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lovelybarnes · 3 years

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scars- b. barnes

pairings: bucky barnes x reader warnings: heavy mentions of insecurity, focus on scars, injuries, blood, wounds, canon violence about: requested! (PK9) kissing scars, bruises, scratches, etc. + (PF26) person a wiping person b’s tears away a/n: thank you so much for requesting!! i hope this is what you wanted and that you liked it!!

[ @tylard-blog1 ]

you’re aware that everyone on the team has them; natasha romanoff, even steve rogers, with his unbreakable milk skin, and bruce banner, with the green that tinges the hue of his temples when a scar is made. they’re reminders of what you do, some symbols of the lives that you’ve saved-- and others the lives that you’ve taken.

yes, everyone has them, but that doesn’t make you like the ones that litter your own body very much. nor does it stop you from looking away from them when you catch a glimpse of the scars that peek out of the clothing you specifically choose to hide them away from the curious eyes of the public. it doesn’t stop the frustrated tears that ebb in your eyes when you run the tips of your fingers over the raised tissue.

sometimes you realize how unfair it is of you to hate the scars that splay on your collarbone, and the ones that run across your hips and thighs, when you press your lips against the ones on bucky’s shoulder, pleading for him to believe you when you say you think he’s beautiful. the thought lingers when you playfully roll your eyes at natasha on the rare moment when she narrows her eyes at the healed bullet wound that sits above her hip, genuine words assuring her she looks great no matter what slipping out of the same mouth that utters ugly words at the mirror. you ignore it even as it guilts you when you touch the scars on bruce’s arms with featherlight fingers, pressing that they don’t make him a monster, or any of the hideous words with which he describes himself.

you try to tell yourself the reassurances apply to you, too, because they’re true-- the scars don’t diminish the beauty of your smile, or the glow that you carry, and they shouldn’t hinder the upwards pull of your lips when you catch a glimpse of them in the mirror-- but even as you try to convince yourself of that, your eyes always flit away, hand positioning itself in front of the scars as you examine the way you’d love yourself without them.

you were never aware of the blue eyes that caught your moments of dislike for yourself, missing the bead of worry that embedded itself in the cerulean of bucky’s irises.

it was on a particularly bad day of yours that one of your relatively smaller missions was scheduled. listed underneath your name was bucky’s, although he was only on there because he had demanded you never to go on a mission to an active hydra base alone, even though he knew you could handle it; you didn’t mind, always enjoying the quiet moments you got on the quinjet with bucky-- and the pilot, usually clint or steve, who bit their tongue, unlike sam or tony.

it would’ve been fine on any other day, but your day hadn’t started on the best note. the scars underneath your clothing seemed to burn every time you moved in the way they had when you first received them. you had stared at them for far too long, wishing you had the super-healing of the asgardian gods or the super soldiers you surrounded yourself with, who would never get permanent scars from the things you had experienced. they felt especially ugly sitting on your skin, making you want to lay in bed all day, pretending they didn’t exist.

your mission cut off your day of wallowing in your bed, forcing you to shove on your suit and sit in the quinjet to arrive at the mission you could’ve easily handled by yourself had it been another day and you had felt any other way.

you were from the same black widow program natasha was from; you were probably impossibly better, more ruthless and uncaring because from the moment you were born, you had nothing to lose, no family to protect, no memories of a childhood--even a fake one-- to hang onto. your movements were always calculated and perfect, like they had been forced to be, and your emotions were never supposed to cloud your anything-- they never did, except for when you had the days that knocked you off your feet, just like these.

nevertheless, you were distracted in the base with bucky, although you shouldn’t have been, considering the delicate information you were handling. you flawlessly did the routine of knocking guards unconscious, ignoring the way a harsh heat flashed in your hip when bucky’s hand touched the place where one of your more brutal scars was. it felt nearly as if he could feel it under his fingers, even though it was a ridiculous thought considering the material of your tac suit.

it was still going relatively fine; you had recovered the usb file you had been assigned to secure, and most of the guards were dead, fallen in a trail that created a clear pathway for bucky to find you, usb drive clutched tightly in your hand as you bled out on the floor, a knife thrown next to the pool of blood quickly forming underneath you and the person who had done it lying dead a few feet away. your gun was in your other hand, one of its bullets embedded in the hydra agents’ chest. bucky could hear the strangled gurgles of breathing coming from the agent, but he paid no attention to him as he rushed to your side, eyebrows furrowing as his hands reached the stab wound. you hissed sharply when you felt the cold of his vibranium fingers meet the burning hot of the injury, pressing down hard as lightly as he could while he mumbled something into the comms you never used. you were suddenly gathered into his arms, cringing when you heard a scream you didn’t realize was yours until you felt bucky’s lips moving in reassuring sentences next to your ear, a string of apologies falling from his lips. you never let go of the drive, desperate to keep hold of something that connected you to the real world, not wanting to focus on your other alternative: it was irrelevant when compared to everything else, but through the blinding red of pain, the only thing you could focus on was obsessing over the fact that a new scar would inevitably heal in place of the stab wound-- one you knew you would survive because you’d survived a hell of a lot worse than it, but the next ugly thing to form in your abdomen might just make you never want to see yourself again.

warm tears rolled down your cheeks as bucky carried you back into the quinjet, one of your hands tiredly fisted at bucky’s shirt, trying your best to stay awake but ultimately failing from the loss of blood and will.

it’s stupid. you’re aware, but your first thought when you open your eyes again is how there is yet another scar that will form on your abdomen, making tears rush to your eyes in frustration because it was your fault it was there anyways. had you just paid attention-- just not concentrated so on the wretched things, a new one would not be forming right now. the collection of ugly tissue that littered your skin was already too large.

the frustration you felt overpowered the painful numbness that settled over the wound in your abdomen, making dried tears spring back to life and dribble down your apple cheeks, alerting your boyfriend of your state. “doll? what’s wrong?” he asks, and at the sign he’s there, listening to your whimpers and audible disdain, the dam breaks loose, your hands reaching up to your face and tugging at the gash.

bucky’s up on his feet, tender hands circling around your wrists to pull them back down, “y/n, what’s wrong, doll?” he repeats, gentle blue eyes scanning your tear-streaked face. you squeeze your eyes shut, another salty trail making its way onto the bow of your lips. bucky’s warm fingers wipe away the wetness, his fingertips light.

“baby, please tell me what hurts,” he begs, his vibranium hand making its way into yours. you shake your head, squeezing his cold fingers. “i hate them,” you mumble, feeling his palm cupping your jaw, “i hate them so much.”

“hate what, honey?” he questions gently, brows furrowing further when he sees your hand curling into a loose fist above the place where his hands have lovingly settled: right on your scars. “i’m sorry,” you cry quietly, nose scrunching up when his fingers trace over the tissue he’s memorized the location of, “i hate them. they’re ugly and i hate them.”

“these?” bucky inquires, surprised. he lifts your shirt-- really, his-- to see the object of your tears, catching when you shut your eyes again and more tears drip off your jaw.

“bucky, no--”

bucky looks up at you, pressing a kiss to your forehead, “y/n…” he starts sadly, pulling away to get you to look at him. “they’re not... “ his eyes flick down to one of the scars, and he taps on it gently, “d’you remember this one? it was a couple years ago when i barely joined the team.” you can feel a lump growing in your throat, perfectly able to recall where you got it.

“you barely knew me back then, but you did know i was a super soldier, and you jumped in front of that bullet anyways. god, i knew i had to ask you out before someone knocked sense into anyone else.”

you sniffle, biting your lip, “this one,” he touches another one, “you saved nat and a little girl from a madman. her parents were so thankful they stayed with you until you woke up to thank you.” his finger wipes away another tear, “she invited me to her birthday party this year,” you snivel, and bucky smiles.

“these are not ugly-- you are not ugly, i promise.” he tells you. “i love you, every part of you--” his head suddenly ducks down, and you can feel his lips softly pressing against the scars, careful to avoid your newly forming one. your hand reaches his jaw, running your nail along his stubble as more thankful tears slip from your eyes. “i love you,” he repeats, kissing your lips.

“thank you,” you whisper against his lips, sniffling as you feel the burn on the scars slowly begin to disappear with the coolness of bucky’s vibranium fingertips.

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gladerwolfstarkimagines · 3 years

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Not just a soft princess - Azula x female reader imagine: Part Three

Your relationship with Azula develops but a reality check makes you question if you are wise to trust the princess of the fire nation...

Part one here

Part two here

Part four here

Part five here

Part six here

Your POV

Since the day Azula stood up to Ozai for you things changed. You supposed word got out Azula was protecting you that’s why people started treating you better but it could also be due to Azula’s presence herself. After that night you saw a lot more of her and you weren’t complaining. She attended your lessons more frequently and even took over some portions of them herself. You got more freedom granted to you and when you were with Azula you didn’t even need a guard anymore. Thanks to the clause Azula placed in the contract there was no reason to force you and Zuko together and so you no longer dreaded all the formal occasions. Instead you were free to do as you wished at such events and that often included Azula. You found her presence comforting but also enjoyable. She was witty and clever, making you laugh with her deductions and well timed quips. You liked the proud blush that would fill her cheeks when she made you laugh and the only thing better was when she’d laugh at one of your own jokes. The way her mouth upturned into her signature smirk, how her shoulders would shake lightly and then she’d realise you were admiring her and be unable to meet your eyes for a few seconds. You’d never seen a sight so beautiful and were convinced there wasn’t anyone as beautiful as Azula, ever. You realised you’d developed more than a fondness for her when you found yourself thinking about her when she wasn’t around. The realisation made you nervous but also excited for one reason in particular. You were pretty sure the fire princess liked you too.

You were thinking about Azula as you dressed for the party that night. You had been at the fire nation for 2 months now and the constant feeling of dread and uncertainty was now more of a memory. You still missed home but it was no longer painful being here, you were adapting. That thought in mind you frowned when your maid asked you what dress you would like to wear tonight. There were dozens of beautiful options but they were all green given Ozai’s desire to make you up as a earth kingdom doll. You were sick of the colour green now and wanted to wear any other colour at this point. You’d noticed Azula constantly wore red and it always looked flattering. You couldn’t tell if that was because of Azula herself or if red was simply a flattering colour but the fire nation certainly did fashion better than the earth nation and if you were forced to live here you thought you should benefit from that. "Are there any red dresses?" you asked and the maid looked at you "red?". "Yes...i just thought as i’m part of the fire nation now maybe i could show it?". The maid smiled 'that sounds lovely princess y/n, i’ll go find one right away".

Azula’s POV

Azula stared out of the window as her father complained about some nobleman. Typically Azula would hang on her father’s every word and rush to assure him he was superior to everyone but lately her mind had been elsewhere...well it’d been on you more accurately. The truth was Azula had greatly enjoyed her time with you and found herself looking forward to the next chance she’d get to interact with you. Sure she’d had her friends Mai and Ty lee growing up but she’d never had someone she could relate to or feel solidarity with. With you Azula felt that. She’d always figured she was the exception to the typical princess role but you had made her see that was incorrect. You were smart and outspoken, you weren’t intimidated by the fire nation anymore and it showed. Your confidence seemed to grow each day and while it clearly bothered her father Azula relished in it. Despite the nation you were from, she couldn’t help but root for you and it had nothing to do with the fact your fate was tied to hers. It was because she genuinely liked and cared for you, something she’d never expected to happen.

Azula was ironically pulled out of her thoughts about you because of you.

"What is she doing?" Ozai snapped and Azula was so distracted she didn’t turn around for a few seconds. When she did her breath was knocked out of her. Her eyes were drawn to you immediately and they widened as a smile formed on her face. You were wearing her favourite shade of red and you looked amazing. The dress was simple and so was your hair and makeup but that seemed to make the effect all the more impactful, Azula remembered when she saw you back in Ba Sing Sei and how then you’d been dressed simply but still managed to look amazing. You didn’t need to dress up a diamond, it was beautiful no matter what adorned it. Azula was biased but saw this as a good sign, you had donned their colours, surely this showed your willingness to cooperate?

Her father didn’t agree. "I ordered all the maids to give her green clothing only! What use is she to us if you cannot identify her as earth kingdom royalty at a glance". Azula thought the emphasis on colour scheme a tad ridiculous but tried to appease her father "i think it is only for one night, this is good though. It seems she is showing loyalty to us". Ozai scoffed "as she should given all we’ve done for her, less of a prisoner and more of a honoured guest considering we’re housing and educating her for free". "She will get us the whole of the earth empire". "So you keep saying but so far all she has brought is Ba Sing Sei". Azula’s eye twitched. Ba Sing Sei was the biggest victory for the war in decades and was the brightest piece of the earth empire. For her father to disregard that was ludicrously idiotic but Azula knew he was just in a strop. He knew your use he was just annoyed he couldn’t exploit every drop of it at once and she was more determined than ever to prevent him for ever being able to do that to you.

Your POV

"You must've been dreadfully bored to make such a bold statement" a silky voice called and you didn’t even have to turn to know who it belonged to. Azula always found you sooner or later but she was definitely getting quicker. When you looked at Azula confused by her comment she gestured to your outfit "the dress, I can’t imagine what provoked you to don our colours". You laughed smiling "i thought a change would be nice, plus if this is to be my home now i thought showing some loyalty to it couldn’t hurt, but given your father’s reaction...". Azula almost scoffed but caught herself. "He was anxious but i made him see it correctly, that this a symbol of unity. How you were proclaiming your support and love for the fire nation simply by wearing a colour...a very subtle but effective political statement”. You smiled "yes but honestly? I’m just sick to death of the colour green". That thought never occurred to Azula and it caught her off guard making her laugh aloud. Something the princess had never done at a formal event. She caught herself quickly but blushed to see you were beaming at her reaction. "I’ve seen you wear it so successfully i thought i would try" you smiled and Azula looked at you surprised. "I...i am flattered". Azula’s slight blush deepened making you more confident and so you stepped back from her and opened your arms "so what’s the verdict? Did i pass in red?". Azula glanced over you very quickly her blush still very evident as she purposefully avoided looking you in the eye "you know you did, the colour suits you rather well, especially with your skin tone...." Azula trailed off before coughing "so yes you passed". You blushed smiling too "i would wear it more but i do not know if that is wise". Azula shook her head "i think green is safer". You nodded your head but felt deflated "i thought as much". "It’s lucky you look good in that colour too then i suppose" Azula commented suddenly and you looked at her in shock. "Maybe it is simply all colours?" she suggested "that wouldn't surprise me". "It wouldn't?" you asked and Azula shook her head "not at all princess". You looked away first, flustered and now blushing too and Azula grinned widely.

Mai and Zuko’s POV

Mai and Zuko watched you and discussed your show quietly. Zuko was worried what this would provoke from his father and Mai was worried Ozai would like seeing you in red. They were discussing which outcome was most likely when Azula approached you. They carried on talking when they noticed Azula laugh. An actual genuine unprovoked laugh. The couple went silent and Zuko spoke first after a delay "did my sister just....". "Burst out laughing? Yes". "When has she ever...". "Never" Mai finished "i’ve only seen her laugh when somebody falls or says something stupid". Zuko nodded "what on earth did y/n sat to her?”. Mai narrowed her eyes wondering just that too. "Could Azula...are they friends?" Zuko asked watching you two talk and Mai paused "Azula did keep her promise to protect her and she did add that marriage clause to her contract risking your father’s wrath". "But Azula never likes anyone" Zuko frowned "especially enough to put her neck on the line". "She must really like y/n then" Mai frowned as Azula suddenly blushed. Her and Zuko watched the two of you both blushing vividly, glancing at each other excitedly and they both inhaled. "She really really likes y/n" Zuko gaped and Mai nodded "and y/n her it appears .

Azula’s POV

Azula knew she had secured your place theoretically but she still worried you were physically vulnerable. She knew you were a skilled earth bender but you didn’t know how sneaky fire nation fighting was. The earth nation was upfront in their attacks but the fire nation was a fan of knives in the back and so Azula thought it wise to prepare you. So she invited you to join her for an hour a day to train.

Your POV

When Azula first invited you to spar with her your initial thought was suspicion. Why would the fire nation want to train you physically? However that was quickly overshadowed by excitement as Azula assured you that you’d be alone and that she just wanted to show you some basics. You’d seen Azula fight and were more than eager to receive tips from her. Not to mention it would make the seemingly never ending days go faster. You arrived at the sparring yard before the agreed time to find Azula already there. "You’re early" she commented dismissing your guards and you frowned "i apologise i thought the walk would take longer". "Do not apologise being early or on time are the only two acceptable options". You smiled getting the feeling Azula was early for everything and your smile lingered as the princess had you warm up. After your cardio Azula started showing you forms. Basic crucial ones first like how to avoid a knife strike or block a blow. She made it look so easy but was also a very good teacher. By the end of your third session you were able to successfully block Azula at her fastest pace and you were thrilled. Azula had been springing surprise attacks at you all session and even once she declared the session over she attacked you once again. You didn’t even register it but instead your body reacted and blocked her using perfect form. Azula looked at you impressed and a smile broke your face "i didn’t even think about it I just blocked you! I did it Azula!". Azula smirked at your endearing excitement "yes well done". "You are a very good teacher, i am a slow learner but you helped me master that in three days!". "It is only one of many forms" Azula replied "we still have many more to go before you are truly a master or i a good teacher". "Of course but this is a good first step is it not?" you asked. Azula would’ve said no. She was always hard on herself and didn’t believe in small victories but your smile was infectious and so she agreed "yes, you did well".

Azula’s POV

As your hand to hand combat improved Azula turned her attention to your bending. She was more than excited to have you display your bending again and not just because she found it enjoyable to watch. She also knew you’d been strictly forbidden from bending ever since you’d stepped foot in the fire nation. She figured it might make you more comfortable to be able to bend again and so she quickly worked it into your curriculum. She was impressed again as soon as she saw you bend. Earth was the element of strength and you were very skilled in that aspect. Azula would catch herself admiring your back and arms as your muscles tensed before she’d catch and scold herself for being unprofessional.

It soon became tradition that at the end of every session you and Azula would spar using your bending and it was the favourite part for both of you, You were both in your element (no pun intended) and Azula could get caught up in the feeling easily. Sometimes too much...

The two of you were sparring and it was going as it always did. You would stubbornly hold territory and refuse to move while Azula would flit around attempting to dislodge your stance. It took a while for either of you to wear the other down and so when Azula saw you starting to grow tired she got excited. She attacked your left side with a flurry of attacks coaxing you into exposing your other side to attacks. Azula knew you’d block the attack with your quick reflexes but when she finally saw you neglect your right side defences she acted. Azula reached out for your exposed arm directing a whip of fire straight for it. She smiled as you noticed and went to block it when you lost your footing. The floor was littered with debris from all your rocks that Azula had shattered and a piece had wormed it’s way directly between your feet. You stumbled over the rock your defence forgotten as you tried to regain your balance and Azula’s fire sped at you. Azula tried to yell but it was no use as her fire hit you knocking you over, a trail of smoke following.

Your POV

“Y/n” you heard Azula yell as the blast hit you. You had been knocked flat on the floor but managed to sit up. You arm had took the brunt of the attack and you clutched your arm tightly into your side as it pulsed in pain. Azula appeared by your side and stared at your arm horrified. The moment you saw her worried look you tried to play it off and smile. "I’m fine" you assured her but Azula shook her head "no you’re not, come here". You glanced down at your arm but held it out to her.

Azula inspected the burn and frowned. It wasn’t serious, the skin would be healed in a few weeks and it shouldn’t cause you too much pain in the meantime but it would scar. “It’s not too bad but it needs dressing...come on”. Azula soaked your arm and apologised as you winced. She carefully dried it and applied a cooling balm onto it. You flinched and she frowned “does it hurt?”. “Yes but that feels nice, it feels cold”. Azula nodded. She waited for the gel to soak in before bandaging your arm carefully. “We’re lucky it was just your arm...if you’d fallen and my fire hit you somewhere else...” Azula paused “I should’ve been more careful”. “It wasn’t your fault, it was just an accident” you tried but Azula shook her head “fire benders aren’t allowed accidents, accidents get people killed”. You watched Azula’s concentrated tense face and wished you could ease the guilt she seemed to feel. Azula finished bandaging your arm and tucked the bandages away expertly, you watched amazed as her fingers worked softly and swiftly. For the first time you noticed there were many small scars from burns and cuts along her fingers and you watched her face closely. The princess was immaculate but on closer inspection, you could see the small scars and flaws of any person. It didn’t surprise you Azula kept hers hidden, she seemed like the type to tightly guard her weaknesses and you frowned wondering if she’d been told to do that as a child. From how faded some of the scar were you were guessing she had and it made you angry. Azula was a powerful force of nature but she was still a human with flaws. Not despite those flaws but because of them you viewed her as the most beautiful and intelligent woman you’d ever known and you wanted her to know that.

"Finished" Azula declared and then looked up to see you staring at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked. In response you blinked and leant across the table to kiss her. Azula jumped pulling away as soon as you touched her and you jumped back too, upset and horrified you’d read her signals wrong. "You shouldn’t do that" Azula said and you blinked "i’m sorry i just thought...we’ve been flirting and I thought you might like me...". "No i meant here" Azula said cutting you off "we shouldn’t do that here but other places...". You paused and slowly smiled at Azula’s tone "other places....so you do like me?". Azula shushed you "not here too many ears come on" and held a hand out to you "but yes" she whispered as you took her hand. You smiled at her and Azula’s cheeks turned a shade of pink as she shot her eyes away from you. Azula led you through the palace confidently and to the royal gardens. You frowned figuring this was an open space with many prying eyes and ears but Azula just smiled more "as a child i learnt all the best places to hide are in here". "You had need of many hiding places?" you asked as Azula led you into the maze. She nodded "this was my mothers favourite place and so the last place she'd think to look for me when she wanted to yell at me, i hid right under her nose and avoided detection". Azula led you deep into the maze before she stopped suddenly "here". A large hedge stood before you and you frowned “Azula it’s...” but Azula just smiled “watch”. She pressed her hands under the left side and pushed the bush to the side. It moved aside easily and Azula stepped through. You followed and found yourself behind large grass sculptures. They perfectly obscured you and gave you a small secluded area. You were still admiring how the hedge just bounced back hiding your entrance perfectly when you realised Azula was close behind you staring at you. Suddenly she couldn’t wait any longer and she kissed you. You laughed at her eagerness but kissed her back. As you were taller Azula wrapped her arms around your neck to be able to reach you easier. You rested your hands on her waist and smirked as Azula almost made you lose your balance in her excitement. You were thoroughly enjoying the kiss when Azula broke it and shot away from you "come on we have to keep moving" she laughed and tugged you out of your hidden area. “Why?” you asked and Azula smiled “you only go undetected as long as you keep moving so that’s what we’ll do”. Azula tugged you into another perfectly hidden alcove and brought her lips to your again before pulling away again just as you were slipping into it. Azula smirked at you exasperated look and you got the feeling she was toying with you. So in the third hiding spot Azula brought you too as soon as she had hidden your entrance you trapped her against it. Being taller had it’s advantages and you gripped Azula’s waist while hovering over her “No more running princess”. Azula grinned and happily accepted her fate.

You liked these hiding places in the garden and apparently so did Azula. She leant against your arms the most content you’d ever seen her. You could see why she loved it here. You could hear other people in the gardens but it felt so wonderfully private. The weather was beautiful and you laid down looking at the sun. “This is one thing I have grown to love about the fire nation, the weather...it’s so nice and warm here” you smiled. “Well it is summer” Azula smirked leaning on her forearms to look down at you “but it is beautiful, wait until you see the festival for the summer solstice. The sky stays light all night and the streets are lit with lanterns everywhere, the whole city glows and all night you just bask in the beauty” Azula sighed “I can’t wait to show it you all”. “Yeah?” you asked and Azula nodded “it’s beautiful even in winter too! We don’t get snow but it gets colder meaning there’s fires on every street corner. They even make a hot chocolate with fire flakes that you have to try” Azula told you “we can take a trip into town and get one....and the restaurants serve festive dishes that are spiced to perfection we will see it all” Azula declared and you smiled. “That sounds amazing”. Azula smiled up at you before leaning further into you.

A while later with a large sigh Azula sat up moving off you “I have to go...my father requested to see me and Zuko, it must be important...if it wasn’t there’s no way I’d go” she told you and you smiled “I know, it’s fine i’ll find someway to manage without you”. Azula smirked “I know Mai and Ty lee were going shopping, you could always tag along with them...they’re not as good company as me of course but it may distract you until i’m done”. “Until you’re done?”. Azula nodded “how about I come join you when i’m finished?”. You nodded your head “sounds perfect” and kissed her softly. Azula smiled and lingered with you as long as she could before pulling back “come on”. She stood up swiftly before helping you up. You walked out of the gardens together and Azula stopped at one path “Ty lee and Mai will be that way, you should hurry so you catch them”. You nodded “have fun at your meeting” and with a purposeful brush against her hurried away. You noticed Azula stayed long enough to watch you walk away before she rushed off for the meeting and smirked, she was definitely going to be late for that.

You came around the corner abruptly and both Mai and Ty lee jumped. “Y/n” Ty lee said surprised “are you okay princess?”. You nodded “I was actually looking for you both, I was wondering if i could accompany you into town? Azula mentioned you were going and suggested you wouldn’t mind”. “Of course we don’t” Ty lee cried and Mai shot her a look. You glanced at Mai who paused before sighing “of course you can come princess”. You smiled “thanks” and went to walk out of the open door but Mai held out her arm “are you forgetting something? A royal can’t leave the palace without a quadrant of guards and a royal precession”. “But she’s not fire nation does she really have to?” Ty lee asked and Mai sighed “you know she does” and turned to call the nearest servant.

It was easy to forget everything the fire nation stood for while you were running around the gardens with Azula but it had a way of reminding you. Mai and Ty lee were not permitted in the royal procession with you and had to walk behind you. The fire nation guards cleared the way through the streets mercilessly and you could see why Mai hadn’t wanted you to come. The citizens were either excited to see you and got beaten back or had been pushed forwards accidentally and suffered the same fate. When you finally reached your destination you felt so malevolent and cruel as the towns people stared but dared not come close. You’d never left the palace in the earth kingdom but there were often parties when normal people could come and they never hesitated to approach or touch you, here you bet the guards would have their hands if they tried. “Y/n?” Ty lee asked as you stared at the guards *controlling* the crowd. “Are you okay?” Ty lee asked and you paused before nodding “i’m fine” and you followed her inside.

Everywhere you went caused a fuss and you felt like you stuck out like a sore thumb. Ty lee wanted to go clothes shopping with Mai but because none of the shops sold green clothes you couldn’t join in. Every time you left a store you had to get back into your stupid cart even if the store was simply down the street. Each store you went into ignored Ty lee and Mai and only focused on you being the royal. You hated all the special treatment you received. You didn’t deserve it and you didn’t want it but there was no escaping it. This was the fire nation.

“What’s wrong y/n?” Ty lee asked “ you’ve barely touched your food” she said noticing how you were just pushing it around. You frowned “I just feel like i ruined your day, everywhere I go I causes a scene, it must be so annoying”. Ty lee shook her head “you haven’t ruined anything we’re used to it”. “How?” you asked and Mai fixed you with a look “you’re not the first royal we’ve travelled with, Azula and Zuko have the same rules but they revel in it a lot more than you”. “They enjoy it?” you asked shocked. “Well not so much Zuko” Mai admitted “but Azula does, she says it reminds people of their position....beneath her”. Mai’s disgusted tone wasn’t lost on you but it did make you think. You didn’t doubt Mai was being truthful, you’d seen first hand how Azula could act but recently you’d started forgetting. You realised with a crashing taste of reality that Azula was probably only like she was with you, with everyone else...who knows how cruel she was. You stared down at your hands feeling guilty for your morning activities with her. What on earth had you been doing sneaking around with the princess that conquered your city. Azula had taken over your home and sent your uncle into exile. The only reason you were here was because she liked you, if you hadn’t have appealed to her would you be exiled too or worse? These thoughts worried you and you couldn’t help but feel like a hypocrite. You’d personally sworn to detest the fire nation but had fallen for the princess? You couldn’t allow that and so you decided to call whatever this was off with Azula. As soon as she joined you.

However Azula never made it to the cafe. When you returned to the palace in the evening there was still no word from her and you weren’t sure if you were relieved or not. The evening pressed on when suddenly there was a knock at your door. You opened it to find Azula smiling widely. “I know I missed this afternoon but I have a good reason!” she waved some servants into your room and you watched confused as they started packing your belongings. “Azula what on earth....”. “We don’t have time!” she said excitedly “we’re leaving tonight! Mai, Ty lee and Zuko have to come too but it will still be great y/n”. “What will be...where are we going?”. “Ember Islands” Azula smiled.

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merakimelareloaded · 3 years

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Beauty is the Beast : Chapter Two

Read on Ao3

2. A Prince in His Tower

When Nathalie had told him that he had a visitor, Adrien had been expecting to see Chloe. So, when he turned and found instead a young man he’d never seen before, he was beyond excited to be able to meet someone new. Was this a new friend that his father had approved of? Looking at the man’s face, he was delighted to find that he had a kind look to him. It’s not that he didn’t appreciate having a friend in Chloe, but on several occasions, he had found her cruel nature too much to handle. He knew she was only trying to be more like her mother, the queen, but it frustrated him to no end that the staff at Chloe’s palace avoided talking to him simply because of his association to the princess. As if he needed any more isolation in his life. Looking into the man’s beautiful molten-gold eyes, he immediately knew he’d be different. As he took in more of his appearance, confusion rose within him. While the man had the radiance of a prince from across the sea that he’d heard of in his books, his clothes were plain and worn, much closer to what the staff would wear than his own. There was no way he’d meet his father’s insane vetting to be his friend, so what was he doing here?

“This is Nino Lahiffe, he has just been hired as the court musician. He will also be assisting you when you are learning any duet pieces.” Nathalie informed. While disappointed that he wasn’t here as an approved friend, Adrien was still glad at the idea of spending time with someone new. Who knew? Maybe they could secretly become friends like he had done with Sir Kim. Jumping to his feet, he made his way to the newest member of his father’s staff and extended his hand towards him.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Monsieur Lahiffe.” Adrien greeted warmly, wanting to make a good impression. For a moment it seemed like the musician was surprised at the gesture, before his expression softened and he reached his own hand to meet Adrien’s, clasping it before shaking it briefly. He noticed Nathalie flinch the moment their hands touched, but he elected to ignore it. He wasn’t going to hurt the guy, for crying out loud. His father’s rules about human contact were ridiculous, even considering Adrien’s… condition. His father had it in his head that if he touched someone while human, it would leave his scent on them, marking them for the beast when it takes over. It was ridiculous, to use Chloe’s words. If that were accurate, he’d have killed Chloe by now, with the amount she drapes herself over him.

Nino’s hand was large and warm, the callouses on the tips of his fingers tickling Adrien’s skin slightly, sending a shiver up his arm and down his spine. If the guy hadn’t been wearing a lute strapped over his shoulder, that would have been the big give away to what instrument he played.

“I very much look forward to playing with you.” Adrien commented, offering a smile that he hoped conveyed his sincerity. Relief filled him when he saw a subtle tinge of pink grow in the musician’s cheeks and felt his pulse quicken under his finger. Surely such a modest reaction was a good sign. Adrien had to admit that he was surprised that a guy that was so handsome would be this meek, but with Sir Kim as his only reference point, perhaps this humility was more common than not. Either way, Adrien found it becoming. At the sound of Nathalie awkwardly clearing her throat, it dawned on Adrien that he still had the young bard’s hand clasped in his own. Quickly, he released the hand and stepped back a polite distance, giving an apologetic nod.

“Your first practise is scheduled for this afternoon. In the meantime, Monsieur Lahiffe will be learning his part of the piece and you will be attending your languages lesson.” Nathalie announced, giving a curt nod before turning to exit the balcony. For a moment, the bard stood there as if frozen, staring both at Adrien and seemingly nothing before he suddenly jolted back to attention and darted awkwardly after Nathalie. Before Adrien could ponder on what it meant, his focus was pulled by a dark but muffled cackling that was coming from his jacket.

“Plagg! What’s so funny?” Adrien whispered through his teeth, hoping that the musician and Nathalie were far away enough not to hear either of them. Phasing out of the jacket, the little demon’s cackling became clearer.

“Just you and your new courtesan, that’s all.” Plagg answered in a teasing tone. Adrien groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

“Nathalie said court musician, not courtesan!” He hissed, cheeks flaming with embarrassment. Judging by the increased level of maniacal laughter, Adrien was sure that the little demon was intentionally messing with him. Annoyed, he stomped back inside his bedroom without another word to his constant companion. Despite the fact that Plagg was a demon, Adrien for the most part enjoyed his company. That being said, moments like this one served only to remind him that Plagg was indeed part of a curse.

“Oh really? You could have fooled me with how fast your heart was beating when you were holding hands and gazing into each other’s eyes.” Plagg quipped as he floated behind him. Adrien elected not to go for the demon’s bait and ignored the comment.

“She’s going to tell your father, you know.” The suddenly serious statement finally got Adrien to turn and face Plagg.

“What are you talking about? Did she see you?!” He asked, panic rising in his chest. Plagg rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“I meant about your little hand holding incident.” Plagg clarified. Adrien narrowed his brow in irritation as he recalled the expression Nathalie had worn when he shook Nino’s hand.

“Ugh, probably. I wasn’t even touching him for that long, and it was just a handshake. I’ll never understand what my father thinks will happen if he lets me touch people.” He complained, dropping himself on top of his bed, stomach first.

“I don’t know. Maybe he thinks you’ll catch feelings off of them. You were certainly feeling something when that boy touched you.” Plagg teased, his mischievous smirk returning. Hiding a smile and rolling his eyes, Adrien pushed himself back up and stepped toward the door.

“Come on, I have a lesson to get to.”

After Plagg flew back into his pocket, Adrien knocked on the door and waited. After a moment, the sound of keys jangling and then turning in the door could be heard through the wood and before too long the door opened, revealing today’s guard and his language teacher. The security process was absolutely ridiculous, but there was no talking his father out of it. It wasn’t even completely because of the whole “turning into a wild beast at night” thing. His father was weirdly paranoid that if someone wanted to kidnap or kill him, taking the set of keys to his room off of one person would be too easy, so he insists that to open the door you need two sets of keys; one with the person watching the door, and the other with the person who was coming to collect him for his next lesson. It was an extremely unlikely possibility, so Adrien was pretty sure the real reason was so that he couldn’t pickpocket the keys and sneak out. It was a useless strategy considering he could easily escape by scaling the wall from his balcony, but he wasn’t about to tell his father that. It’s not like he snuck out often anyway. The only time people didn’t check on him regularly was during the night, and he didn’t want to sneak out then for obvious reasons. The idea of hurting anyone again made him feel sick to his stomach. It was better he locked himself away, no matter how much he wants to be out there.

A soft, calming purr emanated from his pocket, getting Adrien to snap out of his sad line of thinking. It would be better to focus on how he finally has someone beside a grumpy old teacher to play music with who might even want to be his friend! Also, his studies. He was definitely going to focus on his studies.

Despite his efforts to, Adrien found he couldn’t focus on what his teacher was saying. Not when he could hear the gentle strumming of Nino learning his part of their duet from down the hall. He was picking it up remarkably quickly and managed to find interesting ways to transform the piece with his own flair. Adrien liked to think that told him everything he needed to know about Nino. The young musician was clearly a creative person with a relaxed, yet playful personality. It excited Adrien to know that such a person was being let into his life.

“Now may be a good point to stop for today, my lord. I think you’ve taken in as much as you can.” The voice of his teacher cut through his thoughts and snapped his attention back. Looking at his face, the teacher looked like his patience was wearing thin behind his forced polite smile, causing Adrien to bow his head in shame.

“Sorry, sir. Please don’t take my lack of focus as a sign of a lack of respect for you.” Adrien apologised meekly. Daring a peek to gauge his teacher’s reaction, he was relieved to see the man had shifted to a more natural smile.

“Not at all, my lord. Why don’t we hurry along to your next activity, hmm?” At the suggestion, Adrien felt himself perk back up and buzz with excitement. He couldn't wait to see Nino again.

Previous Chapter - Next Chapter (coming soon)

#beauty is the beast #miraculous ladybug #ml fan fic #adrino #adrinino #ninoir #adrien agreste #nino lahiffe #plagg #nathalie sancoeur #mutual pining #fluff #oblivious adrien #werecat au #medieval au

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plasticnightmaredoll · 3 years

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So, this is a drabble I’ve been sitting on for a little while, mostly because I wrote it while in a “mood” and thus it’s kind of personal. However, I do still like it and want to share it.

It does involve Erron Black and Cassie Cage from “Mortal Kombat,” so if you’re familiar with them then kudos, I suppose. If not, then it’s no a big deal. You don’t need to know all about them to understand what’s going on in this drabble.

I didn’t tag this writing with anything Mortal Kombat related because it’s kind of...bashing BlackCage (Erron Black x Cassie Cage) and doesn’t paint Cassie Cage in the best light. I don’t want the drama and bullshit that could result so I am keeping the MK tags far away from this drabble.

Now, this fic DOES involve Arkham Knight Riddler, so it’s a crossover, and I am 100% ok with tagging him and Scarecrow (Yes, he’s in it, too, sort of). Neither of them are portrayed in a way that would piss people off.

Now, the fic is very personal to me and technically it’s a self-insert, but I refrained from using my real name or my alias, and has just referred to myself with pronouns. Why? Because I’m kind of shy and weird like that. Plus, it’s super personal and emotional to me, this drabble, and I just don’t feel comfortable directly attaching my name -- or even my alias -- to it right now.

This isn’t on AO3 for the reasons I’ve already mentioned, and I am honestly ok with any feedback on this, be it positive or negative. Seriously, if you have thoughts, then share. If you happen to be a BlackCage fan and/or Cassie Cage then feel free to send me hate -- no anon hate, though, as I have turned off anonymous asks.

I will warn you now, the drabble deals with self-esteem issues, and the ending, if you are familiar with Scarecrow (and if you’re reading this, I sure hope you are), the ending is kind of.....dark. Nothing actually happens but it is heavily implied someone is in for a traumatizing time.

Volunteer

“I don’t know what I did wrong,” she said, sounding as defeated and drained as she looked. “I tried my best yet I still only managed to be in the friend zone. He said it’s not that I’m not good enough, but that he had liked her for a while and she finally said ‘yes’ to going out with him so…”

“What does this girl look like?” Edward asked, displeased with the situation.

“Hang on.”

Edward had to admit he wasn’t shocked by this news. From the start, he knew Erron Black was that type of guy, one of those dim-witted pretty boys who had no sense or reason. However, Edward didn’t say anything to her as she was an adult and could make decisions on her own -- even if they were the wrong ones. Besides, she was so smitten by Erron that Edward suspected she wouldn’t have listened to or believed his warnings anyway.

She searched on her phone and found the (infamous) girl’s Instagram profile and then handed it to Edward. Looking through Cassie Cage’s photos, frowning, shaking his head, he found himself unimpressed. This was the woman that got Erron’s attention? Honestly? She was a spoiled, bratty, self-centered blonde with the IQ of a donut!

Clearly.

Although, seeing as how Erron’s IQ was clearly no higher than that of Cassie Cage, Edward figured birds of a feather flocked together...one dodo for another.

“Ugh, I’ve seen enough,” Edward said, handing her back her phone. “She’s a social media brat who has fluff for brains and probably uses her looks to get what she wants. There’s no way she’s actually an intelligent, fascinating person. Anyone who takes that many ridiculous selfies is, without a doubt, an idiot.”

Edward noticed she didn’t appear to be relieved by his words, so he quickly thought of something else to add, hoping it would provide some sort of window to clarity that she desperately needed for this situation.

“So, this Cassie fits society’s shallow and pointless standards of beauty,” Edward said. “She’s an absolute bore, I tell you! She’s got a pretty face and an attitude, probably only is successful because she’s relied on her parents for everything.”

She still looked upset, and maybe even more so.

Ok, Edward, think! thought the criminal genius, chewing on his lower lip as his anxiousness grew. There’s got to be a way to get this through to her. This is a waste of her time!

“I mean...I wouldn’t want to spend time with her,” Edward said, placing a hand on his chest. “I’d probably lose my mind after listening to whatever pointless drivel would inevitably spill forth from her mouth. As for her looks, well, let’s be realistic here: they won’t last, and then what? She’ll be stranded with her own deflated ego and nowhere to go.”

Edward could tell that she was nearly crying now much to his dismay, and she kept her head down to hide the tears gathering under her lashes. This was absurd, he thought. Why did she feel so hurt by a guy who was a complete moron and a girl who looked like every other blonde girl out there? It was a waste of time, energy, thought, and emotion to dwell on such people. Why couldn’t she see that?

“I understand what you said,” she said, sniffling. “I agree with a lot of it but...it still hurts, maybe more so now that I realize how much of a bimbo Cassie is. And Erron chose her? I’m not blonde...is that what he wants?” She gripped her phone tightly. “Do I need to start acting like an obnoxious brat, taking selfies and posting them online for attention?” The grip was now threatening to crack the protective outer case of the phone. “I did all I could to be a good friend to him, was there for him, listened to him, treated him well….and yet, I’m still not good enough to earn his...his love? He waited a long time for Cassie...well, I’ve waited even longer to stop being rejected because I’m not good enough!”

Not wanting her to injure herself, he reached out and placed a hand over hers, watching her fingers loosen around her phone.

“I don’t feel good enough,” she said softly, finally crying. “I’ve never been good enough. I don’t know why...I don’t know...I try and I try but it’s never enough...”

Edward watched her sob quietly to herself, unsure of what to do but his internal panic was growing worse. This wasn’t exactly his area of expertise, and he still thought she was wasting energy on two idiots. However, there was nothing he could do about that, not right now, not when she was still overwhelmed by emotion.

So, he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, feeling a little awkward doing it but it was all he could think of at the time.

“It’s going to be alright,” Edward told her. “I promise.”

A few weeks later….

Edward was typing away at his computer as she sat at a table nearby working on one of her custom dolls. With her headphones on, she drowned out the world around her, entirely focused on painting the face of the doll. Because of this, she didn’t notice him get up from his chair to “greet” the ignorant Neanderthal standing outside under the security camera mounted on top of the main door.

Edward opened the door to see a worried Erron Black standing outside.

“What do you want?” Edward asked in an exasperated tone.

“Have you heard from her?” Erron asked. “She hasn’t responded to my texts or calls, and it’s really botherin’ me. I wanna know if she’s a’right.”

Edward crossed his arms, sighing in annoyance.

“Yes, I have seen her and spoken to her,” Edward said. “And it’s her right to ignore you if she chooses to.”

“I...I know that but…” Erron rubbed the back of his neck. “I...I want to speak to her...there’s somethin’ I got to say. I...I just...I need to see her and talk to her, face to face.”

“Haven’t you done enough?” Edward demanded. “No, you can’t speak to her. You’ve done enough damage to her psychological state with your puny, insignificant brain.”

Erron looked taken aback but said nothing as guilt consumed him further. As much as he hated Edward’s callous words, the cowboy wasn’t in the mood to pick a fight.

“Now, run along, Little Cowboy,” Edward said. “Go back to your vapid Selfie Queen where you belong.”

With that, Edward closed the door in Erron’s face, smirking triumphantly. Why that idiot thought he could just walk on back with his tail between his legs and beg for forgiveness, Edward had no idea. Then again the other man was too selfish to realize the error of his ways, so it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise he tried that.

As Edward made his way back to his computer, he suddenly got an idea; a beautiful, incredible, ingenious, devious idea. Taking his phone out of his pants pocket, he searched for and dialed the number he had in mind for this situation.

“Hello, Crane,” Edward said, smiling wickedly to himself.

“Ah, Edward,” said Jonathan, who was fully expecting to be hit with Edward’s ego. “I am surprised to hear from you. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“I’ve got something, or rather someone for you.”

“Oh?”

“You said you were working on a new variation of that fear toxin of yours, am I correct?”

“Yes, and it’s nearly ready. Perhaps just another day more and it will be finished.”

“Great! Then I have a candidate you can test it on.”

“Oh, yes, do tell. I am always looking for ‘volunteers,’ as you know.”

Edward gave Erron’s name and description to Jonathan, his smile turning into a malicious grin as he did so. As much as Edward wanted to teach the dumb cowboy a lesson himself, he also thought it wasn’t worth the effort and Scarecrow loved having ‘volunteers’ for his silly little gas...

“I will have my men apprehend him right away,” said Jonathan.

“Just don’t leave any permanent damage,” Edward said. “Otherwise...have at it.”

“I would never do such a terrible thing,” Jonathan said, chuckling darkly. “I take good care of all of my ‘volunteers.’”

“Don’t say I never did anything for you.”

“Before I go, may I ask why you are recommending this man to me? Is he one of your henchmen? Did he steal from you? Fail to complete a job?”

Now this caught Edward off guard. How was he going to explain this? He couldn’t even fully explain his feelings about this -- about her -- to himself. Yet, he didn’t want to deny Jonathan an answer, either. It was a perfectly valid, logical, albeit nosey question.

“This man, he…” Edward began, his words catching in his throat for a moment. “He, um...he...damaged something...something very valuable to me. And...and as much as I want to discipline him myself, he is too far beneath me for me to waste any of my precious time dealing with him further.”

“Ah, I see,” said Jonathan. “I must be going now, but thank you, Edward. You are too generous.”

With that, Edward hung up and made his way over to her, lightly tapping her shoulder. Turning around, she smiled up at him and removed her headphones.

“Hi, Eddie,” she said. “Did you need something?”

“No, no,” he said with a charming smile. “I just wanted to get a closer look at what you’re working on. It looks impressive so far.”

“Really?” she looked delighted, her cheeks turning a lovely shade of pink. “It’s not done yet but...thank you! You have given me a little confidence boost.”

“And you deserve it,” Edward said, patting her shoulder. “I look forward to the final result.”

Back at his desk, Edward continued working on code for upgrades to the Riddlerbots, humming to himself contentedly. Maybe what he did was a bit much, but the cowboy needed to be put in his place. Men like Erron -- people like Erron -- always did. Besides, she would forget about the fool in time. Edward was certain of this because that was the nature of things: you forget about what no longer has any meaning or purpose in your life, and seeing as how she wasn’t at all interested in conversing with Erron anymore...well, it didn’t take a genius to figure out the conclusion.

“Just dance,” she sang softly to herself. “Gonna be okay, da da doo-doo-mmm...”

Edward nodded to himself upon hearing her, smiling.

Yes, it’s going to be ok, My Dear, he thought. It’s all going to be ok…

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

And that’s the drabble....Now, think of this: Riddler could fuck Erron Black up. I mean, he has a goddamn robot army. And Riddler is a criminal genius -- well, even without the “criminal” part, he’s still a genius. Erron is....he’s not. No offense but he’s not.

In this drabble, Eddie is aware of all of this, but -- and this is where the self-insert part comes in so forgive me -- he does have strong feels for myself (which sounds weird but, like I said, this is a self-insert type of thing and I self-ship with this Riddler so......), as I’m the only friend he’s got (only friend he’s probably ever had, really). So, he’s very protective.

I can see Arkham Knight Riddler being this way if he actually cared for someone. They’d be special to him for a lot of reasons and he wouldn’t want them to be hurt. He’d be devastated because he cares for them, they care for him...it’s the last the he’d want, for them to be hurt in any way.

And we know Riddler isn’t above getting revenge, and this is personal.

Yes, I know Batman pissing him off and humiliating him over and over is personal, but I think this sort of situation would be even heavier for AK Riddler for the reasons I already mentioned.

Some idiot dared to make his one and only friend, the only person who has been both kind and respectful towards him despite his flaws, feel awful about themselves and for no good fucking reason?

A guy who reminds Eddie of the bullies he had to deal with growing up (I do think AK Riddler was bullied growing up -- it seems to be implied, and with how poor his social skills are, I think he would have sadly been a target for bullies in school)?

A guy who is so beneath both Eddie and his dear friend, that said guy doesn’t deserve to walk away from this without paying a price?

But Edward isn’t a master of mental torture like Scarecrow is, and we know Scarecrow’s fear toxin makes people hallucinate terrible, terrifying things, including their worst fears and possibly any traumas they have endured in life. Erron Black didn’t have the best childhood based on his intros with other MK characters. It seems like he grew up in an abusive household, has trouble being open with anyone, has trouble forming serious relationships, chases cheap thrills over and over like he’s filling some sort of void....

Something tells me Erron wouldn’t have a good time under the influencer of Scarecrow’s toxin, and while Eddie doesn’t know about Erron’s unpleasant childhood, he...also doesn’t and wouldn’t care because, AGAIN, of the reasons I have already mentioned. In Eddie’s mind, he’s getting revenge for his only friend, the only person he actually cares for, and he’s getting it in a very fucked up kind of way.

Phew...that was a real fucking ramble. I apologize but I have a lot of feelings about this drabble and its subject matter.....

And let’s be fucking REAL, Bitches: Erron should be glad we’re dealing with Arkhamverse Riddler and not Telltale Riddler. If it were Telltale Riddler.....omfg Erron would probably beg for the fear toxin.

Because Telltale Riddler doesn’t fuck around.

#riddler #arkham knight riddler #edward nigma #scarecrow #jonathan crane #edward nygma #self-insert #self-shipping #tw: implied mental torture

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solastia · 4 years

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Say You Won’t Let Go | 4

Pairing: Jimin x Namjoon X Seokjin

Word Count: 3K

Notes: Shortish, but I decided to split up what I was working on since the smut I have planned is taking a while and I wanted to get something out to you guys. Anyway, I think it's pretty obvious where I'm taking this lmao. Lemme know what you think and oh yeah, we're still missing someone, huh? ;)

A gloomy cluster of clouds had settled over the small village, reflecting the moods of those who lived there. Jimin stared up at the sky, hoping the rains would hold off for a few days until after this crisis was past. The last thing he needed was the added worry of his mate trying to battle in the middle of a storm. Namjoon could handle himself in a fight just fine, but his beloved was surprisingly clumsy and him slipping to his death was a real possibility.

They’d decided the best course of action was to set up a camp halfway between the village and where the possible hostile party was spotted. There the warriors would train day and night, as well as keep up a patrol of the surrounding areas so that no one could get past them to the village. Halfway was a two-day journey, so it had been a while since Jimin had gotten to see his mate. Three whole days without him. Two long and lonely nights.

He sighs morosely and turns back to watch the villagers bustling back and forth as they prepare to evacuate. Everyone had been working day and night since they learned of the looming threat. The caves were now mostly liveable and the animals were sealed away. Those that couldn’t work - such as the elderly and young children - were already in them along with a few guards just in case. Their main concern at the moment was gathering and securing as much of their food supply as possible. Homes could be built quickly if they got destroyed, but the crops that took so long to grow and preserve were much more precious.

Surprisingly enough, it was Seokjin that was his biggest help at the moment. Jimin supposed that without Namjoon around to be jealous over it was easier for him to make an effort to be kind and include the other omega, and so far it had proven to be a great decision. Seokjin threw himself into the work right alongside everyone else. He carried grain, herded animals, and best of all was amazingly good with numbers and actually liked making lists. He had lists of everything from livestock numbers down to every speck of seed they had. The moment he finished a task, he went right back to Jimin asking what else he could do to help him, as well as making sure that he’d taken time to eat. He was loath to admit it, but Jimin had a feeling this whole ordeal would have been much more difficult without Seokjin around.

They were now all starting to gravitate towards the big bonfire in the middle of the village as many took the chance to prepare their suppers and fight off the crisp evening airs. Jimin observed quietly as Seokjin and Taehyung giggled together over something the elder omega had said, his ridiculous laugh enough to even make Jimin quirk a small smile in amusement.

Seokjin was quickly winning the people over with his easygoing and good-humored personality. Even Taehyung, who was firmly on “Jimin’s Side,” couldn’t help being drawn in by the man who had taken to treating him like a younger brother. Seokjin was currently teaching Taehyung how to make the lamb that Jungkook went crazy over, so he’d be able to surprise his mate when the warriors all came back from their camp.

Thinking of the warriors so far away makes Jimin shiver as he was wracked with more worried thoughts of his mate. He hoped Namjoon was eating and keeping warm. That he hadn’t stabbed himself or anyone else with a dagger yet. That Yoongi was able to talk him down when the burdens of his position got to be too much.

He shivered again, drawing his fur wrap closer to himself. It was strange how he couldn’t stop shivering despite the fact that his body actually felt too hot. He supposed stress was making him get sick. Wouldn’t that just be perfect timing - to fall ill in the middle of a tribe war. Well, if there was anything he was good at it was making things worse.

He clenched his teeth as he felt another chill, gripping his fur with a tight squeeze. The heat it added was making it worse, he was sure, but Namjoon’s scent was so strong on this one that he was unwilling to give up the comfort it brought him.

But it was so hot.

He missed his mate so much.

Had he already checked their healing supplies?

He needed Namjoon.

Head hurts so much.

Did they stack enough wood for fires?

“Here, drink this.”

Jimin startled and looked up at Seokjin smiling down at him gently, holding a mug of something steaming. He took a quick sniff, scenting chamomile, ginger, and honey.

Not that he needed the heat the drink would add, but as he’d studied with Healer Lily he knew the calming effects of Chamomile and accepted the cup eagerly. He would need extra assistance to get some sleep later.

“Thank you,” he responded softly before taking a large sip.

Seokjin settled into the spot next to him on the elaborately carved bench, sighing as he got comfortable. Jimin tried not to breathe in too deeply of the rich caramel scent, trying to focus on the more neutral calming ones from his tea instead. He supposed whatever was making him ill was affecting all of his senses, because he could barely stand anyone’s scent all day. Seokjin’s though...he smelled amazing. Like the sugary sweet sauce that his grandmother used on her baked apples. It was everything he could do not to nestle against the other omega and beg to be scented and cuddled. He didn’t want to freak him out, however. Seokjin wasn’t familiar yet with Jimin’s tendency to be overly touchy.

Seokjin cracks his neck with a tired sigh, glancing down at Jimin with concern.

“I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but you’ve been looking a little out of sorts today. Is there anything you need help with?”

Jimin waves off his concern, sending him a friendly albeit strained smile.

“No. Might be getting sick is all. I’ll get some herbs from Healer Lily later.”

Seokjin nods in understanding. “A combination of stress and changing weather can do that. We’ll probably be dealing with lots of people falling ill soon.”

He reaches out a hand to Jimin’s forehead, frowning at the temperature and light sheen of sweat building there.

“You do feel really hot like you have a fever,” He observes Jimin thoughtfully, his eyes growing larger with concern. He leans in and sniffs Jimin’s neck. The omega shudders as Seokjin’s hot breath hit his throat, and the thought of baring it to the other wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

Seokjin’s breathing hitches and he grasps Jimin’s shoulder. “I think you might be nearing your time.”

Jimin growls, refusing to acknowledge the conclusion that even he himself had secretly come to.

“That’s two months away. I’m fine. Just a little sick. I’ll go to sleep and it will be fine.”

“Should I send a message to Namjoon, just in case?”

Jimin shot up from the bench quickly, suddenly eager to run from Seokjin’s constant questioning.

“No! He’s busy. We’re busy. Everything is fine.”

And like a coward he ran away from him, escaping into the Healer’s hut.

Lily was already in there, still packing away her supplies. She looks up when Jimin enters, her welcoming smile dimming as she takes in his scent.

“Jimin…”

“I know. Now is not the time, though. I have people counting on me to save them. Namjoon’s counting on me. I don’t have time for this.”

“If it was anyone else I’d be able to give you a pouch of herbs and guarantee it would hold things off until you’re ready, but your body has often been a difficult one for me to figure out. I’ll give you the herbs, but I can’t promise they will even work the way they are supposed to.”

Jimin growls in frustration, running his fingers through his hair. “So what am I supposed to do? Why is this even happening? I’m two months early!”

“I imagine the stress affected your cycle. It’s very common, dear. I will give you the herbs and we can hope for the best.” She ruffled around in a large sack, pulling out a couple of smaller packages and handing them to him with a shrug.

“If you want my honest opinion, I think you should just head to the caves and ride it out without them until your mate arrives. We have everything well in hand here and everything is prepared to be stored in the caves. You’ve done all you can, Jimin.” She grasps his shoulder softly to comfort him as he groans, planting his face in his palms.

“Just stay close to your people, just in case.”

He sighs in defeat and clutches the bags of herbs close to his chest, murmuring a distracted goodbye to the old healer. He hurries back to his nearly empty dwelling, glad that he’d at least had the foresight (or honestly, Seokjin had) to leave a few dishes behind.

He sets a kettle of water to boil over the small contraption that Yoongi had made them last year when he’d started tinkering around with their blacksmith - a portable cooking surface that only needed a bit of tinder to get going. Jimin loved it because he didn’t have to deal with the firepit or go to the cooking lodge to make something. He could fire it up right there in his house and have a lovely cup of tea without worry.

He shoved some twigs and birch bark into the opening and struck his fire-steel a few times in front of it, blowing when a spark finally took. The simple act of starting a fire was familiar and calming enough to get him out of his head for a moment.

He hummed to himself as he grabbed his kettle and filled it with water he had collected from the cooking lodge earlier. He opens the leather bags and sniffs at the herbs, nodding as he recognizes them. He figures one cup will do for now and pinches about two spoonfuls of herbs into the water. He sets the kettle to boil and sits down at his little table, ignoring the twinge of longing when he spots his furs. He would love nothing more than to just wrap himself up in his nest and have Namjoon make love to him for the next few days. He’d feel safe and loved, nestled in those familiar strong arms.

Instead, he was here, alone, trying to save their village.

The wooden door opened as Seokjin shuffled inside, smiling when he spots Jimin.

Perhaps not completely alone, he guesses.

“You saw Lily?”

Jimin nods, waving towards the kettle. “This should stop it. I at least need to make it long enough to get to the caves tomorrow. After that...I guess we’ll see.”

“Well, if you need anything in the meantime just let me know. I’m here to help,” Seokjin says brightly, but Jimin can see he’s merely trying to cheer him up. He was so nice.

“Why were you unmated so long?”

He gasps and covers his mouth, but the damage has been done.

Thankfully, Seokjin just chuckles. “ You know, that’s been everyone else’s first question. I was starting to wonder when you would ask.”

“I’m sorry, you don’t need to answer.”

He shrugs and grabs a mug from a shelf, pouring Jimin’s now boiling tea. His eyebrows crinkle as though he’s lost in thought, even as he shuffles around and pulls out the small crock of honey and adds some to the mug. He pushes it towards Jimin with a flat smile.

“I suppose if anyone around here deserves the full story, it’s you.”

Jimin takes a sip, watching the other omega curiously.

“To put it bluntly, I’ve never been attracted to alphas.”

Jimin nearly spits his mouthful of tea, swallowing it with a cough at the last moment instead.

“What? But you...and he...you have…” he stutters, trying to understand.

Seokjin nods, “Don’t get me wrong, as far as alphas go, Namjoon is very handsome. My body instinctively recognizes him as Pack Alpha and my bonded mate, allowing me to do...what we do. Perhaps in time, I can see that he could easily become one of my dearest friends and potentially a wonderful father for my pups.”

“But…” Jimin prompts, leaning over his cup curiously.

“But, “ Seokjin shrugs, “I just have never been romantically attracted to alphas.”

“So, that means…”

Seokjin quirks an eyebrow in amusement. “That means I am romantically and sexually attracted to omegas, yes.”

“Oh,” Jimin took another sip of his tea, staring at the quietly laughing Seokjin in shock.

“Indeed. Don’t you have intersex couples here?”

Jimin thought about it, shrugging.

“If we do, I don’t really know. I’m not saying it bothers me, I just wasn’t expecting it.”

Seokjin nods, leaning in his chair as he observes Jimin.

“What about betas?”

Seokjin shrugs, “Never really met anyone that intrigued me enough to wonder.”

“Have you ever…”

“Yes. That’s why I was unmated for such a long time.”

“Oh, I see.”

Seokjin sighs and props his chin in his hand, looking at the wall beyond Jimin.

“His name was Jaehwan. We’ve known each other since we were kids, much like you and Namjoon. Things progressed over the years and I fell in love. I thought that was it. I was going to grow old with him, give up mating and pups. I was fine as long as I had him.”

“So what happened?” Jimin asked, thoroughly enthralled in the story, his heart already hurting for the man since he knew the ending.

“A neighboring small pack petitioned Jaehwan’s father, wanting to court him and make him Pack Omega. And Jae...he was thrilled. Said Hakyeon was beautiful and he was so happy that an alpha wanted to make him Pack Omega at his age. He couldn’t stop talking about pups and mates and…”

Seokjin sniffled and Jimin flew into action, crawling around the table to stroke the omega’s arm in comfort.

“He didn’t think anything was wrong with the way he was acting. When I finally got enough courage to ask what he was going to do about me he said that we both knew we couldn’t stay together forever because that’s not how omegas work.”

“I hope he...falls into the ocean and gets eaten by a whale,” Jimin spits.

Seokjin chuckles softly, wiping his eyes of the couple tears that had escaped.

“So fierce for someone so small.”

“Hey!”

Seokjin truly laughed that time, loud and obnoxious like the ones he always shared with Taehyung. Jimin didn’t know why making him laugh like that made him feel proud.

“He didn’t fall into the ocean. That was a few years ago now. I hear their pack is doing well and he already has a pup and another on the way. I’m...happy for him. I think I loved him too long to really hate him,” Seokjin sighs.

“Anyway, everyone in my pack knew of my...preferences, so no one pressured me to move on after that. When we heard of this packs need...I don’t know. I wasn’t trying to escape or anything. My father was perfectly fine with me staying there and being who I am. He already has a dozen grandkids from each of my siblings. I just...I heard Jungkook and Yoongi talking about the situation and I could see how their hearts were hurting even having to make such a request. They told everyone how much the two of you were in love and what a sacrifice you were making for your pack. I couldn’t stand by and let someone take advantage of what the two of you had. I really am here just to help. Not to hurt you or Namjoon or this pack.”

“Thank you,” Jimin finally responded quietly after a few moments.

Seokjin nods, leaning over to place his hand on his forehead.

“Still feels hot, but not much worse than it was earlier. How long does the tea take to kick in?”

“Depends on my body, which usually is the worst. Maybe an hour.”

“Hm. It’s late anyway, let's go to bed and see how you feel in the morning.”

Suddenly, the thought of sleeping alone yet again was more than he could bear.

“Can you…nevermind. It’s stupid. Sorry.”

Jimin flushed, cursing his pre-heat brain. He scrambled to his furs and crawled inside.

“What do you need, Jimin.”

The way that Seokjin was hovering over his furs and speaking so forcefully had Jimin shivering with something he didn’t want to acknowledge.

“I just...when I’m in heat I need...to cuddle. A lot. It’s really annoying and I’m sorry for even asking. It’s probably really awkward.”

“I’d love to if it’s really alright. I sometimes get extra touchy during my heat too, so I understand.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, scoot over. Just don’t hog the furs, it’s fucking freezing out there.”

Jimin laughs as Seokjin slides under the furs with him, hearing the ‘perfect’ omega cussing somehow extra funny to him.

“Aren’t you from some place where it snows all the time?”

“Doesn’t mean I liked it! Maybe that's the real reason I left. I was sick of having to set my dick out to thaw every spring.”

Jimin curled up as laughter wracked his entire body until his belly hurt. Finally, Seokjin pat his head and yawned loudly.

“Night, Jimin.”

“Goodnight.”

Jimin smiled to himself as he drifted off, warm and not alone for the first time in days.

#bts #bts fic #bts fanfiction #abo #poly!bts #mxm #solastia #say you won't let go

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imagine-this-imagine-fanfiction · 4 years

Text

Planet Eiork ~ Poe Dameron

Prompt: Y/N joined the resistance after your mother deemed her as the least favourite child. Additionally she belongs to the royal family of her home planet. Only issue is no one in the resistance, apart from the general, knows her secret. Until now.

Note: I’ve made up my own planet for this, I was gonna use Naboo but this way I can do my own thing rather than follow Naboo rules. Might make a part two of this but we’ll see. It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted ANYTHING but here we are.

B/N: Brothers name

S/N: Sisters name

~~~

Y/N was working in one of the hangers, she was training to become a fighter pilot for the resistance. All her life she felt as if she was destined for something bigger than the life she was given on her home planet. Princess Y/N of the planet Eiork, she hated that title. So when she told her parents, the King and Queen, that she wanted to join the resistance, they told her to leave and never come back, handing the role of next in line to her younger brother, who was only 16 and still needed to learn how to rule.

When Y/N met General Organa, she was keen to learn, to train, to work, to make a difference. She already had the basics in self defence and butt kicking. The General decided to take her on as her protégé and second in command to be (with the right training of course).

She had been so busy working on the engine of the x-wing she was practicing her work on. She completely missed her best friend and biggest crush, Commander Poe Dameron, best pilot in the galaxy. He made her whole being flutter with love and devotion, it may sound stupid but she’d give him everything, she would do anything just to see him smile.

“Y/N?” Poe said again. “Are listening to a word I’ve been saying?” He was stood in front of her now.

“Yeah. Yeah.” Y/N played it off in agreement. Then realised it could be important. “But just to make sure I heard, say it once more. I wasn’t listening.” She began to put down the equipment she was carrying.

“Knew you didn’t hear me.” Poe sighed. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the entrance of the hanger. “The General wants to see you. Sounds important.”

Y/N and Poe made their way to the control centre, they were chatting about the mission that he had just come back from, trying secure more people to join the resistance. He was telling her about how he narrowly escaped being captured by the first order.

Once they arrived at the control centre, Leía was watching a hologram of a lady, it was difficult to tell her appearance while the hologram being at a funny angle to Y/N. But her questions would be answered soon.

“General.” The two of them said simultaneously, approaching their leader.

“Yes, Vice Admiral Y/L/N. I would like your help.” The General spoke, her voice was calm and understanding. “I am making a trip, that will hopefully better our chances against the First Order.”

“How can I help General?” Y/N asked, keen to help. “Where are you planning on going?”

“We.” Leía looked at the two in front of her, they looked at each other. “We are taking a trip to Eiork.” She said.

Y/N froze, she looked at the General who knew her history with the planet. She began to shake her head, she couldn’t go back, as beautiful as her home was, her family had ruined the planet for her.

“The Royal family need help?” Poe spoke up, not sensing the tension that had suddenly appeared.

“Yes Commander.” The General spoke, her eyes never left Y/N’s. “Please ready a ship for us, Y/N and I will catch up with you.”

Poe looked between the two, nodded, and headed off outside to find a big enough ship, as his x-wing was far to small for the three.

“Are you going to be okay?” Leia asked Y/N, they were making their way to the hanger where Poe was preparing the ship.

“No.” Y/N said as bluntly as she could. “But you gotta do what you gotta do.” She shrugged, they were stood at the entrance of the ship.

“When was the last time you went home?” Leia asked.

“When I told them I was joining the resistance.” Y/N sighed. “So about two or three years ago.”

“General.” Poe’s voice made Y/N jump. “We’re ready to go.”

~~~

Landing on Eiork. When the ships doors opened Y/N was nervous. Her heart was slamming inside her chest, she felt as though she couldn’t breath. Her hands shook as if there was no tomorrow and her mouth quivered. Stepping off the ship she looked around taking in the planets beauty.

The way the sun's red warmth covered the emerald green grass in a layer of warmth. The planet was covered in villages and lakes that lead to waterfalls, which eventually reached an ocean so blue that it could even make a stormtrooper shed a tear. They had landed in the capital of the planet: Leif.

They were greeted by a tall man, with a strong, tanned build and dark hair. Y/N recognised him to be the head of the royal guard, Rhys. She hoped that she would it be recognised herself.

“Princess Leia. Welcome to Eiork.” Rhys said, he had a handful of guards behind him all in a royal blue armoured uniform, easy carried a blaster for defensive reasons. “The King and Queen are waiting for you.”

Leia nodded and the three of them followed the guards. The group made their way through a collection of gardens, some had fountains, some had small waterfalls, there was even one that had every flower known to the planet growing.

They eventually reached a magnificent building that reached to the sky, at midday the highest spire seemed to touch the centre of the sun. Even though she was reluctant to return Y/N had to admit it was a beautiful sight to see.

They reached a big conference hall, that contained eccentric chandeliers, a long silver table with rows of cushioned chairs tucked around it.

Sat in the two most eccentric chairs were a man and a woman. The man had grey hair and facial hair with flakes from where it was brown before the stress took its toll. The woman had a striking resemblance to Y/N, same hair colour, same shape face, same quizzical stare, same condescending look when the one they care about says something stupid. The King and Queen of Eiork.

Y/N kept her head down and mouth closed. But Poe wasn’t stupid, he could see the resemblance, his glance went between the two ladies, then to the General, he went to ask her what was going on but the General simply shook her head.

“Leia Organa.” The Queen rose to greet them. “It’s been many years.” She gave the General a hug.

“Indeed.” The General hugged back. “I wish the circumstances were better however.” The Queen offered Leia a seat and she took her seat next to her husband. “How can we help?”

The Queen’s eyes glanced up at Y/N quickly. “It’s the prince. B/N. We fear the First Order are on their way to corrupt him. Or worse.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. Of course they care for B/N more, what have I got to do? Die? Y/N thought.

“Eiork has always been a planet of peace and tranquility.” The King placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “We just want to protect him.”

Y/N was done, she turned around and left the room laughing, she mumbled under her own breath over and over about how ridiculous the whole situation was, how she felt like she should have never come back.

Poe was torn between duty to his General and the resistance and the closest thing to him in this world, he looked to the General.

“I must apologise for Y/N.” The King spoke to the two of them. “Her brother was given her crown when she insisted on joining the resistance.”

“Actually your majesty your daughter has done some amazing work with us.” The General corrected. “And she will help her brother because that is what families do.”

The King was speechless he was never used to anyone talking back at him, except The Queen. He looked to his wife in disbelief.

“Commander Dameron you are excused.” The General looked back at Poe with a smile. “Go find her, I’m sure you have lots of things you want to say to her.”

Poe nodded, he wandered the building and began to look around the garden, he stopped people asking if they’d seen Y/N. But all of them looked at him dumbfounded explaining: “The Princess left Eiork roughly three years ago, after her parents told her not to come back.” This only made him more determined.

~~~

Y/N was sat in the highest spire of the building, there was a balcony that not many people knew existed, it was a place where Y/N and her littlest sister S/N would sit and talk, it was quiet there, warm and still. Nothing could hurt them there, that’s why it was Y/N’s safe place. She wiped tears that fell from her eyes.

The sounds of footsteps stormed up the tower, whoever it was was looking for her, the stamping gets louder and louder, as the person gets closer and closer.

The steps stopped next to Y/N, reluctantly she looked up to see who had joined her. Poe. He looked exhausted, he’d run all over the palace looking for her. That’s why the tower was a great place to hide people get tired halfway up.

“How did you find me?” Y/N asked wiping her eyes.

“S/N said this was your hiding spot.” Poe said in a breathy voice, he sat down next to her. “You know back when you were a princess.” Poe shrugged. “Well you still are, I guess.” Y/N could tell he was upset.

“I would have told you.” Y/N sighed. “I’m sorry, it’s a sore subject. My parents that is.”

Poe was finally able to breath, so he put an arm around Y/N, she had to catch her heart which was speeding up within her.

“They didn’t want you to have anything to do with the resistance, yet they ask for the resistance’s help to protect their other children.” Poe explained for her, she just nodded.

“Just my brother.” Y/N confirmed. “They don’t care as much for S/N.”

“Why?” Poe questioned.

“B/N is next in line to rule.” Y/N explained, her tears began to come again. “I gave it up and S/N will probably never rule as the goal is for B/N to create his own lineage.”

The tears began to fall down Y/N’s face, Poe just hugged her, keeping her safe and close which in that moment is all she wanted. To be hugged.

“You don’t need these people.” Poe spoke up. “You have the resistance.” That is not what he really wanted to say, but he bit his tongue. “We’re all here, always will be.”

The sound of a deep rumbling echoed through the castle, it’s frightened the two in the tower. Y/N recognised the sound and sat up.

“They’re here.”

#poe dameron x reader #poe dameron oneshot #poe dameron fanfiction #poe dameron fluff #poe dameron imagine #poe dameron #star wars #this is very random

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cowboylovins101 · 5 years

Text

THE HAZARDS OF RABBITHOOD

Fic

Wolf!Arthur x Rabbit!Reader

Warnings: It steamy, but also very fluffy ☺️

Tags: No one

Hybrid AU stuff with low honor Arthur. This ended up being a lot fluffier then I thought but thats okay. Basically everyone is an animal and has the ears and tail to match.

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

Being a rabbit had its perks. Your sense of smell was incredible, your sense of danger was on point, and the distance at which you could hear things kept the gossip fresh and interesting. The one thing you weren’t quite sure about though? Predators really liked you. Wolves really liked you. The smell you emitted, the sounds you made, they way you were easily scared, a wolf’s favorite things. Which is why you found it odd that the one wolf you’ve met up close only wanted one thing; to keep you safe.

Arthur Morgan, popular in camp, and Dutch’s right hand. You couldn’t quite understand his interest in keeping you close, keeping you secure. Of course, being the outlaw he was, he never said this directly but you knew, knew in the way he calmed your fits, the way he kept Micah and other antagonists at a distance, the way he sat near you, hell the way he looked at you. Not even a month after you hopped your way into Dutch’s camp had he said the words “You need anything, just ask.” The softness of his tone having left you with a flush and a heart skip. Was he toying with you? Predators always did that. Was he waiting for you to drop your guard? You weren’t sure, but, you were never really sure about anything so for the most part you played it off, kept your distance. People had warned you about him anyway, telling you not to get swept away, that of all the outlaws in this camp Arthur was one of the least honorable. Sure he cared for the camp, but he almost relished in the opportunities to rob and kill, and he loved to give a good threat and a snarl. But, he didn’t seem that way to you, if anything his sweetness had an edge to it, but that was all. Now, you wouldn’t usually be so obsessed with thoughts like this, but things had been a bit rough for you lately.

You couldn’t sleep. At all. You’re least favorite part of being a rabbit. Being so nervous. Some kind of insomnia was plaguing you because of it, and you were just lucky enough for this to be the third night in a row. All the uncertainty surrounding the camp right now after moving by the lake front was keeping you up, but you were tired, egregiously so, and yet the moment you laid down you were suddenly awake again. It sucked.

You sigh heavily. If you didn’t sleep soon you’d find yourself even more tired the next morning, and being chewed out for sleeping on the job was not what you wanted, not again. The prospect of being yelled at made you extremely anxious let alone the act itself, therefore you just had to get sleep tonight. You huff out a breath of determination and get to work. Maybe a pace or two around camp would tire you out? You put the needle and cloth down, brushing off the dirt that had collected on your pants from the dirty fabric you’d been working with. Walking around camp you carefully make sure to stay a reasonable distance away from the various cots and tents as to not wake the others. You loop not twice, but three times, feeling no different than before and you sigh again. You stretch, you jog, you do push-ups for Gods sake. Why won’t you get tired enough? You resign yourself after a good 30 to 40 minutes of this, perhaps sleep would just have to come for you another day.

You take the shortest route back to your cot, ears pulled back in defeat, just wanting to at least finish that coat you’d been working on, when you realize that this path takes you directly by Arthurs tent. Your keen sense of smell is what alerts you to this as it detects that which is wholly Arthur. You stop.

“You need anything, just ask.”

His words ring through your mind and you wonder just how far it goes. Would he help your insomnia? He always seems to sleep well despite having a lot more to worry about than you. You pace nearby, the thought not being too far off but far enough that you question its validity and your own sanity to even think of disturbing him for this. Finally, after what feels like forever you pull back the flap to his tent and walk inside.

And, he’s asleep. Which you had anticipated, but seeing him so peaceful made you wonder if this was a good idea. You stepped further in, careful in your footing to avoid loud noises and you can’t help but take a look around his tent and find it minimally decorated but very much Arthur, paying close attention to the news clippings and photos. There was so much about him you didn’t quite know, so much you wanted to. You wondered how much closer he’d let you get. Although he seemed to treat you with direct kindness unlike others, most of your conversations involved you and only you. He would always ask about your past, your family, your future, but he rarely mentioned himself, and although you asked, he wouldn’t always give, at least not as much as you had hoped. A part of you feels sad about this, as if he himself had made the decision to separate you two, to put a barrier between you as others had told you to do yourself. But there wasn’t much of a barrier in entering his private tent now was there.

You take a deep breath. It couldn’t hurt to try and get his help, whatever that may be, and he had said anything hadn’t he? You tentatively reach a hand forward, your white ears folding back as your body pulsates with ever growing anxiety. What would he say, what would you do? But you wanted, no needed to sleep. Was he really your only option? You shake your head eventually, hand having stopped just above his shoulder, this was ridiculous. You begin to retract your hand but in the next moment a strong grip pulls at your wrist, your back slamming into the cot and a deep throaty growl reaches your ears as you feel sharp teeth touching you neck. You freeze, breathing rapidly as Arthur looms above you, pinning you with his body until his hold suddenly loosens at seeing just who woke him up. Your fear doesn’t leave you though, eyes still wide.

“Y/N?” Arthur gives you a perplexed expression which quickly turns to worry as he sees the way your chest heaves and the tightness at which you hold your ears back against his cot, you’re practically frozen to the spot.

“Whoa, whoa” He raises his hands in front of him to show you he means no harm and your eyes track the movement. He very slowly gets closer, placing one hand atop your head but you can’t help the flinch the contact gives you. He starts to give a slow and steady pets, “It’s alright lil’ rabbit, you’re ok, shhh.” He continues to pet and shush you, his tone gentle and quiet, an action so unusual for a predator but oh so calming to your frayed nerves and racing mind. Your body finally relaxes under him and you let out a deep breath so he removes his hand using both to prop himself above you. You can tell he feels guilty for having frightened you, but he certainly doesn’t even begin to understand why you’re here in the first place.

“What are ya’ doin’ here?” You avert your eyes, there’s no point in lying anyway, not when you’ve been caught red-handed like this. It takes some time but eventually you give your answer, though you do mumble it under your breath and Arthur has to strain his ears to hear you. If he wasn’t a wolf he wouldn’t have heard any of it at all. His face turns from strained and confused to realization as he registers your activity and your reason together. But, that doesn’t do much for him, it still doesn’t quite make sense and he finds himself scratching at the stubble on his chin, a single eyebrow quirked upward. “So you can’t sleep, and you came to me?” You nod.

“We- well, you said you’d do anything and I…You just always seem to be well rested so I thought maybe you could help,” You shirk away from him and curl into yourself ever so slightly, ears turning back towards the cot again, “Was I wrong to do so?” He quickly shakes his head and gives you a small smile as he eases your worries. You liked that, it felt like, like he was meant to do that.

“’Course not. I’m just not sure what I could do for ya’. Can’t exactly sing, and I ain’t much for stories. Well, mine wouldn’t do much except give ya nightmares. Know the reason you can’t sleep?” You grab one long rabbit ear, a nervous tick, fingers idly rubbing at the fur as you recall what brought you here in the first place.

“It’s just, things are so uncertain right now. I’m so…worried. Worried about the camp, about our safety…Worried about you. I can’t sleep when all I can do is think.” He nods, resuming his earlier petting as he plops down beside you. The look he regards you with makes your heart beat and your stomach flutter, but you can’t look away. He thinks for a moment, humming as he does so before he seems to settle on some kind of answer to your plight.

“So what? Ya wanna sleep with me sweetheart?,” Your vision registers the sway of his tail behind him, and you can tell he’s pleased with the prospect, the sly smile spread across his face being the biggest indicator. Before you can really answer he’s pulling you into his chest, which gives you little room to protest. His hold is firm, but…it’s so warm and comforting too, the effect having taken over you almost immediately. It’s one of those moments where you’re mind and body are on a different wavelength, and you feel as though something more should be said, another answer or action but your body is telling you it’s fine, that this is good. Without a second thought you settle as best as your nerves will let you, letting the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat lull you to sleep.

“I can do that for ya.”

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“You did what!?” Karen stares at you in disbelief. You hadn’t planned on sharing about last night but seeing as days had passed since your last restful sleep, you had slept much later then planned and had been caught sneaking out from his tent this afternoon. You bite your lip and look away from her and Tilly’s prying gaze.

“Did you two, I mean…with him?” You look up then, eyes wide as you frantically shake your head, your face beet red.

“What! No no no, we just I mean, I couldn’t sleep so, so you know,” They lean in closer to hear as your voice lowers significantly in volume, “He held me while I slept.” Karen and Tilly look to each other and back to you.

“Wait. You snuck into his tent, and you just slept?”

You nod.

“And nothing happened.”

You nod again.

They seem confused for, one, why you would do that in the first place, and two, how he didn’t just eat you up and then spit you out after. However, they seem to let the confusion go, you clearly knowing more about who Arthur really was than them. Not that they really could considering how closed off he was about himself. Mary-beth who’d been reading her book, and subsequently having abandoned it for this conversation, had finally decided to chime in herself placing a gentle hand on your shoulder.

“You remember what we had said though right, that you have to be careful? Hell, ya gotta be careful of half the people here.” The way they looked at you then had you feeling a pang of guilt but at the same time you had no regrets for your actions whatsoever. You hadn’t felt safe and certain in a long time, but being in Arthurs arms, hearing his gentle voice speak to you, you had felt protected. You weren’t about to apologize for that. However, you weren’t really the type to argue and kept your statement concise and simple.

“I don’t think he’s the big bad wolf everybody says he is, and even if it’s true he doesn’t treat me that way and…well, that’s that.” Before they could protest you decide to leave, telling them you need to get more water to finish this laundry, ignoring the fact that you all had barely started so there was plenty clean water left to use.

You spent the remainder of the day to yourself for the most part, puttering around and doing this or that; small but helpful tasks. You noticed as the day went on a pair of eyes would watch and linger on your figure; you knew it was Arthur. You had made eye contact several times, and he returned your gaze with a smile that you yourself couldn’t help but respond to. As night fell, the camp settled, people picking spots near the fire to sleep, or relaxing with a book or light conversation. You had just set down a book yourself, stretching your arms out above you, feeling a bit of fatigue pull at your senses and you hoped tonight that you would get some sleep yourself. You hear Arthur call your name nearby, ear twitching in that direction, and when you turn to look towards him, he beckons you over with a flick of his wrist. You follow without a second thought.

“You look like you’re ready for bed, come on then, let’s get to it.” You tilt your head in question, but he ignores it, instead he grabs hold of your hand taking you towards his tent and leading you inside without any hesitation. You blush and turn away as he immediately starts to strip out of his vest and button up still not understanding how you went from A to B in this situation. He turns to you a moment later when he hears nothing from your side of the tent, hands pausing on the button they’d settled to and he lets out a huff of frustration.

“We’ll come on now, I know you ain’t sleepin’ in all that.” Oh. That’s what it was. He wanted to sleep together again? But…why? Your bewilderment must have been plastered all over your face because as soon as he recognized the reason for the furrow of your brow his face softened as he looked at you. Closing the space between you he places a hand atop your head, gently ruffling your hair, and your ears lower on instinct to accommodate the motion.

“Didn’t you want me to help you sleep?” You supposed he was right, but you for sure thought it was a one-time thing, not a repeat kind of deal. Your face flushes as you think about another night shared with Arthur and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to. Your hands fiddle with the hem of your shirt and you nod your head in agreement and he resumes getting changed for bed. He’s courteous to you, turning to face the other way so you can get comfortable taking off layers for a better sleep experience, and when you settle in his hold that night you wonder if this means anything. You hope it does.

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

This trend continues, each morning you’d do your work and each night you fall and rest nestled in Arthurs hold. At this point almost everyone in camp was aware of this happening and had silently deemed that you belonged to Arthur, and quite frankly you didn’t mind. The girls finally left you alone about how dishonorable he was and you yourself felt so content and rested each morning you had no reason to complain about this labelling.

You currently sat by the lakeside, humming a tune to yourself while you sewed up some cloth for cleaning purposes, feet swaying on the edge of the dock. Your so caught up in the gentle breeze and warm sun that you practically jump out of your skin when someone comes up behind you, calling your name in a tone you don’t like, or better yet, that you hate. You turn, and sure enough it’s Micah. He was another wolf in the camp and when you first arrived, he would pick on you quite a bit, popping up behind you just to give you a scare and see you jump or making comments about how he wants to eat you. After awhile he had mostly stopped, probably because the novelty had worn off, and now that you had this unspoken label of being under Arthurs protection, he had stopped bothering you entirely. Well, maybe not.

“What d’ya doin’ out here lucky foot? Sewing some cloth.” You don’t respond. Your ears are pulled back and your eyes look for some kind of way out but considering the narrow nature of this dock it would be hard to slip past.

“You know, I heard rabbit stew is quite delicious,” You swallow thickly, heart hammering in your chest, “Mind if I try a bite?” He snaps his jaws at you which makes you jump, shaking your head quickly and he laughs at just how anxious he’s making you right now. You eye him carefully as he plops down next to you on the end, your body curling so far into itself to keep your distance.

“I hear Morgans takin’ a liking to ya’. How about I help you at night, I’ll keep you real safe.” His face is too close. You don’t like it, not at all. It’s still daylight and you doubt he’d actually do something but that does nothing to fix the frantic thoughts that race through your mind. Arthur. You want Arthur. Where is he? He said he’d keep you safe. All you can think about is where Arthur could be, and why Micah had decided to tease you today.

You open your eyes, having closed them without realizing it when you hear a loud splashing sound, water touching the bottom of your pants. Micah sits in the chilled lake, ears completely pulled back and voice growly as he yells.

“What the shit Morgan!?” You turn to see Arthur, his face giving off an air of pure aggression and he bares his teeth and growls.

“Don’t. Touch. This rabbit is mine.” Your heart skips a beat. He called you his. Everyone else did too, but, but there was something much more appealing about hearing the man say it himself. You hear Micah give a growl in response and you stand to hide behind Arthur, finger clutching the cloth of his jacket. Micah lets out a huff, giving up as he trudges through the water to the shore, spitting as he passes by you both but Arthurs eyes never leaving him until he’s far enough away. Your heart finally stops drumming in your ears and you let go of Arthurs jacket as he turns to face you. He places a gentle hand on your cheek, thumb rubbing idly as you look at each other and any trace of fear or left-over anxiety washes away, replaced by a fluttering in your stomach. Eventually his hand slips from you and he walks away, looking to you a moment longer before he leaves.

Your mind is of course constantly replaying this moment over and over. The way he snarled to protect you, teeth and claws bared, the softness in his eyes as he regarded you, and the fact he had called you his. You cover your face at that last bit, cheeks red and body filled with a kind of happiness you hadn’t expected to experience in this little camp group. That night when the two of you were settling for bed you just had to bring it up, you wanted to know what this was between you.

“Arthur?”

“Lil’ rabbit?” He smiles as he plops down on the side of the cot, starting to take his boots off, a cigarette poised between his lips and eyes facing downward, but you know he’s listening.

“Today, er, well earlier. You said I belonged to you when Micah was there and um…” He’s watching you now, having stopped his ministrations. His face is unreadable when you glance over to him and that makes you nervous but he doesn’t say anything, waiting for you to finish despite having stopped talking, fingers gripping and releasing each other as you try to find the words to the question you want to ask most.

“Do you, I mean are we, or rather what,” you let out a huff of air, why can’t you just say it!? No. You knew why, because what if you were wrong about his intentions, his actions, his possible feelings. What if you were a means to an end a, a toy or something? What if everyone had been right before? You look at him again, expression desperate, but you don’t know what for. He still says nothing, taking a long drag of his cigarette before crushing it below his heel. You struggle for a few more moments, starting and stopping again, your face growing hot and your hands getting sweaty.

“Take yer time darlin’” He finally speaks, and his voice seems to relax you and you feel more sure. How did he do that to you so instantly? Regardless, you know you need to just relax. Just breathe. It was just you and Arthur here after all, that’s what his tone had told you, that it was alright, that he was here.

You take a few deep breaths. You open your mouth. And you tell him how you feel.

“I like you Arthur, a lot. And, when you said I was yours today I thought maybe, just maybe you liked me too. And I…Well I, I want all this to mean something, rabbit and wolf, whatever. I want. I want you Arthur. Could you ever feel the same about me?” Your question is tentative, shy, with a hint of a shake to your voice as the nerves begin to bubble up once again. But Arthur smiles, tells you to come over, and when you do he pulls you down to sit in his lap and he kisses you. Its soft, a softer kiss than you’d expect an outlaw like Arthur to give but you accept it nonetheless, and when you split apart you didn’t need him to answer but he does regardless.

“When I said you were mine I mean’t it lil’ rabbit. You think I’d sleep in this same cot with just anyone? It’s been somethin’ more since day one.”

He kisses you again and you feel like this time you don’t want to part, your head in the clouds. The kiss you two share takes mere moments to turn from tender to heated and you let him have the lead. The next time he breaks apart he plants kisses along your face and jaw before biting your lip, licking at the flesh before kissing you again, your tongues touching. He scoots back eventually, pulling you along so your sat between his leg on the cot and you let him maneuver you so your back is against his chest. This time he puts his lips to your neck, nibbling at the junction between your neck and shoulder, careful to keep the bites light enough so his sharp canines don’t hurt you. When he nibbles on your ear you let out a pleasured sigh and feel his hands move from the side of your hips to the hem of your shirt and he begins to unbutton from bottom to top, mouth continuing to leave marks across your neck and shoulders, pulling the shirt off as well as the undershirt beneath.

“This alright?” You nod your head unable to speak as his hands massage your chest, forefinger and thumb rubbing at your nipples. You let out a moan as he pinches them and you can feel him smile into your neck, his tongue licking a long stripe up to the base of your ear. His other hand teases at the hem of your pants, rubbing at your hips and slipping under before retracting to trace patterns on your side and stomach. You whine, a sign of begging, as his fingers dip in again but deeper, so close to where you want them most, and on the third swipe you buck upwards. You whine out his name and hear him chuckle in response.

“Somethn’ the matter?” You turn your head to look at him, a pout poised on your lips and Arthur relishes in the sad look you give him. Before you’re even able to ask him to touch you his hand dips down, fingers caressing your sex and you let out a surprised moan. He rubs his hand against you and you rub against him in return, biting at your lip as his fingers dip lower and tease at your entrance. He removes his hand and your about to protest but feel him lift you up with one hand and tug at your pants with the other to which you respond by using your own to assist in stripping you of both pants and underwear. You hear his tail thumping behind him as he wags it, hand returning to your entrance and pushing inside. Your hand goes up to grip at the base of his neck, legs uncocniously lifting and spreading to accommodate his touch, you wanted him to touch you more, to give you more of him. Being a rabbit meant you were a bit smaller than others, particularly to large predatory animals, thus Arthur knew if he was to give you more, he had to prepare you first. Although he had to admit the sweet sounds you emitted made it hard for him to go slow.

“Shit Y/N I just wanna eat you all up, ya know that?” You’re responding moan turns to a gasp as he inserts another finger, using them both to pleasure and stretch you so he can finally enter you. You can feel his hand getting faster with urgency and the hard cock that rests on your ass behind you is sure to be the reason so of course you wiggle your hips just to feel him twitch behind you as your ass rubs against him. He gives a low warning growl so you do it again and hear his breath hitch. He finally pulls his fingers from you and moves you to free himself from his pants, leaning over you to his bedside as he grabs a small canister of oil and coats himself to be sure that when he enters all you feel is sheer pleasure. He braces your one thigh on his forearm and, with your assistance, lifts you upward enough as to angle himself so the tip of his cock is teasing at your entrance. And then, he slowly lowers you onto himself. He releases a groan at how tight you feel and you hold your breath until your partially seated, letting out a shaky exhale as you feel the stretch from below. It hurt a bit, but you knew it’d get better eventually and gave no protest when Arthur grabbed your other leg, holding you up and against him as he thrust his hips fully. You cry out when his hips meet your backside, dick fully sheathed inside of you and you hear him curse behind you as he starts a steady pace, holding you up all the while. You don’t really know where to place your hands since he has all the control, so you settle for behind his head on one, the other atop your sex rubbing in time with his thrusts. Arthur growls and grunts into your ear, the sounds only making you more aroused as you cry out his name and a jumble of yesses and pleas for more.

“You’re so…shit, you feel so good. You like that huh? Like how good this wolf makes you feel?” You cry out another yes, begging him to go faster and of course he does. He shifts then, dropping your legs and bending your forward a bit as he prompts you to start bouncing yourself, hands on your hip to help push you up and down. He grabs hold of your fluffy white tail and you moan his name. It feels amazing, to think you’d go from nervous confession to this, with a predator for Gods sake. You don’t even have the capacity to think about that concept, your mind a haze of lust and your ears filled with the sounds of Arthur and you, every thrust. You feel completely stretched out on him, so full and so good, you want more but you can feel your end approaching. Your nerves are alight with so many good sensations you can’t care to hold in your voice as your peak approaches closer and closer, your volume only getting louder. Right as your orgasm hits you Arthur bites down on your shoulder, the shock of the pain mixed with the highest of pleasure has you practically screaming his name, and you feel his shaft pulse inside you not a moment after and you knew he reached his end as well.

You slump in his arms, laying back against his chest again, your own heaving as you try and catch your breath. You feel him lick at the spot he had bitten, knowing it had left some huge mark but you were too tired to care. He laid the both of you down, taking the time to clean you off before wrapping his arms around you and pulling you atop his chest. He places a gentle kiss on your forehead and the both of you fall fast asleep.

That next morning you can tell Arthur is proud to see your neck left uncovered, and although you know people are staring just as much as they are talking, you don’t feel nervous at all.

#rdr2 #rdr #arthur morgan imagine #arthur morgan x reader #nsft #red dead redemption #arthur morgan #writing

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asleepinawell · 5 years

Text

disentanglement

A Root x Shaw fic

Shaw doesn't register how long Root's hair is until it suddenly isn't anymore.

It's a part of Root's routines more than anything else (routines which are now woven intricately into Shaw's own)--she has to wash it, brush it, curl it, and so on, all of which takes up quite a bit of time. Shaw's no stranger to all this with her own long hair, but Root's got her beat on the amount of time invested in something that seems almost frivolous. (Both of them are equally guilty of the rate at which they go through shampoo).

The time they take on their hair is fit in between the rest of the pieces of their lives, as unnotable as brushing their teeth or taking out the trash. It's understood and accounted for, but not remarked on. It's a constant.

The only real discussion of hair length comes up when Shaw complains, yet again, that Root is going to get herself killed when her hair gets in her face in combat and why can't she just use a damn hair tie? Root smiles at her in that annoyingly smug way she has, pats her on the cheek, and ignores all the hair ties Shaw slips into her jacket pockets.

Shaw lets it drop because for whatever reason the long hair situation never does seem to get in Root's way. Maybe her stupid nerdy brain has calculated out the correct timing and angle at which to flip her hair back in a way that is both ridiculous and, okay, kind of hot. When a problem finally does arise, it isn't under any circumstances Shaw had worried about.

The mission has gone poorly from the start and now they're running away from way too many armed security guards but at least they've got a decent head start. The door to the outside almost knocks Shaw over backwards when she pulls it open because apparently New York is having some kind of freak wind storm today. It's a big metal door with no handle on the outside and when it slams behind them with a thud, Root yelps and almost falls over.

Shaw turns back and sees how a bunch of Root's hair, no doubt streaming in the wind, had gotten caught in the slamming door, and she doesn't even stop to think about pulling her knife out and slicing through the stuck locks. They've got men with guns after them and that door isn't going to open from this side, so it's the obvious and best answer.

With all the other excitement going on, she half-forgets it happened until they're home later and she sees Root standing in front of the mirror finger-combing around the damaged area. It's way more than Shaw realized--a sizable area of Root's hair on the back left side of her head has been hacked much shorter than the rest--and it's extremely noticeable now that she stops to look. Root doesn't have much of any sort of expression on her face and after a second or two she shrugs and goes off to work on her laptop so Shaw figures it's not a big deal. Root will probably wear some ridiculous and embarrassing headwear to hide it until it grows out, she expects.

What she doesn't expect is for Root to come home the next day with her hair cut short so it only brushes the tops of her shoulders. It's not that much shorter than the shortest Shaw has seen it before this, but Root's hair has been halfway to her waist and wavy for so long now that the sudden change is a bit shocking. The curls are definitely gone now, though the ends of her hair curl up naturally and unpredictably on her shoulders. Shaw gapes at her like an idiot for far too long and Root chuckles and bops her on the nose.

"Don't you like my new haircut, Shaw?" she asks after escaping Shaw's half-hearted attempt to capture her finger.

Shaw thinks it looks good because, frankly, Shaw thinks Root always looks good, but she feels weird about the whole thing and she doesn't know why and it's just so...annoying.

"It's fine," is all she ends up saying, but the feeling that something is wrong stays with her the rest of the day.

She takes some time to think about it later because sometimes figuring Root out requires a lot more effort than Shaw generally puts into anyone and that seems to mean a lot of thinking. She watches Root sleep that night--her short hair stuck to her cheek and not spread nearly so much across the pillow as usual--and she thinks a lot about Root and her choices, specifically her choices relating to her own appearance.

It's complicated, she gets that. Root still takes on new roles and personas for her work, still becomes new people at the drop of a hat to help the Machine. Even when she's not on a job, she often has this affected air that she never seems to fully let down except sometimes, privately at home with Shaw. No one has seen more of that part of Root than Shaw, and even Shaw feels like she's missing pieces of the picture sometimes. She'd like to think she knows who Root is by now, but she's not sure how Root sees herself. Who does Root think Root is?

There are things Shaw assumes Root likes for herself: the leather jackets, the black nail polish, the ridiculous bunny slippers. These are all things Root clearly chose for herself. She hasn't cut her hair significantly since Shaw had met her and, as far as Shaw knows, the wavy curls aren't for any mission. All that combined with how much time Root put into taking care of her hair and curling it must mean that she liked it that way, Shaw figures. It's a thing she must want for herself. Or maybe it was part of the person Root wanted the world to see when they looked at her? Would Root make a distinction like that? Would it be a bad thing if she did?

Shaw has a headache.

It's simpler for herself, she knows. She likes her long hair--likes the weight of it and the way it hangs around her when its down--but if it had been her hair that had gotten hacked off in the door it wouldn't have been more than an annoyance. She'd probably have gotten it cut and maybe she would have left it shorter for a bit. It's been a while since she had short hair and that had been fun in its own way. It wouldn't have changed how she sees herself though.

And that, she realizes, is the reason she's sitting here having Root's existential crisis for her at three am. There's something tenuous about Root's sense of self, but maybe it's gotten a little stronger in their time together and Shaw is worried that she cut away some part of it when she freed Root's hair. Cut away some part of Root.

It's probably a really dumb thing to worry about, she tells herself. It's just hair. It'll grow back. Root hadn't seemed to care at all.

And maybe that's why the whole situation feels off to Shaw. There hasn't been a joke or a complaint or an inappropriate joke or anything Shaw would have expected. Root barely seemed to have noticed the change.

Shaw's headache is a steady, dull throb now so she gives up, takes some painkillers, and goes back to sleep. She'll talk to Root in the morning.

They don't do a lot of talking in the morning, but for the very best reasons. Shaw enjoys herself, but she definitely notices that Root's hair doesn't fall like a curtain around her the way it used to and doesn't lie across her thigh quite the same way. These are brief thoughts, quickly replaced by much more urgent ones, but they serve as a reminder to Shaw that she'd promised herself to talk to Root about this.

It's not a conversation she knows how to start, but that turns out not to matter.

"Want to tell me what was on your mind the whole time?" Root asks as they're lounging in bed after.

Shaw thinks that it's extremely unfair that Root can read her so easily while she's stuck with sitting up half the night and giving herself a headache to try and figure out if there's even something to worry about.

"It's nothing," Shaw says, because she still doesn't know how to explain why she's worried over Root not being upset and it sounds silly no matter which way she puts it.

Root tsks like there's no way she buys that for even a second. "You must really not like my new haircut," she says, and it's a joke.

"Do you?" Shaw asks, and it's not.

She can see in Root's expression that she's not going to get a serious answer out of her, but maybe Root sees something in Shaw's expression, too, because she pauses and appears to reconsider.

"I'm not upset you had to cut my hair free, sweetie," she says carefully. "It was the best option at the time. I don't blame you for that."

"You'd better not. It was the only damn option."

Root frowns, visibly perplexed by where the conversation has gone. For once it's not just Shaw scrambling to understand.

"Do you like your hair short like this?" Shaw asks, because she doesn't think she can explain her concern, but maybe she can steer things in the right direction.

"It's not a problem," Root says, turning away from her to fuss with her phone on the nightstand. "It's really not a big deal, sweetie. I doubt the Machine will have any missions for me that require hair that long anytime in the near future."

"You didn't answer my question."

Root turns back and Shaw sees something in her eyes that looks almost like panic. She takes Root's hand and runs her thumb along the side of it. It's cheating, she knows, a sure fire way to make Root go all soft and mushy and also give them both something to focus on if they need to avoid eye contact the way Root is doing right now.

"I don't know," Root says finally, voice barely above a whisper.

Shaw waits for more, but Root just sits there looking a bit miserable so Shaw gets up and shoos her into the shower while she makes breakfast. Root will talk when she's ready, she figures. Root's shower is shorter now with less hair to wash, and Shaw isn't quite done cooking when she joins her.

They're quiet as they eat, Shaw trying hard not to look at Root's wet hair hanging around her head in dark locks. She starts to think that maybe Root isn't going to say anything more about the whole thing at all, but halfway through her pancakes Root finally starts talking.

"Did you know that I originally grew my hair out because of the Machine?" she asks. "Not because She asked me to, but because I thought that I could always cut some off at a moment's notice, but I couldn't make it grow longer instantly. Having it long gave me, and Her, more options to work with." She rests a single prong of her fork on her plate and twirls the fork in her hand. "I didn't really think about it much at the time. Even before that, most of how I looked and dressed was temporary. Another tool to be used."

She switches to dragging her fork through the syrup on the plate, leaving wavy paths behind. "Once I finally got to a place where I felt like I could do what I wanted with my hair I...well I didn't know what to do. I liked my hair long, liked curling it, liked how it felt around me, but out of all the options in the world, was that the one I wanted?"

Shaw refills both their glasses with orange juice without saying a word.

"I said I don't know because I really don't know. I think I liked my hair long. I think I like it this way as well. I'm not...not sure who I'm looking at in the mirror sometimes, and I'm not sure who I want to be looking at."

Shaw feels some pressure that's been inside of her since Root had shown up with her hair cut ease up a bit. It's replaced with the feeling of inadequacy because she has no damn clue how to sort out all the things she finally got Root to admit, but she's still going to call it progress. It would be easy for her to say that Root looks great no matter what she does with her hair, that she could shave her head and Shaw would still be weirdly attracted to her the way she always had, but, even though that's true, she suspects it's not what Root needs to hear right now (though damned if she knows what is).

She could also tell her that even when she's racking her brains trying to figure Root out she still knows who she is on some deeper level she doesn't have words for, but she's not sure that's the right thing to say either.

She needs to say something though because Root is watching her and doing her best to cover up how nervous she is even as she scrapes the hell out of her dish with her fork.

"Do you think the Machine can hold off on giving you any jobs that require identity changes for a bit?" she asks finally.

It's not the response Root expected based on the flicker of surprise on her face. "That shouldn't be a problem, why?"

"Guess I figured maybe you could, you know, take some time to think about this."

"Think about this?" Root echoes and there's a hint of amusement in her voice.

Shaw scowls at her. "Yeah, like…." She knows what to say now, but she has to force the words out. "Sometimes I don't know why people do things or act certain ways and usually that's fine because fuck people I mean, but sometimes…" She wants to stick her head down the garbage disposal because this is not coming out right at all. "Sometimes I need to know so I have to think all of it through from beginning to end. And a lot of times it doesn't make any damn sense at all, but I think..." The frustration she feels in those moments is something she doesn't know how to articulate in a way to really encompass the experience. "...I think I've gotten better at it." She knows she has. The faint echo of her headache from last night and this whole conversation prove that she has. "So maybe take some time and let yourself think about it. If that's something you want to do, I mean."

She gets that this is about way more than Root's hair now, that after an entire life spent slipping into other people's identifies Root's own identity is the one she has the most trouble embodying.

"And what if I don't reach any conclusion?" Root asks.

Shaw can hear the waver in her voice and she picks her words carefully. "Then we'll figure out what to do next. Which can be nothing. You hair will be long enough to get caught in another damn door in no time."

It's not a perfect answer and she knows that, but Root looks less distressed and she's stopped trying to murder her plate.

They don't talk about it more right away, but things feel better to Shaw. Root is back to her homicidally cheerful self by the next day and it doesn't feel like an act. Shaw doesn't know if Root spoke to the Machine, or the Machine had just heard all of that, but there aren't any more undercover missions for either of them for a while.

About two weeks after the hair incident (as Shaw thinks of it to herself), Shaw walks by the open bathroom door she catches a glimpse of Root standing in front of the mirror looking thoughtful. She figures it's probably a good sign and slips away before Root catches her spying. Root's wardrobe has been all over the map in the last week, in a constant flux that is probably costing the Machine a pretty penny. Her choices have started to stabilize a bit though, patterns becoming more and more prevalent, and while most of them don't surprise Shaw at all, she never mentions that to Root.

"You know I never did get that apology out of you for chopping my hair off so rudely like that," Root says later that night in bed. It's clear she's joking and Shaw rolls her eyes.

"Next time I'll leave you there."

Root pats her on the arm in a patronizing way and then continues. "I was thinking that maybe I should thank you instead."

"What'd you have in mind?"

What Root has in mind takes up the rest of the night and into the early hours of the morning and both of them are so worn out that they don't wake up until late morning. Shaw wakes up second to find Root aggressively cuddling her, head resting on Shaw's chest. She thinks about protesting, but she's still kinda sleepy and Root is soft and warm and looks so...peaceful that Shaw is okay with it.

Maybe Root not wearing a goddamn hair tie had turned out to be a good thing this one time, but that doesn't stop Shaw from waving one in Root's face the next time they go on a mission. Root doesn't use it, but then Shaw hadn't really expected her to.

Root spends half the mission struggling to flip her shorter hair out of the way effectively. Shaw spends the whole mission rolling her eyes.

#person of interest #shoot #root x shaw #my tumblr fics #kind of similar to another fic i wrote a while back #i'll move it over to ao3 eventually

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starlightinhumanform · 5 years

Text

The Art of Love: Chapter 10

Fandom: She Ra (2018)

Ship: Glimadora

Summary: It’s chemistry again and Adora is missing, leaving Glimmer to wonder where she is. Glimmer has to face Weaver, Cat, and her feelings by herself.

Warnings (for this chapter): Some descriptions of mild emotional distress/anxiety, Mild language (please tell me if anything needs to be added)

Genre: High School AU, Angst with a Happy Ending, Rivals/Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Fluff

A/N: As always, all notes mean so much to me (especially reblogs). I always love getting feedback and questions so feel free to drop a comment, send an ask, or add something in the tags! Hope you enjoy my dears~ Love you all 🖤✨

Ao3 The Art of Love Masterpost Fic Masterpost Fic Request Info

Glimmer’s feet shuffled on the laminate tiles as she dragged herself to fourth period. She could tell by the quickly thinning crowd that the passing period was almost over. She couldn’t bring herself to move faster- or to actually care. She had fallen asleep in her last period and had been forced to scribble down the half an hour of notes she had missed in the last three minutes of class- and then a minute or two of passing after that.

Her mind was a fog and the only lamp that occasionally shone through the dense clouds was a grumble of frustration. Glimmer couldn’t decide if she should blame her sleep deprivation on Ms Weaver or if it was better to somehow twist the situation onto Adora. Her brain suggested the third option of it being her damn fault for being so distracted the whole night and spending so much time on being a drama queen instead of actually doing work.

Glimmer let out a huff as the bell screeched. She glared at the door down the hall, behind which Weaver was almost surely cackling out some Disney villain laugh as she marked Glimmer late.

A large part of her was highly tempted to turn around and spend the entire period lurking in a corner of the art studio. She had dropped off the model that morning (By some miracle, Weaver hadn’t been there) so Adora could still present it and get points for them.

She stopped walking and tapped her fingers against her thigh. It was only a ten foot walk to the class but, god, at what cost?

She was jarred into movement by a security guard speeding past her on a bicycle. He was shouting at the empty hallway- something about, “COME ON PEOPLE, KEEP MOVING,”- as if he were policing Times Square and not just Glimmer as she slouched her way past the empty row of monotonous doors.

Glimmer huffed and sludged forward, pausing to glare at the disappearing guard before wrenching the door open.

“Glimmer you’re-“

“Late, I know,” she grumbled the inevitable end of Weaver’s sentence.

Glimmer could feel Weaver’s raised eyebrow without even looking up.

“Keep doing this and you’ll get-“

“Detention. I know.”

The other students were watching the exchange like they were waiting for a bomb to go off- tick tock tick tock. Glimmer was sure that if it were just her and Weaver, the woman may have actually lost it and begun screaming at her.

She settled into her seat, resolved not to let Weaver bother her today. She was too tired to give a shit.

Weaver paused before conceding to simply shake her head and move towards the middle of the room.

Glimmer hazarded a glance upward only to see Weaver surveying the room with a wicked grin, hands pressed together like a praying mans’; as if she was showing off the wicked red claws of her nails. It made Glimmer sick.

“So class, I have a surprise for you,” Smug, purred, smooth with jagged edges; Weaver reminded Glimmer of obsidian as the woman soaked in the sounds of hopelessness coming from her students, “I’ll be checking your projects today to see what you have done!”

The class groaned in unison and the girl in front of Glimmer began whisper yelling at her partner across the room- as if that could do them any good now. Glimmer would have rolled her eyes if they didn’t feel so heavy.

“I know, it isn’t wonderful?!” Weaver’s shark-toothed grin widened as she acknowledged her doomed class.

Glimmer felt bad for the kids in the room who didn’t have a hyperactive, annoyingly insistent partner who had in on Weaver’s evil plans- so basically everyone else.

Now that Glimmer was thinking about it, she hadn’t seen said ball of energy when she had walked in. She turned and was surprised to see Adora’s seat glaringly empty. Glimmer fought back against the wave of disappointment that hit her. It’s not like this was a completely bad thing- it meant that Glimmer would actually be able to concentrate. And Weaver would be more likely to give Glimmer credit for her work instead of immediately assuming Adora had done all of it. So yeah, it was all good. Except... She said she’d see me at school...

Glimmer internally sighed at her own pathetic foolishness; she was getting way too soft.

She allowed herself another glance back, as if Adora would’ve suddenly appeared there in the three second break between her stares.

Another wave hit her, this time a cascade of apprehension. Adora was not the type to skip class and Glimmer’s mind was quick to fill the fog in her head with worries. What if something happened to her? What if she passed out? What if she passed out because I kept her up all night? What if she got hit by a car? What if I hit her my car?? Wait no... I don’t have a car. But what if she’s trying to avoid me?

Glimmer’s mind slapped its hand down on a proverbial bell- Yep! She’s try to avoid you!

Glimmer could feel the sensation of sickness growing in her stomach and rising to her chest. She wanted to bury her had in her hand as a stupid emotional groan began clawing its way up her vocal cords.

“Hey, Glimmer,” A snarky voice purred above her.

Glimmer growled as she looked up into Cat’s smirk, “What do you want?”

Cat gave an over the top pout, complete with big eyes and crinkled forehead, “Why, I just wanted to make sure you were ok.”

“I’m fine; leave me the hell alone,” Glimmer spat.

“All right, all right. You just looked a little,” Cat waggled her fingers, which only added to the insult of her airy, pretentious voice, “dazed-out there.”

Glimmer was suddenly aware of the movement around her- nearly everyone was already sat down with their partners or were at least taking a seat as she looked around.

“Also, I kinda need that seat,” Cat wrinkled her nose at Glimmer and pointed at the chair she was in.

Glimmer turned her head and to the side to see Cat’s partner Scylar beaming at her. Scy was a tall-ass wrestler with a loud punk style; if Glimmer’s brain was dazed enough to somehow skip over Scy throwing herself in the seat next to her (the girl never did anything without enthusiasm), then Glimmer had to be really out of it.

She stumbled out of her chair to move out of the way, “Oh right... I’ll just- move to the back then, I guess.”

Cat waggled her fingers in a wave as she slipped gracefully into Glimmer’s chair, “See ya later.”

Glimmer blinked at the girl for a second before realizing she had froze again. She took a step back, just trying to remember how to move. See ya later... see ya. See ya.

The words bounced around in her head like the little metal ball in a pinball machine- dink, dink, dink. Every time they hit the walls of her skull, I knew conspiracy dawned upon her. What if she knows that Adora was with me last night? Dink. What if she’s trying to get revenge? Dink. What if she told Adora not to come to class? Dink. What if Cat knows I, well that I, you know, abut, you know, Adora. The thought made a little ding! sound this time before ricocheting back even stronger.

“Uh, Glimmer?” The arch in Weaver’s eyebrow was sharp enough to cut a steak with.

She blinked again, bringing her eyes into focus. She had made her way to the back of the classroom but had failed to actually take a seat. Looking around, the seemingly the entire room had eyes on her. Her face burned and she lowered herself into the nearest seat. Adora’s seat.

Adora should have been there; Glimmer needed Adora to be there. Glimmer felt pathetic in every sense of the word. Only a few days ago, she had wanted to keep as much distance between her and Adora as possible. And now she was useless without her. It was strange and it was wrong and it shouldn’t have been happening but there she was, simmering within herself as the class moved forward without her. She needed the assurance that letting Adora in was the right thing to do, that she hadn’t scared Adora off. She needed the simple hope that Adora didn’t hate her. Why shouldn’t she? You hated her for months; you called her a lair and a fake. Why shouldn’t she hate you?

Glimmer resisted the urge to grumble at herself to shut up. Sometimes her brain really did deserve to be yelled at, though.

The class was moving again, sifting through the maze of chairs to grab their projects. Glimmer followed suit as best as she could to meld into the crowd this time after the embarrassing space-out that had happened only a couple minutes before.

Ok but consider this. Glimmer rolled her eyes internally as her mind began rambling again. What if she does hate you- so what? You thought that she hated you for a long-ass time; why does it matter so much if she actually does now? It honestly might be a good thing. It’ll help you get over that stupid crush.

She kept moving forward, trying to ignore the words floating around in her head but it was so much easier just to argue back. Was she just adding to the noise? Yes. Was it satisfying to tell the devil in her ear that it was an idiot? Oh definitely. Consider this- you’re the one that’s so obsessed with Adora and maybe if you stopped worrying about her for a second, I could find something else for you to yell at me about for no good reason.

It struck Glimmer just how much Adora had taken over her life; she had spent the whole day thinking and worrying about the girl. She was just a crush after all; it was ridiculous. Ok so Glimmer thought she was gorgeous and funny and smart and definitely the weirdest person she had ever met but in the best way possible? It was crazy to get this obsessed. Glimmer took a deep breath as she lifted her model off the counter, resolved to relax and go about this whole situation like a “normal” person. One problem. She had never crushed this hard on someone before. She had no idea how to act.

She settled back into her seat- Yes, it was her seat; Adora wasn’t here right now and that meant her seat rights were revoked. Glimmer snorted at her sleep-deprived mind as it continued to crack into smaller and increasingly hysterical pieces.

Glancing around, it was clear that the rest of the room was occupied. Weaver was stalking from partner to partner, leering over each of her victims with the sadistic joy that only a high school science teacher could possibly possess. The groups that weren’t being judged were either trying to throw together styrofoam balls or were praying. Glimmer was pretty sure that neither of those would help at that point.

Glimmer decided to take advantage of the surrounding chaos and grabbed her phone from the pocket of her backpack. She opened her conversation to Bow, ready to dump all her problems in her messages and hope she wasn’t blowing up his phone in middle of a test. Oh well, that’s a problem she could deal with later-

Hey hey hey. Ok so I’ve a problem

Well more like a question. But it’s questions about a problem

...hi? What’s going on lmao

You haven’t texted me since you sent me that weirdass text at like two in the morning

What were you even doing up then??

Oh good you are here ;)

What do you mean?? You were up too loser??

Oh my god just tell me what your ~problem~ is

Ok um sooooo

Yes?

SOOOOO

YES

WHAT

Glimmer moved a hand over her mouth to muffle the giggles that were escaping. Bow’s dramatics always made her laugh and she happened to be uncharacteristically bashful about this certain topic.

So I kinda have a big fat crush

The giggles disappeared very suddenly and Glimmer dug her teeth into her bottom lip as she watched the little blinking dots march in their message bubble, waiting for Bow’s response. Fortunately, he didn’t take long to reply. Unfortunately, Glimmer didn’t quite like his answer.

Is it Adora?

Dfydfgdgthkl how??

Look no one hates someone for no reason as much as you hated adora UNLESS you actually love them

Ok so Bow had a point and maybe he was right and she should have realized it earlier, but “love” was taking it several steps too far.

Also that text you sent last night was so lovestruck I could practically see the hearts in your eyes

I literally just said it turned out ok that you gave her my number?? Because YOU were freaking out??

Yes but you said it with love <3 <3 <3

I hate you

And it’s NOT love. I just like her

Sure...

Glimmer very nearly put her phone away with a huff before remembering that she accidentally had a reason for texting Bow to begin with.

Shut up, anyways do you know where Adora is?

Ooo you missing your girlfriend?

Glimmer’s face would burned red even if Bow hadn’t taken the low dig and called Adora her girlfriend. Because that was the dream, right? Because that’s exactly what she wanted but what she could never have. Because Bow didn’t know the ache in her chest, the pain he was causing. Because he was her best friend so he should know what was going on and how much everything had changed. Because she just wanted to tell him everything and ask him what the hell she should do, but there was something keeping her from telling him and maybe if she could just ask for help, she would know how to solve all her problems. And because yes, she missed Adora and the feeling was so much stronger than it should’ve been.

She glanced around herself, positive that someone had seen her face glowing as bright as a stop light. Everyone was preoccupied with their various crises, leaving Glimmer to her own in peace. Unfortunately Weaver was only two rows away and was drawing closer and closer to where Glimmer sat slumped. She would have to finish up her conversation quickly then.

I’m just wondering why she isn’t in class ok? Nothing more

If you don’t know then I’ll find someone else to ask

Jeez ok

Glim I’m sorry for teasing you

But no I don’t know where she is. Sorry :/

Yeah ok. Ttyl my dude

Glimmer let a puff of air escape slowly from her nose as she zipped her phone into its pocket. Her head felt like a bag of bricks tied to the end of her neck, her eyes just as heavy. She was slumped severely in the chair, so low that her shoulder blades were pressing into the middle of the seat and if she scooted forward a couple more inches, she’d probably slip off entirely; the idea of how much her mother would disapprove of her posture almost drew a laugh from Glimmer.

She debated whether or not it was worth it was worth it to fall asleep. Weaver would be standing over her, glaring with disgust in only two minutes or so, and she would therefore be risking whatever humiliation that would come with Weaver’s disgust. But, mmmm, two minutes of sleep? That might be worth it.

Glimmer was just shifting to plant her head on the desk when the classroom door exploded open. In the doorway stood a slightly sweaty Adora beaming, as always, as if she herself were the sun.

All eyes flickered over to her simultaneously, staring with confused and maybe amused expressions. Adora just grinned wider, apparently in response, “Hey everyone!”

Weaver stood up straight, freezing to look Adora up and down. She seemed confused as to what to do next. The girl continued to stand in the doorway for a moment, seemingly completely comfortable in the situation. The edges of her ponytail were frayed with baby hairs sticking up at odd angles that framed her reddened face. Her breathing was heavier than usual and the blades of glass plastered up her legs combined to give the impression that she had come directly from running.

Adora strode forward, “Sorry I was late! Soccer event with all the captains!”

So Cat did know where she was.

“Oh, I guess that’s ok then,” Weaver unfroze but still seemed somewhat unsure as she turned back to what she had been doing before Adora had burst in.

Adora made her way to the back, stopping only to give Cat a small wave, and sat down next to Glimmer. Her eyes were sparkling and the only signs of any sort of sleep deprivation were the dark circles that contrasted sharply with her pale skin tone. Her energy level was no reflection the amount of sleep Glimmer knew she hadn’t gotten

“Hi!”

“...hi?” Glimmer really wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say. That was usual. What was unusual was that Adora seemed to be expecting her to say something.

Adora was sitting next to her and just a minute ago, Glimmer would have sworn that’s exactly what she wanted but now she had doubts. Adora was just so loud. Her energy made white noise roar in Glimmer’s head and her voice thundered in the empty space between Glimmer’s thoughts. And her smile, god her smile, it was the brightest thing Glimmer had seen all day and it made her eye smart; it felt like a hand had gripped the bottom of her heart and was pulling it down, stretching out of shape and digging crescent nail marks into the flesh. That smile was all that she wanted and all that couldn’t live up to.

Adora cocked her head to the side and let the smile drop slightly, looking more like a puppy than ever, “Is something wrong?”

Glimmer shook her head and took the easy option, “Nah I’m just tired.”

“Oh ok,” Adora seemed to debate on something for a second before regaining her grin, “Me too honestly.”

It managed to draw a snort from Glimmer, “Really? I could not tell by the way you came bouncing in here.”

“I had like, way too much sugar. Anyways, what’s going on?” She turned her head from side to side to look around the room and causing her long ponytail to whip in either direction with the momentum.

Glimmer sat up from where she had ducked down to avoid Adora’s weaponized hair, “You were right. Weaver’s going around checking all our projects.”

Adora pumped her fist, moving her elbow towards her body and dramatically sweeping her head forward, eyes closed, as she did. It was undeniably dorky and it was undeniably cute.

“And our project is great,” Adora stared down at the pile of wire and clay that was beginning to look to Glimmer more and more like some strange “aesthetic” torture tool used by a Pinterest girl the 15th century. Of course, Adora was looking at it with the same starry-eyed expression that she always wore when looking at Glimmer’s art.

Glimmer shrugged, “It’s ok, I guess.”

Adora feigned offense, “Excuse me, I put my heart and soul into that clay.”

Glimmer couldn’t help but break down into giggles. She was so tired and Adora was so dumb and Glimmer couldn’t exactly explain why but every joke Adora cracked became the funniest thing she had ever heard.

Adora grinned back at her, “But really, you should give yourself more credit. It turned out great and I know that it’s not thanks to me.”

Ugh, of course she had to go and make it all “wholesome.” Glimmer debated if it was worth it to say something back. It would be so much easier just to brush it off; so much safer. She had already crossed too many lines last night, the only solution was to go back to normal today. But she couldn’t even remember what normal was.

Glimmer glanced down at her hands. She had been unconsciously worrying at her nails and now her cuticles were beginning to turn red. She looked back up at Adora, “Look though... I wouldn’t have been able to get it done without you and I’m actually really glad you insisted on coming over.”

Adora smiled with the brightness and warmth of the sun, “I am too.”

Glimmer was in the process of absolutely melting under Adora’s affections when Weaver stalked to a halt in front of them, effectively freezing her back together, “So, Adora how did it turn out?”

Glimmer turned to Adora, watching her eyebrows scrunch together as confusion slowly drew across her face, “Well Glimmer did most of the work...”

Glimmer was beginning to wonder if this ‘innocent curiosity’ was something Adora put on just for Weaver. She wasn’t stupid, she certainly didn’t actually like Weaver and she had to know that there was something going on between her and Glimmer.

“...so why don’t you talk to her about it?”

The end of Adora’s sentence snapped Glimmer sputtering out of her thoughts, “Wait what? No, sorry?”

Weaver pivoted on her heels to face Glimmer, “Well then, what do you have to say?”

Glimmer glanced at Adora with wide eyes trying to convey the message of What the hell? Why would you do this??

Adora gave an encouraging smile and nodded. Very helpful.

“Um well,” Glimmer dragged her eyes from Adora (who was still giving that somewhat infuriating smile) to Weaver, “It’s a model of bismuth. The particles or painted to look like a sample of bismuth. That’s about it.”

“Very well then,” Weaver sniffed and began leering over the mess of purples and grays.

Glimmer could have sworn Weaver hadn’t been that critically focused on other groups but, then again, she hadn’t really paid much attention to what Weaver had been doing until moments ago.

Weaver continued to glare over the project as Glimmer continued to hold her breath. After far too long, Weaver moved away with nothing more than a “humph.”

As the click click of Weaver’s heels moved to the other side of the room, Glimmer deflated into her normal slump, “I swear she hates me.”

Adora squinted in the direction of their teacher, “I still don’t see why she’s such a bitch to you.”

Glimmer’s eyebrows shot up without her consultation, “I was not expecting you to say anything that... strong.”

Adora shrugged without giving a response, still grimacing towards Weaver- whatever that meant. If it meant anything at all. Maybe it didn’t. Maybe Glimmer was just taking a simple stare to mean way too much. After all, Adora was sleep deprived and apparently coming down from a sugar high. It would make perfect sense for her to space out. So that settled it; Glimmer was reading into too much, that’s all-

“I swear one of these days she’s going to say something shitty to you, and I’m just going to lose it.”

Oh. Glimmer could feel her heart rate spike like it was trying to reach the sky. That sounded nice, that sounded like maybe- just maybe- Glimmer wasn’t reading into it too much. It sounded almost protective and normally that would make Glimmer gag, but somehow this wasn’t normal.

But of course her only reply was to let out a nervous wheeze, “Why on Earth would you do that??”

Adora shrugged again, “I don’t like the way she treats you.”

Glimmer didn’t like the strength in Adora’s eyes. It wasn’t the level of contempt that led to bloodshed, but it was certainly more emotion than Glimmer deserved or would ever ask for. It made her uncomfortable; she didn’t understand why Adora would be so angry about something which, in the long run, probably wouldn’t matter.

She gave another awkward giggle, “It really isn’t a big deal.”

Adora opened her mouth to respond and Glimmer was almost grateful when Weaver began speaking from in front of her desk. Something seemed to switch off in Adora, her expression relaxing as she turned to face the front of the room.

“I can’t say I’m surprised but a lot of you really need to get to work,” Weaver hissed out a tsk noise between her teeth, “You only have a few days left to get this project done. You have about fifteen minutes left in this period and I expect you all to be focused that entire time. All right get to work.”

The class dissolved into noise as chairs were scrapped across the floor and notebooks were grabbed with the fevered terror that can only be inspired by a looming due date.

Adora reached across the desk to open one of the class-set laptops. She brought up the presentation she had been working on yesterday, the same pastel rainbows and soft pink theme. It sparked a strange sort of déjà vu in Glimmer, the exact same situation as yesterday but with so much less hostility. The dissonance was enough to make her head spin, but she couldn’t help but enjoy the difference.

Adora turned her head, mirth poorly concealed in her smirk, “Can I help you?”

Glimmer blinked quickly, suddenly aware that she had spaced out staring at at Adora, “Oh, um, sorry, no. I was just- no I’m fine.”

“You sure?” Adora was very obviously struggling to keep her smirk from dissolving into a full smile. People talk a lot about feeling butterflies in their stomachs but to Glimmer it felt more like a hundred tiny grasshoppers jumping out of time with one another.

She swallowed but her mouth had gone dry and she wasn’t sure when that happened. She tried to piece together a sentence that a normal human would say, “Yeah, um, I’m good. But what about you? Ya know, do you need help with the project or, uh, something?”

Adora seemed to pause for a moment, once again having to switch to a different setting. She looked almost disappointed and Glimmer still didn’t have any idea what was going on.

Then Adora’s face did something else Glimmer was not at all expecting. Her expression lost all of the playful cockiness it had held only a second before, shifting into what Glimmer could only describe as timid- maybe even embarrassed, “Um, yeah, actually. Could you draw some more things for me to use in the presentation?”

Glimmer didn’t understand Adora’s apparent discomfort. She flipped open a sketch book and grabbed a pencil, “Sure; what do you need?”

“Just another a sketch of it unprocessed or something like that would be great!”

Glimmer was beginning to learn that Adora’s stupid sunshine smile was somehow even warmer when you knew you were the one that had caused it.

The next few minutes went by quickly. They sat mostly in silence, both content in their own work. Sometimes Glimmer would glance over, catching Adora staring at what she had been drawing. Every time she did, Adora would give her a tiny sheepish grin before ducking her head away. Every time she did, something unfamiliarly soft would fill her up from her toes to her cheeks that she could tell were turning pink.

When the bell rang, Glimmer argued that the main reason she didn’t want to move was because she was just too tired, but she could tell it was a flimsy excuse of a lie and she hardly even cared.

Adora stood up, looking down once she had grabbed her backpack, “See ya!”

Glimmer sighed as she watched Adora bounce away from her. See ya.

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wrienne · 5 years

Text

My Cheating, Amnesic Fiancé

Chapter 1: Cheater

"My blood, sweat and tears..."

It had been a spontaneous decision for you to follow when your best friend, Se-Eun, had a ticket to spare when her other friend called in sick. It was one of the most expensive seats, almost directly in front of the stage, and she didn't think she could find someone else in the last twenty minutes before the show. She was a huge fan, a type of fan to buy everything even remotely connected to the boy band - yes, even useless things like paperweights - with her biggest bias being the one and only Jeon Jungkook.

Your worst nightmare. Oh, and also - your fiancé.

Of course, she didn't know the latter part. Nobody did, or you wouldn't be standing in one of the front rows, still breathing. She only knew about you and Jungkook's long-lasting family ties, and that the two of you often celebrated holidays together. There was of course some media surrounding you and Jungkook since you were the alleged heiress of Phoenix Inc., your late grandfather's enormous international company, and he was, well, Jeon Jungkook, the "Golden Maknae", the rabbit, the "Idol that was scouted by 8 different entertainment agencies", every girl's secret wet dream - yes, you had heard it all from Se-Eun and her friends. It was too much information, to be honest.

To you, he would always be the kid who thought Legolas was the dwarf and Gimli was the elf and that the two were counting because they had some kind of problem. He would also be the kid always ignoring you during family get-togethers and who would disassemble everything you ever liked. He would be the kid who always looked away when Hye-Bin and her pets had harassed you during all of first grade to graduation.

Or at least, that's what you had thought before you had seen him on stage, live, for the first time. Suddenly, you found it hard to believe you had ever met him outside the stadium - or knew him at all.

The hair was recently dyed and cut, he probably wore more make-up than you and he donned, most likely, deliberately tight pants. He moved with the determined elegance only practice and practice and even more practice could have granted him and sang, while dancing vigorously, with more steadiness than you could have pulled off while seated. You two were the same age, 20, yet you realized numbly that he, truly and undoubtedly, had reached a prime time in his life. He wasn't a boy any longer.

And frankly, that kind of frightened you.

When the song ended, deafening screams and thunderous applauds resounded throughout the stadium. Grimacing and drilling your fingers into your ears, you watched as the lights on stage quickly dimmed, erasing the sight of Jungkook and the other six members. Just when you thought it was safe to relax, a new tune began, causing the shouting and yelling to erupt anew - especially from your right where Se-Eun and her friends Min-Ji and Yeon-Woo stood. You didn't understand what was happening - not until a spotlight centered on the middle of the stage, illuminating the shape of one person.

Jungkook raised a microphone to his lips and began singing.

"The fifteen-year-old me who didn't have anything..."

You simply stared. During his whole performance, you were as spellbound. There was such passion, such emotion in his voice and his face - even the slightest movements of his fingers when they sometimes flexed and relaxed around the microphone intrigued you.

Mostly, because it shocked you.

During your whole life while growing up together, he had never exhibited any particular emotion at all. He was mostly stiff or quiet or even sardonic. But at that moment, dancing and singing on stage, he was as vulnerable as he had ever been.

You had only witnessed such exposure once.

He finished the song with a few lasting tones and a final dance move to match the beat. The lights had dimmed, yet you discerned in the darkness his wiry outline against the backdrop. You stared in wonder, taking in the sensual curl of his lips, his semi-lidded eyes and the sweat trickling down his temples and neck. You fleetingly spotted the boy who once had too large of a nose to match his face, but that image was quickly replaced by the man you and the ten thousand other pairs of eyes could see.

He was beautiful.

By the end of the concert, you were almost deaf. Se-Eun, Min-Ji and Yeon-Woo had tears streaming down their faces and they were hoarse from screaming. They had filmed the whole concert on Min-Ji's ridiculously expensive camera, and when you finally had exited the stadium, they were frantically looking for the moment one of the seven members - you think his name was Jin - had blown them a kiss from stage during one of the songs. The three of them shared a YouTube-channel completely dedicated to the group and were already discussing editing, whose Internet they would torture by uploading the whole concert and so on and so forth.

You exhaled out loudly. The screen of your phone said 22:34. You could still call for your parents' driver, but you didn't want to make a scene. There were still a ton of people pooling out of the exit area and who knew if they recognized you. Although you were dressed very casually, you didn't doubt some of the bystanders would put together two and two if they saw a girl your age exiting a BTS concert and entering a really nice car with a private driver. You didn't need more media covering your involvement with Jungkook, even though you two actually were engaged.

That was one of the conditions Jungkook very clearly had established in the beginning.

You glanced at your best friend. "Se-Eun, I thought you said you were calling your mom."

Se-Eun looked up from the camera and smiled sheepishly. The orange of a streetlight overhead made her brown eyes glint and her light brown-colored hair coppery. "I will, I just have to look at him again." She quirked her brow. "I cannot believe you've never been to one of their concerts before. I thought your parents and his were tight like this." She held up two fingers and crossed them together.

"They are," you said reluctantly. "Doesn't mean he and I are, though. He has no reason to make me come to the concert."

In fact, Jungkook had often tried to make you stay away from them. He had said it was nothing particular and that the shows often malfunctioned due to sloppiness and technical error. He had even claimed they didn't really care for their fans and that it was very strained and awkward to look at them perform. Actually, thinking about it, you found it very suspicious considering how the concert had progressed. Sure they had started everything very dolled-up in make-up and expensive clothes, but they had continuously had interludes in which they spoke to the audience and thanked them and one another, and the show had ended with them simply wearing t-shirts - albeit with their own logo on them - and holding a microphone. It had all felt very genuine by the end, and until then, the production value had been surprisingly high, with great audio, lights, scenes that could rise and fall and much more.

"Still," said Se-Eun. "It's just odd considering your relationship."

"It is," you admitted. Jungkook could be rude - really, really rude - but you had never taken him for a liar. "Perhaps I should ask him why he hasn't invited me before."

At this, Min-Ji and Yeon-Woo stopped their fiddling on the camera options. "How? Oh God, do you have his number?" they almost screamed in unison.

You were tempted to punch one of them when you saw some girls turn to look at why they had shouted. Se-Eun quickly calmed all three of you down.

"Hush, you two. Still, do you?" Se-Eun asked incredulously.

"No," you said with a snort. "But I'll just go backstage or whatever and find him."

For a moment, the three of them were quiet. But then they opened their mouths and roared in laughter.

"What?" you asked.

"Good luck getting past the security guards," Min-Ji said, her voice short of breath. "I mean, truly. Good luck."

"Yeah, it's not like other people have tried it," Yeon-Woo laughed. "Not at all."

You frowned. "I'll just tell the sec I'm friends with one of the members."

"Guys," Se-Eun said after they had another assault from the invisible laughter fairy that obviously was missing you with her wand. "I-I don't think she gets it."

You crossed your arms. "Obviously, I don't."

"It's okay," Min-Ji said. "Just let her go. It's funnier that way."

"Good idea," Yeon-Woo said. "(Y/N), we'll be waiting here, don't worry."

Se-Eun was still giggling as she spoke. "It's useless," she told you. "Think about how many times fans try to get backstage, lying that they're cousins or something. You would be just another one among thousands of crazy people. Besides," she added a little more quietly, just for you to hear, "the media will get hold of it, someway or another. How many times don't you complain that you wish you could change lives with someone else?"

That was a valid point. But Min-Ji and Yeon-Woo had wounded your pride and now you almost felt like you had to prove them wrong.

"Yes, but since I can't, I might just as well just live with it," you replied as you turned around and began away from the girls. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Fighting!" one said sarcastically, causing all three of them to laugh.

You would show them. Deciding it best not to sound like a typical stalker-fan, you came up with a lie. It wasn't too difficult convincing one of the guards at the exit area to let you in to try and find your lost keys. He followed you, and as you pretended to search, you kept an eye open for any kind of backstage signs. There were some cleaners that already had begun and some other people with ID-cards dangling from their necks walking around to check cables, but other than that, the stadium was empty and you couldn't exactly ask one of them where the artists were.

"I might have dropped them in the women's bathroom," you told the guard after a minute or two of fruitless conversation with the cleaners.

He nodded. "Let's check there."

Fortunately, you had visited the bathrooms before the concert began, which were next to a set of sturdy-looking, gray metal doors. You knew they were locked for Min-Ji had tried pulling at them to no avail. However, your last shot was to somehow find Jungkook on his way out of the stadium, and perhaps those doors were the way out of backstage. You knew that was a thought bordering on irrational, but your pride was still wounded and you thought you might as well give it a shot.

You didn't see Jungkook on the way and the doors were just as shut and probably locked as they were before. Disheartened, you entered the women's bathroom, casting one last look at the gray doors.

Someone was occupying one of the booths. You went to the sink to wash your hands, to have something to do while you were feeling gradually more embarrassed. Your keys burned in the chest pocket of your jacket, so at least that lie would have a happy ending.

Through the mirror, you spotted a short girl with a brown curly bob exiting the booth behind your sink. At first, you didn't understand why you felt like something was odd with her, but then you realized it.

And your stomach dropped to the floor.

It was Park Yi-Jae, idol and the leader of one of the hottest female girl groups at the moment. Pretty as the moon with a voice like silk and a bright, optimistic personality and a smile that could melt iron. Everyone had heard of her. She was gaining popularity faster than Suzy had thanks to the drama "Of Smoke and Mirrors" and you knew she was becoming a major "It"-icon in China.

Not only was Park Yi-Jae in the bathroom in a stadium where BTS just had performed. She was wearing Jungkook's jacket - and no, not the one he had donned on stage, but the one private he had worn during your family's joint celebration of the Chinese New Year almost a month ago. And the most telling of them all, she was wearing the necklace you had bought him for his graduation.

That son of a bitch was cheating on you.

#bts #bts jungkook #fanfic #My Cheating Amnesic Fiancé #ao3 #wrienne #Adrianna W. Collins

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flakandforay · 5 years

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화양연화 HYYH The Notes: E Version

Seokjin 30 August YEAR 22

She seemed flustered when she thought she lost her diary. Her favourite movie, her favourite place to go, her favorite flowers to even her dreams appear on every future page being turned. It was something that I had done for her. The words ‘Sorry’ didn’t come out easily. The red diary laid between us at the intersection.

I wanted to give her happiness. I wanted to make her laugh. I wanted to be someone she would like. I thought that if I followed the words in the diary, I would be that person. But that wasn’t the case. I became more scared when I became someone else. I really don’t want to be caught (for being me). I don’t want disappointment to follow afterwards. Desperately, I turned my head away to hide myself. But just as one cannot put a full stop to a sentence without subject, the me who could not improve himself and continued to wander in the same place.

Now, I know. The me who lacks, makes mistakes and fails is all part of me afterall. No matter how cruel or how merciless things are, by being true to myself would I, only be able to move forward. I stood up from my position and she didn’t try to grab me.

I walked out to the street and removed my hat. As I run my fingers through my hair, all the time spent trying to be someone else slipped through my fingers. I lifted my head and saw my reflection in the mirror. A frail face, pale lips and thin shoulders. I looked unkempt. I laughed. The me in the mirror laughed too.

25 June YEAR 19

A flower pot was by the window in the storage classroom, with its owner being unknown. Who among my dongsaengs would bring this flowerpot? I took out my handphone. The classroom was always dark since there wasn’t any electricity and with the vague light coming in through the dirty window, I could see the green leaves outside. The photo I took by my phone didn’t come out well. It wasn’t just because it was taken by a handphone. I always thought that photos cannot capture what can be seen by the eyes.

As I approached, I could see a ‘H’ underneath the flower pot. I lifted it up. The words ‘Hoseok’s flower pot’ appeared. I chuckled. Of course, no one else among the dongsaengs except for Hoseok who would bring a flower pot. I put the flower pot down so that only the ‘H’ would be visible. Until now, never once have I noticed but the windows were scribbled all over. Not just the windowsill, but the ceiling as well. “Pass or Die”.The names of crushes. dates, and numerous names that can’t be read.

This classroom wasn’t used for storage in the beginning. Students would every day go to class and then in the afternoons, they would empty them. It would have been empty during school vacations and then filled again once school started. Would there have been students like us who were late and received punishments and ended up missing class? Would there have been merciless violent teachers and endless tests and homework? Also, would there have been someone like me? Someone who told on their friends to the principal.

I wondered if my father’s name might have been among these. This place was also my father’s alma mater. My father was someone who believed that by attending the same higih school, the same college was a wat of preserving the family’s dignity. I scanned all the names and found my father’s one. It was in the middle of the left wall amongst several others. Underneath, a sentence was written. “Everything started from here.”

Yoongi 29 July YEAR 22

What was the reason that the melody kept coming to me after I lost the person who practiced with me and played the guitar? Laying buried on the couch, I stared at the piano that was a distance away. After being expelled from school, I threw away my mother’s piano key. It was the only thing that I had taken from the ruins of the burned building, it was half burned and I threw it out of the apartment window. I thought that would end it. I told myself again the promise that I would never touch a piano ever again.

Early in the morning, I took the stairs because I couldn’t wait for the elevator. I thought I had fallen asleep quickly but the sun was already rising. Suddenly, memories of last night came back to me. There was nothing in the flowerbed outside the window. The security guard told me that the garbage truck had come not too long ago. That was how I lost my mother’s piano key.

Even after that, I gave up on music countlessly. Now I won’t. I won’t come back, music is nothing, yet as I tried to run away, I knew. I knew that I would start music again, the same way as I stumbled down the stairs. Music was that kind of subject to me. In music, I was just as free as I was suffering, confused but also lucid, fear and confidence, hope and despair, as if I was living inside all those conflicting emotions.

Suddenly, I wanted to play the piano. Inside it, I wanted to meet me who only pretended to be strong, even though in reality, I was fearful and a coward. I wanted to pour out curses and sarcasm, give wounds and hit and destroy and pull and cry. And I didn’t want to run away. I wanted to complete the melody that was made by the guitar and piano. This time, it seemed like I could.

11 April YEAR 22

I kept on walking, though I had a sense that Jungkook was following from a distance. As the train tracks stretched out, containers continued to appear. It’s the 4thcontainer from the back. Hoseok said he had plans to meet with Namjoon and Taehyung, and told me to come too. I told him I would come, but I didn’t really intend to go. I hated getting involved with others and Hoseok knew that. He probably didn’t have any thoughts of me turning up.

When I opened the door, I could see Hoseok’s surprised face. Then he discovered Jungkook and approached him with mixed emotions. I passed by both of them and headed to the container. “How long has it been?” I could hear the sounds of Hoseok trying to pull Jungkook and Jungkook being embarrassed.

I could hear Namjoon bringing Taehyung in. Taehyung’s shirt was torn on one side. When we asked what happened, Namjoon pretended to rap his knuckles against Taehyung. “This brat was late because he was arrested by the police for doing graffiti and I had to go pick him up.” Taehyung made an exaggerated apologetic face and talked animatedly how his shirt was torn when he ran away from the police.

I sat in the corner and watched them. Namjoon gave Taehyung a shirt to change into, Hoseok pulled out hamburgers and drinks. Jungkook being in the middle but was unsure of what to do or where to go. Looking back in high school, this was how it was. In the hideout classroom, Namjoon would give Taehyung a talk, Hoseok would move around noisily while Jungkook would hover, not knowing where to go.

How long has it been since we have gathered. I don’t remember it well. How are Seokjin Hyung and Jimin? A thought unlike of mine came to me. This was a place I had come for the first time, but my heart is already at ease.

Namjoon 20 July YEAR 22

I skimmed across the magazine advertisements and lifted my head. There were so many different faces of those who sat at the corner table the last few days across me. A thick book, large bag and a white paper cup alike but it still wasn’t her. Again, I went back to skimming the magazines. I had been looking at the same page for more than an hour. Because of the repetitive thoughts, my eyes couldn’t pick up the letters at all. I asked myself why am I sitting here. No answer came to me. Amongst those who were engrossed in something, I was lethargically looking through a magazine. I felt impatient for something to start. This isn’t how it is meant to be.

I returned the magazine and continued to walk across the bookshelves The books were in rows on bookshelves taller than I was. From the open window, a breeze blew, the smell of books wafting and the dust hovering. I thought about my high school years again. My friends and I, together, in that hideout classroom. At that time, it smelled the same. Had the ‘Current Me’ grow from the “Then Me’? I couldn’t be sure of it. Regardless, it could be that everything of me had stopped at that time since back then. I moved to the opposite bookshelf. I picked up a book I used to study back then. I had to start again. From everything I had given up, one at a time.

11 April YEAR 22

I finished with the gas and went in. But something brushed against my face and fell. Surprised, I took a step backwards to look at it. At the bottom of my feet was a crumpled bill. Out of reflex, I bent down to pick it up. The people in the car burst into laughter. I stopped for a moment. Seokjin Hyung was watching me from a distance. I couldn’t lift my head up. What do you do if you make eye contact with people who ride in expensive cars but put down and ridicule others? You have to face them. If you think what they’re doing is unjust, you have to face them. It’s not a matter of bravery, or pride or equality but it is something that needs to be done.

However, this was a gas station and I’m a part time-worker. If a customer threw trash, I had to clean it up. And if they cursed, I had to listen. And if they threw a bill on the floor, I had to pick it up. My body shook with humiliation. I clenched my fists. My fingernails dug into my skin.

At that moment, someone’s hand picked up the bill. The people in the car muttered and left as if the fun in it was gone. Even after they left, I couldn’t lift my head up. I lacked the confidence to look into Seokjin Hyung’s eyes. It wasn’t as though Hyung didn’t know about my cowardliness, my poverty and my circumstances. I didn’t want to show him this explicitly. Hyung stood at the end of my gaze and didn’t move. Neither did he approach me or did he speak.

Hoseok 13 August YEAR 22

Jimin and the kid was standing in the middle of the practice room. The 5-second wait after the beginning pose always seemed long. As soon as the music flowed from the speaker, the two of them started the first move. It was the choreography that I had practiced with the kid not too long ago. I sat on the floor of the room and monitored.

When I first found out that I couldn’t dance for the time being, because of my ankle, it had been really difficult. It was suffocating that I could only watch others dance. But as I helped Jimin practice and watched him grow, a realization dawned on me. The fact that I cant dance by myself wasn’t a big problem and that I could be happy by continuing with dance in other ways.

When I practice with Jimin, I didn’t let even the smallest mistake go by. Jimin sometimes subtly missed the timing or made movements that are smaller than what I expect. At those times, I stopped the music and scrutinized each move, one by one. But when I sat on the floor, as some kind o audience, and watched from here, Jimin’s dance looked different. I saw something bigger than just his small one-by-one movements. Things that I initially thought and dismissed of as mistakes when we practice together dawned on me differently. Such trivial mistakes and imperfections instead came together to give off a unique feeling. Of course, it would be different than mine, but Jimin had his own timing and own expressions. Jimin’s dance was bright and touches the heart just the way it was.

The music ended. Jimin’s dance ended as well. I saw that his face was shining with excitement and joy. The kid was standing next to him. The kid would be going overseas soon. Suddenly, we locked eyes. I gave a thumbs-up and the kid gave a big smile. It was strange. The kid didn’t look a thing like my mother. I can’t even remember my own mother’s face, so why did I think they looked similar? Suddenly, something in my heart ached. My to-be healed ankle twitched.

12 May YEAR 22

I opened the door of the emergency room and ran down the stairs. My heart was racing as if it was about to explode. The face that I had a glimpse of in the hospital hallway was of my mother’s. At the moment I looked back, the elevator doors opened and people pushed their way out. I pushed desperately among the people. And I saw my mother’s form going into the emergency room doors. Anxiously, I ran down two steps at a time. Without resting, I ran dome several flights.

“Mom!”. My mother stopped. I took another step forward. She turned around. I went down another flight. Her became visible. It was at that moment that my heel of the foot slipped on the edge of the stair and my center of gravity was pushed forward. I closed my eyes tight, bracing myself that I was going to fall flat on my face. Someone grabbed my arm, and thanks to that person, I narrowly avoided the fall and regained my balance. When I looked back, I saw Jimin standing there with a shocked expression. Before I could even say thank you, I turned my head again.

A woman was there. She looked surprised. Next to her was a young boy, staring at me and blinking with his big eyes. She isn’t my mother. I stood at the top of the stairs, blankly staring at the woman’s face.

I couldn’t remember what I said to escape that situation. I also didn’t ask how Jimin appeared there in the first place. My mind was too cluttered to be concerned about the small details. The woman wasn’t my mother. I might even have known that from the start. It had been more than ten years since she had left me alone at the theme park. My mother would have been older by now, and different from what I remembered. Even if I met her, I wouldn’t recognize her. No, by now, I could barely even remember her face.

I looked back. Jimin was following me in silence. Back in high school, after we parted ways in the emergency room, Jimin said he had to stay in the hospital. I thought of how he looked as if he didn’t know what to do when asked if he wanted to get out of the hospital. Couldn’t it be Jimin was trapped just like I was, unable to cling or break away from memories that bind us? I took a step towards him.

“Jimin-ah, let’s get out of here.”

Jimin 28 July YEAR 22

Today, I am left alone in the practice room. It was past twelve and the trains would have stopped running. Actually, I was waiting for the trains to stop running. That way, I could be left completely alone in the practice room. When we practiced together, my eyes were only focused on the areas where I lacked. That’s why I was restless, I was afraid. Yet, no matter what, I wanted to do it. So I stayed by myself every night.

As my days were spent like this, interestingly, the fear in my heart disappeared. Only the truth of dancing being fun remained. For a long time, I believed that the small, weak and powerless me was real. When I danced, I ended up thinking of my weight of my body or the length of my arms, speed or strength that I could make. When I danced, I didn’t feel small or weak. My skills improved greatly as much as I have practiced. The movements that had been stuttering at first were now being connected. I have grown. Even if the growth was as a fingernail, but I was still growing. I became aware that I was in reality, a talkative person. I knew that. When I danced, I was able to speak whatever I couldn’t say or hadn’t said. When I started to dance, for the first tine, I started to like myself.

15 May YEAR 22

When I opened my eyes, Hoseok Hyung was standing there. The familiar ceiling looked down at me with a familiar darkness. Startled, I tried to sipt up but he placed a finger on his lips. Everyone was sleep, my surroundings were quiet. Hyung immediately offered me a T-shirt, jerking his chin toward the exit of the hospital.

“We all came together” He mentioned that Namjoon Hyung was standing guard while Yoongi Hyung was buying time with the nurses. Jungkook and Taehyung would join us at the elevator in no time. At first, I couldn’t understand what he was saying. Hyung reached out a hand to me, while I was still in a daze.

The day I left the hospital. I had dreamt of that day sometimes. I wanted to leave the hospital and meet my friends. To spend some time with them laughing and talking the way we used to before. But now I didnt know. Was it a good idea to leave? My parents actually hid me in this place and pretended that I was someone who didn’t exist. People whispered I had a mental illness. I don’t know if Hoseok Hyung thought the same. Maybe he thought I was strange, that spending time with me made him uncomfortable.

“Come on, we don’t have time.” Maybe because of Hyung’s urging, the sound of the clock’s second hand sounded weirdly fast. Thump. Thump. The sound of footsteps, like an auditory hallucination, came closer and closer to the hospital room. Hyung and I turned simultaneously to look at the door, then looked at each other. Hyung’s hand was still in front of me.

Taehyung 11 August YEAR 22

As I turned around, I discovered some words underneath the ‘X’. It was a short sentence scratched onto the wall, saying ‘It wasn’t my fault.”. It was that kid. I didn’t see her, nor did I know her handwriting but somehow I knew. It looked her last greeting. Saying that her leaving wasn’t because of me. That the things that made her ‘fall’ was not because I was a bad person. It seemed like it was telling me not to blame myself or to be hung up on it, but instead to have courage.

When I finally got back to my senses, I was in front of my house. From the outside the door, I could hear Noona’s scream. I flung it open and entered. A familiar scene was laid out. I blocked my father. I grabbed his arm and look right at his face. Initially, he seemed to be shocked, but then he swing his fist. This is not the first time that I was knocked out. Noona’s crying became louder. My chin hurt. The smell of dusty metal came from my own mouth. Yet, I didn’t give up. I grabbed my father’s waist. He gave off an angry scream. He mercilessly hit my back and shoulders but all the more I held on to him even tighter.

It wasn’t that it didn’t hurt. It wasn’t that I wasn’t scared. But if I let go, the same daily cycle would repeat. I wanted it to be different. I wanted to change it.

No. I’m different from my father. I’m going to protect our family.

29 March YEAR 22

The gas station owner spat on the ground as he left. I laid down on the ground in the same position that I had crouched in. I was drawing at the back of the wall of the gas station, only to be caught by the owner, who beat me and angrily asked what I was doing, drawing on somebody else’s wall. I rolled around the floor. Getting hit was something that I was familiar and at the same time, unfamiliar with.

I started graffiti not too long ago. I took a spray can that someone threw away and started drawing on the wall. It was yellow colour. I sprayed it whatever I wanted and then looked up at it. I looked at the distinct yellow colour paint on the grey paint, then picked up another spray can. For a long time, I sprayed unknowingly on the wall. Only when the spray cans were all empty did my hands stop. I threw the can away and stepped back. My breath came as though I had been running with all my might.

I didn’t know what the colours on the wall meant. I didn’t know what I had done or why had I done it. But I had done it. I would assume that what I expressed were my feelings. I spewed out my heart onto the wall. Initially, I thought it was ugly. I thought it was something dirty. Something idiotic, useless and pitiful. I didn’t like it. I rubbed some of the wet paint with my hand. I wanted to erase it all. Yet, instead of erasing it, I ended up mixing and blending the colours and moulded different shapes. I sat against the wall. It wasn’t a matter of whether or not I liked it. It wasn’t a matter of whether it was beautiful or not. It was just me.

When I stood up, I coughed. I spat blood onto my hand. Then I saw someone’s hand picking up the spray can. I followed the hand up until I saw a face. I saw Namjoon Hyung’s face. I laughed. I thought I was seeing a ghost. Hyung reached out a hand. I simply looked up at him. Hyung took my hand and pulled me up. His hand was warm.

Jungkook 11 August YEAR 22

When I looked back, the hospital is really far away. I could no longer see the bench where I had left the wildflowers, neither could I see the window through wish I watched the river with the kid. As I reflected, that kid was a space for me to breathe in this stuffy hospital life. As we set on the hospital bench in the late afternoon talking about this and that, the sun had set. I told her about playing in the hideout classroom, going on a vacation to the beach and walking all the way up till the train station. She told me about all of the corners in the hospital , which window that you can see the river from, which staircase you could use to secretly climb up to the roof. There was nothing she didn’t know about the hospital.

Her hospital room was empty. Had she been discharged, or moved to another hospital? I asked the nurses. But none of them could tell me. For some reason, a corner of my heart felt empty. I turned around and just kept walking. From a distance, I could see the school. It seemed like most of the things I talked to her about was involved the Hyungs, and almost every single story started with them. To me, when I was alone, the Hyungs became my friends and family and teachers. My story was within their stories, and I only existed inside a relationship with them.

Yet, at some point, I started to think as such. That there may be a day where they would no longer be at my side. I might go looking for them to find out they’re gone, without any reason. Or maybe something even more could happen, I didn’t know.

I thought of that night. When the huge moon rose in the sky, the world turned upside-down, the headlamps I saw from an inverted view, the shape of the car that passed by me and eventually disappeared. The sound of the engine, which was familiar to me for some reason. I didn’t want to jump into conclusions. But even so, I just kept thinking of that moment.

28 May YEAR 19

“Hyungs, what are your dreams?” At my words, the Hyungs turned around. “It’s because I have to write a paper on future hopes.” I added. But Seokjin Hyung opened his mouth and said, “Hmm, I don’t know, I don’t think I have a dream. If I have something to hope for, it’s just wanting to be a good person?” Hyung cut himself off, suddenly feeling embarrassed. Then Yoongi Hyung who was stretched out on the piano bench said in a lingering tone, “It’s okay to not have a dream. I don’t have one. I’ll just be whatever.” At Yoongi’s-like words, everyone burst out laughing.

“I’m going to be a superhero, to save the world from bad guys.” Taehyung Hyung stood up on a chair and posed, stretching his arms up to the sky, Hoseok Hyung told him off saying that he would get hurt if he played that way. Then Hoseok mentioned, “I want to go to find my mom and live happily. Being happy is my dream.” Hyung smiled happily as he spoke. “Then, are you unhappy now?” Jimin Hyung was the one who asked him. Hoseok Hyung gave a worried expression and asked “Is that how it is?” Then Hoseok Hyung asked Jimin Hyung, “What is your dream?” “Me?” Jimin asked, blinking and flustered. He said, “When I was in preschool, I wanted to be the president but I don’t know what I wanted to be after that.”

Now only Namjoon Hyung was left. Perhaps feeling everyone’s gazes on him, Hyung shrugged and opened his mouth. “I wanted to say something nice but I don’t really have a dream. I just wished my part-time job paid more.” I nodded and looked down at my paper. The paper on hopes for the future was divided into spaces for the “student” and “parent”. What do I want to become? I couldn’t think of anything to write.

trans by: maxine ☕️ do give credit if you’re using my translations 🌊

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oceanmastertrash · 5 years

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the tides know our names- 5/?

gif from @kingsorm

Summary: -takes place after the movie- Orm is working with Arthur to try to help Atlantis move forward when Elara has a vision of his death. As part of an order of Atlanteans dating back to the reign of King Atlan known as Tidewatchers, it is her duty to warn the king of her vision. Predicting and reading the future through the tides of fate has never been easy but Elara is in for the challenge of a lifetime working with her former king to save his life.

part 5/?

Word Count: 1,690

Warnings: none for this chapter

Read on Ao3

Arthur said, “I think we better have another chat.”

She just nodded, too worn out for anything else but Orm was still looking at Elara when he responded to Arthur, “Indeed we should.”

After Vulko, Orm, and Elara had all been looked at by the royal physicians and it was verified that they were as uninjured as they had claimed, they were installed in one of the royal council chambers. It was ruled to be a decidedly more fortified location being in the central tower of the palace complex then the far southern tower that had housed Orm in the recent months. There was an absolute plethora of guards and soldiers patrolling the halls and guarding the doors.

When travelling from the infirmary to the council chamber, they’d been surrounded by reinforcements. It was the prudent move but one that felt ultimately unnecessary. The entire complex was on high alert, no one would be getting to Orm, not today at least.

While the group was checked out, Arthur had gone to see what he could get out of the Trenchers, but again, Elara wasn’t optimistic.

Orm, meanwhile, was restless- the tension positively vibrated off of him. Waiting around and hiding while other people actually got things done was not what he was born to do. It was like watching a caged animal prowling their enclosure: both awe-inspiring and deeply unsettling all at once.

So while Vulko was receiving updates from the men outside in the hall, Elara sat and watched Orm pace. After a few minutes of this he abruptly stopped and turned to her, a question on the tip of his tongue. But, of course, that was the moment Arthur and Vulko entered.

She could see Orm bury whatever he was about to ask, instead turning to address Arthur instead, “Did you learn anything?”

Arthur shook his head, “Not yet but we’re going to keep at it, gotta let them sweat it out a bit.”

Orm was deeply unsatisfied with this but held back whatever retort was brewing beneath the surface.

Arthur motioned to the large table in the room saying, “Shall we?”

“Is Mera joining us?” Elara asked as the others took their seats.

“Nah,” Arthur replied, “She’s still wrapping things up with the Trade Council. Luckily they saw an attack on the palace as a good enough reason to excuse my presence.”

He seemed almost amused by this but Elara immediately saw Orm’s distaste at Arthur’s seeming disregard of matters of state. But Arthur was a new King still and had many things he had yet to learn.

“I guess this is a good news/bad news situation,” Arthur continued, sitting down.

“How’s that?” Orm asked, a deep storm cloud over him.

“Well, bad news is someone tried to kill you.” He said motioning to Orm before gesturing to where Elara sat across from him, “Good news is we averted Elara’s vision.”

“If that’s the case,”she began, speaking cautiously, “then I’m afraid it’s a bad news/bad news kind of day.”

“Why?” Orm asked cooly.

“Because that wasn’t my vision,” she answered.

“I mean, obviously,” Arthur replied, “Orm didn’t get stabbed but it was an attack in a palace hallway with Orm, Vulko, and two guards. Maybe it was just different because you were there?”

She shook her head, “No. I mean things can shift, but that’s not what happened. That is not the event that I saw. This was something different.”

“Isn’t it possible,” Orm said slowly as he locked her in his gaze, “that you were wrong?”

She wanted to throw her head back in frustration but restrained herself. They just didn’t get it. Were there similarities between what she’d seen and what just happened, yes? But they were distinct and separate events.

“Not about this. I know what I saw and I know that it’s still coming.” She said calmly.

It was like the vision was a boulder thrown into a pool, the waves and ripples were still resounding through the tides, the only change Elara saw was that now those ripples were interacting with those from this attack as well.

“Are you really so certain?” Orm challenged.

Elara stood her ground, looking him straight in his stark blue eyes, “Completely. I know what I felt and I trust in that feeling.

Orm held her gaze for a beat longer before looking down suddenly, almost as if he knew she could read his emotions in his eyes and he sought to shield them from her. The action caused a swell of confusion in her but she simply didn’t have the time to decipher what that meant.

“Well then,” Arthur said finally. “This is officially a mess.”

She sighed. That was the understatement of the year.

Arthur shook his head and turned to Vulko, “what are our options?”

“I think it would be best if we secure Prince Orm until we get to the bottom of this,” Vulko said.

“By secure you mean lock me away again,” Orm bit out. “What happened to all that grand talk about rehabilitation and bridging the gap between the reigns you all were so fond of when mother was here? Was that for her benefit or your guilty conscience?”

“If anyone has been trying to ease their burden of guilt, my prince, it is you.” Vulko replied coolly.

An ocean of anger and resentment rose in Orm, seeking to cut it off, Elara spoke up quickly. “No one is suggesting imprisoning anyone but things cannot remain as they are if we are to keep you safe.”

It was perhaps more personal than she’d meant to phrase it but she’d had to speak quickly to keep this discussion from devolving into name calling.

Orm slowly shifted his gaze from his former vizier to the tidewatcher, clearly loath to take his eyes off of the man who had betrayed him all those months ago. When he looked at Elara, there was still so much anger and frustration in him, it was as if the heat of battle had loosened some of the control he’d been so careful to keep over his emotions.

“What do you suggest then?” he asked, at least succeeding in quieting his rage to address her.

She paused. She hadn’t expected anyone to ask her, but it was definitely a question that demanded an answer.

She took a deep breath before responding, “At the very least, we need to get you out of the city.”

Resentment radiated off of him at that.

“You think I should run and hide,” he said slowly, his words dipped in scorn.

“Better retreat and regroup than stay and be killed for the sake of your pride,” Elara fired back.

He positively prickled at that and perhaps it wasn’t the best way to respond to her former king but the matter was too serious to beat around the bush. Besides, someone had to talk some sense into him.

“She’s right,” Arthur agreed giving Elara a small surge of pride at that. “You’re too visible here- too recognizable. You ruffled a lot of fish scales, and until we can get to the bottom of the attacks, we may just need to let things cool down.”

“So it’s to be exile then,” Orm said bitterly.

“Orm, we are trying to save your life. Stop complaining and let us help you.” Arthur shot out with more temper than Elara had seen him display yet.

It did the trick though and Orm kept whatever bitter retort he had to himself.

Arthur turned back to Vulko, “Where can he go?”

Vulko seemed to shift uncomfortably before saying carefully, “I fear, my king, that not many of the tribes would harbor him at this point.”

Arthur considered that before saying, “What about Xebel? Weren’t King Nereus and Orm allies?”

Vulko paused, “Yes, but it is possible that that might be too obvious an option.”

Behind that careful phrasing, Elara could sense that was not the only reason why Vulko was against that suggestion. The threads of the tides seemed to indicate that Vulko feared what might happen if Orm was entrusted to a former ally. While Nereus had sworn fealty to the new king, it wasn’t ridiculous to assume that the two might yet conspire to dethrone Arthur. Elara just wished the tides would tell her if Vulko was right to be worried.

All this was easy enough to see in Vulko’s posture and how he always studied Orm, it was as if he was always on his guard against possible reprisals. Arthur, however, trusted his mother and seemed to want to believe that Orm might come around.

Arthur spoke again, “What about the Hidden Sea? Mother was able to remain undetected there for years. The Kerathen would be one hell of a guard dog against future attacks.”

Elara and Vulko exchanged a look before she spoke, “This is true but, if I remember correctly, the only way to get to it is to pass through the Trench. And given the warm greeting we just got from some of its residents, I don’t think we could count on them to grant him safe passage.”

Arthur acknowledged this grimly with a nod and the room lapsed once more into silence. No matter what ripples she searched, Elara couldn’t think of a place in any of the kingdoms where Orm might be safe in the long term.

Arthur suddenly straightened causing the others to look at him.

“I think I’ve got it, it’s away from our suspects and it has the benefit of being the last place anyone would expect to look for Orm,” he said and Elara felt a shift in the tides, the glimmer of his idea materializing before her.

No, that couldn’t be right. The tides had to be wrong, Arthur couldn’t possibly be crazy enough to suggest that.

Orm seemed to grow uneasy at Arthur’s expression, “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“You are definitely going to hate it, little bro.” Arthur said as he burst into a shit-eating grin and all doubts were erased. “Congratulations, you just won a trip to the surface.”

Author’s note: heh heh. This is gonna be great. I have to say that writing angry Orm is really fun. I loved playing with him losing a bit of his temper. Got a bit more meat in this chapter and I hope you all like it. As always, replies and likes are life and I appreciate any you can give me! see you next time!

#king orm x oc #orm x oc #king orm #orm marius #ocean master #oceanmastertrash #the tides know our names #tidewatcher fic

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kimjongdaely · 7 years

Text

Ninth [Chapter 3]

Superpower!AU

Pairing: Yixing x Reader

Warning: Language

Summary: Seven supernatural beings are captured and imprisoned in the governments’ most secure and secretive department. The eighth is on the loose and agents are hot on his tail. What they don’t know is that there’s a ninth member that has never appeared in any records, and you are in charge of finding him.

Prologue│Chapter 1│Chapter 2│Chapter 3│Chapter 4│Chapter 5│ Chapter 6│Chapter 7│Chapter 8│Chapter 9│Chapter 10│Chapter 11│ Chapter 12│Epilogue

Your mind is running a mile a second, although your face is calm and neutral. Panic kicks in and you can literally feel your hands shaking, so you stuffed them into your pant pocket hoping Yixing won’t see.

Where on Earth is he taking you? You don’t know this person, don’t know the full extent of his powers and he already made it clear he only trusts you because Suho does.

Why are you following him around?

Right, because you technically have no where else to go. You used the excuse of finding the ‘ninth member’ to escape the base, or else you’re not allowed to leave. This is how they control their forces, but locking them in and making them follow strict rules. You’re not much use if you’re stuck inside the base with eyes everywhere.

It feels like an eternity before you finally decide to speak up. The sun is already starting to set. “Where exactly are we going?”

Yixing gives you a backwards glance but doesn’t slow down. “Just follow me.”

You frown, almost tripping over a root of a tree. You’re pretty sure you’re not even in Seoul anymore. You grunt in disapproval, skepticism swimming wildly in your head. You’re mentally reviewing all the self-defense you’ve learned throughout your life in case of any danger.

But then again, how can you expect him to trust you when you can’t even trust him yourself?

You take a deep breath at the thought, reminding yourself that you need their help. You want to get out the Red Force, and it’s impossible for you alone.

You almost bump into Yixing as he stops abruptly, and you heat up as you take a careful step backwards to leave space between the two of you.

“That way.” He says quietly as he turns left, trudging through more trees and bushes. You feel twigs and leaves in your hair as you swat low branches away. You try to shake them out with a frustrated growl, only to hear an almost inaudible laugh from Yixing.

You stare at him with wide eyes, but he’s facing forward as if nothing happened. You wonder if you heard it wrong.

Finally, you break out into a clearing and you see a small, broken hut almost covered by its neighboring trees.

“Baekhyun! Baekhyun, it’s me.” Yixing hollers as you get closer, and your heart speeds up with dread at the name. You can almost feel the painful throb of your leg from the injury he gave you. You certainly don’t want another wound like that.

There’s no answer all the way up until you enter the small hut and Yixing closes the door behind you.

You scan the small place, dust everywhere and obviously not very habitable. It must have been abandoned for decades.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to be so loud?” A foreign voice asks with annoyance, and you almost shriek when a man emerges from thin air.

He’s handsome. Pale, fair skin, black hair that splits near the center and one side curls over his right eye. His eyes flash grey as he meets your eyes and you just stare, dumbfounded.

This is Baekhyun.

And then the spell is broken when Baekhyun speaks again, his voice sharp and tense. “Who is she?”

“She’s, um.” Yixing places a hand at the small of your back, surprising you and making you flinch. He flashes you a warning glance, and you understand it. He’s telling you to try and act like as friendly as possible. “She’s going to help us rescue the others.”

Baekhyun’s eyes are piercing as he looks at you, analyzing you. “Who. Is. She?” His voice is now demanding, borderline irritated.

Yixing sucks in a deep breath as he looks down, his hand still pressed against you, your only sense of warmth. “She’s…um…she’s…she’sfromtheRedForce.”

Yixing blurts out quickly, so fast you could barely catch his words, but Baekhyun’s eyes widen in absolute horror. His grey eyes flickers between you and Yixing. “What?”

“Baekhyun, calm down—” Yixing tries but Baekhyun will have none of that. You can already feel the light coming in from the one window to your right start to bend towards him.

“Are you crazy?” He snaps, his eyes blazing and flashing and for a horrible moment you thought he would explode with light beams. “Hyung, are you crazy?”

Yixing sucks in a sharp breath, not knowing what to do. “Just listen to me, okay? I…I can explain.”

“Explain?” Baekhyun glares at you, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “Hell yeah you should explain. You brought a member of the freaking Red Force with you.”

Yixing nods before sighing. “She…she came and said she would help us get the others out. She offered it. But of course, I didn’t believe her at all. It could be part of the Red Force’s plans, after all.”

Baekhyun nods at that, completely agreeing. You bite your lip as you look down.

“But…But Baekhyun, she was able to say my name. No one knows I even exist, not to mention my name. She said that Suho told her.”

At that, Baekhyun let’s out an almost inaudible gasp, his eyes wide and flashing back to black. “Suho…?”

Yixing nods. “You know Suho, he can tell if someone is lying or not easily. If he told her my name, that means he trusts her. And that means we can trust her too.”

Baekhyun looks at you again, this time with renewed skepticism. His gaze doesn’t have as much hate, but more confusion. You can only imagine him thinking, can we really trust her?

“Please trust me.” You speak up, your voice quiet and terrified. “Please.”

After a suffocating silence, Baekhyun finally sighs in defeat. “Okay. But only because I trust Suho-hyung. You,” he points at you, “watch out. If I find out you’re a traitor, you’re dead.”

You nod vigorously, the pain you felt before resurfacing in your memories. You shiver at the thought of him releasing his powers to its full extent.

Both of them must be terrifying when they’re really angry.

“So?” Baekhyun hoists himself onto a nearby table. The way it sways slightly under his weight makes you paranoid. “Got any ideas, genius?”

You wince at his harsh tone, obviously still not fully believing you. You steal a glance at Yixing who is also looking at you, expecting you to somehow have everything already planned.

“Honestly?” You start, “I have no idea.”

Baekhyun scoffs, rolling his eyes at you. You clench your fists as you fight the urge to punch him. Yeah, that will definitely make him trust you more.

“Well, they know about Baekhyun. But,” you turn towards Yixing, your eyes hopeful. “They know nothing about you. We can use that to our advantage.”

“I don’t see how my powers will help.” Yixing frowns as he glances at Baekhyun who shrugs.

“I don’t know,” you shrug as well, your eyes downcast and your heart sinking. “But it might catch them off-guard.”

You leave it at that, and they don’t push you anymore. They know you really have no idea about anything, and you have never felt more small next to these two who literally possess superpowers.

“Well,” Baekhyun crosses his arms as he lets out a long, dejected sigh. “We’ve added a useless little girl to our team. Way to go.”

“Baekhyun.” Yixing gives him a warning glance, but it’s too late. You bite your lip as the damage of his words sink in, reminding you for the nth time that you’re useless.

“Hey, don’t listen to him.” Yixing nudges you awkwardly, trying to cheer you up. “He says a lot of stupid things.”

“Excuse me?” Baekhyun exclaims in disbelief, offended. “I do not—”

“Okay, okay.” Yixing immediately cuts him off, obviously not wanting the two of you to start arguing and hate each other. “Let’s put more energy into coming up with a plan rather than arguing, yes?”

Baekhyun let’s out a loud huff, his sharp eyes narrowing on you, but he keeps his mouth shut.

You give a grateful glance at Yixing, but he doesn’t seem to notice. Instead, he turns to you, suddenly very serious. “You’re the only one who knows where they are and how to get there. In fact, you have access, yes?”

You nod slowly, nervousness bubbling in the pit of your stomach as a smile grows on his face.

“Well then, why don’t you try to get us in?” Yixing offers and you let out an inaudible gasp at the ridiculousness of it. It’s highly possible that they’ll get captured, and they won’t be able to escape if that happens.

“That’s dangerous,” you sputter immediately, shaking your head. “What if you get caught? It’s impossible—”

“I can go.” Baekhyun pipes up as he jumps down from the fragile table. “I can turn invisible; it’s safer for me to go.”

“If we want to free them, we first need to return them their powers.” Yixing nods. “That’s our goal. And we can only do that if we take their power orbs from the Red Force.”

“Once the Red Force is no longer in control of their power orbs,” Baekhyun adds, “then they are no longer under control and can easily break free.”

You look between them skeptically, anxiety and uncertainty growing. You sink your teeth in your bottom lip, unsure if you should follow through or not.

“Are you chickening out?” Baekhyun raises a brow at you, his lips pursed tightly. “You offered to help, did you not?”

“Yes.” You breathe, closing your eyes and taking in a deep breath. New determination fills you as you stand a little straighter. “I will do it.” You turn to Baekhyun. “I will lead you to the orbs.”

Baekhyun’s eyes flash grey again as he nods, a grin slowly making its way on his flawless face. Baekhyun juts his chin at Yixing, “If anything happens to us, you’re our last resort, hyung. We’ll try to keep you hidden for as long as possible.”

When he looks at you again, you gulp. He grabs your arm, his slim fingers tightening terribly on your flesh until you yelp. “Let’s go, yes?”

You nod vigorously, relieved when he finally lets go of your arm and walks out the door. You rub the sore skin as you follow, glancing back to see Yixing waving you goodbye with a comforting smile.

Baehkyun was warning you.

Don’t fuck up.

It’s been a while since you came back here. You stare at the familiar looming building of the headquarters, now more terrified than you’ve ever felt before.

Scenario after scenario of consequences flood your mind. What if you get caught? What if Baekhyun gets caught? How are you ever going to escape the Red Force then?

But Baekhyun doesn’t allow you to dwell on your worries before he nudges you harshly, his eyes a glare. You stumble forward a bit, and you turn around to glare back but his body quickly becomes transparent, a flash of light blinding you. When you blink to clear your eyes, he’s nowhere in sight. You’ve never actually seen him do it, so you’re startled and let out a small squeak.

“Come on,” his voice sounds annoyed and you squeak again as you stare at nothing. You feel his hand on your arm again, softer than before. “We don’t have all day. Lead the way.”

You nod as you make your way into the building, his hand on your arm your only reassurance.

You can’t help but feel dread pool in your stomach as you make your way through familiar hallways, your head hung low as people stare at you distastefully.

Murmurs start to arise as more people spot you no matter how much you wish you could turn invisible like Baekhyun.

“Back so soon?” You hear someone sneer as they bump into your shoulder on purpose, causing you to let out a soft hiss. You feel Baekhyun’s hand tighten on your arm, anger rolling off him even if you can’t see him.

You suck in a deep breath and keep going.

You hate being in this place.

You can’t help but feel like something is going to go terribly, terribly wrong.

Previous Chapter│Next Chapter

Ninth Mini Masterlist

Elyxion Chronicles: Masterlist

A/N: I still haven’t watched Yixing’s MV. Sigh...And I’m sorry this took a long time, school is killing me as always. Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter! Baekhyun was fun to write 😄 Next chapter should be quite...interesting. Please tell me what you thought and please give it a lot of love! Thank you~~

©kimjongdaely

Request and let’s love!

144 notes · View notes

seekingluckynumberseven · 4 years

Text

Day 5 : I’m Watching You... Every 2.35 Seconds

Author Note: This contains a chat and a phone call. Trying to keep them in a format as close to the game as possible with Tumblr’s lovely editors. Also, all chats with Seven need more memes.

Kali tossed her handheld console to the side and flopped back on the couch with a heavy sigh. Even romancing 2d pretty boys was getting boring. Sorry, Nat-chan. Not even his beautiful voice could lure her back. She stared up at the ceiling. If someone would have told the girl from just a few months ago who was frantically trying to juggle her thesis and Juno’s crazy demands that she’d be bored, that girl would have died laughing. Her brain just couldn’t come up with things to keep it occupied. V may have given them a date for the party, but other than emailing the growing list of ... eclectic... guests, there wasn’t much to actually do.

Everyone was worried about her safety with the new hack. Seven, especially. No matter how much she tried to reassure him, all he could do was beat up on himself. So she was staying put for his sake. Not her’s. Yoosung and Jaehee had both expressed amazement at how calm she was. It was a hacker, no one was pointing a gun and pulling the trigger. Her fingers ran over the soft cloth covering the pock mark on her thigh. She knew what that was like, how the pain of a bullet piercing flesh felt. This was nothing. “Freaking out never helps in situations like this. I can’t do anything and I trust Seven.” The redhead had seemed flattered

The apartment was to tiny for her to work out, especially with the gift her uncle had slipped into her backpack with the wink that always promised chaos. Seven kept reassuring her that there were no cameras in the apartment, but still. The rest of the security system was an unknown and she couldn’t risk the power signature of the weapon being picked up. That and with her luck recently, she’d likely trip and end up slicing the couch in half or something.

A chime on her phone drew her attention. The memelord had emerged. Kali found a smile growing on her face for the first time that day.

<707 has entered the chatroom>

707: alkgj;aelj

JAEHEE: Seven, hello.

707: @tlj3oj3$

707: ;3piu9jqt’ae’of

707: (Utp9iotjkj

KALI: 8h;aw4ietej

707: 9e;itj3;jf

JAEHEE: Please stop there ^^

707: dlkjg

707: eoipk

JAEHEE:

707: ..

707: .

707: ok

JAEHEE: Have you found anything about the hacker?

707:

707: Not yet…

707: I have so much work for the agency…!!

707: can’t focus…

707: Sorry KALI T_T

KALI:

KALI: Cheer up!

707: T_T

707:

707: I’ll work harder

707: just for you, Kali!

JAEHEE: Nothing’s wrong with Kali for now then?

707: Nope.

707: I checked the CCTV

707: and nothing strange happening!!

707: I’ve been looking at it

707: every 2.35 seconds

707: just in case something happens.

JAEHEE: 2.35 seconds?

707: Ya.

707: But just looking at the screen

707: makes me so frustrated…

KALI: I knew it! I felt as if you were looking at me every 2.35 seconds!!!

707: We even locked our eyes once, right?!

707: You seemed to be going to the convenience store earlier.

KALI: I was! Food resupply time.

JAEHEE: ….Isn’t it a bit strange to communicate through CCTV?

707:

707: I want to go and protect her myself!

707: Can’t believe there’s nothing I can do…!!!

KALI: It’d be so great if you could come! Pretty lonely here

JAEHEE: Unfortunately, Seven says he’s busy… What can you do.

707: Ya…

707: I can’t give you a body guard… and I can’t go…

707: So…

707: I’d like to make a body guard robot for you…

707: But I guess that would take a long time. T_T

JAEHEE: you could simply finish your work for the agency and catch the hacker.

707: Body guard robot…

JAEHEE: Or, go there yourself to protect her…

707: Maybe you’d like that…

JAEHEE: ;;;

KALI: I, for one, welcome our robot overlords

707: Ooh!

707: Me too!

707: All hail, B.B. Rodríguez!

JAEHEE: I see you two have managed to find another thing you both have in common;

707: Because we’re the awesomest!

JAEHEE: Are you listening to me?

707: To be honest, I was planning on creating a small watch dog just to test it out,

JAEHEE: You are not listening to me.

707: I’m not confident enough to send it to ur place.

707:

KALI: Ermahgerd~! SO KEWT~!!

707: really!?

707: I’m glad you like it lololol

JAEHEE: It is cute.

707: Ms. Vanderwood did tell me to just work

707: if I have the time for that….

JAEHEE: I completely agree with that…

JAEHEE: But it does seem to have turned out nicely. It’s very cute.

707: +_+

707: Right? It’s so cute!

707: So lovely~

707: So adorable~

JAEHEE: Yes… You could almost sell it.

707: It spits fire from its mouth. Do you think the government will approve? ^^

KALI: Growlithe has come to life!

707:

707: OMG YOU LIKE POKEMON TOO?!

707: So perfect...

JAEHEE: …No, I doubt you’d be able to sell it.

JAEHEE: You might actually go to jail for creating such a hazardous product. ^^

707: ;;;

707: But still, isn’t it pretty?

707: I thought

707: it would be perfect for Kali

707: while making it.

707: Since both of them are cute…!

KALI:

707: Haha.

707: You caught my cute side!

707: I feel like my great secret has been revealed;;;

JAEHEE: Okay…;;;

JAEHEE: Well;

JAEHEE: I’m jealous that you’re the only one who knows how Kali looks like.

707: Haha…

707: B

707: U

707: T…

707: Even if I make things like this,

707: it won’t help Kali….

707:

JAEHEE: Yup.

KALI: It does help! Growlithe, use flamethrower!

KALI:

707: it also might explode because of the gas tank T_T

KALI: Explosions be no bueno.

707: I should create a cute version that doesn’t spit out fire lolol

JAEHEE: Why don’t you simply work if you have the time?;;.

707: Yeah…

707: I should just work…

707: Why did I do that??

JAEHEE: Because sometimes you simply cannot work.

707: ...

KALI: Sounds like you need to clear that noggin. Go take a walk or something.

JAEHEE: I agree.

JAEHEE: People do say that you should take your time the more anxious you are.

707: The more anxious you are… smell your time.

JAEHEE: It’s take your time.

707: okie dokie

707: I’m gonna clear my head a bit

707: and come back.

KALI: I’ll be waiting for you! Cheer up!

KALI:

707: Yup!

707: I’ll be keeping an eye on you even while I’m taking a break

707: so don’t worry!

JAEHEE: …Is that really taking a break though?

707: It is.

707: See u later!

JAEHEE: Good bye.

<707 has left the chatroom>

JAEHEE: But…

JAEHEE: How did he manage to create that robot in just a few hours? ;;

JAEHEE: No one can deny that Seven is a genius.

KALI: Hacking and engineering genius. Amazeballs!

JAEHEE: I think if he really puts his mind to it… he’ll create the body guard robot in a couple of days…;;

JAEHEE: Besides, he made it just for you, Kali….

JAEHEE: He is being very kind.

JAEHEE: Luciel may seem quite ridiculous

JAEHEE: because he likes to joke around all the time

JAEHEE: but sometimes even I get surprised at what a genius he is.

JAEHEE: Oh.

JAEHEE: I’d like to talk more…

JAEHEE: but Mr. Han’s meeting will end soon.

JAEHEE: I must go.

JAEHEE: Anyways… Please take care of yourself, Kali.

KALI: Hurry and go! I hope he doesn’t mention anything related to cats!

JAEHEE:

JAEHEE: You understand how I feel.

JAEHEE: Thank you.

JAEHEE: Good bye.

Kali opened the picture of the “Growlithe” robot and stared up at it in utter disbelief. Who the hell was this man? Not even her uncle who built things that went into space could put a robot together that quickly. And one that could be used as a weapon? Shit. The Seekers needed someone like him badly. She needed someone like him badly. No one had ever made her smile and laugh quite as much and with a brain like that, Seven could probably stop the demon in its tracks. And he was super cute. Ugh... why was she thinking about that? People like her didn’t deserve cute, smart, funny guys nor deserve to be loved. It wasn’t like they’d even met yet. Already she was beginning to suspect that the face in the chatroom was a mask. Probably a lot like her own. But what was it hiding? As if her train of though was a summoning spell, the phone started vibrating; Seven’s picture filling the screen. The sudden call was startling and Kali bobbled the phone in her suddenly clumsy hands. Ninja reflexes a total fail as the heavy piece of technology smashed its screen against her nose.

K: “Fuck... Hello?”

S: “Oh! Potty mouth!”

K:“I dropped the phone on my face.”

S: “You... dropped...” *hysterical laughter*

K: “Not funny. That shit hurts.”

S: “Sorry.. sorry. You ok?”

K: “My pride is mortally wounded.”

S: “Oh do I need to kiss it better?”

K: “Please.”

S: *sharp intake of breathe* “Oh... hahaha. Don’t tease me. My heart can’t take it. Anyways, what did you want to talk about?”

K: “Umm... you called me and rudely knocked my phone out of my hands.”

S: “Oh so now it’s my fault your hands can’t hold a phone?”

K: “I’ll have you know I’m good with my hands.”

S: “Phew. Is it getting hot in here? ...Hey Kali, I’m really sorry about the hacker. I promise I’ve reinforced the security system and am hunting him down.”

K: “Do I need to come over there and spank you until you understand?”

S: *unintelligible muttered words*

K: “What did you say, Seven?”

S: “Ahhh... nothing, nothing. I’m going to take your advice and have a date with my babies. If anything happens...”

K: “I know I know, send you a meme.”

S: “A call, Kali. A call.”

K: “Call? You can use phones to call people?” *laughter* “Drive safe, Seven.”

S: “Laterz.”

Seven ran his hand through his hair, staring at the dark screen of his phone. Had “yes, please” really came out of his mouth at her spanking joke? Thank God, Jesus, and Buddha she hadn’t heard. This woman was different than any other he’d met in his entire life. A mixture of kindness and sarcasm with just a hint of dirty that was all too intriguing. Someone who appreciated his jokes and gave back as good as she got. Nothing in her dossier had prepared him for this. Kali was beginning to get under his skin and that was dangerous.

Groaning, his attention turned back to the screens that lit up the bunker. Better get back to work before Vandy starting waving around the taser again. His babies would have to wait. Too many people were relying on him. She was relying on him, trusting him, and he was terrified what would happen if he failed her.

#mysme fanfic #chat #2.35 seconds #phone call #day 5

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the-blackest-spider · 4 years

Text

Like Criminals and Shakedowns Verse Timeline

This timeline chronicles events and situations Natasha has been a part of.

Wutai War

Tag for this time frame: loyalty owned

Shortly before her undercover deployment to Wutai, Reno comes asking Natasha for assistance helping avenge his on good terms ex and his Mother who were attacked in Wall Market.

Right in the middle of her undercover mission Natasha is pulled out by Sephiroth. After which they have several more encounters and grow closer.

Office Rivalry Pranks

Someone from the Science Department ruins the Turks Coffee and the VP’s

Retaliation happens. Natasha paint ball snipes Hojo with Sephiroth’s help and Clint and Reno set paint bombs in the Science Department Labs

The Science Department Retaliates. Natasha kills the beast they let loose, Reno helps her get rid of it.

Turk Shenanigans

Bored one morning, Reno and Clint decide to flour bomb Natasha.

She gets even with Clint by hugging him, but doesn’t manage to catch Reno until later when he’s about to go out with Rufus. Because of the delay she causes the two, Natasha gets to watch Dark Nation for the day. She takes the Guard Hound to go talk to Sephiroth, this proves to be both a good and bad idea for several reasons.

A few days later Reno repeats flour bombing Natasha by himself.

Natasha proceeds for the next 12 hours trying to lure Reno into a false sense of security as part of her revenge.

Natasha’s revenge is to break a glitter water bomb over Reno’s head after distracting him with legitimate tickets to the theater for him and Rufus. However unknown to her, Reno was due to meet with Heidegger in 30 mins. Thinking quickly, she texts Sephiroth to stall and distract Heidegger so Reno has ample time to clean up as much as he can. For his aid, Natasha tells Sephiroth she owes him one and he informs her he does intend to collect at some point.

Reno accidentally walks in on Natasha naked in the bath after she mistakenly leaves her apartment door unlocked.

Natasha takes Sephiroth to go grab some ice cream, he meets the owner of the ice cream kiosk and finds out Natasha has a connection to the man and his wife. After getting ice cream, Natasha decides to take Sephiroth to her apartment. Unfortunately she starts to experience the affects of her mako treatment shortly after they arrive.

Night of the Cactuars. Sephiroth and Natasha are having a conversation about various things when suddenly Natasha spies a rogue cactuar racing down the hall. Come to find out Reno pranked the Science Department again with 60 of them.

A Friday night in Reno’s office late after work is spend ragging on the ridiculousness of the Loveless play. Amused Natasha records Reno’s opinions and then forwards the recording to Sephiroth figuring he’d enjoy it as much as she did if not more.

Nibelhiem

Natasha learns of Sephiroth’s demise through everyone’s reactions at Shinra HQ and news reports. It bothers her deeply. In missing him and having a hard time believing he was so easily killed she begins to realize she feels a lot deeper than she realized she did for him. But now the chance to tell him is gone. This makes her withdrawn for a time until the new Avalanche attacks begin.

Also shortly after Nibelhiem, Natasha takes notice of some things in Hojo’s lab when she goes to get her Mako treatment (see drabble titled: Foreshadowing).

Dark Days

Plate Fall

In order to deal with the Avalanche threat, President Shinra orders the Turks to drop the plate on Sector Seven. Tseng chooses Reno and Rude for the task that really no one wants to have to do. But they do it and both are gravely injured in the process of things during a fight with Avalanche members. Reno dies, but is brought back by the Whispers, which Natasha witnesses. She is confronted by Tseng about what really happened between the Pillar and HQ. She’s reluctant to explain and is luckily saved from it by having to go escort Rufus to Tseng’s office after his return from a business trip and to make sure he isn’t too injured from facing the merc that’s been helping Avalanche.

Natasha is relieved and proud that Rufus is now President as he should have always been.

Natasha helps take care of Reno while he recovers, bringing him things he needs and wants and also tries to find any word on his Mom. Unfortunately it’s later learned that the news is bad.

The Truth ( from this point on most things will be tagged with: fallen truth, parts that fall under ‘loyalty owned’ still will be noted. Also things in this section may not be listed in order of occurrence.)

Sephiroth allows himself to be caught after trying to obtain the Black Materia from the Temple of the Ancients and is held in Hojo’s lab within a cell. No one seems capable of getting anything out of him and he seems far too content to be there. Natasha is angry to learn he is alive still after all this time, but not surprised. She feels almost as though he abandoned her and she’s disappointed by what he’s become. She confronts him in the middle of the night in the lab, where he proceeds to reveal the truths Shinra has kept from her and in the process regains her trust and she lets him out.

A about a week prior to Sephiroth’s capture, Natasha finds herself in the precarious position of having an offhand comment overheard by Rufus. He does not take kindly to her humor in this case and makes a very promising threat and their relationship changes from trusted to broken. Little does Rufus know a mere two weeks later he will attempt in actually carrying out his promise by discovering that it was Natasha who let Sephiroth free. (tag: loyalty owned)

Just before Natasha goes to confront Sephiroth in Hojo’s holding lab. She is confronted by Rufus again after he hears her state her feelings towards Sephiroth that she assures him are no longer valid and makes it clear if she had known what the SOLDIER would become, she would have killed him long before everything happened. (tag: loyalty owned)

Natasha betrayal is discovered by Rufus and he shoots her in the back like the traitor she is. Sephiroth finds her and takes her somewhere to heal, aiding her in the process but leaves her there in attempt to finish his goal to take over the planet and make it his.

Surviving the events of Meteor Fall safe in the location Sephiroth left her, Natasha emerges to find the world changed and tries to figure out what to do, as well as feel keenly it isn’t the last she’ll see of her silver haired hero.

Fixing The World

Edge

No longer a Turk, Natasha takes up mercenary work, keeping a low profile from what’s left of Shinra.

During the events of Advent Children, she comes to the aid of her Turk family, taking on the Remnants. She feels Sephiroth’s return during the situation and once it seems things have ended goes to find him. Once she does, she takes him to the last place she thinks anyone will look for him, beneath the old Sector Five church. It is a place of healing now after all...

(this timeline of events can and will be added to and updated. Also some things will not have the timeframe tags as they were written prior to those being instated.)

#like criminals and shakedowns verse #all of your good is mine #ffviiverse

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