#anything after the end of episode 8 is just like. instant tears | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

threeletterslife · 4 years

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07 | Illegirl

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→ summary: Excelling in every school subject, acing every math test and conquering the academic world is something you do as easily as breathing. As your residential social outcast nerd, you live rather as a recluse, talking to almost no one except for your dear ol’ cousin and that sweet boy in a few of your classes—Jungkook? was that his name? Befriending your ʰᵒᵗ AP stats teacher was the last thing on your high school senior agenda…

→ genre: 90% fluff, 8% crack, 2% angst | teacher!au & f2l!au

→ warnings: profanity, kissing/making out, (kinda??) sexual fantasies

→ wordcount: 6.2k

You need to get rid of all the memories you've had with Jimin.

It's quite simple, actually. You've broken it down into four rules.

1. Don't call him Jimin. He's merely your teacher, not friend

2. You've never ever kissed him before. In fact, let's just say you don't even meet him outside of school for whatever reason

3. You don't know anything about him except his age, name and profession. You certainly don't know anything he hides behind his pretty face

4. Lastly, you weren't his friend, you never were

Ever since the mistaken incident, all fun was stripped away from your life. Essentially, whenever Jin was away, you had Jimin to rely on, but even he was distancing himself from you. You knew it was for the better.

You see a bland pattern these days. During class, Jimin still calls on you (to ensure normal behavior), but both of you avoid eye contact. After class, you silently walk into his classroom and walk out when Jimin's ready to leave. You don't ever exchange words, even when he drops you off.

If you're absolutely forced to talk to him, you don't call him Jimin, you call him Mr. Park, because that's what he really is to you. Only friends call each other by their first names, and Jimin's just a teacher to you.

And you're just a student to him.

You count off the long days until your cousin will come back home. Every day seems to drag on and you constantly can't wait to go to bed for a short while but only to wake up again and start the shitty cycle once more.

But finally, finally, fucking finally, the day comes when your cousin will be back. You're a bit reluctant to accompany your teacher to the airport, but you don't have a car, much less a driver's license.

The car ride is awkward, just as you expected. You manage to sit still, looking out the window the whole time to avoid any chance of eye contact, running math equations in your head to distract yourself.

Of course, in the end, the uncomfortable ride was worth it.

It's Seokjin, after all.

"My baby cousin, best friend! Still alive, I see!" your cousin practically screams as he bull-runs towards you and Jimin, his suitcase basically flying behind him. That earns a few strange looks from passers.

When Jin reaches you, he embraces you in a warm hug.

"I've been living off instant ramen," you whine. "It's not fair that you don't let me get out of the house alone!"

Your cousin cocks his head as he looks between you and Jimin. "Hey, don't you two usually eat together after school?"

"We were both busy," Jimin quickly says, glancing your way awkwardly.

"For a month?" Jin questions.

"Yeah... a lot of homework," you trail off. "Mr. Park still made sure I got into the house safely every time though," you add for some good measure.

"Mr. Park?" your cousin says suspiciously, raising his eyebrows. "Since when did you call Jimin, that?"

Busted.

"Hm... did you two fight?" Jin asks, putting a warm hand on your shoulder. He looks at you meaningfully, as if trying to compel you to tell the full truth. You're not falling for that.

"Oh, of course not," you say giggle unconvincingly. "Why would we fight?"

Jimin laughs nervously. "Y/N's right. We didn't fight."

Jin looks like he doesn't believe both of you. But thankfully, he knows not to push it. "Yeah, I expect it was something like Y/N accidentally got a B on one of your tests, Jimin," he jokes, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, I missed you two," he announces joyfully, bringing in you and your teacher for a hug. "I'll treat you two to a nice dinner."

You perk up, face suddenly glowing as you smile—it felt nice to smile, actually. You haven't done it in a while. "Oh thank god," you say. "No more ramen!"

You haven't really had your fair share of awkward dinners, but goddamn, if you had a list, this dinner would be on the very top of it.

Jin is the only one who's trying to strike up a lively conversation as you and Jimin act like brain-dead zombies. You're half-expecting your cousin to give up on his attempts to crack corny jokes, but no, Jin continues on. You guess you're thankful to have him to make the dinner not a complete shitty event.

Halfway through the meal, Jimin checks his phone, his face feigning surprise. "Oh!" he says rather loudly. "Um, something came up... Er, teacher stuff. I've got to go," he says quickly, standing up. "I'll pay."

"Excuse me, Jimin, I said this is my treat. Go on ahead to your... supposed teacher meeting," Jin says, ushering his friend out with the flip of his hand.

Anyone could tell Jimin was just faking this to get the hell out of here, but none of you were actually going to mention it.

Your teacher just looks gratefully at your cousin and practically dashes out of the nice restaurant.

An awkward silence fills the air for a while.

"So... even if the two of you didn't fight, something still happened," Jin says, turning to face you fully.

"It's nothing, really."

"Nothing? Then do you care to explain why you've lost so much weight? You haven't been eating," your cousin lectures. He points at the dark bags under your weary eyes. "And you haven't been sleeping. You're slipping back to your old habits, Y/N. What happened?"

"It doesn't hurt to do some extra studying..." you mutter. "I've got all the time in the world now," you say sarcastically.

Jin sighs, tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear. "Y/N," he says sternly. "How many minutes of sleep are you getting a night?"

"Forty-five," you say nonchalantly. "Don't, Jin. It used to be thirty minutes a night so you better not bring out that huge lecture again."

"I thought it was getting better..." your cousin sighs. "You can't keep doing this to yourself, and you know that."

You nod. "I know. But you're here now, right?"

Your cousin looks at you so sadly, you feel like you just might burst into tears. "Y/N, I won't always be here with you. I know I call you my baby cousin, but honestly, you've got to grow up."

His words hit you hard, only because you know he's right.

"I can't always be there to baby you, okay?" Jin says, massaging his forehead with the palm of his hand. "As of now, you're only in high school—in less than a year you'll be going to college. Life is so much more than studying. Stop using that, that shit to distract yourself from things that should mean a lot to you!" your cousin practically yells. He buries his face into his hands.

Your mouth is agape. Jin never cussed. He must be so mad. You fucked up—you've been fucking up for a while, actually.

"Jin," you say, softly shaking your cousin's shoulder. "Jin. I'm sorry."

When he looks up, you're shocked to see smudged tears dwelling on the smooth surfaces of his skin. You've never seen Jin cry—only on stage when it was scripted.

At that moment, you want to tell him everything—you've never actually hidden things from your cousin until Jimin rolled around. You want to tell him about that night Jimin was drunk and kissed you, about your crush on your teacher, how he helped you become the happiest you could be, how a month ago both of you made a huge mistake and kissed... You want to tell your cousin that you've been slipping back to your own habits because you wanted to distract yourself from thinking about him.

But you don't tell him.

"Y/N, I try, okay? I really try to make you happy. Yeah, sometimes it makes me want to rip my hair out, because god, you are such a brat at times!" he chuckles through his tears. "But Y/N, I love you. And I know, whatever has been going on between you and Jimin has been making you happier than ever. It's something I couldn't do for you, and I still beat myself up over that. But something happened between the two of you, and the happiness is gone now. You don't have to tell me anything, but just... don't go studying for hours when you face some sort of problem in your life, okay?"

Fuck, now I'm crying.

You nod, making your tears flow down your face. "Okay. I'm sorry," you manage to say. "I'm so sorry. I've been so selfish—"

Jin wipes your tears away with his soft sweater, pulling you into a tight hug right after. "It's okay. You're still learning, you're only 17. Besides, my outlet is theater. While you were practically starving yourself for a month, I was literally having the time of my life with the drama crew. Don't worry about me too much. I'm not the one who still needs to figure out what to do in life."

All you can do is nod into Jin's chest, sniffling slightly. You love him so much you can't even explain in words.

"Fix things up with Jimin, try, okay? I don't care if you end your senior year having a B, or seven F's—what matters is your happiness. Try to consider that the next time you try to starve and sleep deprive yourself," Jin says softly, his fingers sifting daintily through your hair, caressing it in a way you think a mother would do.

You hum in agreement, your head still resting against your cousin's warm chest. You want to stay like this forever.

But after a few minutes, your cousin tugs you back, smiling brightly at you. "Now, we've put on quite a show in this restaurant, haven't we?" he whispers in a giggly voice.

Whut.

It's only then when you realize this whole episode had happened at the restaurant. In public. You can feel the judging gazes of people.

Oh fuck no.

"Oh my god, this is so embarrassing!" you hiss, gripping your cousin's sweater, face colored bright red as you can't bear to look up again.

Jin laughs heartily. "But what's life without a little public embarrassment?"

He looks up to you as much as you look up to him. As your older cousin, Seokjin always feels the need to take care of you, to make sure you're doing okay. At times, he forgets that he should put himself before others. At times, he forgets that he has a life outside of taking care of you and several grubby high schoolers. At times he forgets who he even is.

But on the days that he forgets, he thinks back to what you always tell him. You, the bratty, but amazing sunshine of his life.

"Jin, you're the goofiest guy I've ever fuc—I mean, freaking met. You'd think such a goofy guy would be empty-headed. But to think that I'm wrong... You're an amazing actor. It's scary to see you on stage sometimes because you're not Jin anymore. Like I swear to fu—flopping god that you change into a completely different person!"

"Y/N, are you complimenting me, or roasting me?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm doing both. One shouldn't take too many compliments at once. It makes them big-headed."

"Well, I can't argue with you, I know that. But you really think I can act?"

"Okay, Jin, I know you can act, alright? I've seen you. Honestly, you should try pursuing it. Oh my god, if you ever get famous, write a play about me!"

Jin chuckles at the memory. He never ever liked letting you see his weak side. To you, he was always some superhero who would always crack up jokes to lighten up any dark mood, his specialty was saving awkward dinners from spiraling out of control.

But since you were deprived of the details of Jin's darker part of his life, he needed someone else to vent to: Jimin.

"Jin, you should start to worry more about yourself than Y/N. Seriously, all you do is talk about her—is she that worrisome?"

"Jimin, bro, you don't even know. She's just... different and I'm so worried about her and how's she's gonna handle you know, life."

"You know what you need to do?"

"What?"

"Take a fucking chill pill. Let the girl be. She's 17, isn't she? You've been babying her too much, you know that? The more you worry about her, the more restricted she'll feel. She'll learn by herself. Life is trial and error—you should know that."

"I—"

"Okay, and in the meantime, holy shit, man, take care of yourself. All you do is teach, take care of Y/N, teach, take care of Y/N, teach, take care of—"

"I think I get the point."

"Yeah? Well, doesn't look like you get it. Jin, do something for yourself for once. What do you like to do?"

"You know, the usual. Sleep... Look in the mirror..."

"If you're not gonna be serious, I'm going to leave—"

"Fine! I like acting okay? I love it. Every year the drama team is invited for competitions and I'm never able to go, so we've been losing every time."

"I presume you can't go to take care of Y/N?"

"Yeah.. uh—"

"I'll take care of her then, buddy. You go fulfill your dream, bro; you deserve it."

"Wait, actually? For real? You'd do that? This better not be one of your jokes."

"Do I look like I'm joking? You deserve to be doing what you want, Jin. Everyone does."

Jin feels so warm inside as he recalls that memory. It was thanks to Jimin that he was able to experience the time of his life at the competition, doing the thing he loved. It had also been thanks to Jimin that you had been happy for quite the longest time.

If Seokjin didn't know any better, he'd say there was just a bit of chemistry between the two of you—it was either that or a solid friendship. But for some reason whatever was there is now gone.

You were colder, more distant than before and even Jimin had stopped laughing so often.

"I know I'm asking you this a lot these days, but are you happy, Y/N? You don't look like it..."

"That's because I'm not. But don't you dare worry about me, it makes me feel selfish. I'm going to find things out when the time comes. You know, I care about you too. And honestly, I want you to stop worrying about me because it's stunting your happiness. I'm 17, I can figure things out myself."

"Can you figure things out by yourself? For real?"

"What did I just say? Yes, I can! I'm telling you, I'm starting to get life, alright?"

Jin shakes his head, sighing. He could always see through your lies. It was painfully obvious you were just saying the things he wanted to hear. He could see the confusion in your eyes whenever you stared at Jimin, he could see how blank your stare was when you were looking at anything else.

So. Obvious.

"Y/N, are you sure there's nothing going on between you and Jimin?"

"I'm absolutely sure."

Jin wasn't so sure you were sure.

The young teacher really hadn't meant to kiss you. Things had just taken an unexpected turn, and judging from your reaction, it had been an enormous mistake. It physically hurt to have lost his other best friend, but he tried hard to not let it affect his life.

He could see it affected you though.

Of course, he had noticed you had lost weight—he also noticed the growing dark circles under your usually sparkling eyes. He could see how much duller you were. He also noticed he was smiling less without you.

Jimin sighs out loud as he makes his way into his car. He really missed having you around, with your unique, spunky personality, beautiful smile and hilarious side comments.

As he's driving, he can't stop thinking about you. Your face, your laugh, god, even your handwriting—sometimes he just spends long minutes admiring your neat penmanship on your tests. He knows every single one of your writing quirks—how you take your time to put a cute little dash over your 7's, or how beautiful your 4's look compared to everyone else's.

Stop it, Park Jimin. You'll crash your car if you don't stop thinking about her.

It takes five minutes longer than it should've, but Jimin finally arrives at the local market, clutching his clear shopping bag. He painfully looks down at it. It reminds him of you.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Um... clear."

"That's not a color, Y/N!"

"Do I fucking look like I care?"

"But that's like saying your favorite fruit is a carrot."

"Wait, my favorite fruit is a carrot! Damn, how'd you guess??"

He can't help but chuckle at the memory, but he abruptly stops, remembering you two won't be able to share memories like this anymore. Sighing, Jimin trudges into the supermarket.

He's been going here a lot these days. Ever since he found out you had not just one sweet tooth, but 28 sweet teeth, he'd been trying to learn how to bake pastries, buying all sorts of ingredients to create saccharine dishes. Just for you.

It wasn't much of a miracle that the last time you had baked together didn't turn out to be a disaster. Jimin had practiced.

He loves cooking with you. You always look ethereal, hair a bit frizzy from the heat and tied back from your face with stray strands brushing against your face. Your cheeks are always flushed and somehow frosting always gets on your forehead. Even thinking about you makes all his sadness and hurt disappear into thin air.

Except, Jimin wasn't going to the store to buy ingredients to bake. He was going to buy some beer. He hadn't gotten drunk ever since he'd accidentally kissed you—the first time, that is. But he figured today, he needed it. He needs to get his mind off of things. He needs to get his mind off of you.

Jimin walks through the aisles, blank-minded, stopping only at the alcohol section. He randomly picks at a pack of beers, knowing he'll probably end up drinking it all today. He grabs it, hand hovering to place the pack in his clear bag.

But again, it reminds him of you.

"I don't know why the fuck you would ever drink. Like, does it taste good? What's the fucking point?"

"I dunno. I just kinda drink it when I want to alleviate stress, I guess."

"Well, that's stupid. You should try ice cream. That stuff makes you feel better right away and it doesn't make you go wack and do hilarious shit you'll end up regretting."

"Are you actually shading me, right now?"

"So what if I am??"

Jimin smiles at the memory. The first mistaken kiss between the two of you was such a joke—you two would always make fun of it. Why couldn't the second one be treated the same?

He sighs, clutching the pack of beer as he puts it back on the shelf. Chuckling to himself, he starts to make his way to the ice cream aisle.

Jimin scans the series of ice cream flavors to choose from. Immediately, the mint chocolate chip ice cream catches his eye, and without hesitation, he takes the tub and places it whole in his shopper.

Y/N's favorite. Jimin smiles, then starts to walk to the checkout, only pausing when he remembers he needs a new set of his favorite red pens. Nodding his head to himself, Jimin makes his way to the office supplies section of the store, scanning the shelves to pick out his favorite.

Big mistake.

As soon as he picks up the 3-pack of his much-needed red gel pens, it reminds him of grading, which reminds him of grading tests, which was exactly what he had been doing just three minutes before he and you had ruined your friendship. Your face looms in his memory.

Something stings inside. It rips his heart and then shrivels it up as if he had dumped it into highly-concentrated saltwater. Like lemon juice on a paper cut—but the paper cut was a gushing wound.

It was as if he only just realized he lost someone crucial to his happiness.

Jimin can't help but make a sour, hurt face, instantly tossing the pack of pens away from him. He doesn't want to deal with bad memories. The pens can wait.

Instead, Park Jimin finds himself wandering back to the alcohol aisle, absentmindedly buying an even larger pack of beers, setting it next to the tub of ice cream. There's enough room in the kitchen for both anyways.

His thoughts are completely blank as he drives home. It's as if the rush of pain he'd felt earlier had hurt so, so much he was now immune to it. It was numb.

He reaches his house, setting down the beer and ignoring the ice cream that would surely melt if kept out in the open; he pauses in his steps, hand midway through raking his hair back. All because he sees his couch.

You loved that couch. Actually, you practically lived on it whenever you came over, insisting to even eat dinner seated on it because "it's fucking comfortable."

When you sleep over, taking his bed, he sleeps on that same couch where he can smell your soothing scent. It lulls him to sleep.

But then comes the fantasies.

"Someone will hear!"

"Let them hear."

"God, Jimin, you have no fucking morals," you breathe shakily. "What if Jin walks in?"

"Jin? Walk in? In my house?" Jimin laughs hotly against your neck. "You're just making excuses, baby girl."

"Why would I make excuses?" you say weakly, gripping the hem of his shirt. "I want this just as much as you do."

"Oh?"

Jimin hums as nuzzles the sensitive part of your neck with his nose.

"R-really, Jimin? But here?" you stutter as your eyes automatically close and your mouth parts.

"We'll take it to the couch, love," he answers, sweeping you up in a smooth fashion and softly laying you on the couch before making his way on top of you.

Your body is enveloped by the plush couch and Jimin whose legs are on either side of your hips. He dips in unhurriedly, his tongue touching your lips before his. You wrap your arms around his neck as Jimin cups your face with both hands, kissing you slowly.

Lips still attached, you tug at the hem of his button-up shirt, and Jimin takes the hint to slowly start unbuttoning it. You shift below him to help him with his buttons and before long, his shirt is off and discarded somewhere on the floor. Only then do you move apart from each other's lips.

You marvel at his fit body, reaching to run your cold fingers across his toned muscles. Jimin doesn't give you enough time to continue your sightseeing as he pushes you back down, playing with the bottom of your t-shirt. He gives you a seductive look as you practically melt under him.

"Why don't we take this off too?"

"J-Jimin..."

Wait a fucking minute. This isn't right.

Jimin sighs loudly as he gives his head a little shake as if it would erase him of that rather inappropriate fantasy. At least he's glad it was one of the more innocent imaginations he's had of you.

But now he feels more broken than ever. You're something he can't have, your relationship only exists in the depth of his mind, hidden away from judgment. Jimin sighs again, ripping open the pack of beers and taking one. It's not even cold, but at this point, he doesn't care.

He just wants to forget.

On second thought, he grabs the whole pack and takes it with him to the kitchen, setting it down, choosing one and cracking it open in one swift move. It's a familiar, refreshing feeling.

Jimin raises the can to his lips, waiting to feel the rush of the bitter contents on his tongue. But he freezes.

He's thinking of you again. It's as if his brain can't function without thinking of you so often. Yet this time, it's not the thought of you, it's the sight. Jimin sees your smiling face, the way your sweet lips part to reveal your smooth teeth in a brilliant grin. He can't but to smile to himself as well.

Almost immediately, he sets the beer down.

Maybe... Maybe you might not want to be friends anymore, but Jimin knows that he does. He figured that's all it takes to make him happy. If the thought of you can make him content, make him choose the right decisions, then he'll just have to continue thinking of you.

He's sorry he moved in to change a friendship into a relationship so fast, and he might just regret it, but in the end, he's glad he's met you.

Jimin slowly picks himself up to grab the tub of your favorite ice cream, scrounging for a spoon. The first bite is heavenly, wonderful and phenomenal.

Just like Y/N.

He shakes his head as he takes another scoop, placing it in his mouth to melt slowly.

Damn. I'm so whipped for her.

You sift heavy textbooks around in your arms, fumbling with your lock before getting it open. Throwing the books in, you sigh as you slam your locker shut. These days, you had lost interest in a lot of things you used to like—school included. Things just seemed so bland. You didn't ever feel like socializing with anyone, forcibly dragging yourself to class every single day.

"Hey, Y/N!" a familiar voice calls as you whip your head around to respond.

"Oh, Jungkook!" you reply, "ah, and Yoongi, Taehyung..." Immediately, guilt courses through your veins. You'd been ditching them during lunch for quite some time now, ignoring their frequent 'where are you?' texts. They'd come to confront you for sure.

"Were you sick?" Jungkook asks as he reaches you. "I didn't see you in school for a while."

"I bet you happened to drop your phone in the toilet as well," Yoongi snarks.

Taehyung coughs awkwardly. "Since you haven't been answering our texts."

"Well, I—" you sigh. How are you supposed to tell them you've been wanting a lot of alone time these days without brutally mutilating their feelings? The answer was too obvious.

"Uh, yeah I was sick. And yeah, I kinda drowned my phone in the toilet," you say. Lies. "I'm sorry if you worried."

"Damn, did you drop your phone in the toilet after you used it, or before?" Yoongi laughs, earning an elbow to the ribs from his truly, Jungkook.

"You don't have to be sorry, Y/N," the sweet math nerd muses, giving Yoongi a dirty look. "We're sorry you haven't felt well. You're better now, right?"

You stand there awkwardly, not wanting to engage in a full-blown conversation. Your daily dose of alone-time was calling, and you desperately wanted to succumb to it.

"Yeah... um, I'm okay, been better. Sorry, I kinda have to go..." you fib. "Um, doctor's appointment?" It sounds more like a question than a solid lie but it'll do for now. "See you sometime later, I guess."

Turning around, you quickly walk away, faintly hearing confusedly murmured goodbyes from your friends. You speed around a corner, finding refuge in the girl's bathroom. Setting your things down in the big stall, you sigh, sitting down on top of your backpack.

It almost feels like the old days.

Except back then, you didn't have to ditch your friends for solitude because you had none. In a way, you feel slightly guilty. Your friends just wanted to hang out with you, it was that simple. But surely, if you hung out with them, you'd ruin the fun and the happy mood.

It's better to not meet them at all than meet them and remember bad things.

It's an upgrade, you think. You used to be afraid that others would hurt you. Now you're afraid you'll hurt others.

Some kind of upgrade.

It's even worse with the situation you have at hand (ahem, the Jimin one). You rarely lift your head up in class, flinching just slightly when he calls your name to solve a problem. It's harder than you think. To get rid of a crush, that is.

Not only that, but it's also wrong to be infatuated with your teacher. You just don't know what to do anymore. Jin didn't buy your feigned happiness—well, any idiot could tell you weren't as content as before. And now you've got a handful of people worrying, fussing over you of all others.

Why couldn't they just leave you alone?

No, that's stupid.

Deep inside, you want them to care, to worry for you. It gives you a feeling that you're not so alone.

"Y/N? You little liar!" a masculine voice screams from the entrance of the girl's restroom.

"Oh shit," you breathe. That was definitely Taehyung. Fuck. Just stay quiet, it's not like they can—

"We're coming in!" Yoongi yells, making the blood drain out of your face.

"Wait, guys!" Jungkook pleads. But it's too late. Yoongi and Taehyung barge into the girl's bathroom, rattling stall doors. Thank goodness you know for a fact no other girls were in here.

Before Yoongi or Taehyung can break down the stalls, you quickly unlatch your door, coming face to face with the two students.

"Ha! I knew you were in here!" Taehyung declares. "Jungkook swore he saw you go to the restroom and not to the office!"

"Doctor's appointment, huh?" Yoongi smirks.

"Well, I—"

"Save it. Jungkook, you little brat, get in here! Stop being a wimp!" Yoongi yells at the top of his lungs.

"Yoongi, will you quiet down? This is the girl's restroom," you hiss.

"But if this is the place you choose to eat your lunch at, we'll be here by your side," Jungkook says, smiling as he timidly walks in the stall. He looks alert as if anyone could open the door to the restroom and catch three teenage boys in a bad act, (which was perfectly plausible).

You don't know how in the hell you're supposed to respond to this. This. This is what friendship should be, isn't it? You'd never really known until now. It's such a beautiful, heartwarming feeling.

"Actually, JK, my man, you can be by her side, Yoongi and I have some business to take care of," Taehyung giggles has Yoongi links his arm around his.

"Wait, huh? That wasn't the pl—"

"Buh-bye!" Yoongi sings, waving his fingers at you and Jungkook as he and Taehyung strut out of the bathroom, not once looking back.

You and Jungkook are completely stunned into silence.

"Wow, they're really out to get us, huh?" you finally say, laughing under your breath.

"Y-yeah," Jungkook agrees quickly. "Listen, Y/N," he turns to you, the surprising sternness in his voice hinting that he was being extremely serious. "I understand you like your alone time, maybe a bit more than others. But sometimes the most dangerous, harmful and hurtful thoughts come when you're in solitude."

He's right and you know it.

"Aw, Jungkook, don't worry, I'm fine!" you say in the most lighthearted way you can. You chuckle sourly inside. No, I'm not.

"Y/N, you're not fine," Jungkook sighs. "For the longest time, I thought you weren't hanging out with us during lunch because... because you hated me or something. But now, I think there's something going on in your life that's hurting you, keeping you from being the better you."

You're speechless.

"Do you have anything to tell me?"

You do.

"I don't."

"Y/N, it's a burden to tell others every single detail of your life and problems, but it's also a burden to not say one single word about it," Jungkook says. "I don't know anything about you except that you like math... I want to know more about you, what goes on in your life, what problems you have. I want to help you."

It's then when you know you've been a mystery to Jungkook. You know a shit ton about him from your friendly talks, but you never talk about yourself. You realize you had only ever told Jimin everything that went on in your life. He was the one who could possibly know you better than Jin, himself. Jimin.

His name echoes in your head, but it feels so empty and dark.

You hadn't even known you were crying until Jungkook wordlessly wipes your tears away with the hem of his sleeve. He softly pats your back, then hesitates before he leans in to embrace you. Something about that makes you start crying. Too bad it's the ugly kind.

Jungkook seems a bit taken back at your sudden burst of tears, but he only holds you tighter, rubbing warm circles in your back. The best part about it is that he doesn't say a single word. He gives you time to cry your heart out, giving you company when you should feel so lonely.

You hiccup, leaning back from Jungkook's chest but still in the warmth of his embrace. "I'm sorry. I just... I don't... I'm so sorry," you blubber. Damn. Why the fuck—

"Unrequited love?" Jungkook asks softly.

You give him a strange look. "I guess you could say that..."

"Thought so," he mutters. "But he loves you back," he declares confidently.

Your head jerks up and you take a second before you start to laugh, the last of your tears dripping down from your chin to the ground. "How would you know?"

"You're Y/N. Everyone loves you back," Jungkook says, grinning. He dabs at your wet cheeks with his sleeve.

"And you're supposed to say that because you're my friend," you chuckle. "Trust me. It's not even 'love.' It's a little crush that I shouldn't even have had in the first place," you explain. "I'll be fine."

Jungkook smiles. "I trust that you will be." He's about to say more, but you hear the restroom door swing open as a few loud, gossipy girls come in.

You quickly tug Jungkook into the stall with you, locking the door. "Oh shit!" you whisper, grabbing at your friend's shirt.

"That was close!" Jungkook chuckles quietly. He smiles at you, and it's so contagious that you can't help but smile back.

You finally realize that you're not alone, that you shouldn't be alone. There are people willing to listen, to help you. There are people willing to break school rules and hang out in the girl's restroom with you, for goodness sake. You need to get over this 'unrequited love' and focus on the better things.

It took you a good ten minutes to escape the girl's restroom with Jungkook safely—curse high school girls who like to gossip their mouths off when they should really be flushing down their business. The two of you spent the rest of lunch casually talking as if you hadn't broken down crying not too long ago. It felt good to talk to someone. Especially since you've been so focused on shutting people out these days.

Now you're in the best mood you've been in months as you practically skip to Jin's drama classroom.

"Today's been a wonderful day!" you belt out singing as you swing open the door, twirling dramatically into the classroom. Looking up from your little happy dance, the color from your face drains as you see Jin and Jimin staring at you in shock.

Okay. I was expecting Jin. But Jimin? Really?

You're so embarrassed. All the mirth from before had officially been drained away.

Jin's the first one to break the silence as he laughs heartily. "A wonderful day? That's great, Y/N! Did Jungkook confess?" he teases.

You roll your eyes. "No!"

Your cousin wiggles your eyebrows at you as from the corner of your eye, you can see Jimin looking down at his shoes. Your heart stings at the sight.

"Yeah, um, so... Let's go home?" you awkwardly suggest, tightening your grip on your backpack.

"Oh right... About that," Jin chuckles nervously. "Jimin's taking you home today."

The light in your eyes extinguishes immediately. "He can't!" you blurt out before you can stop yourself.

Jimin looks up at your sudden outburst, your eyes meeting.

Crap. Shit. Fuck.

Jin cocks his head. "Don't worry, Y/N, he's not going to crash the car or anything," he laughs. Your eyes plead at your cousin. "Sorry, for the late notice, Y/N. I have some team meeting I have to go to. Now, behave yourself! I'll be home in a few hours. Bye!" Jin gives you and Jimin an equally goofy grin as he sashays out of his classroom, happily waving his hand as a final goodbye.

You internally groan. This was going to be so bad.

—previous | next

—masterlist

#jimin #park jimin #jimin fanfiction #jimin imagine #bts #bts fanfiction #jimin fluff #jimin angst #teacher au #jimin fanfic #illegirl

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minjoonie-song · 3 years

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0:00 “Hello! Welcome to Minjoon’s Kitchen.” “Who’s fucking kitchen?” Brandon’s voice off camera startled a laugh out of Minjoon, loud and squeaky; and that was it for the theme of the live. “Welcome to uh... Welcome to Minjoon in a kitchen.” “Welcome to not Minjoon’s Kitchen.” Brandon added, finally coming into view. “Welcome not Minjoon to Minjoon’s Kitchen, not in Minjoon’s kitchen.” “Featuring Minjoon.” “Welcome to Brandon’s kitchen!” “Welcome to Brandon is trying to get his car home because she’s parked in fucking central LA after we went for brunch and had so many mimosas that I legally wasn’t allowed to drive us home.” “Hi MTV. Welcome to Brandon’s crib.” “Look mom! I‘m on MTV and I didn’t have to be 16 and pregnant to do it!” The pair started cackling again, uncontrollably hysterical in their inebriated states. 8:14

“You should make that a thing.” ”What?” ”Not Minjoon’s Kitchen. Once a month you just show up at a random fans house, streaming and giving them no time to prepare for you to cook whatever they have in their house.” ”Absolutely not. You know I like to be organised when cooking.” ”You’re literally squinting at lettuce in the fridge, I think you’re past that.” ”That’s lettuce?” “Oh my god, Minjoon. You can’t cook like this.” “I can’t see properly. I don’t know where my glasses are.” “This is going to be the most disappointing episode of your show ever and it’s live. We can’t cook, it’s gonna be dangerous and messy.” “In the words of the awesome Jake Peralta. Title of your sex tape.” “Oh my god. No, mine would be called uhh.. Put that thing back where it came from or so help me.” “Nope. I already claimed that for mine.” “Joonie! I hate the accuracy.” The laughing continued, even as the pair complained that they couldn’t breathe.

18:58

After they’d finally calmed down they took the camera with them to the couch, after the executive decision that the pair were definitely in no state to try to actually cook anything and a too large order of pizza. “We have like half an hour to kill. What are we going to do now?” “Remember when I asked for a Q&A way back in the past when I thought I’d be sober at four in the afternoon? We’ll do that and then I guess I’m writing a formal apology on my notes app to anyone who was hungry and eager to learn. Just like a real celebrity.” Minjoon fished around in his pockets for his phone, handing it to Brandon once it was unlocked so he could read it aloud. “I just figured out the greeting. Welcome to the last ever episode of Minjoon’s Kitchen.” “My biggest mistake this time was too much Minjoon and not enough kitchen. Some people come just to see my organised spice rack.” “You’ve both upgraded and downgraded to Brandon’s Couch.” “Love it. I’ve re-branded. Put it on a T-shirt. Every episode I’m just going to show you how to order different pizzas. We’re a podcast now.” “You’re a dumbass. Alright! Let’s see what we got. Minjoon.. What is your favorite thing to cook?” “Everyone I see with how hot I am.” The laughter started up once more, even despite their previous attempts to calm down. “I fucking told you! I knew you’d get that one.” “You owe me $50 for saying it!” “I’ll buy all the pizza you just ordered, how about that?” “Catch me outside?” “Stop! How have you made it this far in life as a meme?” “I wasn’t always like this, it’s part of my rebrand. Brandon’s Couch: Meme edition.” “I can’t believe we failed cooking and now we’re already failing the Q&A.” “No! No, I got this. My favourite thing at the moment.. I love making risotto. Mostly because I get to eat it afterwards and I love eating risotto but yeah! That’s my favourite right now.” “I don’t think that’s really answering.” “It’s my answer. This is still not Minjoon’s Kitchen featuring Minjoon for this last episode. Shh. Next question!” “This one asks if there is anything in particular that gets me inspired for designs? Yes! I love art so as soon as my bank account hits below a mil, I’m like.. Shit! Gotta doodle. No, I find inspiration everywhere. Sometimes it’s just a particular mood I’m in, sometimes I’ll see a net curtain blowing a particular way in a breeze and design an entire dress from how it falls. Sometimes I’ll see a colour that I’ll want to make an entire wardrobe out of. I’ve been painting a lot recently, not designs just.. things I like and I’ve been able to work from those. Gross, I know but yeah. Inspiration is everywhere. Disgusting. Unacceptable. I refuse to be inspired again that was too mushy.”

23:37

The boys were a giggly mess. Almost everything bringing them to hysterics even if it was just something said with the smallest hint of sarcasm, they were grabbing onto the couch and each other’s arms for support as they hiccuped their way through another bout of laughter. “Anyway! Next question is top 5 celebrity chefs. Mine of course is Joonbug and that’s it. Wait, no that dude from that thing we saw in England. Gordon’s friend.” “Oh! With the road trip?” “Yeah, the really funny one.” “I loved that. Mine is obviously Chef Ramsay, Remy.. Gotta give my boy a shout out. Chef Baek Jong-won. Oh! The um.. I discovered that dude during fashion week in London that time. The sciencey one. Hus.. Hes..? I don’t remember his actual name but he made some amazing things. I was in awe. I’m also throwing in whoever invented bulgogi. That’s my top five. I actually met Chef Ramsay recently!” “You did! You called me after. How was it meeting your hero?” “Oh, I cried. Like a big baby. Ugly sobbing and lots of I love yous in the middle of a cupcake shop.” “Classic Minjoon behaviour.” “He signed my T-shirt and I cried some more. I would have proposed through my tears but I was crying too much. Like the shaky inhale, full on breakdown kind of crying? I can’t even be embarrassed because he still talked to me.” “You’re a baby!” “I am a baby! 달콤한 아기. That’s what my eomma and momma call me and then they pinch my cheekies.” “Cute! Ooh! How does it feel.. no, fuck. That’s not.. shut your face. I can read. How does performing feel on stage versus cooking on camera? How did it feel being on stage?” “I refuse to acknowledge what that means. Stage? What stage?” “They’re talking about your big, gay musical re-enactment of your love for me.” “I wish I could use memes like in real life? Just the I do not see meme but my face. Honestly though? It’s different because I can cook. This mess obviously doesn’t count but I can edit everything I post and I know what I’m doing? I’m confident when I’m cooking. I know what I can and can’t do. Being on stage was just.. I was terrified. It was terrifying. I had fun though and I did work hard. Like.. I decided last minute and I had to learn choreo and remember lyrics to things I wrote years ago. I was scared I’d trip up and face plant the whole time. Like the entire time. I wanted to be included though and I couldn’t go to the festival because it was terrifying being around so many people. I just kind of listened from the side lines but it sounded good and you said you had lots of fun being up there.” “I did. You know me though. I’m that one line from that Mike Posner song about needing everyone’s eyes just to feel seen.” “Woah. Hashtag deep.” “Oh my god. You’re ridiculous.” “I did need the entire weekend to recover though. It’s.. it’s a lot to open yourself up like that.” “You mean serenading the town with love songs about me?” “You suck so bad.” “Is that how you talk to the former love of your life?” Minjoon snorted, slapping at Brandon’s arm. “You were so in love with me. It’s my greatest achievement, you know? I put it on my resume under my skills. Has given Minjoon boners.” The reaction was instant, Brandon’s loud laugh failing to cover Joonie’s shriek that soon turned into a laugh but even his amusement couldn’t mask how red he’d gotten. “No! I hate it here! You suck so bad! So bad! I can never show my face in public or make eye contact with another human being ever again!” “It’s a good job I put the age restriction thingy on this stream. I knew I’d be a fucking menace after the second drink.” “You’re not a menace! You’re a gremlin! God, end the stream before you really do end my YouTube career. Goodbye everyone! I’m gonna go eat my body weight in pizza and become a cave hermit.” “Bye little Joonie fans! Sorry about the.. Fuck it, I’m not sorry about anything. Peace out, bitches!”

#thanks for sending in questions #anon;;#Para: ft. Brandon

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semi-imaginary-place · 3 years

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I started watching deca-dence

1: oh what was that called. there’s a name for this tech aesthetic.... also the city is floating on monster goo which is also their energy resource... is that really a good design?????? why is there open access to the monster goo i mean those kids are totally going to fall in. Oh boss dude’s a super secret agent thing. lots of reveals this ep. That action sequence at the end was really cool but wow i do not like those squishing sound effects. also, of all the livestock to raise, why cows??? per pound of protein, cows are horribly inefficient especially when land and resources like water are scare.

2. We have a post apocalyptic society and they kept bagpipes of all things??? I’ve noticed this in fiction and perhaps this is true of real life but sustained conflict coincides with the glorification of the warrior/soldier social class. oh god and now the creators are doing a post moderist take, yay capitalism. this is a good take on the isekai “transported to a game world”/mmo lightnovel genre (see past post). what makes something “real” I was playing of a ttrpg around that concept... mikey’s got all the flags to die horrifically and be part of kaburagi’s tragic backstory. lol kaburagi got turned into a mod. There’s also something dehumanizing and horrifying in managing a society like this all to maintain the status quo. so let’s see if I have this straight, the remnants of capitalism made deca-dence and then a bunch of little robot people who are incentivized via a game system to destroy the squishy monsters. the city design makes sense now it wasn’t made with things like safety or efficiency or any regard for the residents in mind, it was made to look cool. Living in a fuel tank is exactly the type of bullshit to expect from a videogame.

3: kurenai has the vibes of that one cool npc that the the main character out grows to show how strong you’ve become. (the trope is rife with misogyny. who was the one that talked about it? ... femfreq?), wonder what the show will do with it. good job deconstructing the instant expert trope. lit. unregulated capitalism. what is corporations replaced government but for little cyborg people. curious about this minato guy. the 175 years until decommission or whatever makes me wonder how long all of this has been going on. on the screen with the eurasia bubble, were other structures, so i wonder whats happening elsewhere in the world.

4. the game trailer style shots.... the juxtaposition of the tankers discussing battle strategy for a life or death situation, with the cyborgs excited for the next raid event and talking about the game’s story is real good. its a revolving door of mood whiplash. oof dramatic irony since the entertainment corp also seems to control gadoll numbers. Why do none of the Power wear armor? oh right aesthetics and game logic, i answered my own question. I was thinking about this for a little while but kaburagi really does have the set up to be an isekai/mmo light novel protag so I’m really glade we have natsume as well. If done improperly her character type can get kind of annoying, the show did a good job of humanizing her which is important since so much of the disconnect between a game world and a lived reality hinges on her. why isn’t altitude sickness a problem for anyone?

5. yikes. saved twice within the first 10 minutes. maybe dont charge in there natsume. and it was the cool lady too! oh shit limit release. now the stakes are up. isnt kaburagi totally going to get his little head chopped off and the his little green battery extracted.

...

6. I’ve always had a soft spot for the struggle against the inevitable and unmovable. i was wondering how they were managing the squishies population. just where is this lake? what weird ass hazing system has kaburagi ended up in... is this the slow part of the anime? where they save up frames for the finale?

7. i just realized that kaburagi purposefully chose dog faced characters twice in a row. like he can choose to look like whatever he wants and he good, i feel comfortable looking like this. good for him. How did they punch a hole in the wal anyways, mechanically? with gadoll? We’ve see that they can either change the projection surrounding deca-dence, or actually have full control of all material int he bubble. oh kabu-san you are finally starting to think. but its not the gadoll that are the root of the problem, its the deca-dence system. btw since cyborgs run on the green juice which i think is made from gadolls??? how does kabu plan on fueling everyone. he hasn’t thought about it has he. of course the gadoll have a kill switch. do the tankers have one...?

8. a setup episode. my heart was racing during the avatar retrieval part, so much tension. jill is great. not sure why kaburagi doesnt just tell natsume whats going on. i do think it’d be a shock and a lot to take in just like when the gadoll reset on the mountain, but it’d make coordinating much easier. as is taking her along while not telling her whats going on doesnt feel right. also the green slanty eyed cyborgs given me bad vibes from the start, after all he’s the one that told mikey about removing the limiter. I’m kinda sad we only have 12 episodes so we have to enter the finale already. i would have loved to see the tanker teams, natsume and fei, and minato and kaburagi relationships fleshed out.

9. YEAH YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD HER EARLIER. so she would have time to process all that world shaking information not in the middle of the operation when it could cost her her life! also doesn’t this mean all the cyborgs still alive are now trapped in the waste disposal place.

10. i totally forgot about that tunnel. that said it looks kinda fragile, how’d it survive the explosion? And how did the robo crew get a hideout?? jill is amazing. she’s like a wizard. Natsume just doesn’t get a break, no ones explained to her the cyborg-avatar thing. I’m too invested in this show to analyze anything.

11. holy shit i wonder what the last few episodes were going to be about. they’re going to black hole the whole place. also we can finally hear pipopi! I thought it a bit funny pruple nose seemed to be taking advice for them but really eh was taking orders? so minato did the tremendously stupid thing of logging out and then hopping on a shuttle to get from orbit to deca-dence so he could talk to kaburagi face to face. even if they take out the gadoll, that doesn’t stop the deca0dence system from having a kill switch on the bubble.

12. POMDOROSA DID THE END SCENE ART. it really is 7 degrees of separation, they have a tumblr here. right as the natsume flashbacks started, I knew what was going to happen. Was it really safe inside the drill thing?? ah whatever. Kaburagi really went all out and busted himself huh. He probably didn’t actually need to use so much force that it’d break decadence. ah I’m rambling. I binged watched this show in 1 day. i started tearing up at the natsume flahsbacks... I dont remember what i just watched it was pure experience. I do wonder whats happening on other continents.. Jill! I can’t believe it took you 3 years to organize your files and find kaburagi’s backup! well i mean its realistic but still.

Deca-Dence is very good, like not even talking about the thematic stuff the execution in both animation and writing are both really good.

#deca-dence #deca dence

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glassvines · 3 years

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Thoughts on 2020 Favorites

Thoughts on all my favorites from 2020! Sadly, I witnessed what is most likely the demise of one of my favorite hobbies: going to the movies. I hope all my local theaters don’t close up for good this year, and I start going more regularly again in 2021 but. I don’t know if it’s ever going to be the same again. TV Shows 1. Battlestar Galactica (2004) - Getting into this one rather late, but I just discovered I can watch it for free on Peacock haha. Absolutely loving it. Been meaning to finish it ever since I watched the 2003 mini series a few years ago. Stylistically brilliant, and I love that the theological-laden dialogue appears to have a plot-driven point to it. 2. Evil (CBS) - I love this show! Hope it gets another season. It manages to pull off that fine line between silly and creepy most of the time, and all the actors come off as sincere. Also Michael Emerson is there which makes everything even better. Also, also a plus: I'm used to the media portraying Catholics in two different ways: lapsed or bigoted. Muslims? Devout and spiritual or terrorists. It's nice to see a series centered around a devot Catholic, a lapsed Catholic and an ex-Muslim who are all the good guys. Fantastic central characters dynamic. Animation 1. Hilda, season 2 - One of Netflix's best imo. The new season was gorgeous, and even got me to shed a tear at one point. I want to read the comic it's based on. 2. Infinity Train, seasons 2 + 3 - Excellent follow-ups to a great first season. Both were good seasons, but I really enjoyed s2 for Jesse and MT's instant chemistry. 3. Castlevania, season 3 - This show is going to end up breaking my heart but damn if it isn't a really fun watch. Fight scenes continued being top-notch in s3. 4. Bee and Puppycat, season 2 - Yeah, this isn't getting an offical Netflix release until 2022 (what the fuck), but I watched the leaked episodes and enjoyed them a lot. The show feels un-polished and the plot is surrealist nonsense, but those aspects of the show also make it creative and original. I'd like more seasons in the future, but given how disorganized to the point of incompetence the s2 release is, I'm not counting on getting anymore. I don't like seeing the popularity of this show squandered so it's a huge shame. 5. Amphibia, season 2 - Best Disney show airing right now. Characterizations and animation continued being great and I'm looking forward to s3. 6. Wolfwalkers - We all needed a beautiful Cartoon Saloon movie in 2020. It did not disappoint! Hope it has a bluray release soon so I can rewatch it somewhere other than Apple TV+ :/. 7. The Willoughbys - More Kris Pearn directed films please. This movie's character design style was so charming and cute. Loved the Ricky Gervais Cat Narrator. I watched this one with my family after having been separated from them for some time due to the lockdown. It was probably one of the happiest evenings of this year for me. 8. Soul - I enjoyed Onward quite a bit, but Soul hit me in that old-school Pixar feels way. A film about inspiration and finding purpose, so it had a message very similar to Ratatouille. Only Soul ponders on one's worth if they are "not doing what they're meant to do". This movie really knocked that message out of the park.

Video Games 1. Animal Crossing: New Horizons - I played this rather religiously. Definitely kept me from moping during those times when my work hours were cut. 2. Creaks - Amanita Design is offically one of my favorite indie game studios at this point. I adore the atmosphere and music in this game; it's one of the most chill puzzle games I've ever played. 3. Hylics - This game is so bizarre. I've never seen anything like it. Really want to play the sequel.

Films 1. Emma - May officially be my new favorite Emma adaptation. I loved everything about it. The stylized look to the cinematography, the costumes, the music, the actors. Everything. 2. Doctor Sleep - Was surprised at how much I enjoyed this one, as I completely missed it in the theaters. An excellent sequel to a classic, and a well-done good vs. evil story. 3. The Vast of Night - Fun little sci-fi/indie/1950s period piece. I hope streaming services start distributing more films like it. 4. Prospect - My dad recommended this one to me and we watched it together. I was blown away by the dedication to detail; how everything worked in this future setting. Pedro Pascal's character was constantly surprising me too. (Also see: very handsome.)

Podcasts This is only here so I can mention that my favorite new thing was 100% The Magnus Archives. I listened to a lot of new stuff in 2020, but it all paled in comparison to TMA. Good spooky times, great characters and character dynamics, interesting plot direction. The lore is so, so good; I'm impressed with how thorough it is with explaining the seemingly unexplainable, without fully taking away the air of mystery.

Honorable Mentions 1. The Mandalorian, season 2

Things I'm Looking Forward to in 2021 1. Hopefully we'll finally be getting that PacRim series?? 2. The French Dispatch 3. I just want to go the movies again sighhh

Some Creative & General Goals for 2021 I actually managed to do a proper job this year with the journaling and taking more photography! I've started serveral journals, as well as a digital one. So, at least I managed to keep up with one of my creative goals. Managed to have a fairly successful deck garden this year too. My sugar peas didn't die on me haha. Hope to expand on it more this spring/summer. Moving forward this year: 1. Continue to keep up with journaling: drawings, gardening, travel (fingers crossed) and tv/film commentary. 2. Seriously organize my photography this year, as well as post online more often. 3. Help my brother this year with some of his own creative projects! He's always asking for art and I'm usually too busy, but this year I want to get more serious and contribute to his projects. 4. Maybe get back to an old goal of learning how to play the guitar. I want to drop some cash on one this month so I can practice at home.

#New Year's #some comments #glassvines gets irl #animation

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psyga315 · 4 years

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Fixing RWBY Volume 7

Much like my Volume 6 Tweak, this Volume 7 Tweak doesn’t change a lot of things, but the things that do change will be to be centered around a theme: Who Can You Trust? With the amount of the word “trust” being thrown around, it helps to add more than just characters parroting “I trust you, do you trust me” and “can we reeeeaaaaally trust you” ad nauseum.

Now, normally, I’d begin with Episode 1, but for the most part, Episodes 1 & 2 do a great job setting up the conflict for the Volume. The only thing that would be changed is an earlier introduction to Robyn. Either through a character short style random fight or have the group bump into her during their trip to Mantle.

Also, probably change up how Weiss handles the drunkard because… Yeah, you don’t just fling a guy into the trash bin for being racist after you spend the past six volumes having a villain faction of murderous terrorists motivated by racists attacking their kind. The problem is that I don’t know how. The best I can say is that Weiss tries to do something about it, the dude’s like “wait, aren’t you a Schnee?” and then Weiss realizes “Oh shit, we should be incognito.”

Episode 3

Now here’s where things start to change up. Have a split in the group over whether Ruby was in the right to omit Salem’s immortality to Ironwood. A clear 50/50 split or as close to one as possible. If I was deciding who was on who’s side, Weiss, Blake and Nora would be on Ruby’s side and Jaune, Ren, and Yang would be on Ironwood’s side. Over the course of the Volume, they give their reasons, but I’ll explain their reasons now.

Weiss and Blake’s reasons are virtually the same, with Weiss’s added caveat being that she overheard Ironwood going “OZPIN SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED ME!” bit. Nora would be too pissed at Ironwood to care what he wants and anything to fuck him over is a win in her book, even egging on the other side to join by saying how he disqualified RWBY from the Vytal Tournament and how this would be good payback.

Ren’s reason was implied, but it’d be more pronounced that he wants Salem dealt with now. Not out of apathy or tiredness, but because he knows the Grimm now have a mistress and that the only person who has an actual plan to deal with her is being lied to. Yang and Jaune share their reason, but in different ways. Yang isn’t too keen on Ruby omitting information to Ironwood after they had just spent an entire two Volumes distrusting Ozpin for the same thing and Jaune especially doesn’t like that Ironwood is going to go into an unwinnable battle without knowing all the details, much like how Pyrrha never found out about Salem.

Oscar, Qrow, and Maria would be the middle of the fence. Maria doesn’t care too much about the situation and is just there to help out Pietro, Qrow has known Ironwood more than anyone but recent events had him uneasy, and Oscar just doesn’t want to be hurt because that tends to happen whenever people find out about Ozpin’s many, many skeletons. However, they all have faith that Ruby is doing something right…

The only other thing I’d change with this is giving the outright confirmation that these are the mines that Ilia’s parents died in. Maybe even have Marrow allude to how it was a major turning point in making the White Fang what they are now.

Episode 4

Not much changes, except for Ironwood showing genuine remorse for what’s going on with Mantle and trying to make amends by making the group Huntsmen and having them broker peace to Mantle by helping them out.

The other major change is Qrow not telling Ruby that she’s done nothing wrong. Instead, he warns that Ironwood, while he’s a very valuable ally, is also one whose trust is hard to earn and easy to break. He reveals to Ruby about how Ozpin was put on thin ice in Volume 2 and how Ironwood became the head of security for Vytal. Because the Tweaking Volume 6 showed Summer in the flashback to Ruby, I don’t think we’ll get that here.

A minor bit would be Penny and Jaune talking about Pyrrha, because what’s Jaune’s character arc without bringing Pyrrha into it?

Episode 5

Nothing really changes that much except for a training montage between the Ace Ops and RWBY so that we get that out of the way. Maybe even have Nora note the hole in the wall and get more furious at Ironwood for just leaving that out in the open when a simple patch would fix it. Ironwood would then give a rebuttal that it wouldn’t fix the Manticore problem.

There’s a small change in Robyn’s demeanour in which she doesn’t like Penny. “Just because you’re the protector of Mantle doesn’t mean you’re not another one of Ironwood’s machines. Once I get in power, you’re the first bot to enter the scrapyard!” Like, the world knows Penny is a robot, right? Speaking of, we have Ruby talk to Penny about how depressed she was when she died. Because remember when she broke down into tears over that and had Penny’s death be a major impact to her psyche?

The biggest change would be that whole scene with Winter and Fria. Weiss is appalled that Fria is locked up in a room before Winter tells her that it’s to secure her, explaining how Maidens end up having their powers taken from them through murder instead of the natural way and using the Fall Maiden’s death as an example. Weiss then asks “isn’t that what you’re going to do to her? Why don’t you just do Ironwood a favor and stab her right now?” Winter is silent.

Oh, and there’s no scene of Jacques inciting a riot. You’ll understand why later, but this will eliminate the stupid “riot happens off screen” bit. Instead, we get a scene where a plane flies towards the blockade. They demand to know who’s on the plane, only for Cinder to come out, smirk, and her Maiden eye flares as a snowstorm kicks off.

Episode 6

Not a lot changes here save for the obvious minor detail of a snowstorm hitting Atlas and Mantle (as well as Ironwood receiving reports about his blockade being taken out, thus he tells the group to take the night off while he looks into getting replacement planes) and one major detail: Tyrian’s attack during the rally would be him busting in during a power outage (engineered by either Watts’s hacking or Cinder’s snowstorm) and slaughtering people as they try to whip out their phones to try and illuminate the area. We’d even have an earlier scene where we could see Tyrian sneak in the background as Nora kisses Ren, giving the notion that, had Nora not macked on Ren, they would have seen Tyrian.

Penny tries to fight Tyrian because of her night vision, but Tyrian gets the better of her, even dancing through her slashes and have other people get hurt and possibly killed by her blades, blood being on her swords once the lights go back on. Robyn instantly attacks Penny, leading to Ruby to try and defend her and prove her innocence. Marrow gets the angry mob to “STAY!”, but it’s pretty clear that Robyn was out of the radius when that happened. As Ruby and Penny run off, Robyn gives chase, the Grimm invade, a plane lands without any problem on Mantle, and we get perhaps the largest change in the entire volume: An entire episode gets shafted in favor of one we were promised.

Episode 7

We see Blake and Yang with FNKI when they hear the Grimm siren go off and they go to investigate. Meanwhile, Weiss, Jaune, and Oscar exit the theater only to get attacked by Grimm. The majority of this episode would be them fighting the Grimm until Ruby, Penny and Robyn come in to Blake and Yang’s perspective.

Not sure what’s going on, Blake and Yang fight Robyn while Penny runs away. It isn’t until Robyn rants about Ironwood does Blake stops fighting her, tells her about Ironwood’s plan, and the whole truth Semblance thing happens. Yang confronts Blake on this, to which she gives her rant about how she distanced herself from the White Fang and that what RWBY is doing is exactly like the White Fang. It doesn’t help that, when Yang reassures Blake that they did what they had to do, she sounds exactly like Adam, right down to her saying “It's good to know I've still got you...”

Weiss, Jaune, and Oscar find Ruby and Penny and have a brief moment to reconvene before a mob comes after Penny, demanding her head. In the middle of this, Cinder and Neo look on. Neo nonverbally asks if they should get Ruby while they have the chance, but Cinder smirks upon seeing her scroll and says she has a plan. During a stand off where Ruby tries to proclaim Penny’s innocence, Cinder sneaks into the mob and, with the help of Neo disguising her as an old lady (because what’s RWBY without making characters into two different fairy tale references at once?), tell the group how Penny had been going out and murdering people for Ironwood, showing the group the doctored footage of Penny murdering Forrest and Cinder lying about how Forrest is her (grand)son.

Now in an even bigger frenzy, the crowd swarm Ruby as Cinder slinks into the background. Despite all their best efforts, the people of Mantle get their hands-on Penny and dismember her from limb to limb. The despair of Penny dying again followed by several more Grimm coming in causes Ruby’s Silver Eyes to go off, turning the Manticores to stone (and, if you want some instant karma, one of them could be in midflight and fall on top of some of the more ruder Mantleans, crushing them in the process) before she gets weak and Weiss carries her away, with Jaune and Oscar carrying Penny’s remains from the blinded crowd.

In the middle of all this, Ren and Nora fight Grimm on their own, getting into an argument about how Mantle is being treated. This is where Nora’s rant comes in, not to Ironwood, but to Ren. Ren tells her his reason why Ironwood is their best bet and because of his words, it upsets Nora enough to go her separate way. We end the episode with Nora coming across Robyn.

Episode 8

It’s been a week since the battle and we reconvene on Penny being rebuilt. Ruby and Jaune converse about how coincidental it is, with Ruby being clearly upset that she had to watch Penny die twice now. Jaune, however, elates that at least she’s alive, awkwardly bringing up his dead girlfriend again. Pietro comes in and tells them that it is not as coincidental as they believe and demonstrates by using his Semblance, the ability to be a make shift deliberator.

Basically, this is where I reinvent how Pietro’s relation to Penny works. I’m keeping the disturbing aspect that he slowly dies a little each time he uses this power while taking out the unintentionally disturbing aspect of Penny really being just Pietro in the robotic shell of a young girl. As for who Penny is… You saw this coming and if RT wanted to really make those fairy tale references, it just makes sense for them to pay homage to the very first anime that just so happens to also reference Pinocchio, or at least is compared to Pinocchio.

We have a flashback to Pietro and Watts working on the Paladin project together before Pietro gets a call. We don’t hear what it is, but we can definitely tell from how he reacts and how it’s framed exactly what happened. We cut to Pietro in the morgue grieving over a dead girl who looks similar to Penny and get that hard confirmation that Penny was Pietro’s daughter… or rather was the basis of Pietro’s daughter.

He uses his Semblance, which he says allows him to jumpstart people’s aura and save them from the brink of death. While normally an Aura technique in of itself to awaken another’s aura, it’s another thing to awaken another’s aura and save their life in the process. However, he tried that on a long dead Human Penny and all it did was put her in a comatose state, needing to be put on constant life support or else she’d die. Not wanting to let go of Penny, Pietro invented a means to transfer her aura over to something else: The Aura Transfer Machine. He places Penny into the shell of V1!Penny and jumpstarts her. She opens her eyes and says “Salutations!”

As the flashback ends, he explains how what he did was unnatural and, as a consequence, whenever he jumpstarts Penny with his Semblance, his Aura completely depletes and it damages him. It’s how he became crippled. Normally, the Aura would return slowly and he’d be recovered, but because he had to do it so many times in a short amount of time, it damages him. Jaune says he’ll use his Semblance to save Penny next time, but Pietro brings up the contrast between their Semblances: Jaune just dumps aura into other people, but Pietro is bringing the dead back to life. Even if Jaune were to use his Semblance, all it would do is put Aura into a robotic shell and not Penny. A sad reminder that, no matter what he did, Penny will never be a real girl again. Especially since, as one last flashback shows, Ironwood was more than pleased with Penny and convinced Pietro to turn Penny into a living weapon, something he was very hesitant about.

I’d add that Pietro would die right there to show that Penny has no ‘extra lives’ left, but I feel like RT would do that already… So I’ll say he’s written out of the volume by going into a coma.

Interspersed with this is the dinner scene. Because there’s fewer people going with Ironwood, RT might splurge a bit and give characters different outfits for the scene, like Weiss having an all-white version of her Mistral dress or having Qrow’s new outfit be the outfit he wears to the dinner. Obviously, not everyone gets new dresses, as the Ace Ops still have their uniforms. Only Weiss, Blake, Yang, Ren, and Oscar attend for obvious reasons.

Weiss investigates Jacques like usual, but she gets quite a few encounters, such as running into Harry Marigold (who gets in a heated argument with May and establishes who she is right there and then instead of doing Twitter) and even the Trophy Wife who she tried to kill. They’re brief, but show the consequences of Weiss’s actions. Maybe have the Trophy Wife flee in terror. She then comes across Willow, who, for the first time in Weiss’s life, is not drunk. In fact, she is elated to see Weiss return, but understands why she doesn’t share the same notion. She reveals to have sobered up since Weiss ran away and had done a lot of contemplation. She doesn’t say too much, but she does leave Weiss with the video and guilt trips her about Whitley.

While Watts turning off the heating grid is still in, it’s not the final scene. Instead, it’s during the dinner with Ironwood and the others, in which Robyn, as part of the “get Ironwood impeached” party, brings in someone who had been “tormented by Atlas’s boot on Mantle’s face for far too long…”: Nora.

Nora’s Backstory

Okay, granted, this is something that is operating on information we don’t know yet, so there’s a lot of speculation to go on here. I’ll probably make an update to this once we get a proper backstory for Nora, but for now, this is what I think would be Nora’s backstory:

Mantle had been scapegoated as the cause of the Great War and while they had a hand in it, the real cause of it, the nobles, decided to take their ball and go home by using the Relic to lift their Kingdom high into the clouds, leaving the rest of Mantle to take the fall. The Oz at the time allowed this to happen knowing exactly why they did it, but instead tried to cite it as creating a beacon of hope instead of what it truly was.

As a result, Mantle hit an unstable depression and unable to even be on the same level as the other Kingdoms, essentially being Menagerie before they made Menagerie. This resulted in people starving and dying. Of the few people who remained hopeful was Fria Valkyrie, who proposed life living out in the lands of thriving kingdoms rather than be ruled over by Atlas. She went to Mistral and got a few people into pooling their resources to make a new Kingdom, one that would exist outside the four and be by the people, for the people.

Unfortunately, not everyone shared her vision and some even took her resources to create Menagerie for the purpose of dumping the Faunus there. After she gained the Maiden powers by chance, she was forced to give up her dream by Oz. Her child grew up and inherited that vision, getting a child of their own, moving to Mistral, wooing someone to birth Nora, tell her about how Mantle became a shithole thanks to Atlas, and then head to make Oniyuri with the others. The Nuck came, killed Nora’s parents and left her an orphan, only for her to bring the Nuck with her to Kuroyuri and the rest is history.

Of course, this wouldn’t all be shown and is a rough idea, but the core idea is: Mantle suffered long ago because the people who caused the Great War refused to take blame and went into their floating castle while Oz just looked at it and said “hey, look at this shiny beacon!”

With that in mind, let’s return to the story:

Episode 9

Nora lays down Mantle’s grievances to Ironwood in front of everyone before she includes the two members of the council and Jacques into the shit pile, saying how they’re not blameless. When called out on going all “sins of the father” on the group, she says how they should have thought of that before doing that to Mantle. Robyn attempts to expose Ironwood before Weiss drops in and tries to expose Jacques…

And here’s where major change #2 comes into play. As the video plays of Jacques and Watts having their conversation, it takes a turn for the weird as Jacques just throws Watts out of his house and refusing to hear any further of his offer. This is one of the major scenes that convey the theme of trust. Throughout the Volume, we’re built up to not trust Jacques and trust Ironwood before the tables turn around this exact moment. Now, with the revelation that Jacques refused to work with Watts and Ironwood turning Penny into a weapon against her and Pietro’s will, Jacques is the trustworthy one and Ironwood is the deceitful.

Though, before any consequences play out, it’s all put on hold as news of the heating grid had been turned off. And yes, before you ask, in this tweak, the heating grid is in Mantle and thus is just as easy to hack. The reason why Watts decided to do this now is to make it look like Ironwood is doing it in retaliation for what happened to Penny. As a result, riots and Grimm naturally come. Robyn asks Ironwood why he’s working so hard to hide Amity Arena and this gives Oscar the (unintended) signal that now’s the time to tell him the truth. He covers for Ironwood, then gets him to a secure room to tell him all he knows about Salem.

Especially how she boned Ozpin.

Okay, joking aside… The rest of the episode (as well as Episode 10) play out like normal, but with Ruby and Jaune arriving to help from the ground instead of from the plane for obvious reasons.

Episode 10

The only big change is the reveal that Tyrian is a serial killer here because we retconned the original Episode 7. The only sight twist I can add to this is that he was part of the White Fang, had a hand in some of Weiss’s family members being killed, and that’s why Salem knew of them.

Episode 11

Okay, this is the best episode of Volume 7 so there’s not a lot to change. The only major changes are as follows.

Ironwood confronts the group over Robyn knowing about Amity. When confronted on why he had to keep that a secret, he explains that it was to prevent the enemy from learning about it, like what happened with Watts. When Yang calls him out for lying, he snaps and calls her out for lying.

“Oscar told me the truth. About Salem.”

“What!? He wasn’t supposed to!”

“Then who would have? And when? When everyone threw their lives away for nothing? You’re just like Ozpin.”

And then Salem shows up, gloats a bit, goes yo mama, and Ironwood decides to use the Relic of Creation to send Atlas somewhere else. He’s not doing the stupid thing of yeeting it into space, though. Instead, he’s going to use it to move them away from the continent and towards another Kingdom. When Blake says that they’re leaving Mantle to die, he just coldly remarks that “they did this to themselves”.

Naturally, RWBY protests about this. The funny thing is, The Ace Ops are almost able to convince the girls to leave Mantle… But then Ironwood says this to Ruby:

“After what they’ve done to poor Penny… Surely, you’d agree that they don’t deserve our protection.”

This causes Ruby to quietly turn that comment around:

“Yeah… But after I heard about what you’ve done to Penny… The only thing I agree about is that you don’t deserve my trust.” Before she calls the others and says how Ironwood had gone mad. This leads to the confrontation with the Ace Ops and the end of our episode.

Episode 12

Well… How do we make the worst episode of V7 better? Well, we begin with showing what happened to Oscar. Robots come to take the Relic from him, Ruby comes in and Oscar saves her. They have some romantic tension, but uh oh! It’s Neo! And she took the Relic!

We then cut to the airplane. I should bring up that the arrest warrant has been changed a bit, excluding Qrow, Oscar, Jaune and Ren from the list. Qrow and Oscar because they gave Ironwood their trust and vice versa, Jaune because Ironwood overlooking Jaune would be hilarious, and Ren because of the kids, he was the most trustful of Ironwood. Nora, however, is still on the list due to her standing against Ironwood. As well as Robyn.

This leads to a more natural reason for Robyn to pick a fight: She’s resisting arrest. They crash and Clover calls for a medical team. Qrow and Clover have a conversation about what’s going on. Qrow insists they talk to Ironwood about this, only for Clover to insist he arrests Ruby. This leads to a natural conclusion as to why Qrow fights Clover: He wants to protect Ruby.

Tyrian joins in and the fight isn’t a 2v1 like the original, but instead Qrow vs. Clover but with Tyrian running interference against both sides. This leads to Qrow and Clover teaming up against Tyrian, but Qrow, at the last minute, knocks Clover aura out so as to disable him. Tyrian is kinda shocked at the betrayal but stays around to let it play out, especially since he knows something Qrow doesn’t.

Clover asks Qrow why he did that and Qrow told Clover that sometimes, you have to do the right thing instead of doing what you’re told to. Clover remarks that the right thing is often the hardest and stands firm with his belief that Ironwood will do the right thing, even if the cost is people’s lives. Qrow then says “then he will take the fall.” Clover chuckles, says good luck, then dies because it’s freezing out on Solitas.

Tyrian laughs at this, Qrow gets pissed, he runs off, and the aircraft comes.

RWBY vs. Ace Ops goes about as well as the best of the best of the best going up against a bunch of college drop outs who only had a week or so of training with said best. Very poorly. In fact, the group takes advantage of the team’s insistence of fighting in the White Rose and Bumblebee pairs, curbstomping them by exploiting their weaknesses. However, just as they’re about to be arrested, Marrow takes a look at Ruby.

“You know, I never wanted to actually arrest you guys…” He breathes in. “And I don’t want to.” Turns around and shouts “STAY!” to the rest of the Ace Ops and tells Ruby and her friends to run. As soon as they do, he gets out his weapon and glares at his ‘friends’. Harriet asks why he did this, only for him to reply:

“Well, maybe we were just tired of being pushed around.” He says before he tosses a volatile Dust crystal on the ground and hurts the group, making a getaway.

And the JNPR bit stays the same.

Episode 13

Because this will be setting up Volume 8, this is mostly speculative at this point. But then again, I did the same with Volume 6’s Tweaking before Volume 7 premiered… That said, Volume 6 was more conclusive than Volume 7 so…

Bottom line, this will most likely get disconfirmed by the time Volume 8 rolls around.

JNPR vs Neo stays the same, but Nora and Ren bicker about whether to stay on Mantle and help the others, causing Neo to give them the slip with the Relic and further sever the ties between Nora and Ren.

Cinder vs Winter, Penny and Fria is also a little changed. Namely, Penny takes a blow for Winter that destroys most of her body. Despite this, she struggles to go through the whirlwind that Fria makes and saves her from Cinder. Penny is dying as a result of putting herself through the extreme and with no Pietro to save her, this will basically be her final death.

Fria knows this. She also knows that Ironwood had sent only one person to see her to make it easier for her Alzheimer’s and that Penny is not that person. Despite this, she is moved by Penny’s dedication, asks for her name, and passes on her powers to Penny, saving her life. Ruby flashes Cinder and secures Penny. On the ship during Ozpin’s speech on fear, Pietro wakes up, checks up on Penny to see if she’s alright. Upon seeing that there’s blood on a cut from Penny, he’s at first afraid, but then cries in joy as she had become a real girl. However, if RT decides to do a plot point like this in a future volume where they make Penny a real girl, then disregard this bit.

The final bit (don’t worry, I’m going to the Ironwood vs Oscar bit later) is that Maria explicitly says that they’re leaving Atlas. As soon as she says that, Nora and Blake object. Nora because they’re leaving Mantle as well and Blake because they just had an entire fight where they wanted to stay and fight. Yang tries to reason with Blake, but she just comments about how she’s not going to run. Likewise, Nora is tired of sacrifices after losing Pyrrha. They both leave and go to Mantle just as the plane leaves.

Ironwood and Oscar’s Conversation

Okay, no amount of summary is going to do this justice, so I’m going to include this as a subsection like with Nora’s backstory. This would take place roughly in the same spot(s) as the original. It starts out roughly the same until Oscar pleads to work this out.

Ironwood: There is no working anything out. People have been demanding me to do things their way, to make things easier for them, and every time I try to bend to their whims, Salem and her forces go two steps ahead. The easiest solution is for me to do everything myself.

Oscar: Including leaving people to die?

Ironwood: That’s what Ozpin had been doing for most of his life. You don’t hear people complain about that. Because he kept it all to himself and never told others the bigger picture. Just like Ruby.

Oscar: Ruby only hid the truth because she was afraid of what you’d become if you found out.

Ironwood: That’d I’d become another Lionheart? I’m not that weak-willed a coward.

Oscar: Then why abandon Mantle?

Ironwood: Because Salem’s forces are on our doorstep. If we don’t do anything, then we will fall!

Oscar: No… If you divide us, then we will fall… It’s what she wants, James.

Ironwood: … James is what my friends call me. To you… it’s General.

And the rest of the scene plays out like normal, including the ending of Salem’s forces arriving.

Stinger

This is less fix and more wish.

Marrow stumbles onto a rooftop, the top portion of his face heavily burned from the explosion, and sees Salem’s forces arriving. A recovering Fiona approaches Marrow and tells him how protecting Mantle had just become more complex. Marrow shakes his head and takes out something from his pocket before he fixes it to his face.

“It was never about protecting Mantle, Fiona… It’s about making Atlas pay for what they’ve done.” He turns around, wearing a White Fang mask.

And that was Tweaking V7, perhaps the most intense tweaking I’ve done with five thousand words.

#RWDE #RWBY #Rewrite #RWBY Rewrite

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romancemedia · 4 years

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NCIS: Los Angeles S11E10 - Mother

In the 10th episode of the 11th season of NCIS: Los Angeles, it’s a very special episode as the series is celebrating it’s 250th episode written by our very own Eric Christian Olsen aka Marty Deeks. The team are faced with a serious threat in the form of Akhos Laos, Hetty’s former protege who seeks revenge against her and puts one member of the team in danger.

This was one of the most intense, heart-ponding and emotional episodes of the Entire Series I Have Ever Seen. This episode was truly amazing and I HAVEN’T BEEN THIS EXCITED FOR AN EPISODE SINCE DENSI’S WEDDING. When the episode began, The team were just having fun, being happy playing basketball together like the good old days. They had no idea of the kind of day they were about to have. First, when they find a mysterious woman has arrived outside of HQ with a possible bomb, only to learn it contains a severed hand. Did Not See That Coming. The case officially began, leading them to find the dead body of former professional CIA assassin. When Deeks and Kensi found the body it was just... OH MY GOD. Honestly that was the only thing I could say after seeing the body and I could not stop repeating myself after seeing it. I have seen gruesome murder scenes in various TV shows and movies, but this is a new one and most grotesque I’ve ever seen. Afterwards, the Team finally learned who was responsible for this gruesome death, leading them to learn about Akhos Laos and his and Hetty’s shared past, including their connection to the dead CIA assassin. A meeting is arrange between him and Hetty, but before we know it, she is kidnapped despite Callen and Sam as her backup. Not to mention at the worse timing, the Ops Centre goes dark and completely haywire.

Meanwhile, Densi had their hands full when they realized too late they had walked straight into a trap when Deeks found himself locked in a secluded and abandoned control room with an active bomb. Seems Akhos really did his research on the rest of the team since he not only knew Callen was another of Hetty’s protege’s, but learned of Deeks and Kensi’s relationship and now wants to destroy their love by tearing them apart through the most well known fact of marriage... Till Death Do Us Part. Honestly, the instant that Deeks became trapped it seriously reminded me of what happened when Michelle died back in season 8. It was a serious case of deja vu with Kensi being forced to watch as she nearly lost her husband just as Sam was forced to watch as his wife died right in front of his eyes. Things go from bad to worse for Densi when Kensi discovers there isn’t just a bomb inside the room Deeks is trapped in, but also on the outside as well, meaning even if Deeks survives the bomb inside the room, he’ll be dead when the rest of the building goes up in smoke.

This episode clearly showed everyone being in full on complete panic mode as Callen and Sam race to rescue Hetty, Kensi trying desperately to save her husband and Eric and Nell were frantic to get Ops back up and running to help their team. Speaking of the Meerkats, I loved that brief moment with Nell as she realized that everything that’s happened in this episode was the result of Hetty’s past actions. If anything, this will only cause additional strain to Hetty and Nell’s recently fragile relationship. Honestly, all this drama was so crazy I couldn’t look away. My eyes were glued to the screen as the team were on a race against time and so far, the clock appeared to be winning.

Despite all the panic that occurred, my favourite moment was the emotional declaration of love from Deeks to Kensi. Realizing this could be his very last moment with the love of his life, Deeks spills his heart out to Kensi, admitting he sometimes wakes up in the night with complete and utter fear, so bad he can’t even breath, fearing the dangers that the world possesses until he looks at Kensi and he instantly finds peace. This is no doubt one of the top most emotional moments ever shared between Deeks and Kensi. This was both amazingly sad and beautiful at the same time and I felt my heart ache for Kensi since she didn’t want this to be the ending to their love story. Thankfully it wasn’t as Kensi came up with an amazingly dangerous plan which ultimately saved Deeks and at the same time, she at last admitted she wants kids with him and expressed a crazy plan/fantasy for them and their future kids. Ultimately Deeks was safe and sound back in Kensi’s arms and I felt another deja vu moment coming on when I saw their embrace and especially what they said afterwards. It really reminded me of the season 2, Deliverance episode when Deeks saved Kensi from a bomb and shared one of their very first intimate moments. Great times.

Finally, as for Akhos, he got the ultimate punishment when he was killed by none than Hetty Lange herself to save Callen, but despite killing him, Hetty stayed by his side to show that despite everything, she still cared and loved him. Although he went through hell and was forced to do god knows what, I don’t really feel sorry for him. Like Rogers said, Akhos is a monster because everything he did was awful not only what he did to Densi, but what he did to Natasha. She was an innocent and had a happy and loving family until all that went up in smoke when Akhos orchestrated her family’s death and he made himself out to be her saviour, only to manipulate and use her for his own needs. He may not have had a choice for his previous actions as he claims, but he had a choice with Natasha as he willingly chose to destroy her happiness to achieve his goals. In the end after everything that happened, I honestly don’t know what to feel for Hetty, but her talk with Callen seem to help as I love his confession of why he does what he does. It was truly one of Callen’s Best and Most Beautiful Moments EVER.

Overall, Eric Christian Olsen did us all proud as this was a truly amazing, powerful and emotional episode and honestly one of the Best Episodes of the Entire 11th Season. Now the only episode left to look forward to is the mid-season finale next week and I can’t wait to see more of Densi’s Baby Talk as well as Neric possibly hitting hard times.

#NCIS Los Angeles #My Thoughts #My Edits #My Thoughts NCIS LA #G Callen #Sam Hanna #Kensi Blye #Marty Deeks #Hetty Lange #Eric Beale #Nell Jones #Michelle Hanna #Densi #Neric #Kensi x Deeks #Eric x Nell #NCIS Los Angeles S11

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purplesurveys · 4 years

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916

What Rhymes With “AIR”?

1. Are the walls of your room bare or do you have things hanging up there? I have some things on the wall, yes. A few paintings, Audrey Hepburn wall decors, and a poster of Nam Joo Hyuk. I used to have wrestling posters but my mom, ever the control freak, removed them because she didn’t like them. Sigh.

2. When’s the last time you went outside to enjoy the fresh air? I went out this morning to take Cooper to the vet for his anti-rabies shot. I didn’t necessarily do it to enjoy the fresh air, but that came along with the experience as well anyway.

3. Do you watch the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air? I started watching it this month actually! It’s super fun and Will Smith’s physical comedy is hilarious, but it isn’t really the type of show I’d binge-watch given how old the jokes and some of the tropes already are. I definitely don’t dislike it, but I just take longer to watch the episodes.

4. When’s the last time it felt like you were walking on air? Sunday, when I had my virtual grad and found out my parents and aunt and uncle got all my favorite food delivered to the house :) We had baked sushi, baked samgyeopsal, Pancit Malabon, and pichi-pichi that day, aaaaahhhhhh.

5. Have you ever been on air, on a radio station? Very briefly. One of our field trips in high school was a visit to a major broadcasting network, and we we were brought to their AM radio studio. The broadcaster on air at the time – one of my favorites of all time – welcomed us and gave us a chance to say hi on air.

6. Have you ever felt like all of the air was coming out of your lungs? Sure, but I guess it’s more accurate to say that I’ve occasionally felt the sensation of my chest increasingly tightening.

7. Has it seemed as though anything has ever disappeared into thin air? Have you ever pulled an idea out of thin air? The first one, yes. I have this stupid ability to drop a certain thing and have it disappear forever; I hate that it happens to me all the time lol.

I can relate with the second situation as well; when I was still in school and had to write essays, reaction papers, anything of the sort, I’d wait till the last possible minute to start working on it since it’s by then that the good ideas start pouring in.

8. Have you ever wanted to be on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”? Sure. I’ve enjoyed trivia for as long as I can remember, so the show has always been right up my alley.

9. Do you know a billionaire in real life? No. I know a loooot of CEO kids, kids of MNC owners/executives, and kids of political dynasties though...comes with the environment I grew up in and the schools I went to.

10. Would you like to be an heir or heiress to a fortune? I wouldn’t say no to that.

11. Would you be able to successfully get away if you ever came across a bear? The one thing I keep hearing is to stay very still, so I’d be doing my best to do just that. I got no other survival skills though and if there’s apparently anything more that needs to be done during a bear encounter, then I don’t know of them.

12. Where’s your favorite place to go? How long does it take to get there? Hmm I’ve loved going to many places. My favorite vacation spots so far have been Sagada - that’s a 15, 16-hour road trip from Manila; Vigan - 8-hour road trip; and Palawan - an hour or so plane ride from Manila. If we’re taking nearby places, I like going to coffee shops to unwind and have a pastry or two. I don’t have a favorite one; I just go to whichever one’s the nearest to me at the moment.

13. How often do you err on the side of caution? I keep it at a healthy 50/50. There are times I’m okay with taking a big leap, but if I’m not super invested in something anyway and/or if there’s not a lot in it for me, I play it safe.

14. How often do people say they’re angry with you? My life revolves around being a (very cautious) people pleaser and making sure I don’t piss off people. The only people who have told me they’re angry with me are my mom and girlfriend.

15. Do you own any long underwear? I have never heard of these until today. I’d love to live somewhere so cold I need to wear clothes specifically meant to be worn underneath my actual outfit lol

16. How much Tupperware do you own? I’m Filipino, man. Filipino moms practically make it their life’s mission to collect as many Tupperware containers as they can. I’m pretty sure we have a bunch that we didn’t even own to begin with - just magically ended up in our cupboard after all the parties and gatherings we’ve had hahaha.

17. What color is your underwear right now? Green.

18. Do you still sleep with a teddy bear? I never slept with stuffed animals; I preferred pillows.

19. What pair of your shoes has the most wear and tear? In my first year of college the only shoes I owned was a pair of Keds. Used it for everything and it unsurprisingly ended up being super worn out - soles got detached from the shoe and all that. I think we still have it here at home – still destroyed – but it’s been untouched for a while.

20. Do you like to play Solitaire? It was a great boredom buster game for me for a time, especially when phone apps weren’t all that expansive yet. I haven’t played it in many months though.

21. Do you or your family own a full set of silverware? We do.

22. What do you have to take everywhere with you? Phone, wallet, car and house keys. Because of school I’ve also developed a habit of accidentally bringing my laptop nearly everywhere I go – I brought it to the vet once, lol

23. Would you like to visit Delaware? Yes. Delaware actually stands out in my memory because I remember reading in a kids’ almanac many years ago that it was the first to become a US state. Ever since then I’ve kinda bookmarked the place in my head.

24. Last time you received dental care? December. My tooth had been hurting for a couple of months but it became absolutely unbearable by that month so I had to book an emergency appointment days before Christmas. I felt super bad for the hassled dentist (who doubles as a family friend, which made it more embarrassing)... but at that point I was crying myself to sleep every night and would wake up at 3 AM crying in pain, and I would’ve done anything for the toothache to go away.

25. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? Somewhere brutally cold.

26. Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? I’ve never been able to relate to this question, lol soz.

27. Are you satisfied sitting here, taking this survey, or would you rather be elsewhere? I’m satisfied for now. I found more potential leads when it came to job-hunting and I’m not feeling too anxious anymore. I’ve been so focused on looking for corporate communications/PR jobs in the private sector that I forgot about the possibility of applying my skills in something I’m even more passionate about - museums! We have a few government agencies focused on museums, culture, and the arts and I definitely see myself performing in the jobs they offer. It’s even better because it’ll help me get my foot in the door in government positions, and as someone who’s indecisive about law it’ll be a great bridge to start with. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

28. Last time you sat in a barber’s chair? Early March.

29. Do you own any cans of compressed air? I’m not sure...had to look that up. Maybe we do? Idk. Dad will sometimes hoard random grownup stuff from the hardware store so I’m not ruling this one out.

30. Do you have a swivel chair at your desk? Nope.

31. Do you prefer an armchair or a rocking chair? Rocking chair.

32. Would you rather have a beanbag chair or a hanging swing chair in your room? Hanging swing chair sounds so hipster and awesome lol. I’ve had my time with a beanbag chair anyway.

33. What’s the last non-survey related questionnaire that you had to fill out? SSS form.

34. Are there any crimes that you feel make someone deserving of the electric chair? Not really a death penalty kinda gal, but if anyone had to sit in the electronic chair it’ll be people torturing and abusing animals for fun.

35. Do you know anyone who uses a wheelchair? Yes.

36. Do you know anyone who is on welfare? I probably do.

37. Do you play Modern Warfare? Nopes.

38. Do you ever feel like life is unfair? It is, objectively. I’m a little pessimistic when it comes to this.

39. Have you ever visited Times Square? No. I dunno if I wanna go there...it seems so crowded and claustrophobic, not to mention super tourist-y haha. I’d love to visit once just to see the bright lights and the giant ads, but I’d much rather be at museums and historical sites.

40. Do you tell people to “take care” at the end of a conversation with them? Sometimes. I’ve been saying it a lot more often these days, for obvious reasons.

41. Where is somewhere that you would like to move to? Canada. But I also feel like if I moved there immediately it would be such a culture shock in terms of the weather, culture, how far away I am from family, etc. and I doubt I would cope well. I suppose I can move to either Vietnam or Singapore first, as kind of like a baby step.

42. What is something in your home that needs to be repaired? One of the stovetop burners stopped working last night and my dad’s determined to fix that.

43. What kind of sleepwear do you own? I go to bed in just my normal home clothes; I don’t change to anything else.

44. What skin care products do you use? Water. ;) I’m one of the lucky ones lol.

45. Do you have any spyware on your computer? Nope.

46. Do you own any sportswear? What sports? I have athletic shorts from when I played table tennis.

47. Do you like Fred Astaire? Sure. I’ve only seen one movie of his (Funny Face) and he was a delight in that.

48. How long does it take you to prepare a meal? I only ever make instant meals, oops.

49. Do you know anyone named Pierre? Yes, Eva’s youngest sister is a Pierre. I’m just not sure if it’s also the same spelling.

50. Are you going nowhere fast? I hope not. I’m giving myself a quick break for now after studying for 18 years straight but like I’m not out of ambition or anything like that at all.

51. How often do you have a nightmare? Not very. They only show up when I’m going through a depression. My last nightmare was two or so years ago.

52. How often are you able to catch something in mid-air? It’s unpredictable with me. Some days my reflexes are great but sometimes I’ll just be so clumsy.

53. What do your lawn chairs look like? Brown and wooden.

54. How many chairs are at your dining/kitchen table? Six; just right for our family of five.

55. Favorite type of footwear? Sneakersssssss.

56. When’s the last time one of your senses were impaired? From what? My left eye still gets irritated from time to time. We never really found out what’s wrong with it; my first checkup happened on the day before lockdown, so we never got to go back. When it starts to act up, I usually have no choice but to wait for it to go away.

57. Have you ever been in a hot air balloon before? No. I’ve been to hot air balloon festivals though. That’s enough for me haha; I’m not desiring to be in one and be up in the sky.

58. Do you have a good health care plan? My parents do for us kids.

59. Last time you went to the hardware store? Months ago.

60. Have you ever played foursquare before? No. I thought that was just a website. Oops.

61. Do you own any types of eyewear? I’ve worn a pair of glasses since I was 11. I had needed them much earlier but my mom always thought I was being a sissy and just ‘wanted’ glasses to fit in with other kids. It was such a stupid mindset, and it was so stupid of her to not believe her kid WHO WAS STARTING TO NOT SEE. It was only when I took an eye exam at the school clinic and the school wrote her a letter that she finally believed me, but I had been suffering for a while and could barely read the chalkboard for like two years, which definitely affected my grades.

62. What brand of cookware do you have a lot of? Not sure about brands.

63. Nothing can compare to: Having a complete, loving, and supportive family.

64. Have you ever worked in a childcare center? I haven’t.

65. Do you have a “beware of dog” sign on your gate? Nah. I usually say it myself. Kimi never got used to strangers.

66. Have you ever attended daycare as a child? I guess you can say that? It wasn’t daycare per se but some malls used to have play areas/centers and my mom used to drop me off in those while she ran errands for a few hours. Those aren’t too common nowadays because I guess it’s more dangerous to leave your kids now, even with attendants, but they were a fun part of my childhood.

67. Are you very aware of your surroundings? I’m honestly a little ditzy so no. I always need a more responsible, more street smart friend by my side especially when I’m going somewhere unfamiliar.

68. Have you ever had an au pair or a nanny before? We used to have househelp, but we never saw them as nannies. A vast majority of them never met my mom’s (extremely high) expectations and quit in a few weeks or months, sometimes even days; the few ones who did eventually wanted better lives for themselves and resigned after a few years, which we didn’t stop them from doing. At some point my mom gave up having help around and realized that ultimately, she’d rather clean up and do chores her way.

69. Do you know anyone who has had an affair? Yes.

70. How much are you willing to spend on airfare? I’ve never bought my own ticket so I don’t know how much they’re supposed to be on average...but I imagine I’m willing to pay a lot of money if it means going to the destinations of my dreams.

71. Who do you care about the most? The friends that I count as family.

72. Are you more likely to choose truth or dare? Truth. I’m too shy to do dares and I’ve never had a problem telling the truth anyway.

73. Have you ever seen the Blair Witch Project before? Yes, a few times.

74. Do you like the name Claire? Would you spell it with or without the I? I love it, it sounds elegant and graceful and it’s one of my favorite names. I prefer it with an I – I don’t know any Clares, actually.

75. Last time you went to a fair? Last week of January.

76. What can be done to make life more fair? Ending world hunger and poverty and making education accessible for all.

77. How much are you willing to spend on cab fare? Not much. Cab fares should be fair after all.

78. Do you have a lot of flair? To some extent, I guess. I’m certainly not dragging myself down haha.

79. Do you own flare jeans? Nopes.

80. Is there a glare on your computer screen right now? There isn’t.

81. When’s the last time someone glared at you? Sometime in the last week would be a safe guess. My mom will sometimes communicate through glares and I’ve picked up the habit from her as well.

82. What type of hair do you have? (color, length, texture, etc) How often do you wash it? It’s black, quite thick, a bit on the wavy side, and has a tendency to get frizzy when it’s humid. Length-wise, it currently reaches just my collarbones. After a rebonding disaster around a decade ago my hair got a bit dry and it never really recovered from that, so I need to wash my hair with a giant blob of conditioner every time I take a shower otherwise it would get dry and hard.

83. Do you know the difference between a rabbit and a hare? I know hares are larger, but that’s about it.

84. Do you like to eat eclairs? LOVE them.

85. What do you consider to be your lair? My car has served as my safety bubble for so many depressing days in college. That’s why I got a little heartbroken when my dad told me he might have plans to sell it to my aunt (his sister).

86. A female horse is called a mare. What is a male horse called? A baby horse? Stallion; foal. Thank you, kid’s almanacs haha.

87. Have you ever used Nair before? Did it work? I used Veet in middle school when razors still scared me. It worked, but it took a whiiiiile and sometimes it wouldn’t even take all the hair off, so eventually I just started shaving.

88. Has anyone ever told you to “grow a pair”? No, and no thanks.

89. What is something that you own a pair of? Dogs.

90. What is a rare quality that you have? Other people will have to answer that. They’re the ones who see me and get to decide what’s rare about me.

91. Last food you pared? I don’t think I’ve done that.

92. Do you know someone who is a debonair? Sure.

93. Do you like to scare others for fun? No.

94. What is something that scares you? The idea of being in a plane crash, for one.

95. Do you like Sonny and Cher? Can’t say I’m a fan or that I’ve listened to anything of theirs.

96. Do you know how to share? Do you like to share? Sure. The only thing I’m a little selfish about is my food lol.

97. Have you ever played a snare drum before? A few times before, yes.

98. What do you do with your spare change? I give them to the tambays who help me get out of parking spots. That or I use it to buy food in school, since everything in UP’s cheap enough to pay with coins.

99. Do you know how to put on a spare tire? No. I’m interested to learn though.

100. Have you ever gotten a spare while bowling before? Yep, it’s happened a few times.

101. When’s the last time you wished someone would spare you the details? A week ago.

102. Do you win games fair and square? Sure. I’ve only cheated once and that was on an exam.

103. Do you know how to find the square root of something? Not anymore. I do have a bunch of perfect squares still memorized, though.

104. What are the characteristics of a square shape? Four equal sides that are also right angles.

105. Have you ever been called a square before? No. I don’t know what that means either, so if I got called that I wouldn’t know how to react.

106. Do you prefer the elevator or the stairs? Elevator.

107. Do you ever stare at other people? Only if it’s a bizarre situation. Once when this drunk guy got arrested in BGC and was being physical with the police, I stared and watched the whole thing. I do try to look away for most scenarios though.

108. How often do you swear? A few times a day.

109. Do you ever “swear on your life”? It’s not a saying that I commonly use, no.

110. What do you like to “tear up”? Eh, I don’t really like tearing up things.

111. What type of wares would you sell? Not interested in sales or business, so that’s a pass for me haha.

112. What kinds of clothing do you like to wear? I like wearing whatever’s trendy, as long as I genuinely like the look.

113. Have you ever had a pregnancy scare before? Never. [a-zebra-is-a-striped-horse]

#survey #surveys

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morphituu · 5 years

Text

Milagro

Chapter 10: “Fight or Flight”

Ch: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9

Nick was ready to rip the electronic payphone from the ground when the line started ringing, so he angrily exhaled, looking over his shoulder. It had taken a great deal of patience and an even greater summoning of what little spanish he could recall to navigate the prompts before even connecting the call, all of which left him ready to rip something to pieces.

He kept thinking Callie had caught onto his curious questions from that morning after eyeing him curiously and vaguely answering his numerous inquiries. If she caught him like this, she’d likely castrate him-

The line clicked.

“Hello?”

“Matuk?” Nick cautiously regarded.

There was hesitation. “Munguz?”

“Hey kid,”

“What’s with the new number?” Matuk queeried, and Nick could hear the chaos of his younger siblings in the background. Of course I catch him in the middle of shit.

“It’s a long story,” he chose to convey in lieu of fitting 2 chaotic days into one breath. “Listen, I need a favor. A big one,”

“Oookay,” Matuk sounded apprehensive.

“Can you come get Callie from the border? We uh… we got mixed up in some weird shit, and I can’t get into details, but she can’t be here. And she needs to be hidden,” Nick leaned against the phone box’s side, his index and thumb rubbing over his tired eyes.

“What border?”

“Mexico,” Nick cringed.

He heard the beginnings of words from the other end, but Matuk faltered before asking, “Hidden? Like hidden hidden?”

“No, like- she can’t be out in public,”

“What did you two do-” Mauk questioned skeptically.

“I promise I’ll tell you eventually but right now I just need to know if you can come get her. She cannot be here in the condition she’s in,” Nick barked out, impatience lining his tone.

“I mean, yeah, yeah I can come get her, but I don’t think she’s gonna stay put for too long, dude,” Matuk sighed, recalling the numerous times he’d been set to work keeping an eye on her after a pregnancy scare early on in her first trimester. Matuk quickly came to learn that when Callie felt crowded, her attitude would grow faster than her irritation, often spitting sour remarks in hopes of backing people off. “Is she gonna come willingly?”

When there was silence, Matuk sputtered low in Orkish.

“I’m not giving her the choice to stay,”

“How am I gonna get her to stay then?” the younger Orc groaned, pulling the phone away to silence his rambunctious siblings.

“Handcuff her to something if you have to, but Matuk, don’t let her out of your sight. She can’t be left alone,”

The noisiness from Matuk’s end faded, and Nick could hear the faint closing of a door. “Do I need to tell Dorghu about this?”

Nick closed his eyes. That thought had crept to the forefront of his mind the night prior as he laid awake, restless and staring at their door or window, but didn’t know how involving the Fogteeth would affect their situation.

“No. Not yet, at least,” Nick decided. It was mostly because he didn’t deem it fit to have any more bodies involved, but Nick also feared for his own life and the ones around him. Dorghu had shot him once over a wand, who’s to say it wouldn’t happen again? “I just need you to come get her,”

“Okay. It’s gonna take a few hours,” Matuk agreed.

“Maybe that’ll be enough time for Callie to burn out after I tell her,” he groaned, pulling his hand down his face.

“Have fun with that. Be there soon,” Matuk was already pulling his boots on when he wiggled the phone back into his palm.

“Thanks.” He mumbled before the line went dead, and he placed the phone back onto its holder. Now that he was faced with having to somehow convince Callie to leave without him- after their discussion from the night before, no less- he didn’t know if he had it in his heart to remain resilient when telling her. He already knew there’d be panic, and sadness, even more betrayal.

But how could he watch her leave knowing there might not be another chance to see her? What if this went on and on, and he wasn’t there to see the birth of his son?

Nick could physically feel his heart clench.

What if there was never the time to see her smiling up at him with Leo in her arms?

That alone was almost enough to leave him breathless, but he couldn’t keep thinking like that. Even if he was never able to hold Leo in his arms or look into Callie’s eyes again, then at least they’d have each other. There was no way he could go on bearing the thought alone that they could be ripped from his grasp at any moment.

Nick’s hands ran over his smooth scalp to the back of his neck as he walked, his feet heavy with dread and heart conflicted.

The desire to snap his eyes open and it all just be a fucking nightmare was crushing.

The selfish desire to keep her near him was just as powerful.

Nick stopped beside a curb, hunkering down to squat, holding his face. Where the decision had been obvious that morning, it was not apparent to Nick until that instant just how much willpower this was going to suck out of him.

“Nick?”

He looked up enough to catch Ward walking towards him with a few bags of groceries at his side, but Nick’s head fell back into his hands.

“What’s up?” Daryl asked, the Orcs dismay obvious once he’d stood. “What happened?”

“Nothing. I got ahold of him,” Nick explained. Daryl understood; Nick had filled him in on his plan while they walked to the market for food to take along with them on their journey. “I just-” Nick exhaled, a hand on his chest, turning away. “I didn’t think-”

“Yo, okay, sit down,” Ward turned him back around, ushering him towards the high curb. “Sit your big ass down, c’mon,” he pushed against his wide shoulders until the Orc sat, struggling to slow his ragged breathing.

“Deep breaths,” Ward instructed calmly, leaving a comforting hand upon his back. He waited with patience as his normally composed friend fought to conquer an episode he’d likely experienced little of his entire life, judging by the way he glanced around them in panic, as if something was causing the assault his mind was the direct cause of.

“First panic attack?” Daryl asked, but Nick was still trembling, counting backwards in his head through the rampaging thoughts that together made a swirling storm of anguish. “Get ready for those when you’re a dad,”

“That’s it, though. What if I don’t get that chance?” Nick choked out, but with his face hidden in his hands, Ward couldn’t see the rampant emotions twisting his face. “All this time it took to get where we are and now I don’t even know if I’ll get to see what my son looks like,”

Daryl nodded, looking out to the street packed with ongoing life, oblivious to their turmoil or the danger that could be lurking around any given corner. He placed the groceries between his feet, leaning forward onto his knees as he looked at the eggs in the bag. It could’ve been any morning he was off buying food for his own wife and daughter.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever see Sophia again,” Daryl said calmly, hooking Nick’s attention enough that he unburied his face from his palms. “At first I worried about Kandomere harassin’ them, but now I can’t stop thinking that I should’ve just gone to dinner with them. We… we’ve been fighting lately. Shit stirs up sometimes, you know? We have months where we vibin’ and everything is perfect, and then we have weeks where we can barely look at each other and fight over stupid, dumb shit. Now I can’t stop thinking…” Ward paused to motion with his hands, as if trying to pull the words from himself. “I can’t stop thinking that she must think I left. That I gave up,”

Nick sat straighter. “You wouldn’t do that,”

“I wouldn’t, but she came home to an empty house after 2 weeks of endless fighting. I keep thinking my little girl must feel abandoned, and I can’t do anything to comfort her this far away,” Daryl’s tone was bleak, much like the absence in his eyes as he stared before himself. “But that’s why I need to get back, that’s my drive,”

Nick’s eyes met his. “That’s why you need to make it back. Forget that Callie would tear you to pieces if you go and get your ass killed,” he nudged Nick, provoking the smallest grin from him. “You owe it to your kid. He can’t go growin’ up without his dad. He’s half a you, and he’s gonna need you. He’ll grow up with questions even Callie can’t answer which is why you need to fight with all you got,”

“What if I still don’t make it back?” Nick wavered, but Daryl shoved him that time.

“Don’t even think about that. Make it home. That boy’s gonna have your blood and last name, but he still needs his father,”

Nick nodded despite still feeling whichever road he decided to venture down would inevitably bring heartache, but with both ends having no known outcome, all he could do was choose one and get walking.

“Cal’s gonna hate me,” he muttered.

“Let her. But in the end, she’s just gon’ be happy to have y’alls life back how it’s supposed to be,”

Daryl was right. “Either make you or break you,” Nick mumbled, and now his partner nodded avidly. “We should head back,”

“Y’alright?” Daryl held his shoulder before he could rise, wary of his stability, but Nick waved him off.

“Better than I’ll be in ten minutes.” Nick grumbled.

The men walked mostly in silence the small trek back to the house, constantly on alert but otherwise blending well into the life around them. TJ was full of tourists as it is, so they looked like any other foreigner.

They arrived at the house sooner than Nick had anticipated, still not knowing how he was going to present this, or more so, how he was going to get her to the border kicking and screaming, because he knew that was the only way she was going.

Tikka and Fero were bickering at the far end of the inner yard once the officers had walked through the heavy door, but neither cared to even try stopping them. Both would agree that they didn’t want anymore of their issues than had already been dropped in their laps, so they moved inside. By the looks of it at passing glance, it was a particularly sour topic. Fero’s head shook with restraint just as Tikka’s hands motioned here and there.

Don’t want any of that.

Nick didn’t find Callie until he peeked into the room they’d been using, and his decision was solidified as soon as he laid eyes on her gripping the bed frame with one hand and other other holding her stomach, an eye pinched shut in discomfort.

More Braxton Hicks.

“Hey,” she ground out.

“Bad one?” he asked, but she disagreed.

“He kicked right into one,” she motioned around her lower stomach, exhaling slowly when it passed. “If I sit down he protests,” Callie labored, swaying side to side. He almost forgot his motive when the desire to run his hands over her moving belly rushed him, but a quick glance at the window like he’d done countless times the night before brought it back.

Nick swallowed, smoothing his shirt down his front.

“I need to talk to you,” he spoke in such a way that sent alarming chills down her spine immediately, so she turned to him, waiting with big eyes full of uncertainty.

“I called Matuk,”

The shift of emotions on her face was immediate, a stiff step back putting distance between them that Nick immediately wanted to close. “No,”

“He said-”

“No,” she interrupted.

“He’d come get you at the border,”

“You swore-” she jabbed her finger towards him as he approached, stepping from his reach. “You promised-”

“I promised I’d keep you two safe,” Nick pleaded, still reaching.

“How are we safe if we’re not with you?” she boomed.

“You can’t be here! You need to be home-”

“There’s no home to go to, Nick! How do you expect me to go and just wait for you? Not knowing what’s going on?” she demanded, pushing his hands away.

His brows arched into a deeper glare, and he mustered every brittle fiber of courage he had. “You’re going home. You have no say this time,”

Now she walked up on him, glaring just as heatedly as he did down at her. “You can’t make me,” was all she hissed before turning heel, heading towards the door.

“What’ll you do if we’re attacked and you go into labor?”

She stopped at the door to shoot him an unamused look. “Seriously?”

Nick crossed the room in a few wide steps, meeting her steadfast form. “What will you do?”

“Push him out. I can handle it,” she jerked her chin in his direction, on the verge of growling at him as he continued to provoke her.

“You’re going to walk around with Leo in your arms after that? On the run, no doctors? A premature baby?”

Now she faltered, picturing a too small bundle of love in her arms, screaming at the top of his lungs… or maybe gasping for air. “I’ll protect him,” she dithered.

“He’s still too small, he needs doctors,”

“I’ll find one,” she blurted out before comprehending how ridiculous that was, and Nick’s twisted expression showed it.

“He’ll cry. They’ll follow his screams and fire at us- at him,” Nick forced out, his own crude words sinking his heart. When her eyes glossed over and her bottom lip quivered, he struggled to keep his composure. “You’ll be putting him in danger,”

Her eyes narrowed, stepping closer, leaning up on her tip-toes. “Don’t you dare put that on me. This, all of this is your fault,” she ground out, shoving against his chest, but Nick’s solid form was unmoving as he grabbed her wrist.

“And now I’m fixing it,”

She tried to yank her arm back, but his grip was mighty, even as she threw some of her weight into it.

“Let me go!” she hollered, but he snatched her other arm as she thrashed and pushed against him. “Nick let me go-”

“You have to leave! Don’t do this, Callie! If it were you-” he blocked a hit, “If it were you in my shoes would you let me stay with Leo?” he yelled over her protests, catching her shoulders. “Would you let that happen?”

Nick wanted to cry. He wanted to fall apart and hold her as she looked up at him with eyes glazed over in fear, and hurt, and… betrayal. Surely he didn’t think of this as that, but that obviously didn’t stop it from crawling it’s way up her frame to take hold of her heart.

“If there’s no other way I can stop this, then I’m not going to drag you two down with me. I need you two safe and alive,” Nick implored.

“I can’t-” she choked, but he shook his head. “Nick I can’t! I can’t do this without you!”

“I’ll be back, I don’t know when but I’ll always come back to you,”

“How can you guarantee that? We could die at any moment- any turn we take, that’s why you’re sending me away! How do you know you’ll come home?” she demanded, following his head when the questions left him searching blindly.

It was true. There was no guarantee he’d come home, but he couldn’t send her off with that.

“What if you don’t come back?”

The desperation in her eyes was painful, the fear shaking her voice. Nick held her sides, his thumbs stroking as he looked down at her stomach.

His face tightened; he almost couldn’t bare to send her away. “Then you’ll always have part of me with you.” But she was already weeping, her fingers curling into his shirt before he could stop tears springing forth to his own eyes.

“No,” she shoved away from him suddenly, hastily wiping her tears from her cheeks and receding into pure fury. “I’m not fucking leaving. I’m not going to leave and sit and stare out the window waiting for you to come home!” she screamed, swiping his hands away.

“Callie-”

“No! I’m not going to let you do this-”

The explosion knocked them both off their feet, and thankfully Callie flung forward right into his arms before they hit the floor.

It left their ears ringing and dust hovering over them. Nick kept her down until enough cleared that he could see the door she’d been standing before had splintered open, some of the wall crumbling and cracked, but it was nothing compared to the completely obliterated hallway that was now an entrance to the outside.

“Are you okay?” he asked quickly, finally moving from over her to help her stand. She nodded, coughing past the dust and smoke while Nick patted her down.

Another resonating explosion that trembled through the ground beneath their feet prompted him to shield her from the door and wall crumbling before him as the chaos ensued outside. Distant, slurred shouts from both Tikka and Fero could be heard, but upon daring a glance down the hall, only more damage befell him.

Callie looked around his shoulder, her heart plummeting when she laid eyes on the home that was the foundation of her greatest childhood memories, now cracked apart, reduced to it’s bones.

“Nick!”

The couple flinched at the voice beside them, but they moved aside just as Ward ran into their room from his own destroyed one, blood carving a path down his face.

“What the fuck is going on?” Nick hissed, the three sheilding their heads when there was another blast.

“He found us-”

There was only a ringing in his ears left after that one.

A blast strong enough to have scattered them about the room, hidden amongst the broken roof and smoke. He shielded his eyes from the debris falling over him, his limbs heavy and vision patchy.

Get up.

Nick groaned; he didn’t want to. His body protested completely. Had he ever felt so fatigued before?

Callie came skidding into his line of sight after staring at the sky through the broken roof, shaking him violently until he lazily looked at her.

His hairless brows furrowed. Why is she bleeding?

She was screaming, that much was obvious. So panicked, yanking at his big body violently as she continued to scream. He tried to stop her, but his eyes were slowly shutting despite the annoying booms around him vibrating harshly through the wooden floors beneath his body.

The dark when he shut his eyes was comforting; it closed out the noise-

His eyes sprung open after a sharp slap whipped across his cheek, and he met Callie’s panicked face again.

“Get the fuck up!” she screamed, pulling on his shoulders.

With the sound returning to his ears brought throbbing to his head and shoulder, and he growled viciously when she pulled on him again into an upright position. He looked- something had driven itself into his shoulder, probably a splinter from the roof. The blood ran warm down his arm, but he looked back to Callie frantically.

“You’re hurt!” he choked, holding her head. Somewhere there was something open, letting blood run freely down the side of her face and neck.

“Get up, we have to go!” she demanded, standing to lean back into her hoisting until he was standing wobbly, trying to steady himself.

“C’mere,” he called, wincing through the weight of the pain ringing through his head, pulling Callie under his arm as they cautiously crept towards the door. “Where’s Daryl?”

“He took off, I don’t know,”

Nick kept her at arms length as he stepped into the cluttered hall, sweeping over anything visible with blurry eyes. He motioned her over, kept behind him as they made their way down, peering cautiously into rooms that were in shambles.

The living room was turned inside out, a wall caved in and water spewing from broken piping, but behind that small fountain was Daryl crouched behind the split table.

“Daryl-”

“Shh!” he hissed, pointing urgently towards the broken windows lining the living room. Cautiously, Nick peered around the corner to look out into the yard.

Where he hoped to see Tikka or Fero was instead a stranger.

An Orc, bearing injuries that bled freely and an aggravated wand in his grasp. He was calm as he canvassed the area despite the heaving breaths Nick could see him taking, and he flinched back from sight just as the intruder turned to face the windows.

Nick pushed Callie into a room, shielding her behind the door as he pressed himself tight to the wall across from her.

Callie held a hand over her own mouth, pinching her eyes shut.

She fought internally to fight the urge to bolt, digging her nails into her palm where her body shook violently.

A heavy step entered the house, and she looked at Nick with wide, terrified eyes.

He mouthed something to her, but she couldn’t decipher it.

A figure running by the window caused her to flinch, her foot shooting out and hitting the door. Nick pulled her away before he even considered if it was heard above the cracking of the house, and shoved her deep into the closet he was beside, closing the door before she could reach for him.

“Makhel! Stop!” a female voice broke through the silence in the living room. “Stop this-”

“Get off!” Nick heard the booming voice of the stranger, than the telltale drop of a body hitting the floor and sliding across the debris. “You wish to stop me now?”

“They have nothing to do with this!” the female voice cried, and there was more shuffling, the grunts of struggling and a recognizable ringing of a wand.

“They helped her-”

“They’re no one!”

A high-pitched shot cracked through lingering dust around them, and silence filled the air again as Nick knelt down, shielded by the door and glancing at the closet Callie was still concealed in.

Another figure came bolting by the window, but there was familiarity in this one.

“Makhel!” That was Tikka, winded, frantic. “No- what’ve you done!?”

“She fed into your deceit-”

“Mahkel-”

“She…” the male’s voice was shaking, heavier breaths following his slurred words. “What did you do to her?”

A crack of thunder broke the air around them, and Nick jerked from the door when a broad body came flying against the door frame, falling to the floor before him.

Gold eyes met each other, and Nick finally was face to face with the rogue Bright; the Orc who was unbridled.

Nick did not flinch, or run, or move in the slightest as he slowly rose before him, their eye contact never breaking despite the wand glowing ominously in his palm. When he was straightened, Nick almost felt like laughing.

He was so fucking young. It pissed him off; what could have happened to this tike to make him so vicious? To literally hunt them like they were game? Killing, destroying- what?

It pulled his lips back over his teeth, growling lowly and shoulders hunching as Makhel fired back his own growl, flashing his impressive tusks. The fury eating away at him was evident just looking at this individual. It burned in his eyes, came off of him in potent waves. If there hadn’t been an active wand in his hand, Nick would’ve lunged by now, the fierce protectiveness shooting to every limb like pins and needles.

Now, they were in a classic Orkish standoff, calculating, waiting, planning, snarly and growls ripping through them like the Earth cracking, but any sound coming through the breaking house was drowned by the pounding in his ears. He was zeroed in, ready to launch forward, all the while comprehending only two words:

Protect Leo.

Familiar thunder cracking around them didn’t make Nick flinch nearly as bad as Makhel, but just as the younger Orc’s head turned towards the door, Nick swung.

It all happened so quickly that by the time they’d landed in the dry, arid trench of a separate town nestled near some snowy mountains, it took a solid minute for Nick to understand what had happened.

Fero had been the one who Carried in, blocking Nick’s hit under his own arm.

When the Elf twisted him to turn towards the closet Callie was reaching desperately from, Nick caught sight of Mikhel reaching for them, jaw opened in a rageful holler, the wand thrusting all too close by Nick’s head. The world fell out beneath them, and in a flurry of flashes and wild colors, he’d been deposited into the dirt and rocks, the white-hot sun shocking him.

His vision was still shaking, his ribs sore from the deep, ragged breaths he was still choking in. Though his vision was tunneled and red, he found Callie quickly, struggling to sit up some feet from him.

“Cal-” he coughed, the pulses in his vision now a painful throb as he struggled to her.

Check your mate. He might’ve defiled her.

He shook his head clear of the intruding thoughts just as he reached her, carefully lifting her despite his arm seizing from the wound in his shoulder.

The slap across his cheek was almost enough to throw him off his footing, but once he realized it was Callie who had smacked him, he steadied, looking at her in horror.

“What the fuck was that!?” she screamed, coming after him again, but he blocked her blow.

“Callie what the-”

“You try to send me away!? Are you fucking kidding me!?” she continued to holler, shoving against his chest and hitting his arms that raised in defense. “What if you would’ve died in that attack and I wasn’t there!?” her voice started to break from her screaming, her hits weakening quickly.

“That’s exactly why I wanted to send you home!” he yelled back, grabbing thrashing arms. “Callie stop!”

“Fuck you! You could’ve died and I’d never be able to say goodbye!” she sobbed, hitting him in rapid succession a few more times before she stepped back from him, breathlessly. “You can’t-” she gasped, stumbling. “You can’t throw yourself away like that,”

Heat collected across Nick’s cheek, but he pushed that ire down. He’d never seen her so… hysterical.

He exhaled, reaching for her. “Callie-”

His reach was pushed away, her head shaking. “You don’t understand,” she breathed while leaning on her knees, head hung.

Blood dripped from the ends of her hair to the sand below her, her breaths as dry as the landscape around them.

“Is Leo-”

“Nick!”

They both turned, finding Ward some ways away, motioning for them to come towards him quickly.

Nick and Callie looked at one another before she stepped away first, struggling to balance over the rocky terrain. He offered his hand, but she withdrew any chance she got, always a few steps ahead of him.

When they came to where Ward, a strange scene unfolded before them.

“Who’s that?” Callie aked, staring at another woman laid in the shade of a low tree, her back turned to them while Tikka spoke softly to her, Fero scrambling to rip open a backpack.

“She was with him,” Ward said, arms crossed and dirty, some scrapes around his face. “With that fuckin’ Orc,”

They looked back. “What happened?”

“He found us,” Tikka looked up, grabbing some of the supplies from the backpack with bloody hands to rip open the packaging. “He casted a spell and it just,” she exhaled sharply, flattening out squares of gauze. “It took us by surprise,”

“He destroyed my parents house,” Callie mumbled, eyes cutting downwards.

“But why is she here?” Nick pressed.

“He fired at her,” Fero shot back, helping Tikka carefully turn Rania. They muffled her cries with a shirt, pushing her thighs down from her stomach when she tried to curl into a ball. A gruesome, gaping hole was blown into her stomach, blood staining the sand beneath her. Tikka’s eyes cut up to Ward.

“You didn’t help,” she ground out, pressing the gauze into her wound despite her cries heightening. Callie flinched.

Ward stuttered. “How-”

“You could’ve called the wand!” she snapped, lifting her hand to switch gauze. “I told you to!”

He tried to form words, his face tight in anger, but the truth was, he’d been scared, downright terrified looking that wildeyed Orc in the eye with a wand in his hand. “I couldn’t…”

“You could have! You’re lucky she got you out of there!” Tikka exclaimed, moving to gently hush Rania when she protested loudly as they continued to press into the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

“But what the fuck happened?” Nick interrupted.

“He attacked us in the yard first before he started firing on the house,” Tikka explained, pressure resolute against her stomach. “We were split from Ward,”

“I was inside, after the roof caved in over you two,” Ward pointed to Nick and Callie. “I was in the living room n’... and he came in but he didn’t see me until she came runnin’ and he attacked her,”

“She Carried him here, and I followed so he couldn’t call my wand,” Tikka huffed, relieved to see the bleeding was slowing. “Fero was the last to find you two,”

“I came face to face with him,” Nick muttered, recalling those tense moments that were colored red.

Fero turned, nodding towards him. “He got your ear,”

Nick’s brows knit together, and when he moved to touch his ear, he was met with warm blood and intense stinging under his touch.

“He cut your ear,” Callie noted, cringing.

“How bad?” he exclaimed, and flinched when a roll of gauze hit his chest that he fumbled to catch.

“It’s half gone,”

“What!?” he yelled, searching frantically for anything reflective. But when he tried to twitch his ear, it was just… absent. Not even numb, just gone. Carefully he pinched along his ear until he was met with the pads of his own fingers instead of the point of an ear.

Constricted yelps from Rania brought them back to the real dilemma, watching her ball the shirt against her face as Tikka and Fero secured bandaging around her waist, doing their best to keep the sand from her bloody skin.

“Can’t you heal it?” Callie asked, but Tikka shook her head, face sorrowing.

“I can’t heal what another wand inflicts,” she rasped, at last finishing and pulling her ripped, stained shirt back down her stomach, reaching to smooth back her thick hair plastered against face. Now that the shirt was moved, they could see the short tusks and sparse coloring across her dark skin.

Rania grasped her hand shakily, nodding in silent thanks as she struggled to slow her breathing.

“We need to find cover,” Fero interjected gently, Tikka agreeing. “Can you stand?”

Rania looked to Fero in exhaustion, but she nodded determinedly, breathing deep before carefully curling forward with immense difficulty. The elves were there to ease her up as she yelped into a sitting position, a jacket thrown over her shoulders to mask some of the damage done to her by the time she made it to her feet, but Fero still pulled her arm behind his neck.

“Are you all okay?” Tikka asked, packing up the remainder of the back-pack. They all nodded despite their own blood and injuries covering them in various spots. Nothing could match up to a hole blown through the abdomen.

“C’mon then,” Fero jerked his head, slowly pulling Rania along, patient as she fought to take every step.

“Stay off the sidewalks until we find somewhere, I’ll go ahead,” Tikka called to him as she jogged onwards, leaving the others to trail behind him at Rania’s pace.

Nick looked on at Callie worriedly, itching to move her hair aside so he could find the source of the blood spilling down her cheek, but one cold glare from her kept his hands at his sides. She didn’t bother walking beside him, and instead stayed before him, glancing back when she’d stumble over a rock or lose balance.

You didn’t protect her.

Nick pinched his eyes shut, his head hanging as he walked after them. Shut up.

Following the barren dirt road lead them to a series of small houses, barely on their last legs and few inhabited, but the one Tikka chose looked to still have some kind of occupant despite being empty. Fresh fruit was on the battered wooden countertop, and a broom sat in the corner with dirt and dust swept across the concrete floors.

“I’ll take care of them if they come back,” she reassured. Neither knew what ‘taking care of’ entitled, but in all honesty, all of them were too shaken and exhausted to really care.

Rania was dragging her feet by the time Fero, with the help of Ward now, found an old, weathered couch to place her across. The wound had started to bleed again, running the length of her leg and turning her carob skin a few shades lighter. Sweat lined her completely, her wild hair drenched and loose shirt clung to her.

The girl was clearly in agony, her condition obviously worse than before. Vicious trembles racked down her form, and when she’d managed to open her eyes, the blood vessels were burst and staining the whites.

“That needs to be stopped,” Callie commented as she looked on at the soaking of Rania’s shirt. Who ever had been there had thankfully left a basket of clean laundry on the table, including a multitude of wash clothes that Callie scooped up before kneeling by the injured halfling.

“Be careful,” Nick reached for her, but Callie’s glare stopped him.

“What can she do like this?” she snapped, but now Nick had just as sour of an expression to lash back with.

“Are you serious?”

“Both of you shut up,” Tikka cut in, going about removing the soaked gauze.

“Stop-” Rania coughed, but it was too late.

Tikka’s hands withdrew, sitting back on her heels. When she looked at Rania’s pained eyes, swelling with tears, it was evident she’d already known her fate was sealed.

Callie had initially reached to apply pressure, but upon seeing the white, stone like flesh cinching around the wound that was already closing, she too withdrew, looking to Tikka.

“What is- what’s…?” she stuttered, but Tikka only moved to hold Rania’s hand.

The two looked at one another, the acceptance unwanted, but this far gone, there was nothing any of them could do. No doctor could reverse the damage already coursing its way through her body, inflicted by the one that had promised to throw his life down in protection.

“I tried to stop him,” Rania wept, but Tikka shook her head. “Ele se foi- sinto muito,”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Fero kneeled down, his hand placed of theirs.

“Eu poderia ter parado ele naquela noite,”

“No, Rania. Makhel was gone long before that. You’re not responsible for this,” Tikka held her face now, wiping away the tears that slipped down her round cheeks, her once vibrant hazel eyes shiting in depth as the cursed spell rampaged throughout her.

Rania nodded, doing her best to take a deep breath in, but coughed on the exhalation, blood pouring over her tusked lips.

Callie handed her the cloth, helping her lift her hand to her mouth.

Rania looked over the human slowly, her eyes lingering on her stomach. “I’m sorry to you, too,”

Callie’s brows furrowed. “He attacked your home. You’re,” Rania’s hand fell to hang off the couch, fingertips barely grazing her stomach as Nick lunged forward to pull Callie back.

“She won’t do anything!” Tikka barked, but Nick’s actions were resolute, unwilling to release Callie even as she pulled against his hold about her shoulders.

“I am sorry,” Rania craned her neck to look at Nick. “I am sorry,” she exhaled, falling back into a slump, her eyes sliding shut.

“You need to rest,” Tikka urged, speaking to her softly as Fero went about finding more cushions to ease her painful body as much as possible.

Callie at last got herself from under Nick’s hold, glancing back at him. He tried to soften his face, but irritation was starting to prick across his skin. She hadn’t given him any indication to her or Leo’s condition, and he assumed if he asked, even now, she’d give him little in her furious state.

He looked to Rania as Callie followed Ward deeper into the house, and he was surprised to see her looking up at him, barely conscious that was.

Though he tried to care less about the woman who’d been at the side of the Orc who nearly ended all of their lives, he couldn’t help but feel some sympathy.

The man she’d trusted turned on her, for what reason he didn’t know, but it wasn’t only that.

Staring her in the eyes struck a deep chord within him.

What’s to say his own halfling wouldn’t meet a similar fate? He knew how pushed they were to the brinks of society, how many times he'd been called to scenes of suicides to halflings that saw it as their only option left in the last days of their lives.

With a low chuff, he moved away, resilient in his efforts to stay near Callie until she brought down the wall she’d built between them.

Rania’s eyes followed him until he’d left the room, leaving her to look back to Tikka who was wiping around her wound carefully, riding the blood splashed across her skin. The marble coloration was spreading, but the bleeding had stopped, unlike the pain that would continue to increase.

“Is he the Orc?” she asked softly, her voice breaking.

Tikka nodded, a grin barely curling the corner of her mouth. “That’s the one,”

“He reminds me of my father,” she breathed, stiffly adjusting her head against the cushion.

Tikka finished, handing Fero the stained gauze and pulling the quilt thrown over the back of the couch over her, even moving her hair behind her pointed ears before grabbing her hand. “Do they know?”

Rania shook her head slowly, eyes still closed. “I haven’t spoken to them since that week before,”

“Rania,” she waited until her eyes cracked open. “You need to go home,”

“What’s the point? I’ll be dead before they can even make it here,” she forced out, hand raising to cover her face as it pinched. “I don’t want them to know what happened,”

Nick rolled his eyes as their conversation was lost in the distance he put between them, following Callie and Ward to the back of the small house where they’d found clothes and rubbing alcohol in a cramped bathroom.

He felt like an awkward bystander as he watched her go about dividing the cloths up and dousing them with alcohol, even helping Ward with the scrapes across his cheek and arms.

“You need to get looked at too,” Nick piped in, and Ward stepped aside to allow her to move to him, but she didn’t even bat an eye.

“Callie,” Nick tried, but she only glanced at him, tipping the bottle onto the rag again.

“Are you really ignoring me?” the Orc snapped, but the purposeful turn of her shoulders so her back was to him said everything he needed.

Heat flushed across his cheeks, and he was sure a few droplets of blood spewed from his ear with the way his heart kicked into high gear.

“Daryl,” he growled, and Ward was swift in maneuvering between them, happy to tend to himself elsewhere.

He leaned in the doorway, an unmoving wall she knew she had no chance of squeezing past. So at last she turned to him, arms crossed as his and provocation rolling off both of them. He knew she was uncomfortable; she would try but could never hide the slight wincing of her eyes when she’d have a particularly gnarly cramp or stop herself from swaying when her back ached too severely.

Throwing in bodily injuries and exhaustion was only aggravating that.

“What’s hurt?” he asked, but she shrugged.

“Haven’t had a minute to look,” she tilted her head, jaw set.

“Leo?”

“Quiet,”

He sighed. “Can you give me more than that?”

“How am I supposed to know?”

His arms unfolded, taking a menacing step towards her. “Don’t act like you’re not bothered by that just because you’re pissed at me,”

“I have every right to be pissed at you,” she piqued, but a wide step into the bathroom sent her stepping back, flinching when the door slammed heatedly behind him.

“Then be fucking angry, but I’m not going to sit and feel bad when I was trying to keep you two safe!” he yelled, even leaning down to get eye level. “You’re always first to tell me how unwilling you are to put up with any shit that could affect you or Leo and now you’re spinning on me and guilting me into doing the same? Are you fucking kidding me Callie?”

“It’s not the same-”

“You’re right, it’s worse! We have roofs falling on our heads and shots firing everywhere and you have the audacity to turn on me and make me the bad guy for doing what I’m supposed to be doing!” he finished, leaving her pressed tight against the wall, staring up at him with a deep frown and angrily arched brows, tears glazing over her eyes.

“This isn’t my fault-”

“I never said it was!” he boomed, throwing his fist into the wall beside her. She cowered away, pulling her arms to her chest.

He was huffing, watching her as he shifted side to side angrily. “You can do whatever you want, hate me all you need, but don’t put Leo in the center of it. You’d never look at me again if I did that to you Callie, and I sure as hell won’t look at you if you pull that shit again.”

It pissed her off to no end that what he said was true; that she couldn’t battle it.

She’d directed all her anger from their situation onto him knowing full well she would’ve thought to send him to safety if Leo were attached to him. He was doing exactly what she was despite being the one who would’ve stayed behind in the middle of it, all to make sure they were safe. Now she’d gone and effectively pushed her rock into a state of rage, leaving her… alone, it now seemed.

By the time she’d come to this realization, he’d already left the bathroom, slamming the door behind himself again to leave her with her fists balled against her eyes in repressed sobs.

Fuck this- fuck everything about it.

Callie bit another choke of cries back, straightening herself, pushing down everything that hurt across her body.

She stared at the door, clicking her teeth together and wiping her cheeks, collecting some sticky blood along the way. A pitiful whine made it past her lips when she waited and he didn’t come back in.

First instinct when she felt like her world was collapsing was to run to Nick. Where was he now that she’d pushed him away?

Find him.

She was across the narrow bathroom in a few shaking steps, yanking hard against the doorknob- of course he slammed it hard enough to jam- to step into the hallway, searching through the small living room that was empty.

She exhaled, fists curling at her sides and eyes jumping frantically.

“Callie,”

A quick spin found Nick leaned just outside the bathroom door, his temper brought down considerably as he looked on at her in shame.

A small whimper came forth as he pushed off the wall to open his arms just as she’d stumbled into them, pressing her face tight against his chest and her body against him, his hands sweeping across her back, his brawny arms finally locking tightly around her.

Soft sniffles compelled him to wiggle his head down to press kisses against her forehead. “I’m sorry,” she croaked. “You’re right, I wasn’t thinking,”

Nick nodded, resting his cheek where his kisses once did. “It’s over with,” he moved to rest his chin there, looking over the sparse living room, but then uncurled the arm around her neck when her sticky hair reminded him of more pressing matters. “You gotta get looked at,”

“Couple more seconds,” she pleaded, clasping her hands behind him. “You scared the shit outta me at the house,”

Nick leaned back to look at her quizzically as she slid her cheek up to gaze at him. “You passed out. I didn’t think you were gonna wake up,” she frowned.

“How long was I out for?” his brows knit together.

“Couple minutes,”

He chuffed contritely. “What a great father I’ve been so far,”

“Don’t feel too bad. I tried to convince you I could keep a premature baby alive with no doctors,”

She felt his laugh rumble through his chest, prompting her to look up at him again.

Callie’s eyes fluttered shut when he pressed his lips to hers, leaning deeper into his hold when he held her jaw so he could continue to caress her lips sweetly, the last of his bubbling rage falling to his feet.

“How’re y’all makin’ out with a missing ear and hole blown into your head?”

Callie felt Nick’s displeased sigh before he looked behind her to see Ward trudging towards them, still holding her tight against his chest as his partner came to stand beside the two.

“Glad you two made up so I ain’t caught in the middle’a one of those petty fights again,” he sassed, but Callie stared at him defiantly, burrowing her face tighter against Nick as he held around her shoulders. “You okay mamas?”

She nodded, unwillingly pulling from her Orc when Daryl started handing off various medical instruments and bandaging from the worn backpack Tikka had brought along.

“We’ve had all this the entire time?” Nick asked.

“Nah, this is uh… what’s-her-name’s bag,” he explained, grabbing some gauze and tape for himself.

“Rania,” Callie corrected, meeting Nick’s vexed expression. “What?”

“She’s part of the reason we’re here,”

“Then why else would she save you?” Callie pressed Ward, but he was answerless. “Look at her now,”

“Look at us now.” Ward muttered, walking away. She rolled her eyes, returning to the matter at hand.

“Hold still,” she again said, face lined in concentration as she carefully- despite her hands being more unsteady than usual- used the metal tweezers to delicately pick out the debris left in the stab wound in Nick’s shoulder. The worst, which had been a few jagged pieces of rooftop and a piece of wood splintering off of the biggest fragment into his flesh had passed, but every light brush of gauze or the tweezers shot down his arm, causing a hard recoil or loud growl.

“There’s like a little pebble or something,” she winced, but a hard shudder and shake of his head stopped her. “Reached your limit?”

He nodded, exhaling hard when she dropped the tweezers in the sink beside him. “It’s the poking. Makes me nauseous,”

“I’m sorry,” she patted his cheek gently before tearing open more packets of gauze, preparing a makeshift bandage.

Nick was fighting back a growl when he wiped a doused cloth over his clipped ear, his line of sight moving behind Callie and over Rania, still laid across the couch. She hadn’t made a peep since being laid there, but he knew she wasn’t sleeping. Occasionally she’d tilt her head in the direction of a sound, quietly observing the world around her without sight.

Her fragile state didn’t convince Nick, however.

He’d seen a hole blasted through Leila only to rise again and nearly kill him. Bright’s were a race all in their own; underestimating their ability wasn’t something he did lightly.

“Hush,” Callie snapped lowly, smoothing the tape along his skin, silencing his low protests.

“They should have her tied up,”

She glared down at him flatly. “Did you see the hole in her stomach?”

“I’ve seen what Bright’s can bounce back from,” he retorted.

“There’s no bouncing back from a dolo spell,” Tikka walked into the room, carrying with her a few bottles of water and another backpack.

“A what?” Callie asked, changing places with Nick once he’d pulled his shirt back down.

“It’s the deceit spell. It maims, then heals, but the damage is left behind to tear you from the inside out,” she interpreted, glancing at the two. “I can’t believe he used it on her,”

“Can’t be surprised your students use what you teach,” Nick mumbled, grunting when Callie pinched his side. He shrugged, helping her move her sticky hair aside to see the wound across her scalp.

“We don’t teach torture spells. They take time, practice- practice on living subjects,”

Callie hissed when he found the wound, which was actually a small section of her scalp that’d been lifted from her skull. Hesitation stuttered his actions.

“The other Brights,”

The three looked to Rania who’d opened her eyes, still bloodshot and sunken. “I think he practiced on them,” she rasped, shaking her head. “He was as absent as he was involved,”

“That accounts for you too,” Nick commented, enduring a harder smack to his side.

“Knock it off,” Callie ground out.

“No! They’ve been telling us nothing but how dangerous they are and how imperative it is to stop them and now you want me to show mercy? After her little boyfriend tried to kill you? After he killed Pucca?” he grilled, taking turns looking between the girls.

“That was before this,” Tikka tried, but Nick was unshakable as he waved a hand and turned back to Callie.

“How do you know she won’t turn on us?”

For that, Tikka’s silence was his only response.

“What if she leads him to us?” he pressed, and caught Rania arching her neck to glance back at Tikka who’s eyes darted away nervously.

Nick scoffed, shaking his head. “I’m not trusting her until she’s dead or in MTF’s hands.”

He pulled Callie off of the table carefully to lead her away, but she still looked at Rania apologetically before they cut deeper into the house. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, or maybe it was the hormones that opened up avenues of empathy she didn’t know she had, but something in her spoke for Rania’s protection.

It could’ve also been because of her own halfling calling for attention every time her stomach growled.

Tikka hesitated before sorting out the remaining items in hand, her movements uncoordinated.

“They think we’ve found you all this time? On our own?”

Rania’s voice troubled her enough to drop something, but Tikka couldn’t find the words after a few tense seconds passed.

“Does Fero even know you’ve been leading us here since the beginning?”

Now she stopped altogether, turning, but didn’t cross the room to face Rania. “No,”

“Why?”

Tikka fidgeted. “He wouldn’t have stayed with me,”

Saying it out loud shed light on how ridiculous that actually was. The same logic she’d once used to convince herself that was of sound reason wasn’t even traceable across the tracks of her mind once her own foolishness set in, and Rania’s silence only burderened that.

Tikka didn’t have the courage to face the twice betrayal in Rania’s eyes as she rushed past her, choosing to dart through the house to find Fero.

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“If we can just get him into the open we’d have the advantage,” Tikka rubbed her eyes, leaning onto her knees towards the fire.

“We’d still have to disarm him,” Nick grumbled, cheek rested against Callie’s head where she leaned into his side.

“That’s Ward,” Tikka pointed to Daryl who was leaned tiredly into his own palm, lifting either leg to keep his feet warm in the icy night. “I can keep his attention but if you don’t call that wand-”

“I know, I know, won’t happen again,” he assured half-heartedly, still picking at the last of his canned food.

“We still need somewhere that has cover,” Fero prodded the fire, tossing in a few leafy branches to keep it lively.

“Cover around here means going into town,” Callie said through her jaw; she had no desire to lift her head, and could barely keep her eyes open as she stared at the flames, wrapped in found jackets and a blanket for good measure, but even with all of that and Nick’s arm around her, the biting cold still found it’s way in.

“At least it’s a barren town,” Fero cracked, unphased by their glares.

“Is it really just as simple as Daryl calling the wand?” Nick asked. “What if he does that thing to get away?”

“Carry? I mean, there’s a possibility. I could stun him beforehand or at least try so he couldn’t sneak off like that,” Tikka rationalized.

“This whole plan is sittin’ on that then,” Daryl miffed.

“A plan is better than no plan,” she fought back, her line of sight cutting to the somewhat house behind him, then to Fero. “Can we take her with?”

Fero’s brow wrinkled. “You know she doesn’t have that long. I’d give her another 24 hours max,”

“We can’t just leave her here alone,”

Callie adjusted herself so her chin rested in her palm. “What happened to her? How did she end up here?” she asked, ignoring Nick’s low groan.

“I told you she was-”

“Attacked, I know, but how did she end up with him?” she pressed.

Tikka smoothed her hands down her thighs to her knees. “They were lovers. In a compound full of Elves I imagine they found great solace in each other,” she explained earnestly.

“Why didn’t he stop with the ones who attacked her?” Ward asked then.

“By then they’d both been beaten into the dirt by everyone at least once, so everyone became a target. His rage isn’t random, it was dormant,” Tikka tossed another twig into the fire, setting loose a small whisp of sparks that crackled loudly.

“How old are they?” Nick asked.

“They’re both 19,” Tikka spoke surely, the same statement having haunted her thoughts before.

Nick scoffed then. “They’re fucking babies,”

“Long past their adolescence where they’re from,” Fero defended, locking eyes with the Orc who had now come to shrug off anything the curly haired Elf said.

Nick still shook his head. “Like it’s the only place with those conditions. I can’t believe we’re running from a fucking child,”

“Not for long. This plan will work,” Tikka tried to say encouragingly between them, but their hearts were void of any hope just as their stomachs were of any decent food. Instead, they looked on to the fire, collecting its warmth when the world around them felt cold and unfamiliar.

She too looked to the flames once again. “It’ll work this time.”

It was silently that they all started to wander back into the small house after the fire had started to dwindle, spitting into low embers that barely kept their hands warm.

Nick reserved the only bed for Callie, hissing his own curses in return when Fero objected, but both women silenced their lovers and moved to separate ends of the house, leaving Ward to stretch across an old, creaking rocking chair he was longer than.

It was also decided upon that night that around the clock watches needed to be kept, and to Nick’s insistence, in the kitchen where Rania still laid, unable to even sit up pointed out by none other than Callie. Even if Tikka and Daryl hadn’t kept up on his persistence, he still trudged into the kitchen to sit at the windows side once Ward had come to wake him for his turn.

He’d almost forgotten they were holed up in an unknown individuals home somewhere deep in the hills of Mexico when he spun groggily from his slumber to face Daryl, and untangling from Callie once realization had set in made it all the harder to come to terms with their situation, again.

Unwillingly he slipped his arm from under her head, his touch running down her side to linger at her hip as he gazed down upon her, sleeping and for a short while oblivious to the danger closing in on them. Nick almost couldn’t summon the willpower to leave her side, even in the cramped bed, when he pulled her hair from her neck and face, grinning when she curled into a tighter ball, her arm draped over her bulging stomach.

I’m sorry. He pulled his hand back into his lap, looking at her silhouette under the moonlight peaking through the lace curtains as he stood. The patterns dripping over her were foreign, but her curves carved deeper into his memory than his own fingerprints.

Nick walked away before he allowed the stunning urge to pick her up and carry her out into the night, to take her anywhere else but where they were until he found his way home overtook him, but that desire burned to animosity, and it showed in his displeased glower when he walked into the kitchen and his eyes drifted over Rania.

It still shook the occasional growl from his lungs when he’d sigh, staring tiredly out the dirty window and over the pitch black landscape, only a dull house light here and there, sometimes the distant call of a coyote.

Nick yawned wide, leaning back in the small chair that creaked beneath his weight. The longer he struggled to keep his eyes open the more he realized how useless this watch was. There wasn’t much of anything Nick could do himself if Makhel came waltzing up again.

He glanced back at Rania. She could’ve already alerted Makhel; he could’ve been on his way.

He growled, crossing his arms.

“You’re right, you know,”

Nick turned in his chair to find Rania looking at him, and now that he was concentrating on her, he could see the pale marbling starting to discolor her hands and across her jaw. He glanced at the living room, but didn’t know why it made him uneasy to speak to her without Tikka present.

“Excuse me?”

“About what you said earlier, being held accountable for this mess,” she rasped, eyes illuminating in the minimal light when the low beams of a car swung by. “I had opportunities to stop him and I didn’t,”

Nick scoffed, swiveling back to face the window to hide the annoyance flickering across his features.

“I was scared. He was all I had,”

“You could have ran,” he blurted before thinking, turning head just enough to make sure his words made it to her.

“That’s easier said than done. Who would’ve believed me?” she asked, but Nick didn’t acknowledge her. She only had the plain of his back and an ear flicking in annoyance. “I know, not even Orcs like talking to halflings,”

“Don’t put that on me. I may not like you but I’m not that low,” he snapped vehemently below his breath, spinning in his seat. “Plus, you’re a hybrid,”

“And you’re expecting a halfling of your own,” she stated, conjuring enough energy to grin at him, and it only grew when his nose crinkled and brows knit together.

Nick continued to glare until her smile dwindled, but she continued to stare back, clearly not unnerved by an Orcs first line of defense: their looks alone.

“Why did you save Daryl?” he came right out with, at last shaking the adamancy in which she gazed at him with. Momentary guilt flushed him; the girl was literally dying and here he was doing his best to make her feel worse about it.

“I understand why Makhel did what he did in the beginning, because I can say that if I’d been forced to simply ignore the attackers that crippled my lover, I’d have done the same. But with every other Bright killed, it went from revenge to drunk off the satisfaction of killing. Somehow, along the way, I let his hand go and let him wander away, and now I can’t find him,” she confessed lowly, her head rolling to the side to hide the tear that skipped down her cheek.

“None of you deserve to have him trying to tear your lives apart, and when I tried-” her voice broke, hands fumbling weakly over her stomach. “I couldn’t allow him to take another life.They were not his to decide upon,”

“Even if it means giving up your own?” Nick dared, looking to her again.

“If mine ending that night could’ve prevented this, I’d gladly hand it over,”

Nick’s face tensed in unease. “You’re too young to be throwing your life away like that,” he said calmer, an heir of combative nature in his tone.

Her shoulder rose as her chin dipped in what he guessed was a weak shrug. “I’ve lived what my life would’ve always had. I’m not destined for great things. I experienced everything I wanted once, and I’m at peace with that,” Rania declared softly, her eyes sliding shut.

Nick studied those words and let silence pass between them for some time, continuing to look beyond the sparse street outside.

Sometimes he thought he’d see shadows shooting by, and would tense, ready to fight, but they’d melt back into the night, completely untraceable. Just like Makhel had been under Kandomere’s watchful eye.

“How did you keep finding them?”

Rania’s eyes cracked open.

“We knew about you weeks through MTF, but she said you two were trailing them for months. You happened to know exactly where we were going when we left LA,” Nick explained, finally unraveling the confusion that had swam circles in his mind.

“There wasn’t much finding as there was following,” Rania simply stated, and Nick’s stomach flipped.

“She left a trail?”

“Like breadcrumbs,”

Nick’s face twisted in disgust. “He was in my house- he found us at Ward’s,” he exhaled.

“We found you in Mexico when she wanted us to,”

He was looking at her in horror, feeling as if all the shadows about him were suddenly the exact shapes of a rogue Bright, ready to cast the next spell directly into the side of his head, then Callie’s, and everyone else's.

“He’ll find us,” Nick stated, definitely, and she nodded slowly.

“She’ll make sure of it,”

When Nick stood suddenly, Rania raised her hand. “Don’t run. She’s traitorous, but she’s also your protection. Makhel knows your scent, knows your wife’s. I will be forever sorry, but let Tikka fall with him, not you.”

Nick was glanced around frantically a few more times before rushing into the living room where he walked into Tikka stood on the other side of the dividing wall, listening and looking up at him in horror.

He burned to throw her against a wall and strangle the life from her… but what Rania said echoed in his mind. She really was their only protection.

Nick choked down a pained whimper, his face a world of hurt.

“Jakoby-”

She flattened against the wall when he pointed threateningly, snarling lowly down at her with bared teeth. Tikka whimpered when he let his fist slam into the wall beside her head in restraint, stomping past her to the back of the house.

She thought of chasing after him and pleading her case, but truth rang louder than reason, and she could only assume that this had been the incident to break his trust in her completely.

“Is there something you want to tell me too?” Fero’s voice floated to her calmly, and she spun to find him stretched across a thin cushioned couch, peeking at her from under his arm draped over his eyes.

Nick had to stop the door from slamming when he reflexively swung it behind himself, but it was still arduous to do anything quietly when all he wanted was to tear the floorboards up and crack furniture over each other.

He paced, hard breaths flaring through his nostrils. The bone deep chill of the night didn’t even bother him anymore. He could’ve fueled a locomotive with the insane measure of fury coming off of him, but there was nowhere to channel it. He had to push it down, contain it. There was no option other than to sit, and wait, and do what he could to keep Callie and Leo safe, and that was the worst of it.

There was absolutely nothing he could do to keep the danger from them that wasn’t the strength he had in his own hands, or the fierce protectiveness in his own heart.

He leaned against his knees, fighting to catch his breath when the thoughts in his head melted together into a screaming tornado.

It was some time before taking a breath felt fulfilling again; like his lungs were capable of holding it in before gasping it out, and soon he found himself sat beside the warped window that distorted everything outside, but he knew he wouldn’t gain even a minutes worth of sleep. Even if he, a mere Orc who was no match against a Bright, could slow Makhel down long enough to give Callie a running start, he’d remain awake to make sure she had that chance.

That in itself plagued him greatly. There was no second thoughts about throwing his life down to spare hers, but to think there was never a chance to see her walk down a church’s isle and claim his last name as her own, or to see how much of himself was in Leo almost brought him to his knees.

He ran his hands from his face to the back of his head, his knee bouncing wildly.

“My bad habits rubbing off on you?”

Callie’s voice washed over him like a warm blanket on a cold night. He found her big eyes next, heavy with sleep and blinking the last of it away as she looked at him.

He could only muster a weak grin, looking down at his hands.

“What’s wrong?” she asked softly, but before he shrugged, there was a long pause, long enough for her to see the torment swimming across his features, even in the darkness of the room. “Tell me,”

He wanted to tell her, he really did, but the cautionary glance he took towards the door prompted her to rise, suppressing a groan as she moved to sit before him on the dresser under the window.

“Tell me baby,” she urged gently, holding his hands.

The devastation in his eyes frightened her.

“Tikka’s been leading him to us all along. Since the beginning… she’s made sure they always knew where they were, and now where we were,” he croaked, dropping his eyes from hers. “He’ll come for us again and he’ll know exactly where because she’ll make sure of it,”

It rose goosebumps along Callie’s arms and neck. “How do you know?”

“Rania,”

“What if she’s-”

“Tikka heard it all. She didn’t deny any of it,” he finalized, and Callie looked down at their hands as he did.

Her thumbs traced the patterns splashed across knuckles.

“I didn’t think it was a coincidence that he kept finding us,” Callie admitted, and Nick nodded.

“I didn’t want to think it was true,” he sighed, looking up as she did. He could see the gravity of realization setting deeper into her mind, but Callie surprisingly remained composed, far better than he had. “Do you know how much I love you?”

Confused flickered across her features.

“If it weren’t for you, I don’t think I ever would’ve smiled again, or laughed,”

She tilted her head. “Nick,”

“I owe you everything. Before I met you I was okay with… I was okay dying at work. The thought of leaving it all behind didn’t bother me much, but you gave me a reason to make it home everyday just as much as one to get up every morning,” he confessed, squeezing her hands when his words clearly unsettled her. “You gave my world color again,”

A gentle push against his chest furrowed his thoughts. “You gotta give yourself more credit than that. I mean I know I’m pretty awesome,” she paused to catch his smirk. “But you were the one who wandered into the store. You walked into my life at just the right time,” she spoke sincerely, stilling his head when he shook in disagreement. “But I expect years and years with you, Nick. I don’t want anything less than forever,”

He fought the tremble in his bottom lip and chin, his eyes pinching shut, falling into her chest when she wound her arms around his neck.

Nick clung to her desperately, his fingers curling into her clothing as he squeezed around her.

“I love him,” he wavered, dropping his cheek to her stomach, his arms sliding down her frame. “I wanted to meet him so badly-” he barely stopped that sob, pressing his face there.

“No, Nick stop, look at me,” she demanded, barely able to hoist him back up to hold his misty cheeks. “Don’t you dare give up yet. I want to meet the son we fought 3 years to make together and I need you there. He needs to know how strong his father is,” she pleaded, smoothing her thumbs over a stray tear across his cheek. “We need you, baby,”

It was weak, and unsure, but Nick nodded, closing his eyes to rest his forehead against hers as she softly calmed him, chasing away the dark clouds raining over him.

“I love you,” she kissed into his lips. “I love you so, so much,”

He cradled her face now, leaving no minute space between their mouths as fell into her spell, moaning softly as she whispered sweet words to him only; ones that he’d come to recognize as a secret only for him, always leading him further into her bounding love.

So when her tongue tentatively poked into his mouth, it didn’t strike him as dangerous or irresponsible to take advantage of what could be their last night together as a couple, or as a family.

His big hands dragged over her curves, her own smoothing down his sides, holding his hips as she sighed into his kisses.

Her starved whimpers shot heat down to every nerve ending of his body when she arched towards his palm that slid down her chest, his open, gasping mouth soon following to lav his tongue over the skin of her throat that craned back.

Callie cried softly into the night when he pulled her by the hair aside to sink his teeth under her jaw, only daring to prick her skin this time knowing no matter what happened, she’d be his forever. Her blood coated his tongue, and she felt the guttural growl rumble through both of them.

Her fingers digging into his arms told him to keep going, as did the urgency of her kisses when she caught his mouth again, ignoring her own coppery blood and pressing as tight as she could against him with her belly in the way.

She didn’t protest when he pulled her from the dresser and spun her, but instead leaned back into his chest, pushing down her own jeans and panties as he buried his face in her hair, her breasts nearly flattening in his tight hold.

Nick groused noisily, a hand skipping down her body to cup her sex, his middle fingers pressing into her soft lips. He drank in that soft sigh, and for a few moments turned her jaw to watch how her plump lips parted in breathless moans as he circled her clit slowly, blessing her hot mouth with featherlight kisses.

She started to loosen in his hold, her hand over his as he touched her only how he knew she adored, almost content with watching her fall apart in his arms.

He pressed his face into her cheek to inhale and taste her skin while he made quick work of pushing down his own jeans until he sprung free.

Callie always knew how to arch her body so she could remain close, and with a hand around her throat and another guiding himself, he pushed into her slick center, both of them moaning as the inches passed until he was seated tight against her cheeks.

Nick chuffed loudly, unable to open his eyes or control the louder moans as he rocked into her, committed to remembering- no, living these last moments like they were their last.

He soaked in her walls tight around him, her soft pleas and whimpers in his name, her chest heaving under his touch as he caressed her entirely.

She worshipped his brawny body against hers, always steadfast and protective, his heavy arm around her ensuring she’d never fall from his grasp.

His hand fell over her mouth when she sobbed, smiling, her cries heightening with his face pressed down against her shoulder and his hips slapping against her ass forcefully, barely muffled by the small room they were in or the thin door that hid their meeting. He growled in her ear, speaking to her in soft Orkish prayers, her name slipping in here and there, whispering her own words of admiration once his hand lifted from her mouth to kiss her firmly.

If he wasn’t staring out the window, he was looking at his fingers making curls with her hair cascaded over her shoulder, sometimes peering down at her when she’d shift at his side. Her cheek slid around his chest when he kissed the top of her head, pressing that much closer to him.

They basked in their afterglow silently, only the soft brushes of their fingertips across the backs of their hands or stolen kisses being the words they needn’t speak.

Nick moved to feel every one of Leo’s kicks, eventually changing place with Callie to rest his head below her bust so he could speak softly to his son and tell him for every kick counted would be a kiss upon his cheek when he finally got to hold him.

He promised him safety in his arms for the entirety of his life, and love to match that, and swore he’d always be the home and comfort he needed in a world not made for them.

When the sun started to cast blue across the horizon, neither had slept, but neither had feel exhaustion.

Callie had returned to Nick’s chest, his arm curled safely behind her as they rested against the headboard, soaking in their last moments of silence, and peace. Neither bothered moving when they started to hear the others move about the rickety home, some light talking between Ward and Tikka.

Nick only squeezed Callie, watching the sun rise quicker than it ever had before.

“It’ll end today,” he spoke, confident in what he said, but not of an outcome either were certain of. “We’re going home today.”

Callie nodded against his chest.

Dead, or alive?

27 notes · View notes

the-quiet-winds · 5 years

Text

Make a Move Just to Stay in the Game (part three)

hello and welcome to the new chapter!

in unrelated news, guess who just made a big fuckup at 8:30am! me. so have the chapter bc i’m upset. @ichlugebulletsandcornnuts i hope you’re having a better day than me.

also we love an ass in this story, so they are here, and they are horrible, and try to say / do horrible things.

[part one] - [part two]

[Part 3: I Can See the Pain in Your Eyes]

over the course of the next week, jane can hardly keep up with katherine.

parr is rigorous and thorough with her lessons, but never hesitates to answer any questions or explain something again.

they generally spend the mornings on latin and arithmetic, then history, trade studies, and latin again after lunch.

by the end of her first week with parr, katherine is breezing through paragraphs in latin, translations easy and nearly perfect every time.

mid-way through the second week, however, their second latin lesson of the day was cancelled.

“her majesty told me you’ve taken some music lessons before, is that true?”

katherine nods half heartedly, knowing that those lessons didn’t contain a whole lot of actual music. she fights a shudder at the thought of them.

“i reached out to some of my colleagues for a new music teacher, and one jumped at the opportunity. i think they should be here any minute-“

“good afternoon lady parr, lady katherine.” a suave voice greets, sending immediate chills down katherine’s spine. she’d know that voice anywhere.

low and behold, tall and dark henry mannox strolls through the door, a horn in one hand and a leather folder of papers in the other.

katherine prays he doesn’t recognize her, but he catches her eyes and winks, and she knows he does.

katherine jumps out of her chair, backing away. she doesn’t care how her behaviour seems to parr right now, all she cares about is getting as far away from mannox as possible.

“parr, i would like to leave,” she says, quietly and evenly, taking all her restraint not to scream or cry. parr looks incredibly concerned, glancing between mannox and katherine, clearly sensing katherine’s discomfort.

“is everything okay, lady katherine?” she asks. mannox waves a hand.

“i’m sure lady katherine is just nervous.”

“don’t,” katherine practically hisses. she doesn’t wait for permission, instead running from the room as fast as she can. months ago, perhaps, she might have stayed out of fear, but now she has someone who understands what she’s been through and won’t make her go back there with him.

katherine bursts into jane’s bedchamber with a clatter, surprising the queen.

“kat? what’s the matter?” jane takes a second look at katherine and her face drops immediately, seeing the distraught look on katherine’s features. “oh, love, come here.” she opens her arms and katherine flies into them, clinging to jane as tightly as she can.

“he- it’s him-” she manages to get out before bursting into tears, no longer needing to hold them in while jane is here. jane’s heart sinks as katherine’s words dawn on her; there were only a few people katherine would refer to as ‘him’, and none of them were good news.

parr was dumbfounded. katherine's reaction to mannox was visceral and nearly painful to watch. would her colleagues really have recommended someone that...bad?

she decides to follow katherine to the only logical place she could be going. mannox follows, and parr can't tell him no. maybe if katherine is properly introduced to him, then all will be well.

they enter the queen's chambers to find katherine holding onto jane like a lifeline. jane sees them enter.

"your majesty," parr starts, hesitance evident in her normally confident voice, "i did not intend to upset lady katherine. my associates recommended mister mannox here as a music tutor, and-"

jane doesn't hear the rest of parr's explanation. mannox is an instant trigger in her head, aided by katherine's increased trembling in her arms. she remembers a vague story of tiny eleven year old katherine and thirty six year old mannox and her face hardens.

"mister mannox," she begins with the regality of a queen, "i request you leave the premises at once."

mannox gives a low bow in an attempt to cover up his sliminess with a veneer of courtesy. “your majesty, i don’t know what you have been told, but-”

“mister mannox,” jane repeats, even firmer this time. “you will leave the premises right now, or I will have you escorted out by my guards.” she holds katherine even tighter, letting the girl cling to her and sob desperately into her shoulder. “i will not repeat myself again.”

parr realises there’s something more going on here, something she wasn’t aware of before, and she feels absolutely terrible to have played a part in it, no matter how unwittingly.

"your majesty," mannox tries to appeal again, "i don't entirely know what you were told by little kat-"

"don't you dare," jane absolutely seethes, "address the ward of the queen in such a way." she fixes him with a glare most murderous and then looks to parr. "if you wouldn't mind finding a few guards on patrol, lady parr, i think mister mannox here has some trouble with which way the door is," she says, voice sickly sweet and deadly sarcastic.

parr nods and steps into the hall. the absence of one more person causes katherine to cling to jane tighter. her hand finds the back of katherine's neck, teasing some of the hairs in what jane has found to be one of her most soothing measures.

"mister mannox," she says again, "you are very lucky that i am not trying you for what i know you have done to my ward. but if you ever step back on the land of any single royal property, i will ensure you are prosecuted to the fullest extent of our laws."

mannox’s face twists into a kind of snarl, but before he can say or do anything parr arrives, followed by two guards.

“escort this man off the premises immediately,” jane says coldly. “and make sure to it that everyone knows he is not to be permitted back.” the guards nod and take hold of mannox’s arms, pulling him roughly from the room. the door closes behind them, leaving jane, katherine and parr in silence.

katherine doesn’t let go of jane, even now, but her breathing evens out slightly now that mannox had been removed. jane continues to soothe her gently, whispering soft reassurances to her. parr hovers awkwardly near the doorway, unsure of what to do.

jane holds her close, katherine hiding her tear-stained face in the crook of jane's neck. it feels like forever before jane's quiet words and slow ministrations to her hair are enough to lower her heart rate back to where it should be.

"let me say," parr begins quickly, hands nervously fiddling with the material of her dress, "how incredibly sorry i am about whatever i just caused." she gulps. "i didn't know anything about him or his past, and i deeply regret not having done more research before bringing him in." in a bold move, she steps forward and puts a very light hand on katherine's shoulder. "i am very, very sorry, lady katherine."

katherine flinches ever so slightly and parr immediately drops her hand, looking regretful.

“i understand if you wish to remove me from my post,” she says quietly. “i failed in my duty of care, and for that i will never forgive myself.” she turns away, making her way to the door. “i shall collect my things and escort myself out.”

she’s halfway towards the door when a very quiet croak of a voice reaches her ears.

“don’t go.”

parr turns around to see that katherine had shifted slightly. she was still clinging to jane, but her head had turned to face her at a slightly awkward angle. katherine’s eyes were red and her cheeks tearstained, but she held parr’s gaze surprisingly firmly.

“please, i- i don’t want you to leave.”

parr’s gaze flits from katherine to jane, who is strangely silent. she seems to be letting katherine make the decision entirely, and considering what parr knew about jane, it was very likely this was the case.

parr nods once, hesitantly. "if that's what you wish, lady katherine."

katherine looks at her again, eyes red yet surprisingly tender. "please."

parr gives a small half-smile. "of course i will stay here, lady katherine." she looks to jane, who gives the solemnest and tiniest nod. "i won't leave, as long as you'd like me here."

katherine's lips twitch upward before she turns back to jane, letting the woman hold her, fingers lightly stroking up and down her back.

"i've got you, kitty-kat," jane murmurs very quietly. she kisses her temple. "mum's got you."

parr feels as if she’s intruding on the moment, but she stands dutifully as she was asked as jane reassures katherine. after a long while they finally break apart and jane retrieves a handkerchief, gently wiping away the tear tracks from katherine’s face. when she’s finished she places a quick kiss on the tip of katherine’s nose which makes the girl giggle slightly, even with her voice still hoarse from tears.

there was a rather large elephant in the room; parr, of course, didn’t know why anything had just happened, and she honestly wasn’t sure if she was going to get an answer. she certainly wasn’t going to pry into their business if katherine and jane didn’t want to tell her.

jane is immensely relieved when katherine calms down without too much more of an incident. katherine’s episodes of panic could be violent and destructive, no matter what jane did to help. but she knows that katherine knows, deep down, that she will never have to go with men like mannox again, and none of the will be able to hurt her. not while jane is around.

jane catches parr lingering by the door, feeling very out of place, and leans in close to katherine. “you’re under no obligation to explain, love,” jane says seriously. “it’s completely up to you what you want to do.” she turns her head slightly to kiss katherine’s cheek. “i’m with you always, kitty-kat.”

katherine nods silently, voice not quite recovered yet. she’s exhausted from such intense emotions of fear and then sudden relief, and she doesn’t quite want to let go of jane just yet. jane seems to realise this and sits down on the couch, gently pulling katherine with her. katherine curls up, almost on jane’s lap, as jane keeps holding her and playing softly with her hair. katherine turns slightly to look at parr.

“could-” her voice is hoarse and croaky, and she coughs to clear it. “could you sit down, please?” she rests her head against jane’s shoulder as parr hurried over to sit down on the chair opposite, her normally calm demeanour not having returned quite yet.

katherine looks ashen, very shaken up, and emotionally drained. kat asks herself if this is really the right way to go about this, but she does it anyway. the quick version, at least.

“before i started working here,” she starts, voice thick and heavy with clinging-on emotion and rasp. “when i was much younger, mannox was my teacher.” she coughs and continues. “he didn’t teach me much music, he was more focused on...” she shudders a bit, and jane strokes over her hair again, “...other things.”

parr’s face fell into confusion, then almost instantly into utter horror. “oh.” the word is spoken barely as a exhale of breath. katherine weakly nods her head.

katherine can’t say any more, can’t bring herself to go into any more detail, but she doesn’t need to. parr’s look of absolute heartbreak shows she’s understood every word.

“lady katherine,” she says, voice laden with sorrow. “i am so, so sorry. i should never have brought him here, and i will never do anything of the sort again.”

katherine is too emotionally drained to reply properly, but she can tell from parr’s compassionate eyes that she believes her story and actually doesn’t blame her. it’s strange, she thinks, to go her whole life without a single person who didn’t blame her, and now she has apparently found not just one, but two.

#six the musical #six musical #jane seymour #katherine howard #catherine parr #julie and jess write #make a move just to stay in the game #hold onto me you're all i have

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sailorshadzter · 5 years

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here’s me compiling all of my thoughts on episode 1 of season 8!! or at least the thoughts i deemed important enough lmao. big focus on jonsa, political jon, and the starks in general.

under the cut for SPOILERS + length.

shout out to all of the amazing content creators out there who have already gif’d this episode. ya’ll are amazing!

anyways, here we go! ps. things could be out of chronological order, sorry lol

lets jump right in with dany and jon arriving at winterfell. i really enjoyed the call back to season 1 bran scrambling up as high as he could to watch robert baratheon & company arrive.

we have them riding in among dany’s army, looking quite like the royal “couple” they want us to believe they are. dany doesnt look particularly interested to even be there and i think it’s because she’s upset at how everyone is looking at her. jon reminds her that the north isnt easy to impress, that they dont look kindly at foreigners. this isnt pleasing to her. dany has to be loved, by everyone. she cant stand thinking not everyone is on her side. in her mind they have to support her because she’s the queen.

but she’s not queen, not yet at least.

next comes the dragons.

the northerners run, some screaming in fear, others just stumbling in an attempt to find shelter from the dragons that fly overhead. and just look at dany’s face. look at her! what a smug little smile, i hope she enjoys it because she’s got a lot coming to her this season.

i hate this, i just want everyone to know. i still like dany but this arrogant, mocking girl is driving me insane and it’s only episode 1. what little bit of likeness i had for her will fade real fast at this rate. she’s glad the people fear her dragons and thus fear her. she knows the northerners probably will never come around to her and bend so she’s going to get them on her side the only way she knows how: her dragons.

lets be real- dany has nothing on her own. she’s nothing but a pretty face with a cold heart capable of dark, brutal things. but what if there werent any dragons? what would she be without them? who would fear her then? sure, she’s got a big ass army... but armies can be beaten. armies can be led astray by their own leaders doing. so yeah, she’s got an army but in the end, thats not foolproof. but dragons? those are pretty damn foolproof (unless you send your ~romantic interest~ off on a suicide mission that ends up costing you one of said dragons). she’s going to try and coerce everyone in the north through fear and it might work on the common folk, but wait til she meets the Starks.

yeah, do these girls look afraid?

not at all.

youre a man. almost.

i low key teared up at their reunion. it was sweet. plus it was nice to see bran in a more human moment. he’s always so robotic, i thought it was nice to hear him joke a little.

as jon is looking at bran, you can see the moment he realizes sansa is looking at him. he pulls back from bran and turns to her (wow she looks beautiful, i cant even get over that).

(gif by @stark)

sansa opens her arms to jon and i have to admit... the hug felt almost lackluster... at first. once i watched it a second and third time, i started seeing the things i didnt see the first time.

for one thing- it was so amazing in the trailer because we could see jon’s face. kit is so incredible at his facial expressions and you knew exactly what jon was feeling the moment he saw sansa. with sansa, she’s very subdued- but its definitely done on purpose. obviously, she’s happy to see jon but she’s angry with him too. and dozens of people are there watching them, including this queen he’s brought with him. she has to be careful.

(gif by @stark)

this instant, ever since i saw the trailer, ive thought jon whispered something to her. that’s why her eyes immediately flick up and pin their focus on dany who is standing just across the courtyard. we dont hear jon say anything but that doesnt mean he doesnt. what i find interesting about this is how in the episode, we’re shown sansa’s face and her emotional reactions to whats happening, but we dont see jon’s. in the trailer, it cuts to sansa’s eyes as soon as jon reaches her embrace, so we never see jon’s face in this scene. meaning, we dont see his lips ever move. i still want to believe he whispers something to her, but i almost feel like sansa would have referenced it later in the episode when they speak privately. but, you never know!

next we have jon introducing sansa to dany, which as we all suspected, did not go well.

as dany walks up, she’s smiling, her tone charming. her eyes are wide and she looks soft- she’s good at this. notice how no one in the courtyard moves, no one kneels or even bows in dany’s presence as they had once done for robert baratheon. this is not their queen.

i literally laughed as dany said this.

she’s trying desperately to come across as likable. she knows most of the north won’t bow to her without the backing of this girl and while she has her dragons to instill fear, she probably does want sansa to like her. she’s in love with her “brother” after all. they’d be sisters, so they should get along, right?

wrong.

sansa sees right through her. she’s good at finding a liar- she’s spent her whole life around them. learning from them, the best of them. you cant lie or manipulate sansa stark. not anymore.

(gif by @cptainsrogers)

whew boy, that’s the face of someone who’s pissed. how quickly she changes!! as soon as sansa speaks, she loses her smile and blinks and she breathes in. she’s trying to restrain herself and keep a calm, cool composure. but its written all over dany’s face here- she’s not happy.

again, im reminded that this is a woman who cant be told no and who doesnt like when someone isnt falling over themselves to please her. sansa is clearly not impressed with dany and she’s not afraid to let her know that. she’s calm, polite, but her tone & face says everything her words cant.

bran interrupting was great.

he sees what’s going on here and he’s right, now isnt the time for a little cat fight. he tells them that the night king has a dragon & dany’s reaction is clear she didn’t know that yet (right? i could be forgetting lol) & basically there’s like 100 other things they need to think about right then. which to be fair is totally true. but i had hoped to see a little more between sansa & dany. what i loved though was jon didn’t look at dany when bran mentioned the night king having her dragon, he looked at sansa.

now i wanna talk about arya and jon’s reunion because

well... i have feelings.

while the initial reunion was really sweet & had me crying, it ended real quick

this scene is where i really noticed jon was “off”

jon stoops down and puts a hand on her shoulder (which arya looks down at) as he talks to her. where were you before? i could have used your help with sansa. she doesnt like your queen, does she?

then we get this next line from jon.

first things first, it’s almost like jon doesnt realize she’s grown up. he’s got his hand on her shoulder, down at her level like you would with a kid. i mean, he probably cant help it, can he? she’s always going to be his kid sister, after all. thats how he knows her and remembers her. not to mention he’s been pretending to be someone else around dany for a long time now, he’s trying to shake himself back into the person his family knows him as

arya looks at his hand before she says she’s the smartest person i know. you’re defending her now? you?

like he cant really believe that these two sisters that only used to bicker and fight are getting along to the point that arya is defending her to him. this is where i get upset with jon because he’s been gone for how long now? has he even bothered to talk to sansa about all that happened at winterfell? has he even asked her anything about what’s been going on while he was gone? clearly not, or he would know how close arya and sansa have become in his absence. that they’d taken out littlefinger together, even!

i’m defending my family. so is she. i’m her family too.

that alone points me into the direction of political jon. he’s avoiding sansa because he’s less likely to control himself in front of her. he might spill the beans about what he’s up to and its not time yet. he cant let that happen, not until the right time. while we all know he’d be better off telling her and the other starklings, so they could fight as a united pack... jon hasn’t come to that conclusion yet. lets hope he gets there next episode, though.

he sounds so sad, so dejected when he delivers his line. like, sansa should be defending him, smiling, just in general happy to see him back. he’s brought a massive army and dragons! he did what he thought was best for the north and he cant quite grasp why sansa would be upset with him. one of jon’s weaknesses is sansa and how he thinks she feels about him. he craves her approval and he knows she’s angry with him at this point. and man does that bother him. he thinks she should have ultimate faith in him, even though he doesnt really deserve that, does he? anyways, thats a conversation for later in the post.

ps i love that he looks around before saying im her family too. almost as if he’s afraid of being overheard.

dont you ever forget that.

yeah i had to pause the show at this point just to compose myself. this second hug was just as sweet as the first and im glad it was there. it finished the scene out nicely.

i love how we got this moment of them being addressed at the same time, in frame like this. i live for moments like this, with them side by side.

we get a lot of talk back and forth about why jon bent the knee and of course we get lyanna mormont calling his dumb ass out.

i was waiting for this scene too & it didnt disappoint me.

also i find his choice of words interesting

sansa looks back at him and she’s literally the embodiment of the shrug emoji. like bitch i told u so. she has zero sympathy for him and the mess he’s in with the northern lords because she fucking told him it would happen.

tyrion gets up and tries to do some mega damage control because lets be real, this situation is getting nasty. he talks about dany’s amazing army and the dragons as if this will lighten the mood. he also mentions about the lannister army coming (lol) like this is what will get everyone on their side.

sansa interrupts and god do i love her more than i ever did

finally someone asking the REAL questions.

sansa has worried about feeding the entire north the whole time jon has been gone. she’s built up as much as she could to ensure her people didn’t starve to death come winter. now jon shows up with this queen and her massive army with not even a wagon load of grain. when it cuts to dany a moment later, you can see she’s visibly shaken by sansa’s comment. hmm, wonder why? it couldn’t be because she’d just burned TONS of food that could have been used to feed her army and the rest of the north out of spite, right? nah, couldn’t be.

sansa spits out these words and just look at her face- she’s doing her best to control herself here but her mouth is a snarl and her eyes are narrowed. she’s got every right to be angry over this- her people will probably starve because this so called queen hasn’t provided anything for her own army and now sansa will have to figure it out herself. if she’s this angry already, imagine how she’s going to feel when she learns dany burned all that food when she burned the lannister army.

what makes me angry here is dany’s response. whatever they want. she’s so fucking childish i cant stand it. like she’s so bent out of shape that sansa’s calling her out basically, she’s going to resort to these sort of comments. like, you keep calling yourself a queen, fucking act like it dany. not a jealous, spoiled little girl. id respect her a whole lot more if she’d stood up for herself and her dragons here but that was never going to happen. its out of her character, especially at this point in her story. her dragons really could never do any wrong, in her eyes. and at this point i wouldnt be surprised to hear her defend them burning houses, crops, or innocent people.

this episode is not making me like dany anymore. i cant stand characters like her, good or bad ones. and we all know dany is trending bad these days. but sansa doesnt even respond which is fantastic- instead of listening to her, everyone is focused on what dany had just said. we stan the real queen.

im pretty sure next we see the bit between tyrion and sansa.

i didnt dislike the scene, it was actually pretty good. i especially liked the last time we saw each other was at joffrey’s wedding. dismal affair. it had it’s moments.

we also got this

not only is this true, we also later hear dany threaten sansa.

interesting.

but other than that, i didnt take much away from it. sansa was cool to him, as i expected her to be to anyone on dany’s side. tyrion may have been kind to her once, but as far as she’s concerned... he’s basically her enemy now. plus the whole scene before couldn’t have helped.

somehwere in this we get all that junk with jon and dany.

i... hated it. all of it.

but after seeing it im 100% certain political jon is coming. his stiff demeanor with dany hasn’t changed, thats for sure. but what sold me was when dany threatened sansa.

i’m queen, she must respect me or...

we all know how jon “dont touch my sister or else” snow acts when someone mentions sansa around him in a way he doesnt like. the fact that jon barely even REACTS is clear in its message: he cant behave like he normally would. not with dany. he cant even go against her because he know how easy it is for her to become swayed. he cant lose control of the situation, not yet. i think he knows things are spiraling out of control more quickly than he anticipated.

political jon must be a thing because there’s no reason for him to then roam across the north on a fucking dragon. the whole jonerys scene was as lackluster as they all have been and the kiss with drogon watching was very... weird. it felt ominous almost. there was no romance behind it, even if dany wanted there to be.

but i think its very clear that dany feels threatened by sansa. she needs to be loved by everyone and sansa makes it clear she cares little if at all for her. queen or not, sansa doesnt respect her, nor like her, and she isnt afraid to make it known. i worry how dany is going to behave the deeper into this love triangle we get (because they sure arent being subtle about it).

also, something i find interesting is the fact that dany would allow jon to ride her dragons at all. now that he has rode rhaegal he’s created a bond with the dragon, essentially taking him from dany’s control. she’s more or less lost 2 dragons now. and if you dont think jon would use this dragon against her to protect his family... then we must be watching two different shows.

next comes jon’s scene with sansa (i think, at least its what im gonna talk about next lol). finally we get a glimpse of them alone! and god it doesnt disappoint me at all. i mean, id have loved to have more of it of course- yelling and even some tears, but we got something simple and hyper charged with both of their emotions. as always, the jonsa scenes get it done with as little as possible.

we get a lot of angry stares and heavy sighs. its the same damn energy as the tent scene before the battle of the bastards. i love it. i fucking live for it. there’s so many things left unsaid between them and it makes me want their next scene that much more. literally, this scene was less than 2min long and i got so much from it.

the scene opens and sansa is in her chamber, reading. the knock on the door sounds and she calls them in and she sighs when she sees it’s jon. the first thing i noticed was jon back in his old direwolf armor- he changed clothes before coming to her rooms- and then sansa paraphrases what the letter she’s holding says. jon parrots back lord glover’s words to them back when they met and thats when sansa gets up, very clearly angry, and says i will stand behind jon snow, the king in the north. she whips around to look at him and walks across the room like she wants to do something else entirely. i told you we needed allies. you didnt tell me you were going to abandon your crown.

this is where jon explodes, much how he explodes back in the tent scene with her. i never wanted a crown! i wanted to protect the north! he tells her, then goes on to say he brought with him an army and 2 dragons. this is where i wish we would have had more- sansa yelling at him about did he even think of how they would feed them all, specifically. but we get a lot of ~emotion~ and im living for every second.

(gifs by @desired-paradise)

as soon as jon finishes ranting, he heaves a huge sigh (first gif). then he closes his eyes, thinking for a moment, before breaking down an asking her if she has faith in him. look at her face- she’s so hurt. they’re both hurting, honestly. what i love about jonsa scenes is how soft and vulnerable they both are during them. they let down their walls and open their hearts to the other.

i think that’s why jon is so hurt by how sansa has been treating him since his return. he thinks he deserves her ultimate trust not realizing how he really doesnt deserve it. not,yet. you know i do. despite it all, she does have faith in him. but that doesnt mean she isnt angry or upset with him. and it doesnt change how she feels about dany. trust is not something that comes easy to sansa, not anymore. how can she be expected to trust a complete stranger when even those who were supposed to care about her turned on her? when for so long everyone around her was nothing beyond abusive and harmful. this girl trusts no one but her family and jon should get that better than anyone.

but he thinks because its him, he gets a pass from her. that because of all they’ve been through together sansa should automatically know where his heart is and the truth of him. but how can she? he’s been gone all this time, promising to find them allies, not a queen that they didn’t ask for or even want. he promised them allies that would help them, not doom them to starvation.

when sansa speaks, he takes a step forward, almost like he thought of reaching for her. but he thinks better of it and says something about how she’ll be a good queen, yada yada.

and then... sansa drops this bomb

we never get jon’s answer because thats it, the scene just fucking ends there. like alright guys, thats fine i didnt want the answer anyways. i know jonerys fans are insisting he doesn’t answer because we already know the answer to that. but its not that easy.

the set up between jon and sansa can’t be for nothing. the back story from season 6 cant just be a random addition. so many lines that will come back this season (ill protect you, i promise. you are to me. ect) and i cant wait for that.

next i want to talk about when dany and jorah meet with sam.

first off, i have to say its weird that jorah has never told dany his name? is that just me? anyways. the scene opens and it reminds me a lot of the feel from her first meeting with sansa. dany is smiling, jovial. this is the man that saved jorah from death and she wants to thank him personally. their conversation goes well- in fact, its kind of sweet how sam behaves. he’s honored to be standing before her, being addressed by her, because he doesnt know who daenerys targaryen is yet. but he’s about to find out.

similarly to how dany reacted when sansa didn’t return her compliment, she goes from soft and smiling to hard and somewhat aggressive.

we go from this:

to this:

(image from @snowsjohn)

in record time. as soon as sam mentions his name, it registers with dany and she asks him if he meant randyll tarly. that’s when she immediately, without sympathy, tells him she executed his father. you can see sam get visibly upset but he’s doing his best to keep it together, saying at least i can go home now, which by the way... is fucking heartbreaking. now that his brother is in charge he could go back home and be with his family when this whole thing was over. oh nope, dany tells him she executed his brother too.

how anyone can stand behind this queen, ill never understand. this scene was so sad for sam & so unfeeling for dany. she doesnt even have the sense to pretend to be remorseful for what she’s done to this man’s family. and when sam does leave, she looks upset- but not because of what she’d done to his family. because now she’s in trouble and she knows it. again, they’re making it incredibly easy to dislike dany and they’re doing it for a reason.

dark dany is coming for us. it’s going to all be revealed in the next two episodes, without a doubt.

last but not least, i want to talk about sam telling jon the truth of who his parents were.

(gifs by @kitsn0w)

i loved this whole scene.

while i was really surprised they told jon so early (and that it was sam alone) i enjoyed the shock. i didn’t honestly anticipate the reveal until at least episode 2, if not the third at the latest. but, it added something to the first episode- a similar shock value the first episode of the first season left us with.

what i take from this scene is a few things, mostly how upset jon seems just to realize that this means ned lied to him his whole life. who gives a fuck about the truth, why didn’t ned just tell him all along? but when sam says the line about robert killing him, he seems to calm down a little.

what else is interesting is jon’s lack of defending dany here. if he loved her as we’re supposed to believe, wouldnt he have said something beyond this is treason. id expect a “what will i say to her?” or “i cant take this from her, its all shes ever wanted’ or even “its hers, not mine.” anything else! but we got nothing in terms of jon defending dany’s right to the crown.

and when sam asks him if dany would give up her crown for his people as jon had done, we don’t get jon’s answer. similarly to his scene being cut off with sansa, its done here as well, and we’re only left wondering what he would say. why wouldn’t they let him say? if he loves dany so much, wouldn’t he jump at this chance to defend her? especially to sam, who’s going to have a hell of time going forward now that he learned what dany did to his family. more so, it’s not yet been revealed that she burned them alive. what will they say then? when they realize that?

i guess we’ll find out next episode, especially now that jaime is in winterfell. im really excited to see what episode 2 brings & im hoping for more dark dany & more private moments among the starks.

overall, i really did enjoy the episode. i think there were things that could have been done better or differently, but i think the episode set us up for a lot of good things to come!

in conclusion:

- jonsa is endgame & jonerys is doomed. sorry guys.

- political jon theory is confirmed (in my mind at least)

- sansa is still the queen of sass.

- arya & gendry flirting is adorable (im sorry i know i didnt talk about them)

- WHERE. IS. GHOST?

thanks for reading!

#jonsa #game of thrones #got s8 e1 #text post #jon snow #sansa stark #daenerys targaryen

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