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cake-writes · 4 years

Text

Breathe (Lecture 1)

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Story Warnings: Slow Burn, Angst, Fluff, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Mixed Delivery (Social Media & Written Parts), Eventual 18+

Summary: Bucky takes a history class at his local university in hopes of catching up on the last few decades, on everything he’s missed whilst under Hydra’s control – but he winds up learning a lot more than what’s on the syllabus. He learns how to heal.

Written for @the-omni-princess’s 1k writing challenge!

(Formerly Hope & Happiness; I decided that I needed a better title!)

TAG LIST: OPEN

💛 This fic is interactive. Here’s how it works! 💛

So I took the time to find an actual university course to complement this story because I’m just that invested, you guys. (I’m also a huge history nerd, lmao.) The syllabus and lectures are real, and any content relating to these in my story is straight from the source.

Lectures are recorded and available for a listen! Most written chapters will correspond to a lecture; I’ll list which one at the top of the chapter if you want to learn along with Bucky. Each one is about 40-50 minutes long and in English. Click here to access them!

This is definitely optional, though, so please don’t feel pressured to listen, but if you’re a history nerd like me then you may want to take a look!

Wednesday, August 24

Lecture 1: Introductory Lecture

Although Bucky had been on campus a couple of times before now – first to apply, and then to meet with an advisor as all new students were required to do – he didn’t think he’d ever get used to the sheer size of it. Universities these days were massive: cities within a city, buildings upon restaurants upon shops and all he wanted to do was learn.

That was all he’d ever wanted to do, really. Learn about himself. Learn what made the world tick. Learn all the things he didn’t know. He’d always excelled in school, and once upon a time he’d started to save money in order to attend university. Didn’t know what he’d study – just knew that he wanted a degree in order to support the family he thought he’d have one day.

Ambitions for the future.

Then came the draft. Because hadn’t yet been able to save enough, he’d been shipped out to the European Theater – sent to hell, not to college.

Ambitions for the past.

Two years spent in cold, wintery foxholes gave him an opportunity to think, but all he could think about was the stench of death surrounding him, surrounding his unit, surrounding every waking moment of his life at war. Not his death, of course, but it may as well have been.

Bucky learned to hone in on the sound of his heartbeat in his ears, the rush of adrenaline in his veins, the sensation of his boots in mud and snow. He learned to focus. He learned to survive.

And all the while, he lived with the very real possibility that he wouldn’t make it through – and, well, he didn’t. Not really. Some parts of him never made it back; what little remained became the property of Hydra. Mind corrupted, soul shattered, will broken into sharp, jagged shards of glass.

Fragile. Breakable. Erased, but still alive.

Bucky may have survived, but he’d never really been right since – never really been whole. Physically and mentally, with too many pieces of himself missing or damaged, one constant stayed the same: a desire to learn. He’d gotten through the war and Hydra’s harsh training because that quality was a part of him – one of the only parts that made it through.

Battle-worn and weary from surviving – not living, not really – Bucky finally had the opportunity to take a step back from the battlefield to just… exist. To live. To breathe. In taking a leave of absence, he embarked upon another journey: to rediscover the man he used to be.

It would be difficult task, he knew. The twenty-first century was far cry from the 1940s, a far cry from home, and the sheer size of the college campus only served to remind him of that. In fact, he was only able to recognize that he was still in New York because this school happened to be the very same one he’d once planned to attend so long ago. Staten Island University. Right across the bridge from his present-day apartment in Brooklyn, not to mention his old family home.

Home.

But this unfamiliar new century was his home, now, so he sought to learn what he’d missed over all the decades he’d lost to Hydra. In the process, maybe he’d learn about himself, learn what made the world tick, learn all the things he didn’t know.

What better place could there be to do that than at a university?

Bucky soon found out that his education would be paid for by the United States government for his service in the military. Ironic that the very barrier which forced him into war was the same thing being gifted to him now. The GI Bill. A reward for his patriotism. A thank you for his sacrifice.

Flowery words for a bribe meant to keep him silent. Call him jaded.

Worse still, if Bucky thought tuition was expensive back then, he didn’t know what to call it today. He’d been rendered speechless when he found out what a single class would cost, but rest assured, Uncle Sam would pay for it so that he didn’t have to.

Physically, it only cost him an arm but mentally, it cost him so much more.

U.S. Society and Politics Since 1945. Mondays and Wednesdays at two o’clock. Three credit hours, whatever that meant. He signed up for the class after his first meeting with an advisor – thought that it might do him good to put his past behind him and learn.

Bucky arrived about twenty minutes before the class was due to start, all nerves and first day jitters – absolutely ridiculous when he really thought about it, so he tried to put it out of his mind and selected a seat in the very back row in hopes of not being noticed.

Counting seats proved to be a good distraction. Three hundred seats. Would there really be that many students? Save for a handful of his new classmates scattered about, the too-large lecture hall seemed like it would never fill. Sure enough, however, it eventually started to – not all three hundred seats, but close enough.

It wasn’t until then that Bucky realized he might have been woefully unprepared. Just about everyone else had laptops sat out front of them, and while he could use one – clunkily – he still preferred something more a little more tangible. All he’d brought along was the required textbook, a notebook, and two pens, one of which he’d been rolling in between a gloved thumb and forefinger for the last few minutes.

That was a nervous tic of his, one he’d picked up in the army, except today it was a pen instead of a cigarette and he sure could have used a pack of Lucky Strikes right now. A cigarette would have done wonders to take the edge off, but he didn’t smoke, not anymore. Frustrated, he dropped the pen back down onto his desk and slumped down in his chair.

Had school always been this nerve-wracking? He couldn’t remember.

A snort drew his attention, and Bucky glanced to his left to find you sitting a few seats down in the same back row, watching him in amusement.

It caught him off-guard.

“Is this your first class?”

A innocent question, unprompted – untainted.

While Bucky knew that there would be some socializing required, especially in the discussion section of the class, never in his wildest dreams did he think that anyone would be willing to strike up a conversation with him. He had half a mind to say ‘no’ and ignore you as long as possible, but for whatever reason, he didn’t. He opened up.

“How could you tell?”

You shrugged. “You’re fidgeting, for one. But mostly because you don’t have a bag.”

Why would he need a bag? He was only taking one class.

At his doubtful look, you spoke again, voice light and airy, “Don’t worry. You’ll learn.”

Well, that was foreboding. Then again, you seemed like you would know. You looked slightly older than most of the other students who were likely fresh out of high school, and you appeared to be all sorts of prepared, what with a leather laptop bag on the chair to your right and some brightly-coloured notebooks, binders, and a few thick textbooks all strewn about the desk in front of you.

A laptop bag, but no laptop. Strange.

Bucky wasn’t really sure why he wanted to know, but he nodded to your books and asked anyway, “What else are you taking?”

“Mostly upper-level psychology classes. I’m in my final year. What about you?”

“This is my only class,” he admitted, and to him, that wasn’t a satisfactory answer. He was only taking the one class with no particular goal in mind, but here you were, taking at least four other classes judging by the number of textbooks on your desk.

You had a goal.

He didn’t.

You didn’t ask why, though; instead, you offered him your name, along with a bright smile.

“Bucky,” he found himself telling you way too easily.

“Well, Bucky, it’s nice to meet you.” You paused, then, before you made an offhanded comment of, “I think it’s really good to have a friend in class, you know? Mostly so you can steal their notes when you skip.”

A joke, perhaps, but Bucky took it literally. That may have been the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. “I’m not gonna— Who pays thousands of dollars in tuition and then decides not to come?”

Your brows rose in surprise for a moment or two, but then you laughed at his stick-in-the-mud response. “Oh no, you’re one of those. What a goody two-shoes!”

Don’t worry, you’d said. You’ll learn.

But the mischievous sparkle in your eyes let him know that you were just teasing, and what’s more, he actually didn’t mind. No, he kind of liked it, having some normal human interaction for once – not whatever the hell he’d grown used to at the compound. Between blood-spattered banter in the field and too-dark humour used as a coping mechanism, his interactions there were anything but normal.

Bucky also liked that you had no idea how wrong your sentiment was; not that he’d never admit it. This was the first time in a long, long while that he’d been treated like a regular person – not enhanced, not a science experiment, not an Avenger – and he had no intention of shattering the illusion anytime soon.

“I’m not giving you my notes, either,” he deadpanned.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Super goody two-shoes. My mistake.”

When he opened his mouth to respond to your sassy one-liner, however, the professor’s voice sounded from the front of the lecture hall. You gave him a final wink before you turned to face the front, purple pen already poised and ready to go.

Good afternoon! Can you hear me in the nosebleeds? Yes? With me? Okay…

Forty-five minutes passed in a blink, and most of the students quickly started to pack up their belongings – but not you. No, you stayed in your seat and continued scribbling away at something in your notes, seemingly having zero plans to leave anytime soon. Bucky couldn’t help but be curious as to why you weren’t packing up, but it wasn’t any of his business and he didn’t ask.

Armed with a new syllabus and a daunting list of required readings for the week, he pulled himself to his feet and collected his own belongings; only managed to push the chair back in and take about two steps toward the door before he heard your voice again.

“Hey, Bucky, wait.”

He turned around to see you still reading through one of your textbooks, not even looking in his direction, but in your outstretched hand was a bright pink sticky note.

What?

“Come on,” still focused on your reading, you waved the post-it, pink paper flapping in the makeshift breeze but staying stuck to your finger anyway, “Take it. Here.”

Hesitantly, Bucky stepped closer and accepted the proffered note. Upon it, he found that you’d hastily scrawled your name and phone number, along with what he assumed was meant to be a smiley face. The drawing was god-awful, and a welcome distraction from the way his heart had immediately leapt into his throat because a woman had just given him her phone number.

Her phone number.

“Th— Thanks?” he stammered, unsure.

Now, he certainly wasn’t one to jump to conclusions, but this—

“Don’t get any weird ideas,” you interrupted his train of thought, finally pulling your eyes away from the textbook to look up at him.

Gorgeous, glimmering, big doe eyes focused right on him, now, and seeing you up close like this, a fleeting thought crossed his mind about how attractive you were. He blamed it on the fact that you’d just given him your number, and now his brain only wanted to overthink what he’d interpreted as the first sign of potential interest from the opposite sex in – well, far too long.

Bucky hadn’t been expecting that at all, and he wasn’t particularly interested to pursue such a thing, either. At least not right now. He still needed to get his head on straight; still needed to figure out his own problems before he took on someone else’s.

Even if you were a pretty little thing he might have taken dancing, once.

Then you added, “If you have any questions, just shoot me a text, okay? I remember how lost I was when I first started, especially because I’m a,” you did some air-quotes, then, “‘mature-aged’ student.” Another snort, one much less ladylike than before. “Mature-aged. I’m not that old!”

So it was a friendly offer. Nothing more. Not like the implications in the 40s – and Bucky thought, then, that if you were considered to be ‘mature-aged,’ he didn’t want to find out how he’d stack up.

“Thanks,” he said again, this time a little less unsurely. “I appreciate it.”

Another one of your bright smiles brought a sense of calm over him, a feeling that carried over even when you poked fun at him again, “Then I guess I’ll see you next week, Mr. Goody Two-Shoes.”

“Yeah,” he responded, feeling the corners of his lips turn up just a little at your goodnatured teasing. “See you next week.”

And when he left the lecture hall, fluorescent pink post-it stuck to the inside of his notebook, Bucky’s footsteps felt just a little lighter than before – and so did his heart.

Part Two

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky x reader #bucky x you #bucky barnes #breathe

553 notes · View notes

rainbowserenity · 4 years

Note

1. “Do you want me to leave?” - Hopurai

royal!AU tag

my intention with this AU was for it to be a bunch of oneshots that could be read separately….but this is the installment that makes me wish I’d had the foresight to just make it into a multichapter fic 8D;if you don’t want to go in blindly, I would HIGHLY recommend (re?)reading at least the previous installment before the this one. all the fics are in the above linked tag, or they’re in a collection on AO3 here

sorry for being so ridiculous lmao

*****

Therewas such a strange disconnect from staring outside the windows of thepalace as opposed to when she’d had to stare out of a hole in theceiling back when she’d been living in the slums. Back then, she’d belooking up into the smog-covered sky, trying against all odds to seethe stars that the fal'cie would bring at night.

Now,sitting in her office, she could literally look down on so much ofEden since the palace towered over pretty much everything except thefal'cie Phoenix itself. It was weird, to say the least.

Well,she supposed it was no stranger than Lightning Farron, former soldierand resident of the slums, being discovered as Eden’s long-lostprincess.

Lightningfrowned slightly as she watched people go about their daily business.From up here, they looked like ants. It was hard to believe that somecould be struggling or confused or going through heartbreak…

Notthat she’d know anything about heartbreak. At all. Nope.

“Hey,you finished yet?”

Witha sigh, Lightning pulled her gaze away from the window and stared atSazh, who was officially her adviser, but really played the role of ababysitter. It was insulting if she thought about it too much. “Doesit look like I’ve finished?”

“True.”Sazh waltzed up to her desk and pointedly stared at the pile ofpapers. “'Cause if you had finishedthis incredibly easy task, I bet you would’ve found me already andclaimed that poor ol’ Sazh was overworked and needed a vacation - ”

“Itried to give you a vacation after the ball,” Lightning pointedout, raising an eyebrow. “You told me I’d probably set the palaceon fire if you left for a day.”

“AndI’m probably right!”

“Doubtful.”Lightning rolled her eyes and tapped her pen against the papers infront of her a few times. “I’m fairly sure that I, a grown adultwho’s been taking care of herself since she was a teenager, couldeasily manage without you for a few days.”

“Keeptellin’ yourself that.” Sazh picked up one of the papers. “Whichone are you working on?”

“Theletter to Vanille.” DiaVanille had been an important guest at Lightning’s introduction balla few days ago. It was a gathering that had officially presented heras Eden’s princess, which, in turn, would hopefully open up newrelations. Now she was supposed to be writing letters of intent toget people on her side with whatever she planned to do as regent.

Despitefinding the whole practice completely ridiculous, Lightning actuallyhad gotten along fairly well with the Duchess of Luxerion, Vanille.She had to wonder if this was partially because her bodyguard wasfriends with the Duchess and that made it easier to like her.

Or…formerbodyguard, she supposed.

“Keepit short and sweet,” Sazh advised. “Vanille’s not much for longletters.”

“Andyou think I am?”

“Justlet me dream a little, geez. Kids these days.”

Lightningrolled her eyes again, her mind wandering to the ball. Chatting withVanille and her girlfriend Fang, the Princess of Oerba…dancing in adress that glittered with an obnoxious amount of diamonds…steppingonto the balcony with -

Ugh,okay, definitely not goingthere.

Aftera pause where she wrote a few words, Lightning glanced up. Sazh wasscribbling something in a book – probably grading her on heretiquette, hmph. “Was there something else you needed?”

“Yes,as a matter of fact.” Sazh stopped writing and plopped into a chairwithout any grace. If she’d done the same, he would’ve recoiled inhorror. “We didn’t really get a chance to talk after the ball.Gotta say, I’m impressed with how you handled things.”

“Itwas a glorified dance. Not too difficult.”

Thatwas a lie and they both knew it. Lightning had grown up in a suburbof Eden and then spent her teenage years in the slums – she’d neverbeen to any sort of dance, never mind a ball of the caliber that’dbeen held in her honor. Beingparaded around like a doll had been one of the most difficult thingsshe’d ever done. Luckily, she’d met Vanille and Fang very early onduring the night and their new-foundfriendship had made goingthrough the motions much easier.

Therewas someone else who’d helped out, but she preferred not to think toohard about that.

“Yeah,yeah.” Sazh waved a hand. “Keep tellin’ yourself that. And tellme your thoughts –anybody there you think we could strengthen an alliance with? Or formone? Technically, Eden’s always been on good terms with the otherkingdoms since Phoenix is the most important fal'cie, but there’salways room for improvement. See any of that? Or…” He raised aneyebrow. “Any potential suitors?”

Lightningducked her head, hoping against everything that the heat she feltsimmering under her skin was from a…hot flash or something. Yeah,that totally made sense. She wasn’t about to blush atthe thought of a certain personal bodyguard taking her to see astar-filled sky and light-studded city. There was definitely nothought of his hands on her, his lips caressing hers…

“Nosuitors,” she finally said, clearing her throat and daring to lookup. At least her face felt normal. “Serah seemed to like the Patronof Yusnaan, though.” She frowned.

“What,you got a problem with him?” Sazh looked faintly amused. “I knowhe’s just a kid, but then again, so are you.”

“Hejust seemed…” Lightning shook her head. There were only a fewwords she could think of to describe Snow Villiers, and none of themwere all that flattering. “But we’ve been on particularly goodterms with Yusnaan, so it doesn’t really matter. Fang seemed to likeme, so maybe we can strengthen ties with Oerba.”

“Thatgirl’s an odd one.” Sazh leaned back in his chair, looking lost inthought. “I’m pretty sure all she really gives a damn about isVanille. For awhile, it was lookin’ like Oerba and Luxerion wouldofficially join forces, possibly to try and topple Eden and take overPhoenix.”

Lightningraised her eyebrows. “Could they do that?”

“Probably.Ain’t like the fal'cie care that much.”

Shehad no idea if that was true. Lightning had yet to see Phoenix inperson since being found as the princess of Eden. “Do you thinkFang was trying to get on my good side, then? And then betray me whenleast expected?”

“Nahhh.If Vanille liked you, then Fang’s sure as hell not gonna mess withyou or anybody in Eden. And trust me, Vanille is as genuine as theycome. Kinda hard to believe she’s royalty sometimes.” Sazh sighedin exasperation. “I’ve worked with so many of you kids over theyears that I wonder if you all share the same stick up your ass.”

Insteadof biting back with a retort, Sazh’s comment made Lightning asksomething she’d been wondering for awhile. “That’s right – bothFang and Vanille said that they knew you. You were an adviser forsome members of the old family, too.”

“Gladto see you pay attention when I talk.”

“Thatdoesn’t make much sense, though,” Lightning continued, ignoringSazh’s comment. “You’re not even twice my age. You said you’ve beenserving the old family for years, but if you served Fang and Vanilletoo…”

“Inever told you?” Now Sazh looked confused, but also a littleconcerned. It was very strange to see him with an expression towardsher that wasn’t exasperation. “Huh, guess I wouldn’t have at thebeginning. And things have been so crazy with the ball andeverything…”

“Toldme what?”

Sazhundid the top two buttons of his shirt and tugged it down a bit. Itwas still hidden under some fabric, but there were a bunch oftelltale lines and intersecting arrows that made Lightning sit ramrodstraight in her chair, eyes widening a bit. She knew what it meantbefore Sazh even said the words.

“I’ma l'cie.”

Thestories had spread among the slums – scary children’s tales thatwould send Serah crying into her arms in fear. L'cie were warriorschosen by fal'cie and sent to fight their battles, using magic farmore powerful and horrifying than the average person was capable of.They would live forever until the fal'cie grew tired of them andended their misery with agony, only to gather new warriors and repeatthe cycle anew.

Sincethere hadn’t been a real war in centuries, l'cie were just terriblestories. Even though Lightning knew they were likely just that –stories – nobody she knew had ever met or been one, so itwas hard to say what was the truth or not.

Itwas true, however – recorded in history books and all –that l'cie were branded when they were made. The lines intersectingon Sazh’s skin perfectly matched what Lightning knew.

“You’re– how - ”

“Ohc'mon, you know damn well I’m not some war machine. I hear thosestories. Most of ‘em are totally untrue. Probably made up by somefanatic or anti-war group back in the day.” Sazh shrugged andbuttoned his shirt, hiding the brand from sight.

“Thenwhat is true?”

“One,we don’t live forever. But it does stretch things out a bit.” Hechuckled. “You pretty much stop physically aging once you’rebranded. Good thing, or I’d have half a century’s worth of gray hairfrom all you kids stressin’ me out.”

Lightningdid not laugh. She still felt something akin to horror, though Sazh’snonchalant attitude and her own logic were calming her down a bit.“But why were you branded? I’ve always heard that l'cie werejust tools for war.”

“LikeI said, stories.” Sazh waved a hand. “Yeah, sure, some were madefor war, but most l'cie are branded to carry out a certain purpose,whether for war or whatever else.”

“Andlet me guess,” Lightning said, her head starting to clear, “yourpurpose is to annoy me?”

“Close.”He chuckled again. “Nah, the old queen’s mother put in a good wordfor me with Phoenix. I kinda fell into the adviser role and the royalfamily was damn impressed. They asked if I wanted to do it forlonger, and well…” He shrugged. “Here I am. ‘Course, I’d go outto ally kingdoms or whatnot. In Duchess Vanille’s case, her parentsdied when she was barely a kid, so I kept an eye on her. I only knowPrincess Fang through her, though.”

“Isee.” And she did, actually. The initial shock had finally wornoff. Honestly, she couldn’t see why someone would want to live foryears and years doing the sort of thing Sazh did, but now she knewhow he was so good at his job…literal years of practice. “And I’mguessing this is common knowledge among the other royals?”

“Well,yeah. I’m everywhere, you know.” He tapped the side of his head.“Can’t do much to hide that.”

“Isuppose not.” Of course she was the last to know…but then again,she always seemed to be the last to know things lately, sowhat did one more thing matter?

“Onthat note, I’ve got some other things I need to do.” The tone inSazh’s voice had gone so serious that it made Lightning glance upfrom her letter and frown in confusion.

“Whatthings?”

“Geez,so nosy.” He shook his head. “Don’t you worry about it. Finishyour letters and I’ll have one of the assistants come in andproofread them.”

Sherolled her eyes. “Sure.”

Hewas already halfway out the door, but still called out as thought heactually had eyes in the back of his head. “I saw that!”

Lightningshook her head and stared back down at her letter to Vanille, tappingher pen against the paper a few times. Even though it’d been quitesome time since she’d been found as Eden’s princess, the formalityand unspoken rules still baffled her. Ever since meeting a bunch ofthem at her introduction ball, however, she’d seen that many of themfound some of the rules and etiquette archaic as well.

Sowhy did they have to do it?

Shesighed heavily and slumped in her chair – a posture that Sazh wouldfrown upon, but for once, she was blessedly alone. Not even a maidwas to be seen, although she could hear people puttering in thehallways outside her office. It was so rare these days she couldactually be by herself. Usually she at least had her personalbodyguard with her…

“No,”she muttered, chiding herself. She would not think about him.She would not wonder where he’d gone after running from her atthe ball, and she would certainly not replay the images oftheir kiss in her mind.

Nope.Not her.

Lightningheaved another sigh and shoved the papers aside, going back tostaring out the window. Concentration was clearly useless, at leastfor now. She may as well take advantage of Sazh not being around todemand her to do stuff.

–

Itwas only a few days later when she got the news.

Shewas in the sitting area of her suite, talking to Serah on the phone –an encrypted, ridiculously secure line, of course. Actually beingable to see her sister would’ve been better, but Serah wascompletely swamped with work at the university and couldn’t get away.

Therewas always, however, time for a phone call.

“Ijust don’t get what you see in him,” Lightning muttered, scribblingin the margins of her scrap paper. She was still working on thoseletters and had been trying to think of good things to say SnowVilliers, Patron of Yusnaan. It was exceedingly difficult.

Forher, anyway.

“He’sso sweet!” Serah basically swooned over the phone. “And don’t youthink he’s handsome? I wonder if he’ll wear the same outfit at myintroduction ball.”

Lightningfrowned. “He’s a big lug that kept stepping on my feet.”

“Notto mention that you can tell he really cares about his people.”Serah kept going on like her sister had said nothing. “Maybe it’sbecause he was elected? I mean, I know you care about everyone in thekingdom, but some of the other royals who have lived it since theywere born….it’s different for them. Don’t you think so?”

Unconsciously,Lightning’s grip on her phone tightened. He’d said that to her morethan once.

Youknow what it’s like on the other side. You’ll be able to bring realchange.

Herstomach fluttered and she willed the door to knock – something,anything to let her know that her personal bodyguard wascoming back.

Knock-knock.

Shestared at the door. Could it be…?

“YourHighness?”

Hershoulders drooped so quickly that she nearly dropped the phone. Sherecognized the quiet voice of Yeul, one of her maids. With a heavysigh, she called out, “Just a moment!”

“Sis?Do you want me to leave?”

“Sorry,Serah.” Lightning heaved another sigh. “I have to go. I’ll callyou back tonight, okay?”

“Okay!I should probably get back to all this homework.” Her tone grewteasing. “You think they’d let a princess catch a break.”

“Ifyou’d wanted to catch any breaks, you wouldn’t have applied to themost prestigious university in the world,” Lightning teased back.“I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay.Love you!”

“Youtoo.”

Anotherquiet knock sounded at the door. This time, Lightning stood, herposture automatically straight as she smoothed down her clothes. Asthere hadn’t been anything urgent on her schedule for the day, she’dopted for comfortable slacks and a thin cashmere sweater – clothingshe’d take over diamond-studded ball gowns any day.

“Comein.”

Yeulentered the room, dropping into a curtsy. All of the servantscontinued to be ridiculously formal around her, despite herinsistence otherwise. It was sort of why she appreciated Sazh naggingher all the time, though hell would freeze over before she’d admitit.

Andspeak of the devil…

“Mr.Katzroy requests that you join him in the conference room, YourHighness.”

Lightningfrowned, the request immediately striking her as odd. Usually Sazhsought her out himself when he needed something, or at least wouldbring her to whatever room he needed. Especially since this palacewas ridiculously huge and she still didn’t always know her wayaround.

“Conferenceroom?”

“Yes.”Yeul bowed her head. “Allow me to escort you.”

“Sure.”Lightning was all too happy to leave her papers and thoughts ofwriting to Snow behind…although surely whatever Sazh had plannedfor her would be just as annoying.

Itturned out she wasn’t too far off.

Yeulmurmured something into a speaker that was attached to the earpieceshe was wearing, presumably telling her coworkers where she was. Therest of the walk was fairly quiet, which was fine with her. Lightningwas more than okay with staring at the paintings and pricelessartifacts that adorned the walls. A lot of them were portraits of herextremely distant ancestors. Apparently she and Serah would have tosit for portraits at some point and then they’d be on the wallsforever. It was a very weird thought.

Whenthe finally reached the conference room, Yeul curtsied again beforeopening one of the wide doors. “Her Highness, Princess Lightning,has arrived,” she called, her soft voice echoing into the emptyroom.

“Thanks,”Lightning said, nodding at Yeul before she stepped inside. There wasa weird flash of gold that struck Yeul’s eyes, but it was probablyjust glare from all the artifacts around them. Weird.

Theconference room was huge, with tons of folded seats and what lookedlike a stage and podium. It reminded her a bit of a theater withoutthe screen. “Sazh?”

“Overhere.” He was off to the side, where there was a table and somechairs covered with papers. She hurried over to him. “Always makin’an old man wait, huh?”

“Yeah,yeah.” It felt weird to comment on that since now she had a roughidea of just how old Sazh really was. “How come you calledme here?”

“Nobodyever uses this room and I wanted to inform you of something inprivate.”

Instantly,Lightning’s heart began to pound. For whatever reason, her firstthought was of the night of the ball. Had someone seen them out onthe balcony? Was there some protocol about a princess and herbodyguard sharing a kiss?

“It’sabout your coronation.”

Shelet out a huge breath she hadn’t even known she’d been holding,slumping in her seat a bit. She ignored the evil eye Sazh gave her.“What about it?”

“Asyou know, the old family kept their power tightly reigned.” Themore he spoke, the more serious Sazh became. It was weirdlyoff-putting. “All of the descendants have been, more or less,direct from the first king. Kinda a cut and dry family tree, evenwith all the marriages and what have you.”

“Right.”Lightning vaguely recalled this when she’d been forced to study theold family. The crown almost always went to the firstborn son ordaughter, which wasn’t so unusual for royalty, she supposed, but thefamily tree was streamlined to the point where many of thefirstborn’s siblings rarely got married or had children of their own.It was why she and Serah being a part of all of this was basicallyunprecedented.

Veryweird.

“LikeI told you, I’ve had some dealings with the old family. And I’m notthat old to remember the first king, but there’s a reason theykept the family as it was.”

“Sazh,please.” Lightning was rapidly running out of patience. She wasn’treally sure why, but something in her just wanted to hear thenews already. “Get to the point.”

“Soimpatient,” he muttered. “Okay, fine – long story short – thecoronation and ruling status are only valid with approval fromPhoenix.”

Itfelt like a block of ice had suddenly dropped in her stomach,although it took her a moment to rationalize why. “Approval?”“Yes.”The serious tone in Sazh’s voice grew. “You meet with the fal'ciein a special one-on-one ceremony. Phoenix will brand you as the nextruler of Eden. Not like a l'cie,” he added hastily, whenLightning’s gaze focused on the spot where his brand was hidden.“There’s no permanent mark, although it lasts 'til you’reofficially crowned. Then you’re free to rule as you please.”

Theice turned to lead in her gut. “Okay, so I meet with Phoenix andit…approves of me.” She frowned. “Why tell me this in secrecy?This is probably common knowledge among the royals, right?”

“Yeah.Some of the others brand their rulers like this too, but Phoenix isthe most important because, well…obvious reasons and all.”

“Isee.” The perfect placeholder reply, because this whole thing madeher feel…uneasy. Phoenix was arguably the most importantfal'cie in the world. Without the sun and life it provided, therewould be no world. The fal'cie from other kingdoms couldeasily be replaced with hard work and effort from humanity.

Butthe sun? There was no replacement for that.

Theenormity of her role in the world suddenly hit her like a train. Itdidn’t matter if her sister or the other royals or certain personalbodyguards believed in her. She’d never been very good at followingrules and had always thought of herself as very independent. The factthat she was to be in charge of everything under somethingelse’s power made her want to take a sword to Phoenix just to rid theworld of it, so humanity could try to thrive on its own.

Notthat she would – or could – ever admit this out loud.

“There’sone other thing,” Sazh added when she said nothing more.

Lightningrolled her eyes a little, mostly out of habit. “What?”

Hedidn’t comment on her rudeness. “I know for a fact thatyou’re part of the royal bloodline. Ol’ Sazh did his research. Youdon’t even want to know what dusty old books and old familyrecords I had to look up to find you and your sister.”

“You’vementioned this.” She raised an eyebrow. “Many times, in fact.”

“'Causeit’s true.” There was a pause before his voice went grave.“However, if Phoenix doesn’t approve of you for whatever reason ordecides you’re not worthy of the power to rule…”

Lightningwaited a moment for him to finish, but she knew what he meant when hetrailed off. This, maybe, was the source of her instant uneasinesswhen he’d started talking. It was everything she hadn’t known she wasdreading since coming into the conference room.

“…Phoenixwill kill me.” She met his eyes. “Won’t it?”

“There’snot much of a chance it’ll disapprove of you,” Sazh repliedquickly. She wondered who he was trying to convince. “Like I said,I did my research and you’re a part of the bloodline. I’ve heardthat’s all it really cares about. It’s not like the fal'cie reallygive a damn about human affairs, y'know?”

“Right.”She ignored the unsaid words – there was still that chance Phoenixwould cast her aside and everything would be for nothing.

Betterme than Serah.

Thatwas what it always came down to, the first thought her instinct wentto. Serah was the one who deserved a comfortable life withresponsibilities chosen by her and not some rule or bloodline. It wasbecause of her sister that Lightning had worked her ass off when theywere still in the slums, doing everything she could to give Serahever opportunity possible.

Shenever thought there was the possibility it could lead to her death.

Butwhat about her role now? Though she hadn’t asked for any of this, shewas slowly finding herself eager to make changes around the kingdomof Eden and make things better for people who weren’t long-lostmembers of the royal family.

“You’veseen both sides. I think that’ll eventually come to be your biggeststrength.”

Eventhough she kept trying not to think about a certain personalbodyguard, his words from the ball popped into her head. She’d alwaystaken his reassurance to heart, but now it had a thousand times moremeaning.

Thoughshe would never deny that Serah had also suffered in the past,Lightning had always watched out for her and sacrificed somuch to ensure that her needs were met. Their experiences weredifferent because of that.

Nobodyhad ever looked out for Lightning until now.

Andbecause of that, she was the only one who could truly changethings.

Shewas quiet for another moment as though contemplating, but short ofrunning away, there was really only one answer. There had only everbeen one answer.

Lightningsucked in a breath and met Sazh’s eyes, trying to steel herself withdetermination.

“Whatdo I need to do before meeting with Phoenix?”

–

Aswith practically everything related to this princess business, thepre-ceremony rituals were completely over the top and ridiculous.Someday she’d realize that nobody around here ever did things simply.

Overthe next couple of days, she rehearsed the ancient words that wouldsummon Phoenix to an audience with her. A handful of older maids –ones that had been tasked with all of the ritual business with theold family – helped her with cleansing baths and created theceremonial outfit. They were all sworn to secrecy.

Shefigured that made sense. If she was killed by Phoenix, it’d beeasier in the long run to play it off as some kind of accident ratherthan the most important fal'cie in the world rejecting her.

Butshe tried not to think about that. Besides the maids – and Sazh, ofcourse – the only other person who knew about the upcoming ceremonywas Serah, and that was simply because there was no way shewas keeping this a secret from her sister.

Lightningdidn’t mention the risks, though. Some things were better kept quiet.

“Snowtalks to Pandaemonium sometimes,” Serah mused over the phone. Itwas the night before Lightning’s meeting with Phoenix and she decidedshe’d needed the distraction. “Maybe he could give you advice!”

“Idon’t want any advice from that big lug.” She rolled her eyes, notwanting to admit she was curious, but… “…Talks to it how?”

Serah’svoice was a little knowing, but she didn’t tease. “He told me it’snot so much words. It’s not like conversing with a person – thefal'cie send images and they get clearer the more you have a mutualunderstanding.” She hummed a little. “Maybe it’s easy for himbecause he was elected the Patron.”

“Ormaybe his head’s so empty that the images come easier because there’snothing in the way.”

“Sis.”Serah huffed in exasperation. “Be nice.”

“I’dbe nicer if you were less interested in him.”

“Buthe’s so sweet!”

“Hmph.”This was what she wanted to worry about – who was goodenough for her sister and ridiculous things like that…not if thefal'cie who basically sustained the world was going to kill her.

Shecouldn’t let herself think about it.

Luckily,Serah was eager to keep chatting – mostly about Snow, toLightning’s disgust – and her nerves settled somewhat. Her sisterwas the one person who could distract her from this whole princessthing.

Well,her and another person, but she didn’t want to think about him,either.

Thenight passed quickly and soon Lightning was too tired to even hold upthe phone. She fell asleep quickly without having time to dwell onthe ceremony the next day. Just as planned.

Ironically,the sun woke her gently the following morning, which was a nicechange from her alarm going off or someone knocking on her door. Infact, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d woken up so calmly.

Ifonly it was enough to make up for what was about to happen.

Thecalm was unfortunately short-lived, because about thirty secondsafter she’d stood up and stretched, someone knocked at her door.

“YourHighness?”

Lightningsighed heavily, immediately recognizing the voice of the oldest ofthese in-the-know maids. “Come in.”

Therewere three of them and they filed in slowly, their hands clasped infront as they walked. She realized this was an incredibly serious andformal situation, but the realness of it smacked her in the face atthe sight of the maids looking so grave. That lead block that’dformed in her gut when Sazh initially told her about all of hisreturned in full force.

“Thisway.” One of the maids gestured to her ensuite bathroom, whereanother maid was already running the water. Lightning could see heradding special oils and herbs to the tub, apparently part of thewhole cleansing ritual.

Shewas already long used to shedding her modesty in front of otherpeople since this whole princess thing had become a part of her life,but she’d never hated it more than she had at this second. Undressingand slipping into the tub in front of the others just made this wholething feel weird and awkward and way more serious than she wanted itto be. It didn’t help that she knew arguing was useless; the oldestmaid had a glare that could probably take down Sazh – a trait she’dlove to learn, to be honest. Maybe she’d ask for lessons later.

Providedshe survived Phoenix’s judgment, of course.

Withthat thrilling thought in mind, Lightning allowed herself to be driedafter the bath and wrapped in a robe. She had to admit that whateverhad been added to the bath made her skin feel like new. There’d neverbeen any time or money to bother with girly lotions and potionsbefore Sazh had found them, but maybe there was some merit in it.

Onceshe was sufficiently dry, she was led into her enormous walk-inwardrobe, where the ceremonial gown was waiting for her. It wasactually quite a beautiful dress – a flowing garment in shades ofgold, white, and blue. There was a cape with a long train attached tothe back, maybe just to add to the ridiculousness. Phoenix’s brandwas embroidered along the edges in gold.

Themaids helped her into the gown and simple gold shoes. One of themclasped a gold bracelet with multicolored stones around her wrist.

“What’sthis?” Lightning asked, lifting her arm to inspect the bracelet. Anumber of jewels were kept in her wardrobe and a lot were in storage,but she was fairly sure she’d never seen this one before. It wasweirdly flashy and simple at once.

“Agift from Phoenix, Your Highness,” the youngest of the maidsanswered (although 'young’ in this case was about eighty years old).“It’s said that that fal'cie itself put it on the wrist of thefirst king. Ever since then, it’s been a tradition to wear it to theMeeting.”

Lightningsuddenly lost all interest in the bracelet and dropped her arm. “Oh.”

Thefinal part of her outfit was a headpiece that fit snugly in her hair.Long lines of gold extended from the band in varying lengths, thelongest about a foot. It formed a semicircle around her head – madeto resemble rays of the sun, she realized as she looked in a mirror.

“Whenyou’re ready, we’ll escort you,” the oldest maid said after apause.

“…Right.”Lightning let out a breath. “Let’s get this over with.”

Ifany of them found her comment weird, they made no mention. Instead,they simply ushered her out of her suite. The hallway – whichusually had people milling about cleaning and whatnot – was emptyexcept for them. Two of the maids stood on either side and one was infront to lead the way.

Theywalked like that the whole time in silence, the only sound being thewhoosh of her cape flowing over the floor. Usually Lightning reveledin quiet, but this silence felt way too heavy. It carried foreboding.

Doom.

Still,all she did was recite her summoning words in her mind, hoping shewouldn’t forget them. She’d never been one to crack under pressure,but this was a whole different level.

Itseemed like they’d walked for miles before they finally stopped infront of an enormous door. Lightning realized she’d actually passedthis area a handful of times, but the door was nondescript and tuckedaway, so she’d never given thought to what could be behind it.

Themaid in front slowly pulled the door open. Sunlight poured in and shetried not to squint at the glare.

“Wecan go no further,” the maid said. “Please head forward for yourceremony.”

“Thanks.”

Theyall curtsied in unison as she stepped into the light, not risinguntil the door slowly creaked shut behind her. Forget the lead in hergut; her stomach was doing cartwheels by now.

“Thatyou?”

Lightningnever thought she’d be so damn grateful to hear Sazh’s voice. She letout a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding and hurried over –as much as she could in this outfit, anyway – and even though hestill looked grave and serious, it was still a relief to be aroundsomeone normal.

Well,normal to her, anyway.

“Ididn’t think you’d be here,” she said, trying to sound composed. “Ithought it might be against the rules or whatever.”

Despitethe serious expression on his face, Sazh smirked a little. “Whathave I been tellin’ you? There’s no getting rid of me. Besides, youhave any idea what you’re doing right now?”

Lightninglooked around the room for the first time. It was weirdly bright andwhite, though she could vaguely make out ornate designs on the wallsin gold. Ahead of her was more brightness and – was that fog?

Yeah,she was totally lost.

“Thoughtso,” was all Sazh replied at the look on her face. “All right,lemme lead you through it. Ask your questions or forever hold yourpeace.”

“Justtell me how to get to Phoenix,” she replied. “I want to get thisover with.”

“Fairenough.” He shook his head in exasperation and then gestured to theweirdly bright, foggy area in front of them. “Head forward untilyou see a crystal. It’ll be floating in midair, so try not to freak.”

“I’veseen freakier things.”

“Yeah,yeah.” He rolled his eyes, which was oddly comforting. “Once youget to the crystal, hold cup your hands around it.” Sazh held uphis own hands to demonstrate. “Then recite the summons you’veundoubtedly memorized. That should take you right to Phoenix.”

Lightningheld up her hands in the same way Sazh had. “Crystal, hands,recite. I think I’ve got it.”

“Youdo.” He stared at her a moment and then sighed, bowing his head abit before nodding. “You really do. You’ve got this.”

Ifthat was his way of saying he was sure she’d survive…the confidenceactually worked somewhat. Much to her annoyance, Sazh really did knowa lot and she trusted him. It was not guarantee, but at leastit was something.

“Right,”she murmured, squaring her shoulders. “I’ll be back.”

“We’llbe waiting.”

Asshe headed into the fog, Lightning could’ve sworn she heard somefootsteps echoing behind her, but she did not dare to look over hershoulder. Eyes front. If she lost her nerve now, she’d never be ableto do this again.

Timelost all meaning as she walked through the light and fog. There wasno comfort in it, but oddly enough, she had no fear, either. MaybeSazh’s confidence in her had actually worked. Maybe it was becauseshe had to survive for Serah.

Maybeit was because, according to a certain personal bodyguard, she couldbring about real change.

Shehad no idea how long she’d walked before the crystal appeared infront of her. It was shaped a bit like a diamond and reflectedrainbows into the whiteness around her. Just as she was supposed to,she hovered her hands around it and closed her eyes, bowing her headas she spoke.

“OMighty fal'cie Phoenix, I seek you so that I may govern in yourblessed name. Guide me to your knowing light so that I may humblygaze upon you.”

Shefelt stupid chanting the words, especially since she wasn’t quitesure how much she believed in them. Apparently belief didn’t matter,though, because the crystal suddenly blinded her – even though hereyes were still closed – and she had the sensation of movement. Itfelt like falling, but she was still upright. Lightning didn’t dareopen her eyes in case it broke some kind of spell. Sazh hadn’tmentioned any of this! She was definitely going to rant at himwhen she got back.

Ifshe got back.

Whenthings finally stilled, Lightning took a moment to breathe, her eyesstill closed. It was extremely unusual for her to just stand aroundand put herself in any sort of vulnerable position, but what wasn’tunusual about all of this?Surely a breather wasn’t out of line.

Therewas about ten second of silence before an unfamiliar rumbling noiseand a flash of head made her finally open her eyes. She could notcontain the gasp that ripped through her at what was before her.

“Phoenix.”

Thefal'cie was long and skinny on both ends, with smaller pieces of itsbody – was that a body? - extending from it. Whether theseparts were something otherworldly, nature, machine – she had noidea. In the middle it was round, filled with a light so bright thatshe couldn’t stare for long.

Itwas nothing like she had ever seen or imagined.

Ofcourse she had seen fal'cie before. Most everyone had. There weresmaller ones that worked in separate jurisdictions in Eden, doingvarious tasks like providing electricity or things for export. Notall of them in other kingdoms made themselves hidden, either. Theywere just a part of the landscape and a part of life thatnobody really took notice of them.

Nowshe understood why Phoenix was hidden away.

Itwas impossible not to take notice.

Lightningstepped forward unconsciously, not sure if she wanted to run towardsit or away. She felt dazed, which was not a sensation she wasa fan of, but what else could she do?

Therewas noise coming from the fal'cie, but she wasn’t sure if it wastrying to speak or if that was just how it sounded naturally. Surelysomething so massive and powerful couldn’t be completely silent.

Thesounds were like screams and whispers all at once, having thestrength to ruffle her gown and cape, but somehow not loud enough tohear. Something about it made her want to take a sword to the massivebeing in front of her, but who was she to deny the world of this?

Andthen it happened.

Phoenixcried out and a beam of light shot right towards her, too quickly toavoid. It scorched her chest, painful yet not. She could feel theswirls and intricacies of Phoenix’s brand, letting it become a partof her and she now was of it.

Blurry,hurried images flooded into her mind. Lightning vaguely recalledSerah mentioning Snow’s experience with his fal'cie, that the imagesbecame clearer with mutual understanding.

Butshe and Phoenix had no understanding. She still couldn’t tellwhether she hated it or wanted to give thanks. There was anunderlying buzz of Phoenix not knowing what to make of her, either –just that she was of the bloodline and she could ruleunscathed.

Theimages she saw were most of people she only vaguely recognized fromthe portraits in the palace – memories of her extremely distantancestors. Some were of the stars and moon, extensions of the fal'ciefrom even farther away than this. One image would come, only to beimmediately replaced by another, and she could make no real sense ofthem.

Untilthat moment.

“Hope?!”

Everythingwas still so fast, but now Lightning willed her mind to slow,anything so that she could sort out why Phoenix was showingher images of her personal bodyguard.

Shesaw Hope, handsome as ever, talking to a group of people in a glassbuilding that gleamed with perfection.

Anotherof him in a white and yellow outfit that seemed strangely familiar –but it wasn’t the garb he wore as her bodyguard.

Himtalking to a shorter woman who, again, seemed oddly familiar.

Hiseyes sliding to look at Phoenix.

Hishands working on something that could have been otherworldly, nature,or machine.

Hisgaze on her for a thousand different reasons, most worthy of asecret.

Hisshame as he ran off from her at ball.

Inthat instant, something clicked in Lightning’s mind, though her heartwas pounding and her breath was coming too fast to really sort itout. The images abruptly stopped and the brand on her chest cooled.

“Howdo you expect me to - ”

Shedidn’t get to finish her sentence before there was that sensation offalling again. Phoenix had dismissed her?! She’d survived itsjudgment, but for what?

Therewas no making sense of it. Time had no meaning.

Whenshe stopped falling, Lightning opened her eyes in a daze and emergedfrom the light, a bit surprised to see Sazh, but also -

“Hope,”she whispered, her heart pounding again. It was too much for her bodyand mind. Her knees shook and she pitched forward.

Butlike any good personal bodyguard, Hope raced to her, his eyes widewith panic as he caught her. She settled into his arms so easily –too easily.

“Light,”he said, her name hardly a gasp. His eyes darted to Phoenix’s brand,which was on the left side of her chest, impossible to miss againsther pale skin. “Light, why? Whydid you do it?”

She stared up at him, a thousandimages replaying in her mind in an instant. How could she possiblyput them together in a way that made sense?

But maybe shealready had.

Her hand reached up to shakily brushsome of his bangs from his worried face. Worried for who, shewondered?

“You’re not a bodyguard,” shemurmured.

Theneverything went black.

55 notes · View notes

nekoabiwrites · 5 years

Text

Ranking Up

I have a very long planning document with backstories for all of the major players in this fic... but who knows what the plot will actually be and if any of that will make it in lmao.

Anyway, this is based in the Splatoon universe, because I think it’s fun to put the sides in games like this.

Also, what are titles? I am recovering from a migrane as I post this so brain is not really up for creative titles right now.

AU: Splatoon (specifically Splatoon 2) Pairings: None. Words: 2687 Warnings: Deceit, Remus (neither are said to be particularly good or bad), implied graffiting, mentions of battles involving gun-like weapons. Anything else, please let me know.

Summary: We introduce our cast and get to know their teams.

---

The young inkling ducked behind the wall that had already been inked by the other team, taking a moment to catch his breath. As he quickly covered the short wall with his own team’s ink colour, he had a chance to check the timer on the board just to the right of him. It showed the timer and a vague overhead map that updated constantly, along with each of the teams’ participants main weapons and status. The inkling was only interested in the timer, however. The match was almost over, there were only 30 seconds left. He grinned as he heard the unmistakable sound of an oncoming roller. The inkling prepared himself to dive out and attack, but the ground around him suddenly had several circles indicating the incoming ink missiles that were targeted on him.

“Shoot.” He muttered to himself before he dived into the ink and swam away from the attack, just moments before the missiles slammed into the ground and covered the spot in the other team’s ink. One of the last splashes of ink from the final missile managed to just catch the end of his squid-form’s tentacle, causing the inkling to wince slightly. It didn’t hurt exactly, just was uncomfortable to be covered in a different colour ink.

He was still able to get the drop on the oncoming roller, despite the clear indication that someone on the opposition had been nearby to them. In fact, their teammate’s attack distracted the roller and had them turning away from their intended path. This allowed the inkling to circle behind and get a good amount of damage on them before they could even retaliate. The opponent was splatted within seconds. The inkling, after taking a moment to celebrate getting yet another splat, used the last seconds of the match to cover as much of the ground that the roller had approached on as he could.

The buzzer sounded and all of the participants of the match stopped in their tracks. Across the map, the inkling could hear a splat bomb detonate and another set of missiles hit the ground, yet it didn’t faze him as he was sure that his team had won. The Ammo-Knights sponsored wristband pinged loudly and automatically opened its interface before the inkling’s face. All the previous information was currently greyed out and a new squid jump location had opened up. He placed his finger above the hologram map and immediately began the process of squid jumping to the spot. All the other participants of the battle were doing the same.

Their teams gathered and split to either side. The inkling was standing up front before his team, hands already resting on his hips victoriously. An overhead image of Kelp Dome appeared before them, with Judd and Mini Judd standing before either team. The drumroll began and the inkling puffed out his chest ready for his team’s victory.

“Why didn’t you let me get that last splat?!”

“Does it really matter who ‘got it’? Our team won.”

“Yes, it does matter, Logan.”

A long-suffering sigh preceded Logan’s next retort. He was going to regret this, “And why is it so important, Roman?” That set off the red-eyed inkling that stood before him. Logan simply rolled his eyes and sat back in the metal chair, waiting for Roman to be finished.

Their team were meant to be relaxing and enjoying their victory by sitting just outside Jelfonzo’s gear shop, having already purchased some snack food from the Crust Bucket truck. But, of course, Roman wanted to discuss the finer details of their match, and apparently that involved Logan’s “splat stealing” in the last few seconds of the match. He had done no such thing and had simply been trying to help them out in the last moments of the game, by freeing up one more teammate to go ahead and continue covering turf. And it was a simple friendly match, a practice one at that. It wasn’t as if a win or loss would affect their ranking at all; nothing they’d just gotten reflected on them at all or did anything for their current place in the league. Roman really did pull at Logan’s last nerve sometimes. He just wished he could-

There was a light touch on his arm that had his eyes fixing on another inkling who sat beside him at the table. He was kicking his legs back and forth, which was only possible because of his strangely short stature. The inkling that had rested a hand on Logan’s arm was giving him an impossibly soft, reassuring smile, which had him blushing a little before he turned away.

“Are you even listening to me?!”

Roman gathered both of the sitting inklings attention, his hands on his hips as he stared at them both with narrowed eyes. He seemed to be angry, but it was all a normal part of their dynamic.

The shorter of them giggled happily, “Sorry, Ro. I think we’re both a little tired after that match!”

The standing inkling immediately put a hand to his forehead and dramatically cried out, “My own team won’t even listen to my woes. It wounds me so! Especially from my longest standing friend, Patton, betraying me like that! How can I go on in this world?” His display caught the attention of some of the surrounding kids, some of whom seemed to be interested in what was going on.

Logan sipped at his drink, purposefully leaving a moment of silence before he spoke, “I do not believe that having a team is conducive to staying alive.”

That had Roman dropping his theatrics and simply pouting at his stoic teammate, “You know what I mean!”

Before the argument could progress, the fourth member of their team approached and stood next to Roman. The eccentric inkling went to wrap an arm around the other, but he was rebuffed quickly.

“Thomas… what’s going on? You look upset about something?” Patton questioned, cutting across Roman’s insulted rhetoric that he was spewing. Thankfully, the question got the red-eyed inkling to quieten down and pay attention.

“Uh yeah, guys… I just had to tell you something.” Thomas swallowed hard, eyes darting from one teammate to another. Each of them were staring back at him, all with their own level of concern. “Ah, well, uh… I’m going to have to quit. The team, I mean.”

“WHAT?!”

The team all jumped harshly at Roman’s loud screech, which regained the attention of the surrounding population of Inkopolis Square. Only this time, the entire plaza went silent and focused in on the small group.

Thomas awkwardly coughed and avoided eye contact, “Yeah, I’m sorry… I just got, uh… well, you know how my parents took me to that audition thing…”

“No. Way. Shut up.” Roman interrupted, his eyes wide with disbelief. “You got it?!” Thomas nodded lightly, clearly a little uncomfortable, but Roman’s next outburst had him jumping in shock once more, “THOMAS, THAT IS FANTASTIC!”

Across the table, Patton was clapping his hands together and squealing, whilst writhing with glee in the chair, “That’s wonderful news! You’ll be amazing, kiddo!”

Logan simply smiled softly and nodded his head in acknowledgement, “That is a great opportunity for you, Thomas. I am pleased for you.”

The inkling was surprised. His gaze flicked between each of his teammates, “You mean… you’re not mad at me? For having to leave?”

Patton and Logan both shook their heads, while Roman scoffed, “While I may not like that you are having to depart from our small band of brothers, this is a great opportunity for you to rise like the star you were born to be, Thomas. This is what you’ve been working towards all of your life. If you did not leave to pursue it, I would likely have to kick you from this team so you would!”

The four continued to chat loudly, trying to gain every scrap of information they could about Thomas’ next step in life as well as thinking about what that could lead to. Several kids around them were passively listening and dropped by the conversation to congratulate Thomas, despite not truly understanding what it was.

One kid in particular was sitting with their back against the wall of Jelfonzo’s shop, just around the corner from the table were the group were sat. He was listening intently in on their conversation. He’d watched their previous battle as well as several others in the past. Something about their casual nature, their confidence in talking about things so loudly in a public space, about their vibes just drew the young octoling towards the group. They seemed so happy and content, despite their usual bickering back and forth banter. There was something there within him that he couldn’t quite understand, an odd feeling that he felt when looking at them in particular.

As he was focusing on listening in on the other group, a shadow fell across him. The octoling immediately snapped his head up, tensing and fighting not to yelp in fear.

“There you are, Virgil. I had wondered where you’d run off to.” The smooth, silky voice sent unpleasant shivers down Virgil’s back. “What are you doing? Trying to hide?”

He stood and brushed himself off. Virgil crossed an arm over his body and held the other at the elbow nervously, “No, I just wanted to… come and chill out here. Is… is that okay?”

“Oh, it’s definitely okay. It’s not like we specifically said we were meeting up to practice or anything…”

Virgil swallowed hard and went to begin apologising, but an arm wrapped around his shoulder and a new voice stopped him before he started.

“Come on, D. We found him, we’re still early. It’s not a problem.”

The octoling before the pair put his hand over his chest and bowed slightly, a sarcastic smile tugging at his lips. “Many apologies to you both. You are so right. I have absolutely no right, as the leader of this team, to be wondering where my teammates are, especially when we all agreed to a time and place to meet. Obviously I must be th-”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let’s go.”

The octoling who’d wrapped his arm around Virgil’s shoulders pulled him along, towards the entrance to Deca Tower. Even though the brand new 18K Aviators the octoling wore covered most of his facial expression, Virgil was able to make out the light air of annoyance that radiated from the kid.

They passed by the group who Virgil had been listening in on, watching as Roman gave them both a slight once over. He seemed a little irritated by their presence, which made Virgil duck his head and ignore them all.

“Thanks Remy…” Virgil muttered under his breath just as they passed through the doors into the lobby.

“Whatever. Just don’t push his buttons like that.” Remy tossed a look over his shoulder, watching as their team leader passed them by and began to talk to the receptionist. “You know that’s a bad idea. Just be a good boy and turn up on time. You know what will happen if you don’t, right?” Virgil nodded in response, which seemed to satisfy his friend, “Good. Lets just get this over with.”

The two octolings joined their other teammate at the desk, waiting for the receptionist to tell them where they needed to go. During this moment, the doors opened again which caused Virgil to look over. An unmistakable figure walked through from the outside, looking far too pleased with himself whilst being covered in – and smelling like – paint.

As the other kid approached, all of their gathered team seemed to sense him coming and have their own less than pleased reactions to the scent.

“At least it’s better than the last time…” Remy sighed, wrinkling his nose and sending a side glance towards the offender.

“What was wrong with the last time?” The kid asked, circling around to stand next to their team’s leader.

“Salmonid ink smells so bad.”

“I don’t think so!”

“Yeah, we know.”

As the newly arrived octoling went to rest his arms on the reception desk, the team leader stopped him dead by grasping his shoulder, “Remus. No paint on surfaces that are not outside, or did you already forget that?”

“Of course, I didn’t! I just don’t care!” Remus grinned. He rolled his shoulder, which knocked the hand from it. Instead of returning to lean on the desk, he threw both of his arms around the one that had stopped him before whilst flicking the other’s bottom lip with a paint-coated finger, “No pouting. You love me really, Declyn. Come on, admit it…”

Declyn rolled his eyes, thanking the receptionist who’d seem a little put off by Remus’ actions, before turning and walking towards one of the battle lobbies. Remus was still holding on tightly, but at least the octoling was moving, “Yes, Remus. I most definitely do love you.”

The sarcasm was seemingly lost on Remus, who nuzzled his paint-smeared face into Declyn’s shoulder like some kind of deranged kitten. Virgil and Remy followed at a short distance, both not saying anything about the scene before them.

In the lobby, Remus let go in order to go searching through the weapons cache that was available to them. The other members of the team did the same. Virgil cautiously approached the furthest machine and presented his ID card, which brought up his weapon stock. It was fairly limited, as he’d only recently started battling and had very little money to spare – but Remy had been kind enough to give him enough to buy whatever he wanted as his first weapon. He swiped through and found his Undercover Brella, selecting it immediately. He then logged out of the system and stood beside the screen, watching his teammates.

Remy was already done, sipping on a drink that he’s managed to slip past the receptionist. He was sat on the floor, just relaxing as if he had no cares at all. It made Virgil a little jealous. He wished he could have so little care, like Remy did. Declyn made eye contact with him and smiled a small, yet somehow sinister smile as he crossed the room to see how Remus was doing with picking his weapon.

“I just can’t decide!” Remus said loudly, in response to Declyn’s quiet murmur. He seemed to be stuck between picking the Bloblobber and the Goo Tuber; both weapons which made Virgil’s brow furrow in confusion. Remus seemed to enjoy weapons that did weird things and weapons that most other teams despised, and it just confused Virgil to no end. The octoling was like that generally, in fact, and Virgil was trying to stop figuring him out.

Eventually, Remus decided on his Goo Tuber. Within moments of him picking his weapon, the doors opened, and many small jellyfish came in holding their weapons. Declyn approached the one holding his Dualie Squelchers and took them without a word, before heading to the exit on the opposite side of the room. As he had waited for his brella to reach him, Virgil let out an amused snort as he watched five jellyfish carry Remy’s precious Heavy Splatling over to him. Remy picked it up with a soft thanks, but he turned before he could see the five jellyfish almost melt in exhaustion.

“Thank you.” Virgil muttered to the one who handed him his Undercover Brella. He smiled a little, which seemed to make the jellyfish wiggle in happiness before it turned and left. Virgil felt a small burst of warmth as he crossed the room to join his other teammates at the exit.

Minutes later, Remus had his Goo Tuber in hand and the four were ready to go. They teleported into the spawn point of the long-abandoned Bluefin Depot in their octopus form. Virgil’s eyes darted between his team, their silence – while normal – unnerving him. He didn’t have long to think about what to do, however, as they reformed back into their human forms along with the other team and the practice match began.

---

----- Next >

My other stuff: http://nekoabi.tumblr.com/myworks Mobile Accessible Masterlist: http://nekoabi.tumblr.com/post/181954641376/fic-masterlist

General Tag List: @not-so-innocent-bi-sander @didsomeonesayprince @llamaly @justanotherpurplebutterfly @iaminmultiplefandoms @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @lowkeyvirgilobsessed @louisthewarlock @fangsandrainbows @xxladystarlightxx @sleepyssnail @ao-koshka @notalwaysthevillian @pumpkinminette @doces-e--tuga @coloursintheblur @safesandersides

#Sanders Sides #Fanfiction #Splatoon 2 #Roman Sanders #Virgil Sanders #Patton Sanders #Logan Sanders #Deceit Sanders #Remus Sanders #Thomas Sanders #Remy Sanders #Creativity Sanders #Anxiety Sanders #Morality Sanders #Logic Sanders #Sleep Sanders #Splatoon AU #AU

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panda-noosh · 6 years

Note

HC on how do paladins react to their s/o who is a speedster, like the Flash?

Here you go! x

---

Shiro:

okay but why can i imagine him being lowkey jealous lmao

i think it’s more of a playful thing, but he keeps it up well.

he actually finds it genuinely impressive, and he’s forever intrigued whenever you show off your speed, but whenever you come back to his side, he just kind of pouts and mumbles something like, “show off.”

but again, it’s a purely teasing thing. it’s like an inside joke between the two of you, because you often grumble about how he’s a “show off” and a “know-it-all” just because he pilots the black lion.

so you two have this ongoing banter back and forth since you both have skill sets that are a little bit more than the average person.

although Shiro never fails to acknowledge your skills on the battle field.

whenever he’s in a meeting with the Galra and they overstep their boundaries just that little bit, he’ll kind of be like “but do you know we have a speedster in our group?” and the Galra just immediately shut up.

and you do the same with Shiro tbh. during meetings whenever you’re speed isn’t a big enough threat, you’ll just oh-so-casually lean back and point at Shiro and say, “black paladin” and immediately the entire room is like “oh shit what have we gotten ourselves into.”

you two are just kind of a power pair, you know?

Keith:

i don’t think your speed would really change anything about the way Keith thinks of you.

i can’t imagine him being overly intrigued by it.

Keith is a member of the Blade, you know? he’s travelled a lot, and he’s seen a lot of things, and he’s seen species after species of different aliens and stuff like that.

it takes a lot to shock this man.

i think it takes a lot to shock all of the Paladins, since they’ve all shared this experience with one another and they’ve all seen some pretty fucked up stuff, but with Keith, i feel like he’s just kind of numbed himself to feeling any type of unnecessary shock all together.

it might be a thing stemming from his lack of childhood that’s made him so monotone to this kind of thing, but i can’t really imagine him doing much at all.

i can see him getting kind of frustrated whenever he’s on the battle field with you, and he’s trying to keep an eye on you to make sure you’re okay, but you’re just zapping everywhere at a speed his eyes can’t comprehend.

but even though he doesn’t really pay that much attention to your powers, he still manages to scold you like an old dad or something, telling you to be a bit more careful.

Lance:

first of all, Lance is a Flash fan and anyone who says otherwise can really square up.

he would think your powers are the absolute coolest thing, and it’s so pure.

he’s like a little kid at a convention whenever he sees you using them. he’s just so intrigued, and he’s looking at you with those big doe eyes, his hands clasped in front of him as he watches you go.

even though he’s all intrigued most of the time, he’s still Lance, and he still has this feeling of one-upping you and showing you his own skills.

in short, he wants to impress you just as much as you’ve impressed him.

so it’s not an uncommon occurrence to have Lance walking up to you and asking you for a race, even though he knows full well there is absolutely no way in hell that he can win.

sometimes you go easy on him, but it’s obvious when you go easy on him, and it makes Lance Pouty.

“don’t slack off! i can do this!”

and of course, you’re probably already at the finish line before Lance has even realised the starting gun has gone off.

but he doesn’t care. he’s hopeful that he’ll be able to get to your level some day.

“just give me a few months of training, and then we’ll see who’s winning!”

Hunk:

again, another guy who would find this absolutely incredible and the most interesting thing in the entire world.

although, with Hunk, he is fully aware that your powers are supernatural and he has no chance of winning a race against you when you’re at full pelt, so he doesn’t try that.

but Hunk likes reading comics with you lmao.

he doesn’t know if it’s offensive, but you never seem to take offence to him showing you the different comics he’s collected over the years and introducing you to the superheroes purely because you have something in common with them.

and honestly, he just gets so lost in this world that he doesn’t really think about what he’s implying, which just makes it that little bit more cooler.

he’ll sit beside you and point out different superheroes from his comic and say, “i bet you could beat them in a fight” or “i bet they would be terrified of you.”

he genuinely looks like a four year old showing his older sibling the new comic books he’s gotten.

i don’t think Hunk is like this all the time, though. he trusts you enough to now be overly worried whenever you go on the battle field, because he’s well aware of the skills you have, but he’s also your boyfriend, and he likes to be able to keep an eye on you whenever you’re out in the open.

but that task is made increasingly difficult whenever you’re moving so fast that he can’t even see you properly.

so there’s definitely a side to him that gets a little bit worried and worked up, but it’s replaced with his excitement whenever you come stumbling back into the castle ship, seemingly perfectly fine.

Pidge:

she’s a secret Flash fan, so she finds this amazing.

i think she would be more interested in the sciences behind it more than anything else, but there’s definitely a side to her that just geeks out every single time you show off your powers.

she makes this side of herself a little bit more subtle, but it’s definitely there and you can see it in the way her grin just brightens up whenever you start running at full speed.

but as i said, she’s a lot more interested in the science behind it.

i don’t think Pidge would think it’s that far-fetched to believe you did just have supernatural powers. she’s been flying through space, witnessing alien invasions almost every day of her life - this is just another unbelievable thing to add to the list of things she believes.

but she doesn’t want to leave any stone un-turned, which is why she does spend some time looking into the fact that maybe this is less based off of supernatural occurrences and might have something to do with science.

and although she’s looking into it all and losing herself amongst these piles and piles of research that she’s gathered simply in her spare time, she has to admit that she would be lowkey upset if it turned out this was just something scientific and you didn’t actually have superpowers at all.

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welcometojoelsvoid · 6 years

Photo

I drew myself properly for once :0 (Yeah I actually don’t have horns, how funny)

So I was thinking (which is never a good thing lmao) of what it would be like to be in the IT universe, or whatever you’d call it. Cuz like the Losers Club kids are approximately my age and cuz I always stick myself in things I like, I made myself a small backstory thing for it :T

btw, this is more like the 2017 one, cuz that’s the one I’m more familiar with.

(Under “read-more” cuz this came out longer than I expected, especially if you’re on mobile lmao)

((Tagging @conejito-del-polvo cuz for some reason she wants to see this garbage))

Warning for spoilers and slight homophobia/homophobic language(?)

I’d be an exchange student. I wouldn’t really talk much to the other kiddos in my class because I’m an antisocial twerp, I’d probably be bullied for being weird and openly gay. But I wouldn’t really care :/

I’d most likely become friends with Mike or Bill first. Being outcasted and a minority would be a good conversation breaker with Mike and I could joke about my stuttering with Bill. Through them, I’d get to meet the rest of the gang. I’d help them stick up to bullies like the Bower’s Gang (my preferred method is humour).

The first scare I’d get from IT would probably be hallucinations, not like seeing the undead or whatever, but like bugs in my room or something like that. I’m hard to scare off the bat so Pennywise would have to start off slow. IT would make me feel stalked and uncomfortable, try to strengthen my paranoia and anxiety. At some point, I’d be so scared that I could not leave my room. The Losers Club would probably send Bev or Mike to coax me out.

My friends say I’m a very rational and liable person, good with social issues, so I’d probably be good at keeping the group together, settling arguments and all that. Pennywise would sense that I was beginning to be a bigger problem then IT had originally ought me to. IT would try and keep all of the Losers Club separated and try to control me, thinking that now was the time to really get under my skin. It would be a normal school day, just like any other. History class was just a tad more boring than usual. I’d fall asleep in class and when I woke up to the loud ringing I’d notice that no one was in the classroom. I’d quickly get up from my seat and search around, but I’d find no one to be there. I’d exit the school, no one in the streets, no cars, no people, nothing but just things. I’d start to get extremely anxious, thinking the worst or not thinking at all. I’d run to the house my host family lived in. No one’s there either. I’d start crying and my breathing would get faster, I would be barely able to move. I’d run back out, not sure what to do. I’d see someone important to me out on the streets, like my Ma, boyfriend or one of my friends. I’d run to them, crying my eyes out, glad to see one of my loved ones even if it didn’t make sense for them to be there. I’d hug them, mumbling incoherent words. The person would then either turn into IT, a grotesque monster or just fade away. Either way, I’d be traumatised as fuck. IT would probably make witty/snarky comments, calling me “fairy boy” (I think a reappearing theme would be IT or bullies calling me things like fae or fag/faggot) and attack me, only for me to wake up in class screaming bloody murder. The teacher would send me to the principal’s office for disrupting the lesson. Depending which version of Pennywise this is, there’d be two outcomes; if it’s the 90′s version IT would taunt me while the principal lectured me about paying attention and not disrupting in class, I would be too in shock to say or do anything but sit pretty and listen. If it’s the 17′s version IT would probably appear a few times, just standing somewhere, drooling, maybe taunting me with a few words.

The few following days I would absolutely refuse to leave my room or sleep, I would barely even eat. The young child, who’s maybe like 8 or 10 years old, that my host family has would grow worried about me. I probably had gotten pretty attached to this kid, since I really enjoy spending time and taking care of younger kids (there’s a reason why I helped out multiple times at a local daycare where I live). They’d try to comfort me, in between subjects say how a creepy looking clown had been appearing around them. This would spark a burst of energy in me. I didn’t dare to tell the kid what the clown actually was about, how dangerous it was, I’d just say to stay far away from it.

I’d contact all of the Losers Club, shit was getting serious. Of course, they’d be confused as to why I suddenly decided to leave my room, Richie would probably say something about me finally getting my shit together or manning up. I’d ignore him and tell them what had happened to me and my host family’s kid. They then told about what had been happening to them as well. At this point, I realised that I have no idea where the hell I am in the storyline, but decided to continue nevertheless. I guess shit happens, cuz I can’t figure out what has already happened and what hasn’t. Uhhhh The only things I remember are the cliff/swimming scene, rock war scene and going to Ben’s weird conspiracy room scene. I wouldn’t have joined them on the swim since I don’t like swimming. I would’ve just been sitting somewhere, drawing and yelling whenever someone splashed water a bit too close (was there a shore/bank thing at the lake? I can’t remember). I definitely would’ve stayed a bit back when the rock war started, I don’t mess with that shit. I’d probably be impressed and a little freaked out by Ben’s room. Like dude, I know people got weird hobbies, but seriously?

Anyway, after figuring out where IT resides and heading to the Neighbolt house (is that how it’s spelt? I have no idea and my dyslexia isn’t helping), Bill, Richie and Eddie go in as I and the others stay behind, I’d probably make a joke about what kind of food they want at their funerals, Bev would smack me on the shoulder and Bill would tell me to shut up. Richie gets stuck in the clown room, Eddie breaks his arm, IT does some mad yoga poses and gets a rusted pipe through its head. After IT leaves with a bow and Eddie is taken home, I’d have the audacity to suggest getting ice cream to celebrate I’d, of course, get some mean looks from the others, though Richie would probably give me a high-five. Here’s where the Losers Club breaks up and I can’t remember if anything happens, other than Bev getting kidnapped. We go back to the crackhead house, Mike gets attacked by the Henry McDickface and dies and Stan is attacked. In the “final” face-off I’d most likely stay back a bit again, not really the fighting type, mostly just making sure if anyone’s gonna need first-aid and how badly (I used to be am a scout, what’d you expect?).

The battle’s over, IT is defeated for now and we make a promise to group up again if IT were to ever come back. Thanks for reading. (I might do a follow-up after chapter 2 is released)

#self-insert #it 2017 #it #the losers club #pennywise #bill den #richie tozier #stan uris #mike hanlon #beverly marsh #ben hanscom #eddie kaspbrak #losers club #it 2017 spoilers #jojowritesthings #jojodrawsthings

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vampyjoong · 6 years

Text

Remember Me for Centuries

Awwww, what about a Jeonghan where they age until they’re 18 years and stop aging after that. And then they only start aging again once meeting their soulmate, so that they age together

yeeee bb i love ageing aus

2.7k words unedited i feel like asking someone to be a proofreader would be good but fuck it

you can’t quite remember when you stopped ageing

you can’t even remember the century you were born in

in a world full of children, you were the grandmother

the furthest back memory you could recall was The Battle of Myton

you had no real cause to join the battle, all you wanted to do was join the fight for the thrill

through the years you’d regained the skills you’d learned, such as blacksmithing and sword work

these skills were rendered useless in the last century but they were still something useful to know

you’d travelled the world before the invention of planes and motor boats

you knew languages still in use and those that had died out

you knew the regional dialects as well as the common dialects

your original accent, whatever it was, had faded out long ago to a neutral tone

you had gained friends and lost them in the most tragic ways

your family line had long since died out, with you being the only remaining ember after your great great great niece dying before she could wed

you were a walking relic, the only one of your kind that you had met, and you weren’t sure when you would ever meet another

with the lack of ageing, other processes faded out

your hair hadn’t grown a millimetre since your 18th, and your skin was still glowing, albeit cold and still

you’d forgotten what it was like to be warm and loved

sounds dramatic, is less so

however life wasn’t all pain and suffering

you’d been around for a lot of good things as well

you’d been around for the berlin wall coming down

and for the legalisation of gay marriage in all the countries that had allowed it

and you had been in the crowd for Barak Obama being selected as the president of the US

you had journals detailing your life

you’d started them from your 18th and had continued till this day

they had started in a language consisting of extra letters and runes, but now you just used whatever language came to mind

whenever you forgot a word in one language, you just wrote down whatever language you could remember it in

your thoughts mustve been very confusing to a mind reader, you thought in different languages for each sentence, and sometimes for each word

your handwriting, although you had centuries to perfect it, had stayed a scribbling mess

you looked through them when you had a week to spare

your passport was confusing to most

but you didn’t mind

after all you got to meet so many people and see so many people

you liked to make it your mission to try and find your friends reincarnated into there next lives

sometimes they had the same face

sometimes the same personality or name

but you always found them which made losing them a little less painful

you’d become the fairytale to many

once there was a rumour that you were jack the ripper

how foolish that was of them to assume

of course you weren’t, you were the one following him every night

the skirts made it difficult but a lady had to travel in styyyyle

you’d moved for the past 20 years before settling in south korea for some jazz

of course you preferred to live somewhere where you fitted in but you liked the culture

you had a line of contacts made over the years of people who could get you things like a good house and good jobs

also known as the internet

god bless wifi

when living there, you also made an actual contact

a shaman who could find peoples reincarnations if you had one of their belongings and could tell you their new name and where they were born

very handy person to have around, and of course you became friends with her

she was very young, only in her early teens when you first met her, and she helped you when you needed to find some friends passed

when your friend Moon LuiHua passed, you went to the shaman to see if then knew who they would be born again as

their name would be Xu Minghao, born and raised in china, but they would find you at some point in korea

well that was a load off, you liked your apartment and didn’t want to move

things weren’t so bad on the other side thankfully

jeonghan had only been around for a century, and had stayed close to his family the whole way down

his great great nephew knew him as old uncle jeonghan

absolutely adorable

he took life as it came, and knew that one day he would find you

he had heard about a shaman that could find people in the stages of reincarnation and who they would be born as again, but he decided against it

he decided that if their friendship was true, they would find him again

good logic there bb

he travelled for a while before deciding to stay in korea where his family were

sometimes he felt a little alone in the world because everyone else was fleeting but he was staying the exact same as he had done the past god knows how many years

he tried to avoid getting too close to people but when he met someone someone called Joshua in 2013, he became close friends quickly

and when jeonghan got a job at a local restaurant and met someone called seungcheol, they became close friends as well

slowly, friends of friends became best friends

jeonghan knew that eventually he would regret becoming such good friends with them but for now, he would enjoy the company

for anyone that payed attention to my breakdown, here is where it reverted to every time :)

it was when chans 19th rolled around that he felt so so old but so young at the same time

because in the blink of an eye it would be chans 89th birthday and he would be the same as before, just more lonely

it wasn’t until minghao came home and announced that he’d met another immortal that he started to feel hope

you had gotten a cat 10 years ago and my god was she fussy

her name was Li and you had found her while looking for pets

you’d heard that some animals could be immortal, until they found and bonded with an owner, and even then would only age once their owner aged

sounded perfect tbh

within the first month though you realised how fussy Li was

you had already gathered that she had a good understanding of english as she sometimes nodded and shook her head when an answer was needed, or when you were looking for something and asked her cos you thought it would help you remember, she brought it to you in a few minutes

lifesaver, this cat was

but then you realised that she was used to being treated like a queen

she was born in the Ming dynasty, and was a royals cat

she sure wanted to be treated like one it was unreal

so you had to get the good stuff weed cat food jeez liz

so one day, after she turned her nose up at some stuff from the pet store, you had to get some proper food from the supermarket nearby

and when pulling up to get your stuff cashed up, you saw him

it was your friend Moon Lihui

youdve recognised him even if he had a different face

you remembered the times you spent running form the cops, getting matching dragon tattoos in the traditional style but in the shape of an infinity symbol because he reckoned you two would always find each other for eternity

and it seems the bastard was true considering how he was in front of you as clear as day

and it appeared he was still a mind reader, considering he looked up at you with shock and surprise

and when you went to pay for your items, you two caught up

he had found his soulmate, another mind reader, and he was having fun in this life

he also got another dragon tattoo in the same style as he had it last life

what a coincydink pronounced co-ink-ee-dink, ref- coincidence

you two decided to have a mate date every week

most of the time you two spoke in chinese unless minghao wanted to learn something in korean

then one week, you turned up to the cafe and your friend, Xu Ru was sitting next to Hao

well thats a turn

you remembered walking down the banks of a river 1000 years ago with him, remembered him reading to you under a tree, remembered getting a secret tattoo with him in 1935 to commemorate your friendship

you got his name in chinese on your back

unfortunately the ink had faded away to a few dots over the years

and this was the soulmate you reckoned, as he looked up after hearing everything you said and smiled

there he was

you almost cried as you ran over to see them

“Who is this????”

“This is my soulmate Moon Junhui”

of course they’d swapped last names, only the fates would find this as funny as you

they decided to stay out of your thoughts as you started laughing

minghao had already experienced the messed up languages after one cafe date when he accidnetly listened in and heard a paragraph in your mind in chinese, korean, english and gaelic

it was a confusing place in your mind

lmao i mess up the few things i know in spanish french and english sometimes, i don’t even know much spanish and french

both him and jun mixed up korean and chinese sometimes

so you weren’t alone

you three hung out for a few weeks before they mentioned that they had an immortal friend like you

you got very excited and almost asked them to tell you who they were before they stopped you

they claimed it wasn’t the right time yet and that it’d happen soon

you were disappointed and ranted thoroughly to Li when you got home

the next week when you met up, you talked for a while before deciding to ask jun if you wanted to get matching tattoos again

you thought violently his way about what they used to be like and about how you and Hao

he agreed so you both decided to get each others names in chinese

and while there, they announced a few friends would be joining for the tattooing

they didn’t say which ones though so you didn’t know if immortal guy was joining

oh well

you booked an appointment for the next day and you were all set

you woke up with Li waking you up just after your alarm you had just slept through

Love Li

you ran to get ready

you had a sports bra and a nice green flannel on so you could get the tattoo on your back easily

plus it was a warm ass day and its nice to have ventilation if necessary

when there, you met mingyu, seungcheol and jeonghan

you weren’t told anything about them but you did feel a rush of something when you got there

i smell something fishy

it was the cat food on your sweatpants

not joking

Li spilled some accidentally

anyway, first it was Juns turn, and he got your name in beautiful chinese in your handwriting

you got his name in his handwriting, and you knew something was wrong when blood spotted up

that hadn’t happened since your 18th birthday, and you almost cried because that meant one of those boys was your soulmate

once you two were done, you decided to do a test

which was handy because hao and jun decided to take you home to their dorm where them and the other boys stayed

and when you walked into the largest room, there was a man with a blazer and a fake mic

“HELLO EVERYONE AND WELCOME BACK TO ‘WHOS MY SOULMATE?’”

“WHAT THE FUCK WHO ARE YOU”

he didn’t appreciate the yelling

and so the game show started

you started a round of questions

“Who’s the oldest out of you all??”

Seungkwan, the ‘game show host’ looked panicked before yelling out “NEXT QUESTION PLEASE”

“Who’s a cat person??”

they all raised their hands

“Who likes sleep??”

one person called jeonghan

“Who’s the one weird uncle or cousin who’s always at family events?”

again the one same guy

“Who has travelled more than ten times?”

one guy

“who has too much time?’

one guy

when you were sure who it was, you said that to seingkwan who loudly exclaimed “ITS TIME FOR ROUND TWO!” and stared off dramatically to nobody

then awkwardly grabbed your hand and let you to the elevator where you awkwardly waited and everything was just awkward

he led you to the back garden where you were led to a dunk pool

one person would answer questions about you and if they were right, they answered another until they were wrong and they got gunged into the pool

it was really fun

they kept going in circles, but one guy stood out

“Likes sleep”

“Spends a lot of time thinking about life”

“Knows so many languages”

“worries about loosing her friends”

wow he was spookily good at guessing about you

you were suspecting things were up

the last round, followed by a trio of gunged guys, was a dance/sing off

this was entirely for fun and giggles

they all found sing and seungcheol and mingyu rapped for you as well as sang

jeonghan sang a beautiful song called Pinwheel that his friend woozi wrote and produced

then they had a ranking system

3rd place was seungcheol unfortunately but he wasn’t mad

2nd was mingyu mainly cos he had cooking skills

1st place was jeonghan because he seemed to be the closest match to you

then you were told everything

he had been around for a century or two and had been in some of the same situations as you

he was schocked when he found out how old you really were, and how many journals you had (one for every 3 years)

you invited him round to your place to get to know each other better and for him to meet Li

Li surprisingly liked him very much and curled into his lap when he sat down

you learned a lot about him in the short time you were together

he never went to a shaman because he believed in true friendships, he only knew korean and chinese, and he was still connected to his family line and was in almost every christmas and family photo taken

his great great niece knew him as “creepy uncle yoon”

he found out that you were a certified genius and were absolutely ancient

and that you spoke in many languages

you could communicate with anyone

you showed him your dialects from korea

he was shook

you both found it funny how you both were technically 18 but everyone had to call you two hyung and noona no matter what

after that day, you two met p so much and went on dates

one day you went to the local museum and found to your displeasure, a portrait of you from the victorian era in a corset and dress

it was lab led “The Forever Woman”, and underneath it had a short description

“The forever woman is an enigma. She appears every few hundred years, only to disappear after some event. Rumoured to be seen in many countries, she makes her home, searching for her forever man”

“please don’t look, i looked hideous during that time, I was trying to fid jack the Ripper and he was causing havoc on my beauty routine”

then you realised the next few pictures were still just at different time periods and countries

“I swear im not narcissistic, i just got bored a lot”

he found it hilarious and decided to draw you once every year

then you two had to split to go home, and you honestly didn’t want to

and when it started to rain, you knee you definitely had to go home but you stayed staring at each other

then he leaned in and kissed you softly for the first time

for the first time in the longest time, you remembered what it felt like to be warm and like you were truly home

when you separated you stared at each other before you whispered gently

“You didn’t court me first”

he laughed at you, causing you to smile and lean in again for an even softer kiss

#seventeen #say the name seventeen #17 #kpop #seventeen scenarios #seventeen soulmate #seventeen soulmate au #soulmate au #kpop soulmate au #seventeen jeonghan #yoon jeonghan #jeonghan #jeonghan soulmate #jeonghan soulmate au #seventeen bulletpoint

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