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anotherrevue · 1 year

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The Top 25 Movies of 2022

When I think about 2022, the highs of the year feel like a return to form, for movies and for myself personally. And yet, on further inspection, it’s possible that two straight years of largely garbage movies and even more garbage circumstances have set the bar rather low. Yes indeed, this year has been better in comparison, but it has not by any means measured up to “normal”.

There have been some bright spots – travelling all over the country to meet friends, watching movies I’ve been waiting to see for several years, etc – and there have been some dark recesses – of the mind, yes, but also whatever the fuck has been happening at Warner Bros. Discovery. And as far as my empty promises of lots of new pieces that I made in my first ever post, the ideas are still there, I just haven’t yet made most of them as coherent as I’d hoped. However, I have some breaking news for you: the year’s over, which means it’s time for the highlight reel babyyy! You’ll only find best-ofs here (sorry to The Gray Man) as we kick off another year.

Quick note to anyone who didn’t read the Shepitko piece: I’m totally on your side. It’s too long and too much like a SparkNotes summary of a biography. I wrote it while I was stuck deep down a well of love for this incredible artist who thought much along the same lines about art: “If I don’t do it, I’ll die.” Is that a sideways excuse for why I haven’t updated this blog in a long time? Maybe…

But back to 2022. An incredible year for theatres: Top Gun Maverick recreating the late great Tony Scott’s aesthetic for a fleeting 2 hour thrill ride was something I never expected. Avatar: The Way of Water leading the charge for high quality, must-see-in-3D movies on the other hand was something I completely expected and yet I still walked out absolutely in love with Pandora. The return of Jaws, ET and The Godfather in the form of picture-perfect restorations and pristine transfers was such a perfect lure back to theatres.

But as with any year, I saw most movies this year in my bedroom or on TV. 594 is a very large number, which troubles me. I worry that I watch too any movies – do I really process what I watch or is it robotic? Am I just putting on movies as a way to distract myself, and if so, is that fair?

I don’t really have answers there. It has certainly felt mechanical at times, and I felt like I reached saturation, occasionally feeling like I didn’t even care about movies. And then, just in the nick of time would come something like Crimes of the Future, a nasty piece of mystery fiction, but nasty in the best possible way, twisted by ol’ Dave Cronenberg to forefront his own preoccupations with the human body and relationships. Suddenly, I’d be back in love with films.

So what can I do? I’ll keep watching movies, but maybe slow down a little. Take time to process each movie before moving on. Watch with more purpose, more discernment. Maybe I don’t need to watch ALL of the new Pinocchios (del Toro’s is by far the most enjoyable, Zemeckis’ is a complete nothingburger and the Russian one is… unfathomably awful). And most of all, I’ll write more, because that helps me connect to movies more than just letting it swirl around in the cesspool that is my mind.

But enough of the rambling preamble. As a movie year, 2022 was twisty and all over the place. A great year for Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell (who was excellent in FOUR WHOLE MOVIES THANK YOU to the film deities!!), a great year for horror, a great year for weird shit that seemed to be aimed directly at me. A terrible year (I know I said no negativity so I’ll get this over quickly) for unfortunate franchises (Branagh’s Poirot, Jurassic World) and Tom Hanks, who was in the bad Pinocchio and generally agreed to be the worst part of Elvis. Undecided result for Margot Robbie, who was passably charming in an inexplicable film (Amsterdam) and reportedly excellent in an unmitigated flop that I’m excited to watch (Babylon).

I watched 141 movies released in 2022. Here are my top 25.

25. Causeway

24. Saloum

23. Save the Cinema

22. Bheeshma Parvam

21. The Lost King

20. Pada

19. Everything Everywhere All at Once

18. Nope

17. God’s Country

16. Hinterland

15. Hustle

14. The Northman

13. The Banshees of Inisherin

12. Prey

11. Benediction

10. Fire of Love

This was among my most anticipated movies of 2022. It’s rare for me to be so excited for a documentary – I usually stumble upon them and then get pulled into loving it. And unlike another documentary from this year that I loved (my precious Good Night Oppy, which made me cry, much like most movies about the space program), I wasn’t really pre-disposed to loving it. I’m a space guy, not a lava guy. Yet Fire of Love is special, because the premise promises a tragic love story, but from the first moment that we see the Kraffts, we realize that this isn’t tragic to them, no matter the outcome. They understand the risks fully and still it’s completely joyous for them. And the footage of the volcanoes is mesmerizing, you almost understand how inextricably drawn they felt to them. NatGeo, two years running, making my best of year list. I’ll keep my eye out for their 2023 releases.

9. The Woman King

This is Gladiator with most of the flab cut off. Gina Prince-Bythewood is one of my favourite working directors and her shift into action filmmaking is really remarkable, considering how emotionally focused her first three movies are. It makes sense though, once you realize that her action scenes are so fluid is because she herself is an athlete and she frames the scenes, not just as balletic or violent feats, but as a show of athletic prowess. From the opening – which is very reminiscent of the first Nakia scene in Black Panther – I was fully on board with the tone and scale of this movie, boosted in no small part by Viola Davis (the biggest Oscar snub of the year), Lashana Lynch (being an absolute dynamo on screen) and Thusu Mbedu (who somehow holds her own as a co-lead in this movie opposite Davis).

8. Jackass Forever

Like every iteration of Jackass, Forever is wonderfully juvenile, but there’s an added tinge of melancholy in watching Knoxville, Steve-O, Dave England and the rest of the original cast slowly come to terms with the fact that their bodies can’t take the same levels of punishment anymore. We see them hand over a lot of the stunts to the newer additions, who take the reins while also trying to get out of the giant shadows of Ryan Dunn and Bam. All that said, Knoxville and Steve-O still do the two most what the fuck gags in the movie, and Danger Ehren, as ever, is the victim of a nightmarish flurry of pain. But Jackass isn’t about violence; it’s just the most stupidly violent franchise about friends who love each other.

7. Kimi

Any movie Steven Soderbergh puts out is likely to make my best of, and it speaks to the quality of the top 10 this year that Kimi has dropped to the back half. This movie is fun as hell, an old school conspiracy thriller in the vein of (quite obviously) The Conversation and Rear Window, but set in a tech world that’s increasingly more familiar – and more frightening – to us. Of course, Soderbergh isn’t new to conspiracies (see: Erin Brockovich), but the thing that makes his work in Kimi particularly enthralling is his ability to capture natural human behaviour on screen. He makes excellent hangout movies (Oceans 11-13, Magic Mike, Let Them All Talk) because he knows that if you shoot movie stars in a certain way and pace it right, anything they do will be immensely watchable. And for Kimi, he teamed up with one of the very rare true-blue movie stars under 35 in Zoe Kravitz. She pulls the camera with a natural, easy magnetism that automatically sets us up on her side. Add Soderbergh’s excellent technical craft, and you get a lean, mean, murder mystery machine that has you in and out and completely satisfied in 90 minutes flat.

6. Top Gun: Maverick

Often the Best Actor/Actress Oscar is won by someone doing an interpretation of a real person that we’re all familiar with (Rami Malek for Freddie Mercury, Renee Zellweger for Judy Garland and possibly – god forbid – Austin Butler for Elvis). I think that should just be its own special Oscar: Best Re-Creation. And this year, Top Gun: Maverick should win that honour, because Joseph Kosinski (who I’m overall pretty mixed on as a director) does a spectacular job recreating that early Tony Scott style that made the first Top Gun so exhilarating. Funny thing, leading up to the release of this movie, I put my favourite Tony Scott movies on TV (I’ll take any excuse really). My sister walked in during the first 10 minutes of Unstoppable and not only was she completely hooked, but she insisted on watching the rest of the movies with me. So it was particularly fantastic to be able to show my sister a Tony Scott-esque movie in theatres for the first time. I wish there were more of them.

5. Avatar: The Way of Water

Yes I loved it. Am I a sucker for Jim Cameron? Also yes. The water footage is like watching NatGeo from another planet (in a good way, you should know by now that I’m a fiend for NatGeo). Cameron knows how the build tension in an action scene and he also knows how to shoot it so that you know exactly where everyone is in relation to each other, which seems to be a lost art in big budget blockbusters these days. But what gets The Way of Water to number 5 is the tulkun. What an incredible idea to have this species of space whales be intellectually and emotionally smarter than the Na’vi and yet have them choose to intertwine themselves with the Na’vi. And the decision to introduce this kind of an interspecies dynamic in the SECOND MOVIE when there’s is no analogue for it in the first, is a feat on its own. Although I should have probably recused myself from reviewing this movie, since Payakan is my best friend.

4. The Fabelmans

Steven Spielberg has always been a filmmaking savant, which this movie will tell you, but I think what makes The Fabelmans so good, and what has really been working for Spielberg in this last decade, is that he tackles honest, complex emotions head on instead of eschewing it for the classic Spielberg sentimentality. He portrays the intricate and overlapping familial dynamics in the Fabelman household (a thinly veiled depiction of his own home life) with shockingly little guile or deflection and shows us not only the joys, but the strains of being an artist.

3. TÁR

Hard to talk about this movie without just lavishing praise on Cate Blanchett, but I’ll try – not because she isn’t the best thing about it, but because every discussion about TÁR is so dominated by Cate Blanchett that other great parts of the movie fade into the noise. Todd Field as an actor is best known as Nick Nightingale in Eyes Wide Shut, but his work as a director in TÁR reminds me of the second half another Kubrick movie: Barry Lyndon. To start the movie at the peak of someone’s prowess and document their downfall, and not have audiences utterly despairing by the end is a special talent that few have, and Field certainly nails it. Noemie Merlant (of Portrait of a Lady on Fire fame) is an absolute beacon of charisma as Lydia Tar’s assistant, and her performance subtly elevates the audience’s investment in the story. But I think the secret sauce to the movie, and the emotional crux, is on the shoulders of Nina Hoss, who has very little screen time, yet really underscores the whole movie with one incredible line reading. The individual pieces of TÁR are excellent in their own right, which sometimes poses a problem when the filmmaker tries to put them all together, but the movie is so well-conceived and Field has such a strong artistic voice that the brilliance of each part only works to elevate the whole.

2. After Yang

The first of Colin Farrell’s 2022 movies remains my favourite, which is a shock because I would have put money on The Banshees of Inisherin being my number one movie of the year overall. And though Banshees has been slowly creeping up my rankings the longer I think on it, After Yang has held strong for nigh on a year. Kogonada’s first movie, Columbus, juxtaposed an emotional gentleness with the sadness of real life in a way that didn’t make me want to run away as movies like that normally do. Instead, he made the real world an enviable gentle place that doesn’t magic away tragedies but accepts them as an essential part of every person. In After Yang, Kogonada takes that sensibility and applies it to a sci-fi idea that is perhaps as old as the genre: what if a robot began to feel? The set-up is, on paper, similar to classics like Blade Runner and AI, but the movie is handled with a tenderness that those earlier movies had only sparingly. There’s a lot in After Yang about loss and grief and parenting, but also about the joys of culture and art.

1. Three Thousand Years of Longing

If you go back to my list last year, my number one was Night of the Kings, a Ivorian prison drama about the importance of storytelling. So I guess it’s pretty boring that this year, yet again, I’ve picked a film that features tales of magic and wonder. Three Thousand Years of Longing is a djinn movie, but what sets Three Thousand Years apart is the way these fairytales are portrayed. Rooted in real history, the stories have a sense of dream logic that makes every instance of magic makes sense. And the main story itself, much like another movie I loved this year (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande), cautiously but lovingly explores the awkward romanticism of two strangers in a hotel. Idris Elba’s Djinn is wary of his summoner, while Tilda Swinton’s Alithea, a scholar of storytelling, is well aware of the mischievous nature of djinns. Hijinks do not ensue, however. Rather, the two of them slowly let their guards down, as the Djinn warns Alithea of the dangers of previous wishes he’d had to grant, weaving tales of a mystical history that has her (and me) completely enraptured. Three Thousand Years feels to me like the closest a movie can get to the magic of bard recounting an oral tradition of love and war and the follies of humans.

***

As usual, some honourable mentions:

Decision to Leave, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Athena, A Man of Action, Mukundan Unni Associates, Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood, Watcher, Something from Tiffany’s (a very solid romcom) and motherfucking Ambulance because what a goddamn ride that movie is.

I don’t recommend stand-up specials often because nothing is less appealing than comedy recommendations. But Jerrod Carmichael’s Rothaniel is really the most intimate special I’ve seen while still being hilarious.

I know I don’t talk TV often but Andor and Slow Horses have three essentially perfect seasons between them and I’m very excited for what’s next.

Finally, Dinner in America is the most punk rock movie of the year and I really hope it gets a bit more traction because there aren’t enough straight up fuck the system movies being made, which is a major bummer.

***

I want to end on a note of cautious optimism, but I’ve gone on too long already, so let me just say this: we’re probably getting new movies from our greatest working directors[1], not to mention new entries in some of the most high quality franchises. Yes indeed, folks, a promising movie year lies ahead, and you might as well stay tuned to Another Revue - who knows? I might be true to my word about writing more.

___

Soderbergh (Magic Mike 3), Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), Michael Mann (Ferrari), Sofia Coppola (Priscilla), Miyazaki (How Do You Live?), Fincher (The Killer), Gerwig (Barbie), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things and possibly And), Reichardt (Showing Up), Nolan (Oppenheimer), Shyamalan (Knock at the Cabin), Ridley Scott (Napoleon), Steve McQueen (Blitz), Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest) ↩

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sienaries · 5 years

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y/n

#aftg #tfc #andreil #fanart #andrew minyard #neil josten #digital #illustration #note to myself: four hands in one picture is way too much trouble #y/n #yes or no #my heart says yes #my drawing hand definitely says no

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karmadona · 2 years

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Vice - BTS Mafia Au

Mafia!BTS x reader

Summary: After finding yourself in a desperate situation, you’re foolish enough to do anything for money, and you somehow find yourself held captive by the members of Seoul’s most ruthless gang, Bangtan.

Warnings: Strong language, no smut(yet, ;))

Authors Note: Just finished watching The Gentlemen and I’m incredibly inspired to write something about the mafia/underground crime lol. This will be my first fic I’ve ever posted, so feedback is encouraged

Chapter One

It was a Friday afternoon, letting out a sigh of exhaustion, I throw my backpack on the ground haphazardly as I enter my trailer. Another long day of college over, and another week of tedious work coming to a close. I flicked the light switch next to the door frame but the small space stayed in darkness. “For fucks sake” I mutter, I hadn’t paid the electrical bill. The place is a shithole, but it’s all I’ve got. But, with another 6 bags of weed sold today, I just might be able to get that bill paid. I always used to frown upon those who turned to selling drugs to make a quick buck, but here I am left with no choice but to join those who I had always seen myself as better than.

It’s a cliche story, really. Me and my brother, Jinwoo, had run away from our mother, an avid drug abuser and a pathetic excuse of a parent. Between the two of us we somehow scraped together enough money to pay the rent living in a trailer park, soon I enrolled myself in the local community college and Jinwoo found odd jobs to support us.

No more than four months later did I return from classes to a note stuck to the peeling wallpaper in the kitchen. He had landed himself in massive trouble with his dealer, and had fled to god knows where. I figured eventually he’d return when he deemed things safe but it’s been a year and a half, and not even a text, letter or phone call.

I tried to pick up part time jobs to continue paying the bills by myself, but it was useless. It seemed like every other day I was returning home to eviction warnings on my door. Eventually I had no choice but to do the one thing I had swore to myself I never would.

Turns out, selling drugs to stoner college kids really is a fast way to make money, though I’ve swore to myself that I would never take them under any circumstances. My dealer, Hyunwoo, pays me 305,000 won ($250) a week to sell to his clients on campus, and bring him the money. Hyunwoo’s a handsome man living in the run down part of the city, much like myself. He blows all his money on weed, but makes a hell of a lot of cash selling it. He’s surprisingly charming, and quite flirty, really. I’ve grown to like him the more I’ve got to know him, and he must like me to some extent too because he always pays me a little bit extra than he pays the others who work for him.

I realise it’s getting quite late and I should really head over to his pace to give him his money before it gets to dark. A short ten minute walk and I’m knocking on the front door of his apartment, waiting expectantly. The door swings open to reveal Hyunwoo leaning on the doorframe. He’s got long-ish black hair that reaches just past his ears, full lips and high cheekbones, he’s very attractive, well put together and not at all what you would picture when thinking of the stereotypical stoner.

“Ah, I figured you’d show up soon” He sends me a wink and pushes himself off the door frame. “Yeah, I’ve got your stuff in here, hang on” I dig through my bag until I find the wad of cash I had accumulated through the course of the day. He takes it from my hand and counts it, but as I turn to leave he puts a firm hand on my shoulder. “Actually, could you come inside a minute, I need to talk to you”

“Sure” I rack my brain for anything he could possibly want from me, but in the end I’m really not sure of his intentions with me. He places his arm gently on my lower back and leads me through his apartment to his living room. Despite the shitty part of town he lives in, his apartment is actually quite nice. The walls are a dark, pine green, paired with mahogany furniture. The overwhelming smell of tobacco and marijuana fills my lungs, causing me to scrunch my nose in disgust for a moment.

“Sit” he instructs, motioning to his tan, leather couch in the centre of the room. I follow his command as he stays standing, and I look up at him expectantly, waiting for him to speak. “I need you to do me a favour” he sighs. “depends what it is.” Inside, I desperately hope it’s just selling to a few extra people next week, or something minor like that. Knowing Hyunwoo, it most likely won’t be.

“Some fucking gang in the north of the city have something that belongs to me, and I need you to help me get it back.” “no.” I respond bluntly. “I’m only doing this cause I need the money, I don’t want anything to do with your gang shit.” He thinks for a moment, but then continues. “I’ll pay you an extra 6,000,000 won ($5000) if you do this job for me.” Initially, I go to immediately decline his offer, but then I hesitate.

6,000,000 won? that could pay my rent for a full year. If I don’t take this job, I’ll never be able to pay that electrical bill, I could be evicted by the end of the month. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and I am desperate. “continue…” I say apprehensively, hoping the job will be quick and easy, but considering how much he’s had to offer me to do it, it probably won’t be.

Hyunwoo explains to me that there’s an upcoming gathering, disguised as a lavish party, for Seoul’s mafia bosses, drug lords and all sorts of other underground crime schemers, to discuss deals and other business offers. The group -or gang, I guess- organising it operate under the name Bangtan. It does ring a bell but to be honest I’m not all that familiar with them or their work, and I have no intention to be.

Hyunwoo claims Bangtan have stolen something that belongs to him, and that my job, is to get that thing back. “When you enter the building there’ll be a long hallway to your right, with a staircase at the end, go up the stairs and into the third door on your left. There should be a desk in the centre of the room, and in the bottom drawer, you’ll find a briefcase. Bring it back to me.”

Silence overcomes the room for a brief moment as he finishes explaining my task. I take a moment to think before I finally speak. “One question” His dark eyes bore into me as he awaits for me to continue. “why me?” “what do you mean?” “Well, you have so many other people who work for you, who are much more skilled at this stuff than I am, why not send one of them? I know anyone with common sense would gladly take the money.”

Hyunwoo, who had been rolling joints throughout the duration of our conversation, reaches into his drawer and pulls out a lighter, igniting the end of one of the blunts. I give him a look of disapproval, not that he cares, though. “You’re absolutely correct, this errand would have a much higher chance of success if I sent one of my good men, but Bangtan knows them all. We’ve done many deals with them in the past that they’d easily recognise any one of them. You, however, they don’t know, as long as I get you a fake invite and a fake ID, no-one will bat an eye at you.”

Hyunwoo takes my still quietness as a silent acceptance. “It’ll be next friday at 10pm, I’ll text you the address tomorrow.” “alright” I say, standing up from the very stylish, but rather uncomfortable, couch and make my way over to the door. “I’ll see you later then” Just as I’m passing through the frame of his front door the sound of his voice stops me in my tracks, “And, Y/N?” I hover in the doorway awaiting a response, only for him to snicker, and say “Wear something pretty” he flashes me a grin and begins to laugh as I roll my eyes at him, and make my way out the door.

Authors Note: Chapter Two will be up as soon as possible! :))

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airplanned · 3 years

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All the Trashy Novels Part 30

This was fun, y’all. Thanks for humoring me!

Part 1...Part 29

***

She spent four days mostly standing in front of the Goddess statue, trying to glow without requiring something inappropriate to trigger it. She could now get it every single time with very minimal effort, but that effort was usually Link coming up behind her and placing a kiss where her neck met her shoulder, or trailing his fingers from the inside of her elbow to her wrist. And suddenly her skin was lit up like a camp fire, a fuzzy pleasure brushing over her like a thin blanket. It was embarrassing and frustrating, but at least she could trigger it without an orgasm and could hold her luminous state for long stretches once she got it going.

"That's true," Link agreed. He'd taken a seat on the ground with his arms resting on his bent knees. "You just need to work on not making that face."

Zelda huffed, her arms flopping to her sides and her glow spluttering out. "I'm trying!"

The problem was that now that she'd allowed herself to feel affection for Link, she always felt a little giddy and ridiculous when she did so. Apparently, this manifested not only in a divine luminescence, but also in a love-struck look on her face. Link referred to it as "bedroom eyes" when he was being polite, and "fuck me face" when he wasn't. He'd taken a bunch of pictures to show her, and he was (annoyingly) correct. She could not make that face in public.

"Maybe you'd look less sultry if you closed your eyes," he said.

"Then I wouldn't be able to see anything!"

"Can you use your Goddess powers to see things?"

"I can use my Goddess powers to glow! They don't do anything else!"

"Are they supposed to?"

"I don't know!"

"Try it."

She closed her eyes and tried it. She remembered the warm pressure in her chest and she remembered the heat of his breath on her skin and she thought about how he he'd made her a tiny little cake the night before and then blushed as she'd gushed over it. Those were things that she liked about him. Those were good things, and she felt a way about them.

The glow didn't light.

Why not? Those had made her feel things. She felt things. Things for Link. She took another breath and pushed into less appropriate territory, of the way he'd wrapped around her back the night before and let his hands wander until she was moaning with abandon and glowing, burning.

"You got it?" His hands came to rest on her hips, and her eyes popped open as she lit up.

Goddess, she hated that he could do that. She batted the thought away, and held tighter to her lust. Goddess, she liked his hands on her.

He looked taken aback, almost awed. Even though he was expecting it. Even though he'd seen it dozens of times now.

Part of why she needed to get her face under control was that it affected Link so.

He swallowed hard. "Close your eyes. Let's see if that...oh." His voice turned rough. "Oh, that's so much worse."

He pulled her in at the waist and kissed her desperately.

Link made himself scarce as she wrote up her field notes. She had very little to write. She'd made very little progress.

In frustration, she tossed her journal away. She would just have to have Link come touch her when he was done battling Ganon. Maybe he could magically poke her with his index finger as if she were the Sheikah slate. And they most likely would evacuate the area, so it wouldn't matter if she had on her come-hither face. Link would just have to deal with not making out with her for however long it took to seal the Calamity away. And who cared if she made a face? If making a face saved the world, no one would be allowed to say anything.

Except Zelda cared. She didn't want to look ridiculous, and she didn't want to rely on Link to access her own powers. She glared at her journal.

Where was Link anyway?

She stomped off to go glare at him.�� Or go have him be gentle and compassionate until she had too much trouble holding onto her irritation.

She found him before the Goddess statue, his head bowed, the sword drawn with its tip resting against the ground.

She frowned harder. "Are you praying?" she asked.

He startled and spun around. "Oh. Yeah. Um. You haven't been praying lately, so I've had to...pray by myself."

An old, familiar hurt settled over her. Of course he was on such good terms with the Goddess, when she was...she was...

She was working on her relationship with the Goddess. She understood that maybe it was all a big misunderstanding, but that didn't mean it didn't still hurt, and it didn't mean she wasn't still upset that she couldn't fully access her powers without the help of someone the Goddess liked.

Link looked nervous, as if he knew she was about to shout at him again. Guilt lanced at her stomach. She lowered her eyes and stepped near him.

"What do you pray for?" she asked quietly.

"Um. Nothing?"

She snorted. "You pray for me."

He didn't say anything, which confirmed it.

"Show me," she said. She turned him back to face the Goddess, and slipped her way into his arms, her back to his chest. She placed her hands over his as they planted the sword to the ground.

He held himself stiff with discomfort, but then relaxed his arms under hers and lowered his head. "Close your eyes," he murmured.

Well, this was her idea. She closed her eyes and lowered her head.

"I pray for you to have some guidance," he said. "Because you desperately want to please her, and you want to do it right, but all you have to go on are rumors and what you're ordered to do by people who don't know what they're doing either. I pray for some sign that you're on the right path. Not because I want to know, because I know you'll get there. But for you. You need assurance or your self-doubt eats at you, and there's no way that self-doubt will save Hyrule.

"And I pray for you to be happy. Because you're beautiful when you're sad and you're beautiful when you're angry, but I would die to see you smile. To hear you laugh. The way you carry yourself when you're at ease, the excited way you talk when you catch onto something new. That light in you could light the whole world. It could burn away the Calamity."

"You're a charmer," she murmured.

"You're a peach."

She snorted. "You don't pray like I do."

"Yeah?"

"I wouldn't tell the Goddess all that."

"Why not?"

Why not? "Because she already knows?"

"But maybe she wants to hear you say it."

"She wants me to wax poetic about a girl?" she teased.

"Wax poetic about what you love."

"Love is a strong word."

"And you're asking for a powerful weapon."

Her eyebrows furrowed. In a small voice she asked, "What should I pray for?"

He thought for a moment. "Why do you want to save Hyrule?"

"Because it's my--"

Duty.

She startled. The answer had rolled off her tongue.

Anxiety she couldn't name clawed at her chest. She shifted uncomfortably. Maybe standing like this had been a bad idea.

"She'd like to hear you say it."

Her breath shook. "I want to save my people. My friends. Urbosa and Revali and Mipha and Daruk. They're so devoted and encouraging. If they fell, then their people would suffer. All the brilliance of our people would falter, all compassion and the triumphs. The wonderful art and music and literature--"

"Even the bad literature."

"Especially the bad literature! And the bad music! All the ridiculous rumors, and the guards who devour those rumors, and all the fake girlfriends out there. We would lose all of that! And as shameful as it is, I would fight for those things."

"What else would you fighting for?"

"The Sheikah technology. You don't know the victory you feel when two pieces snap together. The thrill when a guardian lights blue under my hands. The way Robbie nods along when I ramble and then picks up my thoughts and runs with them, taking them somewhere new, and the I can pick them up again and run farther. The way Purah grabs my arm the moment I walk into the lab. The way she drags me to a diagram and asks my opinion. As if I'm wanted! As if I'm needed!"

The sword flared under her hands, a ringing note at the base of her skull, and her eyes flew open at the call for attention.

She was glowing. A warm pressure burned in her chest, and she grabbed hold of it to maintain it.

"What--"

"Things you care for," Link murmured.

She turned her head to look at him in surprise and confusion.

The corner of his mouth quirked. "You're not making the face."

"How long have I been glowing?"

"Since you declared your love for trashy novels."

"Love is a strong word."

He shook his head and laughed under his breath.

"But,” she said, “I need a strong weapon.”

His eyes darkened. “You’re making the face again.”

When she kissed him, it was bright and sharp as the sun.

#Zelda #My Fic #All the Trashy Novels

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sunlightdances · 3 years

Text

Honey Slow

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Original Fem Character (unnamed, could also be read as reader insert) Summary: It always takes Bucky an extra two days to get to Sam and Sarah’s place. He’s always really tight lipped about it. Author’s Note: If you thought I was going to watch TFAWS and not write Bucky Barnes fic, you were sorely mistaken. Disclaimer: I don’t own Marvel or any associated characters, just borrowing them for a bit. The title is also a song by Colton Venner, with lovely lyrics. Please don’t repost anywhere without my permission! I’d love it if you reblogged.

Bucky sighs as he gets out of the car, seeing Sam on the front porch steps looking like a disappointed father. His arms are crossed over his chest, tapping his toe.

“You were supposed to be here two days ago.” He says.

“I took the scenic route.” Bucky says, tucking his sunglasses into his pocket. “I like the drive.”

“Uh huh. You can tell Sarah that. She made a plate for you and it sat there, all alone and miserable looking…”

Bucky rolls his eyes, opening the back door of the car and grabbing his bag. “Okay, okay, I get it. I did check in with you, you know.”

Bucky can see the look on Sam’s face, and can see what he’s not saying. He feels it too. Hard to get rid of the feeling, even after all these years. Hard to tell yourself that just because you can’t see someone, they’re still okay and alive.

“Bucky!” They’re interrupted by the kids barrelling out of the house and launching themselves at the man.

“That’s Sergeant Barnes to you, rugrats.”

“Yes sir!” They echo each other, saluting him.

“For Christ’s sake.” Sam mutters. “Let’s go, in the house, in the house.”

Bucky, thankful to avoid the inquisition, heads inside with the boys. He really doesn’t feel like getting into every detail of his road trip with Sam, at least not now.

Sarah is mercifully understanding, even tells Sam to lay off.

“I’m just saying. It’s suspicious.”

“You’re suspicious, Cap.” Bucky mutters under his breath, shoveling another forkful of apple pie into his mouth.

He likes being at Sam’s place. It’s quiet. Their friends and neighbors have kept it pretty quiet, about where Captain America lives. They make sure people who come poking around don’t get too much information.

Bucky suspects that they’ve been keeping quiet about him, too. It warms him inside to think that he’s considered part of this family.

It’s taken him a long time to put down roots. Even now, he floats between Brooklyn, DC, and Louisiana. He just can’t seem to find a place that feels like home.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Sam’s voice floats through the air. “I know you’re keeping something from me.”

Bucky scoffs. “Like you tell me everything.”

“Fine, fine.” Sam sighs, sitting down on the steps next to Bucky. “Keep your secrets. Just-- you’re not into anything, are you?”

Bucky turns his head slowly. “No. You think I’d keep that from you?”

Sam puts his hands up in surrender. “I had to ask.”

“Just-- let me keep this to myself for a while longer.” He makes eye contact with Sam. “Okay?”

Sam’s quiet for a minute. “Yeah. Okay.”

Bucky stays for a few days. He helps with some repairs around the house, and some on the boat. He plays with the kids, and he and Sam spar. He runs.

Three days later, he hits the road.

He meanders down two-lane highways, windows down, music loud. His heart beats a little harder when he pulls into her driveway. The lights are on inside, and he takes a second to watch her silhouette. He feels as nervous as he did the day he met her.

The window slides open. “Are you going to sit out there all day?” She asks, her voice carrying, and he smirks.

“Maybe. Enjoying the view.”

She rolls her eyes, and shuts the window again. He takes that as his cue and gets out of the car, tucking his keys into his pocket as he jogs up the front walkway and to the front door. The door opens before he gets there, and he takes her in, hair tied up loosely and barefoot. He likes her like this.

“Hi.” He says. He wants to roll his eyes at himself - his palms are sweaty.

“Hi there.” She smiles.

“Gonna let me in?”

She grins wider. “Maybe.”

Her smile lights him up. Four months ago, on his trip back to New York, he stopped in a small town for something to eat, a cup of coffee, and a book. The bookstore was charming, and the owner even more so. She smiled at him then just like she is now, and he still can’t fathom that he gets to be with her like this.

“Sergeant Barnes. Good to see you.”

“You too, ma’am.”

“You’re late.” She opens the door wide enough that he can push past her.

“I was being held against my will.”

She snickers. “You were not.” She joins him in the kitchen, and starts to pour them both a glass of whiskey. “Did you have a good time?”

He nods. “Always do.” He looks down, and then sneaks another look at her. “Missed you.”

She looks pleased, but tries to play it off. “I saw you five days ago.”

He shrugs. “Still missed you.” He decides to just play all his cards and moves a little closer. This is still new. He’s not really sure what he’s doing. He is sure that he cares about her. She’s been another bright spot as he tries to figure out who he is.

She doesn’t know him, not really, not outside of what she learned a million years ago in middle school. But to her -- he’s just Bucky.

He gets to write his own story this time.

“I might have missed you a little bit, too.” She says, coy.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t get too smug.”

He laughs. “Me? Never.” Even closer now, he crowds her against the counter, just slightly, just so she has to look up a little bit to make eye contact with him. Her perfume is something earthy mixed with vanilla.

“You’re like a furnace.”

He tilts his head to one side. “Unfortunate side effect.”

She hums. “Not for me; I’m always cold.”

“Good thing you met me then.”

“Good thing.” She agrees.

Finally, she closes the distance. Her kiss is sure, slow, and sets his head spinning. He feels like honey is running through his veins, warming him from the inside out.

“There.” She whispers. “Now sit down, I have dinner for you.”

“You didn’t have to go to the trouble--”

“It’s no trouble, Bucky.”

They sit down at the table together, knees touching as they eat. He keeps stealing glances at her, and she just shakes her head. He stops drinking before she does, even though he barely feels a buzz. Never does, these days.

“You’re staring again.”

“I’ve been told.” He says, smirking. “Listen, I… what would you think about going to Louisiana with me next time?”

She pauses, setting her fork down slowly. “Really?”

He nods. He’s ready, he thinks. There’s always the fear. The fear that it’s all going to be too much, or even worse, the fear that he’s going to put a target on the back of anyone he cares for. He’s tired of being scared. He trusts Sam. He trusts Sarah. He knows the kids would love her. And most important of all, he trusts her.

“No pressure.” He says. “Just -- I think Sam probably knows. Or suspects, anyway. He’d like you. You’d like him, too.”

“Who wouldn’t like Sam Wilson?” She says, winking.

Bucky rolls his eyes, relief rushing through him at the sight of her smiling. “Make sure you say that in front of him. It’s good for his ego.”

She leans in a little closer. “I’m… I’m serious about this, Bucky. About me and you. If you are.”

“I am.” He tries to show her, tries to make her see it in his eyes. He wants to be selfish, for once.

“Alright then. Next time you’re on your way down, you can pick me up in that nice car of yours. Just give me enough notice so I can close the shop for the weekend or get someone to cover.”

His heart swells. He pictures the two of them in his car, her hair highlighted by the sun and their hands wound together tightly. He’ll have time to be anxious about the introduction to Sam when they cross that bridge, but for now he’s content with the fact that she wants to do this. That she wants to be with him and wants to meet the people who are important to him.

There’s someone on that list he wishes she could meet. But for now, this is good. This is really good, and he says another prayer that he was given a third, fourth, and even fifth chance. They brought him to her.

That night when he falls asleep, he doesn’t have a single nightmare. He barely even dreams, except for one vision of her, that smile he loves so much the only thing on his mind.

#bucky barnes x oc #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction

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bjornswoman · 3 years

Text

His bride

Requested by none.

Author's note: Hey guys! It took me a long timw to finish this one, because I wrote it and deleted it then. It just never seemed perfect. I think that it is nice now. I hope you like it. Thanks for your support. Take care and have a good day!

Pairing: Modern!Ubbe x Reader.

Genre: Modern!au, drama, angst, romance.

Summary: Ubbe and you are getting married.

Warnings: None.

You looked at yourself through the mirror. You looked like a porcelain doll. A princess. The white bridal dress fitted perfectly on your body. It hugged your curves like it should do. Your hair was up in a tightly bun and a veil covered your face. The engagement diamond ring was wrapped tightly around your finger and burning was finger. In a day like this one, your wedding's day, you should be more than happy, but there you stood, looking sad and troubled. This wedding was just a covering. A way for both Ubbe and you to get away of difficult situations.

Your family was the type of family that wanted you or better pressured you to marry. But no any man. A man that would be the right for you. The man who they would choose. That man should be rich, famous, from a 'good' family. You had enough of their bullshit. Well, you had married once due to their pressure. That man was nothing like what you had seen at first. He was a lawyer, a famous one. You thought that he was kind and he would treat you fair, but it was nothing like what you thought. Mason was a drunk. He treated you like you were trash. He had even hit you once and of course that was the moment you divorced him. Your stupid family considered it as an unfortunate moment and tried to find another man that was suitable for you.

You would bear someone like Mason again, so you made a deal with Ubbe who had to marry a good woman for his own reasons. It all happened a night, at a bar. You had never spoken to him before, but you knew him because of his younger brother, Hvitserk. Hvitserk and you were friends and he took his brother, Ubbe, to the bar you used to hang out. That night you were extremely upset with them, because they arranged for you to meet a man. He was sitting on a stool next to you listening to you rumbling about your damned life.

"I just can't relive all this." You had said and downed the liquid that was in your glass. His blue eyes had never left your face. Also, he wasn't bored of your rumbling, he listened to you sipping from his whiskey without interrupt you a bit. You had told him all the story. Everything that he had to know.

"You and me aren't so different us both of us thought." Ubbe had started saying and placed the glass on the table before both of you. "You know my father had built a great empire which me and my brothers have inherited. But there is a little detail that prevents us from taking it. Each brother has to be married in order to take his past of Ragnar's heritage. So to take my share I have to be married and I am not. And you know my mother has to check her, to see whether she's right or not." He continued, shocking you. If he hadn't told you about it, you would have never guessed that he had to marry somebody for taking his share of the heritage. "I am thinking of something a while now." After this he paused for some time. "I feel kind of weird because of what I am proposing to you, but it seems a fair solution for us both. Both of us need to marry for our own reasons. I propose to marry each other for four months. This wedding will be a lie, for me to take my share and for you to gain some money and leave your family behind. What do you thing about it, (Y/N)?" He had asked and drank some of the whiskey inside his glass.

You should have said no. You shouldn't have agreed. But what he was saying was tempting and reasoning. You would be free and away from your family. You agreed and after that night everything happened before you could understand that they were happening.

You signed a contract and for the next two months you fake-dated, but much to you surprise you were going to restaurants or bars and talked. You talked more than him. He liked listening to you. But when you asked him about himself he was hesitated. He wasn't the kind of man who talked about himself. You had only understood he was married before with a woman but he divorced that woman for reasons that were unknown to you. Also, you knew he wanted to have a big family that would have a lot of children. He loved children. Instead of leaving you alone all these two months that you were supposed to date, you were hanging out like two friends would do.

And then happened the worst thing that could have happened; you fell in love with Ubbe. This thing was hurtful, because you knew that Ubbe would never feel the same thing for you. You were desperately in love with him and this wedding wasn't helpful.

Your parents were more than happy because you had chosen a man like Ubbe. Rich, kind, reasonable, famous, coming from such a family. They couldn't see the state you were in. Instead of being happy and blissful, you were miserable and sad. You loved the man you were going to marry because of a deal. This wedding was fake and he didn't love you, but you did and all this thing had become way more complicated than it had already been since the beginning.

You couldn't speak to your famiky, of course, about your problem, they couldn't understand. Only Hvitserk knew the truth, but you couldn't talk to him too. He was Ubbe's brother you were afraid that he would say something to Ubbe.

You sat on the bed and left a heavy sigh. Everything had taken the wrong way. You had fucked up everything with those bloody feelings of yours for Ubbe. The hotel room seemed to be smaller than it was moments ago, when the girls helped you dress and the air started to end. You felt like you couldn't breathe, like this gown on your body tightened and tightened all the time. The ring on your finger made all this even worse than it had already been.

When the door opened you stood up from the bed and forced a smile on your face. Your maids along with your mother and the photographer to take some pictures and get you fully ready for your big day. You wanted to talk to your mother, to tell her how you felt, you wanted her advice but she wouldn't understand you. She had never ever understood you. She took out of her purse a small velvet box, as she did that tears were forming on her eyes. You frowned confused. You had married before but she hadn't given you anything but advice for the first night after the wedding.

"This is a gift from my own mother to me on my wedding day." She told you and take out of the box a necklace. Your mother placed it on your neck and you looked at it and then at her. You were still confused. "I was wrong a lot of times with you (Y/N) and I am sorry. I am giving this to you know, because I think that you deserve it. You will be happy with Ubbe, not because he is a Lothbrok, because he cares for you for real." She continued and you couldn't bear the tears anymore. Tears started streaming down your eyes and she helped you wipe them away. You sat down on the bed again and she told to everyone else in the room to leave you two alone. "Do you want to tell me the reason you cry? Something is wrong and I can sense it. You can talk to me (Y/N)." She continued as she sat next to you. You turned to look at her. She seemed really troubled, like she really cared for your state.

You felt shame because of your huge lie to them, but you had no other choice. They didn't leave you have other choice. You sighed heavy and turned your gaze to your hands.

"I feel like I can't breathe, like this room is getting smaller and smaller, like this dress is tightening and tightening around my body, trying to choke me, is that normal?" You spoke and she smiled. You looked desperately.

"Yes, it is. All of us felt these things on our big day. Just don't think about it. Nothing will change after this day. You love him and he loves you, you will just live together. Only this will change. Now I have to go." She said and caressed your bare shoulder softly. You sighed again.

Only if things happened like this, everything would be easier.

"Ah Ubbe..." You sighed and placed your hand on your forehead. "Why can't you feel what I feel?" You asked desperately.

You stood up afraid when you heard someone couching close to the door. You eyes met two familiar playful green eyes and you smiled. At least you tried to smile.

"How are you best man?" You asked him smiling and wrapped your hands around him in a hug. He let out a laughter.

"I am listening in the bride hoping for the groom to love her, am I right?" He asked. You blushed and looked away. Hvitserk laughed again.

"You - you are and I wanted to tell you, but I was a coward. These - these feelings for Ubbe is mistake and you know the reason. I shouldn't have let myself falling like that. Hvitserk what am I going to do now? How can I live the next four years like that?" You asked and let the tears fall again from your eyes. He hugged you again and caressed your hair.

"You should tell him." He said and you lifted your gaze to look at him. "I mean like real. If you don't talk with him, if you don't tell him your feelings about him, you will never know what he feels for you. Don't act like a teenager because if you dont do it, you will lose him, like real. Just do it." He told you, caressing your cheek. When he finished, he placed a kiss on that same kiss and left you alone again.

Hvitserk was right. You should talk to Ubbe, but the problem was that you couldn't say it. What if he didn't feel the same thing, what would you do?

A knock on the door stopped you from thinking what to do. Your father entered the room with a smile and you forced a smile on your face.

"It's time." He whispered and you walked closer to him. Both of you walked out of the room and went inside the elevator. "If you don't want this wedding to happen, we can stop it. In case you have changed your mind." Your father said again, lookimg at you. You looked at him again. If all this finished here, you would never see him again. Ubbe wouldn't want to see you. You smiled, it was a real smile this time.

"I haven't changed my mind. I want to marry Ubbe." You spoke and stepped out of the elevator with you father next to you.

The car ride was quick. You were tgere in no time. When everyone saw you stood up. Your father wrapped his hand around your arm. Your eyes were to Ubbe, as his own was on you. He looked more elegant than usual. He had always been elegant and handsome, but that day he was more of that two things than any other day. You walked down the aisle next to your father, eyes on Ubbe, hands and body sweating.

"Here, love and protect her." You father said to Ubbe.

"I will." He spoke back to your father and took your hand and looked deep in your eyes. He placed a kiss on your lips. It didn't last as long as you would like, but you could say that he was a good kisser. The best kisser. "I have to tell you something after all this." He whispered to you when he pulled away from you.

But before anything else happen, somebody's voice, a woman's voice, stopped you. Everyone along Ubbe and you turned to look at her. You didn't know her. She was blonde and her eyes were blue, like Ubbe's, but Ubbe's eyes had the most beautiful blue you had ever seen in your life. Nobody had that kind of eyes, only his father, his brother Bjorn and his brother Ivar.

"This wedding can't happen because it's all a lie." She yelled and you frowned. She knew. Somehow she knew the truth and you weren't the one who spoke about it to her, because you didn't know her at all, but even if you knew her, you wouldn't tell. You had told to nobody. So it was Ubbe who told her. You turned your gaze at him. He seemed to know her by the look of his face. He was angry. "Yeah, you heard right. My sweet ex husband and now just lover, Ubbe, is only marrying that little girl because he wants to take his share of his father's heritage and she has her own reasons. Her parents craved to get her married so badly and I can't blame them, look at her. Ubbe, my love, you were right. If it wasn't you, she wouldn't find a man easily." She said and you turned you eyes again to Ubbe. How could you have feelings for that man? He tricked you. He acted all elegand, kind, reasonable, gentle and genuine, but he was just a liar. He was like all the other rich people.

"Get the heck out of here!" He growled and she smirked. His blue eyes met with Hvitserk's green eyes and Hvitserk made his way to her. He tried to take her away from there. She resisted but he was stronger than her.

You didn't know what to say. People were gossiping. Your siblings tried to calm down your parents. You were speechless. Ubbe turned to look at you, but your hand fell violently on his cheek, so hard that his head turned to the said and you hand hurt after the slap.

"How dare you!" You yelled at him and tried to relax for a second. When he turned his head around again, his blue eyes were darker than any other time you had looked at them. Ubbe was even agrier than before but you didn't care. You didn't care at all. "I don't want to see your face even again." You said again and run away from there. You didn't expect him to follow you. After all that you would laugh if someone told you so. But he did.

His strong hand gripped your arm and forced you to turn around and look at him. You resisted, but he was stronger. You spitted on his face and he cleaned himself. You shouldn't have done that, because it only enraged him more than before. You could understand that from the way his grip tightened around your arm.

"Let me go! I don't want to see you ever again! How dare you told her about our deal? And how dare you told all those things for me? You don't even know me! Two months is not a long time, Ubbe Lothbrok! So let me go!" You yelled again. Tears were running down your cheeks without you noticed. His thumb travelled on one of your cheeks and cleaned the tears. Then he did the same to the other. "Don't touch me!" You continued and moved your face away from his thumb, but his strong grip on your arm didn't let you move too far away from him, so he did clean your face from the tears.

"First of all brave enough of you to spit me on the face. It was surprisingly funny. Also, sorry for talking to Margrethe about us. It all happened when I was drunk. Margrethe was my ex wife and it was a mistake that I started seeing her after our divorce, but you have to believe me that I have never spoke shit about you. I enjoy your company." He told you, looking straight into your eyes. You believed him. He was telling the truth. You could see through his eyes that he meant each word he said. Ubbe placed his hand on your cheek.

"Why did you divorce that woman?" You asked him the question that was on your mind all this time. He had told you before that he had divorced his former wife, but he had never really told you the reason and you hadn't asked. You saw Ubbe tensing up, but he didn't refused.

"She wasn't who I thought se was. After our wedding I saw the real face of hers. She is an ambitious woman who craves only money. I did everything she asked. I even shared her with Hvitserk." He answered and you felt disgusted. You knew that they used to share woman, but you didn't know that Ubbe shared with Hvitserk his wife. "Will you forgive me?" He asked again and you sighed.

"I don't know if I can." You started saying. You were going to spill the truth about your feelings. He clearly wasn't feeling the same towards you, but you couldn't keep it amy longer in you. You had to say it, to take out of you. "You betrayed my feelings." You said again and he frowned confused. "I developed feelings for you. I - I can't get you out of my mind. I know - I know that we had agreed no feelings but I can't define my feelings. I know that you don't feel the same, you don't have to reject me nicely. I just needed to tell you to take it out of me. Hvitserk told me to—" You were rambling, but his lips on yours stopped you. You were surprised at first, but you leaned in his kiss. The best kiss you had even had in your whole life. He was kissing you hungrily, bitting your lip. You moaned within the kiss and he entered his tongue in your mouth. "What was that?" You spoke within your heavy breaths, as you tried to breathe normally. Ubbe smirked.

"That was my way to shut you down and tell you that I fancy you, woman." He answered amd you felt confused.

"What?" You asked shocked and he smirked again.

"I like you, pet, like real." He spoke and you smiled. You wrapped his both hands around your waist and pulled you closer to him. "That was what I wanted to tell you after the ceremony." He continued and you chuckled. He pressed his lips on yours again in one passionate kiss.

"And now what?" You asked when you stopped.

"Honeymoon trip?" He proposed and you chuckled again. "Let's get out of here." Ubbe told and both of you sterted walking.

#vikings ubbe #ubbe imagine #ubbe ragnarsson #ubbe #ubbe lothbrok #modern ubbe #ubbe x reader #vikings imagine #vikings x reader #modern au

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princessmariaphiliper · 3 years

Text

THE SLEEPOVER FIC | Part 9 The Fluff

Summary: You and James have put yourselves into trouble, but you think maybe it’s hotter that way.

Notes: James Acaster,

Pairing: James Acaster x Reader

Genre: Fluff, , Slow Burn fic

Words: 1,472

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9

In the evening there came a knock at your door. Four gentle raps and you recognised the tune. Ed. He stepped inside your apartment, and you graced him with confusion.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, am I okay to come in?”

The two of you stood in your hallway, plagued in an awkward silence. The corner of his mouth flicking up in amusement. You felt nervous, as though he somehow miraculously knew about the things you’d done the night before with James.

James was (you presumed) back at his own place after having gone to work with Ed. He’d agreed with you when you opened the suggestion of keeping things on the low in relation to Ed knowing about your casual dating. Still somewhere you didn’t know entirely if you could trust James yet. And so Ed being here moved you into a panic.

“Are you okay?” Ed said inquisitively as he walked into your living room, brows furrowed, fronting his entertainment by your nervous disposition.

“Yeah yeah. I just wasn't expecting you at all.”

“Oh sorry are you expecting someone?”

“No its fine, place is just a bit of a mess that's all”

You looked around your apartment. Having just returned home there still sat yours and James’s glasses from the night before, as well as your discarded underwear beside the sofa. You hurried over to them, while Ed lingered beside the television.

“Wild Sunday night?” He teased.

You blushed, nodding. Worrying your bottom lip between your teeth, although stopping as soon as you began from the jolt of pain it caused you. Their sensitivity and tiredness still lingered from James’s rough treatment.

He’d walked you all the way to your studio building this morning. Even offering to bring you some lunch later on as you hadn’t had a chance to prepare anything last night. You declined thankfully, saying you didn’t mind the opportunity to visit a cafe close to work as Olive kept raving about their lunchtime menu. He left you with a polite smile, by asking when he could see you again.

“I didn’t know you were seeing anyone y/n”

“Um yeah. Just sort of happened”

“Ah. I see” Ed moved closer to the now tidied up couch area, gesturing with his hands. “Is there anywhere I shouldn't sit?”

Images of you and James presenting themselves in the forefront of your mind unclothed and in bliss covering the sofa. You paused for a moment to consider where the purest area was. Your stomach doing flips upon realisation that on every cushion you had (unforgettably) fucked his best mate. Pointing to the left you figured was safest. Cunnilingus didn’t seem too bad compared to cowgirl.

“There.” you suggested and Ed sat down.

“Oh I invited James by the way. He’s not got much on since Sarah’s out of town so I figured we could keep him company. Hope that's alright.”

Your bloodflow stopped, unsure of whether or not you could handle the pressure of being around the two of them together. Another knock came at the door, James entering in a panic.

“Y/n I’m sorry I-” He spoke hurriedly before cutting himself off upon noticing Ed already plopped on the couch. His eyes went a little wide before he composed himself. You could see him picturing the two of you in his own mind for a hot minute.

You stood dumbly with your underwear and wine glasses in hand. “Come on in James, don’t be shy.”

“Sorry I” He came up with an excuse for his hurried entrance. “I thought I was late?”

He of course didn’t think he was late. The underlying truth in actuality was that he’d ran to your apartment in an attempt to arrive before Ed and explain away the coincidence.

“No you’re alright, I just got here mate.”

“Ah, right then.”

A numb silence ensued and you took the opportunity to regain some dignity and toss your pants into your bedroom. James watched you nervously, he was still dressed in the cl0othes you’d given him this morning. It was starting to feel as though he lived there.

“Shall I order takeaway?” Ed opened into the flat. And as James made his way over to the sofa he gave him a polite nod - stating “I wouldn’t sit there if I were you.”

However - James ignored his remark sitting comfortably, one arm on the rest. Ed pulled his phone out as you disposed of the glasses in your kitchen sink.

“Sorry Y/n, you’re not busy are you I should have called ahead mate.”

“No no, I’m free its okay!” You insisted, trying to haul yourself through the awkward air.

James was staring at you. His quietness giving you a hint of anxiety. He looked devilish sitting in that spot so comfortably, as though he was non the wiser to the things that’d happened on it last night. Catching you meet his eye he flashed you a knowing smile as you took a seat across the coffee table. He seemed to be enjoying this, as though it was a game only the two of you knew about.

“Nice to see you again Y/n,” The smug bastard nodded at you. You knew he was doing this to slip you up.

“You too,” Two could play at that game. “How’ve you been?”

“Oh just living life.”

“Do anything special at the weekend?”

His cockiness sank from his facial expression. The corner of your mouth twitching with amusement as he scrambled for words. Ed chipped in when he didn’t respond right away. “James?”

“Er yeah. Just trying to think.”

“Don’t strain yourself Jesus.”

“Haha. No, just the usual.”

“Right,” Ed questioned, “Should we get a takeaway? My treat?”

Your mouth watered at the thought. You couldn’t care less if it was a Monday, you’d had a stressful week already.

“God yes.” You moaned, causing James to look at the floor. Crossing one leg over the other. “Wagamama?”

“I’m not bothered either way.”

“I’m fine with Wagas”

Time passed of you ordering food and casual chats between the three of you. You and James occasionally chatting to each other for too long before catching yourself out. Ed didn’t seem to mind all that much as he kept checking how close your order was to arrival the moment that you’d placed it.

It was about 45 mins later when Ed received a phone call from the rider, being unable to locate your flat he was making his way out to door to find him. You and James finally alone in the kitchen, preparing bowls for the three of you.

“Y/n,” He said, wrapping his arms around your waist, “I swear Ed suggested this I would never just invite myself back I was trying to get here before him, but my phone was dead. God I’m sorry.”

You turned to him, holding back a smile from how flustered he was.

“Its alright, Ed already said he’d invited you before you arrived. Plus,” You started, “I guess I like spending time with you.”

“You guess?”

“Hmm,”

“That’s not what you said last night.” He responded sarcastically, encouraging you to playfully tap his chest.

“Shut up,” You laughed, a gentle smile forming on your mouth. You were beginning to get more comfortable in the solitude of his company. Something you hadn’t felt yourself doing in years. It felt easy now the air had been cleared between the two of you. You just wanted Sarah to come back so he could finish things properly, then you wouldn’t have to worry about Ed. “How was your day?”

“I’ve not sopped thinking about you.”

“Quite the romancer aren’t you?”

“What can I say. Born this way, Lady Gaga behbeh.”

You looked into his playful eyes. A warmness overcoming you, you thought maybe you might allow yourself to fall in love this time. You deserved it after so long. You arched your heels away from the floor, leaning up to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek. You could not resist it. A shy smile grew on his face, and you swore you could see a faint tinge of pink forming on his ears.

The two of you heard the door open, quickly pulling away from one another in an unnatural manner. Hurriedly making yourself busy with cutlery and bowls.

“Found the feast!” Ed’s voice called out from the corridor, as James lent over to whisper in you ear.

“I like you” with a stupid, cavity inducing grin.

“I like you too James”

HI HI! Long time no see lads. Bit of a shorter chapter today as I’ve been in a little bit of a writing slump with this fic. Trying to plan the direction I want to take it in, Hopefully now I’ll be a bit more on track with updates as I’m aiming for for quality over quantity moving forwards. Thank you for your patience, support and love! - Lu xoxo

Taglist josies-polestar queensantiagoofthe99 laurabeech olithephangirl decadentforthelaughs @rilannon

If you want to be put on, or taken off my taglist, feel free to tell me!

#james acaster imagines #james acaster x reader #james acaster fanfic

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creativia10 · 3 years

Text

I would Duel for you

Virgil has fantasies about how the final battle with his brother could have gone differently to satisfy his thirst for revenge, and wish to physically make up for what his brother put Roman through. At least one of these can become a reality.

Pairing: Virgil x Roman

Wordcount: 2528

Warnings: Suggestive Themes, implies past abusive relationship, mentions past unsympathetic Deceit

Notes: This is a coda/fanfic of @tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors 's Love ad Other Fairytales series. This is set some time after the main story, during the first year after. I am also posting this on my ao3, where I will have a longer AN and tags. Also note, I put this as M on my ao3. This is my first time writing a fic like this. I hope I am tagging this right.

Virgil wouldn’t change how they saved everyone from his brother. He was proud that Roman was able to be the hero he had always wanted to. So proud of his brave knight to have been able to get the ring from his brother, knowing how difficult that must have been. However, the more romantic, possessive, and fae parts of him would imagine things going differently. More specifically, the primal urge that came to the front when he thought about what his brother did with Roman. It was bad enough knowing his brother was had been with Roman first, but Roman had found Virgil first. Stupid curse.

So, ever since Roman first told them about his deal with the Serpent King, many images came to his mind on how he wanted to fix it.

Going back and forth between, murder the snake, he is mine, how dare that snake take another of mine, how dare he hurt someone as amazing and lovely as him.

In a way, he did get what he wanted. The Serpent King was killed. Greta was most justified to do the job than any of them. Yet, there were times he wished he could have dealt with the situation more personally. Maybe some sort of snarling speech, that was a bit of an embarrassing wish though. He did not like talking in front of crowds, which sucked when you ruled the entire magical forest.

It would go something like this,

His brother had just manhandled Roman onto his spot on the armrest of the throne. His hand going to that possessive grip on the back of Roman’s neck.

A guttural growl came from Virgil.

“ Get. Your. F***ing hands. Off of Him!”

His brother would just give him a smug look.

“I don’t think you’re in a place to be making demands right now. You can’t even get to him.”

Virgil didn’t always picture the details of how he made it over there, just that he did.

Then, Virgil and his brother were squaring up on the battlefield, Roman kept behind the snake.

A grand magical duel would take place,

or sometimes a bloody vicious battle, depending on how homicidal of a mood Virgil was in when he pictured it. The point was, he usually fought his brother directly, for Roman. Sometimes he demanded Roman be released to him first. Sometimes, Virgil immediately went for the kill, unforgiving of his brother for what he did to his love.

Virgil would go over to Roman immediately after. Usually he would just hold him tightly and warmly. Roman would say something. It wasn’t always the same. Usually of gratitude. Most of the time, Virgil spoke first, as Roman was speechless, having trouble comprehending that he truly was free. Virgil always would, and he still did, have the urge to do whatever he could to just make it better. There was usually a kiss. One with a lot of gentle caressing. The kiss was usually passionate. Sometimes interspersed with sweet continuous expressions of, “I love you’s”. Sometimes Virgil muttered more heated and possessive things, that were still warm. Sometimes they were on the seductive side, of asking how he could physically erase his brother’s horrid touch, wanting to bring Roman so much pleasure he couldn’t think about whatever the stupid snake had done first. Because Virgil loved him, and intimacy would always be better when there was real love.

Sometimes, in a moment of passion, Virgil would dive in for a passionate kiss first, but usually something would be said, and some loving touching would take place before the kissing. Sometimes he would keep going where the kissing escalated to them getting frisky against a tree, but usually Virgil would try to keep his mind from going that far.

The main thing, was Virgil would mutter promises that Roman would never have to deal with his brother’s cruel hand again. Virgil was pretty sure Roman knew that though.

“Virgil?” Virgil blinked from his reverie as he turned to the speaker.

He always wished he could do more. He knew that recovering from stuff was something he couldn’t just fight away. But gosh did he wish he could. He wanted to make up for every moment that bastard took from them.

Part of him felt guilty about some of his daydreams, as he knew Roman was not ready for the more physical parts of a relationship. Virgil would never want him to feel pressure or rushed though, not after what his brother did to his beloved.

“Virgil are you ok?”

Virgil smiled a little at Patton, uncertain how he could respond, because he didn’t know.

“I was just thinking,” He said. Patton frowned at the non-answer, but nodded hesitantly.

“Okaay…well good luck on your checkup!”

“Pat…” Logan said with an exasperated look. “That makes it sound like he’s going to a doctor.”

“Well, I mean he is checking up on his mom though! So I technically wasn’t wrong.”

Logan rolled his eyes and held Patton’s hand.

“See you later.”

Since Roman had insisted on joining Virgil as he checked on the status of the forest, Patton and Logan had decided to make a date out of it. They all waved bye, and Virgil turned to face the forest. He couldn’t seem to help thinking of his imagines upon realizing this would be his first time alone with Roman since the defeat of the Serpent King, and since the four’s relationship came to be.

Roman stood up beside him, with a smile.

“Ready?” He was dressed in what Virgil believed used to be his ‘hunting’ getup, an iron blade in its sheath. Virgil rolled his eyes.

“Yes. Remember to stick close to me.”

Roman huffed, but surprisingly didn’t protest as they started off. Virgil was finding himself…distracted. In many ways though. They were here to check on the forest, but Virgil’s focus kept going to Roman. His wonderful knight. Actually there with him, while they were both awake. How wonderful he was. Then frustration that by thinking about that, he was distracted from being in the moment with Roman, along with other ‘new relationship’ anxieties. Also, as his thoughts often led back to, just how much he had lost with Roman because of his stupid brother. Being alone with Roman brought some of these urges to his forefront even more.

He could see them on the battlefield. Somehow, the serpent was frozen in place, he hadn’t put thought into how, daydreams didn’t always make sense. He was kissing Roman passionately and possessively, to show that fiend did not have him anymore, that-

“V?”

Virgil blinked, and turned to Roman, who was giving him a concerned look.

“Are you alright? You seemed a bit spacey there.”

Virgil looked away again, thinking of what he could say.

“…I have stated that my communing with my mother does not look the same to onlookers.”

“…okay, I know avoiding an answer when I hear one, V.”

He slipped his hand into Virgil’s and interlaced their fingers. His hand was so warm. It felt so nice. Another thing he absolutely adored about his love. He just wanted to caress it, and maybe pull him into a passionate embrace where he could-

Virgil took in a sharp inhale, trying not to squeeze Roman’s hand too hard. The last thing he wanted was to hurt or scare him. Roman was still looking at him, brows furrowed.

“Hey. What is it?” He stopped.

“We probably shouldn’t just stop here in the middle of the forest.”

Roman half smiled and walked closer to him, holding Virgil’s other hand as well.

“I am here, with the prince of the forest. I am sure we’re okay.”

Damn right, he thought in response to that.

Virgil smiled at him, sure the awe was clear on his face. Virgil brought their hands up so he could gently cup Roman’s face, and pressed their foreheads together and closed his eyes. He let out a relieved sigh at feeling his love’s touch.

“It might seem silly,” he finally admitted.

Roman laughed a little at that, then Virgil felt him nuzzle their noses together.

“I am sure I won’t mind, my spidery princeling. Especially when you are acting so vulnerable about it.” He leaned forward quickly to peck Virgil then back. Virgil almost followed his lips then stopped himself. He wanted to at least let Roman know what had been playing through his mind before he found himself go any further. He was still hesitant though.

“…also might reference a topic you may not want to talk about.” He heard a sharp inhale from Roman, so he started to pull away and opened his eyes. Roman squeezed Virgil’s hands before he could let go.

“How about you start…and I’ll let you know if I can’t right now, okay?”

Virgil hesitated but nodded.

“Okay, so” He took a breath. “Since…the Serpent King’s defeat-“

Virgil didn’t miss Roman’s wince at the mention, but he didn’t protest,

“Or, well really since you first mentioned the deal he wrapped you up in, I have been…sort of fantasizing about ways I could fix it.” Roman gave him a confused look. Virgil sighed.

“I find myself…picturing I got to deal with him personally…and then doing my best to erase whatever way he might have touched you…by compensating with my own touch,” Virgil looked back up at him, not wanting to scare him, but unable to help the intensity of his stare. Even mentioning the fantasies out loud, had Virgil having to restrain a growl. Roman inhaled, but he didn’t seem scared.

“O-oh?” Roman asked. Virgil nodded.

“I am sure you have caught on to how fae can be possessive. And I would never force you into anything of course, unlike my brother. Him being the one to do what he did to you, made it more personal for me.” With as much restraint as he could, Virgil shakily put a hand up to cup Roman’s face again.

“I had been waiting for you,” He sounded a little watery as he spoke, but he kept going, “You are the main one who kept me from being lonely during my slumber. If I could do anything I could to erase any pain you may have gone through…know that I would.”

Roman took a shaky breath, his eyes starting to look a little shiny.

“Okay.” Roman simply said. He brought their hands to his lips and gently kissed them.

He looked back up at Virgil and smiled a little shakily.

“I gotta say…I love hearing how much you want to be with me, my love.” He dropped their hands and looked back at him.

“Can I ask…how would you make it up to me? What are you wanting to do?”

Virgil’s eyes widened at that, unable to restrain his growl that time.

“Are you wanting me to show you?”

Roman smiled a little, blushing, and then nodded.

“You know how I love to be pampered,” He said.

Virgil smirked, and then slowly started to back Roman until he was against a tree.

“Remember, tell me at any time if there is anything you don’t want, okay?”

Roman nodded, biting his lip a little. Virgil’s eyes zeroed in on that. He moved his hands to grip Roman’s waist, and leaned in.

“Where?” He asked, figuring Roman knew what he was asking, but hoping it wouldn’t be too much.

Roman thought for a moment, then lifted a wrist up to Virgil. Virgil grasped his hand, and leaned his hips forward so Roman was still pinned to the tree, getting a gasp out of Roman, and looked over the wrist. Then he leaned forward and kissed the wrist, looking at Roman as he did so.

He flicked his tongue against it, mouthed at the spot, and gently grazed his teeth against it. Another breathy sound from Roman. Virgil smiled at him, glad to see the lack of fear from Roman’s face, exactly what he was going for. He asked him again with his eyes. Roman slowly nodded and then tilted his head. Immediately, Virgil sprung forward and attached his lips to that spot on the junction of Roman’s neck. It was a good spot. Virgil got a lovely moan from that one. His hands, back on Roman’s hips, was brushing his thumb back and forth, alternating with how he would squeeze them. Then both pressed against each other, trying to feel as much of the other as they could.

Roman ran his hands up and down Virgil’s sides, and twirled them in his hair some.

Virgil enthusiastically kissed up Roman’s neck, until their lips were a mere breath apart, and he didn’t know who pushed forward first, but then they were kissing. It got passionate immediately, alternating from loving touches to erotic ones. He wanted to feel him as much as he possibly could.

He put a lot of force into his kiss, but made sure to keep the pace of the kiss with how Roman was pushing forward, not wanting to get too rough. Lips gripped. Virgil bit Roman’s lips getting a particularly loud moan out of him, which made Virgil shiver. He absolutely loved being able to get Roman like this. This was how it was supposed to be for him. He was the one to get him to feel like this. Virgil licked over Roman’s lips and then flicked his tongue into Roman’s mouth, as they toyed with each other. It was wonderful, and Virgil felt some tension he had been feeling get released.

Virgil thinks he may have been muttering I love yous in between.

He pulled away barely, just to kiss all around Roman’s face, who was breathing very heavily, already slumping against the tree.

Virgil pulled away to look at him, his blood thrumming.

“I cannot wait for the day we can physically become one,” He said, as he pushed a lock of hair behind Roman’s head. Roman was still panting but he smiled up at him.

“Me too.”

Virgil helped him up and strung his arm around the back of his shoulders to keep him upright.

“Perhaps we should continue the forest checking when I am a bit more focused.” Virgil said.

Roman snorted at that, and leaned his head against Virgil’s.

“Yeah, probably would be best. Cuddles?”

“Of course my love,” and he kissed the top of Roman’s head before they headed back, Roman a little shaky on his feet.

“Should I carry you back?”

Roman blushed and didn’t say anything.

“Is that a yes?”

Roman sighed, “I am just thinking about whatever comments Mamaw may give.”

Virgil shrugged, and quickly lifted him into a bridal carry, causing Roman to yelp and blush more.

“I can always put you down before we get to the house?”

Roman didn’t respond. Virgil smiled and started walking back.

“…do you seriously intend to carry me like this the entire time?”

“It’s not taxing for me. Let me feel like I rescue the dame in distress for once.”

“What do you mean for once? Virgiil~.”

Virgil laughed as they made their way back. Maybe some good did come out of his daydreams after all.

#laoft fic #ts sanders sides #sanders sides fanfic #ts virgil #ts roman #prinxiety #unsympathetic deceit

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icequeenbae · 3 years

Text

Desert Flower (m) Ch. 4 [fin] | BBH

Pairing: Baekhyun x Reader x Baëkhyun

Characters: EXO and X-EXO (not all of them mentioned)

EXO vs X-EXO dynamics, complicated relationships, angsty, action, smut (as usual)

Warnings: sorta mingling with your ex’s ‘evil twin’, mentions of blood/ violence (nothing too graphic… I suppose), Y/N gets teary a lot(?), explicit content, rough sex, unprotected sex

Word Count: ~13.5k (full), ~2.1k (Chapter 4)

Summary: Baekhyun, your beloved boyfriend of three years, suddenly breaks up with you and disappears from the city in an attempt to protect you. But leaving you alone and clueless means trouble will surely find you. For it is easy to spot a flower in the desert.

Masterlist >> One >> Two (m) >> Three (m) >> Four (fin)

Author’s Note: Yaaay, the finale is here! ✨ Hope you won’t be disappointed [I know it’ll be something you don’t expect, but the end can also be a beginning, right?] Please let me know what you think, I had fun talking to you about the previous chapters!! And thank you for following this story all the way through. Looove 🖤🖤🖤

Tags: @blahblahblah-boo @baeklightsx @wooya1224 @baekklove @usernameloaa @geniusloey

Chapter 4. The end of you and I [Finale]

Stepping out of the room the next morning, you felt like you were walking to the gallows. In a way, that would’ve been less devastating than the reality. The anticipation, or rather a bad feeling, settled in your gut from the moment you opened your eyes and made you feel sick to your stomach.

After declining an offering of food, you were escorted downstairs to a large space, which was essentially a parking lot, cars all around. The premises were dimly lit – some of the lights simply went out, some were flickering as if they were about to. It was mostly dull grey concrete, a few wide columns around the area, just like any underground parking would look. There were still quite a few vehicles left – EXO liked to have a good variety. Especially Baek- No, you didn’t want to go there.

If you were completely honest, it wasn’t like you hadn’t been in this place before. You’d spent quite some time down here when Baekhyun was trying to teach you a few car tricks for fun. Despite your unwillingness to recall any of that, you could almost hear his obnoxious laughter whenever you failed to disable the alarm or accidentally set it off and panicked. Yet now this place became wicked in your eyes due to the new context. Worse than any dungeon in this abandoned building.

Sat on a lonely chair, you had your wrists bound and scotch tape put over your mouth.

‘This is for your own good,’ Baëkhyun muttered as he placed it on you. ‘Just keep quiet and let it play out.’

Huffing, you looked away. Eyes wandering around, you took notice of the absence of windows in the area. They probably chose the most isolated place in the building, luring the opponent in here. Likely to block the exits as soon as they arrive.

You exhaled through your nose, wishing that the boys just didn’t show up. Not really expecting Baëkhyun to protect you in this case, you only hoped for Baekhyun to stay away and be safe. One thing you were sure of, was that your life was not worth that many others.

As you contemplated this scenario, a drop of water fell in your lap. Then another one.

You looked at the droplets in confusion. Then up – locating a spot on the ceiling that was leaking. The intensity increased with every drop, and when you lowered your gaze, you saw the water level rise quickly, creeping at the level of your ankles. This didn’t look like it could be caused by any leakage you could think of. It was like there was an invisible circle around you, that water couldn’t cross. Like you were sitting in a glass tube.

Breath hitching in panic, you fidgeted in your seat, trying to get out of the rapidly growing pool of liquid. You whimpered, drawing Baëkhyun’s attention, and as he saw your current state, he immediately turned to the leader.

‘What the hell are you doing?’

‘The sun is almost up. I don’t see a sign of our friends arriving,’ he shrugged, tapping at his watch.

‘Stop it,’ Baëkhyun snapped, hearing you squeak as the liquid reached your knees, rising above the ground unnaturally.

Were they going to drown you?

You tugged at your restraints in a poor attempt to free yourself, and Baëkhyun turned around, walking towards you decisively.

Until Chën stepped in front of him.

‘Get out of my face,’ Baëkhyun snarled, but his opponent only laughed.

‘Keep walking. If you want me to electrocute her before you’re done.’

A faint purple lightning bolt appeared around his right fist, and Baëkhyun’s eyes darkened further, sparks of red swirling in his orbs as he gathered his power in his hands. But the fight did not break out, as Sehūn walked between them nonchalantly, shoving them away from each other.

‘They’re here,’ he announced, taking his spot next to Suhø.

The water stopped climbing up, freezing at the level of your collarbones. It pressed down on you unpleasantly, holding you still, but it also allowed you to slowly start slipping your wrist out of the restraint. Baëkhyun left it a little loose, so taking it off was feasible, now that it was wet.

A rumble sounded from behind the farther wall where the entrance was, and a car came in, tires screeching. The yellow sports vehicle took a spot in the middle of the room, drifting and rotating a perfect 90 degrees. Then a van appeared, doing pretty much the same right behind it. The door of the latter flew open, and a blonde head appeared. You swallowed a lump in your throat. He was here, they were here. It was your fault.

Baekhyun’s eyes landed on you, and he examined your state, before eyeing the crowd in front of him and turning to Suhø.

‘Let her go. I’m here to trade myself in for her.’

Your own eyes went wide. Trade himself in? No, no, you could not allow this!

‘Mhm!’ You shook your head fiercely, trying to sound protesting with your mouth covered.

He met your desperate gaze, and his eyes looked so… remorseful, that you froze in place. Turning away, he continued.

‘I’ll surrender to you, but you have to let her go first.’

Suhø hummed, nodding seemingly in contemplation of this suggestion.

‘You know what, I have a better idea. Why don’t you all surrender, and then she walks free?’

He suddenly chuckled, looking Baekhyun in the eye. ‘Or she doesn’t.’

It was a split second later when you finally freed your wrists and ripped the tape off, ready to scream… But the sound didn’t come. It happened faster than you could register – you were underwater. Fully submerged now.

Struggling to float in the mass of liquid, you saw people around start moving. Baekhyun threw a ball of light in Suhø’s direction, presumably missing him since you were still drowning.

A shadow appeared out of thin air behind Baekhyun and you screamed desperately, losing oxygen and trying to rip yourself out of the suffocating pool of water. He reacted instantly to the ambush, as if he was waiting for it, and used his power to defend. On the other side, Baëkhyun blasted Chën in the back, to find his way to you, but got held up by Kāi, appearing now in his way. Your lungs were burning. Realizing that no one would make it to you on time, you lowered your eyes in resignation.

And then you saw it.

A small, maybe the size of an orange, bubble appeared at your feet and made its way up. It reached your face, and you took an incredulous breath. Another one appeared.

‘Sehun,’ you thought, breathing in and out as the bubbles reached your face.

As you were struggling to ventilate underwater, the whole battle was happening on the outside. There was fire, and blood, and flashes of red and white light…

You almost got startled when the water around you subsided, releasing you from its hold. Falling to your knees, you finally breathed in fully and looked around in confusion, noticing Junmyeon closing distance.

But before he reached you, a wall of fire appeared. Turning your head, you saw Baëkhyun, about to hoist you up, when he got an electric shock. Looking over his shoulder, you watched Chën approach.

‘B- Baëk-’ You stuttered as an arrow hit Chën in the side, making him slump to the ground from the impact and proving that Sehun was still watching over you.

‘Run to their van. Along that wall, behind the cars. I’ll give you cover fire as you go, okay? I got you,’ Baëkhyun instructed, tugging you up and shoving you forward. ‘Go!’

You ran towards the wall to your right, feet barely able to move after all you’d just gone through. But your instincts kicked in, giving you the adrenaline high you needed to function. Hitting the wall hands first to change direction, you then ran along the concrete surface, not looking back, only hearing blasts, and swearing, and fighting…

You almost made it to the van.

But the water in your sneakers made you slip as you jumped out of your cover to relocate to the safer spot, falling over and grabbing at your leg. Not thinking more than a moment about the pain, you got on all fours and began crawling towards safety.

‘Y/N, no!’ Baekhyun shouted, and you turned around, seeing lightning paint the room purple for a second before someone shielded you from its reach.

And then he fell on his knees.

Black leather and silvery white head.

‘B- Baëkhyun?’ You muttered as he pressed his hands to his eyes, thick streaks of blood instantly painting his long fingers red.

You gasped in horror, but before you could say a word, someone grabbed you by the waist and dragged you around the car you were hiding behind less than a minute ago.

‘Are you okay?’ Baekhyun looked at you, as he pressed his palms to your body, trying to assess your injuries hastily. ‘We need to retreat quickly, can you walk? Hold onto my shoulder, okay?’

You barely registered what he was saying, the horrible picture from seconds ago still imprinted in your vision.

‘Wait,’ you shook your head, getting up. ‘I need to help him!’

‘What? Y/N!’ You heard Baekhyun call out your name, trying to catch you by the wrist as you ran out into the ongoing fight, limping noticeably.

The silver light appeared, covering you as you reached your target.

‘Baëkhyun!’ You grabbed him by the shoulders. ‘Did it hit your eyes?’

He turned to you, eyes narrow as if his vision was blurry, blood running down his entire face. Your hand trembled as he grabbed onto it.

‘What the fuck are you doing back here?’ He snarled.

‘Come on!’ You urged him to circle the closest vehicle, as Baekhyun still blasted the other side of the parking lot with his light.

‘Leave me here and run, while they have the upper hand. This won’t last much longer,’ Baëkhyun gritted.

‘No,’ you stubbornly gripped his leather jacket.

‘Y/N!’ He raised his voice.

You stared at each other intensely for no longer than a second, and then you took a quick breath and leaned forward, pressing your lips to his in an abrupt kiss. Tasting metallic and salty from his blood and your tears, it was the most frenetic one in your life. As you broke it, he looked at you silently, eyes dark blue.

‘The next parked car is the one Baek used to teach me how to break in. It’s unlocked, so if you can make it inside, you’ll be able to drive off instantly. We’ll distract them, and you show us the other way out of here, okay?’

He slowly nodded, and you held his stare for another second.

‘Don’t die,’ you told him, getting up as Baekhyun appeared again and took your hand impatiently to finally get you into the van.

‘Go, go, go!’ He yelled at Chanyeol, who grabbed the wheel.

The tires screeched, and a black sports car drove off under your noses.

‘Yeollie, follow him! Baëkhyun knows the other way out,’ you shouted, catching a confused look from the driver, as well as others. ‘Trust me, okay? The one you came through is disabled in some way already.’

He nodded quickly, no time to hesitate, and went after the black car.

Jongin appeared in the crowded van, as an explosion sounded from behind.

‘That should hold them up a sec,’ he sneered.

‘Good job,’ Junmyeon praised, looking in the rear-view mirror, as the van sped up, making it out of the building right behind Baëkhyun.

He then fell back, diverting the attention of the cars that followed you, and driving in a different direction to lead them away. You were glued to the window, watching him being chased by another automobile, and wishing that he made it out safely. If he could manage that – with the horrific injury to his eyes, no less… It would be nothing short of a miracle.

The boys around you shouted something about the chase, and that they only needed to take a couple of turns to get to the parking lot where their other vehicles were waiting, so that they could individually shake the clones off their tails...

But you paid no attention to all the tactics. The world around you disappeared, narrowing down to just that one car, fading into the distance. Your bloodied hand left a red trace on the glass you were looking through.

‘Don’t die,’ you prayed, still tasting his blood on your lips as you watched the black vehicle disappear on the horizon. ‘Don’t you dare die, Baëkhyun.’

Masterlist

A/N: This is it! Thank you for reading this entire story <3 Probably not the ending you wanted, my beta was ready to throw hands too lol But it’s a pretty logical conclusion to this scenario, isn’t it? The OC is safe and reunited with Baekhyun... In any case, I hope you enjoyed this little journey and are willing to share your thoughts with me 💌

#baekhyun smut #baekhyun x reader #baekhyun x you #exowritersnet #byun baekhyun smut #baekhyun fic #baekhyun fanfiction #icequeenbae fics #Desert Flower #baekbaёk #exo smut #x exo #baekhyun scenario #baekhyun #exo baekhyun #byun baekhyun

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kareofbears · 3 years

Text

margin of error

Sophia knows a lot, but that does not mean she understands much of anything at all.

Or, Sophia struggles to grasp why Akira and Ryuji don't follow her predictive algorithm.

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Sophia knows a lot.

She can tell you almost anything in the known world in an instant. Calculate the radius of the sun. Who won Best Picture three years ago. The outfit to wear when you need to 'dress to impress.' Just yesterday, she was able to find them a bath, a takoyaki restaurant, and an overnight camping site within 0.3 milliseconds. That’s not very many seconds.

Sophia knows a lot, but that does not mean she understands much of anything at all.

She’s quiet while she’s propped on the phone stand, watching the rest of them lounge in the RV. There’s a shape to the interior that wasn’t there before—where it had been pristine when they had first gotten it, now it’s littered with crumbs and instant-food packaging despite Makoto’s half-hearted attempts at scolding them for it. Empty surfaces are filled with knick-knacks, stuffies and a plastic ramen bowl rattling gently along with the RV.

There’s a rare lull amongst them, a moment of quiet. Most of them were napping away the road, gently snoring and bodies jostling whenever a pothole hits, oblivious to the scenery that passes by. Only the soft tunes of pop music from the front and the hum of the engine broke the quiet.

Other than Makoto, there were only two people awake: Akira, scribbling in his journal, and Ryuji, watching him do it. They sat across from each other in the booth, with Ryuji’s chin propped against his hand.

Probability and pinpoint accuracy is what she excels at, and being able to apply them to her friends excites her. Not to mention, she hasn’t been wrong yet.

Idly, she runs the numbers—according to the data she’s collected from spending time with them, the silence will be broken by Ryuji within approximately two minutes. Pulling up a time from within Akira’s phone, she waits eagerly.

A minute passes, and then another. And another. Akira is still scribbling in his neat penmanship and Ryuji is still watching him doing it, unspeaking.

Frowning, she double-checks her calculations. No errors that she can see. It seems that he simply does not want to speak. This is surprising, and very unlike him. He is not usually this quiet. In the Metaverse, he is by far the loudest of them; calling on his Persona’s name can often leave her own ears ringing.

The real world does not stray from that data. His voice is clear in crowded areas, helpful in guiding their big group throughout bustling cities. He is often shushed by the girls when they are trying to sleep at night—Futaba even goes as far as to kick the ceiling from her bunk bed.

The data is strong and sure. There should not be a reason that she should be wrong in this assumption unless there’s a confounding variable that she had missed.

Akira looks up and catches his eye. “Am I boring you?” he asks quietly.

Ryuji shakes his head, grinning. “Couldn’t be happier,” he whispers back.

Sophia’s about to ask when Makoto cuts her off.

“Wake up everyone. We’re here.”

—

“Okay,” Akira calls. His voice isn’t raised, despite the crowded street of downtown Sendai, but they all straighten up. “We’re probably not going to spend too much time here, especially once we take over the Jail. Grab what you need now—snacks for the trip. Shopping. Souvenirs. Frozen pineapple. Any questions?” Yusuke raises his hand. “Yes, I’ll pay for you.” The hand falls back down, relieved.

“Cool. How about we meet back here…” he squints at the large clock hanging on the wall, hand blocking out the blaring sun. “In an hour?”

A chorus of agreements rolls through them as they rush out, excited to explore a new city. “Good speech,” Sophia pipes up from his hand. “Do you do them often?”

“I try not to,” he yawns. His thick black hair is even more unruly than usual, glasses barely hiding the light blue that’s beginning to form underneath his eyes. “Most of the time, they can handle themselves fine. All they need is a schedule and some rules to work with.”

When she doesn’t answer, Akira brings his phone up. “What? Did I say something?”

“It’s because she’s worried about you, you moron,” a disgruntled voice says.

Akira’s gaze flickers towards it. “You’re still here?”

“Of course I am,” Ryuji says. “You really think I’d leave without saying goodbye? Glad I didn’t either, cause you look like shit.”

“Thanks.”

“Still pretty, though. No worries about that part.” He shoves his hand deep in his pocket, stray yen clinking against each other as he rummages. After a moment, he throws something at Akira. “Catch.”

He plucks it out from the air with ease. “Car keys?” he asks, surprised.

“Grabbed them from Makoto before she ran off for stationery shopping.” Ryuji reaches forward, gently turning Akira’s head this way and that, frowning. “I told you to quit staying up so late. You’re exhausted.”

“I am not.”

“He is,” Sophia refutes. “Last night, he had approximately four hours of sleep, with only four minutes of that being REM sleep.”

“I told you. She’s even bringing up computer stuff now.”

“I think you are thinking about RAM, Ryuji.”

“Whatever,” he shakes his head. “Look, just head to the RV, get some shut-eye. You can finally sleep in a proper bed that isn’t an overheating tent with three sweaty dudes and a cat. Oh, and trade phones with me.”

He hands it over without hesitation, sliding Ryuji’s phone into his own pocket. “Why?”

“You have the grocery list in here, yeah? Not to mention, I don’t want Sophia getting bored while you nap it up.” He looks down at her. “Hi, by the way.”

“Hi!”

Akira still doesn’t seem convinced. “But I promised Yusuke—”

“Who’s with Ann now, shopping like they’d die if they didn’t get the perfect skirt to fit her next shoot,” he says, uncompromising. “Chill. It’s fine. We’ll survive an hour without Joker keeping an eye on us.”

They stare each other down for a long moment with Sophia watching. She does not need to run the numbers on this one; Akira will not allow himself to go back to the RV.

To her surprise, he relents. “Twenty minutes.”

Ryuji scoffs. “We’ll see about that. You suck at waking up.”

“Shut up.” And then, quieter, “Thank you.”

“You know I got your back.”

He yawns once more, slowly walking back to their car. “Sophia, please make sure that when he gets the Pocky to get the strawberry one. Futaba won’t eat anything else. And also that Haru wanted doilies to make the place look nicer. White, if you can find them.”

“Roger that,” she replies, distracted. How is she wrong again? This is troubling.

“My hoodie’s in my bag if you get cold!” Ryuji calls out. Akira throws him a thumbs up without looking back. “Jeez, that guy. He’s gonna run himself to the ground before he’s thirty, I swear. Like some geezer with a bad back but with really good hairline or something.”

An old man with a thick head of hair shoots him a glare as he passes by them. Ryuji laughs, high-pitched. “Yikes, that was awkward. Let’s get out of here, we need to hit up the grocery store before they run out of carrots.”

Sophia doesn’t answer, too deep in her thoughts and running endless calculations.

—

It’s impossible for her to get a headache, but her code is trying its best to give her one.

Two mistakes now. That isn’t allowed to happen. She’s lucky that they were both relatively small errors, but it can easily become a bigger problem. What can she do?

Luckily, that had a very simple answer.

“Ryuji?”

“Hmm?” He peels his eyes away from scrutinizing the oranges in his hands, the wires from his earphones swaying when he does. After one too many strange looks when he talks to nothing, it was just better to act like he was on a phone call. “Yeah?”

“I have a question.”

“What am I, a teacher?” he snorts. “If you got a question, go ahead. Friends can do that.”

That’s right. They’re friends, and friends have trust in one another. Sophia jotted that down as lesson number forty-eight, thirteen days ago.

“Okay,” she says. Questions float around her, and she picks the one that’s giving her the most stress. “If I was not as useful as you think I am, would we still remain friends?”

The orange tumbles out of his grip, and he rushes to catch it before it hits the ground. “Wha—!” he stutters out. “Duh! Obviously! What the—where the hell did that come from? Did we do something to think that we’d just ditch you like that?” he lifts the phone so that she was eye-level with him. “Be honest,” he says seriously, quickly. “Did I say something to hurt your feelings? I do that sometimes, and I’m working on it, and I know that’s no excuse—”

“You did not say anything to hurt my feelings,” she says before he spirals even further. “In fact, I do not have feelings for you to hurt.”

Relief blooms on his expression, and he sags his body against the fruit display. “Okay, good. Good. Thought I was gonna get a heart attack. I’d be pissed at myself if I did, and I just know Akira would give me so much shit.” He sighs, ridding himself of panic before giving him her full attention. “So what’s up?

“Sir…” an employee shuffles towards them, hands shaking knees knocking against each other. He is afraid, she notes, but of what? “I’m sorry, but it’s against store policy to lean on the product. Please try to understand.”

“Oh, shoot!” Ryuji exclaims, straightening up. “Sorry, man. I didn’t even realize. I think I squished an orange, but I’ll buy it so your boss doesn’t give you hell for that one.”

The employee blinks. “You would?” he says, shocked. “That would be great, actually. Thank you so much!”

“Don’t sweat it,” he waves it off. Tugging the shopping cart, he places Sophia where they’d normally put babies. “Hope he doesn’t get in trouble. I feel kinda bad.”

She thinks for a moment. “Ryuji, why was that man afraid?”

Swiftly, red rushes to his cheeks. “That obvious? Aw, man.”

“I don’t know if it was obvious, but all the signs were there,” she says, watching as he ducks his head, embarrassed. “What is happening? I do not understand.”

“It’s just—” his eyes shift sideways, meeting the eye of a young girl. Immediately, she directs her gaze downwards. “I look really scary to people.”

“You do?” It isn’t in her program to doubt, but she is rather skeptical. During the entire trip, he has been nothing but kind to her. Yes, there are times when he has arguments with others in the group, but more often than not it’s him that’s being teased rather than the other way around. “Why? You aren’t even that tall.”

“Ouch?”

“I’m just saying that you are not scary to me, so I don’t really understand why other people would be.”

He sighs, picking up a box of miso unseeingly. “It’s a combination of a lot of things. My hair’s bleached, and people usually see that as like, punk or whatever. My posture sucks and my voice is loud.” Shrugging, he throws it in the cart. “It doesn’t really bug me though. At least that means strangers usually don’t bother the group, cause they think I’ll kick their ass.”

“And would you?” Sophia crosses off miso. Only bandages are left on the list, but the cart is filled with snacks, sodas, and a small cactus. “‘Kick their ass?’”

“No way. If I did, my mom would kick my ass, and I can’t pull that shit twice in a lifetime.” Pushing the cart, they slowly meander through the aisles, occasionally looking at what’s on sale. Ryuji tosses in rainbow marshmallows, and after a moment, reluctantly puts it back.

“But you know,” he says eventually. “If someone was bothering the group, it’s not as if I’d just let it happen.”

She considers his answer. “You are tough,” she concludes. “But not scary.”

“Uh, yes,” he says, unsure. And then, with more conviction, “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“Got it. ‘Ryuji is tough, but other people are terrified of him.’ I will make a note of that.” He looks like he wants to say something, but she keeps going. “Synonyms for ‘tough’: robust, stalwart, and strong. Would you say that’s accurate?”

He laughs, disbelieving. “No idea what the first two meant, but the third one isn’t right.”

“Why not? You can fight Shadows. Your muscle ratio is high. One time, when Futaba couldn’t unscrew her water bottle, you did it with no problem.”

“Because, Sophia,” Ryuji picks up gummy worms, and turns to her with pleading eyes. When she shakes her head, he puts it back on the shelf with a grimace. “Strength isn’t always about muscles and who can kill what. It’s more than that.”

It seems as though he doesn’t want to speak about this anymore, but the topic is too interesting to stop here. “Explain, please.”

“It’s...it’s like mental strength,” he says begrudgingly. “Like if someone failed an exam they studied real hard for, mental strength would help them get through a tough situation like that. Like Akira.”

“Akira has high mental strength?”

“Oh, the highest out of all of us without a doubt. The world could explode and he’d be all—” Ryuji lowers his voice by an octave. “‘Here’s what we can do,’ and then fix it somehow. That’s just the kind of guy he is. All plans and no fear.”

All plans and no fear is a good way of describing Joker. “And you aren’t like that?”

“No way. Have you ever seen me have a plan in my life? I’m more of an ‘act before I can talk myself out of it’ person. Usually works out fine in the end. Besides, he does it enough for the both of us.” His eyes light up. “Do you think if I get the panda bandages, it would work better in the Metaverse? Cause of the brain stuff?”

“I think so, as long as it makes people think it works better.”

“Great.” Ryuji tosses it in with the rest. “And I think we got everything! Let’s head out. If we’re lucky, we can grab some ice cream before we meet up with the rest of them.”

“Good job! But you may want to consider removing the orange soda. Makoto is already unhappy with how much junk food you are always eating.”

“Fine. I’m keeping the cactus though.”

It was only when they’re all sleeping back in the RV when she realizes that she never got to ask him her actual question. Actually, she ended up with even more questions than when she began.

Maybe she’ll have better luck asking Akira instead.

—

They, or rather Akira, have their knees buried in a patch of grass in the middle of Sapporo with a small pile of four-leaf clovers by his ankles when she decides it would be appropriate to ask him.

“Akira, can I ask—” she pauses, and tries again. “I have a question.”

His face is so close to the ground that even the dirt would realize that his glasses don’t have prescription, and people are shooting him worried looks that he completely ignores. “Shoot.”

“Actually, I have many questions, and I’m hoping you’ll answer all of them as honestly as you can in order to have the most accurate data possible.”

“Research?”

More often than not, Akira has been giving her information about the world that she does not have access to. Slang terms that Futaba yells out in frustration, Ann’s tendency to jump from one topic to the next with little regard to who she’s talking to. It’s all confusing to Sophia, so she makes sure to memorize all of these instances and bring it to him for clarification.

“Sort of,” she says. “Some of my predictions have been off lately, and I am trying to figure out why.”

“Sure. Oh, another one.” Gently, he plucks it from the soil and gently places it with the others. “For Haru. Apparently, she’s really struggling with economics, so hopefully this helps her out next semester.”

“How many more?”

“Four,” he replies. “Yusuke, Sojiro, Akane, and Ryuji.”

She frowns. “Ryuji already has one.”

“He’s going to need more than one.” Akira turns to her, distressed. “Entrance exams are coming up.”

“Oh.”

“Yup,” he turns back to his task. “Anyway, you had a question?”

“Right,” she says, clearing her throat: a sign of taking a more serious tone. “Why are you scared of Ryuji?”

Akira freezes. Sophia waits patiently. But after a moment, then two, then five, there is still no reaction from him. And then slowly, he faces her with a blank expression.

She has not known Kurusu Akira for very long—only a few weeks in fact. But in that time, she feels that she has come to learn a lot about him. For instance, he does not like pears. He also finds grocery shopping relaxing, and he would die for his friends. Another thing she has learned from him is that he is very quiet; even in the Metaverse, amidst the explosions and gunshots, he does not yell. It is not as if he has nothing to say, but rather he would rather express himself through gestures and the odd comment here and there. He is much happier to let the people around him carry the conversation for him.

Shock racks through her as he bursts out laughing. His shoulders move up and down as laughs pour out of him uncontrollably. “What—?” he tries, pushing his glasses atop his head. It’s almost hidden amongst his thick, black locks. “Did you seriously ask if I was afraid of Ryuji? Sakamoto Ryuji? Blond guy, helps out in the Metaverse? My best friend?”

“Um.” This was not what she was expecting, despite having no expectations to begin with. “Yes.”

He sighs, content. “I really have to thank you, Sophia.” Akira brings his glasses back to his nose, the corners of his mouth quirked up. “That was really good. Haven’t laughed that hard since Yusuke thought Italy was near Mexico.”

She tilts her head sideways. “I was not joking.”

“Yeah, I figured.” He sits up, crossing his legs over each other, giving her his full attention. “Tell me why you thought I was scared of him.” Even as he’s sobered up, he can’t quite finish the sentence without smiling.

“My predictions have been off lately,” she says, a wrinkle between her brows. “This is normal—predictions by their nature cannot always be right. However, I’ve noticed that they’re incorrect more often lately. I ran the data, and these errors are related to two things:” Sophia brings her hand to the screen so that he can see properly. “You and him, as a unit. Individually, there doesn’t seem to be any errors. It is specifically when you are being measured together that creates mistakes. My prognosis on everyone else in the group creates more stable and accurate results.”

Sophia twists her hair in her hands. “The only reason it would be wrong is because of a confounding variable. Maybe there’s something between the two of you that others do not have. So I thought that answer—”

“Was fear,” he finishes. There’s an odd tone in his voice that she doesn’t comprehend. His gray eyes, sharp but never unkind. “I see where you’re coming from. But, and I can swear on this fact—it isn’t fear. I am not, nor will I ever be, afraid of him.”

She deflates. Wrong again. “And he’s not afraid of you?” she asks, out of desperation than anything.

Akira thinks for a moment. “Do you remember when I was cooking, and Ryuji went in to smell the broth, and knocked the whole thing over and onto my suitcase?” She nods. She had taken many pictures of that moment. “He felt really guilty, but he wasn’t scared of my reaction. He was more scared that he had ruined my stuff. You know what I mean?”

“I think I do.”

He bops the top of his phone a few times, an odd resemblance of patting her head. “Cool.”

Sophia stares at the road past their garden of clovers. Cars speed forward, too quick for her to focus on what the driver looks like. It’s hot today, but she doesn’t feel it. She runs her data one more time. “Akira, do you love Ryuji?”

His hands do not pause. “I love all my friends,” he answers simply.

—

At the end of the day, it does not matter if her attempts at predicting the future are fruitless. If she is in fact humanity’s companion, her code makes sure of one thing above all else: to help humanity with any of their endeavors.

That’s a tall order, especially when there are 7,874,965,825 humans within that humanity at this moment. Sophia is only one being, and realism is etched into her. To make things simple, she gave herself a domain of discourse. A sample size. Narrowing what she can do, and who she can help. The entirety of humanity then, at least in Sophia’s mind, falls under the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

Sapporo is freezing. Frosty. Crisp. Chilly.

“Fucking cold!” Ryuji shivers, jogging around them in an effort to get warm. “I hate this, I hate this, I hate this.”

“Even with the space heaters on, it seems that the winter isn’t interested in going anywhere,” Makoto says. She’s standing uncomfortably close to Ann, trying to leech off of her inherent heat. Actually, she wasn’t the only one—Haru is also inching her way to her. “It should probably get better once we start moving. Good thing we won’t be here long.”

Yusuke nods, unperturbed. “Yes, this should be a quick run. We’re just here to collect a desire gone astray, yes?” It seems that the ice does little to bother him. “Oracle, can you find its location?” No response. “Oracle?”

He glances to the ground, sighing when he finds her on the ground, eyes closed and breathing deeply. “Wake up,” he says, nudging her with his boot. When she doesn’t move, Yusuke throws an exasperated look at Akira.

Reluctantly, he nods. “Yeah, yeah, I got her,” he says, summoning Queen Mab. Instantly, the temperature seems to rise, just a little bit. Scooping her up, Akira shakes her roughly like a particularly malicious sack of flour. “Wake up, your space heater’s here.”

“This may be a quick run,” Haru says. “But it doesn’t mean we should take this any less seriously. Someone’s desire got lost on its way back, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, that sounds—Mona, get off my leg—about right.” Ann squints her eyes along the horizon. “It’s far, right? If we start moving now, we can probably work off the frost on our skin.”

“Yeah, it’s about…” Futaba yawns as Akira sets her on her feet. “Twenty-minute walk? Ten-minute run, but unless you want me slipping and turning the ice red, we’re gonna want to slow down.”

Akira touches his mask. “Agi.” A wave of heat rushes over them, and she sighs, grateful for the respite. “Hopefully that helped a little. But it won’t last long, and we shouldn’t waste energy warming up. Quick recap—someone lost their desire, we’re here to make sure it gets back. Our top priority is getting that desire back as quick as possible. Questions?”

Sophia raises her hand.

“Yup?”

“Did you say top priority?”

“Yes, I did say top priority.”

“Understood!” she chirps, making a note in her head. It was hard to concentrate when she felt like her insides were freezing up.

Another hand shoots up.

“Noir?”

“I don’t have a question. I just think you’re doing a wonderful job.”

“Thank you, Noir. Always a pleasure.” He looks around, nodding. “Alright. If that’s it, then let’s do this thing.”

They all move ahead, wary of their footing. Sophia frowns as she scuttles forward, scared of being left behind. There is no room for error here. If she feels that she is not useful in the real world, then she can at least utilize her talents here. And the first step to doing that is to make sure she is doing two things:

1) Not slow

2) Won’t trip

After a while, she looks up and feels her eyes bulge. How did they get so far already? Sophia can hardly see them anymore, especially with the slight fog that’s beginning to emerge. She has to get there faster.

Failed step number one already. For once, she’s glad she wasn’t hardcoded with emotions, or else humiliation would be overwhelming. Quickening her pace, she’s determined to do this correctly. One foot, then the next. One foot, then the next. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left—

She slips.

With a gasp, she moves to twist her body so that it wasn’t her head that would take the impact, and closes her eyes shut.

Just before she slams into the ice, arms grab her torso, swinging her forward. “Whoa there, shorty!”

Ryuji uses the momentum to swing her onto his back, and she latches around her neck, bewildered. “You okay? Almost got knocked out before any Shadow got to us.”

“Yes,” she replies, breathless. “Thank you for saving me. That would have been bad.”

“No prob!” he marches onward as if he wasn’t carrying an entire human being on his back while treading through sleet.

“...You can settle me down if you’d like.”

“I would not like.” He grins, boots finding matte ice with ease. “I kinda love carrying you like this. Not like I can do this in the real world, can I? ‘Sides, Futaba would chew my head off if I tried it with her.”

“Have you?”

“Maybe.”

She laughs as they finally reconvene with the rest of them. When Akira turns to them, his expression softens with relief. “All good?”

“All good,” Ryuji says. “Nothing Sophie and I can’t handle.” He raises his fist at her, and she bumps it enthusiastically. Lesson twenty-three: never refuse a fist-bump. It’s one of her favorites.

“Stop, stop, stop, stop!” Futaba calls out from beside Ann, arms were linked as if they were strolling through a park, and not a Shadow-infested land. “I said stop!”

“We heard you the first time!” Morgana yowls. “Are we here?”

“We’re close. Kinda weird though.” She smacks the side of her goggles a few times impatiently. “Nothing’s showing up.”

“Lucky!” Ann whoops. “Let’s get this over with and get some gelato!”

Rounding the corner of an empty street, Yusuke points forward to a glowing heart, beating in time to its pulsing light. “That’s it, I take it?”

“I can get it.” Sophia pats Ryuji’s shoulder, and he lets her down. “That way, we can finish this as soon as possible.”

She runs forward, eager.

“Wait—!” Futaba cries out from behind her. “We’re getting ambushed!”

As she says it, footsteps surround them, the clanging of weapons and the grunts of Shadows appearing out of nowhere. She starts to run faster, terrified of slipping but pushes on anyway. She can do this.

“Shit,” Akira hisses. “Sophie, come back here!”

Sophia ignores him, the Desire almost in her reach when she feels it. A cold breeze, impossibly colder than the temperature before, almost seems to pierce through her skin. She did not need to turn around to know what it was—every cell in her body is screaming it for her.

A curse. A strong one that would have no problem wiping her out like fly on the RV’s windshield wiper.

Would she at least be able to save the Desire? Even if she ceases to exist? Would it be worth it then? It should be, since this is what she was made for.

Something solid shoves her from behind, and she gives out a yell before hitting the ground, hard.

“What…?” she mutters, disoriented. Somehow, she isn’t dead, or even near death. Shaking her head, she grasps for the Desire in front of her before turning around.

Instantly, her heart stops. The Desire in her hand continues to pulse steadily as she stares down at Ryuji, collapsed on the ground.

“Skull?” she whispers. Leaning down, she can still hear his breathing, though it’s faint. Her hand reaches out, before she remembers. Top priority. The Desire needs to get to Joker first.

The ground begins to rumble, and Sophia looks up in time to see an arch of glowing white explode. Every Shadow is eviscerated, their ashes scattering violently at the aftershock of wind that follows from the impact. Concrete cracks, snow blows away. Without a doubt, it’s an attack from a Persona user, but she has no idea who it came from.

As the dust settles, stray bits of ice falling from the sky like hail, Akira shoots out from the fog. He’s moving faster than she’s ever seen him, and there’s a desperation to his movements that throws her off-guard. Maybe he didn’t see yet? Sophia steps forward.

“Joker!” she calls out when he gets closer, thrusting her hand forward. “I got the Desire!”

He rushes past her without a blink.

Akira skids to his knees. “Ryuji!” When there’s no answer, he pulls Ryuji to his knees, resting his head on his lap. Akira presses his fingers against the pulse on his neck, concentrating intensely. Then he grits his teeth. “I can work with this.”

More footsteps. Familiar ones. “Dammit, Joker!” Morgana says. “You can’t just throw around attacks like that, especially with such weak enemies. You know how draining that spell is.”

He ignores him. Akira removes Ryuji’s mask with great care, setting it aside, before touching his own. “Aid me, Sarasvati.”

“Joker?” she tries.

A floating woman donned in green with a delicate instrument in her long fingertips appeared from the fibers of his mask, her expression kind and tender.

“Joker.”

Healing power flows through his hands, so potent that it glows green. Sweat pours from his brow, and his wrist begins to tremble with effort.

“Joker!”

“What, Sophie?” he rounds on her, gray eyes intense.

“I got the Desire!” she announces triumphantly.

A beat passes. And then another. It was as if there was never even a deafening battle not one minute prior.

When Akira finally speaks, his voice is low. “Panther, take Sophie away please.”

Her breathing stops. She could not inhale the air even if it was demanded of her. Akira turns back to Ryuji, but Sophia’s eyes stuck to him—like she was hypnotized, cemented to the back of his head, unable to look away. Every inch of her body is numb, but none of it has anything to do with the cold.

Ann gently takes her hand, hot as iron against hers, and takes the Desire in the other. “Come on, Soph. Let’s go for a walk, huh?”

She lets herself be led away, blank and unseeing, a part of her staying wishing to stay behind to...what? She didn’t know. There’s so much she doesn’t know.

They keep walking, rounding street corners, quietly passing underneath frozen lamp posts. Sophia wasn’t sure where they were going, but she didn’t bother to ask. Eventually, they duck underneath a railing, Ann covering her head to make sure she doesn’t accidentally bang her skull against the metal. When they straight up, she blinks.

“A heater?”

“Yeah,” Ann sighs, flopping down on a toppled column as if it were a sofa. “I figured if we were going to talk, you might as well stop shivering during that time.” At her words, Sophia realizes how hard she was shaking. Ann pats the spot beside her. “Sit. Nothing a little girl talk can’t fix.” She does.

At her silence, Ann hums. “Cold, isn’t it? You guys haven’t stopped complaining since we got here. I’m super lucky that Carmen’s here to help me. Warms me up even better than this heater, if you can imagine that. Completely different from the real world, where we feel like we’re going to burst into flames any second.” She yawns. “But god, there’s no one in all of Japan that can run his mouth about the weather like Ryuji.” Sophia clenches her fist, but she keeps going, speaking almost wistfully. “I mean, he’s just so loud, you know? Like, how many times have we driven by cows on this trip, and he’d literally wake us all up just to show us? Not to mention, he eats up all the food and snores like crazy. God, one time I invited everyone over at my place, and he just slept in my bed when he got tired! Who does that?”

Ann sighs. “But man, I’ve never met someone more devoted to his friends than him. Sometimes, he’d even give ‘Kira a run for his money, the way he’d just drop everything and run to where trouble is. Day or night, that idiot would show up on your doorstep the minute you shoot him a text, wearing the most ridiculous pajamas you’ve ever seen,” she scoffs. “He started the Thieves with Akira, you know? All gung ho about justice and stuff, you should’ve seen it. And he had the spine to back it up, too.” She smiles, just a little. “Don’t tell him, but I think he’s really, really cool.”

A drop of water hits Sophia’s wrist. And another. And another, until her vision blurs and her chest is heaving. “I just—” she sobs without restraint. “I was just trying to help. I just want to be useful and do what I was made to do, and Akira said from before that this—this was the top priority, and I even made sure, so I asked, but when I finally got the Desire and I was so sure that I’d finally done something right...” the image of Akira’s cold gaze makes her flinch, hard. “He’s just so mad at me, Ann. And Ryuji—” she chokes on his name like a curse, her tongue tumbling over it as if it were getting caught in a lie. “He protected me from before, but he said he was tough, so I thought it was okay since the Desire was the top priority but he got hurt because of me.”

“I don’t even know what I’m feeling, or why I’m crying, or why you’re being so nice to me even though I know I did something bad! I just—” Sophia buries her face in her hands, muffling her scream. “I just don’t understand anything!”

Warm hands rub her back. “I know,” Ann says quietly. “You’re trying your best. We all get that, and we all think you’re doing an A-plus job.” She pauses. “Sophia, Ryuji didn’t take the hit for you because he was thinking about the Desire. He did it because he didn’t want to see you hurt.”

That makes Sophia peek up. “But that was the top priority, wasn’t it?”

“Uh-huh, but that wasn’t his heart’s top priority.” Ann pokes her temple. “That whole logic and calculation thing you have going on is good and stuff, but the thing about the human heart is that you can’t always choose why you do things, or how you react in certain situations. I bet you anything that he totally forgot that we were even looking for this thing when he pushed you,” she waves the beating heart in her hand, still glowing. “And that’s also why Akira got a little mad at you from before.”

She deflates. “He hates me,” she mumbles, feeling her insides churn uncomfortably.

“That boy doesn’t have the time in his schedule to hate anyone,” Ann reassures her. “He’s just...really, really terrified.”

“But why?” Sophia’s starting to despise that word. “He already knew that he was okay. Why would he still be worried?”

Ann looks up, thinking. “You really love and care about Ryuji, right?”

Love was still a foreign concept to her, but for once the answer came forth with ease. “Yes.”

“Take that feeling, that dense, little ball of love and adoration in your tiny body, and multiply that by about eighteen million. That’s probably about the range of what Akira feels about him.”

She quickly runs the numbers. “Whoa.”

“Yeah. Kinda scary, huh?”

It is scary. With numbers this high, she can only begin to imagine what it felt like for Akira to think that he might be seriously hurt, or even worse, dead. All because of Sophia.

“Hey now, I know that look!” Ann flicks her forehead. “I don’t want you to get all mopey about this. You said it yourself—he’s a tough guy. The toughest there is, but don’t tell him that. It’ll go straight to his empty head.”

She stands with exuberance, stretching. “Alright, I think we’re about done here. How we feeling? You ready to go back?”

No. Her heart speeds up at the thought of going back, her shoulders tensing in on itself, but somehow it would be worse to stay here. “I’m ready.”

“That’s what we like to hear!” Ann cheers. “No chickening out now, okay? You can do this.”

“I can do this.” Sophia repeats, and then, louder: “I can do this!

“Yay! And Sophie?” she looks up in time to see Ann giving her a warm look. “Just because you don’t understand something, doesn’t mean we love you any less. You are allowed to be confused and make mistakes. Do you understand that?”

Sophia smiles wide. “I understand.”

—

They were a block away from the rest of the group when Akira emerged from the fog. With his black attire and dark hair, he could have looked like a picturesque horror movie figure, but somehow his expression ruined that facade the moment she saw it.

“I’m going on ahead,” Ann says when Sophia stops in front of him. “Someone has to make sure Futaba doesn’t sleep on us again.”

“Thanks,” he answers. Then, to Sophia, “Hi.”

“Hi, Joker.” She’s been practicing her speech the entire way back, her points all lined up in her mind, all leading up to the big apology. “I—”

“Pause,” he cuts in, and she shrinks. Is he still mad? She can’t read his expression. He kneels in front of her, squinting, and it suddenly shifts to horror. “Did...did you cry? Did I make you cry?”

“No,” she says quickly, but he doesn’t believe her for even a minute. “Yes. Sorry.”

“Oh god, no, please don’t apologize. Shit,” he rubs the back of his neck, sighing. It’s guilt, she realizes with a shock. “I’m such an asshole. I can’t believe I let myself lash out like that. A thousand apologies won’t even be enough. I was scared out of my mind, but that doesn’t mean I can just treat you like that. I even sent you away, like you’re some sort of kid,” he winces. “I’m really sorry. Can you forgive me?”

She stares at him. “I was supposed to say that stuff.”

He looks taken aback by her words. “No? How could you have known that we would have been ambushed? Ugh, I’m so dumb. I shouldn’t have reacted like that.” Akira sends her a pointed look. “Though, you really shouldn’t split off from the group next time. Top priority means important, but above all else is your safety. Put that in your code.”

“I will,” she promises.

“Good. And the second priority is—” he reaches forward and engulfs her in a tight hug. “Is that you won’t ever, ever think that I’d hate you.”

She frowns. “How did you know?”

“A hunch.” Beat. “Also, Ann gave me a look.” He pulls back. “Are we still friends?”

Relief washes into her, crashing like a wave. “Of course,” she says, before hesitating. “Is…?”

“Yeah, he is.” Akira rolls his eyes, but there is no hiding the grin that takes over him. “A little too good, actually. He hasn’t stopped running around since I poured some energy back into him. I kind of think I overdid it, actually. Oh, and he’s excited to see you again.”

“He is?” she asks, hopeful.

“Absolutely. Asked about you the minute he came to.” Akira gets to his feet. “Shall we say hi?”

“Please.”

As they walk back, an epiphany takes over her. “Oh!” she exclaims, making Akira jump. “I get it now.”

“What’s up?”

“You love Ryuji.”

“That’s right,” he raises a brow.

She shakes her head. “You love Ryuji,” she insists. Even accounting for a margin of error, there’s simply no mistaking her results.

Akira stares at her for a long moment, before huffing out a laugh.

“Yeah, that’s right,” he says softly.

The moment Ryuji sees her, she sprints, throwing caution to the wind as she leaps into his arms. He catches her without hesitation. “Glad to see you’re safe, shorty.”

Sophia knows a lot of things, but there’s also a lot she doesn’t understand. But that’s fine. She’ll get there, and her friends will be waiting for her when she does.

#p5 #fic tag #margin of error #mine #ryuji sakamoto #sophia #no p5s spoilers sans the locations #kiss ryuji day #just a quick thing yeah sure 7k is quick #my moon and stars #the leader and his right hand man #big shoutout to pear for holding my hand while i had a breakdown in life and decided to write this #akira kurusu

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timextoxhajima · 3 years

Text

Love Me A Little Less: Chapter 2 - Auction

LOVE ME A LITTLE LESS CHAPTER MASTERLIST

Member: (3rd person pov) arranged marriage au with Lee Juyeon

Genre: angsty wangsty

Taglist: @hyunvelies

“You no longer own me.”

The guppies in the tank that spans nearly half the space of the wall flush around, their brightly colored and flared tails gently wading in the water. Juyeon gently taps on the glass, the yellow guppy swimming towards him instead of away. The shelves are stacked with books on marine life and nature, posters of the Northern Lights dawn the walls if they weren’t covered in the latest Apple commercial poster.

He hears the hurried footsteps before he hears his assistant, who is huffing by the time she’s at the door of his office. “Anything urgent, Miss Young? Forgive me if I imagined I told you that I would be unavailable until after lunch.”

“Sir, I think you should see the news. I know why your parents aren’t in office today.”

“What?” Juyeon finally pulls away from the tank, worried eyes scanning his assistant. She’s well-dressed, has short hair and ruby cheeks. She looks like she belongs in high school. “Anything serious happen? An accident?”

“Um, no, it’s just--”

Ring ring

Lee Juyeon turns to the phone set on his table, then side-eyes Young Jin Seol, feet turning toward the device.

“No, sir! Wait, before you--”

“Hello?”

“Good morning, Mr Lee. We’re calling from The Board to request your availability tonight for a press conference regarding today’s updates.”

Juyeon scoffs gently, standing straight up and resting a hand on his hip. He turns to look at Jin Seol, eyes filled with caution, as if they meant to say I told you not to pick it up.

“I’m sorry but... what updates?”

“The change in ownership of HERA & ARTEMIS and the marriage.”

There’s a brooding uneasiness in his gut as he processes the heavy word. In the world of corporate under The Board, the word ‘marriage’ is nothing but a contract.

“Remind me who this concerns?”

“You, sir. The marriage between you and Kim Jang Won. The Board would like your presence during a press conference to address the marriage as well as the following change in ownership of HERA & ARTEMIS.”

It’s like Medusa has just stared him straight in the eye, for Juyeon fails to respond in any way possible.

“Uh... sir? Hello? Mr Lee Juyeon?”

Jin Seol rushes over, able to hear the voice on the other end calling out to him. She grabs the phone and presses it to her ear, eyes plastered to Juyeon, whose lips seemed to be whitening. “Hi, this is Young Jin Seol, Mr Lee’s assistant. He’s not feeling very well now, so I’ll get him to give you a call later regarding the press conference, if that’s alright.”

“Oh, um, of course. But we’d like to have details settled by 1pm later, Miss Young. If it’s not too troubling to relay the message to Mr Lee.”

“Rest assured, he’ll...” Jin Seol watches Juyeon trudge to the couches sitting before the tank, sinking into the soft cushion and pressing his fingers into his closed lids. “I’ll make sure he gets back to you by then.”

Juyeon can feel the skin on his chest stretch when he sucks in a deep breath. The nonsensical thoughts start to crowd his head in the most logical way possible, if that was even possible. Luckily, the only thing he could hear was the bubbling of the oxygen pump in the tank.

He hears Jin Seol return the phone back into the phone set before he finally opens his eyes, vision a little blurred from the pressure of his fingers.

“I could schedule them in straight away but I have a feeling you’d want to talk to your parents first, Mr Lee.”

Juyeon brings his palms down to his nose and mouth, lips perpendicular to his index finger and his thumbs under his chin as he focuses on the table before him. The white tulips in the vase have already started to brown.

“Schedule them for lunch at 11 and I’d like to be left alone from 12.30 to 1. I’ll call The Board myself afterwards,” Juyeon notes the coldness in his voice, an element he doesn’t even recognise much. “My parents and I have alot to talk about.”

The Director of Chang’s Funeral Services personally flips open the file, turning it and sliding it across the table to the siblings sitting opposite them. Mr Chang would’ve shat himself if Kim Jang Won had come alone - she doesn’t have the title ‘Hera’s Princess’ for nothing. It’s a good thing ‘The Prince of Artemis’ had come with her. But maybe that’s just it, isn’t it?

What if he pulled out a gun and shot me right now?

Younghoon’s eyes conscientiously process the printed words on the document, his sister a little too over the edge to be paying attention to anything.

“We-- Um, carried out an investigation and realised that the bodies were... well... mismatched.”

Younghoon listens, but his gaze is still on the carbon print. The file was labelled KIM JO-PIL but the papers in the folder belonged to someone else. Someone else’s body. A common city address.

“Have you excavated the body?”

“In progress, Mr Kim. They should be calling any time now for after identification.”

“I don’t suppose you have the documents for Kim Jo-Pil? The ones that were supposed to be in this folder?”

“The thing is... I remember seeing the documents. My colleagues have too. The people in charge of your father’s burial saw it too. But... if it’s not in this office then frankly, I’ve got no clue where it would be.”

For the first time in 3 hours, Jang Won actually looks somewhat understanding, sympathetic, empathetic. Younghoon shuts the file and slides it over to Jang Won when she sits up in her seat.

“If you don’t mind, we’ll take the file and contact the deceased’s family. When’s that body identification phone call coming in?” Then the 3-hour streak is lost, and Younghoon sighs exasperatedly, out of her peripheral vision. “Taking mighty long for a simply body identification, no?”

Flustered, Mr Chang fumbles for the phone set sitting in the corner of his desk, hurriedly dialing a number.

“Where do you think he ran to for 2 years?” Jang Won squints at the deceased’s information. “Why 2 years?”

Younghoon runs a hand through his hair, probably worth about half a million Korean Won. “You ask me as if I know any more than you do.”

Mr Chang is finally talking to someone. Jang Won’s focus fixates on something familiar at the bottom of the page.

“That’s because maybe you do,” Lifting the file, she points to the bottommost section.

LAST OCCUPATION:

PHOTOGRAPHER FOR ARTEMIS ENTERTAINMENT GROUP

“It’s your company and subsidiary. I’m surprised you don’t recognise the name.”

“I might own Artemis but I don’t personally know all 278 employees. If he’s a photographer and I don’t recognise him, that means he’s in another department. Women, or children or product. I’m only listed as a model under the ‘Males’ department.”

There’s a silence in the air that allowed Younghoon to hear the gears churning in Jang Won’s head. The appearance of Kim Jo-Pil, 2 years after his supposed death, has just dragged both his children and everybody else related into a mess of a puzzle. But Younghoon has no doubt his sister can find all the pieces, much less draw the connections.

There’s a reason why she could build HERA & ARTEMIS from the ground up.

Mr Chang finally hangs up, sighing heavily as he looks at the powerful siblings over the rim of his glasses. “They’ve confirmed. The body in the coffin you saw your father in belongs to the man in the document.”

Younghoon chortles in disbelief. “Right then. So our father did die, but someone managed to swap the bodies before it was lowered, and then proceeded to keep him alive for the next 2 years.”

Jang Won flips and finds a portrait of the dead man. “Question is... who?”

Younghoon stands up first, thanking Mr Chang and tapping Jang Won as he turns for the exit of the office. The Director doesn’t even get a chance to bid his goodbye when Jang Won leaves, behind Younghoon.

Escorted by four bodyguards, the siblings walk side by side with her heels clicking against the floor. Upon reaching the first floor, the lift doors ding open into an array of reporters hustling outside the entrance.

“Get them out of my face before I ruin their lives!”

The guards rush before them, hurriedly trying to disperse the crowd. Jang Won pulls out her sunglasses, covering her eyes.

“Time-wasting assholes.”

The shouted questions are loud and intrusive. The short distance of a few tens of metres feel like a mile from all the shoving and yelling. The flashes refuse to cease, but they’ve been in the spotlight for so long, it just gets annoying.

BREAKING: KIM YOUNGHOON AND KIM JANG WON SPOTTED AT CHANG’S FUNERAL SERVICES - KIM JO-PIL CONFIRMED TO HAVE BEEN SWAPPED OUT BEFORE BURIAL TWO YEARS AGO

Juyeon turns into the private room the restaurant manager has led him to, leaving him at the door whilst his parents gawk at the headlines blasting on the screen mounted to the wall. There’s a picture of Kim Jang Won and her brother getting into a car right below the headlines.

“Quite a mess, isn’t it?”

Both of them whip around to see the young man standing by the door, pushing himself off the frame and strutting into the private room. The whole fit he was wearing could buy a short vacation. His father reaches for the remote and shuts off the television.

“I expect nothing less from Kim Jo-Pil, given the history of HERA & ARTEMIS. It was just a matter of time before his daughter took over and turned it into a multi-billion name,” His mother sings, fingers around the base of a glass of wine and carefully swirling the blood-red liquid.

Juyeon sits, and a waiter comes by to fill his glass with wine. The gentle whir of the air-conditioning in the room is the only source of noise, other than the waiter taking his leave. Juyeon picks up the glass, raising a brow as he brings it to his lips. “I expect nothing less from my own parents when they are about to put me up for a certain type of contract,” He pauses, the glass in mid-air. “Say... a marriage.”

His lips meet the curve of the glass and he takes a sip.

“We wanted to tell you before we agreed, but--”

“But the money’s more worth?” He winces from the alcohol in the wine, frowning and offering a sarcastic purse of his lips. “I can imagine. All that stuff you have at home... you know, grand piano worth five million, a kitchen big enough for a herd of horses-- oh, not to mention the actual stable of horses... Yeah, I guess... I guess I could empathise with how you needed more than those. Planning a re-deco? I might know some great architects.”

“Juyeon...”

“No, no,” Placing down the glass, he waves his hand. “Let me put things into perspective for you. After all, gotta make the homework I did on my way here worth it right? See if it’s correct.”

Juyeon clears his throat and cracks his knuckles, knowing that his parents are offering him the most miserable looks they’ve ever given him in his life.

“The Board announces Kim Jo-Pil’s return. HERA & ARTEMIS goes back under his belt, leaving Kim Jang Won, current owner and might I say, the very reason why HERA & ARTEMIS is as good as it is today, jobless and absolutely helpless in a ditch. The Board then passes a rule, one which I have never heard before in my life, maybe because it’s never happened before, but... in order for Kim Jang Won to re-obtain some kind of ownership or at least some part of HERA & ARTEMIS, she must marry a name attached to The Board. And the two of you, seeing how rich and successful Kim Jang Won has made HERA & ARTEMIS, snatched the offer up first and put me on the stage... for auction.”

“Auction...!”

“Correct me, will you? Because that’s exactly what I think you did. What, becoming the next director of Apple-Korea isn’t enough for you? Owning the Korean branch of one of the largest tech companies in the world isn’t enough-- you must have a fashion-retail company?!”

The entire room falls into heavy silence. The waiters knock before entering with some seafood appetizer. Juyeon sucks his lips between his teeth, nibbling anxiously on his bottom one.

“Juyeon...” His father waits for the waiter to leave. “We... we just wanted the best for you. You know how powerful the Kim family is. Any remote connection to them will do us good. It’ll do you good.”

He scoffs and rubs his forehead with his index and middle finger. “I really have no clue what’s going on in those heads of yours sometimes.”

“I don’t know why you’re so against this, Juyeon. It’ll be helpful to you in your future!”

“As opposed to what? Wanting to be a marine biologist? Wanting to study the waters and nature? Is that what you’re trying to say?”

Thinking that his father would hush his mother, Juyeon is surprised when he doesn’t.

“Wow, really? Nothing?”

Silence.

His mother picks up a fork.

“Very nice to know that you’re treating me like a piece of property instead of your son.”

Juyeon pulls the napkin off his lap and stands.

“Oh, and uh... Don’t wait for a wedding invitation. You’re not getting one.”

“Juyeon!” His parents collectively exclaim in disdain, eyes widening as he struts towards the exit and out of the room.

“What? You auctioned me off! You no longer own me, right?!”

Juyeon huffs angrily, hands running through his hair and ruining his own efforts of waxing his hair. He enters the lift, multiple staff members looking at him stride into the metallic box, confused. His fingers search for his phone in the pocket of his blazer, the device buzzing non-stop from the headlines and messages and emails from broadcasting companies and companies he couldn’t give two shits about.

But when the lift doors open and he sees the Kim Jang Won standing right outside with the same suit and sunglasses he had previously seen her on TV with, his eyes widen with a mix of surprise and distaste.

“Well, if it isn’t Kim Jang Won... or might I say, my fiancé?”

“My dad couldn’t have done this on his own. I have a theory, and multiple plans to fix this mess of a shitshow, so I’m here to figure out if you wanna be in on it.”

Juyeon scoffs and shoves his hands into his pockets, stepping out of the lift and staring down straight at her. He attempts to search for her eyes through the chocolate-brown shade of her sunglasses, but fails.

A tiny smirk crawls unto her lips as she pulls it off, her bright, sparkling, manipulative eyes ignite some flame in Juyeon.

Because that’s just how smart and cunning Kim Jang Won is.

“I know you don’t give a shit, Lee Juyeon. About The Board, about the marriage, about Apple.”

He chuckles, teeth wiping his canine teeth as he pulls his shoulders back. “So you Googled me. Should I be impressed?”

Then his phone buzzes and he pulls it out in a bid to display some kind of disinterest.

Young Jin Seol [12.13pm]: The tulips are here! [photo]

He blinks, eyes travelling from the screen to the most powerful figure of his generation under The Board.

“If I could find this out from Google, I think you should revisit your privacy logistics,” Kim Jang Won squints one eye and raises her brow. “I’m not here to confuse you or piss you off, Lee Juyeon. I’m here with an offer, to save both our asses. I want HERA & ARTEMIS back but I cannot do it if I have no link to it.”

“What’s in it for me then? It’s not like you can buy me a degree in marine biology.”

“I can’t but you could have the freedom to do so. I’ll pay for you to start your own company. Whoever said you needed a degree to do what you wanted to do? In this world... all you need is money and a little bit of brain... but!” She points to him her sunglasses. “You don’t have to worry about either because I’ve got that covered. All I need you to do is get down on one knee -- willingly -- for the whole world to see... and I’ll give you your freedom.”

Juyeon sucks in a deep breath so hard that he wheezes and Kim Jang Won could not be any more satisfied with herself.

#juyeon #tbz #the boyz #the boyz juyeon #juyeon fanfic #juyeon scenario #juyeon scenarios #lee juyeon #lee juyeon scenario #lee juyeon fanfic #the boyz lee juyeon #tbz juyeon #love me a little less

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