#in 5 minutes the lights would go out and moon would come out to hunt people! i hid on the bottom bed of a bunk bed | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bluegalaxygirl · 7 months

Text

Full moon (Zosan X reader) P1

Plot: While out taking photo's Sanji and reader get attacked by a strange creature. While the crew decide to hunt it down to save the village Sanji starts acting strange.

Warning: Making out, Violence, blood, bad language

Sanji X Zoro X Reader, poly relationship, established relationship, Reader is GN. Reader is the photographer of the crew always carrying around a camera they made (Polaroid) that doesn't include a snail.

Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

With the sunny docked and most of the crew asleep you, Sanji and Zoro stepped onto the dock "I'll be fine." you sigh the two boys not happy that you planned to go out alone at night to take some photos of a very rare sight "At least let us come with you love" Sanji takes your hand consented for your safety, you knew there's no stopping him form coming with you. if you say no they'll just follow you anyway "Ok fine but Zoro you stay here" At your words the swords man raised an eyebrow "Why me?" he asks annoyed that you didn't want him to come "Listen, i have to go pretty deep into the forest to find these moths and i don't want you getting lost. Plus we have to be very quiet and stay for quite a few hours. If you end up falling asleep your snoring will scare them off" Even though the swords man looked grumpy he didn't protest knowing you were right but he would never say it. Leaning up you place a kiss on his cheek "I'll be back before bed, and we can cuddle ok?" you ask hoping it will make things better only for the swords man to sign and pull you in for a hug "You better" he mutters kissing your lips and letting you go turning to Sanji pulling him in by his belt "You too?" The swords man asks making the cook laugh "Yea I'll cuddle you as well moss head" he jokes only for Zoro's lips to meet his. they lean into each other before pulling away the swords man lingering for a minute before letting the two of you go. "Be careful you two" The swords man calls out waving at the two of you as he walks back onto the sunny to start his watch.

Walking through the dark forest with the only light coming form the full moon, You and Sanji stepped over roots and bushes slowly making your way to the spot. Looking back at the cook following you, you stopped in your tracks causing the man to almost bump into you "Something wrong love?" he asks a cigarette hanging form his lips, you were about to berate him for smoking when you realized you got so distracted making sure everything was ready that you didn't tell him "Sorry babe... But your gonna have to put that out. Any slight change in the environment can scare the moths off" at your words Sanji took the cigarette out of his mouth and looked it over "Can i at least finish it?" he asks knowing they're going to be staying for a few hours, you couldn't say no to his face so you leaned against a tree as he smoked. "So what's so special about these moths?" Sanji asks leaning on a tree across form you. "Well their rare and only come out during a full moon when there's the most light. The rest of the time their in hibernation creating this beautiful green silk they wrap themselves up in but during a full moon they fly around freely glowing this... neon green. I've only ever seen it once when i was younger" you sigh thinking back to when your father showed you the moths. Seeing the passion in your eyes made the cook smile finishing off his cigarette and taking your hand "Well im glad to share this with you" he leans down placing a kiss on your lips, your hands going around his neck to pull him in closer.

The two of you make out for a bit Sanji's hands wondering over your sides and to your hips, your lips moving against each other pulling away only to breath before going back in for more. "We.. Should g.. Get.. going" you try and say in between his kisses as he pushes you up against the tree. he pulls away placing his forehead on yours, your noses touching as you look into each others eyes "Just a little longer love.. please" he begs his eyes shifting to your lips. "Not too long" you whisper as a smile for on the cooks face leaning down again to place his lips on yours and running his tongue over your lover lip but you don't let him in knowing a little longer will turn into a lot longer if you let him. Sanji pulls away with a pout making you giggle "Don't be sad love. You can have more kisses later" placing a final kiss on his lips you take his hand and start walking again the cook cheering up a bit at your words.

Hours have passed and your still taking photos of the Moths, hiding behind a fallen tree while Sanji leaned next to you watching the view. The forest was silent, except for the sound of crickets and a slight humming sound coming form the moths. Neon green fluttered through the air some times landing on nearby trees or leaves. The urge to get closer was overwhelming but you knew better, any little change, and they would fly off not to be seen again for the rest of the night. As you took pictures with your home made camera keeping the flash off as to not scare the moths you grabbed the Polaroid that came out and handed it to Sanji who held it under his arm. You had to teach him not to shake it since that can damage the photo, it needs a warm dark place to develop properly and the best place was Sanji. About to take another photo the surrounding noises stopped and the moths scatter flying off in different directions. Looking around Sanji pulls you closer not liking the looming feeling that washed over him "What's gong on?" you ask hoping he can sense something you can't "I don't know, but we should head back" Helping you up on your feet you both start walking back while you place your pictures away in the pouch on your hip and the camera in its bag over your shoulder. Not looking where your going you step on a branch a loud crack filling the silent air.

Staring at each other wide-eyed you both waited for something to happen, waiting for the echos of the crack to stop before sighing in relief. Looking up at Sanji with a relived smile you spotted something, a large dark shape walking in the background, your smile fades as your eyes fixed on the fugue, it looked like a very tall person, thin and no clothes, their arms were longer than normal and their knees were bent backwards. Sanji noticed your face and slowly turned his head to see what you were seeing, taking your hand the cook slowly walked backwards trying to be quiet and avoid making any noise. It hadn't seen you two yet, but he wasn't about to get into a fight when he had no idea what it was. Sanji's hand brushed up against a bush causing a slight rustle, the things dark figure turned to face you two growling deep before jumping at Sanji. It was too fast for your brain to comprehend, it already being on top of Sanji trying to drag him away by the shoulder before you could react. Picking up a nearby branch you hit it in the shoulder "Get off of Him" you yell using all the force you have to hit it only for it's yellow eyes to look up at you in anger not letting go of Sanji's shoulder until the cook swung his leg up and toes down onto the back of the creatures neck. Taking the opportunity you hit it again sending it rolling away from the two of you.

Helping Sanji up and making a run for it, the creature got up again shaking its head and letting out a almost distressed howl before sniffing the air and chasing after the smell. That smell being Sanji's blood but surprisingly it didn't go for the cook, it went for you tackling you to the ground scraping your arm on the floor as it skidded with you "Y/N" Sanji's voice yelled out, your camera falling out of your bag and the button hitting a root causing the flash to activate and take a photo. The light flashing caused the creature to whimper shaking its head as it runs off almost hitting a tree as it ran. Grabbing your camera and the photo it took you get up with the help of sanji rushing out the forest and into the town close by. You two didn't stop until you got to the sunny Zoro spotting the two of you before you even made it to the docks "Chopper" The sword mans voice yells out noticing the blood on Sanji from a mile way.

Finally, making it onto the ship panting, out of breath and Sanji holding his shoulder Zoro runs over, the other crew members waking up to see what all the yelling is about. "Chopper, Sanji's hurt" Zoro yells out getting the reindeer's attention who runs off to the medical room. The swords man looks Sanji over helping him hold pressure on the wound while you help the exhausted man up the stairs and to the medical room. With the adrenaline wearing off both you and Sanji could feel pain and exhaustion but you were more worried about your cook. The wound was deep, sharp teeth marks going thru the skin and into muscle. Both you and Zoro watched as the doctor worked his magic, The others coming in to ask questions but you didn't answer, only answering Choppers questions in order to help Sanji. "Your arm" Zoro's voice snaps you out of you daze taking your arm and looking at the scraped skin "Its fine." you pull away more focused on your cook than yourself "Zoro can you help them clean the wound and then bandage it up" Chopper speaks looking over at the two of you before going back to Sanji.

The warmth of the water in the bathroom made you feel a lot better. Zoro washing your scraped are with antiseptic and patting it dry before applying the cream and adding the bandages. "You ok?" He asks seeing your eyes fixed on the door wanting to go back and check on Sanji "Yea" your voice came out in a whisper although you didn't intend for that. Your forced to face the swords man when he pushes your chin to face him "Look at me... he's going to be fine" His eyes burn into yours and you know he's right but you can't help but worry. Once your arm was bandaged up Zoro pulls you in for a hug running his hand thru your hair while his other hand rubbed up and down your back trying to sooth you. Hugging him back you buried your head in his neck breathing in his smell. The moment was broken when Robin walked in but Zoro didn't pull away too much, just enough so you could look at the black haired woman "We need to talk" For a woman who always looked so serious you have never seen her look even more serious and it sent a small shiver down your spine.

With everyone in the aquarium bar Robin laid down your photo's on the table along with your slightly damaged and dirt covered camera. The photo on top of the pile caught your attention, it was blurry and some of the corners hadn't developed properly, probably form all the running. You could make out two shapes, you on the floor with something on top of you. The Flash from the camera made the creature more visible, it was skin and bones and almost human, It had light grey thin hairs coming off its back, arms and legs. Its face was human like but its mouth and nose sticked out a little more almost forming a muzzle but not quite. Its teeth were sharp with blood coating around its lips. Its arms were longer than they should be with thick shark nails almost like claws coming form them along with its feet. You realized its knees weren't backwards but that its ankle was so high up that it made it look that way, the feet were long it mainly standing on its toes. No wonder this thing moves so fast. "Y/n" Robin called to you taking your eyes off the photo and onto her "Can you tell us what happened?" she asks a look of concern of her face.

You tried your best to explain but in your head it all sounded so wrong, like none of it actually happened, if it weren't for the fact that Sanji was bitten and the photo showed the creature you would have thought it was all a dream or that you hit your head. Zoro's arm around your shoulder gave you comfort, his hand squeezing your bicep lightly when ever you become more tense. The others take note of what your saying and all think for a moment once your done "Have you ever heard of anything like this?" Nami asks looking over at Robin who seems to be deep in thought "I have a few guesses but i'm not going to say until i'm sure" The black haired woman answers still pondering the options "Well what ever it is i say we should leave" Usopp nods not wanting to meet this thing "If it did this to Sanji then it can do it to the other villagers, we have to help them" Franky speaks up not wanting anyone else to get hurt. Luffy jumps up and nods "we'll find this thing and take it out" Now that the Captain wanted to help there was no stopping him.

With Franky keeping watch the rest of the night you and Zoro deiced to sleep in the medical bay with Sanji. Sitting in a chair with your head on the bed you looked at the cooks sleeping form. He passed out long ago due to blood loss but Chopper told you he would be fine. With a fluid drip and blood transfusion hanging above him leading down to his arm you knew he would feel better soon. Zoro leaned in his chair close to the bed his eyes wanting to close, but he forced himself to stay awake just a bit longer watching Sanji's steady breathing. Feeling too tired to force yourself awake your eyes started to close. Laying your fingers over the top of Sanji's you let your eyes shut and drift off into sleep. Finally, seeing you asleep the swords man felt like he could relax staying up a bit longer to make sure you both stayed asleep before closing his eyes and sliding down in his chair a little letting much-needed sleep overtake him.

#polly relationship #zoro x reader #roronoa zoro #sanji x reader #sanji x zoro #zosan #zoro x sanji #zosan x reader #vinsmoke sanji #one piece #halloween #one piece zosan #zoro x sanji x reader #zoro roronoa #sanji

97 notes · View notes

raffe156 · 1 year

Text

Breakaway State part 5

Pairing - Price X Female OC “Tank”

Summary - McKinley still has serious control issues, Kyle and Tank are the cutest in a small bed, Price and Ghost kick off in a small room, Helen has some big news, mission plans, first names and its definitely classed as kissing if you drink from the same cup.

A/N - Thank you for your patience, life got a bit in the way of this one again!

As always, please comment and let me know what you think. It means the world to me when you do x

Warnings -17+ Angst. Language, Age gap Price (39) Tank (25), Violence, abuse, abuse of power, controlling behaviour, injury

Tags: @shuttlelauncher81 @mildlyhopeless @mentallynot-here @deadbranch @soapyghost @fluffysmiko @bangirl134 @mortallyscrumptiousmilkshake @boomtowngirl @fanficandartgal @merakiaes @tapioca-marzipan @boniscute @chb-7 @adicthao @a-littlebirdie @mostannoyingbillioner @brewed-pangolin @littlezarp @dreadbangin @goodsoup03

If I've missed anyone, please let me know

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Call of duty characters - Only Tank, Luke, Dredd and Mckinley

Master list link here

The words "dismissal or death" had been circling your head for hours as you lay awake in your cot. Even if you just slept for an hour or two, every time McKinley moved over in the cot above you, your body instantly jerked you awake. Your eyes stung searching the pitch black for any sign of him.

You heard movement from above, you looked at the alarm clock on the small metal dresser 4:00am. McKinley was waking up, you heard him stretch, then watched as his legs dangled off the edge before he jumped down. He flicked the small desk lamp on an stood with his back to you in just his boxers, his back and body littered in scars, the soft glow from the light causing them to shine, some looked like burns some clearly from bullets and shrapnel. He turned just as you shut your eyes, too late to roll over an face the wall.

You felt his eyes on you, you tried to breathe deep acting as if you were asleep, he knew you weren’t. You tried to stay calm when you felt his hand brush a piece of hair from your face. It took everything in you not to flinch, you didn’t dare open your eyes, instead you just waited for him to leave you in peace….if you could call it that.

“You look so serene, almost had me believing you were actually asleep..” you felt him step back but you kept your eyes shut.

He scoffed.

“Fair enough, if that’s how you want to be…I’ll leave you to it.” Mckinley walked away from the beds, he dressed quickly.

You hoped he wouldn’t be much longer and then you felt the bottom of your cot dip he was lacing up his boots.

“You’ll learn to like me kiddo, you know me an you could make a good team…like I said to Price you need some tough love but we’ll get there…” he patted your thigh before he stood up.

His touch made your skin crawl.

“Oh by the way don’t be spending all day in bed, the Doc wants to see you later, physio check in for your shoulder, meet me over at the med bay at 10am…don’t make me come looking for you…” the last part came out as a threat, your heart sunk as he closed the door behind him. Your eyes remained closed for a further 5 minutes just in case he came back.

Dr O’Brian was one of the last people you wanted to see, an a physio check? That daft cow had spent more time grilling you that helping you with your shoulder, what did she care if you could move it or not? She would of been over the moon with an amputation. Either way you had to go, you didn’t fancy being hunted down by McKinley.

You pulled the quilt up over your face closing your tired eyes, Prices face flashed in your mind, it was that drunken look he had given you that first night in his kitchen his eyes lidded, his smile crooked so close, but just as quickly as it appeared it was gone replaced with the gut wrenching look from the night you two had argued…the night he told you it wouldn’t work between you. ENOUGH!

You threw the quilt off and on to the floor, just then a knock came at the door, it wasn’t McKinley he would have just walked in…

“You awake….I’ve just seen mckunty…Tank?” The door creaked open slightly, Kyles hand waving from the gap.

“Yeh I’m awake..come in” you reached down for the quilt pulling it back over yourself. Kyle snuck in shutting the door behind him. He gave you a sympathetic smile. He was still in his joggers, you patted the bed for him to get in, he didn’t need telling twice as he clambered in next to you the warmth from his body, made you almost drowsy. It was a snug fit but you made it work, it was something you two use to do often when at base especially when the heating was nonexistent or when Kyle was homesick. You both lay in silence for a moment, both just happy to be close again. You almost nodded off, but something was bothering him you could tell.

“You ok? I know yesterday was a lot…but Price he means well..hey if I was a Captain I’d of done the same for you…fuck I wanted to smash his face in…” he could feel his jaw tensing.

He meant it, and the thoughts made him smirk. He pictured McKinley alone in a room with them all Ghost, Soap, him and Price. Kyle had witnessed how far Price could go. Before his mind could wander off he felt your eyes on him.

“I’m ok…I know he means well…I just wish he didn’t go that far…” you thought about just telling him, how it was only going to get worse for you now, but when you looked into his eyes you saw the worry and you hated yourself for making him feel like this. So you gave him your best smile and the worry in his eyes seemed to go away if only for a moment. You linked his arm with yours resting your head on his shoulder.

“Anyway let’s just enjoy this while we can eh?” You looked up at him.

He smiled back.

“Yeh…miss this”

“Me too”

You both lay there close, in the safety of your cot like two children hiding from a looming storm.

**********

Price glared at himself in the mirror a slight mark from where his forehead had connected with McKinley’s nose just starting to fade. He gripped the sink with his hands the porcelain threatening to give way. He needed to take a deep breath or else he was going to lose it all over again he didn’t think he could explain two broken bedside tables, but he couldn’t get your face out of his mind, how you had looked at him with disappointed in your eyes. He had done that for you, he would have done more, gone further if Ghost hadn’t stepped in. He needed to take a deep breath. McKinley was definitely going to get him back in some way. Price hoped it didn’t involve you, but he knew better. He knew McKinley. He hated to think of what he was doing to you, it made his blood boil. Why did you go? Why did he let you go? Did he let you go? He hadn’t even known, if he thought for one second that once you got into that transporter you weren’t coming back to him and he wasn’t going to be your captain he would of chased it down, dragged you back an popped your shoulder back in himself like Ghost had so kindly offered. Price let go off the sink the colour returning to his knuckles. He heard a knock at his door. He wanted to shout fuck off but it could only be one of two people at this hour Ghost or you. His hopes dashed when he shouted come in and Ghost’s large frame entered the room, them both being in there made the room almost shrink, the atmosphere suffocating them both pressing down on them. They both knew the reasons behind it, it danced around them. It crackled in the air.

“What?” Price snapped.

“…Sent Gaz to Tanks room to check on her…McKinley is over at the other base watched him leave myself…listen as shit as it is we have to do this the proper way, I hate it too seeing her like that but that yesterday…it’s my fault I let it go too far I shouldn’t of let you get at him.” Ghost sighed he had only just noticed the smashed bedside table.

“I’m sorry what? Let me? You didn’t let me do anything….I’ve done worse for less…believe me lad” Price was seething.

Ghost looked his Captain in the eyes, he was beyond reason.

“What? You think sparking him out…a fellow captain is the answer? I stopped you from committing career suicide! I let you get that first shot in an you fumbled it! You’re just lucky he got cocky” Ghost was starting to lose it a little bit now.

“Haha don’t flatter yourself, you didn’t let me doing anything…an fumbled? I’d put you on your arse any day of the week…remember that” Price was getting closer now, squaring up, in the small room they were nearly chest to chest. The two men stared each other down, neither wanting to back down first, there it was again the unspoken reason they fought, the real reason tensions ran high with them. You.

Ghost had a feeling all this was down to Price and his relationship with the Doc. You obviously had some history with him, how much he didn’t know but it has effected you in someway and to Ghost this was all Prices fault. He deserved to feel like this, helpless and angry. But you didn’t deserve the beatings. It was such a fucking shame you had chosen squad 8. Ghost backed down…Price hated himself more than anyone right now and Ghost didn’t need to add to that they had to work together and figure out how to get you back to the 141. Once that was done then the rest could be figured out…

“…this isn’t gettin us anywhere we need to get her back on side…she needs to file a complaint or a grievance against him…anything, she got transferred over quick enough maybe it can be reversed just as quick…” Ghost leant against the wall his arms folded. Price sighed as he sat on the edge of his bed.

“It’s not that easy….also even if she was to file a complaint..who said she’d want to come back to the 141?” Price ran his hand over his beard the thought made his jaw tense.

“An why wouldn’t she want to come back?” Ghost was probing now, he wanted answers, but from the look on Prices face he didn’t want to give them.

“Price why wouldn’t she want to come back to us?”

Price looked at the ground his eyes fixed. He signed.

“Ever seen a big red button that says do not press? Well I rested my hand on it…didn’t press… but that was enough….” Price shook his head.

Ghost got the jist, but all he could think was how he would of just pushed the button and never took his hand off it.

******************

You waited outside the med bay for O’Brain to call you in…you were 15mins early but no sign of McKinley, you hoped he hadn’t gone looking for you.

“Wanna come in Tank…” O’Brain called you in without even looking at you. You couldn’t help roll your eyes as you got up. As you entered the room your stomach dropped McKinley was sat in the chair next to the bed. Did he really have to be in here, you thought he was just making sure you came to the appointment, not actually being present. You tried to not let your face give you away.

“Good, 15mins early see your learning I would have hated to have to come looking for you…” his smile didn’t meet his eyes. Your face was giving you away.

“Take a seat on the bed please Tank we don’t have all day” O’Brian already sounded like she’d had enough of you. You looked her up and down, who did she think she was talking to? You didn’t even want to be here.

“Hey if you don’t have the time I’m sure we can reschedule..” As you spoke your eyes met McKinley’s, they narrowed in on you, his tongue clicked in disapproval. Shit. Helen looked over her shoulder at you, the small smirk just visible.

“The Doc’s doing you…no she’s doing me a favour Tank in checking you over…an you have the nerve to be arsey?” He tilted his head, his eyes still narrowed.

“Told you, got away with murder this one with John…literally” Helen nodded in your direction. She really was a bitch. You felt your skin starting to prickle with anger.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You stepped closer to her. You didn’t realise you had square yourself up, she was a good foot taller , but you looked her dead in the eyes. She smirked again, oh you were about to wipe it off her face.

“You know exactly what I mean…you need a firm hand Tank, John was too soft on you…but by the looks of you face it seems you have been given a firm hand…good..” She scoffed, nope that was it, but as you lunged, McKinley was already on you.

He had you restrained and pushed face down into the bed within seconds, your bad shoulder twisted round and pressed into your back, it made you cry out in pain, but the more you thrashed around the more of his weight he placed on top of you and the tighter his grip became.

“Do I need to put you on a short leash? Because I will trust me” Mckinley was right next to your face his breath cool on your burning skin.

O’Brian stood back, she was in shock at how fast he had pounced on you, how rough he was…she almost believed him when he mentioned putting you on a short leash. This man meant every word he said, they weren’t threats they were promises.

“DO I NEED TO PUT YOU ON A LEASH TANK?!” His voice boomed in the med bay.

“NO!” You spat through gritted teeth.

“No what?” Mckinley gave your arm a quick jolt upwards, you should know better.

“Ahhh NO CAPTAIN!” Your shoulder was on fire now, the muscles fighting to hold together and not pop.

“Good…” He relaxed his grip, slowly letting you correct it into place yourself. How generous of him. As you sat up you clocked Helen’s face, she looked mortified. You almost let out a laugh.

“Sorry about that Doc…give her the once over an we will be out of your hair” Mckinley spoke as if he hadn’t just wresleted you down on to the bed in front of her. She looked at him her mouth slightly open. She was speechless for once. You almost pitied her.

“It’s been fine, it only aches when its cold or when I over work it” You tried to fill the awkward silence. It worked Helen stuttered back to life.

“Ok…sounds like you need to do the physio exercises more often. I bet you’ve stop doing them…I know John has..I don’t even think he went to one session” She gave you a soft smile and for a moment you saw what Price saw in her. If you stepped back and tilted your head she was rather pretty. You glanced down at her hands, long, elegant, steady…you almost returned the smile but a single perfect solitaire diamond ring caught your eye as it flashed under the florescent lights. You felt as if your core was folding in on itself like a black hole. The bile rising in your chest you looked her in the eyes, she quickly glanced down a the ring, as if forgetting she was wearing it, her eyes darting back up to meet yours. Your face was giving you away again. Her mouth creeped up into a viciously sly smile, she knew that had cut you deep, a slow puncture that would fester. When had that happened?

“He did…he went to two, we had a row over him missing the last three on the drive down back to his for the weekend…” You blinked at her, your face now void of all emotion, blank. You watched as her top lip twitched.

“Did you now…he didn’t mention it…in fact he hasn’t really mentioned you…since you left…” She tilted her head, pretending to think of a an example. Her eyes creasing up like little pins.

You knew she was just trying to cut you, but it didn’t make the idea sting any less. You had left for her…no you had left so he would be happy, so that ring could be on her finger…it was a good choice…tacky and gaudy, just like her…you wanted to hurt her back with your words…but you would only be hurting Price.

Mckinley cleared his throat, you had almost forgotten he was in the room.

“Speaking of old Pricey, you and him got anything planned for when your next on leave?”

O’Brians face lit up, as if she had been hoping the topic of her and Price would be brought up. You glared at the ground willing it to open up to the fiery pits of hell where you would happily sink surrounded by other dammed souls.

“Well nothing crazy, but he’s mentioned he wants to redecorate some of the spare rooms in his house and I’ve only gone an stitched myself up and said ill help!” She rolled her eyes, a horsed laughed echoing off the bed pan. If Price didn’t have tinnitus already he would after listening to that none stop. McKinley rolled his eyes back at her, he shook his head.

“What are you like…hope its not the room Tank stayed in when she was last there?” He faked a frown. You could feel his eyes on you. He was stirring things up.

“Erm…oh I think it, the back room with the en-suite, the one with the view of the lake? Yeh I mentioned it would make a lovely nursery…all that natural light…” She wrinkled her nose. You looked down into your lap, just to double check she hadn’t gutted you open, because that’s how those words had felt. They had sliced at your flesh, worked their way into you into your system. A nursery? The thoughts exploded inside your mind. The tiny hand holding his finger, the little arms and legs being wrapped up in a blanket, soft curls kissed, and chubby cheeks ticked by his moustache…the high chair at the dining table just like you had mentioned…but the tiny hand, little legs and soft curls didn’t belong to your baby…it was a strangers baby…no it was Helens…its strawberry blonde curls and green eyes…nothing resembling John…you felt sick…you should of been happy for him…he was getting what he wanted…just not with you…

“Wow…a nursery? Thats exciting…but hey lets hope Price learns to dish out a bit of tough love…don’t want it turning out like this one do we!” Mckinley laughed, he shot you a look. You focused on the clock behind him.

“Hahaha…oh Bruce haha…Oh actually I meant to ask you Tank…does Luke have a sister? Tall, blonde, absolute stunner?” There was that fake confused look. She knew Luke only had brothers, she really was trying to maim you.

“No…he only has brothers…might of been one of there girlfriends…Ill ask him when I see him next…” You tried your hardest to smile back, it came out as mostly teeth. Mckinley was keeping that bit of information for later.

“Yah know, Price never crossed me as a family man…wonder what changed his mind…he’s got to be close to 45 by now?” Mckinley scoffed.

“39..”

Mckinley raised his eyebrow at you.

“What?”

“He’s 39…40 this year…I’d bought him a new lighter last year…don’t know if he still has it…” you sighed.

Helen knew exactly where that lighter was…close to his chest nestled next to his signature cigars. He was never without it, but she needed to turn the topic back to her and Price.

“Yeh hes the big four - oh this year…going to throw him a big surprise party at his house, invite his close friends and family. Perfect garden for a party, might take him away, hes mentioned he thinking of taking up golf…so maybe a golf resort?” She looked at you as if she was asking you for your option, your input. You kept your mouth shut…Price once said if he ever mentioned taking up golf to shoot him in the back of the knee cap…He thought Golf was for the old and bored and how fishing kept the mind young and focused…O’Brian was still talking.You tried to tune her out, go to your happy place, but your happy place had gone and gotten engaged…

********************

Ghost sat slouched in his seat, his legs spread wide arms folded. He was getting impatient now…the briefing was meant to have started 25 minutes ago. He had Rookies to be tormenting.

“Who we waiting on Price?” He sat up, leaning forward. His fist landing heavy on the table. Price knitted his brow, a headache starting to form.

“Waiting on Squad 8…” Just as he spoke, in piled the Squad led by Mckinley. His face a storm cloud. They had been sent to the wrong conference room…no doubt on purpose.

“Right! get seated you lot, lets get this over with shall we?” Mckinley snapped his fingers as the team fell into place all seated, all except one…Price looked around the room, had you took a seat right at the back in the dark? He couldn’t see with the protector on. Mckinley noticed him looking and knew who he was looking for.

“Dredd where is Tank?…she was right behind me…” His face screwed up. Dredd looked around the room then at Price as if for help.

“I don’t know, Sir…want me to go find her?” Dredd went to stand up, but McKinley stopped her.

“Ill find her…already warned her about wandering off…guess the short leash is needed.” He mumbled the last bit under his breath, but Price caught it. It set his blood to boil. As Mckinley crossed the room, Kyle stood up in front of him, his arm out stoppping Mckinley in his tracks.

“Ill go…don’t worry…” Kyle was already making his way for the door. Rather him find you than Mckinley, but just as he was a foot from the door, you walked in confused why they entire room was looking at you.

“Get sat down Tank…” Mckinley turned to stand at the front of the room. He watched as you found a seat in between Ghost and Kyle. He had a mind to tell you to get sat with your Squad, but the briefing had already run over, not to worry he would remind you later where you were meant to sit. Price smiled at your, hoping you would return it, you did but it didn’t reach your eyes.

***************

The brief was like any other brief - plans, updates, missions, a few HR complaints. Price watched as Kyle whispered something in your ear causing a faint smile to show. He smiled himself, he didn’t however appreciate Ghost resting his hand on your leg, they had just gone over this in the HR complaints, but then at the end just as Price was wrapping up Mckinley raised his hand.

“Sorry John, I completely forgot I have some good news…well good news for some…tomorrow at thirteen hundred hours Sqaud 8 will be shipping out of his shit hole…we will be setting up base in Moldova and then from there a small team of us will be going undercover in Transnistria…its a unrecognised breakaway state currently occupied by the Russian army, we are not there for them instead we will be looking for intel on a small terrorist cell known as the UNP.” Mckinley clapped his hands together he was excited, he wanted to see how far he could push the squad, he wanted results and he had a new toy.

Ghost noticed you shifting in your seat, a small part of you was glad about leaving sooner, you couldn’t bare to listen to any wedding talk or how the nursery was coming along. You wanted to get as much distance between you and this base as possible. You could finally let him be, he was clearly moving on…you would do the same…with Luke? You didn’t know…you looked down at the skeleton gloved hand that rested on your knee, maybe the Dr was right maybe you did belong with a “Monster” like Simon Riley. If he was a monster so were you. You could feel a set of eyes on you, you looked up at Ghost, his eyebrow cocked. A silent what as he shook his head at you. You could just make out the outline of a grin. You thought about how you would pay good money to see his smile for real. Very good money indeed.

The room started to pack up, eyes blurry, backs stretched and legs shook back to life.

“Captain?” You raised your hand. Price turned first. Mckinley arched his eyebrow.

“What’s up Tank?”

Your eyes shot from his to McKinley’s. Price realised you weren’t talking to him, he was still a captain, he just wasn’t yours.

*****************

“Tank can I see you for a moment…” Price caught you just as you were leaving the conference room. You looked around for Mckinley, why? Like you needed permission? Did you need his permission?

“Erm, yeh of course have to make it quick you know me always the last to pack…” the little inside joke stung you both. You both waited in silence for the room to clear.

You couldnt help thinking he was going to tell you about his engagement and the nursery…Helen had probably told him you had seen the ring. Maybe he had wanted to tell you himself first? You didnt want to know. You didnt want to hear it.

“Tank…I want to say sorry…”

Here it comes you thought…it was the drunk argument all over again. You stared at the ground. Eyes locked onto a stain on the carpet.

“Im sorry for yesterday…I went too far and I’m going to be apologising to Mckinley before you guys leave…I know your fuming with me but can we please talk? One on one…Just me and you? Not Captain and Sergeant, not even Tank and Price…just us…John and…Sasha?” He stepped closer, his hands up in surrender. He had savoured how your name, your given name had sounded in his mouth. It had been a very long time since he had used it. The name caused your head to spin. You remembered the first time you two had met he had called you that, Kyle had corrected him, but you had liked how it sounded. Captain John Price was saying your name, you were in complete awe of him. Now stood in front of you he was still the legendary Captain Price, but now he was also just another man that had let you down.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Im good” You avoided his gaze. So he moved closer.

“Are you really?”

“Yeh”

“Really?”

“YES”

“You sure?”

“YES!!” You snapped up at him. He knew how to push you. You weren’t ok, not even for a second, but you weren’t his problem anymore or at least that what you told yourself. To Price you would always be his problem, his priority, his purpose. The tester of his patience.

“Anyway…Me and Mckinley are the least of your worries…Congratulations by the way!” There was a tinge of sarcasm to your voice. Price looked puzzled? Congratulations?

“What are you on about least of my worries? As long as your with that nutter I’m going to be worried? Why congratulations?” He lowered his hands, he was close you could feel the heat coming off him. You missed that warmth. Focus.

“Really? That not why you have me in here? Wanted to break the news to me? Im sure Kyle is over the moon!” You rolled your eyes, but the look on his face suggested he really was clueless. He shrugged his shoulders to confirm.

“The engagement? I saw the ring on her finger…I’m happy for you…I’m really am. Maybe get the honeymoon over with before you change my…the back room into a nursery though…” You tried to smile but it came out wrong.

Price stood in silence for a moment, he needed to process a few things…engagement? Honey moon and a nursery? Had you hit your head?

“Whose finger? I’m honestly completely lost…an why would I change your room into a nursery?” Price folded his arms and tilted his head as he searched your face for an answer.

“Helen’s finger for Christ sake! The big fucking rock on her finger John! She was waving it in my face, talking about how your thinking of redecorating the back room, turning it into a nursery!” You titled your head back at him. The clueless look on his face turned to shock.

“Helen? I don’t know anything about a ring? An engagement ring? I haven’t asked her to marry me…we aren’t seeing each other anymore…I haven’t a clue what she’s on about and the “redecorating” was when she first came to visit…and said the room would make a nice nursery…I’d only just plastered the walls…well before it became your room kid…” Price put his hand on your shoulder, the heat from it sinking into your skin and deep to the bone. You looked up at him.

“I know we both said things that night…and it’s probably for the best…you have Luke…I have…well I don’t have anyone…but for one minute can we just pretend that none of that happened…please just for a minute…” He stroked your shoulder with his thumb.

“For one minute?”

“For one minute”

“Ok…”

“Ok”

Price pulled you into a hug, it took you by surprise, but you wrapped your arms around him as if by instinct, your hands finding their place on his back. You pushed your face into his chest, his chest hair poking you through his T-shirt. The smell of his aftershave and cigar smoke flooded your lungs, you didnt care you would happily drown and go willingly into the blue fo his eyes.

He gently kissed the top of your head. He wanted the world to stop. He wanted a lot of things.

“Where did we go wrong…” The words were out before he could even register saying them. Instant regret filled him, He knew dam well where it had gone wrong…You shot back, looking up at him , your lip curled up.

“Where did we go wrong? Really? Do you need reminding?”

“No…I meant…”

“Where we went wrong was this right here this was a mistake…I can’t do this…I have Luke…you have what ever you have with Helen…I have Squad 8…I have a new Captain…your not my Captain anymore…Im not your problem anymore…minutes up…” You fought back tears as you untangled yourself from his arms. His face shattered. As your tried to step back you felt a tug at your hip, you looked down expecting Price to have a hold of your belt…but it was your lanyard, it had tangle with his.

“Great…” you tried to untangle them, but you were just making it worse. Fat tears falling from your eyes, dampening your T-shirt.

“Here…stop your making it more tangled…” Price took over, they snapped back in the mechanisms. You were free to go. You turned and made you way for the door. This was stupid. The tears caught in your throat, making it hard to swallow.

“Sasha…”

Price called after you, but you ignored him, your hand on the door.

“SASHA!…please…I don’t want this…”

You opened the door, but just as you stepped out of the room you turned, your eyes welling up again.

“Well we don’t always get what we want do we John…”

As you walked away Price watched as your head dipped down low to avoid any on lookers. He bounded over to the door slamming it shut.

“FUCK!!!!” He threw his fists onto the table. That didnt go as planned…he had fuck up again. He ran his fingers through his hair, He would let you cool off…

He had till tomorrow afternoon to get this set right.

***********************

04:00am

You sat waiting for the transport shuttle to the air base. Mckinley had changed the leave time. Said it was on a need to know basis. You had text Kyle letting him now about the last minute change, he probably wouldn’t even be awake, but you had told him goodbye and you would see each other when you got back. It was better this way, you hated goodbyes.

Dredd nudged you with her elbow, when you looked at her she simply nodded to the right. You followed her eyes. Ghost. Well maybe one goodbye wouldn’t be so bad. You made your way over, Mckinley watched you like a hawk. He didnt mind, he was taking your away for a while.

“Not like you to be up this early kid…Mckinley stealing you away into the night?” He stood closer. You smiled. His mask was up over his nose, you could see his lips and the large scar that ran through them and up his face.

“Something like that…better this way I guess…least your here to wave me off or was you just making yourself a brew” you nodded to the mug, he held it out to you to take a sip, you took it gladly. Your face grimaced, it was straight black, two teabags you looked down at the mug, he definitely hadn’t noticed which one he had picked up.

“Bit too strong for you?” He chuckled.

“Are you?” You smiled.

“What?”

“Useless in bed?” You turned the mug round to face him, a little grin on your face. It had been a secret Santa gift for Kyle.

“Wouldn’t you like to know…” He smiled. You had finally seen it in the flesh. His answer made you blush. You handed him back the mug. You brain fizzed.

“Well we’ve practically kissed now…haha” you could slap yourself. Why? Why had you said that?

“I guess we have…best not tell Price, he’ll have me hanged for treason…” Ghost took a sip from the mug.

“Well I wouldn’t want that…” You folded your arms, Price was a sore subject.

“Would be worth it…” He handed you the mug back, you took another swig, it was far too hot and far too strong but you drank it anyway.

“Looks like your rides here, listen stay safe in Moldova, be careful who you trust sergeant, people you know can hurt you the most” He looked over your head at Mckinley. You placed the mug back in his hand, resting your other on his chest.

“I will LT, thanks for the brew…” you gave him your best smile an he returned it. Ghost felt his heart double in size. When he had clocked you all packing up, he had thought about telling the others you were leaving early but decided to keep it to himself, keep you to himself.

He watched as you walked out to the transporter, loading your gear onto the the back. You wave as you boarded. He gave you a nod. Just as the transporter pulled away, Ghost clocked Kyle running out from the barracks…Price right behind. He threw his hands on his head, he looked gutted. Price looked worse. Kyle looked over at him.

“How long you been there LT?”

“Not long, had just enough time to share a brew with Tank before she shipped out..” He held the mug up to show them.

Price looked livid.

“She text me late last night but my phone was off…aww for fuck sake…” Kyle pulled his hood over his head pulling the strings tight.

Price knew the ins and outs of your new mission, he had spent all night looking over the plans and intel, it was dangerous, risky just how McKinley worked. It was an infiltration mission.

You weren’t coming back anytime soon.

197 notes · View notes

junosaurus · 2 years

Note

Hello there can i get a uhhhhh Yoimiya, Hu Tao, Jean, Yae Miko, spending their a day off with their very energetic S/O?

Them with an energetic S/O

Ft: Yoimiya, Hu tao, Jean, Yae x !GN reader (seperate)

A/N: Hellooo ofc u can!! hope ya enjoy this one

Naganohara Yoimiya

She's quite the energetic one too, so dealing with you would be like dealing with herself!

You both would go on strolls around Inazuma and bump to a lot of your friends

Onikabuto battles with the one an oni Itto and Kamisato Ayato too possibly???

Making fireworks with Yoimiya together for fun

light up the fireworks at night!!

"Y/N! Y/N! Are you done with yours?? Hurry this is one of the best times to light up fireworks!!" Yoimiya squealed.

"Just wait..a second.. and.. DONE! Looks great right???" You happily said. "LOOKS COOLL!! Come on let's go light these masterpieces up!" Yoimiya jumped.

"On the count of 3. 1, 2, 3 LIGHT IT UPP!!!!" she shouted. Both of you, leaning against each other just admiring just how beautiful fireworks can be.

"Just look how gorgeous these can be. Its just as gorgeous as you Y/N!" Yoimiya hugged you tightly. "You know that's really cheesy of you to say that" You chuckled.

"I love you from the moon and back!"

Hu Tao

1 word, pranks.

You two would go around Liyue pranking everybody for the whole day

menaces to society

Both of you would get tired at the end of the day and cuddle

"Come onnnnn Y/N fasterr Chongyun will comeback from the bathroom any minute now" Hu Tao said as you were pouring tons and tons of chili pepers into his bowl of cold noodles.

"Alright alright I'm done!! Come on run I see him!!" Both of you ran to the nearest corner watching Chongyun take his first bite into them.

"Owowow this is so hot Xiangling please could I have my usual popsicle." he was in tears, his face was so red it looked like he was about to explode. Xiangling quickly gave him his popsicle and after he calmed down a bit he scoffed and shouted "HU TAO AND Y/N I SWEAR I WILL EXCORISE THE DEMONS POSSESSING YOU INTO DOING THIS TO ME!!" You and Hu Tao laughed and ran as quick as you both could.

A lot of pranks later... at home...

"Huff..huff I'm so tired.. that was so fun Y/N!!!" She hugged you tightly. "My energy is so drained but that was the best, can we just go to sleep already?" You groaned.

"Of course, we did great work after all" You both cuddled and fell asleep in each others arms.

she whispered

"I love you Y/N"

Jean Gunnhildr

She was actually forced to take the day off to spend time with you by the KOF brcause she really needed it anyways.

She would follow all your silly antiques

Taking pictures of each other in flower fields, going to 5 star cafes, food hunting, painting together

"JEAN YOU BETTER TASTE THIS DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE OH MY ARCHONS THIS IS THE BEST CAFE!!!!!!!" you squealed while feeding here a spoonful.

"Mmm the taste is very unique, I love it!" She replied. "I KNOW RIGHTT!! After this I know this one place that give you painting lessons we should definitely go!" Your eyes widening.

"Painting is a rather great thing to do, I'd love to! she agreed.

While painting you had a grin on your face. You picked up some red paint with your finger "Hey Jean look!" she turned around and you pressed on her nose making her look so funny with the red paint on her nose. You chuckled while she did the same to you.

"Spending time with you is always so fun."

Yae Miko

With your energetic attitude, she never gets tired

You cheer her up a lot, there's not a time you failed to do so

you invited her to go out and have some fun

late night car rides to mcdonalds,convenience stores and Ice cream shops

enjoying he breeze while riding the car

"Woohooo!!! This is great!!" you said while sticking your arm and head out the window. "Be careful not to fall out cutie" she laughed while tugging your shirt to make sure you don't fall out.

"Dang it no happy meals at mcdonalds??? What next?? No fries?? I'm this close to sueing this mcdonald" You run across the empty parking lot furious.

"Calm down now dear, we could go to that ice cream shop a few blocks away." she laughed

"Ice cream??? SAY NO MORE. MEET ME THERE." you ran at a very fast pace to the ice cream shop. "I'd like a scoop of 5 please! rocky road..cotton candy.. chocolate mousse royal..cookies and cream.. and what do you want Yae?" you only left her one choice of a scoop. "And a strawberry please." she paid and you both enjoyed your ice cream laughing together in the car.

"Oh dear how can you be so full of energy at 2 30 in the morning??"

#genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin impact modern au #genshin x y/n #genshin x you #hu tao #hu tao x reader #jean gunhildr x reader #jean gunnhildr #yoimiya #yoimiya x reader #yae miko #yae miko x reader

179 notes · View notes

triplesilverstar · 7 months

Text

Maybe the fifth time is the charm? Who are you kidding

Rating: PG

Pairing: Vash X F!Reader

CW: Shooting, no sense of direction, kidnapped, hostages, almost falling to your death

Word count: 3306

A/N: Chapter 5 of Bounty hunting 101: You should be good at this

As you and your guide rolled into town, you noticed things seemed rather chaotic to say the least. You’d been listening to the portable radio and heard a request for assistance, your guide leading you towards the town. And it looked like the two of you had arrived a little too late.

The town was in shambles, a group of bandits had raided the bank but instead of just taking the money they could carry, they’d grabbed a few hostages. A few hostages that the town sheriff admitted based on the gang the bandits claimed they belonged to were going to end up being sold.

That hadn’t sat right with you. Not at all. Your guide turning white when you offered to go with the deputies that wanted to try and rescue the hostages. You didn’t expect your guide to come with you, and told them as much, watching the relief wash across their face.

The sheriff might not have been a fan, at least not until one of the parents of one of the hostages offered a rather hefty reward to have his daughter brought back. Money always made people react, which you did think was funny since you turned people in for cash. Something like this though?

You’d turn in the bandits themselves for the cash, you wanted to rescue the hostages because it was just the right thing to do. If there was a kind of person that got under your skin, it was slavers. That would never change. It would always leave a sour taste in your mouth.

Which led to you and two of the deputies taking Tomas at dusk out of town, the lead deputy following the tracks on the van that the bandits had left in. The moons provided enough of a glow for the three of you to see clearly, following the tracks to what seemed to be a ramshackled old building partially hanging off a cliff's edge.

No. Ramshackled sounded too stable as you and the deputies watched. Dilapidated was better, as you watched a piece of metal siding fall with a wind gust. “How long has this building been here for?” You whispered to the deputies.

“Based on how it looks I’d have to say a while, that or these guys threw it up for a temporary camp to rob the town.”

“I think the safer bet might be to go with it being the first option” you whisper watching as a guard moves in the dim lighting.

“Why does it even matter? Lets get a move on!” You roll your eyes, it’s good the deputy is eager but this could end badly.

“It matters because if it’s old, we don’t know how stable the structure is. We could sink right through metal, something the bandits would have figured out when they took over. If they made it, it could fall apart at any second which throws in a time element.” At the look both of them send you all you can mutter is one word. “What?”

“Nice to know the Ghost Sniper is even better than they say if you can think of that in less than five minutes of us being here.” Right, I guess if you wanted it too or not the rumors about you were growing, that or common sense wasn’t all that common.

As the three of you made your way inside, this might have been easier than you thought, a lot of the bandits seemed to be busy drinking or passed out from the amount of booze they’d drunk already.

Creeping around you realized it was in fact, an older building, checking as you went for any noises that might have alerted the few bandits that weren’t drinking to your presence.

As you made a turn taking the stairs you froze at the top, slowly looking around, spotting a lone bandit taking a long drag on a cigarette at the top of the stairs. Rifle pointed down towards the ground, he’s not paying much attention at all to either the hallway or the room at the top of the old building.

Your chance comes when he steps into the room, making a comment after he finished his smoke about how he was going to enjoy making someone ‘whimper on his cock’. A comment you might have cringed about. Steps light and quick you have your rifle slung, approaching the bandit and throwing your arm around his neck, placing pressure on his windpipe and watching as his eyes flutter close and his arms drop to the ground as he slumps.

Releasing him, and leaning back out the door you wave towards the two deputies who move as quickly as possible while staying silent and join you. Moving into the room, and find five hostages. The deputies moving towards the first four, all young women while you move towards the fifth and frown.

Greeted by a blond head of hair you’re sadly getting to familiar with seeing and clad in a red coat, a gag stick in his mouth. Lowering down so your eye level with him “if you don’t make a scene I’ll take that gag out of your mouth.” Whispering low enough while the deputies are working to untie the others and telling them to be quiet.

A sharp nod, and you undo the gag in short order “we really need to stop meeting like this.” A cheeky response from a man still largely tied up.

“So why are you here?”

“Well, I might have been minding my own business” that sounds like an outright lie to you, but you’re not going to call him out on it. “Then these guys broke into the bank and one of them recognized me. So with the girls in the bank I was grabbed as a hostage, and well, a bounty to turn in.” You snort, because sadly that part is believable. Too bad most outlaws seem to keep forgetting you can’t turn in someone for a bounty when they have one themselves.

“Aw, well I guess it’s my lucky day” you whisper standing up and petting his head “they caught you for me. All they needed to do was put a big ribbon on your head and it’d have been perfect.”

Heading back towards the two deputies you rub your eyes “I think it might be best if we try getting out of here in groups. Each of you take two of the young ladies, that way you can slip out easier. One of you go first, then the other in about ten minutes, I’ll go last with the last guy there.” You jab your thumb over your shoulder towards Vash.

“Why is he still tied up?” Shit.

“Don’t worry about that. Worry about getting out.” You pause for a moment thinking “and if something happens, keep these girls safe. If you’re already outside, start heading back towards town. They’re the priority right now.” Letting the command in your tone show both deputies just nod, though you can see them throwing curious glances back your way.

The first group on their way and you hear nothing from down below, glad they hopefully made it all the way outside the old building. A building you are getting confused about what it could have been used for because of the layout. It seems almost like it was designed to hang out over the cliff’s edge for some reason. Well maybe a thought for another day. Or never.

The second group on their way and you finally move Vash closer to the doorway, listening for any sign of trouble. “So why come to help these people?”

It’s an honest question, and as much as you’d just rather listen, the truth is if they’re caught, there’s no way you won’t hear the racket it will cause. “It was the right thing to do.”

“Don’t hear that every day.” Sending him an annoyed side eye you huff, where does he get off on making a comment like that?

“Fine. I don’t like people being sold into slavery. Is that a better answer Stampede?” It leaves your throat as a low growl, a sign you’re not happy about having to try and appease the man. Even if the voice at the back of your head is questioning why you’re saying anything at all to the wanted man.

“Don’t like slavery, but you’re a bounty hunter?” What the hell is with this guy, he always seems to be a walking contradiction.

“I’ve got my reasons. And last I checked, you agreed you deserve your bounty. By the way, how did you know I’d go back to the diner and give that woman most of the prize money?” It is something that had been nagging you since the incident, he’d admitted he joined to help out a struggling family. What hadn’t made sense was why he’d dropped out in the first place.

“Well, I could tell by your eyes. You’re one of the good guys.” That has your shoulders shooting backwards, spine straight, and face blanching. A good guy. It’s such a naive thing to say, there isn’t good or bad in most cases, just people doing what they can to survive. You would never consider yourself to be a good person, no, you just know how to survive, even if there was a time when you’d done any and everything to try and not survive.

“I think you need your head checked out Stampede.” It’s a biting response from the corner of your eye you can see him smile.

“Maybe, it has been slammed around a lot.” What an answer, and you find yourself grinning despite yourself.

“Does that mean I’m going to be turning in damaged goods?” You should have known such conversations with the man would lead to trouble. As before he can answer you hear a scream of “the merchandise is escaping” from down below. How nice to call people merchandise.

“Fuck” it hisses from your mouth before you can stop it, unsling your rifle, and running for the stairs.

“Untie me! I can help!” You glance back at him, and two parts of you are screaming in your head. You let the part that cares far more about those girls and deputies getting away win, darting back and pulling a knife from your boot to undo his bonds.

“Have you got a weapon?”

“No, they took my pistol but doesn’t mean I won’t make for a good distraction.” No chance to question him as he runs for the stairs, leaping over the side and screaming “don’t kill anyone!”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” You just scream back, what made him think just because you released him that he could order you around? Instead of the stairs you run for a boarded up window you can see. You won’t be able to get out, but you can see outside checking.

The bandits that had been serving as roaming guards and near the fence you had passed, shooting back towards the building. Rifle up to your eye you look out, one of the toma is gone, which means at least one of the deputies had made it out. Focusing your attention you start looking for the bursts of light from the bullets being fired by the bandits. Three. There are three of them.

Reaching into your jacket inner pocket you grab the same bullets you use to knock out bounties. As low as you are, these men don’t deserve to die so you’ll send them to dream land. Left hand slamming on the magazine release you grab it and place it back into your coat, hitting the fire selector to repeater as the hand returns to it’s place on the forstock.

Right hand pulling the cocking handle back, sliding the first bullet into the chamber and hitting the handle release switch as your right hand returns to the pistol grip and you flick the safety off. Hearing the satisfying click on the round being locked in place, and lining up your first target.

A headshot is not what you want, even this round would kill if it hit a body part like that, instead you aim for a shoulder. Deep breath in, a slow exhale as your lungs start to empty, freezing as your lungs empty just the right amount. Gently pulling the trigger, and watching the bandit slump to the ground before you finish exhaling. The sizzle of the round being ejected, the smell of burnt carbon filling your nose as you repeat the process twice more.

All the while listening inside the building as the bandits inside in their drunken stupor seem to start to wake up. Hearing the sound of thrashing down below, now that the bandits outside have been dealt with you hit your hearing implant raising the ambient noise and blocking out the sound of gunfire.

It sounds as through they have the deputy and his two charges pinned, racing across the floor back to the stairs in time to see a bandit climbing them. You run and slide, swinging the butt of your rifle up just after you pass under his open legs. The sound of the air leaving his lungs from the sudden pain reaches your ears as you turn on your leading leg and slam the butt of your rifle down across the back of his neck. He won’t be getting up for a while.

At the bottom of the stairs you watch another bandit approach and start to run towards him, only to watch his eyes roll to the back of his head before he drops. Vash stood behind him, pistol in hand and held more like a blunt instrument then a gun. “Fancy running into you here.”

“Yea, fancy that” you mutter at his exuberant tone “it’s a real party.” This level has a far better view of the floors down below you, and you nod towards Vash. It makes sense why he came up instead of down. “I see you got your pistol back. Can you hit your targets from this distance?” A nod. “You didn’t happen to see the deputy and the two girls with him did you?”

“They’re pinned just to the left of a doorway. I came up to get a better view to try and clear the way for them.” This time it’s you nodding “can you do this without killing anyone?”

“I didn’t kill the bandits outside” you hiss at him, yeah you are certainly annoyed he seems to think he’s the one calling the shots.

“I have a plan” and you’re surprised how good of a plan it is, agreeing immediately and heading to the side opposite Vash so you can both shoot down into the area from cover. His plan is rather simple, with both of you firing from different locations you’ll be able to force the bandits to move, allowing the deputy and his charges to escape.

It feels strange, to be working with someone as part of a team, even if you have plans to tie him up and hand him over to the sheriff as soon as this is all over with. In the interim, you’re enjoying this. You’re both working well together, each taking shots are different times before moving again, while the other takes their shot.

Watching at the deputy moves you start to grin, this part will be over in no time. The explosion takes you off guard, but not as much as feeling the floor beneath you starting to tilt, watching in almost slow motion as you feel yourself falling backwards. Instincts taking over as you start to run, lunging for the stable section that isn’t falling away. Only to grasp the smooth edge of the metal floor plate hanging from the side. The edge of the still standing side is just out of reach.

The fingers of both your hands are hooked into the lip of the plate, and you make the mistake of looking down. You won’t survive a fall like this, the section still part of the building that had overhung the cliff, and you’re far too distant from the edge of the cliff to swing yourself towards it and drop.

Using every portion of strength you can muster in your forearms to pull yourself higher to try and reach for that jagged edge just above you. Heart pounding and sweat pouring down your face as you pull, removing one hand and reaching, stretching as far as you can, the tiniest sliver to skin on your middle finger touching the bottom.

And the burn in the one arm becomes too much, dropping down and feeling your entire body shudder as all eight fingers hook onto the edge again. Tears are starting to fall from the pain your body is in, but you won’t give up, not yet. Breathing as deeply as you can through the pain, you try once more, lungs aching and your forearms screaming in agony. This three of your fingers touch the metal but only one the top, and you’re far too weak to use a single finger to pull yourself to safety. Arm falling once more as you look down, feeling the wetness drip from your chin, a mix of tears and sweat.

Only to feel cool metal wrap around your wrist.

“Hold on!” Head snapping up, as Vash hangs over the side, his gloved hand reaching for the other one.

Turning the wrist he’s holding so you can grasp a part of his own wrist in your sweaty hand before releasing your iron grip on the line edge you’d been clinging to and grabbing higher up on the offered limb. A better hold and you use your legs to help push yourself up while he pulls.

It isn’t easy, but in moments he’s pulling you up over the edge and your both tumbling farther back on the platform away from the edge. Chest heaving as your heart and lungs work to try and relieve the strain your body had been under for who knows how long you’d hung there. It had felt like forever but it had probably just been mere minutes.

Turning you watch as Vash begins to stand “I’m glad you’re alright.” Reaching down to dust himself off. “Maybe next time will be under better circumstances. Not a big fan of fighting so I’ll be on my way.” A short cheerful wave of his prosthetic and you swear he’s skipping off as he leaves.

You don’t make a comment as he takes off, and not just because you’re still trying to catch your breath. Your mind is spinning, pressing the heels of your hands into your eyes, he could have left you to fall to your death but didn’t. What kind of enigma was Vash the Stampede, Humanoid Typhoon?

When you finally feel like your arms aren’t going to fall off you make your way down below, just in time for the sheriff to arrive.

Later, after the dust settles, you learn that once the first deputy got back the sheriff and the rest came to provide support. As well, one of the bandits had decided to set off a few explosions that had been set at the base of the structure that hung over the cliff. For once, you didn’t hand of the portions of the bounty you’d been paid back to the town, having just refused to be paid for assistance in the return of some business man's daughter.

You hadn’t left for the money, but because it was the right thing to do. One final thought as you left the town kept rolling around in your head. What the hell did Vash the Stampede see in you to say you were one of the good guys?

#vash the stampede x reader #vash the stampede #trigun #trigun stampede #twink writes #enimes to lovers #Bullets Bandits Ghosts & Typhoons

12 notes · View notes

internalsealpanic · 3 years

Text

Sealing the Deal part 1

Summary: Always, always be nice to sea creatures but never ever accept their pelt.

A/n: A fic I’ve been meaning to write since forever. My contribution to mermay.

warning: Disgusting fluff and bad decisions

Main Masterlist

part 2

You look like you're gonna die from boredom in your little fishing boat.

Dick rolls over to where Jason was sprawled and used his momentum to push the larger seal into the water. Jason gives an undignified squawk of outrage. Dick just preens and looks smug.

You cup your hand over your mouth as you begin to laugh.

Jason glares even harder at Dick. Dick... couldn't care even less if he tried. All he can focus on is the wrinkle in the corners of your eyes. They'd been gone for so long these past few months. It felt like the first ray of sun after a long storm.

Dick claps his fins in excitement even as Jason snuffs and rolls his eyes. You clap in return but accidentally drop your fishing pole into the sea. Reaching for it, you fall into the water. Dick feels a little bad for laughing but you manage to get yourself back up into the boat safely. You sigh in defeat as your fishing pole drifts away. Dick notices for the first time that your face has grown gaunt from the last few weeks. Are you eating enough? Are you even taking care of yourself? Dick swims over to your boat as it rocks back and forth on the waves. He hops in easily and plops onto your stomach. You laugh and pet his head. It was a weak laugh so he croons at you in question.

“Sorry pup, I don’t have any food for you today. I mean I don’t even have any for me.” Despite the sweet timbre of your voice, Dick can still taste the bitter hopelessness in the statement.

He nuzzles his face into your chest. He can feel just how thin you’ve gotten. He has to do something about this.

To say Dick had been afraid of humans would be a monumental understatement. It had been around 200 years since humans had left the island and the first thing they did when they came back was hunt down selkies. Dick's parents had been two of the unlucky few who'd been hunted down.

So when Dick found himself stranded onshore because of a fin tangled in a fishing line, he thought he was a goner. And when he saw you approaching; well, he still thought he was fucked but he thought you'd at least be nicer than the adults.

Maybe if he acts cute enough you'll spare him.

Dick whimpered and he gave you the big innocent look.

You shushed him harshly. Dick flinched then you flinched and muttered apologies.

You approached him slowly. You looked around before crouching and fiddling with the line Dick had managed to get himself caught in. Carefully, you began to disentangle him. It hurt, especially when you took the hook out, but once he was free. He clapped and trilled before you shushed him again.

Dick thought that it was all over and he could just roll back into the sea until you scoop him up and swaddle him in your shirt.

After 10 minutes of your father screaming at you, he agreed to treat Dick who knew better than to snap at him. Your father was kind with gentle hands. He worked on Dick while you fed him fish. It wasn't the best fish but Dick can't complain.

After an hour or so, Dick started to wriggle and you pull him closer to your chest.

"Dad, can we keep him for a few days? He might still be sick." You plead with big eyes.

Your father glared at you then sighed. "No more than two. His wounds just need to close up, understand?"

You squealed a little. Hugging Dick tighter, you thanked your father before scampering off to find you a basin to put Dick in. You, thankfully, had the good sense to fill it with lukewarm water.

Dick lived like a king in those two days. You fed him a lot of fish much to your dad's exasperation. You kept him warm. You even read to him and sang songs to him.

Dick wanted to stay but he missed Bruce, Alfred, Damian, and maybe that new kid Jason.

On the fourth day (one of the wounds was deeper than expected), Dick was released back into the sea but he never did manage to stay away after that

Dick sets the odd little trinket down in front of Jason's sleeping form. It was something you'd caught in your net days before along with the meager amount of fish you'd managed to net. You'd busied yourself with it for days before throwing it out. Dick wasn't sure what it was; all he knew was that it was something Jason would like.

He waits semi patiently for Jason to notice it, nudging it forward a little until it touches Jason's snout and the larger seal is forced to pay attention to Dick.

"I know when I'm being bribed, Dickface." Jason says, glaring.

Dick volleys it with a wide-eyed hopeful look. He nudges the little trinket forward again. This time, instead of ignoring him, Jason rises to his full height, teeth bared. This... does not faze Dick.

"C'mon Jaaaaaaay," Dick says as if the prolonging of syllables would whittle down Jason's irritation. Jason suspects if he were less inclined to tell Dick to fuck off, it would have worked. Probably. But as it stands, Dick is responsible for ruining a very good, very rare nap for Jason and so he's on the shit list and has lost any favor privileges until further notice.

"I said no. Go away or ask Bruce."

"But Jaaaaaaay, it's just a teensy tiny favor. It won't even take an hour. Not with your skill at least."

"That kind of flattery may work on Harper and it may even work on West but I'm not an idiot about to get involved with whatever shenanigans you have planned with the human."

Dick lets out a long-suffering sigh. Jason isn't stupid enough to think that Dick has actually given up. No, the stubborn little fuck is worse than a barnacle. "You've left me no choice-"

"I have given you plenty of choices. Most of them involve minding your own goddamn business." Jason says with a little snuff.

"-I'm calling it in."

Jason narrows his eyes at Dick.

"Don't you dare. That was 5 years ago."

Dick smiles, evilly. "Unless you want the rest of the family to know about-"

"Fine! What do you want?"

Dick looks smug. Jason wants to bite his face off.

"I need you to help me catch fish."

Jason looks at him, incredulous. "Did you hit your head or something?"

"Not recently. Look, I just need you to help me catch fish for the human." Dick explains like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Contrary to what Dick seems to think, Jason really isn't concerned with the one human on the island. Most of the selkies on the island have barely even interacted with you outside of staring at you.

"You're insane."

"I think we reserve that term for Bruce."

Jason raises his head from the ground. "You're not wrong."

You think you hear the light pitter-patter of raindrops. You sigh. You would be lying if you say you aren't the least bit thankful for the excuse to stay indoors today. You... don't exactly like foraging for food. You had avoided it for as long as you had food in the lighthouse. You thought it would at least last you 'til the ships came in but whatever is going on in the mainland has kept the ships from your shores. You don't mind. You never did find the sailors all that pleasant on the rare occasions that you did have to interact with them.

You like your island the way it is but... you're not exactly the most skilled at hunting... or fishing. You have no idea how your father did it. You chucked it up to the miracles of loaves and fishes. You miss him.

You curl around your pillow in a vain attempt to chase the wakefulness away but the sun in your eyes was too bright. You flutter your eyes open. The sun had the audacity to be there. Still the splushing sound continued.

You strain your ears to listen, trying to make heads or tails of it. It was a squishy sound, the sound of putty hitting stone over and over again. You scramble to the front door. In hindsight, you probably should have grabbed a weapon before running towards the strange sound.

Opening the door, you're greeted with the sight of a familiar seal caught red-handed with a fish in his mouth.

You stare at each other for a long moment before your eyes wander down to a pile of fish. A large amount of fish. Laughter rolls from your lips, musical and manic as you bury your face in your hands.

You think the seal furrows his brow at you, dropping the fish in its mouth before plopping towards you. Plop. Plop. Plop. He looks at you with big dark eyes. Your mouth twitches between curling down into a frown and a smile that spread across your face. On one hand, you are confused. On the other hand, you were gonna be able eat some meat.

A concerned croon comes from the pup and your face decides that it would rather smile at the moment. You throw your arms around him, not at all caring about the seawater getting on your nightclothes.

"Thank you." You whisper and the seal answers with a happy trill.

Dick is over the moon.

He can't even help how loud his trills get. It's ok you don't seem to mind either. He's just happy that you get to eat now.... but you don't.

Dick's a little frustrated when you don't immediately start digging in. Instead, you go back inside your home, swear, shout in delight then come back out with a basin and a jar of white powder. You then run around to fill the basin with seawater then add what Dick finds out is salt into the seawater.

Dick is... concerned.

You go back inside the house. When you come out again, you have a knife in your hand. Dick waddles back a bit. He knows you won't hurt him but it's a habit. You develop these kinds of habits around Bruce.

You settle yourself onto the ground cross-legged and grab a fish. Dick looks on with mild curiosity. You begin to dismember the fish by cutting off it's head, cutting it up in the middle then removing the bones and stomach. That kind of makes sense, Dick thinks. The bones are kind of annoying. Dick nods his head agreeably until you toss the fish into the basin.

Dick looks on in utter confusion as you repeat the process with most of the fish he's brought you.

You turn to him looking equally befuddled before your eyes soften. You look sheepish. "Sorry pup, I can't eat all of this today so I'm salting them so I can eat them the next few..." You count the fish in the basin. "... weeks."

Dick tilts his head but doesn't say anything. You really should just eat more. Dick can get you more if you need it. You just need to ask but you seem content with what you're doing.

Dick is about to rest his head on your lap when you shoot up and scuttle back inside. You return with a line and a smile. Dick watches you string the fish up like laundry. He could probably help you but he has no clue if he should. Just eat the fish damn it.

Finally after what felt like forever, you start preparing the fish and actually eat. You offer Dick some and Dick has to admit cooking the fish does taste odd but not unpleasant. It's totally different from eating it raw (the better way) but it's not horrible. Or maybe it just tastes good because you've got the biggest grin on your face while eating.

Maybe.

Probably, Dick thinks as he munches on his fish, pressed to your side.

___

You sing at the top of your voice. It's a cheerful song but Dick can't quite make out the words. He knows it's human but he's not quite familiar with it. The tune is nice though. Dick rests his head on your lap closing his eyes.

He croons happily when you being to pet him.

You stop midway through the song dissolving into a fit, of what Dick can only describe as, giggles snorts. It was a despicably adorable sound that was engineered to make Dick feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

He looks up at you with big curious black eyes. He's not complaining but he hasn't heard you laugh this much before and he may or may not want to know how to make you laugh like this again.

When you don't answer his questioning gaze, Dick nudges against your chest. Your shoulders are still shaking but you manage to stop laughing for a moment.

"Sorry pup," you say wiping a tear from your eye, "I must look crazy to you. "

A little but not as bad as Bruce, Dick thinks. Bruce thinks you humans still don't know there are selkies on the island. Dick snorts at the idea. Everyone knows that all you humans know about selkies. That's why those men keep coming here trying to trap them.

You squish his face affectionately with your hands. "My dad taught me that song and I just realized..." Your mouth turns into a curved line of held back laughter. "...It's a sea shanty about missing being between a woman's legs." The last few words come out more as giggles than proper syllables but Dick can't enjoy that because he can feel his face warm up from the thought. He hides his face in his flippers.

You squeal, absolutely delighted with his mortification. Smiling down at him, you say: "Yanno pup, sometimes I think you understand me."

Thought process-wise, no.

Dick snuggles up to you again, blowing air out of his nose to voice his ascent. You can't just say things like that but again, you just simply seem amused by his suffering when you bend down to press a kiss to the top of his head.

Dick looks up when you pull away. No! Give him more!

Dick stretches up to return the favor, having to partially climb on your lap but only managing to boop your nose with his snout. You nuzzle your nose against his and Dick makes the happiest noise in the back of his throat.

Sometimes after wandering around you had a habit of falling asleep on the shore which Dick thought was fine until he found out that you couldn't swim. Dick being the only with brains in this duo always nudges you awake when the tide starts getting too close. Dick doubts the lapping water will wake you up before sweeping you away. After all, you managed to sleep through Tim, Kon, and Bart's rock piling contest on top of you. Dick shooed them away but even after cleaning up, you didn't wake up.

Dick sees the sailors on the shore and nudges you. You... don't even blink. You hum, content to bask in the sun as you wrap your arms around Dick. Dick huffs. He likes this but he really would prefer it if you move. Dick considers slipping from your grip and grabbing a fish to slap you with like last time.

Dick cranes his head to look at the ship again. It was far too close now, too close for you to get away without being seen by the sailors.

Dick turns you back over to your back and proceeds to body slam you with all his blubber. He winces when you make a choked noise. Dick can give you apology fish later.

"Pup, what the fuck?"

You see the ship. Your eyes widen then flicker to his injured fin. Dick had injured it when he’d been swimming by the docks and got caught in one of the old traps. You’ve done your best to help it heal but you only know so much. You’re still reading up on herbs in case it happens again.

You try in vain to push him off but he's a big loveable sack of blubber and he refuses to move. “C’mon pup, you need to move. They’ll try to catch you if they see you.” You grunt but the sack of blubber refuses to move.

You and Dick stay still as the ship draws near, neither of your chests rises or fall as the ship rocks back and forth.

The ship passes and you let your head fall back with a sigh.

Dick nuzzles his snout against your face, his whiskers tickling your face. You giggle and try to push him off. It’s useless so you let him stay there.

You both decide to take a nap on the shore with Dick huffing in your face once in a while as he snores.

You curl up on the floor in front of the fire, watching the embers flicker, flash, and fade. It's the best thing you can do to calm your fraying nerves. The storm rages outside violently as if it was trying to tear the lighthouse down brick by brick. The whole building shakes with another boom of thunder. You close your eyes and burrow under the thick blanket.

In the back of your mind, your father is chuckling. The absence of a hand on your head is disconcerting. You remind yourself that it won't come, that you'll have to learn to weather the storm alone. You sigh then tighten the blanket around you.

Tok. Tok. Tok.

You blink. The fire was dying. When had you fallen asleep?

Tok, tok, tok.

Blinking, you rub the sleep from your eyes, but the haze doesn’t lift, only growing as you watch the firelight.

Tok tok tok.

You shoot up and barrel towards the door with the frantic knocking growing louder and louder as your feet pound against the stone floor.

You run into the door in your haste. The loud thud of your body against the door causes the frantic knocks to turn into muffled shouting.

Prying yourself from the door, you open it and you don't know what you expected but this wasn't it.

Standing in front of you was a man soaked like a wet rat. You blink in confusion before pulling him inside. You run to grab him a blanket. Wait. You should probably get him a towel. No, wait. You should have gotten his name first. Fuck.

You shuffle back into the room with a towel, spare clothes, and an extra blanket. You.. what can generously be called a heart attack.

For the first time, in the soft glow of the fire, you can fully admire your guest. Not see, admire because there was a lot to admire.

The light of the fire flicking over the planes of his chest, with a light dusting of chest hair, the amber glow highlighting all the muscles of his body, framing the ripples of his toned figure. Swallowing any good sense you have, you watch the rainwater turn golden as it drips down his perfectly bronzed skin. The water cuts through valleys of muscle that could have only been handcrafted by gods. Your eyes follow the flow until... Oh.

You flush furiously, your face glowing brighter than the fire. He's- He's- Oh my god, he's naked.

You reign your eyes in. Ok, you let it linger down there a bit. Not long enough for your guest to notice. You concentrate on his face which wasn't hard to do. The man pushes his raven hair out of his face letting you fully appreciate his face. In keeping with his body, his fine boned face looked like Pygmalion himself spent hours shaping it, not satisfied until he's made the perfect face. It's handsome in an adorable way. Not intimidating. It's the kind of face you'd like to pepper with kisses. You try not to focus on his lips in case of any sinful thoughts. You just met the man. The only thing you will note is that yes, his lips do look absolutely kissable and it aggravates you.

The most striking feature however are his deep blue eyes. The kind of deep that you feel like you could drown in. The kind of depth that looked too pretty to agonize over the fact that your lungs are burning. You stare, trying to carve a perfect replica of those eyes into your mind. Those eyes... that are currently staring at you... as he steps closer... at an alarming speed.

You hold the stack of fabric in front of you like a shield. Your guest stops, looking at the stack. His face goes from concern to confusion to blinding enthusiasm. He was probably freezing.

A smile spreads on his face, the cutest dimples you've ever seen forming on his cheeks, as he accepts the stack. He thanks you and your heart leaps from your chest. Whatever chill you were experiencing from the storm was completely gone. You turn away from him, rubbing the back of your neck and mumbling a halfway point between 'no problem' and 'you're welcome'. You hope it came out as 'no welcome' instead of 'your problem'.

The man snorts and you are pretty sure which one came out. To save yourself the embarrassment, you walk to the kitchen and start preparing tea. The man thankfully occupies himself by looking at the assortment of knick-knacks you've hoarded gathered over the years. It gives you ample time to breathe.

"Do you like sugar in your tea?"

The man nods enthusiastically. You can't help but smile a little.

You sit next to him in front of the fireplace as you hand him his mug. He leans his head against your shoulder. You can feel his body radiating a comforting heat.

You two sit in silence, sipping tea and watching the fire flicker. You wanna scold him for slurping his tea. You're not exactly his mother. You don't even know his name.

You turn to him, face scrunched and about to ask him for his name when he surges forward. His lips brush against your lips as he nudges his nose against yours. You fall backward in shock and the stranger falls on top of you, his eyes still glowing bright and cool against the amber light.

There's a thrill working up your spine or is it fear? You squeeze your eyes shut and throw your arms over your face.

"Please don't hurt me." You plead barely above a whisper.

You feel the body above you lower itself on top of you. He chuckles and shakes his head. "(Y/n), you're being silly."

You open your eyes. The man is laying his body on top of you keeping you pinned down and he's... pouting at you?

"I- I don't know who you are. You can take what you want but please don't hurt me."

The pout deepens into a frown.

"(Y/n), I'm not gonna hurt you. Don't you recognize me?"

You blink. You would definitely remember someone this eye-catching. "You always sing that sea shanty to me. The one about the sailor who misses his wife's..." The stranger flushes and makes a hand gesture. Your face scrunches again. The only person you've sung that to aside from your dad is...

"Pup?!"

His frown morphs back into a pout. "I'm not even that little."

You squish his face with your hands before you let your mind wander. You think back to the scars crisscrossing his limbs and chest. "How is this possible?"

He laughs, prying your hands from his face. "I'm a selkie," He says as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "My name is also Dick, not pup."

You stare up at him wide-eyed and stupefied. Dick snuggles against you like he always does. Somehow snuggling you in this form is better. He can hold you closer like this. You run your hand through his hair, fingers lacing through the tangles in his hair. He lets out an excited trill.

Dick might just be in heaven right now.

"I dunno how but you're somehow even prettier when I look at you in this form," Dick breathes contently. "I'm so lucky to have such a pretty wife."

You stiffen. Dick looks up at you and the confusion in your face wrenches a knife in his heart. He swallows. "That is what you meant with this, right?" Dick asks, tugging at the collar of his shirt.

Your mouth turns into various shapes trying to piece together a coherent response. It settles on the simplest one. "No."

Dick looks stricken like you'd taken a club to his head.

You reel back. "I just- I- I thought you were cold and you-"

Dick's heartaches. It's a dull ache. He thought this kind of thing would be sharp like having a hook pierce your heart.

His insides twist as he peels of you.

Your stomach sinks as you feel the cold fill your body once more. You don’t want him to go. The thought of being alone right now makes your stomach curdle. Your hands grip his shirt without meaning to. The look on his face hurts but the idea of him leaving felt unbearable. You know it's selfish but here you are begging him not to leave.

"Dick, I'm sorry... I didn't know... I-"

Thunder booms. You squeak and bury your face in his chest. You can't stand storms.

Dick smiles down at you softly. It's still pained but it's bearable.

He lays on his side and pulls you closer. He slots your face into his neck. You're still shivering even when he uses his body to shield you from the rest of the world.

You whisper another apology.

Dick shushes you, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

The sunlight floods into the room like it does every morning but the room is still cold. Your mind works to understand what's wrong with this picture. Your hand pads beside you. The space next to you is empty save for the blanket left behind.

You sniffle, gripping the sheet in your hand. You messed up, you think, pulling it to your face. For the first time in months, the tears come easily. You lay there all day because the tears won't stop.

"If you sigh one more time, I am going to rip your throat out." Jason growls not bothering to open his eyes. Why would he? Dick has been flat and mopey for the past two weeks and Jason is really starting to miss his hyperactivity.

Dick lets out another mopey sigh. Jason. Is. Going. To. Scream.

"Can't you be depressing in Roy's direction? Or Bruce's?"

Dick sighs even louder at the mention of Bruce and Jason, for once, is considering murder or at least maiming.

"She doesn't love me back."Dick sniffles and Jason really should have known this had something to do with you.

He turns to Dick. "I'm going to regret asking but how do you know that?" The sooner he sorts Dick out, the sooner he gets to sleep. "Did she tell you to go away and never come back?"

"Well no-"

It's Jason's turn to sigh. "You fucking moron, What did she even say?"

"She said she didn't know." Dick lowers his head to the sand and Jason wants to slap him with his tail.

Jason is now fully awake and very ready to throttle Dick. Or he's just cranky. "Are you telling me Bruce was right?! This day just keeps getting worse."

Something seems to click in Dick's brain. "Oh, crap Bruce is right." He mutters stupidly.

Jason will take whatever consolation he can get out of this. "She probably thought you were just some random pervert flashing her then." Jason snickers. It's petty and childish but so is interrupting a well-deserved nap.

"What?"

Jason lets out an exasperated huff through his snout. He twists his body to look at Dick with minimal effort to lift his head. "Let's see, you turned up naked at her door and then you called her your wife and nearly kissed her in what? The space of 15 minutes?"

"I got confused." Dick sputters.

"Geez, I thought West was bad but you're just a disaster," Jason chuckles, "Oh! And you made the brilliant decision to leave without explanation," Jason is having far too much fun rubbing salt in the wound. "She probably feels terrible”.

"Are you guilt-tripping me?"

"Is it working?"

"What-" Dick growls. "Well, what do you want me to do?"

"Hmmmmm, have you tried talking? Yanno the thing Bruce never does. But seriously, I can’t believe you call her your wife and then abandon her." Jason shakes his head. "And you have the audacity to call yourself the smart one."

Dick strips out of his skin and begins running towards the lighthouse... naked.

Jason debates on letting him.... he probably shouldn't.

"Dickface!" Jason calls out.

Dick doesn't stop, face crumpled in determination and his little Richard swinging wildly as he walks.

Jason is gonna die of second-hand embarrassment.

"DICKFACE!"

"What?!" Dick asks turning around his hands on his hips. Like usual, his hip tilts to the side and his foot taps as he waits expectantly for Jason to gather a mildly coherent response.

"Your little Richard..." Jason says pointing with his fin.

Dick looks down and the look of mortification on his face is satisfactory. ".... Right. Shit."

"Just steal some from her laundry."

"But she'll be pissed."

"Ok, so you would rather flash her then?"

Dick sighs and this time Jason doesn't have the urge to throttle him only because Dick is already beating his own ego into a pulp. "I hate it when you make sense."

Jason raises a brow, setting his head back down to the warm sand. "I always make sense."

Dick just cackles in response as he heads to the lighthouse.

Dick shifts his weight on the balls of his feet. He feels sick like he'd eaten one of those pickled fish you made him one time. Maybe this was a bad idea. Why did he even listen to Jason? He flips onto his hands and begins to pace. His stomach feels like it's being tossed violently by ocean currents. It feels like a shapeless lump sitting in the pit of his abdomen. Maybe you're out or maybe you never wanna see him again.

Your face had been so blown wide with shock when he had called you wife that it looked almost foreign like the suggestion had been so audacious that your face had to reconstruct itself to accommodate the shock.

Dick puts a hand to his face trying to stem the flow of thought. He was such an idiot. Why did he assume you would love him like that and why did he just leave you? Dick closes his eyes and breathes. He'll knock just once more then leave if you don't answer.

Tok. Tok. Tok.

The knocks register just above a whisper. He thinks you don't hear it.

He lets out a breath and walks away. This was stupid. He should never have come back.

Jason was right. Fuck. Dick buries his face as he walks away.

Distantly, Dick hears the squeak of rusty hinges but it's lost in the tempest of thoughts plaguing his mind, in all the little hurts from that night.

"Pup?" The sound of your voice is followed by the pounding of your feet against stand. Dick's careening to the ground before he knows it as your body collides with his.

"Pup," you sniffle into his shirt, "it is you."

Dick twist in your grip so he's facing you. Your face is buried in his shirt. He strokes your hair, wrapping an arm around you, holding you tight. "Of course, it’s me. Who else would bug you at this hour?"

Dick feels his shirt grow warm. You mumble an apology.

You look up to face Dick with half your face still buried in his shirt. You've clearly been crying based on how red and puffy your eyes are. Dick's stomach churns at the dark circles under your eyes. He feels guilt stab him in the gut. All of that combined with your generally disheveled appearance. Dick can just tell that you haven't slept well the last few days.

"Let's go inside and talk." You say, peeling yourself off of him.

Dick shakes his head, not loosening his grip on your midsection. "Let's walk around you look like you need some sun."

You flushed and put a hand to your cheek. "Do I look that bad?" You ask absently, a shy smile creeping into your features.

Dick smiles at you and pushes your hair out of your face. "Never but the weather is sunny for once and we both need some air."

"So you really didn't know that the island was filled with selkies?" Dick asks, adjusting the infernal scarf you had forced him into. He insisted that he didn't need it. He could just cuddle up to you for warmth but you were equally stubborn about him wearing a coat and the wool monstrosity strangling him.

Your face scrunches up in confusion." I- I don't even know what that is."

Dick stops.

You slow down upon realizing he wasn't by your side anymore. "You... don't know what a selkie is?" He asks, his face the definition of dumbstruck.

You shrink into your coat." My dad wasn't interested in things like that," you shrug, "I dunno much about..." Your hand twists in a circle, reaching for the right words.

Dick tilts his head. That made sense. "You thought we were all just seals?"

You nod slowly, looking like you wanna shrivel up.

Dick starts laughing and you look like you're a second away from throwing yourself into the water.

"I'm sorry," he says, flailing. He's screwing this up again. He breathes to collect himself. "I just thought it's funny that we all thought my dad was wrong about you guys not knowing."

You rub the back of your neck. "Most of us mainlanders don't really believe in magic, yanno? It's just such a foreign concept. Kind of hard to wrap my head around it."

"I get that." The smile on his face makes your gut twist. You fiddle with your hands.

"So what are selkies?"

Dick tilts his head, not exactly sure of how to word it because how do you explain something that's been obvious to you since you can remember to someone who just found out about it a few weeks ago?

"We're fae, I guess-" Your face twists in confusion.

Dick needs to backtrack. "We're fae..." This is hard. "We have this human form and we have our seal forms. We switch between them using our pelt."

Your brow knits in confusion. "Which one is your true form then?"

Dick wraps his arm around your waist and holds you closer as you walk along the cliff tops. He hums as he thinks. "Both?"

You look up at him with a weary smile. “That makes sense in a way.” You hum. Swallowing thickly, you fiddle with your hands. "So what was with the... um..." You clear your throat. "What was with the wife thing?"

Dick’s mouth dries. “Well... when we want to ask someone to be our mate... we- we kind of give them our pelt and I thought it translated to human clothes…” He stammers out dumbly.

“Oh...oh!” Your eyes widen into a look of horror. You open and close your mouth trying to form words. “Dick, I didn’t realize , that must have - I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“Please don’t apologize,” Dick says and presses his lips to the top of your head. His lips are warm and comforting. “I’ve spent so long in love with you my brain just didn’t...” Dick’s mouth twists. “It just didn’t do what it was supposed to.”

You would definitely laugh at that last part but you’re still seeing stars from the startling confession he just hit you with. You snuggle tighter into his embrace as you look over the sea. You don’t know how to respond. You really don’t and it frustrates you. It was all just a lot to take in all at once like you’d been tossed into the sea and you’re flailing and grasping at water.

But if nothing else, you’re at least glad that Dick is still talking to you.

“If you don't mind…” Dick says carefully, the look in his eyes determined. “Would it be alright if I try and pursue you properly?” Dick braces for a no. He’s not dumb enough to be hopeful twice but he needs to ask.

Inevitably, you freeze. You pull his arm closer to your chest. Swallowing, you ask: “you mean like a human courtship?”

He nods closing his eyes. “Yes, I want to court you.” He coughs clearing his throat.

You’re silent for what felt like the longest 30 seconds of Dick’s life. Dick cracks one eye to see you fiddling with your hair. “Uh Dick, there’s this one problem that might make that difficult…” Dick raises a brow. It wasn’t an outright rejection but it wasn’t an answer.

“I don't know how that works either.” You laugh nervously, burying your face in his arm.

“Good - then we don’t know if I’m doing it badly.” Dick beams with a blinding smile.

You twist to look at him, the corners of your mouth twitching. “That sounds like cheating.”

Dick snorts, “would you rather I court you the selkie way?”

“I mean it depends. What's the selkie way?”

“Fish.”

Dick startles when you let out a loud bark of laughter. “Fish? You’ve already done that so many times.” You giggle. Dick tries to wrangle his mind away from the fact that he can feel your lips through the thin fabric of the sweater.

“I thought it worked.” Dick sighs. He really did, but alas, miscommunication is a cruel mistress.

You lower your gaze trying to concentrate on the fraying needlework of his sweater. “Maybe it has.” You mumble low enough for a human not to hear. How unfortunate it is then that you’re dealing with a selkie.

Dick is beaming when you look up again. He nuzzles his face against yours. Dick is once again insanely, stupidly, incredibly happy.

__________________________________________________________________________

Because neither of you knew what you were doing, Dick's attempts to court you ranged from ridiculous (a literal mountain of fish that you ended up drying, giving away to the other seals, and selling to passing ships.) to ridiculously sweet (finding you handful of pearls). Dick nudged a little shell overflowing with pearls and looked up at you with liquid eyes. He could have gotten you pebbles and it would have been endearing.

It wasn't always gifts though.

Sometimes Dick would just sit quietly with you on the beach, snuggling against your leg as you scratched his stomach. You love the ways his squish vibrated as he purred.

When summer passed and it became unbearable to watch the stars outside, Dick sometimes spent nights in your lighthouse, wrapped up in your sheets or wrapped around you. It was nice having him around the house even if he was kind of a slob. You love him but he is a mess.

You made the mistake of introducing him to tea cakes and got him addicted to November Cakes specifically. As it turns out, your cute pest has a sweet tooth and will nuzzle you into submission just for another bite.

If you ever doubted that Dick was evil before, you now have proof.

During the winter, Dick insisted on staying in the lighthouse to keep you warm. You wanted to point out that you had a fireplace for a reason but it was so hard to turn down hugs from him.

And because you hadn't had the heart to clean out your father's room yet and Dick clearly preferred it, you let Dick sleep next to you on your cot. You felt a bit bad but Dick was just so happy with the arrangement that you didn't want to make him go away. Besides, it was nice to wake up to his sleeping face in the morning, all sleep rumpled and drooling.

__________________________________________________________________________

"Hey Jay, do you have a book on selkies?" Dick asks, caterpillaring on the rock Jason is sunbathing on.

Jason takes the opportunity to roll down the rock and knock Dick into the sea before saying: "No." It shall be put on record that there are no drama queens in the Wayne family.

Dick shakes off the seawater, big puppy eyes staring at Jason.

Jason glares at him. He can't even let Jason have a second of smugness. "Ask Selina."

No one really knows where Selina came from or why she stayed (well, they had their suspicions), but if you need something you can't find easily, your best bet was to ask her and hope she doesn't ask you to do anything ridiculously hard.

Dick hasn't had first hand experience but from what Bruce tells him, they're mostly silly things like recite poems or do a flip. He could do both those things. Well, depending on the poem. He gets tongue twisted sometimes. Hmmm, maybe he should ask if he can avoid tongue twisters so he won't bite his tongue.

Sloughing off his coat, Dick walks towards the glowing cauldron.

"Still no clothes pup? You're going to give a poor girl a heart attack." Selina tsked, reappearing from one of the other cave entrances with a handful of things Dick can't recognize.

"Oh... I- I'm still not used to it." He says sheepishly.

Selina chuckles, dumping the handful of what Dick can assume is plant debris into the cauldron while before dusting her hands off.

Dick stares at the thick vat. A bubble rises and bursts emitting what sounded like a human voice. "What is that? Should I be worried?"

"Oh no, no, this? This is just a little soup for colds."

"It screamed."

"All soups scream."

"I- anyway, I came here to ask if you have a book on selkies."

Selina tilts her head to the side. "I believe I do-"

"Great!"

"Buuuut..."

Of course, the price.

"I brought pearls and some seashells." He says hopefully.

The angle of her head does not change. Though from the gleam in her eyes, she's clearly interested.

"Tell me why you need the book."

Dick's thoughts halt. Should he tell Selina about you? His eyes dart to the boiling cauldron. "... Why do you need to know?"

Selina flourishes her hand. The book appears out of thin air."Do you want the book or not, pup?"

Dick's nerves pinch. Why does everyone call him that? "I need it to teach someone Selkie customs." He manages.

"Oh! The little lighthouse keeper!"

"You know her?"

Selina shrugs. "Do you really think I wouldn't know something going on about the islands nearby?" She pinches his cheek. "Oh little pup, I know about your little crush. You spend more time on land than you do in the sea these days. Dami's been all huffy about it."

He has.

"I've told you my reason." Dick says holding his hand out.

"Hnnnn, you have I suppose." Selina sighs.

Dick takes the book, putting it into a waterproof pouch before gingerly putting his pelt back on. He happily caterpillars out of the cave with the pouch in his mouth. He really hopes you'll like this.

You really should just fix up another cot for Dick at this point and maybe buy him a set of clothes when you go to town.

"It's too cold to sleep outside." Dick whines, flattening himself against you on the bed.

You lift your book to look at him. Dick just gives you that wide-eyed look when he wants something. You roll your eyes, letting him snuggle up to you. "Dick, it is obviously summer and you're like 40% blubber." You snort.

Dick pouts. "You're still gonna let me sleep here."

You scrunch your face up and sigh. "I can't exactly let you brace the summer cold, can I?" You say, running a hand through his hair.

"Eeeeeexactly." Dick says happily as snuggles into you tightly. He nuzzles his face into your neck wrapping his arms around your waist. You hum helplessly, curling into his embrace.

"See." Dick trills with a happy grin.

"Are you going to be smug about it all night?" You huff, throwing a blanket over the two of you.

"No," he says, "you assume I can't keep being smug 'til sunrise."

"Dork," you snicker, setting the book down. It was a book on selkie traditions that Dick had gotten you a few days ago. You devoured it the same night but you're reading it again and subtly testing things while Dick was invading your house. You hum, running your hand through his hair, fingernails lightly scraping against his scalp. Dick purrs against your chest. "There was a one eyed seal on the beach the other day. He was a grumpy fellow but kind of cute. Seals really are a sleepy lot. The big lug started snoozing on my lap after like 5 minutes."

Dick tense under your touch. He looks up at you seriously.

"That was a selkie." Dick deadpans.

You stop your rambling. "What?!"

"That grumpy one-eyed seal was a selkie." He repeats carefully.

Your breath stutters. "Are all of the seals on this island selkies? ALL OF THEM?" Dick is pretty sure your eyes are mounting an escape.

"All of them, darling." Dick nods.

"Oh." You are so screwed. "Do you guys all talk to each other?!" You shouldn't have told that seal about your little crush. You want the mattress to swallow you up.

"Yes? Should I be concerned?" Dick asks, lifting his head.

"No! No reason!" You squeal, shaking your head.

Dick pouts at you with suspicion. It occurs to you with some amusement that Dick is actually glaring. You wisely decide to sidestep the conversation.

"You guys love taking naps on people, huh?" You say, absently twining your fingers into Dick's hair. He settles his head against your chest. "That's just cus we like you." He hums.

A snort rips out of you. "You're just biased."

Dick looks up at you seriously again. "We selkies like pretty things like any fae." Dick says, wrapping his arms around you more tightly. He's being petty but Dick has always been protective of you and he isn't about to stop now. Besides... he doesn't want anyone stealing you away.

You frown at him. "Dick, there are far prettier things on this island and sweet talking won’t magically make November cakes appear." You huff, kissing the top of his head before picking up the book and using it to hide the smile shaping your lips.

You feel Dick pick himself up off of you. You peek over your book to watch Dick. He scoots closer to your face until the only thing separating you is the far too thin book in your hands.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"No." You say. You don't mean it but it's the easiest thing to conjure up when Dick is this close. Your lips prickle from imagining Dick's lips against yours.

You weren't paying attention. Dick has apparently been going on a two-minute diatribe on how pretty you are and in that two minutes, Dick has managed to scoot even closer. He gently takes the book out of your hands to make sure you're paying attention. He fails to take into account the fact that his face is in fact distracting. Your eyes zero in on his very plush and very kissable lips. If you just lean forward a fraction, you could...

Your lips feel warm and soft against Dick's, the rest of his diatribe dying in the back of his throat as his eyes flutter shut. His mind might just be melting out of his ears because the only thing he can think about is how soft you are and how perfectly your lips fit against his.

"I'm sorry." You whisper shyly. You should be sorry, Dick thinks. Who told you to pull away?

You touch your fingers to your lips. Fuck, what did you just do?

"You can do it again." Please, he almost adds.

You lick your lips. Dick perks up and leans closer. His heart is going to leap out of his chest. You lean closer. Dick can feel his heart pounding against his rib cage.

You kiss Dick on the nose and pull away, hiding your lips behind your hand as you snicker. Dick scrunches his nose and blows air out of it.

"You know perfectly well what I meant." He huffs.

You lean back into your pillow, grinning at him. "I have absolutely no clue what you're on about." You say slowly, smug.

"Let me remind you then,"A grin takes over his face. Dick leans in, pressing his lips against yours. You exchange breaths as you drink in the feeling of each other's lips. Dick caresses your sides. He feels you shiver and he smiles into your lips. "That ring any bells?"

"Not really..." You say, flickering your eyes to him. "But if you try again... it might."

"Oh sweetheart, I can keep reminding you all night." Dick chuckles, winking.

Covering your face, you attempt to hide your embarrassment. You hate how easily he flusters you. "You can't just say stuff like that." You whimper.

"Why not? I'm supposed to be courting you and that includes buttering you up," Dick says, nuzzling your cheek. You're just too cute. Dick gently pries your hands away from your face. "Don't hide your face from me, Honey."

"Oh god, you're making me regret letting you court me."

"Never."

______________________________________________________________________

Dick's eyes are struggling to remain open as he watches the fire. He burrows further into the thick comforter you'd given him. It's not quite as warm as his pelt but the fabric is puffy and it has a sweet smell that makes his head swim.

Dick angles his head slightly to watch you. You've been toiling for hours and refuse to tell Dick what it is. Your back is still hunched over with your foot bouncing on the floor. Dick lets his eyes flutter shut, listening to the sound of your shuffling tools.

You glance down at the adorable mess dozing off on your sofa. You gently move his hair out of his face. He swats at you sleepily, face scrunched even as he sleeps. You sincerely wish you had Damian's talent for art or that you had one of those cameras. You really wish you could keep a picture of Dick's sleepy face. It's the cutest thing in the world.

"Hey Dickie," you whisper.

"Hmmmmm?" He groans.

"Could you hand me your pelt?"

"Sure," he moans, blindly padding around for it. You snort as he nearly falls off the sofa. After groping nearly every surface, he finally finds the pelt. "here you-"

The fur brushes your fingertips before Dick stops. Dick shoots up, nearly clipping your nose with his forehead. He's looking at you fully awake, drool still hanging off the corner of his lips."Are you sure?!"

"Hand it over coward." You smile gently at him. You try your best to fight off the excitement bubbling in your veins.

Dick is off the couch, his own excitement barely contained as his whole body vibrates with happiness. He sits up. You hold out your hand but instead of handing you his pelt, Dick drapes it over you like a wedding veil. It's thick and warm to the touch. You let your hands brush over the silken fur. You can feel magic thrumming from it. It feels like a minute current of electricity but it doesn't flow linearly. It ebbs and flows as it pleases, pulsing beneath your fingers. You burrow yourself in it.

Something warm spills in Dick's chest as he sees you wrapped up in his pelt. Dick kisses your nose. "You have now been wifed."

You twitch your nose. "You missed."

"Nope. Don't think so. Buuuuut if you show me where you want me to kiss you..."

You roll your eyes and surge forward, pressing your lips to his. Dick smiles into it, pulling you close and savoring the sensation of your lips melding together. He makes a happy trilling noise while you laugh against his lips.

"That clear enough, Dickie?" You ask, pressing your forehead against his.

"Yeah, I think I got it, wifey."

__________________________________________________________

THANKS FOR READING

Tag list: @batarella, @anothertimdrakestan, @lucy-roo, @multifandomgirl-us, @idkmanicantenglish , @birdy-bat-writes, @boosyboo9206, @americasmarauders , @l-inkage, @arestorationofbalance , @cloudie-skay, @wunderstell @hyp-oh-critical @glorified-red @ marshmallow12435 @vvipgot7be @jadedhillon

#dick grayson x reader #dick grayson imagine #dick grayson x you #dick grayson #dorks #seals #selkie x reader #selkie au

399 notes · View notes

streetlight11 · 3 years

Text

Wolfgang

Summary: After your parents were murdered by werewolf hunters, you had to run away. You had to save yourself from going through the same tragic fate and that leaves you to being a lone wolf. Thankfully, moving to a new town led you to meeting new people and possibly a new family.

Theme: werewolf au, strangers to lovers

Genre: smidge of action, fluff, slightly suggestive

Warnings: mentions of slight nudity and violence, gets a little steamy near the end but nothing too detailed

WC: 6.6k

Pairing: Alpha!Minho x Omega!FemReader

a/n: Hi :) Obviously werewolf skz is just *chef's kiss* so of course I had to write about it. So here's a Minho one ;)

Due to your parent’s unfortunate death, you had to move away to avoid being caught by the same hunters who killed them. By moving cities, it means moving schools too. Before this, you were in your dad’s pack which only consists of your mom, your dad and you. Now that they’re gone, it leaves you to being a lone wolf.

Hence, why you managed to enrol yourself into this new school after finding yourself a cheap rundown apartment.

You were an Omega werewolf which means you weren’t a part of any pack. You were a lone wolf. After your parents died, you had no one to go to. No friends, no family, nothing. You might as well just die.

Except, you knew your parents wouldn’t want that so you had to persevere and try to at least survive for as long as you can on your own. Throughout your whole life, you weren’t really able to detect any werewolves near you despite your amazing supernatural sense of smell.

So you thought you were alone from now on. Little did you know, the previous town you lived in just didn’t have your kind.

The 8 of them were a pack. To be more specific, they were in Chan’s pack. Chan was their leader but also an Alpha along with Minho and Changbin. Meanwhile, Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix, Seungmin and Jeongin were Betas. They’ve been together for quite a while now where Chan was initially only with Minho, Changbin and Hyunjin before he took in the other young ones after a few unfortunate circumstances.

Chan has been teaching them how to hunt, enhance their skills and basically provide them food and shelter. They were more like brothers instead of friends or acquaintances. Their bond was stronger than anything else. If one was injured, the other would know even if they were miles apart.

It was a warm Tuesday afternoon, the boys were just having lunch at their usual table when Changbin’s nose began to tickle with a strong scent, only for the others to smell it too right after.

“Hey, do you guys smell that?” Changbin asked quietly, earning a few nods from the rest.

Since Chan, Minho and Changbin were Alphas, they have slightly stronger werewolf senses compared to the others and they could tell that this scent was new. They knew a few other packs that were present on campus and were even friends with some of them but this?

This was a very new scent that they weren’t familiar with.

“Whoever this is, they clearly just transferred here.” Jisung stated nonchalantly.

“No shit sherlock.” Minho said, earning a low snarl from the younger boy.

“But where is it coming from? I would know if they’re in the room with us… Looks like they’re in the grounds just not in this cafeteria…” Chan said as his eyes began to scan the entire radius of the cafeteria hall.

“But can you tell if it’s a male or female?” Jeongin asked curiously only for Chan to turn back to his brothers and nod.

“It’s a female.”

A few minutes later, they were all gathered for the talk session they had with a motivational speaker regarding the academics. The 8 of them were seated in the middle row of the lecture hall. It was already filled with students from all courses, leaving only a few seats empty. One of which was at the very end of the row below them, right by the aisle and just in front of Felix.

Soon enough, the man began talking and introducing himself to the audience. The boys were just seated there, barely focusing. Neither of them were properly listening to the speaker.

However, their attention was soon diverted intensely when the same scent from earlier only grew stronger by the minute. Before they could even ask each other about it, a new face came stumbling in the main doors.

That’s when they realized where that scent was coming from.

It was you.

You were running late for the motivational talk which is why you were now sprinting across the campus to reach the main building which held the auditorium. Upon arriving, you managed to find the right hall after what felt like forever. The minute you pushed the double doors open, you were immediately met with at least 400 pairs of eyes.

The man standing on stage simply smiles at you and asks you to take a seat wherever you could find. He was nice and you could tell. However, your mind was currently spinning from the overwhelming amount of scents you could clearly smell in this hall.

There were at least 5 different werewolf packs in this room right now but there is one pack scent that was so strong and bold to you.

It literally stands out from the rest.

Just as you were about to walk to the steps on the side nearest to you, the strong grip on your forearm made you halt.

It was a lecturer you weren’t familiar with but you felt uneasy with him. The way he was staring at you from head to toe, his tightening grip on your arm made you wince.

“Are you a new student?” He asked lowly.

“Y-Yes.”

“Which class are you with?”

“I-I’m not sure. B-But I’ll just sit anywhere that’s available.” You frowned deeply before you yanked your arm out of his grip with a bit of struggle.

With that being said, you rushed up the steps towards the empty seat right next to the aisle. The moment you sat down, your fiery glare travelled back to the lecturer who was standing at the same spot he previously was in but his eyes were on you.

Damn him.

However, your mind seemed to grow fuzzy with the sudden strong scent that was intoxicating your senses now. It was so strong, as though whoever or whatever they are were extremely close to you.

Just then, the soft touch on your forearm made you flinch as you turned to come face to face with a pretty girl. She didn’t have any particular werewolf scent on her so you knew she was an ordinary human.

“Do you know which class you’re in?” She asked.

“Umm… I… I haven’t checked my timetable.”

She giggled softly before she continued, “Don’t forget to check it later so you know where to go after this. I’m Yeri by the way. You are?”

With that being said, you gave her a small smile before telling her your name.

“Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you Y/N. If you need help with anything, just ask okay?”

You nodded a little to acknowledge her but then your trail of vision got diverted to the male sitting a few seats diagonally above yours. What made you focus on him was the fact that his eyes were boring into yours. It wasn’t creepy or uncomfortable though. It was more like curiosity. You hold your stares for a bit and that’s when it hits you.

The scent.

It was from him.

A few nights had passed, there was going to be a full moon tonight so you decided to go hunting. Your aim was to practice your survival skills, one that your father taught you when he was still alive. You didn’t bother bringing any change of clothes, telling yourself you would most probably just go to your parent’s secret hideout in the woods.

So here you are, in the middle of the woods alone, finding yourself standing in an empty spot that had the full moon just directly above you. This spot wasn’t new to you.

This is where your parents violently got killed by the werewolf hunters.

During that horrible incident, you were hiding behind one of the huge trees after your parents told you to run. The last thing you saw was your father’s head being decapitated mercilessly before you took off running on all four paws.

Running as fast as you can, praying that the hunters didn’t catch you.

Lucky for you, they didn’t. And yet, you knew they would do everything in their will to continue finding you which is why you moved.

You were taking in the beautiful moon, deciding to change into your furry self so that you could move freely through the woods. After about an hour of just running and strolling through the woods, playing in the lake, chasing bunnies, you figured you wanted to take a quick rest.

It wasn’t until you stepped onto a pile of dead leaves that the sharp click followed by a loud snap echoed through the woods. A shrilling howl left your lips as the pain began to crawl up your broken hind legs where your human ankle would be.

You whimpered in pain, your entire body collapsing to the ground when you realized you were trapped.

Just then, a soft click of a shotgun’s hammer sounded as they locked the bullet in place and were left with pulling the trigger. Your vision was getting blurred from the tears welling up in your eyes.

Your bright gold eyes were flooded with tears, a weak whine leaving your lips as you looked up at the man who killed your parents a month ago.

“Say goodnight. Your parents are dying to see you in the afterlife.” He said while he pointed the gun to your forehead.

However, before he could pull the trigger, a low growl came from somewhere behind you.

The last thing you saw was a larger silver coloured wolf lunging itself onto the hunter and soon began to wrestle with him, only to receive help from another wolf equally the same size but a light brown colour.

And a few seconds later, you passed out cold.

The boys were in their wolf forms, strolling through the woods like they usually do except tonight with the full moon shining down at them. Everyone was having their own fun. Chan and Minho were lingering behind their younger brothers, watching over them and their safety.

Changbin was walking with Jeongin in the centre, once in a while playfully nudging Jeongin’s side with the tip of his snout.

Jisung, Felix and Hyunjin were playing catch but making sure to stick close by while Seungmin was just breaking out into small jogs and twirls excitedly whenever he comes across a field of dandelions on the grass patches.

They were all roaming freely together when all of a sudden, a shrilling scream echoed in their sensitive ears making them all halt to a stop.

“What was that?!” Jisung asked through telepathy, only for Chan to transfer his message to the rest of the boys through his mind.

“I don’t know but it sounds close by.”

“I don’t feel good about this. I think someone’s injured.” Hyunjin said worriedly. However, before anyone could continue, a certain scent intoxicated Minho’s nostrils and he knew exactly what it was or who it was.

“It’s that new girl from school. She’s caught in a metal trap. We have to help her. Now!” Minho said firmly as he began running through the woods, using his sense of smell to try and detect your location. The minute he saw the man standing over your limp body with one of your hind legs horribly clamped between the metal bars, Minho raced over to you.

Right before the man could pull the trigger, Minho leaped out from the shadows, sending the man flying backwards along with himself. Minho tackles the man easily as he growls in the man’s face.

Chan soon joins in to give Minho a hand. Chan bit the shotgun and tosses it far from reach.

Right when the man began to plead for them to spare his life, Minho lets out one last growl followed by a hiss before he bites the man’s head off without a single ounce of mercy.

Normally, Chan does not condone violence to his pack. He only allows it during a life and death situation and if it involves werewolf hunters.

After the hunter’s body was laying there limp, like a headless chicken, Minho licks his canine teeth tasting the disgusting blood coating them. His glowing red eyes bore deep into the limp body, feeling anger taking over him until he heard Seungmin’s soft voice through the telepathy.

“Hyung, she fell unconscious.”

With that, Minho turned around as he and Chan quickly went over to where your body laid.

Your chest was barely moving, your leg was bleeding and probably broken, there was no sign of other injuries except for your leg.

Meanwhile, Changbin, Felix, Hyunjin, Jisung and Jeongin were guarding the perimeter, senses heightened so as to be able to detect any danger coming their way just like how Chan had trained them to perfection.

Chan sniffed the metal trap to try and see if he could break you free from it.

“Minho, bite the other clasp. I’ll bite this side then we’ll try and pull it apart.” Chan said as the younger one walked around Seungmin and soon bit down one side of the clasp like Chan says.

The two of them managed to free your broken leg from the metal trap but now, your leg was bleeding quite a lot.

“What should we do now?” Seungmin asked.

“Take her back to our place. We’ll treat her injuries and wait till she wakes up.” Chan said firmly, earning a nod from the two boys.

Chan called the others over, asking Changbin to help him carry your limp body together.

Chan slides his head under your shoulders while Changbin does the same beside the leader. Once they were both standing on all fours, your body was splayed over their backs horizontally with your head hanging over the side of Changbin’s furry body.

They brought you back to their home, only for Felix to attend to your injury. After they had transformed back to their human self, they wore back their clothes before they went to make sure you were okay.

Felix had just finished cleaning your bloodied wound, washing it with rubbing alcohol to get rid of any bacteria when you slowly began to transform back into your human self.

Of course, you were still unconscious but you were now laying on their couch butt naked with your private parts shielded by your arms and the cross of your thighs.

Nevertheless, the boys quickly diverted their gazes away from you even though you weren’t awake.

They respected you being the only female in the house, which is why Hyunjin ran to the nearest room to get a cosy blanket and soon came back, covering your naked body with it. Felix managed to wrap your leg with the bandage but that was it. They wouldn’t want to help you wear any clothes simply because that would mean they would have to handle your nude self.

Since you were practically strangers, they weren’t gonna do it simply out of respect for you. “Now we wait…” Chan announced as the rest of them nodded.

You didn’t know how long you were out but the sudden warmth and soft material hugging your body made you stir awake. You struggled to focus your vision, finding the bright light a little too overwhelming for you.

Where are you?

Your mind was racing with thoughts. A whole list of possible scenarios were going through your mind, making a guess of which one it was.

Just then, a very familiar scent entered your nose and you recognized it immediately.

That’s when you managed to focus your blurry vision towards the figures that were gathered around the room you were currently in, finally recognizing the faces that were staring back at you in utter concern.

However, it was still a little surprising for you since you were not only in a room filled with guys who were practically strangers to you, you were also butt naked save for the blanket to shield you from their eyes. With that being said, this made you squeak as a soft gasp left your lips.

You hastily sat up, desperately pulling the blanket tighter against your body. The light brown haired male carefully approached you with his hands out in front of them to tell you he was harmless.

“Woah, hey… hey… relax, we’re not gonna hurt you. I promise. Okay?” The leader said with a warm smile as your eyes went to scan him.

You could immediately sense that what he said was true and that they all meant no harm to you. When he noticed your shoulders relax a bit, he smiled before he carefully sat down beside you, making sure to avoid your broken leg.

“How are you feeling?” He asked as you noticed the others were intently staring between you and their leader.

“I… It hurts…” You whispered, eyes finding its own way to the one leaning against the shelves with his arms crossed over his chest. He had ash blue hair, his eye shape was similar to a feline cat and you vividly remember he was the same guy you had a mini staring contest on that first day in the auditorium hall.

“I know it does. So we will try our best to take care of you until it heals… But, only if you agree to stay and let us help. Of course we understand if you want to leave since you don’t know us. It’s up to you. We won’t force you.” The leader said, making you turn to him as your grip on the blanket only loosened slightly.

It didn’t take long for you to decide on staying after you practically could sense sincerity and safety from them. So upon agreeing to their kind offer, the leader went ahead and introduced them to you.

“Since we don’t have any female clothes for you, are you okay if we lend you some of ours for the time being?” Chan asked, to which you nodded gently.

You carefully got up, making sure to wrap the blanket around your body securely. However, the minute you put a small amount of pressure on your injured leg, your knee buckled from the excruciating pain. A soft whimper left your lips as you were about to collapse to the ground. Instead, you never made it to the ground thanks to the strong pair of arms that reached out just in time to catch your waist.

Your free hand flew out to grab onto his shirt, not really seeing who saved you from the fall until you looked up to see who it was.

It’s Minho.

“Woah, be careful. Are you okay?” He asked as you nodded. Except, he didn’t miss the tear that was threatening to roll down your cheeks. You were visibly trying to hold in the pain but he knew it was difficult.

“Let me help.” He offered softly as you could only nod.

With that being said, Minho bends down to carry you bridal style before telling his brothers that he was going to bring you to his room for you to change and rest in. Chan agreed saying it was a good idea since it was already nearing 1 in the morning.

Once Minho made it to his bedroom, he brought you in only to close the door behind him using his foot. He gently placed you down on his king sized bed, making sure to not hurt your leg.

After he laid you down on the bed, he went over to his closet and took out a clean oversized shirt and sweatpants.

“Here, change into this then go and rest. I’ll be downstairs if you need anything. The others will be right down the hall in their bedrooms, okay?” His voice was so gentle, you almost forgot you didn't know this guy personally.

When he saw you nod subtly, he flashed you a smile and was about to leave when you grabbed his wrist softly to stop him.

“Thank you… all of you…” You whispered, earning a smile from him before he told you to rest.

The small jolt of electricity running through your veins at the skin contact didn’t go unnoticed between you two but you decided to ignore it until he left. The minute he closed the door, you gently caressed your hand that reached out for his wrist.

Little did you know, he did the same to his hand where you left a tingling sensation to his skin.

What was that feeling?

From the first day they met you at the auditorium, Chan could already sense you were an Omega. That night when they saved you from being killed, Chan already knew he would take you into the pack. It was just a matter of whether or not you want to accept his offer. It has been three months since they saved you that night.

Ever since then, it was pretty obvious that you’ve grown slightly closer to them and they were already treating you like a part of their pack. Despite not giving a firm answer yet on whether you want to officially be in their pack or not, Chan still treated you with respect and like you were a part of their little family.

And for that, you were grateful.

However, during the past three months, you’ve also developed a little crush on Minho.

Not only was he always sweet and caring towards you, he was also the one who offered to lend you his bedroom and his clothes when you stayed over for the few days after you got injured.

Although you tried your best to hide your feelings for him, it looks like the other boys could sense it considering how Jisung and Felix would sometimes tease you whenever Minho was around. You would normally just brush them off or just plainly ignore them. Yet, sometimes Minho would catch you blushing when the boys tease you about him and he couldn’t help but find you adorable.

It was a Thursday afternoon, you had just finished your first class and were just keeping some of your books in your locker when a figure appeared beside you with an arm resting against the lockers. You glanced up to find Minho smiling down at you adorably, his eyes disappearing into two crescent moons.

“Hey, joining us for lunch?” He asked.

“Yeah, just keeping some books I don’t need for later.” You said, only to feel him tuck the stray hairs behind your ear.

This small gesture was enough to make your heart skip a beat in your chest. You tried to ignore the feeling but he was making it so difficult as he soon began to gently play with your hair, telling you it's pretty and soft.

You couldn’t help but giggle as he slid his hand down only to rest on your waist. After you closed your locker, you turned to face him, letting him slide his arm around your waist and pulled you closer to him. However, before any of you could say anything, Changbin’s teasing voice broke out from behind you.

“Aye, finally the two lovebirds acknowledge each other’s feelings huh?” This made Jisung and Chan, who were with Changbin, to chuckle in amusement.

You pulled away from Minho only for the boy to speak up.

“Seo Changbin, if you don’t keep that stupid mouth of yours shut, I’ll make sure you sleep on the porch tonight.” Minho threatened, earning a silly face from Changbin who clearly gives no shit.

A few more weeks went by, you only grew closer and closer to the boys and yet you still weren’t in their pack. You had been so dependent on your parents that when they left you, it almost rendered you insane. It took you a while to accept that you were a lone wolf but after that incident, it only made you stronger and much more independent.

That’s why until now, you still haven’t accepted Chan’s offer on being in his pack despite knowing they were good people. It wasn’t because you still didn’t trust these boys. It was just in your nature for being an Omega, to feel independent.

It was a Friday evening, you haven’t been to the boys’ place for almost a week now but you still saw them and spent time with them in school.

Just then, you distinctly heard a familiar howl which sounded like they were in pain.

It was far but you knew where it came from and who the howl belonged to. You didn’t bother changing out of your pyjamas, running out of your apartment and straight to the direction of the howl through the woods that were right behind your run down apartment complex.

You ran as fast as your two feet could take you, already memorizing the woods in the back of your head. You followed the scent as it got stronger with every corner you took which means you were getting close.

That’s when you recognized Chan and Changbin’s furry self attacking the three hunters while Minho’s wolf form was laying there on the ground against the tree with his mouth in a nuzzle.

“No, no, no!” You hissed as you ran to him, cupping his large wolf face in your small hands.

“Minho! Minho, can you hear me? Please tell me you can hear me! Please…” You whispered desperately as his eyes were closed. You reached behind his head to unclasp the nuzzle, freeing his snout from it.

You looked around to see there was a shotgun laying just a few feet from you so you crawled over to it and locked the bullets in place before you aimed it at the hunter that was struggling under Chan’s grip. One of the 3 hunters was lying dead on the ground headless. So with one deep breath, you pulled the trigger, shooting the hunter straight through the side of his head.

Chan jumped back a little only to turn to the side and locked eyes with you who had the gun pointed to them. You quickly shifted your aim to Changbin and the last hunter, but it was slightly difficult due to them rolling and throwing each other around.

Before you could pull the trigger, Changbin growled and soon tore the hunter’s limbs apart one by one before settling for the head.

You threw the shotgun as far away as possible, turning back to Minho who was going in and out of consciousness. However, feeling as though you needed to make sure he was still alive, you gently stroked his furry chest to try and feel for his heartbeat.

Chan and Changbin came back to you and Minho, only for them to talk to you through telepathy.

“He’s badly wounded. We need to aid him fast.” Chan said.

“Let’s quickly get him home. Are you gonna stay with us tonight?” Changbin asked, making you nod at them.

With that being said, all four of you quickly made it back to their home with Minho on top of the two, just like they did with you on the night they found you trapped.

Once you all arrived at their house, you quickly ran to their door, knocking it frantically and it took them less than 2 seconds to open the door.

“Oh shit, quickly, get in.” Hyunjin said as the 3 wolves entered only for the two to gently place Minho on the couch.

“His leg got shot twice, one more on his left rib and a plunge to his shoulder.” Changbin told Felix as the younger one began to get to work with Seungmin’s assistance. In the meantime, the two boys went upstairs to go change while you stayed behind with the others in the kitchen.

“How come you were with them?” Jisung asked as you leaned against the counter with Hyunjin standing beside you while Jisung and Jeongin stood opposite from you.

“I was at home when I heard a howl. I knew immediately they were in pain and it sounded very familiar. So I went to check.” You explained as the boys exchanged knowing glances to one another.

“Noona? Can I ask you something?” Jisung asked.

“Sure.”

“Did you get any particular feeling when you heard the howl?”

“I just… I felt like it was someone close to me. Someone I cared for… Someone I-”

“-love?” Jeongin finished your sentence for you, making you look up at him with wide eyes.

“We know… We can always tell when one of us is in love… And we’ve known that from the start about Minho towards you. We just… couldn’t tell exactly for you since you’re not part of the pack.” Hyunjin explained, only for you to understand better.

Minho loves you?

You frowned as you stared at your feet for a while before you looked past Jisung’s shoulder to find Seungmin placing a blanket over Minho’s wolf form.

You were worried. You were terrified. The last thing you wanted was to never get to say goodbye to him. Never get to say the three words you hoped to tell him one day. Lucky for you, it wasn’t going to be a worry for you anytime soon.

Felix and Seungmin carefully left Minho there to rest as they approached the four of you in the kitchen.

“How is he?” Jeongin asked.

“He just needs plenty of rest. We managed to take out the bullets so I’m sure he’ll be fine by tomorrow.” Felix explained.

Since Minho was an Alpha, it means that he heals faster than the younger ones did. Same goes for Chan and Changbin if they ever got injured by something that wasn’t deadly to them. So with that being said, you excused yourself to go check on Minho, earning nods from the rest of them.

They watched as you made your way to Minho’s peaceful form on the couch.

“Why can’t they just confess already? They’re practically the perfect soulmates for each other.” Seungmin sighed with a smile.

“I know right?” Felix giggled.

“Come on, let’s give them some space.” Hyunjin said as he began to pull his brothers upstairs to let you and Minho have some privacy.

You sat on the floor in front of Minho’s adorable snout, gently caressing his soft fur on his neck. You gave him a small kiss on the tip of his nose before whispering to him.

“Please be okay… I don’t want to lose you.”

His soft breaths filled your sensitive ears as you stroked his chest like a lullaby for him.

A few minutes of silence accompanied you, allowing yourself to drift off to sleep with the top of your head leaning against his neck and right underneath his chin. You didn’t know how long you were asleep but you woke up to the feeling of someone gently caressing your hair.

Successfully stirring awake, you brought your head up only to find Minho back in his human form and still in all his naked glory but with the blanket covering his waist down.

You immediately got to your knees and wrapped your arms around his neck, earning a soft giggle from him as he snaked his arms around your waist.

“Hi princess.” His sultry voice echoes in your ear, making you blush.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!” You whispered, hearing him chuckle softly.

“Of course I have to be okay, I won’t leave you hanging.” His words made you pull back from him, staring into his adorable round eyes. Minho could sense your confusion in which he laughed.

With that, he reached up to cup your cheeks and gently caressed it with his thumbs before he whispered.

“I won’t ever leave you.”

You didn’t know what came over you but you suddenly felt brave. It has been screaming at you to do this for quite a while now, you just chose to ignore it. But this time, you felt like it was the right time to do it.

So with one small breath, you leaned in to kiss him, feeling him instantly smile against your lips. Both of you felt sparks shooting out of the kiss as he pulled you on top of him. His hands flew down to your waist while your small hands cupped his face softly.

Minho’s tongue teased you as he licked your bottom lip before tugging it in between his teeth.

His grip on your waist tightened, making you sit firmly on his thighs. You completely forgot he was butt naked until you felt something poking your inner thigh. It wasn’t until he pulled away from your lips to smile cheekily up at you.

“Should we go to my bedroom?” He asked, making you giggle.

“Are you sure you’re healed? I wouldn’t want to hurt you.” You asked.

Minho kissed you again only to pull back and smirk, “Trust me sweetheart, I’m already good to go. I’m an Alpha, remember?” You rolled your eyes at his cockiness but nevertheless found it so attractive.

Minho laughed as he captured you in a kiss yet again before he stood up with you on his waist, your legs wrapped around his hips. A small yelp escaped your lips as he carried you up to his bedroom. Once you made it to his room, he kicked his door close and locked it before gently tossing you onto his bed.

He crawled over to you until he was situated in between your legs, making you nervous.

“You know you can always tell me to stop if you’re uncomfortable, right baby? I will never force you to do something you’re not okay with.” Minho reassured you as he caressed your cheek lovingly.

You were nervous, yes because it would be your first time mating. However, you didn’t feel uncomfortable because you trusted him. So you weren’t going to stop him.

Not now. Not ever.

“I want you… Minho. Please… I… I love you.” You whispered with your eyes closed, too afraid to look at him. What you missed was how his eyes grew even softer the minute you said those last three words. Minho never felt this way before. Sure he has mated before and none of it works out. But this time, it all felt so foreign to him.

You weren’t just another one of his playmates. You weren’t a random stranger whom he would have sex with and leave. You were someone he cared for, someone he grew fond of, someone he trusts, and most importantly, someone he loves.

With that being said, Minho smiles as he leans down to close the gap before he whispers against your lips.

“I love you too, Y/N.”

Right after, he kisses you like his life depends on it. Pouring out his love for you through the kiss, hoping you could feel his sincerity. He felt your hands sliding down his chest, only to trace your fingertips along the outlines of his abs.

He helped you discard your pyjamas, tossing them onto the ground as he then realized you only had your panties and no bra.

“Did you really just leave your apartment like this?” He chuckled, pecking your lips a few times.

“I got worried okay... I wanted to make sure no one’s hurt…” You blushed as he teased you.

“Aww, so you rushed out without thinking to change just because you were worried about me?” Minho smirked down at you.

“Shut up, Min. I didn’t know who it was when I ran out okay…” You pushed his face away with your hands only for him to bury his face in the crook of your neck.

“Yeah, sure.”

“I’m serious!” You pouted as he pulled away to look at your disappointed face, making him chuckle and kiss you repeatedly, saying you looked too cute.

“Okay okay, I believe you baby.” Minho chuckled, cupping your cheeks to kiss you again, this time letting his lips linger there for a bit. Both of you took your own sweet time with each other. He promised to be gentle with you and that was exactly what he did. Only going rough once in a while so that you could both reach your highs.

Minho marked you as his partner and you were happy he did. But there was only one thing left that you haven’t done.

After he cleaned you, you were both lying in bed under his soft duvet. He was just gently playing with your hair while you laid your head on his chest. His mind was filled with nothing but you. All until you spoke up.

“I want to be in Chan’s pack.”

Minho’s fingers stopped whatever it was doing, only for him to stare down at you.

“What did you say?”

“I’ve thought about it… And I want to be in Chan’s pack.” You repeated again, causing him to smile.

“Wait… are you serious?”

You nodded with a small smile, making him huff. After almost 4 months of spending time with them, getting to know each of them better, you realized that they were nothing but a family to one another. And with your tragic past, maybe being in Chan’s pack wouldn’t be so bad. Not only will you have a family of your own, but you also have someone who you loved dearly.

So why not right?

With that being said, Minho kissed you again and again on your cheeks, your nose, your forehead and your lips. All you did was giggle.

“Let’s go tell Chan!” Minho said excitedly as he leaped out of bed butt naked, going around to collect both your clothes that were scattered on the floor. Once you were both changed, he grabs your hands and laces his fingers with yours only to run down the hall, accidentally bumping into Jisung and Changbin as you did so.

“Bang Chan!” Minho called out as he burst open the elder’s bedroom door, only to find Chan just reading something from his book shelves.

“Oh, hey guys. What’s up?” Chan smiled as he placed his book down on the desk but Minho was quick to tell him the news.

“Y/N wants to be part of the pack.”

With that, Chan’s eyes grew wide as he stared at you with a happy glint in his eyes.

“Really?”

You gave him a firm nod in which Chan couldn’t help but grin.

“Well then, welcome to the family Y/N.” Chan announced, only for the rest of them to rush in.

“Noona’s finally part of us?!” Felix and Jisung asked in unison, earning a solid yes from Chan. The younger ones immediately ran to you to give you a hug. You couldn’t help but giggle as they welcomed you warmly. After you were done exchanging hugs, Chan spoke up to get everyone’s attention.

“Also, I think it’s pretty clear that Y/N is now out of bound to the rest of us except Minho.” Chan smirked, wiggling his eyebrows at the male who had his fingers laced with yours.

“Yeah so don’t even think about it.” Minho warned, pretending to threaten his brothers but of course he didn’t actually plan to hurt them if they got close to you since they already loved you like a sister.

“Don’t worry brother, she’s all yours.” Changbin smiled cheekily, only for you to blush.

You were glad that you found them. You were glad they saved you that night and not any other pack. You were glad they came into your life. Because they taught you how to be strong again. They taught you how to survive. And most importantly, Minho taught you how to love again.

~~~

#stray kids scenarios #stray kids #stray kids imagines #stray kids lee know #stray kids lee minho #skz scenarios #skz imagines #skz lee minho #skz minho scenarios #skz minho x reader #skz minho #skz minho fluff

328 notes · View notes

blouisparadise · 3 years

Photo

Here is a rec list of bottom Louis fics where one or both of the boys is a wolf. This includes werewolf fics and A/B/O fics where they transform into wolves. If you enjoy our rec lists, please be sure to reblog this post to help spread the word.

Happy reading!

1) New York's Beauty | Mature | 5274 words

Prompt 104: AU where Harry is an alpha wolf and Louis is a hybrid kitten. They were roommates. While they were arguing about something stupid, Harry wanted to bend Louis over the kitchen table and knot him right there. He slowly accepted his feelings and extreme desire for Louis, so he started to tease the hybrid until he would beg Harry to fuck him. They fall in love.

2) Just Like The Wolf Before He Bites | Explicit | 11096 words

He’s loud, Louis is, and that’s far from unusual for him, but the volume of it still has Harry pulling back the curtain. There’s a half-formed thought in the back of his brain about telling Louis off, because it’s fucking half three in the morning, but then.

But then Harry’s eyes get stuck on the soft glint of Louis’ stubble in the light, and he’s making his way across the room before he even realizes it.

Louis, for his part, just tips his chin up to give Harry space and keeps talking, waving the joint in his hand around for emphasis. He doesn’t even bother to greet Harry, going on with his story to his semi-rapt audience, just settles a hand in between Harry’s shoulder blades and pushes him down firmly.

Harry just. Relaxes. His eyes slip closed, pushing his entire face into that spot underneath Louis’ chin, where his hair is still growing, neat and prickly. The scent of Louis’ cologne drifts into Harry’s nose, light and fresh, and it’s calming. Comforting. His breathing syncs up with Louis’ quickly, and Harry feels so much better than he had five minutes ago he almost wants to cry.

3) I Would Follow You (To the Moon and Back) | Explicit | 20355 words

Everyone has baggage, some people sleepwalk, some have obsessive exes, and others turn into anthropomorphic wolf-like monsters that destroy furniture and run rampant in the forest. Perfectly normal.

4) Break Open The Sky | Explicit | 20372 words

Note: Mentions of BH.

Werewolf AU. Harry might be a werewolf, but he still wants to experience Uni like everyone else. Turns out he learns a lot.

5) Out Of The Wild | Explicit | 21502 words

Louis has spent most of his life as a wolf in the wild, Harry has spent most of his life as a human in the city. Their worlds collide during the audition process for the hottest new singing competition. What happens next should have expected.

6) Falling Into Your Gravity | Explicit | 28933 words

The Doncaster tribe has suffered from the increasing attacks of the rogue werewolves for months now and finally their pleas have been answered. The Government has sent them enforcements in the form of a family of high standing, the Styles, whose babelicious son turns a certain omega’s world upside down. Poor Louis is just trying to get people believe he’s a beta as his family’s life depends on it.

7) Compete Against The Stars | Mature | 30890 words

An ABO AU where Louis finds out he's claimed to another Alpha. Angst ensues.

8) Canyon Moon | Explicit | 40895 words

For as long as Louis has remembered, he has been promised to be mated to Harry, his best friend and the future pack alpha. But Louis’s heart belonged to the forest and to the hunt more than he could ever imagine it belonging to Harry.

Then Harry’s father dies in a violent accident, and Louis’s future alpha disappears on the wind.

9) I'm On the Hunt Now (I'm After You) | Mature | 56418 words

Omegas haven’t been able to shift into their wolves for two hundred years. That is, until Louis Tomlinson changes everything.

10) Bite Me | Explicit | 93222 words | Sequel

Being groomed for alpha was hard enough. Now, mix in moving to a completely different location and losing three of his pack's omegas to outsiders, and you've got a disaster. Or, so it was in Harry's eyes. He was told not to worry; they weren't his omegas and he wasn't the alpha yet. But he did worry. Their pack was under attack and he had no idea why, and when he found a suitable mate, the problems that his stepdad faced would be his.

11) Among The Humans | Explicit | 129435 words

A gothic, modern day vampire romance between a young human named Louis Tomlinson, and Harry Styles, ancient vampire and gentleman.

Creatures of the night come with more trouble than they wish to make it seem.

12) You Smell Like | Mature | 185369 words

The one where Louis is the Alpha’s mate and everyone is aware of it except for Louis and Harry. Go figure!

13) Cold Little Heart | Teen & Up | 194780 words

Louis is a soft omega with an abusive past and an alpha child. A few months after getting a divorce, Louis meets Harry, an ex-military alpha wolf that offers him something -odd.

In exchange for teaching him how to cook, Harry will babysit his son, Abraham. Louis really could use the help.

14) Only You Can Be My Alpha | Explicit | 196073 words

The one where Louis is banished from his tribe, and lands himself in Harry's instead. The alluring Pack Alpha makes Louis question his nature and he doesn't know how he feels about that. But you can't fight destiny.

15) Queen of Arizella | Mature | 277919 words

Stealing from Royalty is punishable by death.

Louis starts over, doing his best to keep his hands at his sides but he is hungry and he tries stealing from the wrong Royal.

Harry is King of Arizella, he needs a Queen and who better than an omega on the run from death? Louis will learn to become the perfect Queen -the perfect fake Queen, but only for a few months.

A fake lover, a fake Queen, but a real bond.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

#bottom louis #top harry #werewolf au #teen wolf au #a/b/o #fic recs #blp fic recs #blp

175 notes · View notes

everythingharrypotterblog · 3 years

Text

charmed [7]: ‘night changes’ (remus lupin x reader)

a/n: i got rejected from my top choice university program today so if im gonna be unhappy, might as well make u guys happy and release parts 5 and 7

brief summary: y/n and remus are both teachers at hogwarts and this is his first transformation where he is under wolfsbane. y/n remains in human form as he transforms. werewolf or not, all y/n ever feels is him.

series summary: set in the prisoner of azkaban, including its major plot points. remus and y/n get hired by dumbledore last minute to teach at hogwarts, defense against the dark arts and charms respectively. not wanting the students to know they are married, they navigate the challenging year through hidden glances, hand holds underneath the table and loving moments in their offices. even with all their efforts to conceal their relationship, their chemistry does not go unnoticed by the student population of hogwarts, who grow fond of the pair as they offer them some of the best classes they’ve had in a while. their relationship as newlyweds is strengthened as teaching the next generation of wizards unlocks a sea of memories of their love story. for the second time in his life, remus holds hogwarts responsible for some of his happiest memories. he’s given the chance to create them with the love of his life, y/n, who has taught and continues to teach him that every part of him is lovable, remaining forever under her charm.

series masterlist here

join taglist here

previously, in part 1:

“No, you don’t understand, it’s incredibly, extremely dangerous for a human to be around a were-“ Remus had tried to say, before Y/N had stood up and with a crack, disappeared. A single white dove hovered where she had stood, its wings flapping slowly to stay afloat.

“Y/N?”

With a crack, Y/N had appeared again.

“I didn’t know you were an Animagus.”

Y/N grinned.

“What, you thought James, Sirius and Peter were the only ones to ever succeed at it?”

Remus still grimaced, shaking his head and looking down.

“It’s still too dangerous, I won’t risk it. I couldn’t possibly think of hurting you, I’m too dangerous-“

“Remus, stop it. You didn’t hurt Peter as a rat back in the day, you wouldn’t hurt a flinging bird either. Plus, I got a serious height advantage on you anyway.” Y/N raised her eyebrows at him teasingly, transforming back again into the dove and flying up to the ceiling. Lupin wasn’t convinced.

“Y/N, you shouldn’t-“

The dove reappeared as Y/N and kneeled between Lupin’s legs, taking his face into her hands carefully.

“Please? Let me be there for you. Let me try-“

“I-“ Remus winced in his crippling self-doubt.

“I promise, if I ever feel unsafe, I’ll fly away. I promise.”

Remus nodded. “I love you.”

Y/N was taken aback, but surged forward to press her lips against his.

“I love you too.”

It was the first time they had said that to each other.

The first full moon of the Hogwarts term was now but a day away. As it drew nearer, Remus got paler and grew more irritable, as it always was.

The students never noticed, as he remained their kind Professor Lupin to them. Remus valued the staff and Dumbledore in extremely high regard, so he mainly kept to himself to avoid conflict.

However, his short temper was not 100% appeasable.

He was presently in his office, leg anxiously bouncing. He couldn’t help but jitter as restless energy coursed through him. The door opened, and he jerked his head in its direction, to see Y/N walk in, slightly anxious as well.

“Hi, love.” She said, making her way to him.

“He’s late.” Remus muttered.

“It’s Albus Dumbledore, what do you expect- maybe he had a Wizarding War in Luxembourg to stop before this or something.” Y/N joked, dragging a chair beside her and taking Remus’ hand.

His leg stopped bouncing.

1980.

Remus sat in an armchair in the House of Black’s library, attempting to distract himself before the night would come, a transformation night.

Loud voices reverberated across the walls, and he usually wouldn’t have minded, but the full moon made him more irritable.

“Will you guys stop yelling!” He called out across the hallway to the room where James, Sirius and a couple other Order members were talking over each other.

Sirius shared a look with James and they shrugged, making a motion with their hand asking the others to lower their voices.

“Hi, guys!” In came Y/N’s voice, as she walked through the door after a day of work, setting down her jacket. She joined the table for a few snacks, before inquiring, “Where’s Remus?”

“Ah, in the library.” James said mindlessly, shuffling the pack of cards they were playing with. He spotted Y/N head for that direction, and attempted to add, “But I wouldn’t disturb him if I were-“

But Y/N already walked in the library, wanting to see her boyfriend. She found him buried in a book, sitting slightly uncomfortably in his clothes, as if his body was having pre-transformation aches.

“Hi, love.” She said gently.

Remus peered up from his book and instantly smiled, uncrossing his legs and patting at his lap. Y/N took a seat on him, and he wrapped his arms around her comfortably.

“How was work?” He grumbled, mouth kissing up her arm and shoulder.

“Oh, just the usual.”

He listened to her talk about her day, hugging her as she sat in his lap.

James heard faint sounds of their light voices from the other room, and laughed. Sirius shook his head, both of them amused by their friend’s drastic change in demeanor.

“Little fucker.”

Dumbledore appeared in Remus’ office not long after Y/N joined, with a goblet of familiar-looking blue smoke.

“Remus, Y/N. I took the liberty of bringing you your last dose myself, Severus has already done so much. So, you wanted to talk about the logistics of your upcoming transformation.”

Remus nodded, leaning forward and taking the potion.

“This is your first time with Wolfsbane, so we cannot be sure on how it will affect you. However, I trust that it has been brewed properly, so it should do its function, which is to maintain your mental state when you transform.”

“So technically, he could just stay and hide here in his office and wait for the night to be over?” Y/N asked Dumbledore, thumb rubbing over Remus’ hand.

“Yes. If the potion has been brewed correctly, which I am sure it has, Remus should transform into nothing but a harmless wolf. Of course, because this is your first time, if you still wish to go outside and-“

“Yes.” Remus interjected, once he finished the last of the potion. “I wish to still use the Whomping Willow, just to avoid all potential risk.”

“Very well.” Dumbledore smiled, bowing his head. “I have complete trust in you, so you do as you please.”

“And I should… I won’t forget who I am, I won’t lose my mind?” Remus asked.

“No.” Dumbledore confirmed. “Your mental state will stay intact.”

“Then, I can technically be in human form with him.” Y/N gasped as the idea jumped into her head. She was immediately met with startled looks from both Dumbledore and Remus, Dumbledore merely intrigued and Remus looking downright terrified. “I mean, I could be with him. Me, a human.” She added hastily.

Glancing at Remus’ fervently opposed look, Dumbledore merely stood up.

“I will leave that between you two to discuss. Goodnight, and good luck.” He said. “Oh! And one more thing.”

His eyes twinkled. “I hear talk amongst the students since the start of term. About you two.”

Remus and Y/N looked at each other nervously.

“Something about spotting their Charms and Defence teachers always being present in each other’s offices…”

Y/N mouth dropped in shock, trying to figure out how students could even know where they spent their nights, before Dumbledore laughed heartily, shaking his head.

“I kid, I kid, I have heard nothing of the sort. All that has reached my ears are the raving comments about your classes and subjects. Keep up the good work, Professors.” Dumbledore chuckled, and vanished into the fireplace.

Y/N stared dumbfounded at the spot he disappeared, before letting out a laugh.

“I-“ She blinked. “He is so weird, and can you believe, I almost let slip that I’m an Animagus-“

She stopped once she looked at her husband, whose expression was grave.

“Wha-“

“You cannot stay in human form with me.” He shook his head.

Y/N stayed silent for a second. “Why not? If this potion works, and we know it will, your-“

“We can’t be too sure!” Remus sighed. “Werewolves, we hunt for humans. We look for victims to bite, to… to-“

“If the potion doesn’t work, then I’ll just transform into a dove, like always.”

Remus met her eyes in a worried gaze.

“I’ve been a bird countless of times on your transformations, you’re still gonna let me do that, are you?” Y/N raised her eyebrows. “You even said, werewolves look for humans, animal companions are harmless-“

“Which is exactly why you can’t be in human form, darling! The extreme danger that would put you in, you have no idea.”

“I have no idea?” Y/N pursed her lips, instinctively reaching out to her bicep, on which lay a tiny white scar.

Remus glanced at it too, with almost hatred and remorse in his eyes, as he sighed, hand tracing over it and kissing it.

“Maybe you should transform right now, my love.” Remus said anxiously as he, Y/N, James, Sirius and Peter walked through an abandoned part of the woods.

The sky was dark, and the clouds radiated a faint shimmer indicating the full moon would appear soon.

“I won’t transform until I absolutely need to.” Y/N said firmly, hand holding onto Remus’ tightly.

“She’ll follow our lead, Moony, don’t worry.” Sirius said.

Unintentionally, they stopped at a small hill, deeming the timing to be right.

“Y/N, it’s not too late, you could just Disapparate away, I-“ Remus said to Y/N.

“Remus. Stop. I’m not scared.” Y/N smiled at him, cupping his cheek. “You’re still you. And I love you, all parts of you. Nothing will change that, or you and me.”

Remus nodded, breathing quickly and pulled her in for a kiss, before the other Marauders beckoned Y/N to back away slightly as the moon started to peak.

The night changed in an instant.

The opal orb shone in the sky and in the moonlight, Y/N watched as Remus’ tall silhouette trembled, his body morphing into a werewolf.

Y/N was in awe. His body lengthened. His shoulders were hunching. Hair sprouted visibly from his head and neck and his hands curled into clawed paws. Straightening up, he howled to the sky, the sound echoing into the rest of the night.

Y/N’s mind went blank. The Marauders had transformed as she kept her eye on Remus. For a second, the werewolf’s eyes met hers, but before she could do anything, he lunged for her.

Adrenaline shot through her body as the werewolf made a swipe towards her, a big black dog jumping in between them just in time for Remus’ sharp claw to slightly graze her shoulder before she transformed with a crack, into a dove and flew up, batting her wings.

“I’ll never be able to forgive myself for that.” Remus whispered painfully, finger tracing over the small permanent scratch near Y/N’s shoulder.

“But I’m fine.” Y/N pursed her lips, eyes looking into Remus’ face imploringly. “Because I knew that it wasn’t you. And after the night ended, you cared for me so tenderly and lovingly. Gently. Because that is the real you.”

Remus soaked a warm towel for the millionth time as he sat Y/N on the toilet next to the sink to tend the small scratch she had acquired from him.

“Rem, it’s okay, do you realize that I’ve broken literal bones before! This is nothing.” Y/N said, letting him clean the patch of skin before taking both of his hands in hers. He kneeled in between her legs.

“I could never forgive myself for this, I’m so sorry-“

“Please. In the best way possible, shut up.” Y/N smiled, eyes welling up at the unnecessary look of remorse plaguing Remus’ face. “That wasn’t you. And nothing that I saw or felt last night changes who you are to me now.”

“You don’t…see me as a monster? You don’t even feel a tiny bit scared being with me right now?” Remus teared up.

Y/N smiled, eyes crinkling and letting tears fall down her cheeks. “I just feel you.”

Y/N woke up from her nap the night of the full moon to find Remus’ side of the bed empty. Eventually, she had gotten Remus to agree to let her accompany him as she always did, but in human form this time.

Getting up, she spotted Remus already at the door. She crossed her arms.

“Are you running away?” Y/N frowned, her husband jumping at getting caught.

“No, I-I figured I’d head out earlier.”

Y/N walked towards him, squeezing his shoulders.

“We talked about this. It’ll be okay.” Y/N reassured him. She saw the fear still in his eyes but he nodded, blinking some away and reaching to get Y/N’s coat for her.

They walked in the chilly night air, making their way to the Forest. Although this felt completely new, they had never done this at Hogwarts and they were expecting new results tonight, there was also a sense of déjà-vu present in the air.

Y/N had been helping Remus with every one of his transformations during their entire marriage and before, ever since she was 18. It’s been almost 13 years that they were in this together.

We're only gettin' older, baby

And I've been thinkin' about it lately

“Thank you for being here.” Remus said, squeezing her hand. “And I don’t just mean tonight.”

Y/N squeezed it back tightly, beaming at him. The moon was close to being fully out, and they stopped on a small hill overlooking Hagrid’s Hut where it would appear in full view.

Does it ever drive you crazy

Just how fast the night changes?

“Remember, if I make any sudden moves, you transform on the spot, okay?” Remus looked down at her, eyes full of conviction. Y/N nodded.

They both stood there, waiting, anticipation through the roof. They felt nauseous, from nervousness. The clouds began to fade, and more moonlight shined onto them. Slowly, they let go of each other’s hands and took a couple steps back from each other.

Everything that you've ever dreamed of

Disappearing when you wake up

The first beam of light hit Remus as the full moon emerged.

But there's nothing to be afraid of

Even when the night changes

His neck began elongating, thick hair growing from his head and covering his back. His shoulders hunched as he grew taller, breaking through the material of his clothes.

It will never change, baby

Y/N watched from a short distance as Remus morphed into a towering creature. Her incantation was ready in her head, just in case she had to transform into the dove.

It will never change, baby

Slowly, the full-fledge werewolf straightened up from its hunched over position. His eyes met Y/N’s and her body tensed, remembering. Instead of lunging at her, he sat down, his human-like eyes expressing gentleness. Y/N took a tiny step towards him.

“Remus?” She said, voice trembling.

The werewolf nodded.

Taking steps closer, she shakily got down onto her knees to join him on the ground. She lifted a hand, tentatively, and inch by inch, approached it to cup his cheek. At the contact, they both breathed out in relief.

“I just feel you.” Y/N smiled, tears flowing from her eyes.

It will never change me and you.

to be continued

a/n: as always i’d love to hear what u thought or what ud like to see of the series:)

tags @bicyhot1 @pink-hufflepuff @legitlaughingflamingo @brod16 @gerardonmyway @blueleonor @suranne-doesstuff @rxmusblxck @spxllcxstxr @littleemo477 @just12randomfandoms @svnkissdd @norrreee @m4r13l3y @jess6578 @rorysreallyrandom @the-nightingale-not-the-lark @archeve19 @wolfstarslovechild @pan-pride-12 @x4kai4x @chrrybmb-mp3 @reggieluna @happyslittlekitten @missemilygilmore @all-things-fictional @strangefirething @abitofeverythinggg @yeahshewayout @imfreeeeeee123 @harold-pothead @lunnybunny12 @ellieblack11 @tugabooos @joyfulbiscuit @justonemorechapter07 @wonderwoman292 @skateb0red @secretsthathauntus @siriusblackswhoree @sabonbonn @untraveled-road @annabeljareau @valiantobservationkitty @diffbeanofbrand @theeicedamericano @spencerreidlove @flannellover67 @wishiwasdeadric @becks7401 @katsav17 @emmy-kitty13 @purritoqueen @girl22334 @monicafebyana @talsiaa @sierrax023 @axva03 @uhh-dk @nataliahgrace

#remus lupin fanfiction #remus lupin fanfic #remus lupin x reader #remus lupin imagine #remus lupin fluff #remus lupin x y/n #remus lupin x you #Professor Remus Lupin #professor lupin x reader #professor! reader #charmed

306 notes · View notes

beeradgirlfriend-archived · 2 years

Text

Just give me one thing (deancas fic)

It was a deep and dull ache kind of night. Muscles taught and burning, and blood and sweat crusting his face Dean gripped the steering wheel. The lights of a passing car blinding his bleary ears.

His mind was pounding home, home, home in time with his pulsing head.

“Dean, we should stop” Cas’ voice the first thing breaking Dean’s blurred mind in the last hour and a half.

“Man, I just want to get home”

“You’re exhausted. and no one could drive the whole way without stopping. We should just stop at the next motel. You get some sleep.” the lone street light of the one block town they were driving through illuminated his features, “Or I could drive for a bit.” He offered.

“I’m fine, Cas.”

“You’re exhausted. And emotionally drained.”

“Shut up.” Dean snapped.

The hunt had been a disaster. Dean knew the minute he closed his eyes, that little girl would haunt him. He had been four once, he’d seen his mother die, and he’d never been four again. He knew if he stopped, her small frame staring as the vamp drained the life from her mother would taunt him. You should been the quicker. Some days, the job felt more like hunting things, and failing people.

Cas looked over at Dean. Studying him hard. He knew what he wanted to say. His mind was bubbling with reassurances, but he knew that Dean was emotional and when that happened, he was automatically on the defensive. Platitudes would help no one. The smell of sweat and blood was thick in the car, and Cas’ human body was tugging him to sleep, aiming to forget the world for an hour or two.

“Driving all night isn’t saving anyone. Just don’t get us killed” he grumbled, before turning his head away. He leaned again the car door and through his closed eyes.

The air was sweet and cool. There was a breeze feathering Cas’ hair, blinked sleeply.

“Hey, Buddy. I didn’t mean to wake you. Just stopping here for a moment.” Dean’s voice was low, “You were out for awhile.”

“Where are we?” Cas ask groggily.

“Umm, I’m not sure. Mild’a nowhere. Somewhere.”

“What state?”

“Oh, Cali. I think.” Dean opened his door, “I decided to take the scene route. Down the coast. Get our fill of mountains and trees before it’s back to Kansas”

“Well, not very scenic when it’s the mild of the night” Cas muttered.

“I drove you ass 7 hours to get here.”

“You don’t know where here is, Dean. And I hardly asked you to.”

“Whatever” there was still the clip of anger to Dean’s voice, so Cas didn’t respond.

Dean stepped out of the car into night. It was 4 am before he felt like stopping. His whole brain had been telling him to go home 7 hours ago. But when it came time to take 89 he just stayed right on I-5. Something in him churned at the thought of Kansas in that moment.

The last time he’d come down the coast like this was maybe 17 years ago. He’d been working a job up north on his own, and after he’d planned on dropping by Stanford and seeing Sam. He’d never made it to Sam, but he remembered the beauty of the northern most part of the state.

After hours of shaking off sleep he revealed in the clean air. Freedom from the car for a moment. Cas had passed out and hours later he’d decided to pull off the road. Driven off near a creek that he’d just crossed.

The moonlight drew sharp sliver slits across the surface of the creek. The water was a slow moving current, playing faintly in the darkness. Dean was scrambling down the bank. He could hear Cas calling and scrambling down after him.

“Relax, man. I just want to clean up a bit.” He called.

Sharp and clear. He paused for a moment. Screw it. He stripped naked and walked it.

The higher altitudes meant the temperatures dipped more at night and creek was shockingly cold. Dean stood for a second, looking up at the half full moon. 300 miles later, his face was still caked in blood and sweat, and the salty remains of some tears.

He dunked his head under the water. Gasping he emerged and scrubbed desperately at his face. The cold water stung his skin as he waded out further, up to his waist. He dropped, his whole body submerged momentarily.

As he erupted to surface again his lungs burn and his body hurt. He was bursting.

“FUCK” the sound of his scream ripped through the peaceful landscape.

He heard his name ricocheting. Cas.

Cas stopped his decent of the bank and stood stunned as he watched Dean shed his layers and make his way into the water. His heart thrummed in his chest and he stood frozen. Dean dropped in to the water. Cas held his breath and everything was silent.

“FUCK”

He heard himself shouting Dean’s name. It rippled in the deep night.

Silence.

“I’m good, Cas. I’m fine” came the ragged response.

Cas soon stood at the edge of the water. The water eating at his shoes. He wanted to wade into the water, but he imagined Dean would only push him farther away.

A noise was ringing out a across the water. Cas could tell if the jagged noise was laughter or sobs. He shed his shoes and coat and cut through the sliver water.

Cas reached Dean fast. Dean was caught between laughing and crying, his hole body shaking.

Cas held Dean’s face in his hands. Dean’s breathing steadied slightly. He leaned into the rough palms of Cas’ hands. His eyes where closed. He could feel the water eddying around him, Cas pressing into his body, the cool water soothed him. He felt hollow. Fragile.

“Oh, Cas.” The words hang between them in the brittle air.

Cas hooked his arms around Dean’s waist, tight.

“I’m really ok.” Dean rested his forehead against Cas’, “ Look, I know you worry about me. But I’m not-“ Dean trails off.

A breath, “I know you worry. And you’re right, the past does get to me sometimes.”

The next words were barely spoken aloud, “But, Cas, now, now is good.”

The breeze began to pick up around them.

“You just needed to get it out, I know, but-“

Dean cut Cas off, “you want to fix everything, believe me, I get it. But this, you can’t.” Cas looked hurt, “And that’s fine. You’re here. I’m here. We’re good, man.”

Dean ran his fingers through Cas’ hair. He placed a kiss on his cheek. Cas relaxed a little.

His eye illuminated in the moonlight, and in these moments, Dean could see the grace shining from within.

“I love you, you know.” Cas started, “And-“

“I know.” Dean tugged at Cas shirt. “You’re all wet.”

“I know.”

“Well, I still want to swim tonight off” Dean pulled away and fell back into the water.

“It’s a little cold for my taste.” Cas began wading back to the bank.

The water enveloped Dean. The cold striped his body of the last traces of the night.

Cas undressed once he was back on land. He sat on rock and watched. He stilled worried. Watching over Dean had once been his job, and after years, it still was. He didn’t have to now, but chose to. Choice was the whole, wasn’t it.

The night was getting too cold for his naked body so he found is discarded coat and wrapped himself up before resuming his post.

Dean dove once more, before resurfacing nearer to the water’s edge. The moonlight lit the the contours of his body. To Cas’ eyes he seemed to gleam and shimmer, the water curling around his thighs.

“Hey, there” Dean stood before him now. He toweled his hair with his old T-shirt. He reached for Cas’ hand.

Cas’ hand was warm against his damp skin. Cas’ lips against his had the effect of whiskey, lighting him from the inside. Cas tugged at his damp hair, and pulled his head back. The warmth of Cas’ breath followed the line of Dean’s bared neck.

Body heat alone wasn’t holding up against the creeping air and Dean separated to pull on jeans and his jacket. He grabbed the rest of clothes, “We should get you dressed” he nodded in the direction of the car.

They trudged up towards the Impala. Cas slid into the front seat, and Dean retrieved clothes and some blankets from the trunk before joining him.

Cas was in a fresh shirt and boxers, blanket wrapped over his shoulders. Dean slid the key into the ignition.

“We’re leaving?”

“Nah, figured I’d give us some music,” Dean had traded his jacket for another blanket.

The dial of the radio glowed. Dean skipped over a few stations of static and fragmented noise before stopping. He turned the volume low and leaned back into Cas, sighing.

“I think Mom liked this song.”

“Really?”

“We used to sing it together”

When I die let my ashes float down the Green River

Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam

I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin'

Just five miles away from wherever I am.

The words sounded distant through the radio.

“Sing it for me?”

Dean chuckled, “I don’t really remember it.”

“Oh”

The opening cords of the next song picked up.

“Huh, they’re on a Prine kick, I guess”

“What?”

“Same artist”

“I see,” Cas rested his head against Dean’s

Dean laughed again softly.

“What now?” Cas whispered into his hair.

Dean sat up causing Cas to do the same, “It’s just this song” he shook his head, “listen to the lyrics. I mean come on, man”

Cas tilted his head. Dean could tell he was listening intently.

If dreams were lightning

And thunder were desire

This old house would've burned down

A long time ago

Then Dean started to sing. It was soft, and cracking a little. Outside of the moment it would hardly having been called beautiful, but it had a strangely deep emotionality.

Make me an angel

That flies from Montgomery

Make me a poster

Of an old rodeo

Just give me one thing

That I can hold on to

To believe in this livin'

Is just a hard way to go

Cas said nothing, he watched Dean as he sang.

To believe in this livin'

Is just a hard way to go

The song finished and there was a moment of dead air.

“You sing well” Cas curled into Dean’s chest, the blanket slipping slightly.

“I don’t really but thanks,” Dean laughed.

“I liked the song.”

Dean played absently with Cas’ hair, “it always makes me think of you”

“Always” Cas looked up at him.

“Yeah” Dean says absently. He leans down and awkwardly kisses Cas.

In search of a better angle, Cas turns and props himself up. Kissing long and hard, Cas fumbled for Dean’s fly. Dean’s tongue played against Cas’. The dull deep ache became pleasant under the slow and steady touch of one another.

The song on the radio crackled into pale grey of coming dawn:

Many times I've often prayed

In the darkness of my night,

In the brightness of my day.

So if you're travelin' in the north country fair,

Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,

Remember me to one who lives there

She once was a true love of mine

#can you tell I miss the west coast #so sorry for the weird formatting I copy-pasted this from my notes app #hurt/comfort #ish maybe #spn #supernatural #my writing #deancas #destiel #deancas ficlet #destiel ficlet #dean #cas #November 5 anniversary #spn fandom #supernatural fic #www.carmen

33 notes · View notes

littlemisspascal · 3 years

Text

Death and an Angel part 6

Helmetless + Death!Din and Cupid F!Reader

Summary: Three things happen at once.

He pulls his glove off and tosses it aside. You forget how to breathe.

Rating: T

Word Count: 2,114

Warnings: Swearing, backstory, angsty angst, fluffy fluff, mutual pining finally acknowledged, overuse of italics, don’t mess with Din’s Cupid or he’ll kill you

Author Note: Important please read this! Ok, so if you’ve been following along you’ll know I had no outline for this originally. And well, that’s come back to bite me. I had to make an edit to Part 2, a small one but still the very beginning will look marginally different if you’ve read it before today’s date Dec. 16, 2020. Basically, I took away the implication that You don’t know exactly how You became a Cupid. So, yeah. Hopefully moving forward I’ll be better handling all this *awkward shuffling*. As always, thank you for all the support and I appreciate every one of you so much ❤

Links to Part 1 and Part 5 and Part 7

Cross-posted on AO3.

Photo Inspiration:

Silence floods the ship in the wake of your admission, stifling and charged with enough tension you fear breathing too loud will set off a chain reaction with disastrous results. It makes the hair on the back of your neck prickle, every instinct inside of you screaming to teleport away, if only so you no longer have to see Din stubbornly trying and failing to hide his internal turmoil behind a mask of indifference.

When he opens his mouth, you tense but the question slices through you all the same. “When?”

You hesitate, making a face. “Din, we really don’t have time for this. Let’s just move on—”

Without warning, the hand holding your elbow slides to your wrist and twists, turning your palm up for inspection. Din stares at the blank expanse of skin, then slowly his gaze lifts, and he releases you as if you’ve poisoned him.

“You’ve never lied to me before, angel. Did you honestly think now was the best time to start?” he asks, and something breaks inside of you when he looks at you as if you’ve become a total stranger to him.

But before any pain can begin to sink in, anger overcomes you as his assumption registers.

“I’m not lying, you asshole,” you say sharply, feeling a faint pulse of petty satisfaction when you notice the subtle way his stance shifts defensively, betraying his surprise at your boldness. Resting your hands on your hips, you fix him with your fiercest glare. “For all that you are a powerful ancient being of the universe, you are also the biggest, most ignorant fool I’ve ever met. You have absolutely no idea how Cupids become Cupids, do you?”

You don’t offer him even a second to respond, too wound up and fueled by the overwhelming desire to make him get it. To make him understand you’re not purposefully trying to hurt him. If it were up to you, you’d make sure he never felt any kind of pain. But that would require having a choice and that is the one thing the universe did not grant you as a Cupid.

“Every Cupid was once a mortal with a soulmate,” you explain, choosing each word with careful precision while watching his face to make sure his focus never wavers. “And every one of us was rejected by them. When we die, we’re transformed into Cupids, losing our soulmate markings in the process.” When you feel your bottom lip begin to wobble, you pause to take a steadying breath. “You asked me before, what is the true purpose of a Cupid? It’s to help others find the kind of love we never experienced for ourselves.”

Din stands there in front of you, still staring passively, and you’re scared for a moment your words have made no difference, but then his jaw clenches so tightly you hear his teeth grinding.

“You were rejected?” he growls, vicious and guttural, the sound of a feral beast.

He pivots, fist colliding with the wall with enough force it dents the metal beneath his knuckles. You flinch at the noise, shocked at the abuse he’s inflicted upon his beloved ship. Every bone in his hand should have shattered upon impact, but because Death is immune to such damage he merely turns back to you, breathing raggedly and eyes blackened with rage.

“Tell me his name.”

You’ve already begun shaking your head before you say, “So you can go hunt him down? Hell no. Trust me, it doesn’t matter.”

Instead of pacifying him, this only infuriates him further. “How can you say that? That bastard broke your heart when he was supposed to cherish you, protect you, love you above all else.”

“You think I don’t know that?” you ask peevishly, letting your temper get the better of you. Sparing a moment to mentally count to ten, you quietly reveal, “I can say it doesn’t matter because I don’t even remember who he was. There is no point sending you to kill someone who’s face I can’t pick out of a crowd.”

The sudden way Din’s whole body slumps in response to the news, like a puppet whose strings have been cut, expression scrunched and dumbfounded, would have made you laugh if the circumstances were entirely different. Being what they are, you can only meet his stare evenly, silently assuring him you’re not joking in the slightest.

“I don’t understand,” Din says at last, looking like he wants to approach but is unsure you’ll welcome his nearness so he keeps his distance. “You never told me you had memory loss before. What happened to you?”

You shrug helplessly. “I don’t know. For as long as I’ve been a Cupid, all my memories from my mortal life have dark spots, like something poked holes in them.”

Din glances away as he mutters something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like ‘Or someone’ but before you can comment, his tone rises to its usual volume as he says, “Is this why you collect all those old newspapers? To try to help you remember?”

You recall with embarrassment him having previously commented on the pile in your living room. That moment feels like years ago, the two of you sitting in your apartment and Din asking...if Cupids were on the list of potential soulmates. Was that his way of asking if you were on the list? Surely not. He’s much cleverer than that.

...Isn’t he?

“I just,” you shake your head, refocusing on the current conversation. “I keep thinking maybe I’ll find something that fills in the gaps. I don’t like this pit in my stomach, this feeling that I’ve forgotten something important.” You huff a self-deprecating chuckle. “Other than my soulmate, I mean.”

He offers you a smile, small and lopsided, likely meant to be consoling, but you see right through it. You see his pain in the tightness around his mouth, in the way his fingers flex at his sides like it’s taking all his self-control not to reach out to you. Your confession has hurt him. Badly. It’s the kind of hurt no amount of bacta can heal.

The silence returns, different than the one usually experienced during hyperspace in that it wishes to be broken, for someone to say something, anything. You would grant its wish except your thoughts are a jumbled mess inside your head. Deep down, there is a part of you which knows there is nothing you can say that will fix this—this being the chasm forming between you and Din, widening with every passing second spent staring wordlessly at each other.

Would telling him sooner have prevented this heartbreak? Probably. But looking back, you can’t think of an opportune moment. You had never thought your crush could be requited—not just because you were already matched, but also because it had always seemed so ridiculous, imagining the great and powerful Death feeling anything remotely close to affection for an unimportant, low-ranking Cupid.

“Angel,” Din begins after a few minutes, his voice anchoring you back in the present. He’s staring over your shoulder, brow furrowed thoughtfully and you can practically hear the gears turning inside his head. “Earlier, you said you didn’t tell your boss I was your client. Why didn’t you?”

“I-I don’t know,” you stutter, before an unexpected wave of boldness comes over you. Digging your finger into the armor on his chest, you remind him, “You came to me first, remember? Not them. So, I figured you didn’t want them knowing.”

“I couldn’t care less who knows,” Din deadpans.

“Oh.” You blink, hand falling back along your side, because what else can you say.

“You want to know what I think?” Oh Maker, he’s stepping closer until there’s only a foot of space between you two. His voice is a low, raspy murmur, sending your heartbeat into overdrive. “I think you didn’t want them knowing because you like being the only angel who does.”

You start to squirm, fight or flight instincts at total war with each other. His theory isn’t too far from the truth, making it all the worse hearing it out loud because it practically oozes possessiveness which is exactly what you’d feared.

“Before you pull away from me again,” Din continues, knowing you and your mind too damn well. “I want you to listen when I say nothing that you’ve told me changes how I feel about you.”

“Din—” you try, only for your voice to crack.

Then three things happen at once.

He pulls his glove off and tosses it aside. You forget how to breathe.

“I’ve been alone my entire existence and I kept telling myself that was how the universe intended it to be. That I couldn’t love anyone because I kill everything I touch.” A smile pulls at his lips when he looks down at his bare hand and a note of awe slips into his voice. “Then you came along, beautiful and clumsy and unafraid to call me out for being an ass. I started looking forward to each full moon because it meant I got to see you and admire every new detail about your life you chose to share with me. And then when this appeared,” he nods towards the soulmate marking, gleaming faintly beneath the overhead lighting, “all I could think of was you.”

You feel your throat becoming thick as you blink back tears, inhaling sharply through your nose. “Why didn’t you say anything at the train station? Why would you let me try to set you up with matches if you liked me that way?”

Din grimaces, abashed. “Because after you said there weren’t any Cupids on your list, I realized you didn’t know I liked you. I convinced myself I had to show you how I felt, instead of tell you. Although,” he holds up a finger, backtracking, “I actually almost did confess, on our way to Sorgan, but you stopped me. And that just further convinced me actions spoke louder than words. I knew none of the people you found me could ever compare with you, so I thought once you saw each unsuccessful connection, you’d realize the only hand I want to hold is yours.”

“Din, it can’t be me.” Your protest is weak, on the verge of caving in, forcing you to try another angle. “I can’t have two soulmates.”

He inhales a breath so sharp and unexpected, it startles your poor heart into skipping a beat.

Din looks at you like you’ve gifted him all the stars in the galaxy, brown eyes blown wide with hope. “Angel, do you mean it? That you consider me—”

“Of course, you idiot.” You attempt a laugh, but it comes out sounding broken and forced. “As Death, as Din, as whoever you want to be, I’ll always consider you. But...what if what happened on Sorgan happens to us? What if the universe doesn’t favor us?”

“I just want to be yours.” Din extends his hand towards you. “And if that means breaking the universe’s rules, then fuck it. We’ll make up our own. Together.”

Time seems to stand still, like you’ve entered a realm separate from the rest of the universe where you’re able to forget you have a complicated past, filled with holes and a soulmate who rejected you. Here it’s just you, Din, and his offer to love you unconditionally. Here you have a choice.

And it’s the easiest one you’ve ever made.

You slowly lift up your hand to hover in front of his, fingers trembling as they uncurl.

“Together,” you whisper.

And then your hands are moving to meet one another, closer and closer until his fingertips brush yours, sending a spark of warmth through your nervous system. Oh, Maker, you had described what you imagined a soulmate connection was like, but you had no idea this is the true experience. It’s like a sunrise dissolving midnight skies, lighting up your surroundings with breathtaking vibrancy. You can’t fathom how you survived all this time being in his presence without feeling his touch.

“Dank farrik,” he mutters hoarsely, sounding just as overwhelmed and awestruck as you feel.

You open your mouth, but instead of words a whimper of agony escapes instead. That lovely warmth spreading from your linked hands has started to boil, white-hot and furious. It’s as if all your internal parts have caught fire and are slowly withering to ash—your organs, your bones, even your kriffing blood.

Your body crumples and Din cries out your name, but you don’t get to hear him say it, unconscious before your head collides with the floor.

Tag List: @leilei-draws, @theocatkov, @becauseican2, @vintagesaph, @stardust-and-starlight, @kay2304, @odelia-d32, @adrieunor, @remmyswritings, @gallowsjoker, @rhiannon-russo, @randomness501, @eleine-t1d, @nicotinebirds, @sylphene, @softly-sad, @maytheglitter, @melobee, @rogertaylorsfalsettogivesmehives, @eleinemk, @captain-jebi, @aerynwrites, @promiscuoussatan

#din x you #din djarin x you #din x reader #din djarin x reader #Din Djarin #mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian #my fic #death and an angel #soulmate au #Pedro Pascal

389 notes · View notes

folkloreguk · 3 years

Text

❥ My Sweet Evil Heart (C.Chanhee)

A/N: I wrote this as part of an angel/demon collab for The Boyz! You can find the masterlist HERE. This was really fun to write and I got to live out my alternate universe dream in which I'm a detective...I hope you like it, I'm always welcome to any form of feedback!

genre: demon!Chanhee, detective!reader, angst, fluff, reader is constantly sleep deprived, Chanhee is the sweetest demon ever

synopsis: You, a highly respected detective in your department, are investigating a case of a very strange demon who seems hesitant to do evil...but can you trust someone who is supposed to be the personification of wickedness?

words: ~ 10.6k

Have you ever met someone deeply unhappy? Someone who seems to, at all times, be fighting a war inside of themselves? Have you ever felt empathy for somebody, even though they tested you, over and over, as if the worst part inside of them was trying to make them lose you on purpose? Did you hold on and never stop believing in them? Or did you say something to drive them away, making them think they would only hurt you in the process of you trying to make them see clearer?

This is the story of a demon, whose every cell demurred at his evil nature. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and start with the basics.

Being one of the head detectives at the local police station was not an easy-going, nor an amusing job. Whilst working on serious cases, lacking proper sleep was not an uncommon occurrence for you, and in some instances, self-care came up short until the mystery had been solved and the guilty ones were locked away. Every case pulled you in and swallowed you whole, keeping you deeply invested for days and nights until your brain felt like it had turned to mush and your body worked on autopilot, until you functioned a little like a highly intelligent zombie. And yet, you couldn’t imagine yourself doing anything else in your life. The thrill was close to an obsession, and seeing justice being served thanks to your work was more addicting than any drug could ever be to you.

Most crimes in your world were committed by demons, of course. They were your worst enemies, the monsters you saw in your nightmares and the reason you never strolled down a street without a gun by your hip. It wasn’t forbidden for them to walk the earth, so long as they kept to themselves. Their evil nature made it almost impossible for them to uphold these terms, though. You wished you could lock them all away in some putrid prison cell, or better yet, send them back to where they crawled out from originally. But the law couldn’t convict beings before they had done anything wrong. So, it was on you to make sure you kept an eye on the sinister beings, figure out what they were up to and stop them before they could actually hurt somebody. Like that morning, when you were called to a liquor store to investigate a break-in.

“My name is Y/F/N Y/L/N, I am the lead investigator,” you greeted the store owner with a handshake upon arrival. “Can you tell me exactly what happened?”

“I came here this morning at around 7 to open up the store. When I got out of my car, I saw the broken glass of the window,” he explained.

“What was taken from inside the store?” you inquired further.

“That’s the weird thing. Nothing is missing from inside,” he said.

“We might just be dealing with vandalism,” you thought out loud. “Do you have security cameras?”

He did, and so you went along with him to the back of the store. It was true, the interior of the shop seemed completely untouched. You suspected whoever had done this had never even intentioned on entering. There was a college campus not too far from the store, and you recalled countless times you had witnessed careless vandalism done by some intoxicated students during a Friday night. It was a very human-like crime. Demons weren’t known to do things by halves. Their crimes were usually the go-big-or-go-home-type of crimes. But then, when you watched the security footage, you were stunned.

At precisely 3:29 am, a dark figure appeared in front of the window. They lifted their arms, swinging a baseball bat against the glass. And against your speculation, they did climb through the hole in the window. With no mask or disguise whatsoever, the demon man looked right into the camera in the corner of the room. The abyss of darkness in his pitch black eyes was unmistakable. He looked around, as if he was debating on whether he should have done more, but then, to your utter confusion, spun around on his heel and climbed right back out the window.

You assured the store owner you would be looking into this case. With nothing left to do, you headed back to the police station. You had taken the security footage with you, and the moment you arrived in your office, you played it on your computer screen. Over and over - only puzzling you more, with each rerun you saw. You worried this might only be a warning. Not seldom had you been a witness to demons playing with their prey, feeding off the fear of innocent souls. Was this one indulging in one of those little twisted games? Right away, you uploaded the demon’s face onto the database for criminals, even if vandalism didn’t compare to the serious allegations that stood against other faces on that list. While you turned your attention to other cases, his features wouldn’t leave your mind. Even when you left your office at night, he was still the most prominent person in your memory.

By the time you began your walk to your home, the sun had disappeared. You couldn’t help it, even if technically you could finish work earlier, your desire to solve your assigned cases was always higher. Had you just walked home at 5 pm, you were sure to end up on your computer at home, researching and digging around on the web to discover possible clues. This way, at least you had all resources you would need at your office at the police station.

Now, in the dark, the streets were rather abandoned, most shops had already closed, and the moon dimly cast light through the clouds. Those conditions were what made it a breeze for you to notice your shadow. The figure had been following you for 5 minutes now. Judging by how carelessly loud their steps sounded and by their not-so subtle choices of hiding spots, you could tell this wasn’t something they had practice in. Purposely, you didn’t turn around, so they wouldn’t realize you had caught on to them a while ago. Instead, only a minute or so from your home, you took a turn left into an abandoned alleyway. Your hand was on the gun in your belt.

Just as you had stepped into the alley, you turned. He was right behind you. With dark orbs glaring and teeth snarling he came at you, knife in hand. Your eyes widened – you recalled his face vividly – as you took in the situation in the blink of an eye. After all, you had watched the security tape of him breaking into the liquor store countless times only hours ago. But you had the upper hand from the very moment you had spun around. His build wasn’t particularly strong, but you knew you should never underestimate demons. You grabbed his shoulders and along with him, your body crashed against the red brick wall to your left. He struggled against your grip, but his determined and feisty expression was the by far the most intimidating part about him. His face was inches from yours but looking into the sort of darkness that were demon’s eyes did nothing to you. Your hand was around his wrist with the knife – which he was aggressively trying to bring down on you – but only at first.

Because suddenly, something uncommon occurred. So uncommon, in fact, that not a single cell in your body could believe it. He willingly dropped the blade. It hit the asphalt, the metallic sound echoing in your ears. He relaxed his arm in your iron grip. Demons never gave up. They fought until you had forcefully brought them to the ground or done worse to them. Their ironic god-complex and evilness didn’t allow them to step away from a fight – until this one had come along, apparently. And then, as if his behavior hadn’t already stunned you enough, he did the unthinkable.

“I’m sorry,” he said. Without a doubt you thought you had misheard him. Swiftly, you pulled your gun out of your belt and pointed it at his face. One thing you knew. You weren’t going to play along in his little games. In panic, he rose his hands, showing defeat.

“Quit playing games, devil’s son,” you hissed. “What is it you’re trying to achieve here? You’re sorry? For what?”

He was hesitant. With every second, your curiosity only grew. Either, he was a skilled actor or…you had no idea what else it could’ve been about him.

“I almost killed you. That’s what I’m sorry for,” he said. “Does that get me a prison sentence?”

Your eye twitched because this didn’t seem right at all.

“You broke into a shop and attacked me, but then stopped out of your free will,” you assessed the situation. “You’ll most likely get away with a fine and your name in our register.”

If you had been awaiting an evil grin or any sort of enjoyment in his face, you’d be waiting endlessly. If anything, he seemed to be…disappointed?

“But you’re a cop, right?” he said. “You can lock me up, can’t you?”

“Didn’t you hear what I said? You won’t be locked up if you don’t commit a crime severe enough. As much as I hate it, considering you demons are running free, it’s the law,” you said.

“You don’t get it,” he said. And he was right, you really had no idea. “I should be locked up. You need to get me to jail before I hurt somebody.”

His face was dead serious, but you didn’t want to believe a single word. How could you, when your daily life consisted of hunting down his kind, because all they brought upon the earth was chaos and death?

“Give me one good reason why I should believe you,” you said, unimpressed.

“I will tell you anything you want to hear,” he said. “If you bring me to a police station. You guys have these lie detectors, don’t you? I will take a test if that’s what it takes for you to believe me.”

So, that was how half an hour later you still hadn’t returned at home, but rather found yourself back at the police station. Almost everyone had gone home by now, so you took the liberty to choose the biggest interrogation room available. A few minutes and he was sitting in front of you, hands in handcuffs and his body connected to the lie detector.

“Okay, here’s how this works. I’ll start by asking some simple questions, and then we’ll get to the bottom of whatever your intentions are,” you explained.

“Alright. Go ahead,” he said. This was your first time seeing a demon take this sort of test. Usually, you couldn’t be bothered because you knew all they did was lie whilst smiling you in the face.

“What’s your name?”

“Choi Chanhee.”

“Where were you born?”

“In hell.”

“Did you break into a liquor store last night?”

“Yes.”

“Did you intend on killing me tonight?”

“…Yes.”

“Is that your definite answer?”

“…No.”

“How come both of your last two answers are lies?” you asked. “You didn’t intend on killing me, but yes is your definite answer?”

“I can’t stop the evil in me but I’m trying,” he said. You were stunned. The answer was the most truthful of them all.

“What do you mean?” you asked.

“I was never like the others since I came to earth. I’ve never felt a rush like they do, causing mischief and hurting humans. I don’t belong. It’s as if there was a demon inside of me, but it’s not controlling all of me, do you understand?” he said.

“I’m not sure, but go on,” you said.

“I don’t want to hurt anybody or destroy things. But on some days, I’m walking down the street and my body starts following the devil’s orders instead. I usually snap out of it quickly and stop myself. That’s why you’re still alive,” he explained.

“You’re telling me you’re some sort of good demon?” you asked. “Why don’t you go back to hell, if you’re struggling so much on earth?”

“I hate it there,” he said. “And either way, I’m banned from there forever.”

Your head raised as you stared at him.

“Banned?” you asked.

“I stopped a bunch of demons from killing a woman once,” he said. “Safe to say they weren’t happy to hear that, back at home. I couldn’t go back, even if I wanted to.”

“Can you tell me the name of the woman?” you asked. And he did. All this time, he really had been telling the truth. When you searched up the woman’s name in the computer, it only confirmed your suspicion. She really had been under attack when an unidentified person had interrupted and saved her life.

“I can tell you names of demons,” he said. “If you do me the favor of locking me up, I can sell out everyone I know about.”

You massaged the sides of your head and sighed. This guy really was one of a kind.

“I already told you, I can’t put you in jail for something you didn’t do,” you said. “That’s against the law, and then it’ll be me who ends up behind bars instead of you. I’ll have to let you go.”

“What if I mess up?” he said. The amounts of firsts you were experiencing in the timespan of an hour were giving you a headache. Never had you felt compassion for a demon before. But you were only human, and when you noticed the genuine concern and insecurity in his soft voice, you couldn’t stop yourself.

“How long have you been on earth for?” you asked.

“I don’t know, a few years, I guess?” he said.

“And in those few years, which of your deeds would you rate the most criminal out of all?” you asked. Any other demon would have been able to give you multiple answers, one more vicious than the other. He, on the other hand, took his time and even when he answered, he didn’t sound at all sure.

“I’ve broken into a house before, destroyed a car window and one time I stole a dog,” he confessed with his head tilted towards the floor.

“What happened to the dog?”

“I…gave it back,” he said. A laughter erupted from your throat against your will. In a friendly manner, you pat his shoulder before retrieving the keys to his handcuffs.

“Trust me, you’ll be just fine out there,” you said. “Whatever it is you’re doing to stop yourself from being evil, it’s working. I will let you go now."

Even though he wasn’t happy with your answer, he knew he had no choice but to comply. As you walked him through the hallways towards the exit of the station, you could only think of one thing: your beloved bed. Not only your body but especially your brain was drained from energy. You desperately needed a refill by getting a good night’s sleep.

“You’re the first person who’s been really kind to me,” he said, as you held the door open for him. The night air was cool, and you quickly zipped up your jacket to your chin.

“You gave me no reason not to be,” you replied.

“I almost stabbed you,” he said, bluntly.

“Almost.”

“For most people, me being a demon is reason enough to loathe me.”

“Well I guess I’m not most people,” you said. His smile was gentle, but his black eyes would always give him away. “I’ll be here at the station every day, if you have any concerns or need somebody to consult. But right now, all I want is my bed.”

“I understand,” he replied. “Thank you. Goodbye.”

“Good night,” you said, before you parted ways. Once more, you journeyed home. He remained on your mind until the moment you slipped off to dreamland that night.

The days passed without a trace of him. You followed your routine, but one thing you couldn’t help. You simply had to tell every person who worked with you about the changed demon you had met. No one really wanted to believe you. It was kind of understandable. Some thought you were testing their skills, seeing if they could figure out you were lying. Others went as far as to suspect your lack of sleep had given you hallucinations. But you didn’t let it go. And after all, you were a highly respected member of the police force. Some said they wanted to meet this demon gentleman, as they had renamed him.

But then you were called to a brand new homicide investigation and all of the jokes at the station were blown away by the intensity and buzz the case brought with it. You had a murder to solve. There was no place for sweet demon men in any part of your brain. Not for now. And as always, you slipped into old habits – staying up all night, living on coffee and quick meals – the toxic behavior was almost inescapable. Your fellow detectives tried their best to keep you healthy and most importantly, sane. They took you with them to get salad for lunch, invited you over for game nights (a futile attempt at giving you a break) and told you to go to sleep on time. After all, they needed your brain to function at full capacity for the case. You knew people were relying on your knowledge, and you weren’t doubting your capabilities. But a highly intelligent zombie was still a zombie. And so it happened that one Thursday night your boss sent you home. Not because you weren’t doing a good job – rather for of the opposite reason.

“You are allowed back at the station when you’ve caught a full night’s sleep. Do what it takes to take care of yourself,” your boss had said. Her tone displayed as much strictness as her eyes showed concern. Truth be told, you were too exhausted to even argue against her order. That’s when you knew. You really needed a rest. You dragged your body home.

“Hello sweetheart,” you greeted your pet bird, who chirped excitedly when you set foot into your apartment. “Guess what. I’m home early.”

As much as you wanted to drop into a slumber right away, your stomach growled. And you weren’t in the mood to wake up half-starved. As you prepared some left-overs from the fridge, you heard your bird call from the living room. “Peek-a-boo!” he sang. It caught your attention. He only played this game with you – when you were outside in your small garden and he was watching you through the window. So who exactly was he talking to, now?

You picked up a knife, because as a detective it was practically your job to be paranoid, and tiptoed into the living room. It would be harder for an intruder to spot you in the dark, so you pushed the light switch. Slowly, you advanced to the window and gently pulled the curtains aside. A shiver ran down your spine when you saw the figure standing between the trees. They didn’t seem to be hiding, if anything they were lazily resting their back against the garden fence. Maybe they weren’t aware you were watching them. Bold of them to assume they could intimidate you by acting so nonchalant. You cracked the window open slightly.

“If you don’t leave my property within the next ten seconds, I’ll have you arrested for trespassing,” you announced. The figure flinched. The moment he stepped into the moonlight and raised his arms, you remembered his face.

“Choi Chanhee?” You opened the terrasse door and stepped outside.

“Are you going to hurt me?” he asked, eyes glued to the knife in your hands. Quickly, you lowered your hand.

“What are you doing here?” you asked instead of answering his question.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” he admitted.

“And so you thought creeping around in a police woman’s backyard was an appropriate thing to do? Wait…have you been stalking me?” you asked. You should have cut back on the sharp tone, but you felt half-asleep and this was the last thing you needed. Plus, the immanent realization hit you, that you had not noticed him at all. You had been so caught up in your work that you had not recognized a demon lingering around your home address, watching you. It hurt your pride a little – and could have ended very differently, had it been a more malovent demon than the one standing in front of you. This one looked terrified, kneading his hands nervously.

“I thought you wouldn’t be upset with me…that maybe you would understand. Because you’ve been the only one who’s listened to me. I’m just trying to find a purpose,” he said, “And my head tells me you’re the right direction.”

Demons. They’ve always had a fondness for the dramatic. But his words tore at your heart strings. His behavior resembled a child who had done wrong and was in the process of being scolded.

“Do you have no home?” you asked, softening your voice.

“I’ve lived with other demons. But they don’t want me there, anymore,” he said. For obvious reasons, you thought. Your head was racing. There was no way you could leave him standing there in the cold. But letting a demon into your home sounded like you must have had a death wish. It’s not like you didn’t have enough space, though. With an extra guest bedroom that nobody had ever used before, he would be just fine. There was no excuse. You cursed your parents for making you get a bigger apartment “In case you got married and had children soon.” You never know what could happen, they had said. And how wrong they had been, but how right they had been on that last part.

“Would you say you’re a tidy person?” you asked. A gigantic yawn came over you, and once again your stomach grumbled.

“What? I mean…I think so?” he said.

“Are you hungry?” You were in disbelief. Maybe it was the zombie in you that had a heart so soft, it took pity on a demon.

“I’m starving,” he said.

And that was how you came to have dinner with a demon. Spoiler alert: It wouldn’t be the last time. You ate quietly, trying hard to fight tiredness but it was no use. Afterwards, you showed him the room he could stay in.

“How do I make this up to you?” he asked.

“We’ll think about that another time, alright?” you said, “I need to sleep now. I’ve got an unsolved murder case waiting on me tomorrow.”

That night, you locked your bedroom door and slept with your gun on your nightstand. Just in case. Even though you were almost fully convinced the demon in the bedroom across the hall was more harmless than a five-year-old, he was still a demon.

When you woke up and saw your boss’ message on your phone, you couldn’t believe it. She wanted you to stay at home for the day. Apparently, you needed the rest and she had no interest in getting into trouble for overworking you (which she obviously wasn’t, you were the one doing this to yourself). When you walked down the stairs, you had almost forgotten about the previous night. It felt a little like it had all just been one wild fever dream – that was, until you spotted the demon sitting on your sofa, your pet bird on his shoulder.

“I let him out, I hope that was okay,” he said. You were dumbfounded. “Listen, I just wanted to say…thank you. Tell me whatever you need me to do and I’ll get it done for you.”

You wanted to go to work. But you knew he would be no help making that possible. Your mind was already wandering off to your case, the tips of your fingers burning with anticipation to search the internet for clues. Your grumbling belly interrupted your eagerness.

“Um…you could go to the grocery store for me?” you asked.

You went back to work the next day. Unsure of what to do, you decided to keep your demon housemate a secret for now. The other detectives would have probably written you off as insane, and you needed them to take you seriously. To be fair, maybe you were a little crazy. But he had been really good on the first day. Only one incident, which involved him dropping an egg on the kitchen floor, stood out to you. Of course, that could happen to anyone. But any other person would not have apologized in the way that he did. Normal people wouldn’t have acted so guilty, had it been an accident. But as long as his malice remained to that extent, you could live with it. You almost laughed at the idea of him purposely watching the egg roll off the counter and not doing anything.

He sure was strange. But little did you know, his egg-dropping shananigans were only the beginning of his uncontrollable little pranks he would pull on you.

Once he let your bird fly out the window. When you came home you discovered him outside, talking to your bird, begging him to come back inside. Little did he know, all it took was a whistle and a few treats and you had him sitting on your shoulder, ready to go back inside. One night you returned home to find him staring at the ceiling in the dining room, a kitchen towel in his hand. When you asked him what he was trying to achieve there, he told you there was a mosquito sitting above him.

“So, why don’t you kill it?” you asked. He looked shocked.

“Kill it?” he asked, “We should probably just shoo it outside.”

That’s when you knew. Choi Chanhee wouldn’t hurt a fly. Literally. All those times you had worried about leaving him home alone with your bird vanished in an instant as you laughed.

“You’re right. Killing is one of the worst sins. But sometimes, especially when it comes to mosquitoes, you don’t need to worry about any consequences. If anything, I’ll be grateful,” you assured him.

Another instance made you think maybe you had been too quick to judge him as harmless. When you walked into your bathroom in the morning, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, you almost jumped out of your skin. A red substance stuck to your mirror in what seemed to be random shapes. On impulse, you called his name. On second look, you realized what he had done. The red was merely ketchup, and the random shapes weren’t so random, but they spelled “meeting at 2 pm”. When Chanhee appeared in the doorframe, he already wore his sorry expression.

“What did you think you were doing here?” you said. “You know where the post-it notes are!”

“I- He- The demon in me wanted to scare you…I’m so sorry,” he said. It was difficult to be mad at him when he was so sweet. You had, after all, told him to remind you of your meeting you had that day. He was so easy to forgive, too. Whenever he went to buy groceries, he returned with a bouquet of flowers, and after he had figured out your favorite candy, he made sure you never ran out of your supply. You liked being alone, but suddenly it felt nice to have someone waiting for you at home. A warm sensation filled your heart whenever he asked you about your day during dinner.

Even if after dinner you had to argue with him as if he was your son, because the demon in him had decided to take on the form of a teenage boy who was too lazy to take out the trash. You were still seated at the table, rolling your eyes at the demon’s horrible attempt at being evil.

“Don’t make me ask you one more time,” you threatened him, although you didn’t know what you would have done had he continued to argue against you. Only when he reached for the knife that he had already put down tidily on his plate, your eyes widened. His knuckles were white around the metal and you leaned back instinctively. Your gun was still in your belt – you had sat down for dinner straight after returning home – but you didn’t want to use it. Not on him.

“Chanhee,” you spoke in a calm tone. His face was unreadable. He wasn’t making eye contact. Instead, his gaze was glued onto the blade in his hand, staring blankly. His eyes blinked, almost robotically. Something changed in his demeanor then. There was a tremble in the hand that was clutching the knife. It grew more uneasy by each passing moment. Your heart was pounding in your chest and you kept your eyes trained on him, trusting your reflexes.

“Fine,” he suddenly said in a grumpy tone. Then he dropped the knife. The metallic sound rang in your ears for seconds afterward. You let out the breath you didn’t know you had been holding on to, as you watched him get up and retrieve the full trash bag from under the sink. You had been sleeping with your bedroom door unlocked for weeks. Even though it pained you, that night you locked your door again.

At 3:28 am you awoke to the sound of breaking glass. You allowed yourself to yawn and rub the sleep out of your eyes for just a moment, then you were on your feet. Gun in hand, you opened your door. Across the hall, the door to Chanhee’s room stood ajar. Light came from downstairs.

“Chanhee?” you called quietly. No answer. But your ears picked up shuffling and the sound of shards of glass being moved around. You approached slowly, trying not to give yourself away. Then you heard the quiet sobs. Your arm with the gun dropped to your side when you stepped into the kitchen.

He was sitting on the floor like he was one of the shattered pieces of glass himself. When he saw you, he flinched and tried to dry away his tears. But it was no use. They kept coming, and you had already seen them either way.

“I dropped it on purpose,” he said, referring to the broken glass. Another sob went through his body, making your chest ache at the sight of him. “I’m sorry.”

“I have nine more of those. It’s alright,” you assured him. Gently, you sat down by his side. You put your arms around his hunched frame. He stiffened at first but calmed his muscles after a moment and let you hold him.

“Shh, it’s okay,” you said. Whatever it was that was hurting him so much, you’d be here to fight it off for him.

“I can’t stop the evil in me,” he cried. His weeps seeped through your skin and tugged at your organs. It felt like a thousand tiny, sharp needles in your heart.

“It’s a part of you. It’ll never fully go away. But look at you, you’re doing such a good job holding it inside of you,” you whispered. He shuddered.

“I tried to kill you,” he stated. “I don’t deserve you. You’re so kind. You do all this for me, and I tried to kill you.”

“But you didn’t,” you said. “And that’s what counts. We all have urges inside of us…but it’s what we end up doing that truly counts and makes us who we are.”

“But it’s so hard,” he cried. His face was in the crook of your neck as he sniffled. The small teardrops that touched your skin felt like ice. “And all I do is bother you. I’m an inconvenience. Why don’t you just lock me up with the other demons? Why give me another chance every time I mess up?”

You couldn’t believe he would hate himself so much. Chanhee had more compassion than a lot of the humans you knew had. Some days he sat and pet your bird for hours just because it made him happy, he always had money on him to give to the homeless people in front of the grocery store and he almost cried thinking he forgot to pay for an item at the store (which you had obviously paid for).

“How could you even compare yourself to other demons?” you said. “If you want, I will take you in to work with me sometime. Then you’ll see the atrocities others commit. Even among humans, you’d still be sorted into the best of the best. I believe in you and that you will do good.”

He only sobbed harder at what you had said, and you felt the need to pull him in just a little tighter. You softly rocked your bodies in an attempt to calm him down.

“I would fall apart without you.” Between the hiccups and tears his words sounded like a broken confession, but that’s why they hit so hard.

“You’re not alone in this. I’m here for you,” you whispered, lips right by his ear. Your hands were in his hair, stroking his head as if you could pour all your emotions into this one gesture. What else could you do to show him you would never abandon him the way his demon people had? And it seemed to do the trick. His fists that had been clutching your shirt loosened up and his sorrowful crying turned into mellow breathing on your skin.

“Aren’t you sleepy?” you asked. “Let’s get you back to sleep. Tomorrow things will be better.”

“I haven’t been able to sleep well for three days,” he said. “But I need to clean this up first.”

He let go of you and started to pick up shards of glass. There was still a haggard expression on him, and his cheeks were painted red and tear stained. And yet he was determined.

“Let me do this,” you said, touching his arm. “You can’t even keep your eyes open. Go to bed, Chanhee.”

This time, he didn’t argue. But his good behavior didn’t stop the apologetic, almost battered look at you. He knew you would be by his side no matter what – but what he needed most was his own forgiveness. And you could tell by the way he spoke about himself that it would take a while until he was ready to accept himself as he was.

You heard his heavy steps on the stairs as he walked to his room. Quickly, you gathered the biggest shards of glass and then used a hand brush to collect the tiny pieces. This wasn’t what you had signed up for when you had taken him in. You thought you’d have to argue with him daily and that you’d miss having your personal space and privacy. You knew it would be new, living with another person after living alone for so long. But nothing could have prepared you for the way Chanhee had swept you off your feet with his adorable charms. You didn’t need to fake excitement when you came home to him, nor did you ever have to force yourself to tell him about your day or have any conversation with him, for that matter. He was truly enchanting with the way he made you care so much. Especially when you had assumed all demons were your sworn enemies.

When you finally dragged your tired body upstairs, you softly pushed open the door to his room, only to see him lying wide awake.

“Can’t sleep?” you asked. “Even though you’re so exhausted?”

“No,” he spoke. Even his voice made no attempt at hiding the sleepiness. His look was pleading. “Can you please stay with me…just for a little while?”

There was no way you could say no to his lovely gaze and messy hair and outstretched arms. So, you crawled in next to him under the covers. Your faces were inches apart. The last time you had been looking into a demon’s eyes this close-up he had been lying face-up and dead on the side of a road. Those eyes had been lifeless, and yet you felt like they had still held so much ferociousness, even in death. Now you only saw concern and genuine care in the black orbs across from you. You admired his softly sculpted face. It was one that seemed like it would much rather belong to an angel.

“You’ve been working so much,” he whispered. “You must be much more tired than me.”

“I’m used to it,” you said, “I enjoy my work because I’m doing it to help others.”

“You’re a good person,” he stated. There was something in his voice you couldn’t make out. Regret? Admiration?Maybe it was both.

“So are you, Chanhee,” you said. Without second thought, you leaned forward and pressed your lips to his cheek. He didn’t flinch nor pull away. Instead, his pretty lips curled into a smile as he closed his eyes, ready to finally drift off to dreamland.

From that night on he seemed to improve a little, day by day. No more breaking things or having to argue about simple house chores. It occurred to you almost as if he had turned into something more human – so much that you dared to take him to work with you. People there had found the idea of your new demon friend strange, and you were sure some would take more than a little convincing to let down their guard around him. You couldn’t blame them for the prejudices – you had once been the same, after all. But Chanhee was okay with it, even when you had explained to him that some people might hate him, just because of his black eyes and what they meant to people. He had lived years of receiving that sort of treatment. Nonetheless, it pained you to think about how used he was to it. It took bravery and thick skin to walk into a police station the way he did that day. He was fascinated, looking behind the scenes. Perhaps you found it amusing how alarmed everyone was when they first laid eyes on him at the station. His ability to turn around their views of his species within twenty seconds or less was nothing but astonishing. He very willingly took it upon himself to walk down to the nearest coffee shop and order ten cups, also earning him the sympathy from the last few sceptics. When you were deep in conversation with another detective, discussing the possible whereabouts of a highly wanted demon, Chanhee suddenly interrupted you.

“I know an underground club where they like to go after…committing crimes,” he said. “Every demon in this city knows about it.”

At that moment you realized his full potential and what good he could really do. That was, if he was ready to sacrifice his people. But he just had – without even blinking. He could be an immense help to you.

“Young man I can see you have a bright future, should you ever decide to join the police force,” said your boss from across the room. Seemed like she had the same idea as you. Chanhee only smiled shyly but couldn’t hide the glint of pride in his eyes.

The following days you instantly made arrangements to get Chanhee an interview with the head of the station. He had been scared, at first.

“What if the other people there hate me?” he suspected.

“They might make assumptions about you in their heads, you know, because you’re a demon. They only know demons to be evil. But the moment they realize how good of a person you are, I promise they’ll change their mind,” you said. “You’ll be precious to us, and if you want to do good, the police is where you can be the most helpful. You’ll change lives, maybe even save people.”

“Yes, I want to help,” he said. “I’m done with my kind.”

“I’ll talk to my boss tomorrow,” you assured him. “If you’re too anxious to come in to the station, maybe she’ll allow you to work from home, from my office here. This is just a try, okay? If you really enjoy this work, you’ll have to learn and earn your badge.”

The way he looked at you filled you with so much pride. He seemed to have found some hope. Like he could finally spend his time in a productive and truly good manner. You couldn’t wait to see how he would do.

A tiring day and many discussions with higher-ups at workplace later, you returned at your home, late at always. Your fingers tingled with excitement and you wanted to yell for Chanhee the moment you walked through your door. You had managed to score an internship for him at your station. He was allowed to start as early as the following week. As you walked up the stairs, following the shuffling noise you heard, you imagined his face when you told him the news. You knew he’d be ecstatic. His smile would make you so happy, and you almost grinned at the mere thought of it. The noises were coming out of your office.

“Hi, Chanhee. Guess what my boss-,” you started. Then you fell speechless. Paper was scattered all over the floor. Drawers stood wide open. The orderly sorted piles of case files you had been working on were dispersed into every corner of the small room. Photos and pieces of paper were falling out of the folders. And in midst of it all stood Chanhee.

“Y/N- I’m so-,” he said, helpless.

“Don’t,” you said. Every ounce of excitement was gone from your voice, replaced by an ice cold tone you didn’t know you had in you. He flinched, but you couldn’t keep in what you had to say. “You’re impossible. I can’t fucking believe this! These are real cases, Chanhee! I’m trying to save real people here! This isn’t some broken mirror or a spilled cup of water. I can look past a shattered glass, but this is too much…I honestly thought you were getting better…”

Somewhere you knew you were being too harsh. But your job was your entire reason for existing. This was your life mission, laid out in front of you as if a hurricane had rampaged through the room. It would take days for you to rearrange the files. You weren’t even sure if you’d be able to find the correct places for each piece of paper.

“I’m sorry,” he said, voice cracking because he was about to cry.

“I don’t want to see you right now. Please get out. I need to clean this up and you can’t help me with this,” you said, trying hard not to scream out of frustration. Your eyes were already scanning the floor. You had no idea where to even start. With low-hanging shoulders and teary eyes that were threatening to spill over, Chanhee slipped past you. He granted you one more look before he scurried out of the office like a frightened animal.

Even though your stomach was grumbling from starvation and you could barely stay awake – as always – you needed to get some of the cleaning done. Now. Or you would go insane. Plus, you needed time away from Chanhee. While you collected the paper from every inch of the wooden floor, guilt slowly started to nag at you. You had never raised your voice at him to this extent. And he was sensitive. It wasn’t his fault, that’s what you always told him when he blamed himself for messing things up. He knew that. You cursed at yourself. How could you be so impulsive? All too well you knew how he felt about his demon half. You were supposed to be there for him, to tell him he was doing a good job and to make sure he didn’t beat himself up. Now you had achieved the complete opposite. A dull ache in your chest accompanied your hungry stomach.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. In a haze, you stepped down the stairs and to the door. You needed to apologize to Chanhee. When you opened the door, a delivery girl from your favorite restaurant stood there, handing you an order. You were puzzled.

“Already payed for,” she checked with a beaming smile, “Enjoy your meal!”

“Thank you,” you said, voice numb. Before you knew it, she had turned on her heel and was on the way back to the car.

“Chanhee! Your food is here,” you shouted, assuming he was the one who had made the order. You got no answer. When you set the bag down on the kitchen table, you saw a note, addressed to you.

Y/N,

Words can’t express how sorry I am about what I’ve done. All my life I only wanted someone to love me. In you, I thought I might have found what I had been searching for all this time. But I messed up. I always do. I drove you away from what we had. I’ve wondered why I always end up disappointing people. Now I know it’s because it’s the only thing I’m truly good at. You deserve someone you can trust blindly, someone who will walk through fire for you, someone who will take a bullet for you. I can’t give you that. I can’t even trust myself. Thank you for giving me a home and for being the most generous person I have ever met. You will always be in my sweet evil heart. Don’t worry about me too much. I will find my way and you will find yours. Who knows, our paths may cross again. I ordered your favorite food. I know you’re always starving when you get home from work. Enjoy it and don’t let it go cold. Make sure you get enough sleep tonight, and don’t forget to take your water bottle with you tomorrow, you left it here this morning.

I’ll hold you in my happiest thoughts forever,

Chanhee

You only snapped out of your motionless state when one single tear dropped down your cheek and onto the note. A heavy blanket of sorrow and regret sunk into your whole body. The emotions seeped through your skin and before you knew it, you were a sobbing mess on the kitchen floor. You wanted to take him in your arms and tell him you forgave him. Hell, you had forgiven him minutes after you had yelled at him. You should have gone to him then. Had you only apologized quickly enough, perhaps he’d still be here. Then he’d be eating dinner with you, and although you’d be frustrated, you both wouldn’t be alone.

Your tears fell into your food while you ate it, unable to control your sadness and frustration you had against yourself. They mixed with the shower water as you stood in silence under the hot stream, overthinking everything. Your pillow was wet from the crying as you struggled to fall asleep. Like a broken-hearted zombie you trudged across the hall and into his room. Chanhee’s covers still smelled like him and you hugged them tightly, as if you could hold a piece of him and bring him back that way. But there was nothing you could have done. He had left, and it was alone your fault.

The next day passed like a vivid fever dream. While you were sat in your meeting, you couldn’t possibly focus on the case your team was discussing. Instead, you pondered whether your makeup was able to conceal your puffy face and the dark circles under your eyes. If it was obvious, at least people didn’t seem to point it out. Maybe they were so used to seeing you tired that it would take a lot more than some tiredness and lack of concentration to arise concern. It was the first time in years you really wanted to go home after work. In fact, you couldn’t stand the laughter and good mood at the police station for one more second. All you wanted to do was scream and cry, and seeing people joke around without any idea about your feelings only intensified your desire. Of course, you could have confided in somebody. But you were afraid they would tell you Serves you right or I told you. You don’t think you’d be able to handle those blatant assumptions and the mocking.

Your plan for the night was set: You’d sit in the bathtub for half an hour, then you’d wrap yourself into a human burrito in a blanket and fill your brain with some brutal movie that would make your life seem like it was mere child’s play. But as most things in your life lately, nothing went as planned. Because after only five minutes in the hot tub, your phone rang on the other side of the room. The first time you ignored it. You really tried. But then it rang again, and you looked up to see the caller ID. It was your boss.

You groaned and quickly stood up, not giving up on the prospects of a peaceful night just yet. But then you heard her message – a break-in at a bank, one dead bank employee, five hostages, a possible shoot out. They were calling for back up. And when there was a chance to throw bad guys behind bars, the most inviting bath or an exciting movie suddenly turned dull.

Not fifteen minutes later you had jumped out the bath, gotten dressed in your uniform, taken your gun and ammunition, and were pulling up at the scene your boss had ordered you to. The bank was in the city center, close to the main square. The police team was stationed in a side street. Some of the team had already been sent to the front of the bank, where the police was attempting to make contact with the robbers.

“They’re holding four hostages in the back of the bank. One of them is at the front, right by the glass doors for us to see. The robbers have guns to their heads. If we come closer, they’ll shoot them,” your colleague informed you.

“Demons?” you asked. Against your will, Chanhee appeared in your mind. You wondered how he was doing. Was he hiding out in somebody else’s garden right now? Had he found a bed to sleep in? Then you quickly shook your head. This was not the time for heavy emotions of any kind.

“Yes. Five of them,” your colleague added. You huffed.

“What do they want us to do? Are they demanding anything?” you asked.

“They want us to let them leave with the money,” she said. You grinned bitterly and nodded.

“What about the back entrance?” you asked. You knew the layout of this bank and had been there multiple times in the past.

“That’s our route. Besides the one at the front, the other demons are inside the bank. The entrance isn’t guarded. A team of four will go to the back and try to sneak up on them. When we have a clear line of fire on all the robbers, we’ll take them out at the same time,” she explained.

“Alright,” you nodded, fixing your bulletproof vest around your upper body. You were ready for this. To others, missions like these would have been nerve-wrecking, and you would have been lying if you said you were completely calm. But the adrenaline was already rushing through your body, and fear was something you hadn’t felt since your very first operation.

“All ready?” your colleague asked the other two members of the team who would go into the bank. You received nods and professional expressions. You had all trained together and were used to functioning like one unit. Sticking close together, you rounded the bank, using a side street so the demons wouldn’t see you approaching. In your ear, the voice of your boss was giving orders and checking in on you. The street was dark and devoid of any life except for your team. Multiple of the surrounding streets had been evacuated and shut off to the public. The scene had something straight out of a heist movie. Except this time, the robbers weren’t going to pull of the perfect theft and get away. You would make sure of it.

“We’re almost there,” you said. “Twenty meters to the entrance. Awaiting permission to go inside.”

“You have permission,” your boss spoke over your earpiece. One last look at your teammates, and you were on the move. Sneaking inside soundlessly was easy. The backrooms were all empty. As you passed abandoned offices, you saw knocked over office equipment and paper scattered on the floors. Lamps had been left on and you heard the faint buzzing of a running computer that was most certainly unoccupied. Moving swiftly, you walked along the corridors, guns pointed ahead at all times. Your teamwork was untouchable. One of you made sure the path was clear, then the rest followed.

“You are one room away from the entry hall,” your boss said.

“Understood,” you answered and slowed down your steps. A cat wouldn’t have been able to walk more silently than you did. Now your ears picked up voices. Somebody was crying. There was shuffling of feet on marble.

“Shut up!” a male voice yelled. The crying faded out into muteness. In the dark, you could make out figures. A few countertops and a good distance separated you and your team from the demons and the hostages. You nodded to your colleagues and they understood. The four of you parted ways, moving into the room and taking shelter behind the bank counters. Once again, you checked the situation. Close to you, four hostages sat on the floor. A woman was still crying, and you could tell she was struggling to keep herself quiet. Around them, four demons stood, dressed in black. Their ski masks kept their faces hidden, but their body languages told you enough. They were not to be messed with. By the far entrance, the fifth demon was positioned with the remaining hostage, and you could spot the police cars outside in the town square. From behind your hiding spots, each of your teammates had a clear line of fire on the demons. The fifth one would be taken out from police outside the bank. You were just about to send a signal to your boss to let her know you were in position. Suddenly, the scraping of feet on the floor alarmed you.

“What was that?” one of the demons barked. The noise had come from your colleague beside you, who was now flinching. You had no time to think. No time to complain about her mistake. If you didn’t act now, they were going to close in on you.

You jumped up, pointing your gun at the closest demon. Right away, the remaining demons had their guns aimed at the hostages’ heads. Your colleagues had done as you, guns held towards the demons. Now you got a proper look at them. They were towering over the hostages, who were crouched on the floor in intimidation. The one in front of you only chuckled. Humans didn’t laugh like this. It was pure malice and recklessness displayed in front of you.

“I thought we told you to stay away,” he began. The only thing you could truly note about him was his mouth. The rest was covered by his mask and where the white of eyes should have been, two orbs of darkness sat, eying you like prey.

“Let the hostages go and we won’t shoot you,” you ordered, with a surprisingly calm voice.

“And why would we do that when we can just kill them?” he asked. His gaze momentarily focused on his fellow demons, as if he was a stand-up comedian and he had just delivered the funniest punch line.

“You will die if you harm even one of the hostages,” you stated.

“Oh, is that so? Humans never learn, do they?” he said. This monster was completely insane. And suicidal too, it seemed. “Go on, shoot.”

First, you thought he was urging your team to shoot. Then you realized, he was looking at the demon closest to you. The very demon you had your gun pointed at. He was asking the other demon to shoot at the hostages. You were preparing to pull the trigger.

But then your mind started racing. You stared at him intensely as your heartbeat quickened uncontrollably in your chest. The dark eyes. The soft lips. His skinny frame and gentle hands. You knew exactly who this demon was. You’d be able to pick him out of any crowd. What the hell was he doing here?

“Shoot!” the bigger demon shouted again, but Chanhee didn’t budge.

“I told you he was goddamn useless,” one of the others said. “Get rid of him.”

“You don’t deserve any of this money,” the bigger demon snarled, and his hand went to his belt. You knew there were human lives on the line. What you were about to do could be considered not only stupid, but wildly imprudent. Emotions were supposed to be left out of police operations. But how could you not have been blind with shock? You were going to let your heart control your body over your mind, and if it was deadly so be it. The bigger demon was now raising his arm at Chanhee.

Before you knew it, you had jumped out from behind the counter. You mirrored the demon’s actions and you pointed at him, pulling the trigger. At the same time, his gun went off. Just in time, you had pushed your body between the two demons.

“Y/N!” Chanhee shouted.

The bullet hit your shoulder and you fell backwards. Burning heat spread through your insides as you stumbled and reached for anything, anyone to hold on to. You could only think of Chanhee, and how your bullet had pierced through the big demon’s skull perfectly. Then, your colleagues opened the gunfire. The shots sounded almost muffled through the intense amount of adrenaline in your blood and the initial effect of being hit. Your body fell to the ground with a heavy thud, and a wave of agony spread through you. You grimaced at the excruciating pain, hands grasping at your shoulder. All you could see was white, before you sank onto your back and the world went dark.

~approximately 18 months later~

“Y/N,” Chanhee said, for the sixth time within the last ten minutes. You pressed your phone harder against your ear, holding it up with your shoulder. Your hands were too busy writing a police report on your laptop.

“Chanhee, I promise I’m writing the last few sentences already,” you assured him. He liked it when you came home early, leaving enough time to relax on the couch with him, instead of falling into bed like a corpse. Today, he was especially insistent, urging you to stay on the phone with him until you had finally packed up your things and left the police department. You guessed he was just trying to make sure you couldn’t stop somewhere along the way and start working on something new. And maybe that fear wasn’t so far off the truth.

“I’m done,” you said. “Status report: I’m switching off the laptop. Now I’m taking my bag. I’m getting up. I’m locking my office behind me. I’ll be home in twenty minutes or less.”

His laughter on the other side of the line made you smile. You couldn’t wait to see his face and get to hug him.

“Alright. I can’t wait,” he said. “I’ll see you.”

The walk home was calm. A soft breeze went through your hair and in the distance, you heard sirens of an ambulance. Promptly you were catapulted back to your memories and into the vehicle after you had been shot. Going in and out of consciousness, you kept repeating one name: Chanhee. When you woke up in the hospital bed, you half-expected him to be sitting there, waiting for you to wake up. But of course that was not the case. He had committed a crime – or at least tried to commit one. The prosecution was in his favor. They acknowledged his compliance with the police and his hesitation to hurt the hostage. Plus, he sold out the other demons and showed no resistance at any point. His regret and sorrow was apparent, nonetheless his mistake caused him 11 months in prison – by far less than the other robbers got.

People had called you insane for standing by him. Others thought you brave and newspapers named him the first good demon in the world. Every week you visited him in prison, often more than once. You made the most of your short time to talk, and with your kindest words you let him know that you were still here for him. Every visit you learned a bit more about how he had ended up in that bank.

After he had walked out on you, he had nowhere to go. So, after strolling the street mazes for days he found himself in the very demon night club he had once warned you about. Most unsavory figures twisted his mind into thinking doing good was no use. They made him believe he would never be able to escape the demon in him, and he might as well embrace the malice. They more or less pulled him along to the robbery, while he overthought the whole thing. It hurt you, seeing him cry as he recounted how scared he was when he saw the hostages. Some of them ended up injured, but all survived. You knew he would have never forgiven himself, had one of them died.

The day you picked him up from prison was a day you’d never forget. Holding each other in your arms felt so right, and you had missed it tremendously. His months at the prison hadn’t been easy, but you made sure he felt loved and cared for when he finally returned. He almost refused to believe that you would open your doors to him again. It was no question to you. You’d always be here for him. Even when he insisted you keep your office at home locked at all times. You trusted him almost a hundred percent by now. His demon only came out rarely, especially in times of stress or intense negative emotions. But you only treated him with kindness, and he gave back just as much of it.

“Chanhee I’m home!” you shouted as you entered your home.

“I’m up here,” he spoke. You ran up the stairs, excited to see him. Your eyes fell onto the open door of your office. For a moment, your heartbeat quickened as you approached it. You must have forgotten to lock the door that morning. Slowly, you pushed it open.

“Hello,” he grinned. You only chuckled as you watched him, sitting by your desk, a book in his hands. “I hope you don’t mind me being in here. This chair is so comfortable.”

“It’s all good,” you said. “Do you know what day it is today?”

“Umm…Friday?” he asked.

“It’s been exactly two years since you first started living here,” you said. “I think we should get some take out and celebrate, what do you say?”

“I can’t believe it’s been two years,” he said. “I’d love that. And you know what? I think I’m ready to start the internship at the police station.”

You smiled proudly. He had put his book down and was getting up.

“You’re going to do good things,” you said, wrapping your arms around him. He finally had found his place. His home. And you were never going to give up on him.

#chanhee scenarios #new scenarios #tbz new scenarios #tattoos #the boyz icons #the boyz scenarios #tbz scenarios #tbz imagines #tbz angst #tbz fluff #chanhee fluff #chanhee angst #chanhee x reader #kpop fluff #kpop angst #demon au #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines

142 notes · View notes

mikazukinika · 2 years

Text

V. What They Both Know

“THE PLACE WHERE YOU ARE” TAGS & ABOUT → Summary: Although Aether prefers meeting the Vigilant Yaksha in the light of the sun, Lumine visits secretly in the evening without ever seeing his face -- until one night, she overstays her welcome. Spoilers for end of Liyue Archon questline. Scene Rating: T (emotional distress, mention of death) Scene Length: 1.4k words, about 5 minutes NEXT → READ ON AO3 → MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR →

Lumine reached out, resting her palms against the wooden railing of the highest balcony of Wangshu Inn. The moon was bright and full, nestled between the mountains of Jueyun Karst to her left. If she turned to the right, she could see the sun beginning to creep up behind the mountains of Dragonspine. On her left, night. On her right, day.

If I stay here any longer, Xiao will return from his nightly hunts, she frowned. But there was something about this time in-between, when it was neither day nor night, that kept her lingering. If it were any other secret visit to Wangshu Inn (to drop off a treat for the demon slayer), she would have been long gone.

“I’ve heard something like this before,” Lumine murmured aloud, reaching up to brush a stray lock of hair behind her ear as the wind picked up. “At twilight, the boundaries between the living and the dead blur.”

“-And one may see what they usually would not.”

The traveler blinked, turning around to catch the tail end of the Yaksha’s elegant landing. Her expression was only mildly surprised at his sudden entrance, and it gave away nothing about the wave of emotion she felt upon seeing him that way. Beautiful, as always, but he had seemed to glide in on the wind itself. The early morning sunlight set him aglow, and his clothing flowed behind him as he stepped lightly onto the terrace. His jade spear had pointed down towards the wooden floorboards as he moved, as if belaying his line of action.

She was sure it was a sight that would stay with her for the rest of her life.

“I thought we might meet like this,” the Yaksha said calmly, crossing his arms over his chest. “Coming and going as you please, and secretly at that. You have no respect for the ways of the Adepti.”

At this, Lumine finally snapped out of her enchanted trance, slipping into an easy smile. “Oh? I could have sworn the Adepti liked offerings of food like this,” she countered.

Xiao huffed as if she were a nuisance, but she could see from the way that he closed his eyes for a moment that he had already accepted things as they were. Gently picking up the plate of almond tofu on the base of the plant to their left, he murmured, “No one makes offerings to the Conqueror of Demons.”

“A shame,” Lumine replied immediately as he bit into his first spoonful of the delicacy. She couldn’t bear to watch his ethereal form in the moonlight any longer, so she returned her gaze to the scenery sprawled out before them. “The way I see it, you work the hardest out of all the Adepti for the sake of this land.”

“No,” Xiao said humbly. “Ganyu walks a path more difficult than mine - one along the fine line between humanity and the immortal. My master himself-”

“Your master is dead.”

Xiao visibly flinched next to her, looking away from his food and to her face. Though she could feel his gaze boring into her profile, her eyes remained glued to the scenery. Even if he asked, she wouldn’t know how to answer why she had cut him off so curtly in such a fierce tone or what had just come over her.

And yet-

And yet Xiao did as he always did; simply accepted her emotions and behavior for what they were, always forgiving her no matter what she said so long as she did not offend his beloved master. Probably because it didn’t matter, in the grand scheme of things. In his eyes, she must be but a passing cloud in the sky. Someday, she would no longer appear before him like this, offering a plate of his favorite treat or butting into his business.

Don’t do it, Lumine.

It was Aether’s voice.

Chilled, Lumine slowly looked to the right. Aether was there, a memory or an illusion bathed in the early morning sunlight, hands clasped behind his back. But his smile was unreadable.

Don’t do it. You have to find me, right? If you get too close, you won’t be able to leave this world with me when we finally reunite.

Whipping her head away from him as if burned, she directed her gaze to the landscape once more without actually seeing any of it. She was frozen in place, feeling her brother wrap his arms around her shoulders from behind. He was right. It was their unspoken rule during their travels - they could make friends and enemies alike, but it could never go any deeper than that because one day... they would leave. Onto the next world and all the adventures it would hold.

This was the best way to minimize the pain.

But still…

Lumine tried to unstick her tongue from the roof of her mouth. “…Zhongli-xiansheng called what he did ‘the contract to end all contracts,’” she began, gripping the railing until her arms trembled. “Do you still have to stay here, fighting and suffering in solitude?”

Xiao’s cat-like gaze caught the way her knuckles had turned white even though her expression remained impassive. Her poker face was impressive but incomplete. Flicking his stare up to her side profile once more, he saw that the shade of the nearby plant cast her face in shadow. It only emphasized the conflict in her eyes.

“…The death of the Geo Archon does not eliminate my duty. The remnants of the past gods subjugated by my master continue to plague this land. So too, will my battle continue.”

“Then, someone else can-”

“It is every Yaksha’s fate to succumb to their karmic debt. When that day finally comes, this role will be taken up by another. Until then, I have no intention of giving this suffering to anyone else - it is mine alone to bear.”

“But what about you?!” Lumine whirled on him, finally facing the Adeptus who seemed to have a rebuttal for every argument she made. At his undisturbed air and clear gaze, she deflated. “…What does that mean for you?” she whispered, staring at the floor.

“Our ways of life are different,” Xiao began slowly. They were both aware he had no reason to explain himself to her, but she looked to be in pain on his account and he... could not bear to see it. “As a human, you may not see the meaning in the way I lead mine.”

Lumine shook her head fiercely. “That’s not what this is about! What I want to know is why every other Adeptus out there gets to live freely and happily while you’re-”

“Then, are you going to save me?”

The traveler froze, voice caught in her throat. She finally looked away from the floor to meet his gaze and instantly regretted doing so. For the first time during this pointless argument with no real answer, the Yaksha’s expression had changed from something other than clarity and acceptance. Now, she saw a mixture of emotion in the bitter crinkle of his eyes and the doubtful furrow of his brow. He was smiling.

You can’t save him. Aether’s arms tightened around her shoulders, her neck.

“Can freedom mandated by a god be considered freedom at all?”

Lumine pressed her lips together, fighting back tears. He was right and they both knew it. She couldn’t do anything for him - neither could anyone else. Things like karmic bonds, duty, and freedom... Xiao needed to reach out with his own two hands and change them himself.

The fact that he never did spoke volumes.

And what? She would play the hero and save him from himself, only to disappear when she found her brother? Lumine felt humiliated. You’re just here to find your brother, so stop acting like this involves you.

She felt a single tear slip down her cheek, unbidden. With a shuddering breath, the traveler looked at the skies of Liyue once more. The moon was gone and the sun replaced it - the time of in-between had ended. She brought her hands together, wrapping one around a trembling fist for support and opening her mouth to speak - to make some kind of excuse or apology or even another point about the entire affair - but when she turned to her left again, the Vigilant Yaksha was nowhere to be found.

Only the half-eaten plate of almond tofu mockingly remained, proof that he had been there in the first place.

NOTES: The narrative of this chapter clarifies (I hope) what Lumine was thinking in the previous chapter with the Ruin Hunters on the islands of Guyun. It was inspired by an art piece I think I saw on Tumblr, but I haven't been able to find it again despite scrolling endlessly through the Xiao tag TT^TT

#nika snippets #tpwur #lumine x xiao #traveler x xiao #genshin impact fanfic #genshin fanfic #genshin xiao

18 notes · View notes

roseworth · 3 years

Text

Shadows of the Moon

word count: 4.6k

summary: Prince Eugene of the Dark Kingdom never had anyone there for him growing up. When one of the knights has a child, he takes it upon himself to always be there for him. The two of them grow up like brothers, and they find a connection to a "normal" life through each other.

note: for Eugene Appreciation Week 🥰

AO3

When Prince Eugene first heard that one of the Brotherhood Knights was going to be a father, he was far from excited. Having a baby in the castle didn’t seem ideal to him. All it meant was that there was going to be some snotty little blob crying and making messes all the time.

But when Quirin introduced baby Varian to him, Eugene immediately felt a connection to the child. As crazy as the kingdom was sometimes, he felt calm knowing that there was someone he could connect with. They weren’t technically related, but the Prince immediately saw the child as a little brother, and silently swore he would do everything in his power to make him feel safe.

Of course, there wasn’t much a ten-year-old could do to help an infant. Eugene decided he would leave the protection to Varian’s parents, and he and Varian could just be each other’s connection to normalcy.

When Eugene was bored, he liked to go into Varian’s nursery and read him Flynnigan Rider stories. He was pretty sure the baby didn’t understand a word he was saying, but he still liked the audience. Besides, Varian would babble along when Eugene got to an exciting part of the story, so maybe he was entertained by it.

“The monster tried to sniff out Rider’s scent among the forest, hunting for his next catch. The rogue was unphased, of course, and ducked into a cave to hide from the beast,” Eugene read, adding in dramatic movements as he read. Varian gurgled from his crib, and Eugene smiled.

“That’s not even the best part!” he said. “Once the terrifying monster left, Rider ventured deeper into the cave to find more gold than he had ever seen!”

Varian gasped and flailed his arms. Eugene grinned. He stood up and leaned in closer to the crib. “And of course, there was the time Flynn ran from the ferocious mob! He launched himself up and onto a dragon... . ” He lifted Varian up and onto his shoulders. He made sure to hold the kid tightly so he wouldn’t fall, then ran around the room as he squealed in delight. “And he rode the dragon for miles until he was back home!” Varian babbled and stuck his arms up from his place on Eugene’s shoulders. Eugene spun around, then lifted him off his shoulders and back into the crib. Varian was bouncing excitedly, babbling nonsense with a smile on his face.

Eugene beamed down at him. Even though Varian was only 6 months old, spending time with him was the best part of the day. The kid was a bright light in the middle of the Dark Kingdom.

By the time Varian turned 1, everyone in the castle had all but accepted that he and Eugene had a connection. Eugene had spent years growing up with no other kids in the castle, but now he finally felt like he had a little brother. The two were inseparable, much to the annoyance of some.

“Your Highness,” Hector grumbled. “You can’t continue to do things like this. You’re royalty, you can’t constantly be up to these… things.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the young prince said. Hector pointed at the child on Eugene’s shoulders, who was tugging on his hair and causing it to skew in every direction. “Oh him? He’s just my new advisor, he has to be with me at all times.”

Hector ran his hand down his face. “He’s a one-year-old, he’s not your advisor.’

“Oh yeah? Let’s see what my advisor has to say about that. Varian?”

Varian yelped and kicked his legs, making noises for a few seconds while Eugene listened intently, nodding along as if he was reciting important proverbs. “Go!” Varian said, reaching his arms forward.

“Well, you heard my advisor,” Eugene shrugged. “Maybe next time, Hector.” He grabbed onto Varian’s legs and dashed down the hallway, leaving Hector to regret his career choice. He heard the knight mutter something under his breath about how he couldn’t wait until the prince grew tired of spending all his time with a child, but Eugene ignored him.

Once Varian learned to walk and talk in full sentences, Eugene thought it was even more fun to spend time with him. He was full of energy, unlike everyone else he had to interact with in the kingdom. Everyone always acted like life was a burden they were forced to bear, but Eugene wanted to stay young and full of life forever.

The only problem was that once Eugene was 14, there were even more expectations put on him as the prince. He was told to conduct himself properly at all times, and he couldn’t get away with the excuse of being a kid anymore. He was called into his father’s office one day and was met with his usual cold gaze.

“The King and Queen of Corona will be visiting today, so I expect you to be on your best behavior,” Edmund said. He was sitting at his desk, his back straightened and his chin held high. Eugene stood on the other side of the desk, feeling uncomfortably still.

Eugene nodded. “Got it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not going to embarrass us in front of our visitors?”

“No.”

Edmund looked his son up and down. “Good. They’ll be here in two hours, make sure you’re ready.”

Eugene nodded again, then turned around and left his father’s office. He sighed quietly after shutting the door, glancing back at the room. Ever since Eugene’s mom died, Edmund was never sure how to talk to his son, and every conversation made that clear. He felt like he had been raised by knights and maids, and every interaction with his father was like a formal business transaction.

He had barely taken 2 steps away from the room before Varian, ever the bundle of energy, ran up to him with a huge grin on his face. “Eugene!” he called out. “Wanna play Flynnigan Rider?”

The prince frowned. “I can’t, we have guests coming in a couple of hours and I just told my father I would be on my best behavior.”

Varian blinked. “Well, the guests aren’t here yet.” Eugene hesitated, and Varian stepped closer and gave his best “kicked puppy” eyes. “ Pleeeeease?”

“Fine,” he said with a grin. “But only for a bit, okay?”

“Okay!” the boy said brightly, then dashed away, gesturing for Eugene to follow him.

They grabbed wooden swords and started reenacting their favorite scenes from the Flynn Rider books. Time started to get away from them; it could have been 10 minutes or 10 hours and they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

“I’ve got you surrounded, Rider!” Eugene bellowed, pointing his sword at Varian as they chased each other down the halls of the castle.

“Ah, I see your point ,” Varian said. "But you'll have to try harder than that!" He ducked under the sword and slid under Eugene’s legs, making his escape.

“You’re not getting away that easily!” he yelled. He chased after the kid, and Varian screeched happily as he ran away.

“Get back, foul beast!” he yelled. Eugene grabbed him by the torso and lifted him up as both of them dissolved into giggles.

“I’ve got you now, Flynnigan!” Eugene said.

“That’s what you think!” Varian replied, trying to squirm out of the older boy’s grasp and knocking them both onto the floor. They wrestled on the ground between giggles until Varian managed to slip out and dash away.

Eugene lifted himself to his feet and tried to chase after the boy before almost colliding with someone else. His entire body tensed as he met eyes with the Queen of Corona, who had been there and had seen him playing with a 5-year-old.

“Your Majesty, hi, um, sorry,” he mumbled, dusting himself off. He was pretty sure his father would have a heart attack if he had seen the way Eugene was conducting himself. “Uh, welcome to the kingdom?”

Much to Eugene’s surprise, the Queen just smiled warmly at him. “Your hair got a little messed up,” she said simply, reaching out to fix it.

“Uh…”

“No need to make your father think there’s a problem here, right?” she added with a wink. Eugene chuckled nervously.

If he had learned one thing from his father, it was how to read someone from their eyes. The Queen had an amused look on her face, but her eyes looked sad. “Are you alright?” he asked carefully.

She smiled again and looked down, waving her arms dismissively. “I’m fine, I just… I’ve always wanted a kid. And seeing you two made me think...” she trailed off, then cleared her throat uncomfortably.

His heart sunk. He remembered hearing about what happened to the Princess of Corona years ago. The Queen had lost a daughter, he couldn’t blame her for being sad. “I-I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I know how you feel, my mom…”

The Queen shook her head and put her hand on his shoulders. “It’s okay, there’s no need for all that.”

He looked up and smiled at her. The sound of quick footsteps broke their moment, and Varian appeared beside them seconds later. “Eugene- oh. Hi,” he said, looking up at the Queen with wide eyes.

“Varian, this is Queen Arianna of Corona,” Eugene said. The Queen waved down at him, and Varian waved back.

“Hi, Varian, you’re Quirin’s son, right?” she said. Eugene was a little surprised that she knew the names of the knights of the Dark Kingdom, but it made sense that she would be kind and attentive enough to know everyone. “I’m about to go see him, would you like to come with me?”

Varian nodded, and the Queen bent down to pick him up. Varian welcomed it, wrapping his arms around her neck as she rested him against her hip. “Bye, Eugene!” Varian waved. Eugene waved back.

The Queen met Eugene’s eye and smiled softly. “I’m supposed to be seeing the royal family of the Dark Kingdom for the first time today in five minutes, I will see you then,” she said with a short nod. Eugene smiled back at her, and she turned to walk away.

Eugene knew that not everyone would be as understanding of his and Varian’s games as Queen Arianna was. Over the next few years, the two of them would make sure to only pull their dumb shenanigans when no one important was around.

Besides, everyone was saying Eugene was too old to be doing that kind of thing. What they didn’t understand was that he was doing his best to give Varian a normal childhood. Neither of them got to experience true “normal,” but the least Eugene could do was make sure the kid was happy despite everything.

As Eugene grew up, he was expected to learn more about the kingdom. By the time he was 18 years old, he had gotten sick of hearing about the history of kingdom tragedies, mostly regarding the Moonstone.

“One of these days, you’re going to be king. You have to be prepared for whatever the Moonstone will do,” Edmund told him. Eugene glanced at the perpetually-closed door of the chamber holding the Moonstone.

“Why don’t we just destroy it?” he asked. His father narrowed his eyes, and he swore he could hear the Moonstone buzzing louder than it was before.

“Generations of your ancestors have tried and failed to destroy it. Now we simply leave it alone and smooth over the disasters as best we can. That’s all we can do, end of discussion.”

Eugene watched Edmund walk away, holding his head high like a king. Once he was out of earshot, he groaned to himself and kicked the door. Stupid Moonstone, causing problems all over the kingdom. And his father wouldn’t even think about finding a solution to the problem. Why did he insist on ignoring it?

“Eugene!” Varian yelled as he scurried toward him, snapping Eugene out of his thoughts. “Check this out!”

The boy had gotten a chemistry kit for his ninth birthday and was spending all his time with it. He had a new fascination with everything about science, and Eugene couldn’t believe he was having trouble keeping up with a nine-year-old.

Varian poured one chemical into another, and it fizzled then turned blue. Eugene watched it carefully, waiting for something to happen, but nothing else came. He looked up at Varian, who had a huge grin on his face and was looking expectantly at Eugene. “Oh, uh, cool! Your experiments are really coming along, Var.”

He beamed, practically bouncing up and down with excitement over his chemicals. “Adding one compound into another completely changes the components of the element! Isn’t that cool?”

“Sure!”

Varian rambled about his chemicals for a bit longer as Eugene tried his best to listen, then the kid suddenly stopped himself. “What’s that buzzing sound?”

“I think it’s the Moonstone,” Eugene shrugged. “It just got louder while I was talking to my dad.”

Varian’s eyes widened excitedly. “Let’s check it out!” He strutted towards the door and put his hand on the handle, almost opening it before Eugene grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back.

“Hold it, kiddo. We can’t go in there, it’s dangerous, remember?”

“All the Moonstone ever does is sit there, why is it so dangerous to go in?”

Eugene paused, then shrugged. “It just is, I don’t know. Either way, there’s probably nothing interesting in there.”

Varian scrunched up his face at the door. Eugene could tell he wanted to go in, and honestly, he wanted to too. But he knew that it wasn’t worth the trouble they would get in if they went in. “Hey, how about we check out some more of your chemicals? I’m sure there’s plenty of things you haven’t combined yet, right?” he suggested.

Varian brightened back up and nodded. “Yeah! You’re right, there’s a lot more science to discover!” he said, taking Eugene’s arm and dragging him towards the door, the Moonstone completely forgotten about.

If the Moonstone was as dangerous as his father suggested, there was no way Eugene was letting Varian anywhere near it. It was not worth the risk of him getting hurt. He had sworn to himself years ago that he would protect the kid with everything he had, and no magic rock was going to change that.

Eugene was 24 when the rocks started appearing everywhere. Black rocks had been common his whole life, but it was getting much worse. Homes were being destroyed left and right, and no one could stop them.

He didn’t know if he could sit through another meeting where everyone’s only solution was to relocate civilians. He wanted to scream that these were all temporary solutions, and they needed to find a way to stop the rocks instead of relocating people every other day.

“You’re relocating people again ?” Eugene yelled as he threw open the door of his father’s office.

Edmund’s hardened gaze fell on him. “I know you want to find another way, but I’ve told you there is no other way. These are the kind of decisions you’ll have to make when you’re king,” he said simply.

“But there has to be something else to do! Why aren’t we finding the root of the problem?”

“We already know that the root of the problem is the Moonstone, but there’s just nothing to do about it.”

“‘Nothing to do about it’?” he shouted, slamming his hand on the desk in front of him. “You won’t even try to do anything about it!”

“There’s nothing to be done!” Edmund shouted back, standing up to meet his son’s eye level. “I’ve told you time and time again that the Moonstone cannot be destroyed!”

“How could you possibly know that? You won’t even let me get close to it!”

“Because I won’t lose you the same way I lost your mother!”

Eugene’s mouth immediately snapped shut. He stared into his father’s eyes. He looked… lost. But that didn’t stop Eugene’s heart from racing as thoughts ran back and forth in his head. His face felt numb, and he couldn’t form the words that were on the tip of his tongue. Edmund sighed to break the silence and sat back down. “I just want to protect us, son.”

“What do you mean by that?” he asked quietly when he found his voice. “You said she died of a sickness.”

Edmund shook his head. “She didn’t. She tried to destroy the Moonstone, and… the Moonstone had other ideas.”

“The Moonstone killed her,” Eugene whispered. His hands tightened into fists and his eyes were trained on the floor. His nails were digging into the palm of his hand, but he didn’t even notice.

“Yes,” Edmund said weakly.

“And you never told me? You didn’t think I would want to know how my mother died?” he spat, his voice slowly rising.

“I couldn’t tell you the truth about the Moonstone, I just needed you to know it’s dangerous . ”

“You couldn’t tell me the truth. You let me believe a lie for years because you ‘couldn’t tell me the truth.’”

“Son, I’m not the bad guy in this story, you know that.”

“Don’t call me son,” Eugene said coldly. “What have you ever done to be able to call me your son?”

He didn’t bother letting him answer. He practically ran out of the room and stormed as far away as he could from the king. He didn’t know where his feet were taking him, he just knew he had to get as far from that office as possible.

He slowly came up with an idea as he marched down the hallways of the castle. He threw open the door to the room he had gone to countless times and walked in. Varian jumped as the door to his lab was slammed open. “Hey, Eugene. You look… unhappy.”

“Yeah,” he grumbled. “You want to go see the Moonstone?”

Varian blinked in surprise. “Really? What about your dad?”

“I don’t care what he thinks. Are you in or not?”

Varian bit his lip, waiting for some kind of explanation. Eugene was breathing heavily, and he had anger etched into every corner of his face. Varian wasn’t sure what to do, but he knew from his expression that Eugene was about to do something dumb, and Varian took it upon himself to make sure he didn’t. “Okay, I’m in.”

“Good.” Eugene grabbed the boy’s arm and practically dragged him away from the lab. Varian tripped over his feet to try to keep up with the determined prince, but Eugene paid no attention to him. His only focus was getting to the Moonstone.

“So, uh, why the change of heart?” Varian asked.

“He’s been lying to me about everything. Now I don’t care what he wants for me, I’m seeing this Stone even if it kills me.”

Varian frowned. “...is it going to kill you?”

“Maybe. Probably not, though.”

Varian was about to object when they arrived at the door of the Moonstone Chamber. Eugene looked at the door with a sense of determination he had never felt before. Without another word, he threw open the doors and came face to face with the Moonstone. He stepped in, not checking to see if Varian was still behind him.

He was still behind, of course. He didn’t want Eugene to go in alone. Not to mention, he had wanted to see the Moonstone for years, too. It had always been forbidden for them to go into the Moonstone Chamber alone, so neither of them ever got the chance to get a good look at it. He looked at the rock in question, glowing softly from its black cage.

Now that they were in the Chamber, they had no idea what they were doing anymore. They had heard the horror stories about the Moonstone, but it didn’t look that scary. It was just floating there. Varian had half-expected it to be a giant murder machine, but it was just a tiny gem.

Eugene took a step closer, and the light it was emitting got subtly brighter. He stopped in his tracks, looking at the Stone.

This was the last thing his mom ever saw. He wondered if the Moonstone was glowing as softly and quietly as it was now, or if it was more… dramatic . It just seemed sad now. He stood still for a moment and watched the Moonstone floating alone in the cage.

“Eugene?” Varian said softly. Eugene turned around and looked back at Varian.

“That’s all I needed,” he said, walking back to the door. He pushed it open and walked out of the Moonstone Chamber.

Varian trailed behind him, his eyebrows knit together as he watched the prince. “Are you okay?”

Eugene paused, then nodded. “Yeah. Let’s get back to your lab, you said you’re working on something cool, right? Flynnoleum?”

“Yeah,” Varian said slowly, not wanting to change the subject so quickly. But clearly, his friend didn’t want to talk about this now. “Yeah, if it works right, I can get hot running water to the whole kingdom.”

“Cool,” Eugene responded, his voice barely steady. “Let’s go check it out.”

Ever since that day, everything was the same, but nothing was the same.

They both went back to their lives like usual. Eugene continued to go to meetings to learn about the problems in the kingdom, and Varian continued to work on his experiments. Eugene still spent all his free time in Varian’s lab, watching the kid performing experiments that Eugene didn’t entirely understand. All he did to make himself useful was pass beakers when he was told to. Just like before.

But there was still a weight on both of their shoulders as if something had changed. They learned more about the tragedies of the Moonstone, and they finally understood the burdens their kingdom had borne for centuries. They were each other’s lifeboats in the chaos of what Eugene not-so-lovingly called “The Disaster Kingdom.”

It had been 2 years since they had first visited the Moonstone together, and things had only gotten worse in the kingdom. More rocks were devastating the citizens’ lives every day and no one could stop it. Eugene stopped trying to find solutions, and instead went out and helped as many people as he could in the relocations.

He stayed distant from his father. They talked when they had to, but never more than that. He didn’t mind, though. He had never had a close relationship with Edmund before, at least now they both finally had an excuse.

But one day, everything changed.

Varian knew something was wrong when Eugene didn’t come to visit his lab at the end of the day. He searched through the castle to look for some sign of where the prince went.

His heart dropped when he saw the door of the Moonstone Chamber was standing ajar. He poked his head in to see Eugene standing on the walkway. He was staring at the stone with Adira’s Shadowblade gripped tightly in his right hand.

“Eugene?”

He didn’t turn around to face Varian. He didn’t move at all. “Someone died today.”

“What?”

“Someone died today,” he said again. “A rock shot up into their home and killed her.”

“Oh,” Varian said quietly. “Was it someone you knew?”

“No, but it was someone with a home and a family. And now she’s gone, and her family doesn’t have her anymore. All because of the Moonstone.”

Varian fell silent and looked at the Moonstone. He could have sworn it was glowing brighter than it was last time he saw it.

“I’m going to destroy it.”

Varian’s eyes widened. “You can’t! It’ll kill you!”

Eugene made a noise that sounded like a half-laugh, half-scoff. “It’ll kill me? Just like it’s done to everyone else for the entire history of the kingdom?” he said bitterly. The Moonstone began to hum louder at his words. “It’s already killing people. I’m done just sitting back and hoping it’ll stop.”

“Eugene, there’s got to be a better way to help everyone than walking into death!”

“If you know a better way, I’m all ears! But as far as I can tell, no one can do anything. And apparently, I’m the only one that cares.”

“I care too! I just don’t want to lose you like this.”

Eugene’s shoulders tensed for a moment then fell back down. “That’s not my problem.” He took a step closer to the Moonstone, and it started to shine even brighter.

“Isn’t this the exact same thing that killed your mom?” Varian shouted.

That made him stop. Eugene finally turned around, his eyes narrowed and his hands shaking. He raised the sword at his side and pointed it directly at Varian. “Don’t you dare talk about my mother,” he hissed. Behind him, the Moonstone shot out a burst of light. “You don’t know anything about her.”

“I know enough to know that this could kill you!”

“It doesn’t matter, as long as I can destroy this stupid rock.”

He turned back around and continued his walk towards the Moonstone. It glowed harsher with every step he took, the light almost blinding by the time he was right next to it. Varian’s lip quivered as he watched the closest thing he ever had to a brother drawing his sword and holding it above his head.

“Eugene, wait!” he cried out. Eugene snapped his head to glare at Varian. The kid cleared his throat and took a hesitant step forward. “I… I love you. You’ve always been like family to me, and I- I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Eugene’s face softened, and so did the light emitting from the Moonstone. He slowly lowered the sword to give his full attention to Varian. “Kid, I’m-”

Before he could finish the thought, the Moonstone shot up from the cage like an arrow and floated in midair for a split second. The next thing he knew, it flew to Eugene’s chest, causing him to gasp and fall backward.

“Eugene!”

“Stay back!”

He clutched his chest and tried to claw it away to no avail. It dug deeper in his chest, and he folded in on himself. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly to distract from the burning the Stone was causing as it embedded itself into his skin. He felt Varian’s hand on his shoulder, but he pushed him away. He held his hand out to force the kid to keep a distance. He had no idea what was about to happen, and he didn’t know what he would do if Varian got hurt.

He felt extremely dizzy and his ears were rushing. His eyes were still shut and he couldn’t hear a thing, all he knew was that the Moonstone was searing his chest. He had no idea what was going on around him or to him. It felt like hours, but it couldn’t have been much longer than a minute.

Is this what his mom felt like right before she died?

A rock shot up right next to him, and he reached out to lean on it, desperately trying to catch his breath. The pain was starting to subside and he opened his eyes slowly. He blinked a few times as Varian came into focus in front of him. The kid’s face looked horror-stricken, but thankfully he seemed unscathed. “Kid?”

“You- your- you look-” Varian stuttered.

Eugene looked down and saw that the clothes he had been wearing had been replaced with pitch-black armor made from the rocks, with spikes protruding from the shoulders. The Moonstone had settled into place on his chest. His hair was pitch black, too, the same color as the black rocks across the kingdom.

“Well, that’s… new.”

#got team awesome on the brain wheeeeeeeeeee #originally this was just going to be the two of them vibing in the dark kingdom #but it kinda grew from there lol #eugene appreciation week #tangled #my writing #fanfic #varian #eugene #tangled the series #eugene fitzherbert #team awesome #dark kingdom au

55 notes · View notes

enchantedblackrose · 3 years

Text

All the Pieces Pt 2

Sirius Black/Fem Reader

Warnings: light swearing, kinda long, unedited. I broke canon and will probably continue to do so in other parts now?

Part 1|| Part 3|| Part 4|| Part 5

Part 2 of ?

No more secrets from you I would lose to love you And I have never felt so Like a man that's been set free I can spread my arms now - Pieces, Dan Powell

Your questions wait longer still as you watch Sirius step hesitantly into your living room. It's not completely conscious, but you can't stop looking at him. He's so skinny and looks defeated, but then that fresh morning sunlight dances across his face. For a second you see glimpses of the boy you knew years ago.

Sirius clears his throat. The sudden noise startles you and you nearly jump.

"Shower!" You yell, though you're not sure why it comes out as a shouted demand.

"'m sorry, what?"

"I mean, you must want a hot shower?"

Disbelief creeps onto his face. "I would love a hot shower so don't take this wrong, but you must have a hundred questions for me?"

"A thousand actually," you smile, "but they can wait."

Your compassion causes a warmth to fill Sirius that he hasn't felt since the last time he was in your presence. He nods his gratitude, not trusting himself to speak.

You direct him to the top of the stairs and inform him of the fresh towels in the linen closet and the second bedroom he may use. Before he closes the bathroom door, you tell him you'll see if you can scrounge up any other clothes for him.

"And then if you want," you say, "we can set those damned robes on fire." Sirius laughs as you walk away.

Never being one able to throw anything away, you know for certain you have some old clothing belonging to Sirius. Not trusting the old rickety steps of the pull down ladder, you apparate to the attic.

"Lumos." The tip of your wand illuminates enough of the storage space that you easily find the light fixture and gently pull on the chain. You put out your wand.

Immediately you spot the desired trunk and the sight of it causes you to draw a sharp breath. Your habit of saving everything while at times like this is beneficial, it often brings you some pain. You sit in front of the trunk, opening it slowly.

Photos and a small midnight blue velvet jewelry box sit on the very top. You pick them up and hesitate before setting them aside.

Next you pull out a large leather jacket, followed by men's pants, several shirts, including tees with the face of David Bowie, another with the Stones, and even one with ABBA. You throw your head back in laughter; you really do keep anything and everything, but this is why. Even these mundane items hold precious memories.

You set the clothes beside you and thumb through the photos: Sirius kissing you on the cheek, Sirius kissing James on the cheek, you and a very pregnant Lily at her baby shower, you and Remus laughing with a pink haired, confused Sirius in the background, Peter attempting to rollerblade, Sirius in his dog form, the marauders near the Whomping Willow at school, you and Sirius slow dancing at James and Lily's wedding. You sigh before gently placing them back in the trunk. You pick up the little box, the delicate fabric still plush and smooth in your hand. But you decide to return it to the trunk without opening it.

Sirius should be getting out of the shower soon and you want the clothes ready for him when he is. You turn off the light before disapparating to the guest bedroom. The clothes were well preserved and a few incantations later they are freshly laundered. You leave them at the end of the bed.

You retreat to the kitchen to prepare brunch. The food is mostly done when from above you hear the water stop, squeaks of doors opening and shutting, the creaking of floorboards and then Sirius barking a hearty laugh. You smile to yourself.

"You always were a pack rat," he says, appearing after a minute. You see he opted not to wear any of the muggle musician shirts, but instead he's in a solid black t-shirt and dark jeans. Both hang loosely on his thin frame. You say nothing about his playful quip, mostly because it's true. You indicate for him to sit in one of the wooden kitchen chairs. "That said where's your engagement ring?"

Your heart sinks as you think to that blue box upstairs.

"Sirius," you warn, your voice low.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't fair. Though you not wearing it was the second thing I noticed about you." He offers a smile, but you don't relent, refusing to dive into this conversation when there's still so many answers he owes. Seeing your hardened expression, he holds his hands up signaling he still means no offense.

You sigh. "What was the first thing?"

His grin widens into a full smile. "Your eyes of course. They're just as I remember. Beautiful, full of goodness and emotions. I could always tell what you were feeling."

Despite yourself, you feel heat rise to your cheeks, blushing over Sirius Black's words like you were still a schoolgirl. It's mortifying to adult you and you take a large sip of orange juice to avoid eye contact.

Sirius smirks slightly, but begins to eat. The array of food mimics a small buffet: chocolate chip muffins, pancakes, bacon, toast, oatmeal and scrambled eggs. A glass pitcher with orange juice sits beside jams and butter.

Sirius takes more than a bit of everything. A mostly comfortable silence falls over the table as two of you eat. Even when you have finished, you refuse to bombard Sirius with questions, allowing him to enjoy the meal.

Finally, getting his fill, he peers at you across the table. It's finally time for you to learn the truth.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything," you reply without missing a beat. And so Sirius starts with Peter's betrayal ("literal filthy rat! How could he?" you cry) and ends with knocking at your door.

Your eyebrows furrow. Sirius told you his story and you're still left with questions.

"What's on your mind?" He asks knowingly.

"How did you know where I was? Remus stays here once in a while, did you know that? What's Harry like? Merlin, Peter escaped? He's out there free and you're...do you think he knows where You Know Who is?" You rapid fire questions without thought or pause, but Sirius chuckles.

"I can only answer one at a time, darling. Slow down. Breathe, maybe. I'll answer them all." He shifts in his chair, leaning back slightly. "Dumbledore came to that tower where I was held and told me, in his way, that I may have a friend here. That he would send an owl to that friend explaining my innocence. Remus and I had little chance to chat dealing with that treacherous rat, and Snape," he sneers "and the full moon, of course. But I am glad to know you and Remus maintained your friendship," he pauses as if wanting to say more, but thinks better of it.

Both a sad and happy smile plays on his lips as he answers your next question. "Harry is a carbon copy of James, with the same knack for trouble, though he has Lily's eyes. I'm hoping he has her common sense, too. He's got a good head on his shoulders and the right sorts of friends surround him." Sirius's expression goes dark. "Peter will go wherever he thinks he'll be protected. Voldemort is out there, and I'm willing to bet Peter will do anything to get to him."

Another silence falls over the two of you and you shudder at the prospect of Voldemort returning.

"I'm sorry if I asked too many questions," you finally say after a long moment.

"You didn't."

"You're welcome to stay here. For as long as you need."

"I'd like to. I'm not sure how long, but a couple nights at least if it's no trouble."

"It's no trouble. Er, does your hippogriff need anything?"

"Buckbeak? Nah. There's plenty for him to hunt and he's free to roam a bit, right? I'll introduce you two later."

You laugh. "I'll show you to your room. You must be exhausted."

He catches your wrist before you walk away. His touch makes you feel as though you're on fire. You ignore the sensation and look Sirius in the eye as he speaks. "Thank you. Your kindness is truly unmatched, y/n. Always has been." You don't know how to respond. As if on cue, he yawns and then frowns. "I haven't asked anything about you."

"There will be time for that later. C'mon." You smile reassuringly but mentally you're thankful to prolong any more heavy conversations.

Sirius follows you up the stairs into the bedroom. Your eyes scan the room and you frown. The pale green wallpaper accented with tiny pink rosebuds and the bed donned with oversized blankets and half a dozen throw pillows is a stark contrast to Sirius. You mumble something about not being able to redecorate this room just yet. But Sirius just smiles. You draw the curtains shut in an attempt to block the midday sunlight.

"I think you should have everything you need? Of course help yourself to anything in the kitchen. I'll head to town to get some things."

His face is solemn. "Y/n, stay with me?" He clears his throat. "I mean...will you. Please?"

Wordlessly you nod. You let him climb into the queen sized bed first. Once he's settled, you get in, laying next to him. He moves you closer. Your head rests on his shoulder. He breathes in your scent as his arms wrap loosely around you. You drape an arm across his chest, assuring him his touch is welcomed. His grip tightens slightly as his breathing slows. You watch the rising and fall of his chest until your eyelids flutter shut.

Light tapping on your front door pulls you out of your dreams. Confusion hits first as you're heavy with the weight of a man's arms around you. Sirius. You smile as you become more awake, remembering the moments just hours ago. The knocking grows louder. Urgent, even. Panic sets in.

You shake Sirius awake. He bolts upright in bed, his breathing labored. You place a hand on his chest to calm him. For the moment at least. "Someone's at the door." You tell him in a harsh whisper . Sirius's eyes widen. "Transform," you urge. "And for Merlin's sake stay here." He wants to argue, but knows you're right. You wait until he becomes a large black furry mass of a dog. You close the bedroom door behind you, earning a low whine from Sirius in the process. You hurry down the stairs, clutching your wand in your dominant hand. Fear courses through your veins. You feel your heartbeat quicken with each step.

Drawing a deep breath, you swing the front door open. The sight nearly stops your heart.

"Finally y/n. Is he here?"

Taglist: @oingo233

#sirius black x reader #sirius x you #hp fanfic #harry potter fanfic #adult sirius #sirius x reader

113 notes · View notes

srose-foxfire · 3 years

Text

Damirae Week 2021 - Day 5

“The Enchanted Rose” Day 5: Nightmares

Crimson red was all Raven could see. She turned and turned hoping to see anything that wasn’t covered in red.How could this had happened? She had felt so happy just moments ago she had been dancing the night away with Damian feeling so at peace and alive. He twirled her around that huge ballroom floor, he spun her so many times but not once did Raven ever get dizzy. She kept her gaze on Damian, for he was her center.

Once her feet were beginning to feel sore, Damian like the gentleman he was, escorted her back to her bedroom. After bidding her a goodnight Damian turned to leave but then stopped him as Raven lifted herself on his tiptoes to give him a small peck on his cheeks. Raven caught a small blush coat his cheeks as he bowed and then left her in her room. The last thing she saw was his tail wagging. She closed her door and went off to bed, falling deep into a sleep with a huge grin on her face.

Or that was she imagined her night to end like. Instead she was here, in her father’s lands, who she sworn she would never return to. This was the life she was born into and one she never wanted to accept as hers. Raven hugged herself tightly, wanting to escape whatever hell she had just entered. She looked down at her bare feet as a strange shadow started creeping itself towards her, turning her into the demon she feared she would become. Frightened, Raven cried out and held her head tightly in her hands.

“You have to stop letting these fears hold you down.”

Raven open her eyes and gaze towards who had spoken to. There in front of her stood a woman, wrapped in a white hooded cloak. She had her face hidden by the hood, all Raven could make out was her light pink lips and the ends of her black hair just barely peeking out from her shoulders.

“Who are you?” Raven asked.

The woman only smiled beneath her hood, “someone who wants to see you happy. Raven, you don’t need to fear him anymore…” then her smiled slowly turn into a frown, “but you are in danger.”

“Danger? Tell me-”

“I’m running out of time, listen to me carefully. Your friends will need you, when that time comes, call for our Great Mother and she will bestow upon you her blessing.”

Then a gust a wind started to pick up around Raven, her vision started to blur as the woman in front of her started to disappear. “Wait! Is this the Wayne’s, are they in danger because of me? Who are you?!”

“Raven, you hold a light so strong, a light of healing. You will light the darkness surrounding those now dear to you.”

With that Raven woke from her sleep, she clutched her chest as her whole body shivered. Raven scanned her room; nothing was out the norm, through her large bedroom window a full moon shined brilliantly casting away any shadows in her room. Next to her bed was the wooden perch, Sombra slept on. It had only been a dream, she thought to herself. She laid there, fully wide awake, reflecting what her dream could had meant and who could that womanbeen? She seems to know Raven well, but the young girl could never recollect, where she might have ever seen her.

Needing some time to calm herself, Raven stepped out of her bedroom put on her night gown and a silk cover up. She went downstairs to the castle’s kitchen and make herself a cup of tea. She assumed it was a little midnight as the full moon looked to have travel half the night sky. Though now the castle was always illuminated by candlelight. Raven arrived and busy herself to start the fire going underneath the stove top and placed a filled kettle over the flame. Once the water started to boil, she grabbed a tea pot, poured some loose dried lemon grass and hot water. As she waited while her tea seeped, Raven went on a hunt to find a teacup. As she hunted for a cup, Raven hadn’t noticed she wasn’t alone in the kitchen.

“What are you doing up?”

Startled Raven jumped and bumped her head under a cupboard. She hissed at the sudden pain and turn her face to snare at Damian as he stood by the doorway with his arms crossed. “Oh, it rude to sneak up on people!” She turned around and continue to look for the damn cup. “I couldn’t sleep… what are you doing up?”

“I’m always up at this hour.”

“Doing what?”

“Reminiscing” Damian came up from behind her and opened up a cabinet, just to her right; revealing three small shelves filled with assorted and expensive china teacups. “and looking over… somethingthat was left to me.”

“Oh…” Raven said nonchalantly as she grabbed one blue cup and then gestured toward him, “would you like me to pour you a cup?”

Damian gave her a small shrug, she walked around him and poured him some tea. She placed it the kitchen’s island counter, taking a seat and sipping her tea. She felt the drink warm and sooth her soul, making her forget the nightmare she had that had cause her to be awoken. Damian went ahead and sat across from her. He took the china cup and held it by the tips of his claws, careful not to break it. After taking a sip, he sighed, “you’re not going to ask what it is?”

Damian actually looked smug, like he wanted to rub whatever he had in her face. Raven placed her cup down as gently as she could, clasping her hand together, “I cannot believe you perceive me as some nosy girl-”

“You wandered the castle when I told you not to, you wentoutsidedespite me telling you not to go out-”

“You orderedme,” Raven pointed a finger at him, “I don’t do good being ordered around.”

“Touché… something seems to be bothering you. I want you to know you can speak to me.”

Should she tell him? Raven hadn’t had time to reflect on her dream, everything was coming back to her in vague pieces. Danger. That was what she had dreamt, she had felt she was in trouble and somehow her dream made the illusion of someone warning her to keep her eyes open. “I had this dream… well a nightmare of my old home.” That was the half-truth.

Damian clasped his hand together and leaned in closer, “you never once spoke about your home, or where you were headed when you… came to the castle. Did something happen to your homeland?”

“I was exiled.”

~~~~

Damian sat there as Raven told him her story.

“I am the daughter of a demon who governs lands cast in shadows and bloody rivers. Lord Trigon, who stands above all demons and dark magic wielders in all the realms. I was to be his successor, but I wasn’t what he hoped for. The part of me that doesn’t wished to harm others, cause destruction or how my father put it ‘kindhearted’, impeded me to ever fall to my demon side. My father believed my mother’s good nature was the caused for this. He had no use for me, proclaimed one of my lesser but more demon-like siblings would take his reign. So, without as much a goodbye he made me leave his lands. Good riddance, I never once turned back, the minute I stepped out of his forsaken lands, I felt free and alive.”

“Where were you planning to head off to?”

“My mother’s homeland. I never got to meet her; my father killed her when I was very young so I have no memory of her. I found an old journal she kept and there she described her home to be filled with light, a place where anyone could be accepted no matter who they are. My only problem is, she never once wrote the name of her home, so I was traveling blindly. I ask any village I passed through… and after receiving directions from this old woman… I ended up here.”

Damian felt a sharp pain in his chest as he continued to listen to her tale. Raven was heading towards a place she could be accepted and loved. She was heading where she could find a place to call home. Her home. Damian fought tears wanting to escape, he turned his head and looked away as he could feel his heart want to shatter, realizing he could never bring any good. He was a cursed beast, and the curse was designed to darken any light around him.

Here he had this brilliant and kind woman, who could had turned against him at any moment. Instead she brought him warmth and happiness he never believed he needed. What did he do in return? Take away her freedom, rob her of making her own choices. Why did he believe he could give her all the luxuries left in his castle to make her want to stay?

Damian needed to do something right for her, he needed to amend his wrongs and let her know she could maybe find peace here, with him.Just then an idea popped in his head. Damian allowed a small smile to grace his lips.

“Come. I would like to show you something.”

Damian extended his arm out for Raven to take. She timidly reaches for his paw, once she held him, very effortlessly he lifted her and guided the girl outside the kitchen. Keeping silent, Damian lead Raven through corridors, until they reach an open door near the entrance to one of his private and personal chambers. The opening lead to a spiral of stair wells that lead to a tower, Damian would spend much of time. Once the reach the top, it led into a grand torn down room. It was dusty, the walls were covered in spiderwebs, and in the far side of the space was an opening to a balcony.

They walked silently into the room and Damian nodded to Raven, signaling he was allowing her to inspect the room. “This was my own private study; I would come here to train or be away from my family.” He continues to watch her wonder around the large room and stopped as she gazes towards up a shredded portrait, one he destroyed of himself. “It’s the one place in the castle my siblings aren’t allowed to come. Excuse me for the mess, I find solace here since the curse was place. I wanted to show you this.”

Damian points towards a small round table near the exit to the balcony. There in the center of the table, a centerpiece was covered by a thin gray rag. Damian pulled it away, revealing a green rose, though it color was unusually dark. Raven gasp as she noticed the rose was covered by a glass covering and floated above the table’s surface, keeping perfectly still. Though instead of keeping upright, its rosebud was tilted to the side, almost as if it was wilting.

“It’s floating?” She asked.

“There was a rose garden my father had planted, a token for my mother it was his way he proposed to her. Green for her eyes. When she passed away, I took over the care for the roses, my way of keeping her memory alive and one of my closest treasures. When the witch cast the curse and she transformed me, she said she would take everything I held dear would be gone. My mother’s rose garden was burned to the ground, all the beautiful, fully bloomed rosebuds were destroyed. All but one.” Damian gestured towards the single last rose from his garden.

“It’s enchanted?” Raven continue to ponder as she viewed the mysterious flower from all angles.

“That is what I believe as well, it once shined and sparkled. Over the years it’s light simply started to dim, which is why it looks dead. Perhaps it’s was the witch’s way of saying that this curse will never be lifted, but I personally wish to see that some good could come out this.”

“I happen to imagine you view the world differently, correct? Trust me, coming from a line of demons give you that insight… may I?” Raven gestured towards the rose and Damian simply gave her a soft nod. He watched as she carefully removed the glass covering and placed it next to the rose. Raven slowly kept her placed her hands over it, not daring to touch it. She continues to move her hands all around almost as if she could really touch it and then the most marvelous thing happen.

Light. The green rose suddenly emitted a bright glow and burst with life again. The wilting rosebud soon rose itself upright, blooming and slowly spinning in Raven’s hands. Small specks to what appeared to be the rose’s pollen, erupted resulting it looking like the rose was emitting green sparkles.

Damian took a few steps back as he watched his room be filled with this mysterious light and gazed upon the girl holding it. She has a light to share, Damian thought as the rose continued to shine and spun. Damian frowned and lowered his gaze as he knew what he had to do, even if he didn’t want it to happen.

Raven gasped softly and smiled, “Damian, do you see this? It’s beautiful, how do you think this happened-”

“Go.” Damian said rather harshly as he came between Raven and the rose, moving her hands away and covering the enchanted rose once again.

Raven turned to face him with her brows knitted together, she was about to speak when Damian interrupted her, “You are no longer my prisoner, you can go and find your mother’s land.”

“But I-”

Damian then turned his back towards her, his whole form was able to shield the rose’s glow, dimming the room back to the darkness he had become use to. He didn’t want to hear what she had to say, he fears if he did than he would never let her leave. Very hard he held back the tears and kept his voice stern, not letting himself brake before her. “Didn’t you hear me? I said go!” No, I want you to stay. “Go!” Please stay with me. “I don’t want you here! Get out of my sight!

Damian slightly glanced from the side; Raven was still there awestruck by the sudden change of his behavior no doubt. He growled, then turned his whole body, looming over the poor girl. Damian then let out a great and terrifying roared as the castle tremble beneath him. “GET OUT!” He slashed at an old chair next to him, making Raven back away towards a wall.

“Damian, what’s happening?” Raven said in a mere frightened whisper, her voice wanting to crack.

“Get out, I say! You have no business here; I don’t want you in my castle anymore!”

“Please stop.” Raven painfully begged, which only aggravated Damian even more.

Damian snarled, he could feel his eyes swell up with tears wanting to cascade, with a painful heart he cried out another terrifying roar, “GET OUT!”

With that Raven ran towards the door, her steps fading as she sprinted the stairs. In the distance he could hear her pet raven, Sombra squawked, the main castle’s doors opening and banging at their sudden opening. Damian walked to the tower’s balcony seeing Raven wrapped in an old worn out cloak, with Sombra flying at her side, fleeing from his castle never looking back and disappearing in the forest. Not being able to contain the pain in his chest, Damian slump down and let all the sorrows lodged in his heart out.

“Damian.”The young cursed prince looked up and saw his older brother Dick floating towards him. “What happened? Why did she leave? What did you do?”

“I let her go,” Damian said meekly as he stared down to the ground.

Flabbergasted, Dick raised his hands towards his younger brother.“Why?”

Taking one final look at the illuminated green enchanted rose, Damian gave a wearily stare towards his half-brother, who knew more about love than him. “Because I love her.”

#damirae week 2021 #day 5 #nightmares #damirae #damirae week #damiraefic #Damian Wayne #raven roth #raven and damian #damian and raven #Beauty and the Beast AU

43 notes · View notes