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excalculus · 25 days

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I saw some mentions of rabies going around again and have no clue what's set it off this time, but given recent scientific developments I want to revisit the idea of curing symptomatic rabies.

First things first: there is still no practical way to do this. The famous Milwaukee Protocol fails far more frequently than it succeeds, and even the successes are not making it out in anything like a normal state. It's been argued that it should no longer be considered a valid treatment [1] due to these issues; any continued use is because there's literally nothing else on the table.

However. There are now two separate studies showing it's possible to cure rabies in mice after the onset of symptoms. The lengths you have to go to in order to pull this off are drastic, to put it mildly, and couldn't really be adapted to humans even if you wanted to. But proof of concept is now on the board.

long post under the cut, warnings for animal experimentation and animal death. full bibliography at the end and first mention of each source links to paper.

Quick recap - rabies is a viral disease of mammals usually transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal. From a contaminated bite wound, it propagates slowly for anywhere from days to months until it reaches the central nervous system (CNS). Post-exposure vaccination can head it off during this phase, but once it reaches the CNS and neurological symptoms appear it's game over. There will typically be a prodromal phase where the animal doesn't act right - out at the wrong time of day, disoriented, abnormally friendly, etc. This will then progress to the furious (stereotypical "mad dog" disease) and/or paralytic phases, with death eventually caused by either seizures or paralysis of the muscles needed for breathing.

That's the course we're familiar with in larger animals. Mice, though, are fragile little creatures with fast metabolisms.

In the first study's rabies infection model, lab mice show rabies virus in the spinal cord by day 4 after infection and in the brain by day 5. Weight loss and slower movement start by day 7, paralysis starting from the hind limbs from day 8 on, and if not euthanized first they're dead by day 10-13. [2]

This study (fittingly conducted at the Institut Pasteur) had two human monoclonal antibodies, and wanted to see if there was any possibility they could be used to cure rabies after what we think of as the point of no return.

Injecting the antibodies into muscle saved some mice if done at days 2 or 4, and none if done later, even at high doses of 20 milligrams per kilogram of body weight of each. Conclusion: targeting the virus out in the rest of the body is no use if it's already replicating in the CNS.

Getting a drug past the blood-brain barrier is, to use a highly technical term, really fucking hard. It's the sort of problem that even the best-funded labs and biggest companies in the world routinely fail at. And that's for small molecule drugs, which are puny compared to antibodies.

But this isn't drug development for a clinical trial. This is a very, very early proof-of-concept attempt, which means you're willing to ignore practicality to see if this idea is even remotely workable. So you can do things like brute force the issue by cutting through the skull to implant a microinfusion pump, which lets you deliver the antibodies directly into the normally-protected space around the brain. Combine this with the normal injections, and you can treat both the CNS and the rest of the body at the same time. Here's a survival graph of treated mice. X axis is days, Y axis is percentage of mice in that group still alive.

Figure 2A from reference 2, accessed February 2024

The fact that the blue, green, and purple lines did anything other than sink horribly to zero is unheard of. When the combination treatment was started at day 6, 100% of the mice survived. Started at day 7 (prodromal phase), 5 out of 9 mice recovered and survived. Started at day 8 (solidly symptomatic, paralysis already starting to set in), 5 of 15 mice recovered and survived. And when they say "survived", they kept these mice all the way to day 100 to make sure. Some of them had permanent minor paralysis but largely they were back to being normal mice doing normal mouse things. So, success, but by pretty extreme means.

Enter the second paper [3]. This was a different approach using a single human monoclonal antibody against Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV - closely related to rabies, similar symptoms in humans) to try for a cure without needing to deliver treatments directly into the CNS. They also made a luminescent version of ABLV that let them directly image viral activity, so they could see both where the virus was replicating and how much there was in a live mouse.

Figure 1 from reference 3, accessed February 2024

Mice infected with ABLV start showing symptoms around day 8. You can see in the figure that at day 3 there's viral replication in the foot at the site of infection, which has shifted into the spine and brain by day 10. So what happens if you give one of these doomed mice one single injection of the antibody into the body?

Done at day 3, the virus doesn't make it to the brain until day 14, and while disease does set in after that around 30% of the mice survive. Days 5 and 7 are much more interesting. Those mice still develop symptoms at day 8, but the imaging shows the amount of virus in their spines and brains never gets anywhere near the levels seen in untreated controls, and within days it starts to decrease. Around 80% of day 5 and 100% of day 7 mice survive.

Okay, sure, you can stop another lyssavirus, but technically you did start treatment before symptoms appeared. What about symptomatic rabies?

The rodent-adapted rabies strain CVS-11 starts causing symptoms as early as day 3 after infection, and untreated mice die between days 8 and 11. The same single dose of antibody saved 67% of mice treated on day 5 and 50% of mice treated on day 7. Without making the luminescent version of the virus there's no real-time imaging of the infection, but you can still track symptoms.

Figure 2 from reference 3, accessed February 2024. CVS-11 is the name of the rodent rabies strain and F11 is the name of the antibody.

Disease score is a combination of several metrics including things like whether the mice are behaving normally and whether they show signs of paralysis. In untreated mice it goes up and up, and then they die. If one of those lines starts coming back down and continues past day 10 or so, that's a mouse that recovered. The success rate isn't as good as against ABLV, but again, this is a rabies strain specifically adapted to rodents and treatment wasn't started until it was well-established in the CNS.

So how on earth is this happening? The antibody neutralizes both ABLV and rabies really well in a test tube, but we've already established that there's no way a huge lumbering antibody is making it past the blood-brain barrier without serious help. Something about the immune response is clearly making it in there though. And it turns out that if you start trying this cure in mice missing various parts of their immune systems, mice without CD4+ T cells don't survive even with the treatment. By contrast mice without CD8+ T cells take longer to work through the infection, but they eventually manage it and are immune to reinfection afterwards.

To grossly oversimplify the immune system here, CD4+ are mature helper T cells, which work mostly by activating other immune cells like macrophages (white blood cells) and CD8+ T cells (killer T cells) against a threat.

Normally, T cells are also kept out by the blood-brain barrier, but we know that in certain specific cases including viral infection they can pass it to migrate into the brain. In the brains of the infected mice for which antibody treatment either wasn't given or didn't work, you can find a roughly even mix of CD8+ and CD4+ T cells along with a whole lot of viral RNA. But in the brains of those successfully fighting off the infection, there's less viral RNA and the cells are almost exclusively CD4+. So the antibody doesn't work by neutralizing the virus directly - something about it is activating the animal's own immune system in a way that gives it a fighting chance.

Again, neither of these proof of concept treatments is really workable yet as a real world cure. The first one is almost hilariously overkill and still has a pretty good chance of failure. The second is less invasive but careful sequencing still shows both low-level viral replication and signs of immune response in the brains of the survivors even at day 139, so it may not be truly clearing the virus so much as trading a death sentence for life with a low-level chronic infection. But now we know that 1. curing rabies after symptoms begin is at least theoretically possible, and 2. we have some clues as to mechanisms to investigate further.

Not today. Not tomorrow. But maybe not never, either.

References:

Zeiler, F. A., & Jackson, A. C. (2016). Critical appraisal of the Milwaukee protocol for rabies: this failed approach should be abandoned. Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 43(1), 44-51.

de Melo, G. D., Sonthonnax, F., Lepousez, G., Jouvion, G., Minola, A., Zatta, F., ... & Bourhy, H. (2020). A combination of two human monoclonal antibodies cures symptomatic rabies. EMBO molecular medicine, 12(11), e12628.

Mastraccio, K. E., Huaman, C., Coggins, S. A. A., Clouse, C., Rader, M., Yan, L., ... & Schaefer, B. C. (2023). mAb therapy controls CNS‐resident lyssavirus infection via a CD4 T cell‐dependent mechanism. EMBO Molecular Medicine, 15(10), e16394.

#rabies #biology #long post #animal death #medicine #original content

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neoarchipelago · 1 year

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And they were Roommates (part 9)

A/N: and i'm back. I'm trying to finish this big moment of the story before going back to molre fluff, smuttyness and calmer stuff. I'll alternate between that. Thanks to everyone who gave me feedbacks, it really helps. Also i'm just shocked how this taglist grows everyday. I see all your comments, i'm sorry if i don't answer all of them, i love ya'll!

WARNINGS: 18+ CONTENT, violence and smexy scenes, bewaree!

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You blinked your eyes open. Your head was pounding. The bright lights weren't helping at all. Voices..you could hear voices. You turned your head to take in your surroundings. You were in a hospital room. You could recognize the medical care area. You tried to remember what happened. You were… attacked at the base? Fuck. Your eyes shifted to the voices the whole squad was there. Laswell was here too. Your eyes filled with tears. They came for you.

You looked at the couch next to the bed.

"Reaper…" you tried in a rasp.

Everyone turned to you in a flash.

That simple word had felt like you were ripping apart your own throat.

"Fucking hell Y/N!" Simon growled.

Everyone rushed to your side.

"Are you alright?" Kate asked, worry clearly tainting her voice.

You nodded slightly.

"Let me call the doc." Price said.

You wanted to roll your eyes. Your eyes shifted to Simon. You smiled at him.

You came… you mouthed.

"You called."

The doc walked in, stepping towards you. He checked you up, giving you some medicine for your head and throat as you had tried your best to describe where it hurt and some water. You were fine. The squad had intervened very fast. You had to rest though. You wouldn't be able to speak for a little while. The angry bruises on your neck looked quite bad, but fuck it, you were alive. You had to stay in the hospital for a few days to make sure everything was fine.

Talking was a no for a little while, probably a few days, so you got creative.

Did you guys catch the guy? You wrote on your phone before showing the screen to the team.

"Yes." Soap answered seriously.

"Ghost shot him on sight." Gaz said in the same tone.

You turned to look at him as he stood, arms crossed looking at you. You smiled at him. It could have been a good source of information. But you understood his move. You even found peace in his violence. He didn't hesitate a second to kill for you.

What are we going to do? You wrote again.

"Right now you do nothing." Laswell answered. You had never heard such a tone in her voice.

"You rest. You do nothing. This time squad 141 had been tasked to keep you safe and I won't take no for an answer. It's an order and it's already been acted."

You looked at Ghost. He was unreadable. But you could still feel how uneasy he was feeling.

You sighed and nodded. You weren't going to complain.

Soap and gaz left a bit later, going to rest before taking their shift in your room to watch over you. Ghost was staying obviously, he hadn't even sat down yet.

Laswell and Price hovered over you like hawks. Laswell looked absolutely torned.

Kate it wasn't your fault. You wrote

"Y/N. You are under my responsibility. Putting aside the contract, you matter so much to me and I've failed to keep you safe."

You wrote furiously, hating the fact that your voice would burn your throat.

This isn't the first time, you can't always protect me.

"I know I can't always protect you. But fuck you are literally on a military base, and someone tried to kill you. Our part of the contract with you is to keep you safe and away from harm as you put yourself on the first line against the worst." She said, her eyes glistening softly.

You took her hand in yours, smiling at her. You didn't want her to cry. You'd cry too.

"We were right there. We were supposed to keep you safe too. Everyone's on edge." Price added.

You looked at him. Something flashed through your mind. Simon. He probably was feeling furious, thinking you disobeyed him and this happened. This time you tried blinking the tears away. You took back your hand, typing something on your phone. Your eyes then searched Simon's ones, and he immediately walked to you.

You turned the screen towards him, a heartbroken expression on your face, a tear escaping what should have been their prison.

I'm sorry

He frowned.

"No."

You bit your lip.

"Don't you dare apologize, you hear me?" He growled.

"No, Y/N, this isn't your fault…" Kate added.

You nodded frantically, of course it was. He was after you. You were causing such a mess.

"No, no hey, you're ok, don't beat yourself up for someone else's actions. You are being hunted down." Price softly said.

You were fully crying now. You felt so bad and so guilty. Ghost looked absolutely out of himself, you could feel his hands softly shaking on your leg. You caused this.

"Hey, hey. Look at me. Bunny. I said, Look at me."

You finally gave in. His hands rose to your face, cupping it softly. You noticed the obvious bruises and blood on his knuckles.

"It. Is. Not. Your. Fault."

You blinked, letting tears fall again.

"Do you understand? No one. And I say NO ONE. Is holding you accountable for this situation."

You closed your eyes leaning into his touch. He wrapped his arms around you, you buried your face in his chest, trying to ignore the ache coming from your throat. He softly brushed your hair, calming you down.

You took a deep breath gaining composure. You separated, wiping your tears away.

"Rest now. Alright?"

You nodded.

"Lieutenant Riley and I will take the first watch." Price said.

Laswell nodded. Price walked her out of the room. You remained with Simon. You looked up at him as he glanced at you. A hand rose to hover over your jawline, eyes fixated on your bruised throat. You grabbed his hand, rubbing your cheek against it, trying to comfort him.

"I fucked up. You got hurt while in my care." He said.

You shook your head softly.

"Yes. You were." He took a deep breath.

"Listen to me now. You are my mission from now on. Do you understand?"

You frowned.

"I'm going to keep you safe, even if I have to burn this base down."

You shivered.

"But I'm also going to be very professional. Do you understand?"

You look puzzled.

"No more bunny. No more Simon… I'm gonna be cold. Tactical. Don't take it personally please."

You pouted.

He smirked under the mask.

"I promise. I'll take care of this, and then we'll enjoy each other."

You rubbed your cheek against his hand again.

"Darling… look at me. Do you understand? From now on, it's going to be Ghost. You're gonna have to be a good girl, and obey. Alright?"

You looked up at him, nodding.

"Good."

You grabbed your phone, typing up.

Can I still wear your hoodie… it comforts me…

He chuckled.

"Yes. You can wear my hoodies. I'll still be here, I'm not leaving, ever. I'll just… my head's going to be focused on a target."

You nodded. You were understanding that. You weren't going to fight over this. You still felt absolutely guilty and terrible. You just wanted for this to be over. Usually, when you were the target, you often ended up in almost similar situations, though this time you had been careless. You truly would have been dead if it wasn't for the squad having your back.

You had let yourself go on the fact that you were on a military base and you thought you were perfectly safe.

"Come on, rest now. Price and I are here."

You smiled at him and nodded. You let yourself fall back into your pillow. He brushed a few strands of hair away from your face before turning and walking to the door meeting Laswell and Price outside.

You looked at the ceiling thinking about the events. You were trying to remember everything that happened during the attack, something that might bring a memory, a piece of information. But the more you thought about it, the heavier your eyes became. You were exhausted. But also frustrated. The ache in your throat was a reminder of what was wrong. Was that guy's darkends? No. He wouldn't have put himself in danger like that.

You had to find darkends. You had to get to him. But how? Especially now that you were being watched constantly by squad 141.

You closed your eyes. Swallowing felt really painful. You were thankful for the medication who was starting to numb the pain. You tried to stay awake but we're slowly being lulled to sleep.

Did they walk back in? You were sure you could hear their voices… Did they put Reaper next to you? You could hug something fluffy now. You weren't sure, you were tired. You fell asleep.

During the night, you woke up, feeling something heavy on you. You blinked looking down. You were absolutely shocked, Simon was cuddling you, his head over your stomach and his legs in between yours. He was hugging your waist. Price was outside, you could see his shadow through the blurred glass window. You smiled, letting your hand fall on Simon's head, softly caressing it through the mask. His grip around your waist tightened.

"Hush… go to sleep Y/N."

You smiled. You wanted to ask what happened to being professional? But you couldn't. Though he seemed to read your mind.

"Let me just stay like this a bit… you're here. I almost fucking lost you-"

You let your hand go to his cheeks caressing it and the other on his forearm. He sighed.

"Sleep…"

You smiled, closing your eyes again. It felt warm. Amazing to have him against you like this. You were falling back asleep, trapped in between the land of dream and reality. The world around you was a blur…

My little bunny

After a full week you were discharged. Kate had completely refused to let you return to your apartment. Instead, a small space right at the center of the base had been converted into a living space. The small building had been made so the higher sergeant or lieutenant could catch a break and had a small kitchen and a bathroom and two small rooms that were previously offices. The two small rooms had been emptied and a bed, and a few other pieces of furniture were occupying the space. One of the rooms had bunk beds and a single bed so the boys could sleep.

Soap had nicely brought things from your apartment, though Simon was the only one to touch your clothes… because… underwear. You had some blankets, your laptops, chargers, Reaper obviously, some hygiene products and mostly, Simon had brought you a few of his hoodies.

You were bored. The boys wouldn't let you do anything on your own except go to the bathroom and shower.

The doctor had run multiple tests, luckily, the strand of plastic that had wrapped around your neck had mostly cut the flow of air, bruised and burned your skin thanks to the fabric laced around the cable. The boys had very luckily found you fast enough and made sure that you were breathing. The bruises were still very visible, you tried to hide it but it was pointless. Your voice was slowly coming back but talking was still a challenge so you kept using your phone to talk to the team.

You wanted to do something, maybe walk around. You kept searching on your laptop, sending any bit of information to the rest of the IT team. Laswell kept nagging you, she wanted you to completely withdraw from the mission. You had refused, after all you were the one being hunted.

After a few days, they had finally found the identity of the attacker, a soldier from base. He had no particular link to you or the mission, so you asked Laswell to bring his electronics. You spent hours on the small table in the makeshift living room, searching through his phone and laptop. It didn't take long to find evidence.

Pictures, messages, videos, all from missions he had been on. Missions that turned wrong. All used to mentally blackmail and wash his brain into complying. You froze in place when you read one of the messages sent by darkends.

And the little bird kept singing to everyone, and the cat, jealous, made sure it would no longer sing.

That motherfucker. He had completely used that poor guy, just to taunt you? Just to send a message? Fuck, that guy's dead now! You felt incredibly guilty, closing the laptop with a snap, attracting curious looks your way.

"Is everything ok?" Soap asked.

Simon eyed you from a corner of the room.

You grabbed your phone typing something.

My throat hurts, I want to speak and I can't. I'm very frustrated.

You lied. You tried to write something they would accept.

"Oh, would you like tea?" He offered with a smile.

You softened your features playing pretend and you nodded, mouthing thank you.

You, on the other hand, grabbed your own laptop and immediately got to work. You had to secure the team. Their files were confidential, but you wouldn't put it past darkends to manage that exploit. You knew the boys wouldn't betray you, but you'd be damned if they were thrown into a fire you were causing.

It took a few minutes to get into the protected system and find the files. You knew by now the IT team had been alerted by a breach of security because you weren't being careful. You wanted to encrypt the files until no one, no, one, could open them. You had very little time before someone came rushing through your door, probably Laswell, scolding you.

You had managed to encrypt everything, living your signature imprint. Soap had given you a warm tea with honey in it and you smiled, this time a true one as you felt relieved. Little over a minute after, the door swung open, startling Price and Soap.

"What the fuck?!" Laswell yelled.

You were expecting it. You took a sip of your team, the warmth of it making you feel good and in slight pain.

"What happened? " Price asked, following her glare straight to you.

"You hacked the military?! What for??" She was slightly furious. Slightly.

You opened the soldier's laptop, opening the message wide. You turned the screen to her. Everyone walked to it, reading it. You took this time to write on your phone.

He's using people against me. I'm not letting him use my friends.

She read your phone, the boys taking a glance too.

"Damn right we're friends!" Soap cheered, earning a 'shut up' from Ghost.

"You protected their files?" She finally understood.

You nodded typing again.

Sorry I didn't ask, I wanted to do it fast.

She sighed.

"That's going to be a lot of paperwork…"

You smiled apologetically.

"You know, we'd never hurt you." Soap said, looking at you.

You frowned sadly.

"I know… he'd hurt you…" you tried with a low, shaky voice. It still burnt your throat to speak. But you felt like you needed to say it out loud. You needed to tell them you trusted them with your life. He smiled, running to hug you. You smiled too. There wasn't a doubt in your head, these men would protect you with their lives. You would be fucking damned if you wouldn't protect them at all costs.

It had been almost three weeks now you were stuck in this little house. Sure, it was fun to spend time with the boys, playing poker or the switch. Unfortunately, as Simon had warned, he was cold. He was very professional and wouldn't participate in the games. It made you sad. You wanted to be in his arms. And in all honesty, you were slightly annoyed, and pouting. One hug. It wouldn't kill him!

You could feel his eyes on you sometimes. Ghost really had seemed to be taking full control. His gaze was darker. It was thrilling. And you played with it. Especially now that you were bored and annoyed. You wore a tank top, sometimes without bras, your nipples showing through the fabric. He would look absolutely furious. The poor boys were the one paying for your taunts as he threw murderous glances to everyone. You had given up, taking pity on the boys. You'd talk back, you'd be a brat. But he kept it professional. Much to your dismay.

It had been extremely peaceful. Your bruises were almost faded, but your voice was still shaky. You'd speak a bit more often. But no yelling, no laughing out loud. At least you didn't have to type anymore.

Nothing had happened. Nothing. Darkends had been silent. You were even wondering if he hadn't given up. It was, however, calm before the storm.

Laswell walked in, three soldiers behind her. Everyone turned to the newcomers, attention on them.

"We have a problem."

Price stood from the small couch.

"Your apartment has been trashed." She continued.

This time she was talking to you. You jumped from the chair.

"No. No. You are not coming." She warned.

"What..?" You hated how weak your voice was.

"Ghost, Soap and price, you're coming with me, Sparrow you'll be staying with these recruits for the next few hours. Gaz and Konig will also join them soon."

You frowned. That was ridiculous! You were going to say it out loud before Ghost spoke.

"No. Stay."

You looked at him. You wanted to scream but you just looked angrily at him.

"Get mad if you want. Wouldn't change shit." He fumed.

You gasped, shocked.

You flipped him the bird, earning a terrifying glance from him and a laugh from Soap. You ran to your room, locking the door behind you. God! Your blood was boiling. They wanted to protect you, sure. But it was your mission. You wanted to be part of it.

You heard them as they left. You needed to do something. You needed to go there with them. It was your house! Your home. Your eyes stopped on the window. This was a long shot. A very long one. But fuck you needed to try it. You opened it, taking a look outside. You could see the cars not too far. The gears in your mind were turning. Was there any way you could run and hide in the trunk?

Fuck. It was either staying in your room, or giving it a try. The worst that could happen is Ghost finding you and… who knows.

You slipped through the window, thanking whatever you could that the ground wasn't too far from your feet. Walking to the corner of the building you took a peek. Laswell was having some kind of pep talk. You looked at the car in front of you. You had to run, hide behind it, open the trunk as discreetly as possible and hide in it.

You took a deep breath, hunching down and making a run for it.

You couldn't believe it. It worked. You were behind the jeep. Now was not the time to get cold feet, you had to act fast. You slowly unlocked it, cringing at the lock's noise. You opened it slightly just enough to roll your body inside. Now closing it was the hardest part. And then there it was. Price and Laswell barking orders loudly. Loud enough to cover the sound of the trunk closing. So you did, not wasting this chance.

You exhaled. God. You couldn't believe this. The car shook as the doors opened. You froze, eyes widening.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

People got in. By the voices, Soap, Ghost Price and someone else.

The way the car rolled out of parking, you knew Ghost was driving. It was going to be a long ride.

And it had been. You were sure to have a few bruises when you'd get out. When the car finally stopped you almost thanked the skies for it. The guys got out. Now you had to get out. An idea popped in your head. You took your phone out texting Soap.

Soap. Trunk. Don't tell Ghost.

What?

TRUNK.

You waited. It was long. What was he doing?!

And suddenly the trunk opened. Soap looked absolutely horrified. You would have laughed. But also looked horrified when he closed the trunk right back. What the…?!

You knocked on the trunk repeatedly to make him open again. And he did, still wide eyed and now looking around to see if anyone was looking.

"What are you doing here?!" He said in the loudest hushed whisper ever.

"I'm going to see my apartment!" You answered in the same tone, glad to be talking in a low voice. You rolled and jumped out of the trunk.

"Nonononononono…." He whispered-yelled again.

"Yes. Yes. Yes." You claimed looking straight at him.

"LT is going to kill us! You for disobeying and me for hiding you from him!" He hushed again.

You rolled your eyes.

"You're fine!" You whispered-yelled too.

You passed right by him heading straight to your building.

"Sparrow! No!! Fuck!"

You kept heading up, now fully visible to everyone Soap running up to you. He looked visibly unwell. You promised yourself to take the fall for him. You were climbing the stairs, every soldier now noticing you and looking a mix of shock and terror as you passed by. It made you uneasy. You started to worry about Ghost's reaction too. But now was no time to worry. You were here, you were going to investigate.

Finally reaching your apartment door you stepped inside. The first one to see you was price. And the first thing you noticed, was that the place wasn't trashed at all.

"Y/N!" Price reprimanded.

You stopped. Fuck. He could have said anything. A 'why are you here', or 'what the fuck' or anything else. But your name? It attracted him. He almost came running from the hallway. When your eyes locked, the only thing you wanted to do was run. He immediately rushed to you picking you up, throwing you over his shoulder.

"No!" You tried.

You pounded on his back, though he clearly didn't seem to care. He started heading towards the door. In a last attempt you grabbed someone's arm. Laswell.

"Lieutenant."

He stopped. You closed your eyes, sighing with relief.

"Please put her down."

He took a second, his breathing had quickened, but he put you down, not softly, you had to get your balance back.

You frowned at him. A staring match starting.

"Sparrow." Laswell reasoned.

You looked at her.

"Why are you here? How did you even?" She asked.

"It's. My. Mission. My house Kate." You explained. Your voice kept at a normal level, even though rage coursed through your mind.

She opened her mouth but your cut her off.

"It's my life on the line." She looked taken aback. "Don't keep me out of this."

She seemed to think for a second. Finally, she nodded slightly. You relaxed your shoulders, turning to look at Ghost. He truly looked furious. But so were you. You stuck your tongue out at him.

"You little-"

You turned your back on him turning to Laswell.

"The place was supposed to be trashed." You noted.

For a second hey eyes faltered. You immediately understood. Your room. You headed down the hall, stepping inside your bedroom. You weren't prepared for what you saw. The tags on the walls, the room completely trashed. Your belongings everywhere, on the floor, broken or ripped apart. You didn't even have to guess. The words 'you're mine birdie' had been spray painted all over the walls. You looked to the floor, kicking the head of one of your stuffed animals that seemed to be missing his body.

"Are you alright?" Kate asked, showing up next to you.

You shrugged.

"It's just some objects. I'm fine. It's going to take forever to fix it though."

You walked to your built PC, completely broken.

"This, however, breaks my heart."

She chuckled.

"We'll pay for a new one. I promise."

You smiled at her. You checked the broken components. Your hard drive was still there. Nothing had been stolen. This was just for show.

"Anything?" She asked.

"Nothing. Nothing's been stolen. This was on purpose, to send a message." You said.

She sighed.

"The question now is, was it him or did he have another puppet?" She wondered.

Ghost walked in. For some reason. You knew you were fucked. And not in a good way.

"May I take her now? I'd like to have a chat with her in the bathroom" He asked.

You looked panicked, looking at Kate for help. She grinned.

"Absolutely. She's all yours lieutenant."

"What?" You said, voice barely above normal. You tried not to force your voice and you hated it.

"What? You thought we'd leave you unpunished?" She asked.

"What the fu-"

You didn't have time to finish, in two steps he crossed the space in between you two grabbing your wrist and dragging you with him. Kate pretended to look away at something much more interesting.

"Traitor!" You threw as you exited the room.

Your heart beat rose as you approached the bathroom. You felt everyone's gaze as you were shoved inside, Ghost behind you. You turned around to look at him, mouth gasping as you saw him lock the door.

When his eyes met yours you shivered. You didn't exactly know if it was fear or anticipation. He crossed his arms over his chest. He had rolled up his sleeves, his muscles flexing.

"You don't fucking listen."

You gazed back into his eyes.

"For the past week, you've been bratting non-stop." He stepped forward, now inches from you.

You frowned, trying to have some kind of composure in front of him.

"What's wrong bunny? Cat got your tongue?"

God you felt yourself melt. Bunny… the last time he called you like that was in the hospital.

"I'm sure I saw it moments ago in the living room though. Such a big mouth yet very little action. Once it's only the two of us, you melt down"

That motherf-

"Fuck you Ghost." You spat, mouth running faster than your brain.

He chuckled. A very dark one. He grabbed your wrists, made your arms fold behind your back and twisted you so you were back to him, staring into the bathroom mirror. He was right behind you staring right back at you. Your cheeks burned. Fuck…

"You want my attention. That's what you fucking want." He spoke in a low grunt, right next to your ear. You closed your eyes.

"Eyes on me." He ordered.

You opened them looking at him in the mirror.

"Good girl." He praised. "If you want attention, now you have it. You have my whole attention." He growled.

He held your wrist with one hand only. Fuck he was so big compared to you. His other hand rose to your mouth.

"Bite it. Take off my glove."

You frowned.

"If I have to repeat myself, you're going to regret it." He warned.

You opened your mouth slowly. His clothed fingers touching your lips. You grabbed the fabric in between your teeth and he wiggled his hand out. He grabbed it as you let it drop.

"See. You can be such a good girl. But no. All you wanted was my attention. You couldn't fucking handle seeing me right there not touching you."

The more he spoke the warmer you felt. What was he doing? What was happening…

"S-simon…" you let out.

"Wrong. Try again."

Fuck…

"Ghost…" you whined.

"Yes. Ghost. I told you it was going to be like this. That I was going to be professional." He explained.

His naked fingers reached your lips again.

"Open."

You blushed, eyes widening a bit.

"Bunny." He warned.

Your lips parted slowly.

"Stick your tongue out. Go on. You seem to like doing it in front of everyone, so do it for me."

You obeyed. Two of his fingers touched your tongue, softly applying pressure. The rest of his hand enveloping your chin.

You whined.

"I told you. I warned you. And yet you walk around half fucking naked in front of my men just to rile me up." He hissed.

His hand lingered there. The more your mouth was open, the harder it was to swallow, his fingers getting wetter by the second.

"My mind is fucking stuck in killing mode. And you rile me up bunny? Congratulations, you might be the only one to manage to fucking turn on Ghost."

You couldn't believe it. You had turned him on. You had been torturing him. Fuck, the way he looked at you.

"Do you know how many times I wanted to bend you over the table and fuck you in front of everyone? Just to fucking show them who you belong to?"

You bent your back, trying to grind unto him, his little confession having much more effect on you than you wanted. However he didn't allow it, backing off without letting you go.

"Oh no little bunny. Do you like that thought?" He chuckled again.

You were obviously drooling all over his hand. Not that it seemed to bother him.

"Fuck… look at you little one. So fucking pretty for me. So obedient. The only reason I'm not deep throating you with my fingers, that I'm not wrapping my hand around your pretty neck, it's that it's too soon. I don't want to hurt my little doll."

Ok. Now you were wet. That asshole was torturing you just like you did to him. You closed your eyes, whining again.

"Look. At. Me." He ordered again.

You obeyed. You looked at him, pleading. You didn't even know what you were pleading for.

"Are you going to be a good girl now? Are you going to behave for me?" He asked in a vanilla voice that contrasted a lot with the way he was holding you.

You whined again, trying to nod your head.

"Fuck. Look what mess you made of my hand… go on. Suck on my fingers."

You looked a bit shocked again but he held your gaze. Your lips wrapped around him as you retracted your tongue. You sucked softly, using your tongue to lick your saliva off his fingers.

"Fuck bunny… such a good girl."

The way he praised you, his own voice laced with desire. This situation had escalated quickly.

He took back his finger, wiping your chin. He sighed. His now free hand traveled to your waist, his arm now wrapping around it. The other let go of your wrists, letting you bring your arms back to your chest. He hugged you tightly from behind, hiding his face in your neck.

"I-I'm sorry…"

You blinked. Did you really hear that?

"Ghost…"

"I'm sorry… I… got off track."

You smiled.

"It's ok… it was… nice" you tried.

He looked back up at the mirror.

"Really. I trust you. You… can do those things to me…" you looked away. You couldn't hold his gaze anymore. What the hell were you saying?

"Don't say shit like that bunny… I'm gonna loose my fucking mind with you. I'm on mission fuck."

His embrace tightened, his hands traveling a bit closer to places you craved. You had been wanting this. His arms. Being in his hold. This was even more than you had wished for.

Your phone buzzed. You couldn't see the screen but he did. And whatever he read there, brought him back to reality.

"God fucking damn it!" He cursed.

That woke you up too. He let go of you and headed out of the door. You blinked. You took your phone in your hand.

Hi birdie, I'm coming.

What the? You opened the message log. How? How did he get so close now? Another message showed.

The little bird, no longer singing, was sad. The wolf took pity and swore to protect the birdie. The cat, growing even more jealous, swore that he'd take her from him.

You shivered. You had to be honest. That guy was frightening. A complete psycho. And he just ruined your moment so fuck him. You walked out, everyone was already running everywhere.

"Sparrow, you're going back to base right now." Price announced.

You nodded, not wanting to discuss this. You choose your battles and this wasn't one you wanted to win. Laswell walked to you, hand forward asking for your phone. You gave it to her for her to read the message that clearly Ghost had already told everyone about. She cursed loudly.

"Hansen, Soap take her back to base."

Hansen? Peter was here? You looked at him smiling a bit as he clearly looked anxious.

"Wait. I'll take her." Ghost interrupted.

"No. I need you somewhere else lieutenant. They can perfectly bring her to safety." She refused.

Ghost looked annoyed, his hands turning into fists.

"I'll be with her LT. I'm keeping her safe." Soap said.

It warmed your heart. Peter simply nodded, still looking on the verge of having a panic attack.

"Good. Now go!" Laswell ordered.

You smiled at Ghost as you followed Soap and Peter out.

You headed down the stairs to the parking lot, the two men closely watching you and your surroundings.

"We can take my car" Peter offered.

Soap frowned but nodded. Peter unlocked his car, opening the backdoor for you. You hopped in as he closed the door. You closed your eyes, taking a deep breath. You wanted this to end. You needed your calm, boring life back. You wanted to enjoy Simon and continue whatever was happening between the both of you. You also wanted to finally sit down with him and ask him what he truly wanted from you, hoping that he wanted you to be his officially. You needed to hear him say it.

You opened your eyes back as the car shook a bit. Peter had sat in the driver's seat, turning the car on.

"Where's Soap?" You asked.

"The lieutenant called him back." Peter said.

Really? That was weird… Ghost wouldn't have let you alone with Peter.

The car moved as you started to head out of the parking spot. You turned in your seat watching through the back window. You felt your heart fall into an abyss when you saw Soap lying on the ground.

"What the fuck?!" You yelled, too loud for your sore throat.

You turned back to Peter. He looked different. A new confidence in him that was unfamiliar.

"Don't worry. He's not dead. Just napping."

You were confused and suddenly terrified. Did darkends also blackmail Peter ?

"Peter, whatever that guy is blackmailing you with, I can help you. Please." You tried to reason him.

He laughed.

"You're adorable. Really. I can't wait to have you all to myself birdie."

And it clicked. The puzzle pieces finally fit together. How was this even possible? Simon was right. You didn't recognize your own voice as you stated the obvious.

"You're darkends."

____

A/N: my foreshadowing is shit, and ya'll are too smart

#price cod #gaz cod #ghost cod #cod modern warfare #cod mw2 #simon riley x y/n #simon riley x reader #simon ghost riley smut #simon ghost riley #simon riley #john price #captain price #kyle gaz garrick #john soap mactavish #soap mw2 #fanfics #fanfiction #fanfic

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cegantheayugipi · 1 year

Text

Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better (Xiao x Reader Smut)

An Enemies to Lovers smut oneshot

WARNING: 18+ CONTENT BELOW THE CUT, MINORS DNI!!

Tags include: hate sex, no foreplay, angst, breeding, loss of virginity, competitive sex, post nut depression, soft ending, Xiao being Xiao

Xiao was furious. Again.

At the report of monsters in Dihua Marsh, Xiao rushed to the scene to eliminate them. This was merely part of his Adeptal duties – he protected all mortals in Bishui Plain and beyond. As ordered by Rex Lapis, he would not allow any human to come to harm while under his watch… However, for the past several nights, Xiao would reach a location reported to have monsters only to find their scattered corpses.

And not only would the monsters be completely eliminated, but they would be struck down with no traces of elemental power whatsoever. The poor Yaksha consulted all remaining Adepti, and none of them knew what could be responsible for such a feat other than some fluke or natural disaster. Still, night after night, Xiao would be frustrated upon reaching the scene. He would be mere minutes too late to catch whoever seemed to be disrespecting him, taunting him, telling him over and over just how slow and incompetent he was at his own job.

Still baffled by yet another impossible feat, Xiao wandered through the remnants of the hilichurl camp. He seethed at his incompetence; this would be the last time he’d miss anything like this.

“Help! There’s Geovishaps!”

A voice tickled Xiao’s ears, and his head immediately shot up.

“I won’t miss it this time,” Xiao muttered. His superhuman senses told him exactly how far away this call came from. He disappeared from the field, leaving behind only black wisps of smoke.

In an instant, the Yaksha had traversed hundreds of meters to the source of the voice, only to watch the earthen monsters be beaten into dust by a blindingly fast flash of metal.

“What?!” Xiao blurted out, his mouth falling open as he watched a small figure – a human – destroy the monsters with efficient strikes of a claymore.

And what was worse, the human had no traces of elemental abilities whatsoever. Their claymore fractured the earthen ground as they struck the monsters over and over, a testament to their power.

Meanwhile, Xiao simply stared, too shocked to take over in the fight.

“Hyaa!” You screamed, flexing your shoulders as you wound up for your final attack. The metal of your greatsword sung into the night as it struck down the monsters and embedded itself into the damp earth.

The stony Geovishap bones scattered across the ground, mere remnants of the monsters that terrorized the mountainside only minutes prior.

Now that the monsters were defeated, a silence fell over the area. You listened to your own rapid breathing as you recovered from such strenuous work. Wrapping one hand around the hilt of your claymore, you pulled it out of the ground and inspected it for damage. As you did so, you failed to notice the enraged Yaksha, who seethed at you.

“YOU!” Xiao roared, making you jump from surprise. You spun on your heels to face him. “You’re the one who is killing MY monsters!”

“Who said they were yours to kill?” You scoffed, sticking your giant blade back into the ground and crossing your arms over your chest. “From the way you look, it seems like you’re an Adeptus. I guess they really are stuck up old fogeys.”

“Stop trying to do my job,” Xiao spoke through gritted teeth. “You’re a weak mortal. Killing monsters is a job for the Adepti, not humans.”

“You’re the one who’s taking too long to even get to the monsters,” You stated with a shrug. “Maybe it’s time to retire, you’re getting slow.”

Xiao let out a growl at your insinuation. Rather than snap back at you, however, he turned his head to the side, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

You rolled your eyes as you watched him disappear. A couple of villagers who witnessed the fight stood there in shock as you turned around and began to walk down the path away from them.

“Onto the next field, then,” You muttered to yourself.

~~~

Aether and Lumine frequented Wangshu Inn during their travels, and knowing their elusive Adeptus friend lived there, they often tried to talk to him – whether it be luring him out with almond tofu, or calling for him until he would get too annoyed to ignore them any longer.

Although they thought Xiao acted this way towards everyone, the twins had no clue that they were the only mortals in all of Teyvat that Xiao would ever willingly interact with. They were the closest thing to a ‘friend’ the Yaksha had in a while.

Aether was speaking to Verr Goldet about any requests she might have for the day. The sun had just breached the horizon, and the two travelers were already at the front desk of the inn, eager to go out and explore the area for the day.

While waiting for her brother to finish speaking, Lumine looked up through the main foyer of the inn to see Xiao ascending the staircase towards the top.

“Hey, Xiao! There you are!” She called, but received no acknowledgement from the Adeptus.

Aether turned when he heard his sister speak. “Xiao?” Aether called, but the twins merely watched as he continued to ignore them both. The reclusive Adeptus walked through a door at the top of the stairs, slamming it behind him.

The twins exchanged glances, wondering why he would act that way, and Aether gave his sister a nonchalant shrug.

“Maybe he’s busy. We can talk to him later.”

~~~

The next night, Xiao was determined to defeat the monsters that lurked throughout Bishui Plain and Qiongli Estuary before you could even get there. He stayed on high alert, traveling north through Dihua Marsh and clearing out Hilichurl camps before they would become a problem for the nearby villages.

As an Adeptus, he didn’t need rest… he could slay monsters for days on end without needing a break. He was determined to prove he was infinitely more capable at slaying monsters than you were.

“Weak!” He exclaimed, pitching his spear through a Mitachurl’s chest. He watched as the beast crumpled to the ground, defeated. The seething Adeptus wrenched the polearm out of the dead Mitachurl’s rib cage, bringing with it a spray of blood.

Xiao didn’t need to look around to know that all of the monsters had been killed – he simply walked onwards down the path to the next camp he would come across.

However, in the distance, he spotted blackened earth and trails of smoke that rose into the night air. Confused, he teleported towards the location, arriving only to see yet another destroyed monster camp.

You had already been there.

Xiao’s hands balled into fists as he turned slowly in a circle, examining the elemental traces…

A Pyro Abyss Mage, an Electro Samachurl… and half a dozen Hilichurls.

Next to the smoldering remnants of the monsters’ campfire, a Samachurlian staff had been stuck into the ground. Attached at the top of the staff, a daintily handwritten paper note fluttered in the late evening breeze.

‘You’re rusty ;)’

Xiao let out a growl so frustrated and enraged that if anyone nearby had heard it, they would confuse him with the monsters he killed.

~~~

“Why do you seem more cheerless than usual, Alatus?” The serene voice of Cloud Retainer echoed across the peaks of Mt. Aocang. The mystical Crane perched elegantly on a rocky precipice of Qingyun peak, her gold and white feathers glowing in the late-afternoon light.

Xiao had visited his fellow Adeptus to retrieve powerful medicinal herbs which only grew in Jueyun Karst. Cloud Retainer had stored them in a latched wooden box, waiting for the time he would come by to take them.

“I do not wish to talk about it,” Xiao responded curtly, causing Cloud Retainer to lean closer towards his face.

“You also appear to be fatigued. Have you not been resting properly?” Cloud Retainer questioned.

“Adepti have no need for rest,” Xiao responded, looking away from the prying Adeptus.

“Is it because of that mortal who has been purging the land of monsters?” Cloud Retainer mused, fluttering her wings as she adjusted her feathers.

Xiao scoffed, “Nonsense.”

“They are quite the aid to Liyue. The mortal has even rid Jueyun Karst of treasure hoarders.”

“WHAT?!” Xiao exclaimed, turning back around to face the Adeptus’s aviary form. “When?!”

“About a week ago.”

Xiao’s mind reeled. Every single night he had watched with near-helplessness as you cleared out monster camps in Western Liyue faster than he could find them. He had no idea how you could possibly do this in Eastern Liyue at the same time.

“One despises mortals who tread on the sacred land of the Adepti. However, this mortal is more than just an exception. One would like to invite such an honorable person for tea. Perhaps One should invite Morax as well, and One can teach such a child about the ways of the Adepti.”

Cloud Retainer’s rambling only made Xiao seethe with anger. How could Cloud Retainer consider you honorable when you were stealing the job of an Adeptus so blatantly?

“I must go. Farewell.”

Xiao’s blunt statement was as courteous as he could possibly make it. Too furious to wait for a response from Cloud Retainer, he teleported back to Wangshu Inn with the package of herbs in his hands.

Verr Goldet looked up from her desk as she felt the wind shift in the air. Xiao had appeared before her.

“Oh, Xiao, you’re already back.” The Inn Owner smiled. “Thank you for fetching the herbs for me. I’ll prepare your medicine promptly.” Xiao didn’t respond as he stalked towards the desk, dropping the package onto the oak surface and teleporting away once again.

Verr looked down in shock, wondering why Xiao would seem even more irritated than usual. She knew he hated visiting the front desk in the Inn’s main foyer due to the number of humans that usually filled the room.

However, it didn’t seem to be as busy as usual, so it left her even more baffled. To top it off, Verr looked down to realize the wooden box had been splintered from the intensity of Xiao’s grip.

~~~

This time, Xiao was more determined than ever to prove to you that patrolling the countryside was a job meant for Adepti only. Humans were frail, and Xiao was certain you would slip up at some point.

The night was incredibly clear. Xiao could see all the way across Liyue from his perch atop the roof of Wangshu Inn. He looked out towards Guyun Stone Forest, admiring the vast remnants of the Archon war and lasting proof of Morax's power.

Something glimmered along the coast of Yaoyang Shoal. At this distance, Xiao couldn’t tell if it was a glimmer of moonlight reflecting off of the sea or if it was something more.

Not willing to take any chances, he teleported to the sandy beach.

As he arrived, he realized he was right – amongst the scattered remnants of Khaen’rian Ruin Guards were some that were still active. How they could survive centuries of deterioration and the elements was a question for someone else.

Xiao was simply here to destroy them.

The ruin guards began to wake up, clambering to their feet with the screeching metal and whirring engines.

Spinning his spear in one hand, Xiao prepared to strike one ruin guard down when a flash of silver caught his eye. He barely had time to register the claymore that shot straight into the Ruin Guard’s core, impaling the machinery and causing the monster to collapse to the ground. Sparks flew from the core as it sputtered and the ruin guard began to die.

You leapt down from one of the rock faces that dotted the shoal, landing on the ruin guard to wrench your blade from its core.

Xiao let out a low growl, shocked and enraged by your sudden appearance.

“Wow, you actually found the monsters before me this time,” You laughed darkly, moving onto the next ruin guard.

“Worthless!” Xiao shouted, turning to fight a third one that had awoken.

“Easy now, old man.” You shouted between clangs of metal against metal. Sparks flew into the air as your claymore screeched against the reinforced armor of the ruin guard. You jumped from place to place, the muscles in your back flexing beneath your skin as you wound up to strike at a weak point.

Xiao growled as he fought the other ruin guard. He gripped his polearm so tightly he was worried he might break it… But that was the least of his problems. With a gust of wind, he launched himself into the shoulder of the ruin guard, breaking its arm off in one clean strike. Arcs of electricity sparked across the joint, stunning the machine and preventing it from fighting back. With several more quick jabs of his spear, Xiao was able to cut down the automaton.

As soon as the Ruin Guard was no longer a threat, Xiao spun around to attack the next one – only to see a beach of scattered metal parts. He gawked at the destruction, shocked that you were able to defeat two ruin guards so quickly.

“Man, whatever metal these Automatons are made of sure wear out blades fast.” You sighed, running your fingers down the side of your claymore.

“You don’t have a vision. How do you find monsters so fast without elemental sight?” Xiao demanded, stalking towards you.

“If you actually looked at the Adventurer’s Guild bulletin in Liyue Harbor, you’d be able to see where all the monster and enemy sightings are.” You rolled your eyes. “But you’re too busy being a recluse, trying to do everything without any outside help. And definitely not making any money either!”

You lifted your blade above your head, shoulders and biceps flexing as you lowered it into the holder on your back. Of course, since you weren’t gifted with elemental power, you couldn’t create a subspace pocket for your belongings. That meant carrying around your ridiculously large and heavy greatsword wherever you traveled.

“This isn’t a job for mortals. It is the duty of the Adepti,” Xiao seethed as he stared at you intensely.

“Duty of the Adepti, my ass!” You scoffed, dusting some sand off of your shoulder. “Liyue is rife with monsters that would go unchecked if it weren’t for adventurers like me.”

“Mortals cannot be tasked with killing monsters. It’s too dangerous.” Xiao pressed, stepping closer to you.

“Then why am I so much better at it than you are?” You smirked.

Xiao’s eyes widened suddenly, and you thought you had finally gotten through to the stubborn Yaksha. However, instead of snapping back or continuing to argue, Xiao roughly pushed past you as an orange glow filled your vision.

“Watch out!” He exclaimed. You turned around just in time to see Xiao use his polearm to swipe away a magical fireball that had been hurtling towards you. A sinister high-pitched cackle filled your ears, telling you exactly what it was.

“Abyss mages!” You exclaimed, instinctively reaching over your shoulders for the handle of your greatsword. Pyro and Electro Abyss Mages had shown up out of nowhere, laughing and taunting the two of you from behind their spheres of elemental shields.

Xiao immediately attacked both of them with his polearm that he infused with Anemo. You grew frustrated as you watched him effortlessly use the Abyss Mages’ own elements against themselves thanks to the wind’s power.

As someone never gifted with a vision, you could do little against Abyss Mages with just a claymore. Instead, you turned around and ran towards the ocean. Swinging your claymore backwards like a bat, you used its flat edge to splash into the water, sending a wave towards the Abyss Mages and drenching them.

“What are you doing?!” Xiao exclaimed, confused.

“Work smarter, not harder!” You responded, used to using your surroundings to your own advantage. “Now swirl them!”

Xiao growled, begrudgingly doing as you requested. The Pyro shield broke first – you immediately took advantage of the Mage’s sudden weakness, sending it into the next life with a single strike.

The Yaksha wasn’t far behind with killing the Electro mage… In mere seconds, the beach was silent once more. All you could hear was the gentle rush of the tide that rose and ebbed along the sandy shore.

Xiao turned to face you, appearing as though he was about to shout at you again. You crossed your arms over your chest, staring at him, refusing to show any sort of weakness towards the Adeptus.

However, before he could open his mouth, he turned away from you and disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke and wind.

“Asshole.” You grumbled, frowning.

~~~

The teal-haired Yaksha appeared in his small room at the top of Wangshu Inn. It was sparsely furnished, with only a bed, a table and chairs. The wooden floorboards and walls were thin and creaked with each footstep. Despite Verr Goldet offering a suite for the Yaksha to live in, Xiao preferred the attic. Here, he could see all of Dihua Marsh from his window… and he preferred a room far away from guests or any other humans. At the top of the building, it felt less like an inn and more like a treehouse. The ancient tree’s branches grew through one side of the room, its bark poking out of the wooden planks and running from floor to ceiling.

Despite usually enjoying his little piece of serenity at the center of Liyue’s marshes, Xiao had arrived irate.

“INCOMPETENT!” Xiao roared, throwing his spear down in a fit of anger. Its shaft clattered against the floorboards as the weapon slid across the room, its blade embedding itself into the bark of the exposed tree trunk at the far wall.

Xiao was too furious to acknowledge that Verr Goldet would most certainly be heartbroken if she ever saw the damage he caused to the tree. He was too furious to eat, sleep, or do most things these days. All he wanted was for you to stop doing his job.

~~~

Your treks through the mountainside had been boring for the past couple of nights. Smirking to yourself, you thought that perhaps you were simply too good at killing monsters. You passed your time traveling from monster sighting to monster sighting, finding little to entertain you in-between.

Thus, when you heard the sound of fighting in the distance, the smirk on your face grew into a grin.

You rushed down the path towards the fighting, finding yourself in front of a very large hilichurl camp. At the center, a furious Xiao tore through the crowds of monsters, shrouded by a cloud of black smoke.

“It’s about time something interesting happened!” You exclaimed, drawing your greatsword and jumping into the fray.

Xiao noticed you approaching in an instant. “No- stay away!” he exclaimed, launching backwards as he attempted to continue fighting. He jumped into the air before diving back down, raining ethereal spears down from the sky. They impaled all of the Hilichurls around him, killing them almost immediately. Xiao’s face was obscured by a black mask as black wisps of smoke continued to swirl around him. You had never seen elemental power like this before, so you couldn't help but stare for a moment before going back to fight on your own.

“When will you realize humans can be just as good at fighting?” You exclaimed, swinging at a Mitachurl that blocked you with its shield.

You didn’t receive a response – you finished off the Mitachurl and turned around to see Xiao struggling with the Hilichurls.

“Off your game today?” You taunted, jumping into the fight to help.

With your powerful swings, you made quick work of the remaining monsters. When all of them had finally been killed, you turned to face Xiao only to see him with one knee on the ground, relying on his polearm for support. The black wisps of smoke had increased in intensity, swirling around the Yaksha’s body like a miniature maelstrom.

“Are you alright?” You asked, reaching out to offer him a hand.

“Don’t touch me!” Xiao exclaimed sharply, making you take a step back.

His curt statement was enough to finally make you snap.

“Okay, I’ve had it up to here with you!” You raised your fist and shook it at the stubborn Adeptus, anger boiling over within you. “What is wrong with you? All the gods, the Adepti, the Yakshas embody immortality and superiority over humans. And for what? None of you really protect the land. None of you really care about the humans who live here!”

“That’s not true.” Xiao muttered, groaning as he used his polearm to pull himself to his feet. “We do care-”

“If Morax really cared, my family would still be alive! If he gave half a damn then maybe he would have punished the people who killed them!” You were irate, and now nothing could stop the dam that had broken loose as you raged.

“You…” Xiao was bewildered as you continued to rant. While the torment of his Karmic Debt was severe that evening, he suddenly couldn’t feel the pain at all as he processed what you were saying.

“I’ve trained day after day to become stronger and avenge my family because nobody else would. If any of the gods cared at all, I’d at least have a vision after everything I’ve been through and everything I do for Liyue!”

“What…” Xiao’s voice wavered as his grip on his polearm faltered.

“So fuck the Archons, fuck the Adepti, and fuck you!” Your face was bright red as you shouted. You were completely unaware of the way Xiao swayed where he stood, too consumed by anger to notice something was wrong with him.

“I-” Xiao groaned as his knees finally buckled. You weren’t exactly sure what you were seeing as you watched the mask disappear from Xiao’s face, revealing his amber eyes that rolled back in his head as he lost consciousness.

You caught him instinctively, not sure what to do with a fainting Yaksha. After a moment, however, you shouted as burning hot pain flashed across your skin.

“Ah! What the hell?!” you looked down at yourself to see the black wisps of smoke lapping at your irritated skin. Whatever this ability was, it seemed to hurt humans.

“You fucking idiot Yaksha!” You exclaimed, suppressing every urge to throw him and gently setting his body on the ground.

“Miss Goldet… the herbs…” You heard Xiao half-consciously mutter.

“Goldet? Verr Goldet of Wangshu Inn?” You asked Xiao, leaning down to stare at the expression of agony on his face.

“The medicine… at the inn,” Xiao whimpered.

You had never heard a sound like that come from an Adeptus. Your heart began to race as you realized the situation was dire. You were hours away from the inn by foot, and weren’t sure how long the poor Yaksha had before whatever was affecting him would kill him.

Your skin still seared with pain from what little contact you had with him, so you looked around you for the best thing you could do.

You scrambled across the ground, tying together bloodied hilichurl furs and fabrics to fashion a makeshift rope. You looped it under Xiao’s arms and around his chest, deciding that dragging him back to the inn would be your best chance.

You could feel the stabbing pain of the black wisps that licked at your fingers as you gripped the furs. You persevered, attempting to drag him back to the inn. While he may be a small Adeptus, he was certainly not light… After dragging him for several feet, you let out a sigh of disdain as you unsheathed your claymore and stuck it into the dusty ground. You could only hope nobody would come to steal it as you continued your way along the rolling hills and plains of Liyue.

Without your bulky and heavy greatsword, you found that you could pick up your pace to a slow jog. Despite being battle-trained and strong, your hands and arms began to ache as Wangshu Inn grew in the distance. You cursed yourself for not having the capabilities of the Adepti, being forced to travel by foot.

“Menogias… you need to tell them…” You heard Xiao mumble, half-conscious, squirming against the rope that you carried him by.

“Come on, short stuff. You can make it.” You grunted, picking up the pace. You weren’t sure if you were trying to encourage him or yourself.

It wasn’t long after that when you found yourself at the foot of the huge tree that held the inn. There were a couple of people around you who spotted such an uncanny situation, a young human dragging an unconscious Adeptus that had a whirlwind of black smoke enshrouding himself.

“Is that the Yaksha?”

“Who is that adventurer?”

“What’s going on?”

The murmurs of people who surrounded you began to grow as you ran across the wooden porch and up the stairs to the main foyer of the Inn. Your legs and arms ached as you dragged Xiao up the stairs, but you were more concerned about whether Xiao would be alright.

As you reached the spacious lobby, you spotted the blonde innkeeper behind the front desk.

“Verr Goldet!” You exclaimed, “Can you help?”

“Xiao!” The innkeeper exclaimed, her eyes going wide as she rushed over to the two of you. “His Karmic Debt- I need to get his medicine!”

Verr Goldet scrambled across the room towards the kitchen, for what you were assuming was the medicine to help with whatever this burning smoke was.

“Xiao…” You murmured. “So that’s your name.”

You began to slowly unwind the ropes from around his torso, the sting of the malicious smoke no longer a deterrent to you.

Feet scuffled across the room as Verr returned, a glass vial of medicine in one hand. She knelt beside Xiao and reached towards his face, but quickly recoiled when the black wisps licked at her fingers.

“Ahh, that hurts!” She exclaimed. “How can I make him drink this?”

“Here, give me the medicine.” You held out one hand, and Verr hesitantly placed the vial into your palm.

You worked quickly, gritting your teeth as you harshly grabbed Xiao’s jaw and forced it open, pouring the medicine in then shutting his mouth afterwards. When it was all done, you recoiled and shook your hands vigorously to rid yourself of the searing pain – only a couple of seconds of contact were enough to leave angry red marks traveling from your fingertips up your forearms.

“Did you just-” Verr stuttered, staring at your inflamed skin. She turned around and shouted back into the kitchen. “Smiley, get the first aid kit!”

“I’m fine.” you scoffed. “What even is this black smoke anyway? I’ve never seen an elemental ability like this.”

“That’s because it’s not an elemental ability.” Verr responded, her tone ever-so-slightly melancholic. “It’s Karmic Debt that Xiao had accumulated over millennia of slaughter. He’s the only Yaksha left… the rest have all died because of it.”

The breath in your lungs fell still as you heard this.

“He regularly takes medicine to abate the symptoms, but recently he’s been acting strange… he hasn’t been eating, has barely come back to the inn at all, and hasn’t taken any medicine in weeks…”

Your breath came back to you as you murmured, “weeks…?”

Mind reeling, you sat back on your heels. Was Xiao acting this way because you taunted him and told him he wasn’t as good at killing monsters as you were?

“Hey, show me your hand.” A concerned Smiley knelt beside you, opening up a wooden box filled with first aid supplies. You complied absentmindedly, too busy thinking as you stared down at the unconscious Yaksha before you.

~~~

Not long after you had given Xiao the medicine, the toxic wisps of Karmic Debt subsided enough for him to be moved out of the foyer and into one of the bedrooms. Verr offered you a place to stay while you recovered, and despite your protests, she demanded that you at least stay one night to rest after everything that happened.

So here you sat, on the soft mattress of a luxurious bed, staring out a window at the beautiful Dihua Marsh. Moonlight reflected off the peaceful waters and cast a glow across the landscape.

Verr Goldet was kind to have offered up one of her guest rooms for you to stay in. But while you were given such a nice room to stay in, you felt like you couldn’t truly rest – your mind still reeled from what you had learned earlier that evening.

Shaking your head, you decided that this was enough. You stood up and began to put your holster back on, deciding that you should go back to retrieve your Claymore and then continue hacking and slashing your way through the monsters of Liyue. Only then, in the throes of combat, you felt you might be able to shake off this feeling of uneasiness.

You began to walk towards the door when the air shifted in the room, a familiar figure appearing in front of you without warning.

“Are you trying to leave?” Xiao spoke, his amber gaze boring into you, his brows pinching together.

“Why do you care?” You scoffed. “You should still be resting. You were in a lot of trouble today.”

“That’s none of your business.” Xiao retorted.

“None of my business?” Your voice rose into a shout as you waved your hands at him. “You nearly died! Hell, you would have died if I didn’t bring you back here!”

Xiao’s eyes caught onto the bandages that wrapped both of your hands and forearms. His eyes trailed up, realizing there were red marks that peeked out from where the bandages stopped. He instinctively reached out to them, knowing exactly what it was.

“Did you come close to me while-”

“Get your hands off of me!” You screamed, slapping away his hand. Xiao froze, his eyes wide.

You let out a frustrated and animalistic growl as you stepped towards Xiao, making him take a step backwards to get away from you.

“You’re…”

You took another step, making Xiao move further backwards.

“Such a…”

Another step forwards for you, and another step backwards for Xiao.

“Fucking IDIOT!”

Xiao tried to step backward again, but found his back against the door to the room. The look in his eyes made it seem like a million emotions were passing through his mind at once. But you didn’t care – you were mad at him, at the archons, at the evil that plagued the land of Liyue. You were furious that Xiao had pushed himself so far that he was overwhelmed by his Karmic Debt. You were even more furious that his sworn duty to Morax was to put himself into such a situation. Your heart twisted and wrenched at the thought of the Yakshas falling one after the other because of such devotion to their Archon.

In your fit of anger, your hand flew up to Xiao’s neck and pinned him against the wall. His mouth dropped open, body completely freezing up as he felt your bandaged fingers against his skin.

You paused for a moment, staring into his amber eyes. There was so much that had gone unsaid between the two of you, so much tension, hatred, fear…

You let out a low growl, your head tipping forwards until your lips crashed into his.

Xiao’s heart stopped as he felt your soft lips collide with his. You were so close to him, he could feel the heat that radiated from your skin. This sudden intimacy bewildered him, and his mind began to reel as your free hand snaked up to cup his cheek. This sort of action was something he had only seen between people who loved each other dearly. It sent his mind back to the times he would catch his fellow Yakshas Menogias and Bonanus stealing a moment of embrace or sharing a tender and intimate kiss. It was something he didn’t understand… although he wanted to.

Xiao’s mind flashed to a gruesome scene: driven to insanity by the Karmic Debt they had accumulated, Menogias and Bonanus fought each other to the death.

“Stop.” Xiao twisted his head, breaking away from the kiss.

Your eyes snapped open as Xiao wrenched himself away from you. Your eyes scanned across his face, searching for a reason why he’d withdraw like this.

“Why…” Xiao muttered. “Why are you doing this?”

You made the most baffling expression at Xiao’s question. Your hands balled into fists at your sides, the frustration only continuing to build inside of you.

“Because I like you, dumbass!” You responded angrily, slamming one fist into the door beside his head.

“You…” Xiao spoke, his voice trailing off, his eyes fixating on your lips once again.

This time, he began to lean closer to you, his lips delicately brushing against yours as if he were afraid to hurt you.

You smirked, hands moving to cup his cheeks as you pulled him into the kiss.

Things quickly became heated as your lips moved against his, your hands eagerly roaming over his body. Xiao could feel the hunger in your embrace, the desire you radiated… He felt the same, overwhelmed by the nostalgic sense of comfort you gave him despite being a visionless mortal… You were someone Xiao never thought he would feel such a way about. Previously, he looked down on all humans because of their fragility and their brief lifespans, but you changed all of that with the way you seemed to run laps around him as you killed the monsters he was meant to be killing.

You grabbed onto Xiao’s wrist, forcing it against the wall above his head. The Yaksha let out the slightest gasp at your forceful action, his other hand sliding down your waist and gripping tight enough to turn your body when he slid one knee between your legs.

Your eyes went wide for a moment as he overpowered you, turning your body so now it was your back against the wall. You let go of his wrist in surprise, and he took that moment to pin your arms against the wooden wall.

However, you wouldn’t let yourself be overpowered so easily. With a grunt, you used one leg to kick at Xiao’s knee, destabilizing him and knocking him backward. As he fell, he let go of your arms which allowed you to snake one around the back of his head, cushioning his fall as you knocked him down to the floor.

You landed on top of Xiao, your arms and knees placed in a way where none of your weight was on him. You sat up on your knees and stared down at the blushing Yaksha as you began to undo your clothes.

“What are you d-”

“Take off your clothes, asshole.” You grumbled, throwing your shirt down on the floor.

When Xiao didn’t comply, and only looked up at you with a bewildered expression, you rolled your eyes and dipped your head back down to lock lips with him. Your hands roamed over his torso, sliding down to his waist, fingering at his belt.

Xiao froze as he felt your hand slip beneath the belt. You deftly undid the tie that held it together, allowing your hand to slide further down and palm his crotch.

“Ah-” Xiao’s eyes widened, a deep blush spreading across his cheeks.

You felt him twitch inside his pants, his member stiffening as your fingers ran across it.

Nobody had ever done this kind of thing to Xiao before. He didn't know how to act – his only knowledge of actions like this were from centuries ago, when he caught Menogias and Bonanus in a similar sort of position, clothes strewn aside… he didn’t understand the significance of such an act, only that it was an extremely private affair – and he didn’t stick around to find out.

So here, with your fingers wrapped around his stiffening cock, Xiao had no idea what to do. He felt a new sort of hunger take over his body as jolts of pleasure surged through his body, his kisses turning ravenous as you leaned down to devour his lips.

Xiao’s hands began to move on their own, undoing his clothes in the midst of your passionate embrace. You began to do the same, until all Xiao felt was the cold wooden floorboards and the heat of your bare skin against his.

You began to slide your hand up and down his member as you bit at his lips, making Xiao’s eyes squeeze shut as he shuddered with pleasure. His hips began to move in sync, shifting up and down against your strokes, trying to get even more motion from your movements.

You broke from the kiss, sitting back upright, sliding your hips forwards until they came to a rest with his throbbing member pressed against your entrance. Xiao looked up, taking his first glimpse at your naked form; he realized how much more beautiful you were without any clothes.

His eyes lingered on the curve of your neck, the tone in your shoulders, the faded battle scars that cut into your soft skin. He watched the way your arms and torso flexed as you moved, the ripple of muscle that was once hidden beneath clothes, the way your chest rose and fell with each breath you took. His eyes trailed up, trying to decipher the look in your eyes – desire, longing, sadness.

Xiao was wrenched away from his thoughts at a completely foreign sensation. You began to sink yourself down onto his cock, easing him into your hot entrance.

He gasped, his eyes rolling back in his head. He wanted to watch what you were doing, to see just how you could make him feel this good, but he couldn’t manage to focus. His mouth hung open, half-caught in a gasp. His hands fell limp to his sides as you seemed to take over his body with whatever magic you were doing.

You let out a groan as you sank further down his shaft, your walls quivering from the new stretch. You pushed down, gripping onto Xiao’s shoulders, your fingers digging into his bare skin.

“Ah-” Xiao murmured, the scratching of your nails making him snap back to reality. “What’s this-”

Again, Xiao was cut off as you rolled your hips, stirring your own insides with his twitching cock. He groaned, trying to keep his focus despite this ungodly sensation you were giving him.

Slowly, you began to rock back and forth, sliding yourself up and down his length. You leaned closer towards his face, lips brushing against his. Suddenly Xiao’s hands flew up to the back of your head to pull you into a fiercely passionate kiss. His teeth nipped at your lips, and you bit back, hard enough to draw blood.

Meanwhile, you continued to move, creating a steady pace of up and down. Heat began to build between the two of you, droplets of sweat beading on your bare skin as you fucked yourself on Xiao’s dick.

The Yaksha began to move in time, shifting his hips up and down to get more movement against his throbbing member. He shifted his hands up to your waist, beginning to move you as well, beginning to pant from the pleasure you were giving him.

Xiao began to rut his hips harder and harder against yours, your body beginning to bounce on top of him. Your walls tightened around him, and he let out a breathy whine from the sensation.

As pleasure began to overwhelm him, Xiao’s movements became choppy. You could tell he was on the precipice of orgasm – when Xiao’s hands moved down to your hips and his fingers dug into your skin, you stopped moving and simply stared down at his face. His hips tried to move again, but you had him pinned in place with your thighs pressed against his torso.

Xiao growled at the lack of movement.

This brought a smirk to your face, but it didn’t last long as Xiao quickly overpowered you.

He twisted his body to flip you around, and you suddenly found yourself on your back with Xiao hovering above you.

Xiao lined himself back up at your entrance, pressing into you without warning.

“Ah! Sh-shit, - Xiao!”

He didn’t respond, his fingers digging into the underside of your thighs as he pressed them against your chest. He began to thrust hungrily into you, controlled by the overwhelming desire that filled his body. You stared into his half-lidded eyes, watching the way his movements were almost animalistic above you.

“A- aah!” Your eyes began to lose focus as Xiao picked up his speed, his hips snapping against yours, lewd slapping filling the room.

Xiao’s movements were hungry, growing faster and faster, chasing a release that devoured any sense of restraint. You began to grow overwhelmed by the repeated hammering of his cock against your most sensitive parts.

He was becoming more aggressive, his hands pressing into your thighs until it bordered on pain, pinning you in place so he could thrust into you more easily. Your eyes began to roll into the back of your head as your mouth hung open, lewd moans and whimpers escaping your throat.

Xiao let out a growl as his movements became hungrier, more possessive, more aggressive.

The sounds of his cock bullying into you over and over made squelching and slapping noises that filled the room, mixing in with your gasps of pleasure.

“Ahh, Xiao…” You whined, squeezing your eyes shut and falling fully into the utter bliss he was giving you.

His fingers gripped into your legs even harder as his movements fell still, his hips settling against the plush of your ass.

You could feel his member twitch, followed by a rush of warmth, and you whimpered as you realized that he had just finished inside you… and that it felt good.

Xiao’s grip on your thighs relaxed as he blinked, realizing what the two of you had just done. He was a Yaksha plagued with Karmic Debt, harmful to any humans he came too close to… Including you. An immense wave of guilt washed over his body, making his heart wrench with grief.

“I… I’m sorry.” Xiao began to move backwards, pulling his member out of you.

“Wait.” You spoke, quickly moving your legs to wrap around his waist and stop him from backing away. Xiao froze, staring down at your flushed face. “Can we keep going?”

“You… You want me to stay?” Xiao questioned, baffled.

“Yes.” You responded.

Xiao didn’t need any further response from you. Once he realized you didn’t resent him for what he had just done, he lunged back towards you to hungrily devour your lips again.

With a new burst of strength, you sat upwards, grabbing onto his shoulders and flipping him over to pin him back down on the ground. You caught his lips with yours, teeth gnashing together as if you were trying to devour him.

At the same time, you shifted your hips to press Xiao’s quickly hardening dick back into your leaking entrance. You began to bounce fast, your legs straining as you forced yourself up and down him. You were hungry – desperate, even – for this.

Again, Xiao shifted his hips in sync with your movements, exaggerating the drag of his cock against your swollen and sensitive walls. You closed your eyes and dropped your head, trying your best to keep going as the pleasure in your core grew and grew.

The slapping of your hips against his grew wetter and wetter as you continued, the noises driving you further towards your climax. You could barely keep going, the coil in your abdomen tightening and tightening.

Xiao sensed this – his hands flew down to your waist, the snap of his hips becoming more and more aggressive as you fell fully into your impending orgasm.

As the coil finally snapped you threw your head back, crying out in pleasure as your walls convulsed around Xiao’s length.

Xiao groaned from the new sensation… it felt like you were trying to milk his next climax out of him.

The Yaksha stared up at the expression on your face, your head clouded by lust. The bandages on your arms began to slip down from the ferocity of your sexual act, revealing more of the angry red scars that marred your skin. The breath caught in his throat as he neared his climax, the lust overpowering all the guilt he felt for what his Karmic Debt had done to you.

Xiao pounded into you faster, harder, until he reached the precipice of his orgasm as well.

With something halfway between a cry and a whimper, he fell still, and you felt the familiar sensation of his climax spilling into you.

“Hah…a-ah..,” You murmured, your body relaxing, laying down on top of Xiao.

For a moment, everything in the room was quiet. All you could hear was the elevated breathing that came from the two of you and the rapid beating of your own heart.

You rested your head on Xiao’s shoulder, looking up at his face to see him staring blankly at the ceiling.

There was a perplexing expression on his face… You furrowed your brows as you stared closer, and realized it looked like tears were welling up in his eyes.

Xiao, for some reason, felt overwhelmed by everything that had happened. The way you had entered his life and turned it upside down, becoming his rival, then saving his life, and now he had just experienced something so profound and intimate for the first time with you.

“Are you… crying?” You questioned, picking your head up to stare down at the Yaksha.

“No. Adepti never show weakness in the form of tears.” Xiao responded bluntly. However, at the same time, you could clearly see a single tear spill over and trail down his face.

You reached a hand up and brushed it away with a bandaged finger, holding it up for Xiao to see.

“What’s this, then?” You asked.

Xiao looked at the wet spot on the bandage, then back to your face.

“The roof leaks.”

You chortled. Sparing a glance at the window, you could see the sunshine streaming through the curtains.

“Idiot.” A grin spread across your face as you stared down at him. Xiao merely blinked and looked to the side, more tears spilling from the corners of his eyes.

You laid a tender kiss on the wet trails his tears left down his cheeks then settled back down, resting your head on his shoulder once again.

For a couple of minutes, everything was silent. The two of you merely enjoyed each others’ presence, despite the fact that you were laying naked on the floor surrounded by long-forgotten clothes when there was a perfectly made bed only a couple of feet away.

After a while, Xiao cleared his throat and began to speak.

“I should, uhm.” Xiao paused for a moment, unsure of how to say what he was trying to say. “...remove myself from you, right?”

You realized his dick was still inside of you, and the two of you were just laying on the floor this way.

“N-no, let’s just stay like this a little longer.” You responded, hugging him slightly tighter.

~~~

A huge thanks to my beta readers for the help writing and the wonderful motivational xiao photo

1K notes · View notes

blue-jisungs · 10 months

Text

fast cars, slow kisses

summary. after a race with beomgyu, the night takes an unexpected turn

au. street racer (cars vroom vroom)!! also!! enha, lsfm and hwang minhyun cameo >_<

word count. 3,9k

warnings. uh so, yeah! blood, cursing (strong language if u will), one guy being misogynistic n talking shit, suggestive but not really, alcohol consumption

a/n. ngl i feel like it could be better? more racing n stuff but i’m pretty happy w the ending tho so… enjoy ^_^ also i never watched fast and furious so uh, that’s kinda ironic, aha!

also am i the only one who’s not over this concept? like i am still going insane thanks 😍

+++ if anyone is interested in reading a spin off about minhyun set in this au, go read crush on the track by one and only @slytherinshua !!! (i beg it’s so good)

the smell of gasoline filled your nostrils when you took a deep breath. with a corner of your eye you saw someone approaching you. tucking your hands in the pockets of your jacket you turn around to face them. it turns out to be your friends, le sserafim.

well, not all of them. lsfm – for short – is done with racing this season due to the training of their youngest members, who along with sakura, are walking towards you.

eunchae waved enthusiastically and you couldn’t help but mirror her smile.

“what’s up, youngsters?” you grinned, putting your sunglasses on top of your head.

“long time no see, huh?” sakura nodded and the younger girls high fived with you.

“y’know how it is…” you mumbled, leaning against your car.

“you’ve got this!” eunchae jumped excitedly, eyes scanning your vehicle

“of course i do. this beautiful beast never disappoints” a playful smirk painted on your lips as you noticed your rival in the crowd “and how’s your training going?”

“well we have to train more if we want to beat you some day but as for now… we’re pretty good” kazuha scoffed, earning a giggle from all of you

“oh, we better go!” eunchae stated upon seeing your rival’s car arriving “fighting! if you win you buy us tteokbokki!”

“yah!” you laughed after she ran off. sakura just shook her head

“beat his noisy ass” she hummed and you saluted dramatically

“yes ma’am”

your friends leave to watch you from the side. you and lsfm became friends even since they got into racing. being an only girl in your area got super boring so you were more than excited to see some new faces. chaewon and sakura used to race as co-drivers but then they formed a team and now they’re racing as they wish – with a co-driver or solo.

speaking of solo, you notice minhyun. he’s staring at your rival amused before looking at you. the former co-driver, now solo driver just like you, sticks his tongue out in a playful manner. you do the same, blowing a raspberry when you hear a laugh. you look at the source and notice beomgyu, your enemy.

quite literally.

“my arch nemesis” he whispered yet it was loud enough for you to hear.

“what’s up? ready to lose or should i give you some time to rethink your life choices?” you asked. beomgyu scoffed, crossing his arms.

“the only thing you’ll be rethinking is your future” he bit back, cocking an eyebrow.

“we’ll see about this one. if i keep winning with you all the time i might consider my next location though” a teasing tone of your voice made him roll his eyes “it’s getting boring, y’know?”

he was about to say something when a flagger approached the start line. you took it as a sign and both of you entered your cars.

as you reached your way to the top of racing world, beomgyu was quite the pain in the ass. you managed to win a couple of times against his teammates. and against him, too. but if someone was to draw a graph of the statistics it would be a sinusoid: you won one race, then beomgyu did. then you again, then him… over and over. you started getting sick of him in general: his snarky comments, loud shouting, the confidence in his voice, his ridiculously attractive voice–

“–‘s race! we have thursday’s child of tomorrow by together…!” the announcer pointed at beomgyu’s car, a loud round of applause hitting your ears. he dramatically wiped his eyes as if touched by the support and then winked at you. “and over here we have the first female champion of last year’s races! make some noise for furious!”

you lazily curled the corner of your lips, saluting. the nickname was a bit dumb and so obvious that you were inspired by fast and furious movie saga but at the beginning of your career you thought it was cool. eunchae told you once that after stepping out of the car you do look a bit furious no matter if you win or lose. which might be true because during the ride, you let your negative emotions go; hence the furrowed brows and all.

regarding beomgyu, you didn’t really know the origins of his nickname. it was creative, you’ll give him that. but in this sport the strangest nickname, the less chances the cops will find out your real identity… or so you hoped.

“ready?”

both of your cars’ exhaust pipes made a loud, growling noise. you looked at niki, the youngster who was the flagger today. you sent him finger guns and he did the same, a huge smile blooming on his face.

“three… two… one… go!”

with a gust of wind niki’s hair flew in different directions, both cars passing him by milimeters. before he managed to turn around to look at the vehicles, you were already far away.

you saw the neon sign that signalled you to take a turn. that’s what you liked about racing, too. sure, riding on a race track that you’ve already been to is nice. but the thrill of new locations is much more fuelling, especially after dark. the sun was about to set, sky glowing with vibrant oranges. normally you’d stop and watch but now you were busier with out catching beomgyu.

taking a sharp turn you managed to make him to slow down. shifting the gear stick to a another level, the car made a loud noise and you sped up. taking a glance at beomgyu in the mirror you huffed. asshole.

shaking your head you focused on the road, scanning the flashing lights of that showed you the directions. putting the pedal to the floor, knuckles turning white from gripping the steering wheel you took a deep breath.

because you were on a schedule and went first, you and beomgyu had to finish ten laps. then yunjin was racing with yeonjun and so on. you agreed on racing only for 10 so the younger ones have more fun. besides… tomorrow is saturday and you really needed to rest.

throughout the whole race beomgyu was in front of you a couple of times. thanks to your love and passion for making sudden drifts at turns, you managed to put him into the wall. he didn’t crash, of course, but had to slow down.

the sky gradually turned navy, the darkness overtaking the whole track. only a couple of red lights at the finish line blinked in the distance.

you opened your window when you started approaching it. with a whistle of wind you crossed it, cheers erupting from the crowd. beomgyu arrived shortly after you, just when you took off your helmet. niki walked up to you and cheered loudly. throwing your head back while laughing you patted his back. beomgyu walked up to you, a playful smile on your lips.

“i went easy on you” he grunted. you extended your hand, the manners stronger than your dislike towards him, scoffing.

“mhm, whatever makes you sleep at night” a hum left your mouth and he shook your hand. he was holding your hand a little too tightly but let go suddenly, eyes widening.

minhyun walked up to you, patting your back.

“good job. i wish it was a little brighter so i could see your drifting skills in full glory but i guess your win is good too” he hummed.

“shut up” you scoffed, punching his arm “are you staying or…?”

“yeah, i’ll stay for a bit. are you parking the car or should i do it?” he asked, pointing at your keys. minhyun kept your car at his place since it would be too suspicious for a average student to own a racing car.

“i’ll do it. maybe i’ll dig around in your garage” you sent him a toothy grin. minhyun just rolled his eyes.

entering your car again you noticed beomgyu looking at you with a pensive look on his face.

without giving it any more thought you drove away, turning on the radio. your heart still pumping with adrenaline, you let out a shaky breath.

beomgyu stayed until the end. yeonjun lost against jay, soobin won with sunghoon and niki raced with kai for fun.

“not your day, huh?” he heard heeseung’s voice. he turned around and grunted,

“tell me about it” beomgyu rolled his eyes and pointed at niki “he’s got some potential though”

“yeah… beer? me and some other guys are going to the bar nearby” heeseung grinned.

“you know i never say no to beer” beomgyu laughed “let me just tell my idiots”

a short moment later they all met up in the bar, except the youngest ones. some other fans that were watching the races were there too.

beomgyu let out a heavy sigh and looked over at heeseung.

“what?” he grunted upon realising his friend was staring at him.

“i’ve noticed something, you know?” the oldest member of enhypen racing team smiled mischievously.

“that’s what your eyes are for” beomgyu murmured and took a sip of beer.

“we know you’re salty after losing but let it go, beomgyu” soobin, his leader, nudged him. heeseung smirked and shook his head after catching yeonjun’s curious gaze.

“we’ll talk later, let’s change the subject. did you watch the football game yesterday?” he asked, a lively conversation breaking out.

an hour passed by and beomgyu had to go to the bathroom. he didn’t drink too much but his vision got a little blurry once he stood up.

after he finished and washed his hands, while leaving the room he overheard a conversation.

“that girl, huh? i don’t believe it” one man, who was bald, said

“what do you mean?” his companion asked

“it’s a girl, dumbass” the bald one laughed loudly as if it was the funniest thing ever “no way in hell she beat thursday’s child”

“yeah… it’s a bit weird” his friend grunted

“i bet they’re a couple. or she just slept with some guy to win… whore” the bald guy spat out.

adrenaline and alcohol rushing through beomgyu’s veins lead him towards the guy. it all happened in a blink of an eye: him grabbing the bald guy’s shirt, throwing a left hook on his face, the other guy’s screaming. the punch was so strong that the guy landed on the floor. beomgyu pinned him down and tried making another punch

“she’s skilled, you fucking misogynist” he spat out.

“what the fuck?” the bald man grunted and managed to duck the attack and roll away. beomgyu, a bit dizzy, stood up and realised what he did. well, too late…

“what’s your problem, man?!” was all he heard before a sharp wave of pain spreading through his face. he took a few steps back due to the impact.

“my problem? it’s you who can’t understand that women can be good at male dominated sports? or are you just jealous because your life is so pathetic?” beomgyu spat out and the guy grabbed his shirt.

“who are you to talk?!” before the bald guy hit him again, beomgyu put his forearms in front of his face in order to protect his face from getting hurt. then he took a chance and managed to get out of the man’s hold and attacked him again.

“wait, is that… beomgyu?” he heard heeseung’s voice.

“what? no, he’s here! right, beomgyu?beomgyu–?!“ soobin’s shouts faded when another throw was aimed at the brown haired boy’s head resulting in ringing in his ears.

if you weren’t in the kitchen, having a 2am snack, you probably wouldn’t hear the aggressive knocking at your front door.

still with the spoon in your mouth you opened the door and your eyes widened upon seeing… beomgyu.

“what’s up, baby girl?” he smirked, leaning against the doorway. you were to shut your door when you noticed the awful state of his hands… and face.

“what the fuck, choi?” you grunted, removing the spoon.

“i was just having a midnight walk and decided to pay you a visit” he sent you a toothy grin

“just tell me who did you annoy this time or i’m closing the door” you sighed, crossing your arms. you wouldn’t, though. his brow was busted, nose bleeding and not to mention the huge bruise forming on his cheek bone.

he sighed, scratching his neck. you saw a glimpse of his knuckles covered in blood.

“i just got into a bar fight, that’s all. you should–“ he started sheepishly.

“… see the other guy, yeah yeah. just… come in. don’t you have a first aid kit at your place?” you grunted and closed the door after he walked in “wait, how do you even know where i live?”

“uhh… spidey senses? also, that’s a quite pretty place you have here” beomgyu shrugged. you walked over to the sink, throwing the spoon in, hiding the ice cream you were eating and pointed at the table in your dinning room.

“sit down. if i see you snooping around you’re being kicked out. and kicked in your ass” you huff, looking at him threateningly. the light was better inside so now you saw other scratches on his face.

“yes ma’am” beomgyu breathed out and obediently sat down where you told him to.

he zoned out while looking at the picture hanging on the wall. you and minhyun, his arm thrown over yours as you did bunny ears behind his head. pft. you looked like a couple.

the sudden thud of you placing the first aid kit down on the table made him jerk, his knees jumping up and hitting the table.

“stop daydreaming and tell me what happened” you ordered, looking for hydrogen dioxide.

“i was just looking at your boyfriend” he grunted, missing the thundering look you gave him.

“minhyun is like a brother to me. i’d rather date you than him. besides, he already has a girlfriend” you mumbled, realising what you said. beomgyu didn’t seem to catch it though, so you moved on quickly “whatever. i’m patching you up so you owe me an explanation”

beomgyu sighed.

“we went drinking and… i just had to put some rational thoughts into some guy. with my fists, that’s all” he said and his eyes widened when you tenderly grabbed his chin and propped it upwards, forcing him to look up at him.

“we? also, are you still drunk?” you asked and your features suddenly softened “i’m sorry but this will sting a bit”

beomgyu hissed when you pressed a cotton pad with the liquid on it, cleaning his open wounds.

“me and my team and also heeseung, jay, jake and sunghoon” beomgyu sighed “and i’m not drunk. i was. but the fight really sobered me up, y’know?”

“i assume. so, if i call soobin will he tell me the truth?” the question left him silent. you wiped the blood trickling from his nostrils gently.

he sighed again, closing his eyes.

“you’re a bad liar, choi. i noticed it the first time we met” you laughed quietly but there was no venom in your words “careful, here i go again”

he focused on the gentle touch of your fingers on his chin. suddenly you halted and he could hear your focused breathing.

“are you hungry?”

his eyes shot open, widening in surprise. then, his lips curled upwards almost recreating a v shape.

“actually, i am. whatcha got?” he asked. you went to the kitchen and beomgyu brushed his fingers against the spot where yours were just seconds ago. returning back with some milk bread he just noticed the way your hands were shaking.

“so you just beat up a guy for fun?” you asked. beomgyu scoffed and grabbed the bread, sinking his teeth in it. gosh, he was starving.

you carefully put a bandage on his brow, your own knitting due to the focused state you were in. he was munching slowly and suddenly you realised how his cheeks were dusted in a pretty, pink shade.

“well… he was taking shit about you” beomgyu blurted out after he swallowed, looking at you with his big doe eyes. you’d assume his blushing was caused by the alcohol in his system but the truth is… beomgyu realised how you were standing between his legs, so close to him.

“what?” you whispered, frowning.

he shrugged and took another bite.

you grabbed a nearby chair and sat on it, grabbing his right hand. you put some hydrogen dioxide on the wounds on his knuckles too, causing him to curse.

“what the fuck? why didn’t you warn me?” he grunted with his mouth full. your mind was racing, and so was your heart. did this mean that beomgyu – the guy who hated you with passion – stood up for you? and got into a fight?

“stop thinking so intensely, you’ll pop a vein” beomgyu chuckled but it became clear to him what you just realised too “it’s not what you think, i still hate you…”

his voice trailed off. you bandaged his knuckles in silence, heart thumping against your rib cage so hard, you thought it might break out any second.

“…he was just being misogynistic, that’s all” he added quietly after a while.

“are you sure it’s not because you like me?” you teased with a playful smile and looked up, expecting him to throw a snarky comment at you.

instead, you were met with his soft gaze on you and his pretty lips slightly parted. your smile dropped slightly, eyes locked with his. for a while though because his gaze shifted to your lips momentarily.

you gulped, trying to shake off the urge to… kiss him…?

“all done. patched up. you should take a shower though because you smell like a bar itself–“ you mumbled, looking up.

“can i kiss you?” beomgyu breathed out suddenly, his ebony eyes sparkling with adoration.

you nodded slowly, grabbing his hand. you intertwined fingers with his gently, beomgyu stood up and leaned in, cupping your face with his free hand. it was a bit harsh and calloused against your burning cheek, but his lips; oh his lips. they were pillowy, making you melt into the kiss. it was nothing but a loving kiss, reassembling a way that lovers kiss after they reunite after a long while without seeing each other. slow but sensual made your head spin and heart race faster than your car couple hours before.

your other hand travelled to the nape of his neck, playing with his hair. beomgyu hissed suddenly, pulling away.

“did i hurt you?” you asked, eyes widening in worry. he shook his head, a goofy smile on his face.

“i thought i was dreaming for a moment” he murmured and his hand slid down to your chin, propping it up slightly “and i was getting uncomfortable”

the taste of sweet bread he was eating earlier lingered on your lips. beomgyu leaned in again but you playfully tilted your head.

“wait, are you really kissing me? your arch nemesis?” a teasing hum left your mouth. he just rolled his eyes

“shut up” he grunted and kissed you again, your lips curling into a smile.

air was knocked out of your lungs one more time, his plush lips a cause of that. this time though you could taste the beer on his tongue. which reminded you of–

you leaned away, beomgyu panting.

“what?” he breathed out, chasing back after your lips.

“i know i’m irresistible but take a shower, you stink” you let out a soft laugh “and we’ll talk in the morning, okay? you must be tired”

“oh… yeah, sure” he nodded.

you showed him the way to the bathroom and gave some fresh clothes (minhyun’s shirt that you stole once). then you had a fifteen minute fight about who’s going to sleep on the couch and eventually you got it (by winning in a rock paper scissors)

you would lie if you said that you slept well. no, it wasn’t the couch. your mind was racing with thoughts: why did he kiss you? will he remember it? because what if he was still drunk? will it… lead to something else?

you hated beomgyu, sure, but that was because you were rivals in what you did. you never really… met him. and this all… was different. nice. got your heart warming up. you promised yourself that once you wake up in the morning and he’s gone, you’ll act like none of this never happened.

the sound of metal clanking and the smell of… burnt food was what woke you up. jolting forward from the couch you saw beomgyu wandering around in the kitchen, humming something.

“you know that for arson you can be up to 10 years in prison?” you asked, lazily standing up from the couch. he squealed, surprised by your sudden appearance.

“you woke up” he laughed, taking a sip of tea.

“i did. and you’re trying to burn my house down?” you cocked an eyebrow, crossing your arms. beomgyu shook his head, placing two plates on the counter.

“i did. but i changed my mind and made pancakes” he hummed and took them to the dining room. you watched him in awe, heart fluttering. he stayed.

you sat down, staring at the food.

“i felt a little guilty you slept on the couch. and i was hungry, so…” he shrugged and started eating. but he stopped upon seeing you gazing at the pancakes with a small smile “i promise i didn’t poison it… although it was tempting”

“that’s not it. i’m just thinking… do you– well, why did you…” you trailed off, not sure how to put your thoughts into words. beomgyu understood, his features softening.

“y/n, the moment i saw you for the first time after the first race you won with taehyun i was whipped. i’m not kidding you” he said, your eyes widening. beomgyu chuckled, bright smile adoring his face “yes, i liked you. i have liked you for two years now… well, i still do… it’s just… the emotions after the race and all… we just didn’t start off too good and uh… shit happens”

you snorted, suddenly the way you caught him staring way too many times suddenly making sense.

“so if you want to forget about the kiss and all of that happened, i’d be sad but i’ll understand. and also… thank you. for patching me up and not… kicking out” he said, looking at the bandages on his knuckles

“i’m a bit surprised, i’m not going to lie… but… what do you want to do now?” you asked, blush creeping on your face. mischievous glint sparkled in his eye and you knew you’re doomed.

“i can take you on a date or two, for a romantic ride in my fast car” he smiled boyishly, suddenly leaning closer and whispering “and then we’d make it official and could make out on the back office of our usual racing track… y’know, keeping the facade we still hate each other…”

“shut up” you grunted, looking away,

“awwh, did i make you shy?” he cooed, pushing the plate with your pancakes closer “eat up and i’ll take you for a ride, huh?”

“only if we race there” you grunted, a smile lingering on your lips. beomgyu grinned and it’s safe to say it was the fastest way you’ve ever eaten (wolfed down) your breakfast.

[ masterlist <3 ]

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