#maybe i shall finish the series. maybe not. unsure

[eggfruitart]

I meant to include everyone else but. Somethings are just not meant to be.....

#eggfruitart #hlvrai #hlvrai fanart #fanfruitart #tommy coolatta #benrey #maybe i shall finish the series. maybe not. unsure #2020 #i'll have to watch it again to see if i still love it enough! #unreality #~> from here! on! #be safe #i love you matt #ARG #yes reaññy

[thetopichot]

•° The Middle Ground °•

☆ Prologue ☆

We have been all hyped for this ship & I'm glad that can finally write it for you guys. Consider this as a pilot for a multi-chapter series! I hope you guys enjoy this because I know I'm just gonna enjoy writing this series.

Word Count: 3.2k words!

"&..there we go!" You finished up tying up a beautiful, golden ribbon on some golden dahilas mixed with some white chrysanthemums bouquet. They were absolutely gorgeous & I think you're getting the hang of this! You weren't at Finn's level of the language of flowers but Finn helped you along the way. You were setting up a bouquet for a newly-wed couple while Finn was helping a nice, elderly lady in the front.

Finn finished up talking to the kind, elderly lady & joined you in the back. "Is everything going okay, my love?" Finn hugged you from behind & kissed you on your cheek as he observed your work.

"Yep. I'm all finished with this one. Watcha think?" Finn looked at the bouquet.

"It's beautifully done! Although.." He went to the otherside of the table to see the bouquet. "I think we can add little more, yeah? So let's see what we got.." He looked at the yellow dahlias & the white mums. "How about we add one more flower to fit this theme? Like.." He waited for your answer.

"Roses? Maybe.." You look at the dark red ones. "Those ones?"

"Why the dark red ones, love?" You paused to think.

"They represent eternal love & loyalty?" You said unsure but Finn smiled at your correct answer.

"That's right!" He handled the dark red roses with care & put it on the table. He carefully cut the roses & put them gently inside the bouquet. "There we go... All done!" You looked at the bouquet with awe. It was so gorgeous & elegant. It had this gentle, warm vibe that glowed. Well, these flowers don't glow but, you could feel it glow in your soul.

"Alright, let's review these flower's meaning shall we?" You nodded. "The yellow dahlias? Do you know what they mean?" He looked you for your response.

"Joy & Happiness."

"Correct! & the white mums?"

"Loyalty & Honestly."

"Good job!" He gently grabbed the bouquet & gave you a kiss on the cheek. "You're doing wonderful job, darling. I'm very proud of you." You became a bit bashful.

"Well, I try my best." You humbly said.

"Aww, no need to be so humble! You did a great job." Finn reassured you & pat your shoulder. "Now, let's take this to Ms. Valley." You both walked out the back & went to the front of the store where the kind, old lady was waiting. Finn handed the bouquet to the old lady. "Here you go, ma'am. I hope your son in law enjoys this gift."

She carefully grabbed the bouquet from Finn. "Thank you. You both are truly kind." The lady handed her coins & walked to the exit with the bouquet in hand.

"Thank you, please come again!" Finn sighed in satisfaction. "Another job well done, hmm?" He stretched then checked the time on his watch. "I think it's time for us to take a quick tea break. I'll go heat up some tea for us. Can you keep watch & clean the shop real quick while I make us some tea?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"Thank you, darling." Finn gives you a peck on the lips as he walked to the back & prepares the tea. You grabbed the broom & started sweeping some of the dirt from the plants on the floor. You hummed a tune as you brushed the leftover residue from the plants outside. You heard the sound of Finn's teapot whistling. It sounded like it was almost ready.

"Oh, darling!~" Finn cheerfully sang. Finn peeked his head out from the back. "It's ready, love." You finished up cleaning up & put the broom back where you found it. You joined Finn in the back as he was waiting at his tea table with all of the tea cups were placed in a organized fashion. He poured you a cup first then, poured his. You picked up the cup & took a sip.

Your face gleamed with joy. "Ooooo wee!" You exclaimed happily. "That's some good ass tea, baby. You truly never disappoint with your teas."

Finn chuckles softly as he took a sip from his cup. "I'm glad you like it, love. I always try to make it filled with love & care."

You finished your cup quickly. "If this is trying then, I don't think I can even imagine how amazing your tea would taste at your max potential. Like that taste is probably beyond human comprehension because it's just that good."

"Oh, come on. My tea isn't that good." He grabs your teacup & walks towards to the sink. He begins washing the teacups. "Besides like I said, I try. It doesn't mean I'm the best in the world."

"Well, I can give ya 3 main reasons."

"Oh? What reasons are those, darling?"

"You're my boyfriend," You raised a finger. "You're the most sweetest person I've ever met," Another one raised. "& I have tasted all of the things that you make all of the time." The third finger finished the reasons off.

"Ya gotta give yourself more credit, ya know. Have more confidence in yourself, baby." You reassured him. You knew Finn was a capable of great things but Finn was always so humble about it. Many people, including you, have told him so many times in the past of how well he does his craft & within those many times he always replied with:

"I appreciate that but I just like doing my job. It's less like a job but it's something I just enjoy doing. Like a hobby!" You sighed. You wish he could see it as more than just a hobby & see it as a amazing talent that he owns. He is truly a magician at work or more like a witch at work.

"I do just fine with-" Finn was interrupted briefly by the sound of a familiar bell at the front door. "I guess we got ourselves a customer!" You both turned to look at the door but then, he froze. Like god himself struck fear into him. You, however, didn't have much a reaction since the figure was unfamiliar.

You turned back & looked at Finn's frozen stature. "Hey, ya good?"

Finn snapped back into reality & shakes his head comically. "Oh what? Y-Yeah! I'm gooooooood. I'm just uh shit fine! Sooooo fine." You raised a eyebrow.

"If you're fine then, what's with ya & tall, dark, & uhhh.." You looked at the figure & squinted. "I would say ugly but I dunno. They look kinda sexy? Not my type though but ya know. Ya like what ya like." Finn grabbed your shoulders gently & sighed nervously. Man was sweating like a sinner in church.

"T-That is another regular here that so so SO important to me, love. He is one of those um..."

"Flower Critics? Not gonna lie, I didn't know that there were ones to be honest."

"Nooo. He pays very well & by very well, I mean veeeeery well. I'm worried that I might screw up." Finn said nervously.

"Have you ever screwed up on his orders before?" You asked.

"No but I'm not planning on doing that anytime soon. I wouldn't say my arrangements are the issue. It's just that I'm huge chatterbox & the last time I talked about my floral facts, I mayyyyyyy have annoyed him a little bit & I'm just worried that he-" You cupped his face which took him by surprise.

"Finn, I think you're overthinking this wayyy too much plus everyone likes your silly facts. It shows how much you enjoy doing your job & people like that! It makes you very approachable!" You let go of his face. "I'll go with you & be your support, 'kay? So you'll stop shivering like a leaf & maybe you just misinterpreted the interaction a bit." With that bit of reassurance, Finn relaxs his shoulders & lets go of yours.

"That would be great." He gave you a nervous smile. Damn, this guy really made him nervous. You started to have your doubts but you were always taught to never judge a book by it's cover. However, you are starting to let go a bit of that analogy by how Finn described him & his panicked reaction to the mystery guest. Well let's at least meet this guy first.

'It shouldn't be that bad.' You thought of the exact words of what you shouldn't say when you hope that something doesn't go bad. You entered the front together & hoped for the best. As you both entered, you finally saw the figure more up close & personal.

The few things that you could decipher better about the figure was that they were tall, dressed in black, tied up maroon hair, with sharp eyes & rectangle, almost framless, glasses to match. You were also kinda right about the figure being sexy but at the same time, they look like Christian Grey walked outta a damn 2000's Hot Topic.

But besides all that, you could see why Finn would be scared of this supposed "well-paying" customer.

"Sorry for the wait!" Finn cut your thoughts with his cheery, customer service voice. "Welcome back to Talk Floral, Auron!" Huh, so that's what his name was.

"Good afternoon, Finn." His voice was like the feeling of silk to your ears. Well damn, Finn had every right to be nervous. He noticed you within the corner of his piercing milky eyes which caused you to be a nervous too.

"It appears you've brought someone with you this time around?"

"Oh? This is my assistant & partner! They're helping me around the shop today." Finn explained. "They do pretty fine work around here!"

"Hiya." You looked at Auron & gave him a soft smile but he remained unamused & ignored your polite greeting. Finn laughed nervously at this strange interaction as your smiled quickly faded as you raised your eyebrow.

"A-Anyway! What can we do you for this lovely afternoon?

"A rose bouquet. A dozen. That is all." He said so bluntly. Normally, the customers you've met usually weren't this blunt. They would explain the stich with some extra parts to Finn & help fit within their budget. You felt strange & scary vibes from him & you didn't really trust him all much.

"Oh alright!" Finn returned to usually cheery voice. "I assuming it's for something romantic or maybe for family? The holidays are coming by soon." He smiled at him but once again, his cold gaze remained & with the statement of family driving his expression to be even colder.

"That would not be the case."

"Ah. May I ask what's the occasion is for them?"

Auron nodded. "I'm gifting a severance package." You felt a strange relief. Maybe this guy wasn't that much of a asshole? Finn smiled in return of his answer assuming the best.

"Oh, is it a gift of someone retiring from your company? That's actually really sweet of you-" Finn was cut off by Auron.

"I never said it was for someone retiring. I fired someone just recently for his absolute incompetence of his job. So as a little parting gift since it is the holidays, I want to gift him roses." O-kay, scratch that. This guy is a asshole.

You were never really that good at handling customers that well because since you always gave that same energy back. If they were nice, you treated them with respect. If rude customers came into Finn's store, you always set them straight. However, Mr. Auron here is a wealthy customer. Finn's shop has been doing a bit more better since he could now get more better tools & better resources because of him. But god, you really want to cuss this guy out for real.

However, you gotta show restraint. Do it for Finn.

"I don't think roses would send the right message. You know the red roses are known for romance so it would mean-"

"I do not pay you for your opinions or your advice, Finn. I don't care." Finn's neck started to hide similar to a turtle's way of showing fear. "Stop wasting my time."

"Fucking asshole." You muttered quietly to yourself but it wasn't quiet enough. Finn sweated absolute bullets & Auron raised a eyebrow as his cold glare became ice.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh they said nothing! They're weren't talking about you-" Finn lightened the mood however, you intervened.

"I SAID you're a fucking asshole or maybe you're too deaf to hear that, sir." You said with a harsh tone. "I'm surprised your glasses can't see how much of peice of shit you're being right now. Laying off someone before the holidays? That's even more a asshole move."

"Not only that, Finn is trying to help ya here. He's doing his goddamn job. So maybe, you should shut the FUCK up & let him do what he needs to do." Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiit. Finn stood there speechless but his expression was filled with horror like he just witnessed a murder happened before his every eyes & which he did witness a murder but not the kind filled with blood, weapons & the sound of sirens.

The kind filled with words, reading a person, & a wrestling bell going off for the first round.

Auron smirked in response. He was unfazed by your pathetic excuse of a insult. "Oh my", He said, "You have quite the mouth on you, darling." He snarkily replied.

Okay, fuck him for real, dude because ME personally? I wouldn't let that slide.

"The fuck did you just call me?"

"Oh I apologize. I assume you didn't hear me the first time." Auron cleared his throat. "Brat." Oooooh, that pissed you off real good. "Did you hear me now?"

"Okay, FUCK you-"

"Alrighty! Let's not get so hasty towards eachother here!" Finn nervously smiled.

"You're right, Finn." Auron nodded. "At least someone knows how to control one's temper."

He was truly testing your limit & you were genuinely this close to beating this guy's ass. "Do you want me to jump across this counter because I will beat. your. ass."

"If you're feeling froggy then leap, brat."

"BITCH-" You nearly hopped over the counter but Finn grabbed you as you hopped. He placed you back down.

"O-KAY!" Finn loudly interrupted & gently grabbed your hand. "Could you give us oneeeeee moment, please?"

"You may." Auron permitted & then, Finn dragged you gently into the back. He sat you down on the chair.

"Goddess, darling! What's going on?!" He questioned you.

"That fucking hot topic wannabe bastard is what!" You could barely hold a whisper but you tried lowering your voice. "That dude is a goddamn prick!"

"But you didn't have to say it out loud or even just straight-up jump OVER the damn counter!" Finn sighed. "You. Stay here & cool off. I'll handle Auron, okay?" That was the most stern you have heard him in awhile. Whenever Finn is stern, he always sound like a dad scolding his children for fighting. However no matter how angry he was, he always remained gentle.

Finn gently grabbed the roses on the table & he left to tend to Auron as you just sat in the chair. You felt like you were put in the time-out chair which was humiliating but at the same time, you felt bad for how you acted out. Finn doesn't deserve getting a hard time because of you but the way Auron treated him just setted you off. Speaking of which you heard Finn talking to him.

"Brat? Really?" You heard Finn scold Auron as well. "You're just making the situation worse for yourself, Auron."

"Finn, you know how much I don't tolerate brats. Even you know this."

"I do but you could've been at least be more respectful. You're better than that, ya know." Finn sighed as you could the snipping of the roses that Auron asked for. "A rose bouquet?"

"Yes, please." Auron politely responded & caught you off guard a bit. The dude has been a dick to the both of you for the past fifteen minutes. Maybe it's the magic of Finn's dad voice. You got off outta your chair & took a sneaky peak through the corridor.

Auron's face was a lot more gentle towards Finn then he did with you. His face was less furrowed but his face still remained neutral. It was his eyes & eyebrows that got softer. Not only that. His voice had less authority & a demanding tone. It was how you heard it the first time.

Like silk to your ears.

"I apologize for causing you trouble. I don't like starting a confrontation especially not over that." Auron apologized to Finn but not really to you.

"It's alright." You couldn't really see Finn's face since his back was faced towards you but you could always hear the smile. No matter the situation or how bad the situation is Finn was always capable of smiling through it all.

"However, my point still stands. You gotta let your guard down a little more often. You can't be cold to everyone to see."

"I cannot afford that." His gentle voice was gone when he said that. It wasn't completely harsh or cold. However, it sounded strange to you.

Finn stopped for a second & tilted his head. "Wait, why?"

"It's just..." He paused & thought about his words wisely. "Complicated."

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't too." Auron relaxed but he didn't feel satisfied by his answer. It was like there was something more that he wanted to say but the more the room got silent with the small sounds of snipping & he pushed down whatever he wanted to say more.

Finn handed the finished rose bouquet to Auron. He handed his amount for the bouquet & both of your eyes go wide. "A-Auron! This is wayyy too much for just single bouquet! You sure this wasn't a mistake or anything?"

"I don't make mistakes. I'm always sure of things. If I gave you much more than asked then keep it. Consider as my apology & my gratitude for taking your time." Auron walked towards the door with bouquet in hand.

Before he left. "Oh, & Finn?"

"Yes?"

"Be more confident in what you do." Then he left without anymore words. Finn just stood there in confusion. He wasn't sure what to say but:

"Please come by...again." You come out from the breakroom & knocked on the frame of the door. Finn jumped & quickly turned to look at you. He gave you a defeated look. "You heard everything, didn't you?"

"Saw everything too." You joined him at the front. "& I have several questions to ask you."

"Me too." You raised your eyebrow at that comment. "I wish I could answer all of those questions, darling." He rested his arm on the counter & his hand held his head. "I don't know the answers of any of them." Finn sighed heavily.

"Well, maybe for starters..." You thought as you looked at the counter as you thought of what to ask. You noticed a black card & picked it up. You read it & it said: 'Talent Agency 717-XXX-XXXX.'

"We could take a look at this card. Maybe it might have the information that we need."

☆ミ Author's Notes Underneath 👇 ☆ミ

🩷 - I was editing this during a urgent care visit because my mouth hurts like a real fucking bitch right now so, I'm getting it checked out. Also during me writing this, there was a fire nearby the urgent care & I legit no idea how that happened but yeah.

I've also put the word count because I'm proud of how many words I've written. I wrote that much in a hot minute so, I kinda wanted to give myself bragging rights for writing so much & I honestly deserve it. I worked hard on something I enjoy doing & that's something that I don't really do often cause of work.

I try to write at least everyday whether that be rambling or fanfics. It gives me time to enjoy the things that I want to do. It's a small goal but I think it's a big success for me.

Also there are little secrets around here too that might foreshadow the story here. >:}

#the cat speaks #yuurivoice #yuurivoice auron #writing #auron yuurivoice #yuurivoice finn #finn yuurivoice #mg darling #tmg darling #the middle ground #middle ground #prologue #fanfiction #fanfic #writeblr #Darling sqaures up to Auron #Finn however is NOT allowing that bullshit in his damn house (shop)

[btsgotjams27]

this is us ~ jjk | 15

let's have that baby, shall we?

✨ title: this is us | (sequel to all grown up) ✨ pairing: jungkook x f!reader | ✨ rating: m/18+ | minors dni ✨ genre/au: drama, romance, angst, fluff, smut | est!relationship, age gap, bff's younger brother ✨ playlist | AO3 & Wattpad ✨ a/n: if you haven’t read the prequel to this, please do so here! :) ✨ a/n 2: wowieeee! tumblr has caught up and now readers here will have to wait for my sporadic updates 🙃 i apologize in advance lol. we only have a few more chapters left before their journey ends :'( but i have some fun things planned for when it's over. stay tuned.

[ SERIES MASTERLIST ] | next ✨ drabble ~ it'll be okay (jk pov)

chapter fifteen - here comes baby | wc: 5.4k warnings: language, alcohol consumption, depressing thoughts, self deprecation (oc has hit rock bottom, okay?), tears + angst (obvs)

~ three weeks since the breakup ~

Work was work, and it distracted you about everything Jeon Jungkook. After everyone had left, you sat in the writer's room, realizing it was the first time in a long time that you felt truly alone. You jumped from relationship to relationship to fill the void left by loneliness, but each breakup made it worse, and this one was the worst of them all.

You even avoided Yuna and Namjoon's because you wanted to avoid seeing Jungkook's face in family photos. Along with avoiding the newlyweds, Hyunie and Tae would just give you pitiful stares and pouts. You didn't dare to cross Jin because you were afraid he'd tell you how Jungkook was doing in LA and maybe even mention Alex.

But alas, you could only bury yourself in work for so long until it was time to head home.

Lights didn't exist in your life for the past two weeks, convincing yourself you were trying to save money on your energy bill, but you knew the real reason–the darkness on the outside reflected what you were feeling on the inside.

The brown box sat in the corner of your entryway, greeting you as you entered and exited. You considered throwing it away without looking at it, but something inside you wasn't ready to let go. If you'd thrown it away, you'd have contemplated its contents for far too long, berating yourself because what if there was something important in there? So leaving it in the corner until you were ready to look through it was a better option.

You blame the half-empty bottle of wine sitting next to the box on your coffee table. The alcohol coursing through your veins causes you to become sentimental and unable to think clearly. It's just a stupid box, but why were you so afraid to look through it?

It wasn't heavy or anything; it was pretty light. Perhaps Jungkook had thrown away a lot of things he didn't want to bring to LA. You understood, though, because you'd want to start over, fresh, new, with no baggage. Who would want to bring bad memories to a new place?

The wine glass was calling your name again, so you took another sip, finished it, and set it down. You closed your eyes and sighed as you ran your hand through your hair. It's now, or never, you reasoned. 'Never' sounded better, but you knew it couldn't be true.

Come on, you said to yourself, it's just a box. It's not that fucking hard.

You averted your gaze, your hand digging around for what appeared to be a pair of glasses. And you were correct when you examined it. They were your favorite pair, and you had been looking for them for a long time. That's where you left them, then.

You set them down and continued rummaging through the box, this time paying attention to the mementos. There was a dried peony from your first official date when he decorated Jin's rooftop, a mug the two of you painted together, with the tasteful side being Jungkook's and the not-so-pretty side being yours, and a few books and items of clothing.

A black binder clip held the last thing you took out together. You cocked your head, unsure what it could be, and it snapped as you unclipped it, causing you to yelp as it flew across the table, rattling against the mug. Fortunately, it did not break.

The couple in the polaroid was almost unrecognizable. They appeared younger, happier, and full of life and joy—all of which you lacked at the time. Your attention was drawn to the neat handwriting on the bottom–1 month.

You moved on to the next polaroid–two months. The next one was labeled three months, and so on, until you got to the last one, which was labeled nine months with a question mark. Except you weren't in the picture; only Jungkook was. You had to recall your relationship timeline and remember when you proposed a break. You could only imagine how Jungkook felt throughout it all, and you admitted to yourself that you put him through a lot. It wasn't fair to keep him at bay, but you couldn't figure out what you wanted if he were there to persuade you.

He didn't appear happy in the photo, rather tired. But you couldn't stand looking at it any longer. It was too painful to look at that last polaroid of him by himself, so you flipped it over, along with the rest of the polaroids, unsure what to do with them.

After going through the rest of the box containing small trinkets, you could probably throw them away. You half-expected to find your boudoir session photo album in there. But he might have burned it, as you would. Although a small voice in your head told you, he kept it. Your heart fluttered at the thought of him pulling it out to look at it now and then—heck, you even did it when you needed an ego boost. However, he'd be looking at it for different reasons. Regardless, you'll never know what happened to it, and you wouldn't dare to ask if he still had it.

Picking up the wine bottle, you didn't bother to pour it into your glass. The percentage of the wine didn't hit double digits, but you were a weak bitch tonight and grabbed a Moscato, which was practically a sweet and sugary drink packaged in a pretty wine bottle and label. Maybe your emotions were heightened because you sucked at holding your liquor, but you wanted to drown yourself in whatever was left remaining in the bottle.

You wiped the dribble of wine from your chin and grimaced as you inhaled the alcohol. Maybe you shouldn't have done it, but you were sick of feeling anything and desire to be numb.

You stood, leaving everything as it was, and shuffled to the bedroom, not bothering to clean it up. As you crawled beneath the covers, the duvet felt cool. Nighttime became the worst part of the day for you; during the day, you could keep yourself busy, but at night, there was nothing to do but race your mind like there was no end as if your mind would never shut down and just let there be silence.

You rolled onto your side, staring at the space that Jungkook used to occupy, only to find it empty. Emptiness is taking up a lot of space in your life these days, and you've thought, what if you weren't meant to be happy? There were happy memories in your life, but the bad had recently outweighed the good, and there wasn't enough good to offset the gloomy feelings.

Friday night rolled around, another week gone, another weekend to endure. Your apartment was supposed to be a place of solace and rest. Still, everywhere you looked, memories of you and Jungkook were scattered–imprinted with happy moments, flashbacks of back hugs, peppered kisses, and instances of magnetic, lust-filled encounters after long days of not seeing each other. Goosebumps trickled across your skin, thinking about Jungkook's touch and how much you missed it.

The last sexual encounter with him replayed in your mind for days on end, and you found yourself charging your vibrator more than your phone these days.

Stupid, you know. But it was hard not letting your mind wander off. You broke it off, but why were you still trying to hold onto him? Healing takes time, and you just want to hurry and try to find the light at the end of the tunnel. You didn't want to wallow in the darkness anymore.

You didn't bother to try and see if anyone was available to hang out, you were sure they were all busy with their significant others, and you were somewhat becoming accustomed to this routine of sitting at home and doing nothing. It was like clockwork–wake up, eat, work, eat, come home, eat, and sleep. You became lost in the same routine, your body, and mind on autopilot once you came home.

You had dozed off, mindlessly staring at your phone, not realizing it had rung a few times before you finally picked up the call. "Hey, Yuna." You only heard labored breathing from the other end. 

"Yuna? Are you okay?"

"I think–I think the baby's coming."

You heard shallow gasps before she groaned. Your eyes widened. "What? It's too early, isn't it?"

"I know, that's what I thought too, but I really think the baby's coming, and Namjoon left on a last-minute work trip because we didn't think the baby would be here."

"Okay–" you paused, putting your thinking hat on. "Do you have everything packed for the hospital?"

Yuna groaned louder before she answered, "Yeah, yeah. I've had it ready for weeks."

"Good. I will call the ambulance and send them over to your place. I'll call Namjoon and tell him what's happening, and then I'll meet you at the hospital. Okay?"

Yuna couldn't get any words out. She only hummed before hanging up.

You rushed to your room, grabbed a change of clothes and a few toiletries, stuffing everything into an overnight bag. Slipping on your shoes, you paused to pat down your pockets to ensure you had the essentials–wallet and phone.

Once the door slammed shut, you ordered a taxi on an app, then placed a call to Namjoon, which went straight to voicemail. Fuck, you thought. He was going to hate himself if he missed the arrival of his baby, and also, who goes on a trip so close to their baby's birth? But then again, Yuna was only thirty-six weeks.

"Hey, Namjoon. It's me. Yuna's going into labor right now, and I'm meeting her at the hospital. Call me when you get this."

It was the best you could do at the moment. You hoped he would see your call and get back to you soon.

Nearly fifteen minutes later, your taxi finally shows up. You called Yuna again, but there was no answer. You figured she could already be at the hospital, so she wasn't picking up.

There wasn't much you could do but wait. Per hospital rules, no one was allowed to go into the room. It was a dumb rule, you thought. How was a person supposed to go through something like this alone?

You were constantly checking your phone, double-tapping the screen to find no notifications from Namjoon. Should you call again? But what good would that do if he had not heard your first voicemail? You ran your hand through your hair, sighing and hating that you couldn't do anything but wait.

Once again, you were stuck in a hospital. You didn't want to wander off in case someone came looking. Maybe you could try to sleep since you didn't know how long birthing a baby could take. You looked around, but there were no comfortable spots to lie down. Slouching in your seat, you pulled out your phone again, swiping to unlock the screen, then opened Instagram, aimlessly scrolling through your feed.

Hyunie and Tae, the happy newlyweds, appeared before you, all cozy and lovey-dovey on their last-minute honeymoon getaway. They were love shacking it up in Phuket for the weekend. Lucky rascals, you thought. You wished you could leave on a whim and have no responsibilities. You double-tapped, leaving a heart on their photo.

You looked up from your phone when you saw someone sprinting into the waiting room and coming to a halt. Jin stood before you, out of breath, leaning over with his hands on his knees.

"I'm–" He looked up, giving a dismissive wave of his hand. "I'm fine."

You chuckled, searching for a water bottle in your bag. You held it out for him as he sat beside you, and he mumbled thanks before taking a few large gulps.

"Well–fancy seeing you here," Jin said as he was hunched over, his forearms resting on his thighs, swiping the water running down his chin.

You nudged his arm. "Don't be a smartass."

"I can't help it," he shrugged. "It's in my nature." Jin nudged you back, trying to lighten the mood, and you smiled in return.

"Wait–how did you know I was here?"

"Namjoon called me. Told me about Yuna."

You blinked profusely. Namjoon called Jin before he called you? Well, at least you knew Namjoon had heard your voicemail.

"I think he was going to call you back, but his phone must've died. He's trying to get a flight out right now."

Whew. You were relieved to hear that, and maybe he would get back in time for the baby's birth.

"How, uh, how are you? I haven't seen you in a while." He straightened his posture, peering at you.

The last time you saw Jin was when you made a fool of yourself by slapping Alex and causing a scene in front of his colleagues and Jungkook. "I'm okay," you reply, not wanting to dive into further details of how you are really doing. Honestly, these last few months have sucked big time, and you weren't just going to spill everything onto him. It wasn't the time or place, nor did you want to burden Jin with your emotions.

"I'm fabulous, by the way. Couldn't be better. I renovated my kitchen–the layout is much better than before, and the island is bigger, so feel free to come over and cook whenever you want."

Your lips thinned in an attempt to smile, but you understood that Jin was trying to be friendly and make small talk, which you were grateful for because you didn't feel like chatting too much. "I'm not the best cook, but apparently, the pasta you made for Jungkook and me was delicious." The mention of Jungkook made you suck in your lips for fear of wanting to bring up his name again.

Jin nodded. "It's all thanks to YouTube and TikTok. Sometimes I think I could do that, you know, make cooking content. I'd love to quit my job."

"Oh, really? You should–or I mean, at least, you could do it on the side as a hobby. It'll give you a nice break from your job, doing something you enjoy. And I'm sure you'd have a lot of followers."

"Hmm. I might consider that. Thanks."

"Anytime."

Both of you avoided each other's gaze, searching around the waiting room for something to look at, only to look at each other and give awkward smiles and chuckles.

"This is weird, isn't it?"

"I don't know what you mean," Jin tries to play it off, and you're thankful for it. "I'm not weird. You're not weird. I don't know how this is weird."

"Okay, now you're making it weird," you both laugh. Jin apologizes, but you shrug it off. "You don't have to say anything if you don't have anything to say. I don't mind the silence."

Jin nodded in agreement, but of course, he was never one to be good with silence. He waited a few minutes before speaking again. 

"Where do baby fish sleep?" You turned and gave him an expressionless face, blinking at the worldwide handsome man before you. "A bass-inet. Get it?" He let out a fake laugh, then apologized again.

"I bet you weren't good at the quiet game when you were a kid."

He shook his head. "Nope. My mom still loved me, though." You smiled and shook your head, and Jin's knee nudged yours. "Come on, that was a good joke!"

You hummed, but you wouldn't give him the satisfaction of verbalizing it. Even though Jin wasn't good at the quiet game, you didn't want to chat further because you could sense the giant elephant in the room. And in your mind, the flashing neon sign blinked, 'Jungkook.'

Jin stayed quiet for as long as he could before he broke the silence again. You could see him from your peripheral view, gazing at you, and yes, you would ignore it.

"Just ask me about him. I know you want to."

You sighed, shifting in your seat. "I don't know what you're talking about." You looked up at the digital sign in the waiting room, and you could've sworn it read, 'Jungkook.'

"It's written all over your face."

You fiddled with your thumbs, tilting your head to the side. Of course, you wanted to know how Jungkook was doing, and it has been on your mind every minute of every day since he left. But the thing was, you didn't know if you wanted to know the details of his new life in LA.

"Well, since you won't ask. I'll just tell you." You turned to him, about to ask him to stop, but he continued, "He's doing okay. He's settling into his new place and the new role at the company, and in case you're wondering," he paused, "Alex has been away on vacation, so he hasn't had to deal with her."

Your heart leaped at the name. You knew her name would come up sooner or later, but it still hurt to hear it. Many scenarios were running through your head. Would he go back to her? Would she manipulate him somehow? Make him feel guilty so he would run back to her?

Regardless of what would happen between them, it wasn't your place to say anything. Jungkook's a big boy, and he chose to leave. No one forced or convinced him otherwise. It was out of the blue because he never spoke to you about the job opportunity. Well–you guess you weren't the only one keeping secrets.

"You're too nice to ask. That's why I told you."

Jin was correct because, in your mind, it would've been easier to come up with a million possible situations than to know the truth. A part of you was relieved, and the other was riddled with anxiety. Truthfully, you just wanted to see if he was okay, so you were at least grateful to know that he was.

You smiled thinly at him, mumbling thanks before standing up and walking to the receptionist's desk. You wanted to focus on your best friend, not your ex-boyfriend.

Four hours since you arrived.

And there was no word about how Yuna was doing. You guessed no news was good news, right? Otherwise, you would've heard something by now.

Jin continued being his friendly self–making small talk and cracking jokes, trying to keep the situation light. You were appreciative because it was able to take your mind off the Jeon family.

But tiredness began to kick in. You walked over to the coffee vending machine, finding it wasn't working—just your luck. So you strolled back to the waiting room and heard someone softly call your name. You looked up to see a familiar face.

"Hi, sweetheart."

It became a familiar greeting from Jungkook's mom. She walked up to you and pulled you in for a hug. She held you a lot longer than you anticipated, and simply put; it was exactly what you needed right now. Your body crumbled into her frame, your head leaning on her shoulder, turning away from her, your eyes starting to pool with tears. You withdrew from her embrace, giving her the best smile you could when your eyes met hers. Immediately, you responded with, "I'm sorry."

She knitted her brows in confusion, tilting her head. "What are you apologizing for, sweetheart?" Her right hand cupped your cheek, her thumb gently wiping the tear that fell.

You were apologetic about Jungkook. Yuna not only lost her younger sibling, but his mother also lost her son. It was impossible not to feel responsible, and your glistening eyes and glum smile were enough for her to understand what you meant.

She gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "You do not need to apologize for Jungkookie. It's not your fault, do you hear me?" She cupped your face again, her eyes intently staring into yours, and you nodded in agreement. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

You bit the inside of your cheek, unsure how to answer this question whenever someone asked. Should you smile through the pain and say you're fine? But you shook your head no.

"C'mere."

She drew you in for another embrace, gently caressing your hair and assuring you that everything would be fine and that you had nothing to worry about. Your small sniffles and silent weeping persisted as you reflected on your mother. How can someone unrelated to you adore you more than your so-called family? You had practically driven away this woman's son, but she told you it wasn't your fault. Yuna and Jungkook were so lucky to have someone who loved them as much as she did.

Growing up the way you did with your family, it was always hard to express your emotions, so you kept them bottled up and pushed them away like they didn't exist because you felt like you couldn't be your true self around those who were supposed to love you. It took a long time for you to open up to Yuna before you finally let yourself trust her–trust that she would be your person.

But with Yuna and Jungkook's mother, it was different. It felt like home, and it felt right–a place where you were welcomed and not judged. She had always made you feel that way.

You broke away from her hug, wiping your tears. God, you hated crying, and these last few months had been nothing but constant tears. You wondered how much you could bottle up before you erupted, spilling out years of suppressed emotions. Everything you had been carrying since you were a child until now weighed heavily. The deep ache in your heart was waiting for its final release.

"I wish I had left instead of him." 

Yuna's mother raised your chin with her index finger, her warm eyes meeting yours. "Jungkookie will come back. I know he will, but if you left," she paused, "I don't know if you would, sweetheart. We need you here–"

"No one needs–"

"We need you here," she repeated sternly. "Stop telling yourself otherwise." She gently patted your cheek before walking off to the receptionist.

You knew she was right. You knew how easy it would be for you to disappear off the face of the earth, start over and pretend like you didn't have a former life. But you loved your friends and your job, and those were the few things you could hold onto.

Jin set his phone down when you strolled back into the waiting room. He scanned your face before asking, "You good?"

You nodded yes. "I'm just tired," you explained, slouching beside him.

He patted his shoulder. "I hear these broad shoulders make for a great pillow," he smirked.

"I'll be fine, Jin."

"Oh, come on. Don't be so stubborn."

"I'm not stubborn."

"You are."

"I'm–"

Jin glared before using his chin to gesture to his shoulder. You rolled your eyes at the handsome man, sliding over to lay your head against him.

"See, it wasn't that hard, was it?" You were going to speak again, but he held his finger up. "Bup-bup-bup. It's sleepy time."

Eight hours since you arrived.

It felt like you were caught in a transitional state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleep, a feeling you hated because you didn't feel as well-rested when you awoke. Your mind wanders to the untapped subconscious abyss, along with ceaseless thoughts of the weirdest things.

You hummed when a light tap of your leg disrupted the stream of never-ending thoughts. Your eyelids, heavy from sleep, fluttered open to see the dad-to-be kneeling before you.

"Hey, you're here," you mutter, your voice still groggy as you sit up, nudging Jin awake.

"Do you guys wanna see the baby?"

Your eyes widened at his remark. Have you been asleep for that long? You could've sworn you were waiting forever while awake, but once you closed your eyes, Yuna and baby were here instantly.

Clearing your throat, you grabbed your belongings and kicked Jin one last time because he was taking his sweet time waking up. You followed Namjoon down the hall and through the secured doors. Faint crying from newborn babies echoed in your ears as you turned the corner into Yuna's room.

Your best friend was fast asleep in the hospital bed while her mother was holding her granddaughter, quietly humming a lullaby you so faintly remember her singing occasionally. The corners of her mouth curved into a smile as she handed the baby off to Namjoon.

He walked over, cradling the sweet newborn in his arms. She was adorned in a knitted lavender hat with a large bow while swaddled in a muslin blanket. She looked so warm and cozy, all bundled up. Your heart swelled, staring at this precious little human.

"Do you wanna hold her?" Namjoon asked, looking at the pair of you, and you nodded. Who wouldn't want to hold this sweet girl? He carefully handed her off to you. Soft grunts left her tiny mouth as she was placed into your arms.

"What name did you guys decide on?"

Namjoon smiled. "Indie. It's a bit unconventional, but she just looked like an Indie when we saw her."

You uttered her name before looking at Namjoon. "I love it."

Yuna's mother called out to Namjoon, asking him to help her prepare some food for Yuna.

You turned to Jin, bringing Indie closer to him. "Do you wanna hold her?"

He shook his head no. "Nah–I don't really like babies. They're not my thing."

You chuckled. "Don't say that, or you won't be her favorite uncle," you teased, returning your gaze to the sleeping baby.

"I have her whole life to win her over," Jin smirked, folding his arms across his chest. He tiptoed away, pretending to be distracted by something.

Indie grunted again, trying to stretch and wiggle in your arms. With her eyes still closed, she smiled briefly before resting her expression. You continued gazing at this perfect little person who just entered the world, who knew nothing of hurt, pain, or loss, and you wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible–keep her innocence and purity. You wanted to protect her at all costs, love her so she would never doubt herself. Support her in everything she wanted to try, make every dream of hers come true. How could you want all of this for someone you'd just met? How could you love this little one so much when you knew nothing about her, and she wasn't even yours?

By extension, she was family. She'll call you Auntie, come to you for advice when she can't go to her mom or dad, ask you to take her shopping, and you'd do everything and more–you'd spoil her like she was your own.

Your lips quivered, eyes welling up with tears as you brought baby Indie closer, your cheek nuzzled against her head. This could've been you holding your baby, but it wouldn't have been the right situation to bring a baby into the world. Even though you were sure you'd love your baby, you wanted to be in a better place. A baby deserves a family that would love them and go to great lengths for them, and you didn't have that at the time with U-jin.

But with Jungkook, it would've been different if you were pregnant. You sat with daydreams too often about what kind of father he'd be. You imagined he'd play with them all day until it wore them out, and they were too tired to play. He would sneak them snacks and candies when you weren't looking. And like you, he'd fight to build the best life for them. However, these 

daydreams were nothing but that–reveries of things never coming true.

"Hey, are you okay? What's wrong?" Namjoon asked with knitted brows.

You exhaled deeply, hugging her again before returning her to Namjoon. "Yeah–yeah, I'm okay. I'm just so happy for the three of you." You turned away to wipe your tears, catching a glimpse of Jin trying not to catch you at this moment, but it was too late.

Namjoon took Indie, sitting on his makeshift bed, quietly shushing her and rocking in place to keep her asleep. He and Yuna have come a long way, and you couldn't be more ecstatic to go on this new journey and see them become parents.

You walked over to sit in the chair next to Yuna's. She was beginning to stir awake, still groggy from labor. Her eyes fluttered open, her lips curving into a smile. "Hey," she muttered, trying to shift into a sitting position.

"Hey. How are you feeling, mama?"

Yuna chuckled. "Mama. I'm going to have to get used to that." You smiled and nodded yes. "I'm tired. I just pushed a seven-pound bowling ball out of a tiny opening."

You laughed. "You did great." You looked over at Namjoon, then back to Yuna. "Are you ready for another one?" You couldn't help but tease.

"Oh god–if Namjoon goes anywhere near me, I will murder him. I can't do this again."

"I'm sure you'll change your mind," Namjoon chirped, standing to rock Indie in his arms.

You rolled your eyes and shook your head at your favorite couple. You were sure they would have more kids in the future, and you could see them with at least one more.

Turning to Yuna, you held her hand. "Do you need anything before I go?"

She shook her head, looking at her mom, who finished preparing her meal. She placed her hand on top of yours, squeezing it.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being here. I couldn't have done this without you."

You chuckled. "That's what best friends are for, right? We do everything together, even have babies." You stood, leaning to kiss the top of her head. "Get some rest, okay? Let me know when you get home, so I can visit and hold baby Indie while you and Namjoon sleep."

She hummed, pressing her lips together, squeezing your hand one last time. "Love you."

"Love you too."

Jin offered to take you home, and you couldn't help but laugh a little because he probably wanted an excuse to leave and not have to be around the new parents-to-be and their baby. You understood it, though not everyone is comfortable around babies and children.

The ride home was quiet, which was surprising. You thought he'd at least have one more dad joke in his pocket, ready to go. He pulled to a stop in front of your place. You turned to thank him for the ride, but the desolate expression on his face made you pause.

"Everything okay?"

He cleared his throat. "Can I ask why you were upset at the hospital?"

The reasons could go on for hours, but you wouldn't subject Jin to listening to you rattle on about your problems. "I'm just going through a lot right now."

"Is it because I mentioned Jungkook? I realized now that it was insensitive of me to tell you even though you didn't ask to hear about him."

"It's fine, Jin. Don't worry about–"

"No, please let me apologize." Your lips thinned into a straight line, nodding to let him continue. "I'm sorry. I knew you wouldn't ask about him, and I can only imagine what you're going through. Just to let you know, I'm also mad at him for leaving like that. You didn't deserve that, and you at least deserved a goodbye in person."

"We both hurt each other, so I understand why he did what he did, and I'm not mad at him for leaving like he did. I'd be gone if I wasn't working on this new TV show.

"You can't leave. You're not allowed to."

You laughed. "And what do you need me for?"

Jin shrugged. "I don't know. I have to think about it." You smiled, hanging your head down, and he nudged your arm, making you peer at him. "Don't be a stranger. Call me if you need anything–a midnight snack, someone to watch a movie with, whatever, it doesn't matter. I'll be there. We're friends, okay?"

When you didn't respond, he gave you a threatening look. "Okay, okay. Yes, I'll call if I need anything." You grabbed your things, ready to open the door.

Jin grabbed your wrist. "Hey, you're gonna be fine."

You forced a smile and hummed. You knew how you were feeling, and where you are right now was not where you'd always be. It could take days, weeks, or months to be genuinely okay. But you would be, eventually.

✨ next ~ drabble ~ it'll be okay (jk pov)

#jungkook fanfic #jungkook fic #jungkook drama #jungkook angst #jungkook romance #jungkook x y/n #jungkook x reader #jungkook x noona #bts fanfic #bts fic #bts x reader #bts x y/n

[spymasterspriest]

Chapter 8

The Spymaster & The Priest   A Gwynriel role reversal fanfiction

Masterlist, or read the entire series on AO3

After a good day and half they find themselves in another small town. They ended up spending the night at a verysmall inn. He'd nearly ripped the sheets from the mattress when he thought he'd heard Gwyn say his name in her sleep. Despite his fatigue, he'd found it difficult to fall back to sleep.

The next morning they broke their fast on hard boiled eggs and roasted potatoes. It's a satisfying though simple meal that leaves Az's belly pleasantly full and thoughts nostalgic. Gwyn buys two loaves of bread for the last stretch of their trip.

"Do you have any siblings?" Gwyn asks, mouthful of freshly bakes loaf as they head to the stables.

"Two. the youngest of three. No sisters," Azriel admits flatly. "What's it like working for the Night Court?"

"Loud," she says immediately, though her eyes are kind and her smile fond. "Never a moments peace." She stares off into the distance. "I miss them. We write, of course, but its not the same as being with them. They've become my family. Hopefully we'll be done with this book business soon and I can get back for a proper visit."

Azriel triest to imagine it, a casually dressed Gwyn socializing with members of the High Court, mahogany locks gleaming, sword at her side despite her fancy way of dress. Unconditional love for all around her. He blinks a few times, unsure of what to say. There were a few brothers in the temples that he knew well enough to call friends - but family? He knew a mother's love, but not a family's.

"Shall we get some practice in while its still early?" She inquires in a way that's meant to confirm rather than suggest.

Not a bad idea. She'd been right to suggest it before as it loosened his muscles for travel. He squints at her. They'd reached the stables, the interior warm and softly lit. Senka snickered at them as they entered, black eyes gleaming. Azriel huffs.

The spymaster suggested insisted on switching up their routine. Gwyn is utterly boneless in the way she moves and Azriel wonders if its an inheritance of her nymph side. They move slowly through their stretches, Az improvises by including his wings, smothering a groan as the muscles bunch and pull, warming despite the cool morning.

When he opens his eyes next, breathing routine finished, Gwyn is watching him with a gentle expression. In her hands are a pair of daggers from her own collection. And what a collection it was. He'd caught her one of the nights before cleaning them. He'd counted around thirty-four. She waits for him to come out of his stretch, eyes lingering on his shadows, or his chest, he wasn't sure. Shadows, definitely the shadows. She hands him a dagger.

"Try to stab me," she says simply.

"Sorry?" He blurts.

Azriel wasn't surprised at the direction of her teaching. It was smart that he learned some forms of self-defense. After the altercation at Rita's he understood why Gwyn kept herself so armed. Ok, maybe the amount of daggers she kept was a tad facetious. The world could be a cruel place and he was better off being prepared for it. Azriel gulps as her eyebrows raise as if she'd made a perfectly reasonable request.

"I want you," she says slowly, voice low. His thoughts immediately go there. "To stab me with this. There are places we will be going that will be less than hospitable to our presence. I don't want you to get hurt, so, you're going to try and stab me and I'm going to disarm you, probably rather easily," she chided arrogantly and Azriel's shadows bristled at the challenge. "Then vice versa, yes?"

"Gwyn," Azriel starts.

"Nope, Az," she interrupts with a shake of her head, hair spilling down her shoulder. "It's important to know how to take care of yourself. These  aren't even sharp. The worst you could do is bruise me," she explains, easing his unspoken concerns. "If you can even get close enough, that is," she teases with a wicked grin. "Now, stab me."

Despite his many faults, Azriel was not a coward. Her challenge struck his spine straight and pulled his shoulders back, wings spreading across the stable. The light shrouded, the horses whinny. Gwyn's eyes spark with warmth as she watches him.

"Show off," she says with a smirk.

"This is a terrible idea," he admits. She lets out a laugh and shrugs, taking a step back and motioning him forward with her hand.

Wrapping his fist around the weapon, he drives at her with all of his weight with his wings propelling him forward. He could be fast too. She steps to the side, Gwyn's body turning. His momentum carries him beyond her. A hand comes up to his wrist, gripping, pulling, sending him around in a circle.

Azriel staggers. Gwyn maneuvers around his wings as nimble as a cat. Using her grip, she pulls him down, bringing him to his knees, far more gently than she would have if they'd really been fighting. She keeps him there, hovering off balance, wings shifting, wrist pinched between her fingers. Her grip presses against the tendon at his wrist and Azriel hisses, fingers spasming. The dagger drops to the ground.

"You're instincts are good," Gwyn tells him, helping him to his feet. "You really came at me with some power. I like it."

"Yeah, well, dinner in the Tower would get competitive from time to time," Azriel deadpans, massaging his wrist. Gwyn laughs.

"And here I misread priests for serene," she tsks, picking up his dagger and handing it back to him. "Ok, let's do that again, but come at me slowly this time. I'll break down the moves and then you can try them on me."

It's excruciating to his wrists and hands, but as the continue to practice the exertion has relaxed him in the most pleasurable way. For a majority of the time he's able to deflect her attacks, the repetition triggering muscle memory. It's barely midday when they break.

"I'd say we've had enough," she concludes after his last successful attempt. Out of breath he stares at her. She barely looks bothered. "I'll be back in a bit, I need the privy before we go."

She makes a face at him, one he's come to recognize as her 'undone by mortal failings and annoyed by it' look. He gives her a lopsided grin and watches as she strides back to the inn, skin gleaming, hair bright. His shadows peer at her from over his shoulder.

A colleague. She was only a colleague. He'd agreed to assist her. He was here to help make her job easier, nothing more. This is what the reminds himself of over and over as they prepare to leave. They take flight, finally ready for the days travels. Within no time the buildings and farmland fade out of view.

Gwyn, feeling playful, rolls Senka. Azriel follows greedily, keeping close, hovering just above her. Close enough to hear her laughter. The spymaster attempts to shake him off, diving deep before arching back into the clouds. Azriel doesn't let her go. He didn't want to. He wanted to stay, gliding beside her like this, movements in harmony. He wants so very much.

"That was a great effort you made today, Az, truly," she calls out encouragingly.

Azriel nods his head in thanks. If she knew how desperately he'd been attempting to control his arousal, he'd probably done better. He wonders if she was just as rivalrous in bed, a lover who would meet his passions. Azriel stares off into the horizon, blue sky vast and seemingly infinite. Gwyn, thankfully, can't see the blush upon his face.

"You did a number on me when you started to use your shadows to predict my movements," she admitted. "It's a good strategy, you should remember to use it more."

He returns his gaze to where she sits astride Senka. She's rolling her wrist, unware of his stare, pulling down her riding glove to examine it. Azriel dives so fast he nearly crashes into her back, causing Senka to whinny in warning.

"Gwyn, did I hurt you?" he asks, horrified at the site of dark bruising. She looks up at him and shrugs.

"A bit," she admits, raising her arm above her head so that he might get a better look. Azriel's stomach drops - dark purple bruising blooms across her palm and thumb.

"Oh," he mutters, heart racing. It looked bad. It was-

"Az," Gwyn says firmly, snapping his focus back to the moment, calming. Senka rises just enough that she can capture his chin within her fingers. "I will heal," she tells him. "It's all right."

"I need to fix this," he begs. His eyes meet hers. She doesn't appear angry but he knows from experience that means little.

"My sweet shadowsinger," she hums, voice carrying in the wind. "I am well. See for yourself." Her hand drops from his face but remains above her.

Azriel takes her wrist, warm against his cool skin. Tipping her hand this way and that, he examines her from wrist to fingertip. There were no injured bones and her range of motion was good. He draws her fingers into his and leans in to press his lips against her palm. Her hand feels so comically small in his. Gwyn angles her head at him, a sweet twist to her lips and shyness breaks through her confidence. Azriel reluctantly lets her hand go.

"It won't happen again," he promises. "Forgive me."

She doesn't say anything for a moment and they simply just stare at one another. A heavy shift in the air gives the moment gravity. Gwyn lowers her arm and head, eyes returning to the sky. Something deep inside him settles, like a ribbon coming unknotted. He remains above her, wings beating steadily.

"No more apologies," she says after a while. "You are mostly certainly going to hurt me again when we practice. And you are not going to feel sad or guilty about it, understood?"

"Yes, Gwyn," he answers with a wry smile. "I promise."

In a feat that he would later convince himself was pure Pegasus cunning, Senka bursts ahead and up, tucking its wings tight and passes above him upside-down. He swears he feels her lips against the top of his head. Out of the corner of his eye he watches her dart into the clouds below and he's helpless to follow.

The woods were thick here, giving way to a largest forest Azriel had ever seen. Pine trees as tall as buildings push up from the ground like green feathered spears. War camps carve into the landscape, the architecture of some of the outer buildings crude in comparison to Velaris. The Illyrian mountains were no longer distant. A road could be seen below, the trees cleared to give way to carts and travelers on foot. The fresh smell of tree sap and snow cling to the air. As the camp interiors come into focus, he could make out dirt and cobbled roads. Women with small children scurried about and his thoughts turned to his mother.

They descend in silence, Gwyn looking alert. He hadn't considered what it would feel like to return here. The Illyrians were brutal fae. His High Lord had been attempting for years to bring progressive change to the camps, and with the help of his general, they'd seem some successes.

As they touch down, Gwyn remains atop Senka. The Night Court's spymaster was making her entrance. She gave no recognition to the stares and whispers. A few males even had the gall to point and look annoyed at her presence.

There are numerous Illyrians, more than Azriel had expected. They must be in one of the larger camps. The mountains were so close they felt touchable, snow blowing from their peaks. He walks alongside Gwyn, aware of the looks he too is getting. It takes some resolve to not shroud himself in shadow, gather his wings, and escape. Yet, the spymaster's gaze upon has his face turning upward towards hers.

"Doing all right?" she asks quietly and he nods.

"It's a lot," he admits and she gives him a beautifully reassuring smile.

"We'll stay on the ground the rest of the way. It'll be a bit till we get to our destination. You're doing great." He feels lighter at her confidence, giving him the ease he needed to observe the city.

Every structure was made of similar materials. Some had mulitple floors, walls of white stucco and pine logs. Rooftop gardens sat atop each, a common Illyrian feature, green shrubs pushing up from pots, some heavy with red berries. It wasn't as claustrophobic as Velaris. This place was wide, accommodating for wings. And the people! He hadn't been around his own for so long he forgot what it felt like to be less out of place; where wings and dark skin were the norm and not something exotic.

Azriel tries not to stare as a group of females pass dressed in subdued clothes, layers wrapping their bodies. An elderly male tries to entice them into his shop, which seems to carries a multitude of spices. A shout calling for the sale of herbs, drawing his attention to a woman with a cart. Some of the herbs Azriel didn't recognize. He catches bits of conversation spoken in his native tongue and wonders at the last time he'd spoken it himself.

They pass a cluster of wooden stalls, each one smelling of roasted meats or baked sweets and Azriel's stomach growls. He hadn't realized how hungry he was. Another stall nearby sold shaved meat with flat bread.

The sky is turning a soft lavender by the time Gwyn leads them through the main part of camp. A large building that looks more like an estate hall than the other homes, looms large ahead. The Night Courts emblem was carved into the stucco facade. The embassy was imposing and tall. An arched passage way emerges, opening into a square. A small fountain bubbles, surrounded by more berry bushes.

Up ahead a young stable hand waits for Gwyn, a broad smile upon their face. They speak briefly and Azriel's surprised to hear the spymaster speak Illyrian. She hands Senka over, hefting her bag from its back. Azriel follows her close as she pushes through a pair of heavy wooden doors.

The foyer spits them into a large room full of long tables, chairs, and people who look as if they could kill Azriel in a matter of minutes. In their sleep. Accidentally, even. He pulls himself up tall, refusing to hide and observes the room.

"Gwyn!"

The roar sounds from across the room. An immense Illyrian pushes back from a table and charges the spymaster, arms wide. Azriel tenses, expecting confrontation. Instead, Gwyn drops her bags and shouts back.

"Cass!"

They crash into each other. The Night Court's General lifts her off her feet in a crushing embrace, laughter bursting from them both.

A warning trills through his shadows just moments as a tap bounces against his shoulder. Azriel turns. A fae stands before him all pale skin and cold, brilliant grey eyes. Her beauty was as harsh as her demeanor. She spreads her hands placatingly.

"You," she says in common, "look new, and they," she points to the pair squeezing one another to suffocation, "will be at this for a while. Why don't you join me at my table. I'll get you something to drink. Call me Nesta."

Nesta Archeron. Eldest of the Archeron sisters. Mated to the Lord of Bloodshed. It was Lady Death herself standing before him.

"Azriel," he greets, unwilling to drop her gaze. Like staring into a predator's eyes, he worried if he looked away she might strike.

"The shadowsinger," she affirms, considering him from head to toe. He's acutely aware of her praising gaze sweeping over him. She reaches out to tuck her hand in his arm, tugging him alongside her as they make their way to a table laden with food and different sized mugs. "So, where did Gwyn find you?"

"I'm assisting her with an assignment," he tells her honestly. He lowers himself onto the bench after she sits. A slender, graceful hand places a mug of water before him. Still staring, he blinks at her. She arches an expertly shaped eyebrow. "We're tracking down some ancient books," he clarifies with a gulp.

"Right," she drawls. "Well, I'll grab the two of you some food if there's any left. My mate's troops are light on manners and high on appetite. They also might stab you over a hot bath, so there's that." She eyes him again, lingering on his wings. His shadows shutter out of sight. "You seem big enough to handle yourself." Her eyes catch on something beyond his shoulder.

"Nesta!" Gwyn's utter delight rings across the hall. She pulls the stiff female into her arms. Death succumbs to the spymaster and the two wrap around one another in an affectionate hug. "How are you?"

"Oh, you know," the other says casually, "same as always. Incredibly well read and growing deadlier by the day." She kisses Gwyn on the cheeks and presses her forehead against the spymaster's. "You look more at peace then the last time I saw you," Nesta says quietly with a gentle smile. "You will have to tell me about your adventures now that you're back for a bit. What the fuck did you do to your face?" She pulls back and taps a small silver scar at Gwyn's brow.

"I need to get a haircut tomorrow," Gwyn distracts, returning Nesta's kisses. "Can we catch up later? I'd like to settle in for the night." She looks past her friend to Azriel, who raises his mug at her. "I see you found Azriel while your mate had me preoccupied. He's such a softy." Gwyn squeezes her friend one more time before stepping from Nesta's embrace.

"Yes, well, that softy is sleeping in a separate room tonight after keeping me awake all night," Nesta says with a roll of her eyes. At Gwyn's slow blink and Azriel's blush, she clarifies, "with all his snoring." She glares at him and Azriel catches a twitch of a smile on Gwyn's face. "If you ever tell anyone what I just said I will stab you," Nesta threatens.

"I don't know what you mean." Azriel looks away and takes a sip of water. He reaches for some bread.

"I like him," Nesta says with air of proclamation. "You should keep him." She looks to the spymaster.

"I intend to," Gwyn replies, an absolutely feral grin upon her face, all teeth and affection. Azriel's cheeks flame and he shoves the bread into his mouth. Nesta smiles at him, as sharp as a shark.

"Let me get you some food before its all gone," Nesta says more to herself than them. "I'll be right back," she says, touching Gwyn's arm before stalking off to the other side of the hall. Gwyn watches her with a fond expression before turning to smile at him.

"Oh," Gwyn shouts, looking at the food upon the table. "These are my favorite!" She shoves a single meat pastry into her mouth and chews happily.

"Hey," Azriel startles when she makes out the pastry he'd laid out for himself, cupping his hands around it protectively. She laughs behind her hand, muffled by her full mouth, and turns to greet someone at the far end of the table. In the presence of her friends, she was glowing. Happy. He'd never seen her so at ease. She was-

"She's fucking amazing, right?" Nesta says, setting down a plate full of more pastries and a mug of water. He'd been so distracted by Gwyn he hadn't heard her approach from the kitchens. "A bit unfair, don't you think?"

"I-yes," Azriel agrees, startled by the way she'd picked up on his inner thoughts.

"She looks at you like your hung from the moon, shadowsinger. She's not that hard to read." Azriel opens his mouth to protest the direction of their conversation, but she cuts him off with a wave of her hand. "Most of us look at her like that. It's fun to see it work in reverse." She winks at him companionably and Azriel decides he rather likes Lady Death. Like the spymaster, she is not at all what he expected. He gives her a smile and nod, eyes moving back to Gwyn.

"The food is excellent tonight," Gwyn announces. "It smells like they got rid of the guy who refused to season anything. Drove Cass crazy." She pushes a plate of food toward him, snatches his mug and drains the rest of the water before pouring more.

Azriel raises a brow at her, and an intense, silent argument stews between them over the appropriateness of stealing another's beverage. As it's a battle fought mostly in eyebrows, Azriel loses.

After they finish their meal, he and Gwyn say farewell and head upstairs. Gwyn lives on the fourth floor, on the same hall as what looks like a rather impressive library. Rummaging through her bag she pulls forth a pair of keys and unlocks a door at the far end of the hallway. She pushes it open and gestures for Azriel to enter.

"Home sweet home," she singsongs.

#gwynriel #gwyneth berdara #azriel shadowsinger #ao3fic #acosf fanfiction #role reversal au #azriel x gwyn

[thewriterowl]

I JUST finished reading sunburst, and i swear on god i need a confirmation that din and luke are gonna have a happy ending. My poor babies have been through enough

The plan is for a happy ending eventually! Maybe not really this particular story but for the Sunburst series YES. I am a big believer on happy endings. I am unsure if I would ever write a purely depressing/bad ending--even with my dark-romance fics (tho those may end bad for people not really into dark romance so always be warned on that!)

But yes there shall be an EVENTUAL happy ending for Sunburst!

#owl inbox #sunburst

[the-silver-peahen-residence]

||A Naughty invitation||

Hi there sweeties, Peahen mom is here with another drabble request. So shall we dive into this one and see how this one goes hmm? :3

||Drabble summary||

Insomniac!Spider-man was just finishing up a big mission taking out another villian threatening his home but he was able to stop them. The day was saved once more even before tonight for halloween. However, as he was resting at home, he got a invitation to a Halloween party. It seems pretty fun and decided to go but what awaits him there? Read to find out.

||Warning||

~Teasing and touching is present in this drabble

~Heavy Nsfw is present in this drabble (If your under 18+ Please don't read this)

~Rough overstimulation is present

~Group sex is present in this drabble

||Guests in this drabble||

Insomniac!Spider-man/Peter Parker is from the game series Insomniac Video Game: Marvel’s Spider-Man 1 and 2 and belongs to my beloved friend @within-the-resort

A bunch of horny excited vampires are also guests in this one too.

((Note: Their will be grammar mistakes and errors in this drabble as others have this warning. But like I state before, this is written for fun. So I hope you like it and my friend too. Enjoy))

Peter parker was not expecting a unknown invite tonight after returning home from another day as the hero. He only was just getting some food when getting the random invite. He was unsure about going at first and it looked like a pretty fancy Halloween party from how the invite looked.

"Hmmmm, maybe I need to get some air for once but for my own fun. Who knows? It could be fun." he looks to the invite to see it was tonight. Thinking for a moment as the sun goes down, he decided to go.

In a moment, he was swinging his way towards the destination of where he was going to this party. He saw that it was pretty out to some big warehouse but that was fine. It had to be a big party. Insomniac!spider-man keeps on swinging through the air before landing to see the place.

It was already decorated in Halloween stuff and it seems the party was already on going from the sounds inside. With a sigh, he lands to head to the warehouse door and smiled hoping this was worth it. Getting to the front, he sees it was slightly open but even noticed a note on there.

"Hmm?" he takes a look to see what it reads.

"Come on in, Spider~"

He blinks to read the small note and yet he shrugs with a chuckle and walks inside. To his surprise, it was full of other party goers to see everyone having fun or some taking when having fun. It seems like another fun Halloween party night.

In a moment, one male walks over but he smiled to see. "Hey, you made it. Welcome Mr. Insomniac!Spider-man. Welcome to the party." he smiled already looking to the hero but he rubs the back of his head to chuckle.

"You can just call me spider-man but thank you for the invite." he sees he was happy to have a new guest like the others who noticed blushing or some licking their lips seeing him.

"Though, why don't you go ahead and grab a drink and have some fun....." he said to hand some apple juice to him that Spider-man takes it and was having fun.

"Thank you, I'll do that." he said happy but saw that everyone was having fun. Even if that the hero didn't know that he was in a party full of horny vampires who wishes to please the hero after hearing so much about him.

They didn't want to scare him but they will get him relaxed seeing him being among the others. At first, Peter blinks by how many they are since this had to be a large party. He almost felt like he didn't fit in but they were all friendly so it couldn't be too bad. Unsure of what to do, he calmly chat with them, hoping to start some conversation. It didn't seem too bad that some even spoke to him welcoming him to the party and some even asking a few questions about him. Yeah, it seems it was just fine and he didn't mind this at all.

Seems the party was going on as normal so that was fine.

However, as he was speaking with another person, someone else was sneaking up behind him while showing a light of a tease from her eyes. He really was cute that other vampires were getting excited just looking at him.

"Yeah, you can say that. I just didn't expect this sort of party to be so big." he said but the other smiled already finding him precious.

"Well, my friend tends to invite the only ones he know but you are a guest of honor so don't worry about it. He wants everyone to have fun here in the party."

"Well, I'm having fun true so I thank him for that." he laughed drinking some more of his juice.

"Though, it's always nice to see a new face around here. But we are hoping you are enjoying yourself here." he saw Spider-man nod. He was having fun at the party and it was pretty fun too. The other was listening to Peter speak but noticed the female coming behind him. As he kept chatting with the guy, suddenly he squeaks when a woman hugs from behind and kisses the back of his neck.

"H..Huh?!? Mi..miss? What are you-" He looked shocked seeing the female kissing and nibbling his neck and shoulder that she hugs him gently.

"Sorry for the scare hun. You just look so cute.." she teased that Peter blinks to blush.

"I..I umm thank you...." he mutters but he looks ahead. "T..though, I don't mind the-a..ah..." he feels her pressing up against him leaving more kisses that the other male looks to him and touches his cheek.

"What's wrong Hero? Under the weather?" he teased now touching his cheek but saw that he was already flushed now. Even seeing him looking flushed again. He tries to speak but gasped feeling more kisses from the female and the guy touching his chest. He felt relaxed as both were teasing and touching him that some others noticed to get excited.

Seems like the real party can begin now......

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"W..Wait, wait wait! S..slow ahhhh d..down! Please slow down!!" Weak wet heated moans slips by Spider-man's lips feeling his body held by a few guests at this party but he finds out they were vampires. Horny hungry vampires that touched and pleased him.

Two were slamming their cocks into his hole or double teaming him while a female was kissing his neck and another squeezing his chest. He was making such cute noises as hearing the hero moaning so sweetly for them.

"Mmmmmm but you feel amazing..I can't stop my hips. Your just too good.." One said as the other nods chuckling.

"Even if we did, you wouldn't want us to stop do you? Your hole is so tight eating us both up.." He even sees the female move to let the vampire kiss his neck as she kisses him. Good thing the mask was up but not all the way off. They still find him precious but respected his secret so they kept it on. Just the suit is off. Spider-man was trying to speak or stop his moans but they only grew in volume feeling the vampire males slamming even harder into him.

"Ahhhh!! P..Please! Please s..spare mmmmmmm mmeeeeee..my body isn't nuggh use t..to such rough t..touches I.."

"We know but just savor it love..it feels good right? Your so drenched down here, your legs are shaking while trying to bounce on our thick hot cocks. Admit it, you love this. You love it so badly your crying in pleasure." he purred but suddenly bit his shoulder hearing Peter moan out loudly in lust.

"Say it. You love this..your craving for it...aren't you hero?" he coos near his ear only to hear Peter cry out throwing his head back feeling the vampires thrusting even harder. He twitched drooling from his spot being beaten that he moans with want.

"Ahhhhh Y..Yesssss..yes I l..love it. I love being..mmmmmm.....fucked. I love this f..feeling. It's s..so good..it's too good."he whines that the vampire chuckled to smile.

"That's it, hero. That's a good boy but since you been honest with us..we'll give you your fill." he said before he and the other vampire thrusts again so the two females move to let them pleasure the spider. Peter cries out again cumming a little but he moans out in heat loving the feeling.

"Ahhhhhh m..more! I need more, please give me more! I want more of you b..both!!" he begs bucking his hips back with each thrust that they were already shivering and feeling more and more dazed. This really was a crazy party but Peter didn't mind. Right now, his mind was heated up from the pleasure seeing every vampire either pleasuring themselves or wanting a turn.

He keeps screaming while bouncing his hips, feeling more aroused that it made him even feel his nipples bitten or pinched. Both vampires growl loving the heat from the hero but hearing his slutty tone was even more exciting.

He even sees two vampires walk over still stroking themselves but saw that Peter reaches to take their cocks and begins to stroke them. They hiss from the hot touch but Peter was still bucking on the other vampire's cocks wanting more. His mind was hazy in the pleasure but he only sucks one off and the other being stroked.

"He's seriously adorable.." one said.

"Yeah and t..too cute.." the other said groaning from his cock being sucked off.

"Now now, you both will have a chance....he's way too cute to stop but we have all night just to play~" Seeing the other vampires being aroused, they knew this was going to be one hell of a lustful party.

#IC #silver roses #Drabble/short or long stories #silver butterfly mun #peahen mom #the mansion owner #a naughty invitation #insomniac!spider-man/peter parter #within-the-resort #resort fantasy book #peahen writer

[claire-starsword]

The Guardiana Magic School Run - Part 6

Manarina time. As you might have heard, this is a weird place.

The weirdness includes having a hidden Demibuster on its walls. I'm fairly sure there are no more dark dwarves to fight, and this sword is already outclassed by the Middle Sword. Why is it here.

It can be sold for money I guess, but even that has a catch. Special items like this go to the deals section when sold, to make sure you don't lose them forever. I'm unsure if filling the deals section this way messes with the generation of random new deals. So I'm a bit afraid to do it, but on the other hand the deals section hasn't done much for us lately. We shall see. Right now we have more important things to do.

New party member.

Our beloved ice queen sadly starts out as like, a lesser Tao, and not just because of the level difference. She has less HP overall, the squishiest of defenses, and will take longer to learn AoE spells, because she gets Freeze before Blaze level 2. Freeze will be a great spell to have later on due to greater damage and range, but this and the next chapter are like, chock full of undead enemies immune to it, so yeah, not great!

The Steel Rings have always had her name on it, so Tao gives two to her, and now they both share a 7 in defense. Anri then swaps weapons with Khris, ensuring I won't have to spend money on a Power Staff, because Anri does not need one, I do NOT want this woman in the front lines ever.

We then get a very important egg, say hi to Arthur in the laundromat, and briefly return to Rindo to buy Medical Herbs for Anri, as Manarina has no shop. Hilariously I'm exactly 1 coin short of buying more than two herbs. Anri also gets the Antidote I've found last chapter, even though I generally feel healing is more useful.

I'm not very worried for this battle anyway, so I'd say preparations are complete. We head to the Cavern of Darkness.

The clear bonus is just money and I'm not too concerned about it.

We start greeted by two zombies, and compared to the four zombies of last time I don't care. Poison can be an annoyance but thankfully this time Lowe can reach people to heal them. And the zombies are so slow basically everyone can get into position before they move. And by position I mean Gong and Max will be tanking everything as usual.

Except they won't, the zombies don't even get the chance to act as the mages finish them off. Very nice for Anri to get the exp, and Tao also levels up, both her and Gong are a level above Max actually, I didn't notice that. She learns the Sleep spell, which I don't think I've ever used in any game in the series, but this is the magic school run so maybe we'll show it o- haha i'm kidding who cares use fireball and only fireball

Turn 3 opens up to a little more excitement, I though enemies would stick to blocking the bridge but one Sniper got spicy, Max remains irresistible I guess. Beyond the bridge there's like, five bats and you know that can get annoying, especially since they can cross through the water. My main concern as usual is the mage with its big damage, but Snipers also have a chance of picking my squishy people from afar so I want them gone as well.

Gong continues to massacre.

The Power Staff debuts amazingly, I even regret sending Tao after this guy first because this would have been a one hit kill.

Max counter kills the first bat that goes for him, because I guess he's still pissed off at the last battle. Sadly he doesn't do that for the second one, so we're still stuck on the bridge in annoying ways. The zombie also poisons him, because this man can't take a break.

Yeah he's not happy.

Turn 5. I was too afraid to send anyone ahead after Gong and Max killed the zombie blocking the bridge but Max countered the bat in front of him so we can move on now. He's also no longer poisoned thanks to Lowe, though he does need some healing.

Khris gets to him and earns a great level up for her troubles. Lowe is the only healer missing Heal 2 at this point. It's worth mentioning that Heal 2 is even more useful here than in the mega drive, as it heals 20 HP as opposed to 15, and has the same range as Heal 3. Kind of an exaggerated buff, honestly.

Anyway, the bats get wiped out without much problem, mostly by Tao, with Anri getting a kill in which is nice. Their spells cannot be dodged so they're the best to deal with these pests. We now head to the worst part of the battle.

These three mages can kill any force member at this point if they all focus on the same target. Even just two Blazes can be deadly. Of course, they're still easy to kill and hardly move, so it's matter of timing the approach to kill at least two before they act.

Gong and Max manage it just fine in the next turn. Since we're nearing the end, I'm start spamming heal spells for exp, though some real healing will need to be done too as one mage survived. Lowe in particular has tons of MP and the Skeleton doesn't move, so I'm still confident.

...never mind the Skeleton does move. And it's beefy enough to finally do more than one damage to Max, even if still not concerning.

Max also takes less than half of its HP, something that hasn't happened in a while. See the game is not a complete cakewalk to the magic school, we're just still pretty good. Also, Max has leveled up twice in this battle but got only one or two stats raised up, so it really seems like his godly level ups are a thing for the beginning only.

Also, the Skeleton stats claim it has no magic resistance, but Blaze 1 did only 6 damage which I find a bit weird. Still, we have two mages so it was enough to end this, and luckily Anri is the one to reap the exp and her first level up.

No HP, no defense, lots of magic, it's a very squishy wizard level up for sure.

Fairly sure I had turns to spare, at least this time I did expect the battle to be easy.

Besides the plot mandated Orb of Light, this cavern has lots of other loot. There's a spare Power Staff, which I can give to Tao in case of emergency I guess, a Voodoo Staff which is not as good and has the issue of being special enough to go to deals when sold, guess for now Anri can have for emergencies too, a Medical Herb, nicely filling Anri's final item slot, and more importantly, the Power Ring. This thing has someone's name written all over it.

Arthur has finished his job and can join us now! He's uh, not off to a great start. His HP is on par with Anri's (derogatory), his defense is around the ring wearing spell casters here, not ideal for a melee fighter, and his attack is lower than the priests, though that might say more about the priests than anything. Anyway, the next battle is full of new stronger enemies and a boss with an overpowered spell, and I have seen this man die as his very first action multiple times, so while it's fun to still get to play a knight in this kind of run, I'm not thrilled for this beginning.

We can try to make it better though. Let's head back to Rindo. And get immediately side tracked by the deals section.

The Zombie Charmer is an even stronger staff than our current ones, with extra damage to undead enemies. It was likely made for the Shade Abbey battle but still useful to deal with the plentiful of skeletons in Chapter 3. However, I'm fairly sure it is the clear bonus of the next battle, so we don't necessarily have to spend this much money to have it. Even if it would be very rad to have two.

It's a tough decision between it and the Charm Rings, but given that I'm worried for the next battle, and the rings can be useful for the whole rest of the run and are limited to this chapter, I'm think I'm going for them. The deal will still remain here for Chapter 3 if I need it.

Back to Arthur, I buy him a Spear to give him range, and hope the Power Ring compensates for the drop in attack. It actually does leave him with 18 attack which is 1 more than he started, so it should be fine. Now I just need this man to never be touched by an enemy in his whole life.

I then buy a couple Medical Herbs for him as usual, and a Charm Ring for Max. Max now has 23 HP and 32% magic res, which I hope means something against the Marionette. I considered giving it to Lowe since he has the Doll Hater, but he has little defense and that thing packs a punch physically as well, so do the minor Mishaela minions as well. The circus battle sucks. I hate relying only on Max for everything, but he feels like the only guy with enough HP for the magic resistance to matter.

That's all preparation I can do. Next update we find out who lives or dies.

Losses: 0 Deaths: 1 The expected deaths on Narsha interludes: 0/3

#shining series #shining force #ressurection of dark dragon #guardiana magic school run

[thesecretwriter]

this isn’t what enemies do (draco malfoy) 3.

Disclaimer: The content which is displayed below holds themes that are considered mature, minors are not to interact, thank you

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x female reader

Summary: Catching Draco in the position you did was the most unexpected thing you could think of. Things escalate as the tension thickens. From there, the last month of your project brings a craved love for the both of you.

Warning: Angst – not really, but just in case, fluff – soft!draco things, smut – p in v (minors dni). 

Side note: The last part of my first mini-series for the harry potter fandom. I really enjoyed writing this, even though I took forever!!

part one

part two

harry potter series masterlist

“You can uncover your eyes.” Draco said not meeting your eyes as you lowered your hand.

“I’m so sorry that I barged in like that.” You said embarrassed.

“No, its not your fault. I should’ve kept track of time” He stepped forward to pass by you in order to retrieve his clothes.

His bare chest brushed by you as he passed, and you could feel the body heat emanating from him.

“I’ll be in the kitchen while you change.” You said and stepped out of the room.

The tension between you two seemed to intensify as your eyes met his when he nodded in response.

Once you were in the kitchen, your mind wouldn’t stop drifting away from the look of pleasure on Draco’s face, and the fact that he was moaning your name amplified it further.

There was an odd feeling of superiority in you knowing that he had thoughts of you while being bare and in euphoria.

The opening of Draco’s room door caught your attention and he stepped out fully clothed this time. It was utter silence between you two, for the reason that you both didn’t know what to say. 

“Shall we get started?” He broke the silence.

“Yes, for sure. Of course.” You stumbled over your words.

You did quick work of taking out the progress of your project and beginning from where you left.

Although you two tried to ignore the tension the entire time, it was no lie that Draco had you squirming in your seat when he would lean over you to read what you had written or when he would put his hand on your shoulder to get a better look.

It brought back a particular night you spent alone in your dorm when your best friend was out. Draco had been on your mind, and you were feeling quite aroused that day.

Trailing your hands between your legs you imagined those greyish silver eyes looking down at you-

“Are you alright?” He finally asked when you didn’t seem to be paying attention.

“Uhm, yeah I’m okay.” You replied while your face heated up.

You gazed down to recollect your thoughts when you saw the bulge in Draco’s pants.

When Draco saw that your attention was elsewhere, he looked to the direction of your eyes and smirked.

“You seem a little distracted there y/n.” He stated with a small smirk.

Draco saying your name brought you out of your thoughts once again.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s gotten into me today.”

“I’ve got an idea what it maybe.” Draco mumbled for you to not hear.

“We can take a break if you want to.” He said leaning back in the chair next to you.

“Do you want me to leave?” You asked without thinking.

“Leave? Why?”

“Well, earlier I interrupted you and I’m sure it’s not comfortable having to get to work right after not finishing what you were doing.”

Draco found this to be amusing, clearly because you were aroused and affected by what happened, but also at the fact that you were always a nervous wreck around him.

“Don’t you want to finish what you were doing?” You said unsure if you worded it correctly.

“Finish what exactly?”

“Pleasuring yourself.” You said biting you lip and glancing down.

Draco didn’t know how to reply to what you said.

“Have you ever done that? Pleasure yourself?” He asked curiously.

Not knowing what made you do it, but you nodded to him in response.

“How often do you do it?” He asked crossing his arms and running his eyes up and down your body.

His mind began to put together images of you in bed, with your hand between your legs and head thrown back in pleasure.

“Just when things get too overwhelming for me.” You admit.

To be completely honest, you never had much time to pleasure yourself when you shared a dorm room with your best friend. Only when life had gotten to the point of you feeling overwhelmed did you try to find opportunities to escape the realities of life.

“So, pleasuring yourself is like an escape for you?”

You couldn’t believe that you were having this conversation with Draco Malfoy, it seems to be true in saying to expect the unexpected.

“I guess you could put it like that.” You say with a small chuckle.

“What do you think about?” He moved his body in such a way that he was now fully facing you.

“Things I can only imagine doing.”  

Draco’s breath hitches as you say those words.

“How about you? What do you think about?” A sudden boost in confidence comes to you.

He laughed at your question, but when he spoke, his voice had become much deeper than before, “Don’t act like you didn’t hear your name leave my lips.”

The space between you two seemed to be too far at the moment, and in a haste, you two moved towards one another and allowed your lips to meet in the middle.

His hands made its way on your waist and hoisted you up and on his lap so that you were straddling him.

Your hands went around your neck and into his hair as you two fought in the heat of the kiss.

A moan escaped your lips at the feeling of Draco’s cool hands on your back underneath your shirt.

“Take it off.” You said against his lips.

“Are you sure?” He asked pulling away from your lips.

“Yes.”

When you managed to take off your shirt, Draco looked to your breasts with desire filled eyes.

“Fuck.” He mumbled and started laying kisses from your neck to your breasts.

You sighed at the feeling; Draco’s kisses made goosebumps rise on your skin.

“Feeling cold?” He smiled when he looked to you, when you nodded, he made the choice of standing up and wrapping your legs around his lap. He made his way to his room, where it was much warmer.

He laid you down on the bed and made his way to between your legs.

“Before we go any further, I just want to clarify that before any of this I genuinely felt something very strong for you from when we were in Hogwarts. I don’t want you to think that I’m doing this just because we’re working on a project together.”

He had to make it known to you, after years of silently pining after you, he didn’t want to ruin the moment he’d been craving for the longest time.

“Are you serious? You’re such a twat. Throughout being in Hogwarts I thought you loathed me… Godrick, you’re so lucky that all I want to do is kiss you right now.” You say before leaning on your elbows and kissing him.

Draco smiled against your lips and wasted no time in removing his clothes while you did the same with yours.

When you were both bare and exposed to one another, your eyes trailed down his body and to his length which seemed to be fully aroused.

“You’re already so wet for me.” He growled as his hands went down your body and between your legs.

“Only for you.” You said and moved your hips in accordance with his hand.

“That feel good for you? You like how my fingers are rubbing your clit.”

His dirty words made you even wetter if it’s possible. Your hands were clenching the pillow beneath your head since Draco was sat up between your legs, moving his cock in his hand.

“Play with your tits for me.” He demanded as he picked up in the pace he was rubbing your clit, abiding by what he said, you felt yourself one step closer to pleasure.

“What’re you thinking about y/n? Tell me baby.” Draco noticed the glazed over look in your eye and knew your mind was miles away.

“You fucking me, deep, hard and fast.”

Draco felt himself losing the little bit of control that he had been holding back on.

“Is that what you want?” He asked looking at you with furrowed brows as he felt his cock becoming sensitive.

You nodded your head in response, but this wasn’t enough for Draco. He had to hear the words.

“No, you have to tell me.” He stopped rubbing your clit with his fingers and instead took his cock and ran the tip up and down the lips of your wet pussy. Occasionally making contact with your clit.

“I want you to be the first to fuck me.”

Your words shocked him. Be the first?

He momentarily stopped and looked down at you, “Y/n, have you never…” He let the question linger in the air.

“No.” You whispered, scared at what his reaction would be.

“And you want me to be the first?” He asked gaping at you.

“Yes.”

Draco felt something within him snap and he leaned forward to claim your lips, once again moving his hip to rub his cock along the lips of your pussy.

“You sure that’s what you want? Me to be the first to fuck you? To make you feel good, huh? I’m going to ruin you for anyone else.” He said hooking his hand around your neck and whispering the words in your ear.

“Yes please, I’ve wanted you for so long.” You moan at the feeling of his hand around your neck.

Smiling a devious smile, Draco drew back and gazed down at you.

He looked down to between your legs and took his cock in his hand to align his cock at the entrance of your pussy – which was wet and ready for him.

His gaze was back on you as he leaned forward and captured your lips in his, getting lost in the feeling of the kiss, your minded drifted away and in that moment, Draco thrust his hips forward.

You gasp into the kiss, but this doesn’t stop Draco as he gently and slowly rocks his hips back and forth against you.

The slight pain slowly disappears as you grow accustomed to his size and the feeling of being full.

“So big.” You mutter and look to him with furrowed brows.

Draco appreciated the comment as it drove him more to making you feel good.

“Yeah? You like my big cock in your tight pussy?” He teased further as his hands massaged your breasts.

You nodded in response to his question, not being able to answer. You were too concentrated at the feeling within yourself.

“Oh fuck.” You moaned out as he changed the angle and lifted your legs over his shoulders.

The pace in which he was moving at increased when you began to move your hips along with him.

“You feel so good baby, so tight and wet for me.” He spoke provocatively.

Draco found it harder to not cum as you clenched around him.

He momentarily moved away from you, causing his cock to slip out of you. He turned you over so that you were now on your tummy. You lethargically laid on your front as he lifted your ass up in the air and once again thrusted into your pussy.

“I like this position better, because I’m able to…” Before the words left his mouth you felt the spank of his hand on your ass.

The sting only caused your more pleasure.

“I’m gonna cum.” You said weakly into the sheets.

Draco smirked at your words, “Does me spanking you make you want to cum?” He asked mockingly.

Another spank was delivered to your ass and soon as found yourself moaning Draco’s name into the sheets as his hips stuttered against your hips till, he released himself inside you. The headboard at this point had been bouncing off the wall and causing a noise.

Although all Draco could hear were the moans and groans being made between the two of you. He kept thrusting into you, chasing the feeling of pleasure you both were feeling.

Long moments passed by as you and Draco moved around to be more comfortable.

“That was quite something.” You said gazing at him shyly.

“Definitely… we have a lot to talk about after this, because I’m not going to go back to ignoring each other after this project is done.” He stated looking at you seriously.

“I know, that’s the last thing I want.” You said kissing him.

“Besides, this isn’t something enemies would do.” You chuckle as he rolls his eyes.

Tagging those who commented on part two: 

@sycathorn-slush @spideyswebshooters @kbakery @eclecticpatrolroadlawyer​ @m0mmat0rtle​

#draco malfoy #draco malfoy fanfiction #draco malfoy fanfic #draco malfoy x you #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy fandom #draco malfoy angst #draco malfoy x you angst #draco malfoy x reader angst #draco malfoy fluff #draco malfoy x you fluff #draco malfoy x reader fluff #draco malfoy smut #draco malfoy x you smut #draco malfoy x reader smut #harry potter #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #angst #fluff #smut

[inhuman-obey-me]

Excuse me! it’s just me, this blog’s stalker because your works amazing. I kinda am in love with your demon’s nature series. I if I could request something. Could you possible do MC seeing the brothers do something that is “demonic”. Similar to what happens in the series. Thank you!!!!

Hello!! Haha, thank you -- we’re so glad you like our content! ;u;

And I’m glad that you enjoy the Demon’s Nature series! It’s been a lot of fun to write.

Sorry this took a bit! I wasn’t sure if you wanted this to be something with one of the brothers or all of them, so I ended up doing little short blurbs for each of the brothers and MC accidentally catching them doing something demonic/violent. Tried to keep them all pretty short, which was hard.

[Mod Cosmos]

MC accidentally catching the Demon Brothers being Demonic/Violent

content warning: blood/gore, body horror (especially in Beel’s), and general violence

Note: This is through the perspective of an MC that knows that the demons do their thing, but perhaps doesn't want to see it happening in front of them.

LUCIFER

You were supposed to go shopping together after meetings for the day were finished, and he had told you to just wait an additional thirty minutes so that he could finish up some business. Thirty minutes passed, but there was still no word from him, so you decide you’ll go and see what was holding that workaholic up. You soon realize that was a mistake.

You hear muffled cries, and a familiar deep voice. Cautiously, you approach the source of these sounds -- a room located off a dark corridor. You didn’t think there were any classrooms here, and your curiosity got the better of you -- so you approach the door, peeking through the crack. You recognize the intimidating silhouette and --- there’s blood. There was another figure in the room, their body limp on the ground in a puddle of red, the mighty first-born’s claws tearing through flesh. A loss of balance in your surprise results in you tumbling into the room, earning a sharp turn from Lucifer, whose crimson eyes were wide in surprise. His wings spread out to try and shield the unsavory scene from you.

“MC, you were supposed to wait for me.” His voice is stern, but there’s a gentleness to it. He sees the queasy look on your face, and decides he can put this torment to an end. With a swift motion, he fully blocks your line of sight before slitting the lesser demon’s throat. He then turns back to you, lightly embracing your body with black feathers. His voice is soft as he did not want to frighten you. “I’m sorry, you weren’t supposed to see that. Let’s get you home, shall we? I’ll make you some tea.”

MAMMON

It had just been a scratch. A low-level demon had taken a swipe at you in passing, but hadn’t been able to cut too deep. Mammon insisted he was just running off to get a bandaid after you insisted he didn’t need to go after the other demon. He said that he’d be right back--”I’m just gettin’ a bandage, I swear!”-- and told you not to move an inch. But this bandage quest was taking longer than it should have, so you go after him, pressing a loose cloth against your wound. And there he was, having cornered the offending demon. He seems to be staking the demon in the arm with a sharp metal object, speaking in a tongue you couldn’t understand.

You hadn’t even realized you had dropped the Majolish bag from your hand, not until it hit the ground with a thud and Mammon whipped around to see you there. A flash of guilt appears on his features, his eyes going between you and the lowly demon. He drops them, though he can’t resist one more swift kick to their chest before running back to you.

“I told ya I’d be right back!” He’s about to cup your face in his hands, but retracts them as he realizes they’re covered in blood. “Uh, okay, let’s go get that,” he motions to your injury, “...taken care of, yeah?” He mumbles a sorry as he picks up the bag you dropped before ushering you away from the scene, promising he’d do whatever he needed to do to make up for having to witness it.

LEVIATHAN

You’re browsing games at a shop, having tagged along with Leviathan who had been raving about a new release. At one point, however, Leviathan had vanished from your side. You now realize it’s been … quite some time, actually. You wander about the store, unable to find him anywhere. Did he step outside? You decide to check, missing the anxious glance from the clerk behind the counter.

You hear some sounds from the alley by the shop. Is that … someone choking? Worried, you round the corner to make sure whoever it was is okay -- only to see the one doing the strangling was Leviathan himself. He had his tail tightly wrapped around the other demon’s throat, and … what, what was that inky substance leaking from their eyes? Leviathan caught your shadow against the alley wall, turning to you with a slightly panicked look.

“M-MC!” His tail quickly slithered off and away from the demon’s throat, leaving them to collapse to the ground. He’s suddenly at your side, hands on your shoulders as he turns you around and makes you walk out of the alley with him, murmuring something about how the venom will take care of the rest. “S-sorry about that, MC. You look a little sick … let’s get that game and go home and play, okay?”

SATAN

You had been ambling through an aisle in the grand Royal Library, wondering what random book you should pick up next to flip through idly. Satan had wanted to spend a quiet day reading and studying together, to which you readily obliged. But it was easy to forget just how large the Royal Library was -- what floor were you on again? -- and you wonder if you should head back to where the two of you had set up. Then you suddenly hear a distant crash. It seemed to be coming from one of the meeting rooms at the back, and you couldn’t help but want to take a peek to see what had happened.

“Fuck you!” You knew that voice, and you knew that anger. There was a muffled yell, and what sounded like shattering glass. Then there’s a chilling, mocking laughter, and you can feel the goosebumps starting to cover your skin. You nervously approach the slightly ajar door, and there he is, his tail impaling another demon with its sharp ridges. Oh, there is fury burning in those eyes -- ones that shift to land on you, and that glowing fury is replaced with exasperation.

“MC!” Your name comes out as a hiss, but he quickly tosses the other demon, slamming them into the wall. “You…” He’s unsure what to say, his wrath calming at the sight of you, especially with that look on your face. “I … I’m sorry, I just had to take care of something. Please, let’s go. We can talk about this later.”

ASMODEUS

The music is loud, the drinks are pouring, and you’re having an absolutely wonderful night out clubbing with Asmodeus. You were returning from the bar with two drinks in hand for the both of you, thanking one of the security guards on your way for managing the crowd of fans that had now dispersed, only to find that Asmodeus was not to be found at your table. He had left a note-- “BRB! ♡”--with lipstick on a napkin. You waited, sipping your drink as you demon watched from your seat. Some time passes, and you realize you’ve finished your drink a bit more quickly than intended. There’s still no sign of him, so you might as well go get another.

On the way to the bar, however, you pass by what you assumed was the hall to the restrooms, and you hear a desperate “I’m sorry!” cutting through the heavy bass. Should you be concerned? Well, you decide to at least be nosy, so you slip into the hall to see what was going on -- and are met with the sight of Asmodeus holding a heart he had carved out of some poor demon’s chest. In your shock, your empty glass slips through your fingers and crashes to the floor, earning your demon’s attention.

“Oh, MC!” Despite his surprise to see you, he gives you a smile -- one that gives you chills as you see blood spattered on his face. “Ah, what a mess…” He lets the lesser demon slide to the floor, debating on what to do with the organ in hand, but hides it behind his back for now, coming over to place a quick kiss on your cheek. “Sorry about that, darling. I’m just going to go clean up, so wait for me at the table, ‘kay?”

BEELZEBUB

You had agreed to go with him to Madame Scream’s after finishing up classes for the day, but he was running late. He’s not picking up any calls, either, so you decide to go to where his last class would have been -- maybe they were just running way over, and he hadn’t realized the time? The hall is quiet, and you end up reaching an empty classroom. Walking back out, you decide to try calling him again. Ring, ring. After a moment, you realize you can hear Beelzebub’s ringtone in the distance, and you follow your ears to where his D.D.D. and ultimately he himself must be.

You weren’t prepared for what you saw next. A head of bright orange hair buried in a lesser demon’s abdomen, the sound of squelching and slurping from his feasting sounding so much more insidious than usual.

“Beel!” You can’t help but cry out his name in shock, which causes him to jolt upright -- with intestines still hanging from his mouth. Oh, you were going to be sick …

“MC … sorry, Lucifer always says I need to work on my table manners … “ He gulps down what was left hanging, but his eyes widen when it registers just who caught him in the act. “Oh, uh, guess that’s not the point, huh … “ He sheepishly wipes at his mouth with some torn cloth that you can only assume came from his victim, standing up and walking around to block your view of the mangled body. “I’ll clean this up, and then … well, we can do whatever you want to do. Sorry, MC …”

BELPHEGOR

You’re looking around for where Belphegor could possibly be napping. Beelzebub had to go to Fangol practice and asked that you make sure his twin got home, as he had seemed even more tired today than usual. He’s not in the Western Courtyard, so you head to the Southern Courtyard next. You think you remember him saying that was one of his favorite spots…

You perk up as you spot the ever-familiar cow patterned pillow, but you fail to see the demon that was usually attached to it. Peering around the area, worry starts to set in -- and then you hear a scream. It certainly didn’t belong to Belphegor, but the gears in your mind start turning and you run to where the scream came from. Of course, no one else was around here -- it wasn’t the busiest area on campus in the first place. Turning a corner, you see just what you feared -- Belphegor had his claws at another demon’s throat, his barbed tail wrapped around their body and squeezing them tight. You feel weak, the scenario a bit too close for comfort as you recall what he had done to you in the past.

“MC?” Belphegor turned to see you, his eyes wide. He must have sensed your presence at some point, or maybe your heart was pounding much louder than you realized. He drops the other demon, growling something you can’t make out to them, and then slowly approaches you. He sees you tense up, causing him to stop in his tracks. He averts his gaze, not wanting to meet your eyes as he tries to figure out what to say. “I just … had to deal with something. You … you can head on home first, if you want. I understand.”

#obey-mes-treasure #obey me #obey me! #obey me swd #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #gn!reader #gn!mc #demons being demons #the all encompassing [mod] cosmos #ask and ye shall be answered

[sukirichi]

earned it [06]

Gojo Satoru is a firm believer that if you work hard for it then you shall earn it. But on the other side, he’s not unfamiliar with his own sins. He also believes that there is punishment due for his sins as he’s earned it.

cw. attempted murder and suicide, angst ig i feel nothing at this point because NAOYA 😭

notes. i’m rolling with the earned it jokes that reader is shippable with everyone so HAH enjoy this chapter because I didn’t enjoy the last LMAO (IM SO EXCITED FOR TOJI TO APPEAR!)

series masterlist

Your muscles throbbed, the pounding of your heart felt even through your skin. You’ve spent hours in the training room, taking punch by punch, landing blow by blow – yet no matter how hard you tried, you kept falling on your ass. At this point, your backside was beyond sore, skin drenched with sweat and clothes sticking uncomfortably to the surface. Meanwhile, your ‘savior’ barely felt the need to catch his breath, instead gazing down at you with disappointment written all over his face.

“Why do you expect so much from me?” you panted, fists clenched on the mat. “Didn’t you tell me you just needed me to get your money back and that’s it? I didn’t ask for you to do anything so stop telling me I’m indebted to you all the time.”

Naoya clicked his tongue, clearly disappointed by your lack of resolve. Above you, he swept up his cane and finally balanced himself. You previously thought he didn’t struggle because he looked so calm and composed, easily overpowering you even with his injury, but his lips were strained, jaw clenched tight that perhaps he was just good at concealing his pain. It made you shut up and watch his every move; his back faced you – probably to hide whatever fleeting moment of vulnerability he had.

“I won’t always be there to save your sorry life,” he said calmly, “You need to learn how to be strong on your own no matter how tough it gets. Now if you’ll keep complaining instead of finishing your training, I could happily lock you up and force you to do my dirty work for me.”

“Then why don’t you go ahead?!”

“I don’t want to,” Naoya responded without missing a beat. He easily closed the distance with a few staggered steps, his head tilted to the side as he surveyed you.

You wondered what went through his mind. Did he see a weak woman? A woman who must be so helpless, so useless that you stayed there, legs too tired and muscles aching too much you couldn’t move? There was no telling with Naoya, and his guarded gaze didn’t help either. Satoru had always been difficult to read at most, but with Naoya – it was practically impossible.

Even as he cupped your chin and twisted it sideways, his eyes narrowed over all your features like he saw something you didn’t, he was too guarded.

“I need you in taking down Gojo Satoru. In order to accomplish that, I have to use his weakness against him. You showing up won’t be enough. No, I want to hurt him…and what better way than to take what was once his, right? Dangle right in front of his eyes what he let go of, make him regret his actions?” his smile turned dark, and for the first time since you’ve met him, you got a glance of what his heart really looked like.

It wasn’t true that Naoya was heartless – no, he just had a dark, sinister heart that didn’t beat the same tune as others. He played his own music with the bones of his enemies, drinking their lifeline from a gold cup and drowning in them, his ominous laughter the perfect antithetical melody of what could’ve been angelic hums.

“Don’t you want that?”

His question made your heart skipped a beat. This whole time, you’ve been so hell bent on achieving something, but what you wanted to reach had never been clear. You were too driven by emotions, by the pain Satoru’s absence had caused, and now that the opportunity was presented before you, you faltered.

“I don’t know what I want.”

“Well, if you ask me what I want…” he tilts your chin up with his finger “It would be to see you strong enough that even you would be capable of taking me down. So be strong, keep fighting – I’ll be there with you every step of the way. You only have one job, and that is to live. I am not allowing you to give up at the slightest of minor inconveniences.”

“And if I get weak?” you questioned with an oscillating tremor, the bite of his cold skin against your heated ones spiking. “If I want to give up? Would I fail you then?”

“I don’t think you’re someone who cares about failing others, so don’t fret whether you’d please me or not,” Just like that, Naoya’s scornful tone had risen again. He let go of you until you dropped down to your palms, blinking back at the sudden change of atmosphere. “Like I said, just do what you need to do, keep going. Don’t look back or be afraid to take the next big step because I’ll always be there right beside you.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“I’m not asking you to, princess,” he snickered, already half way to the door that only he was allowed to go in. Even though you’ve been staying in his manor for quite some time, there were still some things Naoya didn’t trust you with, leaving you only more curious to find out the secrets within.

“Only time will tell. But once you’ve made your decision, know that my ring is always waiting beside your table,” his voice echoed through the large room, stopping in his tracks to look at you once more. This time, he had no haunting features, only the cold emptiness likened to staring back to an infinite void of nothingness.

“I expect an answer when I get home.”

You still remembered the day you decided to wear his ring. Naoya had come then, tired and aggravated from matters he didn’t bother explaining. You stood on his doorway, lips shut tight as you nervously fiddled with your ring, unsure if whether you should tell him or allow him to piece the puzzle himself.

Thankfully, Naoya was a lot more observant than you gave him credit for.

His eyes slid over your face before he followed the motion of your fingers, smirking as the jewel glinted under the bright lights of his home. Wise choice, he’d once told you, and you believed it.

Your life hadn’t been the same ever since. Your spontaneous marriage equated to hellish training of perfecting your image as his trophy wife, spending hours in his secret laboratory and discussing business plans through a glass of wine. Naoya wasn’t around much to teach you everything and it pained him to be your own trainer too so you had to ask help from his guards, refusing to give up and fall down even as your muscles screamed at you to take a break. For Naoya, with Naoya, giving up and running away felt like a myth; a buried solution in the past that should never be brought up again. But now that he was gone, you did exactly that.

You’d given up. Satoru had made you run away.

“Miss,” a deep voice cut you from your thoughts. You tore your gaze away from the  glowing night city of Milan to turn to Satoru’s right hand man, the tall figure looming rather shyly instead of imposingly. “You haven’t eaten since we got here. Would you like anything? Mr. Gojo will cover your expenses.”

“I want to go home.”

He froze at your deadpan statement. Finally meeting your gaze under his lashes, Geto pursed his lips. “You know we can’t do that, Miss. It’s unsafe back in Japan.”

“And who’s to say Toji won’t follow us here?” you snapped, pushing your weight off the Cleopatra set and uncrossing your legs. “Why can’t your stupid boss just activate the account and give it back to us? I think we’ve made it clear we’re more than capable of handling our finances, and I’m pretty sure Satoru doesn’t need any more money when he can afford all this.”

“Mr. Gojo…has his reasons for everything he does.”

You laughed bitterly. Maybe it was the fact that Satoru had left this morning for whatever business he had that you didn’t have anyone else to let your anger out to that you’d swiped your gun under your thigh holster and dashed his way.

Geto’s back slammed against the wall, the cool barrel of your gun pressed to his jaw. He swallowed nervously, eyes darting to your weapon, and you laughed heartlessly. “Oh, please, do tell because nothing makes sense,” you crooned, flipping the safety off and letting your heated gaze meet his rather docile ones. You almost felt bad for him. Almost.

“I could easily put a bullet through your head and hijack his plane. I’ll be gone before you know it and who’s to stop me from doing that? Why should I stay here any longer with you?”

“Because your husband asked you to,” Geto responded softly. You stepped back with wide eyes, yesterday’s event crashing all over you once again. He must’ve sensed you no longer held any hostility because he used his pointer finger to move the barrel away from him, gently peeling your hands off his suit. “Because you know, if you go back to Japan, there will be nothing waiting for you there.”

You balled your fists. “I will kill Fushiguro Toji myself. Then I’ll kill Satoru.”

“Even if he used to be your lover?”

“Especially because he used to be my lover.”

Okay…maybe your plan of escaping and returning to Japan hadn’t worked out that well. Exhaustion finally crept up to your senses that you passed out not long after attacking Geto – who reassured you to no end he wasn’t mad you tried to kill him – and days have passed ever since. You hated to admit it, but being stuck in an overseas hotel wasn’t so bad. Geto’s presence was a lot more comforting than his master’s that you didn’t mind having him watch your every move. Plus, he was really nice to immediately follow your every whim. You wanted hot chocolate? Extra pillows? A really expensive wine that you refused to pay for because you were petty and dramatic? He provided it all without question.

Except he probably should have, because you’d stripped off to your underwear, head tipped back to take one final swig of the nearly empty bottle as you slid deeper into the tub.

Your fiery nature of rolling your eyes at Satoru every time he came around (which was rare, for some reason) couldn’t fool anyone – not even yourself. The moment Geto retired to the living room, you would bite the pillows to muffle your cries, thinking back to when Naoya was still alive. It was an endless torment of what if you had stayed, what if you had pushed the rubble off him, what if you just saved him?

Would he still be alive? Would he have survived? Would you be back with him in the Zen’in Estate instead of holding your breath under the tub in a desperate attempt to conceal your tears?

It hurt so bad. It hurt everywhere.

Your lungs begged you to rise up and breathe, but you stayed still under the water, eyes shut tight and hands clenched around the tub’s edges so hard your knuckles turned white. Soon, you grew dizzy and your grip slipped away. Finally, fucking finally, you were falling, falling way too deep that your legs bent inside the tub. Bubbles erupted from your lips in one last breath. At the back of your mind, you let out a sincere laugh for you’d meet your husband soon. He’d be disappointed, probably scold you all the way to the afterlife – until strong arms pulled you out of the tub and into someone’s chest instead.

“Shit, what are you doing?! You could’ve drowned!”

You coughed out water and fisted Satoru’s button-up shirt that had now clung to his skin from the water. Looking around you, you were still very much alive, the uncomfortable twisting of your heart a painful reminder of that. Above you, Satoru sat you in his lap while he remained cross-legged on the floor, muttering curses under his breath as he wrapped a towel around you.

Scoffing, you pushed his hands away, though you kept the towel anyway to lessen your shivering. Why the fuck was the AC so damn strong here?

“Dying seems like a better option, don’t you think?” you snarled at him, teeth chattering from the chill that had begin to seep in.

Momentarily, you worried on how much of a hot mess you probably looked like. Smudged eyeliner, wine-stained lips, unbrushed hair and remnants of the wine mixing with the once clear bath water – you shook your head at the thought and glared at Satoru.

“Where the fuck have you been?”

“I was out contacting friends to ask for help. We’re going to need a hundred pairs of eyes watching anywhere that Toji could possibly come through.”

“Is this your pathetic idea of ‘keeping me safe’? Locking me up in this stupid hotel and having your man watch me all the time?” you pushed yourself off him, the sudden motion of standing up giving you wobbly legs. Satoru reached over to steady you but you slapped his hand away, your glare warning him to not take another step.

Seeing his face, seeing him worried as if he didn’t just cause your life to turn into absolute hell, you wanted to grab the wine bottle and smash it right at his pretty face. He had no right to look at you with pity.

You hated him, utterly and terribly despised this man with your entire being.

“What are you really planning, Satoru? Why can’t we just come back home and attack Toji with all we’ve got? Why don’t you just give back our fucking money so we can end all this for once and for all and I can leave?!”

“Because I don’t have the money!”

“What?”

“The money…” Satoru’s back slid off the wall, his palm coming up to thread through his hair. He sounded weak, defeated. “I don’t have it.”

“Gojo,” you snatched him by the collar, teeth bared as you demanded, “What do you mean you don’t have it?”

Satoru paled. “When I stole the money from the Zen’ins, the figures were all fake. They’re not real, there’s no actual money hidden behind their accounts and it was too late before I realized that,” his lips trembled as he continued, “Whatever Toji placed in there, it’s not his actual account where he hides everything and it would make sense too because I stole it too easily – almost as if they wanted me to take it. A few hacks here and there and it was immediately wired to me but after meeting you…” Satoru shook his head, chin dropped down low. “I checked again and the account never existed. It’s a fake one. The digits are just there for show.”

“So then why would Toji want it? Why did my husband have to die for nothing?!”

“I don’t know, okay, I don’t know anything!” he argued back until your faces grew closer, his nose brushing with yours.

Somehow, you couldn’t pull away. His knees had drawn up, forcing you to rest on his thighs as you both breathed heavily, your grip on his collar almost havered.

“Whatever the Zen’ins are hiding, that’s beyond me. I may be in the business for far longer than they have, but they have always been notorious with their possessions that I’m not surprised even I can’t find where it really leads back to. Whatever Toji is hiding there, your husband must’ve known something about it. Why else would they fight tooth and bone over it?”

“If there was, Naoya would’ve told me about it.”

“He would if he trusted you,” Satoru suddenly grabbed your wrist and shook it until you stared at your ring. “How are you even so sure he could trust you with that information? Have you forgotten you’re just a pawn to his game and you’re nothing but a bed warmer?”

“Don’t you ever speak about us that way. You don’t know how much he cared for me.”

“If he really did, then why didn’t he tell you why his cousin is after you? He’s using you as bait, Y/N. I’m not the bad guy here. That man you’re so deeply in love with? I can’t guarantee he’s better than me. We’re all men in the mafia, love is the last thing we would care about.”

You pushed yourself off him.

His words stung too much, not because it was a lie, but because you know there was some sort of truth ringing behind it. You trudged out of the bathroom and sat on the bed, unstirred by the fact you dripped all over the carpeted floor. From behind you, Satoru’s rushed footsteps echoed, but you didn’t care. You simply threw on a robe with your back turned to him.

“And you’d know that better than everyone right? Considering how easy it was for you to leave me?” When Satoru didn’t respond, you chuckled humorlessly and sat on the bed. “What Naoya and I had…it was a friendship that healed my soul. I don’t…I don’t know what to do without him.”

“Friendship?”

You smiled sadly. “I wasn’t actually in love with him, idiot. Men like Naoya don’t know what love is, but he sure does know how to protect family.”

The notion of talking about him, of accepting that maybe he really was gone…somewhat reliving.

Satoru was the last person you wanted to talk to your late husband about, but Geto – which is the much better company – wasn’t around, and you hugged your knees to yourself, refusing to let Satoru see through your vulnerability.

“You know, I trusted him more than I did myself. He was always there for me, no matter what. His soul was dark, angry, corrupted – he’s not the man I would fall for, but despite all that, he was the friend I needed,” you buried your face in your knees, voice muffled as you cried, your heart shattering again and again and again.

The ring on your finger had never felt so heavy ever since you wore it.

“I loved him as much as I hated you.”

Satoru was silent, so much so that you wondered if he was even in the same room at all. You sat there crying, too hopeless to even try to conceal it anymore. Shivering, you close your eyes and forced the image of Naoya’s last moments away from your memories, desperately praying to whoever had mercy that you could just forget all about it.

“Geto told me you tried to kill him,” Satoru murmured after a beat, “You could’ve easily escaped and went back to Japan if you wanted to, so why didn’t you? Was it because of me?”

You remembered what you tried to do today.

Just like that, Naoya was alive once more. You were brought back to the day of your wedding when he’d clasped your sweaty, clammy hands in his, rubbing some warmth in them before pressing a kiss at the top of your knuckles. He’d asked you to promise him something then – an entire contrast from his constants orders over your well-being – and it was a promise you’d momentarily forgotten; a promise you’d broken out of mourning.

“Naoya once told me,” you reminisced through dry, cracked lips and even more shattered heart, the picture of his disappointment as clear as day. “Death was the only place he can go where he would never allow me to follow.”

It took a lot, but it somehow got better. After allowing yourself a faint moment of weakness where Naoya resurfaced in your mind to remind you of our promise and your purpose, you felt stronger, somewhat steadier with each step you took. You were still wary around Satoru, although that was a given.

His friend, Geto, was really nice, on the other hand, and you couldn’t explain why you always lowered your guard around the formal dark-haired assistant.

You and Geto were playing chess when Satoru barged in out of nowhere, a plate and a syrup condenser on his hand. “So I got you breakfast,” was his greeting, nodding at Geto once as a silent order to give you two privacy. You pouted as the latter left, but soon your attention had been diverted to the heavenly aroma filling in your senses. Seeing your approval, Satoru hid a smile behind his dark sunglasses. “Still like pancakes?”

“Trying to get into my good graces now?”

“I’m just trying to cheer you up.”

You rolled your eyes but snatched the plate from him anyway. “So I talked to my lawyer,” you begun, pouring syrup all over the fluffy bread until it was almost spilling to the sides. Beside you, Satoru’s snickers were barely muffled, to which you ignored wholeheartedly. “They’ve already processed my inheritance over Naoya’s possessions and assets. Once we return to Japan, I’ll be the next leader of the Zen’in Clan, much to the disappointment of his elders, of course, but they can’t do anything about it,” you informed him with your fork hanging in mid-air, the words falling thickly. “You know what that means, don’t you?”

“That we’re back to being enemies?”

You offered him a sarcastic smile. “Naoya lied about strengthening his alliance with your family. He doesn’t actually give a fuck about you.”

“I figured that much,” he snickered to himself, shifting his weight until his elbows rested on his thighs. “Listen…a friend of mine is flying to Milan tonight to meet us. They have strong connections with banks all over the world and they brought in some information about that hidden Zen’in account. I think we’re finally getting off to somewhere and finding out what really is in there,” Satoru gauged for your reaction, but you kept eating – more like stuffing the pancakes inside your mouth for you were finally free of having to act perfect without your husband.

Satoru’s hand landed on top of yours. “I promise…I’ll give it back to right where it belongs. As soon as it’s wired back to you, I’m setting you free.”

You stared at the unwanted figure over you, and you snatched your hand back, waving a bread knife below his lashes. “You can’t set me free when I was never yours,” you sang breathily, the tip of the blade hovered right at his lips. Satoru raised a brow at you, but you quickly retrieved the knife back with widened eyes. “Now that you mention it…I think Naoya told me something about his family stashing secret weapons and even heirlooms through offshore accounts and buried under islands. He was a little sleepy during that time but I remember it,” pushing the plate away from you as you lost your appetite, you clutched your palms under your chin in thought. “He said he was looking for something he lost as a child, possibly an heirloom.”

“He’s doing all this for heirlooms?” Satoru immediately coughed his words back when you glared at him, raising his hands in surrender. “I mean, I was just saying. I didn’t think he was a sentimental type of guy.”

“The question here is what both Toji and Naoya could’ve both wanted from that account. It’s not just an heirloom, obviously there’s something there worth more than money,” You argued and slapped your knees, heading straight to your (unfortunately) shared room. “Whatever. I’ll get this over with as soon as I get the money back.”

Satoru, as always, was hot on your heels. It annoyed you how he trailed over you like some sort of puppy or shadow – Naoya had always been too classy to not give you space.

The difference between them just kept getting more and more uncannily obvious.

“Whoa there, stop. Did you really think I’d give back the money to you and that’s it? Are you forgetting the fact Toji is out there to kill you just so he can have his hands on it?”

“He can have the money for all I fucking care,” you shrugged and sat on your bed, scrolling through numerous piles of emails and records that Naoya entrusted you to keep. Surely you could find something. “I just need to find whatever Naoya’s spent his whole life killing for.”

“Why don’t you care about the money? Didn’t Naoya expect you to take over his business?”

Your thumb froze over a file. Suddenly, your throat grew dry, and you quickly flashed Satoru a stinky eye. “I-it’s not my main concern.”

“It’s not safe for you. If Toji finds out—”

Got it. You bookmarked an email Naoya had forwarded you around three years ago and resent it to an old friend, pocketing the phone back to your pyjamas before Satoru could see. “I’ll handle it. I’ve been doing well so far before you came into our lives again,” you finalized, stopping for a bit as you waited for that all-too familiar footfall matching with yours, only for the room to be coated in silence.

Satoru stood there on the other side of the room, eyes deep in thought before he sighed. “I’ll meet you at the hotel restaurant tonight. We have a lot to discuss on what our next move should be,” nodding once, Satoru left the room.

The hotel room was eerily silent.

Dinner came around faster than you expected. With Geto out to run some errands for Satoru, something about ‘establishing bases’ or whatever, you were locked in your room, using Naoya’s black card to get enough amount of clothing to last you for your stay here. Even though Satoru had promised he’d take care of everything, you didn’t want to be in his debt for any longer. You weren’t his, you were Naoya’s, and you shot down his curious looks when heaps of shopping bags had been delivered to your door.

An hour later, you left the room, struggling to zipper the back of your dress. Satoru was already in the living room buttoning up his suit jacket, just as handsome as ever (though you’d never tell him that.)

His hands froze in the last button once his eyes landed on you, and you huffed at him, too distressed to even act cute or bothered while pointing to your dress. Satoru strode to you in three long steps, his cold fingers brushing against the dip of your spine when he clutched on the zipper.

You had to bite your lip down to prevent the shivers from spilling through, his lips dangerously close to your ear as he whispered, “You look great.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.”

If Satoru was bothered by the lack of sincerity in your voice, he didn’t comment on it. He removed his hands from you and watched as you slipped black velvet gloves through your arms – just in case you had to end up killing someone; leaving fingerprints was a risk you couldn’t take.

“Did you really get dressed to kill?”

“I came here to negotiate,” you corrected, “I’ll do everything I can to find out whatever’s behind that offshore account. And you, sir,” Frowning at him, you pulled Satoru closer by the tie, perhaps a little too harshly since he nearly knocked his head with yours. He was quick to steady himself as you fixed his tie, flattening it down with your fingers. “You need to know where you should stick your nose in. This is more my business than yours so don’t get in my way acting all hero and shit. I assure you I can handle myself.”

“You’re really going to berate me for worrying about you?”

“You can no longer worry about me,” you disclosed, snatching your black purse from the counter before doing the come hither motion at his shock-still figure. “Now let’s go. We have a case to crack.”

“Case to crack? You sure sound like a detective.”

You snickered, but made no further comment. The elevators dinged and you arrived at the restaurant, which you really regretted not visiting soon enough because the place was grand. Red carpeted floors, golden chandeliers, soft jazz music playing in the background as the lights dimmed down low, the faint clinking of utensils against plates and light chatter of the guests so heartbreakingly nostalgic.

It seemed that even after his death, Naoya had every intention to never leave your side. The setting reminded you too much of your never-ending late night fancy dinners.

Naoya being Naoya, he didn’t blink twice in flaunting his money and renting out entire restaurants all for himself, claiming that he just ‘wanted to have an intimate moment with his wife.’ Sure, it mostly consisted of you discussing what move you should make next, but it was the most affectionate gesture you’ve received after spending years in the quiet and cold environment of the Zen’in Estate.

The outside world wasn’t any better when you and Naoya were marked as targets by the entire government, so it made sense, that only with him that you’d find comfort in.

You must be so out of it you never even noticed Satoru leading you to your seat, a warm meal that should’ve been comforting right under your nose. It was too much – too similar that you headed straight for the wine, ignoring Satoru’s questioning gaze. You noticed from the corner of his eye that he opened his mouth too many times in an attempt to make light conversation, but this dinner wasn’t for you to rekindle your old flame.

No, you were here to wait for his ‘friend’ and review important matters. You were determined to fulfill that purpose alone and only that alone that you never once made eye contact with him, even standing up to reach the salt shaker near him instead of asking him to pass it.

Just as you leaned back to your seat, the music grew louder. A foreign man walked to the stage where he was basked in the spotlight, all heads turning to him when he tapped the microphone, sending little echoes all over the hall. “Ladies and gentlemen, let’s loosen up tonight with a drink and bring our lovers out here on the dance floor,” he sang while swaying side to side, snapping his fingers to the beat that had turned into calming to sensual. “It is a fine evening, isn’t it? Come on, don’t be shy, the night is still so young!”

You dropped your fork beside the plate. “Did you know about this?”

“I swear, I had no idea.”

“Those two attractive lovers in table 42, the dance floor is still much too spacious!”

“Pretty vulgar for a five star hotel,” you commented under your breath and dabbed the pasta sauce off your lips with a napkin, slapping it down the table as you stood up – much to Satoru’s surprise who’d tried to make himself invisible from the host’s eyes. Stupid him; did he really think he could blend in with his sunglasses and snow white hair?

If you were to be honest, you’d rather choke on shrimp than dance with him, but you had an image to upkeep. If you couldn’t gather with the crowd and pretend to be one with others, both your true natures would be fished out even with innocent eyes. You were left with no choice but to be comfortable in the dance floor, sighing deeply as you placed your hands down on Satoru’s wide shoulders. He furrowed his brows at you but said nothing else; strong, cautious hands sliding down from your back before they settled at the curve of your hips.

“Keep your hands to yourself, Mister. I won’t hesitate to stab a fork through your jugular right here.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I know you’re not my little angel anymore.”

Angel. It was what he used to call you back then – when you were still but an innocent, naïve being who never believed in monsters until you fell for one.

He was right; you were no longer his angel. The woman he loved had been left abandoned in the street, the purity of her soul tainted with anger and heartbreak that soon bathed in blood and the need for revenge. His angel was no more – the woman he danced with was nothing but a replica of the face and body he adored the most. Now, you danced with him, not as his angel and neither as his rival’s wife, but simply as a woman whose kindness had long vanished into thin air.

Satoru danced with the devil.

And he should be disgusted just as you should be repulsed with how sickeningly smooth and graceful he was in everything he did, but the wine – yes, it was the fucking wine – messed with you that you actually enjoyed it. Your bodies moved in rhythm and syncopated with the beat, the romantic high notes of the violin and the tender embrace of deep trebles like a classical painting coming to life and you were its subjects to be expressed.

Perhaps…you were just sad. You grieved and mourned too much you’d momentarily forgot what love was, in turn making you forget what it felt like to be constantly unsafe and peeking over your shoulder in case someone tried to kill you.

Satoru just felt so warm, so safe and alive that you found your head dipping lower, your muscles relaxing around his soothing and undeniably tender touch, the space between your bodies diminishing until you surrendered to the power of your desire. You were so close, your ear about to press on his chest to listen to the blissful sound of someone’s reassuring heartbeat along with the music, and then you saw him.

A tuft of blonde hair, a chiseled face, a nude cream suit and a deep blue shirt beneath – what the fuck was he doing here?

The spell was broken in an instant.

Satoru must’ve been under the same trance for his hand trailed lower to pull you closer, your chests grazing with one another before you placed your palm flat on his body, lips thinned into a grim look that resonated with the sick, twisting feeling in your guts.

“I,” you croaked out, clearing your throat when it went dry. “I need to go to the ladies.”

You left Satoru without another word, bunching your dress up to run to where he had disappeared. He was still walking coolly and inspecting the paintings hung in the empty lobby with faux interest – although knowing him, the bastard probably did enjoy classical pieces and studied about them in his free time; which he didn’t have much to begin with.

As if sensing your presence, he stopped right in front of a replica of The Sleeping Venus, his hands dug deep in his pockets. “The shape of being is the visual demonstration of a state of being in which idealized existence is suspended in immutable slow-breathing harmony. All the sensuality has been distilled off from this sensuous presence, and all incitement; Venus denotes not the act of love but the recollection of it. The perfect embodiment of Giorgione’s dream, she dreams his dream herself,” he narrates in his baritone voice, “A little cordial, is it not?”

You took your gun out from your thigh holster and lowered it right at the back of his skull. “Don’t move another inch.”

“No need to be so hostile in a public setting, Y/N. I’m only here to look out for you and making sure you’re not forgetting who you are. Killing me isn’t part of the plan.”

“Neither was murdering my husband,” you growled, pushing the barrel harder against him, though the man didn’t budge before you. “I know that it wasn’t Toji who set off the bomb, Kento, you did.”

“We simply saw an opportunity that couldn’t be wasted. Two notorious mafia leaders in an unsuspecting supposed safe environment?” The fact he didn’t even deny it left you speechless. Kento spun around until your gun rested between his eyes, and he languidly pushed his glasses up his high nose as he looked down on you. “We could’ve killed two birds with one stone had you not been in the way.”

“You guys are out to kill me too now?”

“Don’t act too surprised. The Organization isn’t patient enough to wait for both leaders to die.”

“So you killed my husband?!” you argued, “He was my friend, I told you not to touch him!”

“Only in the exchange that you hand him to us,” Kento echoed, jogging your memory until you were kept up to date. “But it’s been five years and what has happened so far? You’re fraternizing with the enemy and even manufacturing drugs for your so-called husband. Now that he’s dead, you’re here in Italy, looking as stunning as ever as you wine and dine with a former lover,” Kento tilted his head to the side to study your appearance – smiling at how you seemed too bright and fashionable for a woman in supposed mourning.

“I hardly believe you’re actually affected by this at all.”

“How dare you! I’ve proven to no end my loyalty of the higher-ups!”

Kento didn’t bat an eye at your outburst. If anything, he stepped closer to your weapon. “Kill me if you wish, Y/N, but know the moment you put a bullet in my head, the Organization will place you on the same pedestal as Naoya’s and Gojo’s. I wouldn’t recommend such methods considering we’re already at unease on whose side you’re really on. If you do this, you will be our enemy.”

“I did everything for the Organization. What else would you want from me?”

“The contract was easy. We want both leaders – whether dead or alive – in our custody. If you don’t hold your side of the deal, it’s not only your life that we’ll take from you,” Kento pulled out a red coin that made your heart sink deep into your stomach for it served as a threat over the consequences of your actions.

He lowered your gun with the coin and smirked at you, his lips right beside the shell of your ear as he purred, “I suggest you be careful with what step of action you take next.”

“Oi, Nanami, you’re here!” Satoru’s voice suddenly boomed in the hallway. Nanami was as unbothered as ever from taking a step away from you, nodding to your gun which you quickly concealed right before Satoru arrived. You were frozen – rendered immobile with the flashing red metal from his palm – that you couldn’t even protest against Satoru wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “I see you’ve met Mrs. Zen’in already.”

“Hmm, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Madam,” taking your hand in his, Kento’s eyes were nothing but eerie as he kissed your knuckles. “Shall we start our discussion?”

SUKI RANTS! Nanami quoted Sydney Joseph Friedberg (an art critic) in one of his dialogues. A little backstory on the painting was that the portrait was originally made by Giorgone, who had a student and also his lover (if I’m not mistaken) called Titian. Giorgone never finished the portrait because he died from the plague but Titiane finished it for him, symbolizing that Y/N still has a mission that connected her from Naoya even after his death and she has to finish something he started. The portrait is of a nude woman that symbolized oneness of nature and that the woman isn’t posed for the gaze of men, but rather they are dreaming, hence the quote: “Venus denotes not the act of love but the recollection of it. The perfect embodiment of Giorgione’s dream, she dreams his dream herself.” Nanami said the painting’s meaning resonated with Y/N’s situation too much since she wasn’t in love with Naoya, but she had a recollection of their moments that still represented their relationship, and that Naoya’s dream (goals) are also shared by Reader. I was gonna ask you guys what your theories are on that scene but I think this makes me sound cooler if I explain it so *lip bite emoji because I’m still broken over Naoya’s death*

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[tommysparker]

Never Forget You [Chapter 3]

Obi-Wan Kenobi x Jedi!Reader

A/N: hey y’all! thank you for your patience with this chapter. enjoy!! :) [also totally didn’t have this in my drafts then forget to post earlier pfftttt whaaaatt?]

Warnings: angst with a tiny amount of fluff. anakin finally makes his debut in this series. it gets better just stay with me. long italic paragraphs = flashbacks

Anakin Skywalker had witnessed many things over the years. 

Giant beasts? At least once a week. Sith Lords? Becoming too common. Droid armies? All year long. Looking death in the eye? Simply another day in the life of a Jedi. 

Nothing could ever have prepared him for the sight he was currently witnessing. 

Obi-Wan Kenobi, his Master, The Negotiator, the Jedi Council’s most prized Jedi…sulking.

It has been a full week since You returned to the Jedi Temple and Anakin couldn’t help to think his former Master’s mood and your arrival were connected. He was vaguely aware of your past friendship, only hearing bits and pieces of the adventures you had together as Padawans. 

During his days under Obi-Wan’s apprenticeship he would often hear about how “a wise Jedi I once knew” would do certain things. He wanted to know more about this oh-so-great Jedi, however, any time the young boy asked his Master would always brush him off with a mournful look in his eyes.  

He didn’t understand at the time but now he’s beginning to piece together that perhaps there was something more between the two of you. 

“You think Master Y/l/n and Master Kenobi were courting?” 

“Keep your voice down, Snips,” Anakin hushed.

“Sorry, sorry. But Master,” Ahsoka lowers her voice, “what led you to that conclusion? I’ve hardly seen them together since Master Y/l/n came back. What makes you think they could be lovers?” 

“That’s just it, Ahoska. They’ve been avoiding each other like the Rakghoul plague. Obi-Wan told me they were such good friends, and now that they’re back they can’t stand to be in the same room as each other? I don’t buy it.” Anakin looked back to where Obi-Wan sat with Commander Cody, no doubt brainstorming new battle tactics and liberation plans. 

“So what do you suppose we do? Set them up or something?” The look her Master gave her made her regret her words the moment they left her mouth. 

“Come on, Snips. It’s a good idea. We get them to stay in the same room so they have no choice but to confront each other and talk things out! It’s genius.” Anakin smiled, his eyes still on his former Master. He had a feeling if Obi-Wan were to find out about this plan he would be in for a major lecture but he couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment. He couldn’t stand to see the old man look so miserable, not if he can do anything about it. 

Ahsoka crossed her arms and followed her Master’s gaze. Something was clearly different about her Grand-Master. He had put his full attention into ending the war, which wasn’t new. However, she could tell something was off. He no longer came out to the landing zone to greet returning fighters, stayed away from the meditation and training centers as well as the Jedi Archives which was the most off-putting observation considering that was where he spent most of his time.

Anytime someone needed to find Obi-Wan Kenobi, the first place they would check was the ancient history section of the Jedi Archives. 

“I don’t know why you find so much interest in these old books Y/n/n,” Obi-Wan complained from across the table. “Can’t we go practice our lightsaber skills instead?” 

You smiled. “Nuh uh, mister. If I won the wager you promised to sit with me during my reading time. Now shush, and read.” You pushed the unopened textbook toward the pouting Padawan. “Maybe you’ll actually learn something.” 

Obi-Wan stuck his tongue out in a childish manner, sighing dramatically when you gave him a certain look and reluctantly opened the cover and began to read Tales of The Old Republic. 

Safe to say from that point onward, Obi-Wan would join your daily Archive visits with zero complaints. 

You close the book, careful to make sure no pages fell out and gently push it back into its place on the shelf. Using the force, you carefully push the ladder you were currently standing on over to the next column and begin nitpicking through the array of old texts. 

It took a few days for you to settle in and readjust to the Jedi Temple life. Once you had, however, things quickly took a turn. 

Master Yoda requested that you help train some of the younglings who were having trouble advancing into the next stages of becoming a Jedi. In all honesty, you much rather have had the freedom to roam for at least one more week, but the new role presented an excuse to not be around a certain blue-eyed Jedi. 

“Looking for something?” 

The voice startled you, causing you to jump and lose your balance on the ladder. You yelp as you begin to fall towards the ground, bracing yourself for the hash impact and the bruises that would add to the collection on your side still currently healing.  

Instead, you feel a pair of arms catch you, one under your back and the other behind your knees in a classic bridal style. The hold felt secure instantly, and you instinctively clung to the tunic of your savior. You look up to thank the person for preventing any injuries, but the blue eyes staring back at you made your mind go blank. 

Obi-Wan stared back, unsure of what to say. This was the closest he has been to you since you left a decade ago. He longed to have you in his arms, to hug you, to regain that safety net you provided he knew he could always fall back on.

“Um...thank you, General.” It came out as more of a question, your mind still reeling from almost falling and also the fact that the man who you had been actively avoiding just happened to be in the same place you spent hours of your youth together. 

“Obi-Wan, please. No need for formalities, darling.” The old nickname slipped out, and he was about to apologize when he noticed the light blush that spread across your face. Perhaps not everything about you has changed. 

“Right...Obi-Wan. Well, I’ll be on my way then,” You rushed, trying to pass by him but he stopped you once again by the call of your name. 

“Y/n/n’s wait. Whatever game you’re playing, frankly I am not a fan of it.” Obi-Wan crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows. 

“What are you talking about?” You turned around and looked at him confused. 

“You were the one who summoned me here,” he stretched his arms out, “here I am and now you’re trying to run away again. I hardly think that’s fair.” He was beginning to get frustrated. He came in with his heart on his sleeve, ready to finally talk to you after so long and find out why you’ve been keeping your distance. Now, all he felt was betrayal and irritation at the ongoing dance you insist on doing around each other. 

He preferred to dance like you did in your youth, but alas this was nothing but another sign he needs to get mind out of the past.  

You scoffed lightly. “Again? What is that supposed to mean exactly?” You knew exactly what he meant, but you didn’t want to admit it. You’ve been denying it for ten years and Force be damned if you’d admit it now. 

“You’ve been avoiding me since your return--” You open your mouth to protest but he ignores you and continues “--and then you send the youngling to bring me here, only to try to flee upon my arrival,” He frowns, lifting his elbow and resting it on his remaining crossed arm. “I know our history can make things...difficult in the present time,” He glanced around cautiously as he spoke,”but I would appreciate it if we make an agreement simply to not speak from now on. No more games.” 

You blinked, head tilting slightly as you waited for him to finish. “Obi-Wan, I didn’t ask for you to come here. Nor would I ever involve younglings in personal matters.” He should know that, you thought. But should he really? 

His face fell from annoyance to embarrassment, his arms falling to his sides. “Oh.” He wasn’t sure what to do now. It was his own fault for getting his hopes up. I should have known better. 

You purse your lips and nodded slowly. “Well, I’m glad we at least came to an agreement. Goodbye, General Kenobi.” You took your leave, forcing yourself not to look back as you felt his eyes watching your figure. 

Obi-Wan let out a frustrated sigh, knowing he just ruined any and all changes of reconnecting with you. In his defense, however, you were the one avoiding his attempts at friendly conversation and refusing to meet and make up for lost time.  

Still, something didn’t feel right about this. 

“What the kriff was that?” 

Ah, there’s that something. “Anakin, please tell me this was not your doing.” 

Anakin smiled guilty, Ahsoka coming out from behind the bookshelf to stand next to her Master. 

“It was Snips' idea.” Anakin shrugged, flinching when he felt her punch his arm. “Ow!”

“You were the one who came up with the plan, and now look! Master Y/l/n and Master Kenobi will never get together--” Ahoska stops herself, realizing she said too much. “Oh no.” 

“I beg your pardon?” Obi-Wan looks at them both incredulously. “First of all, Master Y/l/n and I are simply…” he wanted to say friends, but even that was a reach at this point, “acquaintances. We knew each other in the past, and in the past our friendship shall stay. As for ‘getting together’, you both know very well any implication of that goes directly against the Jedi Code.” He crossed his arms tightly as he scolded. 

“I can tell you harbour feelings for them, Obi-Wan. You don’t need to lie to us.” 

“Whatever feelings I may or may not have for Y/n are unrelated. You must understand your responsibilities as a Jedi. No matter what emotional sacrifice we must make.” He made a point to look at Anakin at the end, knowing he won’t follow the implication but at least hoping he’ll get the message.     

“We’re sorry, Master.” Ahsoka looked down in shame not at what they had tried to achieve, but at the cost and clear damage they caused. 

Obi-Wan sighed, running a hand over his beard before resting it on her shoulder. “It’s alright young one. You meant no harm. Perhaps some things are better left forgotten.” 

Oh, if only it were that simple. 

A Padawan approached the three of them quickly. “Excuse me, Master Yoda sent me to tell you he and Master Y/l/n are waiting for you all in the council room.” 

Of course, these things never are. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

heres a box to put your heart pieces in  -> []  :) 

Taglist: @queenariesofnarnia @dwarfplanet69 @katsukink @blondekel77 @generousrunawaydonut @fandomtrashwhore @fortheloveofaqueenfan @mrskenobi19 @mellowstatesmanhandsempath @hotleaf-juice @emiijemii @neji85 @doctor-warthrop @ayamenimthiriel @lizzy-95 @lovelylostminds 

#rae writes sometimes #obi wan kenobi #obi wan #obi wan angst #obi wan x reader #obi wan kenobi angst #obi wan kenobi x reader #obi wan imagine #obi wan kenobi imagine #obi wan x you #obi wan x y/n #obi wan kenobi x you #obi wan kenobi x y/n #obi wan fanfic #obi wan kenobi fanfic #obi wan kenobi fanfiction #obi wan fanfiction

[levantea]

Bachelor’s Button pt 2 | h.hyunjin

Pairing: art club president aka soulmate!hyunjin x photography club vice president aka soulmate!y/n

Genre: fluff, soulmate!au

Rating: PG

Warning: none

Word Count: 3.8k

Author’s note: this is the part 2! hopefully the story make sense haha i was worried if im overthinking… and i dont know why my story is getting longer as i have many ideas so im trying to make it flow! ><

Part 1! | Flower series navi🌷 | Masterlist 🦋

———————————————————————————

Later that night

Kakao: one message from 현🦋

who the hell is hyun?

You clicked open the application to see a message coming from an unfamiliar number. As you read the message, then you realise it is your partner for the collab who approached you.

“Hi y/n, i am Hyunjin, nice to meet you!” The text messaged shown. Maybe it is a girl’s habit, you added his contact first and roam around his profile pic. You thought you could see his face but all you saw was a drawing of a blue bachelor’s button, with his watermark below.

He must be very artistic, you praised internally.

“Hi, im y/n, nice to meet you too ~” you replied.

“Actually… before we start discussing, i want to apologise if i surprised or shocked you 1 week back, when i asked for your name… if you can still remember… i didn’t mean to appear rude or offensive, but i was just really curious about you, im sorry TT,” subsequently he sent 2 stickers to show his apology.

Initially when you read the message you were shock that how on earth did you got paired up with him but the initial bad impression did change for the better, slightly.

At least he apologised right?

“Ahh, its you, oh it’s okay haha, i felt abit uncomfy initially but thanks for letting me know, we are all good now?” You decided to forgo that incident as, you do not want to make any predetermined judgements before knowing one, as it may not turn out as what you thought. Furthermore you both will be working on this collab for 3 months, you wouldn’t want to build a bad rapport with him.

“Yes all good now! It’s 10pm, im sorry did i disturb you?” He replied courteously.

Add value to good impression.

“Nope, i just finish showering haha still got sometime before turning to bed.” You simply typed into the text box and wipe your hair with the towel covering your hair.

“Ohhh, okay! was thinking that maybe we should chit chat abit and get to know each other more first, before we proceed with the collab? would be nice if we can be friends :D”

Well, i guess making friends isn’t that bad right? Since i don’t have many guy friends as well…

“Yeap sure! *nodding sticker*” you replied.

Eventually you both chatted for 2 hours straight and you managed to know him more, and you realised he is definitely not as bad as you thought initially. He is very courteous in his replies and definitely not like those ‘popular’ guys who always try to flirt with every girls they see or trying to use pick up lines. Hyunjin is someone who is very down to earth and humble even though he is talented - he dances, he sings, he raps, he draws, he take nice photos, you name it he has it. He also shared with you his art pieces and not gonna lie, his works are fabulous.

“It’s kinda late, and i think we should go to bed soon, btw, do you want to meet up soon to discuss on where what we can do for our collab?”

“Yea sure, where and when?”

“Hmm, maybe in 2 days time? i end school at 1, how about you?”

“Just nice, i end at 1 as well, then shall we meet at xxx cafe near the auditorium?”

“That would be great, alright sleep tight and goodnight y/n *sleep emoji*”

Still unsure why, when you see the last message popped infront of your eyes, including that sticker, you felt your heart pounding harder than the usual heartbeat when you placed your hands over your heart area.

I only met him once? But why did he left such a deep impression in my mind?

—

2 days later

Somehow you ended your lesson slightly earlier and you slowly make your way to the cafe. Thankfully there wasn’t much crowd, so you are able to freely pick your favourite seat, which is by the window.

“I’ve ended early, what do you want to eat or drink? I can get it first!” you texted Hyunjin who is probably still in class until you heard a voice behind.

“How about what do you want to eat or drink?” you turned your head to see the owner of the husky voice walking towards you, flashing his iconic smile.

Thump, thump, thump, my heartbeat is getting faster again?

“Oh hi, thought you are still in class,” you awkwardly scratched your head as you realised you were staring at him for abit long.

He wore a plain white long sleeve shirt with a knitted cardigan over, with a black jeans and a beret hat covering parts of his hair, and most importantly a pair of black boots.

He is just a walking wardrobe and he look so good in that outfit.

“Nah, i ended early today as well, i was behind you,” he chuckled as he sits opposite you.

“Oh? Then why didn’t you call me?”

“I want to admire your backview,” he replied instantly while staring into your eyes. You coughed a little as you heard his response and diverted your attention away to hide your shyness, and landed on the menu that is above the counter.

“Shall we get drinks first?”

—

After around 1 hr of chatting with him, you both have decided to visit the botanic gardens to see if there are any flowers that attracted both of you. You both setted a date on this Saturday to visit them since it’s a free day.

“Hey, shall we go? i think it’s raining soon and i’ve got work later,” you looked out of the window to see the sky is darkening.

“Oh yes, where do you work at? I’ll send you there,” Hyunjin asked as he stood up from his seat after you sling your bag over your shoulders.

“3 stops from our school, im afraid it is inconvenient for you though,” you spoke as you both started to speed up to exit the building. Your school is insanely big and it takes around 10 min to reach the main entrance of it.

“Anything for you y/n, there is no such thing as inconvenience for you,” he answered so casually which makes your heart skip a beat again.

Was he always this good in his lines?

“Ahem, alright then- oh shit the rain is pouring,” before you can even reply in a complete sentence, rain just started pouring heavily on both of you as you both took shortcuts to cut across the school field instead of going round about the different buildings.

Hyunjin immediately took out his cardigan and place it on the top of your head, even though it is not waterproof but at least it serves some protection?

“Im fine without it since i can go home and change, but you got work y/n,” Hyunjin spoke softly into your ear and placed his hands over your shoulders as he pull you closer to his body. Just mere centimetres apart, you can hear his heart beat clearly.

His heart is beating so fast, you thought.

You both ran out of school and to the nearby bus station that is few metres down the road and you were half drenched. Looking at the one beside you, he is almost fully drenched already.

“y/n, you are half drenched already, i don’t think it would be feasible for you to go to work right now in this, you will be sick, do you want to go home and change up first? is there still enough time?” the latter looked at you with much concern in his eyes as he tried to wiped the rainwater off your hair with his cardigan while he himself is dripping wet from top to bottom.

You shy away your face as you saw the contour of his body, since he is wearing a plain white shirt. You cheeks are flushing as you saw the nearly visible abs through his shirt and you can’t help to admit that, his body proportions are so good, with the addition of his wet black hair.

“Oh, uh, yea i still got 45 mins before my shift starts, i guess i can go home and change first since it is near my workplace, erm, if you don’t mind, do you want to go my house and change up?” you asked sheepishly as you thought you sounded weird to ask a guy over to your house, when you both just got closer abit.

“Oh, will your family members..?” he asked carefully as he looked at your facial expressions.

“Ah, usually in the day my family members are not home, they are working, so not to worry,” you assured him as he heaved a sigh of relief.

“Okay, i didn’t want to freak your family members out haha, im a good boy,” he patted his shoulders twice as he chuckled at his own sentence which caused you to laugh as well.

How can a guy who is so attractive and alluring from the exterior is so cute on the interior?

—

“Ah, uhm hold on for abit, ill get my brother’s clothes for you, i think they suit,” you opened the door and guide Hyunjin into your house.

This is my soulmate’s house… he thought.

“Okay, thanks,” he nodded at your sentence while his eyes are still wondering around your house. He smiled like a fool when he saw your fetus pictures and not gonna lie, his love for you just escalated from the moment he met you till now. The unexplainable fond towards you makes him feel like a love sick boy and the more you both interact, the more he wants to claim you as his but he knows that, he want you to like him for him, not for the stupid tattoo that’s on his bottom right abdomen.

Yesterday he looked at himself in the mirror with his half body naked and realised the bachelor’s button on his skin has turned blue while burning abit when he touches it. His lips curled up as he caresses it. Ever since the day he knew you are his soulmate, he already told his group of guys about it and they were very supportive of his idea, which is to chase you first. He didn’t chase you because other than he wanted you to like him for who he is, but also because he has been eyeing you since the start of freshmen year, without knowing you are his soulmate then.

Hence, it validates the rumour that was spreaded that Hyunjin, as the Art club President, who has more than 100 members and almost 3/4 of them are made up of girls but he was not attracted to anyone at all, not even giving chances for them. The side of Hyunjin that you always sees is only shown to you. What you didn’t see was how he always put up a resting bitch face infront of people, especially girls who always come close to him and he did not hesitate to brush them off. All his friends said that he don’t look like the loyal kind of guy but well, he is the rare one then.

“Here you go!” you passed him a clean set of outfit - a hoodie and a trackpants. You sweared that you were searching for the past 15 min for some decent clothes from your brother’s wardrobe and finally found this set that you thought would suit him, at least. Before you can even react, the guy infront of you already took out his soaked top. You were flustering when you saw his upper body and you don’t know where to see so you were practically staring at his body.

The awfully familiar print on his bottom right abdomen catches your attention. It looks exactly the same as yours on your left collarbone and you were in shock. But what is different is, his print has already turned blue.

“Oh, uhm, i, didn’t meant to see like you know, but, uhm, you met yours already?” you silently cursed at yourself for stuttering so much infront of him as he looked at you pointing at his print.

“Oh this? Ya i met her already,” his lips curled up as he touched the print on his body, which makes him extraordinary sexy.

When you heard the response, you felt your heart dropped. God’s knows why you felt like that but you just felt upset.

He’s taken… you told yourself.

“Oh…, uh i’ll go shower first, you can use the first bathroom to shower as well, i don’t want to leave you sick too,” you changed the topic and turned to your heels and walked into your parent’s room that has a toilet. You noticed your tone also dropped when you finished your last sentence, ignoring the latter behind you who was dumbfounded.

Is she… jealous? He mumbled to himself.

—

After all the hassling, you managed to get to work on time with Hyunjin sending you till the doorstep, causing all your colleagues inside the shop looking in awe.

“Thanks for today and sending me here, get home soon and drink more warm stuff,” you waved at the latter, while still feeling abit down from what he said when he was in your house.

“Yeap i will, take care too y/n, text me when you reached home later,” he ruffled your hair lightly and watched you enter the shop before he left.

It feels illegal now to fall for someone who is already taken, but you just can’t help it.

Throughout your work time, you were still engrossed in the conversation you both had earlier and you felt bothered by it. Ironically, he is just a friend that you know for only 1 week?

All your colleagues were bombarding you with questions and they were mostly asking if the dude that sent you here earlier is your boyfriend. Hah, how you wish that is true, but it isn’t.

Until your work has ended, you were contemplating if you should text Hyunjin. It feels wrong to do so as he already has a partner but you also want to do it.

Hyun🦋’s calling.

“Speaking of the devil,” you hissed at yourself and picked up the call after the third ring.

“Y/n, have you knocked off?” the person from the other side of the phone asked.

“Yeah, just ended, why did you call me?” you asked.

“I predicted that you will be hesitating to text me, so i called you,” he calmly replied with tinge of confidence in his answer.

Fuck, how did he even know what i am thinking about?

“Wow, how did you even guess it?” you walked towards a nearby bus stop to go back home while on the call with Hyunjin.

“Haha, i study psychology y/n, incase you did not know earlier,” the latter answered.

“Alright, you win then, is that all?” you sighed as you boarded the bus that has arrived on time.

“No, i miss your voice, even though it was just 5 hours apart.”

Again, Hyunjin, again, stop making my heartbeat like crazy when you already have your soulmate.

“Hyunjin, do you know what you are saying? You have a soulmate, and how can you say that?” you answered with an annoyed tone. You were pissed because you felt like being toyed by him and not forgetting to hate yourself for falling for all this despite you know the truth.

You allowed your head to rest against the window panel as you looked out of it. You were already starting to feel dizzy and headache due to the rain falling on you earlier and now Hyunjin is saying things that is making you getting more confused and frustrated.

Silence.

You have the strong urge to hang up the call instantly as you already sense your head pounding badly. Right before you press the red button, the latter replied which makes you paused in your action.

“Y/n, you pabo, why don’t you get my hint? I really don’t want to say this so soon but, im afraid if i don’t say it now i will really lose you, my soulmate is you y/n.”

Pang, you felt like a thunder just striked infront of you. You did suspect if Hyunjin was your soulmate but when you looked into the mirror earlier on, your print is still black and white, while his has already turned blue.

Why?

“Time to get off the bus y/n,” you heard the other end reminded you softly into your ears and you looked at the surrounding outside of the bus and you saw Hyunjin standing a distance from the bus stop.

You quickly take your bag and alight the bus before the bus driver close the door. You looked at him who is standing infront of you with an extremely puzzled face, with the phone still on your ears.

Speechless, confused, puzzled, surprised, shock, all sorts of emotions are flooding in your heart right now as you continued to stare at the unresistable guy.

You didn’t know how to process all the information right now. The guy, that you fell for, is your soulmate, and he was once a guy that you disliked, and now you both recognised one another as you felt your print burnt on your collarbone.

Subconciously you reached out to your collarbone and tried to suppress the burnt feeling but you ended up hissing in pain the moment your hands come in contact with the print. Fortunately it subsided after awhile and you turned to look at Hyunjin again, seeing him walking towards you.

“Why-“ before you could even finish your sentence, all you know was he crashed his lips against yours while tilting your chin up to meet his.

Most dumbfounded day. You tried to push him away but he ended up locking you in his embrace tighter by wrapping his hands around your waist and kissed you harder to prove his affection for you while trying not to hurt you.

Eventually, you gave in to him and responded the kiss. When he sensed that you are reciprocating, he deepened the kiss by letting his tongue further explore the inner walls of your mouth, gently sucking and licking on them. Passerbys were judging the both of you but you couldn’t care less but throw your hands around his neck, pulling him closer to you.

After awhile, you both pulled away from each other to catch some breath, while he did not forget to give you a one last kiss on your lips. You finally feel yourself coming back to earth and realised what have you done. You hide your face in between your palms as you leaned against Hyunjin’s chest, making him hug you tighter.

“Dude… we are in public, omg, if my parents saw it they will kill me,” you spoke in his chest, causing him to laugh at your cuteness while he soothed your back.

“It’s okay, im sure they will understand it, even if they don’t im willing to tank the responsibility,” he whispered into your ears and left a gentle kiss on your earlobe, resulting your cheeks to flush even more.

“Y/n, im sorry i did not tell you earlier that i’ve already know that you are my soulmate. I didn’t want to get close to you because of this identity but i want you to know or fall for me for who i am. Of course, it was also because, i’ve already had a crush on you since freshmen year… i don’t know if you remember but, there was one day where i got into a fight with someone and i was quite badly bruised, you came to me and offered to help me clean up my wounds and bought me drink to cheer me up when i was at my worse… girls around me were all chasing only after my visuals and talent but no one actually understands the toughness and pain i gone through, but you were sitting there patiently listening to me and trying to empathise… but i think you couldn’t recognise me because i had longer hair then and my face was injured, but i never forget how you treated me then. I thought i wouldn’t see you anymore but i happened to see you in school with your friend…i was always around you y/n…until i met you again in the art room, which was when i don’t want to lose you anymore…” He confessed into your ears fondly and vulnerably while continuing to embrace you which made you teared up.

You hugged him for a little bit more before he pull you apart gently and cup your face in his palms. He leaned in and make his forehead touch yours after giving a soft kiss on it.

“I like you y/n, and i always do regardless of that stupid bachelor’s button.”

That was the best night you ever had in your 20 years.

—

The saying goes:

“eventually you’ll end up where you will be”

just like how you are born to be, living the life you are supposed to be, working in a job that you are meant to work in, studying in a course that you would love to be in, as well as joining a club that you are interested in.

“with who you are meant to be with”

just like how you are born to be with your parents, making friends with people that may come and go, sticking by your besties that are with you through your ups and downs, meeting classmates and colleagues that you will work with and lastly, meeting your soulmate, or the love of your life that you are fated to be.

“doing what you should be doing”

just like how you are born to play and learn when you were a kid, entering kindergarden and primary school to hone your cognitive skills, entering secondary and high school to enhance your knowledge and social skills, entering university and working to strengthen your foundation and find a direction in your life.

Being a daughter, granddaughter, classmate, friend, best friend, colleague, lover, is all your duty as a human but you never complain about them.

Similarly, the bachelor’s button that is etched on your skin is destined. Although you hated it years back, but now you can’t explain how grateful you are to have this so that it guides you to meet the love of your life.

—

“I like you too Hyunjin, and i always will.”

You spoke so softly that it was only heard between the both of you, and that is all it matters.

“You walked into my life like you had always lived there, like my heart was a home built for you.”

— i think i kinda flopped the ending omggggg 🥲 | ++ im gonna take a break from the flower series becuz im working on a short series now !! Hopefully it will turn out well and receive love from u guys :)

© levantea — all rights reserved. No plagarising, editing, claiming as own without permission.

#hwang hyunjin #hyunjin #hyunjin ff #hyunjin imagines #hyunjin x reader #stray kids #hyunjin fluff #skz #skz hyunjin #straykids hyunjin #hyunjin stray kids

[thewayshedreamed]

I know this isn’t a ship but can u please write a cute Aedion and Evangeline scene (potentially with background Lysaedion )

Ask for some Lysaedion, Sayo, and you shall receive. I know you bear a heavy weight in this fandom, so I hope this helps! 😅💕 [Bonus sprinkle of some HP for you, too].

843 words.

—

Aedion should have known Aelin was going to abandon him the second they arrived at Lysandra's apartment. His cousin was supposed to have two roles; serve as moral support and babysit Lysandra's little sister. His first date with Lys needed to go well, and Aelin was dropping the ball. Hard.

He had never met Evangeline before, had only heard of her through Lysandra and Aelin, and he didn't have much contact with children. Was she a child at 11 years old? Did she qualify as a preteen? He didn't know how to carry a conversation between a grown man and a preteen girl. He would sooner take a punch to the jaw.

He went for the safest thing he could imagine. "So, what are you watching?"

The movie was one he had seen a hundred times or more, but the commercial break allowed him the blessing of an ice breaker. Evangeline slid her skeptical gaze toward where he sat in the armchair.

"Have you heard of Harry Potter?"

Aedion blinked, trying to determine if she meant to be sarcastic. " Who hasn't seen Harry Potter?"

Evangeline shrugged and said, "I didn't know! I mean, you are—" She glanced over, weighing the risks of finishing her sentence. "—I don't know. You're closer to my sister's age."

"Exactly!" He tried not to sound indignant. "Harry Potter is more my generation than yours."

"Hm. Have you read the books?"

The nerve on this girl was incredible. "Yes, I've read them all." The commercials ended, revealing a scene he could nearly narrate from memory. "This is Prisoner of Azkaban."

Evangeline dared to look impressed, but she schooled her expression. "I was just checking. I'm re-reading them right now." As close to a truce as he would get.

"I wore mine out over the years."

The two of them watched the movie before commercials began. He had felt aware of every second that Lysandra and Aelin didn't appear, but at least he had wizards to distract him.

"You're a Gryffindor?"

Aedion didn't love her tone. "I am, actually."

A smirk pulled at Evangeline's mouth. "Yeah, you seem like one." Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean.

"And what House are you?" he demanded. He silently chastised himself; then, he wished he hadn't with Evangeline's haughty reply.

Somehow, the girl looked down her nose. "Ravenclaw."

"The scrutiny makes more sense now," he grumbled and remembered he was supposed to be winning Evangeline's favor. "Which of the books was your favorite?"

"Order of the Phoenix."

"Ravenclaw through and through."

That earned him a smile. She didn't seem the type to offer them freely, so Aedion celebrated the win internally.

"Let me guess. Yours is Goblet of Fire?"

Aedion nodded. "It's a key turning point in the series. During the tournament, when the ritual is performed in the cemetery, things turned darker from there on."

"So, not the competition between schools of magic or the dragons?"

He almost bristled at the stereotype before he remembered doing the exact thing. "They didn't hurt."

The two of them shared a laugh. They had found common ground in the wizarding world, and Aedion was thankful for it.

"Aelin and I had to share the books growing up," he shared, unsure of what made him say it. He kind of liked the kid, if he was honest. "We wrote to each other in the margins."

"Really? What did you write?"

"A bit of everything. Sometimes we wrote our reactions, and sometimes we would jot questions to talk about later. Every now and then, Aelin would underline quotes. I would have done the same, but we seemed to like the same stuff."

"Oh, maybe I could get Lys to do that with me; if I can convince her to re-read them."

"I could work on that at dinner," he offered with a wink. That earned him a wide smile. "In the meantime, what if I sent a book with Aelin next time she comes over. Maybe Order of the Phoenix? You could read our stuff, and we could talk about it."

Evangeline sat a bit taller. "Really?"

"Of course. I'll talk to her."

"Thanks, Aedion."

They returned their attention to the movie for another few minutes. A question nagged at him and he realized he had the perfect person to answer it.

"Evangeline, what House does Lys belong to?"

She eyes him curiously, turning toward the TV with a mischievous glint in her eye. "You'll have to ask her."

As if on cue, the two women finally emerged from Lysandra's bedroom. She was as stunning as always.

"Ready?" she asked.

Aedion stood while she hugged Evangeline goodbye, giving her strict orders to be good with Aelin. He decided now was a good time to ask.

"Lys, what Hogwarts house are you?"

She slipped her phone into her back pocket and walked toward the door.

"Slytherin. Why?"

He glanced at Evangeline just long enough to see her lips twitch.

"No reason," he paused, projecting his voice as he closed the door. "At least you're not a Ravenclaw."

Send me an ask! • Question? Send me a message! • More? My Masterlist

#lysaedion #lysaedion au #aedion ashryver #lysandra #Evangeline #cute aedion + evangeline #800 followers celebration #twsd fics #twsd writes

[lizzzweasley]

These Moments With You (George x Reader)

🖤This is a follow up to “The Triwizard Tournament Has Begun” and is addition to my continuing series, if you haven’t read the others and want the full story, go back and read those first and then come back, (masterlist is pinned) 🖤

———————————

The meal was over, and people were leaving in their own time, some stuck around to continue eating, some were writing their names on parchment to put in the Goblet, and well, Angelina was leaving.

‘‘Wait, Angelina..’‘ You shouted over as you began your slight jog over to her, when she stopped you saw that she want mad anymore, just upset.

‘‘I’m sorry’‘ she said to you, looking down at the floor.

‘‘Don’t be, I know you’re upset, but if the thought of fred looking at someone else like that upsets you, maybe its time you told him how you really feel’‘ you said.

‘‘You’re right, but i don’t know how to tell him that..’’ she paused and shifted her eyes to just above your shoulder, you turned and noticed that Fred was walking over.

‘‘Fancy a walk, Angelina’’ he offered.

‘‘Yeah, shall we, erm, y/n’‘ She tripped up on her words looking at you.

‘‘Oh... sorry, no can do, I’ve still got some pumpkin pie to start, have fun kids’‘ you said winking at her.

You made your way back over to the table where George had his head down, flicking through the pictures of the daily prophet, he didn’t notice you walking back and only lifted his head back up when the table jolted slightly when you sat back down, when he noticed it was you, his eyes brightened up when he saw you, and the edges of his mouth began to curl up.

‘‘Look George, I..’‘ you started, reaching over the table to finally grab your pumpkin pie.

‘‘No don’t, i’ve been a right git, i’m sorry for thinking you were jealous, i know wouldn’t get jealous over me’‘ he responded.

He just didn’t get it, even after your kiss in the common room, did you have to spell it out to this boy that you, really, really, liked him.

‘‘You haven’t been a git, and if anyone was jealous, it was you’‘ you said mockingly, taking a bite out of the slice of pie.

‘‘I WASN’T JEALOUS!’‘ his face turned pink, as his eyes darted from your eyes, to your lips, to your hands, then back to your eyes.

‘‘I’m JOKING’‘ you laughed playfully. ‘’So about this tournament, I’m sorry you couldn’t get in’’ you added, finishing the pie, but leaving the crust.

‘’oh, y/n, don’t worry, we’ve got a plan’’ he claimed. 

You worried, what these boys were going to get themselves into this time, and hoped, really hoped, that whatever their plan was, wasn’t going to work.

‘‘WELL, don’t get yourselves in trouble’‘ you giggled, ‘‘i’m going to get myself up to bed, today has been bloody crazy’‘ 

‘‘Mind if i walk up with you? George asked ‘’i don’t know how long Fred is going to be out there walking for’‘ he added.

‘‘Of course, thats fine’‘ you smiled as you both grabbed your bags and began walking to the common room.

You walked out the great hall and up the stairs, giggling about ‘’Mad Eye’’ and still talking about the tournament, you reached the common room, said the password and entered. You walked over to the sofa in front of the fireplace and sat down, you reached for the hair tie in your hair and pulled it out, your hair falling out of its bun that was on top of your head, you ran your hands on your scalp and tired to rub the sore feeling of having your hair tied up all day out of your head. George walked over and sat on the sofa leaving the middle seat empty.

You reached into your bag and pulled your hair brush out of it. “Ow, ow, OW” you painfully said as you ran your brush through your hair.

George winced, “that hurt then?” He said, still watching you struggle to sort out your frizzy, knotted hair, “c’mere” he said gesturing his head to the floor.

You stood up, leaving your hair brush on the sofa, and sat on the floor with your back to the sofa, unsure of what George wanted you to do, he put one leg at one side of you and stretched his other over you and put it on the other side, until you were facing outwards between his legs. He took the hair brush off the sofa and started brushing your hair, he started from the ends of your hair working his way upwards, being so gentle with you, once your hair was all brushed out, he took his hands and started to massage your head, this sent tingles all down your body, your arms started to get goose bumps, and the hair on the back of your neck stood up, you slowly let your head fall backwards slightly as you began to melt under his touch, he felt what his touch was doing to you, and he liked it.

You felt his hands gently move from your hair, to your shoulders where he began rubbing his fingers along your shoulders and neck, and without knowing it you let out a quiet moan, he liked that more. He was touching your body for a while, moving from your shoulders, then back to your hair, then back to your shoulders and every touch sent waves through your body, the whole time you were both quiet, except the occasional moan that would slip past your lips.

Eventually he broke the silence, “does that feel better, y/n?”

You just nodded your head, you were were just completely content. You let your head fall further back and you took a deep sigh in before deciding you should really sit back on the sofa with him.

You sat back down next to him, not leaving a gap this time.

“It’s nice to have these moments with you” he said, looking into your eyes, going slightly pink in the face.

His words made your heart beat a little faster, you moved in closer to him, you were taking all of him in, tracing your eyes across his face, until you landed at his lips. He licked his lips slightly and rubbed them together, and he began to move in closer to you. You both smiled at eachother as you continued to move in closer...

“Fortuna Major” you heard a girls voice say outside the door, Angelina’s voice.

You and George both snapped out of the moment between you as you moved back on the sofa, creating that gap between you that was once there.

“Bloody perfect timing” George whispered to you rolling his eyes.

Angelina and Fred both walked in together, laughing and smiling, so you figured they had sorted out their little quabble.

“Alright?” Fred said to you and George nodding his head at you both

“Never better” George responded being slightly sarcastic that his brother just ruined this moment between you both.

“Right then! I think it’s bed time” you said breaking the silence between everyone

“Good idea!” Angelica added

Everyone said their good nights and you and Angelica made your way to the girls dorm, Fred and George watching the both of you walk up the stairs before turning around and heading to the boys dorm.

“You’re a bloody idiot, you know that Fred?” George started as they began to walk away

#harry potter fanfiction #harry potter #george weasely smut #george weasley fluff #george weasley x reader #george x reader #george weasley imagine #george weasley fanfiction #george weasley #fred weasley fanfiction #fred weasley smut #fred weasley imagine #fred x reader #fred weasley fluff #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley

[eastofthemoon]

A Paladin in the Fire Nation

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Rating: PG

Series: Voltron Legendary Defender/Avatar the Last Airbender

Summary: After the fight with Zarkon, Shiro accidentally gets tossed into another reality where humans have the ability to bend the elements. His best shot at returning home is with someone called the Avatar, while he waits he might as well take on the job of being the Firelord’s bodyguard.

-----------------------------------------------------

Zuko was silent as Shiro told them his story. He tried to keep an open mind these days and being close friends with the Avatar had caused Zuko to experience very strange things.

However, Zuko did have limits and Shiro’s tale was pushing them to the extreme.

“So you’re from another universe,” Sokka said slowly. “Where you go into space inside ships in the shape of lions, who are sentient and can become on a giant ship shaped like a person called Voltron, and fight an empire run by beings called Garlic.”

“Galra,” Shiro had corrected as Iroh poured himself another cup of tea, “but yes.”

“And you got here because your lion accidentally sent you here while you were fighting the emperor,” Toph added.

“Correct,” Shiro confirmed.

Toph and Sokka turned their faces to Zuko, likely waiting for his reaction. Zuko took a deep breath. “That is an..interesting tale.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow as Zuko stood and tucked his hands into his robes. “Toph, Sokka, may I speak with you in private for a moment?”

“You can use my bedroom and shut the door,” his uncle offered and by the sound of his tone had been expecting it.

“Thank you, Uncle, we’ll just be a moment,” Zuko said briskly.

Toph and Sokka followed close behind while Zuko was being very careful to not say a word until they were all inside and he shut the door.

“I’ll be the first to say it,” Zuko said as he turned to his friends, “he is insane, right?”

Much to his shock, neither of them instantly agreed. Instead, Toph was silent and Sokka waved a hand back and forth.

“Ehhhh, maybe but my gut is telling me no,” Sokka replied.

“You’re kidding,” Zuko said in disbelief. “Did you hear what he said? There’s no way for it to be true.”

“But that’s the thing,” Sokka said as he paced. “Look, a real criminal would probably try to come up with a reasonable explanation. Why would Shiro tell us that story unless it is the truth?”

“You’re saying it’s so crazy it has to be true?” Zuko asked.

“Exactly,” Sokka said with a nod. “Why even bother with telling us about giant lion ships if he assumed we wouldn’t believe it.”

“I’m with Sokka,” Toph said. “I monitored the guy’s heart during the whole time he talked, he’s not lying.”

“He could be good at lying,” Zuko argued. “You told me Azula is able to pass it.”

Sokka raised an eyebrow. “You honestly believe that Shiro guy is at Azula level of lying?”

Zuko opened and shut his mouth. He hadn’t even known Shiro for a day, but he had seemed confused by the interrogation earlier. It was possible the man was a very good actor, but still…

“It would also explain why his armor is so odd,” Sokka added, “and his arm too. Not even Teo and his dad have designs that advanced.”

“Plus, Iroh is taking him seriously,” Toph added. “That should say something too.”

Sokka touched Zuko’s shoulder. “Be honest, what do you feel in your gut about Shiro?”

Zuko shut his eyes. “My common sense is saying he’s delusional,” he sighed, “but my gut says he’s telling the truth.”

“So we are all in agreement then,” said Toph with a shrug. “Now what?”

“How about we start by telling Shiro we believe him?” Sokka offered.

Zuko nodded as he turned around and led them back. Iroh was pouring another cup of tea while Shiro watched them come back with concern in his eyes.

“We believe you,” Zuko stated and sighed. “Although a large part of me is calling me crazy for doing so.”

“I don’t blame you,” Shiro said with a nervous chuckle. “I would have a hard time in your position.”

“So then spaceman,” Toph said as she sat next to him, “how do you think you can get back home?”

“Yeah, if this Black Lion sent you here by accident can she just take care of it,” Sokka said as he and Zuko took their seats.

“I wish it were that easy,” Shiro said, “but I’m too far away for her to help even though I can still hear her.”

Zuko froze as he tilted his head. “You can..hear her?”

“In my head,” Shiro said as he tapped forehead. “We paladins form a connection with our lions and it allows us to communicate them with our minds.”

“I see,” Zuko said, trying to keep his voice calm while he felt his common sense glaring at him. What have I gotten myself into?

“Right, okay,” said Sokka who also sounded unsure as he crossed his arms. “Only person I can think of to help you is Aang.”

“That is what I was suggesting when you three entered,” Iroh said as he sipped his tea. “Since it sounds like at least some form of the Spirit World is parly how you came to be here.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call the Astral Plane a spirit world,” Shiro replied as he rubbed his neck, “but I can’t deny it isn’t that either.”

It certainly felt like a place where spirits could dwell.

Toph sucked the air between her teeth. “Yeah, well, you’re going to have to wait awhile since Aang is dealing with settling some disputes over in the Earth Kingdom.”

Zuko sighed but nodded. Some of the towns had been former Fire Nation colonies that had been given back, but the previous Lord it had belonged to had died and so his twin sons were currently arguing on who the towns now belonged to.

“He is supposed to come straight here when he’s finished,” Zuko replied firmly, “but it’s hard to tell how long as it takes.”

“I see,” Shiro said with a sigh. “If you can recommend where I can stay I would greatly appreciate it.” His frown tightened. “Also possibly where I can make some money since I have nothing to pay-”

“No need for either since you’ll stay here as our guest,” Iroh said.

Zuko choked slightly as he shot his uncle a look. We barely know him and you want him to stay in the palace?

Iroh slightly glanced at Zuko before sipping his tea. “Given your circumstance, I’m sure our GENEROUS Firelord would be more than happy to accommodate you until we can figure out how to get you home.”

Zuko twitched an eye and wanted to argue, but Sokka grabbed his shoulder and whispered into his ear.

“I get your concern, but it’s probably better if he stays here since I doubt we want a ton of people finding out we got a person from another world just dropped into our laps,” Sokka muttered.

Zuko frowned, but gave a slow nod. A lot of people would dismiss it, but there were a few that would probably try to use it to their advantage and there were a few former FIre Nation nobles he rather kept that information away from.

“Alright,” Zuko said as he tucked his hands into his sleeves, “although we’ll have to think of an explanation as to why I’m suddenly treating the intruder as a guest.”

“Just say it was a prank I pulled that went wrong,” Toph said with a shrug.

Shiro raised an eyebrow. “You expect the guards to believe that a mysterious intruder was all just a prank pulled by you?”

Zuko narrowed his eyes before sighing and massaging his forehead. “After the Badgermole and Groundpecker incident, they would.”

Shiro blinked. “The what?”

Sokka sighed. “Don’t ask, trust me.”

Zuko nodded in agreement.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Once Zuko had announced Shiro was a guest, he and Sokka escorted Shiro to a guest chamber. It wasn’t nearly as big as Iroh’s room, but Shiro was just grateful to not have to return to his cell.

The rest of the day passed by rather quickly. Iroh told Shiro he would get him some more clothes in the meantime, and Zuko had his armour returned to Shiro. He assumed it was a lost cause, but Shiro attempted to see if he could contact the paladins through his helmet. Much to his chagrin, all he heard was static.

It was killing Shiro to not be there with his team. They were probably all worried if he was dead, Keith especially. Shiro hated that he was putting him through this again, but it wasn’t as if he had a choice.

He briefly wondered if the Black Lion could just send a message that he was still alive, but Keith’s connection with the Black Lion wasn’t deep enough for that yet. Which meant, all Shiro could do was wait and hope this Avatar would be able to get him home.

Shiro tried not to dwell on this as he ate dinner. Zuko and Iroh had other duties to attend to, but Sokka and Toph joined him. They were energetic, but they seemed to be good kids. Truth be told, Sokka reminded him a lot of Lance, and he wasn’t sure if the two met if they would get along or butt heads as a result.

Shiro didn’t stay with them long. He was exhausted both from the day, and it hadn’t even been a full 24 hours since his life or death battle with Zarkon. So, Shiro went to bed early.

It hadn’t taken long for him to sleep, and it would have been restful if not for the nightmare.

Shiro was back at the Castle of Lion. He wasn’t sure how, but it was wrong.

The lights were off and everywhere there was nothing except darkness.

And no sign of any of his friends.

Shiro ran through the halls. “KEITH! PIDGE! ALLURA!”

He called out but no one responded.

“HUNK! LANCE! CORAN!” Shiro ran through the endless hall. “ SOMEONE ANSWER ME!”

He reached the control room and barged inside.

Shiro froze.

Allura, Coran, and all of the paladins lay motionless on the ground.

The only one who was standing was Zarkon as he wiped the blood off his sword.

“You took too long to come home, Paladin,” Zarkon scoffed as he slowly approached.

Shiro told his feet to run, but they remained planted. His body wouldn’t move.

“Your friends are dead because of you,” Zarkon continued as he raised his sword. “Now you shall share their fate.”

The sword lowered for his head.

Shiro gasped for air as he sprang up in his bed. Sweat dripped off his forehead as Shiro felt his heart pounding in his chest.

“Just a dream,” he muttered to himself. “Just a dream. They’re alright.”

For now, he thought darkly. But they could get killed tomorrow while you're stuck here all nice and safe.

Shiro grip tight on his bed sheets. Once he felt his heart calm down, he scrubbed his hand over his face.

“No way I’m going back to sleep,” he muttered.

If he was back at the castle, he would do some reading or go to the training room for practice. Shiro sighed as he tossed off the sheets.

I’ll go for a walk, Shiro thought. Maybe I can find a quiet place to do some training exercises.

He threw on some clothes and went out into the hall. Shiro headed towards the gardens. Iroh had said he would be free to go there and it seemed the most likely place where Shiro could be alone. He couldn’t see anyone being there this early.

The sun was just starting to rise as Shiro ventured outside. He didn’t see anyone in the garden, except for the ducks in the pond.

At least Shiro thought they were ducks.

The creatures certainly had heads and bodies of ducks, but upon closer inspection they seemed to have turtle shells on their backs.

“Turtle ducks?” Shiro muttered as he kneeled.

A small turtle duck glanced up curiously at him and quacked.

“You are actually not the weirdest creature I’ve ever seen,” Shiro admitted.

The turtle duck tilted it’s head, and then quacked once more before swimming away.

“I didn’t mean it as an insult,” Shiro said with a grin.

“What are you doing here?”

Shiro jumped slightly, and rose back up as he turned around to see Zuko.

He looked different. Zuko’s hair was loose and not as neatly tied up like earlier, and he seemed to be wearing more casual robes.

“Oh, uh, sorry,” Shiro said as he rubbed his neck. “I couldn’t get back to sleep and was looking for a place to train.” He then gave a frown. “Why are you up so early?”

Zuko’s eyes narrowed. “I am a firebender, and thus the optimal time to train is when the sun rises.”

“QUACK!”

Zuko froze.

Shiro glanced downward.

A small turtle duck quacked again before using its beak to tug on Zuko’s pant leg. It was only then Shiro noticed a small piece of bread in the Firelord’s hand.

Zuko sighed as he kneeled and tore off a piece of the bread.  

“It..is also the best time to feed the turtle ducks,” Zuko muttered while blushing.

Another quack was heard when the turtle duck snatched the bread, gobbled it up and spirited towards the pond.

“I see,” Shiro said as he did his best to repress a smile, but couldn’t resist a small chuckle.

Zuko glared. “You find this funny do you?”

Shiro shook. “No, no, sorry,” he said quickly. “It’s just you look like my friend Keith when I caught him feeding some squirrels.”

He thought back to it. It had been Keith’s birthday, and Shiro had taken him into town to celebrate. They had ended up wandering into a park. Shiro had gone to get them some ice cream, only to discover Keith had been tossing some peanuts towards a squirrel.

Shiro may have quietly taken a photo on his phone before Keith realized he had been caught and blushed bright red.

Zuko frowned in response. “You mean rabbit squirrels?”

Shiro’s chuckles paused as he tilted his head. “Um..no squirrels.”

Zuko raised an eyebrow as the turtle duck finished the rest of the bread. “Your world must be very weird.”

Shiro held up his hands. “Look, I didn’t mean to invade your privacy. I’ll just leave.”

Zuko tossed the rest of the bread to a nearby duck and dusted the crumbs off his hands.

“It’s fine,” Zuko said as he stood. “I was about to leave anyway. There’s paperwork I wanted to get taken care of. You can use the garden if you like.”

“Um, thank you,” Shiro said, “and not just for the garden, but for also letting me stay here.”

“I’m not the one you should be thanking,” Zuko said as he crossed his arms. “That should go towards Uncle, Sokka and Toph for convincing me.”

“But it was still your decision in the end,” Shiro replied. “I realize it can’t be easy letting a stranger into your home.”

“It’s not,” Zuko said as he crossed his arms. “Frankly, I’m still suspicious of you.”

Shiro suddenly thought of Keith, who he knew would have had the same response as Zuko.

“Why are you smiling?” Zuko asked.

“Sorry,” Shiro replied. “You just remind me a lot of my friend Keith. He would have agreed with you.”

He couldn’t resist wondering if the two would get along.

“Then your friend is smart,” Zuko said as he turned his back to Shiro. “I’ll send a servant to fetch you when it’s time for breakfast.”

“You don’t have to-” Shiro began, but paused.

There was a metallic glint shone in the bushes. Why would there be-

Adrenaline and panic struck as Shiro dashed forward. “GET DOWN!”

He shoved Zuko to the ground and remained on top of him as an arrow flew over their heads.

“You okay?” Shiro asked as he and Zuko scrambled back to their feet.

“Ask our attackers that,” Zuko snapped and launched a ball of flame at the bushes.

There was a yelp and two men with scorched clothing tumbled out, one of them holding a bow.

“I don’t know who you are,” Zuko declared, “but surrender now and I promise you’ll be treated fairly.”

The archer snarled and prepared to launch another arrow.

“Oh no you don’t,” Zuko said as he charged and with fire burning in both his fists. The archer dropped the bow and pulled out a sword.

Shiro could only assume Zuko could handle it as the other attacker decided to rush at Shiro with a dagger.  He dodged, grabbed the dagger with his cybernetic arm and twisted it out of the man’s hand before kicking him away.

The man stumbled, but quickly regained his balance. He glared at Shiro, and then stomped his foot to the ground. Instantly, spikes popped from the ground and headed straight towards him.

Shiro jumped and rolled on the ground just barely avoiding the spikes. He panted as he leaned on his knees.

“Wild guess, but I take it you’re an earth bender?” he shouted.

“Oh gee, aren’t you smart,” the man sneered as he raised his arm.

A small spike rose out of the dirt, only for it to harden as the man reached for it and snapped it off the ground.

The earth bender charged again.

Shiro sprang to his feet in time to block and flip the man, but not before he felt the spike cut at his normal arm.

He hissed as blood dripped slightly.

Really wish I had my armor on right now, Shiro grumbled.

Flashes came from fighting hand to hand. Having to ignore every cut, every broken bone and keep fighting.

No, no, not now, Shiro thought as he shook his head at the memories. It wasn’t the time.

Shiro looked up. The man had crashed against a tree, but was already getting back up. A battle cry caused Shiro to look over to Zuko. The young Firelord was holding his own, but the archer wasn’t slowing down with each swipe of the sword.

“Do the world a favor and die with your father!” the archer snapped as he tried to slice at Zuko’s head, but missed as the boy ducked.

Shiro heard movement and managed to block the earth bender by gripping his wrists stopping the spike just inches away towards his face.

Shiro grunted and realized Zuko was closer to him now as an idea came.

“Zuko,” Shiro called out, “I think these two should face each other instead!”

Zuko abruptly turned, frowned and gave a nod signaling he got the meaning. Swiftly, Zuko yanked the archer’s arm, and tossed him over just as Shiro did the same with the earth bender.

It was satisfying watching the pair collide into each other and fall into the pond.

Shiro dashed to Zuko’s side. “You alright?”

Zuko brushed the hair from his eyes and gestured to Shiro’s arm. “I should be asking you that.”

Shiro glanced at his arm and gripped the wound. “I’ve had worse.”

Zuko looked ready to say something, until the attackers climbed out of the pond. Both of them were dripping wet and eyes full of fury.

Shiro and Zuko got into fighting position, but suddenly mounds of earth sprang up and trapped the attackers with only their heads poking out.

Shiro blinked, but saw Zuko glanced over and spotted Toph who was now retracting her hand.

“You guys got into a fight and didn’t invite me?” she shouted.

“It was hardly planned,” Zuko snapped.

“Whatever,” Toph muttered as she walked over to them. “Everyone okay?”

“Shiro’s injured,” Zuko replied and sighed, “and he also saved me from getting an arrow through my head.” He slowly looked up and rubbed his neck. “Thanks for that.”

“Welcome,” Shiro said as he gripped his arm, “and it’s not that bad.”

“I think a doctor will be a better judge of that,” Toph replied as she crossed her arms.

Shiro opened his mouth but was cut off by a yawn.

“Okay,” Sokka muttered as he stumbled out, “why was there such a ruckus-”

He spotted the trapped angry men, blinked and then looked to the group. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing good,” Zuko muttered grimly.

Shiro nodded. He might not be in a war, but he had landed right in the middle of a lot of trouble.

#vldgen #atla #a paladin in the fire nation #vld #takashi shirogane #my writing

[marvel-and-mischief]

Chrysanthemum

Part of my Floriography Series

Pairing: Din Djarin x FRIEND GN!Reader  Words: 2800 Warnings: a man gets turned upside down, mention of a wound but not detailed Synopsis: You work in a cantina and make friends with a visiting Mandalorian

Chrysanthemum: you’re a wonderful friend 

💐

The cantina you worked in was probably the only one on the planet that remained upstanding, only inviting the most respectable of individuals. From day one, your boss had stressed the importance of keeping people happy and safe in a galaxy that was far from it. That doesn’t mean you didn’t get the odd suspicious traveller coming in, but as long as they didn’t cause trouble or didn’t make anyone feel uncomfortable, they were more than welcome. 

So when a Mandalorian walked in one day with a small, green creature in his arms you did a double take, sharing a glance with your fellow bartender who gave a shrug and quickly busied herself with clearing a table. The patrons in the cantina were mostly human and had paused in their conversations to scrutinise the new arrivals, you just hoped none of them would make a scene.

“Welcome,” you put on your best smile and offered them a nervous wave, “can I be of assistance?”

The Mandalorian leaned a hip against the bar whilst his small friend happily squealed in your direction.

“Do you have anything he can eat?” he said, voice monotone and to the point as he set the creature on top of the bar. You had never seen anything like him, but he looked friendly enough and you bravely reached out to place your finger in his tiny hand. You saw the Mandalorian stiffen up but he made no move to stop you.

“We have fresh scrimpi, and some jerky if you’re only looking for a snack, or cook made a chowder this morning that I can heat up?”

“Cold chowder will be fine,” the Mandalorian perched himself on a stool and waited whilst you went into the kitchen to grab a bowl.

“What’s he like?” You jumped in surprise as your friend, Lyra, scurried into the kitchen unbeknownst to you.

“You should be out there tending to the patrons,” you scolded her, pouring a ladle of chowder into a bowl.

“I’ve never seen a real Mandalorian before! My father used to tell me stories of Mandalore and their fearsome warriors,” Lyra exclaimed excitedly.

“He doesn’t seem fearsome,” you shrugged, trying to move passed your friend who refused to let you by, “but maybe if he doesn’t get his food he will be.” 

Lyra raised an amused eyebrow, not taking your threat to heart but stepped aside anyway.

“Can’t I take him his food?” she asked hopefully, a pleading, child-like look in her eyes.

“No, do the rounds, make sure anyone seated at a table is a paying patron,” you ordered over your shoulder as you exited the kitchen. Lyra was positively giddy at the thought of being in the same building as a Mandalorian, if you’d allowed her to serve she probably would have done something embarrassing like tripping over her own feet and spilling food in the Mandalorian’s lap. 

When you re-entered the cantina the Mandalorian and his green friend were already sitting at a vacant table near the bar. Placing the bowl in front of the smaller of the two you smiled at the odd pair.

“Can I get you anything? A drink?”

“I’m fine, thank you,” the Mandalorian replied kindly. You were impressed by his manners, this huge, intimidating, armored man was a fierce sight to behold, but he had been nothing but polite and patient with you. 

“Does he have a name?” you asked, gesturing to the creature who was slurping from the bowl, his tiny hands precariously balancing the too large bowl. 

“Grogu,” the Mandalorian sounded unsure with his response, unsure of the name or unsure of telling you, you couldn’t tell. 

“Grogu,” he looked up at his name being called, long ears twisting to listen to you, wide eyes curious like any other child, “have you and Grogu travelled far?”

“A few… parsecs,” the Mandalorian sounded cautious once again, giving away little information. You couldn’t blame him, from the little you knew of Mandalorians, their beskar was probably worth more than what you earned in a year, you supposed it was second nature for a man like him to be careful who he spoke to. 

“Do you have somewhere to stay?”

The shiny helmet tilted down to Grogu who had quickly finished his chowder and was distractedly playing with an insect on the table.

“I only ask because we have a room free upstairs. I could ensure nobody bothers you, so you’ll have complete privacy,” you spoke softly, picking up the empty bowl ready to take away.

“That would be appreciated. My ship is being repaired,” he explained and you grinned, turning away from the table only to hear Lyra shouting from across the room.

The Mandalorian turned swiftly at the commotion, hand automatically going to the blaster at his hip, prepared for a fight if there was one. You waved a hand in the air, gesturing to him that you would handle it and hurried over to your friend.

“Is something the matter?” you asked, raising your eyebrows at Lyra who subtly shook her head.

“She thinks I haven’t paid, but I have!” The man standing at the table next to Lyra wasn’t tall in height or broad in stature, yet he had a bellowing voice that had you internally cringing. It was screechy, and he stomped his foot in a huff that would have made you laugh if you were an observer instead of the mediator. 

“Well, that’s easy to clear up. Everyone who steps through the door to the cantina is automatically scanned and entered into our datapads anonymously, and when you swipe your credit or hand over local currency that too is logged.”

“Y-you can’t do that!” he stuttered, wringing his hands nervously now he knew he was caught.

“It’s all part of upholding a respectable establishment,” your smile was sickly sweet but not cruel. You had the upper hand and you both knew it. “Shall I get my datapad?”

But before you had the chance to stop him, the man had slipped between you and Lyra and was heading straight towards the exit. You were too slow to get a good grip on him and Lyra was too shocked to make any movement at all. 

But there was no need to worry because quick as lightning the Mandalorian had stepped in the path of the thief, grabbed him by the back of his shirt and was hoisting him up in the air for all to see.

“P-put me down! Let- let me go!”

“Pay them, or I will personally see to it that you never walk again.”

The cantina was deadly silent, everybody holding their breaths in awe of the strength of the Mandalorian. Some were in fear of making a noise lest his anger turned on them, others were hoping he would carry through on his threat to see a good show. You just hoped none of this got back to your boss or your job would be on the line. 

When the thief was too scared to say anything, the Mandalorian began shaking him up and down until coins started spilling out of his pockets.

“Is that enough?” It took you a second to realise the Mandalorian was talking to you. You did a quick count of the value of the coins and gave a short, sharp nod.

The man went crashing to the floor after the Mandalorian let him go in mid air, and he scurried out of the cantina as fast as his legs could carry him. 

“Clean up the table and take your break, Lyra,” you said gently, seeing the shock in her eyes you knew she’d need a drink before carrying on with her shift. 

The Mandalorian knelt down to the floor, picked up the coins and handed them to you.

“Let me know if he comes back. I don’t think he will,” the Mandalorian chuckled, it was short and sweet but definitely real. 

“I’ll show you to your room.”

-

Word travelled fast when nothing exciting ever happened in the city you lived in. Local kids hung around on the street outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of the shiny new guy in the area, adults kept their distance not wanting to attract unwanted attention from the fearsome Mandalorian and patrons bugged you with too many questions you couldn’t answer. Didn’t want to answer. 

You had gotten to know Grogu and his guardian, albeit briefly, but long enough to know they could be trusted, they were good and kind and friendly to you and you weren’t going to betray the trust they’d placed in you when the Mandalorian decided to take you up on the offer of staying the night.

But with the good always came the bad, and not everybody could be trusted. Somehow, someone had given away the Mandalorian’s location and now their safety was compromised. And so was yours. 

It was midday when you heard the first lot of blaster fire from your place behind the bar. You hadn’t seen your new friends since you left them in their room the evening before, yet you guessed it had something to do with them.

The patrons in the cantina scrambled over each other to get to the exit but your main concern was Lyra. She was struggling to get through the crowd on the other side of the cantina, looking disorientated as she tried to steady herself against a table. You shouted her name to get her attention and pointed to a gap in the crowd down the side of the room. She followed your gaze and made her way towards you.

“Get to the kitchen, I’ll follow you when I know everybody has gone,” you ordered, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly whilst pushing her in the direction of the door. Once she was gone you peaked over the top of the bar to see the cantina empty. The blaster fire outside began again, grunts of pain reaching your ears but you put it to the back of your mind. There was no use worrying about strangers.

You crawled across the floor to the door that led to the kitchens and pulled down the handle. The door wouldn’t budge. You pressed your shoulder against it and thrust your body as hard as you could but still it didn’t move. You hissed in frustration. You had no choice but to take cover back behind the bar.

You crawled back to where you started, leaning heavily against the shelves under the bar when you heard it. Footsteps. Thud. Thud. Thud. Coming to a stop somewhere on the other side of the bar. Heavy footsteps that could only mean whoever was in the cantina with you was big, heavy built, definitely not a match for you even if you had a weapon on hand.

Scanning your surroundings gave you little hope, spying bottles of alcohol that would be too heavy to lift, dirty bowls that hadn’t made it to the kitchen yet and wouldn’t be much use as weapons, and a squirty plasto bottle with sterilising liquid inside that would pack a punch if it got into someone’s eyes. 

You slowly and silently reached for the bottle and held it in both hands against your chest, fingers on the trigger and nozzle pointing outwards. Carefully you pulled yourself into a crouching position, turning around so you would be facing the stranger and before you could talk yourself out of it you popped up from behind the bar, held the bottle out in front of you and continuously squirted. 

Your eyes were partially closed when you attacked so it took you a second to realise that no one was reacting to your assault, for very good reason. You weren’t squirting cleaning fluid at some low life criminal but at the beskar heavy helmet of the Mandalorian. 

You lifted your fingers off the trigger and slowly lowered your arms. You were mortified at what you’d done and that was clearly written on your face, a deep sigh leaving your lips as you awaited his reaction.

Which was to chuckle. He was laughing at you, quietly, almost to himself, muffled by the helmet. 

 “What exactly was your plan, burc’ya?”

You glanced to the bottle still in your hand and gave a tiny shrug, throwing it uselessly onto the floor. 

“Make a run for it whilst their eyes were bleeding out?” It came out as a question because if you were being honest, you hadn’t thought that far ahead, the adrenaline running through your body overtaking any common sense you had. 

“It may have worked,” he mused. He looked down to his foot, getting distracted by something you couldn’t see from your place behind the bar. When he knelt down you realised in the madness of the situation you had forgotten about Grogu who had toddled into the cantina behind his guardian. 

It was when the Mandalorian stood up, Grogu settled into one arm, that you noticed blood in the crook of his elbow, the fabric ripped and exposing a nasty wound. You swallowed the lump in your throat at not only the thought of him being hurt, but also having to tell the man who never showed a sliver of skin that he was vulnerable in front of you. 

“Err, you’re hurt,” you tentatively motioned to his arm. You heard him suck in a breath as he saw what you were looking at, his whole body going rigid and if you had been a stranger entering the cantina you’d think he was nothing but a statue with how still he became. 

You walked to the other end of the bar where the medical supplies lay and picked up a metal box to rest on the top. It was an unopened medikit, kept in case of emergencies but never used seeing as you never usually had trouble come to this part of the planet.

You picked up a bacta patch and went back over to your friend who was still awkwardly standing there. You thought the best thing you could do was act like everything was normal, that nothing was wrong, that his creed wasn’t being broken and you weren’t looking at his skin. And if he really wasn’t comfortable you would let him stop you.

Ripping open the packaging you pulled out the bacta patch and leaned over the bartop slowly, allowing him time to stop you but he didn’t. You placed the patch inside the gap in his shirt and pressed it over the wound, making sure the edges were stuck to his skin.

Grogu watched every move you made, as though ensuring his guardian was safe in your hands, letting out a tiny squeal of happiness when you finished. You grinned at the strange creature and stroked the tiny hairs atop his head and it was only then you felt the Mandalorian relax. Only slightly, his shoulders lowered from where they were tensed up and where he held Grogu against his chest plate he wriggled his fingers out of their rigidness. It was enough to say ‘I trust you’ but not enough to completely let his guard down. It made you smile and you hoped underneath his helmet he was smiling too.

-

You were cleaning down the tables before you opened up for the morning patrons when you felt his presence behind you. You spun around and grinned at the sight of the Mandalorian, Grogu nestled in the crook of his good elbow.

“How’s the wound?” you asked, it hadn’t been a deep wound but it was big enough to warrant your worry.

“Fully healed. Thank you for helping me,” he replied sincerely, “my ship is fixed so I’ll be leaving now.”

You were aware of your heart dropping in disappointment at his admission. Apart from Lyra you didn’t have many friends, and you had enjoyed the Mandalorian’s company the past two days, his sense of humor was on the same dry, wavelength as yours and his genuine kindness towards you was refreshingly welcome. 

“Will you come back one day?” you asked hopefully, expecting him to say ‘no’.

“You’d want to see me again?” he questioned, confusion marring his voice. 

“I don’t have many friends, and I like Grogu,” your smile was cheeky when you stepped closer to the two of them, reaching out to let Grogu grip onto your finger, just as you’d done the first time you’d met.

“I’m certain I will need to pass through here again someday,” the Mandalorian shifted his weight, careful not to pull Grogu away from you until you were ready. 

“Stay safe, okay?” You looked up into the visor of his helmet, hoping you were staring into his eyes as you pleaded with him.

“I will,” he promised.

You gave a squeeze to Grogu’s tiny hand and stepped back, giving them permission to leave. The Mandalorian nodded, a thank you and a farewell rolled into one, and you waved them goodbye, hoping and preying to see them again. 

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