the horizon. Every hair on your arm stood on end and a shuddering breath escaped your mouth. Your father would be arriving soon no doubt. Part of you couldn’t stand the thought of returning to your chambers.  

You chant once more.

“Ambrose. Risley. Tarth. Thorne”

Usually being up at the crack of dawn was no trouble to Aemond. He had always been early to rise. It meant that he could roam about and pretend for some while that the Keep was all his own.

But this morning he felt as if he could sleep the day away without issue.

The maids rushed about his room, laying out his clothes for the day ahead, scurrying away quickly when he pushed his torso from the mattress. With a heavy sigh, the pad of his index finger traced the scar that lined half of his face. It flared with irritation and a heat emanated from beneath the skin, making it much more sensitive than it would otherwise be. It was like his body knew the consequences of today, what hardships it would bring.

He ran his fingers through his silver hair to untangle the knots he had formed in his sleep, rising to observe the plane of land outside his window. A particularly itching feeling began in his chest to look down to see if you were asleep in your usual spot, as you so often were in the months at the Keep. And how he wished he hadn’t. For when he looked down, you were there, eyes softly closed and basking in the morning sunlight, a cloud of warm breath expelled from your mouth every so often with the chill of the dawn.

Begrudgingly, he pulled his clothes over his body, making an extra effort to appear more formal and put-together. He pulled the strap over his eye and had barely attached it when a knock at his chamber door sounded. 

Sigh, “Enter” 

He immediately regretted his harsh tone when he saw who it was.

“Helaena” 

She looked sombre, with dark circles under her eyes, and the top of her nose was pink as if she had been weeping. She was dressed also, today donning a cream gown with yellow detailing. She was always one for lighter colours, in stark contrast to her younger brother.

Not a moment sooner was the door closed when Helaena rushed over to the window, “Is she still there?” she asked. 

Thoroughly confused, Aemond could only guess who she was speaking of, “Yes, she is”

“Good. I need to speak to you” 

Aemond stood awkwardly as if waiting and took a seat. Despite her hurried state, the Queen merely stood there, mouth agape, forming the words in her head first.

So it was Aemond who spoke first. And he might as well speak plainly on a day like this.

“She knows, Helaena”

Helaena met his gaze, as if it was the same thing she was going to say.

“She knows about Alys”

Aemond had never told Helaena outright about the relationship he had begun with you. But he knew, she knew. She would always know everything that happened, whether she wanted to or not. A blessing and a curse at the same time.

“You and I both know that none of it is true” Aemond began,

“Of course, we know, but she does not” Helaena began to pace about the room, “Our dear grandfather has put the idea in her head that it was a fully fledged relationship, with a child!”

Aemond huffed, even casting his mind back was incredibly difficult to do. The war, realistically, was not that long ago. But the scars felt by them were still fresh.

“It was nothing like what he said”

“She manipulated you, Aemond. And lied through her teeth to advance that child to the throne”

Aemond’s left side of his face inflames irritably. 

“She sought her chance and paid the price, no more need be said about it”

“There does when she believes you indifferent to her” Helaena argues,

“Rather she hates me for believing I would abuse her in such a way” Aemond murmurs in response, fingers tapping at the side of the armchair.

“Well then do something about it, Aemond!”

The younger brother is silenced at his sister’s volume. A rare sight to behold. Her lilac eyes bore into his and the intensity of it makes him want to turn away. Some said there was little fire in Helaena, but this wasn’t true. There was fire, but in her words.

“I cannot stand you moping around allowing her to marry somebody else” she huffs,

“It is not only my decision, Helaena. And who is to say she would even accept me now?”

“Do you hear yourself?” she asks almost too angry to form words, “If you offered your hand to her, do you think her father would be in any position to refuse?”

“Only if I participated for her hand”

“So why don’t you?”

Aemond purses his lips and looks up. If there is one thing he hates, it is to be reproached. 

But Helaena, with that aforementioned fire, does not back down, “Your pride?” she asks.

“Helaena” he sighs.

A muffled squeal is heard through the glass of the windows and Helaena looks out, seeing that your father had surprised you with his arrival by sneaking up on you in the gardens. You had your arms thrown around him, positively joyous at his arrival. For a second, the despair disappears from your face, but the moment your father turns his back, the unmistakable drop is there.

Helaena inhales sharply, looking towards her younger sibling, “They will all be here soon. I shall hope you make your decision on what is more important soon. Your pride or her”

Aemond felt he’d had the air knocked from him once Helaena had left. His scar was sore as was his mind, swimming with thoughts. He knew he had to act. He had felt what it was to have her, not only in body but in mind and soul. Aemond had a taste of what it was to feel someone’s kindness touch him so intimately and now he did not have it, he felt the sheer chasm of loneliness that the lack of her touch would allow him to fall into. The blackened abyss of what it was to watch someone you loved walk away.

No, he thought.

This couldn’t happen.

This will not happen.

He was a fucking Targaryen. 

And by the Gods, he cursed himself for forgetting the words of his own house.

Four carriages were lined up for the ladies, their fathers and Queen Helaena. Seven ladies in total were queued up to board their respective carriages, hands clasped before them, their gazes stuck on their feet before them. They looked so sombre and depressed that there may as well have been chains clanging between their wrists. Instead their father’s hand wrapped around their arms, some harshly and some with indifference.

Arm in arm with your father, his large, comforting hand on yours, your other hand bunched up the skirt of your dress to allow you to step up into the carriage. 

“You look exquisite, child” your father said, taking his spot opposite you. 

You merely smiled at his compliment, brushing some dust from your skirts. The maids had chosen all different colours for each of Helaena’s ladies, all varying shades of soft pastels. You noted that each house wore loosely a colour that their house represented, with Lady Lannister looking the most striking in a soft shade of crimson. Of course, it had meant that you wore a soft, pale blue with golden accents, akin to the bird that donned the sigil of House Highgreen.

A vaguely golden figure shuffles into the carriage and Helaena sighs as her back meets the seat. The Kingsguard murmurs nervously outside,

“My Queen, this is not your carriage-”

She merely closes the door to ignore him, barely turning her head to meet yours, she reaches over and takes your hand, intertwining her fingers into yours. She sighs again and closes her eyes, almost appearing as nervous as you, though there was little need for her to be.

Your father chooses not to say anything, instead busying himself with the view outside, watching the landscape go by before taking the road to the Waterfront to make the hour-long journey to the Tourney Grounds.

Helaena’s hand remains in yours the entire way. She had so much to say, but could not in the company of your father. So as much as it pained her to do so, she remained quiet. But you knew she was thinking of you when her grip tightened every so often.

“Will the King be in attendance, my Queen?” your father asked, knowing the answer but intent on making some conversation.

Helaena forced a smile, “Indeed, my Lord” she said quietly, “my husband prefers to ride on Sunfyre if it is nice weather”

You furrow your brows at this. It was most certainly not nice weather, in fact, it was so cloudy that at any moment the clouds could have opened to bring forth a storm. And because of the anticipation of it, it locked in the humid heat, making the air uncomfortable to breathe.

Aegon had most likely ridden the dragon to be rid of female company while he could.

“I hear Prince Daeron will be visiting from Oldtown for the tourney, your Grace”

“A rare occurrence indeed. All of us are rarely in the same place at once these days” Helaena says, squeezing your hand. It was almost painful the way her slender fingers gripped yours, but the pain barely reached you.

Instinctively, your fingers came to your necklace, turning over the pendant over and over again in a nervous gesture. The glint of the sapphire made your father look over briefly, his own fingers twisting his wedding ring. The whispers of what Larys had told you whirred around your brain and looking at your father now only made them louder. Would he ever have told you about her? For some reason, you don’t think so.

The carriage jolted to a stop, making your heart lurch from your chest.

Ambrose. Risley. Tarth. Thorne.

They echoed like a curse. Like the curse of being a woman.

Your father exited the carriage first, then Helaena, who never released her hand from yours.

“Y/n” she said quietly, in a hushed voice, “Look at me”

You obey her without question.

“...there is a broken shield…the ground opens up…he has black armour…”

She begins her usual babbling when she is nervous, “Helaena..” you say in comfort, trying to use her name to break her from her trance.

Her lilac eyes meet yours and both of her hands hold yours.

“You must be ready” 

And just like that. She is gone.

You watch the back of her disappear in the crowd of her ladies, not knowing anything of what she meant. 

You half-run to your father, taking his hand. His usual smile is something so comforting, but now, on the brink of a marriage proposal, seems so distant. He watches as you smile sadly at him, tears glazing your eyes and his hand rests on your face,

“Oh my sweet girl” he says lovingly, his mouth barely moving beneath his beard.

All notions of doubt were cast away with those words. It reminds you of being a child again. But most of all it serves to remind you that you are his daughter, and he is your father.

You barely register your head leaning against his hand, but before you can find further solace in him, you turn away. What you said with your eyes needn’t be said out loud and your hand lingers in his for a moment before you join the rest of the ladies. One lady in a blush dress is being berated by her father, with words such as ‘stop crying’ and ‘stop this ridiculousness’ being popular phrases.

You walk alongside Lady Lannister, who has resorted to silence, simply staring up at the dark clouds overhead, watching the sun as it tries to force its light between them.

She takes your hand as you file into your seats, all sitting in the front row. Helaena has the centre spot beside you, right opposite where the King would be seated. But he was not here yet and very well may be late to his own tourney.

Your eyes scanned the opposite seats. There was a seat akin to a throne for Aegon, two beside him and another next to those which Alicent was seated in. On Aegon’s left there would be his youngest brother, Prince Daeron and on his right, would be Prince Aemond. But all three were empty. On the other side, sat as surly as ever, was Otto Hightower. It was difficult to know for certain, but his eyes seemed to flit between you and his granddaughter, Helaena. His words were still haunting your idle mind, and it rang there like a curse.

You feel Lady Lannister’s leg twitch with nervousness as you look over to Alicent, nodding when you meet eyes. Her expression is distant and she immediately looks away once she gives a smile of greeting, staring into a random void that was anywhere but here.

A band of at least a dozen men clad in armour began to file onto the field before you, while the staff began to write the schedule on the board for all to see. You watched them write all the names, gut wrenching to see that your name was placed last, right after Lady Lannister. And as well as that, the names of the men who submitted names were also written there.

It made your furrow your brows. All names were in alphabetical order, save yours. And when your eyes spotted your father sat on the opposing stands, his brows were scrunched together in question as well.

A ray of sun poked from between two dark clouds as Aegon advanced to his spot with another silver haired young man, who you presumed was Daeron. Daeron the Daring, they called him, for his endeavours during the Dance. And from this angle, as he sat and observed the people before him, no wonder he had earned the nickname, for he looked every bit as mischievous as you had expected him to be.

The band began to play when Aegon took his seat, initiating the beginning. At this you furrowed your brows. Aemond was not here. A little part of your heart that still had some hope died immediately and your spare hand clenched the skirts of your dress, stress overtook your senses and you felt like you could vomit right there and then.

Helaena leaned to you, “I will not let you go” she whispered.

More cryptic messages, you thought.

“I thank you all for joining me on this joyous day” Aegon’s voice immediately halted everyone, and all eyes were suddenly on him. There was a slight slur to his voice as he continued, “Let the tourney for Queen Helaena’s ladies, begin” 

His eyes were trained on you it seemed as he sat down, a goblet of wine instantly materialising in his hand. The band’s music was a welcome distraction to all the chuntering and whispering going on amongst the ladies, especially the lady who was first to have her hand fought for. Two men mounted their horses in their respective colours and the lady seemed to weep silently just watching. 

She clutched her flowered favour in her hands, almost so tight that she crushed the petals. Other women resorted to letting their eyes wander, and when you did, you could see the outline of Kings Landing with Aegon’s High Hill visible only barely beneath the blanket of dark clouds. 

The clash of swords made you jump in your spot and a high-pitched male cry sounded out, cheers and clapping erupting from the stands as one man was pushed from his horse. A trail of thick blood followed his limping form as he clutched his leg, his ancestral sword still firmly in his grip.

It was only when the winning bachelor raised his sword that his opponent dropped his weapon, “I yield!” he shouts, not wishing to risk either more blood nor his life for the likes of a woman.

More silent tears adorn the lady’s cheeks as she stands, lowering her favour onto the winner’s sword. In truth she may have been more upset at the bloodshed than at the prospect of marrying the victor, for he was known to be quite kind and not bad on the eyes. Nonetheless, she took her seat once more as her flowers decorated the hilt of his weapon and he took his leave with a big grin on his face.

If the first one was quick, the following tourneys were slow. Some of the ladies had as many as six men fighting for their hand, so often it would result in hand to hand combat, with swords swinging, cutting the very air around them. The thud of their swords on shields was enough to send a dull chill into the spines of the spectators, with their hearts making a similar noise.

You look up to see Aegon lean over in his seat, speaking with Alicent. Whatever he asks, he has to repeat over the noise of the band, shouting and cheering and the only thing you read on his lips is ‘Aemond’. Alicent shrugs her shoulders and Aegon turns back to lock eyes with you, peering over the rim of his goblet. Flitting between you and Helaena as if in question.

Otto never takes his firm gaze off you for more than a few moments as the hours drag on.

You finally breathe when the intermission begins. Six out of Helaena’s ten ladies now have their prospective husbands, and at least half of them would not stop weeping. So you followed the ladies as they all crowded to the refreshments, most if not all of the ladies with a generous cup of wine in their hands. When you look across the clearing, something jumps inside your chest when you see your father smiling jovially in conversation with Alicent Hightower and for the first time all day it felt like, she was smiling along with him.

“Lady Highgreen”

The familiar voice of Otto Hightower behind you soured your mood instantly. Begrudgingly, you turn to face him and offer a slight curtsy, not quite making all the effort.

“My Lord Hand, how are you today” you ask flatly, not hiding the annoyance on your features.

Much like you have seen Aemond do with other people, he revels in the discomfort he brings and smiles, “It is a fine day for a tourney” he comments.

Why does everyone keep saying that, you think, it is foul weather.

But you just nod your head, taking a sip of wine and steal a glance at your father. His smile has dropped once he sees who is speaking with you.

When Otto realises you will not dignify him with a response, he continues, “I hope the Prince’s absence is not of your doing” he says.

You cock your head at him, “I know nothing of his whereabouts, Lord Hand”

“Do not play coy with me” he warns, his voice low and serious. Quiet as well, to not upset your father, who is still watching.

Your ring finger taps against the goblet, eyes averted.

“There is no great plot. Whether the Prince is present or not is of no great advantage to me”

“And I was born yesterday” he answers. 

You lock eyes.

“I have not spoken to him. Nor has he spoken to me. As I asked” You counter his words.

“Do you expect me to believe that. Truly?” 

“Believe as you wish, Lord Hand. I have said my truth” 

Otto is about to return the favour, when your father crosses the clearing, intent to talk to you. And like a cockroach in the ray of light, Otto scurries away, not even sending your father a mere greeting.

“What did the Lord Hand want?” your father asks and you’re shocked by his rather serious tone, as he is so usually found with a smile on his face. But now he watches Otto walk away, as if making sure he is truly leaving. Burning a brand into the back of the man’s head.

“He spoke of the tourney, nothing more”

Your father knows this is a lie, but does not explore further as he looks down at you, an ever-fatherly protective expression on his face.

“You are on Otto’s bad side, when you ought to be on his blind side, dear daughter”

“Father?...”

A look flashes across his face and he lovingly places a kiss to your forehead, almost instantly snapping back into his usual persona. You go to open your mouth once more, but in a flash he is gone. And even when you look back across the clearing, Alicent is gone as well. Each of them feeling more like a ghost the longer the day went on.

As you all filed back to your seats, Lady Lannister stuck to one side of you and Helaena to the other, you gripped the favour in your lap. It was a ring of blue flowers, the ones that grew knee high in the fields at Green Hill and the only ones that were native to that region of Westeros. They were tied with white and golden ribbon, colours to reflect House Highgreen once more. 

You watched as the tourney ramped up once more and now with wine in their bellies, it had become significantly more violent. Two young men had already been carried away with what appeared to be life-changing injuries and now it seemed like the men were purely doing it out of enjoyment and not at the prospect of marriage. 

Seven men lined one side of the grounds, their respective betrothed’s favours around their weapons. Then eight. The ninth tourney begins and two of the men who fight for Lady Lannister had also placed their names for you also, but whether that would happen was another thing entirely. Lady Lannister took in a breath and gripped your hand tightly and who were you to refuse her this kindness? This comfort.

The two men grunted like animals, almost matching the sounds their horses were making as the two began to fight. You sit and watch the sun disappear beneath the dark clouds, seeing how the rain begins to fall somewhere far away and threatens to come closer. But just as quickly, the fight is complete and Victor of House Risley lays flat on the floor, his leg facing a direction it most certainly shouldn’t be. His shield that donned his house sigil is completely shattered.

The crowd erupts in applause and Lady Lannister’s fate is sealed with Rickard of House Thorne. Her father across is clapping and nodding in approval as she stands and places her favour on the tip of his sword, watching as it sways to the hilt towards his face, which smiles up at her. He has a kind enough face and you only hope that she is at least happy. When she takes her seat once more, she no longer weeps and does not reach for your hand. It is as if her soul is taking refuge within herself. 

Since Victor is critically injured and Rickard had claimed Lady Lannister as his betrothed, that left two men for you. Marq of House Ambrose and Bryndemere of House Tarth. You swallow dryly and grip the favour, now empathising with what the previous ladies had all felt. Briefly, you look over at your father, almost in a last-ditch effort to plead for him to call it all off. But he merely looks on as Victor is hauled away screaming. By now the ground is wet with blood. 

“I feel sick…” you whisper to yourself. But Helaena must have heard you, as she places her warm, comforting palm on your knuckles, peering over to see your expression. 

“We will not let you go” she says.

The two remaining men enter the field and you hold your breath, fearing that if you let go, so would the dam that was holding your tears back. Marq is wearing silver armour with trims of yellow in reflection of his house and he barely offers a glance in your direction as his squire laces up his gloves. Bryndemere on the other hand, with lance in hand, cannot tear his eyes off you. You think that this is not because of some infatuation, but more so that you two were well-acquainted as children, being distantly related through your mother’s Tarth side. He almost has an sympathetic expression, before placing his lacquered black helmet upon his person, matching with the rest of his armour.

You close your eyes, intent on not watching at all. But the first clash of weapons is too bone-shattering to ignore and you jump in your seat, gripping Helaena’s hand tighter. You feel a protective part of you flare as Bryndemere is flung from his horse, gasping for air as he’s hit square in his chest. His father stands on the opposite side, mouth agape, to see if his son is alright. 

Marq, on the other hand, merely dismounts with a swagger in his step towards him, drawing his ancestral sword from his side to strike down. Once again, a shield is shattered, with its piercing splinters flying about. Marq’s laugh echoes inside his helmet as he raises his weapon to strike.

“I yield!” Bryndemere begs. 

With a sigh, a part of your dam breaks and you close your eyes, several tears fall down your face. Ambrose it is.

Victorious, Marq removes his helmet and revels in the cheers of the audience. His own father is clapping, almost deafening the man next to him. You place Helaena’s hand back on her lap and stand, hand finding purchase on the beam before you when you sway uncontrollably on the spot. When his eyes land on you, you swear it activates a different part of your subconscious that tells you to run. 

But instead he waltzes towards you, extending his sword for your favour.

No sooner do you take one step and the entire audience falls into silence. A great sound is heard like no other that echoes about the deserted land around you. While difficult to describe, it was only akin to the crumbling of stone, the crash of waves against rock and the chaos of a great fire. A single drop of rain falls between your feet when you look around. It seems like the world holds its breath, ready to hear it once more. 

It happens again but closer, all the wind knocked from everyone’s lungs when the very ground sways beneath you, rocking the stands. While it is too close for comfort, a great dragon claw grips the ground behind the stand and the very earth opens up to reveal the damp mud below, the unmistakable tracks left behind. 

With your breath heaving in your throat and ground still moving beneath you like being aboard a ship, you look up. It is distant enough that it’s almost difficult to see, but it is Vhagar’s large head that turns around the stand to let out her famously loud cry, sending the dust in the air vibrating. Your watery eyes track her scales up her neck to her back where there was his silhouette sitting atop the mighty dragon. He was sat calmly, the only movement was his stark silver hair against the darkened clouds. 

Women screamed, some even fainted at the sight of Vhagar. And you did not see, for your eyes were locked on his form, but Aegon and Otto both stood from their seats. Aegon had a confusing look on his face, not able to tell if he was amused or annoyed. Otto on the other hand was seething from head to toe, shaking his fists. Alicent had her hand on her seven-pointed star necklace at her chest. Daeron stayed seated and smiled, as if saying finally, something interesting.

“Aemond…” were the only words that came from your mouth in a whisper. 

Helaena almost laughed with glee.

You can feel the first smattering of rain on the side of your face as the wind picks up, showering droplets onto your face. You swear you see him turn his face down to look at you, but the distance makes it impossible to tell. What you can see is how naturally he dismounts his great dragon, a helmet in the shape of a dragon head in one hand.

Only when he approaches does everyone get a good look at him. His hair is down but pulled away from his face, his eyepatch fixed in place over it. He has one hand on the hilt of his sword and the other is holding his helmet, his gaze is locked on yours for a moment and you forget briefly how to breathe. He doesn’t look anything like you remember him. 

When you think of Aemond and his presence, he seemed stoic, impassive and very much an observer. His aura was intimidating in general, but as time went on this front crumbled before you to reveal a sensitive, emotional human behind it all.

But now. There was something else in his eyes and not necessarily when it was aimed at you, but something had taken root there.

Marq made the mistake of opening his mouth in a smile, “My Prince! So nice to see you”

Aemond didn’t return the greeting, only granting him a darkened look.

“I’ve come to duel for Lady Highgreen’s hand” 

The words that come from Aemond’s mouth almost make you weak and you barely feel Helaena’s kind hands guide you back into your seat, her thumb stroking your skin.

Marq huffs a laugh, “My Prince I am afraid I have claimed her hand for myself already. Fair and square”

Helaena swallows and the audience as well as the band are deathly quiet. Afraid that if one sound was made that it would shatter the tension between them. Aemond’s smile almost makes everyone more uneasy.

“I see no favour on your sword, Lord Ambrose” he draws his own sword slowly and hands it to a squire, who visibly shakes, “Do you refuse your Prince?” he smiles.

Marq swallows dryly, clearly nervous. He knows it, he is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. The Prince wishes to toy with him and he is in no position to refuse. Rather, he needs to put up a good fight.

“And where is your name on the board, Prince Aemond?” Marq questions it, but it’s clear from the shake in his voice how he feels, “You would take away what is rightfully mine?”

When Marq talks of you as if you are an object to be bartered for, a noticeable chill runs up your spine. 

Little does he know that his bark is only giving Aemond more satisfaction.

“Hm” he seems amused, “Rightfully or no, duel me or I will take her to Dragonstone myself and make her my wife” 

A few womanly gasps emit from the stand, half in shock at the scandalousness of it, the other half seem to look on smiling. Your breath catches in your throat at the vulgarity of what he threatens Marq with, but in reality, a little part of you that had that love left for him begins to unfurl.

When Aemond gets no response, the squire hands his sword back to him once he’s placed his helmet on and he points the tip towards the Ambrose man.

“Either way, Ambrose, she will be my wife. And she will be mine”

You can’t tell if you’re afraid or thankful for what Aemond says. Your father looks absolutely shocked and you’re not sure if that’s entirely a good thing.

But Marq of House Ambrose, in front of all these people, is not likely to swallow his pride and yield. Instead, he places his own helmet back on and gets into a readied stance. For a brief second you dare to flit across to the King and his family.

Alicent looks half-shocked and half-relieved, Aegon and Daeron are amused. Otto is most certainly not and you dare say, he will make his distaste for it all obvious once the tourney is over, whether the result is favourable to you or not. 

As skilled a swordsman as Aemond is, your heart lurches in your chest at the mere thought of him risking any injury for this. You had thought many men who fought here today were brave and skilful and yet some had lost limbs for the sake of a betrothal. Your fingernail dug into your palm to distract you from the emotional turmoil you felt in this moment. Tugging in two directions. One tugs in the way of heartbreak, the thought that something inside you had been lost forever at the revelation several nights ago. On tugs in the way of hope, a hope that despite all that, he did feel something.

The first clash of swords rings out, followed by a sharp swish as Aemond pushes Marq away with his weapon. You just know that Aemond is smiling beneath the helmet he is wearing, loving the humiliation he imagines Marq must be feeling. The two continue this dance for several minutes, mostly because Aemond revels in the torture that this must be for the audience. Marq delivers his own flat strike onto Aemond’s shoulder and whether he is pretending or not, it clashes on his armour and sends him to his knees. 

In a stroke of confidence, Marq straddles Aemond and attempts to plunge the sword down beneath him with a loud grunt. You wince when he parries it, sending the two longswords flying a fair distance. Aemond hooks his foot beneath Marq’s leg, flipping him so the poor Ambrose man is on his front, writhing around while the Prince’s foot is flat in the centre of his back.

You almost jump out of your seat when Aemond draws his dagger, pulling Marq’s head up from the dirt by his hair to place the blade beneath his neck. It shocks you. You’ve never seen Aemond act so brutal before. And it stirs something inside you which has never seen the light of day before. 

Aemond almost looks bored when he says it.

“Say it” 

“I yield” Marq hisses, but Aemond pulls his hair even more so.

“Louder, so they can hear you” 

Aemond locks eyes with you now and you can see his lilac eye shimmer in the darkness of his helmet.

He sighs when Marq doesn’t respond, so he pushes the dagger so it is flush with the tender skin of his throat.

“I can’t hear you”

“I fucking yield!”

Once Aemond pulls off his helmet, the audience erupts into thunderous applause. He makes no big show about it, egging them on, and instead keeps his eye firmly on you. The rain falls thick and fast now and your waves form locks as they dampen, it makes the dried tears on your face appear as if it’s just rain now and you feel a warm trickle of it run down your neck.

Without breaking his gaze from you, he raises his hand to pull off his eyepatch and stands before you at the stands, bending to pick up his longsword that had been launched in the duel. He twists the hilt in his palm a few times and stays still as the applause continues. 

You look down at him, still clutching your favour in your hand, the petals now moulded to the shape of your grip. For a moment you consider if his mournful look is an apology. As if despite the show he had put on, he was still asking for your hand. And only when he was sure he would be forgiven, would he raise his sword to accept your favour.

He appears tired, you now see. And he thinks the same of you. Weak and pale, as if all warmth has disappeared. It’s here, with the absence of the eyepatch, that you see how red and inflamed his scar looks, and how much he must ache. For a moment, you glance over at Vhagar who is almost watching the interaction with as much interest as the audience, her throat rumbles when your eyes catch her.

Only when you look back at Aemond does he mouth, my love. Almost in a question.

Your body moves before your mind and you stand, letting Helaena’s hand slip out of yours and she watches with a child-like glee at the scene before her. You give a very slight smile as you reach out, the tip of his sword is within reach. The rain penetrates your clothing into your skin as the flowers float to the hilt of his sword, you exhale with a wracked laugh, finally allowing a genuine smile to pass your features.

Aemond looks a mixture of relieved and happy when the flowers reach his sword. He ignores the stares of his family, of your father and of everyone else; his attention is specifically you. And for as long as he lives, will only ever be you.

You barely register Aemond’s arm reaching out to wrap around your waist, suddenly feeling embarrassed when he effortlessly lifts you off the stands. The smile is unmistakable on his face now as the audience shout and cheer for the dramatics the Prince is offering. He leads you by your hand back towards Vhagar, the pleading voice of Alicent and your father becomes muffled and distant. Aemond seems a man charged with power when he lifts you to the saddle in front of him wrapping the reins around your waist.

“Sōvēs” is all he commands to his dragon.

“Aemond…!” you shout in shock as Vhagar lifts her feet to flap her wide wings, naturally grasping his arm to keep you stable. A natural dragon rider, Aemond barely sways in his spot and keeps his arm around your waist as the rain pounds down, mixing with the mud and blood on the tourney grounds. In the distance, as Vhagar lifts to the sky, Marq of House Ambrose is being berated by his father. And you briefly see your father stand where he was sat in the stands, a proud smile on his face. 

Taglist:  @m00n5t0n3 @boofy1998 @merakiaes​ @hanihoney88 @let-love-bleeds-red​ @bellaisasleep​ @watercolorskyy @heavenley1927 @ryswritingrecord @partypoison00 @gaeela-6 @saeselkie @padfooteyes @introverbatim @queenofshinigamis @thatkingofgirl @ryswritingrecord @dahlias-and-marigolds​

#aemond targaryen #aemond one eye #Aemond the Kinslayer #prince aemond #Aemond x Reader #aemond angst #aemond fluff #aemond smut #aemond stannies #aemond targaryen x reader #aemond targaryen smut #prince aemond targaryen #prince aemond targaryen smut #prince aemond targaryen fic #house of the dragon #house of the dragon aemond #house of the dragon fanfiction #house of the dragon fluff #house of the dragon fandom #aemond fic #aemond imagine #a strangers dance

[nanatsuyu]

I feel like it’s not talked about enough that early in the books Kevin is the only person we see Andrew initiating any type of physical closeness/touch with at all … also thinking about how they’re described physically with each other in Son of Nefes like. so much tenderness (@ your tags about how Andrew carries himself around Kevin and Neil)

I definitely think their closeness in the beginning gets overshadowed a lot by how close Andrew and Neil get later in the series. And that's not a diss on andreil! I think it's important to Andrew's character to see that while Neil played a very large part in letting Andrew explore his boundaries and grow comfortable with physical affections, there were others that helped in that healing along the way too.

One of my favourite scenes is the one where Kevin takes his glove off for Andrew to inspect his hand for any damages. It's written in such a way that implies they weren't paying any attention to the rest of the world around them. Matt had been carded, the play was over and a fight had broken out, and during that sliver of time, either Andrew had hailed Kevin over or he'd gone of his own volition to the goal for Andrew to give his injuries a one over. Kevin knew he was going to get swapped out, and they both turned somewhat surprised when Dan called out to Kevin, as if the game being in play was an afterthought. (Which, considering it's Kevin, seems somewhat ooc since he always knows what's going on on court).

And, although we don't have the exact words regarding Andrew's deal with Kevin, it was implied in the most basic terms that Andrew would protect Kevin from Riko. (There's obviously nuance here given Andrew's bodyguard tendencies when Kevin gets into later spats with people, but for the sake of how vague most of Andrew's deals are spoken aloud, I think it's safe to assume he promised to protect Kevin from his big bad not sibling in the same way he promised to have Neil's back). All that just to say... It wasn't really in their deal for Andrew to protect or look after Kevin outside of his affiliations with the Ravens. And yet, even after threatening to break his own hand before all this, because Kevin annoyed the piss out of him so much, here he was, inspecting Kevin's hand and putting the game on hold to do so.

This injury has nothing to do with Riko or the Ravens. So, in terms of their deal, he didn't really need to dote on Kevin like that. And yet.

And yet.

And this is really only one instance of them being glued at the hip. Andrew does a lot of redirecting of Kevin's person in the same way we see him do later with Neil. Like you said as well, Kevin's the only one for some pages that we see Andrew physical with that isn't necessarily reactionary or defensive. I know Andrew was still on his meds at the time, but this line came across to me as him literally shoving Andrew down court who didn't seem to take much issue with the it:

He doesn't make much mention of it, but if I had to wager a guess, these moments of familiar contact are not a new thing upon Neil's arrival.

(Also it's been a hot minute since I skimmed through son nefes (the ec and I are on cherry picking terms most days) but I know Renee saw it too.)

Like it makes me insane to think about how their deal didn't have to incorporate all that closeness. It didn't require Andrew to become intertwined with the rest of Kevin's life and daily going on's. He could have agreed to keep him on a leash from getting dragged out of the fox den by the Ravens and called it a day, but we can see clear as day that Andrew treats his relationship with Kevin far more delicately than that. In terms of canon, the best friend (platonic soul bond or whatever title floats your fancy) behaviour jumped out of Andrew so fast, I'm shocked how anyone could overlook it.

And I haven't even touched on how Wymack views their relationship, or Kathy's show, or the role Andrew plays as Kevin's other half post Evermore, or the first genuine smiles are the ones they give each other, or the pseudo threat of the butter knife scene, or whatever they had going on here:

Like, there are certainly motions that can be considered varying levels of tender, but I do think it's important to remember that Andrew's gestures should not be measured with the same scale as say someone like Renee. We can obviously see in later chapters that Andrew can be incredibly gentle (ie the hip kiss that ruined my life), but I think it's a disservice to Andrew's character to understate how close he and Kevin are through the series, both physically and emotionally.

#and i say emotionally with an asterisk because i dont think anyone in that series made it out without some codependency issues #but thats another topic #also thos got really long and rambly im so sorry #i just feel very desperately about Them #aftg #kevin day #andrew minyard #kandrew #nana asks

[nutzgunray-lvt]

My Thoughts On The Dark Izuku Arc

A popular consensus on this site and in the fandom in general is that the Dark Izuku arc was a let down. Though fans have this opinion for different reasons, I'll be using this to word vomit why I myself don't like this arc and what I personally would have done differently.

Heads up: this is a UA critical, Class 1A critical, anti Bakugou, Pro-Heroes critical post. Don't like, don't read.

When I first heard about the Dark Izuku arc, I got excited. I was hyped up to see more world building, more people in Izuki and All Might's corner regarding the secret of One For All, as well as seeing the price Izuku was paying for his self sacrificial tendancies. To a very minor degree, it delivered on those aspects. I love the bunny/fox lady that Izuku saved and how it touched on the worsening discrimination those with mutant Quirks faced, I'm glad that Izuku could finally tell other people about One For All, and I was glad to see Izuku FINALLY being told by people other than All Might that he was working himself too hard and that he could rest.

Those were the only good things this arc did for me.

As for what this arc DIDN'T do well for me, it's a lot. To break it all down, my problems with this arc are: the mixed messages being thrown out and how Izuku's point of view and wellbeing is ignored.

Just a disclaimer, I don't agree with Izuku having to put this burden upon himself. Yes, he has One For All, but he's a CHILD at the end of the day, and he should have NEVER been put in this position. HOWEVER, narratively, I completely understand why he did it.

All For One was out of Tartarus along with many other incredibly dangerous villains, and on top of all of that, AFO had Ragdoll's Search Quirk. This meant that he essentially had eyes on Izuki (and One For All by extension) 24/7. Had he wanted to, he could have launched a full-scale invasion/attack on UA, putting numerous people in danger. It was this reason as to why Izuku made the decision to leave UA in the first place. His plan to use himself as bait to lure AFO and Shigaraki out of hiding made sense narratively, but was also an incredibly dangerous one... which is why it made absolutely no sense to me why these Pro-Heroes (who are ADULTS), were fine with it.

I understand that they were in an incredibly tough position. Japan was in chaos, public trust in heroes was at an all-time low, and Tartarus just had a mass escape. Many heroes were either dying, retiring, or went over to AFO's side. They were probably stretched thin as it was, but for there to be NO ONE saying, "I really don't like this. He's just a kid, and this is incredibly dangerous for him to do. Why don't we have one or two of us traveling with him to protect him?" is just mindboggling to me.

Yes, All Might insisted on going along with him, but he was Quirkless. Physically, there wouldn't be much he could do if someone had successfully gotten the drop on Izuku.

Then, these same heroes who were seemingly completely fine with this plan get all *surprised Pikachu face* when Izuku strikes out alone and begins pushing himself to the breaking point. Yes, they tell him that he needs to take a break... but then they indirectly pressure him more by saying that he's their best and only bet against AFO and Shigaraki. At this point, Izuku is ignoring food, rest, and his injuries. At this point, they should have been putting their foot down that, "No, you're a kid and you're in no condition to be doing this anymore. You need to rest."

This keeps going and going until Izuku is overwhelmed and nearly captured by Dictator, only to be rescued by Class 1A.

Once again, Izuku's point of view and wellbeing are ignored as all 19 of his classmates corner him and start fighting him into submission. I know they had the best of intentions - they didn't want Izuku to shoulder this burden on his own, they wanted to show him that they cared - but as I said above, Izuku was NOT in the right physical or mental condition for this to happen. All it wound up doing was pushing him away from them and making him try and run away. In fact, they're lucky they didn't scare him away entirely.

What's more, they all rally behind Bakugou while doing this.

I've made my intense dislike for Bakugou clear on my blog, so I won't get into it here. But the fact that they sit by and not only allow Bakugou to blame ALL MIGHT for all of this, but also let him repeatedly insult Izuku while TRYING TO SHOW HIM THAT HE'S NOT ALONE is just infuriating. Again, Izuku is in awful shape both physically and mentally. The absolute last thing he needs to hear is Bakugou insulting him and projecting his own flaws onto Izuku.

Even worse is how the hell the teachers at UA are even okay with this?

I also understand that they're probably stretched thin as well, but they were totally okay with not just Izuku leaving, but the rest of 1A following behind him? Yeah, I call bullshit. These were the same teachers who were divided on whether or not to let the first years participate in Work-Studies, teachers who apparently regard the students at UA to be like their own children (as said in the light novels). I'll excluse Aizawa from this, seeing as how he was busy healing in the hospital.

Again, if there was more of the ethics of this being debated in universe (hell, even making the public's trust in heroes fall even lower), I would have been okay with it, because it would have been warrented.

The worst part of me is how in my opinion, the narrative itself doesn't even know how to feel about all of this.

Yes, Izuku essentially dropped out of school to go chase Japan's #1 villain. Yes, Izuku is destroying himself trying to protect everyone, and everyone's warning him not to push himself too hard... but he's getting results, GREAT results even! He's saved countless people and even defeated high-ranking villains such as Lady Nagant and Muscular, among many others. Even the Pro-Heroes are saying how Izuku is their best bet to stop AFO and Shigaraki, so which is it? Should he have stayed and let those villains run around and cause mayhem, or should he put himself in a severe amount of danger but at the cost of those villains ultimately being aprehended?

My final gripe with this arc is just how rushed it is. You're telling me that all of this took place over the course of one month? That Izuku neglected his health to the point of having to use Black Whip and Float to move around, only for it all to be made better by a bath and nap? Again, I call bullshit.

What I would have done differently with this arc is this: have Izuku leave UA without telling ANYBODY. He could still leave his letters for Class 1A, but other than that, he's gone. All Might could let the Pro-Heroes know about OFA, but they'd be trying to find Izuku and bring him into protection because as a kid, he should not even be in this position. All Might himself would also be joining them in these efforts. Izuku would spend several months aprehending villains and traveling across Japan, unlocking and mastering more parts of OFA. He could still push himself towards his breaking point, worrying the past users of OFA, but instead of the entirety of 1A swarming him, only have his closest friends come to being him back.

This brings us to UA and their reaction.

The UA teachers could finally be let in on the OFA secret, and maybe have one or two of them at a time try to find Izuku. Have them state that as students, 1A is not allowed to go out there and try to find him, as they're needed at the campus. Ochako, Ida, Todoroki, Asui, Fumikage, and Aoyama can say "fuck it, we're going anyway" and try to calmly bring him back. They can acknowledge why he left but state that, as his friends, they're not scared of being caught up in the crossfire. They can state that they'll shoulder the burden alongside him, and Izuku can still pass out and be taken to the HOSPITAL. He'd be hospitalized for a week or so and then the debate as to whether or not to take Izuku back to UA can take place. Because on the one hand... there's the whole reason he left in the first place: to protect the civillians and teachers and students there. On the other, they're not about to just throw Izuku on the streets and say "good luck. Try not to die."

For that matter, this could cause some pushback against the heroes for "using a child soldier to do their dirty work." They can truthfully say, "We don't condone this. He ran off on his own and we're trying to find him and being him back."

Anyways, that's my take on the Dark Izuku arc. I left some things out, but this is the essence of it all.

#anti katsuki bakugou #ua critical #pro heroes critical #mha critical #horikoshi critical #dark deku arc #izuku deserves better

[bobaandasiandramas]

The Truth Untold

Pairing: Lee Rang x F. OC

Rating: Mature

Trigger Warnings: Stripping of clothes, oral (both F and M receiving), small dirty talk, Rang getting his way, grinding, overstimulation

A/n: This is the longest chapter I have ever written. It's 17k. Thank you all for being so patient with me.

Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13

Rang was laying in his bed, Eun-ji curled around his body, her nose pressed into his neck and her fingers rested against the pulse point on his wrist. It was as if she was keeping track of his beating heart. She wasn’t in a deep sleep, in fact anytime the fox shifted her eyes would snap open, fearing that something terrible was happening to him.

In those moments, despite the throbbing pain he felt coursing through his veins, he would whisper that everything was fine and press a kiss to her forehead or hand. She'd looked worriedly at him, trying to force herself to stay awake but he would lull her back to sleep with the tips of his fingers on his free hand.

"Thank you, Fox."

They had agreed to talk when he was feeling better but he really just wanted to get the discussion done and over with. The fox wasn't sure how the conversation would go, was she angry with him? Possibly, but right now she just seemed too worried to process any other emotion. He would have to let her know he was ready in the morning, which was only a few hours away.

He knew he shouldn’t feel surprised that she figured out he was a fox. Things were getting messy and now that Imugi seemed to be using him in ways that were not agreed upon - he feared for Eun-ji. He knew she was pulled in by Eoduk Sini and he was worried what she would have to face next.

Rang looked over her body, she had some small injuries, thankfully nothing like he was going through. It still made him angry. Suddenly, another pain shot up his leg and he grit his teeth tightly to fight the urge to jerk from it. He didn’t want to disturb Eun-ji anymore. He could tell she was exhausted and could only imagine what her brain was going through as she was learning all these new things about herself.

This wasn’t the way he wanted to tell her about their world - but nothing could change it now. He noted she was still wearing the wolf and fox necklace he bought her. He felt his chest fill with something he never felt before. He knew deep down that he loved her. He finally admitted it to himself. He would do anything he could to protect her - even if he couldn't admit his feelings toward her.

Lee Rang wasn’t sure what time it was anymore, but he laid there fading in and out of sleep until Eun-ji shifted as the sun started to peek through the cracked curtains. The wolf nuzzled into him before moaning in a stretch. Her eyes slowly cracked open to meet his own. Said eyes widened a little in surprise - apparently not expecting him to be staring back. “Morning Wolf.” He whispered.

“Morning Fox.”

He gave a weakened smile. “Do you want to talk now?”

Eun-ji frowned at him and thought for a moment. “I only want to talk when you’re feeling better.” She answered.

“I feel better.” He lied.

She stared at him for a moment. “I highly doubt that. Is it your preference to just talk now? I just want you to rest.” She spoke softly.

“I would prefer sooner than later.”

“Okay.” She bit her lower lip thinking about how she wanted to start. “You’ve always known I was a wolf." She watched him nod his head in agreement. "Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Would you have believed me?”

She shook her head immediately. She didn't even believe Lee Yeon at first. “Probably not at the beginning. Maybe after we started getting closer. You know that I trust you the most out of everyone I know, right?” She sat up on the bed, allowing him to shift upward as well. "Do you know who I really am?" The wolf was nervous for his answer, what if everything they went through was just another twisted joke to play on her? She twisted her fingers in her lap. She didn't want to think like that of Rang and her heart started to twist with the tiniest inkling of it being true.

Rang watched her, the uncertainty coursing through her veins and making her scent a little sour to him. He placed his hand gently over hers, giving a small squeeze before speaking. “The truth is that once we realized you had no idea about your wolf self I wanted to find out who you were first. I didn’t know how you were going to react or if you would accept the truth." He used his free hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. "When we first found you, you were so frightened and nervous. I wanted to do this carefully, ease you into it all.”

Eun-ji nodded her head. “I understand. It’s a lot to accept. I know a few days ago I told you I had a memory come to me, but it's been more than that. I've had bouts of memories. They're all memories of my wolf self. I can clearly remember some while others are hazy and I don't get to see the whole picture. If I told you about them then maybe we could have figured them out together. But I also thought you were human and I didn't know if you would think I was crazy." She turned over her hand and laced her fingers with his.

"I’ve seen things recently that lead me to believe I can unlock all of my memories. It could also potentially unlock some for other people, people who should remember me - like Yeon. He appeared in a few memories."

Rang felt his heart jump at the confession she just dropped on him. "You knew Yeon before?"

"Apparently, I knew him when he was the Mountain God. The memories are fuzzy, extremely fuzzy. But he's there and I'm there and we talk in these memories. I had one when we were locked away in our minds. I don't remember much of it though, just that we were on top of the mountain and I was upset with him. "

Rang's head was spinning. If Eun-ji knew Yeon as the Mountain God, then could it be possible he knew her too? He was more invested in her past now than ever so. "What can I do to help?"

"From what I saw in my memories is that there is an oblivion box at Kyong’s place.”

Rang stiffened as he gripped her hand tighter. That bastard definitely knew more than he led on.

Eun-ji’s thumb rubbed over the back of Rang’s hand. “The Wolf Spirit is the one who gave it to his family so many years ago. I think my memories are locked inside.”

“We can go get them if you want.” Rang started to sit up but a hand on his chest pushed him back down gently. He was confused, staring at the hand on his torso and then over to the female it belonged to. “Do you not want to go?”

The wolf shook her head. “ I do, but not right now. You’re my first priority. I want you to be better first.” She smiled at him.

“Are you sure? These are your memories that we could be talking about.”

“I’m sure.”

They stayed in silence for a moment before the fox spoke again. “I apologize for not telling you. I thought I was going about this the right way. You must have been confused.”

“Rang, seriously, it’s fine. Please don’t worry about it. I really just wanted to know why you didn’t say anything. I guess at first you tried to when you greeted me as ‘Wolf’. The only thing I want now is to get to know the real you, there shouldn’t be anymore reasons for secrets. The people in my life are more connected than I realized and I just want to put the story straight. Like Yeon being your brother.”

“Half - brother.” Rang corrected her.

“Still - I’m surprised that it didn’t come up sooner. Though, you don’t normally get along with him - do you?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “I now understand all of your secrets of the work you were dealing with. Thank you for trying to keep me safe and out of the loop of your business.”

“This wasn’t how I was expecting this talk to go. I honestly thought this was going to be harder on you. I guess you did have a few days to think about it all.”

“Yes, but things also surprised me - like you being a fox - but that makes things a little better as well. I was worried about you being a human and finding out I was a wolf for real.”

Rang went to chuckled but a pain shot up his leg so it turned quickly to a hiss of pain. He clenched his teeth tightly as if to hold back any sounds of pain. After a moment the pain subsided and he opened his eyes to see Eun-ji looking at him in worry. “That face doesn’t suit you wolf. Where’s the smile you always give me?”

“I don’t like seeing you in pain.” She stated. There was an idea that shot into her head and she wasn’t sure if it would work at all. Lee Yeon has told her that wolves could heal others, could she heal Rang? She had to try. There was no way she’d let him stay like this. “Can I kiss it better?” She asked him softly.

Rang smiled at her, amused with her sweet gesture.lo “You can try if you want.” He replied.

Eun-ji blushed and shifted to her knees causing the fox to move back so he rested against the headboard. He gave her a knowing look as waited for him to be settled in his spot. She had put together that he didn't realize what she was going to try - but she wasn’t sure if it would work anyway. Once the fox was settled she shifted closer to him, placing her hands on his shoulders and she carefully crawled over his lower body. “Is this okay?” She asked.

Rang reached forward, wrapping his hands around her thighs and tugging her closer to him. His ears picked up the soft gasp as he did so. He sat her comfortably on his lap and looked up at her eyes. “More than okay my wolf.” His voice was soft and husky and he felt a shiver run down her spine.

The wolf pressed her lips to his in two short kisses before landing a much longer kiss on his lips. At first she did nothing but kiss him, his hands sinking into her hair, their heart rates increasing steadily, mouths moving against each other opening slightly in needy kisses. It was when she decided to sink her hands into his hair that his hands slid down to her waist, grabbing firmly but not too tight.

Eun-ji focused on imagining that she was pulling the pain from his body and into her own. It took a moment before she felt a tingling sensation around her and the kiss became a little more desperate, Rang’s hips bucked up once as the wolf licked his bottom lip. A groan left the male’s lips as he tasted her.

The wolf could feel the pain seeping in more and more, and she kept pulling it in while the fox was unaware. She didn’t want to stop until all the pain was gone from him, she was determined even as she felt herself getting weaker.

It was then that Rang noticed something was wrong, there was a strange sensation that he felt running through his body. He tried to pull away only for the headrest to be in his way. Eun-ji had him trapped between her and the bed frame. He bucked his hips again hoping to throw her balance a little bit, but she kept him pinned down in his spot. Quickly he opened his eyes and was shocked, Eun-ji’s whimsical ears and tail were glowing a bright blue. Since she wasn’t letting up he took matters into his own hands, cradling her head he started pressing his lips harder against hers, pushing forward to have her leaning back, he flipped her over to the side, his lips still locked on hers as he hovered over her body.

He didn’t want to stop kissing her as she wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled his body flush against hers. The more primal part of his mind was running the show as he found himself grinding into the apex of her thighs. The now obvious bulge in his pants brushed against her core causing them both to moan loudly and he used this moment to rip his lips from hers.

The results were instant for her. The pain that she collected from him hit her all at once and she cried out in shock, her eyes opening as she gasped loudly before snapping her teeth tightly as she gritted in pain.

“Wolf, what did you do?” Rang asked through his labor breathing. He frantically looked over her body, unsure what he should do as she curled into a tight ball. He noted her eyes had flashed a bright blue and in his memories he thought of the time he first saw them that color. It was when he first met her.

“Yeon told me wolves have some great powers. I tried to heal you.” She whimpered as she felt his pain run its course through her body, waking every fiber of her being.

“Why, why would you do that? Don’t ever do that to yourself ever again.” He carefully looked over her body, hands hovering over her, unsure if he should or could touch her. He then looked down at his leg, it wasn't healed but he felt great.

She saw his wound as she pushed the pain down deep in her body before she threw him a tired grin, ignoring his concern. “It didn't heal, so maybe I just took your pain. It feels a little better, right? I don’t know how long it will last but if it is some relief for a little while then it was worth it.”

He was still looking at her closely, even though it seemed like the pain didn’t last long for her, he hated that she did that to herself. “I don’t want you to hurt on my behalf.”

“Oh well, too bad tough guy.” She chuckled before leaning up and pressing her lips to his. Before she could pull away she felt his hand sink into her hair and held her to him. His lips worked against her own slowly and she never felt anything more right.

Once he finally released her, they were both panting slightly, the tenison of wanting something more was felt in the air but Rang pulled away some. Now was not the time for that.

“Let’s nap some more, and if you’re feeling up to it - I’ll take you to that loser’s place after to look for the box.”

She nodded her head but knew they wouldn't be going there for a while and she was okay with that. She wasn't going to push Rang when the poison was still running in his veins.

*****

When Eun-ji woke up later that morning, she decided to let Rang sleep as much as he could. Quietly she detangled their limbs before slipping out of the bed. The house was quiet, and she found Yuri sleeping in the other bedroom.

The wolf moved to the kitchen quietly, setting a timer for a pot of coffee to go off in half an hour and pulling out some supplies to make breakfast. She decided on making dakjuk, it would take some time but the meal would be good for all of them. She first started washing and soaking the rice before cutting up the vegetables.

She was a little lost in her thoughts, trying to recall the memories that have most recently arrived to her. She remembered being on a mountain with Yeon and she was mad or upset with him. He looked guilty as she yelled at him but she couldn't recall the words she said. She remembered sinking into his arms, heavy with her feelings and he held her with such care. She knew the two of them sat that way for quite some time. She hoped if she replayed it in her head then she would finally hear the words she spoke so harshly at the fox. Nothing came to her and so she grew more and more disappointed.

Eventually the coffee maker kicked on, and the scent of the ground beans filled the air. She looked down in front of her to see that she had absentmindedly started prepping the rest of the ingredients. The wolf took a moment to pour herself a cup of coffee when the soft pit-pat of feet caught her attention. She looked to the entrance of the kitchen, ready to greet them.

Yuri swept into the room, the scent of coffee had pulled her out of her bed. "Morning Eun-ji." The fox greeted her with a tired smile.

"Good morning Yuri. I'm making dakjuk for breakfast, it shouldn't take much longer. Is that okay for you?"

"Sure, sounds fine. How was Rang last night?"

Eun-ji shrugged. "I don't think he had the best sleep which is why I let him sleep for now." She told her friend about taking his pain away that night and how she hoped it helped - it has seemed to at least for a little bit. The two females sat in silence after that while breakfast was coming together. The wolf added the vegetables to the pot and started mixing occasionally. The vixen took slow sips of her coffee, enjoying the subtle sound of kitchen work.

Rang appeared in the doorway sometime later, right before breakfast was done being cooked. He limped on his leg slightly as he crossed the room to the small island table Yuri was sitting at.

Both females watched him closely from their peripheral vision to make sure he was doing okay. "I made dakjuk for breakfast." Eun-ji stated as she started pulling bowls out of the cabinets. “Would you like some?” She questioned and was pleased by the head nod as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

Rang gave her a soft smile. "Thank you Wolf." He could tell her mood was lifting as her scent started to fluff out. He watched her place the bowl down in front of him. The food smelt devine as usual and he felt his mouth water a little.

Eun-ji served Yuri and then herself before sitting. "I have to go into the clinic today. I really don't want to but I have no idea if Shin-Joo is going in with Yeon still being out." The wolf spoke softly. "Will you be okay?"

Yuri answered before Rang could. "I'll stay here today and make sure Rang doesn't push himself."

"I'm not a child." Rang hissed through his teeth.

"I wasn't saying you are. You were injured badly and the poison is still in your veins. I just want to make sure that you're okay." The wolf sounded a little hurt at his response.

Rang looked away and sighed. "I understand. I'll be okay. Yuri will make sure of it."

The rest of breakfast was sat in a slightly awkward silence. Each of them had something weighing on their minds but none of them wanted to discuss at the moment.

******

The yellow lab stood at her side, tail wagging and feet tapping on the ground. The happy personality faded away once he realized that they weren't moving. Anastasia barked impatiently causing the female to snap her attention away from the building she was staring at.

Eun-ji shook her head and looked down at the puppy. She wasn't sure how long she was standing there. She wasn't even sure how she ended up here. The original plan was to take Anastasia out for a walk around the block but somehow it turned into a walk to Kyong's apartment building. Thankfully she hadn't seen him outside or vice versa considering she fell into a daze and could have easily been approached without notice.

For a brief moment she thought about going in and asking about the box that could be holding her memories. Along with anything else he might know. As the wolf went to take a step forward she felt her whole body tense up, anxiety filled her veins. She didn't want to go in alone and even though she had Anastasia with her, it wasn't the same as having Rang with her. Now that she thought about it Rang would be unhappy she went without him.

The wolf also suddenly felt like someone was watching her. She took a look around her, searching the shadows for glowing eyes. It wasn't even dark out and there were plenty of people walking around but she could feel it. A shiver ran down her spine and she tried to pinpoint exactly where she felt the person was.

Anastasia barked impatiently and whined at the female. He jumped up, placing his front paws on the female's thighs, giving a grumble as he nipped gently at her fingers. As he saw her shake her head and look down at him, he sat on his rear and grumbled again before tugging her pant leg with his teeth.

“Okay, okay. Sorry pup, let’s go.” She started walking again, the yellow labrador trying to tug her quickly. She looked back over her shoulder and her eyes widened at the man she saw standing there. She was so surprised that she stumbled over her own feet and fell. Hurriedly, she brushed her hair from her face and looked back again, this time no one was there. Before she could think about questioning it more, there was a puppy licking her face. “Ah, okay, okay!!” She jumped up to her feet and decided she should probably get out of there quickly.

Most of the walk back to the clinic wasn’t bad - at least that she knew of, her mind wandering back to the man. She knew she saw him before in a few flashbacks and it made her stomach twist.

She stared at the box in his hands, flight or fight was racing through her head. She knew he said she would forget, that they all would but she didn’t think it would have anything to do with an obliviation box.

“IS IT NOT?!” Duong growled at her.

“Y-yes.” She whimpered and looked down.

It was him. It was Duong, the wolf spirit. Was he really there or did she imagine him? She bit her lip and looked back behind her. There wasn’t anyone following behind her but she felt her steps quicken, like a child who is running up the stairs from a dark basement escaping the monsters below. She made it back to the clinic in record timing, Anastasia was extra excited from the sudden ‘race’ that the woman started.

Once in the building, Eun-ji locked the door and found herself gasping for air while her legs shook. Her back slid against the front door as she crumbled to the floor. ‘It’s just all in my head, right?’ She thought to herself when suddenly a chewy toy was dropped into her lap. “You don’t let anyone think about stuff, do you?” She joked fondly as the distraction was more than welcomed. She sent a text to Rang to check-in and see how he was doing, but she knew she was doing it a little more for herself. She needed a little comforting and seeing him reply gave her heart the flutters that she needed.

She kept the hospital closed that afternoon as discussed with Shin-Joo. So she sat there and played fetch with Anastasia for a little while. She fed the rambunctious canine and gathered her things before leaving. She pulled out her phone and dialed the person whom she wanted to hear the most.

"Hello Rang." She greeted him with a smile on her face that could be heard in her voice. "How are you doing?"

The fox responded, sounding a little winded. "I'm okay sweetheart. Are you on your way home from work?"

She bit her lower lip. "I'm going to meet Shin-Joo for a little bit at the Snail Bride and check on Yeon."

"You're walking alone?" He sounded annoyed and concerned.

"Not exactly. I have you with me right now."

"Okay, I'll talk with you until you get there." He sighed, happy to know when she would arrive safely. "What time should Yuri get you?"

"No worries about that. Shin-Joo agreed to drive me home after. You stay home and let Yuri take care of you."

Rang scoffed and rolled his eyes. "She's being a little insufferable. I'm not broken but she's acting like I am."

"No, but you are hurt. We're both concerned about you. I only went to work today because I knew you'd get annoyed with both of us fretting over you. I also had to take care of Anastasia."

"You could have stayed. I would have sent Yuri to care for the dog and go home."

She giggled at him before the conversation went quiet. The wolf had been keeping track of her surroundings but suddenly she felt it again, the watchful eyes of someone. She stopped in her tracks, she had mixed emotions of looking over her shoulders. She scolded herself mentally and started walking again, this time with a faster pace.

"Darling, are you okay? Your breathing changed." Rang shifted to sit alert, ready to run out the door if needed.

"Huh? Oh no, I just had a weird feeling. I'm almost to the restaurant. Do you want me to pick up dinner on my way out?"

"Don't change the subject so quickly. Food is fine. But I don't like that you feel uneasy. Always trust your gut." His mind was racing, what if it was Imugi? She wouldn’t know what he looks like so she could stay away from him. He started to shift in his seat.

"Don't worry handsome, I started walking faster. I see the sign for the front door."

"You're staying on this phone until you're inside and I hear Shin-Joo greet you." Rang stated. He needed to know she was safe, his gut had been twisting the whole time that her breathing increased.

The doorbell chimed in the background, signaling her entry into the restaurant. Eun-ji greeted the owner and moved toward the back where she found Shin-Joo sitting at a table waiting for her. "Eun-ji, hello." He greeted her.

Rang let out a sigh of relief. "I hear him. I'll let you go, darling."

"Okay, see you soon honey."

The term of endearment made him smile. "Let me know when you're on the way." He waited for her to hang up first.

Eun-ji looked over to Shin-Joo who was giving a knowing smile. "How is Rang?"

"He said he's okay. Last night he was in pain and I tried to heal his leg, but it only relieved him of some of his pain. He wasn't pleased with me for it. He told me he doesn't want to see me hurt."

"Wow, I'm impressed you were able to take some pain from him. Your powers are incredible so you should learn how to use them properly. But I also agree with Rang, no one wants to see you hurt."

"Yes, yes. Let's go see Yeon." She spoke quickly trying to change the subject as she grabbed his arm and tugged him toward the back. She reached forward to open the sliding door only for it to open before she could touch it.

The woman on the other side of the door stared at her. "Who are you?" She questioned before her eyes slid over to Shin-Joo.

"Ah, this is my friend and employee - Mae Eun-ji. She also knows Yeon and came with me to visit him." Shin-Joo introduced the wolf.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you. I'm Nam Ji-a, Yeon's girlfriend." The woman bowed politely.

Eun-ji bowed in return and her eyes skimmed over the other woman’s body. She noticed the female looked tired. She probably spent most of the day watching over Yeon. "Very nice to meet you as well. Are you heading out?"

"I am. It's been a long day. Have you known Shin-Joon and Yeon for a long time?" The way her tone of voice hinted she was asking a deeper question.

Eun-ji was able to pick that up. She had remembered that Shin-Joo stated Yeon's girlfriend was aware of their true identities. "I've known Yeon longer than I can remember.” ‘Literally.’ She thought to herself. “ I’m not a fox though. I'm a wolf." She explained.

Ji-a's eyes widened. "A wolf?"

Eun-ji smiled and nodded her head.

Ji-a looked conflicted, she wanted to stay and talk more but she was exhausted. "I'd love to talk sometime, I'm exhausted. Shin-Joo, can you let me know if or when there are any updates."

"Of course. Take care and have a good night." The three of them bid each other farewell.

********

Eun-ji returned home, waving Shin-Joo goodbye before entering the building. She felt bad for her boss, he was acting so strong but she could see the tears gather on his lashes as he talked softly to his best friend. Yeon had not moved a muscle during their entire visit, it almost felt like a funeral.

She opened the front door to see Rang and Yuri sitting in the common area, watching something on the television. She slipped her shoes off and walked into the room.

Rang's attention immediately snapped over to her and he greeted her with a soft smile. "Welcome home Wolf. How was your day?"

She froze for a split second, Rang looked pale with dark rings around his eyes. "Rang…"

He knew exactly what her worry was. "I'll be okay pup. Let's eat the delicious food you brought."

"Sure. I'll get it on plates." She wasn't convinced but she didn't want to upset him by arguing before he even got to eat.

"Oh, I'll come help." Yuri stated as she all but jumped off the couch and joined the wolf in the kitchen. Once away from Rang, Yuri almost broke down. "He doesn't want any help. He's been in pain all day. Eun-ji I'm worried he won't get better and that the poison will win."

Eun-ji frowned, she was saddened but she needed to be strong for Yuri. "It's okay Yuri. I will take his pain from him and hopefully that will give him the strength he needs to heal. I could try to heal him but I haven't had success with it yet. I worry that it is a power that is locked in with my memories."

"Thank you Eun-ji. It's a comfort to know you are worried as well. Thank you for taking care of Rang. I fear you're the only one he will let help him."

Eun-ji frowned. "He doesn't want me to help."

"But you will anyway." Yuri spoke softly.

"Yes, I will anyway."

*****

After dinner Rang excused himself to his bedroom while the vixen and wolf cleaned up dinner. Eun-ji did notice that he took a bottle of wine with him. If that was his way of dealing with the pain - she rather him ask her for help. Drowning it out wouldn’t truly help.

Yuri decided she was going home for the night and would return the next morning. Eun-ji bid her farewell at the door, locking it before heading around the house to turn out the lights. She headed toward Rang's room, he was sitting up in bed, his back against the headboard sipping the wine straight from the bottle.

She took a moment to just look at him and her heart cracked a little at his depressed expression. She knocked on the door frame and she watched him mask his emotions. "Want some company?"

Rang stared at her, knowing he couldn't turn her down. "Go get your blankets and bring them here."

Eun-ji gave a questioning look but did as told. Once she returned she found Rang standing to the side of the bed. "You should be resting." She spoke while holding the bundle of blankets.

The fox smiled at her. "Make your blanket nest first. I want to sleep in it with you."

Eun-ji nodded her head and quickly went to work. She didn't know why but she felt like this needed to be perfect, so she worked diligently, fluffing them just right and making sure they were right enough to feel around them but loose enough that they wouldn't feel claustrophobic. Once she was pleased with the set up she turned her attention back to the fox. "All done."

Rang was pleased and slid into the nest as noises of content escaped his lips. "This is comfortable, no wonder why wolves make them. Good job sweetheart." Once he was settled he reached a hand out to her.

"Wolves make nests? I just thought this was a comfort thing I had thanks to you."

"Wolves have dens, they’re usually filled with softness and comfort items, like blankets and cushions. Wolves stayed close together for comfort and were usually found cuddling together. I couldn't make you a den but a blanket nest was something I could encourage you to do. All I did was give you the supplies and your natural instincts figured it out."

Eun-ji grabbed his hand and allowed him to pull her into the nest. Once she was fully in the nest she couldn't keep her eyes off of him. He just looked so exhausted and tired. "Rang let's rest."

He didn't say no but he also didn't agree. Instead he grabbed her wrist and tugged her to him, making her sit on his lap. "I can rest in a moment." Rang placed a hand under her chin and pulled her lips to his. The kiss was soft but firm. He moved his lips slowly against hers in open mouth kisses, sliding his fingers into her hair. He smiled against her mouth as he felt her one hand move behind his neck and the other tangle in his necklace. The scent of orange blossoms and azaleas filled his nose and he couldn’t get enough of her. He moaned quietly before deepening the kiss, brushing his tongue against hers.

Eun-ji kissed back with all her might, she could taste the wine he was drinking on his lips. As much as she wanted more she whined as she forced herself to slow the pace before it became too much. She pulled back to disconnect their mouths, both of them panting quietly, and pressed her forehead against his. Looking into the black abyss of his eyes she felt her stomach clench in need. She wanted more and knew he did as well but he was hurting and needed to heal before they continued any further.

Rang thought otherwise as he dipped down and started pressing open mouth kisses to her neck. His teeth scraped just right on her clavicle, causing her to gasp and tighten her grip on the back of his neck. He chuckled and did it again, earning him the same response.

Eun-ji whimpered and forced herself away from his body. "Rang, please, you need to rest. I want this, I want you but I’m concerned about you and hurting you more. Let's sleep and I will give you endless kisses tomorrow."

Rang looked at her. “What if I want more than kisses? What if I want to devour you?”

Her core clenched at his words and she bit her bottom lip as her cheeks warmed suddenly. “Rang… I…”

He chuckled. “It’s okay pup. I won’t devour you today, but I will soon and you’ll be begging for more.” He knew his words affected her greatly as her eyes dilated and he could smell her want in the air. “Lay with me sweetheart.”

The wolf did as told, pulling the red blanket over them. She was pulled close to him, he breathed her scent in deeply and he placed soft kisses to her head. If she said she was surprised at how fast he passed out, it would have been a lie. She was more surprised he had the energy to make out a few moments ago. Eun-ji laid there for a little while longer, making sure he was in a deep sleep before she untangled herself from him.

She placed a hand over his leg and began to try and pull the pain out, she could feel an energy flowing through her and focused on that more and more until her fingertips started to tingle. As soon as she stopped the pain was instantaneous, and she forced it toward the core on her stomach, hoping it would mask away like it did the first time she took his pain. While it took a few moments longer, it finally settled down. She felt winded but wanted to try healing him this time.

Taking a deep breath she placed her hand gently on his leg and imagined pulling the poison from his body. This was different from pulling pain from his body into her own. She could feel pain instantaneously, fire spread through her veins followed by a burning freeze. She felt hot and cold all over. She grit her teeth and continued to try to pull more poison from him but she wasn’t trained correctly for this and felt her eyesight darken with the threat of passing out. She ripped her hand away knowing that if she passed out Rang would know what she did and be unhappy with her.

The pain didn’t stop right away, it flowed through her blood, pumping into her heart and caused her to grip her chest. Tears started to flow down her cheeks, she had never felt pain like this before. She felt horrible, like she could die. Curling up with her knees to her chest, she silently sobbed. She could only imagine how much more pain Rang was in considering she only took a little bit from him.

Once the pain finally settled, she slid her body next to Rang’s and held him close, her worry of losing him increased tenfold. She needed him to get better soon.

*****

In the morning she decided the pain she felt was worth it. Rang looked so much better as he hovered over her body, sucking marks into her neck and upper chest. “Morning darling.” He smiled against her skin as she opened her eyes. “Good morning dear.” She responded as she took in his features. No dark circles, his skin was glowing and he looked happy - filled with energy. “You look better this morning.”

“I feel better, not fully better, but more so than yesterday.” He dipped down and caught her lips, pressing several kisses on her lips.

“Rang!” She giggled and tried to push him away.

“Ah, ah. If I recall correctly, you said endless kisses today.” He gave her a knowing look.

“I suppose I did.” She wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him to her.

*****

Each morning and night he would familiarize himself with the softness of her skin and the taste of her lips. Always ready for more but never taking it - the tenison building higher and higher. They would wake up tangled in each other. For the next five nights Eun-ji would wait for Rang to fall asleep before trying to take some of his pain and try to heal him. She'd place a hand hovering over his leg and imagine pulling the pain and poison into herself. Each time she felt like she could pull more and more. The agony she felt afterward was always excruciating but it ranged to lasting for just a few to almost a full hour before she could force it deep into her body.

The pain was always worth the reward, Rang would wake up looking refreshed and acting himself. During the day the poison would sweep in and weaken him. He would stay home because of this while Eun-ji went to work or to visit Yeon's body with Shin-Joo. When she wasn't home Yuri stayed to help Rang out, though he acted like he didn't need the help.

Yeon had been down for days, no movement had been noted from his body. They didn’t even know if he would return and it made some very anxious. Eun-ji would accompany Shin-Joo whenever he went to visit. She had met Ji-a in passing a few times and once they sat briefly to drink some tea together. Most of the time though, the fox and wolf would show up to visit just as she was getting ready to head back out.

Shin-Joo was usually a constant mess. He would start off fine and end up sobbing for Yeon to wake up. Eun-ji felt for him, Yeon was his best friend and Shin-Joo must have been feeling so lost without him. She did her best to comfort him, letting him drop all of his weight on her, his tears soaking her shoulders. "It will be okay Shin-Joo. He will wake up soon." The wolf always tried to be the positive voice.

"What if he doesn't?" Shin-Joo would question with his bottom lip trembling.

“Don’t think like that. We need to believe in Yeon. How can we give him our strength if we don’t believe in him?” She questioned as he wiped the tears from Shin-Joo’s eyes.

“You’re right. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. You miss him. I know that. I can feel your sadness pouring off of you. Come, let us go now and we can return tomorrow.” She helped her boss stand from the floor and guided him toward the door. She looked back at the former Mountain God and frowned. “Please wake up soon Yeon, everyone needs you.”

When Eun-ji returned home that particular night, Rang was already asleep. Yuri was sitting on the couch looking into the distance, eyes unfocused in thought. "Yuri?" The wolf called out to the vixen. "Is everything okay?" She approached the female slowly.

Yuri's eyes cleared as she heard the wolf speak. She snapped her attention over to her friend and tried to force a smile. "Sorry, just thinking."

"Want to talk about it?"

The fox curled her legs up on the couch, looking small and scared, something that didn't suit her. "I'm terrified." She confessed, twisting her fingers in her fingers in her hands.

The wolf didn't say anything, worried that if she did the fox would stop talking. Instead she took a seat on the other end of the couch, watching closely.

“I have no one besides Rang. If it wasn’t for him I would have been put to death at that zoo he found me in. I was abused by the zookeeper and visitors would tap and kick the glass of my enclosure. I have no friends and no family. If he dies I have no one.”

Eun-ji felt hurt at the comment. “You have me. You also have Shin-Joo. You-”

“He’s another confusing factor. Why do I feel so flustered near him?”

The wolf gave a soft smile to her friend. “It could be because you like him. You should really give him a chance. Shin-Joo is really a great guy, loving you would come naturally to him. In fact I’m pretty sure there is a piece of him that already loves you.”

Yuri scoffed at that. “I haven’t needed anyone before until Rang came. I can’t falter in my loyalty to him. I can’t abandon him as well.”

“Yuri… Rang would want you to live your life as you see fit. You also wouldn’t be abandoning him, just because you have a new person in your life doesn’t mean you have to let go of the oldYou speak as if he’s on his deathbed. Rang will make it through this. .”

“You take his pain and heal him every night but as the day progresses he gets worse and worse. He couldn’t even wait for you tonight - he said he was tired. I’m worried. What will happen if we lose him?” Yuri’s lip trembled as she looked over to the wolf. “I can’t lose him, the world won’t make sense without him.”

“Yuri,” Euni-ji stood up and moved across the length of the couch and sat down next to her friend, pulling her into her arms. “We have to stay strong for him. Have faith he will be okay.” The wolf was no longer sure if she was talking to Yuri or herself. Between the fox brothers her heart was heavy with grief that she kept masking.

“I will try. I really will.” Yuri sniffed back her tears and hugged her friend tightly. “Rang is so lucky to have found you, Eun-ji. You’re exactly who he needed in his life.”

*******

Eun-ji sat on the bed after Yuri left, looking at the male fox. Yuri was right, he looked worse today than he did yesterday. Maybe she wasn’t helping at all, or maybe it just wasn’t enough. She shifted closer and placed her hand over his wound like she did for the past few nights. It was now second nature to her to pull the pain and poison into her body. She found if she tried to think about the few memories she uncovered then she could deal with the pain longer than usual.

She knew there was someone else in her memories, she would see a shadowed figure in some memories of Yeon and she hoped with her heart that it was Rang. Then again she never asked when Yeon ‘abandoned’ his brother, it could be Shin-Joo who was the mysterious character. She didn’t have the full story, her memories still very hazy as frustrating as it was. The shadowed person seemed to be very important to her, always standing closer to her figure than Yeon. Or maybe it was a family member - a packmate? She wanted to know more, unlock her mind, and figure it all out. She was tired of not knowing, being in the dark sucked and the worst was that no one could remember her, not even Yeon could when she first had her flashbacks but he wanted to help her regardless.

“WOLF?!”

Her eyes snapped up as the words reached her ears and the leg moved out from under her hand. Crippling pain rushed through her making her yelp out and close her eyes tightly again. She had gotten so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t realize how much she took in. She hugged herself tightly, keeping the pain in her, afraid she would snap it out of her body and back into Rang’s.

The fox was sitting up in bed, he tried to grab her arms but she shook him off as sobbed ‘don’t’ came from her lips. He stared in worry as he watched her battle whatever she was feeling coursing through her veins. He felt hopeless as he watched her battle the pain for minutes and minutes on end, he wasn’t sure if it would stop anytime soon. Finally he allowed himself to relax as she took a shuttering deep breath as her body relaxed and opened her eyes. “How long?” He asked.

The wolf suddenly found the ground to be more interesting as she turned her attention away from him. Her fingers were pinching the fabric of her pants and she bit her bottom lip.

“Don’t make me ask again. How long have you been doing this to yourself?” His voice remained gentle - not an ounce of malice in it even if he was extremely upset with her.

“Every night. At first it was for a minute but over the days I’ve been trying for longer moments.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at him.

“I told you not to do it again, didn’t I?” He asked.

“I’m sorry, but also not. I couldn’t stand by and just watch you when I knew I could help.” She spoke quietly as if her own voice would scare her.

His eyes softened. He understood why she did it, he also understood why she was being so wary. He asked her not to do something and she went against that. With her history he was sure she was thinking she was about to get yelled at. Then again he wasn’t anything like Kyong. He shifted, moving closer to her and wrapping her wrist gently. “Wolf, look at me.”

She did as told and as soon as her eyes met his, she felt him tug on her wrist pulling her close to him. She followed his silent instructions and laid down next to him, watching him closely.

Like every night before this, he connected their lips, tilting her chin toward his face. He rolled his body on top of hers, his one leg resting between hers and he grabbed both of her hands, lacing their fingers together before pinning them above her head on the mattress. Tonight was different, more passion filled as he heard her moan against his lips, her scent pouring out into the room. He found himself deepening the kiss, his tongue tangling against her own.

More.

His brain demanded it. He brought his leg up and pushed against her core, her fingers squeezed his hands tighter as she gasped into his mouth. He swallowed any sounds that followed after, rubbing against her gently a few more times. He dragged his tongue against hers, the taste of something sweet, perhaps chocolate was on her mouth. He felt drunk off of her, pulling back their lips were only connected by a string of saliva that broke after a second. He wanted to move back in again like he always did but his brain decided to move forward, he moved to her neck making pretty scarlet marks into her skin again.

“Rang…” His name was a breathy moan in her throat. He let go of her hands, stripping his shirt off, throwing it and tugging on the bottom of hers. He almost lost it when she quickly sat up and shed her shirt and bra before lying back down, her eyes blown wide with lust. His eyes drank her in, her skin so soft and inviting. His fingers traveled her skin, one hand traveling to the mound on her chest. He gave one nipple and experimental twist between his thumb and forefinger causing a breathy moan to escape her lungs.

Her hands danced gently on his pectorals, running down until her one hand touched his scar. He wanted to flinch away but curiosity got the better of him, waiting for the look of disgust on her face. After a moment there wasn’t one, instead she pushed him gently so he gave her the upper hand. She looked at the scar and then at him. Slowly she brought her lips down on his skin, kissing the length of the scar from bottom to top. Once she traveled the scar she moved to above where his heart was and placed a kiss there as well. “So handsome.” She whispered over his skin.

Rang lost it at that point, flipping them back over and kissing her relentlessly. His hands traveled to her pants and he tugged gently twice as if asking for permission. Her hands joined his as she unbuttoned them for him and he took care of the rest. He almost laughed when her mouth chased his for a moment when he pulled back. “Is this okay darling?” His ears tingled at the whimper of a yes that fell past her lips. His hand traveled to her underwear, a finger dipping under the elastic edge and tugging gently. “Can I remove this too?”

Her hips bucked up as she gasped. She was starting to be overwhelmed by everything her body was feeling at this exact moment. She nodded her head frantically as she grabbed his shoulders, needing something to ground her. “Y-yes.”

Rang smirked and started kissing down her body, stopping to give each side of her breast an appropriate amount of attention. He loved that he could hear her heart rapidly beating. Moving again he could take a moment to stop a few times to either nip or suck more scarlet marks into her flesh. Slowly he pulled the fabric from her skin as he latched his mouth on the top of her hip bone.

She sobbed out, nails digging into his shoulders. This was the furthest she had ever gone with him and everything was feeling more intense than she could ever imagine. Her mind was at war knowing he was injured but also he was making her feel so much at that moment.

He parted her legs, his firm hands keeping them parted until he settled himself between them. He started down by her knee, kissing and giving her skin kitten licks. The smell of her arousal was mouth watering as he peaked at her glistening folds. He moved up slowly, enjoying the way she would wiggle and squirm under his ministrations. “So responsive to me.” He mumbled against her skin. He licked her groin and the noise she made was music to his ears. “Can I devour you now, love?” His breath tickled her core as he hovered it.

She choked back a sob as the question reached her ears. Her hands went from his shoulders to the bed, gripping into the blankets of the nest she made him nights ago. “Yes.” She willed the word from her mind.

He smirked, knowing what he was doing was a little unfair. “Promise me you won’t do it again.” He watched her brows furrowed in confusion.

“W-what?” She stuttered as she looked down at him. The sight of him between her legs alone made her weaken more, abdomen clenching in need.

“Promise me, you won’t try to heal me or take my pain again.” He frowned as she shook her head. He licked a strip of her core teasingly and had to hold himself back. She tasted so good and he just wanted to dive in but resisted. “Promise me, my wolf,” he teased a finger at her entrance, touching gently but not entering. “my sweetheart,” he nipped her skin. “my love.” he looked her right in the eyes, flattened his tongue and licked a slow strip up her folds. He thought he was going to have to force himself away from her but she broke under his tongue.

She whimpered and snapped her eyes shut. “I promise, I prom-”

He latched onto her, sucking gently before slipping his tongue between her lips, tasting her essence tenfold. He groaned as her fingers gripped his hair tightly, pulling him closer, her hips trying not to buck against his face. He wrapped his arms around both legs and pulled her closer as well. He enjoyed the way his name fell off her lips like a mantra. He moaned as he stuck his tongue into her entrance, the vibrations of the noise making her tightened her grip on him. His nose brushed against her clit with each stroke of his tongue.

Eun-ji felt her legs shaking, she didn’t know this could feel so good. She sobbed again as he dipped his tongue into her. When Rang said he was going to devour her, he meant it. There were places in her that she could feel his tongue touching that had her baffled. He would change his pace from slow to faster, building her up and letting her fall gently. She felt her stomach tighten and she whimpered as she unconsciously gripped his hair tighter. “Rang, please I’m…” She couldn’t even finish speaking before he wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked. She felt her back arch as her orgasm washed over her.

Rang was pleased, and pulled back as he watched her ride her high. “Mm, my love, look at you. You’ve already come for me and I can tell you crave more. What a pretty little mess you made.” The fox was riding his own high, craving more of her and wanting to make her fall apart completely.

He licked her gently, letting her come down a little bit before sinking two fingers into her and flicking his tongue against her clit. The response was instantaneous, her legs snapped up against his ears, she tugged him impossibly closer by his hair and her hips started bucking against his face. He pumped his fingers in and out of her, curling forward at the right spot inside of her. He could tell she was getting close again and he moaned at the thought of her cumming right on his tongue. Just as the tension snapped in her again, he removed his fingers and replaced them with his mouth, digging as deep as he could in her velvety walls, twirling his tongue to taste her more. As he cleaned her thoroughly he could hear her crying out in pleasure and before her second orgasm could fade away, he triggered her third. It was worth the reward as she came again, her slick thick on his tongue as he gulped it down hungrily. She was like ambrosia to him and he couldn’t get enough.

More!

His inner fox was yelling it as he lapped at her cunt, her thighs fell away from his ears as she started to come down from her high. Again, he wanted it again. His two fingers sunk into her again, trying to work her up once more. By now his own hips were rutting against the bed, looking for sweet release.

Eun-ji’s eyesight started to focus, the sounds of Rang’s moans and squelching noises of her cunt could be heard over the buzzing of her ears. “Rang, please.” She felt weak, he couldn’t possibly make her release again.

He heard her plea but instead of hearing it as it being too much he thought she was asking for more. He carefully added a third finger and he latched onto her clit again, staring her in the eyes. She looked more than beautiful like this. He didn’t even fuck her yet and she looked this damn gorgeous.

She caught him staring her in the eyes and it was breathtaking, his one eye was glowing a golden color and she saw the orange whimsical swirling of his hidden fox features. This time it didn’t take long for her build up to snap and she felt herself gush out arousal. She sobbed, her whole body shaking and thrashing as she tried to pull the fox from her core, she was highly sensitive to the licks of his strong tongue. “Rang, no more please.” She pleaded with tears of overstimulation poured down her face.

The fox stared at her, the request made him huff, but he removed his fingers before cleaning her up, his tongue flat and slow over her core and clit, making sure nothing was left behind. He felt her shutter under him, soft whimpers falling from her parted lips. Once he was done, he licked his own fingers, groaning at the taste. “Love, you’re a dangerous one.” He stated as his fox features faded away again.

She let out a shaky laugh. “Me? You wouldn’t stop.”

“Of course not, you’re delicious. I could eat you for days if you’d let me.” He wasn’t lying, even now he wanted more. It was almost as if he was addicted to her slick.

She let out a breathy moan at his words and covered her face in embarrassment. After a few moments, she was able to settle her breathing and she put her hands back down. “That was wonderful.” She stated.

“The best you’ve had?” He asked jokingly.

“The only one I’ve had.” Eun-ji responded.

Rang growled as he sat up on the bed. “Well that’s changing now.”

Eun-ji blushed again and found her eyes darting toward his clothed groin.

“You do not need to return the favor.” He stated as he noticed her direction on vision.

“What if I want to?” She asked, feeling confident again. She found herself reaching for his pants. “Off.” She demanded.

“Only if you want to.” He was serious, he didn’t bring her to the heavens just for her to feel obligated to do the same for him.

She started helping him pull the article of clothing off his body. Once he was bare she had him sit against the headboard. ‘Gods he’s so handsome.’ She thought to herself as her eyes drank him in. She turned her attention to his cock, it was erect and throbbing from the lack of much needed attention. He was a perfect size, not too big or small and his girth was perfect as well. She wasn’t a huge fan of giving head, but that’s because Kyong gave her bad experiences - not that she would tell Rang that. She licked her lips before pumping him a few times with her hand.

His reaction encouraged her more, his eyes slid close as he took in deep steady breaths. He felt her free hand circle around his wrist. As she pressed two fingers to his pulse point and she felt his heart rate jot at the idea of her feeling his heart rate increase as she took care of him. He gave a small gasp when she licked the tip and groaned loudly as she took him deeply in her throat.

******

The next morning Rang woke up to find Eun-ji still passed out next to him. They didn’t have sex and he was more than okay with that. He was still feeling great from her healing him, but he could tell it was starting to fill his body again. He started pressing kisses to the wolf’s neck, for a moment he considered having her wake up to him eating her out again but he wasn’t sure if he would let her get up to go to work. He would have to settle for morning kisses instead.

Eun-ji shifted and rolled over to face him. Her eyes cracked open slowly. “Hmm, morning handsome.”

“Morning, angel.” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Sleep well?”

“Mmm, very much so.”

“I’m glad,” He stated.

They laid in bed for a few more minutes before they both decided to start their day. Eun-ji made breakfast while Rang made coffee. They ate in comfortable silence, Rang holding her hand on the top of the table. He cleaned up as she went to get ready for work. Just when the wolf was about to leave Yuri showed up. The vixen stopped and looked between the two of them, something was different but she didn’t know what.

“I’ll see you later. Yuri, thank you again.” Eun-ji stated.

Rang stopped her before she could walk out, grabbing her cheeks between his hands and pulling her lips to his. Their mouths moved against each other in slow open kisses. He finally let her go. “Have a good day love.”

Eun-ji peaked over to see Yuri’s mouth wide open in shock. She gave a nervously happy grin. “Thank you dear. See you soon.”

****

Rang was sitting comfortably on his couch, Yuri was less annoying, asking less about how he was doing, he knew she wanted more information about what happened between Eun-ji and him. He had never kissed her so openly before. His phone started to ring on the table in front of him. He would never admit he was thrilled to see Yeon’s name on the screen. “You’re here?” He asked as he answered the call. “I thought you had died in the Ah Gwi Forest.” He noticed Yuri peeking her head into the room as if she was trying to figure out who was on the phone.

“Whatever. I’m disappointed.” Rang sighed into the phone. Yeon had asked if he could head over there. “Now?” Rang nodded his head. “Well, come or not. Whatever.” He smirked as the call ended. He was feeling a sense of peace between Yeon and him. Leaning forward to place his phone back on the table, he gasped out in pain, his hand immediately clutching his side as heavy coughs escaped his lungs.

Yuri had not heard Rang complain or cry out in pain any of the last few days, always masking that he was. Now that he was suddenly making painful sounds she rushed into the room. “Are you alright? Should I call Shin-Joo? Eun-ji?”

“Stop freaking out. It’s nothing.” He spoke through painful gasps, while he held an arm up to tell her to stay back.

Yuri couldn’t believe him. She sat down next to him on the couch. “It isn't the poison, is it? Your life is expiring. I’m right, aren’t I?”

The pain finally settled and he sat back a little bit. “I’ve lived pretty long for a half fox.”

Yuri turned to him. “Please get a Chinese Lantern. You can steal years from people and live for as long as you want.”

“Yeon is on his way here. I’m going to tell him where Imugi is. I’m the only one who knows what he looks like.” He stated.

“What about you?”

Rang looked down. “It’s not like I’ve ever dreamed of a future.”

“Don’t do it! Please stop! What about Eun-ji? Don’t you want a future with her?”

Rang paused. He did, he thought about it often now that he was practically dying. It was a hopeful thought - he wasn’t going to make it. It was useless though - there was no reason to get anyone’s hopes up. “I do.”

“Then why must you go that far just for Yeon?” Yuri snapped at him.

Rang sat up, moving his body closer to hers. “What I feel for Eun-ji is something I never felt before. I have ways I can talk with her about everything. There is no hope for a good future with her.” He sighed. “Yuri, you can’t tell Yeon.”

“Don’t meet with Yeon.” Yuri whispered, the threat of tears in her voice. “Go to Imugi and ask him to save you. Or tell me where they are, I’ll get you a Chinese Lantern.” Finally the tear slipped from her lashes and ran down her face.

Rang looked at her closely and shifted on the couch. “Yuri, why are you crying for me? I told you never to cry for another person. Don’t make your life a B-movie.”

“You said that I should be the one that takes, not loses. That’s what you said to me when we first met, as you were drenched in the zookeeper’s blood. You told me to live like that.” She was sobbing now.

He was impressed she remembered that. “I tend to be fickle.” He grabbed a tissue for her and passed it. “Stop sniffling, and go buy me some naengmyeon.”

She cleaned herself up before standing and looking back at him. “Eun-ji needs to be in the loop of your plan. She’s already suffered enough in her life.” With that she walked out of the room.

Rang sat on the couch, feeling good about his decision. He would need to have a serious talk with Eun-ji though. Their relationship grew tenfold and he had finally admitted to himself that what he felt for her is what he presumed love felt like. He sat there feeling content when a knock sounded on his door. He forced himself off the couch and moved his way to the front door. When he opened the door, ready to greet his brother when his smile fell from his lips.

“What’s wrong? Am I not the person you were waiting for?” Hae Ryong gave a wicked smile.

****

“Why do you two keep staring at me?” Eun-ji questioned the foxes on the couch. The whole morning had been strange, Shin-Joo stared at her with eyes as wide as saucers when she entered the building at the start of her shift. When she questioned him initially he cleared his throat and sputtered something incoherent and leashed up Anastasia before walking himself and the pup out the front door. It was almost as if he was trying not to look at her after that.

Yeon had arrived in the afternoon, having woken up recently, he came to catch up with Shin-Joo. Eun-ji was so happy to see the older Lee brother, that upon arrival she rushed over to him and gave him a big hug. The fox froze in her arms for a second before grabbing her arms and removing her quickly. For a moment she was saddened but then recalled that Yeon didn't have memories of her past with him. She herself had very few and even so the more recent one showed that she was mad at the fox.

This behavior between them was different though, the two foxes kept glancing at her and whispering in hushed tones. It was starting to make her self-conscious. So when they didn’t answer her question she felt the tears well up in her eyes. It had to be something bad right? That’s why they didn’t want to tell her. “The appointments are light today, I’m just going to go.” She began to gather her things to rush out of there.

The male foxes jumped up from the couch obviously now aware that they upset the wolf. “Eun-ji, please don’t go.” Shin-Joo pleaded, his voice thick with apology but never actually saying it.

"No, I'm going home. I won't stand here while you both whisper about me like I'm not here. I need to feel this low right now." The wolf's voice cracked with emotion as she tried to hide her face.

"Hey Pup," Yeon grabbed her before she could take another step toward the door. "We are sorry. We didn't mean to make you feel anything bad. Let me drive you home and we can talk."

She stood there for a moment, her wrist still in Yeon's hand as she turned back to look at him. She contemplated his offer quietly. She wasn't sure what he would want to talk about but she didn't want to feel worse than she already did. "I don't know if I want to talk. I'm already feeling bad."

"It's nothing that you're probably thinking about. I promise. I need to meet Rang anyway."

"Okay." She whispered as she nodded her head. The wolf glanced at her boss and he looked upset and regretful.

"Sorry Eun-ji."

The wolf nodded her head and waved goodbye before following Yeon out to his car. She sat herself in the passenger seat and watched the fox slide into the driver's seat and start the car.

For a moment neither said anything as Yeon started to drive toward her residence. The wolf felt her nerves getting the best of her so she turned her attention to the fox. "Well?" She questioned.

"Did you mate with Rang?" Yeon asked bluntly.

The wolf choked on her own saliva at the bluntness. "I'm sorry, what?" She almost shrieked at the question.

Yeon blinked at her, unamused. "Did you have sex with Rang?"

"I - what?! No, and even if I did - why would I tell you? Why are you even asking that?" She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment as she thought back to the activities that Rang and her did partake in the night before.

"You smell like him. Not in the way he normally scents you. This is different, stronger. It pours off your skin in waves as if it's deep in your bones. Shin-Joo told me he smelt it as soon as you walked in this morning. He was so sure you had mated with Rang so we were discussing that a little bit. He is more bashful over topics such as this, which is why he was talking so secretively."

“Why would you guys even discuss that?” She was confused and flustered, the heat of her cheeks refused to fade away. The wolf was quickly wishing she declined the offered ride home, walking would have been less tortuous.

Yeon was quiet for a moment as he made the turn at the light. “Shin-Joo stated that Rang has not been doing well. The female fox had reported to him that you have been trying to heal Rang but it’s only helping at a minimum.” He stopped at the next red light and turned to face the wolf. “Did you know wolves and foxes are monogamous?” He was pleased to see that she nodded her head. “Shin-Joo was worried for you. If you had mated with Rang and he didn't heal, then you would never find another mate. You’d either spend your life alone or waiting for Rang to be reborn. Shin-Joo already had to deal with me when I had gone through that.”

Eun-ji was speechless. Shin-Joo had always been so kind to her and now she felt ashamed that she thought so ill of him. “I’m so sorry for how I behaved.”

“It’s okay Pup.” Yeon gave her a soft smile. “You’ve been dealing with a lot lately.”

****

Eun-ji walked behind Yeon, following him to the front door of her home. She had never seen the Lee brothers together and so she was unsure how this meetup was going to go. She used her key to open the door for him and allowed him to walk in first.

Yuri was pacing the room, a bowl of food sat ready at the coffee table. “Where did he go?” She questioned loudly, catching the wolf’s attention. As the vixen turned on her heel she spotted the two of them “Yeon?”

The male fox looked her up and down. “Do you know me? Where’s Rang?” He looked around as if his brother was hiding somewhere.

“I don’t know. I stepped out and he wasn’t here when I got back. He won’t answer his phone either.” Yuri answered. "I'm sorry Eun-ji. He requested food and so I went to get it for him."

"It's okay Yuri. Yeon, this is -”

The male fox cut her off. “Seeing what a rude punk you are, you must be her.” He raised a brow as she sneered at him. “The necklace thief. The dog owner. The best friend. The one with 99 points.” He cut the wolf off.

“What gibberish is that?” Yuri asked.

Eun-ji was at a loss for the last thing Yeon said, but she was more surprised to hear she was the necklace thief. The stones of her life just keep getting unturned. How was she so left out at the connections between those in her life? She was starting to question her own self awareness.

“It’s just something.” Yeon replied as he continued to look around. “Oh, pyongyang naengmyeon.” He crossed the room and hurried over to the bowl, taking a seat at the couch.

“Don’t eat that! It’s for Mr. Lee.” Yuri scolded.

“Naengmyeon tastes bad if the noodles get soggy.” He explained as if that was more than enough justification to eat his brother’s food. He looked up at the wolf, knowing she just worked and didn’t have a break. “Did you want some Pup?”

Eun-ji declined and watched as he dug into the bowl. She looked at her friends and decided since they didn’t seem like they were going to murder each other then she could slip away and get changed. As she pulled out a comfortable outfit to wear, she tried to call Rang’s cellphone. It reverberated in her ear four times before going to his voicemail.

****

Rang sat on the couch, ignoring the vibration of his phone in his pocket as he held onto himself. He felt horrible. This was an aching coldness that had seeped into his body. He felt the darkness, he was sure he was approaching death’s door.

“Gosh, you look so pale.” Ryong stated as he leaned over the back of the couch toward Rang’s body. The man had the most sickening smile on his face.

“Will you keep a distance? You smell like rotting corpses.” The fox felt his nose burn at the scent.

“It's the scent of death.” The old man stated as a matter of fact, pulling himself into an upright position. “Since I’ve lived much longer than I should’ve, as have you.”

Rang coughed and winced in pain.

Ryong moved around the Chinese Lantern tree and looked at Rang before pointing to a bulb. “Want one?”

The fox shook his head. “No thanks.”

“Do you plan to sacrifice your life for your pride? Is it worth it?”

“Do you think I’m desperate to stay alive as you are?” Rang questioned the old man.

“Definitely not. But why does it look like you don’t want to go? It is that wolf that you have around you? This is unlike you.” The man stated as he watched Rang clench his jaw at the mention of the female.

“Get to your point.” Rang was already tired of this. He had tried to keep Eun-ji from his personal affairs but now he could see it was pointless.

“Do you plan to defy our master? It’s best to not disappoint him, we wouldn’t want anything to happen to your dear wolf, would we?” Ryong took a seat on the couch across from the fox.

“First, he’s ‘your’ master, not ‘our’ master. Second, keep her out of this, adding more people just makes it more messy.” He shook his head.

“I know you’re upset because of what Eoduk Sini did. But that was a misunderstanding.”

Rang scoffed. “You threw me into the Ah Gwi Forest, but what? A misunderstanding?”

“It was a risky move that we took to catch Yeon. We wouldn’t have left you there.”

“Sorry, but I can’t bear to listen to your lies anymore.” Rang stated as he thought back to the moments in those dark woods. Yeon was fighting off the ghosts while he desperately climbed the cliff when an unknown hand reached down for him and helped him up. The fox stood up from the couch. “I’m sure you know that, even in this state, I can kill you with no problem.” He reached down to his waist to reveal his hidden weapon.

“Wait. Wait a minute.” Ryong stood quickly, backing away from the fox just for an axe to be thrown at his face, but hitting the wall instead.

“That’s odd. Your master should show up by now.” He slowly came toward the older man. “ Shall I take a guess? Imugi is not in this house.”

Ryong stared at him for a moment before laughing.

“You’re laughing?”

“You can’t kill me. You shouldn’t even think about it.”

“What?” Rang was slightly confused where this man’s confidence was coming from.

“I’m the one who saved you from that fatal wound inflicted by Yeon. What you own me hasn’t been cleared yet.” Ryong held his hand up, showing the glowing orange ring on his finger that was the bind of their contract. “You have a deal to abide. A fox can’t go back on a deal it made.”

It didn’t make sense, he should be cleared of that deal. “Thanks to me, you were able to bring Imugi back.”

“No, that was my doing. All you added was a bit of flair.”

“You approached me so that you could use me someday, knowing that Yeon was my brother.”

“In what other way would a half-fox be of any use?” Ryong reached back to the Chinese Lanterns and grabbed one off the tree. “Please consume the lantern. Live and return the favor you owe me.

“What do you want from me?”

“You have two days to bring me Lee Yeon. It’s his body I need.”

****

Eun-ji tried several times to get Yuri to either leave the room or at least sit down and be civil, but the vixen just huffed about Yeon eating the food that was meant for Rang.

Meanwhile, Yeon found it all quite amusing. He happily enjoyed every refreshing bite of the food in the bowl. It was a reminder to him that he has not eaten anything for days which could explain why he felt so ravenous. “Well, that was good.” He wiped his mouth and looked over at the two females. The wolf was sitting at a bar stool, eating a small helping of fruits while the fox stared at him. “ What are you looking at?”

“Get out. Scram.” Yuri spoke.

“Yuri, be nice.” Eun-ji pleaded but the vixen wrinkled her nose against the idea. The wolf sighed in defeat and placed another apple slice in her mouth.

Yeon walked past them, giving a pat to Eun-ji on the head before opening the freezer. “All you have are ice cubes. Is ice cream not something you enjoy?” He asked, looking at both females.

“I do, but I haven’t had any in a long time.” The wolf replied, the idea of a cold treat sounded good to her right now.

Yuri, however, remained quiet.

“I can’t believe he adopted some rude pet from overseas. Eun-ji, I would return this one to the shelter if I were you.” The comment made the wolf choke on her fruit.

“I hate you, you know?” Yuri snapped.

“I never asked your opinion.” He approached the fox purposely.

“Stay away from Mr. Lee.” She growled, snapping her teeth at him.

“What if I don’t?” The male asked.

“I’ll kill you.” The vixen spat the words from her mouth like venom.

“Yuri!” Eun-ji gasped.

“Who do you think you are?” Yeon asked.

“I’m Ki Yuri. Why?”

“I never asked your name.”

“But you just asked.”

“You don’t seem all that smart to me.”

“Yeon!” Eun-ji now gasped at him. The back and forth between both foxes was becoming childish enough where she was going to send them both to a different room.

“Can you and Rang even communicate?” Yeon asked, ignoring the wolf on the bar stool.

“I’m smart, you know.” Yuri stated.

“As if.”

“Mr. Lee only adds mustard to his naengmyeon, gets blisters on his lips after eating crabs, and hates cucumbers in gimbap.”

Yeon scoffed. “All you can name are his eating habits.”

“But because of you…. Because of a jerk like you he…” Yuri froze, catching the attention of Yeon and Eun-ji.

“Go on.” The male encouraged.

“Darn it. Just forget it.” Yuri mumbled as she finally turned away.

Eun-ji watched Yeon studying Yuri for a moment before he headed to the couch. She herself looked at her female friend. What was Yuri going to say? Eun-ji was curious but left it at that. She could question it later when Yeon left. The wolf glanced down at her phone and pressed the button on the side to light it up - no notifications. Where was Rang?

It grew quiet in the house, Yuri was standing off to the side, arms crossed as she waited and waited. Yeon sat on the couch mostly quiet but would ask Eun-ji a question from time to time. The wolf wasn’t sure how much of the tension in the air she could take. She watched Yeon shift, trying to hide his laughter as he looked over at Yuri’s serious stance.

“Well, I should get going.” He spoke loudly as he stood up from the couch.

“Yes, go ahead. So long and farewell.” Yuri stated quickly as she whipped around to look at the fox.

“Rang talks about how miserable his life has been, but I guess it wasn’t all bad.” Yeon stated as he stopped right in front of the vixen.

Yuri pursed her lips together and looked at him.

“Since you live to protect him, please do so until the very end.” Yeon held out a small branch of azaleas and handed them to Yuri. “Give Rang this. It’s for the naengmyeon.” With that he walked away from her and approached the wolf. “Have a good night, Pup. Take care of Rang and let me know how he’s doing.”

****

The walk back home from Ryong’s was long and Rang got a little lost in his head. He wasn’t aware of his entire walk home, but he was at the front door, twisting the knob and walking in. It was quiet in the house but the lights were on. He walked into the room and spotted Yuri sitting on the couch. The vixen hopped up quickly and walked toward him.

“Where were you?” She sounded concerned.

He didn’t deserve her concern. Dark thoughts swirled in this head. “I want to be alone.” He spoke as he walked past her.

Yuri looked at him closely. “Rang you look…” She saw him pause in his steps. He looked better, so much better. And she couldn’t stop the smile that came to her face. He must have gone to see Ryong and Imugi. “Did you take a Chinese lantern?”

The male fox swallowed thickly before speaking again. “Please…let me be alone.” He pleaded softly.

The smile slipped from her mouth slowly. “Look over there.” She gestured to the coffee table, though Rang wasn’t looking at her. “Yeon came and left it for you.” She then turned on her heel to leave. She would have to send a text to Eun-ji that she left. Rang wanted to be alone and she wanted to respect his wishes.

As the front door closed with the vixen’s departure, Rang looked at the tablet and spotted the bright pink flowers on the table. He decided to sit on the couch instead of burying himself in his bed like he had originally planned. What Ryong was asking him to do no longer sat well with him. All of his feelings about his older brother had changed over the past few days.The inner turmoil was more than he could handle at the moment. He grabbed a singular petal from the flowers and ate it.

Rang thought back to when they were younger. “I wish we could go back to those days. There were azaleas everywhere. It’s strange. I can’t remember how the azaleas tasted back then.”

“If you don’t remember how azalea tasted, get out alive and eat some, you idiot!” Yeon was back in front of him, looking down. “At least try to survive, will you?”

The flower petal was filled with flavor. It was just like he remembered. His eyes filled with tears and he tried to keep himself together but there was just so much going on in his head that he had to release it all.

Eun-ji had stepped out of the shower a few minutes ago and saw the text from Yuri immediately. The vixen stated that Rang wanted to be alone and so Eun-ji waited a little bit before heading to the living room. She spotted Rang sitting on the couch, he looked so broken, tears sliding down his cheeks and he covered his shaking breaths with his hands. She shuffled over without a word and placed a hand on his shoulder as approached him.

A cracked sob broke from his lips and he moved quickly, grabbing the wolf by her wristing and tugging her into his lap. He tucked his face into her neck as more sobs wracked his body. He held her tightly as if he let her go she would vanish. He held her tightly, his fingers clutching her shirt, as if she would fade away if he let her go. He felt her run her fingers through his hair, and her sweet voice met his ears. For a few minutes it was hard to hear and understand the soothing and comforting words she spoke to him but after a while the gentle cooing was helping him calm himself.

“It’s okay Rang, I’m here. Please let me help you. Deep breaths honey.” She began to hum a gentle song when she wasn’t sure if the words were reaching him.

He pressed a kiss to her throat and gave a shaking breath right after. “I’m sorry Wolf.”

She, in return, kissed him on the top of his forehead. "You don't need to apologize. There is nothing to apologize for." She stated as she pulled back to look him in the face. To say she was shocked was an understatement, he looked so much better than he did that morning. Her fingers danced across his cheekbones, checking to see if makeup was covering the dark circles that were once under his eyes. "Rang, are you feeling better?"

He nodded his head. "All healed my dear."

Eun-ji frowned. She was happy he was healed, but considering the fox didn't sound happy about that and it made her concerned. "Do you want to talk about it?" She cradled his face in her hands, her thumb rubbing over his lower lip once.

"I'm okay, love. I just have to get myself back together. Tomorrow I have to make a quick stop somewhere in the morning. Then I would like to take you to your old home to find that box." The fox had things to take care of just in case things didn't go well for him. He promised Eun-ji he would help her so he needed to make sure that if her memories were in that box, then she was to get that back.

"Okay. Are you hungry? Did you want something to eat?" She changed the subject, shifting off of him, ready to rush to the kitchen and make him a small meal.

He tugged her back down by her waist. "No, I really just want to lay down with you. If that's okay?" He sounded so unsure like she was going to deny him her comfort.

"Of course." She pressed another comforting kiss to his forehead before she slid off his lap and held out her hand, which he took before she led him down the hallway into his room.

*****

Eun-ji sat in the car waiting for Rang. He said he needed to talk to a woman named Taluipa. He explained that she managed the office of Afterlife Immigration and also was in charge of the list of dead souls. The wolf grew even more concerned when he pressed a long kiss to her lips before getting out of the car and disguised himself as Yeon.

She stared at the building, wondering if she should go in after him. He had been in there for a little while but he also didn’t say how long he would be in there. The wolf blew out a puff of air as she tried to get comfortable in the car. She decided that she should text Shin-Joo and apologize for her behavior the day before.

It was during mid conversation with her boss that she noticed Rang exit the building as himself instead of Yeon. Eun-ji sat up quickly, watching the fox move across the pathway and toward the car. He looked deep in thought and she watched him stop in his steps and look back at the building, as if he was deciding if he wanted to go back in or not. Ultimately he decided to continue to the car, and he caught her staring. He shot her a small smile, it made her heart skip and she dropped her phone into the cup holder, leaving the conversation to pick up again later.

Rang entered the car and looked over at the wolf. “Ready?”

“How did it go?” She had asked him at the same time.

“Not how I wanted it to, but Hyun Ui-Ong told me to try something else.”

“Oh, who is that?” Eun-ji questioned as Rang put the car into drive.

“He’s Tapulia’s husband, he’s the gatekeeper of the Samdo River.”

Eun-ji blinked twice. She wasn’t sure how Rang was able to approach such important and intimidating beings with such ease. Maybe it was normal for their world. “What did he tell you to do?” She had no idea what exactly what Rang was trying to do in the first place.

“He told me to untangle the mess.” He didn’t say more than that. “Now, let’s get that box, shall we?”

Eun-ji nodded her head though now she was curious to what he was talking about. If he wasn’t sharing the information then it probably wasn’t something he wanted her to know. She was torn about that fact, did he not trust her with the knowledge or was it too dangerous?

*****

Eun-ji stared at the door and frowned. She thought she wouldn’t have such a hard time coming here again but there was still the lingering sadness and fear that ran through her veins. “Why am I still so nervous?”

Rang stepped closer to her, hand on her lower back as he leaned toward her ear. “It’s because you have bad memories of this place. We can make them all go away if you want. Yeon or myself can help erase that for you.”

The wolf bit her lip as she thought about it. She was just happy that she didn’t feel like someone was watching her this time when she approached the building. She had yet to tell Rang about that but then again she might just keep it to herself. “Okay, let’s just get this done. I want to go home.” She stepped forward and knocked on the door, louder than she intended and winced at the noise.

Rang chuckled and pulled her back next to him while they waited for the door to open. It took a few moments before it did, just an inch as the person behind it peaked out. The fox was amused to see the man cowering.

“What do you want? Who are you people?”

“Kyong?” The wolf questioned as she inched closer to the door.

“How do you know my name?”

Eun-ji looked back at the fox and saw his grin. “I don’t understand.”

“I did say that the last time he wouldn’t be fixable.” Rang shook his head. “Guess I did a little too much.”

“What do you mean?”

“WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!” The man yelled from behind the cracked door.

Rang looked up at him, unamused as his eye started to glow. “Open the door.”

Kyong did so, without any hesitation, stepping back to allow them inside.

The wolf followed the fox slowly as she was still not used to his powers and was a little in shock. The home was a mess, clothes everywhere, dishes in the sink and garbage overflowing from the trash can. She was sure she smelt rotting food somewhere in the house too. “What happened to him?” Eun-ji looked back at the man that she used to live with, he was motionless like a statue as he waited for another command.

“When he tried to take you away last, I messed with his mind a little bit, scrambled it up so he would leave you alone. I never thought we’d have to come back to him.” Rang explained as he turned back to Kyong. “I really don’t want to reverse it, but I suppose it might need to be done if we can’t find the box ourselves.”

Eun-ji knew she shouldn’t feel anything remorseful for Kyong, but the way he was living now did make her have pity on him. “I’m sorry you had to do this to him.”

“I’m not, for how he treated you and what he said to you - he deserves worse.” The fox started to look around the room, not sure what the obliviation box looked like.

The wolf glanced back at Kyong again before deciding to check their old room. This was even worse, the clutter could mean the box was bound to be buried somewhere. She’d have to start cleaning up just to look for it. She decided to check his drawers first, opening them all and checking the back of each one. Once she knew it wasn’t in there, she went around the room collecting what she assumed was dirty clothes and placing them into the laundry basket.

Rang walked into the room and found her tidying up. “What are you doing Wolf?”

“I’ll never find anything in this mess. It could be buried anywhere. I already checked the drawers and found nothing of importance.” The wolf grabbed another dirty shirt and tossed it with the others. “There has to be a better way. I’m not cleaning this entire apartment - I don’t even want to be in here. It makes me feel sick.”

Rang frowned and nodded his head. “Okay, give me a minute.” He stepped out of the room and walked over to the still human. “Where is the box?”

“What box?” Kyong asked, his voice monotone like a robot.

“The obliviation box.”

Kyong made a confused face as he stared out into nothing. He shook his head. “Don’t know.”

Rang cursed and sighed. “Stupid idiot probably doesn’t even know what it is.” He snapped his teeth in annoyance. “Guess I should bring you back.”

Eun-ji sighed as she opened the closet in the room, hoping that Kyong hid it somewhere on the top shelves. There wasn’t a step ladder nearby but there was a small rolly chair and so she rolled it over to use as something to help her up. There were boxes alright, mostly show boxes filled with nonsense and nothing useful.

“W-What are you doing here?”

Eun-ji snapped her attention back to the door and stepped carefully off the chair. She could hear Rang speaking calmly while Kyong was panting loudly and the sound of feet scrambling could be heard against the floor. The wolf stepped out of the bedroom quietly, she didn’t want Kyong to notice her but he was hyper aware of his surroundings and as soon as she moved in his peripheral vision he snapped his eyes to hers.

“You! What are you doing here? What did you do to my house?” Kyong snarled only to choke on it as Rang took an intimidating step toward him.

“Play nice or I’ll make your life even worse.” The fox threatened.

“Just get out. I’m done with you and your shit.”

“Kyong…” Eun-ji took another step forward, as she felt her legs shaking. “I need your help.”

“My help? You want my help after everything this asshole has done to me? Well, you can go fuck yourself.”

“Watch it!” Rang snapped.

Eun-ji took another step forward. “Please, just this one thing and you’ll never see or hear from us again. I’m just looking for a box.”

“I threw all your shit out. So check the dump, bitch.”

Rang stepped forward and the human flinched. The fox stopped only when Eun-ji held her hand up to have him stop. “There was a box, passed down in your family. Duong paid you to keep it safe and just hold onto it. Then something happened to it…” She paused to think back to the memory. “A seal was broken and then you were stuck with me. Where is that box Kyong?”

“Why should I tell you? What’s in it for me?”

“Rang will let you keep your mind this time.” Eun-ji stated. “Look around you Kyong. Your life is a mess.”

The man looked around at his home and sighed. “You’ll both leave me alone after you get this box?”

“Yes.” She stated.

“Fine. It’s in the box under the bed.”

The wolf ran back to the bedroom and bent down to look under the bed. It was a mess there too but she located a large box and opened it. Inside were a bunch of trinkets and old newsletters but buried in a corner was a small box with chains on it. When she grabbed the box she felt a connection, something rushed through her and she gasped. This was it, this was definitely it. She ran back down the hallway and over to the fox. “I found it!” She cheered happily.

The fox smiled at her. “Good job sweetheart.” He turned his attention back to the human who was just staring at them. “ I guess we will be on our way.”

“Wait.” Eun-ji grabbed his sleeve. “Make him forget us. I don’t want him coming back in my life anymore.”

“Hey, that wasn’t the deal. You said I could keep my mind.”

“I did and you will but any memory you have of me, doesn’t belong to you.” Eun-ji felt confident again. She has her box and hopefully all her memories will be hers again. “Rang, please.”

“Of course, Princess, anything for you.” Rang smirked at the human as he allowed his eye to glow again.

*****

The wolf looked over the box as they drove back to the house. There was a crack on the side that ripped the seal talisman. “This must have been the reason I came out of the box.” She stated as she turned the box over slowly in her hands.

The fox looked over at the box. “What are you thinking?” He asked, looking at the nervous expression on her face.

“I don’t know. A bunch of things. What if I don’t like who I was before, or what if the memories change me? What if it’s better for me not to remember?”

“Wolf, you’re second guessing everything. You’ve been waiting so long to have your memories back. Don’t you think you deserve to know who you are and who you know? You said you have memories of Yeon, don’t you want them all back?” The truth was he wanted to know if she knew him too. “Plus, if you don’t like the person you were back then, just remember you don’t have to be that person now.”

“I suppose you’re right. Thank you. I guess I’m just nervous.”

Rang parked the car as they reached home. “That’s okay too.”

The wolf tried to pull at the chains to take them off but they wouldn’t budge. “I can’t get these off.” She explained as she passed the box over to the fox. He too couldn’t get them off after struggling for a moment.

“Let’s go inside. I’m sure I have something that will open these.” Rang held the box as he exited the car.

Eun-ji wasn’t sure why, but she felt as if she got her hopes up for nothing. Instead of saying anything she followed Rang up to their home.

#tale of the nine tailed #kim bum #lee rang #the truth untold #kim beom #fox and wolf #lee rang x oc #kim bum x reader #lee rang x reader #lee rand x foc

[sammorallee]

coming back to tumblr with yet another au! sketch

this time — an au! in which Neil never been on the run and actually is an ordinary guy from Milport, who lives in an abusive family, who's obsessed w/ Exy and Kevin Day is literally his idol 🤌

yup, basically, i just took all the lore, all the information known about who Neil pretended to be, while living in Milport, and just made it... true.

yay, Kevin got what he took and wasn't traumatised by discovering that Neil-ordinary-talanted-guy-from-Milport-Josten is actually Nathaniel-the son-of-a-serial-killer-working-for-my-step- brother's-family-Wesninski 💀

also, there's no Butcher in this au! (i mean, in the form that we know from AFTG; the Butcher is still there, but he's not Neil's father for obvious reasons) so, yeah, basically, Nathan and Mary are just abusive Neil's parents

Mary is more like over-protecting + controlling over Neil, strict and prohibits a lot of things, but she's often gone to Tucson for her work; Nathan is not satisfied with his son's behaviour and attitude, his hobbies and interests, and tries to change him in every possible way — including violence.

when both parents are at home, they usually argue and Neil still gets involved in their fights. So, that's why he usually stays in school and the school's changing room for the night. While home alone, Neil sleeps in his room, as there are no risks.

Neil has scars — marks of domestic violence (mostly from hoses/slaps on his back, also from burns) — which he tries to hide because he doesn't want to get involved with the child welfare authorities and, after turning eighteen, the police. In Foxes, he'll adapt pretty fast as he sees — everyone is fucked up in here so they absolutely won't call the police on his parents, 'cause come on 💀 FOXES. 💀 CALLING THE POLICE. 💀

Neil is Raven's fan (read as "he's Kevin Day's fan and loves the team he plays for just for playing there") and is (before joining and getting along with them) biased against the Foxes because of their backgrounds — deep down thinking that people like them aren't worthy of playing in Class I Exy, or indeed having someone like Kevin in the team.

((but he, obviously, accepts the invitation from Wymack as he kinda wants to get rid of his parents and live a normal life))

apart from Exy, Neil also has other interests — he loves astronomy and space in general — to him, something as large-scale as open space with an infinite number of universes seems absolutely incredible, mesmerizing and inspiring.

in this au, Andrew won't be interested in Neil so much ('cause he's boring and basically he wasn't hiding anything from the beginning, he's like an open book), and Neil either won't be interested in Andrew ('cause he's obsessed w/ Kevin and wants him in any way imaginable, come on). So, yeah, in this au! Kevneils rule the world.

last, but not least, it's a literal fan-idol relationship with an from admiration to disappointment to hate to love trope and I'm fuckin' IN LOVE with this whole concept I've created.

yup i think that's all what i got for today folks

sorry for this tonne of text, hope you enjoyed

and I also hope I'll have enough endurance and patience to write a whole fanfiction based on this au!

#all for the game #aftg #aftg fanart #kevin day #neil josten #all for the game fanart #au #aftg au #aftg art #aftg fanfiction #aftg fanfic #aftg fic #kevneil #i believe in kevneil worldwide domination

[itsliveloud]

~~Possible Spoilers for the Entire Broken Heart Series~~~

So this isn't really a theory, more of just a possible realization. Someome probably already thought of this BUT I think I know why ACFTL is called A Curse for True Love!!

What if the 3 titles of the series are in Jacks's POV?

Let me explain......

Once Upon a Broken Heart----

Jacks first meets Evangeline when she has a broken heart, and she comes to him to try and heal her Broken Heart (ie stopping Luc and Merisol's wedding.) Of course she is still Broken Hearted. Fast forward she meets Apollo (~her heart is trying to mend itself but it's forced because she knows Apollo doesn't really love her) She starts to fall for Jacks, and yet her heart breaks again at the end of OUABH because of Jacks's Betrayal.

Ballad of Neverafter-----

This book is all about The Ballad of the Archer and the Fox (ie Jacks is the real Archer and Eva his Little Fox. Jacks, at one point says "Ballads never end happily" AND YET this whole book is really about Eva and Jacks falling for eachother and thier Ballad!! At the end of Ballad we know for a fact Eva admits to loving Jacks and let she honest we know Jacks loves Eva. Fairytale usually end with "And they lived Happily ever after" so Jacks and Ev being torn apart by Apollo at the end after Jacks resets time and saves her is thier "Neverafter" because she forgets him.

Enter....A Curse For True Love----

I 1000000% believe Eva is Jacks True Love, and he, hers. Yes, Tella made his heart beat, but Eva made him FEEL. I believe they are True Loves because they choose eachother (like Tella chose Legend) This entire book will basically be about Evangeline being Cursed with her memory loss, and undoubtedly Jacks fighting to get her memories back to her so The Archer and his Fox can Finally have the Happily Ever After they deserve.

So I think of it like Jacks saying, "Once Upon a time Evangeline Fox had a Broken Heart when we met. From the beginning the story Of us, Our Ballad, was seen as a (of) Neverafter, one without a happy ending like the story of my First Fox, and my Curse. But I believe Evangeline is my (for) One True Love."-----Something like that

Anyway I just thought of all that after I was able to read the Sneek Peak of the first 4 Chapters! I won't spoil what I read besides the dedication but OMG OCTOBER 24TH NEEDS TO BE HERE NOW!!!!

#ouabh spoilers #ouabh #onceuponabrokenheart #jacks prince of hearts #jacks #evangaline fox #little fox #the ballad of never after #tbona spoilers #tbona #a curse for true love #acftl theories #acftl