#just... the sheer size difference on that...alright queen

[ghartok-padhome]

Nerevar and Almalexia walked together through the Mournhold gardens. The sun shone bright off the water of the canals and made the lilac stone gleam as though lit from the inside. The oppressive heat was made worse by the heavy, humid air that promised a storm later in the day. They walked in the shade together avoiding the heat, and conversation, as much as possible. 

They hadn’t been fighting, not really. But Nerevar had made a typical blunder while trying to help: too many suggestions on how to deal with obstinate politicians. Nonetheless, Almalexia was in a sour mood, and he was of no mind to try to fix that problem. So they walked, in what, to anyone that did not know them, might have passed as companionable silence. 

Until they heard sobs, a child nearly wailing, just ahead. Almalexia rushed forward first, and reached the crying child before Nerevar had caught up. He found her around a corner, already holding the child to her chest, gently shushing the young girl. 

“It’s alright,” Almalexia said softly, bouncing the child slightly, “are you lost?”

The girl sniffed and nodded.

“Who did you come with?” 

“Papa.”

“Do you know his name?”

The child tilted her head, confused, “It’s Papa”

“Right,” Almalexia waved over one of the guards, who happened to be walking by. “Go back that way and see if you can find someone looking for a child.” And the guard hurried along in the direction he was pointed. 

Almalexia then set her down on a small stone wall. The child looked up at her. She looked at the child. Then Nerevar stepped in.

“Do you know the nix-hound song?” he knelt down beside the wall.

“Of course,” she said, “everyone knows that song.”

“And you know the game?”

She nodded, and held out her hands. Nerevar grabbed the small hand in one of his, and they lined up their open left hands, and began to swing their hands back and forth, hitting their palms with fists in rhythm while singing.

“Nix-hound nix-hound, where have you been? I've been sleep-ing in my den, ash-yam ash-yam growing in dirt, I’m gonna wear you as a skirt!” The nonsense song was made even more absurd by the sheer difference in size of their hands, and the fact that the child was swinging her arm as hard as she could into his palm. He had to work hard not to laugh.

“Grab your swords, and go to war, I’m gonna be one, two, three-”

“Ten!” exclaimed Nerevar, right as the girl finished with “four” which, naturally, caused the girl to nearly fall over, laughing.

“That’s not how it goes!”

“It’s not?” 

“No-” this caused her to cry with mirth, “ten doesn’t come after three!” she could barely get the words out, so amused she was by the large mer making a fool of himself. 

“Well, not all of us are as good at counting as you seem to be,” the fake air of haughtiness did cause her to fall off the wall and into Nerevar’s arms.

“I’m not that good at counting,” she finally said, after managing to catch her breath.

“Better than he is apparently,” Almalexia smiled down at her.

The girl broke into the biggest grin, to finally have someone to make fun of him with seemed to have made her day. “Well, he’s not very good at it either,” she giggled.

“There you are, Felsa!” a man ran up to them, with the guard following behind. 

“Papa!” 

“I told you to stop wandering off,” and then to them, “My apologies, sera, uh,” he trailed off.

They looked at him, a bit bewildered before Almalexia hesitantly replied, “Indoril Nerevar and Indoril Almalexia.”

The man turned as red as a fire petal, “Oh my goodness, the Queen and the Hortator, I-” and before they could respond, “I don’t know how to thank you for finding her, my sincerest apologies, I really-”

Finally, Nerevar was able to say, “It really was no trouble at all, she was lovely.”

And Almalexia added, “It was our pleasure,”

The man, still flustered but seeming to want to get away as quickly as possible, gathered his child in his arms, and turned to hurry off, but not before Felsa, in the way that children who have not yet learned to lower their voices sometimes do, pointed at Nerevar and announced quite loudly, “Papa, that man doesn’t know how to count!”

#muhri'an #the one where they babysit #a

[nott-gay]

so... Sklonda and Gorthalax? and Gorthalax can see the cat now?

#get it girl #just... the sheer size difference on that...alright queen #I mean I guess it could also be thru kissing since it just works like a normal disease but still #...👀 #fantasy high #dimension 20 #sklonda gukgak #gorthalax the insatiable #non cr

[dovechim]

the happiest place on earth (m)

➾ 24k 

➾ summary: in this life, you have two goals. 1. get park jimin to notice you. 2. get into Broadway. (not necessarily in that order). you and jimin have been crew members at Disneyland for over a year, but he’s no closer to being your boyfriend than you are to getting into Broadway. when you get promoted from a fur character to a face character, your hopes and dreams of playing Princess Ariel opposite his Prince Eric are this close to coming true. But what happens when you’re tasked to play the Evil Queen instead? 

slice of life au, incredibly cheesy towards the end. basically a lot of fluff with some smut :)

➾ warnings: protected sex, oral (f receiving) this one is pretty mild tbh

➾ a/n: for the purpose of this fic, let’s ignore that Sesame Street and Disney are own by two different companies 🙃 happy 25/26th birthday to one mr park jimin, the only Prince Charming I'll ever fall for 💓 this is just a warning of the cheesiness to come 🧀

The sounds of joyful music are slightly muffled, not just by the constant excited chatter around you, but also by the heavy costume that drags your entire body down. The incredible buildup of body heat is seemingly exacerbated by the sheer amount of bodies around you, little kids who are scampering to get a hold of your soft yellow fur.

“Mommy! I want a picture with Big Bird too!” A toddler’s voice wails from a distance, and you struggle to see out of the tiny little eye holes in the yellow neck of the costume.

Well, the good thing about having to wear this is that you don’t have to fake a smile for the cameras. The permanent grin on Big Bird’s face- er, beak, convinces everyone around you that you fit right in at this place.

The kids are all in giggles as they take turns hugging you with joyful screams and giggles, being towed away by their parents once they’ve got their shot. You can see your handler, Joy, keeping a watchful eye from a distance away to make sure things don’t get too out of hand. Your movements are heavy and cumbersome, but luckily you don’t have to move much because all the kids just crowd around you anyway.

Your time is nearly up. For the safety and well-being of all cast members who are required to wear full costumes, often referred to as fur characters, shifts are restricted to 15 minutes at a time, with a 45 minutes rest time before you go again. And with this weather, you feel as if the 15 minutes can’t go by fast enough.

You glance over enviously at Oscar the Grouch, your usual character, having a much calmer time with the noticeably thinner crowd around him. He’s never been a very popular character, especially not with the kids, since they tend to prefer the bright and cheerful personalities of Big Bird, Elmo and of course Cookie Monster. The blue furry character is dancing energetically on the street, rousing delighted cheers and screams from the kids as he pretends to queue at prop truck selling cookies.

You curse at the management’s decision to have you take over Big Bird’s character today. Better yet, you curse the guy who originally plays Big Bird. Why’d Kim Namjoon have to call in sick today of all days? And why, for heaven’s sake, did middle management think it’d be a good idea to get someone your size, to take his place?

Miserable and sweating bullets, you try your best to wave and move your arms around in some semblance of a dance to entertain the kids.

“Last photo, folks,” Joy waves her hands to get the crowd’s attention with a grin on her face. “Be sure to give Big Bird a big hug, alright?”

Your head jerks sharply in her direction with a steely glare, but it loses all effect because of the stupid goofy Big Bird head. As if the grubby kids around you needed any encouragement to squeeze and grope you in this costume. You swear, one more little kid mashing his face into you, stepping on your feet in the huge orange shoes, and you’ll just scream-

“Alright alright, Big Bird’s gotta go help Cookie Monster bake some cookies now,” Joy gently pries a little boy wearing glasses off you. She loops her arm around your fluffy wing to give you some support as the two of you start shuffling away slowly. “We’ll be back at 3pm! See you all then!”

Even if you hate every second being in this sweat soaked costume, you can’t deny that you’ve definitely noticed a change playing a slightly more popular character. Kids don’t pull faces at you the way they did when you were playing Oscar the Grouch, instead they tell you they love you, their faces light up when they see you, and they fight to be the first in line at for a photo opportunity with you.

There is a small warmth in your chest as you walk painfully slowly and turn down a discreet corner into the staff rest area. Once out of sight from the public, you strip off the bright yellow head as Joy opens the doors of the air-conditioned break room for you.

“Oh my god. That was the longest 15 minutes of my life,” you groan, collapsing down onto the floor dramatically. Joy winces in sympathy as she quickly gets a bottle of water for you, rummaging in the pantry for the good snacks.

“It was extra hot today, wasn’t it? Ugh, I’m dreading my shift next,” Joy tosses you a packet of biscuits.

The door bursts open, and Cookie Monster comes in singing and dancing, his energy seemingly limitless. When he strips off the character’s head, Jeon Jeongguk’s voice comes out even more clearly, the grin on his face still at full power as when he started his shift.

His hair is messy as he runs a hand through it, casting a puzzled glance at you laying down on the floor.

“Wasn’t that a great shift?” Jeongguk enthuses, a happy puppy grin on his face as his handler Kim Taehyung unzips the back of his costume. “The kids were all so cute. This really is the happiest place on earth!”

As if on comedic timing, Oscar the Grouch bursts into the room, and you can hear Min Yoongi cursing and swearing as he can’t get the character’s head off fast enough. From your position on the floor, sipping your water and nibbling at your crackers, you cast a jealous, spiteful glance at him.

What does he have to complain about? Oscar is practically the easiest character to play on Sesame Street!!

The buddy system consists of one character and one handler, and they switch shifts throughout the day. Kim Namjoon calling in sick means that the buddy system is one short today, and Yoongi doesn’t have anyone to switch shifts with. Which means he’s due to go again in less than thirty minutes.

Feeling your strength returning, you sit up again and start to unzip your costume so that Joy can start getting ready. There isn’t any changing room here, but all of you aren’t exactly naked under the costume, so no one has any objections changing in each other’s presence. Your light workout shorts and tanktop are soaked with sweat and sticking to your skin when you climb out of the yellow costume, kicking off the orange shoes before you turn to help Joy into it.

“Goooood afternoon!” A cheerful, happy voice sings out as the door opens, and your entire being perks up in recognition.

His presence brightens the room immediately- even Yoongi looks relieved to see him.

“Jimin? What are you doing here? It’s your day off,” Taehyung is half-way into his transformation into Cookie Monster.

“Heard Namjoon was sick today, so I volunteered to come in to cover,” he says with a happy grin, his eyes creased into a smile. His fluffy dark blue hair looks so soft, and he casts a brief glance across the room, eyes landing on you and Joy, Jeongguk and Taehyung, and then Yoongi, obviously doing the math. “I guess I’m up next in Oscar the Grouch?”

Dammit. One more reason why you’re cursing Min Yoongi, or more accurately, your rotten luck. You could have had a chance to partner with Park Jimin today if you’d stayed as Oscar the Grouch, something you’d been waiting for ever since you joined the park as a character actor.

Unfortunately, your schedule never seems to coincide with his, until today.

“Oh thank fucking God,” Yoongi mutters as he strips himself out of the costume in a hurry. “I’m so happy I could kiss you.”

Park Jimin giggles, a sound that sets off butterflies in your stomach. But nothing prepares you for the way he casually strips off his grey sweatpants to reveal the tight booty shorts underneath, preparing to step into the costume.

You belatedly realise that you are staring at Park Jimin’s very supple ass, and Joy is left to struggle into the Big Bird costume all by herself, with time running out. Turning away with a reddened blush on your cheeks that you hope the others attribute to the heat, you zip her up and hand her Big Bird’s head, leaving her to finish dressing herself as you quickly slip on some jeans and the standard issue polo shirt that handlers wear.

Your throat is dry as you glance at him shyly, wishing more than ever that you could be the one helping him into his costume. Min Yoongi catches the longing glance that you give him, but he can’t be arsed enough to tease you about it.

“C’mon guys, time to go!” Jimin’s smile is blinding as he gets ready to put on Oscar’s head, shuffling towards the door with the garbage bin around his waist. He makes eye contact with you, and your heart skips a beat. “Let’s make this a great shift!”

You’ve never been one for optimism. But somehow, it’s almost bearable when its coming from Jimin.

As you hold Joy’s hand and walk her slowly out to the main street, your attention remains on Jimin in the Oscar costume. Somehow, even in his grimy garbage can, nothing seems to dim his bright personality. He is like the sun as he dances on the street, crouches down in his garbage can, teases the kids and makes them scream with laughter. His movements are large and exaggerated, the way you were all trained to do, and you can’t help but admire his natural talent that can’t be hidden by a costume.

He is an incredible hit with the kids, an unusual occurrence. Someone like Park Jimin really does fit in here. Every bit of his personality suits the happiest place on earth.

Unlike yours.

*

It’s been almost a year since you joined as a character actor, and by now, practically the whole crew knows about your crush on Park Jimin. Everyone but the man himself, unfortunately. Luck just hasn’t been on your side so far, and most of the time you’re left admiring him from afar.

“So… that was an unexpected surprise,” Joy says as she wipes her face with a tissue, glancing at you in the mirror.

You pretend not to know what she’s talking about as you tie your sweaty hair up into a bun, getting ready to clock out. You and Joy are familiar with this routine, sharing the same schedule ever since the both of you decided that working as an amusement park character would be the best way to boost your resumes and eventually earn you the chance to audition for Broadway someday.

They were big and lofty dreams alright, but as long as you take a tiny step every day, you know you’ll make it eventually.

“You won’t get anything done hoeing around like that you know,” Joy giggles as she spies the nonchalant look on your face. “You need to go out there and get your man. Honestly. Or someone else will.”

You whip your head around to stare at her in panic. “Someone else has their eye on him? Who?”

Joy shrugs carelessly, but you can see the caution on her face as her movements slow. “Well… there are some rumours going around about him and Dahyun…”

“Dahyun? The girl who plays Ariel?” You frown, picturing them together in your mind. “I didn’t know they knew each other.”

“_______... they’re in the same rotation schedule,” Joy says with a hint of pity in her voice. Being the more outgoing of the two of you, she seems to be in on the latest news and gossip.

Or maybe that’s because you always leave the crew group chat on mute.

Sighing in frustration, you toss a used baby wipe into the trash. “How am I supposed to make a move if I can’t even talk to him? We barely even know each other, we’re just co-workers!”

“You and Jeongguk are co-workers, that doesn’t stop him from stealing your Pringles every time you leave them in the pantry, or you from play fighting with him when he does,” Joy points out.

“That’s different!” Your brows furrow in consternation, but you leave it at that. “Anyway, we don’t even have the same shift lined up.”

“Girl, you’re working in the happiest place on earth, where magic and fairytales and your Prince Charming is infinitely possible,” Joy sighs dreamily, waving the wand of her lip gloss around as if it were a real magic wand. “Make it happen.”

It seems like the whole wow factor of working at Disney hasn’t worn off on your best friend. As for your naturally cynical self, you can’t exactly say that you’ve never been amazed by the fact that you work at such a magical place, but it’s not really like you to get sucked in by all the illusion that this place offers.

“Ooh!! Can you imagine if he played Prince Charming, and you played Sleeping Beauty?” Joy almost falls over in her excitement as she grips your arm. “That’s like a magical love story waiting to happen!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” you grumble at her, but even you can’t help but let a small smile tug at the corners of your mouth. “It’s only been a year since we started, and all new joiners have to start at the bottom for god knows how long. Promotion is practically unheard of. Maybe we’ll be stuck playing Sesame Street characters still we’re old ladies.”

“Don’t say that!” Joy swipes your arm with a pout. “It’s got to do with vacancies as well. As soon as they need someone playing a face character, they’ll bump one of us up. That’s how Dahyun got Ariel within 6 months of joining.”

“Well, let’s hope one of them gets chickenpox or something, that’s the only way I’ll get a lucky break,” you say with a deadpan voice as Joy bursts into giggles, chiding you as you turn to exit the bathroom.

“What’s a princess character like her even want with Park Jimin anyway? Shouldn’t she be romancing, I don’t know, one of the Princes instead?” You can’t get your mind off that rumour of the both of them together.

You find it hard to believe, seeing as there is a very obvious social hierarchy amongst all the crew. The Disney princesses are the queen bees, the very top of the pyramid, along with the Princes. Somewhere around second tier are the less popular princesses such as Mulan, Pochahontas, or Tinkerbell, still very well sought after by guests, but a lot less well known as compared to, say Ariel or Sleeping Beauty. All the furry characters rank at the very bottom, with the only exception perhaps being the classic Mickey Mouse himself.

The hierarchy is so ingrained into the system that you don’t even talk to or hang out with anyone outside of your level. Even in the staff cafeteria, buried in the underbelly of Disney World itself, seating is segregated according to which character you play. It’s like high school all over again.

That’s exactly why Joy’s dream of playing a Disney princess is far-fetched, to say the least. It would be like jumping straight to the top of the hierarchy in the blink of an eye. The best you can hope for is a promotion to a face character. Any face character. Just so you don’t have to wear the unbearably stuffy, disgusting costume anymore.

“What should we eat? I’m in the mood for pizza- oh!” Joy stops in her tracks, and you smack into her back.

“Give me a heads up, would you,” you groan, massaging your forehead, moving to walk around her as you scan your card at the train gantry.

“Oh my god. It’s Park Jimin.” She sounds breathless, and you look up at the mention of his name.

And there he is, seated on one of the benches with his thighs spread in his grey sweatpants, white shirt almost hanging off his shoulder sinfully, and blue backpack slung casually over the other shoulder. He is scrolling through something on his phone, completely absorbed in what he sees on his screen.

“Here’s your chance!” You hear Joy hiss at you, shoving you forward. “Talk to him!”

You are reduced to a blubbering mess, somehow losing control over your limbs as Joy continues to push you forward until you are in his line of sight.

“-don’t want to- agh!”

Jimin glances up at the sound of your voice, a smile of recognition immediately lighting up his face as he puts his phone away.

“Hey! ______, right?”

Even the way he says your name reduces you to a pathetic pile of goo. The mere fact that he knows who you are…!

“U-uh, hi, yeah!” You smile awkwardly at him.

Jimin scoots over and pats the seat beside him invitingly, looking over your shoulder. “And Joy, right?”

“Mhmm, going home?” Joy responds so naturally; you wish you had her ease when it comes to talking to guys. Or anyone, in general.

“Yeah,” Jimin grins his heart melting smile again, this time directing it at you. “Hey, you did great with Big Bird today. It’s tough playing such a tall character­- his head is the heaviest, I swear.”

“It-it is,” you stumble a reply back to him. “I don’t usually play Big Bird…”

“I know, your usual is Oscar right?” Jimin beams back. “I don’t know how you do it; it’s so hard to get his character just right! Especially wearing that costume- I feel like I’m behind a mask.”

Now you know he’s also painfully kind on top of everything else; complimenting you even though he easily plays Oscar better than you on your good days. Even the way he takes notice of your usual character makes you feel… dare you say… special.

“Hey, I forgot something back at the park, I’m gonna go back,” Joy says with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she bids the both of you goodbye. “You two go ahead! I’ll see you tomorrow!”

That sly little minx! You stand up involuntarily, panicking over being left alone with Jimin. At the same time, he grabs your arm to get your attention.

“Hey! The train’s here,” Jimin seems unperturbed by Joy’s sudden departure, getting up and starts walking towards the doors.

You hastily follow him into an empty cabin, struggling to keep your composure and cool your heated cheeks. There aren’t many people going in the opposite direction at this time of the evening, and the both of you find a seat easily.

“Which stop are you getting off at?” You ask, glancing at the map above the train doors.

“The second to last,” he grins with a slight wince. It’s absolutely adorable, the way he scrunches his nose. “I know, long ride right?”

“That’s my stop too!” Your eyes widen as you realise that you’ll be sharing the entire ride with him.

“Guess it’s my lucky day to have company then,” Jimin grins. “I think we joined at around the same time, but we haven’t really talked much.”

“Yeah, about a year ago, I think our schedules just haven’t really matched up,” you smile at him, having to avert your eyes as he ruffles his dark blue hair casually.

He flirts so effortlessly; his smiles are charming, and he draws you in with every word of his. It’s more than you could ever hope for, sharing a nearly empty train ride back with Park Jimin.

“So, is working at Disney everything you ever dreamt of and more?” Jimin asks, his eyes shining bright.

“You mean, did I dream of being stuck in a stuffy, sweaty and smelly costume for four hours a day? Totally,” you say unironically, but it makes Jimin giggle.

“Yeah, that part isn’t the best,” Jimin admits with a hand covering his mouth, still giggling. “I always make sure to air our whatever costume I’m wearing, so that the next person doesn’t have such a bad time.”

And he has a heart of gold too.

“It’ll get better once we get to play the face characters,” Jimin reassures with a few pats on your hand. The physical contact makes your heart skip a beat. “I think it’ll be soon, if we keep doing a good job!”

“Who are you hoping to get?” You desperately hope that he doesn’t see the blush on your cheeks.

“Hmmm, I don’t know. I guess I’ve always been a fan of Aladdin. You know, how cheeky he is and everything. Of course, I don’t think I’ll get a monkey as my sidekick, but still…”

“You’d make a perfect Aladdin,” you can already picture him charming all the little girls, sweeping them off their feet even without a magic carpet.

“What about you?” Jimin asks, a curious gleam in his eyes.

“Uhm… well…” you almost say Jasmine out of pure instinct, but you stop yourself just in time. To be honest, you never really thought about which face character you wanted to play. Getting a foot in the door to work at a Disney Park alone was a dream come true, and you’ve been so absorbed with the toiling labour of playing a fur character that you simply didn’t have the time to dream of something better.

But Jimin’s words have set you thinking. Of course, anyone’s answer might be to play a Disney Princess. It would be an incredible add to your resume. But could you really muster up enough of your acting skills to be in character around people all day? Not only would it be physically tiring like it is now, but it would also be mentally exhausting.

Unless you can find a character that suits you to a T, the way Aladdin suits Jimin. Or rather, the way Jimin can mold himself to suit any character he’s playing. It’s a talent you know you don’t have, and you know it’s an area of improvement for you as an aspiring actress. But somehow, you still can’t bring yourself to give up on your dream of standing upon the Broadway stage one day.

“I haven’t really thought about it,” you admit finally. “I guess… anyone would be fine. As long as it’s not Pluto,” you add in as an afterthought, and Jimin bursts into his musical laughter that travels throughout his entire body.

“You could be Elsa,” he says after a moment, after he’s calmed down. “Cold, a little aloof, but beautiful. I think you’d suit her well.”

The sincerity with which he says this makes your heart flutter. Moments ago, the thought of playing the ice princess and having to sing ‘Let It Go’ to dozens of grubby children would have put you off. You’d never liked that movie, but with Jimin’s suggestion, you ironically find yourself warming up to the idea.

*

Life has a way of smiling down at certain people. Park Jimin is one of them. And with just one encounter with him, you can feel his good luck rubbing off on you already.

When you check your schedule for the next quarter, your eyes catch on his name along with yours, side by side as handler and character. This time, as your usual: Oscar the Grouch.

You are in a good mood that morning as you clock into the park, heading to the utilities room to retrieve your costume and sign for it. When you reach the desk, you realise that Jimin somehow got here earlier than you did, and already signed out on your behalf.

He’s waiting in the common dressing room, drinking a protein shake and dressed in a muscle tee that shows off a dangerous amount of skin. You catch a glimpse of nipple as he raises his shake to his lips, and your throat goes dry. No one ever comes in for the morning shift this early, so the two of you are alone.

“H-hey, you’re early,” you clear your throat as you slide your backpack off your shoulder.

Jimin turns to face you, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Hey! Yeah, thought I’d get in a workout and start my shift little earlier today. Did you eat yet? I got you a bagel!”

He tosses a warm, buttery package across at you, and you just barely catch it. It’s only when you bite into it and a moan escapes your lips that you realise how essential breakfast is.

“Do you want to go first? Or me?” Jimin abandons his chair to come sit next to you on the couch. “I’m fine with whatever, but I’m a little sweaty right now, so…”

He grins bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck as he does so. It’s incredibly cute, and you have to distract yourself, tearing your eyes away from his almost transparent muscle tee.

“Sure, I’ll take first shift,” you push yourself up from your seat, feeling an intense need to put some distance between you and the dangerously charming man.

You usually dress the same way for work every time- jeans and the standard polo tee, with exercise shorts and a thin tank top underneath. It makes things easier when you have to rotate between being character and handler.  With Park Jimin in the same room, you feel a little self-conscious at stripping down in front of him, so you attempt to hide behind the locker as you quickly get rid of your jeans and shirt.

You feel painfully naked as you start to wrangle yourself into the Oscar costume. Jimin sets aside his drink and helps you by holding the bottom half of the costume open for you to step into, his face dangerously close to the apex of your thighs. You can feel his hot breath on your flesh as you gingerly step into Oscar’s trashcan.

Putting on a costume has never felt this intimate before.

“It’s like you were made to play him, you fit perfectly!” Jimin giggles, patting the top of your head. “How cute!”

“You’re one to talk,” you grumble back at him, if only to hide the growing smile on your own face. “You fit into it pretty well last time too.”

The moment is shattered as the door flings open, and Jeongguk and Taehyung come chattering in. They give Jimin a fist bump each, in the natural camaraderie that boys have with each other.

“See ya at break, ______!” Jeongguk calls out playfully, waving a tube full of your Pringles with one hand just to taunt you. Even though you can’t see him with Oscar’s head on, you hear the telltale sound of the chips rattling inside the tube, and you actually growl in annoyance.

“Jeon Jeongguk! I swear if you eat even a single one-“

“I’ll save you the empty can! Hey, does Oscar do recycling or is he just in a normal trash can?”

*

The difference between your Oscar and Jimin’s Oscar is painfully stark. When it’s his turn, he gets no less than 20 children crowding him at one time. His natural charisma just oozes through the suit.

But rather than discourage you, it actually makes you work even harder. You actually learn a couple of things from observing how he plays Oscar, and by the end of the day, you’re proud to say that you’re on par to compete with even Cookie Monster sometimes.

“Good one today, ______!” Jimin grins as he strips off the green, furry head, pushing his sweaty hair off his forehead.

“You weren’t too bad yourself,” you say with a tiny smile, offering him a pack of wet wipes.

“Hey, I was thinking we should grab a bite to eat,” Jimin turns to look at himself in the mirror, styling his dark blue hair as he rakes through it carelessly with his fingers. “You down?”

You have to stop yourself from grinning from ear to ear, instead answering coolly. “Sure. Where did you have in mind?”

“Cafeteria? I’m craving a Dole Whip myself,” he’s back in his muscle tee again, pulling on a pair of his favourite grey sweatpants.

You’ve never actually eaten anywhere other than the staff cafeteria, and even then, you avoid doing so after shifts because you don’t want to deal with seeing the rest of the crew. But Jimin has such a sweet smile that you don’t have it in you to refuse.

The two of you exit the dressing room, making your way down to the staff cafeteria, buried out of sight from the guests. To be honest, park food isn’t that bad, and the cafeteria serves a selection of it weekly, at a heavily discounted rate for staff.

Jimin’s just pondering over what he should have before Dole Whip, when a small tap on his shoulder makes him turn around.

“Oh- Dahyun! Hey, I didn’t know you’d be here,” Jimin greets her with a grin, and you can’t help but peer around him to get a glimpse of her as well.

She is exquisitely beautiful in a way you know you could never be, her features are dainty and delicate, and you can see why she’s such a good fit for Ariel. She moves with a grace and elegance that comes only with years of dance and stage training, and even in her loose-fitting pants, you can see that she has a figure to die for.

It’s people like her who make it to Broadway.

“It’s my shift starting soon,” she says in a soft, tinkling voice, casting a curious glance at you. “Anyway, I was just coming from the manager’s office. They want to see you.”

“Oh really?” Jimin frowns as he checks his phone. “I haven’t checked my email yet-“

“Yeah, something about a character change,” she smiles in excitement. “Seo Joon’s quitting, so they asked me if I had anyone to recommend to take his place, and I said you! Isn’t that great?”

Jimin seems genuinely enthused as he widens his eyes in realization. “Oh… oh wow! Prince Eric! I… I didn’t think it’d be this soon!”

“You should hurry down so they can give you the official new schedule,” Dahyun claps her hands as she giggles. “There’ll be character training sessions, outfit fittings, oh, and we also have to train together for a bit!”

The two of them almost forget that you are there, and you awkwardly take a step back, which makes Jimin look at you. His elation disappears a little.

“Hey, I’m sorry, I’ll just go attend the meeting real quick. I’m sorry about lunch, we should reschedule and it’ll be my treat!”

“No,” you shake your head and swallow hard, struggling to express that you are really happy for him amidst the all the envy and jealousy swirling in your chest. Because you truly are, he deserves this and so much more. “Go for your meeting. Don’t worry. I’ll just… I’ll uh… just head home.”

“You should get a Dole Whip! It’s the perfect treat after a shift,” he calls over his shoulder as Dahyun shoots you an awkward little smile, turning to follow him.

You watch as the two of them exit the staff cafeteria, already excitedly chattering to each other about god knows what. Yeah, somehow, you don’t think a Dole Whip is about to make things better.

*

“Prince Eric?” Joy frowns. “Well, I can’t say he doesn’t suit that character, because he would suit any prince, but…”

Now that Jimin had to be swapped out, the only good thing about it is that Joy is back on the same rotation as you again. So it means you can whine to your best friend about how unfair all of this is, how you wish Dahyun would actually get her voice sucked out of her by Ursula.

“They’re gonna look perfect together,” you say glumly. “This is why I don’t hope for anything. The moment I do, it just gets taken away.”

Joy winces as she watches you avert your gaze, untying and tying your shoelace. Your sandwich remains untouched as the two of you hide away in the dressing room during lunch break.

“Sweetie… I’m sorry,” she sighs as she pulls you in so that you can rest your head on her chest. “I’m sure our big break is coming soon. It’s all about that stroke of luck, you know?”

“Only if that lucky break comes in the form of Dahyun’s broken leg,” you grumble. Honestly, you should have seen this coming. Someone as bright and talented and golden as Park Jimin deserves to be with someone who can match him. Someone who can look as good beside him.

In other words, definitely not you. Children run away from you when they see you. They cry when they see your face. Even when you’re hidden and concealed behind a costume, they still can’t bring themselves to come any closer to you.

Your thoughts are interrupted by Jeongguk throwing open the door, still stuffing his face with a Mickey ice cream sandwich. His eyes land on the both of you, take in your disgruntled expression, then he continues to scarf down the rest of his sweet treat. Taehyung follows close behind, holding a bunch of snacks in his arms and dumping them all on the table.

“Whats wrong with her?” Jeongguk gestures with his sticky hands, stomping around in his heavy Timberland boots.

This dressing room is somewhat of a cosy reprieve, not only from the sweltering heat out there, but also away from all the other crew members. It’s long been established that it belongs to the select few of you who have the misfortune to be playing the fur characters, while the face characters are assigned the bigger, more luxurious dressing rooms for them to do their makeup and hair in. However, since the fur characters don’t need much prep other than climbing into a large furry suit, this dressing room only has the bare minimum.

You don’t mind though, because over the past year, it has come to feel like home. Ending a shift and collapsing on the couch, bickering with Jeongguk about the snack stash, coming in early to find Yoongi pulling an all nighter on the couch from the day before, getting annoyed with all of Taehyung’s junk everywhere. Getting secretly drunk after park hours with Joy and sneaking out to avoid getting into trouble.

As much as you hate to admit it, the few of you have become family.

“Not in the mood, Jeon, run along,” you shoot him a warning glare, but he is all too used to your caustic words, and sometimes you think he even enjoys riling you up.

“Might this have something to do with a certain Park Jimin getting to play Prince Eric?” Jeongguk is more astute than he lets on, but then again, it could be just because he actually bothered to read the crew schedule today.

“Who’s playing who?” Yoongi enters with a cup of cold brew in hand, sucking it down like it’s his lifeblood. All this while, you’ve never actually seen him eat something solid.

“Jimin is Prince Eric, opposite Dahyun’s Ariel,” Jeongguk repeats in delight, all too happy to take part in your misery.

Joy shoots him a glare and moves to cover your ears. “Gee, I don’t think you could rub that in any harder, Jeon.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” he snickers, moving toward the lockers in the corner for his bag to start getting ready for the afternoon’s shift. At the last minute, however, he turns back to glance at you, still lying motionless on the couch, with a look of mild concern on his face. He looks like he’s about to say something, but lets it go at the last minute.

“I hope when we get promoted, we all get it at the same time,” Taehyung says earnestly, looking around at the rest of your faces. “I just wanna stay with you guys forever. Park can go play Prince Eric for all I care, honestly.”

Yoongi finishes his coffee, discarding the cup into one of the trash bins. “Can’t say he doesn’t deserve it though.”

With a resigned sigh, because the older man is right, you go about getting ready for your shift. Something tells you that today is going to be harder than it usually is.

*

You go through the motions of your job like you do every single day, stooping inside your little garbage can, twirling little children around, taking pictures and trying your best to be in character. It’s just the start of your third shift for the day, when something out of the ordinary happens.

You first catch wind of it through the children’s excited chatters.

“Pwincess Ariel is coming!” A little girl with a lisp says, pulling at the arm of her sister next you. “Huwwy up, we gotta go see her! Leave Mister Oscar alone!’

Her sister all but shoves you away in her excitement, causing you to nearly topple over in the heavy character suit, but luckily Joy is there to support you. All the children around you suddenly scatter, screaming and crying as they tumble toward the other end of the street.

“It’s Ariel! And Pwince Eric!” The same girl yells, and your breathing slows to a stop.

What? Why would they come down to the Main Street? Princesses and Princes usually stay in their own zone, in their castles if they have one, unless it’s parade time, which it most definitely isn’t. In a matter of minutes, your side of Main Street is left deserted, you and Joy standing pathetically alone in the middle of the road as you watch all the kids surround the perfect royal couple.

Jimin is absolutely radiant in his white blazer and dark blue pants that fit him perfectly. He looks every bit like royalty with gold embellishments on his shoulders, gold buttons down the front, and a sash to accompany his top half, while his long legs are accentuated by his boots. His newly dyed black hair is parted down the middle, swept back off his forehead to expose his sweetly smiling eyes as he greets everyone around him.

He walks as if he is on a runway. The audience is captivated by him; he steals the show even from the beautiful Ariel herself. Girls are falling at his feet to take pictures with him, children are asking if he has a white horse with him, and parents are sighing with adoration over how perfect he and Ariel look as a couple. It’s like a Disney movie come to life.

Everyone coos in admiration as the handsome Prince Eric gets down on one knee to a tiny girl dressed in an Ariel costume, takes her hand and kisses the back of it. Then the real Princess Ariel sweeps in with her green dress and flowing, shiny red hair, on the other side of the little girl, and the three of them pose for a picture together.

You are awestruck at how realistic they look together. They look as if they’ve just stepped out of a live action Disney movie.

“God damn,” Joy says under her breath as Jimin offers his hand to Dahyun, and the two of them continue their mini parade down the street. “He really does look perfect.”

It’s as if Jimin was born to play Prince Eric.

The two of them are fast approaching you and the other Sesame Street characters. Cookie Monster spreads his arms wide in welcome, doing a little jig that has the children screaming with laughter. He pretends to ask Prince Eric if he has any cookies, and their mini impromptu skit delights the audience. Worse still, Jeongguk in the Cookie Monster costume fawns over Princess Ariel too, gesturing for them to hold hands as he pretends to act as their royal butler, doing a deep bow that nearly has him toppling over.

Your legs feel weak and you opt to crouch down in your trashcan, making Oscar the Grouch look even smaller and more pathetic, all alone on the Street.

“Hey, are you okay? Do you need to have a rest?” Joy crouches down beside you in concern.

“…fine…” you mumble, but you can’t really be heard inside Oscar’s head. But then, it actually might be a good idea to escape back to the dressing room before Jimin and Dahyun make it down here. You turn to tell Joy that you want to go back, but then a little child approaches you out of nowhere.

“Mister Oscar?” A tiny, petulant voice calls, and you turn around to face it.

It’s a little boy with glasses, dressed in an Oscar T-shirt and with an Oscar headband. He looks shyly up at you, but even from inside Oscar’s head, you can see his eyes are filled with wonder and amazement.

“Can I have a picture please?” He asks politely, and Joy jumps to her feet.

“Of course! And would you like an autograph too? Where’s your book?” She helps the little boy with his book and pen, and glad for something else to focus on, you take the pen and open the book to the right page.

“Whats your name?” Joy asks, so that you can write it along with your autograph.

“Seokjin,” he pronounces clearly. “You’re my favourite Sesame Street character,” the boy says with a proud smile, pointing to his Oscar T-shirt. No matter how foul your mood is, that’s bound to melt your heart a little, and you express it through your actions, holding your hands to your heart for a second before spreading your arms for a giant hug.

As you feel the squirmy little body in your arms, you hear a familiar voice behind you.

“Ah, how sweet!” It’s Prince Eric, and he looks on at the scene with his sweet smile. “Mister Oscar, thank you for keeping our streets so clean always!”

You release the child from your hug and look up at Jimin. His smile seems a little bigger than it was just now, and his eyes are trained on the exact spot where yours would be if you weren’t wearing the suit. For a moment, you wonder if he knows that it’s you inside the suit.

“Mister Oscar is smelly!” A child yells out from somewhere, and a dozen giggles follow. “He loves trash!”

Ouch. As much as it’s true, children can be rather thoughtless with their comments sometimes. You struggle to stay in character even as your character head droops a little, retreating into your trash can.

There is an awkward silence from the crowd, and even Dayhun’s smile is frozen, at a loss for words, and there’s even a look of pity in her eyes. You can feel Seokjin beside you grasp your hand a little tighter in defensiveness as he puffs his chest out.

But before he can say anything, Prince Eric frowns, turning to face the general direction of the child who had insulted you. “That isn’t very nice, is it?” He reprimands the child gently, and the crowd quiets down. “Mister Oscar has feelings too, and how do you think he might feel if you say that?”

The girl who had called you smelly looks guilty as Jimin admonishes her. “Sowwy, Prince Eric and sowwy, Mister Oscar.”

Prince Eric’s radiant smile is back on his face as he pets her head once. “That’s better. Now, you have a great day and enjoy yourselves in the Magical Kingdom. Have a great day, Mister Oscar!”

You pretend to bow as the royal couple take their leave.

*

“I don’t get it,” you say in a fit of anger as you sponge the sweat off your neck. “Why would he- they- come all the way down to Main Street?”

“Forget about it,” Joy soothes as she digs out a tube of original flavoured Pringles from her bag and offers it to you. “Shall we have soju or beer today? And chicken? It’s my treat.”

You take the tube from her and open it, shoving a stack of chips into your mouth, feeling better once you taste the salt. You’re no stranger to getting insulted by children, but somehow today stings more than usual. “I bet Ariel doesn’t get any children telling her she’s trash.”

Joy sighs, but doesn’t say anything.

You gather up your things to leave, pulling your hair back in a drooping ponytail. “Rain check? I’m not really feeling it today.”

“Sure,” Joy agrees, watching you pack your things, not even bothering to hide the tube of Pringles somewhere Jeongguk can’t find it. “Call me when you get back!”

The trek to the train station is longer than usual, lonelier without Joy to accompany you, but it’s better for you to be alone with your thoughts anyway.

*

You’re no stranger to fielding slightly abusive and insulting comments from children. Usually, you’re able to just brush it off because you tell yourself that children don’t really mean what they say. But the past incident has taken a toll on your psyche, and you can feel yourself dragging your feet to work.

On top of the next month’s schedule, you get another email from management asking you to drop by their office before your next shift.

Jeongguk catches you on the way to the management’s office, in the midst of finishing a Dole Whip from the cafeteria. The sight of it reminds you of Jimin and his promise to make up that missed lunch date.

“Here to see management?” Jeongguk asks, following you inside and offering you a spoon of the sweet yellow dessert. You open your mouth grudgingly, and the taste is not bad as it melts on your tongue. It does calm your nerves a little, though.

“Let’s hope it’s nothing bad,” you mumble under your breath.

Knocking on the door, you enter the corporate office, which looks very ordinary. No such trace of the Disney magic here. The receptionist directs you to the head of Character Management.

The head of Character Management is a stern looking lady with her hair pulled back into a bun. Kim Sejeong bids you and Jeongguk to sit down, lacing her fingers together.

“I’ve called the both of you in for some very good news today,” she begins, a hint of a smile on her otherwise serious face. “A career advancement. The two of you are being promoted to face characters.”

Your heart leaps in your chest, and Jeongguk can’t help but grin.

A lucky break. This is what you’ve been waiting for all this time. You can barely contain your excitement as your mind starts to race. Who could it be? Dare you even hope that you might be playing a Disney Princess? You’d be thankful even if it was one of the lesser known princesses. Mulan? Alice in Wonderland?

“First of all, Jeongguk.” She turns her gaze towards the boy with the bunny grin beside you. “You’ll be playing Gaston from now onwards.”

You nearly snort in laughter. Vain, idiotic, attention seeking Gaston who can’t read nor spell his name? It’s a perfect fit for Jeongguk. You can already see him in your mind’s eye, flaunting his muscles and bickering non-stop with the Beast.

Just as long as you don’t have to play Belle.

“And you, Ms _______,” she turns her gaze to you next. Your heart completely stops in your chest, trying to anticipate what’s coming next.

Maybe you’ll finally get a likeable character. Someone like Cinderella, and then kids won’t say mean things to you anymore.

“You’re going to play The Evil Queen, Snow White’s stepmother.”

*

“Oh my god!” Joy can barely contain herself when she hears the news. “I’m so happy for you! Finally, you got a face character!!”

Somehow, you don’t really share her excitement. It’s one of your last few times playing a fur character, and you can’t say you’ll miss it. Jeongguk was the first to break the news to everyone the moment he got back to the dressing room. As one of the first few to be promoted to a face character, it is definitely liberating, but a part of you is unsure of the uncertainty that lies ahead.

“At least you can attend the character crash course together,” Taehyung says gloomily at the prospect of losing his best friend.

“She’s lucky to be accompanied by my dashingly handsome self,” Jeongguk pretends to flex a bicep, already getting into the role of Gaston. It doesn’t seem like he’ll need much training to assimilate.

“It’s the Evil Queen,” you say quietly to Joy. “Who likes her? It’s even worse than Oscar the Grouch.”

Everyone knows that the fur characters occupy the bottom of the hierarchy. But what they don’t acknowledge is that the villains are barely a rung higher than them. It’s even worse now that you won’t have the character costume to hide behind. You’re going to have to step up your acting skills, and actually talk to and interact with guests who might be snarky and even meaner to you now.

“C’mon, it’ll be great for your resume. I can already see it. You’re gonna ace it, then you’ll snag the audition for Maleficient,” Joy is already thinking ahead. “And the role is practically perfect for you! Honestly, I was a little worried because I didn’t see you as the type to go around cooing at little children and hugging them and everything. This suits you way better.”

“Wow, thanks for the compliment,” you shoot back at her.

Joy only sighs. “You know what I mean.”

“We have a bigger problem,” Taehyung interrupts as Jeongguk continues to flex at himself in the mirror. “Who’s gonna take your places? It’ll be like breaking up the Fabulous Five. We won’t even see each other anymore. You’ll be using the huuuge dressing rooms. We’ll become like strangers!”

You sigh at Taehyung’s overreaction. “That won’t happen, Tae. Even if Jeongguk and I graduate from fur characters, it doesn’t mean we won’t hang out anymore. We’ll still come back here after shifts and all. I mean, this is the only dressing room that has a TV!”

“I guess…” Taehyung doesn’t seem convinced. “You’ll still come and visit though right?” He pokes Jeongguk in the ribs, causing the younger boy to flinch in the midst of practicing one of his Gaston poses.

“Of course he will, the bigger dressing rooms don’t have nearly as good a snack selection as we do,” Yoongi says off-handedly from his position stretched out across the couch. “And Jeongguk’s got all his weights stacked in the corner there. It’ll take him ages to move it over.”

As much as Yoongi seems to be aloof most of the time, the eldest crew member actually does seem to have a heart at times. His words do the job of reassuring Taehyung well enough, and the subject is left alone as everyone starts to get ready for their shifts.

“Hey, you on for the all-nighter today?” Jeongguk nudges you with his arm as you slip past him to put away your bag. “We gotta watch Beauty and the Beast and Snow White at least three times each before we start character training.”

“Who said I wanted to watch it with you?” You turn your nose up at him.

“Together? Ew,” Jeongguk expresses his dissatisfaction in a similar manner, scrunching up his nose. “I didn’t mean it like that, you idiot! It’s just, I know for a fact you’re too poor to afford a TV at home, and we happen to have both films on hand here…”

Jeongguk pauses for a moment as he looks at Taehyung, Yoongi and Joy, all of whom are currently absorbed in a discussion of whether the turkey leg tastes better with or without mustard.

“… unless you guys wanted to watch it too?” He has to raise his voice to be heard over Taehyung’s valiant defense of ketchup.

“No thanks, I hate fairytales,” Yoongi grumbles, waving the offer away. You all know Yoongi only came on board because he’d been offered the chance to play Darth Vader, but at the last minute got scammed into Sesame Street.

“Why would we wanna be holed up in here watching the same movie over and over when we could be getting fried chicken?” Joy grins unapologetically, and Taehyung chimes in.

“With extra ketchup!”

“Alright, fine!” You toss one of Jeongguk’s white shirts at him. “I guess it’s just us.”

“… I brought snacks,” he holds up a bag of Pringles with a mischievous smile.

And you’re sold.

*

“Did you actually shower?” Your eyes widen in disbelief as Jeongguk returns to the dressing room after both your shifts have ended, hair wet and dressed in fresh clothes.

“I’m not a slob, you know,” he grumbles as he makes a futile attempt to dry his hair one last time. “I got us some food from the cafeteria on the way back. They had orange chicken from Nine Dragons.”

“Really? That’s different,” you sit up in interest. “Oh my god. Are those pork belly buns too?”

“How’d you know? You never go down to the cafeteria anyway,” Jeongguk opens up another box containing shrimp fried rice, and the whole room smells so good.

“I don’t like navigating that political jungle,” you say with a mouth full of delicious, savoury pork. “You ready? I’m gonna start Snow White first.”

Jeongguk begins to devour the food as the two of you settle in to watch the movie. You have a pen and pad by your side to take down some notes on the Evil Queen’s character, how she interacts with the other characters, and some of her more iconic lines.

She’s overall a very snarky and witty character, and the more you watch, the more you think you might enjoy playing her after all. Her personality is not unlike your own, and some of the things she says are straight up savage.

“Oh! You should definitely call people peasants,” Jeongguk chimes in, a fistful of chips in the air.

“You think? Wouldn’t that be too much?” You are doubtful, but you write it down anyway, figuring you could always run it past the trainer during the sessions.

“Please. You’re a Queen. Everyone else simply must bow,” Jeongguk does a horrible impression of a British accent, which sends you giggling so hard that you nearly drop your plate.

“Maybe I’ll even come by as Gaston and steal all the attention from you. How’s that?” Jeongguk grins cheekily, and you roll your eyes.

“Oh please, as if your ugly face could ever.”

The two of you are laughing so hard that you don’t hear the knock at the door until it creaks open.

“Um… hi?” A familiar, honeyed voice makes you turn around.

It’s Park Jimin, the last person you expected to see. You’re suddenly aware of how this must look, of how you must look, dressed down in your sweats and junk food all over the place.

“Jimin! What are you doing here?” You attempt to straighten your shirt and sit up straight, pausing the movie.

“I know it’s late, but I hoped you’d still be here, so I decided to come and check,” he says shyly, averting his gaze to the floor. “I thought you’d be leaving soon… and maybe we could leave together.”

“We’re in the middle of a movie,” Jeongguk states the obvious, and you slap his wrist to get him to shut up, but he ignores you. “It’s for our character training.”

Realisation dawns across Jimin’s face. “Oh- oh! That’s right! I heard the good news. You’re being promoted to a face character! Congrats, that’s so great. I know you’ll do so well.”

Is he saying that to compliment your acting skills, or is he maybe insinuating that someone like you has the personality akin to an Evil Queen? Knowing pure, sweet Jimin, it’s probably the former, but your traitorous mind can’t help but doubt it.

“Um… thanks,” you smile hesitantly back at him. “I… I saw you as Prince Eric. You were… you were great.”

He blushes cutely, and you can feel Jeongguk rolling his eyes beside you.

“Well, um… glad to have you as a face character too. Maybe we’ll see each other more often. I think our zones are pretty close to each other,” Jimin ruffles his jet-black hair once, bringing your attention to the metal rings on his fingers. “So… see you around!”

“Wait!” You spring up from the couch, making it to the door before he can disappear fully. “I’ll um… I’ll walk you out.”

After not seeing him for more than a month, you can’t let him slip away that easily. Especially not when he looks this good, dressed down in a black shirt and black ripped jeans.

“If you need help with getting used to face characters, I could give you some pointers,” Jimin grins as you start to walk alongside him. “Or if you need help coming up with ‘outs’.”

“’Outs’? What are those?” You’re unfamiliar with the term.

“It’s when someone asks you to do something you’re not allowed to, like accepting food, or even hugs, if you don’t want to,” Jimin explains. “Or if they ask weird questions you don’t know how to answer. Usually it involves weaving in your character’s backstory to make it more believable.”

“Oh wow. I had no idea being a face character would be so difficult,” you can’t help but start to worry about how different it is from what you’re used to.

“It’s not that hard. This girl asked if she could marry me, right in front of Princess Ariel!” Jimin giggles. “Dahyun wasn’t very pleased.”

You go quiet at the mention of her, and the easy, joking atmosphere between the both of you fades. The park is dark and quiet, all the shops are shuttered, and in general, it is a much gloomier and more eerie place than you’re used to.

“Anyway, I think you’ll do a good job.” Jimin has a way with words that always seems to reassure you.

You come to the entrance of the train station, and you stand awkwardly as Jimin looks for his train pass.

“I’ll see you around?” You offer hopefully.

“Of course!” Jimin grins, turning to tap his pass. But then he hesitates. “Hey, um… maybe we should exchange numbers. In case… in case you need help with the training or something.”

“Y-yeah, that’s a great idea,” you fumble for your phone and present it to him, noting how cute his fingers look as he types in his number, giving himself a missed call so he’ll have your number too before he gives it back to you. You notice that he’s named himself in your contacts with a cute little chick emoji.

“I should be getting back now,” you have to stop yourself from fawning over how cute he is.

“Oh yeah! Shouldn’t keep… uh… Jeongguk from waiting too long,” Jimin scratches the back of his neck. “It’s kinda dark, will you be okay walking back alone?”

“I’ll be fine, I do it all the time,” you wave his concern away.

“You should text me when you get back,” Jimin says over his shoulder as he taps his train pass, then crosses the gantry. It’s only then that you realise that he might think you and Jeongguk are something more than friends, judging from the way he said his name.

“Jeongguk! He’s just…” You blurt out, causing Jimin to turn around, a few steps into the train station with a slightly confused look on his face.

Your cheeks are burning as your voice trails off. “He’s um… just a friend.” You finish lamely.

“Oh.”

Maybe it’s a little hard to tell in the dark, but you could have sworn you saw the smile on his face get a little brighter.

*

You can do this. This is only a tiny step of a multitude of challenges to come.

Knocking timidly on the door, you let yourself into the unfamiliar dressing room, Jeongguk close behind you.

“What if they eat us alive?” Jeongguk stage whispers into your ear.

“Don’t be an idiot,” you elbow him in the ribs in irritation as you attempt to swallow back your intimidation, walking to the dressing room with what you hope is a confident stride. “The worst they can do is stare us down.”

It must be at least three times the size of your old dressing room. There are two rows of dressing tables and chairs on their side, with brightly lit mirrors and bottles of makeup gathered neatly on the tables. At the back are two private changing rooms, one male and one female.

A few of the dressing tables are already occupied, and you don’t recognize most of the crew members currently here. But by the looks of their costumes, you gather that they play Princess Jasmine, Cinderella, and Aladdin respectively.

Walking cautiously to one of the dressing tables in the back, you set your bag down, realizing that there are private lockers stowed beneath the dressing tables themselves. You’ve never had this much space for your stuff before, even a dedicated hanger beside the mirror for you to hang your costume.

Jeongguk sets up shop beside you. “This is weird. It’s like there’s too much space.”

“Where’s Taehyung’s junk when you need it?” You attempt to make a joke to ease your own nervousness, even as you pull up a picture of the Evil Queen herself and start working on your makeup the way the character trainers had taught you to.

Being your first time playing her, you want to get everything right, so you make sure to come more than an hour before your shift is due to start. As the next half an hour passes, more and more crew members start to fill up the dressing room, but they keep mostly to themselves, and leave you and Jeongguk alone at the back.

Dark purple eyeshadow, dramatic brows, and red lipstick. You had been practicing this by yourself at home all weekend, so it goes pretty smoothly. To finish, you layer on the blush to complete the look. Now all you have to do is get into your costume in the private changing room.

A purple ankle length dress with sleeves, and a dramatic black cape with a high white collar to match. You have to tie back your hair so that you can secure the headpiece of the costume and affix the golden crown on the top of your head. When you look in the mirror, you don’t even recognize yourself.

You look tall. Intimidating. The thick layer of makeup has completely transformed all your features. You look like the witch from the nightmares you had as a five-year old. You try an experimental swish of your cape, and the resulting action makes you feel powerful.

There is a knock on the changing room door.

“Hello? Are you done in there? We still have to get changed.”

You open the door to see Dahyun’s slightly annoyed face morph into a semblance of a smile as she takes in your appearance. “Wow… um, ________. You look… um… great.”

The girls behind her giggle, and you know it is far from a compliment she’s paying you.

And maybe it’s because going through the ritual of transformation into someone else has truly changed you, because you can almost feel the Evil Queen’s aura that prevents you from doing something you usually would, like lowering your head or scurrying away in shame.

“I know,” you say, and you walk away in a swish of velvet fabric and shocked stares trailing after you.

*

It’s a hot afternoon as usual, but nothing you can’t handle. After being stuck in a stuffy little costume, getting to feel the slight breeze on your cheeks as a face character feels like heaven.

You hang out by the Wishing Well, practicing your cape swirls and finding that you enjoy it a lot more than you’d thought. It’s a quiet start to your first time playing the Evil Queen, and you try not to let the nerves get to you. Most of the visitors just walk by you and smile awkwardly without doing anything.

Your first customer is a child wearing the trademark Mickey Mouse ears. She approaches you timidly, holding out a red apple to you. The Evil Queen never smiles, so you glance down at the child, clasping a hand to your chest as your eyes widen in approval.

“Why hello there child, is that apple for me?”

The child nods so hard that their Mickey Ears nearly fall off, and you have to admit, they are kind of cute.

“Are you absolutely sure? Well then, thank you very much, I must say you have great taste. Even if you do like to wear rat ears on your head…” You take the apple gently from the child and raise it high in the air. “Behold! The most gorgeous apple in the kingdom, only suitable for the fairest queen in the land of course!”

You glance down at the child again, who seems to be more than excited that you accepted their gift. “Would you like a picture child? Alright then, where is your caretaker?”

The child grasps a fistful of your cloak in their hands as she points to her parents, waving a camera, and you pose for the picture, arms folded regally and eyebrows raised. When you see that the child kind of just freezes up for the camera, you take it upon yourself to bend down so that you are eye level with her, gently helping her to fold her arms and copy your facial expression.

You can feel her parent’s laughs of delight when they finally take your picture again, the child a carbon copy of your regal and intimidating self. When they come to collect their child, they flash you a grateful smile, and that tiny bit of affirmation is all you need.

After the ice has been broken, you feel much more at ease with the crowd. A few more people approach you for pictures, and you manage to maintain a friendly bicker with them while still staying in character. You ask for compliments, admiring yourself in their front view cameras, dissing Snow White when they bring her up, and when they leave, they bring a new crowd in along with them, all of whom are entertained by how self-absorbed and vain you are.

“Queen, queen! Oh, my queen,” a teenage girl raises her hand. “Who do you think is better looking, you or Gaston?”

“Gaston!?” You gasp in horror dramatically. “That terrible excuse for a man? You must be joking.”

“But I asked him, and he said he thinks he’s the most handsome!”

You wave them away with a roll of your eyes. “Oh please. Have you seen that pathetic little stallion tail he has for hair?”

“I heard someone was talking about me?” A loud, blasting voice sounds from behind you, and you turn to see Jeon Jeongguk dressed up as Gaston approaching, hands on his hips.

His costume consists of a large amount of shoulder and chest padding, and his red tunic is stretched tight across his naturally huge thighs. You have to say, he does have the body to play Gaston, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t look ridiculous. You almost want to burst out in laughter, but somehow you manage to keep it in.

“Only about how ugly you are,” you say with a wave of your cape.

“Ugly?” Jeongguk is affronted. “That is a word I’ve never heard in my life.”

“With how small your vocabulary is, I’m not surprised,” you examine your flawless nails, and smirk in satisfaction when a few people around you clap in delight at your comeback.

“Look at all these people here to see me!” Jeongguk goes on as if he never heard you, spreading his arms to flex his biceps to welcome the cheers of the crowd. More and more people are now gathering around the two of you. “They must be amazed by how handsome I am.”

“They are here to see me,” you clarify. “That is, before you barged in so uncouthly. Don’t you have better things to do? Like groom that monstrosity of a dog in your backyard?”

“Did she just refer to the Beast as a dog?” Hushed whispers and giggles come from around you, and you don’t have to do much to hide your smirk.

“They’re admiring the size of my muscles, of course!” He strikes a pose down on one knee, flexing one bicep, and some of the girls actually swoon at his good looks. A part of you secretly thinks that he ignored the second part of your insult because he doesn’t know how to respond to it in an appropriate PG manner. Instead, he focuses on making sure everyone around him can see him flexing his biceps.

You can tell that he is enjoying every bit of the attention he gets, as some of the crowd ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s at his show, and the competitive spirit inside you gets ignited.

“A true Queen does not need to compliment herself, for she has her servants to do it for her,” you gesture at the crowd impatiently. “Well? Compliment me!”

“The fairest in all the land!”

“Snow White is ugly!”

“My Queen, you are so beautiful!”

With every compliment, you nod in approval, and it’s clear the crowd is having a great time. Some of them are even recording your impromptu little skit with Gaston.

It’s the most fun you’ve had playing a character since you started working here. For once, you can kind of let go and be yourself without worrying if you’ll be good enough.

Jeongguk gathers his little fanclub that has formed around him. “Come on, let’s go tell Belle how handsome I am.” He struts off, one arm around a girl each as they follow him back to his zone giddily.

“Ugh, good riddance,” you sigh and continue to admire yourself in a mirror someone gives you. “I dislike him almost as much as Snow White.”

Some of the crowd actually looks a bit upset when Gaston leaves, and you observe with slight surprise that they really enjoyed this impromptu skit between you. You make a mental note to yourself to talk about this with Jeongguk after your shift, to see how the both of you can arrange more regular visits for him in the future. The fact that both of your characters aren’t even in the same story means you have even more freedom to come up with their interactions.

The afternoon passes quickly, and you feel more settled into your role, even starting to have fun once you realise that you can pretty much just make up your lines on the spot. It’s even more enjoyable once you realise that playing a villain is essentially getting paid to insult visitors.

You’re just about to get ready to end your shift when you spot a large crowd approaching your area. At the very front, you spot Dahyun as Ariel, striking with her red wig and flowing green dress, and slightly behind her is-

Your throat closes up as you see Jimin in his prince costume again, the navy blue of his blazer making his white ruffled dress shirt stand out even more. His black hair is side parted, his eyes are smiling as he trails after his partner. It’s been a while since you last saw him in character, but he never fails to take your breath away.

When Dahyun spots you at the Wishing Well, you can almost swear that she slows down, turning behind her to reach out a hand to Jimin. At first the prince doesn’t notice her outstretched hand, as he leans to take a selfie with a visitor, but once he catches sight of it, he takes her hand without a second thought, tucking it into the crook of his arm in one smooth, natural motion.

You school your features into a look of disdain, but you don’t even have to pretend to begin with.

Making sure that they are within ear shot, you swish your cape in disinterest. “Does anyone smell anything fishy? Oh. It’s that fish-girl.”

You swear you can actually see the look of shock cross her pretty features, and she opens her mouth, but no words come out.

“Gaping like a fish too,” you say with a wave of your hand, and the visitors around you gasp at your savage comment. “Begone, trespasser, shouldn’t you be in an aquarium somewhere?”

Some of the visitors near you are laughing and even taking videos of you, and they are just loving the savagery that you dish out. Their impressed murmurs only serve to boost your confidence, especially when you see Dahyun’s reaction.

She only attempts to smile prettily at the crowd, unable to come up with a witty comeback, but you can see her grin is forced and doesn’t reach her eyes.

You haven’t dared to look straight at Jimin yet, but your eyes land on their joined hands instead. Clasping a hand to your chest in disgust, you roll your eyes. “Ugh, they’re holding hands. Someone please remove them from my presence.”

And then, even as you’re trying your very best not to look at the one person who has undoubtedly captured all your attention, your eyes can’t help but be drawn to the way his eyes widen when he sees you.

Suddenly a bead of insecurity creeps up in your chest. Surely he must think you look revolting like this. That’s what everyone thinks when they see a Disney villain. You are, quite literally, playing the villain in the love story between him and Dahyun. You might not be from the same fairytale, but the idea is there.

She’s the princess, he’s the prince.

And you’re the villain.

The two of them approach your Wishing Well at a steady pace, Jimin’s pretty eyes have now thankfully returned to their normal size as he runs his hand through his silky black hair, waving and blowing kisses to the crowd. He doesn’t even spare you a single glance, and it stings.

You can imagine your face is a really bright shade of purple, if your emotions are anything to judge by.

“Ma-madam,” a whimpering child approaches hesitantly at your feet, and you nearly startle. You didn’t see them approach, all your attention being focused on the prince and his princess.

“Yes, child, what is it,” your voice coming out a little more huffy than you wanted it to. But still, no one around you sees this as out of character, and you suddenly remember who you’re supposed to be playing.

You’re allowed to be a little mean.

“Are you… are you a witch?” The child’s large, inquisitive eyes gaze up at you, and you stare back at her with your chin lifted high.

Jimin and Dahyun are within earshot now. You can feel as if the crowd is holding its breath expectantly, waiting for your answer.

“A witch?” Your voice rises, scandalized. You do a graceful swish of your cape as you spin around, arms spread dramatically. “How can a witch be this beautiful, child?”

It’s a lie. All of it is a lie, because you don’t feel the least bit beautiful. Especially not in this getup, especially not in front of Dahyun with her porcelain skin and fiery red hair that compliments it so well.

But the crowd eats it up with cheers and laughter, clapping and chanting your character’s name. All the attention is now on you, and the prince and his princess are left to pass by quietly.

Maybe your acting skills have improved, but you’re pretty sure that you’re the only one in the whole crowd who didn’t buy that act one bit.

*

“You’re viral!!! Oh my god. Have you SEEN this?” You’re attacked by some kind of rabid animal the moment you step into the fur character’s changing room.

It turns out to be only Joy, who seems beside herself with excitement. She’s currently still in her Oscar costume with the head off, that’s why you mistook her for a rabid animal in the first place. The fur of her costume nearly suffocates you as she’s all up in your face.

It’s late, you’ve just finished your last shift and all you want to do is collapse on the couch for a few minutes before you have to muster up the energy for the train ride home. Today took more out of you than you realized.

“You’re viral,” Taehyung grunts from a corner, attempting a few sets with Jeongguk’s weights that are clearly too heavy for him. “She’s been saying that over and over for the past few hours.”

“What are you talking about?” You say wearily, trying to focus on the phone that Joy is waving around in your face before you just grab it from her in your impatience.

It’s a Youtube video titled “EVIL QUEEN PUTS GASTON IN HIS PLACE” and it was just uploaded only a few hours ago. But it already has a million views and counting.

Slightly more awake now, you start to focus on the short three-minute video. It was just taken today, and you hear yourself insulting Gaston for a bit, before actually bickering with him when he shows up. The camera work is shaky, clearly taken by someone in the audience.

“Did you read the comments yet?” Joy says breathlessly as she peeks over your shoulder. “Read them. They’re gold.”

You start to scroll down to the comment section, your heart racing as you read them.

disneylover012: Oh my god. The Evil Queen is the best. She’s so savage!!

walkingonsunshine: Imagine getting paid to be mean to visitors. I LOVE HER

starwarsfan48: We need more of this. MORE

chipndale29: I’m gonna go to Disney tomorrow just to see her!!!!

sunnyreds: she and Gaston are actually kinda cute together… arguing like a married couple. They should totally date!! (4 replies)

        potatocakes: imagine if they ACTUALLY WERE DATING IRL

        luckycat7: THAT’S SOOOO CUTE OMG I TOTALLY SHIP THEM

chimchim013: why’s everyone saying they should date??? They’re probably just friends in real life…

nochu019: @chimchim013 lol don’t hate him just cuz u ain’t him… I ship them too

“Oh my God, they ship you and Gaston,” Joy is falling over herself with laughter, and you put aside the phone for a moment to help her get out of her costume, seeing the threat that she poses to anyone in her near vicinity.

“Who ships us?” Jeongguk arrives with his hair wet and shirt clinging to his body. He dumps his bag at the door and plops himself onto the couch.

You feel a little weird after reading that comment. Joy is safely out of her costume by now, and you hand her back the phone. “Nothing. Just some random people on Youtube.”

“They aren’t just some random people,” Joy admonishes. That’s the top liked comment, and that video has a million views now. And counting. _______, you’re famous!!!!!! The star of our little park!!!!!”

“Not forgetting who else starred in that video, are we,” Jeongguk raises an eyebrow, popping open the lid of a Pringles can. “I was, after all, your co-star.”

“Oh shut up, you were totally getting owned- hey wait. We didn’t even show you the video yet. Why do you seem like you already know which video that is?” You narrow your eyes in suspicion, turning to look at Jeongguk.

Jeongguk turns red immediately, stuffing his face with more of your chips. “Mmf- happened to see it…”

There’s a loud clank in the corner as Taehyung gives up on working out. He massages his biceps as he paces around the room, eyes bright with excitement. “This is huge. Bigger than we could have ever imagined!!!” He grabs you by the shoulders. “________, you might even win Employee of the Month if you keep this up! The crowd loves you!”

“Oh please,” you wave away their optimism with a hand. “It was only one video.”

“It’s not just one video,” Joy corrects you as she scrolls furiously on her phone. “This account also uploaded another one. This time it’s called…”

Joy gets cut off with a snort of laughter. “Oh my god, you bad bitch.”

The door opens, and Yoongi walks in, hair in a mess and eyes half-open. “Who’s a bad bitch?”

“_________!” Joy squeals. “You fucking called Ariel a fish.”

“No way,” Taehyung grabs the phone to see for himself.

EVIL QUEEN DISSES PRINCESS ARIEL, CALLS HER A FISH

“…Oh. It’s that fish girl.” You hear your voice blasted loudly, and then the rest of the video is drowned out by boisterous laughter, cheers and screaming.

It’s chaos. Taehyung is running around the room. Joy is jumping up and down, replaying the video over and over. Jeongguk is rolling with laughter on the couch and falls off, knocking his knee on the table. Yoongi, true to his quiet self, only smirks at you with a look that resembles admiration, a tall order for the man of few words.

“Not bad. Guess you are serious about getting your man.”

“Wh-what?” Oh my god, guys shut up for a fucking second,” you say to your friends, but they aren’t having it. They are completely beside themselves with mirth, and a part of you can’t help but smile either. The animosity between fur and face characters has been an ongoing war ever since you joined. A video like this going viral just feels like a score for you and zilch for them.

“I thought we’d lost you and Jeongguk over to the Dark Side when you got promoted to face characters,” Taehyung says, still half doubled over from the exertion, face red. “But now it’s totally us against them. You’re a double agent!”

“She’s a fucking champ is what she is,” Jeongguk says with a look of pride on his face. “Insulting them while keeping character. I don’t know how she does that.”

You don’t really have much to say as you watch your friends replay the video over and over, but there is a warmth in your chest as they celebrate and dance. A warmth that completely erases the feelings of insecurity still lingering after seeing how beautiful Dahyun was today. The validation from your friends is just what you needed to chase those doubts away, and you plop yourself down on the couch, snuggling closer to Jeongguk as you settle in to watch the rest of the videos uploaded by that account.

Yoongi only partially grumbles about all of you squeezing onto one couch, but even you can see the tiny, proud gummy smile on his face as he watches from his standing position behind you all.

There may be shitty moments in this job. But moments like this make it all worth it, and you tell yourself to hold on to it no matter what.

*

Jimin collapses into a chair in the dressing room. To be honest, he prefers the fur character’s dressing room to this one. Always cosy, with that soft couch perfect for taking a nap in between shifts. And the main plus point: the people. Ever since he got promoted to a face character he felt weird going back there, but it seems like you and Jeongguk still treat it as your dressing room. He hardly ever sees you in here, even when your shifts match.

A bigger dressing room also means more people, and more strangers. It’s noisy, impossible to relax for a moment in between shifts. So he pulls out his earphones and plugs it into his phone, opening Youtube and idly browsing his homefeed.

He comes across an interesting video that catches his eye immediately.

EVIL QUEEN PUTS GASTON IN HIS PLACE

That’s you in the thumbnail. He’d know your face anywhere. Jimin clicks on it, and the video begins to play. You and Gaston are bickering away, back and forth with an undeniable chemistry, and Jimin feels a lump growing in his throat.

It’s partially overshadowed by the pride when he notices that it’s gone viral, over two million views now, and he grins happily. Watches the way you throw yourself into your acting, how confident you look making up your lines impromptu.

His mistake is when he decided to scroll through the comments.

sunnyreds: she and Gaston are actually kinda cute together… arguing like a married couple. They should totally date!! (2 replies)

        potatocakes: imagine if they ACTUALLY WERE DATING IRL

        luckycat7: THAT’S SOOOO CUTE OMG I TOTALLY SHIP THEM

He frowns. You and Jeongguk? Hm. Not if he has anything to say about it.

He types furiously on his phone and presses submit before he has a chance to think twice about it. Satisfied with his reply, he continues watching to the end of the video, but not before another ping interrupts him.

It’s a notification that someone has replied to his comment. He opens it and scrunches his brow in disapproval.

sunnyreds: she and Gaston are actually kinda cute together… arguing like a married couple. They should totally date!! (4 replies)

        potatocakes: imagine if they ACTUALLY WERE DATING IRL

        luckycat7: THAT’S SOOOO CUTE OMG I TOTALLY SHIP THEM

chimchim013: why’s everyone saying they should date??? They’re probably just friends in real life…

nochu019: @chimchim013 lol don’t hate him just cuz u ain’t him… I ship them too

He starts typing furiously again but can’t come up with anything intelligent to say. Finally, he deletes everything and clicks on the offending user’s screenname to check out his channel.

It’s primarily focused on gaming and streaming, although their latest video does look like it was taken in Disneyland itself. Jimin sees a familiar silhouette in the corner of the video’s thumbnail and clicks on the video to get a better view, though the figure is never clearly outlined.

Frustrated he scrolls through the rest of the channel’s videos, but it’s all lame gaming streams.

It’s probably just a loser gaming nerd, Jimin tells himself as he returns to the viral video of the Evil Queen. Nothing to get worked up over.

He’s interrupted by the timer on his phone signalling his next shift, and he sighs, tossing it away and starting to get ready.

*

The view count only goes up and up. Throughout the weeks that follow, more of your fan accounts pop up, uploading numerous videos of you sparring with Gaston, entertaining the crowd solo, insulting and bickering with guests. The list goes on, and your fanbase grows bigger.

Now you have a sizeable crowd at the Wishing Well every time your shift comes on. It energizes you, gives you the motivation to act better, think of wittier lines. The recognition that you’re getting every day makes you shine even brighter, giving you the hope to aspire towards your eventual big-picture dream of Broadway.

“It’s totally possible,” Joy gushes as she takes off her makeup at the end of the day.

You’re sitting on the couch in the small living area, face already scrubbed clean of all your makeup. You tear into a face mask and carefully align it on your face. With the extra makeup that comes with playing a face character, you also run the risk of breaking out more, and blemishes are even harder to cover. So you put more effort into your skincare routine to make sure that your skin is as flawless as can be.

“With all this fame you have, you could totally have an edge at auditioning for Broadway,” Joy continues on.

“Maybe…” you say, closing your eyes and tipping your head back for a moment of relaxation. “No one knows it’s me playing the Evil Queen. They can’t find out my name, or Disney will fire me. You know the rules.”

“Yeah, you could send it in as a highlight reel or an audition tape,” Joy answers. “Those are kept private anyway, so the public won’t find out. Win-win.”

You roll over to face her. “You think that’ll work?”

Her response is interrupted by a polite knock at the door of the small dressing room. You both know that none of you ever knock before entering, so whoever is outside must be a visitor.

“I’ll get it,” you say, walking toward the door and opening it.

“Um, hi.” It’s Park Jimin again, hands awkwardly in his pockets and looking freshly showered in a black shirt and ripped jeans. His favourite combo. “I thought I might find you here.”

You hastily rip off your face mask, cheeks turning red at your disheveled appearance compare to his flawless one. “Hey! Um, yeah haha guess I’m pretty predictable!”

You almost cringe at your awkwardness. Jimin only smiles gently, eyes looking past you into the room.

“Are you busy?”

“Um… no! Not really. Just relaxing after my shift, Joy’s here too, you know her, right?”

Jimin acknowledges her with a nod. “Actually, I kind of ran into senior management just now, and they asked me if you were still in the park. I think they want to see you and it seemed kind of urgent, so I came over to see if you were here.”

A slight tinge of disappointment makes itself known in your chest. So Jimin didn’t come here to look for you, he only came because senior management asked him to.

“They- they want to see me? I didn’t get any email from them though…” you pull out your phone and check it, only to realise it’s out of battery. “Oh. No wonder. Um… sure. I’ll go see them right now. Thanks for letting me know.”

You start to slip past him, but he catches your arm halfway.

“I’ll walk with you, if you don’t mind,” he says with a shy little smile, flipping his hair off his forehead with one hand.

“You sure? I don’t want to hold you up… you must be tired.” Both of you start to stroll toward the head offices.

Jimin smiles companionably, taking a deep breath of the crisp, cold air. “I’m okay. Not that tired. It’s a really fun job, and seeing the crowd gives me energy. So I always end the day with more energy than I started it with.”

You can kind of relate to what he’s referring to, and for the first time you realise how important it is to receive so much love and attention from your audience. “Yeah, totally. It’s like a two-way dialogue. You give the audience your all, and they give it back to you tenfold.”

“Exactly!” He grins at you with a little skip in his step. “You’ve been killing it lately. I heard you’re going super viral on Youtube. The first video of you and Gaston has, what- five million views?”

“Oh, yeah… it’s crazy. I have no idea how that happened,” you blush a little under his intense gaze, focusing on the path in front of you instead.

“I know how it happened, your acting skills are amazing,” Jimin says with a shrug, saying it as if it’s obvious. “Watching you makes me feel like you were born to act. When you’re acting, you just steal the spotlight even if there isn’t a stage. I think you should give yourself more credit.”

He turns to you with a sweet smile, eyes warm. It almost makes you stumble over a non-existent rock.

“Thankfully neither you nor the crowd are mind readers, because I was doubting myself like crazy that day,” you attempt to laugh it off, but your confession only makes Jimin even more curious, his hand brushing against yours. You ignore the hitch in your voice. “It was more like tiny little questions. ‘Like is this okay? Am I doing a good job? Was that too mean? Do they hate me?’ ”

“Wow- that’s… I couldn’t tell at all,” Jimin admits. “From the outside you just looked like you were born to be there. You looked so confident and comfortable in your own skin, and… it was attractive.”

Your heart skips multiple beats as you shakily bring yourself to make eye contact with him. Jimin is still looking at you, and the words are left unsaid between the two of you, but his gaze makes it loud and clear.

I was attracted to you.

You’re saved from a response as you approach the head office. Thinking he’d probably do the normal thing and leave now, you turn to say goodbye to him, but Jimin follows you into the office.

“I can stay a little. Don’t have anything after this anyway,” he says with an easy smile, and part of you is glad, because you’re nervous at the thought of meeting with senior management.

Though you’ll have to go in alone, the thought of Jimin waiting outside for you makes you a little less anxious.

“Good evening, _________,” the head of Character Management, Kim Sejeong greets you.

It’s strange to be meeting with management so often, the last time being when you got promoted. But this time, the rest of the management is also in the room, sitting on either side of a long table, looking important and intimidating.

“Hi- Good evening, I believe you wanted to see me?” Your voice comes out small, and you hate it.

“Yes, we have some very great news for you,” Kim Sejeong smiles tightly as she ushers you to a seat at the end of the table. “I’ll let our director of HR deliver it himself.”

His nameplate reads Jung Hoseok. He clears his throat, adjusting his tie as he smiles at you. “Congratulations, ________. You’ve been made employee of the month.”

There’s a stunned silence for a moment as you digest the news. Finally, you bring yourself to utter a response. “Um… I… wow, this is amazing, I had no idea… Thank you so much, Mr Jung.”

Jung Hoseok laces his fingers together, smiling again as he looks at the other members of the senior management. “I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’ve definitely noticed how you are shining in your new assignment. We’ve taken note that you’ve gone viral, and we estimate that park visitation numbers have gone up by 5% ever since you were promoted. You’ve brought very good publicity for our park, and we think you deserve this title.”

“In fact, we decided to modify the title slightly, you’re now employee of the month for the next three months. Of course, we’ll be announcing your title in the official staff newsletter later this month, but we just thought you’d like to know in advance,” Sejeong interjects smoothly.

This has to be a dream. Some cruel nightmare where everything is ripped away from you at the very last second. There’s no way something this good can happen to you… is there?

“It’s not just a title,” Jung Hoseok corrects himself. “I’m not sure if you’re aware, but the Employee of the Month is also rewarded with a small voucher. But since this is Employee of the Month for the next three months, we thought the prize should be similarly inflated.”

You glance at Sejeong expectantly, not daring to get your hopes up. What could it be? Cash? A month off work? A bonus?

“Two pairs of VIP tickets to Disneyland, redeemable at any time with no expiry,” Jung Hoseok grins as if he thinks he’s awarding you the Nobel Peace Prize. “And, a free night’s stay at the Disneyland hotel, two rooms inclusive.”

You’ve never really been a fan of Disneyland and its hotels, but this is slightly ridiculous. The reward for doing well at work is… getting to spend more time at work? You supposed you can always sell the tickets or something… you just have to find a way to be discreet about it.

You realise that a longer than socially acceptable amount of time has passed in which you’ve just been staring at senior management, and you clear your throat, mentally slapping yourself out of your stupor.

“Thank you, Mr Jung. I truly… truly appreciate this, it’s such an honour,” you force the words out alone with a stiff smile on your face.

Jung Hoseok seems satisfied with your gratitude. “Thank you, Ms______. Please keep up the good work. Well, that’s all we have for you today, unless there’s anything on your side, Sejeong?”

“Nope, nothing from me,” Sejeong shakes her head. “You may go now.”

You thank them one more time before letting yourself out of the room, still trying to process everything. Jimin sees the slightly overwhelmed look on your face, and he immediately meets you at your side, arm around your shoulder to guide you to the door.

“You okay? It wasn’t bad news, right?” He asks, worried.

“No… no it wasn’t. Quite the opposite, actually,” you say still in a daze. “I was awarded Employee of the Month. For the next three months.”

“Oh my god. That’s amazing! You totally deserve it!” Jimin expresses his joy with his entire body, skipping ahead of you a few paces and even doing a spin, giggling in that cute way of his.

“It is,” you smile, genuinely happy now. “But get this, guess what was the reward.”

“A 13th month bonus?” Jimin guesses excitedly, his eyes bright.

“Two pairs of VIP tickets to Disneyland. And two hotel rooms, one night stay,” you say in a deadpan manner. “I know, right? How stingy. Employees already get a 20% discounted rate off everything, and yet…”

“You could always sell them. Or, I mean… take the chance to just be a normal person at Disney. I guess that’s easier said than done, with all the things that we’ve seen as cast members…” Jimin bites his lip in a way that highlights how plush they are.

“A normal person at Disney?” You’re intrigued by the idea as the two of you start to walk back towards the cast member’s dressing rooms. “I’ve never really thought of that before. I mean, this is our workplace, so I don’t think I could ever think of it as a place to have fun.”

“I could show you, i-if you wanted,” Jimin stumbles over his words, and you can see a slight blush on his cheeks as his smile rounds them out gently. “I think it’d be fun. To just forget what we’re really here for and enjoy the park as Walt Disney himself intended it.”

From anyone else, those words would have rubbed you the wrong way. But coming from Park Jimin, it’s genuine because you can tell he really believes that this park was meant to bring joy to people.

And after all, spending a day with Park Jimin in Disney doesn’t sound all that bad. Especially when you think of the hotel room waiting for you after.

“I think it’s a deal,” you grin at him, a fluttering in your stomach when you see his face light up.

*

“Oh my god. Please,” Jeongguk begs, practically on his knees in front of you. “I’d kill to stay in a Disney hotel just once. And besides, this would be great for my channel!”

“You have a channel?” You frown at him. This is news.

“I recently just started one! It’s mainly gaming for now, but I thought of branching out into vlogging too! And what better place to vlog than Disney itself?” Jeongguk grins and stretches his arms, spinning in the small dressing room and nearly knocking Yoongi off his feet.

The older man glares as he shields his Americano with his body. “Count me out. Spending more time in this place is the last thing I want.”

You sigh under your breath. “Me too, bud.”

“C’mon, you have three tickets! Just give one to me, and Tae and Joy can take the other two! It’s perfect!” Jeongguk folds his arms petulantly, as if he can’t believe you haven’t done the math. “We can do the ‘Eat Everything at Disney Challenge’ and then crash in the hotel room at night. It’ll be like old times again, just way fancier!”

“We can just sneak Yoongi hyung in for the ‘crash at hotel’ part,” Taehyung chimes in. “We’ll get snacks and alcohol and shit. It’ll be great!”

“Um… well, about that…” you shift your weight from foot to foot. “I… kind of only have two tickets left.”

“What? Where’d the last one go?” Jeongguk immediately questions this unexpected wrench in his well laid plans.

This catches Yoongi’s attention too, and he stops scrolling on his phone to fix his eyes on you. Eyebrow raised, as if he can tell what you’re going to say next.

“I don’t think you have any other friends than us,” Jeongguk is thinking hard, and you punch him in the shoulder just for that comment.

“It’s Park Jimin, that’s who,” Joy pipes up from the corner as she’s examining her skin for any breakouts.

Jeongguk frowns. “Wait. Prince Eric? He’s your friend? You guys are close?”

Yoongi snorts at that naïve response. “Dude, she has the biggest boner for him. Everyone in the crew knows that. Well, except for you and him, I guess.”

“Shut up, everyone does not know that!” You throw a cushion at Yoongi, but he raises an arm to deflect it, unbothered as always. “I’m gonna put salt in your Americano tomorrow.”

“Two slots and three people, that’s gonna be interesting,” Yoongi says, going back to his phone.

“Well, I volunteer Tae as tribute. He’s the only one whose shift doesn’t match ours for the next month,” Joy shoots you a quick glance as she says this, and you understand what she’s getting at immediately.

If it’s just you, Jimin and the two brats, you’ll be spending the whole day taking care of them like they’re your overgrown children. But with Joy along, hopefully she can distract Jeongguk long enough for you and Jimin to have some time together, and hopefully even hit the end goal of-

“Oh, right…” Taehyung says with slumped shoulders. “Who plans the shifts anyway? Why’d I have to be left out this time?”

Feeling a little guilty for all the unspoken planning going on between you and Joy, you ruffle Taehyung’s hair fondly. “Hey. You can still join us at night. We’ll just sneak you guys all in.”

You almost regret the words coming out of your mouth the moment you say it, because Joy shoots you an ‘are you sure about this’ look. You return her look with a shrug. As much as you want Jimin, it doesn’t feel right to exclude your friends like this, friends who have been like a family to you.

You’ll just have to find a way to get Jimin alone, because this is your best chance.

*

“Hey everyone! What’s up guys, today we’re doing a ‘Eat Everything at Disney Challenge’!! Woohoo!” Jeongguk’s boisterous voice attracts the attention of a few other people around him.

He holds out his vlogging camera further to capture the rest of the party. Joy is walking beside him, doing a great job of being the physical buffer between Jeongguk, you and Jimin. She waves half-heartedly, more concerned with shielding herself from the merciless sun with her sunhat and making sure Jeongguk doesn’t crash into anything while mindlessly vlogging.

You’re a few paces away with Jimin, matching your pace to his and already feeling the exhilaration of the day ahead. Even just walking beside him is enough to get your heart racing. Today he’s dressed up slightly more, in a white button-down shirt with cut-off khaki shorts that show off his muscled thighs. To complete the look, his black hair is parted in the middle, showing off his forehead, black sunglasses hung on the vee of his white button down shirt.

“Did I miss the memo or something?” Jimin turns to you with an amused smile on his lips. They look soft, pink and even a little glossy, as if he’d taken the time to apply some tinted lip balm. “Eat everything at Disney Challenge?”

“Don’t worry, I missed it too. If I’d known, I would have worn something a lot looser than this,” you gesture down at yourself. If only Jimin knew that you had spent hours agonizing over your outfit last night, panic calling Joy for help and realizing that you have absolutely zero date worthy clothes in your closet.

It figures because the last time you went out for something other than work and auditions and grocery shopping was never.

Finally, you’d settled on a yellow plaid dress with thin straps to fight off the summer heat, and sneakers to make walking a little easier.

“You look great though,” Jimin says boldly, biting his lower lip. “How about this: he’s here for the all you can eat challenge. We’re here on a date.”

The words make your stomach flutter dangerously, as if you’re on Space Mountain just before the big drop. There’s something slightly different about Jimin today, he’s a sassier, more flirty version of himself, and it only makes you wish you could have come alone with him even more.

*

No more shy smiles or cute grins today, Park Jimin is going all out in his flirting. He’s going to get the girl today, Jeon Jeongguk be damned.

The four of you stop at a churro stand, and Jeongguk announces to the camera that it’s the first stop of the day.

Jimin’s never been one for the sugary treat, but he spies an opportunity as Jeongguk begins to scarf down his churro on camera, getting sugar all over his shirt.

“Hi, can I have one pineapple churro please?” He asks before turning to you. “Share one with me?”

“Sure,” you shrug as Jeongguk approaches the two of you, his original flavour churro already gone.

“What’d you guys get?” Jeongguk squeezes himself in between you and Jimin. “Oh. Pineapple? I didn’t know they had that flavour.”

Jimin hands over some cash to the vendor and takes the still warm, yellow churro dusted in bright yellow sugar. “They have all different kinds of flavours, look.” He points to the menu board on top of the booth. “Hey, you know what’d be cool Jeongguk?”

“Hmm?” Jeongguk turns to him with a questioning look in his eyes.

“You should try all the different flavoured churros, it’d be a really cool addition to the vlog!”

Jeongguk lights up at the suggestion. “Why didn’t I think of that?” He turns to the vendor and points at the menu. “Can I have one in every flavour? Oh, and employee discount please.”

“Sure, but we’re fresh out of churros and it’ll take about fifteen minutes to make the next batch, would you be okay with waiting, sir?”

Jimin discreetly tugs at your hand and pulls you away with him while Jeongguk haggles with the vendor about the waiting time, too preoccupied to even notice the two of you.

A safe distance away, Jimin grins as he glances you up and down as if he suddenly realized something. “Here. Take this.”

He shoves the churro at you, and you take it from him, brows knitted in confusion.

“It matches your outfit, and you look really cute. I wanna take a picture of you,” Jimin explains with a giggle as he takes his phone out of his pocket, positioning you so that the Magic Castle is directly behind you. “One, two three…”

You make him laugh in his signature way, with his entire body, when you pretend to play the churro like a flute. He snaps a few more pictures with a satisfied smile on his face, and you drop the pose, walking over to him to check the picture and half hoping you don’t look horrible.

“So pretty, see,” Jimin shows you a candid of you laughing at him laughing, and you realise it’s the happiest you’ve seen yourself lately. His proximity as he shows you the other pictures makes your heart race, and you almost don’t want to move away.

To cover up your fluttering nerves, you take a bite of the churro, feeling the sugar melt on your tongue, and the tangy taste of pineapple spread across your tastebuds.

“Good?” Jimin asks, putting his phone away, casually letting his arm skim past your waist as he tucks it into his pocket. “Lemme try?”

Before you can offer your end of the churro to him, he closes one hand around your wrist and lifts the other end of the churro to his lips, taking a bite of it. The sugar dusts his plush lips, and he maintains direct eye contact with you as he chews, his smoldering eyes such a contrast with the cute bulge of his cheek full of churro.

The slight height difference means the churro is tilted in between the two of you, and your end of the churro remains slightly out of your reach. Feeling as if his eyes are daring you to, you lean forward slightly and take a bite from your side while he takes another bite from his end.

God damn if this isn’t the most romantic thing you’ve ever done. You’d thought these things only happen in movies. Feeling your cheeks heat up from his stare, you break away first and brush some sugar off your chin.

“It’s really good,” Jimin comments, licking his lips to get every bit of sugar. “Tastes just like the Dole Whip. Pineapple’s really good for you too.”

“It is?” You ask before you can fully comprehend what he’s said, mind already addled by his close proximity and how outrageously cheesy he’s being. You see a stray granule of sugar on his bottom lip, and without thinking, brush it away with your thumb.

Jimin pairs his answer with another bite of the pineapple churro, a slight smirk on his lips as he chews. “Yeah, it tastes good, and it makes you taste good too.”

You understand his double entendre immediately and wonder where the hell this side of Park Jimin was all along. A moment ago, everything was straight out of a rom-com movie, and a second later he’s looking at you like you’re the lead actors of Fifty Shades.

“Hey guys, I got it!” Jeongguk bounds over with his two fists full of churros, his camera balanced dangerously in the crook of his elbow. Joy trails behind with a slightly apologetic look on her face at not being able to successfully keep him busy. “Guys, can you film me? I’m gonna try to break the world record for eating churros the fastest.”

You oblige, stepping away from Jimin to rescue the camera from Jeongguk. “There’s such a record? What’s the time to beat?”

“Dunno,” Jeongguk shrugs, his eyes already focused on the multi-coloured churros in his hands. There’s pineapple, plum, green apple, strawberry and blue raspberry. “I’ll make one if there isn’t.”

“Don’t choke, Kook,” you caution him, taking out a bottle of water from your bag just in case, and position him in the camera frame. “Three… two… one… action!”

Jimin looks over your shoulder at the camera’s viewfinder as Jeongguk begins to scoff down the churros at record speed. In the blink of an eye, he’s already downed three, and he shoves the last two in his mouth at the same time, chewing furiously as if he’s eating two Pocky sticks at the same time.

“And… time!” You call out, figuring he can just add in the timer below later in post editing. You keep recording though, and hand him the bottle of water with your free hand.

Jeongguk looks satisfied with himself, though his eyes land on how close Jimin is standing behind you as he chugs the water. With a petulant pout, he lowers the bottle from his lips.

“Do I have sugar on my mouth?” He asks you, looking at your face rather than at the camera.

“Yes, yes you do,” you say with a laugh. “It’s all over your face and chin.”

“Wipe it for me?” Jeongguk asks with a shameless grin, glancing at the way Jimin’s expression tightens. “I can’t see where it is.”

There’s a brief pause as you hesitate, and then you pull a pack of tissues out of your pocket, tossing them at him. “Here. Use these.”

Jimin’s laughter sounds angelic to you, but it grates on Jeongguk’s ears.

*

“Hey, can you walk ahead of me?” Jeongguk turns to you with his camera still focused in front of him. “I wanna do a ‘follow me’ shot. And I need a model.”

“I’ll do it!” Joy chimes in enthusiastically, although you can obviously tell how forced it is judging from the smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. The heat is definitely taking a toll on her. You owe her a huge debt after this.

But Jeongguk frowns a little. “Hmmm, can ______ do it instead?”

“What’s wrong with me?” Joy crosses her arms defensively.

“Have you seen the way you walk?” Jeongguk rolls his eyes. “You’re like a drunk elephant.”

Joy’s eyes widen in outrage and you can tell this is about to turn into an argument between your two best friends. Before she can say anything, however, Jimin cuts in.

“I’ll do it,” he says, pushing back his black hair from his forehead.

Relieved, you chime in. “Y-yes! Jimin walks really well. You should see the way he walks down Main Street when he’s Prince Eric. He turns the whole place into his private runway!”

Jimin shoots you a fond little smile, glowing from your compliment and you feel Jeongguk’s eyes tracking this tiny moment between you.

“What do I have to do?” Jimin asks, already walking in front of Jeongguk.

“But… ‘follow me’ shots are usually done by a girl because they get more viewers,” Jeongguk protests weakly, especially when Jimin appears in the viewfinder of his camera. “And… and we have to hold hands.”

“You have no idea how handsome I am from the back,” Jimin smirks, running a hand through his hair again. “I’ll get you way more views than Joy and ______ ever could.”

“God damn. That confidence is so hot,” Joy whispers beside you, watching the two men squabble over having to hold hands, and then finally settle for no hand holding.

You don’t doubt he could get way more views than you or Joy, especially with the little smirk he shoots the camera over his shoulder as he starts to walk toward the Magic Castle. Jeongguk follows while filming, leaving the two of you behind for a moment.

“You know what’s hotter?” Your eyes don’t leave him for a second. “That ass.”

Joy giggles in tandem with you for a second before she stops with sudden realization. “Oh my god. I just realised something. I hope the walls between the hotel rooms are soundproof.”

*

“And… here’s the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen today…” Jeongguk suddenly turns the camera on you as you pick at your candy floss. “We’re waiting to go on the carousel!”

Suddenly camera shy, you hide behind the giant pink cloud. “What’s with you? Why are you complimenting me?”

“Because it’s true,” Jeongguk shrugs, one hand reaching out to move your cotton candy away from your face so that he can see you.

But his view is suddenly rudely interrupted by Jimin who sticks his face right in front of the camera. Jeongguk jumps back in slightly shock, a scowl etched across his features as Jimin blocks you entirely.

“How about me? Aren’t I the cutest guy you’ve ever seen?” Jimin checks himself out in the camera lens, and you have to stop yourself from agreeing. He fluffs up his silky black hair, taking the sunglasses that hang in the vee of his shirt and putting them on.

Jimin continues to check himself out in the camera’s viewfinder, and you laugh at him, watching him smooth his hair and lick his lips, and suddenly you find yourself envying the viewers of Jeongguk’s channel. That is, if Jeongguk decides to even let this make it into the vlog in the first place.

Jeongguk is making noises of disgust, trying to get Jimin out of frame, and the two of them are squabbling like little kids.

Jeongguk passes the camera to you. “Hey, film me.”

He grabs a piece of popcorn and tosses it into the air, trying to catch it with his mouth. Joy giggles when he fails, and Jimin snorts with laughter at his reattempts.

“C’mon, that’s easy,” Jimin says as he grabs popcorn from Jeongguk, and you turn to focus the camera on him instead. Jimin tosses it into the air and catches it easily, shooting the camera a little smirk.

“I’ll do it again,” Jimin says, grabbing another piece of popcorn and tossing it in the air. It lands in his mouth effortlessly, and the way he looks at you while chewing makes your mouth go dry.

“One more, and if I succeed…” his voice trails off so that you have to strain to hear him over all the background noise of the park. “You have to ride me tonight.”

Then he throws it into the air and catches it with his mouth, and your heart skips a beat when he catches your eye after.

“Um, what?? I’ll have to ride… what?” You feel like that piece of popcorn has gone down your throat instead, from the way you’re stuttering.

“You’ll have to ride with me,” Jimin says with a wink, nodding at the carousel. “What did you think I said?”

You’re saved from replying when the gates in front of you open, signalling the next batch of carousel riders.

Joy tugs you along, unaffected by what just went down whatsoever. Her only aim is to choose the prettiest unicorn so she can take millions of selfies, and you follow her, not realizing that Jeongguk isn’t behind you. By the time you do realise, you’re already standing beside a white pony with a pink mane and tail just behind Joy.

“You go ahead, I wanna film the carousel from here,” Jeongguk focuses on getting the perfect frame on his camera. Jimin glances over his shoulder and realizes that it’s focused on you, following you as you go from pony to pony, laughing and giggling with your cotton candy still in hand.

He narrows his eyes in suspicion. “Hey, I thought this was supposed to be a ‘Eat Everything at Disney Challenge’? Why are you filming ______ like, exclusively?”

“Because I wanna eat her, that’s why,” Jeongguk mumbles under his breath, and Jimin nearly explodes.

“What did you just say man?” He’s ready to grab Jeongguk by the collar for referring to you in such a crude manner.

“Calm down dude, it was just a joke,” Jeongguk’s eyes widen in fear. “I say stupid things sometimes without thinking! You know I’d never treat _____ like that. She’s like one of my best friends! I can’t help if I’m attracted to her like that!”

“Kook? What are you doing? Get over here!” You gesture at him and Jimin, who are still in the queue even though there are more than enough spaces on the carousel.

You notice the two of them having a seemingly intense conversation, at the end of which Jimin backs down and shoves his way through the gate, with a hard set to his jaw as he approaches the horse you’re about to ride. But by the time he’s on the carousel itself, the annoyance has vanished off his face.

“You should ride on this one instead,” Jimin gestures to a horse on the inside of the carousel. “Switch with me.”

You were just about to get on the horse, but at his insistence, switch to riding the one on the inside instead. Jimin stands just behind you, making sure you’re securely on the horse before he climbs up on the one next to you.

He glances at Jeongguk still in the queue trying to get a shot of you on the carousel, but he purposely angles his body so that he’s blocking you entirely. Especially when he sees your exposed thigh when your dress rides up from your position on the horse. Jimin doesn’t want anyone but him to be privy to this view, that’s for sure.

The ride slowly creaks to a start, and the whimsical music starts up. Now that the sun has gone down, the glow of the carousel lights casts a magical tinge over everything, and when Jimin looks over at you, he isn’t ready for the surge of butterflies.

*

The four of you make it to the hotel to check-in, half exhausted and just wanting to collapse onto cool sheets for a while before coming up with a plan to sneak in Yoongi and Tae, who insisted on bringing the snacks and alcohol so that they wouldn’t be left out.

“Here you go, two rooms, across the hallway from each other. 503 and 504,” the hotel clerk smiles at you, and you thank her, grabbing the keys and joining the other three in front of the elevators.

“Fifth floor,” you mumble to no one in particular as the four of you enter the lift. Joy reaches out to punch in the correct number, while Jimin boldly wraps an arm around your waist and you press your cheek into his chest.

“Why’s Kook sulking?” You refer to Jeongguk who’s been silent ever since you got off the carousel ride, looking through shots on his camera with a sullen look on his face.

“His blood sugar is low, he needs some snacks probably,” Joy says, stifling a yawn herself. “God, I can’t believe it’s only 9pm and we’re dying to go to bed. When did we become boring ass adults?”

“Ever since we got jobs and started paying bills,” your voice is muffled by Jimin’s shirt.

The elevator dings and you stumble out, navigating the lush hallways lined with red carpeting to find the correct unit number. You stop in front of 503 and tap the key card to the sensor, tossing the other one to Joy who opens the opposite room.

The sight of the neat, luxurious hotel rooms perks even Jeongguk up, as you dump your stuff and throw yourselves onto the soft beds.

“Oh god. Who was the one who suggested The Spinning Teacups? I hate you so much right now,” you mumble into a pillow, all your energy sapped up.

“Jeongguk did,” Jimin helpfully supplements your memory even as you feel the bed dip slightly beside you.

All of a sudden, you are painfully aware that the two of you are alone in the room together… the door is locked securely and there’s no one, not even Mr Walt Disney himself, who could interrupt your moment now. You turn to see Jimin flat on his back beside you, eyes closed and hair brushed away from his face. The outline of his sharp jawline leads you down to his Adam’s apple, then further down into the v of his shirt that exposes his chest…

He catches you looking with a playful smirk on his plush lips, turning onto his side so that he can regard you better.

“I waited all day for this…” Jimin whispers in a low sultry tone as his eyes undress you, and he sits up, running his fingers through his hair. “Remember what I said about riding me?”

You can only gape at him for a moment, before you reach out to smack his chest. “Oh my god, I knew I heard that! You made me feel like such a pervert!”

Jimin laughs, reaching across the bed to pull you into his lap so that you are indeed straddling him. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.”

You forget about how sweaty you feel when Jimin pulls you down for a kiss, and you finally taste those plush lips of his that you’d been dreaming of forever. You feel as if all of this is a dream, only it can’t be because the sensation of his warm body beneath yours is all too real, his tongue begging for entrance is making all of your fantasies come true and-

Ding dong ding dong ding dong ding dong!!!

The doorbell rings persistently and doesn’t stop. Such an obnoxious act can only be the work of one person. Sighing, you extricate yourself from Jimin’s grasp with one last kiss to his bottom lip and go to check who’s outside in the doorhole.

But all you see is darkness.

“What are you guys doing in there! Come out! Yoongi and Tae are here!” Jeongguk’s voice sounds from outside, and you can only surmise that he’s covered the door hole with his hand. Real mature.

Sighing, you turn back to Jimin still on the bed. Inside here is Jimin with his cute smile and sinful promises of the night to come, and out there is… Jeon Jeongguk with a penchant of cock blocking you at every turn he gets.

“We should join them for a bit. Then sneak away if we can.” Jimin sighs when the doorbell continues ringing, twitching an eyebrow in annoyance. “Or else he’ll never leave us alone. We need a game plan.”

Jimin turns to rummage through his bag for some comfy clothes to change into, and you do the same, only retreating into the bathroom to try and freshen up a little first. Five minutes later you emerge, dressed in comfy sweats as you open the door, only to stop the incessant ringing of the doorbell.

“Kook, you’re disturbing the neighbours,” you chide him gently, pushing him towards the other hotel room as Jimin emerges behind you in an oversized black hoodie and shorts.

It seems like the party already started without you, chip bags open and strewn everywhere, beer cans crushed and strewn around. You plop yourself down on a pillow and reach for some Doritos, moaning as the salty, cheesy goodness hits your tongue and you feel renergised.

Yoongi comes in bearing pizza, and for a moment no one speaks as you all hungrily devour the food.

“So Kook, did you manage to finish your ‘Eat Everything at Disney Challenge’?” Taehyung asks with a hopeful grin, for he’d contributed to the idea himself.

“Obviously not, or else he wouldn’t be stuffing himself right now,” Joy says through a mouthful of pizza, chasing it down with a gulp of soda. “He started off strong with the churros, but I think he kinda got sidetracked along the way…”

“Oh,” Taehyung says, not really looking all that disappointed. “Bro, there’s always next time! I told you, you need me!”

Yoongi settles back with a can of beer, looking as though the day has thoroughly worn him out. “So, how’d you losers like Disney? As visitors, not as cast members.”

“Eh, was okay I guess,” Jeongguk picks at a piece of pineapple on his slice. “Vlog turned out slightly different than I wanted it to.”

“Too hot,” Joy complains, before realizing her mistake. Her eyes widen as Taehyung tosses an empty crushed beer can at her.

“Try an entire afternoon in costume!” Taehyung says indignantly, before bursting into laughter.

While they bicker back and forth, Jimin nudges your knee with his, and mouths the words ‘game plan’. Your eyes dart around the mess in front of you, then at each of your friends.

Jeongguk is stuffing himself with the rest of the pizza, and if you know anything about him is that he goes out like a light after meals. Yoongi is already more than half asleep, Tae and Joy are distracting each other. Now’s the perfect time.

You start to stand up slowly, making your way to the door to let yourself out quietly. You don’t dare to turn and see if Jimin is following behind you, all you can do is keep going straight without making any more noise…

“_______? Where are you going?”

Shit.

Jeongguk’s sleepy voice interrupts you, and you turn around, a hesitant smile on your face. You see that Jimin is still seated in the circle, and you root around in your head for an excuse.

“Just- just gonna get more beer, we’re already out!” You say, and Jeongguk seems to accept this as he shifts his position to lie his head on Jimin’s lap instead. “Hyung- can I call you that? Hyung, lend me your lap for a while. You’re comfy.”

Ignoring Jimin’s silent protests for help, you let yourself out of the room, breathing a sigh of relief once the door closes behind you. You let yourself into the other room with the spare keycard in your pocket, thanking the heavens that you decided to ask for an extra card at reception just now. The original one is with Jimin, if and when he manages to extricate himself from Jeongguk’s grasp…

You sigh and slide under the soft, warm sheets, deciding that you might as well take a nap while waiting for Jimin.

*

Beep-beep….

The sound of a key-card being scanned stirs you from sleep, and you crack open an eye, but all you’re met with is the darkness of your hotel room. Then there’s a weight on the bed beside you, and Jimin’s soft voice.

“Did you fall asleep?”

“No, no I-“ the sleep in your voice betrays you, though, and you sit up hastily, taking in Jimin’s ruffled appearance; hair messy and cheeks slightly red. “What time is it?”

“Just past 2am,” Jimin rubs a hand down his face, reaching for a bottle of water on the bedside. “We were deep into some drinking game before I managed to escape. They’re all passed out in the other room.”

Jimin tilts the bottle and drinks deeply as if to chase away the sleepiness. He replaces the bottle on the bedside and moves to take off his hoodie, revealing the thin black shirt underneath. Unable to stop yourself, you push yourself into a sitting position, grabbing his shirt and pulling him in for a kiss, continuing from where you left off earlier.

You can taste the remnants of beer on his tongue, his hands slide around your waist to feel your soft curves, pull you closer to him so that you feel the hardness of his abs and the heat of his body.

“Finally,” he groans, trailing his kisses down your neck. “Fucking finally. This was all I could think about when we were playing 7 Up.”

His hands slide down to lift your shirt over your head, his lips marking the top of one breast as he works at the clasp of your bra. Jimin’s roughness is welcome as he sucks purple and blue into your skin, tossing away your bra like it’s nothing.

“You had the nerve to fall asleep while I was stuck entertaining your friends?” Jimin emphasizes this with a particularly harsh suck on your nipple, his fingers twisting the other one and your thighs clench together, trying to seek some sort of friction. His palm gropes your breasts, squeezing it roughly as he marks the other with his teeth and tongue.

“Shi-t I’m sorry!” You squeak out, but this side of Jimin you’ve never seen before is so fucking hot, and you can feel yourself already craving his touch on your body, inside you, and just everywhere.

His anger translates itself into his actions as he pulls down your sweatpants with a yank, but his fingers are always gentle on your skin as he travels up your inner thighs, traces across your sensitive lower lips. He witnesses how soaked your underwear is, pulling it away from you as he settles himself in between your thighs.

One flick of his tongue sends your thighs trembling, and he concentrates all his efforts on your clit, his fingers digging into your soft flesh in an attempt to keep your legs spread for him. Two fingers spread you for his viewing pleasure, he eats you like a man starved, not caring if your juice smear on his chin or cheeks.

When his fingers start to tease at your entrance, you buck your hips in a silent plea for more, and Jimin obliges you by sliding in one finger. Even though you’ve pleasured yourself in the past, it doesn’t compare to the feeling of him filling you up with his fingers, stretching you out and watching how well you take him.

One thumb is still rubbing circles around your clit, fingers stroking that special spot inside you as he coaxes you to cum all over him. Finally, Jimin goes in for the kill, replacing his thumb with his lips wrapped around your clit, and sucking until you see stars and your thighs are wrapped tight around his head.

You are panting and out of breath when your muscles loosen up, and Jimin is licking his lips, staring at your cunt. Without giving yourself time to get shy, you move to straddle him, ripping his shirt off in a hunger to feel his chest and abs, grinding against him.

“Fuck, are you really going to ride me like this?” Jimin has his hands around your waist as your tongue swirls in the shell of his ear, feeling your wet cunt grind against his abs. He lets you get a fill of his rock hard muscles for a few more seconds before aligning you where he really wants it, just over the bulge in his sweatpants.

“A bet’s a bet, right?” You reach down to pull the waistband of his sweatpants lower, bringing his underwear with it.  You can already see the red tip of his cock, hard and angry and weeping with precum.

You grasp him with your mouth watering at the thought of swallowing his thick cock down your throat, but that will have to wait because you think you might die if you don’t feel him inside you this very instant.

“You know, I always look at your ass in your Prince Eric costume when you walk past the Wishing Well,” you admit to him, stroking his cock a few times and relishing the deep groans from Jimin.

“Sounds like you have a kink for Princes. Maybe I should fuck you while wearing my Prince outfit?”

“Bonus points if we can roleplay. You can save me from this big, towering castle, and when you climb all the way up I’ll thank you by sucking your huge-“ You’re unable to finish the sentence, bursting out into giggles only to be met with a puzzled look from Jimin.

“Wait, you weren’t being serious? I was getting into that!” 

“Only if you call me Queen. And I get to call you a peasant.”

Jimin mock pouts, but then when his cock brushes against your clit, he suddenly remembers that he’s supposed to be punishing you for falling asleep while waiting for him.

He delivers one spank to your ass, causing you to moan as he reaches for the condoms thoughtfully provided by the hotel.

“Ugh, they’re Disney themed,” Jimin groans in distaste as he tosses aside the Mickey Mouse wrapper, unrolling the red and white polka dot condom over himself and swearing even more. “Who the hell would be turned on by this!”

You giggle at his obvious distress over how the condom makes his cock look.

“You’re laughing?” Jimin frowns in disapproval. “I’m here in danger of going soft before I can even fuck you and you’re-“

“Then I’d better help out,” you stifle your laughter as you grip him by the base and sink down onto him, and immediately all thoughts of Mickey Mouse, Disneyland and his cock going soft flee from Jimin’s mind.

All he can think of is the feeling of your warm cunt surrounding him, how tight you are as you take him all the way. You alternate between bouncing on top of him and grinding your hips in circles when you want more depth. Your thighs are burning, but you promised you’d ride Jimin till he cums.

When your pace slows down just a smidge, Jimin bends his thighs under you and meets you halfway for a while, before finally wrapping his arms around your waist so that your upper body is pressed tightly to his. Then you feel him pound into you, using his lower body strength to keep up the pace.

Although you’re on top, he seems to be doing most of the work, and the most you can do is to tighten around him. You can feel his grasp tight around your waist as his breaths quicken against your skin.

“Fuck, I’m gonna cum,” Jimin is clearly trying to hold himself back, but you gather the last of your strength and start bouncing on him, trying to push him over the edge. A few more squeezes of your core around him and Jimin is groaning, gripping your waist as he thrusts up into you and spills into the condom.

A few brushes of his thumb around your clit is all it takes for you to follow him over the edge, collapsing against his chest in exhaustion as you both come down from your high.

Jimin goes soft and slips out of you, and he rolls you to the side so that he can take off the used condom. He grimaces as he ties the end and tosses it into the trash. “Never a-fucking-gain.”

“Does that mean we aren’t having round two here?” You tease him as he comes back to bed, snuggling deep into the covers with his cold feet pressed against your thigh.

“I think I could maybe deal with that… are there any Donald Duck ones?”

*

“My queen! I brought you a new servant!” A teenage girl excitedly drags her friends towards you, holding a camera up to film your reaction.

More and more of your visitors have been filming you, but you take it all in stride rather than feel pressurized by the thought that this will end up on Youtube. You pretend to check yourself out in the camera’s front view for a moment before noticing her and her friends.

“My new servant? Well everyone’s a servant, what are you talking about?” You glance dismissively at the crowd around you, holding up your mirror to catch the sun’s rays. “Well, if you’re my servant, you may bow.”

The girls giggle as they attempt to curtsy.

“That was terrible,” you swirl your cape in response. “It needs work. Now off with you!”

You turn and begin to stroll in the direction of the Magic Castle, aware that your little entourage is following you. Children are running after you and a few of them ask to hold your hand, which you allow graciously.

“Come, come, walk with me. The Wishing Well is filthy, Snow White hasn’t been doing her job lately. Out of my way! Out of our way, peasants!” You proclaim loudly, making everyone aware that you’re currently conducting your own parade.

Your shift is due to end soon, but you can’t resist passing by the Magic Castle just once. If you get the timing right, Jimin should be doing his rounds there while Ariel is stuck inside at in a photo session…

From far away you spot the bright blue jacket of his blazer, his dark black hair glowing in the sun and his pretty smiles as he twirls a child around in his arms. The sight of Park Jimin as Prince Eric nearly makes you want to smile, and you barely manage to keep your smirk of disdain on.

“My Queen, what do you think of Prince Eric? Isn’t he just the dreamiest?” One of your followers sighs from behind you as they catch a glimpse of the Prince. “He would make a great servant!”

“That’s precisely the reason why I came here, to recruit a new servant,” you concede, waving your mirror in the air as you approach Jimin. “I think a poison apple or two should be enough to take care of Princess Ariel, and then he’ll be all mine!”

Your laughter makes Jimin glance up at your approaching entourage, and well-mannered as his character is, he gives you a slight bow.

“Well, to what pleasure do we owe your presence to? Not here to give out any poisoned apples, are we?” Jimin holds a child’s hand as they attempt to hide behind him.

“Not at all… not yet at least,” you smile deviously, gesturing to all the people following you. “Someone here suggested you’d make a good servant… and I came here to see for myself.”

“Ah, I’m afraid I have to politely decline,” Jimin says with a small bow, but you can see the slight smile on his face. “As much as it would be an honour to serve you, my Queen, I’m afraid my allegiance lies elsewhere.”

“Hmmm,” you consider his rejection with a finger on your chin, checking your reflection in your mirror before you answer. “Well, at least he has manners. Which is more than I can say for his other half, that fish girl. I guess he needs to make up for the both of them.”

You can see it takes everything Jimin has not to giggle with his entire body like he usually does. Swirling your cape, you turn around and stride to the nearest exit, waving goodbye to your followers.

A few minutes later, Jimin follows you into one of the dressing rooms already laughing.

“You did it on purpose! I nearly broke character because of you,” Jimin points an accusing finger at you, but his giggles take all the sting out of it. He takes your hand and the two of you start to walk back to your fur character’s dressing room, taking the shortcut through the tunnels so that god forbid, no one in the park sees Prince Eric and The Evil Queen holding hands and giggling together.

In all the fairytales you read as a child, it’s always the Princess who gets her Prince and her happy ending. Never in your wildest dreams would you imagine that something like this would be possible, and yet here you are, walking hand in hand with the Prince of your dreams.

Maybe you don’t have to be a princess to get a happy ending after all.

“I should come by more often, you’re cute when flustered,” you tease him as he opens the door to the dressing room, and you’re thankful that no one can see the silly smile on your face that definitely doesn’t fit the Evil Queen.

“Ugh, get a room,” Yoongi peeks an eye open and closes it immediately at the sight of the two of you.

“This is a room,” you say, and Jimin only reluctantly lets go of your hand to let you take off your makeup.

Yoongi only grumbles and goes back to napping, and the two of you quieten down in the unspoken agreement that a sleepy Yoongi is like a bear that should best be left in hibernation.

You retrieve your phone to check your messages that you missed while being away for the past few hours, only to see that you have five missed calls and three messages all from the same number.

Opening the latest message, your heart skips a few excited beats.

Dear ______,

This is Mr Kim, Casting Manager for Broadway’s Maleficient. I refer to your audition tape sent in a few weeks back, apologies for the delay in getting back to you. I’d like to formally invite you down for an audition at your earliest possible convenience. The directors are all very excited to meet you, especially after watching your audition tape of your current role as The Evil Queen at Disneyland. You’ve become somewhat of an internet sensation, and we would love to have a chance to meet you in person. Please let me know what date works for you, or give me a call any time.

Your hands are shaking. It feels like all the air has been sucked out of the room.

“What? What is it?” Jimin asks in concern, peeking over your shoulder to read the text.

Then he lets out a loud whoop that makes Yoongi grunt in annoyance.

“You better not be giving him blowjob right in front of my salad or I’m kicking the two of you out on your naked asses…”

“______ got a fucking Broadway audition! She’s going to BROADWAY!!!!”

Jimin is beside himself with excitement, and you turn to kiss him, not because you want to shut him up (though it does accomplish that too).  

You kiss him because you feel like every happy ending deserves to end with a kiss like this, only then does it count as a happily ever after.

#bts #bts smut #btssmutclub #bts jimin #bts park jimin #ksmutclub #bts jimin smut #happy birthday jimin #jimin's bday fic is here!!!!!!! #a whole day early for all you PST folks #ps excuse the low quality header #it was the only thing keeping me going throughout this monster length of a fic

[figonas]

As Warm As The Sun-Part 1

“When he wakes there is crisp sunlight streaming through his chambers, yellow as a daffodil and nearly as warm as Jude felt in his arms. In limbo between awake and asleep Cardan thinks he might have dreamt that part of the evening as well”

Summary: Takes place during The Wicked King pretty much right before the Queen of Mirth scene and Chapter 15. This is just a soft, fluffy response to the prompt “hug me I command it”.

Words: 1623

Rating: GA

Links: Part 2-Jude POV | AO3

A/N: Tumblr user @jurdanhell brought this prompt up to me and our initial discussion that it didn’t really fit Cardan morphed into “wait yes this is exactly Cardan behavior”. This is my first work on AO3 so kudos would be greatly appreciated, if it gets enough love I might re-write the scene from Jude’s perspective!

********

Revels all tended to blend together, an endless stream of music and alcohol that somehow left Cardan feeling as desperately alone as always even when in a room bursting with folk of all shapes and sizes. This particular revel was different, if only because Jude was still hovering around him long after she would have normally retreated to her chambers or the Court of Shadows. He could feel her eyes on him, as heavy as the weight of his crown as she stared daggers at him from her position to the side of his throne.

Ordering Jude to do anything would be ordering a knife thrust into his own back, High King or no. So Cardan merely asked Jude to attend the revel in its entirety, but he did so in front of the Living Council, several members of the Low Courts, and Locke who rose to challenge and prod Jude without needing to be asked. There was no way for her to refuse that wouldn’t be seen as backing down from his challenge, so through gritted teeth, Jude graciously accepted his invitation. He didn’t know why he had asked her, perhaps he simply wanted to annoy her in a way that would require little effort from him, or perhaps he wanted to know how she would retaliate. A small part of him whispered that he just wanted her company but he made sure to drown that part of him with plenty of wine earlier in the night. Too much wine though Cardan is loath to admit it, and now as the night winds down he’s not entirely sure he can make it back to his rooms on his own. It wouldn’t be the first time one of his guards has dragged their High King to bed and dropped him on his royal ass but Cardan dislikes the idea all the same. Moving to stand he lurches too far forward and nearly falls off the raised dais before Jude’s hand closes on the back of his cloak pulling him backward where he crashes into her solid presence. “As much as it would amuse me to watch you fall after you made me stand here all night for no reason, I’m too tired to pick you up off the floor,” Jude hisses in his ear, she throws one of his arms across her shoulders as her other arm snakes around his waist. “Dearest Jude, are you trying to take me to bed?” Cardan tries his best to wiggle his eyebrows at her but he’s too focused on his feet as they descend the dais steps and begin the long trek to his rooms. “Don’t push your luck or I’ll leave you to sleep on the floor in the middle of the burgh”. He laughs despite her threat and out of the corner of his eye he sees a small smile on Jude’s lips.

Cardan’s inebriated mind is not as trained at quashing his feelings for Jude as his sober mind is. As they make their way through the palace halls he has the sudden, sickening thought that he likes this, being embraced by Jude Duarte even if it’s only to help him to his rooms. She seems to have forgotten she’s repulsed by him, letting him lean on her as much as he needs. Cardan decides that he would get mindlessly drunk every night if it meant Jude would hold him this way but, perhaps mercifully, they make it to his rooms before he can voice this out loud. The moment she releases him he misses her warmth, her feeling of life and strength, of mortality. Before he knows what he’s saying he opens his mouth to speak. “Embrace me again,” he says, drunk and foolish, he can see the shock on her face despite her desperate attempt to hide it, but even Jude master of power and control, cannot stop the flush rising across her cheeks. Is it desire? Anger? Embarrassment? Cardan doesn’t care, he likes this Jude best; off her guard, almost susceptible to his charms but not quite, she is Jude Duarte after all. She recovers quickly, her expression cooling into something like boredom. “Go to bed Cardan” she points at the monstrously empty bed and he imagines it will be just as cold and lonely as he feels now. “But I am your king, Jude I command it,” he says with what he hopes is a playful smile, but is more than likely a fool’s grin. “So I say again, embrace me and then I will concede and go to bed”. Jude opens her mouth to speak but quickly shuts it with an audible snap of teeth.

She’s at war with herself he realizes suddenly, he can nearly see the thoughts racing in her head. He expects her to push back and fight with him, or to leave him where he stands not caring if he makes it to bed or collapses on the floor right here. Impossibly she does neither, instead, she reaches for him and wraps her arms around his midsection, her cheek resting on his shoulder. Cardan is frozen for what feels like an eternity but is only a handful of seconds as her warmth seeps into his very bones. He wraps his arms around her, returning the embrace before she changes her mind. “I’m only doing this because I’m too tired to fight with you about going to bed,” Jude mumbles softly, Cardan barely hears her above his pounding heart, but he can feel her words from where she’s pressed against his chest. He wants to tighten his grip on her to ensure himself this is real. He wants to bury his face in the crook of her neck and inhale the scent that haunts his dreams; her scent, so uniquely human, so wholly Jude. Through sheer force of will, he stops himself from indulging in either of these fantasies that would most likely only shatter this tender moment or result in him getting stabbed, he is equally disappointed at the thought of either possibility.

Jude seems to forget, if only for a moment, that it’s Cardan’s arms around her, his shoulder her cheek rests on, his neck that she tickles with her soft exhales. She relaxes just a little in a way he didn’t know she could, her palms flattening against his back, the ever-present tension leached slightly from her shoulders. He indulges in the impulse of stroking her lower back with his thumbs, he’s emboldened to tighten his grip on her just a fraction when Jude doesn’t react to the small movement. They stand in silence for several moments, Cardan’s heart racing at a worrying speed. Suddenly, Jude inhales deeply which turns into a wide yawn and she steps back rubbing the heel of her hand across one eye. “Alright, Your Majesty I indulged your wishes,” she’s interrupted by another, smaller yawn which she covers with the back of her hand. Cardan’s hands are still resting lightly on Jude’s waist, she doesn’t move from his touch. “Now to bed with you so I can get in my own. One of us has to be alert enough to run the kingdom,” she points in the direction of his bed and Cardan drops his hands. He is again shocked by how cold his room feels without her pressed against him. He quashes the urge to touch her again, he knows she will not indulge him a second time. When he turns he sways slightly, Jude rolls her eyes and places her hand on the small of his back guiding him to bed. “Careful with your orders Jude or I will tell everyone that you were kind to me,” he laughs to himself though it is not at all funny. “Though I don’t think anyone would believe me”. “You won’t remember this tomorrow anyway,” they reach the bedside where she gives him a gentle shove and he drops unceremoniously onto his too-large bed. The motion sets his head swimming. He steals one last, longing look at Jude before closing his eyes; her cheeks flushed, eyes tired, impenetrable walls lowered the tiniest bit. Cardan tucks the image away to think of when she’s gone and he’s left alone in the sea of cold blankets. “Oh Jude, loveliest of afflictions, I will remember this night for years to come,” he hears her scoff as she steps away from the bed. “We’ll see about that tomorrow,” she sounds amused as she speaks and if Cardan’s head wasn’t spinning so badly he would peel his eyes open just to see one of Jude’s rare smiles. He hears her footsteps retreating toward the door where she stops, he’s nearly overtaken with sleep when he hears her voice call softly back to him. “Goodnight Cardan”. She’s gone before he can respond and Cardan succumbs to sleep only moments later.

She’s there in his dreams as she is most nights. Cardan tries to speak to dream Jude, but the only word he can say is her name; Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude. Over and over again, he calls her name like a curse, a prayer, the last desperate words of a dying man, a humble supplicant whispering the name of an honored deity. When he wakes there is crisp sunlight streaming through his chambers, yellow as a daffodil and nearly as warm as Jude felt in his arms. In limbo between awake and asleep Cardan thinks he might have dreamt that part of the evening as well, but as he shifts under the sheets her scent wafts from the fabric of his shirt into his nostrils. He clutches the fabric tightly, inhaling deeply he smiles to himself before drifting off again to a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

#my first work that isn’t for my OCs #wow it’s weird to have something finished for once #the folk of the air #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #jurdan #Cardan’s POV #the cruel prince #the wicked king #the queen of nothing #orginal work #fanfiction

[subbing-for-clones]

The New Apprentice Part 1

Maul x Sith!Reader 

A/N: Au where Mother Talzin gives Maul his legs back instead of cybernetics cause why not she's a God damn necromancer witch queen. Takes place after Savage and Maul are united but Maul trains Savage for a while instead of going all out right away like Canon dictates in the show.

Summary: Maul senses the presence of a force user who is strong with the dark side. Desperate for any alliance he can gain to destroy both the Sith and the Jedi he sets out to gain a second apprentice with his brother at his side.

Word Count: 3868

WARNINGS: depictions of slavery, abuse, reader is bound, violence. I’m gonna wreck canon in this series.

NEXT         MASTERLIST

      A crimson Zabrak male stood before an expansive viewport on the separatist space station he and his brother had infiltrated and overpowered. Savage, the much larger of the two brothers, grunted happily at the abundance of wealth he had found locked in a safe. Maul's stoic form didn't waver at this realization. Instead, he closed his eyes, something gnawed at him.

"Brother, what is it?"

"Can't you feel it... the anger, unaccompanied by fear. Pure, seething, white anger." His eyes opened glowing. Savage reached out into the force feeling now what his brother had referred to. "Who is that?" He questioned. Pacing back to his brother's side, examining the mountain of credits Maul hummed.

"I'm not sure but I get the feeling this will be useful to us and that we will need these credits to find out."

    Collecting their wealth, they commandeered one of the docked transports and made their way to the planet the unfamiliar force signature pulled them to. They found themselves in an independent system in the outer rim. Approaching the slaving empire on the planet of Zygerria.

"It's stronger now." Savage growled.

"That it is... I don't recognize it. It's definetly not my former master or his new apprentice."

"It’s not the nightsister who betrayed me either."

"Perhaps a new ally..?" Maul wondered. "We will need an army to accomplish our goals and with the growing number of dark force wielders it's better to have them on our side rather than against us."

Answering only with a grunt Savage watched with his brother as they drew nearer to the planet.

    They landed on a docking platform as close to the source of this reverberation as possible. The surroundings were dry; dusty tan and muted burnt red adobe structures surrounded them. The open market place was bustling with sellers and buyers of various goods from art to food, animals and of course to slaves. Maul seemed unphased buy it all but Savage looked around him in a mild bewilderment, never having seen anything like this before in his life.

    Off in the distance Maul could sense what they were searching for. He instructed his brother to inquire at a nearby weapons dealer about any newfound lightsabers and to meet him back here when he finished. Giving him a hefty handful of credits and sending him on his way after Savage nodded in understanding.

    Maul approached a slave dealer, taking in his 'inventory' until his sight fell upon a woman. She was bound with more precaution than anyone else by far. On her knees with her ankles shackled tightly to the ground. Her wrists bound behind her back, tethering her to another point of security, keeping her in the position. Rope wrapped around her form to keep her completely immobilized. She was gagged, blindfolded and had thick coverings over her ears to ensure almost complete sensory deprivation. The only things that flowed freely were her locks and her rage through the force. She ever so slightly twitched her chin up to Maul's direction.

"What are you in the market for today my friend?" The Zyggerian slaver asked with a smile, draping his arm around the Zabrack's shoulders. "I've got all around servants, navigators, mechanics, laborers and of course we have an array of exotic beauties." The man had gestured to everyone he held but the woman Maul sought.

Maul never took his eyes off of her. "I wish to see this one's eyes." His voice was calm and velvety.

"I'm sorry sir that one's not for sale. She's proving difficult to break, very feisty this one. She's only out here so I can keep an eye on her."

"If credits are your concern, understand they do not concern me. If she proves to be what I seek I will take her off your hands leaving you with one less problem and very full pockets." The Zygerrian smiled a wide devil's grin. "Well alright then."

    He readied his whip and removed her blindfold, gag and muffs. The woman squinted and silently hissed at the bright, unforgiving sun. Hardly glancing at Maul, she turned her attention towards her capture. "I'd eat you alive starting at your feet if you didn't smell like bantha shit," she spat. Scowling, he readied his whip and struck her twice sending her body into a convulsing fit from the electric shock.

    Still twitching the slaver grabbed her face and turned it towards Maul. He took a step closer and dropped onto one knee so he was eyelevel with her. Her eyes were a bright E/C but a deep gold peeked out behind her pupils like the eclipse of the sun behind a moon. They stared into each other for a full minute only blinking with the occasional spasm from the aftershocks of the whipping. Chest heaving, panting heavily. He could feel the darkness permeating from her soul with a violent intensity.

"I'll take her."

"Are you sure?" The man asked cautiously.

"What’s your price."

    After negotiating the slaver reapplied her blindfold and gag, leaving her ears uncovered. Accepting the small fortune, he unchained her and handed over her leash to her new master. Keeping an almost kind hand on her shoulder Maul guided her to the crossroads where Savage waited, eating some kind of exotic meat. The woman's head turned towards the smell, stomach growling but maintaining composure.

"Were you successful in the task I gave you Savage?"

"Yes brother, he had one and it is colored like ours. I can only imagine it belongs to her."

"Good. Let's get out of this place and get... better acquainted."

    The woman almost tripped over her chains a few times always being steadied surprisingly gently by one brother or another until the three of them boarded their ship.

    Once safely boarded and on their way back out to space Savage was the one to remove her blindfold and gag. She looked almost taken aback by the sheer size of the man in front of her. He raised his hands showing he was unarmed and turned behind him to offer her some of the food he ended up saving.

"I'm not going to hurt you if you don't try to hurt me."

    He and his brother watched as she extended her hands, still bound in front of her she took it slowly, sniffed it, sat on the floor and tore into it hungrily. Maul cut the chains from her legs with a quick swing of his saber before he crouched down to her.

"What is your name girl." That sultry voice almost soothed her. "And how did you come to be captured?"

You spoke your reply softly, your eyes met his as you licked the juices from your fingers. Seeming less feral now you continued. "I had a vision of you coming for me in the market. So, I allowed them to take me. Months I've waited for you to come for me..." you moved to your knees and bowed your head still bound at the wrists. "Master, I wish to serve and to be trained by you."

    Savage looked kind of surprised but Maul, eyes lit, looked more curious. "Who was your master before?"

"I've never had one." You answered looking back up at him. "Consider me... self-taught. When I was a child, a jedi came to my village and decided they wouldn't take me because they feared I would fall to the dark side,” smiling at the obvious irony.

"How did you come by a saber then?" He inquired further.

"A being, mostly Droid but still organic leaves his dwelling unoccupied quite frequently. He collects them so it wasn't hard to take. However, it was blue when I first obtained it."

    Maul thought for a few minutes while Savage cut the bindings around your wrists. You nodded your head in thanks.

"Why do you want me as your master?" Contemplating for a moment before you answered him.

"I can sense your power, your talent and knowledge I can also sense that you will do great things. Alter the fate of planets and great clans, that you will rain hell down on the Jedi. I wish to be a part of that. I believe I've learned all I can on my own, without a hand to guide me I have no purpose. I'm ready for one."

"Do you believe you're worthy of being my apprentice?" He paced around studying you. Covered in grime and dust, hair matted in neglect from your previous ungracious host. You chose your next words very carefully. Although truthful you could tell this was a test.

"I believe the force is strong within my spirit but I have much to learn both with my connection to it and especially with my lightsaber forms. I believe I would be incredibly lucky to call you my Master." Maul chuckled darkly and leaned down to you, teeth bared and growling.

"I will accept you as my apprentice alongside Savage. I am convinced for now that you wouldn't be foolish enough to lie to me. But if it comes to light that your intentions are different than that of which you have just confessed..." he sparked your lightsaber, red glowing on both your faces, growling "I will not hesitate to cut you down."

    You bowed your head again. "Thank you Master." Maul handed you your weapon. "Savage, set a course for Dathomir, the wilds of it, so we may assess this new apprentice." Maul strode to the back of the ship beckoning you with two fingers to follow him.

"These shall serve as your quarters for now. Be sure to scrub that filth off of you and get rid of those rags. They don't suit you. I will not have an apprentice that looks like she rolled in a gutter.”

"Yes, thank you Master." He left you to it with one last cautious glance.

      You stood in your room and took it all in. You were out of that hell hole and embarking on a new adventure. You allowed a smile to grace your face. Finally, you thought to yourself, I'm not alone anymore. Looking around your room you saw there were two bunks, the bottom being unmade and messy, assessing you will be sharing it with the larger of the two. The other apprentice. Perhaps he will be someone you could relax around. A refresher was connected to your room. Stripping out of your torn scraps, you practically moaned in relief at the hot water that rained down on your body. A knock on your door startled you. Your fellow apprentice called out to you. Noticing the glass was much too fogged for him to see anything you opened the door from where you stood with a flick of your wrist. You could just barely see the outline of his massive form carrying something black.

"Hey so we don't have any women's clothes right now but... this should work for you in the mean-time." Sensing a tone of embarrassment, you called in a soothing voice. "Thank you, I appreciate it. I'll be out soon. I look forward to training by your side." You couldn't see but he smiled when he left the room. He had his brother but it had been a long time since he had a friend.

    You lightly hopped out of the shower and dried yourself. Examining the new scars you got during your time on Zygerria. Sighing you picked up the black tunic that Savage had left for you. You looked yourself up and down in the mirror. It was awfully low-cut, reaching almost your navel but not quite. Its end reached your mid-thigh and you managed to fasten it with the belt tightly enough so your womanly features were covered well. It smelled nice.. in a musty masculine way.. You opted to let your hair fall freely without much else option.

    Hanging your saber from your belt silently swearing to never part with it again, you made your way back to the common area where you found your new Master and Savage sitting at a small table eating something that looked meaty and smelled spicy. Your mouth watered again waiting in the doorway. "Come join us apprentice, there's no need to hover." Maul called out without looking up at you. Savage flashed you a warm and toothy grin obviously excited to have a new presence.

    The only free seat was between the two, forming a triangle, around the small round table. A full plate already served for you and waiting. You didn't hesitate a second more and quickly took it. Whatever the dish was tasted incredible. Your eyes rolled as it passed your tongue.

    Maul eyed you and looked down at his own dress before shooting his brother a death glare. Realizing you were in fact wearing your master's shirt a blush dusted the tops of your ears but you stayed stoic knowing it was better than what you came in and much better than being nude.

    Savage chuckled amused "Sorry brother but we don't have anything for her and my clothes are way too big."

You interjected readying for a verbal assault at least. "I'm sure I could sew something of Savage's to fit if it would please you.." Maul raised a hand to silence you shaking his head. Once he swallowed what was in his mouth, he turned to you. "Don't waste your time, it's fine. Just caught me by surprise is all. It'll do until we can get you something of your own." He refocused on his dinner. Savage smirked just barley noticeably.

"...Thank you Master."

    After dinner Maul suggested that everyone got some rest while they could, they would arrive at Dathomir in 7 standard hours. You and Savage walked back to your shared room where he took is normal bottom bunk and you leapt up to the top. Covering yourself in the blankets an anxiety rose in your chest. After sitting in the dark in an eerie silence Savage sensed your distress.

"Are you alright? You smell... anxious."

"I expected Maul to be... harsher, cruel towards me. But he caught me from falling in the market when I was bound and blinded. He gives me a warm bed; I'm wearing his clothes for fuck’s sake. It's not what I prepared for so now I have no idea what to expect." He thought about what you said for a while.

"My brother was... well... Historically Sith have always been cruel to their apprentices but they also nurtured them and groomed them to take over Lordship when they died. His master was... not like that. I imagine his whole life was like what you dealt with on Zygerria, maybe worse. Then he was discarded and forgotten after a nearly fatal injury. I don't think he wants to be like that."

   You stayed mute while you contemplated what your fellow apprentice had told you. "I mean it's kind of unconventional taking a second student anyway, I suggest not forming any expectations so you won't be caught off guard." He paused. "Listen I uh... I'm glad you're here."

    You poked your head over the side of your bunk to look at him. Sporting a slight smile, "I'm glad I'm here too. Thank you Savage I do feel better... Goodnight."

~~~~

    Maul stared at the ceiling, laying on his back allowing his mind to wander. Hours had passed since he sent his two apprentices to bed. The thought of you wrapped in his tunic, asleep above his brother gave him a wanting feeling. Almost jealous of Savage in a confusing way. Then he thought about how you looked completely and utterly bound out in the hot sun where he had found you. Something stirred in his groin.

Stop. Control yourself. He thought.

    The thought of teaching a woman was slightly daunting to him. Although he had interacted with women in the past, he had never just had one around. Despite having an unrelenting connection to the dark side, you were uncharacteristically timid the whole evening. Much different than the one who told her slaver 'I'd eat you alive starting with your feet if you didn't smell like bantha shit' he smiled to himself.

    Savage seemed to like her. He doesn't like anyone. His brother was the one he had worried about when he discovered his to be apprentice was a female. His species didn't exactly have a 'good relationship' with their women and his brother had specifically been hurt and betrayed multiple times by them. But so far he seems to like her. Not too much, I hope. The thought of them together made him angry all of a sudden. Standing he stalked to the room you shared with the golden Zabrak. Opening the door discreetly he peered inside.

    First, he saw his brother as usual sleeping on his stomach face down snoring softly. Looking up he saw you and his breath caught in his throat. Your hair was a mess but a beautiful one. Strands draped every which way. You also slept on your stomach but faced the door Maul stood in. One leg extended the other, closer to him, hitched with your knee pulled up high. You cradled the pillow close to you. Eyebrows twitching and brow creased. She must be dreaming he thought. She really is lovely.... he frowned and shook his head. He was not going to think like that.

    Just as he was about to turn away the nav computer started beeping signaling that they were coming out of hyperspace. She was the first to stir at the sound. Slowly sitting up and rubbing her eyes she asked dreamily "Master are we here?"

"Yes, we will be landing soon. Wake Savage on your way out." He turned and made his way to the cockpit. Hearts pounding at almost being caught gazing at her.

~~~~~

    You watched in amazement out of the viewport as your master landed the ship in a small clearing in the middle of a dense forest on this strange world. You were so focused on the red sky you barely noticed Maul assuring Savage that they wouldn't be going anywhere near the nightsisters. You'd ask him who they were later. For now, you were eager to explore this peculiar land.

    Double checking that your lightsaber hung from your hip you ran out as soon as the ship settled. Fascinated with the twisted trees, dangerous looking foliage and thick humidity. The dark side of the force seemed to resonate from this planet’s very core. You could hear Maul and Savage exiting the ship and you turned your head, the gold around your pupils glowing, flashing them an almost damning smile.

"Master, what is this place?"

"Our home world of Dathomir." He answered simply.

"Your first test apprentice, is to bring me a sample of a fairly common species that dwells in these forests. Bring me a Rancor." He pulled your saber with the force from your belt and caught it in his hand. "Without this." He instructed. "You did say you've had much more practice using the force than you have had with a weapon, I wish for you to demonstrate your power. We will work with this later. When you have what I want, you must sense us to find your way back."

You bowed your head, fear clawing at your throat for the first time in a long time.

"As you wish Master. It will be done." You took off running into the woods, not wanting to waste any time. You knew what these foul beasts were, you had seen a few on Zygerria in large cases up for auction but you were confident in your abilities. You had to prove that you deserved to be his student. You had to. You'd rather die than be sent away yet again.

~~~~~

    Maul sat in a meditative state reaching out into the force to make sure his new apprentice was still alive. Savage on the other hand paced around uncomfortable both by the planet and by his brother's request.

"You didn't make me do anything like this."

Eyes still closed. "That is because you are my brother Savage and you had already proven yourself when you retrieved me from Lotho Minor. This needs to be done."

    Hours passed and though they had arrived in the morning, the sun was starting to set when giant footsteps shook the ground. A growing shadow came forward through the trees until an almost unbelievable sight was to be held. She rode atop one beast's head while another followed. One of her hands extended out to the following while the other hovered above the one she rode.

    Maul stood in shock as he watched the woman. Meeting her glowing gaze something told him she wasn't finished with her demonstration. Lowering her hands, she knelt and slapped a kiss on her steed's head. Sliding off and landing gracefully she turned to the Rancor that she had follow. Extending her arms once again she closed her eyes and started growling with effort. Blue lightning shot from her fingers with her battle cry, frying the beast until it was dead and smoking. Astonished, Maul watched her stumble back.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted it dead or alive so... I brought you both..." she fainted from the output of energy. Maul had dashed and just barely caught her before she collided with the ground. Looking up at the Rancor that still breathed he found that she had permanently tamed it as it just stood there watching them.

"Astonishing," he whispered.

Savage stared at your sleeping form in his brother's arms. "She's much more powerful than I imagined,” he whispered.

"She's the one..." Maul stated. "She will supersede us after we die and carry on the legacy, recreating and restructuring the Sith. Something new will be born from her. I can feel it." He whispered. "We must tread carefully in our teachings. She can never be cast out."

    "M...Master..." she groaned. "I'm sorry I wasn't...strong enough." Her eyelids fluttered.

"Apprentice, my first lesson to you is that you must know your limits.. What you did was incredibly advanced but has left you depleted. If this happened on a battlefield you would be dead and we can't have that now. Can we?" He ran a finger over her forehead to move the hair out of face. She nodded her head.

"I understand, thank you Master."

#star wars maul #maul x y/n #maul x reader #sith warrior #star wars #starwars au #dathomirian #savage opress #platonic savage #sith apprentice #sith reader

[deathordemise]

Platonic Relationships MCYT Playlist

Ayeee what’s popping??? Back at it again with the intense daydreaming:)

I’ll try not to have any repeats from the Specific DreamSMP playlist.!!! Not the DSMP-verse!!

The Idots

My !! Favs!! I hope there’s much more content of them together in the near future. I think it’s just the sheer size of the group, but they remind me of The Lunch Club. I really like their intense high energy.

Don’t Let’s Start - They Might Be Giants

Come Along - Cosmo Shelldrake

Really Cool Wig - Lemon Demon

With A Little Help From My Friends - The Beatles

Riot - Hollywood Undead

Roaring 20’s - Panic! At The Disco

Technoblade And Skeppy

This duo is so underrated. I really like their friendship. I feel like it’s Unstoppable Force (Skeppys desire for mischief and to Cause Problems On Purpose) and Immovable Object (Technoblade in general, but especially the immunity of Skeppys,,,skeppyness) but funny dynamics aside, I feel like they bounce off each other really well. I especially really like when Skeppy says something that catches Technoblade completely off guard and he laughs harder than I’ve ever heard him. I see it when he’s with Tommy as well but Skeppy brings out Technos desire to Cause Problems On Purpose. I’ve been rambling too much but I just really wish they were a more popular duo.

The Stand- Mother Mother

Saint Bernard- Lincoln

Misanthropic Drunken Loner - Days’n’Daze

Dear Fellow Traveler - Sea Wolf

Three-Thrity - AJR

Cigarette Ahegao - Penelope Scott

(Okay,I feel like I need to elaborate on this cause you’re probably thinking “hey um, Eden? What the fuck?” Okay so; When I hear this song I hear Technoblade being cynical and Skeppy chiming in with the “uwu, uh huh, yeah” and “hey incels,just have sex” , especially that last one because the image in my head is Skeppy resting his chin on Technos shoulder and then techno nods and says “duh”. Plus the video game pew pew that make up the background beat gives me their vibes)

Tubbo And Tommy

Their dynamic is so fun !! I hate when people write Tubbo as a sidekick. I also feel uncomfy when people write Tommy unnecessarily mean. He is snarky irl but tubbo does not hesitate to push back when needed. They’re a duo!! Partners in crime!!

Boys Will Be Bugs - Cavetown

Na Na Na - MCR (them in a car together blasting this would be pretty pog)

Back In School - Mother Mother

Angel Eyes And Basketball - Foot Ox

Sleepy Bois Inc

Words cannot describe how much I love this group. The biggest found family feels.

Come Hang Out - AJR

Wolf - First Aid Kit

Gotta Get Up - Harry Nilsson (idek I just get philza energy from it.)

I’m gonna be (500 miles) - The Proclaimers (the idea of them yelling “DADA DA DA “ back and forth makes me happy )

White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes

The Dream Team

All squads have different kinds of chaos and the best way I can describe them is Homie Hurricane. I’m actually genuinely really thankful for their content.

Beachboys - McCaffetery

Banks - Lincoln

This Is Love - Air Traffic Controller (very manhunt vibes)

Kiss With A Fist- Florence + The Machine

The Bidding - Tally Hall

It’s Alright- Mother Mother

Dream And Technoblade

Two nerds who everyone portrays as scary,cold and godly but in reality are lovable dorks that play a block game real good go brrr. Not that I don’t enjoy their intense moments.

Take A Slice - Glass Animals

How Far We’ve Come - Matchbox Twenty

Everybody Loves Me - OneRepublic

Disco! In The Panic Room - Bug Hunter

Another One Bites The Dust - Queen

Bad and Skeppy

In case you haven’t seen it, these songs are from the my DSMP playlist because honestly,,, their dynamic is still the same but I added a few new songs because there my faves

Immortals - Fall Out Boy

Work Song- Hozier

Twin Size Mattress- The Front Bottoms

Problems - Mother Mother

One Gold Star- Dodie

The Things We Used To Share - Thomas Sanders (y’know how they always get divorced every other stream)

Lemon Eyes - Meg Myers (ofc minusing the whole yandere aspect of it lol. Before I watched the music video, I thought it was a protective person reassuring someone)

Just The Two Of Us - Grover Washington

She Talks Too Much - Elohim (it's not a playlist without a dose of angst )

As always, I’m a slut for feedback! Let me know what you think, or if there are any friendships you would like a song recommendation for. Infact , recommend some songs if you wanna !

#Idots #idotblr #skeppy #badboyhalo #justvurb #f1nn5ter #Spifey #zelkham #megapvp #technoblade #tommyinnit #tubbo #wilbursoot #philza minecraft #dreamteam #dreamwastaken #GeorgeNotFound #sapnap #mcyt #playlist go brr

[the-mad-starker]

VenStarker Fic: Wires Crossed

For the Venom-X-Change-2020 event on AO3. This fic was written for @zsparz​ 💗

Length: 7292

Summary: Peter was hopelessly in love with a Tony Stark who kept him at arm's length. The reasons why are not what he expected at all.

Notes: canon divergence (venom symbiote bonded with Tony), tentacles, love confessions, idiots in love, first time, rimming, anal sex, size kink, lots and lots of tentacles

AO3 LINK

💗💗💗

There was always something different about Tony Stark. Peter knew it. The rest of the world knew it. It was his genius, his cleverness… a million and one qualities that just set him apart from the rest.

It was a fact that was harmless enough but to Peter, it took a whole other meaning when they met. The shortness of his breath rivaled the sheer excitement he felt upon seeing the older man sitting there, that familiar but foreign smirk on his face.

"Mr. Stark–" One step forward and Peter's spidey senses shot through his body in a flood of dangerdangerdanger. His knees went weak but one sticky hand on the wall kept him from buckling.

"You okay, Mr. Parker?" Mr. Stark accessed him, eyes roaming, while May's eyebrows shot up.

"Yeah, I'm– I'm alright," Peter stuttered as he fought to get his screaming senses to calm down. "Just really… Hungry. I haven't eaten since breakfast. Skipped lunch cause– you know."

It was a weak excuse but they were strangers so he didn't expect Stark to really question it. 

Mr. Stark didn't buy it and something flickered in his eyes… Concern? The older man stood and May followed, worried.

He needed to get himself under control. He was still relatively new to his superpowers so– what the fuck.

Suddenly, Peter could breathe again. As suddenly as it had come, his spidey senses went silent as though nothing was wrong. Was it a fluke? He still wasn't used to all the weird things his body was going through. Doubt and uncertainty was a familiar feeling as he filed away the anomaly for another time.

A gentle but firm hand landed on his shoulder and his heart jumped, startling him back to his meeting with his favorite hero. 

Their eyes met and the telltale signs of Peter's silly crush became evident. Heart pounding, breath shallow, and warmth infused in his cheeks. Looking into those sharp brown eyes, Peter felt… dazed?

"How about we talk in your room, Mr. Parker?" Mr. Stark suggested.

"I'll get dinner started," May offered, "If you want to join us, Mr. Stark?"

The older man gave a warm smile but shook his head. "I don't want to intrude and I'm sure you guys will have a lot to talk about after I leave."

May looked relieved but Peter knew it was only because she felt pressured to cook a decent dinner if Mr. Stark was staying.

"Mr. Parker," Mr. Stark encouraged him with a squeeze of his fingers, "if you'll lead the way."

"Congratulations on the internship, Pete," May added as he and Mr. Stark walked to his room.

Internship?

Peter didn't say a thing and he didn't need to because as soon as the door closed, Mr. Stark spoke.

"So, Spider-Man, what happened out there?"

Peter looked at him, wide-eyed and ready to deny it. It was futile, of course. Tony got him to confess his identity as Spider-man but as he watched the older man drive off, he didn't think it went too badly.

--

What Peter hoped to happen and what actually happened are two different things.

Maybe it was his silly crush on the older man, but when Tony Stark personally came to recruit him, he thought they'd actually spend time together. Not that they didn't spend time together but it was so much less than he wanted.

Not to mention that there was this thing that Tony did. It was a thing Peter hated and wanted so desperately to break through but he just didn't know how.

Tony kept him at arm's length. They spent a god-awful amount of time in the lab together and yeah, there were moments where he felt like they really connected but then Tony would reset the next day.

Peter was just his official intern. Kept at a distance. Tony wasn't so formal that he didn't joke or put on any airs but there was this barrier that meant their friendship could only go so far. He was polite in a Tony kind of way but he never took that next step that would deepen whatever it was between them.

At first, Peter was so sure that it was because his crush on the older man was that embarrassingly obvious. Why else would Tony act the way he did? And the thought plagued the younger man because he tried to be professional while being friendly but things just seemed so tangled and impossible.

Maybe, he just needed a chance, he had thought to himself. So he tried and his fumbled attempts at flirting seemed to make the other man smile. But then that thing happened and it was back to square one.

Maybe after some thought… Maybe Tony was uncomfortable with all the attempts Peter made to show his interest? But that was before he had gotten the hint that Tony wasn't interested… Maybe Peter was flirting without meaning to?

They just got along so well that these teasing little banters would start between them and Peter could swear that the older man was interested. But what did he know? He wasn't experienced in that kind of thing and as much as he wanted to rectify that, his heart was set on Tony.

Peter sighed as he entered his bedroom. His bag, filled to the brim with notebooks and books, was tossed carelessly to the side. He was ready to clock out and take a nice little nap until he went on patrol later in the evening. 

His eyes were already drooping closed when his phone buzzed with an incoming message. He checked it more out of habit than actual desire.

Come over.

Peter's eyes shot open. 

The message was from Mr. Stark and like many of his previous messages, they didn't really give him any more info beyond that. And he knew from prior experience that shooting off a "what's up?" Or "??" wouldn't get him an answer either.

If Peter was busy, he wouldn't go. Tony probably just assumed that was the case during the times his mentee didn't pop up. More often than not, Peter was able to make it though.

This time… He didn't even have to think about it. His fatigue evaporated, mind and body invigorated by the thought of spending some time with Tony.

Maybe it was a little sad that he was so eager for the older man's company but he couldn't help being opportunistic. To feel better about it, Peter took a few minutes to shower and change into something more comfortable. 

From Queens to the city, the time passed quickly. It only felt like a couple of minutes had passed by the time he was in the elevator and FRIDAY was directing him to Tony's experimental labs.

When the doors opened, he knew something was wrong. First off, Tony's favorite brand of music wasn't being blasted off the speakers. It was quiet enough that Peter could hear his steps as he walked further into the labs.

But then, there was a mounting sense of urgency growing in the pit of his stomach. It was a peculiar sensation, one that confused him because it felt like his spider senses were trying to warn him but… why would it do that here?

Peter hurried, making sure to keep his steps light just in case there really was a problem.

Then he caught sight of his mentor. Tony was standing in front of his array of holograms, hands planted firmly on the tabletop and leaning forwards. His head hung loosely between his shoulders with the shadows blurring his eyes.

On the main screen, there was some sort of formula being constructed but Peter barely noticed. That was because his entire attention was on the black fluid-like substance that was steadily seeping from Tony's back.

His breath caught and for a split second, he felt like he was in some sort of horror show. Peter could only watch as more and more of that inky darkness flowed over his mentor's trembling body. 

He would've rushed to his side but then his ears caught these sounds that Tony was making– Oh, God… Those weren't the kinda sounds someone would make if they were in pain. That sounded like– His ears turned red, heat mixing in with adrenaline as he stared and stared.

It was… hypnotic. It should've been frightening because what the fuck was that but… Detached from that sense of horror, what he was seeing was almost beautiful. The darkness spilled out, gleaming and reflecting light as it arched all around his mentor. It looked like it was forming a protective cocoon that, strangely enough, gave the impression of possessiveness.

The thing that made Peter take action though was that there was too much of it. It seemed like an endless supply of black kept seeping out of Tony's body and it was simply engulfing him.

No matter how beautiful it looked, Peter couldn't help gasping out his name.

"Mr. Stark…!"

Tony's head jerked towards him, surprised. The brown of his eyes were thin discs, pupils dilated.

All at once, that black cloud rushed back inside the older man as though being sucked in by a vortex. It happened so quickly, surprising the both of them that Peter barely had time to react when Tony dropped to his knees.

Peter was by his side in an instant, eyes rushing over his mentor's body to find any injuries, any anomalies. All the while, his brain was trying to make sense of what the fuck just happened.

"Kid…" Tony mumbled. He was crouched, one knee pressed to his chest and his head tipped down. There was sweat on his brow and his shoulder felt hot beneath Peter's palm.

"Are you okay, sir?" Peter asked. His voice sounded high-pitched to his own ears, just short of panic. "Wha–What was that?"

Tony looked up and there was a glassy sheen to his eyes. Combined with the fever, Peter came to a quick conclusion.

"Were you drugged, Mr. Stark?" He asked, trying to see what other damage had been done. "Should I call 9-1-1? Friday?"

"Kid– Peter," Tony tried to get his attention. Some of the fogginess seemed to recede but it still wasn't enough for Peter. "I know what it was."

Their contrasting reactions to the situation were just so bizarre that Peter was finding it hard to rationalize. But Tony had been an Avenger and a hero much longer than Peter so maybe dealing with stuff like this was just so typical.

"What was it?" Peter asked, trying to stay on track. 

"I was working on something and the stupid thing– Ugh, simply put, I got what essentially amounts to sex pollen into my system and–"

Peter's brain came to a screeching halt. Aphrodisiacs, he knew about those but the term sex pollen seemed to be more intense.

Still, he had to ask.

"Like an… aphrodisiac or something?" Peter hedged cautiously.

Tony grimaced. "Probably worse but nothing I can't handle."

It was only then that Peter noticed Tony's pants were undone. His crouched over position, it seemed, was deliberate in that it hid the state of his undress and more likely than not, any state of arousal the older man was in.

Heat crawled up his neck, no doubt turning his cheeks bright red. It also didn't help that some of that blood flow was directed further south.

His eyes skittered away despite wanting to affirm if Tony was hard. Peter, himself, hunched over a little, hoping to hide his own responding state.

Peter knew that the best thing to do was to retreat but some part of him didn't want to. This thing could be something they laugh about in the future or something they completely bury in the past and never talk about. Or it could be the thing he needed to get Tony to really see him.

Besides, he still had so many questions… He just shouldn't be getting hard when something was obviously off in this situation.

"And that thing that was all over you… Was that something with the um, aphrodisiac?" 

He knew he shouldn't be getting hard and yet… Peter couldn't get the sight out of his mind and his mind puzzled over it, maybe even obsessed over it. 

It was like a void had taken on a physical form but it had also looked fluid in some parts. In others, the thing had looked like it was solid. What really stuck in his mind was how sensual the whole thing appeared but maybe it was his perception of Tony that was to blame, not the way some weird liquid solid moved.

Tony's grimace only deepened and Peter felt bad for putting him on the spot when he was in such a precarious situation. But he knew… He knew that Tony would brush it off if he left now. He would reset and push Peter away.

Peter didn't want that so he clung to the situation.

"That… that was something else, Pete," Tony said hesitatingly.

Were they at a stalemate? Tony could've gotten up at any moment but he just stayed there, as did Peter. At this moment, were they both…?

"I'll explain another time, but right now..." Tony cleared his throat, "I got some things to take care of. If you don't mind."

Peter looked away but forced himself to turn back to his mentor.

"Why did you text me if you were busy, sir?" Peter asked. Then he licked his lips, boldly pushing forward, "Does it hurt or something? Is there anything I can… do to help?"

He was sure that his face was a nice cherry red color. But… He put it out there. Never had Peter so plainly offered himself. He held his breath, hoping wildly that Tony would…

"Text? I didn't..." Tony trailed off, frowning to himself. 

There was a moment of silence where Tony was just looking at him and then he squinted. Kept looking at Peter then at the cell phone on his table then at his hands. Silent microexpressions that hinted at what was going through his mind but not outright giving it away.

Peter fumbled with his own phone for proof, tapping the screen and showing the message.

Tony's eyes narrowed.

"Traitor," Peter heard him mutter, Peter heard him mutter, out of the blue.

Tony then sighed and moved into a sitting position with a groan. Peter wished that he could say he didn't look but he did.

A quick little glance confirmed that Tony was still hard. Peter swallowed the sudden influx of spit in his mouth, feeling hot and bothered.

"Ah-hem," Tony coughed, hiding a smirk behind his hand. He did arch a brow, "I got some weird alien pollen going on, what's your excuse?"

Peter squeaked in alarm, knowing he was caught off guard. He tried to play it cool anyway and subtly moved the corner of his hoodie over the obvious bulge where he was getting hard. 

"I've had a crush on you since... forever?" he admitted, unable to look Tony in the eye.

"You… You did or you… have…?" Tony asked curiously, cautiously.

Peter peeked at him, eyebrows raised. He thought his feelings were extremely obvious.

"Have."

He had the pleasure of Tony's mouth dropping into a little 'O'.

"Well… damn," the older man exhaled, laughing slightly.

They sat there for a moment longer, both a bit amused at the situation. It seemed so silly that Tony didn't know… Even so, Peter frowned at the lack of answers he was getting.

Hesitatingly, he reached over and squeezed the other man's knee.

"I really do wanna help you, Mr. Stark…" he said plainly, holding the older man's gaze, "and that thing… I wanna know what that thing was… You're obviously okay but..."

Peter continued to lock gazes with him, determined to show his mentor how serious he was.

Tony seemed to be internally conflicted, probably monologuing with himself as he tended to do. Peter, with his best puppy eyes, awaited his answer.

The older man muttered something under his breath before he finally seemed to give in.

"Only a few people know this," Tony started then seemed to backtrack when he said, "You know how I escaped the Ten Rings back in Afghanistan?"

He did. It had been all over the news and later on, when Iron man made its debut, the pieces had been put together on how Tony escaped. He'd never heard it from Tony's point of view though.

Peter nodded, leaning forward and so curious. "Yeah, it was the first Iron man prototype you created. It got you out."

Tony nodded, then a bit more solemnly, he confessed, "The thing that wasn't published was that I… kind of blew myself up. The armor was made of pieces of scrap metal, never before tested, all just theory and aspirations. Anything was better than staying there... So I got out. And I blew myself up in the process."

This was all new information for Peter. It was a hard fact to process… He couldn't imagine a world where instead of watching the news of Tony's return, it would've been a funeral. His blood chilled at the very thought of it.

Tony cleared his throat, no doubt sensing Peter's upset. "I ended up in the hospital, actually. In this little town that Rhodey took me to. They would've flown me to one of the bigger ones but I wasn't supposed to make it from the get-go. My chances of survival were… abysmal."

He lifted a hand, palm facing upwards. A dark plum of fluid spilled out, liquidy and swirling around itself. Even in this tiny form, it was fascinating and hypnotic to watch.

Peter's mind stumbled over itself trying to figure out what it was. Some sort of secret tech? He wouldn't put it past Tony to create something but even this was beyond the impressive display of nanotech his mentor created.

"It's a parasite," Tony explained calmly.

Peter inhaled sharply. "Para–"

Then the thing came alive. It swirled larger, seemingly gathering more of itself out of nowhere. It whirled together like an angry hornet's nest. Not only did it become larger but it grew eyes and a large cavernous mouth followed with tiny razor-sharp teeth.

"Parasite!?" It hissed, voice guttural and offended. Peter's mouth dropped open as the thing swirled to face Tony, flashing menacing teeth. "We are not a parasite."

His mentor was entirely unphased and what was even more confusing was the fond, almost chagrined expression on his face.

"Yes, sweet pea, it's just the scientific term," Tony said as he leaned down and kissed the top of what should be the creature's head. "Okay, fine. A symbiote."

The creature didn't seem placated but it did shrink, the mouth disappearing so only large white sinister eyes peered at them.

"We are Venom," the creature rumbled and Tony smiled, affection shining through.

"This little guy is part of an alien race called the Klyntar," Tony told him. "And sweet pea found me after the blowing up. Saved me, actually… And we've been together since."

The creature didn't confirm or deny but somehow Peter could tell that it was pleased. He wasn't even sure how he made that deduction but the… body? seemed to have settled into a lazy spiral as it swirled around itself.

"This human… intends to mate," the symbiote purred, staring at him with that strange alien gaze. Peter's eyes grew wide.

"It's a fear boner!" he blurted out.

The symbiote swirled towards Tony, almost vibrating with curiosity.

"Yeah, go ahead and search for it," Tony told the creature with a chuckle.

"Ah," the symbiote murmured knowingly after a moment.

Tony lowered his hand but instead of the symbiote retreating into his body, it traveled up his arm and settled comfortably on his shoulder. Like this, it reminded Peter of a cat for some reason.

"The reason why I told you isn't because I need your help," Tony admitted while absently petting the inky void on his shoulder. "Well, not with sweet pea and not with the, ah, sex pollen."

"Tony will need help," the symbiote disagreed, displeased.

"I will not–" Tony refuted, attention switching to the creature.

The pieces clicked into place. What Peter witnessed when he first came in… the way Tony was trembling while that massive inky cloud of blackness surrounded him.

"Was Venom helping you?" Peter dared to ask.

Tony fell silent, debating whether or not to answer. That was answer enough to Peter. He sat there, mindblown, as he digested the implications. Tony and this… creature?

"The symbiote and I have been in a state of symbiosis for… years now," Tony said softly, almost lovingly. "Sweet pea and I… We're like one entity. They can't be separated from me and I can't let them go."

The creature hummed in delight.

"We are one…" it agreed softly.

To Peter, it felt like the world was about to shatter in front of him. He didn't think he'd ever have a chance but of course, finding out would always make it hurt even more. But to find out that some alien creature– Wait.

"Then the… Text? Why did you send it when you're in this state?" Peter demanded. There was a thread of hope there but his face remained neutral.

Now it was Tony's turn to become flustered.

"We have dreams," the symbiote answered instead of Tony. "Dreams of… You. Of the spiderling."

"...Traitor," Tony muttered again. "Sometimes, my other half likes to do things when I'm not looking."

The last part was said with a pointed glare at the creature but Peter could tell there wasn't any heat in it.

"So the… alien para–" the symbiote perked up, ready to hiss when Peter remembered and amended his words, "the symbiote sent the text because you… you want me, sir? Is that right…?"

Tony was definitely flustered but he nodded firmly then clasped Peter's wrist. "But I can't have you. Not when we're like this. We're– We won't separate, Pete. It's why I've never allowed myself to… Not with anyone since Afghanistan."

Peter took a deep breath. He kept looking at Tony's hand on his wrist and thought about it. It took a tremendous amount of trust for Tony to tell him. Even if the symbiote was the one to push for this encounter… Peter didn't think that Tony was entirely unaware of what his other half wanted to do.

As he organized his thoughts, a swirl of black seemed to creep towards Tony's fingers. It… fascinated him. This was an alien creature? He found that once he accepted the revelation, it wasn't that hard to picture it. Well, then again, people like Thor and Mr. Loki existed so why not beings like the symbiote?

The symbiote's little tentacle passed Tony's knuckles and skittered to a fingertip. There, it hesitated before a thinner piece swept past and touched Peter's knuckle. It was so feather-light that Peter wouldn't have noticed if he wasn't watching. It was more like a caress, a soft touch that was just exploring.

Tony and this symbiote were one entity, they both confirmed. And they shared dreams. Did they share desire too?

Peter peered at them, heart pounding as he made a decision.

"I still want to help," Peter said softly, "and… I want more than that."

Tony seemed surprised by his answer but the symbiote swirled around his ear, hissing in amusement.

"Told you so," it teased.

--

Tony definitely needed help with the sex pollen. It started off mild enough but the symbiote explained it'd only get worse. Peter didn't want it to get worse so they got started.

It was awkward at first and as much as Peter had fantasies of getting fucked in the lab, Tony wanted a bed. His mentor said it because he was an old man but the symbiote seemed to think it was another reason.

Peter was more than happy to follow them to bed, even if he was a little apprehensive. But it was his first time, so that was easily explained. Add to the fact that he was technically having a threesome for his first time…

It was nerve-wracking and yet… When they fell into bed together, it became so easy. Tony's arms circled around him, pulling him close to a firm human body. That was normal. And Tony's lips were so soft… So soft and so hungry as he kissed Peter gently with ever growing fervor.

It was intense and perfect, their mouths slanting together, barely parting except when a moan refused to be contained. It was all perfectly normal as far as Peter could tell. He was so caught up in Tony, in the feel of his mouth, his beard scratching pleasantly against his skin… His roaming hands… It was a dream come true to Peter and he embraced it fully. But then, he started to notice other things.

Soft subtle things like Tony reacting to something other than himself. It didn't make him jealous though. In fact, it turned him on to see Tony's expression start to cloud over with pleasure.

The symbiote was making its move and directing its attention to Tony. It was expected but after a while, Peter became… curious.

So it wasn't by accident that when he encountered one of the symbiote's limbs, Peter didn't pull away. It was curled around Tony's hip and Peter explored cautiously.

It was long and solid but the girth of the limb would be thick in one part then taper off into a thinner point only to grow thicker if it joined another section. It moved sinuously and it… it reminded him of tentacles… Peter caressed it as it had done to him when they were talking. The creature seemed to understand and didn't shy away from him.

If anything, it seemed eager enough to touch him back, curling around his wrist and directly his hand to Tony's firm ass. A slight pressure had Peter squeezing and the symbiote purred, pleased. It then traveled up his wrist and then his arm, a warm sort of weight that excited Peter.

From there, the symbiote fully joined them and became an ever-present force. It was attached to Tony for sure, tentatively spilling outside of the older man's body and boldly, shameless, exploring both of their bodies.

Peter could tell it was very familiar with Tony's.   It was more careful with him. More tentative but so very curious.

He felt every tendril of inky blackness as it slid around them. He felt it brush against his chest, Tony gasping against his mouth as the symbiote teased his nipples.

"Mm…" Peter watched Tony's mouth drop open, pleasure contorting his features. A tentacle caressed his face, urging the older man to kiss Peter once again.

He moaned into it and shivered when he felt the tendril slide down his neck.

"Ah…" Peter ended up beneath the older man, starting up at him with hooded eyes and a bruised mouth.

"Beautiful…"

"Beautiful…"

Host and symbiote had murmured the same word, sharing the same thoughts while Peter panted up at them.

Tony kissed him again and he arched into it, whimpering when something wrapped around his erection. It wasn't a human hand, but as Peter's hips jerked into the touch, he found that he could care less. It felt warm and tight and perfect.

"Tony…" Peter whined. Was this how it felt for Tony when the symbiote touched him?

"It's okay…" the older man murmured against his mouth. "Anything you don't like, tell us…"

His hips bucked into the tight grip and his entire body spasmed as the symbiote rippled around his erection, squeezing gently and massaging his cock like a living fleshlight.

"It's good…" Peter hissed, "so good, sir… Mmm… Want you to touch me too, please…"

Tony groaned, captivated, breath exhaled in a soft sigh. "Oh, sweetheart, you're a treasure…"

Tony took his request and his hands roamed all over Peter's body, learning all the spots that made him shiver and squirm in their hold. And if he felt the symbiote mimicking Tony's touches, Peter didn't protest. He was far from protesting.

"How far do you wanna go," Tony murmured against his jaw. 

He was sucking love bites onto Peter's skin, playing with his healing factor and doing it harder and harder until Peter cried out. It was a miracle that Peter could even process what he was saying.

"We can do it like this… Just running against each other… Making you feel good makes us feel good…"

Peter looked at him through the slits of his eyes. He licked his sore lips and pressed eagerly into the older man's touch. Tony's cock against his hip felt so hot and ready.

"Anything," Peter answered then amended, "everything…"

"Hmm…" Tony's response was a hum of consideration. 

There was some hesitation in that one note though and it was something Peter wanted to eradicate. If Tony and the symbiote were one person, he wanted them and everything they could give him. He was so sure of this, of Tony. Of Tony and the symbiote. 

"There's more," Tony admitted softly as though doing so would scare him away.

"I want more…" Peter almost begged.

Tony's eyes were so dark. He felt like he should be able to see the symbiote lurking there but he saw nothing. Feeling though… He could feel the symbiote now, feel the way it watched him through Tony's eyes.

Peter shivered and spoke to them both. "I want more… I want both of you. I want… Venom."

The answer seemed to be the right one. The hunger in Tony's eyes grew and he took in Peter's trembling body.

"Turn around…" It was said so softly that Peter would've missed it if not for his spider enhanced hearing.

He did so eagerly and when he felt Tony's hands on his waist, he almost melted into the bed. Instead, Tony kept his hips up in the position he wanted while Peter buried his face into the pillows.

Admittedly, Peter had never felt so exposed as he did right then. Tony and the symbiote could see everything, from his cock bobbing in the air between his trembling thighs to the tiny untouched hole between his cheeks.

"Mr. Stark…" he moaned when he felt Tony spread him open.

"We want a taste, Pete," Tony said, breath fanning over his sensitive hole. "Can we…? Wanna taste you on our tongue... Make you fall apart all around us..."

Oh, God…

"Yes, yes…" Peter babbled. "Do it, sir, do it–"

His words trailed off into incoherent squeaks and moans when they began. A wet, agile tongue licked him there and it was the most surreal experience Peter had ever had.

His breath came in shuttered gasps and his palms curled into fists. One pressed against his mouth as though it was possible to stop the dirty little moans he made from escaping.

The older man's tongue swirled around his hole, teasing and licking. Slurping. All these obscene sloppy noises assaulted his ears as Tony made quick work out of him, reducing him into a babbling, moaning mess.

And just when he forgot about the symbiote, it reminded him. While Tony started tongue fucking him, a wet tendril wound itself back around his cock and two smaller ones attached themselves to his nipples.

He whined when he felt them somehow suck on them, like small little mouths teasing every bit of pleasure they can get out of him.

Peter whimpered when Tony pulled away. The tentacles didn't stop though and he squirmed, hips swaying as the symbiote continued, sucking his nipples, pinching them, stroking his cock...

"Get ready, baby, this is gonna be… something," Tony warned. 

Peter barely caught a glimpse of him over his shoulder but what he saw… Maybe any sane person would've been terrified but all Peter saw was Tony. It was a different kind of Tony that was melding with the symbiote but nevertheless, he was still Tony.

He didn't know what Tony was talking about but he trusted him.

The next time he felt Tony's tongue, he did go boneless against the bed. Tony licked him gently, his tongue teasing the sensitive muscle. 

"Give it to me…" Peter whispered. 

A tendril caressed his cheek and he nuzzled against it. Tony had said pleasuring Peter gave them pleasure. Did that mean they shared pleasure just as they did thoughts and body…?

It was a curious thought, one that was blasted away when Tony pushed his tongue back inside. With some repetition, Peter thought he could get used to the feeling but for now, he tried to stifle a gasp and failed.

Then something changed and– Peter cried out as Tony's tongue grew and elongated, filling up the space in his body and brushing against this sensitive spot inside him. He felt it... Reaching so deep inside him where he didn't think it was possible...

"O-Oh…!" Peter stuttered out in a whine. "Oh, God…!"

Then he remembered how the symbiote's form was fluid-like and seemed to expand and shrink at its desire. He did a full-body shiver with the realization that Tony was doing that to him… Tongue fucking him along with the symbiote.

He was truly a mess now. Tears leaked from the corner of his eyes as that long, fleshy tongue played with his sweet spot.

He had asked for more and he was getting it…

"M-Mister… Starkk…!" He moaned, incoherent. 

The symbiote continued to caress his face with gentle tendrils but Peter, teased beyond his limits, didn't want gentle. Just as Tony was licking and tonguing him, Peter, too, put his mouth to good use.

Pleasure… He wanted to make them feel good, both of them.

He kissed the tentacle closest to his face, curled his arm closer so that it was nudged closer. It jerked at the contact but then eagerly traced along his lips as though asking for permission.

Peter moaned and kissed it again. It slipped into his mouth and even though it wasn't a cock and it didn't have the girth of one, Peter still felt so dirty and lustful taking it in. He sucked it like it was a cock, moaning when he heard Tony cry out in pleasure.

Tony's assault continued and it nearly drove Peter crazy. His tongue was reaching in deep inside him… Then he felt something else nudging against his hole alongside Tony's tongue and it was being gentle by slowly working itself in but it was also thicker… He was being stretched even more and it eased itself in, fucking him gently.

He didn't know if it was more of the symbiote's tentacles or if it was Tony's fingers. He couldn't bear to look… The sight of Tony eating him out while he was being fingerfucked would make him come. And he wanted to last, at least until Tony fucked him.

"Mmm–" His words were muffled around the tentacle in his mouth but as soon as he tried, it withdrew. He was left gasping, mouth open in a drawn-out moan.

"Wait…" he groaned desperately, "m gonna come, M-Mr. Stark…"

"Come then, baby…" Tony encouraged him when he pulled away. "We'll lick you clean..."

Even without his tongue, the other insertion continued to pump in and out of him. It was joined by another and another... Slimmer than the first but he still felt it, the way all three moved and pumped in and out of him in varying motions.

Tentacles then…

Peter's head swayed side to side, words escaping him as his hips pushed back in needy little jerks.

"Fuck me…" Peter gasped out. "Please, Mr. Stark… Need it…"

Tony groaned behind him and Peter was almost certain he'd go back to rimming him but then he was hauled up to his knees by a very strong grip. He gasped, shock and pleasure shooting through him like a jolt of thunder.

The hand that gripped his waist was black with the symbiote's flesh and larger than a normal human's. 

He felt Tony's cock press between his cheeks, rubbing against his wet hole. He shuddered and wondered if the pollen could transfer… Via spit or other fluids… If it could, he was certain he'd been dosed too. But the reality was, he was just this needy for the older man, this hungry to get fucked by Tony and his symbiote.

Tony shifted a bit and the large, heavy girth of his cock pushed between Peter's soft inner thighs. Tony was more than human in this state, and his cock, like the rest of him, was being supplemented by the symbiote.

"I could fuck you like this… Or I could fuck you as just myself…" Tony murmured, soft and intimate in his ear. He gently led Peter's hand between his legs, let him feel just how much his cock was different when he was like this. It felt… massive and pressed between his thighs, it looked impossible.

And yet, Peter wanted it. He wanted everything Tony could give him. Even with his breathing shallow, his mind balanced on the dangerous edge of fear and excitement, he wanted it.

"Will it fit? It's so big..." Peter asked, breathless. His fingers curled around the fat tip, rubbing along the sensitive undersides. 

Tony gave a breathy moan of pleasure before he said, "It'll fit, baby, we'll make it fit…"

Peter took in one last shuttered breath before nodding. "Do it…"

Tony was oh so gentle with him when he finally fucked him. Peter felt the strength restrained in his limbs as he did and knew Tony was being gentle on purpose. It was… Peter's first time, after all.

It was a lot to take in but as Tony promised, they made it work. The rimming had helped and, with a flushed face, Peter could admit that the extra attention the symbiote gave him helped too. Properly prepared, Peter's body still struggled to take him in but they were determined to do it. Inch by inch… Tony carefully pushed into him, breath ragged as he took Peter's first time.

Peter gripped anything within reach which was Tony's arms as he took his first cock. White knuckled, he bore through the sensation of being penetrated and God, he felt so full… He whimpered when he felt the press of Tony's hips against his ass and his head lolled against the older man's chest.

"Taking us so well, sweetheart…" Tony praised into his ear, "every damn inch…. Fuck, baby… We can feel it... Feel you squeezing down on us, ah– You wanna get fucked so badly... So fucking perfect for us..."

He felt the warmth of that praise but all Peter could do was moan, helpless and speared open on their cock.

"Let go, baby," Tony murmured. Peter vaguely noted his voice was rougher and deeper. "We'll take care of you… Make you feel so good..."

Some part of him remembered that he was the one that was supposed to be helping Tony but the words escaped him. With his head against Tony's chest, Peter looked at him with glazed eyes. The face staring back at him was monstrous, gleaming black clinging to Tony's tanned flesh and those teeth... Venom's white pupilless eye on one side and Tony's familiar brown in the other.

Peter came with a strangled cry. The combination of the symbiote stroking him and Tony fucking him was too much. He had waited so long that he was surprised he didn't come earlier. 

His release spurted into open air and all over the symbiote's tentacles that had been touching him. More dribbled down his pulsing cock, only to be collected and carried to Tony's lips. Tony kept his promise and licked away every drop.

Even soft, Peter wanted Tony to keep going. He knew he'd be hard in no time.

"Please…" Peter moaned, tipping his face up and hoping for a kiss.

They answered him, leaning down and giving him the kiss he didn't know he was craving. It was wet and savage, Venom's long alien tongue running over his human one. Even then, his lover was careful with his teeth. Peter never once felt the deadly sharp edge of those teeth, just the wet agile glide of their tongue as his eyes slipped closed.

He was fucked gently at first. Every push and pull felt like he was being turned inside out with Venom's alien cock dragging along his soft insides. He was probably ruined for any other, he couldn't imagine sex being anything but this…

His senses were dialed up to a hundred and every caress, every sloppy kiss, every nudge of Venom's cock against his sensitive prostate was just short of overwhelming. The only thing he could do was breathe through it and adapt.

It was a struggle but he was reminded at every turn that this wasn't just a fuck. The gentleness was almost lovemaking and when he finally got used to it… He craved more.

He craved the feeling of Venom/Tony's muscles flexing under his hands, craved the punishing thrusts that he knew his lover was capable of.

Peter worried that the next time he begged for more, he'd be denied. He was never so happy to be wrong.

Once they knew he was capable of taking them, they gave him the more he wanted. Manhandled and practically lifted into the air, each wrist and ankle held firmly by Venom's tentacles, they fucked Peter with careful abandon. He was Spiderman and more than capable of taking a beating but they were Venom and they weren't going to risk hurting him besides bruising up his lips with kisses, his skin with their teeth, and his insides with their cock.

It was more than enough. Tentacles were touching every part of his body, teasing his nipples, rubbing against his cheeks, fucking his mouth, massaging his cock… And smaller but still substantial tentacles pushing in and out of his body, sometimes syncing up with Tony's thrusts and other times moving in contrast to it.

He felt… So… full…

His second orgasm was dragged out of him and by the time the last pulses of cum spurted out of him, he was boneless in Venom/Tony's hold.

"Come…" he murmured against a tentacle teasing his mouth  "Inside me, please…"

He felt Tony's body shudder, his chest working hard to draw breath as he chased after his orgasm. Peter's eyes slipped closed, focusing on the way his lover's thrusts went from smooth and precise to short and sloppy.

He let out a soft cry when he felt Tony come inside. A flood of heat warmed his worn body and it came in several loads as Tony groaned, helpless and vulnerable as he filled Peter up.

They were a mess after. Tony's bedsheets were ruined for sure.

Sweaty and exhausted, but feeling beyond sated, Peter murmured, "Okay, now?"

The older man pressed a kiss to the corner of his lips.

"More than," he replied. He carried Peter into a spare bedroom but instead of leaving him there, Tony joined him under the covers. Now that Peter knew about the symbiote, he could feel its presence like a slight tickle in the back of his mind, his spider senses licking something up that wasn't quite human.

Tony's arm, entirely human, wrapped around his waist and dragged him back so they were pressed Peter's back to Tony's front.

"Round two in ten?" Peter teased with a soft hum.

He felt Tony chuckle against his ear, "That can be arranged." 

The soft tickle of a tentacle along his neck was all he needed to know the symbiote was in sync with those plans as well.

#starker #madstarker writes #Venstarker #Whatever the ship name is for Starker and venom symbiote #nff #moody mads

[johnkrrasinski]

𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐥𝐞

Chapter 1: You Were My Town

full masterlist // series masterlist // commission open // support my work

Pairings: Dark!Steve Rogers (in future chapters) x Reader 

Word Count: 2,061

Summary: Steve Rogers; a Hollywood A-lister and your clandestine occasional hookup. Best friends since childhood, but people change and friendships fall out. Now you were merely strangers with benefits. What happens when one day you stopped being his doormat to be a better man’s queen? The selfish Steve Rogers would not like it. How far is he willing to go to get his favorite possession back?

Warnings: smut, non-con/dub-con, dark Steve (in later chapter), angst, Steve Rogers is an asshole in this one, no redeeming qualities. (MUST BE 18+) 

A/N: first chapter is finally here!! this series is dedicated to the lovely @belovedcherry​ who commissioned this story and developed the concept. thank you for being a friend when i truly needed it. i’m really glad that you trusted me to write this story for you. with all my heart, i sincerely hope you like it. this series will be updated everyday, there will be 4 more chapters ahead. 

PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: New Couple Alert! Steve Rogers and a blondie bombshell can’t keep their hands off each other! The headline verbalized.

The notorious heartthrob was spotted leaving The Ritz-Calton Hotel in Los Angeles around 2 AM with Spanish model, Alondra Ondiviela, 28, who looked stunning in a salmon sports bra and black overall, as she walked hand-in-hand with Dusk and Dawn star, Steve Rogers.

Steve Rogers was last linked to Blade in Deep actress, Anne Amorós back in early spring this year but had reportedly split after only two months dating.

Steve Rogers has been previously linked to many gorgeous models in the past, earning him the infamous title of ‘Hollywood’s favourite ladykiller.’ Will Alondra Ondiviela be the one to finally make Steve Rogers settle down and give up his womanizer ways? Placing our bets on how long this couple is going to last!

You closed the tab on your browser as you sighed defeatedly on your couch. You laid your head back on the headrest as you shut your eyes and folded your arms against your chest. Just how many more gossip articles can you endure?

Steve Rogers was your childhood best friend and… Perhaps the only man you had ever truly loved. You knew it was nothing but sheer naivety for you to concede that. You knew it was cruel and inequitable to your heart, but, you still held on to that tiny glimpse of hope that someday, things will change. He will change. Despite all the shit he had put you through, you couldn’t abnegate yourself from him. He always lured you back in with his sweet words and sinful lips whenever you try to expel him from your door.

It wasn’t always like this. Back in kindergarten, Steve used to be this good, shy, scrawny kid who had a blistering passion for art. He was always very twitterpated by watching live shows on stage. When you were kids, Steve would try to sneak both of you into the theatre when the lights were out. Steve didn’t grow up in a very lucky family. His abusive father abandoned his mother when he was only four years old, and since then, his mom had been working tirelessly to keep a roof over their heads and fill in their fridge with food.

You, on the other hand, were a little luckier than him. Your parents had decent jobs that paid the bills well enough to survive. Whenever Steve was short in cash, you would always offer him a little bit of your pocket money or your meal. You would even offer to buy tickets for both of you so you didn’t have to sneak in and could actually get good seats. But he would always say, “well, where’s the fun in that?”

So you’d drop the topic and go along with whatever deceitful ways he had in mind. After all, he was your best friend and you trusted him. You’d rather choose the thrill of bootleg games than waiting ten minutes early before the show starts anyway. But you remember it vividly under the aura of those stage lightings and when the actors were personifying in their larger-than-life costumes, he would be so mesmerized by the show before him that sometimes he wouldn’t even say a word to you at all until it was over.

Before you went home, he and you would walk to the nearest burger place, where you would eat under the polychromatic neon sign and he would tell you, “someday, I’m going to my face on the big screen or one of those giant stages and I would make my mom proud!” he cheered. And you’d always encourage him, “…and I’ll be there to watch and clap for you in the audience.”

Rest in peace, to your naïve bravado… Little did you know, his dream was going to be your doom.

You remained closed friends as you grew up; going to the same school, sharing a few classes together, until, in high school, things began to change. He began to join auditions and taking art classes and extracurriculars. He became busier and busier every day to the point where he could only hang out with you on the weekends. That is when he absolutely had no rehearsals or he wasn’t too worn out from a week full of activities.

You also noticed the different manner and shift of inflexion when you two hung out. All he would talk about is the ‘clique’ of popular boys in school had asked him to sit with them at lunch and how the popular girls would start preening at him when he walked down the hallway. It was as if by partaking in these arts clubs, it gave him a VIP member card to get access into sitting with at exclusive spots and it upgraded his status.

He changed his looks as well, by going to the gym more often and eating more so that he would gain some muscles. He began dressing like one of those jocks and he would begin throwing in some flirtatious comments to those popular girls when they were around.

Eventually, he and you began to grow apart. It got worse when he started dating one of the popular girls, Janet, and he would ditch you even on weekends despite all the plans you had made weeks prior.

“I can’t hang out today, y/n. Janet’s parents are out of town and I think we are going to hook up in her giant pool!”

“But what about the movie that we planned to see together today? I thought you had been anticipating for it since a year ago?”

“I know, but can we just postpone it? It’s not like they are going to take it out tomorrow! We could still see it next weekend.”

“Well, we’ve bought the tickets, Steve.”

“Ah, shit, alright, I’ll just pay back the money, okay? How much are those tickets?”

“No, it’s fine, Steve. Don’t worry about it.”

“Really? You sure, y/n?”

“Yeah, I’ll just ask my mom or maybe Wanda to go see it with me. Don’t want those spoilers on the internet ruining it for me.” You chuckled hollowly. Disappointment filled up your heart but you pretended like it was alright, anyway. If Steve wanted to spend time with his girlfriend then, you had no right to stop him and force him to hang out with you.

“Ah, got it. Thanks, y/n. You’re the best!” and then the frozen seconds on the screen showed that he had ended the call.

The phone calls and text messages began to dwindle. You would often try to text or call him first but it would go to voicemail and or you would be left on read. When you were at school, Steve completely stopped hanging around you. He would rather be with his new ‘friends’ now. And he was too occupied with making out with Janet to notice you as you both walk past each other in the hall.

Wanda was your most trusted confidant and she knew about all the feelings you caged inside you for Steve. She would always be there for you when you cry over him and she would always encourage you to move on and stop trying to reach him. “You deserve so much better than this, y/n. Why would you ruin yourself for an asshole like him?”

Curse your adamant heart for refusing to listen to Wanda and take her advice. In the bottom of your heart, you knew that Wanda was right. You deserved so much better than what Steve had turned you into. You used to be this bright-eyed, rose-coloured heart person who saw your future in a radiant lustre. You were always drawn to helping people out. You used to think that maybe you’d end up being a nurse or a school counsellor, but as you grew older, gradually, you realized that there is far way more pernicious malady than physical ones.

Like the wound in your heart that Steve keeps tapping on every time he acts like he didn’t know you or he left another call or text unanswered. Every time he posted pictures of him and Janet, or him and ‘the boys’ who would walk around the school as they owned it. You had always dreaded those boys. You knew they were bad news and you didn’t want to be associated with them under any circumstances. You and Steve used to make fun of them, how much of a loser they are and how negligent they are toward their grades. But who would’ve known that Steve would turn into his own worst abomination?

Eventually, like all good (and bad) things, they must come to an end. You graduated with a 3.8 GPA and you were proud of yourself for all those times you spent being at home to do your homework and study until around 2 AM.

You were happy; you were satisfied with your grades, your parents were there, cheering for you in the audience and taking countless pictures of you when you walked on stage, and you could finally move forward to the next stage of your life. But something was missing.

“Gosh, I can’t wait to finally graduate.” He scanned the paper with a mark that mocked him in big bold red as he sat at the edge of your twin-sized bed. You had just returned from school and you had received the result of your Math tests. You luckily got a B+ but clearly, Steve didn’t acquire the same latter.

“C’mon, it’s just one bad test. It doesn’t mean that your life is over.”

“I know but, I don’t like seeing a C+ on my test, y/n. It makes me feel inadequate. Besides, I need a solid 3.7 GPA in order to get into NYU. Otherwise, I wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“Stop being so dramatic, you still have what it takes. You just need to do a lot better in the next one.”

“Yeah, I’m really gonna have to work my ass off though. Math has never been my strongest suit.”

“Neither it’s mine, but you know what? Someday we’ll wear our graduation hat and this wouldn’t even matter. You’d probably forget that you’ve ever had a C in your high school year.”

You recalled those times where Steve would endlessly talk about graduating and what would happen when both of you go on separate ways. He would tell you “don’t be silly. We’ll always be best friends even if we go to different universities. It’s not like we don’t have a phone, y/n.”

You always imagined that on your graduation day, you both would celebrate it together but of course, those dreams have long perished. Steve didn’t even have a smile on his face when your name was being announced.

He was supposed to be there, standing right next to you and engulf you in a warm, giant hug. The one that he used to give on your birthdays. But no, now, you could only watch him from several feet away farther than you both used to be. You could only hear his echoing laugh as he high-fived the boys and twirl Janet around up in the air like the happy ending in your favourite Rom-Com movies.

That should be me. Your heart cry mourned for the memories and the fractured promises. It was like there was this colossal fortress between the two of you and while you were fighting to climb it to reach him, he, on the other hand, didn’t even have the patience to wait for you.

It’s okay though. At least you had your parents and Wanda and her parents and twin brother, Pietro who adorned this special day distracting you away from the anguish of missing Steve. You were going to spend this entire day with the people who truly loved you and you loved just as equal before you had to leave for the new phases of your own lives.

You will finally move to your college dorm, have yourself a roommate, and invest your time and energy in something that you knew you were always meant to do and it excites you that your journey of helping people will start soon.

And Steve Rogers will be nothing but a consigned to oblivion memory that will sink like a battleship beneath the waves.

At least for now.

#steve rogers #steve rogers au #dark!steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x you #steve rogers smut #steve rogers angst #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers fanfic #steve rogers fic #steve rogers series #chris evans #chris evans x reader #chris evans x you #chris evans x y/n #chris evans imagine #chris evans fanfic #dark!steve rogers au #dark!steve rogers series #dark!steve rogers x reader #dark!steve rogers smut

[unsaidholland]

we’ll be alright | h. holland

surprise?

was this inspired by still by niall horan? yes, yes it was. stream heartbreak weather.

warnings: sad (we been knew)

somehow everything had gotten out of control. it was as if they were trying to guide a tornado into a mason jar. everything was destroyed, broken, and neither of them were seeing eye to eye anymore. nothing would ever be the same to them, not as she and harry were on the verge of breaking up. 

there was nothing left to salvage but broken bits and pieces of a love that was once so strong and immensely passionate. maybe it was broken to begin with, a small hairline fracture being the only damage they started with, but it didn’t erase the ending. it killed the both of them to endure this fighting. the living room had turned into a warzone, and there was no ceasefire being called. there was just the two of them, on opposite sides, both physically and in battle. they were both too full of pride to apologize, but they still wanted things to end happily.

harry couldn’t believe how angry the two of them had become and how quickly everything had escalated. they were so far away from how tranquil the relationship was, so far away from the beginning. they were getting closer to the end, and both of them knew it was coming. though, neither of them wanted to escape from the pain they were inflicting on each other. 

“it’s like nothing i do even matters to you anymore,” she said, voice shaking from the tears threatening to spill. she didn’t even know what they were fighting about anymore, and neither did he, but neither of them wanted to admit that maybe they both were overreacting, that maybe they miscalculated each others’ words. 

“of course everything you do matters to me,” harry responded. he didn’t even know what the argument was going to leave him with, but he was hoping that he’d be left with something. 

they went back and forth for hours, only giving up when they both decided they were tired. the one-bedroom apartment felt much smaller, no escape from the arguments, but with harry set to sleep in the large queen-sized bed, while she was laying on the grey couch, it felt like they were miles and miles apart. it felt like they were only getting further and further away from their destination, taking every wrong turn, leading them to the middle of nowhere.

harry’s eyes wandered across the ceiling, trying to rearrange the thoughts flowing through his mind. he wondered how he was going to make it up to her. sure it was going to be difficult, but he would find a way - he always found a way. 

as harry was searching through his mind for ideas of how he was going to make it up to y/n, she was sat on the couch gazing out of the window. the midnight sky was dark and cloudless, allowing the stars to shine. she couldn’t help but notice that the stars weren’t shining as bright as they used to, maybe it was the argument bringing her mood down, or maybe they never shone as bright as she remembered. with the white sherpa blanket covering her legs, and her elbows resting along the back of the grey couch, y/n continued to wonder what she and harry had turned into. it seemed as if they were constantly fighting. maybe the house they had built was made of paper, so fragile that it was never supposed to last, or maybe they were destroying everything from the inside out. y/n couldn’t figure it out, and she supposed she wouldn’t ever figure it out. 

y/n wanted so desperately for them to just go back to the basics, he loved her, and she loved him. she wanted to rid their relationship of the complications of travelling for work, their schedules, and how they just didn’t align anymore. if they loved each other, then why were they constantly fighting? y/n stayed up until the twilight adorned the sky once again as it did every morning, and she got no sleep, too stressed about what she and harry were turning into.

•••

harry woke up midday. the sun was well up at the apex of the sky, and harry’s brown eyes adjusted to the light that was shining into his bedroom through the sheer white curtains. he rubbed his eyes, blinded by the light, and immediately realized the first step he needed to take to make it up to y/n was making her food. he knew it was the key to getting time to just sit with her and spend time with her, so as soon as he was awake enough, he strolled to the kitchen and got the ingredients out for their meal. though it was midday, harry knew she would want breakfast food, so he got out their waffle maker and began on the batter.

their meal was almost done when harry realized that she would’ve wanted tea to go along with it, so he boiled water in the kettle, and making her the tea that y/n saved for special occasions. she loved tea, and their cupboards were filled with different brands and flavours, many unopened. she collected them for when she wanted to spice things up, but in this case, harry knew y/n would need something to cheer her up. 

he set the dining table up so they were sitting across from one another, hoping that y/n would want to have a meal with him and pretend they were okay. maybe if they pretended hard enough, it wouldn’t feel fake and they would go back to normal. 

as harry placed the cups of tea down in front of their respective place settings, he looked over to where his girlfriend was sleeping, just meters away from where he was standing, but he still felt so far away from her. how did they get there in the first place? how did they leave each other stranded on separate deserted islands, left with nothing but their love the want for each other. to harry, y/n felt so out of reach and the good parts of the relationship too felt out of reach. he wanted to get back there, but he just didn’t know how. 

y/n looked at peace as she slept, and it was one of the first times harry had seen her so calm, but he also couldn’t help but notice the tear stains that adorned her cheeks. the copper, curly-haired boy couldn’t help but notice the guilt that was running through his veins. she was so calm when she didn’t notice he was around. he hoped that she was dreaming of him. harry hoped she was dreaming of the house they wanted to buy, the dog they wanted to adopt, and the life they wanted to have - but they couldn’t have that life, and harry was no stranger to that realization. in admitting that, he realized they had to have that conversation. the conversation that could either rebuild everything or destroy it further. harry hoped that the latter was just an option and not their fate, and he said a quick prayer to whoever was above that he wouldn’t lose the best person to have ever entered his life.

harry was blessed with so many opportunities. getting to travel around the world for his work, and always being away from the place he called home was one of the reasons the relationship had began to crumble in the first place, and he knew that. he just couldn’t give up his home. he knew that home wasn’t supposed to be a person, but a place where you could truly be yourself, but harry couldn’t help feeling at home wherever he was so long as he was with you. 

he began to wake her up, thumb caressing her cheeks. harry watched as her eyes began to flutter open, the confused expression painting her face.

“it’s half past noon, but i made us breakfast,” he whispered for her to hear, a hopeful smile appearing on his face. she nodded and sat up. harry sat next to her, wanting to hug her, but not knowing how y/n would feel about that.

“what’d you make?” she asked as she pulled the blanket closer to her body as if it was her final layer of protection against him. the ceasefire had been called, but for all y/n knew, they were still both at war, and she wasn’t planning on taking any chances.

“made us waffles, put some fruit on the side the way you like it, and then i also made bacon and tea.” he was quick to add, “ i made you the special one you always save for special occasions because i know you would’ve wanted it if i didn’t make it.” a soft smile appeared on y/n’s face, the small gesture already seeming to make her feel better.

“well come on then.” she got up and began to make her way to the kitchen table, harry following behind her. 

•••

by the time they had finished their meal, they were just sat in silence. neither of them wanted to break the calm moment they were just having, but harry just couldn’t help but ask, “where is our relationship going?”

after breaking the silence he wanted to take his words back, erase the fact that those godforsaken words had ever left his mouth. while he was tearing himself apart over his brief action, y/n was contemplating where their relationship was going. that was the only thing running through her mind through the early morning as the sun was rising, but she never found a clear destination. neither of them knew where they were going, it was as if the windows were rolled down, and the map had flown out. thought they wanted a happy destination where all that mattered was each other, it seemed the car was taking them somewhere that was quite the opposite. the relationship juxtaposed their desires, and they didn’t know how to make the two align again.

“i don’t know,” y/n mumbled quietly, pulling the sleeves down her hands so her fingertips were just peeking out, her yellow painted nails contrasting against the purple jumper she was wearing. the anxiety flowed through her veins as she was wondering where this conversation was heading. she was sick of all the yelling and screaming that constantly occurred between the two of them, she wanted it all to stop, but y/n didn’t want to lose him. 

harry couldn’t help but sense the anxiety flowing through the both of them, so he reached across the table to grab her hand, silently letting y/n know it would be okay in the end, but he wasn’t just comforting her. the longer they sat there, the eerier the silence became. the unknown became more and more frightening to them, and they just didn’t want to lose everything. they had a feeling that they were soulmates, and they couldn’t bear to lose each other.

the minutes passed and turned into an hour of them sitting in silence, both trying to organize their thoughts and figure out what to do. the conversation had taken a pause, both of them knew that, but it was better than them yelling at one another and getting nowhere. this was progress, and harry was starting to be glad he had let those words leave his mouth. he was hoping his mood wouldn’t change. on the other hand, y/n sat on the other side of the table fearing the worst. she was terrified that the conversation would end with them breaking up, and she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes from just thinking about it. harry couldn’t ignore the tears that were threatening to spill down y/n’s cheeks, but he couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it. what was he supposed to do when he didn’t even know where they were heading?

they sat at the kitchen table all afternoon. the sun had begun to set when y/n decided to make herself busy by collecting the dirty plates and cutlery and started to do the dishes. harry followed suit and began to wipe down the table and the countertops, hoping that this distraction would help them figure out how to fix themselves. 

•••

y/n watches as the suds swirl off the white porcelain plates and down the drain. too distracted by the thought of her and harry breaking up, she just swirled the plate around, making the water reach all edges of it. how were they supposed to fix whatever was going on when they couldn’t figure out the problem?

“should we break up?” she asked herself. y/n didn’t expect the words to come out, and truthfully, she was praying that they were just mumbled so harry couldn’t hear them, except he did.

“what?” he responded. y/n knew he was baffled that she would ever ask something like that, and she was as well. her mind was running marathons trying to figure out the right answer to their situation. though she was terrified of what harry was going to say or do next, she found the courage to look at him. all she saw was fear running through harry’s body, and she was no stranger to that fear. y/n could feel that they were terrified for the same reason - letting go - but she wanted to do anything before she had to let go of him.

“i don’t want to break up, but what if it’s the only thing that’s going to salvage this relationship? i’d rather break up now while i still love you than break up hating you.” it was a touchy subject for the both of them, but who really wanted to break up with their partner that they were still so madly in love with? maybe it was the right decision, but she couldn’t tell, blinded by how complete she felt with him.

y/n looked out the window only to notice that the twilight had left the sky and the stars were shining yet again. she hoped that the events from the previous night wouldn’t repeat, but as she focused on how bright the stars were shining, she didn’t see a difference. 

“be honest with me,” she paused to look back at harry. looking into his brown eyes for some sort of sign that things would get better. “do you think the fighting is going to get better?” she hoped that he would say yes. she hoped that he would say he would do anything for things to get better, but part of her just wanted an end to the fighting, whatever that looked like, she just wanted the fighting to stop. she couldn’t take it anymore. she hated crying almost every day, she hated being so far away from him, but she mostly hated how they were together without seeing eye to eye anymore.

“you want me to tell you the truth?” harry asked, y/n just nodded, scared of what he was going to say. “i am still so madly in love with you, and it scares me because i don’t know what i’d do if we broke up.” she looked away from him, too scared of what was to come next. he cupped her face, making her look up at him, and for the first time in a long time, she had never felt such pure love from harry. “everything is going to be alright, we’ll be alright because we love each other darling,” he said softly, staring into her eyes.

“i love you haz,” y/n murmured, scared that if she spoke any louder, the tranquil moment between them would break.

“i always love you even when we fight, you know that right?” harry asked, his hands slipping down to her waist, holding her against him. his hands on her waist sent sparks up her spine and she felt the passion that they held for each other all over her body. 

y/n rested her head against harry’s broad chest, eyes closed to fully savour the moment. she memorized the way he felt against her, the weight of his hands resting on her body, and the way he smelled. y/n memorized the way it felt when his thumb would rub circles onto her hip, never able to ever stay still, and as she opened her eyes to look up at him, she memorized the soft smile that appeared on his face as he looked down at her. she was terrified that this would be the last good moment they would ever have, the last moment that was argument-free, the last moment where they weren’t yelling at each other or ignoring each other. 

harry leaned down to kiss the top of y/n’s head, and as he pulled away, she pulled his head back towards hers, capturing his lips with her own. the feeling of his soft lips against her own slightly chapped ones felt like home to her. he was where she belonged, and the kiss only reminded her of what home once felt like. 

•••

later that night, harry and y/n were laying in bed together watching a movie on netflix. the feeling of her in his arms without any ill-feelings between the two of them felt brand new to him, and he didn’t want to ever forget how perfectly she fit in his arms. his brown eyes stared at her arm resting against his abdomen, and he wished that he could take a picture of the moment to keep it to memory forever. he knew that one day these little memories would be overwritten and wouldn’t last forever, but he was hoping that there would be more memories like this for him to keep.

y/n had quickly fallen asleep on harry’s chest and he was quick to notice her change in breathing. 

“i genuinely don’t know what i would do if i’d lose you,” harry said quietly, speaking mostly to himself and not to his girlfriend laying partially on him. he continued to ramble, “it always kills me whenever we fight, you know that?” he pushed some hair out of her face and watched as she furrowed her brows at whatever was happening in her dream, y/n’s face then relaxing to one that was so peaceful.

“i was telling you the truth earlier when i told you i still loved you despite all the arguments we’ve had. i’m still madly in love with you even when i’m mad at you.” harry knew she wouldn’t hear him, but he still liked talking to her, despite her being asleep.

that night harry realized they had quickly gone back to the basics, to their love being the only thing that mattered, but harry knew in just a few months he would have to leave again, and he was terrified. he loved his job, but he knew that y/n hated being away from him. she was his home, and he had a feeling that to her, he was her home, but he needed to go on this press tour with tom. maybe he could bring her along, travel the world with her while working. harry was quick to push that thought aside, remembering that whatever ends up happening, it would be alright. 

“whatever happens, we’ll be alright,” y/n murmured in her sleep and harry smiled. somehow, she knew what to say even if she was asleep.

-

anything and everything taglist: @hollanderfangirl​ @hxrryhxlland​ @ohmy-moonlightx​ @musicalkeys​ @notsosmexy @writertoo18​ @icyhollands​ @in-a-lot-of-fandoms-tbh​

harry holland taglist: @euphorichxlland

#harry holland #harry holland x reader #harry holland x you #harry holland x y/n #harry holland fic #harry holland imagine #harry holland imagines #harry holland fluff #harry holland angst

[lov3nerdstuff]

Voluptas Noctis Aeternae {Part 7.15}

*Severus Snape x OC*

Summary: It is the year 1983 when the ordinary life of Robin Mitchell takes a drastic turn: she is accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite the struggles of being a muggle-born in Slytherin, she soon discovers her passion for Potions, and even manages the impossible: gaining the favor of Severus Snape. Throughout the years, Robin finds that the not quite so ordinary Potions Professor goes from being a brooding stranger to being more than she had ever deemed possible. An ally, a mentor, a friend... and eventually, the person she loves the most. Through adventure, prophecies and the little struggles of daily life in a castle full of mysteries, Robin chooses a path for herself, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more, and two people abandoned by the world can finally find a home.

General warnings: professor x student, blood, violence, trauma, neglectful families, bullying, cursing

Words: 4.5k

Read Part 1.1 here! All Parts can be found on the Masterlist!

______________________________

When the door fell closed again and Robin was left standing in the hallway by herself, in her pajamas, she sighed to herself. What a way to start a birthday… But then again, a part of her (an unsurprisingly large one) was also quite excited to have a very good reason to go find Snape once more. Not that she planned on staying longer than necessary, but the prospect of seeing him at all brought a smile to her lips and thus she started making her way towards the office. Still in her pajamas, much to her discontent. Not that she minded Snape seeing her in flannels and her Queen shirt at this point, he'd had that pleasure far too often already to pay mind to it by now, and it was rather the act of walking through the castle in her pajamas that she wasn't too fond of. But it was in the middle of the night, which made it unlikely that anyone would even see her at all. Thus she made her way out of the common room and through the dark hallways until she arrived in front of the office, where she unlocked the door only to find the room behind it dark and empty. Odd… didn't he still have those essays to grade for Monday? After checking the classroom as well and finding it in the same state, she went to the lab next, but it also proved to be vacant. He can't seriously have chosen this one instance to actually listen to her suggestion of going to bed early, can he? Insufferable idiot… but it wasn't his fault that she was trying to save his arse from some pathetic prank.

Robin groaned under her breath, putting her head into her neck for a moment before she made her way back down the hallway and towards where she believed his private chambers to be. It honestly wasn't too difficult a task to find the right place once she actually tried to, and before long she found herself in a hallway she had never been in before. It literally only had one single door going off to the side, and that made matters rather easy for her. As she stood there, trying to decide if she should knock or speak, she couldn't help wondering what the professors' rooms looked like in the castle in general, and Snape's room in particular. Certainly it was more spacious, and probably a lot more comfortable than the dorms as well. Would it have the same dusty and gloomy aesthetic as his house back in England? But then again, he spent way more time up here, he had said so himself… so his rooms here might just as well look entirely different.

Shaking her head to herself to put an end to her useless string of thoughts, she finally decided to knock. Three times, certain, and firmly as always. Generic as it could be. It took a few seconds but then she could hear movement, and finally the door was ripped open with a force that had her taking a step backwards instinctively. As soon as his dark eyes fell onto Robin however, the scowl on his face was gone in an instant and his entire demeanour changed from sheer furor and annoyance to question and concern.

"Robin! What-..." He started in mild surprise, but cut himself off after a second as he took in her appearance, then glimpsed down either side of the hallway, and finally just pulled her into the room before shutting the door behind them again.

Of course Robin's heart wouldn't miss the opportunity to start racing again, and for a moment she allowed herself to inspect the room she now found herself in. It was similar to his house, and yet entirely different in a way. First her eyes were drawn to a fireplace with a sofa in front of it, as it was the brightest spot in the room, lit up and tinted in a faint orange glow. The walls around it were lined with shelves, filled with books and quite a few other things actually, which she didn't have the time to inspect right now. But there was a small table with two chairs along one of those walls, hiding some of the books and objects from her vision, and she allowed her eyes to linger there for a moment only, before the next curiosity caught her attention. On two walls there were surprisingly large windows for a room in the dungeons, which could only mean that they must be in one of the corners of the castle that were facing the cliffside instead of the black lake… There was no water behind the glass, after all, unlike the common room on the other side of the dungeons. Robin frowned for a second as she thought; she didn't know a single other room down here with a windowed corner. Obviously being the only professor who lived in the dungeons had its perks; he got the very best room of them all. Honestly, she wouldn't even be surprised if he had the nicest room of all the professors. So her eyes wandered on, over the large desk which was even more meticulously organised than the one in the office, and over the wall of ceiling-high shelves that separated the room and shielded off the far right corner. Her gaze fell onto a four-poster bed that looked much like the students' ones, but about double the size, with the softest looking duvet she had ever seen, and dark green sheets that seemed almost black in the candlelight… she quickly looked away before she had the time to blush. Geez, it was just a bloody piece of furniture; get a grip, idiot! As she averted her eyes, she also saw a closed door other than the one to the hallway, and she simply assumed that it would lead to a private bathroom. Finally when she had roughly taken everything in, her eyes returned to Snape only to find him observing her in obvious amusement already.

"Are you done with the inspection?" He asked with one raised eyebrow, and now Robin did feel the heat creeping up her neck after all. Thank god it was quite dimly lit in here.

"Not nearly. But that will have to wait until a later point in time." She replied honestly, despite being called out for her undeniable curiosity.

"What brings you here then? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine… I thought you would still be in the office, to be honest. I didn't think you would actually take my advice about getting some sleep."

"I do take advice, occasionally, but only when nobody can tell that I do." He replied almost easily, and Robin had to smile in return. "But I would still feel a lot better if I knew what brings you here."

"It's nothing of any gravity, really… But it couldn't wait until morning."

"Building suspense as always, are we?" He quipped, and motioned to the sofa, before sitting down himself. Robin followed the example, and crossed her legs beneath her like she always did. For some reason, she felt no less comfortable being here now than she was in the lab or the office. All three rooms were very much Snape, in their neatness and calm and familiarity, and perhaps that was the reason why she loved either of them so much.

"Yes, no suspense, I'm sorry." She said as she shook her head to herself again, and finally started explaining. "I'm here because tomorrow morning some kids want to put salt into your coffee."

For a moment, there was silence. Then Snape started laughing, actually laughing, and Robin didn't know if she should laugh too, feel offended, or stare in awe. Either would have been an appropriate reaction, and since her brain couldn't settle for one, she did all three at once, which must've looked odd enough for him to stop laughing at last. Instead, he looked at her with a small smile now, which Robin still couldn't really put much meaning to. Why was this so amusing to him? He hated these things, all those imbeciles and their childish jokes… usually, at least.

"I don't understand what's funny about it." She decided to voice her thoughts at last. "I spent an hour being mad about it and trying to find a way to prevent it from happening, and you just… laugh?"

"I can see how that seems unreasonable, yes." He replied, and his amusement now toned down a bit. "Believe me, I wasn't laughing at you. Neither about the issue itself."

"Then what's so funny?"

"For one, I'm simply relieved that you are only here about a practical joke, and not about another situation that might end with you being hurt. Then of course there is the absurdity of the entire situation… I hadn't imagined that it would be salt in my coffee that would bring you to my room for the first time."

"But you did imagine what exactly would?" She quirked an eyebrow at him with a smirk, deciding that humour would be a better way to deal with his words than turning into a flustered mess again would be. He probably hadn't meant anything by it in the first place. But still, for a moment, she was sure to see an actual blush on his cheeks for once, a faintest tint of crimson, but it might as well have been the light of the candles, a mere shadow. It made her heart skip a beat nonetheless.

"Tell me more about that practical joke." He said a moment later, not even trying to hide the fact that he wasn't answering her question. "How did you come to know of it?"

Robin sighed, and did them both the favour of ignoring the previous conversation indeed. "I don't know much… Some sixth year by the name of Parker planned it with his friends. They're going to put salt into all the drinks for the head table in general, and obviously everyone finds it hilarious. Cas heard from Simon, and she told Jorien and me about it just an hour ago. But no matter how stupid of a predicament that puts me into, I couldn't let it happen without telling you. To save your morning, at least."

"I imagine you wouldn't want me to put an end to it then, before the disaster ensues… That would certainly reveal your involvement."

"I would appreciate it if you didn't. I know it's probably a stupid situation for you too, to know and not tell your-..."

"I don't particularly care, actually." He shrugged, with an almost humoured expression once again. "I will certainly undo the damage before enjoying my own coffee, but my colleagues' fates are their own. And I wouldn't put your relationship with your roommates at risk over something as imbecile as this."

"Thank you! Really, I appreciate it. But I have another favor to ask of you, one that's not entirely my own." Robin replied with an apologetic expression. "Can you please tell McGonagall about it too, before breakfast? And ask her not to spoil it either? I know, that's going to be incredibly hard, but it is really important to me."

"I certainly will tell her if you'd like me to. However I am curious to know why your mixed sentiments for her seem to have changed enough to warrant such concern about her now."

"They haven't changed at all… It's about Jorien. She wants McGonagall spared, but can't reveal it as her own intention for various reasons, so I told her I would do what I can."

"And why don't you simply tell her yourself like you are telling me now?"

"Well, I don't think McGonagall would've been happy to find me in front of her door at this time of night." Robin said with a humoured smile, then had to snort. "Especially not in my pajamas."

"Indeed, I don't think she's particularly fond of Queen." He mused, and Robin had to laugh even more at his tone. "If your apparel is the problem, you could have warned both her and me in the morning. Not that I would dare to complain, but why did you choose to do it now instead?"

"Finding you in the morning was my plan, originally, but I was made aware that I won't be able to. I was just about to go to sleep actually, hence the pajamas, when Jorien told me that I wouldn't get a minute to myself before breakfast because of some plans they have made for my birthday, and-..."

"What time is it?" He asked and his voice was suddenly rid of every humour at all, as was his face.

"Eh… around one thirty at night, I think? Perhaps two already?" Robin frowned at him, in confusion about the sudden question and abrupt change in his demeanor. "Why? Is something wrong? I mean, I know I probably shouldn't be here at this time of night and all that, but-..."

"Then it is your birthday already…" The edge was gone from his tone immediately, leaving only a quiet statement with a tinge of sadness.

"Yeah, it is. What's wrong with that?" She asked in return, her expression a mirror of his own right until he got up from the couch and made for the other side of the room without a word. Robin's heart squeezed together for a second, then she jumped up as well, out of sheer nervousness, but stayed standing between the sofa and the fireplace, feeling lost as her eyes followed him through the room. Had she done something wrong? Or said the wrong thing, perhaps?

Snape merely picked what looked like a piece of paper out of a stack of documents on his desk, then returned to Robin without any ado. Her eyes didn't leave him once, but only met his at last when he stood in front of her again. All the small tells of emotion on his face showed guilt, a hint of annoyance perhaps, both directed entirely at himself as it seemed.

"I tend to forget about time and such trifles when I am in your company. I apologise for the delay." He said after a few seconds, then held out the paper to Robin, an envelope that once again had his own name written on it. "Happy birthday, Robin."

The nervousness that had churned her guts seconds before was replaced by a soaring wave of warm adoration with a start, at both his words and the fact that all he had been upset about was forgetting to congratulate her. If he wanted it true or not, that was incredibly sweet. In Robin's eyes at least. With a smile she yet again had to tone down a little, she took the envelope from him, but instead of opening it right away, she merely held his gaze.

"Thank you. And don't worry, time is entirely irrelevant to me; I am happy that you remembered at all." She said sincerely, still in a fight with herself to not reveal too much of her own adoration. "If it wasn't for the entire 'celebrating into the day' thing, I probably would've only remembered that it's my birthday tomorrow morning."

"You will have to tell me more about what your roommates have put you through, but first I would like you to open that envelope. I meant to give it to you at the end of the day, but seeing as you are here right now, the beginning of the day will be just fine as well."

"Alright…" Robin said, and she couldn't help her curiosity for much longer anyway. Thus she turned the letter in her hands, inspecting the already broken seal with a smile, a frown and a huff. "The letter is from the ministry…"

"Obviously."

She rolled her eyes with a smile, but then finally tugged out the two sheets of paper from the envelope, and unfolded the first. For a minute, she read over the letter that was indeed addressed to Snape, and almost as expected, she didn't understand a word of it. It was signed with a name she had never heard before, but the subtitle said that he was representing the department of admissions. A title as generic as the name itself. Other than that, the letter mainly stated that Snape's request had been accepted and processed thanks to the aforementioned reasons (which unfortunately weren't stated, but surely would've given Robin a hint about what this entire thing was about), and that the ministry would keep an eye on the issue nonetheless. After reading it twice and being left no wiser, Robin took a look at the second page.

To her great surprise, this one had her own name on it, and it looked a lot more like the official document she had received from the ministry after successfully completing the apparition class last term. Her frown deepened as she scanned every word and number on the form that looked more like a license almost, if the standardised look of it was anything to go by… it certainly would explain why the letter came from the department of admissions. But other than her name, a few numbers and the current date, the twentieth, she didn't get too much information from it either. Entirely confused now, she looked back up at Snape who had carefully observed her while she had been reading.

"I would love to tell you I'm happy about the gift, but I have absolutely no idea what any of this is about. I don't even know if it's a gift or a warning or a death sentence." She started with a helpless chuckle, sounding almost as lost as she felt. "Perhaps we could skip the part where you roll your eyes and make me guess for once, for the sake or my birthday. Please?"

"It's not precisely a gift in common terms." He explained, and thereby complied with her request without mention. Robin didn't fail to notice though how mildly uncomfortable he looked, and she wondered if it was about the subject itself, or the mere fact that he was finally admitting to giving her something like a gift at least. "It is a solution to a problem you have. Or rather one that you had, until now."

"Who's the one building suspense now?" Robin smirked at him, to which he merely let out a huff that was supposed to cover up his own not-smirk. It didn't work, and he probably knew, so he went on to explain.

"I do realise that I had no right to solve this problem for you, and I also know that you never made a problem of it in the first place." He said, which made matters no less mysterious at all. "But I know that it has been burdening you for a while now, and I had to put an end to it. Try to, at least. So what I did was to write to the ministry and request for you to be given a certain and admittedly quite rare professional authorisation that allows you to handle certain substances that are subject to permission."

"I… which… what?"

"Perhaps we should approach the matter from a different perspective that is less… political. You obviously are aware that the objects we have gathered over the summer, the subjects of the theories in your handbook, all share one essential attribute: they are rare, some even extremely rare, and therefore very valuable. Yes?"

"Yes."

"And you see how that correlates to the horrendously high prices one has to pay for them in any shop that sells ingredients for potions."

"...yes?"

"Now, the reason why these objects are more often sold on the black market than in any reputable establishment is quite simple. The vast majority of rare objects and ingredients, and thereby almost all of the ones in your handbook, are subject to permission, which means that without a permit from the ministry, you aren't allowed to sell them. This leads to the problem that most shops are generally short of these ingredients, seeing as the ministry rarely gives out such a permit, which in return makes the ingredients even more expensive. These issues can be evaded by selling on the black market, which however almost always results in selling under value to sell at all."

"I understand. But why doesn't the ministry want to give more people such a permit? Wouldn't that make things a lot easier?" Robin frowned, and she felt like the biggest idiot ever, with a large knot in her brain. She knew she was missing something very obvious, but she just couldn't tell what it was.

"Imagine what would happen if every idiot was going after these ingredients for the mere sake of selling them. Not only would most of them die before they even reach their goal, but there would be thousands of people roaming through both worlds and destroying everything in their wake for the mere sake of making money off these objects. The ministry can't risk that, and therefore they are very selective about those who they grant this permit to. They wouldn't give it to me when I tried a few years ago." Snape said, then motioned to the papers still clutched in Robin's hands. "But they gave it to you. People have known your name ever since the first conference you attended; important people who have enough influence to see to it that my request was accepted."

"But… what… I…" Her brain was completely out of it for a moment, until she gave herself a mental slap. "I only research rare ingredients because I love doing it, and I gather them for you and me to work with… But I've never thought about selling them before."

"I know. Your passion for the work we do, the work you do, will always be your highest priority, but that doesn't contradict selling what you don't need for yourself." He stated, then sighed while the subtle discomfort returned to his expression. "Even a mere handful of the wraiths' moss from last year's excursion would suffice to make a small fortune. I know you have been concerned about how to make a living without your parents' support for a while now. This is the solution. A possible one, at least."

For a moment then, the weirdest thing happened; Robin's mind was entirely blank. A mere white noise of too much to process, too many thoughts tumbling over one another while each was too briefly existent to be grasped. So she just stood there, papers still clutched in her hands, and stared at Snape with wide eyes and parted lips. Frozen in space and time.

"Breathe." He reminded her then, with an expression so uncertain it seemed almost uncharacteristic, and Robin did breathe indeed. Once, twice, thrice… then her mind exploded into a colourful variety of emotions, and she finally snapped out of her freeze only to throw her arms around Snape an instant later, hugging him as tightly as if her life depended on it. If he wanted it or not. He didn't have a say in this, not right now.

"Thank you…" Robin breathed as soon as she wasn't entirely choked up anymore, and she couldn't even bring herself to care that the tears that were running down her cheeks now were drenching his linen shirt. "Thank you thank you thank you."

His arms wound around her in return almost instinctively, pulling her closer and keeping her steady as she stood on her tiptoes. But when he spoke up, his voice was quiet, sad almost. "What did I do wrong this time?"

"What? You did nothing wrong!"

"But you are crying, which usually is a direct result of whatever matter I have screwed up this time."

"I'm happy, you dunderhead!" Robin couldn't help laughing through her tears, and her arms around him tightened even more. He really was no better at closer human interactions than she was, and it was relieving to see sometimes. "Happy, and overwhelmed. Positively! This is so much more than just a birthday present to me… You really did save my butt yet again."

"Nonsense… I did nothing more than to write a letter to the right person, asking the right questions. It hardly is a gift at all. I didn't even have to pay for it." He replied in tangible defensiveness to being thanked, but Robin wouldn't let him get away with it this time.

"Didn't you tell me two or three years ago that caring for someone extends beyond the material?" She asked while the tears slowly dried out, leaving her voice muffled by his shoulder rather than emotion, and finally the overwhelmed feeling made way for sheer happiness. "This is the best possible example of it. It might only look like a piece of paper, but it's so much more to me. It shows that you know me, know me so well that you don't even have to ask to know what's on my mind. It means that you willingly dealt with people you despise, because I know just how much you hate ministry officials, and writing to them in a nice enough way to get them to do something for you can't have been easy. And foremost, the fact that you didn't just give me a gift, but actually thought of a bloody brilliant solution to an incredibly important problem for me tells me just how much you actually care. If you want to admit it or not."

"You haven't the slightest idea just how much I actually care." He replied under his breath, and it sent a deep shiver through Robin, one which obviously was noticeable enough for him to follow it up by lightly tracing up and down her spine with his fingers. Bloody hell, she could've died right on the spot from the sheer emotional intensity of this alone.

"You're getting better at showing me." She finally made herself reply, in a voice way too breathy to be anywhere near appropriate, but it didn't matter in that moment. Not when her mind had enough trouble keeping her from doing something incredibly stupid.

"May I ask you something you might find rather odd?" He spoke up a few seconds later, and his hand stilled on her back, splayed out so that his fingertips brushed her sides.

"Don't you always?" Robin chuckled softly. "You can ask and say anything at all, you know that. Odd isn't a thing between us anymore." The question he did ask then, however, she had not seen coming at all.

______________________________

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[jasmindoodles]

“I’m not just another number”

Pairing: Arc trooper Fives x oc

Word count: 4.7k

Warning: None

A/N: This chapter was recently been updated, so some things have changed but its still mostly the same idea. Big thanks to my friend Alexa for helping me, couldn’t have done it without her!

Chapter: 1 | 2 |

Chp. 1- A sight to behold

Fives really didn’t have any expectations for his first mission after being promoted to arc trooper, but this certainly wasn’t it. He was on a diplomatic mission of all things. He was to accompany General Skywalker and General Kenobi. Along with him Commander Cody, Captain Rex, and Echo were also requested to come along. This was a very special mission personally requested by Senator Amidala herself. They were asked to go to a planet called “Toralu” who was interested in discussing a possible alliance. He definitely wasn’t going to complain about coming here though. On his travels he had heard rumors and whispers of Toralu’s wild, lush, and mountainous landscape. It was said to be one of the most breath-taking planets in its system.

As the dropship approached the surface of the planet the side doors opened.

Suddenly As the ship turned a ray of warm orange light seeped through the door.

“Gosh my eyes! Of course, I have to be standing right next to the door.” Fives though as he quickly raised his hand to shield his eyes. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the light, he lowered his hand to finally reveal the planet below.

“The rumors really don’t have anything on this planet” Fives admitted to himself as he gazed out the ship.

Below stood a planet with never ending golden sands and glimmering turquoise waters. From the sands bust forth black rock cliffs caped in deep green brush, flowing into low dense valleys. The Landscape was dotted with exotic Flora and flowers as far as the eye could see. The planet just screamed warmth and life. From its thick forests, delicate flowers, to its tranquil seas.  As his glimpse of the shores disappeared, he instead turned his attention to their white circular landing pad.

Alright men get ready were dropping shortly, stated Rex. Fives started gathering all his gear together.

Once the ship landed fives exited the ship in line. As he stepped down off the ship and scanned his surroundings, he immediately landed on the magnificent palace. There in the mountains stood a palace that beamed golden rays as if manifesting the sun itself. It seemingly melded and became one with the earth as vines flowed and intertwined with its many archways. The outside of The Place had wing-like glass archways that wrapped around the entirety of the building. From there rose sharp curved towers that resembled tongues of golden fire, reaching as if to touch the heavens. These towers encircled a dome of shimmering glass holding high the queen’s royal crest.

“Fives can you get your head out of the clouds and stop gawking at the planet. Hurry up and get on line, we don’t have all day” shouted Rex. Swiftly Exiting the ship behind the generals, they were immediately stopped and meet with greeters and other servants.

“Hello welcome honored quest, we are so pleased to have you on Toralu! Please take these gifts, as they are directly from the queen” stated the head Greeter. In the greeter’s hand lay a Flower clip. The flower had a crown of fuchsia petals blending into the bell-shaped purple petals below. It slowly draped down with short fuchsia vines holding little buds at the end. Please wear them when you’re in the palace as they signify that you all are special guests of the queen. If you need anything, please show this clip to any servant and your needs will be swiftly taken care of. All the servants quickly bowed and held out the flower clips to each person.

“Well at least the locals are friendly” Fives though to himself.

As they are handed the gifts, He just looks at Echo mildly amused, shrugging at one another not knowing what to do with the gifts they’ve been handed. Quickly he scrambles to find a place to clip it on him. He clips it on his belt and follows the generals down the walkway.

The group is escorted by a few of the servants down a long path that eventually leads to the palace. As the entrance slowly came into view, they noticed how heavily guarded it is. The doors were made of heavy gold being at least 3 times any human’s size. The entrance truly looked impenetrable. Once they approached the generals moved to the side to speak to one of the queen’s greeters privately. After a few moments passed General Skywalker quickly motioned for them to follow him. They followed him down a crescent shaped hallway with tall arch’s All the ceilings and adjacent archways were delicately painted with gold and elaborate paintings decorated the walls. Finally, they had reached the end of their walk as they came to stop at an impressive and imposing throne room. As they entered the first thing, they noticed an intricately crafted marble floor which led to a set of tall stairs. The stairs skillfully lead their eyes up to a large throne which sat perfectly Infront of a plethora of floor to ceiling windows.

Suddenly he noticed there were three people talking to one another off to the side, a man and two ladies. One of the women had her back to them, so he couldn’t see any of her features. Something about her though just captivated all his attention. He felt like he couldn’t look away even if he wanted to.

From behind he could see she was dressed in a long floor length dress that softly swayed as she moved. The Dress was a delicate mint that slowly faded down to a bright fuchsia. The gown was also adorned with golden shoulder plates that wrapped around the back of her neck making a high collar. Her shoulder plates connected to puffy sheer sleeves that tightened around her forearms. The rest of her was hidden from his view because of her long flowing brown hair, which she had half pinned up in an elaborate headpiece.

As the greeter made their presence known to her, she turned around to greet her guests. When he finally laid eyes on her, she completely took his breath away. There were so many rumors about how breathtaking the planet was, but they had never mentioned how the people were even more so. As she gracefully walked closer, he saw how elaborately she was dressed. It finally hit him.

“Oh my Goodness she’s the queen”! Queen Kira Luana! Fives though.

With her now In full view he could soak in everything about her. She had piercing mint eyes that were calculating and gentle. He also noticed how she had multiple thin golden markings. One that curved from the top of her cheekbones down to the corners of her lips, and another that started at the bottom of her lower lip and traveled under her chin. With her gown fully in view he noticed the dress’s heart shaped neckline trimmed with gold. She also wore a gold-plated corset belt, complementing her hourglass figure. The dress fanned out into two flowing front slits giving view to her clothed legs. Her hair swayed delicately as she walked closer and making his heart race faster and faster as she grew near.

She greeted the generals first, her smooth and silky voice sending shivers down his spine. Then she turned her attention to him and his fellow clones, giving them a sweet smile. Seeing just her smile made his heart flutter and him feel knees feel weak,

‘Get a hold of yourself Fives!’ he thought scoldingly.

She asks the generals in a gentle voice “Would your troops be so kind as to remove their helmets, please? I would like to see the rest of my guests' faces.”

‘Oh no!’ He thinks.

General Skywalker tilted his head back with a smirk and a small chuckle saying “Well boys you heard the queen, remove the helmets”

As he removed his helmet, he can feel himself start to blush, making him feel more flustered.

‘It’s not like I’ve never seen a pretty girl before! What is up with me! Come on get yourself together Fives!’ He thinks to himself. She’s different though. She is the most beautiful person he’d ever laid his eyes upon. She wasn’t your typical pretty face you would meet at 79s, she is a queen. Fives stared to get the strange feeling that someone was looking at him intently. As he looked to his left, he was immediately meet with a scolding gaze from Echo. That look firmly told him to get himself together and straighten up. The queen started to speak grabbing everyone’s attention, diffusing the growing tension between Five’s and Echo.

“Oh my, who knew there were such handsome faces hidden underneath those helmets” she said as she walked past them examining them.

Any semblance of composure that Fives had gained went out the window at her words. What she said left him even more of a flustered mess then before. Kira swiftly turned back towards the General’s to discuss details about their stay on Toralu. Out of nowhere, Fives suddenly felt Echo jab his elbow into his side causing him to jump and be abruptly brought out of his daze.

Two servants then walked into the throne room and once they finished talking stepped in front of the General’s.

“Generals’ if you would please allow us, we would like to show you and your warriors to your respective rooms” said the servant’s.

“Of course, Thank you, please lead the way” Obi One said as he gestured forward. After walking down more arched golden hallways they reached their destination. They stopped in front of two side by side doors.

“These will be the rooms you’ll be staying in.”

“Generals, you both will be staying in the left room and your men will stay in the right room beside yours. I’ll show you the room inside, Kamikara will show your men their room.” The two servant’s then ushered them separately.

As the clones walked in the room, they all gawked at how lavish it was. It had high arched ceilings, windows with a view, and best of all white plush beds with mountains of pillows. Fives immediately turned around and asked the servant ‘This can’t be our room, are you sure you’ve got the right place?”  

“Oh most certainly, only the best for the Queen’s quests” Kamikara said confidently.

“Now there are fresh clean clothes on the beds for you to change into if you so wish. Also, the refresher is on the right and a gentle reminder that the queen would like to have all of your presences at dinner at 19:00”.

“Wait, does the Queen actually want us to dine with her and the generals?” Fives blurted out.  

The servant girl looked taken aback and momentarily confused but then answered, “Why yes of course, it’s customary to feast with all the guests here on Toralu.”

Fives then said with a confused look on his face “But we’re just soldiers, we’re not meant to dine with a queen.”

“To the queen it matters not what rank you are, she views everyone as her equal and wants to make everyone feel welcomed. Unless you want to upset her by not coming to dine with her?”

Cody jumped in immediately “Don’t mind my friend here, we’re just not used to being the ones invited to dine. I assure you we’ll be ready for dinner at the proper time”

Kamikara’s slight frown quickly became a large bubbly smile at Cody’s words. “Perfect! I’ll come by a few minutes before to escort you all to the dining room. In the meantime, you can relax in your room or feel free to walk around the palace, even roam around the city as well, if you so please. If you need anything, use the intercom by the door and a servant will come, there are also servants all around the palace if you are in need of assistance. Now before I take my leave, do any of you have any questions or in need of something?”

Everyone was in shock by what she had said, but then he heard Rex clear his throat and say “No, thank you ma’am, um we’re fine.”

Ok great! Well, I hope you enjoy your stay here. Kamikara said as she left the room.

Fives scoffed “Wow! I can’t believe this room is for us. Hey Cody, Rex, does this usually happen in these types of missions? You know, where we're treated like normal people.”

Cody chuckled, “Enjoy it while you can Fives.” Echo playfully shoving him in the process.

Cody started walking to the door with Rex not far behind “We’re going to go speak with the generals. You boys enjoy yourselves in the meantime.” Cody mockingly said.

Fives curiously raised his eyebrow at them as they left. Eventually though he turned and looked at Echo shrugging it off guessing whatever it was they were going to talk about, he didn’t need to know.

“You heard the captain.”

Fives made a mad dash for the bed playfully shoving Echo out of the way in the process. Once Fives reached the bed he fell back on the soft plush bed. Relishing in how soft the bed was he buried himself in the mounds of pillows. Echo just shook his head and sighed as he walked towards the refresher. Once fives heard the door shut, he sat up and thought “Well if I want to explore the room, now is the time”. As he got up and walked around the room, he noticed a large balcony thru a frosted glass door. As he opened the door to the balcony, his face was hit by a warm gentle breeze. The wind carried the sweet smell of exotic flowers and the salty bite of the sea.

“Man, I just can’t get enough of this smell” Five’s though as he took in a large deep breath.

He felt the tension leave his neck and shoulders as all his senses took in the flora and beach that laid in his view. Behind him he heard Echo open the door to the refresher, slowing walking back in the room. Fives walked towards the door and leaned on its frame. “Echo you have got to see this view it’s amazing!”

“Ok, well if you would move your big butt out of the door then maybe I would!” Echo said with a playful smirk.

Just as Echo reached the door Cody opened the Front door with Rex in tow. Immediately Echo and Fives stopped and straightened up getting in line. “What are our orders Commander?”

There are none for right now, the generals are going to speak with the Queen, so I suggest you both should take this opportunity to rest up.”

“Yes sir!” Both Echo and Fives then relaxed and moved over to sitting down on their beds.

Echo quickly got comfortable lounging back on his bed. “Finally, I’m going to get a chance to read up on my data pad.”

Fives just shook his head while saying under his breath “Echo I think you were left in your growth chat too long.”

Fives slowly laid down on the soft bed. “Honestly it feels so strange laying on something so comfy. I don’t know, maybe I’m just too used to our rocks for beds.” As he got comfortable his eyes slowly grew heavier and heavier, until eventually Fives was fast asleep.

Fives bolted up from his sleep in a panic, sweat slowly dripping down his brow. ‘ It was just a nightmare” fives panted. “Gosh what time is it.” Taking a quick glance at the clock he noticed almost 2 hours had passed by, fortunately there was still plenty of time before dinner. Scanning the room he looked over to where Echo should be on his bed, but it was empty. Cody and Rex were nowhere to be seen. “I wonder if I should comm them?”As he reached to grab his comm fives thought, “ Wait… they may be in negotiations with the general’s and queen, best not bother them.” As fives pondered it hit him. “I know I’ll bother Echo!” he grabbed his comm an dialed.

“Hey Echo, where are you?”

“Oh, I’m in the art gallery.”

“Art gallery?”

“Yeah, I wanted to learn more about the culture of Toralu and there just so happened to be a gallery in the palace. It’s got so much interesting art and it's full of fascinating cultural pieces, ooooh wow like this unique plant life ....” Echo’s voice trailed off as something grabbed his attention and distracted him from the conversation. As Fives stood there waiting for Echo to regain his focus he rolled his eyes, growing in his frustration.

“Echo! Just tell me how to get to you?!” he impatiently shouted.

“Oh that’s easy, when you leave the room take a left down the hall, then walk a little and take a right and to your left there should be a large fountain, it’s right on the other side of it.”

“Finally! Ok, I’m coming to you.”  

If he remembered right, there were supposed to be two servants alongside two guards on either side of the hallway. Coming out of the room he looked left and right, and just as he thought there were two servants alongside two guards on either side of the hallway. He turned left out of his door and respectfully nodded at the guards and servant’s as he walked past them. After some time of walking down the hallway, fives started to notice what looked like two entrances on the right.

“That can’t be right! Echo never mentioned two entrances.”

Running his hands through his hair in frustration fives sarcastically huffed “This is just great!

Finally calming down fives leaned back against the wall pushing his head back, “Ok think, what should I do? I could comm Echo but who knows how long it would take to get an answer out of him. Or I could just go for it since I do have a fifty-fifty chance.”

Running his hand over his temples and through his hair he reluctantly came to the conclusion “I’m just going to go for it and choose the closest entrance. What’s the worst that could happen anyways?

Walking down the hall for a few minutes fives let out a long frustrated sigh “This is taking way too long, I should have reached the fountain already.”

“It’s got to be just around the corner, this place can’t be that big” thinking to himself in denial.

After walking for what seemed like forever, he saw a grand entrance at the end of the hallway. Getting closer he noticed the entry archway had massive marble pillars covered in vines sprinkled with small purple flowers. Past the archway laid a well-manicured courtyard and a magnificent view of the ocean. Taking in the elegant scenery fives thought,

“Echo never said anything about this place but maybe the gallery entrance is somewhere around here?” As he scoured for anything that looked like the entrance to the art gallery, he suddenly heard voices. Being curious he followed the voices and straight away stumbled upon the queen and her advisers. 

Panic sets in and he rushes back to the hallway hiding behind the wall, he peaks around the corner and sees she’s turned opposite to him, talking with her advisers. ‘Why am I so nervous?! Also why am I hiding?’ Thinking to himself, he notices another entrance on the other side of the opening and looks back where the queen was. She was still distracted talking, so he took his chance and tried his best to look inconspicuous but just a few steps in and the queen noticed. 

“Excuse me!” Fives winced and stopped dead in his tracks.

“You’re one of general Skywalker’s troopers, correct?” Going into autopilot Fives turns around while straightening himself answering “Yes sir. Arc trooper Fives at your service.” 

Fives relaxed enough to lay his gaze upon the one asking the question and  there in front of him stood in all her beauty, Queen Kira Luana. Making his breathing hitch and sending his heart racing.

She smiles at him sweetly and starts walking towards him. ‘By the force she’s beautiful!’ He thinks to himself, clenching his fist tighter as she gets closer. He keeps his eyes looking straight forward for fear that if he looked directly at her he would crack.

She stops in front of him and asks in a very gentle and smooth voice “are you lost Fives?” He can feel lightning crawling up his spine at her saying his name so gentle, making him weak at the knees. So in tranced by her words he almost doesn’t answer her, stuttering for a response he clears his throat “Um n-no your highness, I-I was uhh going to the visitors art gallery! Haha” ‘Wow! Really Fives!? That sounded so stupid!’

She smiles endearingly up at him humming. ‘Oh my force! Stop it woman!! Are you trying to give me a heart attack’

“Well if you’re going to the visitors art gallery you’re going in the complete opposite way.” Now she’s just smirking at him. Embarrassed now, he tries to act confident “I knew that, I just wanted to take a detour is all, considering how beautiful this palace is.” Smiling like a buffoon.

Raising an eyebrow at him she says in response “You have no idea where you are, do you?

Realizing he’s been figured out, sighs “Forgive me your highness, I think I might’ve taken the wrong turn, if you could just point me in the direction of the gallery and I’ll be out of your way.” Says defeatedly.

She looks pass him down the hallway and says “I could” then looks back at him “But first I have a favor to ask of you.” Looking back at him.

Confused he stutters to ask “uhh umm what w-would that favor be, your highness?” Trying to give a dashing smile but failing in the process.

At that she smiles again at him “ Would you mind walking with me to the gardens?”

He raises his eyebrows not knowing to respond,” uhhh-“ before he can answer she cuts him off saying “ If you don’t want to, that is fine I understand, you are probably tired and would like to rest.” Looking a little disappointed. He immediately jumps to says “N-No! I-I w-would love too! It would be an honor!” At that she instantly perked up, smiling once again. Before they start walking she turns back to her advisers and dismisses them. Turning back to Fives she grabs his arm, making him blush to the point where he has to turn his head the other way so she wouldn’t notice.

As they walk in unison Fives sorta starts to calm his heartbeat, until the queen starts talking. “I hope your rooms are to your liking, I’ve never had clones stay at my palace before, so I wasn’t exactly sure what you all would like.” Fives almost choked on his own saliva at what he was hearing, but quickly composed himself. “Trust me it is more than fine. Thank you, your highness. You didn’t have to do that for us clones, we’re used to far less.” Ending his statement with a nervous laugh.

“That’s... Disheartening to hear, you and your men are what’s holding up the Republic’s side of the war alongside the Jedi. Surely you should be recognized for your hard work, right? You all are putting your lives on the line and should be treated with the highest regard; although I know war is not a very accommodating situation. ” Looking at him with concern.

“That’s very kind of you to think that of us, your highness. But we are just another weapon of the Republic, we’re meant to be expendable. Me and my brothers aren’t even considered living beings to some.” He looks away as he says that, clenching his jaw.

Kira looking upset at his words “But that is not true! How could someone or anybody for that matter look at you and think you are not a living being? It’s outrageous!!” Fives response “Maybe it’s because others don’t understand or just don’t know, some look down upon us because we are genetically made instead of naturally born, like the rest of the galaxy.”

Thinking on what he says the queen takes a deep breath and exhales as she begins again “ I’m sorry about that, truly I am. No one or thing should be treated like that. Me and my people, we are taught to value all living beings whether they are born through the will of the force or genetically made. Know that even though my planet is neutral and does not participate in this war, you and your brothers are valued in my eyes and in the eyes of my people.” Fives a bit shocked goes on “ Thank you, your highness. That means a lot coming from someone such as yourself.”

“ All who meet you should be thanking you and your brothers for your sacrifices” bringing her hand to her chin in a thinking pose, she responds “ and I thank you for telling me this, I’ll have to take it into consideration for when I make my decision.”

“Pardon?” he was a bit confused at her words. She looks back at him “ oh do not worry, just know you have opened my eyes to a world unbeknownst to me, I thank you for that.” Looking forward again.

“If I may ask your highness, how do you treat your soldiers?”

“Well for one, we do not call them soldiers, we call them Makakoin warriors and they are treated with the highest respect. They’re specially chosen and put into training from a very young age. From the Makakoin warriors only a few are selected to actually be the queen's royal bodyguards. It requires even harsher training that not everyone can withstand. The ones who become warriors are given one of the highest honors and in return they honor and benefit their families. It’s quite different from the Republic who mass-produce soldiers and from what you told me, see you as nothing but weapons. I mean no offense by that.”

That last part makes him chuckle a little “ None taken, us clones are  just the republics means to an end. Many beings view us as disposable instruments of war but a few appreciate and value us for who we are. What you speak of though has many similarities to how our Jedi are selected.   

“Exactly! Our training and beliefs are very similar to the Jedi and we greatly respect their methods of training.'' 

“Now, it’s my turn to ask a question” She looked at him with mischief in her eyes, which made simultaneously excited and nervous. “Oh dear, please your majesty have mercy on me.” Saying it in a playful way which made her giggle and that made him blush again but also feel pride in knowing he was the cause for that lovely sound, he 

had to bite his bottom lip to keep himself from smiling like a giddy little boy. “Hmm you’ve peaked my interest Fives.”

“I hope that’s a good thing.” as they keep on with their conversation he becomes more relaxed and has this weird fuzzy feeling inside.

___________

Meanwhile echo was starting to get a bit concerned that he hasn’t seen Fives yet. ‘He should have been there by now!’ Echo thinks while he’s looking around the gallery. As he does so a servant notices him and asks if everything is ok. “Yes, I’m just looking for my brother.” He goes to exit the gallery in an attempt to find his mischievous brother. ‘Ugh he probably got lost, the fool! Frustrated, he goes down to the fountain to see if by some chance he’s there, but sadly he wasn’t. He goes to com him but he doesn’t answer “oh come on Fives answer me!” But no response. So he coms Rex to see if by some miracle Fives was with him.

“What is it, Echo?”

“Sir, is Fives with you?”

“No. I thought he was with you. Please don’t tell me he’s run off somewhere unsupervised.”

Echo can hear the dread in his voice “Well, uhh about that sir...”

“I don’t want to hear it, just go find him and come back to the room.”

“Yes sir, Roger that!”

#star wars #star wars au #arc trooper fives #arc trooper echo #fives x oc #fives x kira #the clone wars #star wars: the clone wars #fanfic #my oc Kira #kira luana #I’m not just another number #Fives x Kira fanfic

[outer-bnks]

Two Burning Hearts Are Dared to Break (JJ x Original Character) Ch. 1

Chapters: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10

What happens after you lose one of the most important people in your life? After losing John B and Sarah, JJ and Elle realise that the only thing they have left is each other. 

Picks up directly after 1x10. 

Content: sadness, grief, slow burn, eventual best friends to lovers 

Warnings: swearing, mentions of child abuse/bruises from child abuse, mentions of grief, mentions of anxiety, non-sexual shower scene

Inspiration: OBX the series, especially 1x10.

A/N: I’ve had this idea in my head since finishing OBX the first time. I want to make it into a slow burn series with angst and pining. Also want different love interests introduced which causes obvious tension (Topper character redemption arc). Let me know if you’d be interested in reading that. 

Also, I’m Australian so beware of UK spelling habits instead of American eg. Mum vs. Mom. 

Word count: 2388k

feedback/likes/comments really appreciated

It’d been roughly an hour of sitting in the makeshift SBI tent, the tropical storm raging on whilst the heavy rain pelted down around it. Pope with one arm around Kie as she continued to sob into his shoulder, her parents sitting in silence beside them. Heyward took the initiative of talking to Shoupe after he had delivered the news, pulling him away from the kids to try and gain some perspective on the matter. Members of the SBI were bustling in between the tents, continuing on with their investigation.

Across from Pope and Kie, JJ sat, head in his hands, trying to block out the sounds of everyone around him. Shoupe’s words on repeat in his head “We lost them… we lost them”. Elle sat to his right, staring blankly at the ground. Unlike JJ, her head was empty, and not the peaceful kind of empty, the kind that would slowly drive you insane. This kind of silence between the pogues was rare, each too consumed in their thoughts, or lack thereof to attempt any kind of conversation.

Elle felt JJ shift beside her, finally lifting his head from his hands. She turned to watch him, cautious of an emotional outburst. His eyes were bloodshot, his cheeks wet with the constant stream of tears that had been trailing down his face. Wiping his face clear, he stood up abruptly, gaining the attention of Pope, Kie and her parents. 

“Can we leave this fucking tent yet?!” he questioned, looking towards the SBI agents guarding the entrances. As if on cue, Shoupe and Heyward entered, pulling their soaking hoods down from their heads. 

“Not yet son, we need to get statements from each of you and do some questioning” Shoupe responded, hands on his hips as if to maintain his authority, but his face held a solemn look. Elle couldn't tell if it was due to the guilt or the pity. 

“Questioning?! You’re going to question us about how you and your minions drove our friends right into a raging storm?!” JJ challenged, taking his signature red hat off and running a hand through his tousled hair out of frustration.

“Look, I know you’re all hurting right now”, JJ scoffed, Kie finally lifting her head from its place on Pope’s shoulder, “but this is still a criminal investigation, and you’re all accomplices as far as we’re concerned”.

“That’s absolute bullshit Shoupe, he wasn’t a criminal and you know it!” Pope exclaimed, surprising everyone in the room.

Heyward stepped forward, as if to take control of the situation, “Come on man, look at these kids. Do they look like they’re in any way to be interrogated right now?”

Holding eye contact with him, Shoupe sighed, lifting his eyes to glance around the room from one pogue to the next. “Alright, go home and get some rest. But we’re going to have to bring each of you in tomorrow”, pointedly looking at JJ he added “and we want to know the truth about everything”.

Rolling his eyes JJ looked across to Pope and Kie, who both shared the same looks of worry on their faces. Talking to the police about everything that’s happened over the past few weeks was the last thing any one of them wanted to do.

Everyone started to disperse from the scene. Kie hugging them all before leaving with her parents, her Mum’s arm holding her close as they walked to their car. The Heyward’s followed their lead, bidding goodbye to Elle and JJ before heading home. JJ turned to look at Elle after watching their friends leave, feeling an overwhelming sense of dread just thinking about returning back to his house.

Elle, like always, picked up on the fear radiating off of him, grabbing his right hand in her left and squeezing it gently. She knew there was no possible act of affection that could slow the thoughts racing through his mind right now. “Hey, come and stay with me tonight”, she offered softly. The very idea of returning to her house alone tonight caused feelings of anxiety to arise, at least if she had JJ there, her house wouldn’t feel so empty.

It didn’t take much to convince JJ. Going back to a mansion in Figure Eight with his best friend seemed a hell of a lot safer than returning to his beat up shack with his father, who no doubt was already passed out on the couch. JJ’s eyes moved from their place on their interconnected hands up to meet Elle’s eyes. They held a pleading look, silently begging him to let his walls down and accept the offer that on any other occasion he would refuse. 

“Uhh, yeah.. Okay”, he nodded softly. 

“Alright then”, Elle turned back to the seat that she had occupied, picking up her keys and beginning to drag him along with her, “let’s get the hell out of here”.

----

The car ride was silent. The only sounds coming from the engine of Elle’s jeep as they drove through the Cut, the water pelting down onto the exterior of the car. JJ sat next to her, his gaze never wavering from the window to his right. The torrential downpour had soaked through their clothes, leaving Elle shivering slightly as she gripped the wheel. She’d always loved driving, especially around the Cut. The scenery was similar to that on her side of the island, but the feelings that it evoked were the opposite. The Cut felt more like home than Figure Eight ever would, but there was a nagging thought that that feeling was due to the boy sitting next to her, and not the Cut itself.

Passing over the bridge into Figure Eight, it was only a matter of minutes before they had arrived at the Sterling residence. The grand house stood on a large block of bright green land, surrounded by a carefully maintained flowerbed, displaying the hard work of the Sterling’s gardeners. The outdoor automatic lights switched on as Elle and JJ made their way to her front door. JJ had only been inside Elle’s house a handful of times, despite their 4 year friendship, but he still doesn’t think there'd be a time where he wouldn’t be astounded by the sheer size of it and the never ending staircase that greeted you as you entered the front door.

“Are you hungry? I can grab us some food before we head up to my room” Elle proposed, pointing towards the kitchen.

JJ denied the offer, in spite of the slight grumble that came from his stomach. He was worried that anything he tried to get down might not stay there.

Elle nodded, leading them up the stairs to the second floor which held her and her brothers bedrooms, as well as another living area. JJ felt out of place in his wet, muddy clothes and bruised skin, a strong contrast to the white walls and clean carpet. 

Entering her room, JJ stood awkwardly, noting her large queen sized bed with a quilt cover that matched her blue and white colour scheme, and the walk-in wardrobe to the left of it. He wondered why she’d needed such a closet when her wardrobe consisted of tank tops and shorts throughout the summer. 

“Did you.. uh.. wanna take a shower? There’s towels in the cupboard under the sink and shampoo and conditioner inside the shower if you need it” she asked whilst rummaging through some drawers in her closet. She pulled out a pair of soft black shorts and a tee that she had borrowed from JJ when staying over at the Chateau a few weeks ago, holding them out to JJ shyly, “these are yours, freshly washed. Think they might be a bit more comfortable than what you’ve got on”. 

JJ had to glance down to remind himself of what he’d been wearing. She was right, the combat boots adorning his feet were sturdy and heavy, his shorts stiff from a mixture of dried rain and mud, whilst his button down clung to his body, entirely saturated. Glancing back at Elle he accepted the clothes, offering what he could muster up of a smile. 

“Yeah..thanks”, making his way toward the on suite bathroom that was to the right of her bed. 

Elle busied herself by searching through her drawers for clothes to change into, when she heard JJ began to speak.

“Um, Elle, would you mind uh”, she turned, watching him stutter over his sentence.

“Yeah?” she encouraged softly, curious as to what he was getting at.

“I… uhm, well, I don’t really wanna be alone right now”, he confessed, mumbling the last part whilst avoiding eye contact by focusing on how his boots were dirtying her floor.

Taken aback by his admission of vulnerability, Elle’s brows furrowed slightly, somewhat confused of what he was asking.

With caution, she pressed “Do you want me to come into the bathroom with you?”.

“Well like, yeah… if you don’t mind”, finally lifting his gaze to meet her eyes. Compared to the pleading look they held back at the tent, they were curious and inviting. JJ would never understand how her eyes were able to show every emotion she was feeling. 

Giving him a reassuring head nod and a comforting smile she responded, “Of course I don’t mind”. 

Turning back to her drawers, she grabbed out a pair of pyjama shorts and a run-down oversized t-shirt she had bought from the country club’s charity fundraiser a few years back. Opening up her underwear drawer, she spotted her pale blue bikini. Grabbing it out, along with a pair of clean underwear, she walked over to where JJ was leaning against the bathroom door, watching her. 

Contrary to Elle’s usual confidence that she displayed, nervously, she held up her bikini whilst proposing her idea “I know you don't want to be alone right now, and to be honest neither do I. Would you mind if I hopped in the shower with you?” 

His blue eyes widened slightly, with both surprise and affection. Under any other circumstance he would make an inappropriate or flirtatious comment, when faced with this kind of situation. God, he really wished they were under any other circumstance right now. 

Despite the heavy feeling in his heart, he cracked a small smile and joked “As long as you wash my hair”.

Elle giggled, a sound that he hadn’t heard in a few days. Since the gold game had taken a turn for the worse. He’d missed it.

Following her into the bathroom, he stripped down to his boxers, whilst waiting for the water to warm up. Once he’d stepped in, he relinquished in the feeling of the hot water running down over his head and down his body. 

Elle, now in her bikini, his favourite bikini to be precise, stepped in after him, sighing at the feeling of the hot water slightly scalding her body, after being uncomfortably damp for so long. 

Observing her movements, JJ watched as she picked up a body sponge and pumped some body wash onto it. Turning back to him she motioned for him to turn so that his back was facing her. Beginning at his shoulders, Elle moved the sponge in circular motions, the grime starting to lift off of his tanned skin. She worked quietly, focusing on the task at hand, distracting herself from the thoughts of the past few hours that threatened to enter. JJ remained silent while Elle worked, attempting to relax under the water and her gentle touch.

Once she had completed his back, she applied some pressure to his right arm, turning him to face her. They met eyes, a mutual feeling of vulnerability connecting them. Moving her eyes away from his face, as to contain some kind of break down, she began the circular motion from his shoulders and collar bones, down to his torso. Elle sucked in a breath after being faced with the dark purple bruises that covered his toned body. She doesn’t think she will ever be able to remove the images of these bruises from her brain. Anger surged through her temporarily at the acts of violence that had led to such bruises to arise. Elle crouched down slightly, now eye to eye with the marks and using a gentler motion than before, cleaned over them, wary of applying too much pressure and causing him even more pain than he’s already in. She let the water wash off the soap from the injuries, softly pressing her lips to the area, kissing lightly, before moving onto the next mark.

JJ sucked in a breath at the act of affection, watching her press the kisses to his skin. No one had ever treated him with such care, as if he were porcelain and pressing too hard may just shatter him. His heart swelled with a feeling he couldn’t describe, tears prickling at his eyes. His breathing began to shallow, willing himself not to break down completely. 

By the time Elle had returned to a standing position, JJ had tears streaming down his face. With the same gentle touch as before, she wiped under his eyes, ridding them of what she thought were tears, it was hard to tell amongst the water of the shower head. She searched his face, trying to decipher his emotions.  Did she hurt him? Had she gone too far? Had she crossed an unspoken boundary that wasn’t supposed to be crossed? JJ cut off her overthinking when he pulled her into his body, holding onto her for dear life. Elle tightened her arms around him, his body shaking while he sobbed into her neck, the warm water running over them, blocking out the sounds of his whimpers. 

With more emotion than she’d ever heard in his voice, he finally spoke “He’s gone Elle. He’s just gone.” Between sobs, and spluttering he continued, “What am I supposed to do now? He’s gone. He was all I had”. 

Elle joined him then. She tightened her hold on him even more, as the tears beginning to fill her eyes, turned into streams of tears, and then into a full-blown breakdown. They stood there, under the water, holding onto each other desperately, crying. Crying for everything that they’d been through. For everything that they’d lost. For John B. 

#JJ Imagine #Outer Banks #outer banks imagine #outer banks netflix #jjmaybank #john b imagine #john b #kiara and jj #kie x pope #pope heyward #kiara carrera #topper #rudy pankow #twoburningheartsaredaredtobreak #jjseries #jjxelle #jj x elle #jj x oc #outerbankseries #outer-bnks #outer-bnkswritings #outer-bnksimagines

[firaknight]

This is for you Lorena :)

Adeleines like, ultra weird about sleeping outside of her home because, thanks to being a fragile little human, she can get super achy from sleeping on dirt, even if it’s just for one night. To make up for this, she makes a list of every single place shes ever slept so if she happens to be near said place, she can sleep there instead of on dirt :)

Kirbys house: 8/10

Cozy! He asked to have a sleepover and took an entire day to make her a big pillow fort bed! (His own is orb sized, meaning she will absolutely not fit) Very comfy and soft and he gave her lots of blankets! She was warm and cosy and slept well! Points taken off due to how much she sunk into the pillows and struggled to actually get out the next morning :(

Halberd: 5/10

Not the worst place shes ever slept, but nowhere near the best. Meta Knight was nice enough to let her sleep in one of the better beds (made for his crew. The soldiers get a different set of beds that are more cost effective), but it wasn’t very cozy. She woke up with an achy back but otherwise slept fine.

Dedede’s Castle: 8/10

She enjoys spending the night here! Dedede always lets her use one of the bigger beds so she can fit! He’s gone as far as to let her wear one of his robes because it’s comfy :) Points taken off because of how big everything is and she gets real freaked out in the sheer darkness of the halls.

Drawcias World (AKA where the blood -related craft witches live): 7/10

Drawcia is very nice but Adeleine tries to avoid sleeping there if she can. Shes given a nice bed (of course) and usually sleeps fine but everything is really... scary. It’s hard to navigate and shes had nightmares there more than once, so points taken off for that. Otherwise, it’s pretty alright.

Seventopia (AKA where Claycia and Elline live): 7/10

Very nice! She just has trouble navigating Claycias house (which I like to think is the last world in game) and gets kinda freaked out at how easily she can get lost. She always gets good sleep here tho!

Floralia: 9/10

One of her personal favorite places to sleep! Taranza (and most of the Floralians) sleep in flower beds, and Adeleine gets to do the same! It’s very relaxing and the flowers usually emit a scent thats ultra relaxing. Shes out cold within minutes of laying down in one of those beds. Would be a 10/10 if she wasn’t in one of the higher up beds that almost hangs off a balcony :( (she has a slight fear of heights due to how badly she could be hurt if she happens to fall)

Lor Starcutter: 4/10

Hates it. Magolor and the Lor are very nice! But the Lor is very cold on the inside and everything feels really... soulless. It reminds her of Shiver Star and that’s a big no for her (it brings back not so great memories at times. She likes the snowy parts, just not the mechanical ones...). Bed was also too small and was not very cozy :(

Susie’s House (AKA a big chunk of the Access Ark): 2/10

Avoids like the plague. Fucking HATES sleeping here. Susie can be a bit of a bitch and Adeleine always wakes up sore. Bed is cold and blanket is thin and not comfy. Made of scratchy fabric because Susie doesn’t give a fuck. Not recommended.

Squeak Squad Airship: 7/10

Cozy as heck! Storo let her use his bed (he’s the biggest and is taller than she is so it works out) and everyone made a huge cuddle pile around her so she felt more at home! Squeakers are very warm and snuggly :) But points taken off because Daroach wakes everyone up at the crack of dawn to start adventuring.

Jambastion/Jambastion Fortress: 8/10

Zan let here sleep there once to make up for being a douche and insulting her lack of hairline (it was a bad haircut when she was a kid and it hasn’t grown back yet leave her alone Zan) and Adeleine slept wonderfully! Someone’s always singing (it acts as magic fuel for everyone) and it’s really eerily calming to her for some reason.

Mirror World: 1/10

Avoids it at all costs. It’s not specifically that she hates it (DMK and sKirby are really nice!) but sDDD has a problem with her for some unknown reason and nearly nailed her with his hammer last time she was there (DMK snuck her into the castle). They’re working on getting that fixed and making it so shes not a target if she decides to sleep there.

Adeleines house: 10/10

It’s home! She feels happy sleeping in her own bed and Ribbon usually joins her (they live together and treat each other like sibs) so she’s extra cosy :) Almost never has a bad night :)

Patch Castle: 15/10

Holy fuck is Patch Castle cozy. Fluff let’s her sleep in a big soft bed with like 7 blankets and it’s the best!!!!!!! She sleeps for like 4 hours later than she should but it’s worth every second of it! 100% would sleep there again!!!!

Ripple Star Castle: 10000000000/10

Queen Ripple is essentially Adeleines mom at this point and she 100% spoils this kid with the nicest bed she’s got. Ultra comfy blankets, cozy pajamas, heck, this kid gets a spa treatment at one point and sleeps like she’s in heaven (she only gets this because Ribbons part of the royal fairy court and Adeleine is really close with the queen/helped save Ripple Star at least once). Always sleeps amazingly and wakes up totally refreshed!!

Gooey, Marx, and the animal friends kinda sleep wherever/don’t have a legit house so she doesn’t have anything for them

#fira knight screeches #long post #if I missed a location or sumn lmk I have braincells for all #she’s not a picky sleeper (her requirements are bed with pillow and blanket) but gets specific about the quality #if it’s made to be cost effective (AKA something MKs soldiers would sleep in) shes gonna be upsetti about it #she’s already hella fragile and making sure she isn’t an aching mess in the morning is kinda crucial to how she performs in battle #anyways hi Lorena I hope you have a wonderful night thank you for allowing me to elaborate!!!!! :) #fira makes braincells

[simpingforthisonedeer]

Chapter 7: Silver

Summary: tw: non-graphic suicide attempt but other than that, the chapter is completely sfw. The final battle with the diamond kingdom.

Notes:

- Today's chapter is shorter than usual bc im working on making the other chapters sfw so rewriting scenes, deleting them, making some stuff into innuendo etc so more people could read.

- I like to write bit more for the side characters because everyone's the main character of their story but they are relevant to the plot trust me ;)

- Be sure to check the notes at the end <3

Aika danced between spells aimed at visible enemies as she strolled towards Julius’ general direction. She took mental notes of his general attitude on the battlefield as she fiddled with her amulet, the same one she used in the Headquarters to move around unnoticed. The Amulet of Ignorance, the single most expensive magic relic Aika possessed, didn’t make her invisible, but it rather made everyone ignore her presence. If anyone were to look in her general direction, their eyes would glaze over and their gaze would move elsewhere.

Her own gaze landed on Julius’ figure, whipping around too quickly for ordinary eyes to track, but her eyes and brain processed images faster than any other man, except perhaps the only other Time Mage. She focused on observing his technique as she ignored the pangs in her heart. It’s been a week but he was still fresh on her mind.

Aika wondered if he would end up being one of her regrets.

She sighed heavily and put her feelings aside for the moment.

Julius may seem like all sunshine and smiles, but on the battlefield, he was vicious as he made split-second decisions and cut down enemies with efficiency. Clouds of enemies-turned-dust flew around him like an Augury, warning any and all of their fate if they foolishly chose to fight him. She noticed how he used the Chronostasis over a large area and immobilized enemies, but the spell only expanded so far if it touched someone first.

“He could improve that technique with mana method,” Aika thought as she moved her attention over to Evan and Jayce who insisted on fighting. Evan with his Hellfire Magic was raining literal hellfire on the enemy troops while Jayce with his peculiar Shape Magic deftly changed the terrain to his advantage as he tested out his newfound swordsmanship. Aika’s lips quirked up in pride.

He insisted she teach him herself but she was reluctant at first because as much as he was a genius, he was incredibly lazy. But Aika caved into his puppy-dog eyes and taught him the basics but he quickly developed his own style with the foundational knowledge and wielded his strangely-shaped sword quite well. He was no match for Aika due to her decades of experience but most mages these days don’t know how to counter swords well so he was pretty deadly on the battlefield.

Aika sidestepped a falling body as she winced at the mage in pity. It was an enemy mage, but she muttered a little prayer nonetheless to ensure his soul would rest in peace. Perhaps she should start praying after battle again. She used to sing a hymn in her fighting days to ensure the battlefield wouldn’t be tainted by restless souls and she could deign to do it again.

Right as she came to a decision about which prayer to use, an arrow struck her chest, more specifically her precious amulet. She stared in shock at the archer who had even detected her in the sea of mana. The masked archer lowered their bow and looked at Aika almost tauntingly before disappearing behind a hoard of mages charging at each other.

She wanted to go after them, but her first priority was to dodge the mages who turned on her because a mysterious woman just materialized out of thin air. She didn’t even have any identifiers such as a crest or a uniform, so as far as everyone is concerned, she was their enemy. She was glad that her scarf at least covered the bottom half of her face.

Aika cursed when she noticed from the corner of her eye that Evan had begun his ultimate spell. 

Another reason why she was observing today’s battle was to contain the range of Evan’s spell, “Hell on Earth,” but this was not the time. She tucked the broken amulet and arrow into her cloak pocket and shot up into the sky with a sigh. She loved her amulet, but she could afford to mourn later.

Aika threw her hood over her head until it covered her eyes and spread her biggest Mana Zone spell—Queen’s Domain—until it encompassed the whole battlefield. She peeled off her black leather gloves, which suppressed her mana, and unleashed her aura of forbidden magic and smirked at the poor bastard who fell out of the sky when he neared her on his broom. The three horns that sprouted from her forehead lifted the cloak and her vision zoomed in on the growing sphere of blue flames, swelling and stopping at the impossible size of 100 meters wide in the distance.

Everyone on the battlefield froze as they stared in dumbfounded awe at the second Sun in the sky. The silence was deafening, but it only served to make the ringing in Aika’s ears louder as she concentrated on immersing her mana into the sphere and ousting Evan’s out.

Mana existed on a different plane, another realm if you will, but it had the special ability to affect other realms while staying in its own. But the opposite isn’t allowed. Controlling mana that wasn’t your own or in a way that wasn’t permitted by your magic was forbidden by the Gods themselves. In fact, interfering with other realms outside the limitations of your own given magic is forbidden magic.

Aika didn’t believe in limitations. She knew her potential was endless, as characterized by her grimoire. She sacrificed parts of herself to break through the ceiling above her, so Gods be damned. They can’t stop her.

A feral grin spread across her face as the Blue Sun slowly began moving as per her command. She controlled her breathing as she controlled two large spells simultaneously. One spell moved the flames, the other was Queen’s Domain, which combined with a sliver of forbidden magic, froze enemies in place at the sheer amount of fear coursing through their veins. She moved closer to the Diamond troops that were about to be annihilated for better control.

This magic brought out the worst in her, and right now, it relished in the screams that filled the air as the army in front of her lit up in flames. Aika ignored the ugly feeling and concentrated on her breathing again as she prayed. They even sounded like the damned.

Aika thought the battle had ended at the horrific scene she had created, but the Spade Kingdom joined the fray, forcing Master Raymond, the Wizard King himself, to join as well. After she had made sure Evan was safely off the field to recuperate his mana, she stayed high in the sky, away from most of the spells as she continued to observe Julius while keeping an eye out for the assassin who broke her precious amulet. Her heart nearly stopped when giant tree roots whipped around her to strike at the ground. How in the world was she supposed to expect roots to sprout from the sky?

As she maneuvered around them, she watched as the eye-catching hair of the Captain of the Silver Eagles fluttered in the distance. To her absolute shock, the man stayed completely still right before spikes of hard rock impaled him. Aika shot towards him with a bone-rattling bang and caught him right before he collapsed. A young man, that was the mirror image of Captain Silva, raised his spears of fluid metal at her, ready to strike but she froze him where he stood with a stasis spell of hers.

“Miss Tolliver?” Lord Silva breathed as blood dribbled down his chin. Aika’s weg vanished as worry and empathy filled her. She quickly threw up shields around them as she rewound the time until the spikes disappeared back into the ground.

“Yes, It’s me. Everything’s going to be fine. I can heal you—”

“No!” he exclaimed, then let out a violent cough. She stared at him in horror at the implication of his words and actions. “I don’t want to be healed,” he whispered, confirming her suspicions.

Aika began closing his wounds at a slow pace, slow enough so he wouldn’t notice.

“Why?” she asked mutely.

To her absolute shock, his stoic face crumpled as tears streamed like molten silver down his cheeks.

“I just want to see her again,” he choked out. He just wanted to see Acier again. 

His tears and the sheer heartbreak in words made her heart clench. Aika steeled her resolve. She wasn’t going to let him do it no matter his reasons.

“No life is worth more than your own,” she spat, caught up in her own emotions. His attempt to take his own life brought back memories she would rather forget.

The Captain slackened in her hold, unable to retort. She instantly healed his wounds and watched as the blood receded. Aika picked him up with a sigh as he quickly lost consciousness at the abrupt changes to his body. Healing fatal wounds in this manner wasn’t recommended but it was necessary during battle.

“Is he alright?” Julius’ voice piped up out of nowhere. Her heart leapt to her throat. She turned around and there he was, a few meters away, brows furrowed, and eyes full of worry before they widened in surprise when he realized who he was talking to.

“Aika…” 

The roar of the battle and the clanging in her head deafened as she took in his appearance. Wild hair, stormy eyes, blood-smeared cheeks and singed robes that whipped around in tandem to spells being hurled behind him. 

She felt a sort of burning betrayal as she cursed her foolish heart because only one thought echoed in her mind:

He was breathtaking.

“Aika!” He exclaimed in alarm.

Julius was suddenly up in her space, forearm pressed against her collarbone as he pushed her aside. He stopped a flaming spear aimed at her back in its tracks as he barked,

“She’s an ally! Stand down!”

The Crimson Lion magic knight lowered his grimoire and looked helplessly at the frozen man next to him.

“Aika, please undo your spell on Vice Captain Nozel,” he commanded softly as she stared at him, wide-eyed.

Her spell fell as per his request and Nozel stumbled into an upright position, an indignant expression strewn across his face as he turned to Aika.

“Who are you? ” he asked shakely, and cleared his throat with an embarrassed flush.

“She is an ally, ” Julius asserted firmly. “We’ll take the Captain to the medical tent and you continue leading your men, understood?”

“Yes, Sir.” Nozel threw one last look at Aika before he ordered his men to focus on the enemy.

Julius turned to her with a grim face. “I will take us to the tent, if you are ready.” She nodded curtly. He laid an arm on her shoulder and she was whisked away, her vision adjusting to find that she was facing the heavy drapery of the medical tent.

A few healing mages around them jumped in alarm but quickly realized the injured man in Aika’s arms. She was quickly led to an empty bed with privacy curtains and she laid Captain Silva on it carefully as the healers took over and diagnosed him.

She explained his injuries and that she healed him but they wanted to be sure just in case.

Aika stepped back to let them do their thing and looked around to find Julius worryingly examining Silva’s prone form. He looked up and their eyes met.

Strangely enough, there wasn’t a shred of awkwardness in their gaze, but an intimacy of silent understanding, a mutual decision to set their yearning aside in the face of this war.

They both smiled in relief, almost in unison. He cocked his head at her.

“No hard feelings?” He mouthed. Aika nodded back, her heart lighter.

“No hard feelings.”

“I have to go,” he announced quietly as he bowed his head. She nodded again, her mood souring once more as she stared at the unconscious man next to her. She watched his back as he moved to leave the tent from the corner of her eye. She clenched her fist as indecision rocked within her, but she finally gave in to her first instinct.

“Be careful,” Aika called out. Julius whipped around in surprise and a grin lit up his face.

“Of course!” he replied eagerly, happy that she was actually speaking to him. “See you around!” And he vanished.

His enthusiasm brought a smile to her face but her mood was quickly interrupted by the sound of crashing waves as the ground shook. She braced herself against the metal railing of the bed’s headboard as she let out a heavy sigh.

That must be her Uncle Raymond with his grandiose water spells that could wipe out armies. She just hoped he wouldn’t use his mana zone spell that could choke people. That spell horrified even her of all people.

She shrugged off her backpack which stayed secure under her cloak and whipped out a chair. She plopped onto it wearily and glared at the silver-haired man next to her as if he was the reason for all her problems.

Aika slipped her gloves back on and rubbed her face with a groan as memories of friends and fellow comrades who have stood still and let themselves be ripped apart flashed in her mind’s eye.

She knew she shouldn’t care. He was not a friend of hers. In fact, he was quite rude to her, but this needless worry and giving into the empathy reminded that after all these years that she wasn’t corrupted, that she was still alive, that she was still human.

Aika watched with a proud grin as one last final move from Julius concluded the battle. Cheers erupted across the whole field when the Magic Knights realized their victory.

The Captains, with the exception of Silva, and the Wizard King gathered with the Diamond Kingdom’s Shining Generals to negotiate the terms of surrender. She desperately wanted to eavesdrop on their discussion but General Whomalt was still alive by the end of this battle and Aika promised him that the next time she saw him, he would be dead.

She made her way back to the medical tent and Silva was already up and about. He sat up on his bed and stared at his blanket-covered lap as emotions raced across his face. She silently strode over to her chair by his bed and he made no indication that he noticed her but Aika knew he did. He was most likely embarrassed by his moment of vulnerability in front of a near-stranger but she didn’t particularly mind it.

She sat down patiently and waited for him to speak but they just sat in silence.

“We won,” Aika informed in a subdued tone.

He grunted. His response irked her but she held her cool.

“I’m not going to tell anyone,” She assured him kindly.

“See that you don’t,” he snapped at her. She held her tongue but couldn’t help but sneer at his tone. This was exactly why she didn’t work with the Magic Knights as closely. Most of them she had observed were quite rude and had a superiority complex. His attitude was only making her miss her amulet even more.

“Arian!” A familiar voice exclaimed as the tent flaps flew open. It was her Uncle. Mages and injured Magic Knights around her suddenly scrambled to attention as the Wizard King homed in on the silver-haired Captain.

“Sir,” the embarrassed Captain gritted out. He pulled out a folded piece of parchment paper as Aika and Raymond nodded at each other in acknowledgement. She would need to tell her uncle at the very least so she can make sure that he talked to someone.

“Are you alright, Arian?” The Praying Mantis Captain boomed as he walked right in after the Wizard King. He pointedly ignored him and the other Captains as they voiced their concerns as well. He tossed his blanket aside and stood up as he handed the paper to her uncle.

“My resignation, Raymond.”

“What?!” His eyes darted between Silva’s cool face and the crumpled paper. “But the war just ended! You have still got loose ends to tie up before the resignation.”

He adjusted his uniform gruffly as he said, “I’ll let the Vice Captain take care of it.” He pushed past the captains, eager to leave. “He is more than capable.” He turned and looked back one last time. “But now, I must say my goodbyes to the men that served me.”

“What's the hurry, Arian?!”

Raymond’s question was followed by silence as Silva left. Everyone watched tensely at the bizarre exchange that raised more questions than anything.

“Well,” the Blue Rose Captain began as she cleared her throat. “We did say that we were going to resign right after the battle.” Her sharp eyes turned to the Wizard King. “I will hand mine in, tonight.”

All Captains except one echoed her sentiments and Raymond’s shoulders fell as his age seemed to catch up to him.

“And I would be the last to resign,” he sighed. He looked up at Julius and everyone’s attention turned to the Wizard King to-be. “I hope you are ready, Julius.”

The young Captain stood up straighter, his eyes eager and attentive for the responsibility that will soon be thrust upon him. 

“Though, I hope you do like paperwork,” Raymond laughed, knowing very well he doesn’t. “Because there’s going to be three times more work.”

All formality melted away as Julius groaned at the thought and the Captains laughed.

Aika released the breath she didn’t she realized she was holding. She just witnessed history firsthand, yet again, but it all felt so new to her. She touched her chest. 

Oh.

It wasn’t newness, no. She had witnessed far too much to feel as if anything was new. It was actually the gratitude that set her heart racing.

Notes:

- In the future, Julius will get character development, because as lovely as he is as a person, he can't be a centrist as a leader if he wants to create real change. - In this fic, you'll see him be more proactive with the kingdom's problems and actually use his power outside the Magic Knights. - I'm not only planning development for his character but also his powers. As I have heavily implied throughout my fic, Julius is not human here and we will see that more in the future as the secrets unravel. - I'd personally recommend reading the wiki page on the tree of sephiroth and even better, catch up with the manga. But you don't have to, bc by the time i get to the manga spoilers part of my fic, the anime will prolly be there(fingers crossed).

#julius novachrono #black clover #demons run #black clover fanfiction #julius novachrono x oc #julius novachrono x reader #julius & aika #oc: aika tolliver #diamond kingdom #nozel silva #black clover nozel

[delta-the-mando]

Bad Batch headcanons

So many headcanons, so little time! From the unfinished reels to the finished episodes, we’ve seen the Batchers come quite a ways. And with that, I’ve reconsidered old headcanons I’ve had and dug a little deeper to put together a new list.

Some of these may sound familiar, but that’s because I’m totally on board with them! 👍

Feel free to send me an ask about HCs! 

~ Tech ~

• Tech is highly photosensitive, so he wears special goggles that tremendously reduce sun glare and filter certain lighting (such as computer screens, so he doesn’t strain his eyes from long-period usage). He can see fine without them, but he greatly prefers to wear them for this reason.

• Guilty of riding on the family gonk droid at least once.

• Though he’s the squad medic, he made sure the others have medical know-how in case something happens and he can’t help.

• Despite being shorter than the average clone, he still wears regular-sized blacks. You can see how his pants bunch up a little around the knees, indicating they’re too long for him. He’s fine with it, though.

• Though he is usually non-confrontational, if his brothers are fighting and it escalates too much to the point where someone’s definitely going to get hurt (or worse), you’d better get out of his way. He won’t even seem like himself, but he will make sure the fighting stops. 

~ Crosshair ~

• Unlike his brothers, Crosshair has a fear of lightning. Give him a rainstorm and he sleeps great, but throw thunder and lightning into the mix and he’s a wreck. He tries to keep his cool, but more likely than not he’ll end up hiding under a blanket someplace. Sometimes he’ll even snuggle close to Wrecker because he feels safer with his bro, and he allows it. Part of this fear may be because it reminds him too much of Kamino.

• On Kamino, Crosshair wasn’t treated all that well. He found that his three closest brothers were the only ones he could trust and rely on, and whenever they could they would be there for him. They considered each other family, after all.

• He’s very insecure and has trust issues with outsiders. He may come off as cold or a jerk-face at first, but chances are he doesn’t mean to and just doesn’t know how to properly interact with others. There will also be many times where he’s silent or distant, but that’s just how he is. He’s just a very closed-off person who doesn’t care to get to know anyone new and lacks proper social skills.

• But honestly, he can be a really nice and caring guy when you get to know him on a deeper level. You just have to get past his defensive exterior (which isn’t easy).

• Crosshair usually cracks some good jokes, and is mainly one for dark humor (It’s the trauma).

• He can be such a drama queen at times, and will most likely bicker over stupid stuff like what socks are his.

• The crosshairs on his face isn’t a real tattoo. He could never sit through getting one, so he drew it by hand (and redraws it whenever it needs touching up).

• Asexual.

~ Hunter ~

• Hunter drinks wayyy too much caf, but he needs it to handle daily life with his squad. 

• He’s usually the first one awake, but if he isn’t he’ll be soon woken up by all the noise his brothers are making.

• Hunter easily gets headaches from over-stimulation, especially from light and sound, which means he frequently needs to go lie down in his dark room due to his brothers’ chaotic nonsense and he cannot go to 79′s without getting a full-blown migraine.

• He tries to be the responsible older brother, but is honestly a bit of a dork.

• Sleep schedule? Never heard of it. There’s many times he’s just too tired to do anything but crash. • Despite this, however, he’s still somewhat of a light sleeper.

• He wakes up when he hears one of his brothers sneaking out for a midnight snack and always persuades them into sharing.

• Cannot handle spicy food. It affects him way too much, but he still tries out of politeness and sheer stubbornness (which never ends well).

~ Wrecker ~ • He is very kind and gentle with their gonk droid, asking it if it’s alright to lift it, and gently setting it down when he’s finished his workout.

• He also cares very deeply for his brothers and is very protective of them.

• Definitely gives the best hugs. Sometimes he’ll pull his brothers close together in a group hug and they’ll just stay like that for a while. Sometimes forgets his bros are fragile in comparison to him, which ends up in someone accidentally getting crushed in one of said hugs.

• Guilty of adopting the team mouse droid.

~ Life on the Marauder ~

• Much to Tech’s annoyance, whenever someone’s been in his room, something is always either out of place or is missing. No one’s allowed in his room anymore unless it’s an absolute emergency, which is very unlikely.

• They all have a bad habit of leaving stuff in each other’s rooms. Crosshair started holding stuff hostage for ransom (usually favors).

• If they have enough suitable materials at a time, they’ll stack random objects (primarily their pillows) and make a nice little fort for really no reason whatsoever. They usually do this on slow, cozy days when they have nothing else to do. Otherwise they all end up chilling in Wrecker’s room.

• Wrecker, Tech, and Cross have a long-running game that’s essentially capture the flag but the goal is to steal Hunter’s bandana. Hunter has no idea this game exists - he thinks they’re just being annoying. 

• Cross keeps score on the wall in his room. Hunter thinks the tallies are for how many droids he’s blown up or whatever, but he is so wrong.

~ Extras ~

• They hate needles; Wrecker and Crosshair especially. This makes it very difficult if they ever need a necessary shot for some reason or another. Hunter, however, forced himself to sit through getting a tattoo. Likely won’t again.

• They all have different tolerance levels for spiders. Wrecker is TERRIFIED of spiders, always calling for Hunter or Tech to get rid of one; Crosshair is iffy around them, preferring to look at one from a good distance away from him rather than seeing it crawl around on his rifle; Hunter isn’t bothered by them unless they’re huge and trying to hurt him or his brothers; Tech loves to study spiders (he studies everything, though), so he is not bothered at all by them.

#star wars #star wars folder #star wars the clone wars #the clone wars #clone wars saved #clone wars season 7 #the bad batch #bad batch #clone force 99 #crosshair #wrecker #tech #hunter #sergeant hunter #headcanons #i love these boys #crosshair needs love not lightning #he is like an onion #he has layers

[seekeroftruthpromestein]

zFairies. Punched. Mermaids. Punted.  Spiders? Let’s squish em.  This. Is Paradox time.

Bold words for someone who’s about to be squished.

Thot!! (Also. I’m kicking myself as I just now remembered to bring the kings/Queens. Oh well)

Alice became a level 10 Sage so I had to step out. Learned about this...  I ALSO learned that the earth is round... So... 

Well NOW I feel bad. Is that what you wanted?

This island is a god damn maze....

There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!!

Yeah yeah. Get in line!

There is a LOT funny about this line. 

I was hoping for more lines from him but that’s just how the cookie crumbles I guess.

I do love these little touches.

That’s neat too.

I’m always impressed by the SHEER amount of Dialog in this game.

NO PROMESTEIN NOOOO

Note to self. One day make Party out of the most horendously sized Sprites.

I ran around looking for these assholes. And forgot this boat existed.

The art work REALLY doesn’t make it seem like she was that big WOW. I found SOMEONE for the Giant Monster Team.

Is this the part where I find Slenderman?

There’s two of these.  Degris Hill.  Circus Troupe.... Oh shit... La Croix... 

So here we are. Vamp Town.

You know. I like the cut of her Jib.

Well good luck!

Theyr’e ALL very weirdly polite.  I like this place.

The friendlest evil castle I’ve ever seen.

Okay. See. This is. Kind of evil. Should have really talked about this. 

Oh her again? Alright simple enough. Beat her once. Just a good simple magic attack from Bla-

OH MY GOD THEY LEARNED!! THIS IS DIFFERENT! MAYDAY MAYDAY!! 

Boo.

Rematch~ Though I doubt she’s any match for-

Okay yeah no... NO no.. SHe was.... That’s.... 1 Million Damage??? I... WHAT THE HELL?? WHAT THE HELL?? WHY ARE THE REST OF US EVEN HERE???? Whatever! Time to fight the god damn queen.

YES VANILLA! YES! 

See. I’m gonna go ahead and call the earlier text when Alice said “She believes the strong should protect the weak” to be PROBABLY wrong. Okay. The rest of the lines didn’t match and neither does this. Now it makes sense. 

Biiit awkward.

So this is the “Time to do side quest... wait you already did them? Awesome good! So let’s just skip this part”

Oh shit yeah.

I love that’s just a thing.  Also. I forgot to put it but. I love Black Alice’s whole “We can go 500 years into the past.. Buuut. Let’s hope we don’t run into Black Alice Kekekee” And everyone just sighs.  So right. Time to talk to the Elf Queen. She should know where it is.

So some shut in huh? A girl after my heart... Oh no it’s going to be me isn’t it. Time to meet her. But let’s see ah.

Cool We can get the queens if we do some Side Quests. See. THIS is how you get people to do Side Content.  But ugh.. Okay.  I have to do Survival Matches? Sure. Let’s just talk to all the other Queens first before.

Oh no.... 

Yeah yeah...

Didn’t I already get Queen Ant?  Oh I did? And the Bee Queen? So... this is an easy choice. Already Spider Queen gained. 

Wait. So the whole Medal thing is just that there is a huge vault and they’re tryign to give them away to heroes who prove their worth?  Pretty interesting. But... I mean. I’m already... trying to save the world so.

OH FUCK!!!  More stuff to collect?? OH HEY LOOK! SEEDS!!  So.. Yeah cool. That means I can potentailly have unlimited magic. 

FUCK YOU REAPER! YOUR NO MATCH FOR THE DANCE THAT BLOCKS ALL FUCKING DAMAGE! Teeny MVP Grim Reaper 0 - Literal dancing child 1.

#Prommey Plays Paradox #Paradox 2