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theravencawsatmidnight · 3 years

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Pink Chains Sequel

The oldest. Male, twin. Souta.(Means A sudden wind or sound)

The middle. Male. Twin. Kaito. (Means sea or ocean)

Youngest. Female. Kana. (Means powerful)

@galagcica @squeaky-ducky @kozushiki @haikyuu-but-low-iq @lunebabie @derpeedoo @kayisweird @zopzoop

“We do now!!!!” You told him, rubbing your stomach

“Swee..sweetie are you serious?” He climbed over the desk grabbing you and pulling you between his legs.

“Yep!!! Surprise Kyo!!!”

He was a little shocked for a few minutes, you were telling him how excited you were but he could not register it. A kid, not one but three. Will they be like him? Scary? Will they think hes scary?!?

“Kyo?” You lightly tugged his shirt so he would look at you. “Kyo whats wrong?”

He squeezed you sighing deep. “Im nervous sweetie thats all.”

You laid your head on his chest. “Well.. i am too . But! I have you to help and you have me. Not to mention all your friends. “ you took his ring hand to hold it and nuzzled his sleeve. “I love you, we will be fine Kyo.”

Kyo took in a deep breath and kissed your head. “Yeah, we will. I love you so much sweetie.”

It was an interesting nine months for everyone. Kyo had gotten his friends together for beach volleyball one night , you were there too but you were sitting with a sundress on looking excited.

“Soo...” Iwaizumi said, rubbing his head. “Whats this about?”

Oikawa and Mattsun were stumped too, so was Yahaba. Bokuto was trying to piece it together as well.

You got up and turned to the side and Kyo put his hand on your stomach. “Well... lets just hope you can deal with more of me”

Safe to say Kyo got tackled into the sand by everyone.

Time Skip to the kids being 7.

💕Kyo and Reader still live in his home. Iwaizumi does too since he owns the basement half of the house.

💕Chicken Legs had trouble adjusting to the children but Readers cats have helped relax and calm him. He's not so shaky anymore.

💕King is the kids number one fan. He is always there to help them with a prank on their father or to help them up and down the stairs.

💕Rex gets brushed every five minutes and he *loves it*. Kana also likes putting ribbons on his tail.

💕Mango is carried around everywhere by Kaito because he is small and “fun to carry”

💕The twins get up to no good alot. Souta is like the wind, no one ever knows if he's gonna do something. Kaito is more calm, like the ocean . But just like his brother, he's right there to lend a hand in mischief

💕Kana is attached to Kyo and Readers hip nearly 24/7 because she is scared of everything. She was tiny at birth. A “runt of the litter” Kyo called it, which gave her the nickname “Kana Pup” by Kyo. Everything is bigger than her and she doesn't like it. She's scared of Oikawa and it makes him sad.

💕Kyo and Reader own a bigger building together that they turned into The Dog House. They sell apparel but with Readers designs now too. The kids hangout at the shop usually after school.

💕The building has an upper floor or office area where Reader works on new designs / manages the finances while Kyo works the floor.

💕Souta and Kaito spend their days greeting customers and telling them specials (as best they can) . If Kana is not with her mother she is with Kyo at the register coloring under the desk so no one can see her.

💕kyo does not know what to do about Kana, he's worried she won't have friends and isolate herself. Iwaizumi suggests a hobby or club for middle school and Oikawa suggests volleyball.

💕its at the beach Kana realizes how fun volleyball is. She even lets Oikawa show her how to play.

💕Mattsun still has his tattoo shop. Kyo now has a back piece too. It's three wolf pups .

💕Kana joins the volleyball club

💕the twins join an art club and it is very interesting to them . Souta & Kaito are naturals at coming up with designs

💕iwaizumi babysits when Kyo and reader need alone time at the house

💕every now and then Kyo will check in on his kids at night, he leans on the wall of the door just watching them sleep. It's been a few years since they were born and he's still dumbfounded he could make such blessings

💕Kanas first game is a little rocky, she's nervous about people watching her. That is until Bokuto yells for the stands ‘all eyes on you because you are the star of this court!!!’ . She pulls through and turns out she spikes just like her father. They win because of her. Reader cries tears of joy and the twins are going nuts , Kyo pulls reader close kissing her

💕The twins debut a simple design. It's a crow with its wings out with a chain collar on its neck. Their parents love it.

Time skip to HighSchool

💕The kids go to Karasuno

💕The twins are in a design/business club

💕Kana is the wing spiker of her team. She is tall like her father and brings her team to Nationals.

💕Mattsun has a pretty little happy girl come into his shop one day asking for a fluffy kitty tattoo . Mattsun thanks god this is happening and gets her number

💕Oikawa & Iwaizumi still work at the Dog House. Oikawa now has the same volleyball tattoo his friends have. Iwaizumi helps the twins bring their designs up to sell online

After High School.

💕Kana plays for the Black Jackals. The twins have a successful online business selling their designs on different things.

💕Kyo and Reader have expanded the Dog House and it has more locations now.

💕Every friday night they spend their time laying on Kyos car with music on watching the stars in their backyard.

The end 💕

Little bonus mini drabbles!!

“raaaa!!!!!” Yelled Kaito

“Aaaarrgg!!!!” Yelled Souta.

Kana had her ears covered and had Chicken Legs laying down next to her with his paw over his eyes. She was sitting on the floor coloring in her book when her siblings rushed down the stairs with toilet paper and heavy eye makeup on their face and body. King, Rex and Mango were close behind with equal amounts of toilet paper on them too. This was a regular saturday...

Iwaizumi was on the couch watching these terrors run around the house . He pat Kana on the head counting quietly. “And 5...4...3...2...1...” The garage door could be heard and the twins and dogs stopped. Heavy steps and giggling were getting closer.

“Kaito.”

“Yes Souta?”

“It appears we are going to die today”

“Yes i believe so.”

Kana peaked at Iwaizumi and he just gave her that smile that made her get red in the face. The door opened and you and Kyo saw your kids covered in toilet paper and makeup. The dogs too. Kyo rubbed between his eyes and you giggled going over to Kana who was holding her arms up to you.

“Souta?”

“Yes Kaito?”

“It was nice knowing you.”

“Likewise”

(Whenever Kyo asks Iwai why he allows this he just shrugs and says “hey they aint my kids 😋”)

*💕

Kyo had picked the kids up from school and went straight into work. No one minded that the kids were there, they behaved. Mostly.

“Welcome to The Dog House!!!” Yelled the twins“The finest dogs and the biggest house!!! At your service!!!!”

Youd never seen so many metal heads giggle and chuckle like little kids before. Kana though, was under the register coloring and leaning on her fathers leg. Kyo leaned on the register looking down at his daughter.

“Kana pup”

“Papa..?” She asked, looking up, brushing her hair from her face.

“Do you wanna greet customers with your brothers?

She shrugged pulling the book closer. “N-no..”

He rolled his shoulders looking back up to see his friends frowning at him.

“Maybe a club will help”

“Or volleyball!!!”

*💕

The twins were running around the beach with Mattsun chasing them , Kyo, Iwa, and Kawa were tossing the ball to each other. And you were sitting on a towel under an umbrella with Kana clinging to your arm. You had noticed she was fixed on what her father was doing and you signaled to get his attention and pointed at yoir daughter.

“Kana pup.” He said, catching the ball. “Cmere for a second.”

She shook her head and you rubbed her side.”just for a second baby.”

Kana gets up joining her father and he crouches down behind her. “Put your fists together , be still okay?”

“ dont.. wanna get hit..”

“You wont i promise.” He nodded to Iwaizumi and he lightly tossed the ball to Kana . “Now just move your wrist down. Then connect with the ball semding it up”

As soon as the ball hit her wrists she whined turning around to hug her father. “Kana, look.” He turned her head . The ball was in the air . “You did it.”

“I.. i hit it.”

“Maybe Oikawa can explain better.” He said, getting up and Oikawa crouched down next to her. Kana whined giving him a scared look and he just held his hands out to recieve the ball.

“Its easy, promise!” The ball bounced off his wrists.

After a few tries Kana got the positioning right and even asked Oikawa to help and show her more.

*💕

One night Mattsun is at his shop filling in his laptop with appointments, transactions, bills. Its late, maybe almost 10. He liked to stay open when he had late nights like this. No one ever came by but.. it made him hope someone would. Mattsun was covered head to toe in tattoos. The bell dinged and he looked up from his desk and fell forward.

It was a girl; pink shoes, dyed highlighted pink hair, a white belly top and shorts. “Hey Mr!!!! Can i get a tattoo please?! A fluffy kitty or kitten? Do you do those? “

Mattsun smiled up at his ceiling . “Whoevers watching , thank you.”

He looked back over at the huffy girl. “Yeah i can do that Kitty, let me get a sketch going and you can tell me what you think.” He said with a very big smile. “Whats your name?” He asked , going around his desk to his wheely chair .

“Y/n!! “ the girl skipped over sitting in the chair criss cross. “Can you do it here?” She pointed to her inner thigh .

Mattsun thanked whoever was watching over him again but in his head. “I sure can y/n. I sure can.”

“No no!! Kitty!! I like it.”

Mattsun had a silly grin on his face now. “Okay kitty”

*💕

Its late at night and the only one up is Kyo. He was leaning on the wall watching his kids, ‘how did i get here?’ He asked himself while eyeing his bruised knuckles. Slowly he looked up. “I love you guys so much...”

“And i love you.” He heard behind him. A giggle too.

#kyotani 💕#kyotani x reader #kyotani headcanons #pink chains

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cali-holland · 4 years

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Just a Little Secret- Harrison Osterfield One Shot

Pairing: Harrison Osterfield X Holland!Reader

Prompt: Maybe quarantining with your secret boyfriend and your two overprotective younger brothers wasn’t a good idea…

Word Count: 4600

Warnings: swearing (especially towards the end oops), sexual innuendos? references to sex? probably some reference to alcohol... my bad

Masterlist Harrison Osterfield Masterlist

*Gif is not mine*

~~~

When quarantine began over a month ago, you decided to stay at home with your parents, Sam, and Paddy. This, of course, upset your boyfriend Harrison, as he wanted to use this lockdown as an excuse to be with you 24/7- what he forgot to consider was that you’d be living with him, two of your brothers, and Tuwaine. Tom, Harry, and Tuwaine would let you stay in the guest room in a heartbeat, but you knew better than to accept that offer though. It was hard enough to keep your secret relationship with Harrison, well, a secret for the past five months; it’d be even harder for your relationship to go undetected while living under the same roof as Harry and Tom.

“Are you sure you don’t want to?” Harrison pouted as you two sat up having a late night facetime call.

“Yes, I can’t stay there. It’s too risky.” You replied. It’s been two weeks into quarantine by this point.

Harrison just wanted to hold you and you just wanted him to hold you, too. You two had done the long distance thing before, but that was different time zones distance, not a five minute drive distance.

“You can stay in the guest room. We won’t even share a room.” He let out a whine, trying his best to get you to agree. You couldn’t take his puppy dog eyes seriously though.

“You mean the guest room conveniently next to your room and not near any other rooms?” You laughed lightly in a teasing tone.

“Maybe.”

“You need to shave.” You said, wanting to change the topic.

“Come over here and shave it then.” He smirked smugly as he changed it right back.

“Nope.” You shook your head. Your eyes popped above your phone to the door for a moment when you heard a creak outside your room- probably just Sam going to bed late like always.

“Guess it’s just gonna stay then.” Harrison shrugged with a cheeky smile.

“Guess I won’t facetime you anymore then.” You quipped, and the pout returned to his face. You let out a little laugh, “No, I think I can get behind it.”

“Mhm,” He hummed from your approval.

“I miss you.” You sighed.

“I miss you, too.” His blue eyes shone in sadness; you’d never been so close to each other yet so far away.

You stayed on the facetime call with him, talking and getting lost in his eyes, until you fell asleep. It happened almost every night; you two would facetime until one went to sleep, just content with the small amount of time you got to see each other.

The next morning, your mum insisted that you and Sam head off to the grocery store to pick up some more essentials. It wasn’t until you were getting some fresh vegetables that Sam questioned you about your late night phone calls.

“So, who’s the guy?” Sam asked.

“What?” You replied, claiming ignorance despite knowing exactly what he meant.

“You’re always up late talking to someone. Who is it?” He tried to play it off as a ‘cool brother’ routine by focusing on the broccoli in front of him. His tone and actions just told you that he was concerned and trying not to be bothered by the subject.

“It’s no one.” You answered. You didn’t really want it to go any further.

And before it could go any further, you and Sam heard an excited voice from behind the two of you.

“Y/N! Sam!” Your twin smiled happily, pulling you in for a hug before giving Sam one as well.

“Tom, what are you doing here?” You asked. You didn’t mind that he just broke one of the ‘rules’ of quarantine- he was your twin after all.

“We needed milk.” He said. He pointed back to Harrison, who rounded the corner and lit up when he saw you.

“Well, well, look who we have here.” Harrison teased, placing the milk in the cart Tom had.

“Hey, Haz.” You smiled. You took a moment to check him out a little, your eyes lingering on his newly grown facial hair. He sent a smirk your way as he not so subtly eyed your own body. Thankfully, Sam and Tom were caught up in their own conversation, completely oblivious to you and Harrison.

“I just remembered that Tom and I need some bread. Want to help me get some?” Your boyfriend asked you with a cheeky grin, not trying hide his innuedo from you.

“Sure.” You rolled your eyes at your boyfriend’s obvious attempts to get you away from your brothers. Once concealed in the bread aisle, Harrison’s hands cupped your cheeks and he pulled you in for a hungry kiss. His tongue dove into your mouth almost immediately. You refrained from giggling into the kiss as his facial hair tickled your face lightly. It wasn’t nearly that long, but you hadn’t actually kissed him when he was sporting anything more than a little stubble. After a moment, his hands began to roam your body and you came to your senses. You pulled away from him, making him whine.

“Haz, we’re in a grocery store.” You said.

“Bathroom or car? I say we got about eight minutes before they wonder where we are.” Harrison teased.

“We’re not having a quickie in a grocery store.” You slapped his arm.

“Technically the car’s in the-“ He was cut off by you kissing him again. Your hands got tangled in his hair as his hands snaked their way to your waist. As his hands ventured even lower down your body, you felt him start to smile into the kiss, proud that he was able to cop a feel of what he’d been missing. You involuntarily moaned as his hands rubbed on your ass, pulling you closer to him.

“Haz, we need to go back.” You pulled away from the kiss. He groaned, but he knew you were right. Sam and Tom would find you two if you took any longer. He fixed his hair and grabbed the first package of bread he could.

“Do you approve of the beard now that you’ve seen it?” He asked you, pulling you close to him again in the aisle.

“I like it.” You smiled, running a hand over his slightly hairy jaw.

“Good. Because it stays until you move in.” Harrison teased.

Before you two rounded the corner for the produce section, he gave you one last kiss and then you two pulled apart, putting on the act of just friends in front of your brothers.

For the next couple nights, whenever you’d facetime, Harrison would beg you to go stay at his place and your answer was always a simple no. One day, it stopped, and you didn’t question it until just a few days later a pink package showed up in the mail.

“You do some online shopping?” Your mum asked teasingly, handing you the package.

“No?” You replied, before looking at it curiously. The big pink VS was the first clue that your obnoxious secret boyfriend sent it to you. Sam gave you a questioning look and you just laughed it off, “Oh yeah, I forgot about this.”

You quickly excused yourself to your room and opened the package once you got some privacy. Harrison was such a little shit sending you sexy black lingerie while you were staying at your parents, instead of at his place. It was taking everything in you to not move over there.

‘Did you get my gift? Said it was delivered.’ Harrison texted you immediately after you opened it.

‘Yes.’ You replied curtly.

‘Do I get to see it 😇 (angel face)’

‘Not today at least.’

‘Come over and show me?’

‘No.’ You added the period just for effect.

‘Please 😭 (crying face)’

You sighed. You really, really wanted to be with Harrison, but you also knew that there was no way you two could handle the constant pressure of keeping your relationship hidden. It was hard already since he lived with your brothers, but now to put all four of you, stuck together, under one roof- that would be the biggest challenge yet.

You called up Tom, and he answered almost immediately, excited to hear from you.

“Hey, Tommy, can I ask a favor?”

~~~

And so, Harrison had won the quarantine debate. He was more than happy to help you with your bags when you moved in the next day, and he was more than happy to show you to your room, right beside his and practically closed off to the other bedrooms. You barely got your bedroom door closed behind you before he embraced you in a tight hug.

“Haz!” You quietly exclaimed, not expecting him to be so physically needy so quickly.

“I missed you.” He said, kissing you. His stubble had grown longer since you saw him at the store and it tickled your chin as his lips moved against yours. His hands on your waist, pulled your hips into his.

“So much.” He mumbled against your lips, walking you to backwards until he could sit on your bed and you situated yourself in his lap.

“I missed you, too.” You let out a small moan as his lips went straight for the sweet spot on your neck, still knowing exactly how to get you going. “Haz, no hickeys.”

You couldn’t but laugh at his playfully murmured “No” before he continued to pepper your neck with kisses. His hands began to roam under your shirt, until you two were pulled back to reality.

“Hey, Y/N, what do you want for dinner?” Tom shouted, his footsteps coming down the hall. You jumped away from Harrison, just in time for your brother to open your door.

“What do we have?” You asked, busying yourself with unpacking your suitcase. Harrison preoccupied himself with putting away your books and such, acting like just a good friend helping you get comfortable in the new room.

“Uh, I don’t actually know.” Your twin admitted.

“What about spaghetti?” Harrison suggested, “We’ve got stuff for that.”

“Yeah, that works.” You nodded, approvingly.

“Alright, I’ll start on it.” Tom said, heading out of the room. Once he was out of sight, you playfully slapped Harrison’s arm.

“What was that for?” He asked, rubbing the hurt spot.

“We’re so going to get caught.” You stated.

“Mm, maybe it won’t be that bad.” He replied, placing his hands on your waist. He pecked your nose and smiled, “Besides we wouldn’t have to hide anymore.”

“Tom would kill you, you know that.” You were right and you both knew it. When Tom introduced you, his twin sister, to Harrison, he’d (jokingly) told Harrison that you were off limits. You and Harrison pushed aside your feelings for each other for years, knowing it’d be a challenge to win Tom’s approval- which you didn’t need, but you didn’t want to upset your brother’s friendship. You kissed Harrison again, reassuringly, “We’ll tell him when we’re ready.”

Just under an hour later, you found yourself sitting at the dining room table, surrounded by the boys and enjoying Tom’s dinner. Harrison sat across from you, his feet teasingly rubbing against yours. You shot him a quick glare, which your housemates thankfully missed, as a way to tell him to stop. He kept a poker face as his foot inched higher.

“Hey, Harrison,” Tuwaine distracted your boyfriend. He teasingly wiggled an eyebrow at him, asking, “Did your girl get your quarantine gift?”

Harrison’s face turned red as all eyes landed on him, including your horrified eyes. His feet dropped down off your legs instantly. You spoke up involuntarily, “Your what?”

“Harrison here has a secret girlfriend.” Tom said with a laugh from beside you. “We caught him shopping for her at Victoria’s Secret, so naturally we helped him out.”

“You didn’t help-“ Harrison started, looking at you apologetically. So he had slipped up. Your brothers- plus Tuwaine, knew he had a girlfriend now; they just didn’t realize it was you. Your stomach twisted as you processed Tom’s words- he had helped Harrison pick out the lingerie that you currently wore under your clothes (yes, you had worn Harrison’s gift, thinking it’d be a nice surprise for him to see, but now you weren’t so sure). Trying to calm yourself, you went to drink some water.

“Yeah, we did. The black one right?” You choked on your drink as your twin laughed some more, thinking Harrison’s embarrassment was the best thing in the world.

“You alright?” Harry asked, concerned by your coughing.

“Y-yeah,” you cleared your throat. “Went the wrong way.”

Thankfully, the conversation ended there. It wasn’t until later that night that you could confront Harrison about it. Everyone else had gone to bed and so he snuck next door into your room.

“What the hell, Haz?” You questioned as soon as he closed the door quietly behind him. You kept your voice low, in case anyone happened to be awake still.

“They didn’t-“ He sighed at your pointed look, you demanded the truth from him. “Okay, they helped me pick out one of the sets, but I didn’t buy it. The one I sent you was the one I picked out all on my own. Come on, I’m not going to have your brothers unknowingly pick out lingerie for you.”

“Still. My brothers caught you buying lingerie for me.”

“They don’t know it’s you.” He insisted.

“Haz, my parents and Sam know I just got a box of Victoria’s Secret.” You replied, and Harrison took your hands in his.

“They’re not going to connect the dots. You buy yourself new underwear all the time. Not that I’m complaining.” Harrison smiled, cheekily. “Now, can I see your present? I need to know if I did a good job.”

“As long as you’re quiet.” You stated, letting his hands wander to remove your shirt.

“I’ll try my best.” He teased, pulling you in for a passionate kiss.

~~~

You and Harrison managed to go about keeping your secret safe for another week. He snuck into your room each night once everyone had gone to sleep and you two would make up for lost time from the day. He’d sneak back out early in the morning before anyone was up.

Still, you two managed to sneak around for a week, until Tuwaine found out. Tom and Harry were, thankfully, walking Tessa while you were preparing dinner. Harrison came into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around your waist, pressing kisses to your neck- his way of sweetly telling you that he wanted attention.

“Haz, not in the kitchen. I’m trying to make dinner.” You laughed softly, his beard tickling your neck. He had still yet to shave it, and you had started to really enjoy it.

“I can think of something else I’d rather eat.” He teased, slapping you butt a little to get his point across. You let out a laugh at his horniness, trying to stay focused on the steak in front of you.

“Oh my god!” Tuwaine exclaimed. He’d walked right into the kitchen, just in time to hear Harrison’s dirty comment. Harrison jumped away from you, holding his hands up in surrender.

“Tuwaine!” He cleared his throat, face turning red. You hid your own face in your hands, refusing to look at your friend. Harrison tried to explain himself, but you knew it was no use- there was no denying what Tuwaine had just witnessed, “I was just- I meant I wanted chicken tonight-”

“Y/N’s your secret girlfriend? The one we-”

“For the last time, I didn’t buy that one!” Harrison cut him off.

“This- this is weird, man.” Tuwaine said, pointing between the two of you.

“Please, just, don’t tell anyone. No one knows.” You pleaded, finally turning to look him in the eye.

“I won’t. Just, please god, not in the kitchen. Keep it in your pants, mate.” He fake gagged, proceeding to get himself a glass of water.

“Thanks.” Harrison said sarcastically. Once Tuwaine left, your boyfriend reached to wrap his arms around you, and you swatted his hand away.

“They’ll be back any minute.” You stated, shaking your head. He sighed, but settled for not touching you as Harry and Tom returned home.

Another few days went by with minimal difficulties. The five of you were getting along well, with the help of alcohol of course. You’d lived in a house with four boys before, two of which were the same boys as now; the chaoticness of the household wasn’t anything new to you.

“Hey, Y/N! Sam’s on the phone!” Harry smiled, walking into the living room with his phone in hand.

“Sam!” You exclaimed happily as Harry sat next to you on the couch. You put your laptop aside to focus on the facetime call.

“Y/N, I can’t believe you left me with Paddy!” Sam groaned, through the phone.

“Hey, I heard that!” You and Harry laughed, hearing your youngest brother’s voice come through the phone.

“Hey, Paddy!” You smiled as he came into view beside Sam.

“How’s life on the other side, traitor?” Paddy asked with a small laugh.

“It’s good. We haven’t killed each other yet.” You teased.

“Where’s Tom at?”

“He went to the store with Haz.”

“Oi, wait ‘till I tell you-” Harry said, turning the phone so he was in the frame more than you, “Harrison’s got a girlfriend.” Sam and Paddy howled in laughter.

“No way!” Sam exclaimed, “Who’s the poor girl?”

“He won’t tell. Says he wants to see if it’ll last through quarantine or some shit.” He shrugged with his cheeky smile still on his face. You didn’t know if you should be offended by the comment or not- Harrison hadn’t told you he elaborated on the lie to the guys. You pushed aside your thoughts because there was no way your boyfriend of five months was really waiting to see if ‘it’ll last through quarantine or some shit’.

“He’s made her up, then.” Paddy stated.

“No, no, I’m serious. I heard him on the phone to her. I swear he was giggling.”

“He’s got it bad then.” The three boys laughed as your heart did silent flips, just thinking about Harrison’s little giggle that he’d let out whenever you said something he found ridiculously cute. He’d never admit to giggling, but he was so soft for you that they’d slip out every once in a while.

“Y/N, how’s that guy doing?” Sam asked, making Paddy and Harry look at you with raised eyebrows.

“You little shit.” You rolled your eyes at your younger brother. “It’s nothing.”

“So Haz has a secret girlfriend and you’re talking to a secret guy. Damn, it’s secret central over here.” Harry said with a laugh.

“Mate, have you not figured it out-” Tuwaine started walking into the room, stopping as he realized his words. You shot him a glare as he looked at you like a deer caught in headlights. “I didn’t say shit.”

“What were you going to say?” The twin sitting next to you asked. Sam let out a snort- an actual snort, when he took in your embarrassed face.

“Oh my god, Y/N’s fucking Haz!” Sam exclaimed. You heard a loud ‘what’ from his side of the phone call and you cringed, recognizing it as your father’s voice. Realizing the weight of the situation, Tuwaine just slowly backed out of the room, not wanting to get involved in the Holland family drama.

“You’re what?” Harry shot up, letting go of his phone in the process. You dropped your head into your hands in embarrassment.

“Sam! Headphones!” You groaned.

All at once, you heard a flurry of questions from your brothers- “how long?”, “really Harrison?”, “how could you not tell us?”. But they all drowned out when your dad and mum grabbed Sam’s phone.

“Hi, mum, dad.” You said with a sheepish smile.

“You’re dating Harrison?” Your dad asked, not returning your smile.

“Yes.” You confessed, “I just didn’t tell you all because I didn’t want to tell Tom.”

“Ah, he’d kill him.” Your mum acknowledged as Sam laughed. “That makes me so happy, though. Harrison’s a good lad.”

“How long?” Sam asked.

“Five months.” You mumbled, not wanting to really admit the length.

“Five months? Oh my god.” Your dad sighed, not amused by the situation. You were his little girl and he was protective over you- same with all four of your younger brothers (yes, you were older than Tom by a whole ten minutes), but you could tell even your dad had to admit Harrison wasn’t the worst secret boyfriend you could’ve had.

“Please, just, no one say anything to Tom. I’ll tell him, eventually.” You said.

“You tell him sometime this week.” Your mum warned, “You know he doesn’t like it when you keep secrets from him.”

“I know.” You heard the car pull up outside the house. “We’ve got to go. Talk to you all later.” You waved goodbye at your family before hanging up the facetime call.

“Five months? With Harrison? Are you serious right now?” Harry spoke up really for the first time since the revelation.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t know how to tell Tom.” You said, keeping an eye on the front door to make sure your twin wasn’t walking in.

“I’ll keep your secret, but make sure Harrison knows if he hurts you, we’ll kick his ass.” You laughed at Harry’s attempt to sound threatening.

“He won’t.” You assured him.

“Hold up a minute, so you’re the girlfriend he was buying-” Before Harry could finish his question (that you really didn’t want to talk about with him), the front door opened as Tom and Harrison returned, arms full of groceries.

“You’re back!” You got up, putting on a smile to help them with the remaining bags. Harry stayed quiet about the previous discussion, which you were more than grateful for.

As the week went on, you felt an uneasy sense in your gut, knowing you had to tell Tom eventually. You knew your family would grow restless from keeping the secret once your week was up.

“You alright, sweetheart?” Harrison asked you one night. You were laying on your side and in his arms, getting lost in the ocean that was his eyes. Your chests pressed together and your legs intertwined from your activities just moments ago.

“Just thinking.” You murmured.

“About?” He moved a few loose strands of hair out of your face and cupped your cheek softly.

“They all know.” Your voice just barely above a whisper, “Sam, Harry, Paddy, my parents. They all know now, except for Tom.”

“How?”

“We facetimed the other day.” You went through the whole story with him, explaining how Tuwaine unintentionally set off a massive spark of secrets. Harrison just let out a small chuckle, and you felt his chest vibrate through yours.

“So that’s why Harry’s been giving me the evil eye whenever I’m near you.” He laughed quietly.

“Yeah, probably.” You hummed in agreement.

“I know you’re worried, but Tom will come around. He’s just got to warm up to the idea.” He kissed you reassuringly and you found comfort in his touch and in his words.

“I just don’t want to lose you, and I don’t want you to lose Tom.”

“You’ll never lose me.” Harrison reassured you. “There’s no ultimatum here; I can be with you and be friends with Tom.”

“I’ve never kept a secret from him before, at least not one this big.”

“I know. It’ll be okay.” He placed a chaste kiss to your forehead before looking at you with the softest possible smile on his face, “You’re my whole word, you know that?”

“You’re my world, too.” You smiled as he pulled you in for a tender kiss full of love.

Harrison didn’t want to hide your relationship any longer, and you could tell the secret was starting to take a toll on him, but he loved you so if you weren’t ready to tell Tom yet, then he’d wait until you were. His loyalty was one of the things you loved most about him.

Telling Tom ended up not going the way you wanted it to. You and Harrison had kind of forgotten to set an alarm to make sure he returned to his room early. So you two woke up to a very loud, “What the fuck?” at nine in the morning.

“Tom, oh my god.” You shrieked, pulling the blanket up to cover you even though you were wearing Harrison’s t-shirt as your pajama top. Harrison froze in your bed, unsure of what to do. Your bedroom floor was covered with a mixture of your clothes and Harrison’s, and the two of you were definitely sporting a combination of bedhead and sex hair- you knew exactly what it looked like.

“I’m going to fucking kill you!” Tom shouted. As he lunged forward, you had never seen the boxer-clad Harrison jump out of the bed so fast.

“Tom! Stop it!” You let out an unhelpful yell. Harrison bolted past Tom, and your twin chased after him through the house, shouting various curses. You ran after Tom, trying to calm him down.

“What the hell’s going on?” Harry asked sleepily, opening his door as you passed by it.

“Tom’s gonna kill Haz.” You said, and Harry seemed to spring to life. The two of you followed the sound of Tom’s shouting to the living room.

“Did you sleep with my sister?” Tom yelled.

“Tom, knock it off!” Harry shouted as the two of you rushed into the living room to see Tom wrestling the half-naked Harrison on the floor.

“Thomas Stanley Holland, you get off of him, now.” You raised your voice, giving him your sternest stare. Tom let out a huff, but let Harrison go. Your boyfriend awkwardly clambered out of the room, attempting to hide from the furious Tom.

“What the hell, Y/N?” Tom asked, fists still clenched in anger.

“I’m dating Harrison, deal with it.” You said, crossing your arms at him.

“What happened to us telling each other everything? I told him, you’re-”

“I love him, and he loves me.” You cut him off. “I didn’t want to tell you because I knew that you’d react this way. You almost just killed your best friend because he’s also my boyfriend.”

Tom didn’t reply. He just simply huffed and stormed off to his room, slamming his door loudly for effect.

“Well, that went well.” Harry said, sarcastically, from beside you. You rolled your eyes and made your way back to your room. You stopped at Harrison’s door, knowing from the light that he was in there. You quietly let yourself in to see him lying on his bed, fully clothed now.

“That’s not how I wanted that to go.” You sighed, climbing into the bed beside him.

“Tell me about it.” Harrison chuckled.

“I’m sorry my rabid twin attacked you.”

“It’s alright. How is he?”

“Stormed off.” You shrugged lightly. “He’ll talk when he’s ready.”

“Just hope that’s sooner rather than later.” He admitted. Sensing the nervousness in his tone, you pressed a kiss to his lips, trying to ease his mind off the tense situation at hand.

Now that everyone in the house knew about you and Harrison, you two didn’t shy away from each other and put up your normal friendly routine. Instead, you found yourself sitting in Harrison’s lap as he sat on one of the chairs outside on the back patio. His fingers were playing with the ends of your hair, his other hand resting on your leg comfortably.

You two were pulled from your conversation when the backdoor opened and closed, just a little harsher than usual. Tom wordlessly took a seat across from you and Harrison, observing your sitting position for a moment before he spoke up.

“Look, I get it.” He started. “I get why you two didn’t tell me because I just- I blew up. Y/N, you’re my sister; I’m always going to be protective over you. And I did tell Harrison that you were off-limits when I first introduced you two, but you know what? I guess I’m glad you two found each other anyway. If there’s anyone I’d trust to take care of my sister, it’d be you, Harrison.” Tom stood up, finished with his sincere speech. You and Harrison smiled at his genuinity.

“Thanks, Tom.” You said, softly. He walked back to the door, stopping just as he opened it.

“And Harrison, if you ever buy my sister lingerie again, I will kick your ass.”

“Got it.” Harrison replied as you laughed. Tom left back inside the house, and you turned to face your boyfriend.

“So two of my brothers have already threatened to kick your ass. You sure I’m worth it?” You teased.

“If it means I can do this,” He pecked your lips, “anytime I want then this is all so worth it.” He finished, pulling you in for a longer kiss again. You smiled against his lips, maybe quarantine wouldn’t be so bad after all.

#harrison osterfield #harrison osterfield x you #harrison osterfield imagine #harrison osterfield x reader #harrison osterfield one shot #harrison x y/n #haz osterfield

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smollestnerd · 3 years

Text

XigXem SFW Headcanons

I love doing these to get ideas for headcanons I wouldn’t normally consider, and since I finished filling these out today I thought I’d share! Borrowed from the @otp-imagines-cult post here!

(Just a heads-up, this is a messy mashup of canon-compliant and modern au headcanons)

1: Who spends almost all their money on the other?

Xemnas spends so much money on Xigbar. He doesn't even try to say no at this point, he knows Xig will get his way.

Xigbar sometimes feels guilty about how much Xemnas spends on him, but those feelings fade as soon as Xem comes back from shopping with bags full of gifts for Xig.

2: Who sleeps in the other’s lap?

Xigbar sleeps in Xemnas’s lap. It's rare that it's the other way around, usually only if Xem is extremely tired or upset (he'll fall asleep while being comforted and held of course).

3: Who walks around the house half-naked and who yells at them to put on some clothes?

They both do. Well, Xigbar runs around HALF naked, Xemnas is just full frontal at any given point if they’re home alone. Xig will tell him to cover up, but he doesn't ever mean it.

When they have guests, Xigbar is fully clothed 100% of the time. Xemnas, though? There’s always at least a 10% chance he’ll forget wearing a shirt is a thing people expect from him. Everyone is either too afraid or horny to tell him to put one on, thus the responsibility falls on Xigbar to tell him. (Again, about a 10% chance he’ll “forget” to tell him to put on a shirt.)

4: Which one tells the other not to stay up all night and which one stays up all night anyway?

Bold of you to assume they both don't have 11pm bedtimes.

But every so often Xemnas will lose himself in his work and suddenly it's 3am.

5: Which one tries to make food for the other but burns it all by accident and which one tells them that it’s okay and makes them both cookies?

Xigbar is forbidden from cooking anything that isn't microwaveable.

Xemnas's fallback career was fancy chef if “Superior of the In-Between” didn’t work out.

6: Which one reads OTP prompts and says “Oh that’s us!” and which one goes “Eh, not really”?

Neither, but only because neither of them are very online. I think if they were though, Xemnas would see their relationship in everything but not say anything out loud. He just smiles to himself and moves on.

7: Which one constantly wears the other’s clothes?

Xigbar is an accomplished hoodie thief. Xemnas wears Xig’s croptops sometimes to work out in, but always returns them when he's done.

8: Which one spends all day running errands and which one says “You remembered [thing], right?”

Xemnas is usually the one running errands, but he rarely forgets anything on the list. Xigbar always asks if he remembered everything, though, just to soothe his own anxiety, and quietly hoping to catch Xemnas slipping up so he has something to tease about.

9: Which one drives the car and which one gives them directions?

Xigbar drives ever since Xemnas got his license suspended for running too many red lights.

Or; Xig drives like a maniac and Xem is just so used to it he doesn't even bother to insist on driving anymore (unless he's the designated driver, which usually he is). Xem is lowkey surprised Xig has a clean driving record.

10: Which one does the posing while the other one draws?

Xemnas poses, Xigbar draws. Xig’s had plenty of lifetimes to perfect his hobbies, and even though he hasn't had time for them in a while, it doesn't take long for him to get back into the swing of things. What better way to capture his lover's radiance than through charcoal drawings and oil paints?

Plus, Xemnas absolutely adores the attention. He just basks in the glory of another being finding him beautiful enough to immortalize on canvas.

11: If they were about to rob a museum, which one does backflips through lasers and which one is strolling behind with a bag of chips?

I want to say Xemnas is the super cool backflip guy and Xigbar is the one with the chips, but honestly? It's the other way around. Xig likes to show off in front of his man, and who could blame him?

12: Which one of your OTP overdoes it on the alcohol and which one makes the other stop drinking?

Xemnas overdoes it. He doesn't drink nearly as often as Xigbar does, so he doesn't exactly know his limits. Xig tries to keep his eye on him and make sure he doesn't drink too much, but unfortunately Xem is REALLY good at acting sober, so Xig never realizes Xem has overdone it until its too late.

He takes really good care of Xemnas, though, no matter how drunk he is himself.

13: Which one likes to surprise the other with a lot of small random gifts?

Xemnas and Xigbar both surprise each other quite often. Xigbar gives Xemnas little things like seashells and shiny baubles he finds on missions/outings that he thinks Xemnas will like for his office shelves. Xemnas sends Xigbar flowers when he senses Xig having a bad day, and buys him every new book that Xigbar expresses even a passing interest in.

14: Which one keeps accidentally using the other’s last name instead of their own?

Xemnas. He's definitely the romantic here. He's got an Entire Notebook filled with different combinations of their names squashed together.

Xigbar is lowkey terrified of major commitment. He'd say yes if proposed to of course, but he'd never offer himself up like that.

15: Which one screams about the spider and which one brings the spider outside?

Xemnas saves it, Xigbar just squishes it. Neither are afraid but they have different approaches to dealing with bugs.

16: Which one gives the other their jacket?

On most cold days you can find Xigbar wearing a too-big leather coat and Xemnas in naught but a t-shirt or turtleneck.

17: Who keeps getting threatened by the other’s overprotective older sibling?

Ansem tried. He tried so hard. But he severely underestimated Xigbar’s resistance to intimidation tactics.

18: Who’s the first one to admit they have feelings for the other?

Xemnas. He planned out a whole mega-elaborate date for the two of them, and confessed his love for Xigbar.

Xigbar: "Wait we weren't dating already??"

19: How good would your OTP be at parenting?

They would make fantastic fathers, they'd care about their kids so much. But christ alive that household would be chaotic as all fuck.

20: Which one types with perfect grammar and which one types using numbers as letters?

Xemnas used to type with perfect grammar and spelling until he learned about text lingo. "It's more efficient, Xigbar, I am a busy man and don't have time to type everything out." It's a damn lie, though, he just thinks it's neat.

Hell will freeze over the day that Xemnas uses an emoji.

Xigbar relies on emojis and autocorrect and if it doesn't catch a typo or he sends the wrong emoji, “Oh well.”

21: Who gets attacked by a bully and who protects them?

The bully gets attacked by them.

22: Who makes the bad puns and who makes a pained smile every time the other makes a pun?

Xigbar is the pun king. Genuinely funny. “10/10 would hear again.” -Xemnas, probably

Xemnas tries sometimes, bless his soul. Xigbar just doesn't have it in him to tell him they're bad.

23: Who comes home from work to see that the other one bought a puppy?

To Xigbar's dismay, this has happened more than once. He's the dad that is against the pet but ends up loving it, and Xemnas just can't resist bringing home strays.

They have 2 big dogs, a little dog, and a cat, and have fostered a few puppies and old, sickly cats here and there.

24: Which one gives the other a piggyback ride when they’re tired?

When Xemnas gets too drunk to stand, Xigbar will give him a piggyback ride, but he never tells him the next day. Xemnas is too prideful and would be very ashamed to hear of it. Plus, Xigbar kinda likes keeping those moments between them to himself; like a secret he’s keeping safe for a special occasion.

Xigbar will ask for piggyback rides all the time, and Xemnas is happy to indulge him.

25: Which one competes in some sort of activity and which one does the overzealous cheering?

When Xemnas cheers for Xigbar, it's less overzealous and more normal cheering, it's just that Xemnas' voice is booming and carries over the rest of the crowd with ease.

(Don’t ask me what competitive activity Xigbar does, for I Do Not Know)

26: Who takes a selfie when the other one falls asleep on their shoulder?

They both do. The main difference is that Xemnas focuses the camera on Xigbar, and Xigbar gets them both fully in the shot.

27: Which one would give the other a makeover if they asked?

Both of them would be willing to give the other a makeover, but neither of them have asked.

But! Xemnas does Xigbar’s makeup sometimes, and Xigbar has bought his own style of clothes for Xemnas on a few occasions, just to see what he’d look like.

(Unrelated sidenote: they have matching onesies with cat ears and a tail that Xigbar refuses to wear unless he has to, or unless Xem asks him while Xig is wasted)

28: Which one owns a pet that the other is absolutely terrified of?

Before they moved in together, Xigbar refused to go inside Xemnas's house unless his husky was in the backyard. He got used to her over time, and now Xemnas sometimes comes home to them asleep cuddling on the couch.

Xemnas was never actually afraid of Xigbar's beloved corn snake, but he wasn't a fan either. He’d hold him, but he wasn’t thrilled about it.

29: Which one holds the umbrella over both of them when it rains?

Xemnas holds the umbrella, Xigbar holds the Xemnas

30: If your OTP went on vacation, where would they go and what would they do? Who would take the pictures?

In a canon setting they’d go worldhopping for a week, but in a modern au they'd take trips every year to cities and small remote locations around the world.

They've never been properly camping though. Xemnas refuses.

Their first trip together was small, just to a little known beach on the west coast. They lounged on the beach most of the time, and every night they ate at a different food truck. The last night they were there Xemnas surprised Xigbar with reservations for the fanciest 5-star restaurant in the city.

Xigbar thought he took all the pictures until he was going through them after the trip, only to find over half the memory card filled with photos of himself that Xemnas took when he wasn't looking

#kingdom hearts #xemnas #xigbar #xigxem #xemxig #xemnas/xigbar #otp headcanons #my writing #headcanons #sfw

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thebiasrekkers · 4 years

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Make It Right [BTS Mafia!AU]

Plot: “It’s always darkest before the dawn…” It’s a dog-eat-dog world in Seoul, South Korea. One has to dwell in the shadows in order to reach for the light. What are you willing to sacrifice in order to feel the sunlight on your face? What will it take to drag you back into darkness? How long will the journey be to make it right?

Rating: NC-17 // NSFW

Pairings: Jin x OC | Taehyung/Hoseok x OC | Yoongi/Jungkook x OC

Warnings: Graphic Violence (bloody violence), Heavy Language, Angst, Slow Burn, Smut

Previous Chapters: Prologue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Links: FAQ || BTS Masterlist || Admin E’s AO3 || Admin E’s WP || [ REQUESTS ARE OPEN ]

Word Count: 2,552

Tag List: @prisczero, @pinkpjmin, @btsaudge, @flowerwrites06, @unoriginal-username15432, @halussali, @hobipluto, @shrimpmsg,

Chapter 41: Wings

”I wanted things I couldn’t want. I got hurt and hurt again.”

© thebiasrekkers (Admin E). All rights reserved. Reposting/modifying our work is prohibited. Translations are not allowed. Plagiarism/stealing is not tolerated by any means. Legal action will be taken in instances of theft.

Seven Years Ago Seoul – Itaewon; Yongsan District South Korea

“I don’t like this.”

“Yeah, me either.”

Namjoon sighed, looking between Seokjin and Yoongi as their bodies pressed against the rest of the large group gathered inside the warehouse. Hoseok stood at Namjoon’s side, saying nothing. But he could see his gaze shifting around the crowd, as if he were trying to spy someone out. Namjoon had an idea of who Hoseok was looking for, but decided not to tease him about it. Instead, he gently nudged Hoseok on his back and watched his friend move a single step forward. He laughed at the child-like pout forming on his friend’s face.

“Changkyun-ah said he’d be here soon,” he reassured, watching Hoseok nod before he turned to look at the crowd again.

He was a bit curious himself. Normally, Changkyun would have shown up to talk their ears off by now. But the other members of the Jade Fangs seemed busy talking amongst themselves, completely unbothered by one of the higher tiered members being absent.

But on that note, Namjoon also hadn’t seen Shownu or Wonho either. There were too many bodies pressed together and for a moment, he almost believed they were going to prepare for a raid of some sort. Yet there’d been no mention of it for weeks when, on days like that, there was a constant buzz of chatter leading up to the day they were to set out in groups.

“Where’s Taehyung-ah? And Jimin and Jungkook, for that matter?” asked Yoongi as he shuffled against Namjoon, Seokjin right behind him. “I lost sight of them when we got here.”

“He said something about meeting up with Hyungwon and the others.” Namjoon rolled his eyes. “He probably dragged the other two off with him.”

Yoongi scoffed while Seokjin sighed. “Those kids,” he said, sounding like a disgruntled parent and causing Namjoon to laugh. His laughter abated when he felt Seokjin cuff him on the shoulder.

“They’re fine, Hyung,” he said while looking at Yoongi who appeared less than satisfied with the answer, “they know what to do if things start to get a little crazy in here.”

Yoongi folded his arms across his chest. “I know. That’s the problem.”

Before Namjoon could say anything further, the wave of murmurs began to escalate in volume. When they looked up to see what the cause of the commotion was, Namjoon blinked in surprise to see Changkyun standing at the front on a stack of crates next to their leader, Park Jongwoon. He had his hands folded behind his back and everyone’s voices began to quiet down as Jongwoon cleared his throat. Shownu appeared on the other side with Wonho standing next to him.

“Brothers,” Jongwoon began, his dark hair falling over one of his eyes, “it has recently come to my attention that some of you appear a bit…dissatisfied with how I’ve been running things. You don’t seem to have any problem reaping the benefits of what I’ve been able to build, yet you have the fuckin’ nerve to complain? Huh?!”

Namjoon felt his chest tighten and he could only blink in surprise. He’d had a conversation with Shownu earlier that week where he’d mentioned the very same thing. Namjoon was at least relieved to know they were speaking on the matter privately where no prying ears could have possibly heard them. Shownu was patient and realistic, but also calculating – just as he was. There was no way something like this would have slipped through the cracks so easily.

Had something else happened?

“After all I’ve done for you fuckin’ scum, you want to question my position as your boss? Your Hyung-nim?”

No one said a word. If someone dropped a pin, it would have sounded like a gun had gone off in the large warehouse. A lump formed in Namjoon’s throat when he looked back up to see that Shownu was looking straight at him.

“If any of you think you can do a better job, then prove it! I fuckin’ dare you!”

He felt Hoseok’s back tense up against his arm, as if he’d realized something. A handful of seconds later, he saw Changkyun place a hand on Jongwoon’s shoulder. The older man turned to look at The Wolf, a curious expression adorning his features, but he gave his second-in-command a knowing smirk. Changkyun did the same.

And then he watched him plunge a knife straight into Jongwoon’s neck.

The shock and betrayal gave way to suffering as Jongwoon began clawing at his neck – a fountain of red spurting out from the punctured vein. Neither Shownu nor Wonho moved to help him as he stumbled backwards, instead side-stepping their boss to avoid being touched. Jongwoon lost his footing and fell from the crates, his body landing with a hard thud despite the distance from the ground being a short one.

No one said anything. There were no cries of outrage. There were no gasps of horror. There were no sobs of anguish.

Only silence.

Changkyun held his bloody hand out, Shownu reaching out to take the knife from him. His shirt was stained with crimson and he idly wiped at the splatters of blood that were on his cheeks – smearing it further along his skin. He took a moment to clean himself, dusting off the backs of his pants, before turning to look back at the rest of the group.

“I’d say that was long overdue, don’t you?”

And then the room erupted into cheers. Namjoon stumbled backwards as the bodies pressed against them, crowding them in their need to jump and holler after just watching their leader being murdered mercilessly before their eyes. It didn’t take him long to figure out just what happened. The look on Hoseok’s face confirmed it.

No one was surprised because this was the plan.

It had been the plan all along.

Present Day Seoul – Hannam; Yongsan District South Korea

Namjoon sat perched on the roof of their home in UN Village. His legs dangled off the edge, swinging back and forth purposelessly while smoking a cigarette. He told himself he’d cut back and, in truth, he had. After moving to Seoul, they’d all hit the ground running. Namjoon wound up graduating college a year and a half earlier than expected – interning with a foreign company before landing himself a solid job behind a desk and quartered off in one of the many cubicles.

It was a means to an end. Being a peon allowed him to move freely between floors in the corporate office and with this he was able to hear a few rumors scattered here and there. It was through those rumors that he was able to land an “in” when it came to the underground. At first, he believed it was just an illegal gambling and dice ring. Indulging in this rumor was how he was able to learn about the various gangsters who ruled over certain territories. Others were still fighting amongst each other, trying to figure out the best way to overtake the other in a competition that was always less than fair.

Now that he was thinking back on those times, he wondered if he’d made the right decision. Shownu was persistent, even then. Eventually, Namjoon, Seokjin, Hoseok and Yoongi were all recruited into the fold of the Jade Fangs. They weren’t ready to bring the younger ones in. Not yet. Until they were able to get a feel of everything, to truly understand where their place was among their ranks, the older brothers wouldn’t risk dragging their younger brothers in.

Breathing smoke out his nose, he carded his fingers through his hair in frustration. Things were getting more and more complicated and he didn’t like it. Everything should have been smooth sailing from this point forward, at least from his calculations. Pulling them out of the game ensured that they were free of any obstacles that would attempt to stand in their way. Because they weren’t in the shadows anymore. They weren’t engaging in backdoor dealings and shaking hands underneath the tables. Not anymore.

And yet, here they were, forced into a problematic situation that they should have anticipated, but hadn’t.

He slowly inhaled the smoke into his lungs, savoring the nicotine as it hit the back of his throat. Namjoon’s eyes narrowed slightly as a soft breeze pushed against his chest, causing a few strands of hair to fly errant while freeing themselves from between his digits. The sun was beginning its descent, preparing to sink below the horizon.

It’s quiet, he thought, his eyes narrowing, too quiet.

Nearly a month had passed since Hoseok met with Changkyun and there were no movements. None of the boys ran into members of the Jade Fangs and, from what was reported back to them, neither had the girls. Jimin, Taehyung, and even Jungkook believed that whatever Hoseok imparted with the Jade Fang’s Wolf must have hit home; that he must have finally gotten the picture.

But Namjoon knew better. So did Seokjin and Hoseok. The three of them were preparing for the proverbial shoe to drop. Yoongi was a little more on edge these days, but it was something unrelated. Or that was the story he was telling and sticking with it. Namjoon knew better than to pry into his older brother’s affairs. Yoongi had a habit of dredging up old demons, but he often handled them privately and never let it interfere with his tasks. He returned to work as though nothing happened. Namjoon knew he preferred it that way.

As the days turned into weeks, he honestly was considering that Hoseok’s message had, in fact, accomplished something. His friend’s restlessness lacked boundaries, however, and there were more than a few instances where Namjoon urged Hoseok to excuse himself during a long string of business meetings. Instead of relaxing, Hoseok looked so wound up that he worried he would start to bounce off the walls like a spring.

Was this the calm before the storm?

Sighing, he leaned back on one hand as he pulled the cigarette from his lips – tapping off a bit of ash off the edge of the roof. A few low hanging clouds began to circle overhead, darkening from the slowly ebbing sunlight painting the skies. There was a distinct orange and purple haze forming with a smattering of pink. It was a beautiful sight, but Namjoon knew it looked better in the countryside – from their hometown.

His mind wandered to the image of his family; his father’s small clinic and his mother’s pharmacy back in Hwaseong. He hadn’t seen them since the New Year celebration the locals held in their small community. They trusted him to handle his business; trusted him to continue walking the path that he was on, regardless of the whispers that escaped from Seoul back to his childhood home. He hadn’t landed himself in jail and he wasn’t on the local news in front of a podium, apologizing to the world for his crimes. That was enough for them.

An ache began to form in his chest and he unconsciously rubbed at it with his free hand while continuing to look at the sky.

“…maybe we should leave for a little while,” he said to himself.

“Is that what you want to do, Hyung?”

Namjoon’s shoulders jumped slightly. He hadn’t expected an answer. Turning to glance over his shoulder, he saw Jimin making his way toward him. The younger man sidled up next to him, flopping down on the ground to dangle his legs over the edge as Namjoon had earlier. He held his cigarette out to him in offering but Jimin scrunched his nose up while shaking his head, causing him to let out a soft chuckle.

“You haven’t changed one bit, Jimin-ah.”

“Neither have you, Hyung,” Jimin replied gently, leaning over to bump shoulders with him. “You didn’t answer my question.” Namjoon quirked a brow at him curiously. “Is that what you want to do?”

“Does it matter?”

“It matters to me.”

Namjoon smirked, replacing the cigarette between his lips and biting down on the filter. “It shouldn’t.”

He heard Jimin let out an exasperated sigh. Namjoon played these sorts of word games with them all the time. They still weren’t used to it; or at least they told him as much.

“It does, Namjoon Hyung.” He cast a sidelong glance to his younger brother who was in the process of brushing his chestnut bangs out of his eyes.

His smile fell slightly, and he looked at Jimin for a long moment. After a while, he sighed out a cloud of smoke before looking back up at the sky. The colors were changing again, even in that short amount of time.

“Do you ever wonder what our lives would have been like had I not come to Seoul for school? Had I not asked you guys to come back with me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m sure you do, right?” He rolled his neck to look at his younger brother who appeared to be genuinely confused by his question. Namjoon gave a half shrug. “You were the last one to come out here. I didn’t think you would.”

Jimin blinked slowly a few times before averting his gaze to look out over the large expanse of the city. Instead of following his gesture, Namjoon’s eyes remained locked on Jimin’s profile. Another gust of wind pressed against them, causing their hair to fly in various directions. Neither of them bothered to tame the errant locks.

“What’s the point in thinking about it?” Jimin finally said, causing Namjoon to lean back in surprise when he turned to meet his gaze. “It’s in the past and bears no weight on our current situation. Therefore, it doesn’t matter.”

“Jimin-ah…”

“We all made choices, Hyung. Good and bad. They’ve shaped us into the people we are now. I don’t regret that.” Jimin flashed his trademark smile, his eyes shrinking at the corners. “Do you?”

Namjoon suddenly felt a heavy blanket of shame fall over him. To think that one of his younger brothers could be so wise. But it shouldn’t have surprised him. Jimin was always so careful and observant – hardly impulsive like Taehyung and Jungkook. He was the glue that kept them all together, keeping them grounded and silently reminding them what their end goal should always be. What it’s always been.

To live their life on their terms. No one else’s.

He clapped a hand on Jimin’s shoulder, giving it a gentle shake. “You’re right, Jimin-ah,” he said with a smile, “your Hyung lost his head for a moment there.”

Jimin shook his head. “It’s okay if you feel like we should leave, Hyung. No one would blame you for it.” He watched him turn to look back over the city. “It might even be the smart choice for all of us.”

Namjoon nodded, trying his best to rid his mind of the memories of the past. “It might be.” His lips formed into a small grin. “But then what would it have all been for?”

“Then let’s face it, Hyung, head on.” Jimin held his fist out to him. “Together.”

Namjoon bumped fists with him.

“Till the end.”

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queenofmoons67 · 4 years

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something wild (calls you home): chapter four

Word Count: 2012

Hey everyone! Sorry this is a bit late, yesterday was really busy. I hope you all enjoy the new chapter!

WARNING for dehumanization (other characters feed Kotetsu dog food, and give him a collar).

Thank you to my beta @bookdancerfics!

Chapter 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5: Kotetsu and Agnes

Agnes had not woken up that morning, nearly twenty hours before, anticipating a missing hero. She also hadn’t expected to be volunteering to take care of a dog. But the heroes needed to be able to focus; after so long missing their friend, they had started coming apart at the seams. She didn’t blame them, of course.

As shocking as it was to realize, she missed Wild Tiger, too. His friendly flirtations, his annoying habit of putting everything—including her show—on the line, his nonstop talking—they had all become part of her daily routine. While she wouldn’t say she loved the hero, she wouldn’t say she hated him, either. And she definitely didn’t want him gone.

She couldn’t say she wanted him back as badly as his fellow heroes did, though. They were the ones who had gone out at night to look for him, despite orders to go home and rest. Keith, Karina, Ivan, and Pao-lin could pretend all they wanted that the call had woken them all up, but she knew as well as they did that the three teens had bullied Keith into taking them with him on his nightly patrol.

And Antonio was no better—that hero lived nowhere near where Tiger’s call band was found; the only way he made it there first was if he grew wings, or if he’d already been in the area.

Barnaby’s new dog had given them all what they desperately needed: hope, and a break from their nerves and anxiety. But the problem was that they didn’t need the latter right now. They needed that hours from now, when every inch of their new lead had been exhausted and they had time to rest. They needed that when their hope was at its lowest.

Agnes twisted in the passenger seat, bracing her arm against the center console and peering into the back. Cain was driving, which left Orlando with the equipment and Charlie.

The dog had squished himself all the way up against the back of the console. Despite the problems with Charlie’s legs that Barnaby had quickly told her, the dog was stubbornly remaining upright and relying on Orlando bracing him so that he didn’t fall over on the turns.

“You better not hurt yourself,” she told Charlie.

His eyebrows furrowed as he peered up at her, panting from the effort of standing. Cain coughed, but otherwise didn’t acknowledge she was talking to a dog.

“Those heroes are going to need you, you hear me? Regardless of whether or not we find Tiger, and regardless of if he’s alive or…” Agnes trailed off. He wasn’t dead yet. He was missing, and gone, but not dead. Not yet. Not yet.

She reached back and rubbed Charlie’s head.

“We have to keep you in the best shape possible.” She turned away sharply, staring out at the street before them. “Make a stop at the nearest 24/7 pet store, Cain. And hurry up.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Kotetsu stepped carefully out of the van, but his haunches pushed off the last step and sent his hind-paws to the ground more heavily than he would have liked. His entire body shook as it absorbed the shock—and then three different pairs of hands were steadying him.

“Careful, Charlie,” Agnes sniffed, already turning away when he looked up.

“Careful, Charlie,” Cain and Orlando echoed. The latter turned away to follow Agnes into Apollon Media, but the former gave his side a few reassuring pats.

“Come on, bud,” Cain said. “Let’s get some food in you. That sounds pretty good, right?”

Kotetsu followed them, but his ear twitched restlessly. Food did sound pretty good right now, considering he hadn’t eaten anything since dinner more than twenty-four hours before, but he wanted human food. Not—his nose twitched, taking in the strong scent of fake meat and bread all mashed together and dried. Not whatever dog food they had picked up at the store.

A hand landed on his head, and Kotetsu skittered to the side, head twisting to side-eye Cain. The man had stopped beside him, but his hands had pulled up to his chest—where Kotetsu couldn’t reach them.

“Sorry, Charlie,” Cain said. “I should have let you know I was there.”

Kotetsu didn’t know what to say. Not that that really mattered.

“You walked right past us, bud.”

Kotetsu frowned. What? No, they had barely entered the building—

A bag ripped open, and Kotetsu jumped again, peering around Cain’s legs. Orlando looked back at him, frozen in front of an open food bag with a bowl in one hand and a measuring cup in the other.

“Are you hungry, Charlie?” Agnes asked, leaning over him.

Kotetsu started to back away, unsure what was wrong other than that he hated having her loom over him like that, only for his hind-legs to collapse underneath him again. They just would not stop doing that.

Agnes did back up, though, so at least there was that.

“We’re just going to hang out in the lobby, okay, bud?” Cain said. “That way we don’t miss the heroes when they get back, and you have room to move around.”

That… made sense, Kotetsu guessed. He had been moving on autopilot. Not even a year in this building, but he was already used to heading up to the office with Bunny.

He missed going to work already, and he’d only missed a day.

It had only been a day.

He had wanted to go to the office.

Kotetsu was already sitting. It was only too easy to lay the rest of the way down, set his head on his paws, and close his eyes.

Agnes’s heels clicked away in a fast tempo, then clicked back even faster. She came to a stop right in front of him.

“Charlie.”

Kotetsu ignored her.

“Charlie, you need to eat.”

“I’m sleeping until I’m human again, Agnes,” Kotetsu mumbled.

The smell of dog food wafted into his nose, too close to be more than a foot away from him. Kotetsu turned his head away.

“And I’m definitely not eating dog food.”

Something shifted in front of him. There was the clicking of Agnes’s heels again, the slapping of skin on tile—and then he could smell a mix of film, printer ink, and faded perfume. Agnes, undoubtably. Except… except she hadn’t reapplied perfume in a long time. But she always came to work wearing perfume, why hadn’t she—?

Kotetsu cracked an eye open to see Agnes kneeling before him and holding one hand out. She stared down at him, expression even.

“What did I say about keeping you in shape, Charlie?” she asked.

For the heroes. Kotetsu opened his eyes all the way. The food still looked unappetizing. It was dehumanizing, but then he wasn’t human right now, was he? He was a dog. He might be a dog for the rest of his life, and there was very little he could do about that now that he had tracked down his last location as a real man.

He might not be a hero again.

He might not get to see his little girl again, or his mom or brother.

But for the heroes… his friends, his family… he could be there as a dog. He could be there as the best dog there ever was, and support them in whatever way his current form allowed. Just like he had already tried to do.

Kotetsu stood up slowly. Bunny had already lost his parents, and now he might lose his partner, too. Nathan and Antonio might lose their best friend. And the other heroes… they were all so young, even Keith. They had lost heroes on the job before, but this would be different. He would… if they didn’t figure out how to turn him back, he would just disappear.

Kotetsu leaned down, took his first bite, and swallowed. For his family.

He took another. It actually didn’t taste that bad. Better than it smelled, at least.

Agnes smoothed a hand down his head and clicked a collar into place. “Thank you, Charlie,” she whispered.

Kotetsu ignored both her and the collar and kept eating. He had to keep up his strength and finish getting used to his new body.

For his family.

Agnes stirred when the lobby doors whooshed open. Groaning, she opened her eyes to see the sun, only just peaking over the horizon, cast halos over the heroes entering the building. It outlined the slump of their shoulders, the way their legs dragged—and Agnes knew.

Taking a deep breath, she stood up. Her muscles ached from sleeping in a chair, but she ignored them. There were more important things to focus on.

“Nothing?” she asked, voice echoing in the large space. Orlando and Cain jolted awake on the couch. Rock Bison shook his head, and Charlie—Charlie bolted.

The dog had been resting by the table. He had refused to settle at any of their feet, or even by the heater, and the last she had seen of him was his head resting on his paws, ears pricked toward the door. Now, though, his legs scrambled under him, claws skittering across the tile for only a second before they found purchase and propelled him toward the heroes, Barnaby and Fire Emblem at the front.

“Barnaby!” she called. “Barnaby, watch—!”

Charlie leapt at Barnaby, his paws colliding with the hero’s chest. If he had been wearing his suit, it wouldn’t have done much, but he had been in a hurry to get out and hadn’t bothered with it, so the leap knocked him back into Fire Emblem, who tried to steady him.

Both heroes were dead on their feet, though, and Fire Emblem was in no way prepared to catch both a fully grown man and a medium-sized dog. All three of them fell back into the other heroes, and in a matter of seconds, Charlie was standing in the middle of six downed heroes and a steady Rock Bison. He took the opportunity to jump from one to the next, nosing at their bodies and collecting pets while they were all at his level.

Agnes groaned and shook her head. That was not what she had meant, but… well. She guessed it was ok.

Origami Cyclone, Blue Rose, and Dragon Kid were all giggling, though that was probably also from lack of sleep. Sky High and Fire Emblem were both smiling. Rock Bison actually sighed and sat down next to his fellow heroes, giving Charlie a quick pat when he was next to him. Barnaby, though… Agnes frowned.

“Charlie, come here,” Barnaby ordered. He patted his own thigh as he walked toward the elevators. He took the bag of dog things Cain held out with a muttered thank you. “Agnes, we’ll be in the staff room. Please wake me in a few hours?”

“Of course,” she said, though she didn’t bother to check the current time. He would wake when his body was ready, and not before. He would have Charlie, she noted, watching as the dog disentangled himself from the other heroes and trotted after Barnaby, tongue lolling happily. Wild Tiger… Agnes sat back down, opened her bag, and pulled out her laptop. As much as she hated to admit it, they weren’t going to find him any time soon. Not after their one lead faded to nothing. Barnaby could afford to take care of himself.

“What are you all waiting for?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at the heroes. “Get some sleep! I’ll see what I can do from here in the meantime.”

They could all afford to take care of themselves. They needed Charlie now, but Wild Tiger would need them twice as much when they got him back.

Agnes turned back to her screen, fingers clacking across the keyboard as she wrote emails to the mayors and police commissioners of all the cities in a hundred mile radius. They would get him back.

She didn’t want to know what they would do if they didn’t.

Next Up: Kotetsu and Barnaby 2. Second verse, same as the first. A little bit harder and a whole lot worse. Or, in which Kotetsu takes off running and so does this fic.

#tiger & bunny #tiger and bunny #wild tiger #kotetsu t. kaburagi #Barnaby Brooks Jr #agnes joubert #tiger and bunny fic #tw: dehumanization #My fic #mine #fanfic #kai-ken

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blankdblank · 5 years

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Anaticula Pt 25

Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 - Pt 6 - Pt 7 - Pt 8 - Pt 9 - Pt 10 - Pt 11 - Pt 12 - Pt 13 - Pt 14 - Pt 15 - Pt 16 - Pt 17 - Pt 18 - Pt 19 - Pt 20 - Pt 21 - Pt 22 - Pt 23 - Pt 24 -

Hogsmeade, the first visit came as always and in full agreement at hearing of a discovered plot through Remus, who had spent another hour being low key interrogated by Andrew. Who continued to question why he had a dog with him, to which he continued to answer Dumbledore had agreed he could bring his dog, who he was prone to fits without due to his last mission leading to his break as an Auror to teach. Through his interrogation Remus had asked for K’s help in inspecting in his rented room in Hogsmeade his files, learning of his plans weeks prior of his inspection of the Wizarding town. Mainly, to your amusement, the Shrieking Shack, a former hotspot the marauders loved to occupy during the week of the full moon, rumored to have been confirmed by more than one source to be true.

Under the cover of darkness you joined Remus through the pathway out of the castle to rush to the Whomping Willow you slid through the opening under it to hurry through the tunnel to set up a series of booby traps. Subtle ones that would no doubt be the work of malevolent spirits. Leaving only a few hints of random vagabonds having dwelled there.

In the interim of waiting to see him storming off only to hear the sound of leaves crunching under unseen feet following after the missed Mr Ser and his agitated scowl coated in remnants of varying oozes he was in the process of shaking off.

“Sirius Black murdered Peter Pettigrew!” Andrew barked out to Fudge in pouring himself a drink.

Off in the corner Harry stood open mouthed hearing Madame Rosmerta ask, “Who?”

Andrew, “Little lump of a boy. Always tottering after Black and James Potter.”

Looking between the adults Rosmerta said, “Well why would he be here for Potter of all people?”

Andrew, “Because he isn’t finished yet.”

Rosmerta, “With what?”

Andrew, “Potter is still alive.”

Rosmerta, “He wouldn’t!”

Andrew, “Says who?! That little brat of his?!”

Fudge, “Black turned Lily and James over to You-Know-Who, and to cover his tracks when Harry was taken to safety Black chased down Pettigrew, the only other one who knew about the safe house other than Black.”

Rosmerta, “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Andrew scoffed, “I see you’ve bought into her game too. Winning his trust to serve him up on a platter for daddy. Well I’m not going to let it happen!”

Fudge, “He didn’t just kill Pettigrew, he destroyed him! All that was left, a single finger. Black is a monster and the whole family is a Plague on our kind, the whole lot of them.”

The door opened revealing a messenger arriving for Fudge, who finished his drink and left with a shake of his head at the ooze covered Auror who downed his own drink, a thunk sounded at his planting it on the table to point at Rosmerta, “You tell me if you see him. No telling what that killer could be doing.”

Proudly he strut out of the room just leaving her standing there open mouthed in tears welling in her eyes to whisper in her assumed solitude, “They’re going to kill that poor girl.” Wiping her cheeks she sniffled and smoothed her hands after down the apron tied around her waist, “I’ll be damned if I let that man tear up what’s left of their family. Just wants to bury his own cowardice.” Strolling to the door she added lowly, “Fudge can’t hide from what he did to her forever.”

Warmly a tear streamed down Harry’s cheek and he hurried out of the pub and made straight for you gripping your pinky with his to guide you along tugging the curious Barty and Snape along with you and the twins wondering at why your arm had moved backwards like that. Nearly halfway to the school Harry pulled his cloak off and turned to you all but shouting, “Tell me what happened to my parents!”

Your lips parted and the twins said, “Ser said something to you?”

Harry, “Fudge and that man were saying something about a Pettigrew, and that Sirius killed him to hide that-,” You shook your head with lip quivering in the darkening of your hair at it all streaming back again, “Tell me!”

Locking your eyes to his you said, “There was a prophecy, and Riddle learned in it that there would be a child born around the time you were that could bring about his downfall. They had it narrowed down to you and Neville.” Parting his lips, “So the Potters went into hiding. An old incantation protected by one secret keeper, Peter.” You wiped your cheek feeling Barty’s hand fold around your shoulder through Snape’s sorrowful gaze at your pained expression, “They were barely in their twenties, and Riddle was terrifying. Dad went to try and rally up the team to try and track him down leaving me and Mum in the safe house. But Riddle found Peter, who was terrified. After Mum was gone when she refused to join Riddle he went to find your parents. He killed them, and then his body was torn apart in trying to kill us at the same time.”

Harry inched closer to you, “What happened to Peter?”

“He cut off his own finger and turned and hid, knowing my dad would probably want to kill him for not choosing better.”

Ron, who had snuck after you said, “If he was tortured for the location-,”

You shook your head, “Peter watched him torture my Mum.”

Hermione, “He didn’t do anything? Nothing at all?”

Your eyes shifted to hers at another tear falling, “He was busy holding the muffling charms on the cupboard Mum had hidden me in.”

Harry, “He saved you, but not her?”

“Riddle found out Mum was his cousin. He would have kept coming back if he hadn’t killed her. Peter knew Dad would want him dead, but he knew it would have been worse if he would have let both of us die. My Mum died knowing Peter was keeping me safe.”

Harry barked back at you, “Well then where is he if he’s such a great guy?!”

“He’s with Riddle.” Dropping their jaws at the clenching of Barty and Snape’s, “Riddle’s building his strength. He’s going to return.”

Harry mumbled, “I’m going to kill Pettigrew.”

Hermione spotted the pain in your eyes, “Peter’s your spy, isn’t he?”

You nodded, “Yes. No matter what Ser and Fudge believe now, they won’t be able to believe it forever. Not when the truth comes out.”

Ron, “You said it was between, Neville-, his parents-?!”

“They were tortured in my aunt and uncle’s try to learn where Riddle had gone assuming he might have been captured somehow.”

Harry, “How are you okay with this? Fudge and him are trying to frame your family!”

“Fudge is afraid. Just like he was back then. War unending that comes to an abrupt halt, three young parents killed, he needed someone to blame. Just like when Hagrid got blamed for the first opening of the Chamber of Secrets.”

Ron, “But you’re innocent.”

“He’ll see that, eventually.” Your head tilted to the side, “Now go and enjoy Hogsmeade. I need some tea.” You said turning away to head to the Hog’s Head where Minerva was meeting you.

Unhappily Ser stalked back to his room to bathe and change without any luck in discovering anything past the hints of tattered forgotten belongings of random homeless vagabonds. No trace of Sirius at all. More and more he continued to inspect each inch of Hogsmeade without any luck at all only worsening the mood of those controlling the shops there. Dumbledore had allowed him to inspect the grounds at night with his Dementors but outright refused the creatures to enter the school once again darkening the color of the vengeful man’s eyes at the disobedience to his whims.

All through to October he tried and tried to slip inside the school only to be tossed out again by the giant Phoenix taking him as a clear threat to his chosen nest and the student inside. A sinister plan was set and high over the quidditch pitch you among the thousands of students watched as Harry fell from his broom after being surrounded by Dementors having been lured past the allowed borders.

“What happened?” Harry asked sitting up inspecting the faces of each of his friends and team around him.

Hermione, “You passed out Harry.”

He shook his head and waved his hand in front of him, “No. I mean the game. Who won the match?”

Hermione, “No one blames you Harry.”

Harry, “Who won?”

Hermione, “The Dementors aren’t supposed to come inside the grounds until sundown.”

Ron, “Terrence caught the snitch, only-,”

Harry, “What is it?”

Oliver brought out his broom wrapped in a Gryffindor banner, “When you fell, it blew into the Whomping Willow.”

Harry, “Ugh..” he cradled the broom asking Remus on the bed beside his between glanced at the dog asleep behind him, “Is there a way to mend it?”

Remus shook his head, “Afraid not. Just have to scrap it.” Harry huffed and plopped backwards onto the bed.

Harry, “What are we doing for practices then?”

Chuckling to yourself you eyed the Twins as they said, “Could always dip into the family spares.”

Harry looked to you as you held up a trio of miniaturized brooms, “Two Nimbus 99’s to choose against a 98.”

Hermione, “Why would he want a 98 over 99’s?”

You chuckled as Oliver answered for you, “99’s are built sturdier to outlast but the 98 is known for steadfast speeds.”

Harry, “I can give the 98 a try.” You nodded and tossed it to him, “Thanks.”

You shook your head, “Not at all. Family stash, can’t have you borrowing from the school supply.”

Remus chuckled passing Harry a piece of chocolate he grinned and raised to nibble on while you all turned your heads hearing the echoes of a distant shouting match of Ser being put in his place.

The telling off, though effective to a point it seemed to only to push the point on harder. November reared its chilly head and one after another oddities seemed to stir up each day in the random bursts of truths being spilled. It all seemed innocent until concerned the heads of each house paper began researching and one question kept coming up, ‘Where is the Chamber of Secrets?’ A young girl was seen, unknown to any questioned, passing out small tart samples with questions being asked, though at the jumbled answers for the questions a deep scowl formed on her face before she stormed off.

Small secrets were shared and in the speedy hand outs of the antidotes one reaction seemed to stir up your rise to action. Dean sat blankly staring at the ground holding the empty cup from downing the antidote in Snape’s classroom stirring up the confused Professor’s brow and his chest in a deep inhale uncomfortable with how silent and morose the usually chatty teen usually was. “I am certain whatever was said will be forgotten within a week. The Triplets might be able to assist in a proper diversion.”

Dean sullenly shook his head, “I doubt they would help me now.”

Snape, “What, pray tell, might give you that impression?”

Dean, “Ginny dumped me.” Setting the cup down on the desk Dean stood up and turned to head to the door, “Thank you Professor.” Snape blinked at his back and glanced at Remus, who had found Dean in the hall staring off into the distance in shock.

Remus, “Hmm, I can only imagine this goes well.”

Snape, “One would hope Ginny is the more mild tempered of the bunch.” His answer came with Remus’ head shaking making the stoic Professor stare towards the door with a soft shared, “Hmm.”

Up towards the Ravenclaw tower you raced after the note from Draco at Ginny’s collapse onto her bed beginning to weep. Huddled in Draco’s arms the pink faced puffy eyed girl wrapped in his arms sniffling between muddled blubbered attempts in a confession as to what had happened. Behind her you climbed and stretched out joining the snuggling pile as Luna returned from the fireplace downstairs she used to brew up some tea to help calm her friend and roommate down while Cho was currently racing back from the kitchens with a slice of her favorite brownies to help as well. Hermione stumbled through the door saying, “I just heard, got a bit turned around helping the twins plan a diversion so they could hurry off to Honeyduke’s.” She tilted her head eyeing Ginny saying in a hopefully helpful tone, “Dean’s a jerk.”

Ginny scoffed and nuzzled more against Draco’s chest, mumbling, “No he’s not.”

Softly in her next sniffle you asked while stroking her back between Draco’s arms, “What did the tart make him say?”

Sniffling again she sat up forcing you and Draco to do the same, her eyes fell on you in the quivering of her lower lip, “Nothing big. Just that he was glad that I spent part of the summer break in Egypt,” her voice cracked for a moment, “So he and Seamus could stick to their planed trip out to head out to Ireland with Seamus’ family on their annual camping trip.” She sniffled again, “And he broke into the plans he and Seamus made for the next trip to Hogsmeade, all the way up to curfew.”

“Oh,” you softly replied.

Cho broke through the door, “Cake!” grinning between pants moving closer to pass it over to sit on the foot of the bed, “What did I miss?”

Ginny, “I broke up with Dean. He likes me, but doesn’t want to really be with me.”

Cho, “I can’t believe he said that!”

Luna handed Ginny the cup of tea she accepted and sipped from feeling a tiny bit better, “I am certain you have taken in all the facts and variables and chosen wisely. No doubt it is for the best.”

Ginny nodded, “Thank you.” Her eyes lowering to the cup she raised for another sip. An hour you sat listening to all she wished to say, now all far from the topic of Dean until she asked, “What can we do about the truth serums? Dean said he didn’t get a tart, or any treat for that matter, just bumped this girl who passed him his dropped thermos back.”

Tapping your finger nails to your knee your eyes lowered to your chipping nail polish Luna had chosen for you a few weeks prior coated in owl footprints, turning your head to Ginny you said, “nail polish.”

Hermione, “Nail polish?”

“From a book Alastor bought me there are simple charms you can put on items to change colors when an item or food is poisoned.”

Cho, “Brilliant. Then you could just tap a finger in it to see if it’s poisoned.”

Ginny hopped up hurrying to her wardrobe pulling out a medium sized box she carried back to the bed making you giggle, “Well, there was a bit of a mix up few months back on an order form and I got 500 vials of Glitz and Ginger Polish. Good deal too, these shades were being discontinued for their pastel Spring. We could charm them all and, I don’t know, invite everyone all up for a manicure.”

Cho, “That would take time.”

You nodded, “We could split up and head to the common rooms. It’s nearly lunch most should be in their dorms.”

Charming the full box didn’t take long and when the girls had gone to each room to gather up the students there to dig through the choices, boys included, after which the box was carried over to the nearby Gryffindor tower alongside Neville who joined you along the way wondering what you and Hermione were doing with the box.

The thought of escaping the threat of poisoning a vast majority joined the colorful crowd, the rest decided on the clear coats to keep the protection without the trouble of deciding on a color.

Slytherin of course flocked to the supply and chose the boldest ones they flaunted after, topped only by the Puffs in their modifying charm to add shimmering qualities to their choices and designs the bewitched brushes eased across the nails of the students there. All soon joined by those unaware at the news spread from their housemates.

Outside the Great Hall you grinned at Percy when he passed you the full list of students within the school, “The full student body has accepted their shades and designs along with all the Professors, in respectful clear coats of course.” You nodded, “Also Penelope had the idea it could be part of a movement.”

“Movement, like a protest?”

He nodded, “Yes, some sort of response for those falsely persecuted in the war.”

“Nail November.” Making him chuckle and join you to your table, “We should eat.”

He looked over to his sister asking, “How’s Ginny?”

“Better than I guessed she’d be. I think it’ll blow over soon enough.”

Percy stole another glance at her to give her a supportive grin then took the spot by you sandwiching you between him and Cedric halfway through his second sandwich.

…

Morning rolled around and right through breakfast, during which Dumbledore was uncommonly absent your eyes turned to the hallway at an uncommon flash of white and black parting your lips revealing Lucius and Narcissa in the hall. The former turned to head to Dumbledore’s office while Narcissa hurried over to your side, where Draco had sat to ask your opinion on an essay he had written.

A grin eased onto her lips and she came over to you to sit on the bench by you where she raised your hand admiring the orange sherbert color complimenting to the coral shade Draco had chosen. “Lovely choices. Now, I got your letter Draco and I would like to assist you.” Your lips parted as she added, “Your father is going to speak with Dumbledore about the poisonings meanwhile I have contacted a beautician, the best, their full team will be dropping by every other weekend to reapply the polish.”

“Thank you. That’s very generous of you.”

Her eyes moved lovingly to her son in his saying, “What could Dad do? I mean, yelling at Dumbledore won’t do much when Fudge won’t see reason.”

She chuckled replying, “We are trying to work through the Ministry to get him pulled off this. Hopefully it won’t take too much longer. No one is yelling at Dumbledore, simply sharing the news so far and about the team.”

Softly she shared about the things hey had planned for the rest of the month and not so subtly hinted they were available for the holiday break in hopes to be invited to your home to share it with you both. Lucius, before leaving made certain to reassure you both that this matter would be dealt with soon. A final sentiment that you would be kept under their watch was given to be promptly followed by a comment from Lucius on his having picked out a set of family sweaters for the holidays to compliment the ones he had heard from Regulus would compliment yours perfectly at his own wish to be invited again.

Hogsmeade a few weeks later came with a grey cloud over it. Half of the usually boisterous pair of Dean and Seamus was unusually glum, and it wasn’t the obvious one. Seamus had felt the blow of his friendship had dealt on the fledgling relationship between his person and their first try in a couple and it was painful for him.

He had tried it all to ease Dean’s glum mood, even to the point of finding Ginny, who promptly killed his try to give Dean another chance. Reminding him that between the three of them he knew that she didn’t belong in a relationship with him and that they would still be friends it would just take time to settle back out of their formerly coupling ways and behavior.

Instead of focusing on the trip she couldn’t make Ginny was elated to get in an extra practice before the upcoming match against the Puff. As the new Chaser alongside Draco after their prior seventh year Chasers had graduated they were both eager to get their own try at the coveted team rivaling yours. But all the excitement died as the sounds of shouts carried from the school luring the teens back again joining the groups of those returning from Hogsmeade.

Up in the Towers you found the gathering Professors and students all staring up at the tattered portrait. Blubbering shouts were heard through the halls for those unable to see that a madman had destroyed her portrait when she refused to grant him entrance. Without any sight of the clear culprit, that same Andrew Ser, for the few courses the older students had were allowed to be held while the other students gathered a night’s worth of things and then followed the orders to head to the Great Hall to be accounted for. All day as the school was searched you remained in that hall that sealed itself to ensure your safety under the watch of the Prefects, Head Boy and Girl.

Sleeplessly you laid there watching the stars cast up on the ceiling wondering just what would happen next. All night softly in his spot by you on watch Percy would keep you company trying to keep you and himself calm and away from letting your mind wander for what was to come.

Sunrise found you all painfully climbing up off the floor to roll up the sleeping mats and blankets you set on the designated carts freeing up the space for the tables to appear again fully coated with a breakfast to help ease you back into your second day of freedom until classes resumed in their usual patterns distracting you all. Upon return to the Gryffindor Common room Sir Cadagon had taken up the Fat Lady’s place as the only one willing to do so. It all seemed to calm down and through to the end of November there were no more signs of your designated disturber as what he had intended to gain from the attack.

The battle between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuf as usual took place in a blizzard and again was won by the capture of the snitch from Cedric under the nose of Cho, who was distracted by her broom’s twitching from the dropping temperature.

Celebratory cocoa was passed out through the giggled conversation about the foxes seen on the way in and in the move to what you hoped to be a full on snow castle building spree for a shelter for the snow ball battle sure to follow after an explosion sounded in the distance. Through the snow flurries as usual you raced across the field finding Ron and Neville both on their backs, Neville still was propped up on this elbow deflecting a curse away from Ron, who was curled up clutching his bleeding leg.

Skidding to a stop in the slamming of your mental charm of Anaticula Andrew blinked wondering what you had intended as you dropped down by Ron shifting him onto his back to rest his leg on your lap easing your dripping a few drops of Phoenix tears onto the burn and slice in his shin. The burn healed with the cut scabbing over in the arrival of Madame Pomfrey and the other Professors. In a swirl of darkening smoke Andrew shot off into the unknown. Ron was lifted up as the twins who made sure he wasn’t harmed past a painfully bruised rib.

Neville grimaced through saying as he looked over to Dumbledore, “Sir Cadagon is going to need to change the passwords.”

Dumbledore, “Why is that?”

Neville, “I can’t find my note with this weeks passwords on it.”

Dumbledore nodded and turned for the school at Snape’s side while Minerva helped you guide the injured teens to the Hospital Wing. Distant shouts sounded and clearly he warning had come too late as by the arrival of the Professors up to the Common room it was turned upside down as well as all the dorms but nowhere near the level they had assumed he would go to not realizing your charm on him. Alongside Percy and the other prefects you kept the students in your vision in their search of the missing intruder. At the commotion the distant Hippogriffs neared you all wondering at the noise.

A cloud of smoke crashed behind you and a firm hand latched onto your arm jerking you backwards earning an angered squawk in the distance. “You will tell me what curse you laid on me!” The hand holding you was soon torn away at the talon tipped foot came crashing down across Andrew’s face with the second clawing down into his shoulder tearing his shirt in a bloody mess spreading as the talons slashed across his chest and stomach. Heavily onto his back he collapsed screaming in pain as you turned with hands raised locking your eyes on Buckbeak who was still reared up on his back hooves.

Steadily his front feet still dripping in blood curled up as his orange eyes with blown pupils turned from your attacker to you narrowing his pupils, “Beaky, Beaky,” lowering to all fours he lowered his head through Flitwick’s levitating Andrew on the way to the Hospital Wing after putting an apparating block on him. Bloody prints followed you as you guided the still clearly flustered pair of Hippogriffs, “Come on, let’s go get you some ferrets.”

Tenderly you stroked their beaks and cheeks calming them on the pat back to Hagrid’s hut, meeting him halfway to explain that it wasn’t their blood. Worry flashed into his eyes but he covered that and helped you in settling the duo back into their shed habitat with a full supply of ferrets. Warmly they settled into their nests under the blankets you settled over their backs, contently they grinned at you giving off thankful squawks as you both stepped outside into their clearing where you looked up at Hagrid in his sniffling through raising a protective bubble around it so none could burst in and attack them.

Gently you patted Hagrid’s arm, “It’ll be okay Hagrid. It was in defense.”

He nodded, “I know.”

By morning the Dementors had descended, but this time under the guard of Lucius and a band of Aurors, who came to collect Andrew. Under the serious blocks and circle of Dementors a glint of ruby red in the palm of the maimed Wizard caught your eye and. Before you could say anything more of his allied Aurors arrived with an official notice from Fudge to hand over a death notice for the Hippogriff in question. Completely ignoring the attack on two students prior to his gripping you so harshly. A squeeze of the item in his hand and a cloud of red mist surrounded his fist and your lips parted recognizing the combustible gem, rapidly you drew your wand and manifested a lead box around his hand widening his eyes while his mouth fell open in his try to throw it.

Try as he might the gem had latched onto his fingers and a muffled explosion was heard. Heavily the box fell to the ground revealing his shriveled blackened hand stirring a gasp from the Wizard Lucius bound in uncharmable chains covering his entire body. His fire filled blue eyes landed on the Aurors coming to delay his capture, “Kill the beast for all I care this waste of a Wizard is mine.”

Harshly he left the hall dragging Andrew behind him, stealing a supportive pat on your shoulder in leaving. The dark eyed Auror grinned turning to Dumbledore along the wall beside you to say, “We don’t need his permission, beast is already done for.”

Flatly your expression dropped and you moved out into the hall, seeing in the distance a glint of silver through the growing storm and the squawks of the fleeing crows over Hagrid’s calls for the presumably dead creature. Open mouthed you felt Dumbledore’s hand pat your back in calling out, “Percy.” The teen’s stance perked up and he shifted closer to you a few steps, “Kindly escort Miss Black to her dormitory.” After a pause he said, “I believe the second floor entrance should work best due to the blocks on the lower levels.” Your brow inched up, “If you wouldn’t mind, along the way keep an eye open, I seem to have lost my watch. Try as I may I can’t seem to discover when I lost it in retracing my steps.”

You both nodded and glumly you joined Percy into the hall through which you walked quietly until you were asked in latin, “Did you catch those hints I did?”

“Did you tell Dumbledore where we use our turners?” you whispered to him in return.

Percy shook his head, “No, though not hard to guess it would be a safe place to go back.”

“Okay.” Down another turn you eyed the various portraits whispering along your path in your trotting up the first flight of stairs. “You know, I miss my second year.”

Percy chuckled and stole a glance at you saying, “Ah, you’d miss it all. Makes you wonder if each generation had years like ours or just how terribly dull it was for them.” Making you giggle weakly.

Pt 26

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diegest · 4 years

Text

2010 V.S. 2019

Age 15 and almost 25

(This is long a messy but I wanted to make some kind of post about it before the year ends.)

I was making a stink face bc my then best-friend was over and said something funny before she took the picture and afterwards we busted out laughing. We were at my then step-dads parents house out in the country walking down to their creek either just getting done swimming in their pool or intending to get in it after going to the creek.

I was most likely a freshmen or sophomore at the time of this picture. (Probably right before sophomore year started...) It was definitely during Summer. I either had a flip Nokia phone or an LG Neon at the time as I upgraded from one to the other. I had my first “job.” I was a veterinary assistant after school for a few hours a day and did some work out there during Summer as well. I wasn’t paid and used my time as a volunteer to play with animals, hold them down for simple procedures, walked dogs, and it helped me gauge whether or not I wanted to actually pursue being a veterinarian. I had competed in track for 6 years in a row by this point and was probably finished with it by the time this picture was taken. (Two Elementary School leagues, all three years of Middle School, freshmen year of High School). I was crushing HARDCORE on my childhood best friend whom I’ve known since the age of 6 but neither of us could handle our feelings for the other and things would become super awkward until we had actually dated 7 years later. I was tan as hell because of track practice, walking to both pools in town, and walking to Sonic with friends during sleepovers.

I was struggling trying to find my identity as a teenager while maintaining being in the middle of my parents joint custody battle and being forced to be 100 miles away from my friends two weekends out of the month. I was a cynical older sister of two step-brothers and did not use my time with them as wisely as I wish I could have, sometimes being a real bitch to them looking back at it. I had no control over my hair color or length and remember desperately wanting to layer it to look like a scene kid despite how naturally thin it is. I had just started dabbling in eye liner (not pictured, as I preferred and still prefer my poolside activities over makeup), wore converse every day I wasn’t wearing flip flops for the season, wore baggy jeans, the same Paramore hoodie daily, and had an extreme creative drive that I miss deeply. I was bullied horribly for my teeth, nose, skin (I had terrible eczema that pool water, cortisone shots, and Summer weather in general helped tremendously with!), height, cup size, fashion, hobbies, having split parents, and then some. My metabolism was extremely high and I was in my athletic prime. I had a touch of internet fame by drawing my own personal characters on deviantArt.com as well as fan art for games and shows I was super into using my first Wacom tablet on my first laptop and to this day still have a folder of fan art created for me on my computer. I was obsessed with cats, rock music, anime, and drawing. I could drive a boat and got both a high five as well as scolded for that time I flipped myself into the water to retrieve my dads hat while we were going full speed over white-caps because I was too impatient for him to circle around and wanted to impress him and the rest of the family. I was for the most part unafraid of most things.

I was secretly extremely depressed and suicidal during the school year to the point I had missed my period for 5 months because of stress alone and I’m certain at the time this picture was taken, I was almost breathing a sigh of relief I was off from school for the summer. I had a close knit group of friends still before it had combust the following school year. I was “working” as a veterinary assistant but also had interests in pursuing being an animator, art director, cartoonist, children’s book illustrator, or graphic designer by this point and my mom encouraged me to pursue whatever I was comfortable with. I wasn’t really boy crazy like my friends were, instead having my heart set on one in particular and probably still having a soft spot for my ex whom I was with for 3 years prior. My bedroom contained my artwork, sports posters, cat posters, band posters, and trophies/medals from my days running track. My friend and I, though not legally allowed to drive, would occasionally sneak to Taco Bell using her parents car if they weren’t home and we never got caught or pulled over for it. My grades were A’s and B’s, though I could not pay attention in History to save my life because I was too preoccupied with doodling on my papers and ignoring this asshole who was two classes above me who had called me ugly but then admitted he liked me at one time because of my attitude?? He’s still an idiot from what I’ve heard only he’s an idiot who knocked up a few women post-high school, is apparently married now, and no surprise to me - is still stuck in that same small town with no goal to go anywhere outside of it.

I was scared of the outside world beyond my small town and had no idea how rough it would get for me. The family issues and my trip to family court had not happened yet. I had yet to become estranged from my family. I was small and awkward as hell. I struggled to hold conversations or make eye contact unless it was with people I felt most familiar with since people were kinda fucking mean. I could argue back but would immediately break down and cry from the interaction at the first chance I’d get. I’d use books, art, and video games for the escapism. Life felt scary and fragile and so very uncertain but at least I had a few individuals in the world whom I loved so much and who I know loved me.

I’m 24 now. I’m now in control over my own hair cut and color. I choose to keep it long as I didn’t even like the way it looked short when I finally chopped it as a teenager. It’s been red, reddish blonde, blonde on top and brown on the bottom, dark brown to blonde ombré, and now platinum blonde with my natural color as a shadow root and I quite like it. I don’t really dabble in makeup unless it’s for an occasion except for covering up my acne as my body decided that having zero acne in my teen years was just too good for me while I was battling eczema instead. I’m not nearly as tan or athletic as I’m forced to be inside at most times. I still love to swim though and I take every opportunity to go to my childhood beach during the Summer when I can in particular. I still don’t consider myself to be family-oriented despite this year really challenging that for me. I have a ton of amazing friends and people who care about me and feel like recently in particular, I’m always busy with someone doing something and making memories as we do whatever.

I have a bachelors in Psychology and a minor in Art, though I did not pursue a masters in art therapy like I had originally intended. I was heavily burnt out from school and my baby brothers worsening medical conditions and the news that he had been in a children’s hospital for quite some time with my family deliberately choosing not to tell me made me choose not to pursue one for the time being. I was working at Dairy Queen while technically sharing a lease with my ex before finding a job at a psychiatric hospital that I loved and getting my own apartment to myself and my cat, whom my ex gave to me as he saw she benefited me more than she benefited him. Though I lost that job, I can now say I have two years of field experience in Psychology and almost 6 months worth in social work and feel like I’m always learning something.

I’m not as creative anymore because the years of crippling depression, anxiety, and being forced to create for school absolutely ruined any creativity I had once had. Though occasionally I’ll have the opportunity to channel that creativity into a video game or quick doodle for a child.

I’ve moved to two cities after moving out of my high-school “home” town (not quite home but a good chunk of my upbringing!) and have every intention of doing it again within the next year after I save up some. I don’t take shit from anyone and have taken after the best parts of my moms personality in my opinion with the added benefit of my dads patience and keen eye. I’m known for making people around me comfortable and able to laugh and decompress and have been fortunate enough to use that power professionally. I would like to go back to mental and behavioral health as I miss the thrill and excitement as well as the camaraderie with fellow staff members in the pursuit of helping individuals. I’m very likely starting a new position in my company as early as next week and have been extremely excited about the pay and hour boost. I’ll be getting my dog in just over two weeks and am excited to start our life journey together. Though I had developed my moms serial-monogamist trait for a while there after my 6 year-long relationship had ended in the pursuit of finding someone to fill that gap, I feel very comfortable lately simply being pursued and wanted without the commitment. I’m addicted to sushi bowls, coffee, and chocolate. My passion is helping others. I feel comfortable in my body enough that I would love to pursue modeling of some sort and have been lucky enough to dabble in that a bit already. I also have a bit of a love for fashion now, though I rarely feel the urge to actually properly plan my outfits unless my goal is to dress to impress or for the sake of photography.

I’ve learned to allow myself to enjoy the things I enjoy without the fear of judgement from others. I still love nerd-culture and have somewhat recently taken an interest in cosplay and want to attend more conventions. I’ve learned that it’s an accomplishment for me to have gotten this far, to have my own place, and that it’s alright that I don’t have everything figured out and not everything has to be figured out right away. I don’t have the same best friend I had 10 years ago, but we’re still in contact and I love my current best friend tremendously though I don’t get to see him often. I’ve learned that my current group of friends may be temporary, but while I’m lucky enough to be around them I’m going to do what I can to make them feel as loved and cherished as possible and make plenty of memories. Ivy and I are doing well and I know we will continue doing well even with Atticus by our side. I value traveling way more and will continue to travel and see new things when I’m able to. Eventually I’ll narrow down a Masters program and go back to school when I feel ready. I might even work alongside my brother at some point as we had talked about working on a project together and I’m pretty excited. This is getting really really long oops

I also just look dope as all hell with blonde hair and have gotten the notoriety of being “that blonde girl who wears the leather jacket” and I’m beyond thrilled about this. I’ve come a long way and I’m proud of myself. It’s hard to believe that lanky, tan, dark haired, greasy-headed kid is me but I think she’s come a long long way and I’m genuinely proud of her for doing so and not ending things when she’s had the opportunity. Here’s to 10 more years of careful and concise progress and glow-ups~

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5hfanfiction · 7 years

Text

Progression - Chapter 1

(Dinah’s older than Camila in this, but really, everyone’s ages are kind of screwed up.)

“Why are you making such a big deal about this? If we were in a dorm, we’d be rooming with random people. You know me, and you know Mani.” Dinah deadpans, nudging the front door all the way open with her foot.

Camila sighs deeply, setting an incorrectly marked box on the kitchen counter. “But we don’t know Lauren.”

“We’ll get to know her. Besides, if Mani says she’s good people, then I trust her, and so should you.” She sets the scissors next to the box and starts back through the door, calling out, “Now shut up for 5 minutes and help me.”

Camila frowns at Dinah’s blind faith in a girl she doesn’t know. Sure, Normani trusts her, and while she is a great judge of character, but she hasn’t seen her properly in over three years, and a lot can change in that time. Aside from that, Normani’s character doesn’t determine Lauren’s, since everyone knows, good people can have the worst friends. Yes, Dinah has a point that this is probably better than a random room assignment, but the fact that they signed a lease, a legally binding contract, and now all their money is tied up in this apartment for the next two years, is stressing her out. Damn Dinah and her overly convincing puppy-dog eyes.

The younger girl follows her friend outside to where the moving truck is parked, containing all four roommates combined belongings. “Get that side.” Dinah juts her chin out toward the opposite end of the couch she’s holding.

Camila obeys her friend’s orders and they lift it easily, even though Dinah would be fine on her own, but that would look suspect. The taller girl starts the trek upstairs, smiling in thanks at the young adult male holding the door for them.

“You two good?” He questions in a thick accent she can’t quite place.

“Yeah, we’re good. Thanks.” Camila interjects curtly, noticing the flirtatious look taking over her friend’s features. If she allows Dinah a word in, they could easily be standing there for an exceedingly long period of time for someone carrying an item of furniture that weighs four times what they do.

The boy just nods and exits once they’ve completely gone through the doorway. Dinah glares at Camila for sending away a potential mate, but says nothing. The Latina sighs thankfully, knowing she takes flirting very seriously, and was glad to have stomped it out before it could get started.

Over the years, Camila has seen a great deal of amorous exchanges involving her friend, and she completely understands why. Dinah is easily one of the most attractive people Camila knows. Granted, she doesn’t know very many people, but she counts people on the television, and shop customers as well. Physically, the older girl is pretty perfect; she’s tall, tan, and muscular, with insanely soft and thick hair that was usually some shade between brown and blond without really being either, and was “built like an acoustic guitar”, as Ariana had once put it. The statement had earned her a slap to the back of the head from one of Dinah’s large hands, her abnormally long fingers leaving red marks on the back of the petite girl’s neck for a solid 24 hours, an action the assailant soon regretted when the remark was explained.

The two make it up the stairs silently, efficiently, and slide the plush piece through the doorway. While Camila is content with leaving it in the previously designated area, Dinah suddenly finds a fault with it’s positioning, and keeps moving it in minute, nearly indistinguishable jerks in all directions.

“Dinah, what are you doing?”

“I’m trying to center it. Don’t you think it looks weird?”

“No, because there’s only one place to put it,” Camila gestures around the now fully furnished living room, “and it looks fine.”

The older girl sucks her teeth and frowns at her friend. “If I wanted to live somewhere ‘fine’, I’d have stayed at home. I want my apartment to be poppin’.”

“Dinah, we’re college students now. Like, 95% of our income goes to bills and food. We can’t afford to pop; we can’t even afford to sizzle.”

“So we’ll save up, and pool our money. Then we can buy furniture that doesn’t make me want to claw my eyes out from looking at it for longer than 5 seconds.”

“Well, you can spend all your disposable income on popping, and sizzling, and frying, or whatever, but don’t come to me when you’re hungry or need gas money.” Camila kicks off her shoes and places them on the mat beside the front door.

Dinah laughs lightly and follows suit. “You say that like you really think you wouldn’t give me anything I asked for.”

“I want us to do this right, Dinah. You’re 18 now, I’ll be 18 soon enough…Ally’s trusting us not to live at home this year, and I really don’t want to give her any reason to think we’re irresponsible.” She pauses for a moment. “More irresponsible. I don’t want to fuck this up.”

The taller of the two smiles gently and pulls her friend into a strong, but not crushing, hug. “Jesus, Chancho. I’m the legal adult here, remember?” While her tone is teasing, her hold is firm, because she knows everything about this situation is new and had been worrying Camila since the idea had first been proposed almost six months ago. “Everything will be fine. Ally already trusts you, even more than Zayn, and he co-owns her businesses. If anyone should be putting in extra effort, it’s me-which I will, promise-so don’t worry.”

They stand in motionless silence for a few minutes. “We’ve been in this apartment for 5 minutes, and it’s already made you all sappy and gross.” Camila mumbles tiredly into the Polynesian’s chest. Indisputably, Dinah give the best hugs in the entire universe; it has something to do with the perfectly balanced combination of her warmth, softness and comforting scent. Unfortunately, that precise mix is currently working to put her to sleep.

“You always gotta ruin the moment.” Dinah rolls her eyes and shoves Camila back, into the the blue and white striped fabric recliner Ally had given them. “I’m gonna start with the kitchen. Can you unpack the bathroom stuff?”

“Uh-huh.” Camila nods, but makes no effort to stand up. Her body suddenly feels too heavy to support itself, so she just tucks her legs underneath her body and lays her head on one of the arms. She nods off quickly to the sounds of Dinah moving around, occasionally making noises of agreement to whatever was being said until she was too far gone to reply.

“Did you pack the wire rack with the kitchen stuff?” Dinah calls out, waiting a bit for a response before moving towards the more open area of the apartment. “Walz?”

She smiles at the sight of her small friend curled up in the chair, sleeping peacefully. Although she could use the help, she goes back to unpacking without even attempting to wake her up. Aside from Camila’s deep breathing, and the more distant sounds of other inhabitants being alive, it’s pretty quiet; Dinah Jane Hansen cannot stand quiet. Long stretches of silence are uncomfortable to her, and it makes her feel too close to death, unless she’s trying to sleep, then anyone making any type of noise is at risk of literally being close to death. This was one of the many reasons Ally had moved them to separate rooms, multiple times. Camila enjoyed the environment Dinah despised, thrived in it, in fact. Her own love of loud music, television and people had always clashed with her friend’s dislike, a concern that was sat at the back of her mind when she’d realized, for the first time in over two years, they’d be sharing together again. As well as they get along, she doesn’t know if she can survive another second rooming with “Can you turn it down?”, and “D, I have a headache, please?”. It’s not her fault that Camila has sensitive ears.

Since she’s not a total asshole, and doesn’t want to risk waking Camila up, she works without music. This could also be explained by the fact it would be practically impossible to find the box with her headphones inside at this point in time. Naturally, her mind begins to wander, and she remembers Camila’s earlier concerns. For as far back as her memory goes, she’s lived with Ally, and, while she was more than ready to spread her metaphorical wings with little concern for how things would play out, the older woman had been hesitant to let her go. Eventually, they’d reached an agreement where Dinah could go if she could convince Camila to fill the final roommate position Normani and Lauren were looking for. This was difficult simply because Camila didn’t want to move out, and was, although she’d been accepted to the same college as Dinah, planning on going to a different university based solely on the location of the campus. In the end, it took a solid month of groveling and guilt-tripping before she agreed, and thus, papers were signed and money was put down, much to Ally’s displeasure. It was understandable for her to be so upset, as she’d literally raised Dinah, and made her dismay known by dramatically sulking around the house for nearly a month after they’d graduated. A small part of her wondered what her birth parents would say, how they would feel to see her graduating. Ally had refused to tell Dinah what had become of her biological family, aside from something about an “unfortunate accident”, claiming she would learn the full story when she was older. Of course she had a difficult time believing 32 people had all succumb to the same fate, but she was happy with the people she did consider family, and still held onto the belief that Ally would tell her one day.

Frowning, she took a deep breath to clear her head of the negative thoughts and stepped back from what she was doing. She looked around in mild surprise, unsure of when she’d packed away four full boxes worth of stuff, and checked the time.

7:08. It’s been a little over an hour since she started, and about another one to go before Normani and Lauren were scheduled to arrive. Peering over the back of the chair to make sure Camila’s not stirring, Dinah scrolls through her phone and starts playing a random playlist in her “Bops” folder, but still on a low volume, just in case.

Music really is a great way to pass the time, because just as she’s deciding if the top shelf should house mugs or plates, there’s a key turning in the lock.

“Hey, DJ.” Normani grins widely from the doorway, almost instantly being lifted into Dinah’s arms.

“Manz! I Haven’t seen you in-” Dinah quickly lowers her volume and friend, remembering the sleeping girl a few feet away, “forever.”

“What’s wrong?” Normani asks confusedly at the sudden behavioral change. Dinah tilts her head in Camila’s direction as they separate. “And here I thought she’d be the one doing all the work while you were off somewhere drooling.”

“It’s not my fault Walz usually does everything. I’m not lazy, she’s an overachiever.” Dinah doesn’t even attempt to claim that she doesn’t drool, as Normani, Camila, and Ariana had all been too enthusiastic to show her the embarrassing proof in the past.

“How long did you try to wake her up for?”

“I didn’t. She’s taking a nap outside of the full moon or being sick for the first time in like six years; it’s better to just let her sleep.”

Normani nods, knowing Dinah speaks the truth. She’s never met anyone who hates being asleep more than the 17 year old in the recliner. Changing the subject, she raises a large brown paper bag Dinah had previously missed. “Anyways, I brought you guys something.”

“Food?” Dinah questions, although the answer is obvious, and snatches the bag from her hand. “You’re a lifesaver. I thought I was actually going to have to…you know.”

“You mean cook?” Dinah hates cooking as much as Camila hates sleeping, and Normani has trouble understanding either sentiment.

“Yeah, that.” Dinah takes a generous bite out of a random burger and turns towards the partially open door. “Where’s Lauren? I thought she was coming with you?”

“She was, but her parents wanted to have a family dinner tonight, so she transferred to an early morning flight.” Normani pulls the front door shut and locks it. She’s not risking someone just walking in and slaughtering them in their sleep. It won’t matter if Dinah and Camila are there if they get to her first.

“Don’t her parents live in Miami? That’s less than a three hour drive.” As she speaks, a chunky, liquefied mix of meat and bun spills down her chin, dyed yellow from the high ratio of mustard to pretty much everything else between the pieces of bread.

Normani hands Dinah a napkin, not particularly disgusted by the display, as she’d gotten used to her and Camila’s disastrous eating habits long ago. “It was at her uncle’s in Tennessee,” she stretches out on the couch and gestures to the three of them, “so it’ll just be us this evening.”

“If Mila even bothers to wake up.” Dinah replies before realizing something. “Hold up, who said you could sit down?”

“What?”

“Girl, get yo ass up and do something.”

“But Mila-”

“She’s allowed to sleep because she actually did some work before. Did you really believe you could bring us some food and we’d let you get away not doing anything?” The innocent look on Normani’s face says everything, and Dinah laughs loudly. “Hoe, you thought. Now go unpack the boxes for the bathroom.”

Normani sighs theatrically, but starts down the hall anyway, not wanting to feel Dinah’s wrath over something so insignificant, and also because she knows damn well it won’t get done otherwise.

They continue to talk back and forth for a while, calling out to each other across the apartment after they’d determined Camila probably wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon.

“D, what the hell are these?” Normani rounds the corner holding an cartoon rocket ship bath mat and Space Invaders shower curtain.

“Ally got those as part of our going away present, even though we’ve only gone like an hour and a half away.”

“Did you make sure to tell her you guys were starting college and not kindergarten? It looks like she’s a bit confused.” Secretly, Normani finds the gifts cute, because she’s gotten to know Ally thoroughly over the last four years, and it’s just like her to do something all sentimental like this.

“Walz didn’t want to hurt her feelings by not bringing them, and I don’t want to risk her just showing up and not seeing them in place, you know?” The soft tone in the younger girl’s voice contrasts starkly with the pained grimace on her face. It’s like she’s physically hurting from just being in the presence of the brightly colored accessories.

“That’s really sweet of you, to sacrifice your sanity out of love and fear.”

“Fear? What are you talking about? I’m not afraid of Ally.”

“That’s such a fucking lie and you know it.” Normani smiles knowingly at Dinah’s overly defensive stance: arms crossed, brow furrowed in a mix of confusion and annoyance, and legs shoulder width apart. “She’s your mom, you pretty much have to be scared of her.”

“Yeah, but I’m not. The only time I’ve only even mildly feared her was those couple of times when she got really mad at me, because believe you me, when the 'a’ in Ally stands for angry, you don’t want to be anywhere near her.”

“It’s hard to imagine Ally like that.” Normani sets the mat and curtain on one of the few boxes not yet pushed into it’s proper room yet; not that they even know what it is, since Lauren and Normani decided drunk and tipsy packing, respectively, would be a good idea.

“It’s good you only have to go based off imagination and not experience. Trust me, she’s like a little volcano.”

“What am I when I’m angry?”

“You’re like…a slowly melting block of ice.”

“I don’t-what?”

“You’re all cold towards whoever you’re mad at, and you don’t show it at first, but then you start getting all snippy and stay salty for as long as you’re pissed off. You aren’t an explosive person.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s true. And you’re not either, most of the time. Unless you feel really threatened, or somebody does something seriously messed up, you’re pretty calm.”

“Well, yeah. I don’t want people to know I’m angry with them, all the time, and get all suspicious. Why do you think I’m so good at pranks?”

“Because you lowkey want to be a bully, but you know Ally would have your ass, so you found a slightly less abrasive outlet.”

“Okay, I’m gonna need you to stop talking to Walz. Her and all her deep thinking is fucking you up.”

“Are you saying I’m not a deep thinker?”

“No, but you’re not like her, and believe me when I say that’s a good thing.”

There’s a slight pause before anyone speaks again. “What about Mila?”

“What about Mila?” Dinah reiterates, not understanding Normani’s question.

“If Ally’s a volcano-”

“Little volcano.” She can hear the smirk in her voice, even though she isn’t looking at her.

“-and I’m a block of ice, what’s Camila like when she’s mad?”

“Walz doesn’t get mad.”

“Dinah, you’ve known her since she was six.”

“I know that, but I’ve never seen her anything more than moderately annoyed, usually by me or Zayn.”

“I know Mila doesn’t have a bad temper, I mean she spends most of her time with you, we’d know at this point, but nothing?” The eldest resident sits on the arm of the recliner and looks down at it’s occupant, tone dripping with incredulity.

Dinah takes a moment to think before replying. “There was this one time I remember when she was really genuinely upset. We were like eight and three of my friends-you remember those annoying ass girls I told you I used to hang out with right before middle school?-came over to stay for April vacation. Walz had already been there for a couple of weeks, and I was sick before, so of course she got it, but Ally already agreed to watch those terrible children, so she put in place her standard quarantine procedures.” Dinah doesn’t elaborate, knowing Normani is fully aware of Ally’s behaviour when anyone in her household is ill. “It was like halfway through their stay and Ally was in the kitchen, when Walz comes downstairs for the first time in days, looking for her. We were in the living room, so we saw her first, and Sierra, of course, decided to cause a problem.”

“Sierra was the one with the parents that owned those condos, right?”

“That was Genevive. Sierra’s parents bought that amusement park that closed down like two years later.”

“How did you know these people?”

“Public school. Go figure.” Dinah purposely avoids answering Normani’s actual question in favor of finishing the memory. “Anyways, they were just talking all kinds of mess, and I just kinda stood there, because, you know, I was a stupid elementary schooler and these were my cool friends. Then Sierra went too far and threw Q outside into the downpour, Mila went after him, and they locked her out. Genevive and Evie went in the kitchen to make sure she didn’t try to come in through the front door, and I…” Dinah trails off for a moment, noticeably uncomfortable. “I pulled the blinds in the back so Ally wouldn’t see her, then we helped with lunch. By the time Ally found her, she’d already been outside for like three hours.”

Normani’s brow furrows, having heard other stories of how Dinah was kind of an asshole at that age, but that doesn’t make it any less upsetting. “Please tell me Mila came for you.”

“No, but Ally did after I told her what happened."

"You actually told Ally?” Normani asks skeptically. The Dinah she knows would do almost anything to stay out of trouble, or at least modify the truth enough to spare herself too severe of a punishment. Admitting to laughing with your 'friends’ being mean to your friend, then locking said friend outside in the rain with no plans of telling anyone isn’t exactly how one would prevent that.

“Believe it or not, eight year old Dinah Jane still felt guilt on occasion. I couldn’t not tell her, especially when we found out Walz had pneumonia. Ally blamed that on the rain, and even though the doctor said that’s not what caused it, I wasn’t going to try to use that to defend myself. Not the point, so Q was all muddy and gross, and Ally told Mila she was going to wash him, you know, the common sense thing to do, and she lost it. She started crying her eyes out and begging Ally not to, like she almost threw up from crying so hard. It was terrible. My friends were staring in surprise and disgust, and I was so embarrassed. Yes, I know, I was a terrible friend, stop looking at me like that. And Ally was completely freaking out because she’d never seen her like that, and she couldn’t figure out how to calm her down. So she just carried her upstairs.”

“Wow.” It’s a well known fact that Camila is a very emotional person, but Normani has never seen her cry, at least not the way Dinah was describing it. Sure, she’d seen her shed a couple tears at the sad scenes in movies, or from laughing way too hard, but nothing so emotional. “I don’t get it. Why was she crying?”

“I don’t know. We never asked her. I don’t even think she remembers it happening, so Ally decided to just blame it on her fever. You know how Ally likes to be prepared for everything, so that kind of fucked her up for a while. Really though, it was so…unexpected, and out of character. I mean, when I was teaching her how to ride a bike, she fell down the side of a rocky hill, into a stream, and didn’t make a sound. This was something else.”

“You guys had a real weird childhood.” Even though she already knows this.

“You tell me that anytime I tell you anything. And not really, yours was just super boring.”

Normani snorts. “No, my childhood was normal. Ally literally owns a magic shop. Where is the normality?”

“It’s normal to us.” Dinah says with an air of finality, not wanting to dwell on negative memories. “Now, go finish setting up the bathroom.”

“Dinah! Really? You’re gonna make me do more work? It’s nighttime.”

“Yes, now get up.”

“I’m tired."

"Mani.”

“No.” The darker girl whines, stretching out the word.

“I wasn’t giving you an option.” Dinah throws a pillow at Normani, her previously unmoving target effectively dodging the projectile, causing it to hit the sleeping girl in the face.

Camila groans quietly and shifts in her sleep, forcing her eyes open as she knocks the pillow onto the floor. “I…was asleep?”

“You were.” Dinah glares at Normani, more playful than serious.

“Mani?” Camila mumbles around a yawn, recognizing the familiar perfume coming off the figure above her. “I thought you weren’t getting here until tonight.”

The older girl grins down at her friend, and gestures towards the hall windows where the blinds are still open. “It is night, Mila.”

“It’s-wha?” She rubs her eyes, confused as to how it was pitch black out when the sun had been shining brightly just minutes before.

“It’s almost 9:30. You’ve been out for nearly 3 hours.” Dinah’s voice replies from behind her.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Camila speaks to Dinah, but extends her arms towards Normani, signaling she wants a hug.

“You were barely sitting down for 5 minutes before you fell asleep. If I woke you up, you’d just be cranky and do a shit job at unpacking.”

Normani slid down into Camila’s lap, wrapping the Cuban up in her arms. “Plus, you probably wouldn’t have woken up anyway. Dinah’s been playing music this entire time, stuff was being moved around, and we were literally talking right over you for the past 20 minutes.

"And, I made smoothies.”

“No, you didn’t.”

Dinah opens the fridge and pulls out three glass bottles, each containing a different colored puree. Honestly, she hadn’t even remembered she’d made them until now. “Try me again.”

“Shit.” Camila knows she can be a heavy sleeper, but their blender is basically a small glass lawnmower for food items. “Is one of those mine?”

“Of course that’s what you focus on.” Camila adjusts Normani in her lap, so she has a free hand to hold the bottle Dinah passes her.

“Thank you.” She takes a sip of the thick liquid, savoring the, overwhelmingly to every other living being, banana flavor and peanut butter aftertaste. “Have I ever told you that I love you more than most things?”

“Only every time I give you food.”

“Those are very good times.”

“Speaking of food,” Normani interjects, remembering something important. “Lauren wants to have lunch with you guys tomorrow, since she can’t make it here tonight.”

“Sure, I’m free between 12 and 2. I have to get to the bakery for 3:30.”

“I’ll be back by 12:30, since I’m opening tomorrow.”

“Lauren and I are both available then, so lets say, 12:45 at that Italian restaurant across from the town center.”

“The one with the yellow tomatoes in the salad and butter that kind of tastes like gravy?”

“That’s the one.”

“Now I’m hungry.” Normani hears Camila speak the complaint into her shoulder.

“You were hungry the moment you woke up.” Dinah hands her the not completely cold take out bag from the fridge. “Here. Normani brought burgers, so I saved you one and a half. There’s also most of a large fries-don’t you dare look at me like that. You’re lucky I didn’t eat all your fries.”

“You’re a literal angel.” Normani has no time to respond before Camila grabs her face and kisses her wetly on the cheek, then starts in on the stuffed half turkey burger.

“Anyway,” Normani starts, wiping the saliva off her face in disgust, “she’s really excited to meet you guys. I’m just kind of worried, you know?”

“Why?” The word vibrates her arm, which lays limp across Camila’s chest.

“It’s just, I’ve built you guys up so much, she’ll probably be disappointed when the real thing is right in front of her.”

There’s a loud clapping sound as Dinah’s hand connects with Normani’s back, nearly knocking her over. “Girl, you scared me for a second! I thought you were being serious.”

“You could be an actress. That was really convincing.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.”

“I’m being serious. Plus, you’ve got the face for it: acting, modeling, all that picture stuff.” Camila’s voice is muffled as she holds the rest of her burger between her teeth, digging through the empty paper wrappers Dinah left in the bag in search of the spilled fries.

“Yeah, and besides, you’re a great actress, and dancer, and once people get a look at that face, they’ll be dying to plaster it up all over magazine covers, and billboards, and giant posters that’ll hang in horny teenager’s bedrooms.” Dinah admits honestly as she flops down on the couch.

“And park benches!” Camila adds excitedly, probably only really thinking of the park portion of the suggestion.

“Thanks, but I really don’t think I want anyone sitting on my face.”

“Yet another thing you and Walz don’t have in common.” As Dinah Jane is the biggest fan of her own jokes, she fails miserably at holding back the laugh that Normani lets out in full.

Camila waits for the giggles to subside before attempting to respond. “You say that like it’s not one of the greatest experiences ever, for all parties involved.”

“I am the sitter, not the on being sat upon, thank you very much. A face like this must be admired at all times, and that’s kind of hard to do when someone’s ass is all up in it.”

“DJ, the only thing to ever admire your face, aside from you, is your phone camera.”

“On a good day.” Camila holds up a couple of fries, silently offering them to Normani who declines, but reaches her hand into the bag in search on a moderately clean napkin to wipe the ketchup off the Cuban’s face.

“You’re both so damn rude, I swear. I can’t believe I agreed to live with you two. And I was so nice to you, Mani.”

“Right, because everyone wants to hear that they’re attractive enough to be masturbated to, or to be on a mossy, shit covered bench so people can sit on their face in the least sexual way.”

“Well, when you put it like that, it doesn’t sound so good.”

“Whatever. Can we watch a movie now, or something? Talking to you for longer than 10 minutes at a time is tiring.”

“I’m down, as long as it isn’t a horror movie, or a psychological thriller.” Camila tosses the balled up paper bag into the garbage by the couch, and grins at the offended look on Dinah’s face.

“Chancho, come cuddle.”

“What? You don’t want me?” Normani asks innocently, pouting playfully at the huffing Polynesian.

“No, you can stay right over there.” Dinah scoffs, then her voice returns to it’s previous demanding whine. “Walz, here. Now.”

“Sorry, Cheech. No Mani, no me.”

The two youngest stare at each other, both waiting for the other’s resolve to crack. Eventually, it’s Dinah who relents. “Fine, both of you get your traitorous asses over here.”

“We love you, Dinah Jane.” Normani announces in a sing-song voice, after her and Camila squish the still mainly unwilling addressee into a hug.

“Now you do. I’m picking the movie, and no arguments.” She yanks the remote out of Normani’s hand and snickers at the simultaneous groan from the bodies on either side of her.

They were midway through the first season of some weird British show Dinah had found when Normani attempted to make conversation again. Turning her head towards them to speak, she discovered they were both already asleep. This wasn’t surprising at all, but gave her the time to review their future living arrangements.

Lauren was a great person, even though highschool had been a kind of rocky time for her, and, well, she was a lot like Dinah in certain respects. She enjoyed having a good time, and whatever the definition of that may be at the time, partying till all hours of the night or playing charades in her pajamas, and didn’t let anything get in the way of that. Although their recent conversations had gone significantly better than the ones they’d had over the previous few years, she knew a couple of her highschool friends would also be attending, one of the reasons why she was so glad Lauren had reached out to her to share an apartment, since she wanted to keep her away from those people. Lauren’s parents, Mike and Clara, knew of her past troubles, and were more than ecstatic to hear she was talking with Normani again, who was easily their favorite of their daughter’s friends. It was more difficult to convince them about Dinah and Camila, particularly the latter, as they had been stalking Dinah’s social media since Normani had given them her name, and saw she appeared to be just a normal teenager. Everything she said about Camila, on the other hand, seemed to fuel their apprehension towards their eldest living with her. She didn’t know the answers to the questions they were asking, which made them suspicious, so much so, that Mike had offered to pay for the final forth of the rent if she could get Camila to find a way out of the lease. Now, unbeknownst to her roommates, her parents had taken it upon themselves to invite them all over for Christmas day dinner, after she’d mentioned that none of them had any big plans for the holiday season. She knew how protective Lauren’s parents had become, without being controlling, for the most part, and was slightly concerned with extending the invitation. It would look bad if they didn’t show up, like they were really hiding something, but there would be a lot of questions, probably bordering on the invasive side, and Camila didn’t enjoy talking about her personal life, very much unlike Dinah. She’d tried to say that they were unavailable on the day, but Clara pressed that they could both bring their families, which posed another problem. It was time to talk to Ally before she stuck her foot further in her mouth.

This is a thing now?

It’s also on Wattpad: RetreatingBackwards

#UPDATE #series #AU #slash #angst drama #scifi supernatural fantasy #submission #Progression

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wheresrina · 5 years

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london

oh hello, it’s been like a month and a bit since we have returned home and found this blog, i didn’t write about london! ah!

so here’s the london spiel. so weird because i remember writing about Amsterdam in our hostel the night before we left and thinking about that is kinda surreal.

18th of July

We travelled on the bus from Amsterdam to London, half of our topdeck group didn’t continue on with us but continued their travels from Amsterdam and even though we’d only been with them for 5 days, it feels strange leaving them.

We navigated from the hostel in London they dropped us off to St Pancras train station at around 5pm. So in the middle of rush hour with our massive bags, it was pretty chaotic! We jumped on the Piccadilly line, en route to Bob and Soo’s place. Bob is Mum’s cousin on Grandma’s side of the family, we know them pretty well as they have visited us in Melbourne numerous times over the years!

Jumping off at Southgate we met up with Bob and Soo, Soo greeted us with her gorgeous smile and we were so happy to see familiar faces!

19th of July

We spent the morning doing all of our washing and little chores that Boo and Soo helped us navigate, Sam got a haircut in town and nearly ended up with a “Manchester cut” after the barber found out where his parents were from, very funny he was.

Went into London around midday, checked out the National History Museum and it was so packed full of families but it was so amazing. I swear, you could spend days in there! because it was so busy and you kinda had to shuffle through the exhibitions, we picked our battles and just checked out the stuff we wanted to see.

Next stop was Harrods, I’d heard a lot of cool things about Harrods from people I know that had been there. It was pretty cool but not as rad as i thought it would be? It was essentially an English, spruced up version of David Janes/Myer. Dunno, the way people spoke about it: it sounded pretty magical.

Ah well, definitely was worth going for the souvenirs and whatnot.

Decided to check out Hyde Park afterwards, saw more squirrels and i will not lie: I still get a little excited about seeing squirrels!

Caught the train and got off at Oakwood i think, met up with Lisa and Geoff for dinner. Lisa is Bob’s daughter and I remember meeting her when she visited us in Melbourne years ago. So it was nice seeing her again!

20th of July

Alright, leaving Southgate today. Boo and Soo offered to drive us to Bermondsey, where Linda’s apartment is. Which was wicked kind of them, we drove through Edmonton and Boo pointed Grandma’s high school; Laytmer School and where she used to live and some of her old haunts, we passed by the Tottenham Hotspurs new massive stadium as well.

There was a nice Italian restaurant across the street from Linda’s place, so we treated Bob and Soo to lunch as our way of saying thank you. Thank you for looking after us and helping us out in any way possible, our gratitude is immense.

We had a very chill afternoon, Sam was coughing a lot and sounded pretty damn sick, Soo really helped in looking after him. We thought it was just fem on his chest, but apparently, it was bronchitis (learnt that when we got home in Aus). So we just chilled and chilled our last two days in London.

21st of July

Tower of London today! Was so awesome, perfect weather for it too. We rolled up and had a wander around, then realised that the beefeater tours were free, so waited a few minutes for that. the beefeater tour was incredible and so so invaluable, the guy taking it was really funny and very knowledgable. learnt all about the tower of london’s past but also it’s present. like all the beefeaters have had at least 20 years of military experience; either in the navy, airforce, seals or army in general. and they all live onsite, pretty damn cool.

we checked out the crown jewels, pretty amazing history and all the other exhibits about the grounds, pretty awesome start to the day and we love a good museum!

did buckingham palace, i mean the outside it pretty amazing to look at but idk, we were towards the end of the trip and there wasn’t too much going on, so we moved on pretty quick.

had dinner and then hit up the london dungeons, it was an amazing experience. it was like a performance going through all the rooms and it gave you a rough history of london but it was very entertaining. definitely not for the faint hearted, as there were rides and a lot of spooks during the performances from room to room.

22nd of July

last day of our trip and in london :( (that’s a sad face), wicked sad but we made the most of the day, we trained it to Camden Town! if you know me, you know i LOVE a market and had heard about Camden market and just knew i’d love it, and i damn well did.

i loved camden market so damn much. i bought a few gifts for poeple back home and tried to find ange a 21st present but couldn’t find anything of really good value to warrant a 21st birthday present, you know?

anyway, loved that and had lunch there. we then followed the canal around, the sun was shining and i loved seeing the boats go past and all the every day life going on around us in paddington’s basin. We eventually found out way to regents park and damn, i remember being really hot and trying jump from shadow to shadow. Regents Park is so beautiful, like ugh, so beautiful because it’s huge and the grass goes for miles and there were so many dogs running around, we missed Tilly and Keji quite a fair bit at this stage as we’d beena way for more than a month at this point.

We ended up at a tennis club, unsure how or why we ended up there but it was lovely. Got ice creams and just chilled, just lounging around in total holiday mode. Decided on riding bikes to the Victoria and Albert Museum, So we rode from Regents Park to Hyde Park and riding, as we’ve learnt on this trip, is the best way to get around. No joke, that’s one of the biggest things i’ve taken from this trip: best way to travel around.

Walked into the Victoria and Albert Museum and I wasn't vibing it, you also had to pay to get it which I found weird as all museums in London had been free up until this point. Ah well. We headed home to Bermondsey, dropped by a Sainsbury’s (so British damn) for dinner and had a chill night of Netflix, packing suitcases and checking into flights.

23rd of July

I was determined to have our last meal in London be at the Borough Market, so walked there in the morning and bought Linda some hand creams and whatnot from Aesop (appropriate as it’s from Melbourne, Aus heyo), right next to the Borough market, so that worked out big time. Had some brunch at the market and then walked home, the was really full-on at that time of day and won’t lie, we weren’t really handling it all that well.

Headed back to the apartment and took off to the airport, on the train of course. Because London is a great city and has a train to the airport, Melbourne should really start taking notes honestly. How on earth did Melbourne do the Commonwealth Games in 2016, no train from airport to city: ridiculous.

Anyway, we got there fine and we were pretty much airport experts at this point of the trip. All over it. So many people on our flight were going back home, to Melbourne. So weird hearing an Aussie accent, hadn’t heard it for a while.

Landed safely, in the very early morning of the 25th of July. Got home at about 6am, just in time for Dad to be getting up for work and Mum had woken up as Dad did. Really missed them, after all that time.

8th of September

I was pulling together the video for our trip and remembered about this blog and thought i’d update it!

It’s really crazy to think about all the things that have changed since I started planning this trip. I started planning about two years ago and I had a few things in place: see the people you want to see and the places they live in, that was about it. So my trip would’ve been: London, Denmark and Geneva really.

The whole “go overseas, to find yourself” worked out for me, it’s a strange feeling but I’ve come to terms with my place in this world and I know more about who I am now. It’s a bit strange that a month of holiday and life experiences. Even though I did a lot of self-discovery of sorts, I’m glad I had Sam with me. We learnt more about each other and vibed each other's boundaries because being together 24/7 was a thing we’d never really done before. With him joining me, it went from “my trip” to “our trip” and I’m so thankful for that. All the amazing people I met and all the amazing places I saw, wouldn’t have happened without Sam, he expanded the trip and we supported each other along the way. So I guess this trip brought us closer together, we have so many memories and now that I reflect, I couldn’t have imagined this trip alone, let alone without Sam.

My family here have had these amazing experiences as well, going to see Ged in Balgo and visited El Questro and a few other places.

I am forever grateful and so so lucky for this trip, all the opportunities I was able to experience.

If you asked me: would you do it again?

Yes, in a heartbeat.

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singingpeople · 7 years

Text

Undoing

Chapter 4

'Cause you know the truth hurts But secrets kill Can't help thinkin' that I love it still Still here, there must be something real 'Cause you know the good die young But so did this And so it must be better than I think it is Gimme those eyes, it's easy to forgive

- Hopeless

@pathybo @beautifulramblingbrains @tigpooh67 @jojuarez26 @iammarylastar @bookwarm85 @lets-play-truth-or-dare @deepfrz @carefultheyspit @feminamortem @mom2reesie @kellieabro @lauraaan182 @you-wont-let-me-let-you-go @beltz2016 @tomarisela @frecklefaceb

The first week went by without another disaster, fast but somehow dragging at the same time. My days always looked the same: get up early, take a shower after Marcus left the house, then breakfast at the headquarters. After doing the dishes, we´d get our assignment for the day, the boys performing physically more demanding tasks like helping a member build a new house or shelter for the factionless while we girls helped the woman do their laundry in huge tubs, rubbing until our hands were raw or patching up clothes until my fingers were bleeding. At least I learned now how to sew.

My favorite task by far was watching the little children when their parents had to leave. Of course, I liked the little ones most, the toddlers and infants who were still child enough to be allowed to laugh and cry – not like the older ones that liked to stare at walls for fun.

They honestly frightened me.

After lunch came the time I dreaded most, hurrying back to the house, having less than an hour to make sure it was immaculate before reporting to Marcus´ office where I served the worst part of my punishment – spending time with him.

Luckily, we weren’t alone most of the time, the other members of the council sitting together with him in a slightly larger conference room while I was either taking notes or was sent away, the topic not meant for my ears. Every time this happened I was torn between the happiness of leaving the stifling room and regret that I wouldn’t be able to hear what they were discussing.

Even when Marcus let me participate he sent me home over an hour earlier to prepare dinner, a huge disaster for someone who had never even laid hand on a spatula, claiming that he wanted to have at least one meal at home, with my company of course. This half an hour was the worst of the day, sitting opposite of him with no topic to talk about. I was relieved every time he dismissed me, letting me do the dishes before I was allowed to go to bed, staring up at the ceiling until sleep took me, completely exhausted from the day.

The next morning everything started again and again and again…

An endless, tiring circle of hard work and sleep.

But not today.

Today, it was Sunday and like all good stiffs, Marcus insisted I would accompany him to the early service, starting at 6 am followed by a big breakfast, which surprisingly for once included fresh fruits from the Amity farm.

The worship was strange, having never attended one, all the kneeling, standing up and reciting lines confused me and by the time it was over, I was literally starving. To my astonishment, Benjamin fit right in here, maybe a little too cheerful to be Abnegation but it seemed that the peace serum had finally worn off leaving him as happy but more conservative.

Susan and most of the other initiates were also here. I had neither spoken to her nor accepted her apology, my nature wasn’t to forgive easily. Especially if her betrayal could have made me factionless – something I´m sure would have blown up my deal with Max.

Not wanting to appear as a loner, which I had never been, but also wary of the people around me I took a seat beside Benjamin who chatted lightly with the other boys mostly staying quiet, just enjoying the for once not tasteless fruit as I piled my plate with apples and strawberries.

I was barely finished when Marcus approached and told me to follow him. I complied an uneasy feeling in my guts, quietly fearing I had done something wrong again.

Turns out I hadn’t.

It was worse.

Ushering me into the one car that was owned by abnegation, only a little notebook and pen in my hand we were chauffeured through the city, towards the hub where a leader meeting would be held as Marcus informed me gratefully. Staring at him, I felt myself pale. This wasn’t a meeting more like my personal hell. Not even Andrew Prior´s comforting smile managed to make me feel calmer, my heartbeat racing uncomfortably in my chest.

Two leaders who condemned me to a life as an outcast, one who despised me so badly he kept me under his watch for 24/7 to make sure I didn’t fuck his faction up and my Ex-boyfriend who I´d left without any warning before literally running away from him.

One week wasn’t nearly enough to face him again.

But like always, I had no choice.

The driver held my door opened and I hesitated before catching Marcus agitated gaze, scrambling out of the vehicle almost tripping over the hem of my dress. Brushing it off, I didn't realize that Marcus had already stepped into the building not even bothering to wait up. Rolling my eyes, I followed him through the first story of the hub with quick steps the notepad securely tucked against my chest, doubling as a shield as I stepped into the room, keeping to the wall to not draw attention to myself.

But it didn’t work as planned since I was the only person in the room that had absolutely nothing to do with being a leader of the five factions. And they knew too.

“Don´t mind my assistant. She´s just here to take notes.” Marcus addressed the room lightly, thankfully drawing the attention away from my figure. I never really had a problem being the center of attention, dressed in my black uniform I basically reveled in it, blossoming, thriving, but somehow now I felt indefinitely small. If it was the grey sack I was wearing, I didn’t know, the feeling of not being comfortable in my own skin so new, so raw that for the first time in my life I wished to have mastered the art of making myself disappear, to not be seen. I guess Marcus lectures were already working.

“Assistant? How… interesting.” Jeanine stated, her icy blue eyes full of morbid curiosity and… satisfaction as she basically devoured my appearance, searching for something only she knew. Her forehead furrowed as she concentrated, pretending she didn't know exactly who I was. "Aren't you the Dauntless transfer?"

“Yes, ma’am.” I gave her a tight smile, already tired of this make-believe. Not to mention that I despised her, the well-hidden threats behind the facts she had given me branded into my memory.

“Well… this year certainly was an interesting one, wasn’t it?” Jeanine smiled, her lips curling up to show her abnormally white teeth. The gesture reminded of a snarling dog, not less threatening than one, too. “I myself, too, have found an assistant from the rows of our transfers. Caleb is doing well, Andrew. He is extraordinarily intelligent if you take into regard that he… didn't have the time to deepen his lessons in his former faction." The small pause wasn't because Jeanine didn't know to say, she just chose not to speak it out loud but we all knew what she implied. He must be smart despite coming from Abnegation. As if erudite had a monopole on being smart.

Bitch.

“Let´s just hope yours will be as accommodating, Marcus. She must be impeccable if you choose her to work for you.”

“Quite the contrary, Jeanine.” Marcus countered and I felt my expression slip for a moment, narrowing my eyes at him. “I just thought that it would be the perfect opportunity for her to learn more about our way of life since it seems to be quite hard for her still. Isn´t that right, Casey?”

Avoiding the one gaze that had rested on me since I stepped into the room, I slowly lifted my eyes from the floor and met Max´s eyes how merely raised one eyebrow at me, regarding my reaction closely. Faking a smile so they wouldn’t see my gritted jaw, I looked over to my tormentor and bowed my head slightly.

“Of course.”

"Great." Marcus clasped his hand in front of him, looking patronizingly at the people surrounding the huge, round table but all I could concentrate was the not-so-quiet huff leaving his chest before he got up from his seat, walking past me so close that I just had to move one finger forward to touch his black uniform. Balling them into fists, I refrained but inhaled deeply, his familiar aftershave easing the anxiety tightly stuck in my chest for the first time in over a week.

Eric was busying himself at the buffet that was lined up against one wall in case one of the leaders would get hungry or if the meeting should run longer than excepted. I had just gotten a glimpse of his face but it was enough to see that the bags under his eyes were more prominent than usual meaning he was either tired or hungover and knowing that the first weekend of initiation was always widely celebrated, I guessed it was the latter.

Dauntless parties were always the wildest and I asked myself if he found someone to take home – not that it was any of my business any longer, I just wondered if...

Lost in thought, the bowl shattering against the tiles had me flinch and I whirled around to stare at Eric who looked at the glass shards with disdain before his glinting eyes flitted from the mess to me and back. A clear demand I couldn’t ignore.

Swallowing down my dismay for being treated like stuff I made my way over to him and crouched down to pick up the shards of glass. Eric remained standing beside me, his huge form towering over me, watching, observing.

Groveling to his feet had never been something I would have willingly done but here I was, in the middle of a situation I could have never even dreamed of, my new life.

By straightening up as soon as I had the glass in my hand I tried to keep what little was left of my dignity. Not that it felt as if I had any left but I had learned from early on that it was better to fake it than to admit weakness.

Raising my head to meet his gaze, I wasn’t surprised that his was already resting on me, scrutinizing me from head to toe, not bothering to hide the disgust at what they called dress, making me all fidgety.

"Don´t look at me like that," I muttered, no longer able to keep eye contact. "I would say I know how I look but I haven't even seen a mirror in over a week, less been allowed to use it."

“Clearly.” Was all he answered, voice curt but I thought to detect a hint of malicious glee at my misery as if he wanted to say ‘I told you so’. Narrowing my eyes at him, my fists instantly tightened but a sharp prick had me open them again with the hiss, having forgotten all about the glass.

"Well, it´s not like you look any better," I remarked dryly, wiping away at the small cut in my hand that was oozing blood, the glass shards discarded into the trash can to my right. "Long night, huh?"

Even though I tried to sound uninterested the small, humorless huff leaving his chest told me I had failed. But instead of poking fun at me, like he usually would he just grabbed a sandwich and stared at it before scrunching up his face in disgust, throwing it back on the platter.

“You know how we Dauntless are. No need to sleep when there´s booze… or someone who´s willing to warm your bed."

While he didn’t even spare me a glance, I stared at with raised eyebrows, incredulous of his audacity. I knew it was his way to cope… but rubbing it into my face that he hadn’t even bothered to wait one week until he took the nearest skank into his bed – it hurt.

Shaking my head at him, the chuckle leaving my mouth was bitter, rivaling the jealousy bubbling in my chest.

“God… you´re such an asshole.”

This got his attention. Whipping his head towards me, Eric´s eyes narrowed into slips and he took a threatening step forward, his next words equally chilling and riling me up, something only he ever managed.

“What was that, stiff?”

“Go fuck yourself,” Cocking my head, I plastered a sarcastic smile on my face to hide the burning in the back of my throat. The vein on his neck started pulsing dangerously as I added a sarcastic “Sir”.

With one big step, he was right in front of me, his fingers digging into the flesh of my arm, no doubt leaving bruises as he stared down at me with fire-blazing eyes into my defiant ones. Riling Eric up had always been a favorite past time of mine but I knew when his cold eyes started to light up like a flame, or more likely an inferno, you had gone too far.

Just where I wanted him after he refused to even look at me.

“Watch yourself, Casey.” He hissed, his voice venomous, his grip like a vice tightening further. “Or I will do it for you.”

Before I could respond, a throat clearing beside us had me rushing back but Eric was unfazed as always, our close proximity posing no obvious problem as he turned to face Marcus, lazily raising one eyebrow.

“Is there a problem here?”

"No, Sir." Averting my eyes to the floor I quickly yanked my arm out of Eric´s grasp, which he allowed, too busy studying my sudden change in behavior.

“Except –“ Eric started and my head whipped towards him in panic, the sinking feeling in my guts growing as I met his once again emotionless eyes, sure that whatever he would say would cause my certain doom, a misstep this big nothing Marcus would overlook. When he noticed the pleading expression on my face, he didn’t show just turned towards Marcus, voice cold as he went on. “She won´t be able to pick up all the glass shards without a dustpan and brush. You should tell her where she gets these things because I don´t give a shit.”

While speaking the first part, his gaze flitted from Marcus to me and back but to show that he really didn’t care, he started to walk away, mumbling over his shoulder while I stayed put, following him with my eyes as he took his seat right beside Max who, which I now realized, had been watching us the whole time.

“Third door to the right. Hurry up, we need someone who takes notes.” Was all Marcus said before he too made his way towards the large table. Turning around, I scrunched my face up, the obedience I had to display profoundly repugnant but like the good little stiff I had to be now, I did just as he said.

Taking a second to just breathe before I had to enter the conference room again, I wondered what wrong I had done to deserve not only Eric´s hate but also Marcus´ hovering over my every move like a hawk ready to strike.

After everything was clean, I took a seat a little away from the table, notebook in hand keeping the minutes, scribbling down every word of unnecessary banter coming from their mouth. But whatever topics were being discussed bypassed me because Eric did not once look in my direction. Not even when they closed up and the Dauntless had to walk by me to get to the door, his eyes not straying once.

That´s when I knew it… I had lost him.

In Marcus Eaton´s house was a door that was always locked. It was grey, almost dull just like every other one in this faction, not letting on that there could be something hidden behind it that could change the fate of our whole city. This totally unassuming piece of wood could possibly be the gates of hell, to my own, personal hell.

It was the door of Marcus Eaton´s study.

That night, after my disastrous run-in with Eric, I decided to not give a fuck anymore. Marcus was gone, out to eat at some council members house, the bland one-course meal no doubt prepared by another perfect little housewife. There seemed to be too much of them here.

Knowing this was my chance, Marcus gone for the night without the threat of him suddenly arriving like he usually did throughout the day, most likely to check up on me.

But not tonight.

Tonight Marcus would spend wholly at Alice Brewster´s house, not coming back before eleven pm which he told me with a stern face when he ordered me to cut up fruit for him to take as a present. After all, he had a reputation to uphold.

And that meant I had to stay home.

It didn’t bother me in the slightest to spend one of my nights away from him, finally able to relax a little in a house where I had to tiptoe around but preparing stuff for a party I wasn’t invited to? That sucked.

Ultimately, I decided to get rid of Marcus was worth to spend half an hour arranging wrinkly apple slices, my mood only getting better the closer his departure came.

And the best thing about it wasn’t my temporary freedom. After grabbing a folder from his desk, Marcus had to hurry to not arrive late and make a bad impression – and forgot to lock the door in the process.

After he was gone and I made my way to my room, quietly humming to myself as I conquered the steps, only sparing the damn door a glance until I realized it was ajar. Immediately my heart rate spiked and I looked around widely, almost anticipating that Marcus came back solely to lock the door. But he didn’t.

Standing there with a pounding heart, I contemplated what to do even though there was no doubt what I must do. Frozen on my spot, I listened closely, suddenly more than paranoid, highly aware of my surroundings. But after several minutes of utter silence, I realized that this wasn't a trap – it was the possibility I hadn’t dared to dream of.

Hurrying into my room to retrieve the little notebook Marcus gave me, I hesitated in front of the door, just for a split second imagining what may lie behind it, my fantasy wreaking havoc. Pushing open the door with one burst of confidence, I expected rows upon rows of shelves, all full of binders containing every secret one should know about abnegation, maybe even a few pictures hanging on the wall – but nothing. Just an old, sturdy desk with a few binders and a chair.

Everything you would expect from abnegations leader.

Good for him, bad for me.

Stepping into the room, I stopped in front of the desk picking up one of the folders, carefully remembering just how they had sat there. Skimming through it, I realized it contained information of current members, a few of the pictures familiar. Since it wasn’t what I was searching for, I grabbed the next one and interestedly thumbed through the pages. It contained the people who deflected in the last five years, judging by the dates of birth. I just wanted to put it down when I stumbled over the information of someone I knew.

Mouth hanging open, I stared at Four´s profile not believing what I was seeing.

Sure, I knew he was from Abnegation… but that he was Marcus´ son?!

Still outraged, I clasped a hand over my mouth, the gnarly eighteen-year-old with the pained eyes such a far cry from the warrior I came to know, even just by passing him in the pit. But now I realized he had always looked as if the weight of the whole world rested on his shoulders and living with Marcus, his every demand and constantly worsening mood, I developed a new found understanding for him.

Maybe Eric wasn’t as right about him as he thought to be…

Shaking my head, I tried clearing my thoughts from everything unimportant to my mission because if I failed, there might not be a faction system to come home to after all. Gulping heavily, the image of dauntless raiding the streets, pushing Abnegation members to the ground, I alongside them, had a shiver racking my spine and I hurriedly grabbed the next folder, all breath leaving my body as I realized it was what I´ve been searching for.

Numbers.

So many numbers.

Whipping my notebook out, I started copying them to the T, making sure I got them all right to avoid unnecessary conflict. I wrote down over five pages filled with stocktaking from food to bales of cloth, cement to give the factionless workers to repair the streets, to the amount of wood we stocked to make furniture, all the while hearing Jeanine Matthew´s cold voice speaking into my ear as if she was right behind me.

"You see, dear Casey," Jeanine started, trying to fool me with her inviting expression that was just supposed to hide the real threats she spoke as she sat there on the couch with perfect composure, hands folded in her lap. As if she wasn't talking about destroying our whole system. "the abnegation aren't as selfless as they want us to believe. No, not at all." Ruefully she shook her head. "Not only do they hoard supplies that are vital for the thriving of our city, they also try to undermine our authority, claiming they are the most suited faction to run our government just because they are not corrupt. But they are, oh they are.”

“That might be…” I relented a little confused as to why she was telling me this. Everyone knew erudite hated abnegation and that the loathing was mutual, not even her accusations were new to me I just didn’t understand why she told me that. “but what has that to do with me? I´m neither erudite, nor abnegation so, no disrespect, ma’am, but… it has nothing to do with me.” Speaking carefully to not offend her, I cast a quick glance at Max who sat there emotionless, just seizing me up.

"That´s where you are wrong, Casey," Jeanine exclaimed, the maniac expression slowly starting to frighten me. "We are all affected by this, we will all be involved, you maybe more than others but nonetheless. Because hoarding vital supplies and therefore withholding them from others that need them most is an act of war Casey. And war there will be if you don´t help us to diffuse the situation.

That´s why you will help us, functioning as our eyes and ears. You, Casey, are the key to everything."

Shivering, I remembered everything. How her icy eyes burned into mine with malicious intent, promising agony if I didn’t follow her orders.

Or how her eyebrows had shut up when I decided to be brave, stand up for myself and dared to interrupt her, telling her in kinder words that she was bat-shit crazy and that there was no way I would get out of this as a grey. Or how Max in not so subtle words told me that if I went against their orders, I wouldn’t even make it back into the compound, his eyes burning into mine, promising that he would keep his words.

For the way to our compound is dark and full of terrors.

Closing my eyes for a moment, I tried to chase these haunting images away, realizing that I was done writing down numbers. Thumbing through the last folder, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything, I came across my own initiation class, greedily burning the information into my mind.

I found out that Susan, the traitor had a brother – a twin to be exact – who deflected. Maybe he couldn’t stand her traitorous ways?

Chuckling over my bad joke, I went on.

It seemed that Jacob´s mother died when he was a little child, leaving him with an older sister that was still here and a father that had to raise them on his own.

Benjamin, the Amity transfer had five siblings, while Jael´s father had been made factionless after he committed a crime that wasn’t listed in here.

The rest of them were fairly normal, no more juicy details and I decided to not try my luck any further, stacking the folders in the right order.

The one about us initiates at the bottom, then the stokeholds followed by the ones who deflected and lastly the current members.

Making sure everything was in their place, I grabbed notepad and pencil, closing the door behind me as I left the room. My mind reeling with thoughts, I let myself fall onto the bed, suddenly not able to stop wondering if this was Four´s old room he had counted the days until he could leave, just like I did.

If he laid in this bed, weary of the powerful man he shared the house with, as he stared at the ceiling wishing to be anywhere but here.

If he had things that were considered luxury somewhere hidden in this room, in a hiding place…

Bolting upright, my eyes flew wide open and I scampered from the bed, knowing I had to be right. No teenage boy would live like this – not at least without somewhere to hide things like chocolate or… porn magazines. Scrunching up my face, I imagined the woman Four must have found attractive. Maybe abnegation had a special edition of the calendar they made with dauntless woman – just in stiff style.

Maybe the women on their showed their ankles – how scandalous!

Cackling to myself, I couldn’t decide if Four jacking off to feet was disgusting or funny as I made my way through the room, careful of the sound changing when I knocked on the walls. Luckily, I thought of an appropriate hiding place before Marcus came back, the knocking surely would have told him that I was up to something. I didn’t find anything behind the walls but as I stepped up to the small window the change in sound of the floor creaking had me on my knees faster than ever and I crawled around, searching for a small indent or somewhere where the pattern of wood planks was disrupted.

And I found it.

Guiding my nail under it, I pulled the small slat out, revealing a hollow that was maybe 7 inches wide, 25 long and 10 deep – the perfect place to hide something where even the possession of books was a crime. Blowing the dust away, I realized that Tobias had forgotten something. Slowly reaching inside, I gripped the blue figure and pulled it out, revealing a beautiful glass sculpture formed like a dolphin rising from the waters.

Brushing the dust away, I traced ever line with my finger finding tranquility and inner calmness just knowing that there was someone who most likely felt the same emotions, sitting in the exact the same place I was now.

Knowing he had made it out, meant I could too.

It gave me hope.

Reluctantly, I put the stunning sculpture back into the confinements of its concrete grave trying to hide its beauty from the rest of the world – not unlike the whole faction here did it with its members.

But from now on, it wouldn’t be alone.

Folding the five pages I had managed to copy, I made a make-shift envelope to protect them from the dust before placing it inside and putting the plank back into its place.

When I laid in bed twenty minutes later, staring at the dark ceiling, waiting for Marcus to come home, my mind still reeled with all the intel it has gotten, Four being on the front of all my thoughts. Or maybe I should call him Tobias from now on, living in his childhood bedroom somehow made all of it way more intimate – way more than I would have liked.

Even though I agreed with Eric, I was now asking myself if he wasn’t right about everything. Four survived living like this for eighteen years while I was going crazy after one week and that earned him in some strange and twisted way my respect.

Closing my eyes, I realized that the only way I would get out of here was to enmesh myself deeper – but only so deep I could pull myself out of the time had come.

And I intended just that.

A few days after my successful mission I found myself alone in the kitchen – with Susan. We had both been selected to prepare food we´d hand out to the factionless later, some sort of curry consisting of whatever vegetable and little of meat we had, sliced and mixed together.

Though she had tried talking to me a few times since that night, I had always shut her down. Maybe I was too proud, too conceited, but who lost my trust and respect had lost it forever. With no exception.

Scrunching up my face in disgust, I continued turning the minced meat until the red turned brown, somehow being nauseous from the sight alone like I had been a lot of times over the last week. As if my body was rejecting the unfamiliar diet.

Paired with insomnia caused by a hauntingly quiet house and the seemingly endless tiring labor had my mood drop low. The mere thought of choking down another steamed piece of broccoli had my mouth water in the most disgusting way.

Pushing all these thoughts away, I almost managed to get my gag reflex under control. That was until a cloud of steam from the pan I was standing over hit me right in the face, the smell of grease and half-raw meat finally tipping me over the edge.

Not hesitating a second, I let the spatula fall and burst through the door towards the community bathroom, not paying Susan´s calls for me any mind as I fell to my knees and threw up into the toilet.

Though I hadn’t eaten much these last few days, it felt like I gagged forever, dry-heaves shaking my body painfully preventing me from doing anything against the hands laying themselves on my shoulder, heavenly cold hands brushing the hair out of my face that was coated in a small sheen of sweat.

The urge to rid my body of the undigested food only slowly subsided after several minutes and the moment I felt like I didn’t have anything left inside me, I slowly sank back on my calves, taking in a few deep breaths of air, eyes closed in agony.

“Casey, are you alright?” Came a soft voice from behind, Susan’s hands still resting on my shoulders. I shrugged them off.

“Leave me alone.” My voice was hoarse, throat sore from the acid leaving a putrid taste in my mouth. Leaning forward, I spit into the toilet to rid myself of it.

“Casey, please…” Rolling my eyes weakly, I ignored her pleading and slowly got up, swaying slightly. Her hands were instantly on me with the intent of preventing me from falling but I moved away as if they were burning me, staggering over to the sink, fingers turning white from my grip on the stone.

“I´m fine!” I snapped, turning my head slightly to glare at her. “Go back into the kitchen. I´ll – I´ll be there shortly.”

Just the thought of food had my stomach roll again and I tightly closed my eyes, breathing through my nose.

“No.” This time Susan’s voice was strong, unapologetic. “You look like you pass out any minute. Just… just go outside for a few minutes until it gets better, okay?”

“Whatever.” Turning the tap, I held my hands under the cold water capturing it in my palms to wash my face. The coolness felt heavenly on my heated skin and I let out a sigh, already feeling a bit better. But since Susan had proposed that I stay away from the kitchen, I would take advantage of it.

Still feeling her stare on my back, I didn’t bother to turn around as I addressed her. “I won´t pass out, so you can go now.”

All I got in reply was an ‘alright’ before she closed the door behind her. Instantly dropping my façade, I let myself slump against the sink, hands shaky as I closed my eyes and tried to level my erratic heartbeat. It took me a few moments but when I finally felt like staying upright by myself, I redid my hair, several strands had come loose while I felt like my body was trying to rid itself from my stomach. I hadn’t felt this bad in a long time – not since I thought with fifteen it would be a good idea to break into my brother´s hidden liquor stash with my crush at the time. He was already seventeen, a good friend of Zeke´s, and one of the hottest guys I knew… well until Eric, who I didn’t want to think about, not after the disaster that was last Sunday´s meeting.

Instead, I focused on the memories that hurt less.

Gathering all my brother's hidden vodka bottles in one of his training bags, I met up with Greg in an abandoned part of the living quarters where we all went to smoke pot and drink. That night, we were alone, managed to both drink until I passed out and had the worst headache of my life.

It was also the night I lost my virginity.

Scrunching up my nose, I only remembered some awkward groping, a dull pain that was amplified by the friction and a heavy body slumping on me, almost crushing me in the process.

Maybe I was better off not remembering after all.

I crossed the bathroom with shaky legs, making my way out of the headquarters through a side door. Pushing open the door, the light breeze and warming sun rays made me feel a lot better after spending the whole day in the stale building that seemed to suck the happiness out of everyone.

Outside, with the birds chirping I felt like a whole another person, cynically asking myself why they couldn’t have made me go to amity… Everything was better than this bland existence they called life.

Sighing, I leaned back against the wall of the headquarters, glad that the nausea and dizziness had subsided. But now I had a bigger problem than my deteriorating health. Speaking with a soldier that was running patrols through the Abnegation sector, Max had delivered me a message – that if I had reliable information already I could hand them over later when we would give food to the factionless. The whole ordeal would be overseen by dauntless, their initiates, to my grief, and their instructors. The soldier would approach me and I would slip him whatever I already had in form of a note.

Exhaling deeply again, I got up, deciding that it would be better to get the notes now before I attracted Marcus attention, especially now that his mood seemed to get gradually worse with every passing day.

Max said he had everything planned out and that I shouldn’t worry my pretty little head too much.

A foolproof plan is what he called it.

I thought it was the plan of a fool.

The downside of reading so many fics is not remembering what really happened.. I know Four still had the glass sculpture & I just read that Marcus found it but here it´s still hidden… maybe he was able to put it back before Marcus destroyed it..?

Next chapter another run in with dauntless and an unpleasant outcome.

I´ll try to update ptp in the next few days! It´s been too long..

Thank you for reading & reviewing! :)

#Eric Coulter #eric divergent #eric #divergent #unedited #casey #undoing #Marcus Eaton #drama #abnegation #dauntless

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