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jenscx · 16 days

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HAPPINESS — yu jimin x f!reader

jimin made you feel like life was worth living for.

TAGS — situationship, strangers to lovers, ive member!yn, jealousy, angst, fluff, birthday fic for jimin

WORDCOUNT — 3.8k

it hadn’t been long since you and karina met. by luck, she was attending a fashion show and had gravitated to you during the after-party. it was an unforgettable experience; one of the most gorgeous idols constantly hovering around you, eyes lingering on the silky black, backless dress you adorned, fingers dancing across your arms… needless to say, you had immediately asked for her contact information, only to receive a cryptic smile in return.

“why not just,” she whispered, “come back to my place instead?”

you had instantly declined, “i’m sorry, i don’t do that. and don’t you live with your members anyway?” karina merely shrugged, eyes twinkling with a gleam you couldn’t name.

“then shouldn’t we go back to yours?”

exasperated, you shake your head, “i just said, i don’t do that. i was interested before, and you are jaw-droppingly beautiful, but i’m not intending to go anywhere tonight, karina.”

the girl hesitated for a few seconds. you raised an eyebrow. she grins, “call me jimin.”

it had only been a month since that interaction. since then, your relationship has progressed. from strangers to friends and now tethering on the edge of a relationship. or as your member yujin had described, a ‘situationship’. it was so easy to open up to jimin, her sweet talk, midnight chats and relentless insistence to annoy you had captured your attention. she was so stupidly cute.

you had fallen.

and jimin seemed to have as well.

no one would stay up till midnight talking to a situationship unless they really liked them, right?

and even though jimin had a schedule the next day, you and her were still in a heated discussion about which ice cream flavour was the superior one (it was always vanilla).

the alarm on your phone rang. in bright words read, ‘milan fashion show.’ you smile to yourself. it was another chance to see jimin after her hectic schedule. you barely had time to see her during her break, and now your schedules finally matched up. you couldn’t wait to see her.

jiminie [7.41am]:

hihihi good morning

i’ll see u ltr :))

ynie [8.20am]:

morning!

can’t wait.

you turn your phone off with a bright grin, barely keeping your excitement under wraps. your flight was at 10 and by the time you reached milan, it would be around 11 in the evening. it was going to be a long flight, but the thought of seeing jimin again made your stomach tighten up. was this what people in relationships feel? it was so bizarre that the simple thought of someone could so easily make you feel breathless.

unable to contain your exhilaration, you get some weird stares from your manager and assistants. meekly apologising, you close your eyes as they drive to the airport, dreaming of a certain main dancer.

you blink. how did you get here?

jimin, was just standing a few feet away from you, but she had barely spared you a glance the whole day. she didn’t even greet you or anything. even after the crew had asked for you two to stand together, jimin was at least a metre away, not daring to stand in your vicinity. you could cry.

especially with the heart eyes every other person was sending her way. you swallow the lump in your throat, staring at the man who stood a little close for comfort next to her. and throughout the show, you could only stare longingly at the back of her head, sighing every once in a while when the two of them would pose. it was devastating.

“you good?” one of the other attendants asked. you think you recognise them from a recent drama you’ve watched.

“yeah,” you mumble, taking a sip of the champagne in your glass. at the corner of your eye, you could see jimin and that man conversing, both sharing giggles and whispers. your grip on the glass tightens. groaning, you look away, trying to hide the hurt on your face from being ignored so obviously. all your attempts at conversation had been shut down and she brushed past all your waves.

you saunter to the corner, taking a seat and pulling out your phone.

yujin [9.27pm]:

how’s it gg

yn [10.14pm]:

it’s like i don’t even exist.

i don’t know what i should do

she keeps talking to some guy

yujin [10.15pm]:

girl gtfo

you agree with yujin. if karina wanted to ignore you, so be it. there was nothing for you to do anyway. after sending a quick message to your manager, you get back up, heading back to the group of actors and idols alike that were engaged in conversation.

coincidentally, karina and her partner for the night had joined as well. it wasn’t difficult to avoid eye contact when she wouldn’t even look in your direction.

“i’ve requested for more champagne,” one of them say, “anybody wants a refill?”

a murmur of chorus emerges.

the waiter stares at your glass expectantly, the bottle in his hand waiting.

“ah… no, i’m leaving soon,” you say awkwardly, handing your glass to another waiter passing by. karina’s head shoots up.

“shame,” they all agree.

“your manager’s picking you up?” karina finally speaks. you longed for her voice, but you’re not very appreciative of it now.

you nod, barely wanting to start a conversation with the girl.

“i’ll walk you out.”

can you really refuse in front of all these people? you already had a reputation of being a bitch. refusing karina’s offer was going to severely damage your image.

you just hold your tongue.

the cold air greets you warmly, unlike karina. you relish in the gusts of wind, waiting patiently outside the gala for your manager’s distinguishable car. karina hums a gentle tune, turning to you.

“how was the show?”

“good,” you reply, curt.

karina doesn’t back down.

“you had fun?” you nod.

“i didn’t get to talk to you at all, it’s sad you’re leaving now.”

you shrug.

“why are you leaving so early?”

“tired.”

“hm, okay.”

you stand in silence while karina fidgets beside you, her hands constantly twirling her hair and eyes darting around. cursing yourself, you take a quick glance at her. the girl’s deep, lush and dark hair flows charmingly in the wind. her eyes draw you in, hypnotising you deeply, full of uncertainty and hesitance for the first time you’ve met her.

“do you have something to say?” you ask. karina huffs, blowing her bangs covering her eyes.

“i do, but it just depends if you’ll listen to me.”

“depends on what you’re asking for,” you reply.

karina smiles, smaller than before, “stay. just for a few more minutes. with me.”

you contemplate. just for a few minutes.

“only until my manager comes.”

she falters, it’s the first time you’ve ever subtly rejected her company, but a practised mask of indifference is put on.

there’s an uncomfortable silence, one that neither of you are willing to acknowledge. you start to regret your decision; you should have just asked her to go back in, instead of waiting out here with you like a fool.

“minjeong’s been talking about this milan cathedral, called duomo di milano, it’s really pretty,” karina looks at you expectantly, “do you have the day off tomorrow for sightseeing?”

you answer slowly, “i do have the day off...”

“where are you staying? i’ll come pick you up.”

“but i don’t want to go, karina,” you complete your sentence. shock passes her face rather quickly.

“uhm, do you want to go somewhere else?”

you shake your head, wanting her to get the hint that you weren’t exactly jumping for the opportunity to hang out.

“we could go shopping at this galleria that aeri mentioned, it has a hotel and everything.”

“no, thanks for offering.”

karina’s tethering on the edge of distress, her face showing visible distraught by now, no longer caring to hide behind a mask of impassiveness. you check your phone again. notifications line your lock screen, most of them coming from yujin.

yujin [10.29pm]:

are u out of there yet

make sure to get back safe

also call me ltr i need to tell u smth

omg jiwon js told me she left seo at home alone

you smile at yujin messages. the leader’s caring nature makes your heart warm and the mention of your other members makes you miss them.

“your manager texting you?” karina asks.

“uh, no,” you reply vaguely, not very keen on talking to her. karina frowns.

“are you sick? do you feel unwell?” she lifts a hand up to touch your neck. the fleeting touch of her fingers already caused goosebumps against your skin.

“i’m fine, karina.”

the mention of her name makes her glare at you, “didn’t i say to call me jimin?”

unable to answer coherently, you settle for silence. karina huffs, seemingly getting irritated.

she opens her mouth once again, but the honk of a car distracts you. the window rolls down and you recognise your manager.

“thanks for uhm, staying here with me,” you bow, “have a good night.” you were upset, but that wouldn’t stop you from being polite.

karina merely watches you leave.

your manager gives you about five minutes of peace and tranquillity before unleashing an onslaught of questions onto you, like “why’d you leave?” or “did someone say something to you?” you answer truthfully to most of his questions.

unable to get a proper response, he just drives back and tells you to not get into any trouble on your day-off.

(“what trouble would i even get into?”

“i’ll actually quit if dispatch posts a photo of you drinking with your friends.”

“that would be impossible since i don’t have any friends.”)

meanwhile, yujin fills you in on the stupid shit your members get up to during your absence. like rei putting aluminium into the microwave and wonyoung just managing to stop her in time.

your phone lights up with notifications throughout the night and you hate the fact that it doesn’t bring you the same excitement like before. the morning after, a chain of messages graces your phone.

jiminie [9.17am]:

are u awake?

jiminie [9.20am]:

when are u gg back to korea?

hello?

ynie [9.31am]:

tmrw

jiminie [9.31am]:

do u feel like gg out tdy?

you turn off your phone, sighing. you would have felt bad for being so distant but the mere thought of karina with that guy yesterday night made you feel unneeded. why was she texting you and asking to hang out with you when she already had someone to go to?

there was no point overthinking about her.

karina would just be another failed situationship. she didn’t mean that much to you (she did). she wasn’t the first thing you thought of once you woke up (she was). and she definitely couldn’t be a good girlfriend for you (she definitely could be).

the hotel doorbell rings. you quirk an eyebrow, not remembering ever ordering room service. maybe your manager knew you wouldn’t be going out for breakfast.

you don’t bother checking the peephole, the hotel you were staying at was very tight on security and only celebrities stayed at this floor. you open the door, stomach grumbling at the thought of food.

“yn.”

oh.

karina stands at your door, a small smile on her face. you feel terribly underdressed compared to her in your bathrobe and messy bed hair.

“good morning,” you greet hoarsely.

“hurry up and get dressed.”

you stop karina from entering your room.

“what are you talking about?”

“we’re going out whether you like it or not. you shouldn’t rot in your room, you should be exploring milan, before you leave, with me.”

do you really have a choice to say no? (yes, you do).

in your heart, you knew in the end, you wouldn’t ever say no to karina.

“okay.”

she grins and you forget why you were even upset in the first place.

karina waits patiently while you finish getting ready. she’s on the balcony admiring the view when you’re done.

“where are we going?” you grab a mask and a cap as karina puts on her shoes again.

“it’s a surprise, and you don’t need those,” karina answers, pointing at the items in your hand. you frown.

“people will recognise me. they’ll see me with you.”

karina shakes her head, “it’s fine, i don’t mind it.”

i mind it though.

you end up leaving them by your bedside table.

“where are we going?” you repeat as karina drags you out of the door. she groans, “stop asking! i already told you it’s a surprise.”

“i need to tell my manager.”

karina pouts, “i’ve already contacted him, just stop worrying about everything.”

her words seem so easy to believe now. to stop worrying about everything.

the streets of milan are filled with cafes and luxury brands. with it being one of the most visited cities, tourists and locals alike roam the area. at every corner, there’s either an art gallery or museum. you must admit that the architecture is simply amazing. quaint bookstores and coffee shops provide a sense of peace away from the bustling metropolitan city. milan was beautiful.

karina pulls you into a cafe, the strong aroma of coffee already filling your senses. there’s a quiet ambience of chatter and the soft footsteps of the waiters walking around. the girl brings you to one of the tables near the window. it gives you a view of a clothing shop adjacent to the cafe, full of customers.

“milan’s called a fashion capital,” karina remarks, “it’s one of europe’s most dynamic cities.” when you don’t reply, karina stands up, awkwardly saying, “i’ll go order our food.”

you nod.

she comes back soon, red in the face and fumbling with her wallet.

you ignore it.

“uhm, anyway, did you sleep well last night?”

“yeah.”

“okay… uh, what time is your flight tomorrow?”

“i think it’s in the morning,” you feel pity for karina who’s been desperately trying to keep the conversation going, “what about you?”

karina’s face lights up, “it’s at one in the afternoon.”

the waiter soon arrives with your food. its mouth-watering. karina hands the waiter a note and says something in italian that you don’t understand.

“you can speak italian?” you ask, curiosity taking over you.

“yeah, a little,” karina mumbles. she doesn’t seem to want to elaborate, so you don’t bother asking any more. you gorge yourself out with the pastries that karina ordered, all while she looks a little constipated and unsure.

“you’re not going to eat?”

“i… i already ate before coming here.”

you nod, continuing to chew.

“it’s so early, who’s awake to even eat with?”

karina mutters, “i ate with jaewook.” you swallow the piece of bread in your mouth. the sweetness you tasted on your tongue is gone, just left with a bitter taste. you regret even asking her. you regret coming out of your hotel to eat pastries with her at 9 in the morning.

your head feels clouded. it’s not only gravity pulling you down. it’s a wrangling chain clutching your heart, pulling it into your stomach. the more you think about karina and that guy together, the more you feel like puking out all the sweet treats you stuffed your mouth with. you wanted to get rid of anything related to her.

“are you okay?” she asks.

no, you want to reply.

“i wanna go back,” you say instead.

lying was always better than telling her the truth.

“what? no, uhm,” karina blurts out, panicked, “you can’t go back yet, we still have a lot to sightsee.”

“please let me go back,” you beg, feeling a wave of nausea take over. between her incessant pleading to not leave and the vision of the two of them, jealousy fills your every vein.

“i planned a lot for today and oh my god, yn—” you can’t stand it anymore.

swiftly, you take out a wad of cash, placing it on the table and leaving the cafe without a second look behind. you stomp out quick, steady steps back to the hotel and you can feel karina hot on your heels. she calls out for your name, but to no avail do you turn back. you think of a plan. once you get back to your room, you’re going to block karina on everything. she’s never going to exist in your life ever again. if your job requires you to interact with her, it’s a bare minimum. you’ll break off contact with all of your mutual friends, ryujin, minjeong, maybe chaewon (but yujin and wonyoung would kill you).

it’s only when you reach a traffic light that karina catches up with you. once it flashes red, you groan. you can basically see karina’s triumphant smirk at the corner of your eye.

“are you done running now?”

you take a good look at karina. she’s panting, not more than you are, and her cheeks are flushed red.

the light flashes green.

“no.”

and the chase begins again.

karina tails you until you reach the hotel lobby. you open up your purse, searching for the keycard. karina is just a few steps behind.

you hear gasps of recognition behind you, the very reason you wanted to cover up your identity.

the moment the lift reaches the ground floor, you slide in, rapidly pressing the close button. karina, however, navigates through the crowd and manages to reach the lift in time.

you groan, your attempt at running away has failed. maybe you could still convince karina to leave you alone somehow. she wouldn’t try to break into your room, right?

“this is awkward now.”

“yeah, i wasn’t expecting you to follow me,” you sneer, “if a woman says she wants to leave, just let her leave for god’s sake.”

“okay, that’s my fault but you literally left out of nowhere, and you’ve been acting weird ever since last night,” karina argues back.

the lift beeps. you exit it with karina following you closely behind, still ongoing about your sudden change in behaviour.

“like last night, you left early and we didn’t even have time to talk or anything, and when i asked you about it you didn’t even explain anything?! just brushed me off and left! can you just tell me what’s going on?”

you two reach your room.

“i don’t need to explain myself to you. i said i was tired.”

“okay, but what about today? i planned the whole day for us to hang out and you just got up and left? what the hell! are you just an asshole who plays with people’s feelings? you told me you ‘can’t wait to see me’ and then just left like that,” karina raises her voice. a elderly couple passes you two and you feel self-conscious. you were just standing outside your room letting karina yell at you.

“come in then yell, you’re getting weird looks.”

karina inhales sharply, finally calming down.

you sit down on one of the lounge chairs, taking a deep breath.

“i really don’t have anything to explain to you. i’m sorry. and i’m not the one playing with people’s feelings here.”

“what? are you insinuating that i’m the one playing with your feelings?”

“uh, if the shoe fits?”

karina slaps your arm, “are you serious right now? can you just talk to me for once?! is this your first time being friends with someone?” friends? since when were you ever just friends with karina?

“no, it isn’t,” you swallow, “it’s my first time feeling this way for someone.”

“what?”

“do you know how many times i think about you in a day? it’s once, because i never stop. it hurts me every time i see you with someone else and i know i shouldn’t feel this way because while you reside in my mind, i have to hope that I cross yours once in a while to feel less pathetic of myself. do you know how that feels? to want to exist in someone’s thoughts. i feel happy just to know that you’re even acknowledging my presence. but you didn’t. you didn’t even care when i was there, so you shouldn’t care when i’m not,” the weight of unshed tears came pouring out. you let out a watery but hollow laugh. karina makes your heart ache, she makes you feel defeated and useless, she makes you feel angry and jealous.

“you make me feel that life is worth living for. that i went through all those torturous years just to meet you.”

karina, is life in itself.

“and i don’t think i’ll ever be able to find someone else that makes me feel this way. have you ever felt that way about someone?”

she stares at you, unblinking. she comes to terms with your words finally.

“i’m sorry,” she says.

“it’s fine,” you sniffle, wiping your tears.

“i’m sorry i hurt you.”

“of course you’ll hurt me. of course we’ll hurt each other, because this is the condition of living. and what’s not love, if not living for each other?”

“i didn’t know you felt that way about me.”

you sigh, “regret is a stupid thing. when you reject me, i would be better off knowing that we wouldn’t work out because you don’t like me, rather than me not telling you and wondering if we would ever work out. and you’re with that guy anyway.”

“who told you i would reject you? and who said i was with him?”

“oh.”

“i feel everything that you’ve just said, about you. and i’m upset that you were planning to just throw me away like that because of our inability to communicate.”

you laugh, more heartily this time, “i just didn’t want to be one of your conquests or whatever.”

“you’re more than one of my conquests. i wouldn’t dream of even letting you go. some people search their whole lives to find what i found in you. you can be assured that i won’t ever let you go.”

her sincere words draw red to your cheeks, warmth spreads from your neck to the tip of your ears. “you still like me,” you repeat, “even when i’m a jealous freak, have commitment issues and i care too much?”

“even with all those traits. if you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be the yn i like,” karina’s voice softens as does her touch. she takes your hand in hers, caressing the back of your hand with her palm.

“even if i don’t understand why you get angry and why you ignore me, i still like you. that’s what makes you, you. and love is all about understanding.”

you nod. all the crying has made you feel drowsy, and your fatigue is apparent, since karina smiles in amusement and says, “wash up and take a nap. i’ll be here.”

she’ll be here.

“thank you, jimin.”

karina, or rather, jimin, chuckles, “hurry up and shower. i hope you brought extra clothes since i’m going to change too.”

you quickly wash up and so does jimin. the two of you settle into the bed, your hands clutching at jimin for warmth and intimacy. you have her. the thought allows you to drift asleep, finally knowing that jimin’s heart beats the same for yours.

when the sun sets as you wake up from your nap, you can’t help but blurt out, “i adore you.”

jimin, pleasantly surprised, only giggles back.

“i adore you too, in ways words cannot express.”

maybe paris wasn’t the city of love. yours was milan.

🎙️ author’s note: this is probably one of my favourite fics i’ve written. most of my own personal values have been put into this fic. regret is a stupid thing, we only live once and we have no idea if we’ll ever get to live again. find people that makes life worth living for. happy birthday yu jimin, aespa’s stupid cheese cat 🤍

#aespa #aespa x reader #karina x reader #jimin x reader #yu jimin x reader

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serpentandlily · 1 month

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Untouchable IX - Azriel x Reader

Untouchable - Azriel x Rhysand'sSister!Reader

Summary: For as long as you can remember, you have always had feelings for Azriel, your court’s spymaster. But after centuries of watching him pine after your own cousin, hoping he’d eventually move on, your wish came true. He moved on—with Elain, your brother’s mate’s sister. Unable to watch him fall in love with someone else again, you flee from Velaris, from him. But things are a lot more complicated than that—more complicated than you ever imagined.

Warnings: angst, physical torture, violence

a/n: guys, I’m so sorry this part took a long time to come out. I hope this chapter is worth the wait! Part 10 will be the final chapter/epilogue :)

➻❥ Part I ➻❥ Part II ➻❥ Part III ➻❥ Part IV ➻❥ Part V

➻❥ Part VI ➻❥ Part VII ➻❥ Part VIII

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

Part IX

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

Days might’ve gone by…days…months…years. Time was an elusive being to you. Had been since the moment the mating bond had snapped between you and Azriel. Since that one last second you got to have with him—your mate.

Koschei kept you strung up in chains, your wrist shackled above your head, your feet barely touching the floor. Your entire body ached with pain. Blood crusted on the white slip he had you put in.

When he had shadowed you back to his small cabin on the lake, you had assumed he would turn you into one of the swans, like he had with the other girls. But apparently, none of you had ever learned the full story.

Vassa had certainly never mentioned this part. Not that you blamed her. You wouldn’t want to talk about it either. How he liked to beat the girls he captured, break them in, before transforming them into one of his pets—forever tied to this lake.

You didn’t want to give up but it was getting harder and harder each day. But you had to. You couldn’t let that day in the clearing be the last time you got to see Azriel…to see your mate.

A few tears leaked from the corner of your eyes at the thought of him, of how he must be feeling with you gone. Everything you both had wished for had come true only to last for a mere second in time before the universe tore you apart once more. It was cruel. It was… no word could come close to describing it. It couldn’t be the end of your story. You couldn’t let it be.

The door to the room you were confined in opened and you whimpered at the sight of the sorcerer.

“Oh, little pet,” he purred, “Are you not happy to see me? And here I thought we were finally making progress.”

“Fuck you,” you groaned, swaying on your shackles as you tried to distance yourself from him.

He gave you a serpentine smile. “The stubborn ones are so much more fun to break.”

You glared at him as he stalked over to you, a cup of water in his hands. You had kicked and bucked the first few times but after all of the torture he put you through the past hours, you had no energy left to do anything but dangle there.

“Now, are we going to do this the hard way or the easy way?” He held up the water to your mouth but you twisted your head away, slamming your lips shut. “Ah, the hard way it is.”

Excitement filled his eyes as he landed a punch straight in your gut, knocking the air right out of your lungs. You gasped and he grabbed your chin roughly, squeezing the sides of your mouth and making it impossible to snap your jaw shut.

He poured the water into your mouth but you spit it back up, right on his face. You knew it was full of faebane because this was the third time he had come in here to give it to you.

He growled as he wiped away your spit before slapping your cheek hard enough that your head whipped to the side and blood swelled in your mouth. You heaved, letting it trickle down your jaw and onto the floor.

He grabbed you by the chin and forced you to face him again, hooking his fingers over your bottom teeth and yanking your jaw open once again. This time when he poured the water into your mouth, he quickly slammed it shut and plugged your nose.

“Drink it,” he ordered.

You glared at him defiantly but it did nothing to help you as you ran out of air and choked the water down. He let go of you and you greedily sucked in air.

“Good girl,” he grinned. “See how much easier it is when you listen to me?”

You said nothing. You couldn’t. Not as the faebane coursed through your body, extinguishing all the magic that had started to replenish as the last batch wore off. Not as your wounds and bruises stopped healing and pain slammed into your body.

The faebane he liked to give you was partially diluted. Just enough to let it wear off quicker so you had time to heal in between his sessions but not enough to fully heal or get your magic back. He liked working with a clean canvas but didn’t let your magic linger enough to rid you of pain entirely.

Koschei circled around your hanging body and you heard him fiddling behind you. The sound of leather in his palm had you squirming.

“Now, where were we?”

The crack of the whip against your back rippled through your body and you couldn’t fight the scream that erupted from your lips. You squeezed your eyes shut and tried to push your consciousness into the deepest crevices of your mind, where you might find the tiniest bit of solace as one name constantly repeated in your thoughts.

Azriel.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

“I’m not waiting any longer,” Azriel growled at his High Lord. “I’m leaving. Now.”

Both Azriel and Rhysand looked worse for wear. Rhys’s face was littered with bruises and cuts and Azriel was sure he looked no better. But he didn’t care. All he cared about right now was that his mate was in the hands of that fucking sorcerer and he was going to rip that male apart limb by limb for ever thinking he could take her.

“We need to think this through, Az,” Feyre pleaded. “If you rush in, you’ll end up dead and be of no help to Y/n.”

Azriel’s hands tightened into fists. These past two days had been hell. Once Rhys had misted the Prince in the clearing, he had winnowed the three of them back to Velaris—to start planning their rescue mission.

He hadn’t even gotten two words out before Azriel pounced on him. He could barely remember those first few hours after she had been taken. All he knew was the anger he felt—the rage. The mating bond snapping into place. The bargain breaking. And her…his love being taken away from him, his heart and soul with her.

And Rhys, the fucking asshole, had been at the center of his anger. For making him agree to that bargain with him in the first place. For making him stay away from her—his mate.

It had taken Cassian, Mor and Feyre to pull them apart that day.

He had stopped starting fights with Rhys but his anger still pulsed under his skin, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

"We've had plenty of time to think,” Azriel snapped at his High Lady, causing Rhys’s head to shoot up with a warning glare.

“Watch your tone,” Rhys bit back at him.

“Fuck you, Rhys!” Azriel slammed his scarred hands down on the desk between them. “I’m going and I swear to the Gods if you try to stop me, I’ll rip your throat out!”

“No, fuck you, Azriel!” Rhys yelled, standing up to his full height. “Stop acting as if you’re the only one affected by this! She was my sister long before she was your mate! Maybe if you hadn’t gone behind my back—”

“Maybe if you hadn’t made us make that stupid bargain with you in the first place, we would’ve never had to! I could’ve had centuries with her. You stole all those years from us!”

The second the bond snapped between him and his mate, Azriel swore he lived a whole lifetime. A whole lifetime they hadn’t been afforded. It had all flashed right before his eyes. His mate…His beautiful mate. She deserved so much better than this and as soon as he got her back in his arms, he would give her the whole world. He'd tear the sun from the sky if it would make her happy.

“Guys, stop! This fighting between the two of you has only made things worse! Fight all you want once we get Y/n back, but you need to focus. Both of you. For her sake,” Feyre snapped.

Azriel ran a hand through his hair, letting out a noise of frustration. His shadows swarmed around him like a monsoon—screaming his mate’s name over and over again in agony. “You don’t understand, Feyre. Every single time I feel her…during those tiny moments she slips through to the bond…all I feel is her pain. He’s torturing her. How am I supposed to sit here while my mate is being tortured?”

He turned away from them, unable to look at Rhys any longer as a few tears slipped down his cheeks. He had completely and utterly failed his mate. Had let her get into the arms of an enemy. This was all his fault…all of it. She would’ve never even ran away from Velaris if he had never tried to move on with Elain last year. He put those thoughts in her head and there was nothing he regretted more in his life. He had never wanted Elain. He had never even wanted Mor. He had tried, when he thought Rhys’s sister was off limits, to move on. But he had never, ever stopped loving her. He had never felt anything for anyone other than her.

And she had been ripped away from him before they could even have a life together.

“That’s it,” Rhys whispered from behind him. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner.”

“What?” Azriel snarled, whipping around.

“You said you can feel her sometimes—through the bond, right?”

Azriel nodded his head, crossing his arms.

Rhys stroked his jaw in thought. “He must be drugging her with faebane. But not consistently. There must be small moments when it wears off before he gives her another dose. That’s why you can feel her sometimes.”

“Where are you going with this?” Feyre asked.

“We can use the mating bond to tell us when to act,” Rhys explained. “When Azriel can feel her, we know her magic is regenerating. We should stop looking at this as battle and more like a stealth mission. We bait Koschei into coming to the water’s edge the moment Azriel feels my sister down the bond—act like we are declaring war. Keep him distracted long enough for her to get back most of her power. Meanwhile, Azriel can slip into the cabin, release her from whatever binds he has her in and get her out.”

“What about the wards around the cabin? No one can winnow in or out. Even Az’s shadows might set it off.”

“I’ll have to get inside without using any magic,” Azriel said. “I can do it. I can get to her. As long as you keep him distracted and buy me enough time.”

“Helion has given Y/n some lessons on setting and breaking wards,” Rhys added. “Once she sees you, once she realizes she’s being saved, she can start working on breaking them so she can winnow the two of you out.”

“And you trust that she’ll be able to do that?” Feyre asked.

Rhys let out a long sigh. Azriel knew how much it would pain him to have to force his sister to save herself. Rhys had always been the one doing the heavy lifting for their family, always keeping his sister as protected as he could, especially after she almost died. But he couldn’t save her this time.

He’d need to have faith in her.

“She can do it,” Azriel declared, full of confidence in his mate’s abilities. “She is not that little girl in the woods anymore, Rhys. You’ve trained her. I’ve trained her. She is more than capable of this.”

“I know she’s not,” Rhys whispered. “She hasn’t been. Not for a long time. And I’m sorry, Azriel, I truly am. You’re right. I should’ve never forced you to make that bargain.”

“Save your apology for when I get my mate back,” Azriel spat out. Maybe it was unfair, but he was not ready to accept any apologies from Rhys. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

If their plan worked, Azriel would have his mate back in his arms, back in Velaris, safe and sound by tonight. It had to work. It had to work because there was no way he could go through another sleepless night in an empty bed. He needed her like he needed the air in his lungs; he simply could not live without her. He would either be back in Velaris tonight with his mate or six feet under because he wasn’t leaving this damn lake without her.

The Valkyries are ready, Az.

Rhysand’s voice in his head caused his fists to clench. He was not any closer to forgiving him than he was yesterday but that was a problem for a different day. Right now they’d have to work together to get his mate back and nothing would stand in his way, certainly not his own pride.

The plan was simple in theory. They had decided to use Koschei’s weakness against him—females. Some of the Valkyries were willing to help and he trusted their training. If things went correctly, they wouldn’t even need to fight.

Azriel was crouched, hiding and waiting for the mating bond to begin singing again. He hated that he couldn’t just rush in and take her. Hated that she was likely being tortured as they sat out here waiting for the right moment to begin their plan. Azriel was used to having to wait around like this. It was a part of his job, after all. But right now, it was excruciating.

But finally… finally he felt it. That tiny spark. That gold thread reforming.

It’s time, Rhys.

Okay, wait for the signal.

They had to lure Koschei out. He couldn’t see though because he was waiting behind the cabin on the other side of the lake, ready to fly to one of the landings so he could sneak his way inside.

Alright, we’ve got his attention. Good luck, Azriel. Bring my sister home but make sure you come home too.

He couldn’t promise his brother that. He wasn’t leaving here without her, no matter what happened.

I will.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

A noise caused you to look up despite the pain the movement caused. Your eyes widened in surprise as a shadowed figure stood in the doorway, blue light emitting from their form. Your vision was going in and out of focus, blurring everything. You blinked one…twice…

The person finally stepped into the light.

“Az?” You wheezed out.

Azriel swore and rushed forward until he was right in front of you, holding your face in his hands. He was speaking but you couldn’t hear anything through the ringing in your ears. You must be hallucinating. There was no way Azriel was really here in front of you. It was not possible…

“—can you hear me, baby? Fuck, we’ve got to get you out of these chains.”

“Az,” you rasped again, “Is…is this real? Are you real?”

His beautiful hazel eyes met yours again, the emotion swimming in them threatening to tear your heart right out of your chest. Pain, rage, desperation, guilt. Your eyes flooded with tears of relief.

“I’m real. I’m here with you, baby,” he said, rubbing your cheeks with his thumbs. “I’m going to get you out of these chains, okay? And then I’m going to get you out of here.”

“H-how?” you stuttered out because you had no idea how he was standing here in this cabin when it seemed like an impossible feat.

“Later. I'll explain later. Do you think you can start trying to take down the wards around this place?”

"I'll try," you whispered but your magic had barely started regenerating. The wounds on your back weren't even beginning to heal yet.

The sound of a door slamming open rang through the house. You let out a whimper and Azriel’s eyes widened in fear as he looked at you but not fear for himself…fear for you.

“Fuck, we’ve got to go. Now,” he said, frantically.

The fear in his eyes faded to cold, hard rage and he grabbed the chains above your head and yanked them apart with his bare hands. You collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain, your legs unable to hold you. Azriel caught you on the way down, kneeling with you.

“I’ve got you, babygirl,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.”

You could still feel the wounds on your back bleeding, some ripping open as you curled in towards Azriel. Your head was still pounding, your body still in agony. Azriel wrapped his arms around you and helped you stand up, letting you lean your entire weight against him. Stomping footsteps were coming down the hallway, almost to the room you were being kept in.

“We need to get out of here,” he was frantically whispering, his hands holding you by the upper arms, your wrists still in cuffs with a bit of the chain attached.

You stood on shaky legs, raising your head to see Koschei standing in the doorway, his face twisted into a grin that sent chills down your spine.

“Az!”

Azriel twisted around, his wings flaring out protectively to block you just as Koschei sent a blast of dark magic careening your way. It came at the two of you so fast, Azriel was unable to throw up a shield.

You were able to yank Azriel behind a stack of crates just as the wave of darkness clipped his wing. He let out a cry of pain, his entire body tensing as the darkness ripped through tendon and bone. You nearly cried out with him as the wing that was hit fell limp.

“Did you think you could fool me with your little plan, shadowsinger?” Koschei purred out as the two of you hid behind the crates. “Did you think I’d let you steal my pet? You’re a fool!”

Despite the agony he was in, Azriel twisted the two of you around, covering your whole body with his. Another blast of darkness caused the crates in front of you to explode to pieces, sending splinters of wood flying that pierced through any exposed skin and you let out a tiny scream of fear.

Azriel pulled you up and helped you run further back in the room, unable to leave with Koschei blocking the door. Another blast of magic hit the both of you just as you ducked behind a rack of the weapons and tools Koschei had been using to torture you with.

You cried out in pain, your jaw smacking against the floor with a sickening crunch. Blood filled your mouth as you pushed yourself up, your whole body aching, turning to make sure Azriel was okay.

But Azriel had taken the brunt of the hit, shielding your body as much as he could. A deep laceration cut across his torso, blood seeping over his leathers. His body was tense, his wing still limp on the floor. You knew he was holding back his cries of pain for your sake.

The sorcerer strided into the room, leisurely, as if this was at most a minor inconvenience to him. Darkness seeped from his figure, tendrils running along the floor towards the two of you.

“I’m going to distract him,” Azriel whispered to you. “You need to make a run for it. The Valkyries will be waiting for you, okay? They’ll help get you home.”

“No,” you cried out, clinging to the front of his leathers. “I’m not leaving you behind, Azriel!”

Azriel stroked your hair, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “You’re going to have to, princess. I need you to get out of here, do you hear me? Get out of here and go as far away as you possibly can. The others will find you, I promise.”

Tears filled your eyes as he held your face with such care and tenderness. His own eyes were filled with that same cold rage and a heavy resolve. You shook your head rapidly.

“I’m not leaving you, Azriel,” you repeated.

“Why don’t you come on out, shadowsinger?” Koschei called out, his voice filled with amusement. “You can fight me for the girl. I’ll even let you make the first move.”

Azriel was the most powerful warrior you knew but even he would be no match for a Death God. Facing Koschei would mean certain death and by the way Azriel was staring at you, he knew that. His eyes traced over your entire face as if he were committing it to his memory.

“I’m so sorry, princess,” he whispered to you, his thumbs stroking away your tears. “I’m sorry for ever making that bargain that kept me away from you but I want you to know that even after all those years, it has always—will always—be you that I love. You were my first and only love and I’m so sorry that I can’t give you the life you deserve. I will find you in the next one, I promise, even if I have to crawl my way out of hell to get back to you. Even if I have to tear apart the universe, I will find you. You are my mate and even death can’t take that away from us. I love you. I will always love you.”

“Azriel,” you choked out, your fingers tightening on his leathers, but he simply placed his hands over yours and lightly tore them from him. “Az, you can’t—”

Azriel cut you off, leaning down to press a kiss to your lips. A kiss full of love and despair. You tasted your salty tears through it, tears that kept pouring at the realization that this was the very first kiss the two of you shared that didn’t cause him any pain.

And it would be your last.

Azriel stood up as much as he could, his right wing still dragging along the floor. Bruises were appearing on his jaw, blood still poured from the wound on his chest.

“Azriel, no!”

You reached out for him, to yank him back, but he stepped away, exposing himself to Koschei.

“Look at you,” Koschei said with a grin, “So ready to die for your love. I’m going to enjoy killing you in front of your mate.”

“Fuck you,” Azriel snarled as he spat out some blood. “If I’m dying here then I’m dragging you to hell with me.”

Shadows exploded from Azriel in a swirl of never ending darkness that launched itself towards Koschei. But Koschei’s own darkness seemed to absorb it and grow in size before he sent it careening back to Azriel. It burned through the blue shield Azriel had thrown up and knocked straight into him, sending him flying through the room until he collided with the back wall which nearly buckled under the force.

You screamed out for him, trying to stand but falling once again. You were dehydrated, starved, and beaten within an inch of your life but you pushed your body as much as you could, using the edge of the table to help you stand as Koschei stalked towards your mate.

Azriel had wanted you to disable the wards....If you could do that, if you could tear them down, you could try winnowing to Azriel so the both of you could winnow away before Koschei killed either of you. You were wheezing as you forced yourself to stand and concentrate. You had to do this. You had to get Azriel out of here.

Koschei descended on him once again and they began a battle of shadows and darkness. You could hardly keep track of either of them as they began to disappear and reappear in other places with their shadows, each taking shots at each other. You winced at every noise of their magic colliding, winced at every brutal hit Azriel took from the Death God.

You could feel more of your magic renewing itself, the open wounds on your back finally starting to heal. As more and more pain wore off, you focused your energy into tearing down the wards, trying to drown out the sound of the fighting in the room for now.

It was like an intricate spider web of silver light. One you'd have to disentangle carefully to not trigger. You had no idea what sorts of traps lay in the magic around this place. So strand by strand, piece by piece, you worked on taking it apart. It just had to be enough, enough to give you a small window of opportunity.

You heard Azriel cry out and your focus slipped for a second. You frantically looked over your shoulder and screamed his name as Koschei slammed him into the ground a few yards away. His condition had worsened, his face had gone pale from all the bloodloss, less shadows seemed to be swirling around him as his magic weakened from all the use. You had to hurry.

“Go,” he rasped out, glancing your way. “Y/n, go—run!”

But you wouldn’t…couldn’t. You couldn’t leave him to face this alone.

You tried to remember everything from your lessons with Helion on spellcleaving. Tried to remember how to spot what strand to pull and when, as if the ward was a symphony of sorts and you were playing its violin. One after the other. Twisting and pulling each and every way until finally… finally, you were able to carve out a small hole. But it needed to be bigger. Big enough to winnow through.

Suddenly, something sharp struck within your chest and you fell to your knees in pain, losing your concentration. You clutched at your chest, your heart feeling like it was tearing itself into two. A feeling of dread and terror washed over you when you realized the mating bond that was beginning to fray as life was being sucked from Azriel. Another stab of agony made you crumble all the way to the ground, crying out.

You looked up to see Azriel on his knees in the center of the room. His breathing was heavy and slow, he was covered in his own blood, his leather armor torn to pieces and bruises decorated his beautiful face. His wings were slumped on the ground, the right one still nearly shredded. And above him stood the Death God, his darkness wrapped around your mate's throat, ready to squeeze the remaining life out of him.

Time seemed to pause in that minute—like the whole world was about to collapse in on itself. The breath was sucked right from your lungs. The very fiber of your being was crying at the sight of your mate on death's door, ripping itself apart as you felt his pain like it was your own. Your hand inched on the ground towards Azriel as you weakly called out his name.

His head turned slightly, his eyes widening as he realized you hadn’t ran away like he had hoped you did. That you were still here with him. He shook his head at you, unable to speak, trying to will you to get up and make a run for it before it was too late. But you would die here with him, because no part of you wanted to live without him.

They always say your life flashes before your eyes when you're on the brink of death.

But that is not what happened.

Instead, a life you never lived did.

A private mating ceremony with Azriel, declaring your love for each other as a priestess tied a ribbon around both your hands, linking you forever. Azriel painstakingly building a small cottage for you on the edge of Velaris with his own hands just because the ones you toured weren’t like the one you had dreamt of. A life where you and Azriel were together, mated and married, living in that cottage on the outskirts of Velaris. You and Azriel on a balcony watching starfall as he gently placed a hand on your round belly. Azriel with his arms wrapped around you, pressing kisses to your neck as you watched two children who resembled the two of you running through the tall grass in the meadow behind your home.

A whole life that they two of you could've had. A life that was stolen from you because of a bargain made three hundred years ago. A life you would never get to live because this would be your ending. Two lovers torn apart for centuries, finally able to be together as they wished only to met their demise before their life together even began.

No.

You pushed yourself up on shaky arms, crawling on your hands and knees towards your mate.

No.

This would not be your ending. You wouldn't allow it. No, too much had been stolen from the two of you and this...this was not how your story together would end.

You channeled all your magic, pulling from the depths of your soul, pulling from parts of yourself you didn't even know existed, all the way down to the core of your being. You were the Princess of Night—a child of night and shadow, for Gods’ sake. A child born with the darkside of the moon in her. A child blessed with magic. You pulled and pulled at your darkness until it was pouring out of you, seeping from your skin and bones.

It lurched forward and slammed into the Death God, pushing him away from Azriel—away from your mate.

Death would not have him today because he was yours.

Azriel fell forward onto his hands, gasping for air. You stood up, limping over to Azriel and standing in front of him, glaring at Koschei. You didn’t have any armor on, still in the tattered night gown with your wrists shackled together, didn’t even have a weapon, but you had your magic back and it would have to be enough.

Koschei chuckled, standing up and dusting himself off. Although he had brought Azriel to his knees, the Death God hadn’t escaped without injuries of his own, a testiment to Azriel’s power.

“You know,” Koschei said, striding towards you. “I thought we’d have more time together—you and I. But it seems like you’re more trouble than you’re worth, child. So now, I shall end you and your mate. Hm, two mates dying together, how romantic.”

“Fuck you,” you snarled, your darkness curling around your form. Azriel was weakly calling out your name from behind you, his hand reaching to grab you so he could push you away but you didn’t let him.

“You know, this is the most excitement I’ve had in a long time. I’m feeling rather charitable so I’ll offer you this—become one of my swans and I’ll let your mate go.”

Azriel let out a growl from behind you that nearly shook the room but you stepped forward, as if considering it. Koschei’s body relaxed, thinking the fight was over, like you hoped he would.

But the darkness that was curling around you shot forward like a chain and wrapped itself around his neck before he could deflect it. You yanked on it, causing him to choke as he fell to his knees—in the same exact position he had Azriel in before.

His hands clawed at the darkness but you didn’t let up, not for a second. Not as that life you dreamed about replayed in your mind over and over again. Not as you thought of Azriel, your mate. No, you wouldn’t let up. You sent all your hatred, all of your anger into that darkness.

Your darkness spread around the Death God and started shoving its way into him from all orifices, his ears, his mouth. Everywhere until he was being consumed by it.

“You should’ve never laid a hand on my mate,” you growled at the Death God who was gasping for air and then you yanked your rope of darkness tighter and tighter—ignoring the agony you felt as your magic burned through you until your well was drained entirely.

Koschei’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he slumped over finally—crashing to the floor. He…he wasn’t dead. You could still hear his faint heartbeat but he was out cold. You let out a breath of relief.

“P-princess…”

You whirled around as Azriel rasped your name. His hazel eyes met yours for a second, blinking lazily before they closed and he fell to the ground. You let out a cry of alarm and rushed for him, falling to the ground next to him. You wrapped your arms around his limp body, pulling him into your lap. His breathing was labored, heavy. His heartbeat barely audible.

“Azriel,” you cried, brushing some hair from his face. “Come on, baby. Don’t—you can’t…you can’t do this to me. Wake up, please!”

His eyes blinked open for a second and some of your tears fell on his cheeks. You pressed a hand to the deepest wound on his torso, trying to stop some of the bleeding.

“H-hey, princess,” Azriel choked out, a soft smile on his lips, still in a haze.

“Hey, shadowsinger,” you whispered, smiling at him weakly.

“You’re…,” he coughed, a bit of blood dribbling from his lips. He was in bad shape. You needed to get him to a healer. Now. “You’re touching me.”

“I am,” you choked on your own sobs, running your hand down his face. You tried to reach out to your brother through your mind. You didn’t have enough magic left to winnow the both of you out of here.

Rhys…Rhys, please, I need you!

“Y-you’re touching me,” Azriel repeated, his eyes closing. “And i-it feels like…heaven.”

You couldn’t help the bittersweet laugh that escaped as you wiped at the tears still pouring down your cheeks.

Dove, I’m here! Are you okay? Where is Azriel?

“Az, I need you to stay awake, okay? Can you open your eyes for me? Please, baby, just for a little longer.”

He’s here with me but he’s in bad shape, Rhys. I don’t have any magic left. I can’t get us out of here. Please…I don’t know what to do.

“Mm…‘mm so tired,” Azriel slurred out.

“I know, baby, but you’ve got to stay awake. Just for a bit and then you can rest as long as you want to, okay?”

I’m coming, dove. Hold on.

You let out a sob as Azriel’s eyes shut again and his breathing slowed. “No, you can’t do this! You can’t leave me, Az. Not when I finally have you. Come on, baby, wake up!”

Darkness swirled around the cabin and for a second, you thought Koschei had woken up but you sobbed even harder as your brother finally emerged from it. Rhys glanced at the passed out Death God before he saw you holding Azriel on the floor.

“Rhys, please! Please, he needs a healer,” you cried.

Your brother’s eyes widened at the sight of his shadowsinger. He rushed forward, falling to his knees beside you.

“Let me take him,” your brother whispered. You didn’t want to let your mate go but you knew you couldn’t lift him. “It’s okay, dove. Let me help him.”

You passed Azriel over to him, watching your brother take your mate into his arms and lift him off the floor. You stood on shaky legs, your own vision beginning to blacken as the exhaustion of all the magic use finally caught up to you. The last thing you remembered was Rhys winnowing the two of you to some makeshift camp away from the lake and crying out for Azriel before darkness consumed you.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

One week later

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

The sound of the door opening stirred you from your slumber. You sat up with a groan, your back aching because of the way you had fallen asleep—hunched over in a chair, next to Azriel’s bed where he still lied unconscious, as he had been since the day he’d help you escape from Koschei’s grasp.

You blinked the sleep from your eyes, taking notice of your brother in the doorway. He hesitantly stepped inside the room, closing the door shut behind him softly. You hadn’t spoken to him since you had woken up a week ago. Not when he was part of the reason for all of this, for ever making Azriel stay away from you.

And he knew he deserved your resentment and had kept away for the most part. But you noticed how sometimes after falling asleep you’d wake up with a blanket thrown around your shoulders that smelled like him or there’d be food waiting for you on the bedside table that you knew came from him.

You grabbed Azriel’s hand, squeezing it lightly. You felt comforted by his warmth. Madja wasn’t able to tell how long it would take for Azriel to heal. He had taken a lot of damage, all of it mostly internal because of Koschei’s magic, and that was taking far longer to heal.

You were so scared he’d never wake up. So scared that you never left his bedside. You'd sit here for the rest of your life if you had to.

Rhysand was staring down at Azriel’s limp body, his eyes swimming with tears. You could see the guilt he felt written all over him. He’d almost lost someone he’d considered his brother because of that stupid bargain he’d made him make.

He came around the side of the bed until he was standing beside you, resting a hand on your shoulder. Part of you wanted to cringe away from his touch but another part also just really needed him as a brother right now.

“I am so sorry, dove,” he whispered. “Making Azriel make that bargain with me is something I’ll regret for the rest of my life. I’m so sorry I kept you away from your mate. I’m so sorry for ever thinking it was my right to control who you loved. I understand if you never want to talk to me again—if you hate me now.”

A moment of silence passed before you stood and looked at him. “Rhys, you fucked up. You really did. I know you were traumatized after mother died—after I almost did, too. What you did has caused me and Azriel so much pain and maybe I’ll be mad at you for it for the rest of our lives but I Rhys, you’re my brother. I could never hate you.”

A small sob escaped from his lips before Rhys pulled you into a warm embrace. You crumbled into your brother’s arms, seeking a type of comfort only he could provide. Your own tears slipped down your cheeks.

“I’m so sorry, dove. I’ll keep apologizing until I can’t speak. When Azriel wakes up, whatever you guys want, it’s yours—all of it.”

“I’m so scared, Rhysie,” you cried, burying your face in his chest. “I’m so scared he’s not going to wake up. I’m so scared I’ll never get to talk to him again…”

“Azriel is the strongest person I know,” Rhys whispered into your hair. “He’s going to wake up, dove. As long as you’re here, he will fight his way through whatever is keeping him from you. He’s going to wake up.”

“I never even got to tell him how much he means to me. I never told him how much I love him or how ready I am to accept the mating bond. I never…I never—”

You fell into a fit of sobs again, unable to even speak. Rhys held you tightly, stroking your back.

“He knows, dove. He knows how much you love him. And you’ll get the chance to tell him, okay? You will.”

But all you could do was pray to the Gods that you would get that chance.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

A few more agonizing days passed by. Days that seemed longer than the span of your entire life. Days spent next to Azriel’s bedside, praying each and every morning that this would be the day he finally woke. You didn’t lose hope, you couldn’t because just the thought of him never waking up would send you into a spiral so deep, there’d be no pulling you out of it.

You let out a sigh and dropped your head into your hands.

Is this how he felt while you’d been chained in Koschei’s cabin?

You still felt so guilty…guilty that you hadn’t trusted Azriel’s reassurances that there was nothing between him and Elain, guilty that you had fallen for the Prince’s cruel trap. If you had just trusted your mate, he wouldn’t be lying here after nearly dying for you.

“P-prin…p-princess?”

Your heart leaped to your throat and you looked up so rapidly, you almost cracked your neck. Azriel blinked at you in a daze. His eyes held confusion as he glanced around, realizing he was in his room back at the House of Wind. His beautiful hazel eyes met yours again, glowing gold in the soft faelight.

“Azriel,” you breathed out, reaching forward to grab his hand. “You’re…you’re awake.”

“I-I think I am,” he said, his words still slurring a bit. “But you’re touching me and I’m not in pain and normally this usually only happens in my dreams.”

You smiled through the tears sliding down your face, tenderly cupping his cheek.

“You’re awake,” you replied. “You’re awake and I’m here, touching you and it doesn’t hurt because the bargain has been broken. You are my mate, Azriel.”

A dopey smile took over Azriel’s face. “I’m your mate.”

You nodded with a small laugh. “You’re my mate, Azriel. And I am yours.”

“You are mine,” he repeated softly, then lurched forward like all of his memories finally came back. You jumped into action, helping him sit up.

“Careful,” you said. “You’re still healing. You’ve been asleep for a little over a week now.”

“What! W-what happened?”

You brushed some of his hair from his forehand, running your fingers through it. Now that you could touch each other without causing him pain, you weren’t ever going to stop. He leaned into your touch, looking up at you with such reverence and love, it caused your cheeks to turn pink.

“I kind of…lost it when Koschei was about to kill you,” you finally answered, your voice a mere whisper. “My magic erupted and I choked him out. I didn’t kill him but it gave us enough time to get out of there. I broke the wards like you told me to and my brother came for us.”

“Are you telling me that my mate choked out a Death God?” He grinned at you and you lightly smacked his shoulder.

“It’s not funny, Az. You nearly died! Do you know how awful this past week has been? I…I thought I might never talk to you again. I thought you might never wake up!”

Azriel lifted your hand and pressed a kiss to your palm. “I know, babygirl. How do you think I felt all those days you were trapped with Koschei? I wanted to get you the minute he shadowed you away but Rhysand wouldn’t let me go.”

Well, Azriel using your brother’s full name told you exactly how he was feeling towards his High Lord at the moment.

“I’m glad he didn’t,” you said, sternly. “You would’ve died and I would’ve given up. The only thing that kept me going in there was the thought of you, Azriel. The thought that maybe, maybe I could find my way back to you.”

Azriel wiped at the tears falling from your eyes, gently. “I’m so sorry, princess. I’m sorry for everything.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. I wouldn’t change a single thing if it meant that the mating bond finally snapped between us…if it meant that I could have you now.”

“I’m yours in any way you want me, princess,” Azriel reaffirmed, yanking you down onto his lap and wrapping his arms around you despite your protests because of his injuries. He placed a kiss on your forehead. “I’m yours from now until always.”

You pulled away to look him in the eyes, your heart pulsing at everything you found in them.

“And I am yours, Azriel,” you whispered. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

He smiled, fully smiled. “Good, because I’m never letting you go.”

And then he pressed a passionate kiss against your lips. A kiss free of pain. A kiss that was full of every single emotion he felt towards you—admiration, craving, devotion, but above all else, love.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

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#acotar #acotar fanfiction #acotar x reader #acotar x you #azriel #azriel x reader #azriel x you #azriel shadowsinger #azriel fanfic #azriel acotar #rhysand's sister #azriel x y/n #azriel angst

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lesservillain · 3 months

Text

iv. someone like you and all you know and how you speak

summary: old friends and halloween shenanigans cw: we see peen. an: i love joyce byers. also pic of matthew lillard is implied to be reefer rick.

Eddie started having night terrors.

They didn’t come every night, but their intensity had you concerned.

The first one had you flying over the back of the couch to get to him. His shrieks turned your blood cold, and watching him shake and convulse was terrifying to witness. In your panic, you wrapped your arms around him to try to ground him and ended up getting hit in the face. After that you asked your teacher for advice on what interventions to do when someone has an episode.

But you weren’t the only one to suffer with pain after getting clocked in the jaw. The days after an episode left Eddie’s body sore from the sudden jerking of his muscles in his sleep. It probably didn’t help that he had also started physical therapy twice a week either, leaving him sore even with his pain medication most of the time.

Needless to say, Eddie was acting like his normal grumpy self most days, even when his friends would come over. Though, he did try and reel it back when he could catch himself or with a subtle nudge from you. By now you’d gotten used to his grumpy attitude and knew it was just coming from a place of hurting. In turn he’s been much more cooperative with you. Progress.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” You ask with a laugh, as you get out of your car. Eddie is sitting on the ground leaning back against his hands with his legs sprawled out. Will and Grant sit on either side of him as Dustin pushes Eddie’s wheelchair on its back wheels, Jeff sitting in it and squealing as Gareth and Mike laugh.

“They’re trying to break Jeff so him and Eddie can get matching chairs,” Grant called, eliciting a laugh from Eddie and Will.

“N’they’re gonna pay for his new one when they break that one,” Wayne calls from the porch, lit cigarette in hand. All around him are pumpkins of all different shapes and sizes, like a little pumpkin patch had grown around him.

“Ah, I see.” You nod.

Grabbing your bag, you walk into the Munson home to get your things settled. Glancing over into the dining room, you expected to see the table already set up for their game night, but were surprised to see it covered in newspaper and knives and spoons.

“Are you guys carving these pumpkins?” You ask, stepping back out onto the porch and pointing at the Wayne’s posse.

“Yep,” Eddie called back. “My PT said it would be a “fun activity” to work on my hand strength," he said with stiff fingered air quotes.

“Yeah, Eddie’s gonna scoop out all the guts with his bare hands,” Dustin says, setting the wheelchair back down to wiggle his fingers.

“Ew gross,” Mike joins in with Dustin’s antics.

“It’s not gross,” you say with a roll of the eyes. “Save the seeds and I’ll bake them for later.”

“Mmm, some roasted pumpkin seeds sounds real good.” Wayne says, putting his cigarette out and standing from his seat. “Save me some a’them when you make em.”

“Of course!”

“Hey, should we show her what we found earlier?” Your ears twitch when you hear Will lean into Eddie’s side. He looks at you over his shoulder, then back to the group before nodding.

And that’s how you ended up following the boys through the woods around the Munson house. Grant pushed Eddie’s chair through the woods, which wasn’t as terrible of terrain as you had expected. If the slight bounce bothered him, Eddie didn’t say. You stayed steady next to him, only moving to let them go ahead of you when the mostly thinned out trees were too close in some areas.

After a few minutes and a lot of loud conversation between the boys, you came to a small clearing that dropped off into a cliff. It made you nervous to see the boys get so close to the drop, especially when Grant pushed Eddie almost to the very edge.

“Hey, be careful, please,” you called from behind them.

“Come on, come see how far down this is!” Jeff called, his toes right on the cliff’s edge. You take a couple steps forward, just enough that you can see the water sloshing at the bottom.

To see it made you dizzy, so you tried to focus your eyes elsewhere, instead taking in the breathtaking view of the lake below. You could see boats, houses, and even a man fishing off of a dock behind his house. If there was a railing or something to hold on to out here, you could see yourself coming out here to sit with Eddie on a nice day.

“Woah, shit!” Your heart stops beating as you watch Will pull Mike’s stumbling body back from the ledge, and you’re instantly done with this whole adventure.

“Alright, I get the idea. Field trips over,” you say, walking over to Eddie’s chair and pulling him back. “We better go carve those pumpkins before it gets too late and the kids have to go home.”

There’s some groans of protest, but they all follow your lead back to through the woods.

“You have to admit it was pretty cool, though, right?” Eddie says, his head tilting back just a bit to look at you. He was smiling. It was something he started doing more and you couldn’t help the way it made your stomach flip every time he did it.

“Yeah, it was definitely a nice view,” you agreed with a sigh.

“Maybe when it gets warm out we can try jumping from it.” You hear Gareth say to one of the other boys. You recall the large drop from where you all stood at the top and a shiver went down your spine.

“I wouldn’t...unless you really want to get your own wheelchair to match Eddie's,” you say back. Gareth doesn’t let out another peep for the duration of the walk back.

“Okay, since Eddie is on scooping duty make sure you give him your pumpkins once you’ve got the tops off.”

The boys are sitting in their normal gaming formation, except for where Eddie and Gareth have swapped sides so Eddie can sit next to you. The pumpkin that the boys picked out for Eddie sits in front of you since you offered to carve it for him.

“What are you going to draw on it?” You ask him as you cut into the top of the thick pumpkin with force.

“I’m not sure yet,” he says indecisively. “Something scary for sure.”

“How about Mrs. O’Donnell?” Gareth nudges Eddie’s side, and the boys at the table all grimace.

“Fuck no. As terrifying as she is, I’d rather carve a demoba--”

Eddie catches himself mid sentence, horror written all over his face as he looks directly at Dustin. Mike and Will share similar pale faced expressions as Dustin. The tension at the table could be cut with a knife and you weren’t sure how to defuse the situation.

“Well,” Grant is the first to break the silence, “I think that, whatever we all decide to do, that we could make it into a competition. Let the newbie decide who has the best design.” He was looking straight at you and you were caught off guard by the new label.

“Oh, come on, that’s not fair,” Gareth chimes in before you can say anything, “Will is like, one of the best artists in the whole town. He’s definitely gonna win.” Will sat up straight in his chair, before shrinking down with a smile.

“Hey, now, let’s not forget who designed these bad ass tee shirts,” Eddie says, gesturing at himself.

“You made those designs?” You ask surprised. Eddie nods with pride.

“Yep, when Hellfire was founded in ‘82. We scrounged up enough money to go to a print shop and have these bad boys made at the beginning of the school year. Wasn’t cheap, so we’ve always tried to be extra careful with them.”

“Awe, that’s so cute,” you giggle.

The table erupts in a defensive roar about how it is apparently not cute that their club has tee shirts that they take very good care of. No one was convincing you otherwise.

You blew them off and distracted them by having them give Eddie their pumpkins. They all watched with amusement as Eddie reached down into each pumpkin and pulled the slimy, seedy guts out of them. Eddie’s button nose scrunched up with disgust, contrasted by the wide grin that touched his eyes. His tongue poked out in concentration as he swirled around the inside of the pumpkin, plopping the guts into bowls and pots with each one.

By the time he had gutted each pumpkin of their contents, Eddie looked like he was done for the rest of the night.

“Eddie, do you want to save your pumpkin for another night?” You ask quietly, leaning in so only he could hear. He looks at you, brown orbs darting back and forth between your eyes carefully before smiling at you.

“Yeah, please?”

“Of course.”

“See, I told you that Will was going to win!” Gareth shouted, his hands falling at his side with a huff as the rest of the group laughed at his bitching.

“I’m sorry, it’s really good! That’s the most detailed pumpkin carving of a vampire’s face I’ve ever seen.”

“Thanks,” Will said bashfully.

“Gareth, I don’t know why you’re bitching. Your jack-o-lanturn’s eyes aren’t even the same size.” Eddie razzed, goading Gareth until he flipped him off.

“Awe, I thought the mismatched eyes were cute,” you said teasingly, and Gareth froze, turning away from your eyes to stand by Will, who gave him a pat on the back.

As you all stood around admiring the hard work of everyone’s carved pumpkins, the sound of loud music playing grabbed all of your attention. It progressively got louder, sounding like it was coming from down the driveway.

“What the hell?” Jeff said with a tilt of his head.

Everyone seemed more confused than anything, but you clocked the look on Eddie’s face as he looked between the trees of the winding driveway. There was a fear there that you’d only seen in his face during his night terrors, and everything in your body was telling you that you needed to get him and everyone else inside.

“Come on guys, lets go—”

The loud revving of the engine drowned out the sound of whatever song the driver was playing. The car came over the bump at an alarming pace before slamming on its breaks once it got up to the clearing. Headlights blinded all of you, and your body moved on its own accord to stand directly in front of Eddie.

The engine cut off abruptly, the lights dimming enough to reveal fire engine red sports car with a black stripe down the middle. You could barely see the fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror through the heavily tinted windows.

“Holy shit,” you hear Eddie say behind you. The fear had left his features, replaced with an elated shock that left you wanting to ask several questions. But before you could question him, Eddie maneuvered around you and the rest of the guys heading straight toward the mysterious car.

Just as Eddie approached the car, the driver side door swung open. A man only a few years older than you with blond, spiked hair stepped out. The man had to be at least 6’5, his face covered in piercings and he had an over all aura of trouble.

“How the hell did he get this address?” You hear Jeff question Grant and Gareth.

“Rick!” Eddie shouts excitedly.

“Holy fuck, dude,” Rick says, pushing up his sunglasses and slamming his car door shut. He runs up to Eddie and embraces him tightly, bending down to be at his level. Rick pulled back, looking Eddie up and down before bringing his hand down on his shoulder a few times.

“Damn, that dude really did a number on you, huh?”

Eddie visibly shrinks, shrugging his shoulders. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Who the hell is that?” You ask Jeff quietly, taking a few steps back to be standing next to him.

“That’s Reefer Rick,” he says with an annoyed tone. “He’s Eddie’s friend. Got Eddie into dealing in school.” Your neck almost breaks with how quickly you look at Jeff.

“Dealing? Like, drug dealing?”

Jeff looks at you and nods. “Uh, yeah? You didn’t know about that?”

“Um, no. I didn’t.”

“It was just weed,” Jeff as an attempt to save face, “Aaaaaand sometimes random pills that Rick would give him to sell. But nothing serious.”

“Oh, okay. Just weed and pills. Which are both totally illegal to sell but it’s cool right?” Your blood was starting to boil with this new information. You don’t know why you’re even upset, it’s not like you really cared if people smoked weed or whatever.

Really it’s the idea of Eddie getting in trouble after everything he’s been through. Drug dealers are notorious for being sneaky and conniving, right? What if this guy thinks Eddie got money in the settlement and is here looking for a handout.

“Hi," you say in a clipped tone to the man as you approach him and Eddie. You give him just your first name, extending a hand out to him with faux pleasantry as you settle next to Eddie in his chair. “Who are you?”

“Oh, hey, this is Rick,” Eddie says to you with excitement. “Rick, this is my…caregiver.”

Rick takes your hand, looking you up and down before giving you a loose handshake. “Well, hello nurse,” Rick smiles, maintains eye contact with you as he continues to hold your hand..

After a beat Eddie clears his throat, and Rick retracts his hand from yours. You don’t miss the subtle shift in Eddie’s chair, making him close enough you can feel his arm against yours. You took the hint, and stepped back until you were behind his chair. Rick laughed lowly before looking back to Eddie.

“Well, I’m glad you have someone who can take care of you,” Rick says with a cheshire smile. “Especially since I’m sure Wayne is back at work. Must be expensive to live all the way out here.”

“Eh, we had it built out here as part of the settlement, so it’s paid for. He still has to pay the bills, though.” Eddie’s voice trails off at the end. “Wish I could do something to help…”

“Yeah, I don’t blame ya,” Rick says as he scans the land, nodding his head to the guys as he does. “I’m sure you’re not interested in getting back into the business with me given…well, everything.”

“Ah, yeah…I owe you an apology…” Eddie looks up to Rick with a guilty expression.

“For what? Oh, you mean my house?” Eddie nods and Rick waves him off. “Nah, don’t sweat it man. I took everything with me when I went to Vegas so if anyone went in there snooping they wouldn’t have found anything anyway. It looked like they had sent someone in to clean though. Looked nicer than the day my parents—I mean, the day I bought it.” Eddie nods, letting out a breath that he was holding as Rick talked.

“Well that’s nice that your house that you bought is all clean,” you say, grabbing onto the handles of Eddie’s wheelchair, “And since he’s isn’t interested in your business endeavors, I guess that means you don’t need anything from Eddie then, right?”

Rick looks down at Eddie, then back up to you with a curious look. His tongue rings peaks out from between his lips as he plays with it, before popping it back in his mouth to speak.

“Well, I was just coming out here to see a dear old friend of mine. But, there is one thing that I want to speak with him about. In private.” He leans down to eye level, eyes squinting with how tightly he smiles at you.

You open your mouth to protest immediately, but you feel Eddie push against the wheels, his chair moving away from you as he motioned Rick to follow him.

“Give us just a second.”

You stand in the same spot, speechless as they move far enough away that you can’t hear the conversation between them. A hand on your shoulder pulls your attention, and Dustin motions you back over to where the guys are huddled together.

“He’s an idiot,” Grant whisper yells into the huddle.

“Yeah, but he’s obviously lost his best salesmen for the high school territory,” Mike argues. “Wouldn’t be surprised if he was asking if one of us would want to start dealing for him.”

“He better not. You guys better not,” you say with a pointed finger at the boys who were still in high school.

“Trust us, we won’t,” Dustin said with a firm tone.

“Well, whatever he wants, it’s probably not good.”

“Well…”

“Jeff, no.”

“Hey, he’s the whole reason Eddie even stayed in high school. He probably would have dropped out if Rick hadn’t convinced him to keep trying.”

“He only wanted Eddie to keep trying so he could keep selling drugs to high schoolers!”

“That’s a pretty good point.”

“What’s a good point?”

All heads turned to Eddie, who was just behind you with an amused smile on his face. Rick wasn’t with him, still standing back by his car with a lit cigarette in his hand, eyes watching you carefully.

“Oh, we were just…”

“We were saying that you two should decorate her car for the Trunk r Treat festival. And the point was…that you could wear a mask and no one would know it was you?”

Everyone looks at Dustin like he has two heads. Where he even came up with that…you had no idea.

Eddie’s curls bounce as he shakes his head. “What? Trunk r Treat? What are you guys talking about?”

“Oh, the Trunk r Treat is what the town is doing instead of regular trick r treating since the roads are still pretty messed up. Everyone is gonna pull their cars into the fairgrounds and let the kids trick r treat there.”

“That sounds like fun,” you say, looking at Eddie with a hopeful smile. “It would be nice to get out of the house for a little bit. You said Halloween is your favorite holiday, right? I think it would be fun!”

“You guys are serious, aren’t you?” The mood shifts when Eddie speaks. “You seriously think it would be a good idea for me to go out into public? On Halloween night?”

“That’s why I said you could wear a mask!” Dustin seems to be the only one who isn’t affected by Eddie’s tone. “And no one knows you’re missing part of your leg. It would be perfect.” Dustin gestures to you, “And you’ll have your guardian angel with you. If anyone does give you shit she can pack you up in the car real quick and you can say ‘I told you so’ to us at the next Hellfire meeting.’”

Eddie’s jaw rolls in frustration, a heavy sigh leaving him as he leans forward in his chair.

“Hopper will be there,” Will chimes in. “Him and my mom are going to decorate the back of his old police cruiser. I-I could tell him you’re going and I’m sure he’d keep an eye out on you.” The boys look from Will to Eddie as they wait for his response.

“I…I…Let—let me think about it. Okay? No promises.”

The boys all perk up at Eddie’s potential compliance. Chatter about costumes and getting together at Mike’s parents house has everyone forgetting about the concerns of Rick’s arrival.

You remember though. You hear Rick laugh to himself from where he’s leaning against his car. Looking over your shoulder, you watch as he flicks his cigarette away and opens the door. Stopping about halfway in, he looks at Eddie then to you. He sends you a wink, then gets in without another word.

After about a week of convincing from all the Hellfire boys, you, and even Wayne, Eddie finally caved in and agreed to go to the Hawkins Trunk r Treat. Wayne talked with Hopper about trying to get your cars parked next to each other during the whole event just in case. And Wayne also promised that him and his friend Ben would stay close by in town if anything happened. Eddie didn’t really have much of a reason to say no.

You on the other hand had to come up with an excuse as to why you wouldn’t be spending Halloween with your best friend.

“We ALWAYS have movie night! You can’t just call in sick or something?” Tonya pleads with you as the two of you split each others Chinese take out. You shrug your shoulders, the feeling of guilt creeping up like bile in your throat.

“I’m sorry Tonnie, I can’t. Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t made plans with Charles for the night.”

“He probably would have asked but he knows that we always spend Halloween together.”

“I’m sorry, Tonya, but we’re big girls now. Sometimes things need to change…”

Her lower lip pouts at you, and you can tell by the way her eyes are glassy that she’s genuinely upset. If it were anyone else, you would be spending time with her in a heart beat. Ever since the two of you became friends, Halloween has been your thing.

You’d always been scared of the holiday after when happened with your parents, but over the years Tonya has been able to slowly tear down your fears and make the holiday enjoyable again. Now that you’ve gotten the chance to potentially to the same with Eddie and his fear of going in public again, you feel obligated to follow in her image.

“I’m really proud of you, you know?” She miles as you as she dabs the wetness from her eyes. “I can’t believe how much you’ve changed. Your parents, your grandparents…they’d be really happy to see you working so hard. With school, work, and still helping me out here…Oh, come here!”

She stands from her seat and rushed to hug you, which you return with equal adoration. For a split moment you want to tell her everything. About Eddie and everything he’s been through. About how you’re starting to prefer being at the Munson house over anywhere else. About how if anyone has come out of their shell, it’ Eddie. About how you’re not really sure about Sam, and how you don’t want to admit that there might be a reason why you’re feeling that way…

“Weren’t kiddin’ about your trunk being big, huh?” Eddie and Wayne peer into the trunk of your car as you pop it open. “I’m sure you won’t have any issue gettin’ it in and outta here. Want me t’help ya get in, son?”

“Can I try first?”

Wayne nods and Eddie maneuvers himself to the passenger side of your car. You’re already standing there waiting with the door open for him, holding it in place.

The Trunk r Treat was this coming weekend and the Hellfire boys were going to help decorate your trunk before Friday’s game. All you and Eddie had to do was get the materials and the candy. You saw Wayne hand Eddie some cash thinking that you weren’t looking, but you had no intention of letting Eddie pay for anything. This was for him, so why stress him out when you know that money is a touchy subject for him?

Eddie gets his chair in position and locks the wheels. Grabbing the “oh shit” handle and the side of the door, he lifts himself up from his chair and pauses for a moment. His face is scrunched up from pain after already having physical therapy this morning. It was hard not to get him to over do it now that his mobility has started to improve, but you would rather him learn his limits than go back to being bedridden.

A few deep breaths and a quick shift of his foot puts his ass on the edge of the seat of your car. There’s a loud thump where his head bumps the low slope of your cars door, but he just rolls his eyes and laughs it off, much to your joy. You think about how two months ago when you started caring for him that he probably would have thrown a fit and fell in it if he were to go through this exact scenario now.

“Good job, Eddie,” you praise. He looks away from you bashfully, muttering a small thanks under his breath. Even if he wouldn’t admit it, you know deep down Eddie likes to be told he’s doing good. You’ve noticed it in the ways he reacts to you commenting on all of his achievements; the coy smiles and the way he starts to fidget with his rings when you sing his praises.

Wayne grabs Eddie’s chair and puts it in the trunk. “You gonna be able to get this thing out when ya get there?”

“Yep! I’m used to lugging wheelchairs around by now. No biggie!”

Wayne nods and rounds the car to Eddie’s side. As the two men talk, you hop into the passenger seat and start the car.

“Now don’t go and give her any trouble, Eds.”

“I know, I know,” Eddie says, rolling his eyes. “If anything she’s gonna give me trouble. I just know she’s gonna be having me dress up in every costume they have there.”

“That’s not true,” you say defensively. “I actually already know what I want you to go as, so if you don’t fight me on it then you’ll only have to try one costume on.”

“Why does that not make me feel any better?”

Wayne barks out a laugh before closing the car door. He waves the two of you off as you make your way down the driveway until he’s no longer in site.

“Okay, let me make sure I’m understanding you right.” Eddie holds up the large, white, round costume that you handed to him, eyeing it skeptically. “You want me to dress up as…an egg?”

You laugh through your nose involuntarily, trying and failing to keep your composure. In your hand you hold what can only be describe as a “sexy devil” costume that consists of a short red dress, a pair of devil horns, and devil’s spear.

“Yeah, and I’ll be the devil, see? We’d—” you snort again, “We’d be deviled eggs!”

A smile cracks on Eddie’s face, more amused at your inability to contain your own laughter rather than at your poor excuse for a Halloween costume idea. He give you a half serious look as he hands you back the egg costume without another comment.

“Awe, come on,” you say as you take the costume from him, “you have to at least admit it was funny.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. What’s the real idea that you have?”

You swap the costumes out from the rack for the ones you really wanted to do. Handing Eddie the long nightgown, you hold up what would be your costume; a long red cape and a plaid blue dress with a ruffle under the skirt.

“Okay, so obviously that’s red riding hood,” Eddie says pointing to your outfit. “But what exactly is—” You hand him a wolf mask, which he takes from you and examines carefully.

“You’ll be the Big Bad Wolf, disguised as the grandmother,” you explain after a long moment of silence.

“Yeah, I gathered that,” he sasses. He takes a few more moments to think it over, and you watch the way he looks at your costume, then to you. There’s a shift in his demeanor that you can’t quite interpret, and before you can think too much into it he finally speaks.

“Alright, I’ll do it,” he says, placing the costume pieces in his lap. “Better than the deviled egg idea.”

“Well, maybe next year I can sway you into the deviled egg. But I guess this works, too.” Eddie straightens in his chair, and you swear you could see a small blush on his cheeks.

After you gathered everything for your costumes, you and Eddie did a little more shopping around for some stuff to decorate your trunk with. Streamers, hanging bats, fake spider webs, and enough candy to feed a small village fill your arms and Eddie’s lap all the way to the check out counter.

As the girl behind the counter rings out your items, you notice she keeps taking glances at Eddie. He’s too busy looking at the check out candle to notice, but you keep an eye on her just in case.

“Is that all for you?” She asks with a pop of her gum. You nod and she give you your total. As you reach for your wallet in your purse, Eddie shift in his chair, pulling out his own wallet.

“I got it,” he says, taking a $20 bill from the billfold.

“Nope,” you say, pulling out your own money and handing it to the cashier.

“No, please. I want to pay--”

“It’s okay, Eddie. Save it and buy us a pizza or something sometime when I don’t feel like cooking your dinner.”

The girl behind the counter’s gum popped loudly as she held your change in her hand. Eddie shrank back in his chair, stuffing the $20 back into his wallet. You took your bags from the counter and plopped them in Eddie’s lap, much to his surprise.

“Here, if you want to help, you can carry these.”

As you push his him out of the shop, Eddie asks you to stop before going off the curb.

“What’s up?”

“Can we go into the Goodwill over there?” He nods down the strip of stores where the sign to the second hand shop is displayed in the window.

“Sure,” you say without a second thought, “Lets put these bags in my car and then we can go in there.”

The store is a little busier than you expected. Everyone from kids to adults were checking out the shelves for their last minute home made costumes and accessories to wear this weekend. It made you happy to see so many people excited about the event.

The boys told you that Halloween can be a big deal in Hawkins. But after the earthquake, those who still remained wondered if there would even be a Halloween this year. Apparently the mother of one of their friends, Lucas, joined the city counsel and pitched the idea in a city meeting and most everyone was on board.

“The only person who protested was Mary Cunningham,” Dustin told you in a hushed tone. “She said it wasn’t safe to have all of the towns kids in one spot for ‘easy pickings.’” Mary Cunningham was the mother of Chrissy Cunningham, the girl that was murdered by Victor Creel in Eddie’s trailer before he attempted to kill Eddie himself. Wayne never told you this, but, according to the boys, Mary Cunningham is still convinced Eddie was the one who tried to kill Eddie, despite the evidence that supports that it was Creel. You hoped that she wouldn’t show up to the event this weekend.

“No way!” Eddie pulls a tee shirt from one of the racks. You’re standing next to his chair rather than behind it to make room for people to go around you in the tight, over stuffed isles. You turn your body, hand on his shoulder as you try to let a lady and he kid move behind you.

“What is it?”

“It’s a Black Sabbath tour shirt! This one’s from a tour they did in the 70’s though. Like a tour they did in Europe. I wonder how it ended up in this dump of a Goodwill?”

“Sounds like it ended up here so that you could buy it.”

Eddie looked at the shirt solemnly. Most of his attire that he had consisted of plain tee shirts and pajama pants that had come from packs at the store. All of his clothes and other personal belongings had been swallowed up by the earthquake and destroyed.

“Well…” he said after a few moments, “It is only 50 cents…”

“Perfect!” You pluck the shirt from his hands and fold it over your arm. “Keep looking. Maybe someone’s metal loving uncle passed away and his family brought his clothes here. I’m gonna go look at some pants for you.”

“There’s that beautiful smile that I love to see,” Sam says as you push the door of his office open. You gave him a small smile, setting his coffee down on his desk. He stood up, rounding the desk to embrace you in a tight hug, his lips meeting the top of your head to leave a kiss there.

“Morning,” you say, taking a step back from him when he loosens his grip. “Sorry I couldn’t bring you one of these before today. Hopefully you made it through the week without.”

“Barely,” he said with a sarcastic huff. “Have to admit I missed seeing you more, though. Been busy with midterms?”

You give him an exhausted nod. Between getting everything together for this weekend, helping Tonya deep clean the house before her trip with Charles, and dealing with your midterms, you’d been properly worn down to a barely functioning human.

“Awe, poor thing,” Sam cooes at you, his hand cupping your face to rub his thumb against your cheek. “Sounds like you deserve a little fun weekend. My buddy is having a get together at his house weekend and I’d really love for you to come.”

“This weekend?” You ask. Sam nods. “Oh, no I-I can’t. It’s Halloween weekend and…I spend it with Tonya every year. It’s been our tradition since we were kids. Sorry.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I’ve been wanting to meet her and this Charles guy you hate so much. We can do a double date. Maybe some haunted houses or something?”

“No! No—I, um, I don’t do haunted houses.” That wasn’t a lie.

“That’s fine, maybe a movie at the drive in?”

“Sam, I’m sorry. It’s not exactly a tradition where we let other people take part in. Charles wont be there either.”

Sam’s shoulders slump as he sighs, his lips tightening into a straight line.

“Okay, I get it. I’m not going to step on any toes. But…” Sam looks up at you through his lashes, “make it up to me next weekend?”

You breathe in, then out. It suddenly hits you that…you don’t really want to make it up to him net weekend.

“Sure.”

The Munson household is a busy one this cool, autumn Saturday. Eddie and the guys are in his room getting ready for the night. Their collective laughter and talking over each other is the only thing louder than the volume of the music that they have blaring. Even with the door closed you find it hard to think over the noise.

Wayne and Ben are in the kitchen prepping dinner for everyone before the nights festivities. They were joined by the infamous Hopper and Joyce Byers who brought the food by when they dropped off Will and Jane. The same Jane who was occupying the hall bathroom with you right now.

“They were trying to get you to dress up as one of the guys from Devo?”

Jane nods with an annoyed look. “Yes. They wanted me to wear a stupid red hat. I told them no, and said I wanted to go as Pat Benatar instead. She is my favorite singer.”

“Great choice,” your head bobs in agreement. You take a little more of the blue eye shadow on the tip of your finger and smudge it over her eyelids. “What’s your favorite song?”

“Heartbreaker,” she whispers shyly with a smile.

“That’s a good one! I think We Belong is mine.”

“That one is a good song, too. It’s a love song.”

“Yeah, I guess you could say I’m a sucker for a good love ballad,” you shrug, washing your hands of the make up that stained your fingers. “Now, where is the wig you said you got?”

Jane helped you zip up the back of your dress just as there was a knock on the bathroom door. You pulled the red cloak over your shoulders as she opened it, her dad standing just on the other side of the doorway.

“Jesus, kid, is that enough make up?” He says, his voice raising a distraught octave.

“Oh, look at you!” Joyce pushes past the disgruntled Hopper and into the bathroom. She looks Jane up and down, her excitement a clear contrast to Hoppers.

“You look just like her in those pictures! I’m glad we were able to find this fabric to make this jumper.”

“Joyce, she looks like a—“

“Woah, Pat Benatar!”

Will and Gareth poke their heads around the corner of the door frame, both of them dressed like characters from Star Wars whose names you can’t quite remember.

“Oh, you boys look adorable!” Joyce squeezes Will's cheeks, much to his dismay. Gareth lets out a snicker at will’s expense, only stopping once he’s caught your eye. Then, like usual, he slinks back out of sight.

In his place Mike and Dustin pop up. Dustin is dressed like Darth Vader, his helmet in his hand as they barge into the bathroom. “Are you two ladies ready to go yet?”

“I think so,” you say, quickly clearing up the mess that you’ve made in the Munson bathroom.

“Wow, El, you look badass!” Mike says, putting an arm around her for a side hug.

“Thank you, Mike. She helped.” Jane says, pointing in your direction.

“Oooh, I get it,” Dustin suddenly says as if he’s had an epiphany, eyes narrowing as he looks you up and down.

“Get what?”

“Your’s and Eddie’s couple’s costumes.”

The eye shadow pallet drops from your hands with a loud clutter. “Wh-what are you talking about?”

“What do you mean ‘what am I talking about?’ You and Eddie are going as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, right?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“That’s, like, a classic couples costume!”

“Oh, that’s so sweet!” Joyce says, her hand on her heart as she looks up at Hopper. “Didn’t you and Margaret Sanders go as the wolf and Red Riding Hood to John Collins’ Halloween party one year?”

Jim nods with a big, mustached grin. “Yep.”

“I feel like an asshole.”

Eddie’s voice in the hallway catches your attention. Jim moves out of view, making room for Eddie’s chair as Jeff and Grant follow behind him.

“You sound like one, too,” Jeff laughs from behind him.

Eddie was being his normal grumpy self today. Enough that you were worried that he might call the whole thing off and not go. But, he seemed to manage to push through. Although you worried that the amount of people occupying his house was stressing him out a bit.

As Jeff pushed him past the door, Eddie turned to look inside the overcrowded bathroom. Even with all of the bodies in the way, his eyes were on you in an instant. He didn’t say anything, more so looking at you like a deer caught in headlights until he was completely out of view.

“Foods ready!” Ben calls from the kitchen. Doesn’t take much more convincing than that for everyone to file out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. You take the opportunity to finish putting everything away before joining in the chaos.

Loud chattering fills the kitchen as everyone moves around the table to get their food. When you do come out of the bathroom, you see someone’s already put Eddie in the recliner, his tv tray set up in front of him as he patiently waited for everyone to finish getting their plates.

“Hey stranger,” you say, stealing his attention from whatever daydream he was having.

“Hey,” he said with a tight smile. You eyed him suspiciously.

“What hurts?”

He’s still for a moment, before he sighs and gives you a more genuine smile.

“I’m just having those ghost pains or whatever.” His hand rubs over the clothed end of his thigh where his leg was severed.

Ever since he started physical therapy two weeks ago he’s been complaining of pains in his leg where it's not there anymore. You asked your professor about it, and she said it's not uncommon for amputees to have phantom pains. There’s not much you can do about it other than try to distract the person having them.

“I see. Well, maybe eating something might help. Is anyone getting you a plate?”

Eddie shook his head with a shit eating grin. “I told them that you’d wanna do it.” You rolled your eyes, but he was right.

There was still a weird feeling that resided in you about being there for anything other than being Eddie’s caretaker. Even after two months of Wayne’s warm hospitality, a month of being taken in by the Hellfire boys, and being treated as if you’ve always been around by Joyce and Hopper, you still felt like an outsider looking in.

People on foot walked by as the cars loaded in through the entry gate of the Hawkins fairgrounds. You were sure that just about everyone in this town was showing up tonight. It made you buzz with excitement to see all the costumes and decked out cars.

“Excited?” Eddie asks you, his eyes darting around at the crowds. There was an indecipherable tone to his voice.

“Of course,” you say, the car moving up a bit to keep up with Hopper's cruiser in line. “Are you?”

“Is Eddie excited about Halloween?” Dustin’s head pops between yours and Eddie’s from the back seat. He slaps his hand on Eddie’s shoulder and gives him a little shake. “Eddie is probably the biggest fan of Halloween I know. He made a whole one shot campaign based on our party trying to escape from Michael Meyers.”

“What? No way, that sounds awesome. Halloween is probably my favorite Halloween movie.”

“It is a classic,” Eddie says with a grin. “Although, I will say that Friday the Thirteenth did freak me out for a while after I saw it for the first time. Still can’t believe that it was his mom the whole time—”

“His mom the whole time?” The two of you say it in unison. You look at each other for a moment before laughing. Dustin makes an audible gagging sound from the back seat and Eddie wastes no time reaching back to swat at him. You shush the both of them as Hopper pulls ahead, making your car next in line.

“Hi, folks,” the older gentleman says, shining a flashlight into the car and almost blinding you. “Hop took care of your cover charge and told me to make sure you guys get the spot next to him.” The man hands you a paper with the number 66 printed on it. It looks like it’s cut in a way that lets it hang from your rear view mirror, most likely to keep track of the amount of cars coming in to participate in the event.

As the man gives you instructions on how to find your spot inside, you cant help but you notice the subtle way he glances to Eddie in the passenger seat. You’re not sure if the man recognizes Eddie or if he’s trying to, but you don’t stick around long enough to find out. Eddie slips on his wolf mask once you take off inside of the fair grounds.

It doesn’t take you long to find your spot. The Hopper-Byers group is all helping out to set everything up for Joyce and Hopper to pass out candy. The back of the cruiser is set up to look like a tent, with a fake fire, a stuffed bear, and a blue blanket meant to be a lake side view.

Dustin pulls Eddie’s chair out from the back seat of your car, helping him out as you pop open your trunk. The effort they put into their theme almost makes you feel self conscious of your trunk, the ‘theme’ looking more like a Halloween store exploded rather than anything cohesive. But then you remember it was put together by Eddie and his friends, and you decide you love it just the way it is.

“All right!” Joyce calls out once your cars are all set up. She sets a plastic bowl in Eddie’s lap and starts pouring candy into it. “Let’s get this party started!”

“Joyce don’t start getting to crazy before the kids get here,” Hops says teasingly as he pulls on his trapper hat. To go with their theme Hop and Joyce are dressed up like campers, which, in hind site, was probably a good call considering how cold the nights have been getting in Hawkins. You were already starting to regret your costume choice as the breeze hit your legs where your dress didn’t cover.

“Isn’t that the point?” Jane asks. “Is she not supposed to scare the kids?”

“Not enough that they wont come around to get candy,” Will retorts.

He’s half paying attention to the conversation as he looks around. Suddenly his hand shoots up, waving and shouting to the Hellfire guys as they walk through the cars. They all gather together and migrate to stand around Eddie, bags and pillowcases out towards him.

“Trick r treat!” They say in a sing song unison, laughter breaking out among them. Eddie’s head drops in the mask, his body shaking as he joins in with the guffaws of his friends.

As you watch them interact, you wonder what faces Eddie is making under the mask. Recently, you’ve felt like you’ve been able to see the real Eddie slip through the cracks. By now you can tell when one of his smiles is fake or genuine, as well as when his anger is real or just out of pain. But, with the plastic mask to hide behind, will he still feel the need to keep himself so reserved tonight?

It didn’t take long for the night to get going. Spirits were high as children, teens, and adults all made their ways between the cars to fill their bags with candy and other goodies being passed around.

You could admit you were a little nervous when Joyce gave the bowl of candy to Eddie earlier. But, either no one could tell it was him under the wolf mask, or no one cared enough to say anything.

Eddie seemed to be enjoying himself, too. After a while he started to compliment the different costumes in a scary wolf voice, which the kids that came by loved. He even went out of the way to put candy into the trick r treater’s bags, not caring about the scars on his hands being seen.

“Gonna need another refill,” he says to you as the last group of kids move on down the line.

“Roger that,” you say, jumping up to grab another bag of candy from your trunk, pushing the fake spider webs to the side.

Some of the bags slid to the back, so you have to really reach in to get your hands on it. Just as you get a grip on the plastic bag, you feel something pulling on the skirt of your dress. You pinch the plastic of the bag, dragging it out with you as you stand up straight.

Looking over your shoulder, you see that Eddie’s hand is holding on to the hem, pulling it taut over your ass. You’re about to ask what he’s doing when the chuckling from a group of passing boys reaches your ears.

“Thanks,” you say to Eddie, smoothing out the skirt of your dress. His mask looks up at you, and his hand quickly retracts from where it was holding on to you.

“Y-you’re welcome,” he says, voice muffled by the mask.

As you pour more candy into his bowl, a group of three young girls approaches Eddie.

“Trick r treat,” the girls say, holding their bags out for Eddie.

Eddie is still for a moment, grabbing the candy wordlessly and placing it into the girls candy bags. When he gets to the last girl, he hesitates before letting the candy drop inside.

“Where’s your brother, Lady Applejack?” Eddie suddenly says, still using his wolf voice.

The girl's eyes go wide, shifting between her two confused friends before nodding to the side. The two girls move on to Joyce and Hoppers truck, leaving Lady Applejack behind.

“Munson?” She whispers with bemusement. “Is that you under that creepy mask?”

“The one and only,” he says, his hands gesturing wildly to himself.

The girl looks up and down at you, then back to Eddie. “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.”

You shuffle in your spot awkwardly. You’d gone the whole night with no one saying anything besides Dustin, and you were hoping that it would stay that way.

“We’re not dating,” Eddie says neutrally. “She’s my caregiver.”

“Caregiver? Is that not the same thing as a girlfriend?”

“Basically.” The words spill out of you like vomit. “It’s all the non fun parts of being a girlfriend without any of the perks.” The girl laughs, but Eddie remains still.

“I like her, Munson. You should keep her around.”

“You know, you never answered my question,” Eddie says, clearly desperate to change the subject.

“Huh? Oh, you mean about Lucas?”

Lucas. That was the friend that the boys bring up a lot. He’s a member of Hellfire but hasn’t been to any of the meetings.

“He’s probably still at the hospital with Max. Our parents tried to get him to come out tonight since my mom was the one who put this whole thing together. But…” The girl trails off, looking down at the ground as her attitude fades away. “You know, he still feels guilty. About…what happened.”

Eddie nods slowly. Max was another victim who got out alive like Eddie, but she’s been in a coma since March. Eddie doesn’t talk about her, even if the boys bring her up when talking about Lucas.

“Erica, come on!” One of the girls friend’s call, motioning her to join them.

Erica shifts back into her previous demeanor, looking at you and Eddie once again. “I gotta go. Nice seeing you, Munson and Munson’s girlfriend.” Before Eddie could correct her, she was taking off with her friends.

“Sorry,” Eddie says to you, but refusing to look your way.

“It’s fine. If anything I should be apologizing.” You plop back down in your folding chair with a huff. “Dustin said something earlier about our costumes being a couple’s costume and I’ve been cursing myself for over looking that.”

“Dustin would say something like that,” Eddie grumbles under his breath.

“They’re over here!” Dustin’s voice calls out from a few yards away, his Vader mask in his hand as he motions two people behind him. A guy and a girl dressed as Wham! follow an excited Dustin to your car.

“Speak of the devil,” Eddie says, slumping down in his chair. “And he’s brought his mommy.” You look at Eddie confused. The pair were definitely not old enough to be Dustin’s parents, maybe older siblings at best.

“Dustin, are you sure we’re at the right car?” The girl asks, shooting you a nervous smile.

“Yes, this is the right car. I literally came here in it,” Dustin shook his head and reached into his bag. After fumbling around a bit, he pulled out a full size milky way and presented it to Eddie.

“Snagged this for ya from the Martin’s car,” he said with a toothy grin. Eddie grabbed the candy and examined it and you could feel the smile he had from under his mask.

“Good work, Henderson,” Eddie says, looking up at the boy. Dustin salutes him before standing to the side, looking at the couple behind him with an I told you so expression.

“Holy shit,” the guy says, his law slack.

“Is that really you, M—” The girl cuts herself off before she can finish. The two move closer to Eddie, speaking in hushed tones.

“How’re you doing? Dustin told us that him and Mike have been over to your new place,” the girl asks. You don’t know why, but the way her hand rests on his shoulder irritates you.

“Yeah, he told us the lab set you up with a really nice house. Still not enough after what we all went through in my opinion..”

“Steve,” the girl cuts him off sharply.

“What? We haven’t seen the guy in six months! Am I not supposed to talk about it?”

“It’s fine, Robin,” Eddie says.

“It’s not fine,” you interject. All eyes are on you now, stunned as if they just noticed you were there.

“S-sorry, we didn’t mean to leave you out,” the girl stutters.

“Yeah, uh…” Steve looks you up and down before straightening his posture. “You must be the caretaker that Dustin’s told us about. Name’s Steve. Steve Harrington.”

Steve Harrington stands in front of you, offering his hand for you to shake. You take his hand and introduce yourself. Steve Harrington is handsome in a similar way to Sam you think.

The feeling of eyes on you makes you turn your head. The light catches just right you can sort of make out Eddie’s eyes through the holes of the mask.

“What did you say?” You ask, looking back up to Steve after zoning his question out.

“I just asked if you were free sometime. Maybe we could get a bite to eat before you go over to Eddie’s some time?”

“Oh, sorry,” the words poured out of you again. “But I’m seeing someone.”

You’re not sure if it’s just you, but it suddenly felt like the air got thicker. You could feel Eddie’s eyes bore holes into you, but you couldn’t bring yourself to look at him.

“Shit, my bad,” Steve says, taking a step back. “I thought Dustin said you two weren’t together.”

“We’re not,” Eddie says in a clipped tone.

“Yeah, we’re not, Eddie and I. I’m, uh, I’m seeing a guy from my school. Sam…”

“Ohhhh, okay,” Steve nods, “Gotcha. Well, if things don’t work out—OW!”

“Take a hint, dingus!” Robin whisper yells at Steve. She looks back to Eddie with an apologetic look. “We should probably go, but call one of us some time and we’ll sneak some movies to you, okay?”

Eddie wordlessly nods, his focus on the bowl of candy in his lap now. Steve and Robin give their goodbyes and move along, bickering between themselves as they go. Dustin lingers with you and Eddie for a moment, unsure of what to do with himself.

“Do, uh…"Dustin clears his throat, attempting to lighten the mood. "Do you guys want to go check out the fair at all?” Dustin points with his thumb over his shoulder. “There’s some pretty cool stuff at the back. A haunted house, some games…you know, fun stuff. I’ll, uh, sit and watch the candy.”

You look over to Eddie waiting for his response. After several moments Eddie finally nods, lifting the plastic bowl and handing it to Dustin. You rise from your seat, moving out of the way so Dustin to take your spot.

When you turn to see if Eddie is ready to go, you find that he’s not there. Instant panic sets in, as you look out to the crowd to find him. For a split second, you can see the furry hair on the back of his mask a few cars away. Bobbing and weaving through the clusters of people, you grab the handles of his chair and stop him, making him jerk forward.

He looks back, body tense until he realizes it’s you, his shoulders slumping forward.

“Where did you think you were going?” Anger evident in your tone.

“What do you mean? I thought you were right behind me.” The cutting tone of his voice hits a nerve.

“Eddie, I…” You can feel a whole lecture on the tip of your tongue. But the more you think about it, the more you realize that Eddie is his own person. As much as you’ve grown to want to protect him, he probably knows more about these fairgrounds and all of these people than you’ll ever know. He was a fully functioning person seven months ago, not needing anyone’s assistance just to get through a crowd of people.

“Do…do you want me to leave you alone?”

The two of you stand in the middle of the moving bodies without a word. It feels like the two of you are in slow motion as people move past you.

Eddie sits up, shaking his head. “No.”

That’s all you needed to hear. Grabbing onto the handles of his chair, you push him through the crowd at a leisurely pace. It takes a few minutes for hm to say something, but the paper mache ghost from Ghost Busters hanging off of a cars trunk catches his attention.

“Woah, that’s awesome!” Eddie points it out to you.

“Do you think they made that?”

“I bet they got it at a Halloween store.”

Conversation flowed like that between you as you both rated the cars out of 10 as you passed. There were more cars like yours that decorated just enough to be passable, but a good majority of the citizens of Hawkins really do mean business when it comes to Halloween.

“They made their car look like a dragon!” Eddie shouts over his shoulder to you. “How is that not the best car?!”

“It’s totally an awesome car, but, I’m sorry, the literal hearse with a guy dressed as Dracula in a coffin was hands down the best.”

Eddie slumps back in his chair in frustration, his mask looking up at you dramatically while you push him. You smile down at him, happy to see him having so much fun. He jerks forward and clears his throat, mask moving quickly as if he’s looking for something.

“Oh, look they’re selling popcorn,” Eddie nods to a booth set up off to the side of the cars. It looks like a girl scouts group of some kind, all the girls at the booth wearing patch covered sashes over their costumes. The sign on the booth read “Twenty-five cent popcorn. Proceeds go to Hawkins Rebuild Fund.”

“Hmmm,” you hum curiously. “We should get some. I could use something salty to cleanse my palate from all the candy.”

“Yeah, I think I might puke if I even think about a Reese’s Cup right now.”

You grab a bottle of water and a bag of popcorn to split between the two of you. Not wanting to stop your perusing of the cars, you continued on with Eddie popping a piece under his mask for him and then lifting a few pieces up to your mouth for you to much on.

Continuing on, you finally reach the back end of the fairgrounds. A few fires were going with groups of people gathered around. They talked over cider or roasted marshmallows to shove between graham crackers, adding their favorite candy pieces to complete their sweet treats.

A few games were set up. Kids and tipsy grown men bobbed for apples in a big trough of water. A partially enclosed area was set up for smaller kids and their exhausted parents to take a break away from the older kids.

But in the very back was a make shift haunted house, it’s entrance painted to look as if you were walking into a large jack o lantern. Around it were several tarps meant to cover whatever the haunted house was put together with, various paper decorations taped to it to make it look more festive.

“We should go in there,” Eddie says excitedly. “Wonder if it’s dark enough I can take this mask off for a bit.”

“I don’t know Eddie…” you say hesitantly. You weren’t the biggest fan of haunted houses. Being scared from a movie is one thing, but the lack of control you could have in a haunted house made you uncomfortable.

You also never knew what was going to set you off. The last haunted house you went to with Tonya and some friends in high school was set up to look like an actual house. It didn’t really bother you until one of the actors snuck up behind you, whispering in your ear. It immediately took you back to…

“Awe, come on. Don’t tell me you’re scared?” Eddie teases. “I doubt that Hawkins could make an actually scary haunted house. I bet they have one of those rooms where they make you feel peeled grapes and tell you that it’s eyeballs.”

“I’m not scared,” you say with a level tone, “I’m more worried about you. What if you have a night terror and end up needing me to sit at the end while you sleep tonight?”

Eddie freezes, his eyes wide and looking into yours through the holes in the mask. You feel like you said something wrong, but you’re not sure what.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

Eddie starts to laugh, clearly trying to get a rise out of you. It both relieves and pisses you off.

“Eddie, you’re such an asshole! I thought I hurt your feelings!”

“You did, little red,” he feigns offense, his hands resting over his heart. “I can’t believe you would make fun of me. I’m wounded. How will you ever make it up to me?”

“Oh my god,” you say with exasperation. “I’m so sorry Mr.Wolf. I guess I can be brave and take you through the haunted house if that will suffice.”

Eddie fake sniffled and nods. “Yes, I think I may be able to forgive and forget your offense if you lend me your company inside this estate.”

The two of you get in line, chatting for the few minutes it takes to get to the front. When it’s finally your turn, the lanky teen at the door looked down at Eddie.

“Uh, be careful with your chair, man. Should be good, but, uh, there might be some bumps between the rooms. That alright?”

Eddie nods and the boy ushers the two of you inside. It looks like the haunted house might be made of several sheds or storage units placed together to make a long string of rooms. A lot of the rooms were more silly than scary, but a few people dressed in costumes were able to get some scares out of you and Eddie.

Well, you more than Eddie.

You hadn’t even realized that you were leaning so close to him. It was a reflex to bury your face against him when you got scared, laughing the whole time as you pushed on to the next room. He didn’t seem to mind, probably too busy laughing at your reactions to care.

You wondered if the actors were talking with each other, because it felt like more people were trying to scare you the further into the haunt you went. By the end you were practically strangling Eddie, your arms wrapped around his shoulders with your face against the back of his neck as he guided you both through the exit that exited to the other side of the fairground lot.

“They were so mean!” The words came out in strained huffs as you tried to catch your breath, still laughing from all the nerves. Eddie probably would have been keeled over with how hard he was cackling. He lifted his mask briefly to wipe the tears from his eyes, his hair sticking to his forehead with how much he was sweating under the plastic.

“Holy shit,” he barks out. “That was sooooo worth it. I want to see how bad you get scared in a haunted house that’s actually scary.”

“I can’t believe you’d want to put me through that after everything I’ve done for you,” you say with faux offense.

“Can’t help it,” he says with a shrug, “I guess I’m a bit of a sadist.”

“Hmmm why does that not at all surprise me.”

The rest of the night went on without a hitch. The guys showed up again eventually, making base between yours and Hopper’s car to trade candy. Jane told you that she got lots of compliments on her costume and thanked you over and over for helping her with her make up. Joyce took the opportunity to get everyone together to take pictures. Apparently Will’s older brother, Jonathan, left one of his cameras with them to take pictures while he’s off at college and Joyce took that task very seriously.

“Let me get one with the two of you!” She says to you and Eddie. Eddie looks at you and you shrug.

“Do you want to lean on me?” You ask him.

“What do you mean?”

“So you can have a picture not in your chair. I can hold you up--oh we can make it look like you’re trying to eat me?”

Eddie stands, leaning against you as you have your arms around him in a tight hug. Joyce takes a few steps forward to get his chair out of frame, giving you both the go ahead to make a pose. Eddie lets go of you, posing with his hands as if he was about to grab you, the mouth of his mask about an inch from your face. You hold on to him with one arm, letting him lean into you as you let your other hand fly back with fake terror.

The bright flash from the camera has you grabbing Eddie fully once again. You were able to feel his leg wobbling, still not used to holding up his whole weight. Eddie plopped back into his chair, letting out the breath he had been holding.

After a while the festivities began to wind down as cars started making their exit. When Eddie’s back started to hurt from being in his chair for so long, you decided to join the rest of the crowd and leave. Dustin helped load Eddie up in the car as you cleaned up any mess that had been made.

“Dustin, why don’t you ride with us?” Joyce calls over from their car. “Eddie’s probably tired and ready to get home. You’re staying at the Wheeler’s anyway, right?”

Dustin looks at Eddie, whose mask was up enough to let his face breathe, to you, who looked like you were ready to climb into bed and pass out. Gears turned under those tight curls. A vision of the two of you “accidentally” falling asleep in each others arms on the couch and waking up all embarrassed, until you inevitably confess your feelings for each other and get married and grow old together was clear as day in his mind.

“Yeah, sounds good. Thanks Mrs.B.”

“Do you even want to attempt a shower?” You ask Eddie with a yawn, eyeing his devil faced pumpkin that the two of you carved that sits next to the front door.

“I feel gross after sweating in that mask,” he yawns in reaction to your yawn, fumbling to get his keys in the lock. “But, honestly, I’ll probably fall asleep sitting in there.”

Eddie pushed the door open, and wheels inside. You can barely get a foot in the front door when Eddie stops abruptly. You follow his gaze to the couch, and are surprised to see Ben leaning against Wayne. His head rests on Wayne’s shoulder, Wayne’s bald head lays against Ben’s head as the two of them snore intermittently.

Eddie turns slowly back towards you with wide eyes. You place your finger against your lips, giving him a silent shush as you slowly maneuver his chair to his room. Eddie doesn’t say a word, even after you close the door to his room. He’s as pale as a ghost, still looking as you as if he was waiting for you do to…something.

“What’s wrong?” You ask him, and he flinches. He finally blinks when he realizes that you’re not going to say anything, tension leaving his body until he’s visibly exhausted.

“Nothing, I just…ugh I really need to shower. But I’m so tired.” He sprawls out in his chair, hands running over his face and through his matter hair. The icky feeling of being outside and around people begins to make your skin crawl, too, as you feel a shower calling your name.

“Well, the longer we wait, the more tired you’re going to be. Let’s get you in there so I can go home and take one, too.” Eddie perks up, looking at you with knitted brows.

“You’re not staying the night?”

“Well, my sleeping spot is currently being occupied,” you say with a cheeky grin, nodding toward the living room.

Eddie presses his lips together, deep in thought as he tries to come up with an solution so you don’t have to make the 30 minute trek home.

“You could…sleep in my bed? I could sleep in Wayne’s room. If the love birds wake up, they’ll just have to deal with it.”

Thinking about sleeping in Eddie’s bed makes your chest flutter in a way that you hate. Well, rather, you want to hate it. But you really don’t. The idea of being in his bed with him penetrates your mind, and you think of anything else to push it away. Like how you’d finally told him about Sam earlier in the night. You still needed to psycho analyze his reaction to the news, which was how you usually passed the time in the car.

“I’ll think about it.” Eddie nods, accepting that as your answer for now.

You set up the shower for Eddie, hardly a word between the two of you with the combined low energy. You quietly snuck Eddie’s dirty clothes into the laundry room as he showered, taking a few minutes to pick up the kitchen in hopes to lessen the work load for Wayne tomorrow.

When you returned to the shower, Eddie had just turned off the water. He was humming a song to himself, probably to keep himself awake as he went through the motions of his shower.

He pulled the curtain open, and slowly blinked at you. You understood his message, taking the few steps to stand beside him. You went through your drying routine, getting his back and gently squeezing and scrunching his curls in a towel to dry them. There was no way he would be able to blow dry them tonight so you just took your time getting them as dry as possible. Eddie would start to doze off until the resistance of his hair pulling would wake him again.

The two of you got into position for Eddie to stand and pivot into the chair. You held on to him, and he held onto his towel, waiting for your count to stand. A quiet one, two, three had him pushing off of the shower seat with his leg.

But he was still tired, and he began to lose his balance. One hand shot to hold your arm, and the other grabbed the bar attached to the wall. You felt his body starting to go down and reflexively turned him towards his chair. His grip on the wall threw you off, causing you to fall into him when he finally let go and landed in his chair.

You braced yourself against the arm rests as the floor was slick under you. The top half of your body was pressed into his, mimicking the closeness of an hug. When you went to pull away, you felt his grip on your arm tighten.

“Don’t move.” He says next to your ear.

“What?”

“My towel fell.”

You snort, resting your forehead against his shoulder, wet curls pressing into your skin. “Why do you have such a hard time keeping a towel on?”

Ever since the first shower where he almost lost his towel, at least once a week his towel seems to find its way out of Eddie’s hands and onto the floor.

To Eddie’s defense, it was hard for him to maintain his grip, and you couldn’t hold him up and keep his towel in place, so it was something you’d become accustomed to. If he could feel his towel slipping Eddie would usually give you a heads up so you could keep your eyes above belt level.

After a beat you can feel Eddie’s smile against your cheek. “Only around you,” he says with a sarcastic tone. You suck in a breath, and hope he can’t feel the heat that rises to your cheeks at his playful comment.

“I’m starting to think you do it on purpose.”

Eddie shakes his head. “If you close your eyes and move, I can reach the towel myself.”

“Okay,” you say, positioning your feet so you can stand up straight.

As you move your foot back, it bumps against something and catches you off guard. Reflexively, you open your eyes to look back and move your foot accordingly. Once you find your footing again, you shift to face forward once again. But, in your sleepy haze, you forget a crucial move; closing your eyes again.

Still looking down, your eyes manage to land directly where they’re not supposed to.

It was like a car crash. You knew you shouldn’t gawk, but the site of Eddie’s dick as it lay against his leg had you frozen in place. It was long, reaching half way down his hairy thigh, and thick. What made it worse was that he looked half hard; whether on it’s way to full mast or starting to soften you couldn’t be certain.

Suddenly you became very aware at how revealing your costume was and how close your body had just been against his. Hell, you’d been touching and leaning against each other all night. Was he like this because of you? Surely not. You scold yourself for even thinking about it.

Regaining your composure, you push away from his chair and get your footing. You snap your eyes closed so quickly, hoping that he didn’t notice that you were looking. It felt like you had been staring for an eternity, the image of it seemingly tattooed into your corneas even as your eyes were closed, but in reality it was no more than a second.

Even if you had seen it, you’d assured him plenty of times before that it wouldn’t be the first dick you’ve ever seen and it wouldn’t be the last with the field of work you were going into. But you also respected his privacy, maybe understanding a little more as to why he didn’t want you to see. If he said anything, you wouldn't make a big deal about it.

“Okay, you’re in the clear,” he says, his voice not giving any hint to if he knows what you saw. You open your eyes as he’s backing away and back into his room to get dressed, leaving you to clean up. Which you do quietly, willing Eddie’s dick out of your mind but failing as you pick up.

By the time you joined him in his bedroom, he was still in his chair, fully dressed and his head nodding forward as he tried to fight off sleep.

“Ready to get in bed?” You ask him in a low voice so not to startle him.

He looks up at you drowsily, “Are you gonna stay the night?” You shake your head and his pouts up at you.

“I’m sorry, Eddie. I’ll be okay getting home. I’m…feeling very awake now.”

And you head plenty to think about on the drive home. It didn’t feel long enough to analyze everything, your thoughts spilling over as you stare up at your ceiling fan in bed.

thank you for reading.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x nurse!reader #eds #eddie munson fan fic #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fluff #eddie muson st #disabled!eddie munson #eddie munson angst #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #make me better #mmb!eddie #mmb!eddie munson

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lilbitdepressed27 · 1 month

Text

Lorraine Day/Fem implied G!Preader

Summary: modern AU you're a helping farm hand at the Days

Warnings: death, violence a little bit.

WC: 4.9k

Author's Note: been wanting to do one for Lorraine. So here it is. Ive also got two AUs for Tara almost done:D. Hopefully they’re done soon. Well hope y'all like it. And like always. Not proofread, so sorry for any mistakes.

It was your second week of working for the Days farm. You had grown around horses and became extremely handed in training horses. Even at such a young age you had a connection with animals. You had grown up wanting to be a veterinarian. Now as senior in high school you landed a job working as a horse trainer. Back in your home town you had helped your grandfather train horses. It was a task you loved doing as a kid. You had missed doing that when you moved to the states a month ago. Your mother also worked for the Days and she told Mr.Day about you.

He had given you a chance and for the past week you had heavenly improved one of the young horses that had been very stubborn. The horse still had his moments but you worked hard to make him listen. You always carried sugar cubes or carrots with you. Using treats to make him listen. It was a way that had always worked for you.

It was a beautiful day outside, the weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. It was the perfect type of weather to have Dante (the horse you were training) out and about. You were also helping the horse be around other horses. Mr.Day had said that he had bought Dante from someone who had no idea how to care for a horse. Dante had been alone and had been neglected his first year of life. So it was a little hard for him to get used to other horses.

"You're doing good kid. Look at him it's like he knows you'll give him a treat if he's good." Mr.Day had been observing how you worked with Dante. He had watched from the moment you stepped foot into the paddock, how Dante kept his eyes on you. He had watched how you spoke to the horse in your native language. The way you spoke so softly and gently to Dante. Showing him you weren't going to hurt him. He had watched how you would award Dante for the smallest things with a treat. Showing him he was a good boy. But also being firm with him when he did something bad.

It had taken him and a few others to even attempt to put on the bridle. They had all been unsuccessful. But after two days of you being with Dante he had let you put on the bridles with no hassle. He wasn't going to lie. He had been a bit jealous. He had spent so much money on Dante only for someone else to be the favorite. He smiled nevertheless. Once he was done with his other work he would stop by to see your progress. And he was honestly amazed. Dante had taken such a liking to you.

"All he needed was some love sir." You smiled back at him, fixing your hat. You like Mr.Day he was a nice man. Letting your mom and you work here. The way he interacted with every single one of his workers was admirable.

"What have I-"

You turned at the sound of a van coming down the driveway. The van looked out of place in place like this. You turned back to Dante who nudged you forward. He had been wondering around the paddock with the saddle on his back. You wanted him to get used to it first before getting on. It was the second day of him wearing it.

"Great job Y/n keep up the good work."

You nodded as he walked away. Going back to work. You handed the half of an apple to Dante who happily took it. You patted his head moving to get on his back. You moved slowly and gently. Making sure not to scare the horse. You sat on his back as he stood still.

"Good boy Dante. Good boy." You reached over and gave him the other half of the apple. You held his reins wanting him to get used to following the direction of the pull.

"You're doing great Dante. You're such a good boy." At the sound of his neighing you smiled and continued the process. Giving him small treats in award for his good behavior.

You had just taken off his saddle after putting him back in his stable after a good day of training. "Good job today buddy. You did good. Now get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow." You closed the gate to his stable after petting his head. You left the stables looking for your mom. It was almost time to leave and you were starving.

"Come on honey. Let's go. The Days are hosting a small party and they invited us. Don't worry I said maybe another time. I know how tired and hungry you get."

You sighed in relief. You weren't really up to being at a party. Tomorrow was another day and it was probably going to be harder cause Dante was set to make new friends.

You and your mother had arrived early at the Days. The sun was out and you were excited. Dante had come a long way. You knew he was a nervous one, which are usually the mostly dangerous ones. But you had a plan.

"Good morning Dante." You smiled when the horse stuck his head out from his stable at the sound of your footsteps approaching. He neighed excitedly, you chuckled and got his bridle. Putting it on after brushing him down. You lead him out of the stables. Another horse was already out, it was the horse you knew as Princess. It was a beautiful all light brown horse. You could see a girl riding the horse from a distance. They were on the other side of paddock.

You felt Dante nudging you forward with his head. You continued your walk to the paddock. Padding Dante's head as you closed the gate to the paddock. Letting Dante a few minutes to roam as you got everything ready for todays training. You had gathered the treats, along with the saddle. You had a few other workers help you divide the paddock. In the stables Dante was far from the other horses, he had shown signs of aggression towards other horses. Mr.Day had to put him in an other stable to make sure Dante didn't hurt himself.

The more you worked with Dante, the more realized that it wasn't aggression. It was fear. Dante had been by himself since he had been born. He just didn't know how to interact with other horses. You were to fix that.

"So you're the new trainer daddy has been talking about." The sound of a sweet but sudden voice had startled you. Turing to the sound of the voice to be faced with a beautiful dark haired woman. A beautiful smile directed your way, the dimples on display had you weak to the knees.

"Uh yes Ms.Day." You knew Mr.Day had a daughter. You just didn't think she would be so beautiful.

"Oh please, call me Lorraine."

Her southern accent was just so attractive, so soothing. You could hear her talk all day. You smiled towards her.

"Nice to you meet you ma'am." You tipped your hat towards her, smiling bit more when she returned the smile. Seeing the dimples on full display was a sight you'd want to see more.

"He looks more approachable now. You have done such great job. Daddy couldn't even get his bridle on."

You smiled feeling a bit proud of Dante's achievements so far. "He just needed some lovin and a bit of patience."

"Mmh well you done a fine job, I didn't catch your name."

"Thank you and it's Y/n."

Lorraine watched from the window as the horse trainer rode Dante. It had been a week since she met you and she couldn't stop thinking about you. The way you spoke to not just Dante but also the other animals. Your smile, your eyes, your voice, your laugh. You. She had spent most her time with you. Getting to know you, how you were a straight A student, how you wanted to become a veterinarian.

She knew that what she was feeling for you was wrong, it was wrong. Cause after all she had a boyfriend. A boyfriend she was planning to breakup with, but a boyfriend nevertheless.

"What are you staring at?"

The sudden presence of her mother had startled her. "Mom! What are you doin'? I was just-Enjoyin' the view?"

"Mama!" The blush on her cheeks had her own mother laughing at her.

"Can't blame you honey. Y/n is very handsome. Gotta say if I weren't married-Mother!"

"Aw I'm only joking. It's a shame you aren't single. You both would make such a cute couple."

Lorraine looked away from her mother to look back at you. You were handsome. You were breathtaking. She watched as you smiled at Dante. There was something about you, something that captivated her. She wanted nothing more than to spend time with you. To know you even more. And if she was own thing, it was persistent.

"Who's this church mouse. Hiding her all for yourself?"

You jumped up from your leaning down position when a hand touched your backside. Turning around to see an average height brunette. She leaned into your space as you stepped back you looked behind her to see Lorraine standing there with a scowl in her face.

"Leave her alone Max." Lorraine stepped away from her boyfriend to stand in the small space between you and Max. The way Maxine touched you had her feeling a sense of protectiveness. Especially with how uncomfortable you looked.

"Is that what you want sugar."

"Uh yea." You took a step away from Lorraine when she brushed her back side with your front. You had heard her let out a small gasp as she did. She had been so close to your front, you hoped she didn't feel anything. Afraid of what she might think.

"Okay than sugar. I'll be here when you change your mind."

You watched as she walked away, moving your gaze to a boy with glasses who had been glaring at you throughout the whole interaction.

"I'm RJ. Lorraine's boyfriend. Who are you?"

"Y/n." You couldn't help but to feel the disappointment. Of course someone like Lorraine wouldn't be single. You felt your shoulder slump just a bit. You didn't like the way this guy was trying to size you up. The way he was looking at you was giving you the creeps.

"Say sweetheart ever think of going into the movie business?"

"I'm not really an actress." You said as took off your gloves putting them in your back pocket. Facing the older man that had a cowboy hat.

"Oh we don't really do acting if you're catching my drift."

You furrowed your eyebrows confused. Not acting in a movie? What could he possibly-Oh. You felt your eyes widen.

"There we go. Now, if you're interested in making some extra cash. Give me a call." He winked after putting a small card in your chest pocket. Padding your shoulder as he walked away. You fingers took out the card. Your mom has been needing more money.

Lorraine had seen the whole thing as RJ spoke to her. But she hadn't heard a single word that had come out of his name. The bitterness, the jealousy, the protectiveness. She was feeling too much. Just the thought of one the girls touching in such way had her feeling in such way, a way she had never felt.

You never pictured yourself as someone to do...those type of movies. Not to mention the extra appendage you had hanging between your legs. It was something you never really talked about. If you did it, you wondered how much money you'd make.

"Are you considering it?"

The sweet southern voice had startled you. Turning your head to see your favorite brunette. You weren't really good at reading people but you weren't blind. You could see the frown that was on her beautiful face. Even though she was trying to hide it.

"I don't know. Maybe? My mama can use the extra cash." You shrugged looking back at the sunset. You had finished your work a while ago and were now just enjoying the sunset.

"If you're looking for extra cash, I can talk to my daddy-No, you don't have to do that." You refused to accept that. You didn't want them to think that you were using Lorraine for extra cash.

"Would you be comfortable with, doing that?"

You turned your head to look at Lorraine. The sun making her freckles stand out more. "Maybe? I don't know. Have you joined them?" You couldn't help but to ask.

"Me? No. RJ doesn't let me."

You furrowed your eyebrows at her. RJ did seem like a controlling type. "Oh, you should do what ever you set your mind to 'Raine." Cheeks hearing up at the slip of the nickname.

Lorraine also felt her cheeks heating up, no one calls her 'Ranie. She liked the nickname. More than what RJ calls her. He had settled on calling her Lori, which she hated. But Raine sounded so much better. Especially since it was coming from your lips.

"Come on Dante be nice. Make friends, who knows maybe you'll find yourself a girlfriend." It was another day and you had another horse on the other side of the fence. Princess. She was Lorraine's horse. You watched as Dante got closer to the female horse. Sniffing her, Princess was nice and calm letting Dante do as he pleased. He let out an excited neigh. You smiled when he didn't show the aggression he once had.

You sat on the fence as you watched Dante and Princess run back and forth.

"Well looks like they are getting along just fine." Ever since that day you had grown much closer to Lorraine. A lot closer than before. You both told each other everything. Well mostly everything. She now knows about your extra appendage. You had honestly been mortified when she asked. She had been sitting right in front of you while you both rode Dante. It had been truly mortifying. You couldn't keep your little friend down.

Lorraine on the other hand had never felt so hot and bothered. She didn't care about your...extra appendage. If anything she wanted to-, her whole body heated up at just the mere thought.

Part of you had felt like a weight had been lifted from your shoulders. Seeing that Lorraine didn't seem bothered by your difference.

Lorraine had never touched her self in such way that night. The only thoughts in her mind as she pleasured herself was you.

You smiled at the sound of your favorite voice. Seeing her dimpled smile as you looked down at her. She looked awful red, the heat of today must be really bothering today. She barely reached the top of the paddock fence. You chuckled as you got off the fence to stand beside her.

"Well hello to you to 'Raine." You tipped your hat, loving the blush on her cheeks. You loved how easy it was to fluster her.

Lorraine had loved the nickname you gave her. It was a name you only used. The warmness that spread in her heart had her almost swooning. "Hi Y/nn." She couldn't help the smile that made its way on to her face. The way you were looking down at her with your arms crossed. Your arm muscles bulging through your tight shirt. She was sure the blush on her cheeks had gotten bigger. She just hoped you couldn't tell.

"So how have you been. I heard you were going on trip with your boyfrie-we leave in two days and I'm not dating him anymore." She gladly accepted the side hug that you offered. Your warm body pressed on to hers. She leaned into your embrace. Feeling herself relax as you ran your fingers through her hair.

"I'm sorry to hear that 'Raine." You weren't. You had met RJ and even though he seemed nice at first. Once you got to know him more, he was a complete asshole. He talked down to Lorraine, spoke to her like her opinion didn't matter. You had wanted to punch his teeth in when he kept degrading her as a person. But a look from her had you biting your tongue.

"No you ain't. You hated RJ just as much as daddy did." She giggled, remembering how you would glare at RJ any time he would cut her off when she was talking.

You let out a small laugh, before letting Lorraine go so you could continue doing your job. Taking some hay from the truck to feed Dante and Princess.

"They want you to come, Wayne said he's been waiting for you to call, you know."

"I got to thinking about that and I don't know maybe I'll give it a try." Your eyes never leaving hers. A confidence you never felt before, flowing off you in waves it felt like.

Lorraine bit her lip to hide her smirk. "Maybe you should."

The confidence you felt before had all and vanished. Wayne had been excited when he heard you were tagging along. The vision he was seeing had apparently been upgraded. You were now gonna have a roll of the ranchers helper. One that would have a sex scene with one of the daughters. Which happened to be Lorraine.

Lorraine had asked to be in the movie. RJ had tried to fight it but no one listened to him. The look shared between you and Lorraine had been filled with so much. But yet no words came out. The cabin that Wayne had rented looked like something out of a horror movie. The elderly couple also gave you a creepy vibe.

"Okay, ladies. Are you ready? And don't worry about those old folk." Wayne said in excitement. They had already filmed some scenes, now you were being led into a room. Anxiety slowly making its way through your mind. You saw RJ holding the camera first. He refused look at you. You were nothing but a towel and your sports bra. Seeing as you would be naked, you had to tell Wayne and the others about your little friend. Surprisingly they had taken it well. Maxine making a joke about wanting to see it. A joke Lorraine didn't find funny.

Upon entering the room, you were left frozen on your feet. There near the bed was Lorraine getting her hair done by Maxine and Bobby. As much as you tried not to, you felt yourself harden. She was in just her panties and yellow bra. A sight you were now for sure to fantasize about.

"Wait! Before we begin none of you are virgins right?"

You and Lorraine both shook your heads.

With excitement Wayne led you to the bed and had you lay down on your back. Sitting up on your elbows as Lorraine crawled onto your lap. Your throat dried up at how sexy she looked. The way her steady hands gripped the towel. It had your heart racing.

In that moment it was just you and Lorraine. No one else.

Lorraine had never been left so satisfied but yet hungry for more. The way you had left her shaking, seeing stars, the stretch, the places you hit that she didn't even know of. The way you handled her, the way you had looked down her as you railed into her. She never she had never felt so sore, her lower region ached. But it was a type of ache that only one person could fix.

You.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" You had wanted to check on Lorraine the moment Bobby and Maxine helped her after the filming. You never knew you could feel so horny. Even after everything. You wanted more of Lorraine.

Lorraine felt her cheeks heat up, it was way past dark now but she couldn't sleep. "Yea I'm okay." She felt your warmth the second you sat next to her on the bed.

"I-" You both said at the same time, then laughed lightly. You didn't want things to be awkward.

"I like you. As more than a friend." Lorraine blurted out. She refused to look your way. Cursing herself for not keeping her mouth shut. Now she had foolishly thought that you felt the same just because of what happened earlier that day. Now she wanted nothing more than to di-your lips were on hers completely cutting her off. She felt herself lean into your body more, her own hands clutching your shirt to bring you closer to her.

"I like you to 'Raine." You whispered to her. Your lips only centimeters away from hers. You had never felt so happy like you did in that moment. Just before you could continue the door swung open.

"Sorry to interrupt you ladies but RJ is missing."

Splitting up from Lorraine had been an awful idea. You shouldn't have listen to Wayne. Cause this elderly people were fucking crazy. You never knew an old man could be so strong. You fought with that old bat as he had tried to beat you with what looked like a bat. He had gotten a few good hits in, including a knife wound to your thigh. He would have won if you hadn't gotten a thick tree branch and swung it. The branch had connected to the old man's temple rendering him unconscious.

You stumbled away. Trying to stop the bleeding on your thigh. You needed to find Lorraine. Praying to the lord above that she was okay.

Crossing the lake to only trip. Falling hard on to the dirt floor. You groaned in pain the wounds you had burning in pain from the sudden movement. You looked back to what you tripped over, your eyes widening in fear and grief. There was Jackson eyes wide open, no life in the eyes that once held so much.

Getting up was harder but yet you still did. The need to find Lorraine was stronger.

Getting to the cabin was closer now. You limped up the steps. Using the wall to study yourself, trying to be as quiet as possible. You needed to find your phone. Wayne had told you not bring it. Said something about disconnecting with the outside world. But you hadn't listened and snuck it into your bag. Calling the police, and hoping that Lorraine was in the cabin.

The phone call was quick. The dispatcher promising to send the police. But you knew it would be awhile before they arrived. The farm was in the middle of nowhere. The nearest town being almost an hour away.

Getting into the farm house was your next option to find Lorraine. Upon entering the house, the loud noise of the tv was the first thing you heard. But the more you tried to focus, the clearer you heard someone crying.

With no other option you followed the noise into the kitchen. Seeing a door with some blood on it along with a hole. The crying being much clearer now. "Lorraine?"

"Y/n? Oh thank god you're okay. Please get me outta here. These people are fucking crazy." Lorraine sobbed, she felt relief that you were still alive. But the fear she felt was still there and growing at the sight of your beat up face and body. The pain of her broken fingers making her whole arm hurt.

You moved quickly to unlock the door. Her body falling into yours. You held her making sure not to hurt her.

"We have to hide. The cops are on their way. Here let me see." You took off your shirt carefully wrapping Lorraine's injured hand. Apologizing when she cried in pain. "Come on."

You both froze in fear at the sound of what sounded like Maxine screaming followed by a loud gun shot. You were faster to react, taking a hold of Lorraine's uninjured hand and leading her up the stairs. The more you tried to find somewhere to hide. The more fear you felt like those crazy people would get to you and Lorraine. That's when you saw the door to the attic. You moved quickly to get the rope and pull it down. The ladder falling, making sure to catch it before it made a loud noise.

"Come on. Go." You made sure that Lorraine made up the ladder safely before following her. Getting the ladder back up and closing the door. Lorraine was right behind you her face buried into your shoulder as she tried her best not to make a sound. Her shoulders still shaking form trying to control her sobs.

You heard the old man murmuring to himself. "Damn gun. Damn kids. I'll show them. I'll show them."

At the sound of something hard hitting the floor. You looked down through the small cracks on the floor boards. Seeing that he had dropped the gun. Taking in that he no longer had any bullets.

"I'll find them. I'll find them."

Dread feeling your body when he looked up, it looked like he was looking right at you. "Found you." Gripping the rope to hold the door in place.

"Fuck, Lorraine find another way out." Your grip tightening when you heard the old man trying to pull on the rope that was on the other side. Hearing him hitting the other side with a hard object. You were not going to let this crazy bastard get any where near Lorraine.

"There's a window." Lorraine did not want to die on this farm. And she sure as hell did not want you to either. Ignoring the pain she used both hands to open the window. But it had been nailed shut. So she used the lamp to break the window. Moving faster when she was hearing you struggle to hold the rope.

"Go Lorraine. I'll be right behind you."

"No but I-Go!"

Once she was out you let go of the rope, running the best you could with your injured leg to the window. Lorraine helping you out the window with her good hand.

"We're going to have to jump. Look the bed of the truck has hay. Co-" Your sentence being cut off when a sharp pain came from your back. The blade going in and out, your limbs losing their strength far too quickly. Before being pushed off the roof. Faintly hearing Lorraine's scream. Then gun shots ringing out before your world faded into darkness.

Bright lights were the first thing you saw. Sound being muffled, the pain from before being numbed. You looked around to see your mom sitting by your side. At the sight of her you finally let yourself cry. Hearing you cry, your mom looked up. Her own eyes filling with tears.

"Oh my baby." She knew, she knew she shouldn't have let you gone when you had asked to go on that stupid trip. But she had seen how excited you were, you had finally found a good friend in Lorraine. And since Lorraine was going as well, she thought that everything would be okay. It was just a normal trip between friends. But good god had she been wrong.

"Where's Lorraine? Is she okay? Please tell me-She's okay sweetheart. Three broken fingers. But she's okay. She's been begging to see you." Your mother couldn't stop crying. She remembers the call. How the officers called her telling her how you had been stabbed and beat. How the people that owned that farm had tried to kill you and Lorraine. How that crazy old couple had succeeded in killing Lorraine's friends. Although they couldn't find the body of Bobby's.

"Take me to her please. I have to make sure she's okay."

Your mother nodded. Knowing very well that there was going to be no stopping you. "I'll tell Mr.Day that he could bring Lorraine in."

It wasn't long till the door to room was pushed open and Lorraine came in followed by her dad and mom.

Lorraine cried tears of joy and relief. Seeing you fall off that roof had been the worst feeling. Not knowing if you were dead. She remembers screaming. Before the sirens were heard. Along with shouting from the police and the old man. He had shouted and threatened to kill her. But the second he moved towards her he had been shot and killed. The crazy old lady as well.

Lorraine felt herself shake at the sight of your beat body under bright lights. Seeing you motioning for her to get closer. She wasn't one to deny you. Quickly getting to you and hugging you. Body melting in your embrace, careful not hurt your wounds. "Thank god your alright. I was so scared."

You moved your arms around her waist bringing her in closer to you. You looked towards Lorraine's parents. Who gave you a nod with a small smile before stepping out of the room followed by your mother.

Lorraine got comfortable on your bed. Loving the way your arms wrapped themselves around her. She thankful that you were alright. Her body being able to relax in your warmth. The steady heart beat lulling her into a deep.

#lorraine day #Lorraine day x Fem!reader #x movie #tara carpenter x reader #jenna ortega x fem!reader #x fem!reader #wednesday addams x reader

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arealphrooblem · 6 months

Text

A Lost Cause Part 2

Synopsis: The trusted keeper of all the Heroes' secrets, Civilian's existence is kept a tightly guarded secret itself. So how did the villain find her? And how will she withstand the attempts of his scientist to break her open and discover those secrets himself?

CW: nonconsensual drugging, medical whump, medical experimentation, needles/IV insertion, mentions wounds from torture, torture recovery, captivity

The anticipation of what might happen each time he walked into the room was almost worse than actual torture. His words ran on a loop in her head as she dozed in and out of deep sleep.

I am dying to create the tools that will break you open.

But each time he visited, he did nothing but check vitals, change bandages, survey her progress, feed her. Slowly she worked her way up from broth to solid food, from sleeping most of the day to sleeping at night, from needing a catheter to walking to the bathroom herself once the bottoms of her feet were healed (and that was not a fun day, no sir).

The scientist refused to answer her questions outright unless she offered up answers of her own. Each day they ended in a stalemate, which he seemed to find amusing.

He refused even his name. Eventually she just started calling him the doctor, because he treated her like one. Despite her captivity, despite the ominous warning Vanderbilt gave her in the interrogation room, despite her overwhelming vulnerability, he treated her with polite and patient professionalism.

She tried to give him the same courtesy. Whatever his future plans were, he had given her the space and time to heal back to full strength. She would make sure he regretted that. But first she had to look cooperative and weak.

A few days after shedding both the catheter and the bandages on her feet and thighs, the doctor strolled in not with his usual stethoscope, but with a clipboard and a pen.

Her gut did not like that.

“Your recovery is chugging along quite spectacularly,” he said, clicking the pen. “Which means we are almost ready to start the clinical trials. Of course, before I give you anything, I will need you to answer a few questions about your medical and family history.”

“Clinical trials for what?” she asked, feeling like she swallowed a stone.

“For my experiments, of course,” he said, as if it were obvious. “Why did you think I’ve been helping you recover? Pity? The goodness of my heart?”

“What experiments?” she demanded.

“Oh I have several in mind for you. But first, a few questions.”

“Sure, of course,” she said, deeply scathing. “Let’s make it easier for you to torture me. I’ll jump right on that.”

“You should, if you want greater chances of survival. I need to know your allergies, cancer risks, medications you’ve been on, previous surgeries, or else I could accidentally kill you. You’re a very special experiment. I’d rather not lose you so soon to such a preventable cause.”

It made her blood run cold, the casual way he voiced her probable death, as if he equated it with the disappointment of prematurely expired raspberries. An inconvenience, but there’s always more.

The worst part was that he had a point. What would be the purpose of her team rescuing her in a blaze of glory if she had died of anaphylactic shock?

So through gritted teeth, she answered all of his medically relevant questions. He wrote each down dutifully on his clipboard.

“And your name?” he asked finally.

She pursed her lips into a thin line and glared at him. He nodded.

“Not today, then. No worries. That will be the first thing you give me with the success of my first experiment.”

A knot formed in her stomach. “What’s the first experiment?” she couldn’t help but ask.

He smiled enigmatically. “You’ll find out when the time comes.”

She waited a few minutes after the door shut before she tip-toed to the window. The only thing she could see outside was a sheer cliff and water for miles. Probably the ocean, but she couldn’t open the window to tell. It was nailed shut.

Wherever she was, it looked far from civilization. Maybe that was why, after what had to be at least a month if not more, that her team hadn’t found her yet. They were city people. Superheros rarely had to venture into the rural countryside, let alone a place this remote.

Such reassurances did not cure the unease in the back of her mind that something didn’t add up.

Now that she had recovered, fatigue did not weigh her down so much and boredom began to creep in it’s place. The doctor offered her a handful of novels, mostly pulp scifi and dystopian literature. She read them and re-read them so often she could quote passages from each one. When the doctor finally appeared in her room with a small, rolling table of syringes and an IV needle, the jolt of adrenaline was almost euphoric in the face of the mind numbing monotony of her days.

“You seem eager for our first experiment,” the doctor said with a bemused quirk of his lips.

“Ecstatic,” she deadpanned, ignoring the jolt in her heart. “I can’t wait for you to kill me with whatever ungodly chemical is in that.”

He chuckled, pushing the cart next to her bed. “You’re right in that God has nothing to do with what I create. But it is not my goal to kill you — the opposite in fact. I try to limit risks as much as possible. There is only one you, after all.”

“Is that supposed to be reassuring?”

“Is it not?” It was almost comical how he blinked at her in innocent confusion.

She just glared at him in return, which he cheerfully ignored as he slipped the latex gloves on with a snap. He even hummed a little as he pulled open the packaging for the IV needle and the alcohol wipe.

Meanwhile her gut churned and frothed in horrible anticipation. She had gone through literal torture but this scared her more. When knives or brands or electric cattle prods came out, at least she knew what they did. No one knew what would happen as a result of this experiment, not even him. At least the goal of torture was to keep you alive as long as possible. These experiments could kill her. These could be her last living moments.

Fear tainted her every breath but just as she did in the face of her torturers, she refused to let it show on her face. Instead she stared resolutely out the window, at the glint of the water in the sunlight.

“Deep breath,” he murmured just before she felt the sharp pain of the IV needle.

Her gaze darted to him, drawn like a magnet to the sight of him tapping the air bubbles from the syringe. Nausea roiled inside her. She fought hard against the urge to rip the IV out before he could inject the serum. Instead, she could only watch in horrified resignation as it flowed through the IV drip.

“And now we wait,” he said, flashing her that polite smile, as if they were sitting in a doctor’s office.

He removed his dark tinted glasses and sat down at the love seat.

“We wait?” she cried. “Wait for what?”

The anticipation of the IV alone nearly drove her mad and now this?

He shrugged. “Ideally your mind should relax into an altered state where you forget you’re not supposed to keep your secrets and you tell me whatever information I desire. However, that didn’t work well back with Vanderbilt and I’m not expecting much success this time. I just want to see how you react to these sorts of chemicals.”

“So you’re just fucking around with my brain?”

“In a manner of speaking, I suppose.” He crossed his legs and tapped his thumbs on his knees, the picture of nonchalance. She never wanted to hit him so much.

“What if it does nothing? What if you failed?”

“Failure is just important data I didn’t have before. I’m not afraid of failure.”

You should be she thought bitterly.

But of course it wasn’t his life on the line.

When the effects hit her, it wasn’t nothing. All the muscles in her body locked up and spasmed. She could do nothing but writhe in the bed and scream. It felt worse than all her other torture combined.

By the time she finally blacked out, she couldn’t scream anymore.

#hero x villain #villain x civilian #whump #whump writing #medical whump #my writing #a lost cause #this is pretty dark for me

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komitomi · 1 year

Text

Fateful Encounter. // Prologue.

Neteyam × F!reader

based on this idea || chapter i || chapter ii || chapter iii || chapter iv || chapter v

Synopsis: You and few others humans were sent on a mission to find Jake sully and get his help, and possibly resolve the issues between navi and the humans, which were caused by the unethical procedures of the RDA. Will you be successful?

A/N: neteyam has won the poll so he will be chosen as the main lead, this will be a "x reader" fanfic, kinda follows avatar 1 plotline except it's reader and neteyam instead of jake and neytiri, RDA is obvs the villain, idk how many chapters this story will have but it's gonna be a ride for sure, so buckle up peeps!

After the first great war between the Na'vi and the Humans, conflicts rose back on Earth as the unethical procedures issued by RDA on Pandora got leaked to the public eye.

There were many protests, petitions signed to stop RDA's project, humans sympathizing with the Na'vi, they didn't want the same fate as Earth and Humans occur to Pandora and it's living beings.

This led to a new organization being formed, now competing with RDA, called Space and Earth Resources Organization, SERO for short, they had the same idea as RDA but much less violence and battle equipment involved.

Y/n was the daughter of the scientist who worked in SERO, her avatar body was in progress, as the organization decided she and few others will be sent out to Pandora, they all will be sent to separate locations to look for jake sully.

Ever since she was young she had always dreamt of being a scientist, her curiosity to learn and obtain knowledge was one of the main driving reasons, but on a unfortunate night, her mom was killed in a gang encounter, they were unable to defend themselves having no fighting skill or a gun, after that she started training, she wasn't officially a soldier but trained just like them, she had both decent battle skills and knowledge which is what made SERO become interested in her.

Obviously she isn't perfect since she was only 18, but she was able to stand out, showing mediocre but consistent results.

As technology further advanced back on Earth, SERO accidentally figured out a way to travel faster to Pandora, it used to take 5 years, but now it only takes 3, due to the flaws of RDA's operation in the past, when SERO first sent out the very first batch of scientists they implemented a information system, where any information can travel faster through a communication device, it takes 2 - 3 days, but that's still better than 3 years of delayed information.

Their main goal was to reestablish good relations between the Humans and the Na'vi, while also simultaneously contributing to Earth, SERO has managed to bring back few of the extinct flora and fauna from DNA cloning, which resulted in positive reactions from both the Humans and Government.

This all led to the moment now, you said your goodbyes to your family, your dad and your siblings, giving them a hug, “I'll miss you, child.” your dad says while giving you a headpat and you pout “Dad! I'm not a child anymore.” you say, he smiles at you before reaching for something in his bag.

He pulls out a medium size box before handing it to you, you open it and gasp, it was filled with few polaroid photos of your family and a necklace of your mom.

“I know you'll miss us too even if you don't say it, so we decided to send you a few things that will remind you of us.” he says and you smile, tears filling your eyes and your dad looks at you with a soft smile before pulling you in for a hug.

“Thank you dad.” you say while sniffing and crying onto his shoulders, your siblings also start crying and you all have a nice family hug before you had to say your final goodbye for now.

“Goodbye everyone, I'll keep you updated through the communication device.” you say the last part to your dad who nods at you.

You look back once again before boarding onto the spaceship, “miss, come this way” you heard a a voice say, you follow them, leading you into a room where you see bunch of other humans, you go up to them and introduce yourself, they do the same.

3 years later

you had finally arrived to pandora after 3 whole years, your spaceship landed in a beautiful spot, it was so vibrant and filled with various plants, SERO decided to build around the flora on pandora rather than destroying it, which led to this vibrant and peaceful looking place, you put on your oxygen mask before stepping down from the spaceship and taking in the beauty of the planet.

“yo! welcome.” you and your group were greeted by this friendly lady with a smile, she looked like she was in her 30s, you greet her back with a smile too.

“come ill take you guys to the scientist camp, its not far from here but it is quite the trek.” she says brightly and you guys nod before following her, you gasp as you notice creatures of pandora flying over the area, they were so mystical, “btw i never told you my name, its Aria, Aria stone.” the lady says and you smile at her “nice to meet you miss stone.” you tell her.

“the animals here seem comfortable with flying over this area.” you point out which makes Aria look over to you “you noticed huh? we tried our best to build around the flora and not destroy the homes of many creatures living here, it was difficult at first but we figured it out and the animals dont mind us existing here, rather, it seems they actually like us but we cant get too cocky now.” she says with a wink which makes you chuckle.

you guys finally reach the scientist camp, you guys go inside and remove your oxygen masks as the air inside is machine based and pumps oxygen needed for humans, as you guys go further inside you notice a bunch of avatars sleeping with masks as few humans scurry around them.

“those are your vessels.” Aria says noticing you studying them, you look at her and give her a nod “they we're originally stored in liquid to preserve their body but since you guys are here, we bought them out, soooo are you guys ready?” she asks and you all say yes in unison, “perfect, but let's go freshen up first” she says and you guys scurry off to freshen up and come back in a few minutes, bodies more relaxed than before and faces glowing brighter, she then leads you guys to the room full of link units.

“this is where you'll be connecting with your avatar, you'll be training a bit in your avatar body, learning to hunt and survive how the na'vi people do, but based on the locations you're sent to, things will vary, but these are the basics” Aria finishes and leads everyone to their respective link unit, you lay down, excited for what to come, she closes the top and you close your eyes.

Your mind goes blank as you enter into a different world, visions of tree roots and everything passing by before you open your eyes in your avatar.

“hello? can you hear me?” you are questioned as soon as they saw you open your eyes, and you nod, getting up slowly, moving your hands and legs, wiggling your fingers and toes. “Motor control looks perfect, can you stand up?” they ask and you nod before following what they said, as soon as you stand up you notice how tiny they are next to you, you take some time to balance yourself and adjust to your new body.

“are you able to walk?” they ask and you try doing so, it takes a couple of steps before you can get used to the body and start walking normally, “everything looks perfect miss stone.” they talk into the communication device.

You are examining your body, you noticed that your senses have heightened than your normal human body, you're able to see, feel and hear better, “alright miss, everything looks perfect, you can change before going outside.” they say and hand you over human like clothes that were made to fit the Na'vi body.

You quickly remove the patient typa gown before getting in your normal clothes making your way to the exit, you open the door and close it before stepping outside to a beautiful garden with crops and a volleyball court made from tree branches and roots.

You breathe in the fresh air on Pandora, feeling euphoric, oxygen on earth isn't that great, you can't go outside without a mask sometimes due to the heavy pollution but here, the air is so fresh.

You go further into the garden and run around, feeling excited, the rest of your avatar peers are in their own world too, taking in Pandora's air and beauty, wishing earth could be like this too.

“Alright everyone! gather up here.” you hear a familiar voice say and you turn the direction where it's coming from, it's Miss stone, in her avatar form, her avatar form is just as beautiful as her, you quickly join the crowd who are gathering up in front of her.

She clears are throat before proceeding.

“I think we're all aware of what mission we're here for, is to fix the relations between the Humans and the Na'vi, and coming to an agreement with them, we have already managed to convince few of the clans taking help from the humans who were allowed to stay here, who partnered with us to this cause, but the main issue at hand is RDA.”

“I'm sure everyone is aware that RDA doesn't have good intentions anymore, they used to, they are trying to find a man named jake sully through a seperate mission and god knows what will happen if they do but before they find him, we need to find him first and ask his help, RDA is continuously destroying the neutral stance other clans have of Humans and robbing this planet, our mission is to prevent that.” she continues on with a serious face.

“For that, we will need to train first, learn to hunt and live the Na'vi way, I'm sure you guys have learnt the language in the past 3 years, but if you didn't fully grasp it you can still do it now, and after that you will be sent out to find Jake sully, RDA still doesn't seem to have successfully found him, he apparently left the original clan, and we have to find him first and fast, our team have been trying their best to distract them from their mission and it's working, you will be training for 3 months before being sent out, individually or just 2 people.” she says, the last sentence makes the other gasps

“That's too dangerous! It's better to go in groups.” one of the people say and Aria sighs “I know it is, but sending in groups will cause panic and confusion, other clans do not know that we exist and might confuse us for RDA and attack us, which we don't want to happen, and we have to be as less threatening as possible, if we go in groups then it's like walking right into the fire.” she says while looking down, the avatars are still not okay with this but everyone can understand what Aria means.

Silence falls as everyone is looking down before y/n speaks out “i'm ready.” she says making everyone look at her in shock but after seeing her serious face, everyone suddenly gets the motivation and encouraged by the aura, they all look up to Aria and say “We are too.” with pride lacing in their voice.

Aria gives a bright smile before nodding her head in acknowledgement.

“Let the training commence.”

#avatar #x reader #avatar 2 #avatar: twow #neteyam sully #neteyam #neteyam x reader #neteyam x you #neteyam fluff #neteyam smut #avatar fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #prologue #more to come soon #avatar smut #avatar x you #avatar x reader

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musicoftheheart · 2 months

Text

as promised, i present: “missed connections”

im still quite ill and my voice absolutely died by the second verse so the high notes sound awful, but i didnt want to make you guys wait any longer (im also not looking for criticism so id appreciate noone pointing out any flaws—its still a work in progress. and a reminder my pronouns are they/he/she :) )

i plan to wait until im properly rested and recovered before i send the song to her, but when i do you guys will be the first to know!

lyrics and context below the break

lyrics:

weve had a thousand missed connections but i still made it through to you

in other worlds we met before but no such luck for you—

and i, weve only just had our beginning

but im hoping that our end is years to come

both born part raised in england, both moved up here at just three

go to the same school but ill join six months after you leave

we share friends, but we're never introduced

so our lives two lines remain apart, side by side but never cross

we'll carry on without each other's heart

weve had a thousand missed connections but i still made it through to you

in other worlds we met before but no such luck for you—

and i, weve only just had our beginning

but im hoping that our end is years to come

now weve both moved onto high school but weve still missed one another

you almost joined me in our last years but one thing led to another

and you, you moved away to the big city

while i stayed here all alone

chasing loves who never loved me

not realising that ive yet to meet the one

weve had a thousand missed connections but ive still made it through to you

in other worlds we met before but no such luck for you—

and i, weve only just had our beginning

but im hoping that our end is years to come

i was an arrogant ass

you were loud and bold but hiding

somewhere along the way we changed

and suddenly we're minding—

our own business, when one day we met the one

now im sitting in my bedroom, writing down this song

weve had a thousand missed connections but i still made it through to you

in other worlds we met before but no such luck for you—

and i, weve only just had our beginning

but im hoping that our end is years to come

yeah im hoping that our end is years to come

background:

so, as the song says, throughout our lives weve had a bunch of 'missed connections', where we were a hair's breadth from meeting but just missed each other.

we were both born in england and moved to the same area of scotland at the same age, but i attended a different school at first. by the time i moved to the other school, she had just left six months before.

despite that, we shared a lot of the same friends, moreso as we got older but still a few when we were young. our friends mentioned us in passing to each other but not very often.

in high school, i had to transfer again because the school i went to didnt have the final two yeargroups, and she went through the same thing. it was planned that she and i would attend the same school, but there were some issues between her and a few other students that meant she had to go elsewhere.

now, we've both left school and ended up meeting online. we got talking and realised just how much in common we had (both took drama for only one year, in the same year [so if we'd have gone to the same high school, we wouldve definitely, no doubt about it, interacted through class], both enjoyed the same hobbies, had similar music taste etc) and then realised how many times we almost met.

then i went and had a crush, got overly attached, and wrote a song :)

#original music #music #songwriting #songwriter #singer songwriter #me singing #singer #guitar #queer community #queer love #lgbtqia

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icarus-star · 10 months

Note

lovee your writing, it's so good! i have a requestt :3 maybe a charlie post where he finally gets the chance to fuck you after several days of not having time, and he's just so desperate and pent up for u :(. things like "i've been waiting for this all fucking week," and "i need you so bad right now," idkidk! its okay if you don't wanna do this one, just thought it would be so so fun :)

impatience | charlie walker <3

a/n: i don't think i can explain how much i absolutely ADORE this idea!! it just sounds so 😍 and thank you sm for the compliment!! ive been reading some of the things you've written too and omg 😫 love themmm

18+ content ahead, pure and absolute filth!!please don't read unless your comfortable with that!!

alright, i think the situation would start with the both of you being pretty busy with school stuff or whatever and not have much time to hangout or anything

then, friday had come and you two could finally hangout and spend the night together

so taking this opportunity, it's one of the rare moments when charlie will actually make the first move!! :3

you two might just be sitting on his bed, chatting or watching a movie like you always would

he'd give you a hug, his arms wrapped nice and tightly around your waist as he leaves some soft kisses on your neck whilst whispering to you quietly

"i've missed you so much lately.."

he'd say that, leaving a small bite on your neck

and of course, it would only progress from there

soon enough, he'd have you in missionary with his cock buried deep inside of your cunt as he's whining so loud and thrusting into you <3

"ah- fuck.. it's been too long-!! i've been waiting the entire- ohh~! fucking week for this.."

he'd whimper out between kisses as you'd be tugging gently at the hair on the back of his head

the way he fucks you when you two haven't had sex in awhile is SO different from usual

okay, maybe not SO different but he's a lot rougher

but that's only because he loves you so much!! ^_^

plus, he's also a bit louder than usual because the past few nights you hadn't been together, he's only had his hand to play with himself :(

but finally being able to feel his cock in your wet and warm pussy again is just so heavenly for him that he loses all of his self control, more so than usual

he'd also have you wrap your legs around his waist as he fucks you

and you two would be making out the whole time too, biting each others lips and such

oh! and!! he'd leave plenty of hickeys all over your neck and collarbone :3

of course, at the end he couldn't help but cum inside of you as you both end up so fucked out together

while he cums, he'll probably say something about how much he's missed fucking you

"ah~! fuckfuckfuck!! 's been so long-! ah.. too long..~"

he's just so glad to fuck you again <3

a/n: mwahaha i hope you enjoyed, because i had a little too much fun writing this one 🤭

#i ❤ rory culkin #rory culkin #rory culkin x reader #charlie walker #scream 4 #rory culkin smut #charlie walker headcanons #charlie walker smut #charlie walker x reader #scre4m

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ponett · 4 months

Note

First New Years Eve anon here! I finished SLARPG after playing it any chance I could get. Literally everything I said held true or got better as the game went on. What a solid game, I felt the love in every moment.

Partway through, I got to wondering what it's like to finish a years-long project. I'm in the process of something like that, and I can't imagine life after The End, so your anniversary reflections post caught my eye. It felt like a future me had written it in a startling amount of ways. (Marketing is so hard ;_;)

A part that really stuck with me is how you described the story growing along with you. There were a few parts toward the beginning that felt distinctly mid-2010s (not in a bad way), but the narrative felt so cohesive that I would've assumed it was planned to the letter. As someone in a similar position, it's comforting to know there was some wiggle room. There's so much more I could say, but maybe not right now.

Wishing you your version of success!

thank you!

making sure the story felt cohesive was definitely tricky since the game was in development for so long. i mean, i knew the broad strokes of the story from the start, including the fact that it would get more serious as it progressed. That Sequence at the end of act ii was planned as a pivotal moment in the game since, like, 2015. but a lot of the back half of the game was only written after the demo was released in 2018, and my creative priorities shifted a lot in that time. so it took some work to make everything line up

i was still tweaking individual lines of dialogue in the script like, days before launch - particularly stuff earlier in the game that i was no longer quite as happy with, just to make sure everything fit together well enough and that things didn't come off as too dated. there are still a few jokes in act i where i'm like "ehh, that isn't as funny as i thought it was in 2016." but what can you do? that's just the linear progression of time for you

actually, if anything, before release i was worried that people would be put off by the darker and more dramatic elements of the game after i'd originally pitched it as being so goofy and lighthearted and cute. i had to fight the urge to insert more jokes into act iv out of a fear that people would get bored if the game stopped being funny, and i worried that people who had already grown attached to the characters through the demo and other preview material would get mad at me if i put melody and friends through the wringer. but thankfully people have responded really well to the more dramatic stuff, and the arc of the game as a whole, like i hoped they would

i'm extremely happy with how slarpg turned out overall, but if i was to write the story today, at age 30, i'm sure a lot of the writing would have turned out different. which is why the new thing i've been kicking around ideas for will probably be more mature and dramatic from the start. but we'll see

#anon #ask #slarpg asks

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chimkin-samich · 2 months

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Hi!

I have had a block for both writing and drawing for several years. I look at your works with longing in my eyes and think how wonderful it would be to draw regularly again. I was never particularly talented and had many gaps in learning to draw, but I enjoyed it. Now I don't know how to start drawing or writing. My laptop is full of unfinished stories. I have lots of ideas for drawings, but it's hard for me to get down to work.

Therefore, my question is: Do you have any advice for people who haven't drawn/written for several years and would really like to get back to it, but can't motivate themselves, have no ideas, etc.? Or quite the opposite. They have lots of ideas, but for some reason they can't draw anything?

Greetings and have a nice morning/day/evening/night!

Hello! Sorry it took so long to respond, I wanted to make sure I could respond properly to this so I thought it over a lot, I’m going to put it under a read more cuz it’s gonna get long lol

I (sly) am kinda in the same position as you at least when it comes more to art, writing ive kinda cracked the block but still trying to break through the ice, all the art on our blog is Ferals art, I only complete the line work and shading (but not always) I haven’t drawn any of my own stuff in probably a few years but I’m trying to get back into it cuz I miss it as well, I completely get the whole feeling of looking at Feral’s art and wanting to create my own but finding it so difficult to do

For the art aspect my plan is to start at square 1, start how I first starting drawing, which for me was to look up refs, animals and draw them by sight, just to get back into the groove of trying to bring back that muscle memory, maybe you started by tracing images, you could trace only the rough outlines and then shade and detail them, just something simply and easy, you probably won’t be happy with the results (I know I certainly won’t be with my own) but it’s a start

Look up things that you enjoy, draw your squad, incorrect quotes to do with ocs maybe even draw them out, try and keep it simple, you don’t need to create a masterpiece on the first day back, any attempt is a step forward even if you dislike it, try it out at least once a day everyday, a simple doodle just for fun or to exercise your muscle memory again, the first part is gonna be hard and messy, that’s totally ok! All that matters is the attempt!

For the writing aspect try and keep it simple as well, focus on making short one-shots or even just bullet point dialogues, your old unfinished writing isn’t going anywhere, when you feel comfortable enough to attempt to continue it just go for it!

I had a big gap in my writing periods and sometimes I still go a few months with out touching any of my stories, blocks happen and are normal, something that I try to get back into is read other people’s work, both to see the writing style and to get some inspiration to continue my own works

When I actually get down to actually writing my story I just dump down the story as I think it, I just keep writing even if it looks messy and grammatically incorrect to at least get the story moving and progressing. After I have the rough story down, is when I go back to correct spelling mistakes, add more details/dialogues or events in between to create a much better flow for the story

I usually do this multiple times for each fic I create, usually in between pauses (either due to blanking on ideas or just cuz I wasn’t feeling it) so whenever I reopen my doc, I just reread and add on, then I do it again one or two more times once it’s completed

I struggle a lot with perfectionism when it comes to my art and writing, and unfortunately it’s a big killer for my motivation, especially when I see others that make better works than me. I’ve been slowly unlearning that urge to make everything perfect, by just allowing myself to have messy and rough works, it’s not always going to come out how I want it but at least I got it as close as I could in the moment with my current skill level

I like to tell myself, the more I keep doing it, the more I’ll improve, and I’ll always be able to come back with more ideas and skill to remake this better than my first attempts, just because I did it doesn’t mean I can’t try to do it again

Being easier on yourself does wonders (I know easier said than done unfortunately 😭) but your practically having to relearn skills that have gotten rusty, even if you were doing great before, your gonna have to build back up to that point, it’s just like exercising a muscle ✨

I hope this was able to help! I wish you much luck in your journey back into art and writing!

#mods speaketh #mod sly

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gctchell · 14 days

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#red is the og. the VIP#one of the safest people I've ever met#spectacular writing and I've the privilege of being able to see the incredible progression#from the day we met to present day.#it's a while! and writing like hers is unforgettable. her Lilith and Niffty are delights#and she's taken what I liked about those two and intensified my love for them#only red can pile on reasons for me to love characters especially ones she takes on#an excitable writer and one of the best people u can meet. even if we're in hell.#and her improv???? I know I can count on her to roll with the punches. -- @jizzlords

#ive known red for some time even WAAAY before HH and they’re a wonderful person#great to communicate with and very loving and kind and open minded#wonderful writer to boot on top of all of that -- @therealricksanchezpleasestandup

i just signed on to the sweetest tags from some of the oldest mutuals i've had across my accounts. what the hell, yall. my darlings..

@jizzlords is wearing ozzie's skin. I mean that in the most complimentary way ever, because hel just pulls that man off with such ease it's like they're sharing the same body and he's just conducting the keyboard, taking down his autobiography online. the voice is crystal clear, you can hear iglehart in everything hel writes - down to the laughter.

hel loves this man and it is clear to see. the love for that muse is in there and the justice is being delivered right to the key. absolutely astounding portrayal, and hel even dives into ozzie being a fallen angel, and still having trauma from all that mess. hel gives him flaws, gives him green flags, brings him to life and makes him the icon of desire that he needs to be. I'm not surprised, though - hel's always knocked it clean out of the park when it comes to glamorous and iconic characters, bc hel is iconic. and just all-together so much fun to hang out with.

also, pssst: hel's writing is absolutely flipping beautiful. I've been lucky to be traveling alongside him for a long time now and watch it bounce from the characters he loves so dearly to the next. he's just gotten better, and he was already great.

@therealricksanchezpleasestandup is rick sanchez. I am not kidding lmao. you go onto that blog and it reads like rick. I've been a mutual of steffu's for.. god, a good few years, now? not even including the time on this account? and I have just watched her kick absolute ASS with this man. it's just like asmodeus and hel, it's another case of 'I think that man just lives in your skin and you're writing everything he tells you to', because damn. excellent portrayal, excellent handling, excellent managing of this man and his emotions, and just how messed up he is.

yeah, rick is a mess and steffu knows exactly how to write that while also making it so abundantly clear why and how it is that he has so many amicable relationships all over the multiverse. man knows how to juggle his personality traits and get those connections, find companionship in others that his family doesn't quite get to see that often - outside of morty. I always thought that was a pretty damn cool thing for her to cover.

because he's a universe jumper, it makes all the sense in the world that he has connects to others down here in hell. easy character to plug in with if you like rick and morty and want a rick to interact with. steffu has the man on lock, I am telling you.

#(( JESUS THAT WAS SUCH A SWEET WAKE-UP CALL.... i love you both. you're sweet as hell. thank you. ))#jizzlords #therealricksanchezpleasestandup #[ ooc. ]#[ saves. ]#long post

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n7punk · 7 months

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i know i've kind of talked around this stuff for... fuck, three years now? but idk, now it's getting closer to "resolving," i kind of want to talk about it. journal, get it off my chest, idk

i haven't really been specific about my health issues much because 1) privacy and 2) very complicated feelings on it, but feelings are becoming less complicated, so... yeah. privacy is still really important to me, but i have too many feelings about this to keep feeling like i'm silencing myself for some hypothetical... i dont even know what

tbf, if it had turned out to be anything else, i probably wouldn't be comfortable even making a vent post about it now. but it turned out to be. annoyingly simple. i've also got other stuff, physical disabilities and such i've been more candid about but still want to keep the specifics of private, but this is... very different.

long story short, during the pandemic i started experiencing Symptoms. i'm honestly not sure if/how much i have talked about what was wrong with me, because i don't remember... entire years, much at all. i know ive described it as my brain being on fire, but it's more like it instantly melted down and i was left with the aftermath for hours/days/weeks at a time. it really fucked with me emotionally to be fighting through that on top of the direct effects of the Symptoms. and, well, the problem was my brain (probably) so that tracks.

it turns out it was migraines. migraines that shared many symptoms with seizures, brain tumors, or pressure on the brain stem, but yeah. "just" "migraines." and, actually, we don't know that! but migraine medication is helping, so it's probably that and this is where i am, finally waking up these last few months (this summer of updates could Not have happened if it weren't for my new medication) and feeling both very frustrated with what i lost and relieved to not always have to deal with suddenly being unable to understand a sentence anymore.

it's not like. fixed. my brain is still going to burn sometimes. It seems to come in waves, like two bad weeks and then two good ones. we're not done trying to treat it now we know some stuff it's responsive to, but its not like it used to be, wildfires raging all day and my head wavering on my shoulders as i struggled just to read messages from my friends. i literally had an emote i would use to communicate when i couldn't communicate that everybody who knows me understands. i haven't even twitched since starting my new meds! well, like, uncontrollably. trust me, that's progress. i literally had to get a bigger bed so i could be safe in the middle of it when the fits were especially bad and i got twitchy.

uh so that was more story than i planned. really i just wanted to finally talk about what i've been experiencing (at least for the first time that i remember). honestly writing was the only thing that kept me sane while i was trapped inside my own malfunctioning brain. i don't know why it was one of the easiest things for me, when i couldn't even understand a full two sentences being said to me i could still - usually - write (again: i literally couldn't talk for like three of the days when i was writing and updating catcher daily), but i'm so grateful for it. and everybody who told me my stories helped you, or that you looked forward to them, or even just that you enjoyed them: you helped me right back, because you told me there was one thing i could still do, from a capability standpoint to having the ability to make any impact on the world when i was trapped at home. so thank you.

okay i'm done now. just. had to get that out

#i dont like being negative and im very much one of those bare your own shit people because i dont want to bother anyone #and have been living on a razor edge where i certainly couldnt help anyone else with their weight #but like. we're getting towards the victory stage (as close to one as these kinds of things have) so im ready to finally say how bad it was #ive wanted to talk about it a lot but something was always stopping me #(partly some vague but panicked ''what if'' related to sharing too much)#im tired of being held back and choosing to hold back. i want to move on. as much as my body will let me #mylife

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etherealspacejelly · 5 months

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you quit your software engineering job to pursue environmental science?? do tell!

(i have a software engineering job. it makes me sad.)

so when i was like. 10. i had this teacher who taught us basic scratch programming. and i was like. freakishly good at it. i picked it up super quickly and was even helping the other students to fix their problems. and so he said to me "you know, you could be a great computer programmer one day" and i was like. yeah! i could!

so throughout highschool my One and Only goal was to become a software engineer. every time i went to the career counsellor thats what i said. so i did computer science at gcse, and got a 9, and i did computer science at a level and got an A*. (i did other subjects too of course. but those were the ones i was focussed on)

then i finished my a levels and i went straight into looking for an apprenticeship. no one was really interested in me because i didnt have any experience or a degree. so then my dad got me an internship with some guys he knew at a company that worked in his building, and i managed to build up some actual industry skills. then i got an apprenticeship! it paid super well and the team was great and it was work from home.

and i hated it.

i was just sitting in my room at my dads house 9-5 mon-fri writing code all by myself. it was lonely and boring and i didnt really know what i was doing. it was supposed to be an apprenticeship but it just felt like a job. they didnt teach me how to do anything they just said "do this and come to me if you run into a problem". half the time they didnt even give me any work to do for days at a time so i was just watching youtube or scrolling on tiktok. which sounds great but it wasnt because i felt guilty the whole time and was terrified of being found out and fired, even tho it wasnt my fault? they literally werent giving me work to do?

anyway. a few months into it i was like man Fuck this. im going to university. so i started looking at courses. it actually started with astrophysics, but since i didnt take a science at a level i didnt have the requirements for that. then i found environmental science! it was all the stuff im passionate about: climate change, conservation, natural processes and earth science. so i worked on my application letter and applied, and i got in!

so i went to my boss and was like hey. im putting in my notice. i got into university. and they were like "oh noooo we're so sad to see you go :( you were doing so well and we were so pleased with your work and your progress :(" (and i was like. huh?? i literally didnt fucking do anything. but oh well.)

so i worked until the end of my 6 week notice and then i handed my stuff back in and left. i had a bit of a summer vacation and then started uni! and ive been here for just over a year now :)

its honestly so much better. i have so many new friends, i got to move out of my mums house, im in full control of my life.

so take this as your reminder that its never too late! you can always change your path.

you are in control.

#inbox #ask #inbox open #life advice #software engineering #environmental science #university #career change

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glimmervoi · 3 months

Text

A SEALED FATE: EMERALDS AND BLOOD - IV Keys and a Strange Feeling

masterlist

e&b masterlist

Notes: I was really struggling with this chapter and I dont know why lol. I'm not satisfied, and it's much shorter than I wanted it to be. But I couldnt stare at the draft anymore, so i went ahead and decided to post.

I hope that it's not as bad as i think it is lmao, please enjoy!

With only two days left before the winter ball, the castle was packed with caterers and early guests, filling the halls and every room with at least three people at a time, at all times.

It was quite overwhelming for you, especially when you were in a large group of servants who jostled and shoved you as they tried to move quickly beside you in each room.

Ever since you had encountered Prince Namjoon, who had asked you for a tea that you had never heard of, Rae had decided to keep you close to her to avoid any other interactions that could get you in trouble.

You were lucky that another maid had rushed to her as soon as Namjoon had entered the room with his brother. The redheaded maid had stopped you from choosing the wrong tea and a teapot that was only used for special occasions.

Unfortunately, being stuck to Rae’s side also meant being where it was most busy in the castle. Today, it was the ballroom. The large space was packed with caterers and servants, just like any other part of the castle.

The decor was coming along nicely, and every now and then you found yourself stopping to admire it. Many heavy, dark oak tables were brought in and pushed around the room, along with sturdy dining chairs with plush, dark blue cushions made of a smooth velvety fabric.

Deep blue curtains with a shining silver pattern were being lifted above the large arched windows, and beyond the windows were spacious balconies decorated with beautiful winter flowers that thrived in the freezing cold.

Silver lanterns were being hung everywhere, and pine garland dusted with white were draped across every surface. If you had been given the same set of decorations, you would have created an eyesore. A pile of blue and white and silver that made the viewer turn away in disappointment.

Yet, the head caterer in the center of the room who bossed everyone around loudly knew exactly where to place everything. She knew exactly how to avoid creating a cluttered space while also placing a large amount of items together.

The ballroom was nowhere close to being finished, with many other crates full of items that needed to be placed out. But the room still looked beautiful and grande as it was slowly put together.

The sound of a throat being cleared behind you jolted you from your admiration of the progress of the ballroom, and you turned quickly. Behind you stood Rae, whose hands were on her hips.

Her face didn’t show any true irritation, even though there was a frown on her lips. Your slacking could get her in trouble if the wrong person saw it and reported it. She was patient with you, so the least you could do was try to stay productive.

“The centerpieces still need to be set out.” Rae said, nodding her head towards a crate that was overflowing with small metal objects. Were those…keys? “If you could please take care of that, then afterwards you may take a short break for lunch with the others.”

You nodded and hurried over to the crate, peeking inside. The contents were, in fact, keys. Many of them, in different shapes and sizes, made from different kinds of metals. There seemed to be a few that matched each other, too.

Next to the crate of keys was a smaller crate full of glass jars that were painted white. You tilted your head as you examined them, wondering how you were supposed to arrange them. You stood straight and looked around for Rae again in order to ask.

“Looking for some help?” A smooth voice asked from the other side of the crate. You whipped your head around, startled by the sudden voice. In front of you stood a tall man with a beautiful face. For a moment, you couldn’t speak.

His golden skin glowed like he was the sun himself, and his brown eyes were full of warmth. His dark brown hair was a bit messy but was healthy and shiny. Underneath his plain, billowing cream colored shirt and tightly fitting leather pants, you could tell his lean body was also toned. He looked strong, yet graceful.

His clothes looked worn down though, and his old leather riding boots indicated he worked with horses. Was this one of the stableboys? And if so, why was he in the ballroom when there were still guests arriving who needed their horses looked after?

He flashed you a heart shaped smile, and you felt your cheeks grow red. You looked away and nervously laughed, embarrassed by how stupid you might have just looked to him. The energy that surrounded him was almost electrifying, but not in a bad way.

It almost made you giddy, like you could run around the entire ballroom a few times and still feel full of energy afterwards. You swallowed the feeling though.

It didn't matter how he made you feel or what his job here was. He was offering to help. You had no idea how to arrange the centerpieces and you didn’t want to risk getting Rae yelled at for your incompetence.

“I’m just a bit unsure of how to arrange these.” You said quietly to the stranger, fixing your gaze anywhere but his face. “It’s my first ball at the castle, so I’m still trying to understand how things are done.”

“I can help with that.” He said, bending to lift a handful of keys. “These get arranged the same every single year. Please grab a few jars for me.”

You obeyed and lifted two jars from the small crate, following him as he made his way to a table close by. He gestured for you to set the jar down. You placed it in the center of the table, watching as he slid six keys into it.

He pulled away, and you waited expectantly for him to add something else. A plain jar with some keys in it didn’t seem very…grande? Amazing? On par with everything else in the castle?

Sensing your expectancy, the man nodded to the caterers across the room who were busy with other tasks. “They will finish these off with flowers and candles. All you need to do is place the jars and keys.”

“What is the point of the mismatched keys?” You asked, tilting your head slightly. Everything was arranged to perfection in the room. It felt a bit odd to stray from that with such an insignificant thing such as keys.

“It’s for a game that the guests play each winter.” The man explained, holding a small brass key out to you in his large hand. It had three small rubies encrusted into it. A key like that could make everyone in Greenridge rich enough to thrive in the city if it was sold.

You shoved away the thought though. It would be foolish to even daydream about that. Stealing it to sell would be extremely foolish, and it would surely result in a very unenjoyable fate for yourself.

“Each guest pulls a key from the jar.” The man said, closing his fingers around the key. “And then they look for the person who has the same key. There are two of each key. Whoever you match with becomes your partner for the night.”

A matching game? It seemed fun, though more so for guests who were not engaged or married. You asked the man who’s name you still had not learned what married couples did with their keys.

“Even married guests play the game.” He said, moving to the next table. You followed, placing a jar in the center of the table again. “You don’t necessarily have to sleep with the person you match with.”

You blushed at his words, and for a brief moment the thought of you and…him, flashed through your mind. You tried to shove the thought away, your face only growing more red. The man gave you a grin as if he could tell exactly what you were thinking, and you rushed to move on from the conversation.

“How long have you been working for the castle?” You asked, watching as he slid another six keys into the jar. He seemed to be knowledgeable, and you wondered how long it would take for you yourself to remember these things too.

The man was quiet for a moment, before he gave you a strange smile. “A while.” He said, his friendly tone laced with something that you couldn’t quite identify. You wanted to push, to ask just how long “a while” was for him, but before you could he placed the rest of the keys in his hand back into the crate.

��It’s time for me to leave.” He said, dusting invisible dirt from his hands as he glanced at the massive clock hanging from the far wall of the room. “You know how to arrange these now, so I’m sure you will be able to finish this task quickly now.”

You nodded, wanting to say more. You wanted to ask his name, what part of the castle he worked in, if you would be running into him again. You were drawn to him, and he was quite handsome. Surely there was nothing wrong with wanting to get to know him better, right?

“I will see you soon.” He said, giving you a wink. You blinked and your cheeks grew red again, but he began the walk to the large double doors of the ballroom before you could muster a response.

Was he…flirting with you? A wink was flirting, right?

The thought made your heart beat fast. In Greenridge, a few men your age had teased you and expressed interest. Once, you had even flirted back. This time it felt different however.

You wanted to see him again, and as you watched his graceful frame disappear through the doors you felt a strange emptiness in your stomach. You turned back to the keys and jars, frowning.

You tried to push past the sudden cold in your bones as you bent down and picked up a handful of the mixed keys. You would finish this task and then try to speak to Rae during lunch.

Maybe talking about it with someone would ease the feeling.

#bts #yandere bts #yandere bts fic #bts fic #emeralds and blood #yandere hoseok #yandere jimin #yandere jin #yandere jungkook #yandere namjoon

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holly-fixation · 2 months

Text

Fallen Silver: Ch 4

Summary: Sephiroth is MIA. Second Class Rhapsodos and Third Class Hewley are tasked with locating and finding him. The public does not know of this disappearance. No one was prepared for the truth.

No one knew SOLDIER hung on by a thread.

Chapter 4: Relief

Inspired by @altocat 's and @rottenpumpkin13 's posts.

Please enjoy.

The heart monitor beeped at the occasional fluctuation of vitals. Oxygen levels remained steady, blood pressure nearly constant, heartbeat a perfect pattern while the patient remained unconscious. Every attempt to waken the man scattered all regulation to complete chaos. For his own safety, Genesis was strapped down before any attempt at a test took place. Some tests purely examined the floating rods in the Crimson Soldier’s eyes. Others proved the lack of connection between actual vision and what he claimed to see. Even a pitch black room held the phantom he critically begged to escape from.

Twelve hours had passed. The fourth experimental cure was ready. Angeal was the only person allowed in the room as the doctors added the cure to the IV and weaned off the sleep medication. They left as the old friend stood in silence at the side of the bed.

All Angeal could do was wait, watching the slow progress.

The small movements of damaged hands, the soft scrunch of eyelids, the adjusting breath. Once beautiful mako blue eyes opened to the stain of dark rods slowly swimming in both scleras. “Angeal…?” The voice was hesitant, careful.

“Hey Genesis,” He couldn't help the small smile, the small hope, from entering his voice. It was the first time Genesis recognized anyone physically inside the room. “How are you feeling?”

The redhead glanced around the room, every exit, every window, every potential weapon fully taken note of. Then he noticed the restraints and looked up at Angeal desperately. The rods in his eyes jostled with the movement. “You need to run. Get out of here before he comes back.”

“No one's coming after you-”

“He’s going to kill me. You have to save yourself, Angeal. I'll distract him as long as I can-”

“Genesis.”

He stopped.

Angeal couldn’t be more thankful that his friend could finally respond. “It’s not real. Sephiroth isn’t attacking you. It’s an illusion. It was all an illusion.”

Genesis tried to move. “But my injuries-”

“Weren’t caused by him.” Angeal couldn’t tell his friend the whole truth. Not now. “Wutaians attacked in your confusion. Sephiroth dragged you back to our base.”

Mako blues blinked once. Twice. Thrice. “...I-” the rods stirred again, obscuring both irises. His head snapped to the door and he tensed. “Don't come any closer!”

“Genesis!”

“Leave him out of this! He's done nothing!”

The Third was given no other option, reaching for the closed, unlocked IV.

“Don't! Stop it! Angeal, don’t listen to him!”

Drops slowly slipped through the tube.

He bit his own cheek, drawing blood and whipping his head as if taking a blow.

“Angeal, please, you know that’s not true! Don’t listen to him! Don’t do this! Please don’t do-... don’t…… please…….” Genesis fell limp, his eyes closing to trap him in quiet darkness once more.

“I’m sorry.”

The nurses and scientists returned. The Third Class SOLDIER was sent away.

Angeal leaned against the wall and exhaled slowly. He was so close to getting through, but Hollander still had no reliable cure. He didn’t think keeping Genesis unconscious for this long was safe, let alone another few days or possibly weeks if no cure at least brought him back to sanity. He should probably update Sephiroth…

Wait. Sephiroth. His head snapped up. He hadn’t seen the First since Genesis was strapped down. Where could he possibly be?

Hojo’s lab, of course. However, all his attempts to enter the highly classified laboratory were completely shut down.

* * *

Why wasn’t it working?

Unbeknownst to Sephiroth, the cure for the toxin hadn’t been touched since the head scientist received the broken gong. He first struck it without any repairs, but the Silver Soldier showed no reaction. Sephiroth was left locked in the exam room as Hojo entered the cold storage containing various cell cultures: bacteria, viruses, and even the preserved Leviathan scales removed from the Hero of Wutai himself.

The first true attempt was filling the crack in the gong with the scales and the same Wutaian bronze as the rest of the instrument. No effect. Then, after calling in a team of engineers, they attempted to extend the rivets and curves on the surface, matching every wave with scientifically perfect accuracy. Again, no effect. Hojo even requested a proper musician to strike the instrument, and though the resultant sound was exponentially better, Sephiroth showed no reaction, not even a wince.

What were they missing?

Despite the frustration, a hidden experiment was also taking place. Sephiroth did not speak a single word since the promise of helping his friend. Hojo kept a simple notification ready for if or when the man decided to speak, perhaps even give hints about who or what he was talking to. Yet this experiment was also a failure as Sephiroth never allowed his thoughts to leave his lips again.

In the days since Rhapsodos’s emergency return, both sections of the lab were useless.

“I have a task for you,” Hojo stated as he entered the room, the addressed man not even turning his eyes in response. “Return to Wutai and retrieve an undamaged gong.”

Slit pupils met black glasses in bewilderment.

“This will continue your progress on the front as we continue developing a remedy for Rhapsodos. Though I understand you cannot accomplish this task alone.”

He looked down like a guilty child. A failure. A disappointment.

“So what will you require?”

After a breath, the Silver Soldier hardened, his eyes flicking ever so slightly as ideas ran through his mind. After a few seconds of silence, he responded, “Four Second Classes with confidential or higher security clearance. And Angeal.”

Hojo nearly groaned. “Him? What can that inferior Third possibly accomplish?

“He is the only one I trust to carry out the mission. We share the same motivation. He is the only logical choice.”

“And if Hewley is captured or gassed, what will you do?”

Another moment of silence. A small shake of mercury. “...I’ll follow my instincts.”

* * *

The flight back to Wutai was silent. The director of SOLDIER informed all personnel of the First’s immediate return, saying the orders were completely above his rank. Sephiroth was granted the extra reinforcements he required. He had yet to discuss the plan with Angeal who already had dreadful feels about this sudden decision. It was difficult enough to leave Genesis in that lab, especially since both Angeal and Genesis refused to return until Sephiroth recovered.

On the dawn after arrival, Sephiroth requested Angeal’s presence on a hill half a mile away from the latest claimed fortress.

“What are you thinking?” Angeal questioned immediately upon reaching the location.

Sephiroth breathed deeply. “Hollander won’t find a cure. Hojo claimed to aid the effort in return for finding an uncracked gong.”

Mako blue eyes widened.

The head of silver turned away.

“We’re doing this to take one back? Does he know what it did to you last time?”

“For Genesis’s sake, it doesn’t matter. Loathe as it is, I’m confident Hojo will identify a cure when he recreates the compound in his lab. I must personally deliver the gong to him as soon as possible.”

“What does he want it for?”

Sephiroth winced.

The Second glared. “Sephiroth. What does he want it for?”

“He’ll run experiments to find the cause of the feeling. Either I grow a resistance to it or Hojo develops a countermeasure,” His words were cold, detached. He flinched, shaking off another thought.

“And what about the toxin?” Angeal tried to back the First into a corner, to force him into abandoning this incredibly dangerous plan before allowing it to leave his lips.

“I’m resistant to it.” His eyes still contained the rods. There was no hiding the simple truth.

“Not immune.”

“...No.”

��Then with all due respect, you should be nowhere near this mission when it begins.”

“I already have a plan.”

“Sephiroth-”

“I will lead the team of Seconds to the next outpost. They are already aware of the secrecy of the matter. I will distract the Wutaians and tell the Seconds everything they see me do is an act.”

“Our troops know that’s a lie.”

“Which is exactly why the team is new.”

“What will you do if they confront you about it? Or if the cadets let it slip?”

“We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it.” Sephiroth’s expression hardened. “When I collapse, I want you and a team of scouts to infiltrate the outpost and retrieve the gong. Anything else you can accomplish will only be permitted if the gong is retrieved undamaged. We then claim the outpost if we can.”

“And what will you do when your ‘act’ ends with you losing consciousness?”

“I’ll tell them I must commit entirely. If Wutai in any way believes I am playing them, they will abandon the post and retreat with the payload.” He suddenly grabbed his head, trying to suppress a noise from escaping. He hunched, blocking his face with his bangs as he turned away.

Angeal’s frustration halted, reverting back to the kind hearted friend they both knew. “What’s happening? Sephiroth, is it the toxin?”

“I don’t care what happens,” He spoke through gritted teeth. “I don’t care what happens to me. This was my fault. I have to do this.” Slowly, hesitantly his posture returned.

“I don’t like this…”

“During my capture, how many times did you say that exact phrase to Genesis?”

“That’s different-”

“It’s exactly the same. We’ll make preparations now and leave at dusk. That’s the only way we can help him. It guarantees the payload is present and gives us a solid chance to claim it.”

“Taking risks on the field and torturing yourself are two different things.”

“It’s not that simple…”

“You keep saying that.”

“Angeal-” He cut himself off, turning away and curling in on himself, small, weak, afraid. He didn’t notice his friend whipping around to watch his face. “I have to do something right. I can do this, I swear.”

The Third softly pressed a hand to the black leather arm. He said nothing until Sephiroth relaxed into reality. “You’re not healed. How many times are we going to do this?”

“Until we’re all safe again!” Sephiroth’s snap silenced the discussion. Angeal hugged him, but it felt empty and cold. The silver soldier craved something the friend could never provide, but he did not know what.

* * *

The last orange glow of the sky dimmed as Sephiroth and the Second Classes approached the outpost. Though the Silver Soldier could feel the tension, confusion, and hesitation of the team following him, they dared not speak a word. He focused on forcing one foot in front of the other, despite his survival instincts screaming in protest against every wave of the toxin.

He silently wished the Seconds would speak their mind. At least then something would distract him from the voice.

Even She failed to persuade him.

Know that I am with you always. Cling to my words to spare yourself and your friends.

The moment the firelight of the outpost shimmered his silver hair, the gong rang and he collapsed instantly. The phantom strings of his heart pulled in every direction, desperately reaching for something to connect with even at the cost of agony. He curled on the ground, rocking and screaming without the comforting, fear awakened voice. His body grasped the needle like threads of desperation tightening around his heart like a noose.

No one remained to comfort his despair.

Wutaian forces laughed, mocking the hero and raining down magic at the Seconds defending their fallen leader.

After all, it was just an act, right? He’d get up soon? He’d save them if they were in danger?

On the other side of the outpost, Angeal and the small team of scouts slipped past the guards undetected. Inside, everyone seemed to be enjoying the show. They stayed low and quiet until the gong was in sight.

The scouts claimed the gong and mallet while Angeal dispatched the enemy soldiers. At the muting of the dreadful instrument and the bright red target on all of their backs, the full force of Shinra’s troop attacked.

All except the Silver Soldier who laid unmoving with Second Classes sworn to protect him.

Hours passed before the highest ranking SOLDIER awoke. Only his Third Class friend waited for him. The cadets were scouring the outpost for resources while the scouts called in the payload back at the claimed fortress.

Inhuman eyes opened, ebony rods finally flushed away.

Angeal held out a hand. “You need to see this.”

Sephiroth took it and rose to his feet. “Lead the way.”

At the heart of the outpost stood a mausoleum. However, Wutaian culture would not allow a final resting place so far from any public gravesite, so perhaps it was only a front. Sephiroth’s assumption was proven correct as they opened the door, an ornate staircase descended, lined with patterns of silver scales, not a shred of gold in sight. He rushed down the stairs despite his instinct to run away. Stone and marble statues of the Wutaian water god constricted the room. Its scales surrounded them like a victorious snake. Altars, fountains, torches, candles, shackles, ritualistic weapons.

Beyond the silver, it was all the same

“This was for Genesis…” Sephiroth’s words left breathlessly.

“Two with one is unpredictable,” Angeal quoted. “They’re trying to take down the top three SOLDIERs.”

“Or all three of us.” Sephiroth met his eyes. “We promote SOLDIER. Even though you haven't made Second yet, if all three of us fall victim to capture or toxin, no one will enlist and the program will be deemed a failure.”

“And the Wutai’s war would finally end.”

Inhuman eyes fell. “Or Shinra creates a new weapon to destroy their entire country without a second thought. At least with the war, some of their people will survive...”

Something hid in that statement, but Angeal chose not to push. “Let’s head back to the fort. Get some real rest before transport arrives.”

Sephiroth nodded. “I’ll call in an excavation team.”

* * *

The gong cured the toxin. That was what Sephiroth told both scientists when he arrived in HQ with the instrument in hand but lacking the black rods in his eyes. Hollander immediately attempted it without a second thought. Genesis did not react. However, neither did Sephiroth. Again the science department summoned a percussionist. Apparently the reaction required proper technique.

Sephiroth watched through observation glass at the second attempt. In Genesis’s room, the musician rang the gong. The Silver Soldier fell to his knees, gloved hands clawing at the glass and uncontrollable groans leaving his lips.

The Crimson Soldier remained perfectly still. One quick look from the scientists proved the instrument was a failure. Sephiroth was told to seal himself in an experimentation chamber before Hojo injected the lab-grown remedy.

Of course, Hojo’s cure succeeded. Genesis finally came to, surrounded by scientists and nurses, not a single friendly face at his side. Sephiroth was long gone, and to Hojo, the less he knew the better.

Within The Drum, Sephiroth paced, his arms crossed and his head down. Waiting. Preparing. Fortifying his emotions. Praying they could contain the resonant emotion.

He glanced up at the observation chamber, some part of him attempting to see through the solid force field of indigo hexagons. He hopes the scientist would at very least reveal the instrument to him before the training began.

Step by step he begged this to work.

The chamber blocked out all natural light, adjustable fluorescent bulbs illuminating endless stasis. The pulse of the force field gave the illusion of measurement, subconsciously counted by the Silver Soldier.

Mid step, the gong rang, and all attempts at resistance shattered as he clung to his own body, his shouts echoing off the walls. Any thought of progress and control collapsed.

Hojo watched, fascinated and disgusted by the effectiveness. Sephiroth was stronger than some musical instrument. What occurred to cause such a reaction? Despite his desire to immediately take samples, he decided to indulge a different desire. He contacted his assistant and ordered them to find more musicians.

How long could the First survive on his own?

To be continued…

Thanks for reading!

Chapter List

#ffvii #sephiroth #final fantasy vii #ff7 #final fantasy 7 #jenova #genesis rhapsodos #angeal hewley #ffvii hojo #hojo ffvii #ff7 hojo #hojo ff7 #professor hojo #god there are a lot of ways to tag hojo lol

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