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scarlet2007 · 8 months

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₊˚꒷꒦︶⊹ The Witcher's Witch₊︶꒷꒦︶

꒷꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒷꒦꒷︶꒷꒷꒦꒷︶꒦ ͘ ˖ ⊹

Pairing: Geralt of Rivia x reader.

[ Master list ]

꒷꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒷꒦꒷︶꒷꒷꒦꒷︶꒦ ͘ ˖ ⊹

Summary: Being rescued by the Witcher after being accused of being a Witch was the last thing you expected in life. But it looks like kindness can go a long way if shown to the right people.

꒷꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒷꒦꒷︶꒷꒷꒦꒷︶꒦ ͘ ˖ ⊹

꒷꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒷꒦꒷︶꒷꒷꒦꒷︶꒦ ͘ ˖ ⊹

Warnings: Mention of murder, beast slaying, taming wild animals, witch hunting, the reader is beaten up and was about to get burned alive.

꒷꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒷꒦꒷︶꒷꒷꒦꒷︶꒦ ͘ ˖ ⊹

Word count: 3.3k

꒷꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒷꒦꒷︶꒷꒷꒦꒷︶꒦ ͘ ˖ ⊹

The Witcher was finally in town, it was pretty clear from how the people were crowding towards a certain white haired man who stood besides a horse.

The crowd was sneering at the Witcher, calling him names and yelling at him, as if the Witcher was nothing but a mere dirty dog in their eyes. The Mayor of our town finally made an appearance, making the angry people go silent as they all waited for their "king" to speak.

"Ah, Witcher! We have been waiting for your arrival." The mayor chuckled, walking towards the Witcher, who stood tall amongst the crowd, clearly used to the sneering and insults of the people.

"There is an unknown monster lurking in the forest near our town, it had already murdered two people brutally. We need you to take care of the monster." The Mayor spoke as the people continued to glare at the Witcher. Some mothers even went as far as to try and 'shield' their kid from him as if he was the monster that would tear apart their children.

You stood slightly far from the crowd, watching everything occur as you scoffed at the hostility of the people towards the Witcher.

"They are acting as if he can't just kill them all in an instant..." You mumbled, chuckling darkly.

"You better be as good as they say you are, Witcher." Someone hissed, staring at the Witcher in disdain as they tried to stare him down. The Witcher ignored them all as he looked at the Mayor, nodding silently as the Mayor handed him a bag filled with coins.

"Where is the beast?" Asked the Witcher, making you sigh as the people started to talk about the beast all at once. Half of them were made up while the other half were useless.

Finally, the mayor explained everything that they knew about the beast, and where it attacks. You listened intensely, still standing away from the crowd as you stared at the ground in focus.

The Witcher nodded along, before he started to walk in the direction of the forest that was now forbiddened from entering for the safety of the people. You quickly walked in the opposite direction before entering an alley that lead towards the forest as you tried to track down the Witcher.

"Stop following me." A gruff voice said from behind you, making you jump as you turned around to face the dark and tall figure in front of you.

"Oh! It's you..." You sighed in relief, making the Witcher frown.

"Um... Mister... Uh.. sir? Whichever you prefer, I have some information about the beast that might help you." You chuckled nervously, looking around to see if someone was spying on you. You might get in trouble if you were to be seen with the Witcher alone.

"Speak."

You glanced at the Witcher before nodding, "Well... If you think the attack is being done by some sort of animal like a wolf, it's not true. It's not a wolf." You said quickly.

"What makes you think that?"

"W-well-... A wolf was injured because of the said beast and the wounds didn't look like it was from a wolf fight either so..." You mumbled, trying not to act suspicious.

The Witcher stared at you silently. You were acting suspicious and it was evident by the way you talked that you knew more than you told him. The Witcher took a step towards you, making you look up, still standing your ground nervously.

Witcher frowned at your weird behaviour, you were scared but not because of him, but because of something else. Something else was making you nervous.

He opened his mouth to speak before a sudden growl intrupted him, making both of them tense up as he grabbed his sword, stepping in front of you protectively. A wolf stood before them, glaring and growling at the Witcher, ready to pounce.

"Stay back-" The Witcher mumbled was unheard as you stood in front of him, glaring at the wolf.

"Sky!" You hissed, still standing in front of the Witcher. It would've amused him if they weren't in a tense situation. You, a young girl, perhaps in your mid 20s, standing before the Witcher with no weapons, as the Witcher behind you towered you with his height. You looked tiny compared to his frame, both height and muscle wise.

The Witcher felt annoyed at your pathetic attempt to tame a wild wolf, as if the wolf would suddenly transform into a domesticated puppy and obey your every command.

The wolf continued to growl but it slowly started to approach you, the wolf stance becoming slightly relaxed as it stared at you and your hand that was outstretched in front of you. The Witcher looked at the exchange in slight confusion, his expression was still stoic but he felt confused.

"Sky, come on, what did I tell you about jumping in front of guests like a beast? Hmm?" You mumbled as you patted the wolf, the wolf's tail wagging behind him.

"You... Tamed the injured wolf..?" Asked the Witcher, eyeing them warily. It's not everyday that someone saves a wolf, let alone tame them.

"I would prefer 'befriended' and yes, I did. He is a sweetheart. That is also why I wanted to warn you that this wolf is not the beast. Oh! And the beast also does not live here. It lives deeper into the woods, this area is just the edge of the forest. The people... They forgot to mention something important." You glanced at him as you stood up, the wolf standing besides you in his fully height, his black fur and tall height made it look intimidating, the wolf looked strong and but the bandages around his torso also did not go unnoticed by the Witcher, making him believe the story that you told him about patching up a wounded wolf even though it sounded bizarre and made up.

"What is it?"

You bite your lips, looking at the forest, deep in thoughts before finally speaking.

"The town people provoked the beast. Some drunkards wanted to prove to the people that there was no such beast residing in the depths of the woods, so they went ahead despite the warnings and... Well, only their mangled up bodies made it back here. That's why the people think that the beast resides in the edge of the forest and not deep within."

The Witcher's frown, staring at you for a while before speaking.

"They knew that there was a beast?"

You nodded, "The beast is older than most of us, the tales have been circulating amongst the people since past few generations, it can probably be dated back to the generation of our grandparents, something similar happened but this time, the beast is... More angry. It didn't kill people before like it did now, or at least that's what the people say."

The Witcher sighed at your words. This was more work than he intended to do. If the beast was as old as you said it was, then it wouldn't die without putting up a great fight and he was in no position to get into a full-on battle in his tired state.

"Sir..? You look tired, and I doubt the villagers asked you to rest or offered you food, would you..." You trailed off, laughing awkwardly as you stared at the Wolf, Sky, instead of the Witcher as you continued in a quiet manner, "Like something to eat?"

The Witcher froze, not expecting an act of kindness, especially from someone like you. He stared at you suspiciously, thinking that you had ulterior motives to offer him something like that. You looked at him in alarm, as if sensing his chain of thoughts as you waved your hands in front of you. "I don't need anything in return, i promise! It's just... You look tired and hungry."

The Witcher didn't say anything, simply staring at you for a solid minute before nodding his head along with a stoic, "hm."

"Um.. sir? Where did you leave your horse?" You asked suddenly.

"It's outside the woods."

"Ah... You can bring your horse in, this part of the woods is safe and Sky isn't going to hurt your horse, I can assure you that much." You smiled at him, the Wolf still standing guard besides you.

"How do you know it's safe here?" The Witcher rolled his eyes.

"Well... I live here. My cottage is just a few minutes walk away from here."

"You... Live in the middle of the woods?"

"It's the edge and yes, I prefer living here." That made the Witcher frown his eyebrows in confusion as he walked beside you to get his horse.

"Why? Isn't the town safer?"

You stayed silent for a while before chuckling softly. "Perhaps. But I am not too fond of the people there." The Witcher could see why, so he stayed silent and walked towards his horse.

꒷꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒷꒦꒷︶꒷꒷꒦꒷︶꒦ ͘ ˖ ⊹

You provided food and a place for the Witcher to rest, which he found weird and bizarre but didn't complain about. You insisted that the Witcher rest for at least a day before he went to hunt down the beast, saying that it will give him more benefit in battle if he is well rested and fed. The horse, which you learnt was called Roach, was spoiled rotten too. It looked like you had a liking towards animals and insects, finding them adorable and taking care of them and for some reason, animals seem to like you too, even the most wild animals liked you and it was evident with how the wild wolf acted like a domesticated dog in front of you. The food you prepared for the Witcher was amazing, and the spare room was also comfortable enough for the Witcher to sleep in but you insisted that he slept in your room instead, that the spare room wasn't that clean and that you would sleep in the spare room instead. The Witcher tried to decline politely but you were stubborn and he ended up getting the best sleep he ever has in your bed while you slept in the spare room.

Your whole cottage was filled with plants, flowers and books. The plants weren't everywhere but the ones you did have inside were too pretty and went well with your theme. Your cottage had a cozy feeling to it, the aroma of tea and lavender was always present, along with some books lying here and there. It made the cottage feel like a home that the Witcher didn't have.

The Witcher thanked you before venturing off to hunt the beast, giving you a small, awkward smile before leaving. You waved enthusiastically at him, wishing him luck before rushing after Sky, who has decided to run after a rabbit.

꒷꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒷꒦꒷︶꒷꒷꒦꒷︶꒦ ͘ ˖ ⊹

When the Witcher came back, the cottage was a mess, making him frown as he couldn't find you or Sky. It looked like you left somewhere in a hurry as there was still uncooked food on the table, half done and some books were scattered on the ground.

The Witcher went towards the town, the head of the beast was hanging from his hand. The battle against the beast wasn't easy, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

The town was filled with commotion, people gathering around a tall tree, yelling at something or rather, someone.

As he walked closer, he could hear what they were saying clearly.

"Burn the Witch! Burn her! She was the one who brought the beast to the town!" Someone yelled venomously, making the Witcher frown his eyebrows as he walked towards the crowd. The Mayor took immediate notice of his presence as the people stopped yelling.

"Ah! Witcher! You are back and you brought the beast's head with you." The Witcher paid the Mayor zero attention as he stared at the scene in front of him. Someone was bounded to the tree with thick ropes, blood pooling underneath them as it dropped from the wound on their arm. It looked like a young girl, which made the Witcher slightly nervous. He couldn't see her face, as her head was down, her hair covering her face. The only thing that made it evident that she was alive was the quick motion of her chest falling up and down as she breath heavily.

The Mayor, displeased with the Witcher's ignorance towards his words, turned his attention to the girl instead. He stepped closer to the girl and gripped her hair, making her wince as he forced her to look up.

Witcher's breath hitched as he saw your pained face, staring directly at him before looking at the Mayor in fear.

"The beast you called upon is long dead now, Witch. You have no one to save you now." The Mayor hissed, staring at your face as he continued to hold your hair in a tight grip, making you wince.

You were already weak from the beatings and the lack of food, your head throbbing painfully under the harsh Sun. You were dehydrated, hungry, wounded and scared. Oh, you were so so scared.

A lot has happened in the span of just four days after your last meeting with the Witcher.

You flinched when someone threw another stone at you again, wincing at the sharp pain that erupted from your temple, where the stone landed, making it bleed.

You couldn't even look at the Witcher, humiliation filled your body as you stared at the ground, willing yourself to not cry. You have yet to let the tears flow and you want to keep it that way. You want to keep some of your dignity, if there was even any left.

"What's going on?" You closed your eyes as you heard Witcher ask the Mayor. You didn't want him to think that you were someone evil, but you weren't sure if the Witcher will believe you over the Mayor's word or the people's word. You just silently hoped that they won't answer his question but your hopes died quickly as the Mayor began to tell him what happened.

"This girl, this witch, is the one that unleashed the very beast you hold in your hands. She was seen with a wolf, commanding him to attack innocents! She can put animals and beasts under her spell, making them do whatever she please." The Mayor spit out, glaring at you as you kept your eyes closed and your head low.

"Just look at her! She has been punished but she has yet to utter a word of apology or even a tear in remorse! She is a threat to the town and the people!"

"Burn her!"

"Kill her!"

Were the words that followed soon after the Mayor stopped talking, making the Witcher step in front of you protectively, just like how he did before when he saw Sky as a threat.

"Witcher, what are you doing?!" The Mayor fumed, staring at the Witcher in anger and annoyance.

"Keep your hands away from the girl." He said quietly, his sword already out, the beast's head thrown somewhere on the ground. No one dared to put up a fight against the Witcher, everyone was too cowardly to try and fight him.

"The Witch has put you under a spell too, Witcher!" The Mayor exclaimed as the people started to insult both of you.

You whimpered, staring at the people and the Witcher in fear.

"What good will it do to you even if you safe her? She is a damned witch that should rot in hell for her crimes!" The people agreed, trying to step closer to her before the Witcher pointed his sword towards them, making them step back in fear.

"I will keep her."

That made the whole town silent as you stared at the Witcher in confusion and shock.

He couldn't let them kill you, not when you were the only one that treated him like a human and showed him kindness, it pained him to see you in such a state and he will not let you get harmed. You took care of him, and it was now his turn to do so.

He gripped his sword tightly, glaring at whoever dared to step towards them.

"Give me the girl." He hissed, his gaze making everyone scared, some even rushing away to their home to not face his wrath.

The air was tense, people stared at you and the Witcher with scared and disgusted expression while the Mayor was deep in thought. The town was known for its cowardly people and after watching the Witcher walk with the head of a beast in his hand, nobody wanted to fight him.

"What will we get in return if we let the girl go unpunished?" The Mayor asked, smirking as he stared at the Witcher.

"You can keep your coins." He grumbled, throwing the pouch of coins towards the Mayor that he got as a payment when he first came here to slay the beast.

The Mayor checked the pouch before letting them go, commanding people to go inside their houses as they rushed away.

"You are lucky, or else today would've been your last day, witch." The mayor muttered venomously before leaving them be.

You flinched when Witcher's blade cut throw the thick ropes, all at once as you stumbled forward. He caught you, making you wince as it made you put some pressure on your wounds. The Witcher carried you towards your cottage, but not before the Mayor warned them that they had to leave before noon, and if they failed to do so, they will both be punished and killed. The threat made you tense, as you tried to make yourself as small as possible in his arms as he walked you towards your cottage.

"Where's sky?" He asked, trying to break the silence.

"I made him leave. The... The people saw him and they would've hunted him down or hurt him..." You mumbled, sniffling a bit as he sat you down on your bed.

He nodded in understanding, before cleaning yours wounds.

"You should go wash yourself and pack." You glanced at him, wondering what he meant by 'pack'.

"We need to leave. Make sure to only pack the necessary things like clothes and some food." He muttered, staring at you.

You looked scared, and timided, not like the lively girl he met that day that took care of him. It made his heart clench painfully for some reason.

"Oh... A-are you... Taking me in?" You asked slowly, stuttering a bit.

He nodded silently, walking out of your room to let you bath and change. Your voice suddenly made him stop.

"You... You can use the bathroom in the spare room to freshen up too!" He smiled a bit as he heard you, making his way towards the spare room.

After you were done packing and ready to leave, you both stood in front of the Mayor at the gate of the town, you stood behind Witcher, trying to hide from anyone's view, the Mayor stared at you both as you began to walk away from the town, making sure that you both were out of the town.

After walking beside Witcher and Roach, you glanced at him as you handed him a pouch with gold coins.

"U-um... I know what you did for me can never be paid by coins, but... I still want to thank you and repay you for saving me and giving up the coins you got as a payment." You mumbled quietly.

"Keep them." He grumbled, walking towards you.

"Do you know how to get on a horse?" You shook your head, making him chuckle at how cute you looked while doing so.

"Let me help you." You nodded as he grabbed your waist gently, trying to avoid any wounds as he helped you on the horse. It made your heart beat quicken with how close you both were.

"Thank you, Sir."

"Geralt." You looked at him in confusion.

"My name is Geralt, just call me by my name."

You stared at him in shock before smiling wildly, "Okay, Geralt!"

And for some reason, Geralt loved the way you said his name.

꒷꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒦꒷︶꒷︶꒷꒦꒷︶꒷꒷꒦꒷︶꒦ ͘ ˖ ⊹

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bettyfrommars · 3 months

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Death Becomes Us

Part 9: Heads Will Roll

vampire!eddie x supernatural!reader

MASTERLIST PLAYLIST

18+ONLY, vampires, werewolves, mention of witches and ghouls, a pet demobat, a car accident, no smut in this, but definitely next chapter (the kind of non-dream vampire sex you've been so patiently waiting for), reader is taken.

summary: There's a new monster in town, and you are their target. An unlikely trio decides to join forces to get you back. The character Jareth in this is meant to be Jamie Campbell Bower.

word count: 3.6k

author's note: I almost put this on hiatus, but I need to find out how it ends, for my sanity, and I would be more than pleased if some of you wanted to ride it out with me, only a bit more to go. This is not as long as I initially intended, but the next part needs to be all one piece, so I had to split it up. Much love, hope you enjoy.

This chapter takes place right where part 8 left off

“Excuse me?” You balked, looking Jareth up and down there in the alleyway behind Main Vein. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Who did he think he was?

A thousand year old vampire, probably. Stronger and faster than Eddie or any vampire you’d met so far.

Jareth smoothed a thick strand of blonde hair behind his ear. “That’s the problem you see. I wasn’t asking.”

A fog settled in among the cold, winter darkness, crowding in like doom. Your eyes darted from side to side, trying to understand what you were up against. Was Jareth alone? Where were those finicky “powers” when you needed them? Even if the superhuman strength you’d been touched with made an appearance, could you take on a vampire?

Did you have a choice?

But then, a wave of fear burned like thorns in your chest and your voice cracked. “Is Eddie okay? Did something happen to—-?”

The smile that spread across Jareth’s face was condescending. “No harm has befallen your trailer park Romeo. Not at my hand, for that matter.”

Not sure how to feel about that answer, you adjusted your bag on your shoulder and took the first step away from him, on the way to your hearse.

“Tsktsk,” he had black gloves on to match his long, leather coat. “Now, I don’t want to take you by force, but I will if you give me no choice.”

You met his eyes with a defiant softness that made him realize, not for the first time, why Munson was clearly so enamored with you. “Are you going to kill me?”

“Truthfully, I haven’t decided what to do with you yet,” he wet his top lip with the tip of his tongue, making eyes at the blood pumping in your throat. “But I wouldn’t mind a taste.”

You shrugged away from him. “Why should I go with you?”

“Because I said so,” he arched his brows, and then leaned forward. “And because I’ve had word that there’s a Ghoul in town looking for you. I’m only interested in your safety.”

You glared at him. “You’re only interested in yourself.”

“Feisty, I like it. Now, come on, this way,” he inclined his head.

You took a few steps and then stopped short. “Wait, a ghoul?”

“Servants to the regional monster government, yes,” he said, like everyone should know that already.

You thought about Steve, waiting for you at the bookstore. You thought about Bela waiting for you to let her out for her nightly fly.

“How long will I be gone?”

“Until my people can figure out what the ghoul wants from you.”

“Why are you protecting me?” You shuffled in front of him.

Jareth sniffed, unable to meet your gaze. “On that note, I am not entirely sure,” he stepped a bit closer then, making you shuffle a step back. “Call it curiosity, perhaps. You fascinate me, and very little keeps my interest these days.”

When his stare finally locked onto yours, you tried not to show fear under the laser focus of his natural intensity.

You slipped into the passenger seat of his Porsche, smelling the leather and expensive cologne, and waited for him to get in beside you. Just as he was about to start the engine, there was a loud bang and crash from above, like something heavy dropped hard and fast onto the roof of his car.

You couldn’t help the scream you let out, peeking up to see that there was, indeed, a dent caving in the metal as if a boulder had crashed into it. A figure leapt to the ground, landing in a crouch between the headlights.

Jareth’s lips peeled away from his teeth with a growl at the sight of Eddie standing there.

Eddie swiped his hair away from his face, expresion softening when he locked eyes with you. He cocked his head and mouthed the question, “are you okay?”

You were just about to click your seatbelt on, but you threw it off with a thwack against the window and stepped out of the vehicle, ignoring Jareth’s protests.

Eddie’s mind raced. He’d been wanting to talk to you about the not so subtle layers of vampire etiquette, but the time was never right. Then he was parking another stolen car in the bay at the chop shop and he’d felt your discomfort, the spike in your adrenaline. Without any vampire claim on you, your blood and your body were fair game to others. If he could make the claim that you were his, the rest of them would have to stay away. Even the older, stronger ones like Jareth.

Eddie went around to your side of the Porsche and met you there, searching your face to see if you’d been hurt.

“Where did you…how did you?” You stammered.

He came to your side, so close that his hand brushed the back of yours. He was breathing heavily, staring at your lips, aching to touch your cheek, to kiss you.

Jareth slammed his car door. “You’re going to pay for the repair, Munson,” he sneered, taking stock of the obvious dent made from his landing.

Eddie licked his lips and moved his jaw as if he were about to say something to you, but then his face tensed when he turned to Jareth.

“You need to know that she is mine,” his throat dried up when he caught the side glance of your head swiveling to get a better look at the words that were coming out of his mouth. Fully expecting to have you cut him off and disagree, he continued. “I claim her as my mate.”

Your first urge was to challenge the sentiment, but Eddie pinched the side of your hand and pulsed there a few times to let you in on his intentions.

“Is this true?” Jareth’s stare bore into you.

You decided to trust your friendly neighbor. “Um, yes, I’m with him,” you were sure that any and all lies would be instantly detected, but the truth was, you didn’t mind saying it.

“Well, that is unfortunate,” Jareth cleared his throat. “Nevertheless, I advise you to come with me.”

“What’s going on?” Eddie took his chance and snatched your hand in his. You liked the feel of it, so you let him. “Where are you taking her?”

Jareth’s eyelids fluttered as if he were bored to death. “If you must know, there is a Ghoul named Brenner in town who's been asking questions about your…mate.” He bit the final word out sarcastically.

At the mention of Brenner’s name, Eddie stiffened. It was familiar to him, more familiar than he wanted to admit. He shifted uneasily to interlace his fingers with yours.

“And a witch, a very powerful one,” Jareth confirmed. “Possibly even a necromancer.”

You weren’t certain what that meant, but realization seemed to dawn on Eddie’s face.

You turned to get a good look at Eddie, to search his eyes as if he had the perfect answer for how you should answer that, but his milk chocolate orbs only mirrored your search for answers.

There was also something else behind his eyes, a type of silent pleading that you couldn’t put your finger on.

The truth was, you had no idea you were special. Not even after that day back in your hometown when you were able to push a man out of the way and stop a moving truck with your bare hands so that it would not crush the both of you. He’d been going way too fast, about to run a stop sign. The driver told people your eyes were all white, void of iris or pupil, and there were two indentations left in the metal grill where your hands had been.

Your father had not explained the weight of your new gifts before he passed. You liked to think that he hadn’t known, how could he?

While you’d stood there talking, the fog had grown more substantial, it had weight and texture, so much so that you had to squint to see Jareth on the other side of the car.

“Wait,” Jareth held his hand up, squinting into the haze around him. “Did you hear that?”

No mistaking, there it was again, a whooshing noise, along with the soft timber of chanting voices.

You watched in horror as Jareth’s body seized, trembling where he stood as if being controlled by puppet strings, eyes rolling back in his head. His jaw went slack and his head bent back.

Someone or something was controlling him, possessing his body.

“What is happening?” You gasped, clinging to Eddie.

“I don’t know,” Eddie was already on the move, pulling you toward him to take you into his arms and run. “But I don’t want to wait to find out.”

But he wasn’t fast enough

You felt his body go rigid, too, hand falling limp in your grasp

You turned to find him in a similar state; eyes quivering back into his head, body stiff and vibrating as if he were caught in the grip of some strange, upright sleep paralysis.

“Eddie, no!” You cried, reaching up to take his face in your hand. Every muscle in his body was tense and his breathing shallow.

“Eddie, you’re scaring me!” You choked on your fear, tugging at his arm.

But then there came another sound, one that made your blood run cold.

“I control the dead,” a soft, feminine voice said. “And it just so happens that your sweetheart and his friend are no longer living, if you hadn’t noticed.”

You spun around in a circle, seeing no one. “Who are you? What do you want?”

She appeared to you then, like a vision. Long, ebony hair and a dark purple velvet cape, her sharp green eyes were familiar to you in a way you didn’t understand.

“I want you, Dove,” she said with a sly grin.

The woman said something else, in language you didn’t recognize, and she blew some type of dust into your face from the palm of her hand.

You were able to let out the first part of a scream for help before your knees buckled and you were falling into an inky abyss.

—----

Since you were late, Steve was on his way over from the bookstore to check on you when he heard your broken, shrill cry.

He called your name and started to jog, peering in through the blanket of fog that was finally beginning to dissipate.

He vaulted over the hood of one of the cars, pouncing into the street just in time to see the SUV with the tinted windows speed away from the curb, tires squealing.

“Hey!” With a growl, and a red glow to his eyes, he ripped his clothes off as he ran, turning into wolf form along the way. He was sleek and dark gray, so fast and agile, wearing the night like a cloak.

He chased the vehicle into the night, eventually keeping pace with it through the forest, no matter how much it picked up speed.

—-----

In the shadows of an abandoned building near the tracks with broken out windows and a crumbling roof, Eddie gave a few tight blinks of his eyes; they felt dry and itchy, like someone had thrown salt in them. There were slabs of broken concrete and a metal beam in front of him from the half-demolished structure. The air smelled like rat feces and urine, and he was seated on the ground with his hands behind his back.

He shifted to test the strength of his restraints and hissed in pain as the silver chain around his neck and wrists burned him, making a sizzling noise like eggs in a frying pan.

“It’s no use,” the deep voice behind him said.

“Jareth?” Eddie turned his head and cringed in pain again.

Both of them were secured to a thick, cement pillar, facing away from each other.

“Are we alone?”

“As far as I can tell,” Jareth said in his typical, monotone voice.

“What the hell was that?”

“The witch I warned you about would be my guess,” Jareth returned flatly. “And if you hadn’t slowed us down, we might have had a chance to escape her.”

Eddie went silent, trying to concentrate on the magic force that connected him to you through the sharing of each other’s blood, but he couldn’t hear you…couldn’t feel you, and that worried him more than anything.

“What is she going to do with her?”

“I am ancient, but I am not a psychic,” Jareth drolled.

Just then, a huge wolf with red eyes leapt through the gaping hole on the side of the building and trotted over to them, panting, huge tongue lolling out of its mouth of jagged teeth. Both Eddie and Jareth bared their fangs as the beast closed in on them, sniffing the air as it went.

Steve morphed back into his human form then, and stood before them completely naked.

Eddie retracted his fangs and tried to look anywhere but at the package on the new arrival. “Jesus christ, put that thing away, man.”

“Where is she?” Steve looked around at the empty expanse, trying to get a glimpse of you. “I can’t smell her anymore.”

“That’s because she’s not here, you mongrel,” Jareth sighed, annoyed.

“Did you see where they went?” Chain link welts formed on Eddie’s neck. “The ones who brought us here?”

Steve worked his jaw, angry with himself. “I kept up for as long as I could, but then I lost them on the freeway and had to find the scent again.”

Eddie threw his head back against the concrete pillar with a curse.

“Well?” Jareth interrupted the moment of silence. “You could help us out of these restraints if you wanted to make yourself useful.”

“I’m thinking about it,” Steve gave him a glare, his breath like smoke in the frozen air. “Or I could just leave you to rot.”

“I will spend the rest of my immortal life making you regret that decision—” Jareth’s voice began to raise.

“Enough,” Eddie grunted. “We will be stronger in numbers,” his eyes met Steve’s with a sincere urgency. “She’s in danger.”

“We’ll need to find shelter before dawn,” Jareth reminded him. He looked up at the opening in the concrete with a view of the stars. In a few hours, the sun would turn them to ashes. “Or we will perish.”

Steve tucked his chin, willing to set aside his loathing of fangers long enough to get you back, and squatted down to get to work unraveling the massive chain that pinned the two vampires together.

—----

You could feel yourself drifting in and out of consciousness, or whatever type of spell they had you under, watching the lights from the freeway cut by through half lidded eyes. Inside, you were screaming at yourself to move, to wake up.

Propped up in the back seat, seatbelt across your lap, your forehead against the window. You couldn’t see the person driving, but in the passenger seat was the woman with long black hair. Every time your eyelids fluttered open on an inhale, she was watching you over her shoulder.

“Dr. Brenner will be pleased,” a man’s voice said, possibly from behind the wheel. “Why he is so desperate to have her, I will never know.”

“He wants her because she is the only one of her kind,” the woman gave a sarcastic cough of a laugh, as if your value should be obvious. “Reanimated tissue fused with gamma radiation and witch magic? If he could bottle her strength and regeneration capabilities, he'd be unstoppable.”

“The vampire boyfriend, is he going to be a problem?” the driver asked.

You drifted awake to see the woman’s profile, stoic in the moonlight.

“They’ll be dead by the time the sun comes up,” she sniffed. “For all the bragging they do about immortality, all it takes is a bit of silver and sunlight to eliminate them.”

Your heart rate picked up, alarms going off inside of you. A scream caught in your throat but wasn’t able to form a complete sound.

Something clicked in your brain, and a shift began to take place.

Electricity buzzed under your skin, licking all of your nerves and cells awake.

A change was happening.

The driver glanced at you in the rearview mirror. “You sure we don’t have to worry about her waking up?”

The woman scoffed. “She’ll be out for at least another hour, and then she’s Brenner’s problem. I didn’t just put any old spell on her, that one could put down a team of elephants.’

There was nothing but the sound of tires on the pavement for a few seconds and then the SUV swerved and the man behind the wheel cursed.

“What the hell was that?” He huffed, struggling to get back into his lane. Something huge had swooped down from the sky in front of them, something with the wings of a bat and legs like an octopus.

Headlights came toward the window and someone honked for them to move out of the way.

“I didn’t think there were any demobats on this side,” the woman mused, wondering if that was what she saw, or if her eyes were playing tricks on hre. “They hate humans.”

There came the sound of scratching on the roof

SCRTCH SCRITCH SCRITCH

And then an animalistic yowl, like the caw of a prehistoric bird.

Bela dove again, but this time, she attached herself to the windshield, obscuring the driver’s view of the road.

He swerved again, tires catching in the loose gravel of the median, and she flew off the glass.

“Don’t you have any magic to get rid of this thing?” The guy whined.

“I can’t control demobats, no one outside of the Upside Down can.”

“When that fucker comes around front again, I’m gunning it. Splatter the thing all over the road.”

Behind them, you moaned, brow furrowed, fingers clawing at nothing. Your muscles throbbed like they were being pulled apart.

Bela flew into the side window opposite you with a thump, making a spiderweb crack and the glass, and then she rammed at it again.

“This fucking thing is gonna get in here,” the man spat.

“Just drive faster you moron! It can’t keep up with us.”

He yanked the wheel, pulling the vehicle to the side to try and hit her, but she was already in the air and off again.

You rolled back in your seat as the speed increased with a jolt, and for a moment, there was peace.

The driver checked the rearview mirror again. “I think we lost it,” his attention snapped to the woman with the inky black locks. “What the fuck was that about?”

She was mid-shrug in response to his question when Bela charged the windshield, landing with enough force again to splinter the glass.

This time, there was no wiggle room when he swerved as a semi truck was barreling down on them in the opposite direction, blaring its horn.

The SUV jerked right, tires catching at the lip of a dry irrigation ditch, and then they rolled. There was the sound of shattering glass and the sickening crunch of twisted metal while the two in the front seat let out shrill screams.

And then everything was quiet.

—-------

Back at Eddie’s trailer, Jareth paced outside while Eddie found Steve something to wear.

“These good enough? I think they’ll fit,” he tossed a few things on the couch. Eddie changed out of his leather and slipped on a black hoodie, in case he needed to hide his hair and be in disguise for some reason.

Still in his birthday suit, ass on full display, Steve’s expression was bitchy as he pinched the material to lift it up for a better look.

“A ratty jean vest?” Steve raised a brow.

Eddie popped a cigarette between his lips, crinkling up the empty soft pack of Camel’s in his hand. “Sorry the maid hasn’t come to do laundry today, Princess. Those are the only two things I have that are clean. Take it or leave it.”

“Fine,” Steve rolled his eyes. The jeans he was borrowing had ripped holes in the knees and the shoes were white Reebok high tops. “I’m usually able to plan better when I shift,” he mumbled, stepping into the pant legs, gently tucking his cock inside to avoid the teeth of the zipper.

Once they’d been freed from the restraints at the abandoned building, Eddie hotwired a cement mixer from a nearby construction site, and then they swung by downtown to see if any of the clothes Steve had worn earlier were salvageable in the street, but they’d been obliterated like a bomb went off.

“Just do me a favor and take that off before you bust out of it in another transformation, cool?”

Eddie turned away to take a drag from his smoke while Steve inspected the patches on the battle jacket with a frown.

And that was when it happened.

Like the ringing of a phone in his head

A spasm in his chest

He could feel you calling to him

“This is it,” he screwed his eyes shut, trying to zero in on the emotions you were radiating.

“This is what?” Steve stood in front of the mirror under the clock, adjusting the collar of the vest and raking a hand through his hair.

Eddie’s eyes snapped open, tip of his tongue resting between his lips. He sprang behind Steve on his way to the door, clapping him on the shoulder. “It’s showtime.”

-----

thank you so much for reading xoxox

------

Taglist: @trixyvixx@sllooney@writinginthetwilight@sidthedollface2@atomickaratel8dy @probablyin-bed @kiyastrf94@briamunson92 @joannamuns9n @jasminelafleur @@bellalillyrose @dashingdeb16 @alba8688 @corrodeddeadlydoll@brassreign@likedovesinthewnd @ilovetaquitosmmm @skrzydlak@onegirlmanytales@angietherose@probablyin-bed@reidsbtch@moonbeamsandmayhem@eddiesxangel@hideoutside@secretdryrose@nailbatanddungeon@thorfemmes@corkadymu@kellsck@mrsjellymunson@poofyloofy @dream-a-little-nightmare

#Eddie Munson #Eddie Munson fic #Eddie Munson series #Death Becomes Us #vampire Eddie #vampire!eddie #Steve Harrington #werewolf steve #Jamie Campbell Bower #true blood au #vampire au #Spotify

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iguana-eyanna · 10 months

Text

Too Late

Pairing: Clark Kent x plus size witch reader

Summary: All you ever wanted was for Clark to be happy, even if it wasn't you

requested by @salenorona23

You were typing furiously by your monitor, eyes glued on the screen.

You mutter under your breath, cursing your boss, Perry.

“You okay there?”

You look up and see Clark walking up to you in your seat.

“No, Perry didn’t like my pitch. I had to start from scratch.” You said in frustration.

"Don't worry, he does that to me 4 times a week." He said.

"Don't you pitch four stories a week?" You ask.

"Exactly." He replied, making you both laugh.

"Smallville, we need to head for lunch before I start tearing off heads." Lois Lane said as she was scrimmaging her bag, not bothering to say hello to you.

"You wanna join us? We could all split the bill at that chinese restaurant downtown." He asks.

"I brought some food in the break room. And I know not to get in the way with your pork dumplings. Have fun with Lois." You said, returning to your screen.

He smiles at you and runs after Lois. He stops in his track as he looks back at you, wondering how you knew his order if you two never really hung out before?

He shakes his head and caught up to Lois as they made their way to the restaurant.

A few minutes passed, and you got up from your desk and headed to the break room. Now that you were alone, you locked the door and pulled out a small mirror that fit inside of your tote back and muttered a short phrase.

"Show me him."

The mirror swirled with a purple light and transformed your reflection into the present, where you saw Clark laughing at what Lois said. They looked like they were having a time of their mundane lives.

You hated it, but you can't look away. The way he looked at her... it was the same way he looked at you.

But he doesn't remember.

It happened about a few months ago. There was an accident at a LexCorp building as it begun to collapse down. Clark was running late from a date to save everyone that night, but right when he was about to fly out, his powers gave out. The room radiated with blue kryptonite, a rock that took away his powers and made him an ordinary man. He tried to escape, but too much debris knocked him down and made him unconscious.

You were waiting for him at the restaurant where you'd meet up. Yes, there were occasions that Clark would come late... but you knew in your gut something was wrong as you didn't see Clark in sight, so you used your powers to transport to where he was.

No good ever happened when people knew your secret as you reformed from an evil Covet, except to Clark.

He accepted you without hesitation and loved every part of you that you hated. And you helped he realized he wasn't alone. Your emotions took you to where he was, and you panicked as you saw him on the ground, unconscious. You made a force field around you as you transported out with a spell. You were far away to God knows where and you tried to wake him up.

"Please..." You begged him to just open his eyes.

He did in fact opened those beautiful blue piercing eyes that had hints of green in them.

But they were in confusion as he saw you.

"What's going on? What just happened?" He asks as he shuffles up, trying to get away from you.

"You were struck by some debris, I transported us out in time-"

"If a building collapsed, it's not safe for you to be here, ma'am."

That's when you choked on the air you were breathing as you heard what he just said.

He forgot who you were.

He gets up in alert, as they were more to do to help the civilians during the catastrophe.

"Let me fly you out to safety and-"

"No, it's alright. My home's not too far from here and, I didn't get hurt." You said.

Superman looked unsure if he should leave you, but others needed his help.

"Please take care." He says before he flies away, leaving you.

Your chest tightens as you fall on your knees, trying to hold back a sob so he doesn't hear you cry.

So many things could be done to regain his memory. You could show him all these pictures and cheesy letters you wrote to each other. You could tell him that you know of his home planet. You could use your powers!

But you couldn't.

If a witch used their powers on a mortal's mind, it could dissolve all of their memories in just a single second. The damage would be unfixable. You can't imagine the pain Clark would go through if you did that to him, or either show him a reality that he may not with you.

So... you decided to erase your entire relationship. Clark and you were never open about your relationship to anyone. You were a very private person and Clark respected your wishes (He called his mom though and briefly told her that he thinks he found the one.)

Using his spare key at his apartment, you went inside and just took away everything that was associated to you.

The pictures in the frames, the coffee mug you bought him for his birthday, you took everything away.

It was painful for you, but it had to be done.

You were unsure how'd he react if he saw you at work, but he just assumed that you were just a writer at the Daily Planet that he hadn't met yet.

"Hi, I don't think we met. I'm Clark Kent." He said, offering you his hand to shake.

As you see his features, it was like you were staring back at another person. None of his shared memories he had appeared to him, and he didn't expect that you saw him as Superman that night.

You had to bite your tongue momentarily and smile, returning the same friendly nature.

"It's nice to meet you."

You thought you two would be closer and maybe you can form more memories with him. But you saw how he looked at Lois. She was fearless, driven, and the best journalist there was on your floor.

Was she a bit blunt? Yeah, but she was like that to everyone, so no one took offense as she was also really understanding. You couldn't be upset with her, not when she made Clark happy. It killed you every night, as you slept in your bed alone, wishing he was there to hold you. But you'd be selfish, stripping away a new life he made for himself.

So you stayed at an arm's length. But you made sure that he was ok... or rather you kept on checking on him to see if he remembered.

The days past on, and one problem was after another. Lex Luthor was desperate to get his hands on kryptonian technology and Clark wouldn't stand for it. So when Luther revived General Zod and created Doomsday, it was the hardest fight Clark had to face.

You saw the explosions from afar and saw the red caped hero trying defeat him, but it was no use. Even with Batman and the Amazonian Warrior, it was hard to keep him at bay.

They needed help, or else this would be a losing battle.

You transported nearby, waiting for the opportunity to attack. And that's when you saw it, the green kryptonite spear that they tried to kill Doomsday with.

The Amazonian Warrior tried to restrain it with her lasso and batman blew a kryptonian grenade at the beast.

And that's when you saw Clark, who looked almost beaten as Lois was trying to let him stay away. You knew what he was going to do... Clark was a selfless man. He flew away to protect Lois picking up the spear and headed towards Doomsday.

But suddenly, a power restrained him from going any farther. He tried to resist the force that was on him, but then he heard a voice.

"Stop, don't fight it."

He turns his head and saw you running towards him with a worried gaze.

Clark was confused at your presence.

"You shouldn't be here! You gotta get out of-"

"Clark." You stopped him as a tear rolled down your face.

You stepped forward, placing a hand on his cheek. Why did it feel so familiar to him?

"I lost you once, I'm not going to lose you again."

You took the staff away from his grasp and you levitated away from him as he tried to break from your spell. He thinks on your words, saying that you lost him. He winces as a spur of a memory flashes in his mind.

Clark looks up in fear.

"No, NO! STOP HER!" He yelled out to Bruce and Diana but it was no use.

You neared the ferocious beast with the lightning surrounding you both. You took your shot and traveled the spear through its chest using the strength you had.

It yells in pain and tries to get a hold of you, but you created different versions of yourself to confuse doomsday. But it became smarter and swatted its arms till it caught the real you. Doomsday then pierced you in your abdomen.

You were in unbelievable pain, but you had one more chance. You raised your hands to the spear, using one last spell to reach to the inner core of doomsday. Then suddenly, a burst of light goes up in the air, knocking you backwards away from the beast.

As you lost your focus, Clark was now free from your enchantment and flew over to you, holding you upward.

"Hey, hey, c'mon." he whispers to you as he tried to stop the bleeding.

"Did I- I stop it?" You stuttered.

He nods, trying to smile to stay strong as he could hear your heartbeat beating slower.

"Yes. You did it. You're going to be okay. I'll fly you up to the nearest hospital, they'll patch you up good as new."

"I think... we both know that's not possible." You fluttered your eyes, about to lose consciousness.

"No no no, stay with me. I - I... I remember now. I remembered every Sunday afternoon when we watch those bad rom coms and I hold you close to me. I remembered when we always bought each other flowers for no apparent reason. I remembered that I... I wanted to marry you."

You smiled back, giving a heartful chuckle before you began to cough. Clark held you a bit tighter in his chest.

"I would have loved to be yours again." You whispered.

"You were always mine... Imma fool to forget you." He said, tears pricking his eyes.

"I... forgive you, Clark. I just wanted you to be... happier." You closed your eyes again, but they never opened.

"Baby? Baby wake up." He tried placing his hand softly on your cheek but it was cold. He tried listening to a heartbeat but there was silence.

Clark broke into a blood curdling scream. He pleads to anyone to bring you back, to just open your eyes so he could see them once more.

And those around him saw the strongest man in the world break down as he lost someone who loved him.

Now, he was too late.

#superman #clark kent #dc #detective comics #clark kent x reader #man of steel #superman x reader #superman x plus size reader #clark kent x plus size reader #henry cavill #henry cavill x reader #henry cavill x plus size reader

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cinnaminsvga · 3 months

Text

🥀 | yoongi

the sleep deprived series (n.): drabbles that i write when i’m sad and tired

→ vampire!yoongi ft. lots of miscommunication (all because newly-turned yoongi doesn't know how to talk to women lol) | 2.6K words → a/n: SURPRISE i am miraculously alive and well (?) back at it again with some weird monsterfucker propaganda... it's been months since i've written a fic so pardon the lacking quality but i Am Trying... also i added ghost!maknaeline bc i think they'd be cute... umm this might become a series if anyone is interested but i think it works as a standalone... enjoy!!!

When Yoongi first agreed to being turned, he never imagined being so tired all the time. Even as a mortal, Yoongi had never been the most energetic soul. He preferred loafing around at home or reading a nice book by the fire. He rarely left his drafty villa, always isolated despite the nearby town. The most cardio he would ever do was when he’d take the few steps needed to get to his piano and play a few soft songs for the ghosts wandering down his halls.

He knew the neighbors liked to whisper about him, liked to refer to him as a local boogeyman to scare naughty children. “Beware the man who sold his soul to the devil,” they warned, though Yoongi supposes their silly rumors weren’t so far from the truth. Although, it was only a month ago that he did “sell his soul,” just not for the reasons that people might have expected.

Still, being a vampire was still very strange and new to Yoongi. He’d known about spirits and ghosts for as long as he can remember, but even he thought that creatures of the night were nothing more than an urban legend. All it took was one high-stakes game of cards and an empty promise to pay back a debt for Yoongi to realize that it probably isn’t smart to make deals with ghoulish-looking men in strange clothing in the first place.

It wasn’t all bad, save for the never-ending fatigue and deathly pallor to his skin. He was still Yoongi, just… worse, if you will.

For safety’s sake, he hadn’t told anyone about it. He was a bit embarrassed, to be honest. If his brother found out, he’d surely get an earful (or a stake through his heart, though Yoongi hopes his Seokjin hyung would remember all the good times they had together). Most importantly, he could absolutely NEVER tell you about his turning. That would be absolutely humiliating.

You were a witch doctor he had met just a few weeks prior to his turning. You had just moved into his sleepy town as a “pharmacist” who could “magically” make any ailment disappear. You had decided to move there on a whim after being exhausted from the high-paced nature of the big city.

You had spotted a small line of ghosts trailing after him on the night you had moved in. He had been on the way to the convenience store for a caffeine fix, and you had been on the way there to grab a couple of toiletries you had forgotten to pack.

You were so sweet, shyly approaching him under the guise of asking him if he could reach for a snack on a high shelf. But he could see your worried gaze fixed on the three spectral children climbing on his back, though he did nothing to shoo them away. After all, they had no mass, so as long as they didn’t lick his neck or something weird, he was fine with letting them be menaces.

When he had his back turned away from you to grab your snack, he could hear you quietly telling the ghosts to get off of him. They only laughed in response, their giggles always sounding a little muffled and distorted.

Yoongi plucked the bag of chips from the shelf and turned back to you, catching a glimpse of your annoyed expression before you could school it back into something more neutral.

“Is something the matter?” Yoongi asked smoothly, handing you the bag. He amusedly watched as your brows furrowed, not even hiding that you were glaring pointedly at the little gremlins making faces at you from his shoulder.

Jungkook, the youngest of the three ghosts, climbed on Yoongi’s head before proceeding to pull down his pants, mooning you with his spectral ass.

“Uh, nothing,” you eventually said, huffing indignantly as you stomped away. Yoongi caught you discreetly poking your tongue out in annoyance before you turned to another aisle.

Thus began your cautious attempts at exorcising him without trying to “alert” him to it. It was amusing to watch you try to “save” him from the three little ghosts that decided to cling onto him, and it was even more amusing to watch you fail repeatedly every time.

Yoongi made no comment when you were suddenly bumping into him everywhere he went. There was always a terse grin on your face as you performed as many anti-ghost spells as you could, but none of them ever seemed to work. The truth was, ghosts could only be exorcised if the haunted person in question wanted them to leave, but Yoongi had found himself a little fond of these stupid little kids. They might be slowly sucking the life force out of him, but Yoongi didn’t really care. They were just kids, and he’s always been too soft for his own good.

Your many encounters with him created a subtle friendship of sorts, one that Yoongi found himself enjoying. He was never been one to foster friendships with living beings, but perhaps your sweet attempts to save his soul might have defrosted his little grinch heart. But he wouldn’t ever tell you that, of course.

Plus, it didn’t hurt that you were very pretty, for that matter. He certainly would NEVER tell you that as well.

Was he feeling guilty for not telling you about his ability to see ghosts? Slightly. But was it cute watching you trying to outsmart three little ghost babies to no avail? Very much so.

So, Yoongi stayed quiet and enjoyed your company, even if you had no idea who he was or what type of things he was capable of.

That was until he got into that damn bet with the stupid bloodsucker.

Probably shouldn’t call him that, given that I’ve become one myself, Yoongi groaned internally. He’d been hiding in his house for a month now, and your “random” visits were surely on the horizon. He wasn’t sure if you’d immediately clock that he’d turned into a vampire, but he wasn’t going to risk it. If you found out, then you’d find out about everything, and that wouldn’t be a good impression.

Yoongi knew he wasn’t great at interacting with people, let alone people he had a crush on. But at least he knew that lying to someone for extended periods of time was probably not in his favor.

Little Jungkook fluttered close to him, his smoky form twinkling from the moonlight streaming through the living room windows. “When is the pretty witch coming to visit?” he asked, a little forlorn. Among the three ghosts, Jungkook was the one who’d grown attached to you the most. “I miss playing with her…”

Yoongi sighed, rubbing his face. “Hopefully never,” he responded, voice muffled by his hands. He peered through his fingers and saw the two other kids floating by his doorway.

Jimin, the older twin, nudged Taehyung forward to speak. “Y-Yoongi… I think she’s coming soon,” Taehyung whispered, a tinge of excitement evident in his tone.

“You can’t keep hiding from her forever… She's sure to find out anyway,” Jimin warned, uncharacteristically stern.

Yoongi stretched his tired limbs, his aching back cracking as he pushed himself off his sofa. Time moved weirdly ever since he turned into a vampire. This month had felt like a day, so it was hard to tell how long he'd been sitting so still. His creaking bones gave him an idea though, that's for sure. “I know… how much do I have to bribe you three to scare her away?”

Jungkook giggled, floating over to sit on Yoongi’s shoulder. “Nothing. We do that all the time for free,” he snickered.

Taehyung nodded in agreement. “It’s true… but she never seems to go away even when we do.”

“In fact, I know she thinks we’re cute,” Jimin said, and Yoongi couldn’t help but agree. Your cat and mouse game with the three idiots was probably past the point of annoyance and more towards the territory of playfulness. You likely noticed how they weren’t exactly the malicious ghosts that people feared, so you humored their antics.

(Yoongi hoped that you stuck around for him, too.)

“How much longer ’til she gets here?” Yoongi asked, walking to his bedroom. The air was stale inside the room, not having to use the bed as much as he once did. He opened his closet, trying to find some better-looking clothes than the threadbare robe he had decided to live in. He plucked a nice button-up shirt, before thinking better of it.

Am I really going to look like a stereotypical vampire when I meet her? What’s next, a cape?

“She’s a few blocks away,” Taehyung responded. The ghost paused, looking at the shirt Yoongi had put back. “No, wear that. She likes it when you wear that shirt.”

“She thinks you look regal in it,” Jimin agreed, grabbing his only pair of slacks. “These, too. She likes your butt in them.”

If Yoongi were still human, he’d probably blush. “I told you boys it’s rude to eavesdrop on her thoughts,” he scolded.

“You like the reassurance, though…” Jungkook muttered, but Yoongi ignored him.

“Two minutes away…!” Taehyung reminded him before disappearing. The two others followed suit, likely going to meet you before you arrived. Yoongi sighed, a headache slowly forming by his temple.

As promised, after two minutes, there was a knock from his front door. As Yoongi reluctantly approached and reached for the doorknob, he could hear you arguing playfully with his little friends.

“Taehyung, no pulling! I just got my hair fixed,” you whined. Despite your words, Yoongi could hear the affection in your voice, plain as day.

“You look really pretty today, noona…” Jungkook giggled, and Yoongi could imagine Jungkook placing a chaste kiss on your cheek in greeting. “Are you finally gonna tell hyung about your crush on him?”

“What are you talking about?!” you yelped. Yoongi heard something fall, then a string of curses from you. “Oh gosh, the food! I hope nothing spilled…”

“Don’t worry, noona. I doubt Yoongi hyung is hungry,” Jimin giggled slyly. “Unless you count how he’s hungry for you…”

Before you could reply to Jimin’s out-of-pocket comment, Yoongi swung open the door, an alarmed expression on his face. “H-hey, Y/N,” he began, a little awkwardly. He cleared his throat, trying to appear as if he hadn’t heard anything at all. “What do I owe this pleasure?”

You froze when Yoongi suddenly appeared. You were in the midst of rearranging the plastic bags of take-out food with your jaw agape, likely about to chastise Jimin for his rudeness. You floundered for a second before straightening up quickly. Your cheeks were a cute shade of red.

(Yeah, maybe he was a little hungry…)

“Yoongi! Oh god, sorry, I was just…” you stumbled for a moment, trying to figure out a way to explain yourself. Behind you, the three stooges grinned evilly, full of satisfaction.

“Do you need help?” Yoongi asked instead, bending down to gather your bags. The smell of take-out Chinese wafted into his nose, and he had to hide his growing smile. His favorite food, you had remembered. If he could eat, he’d be salivating.

“Yoongi hyung is salivating for a different reason…” Taehyung muttered, reading his thoughts. Yoongi and your eyes widened in alarm, causing the three kids to guffaw in response.

“Sorry, I was on the phone with somebody and the bags slipped,” you coughed, quickly grabbing the rest of the bags. In your haste, your hands accidentally touched, making you gasp in surprise.

“Gosh, Yoongi! Your hands are terribly cold! Are you alright…?” you asked, trailing off. When you tore your gaze away from his pale hand, you slowly turned to face him fully. Due to the uproar caused by the kids earlier, you hadn't been able to look at Yoongi properly since you arrived.

Yoongi braced himself, a terse smile on his lips.

You observed him silently, a mysterious emotion flitting through your face. Yoongi saw the way your gaze shifted to the injury on his neck, which he had recklessly forgotten to at least try to cover up. The dots were connecting, and Yoongi waited for you to make the first move.

To his surprise, you started by staring inquisitively at the kids. “Did you guys…?” you asked, suspicious. This was the first time you had openly addressed them in front of him, and Yoongi was shocked. Not only for that, but for also potentially thinking that they were to blame, somehow. Didn’t you trust them by now?

Jimin looked affronted, scoffing at your train of thought. “Us? Of course not! Why on earth would we do that to hyung?”

Jungkook huffed, wrapping an arm around your waist with a sad pout. “Yeah! Why would we hurt hyung on purpose? You don’t think we’d do that, right?” he asked, eyes watering with hurt tears.

Immediately, your expression softened. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean…” you trailed off, sighing. As if remembering where you were, you snapped back to reality, staring incredulously at Yoongi as if he’d grown three heads. Well, or turned into a vampire, he supposed.

“Yoongi! What on earth happened?” you asked, terrified for him. Or perhaps, terrified of him? Yoongi knew he should be feeling guilty, or embarrassed, or maybe a little ashamed, but all he could see was your worry for him, and his dead little heart would have skipped a beat if it still could. God, he was pathetic.

Instead of answering you truthfully, Yoongi chose to run away from his problems, like he always did. “It’s just a mosquito bite,” he explained lamely. He rubbed the very conspicuous marks in question, wincing slightly. It might have been a month since he turned, but it still felt as tender as it did the day it happened.

You stared at him, unimpressed. “In the middle of winter? When you rarely step out of your house?” you asked sarcastically. You gave him a steely glare. “Be serious with me for a second, Yoongi.”

But Yoongi couldn’t. He couldn’t tell you, or else he’d literally die a second death, from embarrassment or heartbreak, he couldn’t tell.

“I… I don’t actually know,” Yoongi lied. It was sort of true. He didn’t know that the stupid bet would actually mean he’d give up his soul to pay for an impossible debt. He had been swindled, that was it. He still didn’t understand how he could’ve been so stupid.

“He didn’t know he was stupid… what a joke,” Jimin murmured, causing the others to giggle in turn. You and Yoongi ignored them.

When he didn’t explain further, your shoulders slumped, defeated. You likely didn’t believe him one bit, but you were never the type to push. You were probably as shy as he was, which had caused its fair share of misunderstandings in the past. Most of the time, those misunderstandings helped Yoongi, though he often wished that he didn’t need them. One day, he’d be honest with you, but for now…

“May I come in, Yoongi? There’s something I have to tell you…” you started, eyes shifting behind you. The kids hovered closer, watching you with curiosity.

Yoongi felt the air turn colder, though he wasn’t sure if it was just him, the wind, or the ghosts doing it. Or maybe it was you.

Yoongi opened the door wider, gesturing for you to come in. “Please, make yourself at home…” he whispered before closing the door gently.

Outside, the three boys didn’t make a move to come in.

“Now… we wait,” Jimin whispered. The other two nodded, faces determined. They floated to the second floor of Yoongi’s villa, still keeping their ears to the floor. As much as they wanted to interrupt, they knew this was an important development for the two of you. They wanted to give you a false sense of privacy, but they could never stop themselves from hearing the gossip. God knows that these rascals would be bored without their daily dose of real telenovela romance.

In the living room, Yoongi took a seat as far away from you on the couch as possible. He laced his hands with an iron grip, forcing himself to stop any fidgeting.

Breaking the silence, you sighed tiredly. “So… where do I begin?”

#yoongi scenarios #yoongi imagines #yoongi x reader #bts scenarios #bts imagines #bts x reader #min yoongi #the sleep deprived series #this has been IN MY DRAFTS for months now....#god i am so stuck in my monster phase #i want to write more... MORE...#is this what it feels like to be inspired #idk who i think i am but man... love this guy #kinda obsessed with this au tee bee aych

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timeoutsoup · 1 year

Text

Dig You A Grave part 3

@im-totally-not-an-alien-2 prompt

Danny has no idea how his furry little house guest got to school, or why she was in the cafeteria, but right now he didn’t really care. Only about half of the people in the lunchroom escaped before Lunch Lady sealed the doors, trapping a lot of students and faculty. Danny had nowhere to transform and was running out of time.

While trying to think of a plan he heard the ghostly woman scream with outrage. Peeking out from one of the overturned tables, he can see Teekl sitting off to the side of the room, in one of the hard plastic chairs, just watching everything go down.

Danny’s mind completely changed course when she had threatened to turn his favorite feline into meatloaf.

He saw red.

He broke off a rusted piece of the table. He could tell it was iron from the way it made his skin tingle. Perfect.

Danny also grabbed the thermos from his bag, slinging it over his shoulder by the strap, before dashing for Teekl. across the room. Danny dodged mounds of meat, toppled tables and chairs. He chucked the iron table piece at the demented woman, not stopping to check if it hit, but from the sound of her pained wail, his aim was fine.

Reaching Teekl, he grabbed her and made it to safety behind another table. Checking to make sure she was unharmed, Danny broke off another piece of iron, and looked to where Lunch Lady was. She was in the center of the room whipping her head back and forth, searching for something, hand covering one of her eyes.

Counting his blessings with his throw, the halfa noticed a mound of meat behind her that he could use to his advantage, if his new idea worked. It was risky but she had threatened this precious fluff ball, so it was personal.

Ducking down, using the destruction as coverage, Danny slipped the backside of the large meat mound. He grabbed a tray and used his powers to jump on top of it, standing on the tray. He readied the new piece of iron, chucking it at the Lunch Lady. She screamed again as it hit its mark. Before she could react, Danny uncapped the thermos and sucked her in.

In all the commotion he didn’t hear the cafeteria doors being thrown open, nor did he notice the guy, who tried to ask out a few days ago enter.

Capping the thermos, Danny cleared his throat. “I have only had Teekl for a day and a half, but if anything happened to her, I thermos everyone in this room, and then myself.”

The lunchroom was silent, everyone just staring at Danny trying to figure out what just happened. It was Dash of all people who broke the silence. “Yeah, okay. Won’t touch the cat. Got it.”

Danny hadn’t noticed Dash and Kwan were behind the second table he used as cover, too busy checking on Teekl. They had watched him break off a piece of metal, with almost no effort, and then proceeded to take down a ghost, all because she had threatened the cat currently purring in the nerd’s arms. Dash and Kwan were not the smartest in the school, but they knew when to leave well enough alone. Also, if anyone could figure out how to stuff a human into a thermos, it would be a Fenton.

Danny descended the mound of meat, keeping Teekl safe in his arms. He quickly put the thermos in his bag, grabbing the rest of his belongings, and made a beeline for the exit. He needed to get Teekl back to his house and send Lunch Lady back to the ghost zone.

In his haste he still didn’t notice the stunned witch boy as he passed.

_________________________

Klarion was rarely left speechless, but the scene unfolding before did. His thoughts were racing as the young man holding Teekl raced past him. It was then that the Lord of Chaos, noticed the death magic, power and something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, emanated from the interesting being that just passed him, holding tight to his familiar… TEEKL!

Spinning on his heel, Klarion raced after the boy, down the abandoned halls of the school. He finally caught up with them just past the steps.

“Wait! You have something of mine!” Klarion states as he grabs Danny’s shoulder.

Danny stops in his tracks and turns to look at whomever had just grabbed him.

“Um, hi? I’m sorry I don’t know what you mean.” Danny says as he takes in the state of the other guy. He looked tired and stress out.

Klarion raised an eyebrow before letting go of his shoulder and pointing to Teekl.

Danny looked down and realized that the devil horned guy in front of him was referring to the cat in his arms. Embarrassment flushed his face as he put two and two together.

“Oh. You must be Teekl’s person.” Danny murmured and Klarion just nodded. Then dread flooded the halfa. “I promise I didn’t put her in any danger. I don’t even know how she got to my school. I left her curled up on my bed this morning. Then all of a sudden, she is sitting on a chair in the cafeteria, being threatened to be turned into meatloaf by a ghost.”

Klarion snickered at the flustered explanation he was being given but took pity on the guy. “Don’t worry … I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name.”

“Oh, it’s Danny.”

“Lovely to finally have a name with your face. I am Klarion and as I was saying, don’t worry Danny, Teekl is a very smart, very talented cat and she loves to cause mischief. I would like to know how she came to be in you possession though.” The witch boy inquired as he opened his arms and his familiar jumped into them.

Danny looked down at his now empty arms and began to feel a sense of loss. Shaking his head to clear the emotions that were building. He could deal with them later, now wasn’t the best time. Taking a deep breath, he began to explain.

“Well after that speedster left me on the opposite side of town, I made my way back, but everything was over by the time I arrived. Loved the damage you did. Top tier destruction. It’s going to take forever to fix everything and cost a pretty penny. But back to your question. I found Teekl injured in an alleyway nearby, she let me pick her up, so I scooped her up and took her to the nearest vet. They patched her up, and said it was mostly just bumps and bruises, but they kept her overnight for observation. The next day I called to check on her, and no one had claimed her, so they asked me to be a foster. Oh, don’t worry about the bill, my friend Sam took care of it.”

“I wasn’t but thank you. Please continue”

“Okay. So where was I, oh yeah…. So, me and my friends went to the pet store and bought stuff so I could look after her. Then I went to pick her up, and I took her home with me. Teekl just hung out with me most of the weekend, and then today I got up, went to school and you’re caught up now.” Danny finished awkwardly, not knowing how to continue the conversation.

Klarion looked down at Teekl and smiled softly. He understood why she stayed. This Danny was funny and chaotic, but most importantly, he was kind to an injured animal he had no responsibility too. He then thought of the light who hadn’t cared that Teekl was missing, and instead tried to give him another mission.

When the young Chaos Lord first started with them, it had been fun and exciting, but now it was more of a chore dealing with them. They weren’t even chaotic. They wanted order…Ew. Klarion had been considering leaving for a while and now he has found an interesting town, with an even more interesting boy, who likes his cat. He could always use more friends, especially since Tim was so busy being a hero. Maybe if he hangs out here for a bit he and Danny could become friends.

“I must thank you properly for saving my beloved familiar. Teekl means the world to me.”

“Oh, no need to do that. She was a delight to look after.”

“No, I must insist, besides she usually hates everyone who isn’t me. I trust her judgment, if she likes you then I might like you, and I could do with a few more friends. Come, let’s get some food, since yours was ruined.” Klarion said as he turned and began to walk away, this time leaving Danny stunned. He stopped and gestured for the other to follow.

Danny jogged to catch up to them. “Um, Klarion, what did you have in mind for food?”

“I will know it when I see it.”

“You have no idea where you are going, do you?” Danny sighed.

“Not a clue but it is more fun this way. Who wants to do the same thing every day. Rules, schedules, order are all so boring. Let’s try something new.”

Danny shrugged. It seemed logical to him. He continued to follow the shorter teen through the streets of Amity.

Tag list

@naluforever3 @seraphichana @starmee-lodurrson @rhode13 @fisticuffsatapplebees @kyrianclawraith @lehana37 @akikoyuii @undead-essence @crystaldrops20 @quirky-gardener @learning-to-fly-on-my-own @kaindraws @luffyrose @beelze-the-bubkiss @aro-in-danyl @agaponislovely @enderglace @plant5318008 @jotaroslooseeyebrowhair @moonlightheart11 @dontfightmecauseillcry

#danny phantom #dp x dc #dc x dp #danny fenton #dp x dc prompt #dpxdc #klarion #klarion dc #chaoticspirit #danny and klarion friendship #danny phantom au #dc comics #dp x dc crossover #teekl #Dig You A Grave

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merriclo · 10 months

Note

I want to know your LU headcanons!

ohHO i will absolutely tell you tysm for asking!! i’ve been wanting to talk abt them for ages but just never got around to it ig ahjdkcka

Time’s actually like 32 and is just really committed to the bit of being ancient

Sky is horrific at making new friends. he grew up with the same small group of people, so he never learned how to make friends with complete strangers because there simply wasn’t the need to. so, when he first starts traveling with the chain, he makes little wooden charms for them because he isn’t entirely sure how else to get close with them. Zelda always enjoyed his woodcarvings, so maybe they will too??

as a result, the entire chain has little trinkets made by Sky. on Legend’s bag there’s charms hanging off the straps, and Twilight wears his as necklaces (both because it looks cool as fuck and it helps the shadow crystal stand out less). yes Wind has specifically commissioned him to make something for Aryll

yeah yeah bunny Legend but consider: the mermaid suit (which I like to think is more of a curse bc get fished pink man <3) giving him some marine animal qualities as well. no matter what tho that bitch is an Ariel kinnie, they’re collecting all the shiny shit they can find

Sky is obsessed with doing puzzles the Right and Proper way, meanwhile Wild cheeses absolutely everything he can

Wind believes in all of those classic pirate superstitions

the witches in Legend’s era adore him. Grandma Syrup dotes on him, Maple is like a teasing older sister, and Irene is like a teasing younger sister. this is where he learned most of his magic skills from, and he takes all potentially enchanted or cursed items to them to check out. he’ll never admit it, but Legend finds lots of comfort in all of them, as they’re one of the few people who’ve stayed in his life this long.

Wild’s a pretty good medic!! during his adventure, he very quickly realized how dangerous infection is, so they learned about a lot of home remedies and medicinal herbs, as well as how to tend to a wound from other travelers at stables and inns. he didn’t really get a choice in learning, considering how he probably got stung or bit by painful insects or accidentally brushed up against painful plants a lot during the early days of their adventure, and thus showed up to stables covered in rashes and hives and such, causing every decent person in the area to flock to them and try to help. their Hyrule is very sweet, okay?

they’re not the only one who’s well acquainted with medicinal herbs, though! while I think all of them would have a basic understanding, Time, Hyrule, Warriors, and Wind would know a lot. dw i’m elaborating

Time quite literally grew up in the forest, was raised by a tree, and had actual forest spirits for siblings—he knows his plants. he and Saria would peel willow bark and collect dandelions together

I like to think that Hyrule being half-fae makes him very sensitive to all magic-based auras, including that of plants, so they’re very good at picking out the healing herbs, even if they’re not quite sure what they’re called

listen ok hear me out about Warriors. young Time was appalled that he knew jackshit about nature and forcefully taught him. also, before modern medicine, medicinal plants were used all the fucking time on the battle field. yarrow, an herb that stops bleeding and prevents infection, is called soldiers’ woundwort because of this. i mention this because he was probably concerned about the health and safety of his troops, so he learned what the medics were doing and using.

Wind grew up on a small, tight-knit island, realistically they would’ve had to have learned how to use the things around them to their fullest advantage. that being said, his knowledge is sort of useless outside of his own era, aside from what he was taught in the war. ok i’m done talking about medicinal herbs now i promise sorry it’s a hobby of mine ahhsjdka

Legend’s terrified of dogs. in Link’s Awakening, the dogs are literally balls on chains with huge mouths full of sharp teeth (basically just Chain Chomps). if you want to get angsty with it: it comes from guard dogs being sent after him on his first adventure. he became a lot less scared to more he spent time with BowBow (the ball and chain dog) but, when he woke up, he got the belief that he could only be safe around a dog in his dreams. he’s pretty damn uncomfortable around Wolfie at first, but after lots of time and learning to trust Twilight, he’s able to slowly overcome his fear. sort of. mostly just with Wolfie. he still hates staying at stables in Wild’s Hyrule.

if Wild doesn’t want to explain/source something he’ll just say it came to him via divine intervention. Sky believes it every single time

I was thinking about Legend’s story a while ago and realized it was kind of similar to Joan of Arc’s so take that as you will. idk if this even counts as a headcanon but i’m putting it here

Warriors and Twilight are really close friends because they both understand the struggles of wrangling dirt worshipping nature freaks. anytime Twilight (lovingly) complains about Wild, Wars will counter with whatever asinine feral child antics young Time got up to and suddenly Twi will feel very blessed and lucky

whenever Four sees someone with their hair in a high ponytail he subconsciously thinks they’re very smart and respectable because Dot always wears her hair in a high ponytail

Hyrule is completely fine with not sleeping on a bedroll. they like the dirt, actually. let them sleep in the dirt.

Legend uses apples in his red potions, both to increase their potency and to make them taste better. he also learned how to enchant apples to be healing on their own so sometimes when someone’s hurt he’ll just shove an apple in their face

uhh so ik this is a lot but this isn’t even close to of all my headcanons so yeah there’s that lmao

#i saved y’all from my angstier headcanons btw. and also my magic system headcanons. be grateful /lh #i also restricted myself from telling y’all the queer headcanons bc there’s so many ppl posting theirs rn that i don’t rlly feel the need to #i have so many thoughts abt these guys it’s almost humiliating #linked universe #lu #linkeduniverse #lu headcanons #linked universe headcanons #sorry for any typos or if things are worded weirdly i ran out of my adhd meds and also lost my glasses so #i’m trying my best ok #ALSO AGAIN TY STORMY FOR ASKING <333 #i do rlly appreciate it tyyy <3

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yeonzzzn · 5 months

Text

🎨even closer: kim sunoo

a vampires bleeding series: five / seven

pairing: sunoo x afab!reader word count: 5.5k

synopsis: in hopes of the boys figuring out why dorian needed the witch and dhampir, the seven vampires and two humans travel into another large city, going on about their daily lives until you come along, offering them a chance at finding their lost mates.

genre: strangers to lovers, vampire!sunoo, elf!reader, nurse!reader fluff.

warnings: mentions of blood, swearing, cute sassy sunshine ♡

Niki drops his school backpack onto the floor as he stands in the doorway of the house, the face of disbelief towards his six hyungs.

“We are moving again?”

Sunoo thins his lips into a line, crossing his arms and taking a step back away from his hyungs in case Niki decides to start throwing things. The maknae looked PISSED.

Heeseung sighed, “Unfortunately…yes.”

Archer slaps his hands on the table, “And what if Dorian comes back and my sister is with him?!”

Jake tucked his lips between his teeth, looking away from his mate's brother, his eyes getting glossy.

Sunghoon chips in, “What if he has __ with him too! This land has all her coven's secrets, if he comes back with the girls we NEED to be here!”

Archer agreed with Sunghoon, “And Jake, how can you agree to this when he took YOUR MATE!! my TWIN SISTER!!”

Jake shook his head, “I don’t agree with this! I want to be here just as much as you two!” He snapped.

The three of them started bickering, causing Jay to tense his jaw and start yelling, “HEY HEY HEY! That’s enough!!”

The room fell silent. Everyone’s eyes are on Jay.

“We are leaving because it’s no longer safe here!” Jay snapped, “Dorian is clearly planning something, and if there’s something with __’s coven here, he’s going to exploit that.”

Sunghoon balled his hands into fists at his side, locking his jaw into place.

Jay continued, “We have to protect who we can, and we have to be smart ab-“

Sunghoon interrupted, “About what we have to protect?! What about what I have to protect!!”

Jungwon stepped in, “Listen we all have-“

“No!” Sunghoon yelled, pointing two fingers at Jay and Jungwon, “You two have your mates! Neither of you has to deal with that painful tug of them not being at your side like Jake and myself! Try to imagine how it must feel if Dorian took __ and __ !!!”

“Sunghoon that’s enough!” Heeseung snapped, “We are a fucking family for crying out loud. We feel __ and __ missing presences too. We are trying here, Sunghoon, but we need to get information, and sitting here waiting for Dorian isn’t the right move!”

Jake places a hand on his best friend’s shoulder. Sunghoon’s legs gave out on him, falling to the floor, “I’m sorry…”

The room once again fell silent. Jay knelt down beside Sunghoon, pulling him into a hug as Sunghoon cried out for his lost love.

Sunoo looked away, seeing his brothers hurt wasn’t easy.

“We leave tomorrow,” Jungwon softly spoke, “Archer will be our eyes and ears if anything happens here.”

“Where are we going?” Niki asked.

“Into another city,” Heeseung said, “We are going to split back up into living in different apartments, to keep our safety. We also bought a loft at another apartment complex that we will go to if needed for our safety as well.”

Jungwon continued after Heeseung, “We won't discuss where the apartments are here, we believe there might be someone following us, so from now on we won’t discuss anything more until we get into the city, understood?”

Everyone nodded.

“Good,” Jungwon nodded too, “Everyone get some sleep, we leave early.”

Niki raised his hand, “Please tell me I don’t have to attend another school.”

“You start the day after we get into the city.” Jay said, “Go to bed.”

—

Sunoo walked down the hospital halls, eyes roaming until he found the correct room.

Without knocking, Sunoo slipped inside the room, “Hyung! I have your food!~” he sang as he set the plastic bag on the desk.

Jay looked up at him, eyebrow raised.

Sunoo continued giving off his big sunshine smile, as Jay slowly opened the bag, “What are you doing here?”

Sunoo pouted, “Can I not bring my older brother food?”

Jay pulled out the bags of blood, glaring at Sunoo, “You carried these with you?! Just out in the open!?”

Sunoo rolled his eyes and leaned over, connecting his elbows to the desk and face in his hands.

“No, I snuck into the closet supply where you keep them and slipped them into a convenience store bag.”

Jay sighed, slumping down into his chair, “Did you really?”

Sunoo smiled, “No, I brought them from home.”

All Jay could do was roll his eyes, sliding the bag into his desk drawer.

“Why are you actually here?”

“Was curious how this new hospital was treating you and Heeseung.”

“It’s fine, we’ve both been very busy.”

Suno scoffed, “Yeah, I know. Family dinners haven’t been the same since leaving that farmhouse.”

Jay groaned, dropping his head into his hands, “It’s been almost two weeks and I feel like I haven’t properly slept.”

Sunoo’s eyes soften, he knows Jay and Heeseung have been working their asses off since coming into this city. All seven of them haven’t fully been together in two weeks. There was always someone missing.

“Hyung, maybe you need to request some time off and spend some time with the pack. Relax with __ a bit more.”

Jay shook his head, sitting up straight and scrolling through files on his computer, “I can’t rest until we’ve caught Dorian, get the girls back, and put an end to all this.”

All Sunoo could do was nod, he knew Jay wasn’t going to relax one bit.

“Where is __ at anyways?” Sunoo asked, seeing it weird that Jay’s mate wasn’t at his side.

“At our apartment,” Jay sighed, “Jungwon and __ are spending the day with her since she can’t be here at the hospital every day.”

Sunoo nodded, the staff would definitely find it weird if she followed Jay around everywhere he went. Plus Jay is a doctor, she can’t be around his patients either.

“How is Niki doing?” Jay asked in between writing something on his notepad and looking back at the files.

“School wise?” Sunoo shrugged, “He’s hating it.”

“Well, that’s to be expected. Little bro has graduated high school more times than the rest of us.”

Sunoo nodded, “For sure. But he joined the soccer team, so he’s been keeping busy for the most part. His grades are high as well, no need to worry.”

“Good, good.” Jay wrote something down.

“Can you not be a doctor for twenty minutes while I am here?”

Jay glared at him, “I still have to fulfill my working duties. We still need money after all.”

Sunoo rolled his eyes, knowing the older was obviously right, but choosing to be sassy anyway.

“What about Sunghoon and Jake?” Jay asked, “How are they… coping?”

Sunoo released a sigh, “Just as good as anyone would think. They don’t leave their apartment often. It’s mostly Niki and myself going to theirs and making sure they are drinking properly.”

Jay slowly nodded. There wasn’t much to say about Sunghoon and Jake. Their mates were taken from them and are completely powerless on the whole matter. Nothing can be done until a way is found to stop Dorian.

Sunoo felt sorry for his hyungs, watching them slowly tear themselves apart was destroying him too. Sunoo obviously felt that the presence of their mates missing, they were all in a pack after all, and everyone was connected. But Sunoo could only imagine how terribly more it was affecting them than the others.

“How much longer are you going to be here? I have a surgery scheduled in thirty minutes.”

Sunoo smiled brightly, “Until you leave for the surgery.

—

You quickly waved your hands over your ears, watching as they went from a point to being round like a normal human's ears.

You took a deep breath in, holding it for a few seconds before slowly releasing it.

You were nervous. It was your first official day as a nurse.

It wasn’t the fact that you were now fully a certified nurse that had your nerves in a bunch. You are a magical elf who is still trying to learn to control your powers.

You splashed water on your face and took another deep breath in.

You decided becoming a nurse would be a better fit for you than anything else. You could help put your powers to good use, just…can’t get caught. You found medicine very interesting anyway, and want to help people. This way is the best option to go with.

You double-checked both ears once more in the mirror before walking out of the bathroom, completely running into someone the minute you opened the door.

“Oh, I am so sorry!” You quickly said, realizing who was in front of you. More embarrassment washing over you, “Oh my god, I am so sorry Dr. Lee!”

Heeseung smiled sweetly, rubbing his arm where the door hit him.

“Don’t worry about it! It didn’t hurt at all! And please, just call me Heeseung.”

You slowly nodded, feeling your face heat up.

“You’re the nurse on duty for myself and Dr. Park today, correct?”

You nodded again, “It’s my first day out of just clinical so I am a bit nervous.”

Heeseung gave you a soft smile, “Well, from the two weeks I’ve known you, you are doing great!”

You felt your face flush once more and your heart raced. Why was he so handsome?

“I am actually heading over to Dr. Park’s office right now, care to follow?”

You nodded once again, following behind him.

You asked him how well he was adjusting to the hospital, mostly since he’s still a fairly new doctor here.

Which is why you think you connected so quickly with him. You both were new (well, he wasn’t new to being a doctor but new to the area) and still trying to find your footing here.

Heeseung opened the door to Dr. Park’s office and let you walk in first.

To your surprise, there was someone else here too.

He sat on the corner of the desk, slightly kicking his legs back and forth.

He was smiling so brightly at Dr. Park, that his smile could be confused with the sun.

He slowly turned his head and looked at you.

The moment you both locked eyes, something in your heart pulled.

Sunoo felt it too. The moment he locked eyes with you, his heart felt like it was going to cut his chest from the inside out and jump into your arms.

“Oh, Sunoo! What are you doing here?” Heeseung asked, smiling at him. Walking closer, “Where is Niki?” Heeseung wrapped an arm around Sunoo’s neck, earning another bright smile to fall onto his lips.

“School, he has soccer practice.” Sunoo continued swinging his feet, causing Jay to snap.

“Hey hey! Get off my desk!”

You chuckled softly, earning a gaze from all three men.

“I am so sorry for laughing…” You quickly apologize, “I just never saw Dr. Park snap like that before.”

“Yeah, Dr. Park,” Sunoo teased, “Why are you snapping at me like that?”

Jay tensed his jaw, “Please get off my desk before I beat your ass.” He said through his teeth.

Sunoo gave a wink and hopped off the desk.

“Also, Y/N,” Jay said, looking at you, “Please just call me Jay. No need for formalities.”

You nodded, kinda happy to be on that close of a level with them to go by first names.

The three boys continued talking. You studied the three of them, listening as Jay complains about the one named Niki playing soccer and how Heeseung said he approved of it.

The one named Sunoo you assumed was also one of their siblings.

You’ve heard Heeseung talk about how Jay is his brother and there are five others. And from the way they are all speaking to each other, Sunoo has to be one of the five.

Your eyes kept landing back on Sunoo, your heart doing multiple flips every time he caught you looking at him.

Sunoo could practically hear how fast your heart was racing. It was taking everything in him to not completely crumble down at your feet.

Sunoo couldn’t help but admire how beautiful you are. How cute your shy mannerisms were to him. How you would blush when he looked your way. It was way too adorable and he couldn’t handle it.

But he also noticed something was…off. There was an aura that radiated off you. He just couldn’t put his finger on what it could be.

“Okay. Sunoo,” Jay said checking his watch, “We have that surgery now. Go home.”

Sunoo pouted but nodded, “Fineeeeee.”

You stood off to the side, letting Heeseung and Jay walk out first, and then Sunoo.

But to your surprise he stopped in front of you, leaning slightly down to be at eye level with you.

Your face blushed at how close he was. You took a small step back, “what?” you asked, letting out a soft nervous giggle, “Is there something on my face? In my hair?”

You used the chance to cup your hands over your ears, making sure they weren’t in a point and sticking out between the strands of your hair.

Sunoo smiled at you, “Just admiring how cute you are.”

Sunoo skipped away after saying that, leaving you as an actual puddle on the floor.

“Oh, and it was Y/N, right?” He asked, turning around to face you again.

You nodded, “And it was Sunoo, right?” you asked, copying his words.

He nodded, “Mhmm. I’ll see you around, Y/N.”

It’s been four days since you’ve last seen him.

You found yourself always stopping by Jay’s and Heeseung’s office, peeking in to see if the ball of sunshine was there.

You always sighed at the sight of him not being there, your heart feeling a sadness you can’t describe.

Two more days passed before you finally saw him again.

You sat in Heeseung’s office, looking over the X-rays from a patient who had broken their leg.

Heeseung pointed out the area around the break with his pen, talking about the best course of action to help heal the bones.

With your powers, you could heal this patient easily, but you knew you couldn’t. If anyone found out what you were…

The sound of the door opening jumped you out of your thoughts, seeing Sunoo skipping inside the room.

You felt your heart jump for joy at seeing his bright smile. The pull feeling becomes stronger.

“Heeseung Hyung~” Sunoo sang, “And hello miss Y/N.”

You smiled softly, giving him a shy wave.

You saw a face peek from behind Sunoo, his blond hair slightly covering his eyes as he looked around the room with his hands in his hoodie pocket.

“Sunoo, and Niki,” Heeseung welcomed them, “What brings you two here?”

“He picked me up from soccer practice and drugged me here,” Niki mumbled, “I am ready to go home.”

Sunoo rolled his eyes, “It was an important stop.”

Niki crossed his arms, “Was it?”

Heeseung sighed, “Please don’t argue in my office, go bother Jay if that’s what you came to do.”

Sunoo’s eyes perked up, “I am actually here for Y/N.”

You looked up at him in surprise, “M-me?”

Sunoo nodded, getting back into your personal space, his face inches away from yours, “How would you like to go on a date with me tonight?”

—

Sunoo fluffed his hair in the mirror, making sure it looked perfect. Double checking all the piercings in his ears were all in place and rebrushed his teeth.

Niki button smashed the Nintendo Switch controller in his hands at the video game he was playing, slightly turning around behind him for a second, seeing Sunoo freshening himself up.

“Hyung,” Niki called out, turning his attention back to the television, “You're really serious about going on this date aren’t you?”

Sunoo grabbed his bag and pulled it onto his shoulder, “Yes, what’s wrong with me going on a date?”

Niki chuckled, “Nothing. It’s cute.”

Sunoo nodded, “Obviously.”

Niki paused the game, shifting himself on the couch to face Sunoo, “But I do think you’re going for another reason.”

Sunoo raised a brow, grabbing a blood bag and quickly sipping it down, “And that is?”

Niki smiled softly, “To figure out what she is.”

Sunoo smirked at the younger, “Funny you think I don’t already know.”

—

You looked down at your phone, checking to make sure the directions Sunoo texted you were correct, and sure enough they were.

The directions led you to a park. You walk past this park multiple times a day going to and from the hospital and your apartment but never once did you stop to actually come here.

It was beautiful. Filled with gorgeous trees and families walking with their children and dogs.

You searched for Sunoo until you found him sitting on a bench.

He had a drawing book in his hands, the pencil moving across the page.

You smiled, curious to see what he was drawing.

You slowly walked up behind him, peeking over his shoulder to see what he was drawing.

He was drawing the pond that sat a few yards in front of you both. Adding in the trees surrounding the area, and the family that was having a picnic beside the pond.

It was a beautiful drawing.

“I know you’re there, Y/N.”

Your heart stopped as you slightly jumped hearing his voice.

Sunoo hung his head back, giving you a smile, “Ready for our date?”

You nodded, watching as he stood up and slipped the pencil and drawing book into his bag.

“Let’s go~”

Sunoo reached his hand out to you, slowly placing your hand in his and following behind him.

Sunoo and you walked around the park. Talking about how both your days have been. How working at the hospital was.

You discovered Sunoo draws in his free time and sells them which helps pay for the apartment he shares with Niki.

You watched as Sunoo talked about his family, how happy and brightly he smiled as he spoke. Sunoo from what you could tell was the sassy one in the family, but he dearly loves them with his whole heart.

And that’s something that made you feel even more attracted to him.

Sunoo might have looked calm on the outside, but on the inside, he felt his heart was going to burst. Your hand fit so perfectly with his and all he wanted to do was skip and swing your arms back and forth together.

He might have multiple reasons to bring you here today, but he genuinely wanted to spend time with you. Sunoo tried so hard to mask how much he has thought about you since the meeting. Niki even noticed how hard he was trying to look presentable earlier.

Sunoo didn’t quite understand this feeling he was feeling yet. All he knew was it was fate to have met you.

“You must be really close with all your brothers.” You said, smiling wide at him, “It’s really cute.”

Sunoo chuckled, “Well, we aren’t actually brothers.” Sunoo released his hand from yours to skip in front of you, walking backward as you both talked.

“I kinda figured,” you shoved your hands into the pockets of your jacket, the cool breeze making them cold, “You all have different last names after all.”

Sunoo smiles, “Nonetheless, they are still my family. And I wouldn’t trade them for anything.”

Your pulled tugged even tighter to him, and you swore you saw it on his face that he felt that same tug.

Sunoo took a deep breath and then turned around, his back now facing you.

The sun finally set, leaving the park dark except for the few street lamps.

Sunoo stopped walking, “It’s sure dark out here.”

You nodded, glancing around the park, “You would think they’d add more lampposts out here.”

“Why don’t you set a light for us, hmm?”

Your heart stopped as you stood frozen. You were scared to look at him, scared to even move. Did you hear him correctly? Did he figure you out? If so then how?

You slowly turned your head, seeing Sunoo was still facing away from you.

“You don’t have to be afraid, Y/N.” Sunoo turned to you, “Just a small light will be fine.”

You stared at his cocoa eyes, trying to read them and what he could possibly be thinking.

Lifting your hand, you snap your fingers, and a small orb of light appears at your fingertips, illuminating the area around you both.

Sunoo smiled, “That’s my girl. You don’t have to hide your ears either, I bet they look adorable.”

“How did you figure it out?” you softly whispered, removing the illusion at your ears, then slowly growing to their normal point.

“It wasn’t hard to figure out that you were an elf, Y/N. You have that aura. I could sense it the moment we met.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, the only way he could have sensed what you were was if he too was an elf or…something else.

“What are you?” you asked, your eyes not breaking contact with him.

Sunoo closed his eyes and chuckled, slowly opening his eyes.

You stare at the glowing crimson, and at the sharp point of his fangs as he smiles, his tongue slowly licking his top lip.

“Vampire…” you whispered, walking closer to him.

Sunoo looked down at you, “You aren’t afraid?” he teased, his fangs slowly retracting and eyes going back to the beautiful cocoa you loved.

You shook your head, “No I’m not afraid.”

With your free hand you touched his face, tracing your fingers over his jawline.

Sunoo leaned his face into your hand, planting a soft kiss on your palm, “Good, I don’t know what I would have done if you were afraid of me.”

Sunoo being a vampire made all too well sense.

“It kinda makes sense,” you giggled, “You’re in a pack. Heeseung and Jay have more knowledge about being doctors than everyone else in that hospital. The reason why Jay fussed about the youngest being in soccer.”

Sunoo nodded, “We are a little crazy family.”

Your heart pulled towards him more, feeling as if a string was being wrapped around the two of you.

Your knowledge of vampires wasn't the greatest, but you knew enough to get by. Elves and vampires weren’t exactly enemies, but they weren’t exactly friends either. You grew up with your family teaching you about all the different creatures in the world. You were fascinated by them all and how different each and everyone was, mostly how vampires and werewolves are pack hunters and they find their mates.

And now that you have a vampire standing in front of you, looking at you like you’ve put the stars in the sky yourself.

You can’t help but wonder if this pull was that mate feeling that they have.

“Does anyone in your pack have mates?” you felt bold asking that question, mostly wondering if Sunoo already had one. You didn’t know how you’d handle the news if he did.

Sunoo sighed, taking your hand into his, he intertwined your fingers with him, taking a deep breath in.

“Yeah, four of them do.” You could see the sadness on his face, “Jungwon, Jay, Sunghoon, and Jake do.”

You couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved, but still sad at how he felt.

“Why do you say that with such sadness? I am an elf you know, I can sense feelings.”

Sunoo giggled at your words, making eye contact with you again, “Two of the mates are missing.”

You found a park bench to sit down on, listening as Sunoo told you the events that led him and his pack to this city. Your heart broke more and more as you listened.

The events that have happened to Sunoo and his pack weren’t fair. They wanted to live normal lives, just as the rest of us mythical creatures. But they’ve had it so hard. and it broke your heart.

It broke your heart even more seeing how Sunoo was also struggling with the loss of his brother's mates. They are all connected as one big pack, you can only imagine the pain Sunghoon and Jake felt.

You reached for his hands, running your thumbs over the tops.

“I am so sorry for what Dorian has done to you and your family.”

Sunoo squeezed your fingers, “It’s no one’s fault, shit happens. We came to this city to find more information and to hide so we could protect the pack, but I can’t help but feel so powerless. All I do is make art and sell it to help keep a somewhat normal life for my family. Sunghoon and Jake are sinking without __ and __. I don’t want my family to hurt anymore.”

You tuck your lips between your teeth, debating if you should say the next words or not. But when Sunoo looked up at you with glossy eyes, the words slipped from your lips.

“I can attempt to use tracking magic to help you find their mates and make your family whole again.”

—

Sunoo led you to his car, opened the door for you, and waited until you got in to close it and use his vampire speed to get in on the other side.

Sunoo dialed Heeseung’s number quickly, putting the phone to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Hyung,” Sunoo quickly said, his voice shaking.

“Sunoo?? What’s wrong?”

“I need you to gather everyone, I have Y/N with me so I won’t arrive as quickly, but gather everyone at the loft. This is important.”

Heeseung agreed and the line went dead.

Sunoo dropped his phone into the cup holder, his other hand gripping the steering wheel as he drove quickly to the apartment loft.

You grabbed his free hand, giving it a soft squeeze, using your calming magic to relax him.

Sunoo slouched in the driver's seat, releasing a sigh, “I am so happy you’re here with me right now, and not just because you helped relax me as if I just smoked and got high.”

You laughed at his sassy nature, “It’s the least I could do to help this situation.”

“Can you really use some kind of tracking magic to get our members back?” He softly asked.

You nodded, “I am still learning to keep my powers under control, back at home we didn’t have to control our powers, but now that elves have migrated into the public eye to live normal lives, keeping my powers controlled is still a learning process.”

Sunoo kissed the back of your hand, “I have full faith in you.”

—

You pulled up at the apartment complex, Sunoo helping you out of the car and inside, taking an elevator to the top floor.

Sunoo took your hand in his as you walked to the door of his pack’s loft.

“Don’t be too intimidated by them, Sunghoon will probably have some words, the other might tease, but just be sassy to them like I am and you’ll be fine.”

You giggled at him and how brave he was being with all the chaos surrounding him.

Sunoo reached for the door handle and turned it, the door slowly opening.

You walked in behind him, your hand tightly attached to his still.

Eight pairs of eyes stared at you the moment you walked in.

You looked at each of them, feeling their emotions flooding into you.

Jungwon and Jay held their mates in their arms, while the others sat separately around the room. Jake and Sunghoon stood at the windows, leaning against them.

Sunghoon looked out the window, but quickly back at you.

“No! Absolutely not!” Sunghoon snapped.

Sunoo groaned, “I knew you were going to say some shit.”

“We aren’t fucking around with elves!” Sunghoon stood from the window.

“Why?” You stepped in front of Sunoo, him trying to pull you back behind him, “Because we were naturally born immortal, whereas you had to be bitten on your neck to keep yourself from dying to achieve immortality?” you sassed, not letting Sunghoon’s attitude get to you, “Plus I heard you mated with a witch, why can’t another magic goer join this circus of chaos?”

Oh, Sunoo was so in love with you right now. It took everything in him to not fall to the floor and worship the ground you walked on along with laughing his lungs out at you teasing Sunghoon.

Sunghoon’s face blushed a bright red, causing the other males to laugh.

“Damn,” Niki said, “She got you GOOD.”

“Okay, settle down now,” Jungwon said, looking between everyone. You could tell Jungwon was the leader of this pack the minute you walked in, “Sunoo, tell us why we needed to meet.”

Sunoo pulled you close to him, “Y/N can use tracking magic.”

Jay’s eyes widened, “She’s going to help us find __ and __.”

Jake quickly rushed to you, taking your hand in his, “Can you really do it? Help us find where my mate is?”

Sunoo slapped Jake’s hands off yours, giving him a glare.

You nodded, looking between both Jake and Sunghoon, “I will need something of theirs that you too have, and I can trace where they are. But I’ll also need a map.”

“It will also give us a location where Dorian is.” Heeseung spoke up, “Thank you, Y/N, for doing this for us.”

You nodded. You looked back around at the vampires and two humans in front of you. Each of them felt the pain of their pack. You felt it and could see it in their eyes.

Jay pulled a map out, setting it on the kitchen table.

Jake paced around the kitchen on the phone, before hanging up his call, “Archer is on the way here.”

Jake handed you a piece of clothing from his mate, while Sunghoon handed you a bracelet from his mate.

The moment the items were in your hands, you could feel the love and pain that ran through them. The dhampir struggles by losing her first mate but then meets her true mate, just to be taken from him. The witch's bracelet is filled with the sorrow of her coven being killed and being the only lone survivor, but finding a new family with Sunghoon. The love the four of them shared was beautiful, and it brought tears to your eyes.

“Okay twinkle toes,” Sunghoon scoffed, “Do your thing.”

You focused on the items in your hands, pulling all the energy into them, searching for their scent.

Your eyes closed as you pictured where they were, your finger immediately touched the map on the table, pinpointing where they were.

The images of the surrounding area filled your mind.

You opened your eyes, noticing everyone staring at the area on the map where your finger pointed.

“You did it…” Sunoo said.

Heeseung quickly circled the area with a Sharpie.

You dropped the items onto the table, taking a deep breath in and out.

Sunoo grabbed your hand, pulling you towards him.

He wrapped his arms tightly around you, “You did it. We can find the girls and Dorian.”

You shook your head, “All I did was give a general area.”

Sunoo placed his hands on the sides of your face, “We are even closer, and it’s all because of you.”

You smiled at him, “I really did it.”

Sunoo kissed your lips, his strawberry chapstick filled your senses. You leaned more into him, breathing him completely in.

Sunoo couldn’t fight the string of fate much longer. He’s known since you two met that there was something pulling the two of you together, and it was fate.

You felt Sunoo’s emotions, feeling him give into the string. You sensed the string floating around you both, waiting for you to accept your fate.

An elf and vampire together? You loved the idea of it.

You gave into the string of fate, accepting every ounce of love Sunoo had to offer.

The others felt it too, the bond that you now share with each of them.

“Oh great, just what we need,” Sunghoon rolled his eyes, “Another magic user.”

You pulled away from Sunoo’s lips, sticking your tongue out at Sunghoon, “We are a family now, get over it.”

Sunghoon half smiled, giving a small nod, “I’ll accept it only because you found where my witch is.”

—

“You sure you can’t stay the night?” Sunoo pouted as he stood in front of your apartment door, refusing to let you inside.

You giggled at your soulmate, “Yes! I have a twelve-hour shift to do tomorrow, and if I stay with you I won’t get any sleep.”

Sunoo pouted even more, “Fine, but I am going to bring you lunch!”

You kissed his cheek, “I would love it if you brought me lunch.”

Sunoo moved from the door, letting you unlock the door and walk inside.

Before you could close the door, Sunoo slipped inside, pulling you to his body, and planting his lips onto yours.

He couldn’t get enough of you. Sunoo dreamed of what it would feel like to have this connection with his soulmate. How it would feel to hold them close and kiss them. To give all the love he had to them.

And he finally found you.

“Goodnight, my sweetness,” Sunoo whispered in between kisses, slowly releasing you from his arms and slipping out the door.

#sunshine #kim sunoo #sunoo #sunoo x reader #reader x sunoo #reader x enhypen #enhypen x reader #enhypen fanfiction #enhypen fanfic #enhypen imagines #enhypen scenarios #enhypen #strangers to lovers #vampiresbleeding #yeonzzzn writing

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strawurberries · 1 year

Text

General head cannons for Vash the Stampede p.2

Summary: General headcannons for Vash the Stampede.

Authors Note: n/a

Warnings: Slight nsfw and angst, mostly fluff.

He also loves playful banter and flirting! But he also hates when the tables are turned on him and you gain the upper hand (at least, that’s what he wants you to think. Don’t tell anyone this—ever—but he actually adores the teasing. He’ll pretend he despises it but in reality, it opens something up in him that he’s a little too nervous to explore). When he has the upper hand though? An absolute menace. He may be devoted, a follower, and someone who will give their soul to you if asked, but he also has that little bastard in him that tells him to make you turn red until you kiss him to make him shut up.

“You’re a brat,” you had said once, grabbing his hair. Fingers tangled in his damp golden locks, water droplets sliding down his chin from his shower minutes earlier.

He had opened his mouth to respond but the slight pressure on his head. . . you pulling his hair? He was too distracted. He wanted to snap back, grin and see that cute little flustered look on your face but. . . brat? You called him a brat? Oh no, he’s feeling something.

“Cat got your tongue?” you snickered, “where’d all that confidence go? Pretty boy~?”

In that moment, he wasn’t sure if God or the Devil was before him—regardless of who it was though, something was telling him he’d enjoy this interaction nonetheless. Perhaps he wouldn’t mind if his God had a little sadistic side—he blushed and shoved that thought away with such speed it put his gunslinger skills to shame.

You just grinned, “oh, you love this, don’t you?”

He, quite literally, thought he was going to have a heart attack.

Give him a little praise, maybe a kiss, and he’ll be so far lost in love he’ll do anything you ask. He says that it’s brainwashing but you deny it every time.

“You can’t be human! You’re a witch or somethin’!” he cried, reeling back looking at his bag of two—well, now one—donuts.

You grinned and took another bite, “you said I could have it!”

“You brainwashed me!”

“Eh?! How would I even do that?”

“You tell me!”

(He cried a little bit over the donut, but you gave him a kiss to cheer him up. He asked for three more before you told him to stop and then he stole another)

In public though, he refrains from touching you as much as possible. If anyone got wind that the “Humanoid Typhoon” got a lover. . . he doesn’t want to think of what would happen. He’ll sometimes indulge in some hand holding, a quick hug, and maybe, just maybe, a kiss. He won’t do anything else though, no matter how much he wants to tackle you to the ground and smother you right there. Your safety is put above all else, even himself and his own wants. He feels bad that he can’t offer you a relationship in public, that he has to don his outlaw persona and watch as you are pushed to the side, but it’s for your sake. If you’re okay, he can bear anything.

Broken bones, cuts, bullet wounds, even a broken heart—he’ll take it all on to keep that smile on your face.

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little-witchys-garden · 2 years

Text

Why carrying skeleton keys are important!

I've talk about things my elders told me to carry and now we will talk about skeleton keys!

The spiritual meaning of Skeleton Keys specifically symbolize openings, protection, passages, physic abilities, crossroads, doorways, different realms, travel and the veil.

There are multiple divine that line up with keys such as

Hecate

The fae

Portunus

Dionysus

Hermes

Isis

Enodia

Persephone

Bacchus

Cardea

Diana

Forculus

Lima

Limentinus

Janus

Mercury

Proserpina

Terminus

Gná

Heimdall

Hermóðr

Odin,

Užsparinė

Chen Huang Shen

Menshen

Chen Wenlong

Guan Ying

Huang Xie

Ji Shun

Jian Yi

Jiao Ming

Liu Zongyuan

Pang Yu

Qu Tan

Shen Sheng

Su Jian

Te Xuan

Wen Tianxiang

Xiao He

Yang Jianshan

Yao Yichung

Ying Bu

Ying Zhixu

Zhou Ke

Zhu Yigui

Makiubaya

Manduyapit

Jangseung

Munsin

Izanagi

Izanami

Osiris

Legba

Elegua

Agni

Ganesha

Pushan

Dumuzi

Tammuz

Inanna

Ishtar

Attis

{ these aren't all of them }

I was told carrying a key can do multiple things and connect with divine if there need be. It helps make better connection between you and the divine because keys unlock doors but they are also for protection because keys lock doors that you don't want open.

There is lots of superstitions that skeleton keys can unlock any mortal made door, unlock hearts and help travel into different realms. We can even see these superstitions in todays modern media such as Coraline, Alice in wonderland, Pan's labyrinth, and The labyrinth in naming a few.

It's said different colored keys mean different things

Silver keys = physic abilities, protection, peace, love, the moon, purity, clarity, and vision.

Copper keys = the sun, intuition, love, desire, passion, compassion, strength.

Iron keys = human strength, obstinacy, fortitude, honor, courage, sharpness (of body and mind), tenacity, confidence, power and protection.

Gold keys = illuminating, sacred, durability, the sun, beauty, purity.

Tin keys = the planet Jupiter, health, wealth, affluence, wisdom, logic, education, maturity, and knowledge.

Painted keys will represent whatever the color represents and the metal it's made from.

#babacore #witchcraft #cottagecore #witch #goblincore #pagan witch #witchy #witches #baby witch #witch community #supernatural #superstitous #superstition #superstitious beliefs #folklore #folk tales #in my witchy bag #witch safety bag #things to pack in your witchy bag

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blackopals-world · 8 months

Text

Little Imp Delivery Service

Delivery person!Yuu and Sam (platonic)

Ace x Yuu (a little bit)

Sam sends his worker out to deliver to Octavinelle.

@somany-fandoms-solittle-time

Yuu had just set out their latest pair of skates down to dry. They had just finished painting a cool skeleton foot design on them with glow-in-the-dark paint. They would match their glowing skeleton hoodie perfectly. Just until after dark it's going to look so cool.

Yuu grinned maniacally as a buzzer went off. They glared at the red light as they dusted themselves off.

They spent downtime in the storage room they had converted into an "office" at the shop. The buzzer meant that they had a delivery to make.

They stretched as they grabbed a different set of roller blades off the rack. It was an impressive collection of customized skates Yuu had made.

Sam waited behind the counter as Yuu closed the door.

"Theirs my little Imp. I have a order straight from here to Octavinelle. Azul needs new glassware." Sam had a smile like a cat who ate a fat pigeon. He must have got a good deal.

Yuu cringed. They knew this delivery was going to be a problem. Azul doesn't make orders like this unless Floyd caused a mess and was having a mood swing. Second, since Jade wasn't picking it up it meant both twins were on the loose. Which meant that they needed to avoid the twins at all costs because the glass was fragile.

Sam boxed up the glasses and handed it to Yuu so they could put them in the carrier bag.

"Now before you go. Uniform," Sam said holding out the apron.

Yuu hated the apron.

It was a black apron with purple lettering "Little Imp Delivery" with a devil tail in the back. Yuu had personalized it with buttons and stickers but it was still embarrassing.

Yuu reluctantly put it on as a shadow fussed with their hair.

"You dyed it again I see." Sam smirked.

"I'm sure your friends on the other side already told you," Yuu said with their eyes.

"Use your words," Sam said shrugging.

Yuu rolled their eyes and signed instead. It's not like they couldn't speak it's just that signing was easier. But not sighing was the easiest. It's not like they had anything to say.

"Good Imp!" Sam said ushering Yuu out.

Yuu took a sucker from the shelf on the way out.

Grape flavor. Yum. Doesn't taste like grape but it sure tastes like purple.

Just as Yuu sat to put on their blades Sam returned, placing a helmet on Yuu's head and dropping their arm and knee pads on the ground.

"Safety first!" He said before going back inside.

Yuu stuck out their tongue as they put on their gear.

And they were off zipping through campus. Ducking and dodging students.

Yuu picked up speed as they neared a staircase. Yuu jumped and grinded down holding the railing. I was amazing until they realized they were going too fast and flying down.

Fortunately they were caught before eating ground. By Ace.

"Woah! Watch out!" He said clumsy holding Yuu up as their feet scrambled to get footing while on wheels.

Yuu sighed in relief as they righted themselves.

Ace really saved their ass. Oh shit the glass?!

Yuu immediately checked the delivery witch was thankfully safe. Yuu sighed again as the ecstaticly kissed Ace's cheek before skating off again.

Ace flushed pink.

"Oh, okay. Thanks. I mean you're welcome. I man be careful!"

Yuu didn't hear him, too busy.

Yuu took a deep breath as they entered Octavinelle. They need to be careful. The eels were still on the loose somewhere. If they were lucky they would be taking a swim and if they were unlucky (which they were known to be) then they'd find Yuu.

Yuu had to make it to the lounge quickly and find Azul. Once Azul signed for the delivery everything was out of Yuu's hands. But getting past the guard dogs was the only issue.

It was like they sensed Yuu entering the threshold.

"Black Bee Shrimp~"

Yuu needed to skate faster. They could hear him. Damn, Floyd's parents for making him so fucking tall!

"Come on Shrimpy! I just wanna play!" Floyd yelled running after Yuu.

Yuu turned a corner and almost ran into Jade who smiled creepily.

Now they were sandwiched between two eels who both getting closer. Yuu had no choice as they skated towards Jade before ducking and sliding under him and continuing towards the lounge.

They could hear Floyd loudly complaining that they got away.

Yuu escaped being fish food today.

Yuu confidently entered the lounge and putting down the package as they ignored the glass shards everywhere.

"Delivery for Azul" Yuu said stiffly, voice scratchy.

Azul came out, his hair messy and eyebrows furrowed.

Yuu held out the table for signing.

As Azul sighed Yuu typed something out on their phone.

"You have mess on your hands. Looks like the eels aren't going to be much help. I brought along a premium Magic Vac 7500. It could do the cleaning for you." Yuu smiled pleasantly taking out the vacuum.

"How much is it going to cost me?" Azul rolled his eyes already knowing this shtick.

"Just for you since you are in such need, 8500 modles. 10% off." Yuu smirked.

"You really are just like that shop keeper. 8000, and you've got a deal." Azul said sliding the table back.

"You've got a deal, Ashengrotto. It been a pleasure and thank you again for using Little Imp Delivery Service." Yuu said taking the money and bowing.

(You gotta upsell baby! Make your father proud!)

#delivery person!Yuu #ace trapolla x yuu #twst ace #ace trappola x reader #ace trappola #tweels #jade leech #twst jade #floyd twisted wonderland #twst floyd #floyd leech #floyd leech x reader #twisted wonderland azul #azul ashengrotto #azul ashengrotto x reader #twst azul #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst yuu

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cerastes · 3 months

Note

How do you rate the gacha booty shooter?

NIKKE sure is a game! It's the funnest mixed bag I've played lately. As a side game, it's been pretty good, because it's good at what it does good, and not terrible at its weak points, leaving you with a pretty "Ok :)" feeling overall.

So what's up with Nikke? Yeah, let's have a talk about that so I can explain a bit by what I mean with "fun mixed bag".

Nikke's setting is the same old tired, you've seen it a million times: Once day, humanity was almost decimated by a mysterious enemy that came out of nowhere... We call it... The Enemy! They were simply too strong, so humanity had to deploy its strongest weapons: Anime Girls. And you are the lucky Authority Figure that commands the Anime Girls to defeat The Enemy! But... The Enemy and Anime Girls have more in common than it seems...!?

Replace "The Enemy" with "Rapture", "Anime Girl" with "Nikke", Authority Figure with... Technically "Commander" but more on this in a bit, and you've got Nikke. In other words, the game's setting and premise are just a few word swaps away from being Punishing Gray Raven, Snowbreak, and a bunch of other properties. But here's the thing: Whereas Punishing Gray Raven tells you its story with all the charm and pizzazz of a Wikipedia article, and Snowbreak... Uh, stands there staring at a wall Blair Witch style because nothing ever fucking happens in Snowbreak, Nikke actually has good moment to moment flow. Allow me to elaborate.

Read More break here because I wrote a lot more than I intended:

Nikke has probably the dumbest premise to open with: The Nikkes are basically superpowered cyborg girls (war machines with human brains) that look like supermodels on purpose because they were created, in the game's own words, "with the ideal form in mind". That's all a wordy way of saying they are super hot girls with very powerful guns and superhuman physical capabilities. The dumb part is that Nikkes are treated like absolute shit in-universe by humans. You're telling me humanity is making cyborgs -- not even full on robots or AI, these are straight up people getting turned into weapons -- that are hot as fuck and have tits bigger than my head and asses that could crush cars under their sheer heft and then decided to hate them and treat them like shit, and also these cyborgs are the ones actually keeping humanity alive? Well yeah we need a reason for the Main Character (you!) to be Special and bond with them, so your thing is that You Don't Treat Nikkes Like Shit. In fact, you care for them.

Now, this is all absolutely fucking stupid, but then, the game sort of... Realizes how stupid it is? And some may say "this was always the plan" but to me personally it feels like they kinda realized how god damn stupid this all was as a premise, and they started veering the car mid-trip because for a while this all feels REALLY sincere, not in a foreshadowing way, but then you have some developments such as "no yeah, Commanders are a dime a dozen, are brainwashed into seeing Nikkes as walking garbage and that they'll be heroes, risk their lives for pennies and are extremely expendable", and there's also what I consider a really good and consistent thing the game has done: Nikkes were always a desperate last minute rushed product as a concept, so the safety measures in place so that they don't rebel against humans were never perfect.

This is what I mean by the moment to moment being good: The plot is absolutely whatever, the setting is something you've seen a million times, but the actual scene by scene, beat by beat, is fun. On the micro level, the game knows how to be entertaining and interesting, and when they expand these micro nuggets of gold to a macro level of writing, it's when they end up with their best bits of narrative and world building. I want to use two examples about the whole safety measures thing: Crow and Rose.

Crow is a Nikke that hates humans and is part of a squad of known dangerous elements that Missilis, the most irresponsible of the Big Three companies, is responsible for. This squad is Exotic, and Exotic works with you (your squad is named Counters) on this one mid-game chapter. The thing is, they never really intended to work with you, and Crow wanted you dead because Crow wants to spark a Human Vs Nikke conflict in the Ark (humanity's last big home), because you might quell the hostility between both sides. But, Nikkes can't intentionally kill humans (accidents happen and a Nikke may be ordered to subdue a human, but they are hardwired to not be able to shoot at them or kill them). So, how does Crow go about it when she betrays you? She has her squadmate Jackal plant a steel plate on the ground, and then shoots the plate in a way that the bullet ricochets and hits you. NIMPH, what's used to, among many other things, make sure Nikkes can't turn on humans, was so, so easily circumvented, and this is consistent with what we've been told about the Ark and Nikke in universe development in general: It's sloppy, it's lazy, it's not good. Rose, the other example, is a Nikke from a flashback story around a hundred of years before the start of the game. Rose was a prototype Nikke that was geared for melee combat instead of ranged combat, as all Nikkes are, and she was one of ten such units. Basically, Rose realized that their human Commander was intentionally trying to get them killed until one remained, which would be deemed the success of the line in Darwinian fashion. Rose got so immensely, justifiably angry at this that she plotted to kill the Commander. How can she do this, though, with the NIMPH that prevents her from doing so? Well, Rose was an actual swordmaster, and what she did was wear a blindfold, convince herself that what she was slicing was not a human, but a Rapture, and then she easily killed the shit out of him, unimpeded by her system. The NIMPH, end of the day, is sloppily made, highly dependent on the mental state of the Nikke, and easily circumvented. This is a very important plot point throughout the story, and the way they show this in multiple ways is really good.

Another thing I like is how the game goes about the player's title. It's technically "Commander" but the truth is, most every single Nikke calls you a different way relative to your relationship with them or their impression of you. Rapi and Anis some of the few that call you Commander, because they are in fact your subordinates, but Rapi says "Shikikan" while Anis says "Shikikan-sama" in a sarcastic way initially and after a while in an affectionately playful way, Neon calls you "Master" (Shishou) because she likes the way you use firepower, Liter calls you "Greenhorn" because you are, well, that in her eyes, Moran calls you "Partner" (Ototou, "little brother" in Japanese) because she's the head of a crime syndicate and she considers you as a cool person under her protection, the sports inclined ones call you "Coach", the school themed ones "Teacher", Viper, the flirty one, "Honey" or "Darling" depending on the scene, and so on, the old timey Scarlet calls you "My Lord", the religious Rapunzel uses "Believer", and the coarse, rough around the edges Snow White just uses "You" (Omae). It's a great touch that I like when it's done.

So, basically, you have a charming combination of a setting that's been overdone infinite times with plot beats that vary between legitimately good (the NIMPH and its logistics) and legitimately bad (Whatever the fuck Chapter 18 was, to name one case), and moment to moment that's really charming and entertaining.

The gameplay is honestly extremely unbalanced, and the sheer disparity in strength between units of the same rarity makes you wonder if they have anyone in the team that actually cares about balance, but honestly, putting the issues of balance aside? It's fun to point at stuff and shoot a million bullets and rockets, and they even get pretty creative with the fights sometimes in terms of enemy types and how they use them against you, so gameplay balance is awful, gameplay itself is suprisingly good for how simple it is.

I know people are going to be like "Dreamer, You Didn't Even Rate The Asses" so okay here:

First of all, the ergonomically perfect ass of the VIXEN that lured me into the game in a moment of weakness, Scarlet:

And next up, the Clothed But Massive Ass of Snow White

In fact, I appreciate the variety, because if it was just bare cheeks and panty shots, it'd be kinda whatever to me, but bodysuit ass and clothed but noticeably huge ass? Fresh, to be honest.

Also notable is that progress in entirely gated by passive production of resources and daily stuff because there's no stamina system. Bold!

But yeah feel free to ask more specific questions, but this is pretty much how I've felt about it.

#long post #nikke

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ataraxiaspainting · 6 months

Text

Hier Encore II.

Yan Chrollo x F Reader.

[Hier Encore I.]

Synopsis: Yorknew Police Department Headquarters, 1995, April 10th. You are a director of public safety. The Phantom Troupe attacks the headquarters and takes you under the guise of a hostage situation. Even when the ransom is paid, you are never returned and assumed to be dead. After thirteen months of captivity, in 1996, on May 9th, you escape and try to learn how to live again somewhere far away from your captor. The payment of freedom comes with a steep cost, one that stains your hands so much that even if you drown them in bleach, the stain will remain there for the rest of your life.

Warnings: Yandere themes, kidnapping, the reader is described as AFAB and uses she/her pronouns respectively, not SFW implications, misogynistic undertones (not from Chrollo), forced tattooing, unhealthy relationships, manipulation, mentions of starvation, some minor Hunter x Hunter spoilers, violence, Hisoka showing up sorry about that in advance, minor character death, and stalking.

Word Count: 13.7k.

Ten Songs Like This Piece:

Lacrimosa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

4:00 A.M. by Taeko Onuki

My Girlfriend Is a Witch by October Country

Michelle by Sir Chloe

Sonne by Rammstein

Enemy by Imagine Dragons

Venus Fly Trap by MARINA

Maneater by Nelly Furtado

cult leader by KiNG MALA

Teacher’s Pet by Melanie Martinez

“She looked like a vixen, and that’s what she was; she had all the instincts of a female fox. She was the proverbial predatory female. She had what she wanted, now, and she was content. There was just the getting completely away with it that counted.” – Gil Brewer, Sin for Me

ii. “I would not wish any companion in the world but you.”

You’re happy here.

You’re happy here, picking pumpkins and apples to make decorations and cook into pies. You’re happy here, harvesting sunflowers to put into glass vases around your cottage. You’re happy here, going into the farmer’s market and smelling freshly roasted corn and baked goods.

You’re happy here with Sebaste.

You’re happy here with Sebaste, who is always carrying gifts for you–lovingly ignoring your pleas to better learn how to budget his money–cookies, fried mushrooms, glazed yams, eggplant parmesan… your favorites. His too.

You hope he’s happy here with you too.

He says he does.

*~*~*~*

“Where do you want it? The neck, the leg? Lower, higher?” a voice, still trying to be cordial but exhaustion and annoyance overtook it halfway.

The faux leather furniture squeaks slightly as it is pushed down a bit by you sitting on it. You try to adjust yourself as you lay on your stomach, the plastic beneath you crinkling. ABBA’s Lay All Your Love On Me is playing from the small radio, the audio slightly too quiet for you to make out what part the song was at, and also because of how loud the tattoo artist was as she asked Chrollo a few questions.

“The lower back.” he touches it with his cold finger, almost making you jump and run out of that parlor. “Somewhere around here.”

You try to close your eyes and imagine you are anywhere else in the world. Even a sketchy bar would be better than this tattoo parlor because at least then you could leave with no pain in your body.

“Okay.”

“Thirty thousand Jenny, along with a million for keeping silent about this.” You hear a large bag filled with coins being placed on the table. The same bag that made the owner of this place go on his knees and kept repeating that there was no appointment necessary anymore. While the sound of money jingling would make anyone feel happy, it sounds like nails on a chalkboard to you. No one will ever know though, because you keep your mouth shut unless you have to say something sweet. “Feel free to count it if you wish. I will not stop you.”

“Nah. I’ll pass.”

“Alright then. Are you going to use a stencil first to show me what it would look like? I think that would be best.”

You hear a tired sigh. “If that’s what you want. I’ll take it out.”

Your legs want to run. Your heart wants to burst out of your chest. Your eyes want tears to come out in rivers. But you can’t.

You can’t because it’s useless and all of your progress would be ruined.

“Here we are.”

You feel thermal paper going on the spot just above where your butt is.

“Looks good.” Chrollo hums, pleased. “Behave. I’ll be back soon.”

His voice is soft but still firm. He steps toward you and squeezes your hand lightly, his thumb rubbing circles around it. He hums again. You can only see his shoes from this angle, but you know he is smiling. You want to scream, but you can’t.

You nod, still not talking. You hear a praise leave his lips, but you’re too scared to pay attention. He thanks the tattoo artist and leaves. The door shuts behind him quietly. For a brief moment, you sigh with relief.

The tattoo artist also sighs. There is a nervous chuckle that escapes both of your mouths, the type where both of you know what would happen if either of you were to step out of line. You try to move your neck upwards to look at the posters on the wall. Most are Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell, with a few of Audrey Hepburn. The largest poster is of the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, with Monroe and Russell dancing above the title in revealing magician outfits.

The tattoo artist turns the dial on the radio, putting on I Put A Spell On You instead, which you'd rather listen to.

The tattoo artist leans in closer and talks to you in a whisper. "I'm so sorry about this. I had to do it."

Your eyes are wide, but you manage to keep your calm. Your fingers are shaking. Chrollo's voice is in your head, telling you to be still or he'll know. You do your best to ignore it as the tattoo needle stabs your back, sending shivers down your spine.

The entire process takes five hours, with you zoning out after about twenty minutes.

The tattoo artist lets out a heavy sigh and leans back in her chair. "We're done, darling. I hope you're satisfied with your new tattoo."

You're exhausted. Your back feels numb. You have zero interest in looking at your new tattoo. You just want to leave.

Chrollo walks through the door with an even bigger smile on his face. "Ah, she's done, is she? Let me take a look."

He walks closer and sees the spider web tattoo, the number zero being on top of it.

"Beautiful. Your tattoo looks amazing, darling." Chrollo stares deeply into your eyes. "Now, would you mind standing up so I can see you in full?"

His eyes wander around your body. Your heart drops as you stand up.

Chrollo looks from your head to your feet as you stand. With every inch of your body, he smiles more deeply. "You look amazing, my dear. Stunning." He runs his smooth fingers across your skin, tracing the design of your tattoo. "Well, I'm satisfied with your new tattoo." He grabs your hand and pulls you towards the door. "Now, let's head back to the room. Don't you need to sleep? It's been a tiring day."

He stares at your tattoo one last time before reaching out and touching your back, tracing the black spiderweb pattern. You want to cry, but you can’t. You feel both the physical and mental pain silencing you. So, all you do is nod.

Nothing is worth the risk.

The tattoo artist doesn’t look at either of you because of the intense guilt she feels.

The December weather outside only makes you want to shiver more.

Life is death. Death is a blessing that allows the weak to rest. Death is life. Life is a curse that allows only the strong to reap the rewards.

*~*~*~*

Even after all this time since the incident happened, your lower back still hurts.

It burns whenever you touch it–like your skin is on fire–but it may be more mental than physical.

There is no scarring, thankfully, and because it is on your lower back, it can easily be hidden. Perhaps that was the point of the placement, for only if you do not have a long shirt or high-waisted pants would anyone see it; and only Chrollo was the only one you were allowed to be nude with, not that you had any choice.

It is the 21st of October, 1998. Sebaste now sleeps in the same bed as you. He talks in his sleep sometimes, about celebrating Halloween with you or his mother. It’s cute, you think. The photo frame beside the bed has a Polaroid photo of you and him, both smiling brightly. It’s a gift from his mother to you in more ways than one. Whenever your paranoia is set off, you hold it in your arms until you have calmed down.

You loved Robin like you would your mother, and aside from Sebaste, she was the only one you would regularly talk to. She is kind to you, and once gave you hand-carved furniture as a gift when Sebaste first introduced you to her as his girlfriend. On colder days she brings you a pot of her homemade pumpkin soup and chatters away as soon as she sets foot in your home. She was talkative, very talkative, which funnily enough contrasts with Sebastian's introversion.

*~*~*~*

“What will you do to stop people from knowing I am still alive?”

The question you asked, mere days into your kidnapping, came when you were lying down, restrained. You did not mean to sound aggressive, but you think you did by accident. Your nervousness is making you lose your touch, it seems.

“If you would like to know, my dear, I shall tell you.” Your captor responds, sitting on a chair beside the bed.

You want to scream for help. You want to demand him to take the silk binds off of you and run for the hills. But you can’t, because you know it would be useless. You have to wait for the right moment.

“I want to know.”

A book covers the lower part of his face, but his eyes still look down on you from your helpless position. The Brothers Karamazov. How fitting.

“We will request more money for your release.” Even though you cannot see half of his face, you know he is smiling from how pleased his voice sounds. “So much money that the authorities will simply give up on you, money that simply cannot be paid.”

Here you are, with a silk scarf tied around your wrists, not too tight but not too loose, and another binding your legs. He got rid of the handcuffs when he returned with you to a penthouse, wanting in some sense to make sure you were at least partially comfortable. Perhaps the handcuffs were just to ensure the public thought that you were a hostage taken for ransom.

“Four million, sixteen million, perhaps twenty million for just a cut of your hair, maybe fifty million for a photo of you in your presumed last moments.” There is a pause, with you finally being able to hear your rapid heartbeat hidden behind a mask of calmness. “They will give up on you eventually, and the world will continue to go on as it always has.”

You silently wish that you could turn your hearing off like a light. There is such depravity, devotion, and greediness in his tone.

“Maybe they won’t.” Your eyes keep moving around the room to avoid his intense stare from above. “Maybe they’ll know whatever body you plant is fake. Maybe they’ll locate me. Maybe they’ll… they’ll pay everything off.”

“That does not seem plausible, my sweet.”

You are holding back a sea of tears.

“Even though you think so, there is quite a small chance that will happen. That chance will only dwindle as the price increases, I am afraid. Money is far more important to governments than human lives in all cases. You know that, don’t you?” Chrollo says, his voice slightly teasing, turning a page of his book. “Perhaps it is for the best that they think you are dead though, angel, with all of the… dealings you have done when you thought no one was watching. You are quite resourceful. It’s something we have in common, you know.”

You know that you’ll only make this situation worse if you try to fight back anymore.

You just look up at the ceiling and count the tiles, waiting for the moment he unties you.

One, two, three, four, five, six…

*~*~*~*

You liked gardening before your capture, and still do. As a hobby, you grow plants that are suitable for the fall setting. You cook with them when they have matured enough, or give them to Robin if you have too much of them. You especially like yams because they can be cooked into both sweet and savory dishes. A duplex trait you love.

It keeps your mind off of Chrollo.

You got yourself a new watering can recently. It can hold more water for your plants and it is prettier than your old one. It is a metal one, the spout rose freshly cleaned from rust by your gloved hands scrubbing for what felt like a millennium. It was worth it. The water compartment has purple lilies and white jasmine flowers on its bottom half. There are also a few butterflies, bees, and praying mantises among them. It’s cute and comforting to you.

This new life is also just as cute and comforting to you. You feel a sense of stability now that you aren’t forced to go from place to place by your captor or in fear of being caught by him. There is a sweetness and simplicity to it all. You get better sleep now that you share a bed with someone you love rather than someone you hate with all your being. You wear sweaters and sweatpants instead of those revealing shirts and short skirts, being free to dress warmly for once. Even when you were given tights as a reward for good behavior, they always were not nearly enough to make you stop shivering. Whenever you go to a clothing store in the town you avoid the section with clothes that are meant to show off collarbones or thighs. You’d rather die than wear them, even in the scorching heat of the summer months, bearing the rolls of sweat that appear on your face and your back.

*~*~*~*

The clothes are too tight. It’s hard to walk like this.

Everything itches.

You would love nothing more than to take your clothes off right here.

One of your hands goes to the upper part of your back while the other goes near your spine, your arms almost hugging you from how odd their placements are. As much as you fidget, you cannot seem to get that one spot, until you feel someone else scratch it gently.

“Here?”

You sigh, relieved as Jean’s nails move up and down, subduing your discomfort.

“The bodice is almost strangling me, and they gave me ballet slippers twice my size.” You groan as you sweep your bangs to the side so you can see what is in front of you. You start walking with Jean away from the stage and into the darkness of the hallway where the dressing rooms are.

“Don’t you think you can buy a new pair?” A well-meaning question, but their tone doesn’t stop you from dryly laughing.

“I’m not the one who had the lead role.” You walk to the door with the number four on it, twisting the handle and pushing it backward. “This is just a sideshow, anyway. As soon as I get that promotion, I’m getting out of here and moving to a different Yorknew district. One with a name that does not claim to be a saint.” Upon entering the dressing room, you raise your arms towards the ceiling and emit a low, discontented sound. “Hilland or Kingstown, hopefully. Those have the highest crime rates, after all.”

“Saintshore isn’t that bad.” Jean leans on the door and begins to take off their shoes, their quality much higher than yours. Your eyes go back between your vanity and theirs, both of which have bouquets piled on top of each other, along with other gifts. “The audience loves you, you know.”

“Then why was I the deuteragonist yet again?” Your hands shift through your mound, separating the flowers from everything else. Some chocolates, makeup, perfume, confessional love letters… nothing to pay much attention to, as usual. Frustration overtakes you, but you don’t let it show.

“I mean it. Everyone loves you. You rival my popularity most of the time.”

Another dry laugh from you. “Then my dog days should be over by now.”

“Perhaps they will soon.” You don’t need to look in the mirror to know that Jean is smiling, trying to comfort you as they always do. “I think you’ll be okay. You have plenty of potential and you are admired by many here, from the patrons to the staff.”

“If those people loved me as much as they say they do, then I wouldn’t be in this dress and instead be living in a penthouse, living a life of luxury without working a single hour.”

“Maybe that will happen someday. You never know.” A hug from behind. “Maybe you’ll be swept off your feet tomorrow by some charming, tall stranger. Like those meet cutes from those movies you like watching.”

“If only, Jean. If only.”

*~*~*~*

Robin took you to the library today because you had mentioned that the few books you had were getting boring. She told you that she had never taken for an answer when you said you didn’t want to bother her. She then grabbed your hand and pulled you all the way here, repeating that you were never an inconvenience to her and that she loved you. She accompanied you to the horror section, remembering your fondness for the genre as you had mentioned a few days ago. That and Halloween were just around the corner.

You were glad to have someone to talk to while Sebaste was busy working in his office, at least.

Robin was chattering away, talking about random stuff that she remembered or events that happened when she was younger. A few weeks ago, she went on a tangent about the history of execution methods and how it related to racial segregation, and if you were being honest it was interesting to listen to. You learn a lot from Robin this way, even things like carving you learn more from her words and less from her movements.

As much as her interests are varied and odd, you cannot deny that Robin is very knowledgeable. Whenever Robin is present, it's as if you're engaged in a conversation with an old buddy or a younger sibling passionately discussing their interests, even though Robin is significantly older than you. If it wasn’t for the fact that there are many small sections of white hair amongst her ginger locks and her wrinkles, a stranger would probably have assumed that she is your little sister.

You love her and trust her.

“What about this one?” Robin asks, holding out a book with the title We Have Always Lived In The Castle on its monochrome front.

If you recall correctly, it’s a Shirley Jackson work. Someone recommended it to you a long time ago, you think. You can’t remember who exactly, though. It was not Chrollo as he was not the most interested in horror to begin with. All that was on his bookshelves were books relating to philosophy or something else in that vein.

At present, the library houses a mere handful of people. The librarian, the village teacher with two visibly tired children. A girl about your age with bright purple hair and a black leather jacket with tiny spikes on its cuffs and a white skull on the back of it. A man who looked a bit older than you was reading a book with his other hand on his chin looking zoned out in a way.

*~*~*~*

There is a pleased, wanting moan coming from behind you on the bed.

“We’re finally alone, baby��”

Don Dario lays on his bed, large enough to be used by at least five people. The frame is made of agarwood, and the headboard is crested with what you assume is pure gold, considering how rich the Don is. The pillows are encased with wine red and medallion yellow silk. So are the curtains of the canopy. The blanket is doused in similar shades, but slightly darker than you think. If you choose to lie down, you could see the painted inside of the marquee, but you don’t want to. You do not want to sleep with this slimeball. So you simply sit at the corner hoping the Don would just give up and let you go.

“Don’t be shy, baby.” His knees are stabbing into the mattress and he is quickly unbuckling the belt of his crimson velvet robe, moaning and chuckling with excitement. “Come on, pussycat. Come to Daddy.” Even though you refuse to face him, you can envision how he is licking his lips as you hear his mantle being thrown to the floor. “No need to keep playing hard to get. Nobody’s here aside from you and me. I know you want me, darling.”

Click, click, click.

He crawls on all fours to your backside and then to your right side, still cooing and cawing. You finally look at his eyes, and you see the direction they are facing; downwards. After a slight scoff from you, though, he looks upwards towards your face. “You’re so cute, you know. I feel like I will never get tired of looking at you.”

Click, click, click.

“You like me too, don’t you?” There is a smirk on his face, making his double chin even larger and making you in turn narrow your eyes. “You must, at least a little bit, right? Everyone wants a piece of me. But I don’t mind if such a pretty girl like you wants to get a bit more than you were told that you would get. You will, if you promise to come back, that is. For another round.”

There is a whisper of a glare in your eyes, and when Don Dario notices this he simply laughs haughtily.

“Now, now, sweetie.” He puts a hand on your shoulder. “I always keep my word. You just have to do your part and everything will be fine.”

“I never said I would do this, you forced me to be here.”

The grip tightens and you wince. “When I saw you on that stage, I knew I had to have you. I was feeling generous. I still am.” His voice is now cold and demanding, the opposite of how it was just a few seconds ago. “I’ll pay off your debts and have a word with your boss, I promise, if you do as you are told.”

“Asshole.”

Click, click, click.

There is a murmur of fondness from Don Dario’s mouth, but you don’t care enough to make out what he said.

“You know no sane woman would sleep with you willingly, and so you order your lackeys to grab one by the hair and drag her to your room. Quite pathetic, wouldn’t you say?”

Don Dario rolls onto his back and cackles like he is being tickled. “This kitten is trying to use her claws to fight a lion! How adorable.” You want to throw up.

Click, click, click.

A flash.

“What was that?” You ask, irate.

“Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head about it.” Your neck turns to see him start to unbutton his shirt, the golden letters and medals of the many necklaces around his neck smashing against one another. “Just a few mementos, and also to make sure you don’t say anything… crummy.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“Call me whatever you like, but one way or another you’ll do what I want.” There is a sudden grab of your hair as you are forced to lay on the mattress roughly. The touch of the velvet beneath you, despite being soft, also feels like molasses on your skin and makes you feel slow and heavy. “Let us not wait a second longer, my bride for today. Be good for me and maybe I’ll even send more money your way in the future.”

You want to cry out for help, but his henchmen are right outside his bedroom door in case you try to run. It would be useless. You wouldn’t be let go and all that would result from it is you being pushed and shoved back into Don Dario’s arms eventually. He would find you if you ran.

You decide not to fight anymore. You’re exhausted and there would be no point in the long run. You nod and the genuine smile that appears on Don Dario’s face is a terrifying sight to you. At least you would get that promotion and the money to pay off your debts, even if it hurts to walk in the morning.

“Give daddy some sugar, baby.”

Every hair on your body stands on end as you nod.

You are nothing now but a Mignonne who is forced to be swept off her feet.

“Lay all your love on me.”

*~*~*~*

The newspaper today had an odd headline, to say the least. Especially because this town is so far away from the Saintshore district of Yorknew. It would take forever to get to it, not that you would ever want to return to that place that should be categorized as a nuclear dump if anything. The food was greasy. There was always a whiff of smoke, either from the smokers or the many, many cars, and rusty needles on the ground below you if you set foot outside. Not that there would be a point in going for a walk as Saintshore was practically unwalkable except for a few suburban areas and a small portion of the poorly taken care of parks.

Mobster Don Dario Niccolo Found Beheaded In Alleyway was not a title you had ever thought would be read or even seen by you or anyone for that matter, but it makes sense. Dario was not short of enemies who would do anything to kill him or at the very least sabotage his business affairs with other criminals. He always had the limelight on him, whether his deeds were good or bad. That gave him the nickname of the uncrowned king of Saintshore. You don’t feel bad for his family or his ‘friends’ in the slightest. That is one person who is part of your unwanted past gone, after all, and someone will be there to get the blood-soaked inheritance and probably continue the Niccolo legacy to take more money.

You’re happy to be far away from that district and from the Phantom Troupe, almost enough to get you on your knees and worship the stars above you.

*~*~*~*

His movements are always silent, never betraying his presence with the sound of footsteps. You never hear them coming.

He does it on purpose, you think, to keep you on edge and to catch you in any act of escaping he suspects you will do.

He’s right if he does expect you will try something, though.

His earrings glimmer in the moonlight, hypnotizing you with their beauty. His eyes glimmer too, his irises reminding you of the pitch-black sky that is above you two and this picnic blanket. His teeth remind you of pearls sold in unpurchasable jewelry shops. At least you feel hypnotized, because you do nothing as he takes your hand, not even flinching. Like the devil, Chrollo is beautiful. But the beauty is only hiding what lurks beneath the surface; a monster.

“Open wide, dearest.” The chocolate-covered strawberry leans closer, pale fingertips holding onto its dark green leaves. “This is romantic, is it not?”

Maybe you can blur out his words for a bit longer to again remove the bitter taste in your mouth. Then only the sweetness of the scenery in front of you would remain, hypnotizing you yet again.

*~*~*~*

When you step out of your house’s door, it is like you are instantly transported back to four years ago; the last time you celebrated Halloween.

All the houses on every block have decorations of some kind, whether going all out with animatronics supposed to resemble monsters like the popular Bays’ house or a measly jack-o-lantern standing out amongst a poorly taken care of front yard like the lone Mr. Hyde’s house. Perhaps the weeds only increased the scariness for the children and were done on purpose. Ah, weeds. How horrifying. All of the houses also have candy to give out to the trick-or-treaters, from Ms. Alson’s house down the street to the unpopular Blissetts’, your neighbors. In Ms. Alson’s case, she is giving out handmade gift bags to everyone who passes by, even adults. However, the Blissetts only put out a smaller-than-life basket of candy corn with a ‘take one’ sign next to it. Terrifying.

“Trick or treat. Give me something good to eat!” The kids chanted, running around in circles as they all wore costumes.

*~*~*~*

As you ponder the origins of this situation, you diligently search for any missteps on your part. Chrollo, in his typical fashion, remains silent about the expression on your face as your mind races. He always waits for you to speak first, yet you are certain he is aware of your thoughts. Together on the balcony, he feigns interest in his book, his sunglasses serving as a disguise to conceal the gaze fixated upon you. What could you have possibly done to cause such a high-ranking criminal to be romantically interested in you? Did you meet somewhere before? Did he see you from afar and become obsessed with you that way?

“You look rather nice with only my shirt on.” A hand is placed on your bare thigh, squeezing the meaty flesh gently.

“When did you first start liking me?” Your vocal tone emerges with a softer and huskier quality than initially intended. You discreetly clear your throat, contemplating whether a repetition of your words is necessary. Chrollo's gaze is fixated upon you, yet you avoid meeting his eyes, instead directing your attention towards the captivating spectacle of the sunset. The hues of yellow seamlessly blend into orange, which seamlessly blends into red, the colors melding together without complete separation. He affectionately applies more pressure to your thigh, emitting a gentle hum. This shirt serves two purposes: to allure him, ultimately facilitating your escape, and to maintain a facade of modesty, despite it being the most conservative garment available in the hotel room. Your loathing for him burns fiercely within, yet you must never allow it to manifest outwardly.

When you fixate on the sunset, you wonder to yourself if you perhaps can distract yourself from the sensation of his hand caressing your thigh.

Placing his book on the table near the outdoor couch, he leans in your direction and gently draws you onto his lap. You make no resistance, acknowledging the potential advantage this holds for your scheme. After all, even if you tried, he wouldn't allow you to escape.

“I mean if you don’t mind. If you don’t want to tell me, I won’t get mad.” You lean in, Chrollo’s hair slightly tickling your nostrils. “It’s your choice.”

“You’re right in that aspect. It is my choice.” He hums and you can picture his eyes behind his sunglasses shifting upwards in reminiscence. The arm around you pulls you in closer so that your nose is right next to his neck. “But I’ll tell you if that is what you want. I was in Saintshore and saw you dancing in a ballet.”

“Which one?” You mumble, not even surprised that he knew your side job before you were promoted. You can smell his cologne; musk, sandalwood, rum, and vanilla. He always sprays just a bit too much, not enough to make you cough but enough for you to smell it whenever he is close. Not that you would ever tell him that, as that would ruin your plan and he is self-aware enough to know what he is doing.

“Swan Lake. You played an excellent Odile, beloved.” His hand brushes your arm while the other dances on your thigh still. The queen of the black swans.

“That’s it?” You ask, and Chrollo responds by having his hand over upward from your thigh to your bangs, brushing them to the side.

“You were just so graceful. You still are just as beautiful, you know.” He kisses your forehead and you try your hardest to not flinch. As you gaze at the sunset, you make a conscious effort to divert your attention from the affectionate tone in his voice. He passionately shares his journey of falling in love with you, while his hand gently rests beneath your shirt, and you sense something hard beneath you. It’s best not to think about it too much, you tell yourself.

*~*~*~*

Two years, five months, twenty-two days, twenty-three hours, and five minutes.

That is the duration of time that had passed since your triumphant escape, about half the duration accounting for the time it took for you to reach a considerably distant location from the place where you were held prisoner.

Tickets to films, musical adaptations, ballets, stage adaptations, and operas. Piles upon piles of novels, fashionable clothes, and delicious food that were more expensive than anything you had ever bought before your capture. Everything was given to you in the blink of an eye, all aside from freedom.

Memorabilia like heart-shaped sunglasses, flared sundresses, lingerie made with lace and silk, violas, violins, cellos, croissants, cream puffs, macaroons, rings, necklaces, chokers, thigh highs, garter belts, short skirts, sheer tights, and hotpants were all given to you without you even asking. You only wore them and played them and ate them when it would help you with your escape plan, which you guessed was all the time. You became the archetype known as the temptress, a symbol of lust and desirability. Unethical, a Queen Bee, mysterious, wanting, and seductive. But you also had to become Chrollo’s sweetheart at the same time. A princess from a fairytale, a coquette, gentle, sweet, and alluring.

*~*~*~*

The bedroom is suffocating to you. It was too clean, too pristine, the walls having all furniture mounted on it tidy with not a speck of dust or dirt. There is a low hum of the air conditioner that is above hung paintings that were both stolen and bought legally. A pendulum clock above the bed with its hand swinging from side to side with a constant tick-tocking sound. The blanket restraining your wrists was tied to the headboard, the half that was all things considered a piece of your part of the bed. He doesn’t restrain your legs anymore, a reward you suppose for good behavior, for not trying to kick him whenever he touches you or at the very least within your range. Similarly, he doesn’t gag you anymore for not screaming and crying and demanding to be let go.

He sometimes feeds you and sometimes lets you feed yourself. He brings you whatever you want to eat whenever you want to eat. Pastries, cheese, bread, pasta, all of it you have access to, all you have to do is ask for it. If you don’t request anything, the meal will be something nutritious and balanced, like steamed rice and broccoli with tofu and miso soup. One time you refused to eat, clamping your mouth shut like a toddler as he gently tried to guide a metal spoon to your lips.

You tired your neck out that way and gave in about an hour later, though the food was ice cold by then.

You don’t refuse to eat anymore. You don’t do a lot of things you want to do anymore. You are scheduled as to when you can and cannot walk within the penthouse like you are his dog. The only room you have privacy in is the bathroom, when the silk restraints come off and you can walk around freely, as small as the room is. Though it is windowless, and there would be nowhere to hide if Chrollo ever decided to open the lockless bathroom door.

If you are good, he lets you watch movies or shows on the television, he’ll read to you, one time he even gave you some of your old things from your apartment, putting them on the table beside you. If you are bad… On days that you are bad, he ignores you, aside from when you ask to go to the bathroom, he describes the brutalness of the murders he has committed in great detail as you squirm, or he will tickle you for an hour straight until your face is red with tears and you can hardly breathe.

“I’m willing to wait.”

He repeats this every time you try to tear the blanket off of your wrists and ankles, every time after you cry and scream your lungs out, every time you refuse to look at him and at yourself in a desperate attempt to control at least one thing; your imagination. He wants you to break and leave only your vulnerable, core self. You could never resist the pull of rebellion forever, your thread of patience always eventually snapping and forcing yourself to tie it back together. You could never resist what lays dormant in the deepest crevices of your heart; a chained-up beast.

“With time, all pain fades.”

*~*~*~*

Maybe he is right in that aspect. As much as you want to deny it, with every passing month you were held captive, what Chrollo does then surprised you less and less. You sort of became comfortably numb to it all, only focusing on escape and not how much he touched you everywhere and told you sweet nothings both in and out of bed.

*~*~*~*

“The bathroom is well stocked with all sorts of soaps and shampoos and creams, as well as any other necessities you will need for this.” Chrollo says as he presses one of the mirrors above the sink, the mirror opening and revealing more products than are at the rim of the bathtub already. As always, his voice is calm.

You have never heard him angry before, or sad before, and you don’t want to. You don’t know what he would do if you pushed him to that point. That is why when Chrollo had told you that he wanted you to bathe him as a reward for you being so good these past few weeks, you agreed. You had just graduated from being restrained from the bed to being able to walk around the penthouse freely, and you don’t want that taken away from you, especially so soon.

“And I expect you to do a good job.” He adds, bringing your focus back on him and not on the restraints he had tucked away in his closet a few days ago. “There might be other rewards for you if you do so.”

“I know.” You mutter and pull the handle above the bathtub. Water starts to flow and warm up. You want to ask him if those rewards would be for you or him, but you can’t bring yourself to. Rewards from Chrollo are always a gamble, ranging from making bread to him bringing you a spider lily plant home to gifting you clothes that showed off your collarbone to you sitting on his lap as he read.

“Good girl,” Chrollo says, watching as the tub begins to fill with water and he closes the mirror with a soft click. “And if you’re a very good girl,” He pauses for a moment as the edges of his lips bend into a smirk from what you can see in the foggy mirror. “Who knows what kind of reward I might just give you.” He turns to you, his face still covered by a sly smile. “That is, of course, if you’re a very good girl.”

As much as you try to stop it, your eyebrows furrow slightly at his statement, unsure of what to think. All he does is chuckle.

“Why don’t I make this as fun for you as possible?” In his hands are narrow glass vials, each a different color. From the grainy appearance you can see from each bottle, you can safely assume that they are bath salts. You are right as Chrollo puts them each on the area around the sink one by one. “After all, you’re going to be taking a bath with me.” He pauses for a moment, allowing his words to hang in the air. “I hope you’re excited, darling.” He leans in close and presses a kiss on your forehead. “You’re going to enjoy this very, very much, I promise.”

“I know.” You mutter again as you step forward toward the sink, and Chrollo steps back a bit for you to see the options of bath salts. As you expected, there is a wide variety of scents. Floral aromas such as lavender, rose, cherry blossom, and vanilla. There is also a selection of sweet scents, like strawberry and apple, while at the same time, there are some muskier, darker scents, like cinnamon and sandalwood.

You have no say in your hell. You don’t want a say in your hell.

You pick up the narrow periwinkle flask labeled as lavender with shaking hands. As the warm water in the tub fills your bathroom with the sweet smell of lavender, you hear Chrollo speak up from behind you.

“Good choice, love.” He says, his voice filled with anticipation as he speaks. “Now then, I think it is about time for you to give me that bath.”

You hate how you automatically nod, and how Chorollo coos as he starts unbuttoning his shirt.

*~*~*~*

You still have trouble having baths in the village bathhouse because of him. You have trouble doing a lot of things you had no problem doing before. You sometimes wake up and because of Sebaste’s dark hair and white skin, you mistake him for Chrollo for a few moments of drowsiness and almost cry and scream. When you are brushing your hair, you style it the way you like it but almost consider putting it in a style Chrollo likes, just in case you see him that day out of pure chance and bad luck. Whenever you see a book that used to be on Chrollo’s shelves, you almost buy it or borrow it so you can burn it later.

*~*~*~*

“What are you looking for, dollface? Treasure? Get rich quick schemes, history?” a voice, still trying to be cordial but curiosity and wandering eyes overtook it halfway.

The faux leather furniture squeaks slightly as it is pushed down a bit by you sitting on it. You try to adjust yourself as you sit down on your butt, crossing your legs. ABBA’s Lay All Your Love On Me is playing from the small radio, the audio is slightly too quiet for you to make out what part the song is at, and also because of how loud the construction is outside.

“You are a Hunter, aren’t you?” You lean in slightly and make direct eye contact with him, putting on a slight smile. “I would like to know more about a certain Spider if you catch what I am saying.”

You hate how the man looks at you, confusion clear on his face. You knew it would be risky coming here, but you have no other options.

“Why them?”

You place a large bag filled with coins on the table. “The thirty thousand Jenny fee to talk to you, along with a million for keeping silent about this.” You now see the man’s eyes glitter with greed as he smirks. Some people were just too easy. This feels like child’s play compared to Chrollo with the lengths you would have to go to manipulate him. “Feel free to count it if you wish. I will not stop you.”

“Nah. I want to get straight to business if you don’t mind.”

“Alright then. What do you know about them? Tell me everything.”

The man leans back and looks at the cracked ceiling. “Just be warned, pretty little lady, if they come after you it’s not my fault. You’re asking for trouble.”

You’re annoyed at him keep calling you pet names. You want to slap him. You want to say you would rather not be here at all. But you can’t.

You can’t because it’s useless and all of your progress would be ruined.

“Just one sec.”

He takes another drag of his cigar and exhales, the smoke erupting from his nose onto your face and almost making you loudly cough.

“I’ll tell you.” He smiles, the cigar still wedged between his two golden teeth. “You young ones are so dumb. You aren’t even a Hunter, dollface.”

His grimy voice is like nails on a chalkboard to you. He takes the cigar out of his mouth and his finger taps on it, making some of the burnt parts fall onto the ashtray. He hums again. You just want your information so you can go. You don’t want to do small talk, especially with this prick.

You nod, still not talking. His grin widens at that. He raises one of his hands and a man in a suit and sunglasses comes out of the shadows and hands him a folder, leaving straight afterward without making a sound. So you have unwanted company.

You almost let out a sigh then. The man whistles a tune unfamiliar to you as he looks through the file. He then throws it in an uncaring way towards your side of the table, the folder letting out a slight thump as the paper makes contact with the wood. He whistles a bit more and puts one of his legs over the other. He sighs and your disdain for him only increases by then.

He leans toward and taps on the document inside, some of his cigar ashes staining it.

He grabs the bottle of liqueur beside him and pours some into his shot glass, his many golden rings shining underneath the dimmed lights. "Here is all the information we have on them. It is troublesome how little we know about them."

Your eyes are full of annoyance, but you manage to keep your calm. You lean forward and read through the paper in front of you. You have to do this. You have to do this to make sure that your freedom is everlasting.

To read the entire page took only a few minutes at most, the man being truthful in the fact that no Hunter knows them very well despite the Phantom Troupe being much more than infamous.

The man lets out a heavy sigh and leans back in his chair. "Sorry, miss. We know hardly more than you do, but I’ll try to tell you anything else we found out recently."

You want to let out a sigh again. The paper is littered with stains and leaves residue on your fingertips. This is necessary, you tell yourself. Though you just want to leave.

The man clears his throat to get your attention and holds up one of his fingers. "According to my resources, the Spider has recently lost a leg. They quickly gained another to replace it, unfortunately."

It indeed should not be surprising considering how many enemies the Phantom Troupe has, but it is a bit to you.

"We don’t know which one. That’s the most we know of the situation." He stares deeply into your eyes. "I don’t have any other information to give you, I’m afraid."

His eyes wander around your body. Your heart drops slightly as he grabs the folder and closes it.

You don’t stand up, instead briefly gazing at the liqueur bottle. The man smiles more deeply then, and you feel like you are about to throw up. "You know, you’re very pretty, miss. Just beautiful." His hand moves toward you in one brief motion, to which you respond by leaning away, "I don’t bite, no need to be scared." You stand up. "Now, now, dollface. We should talk a bit more, don’t you think? Maybe I can even drive you back to your place later, or mine."

You scrunch your nose in disgust and begin to walk out of the room. He does not physically stop you, but he mumbles insults under his breath. Slut, whore, the more unoriginal ones. You just ignore them and leave.

That guy was an asshole, but at least you got something out of it.

You wonder which Spider has died.

You hope that it was Chrollo, but that would be near impossible.

Chrollo is hardly known about, after all. There was hardly any information about him anywhere; from the news to the people you question and bribe. You don’t know anything about him either, despite being previously a captive of his. Perhaps even Chrollo does not know much about himself, or at least that is what you theorize.

To entirely free oneself from his clutches, one would need to strike a pact with the devil.

*~*~*~*

Sometimes you think you are an escaped ballerina from her music box. You were always in the same position and only did what you were told.

All you have were the walls of the orchestrina and Chrollo. Without him with you in those many penthouses and hotel rooms, you had no one and could speak to no one. Even when you had escaped by shattering your silk-clad, bleeding feet, some small scattered porcelain pieces of you are left behind for him to find.

If you ever told Sebaste the truth, it would all be for nothing, wouldn’t it?

You would be back to being on the run, trying to pick up whatever ceramic drops from you to avoid leaving a path of breadcrumbs that would lead him directly to you. Just one mistake is all it takes, and it would all be over in a flash. You would try to fix it as quickly as you can, but it wouldn’t be enough, because one day his grabbing hands will grab the soles of your feet, and there you will stay forevermore, attached back onto them, never being able to leave his palms.

A few breaths would kick the door down. The windows would rattle. Weeds would sprout in your garden. You would smell cigarette smoke because the palm of your hand would be back to being used as his ashtray. Everything would burn to the ground.

You don’t want that. God, you do not want that. More than anything in this world.

*~*~*~*

There is someone in your home.

There is someone in your home, and you don’t think they are here to kill you.

There is someone in your home, and although you don’t think they are here to kill you, they do not come with the best of intentions either, though.

You think they are in love with you. Love may not be the best to describe it, you think, maybe obsessed or infatuated instead.

Whoever breaks into your home regularly leaves you gifts; flowers, cards, clothes, and other things they know you like. They must have been stalking you for quite a while before doing this because hardly anyone you know knows what your favorite instrument or candle scent is.

Sometimes they go on rants in the letters they send to you once or twice a week. Sometimes they bring you trinkets, usually hairpins or porcelain figurines. One morning you woke to find a bag of coffee grounds, your favorite brand but also quite an expensive one. When you used them that very morning, they praised you greatly with a long note the next day. However, when you refused to eat the slice of strawberry shortcake that was put on your kitchen table and threw it away in your bin, there was no note whatsoever.

You don’t think they cared, or at least didn’t want to let you know they cared. The amount of gifts put in your apartment only increased every time you ignored the last present. They kept getting more and more expensive, too. Whoever is in your home is either filthy rich or does not know how to budget their money well.

Sometimes you hear the lightest of breaths when your back is turned and you are sitting on the sofa, watching a comforting movie. They are fast and good at hiding because whenever you try to catch them in the act there is nothing behind you.

Every time you try to tell someone, they say to just install more security, more locks, cameras, and invest in self-defense lessons and tasers and alarms. You have tried that, and nothing works, the gifts and trinkets keep coming.

No one believes you and your stalker knows it. Every time you try to report it and get shut down, there is a mocking chuckle from behind you when you come back home.

You aren’t alone, you’re with them, but you wish you were because then you would at least be able to rest. You wish you were alone in the dark.

…

There is someone in your home.

There is someone in your home, and you think they want you.

There is someone in your home, and you know you don’t want them.

…

You’re tired. You don’t know how to express it.

It’s nearly midnight and you just want to take out your resentment on something. You just want to be alright. You lock your apartment door behind you and walk from the entrance to your small sitting area. You sit on the couch, ignoring the large box on the table beside it. Instead, you grab the basket of VHS tapes on the floor, shuffling through them with both your hands.

Billy Madison. Perfect. You take it out.

Your fingers tap against the front of the tape, your other hand scratches the back of your head and rubs the back of your neck, and your feet shake.

Your stalker must have turned your lamp on when you were out working, maybe for you to see the gift, because you know you didn’t. You don’t care to address the box or them right now, as you are used to it by now.

You snap the VHS tape in half with both of your hands.

All this world does is hurt you, so who can blame you for wanting to hurt it back?

It was a shitty movie anyway. A horribly written plot. Horribly written characters. You were never really a fan of comedies, especially those with a spoiled rich kid as the protagonist. You were going to throw it out even if you didn’t break the tape. You want to demote that assistant who gave you that as a joke.

But that would be petty, and it was a joke. You just wish he got you Gone with the Wind or The Princess Bride or Romeo and Juliet or something like that instead. You could go for a romance movie right about now, especially one with a forehead kiss. You love forehead kisses.

You throw the smashed VHS tape in the garbage.

You could swear that you heard a chuckle as you did so.

…

There is someone in your home.

There is someone in your home, and they put a gift beside your bed as you sleep.

There is someone in your home, and they put an unused VHS tape with the title ‘Romeo and Juliet' on your bedside table before you could wake up.

There is someone in your home, and they give you a forehead kiss before slithering off again into the dark.

You know they won’t stay there for long, but you foolishly hope that they will.

Dark goldenrod, rich black, gray, baby powder, blood red.

*~*~*~*

There is someone in your home. You are sure of it.

The placement of everything is slightly off.

The perfume bottles and makeup products in your bedroom are slightly tilted, and your figurines are placed in places where you know you didn't put them, like finding your cat music box on your vanity when it is always by your bedside table, and your bed is slightly unmade. You feel a gaze whenever you are at home and when you are just about to fall asleep, you hear the soft clicking of a camera. You hear the floorboards creak, too loud to be your dog’s. You know Sebaste would never do those things because he is in his office all day working, even when you are in bed already.

Your kitchen is dirtier than usual. There are always some fallen, dried leaves on the floor even when neither you nor Sebaste had gone outside that day. Some of your food is missing, like the leftover pancakes you planned on eating. Sebaste claims to have not eaten them, and you know he is telling the truth.

It is not just your paranoia. There is someone in your home, watching you.

That same person is most likely watching you outside your home too. You feel a gaze wherever you are.

Whenever you go to the library to read something, you always feel someone looking at you whenever you are paying attention to the books, turning their gaze away the moment you look around. Whenever you pick up takeout from the local saloon, you feel someone staring at you in the corner, blending in with the rest of the dancing, friendly villagers. Whenever you are at the farmer’s market, you feel a gawker behind you, hiding behind one of the stalls, one filled to the brim with boxes and boxes of produce. Whenever you turn your head as you are walking to your cottage, you hear quickening footsteps, running farther and farther away. Whenever you are in the town’s museum, you can sense someone near you in the same exhibit, pretending to pay attention to the artifacts and not you.

Their eyes feel intense like you are made of gold. Something sellable at an auction or something to be stuffed into a penthouse and never see the light of day again. Within your blood flows aureate brilliance to them. You are something to be used, to be fed to the wolves.

You found a few muddy footprints in the bathroom coming from the window above it a few days ago. They are too big and too misshapen to be your dog’s, and they don’t look like the footprints that Sebastian's sneakers leave behind. You clean it up with a mop and some spray. As much as you want to be, you cannot say you are exactly afraid, but a few tiers below that.

You are cautious, sure. You make sure your doors and windows are locked before going to sleep now as well as double checking them in the middle of the night. You cannot say you are afraid, though. You are plotting to catch them in the act, and you don’t think someone afraid would confront their stalker.

You keep doing your usual routine. Wake up, boil water for coffee, wash your face and brush your teeth, make coffee and breakfast, and eat said breakfast. You prefer this life to the one you ran away from by a landslide, still, even though your stalker is somewhat ruining it. Chrollo would treat you like a glorified dog.

Sit, stay, and roll over.

Good girl.

Here is a treat.

You think Sebaste is the only one keeping you from snapping and hunting down your gawker with a bow and ax. Ironically, he still doesn’t know about them. But that’s alright with you. You prefer it.

His routine mirrors yours. He makes coffee for you some days. He eats with you. He walks the dog with you. Then he goes to his office to work.

This is a life you are happy with. You aren’t going to let your stalker ruin that for you.

You are not going to tell Sebaste either. It is much better if you handle this problem on your own. Solving problems on your own is what you are used to, after all. Sebaste could be in danger if you tell him. You’re in danger, and you don’t want him to share your fate more than he already is.

Sebaste is the one person in this world you can trust wholeheartedly. You want to protect him, and you would give up everything if it meant he would be happy and safe. So, you buy a taser, some pepper spray, and a pullable alarm, and learn how to hold your keys in just the right way so you could be able to use them as weapons in case your confrontation with your stalker goes sour.

You have planned what to do with your stalker if things do go as you intended. An abandoned shed, a chair, zip ties, and some… equipment if they do not tell you everything they know right away.

*~*~*~*

Once upon a time, there was a princess who had a terrible curse placed upon her by a witch when she was an infant. Everything she touched would die in but a few moments. One day, she got tired of living alone on the outskirts of her kingdom, banished when she was near adulthood, and set out into the woods to search for someone to be her first-ever friend.

However, what she discovered was a malevolent man exuding an overwhelming aura of greed.

She hated him. She hated him with all her being, from how he looked to how he spoke to how he treated her; everything he did she disliked.

So, a few days after meeting him in the forest behind her cottage, the princess asked him to touch her face. He did, gently caressing her cheek with his palm and fingers. As his hand made contact with her delicate visage, the princess gently shut her eyes and silently counted to five. But when the princess opened her eyes, she was horrified by the sight in front of her.

The stranger was still there, alive.

…

The unexpected visitor revealed himself as King Death, who is in relentless pursuit of a bride who embodies purity and possesses a power comparable to his own.

"To discover an angel as calm and radiant as the morning doves and dew is an immense stroke of fortune."

Uttering these words, he ensnared her with a gaze as binding as a wedding vow, his eyes devoid of light and depth, unlike anything the princess had witnessed in her secluded little forest. Without delay, he then accomplished his task with an air of satisfaction.

…

Princess Blossom bemoans her unfortunate circumstance, trapped in a desolate garden devoid of life and sunshine. “Do you have not an ounce of mercy for me or anyone?"

Across from her, King Death relishes in the corpse beneath his feet, a lifeless dove's remains, its once pristine white feathers now drenched in crimson, reminiscent of cherry wine. “If you think a bird is beautiful, just wait until you find it dead, dearly beloved by life itself until its last breath.”

…

In the palm of King Death rests a delicate flower in bloom. In a casket adorned with white wisterias lies his cherished bride, eternally his. "A blossom as lovely as you, my rose, should not wither away so easily." Her eyes exude a captivating beauty, a reflection of innocence mingled with fear. "What troubles you, causing such tremors? It cannot be the chill in the air." Though she trembles with fear, he hungrily consumes her terror as the flowers around her wilt.

…

“The nearer you are, the more I break! Have you always been this cruel to us mortals?” Princess Blossom bangs on the wood above her, the coffin sealed shut and buried six feet underneath the beautiful grass, stars, and flowers. She hears someone coming to dig her out, but that hope is replaced with fear as soon as she realizes the sound is coming from beneath her. This is King Death’s reply to her question; to take her to the underworld where only his eyes will see his radiant queen forevermore.

*~*~*~*

It’s necessary, you tell yourself. If there was any other path you could follow, you would have taken it. At least, you think you would have.

Your stalker follows you everywhere. You know it, they know it, but Sebaste doesn’t know it. They probably have seen you in the abandoned shed preparing everything, and either are preparing themselves for confrontation or not taking you seriously.

You hope, for their sake, that they are doing the former. You hope, for their sake, that they will simply tell you all they know without you even bringing them to the shed. You hope, for their sake, that they will simply do that. But you know it won’t be that easy. Either this person is obsessed with you or was paid to follow you.

If your stalker indeed fits into the latter category, they are certainly in for an unpleasant surprise. You won’t let them get away. You won’t let them do anything other than cry, say what they know, and beg for mercy. Eventually, they will have no voice box to scream with, and only blood will come out of their mouth instead of any sound.

You will make sure of it.

You made a vow with yourself to make sure of it.

You have no choice other than to be cruel. You know that, and you hope your follower knows it too. It would be far less trouble for either of you that way.

You have to protect yourself and Sebaste, no matter the cost. You love him too much to lose him. He is in the house and you are outside, defending him. You will do anything to make sure he is alright.

So, you wait. You wait for hours.

There is someone outside your home.

You are sure of it.

You are going to confront them here and now.

You aren’t afraid. You are merely cautious. You don’t want Sebaste to hear any struggling or cries.

Through the window, you smell warm, fresh coffee being brewed in the French press. Sebaste has always had a bad habit of drinking coffee late at night. But it’s alright, he most likely has to work a bit more anyway.

You wait until your thoughts go numb with a lack of sleep. You slap yourself in the face, hard, to keep yourself awake.

*~*~*~*

If one were to compare, this penthouse resembles a work of art in a museum.

It is untouched by dirt and if the small flames of the candles on the table where the television is placed didn’t move from side to side, you would forget anything aside from you and Chrollo could move. Everything shares the same color palette, and there are no warm hues aside from the roses on the vanity in the bedroom and modest fires. Rose ebony, gunmetal, reseda green, silver, periwinkle. Black. Black, black, black, like one day someone decided to cover the counters, walls, and chairs in soot or charcoal.

It is like whoever designed this had won a lifetime supply of ink paint and decided to use it in different concentrations. Rich on the desks and the vanity, but lighter in some areas like the walls, showing designs of olive roses. The farthest you can go here is to the balcony or lean on the door of the entrance like you could pass through it like a portal if you wished hard enough. You cannot jump from the porch, if you remember correctly the room number is 20008. You are twenty floors off the ground, and you know that you cannot survive a plunge from that high up.

You feel like a canary in a hanging birdcage.

You can only tweet and look pretty. You cannot leave unless your captor is there with you every step of the way. You are only allowed to do what you are told to do and not what you want to do.

This is an impeccable, foolproof, ideal enclosure for any imprisoner.

All is flawlessly pristine, to the point of nausea for anyone trapped inside.

You can only chitter and peep like the baby bird you are forced to be. You can only be cradled within suffocatingly loving arms. Chrollo is like your shadow, following you to every part of this place, treating you like a porcelain doll or a pet. You don’t dare act outside of the role you were given because then you know your detainer won’t be pleased with you and your chances of escape will be even lower than they already are.

“Dearest?”

There is that sickeningly sweet voice again, from beside you. He does not know how to shut up, not that you would bother telling him such. You are here, in his domain and his clothes and eating his food. You have no say here, and he knows it.

“Yes?”

You try your best to replicate the tone of a doting, little lover. You don’t fiddle with the skirt of the short dress you were given. According to your kidnapper, your solitary pair of jeans and single hoodie has ‘vanished under enigmatic circumstances’ and thus gave you this attire as compensation. Asshole.

You are waltzing whether you like it or not.

It is how you act that chooses whether you are pulled with puppet strings or not, though.

“You look beautiful.” His tone is so sincere that it almost induces a nauseating urge to vomit directly onto him. “So beautiful.”

You feel like a statue only brought here to be gawked at. He is always touching you in some way, most of the time it is your thighs that are held captive by being caressed with hands akin to velvet. You let him because what else can you do? You would want nothing more than to push him away and run out the door but you simply cannot. You are trapped here, and using Chrollo with honeyed words and passionate kisses is your only key out. You cannot stay in this consolidated coop any longer or you will break.

If you falter, you will never get out of here.

If he catches you in the act of escaping, you will never be free. The silk restraints will be replaced with shackles. A mile of running only means an inch of a chance of escaping. You don’t want to die here. You don’t want to die with rotting, choking hands around your neck.

As you expected, Chrollo’s hand squeezes your inner thigh. “Thank you, Chrollo.”

From the look in his eyes, you can tell he wants so much more than just those words.

*~*~*~*

Footsteps. Calm, poised ones. There is no sound of stray branches snapping or dead leaves crunching. Footsteps of one who knows what you plan to do.

You do not recognize him. His eyes are as bright as gold yet as hungry as a wolf’s, unblinking. If he was a word, it would be dangerous, in bold, yellow, large, lit letters.

His hair is as pink as bubblegum. His nails are quite long, pointed, and painted black. He has a teal star on one of his cheeks and a yellow teardrop on the other. With his mere presence, he towers over you in height and strength and everything else possible. He is as odd-looking as a clown, you note to yourself.

“I had heard the Spider had lost and gained a leg.” You say as the grip on your knife gets much stronger than before. “It’s you, isn’t it?”

“Correct, my dear.”

“Which one did you replace?”

“Fourth.”

“So Omokage then.”

“I think. Can’t recall right now.”

You scoff at that. “Can’t recall, huh?” The stranger’s grin stays on like a sticker of a smile that was placed on his face where his actual one would be.

“It doesn’t matter who died, I defeated them and that is all that matters. There is no use in remembering the name of a rotting corpse.”

“I would thank you, but you have the same mission as he probably did.”

“Whether you like me or not does not matter either, I am here either way.” One, two steps closer. “I am here either way and there is nothing you can do about it, my dear.”

“I never liked Omokage, anyway. He always treated Luna so poorly.”

“Who?”

“The captive that was forced to be his doll of some sort. Though I assume she is dead by now, right?”

The man shrugs his shoulders and laughs. “Probably.”

“Was wherever you all buried her marked if somebody even buried her at all?”

“Maybe, maybe not. I do remember something about a body being put in a dug-out hole by Machi.”

At least she was given that, you guess. “How did she look?”

“There was hardly a body to bury if I remember correctly. It looked like someone took a skeleton and put leather over it.” Another amused chuckle.

“So she starved to death then. Slow and painful and probably chained up. He always restrained and gagged her before he left, after all.”

The man yawns, disinterested. He is not even paying attention, is he?

“If you ever find out where her grave is, please put a jasmine flower on it for me. Jasmines were her favorite.”

“If I remember. Why are you asking so much about her anyway?”

*~*~*~*

Luna is kind to you, so kind. Despite being taken by such a monster that treats her so horribly, she still manages to smile whenever she talks to you, albeit how rare those times were. You remember one time she wore a turtleneck, the only one she was allowed to wear according to Chrollo, to cover the bruises on her neck, arms, and collarbone. Another time she wore a surgical mask, though because of how bright the teal color was it did the opposite of what Luna wanted it to do; not attract more attention to her face. Omokage only let her wear it because he thought it would “humble her”, whatever that fucking meant. Luna never hit him or at the very least tried not to, even when he broke two of her fingers in front of you. It was a punishment for asking for five more minutes to chat with you.

“It will all be okay.” It is a repeated saying of hers.

“I know it will.” She would always answer that when you asked how she knew that things would get better. She repeats the saying and her answer both to you and to herself when the times get tougher than they usually are for her. She looked out for you and tried to make your situation better by telling Chrollo how good you were to her. Omokage only ignored and glared at you when you tried to do the same for her. You hate Omokage. You do, with all your being. You hated him more than you did all the other Troupe members.

You hated Omokage more than Chrollo even, which is quite the accomplishment if you say so yourself.

Chrollo thinks it is funny. At least you think he does. Maybe that is why you see Luna more than you do the other “Webs”, as you captives are named.

“It’s okay if he hurts me, I won’t hit him back. Violence is not the answer, it only creates more.” She grinned as she said that, one of her front teeth missing. “He’ll die one day and then I will be free.” It is clear to you that if she continues to think that way, she will break. “You’ll be there to tell Number Zero to free me, right? Then I can go home.”

She is always such an optimist. It’s a trait you wish you had. You almost wish you could trade places with her because at least Chrollo does not treat you as his punching bag, though you suppose being his plaything isn’t much better.

“I’ll do the same for you if Number Zero dies. At least then one of us would be free, either way, the ball rolls.” Her light is fading, you can tell by how she looks at you, how her blue eyes don’t shine as much as they used to. “I’ll do anything to make sure he listens.” She is going to break soon. You want so badly to stop it. You want to save her. But you can’t. “I mean it. I’ll do anything if it means you’ll be free.”

You know she means it, and it brings you so much more pain than if she didn’t. She unintentionally twists her knife further into your heart

“It will all be okay. I want you all to be happy. You all deserve it.” You want to tell her that she does, more than you do. She deserves a good life, a normal life. “We are friends, aren’t we?” You can’t bear to tell her the truth of what will happen if either Omokage or Chrollo dies. “Friends look out for each other.”

She placed a kiss on your forehead then, before Omokage could stop her. She was dragged back by him pulling on her long sable hair as she cried out in pain. He called her a whore and pulled her out of the room. Neither she nor Omokage came back to the room that day.

*~*~*~*

“She was so sweet. She didn’t deserve to die like that at all.”

“I am Hisoka, by the way.” He bows, the smirk still being plastered on his face without faltering.

You take a few steps back as he approaches further, trying to remain some distance apart from him. “Stay back.” Hisoka hums and merely comes closer.

“If the description I was given and what you know checks out, you must be [First]. At least, I hope that’s who you are, for your sake.” He smiles and he moves forward. “You have certainly been going on a few little adventures, haven’t you?”

“...Yes.” He stares down at you. You know that to him; you are a mere rubber toy to twist until your head pops off.

His gaze shifts to your house, behind you. “You certainly are resourceful; I’ll give you that. The life you have built for yourself was made from nothing. Quite admirable.”

“Do you mean that?” You ask, your voice both cold and inquiring as to why one of the members of the Phantom Troupe is here, in front of you and your house. But you already knew the answer.

“I do.” His voice seems somewhat truthful, but you can tell he wants more.

“Why are you here, Number Four?”

“Now, now. No need to be so aggressive.” He puts his hands up in a mockery of surrendering as he goes back to looking down on you. With the dying trees and debris behind him, he sticks out like a sore thumb. “I have a favor to ask of you. Nothing more, nothing less.”

The way he looks at you, a look of one that is about to skin a poor, defenseless doe.

“What kind?”

“Simple. Tell me all you know about the boss.”

“What would I get in exchange for telling you such information?”

“I will not tell the other Troupe members of your location.”

“Is that a threat, Number Four?”

“Oh, no, it is not a threat. It is a potential promise if you don’t listen. While you are at it, you can also tell me about yourself. I believe we haven’t had an actual conversation before if the boss told me the truth that you have been on the run from him for more than two years.”

“Don’t be greedy, Number Four.”

“Oh, no.” Hisoka grins with a proud smile. “I believe you are the one being greedy, my dear.”

“...you’re not the first person to tell me that.”

“You ran away from a life of luxury and comfort. Surely you feel at least somewhat foolish for doing such a thing?”

“Perhaps.”

“The boss is quite displeased with you, though I assume you know that by now. He has been searching high and low all over for you.”

“I’m quite aware, Number Four. We both know I don’t intend to go back.”

He nods and hums. “I know. That is why if you still want to play house with your precious boy toy, you’ll do what I say.”

You scoff and look to the side. “He is not… just a plaything. He is different.”

“Whatever you say, sweetheart.” He looks off to the woods. “Plus, I believe there is a rat in your midst. I am sure you have noticed. If you tell me what you know, I’ll trap him for you.”

“You mean you’re not…” Your posture slightly relaxes, but soon firms up once again when you realize that you have two people following you now; Hisoka and your mysterious stalker.

“No. I’m not. So, will you accept my offer, darling?”

“Why does such information matter to you?”

Hisoka shakes his head, still smiling. “That doesn’t concern you, my dear. Now, tell me what you know if you don’t want the rest of the Troupe being here in a matter of mere hours.”

You’re happy here.

You’re happy here, being independent once again. You’re happy here, having stability and not fearing a sudden, gruesome death where you die alone with no one but your captor. You’re happy here, being able to find some humanity within yourself.

You’re happy here with Sebaste.

You’re happy here with Sebaste, who is in the house, blissfully unaware of the laurel crown placed on your head, its thorns digging deep into your skull and dying the tips of it crimson red. He doesn’t know of the invisible scars that mark your body, a gift from the very pits of hell’s flames.

He will remain in that place, never knowing of anything you have buried underground.

He will stay, no matter the cost you will have to pay.

You’re happy here with Sebaste, and you’re not going to let anyone take it away from you.

“Do we have a deal?”

The moment your lips part, the words that escape your mouth are the ones Hisoka longs to hear.

#yandere chrollo #yandere chrollo x reader #chrollo x reader #yandere chrollo lucilfer #yandere hunter x hunter #yandere hxh #yandere hxh x reader #yandere x reader #yandere #hxh #chrollo lucilfer #hxh chrollo #chrollo hunter x hunter #hunter x hunter #phantom troupe #chrollo lucilfer x reader #hier encore.#ultraviolet.#author aya

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