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gumnut-logic · 3 years

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Callisto (Full Prologue)

Prologue Part One - Bit 1 | Bit 2 | Bit 3 | Bit 4 | Bit 5 Part Two - Bit 1 | Bit 2 | Bit 3

When I first started this story, I was of two minds whether to put all of the prologue at the front or scatter it throughout the fic. I started with 700-odd words of it and drove into the body.

It fast became obvious that I really needed to build a lot more into the prologue as the OCs were empty shells and I needed to explain the story behind them and why Jeff is so determined.

So at the end of Part Two, I stopped and went back. This is the result. Nearly 5000 words of Jeff Tracy landing on Mars. It can stand as its own story, but it definitely leads into the planned events for the novel, Callisto. Either way I hope you enjoy it. Be aware that the first 500 words or so may be familiar as they were part of the original version. Don’t worry, the rest is new.

Of course, many, many thanks to @tsarinatorment @scribbles97 and @janetm74 for all the amazing support and help with this fic. Plus @onereyofstarlight my go to science officer on this voyage. You guys are absolutely amazing and I couldn’t have done this without you ::massive group hug::

Now this is done, I can finally go back to writing the novel chronologically. I have to say that this is going to be one hell of a ride.

No warnings needed.

-o-o-o-

2033

“Another boy?”

Jeff grinned. “Yeah. Another one.” He couldn’t help but stare at the photo that had landed on his screen as a good luck token from Earth.

He did of course, know about Lucille going into labour the night before and it was for that reason he hadn’t had the sleep he probably should have pre-history making Mars landing. But honestly, to get this signal from that little blue planet a good eight months away…his heart swelled…his beautiful baby boy had a shock of red hair that screamed their Irish ancestry down through the hundreds of years since their family had left the old world.

Lucille sat holding him, looking tired but ever so proud. Her dark hair was tied back and the sparkle in her eyes brought a lump into his throat. Her mother, pink hair and all, sat beside his wife holding his two eldest boys on her lap. Scott had his hand on Virgil’s arm as the now second youngest reached over towards his baby brother, a frown of concentration on his face.

“He’s beautiful.”

Jeff startled a little. Berry was breaking regs and leaning over the back of Jeff’s pilot couch, her straps unfastened. The cockpit was pretty snug in the lander, most of the room taken up with safety equipment and interfaces, leaving little for the padded personnel support.

He shot an eyebrow in her direction and she smiled a dare back at him. The astrogeologist wasn’t one for breaking the rules, she just liked to taunt him a little.

Ju, in contrast, was checking her harness was secure a second time. “Creating your own crew, Tracy?” Her auburn eyes smirked at him. “Aiming to replace us?”

He grinned. “Could be.” Dare he mention that his four-year-old eldest could already name all the controls in this cockpit? His grin widened. “But we can’t replace the first person to set foot on Mars, now can we?”

Berry snorted, a little abashed. But it was, after all, her part to play once they made touchdown. The words had been rehearsed, the order of exit decided. For very specific reasons, the first human on Mars was going to be Kate Berrenger.

Berry had worked her ass off to make this mission a reality. Her specialisation onboard was astrogeologist, but honestly it was far more. The woman was talent on legs. It was she who had designed much of the equipment they were deploying on the surface, she who had hunted and gathered the funding, she who had put in the sweat and tears to make this work. And Ju wasn’t far behind. The two of them were quite a powerhouse pair. Jeff considered himself and Lee lucky to have been chosen for this mission. Of course, he’d known Berry for a very long time, worked with her for most of it, but it wasn’t a given that the team that had helped populate the moon would also be the first on Mars.

“Given how many life support pods we’re dragging down there, I bet your boys could drop by in about thirty years or less.”

“You gonna put your money where your mouth is, Berry?” The thought was tantalising. Not to put pressure on any future careers – Lucy would kill him – but he would hope that at least one out of three might follow in his footsteps.

Maybe?

He turned around and opened his mouth, only to be interrupted. “Major Tracy, tell your team to secure. Two minutes to separation.” Sinclair was his usual grumpy, nervous self.

“Roger that, Orbiter Control.”

He glared at Berry and the redhead bit her lip with a smile, green eyes dancing, before sitting back and strapping herself in preparation for the sequence.

She didn’t stop smiling though.

“So watcha gonna name him?” Lee prodded him with his eyebrows from beside Jeff.

A last glance at the photo before he returned to separation prep, fingers tight in his gloves. “Are you going to remember this one?” An eye in the engineer’s direction.

“Sure.”

Running his fingers over the controls, Jeff ran through pre-flight. “Name my eldest.”

Lee grunted, his eyes darting away. “Not important right now.” A flick of a switch. “I’m green across the board.”

“A-ok.” Jeff ran through the last sequence of checks…and ran them again…for luck. “Orbiter Control, we are green for separation.”

“Roger that, Cornerstone. Separation in sixty seconds on my mark.” A breath. “Mark.” Another pause. “Good luck.”

And the countdown began.

Jeff ran his eyes over everything again. The great ship that had journeyed so far from home was preparing to split in half. The lander at the top of the vessel was to pull away from the orbiter and its massive propulsion engines to begin the historic descent to the Martian surface. Eight months in space, so much preparation time and so many sacrifices before that, had all led to this moment.

History in the making.

His eyes combed the readouts watching like a hawk. The computer had control, but computers could only do so much.

Still green across the board.

Quiet, his fingers touched the screen where the photo had been. “John Glenn Tracy.” A breath. “His name is John.”

Displays shifted as the countdown hit zero and machinery grunted. The Cornerstone drifted apart from its propulsion module and floated free far above the red of the Martian surface.

Jeff eyed his instrumentation and sent a prayer to his family back home.

Today was an important day.

-o-o-o-

Lee watched Jeff side-on as he clicked his helmet into place. Taylor was a realist and he knew he wouldn’t be here without the crazy pilot.

It was Jeff’s drive that had gotten them this far. It was like riding a rollercoaster of determination and outright luck. From the Airforce, through space training and their sojourns on Alfie, Lee had tied himself to the man’s coat tails and hadn’t looked back.

God, it had been fun.

Jeff Tracy was a tsunami that crashed through everything and took everyone with him.

And Lee went willingly.

When they had been chosen for this mission it was a dream come true.

The countdown dropped to zero and machinery clunked as the lander separated smoothly from the orbiter. She drifted momentarily before the computer engaged thrusters to push her gently out of orbital alignment.

“We are five by five for atmospheric entry.” The words he uttered were almost rote after so many practise simulations back on Earth.

Atmospheric entry on Mars was considerably different to entry on Earth. Terran atmosphere was more like soup in comparison to the barely-there Martian atmosphere. Still made for a warm entry though, friction was friction after all.

“Trajectory achieved.” Jeff’s voice was confident and firm. As always.

Lee eyed the computer readouts, mentally ticking off procedure as the lander dipped into the outer reaches of the atmosphere and shifted to its entry interface.

Forces wrapped themselves around Lee and his body responded. After so many months of weightlessness, this was going to be a challenge.

“Ready for deceleration burn.”

The landing module sported early entrance stage retro thrusters designed to slow the vehicle to reduce the friction on the spacecraft’s skin. A new innovation that had proven essential in many return trips to the moon in preparation for the creation of a habitable dome on the satellite.

And here they were attempting to do something similar on Mars.

Cornerstone shook as her thrusters engaged exactly on time.

The craft roared.

Lee revelled in it.

“Three minutes to subsonic.”

“I really hate this bit.” It was barely heard above the commotion.

Lee snorted to himself. Ju was an astronaut in every sense, but she had a thing regarding atmospheric entry and the microscopic bits they could be exploded into if something went wrong.

“We are on track, Ju. Not a thing to worry about.” His voice reassurance itself, Jeff could sell the moon cheese if he so felt like it.

“Orbiter to Cornerstone. Tracy, we have a problem.”

Lee blinked. Sinclair’s voice was ominous.

“Orbiter, detail?”

“Cornerstone, weather has kicked up on the landing site. We have a developing dust storm. Looks to be a big one.”

“Orbiter, we are fixed for descent. Please advise severity.” Jeff’s tone was frustrated and Lee couldn’t help but echo it.

Data landed in Lee’s console and while Jeff continued to monitor their descent, Lee examined the situation. “We have a category five dust storm developing over the landing site. Orbiter is right, she looks like she could actually do some damage.”

Mars dust storms were generally all gust and no guts. The air density and pressure forced storms that were dramatic to look at, but generally little more than a windy day on planet Earth. This one, however... “It’s an anomaly.”

Jeff’s eyes darted from his console to Lee’s, grey eyes assessing the data. “Ju, your opinion?” They had to make the decision fast. Altering their trajectory now was possible, but fuel was precious. Any extra used now narrowed their safety margin for later.

The meteorologist’s fingers darted over her board. “Unusual strength, I agree.” Lee glanced in her direction as she frowned. “But Cornerstone should be able to handle it.”

“‘Should’ is not a good enough assumption, Zhang.” Jeff was frowning. The lander’s retros cut out as they reached a safe enough velocity to manoeuvre and Jeff’s hands curled around the yoke.

Lee’s finger darted over his board and brought up the outside cameras.

The red planet stretched out before them, her slightly blue tinted atmosphere contrasting against the rust of her surface.

That surface was churning.

Ju was outraged. “How the hell did that develop in the time it took us to separate from Orbiter? She was as calm as a sleeping baby!”

“I don’t care about then, I need now. Zhang, recommendation!”

The woman grunted. “I say go. If you think you can handle it. It is well within Cornerstone’s specs. Your decision, Major.”

Jeff’s lips thinned, his eyes darting across the readouts. A moment and he hit the comms switch. “Orbiter, we are go for landing. We’ve come this far, might as well go all the way.”

“Tracy, are you sure?”

“Humanity never got anywhere taking it easy.” He glanced at Lee. “Hold onto something.”

Cornerstone began her turn, orientating her nose to the sky so her retros could lower her safely to the Martian surface.

Or in Jeff Tracy terms, ‘spinning so she could park her ass’.

As if reading Lee’s mind, the glint in Jeff’s eyes was something to both be wary of and to celebrate.

Out of the four of them, Jeff was the most reckless, the most daring. But as he was the pilot, it sometimes called for it. Jeff had already saved them from becoming just another crater on Earth’s moon by pulling the most unconventional manoeuvre ever seen on the satellite when a landing thruster misfired on approach. The craft had shot off on a completely unpredicted vector that would have ploughed them into moon dust...if Jeff hadn’t reacted as fast as he did. He flipped the craft with its remaining three thrusters and, shedding the majority of their velocity in an energy dump that had Lee’s stomach on the outside, planted their craft like a sack of potatoes.

They had landed roughly, but they had landed alive and Lee was still amazed his friend had been able to do that.

So, if they were going down in a cloud of red dust, Lee was quite happy to have Jeff at the controls.

Not to say that Lee himself wasn’t handy with a spacecraft. He had his own experience to be proud of. He flew, but his realm was more the mechanical. He was here as back up and maintenance.

For those times the Tracy fix wasn’t quite enough.

A sigh. He eyed the billowing clouds below as they rapidly approached. They were history in the making. Whatever happened here today would be taught in schools for decades to come.

He had faith in Jeff. They would land, Berry would take those first important steps on a new planet, say the rehearsed words, and join Neil Armstrong in the halls of fame.

But first they had to get there.

-o-o-o-

Jeff swallowed as the cloud of dust loomed beneath the lander. Numbers scrolled across his console. The computer should be able to handle most of it. Its programming was solid. Lucy had made sure of it.

The thought of his beautiful wife...little Johnny.

Dust swelled and wrapped around their craft and visibility became...bad.

Cornerstone shuddered.

Mars dust was a bastard of a thing. Ever so fine and carrying a tiny electric charge that on occasion interfered with instruments.

This was one of those occasions.

“We have blackout on three primary sensors.” Damn. Two others flickered, the screen fritzing a moment.

His fingers darted over controls in an attempt to compensate for the data loss.

Lee was muttering beside him and stabbing at his board. “Rerouting to back-ups.”

Their screens flickered and cleared somewhat.

Numbers plummeted.

Beyond the blinding dust the digital readout that marked the surface of the planet approached.

Far too fast.

Retros crucial to start the landing sequence did not fire.

Shit.

It took seconds for him to compensate and move to manual, but that was enough for the craft to fall many more metres so, when he did manually trigger the burn, they were lower than they should be.

Cornerstone roared as he pushed more energy into braking.

“Lee, we need primary thrust or we are so much pancake!” Her four landing thrusters were not slowing them enough. The math in his head was churning out a fatal result and their history-making attempt was fast turning into a shitfest. “I need that power now.”

“You have it.” Short and sharp as Lee’s hands darted over his console.

On Jeff’s board the main thruster icon lit up.

It wasn’t meant to be used this way. The main thruster was for launching. It was far more powerful than they needed to land. But if he didn’t slow Cornerstone, she was going to take on a big red rock and lose.

The computer ran calculations and spat numbers out at him.

“Firing main thruster.” The icon flashed, Cornerstone roared and g-forces wrapped around all of them and squeezed.

No one said anything for the second of burn that slowed their descent ever so rapidly. Everything shook, the ship’s superstructure groaning.

Jeff’s eyes tracked their velocity, counting down as the surface of the planet rushed towards them. Visually they couldn’t see it. Virtually it looked ready to slap them in the face.

But the main thruster compensated, slowing the craft just enough for the landing rockets to do their job.

Jeff killed the big one and concentrated on the landers to take the last of their speed.

Cornerstone slowed. Five hundred metres. Four hundred metres. Three hundred metres. Two hundred metres. One hundred metres. Landing struts deployed. Fifty. Thirty. Twe-

The whole ship slammed to a stop, its structure groaning and tilting for a second before righting itself. Alarms began shrieking, red lights flashing all over his board.

What the hell?!

The readout had them stalled nineteen metres ‘above’ the virtual surface. Virtual was obviously not lining up with actual.

Another metallic groan and the ship tilted slightly again. This time it stayed tilted. No doubt a landing strut had taken the brunt and folded.

One red light screamed at him more than the others.

Beside him, Lee confirmed his fears. “We have a fuel leak.”

Shit!

He was unstrapping himself even as the craft groaned again. Something sparked not far away. Lee was a split second behind, listing the reason for the malfunction. The exterior hull, and the mangled landing strut responsible.

A rupture in the external hull. Hell.

Jeff undocked a diagnostic pad and slapped it on his belt.

Martian gravity made itself known. So many months without its native pull, Jeff’s body protested the sudden movement, but they didn’t have time. Precious fuel was escaping.

He hit the ladder leading out of the cockpit at a run, feet locking around the struts and his hands pushing him down. The whole sensation of gravity, but only a third of Earth’s was baffling. His body caught between expectations and stumbling along the way. Ultimately, he partly fell his way down through the access ports, hands grabbing at the railings barely preventing him from colliding with each deck.

Cornerstone’s fuel tanks were attached to her four landers, with a fifth fueling her main launcher.

It was number three that was the problem.

His boots hit decking and he scrambled for the airlock. Beside him Lee had a toolkit and they both barrelled through the door sealing it behind them.

The pumps cycled and the pressure dropped, their suits shifting with the change, and then the elevator was lowering them to the ground.

As the doors opened, they were faced with a wall of swirling dust.

Jeff did his best to ignore it but it fast became a problem. The maintenance tab in his hand was directing him to climb ladders up the side of the vehicle, but he could barely see the tablet, much less the ladders themselves through the red dust.

“Stick close, Lee. I’d hate to lose you in this.”

“Right behind you, Jeff. Wouldna want to lose you either.”

It was simple, but reassuring nonetheless. Fumbling, he found the landing strut. It was skewed in a way that even in the thick swirling haze, he could see was far from the right angle for correct support.

Hooking a foot into the lowest rung, he snagged his friend and urged him up the ladder ahead. If anyone was going to save their asses in this situation, it was Lee.

If Jeff could land it, chances were Lee could fix it. The man could jimmy two sticks and a rubberband into whatever was needed. Hell, he’d done almost exactly that on the moon at least twice.

This was just another challenge. Jeff had landed them, no matter how roughly. Now Lee would be able to fix it.

Jeff clung to that maxim.

But the question wasn’t about skill, it was more about whether or not they were going to damn well be able to see what they needed to see in order to do what needed doing.

Red obscured everything. The speed it was all flying past spoke to his earth senses of gale force winds, but the pressure on his suit was little more than a windy day.

Not enough to affect the spacecraft.

Mars was obviously educating them early that this was not Earth. Not in any way shape or form.

Their clamber up the strut was partly a blind one, but they made it to the damaged side of the craft. Through a mixture of touch and virtual readout, it became clear that the outer hull had buckled, forcing the inner hull into the fuel tank. Most of it had held, but there was a small microfracture and the pressure differences were bubbling solid state fuel into gas at a rate that, if it didn’t deplete the tank, would likely cause an explosion that would solve all their problems with a history-making finality.

Jeff climbed up beside Lee as he fumbled at his tool kit. The tank was dislodged off its mounts, something they would need to remedy later, but it was still inset from the hull.

Jeff put his body in position to block the main flow of the dust and wind, jamming himself up against the still warm hull of his ship.

A little less dust swirled over the bubbling crack and Lee didn’t hesitate. Before Jeff could blink, gell bondtape landed smoothly over the area, the engineer sealing it with an electronic nudge from a set-wand. The electricity lined molecules up like soldiers and locked them in place bonding them to whatever the tape was adhered to. They had used the same stuff on Alfie two years ago when one of their habitats had tried to make one with the lack of lunar atmosphere.

An extremely simple solution for a very dangerous problem.

His heart, still adrenalin-fueled, refused to believe the danger was over.

As if reading Jeff’s thoughts, Lee smirked at him through the haze. “Never leave home without it.” A sigh as he ran a gloved hand over the seal. “This should hold for the short term. Once we are sure the strut is stabilised, I’ll give it a good going over. Hopefully, we can lose this storm in the process.”

Jeff would have liked to claim it couldn’t blow forever, but both of them knew Mars storms could be unpredictable and last for months if they so chose to.

Lee ran a scanner over the strut’s connection to the launcher. How the hell the engineer could see the readouts, Jeff didn’t know.

For all future excursions to the Red Planet, Jeff was going to recommend helmet based heads-up displays.

“She’s safe for now. A little bent, but she isn’t going to fall over. Hopefully, once we get out some of the heavy lifting equipment we can bend her back into shape if we need to.” Lee stood up. “Hull patching is going to be an ass, though.”

Jeff’s lips thinned and he dropped a hand onto his friend’s shoulder. “One thing at a time. We’ve got this, Lee.”

Lee grunted. “How the hell do you keep spinning the optimism, Jeff?”

A snort. “What? You’d prefer doom and gloom?” He shuffled back towards the ladder. “That’s it, Lee, we’re never leaving this god forsaken rock. Welcome to your new home.” He raised up his hands and as if the gods declared him some kind of Moses for that very moment, the dust clouds parted as if they were a red sea of sand. Sol, so much smaller this far away, poked its weak light through the hazy atmosphere and lit up the bare red rocks of their temporary home. While on one side, the billowing wall of dust storm swirled on its way, on the other red mountains rose up to a weak blue-red sky.

Lee shifted down beside him. “You know, I figured you had an agreement with the gods of physics, but isn’t this a little ridiculous?”

Jeff was too captivated with the view to respond.

Cornerstone was on the plateau they had been simulating for months on end. She stood tall and proud, if a little crooked and pinker than her promo shots.

“We made it.” The words fell from his lips.

Lee clung to the ladder beside him. “Yeah, that we did.”

Sunlight flickered weakly in the atmosphere and a gust of wind dragged more dust across the view.

Jeff shifted. “We better get inside before that mess starts up again. Take advantage of being able to see where we are going.”

Lee didn’t respond immediately, his eyes combing the jagged horizon. “Thanks, Jeff.”

A frown. “For what?”

“Getting us here.”

“It was a group effort, Lee, you know that. Couldn’t have done it without the team. Couldn’t have done it without you. Hell, you just patched a hole that could have blown us up.”

Lee grunted.

“Are you guys going to hang outside all day, or do we have to guess the sitrep?” Berry’s tone was tight.

“Roger, Berrenger. Situation secure. On our way back in.”

It wasn’t until they reached the elevator that he realised exactly what had happened.

And who he was.

By the doors, protected by the shadow of the lowered module was a single footprint that hadn’t been blown away by the wind.

“Aw, hell.”

Lee, as always, stepped up beside him. “Yeah. I guess that makes you the first man to walk on Mars.”

-o-o-o-

Ju was furious. “It was Kate’s right to be the first!”

The vacs in the airlock had sucked everything off their suits to the point Lee was surprised his hair wasn’t standing on end despite the helmet.

As it was, his hackles were somewhere near orbit as they stood in the conference room that doubled as a mess. “And what exactly do you think we were supposed to do? The ship was going to explode.” It was simple to Lee. Sure, he was all for equality, it was a given, but they would’ve been all equally dead if he and Jeff hadn’t done what they did.

“You didn’t give us a chance!”

“I’m the engineer here, Zhang. There wasn’t time! The decision was made and we are alive because of it.”

“Then why weren’t you first, Taylor? Why the hell was Tracy even out there? He’s not the engineer!”

Beside Lee, Jeff straightened. “Standard procedure, Zhang. We work in pairs. If you think I was going to let Lee go out in that on his own, you’ve been serving while wearing a blindfold.”

The short, dark-haired woman stepped up to the Major, her eyes fiery. “It was Kate’s place in history and you stole it!”

Lee flared. “We did what was necessary! This was not a publicity grab, for Christ’s sake! It didn’t even occur to us until we were returning. It was about saving our lives, Zhang. How can you possibly think it was anything else?”

“Because it always is.” She waved a hand at Jeff. “Always the hotshot. Always the first. Always the hero. Do you ever think, Tracy? Do you ever think about those you barrel past?”

Jeff glared down at the meteorologist. “I will not apologise for my achievements, Zhang. This was an honest to god accident.”

“Due to decisions made by you.”

“What the hell, Zhang?!” Lee pushed forward. That was taking it too far.

“We should never have tried to land in that dust storm. We should have waited it out.”

“You said we could take it!”

“But it wasn’t my decision, was it?” Her tone was a positive hiss at Jeff.

“Screw you, Zhang-“

“Taylor!”

“Jeff-“

The man was still the damn tall walking wall when he wanted to be. “Lee, stop.” He glared at Ju. “I will not apologise for my command decisions either, Zhang. What was done, is done.” His stance softened as he turned to Berry.

She had been ominously quiet the entire time.

Jeff sighed. “I’m sorry, Kate.”

The red-haired astrogeologist straightened away from the bulkhead, her arms still folded across her chest. Lee had always liked Berry. She had her head on much straighter than Ju ever did.

Ju was like a terrier with a bone.

The bone variety today was definitely Jeff-flavoured.

But there was only kindness in Berry’s eyes as she looked up at the Major. “This sucks, Jeff, it really does.” She looked down a moment. “But it is what it is and I guess it was what it was meant to be.” A shrug. “I suppose I’ll have to settle for third on Mars. Still pretty momentous, I think.”

“Kate, it doesn’t have to be that way.” Jeff took a step towards her. “It’s not official. It was a stupid repair. We can do the ceremonial step onto the planet anyway. No one has to know.”

Her head tilted to one side. “So, the ship miraculously healed itself?”

“Berry-“

She closed the gap between them, placing a hand on his arm. “Jeff, honestly, it’s not what is important here. You took the first step. We still have plenty of others that need to be taken. My ego can keep.”

Zhang flared again. “Kate, this was for women-“

“Ju, enough. It doesn’t matter! Humans have just landed on Mars, for god’s sake. I would have thought we would be a little less worried about the gender of the person taking the first step and more worried about the fact we did it without blowing up.”

“It was supposed to be you.” Ju wilted in defeat under Berry’s glare.

“Well, it was Jeff, and I think he is no less deserving than any of us.”

Jeff’s voice was quiet. “Are you sure, Kate?” The use of her first name was a rarity for the major, there was a friendship between those two almost as long as the one between Jeff and Lee. Hell, if Jeff hadn’t met Lee’s sister, Lucy, the engineer wondered what might have eventuated in that department.

Not that he had ever had to worry about that. Jeff was a complete sop for Lucy. His sis had the man wrapped around her little finger.

If that made Lee feel just that touch more protective of the crazy pilot, then so be it.

Kate straightened, her shoulders strong. “I’m sure.” Then her lips curled up a little. “Besides, my lines were so much more elegant than ‘Stick close, Lee. I’d hate to lose you in this.’”

Jeff snorted and shrugged. “If I’m going to make history gotta make sure my best friend is with me.”

Zhang made a disgusted sound and stormed out of the room.

Shoulders dropping, Jeff sighed. “Guess I need to work on my phrasing.”

But Lee was too wrapped in the moment, a little too proud and grateful to care. “She’ll live.”

The grunt from Jeff reminded Lee that they still had months to share living quarters with the fiery Ju.

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to her.” Berry squeezed Jeff’s arm before reaching out to Lee as well. “Thank you, both of you, for getting us down safely. We’re on Mars, guys. Let the party begin.”

The smile in her eyes was honest and ever so heartening.

-o-o-o-

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #Jeff Tracy #lee taylor #mars #callisto

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warrioreowynofrohan · 3 years

Text

Today in Tolkien - March 9th

Gandalf and Pippin reach Minas Tirith at dawn, probably near 6am. Practically all the events of the chapter “Minas Tirith” happen on this day, so this and “The Passing of the Grey Company” are out of chronological order. Since most of the first section of The Return of the King centres on the defence of Minas Tirith, it makes sense that Tolkien wanted to start out the book by introducing us to the city and to its danger, so readers would understand why Aragorn considered matters desperate enough to take the Paths of the Dead.

There’s already an indication, early on, of Denethor’s use of the palantír.

Gandalf: For I have not ridden hither from Isengard, one hundred and fifty leagues [450 miles], with the speed of wind, only to bring you one small warrior, however courteous. Is it naught to ypu that Théoden has fought a great battle,and that Isengard is overthrown, and that I have broken the staff of Saruman?

Denethor: It is much to me. But I already know sufficient of these deeds for my own counsel against the menace of the East.

He turned his dark eyes on Gandalf, and now Pippin saw a likeness between the two, and he felt the strain between them, almost as if he saw a line of smouldering fire, drawn from eye to eye, that might suddenly burst into flame.

... [Pippin’s musing broke off, and he saw that Denethor and Gandalf still looked each other in the eye, as if reading the other’s mind. But it was Denethor who first withdrew his gaze.

“Yea,” he said, “for though the Stones be lost, they say, still the Lords of Gondor have keener sight than lesser men, and many messages come to them.”

There’s no way for anyone to have reached Minas Tirith faster from Isengard with news than Gandalf has on Shadowfax. Denethor asserts that the palantíri are lost to throw Gandalf off, but it’s hard to see what other information source Gandalf could expect. But Gandalf says of Denethor that he has some of the abilities of the old Númenoreans: “He has long sight. He can perceive, if he bends his will thither, much of what is passing in the minds of men, even of those that dwell far off. It is difficult to deceive him, and dangerous to try.”

Gandalf also says that Faramir is similar in this regard, and we can see some of that in Faramir’s earlier interrogation of Gollum: “There are locked door and closed windiws in your mind, and dark rooms behind them. And later, to Frodo: Malice eats it like a canker, and the evil is growing. He will lead you to no good. And: He has done murder before. I read it in him. (And the murder of Déagol is something that even Gandalf had a hard time getting out of Gollum.) There’s something rather Elvish about this limited quasi-telepathy of the descendents of the Númenoreans, reminiscent of Galadriel’s testing of the Company in Lothlórien.

At any rate, Pippin meets Beregond at 9am for orientation. They get some breakfast and eat and talk on the walls. Pippin sees wains going south, evacuating the last of the civilians from the city to South Gondor. He also sees, from Mordor, a darkness rising: the gloom was growing and gathering, very slowly, slowly rising to smother the regions of the sun. This is the darkness that will indeed block out the sun by the next morning. Beregond tells Pippin of the fleet of the Corsairs of Umbar. And Beregond is wiser in his way than the Lord of the City: “This is a great war long-planned, and we are but one piece in it, whatever pride may say. Things move in the far East beyond the Inland Sea, it is reported; and north in Mirkwood and beyond; and south in Harad.”

They talk until noon, then go to lunch and meet the men of Beregond’s company, and then Beregond suggest that Pippin (who has no further duties) go meet Beregond’s son Bergil, who can show him around the city. They watch Gondor’s reinforcements ride in in the late afternoon and evening: 200 from Lossarnach; 300 from Ringló Vale, 500 bowmen from Blackroot Vale, various untrained men from the Anfalas by the sea, a few from Lamedon, 100 from Ethir (the mouths of Anduin), 300 from Pinnath Gelin (north of the Anfalas) and Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth with a company of knights plus 700 infantry. Less than 3000 total, and much less than hoped; many regions are holding back forces to defend against the Umbar fleet. Most of them are from land through which Aragorn and the Dead will ride.

And Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and the Dúnedain are already in those lands of South Gondor. Today at dawn they set out, followed by the Dead, from the Stone of Erech, and reach the crossing of the River Ciril by sunset. They are passing through the aforementioned regions of Morthond Vale and Lamedon, and are almost at the Ringló Vale; Pinnath Gelin and the Anfalas are well to their east, Dol Amroth is south of them (it’s on the seacoast and a clear target for the corsairs, so it says a lot that Imrahil came to Minas Tirith personally).

Théoden, the Rohirrim, and Merry arrive in Dunharrow at sunset. Now we learn that when Gandalf and Pippin were at Edoras three days ago, Gandalf brought word from Théoden ordering the muster of Rohan. This is invaluable - it means that instead of starting to gather their forces now, which would bring them to Minas Tirith far too late, they are already ready to ride out. In the evening Hirgon, errand-rider of Gondor, arrives with the Red Arrow, calling for urgent reinforcements from Rohan. The news of a massive assault from Mordor actually causes Théoden to send less than he otherwise would have - six thousand rather than ten thousand - keeping some back for defence of Rohan’s strongholds. He estimates reaching Minas Tirith a week after the morning of the 10th; he actually make it in five days, by the morning of the 15th.

Frodo, Sam and Gollum walk through the day, and still the land is silent and waiting and free of the scouts of Mordor. The lands are still pleasant ones, open woodland with large trees (holly [I had to look up what ‘ilex’ meant, and it means holly], ash, and oak) and hyacinth and anemone flowers growing among the grass. At sunset they reach the road between Minas Morgul and Osgiliath.

On the same day, Faramir leaves Henneth Annûn, and spends the night at Cair Andros, as the fastest way back to Minas Tirith; most of the rest of his forces he sends back to Osgiliath to reinforce it.

#tolkien #the lord of the rings #today in tolkien #gandalf #pippin took #denethor #aragorn #theoden #frodo baggins #sam gamgee #gollum #faramir

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rapperkookz · 4 years

Text

charity date auction | f2l!jk | fluff, smut if you SQUINT

A/N day ___ of quarantine and i’m going insane

genre: fluff, crack, slight smut if you SQUINT

summary: Beta Tau Sigma was hosting their annual charity date auction for their philanthropy. In previous years, you just attended for fun and to see how many university girls were actually willing to spend their money just to go out on one date with one of the fraternity members. This year’s something different, especially when Jungkook’s on the lineup to get auctioned off.

word count: 4.3k ______________________________________________________________

Your POV

Ah the spring semester. The time when most events and end-of-the-year festivities happen. It was your favorite time. And this was no exception.

“Hey y/n, don’t just stand there laughing, this is a serious meeting we’re having right now.” Hoseok complained pointing his finger at you accusingly as you tried to hide your chuckles in. You leaned against Jungkook’s side, crossing your arms as you responded, “First of all, oppa, I’m sitting. And I’m sorry! This is my favorite event of yours, watching the girls - and guys! - fight over you idiots and actually pay money just to spend time with you all! It’s a great time, ah if only my Sisters and I could do something as dumb as this.”

“Call us dumb all you want kiddo, it gets us over $2000 in philanthropy,” Namjoon shrugged giving you a lighthearted mocking face. You shut your mouth, a little pout remaining on your lips as you turned your attention back to the show that you and Jungkook were watching. He grinned and poked your head with one hand, his opposite arm easily going around and framing your shoulders. “what?”

“Nothing, you’re just funny. Hopefully you won’t make fun of me when I’m getting auctioned.”

“Wait, what?”

“I’m part of the lineup this year,” He said simply, scanning your face for a reaction. “That’s...okay right?”

You tried to hide your shock with a little smile, “N-no yeah that’s fine, I mean we’re not dating, Kook. You can do whatever you want,” Even as the words left your mouth, you felt your chest tightening in discomfort, finding it harder to smile genuinely at him. Jungkook mumbled a quiet ‘yeah’ and watched the show again, but the air surrounding you both suddenly turned awkward.

“Hey, with Kookie in the lineup this year, we might double profits!” Jimin said excitedly from the table where he sat with the rest of the boys. Taehyung nodded in agreement, “Even with Yoongi hyung out, Jungkook will probably get us at least $700,”

“You’re not doing the auction, Yoongi oppa?” You asked the older boy timidly. He looked at you with a soft smile, eyes reading your expression as if you were an open book. He shook his head, “No need to out of respect for my guy. We don’t do the auction if we’re in relationships.”

You nodded in acknowledgement, that made sense. Yoongi just started dating this guy a couple months ago and you’ve never see him happier ever since. You lingered on the last part of his comment, so...if you and Jungkook were dating, he wouldn’t be in the auction?

Ah but that was the thing though, you and him weren’t dating. It’s...complicated. You like Jungkook and he likes you back. That you both have established, hence the ease and touchiness that you and him already share. But after a drunk hookup with him and both of you struggling with the actual concept of settling down and commitment - even though that is basically what you both were doing already as of recent - it was just a friendship with a mutual romantic attraction that has no defined labels. Yet, neither of you seek anyone else and you both spend every waking day together when not in class or preoccupied with other activities.

“I uh, I need to go back to the house. I’ll see you guys tomorrow at the auction.” You said standing up rather abruptly, “I’m gonna get my bag from your room, Kook.”

He nodded and stood up soon after, heading towards the table where the rest of his brothers sat. Seokjin patted his back, “When are you and y/n going to make it official, huh?”

“It literally kills me watching you both,” Yoongi deadpanned in agreement. Jungkook sighed, running his hands through his hair as he leaned against the kitchen island. “I want to be with y/n, believe me. We’ve both talked about it too, I don’t know...just, commitment? We both got out of messy breakups and I don’t know if we’re ready for it yet.”

“Not ready? You two literally act like you’ve been dating for the past two months.” Jimin scoffed. Namjoon nodded, “Besides, she looked upset about the auction thing. You weren’t too keen on doing it either when we brought the event up at chapter.”

“I know,” Jungkook muttered, “give me a sec, hyungs. I’m gonna go talk to her before she leaves.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You pursed your lips as you packed up your books from Jungkook’s room. Why was this bothering you so much? Dumb question, you knew why this was bugging you, someone else is literally going to go on a date with your boyfriend - not...boyfriend. Fuck!

“Ugh!”

“y/n?” Jungkook said softly, knocking on the door as he opened it. You whipped around surprised, hitting your backpack which fell off his bed. “h-hey, Kook.”

He grinned at your clumsiness, his eyes turning into crescent moons as he closed the door behind him. “You alright?”

“I’m fine, I just have to, you know, go back to the house and do some stuff.” You said, your voice getting quieter as you went on. Picking up your bag, you put your laptop inside and zipped it up before sitting down at the side of the bed. Jungkook sat next to you as if on instinct. “y/n, I don’t have to do the auction, you know? Not if you’re uncomfortable with it.”

“Kook, who am I to stop you from that, though? And I mean, it’ll give your fraternity some good money too, I don’t have any right to keep you from participating.” You said, focus completely on your hands which were placed tightly in your lap. He sighed and grabbed one of your hands, lightly playing with your fingers which were hiding in the sleeve of his sweater. “You have every right, you’re...y/n.”

“I am y/n,” You said with a small smile, but you knew what he meant. “Go through with it, Kook. I’m not that selfish especially when you know...we’re not even together.”

“Yeah,” He said interlocking your fingers, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

You nodded, rubbing the back of his hand with your thumb. He smiled and pressed a kiss to your cheek, that’s how you always said goodbye.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“-sold! To that lovely lady for $500!” Yoongi said excitedly, watching Namjoon walk to the girl who won him with a rose in his hand, giving it to the girl who was fully charmed by him already. You stood with Taehyung and his date, who - conveniently - was one of your sisters that has had a crush on him for what seemed like ages.

“Look at Namjoon hyung’s smile,” Taehyung snickered hitting you on the arm in amusement. You turned around to face him and your sister, covering your mouth with one hand, afraid your laugh was going to be heard by the rest of the people in the venue, “You guys are such dorks, stop making me laugh!”

Your sister placed her hands on your shoulders and spun you around, “it’s Jungkook’s turn.” All of a sudden, your insides ran cold and you couldn’t find it in you to breathe, whether it be because you’re dreading this or because of how amazing Jungkook looked, you didn’t know. He was wearing his usual monochromatic look, a large white tee tucked into black jeans which emphasized his thighs and made you salivate and his hair was its usual fluffy brown mess parted down the middle.

“Next up we have Jungkook! He’s a comp-sci major with a photography minor. This year, he’s our fraternity’s social media chair and vice president of records. Probably our most talented brother, he can do literally anything, and he can serenade you to sleep.” Yoongi said with a wink at the end, “Do we have $20?”

A swarm of hands shot up from the crowd making Yoongi chuckle, “Ah I crack myself up, $30...$50-”

“I bid $100.”

Your eyes shot to the girl who just stood up, and to your horror it was none other than Lee Yuna. She was in another sorority on campus, and she was annoyingly pretty. You and her were good friends, you know, until she homewrecked your last relationship.

“Isn’t that-”

“$150.”

The words left your mouth before you could process anything, the attention of the room now on you as you let the price slip. You heard Taehyung try to hide his laughter from behind you, as Yoongi started ushering you up to the stage.

“$150 going once, going twice-”

“$300,” Yuna said her eyes narrowing at your form. You bit your lip in annoyance, walking up the stairs. You huffed out a breath, taking a glance at Yoongi as you answered, “$400.”

“$600.”

“$750.” You said with finality. There was no way that she would say anything higher than that. I mean, you guys are college students, this auction could easily apply to your student loans. “$800.”

“That’s Lee Yuna with $800, you gonna raise it y/n?” You crossed your arms, having an inner battle between yourself as you rested your weight on your leg, “$1000.”

“$1000!” Yoongi shouted, “Going once, going twice.”

“Fuck whatever, my parents will never give me $1000 without an explanation.” Yuna said leaving the stage agitated.

“And that’s $1000 sold to l/n y/n!” Yoongi said excitedly as the venue started clapping. You let out a sound of embarrassment, messing with your braids, as you started descending the stairs. You refused to look anyone in the eye, especially not the boys, and God forbid, Jungkook.

“Ah!” You shrieked in surprise as you felt arms circle around your waist, pulling you along to the side of the room. Thankfully the attention of the crowd was back to the front as Seokjin took the stage for his turn in the bidding. “Kook, don’t say it.”

“Hey, c’mon. Look at me y/n.” Jungkook said chuckling. He lifted the rose and put it at your eye level, which was trained to the floor. You couldn’t help the smile that graced your face as you took the rose in your hand, lifting your head up a little to get a better look at it, but still refusing to meet his eye. Jungkook mumbled something under his breath that you couldn’t quite catch besides ‘so stubborn’ before cupping your cheeks in between his hands and forcing you to look at him.

Damn his sparkling brown eyes. God his eyes that literally look like they hold the entire solar system in them. You felt your resolve melting, your cheeks tinging pink at how adoringly he looked at you. “What Kook?”

“Nothing,” he smiled. His focus moved from your eyes down to your lips, darting back up as if to ask for your permission. You grinned and puckered your lips in the slightest, your eyes fluttering closed as he finally closed the distance and kissed you.

It was short, but it still conveyed a mirage of emotions that somehow managed to overwhelm you. Neither of you were huge on public displays of affection, especially when your relationship had no defined labels. You pulled away first after the brief intimate moment, offering him a smile as you grabbed his hand and began leading him towards the back where you previously stood with Taehyung and your sister.

You could literally see the cockiness radiating from Taehyung as he held out his hand for Jungkook to complete their brother shake. The older boy nudged your side, “Didn’t know you were ballin with money, y/n. You should participate in the bidding more often.” Rolling your eyes, you were about to roast the living life out of Taehyung before Jungkook squeezed your hand.

“Cut it out, hyung.” The boy said lightheartedly, a small chuckled radiating from his chest. You and Jungkook met eyes once more, his expression softening even more - if that was possible - as he framed his arms around your body. You snuggled your back against his warmth upon instinct, feeling content in his embrace as the group of you watched the rest of the auction.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You said goodbye to your sister as the boys were cleaning up the venue. It was a bit of a given that you were going back to the fraternity house, especially in these circumstances. You were cleaning up the tables with Hoseok as you watched Taehyung and your sister say their goodbyes. She looked as giddy as you’ve ever seen her, and from the way Taehyung was shyly rubbing the back of his neck, there was a potential new romance brewing in the air.

“We’re gonna move the platform back to Student Activities, we’ll see you guys at the house?” Jungkook asked standing with Jimin and Seokjin, his eyes, though, were trained on you at his question. You nodded in response, the other boys mumbling on in agreement as they hurried their cleaning tasks.

The remaining five of you leisurely hung around the common area of the fraternity house after changing into something more comfortable, waiting for the three to come back. You were minding your own business in the kitchen, drinking some juice as you scrolled through your tiktok feed on your phone.

“So,” Yoongi said hopping on the counter, “$1000 for Kook, huh?”

You sighed and put your phone down, sipping on your glass as you faced the older boy. Yoongi was like an older brother to you, more than the other guys. He gave you all your talks about Jungkook and this was no different. “I know what you’re going to say, oppa.”

“No, I’m not helping you pay for the money you promised our chapter.” He rolled his eyes. You laughed and threw your scrunchie at him, “No! You’re so annoying. You were gonna talk to me about Jungkook.”

“My question never changes, kiddo.” He said simply, giving you your hair tie back. “Why aren’t you official?”

“Yeah, why aren’t you official?” Hoseok said curious from the other room. You and Yoongi turned your heads to see the others listening intently in your conversation. Yoongi hopped off the counter and patted your shoulder, leading the both of you into the common area. You sat down on the arm of the single seat, facing the boys as you rested your elbows on your lap, your face being propped up by your hands. “I don’t know guys, I wanna be with Jungkook more than anything, I don’t know if he’s ready yet though or if I’m ready-”

“My God, all I know is that I’m ready to smack both of you upside your heads,” Namjoon shook his head. “y/n, it literally pains me and all of us watching you both pine for each other.”

“We-we don’t pine for each other...” You mumbled your voice trailing off as you tried to deny his statement.

Hoseok laughed, “Oh please, it’s all in the eyes y/n.”

“Besides, you’re literally wearing his shirt. He doesn’t even let us borrow his clothes,” Taehyung added making you curl your body in closer to itself.

Your lips formed a pout, trying to come up with a smart reply to the boys, but to no surprise you couldn’t figure one out. “I’ll...I don’t know, I’ll talk to Kook. We’re gonna have to I mean, I literally paid $1000 for a date with him.”

The others burst out laughing as if they forgot the highlight of the night. Your cheeks warmed up in embarrassment as Yoongi started hitting your leg, fully amused.

“Where are you even gonna get $1000?” Taehyung laughed, “I’ve seen your bank account y/n,”

“Stop! Oppa, I have a...savings...account somewhere.” You whined crossing your arms. The guys lived to tease you, they say it’s all love, but personally you think it’s because you’re an easy target. Either way, you let it slide, their jokes were pretty funny anyway.

Namjoon cleared his throat after the room calmed down from their outburst. “You know, y/n, you must have been aware of this, but you could have just gotten Jungkook for free.”

“Matter of fact, you already have his heart for free,” Yoongi agreed, his sharp hearing picking up the click of the knob as the front door opened. In an instant, the remaining three boys walked inside the fraternity house, looking relieved to finally be back in their home. Chatter started to spark up once more as the boys were now complete. Your attention was focused on Jungkook as he lagged into the common room from the kitchen, drinking from a bottle of water that he retrieved from the fridge. He gravitated to your side while listening to the conversation of his brothers, his hand easily taking its place on your waist.

He squeezed your skin as if saying hello, making you wiggle against his body as you let out a laugh. Jungkook looked at you fondly, noticing that you were wearing one of his shirts and wow did you manage to pull it off, even if you were only wearing his white tee and a pair of your athletic shorts. After a couple minutes, the group of you dispersed into doing your own separate things, you and Jungkook already making yourselves comfortable in his room.

He grabbed a towel and informed you that he was going to take a quick shower. You nodded and leaned against his headboard, passing the time efficiently by scrolling through tiktoks. Soon enough, Jungkook was strolling back inside his room, rubbing his hair dry as he hummed a little song. You narrowed your eyes at him as he innocently looked at you with a smile, “What?”

“You’re trying to seduce me, aren’t you?” You said shamelessly checking out his half-naked form. He only wore his grey sweatpants with you when he wanted something. He smirked mischievously, “It’s working, isn’t it?”

“Shut up,” You said throwing one of his pillows at him. He laughed, swiftly dodging your attack as he focused on drying his hair. You put your phone down on his bedside table, trying to figure out the right moment to start speaking. “You know, Kook-”

“Wait, I just wanna say first that I’m not gonna make you pay $1000 or force you to go out on a date with me. I can help you pay the money if my hyungs are really pressing for it because it does go towards our chapter.” He said sitting on the side of his bed adjacent to you. “What did you wanna say?”

You suddenly started to feel shy, your thoughts all clumping together as you fumbled with what to say first. “Uh...about tonight,” God your palms were sweaty. You and Jungkook have had this talk numerous times, yet it still made you nervous every time it was brought up. It was probably your fear of rejection, even though all signs pointed to the complete opposite of that. “I, um, I know that even yesterday, I was laughing about this auction and about the girls and guys bidding and honestly you probably think I’m stupid by what happened tonight-”

“Not at all,” Jungkook said putting his hand on your thigh for comfort. Your body temperature started to rise upon the contact of his warm hand on your bare thigh. You know he meant nothing sexual by it, but the way he looked delicious in his sweats betrayed you and the fact that you haven’t been laid in a month wasn’t helping either. Shaking your head to remove the dirty thoughts, you sighed and bit your lip, “I really wasn’t gonna bid tonight, like I was going to let them fight over you because I know where our feelings stand, but when I saw Yuna stand up I just...God I don’t know.”

The corners of his lips started to curl up in a little smirk, scooching on closer to you as he put his arm around your figure, his other hand still on your thigh. “You felt a little jealous?”

You could hear the smugness in his tone, but you couldn’t even deny it at this point. “I wanted to push her off the fucking platform.”

“I’m not gonna lie,” he said ghosting his lips against your neck. You shivered, the warm feeling of his breath making your body react almost immediately. Craning your neck so that he could get better access, you bit back a moan as he kissed at your sensitive spot, “you looked pretty sexy when you were fighting her.”

You scoffed, but let out a gasp as he pulled your hair to the side, biting your neck to make sure to leave a mark. “Jungkook, wait.”

In an instant, all his administrations stopped, respecting your words. You turned around in his hold, moving your legs to either side of his thighs, straddling the boy’s lap. His hands instantly found your waist, moving underneath his shirt to find access to your skin. You met his eyes, which held curiosity and concern. You gave a soft smile, moving one of your hands to play with his lightly damp hair. “Jungkook, I don’t want to be confused about our relationship anymore.”

“Me neither.”

“I don’t want to feel jealous over girls that throw themselves at you. I don’t want to have to think twice about hugging you in public or holding your hand or kissing you. Kook, I want to be yours and have everyone else know it too. I wanna be able to call you my boyfriend.” You said letting it all go. “I know we both got out of traumatic breakups and like honestly thinking about being in a relationship and the possibility of getting broken like that again is scaring me even right now, like I don’t know what I’m saying I might talk myself out of this, fuck I don’t know-”

Jungkook leaned in and pressed your lips together, shutting you up effectively. You relaxed in the kiss, all feelings of anxiety that you brought up disappearing in an instant. Wrapping your arms around his neck, he made a sound of approval and pulled you flush against his chest. You whimpered at the feeling of his hardening bulge against your ass, moving your bottom back and forth to feel some friction. He groaned into your mouth and ground his hips up into yours, his bulge making contact with your core making you whine in pleasure.

Unwillingly, Jungkook pulled away before you both were too far gone, the grip he had on your waist tightening in sexual frustration. “Sorry, you were just really cute rambling, I couldn’t help myself.”

You were already breathing hard from the kiss, your hormones were starting to go haywire at all these interruptions, “Kook, I know we’re both hesitant about starting a new relationship, but I know that if it’s with you, I know that I wanna try.”

“Me too,” he agreed his expression switching from lustful to soft. His duality amazed you. “Can I finally call you my girlfriend now, y/n?”

You giggled and kissed his nose, the smile radiant on your face, “yes please.”

He laughed and flipped you both over so that he was topping you. He tickled your sides affectionately, his laughs raising in pitch as you squealed at his attack. “Now, my dick is hard and you’ve been turning me on since the auction, can I please fuck you? it’s been so long.”

You could already feel his hands grope the side of your breast. Instead of responding with words, you snuck your hand between the two of you and squeezed at his bulge, the man above you groaning in pleasure. Bless his grey sweatpants. It always had to do with his grey sweats.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning, Jungkook never seemed to leave your side. Even as you were making coffee for the whole house, you found it rather endearing than clingy. You don’t know if the boys caught on yet, they probably should have by now.

“God you two are insatiable rabbits,” Yoongi groaned seeing you and Jungkook in the kitchen. He shot a pointed look at your boyfriend, “What the fuck did you take for you to go at it all night? Viagra? Ecstasy? Poppers?”

“Shut up hyung,” Jungkook said trying to hide the blush from his face by burying it in your neck. You patted his arm, “it’s okay, Kook.”

“Babe, he’s being mean to me.”

“Hold on. Babe?” Yoongi asked before slowly clapping his hands. “Thank fucking God finally!”

“Are they finally together?” Jimin yawned from the common area, the boys starting to fill the space in. You and Jungkook shared a look before he spoke to all his brothers.

“Not that we were really obligated to tell you guys, but yeah y/n and I are dating now.” Jungkook grinned hugging you tightly from behind.

“Damn, it really took $1000 for you both to define the relationship,” Seokjin cackled as you glared at him. “It wasn’t just because of that, oppa please!”

“Well, guess that explains why they were fucking all night.” Namjoon said as Taehyung and Hoseok nodded in agreement.

“You still have to pay, y/n sorry.” Hoseok shrugged making you whine.

“I can’t believe you paid $1000 to go on a date with your boyfriend,” Taehyung snorted, the rest of the boys bursting out in laughter at the seemingly stupid fact, even your dumbass boyfriend was laughing too. You elbowed Jungkook’s stomach, groaning at the sad reality your wallet was about to face.

“I can’t believe I have to pay to go out with you,” You rolled your eyes. Jungkook smiled cheekily and wrapped his arms around you in a tight hug. He kissed your lips briefly, as if that would fix everything. Jungkook met your eyes with a flirty wink, “I’ll make sure it’s the best fucking date ever, babe. Don’t worry.” ______________________________________________________________

A/N Wow I finally finished this. Fun fact, I was inspired by an episode of Full House for this, but wow I’ve been craving on posting something for literally the longest time. I also have an exam in 5 hours and it’s 4:30 am right now ah ha ha but ~quAranTiNe VibEZ~ I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy everyone <3

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