#that he’s safe now and it’s unfortunate that he had to die by a misunderstanding to feel free again | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bbangsoonie · 3 years

Text

11:11

member: changmin (q) genre: angst word count: 6,802 synopsis: when changmin finds himself trapped in the past, repeating the day of your death, he’s convinced that he’s been given a chance to save you. warning(s): death

Changmin woke up with a dreading feeling. He hadn’t set an alarm despite it being a weekday. He was hoping to sleep through the day and wake up the next morning. Unfortunately for him, the sleeping pills he took the night before only allowed him rest until noon.

He checked his phone, staring at the date. A year had officially passed by since that fateful day. Groaning, he threw his phone back onto his bed. He stayed under the blanket for a while, not wanting to get up. However, the sunlight shining through his window refused to let him go back to sleep.

Declaring defeat, he sat up and scowled at the sun. It was annoyingly bright today. The weather had no regard for his mood and was unusually warm for a winter day. It pissed him off.

He heard his phone vibrate and chose to ignore what he guessed was Chanhee’s daily check in. Still not fully awake, Changmin walked towards his fridge to grab a cold water bottle. After gulping half of it down, he let out a sigh.

His brain was still at war with himself. Half of it felt obligated to visit you and half of it wanted to drown his feelings in alcohol. He stood there, zoning out, contemplating his options.

Eventually, his guilt triumphed and he found himself throwing on whatever clean clothes he could find. He trudged out of his apartment and down the stairs. On his way to the main road to find a taxi, he passed by a flower shop. The same sense of obligation from earlier made him backtrack and step inside.

It had been over a year since he last visited the place. It felt strange to be back. The emotions he came here with were entirely different from the emotions he had back then.

He asked the worker for a small bouquet of daisies and muttered a word of thanks after receiving his change. After flagging down a taxi, he braced himself for the long ride.

The car escaped from the noisy city and headed towards a more remote area. He almost laughed, remembering how often you would mention that you wanted to be buried in nature and not locked up in a jar behind glass. He used to always chide you for thinking of and planning for your death but in the end, you had been the insightful one. He never thought he’d be traveling to your grave—at least not while he was still in his twenties.

When he finally arrived, his feet rooted itself and he couldn’t bear to walk further. He hadn’t been here since your burial a year ago. A wave of embarrassment suddenly hit him. He truly was an asshole to you until the end. He couldn’t even make things up to you even after your passing.

He hadn’t made any efforts to visit you but it was painfully obvious to those around him that he was still grieving. He blamed himself for letting you die. That burden prevented him from continuing to live life without you. His friends watched as he willingly ruined his own life. He gave up dance and even came to resent music. He spent the past year surviving and not living; he filled his time with part time jobs that would earn him the money he needed for rent and food.

In Changmin’s mind, he didn’t deserve to be happy when your life was cut short. He wished so badly that he could trade places with you.

With another sigh, he made his way towards your grave. He could tell your family stopped by earlier that morning. Someone had left a big bouquet of pink flowers for you. Beside it was a photo of you smiling, oblivious to the tragedy that would occur just a few months after it was taken.

He forced a smile, recalling how you used to complain about how everyone would bring you pink flowers instead of daisies for every occasion. Daisies were your favorite flower and Changmin was the only one who ever remembered.

He placed his own bouquet down and sat next to it. Holding up your photo, he spoke to it as if you would reply.

“It’s been a while hasn’t it, Y/n?” he attempted to say in a cheery voice. “I’m sorry it took me so long to come back. I… I was afraid. Seeing you like this really makes reality hit as if waking up in an empty bed isn’t a strong enough reminder.”

He set the picture down and turned around to face your headstone. Hesitantly, he wiped at a spot and fell into silence.

“Everyone tells me that the accident wasn’t my fault. I don’t believe it but even if it was true, I still hate myself for letting you leave when the last words I said to you weren’t that I love you. Not only did you die a painful death, but you died with the hurt I inflicted on your heart,” his voice cracked as he choked back tears.

Flashbacks of that day flooded his memory. He winced, finally confronting what he couldn’t for a year.

Changmin had left the dance studio angry. Angry at himself. Angry at his inability to perfect the choreography. Unlucky timing had you outside waiting for him to finish. He had planned on blowing off some steam by meeting Sunwoo for drinks but was stopped by you. You had noticed how upset he was and wanted to cheer him up but was brushed off.

Changmin knew he was snappy when he was pissed and didn’t want you to be on the receiving end. He wanted to spare you from walking on eggshells around him and knew that Sunwoo would quietly let him rant without getting hurt by his actions or words. Instead of clarifying, however, he let you misunderstand and walked away.

You watched him leave, staring at his back. The past month with him had been rocky. You knew he was stressed from preparing for the upcoming competition but you still missed the bubbly Changmin. Nowadays, he was more sensitive and on edge than happy and affectionate.

You had bought matching couple rings in hopes of brightening up his mood. They were simple rings made of silver and meant for the pinky finger. It was to symbolize your promises to each other—to always love and appreciate each other. Yours was already on your pinky but his was left in the box you were hiding in your pocket. You sighed and figured that you’d get the chance to give it to him later.

Except that chance never came. Changmin only came across that ring later when he found it on his table back at his place.

“You know, I left you knowing you probably thought I was irritated with you too. It was because I assumed I’d get to clear that up later. Like always. But later never came,” he fidgeted with the ring that now never left his own pinky.

What a cruel way to teach him a lesson.

“I guess at one point, I started taking you for granted. Taking our time together for granted. Who would've known that death would literally do us part before we even made our vows?” he chuckled at the irony. “I never told you but I intended on proposing to you as soon as we graduated. I got ahead of myself and was planning things way in advance. Would you believe me if I said I already decided where to go for our honeymoon?”

He could almost hear you laugh. If you were next to him, you’d lean on his shoulder as you doubled over in laughter. You had loved and teased him for his sweet side.

“That’s how sure I was that we’d get forever together. You spent the rest of your life with me but now I have the rest of my life ahead of me without you. A little unfair, don’t you think?”

Changmin had so many regrets. He wanted nothing but to go back in time and re-do things. After bottling everything inside him for a full year, everything was spilling out now that he was there with you.

You and Changmin hadn’t moved in together but you often slept over. That day, you waited until night for him to come home. He never did.

Sunwoo had called you from the restaurant they were at, asking you to come pick Changmin up. He wasn’t completely wasted but he was definitely too drunk to go home by himself. Sunwoo apologized, saying he couldn’t take him home because he had a prior arrangement to attend.

So you ended up sitting across from your boyfriend, waiting for him to sober up a little more before leaving the restaurant. This was not how you thought you would spend your anniversary with him. When he stormed off from the dance studio after spending the whole day there, you had already presumed he forgot what day it was for you two. You tried to be understanding, knowing that he felt extreme pressure about the competition.

You didn’t expect any gifts but you had hoped that you would at least have dinner together. But now that was also out of the window. You suppressed your annoyance and reminded yourself of how happy Changmin was when he was dancing. You wanted to be supportive of him.

“Why did you come here?” Changmin asked. Something about his tone irked you.

“What?” you frowned.

“I’m a fully grown man who can find his way back home fine,” his words dug a knife into your heart. You wondered if he forgot that you were the reason why he made it home safe and sound after drinking.

“You should be thankful that I always take care of your drunk ass,” you huffed. “You know, you can’t just count on me to do all these things for you. I do it because I want to but that doesn’t mean I don’t deserve to be appreciated.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” he sighed.

You hated that look on his face. He had that look often nowadays. That tired look that screamed that he was too tired to even argue with you. It scared you. Even arguing took interest that he didn’t seem to give you these days. You would rather fight with him than live in such silence.

So you did. You exploded at him.

“No, Changmin, I don’t know. I never know what you’re thinking anymore. You don’t tell me anything and just assume that I can read your mind. And it feels like I’m expected to play the role of your girlfriend when you don’t even act like my boyfriend. You need to take a step back and realize how grateful we should be towards each other.”

After your outburst, you waited for his response. You waited for him to either yell back or apologize. Anything to show that he still cared. Instead, he said something that made you wish that he just didn’t say anything at all.

“Why are you being like this today?”

You felt the knife dig deeper into your heart and his words stunned you into silence.

“You’ve changed,” you whispered.

And with that, you got up and left. Realizing he screwed up, Changmin ran out to chase you. It had gotten late and dark while he was inside and the sky was now pouring buckets. Without an umbrella, you were getting hit by the rain that hid the tears wetting your cheeks. When he finally caught up to you, he grabbed onto your wrist and spun you around to face him.

“You asked why I’m being like this? Today? Well, news flash, Changmin. Today’s our third year anniversary but I guess I’m the only one who cared to remember,” you cried.

His heart shattered at the sight of your face. He never meant to upset you. And he certainly didn’t mean to forget your anniversary. It had slipped his mind while he was focused on practicing. All that seemed futile when he saw the pain on your face.

You didn’t give him a chance to reply and shook his grip off of you. Wanting to avoid him, you ran to cross the street before the light turned red. At that moment, however, a car failed to break in time and the rain caused the driver to lose control.

Changmin’s eyes widened as he watched the vehicle crash into you. The noise was terrifying but seeing your body fly in the air and fall to the ground was even more horrifying. His legs moved before his brain processed the scene he just witnessed. He ran to your side and tried to shake you awake. His hand trembled when he saw that it was bloodied by the wound on your head.

The driver came out of the car, feeling both disbelief and guilt about what just happened. Changmin screamed at him to call the ambulance before returning his attention back to you. He begged you to stay alive but you took your last breath that night at 11:11.

After Changmin came back to Seoul, Chanhee caught him outside of his apartment and dragged him to dinner. He knew that his friend would be mourning all day and not remember to eat. So they went to a nearby restaurant and he practically had to shove the soup into his mouth.

By the time Changmin arrived home, it was late. He washed up and plopped onto his bed, wishing the day would hurry up and come to an end. Staring at the ceiling, he waited for sleep to take him out of his misery for a while. Eventually, his fatigue took over and he fell asleep the second the clock turned to 11:11.

When he awoke, he didn’t feel as groggy as he normally did. He felt strangely well rested. Wondering how long he had slept for, he checked his phone for the time. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion when he saw the date. It was yesterday’s date but with the previous year. He figured it was a cruel glitch on the device’s part and threw it back down.

He got up to get ready for his shift and fumbled around to look for the sneakers he just recently purchased. No matter how hard he looked, it was nowhere to be found. He found it odd but settled for an old pair of sneakers he hadn’t worn in a while.

After he put them on, he turned the doorknob to leave. He swung the door open and was shocked at the sight in front of him. You were standing there, holding a bag of groceries. Just like you did a year ago.

“Uh Changmin?” you stared at him, waiting for him to move so you could walk in.

Changmin was speechless. His brain felt like it stopped functioning; he didn’t know how to react to the familiar scene in front of him.

“Is this a dream?” he asked out loud.

His heart was racing. You hadn’t shown up in his dreams in so long. Now that you appeared to him, there were so many things he wanted to tell you. He wanted to tell you that he didn’t mean to hurt you. That he was sorry. But in that moment, all he could manage to do was pull you in for a hug.

“Is something wrong, baby?” you asked.

“Everything. N-nothing,” he stuttered.

Was he supposed to talk to you about everything that happened? Was he supposed to just enjoy reliving this day? He couldn’t decide.

You chuckled at the peculiarity of your boyfriend, finding him endearing. You motioned for him to move over and let you in, which he complied while still in a daze. You placed the groceries on the table and began to put away what needed to be refrigerated.

“Are you going to the studio to practice today as well?” you asked, opening a small carton of milk for your boyfriend.

He slowly took the drink you handed him and nodded. He then shook his head, not wanting to repeat his mistakes.

“Today’s our anniversary. We should do something special,” he suggested.

You lit up, excited to go on a date with him. You were glad you chose to dress up today.

“What do you have in mind?” you asked.

“Hmm how about that art gallery you’ve been wanting to go to?” he smiled at your happy expression. “I haven’t had lunch yet so we can eat some pasta before we go.”

So you two headed out to your favorite Italian restaurant and he ordered a bunch of dishes. You had protested, insisting that you wouldn’t be able to finish but he insisted that he wanted to spoil you that day.

He felt like he was on cloud nine as he watched you enjoy your meal. He missed this. He missed seeing you wiggle in your seat because of how good the food was. He missed cutting your steak for you because you were clumsy with knives. He hoped the dream wouldn’t end any time soon.

Noticing that he wasn’t eating much, you picked up a slice of pizza and held it in front of his mouth. His cheeks filled up after he took a bite and you laughed at how cute he looked. Your laughter prompted him to laugh as well, showing off his dimples that you loved.

You left the restaurant stuffed and was ready to fall into a food coma. Yet you couldn’t refuse when Changmin bought you your favorite ice cream. You strongly believed that people had a second stomach for dessert. You walked with the ice cream in one hand and with Changmin’s hand in the other. You stuck closer to him and leaned your head on his shoulder. He turned to look at you and didn’t want to ever look away.

After spending a couple of hours at the art gallery, you found an arcade and tugged him inside. You bet on dinner over three rounds of a vintage game, which you won. You cheered when your victory flashed across the screen, making him chuckle. To be honest, he let you win by pretending to slip up at the end but seeing your joy was worth it.

To Changmin’s discomfort, you chose the samgyupsal place that you two had fought at. Of course, you didn’t know that and just wanted to spend the night eating meat and drinking beer. Although hesitant, he agreed to your menu selection.

Changmin was indescribably elated to be able to sit and chat with you for hours. He didn’t even notice the rainstorm that began once again outside. He was too busy listening to you talk about one of your assignments for a random elective class you took but ended up liking. You rambled on about how your professor was extremely kind and lenient with grading.

By the end of the night, you two left the restaurant and he grew anxious, anticipating the end of the dream. You took notice of his sudden change in demeanor and questioned him about it. Before you could hear an answer, however, your hat was snatched and taken away by the wind. Not wanting it to get wet and dirty, you chased after it.

It all happened so fast. Again. Just as you were about to catch the hat, it blew further away, causing you to step out into the road. And again, there was nothing Changmin could do about the car that crashed into you.

This time, Changmin woke up with the feeling of falling from a tall height. The sensation startled him awake and he jumped up gasping. He scanned his surroundings, unsure of what he just experienced.

“A blissful dream turned into yet another nightmare,” he groaned.

He paused, reaching out for his phone to check the date. Both his jaw and phone dropped at the repeated date.

“No way,” he muttered. He shook his head, refusing to believe what was happening. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

He racked his brain for any plausible explanations. Surely this was another dream. A dream within a dream. Or maybe he’d finally lost it and was hallucinating everything. Believing in the latter, he made up his mind to finally go to the therapist Chanhee had been bugging him to go to. He quickly got dressed and put his shoes to head out. He paused when his hand grabbed the door.

“Surely it won’t happen again… right?” he wondered out loud.

To his surprise, you were there again on the other side of the door when he opened it. Trying to figure out what was going on, he slammed the door shut and froze. Outside, you blinked at the door in your face. Puzzled at your boyfriend’s behavior, you knocked.

Inside, Changmin flinched at the sudden noise. He was bewildered and beyond confused. This had to be a joke. Or a dream. Or a hallucination. How could you be real? There was no way you were actually back.

Or maybe, it was his chance to set things right. Maybe, if he did everything right, he could prevent your death. The idea sounded ingenious and insane to him. Taking a leap of faith, he flung the door back open and gazed at you. Still skeptical, he extended his hand out to hold yours. It felt warm, unlike the last time he held it in the rain. He wanted to cry in both shock and joy. He swallowed the lump rising in his throat and took the groceries from you.

“Are you okay, baby?” you asked, following him inside.

“I’m okay as long as you’re with me,” he said in a shaky voice.

You chuckled as you began to organize the groceries just like you did the day before.

“Are you going to the studio to practice today as well?” you asked, opening a small carton of milk.

Changmin stared at the milk you offered again. So many thoughts ran through his head as he tried to understand the situation. He determined that this was a blessing. He was given an opportunity to go back in time and change things. To save you.

“Let’s go watch a movie today,” he said.

He thought out and planned the rest of the day. He would sneak out in the middle of the movie to go buy a present for you. Using the excuse of an upset stomach, he went and bought a necklace he had been eyeing for months. It was quite expensive so he had saved up little by little and now he could finally afford to give it to you.

With the corner of his eye, he saw a couple looking at the ring section together. As if caught in a trance, he found himself walking towards the engagement rings. He gaped at the endless options of diamonds that sparkled as bright as your eyes. He bit his lip, contemplating if he should buy a ring as well. He initially wanted to wait until you both graduated but graduation never came for you. It was one of the biggest regrets of his life.

So he carefully took a look at the rows of rings until he saw one that immediately felt like it was meant for you. He quickly asked the worker to help him with his purchase and ran back into the theater to finish the rest of the movie with you.

You didn’t suspect a thing until he took the necklace out after lunch and put it on for you. You beamed at the surprise gift, eager to show him yours. Shyly, you retrieved the couple ring from your purse.

“It’s a promise ring meant for your pinky,” you explained as you slid it onto his finger. “A promise to always love and appreciate each other.”

He smiled at how proud you looked.

“See?” you showed him the ring on your own pinky.

“I love it,” he held his hand next to yours, admiring the view. “But uh I actually have a ring for you as well.”

With his heart pounding, he pulled out the square box and stood up. He took a deep breath before getting down on one knee, making you gasp. You felt tears brimming your eyes as he opened the box to reveal the diamond ring.

Watching proposal videos had always made you cringe. You didn’t get why people would cry. But in that moment, it all made sense when you found yourself unable to verbally reply. As a college student, you never expected him to propose. Sure, you had thought of marrying him but that seemed like such a faraway idea. You knew Changmin would always be in your future and didn’t see yourself marrying anyone else but him. So you managed to nod before he placed the ring on your finger.

“I know the timing may seem premature but with you, I want to have the courage to do what my heart desires. I want to see you walk down the aisle towards me. I want to show the world that I’m yours. I want to spend our honeymoon at Bora Bora and have two kids together. I want to raise a dog with you, just like you always dreamed of. I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” he confessed.

After hearing his words, you couldn’t hold back your tears anymore. He embraced you in his arms and you buried your face into his chest as you sniffled. Resting his chin on your head, he wished time would stop. All he wanted was to stay in this moment forever.

By the time night approached again, he made sure to keep you away from the street and from any vehicles. You wondered why he was being so overprotective and clinging onto you. He didn’t offer an explanation and just gave you a nervous smile.

Looking at his watch, he let out a deep breath when he saw that it was almost 11 PM. His leg shook anxiously as he held your hand tighter. You had insisted on enjoying the sounds of the city in the rain so you two were sitting at a random bus stop.

All of a sudden, the cry of a child was heard. You turned around to see a little girl who seemed to be lost. You stood up to go help but Changmin sat you back down.

“You stay here. I’ll go,” he said, feeling uneasy.

While he brought the little girl to the bus stop to avoid the rain, a young boy caught your attention. He was playing with a ball and you wanted to warn him to be careful. Before you could open your mouth, however, he dropped the ball and ran into the street to get it back. You panicked, seeing a motorcycle speeding towards the kid.

You ran out to pull the child back but was hit instead. Changmin’s heart dropped at the sound of the collision. When he turned back to find you, you were laying on the wet ground with blood pooling around you. Seeing you die for the third time wasn’t any less traumatic. In fact, it broke him even more. He hated himself for letting it happen again.

“Y/n, please please wake up,” he begged as he held your face in his hands. “You can’t leave me. Not again. I promised myself that I would change your fate. Y/n, please!”

Every time Changmin woke up, that day repeated itself. And each time, he would try to keep you alive. But no matter how hard he tried, that cursed time of 11:11 always ended his brief time with you with the same outcome.

When he kept you inside, you fell down the stairs. When he tried to make you sleep by tucking you in early, you never woke up. Thinking it was Seoul that was the problem, he even took you down to Busan. Paranoid, he even spent the whole day and night with you at his place. But every time the clock hit 11:11, the inevitable would occur and he would wake up to repeat it once again.

The seventh time he awoke to the same day, he screamed in frustration.

“What the hell am I supposed to do?” he yelled out.

He cried into his sleeves, wondering if this was his punishment for being unable to save you. While he wallowed in grief, he heard you knock on his door. He wiped away his tears and got up to greet you. Oblivious to his mood, you walked in and opened the refrigerator like you did the previous times.

“Are you going to the studio to practice today as well?” you asked, opening a small carton of milk.

“Let’s just stay in today. I’ll cook you something,” he bitterly smiled when he saw that the engagement ring was no longer on your finger.

He rummaged through his kitchen, looking for ingredients. You sat down next to the counter and watched as he made you kimchi fried rice. You enjoyed watching him cook. He didn’t do it often because he wasn’t very confident about his skills but you loved the gesture. You thought it was cute when he had that concentrated look he usually saved for dancing.

After lunch, you spent the next few hours watching movies. You had eventually noticed how sad he was. You looked over at your boyfriend who seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts. Mustering up some bravery, you proposed watching a horror movie. You knew it was his favorite genre but didn’t watch scary movies with him often because you got scared easily. Slightly surprised by your suggestion, he agreed and let you choose one of the recommended movies on Netflix.

At every jump scare, you snuggled closer to him. Throughout the whole film, you clung onto his arm and he comforted you by stroking your head. Treasuring the time he got to spend with you, he allowed himself to feel at ease for a bit.

For dinner, you convinced him to go out to eat. On the way back, he lured you into a gift shop, kicking himself for not preparing a present ahead of time. While you were busy looking at the dolls, he managed to pick out a bracelet and slid it into his pocket after secretly paying for it. He knew it would be gone when the day reset and dreaded having to see your listless body again later.

When you two returned back to his place, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. He wanted to savor every second he was able to spend with you. Noticing his gaze, you stared at him back, bringing a smile to his face. You poked his dimple, laughing at his expression.

“So I got you a little something. I hope you didn’t think that I forgot our anniversary,” he said as he put it on your wrist.

Smiling, you took out the gift you had prepared.

“It’s a promise ring meant for your pinky,” you said as you slid the ring onto his finger. “A promise to always love and appreciate each other.”

“See?” you revealed the ring on your own finger.

After hearing those words for the nth time, he finally broke down. He began to bawl, catching you off guard. For a few minutes, he wept as you tried to soothe him.

“Okay, spill. What’s been bothering you all day, Changmin?” you demanded.

He sighed, knowing what he was about to say was insane. He didn’t want to scare you but it all came out as word vomit.

“I’ve been reliving this day multiple times. I know it sounds crazy—it is crazy—but I was sent back in time. It’s actually supposed to be a year from now, a day after today. But instead, I’m stuck in this endless loop trying to save you. You died, Y/n. You died a year ago and you keep dying again and again! I thought I was given this opportunity because of all the regrets I had. The day you died, I was a complete jerk and you got into an accident after we argued. I blamed and resented myself. I had so many “what if’s” and “if only’s” that it tormented me,” he paused to catch his breath.

“I thought I had to repeat this day until I successfully prevented your death but nothing’s working. I can’t change things!” he cried. “I’ve tried over and over and over again. I’ve tried keeping you away from the street, taking you out of the city, and even locking us up in this damn apartment and nothing’s working! Every time 11:11 comes around, the same conclusion happens.”

You sat in silence, unsure of how to process all the information he just threw at you. He was way too emotional for this to be a joke and too upset for it to be unreal. But at the same time, you wanted it to be fake. You didn’t want to believe it. You were still so young. You had hopes and dreams you had yet to achieve. You wanted to crumble but you couldn’t bear to do so after seeing how heartbroken Changmin was. After thinking for some time, you finally spoke up.

“Maybe you were given a chance not to save me but to let me go,” you said quietly. ”You said you regretted the day I died. Maybe this is your chance to get closure. Send me off in peace. Find peace yourself.”

“No. No way. I’m not letting you leave me again. Not after all I’ve been through,” he said, desperately hugging you. “I finally get to hold you in my arms again. It’s okay if I have to relive this day forever. As long as I can see you, I’m okay with that.”

“Changmin...” your heart broke at the sight of his crestfallen face.

You let him keep his tight hold on you. He was so afraid you’d disappear again that he refused to let you or himself fall asleep. You looked at the clock and saw that the time was approaching.

“Baby, you know you can’t. I’m not coming back to life. I can’t. That’s not how the world works. We were blessed to have the chance to say our final goodbyes. Not everyone gets that. We’re lucky. We get to remind each other of how much we love each other and I get to tell you that I want you to be happy even if I’m not by your side. I’ll still be with you. In your heart. As long as you keep me there,” you pulled away to meet his eyes. “I don’t want you to be miserable without me. I want you to live your life to the fullest. Let me live vicariously through you.”

“But I have so many things I want to do with you. So many things I never got to say to you,” he stammered.

“Nobody gets to fulfill all their desires,” you smiled sadly. “Just know that I know how you feel. I know that you love me. I know that you want to grow old together. I know that you want to see mini me and mini you. I do too. I’m so sorry I won't be able to do that with you.”

Tears rolled down your cheeks. Admitting it out loud made it feel real.

“You have no idea how badly I want to walk down that aisle with you. I want to live happily ever after while bickering with you. I want to see you dance and I want to succeed in my own career. I hardly lived over two decades but you made me so happy for most of it. I’m glad I got to love you. It’s a shame I won’t get to get my degree after studying so hard but there are bigger regrets. Like wishing I had spent more time with you. Wishing we took more trips together.”

Changmin looked at you with a pained expression. He wished that he had taken more pictures with you. That he had gone on more dates with you. That he made you laugh more.

“I guess we were given this opportunity in exchange for all of that. At least now I’ll get to leave knowing that I’m loved and that you know I love you. Our last day wasn’t spent arguing but hugging,” you pointed out.

The two of you lain wordlessly on his bed. The only sound was the clock on his wall ticking.

“Can you tell my family that I love them? And my friends too. I wish I could say goodbye to everyone but that would be greedy of me,” you said wistfully.

At his silence, you turned to look at him. When you saw the guilt on face, you sat up and beckoned for him to do the same. You glanced at the clock, taking note of the time.

“Ji Changmin, I love you. Thank you for making me the happiest girl in the world,” you smiled with tears in your eyes. “While we make promises with this ring, can you also promise me another thing?”

You waited for him to nod before continuing.

“Promise me that you won’t blame yourself for anything and that you’ll move on. I want you to have all the extra happiness I’ll miss out on. I’ll be expecting you to lead a fruitful life for my sake too,” you held out your pinky, waiting for him to wrap his around yours.

“It’s okay if I start to fade out of your memory over the years,” you added. “I’ll understand when my face starts to become fuzzy to you. I’ll even understand when you get married and have kids. I’ll be your kids’ godmother and look out for them. I can’t wait to see little baby Ji’s.”

“But I don’t want that if it’s not with you…” he whispered.

“Don’t be silly. You’re still young and have the rest of your life ahead of you. I’ll be mad if I’m the one that’s holding you back. Now, hurry up and promise me. My arm’s hurting,” you shook your pinky at him, urging him to lock fingers together.

It tore him apart but he shakily held out his hand to make his promise. More tears escaped his eyes each time he blinked.

11:05.

Changmin held your tear-stained cheeks in his hands, staring into your eyes. You hated the sad look in his own eyes but knew yours was the same. He hated the ominous feeling that predicted that this would be his last time in the loop. Now that he came to terms with the fixed ending, he would be freed from his desperate desire for a different outcome.

“Thank you, Y/n, for teaching me what love is. From when I first met you up until now, there hasn’t been a single moment that I didn’t cherish. I love you. I love you so so much. I spent the past year unable to forget you and I never will. I’m going to believe that you’ll be watching over me and I’m going to make you proud. I’m going to experience both my and your share of happiness. So don’t worry about me. I won’t be able to follow you soon but I’ll join you up there one day. Please wait for me.”

“I may be your first love but I certainly don’t hope I’ll be your last. Instead, I hope that I’ll be your endless love,” you hummed, feeling drowsy.

“Of course,” he affirmed. “I love you, Y/n.”

“I love you too, Changmin.”

Changmin awoke feeling oddly comforted. The sun was shining through the window again and his apartment didn’t feel as empty for some reason. He eyed his phone and hesitantly picked it up. He was filled with mixed emotions when he saw that the year was finally set back to the present.

Out of habit from the past week, his eyes lingered on the door. You weren’t going to come knocking again but you also weren’t going to die again. You were finally sent off in peace.

His phone vibrated, notifying him of Chanhee’s daily text message. Chanhee was a persistent one as well.

Changmin decided to reply and asked him to grab breakfast together, which earned him an immediate “yes”. He told his friend to invite Sunwoo as well and got up to get ready for an outing for the first time in a long time. This was his first step in the healing process.

a/n: tbh i kinda cried writing this. i hope you cried too hehe also idk if you noticed but the line “endless love” is actually from the boyz’s “priority”. i really like that phrase and it’s been stuck in my head ever since the song came out

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mindmeltonabun-blog · 3 years

Text

Tale of the Nine Tailed: Explanation of Lee Rang’s Death and Lee Yeon’s Ending Scene

Well folks...here we are once again. I did say that I would not write another TOTNT post unless there was anything worth discussing in the finale. I know many of you may feel utterly devastated or somewhat confused by how TOTNT ended, but I hope my post will be able to comfort you somehow. Anyways, let’s put on our thinking caps one last time for TOTNT!

Lee Rang’s Death

One of the biggest complaints many have had is the death of Lee Rang. Many said that the writer did him dirty while others wished that Lee Yeon and Ji Ah would’ve died instead. However, when we looked at his character arc’s as a whole, his death was justified. We mustn’t forget that he murdered hundreds possibly thousands in wake of his anger.

Yes, he did do some good towards the end of his life such as taking in Yuri and Kim Soo, but that shouldn’t discredit all the atrocious acts he had committed in the past. Saving the life of two people doesn’t make up for all of the lives he had taken. Additionally, it is noted that Lee Rang did also assist the Imoogi’s group to bring the Imoogi back to life which caused for a slew of horrible events to occur in the first place.

In the end, it was Lee Rang’s turn to sacrifice for the one he loved. Everything in TOTNT is cyclic if you think about it. First Ah Eum died to save Lee Yeon then Lee Yeon died to save Ji Ah. Therefore, it was only logical that it was Lee Rang’s turn to die for the one he loved which was Lee Yeon.

Everything in life isn’t all rainbows and sunshine, what matters is what you do despite being dealt a bad fate. Both Lee Yeon and Ah Eum/Ji Ah weren’t dealt with a particularly good fate, but yet they still remained good people. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for Lee Rang. Yes, he was dealt with a bad fate with having been born with a mother who didn’t want him, but he was also lucky because he had been taken in by a brother who greatly cherished him. Instead of appreciating the time he shared with Lee Yeon and remaining a good person even after the events of Lee Yeon leaving for the Samcheon River, Lee Rang still decided to take a turn for the worst.

Over and over again, Lee Rang had escaped the punishment he so rightly deserved. For example, even after killing those villagers, Lee Yeon spared his life. Lee Rang had been basically living off on borrowed time. In a way, Lee Rang was lucky that during that borrowed time he was able to resolve the misunderstanding he had with Lee Yeon as well as have a small family of his own. Finally, if there’s anything TOTNT has taught us, it’s that if something is the will of the afterlife judges, it will be carried out eventually. One can’t escape their punishment.

In my opinion, things could have gone a lot worse for Lee Rang in the end. Meaning he could have been reborn as a shrimp. Instead, the afterlife judges granted him reincarnation as a boy who had a mother who cared for him and granted him his last wish which was to meet his brother again. He got all of wishes fulfilled. Thus, it was a satisfying ending for Lee Rang.

Update 12/07/2020: Does Lee Yeon Meeting Reincarnated Lee Rang Indicate Many Years Have Passed?

No, it doesn’t. The team probably wanted to use the same child actor (Joo Won Lee; DOB: 05/03/2011) as to imply that Lee Rang had been successfully reincarnated. Sure, they could’ve used someone who was a few months old, but how then would Lee Yeon recognize Lee Rang ? Remember that Lee Yeon only met Lee Rang when he was around 9 years old. There would be no way for Lee Yeon to recognize what a few months old Lee Rang could’ve looked like. Get it ? Again, Lee Yeon meeting reincarnated Lee Rang happened in 2021!

Why Does Lee Yeon Still Have His Gumiho Powers?

Initially, when I first watched this I was beyond shocked, left confused, and was rethinking my opinion of Lee Yeon as a good person. However, once I watched it with subs and then did a little research into how Gumihos can become human, the ending scene made sense. Again, everyone should’ve taken Jo Bo Ah’s advice of looking up myths and see to how they pertain to whatever happened in TOTNT.

Anyways, in legends, Gumihos can become human in the following ways:

1) Refrain from killing and eating humans for 1000 days

2) The human who found out a Gumiho’s true nature, must tell no one of its secret for 10 years

3) Over a period of 100 days (other versions say 1000 days or ~3 years), Kumiho must not be detected by the human they are married to. If the Gumiho fails on this quest, they will lose any chance of becoming human and will be a Gumiho for 1000 years

4) Gumiho must consume the livers of 1000 humans over 1000 years. If they do not do this by the end of 1000 years, the Gumiho will dissolve in foam/bubbles

In particular, the ending scenes was in reference to #3. When Lee Yeon had came back to life, he was still technically a Gumiho hence why he could enter the Office of the Afterlife. I know you might ask well why didn’t Taluipa or Shin Ju sense he was still a fox? Because at the same time Lee Yeon was human, but only during the day or nights when there wasn’t a full moon (read further below for an explanation). Additionally, Lee Yeon probably didn’t tell Shin Ju because he didn’t want there to be any possibility that information would get leaked to Ji Ah. Better safe than sorry was Lee Yeon’s personal philosophy!

Although, Lee Yeon did come pretty close to being discovered as a Gumiho when he let it slip that he knew that their child would be a daughter. This all goes back to the intro in Ep 1 where it is said that Gumihos have the “ability to see miles ahead”. Luckily for Lee Yeon, he convincingly tricked Ji Ah and played it off as he was just saying weird things.

Until his 100 days were up, Lee Yeon had to keep his Gumiho nature hidden from the only person who mattered which was Ji Ah. Let’s be honest here, it’s really hard to trick Ji Ah so Lee Yeon had to be super careful around her. Usually in legends, Gumihos fall short of reaching the 100 days because they are discovered by their betrothed. During Lee Yeon’s 3 months transitional phase of becoming human, a situation arose that could’ve have caused Ji Ah to discover that Lee Yeon was still a Gumiho aka Mr Samjae entering into Ji Ah’s life.

This caused a problem because whatever misfortune befell on Ji Ah it would also inadvertently affect Lee Yeon too. Meaning that if Lee Yeon didn’t get rid of the Samjae, it could cause Ji Ah the misfortune of finding out Lee Yeon still was a Gumiho, thus ruining his plan of ever becoming human.

The only way anyone could tell Lee Yeon was still a Gumiho was to have seen him during a full moon. This was in reference to how in legends, werewolves (also in the same canine family as a fox) can only undergo transformation into a wolf when there was a full moon (symbolistic of metamorphosis). So while in the transitional state of Gumiho and human, Lee Yeon was able to take advantage of there being a full moon to be able to transform into a Gumiho. Subsequently, Lee Yeon then used his Gumiho abilities to rid of Mr. Samjae Spirit. Thus, Lee Yeon eliminated a potential threat that could have caused Ji Ah to find out his Gumiho nature before the 3 months of remaining undetected was completed.

Flash forward approximately 3-4 years later after Lee Yeon’s face off with the Samjae, Lee Yeon is now seen as having been successful at becoming a full human as well as having daughter with Ji Ah as seen here in the following pictures (family picnic). My only complaint is that the production/editing team ended up deciding to not include the following scene. I do not know whether it was their decision or the writer’s to not include this. There could be numerous reasons why such as they had wanted to leave the possibility of there being a season 2 or there was limited time allotted for the length of ep 16 or the writer had wanted to leave an open ending. Whatever the reason, I do hope we will eventually show this to us. In doing so, they would give so many of us the proper closure we needed for TOTNT!

Side note, it looks like Lee Yeon and Ji Ah did end up introducing their daughter to her adoptive grandparents. Awww!

Updated 12/07/2020: Timeline of Samjae + Lee Yeon’s Transitional Period

There were also a bunch of questions concerning when exactly the whole scenes with Ji Ah and Lee Yeon had occurred. This occurred in 2021.

Samjae is believed to occur over a three-year period, and follows calculations based on the twelve zodiac signs. The first of the three years is known as deulsamjae (Kor. 들삼재, lit. entering the three calamities), the second, nuulsamjae (Kor. 누울삼재, lit. middle of calamities), and the third, nalsamjae (Kor. 날삼재, exiting the three calamities). The first year in this three-year cycle is supposed to be the most unfortunate.

Source: https://folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/4151

So doing a little math, one will be able to see what years the Samjae entered (deulsamjae), remained (nuulsamjae), and then exited (nalsamjae). So the Samjae entered into Ji Ah’s life in 1994, 2003, 2012, and 2021. The cycle of every 9 years refers to the time period from one Deulsamjae year to the next (not every 9 years from her year of birth). For example, 1994 + 9 = 2003, 2003 + 9 = 2012, and 2012 + 9 = 2021.

What the show was trying to convey is that when Mr. Samjae came into Ji Ah’s life, it also coincided at the same time as Lee Yeon’s 3 months transitional period. Additionally, there were some who asked, “Aren't we to assume that many years have passed because Lee Yeon did say first root canal, first picnic, first snowfall, etc ?”. No, I took that scene as him mentioning things he either already did or will eventually experience.

Anyways, I really didn’t think I needed to point all of this out because I had assumed you all would’ve put on your thinking caps by now!

Last Remarks.

I hope that this post was able to resolve any confusion many of you may have had about the last episode. The writer did truly keep us on our toes until the very end. But with a little research into myths as well as analyzing everything as a whole, one should’ve been able to understand where the writer was coming from. Again, I want to give a big thanks to the cast, crew, and writer for all their hard work to give us TOTNT!

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kaistarus · 3 years

Text

Mistexting Mayhem

Pairing: Nishinoya X Reader

Words: 1.6K

Summary: You accidentally send Nishinoya a text that was meant for Yachi and now he’s knows secrets you were hoping he never found out

A/N: If you think this fic is anything but crack you’re wrong lmao I’ve always wanted to write a fic with this style and Noya is great for the chaos i needed. It was fun

Masterlist

[6:40pm] idiot⚡: look y/n without adhd id be too powerful

i could beet god himself in handtohand combat

god was afraid of my raw fuckin awesomeness wen i bursted from the woom

[6:41pm] y/n: there is so much wrong with what u just said

[6:41pm] idiot⚡: i have absoltly no clue wat

[6:43pm] y/n: put those 3 brain cells to work. I believe in you

[6:43pm] idiot⚡: but theyve reached their daily quota

plz there so tired and overworked

You snorted, a dopey smile on your lips as you laid surrounded by textbooks and homework, swinging your feet in the air behind you. You focused intently on the cell phone in your hand doing everything you could to procrastinate the schoolwork around you.

[6:44pm] y/n: noyas so stupid

[6:44pm] yachi❤: i thought you liked him?

[6:45pm] y/n: jeez Yachi. dont come for my throat

i cant help that i have bad taste 🙄

[6:46pm] yachi❤: if it helps he tripped over a stray ball today

maybe think of that till you don’t like him??

Unfortunately, the image of Nishinoya waving to everyone then biffing it only had you smiling like a dork. How you’d gotten to a point that Nishinoya being an idiot made you swoon, you’ll never know.

You raised your eyebrow suspiciously at the new notification on Snapchat from ‘Tanaka’ and after swiping it open you nearly dropped your phone. Looking back at you was Nishinoya, his head tilted and eyebrow quirked in confusion with a gari-gari kun shoved halfway down his throat. The caption at the bottom reading ‘daaaammn look at your prince charming go 😩’.

You frowned at the picture, letting out a frustrated groan at how your heart accelerated against your ribcage. You quickly tapped out of it and reopened the messenger app.

[6:57pm] y/n: we have to kill Noya

[6:57pm] idiot⚡: we??? what kind of mission is this??? 😤

[6:58pm] y/n: i like him too much. he has to die. its for my own good

You waited impatiently for her response and almost debated doing your homework since it took longer than you felt necessary. You supposed you had suggested murder to Yachi, but still…

When you finally received a response your entire body froze.

[7:11pm] idiot⚡: U LIKE ME?!?!? 😍

UR KILLING ME?!?! 😢

IM SO CONFUSED......

and a lil turned on ngl👀

Your hand covered your mouth in horror as you processed what the hell you had just done. This didn’t happen to people in real life. Mistexting was stuff people made up when they created fake texts for social media to get likes. You didn’t think people actually went through this.

You opened new notifications to escape the hell that stared you straight in the face.

[7:15pm] Tanaka💪: Yo, whatd u do. Whys Noya having a panic attak

[7:16pm] y/n: I accidently texted him instead of Yachi and told him i liked him 😣

[7:16pm] Tanaka💪: O wtf thats hilarious 😂

[7:17pm] y/n: ITS NOT HILArIOUS

[7:18pm] Tanaka💪: Hes askin if its a prank. Wat do i do?

[7:19pm] y/n:I DONT KNOW SDKFHJN IM THE IDIOT WHO STSRTED IT

He stopped responding and you banged your head against your pillow anxiously.

[7:23pm] y/n: YACHI ITOLD NoYA I LKED HIM AND NOU HE NOS WAY DO JI DO!?!????! 😭😭😭

[7:23pm] idiot⚡: THIS ISNT YACHI!!!!

HOLY FUKC U DO LIEK ME!!!

You screamed into your pillow. Were you fucking kidding? This could not be happening.

[7:25pm] Tanaka💪: dude, twice? i cant save u now 🤪

[7:25pm] y/n: betraying me in my time of fucking need? i’ll remember this asshole

[7:26pm] Tanaka💪: so vulgar 👀

You growled at Tanaka’s uselessness and bravely peeked through one eye as you went back to your conversation with Nishinoya.

[7:24pm] idiot⚡: STOP IGNORING ME I KNO UR TEXTING RYU

[7:26pm] idiot: IM GONNA KEEP SPAMMING U TILL U ANSWE RME😤

[7:26pm] idiot⚡: 1

[7:27pm] y/n: what is this twitch chat? fuck

[7:28pm] idiot⚡: your heeeeererererreee 🥰

[7:29pm] y/n: soooooo………..

clearly there has been a misunderstanding

[7:29pm] idiot⚡: oh nonono. I understand PERFETCLY. u LOVE me

its ok. this is a safe space. we can discuss feelings 😌

[7:31pm] y/n: there are zero feelings to discuss

[7:31pm] idiot⚡: then y did u say u like me too much so i have to die?

[7:34pm] y/n: i am filled with rage 🤬

[7:34pm] idiot⚡: rage over how much u liiike me???🥰🥰🥰

[7:36pm] y/n: definitely not

You racked your brain for some kind of reasonable sounding excuse, eventually landing on:

[7:36pm] y/n: It was autocorrect

[7:36pm] idiot⚡: HAH????? FROM?????

[7:38pm] y/n: HAH???

....Nora?

[7:38pm] idiot⚡: Who TF is nora???? 😡

[7:39pm] y/n: someoe i like obviously 😏

[7:40pm] idiot⚡: so u like them but u use my name so much it autocorrected to me? 🤔

[7:44pm] y/n: OK MR DETEcTIVE WHERE TF ARE THES BRAIN CELS COMIN GFROM?

[7:45pm] idiot⚡: i pull them out for special ocasions 😌

[7:45pm] y/n: well how bout you pack those up and put em away

[7:46pm] idiot⚡: how bout two people who LIKE each other SAY something so they can DOOOOOOOO something bout IT 🙄

You began typing a frantic message about how it was none of his business until you processed the message. Then you read it over several times before letting out an audible, “what the fuck.”

[7:50pm] y/n: YOU LIKE ME

[7:50pm] idiot⚡: I FLIRT WITH U ALL THE TIME WAT DO U MEAN yOu LiKe Me!?!

FUCKING OBVIOSLY

[7:51pm] y/n: literally when. name one time.

[7:52pm] idiot⚡: I WALK WITH U EVERY MORNING!!!

[7:53pm] y/n: I thought that was a coincidence???

[7:54pm] idiot⚡: I BRNIG U SNACKS DURING LUNCH!!!

[7:54pm] y/n: I thought they were leftovers??

[7:55pm] idiot⚡: …....I call you cute and invite you to my games.

[7:56pm] y/n: you call everyone attractive and i thought there was like a audience quota or something........?

[7:57pm] idiot⚡: ….i cant tell who i should be upset with rn but i think its u 😑

[7:58pm] y/n: WAT WHY!?!

[8:00pm] Idiot⚡: I LIKE U+U LIKE ME=WE LIKE EACH OTHER

[8:01pm] y/n: whoa. slow down. I hate math 😣

[8:02pm] Idiot⚡: ===WE SHUD GO ON A DATE!!!

[8:02pm] y/n: HAH!? i think you started multiplying that addition problem buddy 🤨

Your cheeks were beginning to ache from how wide your dopey grin was. You couldn’t help but tease Nishinoya-it was second nature at this point-even if you now knew your feelings were mutual.

[8:04pm] idiot⚡: i suk at math but thats NOT the point

point iiissss i think deep down u want to hang out and cuddle and fall in love

maybe even..... 😏 kiiisssss

[8:04pm] y/n: WHOA WHOA WHOA

WARN ME BEFORE YOU GET NSFW

i would never premarital eye-contact. let alone k🤢ki-🤢🤢kiss🤢🤮🤮

[8:05pm] idiot⚡: well we would have socks on 🙄

[8:06pm] y/n: oh. well if there’s protection

[8:06pm] idiot⚡: Im not a maniac

[8:07pm] y/n: i suppose as long as you dont do something stoopid

like faceplant in public

that would be humiliating

[8:08pm] idiot⚡: I-

who told you that 😠

[8:08pm] y/n: i have spies everywhere noya

youre never safe

[8:09pm] Idiot⚡: kinda hot 👀

makin me fear for my life like that👀

[8:10pm] y/n: i hate that i like you

It kills me inside

i feel braincels leaving with every conversation

[8:12pm] Idiot⚡: fan behavior 😏

so am i taking u to eat tomorow or wat?

[8:14pm] y/n: if I HAVE to 🙄

[8:14pm] Idiot⚡: No u GET to

I am a fucking delite 😤

[8:15pm] y/n: whatever helps you sleep at night

[8:15pm] Idiot⚡: nothing helps me sleep at night. this mind never rests

[8:16pm] y/n: thinking 24/7 and still not a smart thing comes out of that mouth 👀

[8:17pm] Idiot⚡: yas, bully me more 😫

[8:19pm] y/n: ok thats as much as i can handle for one day......

im gonna pretend to do homework

[8:20pm] idiot⚡: okie... good luck my sweet baby pogchamp 🥰

[8:20pm] y/n: no

[8:20pm] Idiot⚡: 😘😘😘

[8:22pm] y/n: 🙄✋

[8:23pm] Idiot⚡: oh FUCK yas 🥵 shut me UP

[8:25pm] y/n: suddenly all i feel is endless regret

[8:26pm] Idiot⚡: i have that effect on people

See you tomorrow 🥰🥰🥰

[8:27pm] y/n: unfortunately 😘

[8:27pm] idiot⚡: 🥵

You flung an arm over your eyes and let a small giggle bubble up from your chest. Nishinoya was probably the biggest idiot you’d ever met, but you couldn’t help that thinking of spending time with him had you kicking your feet with excitement.

You supposed you should actually get started on your homework. You reached forward when a notification popped up from Yachi, asking if her idea worked and you had stopped liking Nishinoya.

...you should probably break the news, huh?

#nishinoya yuu #nishinoya imagine #nishinoya scenarios #nishinoya yu x reader #nishinoya x reader #nishinoya yu #tanaka ryuunosuke #yachi hitoka #haikyuu!!#haikyuu x reader #hq nishinoya #nishinoya #nishinoya yū #haikyuu #nishinoya yuu x reader #haikyu x reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyu!!#haikyuu x y/n

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eirikaanemo · 3 years

Text

Heavy Is The Crown

Warnings: None

Venti x GN!Minstrel!Reader

3.1k Words

Venti's a servant boy at the palace that you fall in love with... right?

You’re the apprentice of the renowned Minstrel Chapman of the Riverside Performers Company. And recently your company was invited to go perform at the palace for the royal family of Mondstadt. It’s understandable really, they probably need some joy and relaxation in their lives considering the difficult war that is waging on. Of course, you’re one of the few to see it that way.

“People are dying on the battlefield every day, and the King and Queen want to make merry?” Archibald scoffed. “Peace, Archibald,” Grisela soothed. “This war is difficult for them as well.” Archibald scoffed again but chose not to respond further. These sorts of discussions were common now-a-days, and a gap of misunderstanding and hurt is starting to grow between the rulers and their people.

This really concerned you because you’d once known the son of a Baron and he had explained these sorts of difficulties to you. Your goal was to try and help bridge the gap. Since Master Chapman has charged you to write a song yourself for the royal performance, you have decided to write a song that could help with that. But the problem is that you have no idea what to write! And you’re running out of time.

When your company reaches the palace the next day, you are no closer to having written the song than you were before. Thankfully you all had arrived at the palace a couple days early, so you still had some time to come up with your song. However, you were feeling so nervous that you couldn’t even focus on trying to compose it at all.

So you decided to take a break and wander around the palace grounds, as you and your company had been invited to do when you arrived. As you did so, admiring the beautiful flowers and bushes of the garden, you ended up running into someone. Literally as in one moment you were standing up, and the next you were sitting on the ground clutching your head.

“Sorry! I’m so sorry,” someone apologized to you. “I should’ve been better about looking where I was going. Are you okay?” Peeking up, you see a servant boy with black hair in braids with teal tips and a flower tucked behind his ear. “Yes, I’m fine,” you assure him. “A little stunned, but I’ll be alright in a minute.”

“Are you sure?” He asks worriedly. When you nod he breathes a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear, Head Maid Maribel would have my head if I hurt a guest.” You smile and laugh a little. “Well we can’t have that,” you tease. “I’m sure you look much nicer when you have your head on your shoulders.” He stills for a moment from his fiddling from a moment before, a blush spreading from his cheeks to his ears.

Spluttering some, he manages to squeak out, “Oh, um, thanks?” You look at him oddly. “Don’t tell me no one’s ever teased you like that before,” you say. “I, um, won’t tell you then.” He jokes, calming down some. You smile some and give him a wink, “Well, I’m honored to be the first then.”

“Oh!” He exclaims. “I need to be pruning some bushes right now.” Your smile drops a bit, you’d been hoping to spend some more time with him. Noticing that, he adds on, “Would you like to come along? We could talk more while I prune.” You easily agree, “I’d like that very much, thank you.”

More confident now that he had something to focus on, he continued to make small talk with you. You introduce yourself and the two of you get to know each other better; he is ecstatic to know that you’re a minstrel and play the lyre. “I’m learning to play the lyre too!” He declares. “Maybe you could teach me a thing or two.” You smile at him, happy to know that you have that in common.

“I would like that! But,” you admit, “unfortunately, I’m afraid I don’t have the time right now. My master has told me to write a song and I’m struggling to get it out. With the war going on, I want to write a song to help bridge the gap between the royals and the commoners. From my experiences with the son of a Baron I knew, this war is just as hard for them as it is for us.”

He pauses from snipping away at the bush he’s working on. “You know, I’m glad you see it that way,” he tells you with an oddly grateful look in his eyes. “My p- Their majesties have really been struggling recently, especially with the loss of support from the people. For all the life of nobility looks wonderful, it comes at a cost. You lose freedom, always have to put others before yourself, can’t show any weakness, and bear the weight of every death on your shoulders.”

The odd phrasing and sudden correction go straight over your head as your muse suddenly rears its head. “I think I’ve got it now,” you blurt out. He blinks and tilts his head, confused. “Well I’m not sure what I did or said to help,” he replies, “but I’m glad I could help.”

You give him a big hug. “Really, you helped a lot,” you admit. “I need to go get started composing! But, uh, do you think I could see you again later?” He returns the hug. “Sure thing,” he murmurs in your ear. “I should be out here for the rest of today and all of tomorrow, but you’ll need to find me.”

“I think I can do that,” you murmur back and pull away from the hug. “See you tomorrow,” you call out to him as you start heading back to your Company. He watches you until you’re out of sight, before he goes back to pruning. “Well, that was fun,” he cheerfully tells himself. “I hope they do come back tomorrow. It’s not everyday I get to talk to someone like that.”

Composing the song was child’s play once you pick your lyre back up and get to work. The boy’s words repeat over and over in your head as you plan out lyrics and try different tunes. Master Chapman was thrilled when you played your song for him and assured you that the royals would love it. “It’s a wonderful tribute to all they do for us. And it helps us understand them and makes them more relatable to us,” he confirms. “I’m sure it will help you achieve your goal of helping bridge the gap between commoners and royals.”

When you find the boy the next day, you’re nearly vibrating in excitement. “Hey you,” you call. “Guess what?” His head turns to see you mid-snip and the branch lands on his head. You run over to make sure he’s okay. “Are you alright?” You ask him. “Yeah,” he responds sheepishly. “I guess this time it’s you who has to worry about getting me hurt.”

“Well that’s good,” you state, pouting at his teasing. “Oh! I realized yesterday that I don’t know your name!” He rubs the back of his head, embarrassed. “Ehe, sorry, I can’t believe I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Venti, it’s nice to officially meet you!”

“That’s a wonderful name,” you reply. “I like it a lot.” He smiles wide, “Thanks!” As the day continues you continue to talk with each other. Eventually he ropes you in to helping him with his chores. Thanks to that he gets done early and, after reporting back about finishing, he’s able to just spend the rest of the day with you.

After a certain point you’re able to admit to yourself that you’re falling for him. He’s cute, free-spirited, and makes you laugh. And maybe it’s just your imagination, but he seems to enjoy your time together too. The days left leading up to the performance are spent practicing and spending time with him. He’s tried to get you to play the song for him, but you insist that he wait for the performance to see.

The day of the performance comes very quickly, too quickly in your opinion. For all the compliments everyone who has heard your song gives you, and all the minds it has changed, you’re still incredibly nervous to perform it. What if they don’t like it? Will they find it presumptuous for you to write such a thing? When the time comes, will you mess up?

But the moment it’s your turn you take a deep breath, remind yourself that this is what you’re training for, and take your place on stage. Looking at the audience, you see the King and Queen, but, oddly enough, Prince Barbatos did not seem to be present. You strum your lyre and introduce yourself and your song. The audience seems intrigued that you would write such a song, so you take courage and start singing.

The stars are very beautiful, above the palace walls,

They shine with equal splendour, still above far humbler halls.

I watch them from my window, but their bright entrancing glow,

Reminds me of the freedom I gave up so long ago.

Although I am the head of state, in truth I am the least,

The true royal knows their people fed, before they sit to feast.

The good royal knows their people safe, before they takes their rest,

Thinks twice and thrice and yet again, before they make request.

These tears that burn my eyes are all the tears a royal can't shed,

The tears I weep in silence as I mourn my soldiers dead.

Oh gods that dwell beyond the stars, if you can hear my cry—

And if you have compassion—let me send no more to die!

(See: The Cost of the Crown by Mercedes Lackey, Debra F. Sanders)

As the last note fades the crowd stands with roaring applause. You feel a warmth spread across your cheeks as you bow deeply and return to your place standing with your company. Those standing around you congratulate you quietly as the next member steps up to perform.

Soon the performance is over and your Company is preparing to leave. Surprisingly many members of the Company had changed their minds about royals and the Company Head, Ferdinand, approached you to pass on the gratitude and appreciation from the King and Queen themselves. Venti showed up one last time, and Master Chapman allowed you to go speak with him as a treat for a job well done.

“That was amazing!” Venti shouts. “Did I really help you write that? I was hiding behind some curtains to listen and it was so amazing that I cried.” He grins so bright that you almost have to close your eyes. “I’m glad you liked it!” You say as you smile back. His happiness was contagious, and it didn’t help that you were completely smitten with him at this point. But alas, it was not meant to be.

Master Chapman called your name, letting you know that the Company would be leaving soon and that you’d have to come back within the next minute or two if you didn’t want to be left behind. Venti’s smile dims. “Are you sure you can’t stay?” He inquires. “Yes,” you sigh. “But who knows? Maybe I’ll see you again some day. But until then…” You trail off. He looks at you curiously, tilting his head again. Quickly, so as to not chicken out, you peck his check and run back to the Company.

“Until then!” You call out to him. The Company leaves as soon as you get there, so you’re not able to look back to see him. But if you could have, you would have seen him blushing as red as a rose, with a hand on his cheek where you kissed him. “Until then,” he whispers quietly. “I’ll make sure I’ll see you again.”

---

Years pass, and your apprenticeship ends. You make quite the name for yourself, and your song has worked wonders to heal the relationship between the people and their rules. Of course you write many more songs, but your first is always your favorite. Because he helped you write it. Many people have asked to court you, but you have turned them all down. Even after all these years, Venti the servant boy still holds your heart.

One day a messenger comes to speak with Ferdinand, bringing both good and bad news. Ferdinand calls the whole company together to share it. “Good friends, I’m sad to say that the King has passed away.” He announces, and the Company breaks into whispers and conversation. You think you may have even seen Gwenivere crying. “However, we have been invited to perform at Prince Barbatos’ coronation!”

This was wonderful news! Perhaps you could take this chance to see Venti again! You’d missed him dearly. But the more you thought about it, the more worried you became. Maybe he’d moved on and married someone else already. Would he still remember you? Will he want anything to do with you now? What if you didn’t like you and is upset about the kiss you gave him before you left?

You shake those thoughts out of your head and take a deep breath to calm yourself. Then you feel a hand clamp down on your shoulder and you must’ve jumped several feet in the air in your surprise because the person behind you burst into laughter. Embarrassed, you turn around to see Ferdinand, now laughing so hard that he was having trouble standing up.

“Yeah, yeah,” you grumble at him, good naturedly. “I’m sure startling me was very funny.” Finally calming down, Ferdinand gave you a great big smile. “It most certainly was,” he assured you. “But I didn’t come to you with the intention to startle you.” You raise an eyebrow as you continues. “I wanted to let you know that you were actually mentioned by name, so you may want to prepare something special.

Your jaw dropped. It wasn’t exactly uncommon for someone to be specifically named, but this was from the Prince himself! Still stunned, you nodded. “I’ll write the best song I can,” you promised him. “I’m sure you will,” he replied confidently. He didn’t stay long after that, just letting you know the basics of when the Company would be leaving and how soon the coronation would be.

As you travel you do your best to compose a song. However, you soon find yourself stuck. Your muse is gone again, just like it was the last time you went to the palace. Oh well, perhaps Venti could help you again. It would be wonderful to spend more time with him anyway, so you don’t worry too much about it.

The Company reaches the palace after a week of travel. You look for Venti in the gardens all day, but can’t find him anywhere. ‘Perhaps he got moved to working in the castle?’ You wonder to yourself. But either way, that meant he wouldn’t be able to help you write your song. So you sat down that night and did your best to compose.

It wasn’t really working, but you did your best. The next morning was chaotic, as the Company had been informed that the Prince himself would be coming out to welcome you all. You hurriedly joined in making the company camp look presentable and changed into your best clothing before going out to stand with everyone else.

The Prince was announced before the palace doors opened to reveal… Venti. Your eyes went wide and your jaw must have dropped to the ground. Those who were in the company before very carefully didn’t turn to look at you, though the newbies couldn’t help but look at you, confused. You quickly composed yourself as he scanned the crowd, though the smiles of some of his guards told you that your reaction did not go unnoticed.

It was very much him. The same dark hair with teal tipped braids. His eyes brightened as they met yours. He strode forward and the crowd parted before him. You were about to move as well until he stopped before you, fell to one knee, took one of your hands, and gently kissed it. Your face warmed again in a way that it hadn’t since you last saw him.

His eyes sparkled with mirth as he saw the look on your face. “Hello again,” he said gently. “Hi,” you squeaked. “It’s, uh, it’s good to see you again?” He laughed, “It’s good to see you again too. I know I kept my status a secret before, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth then, but could I ask you a question?”

“O-of course,” you respond. He smiles charmingly. “Will you marry me?” That’s it. You must’ve died and gone to heaven. Or maybe someone had put something in your breakfast. Or maybe he had the wrong person. You looked side to side to see if there was anyone else he could be talking to before you point to yourself. “M-me?” You ask, hesitantly. “You,” he says confidently. “I fell in love with you all those years ago, and I could never imagine myself with someone else.

“Though I would understand if you’re with someone else. It’s been so long and you’re so wonderful that you must have received many invitations to courtship.” A shy smile spreads across your face. “I have received many offers,” you admit, and his face falls a bit. “But I’ve turned them all down. My heart was taken years ago by my dear Venti the servant boy.”

You get down on your knees and kiss the hand that is holding yours. “I would love to marry you, if you’ll have me.” He smiles brighter than the sun. “Nothing would make me happier,” he declares, and he pulls you in for a kiss. You pull away for air and nuzzle your nose against his. “I do have one request though,” you continue. “Anything, my love,” he swears. “Court me properly first, please,” you request.

“I can do that,” he laughs as he pulls you in for a hug. “How about we start with having lunch together,” he whispers in your ear. “That sounds like a great plan,” you agree. He gives you another quick kiss before standing up, pulling you to your feet, and leading you back to the palace.

You ignore the whistles and applause of your Company as you follow him, grateful for their support but wanting to give your suitor all your attention. This was the first day of the rest of your life, and you wanted to appreciate every minute of it. And every minute was just as wonderful as you’d ever imagined.

As queen, you were able to bring the kingdom together and closer than ever before. The people loved their rulers because they knew their rulers dedicated themselves to them. And the rulers responded in kind. The war ended, peace prevailed, and you got your perfect happily ever after.

#eirika writes #venti #genshin venti #venti x reader #genshin impact x reader #royalty au

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where-theres-smoak-2 · 2 years

Note

Do you think Aleks is more a anti hero or an anti villain?

This is an interesting question and I think it depends on whether you are talking about the book or the show. I think in the book he might lean more into the anti villain description because post reveal LB just makes him very 2d villain who does things that are just evil and often don't really make sense in his grand plan. However as it is in the show at the moment I would say that he is definitely an anti hero. Aleksander has alot of the traits your typical hero would have more than what a villain would have. He is someone who defends those who can't defend themselves, the grisha. He provides them with a safe place where they can learn and grow, he fights against a monarchy that is letting its people starve and die in their wars while they live in luxury and safety behind their palace walls. These are all traits that you would associate with a hero. However because of his immortality he has lived in loneliness and has experienced alot of trauma, he has tried the right way many times but always ended up seeing his people suffer none the less and so now all that grief and pain has turned him cynical which has lead to him making darker choices. Despite that his main goal of protecting the grisha is still a noble one. He still also clearly has the capability to care and love as he does with Alina, he really did want what was best for her and wanted to see her grow and to be his equal. Unfortunately due to some misunderstandings I think, he believed that her goals and his didn't line up anymore and that she was going to become a threat to the safety of the grisha which brought out his darker side. I mean many of the 'evil' or bad things he does he has the right intentions just the wrong execution. The creation of the fold was an accident where he was trying to protect grisha that were completely defenceless against the soldiers who had just threatened to slaughter them all. Him standing between a small army of the king's men and the grisha hidden inside very much is the image you might think of when you think of a hero. Unfortunately in his desperation to save those grisha he loses control of a forbidden magic and creates the fold. Whilst many consider this to be an evil act really when you look at it that moment was an act of heroism that went wrong. How many others would have placed themselves between the grisha and those soldiers? What is heroism if not acting as a shield for those who are defenceless? From every moment since then he dedicates his life to improving things for the grisha and to defending them, he builds them the little palace and he gets into the good graces of the kings so that he can influence things in the grisha's favour. He forms the second army not just because it makes them useful to the king which keeps them safer but so that he can teach them how to fight and defend themselves. It says alot that he teaches them not just how to harness their powers but how to fight without them. Aleks' darker side comes from that trauma of watching so many people he's cared about be killed and I think he has alot of frustration about not being able to protect every single grisha, that no matter how much good he does its not ever enough. This drives him to make darker and darker decisions and kind of leads him off the path. That being said I do think that if the show decided to go that route he is still at this moment very much a redeemable character. So yeah I think he's more of an anti hero.

#aleksander morozova #answered

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awhitehead17 · 3 years

Text

His Tiny Person

TimKon, Soulmates AU, Canon Divergence, Mini Soulmates, Humour, that “oh” moment, Realisation of feelings, Getting together.

Summary: "Kryptonian's have something called soulmates and every single Kryptonian has one. We know who our soulmates are because mini versions of them manifest to us. To begin with you won't recognise them, or even know their name, until you actually meet them in person. You will meet, you are destined to, but whether you get along or not is another story."

When Kon finds a tiny person hanging around him he's extremely confused but comes to adore him anyway. However its still a complete shock when Kon learns that he's known his soulmate for years and has just never realised it.

Also on AO3

Enjoy! :D

No matter what anyone says, Kon believes that the freak out he has is very much warranted.

After getting out of the shower, Kon wrapped a towel around his waist before entering his bedroom and without any conscious thought he goes through his routine of getting ready for the day. The last thing he had expected to see was a tiny person perched on a pillow on his bed.

In all of his glory Kon let out a yell and scrambled backwards in surprise, his back quickly hits a wall which stops him from going anywhere. The tiny person on his bed openly stares at Kon and it feels like he’s being studied or even judged by him.

Kon stares back completely bewildered at the sight. There’s a tiny person on his bed. How did he get there? Who was he? Where did he come from? Is this some kind of prank?

“Conner, is everything alright?” Ma Kent’s voice could be heard calling him from downstairs. “We heard a yell.”

Still staring at the tiny person Kon tries to get himself together. He shuffles to his bedroom door, never taking his eyes off the person, and opens it. Over his shoulder he calls down to her. “Sorry Ma, I saw a spider. It caught me off guard that’s all. It’s all sorted now.”

“Okay dear if you’re sure. Breakfast is ready when you are.”

“Will be down in a bit, thank you.”

Kon quickly closes the door and debates on what to do. He takes a moment to observe the tiny person. The tiny person is a boy, he has messy black hair, two blue eyes, thin lips, a small body lean body covered by a red t-shirt and black sweatpants.

Kon has no idea what this is, however, weirdly enough he’s feeling a pull towards this tiny person. He can’t describe what it is but Kon feels kind of protective over him, like he wants to just wrap this tiny person up and hide him away from everything. The feeling is completely irrational because Kon knows absolutely nothing about what this could be.

The tiny person stands up and makes his way across Kon’s bed until he’s standing near the edge of it. Kon couldn’t help but find him adorable, he’s so small! He’s not much bigger than his hand in size comparison.

Kon approaches the bed carefully and crouches down so he's almost eye level with him. When they make eye contact the tiny person smiles brightly and Kon feels another pull inside of him, this time its sharp and releases a sense of warmth through him. His heart melts even more for this little thing.

“Hi, do you have name? Where did you come from?” Kon asks softly. The tiny person shakes his head and Kon frowns. “Oh okay. Well I’m Kon or Conner, its nice to meet you.”

“Conner your breakfast is getting cold!” Ma Kent’s voice comes from downstairs again and Kon knows he really should get going.

He turns back to the tiny person. Should he tell Ma Kent about this or not? How would the Kent’s react to this? Kon is still rather new to the whole family thing, he’s only recently moved in with them and is in fact still adjusting to life in Smallville, would this freak them out? Maybe he should work out what this person is doing here first before telling them anything.

With that in mind Kon sends him a small smile. “I’ve got to go have breakfast now, but once I’m done I can work out what to do with you.” He stands up and heads for the door but is stopped short when he hears a small thump.

Kon looks over to find the bed now void of the tiny person, initial panic rises up inside of him though it’s quickly diminished when he feels a tugging sensation on his jeans. Snapping his gaze down Kon finds the tiny person insistently tugging on his jeans with a panicked look on his face.

For unknown reasons, Kon’s heart breaks at the look. “Hey, I’m not leaving. I won’t be long, I promise.” The person shakes his head and without warning starts climbing up Kon’s leg, grabbing fists full of fabric to help him on his journey and he doesn’t stop climbing until he gets to the pocket and climbs inside.

Kon’s not entirely sure on what to do with the tiny person that’s now curled up inside his jeans pocket. Obviously he hadn’t wanted Kon to go, or perhaps it was more of a separation thing and had panicked when he thought Kon was leaving?

Running a hand through his hair Kon opts to leave it for the time being, he’ll work it out later on. As he once again moves towards the door, he hopes that the tiny person is comfortable enough in his pocket until he returns to his bedroom.

----

Throughout the next couple of weeks Kon learns a lot about the tiny person.

He comes to notice that he has his own personality, he has his own quirks and things he likes and dislikes. While he doesn’t speak, the tiny person makes sure his opinion is heard. He likes to train and work out and he’s wickedly smart. He also loves to be held in Kon’s palm and to have his hair stroked.

Through some misunderstandings, Kon comes to realise he actually needs to feed this tiny person, he also needs to regularly clean him, exhaustion and not sleeping enough is certainly a thing, injuries too. The first time this tiny person hurt himself Kon almost had a heart attack in concern and panic.

It’s literally like he’s looking after another human being, only this human is super tiny and can easily fit into his pocket.

Despite all of this he still hasn’t worked out how this tiny person came to be. Anything he’s looked into has come to a dead end, he’s even explored scientific possibilities but it’s all come up empty handed. He’s still completely perplexed on this person’s existence.

When an unfortunate event occurred, Kon became aware that he can’t be too far away from this tiny person either, only because the distance causes them both physical pain. That alone makes Kon believe there’s more to this whole thing, he doesn’t know what it could be but there’s definitely something.

Other than that Kon really adores him. He’s gotten used to his presence now and how he happens to be there in Kon’s everyday life. It frightens him to no ends when a mission comes up or if Kon engages in a brutal battle because he could get hurt. Nonetheless the tiny person is always there for him, its like he’s got his own cheerleader.

A few weeks after the tiny person appears, Kon is meeting with Clark on the farm to catch up. Since the man had finally accepted him as a person and has even named him as part of the family, Clark’s been trying to put effort into getting to know him. Kon appreciates the effort and knows that their relationship is slowly healing.

When Clark arrives they settle onto one of the benches outside with some food Ma Kent had baked and were generally catching up. However Kon’s focus on the man’s words instantly die when movement in his peripheral catches his attention.

Kon glances down at the ground and freezes when he spots a small woman walking around within the grass looking completely at ease observing everything around her.

“Kon?”

Blinking Kon averts his attention away from the woman and back to Clark who is now frowning at him. How long had Kon not been listening for? Instead of saying anything Clark looks in the direction Kon had been and confusion crosses his face.

“What is it Kon?”

Kon waves a hand in the direction of the small woman. “Do you not see that? There’s a tiny person in the grass Clark!”

The man continues to stare at Kon like he's crazy. It makes Kon feel insecure. He wasn’t imaging this right? He’s got his own little dude hanging around him for weeks and now there’s a small woman too.

“Yeah… that’s Mini-Louis.” Clark says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“Mini-Louis? As in your wife Louis?” Kon asks sceptically.

Clark pulls a face, clearly not understanding his confusion. “Yes Kon. My wife. She is my soulmate, therefore I have a Mini-Louis around me.”

Kon has no idea on what to say to that because what?

Realisation crosses Clark’s expression. He pulls back a bit, seeming surprised. “You don’t know about it?”

“About what Clark? What the hell are you on about?” Kon snaps.

Clark takes a deep breath and leans forward on the table using his elbows to prop himself up. “I’m sorry it must have completely slipped my mind. We as Kryptonian's have something called soulmates. Every single Kryptonian has one. We know who our soulmates are because mini versions of them manifest to us and these mini versions are attached to our souls. Once we finally meet our soulmate in person the bond between us is solidified.”

Kon blinks trying to digest that information. Soulmates. Soulmates are an actual thing and they appear in the form of tiny versions of themselves. Kon’s tiny person is in fact his soulmate. But he doesn’t know who his soulmate is, he doesn’t recognise him!

“Has your soulmate manifested Kon?” Clark questions after a long drawn out silence.

Instead of answering Kon carefully reaches into his jacket’s pocket and scoops up his tiny person. He’s been sleeping this entire time and Kon feels bad for moving and waking him up but he gently does so and places him on the table in front of him.

His tiny person looks disorientated for a moment. He sits down on the table, yawns and rubs his eyes with his fists as he wakes up. Once he notices where he is he looks alerted and sends Kon a panicked look. Kon reaches out a strokes a finger down his face. “It’s okay buddy, you’re safe. No one is going to hurt you. I’m finally learning about you properly.”

Kon glances up to find Clark watching him with warm eyes and a soft smile. Kon raises an eyebrow. “What? If you say this is my soulmate it would certainly explain why I’m protective over him. But why didn’t you tell me sooner? I don’t recognise this person, doesn’t soulmates work after you meet the one or something?”

“With Kryptonian’s, your mini-soulmate manifests when the younger one of the pair comes of age. Your situation is slightly different, thinking about it I could guess that your soulmate appeared once you were named as you were already of age.”

Kon nods to the explanation. He’s slowly understanding it. He’s still feels conflicted about it, like he’s afraid of the idea of it but he's also open to it…

“The idea is that you don’t recognise them, or even know their name, until you actually meet them in person. You will meet, you are destined to, but whether you get along or not is another story. You’re soulmates, but that bond can be either platonic, romantic, or even in some rare cases it’s a hatred bond. By the looks of it, yours is either a platonic or a romantic bond.”

Kon sighs, he guesses that’s better than it being a hatred soulmate bond. He thinks he gets on rather well with his little dude.

“As frustrating as this will sound, the main thing I can say is that only time will tell. When you meet your soulmate you’ll recognise them and then how your relationship with him progresses will depend on the two of you.”

After that they change topic of conversation, leaning more into Kryptonian heritage and ways of life as well as different battle strategies Kon could be using with his team. Meanwhile as they talk, Kon’s mini-soulmate joins Mini-Louis in exploring the wildlife together.

-----

It turns out Kon has already met his soulmate. In fact it turns out he’s best friends with his soulmate. He’s known him for a couple years.

It turns out his soulmate is Robin and he’s only finding that out now.

Young Justice, or rather the newly formed Titans, are gathered together and spending the weekend at the Tower. They were about to start their movie night when Robin tells them he has an announcement to make.

In line with their new team development he wants to clear the air and start fresh, hoping they would all forgive him for certain things in the past. Robin takes his mask off and gives them his real name.

As Kon meets Robin’s – Tim’s – eyes his heart stops. Without the mask obstructing the top half of Robin’s face, Kon clearly sees the same face that his mini-soulmate has.

Robin is his soulmate. How has he never made that connection before? The resemblance is uncanny, he’s literally been carrying around a Mini-Robin for 6 months.

He’s been on a team with Robin for a couple of years now. When he first escaped Cadmus, him, Bart and Robin made a trio team and over time the others had joined them, therefore creating Young Justice. A couple years later here they are joining the Titans and Robin is finally sharing his identity with them.

To begin with he and Robin never got on, they were always at each other’s throats and never saw eye to eye but as time went on they both mellowed out and come to accept the others presence. Their friendship became stronger as they both matured over time. Kon had moved to Smallville and began to really learn what life is about, how there’s a life outside of superheroing, while Robin had moulded the legacy he carries into his own and has found the confidence to become his own person rather than trying to be someone else.

Either way, he immediately recognises Robin’s – or Tim’s – face and not because apparently he’s famous but actually because Tim’s face is the one his mini-soulmate wears. There’s no mistaking it.

His mini-soulmate is currently hidden from view inside his jacket pocket but Kon could easily feel the excitement rolling off the tiny person, he’s practically buzzing with energy. Knowing he’s going to have to try and restrain his mini from doing anything rash, Kon brushes his telekinesis over him in attempts to calm him down.

At Tim’s announcement there’s a loud explosion from the group which lasts for some time until everyone calms down enough to settle so they can watch the films they have lined up. No matter what they put on, Kon couldn’t focus on any of them. His mind is too occupied with the thoughts of Robin being his soulmate and what that could mean.

He begins questioning his entire friendship with the bat vigilante. Reflecting on everything from the moment they met to now.

What kind of feelings does he actually have for his friend? He cares for him, they trust one another (the whole ID thing was a different matter despite how many arguments there have been on that topic) and Kon can’t imagine his life without Tim in it. Even back when he loathed him Kon wouldn’t have imagine Robin not being there.

They balance one another out. Where Kon is reckless and is hot headed, Robin thinks things through and plans accordingly. Where Robin is uptight and too hard on himself, Kon is freewheeling and helps him to relax and unwind.

When he’s with Tim he wants his friend to be happy, he wants him to feel safe and protected. When things get too much Kon reminds Robin he’s there to talk to if he needs it. When Kon’s felt overwhelmed by his powers Tim is the one he turns to because he helps Kon to understand them without making it feel like he’s being judged. There’s been numerous of nights where they’ve sat together in silent company, both of them wanting to be alone but not at the same time.

Kon thinks about his smile and his laugh when he’s genuinely happy and not wearing that stupid asshole persona. He think about how when he gets invested in something he would passionately defend it. How there’s a shy and genuine guy behind that mask despite all the confidence Robin plasters on in front of them all. He recalls when Robin would walk into a room and how Kon’s mood would improve significantly for no reason.

Well shit… there’s a lot more feelings towards Robin than he ever realised. Is this still platonic though or is it the start of something romantic? Can Kon even imagine what it would be like to be romantically involved with Tim? To hold his hand, to cuddle, to kiss and then maybe more, to be seen in public with him, to lean on one another without fear…

Kon’s heart misses a beat when he realises that yes he can imagine all that. Now he knows Tim’s name and knows what he really looks like, Kon can see himself doing those things with Tim and even getting to know him better than what’s slipped through his persona over the years.

Tim is his soulmate, they’re bound to each other in some way. Why hadn’t he ever seen it before?

What is Tim’s opinion on all of this? Kon’s mind suddenly goes into overdrive when it clicks that since Tim is his soulmate, he has a Mini-Tim with him at all times, then that means Tim would have a mini-him.

“on? Conner! Kon!”

A sharp stinging sensation gets his attention and Kon blinks, his thoughts finally residing for now. Kon looks around to find everyone in the room staring at him with concern and how Robin is standing in front of him with worry etched all over his face.

“Are you okay? You completely spaced out on us.”

Kon swallows thickly and sends Tim, and everyone else, a tight smile. “Yeah, yeah. Sorry just got lost in my thoughts.”

Tim doesn’t look convinced and now that his mask is no longer on Kon could clearly see his expressions. Despite only seeing Tim’s face for the first time moments ago, Kon can already read his facial expressions because they happen to be the exact same ones Mini-Tim wears.

Kon reaches out and pushes Tim away from him to create room so he can stand up. “Seriously I’m fine. It’s just been a long week that’s all. I’m actually going to head to bed, I’ll see you all in the morning.”

Without looking at anyone Kon flees the room, trying to get out of there as fast as possible. He doesn’t stop moving until he gets to his assigned room where he promptly barges in and slams the door shut behind him. Unable to stand still Kon begins pacing the length of the room, his mind back to working on overdrive.

Its only when something starts moving against him that he breaks out of the cycle. Kon stops in the middle of his room and gently scoops out his mini-soulmate. From the centre of his palm, Mini-Robin looks up at him and scowls. Kon winces in both guilt and embarrassment.

He places his min-soulmate onto his dresser and instantly Mini-Tim turns his back on Kon and crosses his arms over his chest. Kon frowns feeling terrible, he didn’t mean to make him upset or angry. He can’t help that he's a little incompetent when it comes to these sort of things.

Kon goes back to his pacing, now talking to his mini as he does so. “I’m sorry okay. I didn’t realise, all of this time and you’ve actually been in front of me. How many missions have we been on, how many rooms have we been in together, how many hours have we spent in close proximity of one another? After all of that its only now I’m figuring it out!”

He glances over to find that Mini-Tim is still ignoring him. Kon huffs. “Well it’s not like it’s entirely my fault! Robin is as much as to blame as I am. At least I have an excuse, I didn’t know it was him because he had half of his face covered all the time. What about him? He’s probably had a mini-me this whole time and has never approached me about the topic, it’s not like I’ve gone incognito.”

When he stops talking the silence in the room stretches out. Even though its only Kon and his mini-soulmate Kon could easily feel the tension between them. He doesn’t like feeling like this, especially with his little counterpart.

Sighing heavily, Kon shuffles over to the dresser where Mini-Tim is still standing and leans in closely. “Please don’t be annoyed. It’s a shitty situation and my emotions are everywhere. The last thing I need is for you to be annoyed at me too…”

When Mini-Tim continues to ignore him Kon frowns and carefully reaches out to him with his TTK. He gently prods his mini-soulmate, trying to encourage him to loosen up and even look at him again.

Eventually his insistence must work because Mini-Tim turns around and stares up at him with wide-eyes and a pout on his face. Kon pulls back his power and reaches out to brush a finger along his tiny cheek.

“I’m sorry,” Kon whispers softly, “I’ll sort things out, I promise but it may take some time.” The wide-eyes and pout soon turns into a glare without heat and a pointed look. Kon understands his message though. “I will talk to him, soon okay. Just not yet, I need to get my thoughts in order first.”

A knock on his bedroom door breaks his attention away from his mini-soulmate. Kon sighs and is reluctant to open the door, fearing what’s on the other side of it. When a second knock happens, Kon forces himself to walk over to the door and pull it open.

As feared, Tim stands there in the corridor looking worried and lost in thought. He notices that Kon has opened the door and snaps back to attention. “Uh hey.”

“Hey.”

“Can we talk?” Tim asks sounding unsure.

Kon sends him a tight smile. “Yeah.”

Tim enters his bedroom and Kon closes the door behind him. There's a pause between them before Tim turns around to face him wearing contemplative expression. “Your behaviour isn’t about my name and face is it?”

It sounds like he already knows the answer to that but Kon humours him by answering anyway. “No. No it isn’t, well, not the main part of it at least.” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. How was he supposed to talk to Robin that he's his soulmate? How was he going to explain that for the last 6 months he’s been carrying around a tiny version of him but didn’t know because he never made the connection until today?

In the end he shakes his head, he’s probably way over thinking this too much. Maybe he shouldn’t use words, perhaps using actions is the way to go?

Kon moves around the room and goes back over to the dresser, when he leans in close he finds Mini-Tim hiding away behind a deodorant spray. He lifts his hand with his palm facing upwards and waits to see if his mini takes the invitation. Mini-Tim stares at him suspiciously for a moment before coming out of his hiding spot and climbing onto his hand.

Kon carefully turns around and shows Tim his mini for the first time. Surprisingly yet unsurprisingly, Tim doesn’t look shocked. His eyes widen but that’s the only reaction Kon gets. Tim wordlessly reaches down into his jacket pocket and brings something out of it, Kon could only gasp when he sees a mini version of himself on Tim’s palm.

Before he or Tim could react their mini-soulmates both make an excited sound. Mini-Kon jumps up from Tim’s palm and flies straight for Mini-Tim. In return Mini-Tim jumps up with his hands stretched out and grasps onto Mini-Kon when they collide together. Mini-Kon carries them around for a moment before they land on the bed and separate. They use their little arms and legs to wildly gesture to one another about something lost to both Kon and Tim. It’s rather adorable to watch.

“I think that answers a few questions does it not?” Tim says amusedly watching the minis with a smile.

Kon huffs. “Some of them yeah. Look dude there’s a lot to explain about this, I get you must be super confused about how a tiny version of myself just suddenly appeared one day and I understand that -”

“I’m going to stop you there Kon.” Tim says firmly raising a hand up in a stopping motion, he’s now looking at him. “I know a lot more than what you think I do. I know what this is and what it could mean. If anything I’m the one that should explain some things to you, like why didn’t I tell you sooner for example.”

Feeling rather overwhelmed Kon shakes his head and moves to sit down in his desk chair.

Tim takes it as an opportunity to keep talking. “We’ve always had a strange relationship Kon. From the moment we met until now it’s been odd, but quite frankly there’s not a thing I would change. I know those minis represent that we’re soulmates. I have to admit I was rather confused when you appeared tiny in my bathroom 6 months ago, to begin with I thought you had shrunk or something but there was something telling me there was more to it than that.

I got my answer about a month later when I ran into Louis, she had been at the Manor talking to Bruce when I saw she had a tiny Clark riding on her shoulder. After a conversation she explained that her and Clark were soulmates, it’s all to do with because he’s a Kryptonian. Of course then it made more sense.

The reason why I never approached you about it is because I didn’t know what to do. I knew it was you, it’s kind of hard not to tell y’know,” Tim sends him a knowing smirk at that comment, “but since you never said anything about it I figured you didn’t know it was me. It’s only then that it clicked that I still hadn’t revealed my face or even shared my name with you.

It wasn’t my choice not to tell you, you know that, it had been Batman’s orders. For months I debated on what to do, even going as far as arguing with Batman to share my ID at least with you. In the end Batman gave in but only after I explained why I was so insistent about it. And well, here we are.”

Tim trails off into silence and he’s looking expectantly at Kon, waiting for him to respond to his side of the story. Kon could only blink at him and repeat his story in his mind. The minis are currently sat together side by side on the edge of the bed’s footboard, they were holding hands and swinging their legs together as they share a smile.

As much as Kon would like to be frustrated at Tim for what he did, he knows he really couldn’t be. Its not his fault that Batman put him in an awkward position. Kon rationalises in his mind that’s its all done and over with now, he can’t change it but from here they can at least go forward.

He glances up at Tim. “So what do we do from here? How would you like to go forward? Also I’m sorry that I put you in this position. It was as much as a shock to me as it probably was to you.”

Tim glares at him. “Don’t apologise Kon. It’s not like you had a choice in the matter and you know what, I’m glad its you.”

That gets Kon’s attention. He stares at his best friend wondering if he heard right. “What?”

The sigh Tim lets out sounds almost resigned. “Why would I be bothered by it? You’re my best friend Kon, of course I don’t mind being soulmates with you. I know we’ve had one heck of a bumpy road in the past but we’re here now aren’t we.”

Kon grins, unable to deny what Tim had just said. He looks back up, taking in how Tim’s eyes are focused on him, how they seem to shine when the light hits them, he takes in Tim’s relaxed posture and how at ease he appears to be.

A sudden urge washes over Kon and all he wants to do is crush Tim in a hug and kiss him. He has no idea when he started thinking about Tim in that way but he finds that he doesn’t actually mind. It’s just the case of whether Tim returns them or not.

Kon stands up and steps towards Tim, standing so close to him that he could feel the others heat. “So how do you want to go forward with this? When Clark told me about soulmates, he said there are platonic, romantic and hating bonds. Is there a certain type you want to be?”

Kon wants to smack himself in the face for how bad that sounds. What the fuck is he on about. Thankfully Tim seems more amused than anything else. A glance to the side shows both minis exaggerating an eye roll each, Kon opts to ignore them.

Tim steps closer, finally pushing their chests together, he has to tilt his head up while Kon looks down to make eye contact with one another. “I don’t know… I mean to be honest if I had to say one surely it would be the hatred bond? I can’t stand you, you know? You get on my nerves too much.”

Kon snorts and shakes his head. “Maybe once upon a time. Anyway you’re just as bad, you and that neurotic brain of yours.”

They both grin at that, shaking their heads at the ridiculous turn in the conversation. Opposite him Tim opens his mouth again but this time Kon decides to cut to the chase. He ducks his head and presses his lips against Tim’s. There’s a pause on Tim’s side but after a second he’s responding to Kon and pushing back against his lips.

Some sort of spark passes between them and suddenly it’s like something inside of him has clicked into place and now he feels complete.

He presses against Tim even more and wraps his arms around him, keeping them pressed closely together. Tim goes with the movement, reaching up to wrap his arms around Kon’s neck and even buries a hand in his hair.

When they part the two of them are sharing wide smiles. Kon huffs out a laugh and rests his forehead against Tim’s.

The only thing that pulls Kon away from Tim is a light slapping against his neck. He pulls back and looks to the side to find Mini-Tim now standing on his shoulder trying to get his attention. Opposite him, Mini-Kon is floating next to Tim’s cheek also getting his attention.

Tim and Kon take a step away from each other to look at their minis. Mini-Tim is grinning wildly and Kon could just feel the excitement and warmth radiating off from him. Kon smiles back softly and reaches up to stroke a finger along Mini-Tim’s cheek, even poking his stomach for fun. It’s a pleasant contrast compared to what he was like a little while ago.

Kon turns back to Tim. “So, um, now that a few things are out the way, can I ask you out on a date? Lets give this a try?”

Tim gently nudges Mini-Kon away to stop him from prodding his cheek, he looks at Kon and nods. “Just text me the time and place and we’ll be there.”

It takes a moment but Kon quickly catches on that he means him and Mini-Kon. Of course, duh, if they’re going to be dating then by extension so are the mini versions of themselves. It probably should be weird but Kon finds that he doesn’t mind, in fact its cute and the fact that Tim doesn’t seem to mind either makes it better. He’s looking forward to the near future and what it could bring for him and Tim and their mini-soulmates.

#timkon #Tim Drake #Kon-El #clark kent #soulmates au #mini soulmates #humour #that oh moment #realisation of feelings #getting together #canon divergence #fluff #idea originally from shadowhunters fandom #i think #i absolutely love this soulmates au concept #fanfiction #the minis are adorable

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bosspigeon · 3 years

Note

19. Shy kiss with Adam/Nate? Adam giving Nate a shy kiss?

at every beat of my battered heart

Pairing: Nathaniel Sewell/Adam du Mortain, with a side of M!Detective/Mason

Words: 4538

Summary: Adam has had many centuries to learn how to repress his feelings, and he thinks he’s gotten quite good at it. Unfortunately for him, it doesn’t take much more than speaking that which has remained unspoken (and a mouthy detective) to draw 300 years of repressed feelings to the surface. Thanks for that, Detective Kingston.

So, this prompt kind of got away from me. It wound up pretty big, but I think I’m really proud of it! Working title was “destroying 300 years of dumb pining.” Title is, once again, from Nothing But Thieves lyrics. “Impossible” came on while I was writing this, and I couldn’t resist.

“You’re improving quickly,” Adam offers as Detective Kingston takes a swallow from his water bottle. His face and tattooed shoulders are sheened with sweat, his chest rising and falling quickly, but quietly, under his tank top. His eyebrows creep upwards, one corner of his mouth quirking.

Adam’s spine straightens, jaw tensing in anticipation for the snippy retort he’s certain to--

“Thanks,” the detective says. He snags two towels from the table by his hip and tosses one to Adam, who catches it and wipes the sweat from his own face. “Think I’m starting to figure your style out. One of these days, I’m gonna land a hit, and I will make damn sure it’s a good one.”

Adam blinks, and smiles cautiously in return. “You sound confident.”

Detective Kingston’s eyes brighten. “Worried?”

Adam chuckles, in spite of himself. “When I have need to be, you will know.” He meets the detective’s eyes, bright and challenging, strangely invigorated by this tenuous new camaraderie. “I’ll be able to stop holding back.”

They are interrupted by a long groan from Felix, who has taken it upon himself to oversee the commander’s sparring session with the detective from his seat in a pile of cushions a safe distance from the mat. He flops onto his back with his legs straight in the air, arms spread on either side of him. His heels hit the floor with a dramatic thud, and he lies there, still groaning. “I can’t believe there’s another one of you,” he complains, staring at the ceiling. “Do you guys know how to be friends without kicking the stuffing out of each other?”

The detective huffs, ambling over to kick Felix’s leg lightly, which devolves into Felix flailing back at him with his colorful sock-clad feet.

There’s a pleasant warmth in Adam’s chest, one that started months ago as a small, tentative flicker. His work with the Agency was his only constant for half a millennium, and before Unit Bravo, even that was relegated to purely professional relationships and missions. And then he met Nate, and he became a constant too, eventually. Once Adam could allow himself, even a little, to have any sort of closeness with another person. And then came Mason, and Felix, and now Detective Kingston--who still rolls his eyes upon being addressed by his title, but old habits die hard, especially for a creature so set in his ways as Adam. But in the last few months, he’s finally felt something inside him begin to settle. To be comfortable. Maybe, even, to feel at home.

He turns towards the training room’s door before it opens, fine-tuned to the comings and goings of his unit, and, of course, when it does open, there stands Nate, closely followed by Mason. Perhaps he’s gone soft in his old age, but Adam doesn’t try to hide his smile.

Nate’s warm brown eyes meet his, and brighten at the look on his commander’s face. “Ah! Finally taking a break, are we?”

“No, you’re not,” Mason says, nudging past him with his sharp grey eyes trained on the detective, still half-heartedly tussling with Felix. “At least, he isn’t.” He stalks across the room with all the intent and focus of a predator.

Detective Kingston meets his eyes with raised brows and a lazy curl of his mouth. “Oh, yeah?”

“I was promised a round, sweetheart,” Mason drawls, looming over the much shorter man. “I’ve come to collect.”

Felix, lying on the ground between them, clears his throat. “You two do remember I’m still here, right?”

Mason steps over him and pushes him across the floor with his foot, staring intently at the detective all the while.

Nate moves to stand at Adam’s shoulder, chuckling fondly and shaking his head at the ensuing scuffle. Adam looks over at him, and raises his eyebrows. “I take it everything went well?” he asks.

Nate nods. “Yes, yes, we just finished debriefing with Agent Kingston. It was all very routine. Almost boring, really. I thought Mason was going to cause a fight just to have some excitement.”

Adam snorts, but keeps his eyes on his old friend, studying his profile, the gentle droop of his eyelids, the contented curl of his mouth, and the carefully concealed tension slowly bleeding from his broad shoulders. His eyes drift from Adam, to Mason, to Felix, to the detective, as if counting them all in his head. He always settles into himself better when they are all close, protective as he is. Even if they are being something of a handful. He huffs out a little laugh in spite of himself, and Nate’s eyes turn to him once more, crinkling at the corners.

“You’re in a rare good mood today,” he says. The happiness in his tone, in his eyes, is unmistakable. “Don’t ruin it,” Adam scoffs back, trying in vain to stifle his smile.

“I was only making an observation,” Nate teases. “You just seem happier lately. It’s nice to see.” He shifts slightly, and his arm brushes Adam’s, that single point of contact sending a bright, warm spark to his chest.

Their attention is drawn by a solid thud from the mats. Mason is on the floor, looking wide-eyed up at a triumphant Detective Kingston, who is straddling his belly with a wrapped hand on his neck. Felix is still on the floor in his pile of cushions, and he rolls over onto his belly to gawk at the scene. He then collapses into a fit of hysterical giggles, and if breathing was a necessity, Adam would be concerned he was going to suffocate.

Mason’s shock quickly changes to something else entirely, and he skims his hand along the taut line of the detective’s thigh. “That was a cheap trick,” he growls, eyes bright and lips curling up at one corner.

“Not my fault you’re easily distracted,” the human replies loftily, lifting up onto his knees. The motion pushes his hand down, and Mason makes a rough noise, fingers digging into his thigh. He could recover from the pin easily-- Adam himself knows how fast he can be-- but he stays quite happily where he is. Instead, he rolls his hips up to bring his body back in contact with Detective Kingston’s, who moves gracefully with the motion.

Before Adam has the chance to speak up, Nate loudly clears his throat, and both of them whip their heads around to meet his disapproving stare. “Really, you two?”

“You’re supposed to be sparring,” Adam says, shaking his head.

“Not canoodling,” Nate adds helpfully. Felix is overtaken by another fit of wild, hiccuping laughter.

“If it helps,” Detective Kingston says, rolling to the side and bouncing smoothly to his feet, “the canoodling is how I was able to get the drop on him in the first place.” His lips quirk wryly when he says “canoodling” and Felix begins to make some truly concerning wheezing noises. Even Mason pushes himself into a sitting position to eyeball him with annoyed concern.

“I doubt such a tactic will help you with anyone or anything else,” Adam chides, crossing his arms.

“I mean, it’s worked for Mason at least once before,” Felix calls, having recovered enough to speak. He’s rubbing his cheeks as if they hurt.

“Three times,” Mason corrects smugly.

Chase sidles up alongside Adam and swats him on the arm with the back of his hand. “Lighten up, would you?” The familiarity of the gesture is new, and strange, but not entirely unwelcome. Detective Kingston, much like Adam himself, does not dole out casual touches often, keeping himself carefully contained and most people at arm’s length. Nate has, of course, pointed out that this is likely why he and the human so often butt heads. They are oddly similar in many ways. Still, he looks at the spot the detective smacked, then looks at him and arches a brow. Detective Kingston rolls his eyes. “Maybe you’d be in a better mood if you and your better half did some canoodling of your own, yeah?”

The room falls eerily silent. Not a breath is drawn. Detective Kingston looks up at Adam, brows scrunching, sharp eyes searching. He slowly turns to Nate, standing at Adam’s shoulder and practically vibrating with sudden tension that Adam can feel without the need to look at him. The detective’s eyes return to Adam, and his furrowed brows fly upwards.

“Shit,” he blurts, taking a step back. He glances back at Mason and Felix. “Was I not supposed to know?”

“Know what?” Adam grits out, his jaw aching with how hard his teeth have instinctively clenched. His whole body feels suddenly overheated, the back of his neck prickling.

It is not easy to surprise Detective Kingston, and even when he is surprised, he hides it well enough, rolling with the punches, as he might say. Now, he seems to be entirely thrown. “You and Nate aren’t…” Behind him, Felix makes a sound, high-pitched and choked, and Adam’s eyes flick up to see him with both hands clapped over his mouth.

Adam’s heart is pounding in his ears. He doesn’t dare to look at Nate, and clenches his fists to keep his fingers from shaking.

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” Nate laughs, weak and strained. “Adam and I-- There’s no--”

Adam’s stomach twists, his chest tightens, and his nails are digging into his palms so hard it catches Mason’s attention. Nate’s, it seems, is quite occupied with--

He has to leave.

He keeps his eyes down as he stalks towards the door and pushes it open. He flinches when he hears a crack, the clink of the broken-off knob (and the chunk of the door that comes away with it) dropping to the floor, but he doesn’t stop. It’s already broken, so there is no point in waiting, when he can still hear Detective Kingston’s words echoing in his ears, Nate’s urgent dismissals an accompanying chorus. He thinks, perhaps, that someone calls his name, but he can’t be sure with his skull ringing with--

He is a soldier. A leader. He knows well when to make a strategic retreat.

He reaches his bedroom and manages to close the door firmly without slamming (or shattering) it. Adam’s bedroom is his refuge, simple and spartan though it is. A permanent home is a rarity when one works for an organization like the Agency, especially for agents as active as Unit Bravo tend to be, so he has not had much time to settle in the way the others have. Regardless, it is his space, and his alone, and simply stepping inside helps to slow his heart. But his head is still an incomprehensible, tangled mess he can’t hope to parse. He sits heavily on the edge of his bed, with its precisely tucked military corners, and puts his face in his hands, exhaling a ragged breath.

He was so careful. He always has been. Emotions are dangerous, a distraction and a burden, and while he knows he cannot simply wish them away when they become inconvenient, he should have had more than enough experience with willing them down where they can’t burden him.

But he still remembers with sharp, startling clarity the moment he first laid eyes on the man who would become his closest friend and companion, hollow-eyed, ashen, and slouched, the tang of salt air and blood still clinging stubbornly to his skin. Centuries have passed, and Adam can’t remember what he said when making his introductions, but he can recall as if it were yesterday the way Nate’s mouth lifted weakly, the way his tired eyes creased at the corners, the way he huffed out a soft, raspy laugh and politely croaked, “Nathaniel Sewell. Lovely to meet you.” He didn’t know it for what it was then, but the surge of fierce, determined protectiveness that took hold of him in that moment never left, and over time softened into a quiet, gentle adoration that sits in his chest still to this day, unspoken, even to his own ears. To say it, to give it a voice, would make it real enough to hurt him more than the dull throb of longing, the urge to reach over on the occasions they study together and push a loose curl of hair back behind Nate’s ear.

Adam du Mortain is no coward, but he remembers all too well-- and fears-- what his feelings are capable of when they rage out of control, and that fear is what keeps them tightly leashed, and what protects the ones under his care from their influence. It is a useful fear, if still a shameful one, and Adam has lived as long as he has by using every tool at his disposal to succeed.

It’s a conversation he’s had with himself countless times before, when the ache gets to be too much.

He’s so engrossed in his silent mantra, almost meditative at this point with three centuries of repetition, he does not realize he isn’t alone until he hears his door click shut. His head jerks up, teeth instinctively bared upon being caught off guard, but it’s Nate, who raises his hands like he is gentling a startled animal and murmurs, “It’s only me,” with a soft smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

For a long, long moment, they simply stare at one another, before Adam breaks and has to look down again, the pained understanding crinkling Nate’s brow too much to bear. His shoulders buckle under the weight of it, his chest tight enough he would fear choking if he needed to breathe. He knows what’s coming, and has dreaded it even longer than he knew its name.

Adam feels every single second that ticks by, waiting for Nate to break the heavy silence, and his gut swoops when his friend inhales, as if bolstering for what he’s about to say.

“You didn’t know, did you?”

Adam’s spine snaps straight so quickly it’s a wonder he doesn’t hear it crack. But, of course, he can’t hear much under the racing of his own pulse in his ears. His eyes shoot to his friend’s face, and he is still smiling, but it is so much sadder now, his eyes shining with unshed tears. Adam rolls his tongue, his senses so full of Nate he can taste the tang of salt.

“Know what?” he croaks.

Nate’s face crumples, his mouth twisting into a scowl. “Adam, please,” he bites out, “spare me. Don’t…” He swallows so hard his throat clicks, the tears welling more, trembling on his lashes. His hands flex at his sides. “Don’t play dumb, please. You’re better than that.”

Adam has never been so confused in his very, very, very long life. He stares at Nate, however much it aches in the deep unspoken recesses of his chest, because he needs to understand. Nate’s lips are pinched into a grim line, a muscle in his jaw jumping. He looks sad, and hurt, but most notably, he looks angry. It’s a quiet anger, contained, but bubbling beneath the taut surface, and Adam wants to reach out and smooth away the line creasing his brow, the tension in his jaw.

“I don’t understand,” he insists, voice cracking with emotion he tries very hard to push down, but the walls he’s so carefully built are starting to crumble.

Nate glowers at him for a long moment, and the intensity, the pained fury, in that stare makes Adam feel like an insect specimen being pulled apart and held down by pins being driven ever so slowly into the softest parts of his body. And then, like storm clouds blown away from the sun, the expression changes. Nate’s jaw goes slack, his eyes widening.

“You… You’re serious. You have no idea, even now? After--” He laughs, clapping a hand over his mouth to stifle it. Still, it hurts, and Adam curls in on himself and clutches his chest, a sour feeling bubbling inside him. “Adam, I thought… All this time, I thought you were… Pretending to be ignorant, to spare my feelings, and then you just-- You ran off, and I… I thought you only just--” He’s begun to pace, rambling as he stalks back and forth from one bare wall to another, hands gesturing wildly, and he doesn’t look as if he’s including Adam in this strange, one-sided conversation.

Adam curls in on himself tighter, shoulders around his ears, eyes on the floor.

Nate finally comes to a stop in the middle of the floor, and he laughs again, nearly hysterical. Adam can’t bear to look at him. Until he speaks, the words coming out of him in a near-frantic rush. “I’ve been absolutely, stupidly, pitifully in love with you for centuries at this point, and I've kept it to myself because, of course you could never feel the same, and I figured you knew, because you had to have known, I was so obvious about it, but you didn’t want to hurt me, so you pretended you didn’t know, but you really, truly had no bloody idea.”

Adam lifts his head so sharply it makes him dizzy. Nate is standing as if a stiff breeze could knock him over, unsteady and weak, hands visibly shaking at his sides. His eyes, dark and sweet and framed by long, wet lashes, glimmer in the low light. He inhales, shaky and shuddering. “You don’t have to say anything,” he whispers, smiling that strange, sad smile. “I know… I know this is all coming out of nowhere for you, and I know… I know you could never…” His breath hitches. “I’m sorry, Adam. I should have told you so long ago, just to clear the air.” He laughs again, soft and weak. “Maybe that would have made it easier to…” He trails off, twisting his hands and looking away.

Adam pushes himself to his feet. Every muscle in his body feels pulled taut, protests the motion, but when he is fully upright the tension slowly bleeds away. He crosses the room with a deliberate slowness, one foot in front of the other. Nate doesn’t look up until they are nearly chest-to-chest, and his eyes… they are warm, and soft, and so, so sad. His lips tremble, soundlessly forming words that Adam vaguely recognizes as, perhaps, a weak apology, but his pulse is drumming so wildly in his ears he doesn’t think he’d hear them if they were spoken. He can’t be sure what his face is doing, what he must look like, because he is so focused on Nate, on the words echoing in his head and overlapping in a confused, desperately overjoyed jumble. He reaches out tentatively, his fingertips brushing Nate’s where they twist around each other. They freeze the second Adam’s make contact.

And then they grab his and cling, his grip so tight Adam thinks if he looked down, he’d see stark white knuckles. He pulls one hand, just one, loose, and Nate makes a heartbreaking noise deep in his chest, clutching the hand Adam leaves him even tighter. It would likely hurt if it were anyone's hand but Adam's.

With his free hand, he reaches up, curling his fingers around the nape of Nate’s neck, fingers burrowing into his hair. There is something in him that screams at him to put a stop to this somehow, but after so long of looking at his dearest friend, the man he’s had at his back for centuries, who he trusts more than anyone he’s ever known, he knows he’s not strong enough to stop, not after so many years of longing. The dark strands curling around his fingers make him shudder, and when he pulls, Nate comes willingly, bending down so that Adam can put their foreheads together. It takes another steadying breath for him to tilt his face up and press his mouth softly, almost timidly, to Nate’s chin, the stubble catching his lips and sending sparks through him.

Nate gasps, twisting his head sharply to the side, and their lips brush, a single quick, wet point of contact, and the sparks become a firestorm under his skin. The sound that rips from his throat would be mortifying, if he had any willpower to think of anything but crushing his mouth to Nate’s so hard he feels his lip split. The sting is hardly worth acknowledging, healing away almost instantly. He feels wild, hungry, but somehow weak and fragile, clinging to his friend as if afraid to be swept away, or worse, pushed. But Nate holds onto him as if he can’t bear to let go, lacing their fingers together and squeezing, wrapping the other hand around Adam’s lower back and pressing so that Adam stumbles against him. A miscalculation on Nate’s part, and one that sends him careening towards Adam’s desk.

He grunts when his backside hits the edge, and he has to release Adam’s hand to flail back and catch himself, which leaves his commanding agent no choice but to clutch at his crisp shirt and feel the threads strain in protest against his needy grip. Mostly unphased, his tongue drags along Adam’s bottom lip, a wordless request that Adam permits without thought, mouth falling open in a thready moan.

With permission happily given, Nate consumes him. Somehow, they wind up spun around, Adam pushed against the desk, breathless and overwhelmed, knees close to buckling. They break apart, and he makes another strangled, pitiful sound that rips itself from him with no consideration for his centuries of careful restraint. Nate gives a low, warm laugh that rumbles where their chests are pressed together so snugly Adam can’t tell whose wild heartbeat is whose. He chases the lost kiss, wants to know desperately what that laugh tastes like, but Nate stops him with a firm hand that slides between their bodies and presses to the center of his chest. The bare inch of space it creates between them feels like entirely too much.

“How long?” Nate asks roughly, still staring down at him with stars in his eyes, lips reddened and wet. He swallows hard, his jaws flexing, his breaths short and shallow. “How long have you…”

Adam wants to look away, but when he tries to, Nate’s hands flash up to cup his cheeks, holding his face still. Adam’s breath hitches, his heart pounding so hard he fears it’s going to beat its way right through his ribs.

“How long, Adam?” Nate asks him so softly, his thumb drawing along his cheekbone.

“As long as I’ve known you,” he admits tightly. He wants to close his eyes, to hide somehow, but Nate’s dark, intent gaze holds him prisoner, warm and tender and understanding. He helplessly clenches his hands, frozen in place, his body alive with heat and tremors he thought he’d long learned to force down, along with every other emotion he’s felt since his family… Nate’s thumb drags along the divot below his lips, his breath hitches, and the words keep tumbling from his mouth as if Nate’s got them on a string. “I have never once looked at you without… without wanting.”

“Adam,” Nate nearly sobs, smiling so broadly it must ache, those damnable, beautiful crinkles scrunching around his eyes. The tears fall freely now, dripping down his cheeks. Adam wants nothing more than to kiss them away, but he doesn’t, shaking with the will it takes to keep himself contained. “You never… Why didn’t you say anything?”

Adam steadies himself on the edge of the desk biting into the backs of his thighs, his lungs squeezing. “I didn’t think…” He looks up at Nate, the fall of hair over his brow, the endless warmth of his eyes, the wobbly, wondering smile on his soft mouth, and he breaks. The heat of tears on his face is quickly brushed away by gentle fingers, and Nate croons wordlessly at him.

“You didn’t think you deserved it,” he finishes, as he always does, reaching into Adam’s heart and plucking the truth from him as easily as if it were any of their thousands of wordless conversations. Nate knows everything about him, his past, his fears, his guilt. And never once has he begrudged Adam the space to express them, even when it was ugly. Even when he couldn’t put them into words, and simply needed to feel something break.

“You are…” He swallows, licks his lips, cooling now that Nate’s lips aren’t keeping them warm. His chest squeezes, the rhythm of his heart staggering with fears he could never give voice. But he needs to, now. He’s held them inside for so long, and look where it’s gotten him, the both of them. Denying not just himself happiness, but Nate, the one who deserves it more than anyone. “I was afraid you would… Even if you didn’t feel the same, I couldn’t take the chance you would indulge me out of kindness.”

Nate chuckles, but there is a heat to his tawny skin that Adam can taste more than he can see. “I am not so self-sacrificing as all that,” he sighs wistfully. “You always did have a much loftier opinion of me than you should.”

“I think my opinion of you is more than justified,” Adam fires back fiercely, tugging on Nate’s shirt, where he suddenly realizes his hands are still tangled.

Nate smiles, and it is such a soft thing that burrows into Adam’s chest and makes a home there, along with every other smile he’s privately stowed away. But this one… this one is for him, and him alone. “You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew all the things I’ve been thinking about doing to you for the last three hundred years.”

Heat streaks its way through Adam’s body, and there is a tiny pop as one of Nate’s buttons finally gives way to his grip.

The tender smile on Nate’s lips curls into something entirely different, sly and wicked, and his thumb drags along Adam’s lower lip. Adam is suddenly intensely aware of how closely the two of them are pressed together, from knees to chest.

“Perhaps you would,” Nate allows, chuckling. “You do live to surprise me, even after all this time.”

Adam, left feeling overheated, restless, and uncomfortably seen, shifts from foot to foot and decides there has been more than enough talking. They have plenty of time to talk, but for now, he very much would like to make up for lost time. He reaches up and curls his fingers along Nate’s jaw, rubbing at the coarseness of his stubble, and Nate turns into the touch like a flower towards the sun, lips dragging along the tender skin of Adam’s palm. His knees tremble, and before he can lose his nerve, he pulls Nate into another delicate kiss. Nate sighs happily against his mouth, tipping Adam’s head back so that he can more thoroughly steal his breath away.

“You’re right,” he murmurs, always so easily reading into Adam’s gestures. “I think we’ve wasted enough time, talking and not-talking. At least this version of not-talking is productive.”

Adam wouldn’t exactly call it productive in the grand scheme of things, but for once he has no desire to argue.

#pidge writes #the wayhaven chronicles #wayhaven #nathaniel sewell #adam du mortain #twc nate/adam #twc fanfic #wayhaven fanfic #I FINALLY FUCKING DID IT Y'ALL #GOD THIS TOOK SO LONG #BUT I DONE IT #anyway how y'all likin my overuse of italics #my cardinal sins of writing are run on sentences too many commas and overuse of italics #also nbt runs my life at this point #their lyrics are just so goddamned good #Anonymous

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nobodyfamousposts · 4 years

Text

BURN THE WITCH! Part 6

Well...you all did ask...

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Marinette chanted as she ran.

Not that anyone was chasing her or there was even any reason to run with Fu completely knocked out. Honestly, she may have just been running from her own guilt more than anything by this point.

She didn’t stop running until she was at least a good several blocks away. Her legs were burning and she was gasping for breath when she finally felt she had made it far enough to rest. With her mind running a mile a minute, she somehow managed to find an alleyway between two mostly empty storefronts to use as a hiding space to try and regroup.

“I’m so sorry…” She had attacked Master Fu. She had hit her mentor over the head. SHE HIT AN ELDERLY MAN WITH A FRYING PAN!

“You should be sorry!” Tikki admonished her from her hiding place in Marinette’s bag. “Now there won’t be anyone to sell us popcorn!”

“NotnowTikki!”

Okay. Okay. Recap.

She had the Dragon Miraculous—even if she’d had to knock out Master Fu to get it, which was a horrible thing to do even if it did at least prevent him from stopping her or trying anything to help the akuma because the other Miraculous users were mostly if not all likely under the akuma’s influence by now and fighting them to try and save Lila was NOT something she wanted to do today on top of everything else…

The akuma has had time to get more followers and seems to have amassed a greater army by this point. The lynch mob that those followers have become were apparently in the process of trying to 1) hunt down Lila and 2) set up a pyre for the intended burning. While the followers have been focused on those two things, the akuma herself has been mobile and roaming around Paris, seemingly for the purpose of finding Lila while also enthralling more followers to aid her cause.

Tikki was one of those under the akuma’s influence as well. So far she had been trying to convince Marinette to not try and save Lila, which was…frustratingly tempting but not overall harmful. What WAS of concern was the question of what effect Tikki’s condition would have on Ladybug once transformed. Would Ladybug immediately be under the akuma’s thrall as well? Or would Tikki’s state influence the Lucky Charm? The former seemed unlikely, but she couldn’t rule out the latter.

There has as of yet been no sign of Chat Noir. She had no way of knowing where he was or if the akuma had already gotten to him. Her hope was that he, like Marinette, was also unaffected by the akuma’s words since he also knew what Lila was capable of. Or he should at least, given they were both aware of Lila’s multiple akumatizations and her helping Hawk Moth. He may not go to her school or know Lila personally, but he should know that much, right?

And then there was Lila herself. Marinette had no idea where she had escaped to after her failed attempt to sacrifice Marinette to the angry mob, but she at least knew that the mob hadn’t found her yet. She wanted to take some relief at that, but unfortunately knew she couldn’t. Given Lila’s previous antics and that the fact she was being hunted did nothing to even so much as slow her down from attempting other self-serving things, Marinette was honestly more worried about what all Lila could have gotten up to. While the smart thing to do would be to hide somewhere and wait, Marinette wouldn’t put it past the liar to take advantage of whatever opportunity this mess could give her, even at the risk of her own safety.

Part of her felt guilty for that being her bigger concern. The rest of her, however, knew better. She knew full well what Lila was like, after all. She had seen her at her worst first-hand.

Maybe that was why she hadn’t fallen under the akuma’s sway? Even if she didn’t know every horrible the things Lila had done, she still knew Lila was capable of anything. So nothing the akuma announced Lila has done actually surprised her.

It may only be a matter of time, though. Even Ladybug had her limits.

“Okay. Okay.” Marinette slapped her cheeks to focus. “Just…find the akuma, purify it, and this will all be over.”

Well, not ALL over. There would still be the matter of Lila’s theft and reveal of her lies. That money needed to be recovered. Rose still needed help. There were legal issues to take into account. But there were still plenty of ways of dealing with those things. Ways which didn’t involve fire.

Marinette just needed to deal with the akuma so she could actually have some peace to address those problems. Or at the very least, so the world would stop trying to tempt her to allowing murder to take place.

Resolute and with a plan, Marinette walked out of the alleyway.

And right into one of the main sources of her troubles.

“Lila?!”

Speak of the devil…

“What happened to you?” Marinette asked, immediately concerned. Lila’s hair was damp and frizzing. It looked like she had just taken a shower—though the smell certainly said differently. Marinette had to fight the instinct to draw away from the odor. “Are you okay? And…wait…are those my clothes?” Marinette cut off with narrowed eyes at the girl as she recognized what she was wearing as coming from her own wardrobe.

“There was an unfortunate misunderstanding.” Lila said, waving it off.

Yeah, not buying it.

“Being?”

“Nothing you need to know about. I made it out, however, and your parents were happy to help me.” Lila said before looked down at her new attire, pulling at a sleeve distastefully. “I can’t say much about their taste though…”

“So you were at my house.” Which was no small cause of annoyance given that Marinette had been trying to take her there earlier, but knowing Lila had been in her home without her knowledge…

Marinette sighed, resigned. “What did you do?”

Lila gasped, looking affronted. “Why would you assume I did anything?”

Because Lila’s a lying snake she couldn’t trust with a stale bagel, much less her home.

She merely gave Lila a dry look. “Because if you had been at the bakery, there must be a reason why you’re out in the streets now.”

While she loved her parents dearly, they weren’t always the most dependable. Sabrina had gotten into her room once before by slipping past them when they weren’t paying attention to just WHOM was going up to her room. Then there was the situation with Chloe’s bracelet and her father doing more to admonish her for defending herself than helping her when she was accused. Or the way her parents didn’t really listen to her when Lila had gotten her expelled.

Knowing them, they would try and help Lila regardless of her previous false accusations. Even if it meant allowing Lila access to things she shouldn’t be allowed access to. Like Marinette’s clothes. Or her room.

…please say they didn’t let her into her room.

“I have better options for places to hide than a sad little one-note bakery.”

Marinette was not impressed. “Then why did you end up at the bakery instead of wherever that was?”

Lila laughed. “Well, they did offer. And who am I to turn down a free offer, even if it’s from your parents?” She shook her head. “You would think they would have known better. But they are rather trusting, aren’t they? They trusted me easily enough. First with your ‘crimes’ and now again.”

She clenched her fists. “Because you lied!”

“So what if I did? It says something when they were willing to believe me over you.” Lila shrugged, uncaringly. “But does it say more about me? Or you?”

Lila was clearly baiting her. But if nothing else, this day had taught Marinette to deny temptation.

“Are you REALLY trying to start a fight right now? In case it’s slipped your mind, Lila, there are a lot of very angry people trying to hunt you down. And every bad thing you do is only giving them more ammunition to want to hunt you!”

Lila hesitated at that, looking uncertain for all of a moment before settling back into cool confidence. “Those idiots would believe anything. I could just as easily tell them that everything from before was the result of another akuma. Or that my ‘illness’ was acting up. They would believe it that. After all, they believed me about all my other injuries.”

Marinette shook her head.

“You can’t keep it up forever, Lila. Your lies rely on emotional appeal to make people feel sorry for you or obligated to help you. But people will get tired of it and then what? You just move on to the next school?”

“The next school. The next community. The next city. The next country. It’s worked for me so far.”

“Because you’ve never been held accountable so far. But the mess you make isn’t going to go away this time.”

“It doesn’t matter. Ladybug will save me, and then she'll save the day, just like she always does. Because she just has to be ‘the hero’.” Lila rolled her eyes. “She's too much of a goodie two shoes to fall for mudslinging. Then all I have to do is point out to everyone that Ladybug herself believed in me when no one else did and they’ll fall back in line. I will be queen again. Or if I can’t continue there, I can simply transfer out and start over somewhere else where I can. So it really doesn't matter what happens."

Marinette didn’t even hide the glare at this point. “And who is going to help you survive that long? Who do you have in your back pocket who will be willing to face down an akuma leading an angry mob out for your head?”

She stepped forward and Lila took a tentative step back.

“I’m certainly not seeing anyone else here with you right now. I mean, sure, I was willing to help you, and then you literally tried to sacrifice me to the akuma. My parents would gladly have kept you safe at the bakery unless you did something. Who do you even have that you haven’t turned against you? I would love to know.”

“Hey, I had your friends in my corner.” Lila shot back.

“In case you haven’t noticed, Lila: right now, I am the only person anywhere close to your corner. In fact, I’m probably the only person in all of Paris who wants you to NOT die a horrible fiery death despite knowing full well just how horrible of a person you are.”

“And of course you’re so concerned about me.” Lila scoffed.

“Against my better judgement.” Marinette muttered.

“Oh please.” She replied with a roll of her eyes. “We both know you would happily leave me to perish if you had the chance.”

Marinette glared. “That’s the sort of thing you would do, Lila. But I’m not like you.”

She was angry. And she would be lying if there wasn’t a good part of her that wanted to simply give up

But Lila only sneered. “Of course not, you’re like Ladybug. Self righteous, holier-than-thou, so-called heroes who have to stick your noses into other people’s business even when it doesn’t affect you.”

“You were lying to people!” Marinette exclaimed hotly. It was perhaps a bit too loudly, but she was having increasing difficulty caring at this point.

“And what did that matter for either of you?”

Marinette bristled. But Lila ignored her, continuing to speak and defend herself.

“I only told people what they wanted to hear. Alya wanted news for her blog. The others wanted stories. Even Adrien wanted a connection to a superhero. So what did it matter if I gave it to them whether it was real or not? It didn’t warrant what Ladybug did. And anything I’ve done since didn’t have to happen if not for her. Honestly, this is really all her fault.”

“Ladybug’s fault?!” Marinette gaped.

She…she couldn’t be serious?

But Lila nodded, resolutely.

Marinette just stared. Did…did she really believe her own lies that much?

The fact that she was even now trying to justify it only made her more angry. Her actions as Ladybug weren’t the best, and were far from heroic. She admitted to being wrong and apologized at that time and even afterwards to no effect. But here and now, especially with Lila’s continued and even worsening antics, she wanted to defend her masked self. And this may be the only time she would get to do so.

“It’s not Ladybug’s fault you lied about being her best friend and another superhero to Adrien.”

Lila paused before frowning at Marinette, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “And how do you know about that?”

Normally, Marinette would have stumbled and tried to stutter out some weak excuse. But Marinette was tired, angry, and beyond caring. For once, she didn’t even miss a beat.

“Because it’s not like you were confronted by a superhero in a public park where anyone could happen to be nearby and witness it or anything.” She replied dryly.

Lila’s eyes widened. “So that’s how you knew I was lying?”

Marinette didn’t answer. Fortunately, she didn’t need to.

“I was just trying to impress Adrien. But he only had eyes for a superhero. Was it so wrong to want to get his attention the only way I could?” Lila said by way of explanation, sounding sad and hurt in a way Marinette could almost believe if it weren’t for the fact that the person it was coming from was Lila. And sure enough, Lila turned to Marinette, appearing for all intents and purposes as if they were somehow bonded through a shared suffering over a boy they both liked. “You know what it’s like, don’t you? The way he’s only watching her? Isn’t it unfair that for all the good you do for him, he doesn’t see you? That he worships a stranger in a mask over the real life hero who is beside him every day?”

Her words stung a bit, yes. Mostly because she knew they weren’t true. Adrien was in love with Kagami, not Ladybug. So whether or not Marinette was wearing a mask didn’t matter.

Thus she ignored Lila’s attempts to draw her in and focused on the glaring problem in her story.

“And what was she supposed to do if Adrien or Alya or anyone came up to her and asked her about you?”

And like that, Lila’s caring facade broke as her face twisted into an ugly snarl.

“She was supposed to never find out and just keep her mouth shut. But she went and blabbed. She made me look like a liar in front of Adrien.”

The fact that it was only because she WAS a liar seemed to not matter to her, much to Marinette’s disbelief.

“I had Adrien Agreste hanging off my every word and then she came along and ruined it!” Lila was seething at the memory.

Hearing all of this only made things worse. Even now, Lila saw nothing wrong with anything she did, only with how others responded to her. And to hear her blast Ladybug in such a way made Marinette’s ire rise.

“He would have figured it out.” Marinette pointed out. Adrien was smart. Trusting and kind, but not easily fooled. “You claimed to be a superhero but what was going to happen when you couldn’t transform or use your superpowers to back it.”

“I could just say I can’t transform without cause and compromise my identity—“

“Then why even tell him you were a hero in the first place?” Marinette countered, more annoyed. “The entire plan was stupid! You revealed yourself to a stranger for no real reason! You two didn’t know each other! You had no connection with him to establish trust or any reason TO tell him such vital information!”

Lila glared, looking downright petulant. “It wouldn’t have mattered if he believed me.”

Of all the…

“Even if he DID believe you at first,” Marinette continued. “It only would have made him more upset with you when the truth came out. And it would have come out soon enough. He was bound to notice that no Fox-themed hero was joining Ladybug in fights.”

“I would have been in reserve.” Lila reasoned.

“Given how bad some akumas have gotten, no amount of excuses could justify NOT using extra help. And what about when the other heroes started appearing? What, were you going to claim to be Rena Rouge?”

That made Lila grimace. “There weren’t supposed to BE any other heroes.”

Marinette threw up her hands. “You read the book! You saw the pictures! That’s how you even knew about Volpina in the first place!”

Lila blinked in surprise. “Wait, how do you know about that?”

Marinette glared angrily. “Who do you think returned that book to Adrien’s father after you threw it in the trash?”

“Oh right. You were spying on us.” Lila smirked.

“You’re lucky I was there at all!” Marinette bit out through gritted teeth. “That book belonged to Adrien’s FATHER! He was FURIOUS when it was lost! Enough that he was going to pull Adrien out of school for losing it!”

Which she was still upset over. Especially since she had taken the blame for it instead of admitting Lila did it.

“Even if your plan HAD worked, you wouldn’t have had a chance at Adrien anyway because he wouldn’t be in school anymore! He’s only in school now because I took the hit and returned it.”

“Yes, and I’m sure you only had the most ‘noble’ of intentions.” The other girl stated with a roll of your eyes. “And the fact that you would be losing any chance at Adrien had NOTHING to do with it. Don’t act like you’re any different.”

“I did it so HE would be happy.” Marinette insisted. “Because Adrien loves coming to school and I didn’t want him to lose that. Don’t even try to claim we’re the same when you’re the only reason he was put in that position in the first place!”

She was getting more heated and was finding it harder to care. But it was like everything Lila had done and every reason Marinette disliked her was rushing back into her head.

“The one thing I’ve noticed is that not only do you lie, but you don’t think your lies through. What was even the point of claiming all the things you did?” She questioned, looking at Lila in the eyes. Legitimately trying to understand. “You don’t just claim minor things to get by. You tell outrageous lies that are difficult to believe in the first place and are easy to disprove. And for what? To get people to hold things for you and buy you lunch or ice cream. Then what? It’s just…”

Pointless. That was the problem. Lila’s lies were completely pointless in the end. They offered some short term benefit but failed to hold up over time—whether in believability or interest. While it was true that Marinette’s concern was for her classmates who had no benefit from Lila’s lies, the thing was that Lila had nothing to gain from them either.

It was like she was lying for the sake of lying.

“Do you even notice the impact you’re having on others? Or care? What are you even getting out of it?”

What could possibly make it all worth it?

There was a period of silence as the two stared at each other.

Then Lila…

Lila just laughed.

“What don’t I get out of it? Their focus. Their adoration. I am their Queen in a way Chloe Bourgeois wishes she was. The center of attention. The one they adore. Wasn’t that why you really got upset with me that first day back?”

“What?”

“Oh come on, even you must get it or you wouldn’t try so hard to play up the ‘good girl’ angle to make people like you.”

Marinette drew back, confused.

“Everybody plays each other. That’s all anybody ever does. We play parts.”

She didn’t believe that. In a way she could try and understand Lila’s logic considering her secret identity. But even with her mask of Ladybug and her role as a hero, it wasn’t just a ‘part to play’. Ladybug was still Marinette, and Marinette was still Ladybug. They were parts, certainly, but they were both her.

The difference between Marinette with her dual roles and Lila with her lies was that Lila had a choice. She didn’t need to lie or pretend to be someone she wasn’t. And in that same vein, she certainly

“You chose to play this part.” Marinette argued. “You never had to lie for anyone to like you.”

“Oh please. Do you really think they would have done anything for me if I hadn’t lied?”

“YES. They were being nice! They’re nice people!”

Lila rolled her eyes, unimpressed.

“And,” Marinette continued. “You didn’t have to use and abuse their kindness the way you’ve been doing. There was no reason to lie to the extent you did. You could have avoided more trouble if you hadn’t. And yet you not only lied about running a charity, but you used the opportunity to steal the money Rose had raised. Was it even worth it?”

“I got some things out of it at least.” Lila said, uncaring.

“And one of those ‘things’ happens to be an akuma after your head. What plan could you possibly have to prevent THAT?”

"I have friends in high places." Lila stated in an infuriatingly smug manner.

"Unless one of those friends is Hawk Moth, that's not going to help you right now!"

Lila chuckled, giving Marinette a knowing look. As if she knew a secret.

And because it was Lila, who couldn’t seem to resist gloating when she thought she had the edge over someone else…

“Then I have nothing to worry about. It’s not like he would let anything happen. Not to me.”

“Wait—what?”

Marinette had known Lila had been akumatized more than once. She also knew that Lila had tried to help Hawk Moth before. But that had seemed like she had been taking advantage of circumstances at the time. She hadn’t realized Lila was actively working with Hawk Moth!

“Are you saying you’re working WITH Hawk Moth?!”

Lila held a hand to her mouth, looking innocent. “Not at all! I’m merely saying that I’m useful to him. Enough that it would benefit him more to keep me around than it would to let the akuma kill me.”

Marinette stared incredulously.

“Besides, even if Rose wants to harm me, Ladybug and Chat Noir always take priority. Once they show up, she’ll be too focused on them to care about me. And if she does get to me, Hawk Moth would stop it before it gets too far.”

“You’re trusting a supervillain to help you?”

She couldn’t be serious!

“He can’t afford to get rid of me. I came closest to defeating Ladybug and Chat Noir in my first akumatization.”

Oh god, she was serious.

“He doesn’t need you, Lila! Hawk Moth’s entire MO has been to manipulate and use people for his own ends! What makes you think you are any different?”

“Because I know how to play him and he knows how much I hate Ladybug.”

Marinette gaped.

“You really hate her that much over one incident? Are you really that petty that you would actively try to help the guy terrorizing Paris?”

It…she couldn’t even rationalize it.

Here Lila was, still completely lacking any personal accountability for anything. After lying and manipulating her friends. After stealing from Rose. After framing Marinette. After working against Ladybug. After admitting to using and manipulating Adrien. After trying to throw Marinette under the bus to save her own skin. After helping to create an akuma that even now was overtaking Paris. And all she could care about was how Ladybug pointed out she was a liar one time.

“She humiliated me!”

And Marinette was just done.

“GET OVER IT!”

Lila gaped at her in shock.

“Get. The hell. OVER it already! So Ladybug was mean when she called you out for lying about her and trying to make her look bad to prop yourself as a false hero to a boy you barely knew! CRY ME A RIVER!”

There was something amusing and even pleasing about the way Lila’s jaw opened and shut a few times before she managed to speak.

“But she made me look bad in front of Adrien!”

“Which wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t of lied about her in the first place!“ Marinette countered, pointing at Lila angrily. “You lied about her to him. You lied about being a hero. You lied about being her friend. And you used that claimed position to then insult her to try and make her look bad just to make yourself look better in comparison based off a made up story! It’s no wonder she was mad at you!”

“She was just wanting Adrien for herself—“

Marinette leaned forward, pointing at Lila agitatedly and causing Lila to take a step back. “She called you out for lying about her and pretending to be a superhero! Which by the way, was not only stupid and rude but DANGEROUS!”

“I was fine until she showed up!” Lila hissed.

“You gave an interview on the Ladyblog claiming to be Ladybug’s best friend!” Marinette shouted, gesturing to the wider Paris to emphasize the point. “Did it not occur to you in the slightest how horribly dangerous that was? How BAD that could have gone? If any run of the mill criminal had believed it? If Hawk Moth believed it?”

“But he didn’t.”

“Because Ladybug called you out! Which was the reason you got akumatized in the first place so he knew! And yet all this time, you’ve been holding a grudge over it!” Marinette clenched her fists in fury. “Ladybug APOLOGIZED to you for it! TWICE! And even offered to actually be your friend and thus make ONE of your lies true! And you threw it away out of spite! You gave up a legitimate opportunity that would have worked to your benefit in favor of working with a supervillain because you can’t let go of a petty grudge!”

“I—”

“And for WHAT?” She demanded. “A bunch of lies that didn’t even matter to you!”

“How do you—“

“I mean, they clearly must not have been that important since you’ve been telling so many that you couldn’t even keep them straight! And you are willing to damn Paris and everyone in it just because ONE of them was revealed?! WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

Lila remained silent, simply staring at Marinette angrily and ultimately answering the question for her. Marinette on her end growled in anger, raising her hands to emphasize the point and desperately wishing for something to wring.

“Are you even angry because Ladybug was rude in how she outted you? Or are you angry that she realized you were lying at all?“

Lila looked away almost petulantly, and that was answer enough even before she spoke.

“I was hurt!”

“You were stupid! You never needed to lie about anyone! It would have been less trouble for you if you hadn’t! None of this would have even been an issue if not for you starting it all in the first place! AND FOR WHAT?” Marinette questioned. “A free lunch and to get to sit next to a guy who you made uncomfortable enough that he chose to switch seats twice just to get away from you?”

Lila gasped and glared at Marinette in outrage. Her mouth opened to spit something that would no doubt be more vitriol.

“Whoa! Am I interrupting?”

Both girls spun in surprise to see Chat Noir landing on the ground a few feet away.

“Chat Noir! Thank goodness you’re here!” Lila cried as she rushed over to him, the picture of helpless and in distress.

Marinette wanted to gag.

“Of course!” Chat replied, amping up the charm. He smiled suavely as Lila proceeded to latch onto his arm. “No akuma can keep this cat away when there’s a damsel in need.”

“Oh, I am!” Lila exclaimed, sounding tearful. “This entire day has been terrible and now an akuma is after me!”

Chat gasped at that. “That’s horrible!”

What the hell, Chat? You KNOW it’s Lila! You KNOW what she’s like!

He looked from Lila to Marinette. “I should get you both out of here then before the akuma arrives.”

Marinette hesitated. While in most circumstances it would be best to stick together, she needed to find someplace hidden to transform. Especially now that she knew her partner was active.

But before she could speak, Lila squeezed Chat’s arm.

“Oh, but wouldn’t it be faster with less people?” Lila asked innocently. “You could just carry me to safety.”

Chat raised an eyebrow at that. “But there’s three of us. I can’t just leave Marinette here.”

But Lila wasn’t deterred. She made her eyes wide and fearful as she clutched Chat’s arm in apparent fear to the point Marinette wondered if it hadn’t gone numb from lack of circulation. “I’m the one the akuma is after. The mob won’t even bother with her.”

Chat Noir looked between the two girls, still uncertain.

To add to her argument, Lila leaned in closer to Chat to whisper to him. “And I’m scared. I think she may try to hand me over the mob. You saw the way she was yelling at me, didn’t you?”

He looked back to Marinette, uncertain. “I don’t know…”

…..

Marinette sighed.

Yeah, she pretty much knew that was coming.

As much as she hated siding with Lila, this could be the only opportunity she has. It helped her own plans, but still. Dammit Lila!

"Lila's right. You need to be quick. I'll be okay on my own."

The hero frowned, not entirely convinced but seeming to accept the answer.

As if noticing his hesitation, Lila pulled on his arm to get his attention. “We should hurry before anyone else shows up!”

Chat shook himself. “Yeah. You’re right. We’d better go.”

Marinette watched as Lila settled herself in Chat’s arms, naturally not missing the opportunity to shoot the pig-tailed girl a smirk that Marinette forced herself not to react to. Chat, meanwhile, kept his gaze on Marinette.

“Civilians are getting set up at the Eiffel Tower. You should head there, too.” He told her, giving her a wink.

“Take care!” She gave a weak smile in return and waved them off. Without much further ado, Chat carried Lila away. Marinette watched them go until they could no longer be seen. Until finally…

She was alone.

She was alone and feeling oh so drained from that whole encounter. Feeling shaky, she stepped towards a wall and leaned against it for support. Shoulders slumped, she let herself slide into a sitting position on the ground.

Marinette took a breath.

“I shouldn’t have done that.”

She shouldn’t have. She was just…so angry after everything.

Lila was bad enough as is, but this whole mess on top of her usual stress-inducing antics? And Marinette having to constantly go out of her way to help her despite everything she’s done and continues to try to do?

It was everything Marinette had been wanting to say.

But...that didn’t make it right.

Tikki appeared before her holder, looking sad.

“You only said the truth.”

“I was angry and being mean.” Marinette insisted. Because when an emotion-manipulating supervillain like Hawk Moth was around, she should KNOW better than to do things that could upset people! How is it she hasn’t learned yet?

“It’s healthy to vent.”

Marinette shook her head. “I should have reined in my temper. After all, letting my anger get the best of me was what started this mess with Lila in the first place.”

“No, that was on Lila for lying about you so much.” Tikki insisted. “She lied about being your friend to everyone. She lied about knowing who you were to Adrien. And then she turned around and tried to disparage you not even seconds later just to make herself look better. You had every right to be angry then, just as you had every right to feel angry now.”

She looked at the kwami. Somehow, that was helpful and not at the same time.

It was everything she wanted to hear…and yet…

Marinette sighed.

“Thanks, Tikki.”

She wished she could believe her.

But the real Tikki would never say that.

____________________

He felt the wind through his hair as he ran through the streets. Lila’s weight in his arms was heavy but manageable. Her grip around him was not exactly pleasant, though. And he really wanted to make for the rooftops and travel his usual way, but…well…circumstances didn’t really make that advisable.

“Thank you so much! You truly are a hero.” She gushed. She was certainly trying to play it up once they were alone.

“Lila lied about saving Jagged Stone’s kitten! She lied about having tinnitus!”

It took him a bit to figure out just what the akuma was doing. Her news didn’t surprise him, since he already knew those claims were fake. So he spent more time than he should have just looking at her in confusion and trying to work out what her power was for when he met up with Ladybug.

It was admittedly faster carrying Lila. And easier to manage than trying to handle two girls at once. He only would have been able to carry one to begin with, and it would have been difficult to try and guide them both while keeping an eye out for interlopers and make sure nothing happened to either of them before they made it to the destination. Really, it was the better choice to just let him carry Lila.

But part of him was disappointed. He’d still really wanted to try and take both girls with him. Marinette especially didn’t deserve to be left behind. But if she was the one telling him to go, there was little he could do about it.

“Lila threatened Marinette in the bathroom her first day back! She tried to bring Marinette under her thumb by threatening to ruin her friendships with everyone and to make sure she could never be around Adrien!”

He hadn’t known that. It made sense though, given that Lila had gone so far as to frame Marinette and get her expelled. He should have realized there had to have been an earlier altercation for her to actively target Marinette in such a way.

But if it had been that first day Lila came back? That same day Adrien had told Marinette not to reveal her lies?

That…hurt, actually. Why hadn’t Marinette told him about it? He’d just thought Lila was wanting attention or make herself seem special. He wouldn’t have told her to just let Lila lie if he’d known she was doing things like that!

“Of course.” He reassured her as he kept his eyes on his surroundings. It wouldn’t do to be caught too soon after all.

He also kept his awareness on Lila. Couldn’t put it past her to try something, either. But the girl seemed more interested in chattering, spinning some new tale, he was sure.

“Lila has been working with Hawk Moth and trying to help him take down Ladybug and Chat Noir!”

It was the multitude of gasps resounding in the area that clued him in to what the akuma was doing. He watched in dawning realization as the expressions of those around him shifted from fear to shock and then to pure outrage.

Almost immediately, mutterings began. Followed shortly by shouts.

“That witch!”

“She needs to burn!”

“Burn the witch!” The call started, and soon was echoed throughout the area.

It hit him then.

The akuma was making people mad. She was intentionally trying to provoke people and upset them through use of a list of Lila’s crimes. And once they were outraged by one of them, they became part of the akuma’s thralls.

This…wasn’t good.

He had to get out of here!

“Where are we going?” Lila asked, drawing him out of his thoughts.

“Don’t worry!” He told her with a charming smile. “I’m taking you where you need to be.”

She nodded and seemed to curl in closer to him. Almost snuggling. “What a relief. I knew you could be counted on.”

“I do try.”

“You certainly deserve more than to be considered Ladybug’s sidekick.”

“Hmm?”

He barely paid her words any mind, instead focusing on continuing to the destination.

“Lila was the one who stole Adrien’s book in order to pass herself off as a hero to get his attention!”

“Dude!” He heard Nino cry out. “That almost got him taken out of school!”

He started at that.

Lila had?

He had thought he lost it, but it was really Lila who stole it?

No, it made sense. She brought up heroes after seeing him looking through it. She had presented the same pendant from the book and claimed to be the ‘Fox Heroine Volpina’. And when he tried to look for the book to confirm, she stopped him.

But…how did his father get the book back then? Had Lila returned it? Knowing her, WOULD she have?

No. Lila hadn’t met his father until that day Kagami was akumatized. That meant whatever she did with the book, she wasn’t the one to bring it back. Not that he would have expected her to, knowing her. That w—

NO. FOCUS.

“—and of course it’s such a shame that she doesn’t appreciate all you do for her.” Lila continued.

“Of course Ladybug appreciates me. She’s told me I’m irreplaceable.”

Lila pouted. “But she doesn’t tell you everything, does she? She doesn’t respect you. How many secrets is she keeping from you?”

He frowned, but didn’t say anything.

Adrien sprinted towards the door.

“Lila intentionally took the akuma to become Chameleon and pretended to be Adrien to insult his friends, hurt Nino’s feelings, and steal his hat!”

He stumbled.

She did WHAT?!

No wonder Nino hadn’t been able to meet his eyes when he got back!

He felt the anger over the injustice. He should have said something that day. At least let Nino know what Lila was really like. Something!

It was getting too much. He could feel the pressure and anger build. It would have been so sweet to give into it and let it out and just make her PAY—

Adrien fumbled with the door to the outside, desperate to get away and out of earshot before he heard anything else.

He wasn’t sure he would be able to take it.

“She puts you down, you know.” Lila continued. “I’ve heard her talking badly about you.”

“Really?”

She nodded, appearing sad. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to have to be the one to tell you, but it’s only because I care. I just…” She pretended to wipe away a tear from her clearly dry eyes. “I just admire you so much and you deserve better than someone who keeps you at arm’s length.”

She smiled up at him, resting an arm on his bicep.

“If you ever need someone to turn to, I want you to know that you can trust me. I would support you in anything.”

And Chat…

Smiled back at her.

“Thank you, Lila. I’m glad to know I have your support.”

He made it outside and moved to close the door just as the final words rang out.

“Lila broke into the Agreste mansion to try to get an in with Gabriel and is serving as his spy in the school in an attempt to control Adrien!”

The door shut with a final thud.

Adrien stood there, hands on the door. Silent. Unmoving.

“Kid?” Plagg asked, poking his head out.

…

“I know that was rough, but you did well to keep your head.”

…

“Adrien, shouldn’t we be trying to find liar-girl and get her someplace safe?”

…

He paused, realizing there was no response.

“Adrien?”

…

Adrien turned away from the door and smiled, not really looking at his kwami.

“You’re right, Plagg. We should find Lila.”

Plagg froze.

Over the years and centuries working with various holders for a multitude of purposes, Plagg had gotten well versed in recognizing expressions. Faces said a lot, after all. And he could usually get a good reading off someone from their expressions.

Adrien’s expression in that moment? He’d seen it before.

It was that same murderous look in the eyes of every other Black Cat user he’d had when they had been pushed too far and were ready and willing to kill someone.

“Wait! Kid, hold on!”

“Plagg.”

“Adrien, think about it! You don’t want to do this!”

“Claws out.”

Lila finally seemed to take note of their surroundings. There had been no one in the streets for a while now, and the area around them had been strangely silent due to the lack of people. While she hadn’t known where exactly they were going, Chat seemed to be taking her in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. The closer they got, though, the more she could hear something in the distance.

And sure enough, as the Tower came into sight, Lila could see a rather dense crowd up ahead. Chat didn’t even react as she clutched at his arm, growing more uneasy the closer they got to the Eiffel Tower and the growing crowd.

“Chat Noir?” She drew out his name, uncertain and wary. “What’s going on?”

“I told you, didn’t I?” Chat replied with a smile that did not at all fit the ever growing atmosphere.

“I’m taking you where you need to be.”

He came to a stop at the square, keeping a firm grip on Lila so she couldn’t draw away. The crowd around them noticed their presence and parted, forming a path that led closer to the tower. And at the end stood a stack of wood and a very familiar figure.

Lila gasped.

“Hello, Lila!” Witch Hunter greeted her with an all too wide smile.

“We’re so happy you made it!”

#ml fic #witch hunter #marinette dupain cheng #tikki #lila sucks #chat noir #rose lavillant #oh no #Oh crap

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quazartranslates · 3 years

Text

Welcome to the Nightmare Game - CH116

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

-----

Chapter 116: The Dream of the Holy Nun (VI)

Out of habit, Qi Leren went to Chen Baiqi to buy some information about the Holy City. Unfortunately, Chen Baiqi didn't have any details on it, only an old map of the Holy City from decades ago that she made Qi Leren pay for. Chen Baiqi reserved the task information of "The Dream of the Holy Nun" from him, to be sold to her when he finished his task.

Qi Leren also asked her if she had any interest in this task. Although the number for the task was already full, if Chen Baiqi was willing to join, he could consider persuading Dr. Lu to stay safe in the clinic.

Chen Baiqi gave him an inscrutable look: "I’ve been able to live in this world for eight years by holding a principle."

"What principle?" Qi Leren asked.

"Never die easily unless you have to," Chen Baiqi said.

“……”

"This kind of task involving the demon invasion from more than 20 years ago is either epic difficulty or a chain task that will go through eighty-one difficulties before finally becoming epic difficulty. Anyway, it won't be easy. I wouldn't be surprised to see demons all over the city as soon as you enter the Holy City. Please Qi Leren, don't let me sweep your grave again," Chen Baiqi patted Qi Leren on the shoulder and said with a smile.

"Hey, don't give me a flag," Qi Leren said depressedly.

"You'd better hold Su He’s thighs. He may have items that force him out of the task. He would never let himself die from not being able to stand the difficulty. After all, there’s still a long way to go. It's a pity that you are a little poor, otherwise I could sell you some high-quality items. Right now I can only sell you cheap little miniature bombs, I really can't make a lot of money." Although Qi Leren had earned a lot of survival days, he was still a poor wretch in Chen Baiqi's view. She couldn't extort money before he was fattened.

Qi Leren, after paying for the task’s necessities, went home depressed.

The mandatory task for the first month had arrived. In the first month, Qi Leren performed two tasks, namely, Witchcraft Sacrifice and Castle Cry; one was a main world task and the other was a copy world task. During the tasks’ execution, the players’ remaining survival days would not be consumed, but they were still counted as survival time spent by players.

Every mandatory task could be postponed for one week. If a player failed to start after the deadline, he would be forced into the task world. If a player performed a task that lasted for two months, he must complete a mandatory task within one week after the task was finished, and then complete another mandatory task within one week.

Players in the Nightmare World hated the "monthly exam", because there was almost no task reward (unless the degree of completion was extremely high), and the difficulty was also raised every month. By the third year, those players who were not qualified and neglected to improve themselves began to fall off one after another and were eliminated by the cruel monthly exam without the chance of a make up exam.

Qi Leren wasn't worried about his own strength. Ning Zhou said that his skill cards and his own strength were enough to cope with the compulsory tasks of the first three years, but he was often flustered because he frequently met tasks with unusual difficulty.

Dr. Lu, however, looked frightened, fearing that he couldn't pass the first monthly exam, and came to Qi Leren's home to start the task together. Although most of the first compulsory tasks were single-person tasks and starting together didn’t mean they would be in a task together, it made Dr. Lu feel a little safer.

But…

"You, you, you, you, hello*!" After seeing Ning Zhou standing by the window, Dr. Lu suddenly remembered that Su He had talked about a friend in Qi Leren’s home last time.

*{E/N: Dr. Lu is trying to cover up his shock by making “you” (你) into “hello” (你好)}

At the moment when Qi Leren opened the door, he wanted to throw the door in Dr. Lu's face. However, if you thought about it carefully, Ning Zhou and Dr. Lu would meet each other sooner or later. Seeing him early was the same as later since he had to introduce people to Ning Zhou.

"Dr. Lu, this is Ning Zhou, who will participate in the 'Dream of the Holy Nun' task. Ning Zhou, this is Dr. Lu, whose full name is Lu Cangshu, he’s my friend from the same Novice Village who’s a healer," Qi Leren briefly introduced the two men.

Stopped on the sofa, the big black bird cawed angrily, forcing Qi Leren to introduce it to Dr. Lu to get it to stop.

Dr. Lu looked at the person from head to toe with his mouth open, pulled Qi Leren’s ear to him, and asked, "Your goddess?"

Can you not be so quick with this? Qi Leren vomited in his mind and nodded honestly.

So Dr. Lu sat down with a strange smile, looked hard at Ning Zhou, and looked hard at Qi Leren, as if he knew everything. Qi Leren felt that he couldn't explain clearly even if he had one hundred mouths.

Poor Ning Zhou didn't know why he was being scrutinized. He was completely out of the situation and was not used to getting along with strangers. He sat for a while and then went upstairs.

When Ning Zhou left, Dr. Lu tried to suppress the excitement of getting gossip, and forced him to align himself with Qi Leren seriously, saying, "I don't discriminate against homosexuals. Really, I’ve seen many as a doctor. Several little gays came to the anorectal department every day to ask my brother for a finger examination. His technique isn’t bad. It takes 30 seconds to milk a prostate..."

"...You’ve misunderstood, we’re not that kind of relationship."

Dr. Lu had a look of "Excuse me, you are living together".

"Ning Zhou just came to help me train. The training menu I gave you last time was set by him," Qi Leren explained.

"I see..." Dr. Lu suddenly realized, then looked at him askance, and asked, "Do you think I’ll believe this nonsense? Didn't your relationship die as soon as the mission was over? Why is it that now he cordially trains and practices with you? A while ago, you suddenly disappeared. I couldn't find you all over the world. I really wondered if you’d given up and chased your goddess. Now that you’ve finally caught this goddess, you actually say that you have a pure straight man friendship, hehe."

Qi Leren was speechless.

Although it was normal for two men to live together, Qi Leren believed that Ning Zhou didn't think much about it at all, but it was unconvincing in front of Dr. Lu who knew the previous episode... After all, more than half a month ago, they’d fallen in love at first sight and went through fire and water, dying to live... and then died when it was all laid bare. As a result, it took less than half a month for them to live under the same roof. This development didn’t seem quite right…

However, Qi Leren couldn't explain the Slaughter Secret Society undercover task to Dr. Lu - although he feels that after the explanation, Dr. Lu would only be more convinced that they weren’t innocent, and even Qi Leren himself began to wonder if there is something really wrong between him and Ning Zhou.

Qi Leren asked himself, if he had met Ning Zhou as a woman at a different time and place, would he fall in love with her? The answer was: he would. As a woman, Ning Zhou perfectly met all his expectations for the other half. Whenever and wherever he met her, he would definitely fall in love with her.

But if he met Ning Zhou, who was a male, would he still fall in love with him?

Qi Leren thought that the answer was probably no.

He may worship him, yearn for him, want to be friends with him, and even go through life and death for him, but he wouldn't fall in love with him, because he wouldn't consider the possibility of exceeding the limit of friends at all, and Ning Zhou would only be more stubborn than him. Even if they went through hardships and died together, they may have a deeper friendship and even affection than love, but that would never turn into love.

Feelings were so simple and complicated, neither one was deeper than the other, but only a small error would completely change them.

"Although there was something wrong at the beginning, the misunderstanding has been solved now. I think we’ll become good friends, very good friends," Qi Leren said, speaking slowly. Maybe he was a little confused, but he still said so, inexplicably determined.

Dr. Lu looked at him carefully for a long time with disbelief: "...Oh."

"Time is almost up, let's start the mandatory task." Qi Leren cast aside his distractions and concentrated on dealing with the present difficulties.

He opened the system’s menu bar and selected the mandatory task for this month. Qi Leren and Dr. Lu disappeared from the room one after another.

The eagle, who stopped on the sofa, patted its wings and flew up the stairs to return to its master. Ning Zhou, who stood on the stairs, stretched out his arm to let it land. The eagle that understood speech affectionately rubbed the side of Ning Zhou's face and felt it’s master's mood. It was very clever at times.

The two people in the living room had disappeared. Ning Zhou wanted to go downstairs to help them prepare but instead heard Qi Leren and Dr. Lu talking about him, so he had stopped on the stairs.

Friends…

This should be the most appropriate distance.

-----

Editor’s Notes:

Qi Leren: “I’m not gay.”

Dr. Lu: “Okay but like have you tried having a finger up your ass? For science.”

-----

[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

#Welcome to the Nightmare Game #欢迎来到噩梦游戏 #danmei

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lotrfics · 4 years

Text

IMAGINE: Gradually fading when you believe Legolas is falling for Tauriel

Pairing: Legolas x Female Elf Reader

Requested: Yes (Hello! How are you? Can I please request a story where the reader is an elf (Legolas long time friend, she is always near him, being his shoulder to cry on, listening to all his problems, training hard to be the best and learning about everything in middle earth because she loves to learn about every creature). She loves him, but he starts to fall for Tauriel, and they start to get distant. She is dying of a broken heart, and he desperately tries to help her. (with a happy ending please) Thanks) -Anonymous

Summary: You have always loved Legolas, but you are unable to handle your emotions when Legolas seems to be falling for Tauriel

Warnings: More shitty angst, can be a trigger warning because weight loss is mentioned here, though I don’t know if it counts as an actual trigger warning because i’m dumb lol

A/N: Request is slightly changed (Legolas actually falling for Tauriel never happens) because anon wanted a happy ending, and for that to work for me it should be nothing more than a misunderstanding

You were just a child when you met Legolas. You had bumped into him and spilled your drink all over him. He got mad at you and you began apologizing profusely then ran off. You saw him again the next day, and before you can run off, he told you he got over it and asked if you both could be friends.

Before you realized it, he soon became your best friend, you two were inseparable. He knew how ambitious you were, even if your goals were too unrealistic, he would always help you in any way he could to make sure you are the best in whatever you want to be best at.

Whenever he got in a bad argument with his father or a friend of his, or simply just a terrible day, you made sure to be his shoulder to cry on, and that was enough for him. He didn’t care if you had no idea what to say to him, you were there for him and listening to him ranting, which was all he needed.

Legolas was a prince, so he can be quite busy, at those times you found yourself in the library if other people you knew were busy as well. There, you discovered the existence of hobbits and their culture in a book, and it caught your interest, because if you asked another elf what a hobbit was, they would most likely stare at you with confusion on their face, then walk away without answering you.

As an elleth, you obviously knew of your culture, you would be slow and stupid if you didn’t. Humans don’t go to Mirkwood because they have no reason to, so you only knew parts of human culture through books, and to learn about other parts, you have to know actually know a human, which you don’t. Everyone knows dwarves don’t like to share their culture, so you barely know anything about them. Their stubbornness is known by many, but not every dwarf is stubborn.

Centuries passed by, and you and Legolas began to drift away from each other. This was originally not a bad thing, you were still friends, but he was getting busier than ever and you were too interested in the secrets of Middle Earth to be able to resist going to the library, without giving some time to let him know about your plans.

One day, Legolas made a new friend; Tauriel, Captain of the Guard. At first, you didn’t really care, it would be ridiculous if you berated Legolas for making a new friends. Over time, though, you couldn’t help but feel jealous when you noticed he kept hanging out with her continuously.

That jealousy of yours only worsened when you chose to talk to Legolas later.

Someone told you you needed to spend one day away from the library, you couldn’t help but agree. So you approached Legolas to ask if you can hang out with him. “Would you like to go on a walk right now?” You asked.

He shook his head walking away. “I can’t, (Y/N). I promised Tauriel I would spent the rest of the day with her.” Leaving you there confused, jealous and upset. All three emotions at once. He didn’t even suggest another date for that walk to happen, the thought of that infuriated you.

More embarrassing exchanges occurred after that, and once you grew tired of it, you began to ignore him and distance yourself from him. Because not too long ago, but not too recently, you discovered your deep love for him; you had a feeling your romantic love for him began a long time ago, you just only discovered it now.

It didn’t matter to you if you remained his friend and never became his lover, but now that he has found himself a new friend and prioritizes her over you, it hurts. You felt betrayed by your own best friend. It may sound petty, but anyone who has never thought their best friend betrayed them would never know the pain.

You were starting to feel lonely.

The worst part about it, was he never noticed you were ignoring him. He was so delighted in forming a friendship with Tauriel, it left him distracted to even get a clue he was being ignored. He always used to notice the silent treatments you would give to anybody, whether it was to him, a family member of yours, or another member.

Now, that didn’t seem to be the case anymore. He became oblivious, too oblivious for you to handle. He was falling for her, you knew that, and there was absolutely nothing you can do anymore.

The library was your safe haven, it was the only place you felt happy in these days. But that happiness did not last long forever. You could never forget Legolas, how can you forget the one who gave you motivation when you had none? His support was part of the reason you were very successful in many things, and he was the only one that actually listened to your ramblings, which was usually about your knowledge of Middle Earth and it’s strangest creatures.

Eventually, you began having difficulty to get interested in a new book, which was odd, but it happens. Not everything can please you. But soon enough, you realized the things that always fascinated you began to bore you out of your mind. It was concerning, but you didn’t think too much of it, only dismissing it as burnout from spending too much time in the library.

For some reason, even being in your own home began to make you feel sick. This definitely was odd. Elves cannot get sick. From what you knew, only half elves can get sick, but the only thing they can catch was a cold, which you heard was not even anywhere near bad.

You were a full blooded elf, there was no way you can get sick, and you felt like fainting at that moment, you waited for it, but it never happened. You stumbled all the way to your room, and it left you bewildered to know even getting to your own room felt like a difficult task.

While eating breakfast the next day, you were thinking about your condition. You deduced you were already beginning to fade. It bothered you when you first learned only elves can die heartbroken. Being an elf had many benefits, you knew that, but the downsides were annoying.

Dying of a broken heart sounds silly, but unfortunately it was a curse. It was one of those moments you honestly wished you were something else other than an elf, especially a human, because if you’re going to be honest, elves suck at moving on. Moving on is something mortals excel at, and you wished you had that.

Being in love with your best friend, who isn’t really your best friend anymore because you had drifted apart, was already bad. To make matters worse, he found a new close friend who he was falling for. That told you you could’ve possibly be with Legolas, except he didn’t want you, you weren’t what he wasn’t looking for, instead, Tauriel had and was everything he wanted.

Thinking about it only made you feel more worse. Despite your anger, you knew he was finally happy, he finally found someone meant for him, even if that someone was not you. You’ll die knowing he has finally found someone he has always wanted, as he told you when you both younger. Someone who will make him complete.

“What do you dream of, Legolas?” you asked him, while sitting out together, admiring the beautiful view. It was night time, you were the only ones awake and outside. “I know you want something that is not what your father pressures you to be.”

Thranduil was one strict elf. He does not want his son to follow his heart, he always insisted him to follow his head instead since he was just a child. Legolas loved his father, he truly did, but he refused to listen to him. He wanted to follow his own desires, his own goal to remain happy, he didn’t want anyone getting in the way of it.

Unfortunately, he would be reprimanded by his father when he stood up to him about this matter. His father told him following his heart would lead him to become unsuccessful. Following the mind was more logical, Thranduil insisted. You were the only one Legolas confided in about his wishes and his father’s disapproval. He knew you would always support him, no matter what.

Legolas did not respond immediately, he stayed silent, and you began looking around you, stopping when he suddenly spoke up. “What I want in my eternal life?” You glanced at him, giving him a nod to keep talking. “To find someone I would want to be with, to sail to Valinor with once it is time.” He admitted softly.

You merely nodded. You figured Legolas did not want all the pressures of being a prince, he wasn’t exactly a great leader, he would happily give up the role of leader to anyone else. He would do anything to ensure he never rules Mirkwood, to stay away from the throne as far as possible.

“Tell me more about this species of you discovered, hobbits, I believe?” Legolas requested. You gave him a grin. “I got you interested, didn’t I?” You asked.

“Maybe.” He replied cheekily.

Legolas hasn’t heard from you in a while. He grew worried, assuming the worst.

Time for elves are completely different. A couple of centuries are considered a second to them. Legolas has gone years without talking to you before, he was a patient elf, but this time, something didn’t feel right. Plus, you always told each other what you were doing ahead of time should either of you get super busy.

When Tauriel was busy, he took that chance to visit you, to find out how you are doing. He arrived at your house, entering without knocking, that is completely normal to you both. He was taken by surprise when he saw the room was a mess. Well, it wasn’t THAT messy, but it was a mess to your standards.

He remembered you insisted on cleaning everything. It bothered you to see dirt, especially on your own clothes. A slight stain on your clothes is easily noticed by someone like you, and it drove you mad.

Your door was open, once he took notice of it, he ran in. There, he saw you in your bed, looking unnaturally exhausted, worrying him further. Rubbing your eyes, you turned to see Legolas suddenly in your room, startling you. You flinched back and hit your head on the headboard, making you yelp in pain. Legolas winced as he watched that.

You didn’t even hear him come in.

“You look terrible, (Y/N), what has happened to you?” Legolas asked you, concern in his voice. You didn’t respond, you were too busy rubbing your head, the impact was more painful than it should be. But you were dying, so any pain you experience, even if minor, was made worse for you. You felt a migraine begin to develop all of a sudden.

His sudden appearance put you at ease. If only you had the heart to tell him what you’re going through right now. You also wondered how he did not realize immediately you were fading, because that’s the only way an elf can get so dizzy from a silly accident. Nobody can easily tell their friend that they are dying of a broken heart in a straight forward manner.

You rubbed your forehead and closed your eyes as you remained sat on your bed. Legolas gazed at your body, you didn’t look good at all. You were dangerously thin and noticed you were uncontrollably shaking as if you caught a cold. Then it all clicked in him.

“Please, don’t tell me you have already begun to fade,” he had concluded you were dying of a broken heart. Now he needed to know, why and how? So many questions were to follow. “What is the cause of this?”

You glanced at him. “What brings you here?” You said plainly, completely ignoring his question. He gave you a look. “I am sure we agreed many years ago we can visit each other without knocking.” He reminded you. Of course you remembered that exact day. How can you forget it?

Again, you didn’t say anything. He already knew. There was no need to say anything else. Now you were to embarrassed to admit why you were dying. Yes, he knew it was heartbreak, but he didn’t know who broke your heart and why they did so.

“You have to tell me why,” he desperately pleaded, “I do not know if I am able to help you at this point, but I will go out of my way to find out if it is possible. If I cannot help you, then I will remain by your side until your very last breath.”

“I can’t tell you,” you mumbled out, but he heard, giving you a look of confusion. “Why do you care?” You suddenly blurted out, to which you instantly regretted. You looked at him and he looked completely offended when you questioned his loyalty to you just now.

“Did you just ask me why I care?” He demanded harshly, making you shamefully turn away from him. “You are why I no longer am in my father’s shadow. You gave me support when I needed it the most. You taught me to go after what I truly want, only if I do it right. And I am more than grateful for that.”

“I do not know how I can ever fully repay for that, and I insist on doing so, even if you tell me it is simply nothing. But it is not nothing, I have confidence in myself because of you. You do not realize how much it angers me when you turn down my assistance, I cannot let you give everything to me while I give you nothing.”

“I supported you when you told me of your ambitions, even if you have really high expectations, but that is not enough. Denying me to try saving your life is a ridiculous decision. I wish I had the power to easily bring you back, but something like this is almost irreversible. But I will still try, I will never give up on you.”

“I cannot lose you,” he began sobbing, “I am glad to have spent hundreds of years with you, since we were just kids, all the way to your last moments.”

After a few seconds of debating to yourself, you glanced at Legolas to see tears forming in his eyes.

“I found someone,” he began, and you immediately understood what he meant. The someone he wanted to sail west with. Though, you didn’t understand why he would gush over Tauriel to you while you were dying. “And that someone is you, (Y/N). I wish I realized it sooner. As it appears you already found someone else, which led you here, heartbroken.”

Your eyes widened, but you did not say anything. He tried his best to not look away from you, to keep his gaze on you. His lip trembled before speaking up again. “I- I truly love you, (Y/N). I really do.” He confessed, finally turning away from you, not ready for instant rejection.

The pain you have been feeling for a while now have suddenly disappeared. You were no longer shivering, you no longer felt like fainting every other second. His declaration somehow healed you partly. You could tell you still looked like a stick, but you felt a part of yourself returning back to life, you no longer fading.

He had saved your life. And you did not know how to return the favor.

“You would be glad to know I love you too, Legolas. Thank you.” You gave him a sincere smile, it was the first time you have cracked a smile in a while, since the start of your time away from him.

Despite the tears that ran down his face, he couldn’t help but return the smile, completely taken aback, not what he had been expecting after all.

Everything gradually went back to normal for you. You instantly regained your appetite, so you were able to eat again without difficulty, no longer looking unhealthy. You were getting happy again, your interests came back to you, now easily reading the books you have always wanted to read, but were unable to read at first because of your broken heart.

Remember that walk you asked Legolas to go on with you a while back?

It was happening right now.

You weren’t exactly paying attention as you admired the view around you. Suddenly, you saw an arm waving all over your sight. “I asked you a question.” Legolas spoke up, a little annoyed since you weren’t listening.

“Sorry,” you apologized sheepishly, turning to Legolas, “I didn’t hear anything you said at all.” You admitted, and he playfully rolled his eyes at you. “I was asking you what broke your heart that time.” He asked, sounding serious. You both stopped walking. You sighed, you were still too embarrassed to admit it.

“I would tell you, but you would laugh at me.” You told him. He shook his head at you. “I would never laugh at something as serious as that.” He said sternly, and you nodded, taking a deep breath, getting ready for the moment he starts to laugh at you.

“I thought you liked Tauriel, and you were already spending a lot of time with her, so I couldn’t help but feel alone.” You told him, shrugging. You noticed he was grinning, and you sighed. “You were jealous?” Legolas asked curiously, and you nodded.

“You said you would never laugh, remember?” You pointed out. “Yes, but I didn’t think jealousy could kill you.” He expressed.

“We should think of it no longer. I think it is time for us to go back.” You suggested, and he slightly smiled, not failing to notice you suddenly changed the topic. He realized you didn’t want to talk about it anymore, and he decided to no longer bring up it ever again.

He offered you his hand. You gladly took it, intertwining your fingers together as you both made your way to wherever you were going.

Taglist: @aspiring-ginger

#lotr imagine #lord of the rings imagine #the hobbit imagine #legolas x reader #legolas imagine

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streets-in-paradise · 4 years

Text

Battle Scars

Troy 2004 fanfiction

Characters: Hector, sister oc ( it can also be read as a reader insert since i haven’t named her yet and there are no mayor descriptions)

Word Count: 2101

Genre: Angst Comfort - Fluff

Relationships : Platonic - Family.

Summary: Paris is determined to fight Menelaus. His siblings are concerned with the high chances of his death and his younger sister wants to take his place. Hector comforts her and warns her about some less discussed consecuences of battle. ( I suck at writing summaries.)

Triggers: Mentions of war and typical war involved violence. (not much. Don’t worry because it is not gory)

Disclaimers: This is my first attempt of writing fanfict to post. English is not my native language, i translated it to english with the help of an online translator.

Tags: @hrisity12 (tag you because i think you will want to see this)

I hope you enjoy this and thanks for reading

The night after the start of the war had already fallen. The palace was quiet, a silent atmosphere that was nothing more than the mix of grief and exhaustion surrounded the entire place. Pacing around the hallways, Hector seemed to be the only person around, unable to allow himself to have some rest. He was looking for Paris, after the scandal created by his proposition of fighting against Menelaus and the lethal risks involved for him in that reckless idea he felt the need of having a serious conversation with him.

Unfortunately, his brother was not the only one who needed his words and company that time. In his way he crossed ways first with Helen, stopping a grief induced attempt of scaping in a desperate try to stop the war. After comforting his sister in law, he was approached by his younger sister. The young lady was rageful and worried in the same amount. Without hesitation, she let go all the thoughts that were troubling her and vented to her brother.

“Paris is the worst swordsman I have ever seen. How can you allow this? He can’t do that, i will not allow it. Why can’t I fight in his place?” she snapped.

Seeing her state, Hector decided to stop his search for Paris and have a talk with her. The last time they had a few words was that morning in the armory when she begged him to let her fight and stumbled across his refusal. He thought that,after that short altercate in which no one had the time to explain themselves and with the news about Paris worrying both to the core, they needed some time alone.

“You know you can’t do that. It would hurt his honour. He can’t let his sister fight his own battles “ he tried to explain.

“Do you really think Paris cares for his honour? He is doing it out of guilt. I can’t let him die.“ she asserted

“ It is his choice” he stated.

“ What about my choice of fighting this morning? I am the little girl so it is correct to take away my will to choose? “ she replied, her tone getting progressively more enraged.” Helen is a trojan princess now, let a trojan woman defend her freedom to choose her own fate. She is not a fighter but she has a sister willing to do it for her. I will be defending her freedom, not Paris’s right to possess her.”

“ I will not let you get involved in actual combat for the first time against the King of Sparta. That man fought all his life.”

“ But it is fine to send Paris to his death? It would be his first combat as well but with half of my training as backup. He never cared for this sort of thing, the only weapon he handles with a considerable talent is the bow. He can’t show up to a single combat with bow and arrows and he is terrible with swords.”

“Don’t put me in the situation of being the one who has to choose between you two which one of my siblings will be sacrificed.”

“ Of course, because you already decided it.”

That thoughtless reply was more of what the man could handle. Abandoning his conciliatory tone, Hector allowed himself to let his own concernings go and said exactly what was going through his mind.

“Do you think i want to burn our brother’s body?? I love him as much as i love you. I can’t allow you to fight, it is not your right to die in his place.”

“ How can you be so sure i’m going to die? Is your trust in me so small and weak?”she asked, confused by the switch in her brother’s approach.

“Real life is not like training in the safe space provided by the security of our walls. Battle is screams, blood,sweat, excrements and desperation. Nothing more. Your skills are worthy of trust but you are still very young and naive. You think you will go out there and end up crowned as trojan champion after doing some heroic act. That sort of attitude can get you killed.” he explained in the most honest and realistic way he could use without upsetting her more.

“Menelaus is a slow old beast. I’m young, fast and flexible. I’m a better choice than Paris for that combat and you know it.” she insisted.

“I may be aware of it but i don’t care. “ Hector replied. The only way to go with this sort of conversation, especially considering the stubbornness of his sister on the topic, was through full honesty.

He decided he was going to give her a complete explanation of his reasons on that choice.

“Since the first time you picked a sword i told myself i would let you have your fun but i would also protect you from what would be waiting outside if you actually tried to pursue that path.”

The princess listened carefully and, imagining the route the conversation was heading, spoke her mind.

“Death? That 's all? Your greatest fear is for me to end up dead in the battlefield? I am not afraid of it. I will die with glory if it saves our brother. Stories of my sacrifice will be tell all around our country and i will live in them. “

Hector was visibly angry this time. He wasn’t able to let himself believe what he was hearing.

“That is nonsense. Stories? You are asking me to let you die with stories as consolation? The songs of the bards are party entertainment, they aren’t worth your life “

“Even with the result of my death the outcome is good. If i leave my mark in history men will notice they need to change their ways. My death will save Paris and inspire more shieldmaidens.” she explained

“Had you realized who you are sounding like? That is exactly the sort of pointless nonsense i heard from Achilles. It is not what i taught you.” he warned her

“You taught me about sacrifice for my family and my country. That is your moral code, and it is the exact thing you don’t let me practice.” she complained, hurt by feelings of injustice.

Becoming desperate witnessing how nothing seemed to make her understand, he tried to show her understandment of her point of view and spoke from his own feelings and fears.

“I don’t want to lose you! I’m not even talking about death when i say it. That is indeed a big fear of mine regarding you but it is not the only one. I will not be talking about death now.” he said, lowering his tone trying to sound more calm to show her that his anger was not related to a misunderstandment of her point. “ Real combat, a battle in the middle of a war unleashed at our gates ... It is a terrible event to witness. I would not wish that to my worst enemy. It changes you, leaves scars on you that you would have to carry your whole life. Not just the physical ones, in your inside. Your mind and your heart are not the same after you survive your first battle. I hate to fight, it consumes you. Why would i want you to go through my same suffering? I don’t forbid you to fight because you are a girl and i am some traditionalist who can’t come across to understand your will to challenge our ways. You know i am not like that, i wouldn’t had let you get involved in combat training sessions in the first place.”

The girl seemed less upset in her approach after hearing him.

“You said it was a good way to wake some sort of interest in Paris and it was part of his formal education. We were very hard to separate back then.”

“And you still are. Menelaus would find you both sticked to each other in combat if i wouldn’t interfere in your choices.” he teased . She smiled briefly while hearing him.

“ Combat has a terrible effect on people.I don’t wish such a terrible fate for you.” Hector stated, going back to his point. “As long as i live i will protect you from it. I love your sweet enthusiasm, your kindness and concern for our people. I already know you sneaked out to help in the expedition I sent to look for people in the camps. I should be mad about it but i am not because in that action you showed who you are. You are caring, you are full of hope and life. I love you as you are, Troy loves you as you are. Don’t ask me to take that away from you.”

The words of her brother had a clear effect, she was on the edge of tears.

“ But i want to help you!! I want to share the weight of the war with you.” she yelled. “It is not fair for you to carry it all on your own and you know well Paris will not help”

“He is trying” he said, trying to comfort her

“He will kill himself!!” she shouted while tears started falling through her cheeks

“ I promise i will help him as much as i can.” he reassured her

“It is not enough, i want to help you”

“Your cheerful welcomes after every battle are more helpful to me than the strength of your arm.”

With her feelings overwhelming her, the young lady hugged her brother tightly

“I want to fight for you and for our people. I love you so much, it hurts me to see how you work so hard on your own for all of us.”

Hector caressed her cheeks to clean her tears.

“Do you want to know why it’s said that Achilles is a better warrior than me?” he asked in a trivial tone

“ Because it is said that he is the son of a sea goddess?” she answered in a slightly doubtful way.

“ That is what people who have never stepped into combat believe. What i saw in him today, he is so good because he doesn’t care about anything. It’s clear that the scars war left on him took over and at some point he stopped caring. He has no mercy, no respect. He talks of war like it’s a game. When he is fighting he stops existing as a man and becomes only the tool war requires him to be. He became desensitized to all the death surrounding him. His only concern is to win glory because, once this lifestyle takes everything from you, that’s all what’s left for you to collect. He is a broken man, an extreme example of what war makes on soldiers.” he explained

“ You are my moral guide, my example of behaviour. I would never allow myself to get lost like that because i have you.”

“ And i am not the almighty hero you see in me. I am another man changed by war. I fight hard to stay in my path, to remain as myself. I don’t want to look at you one day and see just a shade of the kind, lifeful girl you are now.” he confessed.

“ I have to assume you are protecting me from myself then?” she asked, without the connotations of assertiveness in her ways previously displayed. She felt regret for the rude ways in which her anger made her judge him

“I am, even when you don’t notice it.”

“ I don’t want our countrymen to die protecting my spirits.”

“I love you and i can’t allow it. Call me selfish if you want but even i have the right to a bit of selfishness on occasions.”

After hearing her usually selfless brother admitting he was incapable of an impartial view of the issue when she was involved she was done with the talking. There was nothing more left to say that could mean as much as that. Hector’s life was full of sacrifices, she felt unable to question him. She wasn’t going to complain about the first time she ever heard him thinking of himself to make a choice.

Instead, she thanked him for his concern and told him once more about how much she loved him. Hector kissed her forehead, wished her goodnight, and went to see their brother. He had brief thoughts about the very little time of sleep that was left for him but it didn’t matter. His siblings needed him that night and, as always, he was going to be there for them.

#troy 2004 #troy fanfiction #troy 2004 fanfiction #hector of troy #eric bana #hector fanfiction #eric bana fanfiction

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hrodvitnon · 3 years

Note

Hmmm, ok, so in the aftermath of that, I think FW!Goji will adapt very well to the new world he is in, and will become annoyed at how many of the 'kaiju' (Titans) hate/fear him-while also having a very hostile relationship with his dead counterpart's family, them now staying in the Hollow Earth.

But, to add to the bitterness and rage: let's say one day Shin wants to head to the surface, but Mothra, Monster X, & even Kong forbid him from doing so out of fear that FW!Goji will see him as another threat to his kingdom-and kill him. This somehow doesn't deter him, and one night-he sneaks out of the Hollow Earth and enjoys some time getting fresh air....but just as he starts to head back to his new home-he unfortunately bumps into FW!Goji.

FW!Goji: Hey, watch where you're-!

*He sees and recognizes Shin*

FW!Goji:.....wait, didn't I kill you?!

Shin:...N-no, I'm not the Shin you killed, I'm a different one!

FW!Goji:.....*Sniff* Well, you do smell different from the one I killed....

Shin:...Y-yeah! So if you can just move aside and let me leave-

*Unfortunately for Shin, the Shinlets whom his counterpart released from his tail choose this exact moment come out of hiding, see Abraxas!Shin as their Shin-and immediately start to attack FW!Goji*

FW!Goji: ARG! What the hell?!

Shin: W-wha-

*FW!Goji spots the Shinlets, then back to Shin, makes the connection-and becomes enraged.

FW!Goji: GRRRR...You set me up, didn't you?! You tricked me into a false sense of security to kill me and take my throne right?!! WELL I WON'T LET YOU!!!! COME HERE!!!

Shin: NO, WAIT YOU GOT IT ALL WRONG! I DIDN'T-!!!

FW!Goji: DIE!!!!!!

*FW!Goji attacks Shin*

The two have a vicious and brutal fight, with the Shinlets doing everything they can to assist Shin, but most of them die to FW!Goji's Atomic Breath-Shin desperately fights for his life, evolving quickly just to keep up with FW!Goji-he uses his tail, tries to run away only for Final Wars Goji to drag him back, and he even uses his own Atomic Breath to try and compete with Final Wars Goji, but all that proves useless in the face of a Gojiran who faced far worse than that. A few of the Shinlets evolve and try to help their master-only to be torn asunder by FW!Goji with extreme prejudice; Shin, in an act of panic, sends out a distress signal via psychic link to Mothra-who receives it and immediately realized what was going on at the surface and wakes everyone up & Kong to try and help Shin.

Meanwhile, Shin spams his Atomic Breath on both his mouth & tail to intercept FW!Goji's beam, and the two enter a powerful beam-lock-with both parties seemingly being equal. But FW!Goji proves to be full of surprises as he concentrates his beam to become Spiral-Ray-like (similar to the dead Heisei!Goji's ability), and it slowly starts to overpower Shin's beams-not wanting to die though, Shin manages to make the beams equal again, but it rapidly drains his radiation reserves and risks running out. FW!Goji, getting annoyed now, decides to end the fight by automatically powering up his beam to be his Red G Spark Heat Ray again, and it rapidly overwhelms Shin's beams. It gets closer,closer, and closer to his head...

Meanwhile, everyone was just nearing where they are hearing the battle take place when they hear a large *BOOM* and a flash of light in the distance. They head over to see what it was, but once they do-they wished they never did.....

After the Burning G Spark Ray overpowered Shin's beams-all that power was forced into poor Shin's head-causing him to briefly scream before his head exploded into chunks of flesh, his now headless corpse stumbling a bit before falling over....Dead.

FW!Goji, wanting to make sure his enemy was really dead, spammed his beam over, over, and over again at the corpse-burning and practically cremated Shin; all of that happening when everyone else just arrived too late.

Everyone is immediately mortified by what Final Wars Goji just did, Mothra becomes even more broken inside after realizing one of her adoptive children was now dead, Junior simply weeps over his dead brother's body, Kong becomes disturbed and has his guard up while glaring angrily at FW!Goji for his actions, Monster X.....oh boy...do they not take Shin's death very well.....it gets to the point everyone has to physically hold them back from attacking Final Wars Goji in a furious rage...

Monster X: YOU BASTARD!!! YOU FUCKING KILLED HIM!!! I'LL KILL YOU!!!!!!

Final Wars Goji, to his credit, does feel some sense of remorse for killing Shin, but he stands by his actions and gives his reason why he did it.

"Because he attacked me first with those damn mini versions of himself..."

"THAT'S NO DAMN EXCUSE!!!!"

"Well he did, and he had to pay the price.....for what it's worth-I'm sorry for that....but you just have to live with it now...."

He leaves, and everyone reels from the death of not one, but two members of the family-and this serves to fuel the family's hatred towards FW!Goji, while Monster X is especially starting to reach their breaking point in how long they can tolerate him...

Before you can critique me on this, just think of it as a non-canon & speculative sequel to my immediate previous post + it being an angsty scenario-and what do you think?

HOW DARE YOU THROW SHIN TO THE MURDER BIN YOU MONSTER THAT IS UNFORGIVABLE I DON'T WANT TO BE ON THIS RIDE

I'm thinking FW!Goji has Fucked Up Now and is damn near ASKING for a coup d'état, and if his version of Minya got sucked into the AbraxasVerse with him then Minya's going to be very, very disappointed with how his father's running things. But I doubt he would be, since Minya would make damn sure no murder misunderstands happen on his watch. Oh, now there's a thought - maybe FW!Goji gets it into his head that "Well shit, things are going downhill fast and my approval rating here is slightly lower than a hole in the head... shit, that was too soon. Getting mad about everyone being mad at me isn't working. What would Minya do? He's good at this kind of thing."

Maybe he decides, "Okay, things are bad... but I need to put my foot down. I mean, what if a serious threat shows up and it's too much for even me to handle on my own? Surely this world's Mothra will find it in her heart to forgive me." So he goes sniffing for an entrance to the Hollow Earth to try brokering a truce and eventually finds one, but he doesn't get very far. Fortunately, Mothra's there to greet him at one of the entrances! Unfortunately, she looks like her literal soul has left her body, and there's what looks like a literal demon (Monster X) waiting for him in the darkness.

Mothra: You're not welcome here.

FW!Goji: Now hold on, I'm only trying to--

Mothra: Do what? Take over the Hollow Earth now? Forget it. None there will accept you. Our children are not safe with you. If you must satisfy your need for violence, then kill me. At least then I can be with my King again, and I won't live to see more of my sons senselessly killed.

FW!Goji: *slowly realizing just who exactly Shin was because even with all the reactions he saw he didn't realize he killed someone's CHILD* ...oh.

#wagrilous 23 #the one where fw!goji breathes everyone dies

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areysololife · 4 years

Note

Hello!! I love binging all your recs in this quarantine. I was looking for any fics where someone thinks the other person is dead. But no actual character death! (Or i guess they can come back from the dead) just looking for that heavy angst with a happy ending. Could be a one shot or 200k, just something with some good old misunderstandings

Mistaken For Dead / Heavy Angst Misunderstandings To my Followers: Please Help!

This COVID-19 lockdown is kicking my ass. And in turn, unfortunately, I’ve been failing those of you that have sent in requests. I haven’t had time to post much (and haven’t since the beginning of April) and I’ve been able to fit in some reading, but not enough to fill specific requests. So I’m reaching out to you all following this blog for help. If you have a recommendation that fits this person’s request, please reblog this post with the Reylo Rec. Many thanks to you all for your help. I’m hoping to be posting again more regularly soon. Be well and stay safe.

@ahumanlady

Thanks for reaching out. I’m glad you are enjoying the recs during this quarantine. I have a few recs below I believe might fit what you are looking for, but only two are complete and the rest WIPs. I am posting your request as a help ticket to see if any followers might have some as well.

The Way to Tomorrow by @the-reylo-void

Complete. Post-TFA Divergent. Exiled Ben. Luke Lives. Sometime after the events of TFA, the Resistance wins the war and sentences Ben to a year of exile. Thanks to the Force Bond, Ben’s not as alone as his exile had been meant to be. Somber mood, with Ben doing some heavy reflection and soul searching, even Rey does a good dose of internal reflection. Nicely written “conversation courtship”. This doesn’t center around one character mistaken the other for dead, but there is a section I believe you would appreciate and it is one of my favorite Reylo fics in general.

Icarus by @eirenare

Complete. Canonverse Setting. Quick one-shot, but fits what you are looking for. Ben has joined the Resistance and is on a mission with Rey. When suddenly it appears he goes all in, Rey has a tumult of emotions to sort through.

Burn the Boats by @eek-a-tron

This is a WIP, but mostly complete and doesn’t end on a cliff hanger. Post-TLJ. The Force connects Ben and Rey when suddenly Rey’s ship appears to malfunction and be about to crash. The Force, of course, disconnects them before Ben can figure out what happened. But it doesn’t stop him from going on a mission to find her – unsure whether she is dead or alive. Heavy on angst and misunderstandings.

Caught Between Beats by @tazwren

WIP. Post-TLJ. During a Battle, Rey is struck by a bolt when trying to save Kylo. Using the Force he traps her life essence inside her – unsure how he even did it, but now is unsure if she is trapped in a state between life and death.

First of the New by @praemonitor

This is listed as a WIP, but is told in a series of “Minisodes” and the first five “minisodes” are complete. In the first “Minisode”, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren appears to vanish. Rey and his Knights must team up to solve the mystery of his disappearance.

One Last Thing by Celia_and

WIP, Anticipated two chapters, first chapter was posted 05/13/2020. Modern Setting. Summary: What if, in the seconds before you die, you were allowed to know everyone who was secretly in love with you?

Followers, Do you know any others that might fit what this requester is looking for? Please reblog or comment with Reylo Rec.

Update 06/01/2020:

Saudade by andabatae

So that he may sleep without his fists clenched by irridesca @solosheart

Belonging by @hannidae

Vespertine by HarpiaHarpyja1

Thank you @river--glass for the above four recs!

Force Destiny (E rated Version) by @edenwoodsparker (Teen Version can be found here). Thank you to @packermomma for this rec.

#reylo #reylofic #reylo fanfic #reylo fic #reylo fanfiction #reylo trash #reylo fandom #request

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drwcn · 4 years

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Think lan zhan and jiang yanli could be friends like wei ying and wen qing are friends? If they had the chance I could see it. Totally imagining lan zhan being bewildered at first, but than actually seeing why wei ying loves his sister so much. Also totally see them silently judging idiot people together and working together to keep wei ying mentally safe. Yanli teaching him how to cook and things about her brother.

YAS！ LWJ and JYL judging people together is Mood. I will die on this hill.

(and bc i hate sleep, i got inspired by your ask and wrote this brain vomit from my btsf!verse that no one asked for, and yet i shall shamelessly impose on the world. It’s a different take on jiang yanli chewing out jin zixun and lan wangji being there and being generally awesome. )

Jin Zixun is causing a scene.

Again.

In broad daylight in the middle of one of Jinlintai’s gardens no less. The Jins had planted lovely peonies, which are all in bloom now. Jiang Yanli had intended to enjoy them for an hour or two, but it seems her morning plans are about to be ruined. What she initially dismissed as a minor nuisance is quickly becoming an irritating fixture in her life. She has half a mind to be rid of this no good Jin cousin for good, and for that matter, she can count a good number of people who would oblige her.

Standing toe to toe with Jin Zixun, Wei Wuxian is shaking with fury from whatever the other man had said. Not that anything even remotely tasteful has ever been produced by Jin Zixun’s mouth. It’s only productive function is eating, as that seems to be the only time he’s quiet and therefore marginally tolerable.

Jiang Yanli already feels a headache looming just from the reminder of his mere existence.

Lan Wangji is the first to notice her. He has one hand wrapped around Wei Ying’s wrist and another around Bichen’s sheath, pressing it across Jin Zixun’s chest to deter him from taking another step closer. Upon seeing her entourage approaching, he steps back and bows respectfully.

“Sect Master Jiang.”

Like wise, Jin Zixun reluctantly gives a half-hearted bow. She ignores him. For now.

Remembering himself, Wei Wuxian flinches and quickly follows suit. “Zongzhu.” He greets her quietly. [zongzhu = sect master]

He doesn’t call her shi-jie anymore, at least not in public.

Since the day she declared herself Sect Master of Yunmeng Jiang, A-Xian has been on his very best behaviour. Every word, every conduct, has strictly been adherent to what is expected of someone in his status and station. But Jiang Yanli could only frown. True, he is her left hand man, her lieutenant, her zuo-hufa, but he is firstly her brother, and she will not stand for him being pushed around by some second rate cultivator just so she could be spared “conflict”.

Turning her head slightly over her shoulder, she makes a small motion for Binghu (冰湖) and Shuangxue (霜雪) to stand down. Dealing with a gnat like Jin Zixun is too menial a task for upstanding cultivators like her personal guards. No, A-Xian is her brother, so Jiang Yanli will deal with this herself, and those who crosses her will only ever be sorry.

“A-Xian, what’s going on?”

“Nothing, zongzhu. A minor disagreement is all.” Clearly lies.

Jiang Yanli looks to Lan Wangji. The younger man does not let go of his betrothed’s wrist, but he does lower his eyes out of deference to her. “Zhangjie, Jin Zixun-gongzi suggested that your brother Jiang-gongzi should be disqualified from tomorrow’s hunt on account of his unorthodox cultivation method. He said that he who could not protect his own golden core has no place amongst cultivators.” [zhangjie = a formal way of saying older sister]

Zhangjie. Rather bold of him to call her that, seeing he and A-Xian are not yet legally wed. But perhaps his choice of words is deliberate, used to remind her that Wei Wuxian is not just her subordinate, but her family. She’d be offended if the gesture isn’t so genuinely endearing. Lan Wangji is a quiet one, but so fiercely protective of Wei Wuxian. Out of this wretched war and all the underhanded maneuvers she’s been forced to take, nothing has pleased her more than this marriage alliance that she and Lan Xichen arranged.

“Lan Zhan…” Wei Wuxian frowns and admonishes him quietly.

“I spoke the truth.”

Jiang Yanli casts Jin Zixun an aloof side glance, then says, “Perhaps I have confused the rules. Clarify for me, Wangji, is spiritual cultivation required for the hunt tomorrow?”

“No.”

“Does cultivation affect the participant’s performance and ability?”

“No. Not if they follow the rules of conduct.”

“The Hunt is a strictly skills based competition is it not?”

“It is.”

“Well then, I think that settles that. A rather simple mistake, Jin Zixun-gongzi, but I wouldn’t fret too much if you didn’t remember. This has been trying times for us all.”Jiang Yanli’s smile is bright but scorching, like the desert sun.

Colour rises in Jin Zixun’s cheeks. He turns up his nose and huffs, “Has Yunmeng Jiang fallen so low that there’s no one left but deviants, servants, and women?”

Wei Wuxian starts towards him, fully intending to throttle the man, but Jiang Yanli calms him with a gentle hand. Unflustered, she turns her full attention to the Jin cousin. The smile on her face does not dim, but her eyes are glacial.

“Deviants, servants, and women. It’s true. We are that. But what can be done? It is unfortunate that there’s not enough reliable cultivators to count on, that even deviants, servants, and women must be forced to take up arms against a tyrant. How tiresome that we must not only fight our own fights, but you cultivators’ fights too.”

“How dare you -” Jin Zixun bristles, which is about as intimidating as an angry ferret, in Jiang Yanli’s considered opinion.

“Shall I remind you when you led your troops into enemy territory last winter in a bullheaded attempt to boast your ego, whose squadron came to your aid when you were trapped, starving in the snow? Whose food fed your men’s bellies, whose blankets and tents warmed your bodies in that storm?” Jiang Yanli does not raise her tone, but holds nothing back. “And who, after you so pitifully grovelled, omitted your incompetence from the report to your uncle and Sect Master.”

“I -” Jin Zixun darkens from red to purple, unable to come up with a single word of refute. Typical.

Jiang Yanli plows on.

“If we deviants, servants, and women are not befitting polite company and the gentlemanly sport of hunting, then you sir, with so little grace and gratitude for the people who saved your life and the lives of your kinsmen, are not fit to even stand in our presence.” She takes a step closer, forcing him back. “You’re right. I am a woman, but Wei Wuxian was raised along side myself and Jiang Cheng, as close to us as flesh and blood. That you have called him a servant is untrue and a grave offence, which I will not accept. So remembering that, Jin Zixun-gongzi, you will apologize to my brother, Yunmeng Jiang’s zuo-hufa Wei Wuxian. Immediately.”

It is Jin Zixun’s turn to shake, too humiliated and furious to say a thing. It’s clear that he’d rather the ground swallow him than apologize, but as servants and disciples start to crowd around them, whispering and pointing, it seems he has no choice. Jiang Yanli is still a sect master, and Wei Wuxian is a much respected hero.

“Apologies, Wei-gongzi.”

“What’s going on here?” Behind Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian, Jin Zixuan and Qin Su can be seen making their way towards them from the other end of the lang. The latter of the two dips in a proper courtesy of a gentlewoman, but the former only manages an awkward cultivator’s bow without meeting Jiang Yanli’s eyes.

“Nothing that needs to worry you, Jin-gongzi. Just a small misunderstanding, all cleared up now. Is that not so, Zixun-gongzi, Wangji, A-Xian?”

“Barely a tiff.” Lan Zhan lies with a straight face. Wei Ying says nothing.

Jin Zixun forces himself to nod once.

Jiang Yanli quickly forgets that such a person ever existed. Stepping up to the two that just joined them, she offers her usual sweet smile. “I don’t believe I’ve had the opportunity to congratulate you both on your upcoming nuptials. Such wonderful news! Qin-meimei, Madam Jin has asked me to consult on the design of your fengguan, I hope we shall see more of each other so I can make better judgement of your preferences.”

Qin Su blushes. “Jiang-jiejie - eh - Jiang-zongzhu, you tease me! There’s been so much to do lately, we’ve not had time to send out the invites. I - Congratulations to your family too, Hanguang-jun, Wei-gongzi.”

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian return her well wishes politely, though somewhat with a stiff back. Jiang Yanli internally frowns, wondering perhaps things aren’t going as well she is led to believe… A matter she needs to think on later.

“Well, I must be off now. I wish I had the endurance of a cultivator, but alas the summer heat is somewhat getting to me. Do enjoy the peonies though, Qin-meimei, Jin-gongzi, they are lovely this year. Wangji, A-Xian, come.”

Jiang Yanli leaves the garden at a leisurely pace, her head held up high, followed by her brothers and her entourage. As she turns at the round archway, she spares a discreet glance towards Jin Guangshan’s son and his future bride, a pairs of unfortunate siblings trying to fit into each other’s lives and unknowingly heading towards a disaster.

She decides to let that one stew a little longer. For now no real damage is done - Jin Zixuan is far to awkward even if Qin Su finds him handsome. The marriage won’t go through; she’s not so cruel that she will actually let that runaway carriage go off the proverbial cliff. However, the key to every offensive strike is timing, and now is not the time to reveal the truth to them. As long as Madam Qin is medically incapacitated, the secret holds, and she will stay that way for a while yet. Jiang Yanli muses that she rather likes the landscape now the way it is, and longs to see the day Jin Guangshan and Qin Cangye gets what’s coming to them.

1. zongzhu = sect master2. zuo-hufa = the “zuo - left” hand man of the sect master. Their function is to serve and protect the sect master, as the word hufa literally means protector. 3. Binghu (冰湖) & Shuangxue (霜雪) - YJL’s bodyguards. Binghu means ice, lake, Shuangxue means frost, snow. 4. zhangjie = a formal way of saying older sister.5. lang = A long, belt-like structure, Lang, the covered corridor is a roofed passage usually with low railings and long side benches. 6. meimei = younger sister. jiejie = older sister. When used in conjunction with last names, this is a way for women who are familiar with each other to address each other. I7. fengguan 凤冠 = it’s the term for the headpiece that brides wear on their wedding day.

#cql #the untamed #jiang yanli #dark!jiang yanli #sect leader jiang yanli #wangxian #btsf #engaged!wangxian #arranged marriage wangxian #i have no idea why the read more is malfunctioning and making this post so long #again #corie replies #corie fics

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